Captured By A Dragon

Chapter Thirteen: Gone

"What exactly are you talking about, Mister Malfoy?" Dumbledore said, his fingers together and his eyes twinkling.

Draco stared at Dumbledore for what seemed like an eternity. Dumbledore couldn't provide an answer for him? But Dumbledore had to have an answer for everything. There had to be an explanation.

"Professor, I heard that scream and I know whose it was!" Draco cried. He was panicking. That scream had belonged to Ginny, who else could it have been?

Dumbledore looked back at Draco and sighed.

"Well, Mister Malfoy, if Miss Weasley does not turn up tomorrow, I suppose we could start a search," he said. He looked rather tired at the moment as if something else was on his mind that was bothering him.

"And that's it? A search? That's all you're going to do?" muttered Draco, and Dumbledore sighed again.

"Mister Malfoy, something else has gone on if you haven't noticed it in the Daily Prophet, but..." he trailed off and didn't finish his sentence as if maybe he shouldn't tell Draco this at all.

Draco waited.

"What is it? What's happened?" he asked. He was definitely losing his patience right about now.

Dumbledore sighed the last time and said,

"Your father has gone missing."

Draco blinked.

"What?" he said, his breathing coming to an abrupt halt.

"He hasn't gone to work for days, he hasn't been at the manor, and no one can seem to find him anywhere," Dumbledore explained. He looked down at his desk and avoided making direct eye contact with Draco.

Draco sat down in one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk and looked over at the other. Not more than a week ago, Ginny was sitting there. He looked back up at Dumbledore who was twiddling his thumbs and staring up at the ceiling.

"Professor, do you think that maybe my father could be... here? At Hogwarts?" he asked, and Dumbledore's eyes went from the ceiling to Draco, sitting there, looking very disheveled (he had run to the headmaster's office when he heard the scream).

"What ever makes you think that he would be here?" Dumbledore said. His eyes twinkled once again in a mysterious kind of way.

Draco swallowed; he couldn't tell Dumbledore about the dream, it was just downright absurd.

"Just... just a guess, that's all," he lied, and he put his hands in his hands. What if...? No, it couldn't be possible... could it?

Draco took his head out of his hands and looked down at the floor, thinking of what to do. He glanced up at Dumbledore, who was smiling at him and twiddling his thumbs once again.

"Mister Malfoy, there is one thing that is confusing me... why do you care for Miss Weasley all of the sudden?"

Draco swallowed.

"No reason, just... I care for everyone!"

Dumbledore's smile widened.

&&&&&&&&&&

Ginny was lying down on a soft bed, made up of green satin sheets. She slowly opened her eyes and discovered that she was in a very large room with bright candles and what looked like silver walls in the dim light.

"Where am I?" she asked to herself quietly, getting up out of the bed and realizing that she was in the same clothes as she was in when she was still at Hogwarts.

"You're at the Malfoy Manor," a malicious voice answered behind her. Ginny whipped around and was shocked to see Lucius Malfoy standing there with his long black robes and white-blonde ponytail. She looked at his hands that were covered with black gloves.

Ginny's eyes met with his gray ones and he smirked nastily.

"Why am I here? What are you going to do to me?" she said. Malfoy looked at her with venom and walked up to her so that they were inches apart.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, little girl."

He turned on his heel and left the room. Once he shut the door, Ginny heard the door lock, and she plopped back down on the bed, feeling suddenly aware of what was happening.

Malfoy must have found out about her and Draco and was planning to do something to her...

Somehow she had to get out of this place, this... prison and try to find her way to London or her house so she could tell someone...

Suddenly, interrupting Ginny's thoughts, the door opened again and Malfoy was standing there waiting for her.

"You will now eat your dinner, Weasley, and no complaining... I don't feel the need to have my chefs cook anything big for you, so they just made you some roast potatoes," he said. Ginny didn't move. "You're either having the potatoes or you're having nothing."

Ginny still didn't move.

At this, Malfoy's upper lip curled in fury and he spat, "You shall not have meals from now on because of your disobedience. I hope you're happy, Weasley."

He slammed the door and locked it while Ginny laid back down on the bed, clutching a pillow.

What was going on?

&&&&&&&&&&

"Draco, you need to go to bed. It's almost one in the morning and you've been sitting there the whole night."

It was 12:30 and Draco was sitting in one of the Slytherin common room chairs, where he had been ever since he walked back down from Dumbeldore's office, which was around 6:00. He had been thinking about that scream, which was plaguing his mind more than ever. Who could it have been? Why did they scream in the first place? Where were they now? What happened?

"Hello, anybody in there?"

Draco looked up at Blaise in what seemed like defeat.

"Fine, fine, I'll go to bed," he muttered, and he got up out of the chair with difficulty. He felt a pain in his back from sitting there for such a long time and he stretched.

"What's been on your mind? It looks like something is bothering you," said Blaise. He looked at Draco in what looked like concern for his friend, and Draco himself yawned widely. Instead of answering, he changed the subject.

"You know, you need to go to bed as well, what have you been doing all this time?" he said.

Blaise shook his head sighed heavily, putting his hand on Draco's back and leading him towards their dormitory.

MEANWHILE ---

"Hermione, Harry and I both need you to help us with our essays... Snape will kill us if we don't do them!" Ron exclaimed, handing her his essay in haste.

Hermione looked at Ron and rolled her eyes. When could Ron ever do his own work? As she was checking through it hastily, Ron turned to Harry and they started talking about (of course) Quidditch.

In the middle of all of this, Taryn, Shannon, and Jamie came running down the stairs from their dormitories and went straight to the three. Everybody in the common room at the time looked up at them (there were few, as it was very late at night).

"We can't find Ginny!" they all shrieked, and the Hermione gasped.

"At this time? Where could she be?" she said in panic, putting down the two essays. Harry and Ron were staring at the three girls, and they all were very pale. They realized that Heidi wasn't among them, who they thought was Ginny's friend.

"Where's Heidi?" asked Harry, voicing his thoughts. The girls all looked at one another hesitantly and Shannon decided to finally answer.

"She's gone as well."