Grey Clouds

The stony silence in the room was deafening. The five wizards from the Ministry stood paralyzed, facing the blonde boy who stood in front of them. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Draco, including Ginny's; each held an expression of confusion, except Charlie. Charlie was the only one whose head was bowed down, his face red enough to emulate his hair. Draco's pale eyes that once contained mischief and love now contained surrender and fatigue. He was tired, tired of these lies, tired of this deception, tired of life.
He took a step forward and his face caught a hint of light under the dim morning sun.

"Mr. Malfoy?" asked the stocky wizard.

The five men were now transfixed at the man who oversaw every important procedure in International Magical Cooperation. "Sir..." the tall wizard began fearfully. "We didn't see you...what are you doing here?"

Draco didn't answer him but instead looked at Ginny. He gave her a small nod and then turned back to face the fate that he had evaded too many times now. "I need to say something."

"Of course, sir...what is it?"

"That letter...the one about getting the key to vault 675, you're missing part of it," Draco began slowly.

"I beg your pardon?" one of the wizards asked.

"There was an envelope with it," Charlie said softly. He turned to look at Draco, who nodded somberly, an indication that it was time to reveal everything.

Charlie reached into the coat pocket once more and this time produced a white envelope with a raised seal on it. He handed the envelope to the tall wizard, who examined it carefully, his beady eyes scanning each inch of the paper. Then he turned it over and read the other side, his eyes widening with horror.

"What does it say?" Ron asked roughly.

The tall man ignored him and addressed Draco. "Sir...this...it's addressed to you?!"

Draco looked away. He couldn't bear the thought of looking at Ginny's expression. The hurt, the contempt, the hatred. Mr. Weasley looked over at Draco and squinted slightly, as if trying to see the real man hidden beneath the mannequin.

"That letter was sent to me," Draco said after a while. "I was supposed to find the key to vault 675."

"And you succeeded..." Mrs. Weasley gasped, her eyes welling up again. "That dinner at the Green Emerald...my lord...the key being missing..." She couldn't withstand all this new information and so she had to lean against a wall for support.

"What dinner?" Bill asked.

"Draco sent your mother and me for a dinner at the Green Emerald," said Mr. Weasley coldly, obviously fully understanding the situation.

Ron lunged forward at Draco, but Charlie restrained him. "No, Ron!" Mr. Weasley said firmly. "I want to hear this."

Draco looked around at all the Weasleys, who seemed to be ready to plunge forward with their wands and poke his eyes out. All accept Ginny. She was the only person in the room who hadn't had any reaction. Her eyes were transfixed, and her face contained a hybrid of shock and pain.

"Before I explain any further," Draco said, unable to contain his pleading voice. "I need you all to know that whatever happened during this visit was unintentional. I didn't plan this at all. This task had nothing to do with what I said and felt during this visit..."

Ginny knew that Draco was referring to her. His voice was somber and serious, and Ginny just wanted to run away right now. However, she couldn't. She forced herself to stand, painfully watching the man she loved betray her in front of her eyes.

"Of course you bloody planned this," George hissed menacingly.

"George," Mr. Weasley said slowly, indicating that he wanted to hear the rest of Draco's explanation.

"I...I did get the key..." Draco stammered, now sweating.

"Mr. Malfoy," interjected one of the ministry wizards. "Who was that letter from?"

"It's not important. What's important is that Arthur Weasley is innocent. I was sent to retrieve the key to Gringotts..." Draco choked a little and continued. "So the money stolen from the Ministry could be placed in his vault and he would take the blame for it. Let him go."

"Sir...we cannot let him go unless we have actual evidence."

A large vein was popping on Draco's neck, and Ginny could tell that he was on the verge of exploding. "You have the letter. You have the envelope with my name on it. YOU HAVE MY BLOODY CONFESSION!"

"Mr. Malfoy...please...sir..."

"Maximus..." Everyone turned and saw the stocky man who had just spoken to the tall one. "Maximus," he repeated. "We have enough evidence to let the man go."

The tall man turned and spoke to the stocky man. "We were given strict orders..." He became quiet after he witnessed the look on the stocky man's face and then turned back to Arthur Weasley. With one wave of his wand, the ropes untied rapidly and fell to the floor. Mrs. Weasley dashed over and hugged her husband, while the rest of the family went over to him too. Only Ginny was left standing at the back of the room, staring at the only man she had ever loved. Draco glanced one last time in her direction and met her tearful eyes. He turned away quickly and walked towards the Ministry wizards, each step he took away from her pierced Ginny's heart.

The tall wizard didn't produce any ropes to tie Draco with but instead, guided him out the door. The four other wizards followed behind, and the last one to leave waved his wand one last time and the void in the wall disappeared. Ginny's vision was blurred with silent tears as she tried to glance over the heads of her family to see Draco, but he was gone. As the last of the wizards Apparated in front of the house, Ginny felt her heart shatter to pieces
***
"Speaking of stunning, you haven't said a word about how I look tonight, Draco Malfoy."

He smiled at her and drew her in close into his embrace. The cold winter night was trying its best to ruin this beautiful moment. The chilling winds, the freezing snow and the sultry darkness...but nothing could ruin this moment. Not now. Not ever.
"You look gorgeous," he whispered into her ear after they broke apart.

Ginny jolted awake in her bed and looked around. Her room was dark except for the thin streams of sunlight that had managed to sneak in through the dark curtains, dancing playfully around the walls. The painful silence told her what she feared: she was alone. Draco had been taken to the Ministry less than two hours ago, and no one had heard from him since.

Ginny got up and walked over to her cupboard, from which she drew out her diary. She took out a feather quill and started to write, her salty tears smearing the ink.

It's scattered across the moonlit skies,
Accompanied by heartfelt sighs.
It's drifting over the gentle rain,
A symbol of my silent pain.

It's buried beneath the meadow fair,
Conjoined with all the sorrow there.
It's lost among the stars this night,
Too far to ease my quiet fright.

No, gentle winds, seek not my heart,
For simply...it has torn apart.

Ginny closed her eyes and reread what she had just written. It was a confession of her pain, love and silence. She held it close to her heart and reminisced over the last few weeks that had been perfect.

After a few minutes in silence, a small pecking noise came from the window and it grew louder and more impatient. Ginny placed her diary on her bed and hurried over to the window, which she opened swiftly, letting the morning breeze hit her hard.
A small owl fluttered in through the window and perched itself on the banister. It was carrying a tiny scroll on its legs, which Ginny gently untied. She opened the letter and read the message. Three words. Three words that told her more than a thousand books could have. Three words that told her he was alright.

She read the letter again: I love you.
***

The day had passed in a stiff silence. In the evening, the family sat around the fireplace, each person absorbed in their own thoughts. Ginny sat on the floor beside Bill and was staring into the flickering orange flames that were emanating from the fireplace.
"Has anyone heard from the Ministry?" Charlie asked slowly.

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "There's been no news."

All of a sudden, the orange flames started to flicker loudly and turned green. A rather large head appeared through the green flames, the head of a man with graying hair and thick glasses.

"Amos?" Mrs. Weasley said, staring at the face of Amos Diggory.

"Molly, Arthur, did you guys get the word yet?" he asked frantically. "Rufus Scrimgeour has been sacked!"

Everyone in the room gasped and leaned in forward to listen more closely. "Sacked?" Mr. Weasley asked. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I just got the news. Apparently, he'd been planning to frame people for the embezzlement going on at the Ministry. He'd even got the Malfoy boy to help him..."

Ginny's heart skipped a beat. She prayed that Draco was alright as Mr. Diggory continued. "The boy turned against him at the last minute. He confessed this afternoon officially and Scrimgeour got booted out of office."

The room fell into a stony silence that was only broken after Bill decided to speak. "So, Mr. Diggory, why did Malfoy confess?"

"There's no news on that yet, Bill. All I know is that Malfoy was getting a transfer to Ministry in Italy in return for helping Scrimgeour."

"Isn't that where his mother's living?"

"Yeah," Mr. Diggory said. "Aurors didn't arrest him, though. They said that as long as he took his transfer papers and left for Italy, they wouldn't harm him."

"He's leaving?" Ginny gasped. Her heart began to pound wildly in her ears. She was losing control of her tears, but she had to contain them.

"I'm guessing so, my dear," Mr. Diggory said. "Listen, Arthur, I just dropped by to give you the news, but I'd better be on my way."

Mr. Diggory pulled back from the fireplace as a slight pop came from the kitchen. The entire family turned and saw Draco Malfoy standing in the back, his eyes as pale as ever and his head bent low.
***

Mr. Weasley rose from his chair and walked towards Draco, his eyes flaming. "What do you want?"

Draco turned and looked towards the side, unable to meet Mr. Weasley's eyes. "I need to ask for forgiveness," he said quietly.

"Forgiveness?" Mr. Weasley asked. "You already got that from us when you first stepped into this house a few weeks ago."

"I...I...don't understand."

"I am a man who believes in second chances," Mr. Weasley said, trying to make his voice sound steady. "I always believe that mistakes are made and they should be repented."

"I do regret it, Mr. Weasley," Draco said. "I didn't know Scrimgeour was going to use the key..."

"I don't care!" Mr. Weasley burst. "You knew that he wasn't going to do anything righteous with the key, and yet you still got it for him!"

"I admit I made a mistake!" Draco bellowed, his voice cracking. "I want a second chance to redeem myself!"

"I already gave you a second chance, Draco," Mr. Weasley said. "I may believe in forgiving people, but even I'm not foolish enough to play with fire once I've gotten burned twice."

"Mr. Weasley, your forgiveness is more important to me than you think."

"Malfoy, leave my house now. Leave my house before I do something I'll really regret."
Fred and George got up and held the door open for Draco, but he didn't budge. He looked past Mr. Weasley's shoulder at Ginny, who looked broken. Her eyes were red with tears and her face was drained of its entire color.

"I'm not letting this end here," Draco said firmly. "You need to know something about me and -"

"Malfoy! GET OUT!" Ron bellowed. "You've made fun of us because of the size of our family. See, the irony is that the family you've made fun of for all these years is now outnumbering you severely. Get out before you get hurt."

"I'm not leaving."

Ron pulled out his wand and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

A jet of light sped towards Malfoy, who raised his own wand and deflected the spell easily. "Lay off the petty spells, Weasley."

Ron darted forward, but Hermione restrained him. "Ron, no! This is between your father and him."

"It bloody well isn't!" Bill bellowed.

"He's been humiliating us for years...making fun of you too, Hermione!" Ron yelled. "It's time he really pays for what he did. No more first year dueling spells."

"Ron, just listen for once!" Hermione said, on the verge of tears. "Stop being rash for once and just hear what people have to say!"

Ron lowered his wand reluctantly and pulled back. He matched Draco's gaze and shot him a nasty look.

Mrs. Weasley then spoke for the first time that evening. "Why do you want our forgiveness?"

Draco closed his eyes and his face turned pale as he heard Mrs. Weasley's kind voice echo through his head. She continued somberly, "Why do you want to drag yourself through humiliation for our forgiveness? There must be some reason other than your own guilt."

Draco looked at the clever woman pensively. She was indeed very smart. Draco didn't know where to start with the explanation. "It's not that easy to understand," Draco began softly.

"Go ahead with it," Charlie said coldly.

"When I first got here, I guess you could've figured out that I wasn't very thrilled about coming here...But then I got to know you all, and I realized that even though your house is smaller and your rooms are more worn down, your family is more complete than my life is."

Ginny felt a tear slip from her eye as Draco continued. "I realized that all my family's money put together could not buy me the happiness that I felt here."

"You've past the point of flattery, Malfoy," Percy hissed. "If you have something important then get on with it."

"I...I...just don't know how to say it."

Ron scoffed. "Funny, isn't it, Malfoy? All your life you've never shut up and when the moment comes for you to finally talk, you have nothing to say."

Ginny saw the vein in Draco's neck pulse again and this time she was sure it would pop. "The reason I asked for your forgiveness is because...I love Ginny."

A deafening silence rang throughout the room.

Bill stepped forward, his wand in his hand. "You bloody-"

"Bill! NO!" Mrs. Weasley grabbed her son's arm and pulled him back.

"Mum! Let go of me! He's dragging Ginny into this...he's going to get what he deserves!"

"I'm not lying," Draco pleaded. "I swear on my magic that I truly love Ginny and she loves me."

"Malfoy! Don't you dare talk about my sister like that, you bloody jerk!"

"We've been going out for weeks now! I love her and she loves me...just ask her! I swear!"

"You probably just confunded her!" Charlie said, lunging forward and grabbing Draco's collar. "What did you do to her?"

"Mum! Take Ginny inside!" Ron ordered.

"I did nothing! I swear!" Draco said. "Get off me!"

Draco reached for his wand and was about to pull it out when somebody shouted something indistinct and a jet of red light shout out. Bill, Charlie, Ron, Percy and Draco were all thrown to the floor, and everyone turned and saw Mr. Weasley point his wand at them. His eyes were flaming with anger and his face was harsh.

"Malfoy," he said, addressing Draco. "It's bad enough that you try to humiliate me, but now you're trying to defame my daughter?"

"Mr. Weasley, I swear to you that it's true. Use a truth spell if you have to. Just believe me when I say I love her."

"A truth spell is very advanced magic," Hermione said. "It requires special training...and it's painful to the person who takes it."

"I know how to do it," Draco said. "My father taught me."

Draco took out his wand and pointed it at his chest. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the excruciating pain that he was about to feel.

"Mr. Weasley!" Athena shrieked. "Stop him! This spell twists your heart and mind to extract the truth. He could die from the pain!"

"He deserves much more than death for what he's put us through," Bill said. "Let him do it."

"You don't understand, Bill," Hermione said. "This spell is worse than the Cruciatus Curse. It gnaws on your heart until the truth is revealed! Ron! Stop him from doing it!"

Ron looked away, unable to match Hermione's gaze and whispered silently, "He deserves it."

Draco took a deep breath and positioned his wand. He yelled loudly, "Verit-"

The spell never completed itself. Draco was knocked against the wall by Ginny. She hugged him tightly and sobbed on his chest. "Don't - ever - do - that," she whispered between her sobs. "You could've died!"

Draco put his arms around Ginny and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder, but Ginny turned around. She looked at her family. Her parents and brothers were staring at her with such disbelief that Ginny was sure, they would've thought they were dreaming.

"Dad," Ginny whispered softly, "I love him."
***