Opening the Gate

Opening the Gate

~ Chapter 3 ~

And now, it is silver and silent, it is silver and cold

You, in somber resplendence, I hold

- A.F.I (Silver and Cold)

Ginny was still in the dress she was wearing before, she was also still in the Malfoy Manor's Study. Draco was standing in front of her; at least it looked like Malfoy. He looked older, like twenty-one rather than sixteen, and his eyes were brown, not blue.

The brown-eyed-Draco but his arm's around her waist and she felt herself put her arm's around his neck. She didn't intend on doing that, it was more like she was a spectator in her own body.

Brown-Eyed-Draco leaned in close; Ginny could smell the green tea on his breath and see his inviting and familiar lips. She felt herself close her eyes as he leaned in more and then began to kiss her, the passion that went into it was half someone else's and surprisingly half her own. It started of gentle enough, delicately kissing each other's lips, but Ginny could tell both him and her character wanted more. She felt herself run her hands through his hair as their mouths opened and closed as one. Then she felt the brown-eyed-boy undo the strap of the dress and proceeded to work on the strings. Then she felt the dress elegantly slip to the floor. There was a sudden urge, beyond Ginny's own desires, for there to be less between her and the boy. She found herself pulling the black jacket off him and then unbuttoning the white shirt. She pressed her hands firmly against his cool bare chest and pushed him onto the floor.

Ginny could feel the boy laugh as they were kissing, his lips curling into a smile. Then she felt herself break apart from his kiss, sort of reluctantly, and open her eyes. She looked down on him and he smiled, she bent down and closed her eyes, kissing his ear gently. She opened her eyes and looked at him once again. He reached up and put his arms around her and then spun around so that he was on top. His arms were on either side of her and he looked down on her with Draco's crazy, playful smile. He then bent down and began to kiss her neck...

"GET OFF OF HER!!"

Ginny felt herself try to get up but she was still pinned to the floor. Brown-Eyed-Draco simply looked up.

"I mean it Hidreth, get off her."

"Hidreth, just humor him," Ginny felt herself say the words without wanting to.

Slowly the Draco-look-alike got up and then helped Ginny up.

Once she was standing up she looked towards the door and standing there was, Harry?! No, it wasn't Harry, though it looked a lot like him on the first glance. This boy had rectangular spectacles, not Harry's circular ones, and he had his unruly black hair tied into a ponytail. And on closer examination his eyes were a darker, less brilliant green.

He spoke again.

"Now what in the good name of Godric were you doing!" this boy was furious.

"William," Ginny found herself saying to the boy

"No," William interrupted, "before you say any more, Ginger put your dress back on."

Ginny found herself slipping back into her dress and snapping the string back around her neck, and Hidreth kindly began to lace up the back.

"Better?" she asked as he laced.

"Ginger, I can not believe you," William started to pace, "Hidreth is a Malfoy, he has Slytherin blood flowing through his veins, while you have Gryffindor blood flowing through your own-"

"Uh hate to interrupt your rant but," Hidreth was using the same, familiar, snide tone as he did with Harry, "I do not have Slytherin blood in me, my distant cousins do, but not me."

"And I have as much Gryffindor blood as Hidreth," spoke Ginger elegantly. "You are not my cousin by birth, only by marriage."

"Still, he is a Malfoy," William spat. "And being bound to him will only bring darkness and cruelty."

Ginny felt Hidreth put his hands on her shoulders.

"I shall protect Ginger from any dark, and I am not cruel. And William, who is letting you stay here while your castle is being built and even throwing in some gold because dragons destroyed your last one? Oh wait, that's me isn't it?"

Ginny could see William's temper rising.

"Well I guess you are too old to have me making decisions for you anymore, Ginger," she was suddenly reminded of her and Ron's argument earlier. "Good day."

William did a stiff bow and then left, slamming the door upon his exit.

Ginny felt herself reach for Ginger's wand on the desk and transfigure herself into a very lacy, translucent gown that she had only seen in her mother's Victoria's Sorcerer catalogues. She walked over to the chaise lounge on the opposite side of the room and sat down.

"Shall we get back to what we were doing?"

Hidreth smiled and started to walk towards her, but as he did everything started to become fuzzy and out of focus until she could just barely make out the blur that was Hidreth. But just before Ginny was about to rub her eyes it started to clear up, except she wasn't in the study anymore.

Ginny was looking up at an older Hidreth, his face was framed by a few elegant strands of silver-grey hair, that contrasted beautifully with is pale blond hair. He had the dark black background of the sky behind him and rain was coming down, his expression was grave with worry.

Ginny could tell that she was still wearing the same dress and was, most likely, still Ginger.

"I'm so sorry," spoke Hidreth softly, "I guess William was right."

"No," Ginny felt herself say, "you promised to protect me..."

"And I failed," he hung his head.

"No," she lifted his head up, "no you didn't. It was just time."

Hidreth took her hand and started to kiss her fingertips and as he did, everything slowly started to black out.

Flash.

Ginny was back inside the Study. She looked down, one of her hands was on the dress and the other was on a small figure of a Basilisk that was on the desk with an engravement on it.

Malfoy-Slytherin

Modo Incomitatus Mos Imperiosus Adeo

She jumped off the desk and looked over at Malfoy.

"What was that?" he asked, eyes wide.

"You saw that?" Ginny was amazed; he hadn't seen the first one, why had he seen this one?

"Of course," he spat, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Was that some sort of Fantasy Charm? I was quite entertained by that part where you shoved me into the bookcase and then we fooled around on the floor. But it was a bit surprising when Harry came in and scolded us, I thought he was gonna join us in a cozy little threesome."

Ginny cut him off.

"Didn't you find the second part of my 'fantasy' a bit odd?"

Draco cocked his head to the side.

"What second part?" he asked, confused.

"The part where it was nighttime and raining?" she said as if it where obvious.

Malfoy shook his head.

"It ended as things started to get blurry. Then I was back here wand your hand wasn't on my shoulder, it was moving towards that paperweight, then you grabbed it I called your name but you just sat there and then," he made a sweeping arm gesture, "it's now. Are you telling me that wasn't a Fantasy Charm?"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Number one, How come I called you Hidreth, Harry William, and myself Ginger?"

"I just thought it was some bazaar pet-names," Draco shrugged.

"Number two, how come the Ministry isn't here for doing out-of-school magic?" said Ginny with her hands on her hips.

"Well then what was it?" Malfoy sneered.

"I think I tapped into some memory or something when I touched both Ginger's dress and Hidreth's suit, like when I touched the statue," she answered.

"You saw it fall didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"How did you know?"

"That was Kris' cloak, the one who knocked it down," he said, "and my mother saw the same thing when she touched it. We don't know why, but every so often she see things, it wasn't like she was a seer or anything, it just happened."

"Let's just start packing up these books," Ginny nervously said and made her way over to the door, she could hear Draco move towards the other end of the room. She took one of the empty boxes he brought up and proceeded to empty the first shelf.

Now here was the types of books she expected the Malfoys to own. Ginny pulled out a very tattered book called Monstrous Creatures and Where to Find Them. Followed by a copy of Moste Potente Potions and Killer Topiaries 101. They had on everything and anything dark, from love potions to lust poisons they had it all. Each book became more forlorn and more deadly than the last.

Finally Ginny could reach up as far as she could so she made her way over to the next bookcase. It was full of thinner books with either a gold or silver lining around the edge. She pulled out the first one on the bottom shelf, it was black with silver lining, on the cover was "Narcissa Black Malfoy 1965 -" in fancy lettering, still in silver. Ginny opened up the book to the first page, it was a crisp piece of parchment and in black ink was Narcissa's elegant handwriting

July 9, 1984,

Lucius brought me to the Manor today. Our wedding is over as is our Honeymoon. Lucius is acting different from how he was before we got married, or maybe I'm just imagining things.

Ginny flipped through the journal and finally she got to the last page. Only one entry was on this page and it wasn't in Narcissa's handwriting. It was in a scratchy sort of handwriting and in red ink.

June 29, 2004

Narcissa Malfoy - Gone Mad

She shut the book, horrified, and shoved it into the box. Ginny pulled out Journal after journal, and after a while she noticed that the ones with silver lining were woman's while the ones in gold were men's. She had pulled out quite a few until she got to "Ginger Brigham Malfoy 1561-1601". Ginny anxiously pulled the book off the shelf. She wanted to just sit and read it, but she looked over at the grandfather clock in the corner and it read five thirty.

"Master Draco?" another House-Elf popped it's head through the door.

Draco looked over at him.

"What?"

"Um..." started the House-Elf nervously, "Master's clothes are dried, as well as your Mistress'."

The elf placed Ginny's clothes in front of her and then Draco's in front of him. Then the elf bowed and left.

Ginny picked up her clothes.

"I'm going to change."

Malfoy nodded and she made her way out of the study, then down the hall into a bathroom.

It was beautiful. The room was practically the size of her bedroom in the Burrow. There was a gigantic bathtub the size of a small swimming pool. The faucet handles were ornate and jewel encrusted.

As Ginny pulled her skirt back on she couldn't take her eyes off the faucet handle. After she was fully clothed she went over to take a look at it.

The part where the water came out was a silver serpent with its mouth open and had emeralds for eyes. Ginny ran her hand against the stone bathtub. The hot and cold water handles were covered in an assortment of precious stones, gems and jewels. She went to touch a particularly red ruby, red like a drop of blood...

Flash.

She was standing in the bathroom looking at a little boy, about five, with silvery-blond hair. He was staring almost hypnotized by the contents of the bathtub. Pale blue eyes fixed upon the water pixies.

The pixies were playing merrily in the water. They looked like Fairies with scales and big bulging eyes. The wings on their backs were like a dragonfly's and they were a shimmering blue color.

At the other end of the bathroom Ginny saw Lucius Malfoy watching the boy like a hawk. She suddenly realized that this happy, carefree child would grow up to be moody, sulky Draco Malfoy.

The pixies looked up at little Draco and beckoned him to come into the water. Draco leaned farther and father towards the pixies, simply to touch one.

Out of the corner of her eye Ginny saw Lucius whip out his wand and point it towards the tub. And just as Draco leaned in to pat the pixie Lucius transfigured them into a bunch of hungry Horklumps. To her horror Draco let out a terrible scream and withdrew his hand from the water. He had a nasty bite on the tip of his index finger that was bleeding furiously.

Lucius stormed over.

"Lead not into temptation boy," he snarled, "for all that glitters is not galleons."

Draco nodded then started to cry. Lucius slapped him right across the face and the little boy stopped crying abruptly.

"Crying shows weakness. I never want to see you cry again understand?"

Draco nodded his silvery-blond head.

"Good."

Flash.

She couldn't believe what she had just seen, also the fact that it had been the third memory she had witnessed in one day didn't help.

Ginny quickly hung up her dress on the back of the door and rushed back to the study.

She opened the door and Draco was back in his tee shirt and jeans cleaning out his share of the bookcases. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Finish up, we're bringing these boxes into the dungeon," he directed as he lifted one of the boxes off the ground and into his arms.

Ginny nodded and picked up one of her own five boxes and followed him out of the room and down the stairs into the main hall. Then he put down his box and pulled open the trap door.

"Come on," Draco called as he went down those stairs and into the dark dungeons.

The stairs were slippery and moist and the dungeon was dark. Ginny heard something scuffle around and then one of the torches was lit. And the floor was freezing under her bare feet.

Draco led her over to a barred cell where he put down the box.

"We'll fill up this cell with boxes first," he ordered and went back up the stars to get another box.

They continued this until only two boxes were left, Ginger's journal in one of them. As they made their way down the stairs with the last two boxes Ginny finally did something.

"Can I borrow one of these books?"

"Sure," Malfoy shrugged. "Just return it, not that I'd notice it was missing."

With that she picked up the journal and followed him up the stairs.

Draco was peering out of the window when she got to the top of the stairs.

"Still raining," he said simply, then he slipped his sneaker back on.

Ginny pulled her boots back on and kept the journal out of Draco's sight. Draco handed her the cloak.

"Just try not to tap into the memories of my ancient ancestors, It's a bit nosy, don't you think?" he smiled one of those rare Malfoy smiles and Ginny gratefully took the cloak.

After she had the cloak securely on her and the journal safely tucked away Draco opened the giant doors and they both went out into the rain.

As the two of them walked silently down the path she noticed that forked off the one they were currently on. But she assumed it lead to the garden that Malfoy had mentioned before. They had finally made their way to the gate and Draco had firmly locked it behind him once they had made their way through. Ginny looked up at the Malfoy Manor, looking dark and gloomy on top of the hill. She couldn't imagine how someone could call a place like that home. Or go there summer after summer without complaining of torture, Harry never put up with the tortures of the Dursleys quietly.

Ginny found herself comparing Harry to Draco again, which was unfair. One wasn't better than the other, they simply just grew up in different worlds. Harry's was one of overcast and dislike, not knowing one's own parents. Draco's was one of fancy houses and hostile lessons not knowing what it was like to have friends.

They walked trough the Tudor town, the dirt road now mud.

"Not really dressed for rain are you?" Draco starred at her his hair matted to his head and his pale eyes sparkling.

Finally they reached the gate and Malfoy pushed it open with great effort. The sunlight burst through, Ginny squinted as she walked through. She saw Lupin waving from the car parked a little ways down the street. She turned around to see Draco passing through the now unraveling gate behind him. Lupin pulled the car up to the two of them and they both got in.

"Did you two jump into a lake?" laughed Lupin.

"It was raining," Ginny smiled, happy to see him laugh, he was rather good looking when he did.

Lupin switched the car into gear then started to drive out of the small town. A little way out he started to talk again.

"So how was the cleaning?"

"Good."

"Horrible," muttered Draco.

"Did you manage to find the infamous Malfoy Tapestry?" asked the former professor.

"What?" gawked Ginny.

"How did you know about that?" Draco asked sitting up in his seat a bit more.

"All pureblooded families have them. Haven't you seen the Black Tapestry?" answered Lupin.

"Yeah but-"

"I suppose the Malfoy one must be much more ornate," he continued.

Draco slumped back into his seat and muttered "haven't tackled the drawing room yet".

A few minutes later they pulled up to the, now invisible, 12 Grimmauld Place. Ginny and Draco both started to get out of the car.

"Draco, could you please stay a moment?" said Lupin leaning over the seat so that he was face to face with them. "Ginny you can go inside."

She reluctantly got out of the car. There was never a moment in her life that she wanted Harry's Invisibility cloak and Fred and George's Extendible Ears more than now. But at least she could go upstairs and put down Ginger's journal.

Ginny opened the door to the Black House with a creak and stepped inside. Ron popped his head out of the living room and ran out when he saw her.

"Hey, you're back! You're okay! What happened? Where's Malfoy? Is he dead?"

Ginny laughed

"Let me get changed and then we'll talk," she said and went upstairs and into her room.

She was glad to get out of her wet clothes, finally. When she was dressed she looked over at Draco's cloak lying on her bed. Ginny walked over to it and longingly ran her hand across the fabric. She had always adored velvet cloaks for some reason and this one was exceptional. She wondered how many generations this cloak had gone through. Ginny tenderly picked it up and made her way to Draco's room with it.

When she entered his room it was very dark. Someone had put the curtains back up in his room and pulled them tightly shut.

Crunch.

Ginny looked down but still couldn't see what she stepped on.

"Oh this is ridiculous," she muttered and flipped on a light.

What she had stepped on was a picture frame. She picked it up to examine it. It was an iron frame and she had broken the glass. Ginny gasped because it was a picture of Draco's mother and father on their wedding day.

"Young master did not like the picture Kreacher got for young master. He threw it across the room he did."

She spun around to see Kreacher standing in the doorway. Kreacher waddled over and took the picture from Ginny and stood it up on an empty table. He tried to brush off the glass but he pulled his hand away suddenly, he had cut himself. He shook his hand, then stuck the finger into his mouth.

Ginny walked over to Draco's bed and laid the cloak onto it. There were more pictures on the bedside table so she bent down to look at them. There was only three but they all contained a pretty blond woman.

"Young master asked Kreacher to find him pictures of Mistress Narcissa Black. Good Mistress she was. Married a good wizard, Malfoy. No, not like her wicked sister, no, married a muggle she did," Kreacher had a nasty sneer on his face, then began to straighten out the pictures.

Ginny got up and walked over to another small table (Jeez, where did Malfoy find all these tables). It was long and skinny made of a beautiful wood, and in the center was a silver box.

It was very intricate and had serpents carved into it. She lifted the lid and the box emitted and eerie twinkling song. The whole box was lined in black velvet and there was a mirror under the lid. There was also a necklace inside too.

"You shouldn't be snooping," spoke Kreacher pointing a wicked finger at her.

Ginny ignored this comment and looked closely at the necklace, it seamed to be on a strong string of silver...

"Filthy little child of scum," Kreacher muttered loudly, "young master will not be happy she is snooping in his stuff. Nope, not at all."

...and there was a black stone on it, so black it seamed to absorb the light rather than reflect i.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Ginny spun around to see a furious Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway, eyes burning with rage.

"I told her young master, I told her no she shouldn't be snooping, no she shouldn't," Kreacher ranted on miserably.

"Leave Kreacher," said Malfoy Darkly, and he slumped out.

"I-I was just returning your cloak," Ginny answered fearfully.

"Yeah, and you did that, now LEAVE!" he roared then rushed over and snapped shut the box and Ginny ran out.

She would admit it was wrong for her to be looking through all of his stuff without him knowing but didn't he sneak into her room one night and go through her underwear? Now isn't that hypocritical?

Ginny made her way into the living room where Ron, Hermione and Harry were. Harry motioned for her to sit between him and Ron. She now wished she were wearing something a bit more attractive than her baggy, red tee shirt and old blue jeans.

"So," said Ron impatiently, "How was it?"

"Fine," she replied calmly.

"'Fine'?" Harry repeated, green eyes wide. "You go to Malfoy's house to clean and you say it was 'fine'?"

"Well the village was a bit shifty but-"

"Hold on," it was Hermione's turn to interrupt. "You went to his village?"

"Malfoy has a village?" said Ron, very confused.

"He had an ancestor, Edridus Malfoy, he founded the village Edrid's Block and built Malfoy Manor. So you have to go through the village before you get to his house," Ginny explained while the three dawned looks of realization.

"So did you see Lucius' dead corpse? Was it bloody?" Ron was on the edge of his seat.

"Ron," Hermione said sternly, "An overpowered stunning spell would not cause you to bleed and I doubt that they would keep the body there. Did they?"

"No body," replied Ginny calmly.

"Was his house big?" asked Harry sounding like a five-year-old, a horribly cute five-year-old.

"Huge! Four floors including the dungeons, it was gigantic!"

"So what else happened?" said Ron suspiciously.

Ginny told them all about what happened, only leaving out the parts where Ginny found out if she touched certain object she could see the past.

***

The next day she came downstairs for breakfast a little later than usual.

"Oh!" Draco was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "I was looking for you. Are you coming?"

"Coming where?" Ginny yawned.

"To clean out the Manor."

"Oh," said Ginny. "Not today."

She was planning on reading the Diary today, also she wasn't to thrilled on seeing anymore of anyone's memories today.

"Why? Too busy pining over perfect Potter?" he suddenly sneered.

"What?"

"You heard me. Now why don't you get it? Potter's got his girl, and once he's done with Granger there's just going to be another just like her, who will not, in a million years, be you!"

Ginny could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"So do yourself a favor, Weasley, and stop trying to get something you can't!"

And with that Malfoy stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him, leaving Ginny standing there in tears.