A Summer Without the Sun

Chapter 5: Prayers and Pleading

Harry stared at Ginny. "Malfoy," he said simply. She nodded. "Malfoy as in 'I'm-the-stud-of-Slytherin-so-don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-tell' Malfoy?" She nodded again. To her surprise, he chuckled. "Fell off his broom, did he? Trip over his feet, eh?"

"No, no!" she cried, perplexed.

"Or did he run into a wall? That would have been funny to see. Or maybe--"

"NO!" Ginny exclaimed, stomping her foot in exasperation. "I'm being serious! He's very hurt, and I think his dad did it!" Again, Harry stared. Finaly, he took a deep breath and said, "Do you think he's all right?"

Ginny shrugged.

"There's a way you can find out," he replied mysteriously. "Wait here."

~

Ginny stepped cautiously up to the stairs to the Hospital Wing. Harry's Invisibility Cloak was wrapped around her and the Marauder's Map was clutched tightly in her fist. With shaking hands, she pulled the door open, hoping no one was awake and watching. Being invisible was something that needed getting used to.

Moonlight flooded into the room, casting eerie shadows over the white beds. To her relief, all were empty except for one, which was shut off by white curtains. Ginny tiptoed down the aisle and slipped inside the cubicle, making the curtains swish only very slightly.

She barely recognised the face of the boy sleeping in front of her. His pale face was crisscrossed with strikingly red scratches and curse marks still glistening with blood. The normally sleek blond hair fell over his forehead in disarray, also encrusted in red stain. An ugly purple bruise covered most of his left cheek. Draco Malfoy slept on with a troubled expression on his face.

In shock, Ginny let Harry's cloak slide to the floor and perched on the edge of the bed. She lifted up his hand and gasped. Not only was it ice cold, it was very stiff. Ginny quickly turned it over to check for a pulse and nearly cried out. Draco's wrist was a mass of scars; purplish lines left over from numberless cuts and slashes. Feeling a weak but definite beat, she relaxed a little, but her fear was lessened only slightly. Why was he doing this to himself? she wondered.

Suddenly, she felt Draco's fingers move in her grasp. Heart in her throat, Ginny dropped his hand and leapt off the bed, throwing Harry's cloak over her.

Draco sat up sharply. "Who's there?" he whispered loudly. His pale, bloodshot eyes swept around the enclosure. Ginny held her breath each time they passed over her. They stopped at a spot not two feet from where she lay. "Show yourself!" he commanded, trying to sound intimidating, but coming out very weak and scared.

Ginny followed his line of vision and nearly died. Her foot was not underneath the cloak and was in plain sight of Draco. "Oh no," she groaned inwardly. "What am I going to do now?"

Just then, the Voice broke in, breathing shallowly and cursing rapidly,

*Please don't be him! Someone help! Oh please, PLEASE don't let it be him!!"

Ginny realised that she couldn't turn back now. Slowly, shakily, she stood up, watching Draco's eyes widen in horror as her foot, the only part of her he could see, moved. "Don't be afraid," she whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you." Her voice sounded small and scared, too. All the while, the Voice continued its frantic rambling.

Draco swallowed. "Who are you?" he asked softly, emboldened by the feminine voice.

Taking a deep breath, she let Harry's cloak slip off her body. Draco stared at her for a long moment, as if he expected her to morph into his worst nightmare. "Weasley?" he questioned in disbelief. Ginny merely nodded.

"It was you, then, who was just here, holding my hand?"

Another nod.

To her surprise, he relaxed visibly and leaned back into the pillow. Ginny let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. It didn't seem like he was going to start calling for Madam Pomfrey, or curse her, for that matter. Tentatively, she stepped forward. Draco said nothing, just watched her steadily, as if he knew she was no danger to him. She continued forward.

"How did you know?" he asked as she reached his side.

Ginny didn't really know where to begin. "I-I've been hearing your voice... nearly all summer... in my head," she stammered, not expecting him to believe her.

Again, he looked relieved. "I know. I put a charm on you at the end of the school year. It took a while to get my part right, but you were the most important part."

Sitting down again, Ginny frowned. "I don't understand."

"I knew this summer would be bad. But no one would believe me if I told them my father was abusing me. He's got a reputation to keep up, you know. But I knew he was getting impatient. He wants me to join the Dark Lord as soon as possible. But I don't want to. I fought him all last school year about it." He paused briefly. "My father doesn't give up that easily, though. It began even before I arrived home. I had never expected it to be so bad. So I had to do something; contact someone. And that someone, I decided, was you."

"Why me?" Ginny asked, intrigued.

"Everyone in Slytherin somehow supports the Dark Lord's cause, or are at least *leaning* that way. And I obviously couldn't pick your brother or his friends; they'd never help, they'd laugh! And Potter, well..." he trailed off. His attention turned to the scars that traced his wrists, but his eyes were unfocused and etched in pain. "I've been so awful to him. Why would he help *me*?" Ginny noticed he sounded sad, remorseful. He gave a short, unhappy laugh. "Besides, he'd think it was the Dark Lord or one of his followers meeting their deserved punishment. Never me."

Draco stopped, still looking down, running a fingertip over his palm, following the creases and lines. "So why you?" he continued. "You seemed to be the only person who would look past what House I was in, past the way I treat Har- Potter and his friends. The only person who would help... I hoped." A faint flush was crawling up his cheeks and his eyes seemed unusually bright.

Ginny didn't know what to say. What *was* there to say? She opened her mouth just as the Voice began to plead softly in her mind,

*Please, Ginny, please help me!*

Gathering her resolve, she looked into Draco's eyes and whispered,

"I will."