A Sorrowful Goodbye

A Sorrowful Goodbye

Chapter 6:

Draco was still pondering about his task of gathering all those who were influenced by Temptation together when he felt Ginny stir in his arms. He froze. Her arm - which had been hanging limp, pointing at the floor - moved to her eyes as she rubbed them. She twisted her neck into Draco's chest, then away again. Draco continued to watch her nervously as she woke from whatever daze she'd been in. He wondered if she was all right. She seemed to be.

"Weasley?" he whispered. Her eyelids lifted as she met his gaze. She blinked, obviously confused, and opened her mouth to speak.

No words came out.

Her eyebrows drew together in a frown. She swung her leg over his arm and he let go of her. She turned to face him, standing. Her lips parted again, but no sound reached his ears.

Ginny began opening and closing her mouth, rather like a fish out of water, and looked more and more panicky each time. Draco could only watch; he was just as baffled as her. Finally, he put a hand to her mouth to silence her.

"Ginny," he began, only to discover that she was hyperventilating. He didn't want to have to carry her again if she fainted from improper breathing, so he repeated, "Ginny!" in a more commanding voice. "Take a deep breath." She did, her features relaxing.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you a question, and you just nod or shake your head. All right?" Draco asked her.

Ginny nodded.

"Right, then," Draco continued. "You can't speak, correct?" Ginny nodded in assent. "Then let's try to determine why not." Draco wracked his brains at why Ginny's voice was failing her. When had it first happened? After she'd interfered with Hermione's Temptation. "Well, it must have something to do with you disturbing Temptation, or touching it, or whatever, when you grabbed the book it was holding out for the Mudblood- sorry, Granger," Draco quickly added as Ginny shot him a look as sharp as daggers.

Suddenly, they heard approaching thuds on the stone floor; someone was coming.

"Quick, footsteps! Get behind this statue," Draco instructed Ginny.

They ducked behind the looming Gargoyle just as a figure appeared around the bend. Wait, thought Draco, that's two people.... He recognized the bushy hair of Granger and the crimson head of the older Weasley. He realized with a prick of unease that he didn't want them thinking that he'd hexed Ginny so she couldn't speak. Draco was about to hold out a hand to stop her when she burst out of their hiding spot and ran to her brother. Weasley halted abruptly, the confused look that was so often on his face adorning his features yet again. She flung herself at Weasley and wrapped her arms around her older brother's neck. Weasley seemed unsure of what to do; he ended up patting her back. Draco rolled his eyes, realizing that he was going to have to face them eventually. Why not sooner than later?

He stepped out from behind the gargoyle statue. No one noticed him at first, but then Granger glanced over her shoulder at him, from where she'd been, rubbing Ginny's shoulder in the sisterly manner they both shared. Granger pursed her lips together, obviously upset, but what did she want Draco to do about it? There was nothing he could do... perhaps his Father would know of a solution. The laboratory of Malfoy Manor was quite extensive. There was probably some kind of potion for dealing with Temptation's wrath. Yes, Draco resolved, I'll tell them that my Father has the cure....

Ginny was still sobbing, which was really quite odd-looking, figuring she wasn't able to use her voice. Instead, she was breathing hard and shaking, mouth open in a rather vulgar manner. Draco suppressed a shiver of disgust. He was about to speak, but Weasley beat him to it.

"What did you do to my sister, you-" Weasley started, but Draco cut him off.

"I didn't do anything. She did it herself. Stupid girl interfered where she shouldn't have." He smirked. "But then again, that's not very uncommon for a Weasley, is it?"

The two redheads of them glared at him, but said nothing to defend themselves. Instead, Granger spoke up in the haughty manner she always used to address him.

"Listen, Malfoy: either you tell us what's going on, or I'll march right into the Headmaster's office, wake him up, and report this to Dumbledore himself!"

Draco rolled his eyes. One thing he'd learned about the mudblood was that her bark was worse than her bite. Well, excluding that slap she'd given him a few years ago. He could still feel the pain sometimes....

"Look, I don't want to explain anything more than I have to. As much as I hate to say it, Potter has to be here, too. Where is he?"

Weasley and Granger looked at each other, eyebrows raised. They turned back to Draco.

"He's - er - with Cho," Weasley muttered.

"With her? Potter's actually with someone-" Granger cut him off.

"Not like that, Malfoy," she said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "They're doing homework." She glared at him. "Honestly, Malfoy. Is that all teenage boys ever think about?"

"No," Weasley and Draco replied at the same time, then glared at each other, both shuddering at the thought that they'd done something at the same time.

Suddenly, a loud thud resounded throughout the corridor. Draco jumped in surprise, as did Granger and Weasley. He looked around for the source, and found himself staring at the deep brown eyes of Ginny. To his amusement, she was positively sparking with anger. He realized that, since she couldn't speak, she'd had to resort to using body language as a means of communication.

"Yes, Weaslette?" he asked, using her mock nickname that he referred to her as. She ignored this, but he thought he saw a vein jump in her temple. The thought made him smirk.

She raised her eyebrows and motioned with her hands, bending them at the elbows and putting her palms up in a "what-do-we-do-now?" appearance.

"We go to Dumbledore," Granger said, obviously understanding Ginny's question.

"NO," Draco spoke, restraining himself from yelling completely.

All three Gryffindors turned to him, eyebrows raised in question.

"Dumbledore won't know what to do," Draco said. "My Father has the cure. I'll take you to Malfoy Manor."

"Go to your house?" Weasley spluttered. "I'd rather visit Hell."

Draco shot Weasley a sneer, and replied, "That would be a good idea, actually. I'm sure they'd love to have you."

Weasley's ears turned a lovely shade of magenta, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Granger cut him off.

"Continue, Malfoy. And please. Let's not have anymore interruptions."

Draco smiled brazenly, and resumed his explanation in a lazy drawl. "Well, actually, we need Potter here so I can explain to all of you about Temptation. I certainly don't feel like repeating myself, since it is rather long and complex."

"And everyone must revolve around your laziness," Weasley spat venomously.

Draco continued smirking. "Look, Weasley's finally catching on! Although I'd hardly say it's 'laziness'...."

"That's exactly what I'd say it is!"

At one swift moment, Ginny stepped in between them, placed one hand on each of their chests, and shoved them apart - hard - causing both Draco and Weasley to stumble backwards a few steps.

Draco was the first to regain his wounded composure. He turned to Ginny, his eyes sparking at her. "What'd you do that for, bitc--"

"I think," Granger interrupted him, "that it was her way of saying, 'Shut the bloody hell up!'"

Draco glared at the mudblood for a moment, rather surprised at her sudden anger, before saying, "Well, you know what? Why doesn't she just speak for herself?"

He shoved past the two girls, striding down the corridor. Right before he reached the bend, he yelled back over his shoulder, "Oh wait. It looks like she's not going to be doing any speaking for awhile, now, doesn't it?" He would have continued walking down the corridor if someone hadn't gripped his collar and pushed him into the wall.

"Ginny might not be doing much talking for awhile, Malfoy, but you sure will be."

Draco struggled for the second time that day into a standing position, feeling as if he could hex whoever had caused him embarrassment - again - all the way into the Forbidden Forest. However, he soon realized that this wouldn't be possible.

For Harry Potter could not be hexed.