The Dragon's Savior

Chapter 17

The next morning, Ginny woke up and stretched a little. She smiled, feeling that she had gotten a full night's sleep. She wasn't the least bit tired. Her smile faded, however, when she opened her eyes, and she barely stifled a scream. She was not in her bed. Looking around wildly, she spotted Draco on the bed, his back towards her, and sighed in relief. She was in the Slytherin dormitories. When she noticed the irony, she almost laughed out loud. A Gryffindor was relieved that she was in a Slytherin dormitory. I must have fallen asleep, she thought, glancing at the clock. It was seven o'clock, time to get up.
Ginny turned to Draco's sleeping form and smiled. She reached out a hand and shook his shoulder, calling, "Draco. Come on, Draco. Wake up." He didn't budge, so she leaned forward and started tracing his ear with her tongue. That woke him up.
He looked around, clearly confused, until he spotted Ginny. "Good morning," Draco greeted with a kiss.
"Morning. Sorry about falling asleep, you could have woken me up," Ginny apologized.
"You looked too peaceful; I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, I like going to bed next to you and waking up with you here. It's really not an inconvenience at all," Draco assured with a smile.
"As much as I'd love to stay here with you, I have to go get ready for classes. I also have to convince my nagging, overprotective brother that I fell asleep, and you didn't want to wake me. That could take awhile so I'll see you at breakfast, okay?" Ginny said.
Draco nodded and watched as she walked away. "Oh, wait. Are you okay?" he asked.
Ginny turned to face him again. "Yeah, I'm fine. That Pepper Up Potion you gave me helped a lot. Thanks," she replied.
Satisfied with this answer, Draco blew her a kiss, and she returned it before turning to leave. Ginny walked through the dark, cool dungeons. It was always a little creepy down there, but this morning with no one around, it was downright eerie. She hurried out of the dungeons and through the many other corridors to get to Gryffindor Tower.
Upon arriving at her destination, Ginny gave the password and entered the Common Room. Sure enough, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all there, waiting for her. "Where have you been?" Ron demanded.
"Draco's room," Ginny replied, getting a feeling of deja vu. Why did she always have to explain everything to him? "You knew that"."
"But you said you'd be back," Ron reminded her.
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep, and Draco didn't want to wake me up to move me. So, instead, he just let me stay there. He knew I had a hard day yesterday, and I needed as much sleep as I could get. Nothing happened," Ginny stressed the last sentence.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione cut in before Ron could respond.
"I'm a lot better, thank you for asking, unlike my brother. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready for class," Ginny announced before turning on her heel and stalking to her dormitory.
She quickly got ready for the day, and when she returned to the Common Room, her brother and friends were still there. "Look Gin, I'm sorry, but I worry about you," Ron apologized when he spotted her.
"I know, but could you ask me about these things before you go all overprotective big brother on me?" she asked.
"Yeah, I promise to get the whole truth before jumping to conclusions," Ron replied.
"Thanks. Now, I have to meet Draco for breakfast. I'll see you later," she said cheerfully, giving Ron a hug and a kiss on the cheek before exiting the Common Room.
"See, apologizing pays off," Hermione said.
"Yeah, I got a kiss on the cheek. What a great reward," Ron replied sarcastically, before, he too, exited the Common Room, Harry and Hermione in tow.

*~*~*~*

Breakfast went by without incident. Draco and Ginny opted to sit at the Gryffindor table when Blaise informed them that the Slytherins' main topic of discussion was how Ginny had come out of Draco's room again that morning.
It was Ginny's first class that caused problems. She had Charms first, one of her favorite classes. The problem wasn't the class itself because, quite frankly, Ginny didn't know what it was about. About five minutes into it, Pansy Parkinson entered. "Yes?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"The Headmaster requests to see Ginny Weasley in his office," Pansy announced. Ginny looked at her suspiciously for a moment, wondering how she knew, when she remembered that Pansy was a prefect.
"You may go, Miss Weasley," Flitwick dismissed her.
Ginny stood up and followed Pansy out of the room. "I trust you know where his office is. The password is 'Reese's Pieces'," Pansy told her importantly.
"I know what the password is, you dolt, I'm a prefect too," Ginny snapped in reply.
"Whatever," Pansy said before turning to walk away. After she'd walked a few steps, she turned back. "By the way, that's five points from Gryffindor."
"Whatever for?" Ginny sputtered, aghast.
"For calling me a dolt. What are you, daft or something?" Pansy sneered.
"That'll be five points from Slytherin," Ginny shot back.
"What?" Pansy shrieked and, boy, could that girl shriek. It was so shrill that it almost made Ginny wince.
"For speaking disrespectfully to a prefect," Ginny explained.
"Fine," Pansy huffed, walking towards, what Ginny presumed was, her next class.
Ginny walked quickly to the Headmaster's office, not wanting to keep him waiting any longer than she already had. When she arrived at the gargoyles, she uttered the password, and the gargoyles sprang apart, revealing a long, spiral staircase. Ginny ascended the stairs and knocked on the Headmaster's door. A faint "come in" was heard from inside.
Ginny opened the door cautiously and peered in. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, his usual half-moon spectacles perched on his nose. "Please, sit down, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore requested, motioning to a chair in front of his desk. She entered the room and obeyed quickly, sitting in the chair he had indicated.
"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" Ginny began meekly. She didn't like getting in trouble.
"That is correct. I was informed by a few students that you were seen coming out of Mr. Malfoy's dormitory in the morning on two different occasions," Dumbledore told her calmly. "Is this true?"
Ginny didn't answer at first. She didn't know how she could answer without making it sound wrong. "Yes," she mumbled truthfully.
"Are you aware that you are not allowed out of your Common Room after ten p.m.?" Dumbledore asked, even though he knew the answer.
"Yes," Ginny mumbled again.
"And are you aware that you are not allowed to stay in someone else's dormitory for the night without special permission from your Head of House or myself?" Dumbledore inquired, once again knowing the answer.
"Yes," Ginny answered.
"Then, why, Miss Weasley, were you in Mr. Malfoy's dormitory after curfew and staying the night there?" Dumbledore questioned.
Ginny took a deep breath and quietly explained why she had been in Draco's dormitory this morning and the time a few days ago. When she had finished, Dumbledore gazed at her for a minute, not saying anything. "I'm telling the truth, honest," she added, slightly unnerved by his gaze.
"I believe you, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore assured. "I suspected that the students didn't have the whole story. Thank you for clearing that up for me."
"You're not going to punish me?" Ginny exclaimed in surprise.
"No, Miss Weasley. Just don't do it again," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling. "You may go now."
Ginny stood up and bid the Headmaster good bye. She exited the room and went back to her classes. She would tell Draco what had happened during lunch, it was quite obviously Pansy's doing, and he wouldn't be happy.
*~*~*~*
Draco sat at the Slytherin table at lunch, waiting for Ginny. She soon entered through the massive doors, scanning the room. She soon spotted Draco and went over to him. He gave her a kiss as she sat down. "Where were you? Classes got out ten minutes ago," Draco asked.
"I had to find out what the Charms assignment was," Ginny answered.
"Why?" Draco asked, confused.
"Because I was in Dumbledore's office when the homework was assigned. I missed my whole Charms class, as a matter or fact," Ginny replied.
"You were in Dumbledore's office?" Draco repeated. "Why?"
"Your girlfriend and her little cronies told him they saw me coming out of you room this morning. They told him about the last time I was in your room too," Ginny explained.
"She's not my girlfriend," Draco scowled.
"I know that, but she doesn't," Ginny replied.
"Whatever. Did you get in trouble?" Draco asked, hoping she hadn't.
"No. He just told me not to do it again," Ginny informed him.
"Good," he answered. "But I can't believe she had the nerve to rat on us after what I told her."
"She knows you can't do anything about it without getting in trouble. You know, she actually took points off of Gryffindor because I called her a dolt," Ginny told him.
Draco rolled his eyes. "I thought I told her to stay away from you," he growled.
"She was the one who came to tell me that Dumbledore wanted to see me," Ginny said. "Then I took five points off of Slytherin because she was being disrespectful to a prefect."
"Hey," Draco replied indignantly. "I'm in Slytherin."
Ginny laughed at his reaction. "Well, we're even now anyway. Both houses lost five points," she pointed out. "Plus, Slytherin doesn't have a chance."
"Gryffindor is only ten points ahead," Draco informed her truthfully.
"What/" Ginny exclaimed. Last time she'd checked, Gryffindor had been way ahead.
"Your brother and Longbottom's potion exploded in Potions. It got all over everything. It was a good thing it was harmless, but Snape was in a bad mood already. He took fifty points off for each of them. I cleaned it up with a simple cleaning spell, and Snape awarded Slytherin one hundred points," Draco explained.
"Well, at least someone benefited from it," Ginny said sourly.
"Oh, come on, Gin. Gryffindor is going to win the Quidditch Cup. Let Slytherin win the House Cup. Besides, Gryffindor always wins the House Cup," Draco tried to cheer her up.
"That's true. We will win the Quidditch Cup. Our only competition was Slytherin, but your new Seeker sucks," Ginny agreed.
Draco winced. "Don't remind me. I should never have quit the team," he said wistfully.
"Don't worry, you can rejoin next year. The new Seeker is a seventh year," Ginny consoled.
"I guess," Draco sighed. His decision to quit the Quidditch Team had been made impulsively when he was upset over Christina. He wished he'd thought it through instead of acting on impulse.
Ginny glanced at her watch and gasped. "I'll see you later, okay? I got to get to class. Bye," Ginny replied, kissing him. "Everything will be alright."
"I know it will. See you," Draco said.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the week passed without incident. Ginny made it a point to stay away from Draco's dormitory. She didn't want to give Pansy a reason to talk to Dumbledore again.
Today was Saturday, and there was a Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch match. Ginny went to breakfast, but didn't eat much, as she never did before a Quidditch game. When she had arrived at breakfast, Draco hadn't been there. As a matter of fact, he still wasn't there. Only a little worried, Ginny got up and went to look for him. Before she could get out of the Great Hall, however, Harry stopped her. "Come on, Ginny, we've got to get ready for the game," he told her.
Ginny was about to protest, but decided against it. He was probably still sleeping. He'd promised to come to her game, but it didn't start for another forty five minutes. He's fine, she assured herself, before following Harry out of the Hall. There's nothing wrong with him. For some reason, though, she couldn't bring herself to believe it.

*~*~*~*

Forty five minutes later, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams were in the air as the Quaffle, Snitch, and Bludgers were released. Ginny scanned the crowd for Draco. She didn't see him, but that didn't mean anything. She was pretty far away, and she had scanned quickly because she had to play the game. Colin passed her the Quaffle, and she passed it back. The three Chasers tossed the Quaffle between them before Dean shot it and scored.
An hour passed and there were no sightings of the Snitch. The score was 150 to 100, Gryffindor in the lead. Whatever chance she got, Ginny would scan the crowd, looking for Draco. She never spotted him. He's there, she told herself constantly, you just didn't see him. Every time she thought it, she felt the doubt once more course through her veins. Ginny would then turn her attention back to the game, trying to shake the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.
Dean scored another goal, putting Gryffindor even farther in the lead. If they beat Ravenclaw, they would be in the match for the Quidditch Cup against Slytherin. Despite their new Seeker's skills, or lack there of, the Slytherin team still managed to beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Their Chasers were good, and they put Slytherin far enough ahead so that it didn't matter who caught the Snitch.
Ginny was snapped out of her thoughts by loud cheering from the stands. She saw Harry and Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, racing towards the Snitch. Harry was pretty far ahead, but that wasn't unusual. No one could beat Harry Potter in Quidditch under normal conditions. Except Draco, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her. Ginny smiled at the thought, but it slowly faded when she remembered she didn't know where he was.
Suddenly a loud cheer erupted from the Gryffindor stands. Harry had caught the Snitch. The game ended with a score of 100 to 310 to Gryffindor. Ginny landed her broom and went to congratulate Harry. Once she'd talked to Harry she went in search of Draco. She scanned the crowd, but didn't see Draco's platinum blonde head. She scanned for a second time, but still didn't see him.
Ginny, starting to feel acutely worried, went back to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing. "Have you guys seen Draco?" she asked.
Hermione shook her head in response. "No, I haven't seen him all day. He wasn't at breakfast, was he?" she replied.
"No, he wasn't, I haven't seen him since last night at diner," Ginny told her, getting more worried.
Scanning the crowd again, she tried to see if she could spot Pansy. Ginny had a sinking feeling when she didn't spot Pansy. She probably had something to do with Draco's sudden disappearance. She needed someone, anyone, to tell her that they'd seen Draco sometime that day. Looking around wildly, she spotted Draco's cousin, Blaise.
"Blaise," she called.
He turned and started walking towards her. "What's up, Ginny?" he asked.
"Have you seen Draco?" was her only response.
"Draco? Uh, yeah," he began, and her eyes lit up. "He was talking to Pansy this morning. We were going to go to breakfast and then to your game, but Pansy stopped him. He told me that he'd catch up with me, but he never did." Blaise shrugged. "I thought he just sat somewhere else. You haven't seen him?"
"No, I haven't, but I had a feeling Pansy had something to do with him being gone. When he was talking to Pansy, were they being civil or were they yelling?" Ginny questioned.
"I don't know. I got out of there before they started yelling," Blaise answered. "Here, come with me. We can go see if he's in the Slytherin Common Room. He's probably fine."
"Thanks, Blaise," she said gratefully.
They headed back towards the castle. When they arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, Blaise uttered the password, and they entered. What they found was Draco, lying unconscious on the floor, marks of a Knockback Jinx on his arm. His head was up against a wall, looking as if he had been hit with the hex and hit his head on he wall, knocking him unconscious.
Ginny let out a strangled cry and rushed to where Draco lay. "Ennerverate," she said as steadily as she could.
A moment later, Draco's eyes fluttered open. Ginny let out a squeal of delight and launched herself on top of him, kissing him passionately. When she pulled away she asked, "What happened?"
Draco looked at her blankly for a minute before seeming to come to all the way. He replied, "I was walking down to breakfast with Blaise, when Pansy stopped me. She started kissing me, so I shot a Knockback Jinx on her to get her off, she had her arms locked around my neck so I couldn't push her off. Anyway, she must have figured that I'd use my wand because she cast a Shield Charm. My hex rebounded off her shield and hit me. I flew back into the wall, hit my head on it, and was knocked unconscious."
"What is her problem? Doesn't she realize she's never going to win you over?" Ginny snapped, a little more irritably than was necessary. She knew it was stupid, but every time Pansy hit on Draco, she got a pang of jealousy. She always waited with bated breath to make sure that he didn't respond positively.
"I think Lucius put her up to it. She didn't seem very happy about doing it. She also apologized before she did it. He probably threatened her and paid her," Draco told her.
"Did he really think it would break us up?" Ginny asked disbelievingly.
"He's willing to try anything. He knows that Pansy likes me, and he knows that she's lined up to be a Death Eater. He thinks that she could convince me to become one too," Draco replied with a sigh. "I wish he'd just stop and let me live my own life."
"He will eventually," Ginny assured optimistically.
Draco shrugged. "Maybe, but right now I don't really care. My head feels like it's been hit with a ton of bricks again and again and again," he moaned.
"Want me to take you to the Hospital Wing?" Ginny asked.
Draco nodded and slowly stood up. He took a few steps before stumbling over to grab onto a chair. "Are you okay?" Ginny asked in concern.
"Yeah, just a little dizzy," he replied, brushing away her concern.
"Are you going to be able to walk to the Hospital Wing?" Ginny inquired.
Draco nodded and stood up straight again. He followed her out of the Common Room and towards the Infirmary.

*~*~*~*

When they arrived in the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey rushed over to them, demanding to know what had happened. Ginny retold Draco's story as the medi-witch checked him for any wounds or lasting damage.
When Madame Pomfrey had finished her analysis, she announced, "I see no lasting damage, no memory loss. There is a large bruise on your head, but I can easily heal that. I can also give you pain killing potions for you head."
"Is there anything you can do for the dizziness?" Draco asked.
"Yes, I can give you a potion for that too. I will also be informing the Headmaster of Miss Parkinson's actions," the Healer replied as she rushed off to get the potions. When she came back, she gave Draco two different goblets with potions in them. The first one wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't disgusting. The second, however, made Draco feel as if he was about to throw up.
"Try your best to drink all of it and keep it down. It will help with the dizziness immensely," Madame Pomfrey advised.
Draco finished it as quickly as he could, and he felt better almost instantly. "Is that better?" Ginny asked tenderly.
"Much," Draco replied, smiling at her.
She smiled back and gave him a hug. "You have no idea how worried I was, especially when I saw you lying unconscious on the floor," Ginny murmured against his chest.
"Yes, actually I think I do. Probably as worried as I was when I found out that you'd run off to my manor," Draco replied pointedly.
Ginny looked sheepish for a minute before saying, "I know that it was a mistake. No need to rub it in."
"Well, now we're even," Draco pointed out.
"That we are," she agreed before helping him up. They then exited the Hospital Wing, fingers laced together.