The Soul Keeper

Chapter 6: Challenges

The few hours between breakfast and lunch seemed to take days, as if they were purposely dragging themselves out, to the unanimous horror of the entire student body.

Everyone was on edge about the coming announcement, including Ginny Weasley. After they had cleaned up the Great Hall,-which surprisingly, took less than two hours with everyone pitching in to help- she immediately headed for the Gryffindor Common room, and from there she went on to her dormitory.

She needed time to think. And to figure out just why she was all of a sudden feeling so...weird. She had almost been in tears back there for crying out loud. That wasn't like her at all.

She hardly ever cried, and even less in public. In fact, as she lay on her bed pondering, she realized that she had never cried in public. What was going on?

It had to be Draco. He'd woven a spell over her or something. But wait, why would he bother? Those silver, dreamy eyes and that blonder-than-blonde hair were enough to make any girl with eyes drool over him.

And the big question: Had that been him back there in the Great Hall? That light, warm touch that had haunted her thoughts all the way back to her room?

Ginny groaned. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts just kept going around in circles, turning back in on themselves. She needed something else to think about for a while. Something not Draco-related.

She sat up on her bed, thankful that the room was empty and she wasn't having to answer any questions about why she, Ginny Weasley, was moping around in bed in the middle of the day.

A slight shimmer in the corner of her eye as she moved caught her attention, and she turned to look closer.

A couple of feet away, on the end of one of her year mates bed, lay a beautiful silver bracelet, the top carefully crafted into the shape of a butterfly, its diamond eyes catching the sunlight coming in through the open window and causing it to glitter, leaving tiny rainbows to dance around on the bed.

Though she didn't know whether or not it was real, Ginny realized that she had never seen such a beautiful piece of jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, she thought that that bracelet would probably make an even more beautiful necklace. Necklaces...

Unfortunately, this train of thought led her right back to the one subject she had most hoped to avoid.

Draco...

She frowned suddenly, lost in thought. Just what was with him and that amulet, or whatever you wanted to call it. Somehow, she got the feeling that it was more than just a rare piece of jewelry.

She remembered the way his hand always seemed to be unconsciously reaching for it, and the way he had grasped it tightly the day before in the classroom. He had been holding it so firmly his knuckles had turned white. Holding it like he would never-could never-let go.

She shivered, remembering his pale, drawn face, beaded with drops of cold sweat.

Whatever had happened down there, she felt certain that it had something to do with that necklace. She knew that necklaces and pendants and things were often cursed, or spelled- usually with disastrous results. Maybe Draco's necklace was something like that. Cursed.

Of course, she'd never heard of any sort of curse that could cause someone as strong as Draco to be left shaking and sick, as if they had just undergone some terrible ordeal.

Or had she?

Suddenly the words of a long forgotten lesson resurfaced in her mind, forcing out all other thoughts, until only three words were left coursing through her mind.

The Cruciatus Curse.

That had to be it. It was the only thing that even remotely made sense. But it couldn't be, could it?

Ginny wasn't sure. All she knew was that she was suddenly getting a very, very, bad feeling about this.

She was interrupted by the sound of the door banging open. Her head jerked up, her eyes following a millisecond later, just in time to see two other sixth years walk through the door, chattering aimlessly.

Ginny thought she caught the words " Dumbledore" and " important announcement" before they noticed her.

Seeing Ginny, they stopped.

" Oh, sorry Gin, we didn't know there was anyone in here. You aren't trying to sleep or anything are you? I mean, I know you slept late this morning, so you can't possibly still be sleepy can you?" Allyda Farren, better known as Ally, was one of the most talkative girls in school. Say one word, and she could give you about fifty in return, just off the top of her head. She loved make-up and clothes, and with the help of her parents, she usually had more than even she could ever wear. That didn't stop her from buying more though. She also happened to be one of the nicest- if slightly shallow- girls in Ginny's year. Which explained why they were friends.

The other girl was also in Ginny's year. Londy Haret was slightly less fashion-obsessed than Allyda, and she was also a lot more perceptive.

" You're not sick are you?" She asked, concerned. She must have seen Ginny's tense expression before she had been able to hide it.

" No," Ginny answered, a bit too quickly, " I'm fine." She gave them what she hoped was a sincere look before jumping energetically up from the bed. " I was just...um...looking-looking for a book. Yeah, that's it," she finished unconvincingly, making a show of looking through the covers on her bed. As if a book would be hidden there somewhere.

The bad thing was, she found herself having to do it more and more often. First it had just been about why she slept late and whether she was sick or not, now the list had expanded to include lying to her friends about why she was in her own dormitory. It wasn't like they were really bad lies or anything, but it was the fact that before her detentions had started with Draco, she hadn't had to lie at all. Of course, she could just tell them the truth, that she was worried about Draco.

On second thought...no way, not happening. Even Ally and Londy would think she was going insane if she gave them that line.

No, she would just have to keep lying. And there was going to be a lot more to lie about once classes and her detentions started again on Monday. The only bright part was that she wouldn't have that week with Draco, so she could probably make something up about why she was in detention.

That was a good thing wasn't it?

" Um, Ginny, I don't think that a book is just going to magically appear on the bed- oh wait, I guess it could..." Up until Londy had received her letter from Hogwarts, she hadn't known anything about magic. It showed too. She was always starting to say how things didn't magically appear, before remembering that indeed they did, at least in the wizarding world. Old habits die hard, she guessed.

" Huh?" Ginny snapped back into reality. " Oh, the book...right."

Ally and Londy were exchanging puzzled glances now. Ginny was sure she was acting like a total freak.

It really wasn't that she didn't have friends or anything, it was just that she tended to keep to herself, and after what had happened in her first year...Well, people just tended to let her. Even Ally and Londy weren't really close friends, they were just people she could sometimes talk to.

" I just remembered I left it down in the common room, I guess I'll go get it." Ginny continued hastily, blurting out the only thing she could think of. Without waiting for acknowledgment, Ginny swept out the door, forcing herself to keep her pace at a moderate walk instead of bursting into a run like she desperately wanted to do.

She felt the two girls' confused eyes on her back until she turned the corner and went out of sight. That was a relief. Ginny felt a huge sigh release itself and she headed down the stairs. She'd have to find somewhere else to go now, she supposed. It would look pretty stupid to walk back into the dormitory without her "book". Besides, Ally was much too likely to ask questions that Ginny didn't particularly care to answer, especially the ones about her sanity.

She reached the common room, surprised to see that there weren't very many people there. Then again, it was a weekend, they were probably out on the grounds, enjoying the sunshine (it wouldn't last much longer), or hanging out with friends in the corridors.

For her part, Ginny had decided that she would pay a visit to the library. It would probably be mostly deserted, considering that most of the students wouldn't be caught dead in there when they didn't have to be. In fact, she was counting on it.

There was only one person she was worried about running into. Hermione. It was very likely that she would be there studying, as usual. She thought she had heard Hermione mention it before they split up after they had finished cleaning the Great Hall. Something about a Transfiguration test coming up next week...

At least Harry and Ron weren't going to be there. She knew for a fact that Harry had Quidditch practice from 10 o'clock until lunchtime, and Ron had been planning on going to watch.

That meant that Ginny would just have to avoid Hermione. The older girl normally sat at the same table, so Ginny could just make sure she gave it a wide berth and kept her head down.

The more she thought about, the more she was certain that it was the key to figuring out what was going on. Perhaps it would be in a book. At least, she hoped so. She didn't know what she would do if she couldn't find it there.

Ask Draco maybe? Yeah right, who was she trying to fool? The library was her only hope.

She made her way to the doors with the unthinking ease that only comes with long practice or repetition. And Ginny had traveled this specific path almost as much as Hermione had. Before she knew it, the great doors loomed before her, and she pushed one open slightly, sliding in through the relatively small opening.

As she had hoped, there were very few students present and she was able to make her way over to the row of bookcases she thought might possibly contain the information she needed without incident.

Ginny spent the better part of two hours pouring over every book the library could offer on magical pendants, enchanted amulets, and bewitched necklaces. She had only been interrupted once, when a book a few feet away had seemed to fall off of its shelf on its own accord. Immediately suspicious, Ginny had looked around carefully, but there was no one in sight. She went back to her reading.

The search turned up nothing. Discouraged, she stood up to put the books she had gathered back on their appropriate shelves and head down to the Great Hall, noticing with a quick glance at her watch that lunch was fast approaching. She had just started placing the last couple of books back in their proper places when the bottom one accidentally fell from her grasp. She waited until she had returned the others to the shelf before she reached down to pick it up.

Before she could close the cover and replace it on the book shelf, a tiny picture in the corner of the right hand page caught her attention. Though it was too small to see with any great clarity, she couldn't help but notice that it looked an awful lot like the necklace Draco wore so protectively around his neck. Too much like it.

She couldn't believe she had completely missed it the first time she had searched this book. Then again, it was very small...

Ginny bent closer to the book, her nose just scant inches away as she tried to make out the picture better. A tiny caption located just under it read:

Here the words got smaller and smaller until they were impossible to read.

" Darn it!" Ginny burst out in frustration. She had finally found something, even if it was only a little bitty picture with a few words under it that might help her, and she couldn't even read all of it. What was the deal with that anyway? Had the author been that pressed to save space?

As she tried in vain to read the tiny print, another line a few spaces down caught her interest.

That was it? She was being sent to hunt down another book? Well, it was something to go on. To bad she didn't have any more time right now. Already she could hear the few students who were in the library beginning to move around, presumably heading towards the Great Hall for lunch- and the highly anticipated "announcement". She could stay and search it out some more, but Ginny really didn't want to miss that. She had a feeling that whatever Dumbledore planned on saying, it was important.

She would have to come back later. Flipping the book she held in her hands closed, she looked closely at the title- Enchanted Jewelry- memorizing it, and the name of the book she would be searching for later. Both would be good to know for future reference.

Then, with one last glance at the old, worn book, she replaced it on its shelf and made her way out of the library.

******************************

Almost every seat was filled by the time Draco reached the Great Hall. Not that he had to worry. No one, absolutely no one, ever took his seat.

He crossed the hall quickly, glancing around with curiosity. The place usually didn't get this full until after 12:15 at the earliest. Then he remembered; this was when Dumbledore was supposed to reveal the big mystery.

As he took his seat, he couldn't help wondering what was going to be announced. Neither could the rest of the students it seemed. On his left, Pansy kept up a constant stream of chatter about what she thought it might be, while Draco sat there looking bored, not even pretending to listen. His mind was on other things.

First and foremost: Ginny Weasley. After she had walked away from him that morning, angry and hurt, he had done something he had never believed possible. He had actually felt bad for getting her upset, and had tried to comfort her. At least a little. He had made sure she hadn't seen him of course, making her wonder whether she had really felt his hand on her shoulder, or if she had just imagined it.

A little cruel maybe, but he really couldn't believe he had done anything in the first place. It was so...so...un-Draco-ish. Not at all characteristic of a Malfoy. Or even a Slytherin for that matter. Nevertheless, he had done it.

And what was even more strange, he had realized not long after, was that it had actually felt good. He had liked being able to give her a little bit of comfort. Even if he had turned right around and left her wondering. And better yet, the necklace hadn't done anything. Not one time did he get sucked into the dark room, faced again with the same nameless horror.

He was beginning to think that the Voice, whatever it was, could only come at certain times. As of yet, he wasn't sure when it could and when it couldn't, but it was obviously not there all of the time, or else he would have already suffered for that solitary act.

That was something at least. It gave him hope.

Now he would just have to find out what it was that was doing this to him, and-hopefully- rid himself of it. And he would have to do it soon, before that "thing" came back. He had already noticed that although nothing had happened to him, he still couldn't take the necklace off. He would have to find a way to get out of that too. Thankfully, he now thought he might have somewhere to start.

It had happened because of pure luck and random chance, but Draco was already feeling grateful for it. He had been studying in one of the back, less used corners of the library, when he had heard footsteps and looked up to see Ginny Weasley walking past. She hadn't seemed to notice him, which hadn't surprised him. She had had a determined look on her face, not even glancing towards the more shadowed section where he sat hidden.

He saw her though, and after the scene that morning, he couldn't help wondering what she was doing back in the far reaches of the library. The words she had spoken earlier kept echoing through his head, and he decided to follow her to see what she was up to. Ginny Weasley had never before been the kind to drop a subject so fast like she had that morning when he had told her to go and tell Dumbledore what was happening. He had known that she must have something in mind, and this might be his one and only chance to find out what it was.

He waited until she had rounded the corner, then slowly, so as not to attract her attention, and quietly, he stood and made his way down the path she had taken. From a vantage point behind a row of books, he had watched as she had taken down almost all the books off of one shelf and placed them on a table, before sitting down to read.

Well, not really read, he had realized, as he looked closer. More like scan. She was flipping through the pages too fast to have read them, and Draco concluded that she must have been looking for something specific. Moving closer, he was a mere few feet away when his hand slipped, accidentally hitting the bookshelf and knocking a book off on the other side.

He ducked instantly, holding his breath. He didn't think she had seen him, but he couldn't really tell...

A few minutes later though, no one had come around the corner of the bookcase, demanding to know what he was doing, so he figured he was relatively safe. He stood back up.

He watched her for what must have been hours, but seemed like only minutes. Sitting there, her brilliant red hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and biting her lip in frustration, she looked more angelic to him than a whole host of heavenly beings could have hoped to be.

There was something about her, he wasn't sure what, but he felt inexplicably drawn to her. Like a small, weak fish being pulled ever onward by the irresistible tug of a whirlpool. The thought caused him to shiver, and not for the first time, he wondered if his life would ever be the same. It seemed to have changed completely since that night on the Quidditch Pitch when she had found him flying aimlessly through the storm and pushed him off his broom.

Looking at her, Draco wasn't sure he wanted it to.

He continued to watch as she poured over book after book, until she finally seemed to realize how close it was to lunch and she got up to start putting books back on the shelves. He retreated a little way back at this, not wanting to risk getting caught. Which was why he was at a good angle, and could easily see the book that dropped from her hands. At first, he didn't pay it any attention until he noticed that she had suddenly taken a great interest in it when she had picked it up. From the expression on her face, Draco was pretty sure that she had found whatever it was she was looking for. He saw her face move closer to the book, until it was just inches away, and he wondered what she could possibly be reading that would require her to be that close to the book.

Did the girl need glasses?

He also heard her muttered exclamation as she obviously saw something she didn't like, and the way she seemed to be memorizing something before she placed the book back on the shelf and rushed out. Apparently, she had decided to come back after lunch and finish whatever it was she was looking for.

After making sure she was gone, Draco slipped around to the other side of the case, going exactly to the spot where Ginny had replaced the book. Pulling it out, he glanced quickly at the cover before heading out of the library himself.

Now back in the Great Hall, the roar of students all around, Draco knew he would have to go back and look through the book, page by page, to find what it was that had so captivated Ginny's attention. Hopefully he could get to it when she wasn't there.

Now that he knew the name of the book, it was even more important that he find out what she had found. It was obvious that she had connected the necklace with his "attack" and she seemed determined to discover more. Now that she had done the research, maybe Draco could find out and use what she had discovered. It was worth a shot anyway.

He was suddenly jolted back to the world around him when he realized that everyone around him had suddenly stopped talking. In fact, everyone in the Great Hall had stopped talking. It was this distinct lack of sound that had caught his attention.

Following the gazes of the rest of his housemates, he saw that Dumbledore was now standing at the front of the room, hands held up for quiet. For once, every single person there was giving it to him.

" I know that you are all highly anticipating what I am going to tell you," Dumbledore began, " so I shall get straight to the point." His eyes twinkled merrily as he allowed his words to hang in the still silent air. " Students of Hogwarts, I hereby issue you a challenge."