Labelled Caustic

Chp 15: Regaining Composure

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Draco woke up with a pounding headache and he squinted as his eyes opened to look around, adjusting to the brightness of the room. The window behind him was wide open and the sunlight was leeched into every single corner of the room and the glow it cast on his mother who was looking away at the moment, made her look like an angel.

He tried to say something but his throat felt so dry and parched. He cleared his throat and his mother stirred and a smile grew on her face.

Narcissa got up from where she was sitting and sat beside him, as she conjured up a glass of water to quench his thirst.

He sat up in his bed and took the glass with shaky hands and drank it all up. Not one drop was left and he felt the cool liquid flow through like honey and soothe his throat. His mother took the empty glass and set it on the table beside him. Draco finally found his voice, "St. Mungo´s I presume?"

It came out scratchy and he frowned. Narcissa just looked at him and gave him a small smile, "Yes darling, yo- you almost died and we feared that your body would not stabilize, but you did! I almost thought I lost you there..." she trailed off and then stifling back a sniffle she swallowed and continued. "You´ve been out for a week."

Draco studied the creases in his sheets for a moment before he swallowed and asked, "How are the rest doing? They are alright aren´t they?"

Narcissa smiled, "Yes dear, all of them are fine," adding softly "she´s fine."

Draco scoffed and studied the ring that was on his hand. He could almost feel her presence around it. He breathed in and found his mother staring at him and he gave her a questioning look.

"She means a lot to you doesn´t she? For you to have given her the family ring?"

Draco exhaled noisily and sank back into his pillows. Tired and restless he said nothing or gave no affirmation, leaving them in contemplative silence. Watching him, she watched as he closed his eyes and opened them to look at the ceiling before giving a very tiny nod. If you blinked you could have missed it. His mother then took hold of his hand and they stayed that way until there was a knock on the door.

It was Dumbledore.

As always the twinkle in his eyes was present and he wore a great smile that sat beneath his long white beard. He greeted both of them and stood just in front of Draco´s bed.

"Narcissa you must be extremely happy, You´ve been cleared of all charges by the Ministry and your son has helped defeat Voldemort," Narcissa was positively beaming with pride but Draco's sullen face showed no sign of happiness what so ever.

" Draco," Dumbledore started once more softly, "I must tell you that for the rest of your sixth year you won´t be attending Hogwarts. You´ll be staying in Professor Snape´s place with his utmost generosity and so will your mother. The Aurors have made it clear that things are still not safe just yet. For you in particular."

Draco looked at him and knew why. Death Eaters probably were going around, knowing that he was the one that led to the downfall of their master. They would hurt if not kill him if they could. With death eater children that might be in school it would be easy to hurt Draco and make it look like it was just an accident. The Malfoy name would not be the same anymore. He was still filthy rich but it just wouldn´t be the same.

Then the thought of not being able to see Ginny made him feel sick. The thought that he just wanted to apologise to her for all the things that were done to her and that he might not be able to do it caused a pang of remorse to waver through his body. Once again his hand brushed through his golden mop and he grit his teeth.

He whispered an apology to his mother and a salutation to Dumbledore before sliding under the covers and letting his pounding headache drive lethargy over him.

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Ginny woke up from her sleep in a cold sweat. She had had a nightmare. She looked around her room in The Burrow and cuddled up in her blanket trying to get herself settled. Nobody else was home except her parents. Ron, Harry and Hermione were already at Hogwarts while Ginny took a bit longer to recuperate at home.

It was a bit hard to recuperate though as she had been having nightmares the minute she had been able to go home. Her stay at St. Mungo´s was only a days worth and they had placed several charms and healing spells on her from her whole ordeal.

She couldn´t take it. Every night her dream had consisted of Lucius and the other death eaters pouncing on her again, beating and whipping her till she was merely a bloody heap and at the end she kept seeing Draco just die. Narcissa had visited her while she was there and told her that Draco was still alive and doing well. Ginny had merely nodded at the information and turned away. It still hurt to think of everything even though she loved him so much.

She was being tormented by his father. Even while he was dead he still managed to make her suffer. He truly had gotten it down to an art form. Ginny pulled herself in a fetal position and hoped that Draco was doing alright and that he was awake. She wondered what he was thinking about and a tear managed to escape from her. Ginny took a deep breath and tried to go back to sleep.

Then a knock registered on her door, she rubbed her eyes clear of tears and cleared her throat before summoning the person in. Odd though, usually her parents wouldn´t bother to knock before coming in if they were checking up on her this late.

"Ron! What are you doing back here? You´re supposed to be at Hogwarts," she croaked out, immediately sitting up and spilling the covers.

"A nice, Hi Ron, nice of you to visit me, good to see you, would have sufficed you know," he grumbled while he messed up her flaming hair. He sat on the edge of her bed next to her and they gave each other a very long hug and stayed that way.

"I´m sorry Ginny. Everything, this is all my fault. Well mostly that bugger Malfoy´s fault but mine to," he whispered into her ear.

She shook her head violently and frowned when she pulled away from him. "Don´t say that. Please just don´t start this. It wasn´t any one´s doing except Voldemort´s. I just can´t..." she stumbled, willing herself not to cry. Her hand sub consciously tried to soothe her furrowed brow. Ron rubbed her back and just waited for her to talk it all out, like she always did. She gave a sniffle and he could feel her tears seep into his shirt. Her shoulders convulsed with her sobs and he just held her for all it was worth.

They just stayed there for what seemed like hours and Ron just laid his head on hers as he tried to soothe her sobs. He watched the stars twinkle in the distance and thought it would be lovely to be outside. Feel the fresh air, well fresh really cold air. He felt Ginny give a sigh and she got up, sensing his thoughts. "Shall we sit on the roof then?" Ginny looked over to her lanky brother and in the dark she saw and unmistakable grin form on his face.

They grabbed their thick robes and pulled them on hurriedly before getting out to the roof. Ron conjured up a two mugs of hot chocolate, which kept refilling itself. They sat there in silence just enjoying the wind, which bit and stung at their faces leaving them flushed.

Then Ginny started talking and Ron kept his lid quiet. He listened as she described every detail and the ache he felt in his heart grew steady. He was rather amazed at how strong she could be sometimes and knew that she could handle herself well. They talked and talked until the suns rays peeped out in the horizon and cast a pink tint over the sky.

"I love him Ron. I just hope he´s alright. I couldn´t bear it if..." she stopped right there and exhaled noisily and a bittersweet smile took over. She gave Ron a look and he gave her a big smile for reassurance and pulled her in close. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and settled her head in his shoulder.

"He´s fine Gin. You and your ferret will be snogging around school before you know it. Not that I´d like it!" he joked. He got a swat on his arm for that but he saw the mischievous glint in her eye and a grin replace the smile on her face. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes knowing that she wouldn´t have nightmares. At least for today.

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The nightmares had not stopped completely by the time she was ready to go back to the school but it had decreased significantly enough. She stood in front of the fireplace while her mother hurried around for some last minute things, deep in thought. She missed Draco badly and now and then she kept reaching up to touch her pendant that wasn´t there anymore.

Finally her mother was ready and they both set off to King´s Cross, by port key. Her father had gotten one for them since Ginny still couldn´t Apparate yet and they weren´t very fond of muggle transportation. He found some old muggle magazine and gotten some one in the Ministry to turn it into one. Ginny opened the magazine and let out a disgusted snort, "Sports magazine my ass."

It was filled with scantily clad women. It was just as bad as some of the Playwizards she had stumbled onto in Fred and George's room one summer.

It wasn't her most favourite way to travel since that stunt Draco pulled, but it would have to make do. She felt the familiar tug when the clock chimed. In a few seconds flat they were standing in a very secluded area at King's Cross. Ginny felt the familiar snaking feeling, she had been having the past few weeks, sweep through her when she was about to have a panic attack but she stifled it down and looked at her mother who had a broad smile for her. She returned the smile and felt the feeling slowly fade away a bit. Mrs. Weasley took the magazine and stuffed it into her huge purse and then they set off for platform nine and three quarters. Usually the Hogwarts express would be there but since it wasn´t scheduled for a trip, there was another train that would take them there. It was an electric blue train that stood out quite brightly. Ginny hopped onto the train with her mother and slipped into a quiet compartment and settled down into the comfortable seat. Before the train could even move though Ginny fell asleep, for once without waking up, all the way to Hogsmeade.

When they had finally arrived there, they gathered Ginny's trunk and walked up to the road that led to Hogwarts. Mother and daughter then waited for a few minutes and then saw their carriage coming toward them to bring them to Hogwarts. Together they passed the relatively short journey with playful banter back and forth and before they knew it they reached the majestic doors of the castle. Ginny took a long look and suddenly felt nervous. Once again, she had gotten into trouble. First the Chamber of Secrets and now this? She wouldn´t be able to take all the whispering behind her back and questions.

She blew air through her teeth and shook her head. She would be fine.

They walked along the corridors in silence while some students, like Ginny thought they would, started whispering when they saw her. They couldn´t help it. Mrs. Weasley failed to notice this and walked her to the Gryffindor common room and gave her a big hug before letting her go before proceeding to talk to Professor McGonagall.

When the dream team saw that she was back and looking none too awful, they beamed and ran to hug her. Ginny heaved a great big sigh and hugged Harry and Hermione and an especially rib crunching one to Ron, who pretended to be embarrassed.

Her mother then came over to them and gave them another round of hugs before she left through the portrait hole with professor McGonagall behind her.

They all went over to sit by the fireplace and relaxed. Ginny though had other things on her mind.

"Have you seen Draco around?" she finally asked.

"Gin, Draco isn´t in Hogwarts. He won´t be back until we start our new year," Ron said quietly while Harry and Hermione just looked at her with concern. He thought it best that he was the one to tell her.

All she could get out was an "Oh," before fleeing to her dorm room. Hermione stood up and wanted to console her when Ron pushed her back down and told her to leave Ginny alone for a while and that she´ll be alright. Hermione gave him a look but was placated by Harry.

Ginny tried to get back into her little prison by drawing the curtains of her canopy bed. She sank into the comfortably warm sheets and stared at the ceiling as usual. She thought that at least with Draco around things would be easier to handle and now he wasn´t even here. Her mind kept throwing ridiculous comments about him and possible outcomes of the whole situation. She let out another sigh at having to face everybody tomorrow when her classes resumed for her. Ginny suddenly felt so overwhelmed by everything that she cried herself to sleep with her nightmares hounding her.

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