Come On Harry

Chapter 10: The Silver Necklace

Harry had goose bumps crawling up his arms and a chill running out to the ends of his hairs. He curled up his legs, tucked his chin under his shirt and reached over to wrap his arms around Ginny.

Her skin was unusually resilient and soft, and Harry felt as if he was hugging a cold pillow. He blinked his eyes open and realized that he was, in fact, hugging a cold pillow. Immediately, Harry jerked up, grasping for his glasses on the nightstand and thrusting them on.

He was alone. Oh god, he thought to himself, pressing his hands to his face roughly, then rubbing his eyes under his glasses. I was so bad. Probably the worst she's ever had.

Hopping out of bed, the fierce frost of the air very suddenly and unwelcomingly hit him. "Fuck, it's cold!" he yelped, searching around the room for a shield from the bitter air. When he found none except the bulky blanket, he grabbed for his wand on the nightstand and put a heating charm on his T-shirt.

His boxers were doing nothing to fight the cold on his legs so he swept down to grab his trousers from the ground. He placed his wand in between his teeth for a moment as he pulled his trousers up around his waist and zipped them back up with shaky fingers. Pulling his wand out of his mouth as if it were a cigarette, he made his way out of the room, unsure of what he would say to Ginny when he found her - if he found her. How did one apologize for a poor performance?

The hallway was darker than he'd remembered, and as he strolled down, he let his right shoulder graze the wall. He crept down the stairs and noted that the room Professor Lupin had earlier occupied was now deserted and pitch-black. The living room, in which he had kissed Ginny, was also wickedly dark, and Harry found himself looking away from all corners, trying not to imagine the number of creatures that could be hidden in them. He marched back up the stairs more hastily then he would have admitted to anyone, before quickly passing by the kitchen to perform a cursory check for his missing girlfriend.

Harry considered the possibility, now outside what was originally supposed to be his and Ron's room, that Ginny had gone to spend the night with Ron and Hermione. His hand was hesitant as it turned the doorknob slowly, praying he wouldn't catch his two best friends in the middle of something, and at the same time, hoping he would.

But the two of them were sound asleep when he walked in, Hermione cuddled in Ron's arms, her face buried in his chest, his cheek resting against the top of her head peacefully. Harry's breath caught for a moment, and he just stared at the beautiful sight before him.

After a minute, he walked back out into the hallway and closed the door, certain that Ginny had not been in there. He was starting to worry. Perhaps she really didn't want him to find her. Maybe she'd gone to the Burrow... she couldn't be with Professor Lupin, could she?

Harry had noticed his former professor eyeing his girlfriend, but it didn't mean anything, he'd reasoned, because most men eyed his girlfriend. It drove him mad, but he couldn't help but feel proud at the same time that out of all those men, Ginny had picked him. Well, him and Malfoy... And yet, perhaps now she had changed her mind. Oh, what had he done? He shouldn't have touched her at all.

But just to put a rest to his overactive imagination, Harry told himself, he walked down the hallway to Professor Lupin's room. Harry's hand trembled violently as he held it out to the doorknob. When he felt the cold metal, he immediately drew his hand back. What was he doing? Ginny wouldn't be sleeping with Professor Lupin; that would be absurd.

Nevertheless, Harry inched the door open and stepped into the room which was darker than any other room had appeared so far. There were cobwebs and other such things hanging from the ceiling, and Harry gulped so loudly he thought he might wake up the entire house.

In the center of the room, there was a sleeping body in bed, breathing in and out. Harry moved closer for a reason he wasn't sure of. He knelt down beside the body, which he could only assume was Lupin, but... was that Malfoy?

No, it wasn't. Lupin's nose was softer, his hair and skin both darker, but the resemblance in the lack of light was certainly uncanny.

Harry backed up immediately, almost flying out the door and shutting it behind him. He exhaled slowly and resolved that Ginny had gone back to the Burrow.

He slapped his forehead. Why had he screwed up like this with Ginny? And why the bloody hell had the sleeping form of his ex-professor turned him on?

Harry crept back to Ron's room and careful not to look at his two best friends this time lest he gawk for another few minutes, he swiftly reached into his trunk for a jumper. His fingers touched the cold cloth on top, reminding him of another cloak that could prove very useful. He grabbed that too and began to run back out.

"Harry?"

Harry stopped and looked back towards the bed, watching Ron's eyes blink open.

"Just cold, mate," Harry explained gently, holding up the jumper, but careful to hide the cloak behind his back. "Go back to sleep."

Ron closed his eyes with an endearing grin and rested his cheek against Hermione's head again.

Harry shut the door behind him and let out a sigh of relief. He shoved on the jumper, threw on the cloak, lifted his wand and with a soft 'pop', he was gone.

***

She thought she might faint. Floor to ceiling was covered in books, and everything looked the same. There was no discernible way out, no door that she could see...

The books were in no order that she could make out. A book entitled Ancient Grammatica sat next to a much thinner blue book about flowers and presumably their uses in potions and other such things.

Ginny sighed. Perhaps if she waited long enough, she would find a way out or think of another plan. She opened the silver pendant for the second time that evening, wondering if touching the key inside would bring her back to where she started. She crossed her fingers for a moment before bracing herself for the worst and touching it again.

She blinked her eyes open and found herself watching the same shelves of books.

Ginny groaned and decided to sit on a conveniently placed chair in the middle of the room. She swung her legs over the side and waited. For what, she did not know.

Her eyelids began to feel heavy. It was the middle of the night, after all, and she'd hardly gotten any sleep. Her wariness of her surroundings told her to keep her eyes open and to stay alert, but before she knew it, her eyes had closed.

Moments later, there was a loud bang and a few stony footsteps. Then a low cold voice dripping with sarcasm drawled, "I see Christmas has come a few days early this year."

At the sudden cold voice, Ginny fell out of her chair with a bang and opened her eyes to find two shiny black boots in front of her nose. She lifted her head fearfully, knowing full well who she would see.

His silvery blonde hair was just as long as she last remembered and bound back so that it was out of his way. His robes were dark, but not entirely black. She wasn't sure what colour they were, but she couldn't exactly think straight as she met his cold gray eyes which looked just like those of his son.

She got to her feet quickly, wondering at once if he'd known that she was here or if he'd just stumbled upon her. She wondered briefly if Lucius Malfoy could just 'stumble' upon anyone.

"No one can enter the library without my knowledge," he said authoritatively, answering the question she hadn't asked aloud.

Why had Draco given her a portkey to this room? Had he known it would take her here? Did he want his father to discover her?

"Did my charming son give you a portkey? There's no possible way that you could have apparated here." He neared her and stuck a gloved hand beneath her chin to raise it. It was cool against her suddenly hot skin. "Besides, you're too young to apparate, aren't you?"

"Yuh - yes." Ginny heard her own voice come out in a panic, squeaking in a painfully embarrassing way. She stared up into the man's eyes, trying not to see Draco in them. "He did. He said it would take me to him."

"Smart boy," Lucius chuckled, releasing her chin and stepping back. "Before Halloween, he'd have been right."

"Where is he?" Ginny asked, though she wasn't sure how she'd gotten the courage. Her palms were beginning to sweat.

Lucius neared the desk, ambling slowly. He put both gloved hands on the desk and leaned against it regally. "Do you honestly believe that I would willingly direct you, a Weasley brat, to my only son?"

Ginny watched the older man's face. She'd seen it one too many times in the past half a year for her liking. Lucius Malfoy was no stranger to her. His features were pointed, just like Draco's, but his skin was a bit darker and worn, and his cheekbones were not as protuberant. "Yes," she finally replied. "You've known about Draco and me for a long time, and yet you've never done anything to stop it."

"Stopping a lascivious seventeen year old boy from bedding whom he pleases is hardly an easy matter."

"You could have done it if you'd really wanted to." Her eyes attempted to be piercing, but Lucius Malfoy was not intimidated.

He stepped forward away from the desk and held out a gloved hand towards the wall. "Come, Ginevra," he said, ignoring her last statement. "I will show you something that you might find interesting."

Ginny drew back, her eyes wide with shock and disgust, as if he'd just shown her something vile. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Last time I followed you somewhere, you tried to kill me!"

Lucius Malfoy shook his head with some amusement. "No, it was not an attempt at your life. It was something far more important more than that. Unfortunately, due to your stubborn Weasley nature and your incessant kicking, I failed to obliviate your memory for that night. I was, however, able to switch the special transportation device that my son gave you in that silver pendant with a portkey to this very room without you realizing what I was doing." He looked towards her as if he expected her to applaud him for his brilliance.

Ginny gasped, but did not move to follow.

Mr. Malfoy continued on. "Not obliviating you proved to be not quite as fatal as I'd originally thought, however, because you didn't tell a soul. I've been quite curious about this for some time, in fact. Why, pray tell, didn't you tell anyone?"

The redhead continued to back away, rubbing her arms fiercely as if it were the key to escaping. "I thought you were trying to kill me because you didn't want Draco and me to be together. That really only involves Draco and myself. So the only person I would have told was him. But he either wouldn't have believed me or he would have gotten terribly angry with me for even talking about you."

"Smart boy," Lucius repeated.

"But now I realize..." Ginny trailed off, staring down at her nightdress and bare ankles.

The tall man ignored her and searched the bookshelf in front of him until he came to a certain green book. Ginny didn't have time to read the title before he pointed his wand at it, muttered something she couldn't hear, and the wall moved forward and then to the side, revealing a dark passageway.

Lucius turned back to her. "Come."

"Where does it lead?" Ginny asked cautiously.

"If you follow me, you're more than likely to find out." He ducked his head to enter the passageway. A few seconds later he turned around to find that Ginny hadn't moved from her position in the center of the room. "You can't get out any other way," he added.

Lucius turned back around and started to make his way down the passageway. Ginny inhaled deeply and then sighed. There was no other way... She picked up her feet and followed him into the darkness.

***

"Do you deny these allegations, Malfoy?" Kingsley asked, his face tense from the pale boy's unpredictable response. He almost felt sorry for Draco and Theodore. They were young; they didn't know what they were doing.

Then again, this was a Malfoy in front of him. He'd known what he was going to do well before he was even conceived.

Draco Malfoy looked down towards his bound hands. He'd been here for too long and if he didn't leave soon, he'd start becoming nasty and then he'd have even less of a chance to escape. "What allegations specifically?" he asked.

"You helped plan an attack on Harry Potter with Macnair and were going to carry out that plan tonight," Kingsley restated.

"And what kind of an attack did Theo say we planned?"

"In short, an attack enough to get Harry unconscious so that you could hold him captive and bring him to your father, whom we all know is the right hand of Voldemort. Do you deny any of this?"

There was a long silence, in which Draco considered saying many things: insults, pleads, jokes... Instead he simply replied, "Yes."

"Explain."

"If the plan that you suggested had indeed worked and we were holding Potter captive right now, I can assure you that I would not take him to my father." He looked away bitterly, as if the thought thoroughly disgusted him.

"And why is that?" Kingsley asked in what appeared to be a genuinely interested way.

"That's simple. I don't work for my father."

"Who do you work for, then?"

"Not my father," Draco repeated, exhaling slowly.

"Voldemort?"

Draco looked at his bound hands again in complete misery. If only he could reach into his pocket... But it was no use. "I work for Macnair. So does Theo. We don't work for anyone else."

"Yes, but Macnair works for Voldemort."

Draco repeated angrily, "We don't work for anyone else."

The hostility did not affect Kingsley. "Just what were you hoping to accomplish by taking Harry captive then?" he asked.

Draco didn't answer. Kingsley repeated the question, and this time the young blonde boy looked away to the corner of the room. Kingsley stood up from the desk, sighing and clearly frustrated. He said, "I'll be back," and left the shack.

***

Harry apparated as close to the Burrow as he could manage due to the wards that Dumbledore had set up the week before. He ran to the house, aware of his growing fatigue and shaky breathe.

Thanks to Ron he knew the charm to open the front door, so he muttered it quickly and ran inside, still invisible under his cloak.

Ginny's room was empty, as was Ron's, the kitchen, the living room, and well...there wasn't anywhere else to check except the other bedrooms. But he wasn't about to wake any of the other Weasleys. Then again, perhaps, if Ginny really was missing, it would be a good idea.

But...Ginny missing? The only other time she'd gone missing was when she'd been held captive in the Chamber of Secrets...and then when she'd run off into the Forbidden Forest a few months ago.

Harry's heart started to beat quickly now. He ran back outside and watched from afar as a dark wizard wrapped in heavy robes marched across the backyard towards two small shacks and entered one of them. Harry knew right away that it must have been Kingsley.

Dumbledore had told him in confidence that there would be guards around the Burrow just in case anything happened. He hadn't told Harry straight out that there was an attack planned, but Harry knew there must have been something treacherous going on for the headmaster to become as worried as he had appeared the few days after Harry had woken up.

Harry flew across the yard, examined both tiny shacks, and opened the one that Kingsley had not gone into. The door creaked, causing Harry to jump a bit, and when he turned to survey the room, he almost couldn't see because it was so dark. There was a large desk taking up most of the space and behind that there was... Harry gasped.

Malfoy's head flew up. "Who's there?" he asked, warily. His eyes darted around the shack from his bound position in the chair. "I heard you. Don't fucking play games with me."

Harry realized tears were going to fall from his eyes, so he slid off the invisibility cloak and stared ahead.

Malfoy's eyes flickered with an emotion that Harry could not place. Malfoy seemed... afraid. "I see Christmas has come a few days early this year," he said in an indescribable way, his eyes focused on Harry's face unblinkingly.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Harry asked at once. "Who did this to you?"

"He said his name was Kingsley Shacklebolt," Malfoy answered truthfully.

Harry couldn't move. "Kingsley? He tied you up? But... why?"

The blonde boy shook his head with disappointment. "Well, don't rush to rescue me, darling."

Harry stepped forward and clawed at the binds on Draco's hands and feet. He began to explain: "Sorry, I - "

"Although," Draco interrupted, "I appreciate you saving my name. You have no sodding idea what it was like - "

This time Harry was the one to interrupt. "Oh, don't I?" His hands stopped for a moment. "I think I, of all people, would know what it's like. Considering how no one believed me when Voldemort came back, and even second year, when everyone thought I was the heir of Slytherin... Trust me, I know what it's like."

"Okay, okay. You know what it's like. Now can you just finish unti - "

"And you weren't the one who was unconscious for four days, you selfish git!" Harry was squeezing Malfoy's shoulders, and rocking him back and forth. "Here, I am rescuing you from Merlin-knows-what, and you're not the least bit grateful. I haven't heard a single 'Thank you, Harry' or a - "

Draco did his best to lean forward and kiss Harry, but he only reached the other boy's cheek. "Thank you. Now can you untie me?"

"First tell me what you're doing here."

Malfoy looked at his bound hands and at Harry's perfectly capable hands in front of him. "Come on, Harry, are you serious?"

The Gryffindor's face was stone. "More than."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and said quickly, "I came for Ginny. Kinglsey Shacklebolt thought I was trying to attack you... and so he tied me up. End of story."

Harry didn't fall for it. "What do you mean you came for Ginny?"

Malfoy was desperate. "Can't a man visit his love?"

"You're not a man."

Silence. "Thanks, Potter."

"I mean, you're not just any man. You're Draco Malfoy."

"Oh really? I wasn't aware."

"You wouldn't have come to the Burrow unless it was something really important," Harry stated knowingly.

"Sex is important, Potter."

Harry ignored him and repeated, "Why did you come?"

Malfoy yelled, "No sodding reason!" His eyes wandered down to his bound hands again. "Can't you just please untie me now before the man comes back and performs more torture on me?"

Harry backed up. "He tortured you?"

"Mentally. Slightly. Okay not really, don't look at me like that."

"Promise me something," Harry said.

"Gryffindors and their bloody promises..."

"Promise me that if I untie you, you will tell me the real reason you are here."

Draco looked away and was silent for a moment. "Okay," he finally said quietly.

A moment later, Harry clasped the other boy's wrist and led him out of the shack under the cloak. "Where are you taking me?" Malfoy asked, trying not to sound terrified.

"You're going to help me find Ginny," Harry answered, looking towards the house.

"Where is she?" Draco asked immediately.

Harry paused to stare behind him at the other boy. "If I knew, why would I need you to help me find her?"

Malfoy put a hand up to his own chest and said as innocently as possible, "And why would I know where she is?"

"Because you're Draco Malfoy," Harry replied, now almost at the back of the house.

"That seems to be the reason for everything. However, I can't help being so charming and aristocratic and well... so Malfoy." He smirked. "I mean, not everyone can learn Latin at the precocious age of two and defend his or her view on Mudbloods and other such disgusting creatures with just a raise of his or her eyebrow, can he or she?"

"Malfoy," Harry remarked, tightening his grip on the other's wrist, "shut up."

"Hey, those are my principles and if you don't like them... well, I have others."

"I don't want to know," replied Harry, who was leaning against the back door.

Draco grinned slightly. "Okay. So when and where did you last see Ginny?"

The Gryffindor started to blush. "Well, we were... sleeping. In a bed. Just sleeping, you know. Er..."

Malfoy covered his mouth with his hands in an exaggerated display of shock. "You had sex, didn't you, Potter? Holy Merlin."

"Shut up."

"So how was it? How long did you last? Did she like it?"

"I said shut up."

Malfoy was laughing. "Didn't go well, did it?"

Harry wanted to punch the Slytherin, but instead he kept his calm. "I saw her a few hours ago, I supposed. We were at Grimm - I mean, well, we weren't at the Burrow, but she might have come back here."

The blonde boy raised his eyebrows. "Where were you?" He neared the other boy as the wind blew on his ankles.

Harry attempted to look away. "It's not important."

"Well, was it down the street or was it in China? It makes a bit of a difference, if you see what I mean," the other boy replied, crossing his arms.

"I can't tell you."

"Fuck you, Potter. How do you expect me to tell you what I'm doing here if you won't even tell me where you last saw Ginny?"

"I saved you. And you promised me," Harry replied, poking the other boy in the chest.

Draco pushed Harry's finger away. "I'm a sodding Slytherin, Potter. I don't keep promises. You should know that by now."

***

The 'special chamber', as he had described it to the house elf, was dim and humid. Ginny felt sticky and more than inappropriate in her purple nightgown, following her boyfriend's father, a man whom she wished she would never have to see again.

The chamber was vast, and Lucius Malfoy stopped right in front of a golden desk and a tall wooden chair. "Sit," he said simply, looking towards the chair and then towards his redheaded guest.

"No, I'll stand," she replied, her voice low.

Lucius looked appalled. "Do as I say, Weasley."

With hesitation, Ginny reached the seat and set her bottom onto it. She stared up at Lucius expectantly.

As if just noticing her for the first time, he remarked, "What a delightful outfit."

She crossed her arms from her sitting position, her body beginning to feel sticky. "Well it is the middle of the night."

"Ah yes. That appears to be true," he replied with a chuckle. Then his tone grew serious, "So why, might I ask, did you decide to use the portkey at this hour?"

Ginny changed the position of her legs so that she was facing him directly and smiled sweetly. "I didn't use it this hour, I used it the last."

He ignored her comment and repeated, "Why, Weasley?"

"I thought Draco was in danger."

Lucius leaned back on the golden desk, staring at Ginny as if hoping to take all of her in at once. "And what gave you that brilliant thought?"

"It was something that Pro - " She stopped immediately and changed her mind. "Intuition, I suppose."

The tall blonde man laughed. "I can assure you that Draco is perfectly safe at the moment. Besides, Weasleys don't have intuition. They have children. And I certainly don't want you to have my son's children." He shuddered at the thought. "So I thought it might be a good idea if I disposed of you now. Since I've used you to your full potential, and by now, you know so much that it's ridiculous."

He pointed his wand at Ginny, and chains began to snake out of the chair onto her wrists.

Ginny gulped. Fear passed through her body like a shockwave. "You used me?" she asked, with whatever voice she had left.

"Why yes. To get to Harry Potter, of course," he remarked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Realization came over Ginny while staring at the tall man. "You!" she suddenly shouted. "You made Harry collapse all those times, didn't you? You created the silver light that night, and something in it made Harry faint." Lucius was smiling now, and Ginny was shaking violently, terrified and in a rage. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh Weasley, you're asking the entirely wrong question," he mocked, giving her a delightfully wicked grin. "You should be asking, 'what did you do to Harry?'"

His words failed to penetrate her. "What? What do you mean?"

"Your relationship with my son was slowly killing Harry. The more you wore that necklace that Draco gave you while in close proximity with Potter, the wearier the young Gryffindor became. The greatest trick of it all was that once he was around you, he'd get his dose of the 'medicine', we shall call it, and then only when he left you would the effects take place. So, really Weasley, you were killing Harry."

Ginny's wide eyes contracted once he began to stare at her again. She attempted to move her hands in the chains, but they wouldn't budge. "Killing?" she asked. "This is going to kill him?"

"Was going to kill him, my dear. But yes. That part, I suppose, he did all on his own. He would only collapse during periods of heightened emotions. Anxiety, mostly. Each collapse was longer than the next. Eventually, he'd sleep forever."

"But his second collapse was shorter than the first!" Ginny countered.

Lucius shifted his weight back into his feet and moved forward. "Yes, well, it must not have been as strong of an emotion."

Ginny interrupted him. "But why isn't he going to die anymore?"

"I didn't say that. Potter is most certainly going to die. It's just not the necklace that will be killing him anymore, seeing as how you are going to be dead quite soon and then there will be no one to wear it. Besides, we don't need the necklace anymore, because my son, as I have been led to believe, has extremely close relations with the unfortunate Gryffindor." Lucius paused, and then said with a wicked grin, "Yes, Potter is most certainly going to die."