A Life in the Past

Ginny sat alone in the chamber she had been thrown into. She was sitting cross-legged, swaying back and forth. The man who had put her in this chamber had touched her in places she didn't want him to touch her in, and she had fought back, making him more aggressive. She felt so scandalised, so dirty. But he hadn't done any harm, Elias had sent him away quickly. Then Elias had spoken to her. He was so respectful, he didn't dare touch her. He'd simply told her that if she tried to escape again, worse things would happen. He also told her that Draco would never be able to find her, so she shouldn't try to count on her "boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," she had said.

"Well, whatever he is," he had said back. "He will not see tomorrow in any case. He will not survive this night, mark my words."

Ginny had cried after Elias had left. Draco was her last shred of hope, and without him, she was sure she'd never be happy again. She was also quite certain she wouldn't live for very long either, considering the situation; she was all alone in an unfamiliar place and time, she'd probably be raped by some filthy old man, and then be left to whither and die from starvation.

The chamber she was in was quite nice, there was a bed, and a desk. The bed had black covers, and the desk was very dark wood. The stone floor was cold, but Ginny couldn't bring herself to sit anywhere else but the floor.

She took a deep breath. Here she was, in this horrible place, away from her family. She'd never see her family again, none of her six brothers, her loving mother, and her sweet father, they were just memories now. She thought about the times when Bill and Charlie would tell her bed-time stories, both would sit by her bed, making up stories about dragons, and goblins, and other magical creatures. They'd tell her about Muggles, and then one day, Bill wasn't there, and Charlie sat by her bed alone. This was like that day, but ten times worse. No, one hundred thousand times worse. She was all alone now, at least then, she'd had Charlie, but then two years later, he'd left for Hogwarts as well, and then she didn't get her bed-time stories.

"Ginny!"Â said a choked voice from the window.

Ginny jumped in utter shock and disbelief. She turned around quickly to see Draco climbing into the window. She smiled widely. Was it really Draco? Or was it Elias dressed in Draco's robes?

"Bet you never thought you'd see me again," Draco said, smirking. "Well, here I am."

Ginny jumped to her feet, and was about to fling her arms around his neck when she remembered Draco had told her not to. And besides, it wasn't right for a Weasley to hug a Malfoy, even if Weasleys did hug everyone.

"I don't know why I did this," said Draco. "The world could do with one less Weasley, but it's a shame it'd have to be the female Weasley, so as long as you're a girl, I'm here to save you."

"Thank you," said Ginny. "I'd never thought a Malfoy could be so compassionate. You've saved me three times now, your father won't be happy."

"Who cares?" said Draco. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here, the fat man was just about to beat me when I left."

"How did you leave?" Ginny questioned. "Elias said you wouldn't see tomorrow."

"I'm too quick for these idiots," said Draco boastfully. "And the room they locked me up in is supposed to be hard to find and next to impossible to get out of, except for a Malfoy. And I'm a Malfoy, so I found my way just fine."

Ginny smiled. "Shall we go?" she asked, almost casually.

"Yes, let's" said Draco. "But we have to go through the window."

***

"So who's this French girl?" asked Harry, after Ron had described his day to Harry and Hermione. "And why does she want money?"

"She's the servant," said Ron. "And her sister's sick, so she needs the money for her, but she says I can't ask Alfred for the money. Sounds kind of dodgy to me."

"I say you don't give her the money," said Harry. "Who knows what she might be up to?"

"Was she trying to seduce you?" Hermione asked, her voice worried. "Because you shouldn't give in to her. You can be weak in this sort of situation, Ron, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah," said Ron. "I haven't decided about her yet. The real problem is my so-called sister, Annabelle."

"Oh yeah?" said Harry. "What's she done?"

Ron was about to answer, but he was cut short by the opening of the door. Annabelle stood in the doorway, looking in suspiciously. "I can hear voices," she said. "Talking to yourself?"

"Ginny!" Harry cried out, before Ron could stop him. Harry realised too late that Ron had told him Ginny hadn't been found in this place.

"Who be these people, Wilfred?" Annabelle asked. "And who be this Ginny you speak of?"

"Oh, er, this is Harry," said Ron pointing at Harry. "And this is Hermione. And Harry was just mistaken for a moment. He was speaking to Hermione."

"Ginny be who?" asked Annabelle.

"Ginny is Harry's friend," said Ron. "She's in... er, she's in Scotland right now."

"A friend?" Annabelle spluttered. "If she be Scottish, she be foe!"

"It's all right," said Hermione. "She's not Scottish, she's... er, she's just... well, she's from England, but she's in Scotland right now."

Annabelle arched an eyebrow. "I shall go," she said, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"I see what you mean," said Harry. "I can see how she might be a problem."

"But what can we do?" Hermione asked. "And honestly, who is this Wilfred, and why isn't he here?"

***

Ginny sat down cross-legged on the wet grass outside the Malfoy castle. Draco lay his head in her lap and looked up at her, smirking.

"So you say you want to find that brother of yours?" he said.

Ginny nodded, playing with Draco's hair a little. "He was with me before I got sent to the past," she said. "So that must mean he's here too."

"Okay," said Draco. "You can go find him, as for me, I don't care."

"But Ron may just be your bloody ticket out of here," cried Ginny. "And he's my brother, I can't leave him here."

"Well then you go find him," said Draco. "I'm staying right here. I'm only going to care about myself from now on."

"You already don't care about anyone but yourself," said Ginny. "I can't believe you, you're so self-centered!"

"I saved you three times," Draco pointed out. "And I hate you as well, does that sound self-centered? Saving the lives of those you hate?"

"You are unbelievable!" said Ginny. She pushed him away.

Draco stood up. "Yes, I am," he said. "And I'll see you at Hogwarts, Weasley."

"Wait!" Ginny called. "You can't leave, we've come this far together, there's no way we can split up now!"

"We can, and we will," said Draco. "Because, frankly, I don't care about your brother, and I don't want to find him."

"Then why did you just rescue me?" Ginny asked. "Just now, what was that for?"

 "I don't know," said Draco. "But from now on, you're on your own, you can go where ever you want."

Ginny felt tears well up in her eyes. "But I can't go alone," she sobbed. "Please, come with me."

"What's in it for me?" asked Draco, starting to get a little anxious; he didn't know what to do in a situation like this, where someone was crying.

"If you stay here, you'll... they'll kill you!" Ginny sobbed. "And you'll never get back. Never."

"Who says I want to get back?" said Draco.

"You did!" shrieked Ginny. "And you can't live here! Won't you miss your family? And what about your friends? I know I couldn't possibly live without my brothers, or my mum or dad. And life without Harry, that's hard to imagine..."

"Oh yeah," said Draco. "Perfect Potter, can't have life without him. Can't live without seeing famous Potter's face on the cover of the Daily Prophet. No saint Potter to save the day."

"Why are you so jealous of him?" asked Ginny, her eyes wide.

"Jealous?" Draco spat the word out as if it were the stupidest thing in the world. "Jealous of that nasty scar? Or that horrid hair? I don't think so."

"Then why do you make fun of him?" asked Ginny. "Why can't you just let him be?"

"Because he's too big headed for my liking," said Draco. "And why do you care anyway?"

"Look! An owl!" said Ginny, pointing to the owl that had just landed on Draco's shoulder.

Draco looked at the owl and jumped, making the owl fly up again, screeching.

"Shut up!" said Ginny. "You'll get us caught!" She untied a piece of parchment that was tied to the owl's leg. "Is this for me?" she asked, curiously. Who'd be writing her at a time like this?

"Give it here," said Draco, taking the note from her. "Dear Ginny," he read. "I don't know whether this letter will ever reach you, but I hope it does. I have the strangest thing to tell you. I'm at the Burrow, but I'm in a different time! I can't believe it, but I'm actually in the year 1143, and the Burrow isn't the Burrow we know. It's a castle! And I'm with the Weasley family of 1143, they're just like us. But they think I am Wilfred, their son and brother. Still, they're rich, and seeing as I am stuck here, I may as well try to fit in. Where are you? I really, really hope this letter finds you, and I hope you can find me. This is absolutely crazy, isn't it? Loads of Love, your brother, Ron."

"Ron!" cried Ginny. "We have to get to him!"

"You say it as if it's the easiest thing in the world," said Draco. "Have a nice trip, I'll see you when you get back. If you get back."

"You're coming with me!" cried Ginny, breaking into tears again. "You've got to! I can't do this alone! W-what if I g-get caught b-by some p-pervert and he d-does something to m-me? And then you'll f-find me, d-dead, b-being eaten by m-m-maggots! You can't make me go alone!"

"I'm not m-making you g-go alone," said Draco mockingly. "You can stay here for all I care."

"Please!" Ginny sobbed. "I need you! I c-can't do this alone!"

Draco looked at her nervously. She was crying again. "Er," he said, not knowing at all what would be the best thing to do. "If it'll make you stop crying, I supposed I could accompany you."

Ginny wiped her eyes. "This is just so hard for me," she said. "I've never been away from my family for so long, Ron's always around, and I've spent a whole day without him, it's just so hard."

"There, there," said Draco, putting his arms around her, trying to comfort the crying mess. "No need to cry."

Ginny buried her head in Draco's shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'll never forget your kindness."

"You better not," said Draco. "This isn't the sort of thing I'd normally do, but considering the circumstances..."

Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt safe again in this strange historical world. She was no longer stranded and alone with nothing but strangers.