Saved By Chance
There was just cause to be happy in this world. Lord Voldemort had been defeated and the dark times were over. Harry Potter had started his seventh year and was currently dating Hermione Granger. Ronald Weasley, though not in any serious relationship, was as happy as ever. Yes, the people whom everyone looked to when thinking of Hogwarts were leading a good life.
But there are two whispers that are not heard. A young woman can only think of one way to rid herself of her pain. A young man is consumed by forbidden thoughts as he struggles to find out who he really is. What happens when their paths cross? Can they possibly save each other from themselves? These are their stories.
~~~~~~~~~~
�Weasley!�
�I�m sorry Professor,� Ginny said quietly as she entered the room, quickly taking her seat in the back of the room.
�Weasley, that is the second time this week you�ve been late,� Professor Snape hissed, glaring at her. �Ten points from Gryffindor. Next time it�ll be a detention.�
�Yes sir,� Ginny bowed her head so as to hide the tears that threatened to fall. She couldn�t stand people to be mad at her.
�Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,� Professor Snape said to the class, �today, we will be working on extremely complicated and lethal poisons. These should not be attempted outside of class, as they contain many ingredients that require special Ministry permits to be possessed. However, it is my duty to show you how these are made in case any of you ever have to make an antidote. Though, I suspect that many of you would be incapable of doing much more than help the poison along.�
Ginny listened passively as the professor told them the ingredients, copying down what he said. When it was time to make the potion, she went up with the other students to get her ingredients. Then, she sat back down, rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
When she reached the part that called for finely diced Mandrake root, she stopped for a moment. Though Mandrake leaves could be used on Petrified individuals, the roots were highly toxic. She held one of the roots up for a moment, examining it with unconscious fascination. When she realized what she was doing, she shook her head and set it back down.
Then she reached down to pick up her knife and halted when she saw the light glimmering on the blade. She pulled up her sleeve slightly to stare at the faint, blue veins that ran through her wrist. Or maybe they were arteries, Ginny didn�t know. Her eyes moved from her wrist to the knife again and she had a fleeting thought of something she�d read once about Muggles.
She shook her head again to get rid of these thoughts and went back to the roots. She moved the knife over them rapidly, though careful not to cut her fingers. By the time she finished with the roots, they had nearly been reduced to powder. She set down the knife with a shaking hand and added this final ingredient to her potion.
The potion turned sickly green, which told Ginny that she had gotten it right. She was about to call Professor Snape over to check her work when she stopped, looking back down at the potion. It was incredible lethal, killing the drinker within an hour of drinking it. It would be so easy to�
NO! Ginny screamed at herself. She couldn�t be thinking about things like this. But just the same, she couldn�t stop herself. She grabbed a small vial from her potion supplies. Looking around to make sure no one was looking, she quickly scooped some of the potion into the vial and pocketed it. When she was sure no one had seen her, Ginny raised her hand.
�What is it Miss Weasley?� Professor Snape asked in his drawling voice. �Need help telling Mandrake from beetle shells?�
�No, professor,� Ginny said carefully. �I�m done.�
�Hmm,� Professor Snape came over, staring down at the potion with barely disguised disgust, �it seems to have been, by some miracle, brewed correctly. Though, since you�ve forgotten the very important step of turning off your burner after you were done, you will receive a minimal pass. A few more minutes over the burner and your poison will succeed in singing your eyebrows, as well as those of everyone in a ten mile radius.�
Ginny quickly turned off the burner and moved her cauldron to the side. Professor Snape gave a cold, cruel smile and went across the room to congratulate a Slytherin for getting their potion right.
Ginny spent the rest of class thinking about the vial in her pocket. She didn�t know why, or maybe didn�t want to admit it, but she was reluctant to get rid of it. This scared her.
* * *
Later on, when she was in the common room, she told Hermione about what had happened in Potions class. She left out all of her thoughts about the Mandrake and the knife and her taking some of the poison, of course.
�Don�t sweat it, Ginny,� Hermione said. �He�s always looking for an excuse to grade Gryffindors down. He��
�Am I interrupting something?� Harry asked, walking over and sitting next to Hermione, kissing her cheek.
�No,� Ginny said before Hermione could say anything, �I�I was just about to go.� She walked away quickly, but trying not to make it obvious that she was trying to get away. She went up to the deserted dormitory and collapsed onto her bed, crying silent tears.
No matter what anyone else might think, Ginny had never gotten over her crush on Harry. When she�d been teased incessantly for her first few years, she decided to hide her feelings by avoiding talking to Harry at all. She had even convinced herself that she was over him.
But when he�d started dating Hermione, that�s when she�d realized the truth. She�d never gotten over him. And now that he was with Hermione, all she felt every time she saw him was pain. Pain that she had to keep secret, because she knew that they were happy together. She couldn�t get in their way. In fact, she couldn�t help feeling they�d be better off if she didn�t even exist.
There is a way, said a little voice in the back of Ginny�s mind. She reached into her pocket and took out the vial. She held it up, staring through the transparent green poison that gave everything a greenish tint.
Nobody would miss her. She was sure of that. Her family was so big she mostly just got brushed aside. She didn�t have any real friends here. Harry and Hermione might say they were sorry, but if they new the truth, they would surely be glad she was gone. There seemed to be nothing left for her.
A sound outside the door made Ginny jump slightly, almost dropping the vial. She quickly opened the drawer on her bedside table and put the poison away. She couldn�t risk anyone seeing it and recognizing what it was. Not if her plan stood any chance of working.
~~~~~~~~~~
�You all right?�
Draco gave a quiet sigh and waved his hand dismissively. �I�m thinking, something you would know very little about, Crabbe. You both may go.�
Crabbe and Goyle stood up and left the common room, walking up the stairs to the dormitory and out of sight.
Draco sighed again, more loudly this time and looked around to make sure the rest of the room was deserted. Then he took off his cloak and looked down at the clasp. It was the Malfoy family crest, a symbol of his upbringing and status. It consisted of pure silver, molded into the shape of two serpents, circling around the letter M. It was meant to be a reminder of his family�s great power and wealth.
But that wasn�t what it was to Draco. To him it was just a reminder of a life he could never have. It was a mark of his enslavement to the destiny of a cold, ruthless murderer. It might as well have been burned into his skin for all he could get out of it.
There was once a time when he thought he was this way because he wanted to be. When his chief joy in life had been to make other people�s lives miserable. It was only after the war that he had realized that this wasn�t what he wanted.
When he�d tried to tell this to his father, he�d been severely punished. He was forbidden to ever mention anything of the nature again. He still bore the scars of that day, both inside and out.
Since then he had tried to make everyone think nothing had changed. He still shouted out the occasional insult to Potter, Weasley, and Granger, but his heart wasn�t in it. He�d similarly kept Crabbe and Goyle around for appearances.
Draco felt a burning in his eyes and shut them immediately. Malfoy�s didn�t cry. He was being stupid to even think he could change who he was. Eventually he would go back. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to rid himself of the Malfoy blood that poisoned his veins.
He tossed his cloak across the room carelessly and lay down on his side, drawing his knees up to his chest. He had always slept like this, having grown up in a very cold mansion where blankets were seen as a sign of weakness.
Right now, in spite of the heat from the fireplace, he was still cold. The warmth of the fire reached his skin, but didn�t penetrate to warm his icy soul. This was something that he felt would stay with him his entire life.
Draco shut his eyes against the flickering light of the fire. Behind his eyelids, images of what had happened that dreadful day when he had told his father played themselves over mercilessly. He shivered involuntarily and hugged his knees tighter to his chest in a vain attempt to warm himself.
But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn�t get to sleep. All he could do was relive a past that he felt was a punishment for trying to change what was meant to be.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny couldn�t sleep that night. She went over her plan in her mind, trying to make sure she thought through it all. Finally, when she was sure that everyone had finally come up to the dormitory and gone to sleep, she got up. She got the opened the drawer, lifted out the vial, and shut the drawer again slowly, careful not to make any noise. Then she tiptoed to the door and stepped out.
She crept silently down the stairs, skipping the ones that she knew would creak. Then, she moved across the common room and carefully opened the portrait.
�Who�s there?� the voice of the Fat Lady asked sleepily.
Ginny cursed her luck and gave an innocent smile. �Just going to the bathroom,� she said, hoping that it was convincing.
�Okay, hurry back,� the Fat Lady grumbled.
Ginny moved quickly down the hallway and out of sight of the portrait. Then she started to move more slowly, pressing herself up against the wall in hopes of sneaking past any teachers she might run into. Fortunately, they all seemed to be in a different part of the building.
Ginny wandered down the hallways, not bothering on keeping track of where she was. It didn�t matter. All that matter was that no one found her until it was too late. She finally decided that she�d reached the perfect place. The only thing in the hallway was a giant picture of a snake. This was good because this way there wouldn�t be picture people to call for a teacher.
She held up her hand, in which she still gripped the vial tightly. She opened the vial and brought it up until it was almost touching her lips.
This was it. If she moved the vial at all, it would be too late to turn back. She would never see her friends or family again. But they�d be happier without her. Eventually they would realize how much better their lives were without her getting in the way.
Her mind made up, Ginny tipped the vial up and drained it in one gulp. The poison tasted vaguely of motor oil and was about as easy to swallow. She gulped a couple of times, trying to get it all down. She could feel it traveling down her throat in an icy river.
Then, when the poison hit her stomach, it immediately turned into a burning pain, making her double over and drop the vial. She gave a couple of dry heaves, but it was too late. The poison was in her blood now, burning through her veins like liquid fire. She screamed loudly and fell into darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco shivered violently as the scenes of his punishment continued to play themselves over fresh in his mind. He heard a bloodcurdling scream. At first, he thought that this must be his own. Then he realized that it was a woman�s voice and his eyes shot open.
The screaming stopped and there was the quiet, yet unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor outside the common room. Draco stood up and hurried to the portrait to see if he�d heard wrong.
When he looked out though, he knew it wasn�t a mistake. There was a girl lying on the floor in the hallway, her fiery red hair hiding her face from view. She was wearing a sleeveless Muggle shirt and jeans.
Draco crept forward cautiously. He heard something crunch under his foot and looked down to see a pile of shattered glass on the floor. He went up to the girl and nudged her with his foot so that she rolled over and her face was revealed.
�Weasley,� he muttered. Sure enough, the face he was met with was that of Ginny Weasley, the younger sister of one of his enemies. He knelt down and saw that she was still breathing, but just barely.
Just leave her, a voice said in Draco�s mind. It was none of his business what a Gryffindor did with their time. Besides, she had probably just had a little too much butterbeer. He didn�t need to be around when she woke up anyway. It wouldn�t be good for his image.
Ginny groaned loudly, making Draco snap out of his thoughts. He contemplated leaving for a moment when he saw her start to move. He was just about to get up when he realized that she seemed to be having a fit of some sort. Her arms and legs would be limp one minute, then would suddenly start moving in weird jerks, and then they would fall limp again.
Draco reached out to touch her shoulder to see if he could get her to stop and jumped back immediately. She was burning up with fever. He knew now that she couldn�t just be drunk or something like that. It was much more serious than that. And there was no question of what he had to do. Weasley or not, he had to help her.
Draco slipped his arms under Ginny and lifted her up off the floor. He marveled at how light she was. This was lucky, as Draco wasn�t really very strong. He stood up shakily and took off as fast as he could without dropping her. The hospital wing wasn�t far from here, just a few hallways away.
When he arrived at the hospital wing, Draco kicked at the door with his foot. �Madam Pomfrey!� he yelled in a strained voice, hoping she was there.
A muffled, tired voice answered him as the door opened slowly. �What is�� Madam Pomfrey stopped, her mouth dropping in shock. She quickly composed herself again and opened the door up for Draco. �Bring her over here,� she said, pointing to the closest bed.
Draco stumbled in and slowly lowered Ginny onto the bed. He collapsed into a chair next to her bed.
�What happened?� Madam Pomfrey asked as she examined Ginny.
�I don�t know,� Draco said truthfully. �I just found her outside the common room like this.�
Madam Pomfrey gave a loud sigh. �I told Dumbledore this would happen. Every year they make this potion and every year a student ends up here.� She hurried across the room and grabbed something off a table, coming back over. Draco saw that she had a small vile of potion in her hand.
�Hold her down,� she said, setting the potion down and cracking her knuckles. Draco stood up and grabbed Ginny�s wrists. Ginny immediately started thrashing around and kicking at Draco, who flinched, but didn�t let go.
Madam Pomfrey picked the vile back up and seized Ginny�s jaw with the other hand, forcing her mouth open. Then she tipped the contents of the vile into Ginny�s mouth and shut her mouth again. Ginny gulped a couple times and went limp again.
�Okay, you can let go,� Madam Pomfrey breathed, backing up and wiping her forehead. Draco released Ginny�s wrists and sat back down.
�Will she be all right?� he asked, giving Madam Pomfrey a look that he hoped would tell her that he could handle the truth, no matter how bad it was.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head. �It�s too early to tell, I�m afraid,� she said. �You got her here quickly, so that makes it more likely that she�ll survive. What I just gave her wasn�t a cure, just a way to slow her symptoms. I�ll have to see Professor Snape about the actual antidote. It�ll take a couple of days, at least.�
�Is it alright if I stay until then?� Draco asked.
Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before giving a small smile. �Of course you may,� she said. �I�ll inform the Headmaster that you will be out of your classes for a few days.�
�Thank you,� Draco said gratefully. Then he added hesitantly, �Um�can you�um��
�Not tell him why,� Madam Pomfrey said. �Of course dear. I know what it�s like. I was young once, believe it or not. I�ll think of something else to tell him.�
�Thank you,� Draco said again.
�Wake me up if you need anything,� Madam Pomfrey said. She walked across the room and through a doorway, shutting the door behind her.
Draco sighed and looked back at Ginny. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully now, though her breaths were still shallow and far apart. Draco reached up and lightly touched her arm. Her skin was still hot enough to make him pull away immediately. He looked down at his own hands and saw red marks where he had held her wrists down.
Draco looked up at her face, which was now covered in a layer of sweat, courtesy of the fever. He moved his hand up and brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead.
�Please get better,� he murmured, pulling back. He suddenly realized how tired he was. He thought for a moment before finally deciding on what he should do. He collected five chairs from around the room and lined them up in a row. Then, he curled up on the chairs, drawing his knees up to his chest not only out of habit, but also so that he would fit.
Draco shut his eyes. In spite of his tiredness however, it was a long time before he got to sleep.
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