The Otherwhere

Draco's new girlfriend

It was a horror trip.

The next few days were followed with either arguing or deadly silence. Ginny tried to act on Sandrine's suggestion, but Malfoy himself wasn't trying at all to hold back, so they got on each other's nerves constantly.

Even the path was getting them on, while neither would have admitted it to the other. Since their departure, they had crossed two snowfields, and Ginny had caught a cold, which was affecting her badly. She was sure she had a fever, but breaking down in front of Malfoy? Never!

Instead, she coughed and sneezed the whole time, while they fought their way between the mountains.

Draco looked at her irritably her every so often, but he was holding his mouth shut - for now.

"You sound horrible!" he complained finally. "Can't you stop that?"

"You think I am doing this on purpose?" Ginny sniffed and ripped her old wizard robe into tiny shreds to blow her nose. There was not much left of the fabric. Then she rubbed her sweaty forehead, exhausted.

"I do."

"Then put your hands over your ears!" she answered hoarsely.

Splendid. If this goes on, I won't able to say even a tiny word tomorrow. And this piece of shit just acts as if I'm doing it to annoy him. Egoistic bastard!

Some hours later, it began to grow dark and they finally reached the first village since they had left Sandrine's encampment. Draco saw it first, but he hesitated to follow that direction. He turned his gaze, watching Ginny, who followed him with her head hanging on one side. He would have rather bitten his tongue than to say anything, but her condition was worrying him. Anyway, it wasn't personal - if Weaselette was ill, they wouldn't reach their quota of twenty miles per day.

"Village," he said aloud, and Ginny lifted her head.

"Hopefully with humans," she murmured, and coughed again. "I wouldn't say no to a nice warm bed."

"Don't know." Draco frowned. "Looks dead."

Ginny was straining her eyes.

"Look," she said in a quiet voice, and gestured to one of the houses - if one could call it that.

It had been a farm, maybe, some years before, but half of the building was burnt. It was carbon black and looked like it would crumble if someone blew a little heavily on it.

"I see. The other buildings, too. Was an attack, I guess." Draco sounded highly unconcerned. "We have to look out for something to sleep in."

Ginny was watching the shadows in the destroyed village with doubt. It was very calm, and an eerie atmosphere surrounded the ruined village.

"I'd do anything for a working wand," Draco growled as he lit a torch.

"Me, I would prefer some of Madam Pomfrey's potions." Ginny sneezed.

"That would make two of us." Draco kicked at a door with his foot, and it opened with a scary creak. "Somebody in there? Or were you fired down, too?"

"Malfoy!" said Ginny annoyed, but he was ignoring her.

"Better than nothing," he said shortly and threw his bag on the floor. "Ew, the floor hasn't been swept in centuries!"

"We were lucky." Ginny was looking outside. "It's starting to rain."

""Hopefully the roof hasn't any holes," Draco answered doubtfully and yawned dramatically. "Is there any bed in here?"

"Two, please," Ginny murmured, not in the state to start arguing again.

The discussion was pointless anyway, because there was none. The room had obviously been a sleeping chamber once, but was now empty.

"I don't give a damn about that, I'm going to sleep." Ginny rolled out her coat and pressed the sack of her change of clothes under her head. "Goodnight."

"Tsk." Draco snorted with distaste and went straight to the small living room where he had left his bag. The fireplace was still intact, and with the wood from smashed furniture lying around him, he managed to light some flames.

"It's like survival training, Father. If you just could see me, you would get a fit." Just this thought made him feel better.

Outside, it was raining harder, and soon a thunderstorm began.

Splendid. I mean, what next? Earthquake? Armageddon?

***

With a start, Draco woke up. The fire had nearly gone out in spite of some glow, and it had become frosty cold. He had been sleeping by leaning against the only undamaged table, and he wasn't sure what had awoken him.

A tiny noise outside got his attention.

It was quiet and downtrodden, somebody was creeping into the house. The mud was whispering.

Draco held the Chakra in his left hand and pushed the door open carefully. The next moment, something small hissed in the shadows and sprang in his direction. With an almost girly scream, he staggered back, lost his balance and hit his head on the carpet.

Draco was seeing stars, and the Chakra had fallen out of his hand.

Again there was a hiss, and he suddenly felt something climbing his leg. He tried to lift his head, and was awarded with a pair of violet eyes. The little thing which was crawling on him sat on his ribs and was watching him curiously.

"Get down!"

Draco turned to his left side, only to hit his head again, this time against the table. The beast on his torso crawled over his shirt and beat its long tail into his face. Draco, head reeling, spluttered and tried to grab it, but it sprang away and began watching him again from a corner of the room.

Draco touched his face gingerly and winced as he felt some warm liquid on his temple.

"Brute," he hissed.

"Brute!" came the sudden answer.

"You can talk?" Draco forgot his bloody temple.

"Talk?" The brute was imitating his speech! "Brute!" it cried happily, and sprang in his direction again.

"Get off! Shoo!"

"Shoo!" it returned and stayed in one spot.

"New girlfriend?" Ginny asked from the door. She sounded like she was holding in a laugh.

"Not funny, Weasley!!! Throw it out!"

Ginny simply ignored him, scooted closer and lit a torch in the glow of the fireplace. Then she examined the little creature, which was looking at her.

"Looks like a small lizard or something. Did you see her tail? It's almost two feet tall." Ginny grinned. "Hey, nice color!"

"Color," the lizard answered proudly.

"What about the color?"

"It has red and green spots!"

"Be it the colors of the rainbow, make it go away!"

Ginny ignored him again. She knelt down and reached a hand out. The lizard squealed in delight and sprang onto it.

"Scrawny, you're nuts! You don't even know if it's poisonous!"

"Scrawny!" the lizard piped.

"Chicken. Hm. You need a name, little one." Ginny sent the Slytherin a highly amused look. "Looks like a little dragon, eh? What about Draco?"

"Draco!" The lizard was almost anxious now.

"Don't you dare!" Draco spat, and the lizard hid behind Ginny's neck.

"No, you're way too cute for that silly name. You remind me of a fireflower. How about 'Blossom'?"

The lizard squealed again and climbed onto Ginny's head.

"Blossom?!" Draco was staring at Ginny. "I surrender. You are totally nuts!"

Ginny sneezed again, and Blossom imitated that sound immediately.

"Don't be a fool, Malfoy," she said and sniffed. "The little thing just flew in here because it's warm and dry. Anyway, it's intelligent, it talks!"

"So do Crabbe and Goyle, and will you ever give them a damn of intelligence?" Draco got up, dusting his trousers off angrily.

"What was that?" Ginny stared at him, and Blossom mimicked her.

"What was what?" To the small of the moment, Draco seemed to be at a loss. Soon enough, his face hardened. "Forget that. Keep your little pet, but make sure it stays out of my way!"

He stormed outside, smashing the door with a bang.

***

The rain clouds had vanished, and stars were illuminating the sky. It had become very cold.

Draco wasn't watching the sky nor noticing the temperature as he stormed forward. He had given out a personal secret, and it was burning him to the bones. He wasn't supposed to just talk and not think!

Well, almost everybody knew, Crabbe and Goyle were more muscles than brain, but it was quite another thing to hear it out of his own mouth.

The question of the century was - why was Draco Malfoy, known as capable of using his brain cells, surrounding himself with these imbeciles?

Well again, a lot of people would have shrugged, and just said Bodyguard, what else? He is afraid to get his arse kicked, brat he is!

The problem was, Ginny Weasley wasn't a lot of people. First, she was part of the Potter gang, whilst only a minor character. Second, she was able to add two and two, and third, she knew Lucius had sacrificed him for this whole scenario.

Draco's head was reeling.

Scrawny had found the first flaw in the shell he had built up around himself. She was a danger to him. Whenever they got back to Hogwarts - if they did - she only had to open her mouth, and he was checkmate. He would have to make a decision. And he didn't want to. Never. Or was it really nothing more than false pride?

You're far too proud of yourself. It will catch up with you, and it will destroy you.

He shook his head frantically to get Sandrine's words out of his head, and flinched hard, because his head still hurt from coming into uncomfortably close contact with the floor.

"Brute!" he swore quietly. "Blossom! I know the perfect name for you - Spawn!"

Fever

Ginny sat at the Burrow and looked out of the window. Behind her, Molly was working in the kitchen while Fred and George were arguing about something.

"Mum, I had such a terrible nightmare, " she said softly.

Somebody stepped up behind her, and a hand touched her shoulder.

"What was your dream?" asked Harry, as his hand started to stroke her arm.

Ginny's lips became dry when his other hand traveled to her hip.

"Not important," she said hoarsely and swallowed heavily.

He turned her around, and one finger was lightly stroking her lips now. He then bent over and kissed her.

Ginny closed her eyes and kissed him back. For her, it could have lasted forever, but far too soon he backed away. Now she felt his warm breath near her ear.

"Can I trust you?"

She abruptly ripped her eyes open and looked directly into the unreadable, grey ones of Draco Malfoy.

Ginny was frozen as he bent over her and kissed her hungrily, like Harry had ...

***

Ginny jumped up from her makeshift bed and yelped.

"What the hell ...."

"Hell!" Blossom, lying next to her, watched her curiously. The little lizard seemed to be happy to be noticed again, and hopped up onto Ginny's shoulder. Her long tail wound around her throat, but very carefully.

"Did I really dream that?" Ginny was still bewildered.

"Dreamt." Blossom seemed to be nodding.

"Ew, holy fuck!" She spat on the floor and rubbed her mouth afterwards. "Malfoy, of all people!"

Then she remembered how he had run out of the house hours ago, and decided to see if he had come back.

"Let's go, Blossom, see if Mr Wonderful is back again."

Blossom didn't make a sound, as if she knew that Ginny wanted to be as quiet as possible.

Her anxiety was needless. Draco was lying in front of the freshly started fireplace and kept digging his head into his cloak.

Blossom unrolled her tail and tried to jump down Ginny's shoulder, but she grabbed the little lizard quickly.

"Don't, or he'll wake up. Come on, let's go back, he might trample you, I am not putting him past it."

***

Draco awoke with a terrible headache. He cursed the damned lizard and was in an imaginably bad mood.

Ginny seemed to still be sleeping, but, alas, that was nothing extraordinary - Weasley would have overslept a hurricane.

With the least amount of noise possible he pushed himself up. He had seen a small fountain behind the house yesterday, and he hoped that he was lucky and it wasn't dry.

Ten minutes later, he came back in, his hair dripping wet. Ginny still hadn't stirred.

Draco was grumbling impatiently and decided to wake her up - with a bowl of water, in case of need.

Ginny was lying on her back. At Draco's entrance, the lizard lifted her head, and jumped in his direction.

"Leave your claws off me," he said, annoyed. "Scrawny, wake up!"

"Wonderful!" Blossom chirped. "Dreamt!" With three elegant jumps, she was settled on Draco's shoulder.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to get lost!!"

"Hey!" The lizard had visible fun with his attempts to get rid of the small animal.

"Weasley!" he yelled even louder. "Your pet is getting on my nerves!"

Finally, he gave the Weaslette a look, and frowned. Ginny wasn't moving, and her face was almost as red as her hair. She was sweating heavily, obviously with a fever.

"Oh no, what else!" Furiously he grabbed for Blossom's tail, but the lizard was wary of his actions and sank her claws into his shoulder. "Ow! Stop that, you brute!"

"Malfoy?" Ginny said faintly. "I don't think I'm able to go today." She coughed miserably.

"Merlin, this just can't be true! Blossom, stop that immediately, or I will throw you out!" Draco threatened. To his astonishment, the lizard lost her grip on his shoulder promptly and jumped down onto the floor.

"Blossom!" she said clearly. "Blossom. Out!" With that, she scurried across the floor and disappeared outside.

Draco was staring in the direction where she had vanished.

"Told you," Ginny croaked with a tired voice. "Clever little one." She shut her eyes again.

"Damn, Scrawny, will you wake up! If you die because of a simple cold, I will never be able to get back home again!"

"Really, one would think, you are worried about me." She gave a hoarse laugh, which ended in a new coughing fit.

"Oh fuck!" Malfoy yelled. "Is nothing going to spare me?"

In one short movement, he lifted Ginny up.

"What are you doing?" she protested weakly.

"You simply won't leave me alone here!!" Draco's anger had reached the point where it no longer mattered what he was doing. He carried her back to the small living room - not that it was difficult, Scrawny wasn't weighing more than a sack of feathers - and lay her down on his own cloak, not very gently. Then he went again, and brought Ginny's own cloak and wrapped it around her.

"I am going outside, to see if I'm able to find something better," he said shortly.

"Something better?" Ginny was watching him numbly.

The slamming shut of the door was her only answer.

***

Time went agonizingly slow for Ginny. She was sleeping, having heavy nightmares, one thing worse than the other. Some of it was unforgettable - Voldemort was again in her body, and she saw herself doing so much obscene and gross things ... Harry's agonizing death at the hand of thousands of Death Eaters, who all cheered .... A small blond boy, who screamed frantically while blood was running down his hands, and somebody still urging him to pick the Chakra up again ...

Sometime her delirium was replaced with reality again. She blinked and turned her head to look at her surroundings.

A soft dawning light filtered into the room. She was still in the small house, she was able to remember at last. But - there hadn't been any bed, had there? Why was she feeling like she was lying on a comfortable mattress?

Ginny slowly pushed herself up, and looked around tiredly.

She was lying on thick layers of grass and straw, that was the reason it was so comfortable.

Near her was Draco, in a half sitting, half lying position, his left shoulder leaning on the ledge of the fireplace. He was obviously dozing, and Ginny's lips curled into a light smile, seeing a small body on his shoulder, a long tail wound around his throat.

"Blossom," she whispered hoarsely, and the small lizard lifted her head immediately.

"Scrawny!" she squeaked delighted.

"Jus shut up and lemme sleep," Draco slurred, without opening his eyes. "Brute."

"Brute," Blossom echoed happily. "Draco - Scrawny."

"You really are a pain in the neck, Brute. Literally." He yawned and stretched, blinking in the light. "Bad enough, that Weasley ... Weasley!" He was staring at her.

"Trust me, I remember my name," she answered dryly.

Draco just continued to stare for a moment, and then shook his head, as if to get it cleared.

"About time," he said curtly. "We have lost two days because of you!"

"What? Two days?" Ginny was shocked. Finally, she made to get up.

"Just stay there!" Draco commanded furiously. "What do you think you are doing? It's the last thing I need, you wandering around and getting a relapse!"

"And how long you think I should lay down? Doctor ?" Ginny's voice was pointed, despite the fact that she knew he was right. She wasn't feeling healthy enough, not by any means.

"As long as it takes you to finish getting better!" he hissed back. "Don't be so daft! Ouch!"

Blossom had hit him in the face with her tail. She even growled.

"Don't you dare to attack me from behind, Brute!" Draco scolded. "I see you wandering around, Weasley, and I will bind you down to the floor, I swear!"

Ginny wasn't sure if he meant it, but decided not to try it out. It was not that she didn't believe him to be able to do such a thing.

Hells, why couldn't it have been him who was really ill?

Ginny didn't know, but she would soon regret her words in the near future.