Cold

Chapter Eleven

(Draco Malfoy)

I stepped out onto the Quidditch pitch, feeling the wind blowing against the side of my face. The crowd around was cheering and smiling down at the teams. I ran a hand through my hair, clutched my broomstick, and mounted it, prepared for the game. I scanned the crowd, the Gryffindor crowd, looking for Ginny. She was sitting on the far right next to Hermione and her brother, fiery hair burning against the dark cloaks of the people behind her. She caught my eye and beamed at me before turning to converse with Hermione.

My eyes moved over to Snape. He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Overall, he seemed a bit worried. As Davies took the mic, we all took the air. I made eye contact with the emerald eyed Boy-Who-Lived. He seemed determined but also distracted. I shook my head.

"BEGIN!" came the call, and we all took our positions.

"Concentrate... concentrate..." I muttered, staring toward the ground, looking wildly for the Snitch.

A Bludger whizzed past my left ear suddenly. I gasped and spun on my broom, barely avoiding it. The Gryffindors scored first. I bit my lip and flew a bit higher, as Harry was, to dodge everything easier. The air was so much colder at a higher altitude; it very much reminded me of my home. Harry's broom flew up next to mine and he began to scan the field wordlessly.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, not moving my eyes from the field.

"I'm looking for the Snitch. You mind?" Harry returned without looking at me.

"Well, I AM on the other team, you git. Any explanation as to why you're right her next to me?"

"Cloud cover," he said simply. "This is the best spot to look."

"Well, what if I don't WANT you to be over here?" I snapped.

"Then you can go fuck yourself," Harry replied darkly, taking me by surprise.

"Well, don't we have a little potty mouth," I retorted sarcastically-like I had room to talk.

"I didn't figure you'd mind since you went crazy," he said. "People are saying you lock yourself in your room alone for hours and hours, and after that conversation we had the other night, I wouldn't doubt it one bit."

"Back off, Potter. I haven't done one thing to you this year to piss you off." I really hadn't. Why didn't HE see that?

Harry sighed. "I guess you haven't, have you..."

"That's right. I don't know what--" I halted, seeing a flicker of gold. "Well, sorry to cut this short, but I've got a game to win."

And I dived.

A shock washed over me at the speed of this broom. It reminded me too much of the night I had crashed. Visions of the night flashed before my eyes as I flew down, down, down; faster and faster. Harry was right beside me. His broom wasn't as fast, but he was more agile on it than I was. I hadn't gotten much practice on this new one. Both of our hands reached out for the Snitch. It was so close... so close...

Harry choked. His broom jerked. The sudden movement grabbed my attention. I gawked as the black-haired boy clutched his broom, white as a sheet. Something was wrong, terribly, terribly wrong. The Dark Mark was stinging against my arm. This couldn't be happening now, not when we were still so high in the air... not now... any time but now. My eyes trailed up.

"D-Demen-Dementors..." I whispered, seeing the creatures floating just above our heads.

Harry gasped and collapsed, slipping off his broomstick.

"Damn!" I yelled, grabbing his wrist.

WHY THE HELL AM I SAVING HIM?!

I knew why. Ginny loved Harry-she wasn't IN love with him anymore, not that I knew of, but she loved him none the less. If he got hurt, she would cry. I couldn't take that guilt, not from her.

"Potter, wake up!" I growled, grasping his arm with both of my hands, trying to guide my broom with only my legs, which was very difficult. His eyes went half-lidded as I pulled him onto my broomstick.

"Wh-what?" He stared at me awkwardly. "Malfoy?"

"No, your mother!" I snapped.

Harry seemed to realize what had happened upon looking up. "D-DEMEN..." His voice withered away.

"Can't you stop them?!" I hissed.

"I don't have my wand," Harry replied hopelessly.

"God, you're so useless!" I exclaimed. "Hold on, we're going to the ground. Someone's bound to have a wand!"

"Uh, Malfoy?"

"WHAT?!"

"GO!" Harry whapped me on the back of the head as I swooped downward.

This is so gay...

"This is so gay," I stated my thoughts as we zoomed towards the ground.

"When you're about to die, does it really matter?"

"Yes, it matters!" I argued.

As we broke through clouds, I could see that pandemonium had already persisted (try saying that five times fast) as Harry's broom had collided with the ground. The game had halted. I saw a flash of red running out on the field. Her head flew up and I could feel her gaze meeting my own as I dashed toward the ground.

"Potter," I said shakily. "We're not gonna be able to stop."

"WHAT?!" Harry sounded incredulous.

"We're going too fast. There's no way we can stop."

"Do something!"

"Like what? All we'll have to do is jump before we crash."

Harry's head lashed around. "Damn!"

"WHAT NOW?!" I spat.

"They weren't this fast before!" Harry exclaimed, sounding strained.

"You mean to tell me that they're more POWERFUL?!"

"I... I don't know how they got here! What do they want from us?"

"The three who bleed..." were the first words that came to mind.

"I... I don't know... but I bet they want to kill us," I replied.

"No, really? I thought they just wanted to drop by for a friendly VISIT!" Harry yelled.

Before we knew it, Dementors had swept around us and pulled us off the broomstick. I felt an overwhelming amount of despair wash over me. Screaming from the field filled my ears. My eyes began to roll back in my head and my struggles ceased. The Dementor swooped around me and cupped my face in its scaly, ugly hands. They were freezing and icky and they made me feel nauseous just at the smell of them. A sucking sound resounded throughout my being and all noise stopped with the exception of this horrid sound. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I felt myself go numb.

(Ginny Weasley)

"NO!" I screamed. "THEY'RE GOING TO PERFORM THE KISS!"

I grabbed Harry's broom and mounted it, taking into the air.

"Ginny, no!" Ron yelled, but it was too late, I was already speeding up towards the two boys and the overwhelming amount of Dementors.

(Draco Malfoy)

In a swift motion, I found myself coughing and sputtering, hanging over a broomstick. A cold sweat was pouring off of my being.

"You okay?" a voice echoed.

My blurry vision caught sight of red. Red hair. I moved to speak, but only found myself stammering indigestible syllables.

"Harry, catch," came the voice again.

"Ginny, you're a lifesaver, literally!" another voice returned.

Upon hearing the words "EXPECTO PATRONUM," I found myself falling into darkness once again.

In a moment I was in a strange dream world, filled with laughter of all kinds, surrounding me. It was evil laughter, however. I was not being laughed at... I was laughing too.

"C'mon, Draco!" Ginny's voice rang.

I turned and saw her, red curls gleaming in the sunlight, when I realized we were in a beautiful forest, bright and green with summer. She wore a simple white sundress that was pale in comparison to her milky skin, littered with freckles. She was smiling so happily that her eyes twinkled. She held her hand out for me to take, and I could see my mother and Snape behind her, laughing. I grasped her hand and felt this overwhelming amount of relief, of the fact that everything was going to be okay. I was wearing white too, and neither of us had shoes. We ran through the trees barefoot, and I had never felt so happy.

"Draco..." she whispered. "Draco...Malfoy... Malfoy..."

And the last thought in the dream I had was, "Why is she calling me Malfoy?"

"Mr. Malfoy! C'mon, wake up!"

My eyes fluttered open and I stared around. I was laying flat on the Quidditch Pitch and I could hear a crowd around me. Snape's pale face caught my vision first. Next was Madam Pomphrey, potion in hand.

"Guh... huh?" I spluttered, my lungs feeling heavy and exhausted, my throat hoarse and soar.

Harry was peering over her shoulder, pale, but seemingly okay. I rose up on my elbows, feeling them tremble under my weight.

"Can you speak Mr. Malfoy?" Pomphrey asked.

"My throat... it hurts," I replied raucously.

"Good. Can you remember anything?"

"I was just attacked by Dementors. Will you quit asking me questions?" I snubbed, coughing.

"He's okay," came Snape's reply as he grasped my arm and yanked me up onto my feet.

I felt the world around me spin and I clutched his arm, trying to stay on my feet. Once balanced, I could see that Ginny was standing next to Harry. Ron and Hermione obviously thought she was concerned for Harry, but I could see she was staring at me. I flickered a smile at her before Snape ushered me off the Pitch.

-

I swallowed the potion in one gulp and placed it back on the desk, eyeing Snape.

"It wasn't my fault if that's what you're thinking," I said, closing my eyes and landing on the couch. "They just showed up and attacked us, and of course they would. I mean, look, we were two floating targets sitting there, waiting to be attacked."

"I haven't said a word and you're already explaining," Snape replied with a small, tired chuckle. "That's so like you."

I stared at him for a moment. "What's so funny?"

"Just the thought of YOU of all people saving HARRY POTTER!" Snape exclaimed, a laugh reverberating off the walls.

It was then, I realized, that I had never heard him laugh like that before. Even if the joke was directed at me, I had to laugh too. It was moments like this that kept me living, truly living. I had him to thank for that...