Most Potente Potions of Fate

(A:N) 'Lo. I do apologise for the ginormous delay between the last chapter and this, but I'm afraid it just happened like that. Chapter eight will hopefully be up in a fortnight (but no guarantee). If there is going to be such a large delay between chapters again, you will be forewarned, and I'm sorry you weren't this time. The novel 'Pride and Prejudice' is mentioned in this chapter and although it is only mentioned briefly it is quite symbolic. If you have read the novel you will hopefully understand why, if not....um, you could owl me and ask?

Since you are reading my fan fiction you might also be interested in checking out The Symarzial Alley Forum , which is me very own forum. It is mainly HP related but will soon contain 'Pirates of the Caribbean' content. It is quite like FAP, but smaller, and hosts something called 'The Almighty Fic challenges'. I won't blabber on about it any more, but please go and find out about it for yourselves, I would be eternally grateful!

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Clonk!....Clonk!...Clonk!...

Went the sound of a stone, as it repeatedly hit a window.

THUMP!

It smashed through the window.

This lively scene was indeed that of Draco Malfoy's room on his first day back at the Manor. It was a Tuesday.

Draco hated Tuesdays.

And to make it all worse, he was on his own, stuck in his bloody room, doing nothing. And so to soften the extent of his boredom he lay on his four-poster bed, casually throwing things around the room.

He had been throwing a stone against the window, creating a nice little rhythm, or so he thought. Unfortunately he had thrown it a little too hard and it had smashed right through it, leaving Draco with nothing to torment, which just wasn't on.

He had arrived at Malfoy Manor last night, and after a small breakfast this morning, had returned to his room. He was adamant that being bored on his own was far better than being with his family in any situation.

As well as being bored, he was angry. Positively FUMING, in fact! So much so, he had 'accidentally' trashed several corridors in the Manor, on his way back from breakfast.

And why was he behaving in such a manner?

His father, of course.

When Draco had got home, Lucius had instantly taken him to his study, ignoring protests from Narcissa, that 'shouldn't he at least have some food first?'

As soon as they were alone in his study, his father had then began a tirade of insults and accusations about Draco's behaviour and had not let his son speak for several minutes.

It turned out that Lucius had received an owl from Professor Snape, informing him of Draco's tutoring of Ginny. Which, of course, Lucius knew nothing about. That in itself would have landed Draco in an elephant-sized amount of trouble anyway, because Lucius hated not knowing what he was up to.

But the fact he had been tutoring a Weasley?

Ooh, a sentence served in hell (as many a member of his family had done) was nothing compared to how screwed he was. His father didn't hesitate to tell him all this, though he did put it considerably more elegantly.

As was to be expected, the routine bollocking followed, and a forced promise from Draco never to act so recklessly or un-Malfoy like again.

Then, just for a second, his father's voice would soften and he would tell Draco it was for his own good.

This was all interrupted when there was a knock at the door, and a house elf tentatively entered the room.

"Yes?" Lucius snapped at the house-elf. His voice was so unusually low, he was almost growling.

The house-elf quivered and its knees knocked together in a distinctly rhythmic noise. Draco snorted in disgust. Lucius skilfully ignored him.

The house-elf made a concerted effort to stop shaking, failed, and began to speak in a reedy voice. "Master, the ceremony is now arranged."

Lucius looked like he might smile in delight, but he composed himself quickly -- smiling was a sign of weakness!

He nodded to the elf. "You may go now."

The house-elf stammered gratefully and proceeded to back out of the room; his huge nose touched to the floor in a bow as he went.

Draco looked across at his father; there was a smug, twisted expression on his face. He likes it! Thought Draco. He actually likes it when someone grovels at him like that! He had seen it all before, but it still disgusted him.

Sure, Draco didn't mind the odd crowd of worshippers, and he certainly got them. But that kind of servitude was just pathetic, and even if Draco had respected his father before, all of that respect was fast diminishing.

He pulled his mind back to the present situation, and managed to wipe the disgusted expression off his face.

His mind began to whirr over what had just happened. For some reason, the events of the past few days were making Draco very nervous. His father was always having parties, ceremonies, whatever you wanted to call them, but he had a feeling this time was different.

And it turned out he had been quite right.

His father wanted him to become a Death Eater in two days time.

He must be fucking joking.

But no, he wasn't. He was deadly serious. His father apparently thought that he was becoming too much of a typical Hogwarts student, too good-willed, and that he needed to be disciplined. This made it obvious to Draco just how little his father knew him.

He was NOT good-willed! He was downright evil, if he should say so himself. And he was NOT some nancy-pancy Gryffindor, nor would he ever be. But he would also never be a Death Eater. Even if it was because he hated the thick scratchy Death Eater robes, and it may be because he thought tattoos were ugly, and passé. But he still hated Death Eaters and never wanted to be one. They were mindless killers, and he had brains thank you very much!

And so he told his father his thoughts, and he didn't bother to be subtle, not that he usually did.

Well Lucius got the idea, and he didn't like it one bit!

A big row ensued, but you needn't know the details. Needless to say, lots of frothing at the mouth, and tossing of blond heads followed. It wasn't a pleasant sight and Draco almost wished he hadn't behaved quite the way he did, maybe then his father would have been in a better mood to negotiate.

But it had happened now, and not a lot could be done about it. The argument had ended with Lucius swearing black and blue that his son would be a Death Eater whether he cared for it or not.

And that was that.

Draco was positive he would manage to think something up, but until then he had nothing to do but smash windows and wait.

* * *

Ginny sat quietly in the Gryffindor Common room, reading her book over by the window. She was engaged in 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen and was finding it very enjoyable. Not many of her friends were interested in such books, and some of the purebloods were even a little ashamed to read Muggle literature. Ginny was certainly not, and she thought it was stupid to miss out on something because of a reason like that. She may have also enjoyed Muggle literature as much as she did because of her crackpot (yet beloved) old father and his all-plug-and-muggle obsession.

There was most likely another reason why she was enjoying this particular book so much. She happened to be sub-consciously finding a lot of similarities between the arrogant Mr Darcy and the arrogant-beyond-words Mr Malfoy Junior. She was beginning to enjoy Mr Darcy's character very much and was hoping he would end up with Miss Elizabeth, but for what reasons she did not know.

She was pulled out of an interesting scene with Mr Darcy himself, when a slightly wheedling voice appeared above her head. "Ginny, I don't have a partner for my chess game and I really need to practice, will you help me out?"

Ginny looked up and saw Colin Creevey looking down on her, though he wouldn't be by much when she stood -- he happened to be exceptionally small for his age.

She sighed to herself. She was about as interested in playing chess with Colin as she was in kissing Colin, which, funnily enough, wasn't much.

He was quite sweet though, and she couldn't really turn him down, chess was very important to him.

She stood up and smiled a little. "Yeah sure Colin, I'd love to." She was glad she had said so because his eyes immediately lit up with pleasure...Hmm, maybe it isn't all about playing chess, though!

He led her over to a table in front of the fire and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down gratefully and, having chosen black players, waited for Colin to make his first move.

She had never been very good at chess, and Colin was excellent at it, so the chances of her winning were very slim. Instead of really focusing on the game she let her mind drift about and she began to look around the Common room.

Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting on the other side of the fire, conversing in their little group as they always did.

A few fifth years where huddled in a corner, all bent over books and parchment. And Lavender and Parvati were doing their usual gossip routine in two squashy armchairs by the bookshelves.

The Common room was quite empty compared to its usual standards but it was still full of chatter and the comforting crackle of the fire.

"Hey Ginny, are you in there?" Colin prodded her on the arm gently, and waved his arm in front of her face.

She startled and her eyes focused on him again. "Gosh, sorry Colin. You know me." She yawned loudly.

He looked a little affronted. "If you're too tired Ginny, we don't have to play."

She shook her head vehemently. "Honestly, it's fine Colin. So whose turn is it now?"

He gestured towards her. "Yours."

Ginny nodded and moved her king a space, which put him in direct jeopardy and he could no longer move.

Colin took his move, and sure enough it was a checkmate. He said so. But she wasn't listening. Again, she was looking around the room and her eyes landed on the Trio.

"...Do you think so?" said Harry. "But how could he become one in the middle of the year like this, it's a bit stupid don't you think?"

Ron snorted. "Since when does that idiot need an excuse? I bet he has as well. I'm sure You-Know-Who would just love him in his cosy little circle."

"Ron!" exclaimed both Harry and Hermione at the same time.

"Use his proper name," said Hermione. "You know Dumbledore says we should."

Ron didn't say anything, but his expression looked curiously reminiscent of a pout. Ginny would have laughed at that, but then it hit her. She knew what they were talking about.

They thought Draco Malfoy had left school to become a Death Eater!

Of course, rumours had been ripe as soon as Draco had disappeared. He was a hot gossip topic, and he had his owl fan-girl crowd that would be distraught to see him go, and again he had his enemies, who were only too happy to see the back of him.

But a Death Eater? She hadn't really thought of that. Although she hated his weasely -no ferrety- guts, for some reason the thought of him being a Death Eater made her feel very upset.

All these thoughts were whirling about her head in a confused mass but then it all came tumbling back to her, as clear as light.

The reason Dumbledore had called her to his office in the first place...

Why he kept going on about choices, and how Draco wasn't free to make his own...

And why he seemed to think Malfoy and her were together...(which, of course, they weren't)

Dumbledore wanted her to rescue Draco Malfoy!

She leapt up in shock and knocked the chess table, sending pieces flying into the air. The world came back to her now, and she could hear Colin's voice in her ear, but she consciously ignored him and ran towards the girls' dormitories. She was out of the door before anyone could raise a finger, and the now silent Common room looked curiously after her.

"What do you think that was about?" said Harry, puzzled.

"Dunno," said Ron, who wasn't particularly bothered. Then he laughed. "Maybe she's gone off to save Malfoy from his terrible fate or something."

Neither Ginny nor Ron knew it yet, but he was pretty close to the truth.

* * *

Ginny was lying on her bed listening to the gentle ticking of the clock in her dormitory. It was about 11:00pm, but sleep didn't want to come to her tonight.

She couldn't believe this; she just couldn't believe that old man! What was he playing at? It made her blood boil, in fact -- he had obviously planned the whole thing. He must've known Draco had left school when he talked to her, and that's why he gave her the talk...but he still didn't tell her that Draco had gone.

Why couldn't that blasted Headmaster just stop meddling for once?

It was a load of rubbish anyway. She certainly wasn't going to 'rescue' Malfoy. And even if she did, what on earth would she do when she got there?

Grrr, that Dumbledore, it's all his fault!

And so she stubbornly crossed her arms in the dark, and ignored her thoughts on the matter.

But they kept creeping in.

Would Draco want to be a Death Eater? Sure, he was evil and nasty, but that evil?

Ginny shivered. She certainly hoped not, she didn't want to have had contact with anyone like that.

Besides, Draco would hate the Death Eater robes, not fashionable enough for him! She almost laughed then; it was so true!

Oh Merlin, it was so true!

Maybe it wasn't about the robes, but she knew, he didn't want to be something like that.

Her mind seemed to switch off then, because of course if she had been in her right mind, she never would have got out of her bed and put on her robes. She would have stayed all tucked up in her lovely bed. But she didn't.

She was actually getting up, and then she walked over to her trunk, and picked up her broomstick. So of course, she must have been dreaming.

A few seconds later she had flown out of her dormitory window, and was heading for the faraway county of Wiltshire, where the Malfoy's lived. Everyone knew that, Draco was always bragging about his manor home, and she was pretty sure she could find it.

Gosh, she thought to herself. This was one odd dream she was having; no one would believe it!

She flew on, seemingly forever. She must have been going for hours now, and she was going awfully fast as well. In fact, a lot faster than normal, her old broomstick didn't go this fast.

She glanced down at the handle, Good god! This was Harry's broomstick!

Why on earth was she using this? It was quite odd actually, because in reality Harry had kindly lent her his broomstick that day, so she could practice her flying, and she hadn't given it back yet.

The freezing wind was nipping at her face and hands, and she wished she had dressed more warmly. She pulled her robes about her tightly, and as she did so, she accidentally grazed her arm with her nail. A long pink line appeared on her arm and it began to sting.

This was all very strange for a dream, and she pinched herself just to make sure she wasn't awake. It hurt.

"Well smack the pony and call me Arnold!" she exclaimed aloud, (it was an expression she had learnt from a Muggle-born.) "I really am awake!"

Now that she realised this, she didn't know how she could possibly not have realised.

How stupid of her!

She supposed she must have thought she was asleep because of the ridiculous, dream-like thing she was doing.

"Oh, I'm such an idiot," she said to herself, angrily. "I don't even want to help that prat, and it's not like I have a plan anyway."

It was then that the full weight of what she was doing caught up with her. It was bloody absurd!

She sighed. But there wasn't a fat lot she could do about it now! The best she could do was just to make sure that she was flying in the right direction.

After what seemed an age, Ginny noticed she was flying over a little village. She flew on for a couple more miles, simply because she was relying on flying about until she found the Manor.

She laughed wryly and said aloud, "I really have the good ideas of the family, me!"

She came to what looked like Manor grounds so she began to slow down. A big building started to appear out of the darkness. Unfortunately, Ginny had no idea whether or not it was Malfoy Manor.

What a pity the Malfoy's didn't have their name emblazoned onto a huge plaque on the side of the manor, with fireworks going off at regular intervals and permanent lighting spells surrounding it. A pity indeed!

"Merlin!" she exclaimed. "I'm shattered." She decided to fly down to the nameless Manor, and perch on one of the many wide windowsills for a rest.

And then I can decide what to do with this horrible mess, she thought.

She flew down to a stone window ledge and clambered off her broom gingerly, her legs appeared to be permanently stuck in a flying position! Sitting down, she rested her head in the window space...and promptly fell through it.

"Aaahh!" she yelled, trying to grab onto the velvet curtains as she fell. She landed with a painful bump on a thickly carpeted floor. She glanced around in darkness for a few seconds, before a pale wand light suddenly illuminated the room.

Ginny stood up slowly and looked behind her. There was Draco Malfoy himself, sitting bare-chested in his bed, with silken sheets tucked around his waist. His hair wasn't gelled back, like it sometimes was, and little sections of it had flopped into his eyes. Said eyes were piercing her own with fiercesome intensity.

In that second she could finally understand what it was about Draco Malfoy that attracted so many people. She could hardly breathe with looking at him. But then he opened that perfect mouth and started to yell at her.

Somethings would never change.

"What in Satan's name, and all his little helpers, are you doing in my room at quarter to two in the morning weasel?"

She growled. "Don't you call me weasel, you rat! For your information I have come to help you!"

He scoffed in disbelief. "What would I ever want your help for? And besides, couldn't you have knocked?"

"Malfoy, do you honestly think I drop into peoples rooms like this for fun?"

"Well, I can imagine it yes," he said, assuming a nonchalant expression. Then he scowled at her. "But you still haven't told me why you're in my room."

She scowled at him. "I'll have you know that I fell into your room, "she said, desperately trying to regain some dignity. "And I am in your room because, I, I flew here on a broom." And she folded her arms defiantly.

He grinned at her. "Yes I established that much, but why?"

Now that she thought of it, it sounded rather pathetic, but there was no going back now. She was just about to answer him, when she looked at his face; it had gone white. Then she heard what was bothering him, there were footsteps coming down the corridor towards them.

Draco swore fluently, and she had to admit she was impressed with his extensive vocabulary, and there was she thinking she had heard it all from her brothers!

Who would ever want to do that with a wand?

"Bugger," he said, then turned to her. "You do realise that if my father finds you here, he will very likely boil you alive, right Weasley?" Not that, that bothered him, of course!

She didn't reply, but her stare was firmly fixed on the door.

The footsteps stopped outside his door and the handle started to rattle. Ginny's expression was reminiscent of a deer caught in front of the nightbus, and it was obvious she didn't intend moving, either that or she couldn't.

Draco was not one for thinking things over, but he knew that in a few seconds his father would see Ginny in here, and that was about the worst thing that could happen at the moment.

He ran over to Ginny, and lifted her clean off the ground and then carried her over to the windowsill that she had previously come in through. She turned out to be a lot heavier than he expected.

Blimey! He thought, she's supposed to be small-boned isn't she?

He had meant to hide her on the wide stone sill, but unfortunately...he missed!

She went sailing out of his arms and fell down to the flowerbeds below. He was only on the second floor, but it was still a decent-sized drop; and she didn't even scream, but she was probably in too much shock at being thrown out of a window, as anyone most likely would be.

He really hadn't meant to do that.

He peered out of the window and saw her sprawled across the bed of fuschias.

"Bugger, The garden-elves won't like that."