Not What They Were- a Drinny fanfiction

Chapter 12

Standing in the hallway outside of Draco's door with one fist raised, poised to knock, Ginny found herself frozen in place.

What was she doing? This wasn't like her at all!

But before she could lower her arm and retreat to her guest suite, the grand door flew open, revealing a bare-chested Draco wearing only a pair of tattered green and black sweats emblazoned with the Slytherin emblem.

"Were you planning on knocking? Or were you going to make the hall your permanent residence?" A sneer crossed over Draco's face; one with which Ginny was beginning to develop a love-hate relationship.

"Ugh, can you try not to be a complete idiot for two seconds?" Ginny crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Fine, what do you require Ginerva?" Draco studied Ginny, only then did he notice her choice of bed attire. He was sure when he left her previously she was grabbing a pair of his old sweats from the wardrobe, had she changed for him?

"You said I could bother you if I needed anything?"

"Yes, very good, you do have a short-term memory after all." Draco teased Ginny.

"Forget it! I'll find my way!" Ginny turned and stomped down the hallway as fast as she could without running. His arrogance and complete lack of anything resembling a human emotion had sent Ginny over the edge. He was impossible!

Draco called for Ginny to wait. However, she chose to ignore him and continued her march down the long corridor in search of what she hadn't quite figured out yet. Making a left turn at the end of the hall, Ginny found herself in a portion of the Manor she had not seen earlier. Unlike Draco's wing, this part did not exude warmth and comfort; the glaring void of anything living created an atmosphere that felt as if all the happiness had gone from the world. The walls, although covered in the same paint as the rest of the home, somehow felt dismal and colder. The plush rug that cushioned her feet before was now hard and unwelcoming, but what frightened her the most was the uneasy spark of recognition that was now growing inside of her. Ginny turned on the spot hoping to head back towards the more welcoming wing of the home, only to find she had wandered further than she previously thought and determined she was lost.

"Crap!" Ginny cursed herself. The darkness that encompassed the hall felt as though it were drowning her, panic began to set in, and Ginny steeled herself to keep going and find her way back. She reached into the pocket of her silk robe for her wand, only to come up empty remembering she had left it in her room. The further she wandered, the darker the halls seemed, growing in their depths she began to feel along the walls just to keep herself from running into anything.

"DRACO!" she called out in desperation, she knew he would relish finding her there, scared and childlike, Ginny would never live it down, but something in this home was driving her into a fit of panic, and she needed to vacate the hall as quick as possible. "DRACO! PLEASE! ANYONE! DRACO!"

Ginny began running as fast as she could along the corridors, praying she found her way out of the maze-like halls that made up Malfoy Manor. Faster and faster she ran until an upturned portion of a rug caught her toe and launched her forward into the bottom of yet another set of stairs. Shifting herself off her face, Ginny gazed up the staircase when she noticed a mass of dark hallway that seemed to move freely from the surrounding darkness. Growing ever slightly larger Ginny knew she was it's target.

"HELP! DRACO!" Ginny screamed, unarmed and defenseless, she would have to rely on Muggle Dueling, something she had not done since she was a child fighting her brothers in the back garden. She tried with all of her might to push herself up off the floor and flee, but the closer the mass came, the weaker she seemed to grow. She was slowly slipping away, darker and darker the hall grew around her, "please...someone help me...."

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I know it's a short chapter, but I have more coming!