The Soul Keeper

Chapter 8: Ice Cold

Draco left the Great Hall quietly, making his way inconspicuously down the corridor, carefully treading around the flocks of students gathered there.

Every student in the school too young to sign up seemed intent on watching all the older ones who could, for no evident reason, other than flat-out curiosity maybe. Like they didn´t have better things to do. Pathetic.

Draco, of course, had plenty of "better" things to do, but only one that required immediate thought and action.

Get to the library.

He had to make sure he saw that book before Ginny checked it out or something. It was the only way to discover what she was doing. It sure wasn´t research for school, who did that without taking notes?

As he walked, he looked about him carefully, feeling a sense of relief when he spotted the pretty redhead on the opposite side of the corridor, talking happily with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Maybe they would keep her busy for a while.

When he was out of sight of the crowd, he broke into a quick jog, not quite desperate enough for a headlong run. Still, it got him there well enough, and within moments of entering the room, he was in the back section, looking for the right title.

Finding the book he was after, he opened it to the first page.

That´s when he realized that he had a problem. He had no idea what Ginny had seen in the book, and it was at least 500 pages long. How was he supposed to find-whatever it was he was looking for?

Unfortunately, he didn´t have time to debate the question because Ginny chose that moment to walk into the library. If it hadn´t been for that flash of red hair coming quickly through the doors, Draco was positive he never would have seen her. As it was, he barely had time to register the information and get out of sight before she came racing around the corner of the bookshelf.

Looking around him, Draco noticed that he was in the same spot he had watched her from earlier that day. Once again, I´m hiding in the shadows. And I don´t even have a diabolical scheme that I´m trying to put into action!

Also like earlier that morning, he watched with bated breath as Ginny ran to the bookshelf and began searching. After looking through the row twice, she finally seemed to come to the conclusion that it just wasn´t there.

The look on her face was pure annoyance, which quickly changed to anger. Then, just as quickly, even her anger seemed to dissipate.

Draco saw her take a deep breath, as if calming herself. Then, slowly and carefully, she went over the whole bookshelf. Nothing.

At first, she seemed at a loss to what to do next, but then a thought seemed to cross her mind and she turned around and headed straight for Madame Pince´s desk.

That was what Draco had been waiting for. With the chance of discovery gone, he walked hurriedly away from that section, then, slowing to a normal speed, he exited the room, book safely in tow. To anyone else, it would look like he had simply checked out a book and left.

Ginny searched for the book for at least ten minutes, patiently going over every inch of the shelf where she had deposited the book before heading to lunch. It didn´t take her very long to come to the conclusion that it simply wasn´t there.

Not knowing what else to do, she headed to Madame Pince´s desk, hoping that maybe the librarian could help her. But she had only been waiting in line for a moment before she realized that it might not be such a good idea to get any of the Hogwarts staff involved in this. Who knew what kind of questions they would ask?

Changing her mind, she decided to trust her memory and try to find the book she needed that way. It couldn´t be that hard, could it?

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And that, she later learned, was exactly where her reasoning disappointed her. She searched for the book for several hours that afternoon, and was finally forced to admit that she wasn´t even sure of the name anymore. The title kept getting mixed up in her head, and although she searched the section where she thought it would be, she found no book that even came close to the one she wanted.

As she sat on the floor of the library, covered in dust and cobwebs from searching through books that she felt sure hadn´t been touched in years, she tried once more to think of the precise title.

Resolutely, she began shuffling through books again. She would find it.

4 o´clock came and went, and still, she found nothing. Once, she thought she might have found what she was looking for when she picked up and old volume from one of the back shelves that read Charmed Necklaces for the Dark, but to her bitter disappointment, when she opened it up and flipped through it, all it talked about were the different charms you could put on necklaces for night use. Glow in the dark spells, charms that made the necklace a bright light that you could see by, and it even listed one necklace that gave it´s wearer the ability to see in the dark without being seen.

Any other time, Ginny would probably have checked the book out just for curiosity, but now she just put it back, disgusted.

After this, she had no choice but to except defeat. Until she knew the right name of the book, she had no hope of finding it. She couldn´t even use a locator spell like she had tried earlier without the correct title.

Her only hope was the original book she had found that morning with the picture of The Soul Keeper, but it too was hopelessly lost.

The thought came to her out of nowhere, bringing hope with it. Maybe she could simply ask Madame Pince if it had been taken out. This in mind, she headed back to the front of the library.

Unfortunately for her, the librarian was nowhere to be found. Tired of searching, and unwilling to conduct a more thorough search, Ginny decided to call it a day.

She headed back to her common room, relishing the idea of a hot bath. She was covered in grime, and her once clean hair was thick with dust. The thought of cleaning herself up brightened her mood a bit, and by the time she reached the portrait hole, a small smile had actually formed on her face.

Draco and his Soul Keeper problem would just have to wait until tomorrow.

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Up in his dorm, curtain drawn securely around his bed, Draco poured over the book he had taken from the library. There had to be something specific that Ginny had found. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing what that something was. Nothing even looked close to suspicious.

Maybe she wasn´t up to anything at all. Maybe the girl was just into jewelry. Who said that she was necessarily trying to get back at him anyway? Besides, he doubted she could, even if she wanted too.

Okay, so that was a load of crap. Draco had the feeling that once Ginny set her mind on something she could and would do it. Of that he had no doubt.

So why couldn´t he find anything? He´d been over the whole book repeatedly, as in so many times he almost had it memorized. And still he had found nothing.

He was beginning to think he was chasing rainbows that didn´t exist.

Feeling defeated, he laid the book down and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He´d been going at this for the better part of two hours, flipping pages one by one, hoping for some clue to tell him what she had found. It was beginning to get tiresome.

His only consolation as he replaced the book on the shelf later was the thought that she had probably just been interested in jewelry all along. She was a girl, after all. Who knew how their mentally unstable minds worked?

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Rising early, Ginny ate a quick breakfast and made her way to the library. The familiar doors greeted her as she rounded the corner, and she quickly pushed her way inside.

An intense silence met her entrance. Being a library, it was always quiet, but now it was unusually so. Then again, that could be because it was barely seven in the morning. Ginny had wanted to get an early start. She had a lot of ground to cover in her search. Almost, she would have given up entirely and been content to spend her day wondering around the Grounds, doing absolutely nothing, and enjoying it immensely.

Instead, she was back at the library, preparing for another grueling day of searching. The reason? Draco. Who would have thought? The image of The Soul Keeper that the book had provided, along with the memory of the actual necklace that Draco wore around his neck forced her onwards. She couldn´t just give up. Not after she had discovered who that necklace was associated with.

Salazar Slytherin. One of the most renowned wizards in history, and possibly one of the most evil. As much as she tried to deny it, she cared for Draco, and she couldn´t stand the thought of him being hurt, or mangled, or...or whatever else thousand year-old dead people do to others who wear their enchanted necklaces.

She herself knew the horror of being possessed by a dark wizard. It was not an experience she would wish on anyone, Malfoy or not. Just remembering her first year made her shiver, so she forced the memory firmly out of her mind. She didn´t need distraction today.

Automatically, she started for the section she´d left off at yesterday, mentally preparing herself for more long, grueling, fruitless hours, but on a sudden impulse, she changed her course for the part of the library where she had originally found the book that mentioned The Soul Keeper.

And there it was. Plain as the freckles that were sprinkled lightly across the bridge of her nose. Staring back at her, its worn binding looking none the worse after disappearing to who knows where for about twelve hours.

Realizing she was gawking, Ginny reached for it quickly, as if scared it would change its mind. Breathing a little easier now that she held it tightly in her hands, she turned to the page she remembered the picture being on.

There wasn´t anything there. Well, okay, there were pictures of necklaces, but not the specific one she was looking for. What did that mean? How could it just disappear? Then she remembered that she hadn´t actually seen it in the book yesterday until she had dropped it. The only reason she had seen it then was by accident. Was there some kind of charm that only made it appear at certain times? Ginny was getting worried. That did not sound good...

She needn´t have bothered though, because when she looked back down, it was suddenly there. Not willing to believe her luck, Ginny blinked, thinking she must be imagining it.

Nope, it was still there. Quickly, before it could disappear again, she read the part she was after. Dark Magical Necklaces and Their Dark Purposes. She wouldn´t forget this time.

Satisfied, she replaced the book on its shelf and started back to the front of the library. Now that she knew the correct name of the book, hopefully she wouldn´t have to spend all day searching. If she was lucky, she´d be able to get Madame Pince´s permission to perform a locating spell on the book. That would make things much easier.

As it turned out, luck was both with her, and against her. She got permission to perform the spell, but it turned up being a dead end! She even performed it multiple times, just to be sure.

" I´m sorry dear, we must not have the book you´re looking for," was the only reply she received when she asked the librarian why the spell didn´t find her book. It was quite a disappointment.

She had one small thought to cheer her up, and that was simply that Madame Pince had apparently deemed that questioning Ginny about the book she was looking for was unworthy of her time. Hence, Ginny had been saved from explaining things.

As she let the truth sink in, she almost couldn´t believe it. She´d worked so hard to try and help Draco. Now all that effort seemed wasted. If Hogwarts didn´t have a book, she could be pretty certain that no one else did either. It was rather depressing to think that all her time and effort had been spent on what now appeared to be a hopeless cause.

Suddenly, she couldn´t stand to be in the library another second. The sight of row after row of books was making her thoroughly sick. After all the dust and dim lighting, she wanted out. She wanted to find someway to make use of what was left of her weekend. She had a very strong feeling that she needed to relax; to sit back and do absolutely nothing. And enjoy it.

Where better to accomplish this than out on the Grounds? She was sure that the fresh air and sunlight would raise her spirits several notches at least.

Fortunately, fate seemed to have decided to give her a break, because that´s exactly the kind of day it was. White, fluffy clouds spread across the bluer-than-blue sky, the kind of day that everyone enjoyed, no matter what their disposition.

Yes, she decided, Draco was probably one of those people who rejoiced in what most normal people considered rainy, gloomy days. But since when was Draco normal? He´d most likely prefer to be in the middle of a hurricane than outside on a day like this.

Which was, perhaps, one of the reasons she stopped dead in her tracks when the familiar figure came in view, sitting quietly, almost peacefully on a small boulder next to the lake´s edge. All she could see was his back, but she recognized him immediately.

While that thought was comforting, it left her in a bit of a dilemma. Now she had the choice to either turn and walk away, pretending she´d never seen him, or walk right over. Though the latter was what she would have liked to do, she couldn´t make herself gather enough courage to do it.

Instead, she stood where she was, gazing at him intently. He looked good in black. Actually, he looked good in anything, as she was coming to notice more and more often. Lost in her thoughts, she didn´t notice at first when her legs began moving her forward of their own accord. She wanted to get close, but not too close. Fortunately her legs managed to accomplish this without her being consciously aware of it. If she had, Ginny was sure she would have turned around and ran.

As it was, she stopped a little more than ten feet from him, still hidden from sight because of the angle she had approached at. Jerked out of her daydreams by her sudden close proximity to him, she could do nothing but stand gazing at his back. She was starting to regret the harsh ( if well deserved) words she had spoken to him the day before. Her spontaneous guilt trip was thankfully interrupted by the slight shift in his position, and the lazy sound of his voice as it reached her ears.

" Are you just going to stand there staring all day?"

Ginny didn´t know what to say. He hadn´t turned to look at her; he hadn´t even tossed a casual glance over his shoulder. She was half tempted to turn and walk away as quickly as she could, but her stronger half won out, insisting that she stay. She was the one who had approached him.

" Is that an invitation?" Ginny asked quietly, answering question with question.

Draco seemed to think a moment. She could almost see the internal struggle going on, and then the final thought that pushed back all the rest. What the hell.

" I guess so." He remained steadfastly facing forward, but moved over silently when she pulled herself up beside him.

After getting situated, she followed his gaze out to the calm waters, looking from the far end of the lakeshore and then back to his face. He seemed distant; somehow, as if he were not completely there, and when he turned his head slightly, she could see that there was a faraway look in his eyes.

" Is there something wrong?" she asked, a small note of concern creeping into her voice.

He didn´t reply for a moment, and Ginny was about to ask again, thinking he hadn´t heard her, when he replied.

" Nothing that concerns you." The cool aloofness that was normally present in his voice was there, but intensified. He was more distant than ever.

So that was the way it was going to be. It was like talking to a manticore. If one could talk to manticores...

He´d let her sit here next to him, and even pretend to tolerate her, as long as she didn´t talk, as long as she didn´t interrupt him.

" Fine," she said, anger rising, " If that´s how you´re going to act than I don´t want to be around you anyway. I´ve tried everything I can think of to be nice to you, but nothing matters, does it? I even cleaned the Potion´s classroom by myself so that you could go sleep off-whatever it was that happened to you, for God´s sake! Go ahead, keep your thoughts and your feelings bottled up inside, never let them out. You´ve done that your whole life anyway, haven´t you? Be miserable. I don´t care. Maybe if you stare out at the lake long enough, the Giant Squid will have pity and eat you. That would solve the problem, wouldn´t it?"

Even as she said the words Ginny regretted them. But she couldn´t stop. The anger that had welled up inside of her was clamoring to be released. So she let it out. And even she was shocked by the fury of it.

" Oh God, Draco, I´m sor-"

She wasn´t the only one who had anger to be let out though. Draco´s rage was even worse than hers. So much worse because it was not the fierce, lightning hot anger that hers was, the kind that blew up and flamed out in a matter of seconds. His was ice cold.

" I´m NOT miserable. At least I wasn´t until you showed up. And who gave you the right to come out here and judge me? I might be a terrible person, Ginny, in fact, I`m sure I am, and I might not express my feelings as easily as most people, hell, I might not have feelings as easy as most people, but what I feel and what I say, is no one`s business but my own, got that? No one`s. Not Potters, not Dumbledore`s, and certainly not yours."

He didn´t even wait around to see the look on her face. Without another word, he jumped to the ground and walked away. If it had been anyone else, they would have walked with their head down and their shoulders hunched together after that outburst. But it wasn´t. It was Draco, and he walked with his head raised, and his back straight, staring the world in the face and daring it to do something about it. He never once looked back.

Ginny watched him go until he was out of sight, holding back the flood of tears that threatened to overwhelm her. When he disappeared around the corner, the strength she had called upon deserted her, and she was left sitting on that rock in silence, her face buried in her hands.

From the nearby forest, a bird called softly from a tree, and an answering call came back to it. The wind whispered through the trees, telling all the tales of old, if one only cared to listen. Beneath the surface of the lake, the mermaids went on with their daily lives, swimming in the calm lake. Overhead, the sun shone, as fiercely as ever, it´s golden rays gleaming on the water.

And by the edge of the lake, on a small boulder, a young girl cried.