Saving Each Other

Chapter 4: . . . And Into the Fire

Draco sat on his heels and looked at Ginny who lay in the sleeping bag in her wet robes, her hair plastered to her face, which was pale.

Ok, Draco thought. First get her dry, then deal with the hypothermia.

He opened the sleeping bag and performed a few drying spells. He moved her and did one last drying spell on the sleeping bag. He lowered her back into the sleeping bag and furrowed his brow, trying to remember anything he had learned in school about dealing with hypothermia.

Pepperup Potion! Draco suddenly realized. He concentrated, recalling the ingredients he would need.

I can probably conjure up at least a cauldron and most of the ingredients I can find in the forest, Draco concluded. He was reluctant to leave Ginny but knew that if he didn't she was probably as good as dead. Draco tightened the covers surrounding her and left through the narrow cave entrance.

"Invisibilus," muttered Draco, then proceeded cautiously through the forest, gathering the ingredients he would need for the Pepperup Potion. Once or twice he had to pause while a Death Eater soared overhead searching for the two missing students.

In about fifteen minutes Draco had gathered all the ingredients he would need except for one. Fortunately the ingredient wasn't essential. It just enhanced the potion so one cup would be all you needed to drink. Ginny would just have to drink more of the potion.

Draco headed back to the cave and found Ginny just as he had left her, wrapped in his cloak and the sleeping bad. He turned to an open area in the cave and conjured a cauldron.

"Incendio," Draco muttered and a magical fire appeared beneath the cauldron. He carefully added each of the ingredients and waited impatiently until it was finally ready. Last and with great effort, he conjured a cup, then filled it with the Pepperup Potion and went over to Ginny.

Draco lifted her head slightly and gave her a drink of the potion. When she still didn't wake, Draco forced down a wave of panic and gave her another drink. Finally her eyelids fluttered open and she let out a moan. Draco put down the cup and one of his rare genuine smiles lit up his face.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked Ginny.

Ginny's fogged brain took a minute to process the question. Her eyes weren't focusing properly so she couldn't even tell who was asking. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she sat up and said, "Oh just bloody brilliant."

Ginny focused her eyes on her questioner and realized that it was Draco Malfoy. She gasped and shot to her feet. Then it all came rushing back: the note, falling through the ice, Malfoy rescuing her, and the vague recollection of people chasing them on broomsticks. She was so overwhelmed by the sudden flood of recent memories that she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

Draco was surprised when Ginny shot to her feet, her eyes wide with surprise at the sight of him. Then realization spread across her features to be instantly replaced by dizziness. She swayed dangerously on her feet, so Draco stood and steadied her. He helped her sit back down as she put a hand to her forehead.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked.

Ginny looked at him a minute before answering, her expression a mixture of skepticism, confusion and something else Draco couldn't put his finger on.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy," she finally answered. "I've got a question though."

"Ok, shoot," Draco said, pushing away his annoying inability to identify what emotion was in her eyes.

Ginny gave him another one of her mixed expressions before she asked, "Who was chasing us?"

"Death Eater," Draco said simply.

Ginny thought she was going to be sick. Voldemort and his Death Eaters at Hogwarts? It wasn't possible!

Voldemort would have to be mad! Ginny thought. He's always feared Dumbledore and with Dumbledore at Hogwarts able to get Aurors there instantly. . .

Then it all made sense to Ginny. Dumbledore is gone this weekend and Voldemort's put an environment charm up so nothing can get out. No one can warn Dumbledore and when he gets here, he'll be trapped with no way of getting help!

Draco watched Ginny's eyes widen and a mixture of panic and fear overtook the skepticism, confusion and maddeningly indecipherable emotion. She made a small noise that was somewhere between a scream and a whimper.

Draco decided that being loving and comforting at that point would be too much for her to handle at this point. Instead he fell back on his signature sarcasm.

"I see you understand the seriousness of the situation," Draco said dryly. "We need a plan."

Ginny nodded, trying to shake off at least panic.

"First, I think we should guarantee that we can't be found in this cave," Draco said, losing the sarcasm and looking intently at Ginny.

Ginny frowned in confusion. "How can we do that?"

"The Fidelius Charm. You're going to be our Secret Keeper," Draco said, trying to convery more confidence than he really felt.

Ginny gasped and said, "That's VERY advanced magic! Things could go seriously wrong!"

"I know I can do it," said Draco. "We should do it as soon as possible."

Ginny's face was once a mixture that contained that maddeningly indecipherable emotion that was driving Draco mad. Finally she said, "Ok."

"Ok," said Draco in return, his stomach full of butterflies. "We should go outside so we'll know right away whether or not it worked."

They exited the cave through it's narrow entrance and fled for the thick tree cover near the cave. Draco took out his wand, looked at Ginny and asked, "Are you ready?"

Ginny gulped and nodded.

"Ok," Draco said, clutching his wand tighter than what was necessary. A million thoughts flittered through Draco's head in the few seconds it took him to clear his throat. Would it work? How serious could the results be if it didn't? Could he die? More importantly, could Ginny? Draco firmly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, reminding himself that they would be as good as dead if they couldn't at least have a secure base of operations.

He finished clearing his throat and said, "Fidelius secretio!" while tracing a complicated pattern in the air with his wand.

A soft golden light surrounded Ginny in the shape of a keyhole. The shape shrank and became brighter until it disappeared into her chest.

Draco gasped for breath, quite relieved that neither of them were dead and nothing obvious had gone wrong. "Well, let's see if it worked," he told Ginny, still gasping for breath. "Tell me where it is."

Ginny pointed and said, "Fifteen feet in front of you."

Sure enough the entrance to the cave magically appeared fifteen feet in front of Draco. He managed to get out "oh, good" before he collapsed where he stood from extreme exhaustion.