The Curse-breaker's Sister

The Curse-breaker's Sister
Chapter 12

Ginny looked around at her new surroundings. She was in a tiny, low-lit room. A coffee table was pressing into the backs of her knees and if Draco hadn't been holding her so tightly, she would have fallen over it.

"You all right?" he whispered.

"Yes," she whispered back, even though she wasn't sure why they were talking so quietly. Her left ankle was throbbing painfully and Ginny believed she had twisted it after leaping out of the hotel window. The muscles in her thighs still burned from all that running and her heart was beating a million miles an hour. All except the rapid heart rate could be attributed to the chase.

Ginny pushed away from Draco, unaccustomed to being handled like that. She wasn't used to being close to people or having them hold her. Or having them stare at her intensely in the dusky light of the setting sun, which was shining on them through the window.

"Where are we?" she asked of him, having put what she felt was a safe distance between them.

"We're at my cottage."

"Your cottage?"

"Yes," Draco said. "It's not as big as the Manor; perhaps that's why I like it so much. Put the tablet down, I'll give you the nickel tour."

Ginny carefully placed the amber tablet on the coffee table and followed Draco through the cottage. It was tiny, and Ginny thought, homely as well. The entire place emanated an aura of comfort. Thick, wooden ceiling beams just barely brushed the top of Draco's head. Similar wooden beams adorned the walls, as well. A tiny dining room contained a table shoved up against a window. The view was amazing.

It seemed that Draco's mystery cottage was by the sea. The kitchen and dining room windows both looked out over the water. Ginny followed Draco through the kitchen, the library, a bedroom barely big enough to house a bed, the bathroom and then back out into the living room.

"It's not much," Draco said when the tour was over. "But I like it."

"It's very cosy," Ginny told him.

"Speaking of cosy, I should light the fire." Draco pointed his wand at the fireplace and a few moments later, a warm fire was burning in the hearth.

They settled down on the couch. Ginny propped her injured ankle up on the coffee table, taking off her shoe and sock so she could get a look at it.

When Draco saw what she was doing, he jumped out of his spot. "Did you hurt yourself? Why didn't you say so?" Concern and fear riddled his voice.

"Draco, I'm fine. It's just a sprain. Nothing's broken."

Draco pushed her hands away and carefully felt her ankle. Ginny winced. When he was done, he announced that it wasn't broken, just badly bruised.

"I've got just the thing for it," he told her. Draco ran out of the room and returned with a tin in his hand.

"Mallory Malfoy's All Purpose Healing Goo," he told her, and then slathered a thick, yellow salve onto her ankle.

"Ew, that smells, Draco. What's in there?"

"I don't know, but by the time you wake up tomorrow morning, your bruises will be gone. There," he said, gently patting her ankle, "good as new. We'll put some more on before you go to sleep."

"Thank you, Draco."

"Think nothing of it," he told her.

Ginny reached out and grabbed his hand with her own. "Not just for fixing my ankle, Draco. Thank you for everything. I thought we were done for in that alley. You saved my life."

"I'm sure you would have done the same for me," Draco said. He squeezed her hand before returning the salve to the cupboard.

The afternoon's events had exhausted Ginny. She was dozing on the couch when Draco returned. He gently shook her shoulder and told her that she could take the bed. It took some looking, but he finally found a pair of pyjamas for her to wear. None of their clothing had survived the trip to Mesopotamia and Ginny was not in a state to fetch more from home.

Ginny was tired enough to let Draco tuck her in. She watched sleepily while he took some blankets out of a chest at the end of the bed.

"I'll take the couch," he told her. "Sleep well, Ginny, and don't worry. The cottage is fully warded. Nothing will bother us here."

She smiled at him and then buried her face into the pillow. She was asleep before Draco left the room.

Draco made himself as comfortable as he could on the couch. In the end, he had to transfigure it to make it long enough for his entire body. Before he settled down to sleep, he checked the house over once more, making sure the wards really were up and that nothing could possibly get in. He was taking no chances, not with Ginny in the house.

He too fell asleep soon after his head hit the pillow. His dreams were full of mysterious, faceless men that chased him through an underground labyrinth made of stone. The walls were damp and every room he went in smelled like mould. He was chasing something, but couldn't remember what. Then he heard a scream, a high-pitched woman's scream that jolted him back to reality.

Draco sat up so fast that he rolled off the couch, his chin barely missing the corner of the coffee table. The screaming from his dream could still be heard and it took his sleep-addled mind a few moments to realize that the screams were real. They were coming from the bedroom.

"Ginny!" he called out, running towards the bedroom.

His quilt was still wrapped around his feet. After a few steps, he tripped over it, and crashed to the floor. His feet scrambled against the blanket as he stood up and ran forward. With every step he took, Ginny's screams grew louder and louder.

But she was still asleep.

The sheets were tangled at the bottom of the bed and the feather pillow was flung against a wall. Ginny lay on the bed, her arms, and legs flailing, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. He climbed up on the bed beside her, getting punched in the face in return for his efforts, and tried to calm her down.

Eventually she relaxed and the screaming stopped. Draco tried to wake her but she remained sleeping. He untangled her bed sheets and pulled the comforter over her. Very gently, he lifted her head and placed the pillow back under it. She was breathing deeply now and was still asleep. Draco sat beside her on the bed. He smoothed her hair back from her face. Ginny seemed to sense his presence and curled up against him.

It was instinct to reach out and put an arm around her. He thought nothing of it and neither did Ginny as she snuggled even closer, one hand clutching his pyjama top.

Draco sat there for a long time, listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing. The sky outside the window was turning pink when he finally decided to go back to his couch and try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, Ginny had other plans. Every time Draco tried to get up and leave, she held on to him tighter, mumbling his name in her sleep.

He finally gave up on leaving, pulled a corner of the comforter over himself, and curled up next to her. Sleep overcame him once more, and this time he dreamed of sunshine, fields full of grass and the warmth that enveloped his entire body.

Draco woke up to a face full of sunshine and an arm full of a beautiful woman. It took him a few seconds to register why he was curled up in bed with Ginny Weasley. Looking at her sleeping peacefully, it was hard to imagine her kicking and screaming like she had been the night before.

He reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. Her eyelids fluttered a bit, but she didn't wake up. Draco snuggled closer to her and rested his forehead against hers.

"Ginny, wake up," he whispered. When she didn't move, he whispered to her again. "Ginny, it's time to wake up."

Her eyes opened slowly, the dark red lashes fluttering against her pale skin. Draco was never sure what possessed him to do what he did next, but somehow it just seemed like the right thing to do.

He brushed his lips up against hers and kissed her.

Ginny's arms snaked up around his neck and she pressed herself closer to him. Her eyes closed once more. Draco was surprised and thrilled when Ginny responded to him. He had expected Ginny to wake up and push him away, not wrap her arms around him and kiss him back.

A curious sensation radiated through Ginny's body. It was both scary and sweet. Her heart beat quickened and her breath lodged in her throat when she opened her eyes and realised she was kissing Draco Malfoy.

And she liked it.