To Say Goodbye

Chapter 7

Abigail lazily dragged her feet across the damp misty grass as she pointlessly wandered across Hogwarts lawn. When she'd previously looked outside, she had expected the air to be chilly and just all around gross. Yet she was astounded to find that the weather was unbelievably almost perfect, except for the wet grass of course.

However, the grass didn't stop her on her search for Harry. She really did like Ron, even though she knew that he was only using her, and she didn't even know why she liked him. She had never really noticed him until the day he literally ran her over in the corridors. She remembered he had apologized profusely and helped her to her feet. She remembered he seemed very upset about something, yet didn't seem very willing to share it.

Abigail grinned to herself as she approached Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid, of course, was outside working on his "newest and greatest" lesson ever. Though, when she glanced around, all she could see was a noose tied around a bucket of water with an axe sitting wading in it. She cringed as she gained a vividly grotesque image of just what this lesson might be about.

Abigail didn't realize that she had been staring when Hagrid turned around and gave her a hearty smile. "'Lo there," he said to her kindly, "didn't even see ya standin' there."

Abigail met his eyes and smiled back. "I was looking for someone," she told him, "and I was wondering if perhaps you might have seen them."

Hagrid placed the rather large pair or trimming scissors down on the ground and wiped his hands clean onto his already dirty pants. He then burrowed his brow in concentration as he tried to remember Abigail's name, "Well, uh?"

"Abigail Smith."

"Oh yes! Well, Miss Smith," Hagrid started professionally, "I just might be able to help. Who are ya lookin' for?"

"Harry Potter," she replied politely.

"Oh I see," Hagrid replied taking a few steps back away from her. "I don't know if Harry would want anyone from his little fan club to be botherin' him at the moment, Miss Smith."

Abigail was thoroughly appalled by this statement and scrunched her face in disgust. "I can guarantee you that I am not in the Harry Potter fan club," she responded quickly and a rather rudely.

Hagrid seemed to be thinking hard for quite some time as he pondered what she had told him. "Then why are ya lookin' for him?"

"Professor Snape and Professor Lupin sent me to find him, and I thought he might still be outside."

"Oh, I see," Hagrid said. "Well the last I saw him, he was here in me cabin. So he must be somewhere 'round here, 'cause I didn't see him inside."

Abigail sighed for she figured he probably did what most guys would do in a situation like this. He probably ran to the most dangerous place possible, where all the pain and confusion could continue to grow without hesitation. "Well, thank you for your help, Hagrid," she said respectively as she started off towards the lake so she could sneak into the Forbidden Forest with out being caught.

"Any time Miss Smith!" he called joyfully to her as he started to trim then vines in his pumpkin patch again.

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Once Snape and Lupin had left the room, Draco sat with his head in his hands. He was extremely tired, not to mention hungry, and he was also very worried about Hermione. He didn't trust Ron because he knew he was Harry's best friend and would help him do anything, which included helping kidnap Hermione. Yet at the same time, he knew Ron had feelings for Hermione, but he was with Abigail. Draco understood why women were always so confused with men and their weird ways.

It had been nearly ten minutes since Ginny had been given the awakening potion, and she had yet to stir. Draco was suppose to go get Professor Lupin and Snape the moment she woke up. However, he didn't feel like moving for he was too weak to even try. He didn't really want to stay babysitting a Weasley, but he knew it would make Hermione happy, so he stayed with her.

He glanced out the window behind him to give him something to do. Draco knew he was on the verge of falling asleep and missing Ginny's whole awakening. Nevertheless, he didn't have to wait long.

He heard the infirmary bed squeak and turned to see Ginny Weasley stretching and yawning. Draco sat back and gave Ginny a smug smile as her eyes met his. "Nice to see you back from the dead, Weasley," he told her, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ginny looked around the room in confusion. "What happened? Why am I here? Why are you here? Where's Ron? Where's Harry?" she cried as she pulled herself up in the bed and then grasped her side as a pain seared it's way through her whole body.

"Well," Draco began, "you are here because you have been poisoned by a beastly owl that you and Harry had found in the forest. I'm here because I'm being forced too, and I know that it would make Hermione happy. Ron is with Hermione and they left to go talk. And Harry is...I don't know where Harry is and frankly, I don't care."

Ginny stared at Draco with disgust, "I hate you."

"I know," Draco replied with a grin.

There was an odd moment of silence where Draco felt his body almost collapse in sleep. He was caught however by Ginny's hand steadying him slightly and shaking him awake. "You look really tired," she told him with concern.

"I know," he replied, "I am. I haven't slept for the past few nights."

"Why?" she asked, starting with her prodding questions once more.

"I've either been working on school work, or with Hermione."

Ginny smiled sweetly, "You really like her, don't you?"

Draco looked sheepishly down into his hands, "Yeah, I do."

Ginny shifted in her bed so she could get a better view of Draco. "I can tell she likes you a lot too, you know."

Draco's face immediately lighted and his eyes contained a new sparkle, "How can you tell?"

"Just the way she acts around you and the way she looks at you," she told him while reaching into her robe pocket and pulling out a bar of chocolate and handing it to him. "Here, eat this. It will wake you up a bit."

Draco hesitantly took the piece of candy from Ginny's hand and took a bite out of it. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"So, Ginny," Draco said as he finished off the chocolate, "you were saying something about a sparkle in her eye?"

Ginny laughed, "Yeah, what about it?"

"What do you mean by sparkle? And what did you mean by 'she acts different'?"

Ginny sighed; she knew this was going to be a long conversation.

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Hermione awoke with the most painful of all headaches. She didn't open her eyes for awhile; she only reached about and touched her surroundings. Her hand scraped across a slick polished marble floor and a incredibly soft silk rug. This area was definitely not her Hogwarts bed or her bed at home either.

She opened her eyes and glanced around in amused terror. She was in a very unfamiliar room with gray stoned walls and a white marble floor. There was a marvelous fireplace at one end of this new room and a massive black velvet bed with silk pillows behind her. There was also a maple closet and a black dressing screen in another corner as well. And above a giant maple door, was a marble plaque with the words, "Malfoy Prison - Dungeon Suite 01," etched in an elegant gold color.

"Oh God," she groaned, "I'm in Malfoy Manor."

And indeed she was. She was in one of the dungeon suites as Lucius Malfoy called them. This room however, was his favorite because it was draped in black and had no windows to let any light in whatsoever. And, this room also had a little peep hole that he used to observe his most threatening prisoners. Hermione, however, didn't know any of this.

It took all of her strength to push herself off of the floor and onto the bed. Not a second after she had lain down, a tiny house elf came burrowing in through a tiny door at the bottom of the massive maple door. The house elf was carrying a large silver plate filled with all sorts of food, from turkey to chocolate frogs.

"Here's you go, Miss," the house elf clothed in a torn pillowcase quavered in fear as it placed the plate on the bed stand next to Hermione's bed. "If you's need anything, I will be right outside the door, Miss."

"Thank you," Hermione said delightfully, trying her hardest to make the house elf feel comfortable. "What is your name?" she asked as the elf started to open the door to leave.

"Wells, Master calls me lots of bad things, but the other elves call me Twiky, Miss," the elf replied in a squeaky voice.

"Twiky?" Hermione repeated, this time trying not to laugh.

"Yes, Miss."

"Well, Twiky, thank you for the food," she told the house elf politely.

"You are welcomes, Miss. I'lls be right outside the door, Miss."

Hermione smiled as the door shut and Twiky disappeared. She looked over the food that was given to her and jumped right into it. She hadn't realized just how hungry she really was until she had seen the food.

Hermione noticed, not too long after starting in on her food, that the bandages she had on her hands earlier had been removed and her hands were now healed. She only wished she could say the same for her head. She touched the spot where the pain was most intense and felt dried blood upon it, not to mention an extremely large bump.

She quickly ate the food that was provided for her and sat back on her bed to think. She knew the Malfoy's were rich, but she had no clue that they treated their prisoners with such decency. Then again, she didn't really know why she was there to begin with.

Without thinking she touched the necklace that hung around her neck. She mentally kicked herself for not listening to Draco's warnings and staying with someone at all times. She felt stupid for not just staying with Ron while visiting Sirius, thus getting captured and losing the opportunity to tell Ron what was going on with Harry. Yet then again she wasn't sure how much help Ron would have been when faced with twelve Death Eaters.

Hermione sighed deeply when she thought of Harry, it almost made her sick to think of him. A year ago she would have thought it wonderful to sit around and daydream of him, but right now she found herself hating his memory and daydreaming about Draco.

She giggled as she carelessly lopped her necklace around its chain. "I'm such a moron," she said to herself, "of all people I could have liked, I choose Draco."

Just then she heard a very quiet knock at her door. She sat up on her bed and listened closely. "Miss, its Twiky. Mays I come in?"

"Yes you may, Twiky," Hermione called sweetly back. Twiky hurried herself through the door and walked over to Hermione.

"Master told Twiky this, Miss," Twiky said rather sheepishly as she stuck her hands out holding a book that was nearly the same size as she. "Master says it will be of good reading to your like."

Hermione took the book from Twiky at grinned politely. "Thank you, Twiky."

"Your welcomes, Miss," Twiky said as she bowed deeply and yet again exited the room.

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

After the Death Eaters had Disapperated with Hermione, Harry had started walking back to Hogwarts castle. The event he had just witnessed ran through his head, again and again, playing like a broken record. He had never thought that they would actually hurt Hermione, and he had to grip his wand tightly, so as not to use it when he watched her fall to the ground after being hit with a powerful stunning spell.

He was using his senses wisely when he heard leaves cracking and the sound of a girl humming to herself. Harry had absolutely no idea who's voice it was and wasn't sure if he wanted to find out, so he sped up.

As he attempted to dodge the person coming near him, he got a glimpse of black hair and a side profile before their eyes turned and met his.

"Harry?" the girl called out nervously, "Harry, is that you?"

Harry, figuring that there was no other way to keep from hiding, called back awkwardly, "Yes, this is Harry."

"Oh, good!" the girl sighed as she quickly trotted over to the path Harry had been following. "I've been sent to find you."

Harry was slightly stunned as he examined her features, from her long black hair to her perfectly manicured fingernails. Her eyes were possibly the brightest blue Harry had ever seen, and she had the cutest cheeks...

"Harry?" the girl asked, breaking him out of his trance. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," Harry replied quickly, "I'm fine. Err...Who are you?"

"I'm surprised Ron hasn't told you yet," she said to him as she walked a little ways down the path in the direction Harry had been heading. "I'm Abigail Smith. Ron's...sort of girl friend."

"Oh," Harry said, "that's right. I think I remember him saying something once or twice."

Abigail grinned and motioned for him to follow her. "I'm supposed to bring you back to the castle with me."

Harry stopped mid-step as panic ran through him, "Why?"

"They just want to talk to you about Ginny," she replied.

"Who are they?"

Abigail scanned over Harry suspiciously, "Professor Snape and Professor Lupin."

"Professor Lupin is here?" Harry exclaimed, his panic vanished and was now filled with glee.

"Yeah, he came to examine Ginny. He thinks he can help her," she explained as she started to walk down the dirt path once more.

"Really!?" Harry cried as he ran up to be side by side with Abigail.

"Yeah," she laughed.

Harry felt happier then he had ever been in his life. Ginny was going to live, but then something hit him. What if Hermione was't?

"Is something wrong, Harry?" Abigail asked with concern in her voice.

"No," he lied, "not yet."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

"So," Draco started, listening to Ginny's every word as carefully as he possibly could, "she smiles differently when she's around me?"

"Yes, Draco..." Ginny said for what seemed the ten hundredth time.

"And her eyes, you said they have that little sparkle that says 'wow, he's hot'?" he continued.

Ginny rolled her head from one shoulder to the other and stared at Draco with a look of pure boredom. "Draco, I've told you everything I can tell you. It's obvious she likes you."

"Ok, so wait," Draco said as he positioned himself in his chair so he could read the notes he had taken, "when she talks to me she has a twinkle in her eye and she pays full attention to every word I say, sometimes ignoring others when they are speaking to her?"

"Yes."

"When she's by me she will position herself so that she is facing me at all times?"

"Yes."

"And she sometimes stares at me even when we aren't talking?"

"Yes, Draco."

"Well, I could have told you all of that," Draco said with a slight huff.

Ginny sighed and turned away from him. Draco had noticed that over the time they were talking her color seemed to get whiter and whiter and her voice fainter and fainter. All in all, he could tell that she slowly fading away.

"If you knew, then why couldn't you figure it out?" she asked him in a sleepy voice.

"Well," Draco began with a grin, "I already knew she thought I was simply irresistible."

"Then why did you ask me so many questions?"

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining things," he replied quietly.

Ginny noticed the change in his tone and faced him once more. "What made you think you were imagining things?" she asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Draco told her as he drummed his fingers on his parchment notebook, "I guess I never thought I could get someone to like me like Hermione."

Ginny smiled, "I guess all it took was for you to realize just what you were missing when you were with that...thing...Pansy."

"Yeah," Draco laughed, "I guess you're right."

Ginny forced her muscles to move as she pulled herself up in a sitting position. "Did you really like Pansy?" she asked softly.

"I thought I did," he responded with his eyes fixed on his notebook.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Common sense I suppose. This probably sounds cheesy, but she, in a way, changed me for the worse and turned me against everything I had planned," Draco told her with a pitiful smile.

"What plans are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I wasn't planning on joining my father with the Death Eaters," he said slowly. "I wanted to be something more then him, something better."

"You are better, Draco," Ginny said sincerely as she placed her hand on Draco's arm. "I can see you have changed, but not for the worse like you said Pansy did. I think Hermione changed you for the better."

"I guess so," Draco laughed, "I don't think Hermione would ever do any of the things Pansy and me..."

Draco stopped mid-sentence and blinked once he caught himself and Ginny giggles. "Never mind, you probably wouldn't want to know."

"I think I already know," she told him as she continued to giggle.

"Oh yeah? I wouldn't think you and Potter would go on those little escapades in the middle of the night," he retorted, then noticing Ginny was suddenly silent and lost her look of innocence he continued, "Or have you?"

"I don't think that is any of your business, Malfoy," she said, trying her hardest to be serious.

"Right, Weasley," he responded as Professor Lupin and Professor Snape walked through the door, followed closely by Abigail and Harry.