Not What They Were- a Drinny fanfiction

Chapter 16

It was nearly six in the evening when Ginny awoke again, her conversations with Yela had worn her down and her body had finally given in to rest. Her eyes fluttered open to find Draco lounging on the small couch that sat next to the bed. Closing her eyes, leaving just a sliver of a gap to see through, she watched him. One arm was propped on his knee, the other rested behind his head, his hand casually grazing his hair every few moments. Bare feet, blue jeans, and an old t-shirt; this was Draco completely himself. Ginny watched him for a while, soaking up every unabashed movement. Studying the way he wiggled his toes or pulled lightly on his hair, the way he huffed air at a particularly dramatic point of the story, or how he dropped his hand from his knee and stared intently towards the ceiling, thinking over something he had read. He fascinated her.

"You know starring isn't polite Weasel" Draco surprised Ginny, causing her to yelp slightly and pull the blanket above her head.

"Sorry," she squealed, "I'm just tired and didn't want to interrupt."

"It's fine" he laid down his book and turned to face her, "I can only imagine how you feel." he rose from his seat and poured ginny a cup of tea. "I want to apologize for last night. I should have warned you about the east wing, I can't tell you how truly sorry I am."

"It's fine," Ginny sipped her tea, ginger, "Really, no harm no foul" Draco nodded and returned to the couch.

"None the less, my sincerest apologies."

"Really Draco, I am fine, I just want to know what the bloody hell happened. What is in....there?"

"It's difficult to explain" he had used her words from the night before, "As I am sure you know that all magic leaves traces. Some are physical, tangible, others are....emotional, no that's not the right word....they're....mental, or psychological I guess you would say. Well, those traces are stronger when they come from dark magic or dark wizards." He didn't have to say Voldemort for her to know that is who he meant "and due to the magnitude of the events that took place here....the traces are much larger, more noticeable" he was no longer talking to Ginny, but working something out in his own mind, trying to make sense of the past that had taken place as much as explain it to her, "that amount of harm and hurt doesn't just go away. It lingers. It festers. It overcomes. The elves have tried to vanish it. Mother's tried to counteract it. I've tried every spell, anti-curse and hex I know, but nothing seems to rid it. It just stays. It's not even an it, it's.....just...just...despair. Permanent, and devastating despair."

Draco fell silent, staring off into the room, completely forgetting Ginny's presence.

"Then why stay?" her words bringing him back to the present.

"This is my home. It's the only home I've ever known, and with all the horrible things that took place, the horrible things I had to do, it's still my home. It's one of the few places I've ever really been happy. So, I stay, I avoid the east wing and I stay." Draco rose from the couch again and crossed to the large wardrobe in the corner, pulling out Ginny's clothes from the day before, folded and laundered. "Yela took the liberty, I hope you don't mind. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, I'll be leaving this morning and not returning for a few days, so feel free to use my room as your own. The bathroom is through there, and Yela would be happy to help you with anything else."

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked she couldn't care less about a shower or her clothes.

"I have some business to attended to out of the country, boring stuff really"

"Like what?"

"Like the kind of business I cannot speak to you about" he eyed her from his spot across the room.