Trust Me

Trust Me

Chapter One: Sunshine and Storms

The rain was streaming down the arched windows and the thunder was rumbling and growling in the sky. Lightning flashed through the windows, starkly illuminating the dimly lit room.

Draco Malfoy stood in a shadowed corner, his hands tightly clenched behind his back to stay their shaking and in an effort to disguise his fear.

He looked on as his father knelt, bent kneed, before a black robed figure. He watched with barely concealed terror as Lucius Malfoy finished his report.

Voldemort hissed. "And so, you have failed me again. For the third time now, you have failed to bring me Harry Potter. Did I not tell you how important he was? Have I not drilled it into your thick skulls exactly how much we need that boy? You disappoint me Malfoy. Tell me, what should I do with you?"

Lucius' face was empty and composed, but inside Draco knew his father was quaking with fear. Obviously the Dark Lord knew it too for he let out a sinister laugh that made Draco's hands shake even more than before.

"You are afraid Malfoy? Afraid I might use the Cruciatus on you? Afraid for yourself are you? Or ... for your son?" Voldemort turned his malevolent eye slits towards Draco and smiled cunningly. Draco gulped silently, mentally preparing himself for what he knew was coming.

The red hot force of the Cruciatus Curse hit him all over his body like a battalion of needle sharp knives. Unbearable pain spread through his body like a burning inferno. A relentless fire eating at his skin, clouding his mind, allowing him no room for thought. No room to think about anything - except for the horrible excruciation he was experiencing.

And then as abruptly as it had begun the pain ceased. Draco lay, panting on the floor, his throat raw from screaming. Gradually he stood up, wiping his slick blonde hair from his face and looked Voldemort straight in the eye.

Years afterwards Draco still would not know where he had found the courage to stay where he was and resist the temptation to run away. He did not know where he had discovered the nerve from deep inside himself to meed the Dark Lord's eye, apart from knowing that if he didn't Voldemort would kill him.

That decision saved him his life, but it was the beginning of things to come. There would be a time in the not-so-distant future where Draco Malfoy would wish he had died that night.

The look in the Dark Lord's eye when Draco met them was a vision that would stay with him forever. They were like thin slits with little iris and a barely visible pupil. What was visible was the malicious hatred radiating from them and an emptiness so cold that Draco shivered instinctively. They were like dark, bottomless pits full of nothing, except cold determination and anger.

The smile upon Voldemort's lips however gave some of his emotions away. They were curled upwards slightly in a wintry satisfaction and even a trace of appreciation. "Good," Voldemort whispered. "Very good. I like your determination. Better than your fathers. I can see you becoming one of my greatest servants."

Draco swallowed loudly, not sure what to say. He clenched his hands tighter behind his back and fought the urge to look away.

"Tell me, boy, what would you do? How would you capture Harry Potter?"

Draco barely kept his astonishment from creeping onto his face. The Dark Lord was asking for his opinion. Draco knew that the rest of his life depended on this moment, on the answer that he gave. And from somewhere deeply entrenched inside himself he found the answer. Now all he had to do was unstick his throat so he could voice it.

"I suppose," he began, his voice barely more than a forced whisper. He tried again. "I suppose I would find a way to get close to him. Discover his deepest, darkest secrets. Who he's close to, his weakness and all that."

Voldemort's face widened, distorting his face menacingly. "Excellent. And do you know who he is close to?"

Draco nodded. "That Mudblood Granger, the Weasley boy and his sister Ginny."

"Could you get close to any of them?"

"Both Weasley and Granger hate me with a passion." He replied painfully recalling numerous events over his life, namely the stinging blow when Hermione had punched him in the face and a certain incident up at the Shrieking Shack. "But I suppose the younger one, Ginny, she wouldn't be too hard to manipulate."

"Good," said the Dark Lord. "I want you to get close to her."

"Me!?" Draco gaped astounded. "But my Lord, I -"

"That is my wish Malfoy, do you defy it?" Voldemort's voice was thunderous.

"No my Lord, of course not." Draco stuttered. He could not remember a time when he had been as caught off guard as he was now. Not in a million years would he have seen this coming.

Voldemort nodded curtly, apparently pleased. "Three months should be long enough?"

Draco nodded in reply, not daring to resist him again. From out of the corner of his eye he saw Lucius giving him a murderous glare and knew that there would be hell when he got home.

"I shall see you then," ordered Voldemort. "And Lucius, under no circumstances is your son to be harmed. If you disobey my word the penalties will be severe. Am I understood?"

"Yes my Lord," Lucius agreed submissively but his eyes flashed frustratedly.

"Very good then, you may leave. Wormtail! It is time for me to retire for the night." Draco watched as the pitiful figure of Peter Pettigrew came forwards to attend to his master.

The last sight Draco saw before leaving the room was the flickering firelight streaking eerily across Voldemort's devious features.

*~*~*~*

The wind rushed past Ginny Weasley, sweeping her vibrant red hair across her face. She held tight to Harry's waist as he flew them over the Forbidden Forest and came to a stop on a green patch of grass beside the lake.

"Wow, that was amazing," Ginny breathed as she slid off the broomstick, her arms still tightly entwined around his waist. "It's so beautiful here," she sighed kissing the back of his neck.

Harry shifted around in her arms to face her. "You're beautiful." His eyes sought hers, trying to convey with his expression just how much he meant those words.

Gently he kissed her lips and she closed he eyes, savouring the sweet feel of his lips on hers. Wrapping his arms around her neck he deepened the kiss, his tongue tracing her lips, teasing her with the passion he felt.

Ginny gasped as she felt her feet leave the ground. Looking down she saw at least thirty centimetres between the grass and the soles of her feet. "Harry? What -?"

"Trust me," he said softly. "You do, don't you?"

"I trust you," she replied sincerely, leaning in to kiss him once more.

She drew back slowly as she felt her feet touch the ground once more. Harry stepped back, drawing off his black robe as he did. Seductively he lifted the hem of his plain white t-shirt over his head and let it fall carelessly to the ground. Nervously Ginny tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her eyes raking over his tanned body appreciatively.

Harry lay down on the springy grass, pulling Ginny down with him.

"Ooof," she groaned as she landed half on top of him in a not very lady-like manner.

"Sorry," Harry rolled over so her head was resting gently on his chest and his arm was curled around her side, almost possessively.

She sighed sweetly, looking up at the clear blue sky. Absentmindedly she took in the fluffy white clouds hovering on the horizon and crisp brightness of the sun just far enough behind not to cause them any bother. It had been a long time since she had felt this content.

"I love you," she whispered finally, not taking her eyes from the bright blue sky above her.

He didn't reply. Ginny bit her lip nervously. What if he didn't say it back? What if her didn't even feel the same way? What if -?

Her frantic thoughts came to an abrupt end as she felt his arms snake around her hips, pulling her closer in to his body.

"I love you too,"

*~*~*~*

From a long window inside the Astronomy Tower a lone figure surveyed the scene by the lake thoughtfully, a cruel sneer playing over his lips. Draco Malfoy knew just how much Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were in love. It wasn't a secret to anyone in the school. It made him sick watching the two lovebirds walk into the Great Hall every morning, hand in hand and giggling secretively.

It would be hard to break them up. Some would say that it was even impossible. But he was a Malfoy, nothing was impossible for him. He would find a way.

From the corner of his eye he noticed a flicker of movement. Someone was hiding in a branchy tree not far from where Potter and Weasley were conducting their little love shack. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who was interested in Potter's sex life. Well, he wasn't interested in it directly, everything he did was for a greater cause. Voldermort would kill him if he didn't find a way to get close to Ginny Weasley and through her, Harry Potter. But what excuse did this mysterious stranger have? And, more importantly, could he work it to his advantage?

The stranger shifted in the tree and the sunlight caught the side of her face. Draco smirked schemingly as he took in a perfect olive complexion and midnight black hair.

Yes, it seemed as if his little endeavours might work out after all.