Saving Each Other

Chapter 7: The Wait

Ginny woke up at 5:30, half an hour before she needed to. She toyed with the idea of getting up, but decided that she needed to rest, even if she wasn’t sleeping, until six. She snuggled closer to Draco and she felt his arm pull her in more. She looked up to see if he was awake and found that he was still asleep, a slight smile on his features.

Ginny smiled at this. He looked so different when he was sleeping. After staring at him a minute longer, she put her head back on his chest and closed her eyes, thinking about the recent events. She was still having trouble sorting out her feelings about Draco. She definitely felt something but she wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t love, not yet. But she had the feeling that, if given the chance, it could grow into that.

Draco’s sleep-blurred eyes focused on his watch and he found that it was 5:55. Someone had to be on watch duty in five minutes.

Should I let her sleep, or ask her if she wants the first shift? Draco wondered. He decided that she might be worried if she woke up and found that he wasn’t there. He moved his arm to wake her, but she sat up as he did so.

“You’re awake,” he said, his voice tinged with surprise.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling faintly, looking positively angelic in Draco’s opinion.

Draco mentally shook himself and brought his mind back to more pressing matters. “Do you want to take the first shift, or should I?”

Ginny thought a minute and said, “I’ll take the first shift. How long are these shifts going to be anyway?”

“Two hours would probably be good. That way whoever isn’t on watch can get a good nap in before having to go back on duty. We should both go right now though so we can pick out a spot to watch from where we can't really be seen because we don’t want to have to be recharming ourselves every minute,” Draco said.

“Right,” said Ginny.

Draco stood up and stretched his long, lanky body. Ginny found herself thinking how sexy he looked and immediately blushed and stood up herself, averting her eyes.

“Come on,” said Draco taking her hand and pulling her towards the entrance. “We should get going if we really want to start exactly at six o'clock.”

They traveled through the forest, only charming themselves when they heard Death Eaters flying overhead, still not giving up in their search. Part of Draco wondered why they were so persistent but realized that it was probably because Voldemort didn’t want them ruining his plans for Dumbledore.

They finally found a spot inside a bush that offered them a lot of protection and a clear view of the gates. Ginny settled herself in, wand out just in case there was trouble, and turned back to Draco who was still crouched inside the bush as well.

“I’ll be back at eight o'clock sharp,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “Be careful.” He started to back out and hesitated, then went back and gave her a kiss on the cheek and ran away. Ginny turned back to watch the gates, grinning like a manic. She really didn’t know why she was so happy that Draco had kissed her, even if it was only on the cheek.

He’s really not so bad, she thought to herself. He just acts that way because everyone expects him to. His father is a Death Eater so he expects him to act that way. Everyone knows his father is a Death Eater so everyone expects him to act that way. If he father sees the real Draco, he’ll kill him in an instant and never think twice about it.

Ginny found herself thinking about how she would murder anyone who came near Draco with the intent to harm him. She was surprised that she would defend him so fiercely even if at the moment it was only in her mind. She had no doubt that if it ever actually happened she would do just that. What was happening to her?

Ginny shook her head and forced herself to turn her attention to the gate instead of thinking about Draco. It surprised her that no one was guarding the gate, but she figured that they didn’t need to worry about who came in as no one could get out and they would have plenty of time to deal with them later.

            ******

At exactly 8:00 Draco squeezed himself into the bush beside Ginny and asked, “Eventful watch?”

“No,” said Ginny. “Not a single person. Do you know how many bars there are in that gate? I do. There are . .”

Draco interrupted her saying, “Don’t tell me or I won’t have anything to do while I’m sitting here bored out of my mind.”

Ginny smirked at his comment and was about to exit the bush when she turned back and, like Draco, gave him a kiss on the cheek and a heartfelt, “Be careful,” that left Draco grinning like mad.

            *******

Dumbledore didn’t return until early the next morning, 5:00 to be exact, during Draco’s watch. It was when Draco saw him that Draco realized he didn’t quite know how to contact him. He decided that he would charm himself invisible and go right up to him and then bring him to the cave.

“Invisibilius,” he muttered and left the safety of the bush. When he got up close to Dumbledore he whispered, “Sir?”

Dumbledore started ever so slightly as he stopped and looked around.

“Sir,” Draco continued, “it’s Draco Malfoy. I’ve charmed myself invisible because I don’t want to Death Eaters to see me if they’re watching for your return. Walk into the forest and charm yourself invisible just in case the Death Eaters follow you. When I become visible uncharm yourself and I’ll take you to a place where we can talk safely.”

Dumbledore gave a slight nod in acknowledgement and proceeded into the forest as Draco had told him to, then stopped and charmed himself invisible. The both of them waited in silence for about four minutes until Draco appeared. Dumbledore appeared a few seconds later and both of them proceeded quietly to the entrance of the cave.

“Wait here a minute,” Draco said and ducked inside the cave. He ran over to Ginny’s sleeping form and shook her awake saying, “Sweetie, wake up!”

Ginny sat up and looked at him blearily.

“You’ve got to come and tell Dumbledore where the cave is,” said Draco.

“Oh,” said Ginny, instantly awake.

They scrambled back outside together and Ginny quickly told Dumbledore the location of the cave. They all crawled inside, then Ginny and Draco waited until Dumbledore was comfortably seated before filling him on the whole story and situation.

Dumbledore was, needless to say, slightly shocked at Voldemort’s bold move on Hogwarts and impressed at there intiative to go and find out such important things as the locations of the teachers and the students.

“You said that you got out by way of the underground cave. Do you think that anyone thought to search for you there and found the hole you had blasted in the ice?” Dumbledore asked, his penetrating blue eyes fixed intently on Draco.

“I can’t say for sure sir,” Draco replied. “It was pretty cold in the cave so the hole might have frozen over before anyone thought to look there.”

Dumbledore sat and thought for what seemed like a long time to Ginny and Draco. Finally he turned to them, his blue eyes twinkling. “All right,” he said to them. “Here’s the plan.”

And as Dumbledore outlined his plan, smiles blossomed on Ginny and Draco’s faces.