The Soul Keeper

Chapter 10: Deal

Ginny heard his words, but she didn´t want to believe them. She didn´t want to think about what this could mean; for her, and for him. She knew he would tell her what it was all about now. How could he not? She was in too deep. The thought scared her a bit. But there was no turning back. She had asked the question, now she must deal with the answer.

Gathering her scattered courage, she forced herself on. " What-what does that mean?"

Once again, as she said the words, her thoughts wondered back to the book in the library, and the small image of the necklace she had found there. The Soul Keeper...Salazar Slytherin. She shivered, even though she had sweat beading on her face. It was a cold sweat. It was a frightened sweat.

Draco didn´t miss the look that passed through Ginny´s eyes and the way she trembled at some private thought. He also saw the sweat that covered her face like tiny, sparkling diamonds, and he realized how scared she was.

That wasn´t a surprise in itself, but the utter terror her eyes conveyed without meaning to was. Why would she possibly be that scared? She didn´t even really know much about what was happening. She had know way of knowing that if she hadn´t shown up when she did, bursting through the cloudy haze his sight had become like some kind of dazzling angel sent down to earth to grant light to miserable mortals...well he probably wouldn´t even be in control of his own body right now.

She had pulled him back from the rising darkness, allowing him to turn the tide on his attacker. Another victory, but barely. It had been close. He had been moments away from losing, and he didn´t even want to think about where that could have led to. Who knew what The Voice wanted him for? Draco knew nothing beyond the fact that he was, as it had been so eloquently put, "chosen".

Him, chosen? Ha! That was more Potter´s thing. Let The Boy Who Lived battle demons and maniacs. He had to put up with it at home, why should he have to suffer through it now too?

In that moment, he thanked all and any gods that existed for his angel. Even if she was a bit shabby in those old hand me down robes...

Suddenly Draco realized what he was doing. No way he had just called that little pest sitting next to him an angel. Not happening. And hadn´t she been the one yelling at him about his own life not long ago?

A hardness came back into his eyes. He had allowed himself the luxury of daydreaming long enough. It was time to snap back to reality. She was still Ginny Weasley, and he was still Draco Malfoy. And that was just the way it would have to be.

Ginny saw the change in his eyes, and she read the look that accompanied it like it was a favorite book she`d finished a thousand times. She watched as his cool, controlled manner came back to him, and she saw the soft edges that had been hovering in his eyes shoved back by the force of his will, and replaced with a silent coldness.

She quickly broke away from his gaze, a small lump forming in her throat. Would he be looking at me like that if I hadn´t...if I hadn´t said all those things?

All the courage that she had gathered disappeared in the sudden change of mood, and she was left feeling slightly scared again, but more in control of her senses.

But even if he was going to treat her like he normally did-and she felt sure now that he would-she couldn´t make herself stand up and walk away.

Not with him still so weak and pale. It wouldn´t be right. So she forced herself to meet his cold gray eyes as she waited for his answer.

Draco felt her determination not to go until he had answered her, and he sighed in defeat. There was no denying the girl´s stubbornness. But he wouldn´t give her the satisfaction of a good answer. " It means, that I´ve got problems, and that you´d better get back to your little friends before they miss you." He paused, and his eyes took on a malicious glint. " Besides, it would look pretty strange if someone found us back here together, wouldn´t it?"

Ginny blushed furiously, which seemed to be exactly what he had wanted. Bastard, she thought grimly, what kind of game does he think he´s playing? One minute he´s thanking me for saving him-whatever that means- and the next he´s as good as telling me I better get the bloody hell away from him or else.

Ginny didn´t think she´d ever understand him. And to think, just when they might have been becoming friends, it had been ruined. Partly her fault, she knew, but he was to blame too, wasn´t he? After all, she wouldn´t have gotten so angry if he had just said something, instead of being an absolute jerk. At least that was how she tried to console herself as she reigned in her emotions.

It was obvious that Draco didn´t have a thought about being friends with her anymore, if indeed he ever had. She wasn´t so certain now that it hadn´t all been wishful thinking on her part.

But if he wanted it back like it used to be, back to the insults and the smirks, and the angry glares, she might as well go along with it; at least for now.

Maybe when she stood up and walked out of this room, she wouldn´t ever even have to talk to him again. The thought pained her, even though she tried to look at the situation reasonably. Why should she come where she wasn´t wanted? But she knew it wasn´t that easy. Somehow, hopelessly, impossibly, she had formed a strange attachment to Draco, and she couldn´t-wouldn´t- imagine herself walking out of his life forever.

" You think you can fight it alone?" she asked quietly, her voice soft.

Draco seemed to hesitate, like he almost wasn´t sure what to say, but after a moment he raised his eyes to hers again. " I don´t really have a choice." Some of the coldness vanished from his eyes for a second, and she saw an intense longing there. A look that baffled and surprised her; a look that gave her the strength to stand up to him and look him square in the eye.

" Yes, you do," she began, " I could hel-"

She was interrupted by a soft chuckle. " How could you help, little Weasle?" Draco´s look was mocking now, but there was an edge of desperateness in it.

Ginny grabbed onto this, determined to use it to her advantage. If she didn´t help him, no one would, and she didn´t like to think about what could happen then. Who knew what kind of evil Slytherin had infested in that necklace?

All Ginny knew was that they had to find out. Maybe there was a way to- to stop it from what it was doing to Draco. Already, a plan was forming in her mind.

" I can help," she continued, confidence growing as she realized that he really didn´t have any other hope, " because I know what that necklace is; and who made it."

Okay, so maybe that wasn´t the whole truth. Technically, she did know that the necklace was made by Salazar Slytherin and that it was called The Soul Keeper, but she really didn´t know what it was for.

She had gotten his attention though, which was the whole purpose.

" What are you going on about now, Weasel?" he asked, feigning disinterest. But Ginny could see right through that. He wanted to know what she was talking about as badly as a starving man wants food. Luckily for him, she meant to give him what he wanted: after they had a deal.

" You heard me, Draco," she said, using a smirk that closely resembled his own at the best of times. " I know more about that necklace than you could ever hope to." Her grin widened, and she allowed a slightly arrogant tone to escape her. " You need me."

" Is that so?" Draco asked challengingly, struggling to stand up. It was a wasted effort; he was still too weak to raise himself to his feet.

Ginny watched his heroic attempt with a look of outward amusement; inwardly, she cringed at bit at his lack of strength. What was that necklace doing to him? That was what she had to find out, and the only way to do that was to make him tell her.

" Yes, that´s so," she replied, seemingly without sympathy. She had discovered that he wouldn´t want pity, or soft words-indeed, they hadn´t gotten her anywhere so far- so instead, she decided to go the opposite way. She would act like she didn´t care for him one bit, and was just interested in his predicament from unabashed curiosity. She didn´t think it would really work, but it might make him see reason. There was no way he could take on the evil that lurked in that necklace alone. He would need help. " You´ve already proved it. You can´t even stand up on your own. I can help you."

" And what´s in it for you?" Draco asked, naturally suspicious. He´d never seen anyone´s attitude change so suddenly. She wasn´t acting like she usually did, the kind, sensitive girl who always wanted to help anyone in trouble. Sure, she was still trying to help him, but now it seemed to be entirely for her own purposes. Was this really Ginny Weasley? " Don´t tell me this is some sort of wild scheme to get Potter to notice you, because that is just really pathetic..."

" Of course it´s not!" she snapped back indignantly. That was the stupidest, lowest thing she´d ever heard of. Before she could get very angry again, and lose any potential chance she had of succeeding in her self-appointed task, she forced herself to calm down. " Look, I´ll help you..."

" If?" Draco prompted.

" If you tell me what you know. "

" What, no big favors, or money? (Merlin knows you could use some, but that´s off the point...)," he paused for breath, shooting her worn out robes a distasteful glance, then continued." You sincerely expect me to believe that you´d tell me what you know for nothing more than curiosity? " He sounded incredulous, as he had a right to be. What Ginny was suggesting, after all, did sound pretty unbelievable.

" But that´s just it. I am curious. All I want is to find out what is going on with that necklace." She paused, searching his face for some sign that he was about to tell her to get lost and insist that she didn´t need her help. To her surprise, she found that his eyes held an amused look, as if the whole thing were rather funny. " So do we have a deal?" she asked, encouraged.

" On one condition."

" What?"

" You tell me what you know, and I´ll tell you what I know, but you can´t get in my way when I decide to act on what I learn."

Ginny considered this. If she promised not to get in his way, he could just get rid of her as soon as she led him to what he wanted. " I´ll tell you what I know, and I promise that I won´t get in you´re way for trivial reasons."

It was the best she could do. That way, she would be able to help him if he needed it without breaking her word.

Draco considered her offer for a moment, sizing her up with an experienced eye. He knew that he wouldn´t get anymore from her, and he desperately needed what she could tell him. If she was even telling the truth. But he sensed that she was, he had seen something of the sort in her eyes. Besides, maybe it wouldn´t be so bad to have someone he could talk to about what was happening to him. Even if she was a Weasley.

" Deal," he accepted. Stretching out his hand to shake hers.

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

The next few moments were spent in low talk, as Ginny related what she had learned from the book she had found.

" So you weren´t just interested in necklaces," Draco joked lightly, surprising himself. He had meant to stay strictly on business terms with the girl, and joking was not included under that description. Not normally anyway.

Ginny looked at him strangely. " What´s that supposed to mean?"

" Umm...I meant that I was in here yesterday, and I just noticed that you were getting a book from the section on necklaces. I thought that you must like that sort of thing." Well, it was partly true.

Ginny still looked suspicious, but she seemed to accept the answer. Obviously she didn´t want to press her luck with him. Which was pretty smart, as far as Draco was concerned. He´d already taken her into his confidence way too much. But there had been no way to avoid that.

He was glad he wouldn´t have to go into the embarrassing details about exactly how he had known about the book. His simple explanation sufficed. Now they could get on with the real work. Finding out more about The Soul Keeper.

So he thought.

But Ginny wasn´t through with the questions yet. " I told you what I know," she started, " now it´s your turn."

He looked at her a tad regretfully, wishing he could break his word, but knowing that wouldn´t be very wise. It might actually be better to talk it out, instead of keeping it a secret. He couldn´t deny the fact that she had already saved him twice from the serious bruises he would have gotten if he´d been allowed to fall to the floor.

" Alright," he agreed, and he preceded to fill her in on all the details, starting back to when he´d first noticed-or been forced to notice- that there was something strange about his pendant.

Ginny listened in awe, occasionally interrupting to ask questions, but mostly just listening. By the time he had finally concluded with what had just happened today, her mind was already a tumult of thoughts, each one stranger than the first. There were so many questions, yet so few answers. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.

She finally come across one that was more powerful than the others and demanded attention.

" We need that book," she said quietly, almost to herself.

She saw Draco nodding in agreement out of the corner of her eye. " Yes, we do."

Silence descended on them for a few minutes, as each tried to work out a way that they could get there hands on it. From what Ginny had said, it was obviously not in the library, so they would have to get it from an outside source. To have any chance of beating The Voice, or Salazar Slytherin, (Draco was a little relieved to be able to put a name with the presence) they needed to know exactly what they were up against.

" So..." he began uncertainly, " any ideas on exactly how we´re going to do this?"

Ginny shook her head mutely, she´d just been wondering the same thing. " No clue."

Again, silence, but it wasn´t an uncomfortable one. Indeed, they were both to busy trying to come up with a plan even to think about speaking.

Just when he was about to suggest trying to destroy the necklace in anyway possible, an idea derived from pure, un-tainted desperateness, he thought of something else.

" Did you check the restricted section?"

" What?" Ginny asked quickly, shaken from her thoughts.

Draco rolled his eyes, but restated the question. " Did you check the restricted section?"

" I-no actually, I didn´t." She´d never thought of that. But it made sense. It was a book on necklaces enchanted with dark magic, it probably was kept in there. Why hadn´t she thought of it before?

" That´s what I get for trying to come up with a plan to defeat evil with a Weasley. They don´t even think of the most obvious things, let alone the complicated," he sneered. Now why didn´t that feel as good as it used too? It was missing something. Something an awful lot like the gratification that used to come with it. The feeling of having accomplished something important. It wouldn´t stop him from doing it, but all the fun seemed to have gone out of insulting her.

" Hey!" Ginny shot back, " I searched everywhere else, how was I to know that it could be in the restricted section? It was a book about necklaces, for Merlin´s sake!"

" Yes, dark necklaces," Draco emphasized irritatingly. She was so easy to get worked up it was almost funny.

" No need to state the obvious, Malfoy, I´ve already figured that out."

So it was back to last names. That suited him fine. Maybe. There was still a small part of him that felt just a little hurt at her statement. " But why should I?" he reminded himself, " I started it by calling her Weasley." He crunched forcefully down on the little voice that was whispering in the back of his mind. It shut up. Good.

" You missed it the first time," he stated coolly, gratified when he saw her cheeks flush red with anger.

" Look, let´s just go back to discussing the plan, could we?" Ginny suggested, the redness fading from her cheeks as she gained control of her temper. It was doing them no good to argue like this. They wouldn´t get anything done that way.

" Fine," Draco consented. But he didn´t say anything more, making Ginny glance at him questioningly.

" So...what is the plan?"

" We sneak into the restricted section and grab the book."

Ginny looked at him disbelievingly. " That´s it, that´s the best you´ve got? I thought Slytherins were supposed to be sly and cunning. I thought you were supposed to come up with good plans." She crossed her arms in a defiant manner.

" We are, and we do." Draco told her. " That´s why, in my plan, we don´t get caught, as you Gryffindors do so often its almost sad."

" Okay," Ginny said, ignoring the comment about her house, " how do we sneak in without being caught, Mr. High and Mighty?"

Draco shrugged. " We use an invisibility cloak."

" And you just happen to have one of those lying around somewhere?" Ginny asked unconvinced.

" No..." Draco trailed off meaningfully. " But Potter does."

Ginny stared at him in shock for a minute, and Draco almost smiled at her amazed expression.

It didn´t take long for the implications of what he had said to sink in. " You want me to steal Harry´s invisibility cloak?" What a stupid question, she mocked herself. Of course that´s what he meant.

" Not steal it, " Draco corrected, as if the thought had never crossed his mind, " I wouldn´t ever have you steal anything. Just...borrow it for a little while. Without his permission."

" Oh good, because that´s so much better," Ginny intoned sarcastically.

" Glad you agree," Draco returned, pretending to miss the sarcasm. " You´ll do it then." It wasn´t a question.

" Isn´t there any other way that doesn´t require breaking a law?"

" Ginny, dear, " Draco mocked, " Do you really think sneaking into the restricted section is allowed?"

For the second time that day, Ginny´s face lit up in a bright blush. " I suppose not," she muttered so low that he almost missed it. Then she sighed. " Alright, I´ll get the cloak."

" Good." Draco looked her up and down, as if he were sizing her up for a secret mission. Which it was, in a way. The feeling made Ginny´s skin crawl, though not in a completely bad way.

" But if I´m going to get the cloak, how are you going to get here without being seen?" Ginny gave voice to a question that had just occurred to her.

" You´ll have to come to the exit to the Slytherin Common Room and meet me." He stated this like it was a matter of fact, giving her no room to argue.

" Fine," she reluctantly agreed. Everyone knew the Slytherins were down in the dungeons. She hated going there any more than she had to for Potions already, she didn´t relish the thought of going voluntarily. The dungeons were too dark, and spooky. They reminded her too much of the chamber...

Draco must have seen something in her eyes, because he suddenly offered to meet her at the stairs leading down to it instead.

" I can get there without getting caught, I´m sure of it," he assured her, while at the same time raging at himself for his small show of compassion. He wasn´t supposed to be nice to her, he´d already decided against that, but when he´d seen the look in her eyes...He couldn´t help it. He knew without understanding how he knew that she was thinking of her first year, and The Chamber of Secrets. He didn´t want to be responsible for giving her nightmares or something because he wouldn´t walk fifty feet to meet her at the top of the stairs.

" Okay." Ginny accepted his offer with not an insignificant amount of relief. That made things a little better. " So, I guess I´d better go. I´ve got to figure out how I´m going to get Harry´s cloak..."

" Yeah, and I´ve got to get back and meet Pansy."

Ginny started momentarily at his words, but quickly covered the movement up. She had forgotten that he and Pansy were still an item. Stupid chit, she berated herself. How could you ever have even thought that he´d feel anything for you? You´re mortal enemies, remember?

Even with this reasoning behind her, Ginny still felt a little disappointed. She had hoped, quite vainly, that maybe Draco had decided to meet her at the top of the stairs because he liked her, even if only a little. But the way he had talked about meeting Pansy proved her wrong. He sounded almost excited, if that was possible for him.

"Right," she forced herself to say. " See you tonight then."

Draco didn´t reply, he just turned and walked out the door. She followed a few minutes later, determined not to let herself get caught up in the stupid feeling she had somehow developed for him ever again. It would only hurt more. Still trying to put the picture of his strangely shadowed eyes out of her head, she mounted the steps to Gryffindor Tower and began the long climb up.