The Soul Keeper

Chapter 15: The Rainbow Room

As Ginny had expected, Draco was waiting quietly for her when she reached the Quidditch shed after having received Dumbledore's permission to use the ladder.

She smiled slightly to herself when she recalled Dumbledore's knowing glance when she had given her request. He seemed to know exactly what she had wanted the ladder for. And when she thought about it, he probably had. After all, hadn't he and the teachers been the ones to assign the tasks?

The Headmaster had asked her no questions, just indicated his approval with a nod of his head, wishing her good luck once again as she exited his office.

As she drew nearer to the shed, she realized that her first observation of Draco had been incomplete. Not only was he still and quiet, he was asleep.

Ginny stifled the mirthful giggle that threatened to turn into a loud laugh and contented herself with grinning broadly down at his sleeping form.

Leaning against the building, lost in sleep, Draco looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him. There was a sort of boyish innocence in his face that gave her the impression that perhaps the scars of his unhappy childhood were not as deep as they could have been. They might even, in time, be healed. With help.

For a long moment, they seemed to hang suspended in time, as though the world around them kept on changing and growing, living and dying, and they alone had accomplished the impossible and stepped out of its insistent flow. In this new world, this ripple in time, there was nothing but the two of them.

Ginny stood watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, an incomprehensible wave of emotions chasing each other back and forth across her face.

She frowned suddenly, unsure exactly what she was doing here. Shouldn't she just wake him up so they could get to work? But there was something so special, so charming about seeing him like this that she couldn't quite make herself move away or wake him up. A million thoughts and feelings raced through her mind; doubts, fears, worries; but each of these were shoved back resolutely. Other feelings were allowed to stay, were even welcomed; compassion, respect... affection.

Yes, when Draco suddenly opened his eyes and caught her staring at him, he was almost certain that there was something akin to adoration or affection on her face. It made him smile slightly as he raised himself up, and he lifted his eyebrows at her mockingly.

"Do you always stare at sleeping people with that look on your face?" he drawled, a roughish grin spreading across his face.

"Only when they're you," Ginny retorted playfully, taking both herself and Draco by surprise. As soon as she said that, her hand clapped over her mouth and a look of horror crossed her features. "I didn't mean that. I mean, that's not what a I meant to say-" she broke off as she saw Draco's disappointed look. Oh no! What must he think of her now? "I mean, I did mean it, but I-" she quickly tried to explain, but was quickly cut off as Draco took two long strides and stood in front of her, pressing his finger firmly over her mouth in the universal gesture for "shh".

"I know what you meant," he assured her, his eyes openly laughing at her. "You don't have to explain."

He moved his finger and Ginny bit her lip in embarrassment, feeling the heat that must be radiating off her bright red face in waves.

Draco tactfully refused to comment on this, insisting instead that it was high time they got that ladder back to the Great Hall. Ginny agreed and they set to work immediately, both of them silent.

For the first time in her life, Ginny saw something of a gentleman in the way Draco ignored her obvious discomfiture and worked to put her back at ease. She was extremely appreciative. He had saved her from potentially becoming even more of a blubbering idiot than Lavender Brown, and that was saying something.

By the time they reached the Great Hall again, ladder in tow, a companionable silence had descended and the air was relatively clear of any strain or tension between them. It was as if they had been friends for years, and the whole embarrassing episode outside had never even happened.

Working together, they managed to maneuver the ladder into position fairly quickly and easily. After that, it was just a matter of who went first.

"I'll go first, "Ginny offered, her foot already on the first rung. "I want to see what's up there."

"Oh no you don't," Draco countered, grabbing her arm in a firm grip and blocking her access to the ladder. "Someone has to make sure this old thing is even safe to climb first."

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it, hmm?" Ginny demanded, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. Just because they were friends now didn't mean they were going to do it all his way.

"Actually, yes, I think I should go first."

"Well I think I should," she returned defiantly, her eyes blazing as she looked up at him. She just knew he was giving her one of those "girls can't do anything" lectures.

At first, Draco met her own fiery look with a cold one of his own. But after a moment his features softened, and he sighed. "Alright Gin, you win. You can go first." He stepped back to allow her to get to the ladder.

"Really?" she asked curiously, surprise evident in her voice. She had expected him to put up a little more resistance than this.

"Yes really. But do me a favor, okay?"

"What?"

"Be careful. I've only just found out what you're really like, don't go breaking your scrawny little neck on me now." He smiled, but his eyes said he was serious.

"Certainly not," she agreed eagerly. "Believe me, I would not fall off this ladder without letting you know first."

"Why?" he questioned innocently. "So I could catch you?"

"Well..." she trailed off. "Would you?" The smile had gone from her eyes, replaced by a look so intense that Draco felt his own face becoming serious.

"You know I would," he told her unhesitatingly, and though confirming his statement, he leaned forward and kissed her gently and quickly on the lips. "Now get going before I change my mind."

"Yes sir," Ginny replied enthusiastically, feeling like she was in danger of floating up and touching the ceiling at any given moment. He had kissed her. Again! It was almost unbelievable. At this time yesterday, she had never even been kissed once, and now she had received two. Who would have thought?

She shivered as she climbed the ladder, and she had to exert a great amount of will power to keep her hands from trembling with pleasure. The whole way up she kept glancing back down at him, a huge grin plastered all over her face. It was as if it could have all been a dream and if she didn't keep her eye on him, the Draco she had come to know and love would disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Draco, from his watchful position on the ground, met her smiles with his own, even going so far as to allow himself to actually show affection in his eyes. Once or twice, he caught himself thinking that he must be going completely insane. How could you go from hating a girl to liking her almost more than you were prepared to admit? It was just strange.

Just then, Ginny reached the top of the ladder and stood face to face with the now open door.

"What's it look like?" Draco questioned, honest curiosity in his voice.

"Well, it's-" Ginny hesitated a moment before continuing. "It's rather small, but I think both of us can make it if we crawl." She shot him a measuring glance. "Yeah, I'm fairly sure you can make it."

Draco was tall and slender, and his shoulders were just wide enough to look powerful, without making him look bigger than he was. Ginny now felt sure that he could fit through the passage.

"Should I go on in?" she asked uncertainly.

"I can't exactly brush past you, now can I?" Draco shot back dryly, raising one eyebrow slightly.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. She knew it was extremely childish, but she just couldn't help it. He made her feel more alive and playful than she had in years. It wasn't often someone came along who she felt that comfortable with.

She pushed Draco out of her mind for the moment, making herself concentrate on easing over the top of the ladder and maneuver her way into the passage. It would be a close fit, but not too uncomfortable. But she knew it would be very uncomfortable if she fell. Draco couldn't catch her all the time.

From the ground Draco watched anxiously as first Ginny's head, then finally her feet disappeared into the wall. His lip was sore from biting it so hard, and he decided he couldn't stand there and wait anymore.

"Okay, I'm coming up now!" he called to her. Ginny said something in reply, but it was so muffled Draco couldn't understand it. "I'll take that as a yes."

He was halfway up the ladder when he heard laughter coming from somewhere behind him. Turning his head hastily, he spotted to girls standing in the doorway to the Great Hall, looking at him.

"What are you doing, Draco?" one of them called to him. After looking carefully to see if he knew them, and finding that he didn't, he didn't even bother commenting.

The girl stood waiting impatiently for a moment, then turned around haughtily and dragging her friend by the arm she marched out of the hall. As they walked down the corridor, Draco thought he heard her mummer, "They're right, he really is a jerk!"

For the second time that day, Draco rolled his eyes, smiling mirthlessly to himself. Part of him felt that being rude to other people partly made up for his lack of propriety towards Ginny.

He continued climbing and his head had just reached the top when Ginny's head popped out of the doorway and hit him.

"Ow!" came to mutual cry as both of them reeled back, Ginny rubbing her forehead. Draco didn't have the luxury; he was too busy trying to keep the ladder, and consequently himself, from falling the twenty feet to the hard stone floor below. But it wasn't working. The ladder kept leaning farther and farther back the more Draco tried to keep it still.

Vaguely, he found himself wondering if he could sue the school for endangerment when he saw Ginny lean out and stretch her hand towards him.

"Grab it, Draco!" she urged, fear evident in her eyes.

The sound of her voice brought Draco back to action and he took her hand in a fierce grip, allowing her to pull him back to the wall.

When the ladder finally shuttered to a halt, Draco almost sagged in relief.

"That's two I owe you," he told her looking straight into the warm brown eyes staring worriedly out at him from under a few locks of her brilliant red hair. "You know," he told her, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth, "it's supposed to be the boy who saves the girl. Not the girl who saves the boy."

"Says who?" Ginny challenged, instantly ready to defend her sex.

"Draco felt his eyes drawn to her lips as she spoke, and something inside of him leaped when she licked them nervously.

Obviously, his nearness was affecting her as well.

You know what?" he asked softly, trailing his eyes slowly up and over her face as he looked back into her eyes. "I don't know."

His eyes flickered to her lips again, and when he saw her lean forward ever so slightly he couldn't resist. He lowered his head towards her and felt vaguely surprised when he felt her lean into the kiss.

Encouraged, his hand found it's way to the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine as he pulled her closer.

Ginny closed her eyes as she felt the soft touch of his tongue seeking entrance to her mouth, gasping slightly at the shock of it. Never had she experienced anything like the pure pleasure that made her heart pound loudly in her ears and set her whole body on fire.

The slight parting of her lips was all that Draco needed, and he immediately took advantage of it.

Those first few seconds were heaven for both of them. Never had they ever felt so close to another person. They strained towards one another, irritated at the ladder that separated them.

Impatient for more, Draco began to deepen the kiss, and the suddenness of it woke Ginny from the dream state that she had been in and she jerked back in surprise.

What were they doing?

Draco looked up at her in surprise, confusion mixing with the passion that still clouded his eyes. "What...?"

Ginny smiled, her lips twisted into an expression akin to regret, and something Draco didn't quite recognize.

"Not that I didn't like that," she told him honestly, for she really had, "but I suddenly realized that maybe the ladder is not the safest place." Okay, that part was complete improvisation. If she was totally honest with herself, Ginny knew that wasn't the real reason she had pulled away. She had liked kissing him, it had felt so right, but something made her hesitate when Draco had wanted to take it further. Secretly, she knew that she had been afraid. It was like she would be committing herself to something, and Ginny just didn't know if she was ready to go that far yet. She liked him, yes, possibly even loved him, but how could she be sure that it was right? What if it was nothing more than physical attraction for him? It was better just to take it slow for a while. There would be plenty of time for later, when she decided she was up for it and when she knew more about his true feelings.

Draco blinked stupidly, still going through an almost painful sensation of withdrawal. He hadn't expected her to break the kiss before it had hardly even started.

Then her words sunk in and he gave a low chuckle. "I guess you're right. But remember," he couldn't help adding, "the ladder would have been perfectly safe if you hadn't tried to knock my head off."

"I didn't-" she started, then suddenly changed track in the middle of her sentence. "Hey, that's what I wanted to tell you. Come on, you've got to see this!"

She was already pushing herself backward as she talked, and Draco had plenty of room to follow her in.

When they reached the end of the passageway, Ginny slid down feet first and then turned to give Draco a hand.

He didn't need it. Somehow, by the time she had turned around he had already twisted himself around and was sliding out. "Never mind," she muttered to herself, enjoying Draco's look of awe as his attention was caught by his surroundings.

"Is this great or what?" she asked him, grinning from ear to ear.

Draco nodded absently, his mind still much to busy taking in the room to form a proper reply. It was unlike any place he's ever seen before. There were rainbows splayed all along the walls and the floors, dancing with the sunlight from the row of windows across the far side. Thousands of sparkling diamonds glittered all around, hanging from the ceilings and the walls, some strands even reaching their shimmering tendrils all the way down to the floor. There was only one word Draco could find to describe the scene.

"Beautiful," he breathed, so quietly that Ginny almost missed the word.

"It is, isn't it?" she agreed. "And look, there." She pointed to the right-hand corner, where an ancient looking mirror stood, reflecting the light and adding to the brilliance of the room.

Draco stepped closer to it, curious in spite of himself.

And suddenly, Ginny was beside him, right next to a small chair with what looked like a slip of paper on it. He darted a look back over his shoulder, but the youngest Weasley hadn't moved. She was still too far away and at the wrong angle to be reflected in the mirror beside him, and there was no chair in sight.

He turned back to the mirror, but there she was again. Weird.

Draco shook his head in disbelief. "Hey Gin, come here a minute."

Ginny walked forward, drawing her eyes away from the dazzling spectrum of light all around her and casting him a questioning glance. "What?"

"Here. Stand here." Draco indicated the spot beside him and Ginny moved into place.

"Oookay."

"What do you see?"

Ginny shot Draco a suspicious look. What did he think she saw?

"Just humor me," he told her earnestly.

Ginny sighed and looked into the mirror one more time. Still the same. "I see us, of course," she answered.

"Just us, nothing else?"

"No nothing," Ginny paused. "Well, except for that chair in the corn-"

Realization dawned in her eyes and she spun around in confusion, her eyes roaming over the corner where the chair should have been. "What on earth...?"

Draco shook his head, dumbfounded. "I don't know."

Sitting in the corner where the mirror had portrayed it ought to be was the small wooden chair and resting on top of it, a slip of paper.

Ginny turned back to the mirror, eyes wide, as Draco walked towards the chair. "Hey Ginny, look at this."

Ginny started to obey, but her eye was caught again by the reflection in the mirror. Draco was standing beside her, smiling. But there was no way- he was all the way across the room- how could...?

Ginny closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them as Draco called her again. Taking one last glance in the strange mirror, Ginny forced herself to walk over to where he was standing. That's when she noticed the paper he was holding in his hand.

"What's that?"

"I think," he said slowly, "it's our first real challenge."

"Let me see that," Ginny ordered excitedly, taking the paper from his hand and unfolding it. This time, the message wasn't written in riddle form.

Ginny finished reading the note silently and looked up at Draco, who had been standing quietly, waiting for her to finish. "How are we supposed to do this? Do you know how many diamonds there are in this room? The combinations of placing and rotation are enormous!"

Ginny could hardly believe it. This was only their first task, and she was already beginning to think they were fated to fail. So much for starting out easy.

"I know," Draco murmured, a thoughtful look plastered across his handsome face. He took a deep breath. "It just means we'll just have to work harder to figure it out."

Ginny's jaw dropped. How could he be so optimistic? The one time she would have went right along with his life-is-horrible attitude, he does an about face and decides they can accomplish the impossible after all. "How are we supposed to do that?" she asked him, not bothering to hide her skepticism.

"I'm not sure." He grinned ruefully. "We'll figure something out though."

"I hope your right. I so do not want to get put out of this competition during our first assignment."

"Don't worry. We won't be."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "And you know this because?"

Draco's smile widened confidently. "I'm your partner, aren't I?"

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