Stripped

Hogwarts, 10 years ago

It was dark but after sneaking around late at night for nearly six years, she was used to it. Ginny grabbed a pillar as she heard a rustling nearby. She stood there for several moments, hoping that it wasn't Filch and Mrs. Norris. When nothing came by, she let out her pent-up breath and continued her way to the Gryffindor common room.

Tonight had been another meeting of the DA. The war was heating up and everyone knew that Harry and Voldemort would be battling soon so tonight's meeting was one of the last. Harry had demanded that everyone work on advanced protection and disarming spells and Ginny's body was sore from all of the extra work.

She groaned softly to herself. The room of requirement wasn't that far from Gryffindor Tower but for some reason, she allowed herself to get lost. She deduced that she was near the Hufflepuff common room. She turned towards the right to go back to Gryffindor but she had a muffled noise from the left. She thought, It's nearly half two in the morning and I can't afford to get caught by Filch...

But, something kept pulling her towards whoever it was. She walked over there and she saw that the person was sitting in a small room. She thought, they must have forgotten to close the door in their distress.

She walked in and asked, "Are you all right?"

The person stiffened as if they wanted to hex her but was unsure of what to do. Then the person uttered, "Go away."

Ginny froze; the only person with that voice was Malfoy. She was torn; she hated the Malfoys but as she watched him twitch in pain, she just couldn't leave someone in pain just lying there. She wished that she could memory-charm herself right now and forget that this ever happened.

She sighed as she walked over towards the ferret. He was lying on his back and clutching his left arm. His eyes were closed and his hair was in disarray as well as his clothes. The way his body shook told her that he was in deep pain. She went down to touch him but she stopped. The aura of Voldemort was all around him.

She began to back away as visions of Tom Riddle entered her head. Then she bumped into something. She turned around and it was Professor Snape. Ginny calmed down a bit; Snape was a member of the Order and he probably knew what was best.

Malfoy's arm went slack as he lost consciousness. Ginny's eyes strayed towards his left arm and she saw the Mark. She raised anxious questioning eyes to Snape. Snape nodded and as if he could read her mind, he said, "Don't worry. Just go back to Gryffindor and I'll pretend that you didn't see this. Of course, if you say something, you know what will happen."

Ginny nodded in assent. Snape may be a member of the Order but he was still one of the most vicious wizards alive and she blanched at the thought of what could happen if she crossed him.

Snape gave a thin smile as Ginny left the room. Then he sighed as he looked at the unconscious Malfoy. He whispered to himself, "What a mess we are in now."