Who: Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom Where: The Burrow When: May 20th, 1998, morning (Flashback) What: Neville talks to Ginny about Draco Status: Completed
Neville walked down the hallways towards the old Gryffindor dorms, now uninhabited thanks to the massive damage that they’d sustained. The talk with Draco was still going around his head as well as the owl he’d sent to Ginny stating that he wanted to talk to her.
He knew that one day she’d find out and more than likely from her brother and it wasn’t fair to her. Neville had grown close to the redhead over the years and he’d seen how worried she’d been over the past eight months with her brother out there being hunted like an animal. He’d felt guilty every time he’d heard the conversations damning Malfoy but he couldn’t say anything. It would have put the other boy in danger and he couldn’t have that. Neville just hoped that Ginny would understand and that she wouldn’t cast anything too irreversible.
He knew that he was putting off going to the apparition point but that didn’t exactly help him. He really wasn’t looking forward to this conversation or the hexes that would probably come with it. He sighed heavily and made his way towards the temporary apparition point. A few minutes later, Neville found himself on the road towards the Burrow. He could see the slightly haphazard house just at the top of the next hill. He was hoping that Ginny was waiting for him. He didn’t particularly want to have this conversation with the entire Weasley clan.
Ginny paced anxiously in her room stopping only to glance out the window every few minutes. Neville's owl had said he would be arriving by 11 and it was 5 to the hour. She stopped for what felt like the hundredth time and checked outside and this time, just before she could stomp her foot impatiently she caught sight of her friend walking nervously towards the Burrow. She turned and ran out of her room and out the front door.
Neville was picking nervously at a loose piece of skin as he approached the house. He looked up just in time to see Ginny fling open the door and head towards him. Too late now to turn back. Neville waved at her but he had to admit that it was slightly half-hearted. He'd been practicing what to say all the way up the road and he still had no idea what to say. He sighed. It wasn't like he could just blurt it out and say something like "Hi Gin, remember that guy who caused you to be possessed by a copy of the Dark Lord, well his son saved your life a couple of times so could you be nicer to him?" Or could he? No! He couldn't do that. He sighed again. Why couldn't he have asked Susan to do this? She was good a dealing with girls. Course, being one herself kinda helped on that score. Right. Only one thing for it. Small talk followed by revelations and then ducking!
"Hey Gin." He forced a smile as she came closer
"Neville" she said as she rushed towards him. "What's wrong? Is Harry hurt? Did something happen to Ron? Are you okay?"
Neville's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of what meaning she'd read into it and immediately stumbled over the words he had been preparing. "No... No... Nothing like that. I just... I needed to tell you something." He blushed.
Ginny felt her heart rate slow down as her worry subsided. No one was hurt. Thank Goodness but...
"Bloody hell Neville" Ginny shouted as she punched him in the arm hard. "How could you do that to me? I've been going out of my mind since I received your owl. I thought... Merlin, I don't know what I thought but it wasn't happy thoughts. Whatever you have to tell me better be good."
Neville winced from the punch and moved discretely back out of reach. "Merlin, Gin. I just... I just had to tell you something before you found out about it from Ron or someone else and came after me for not telling you." Neville grinned widely. "But seeing as you've already deadened my arm..."
He looked around, a little nervously. "Is there anywhere we can go that isn't the middle of the road? I don't particularly want to have this conversation where it can be overheard."
The past year had made him slightly paranoid about people listening into his conversations and it was hard to shake the feeling.
"Umm, okay. Follow me" Ginny said as she turned to lead him inside the house. The relief she had felt when Neville had told her everyone was okay was fast being replaced with a nervous fear.
She wondered for a moment where they should go since Neville seemed to want privacy and then decided since it was just Neville, it was okay to bend the 'no boys in her room' rule.
She walked up the stairs to her bedroom and waited until Neville had followed her inside before she closed the door and turned to look at him expectantly.
"So why are you here Nev?"
Neville stood stock still as she closed the door, momentarily overcome with the knowledge that he was in Ginny Weasley's bedroom with the door closed. If Ron found out about this, he was dead. Merlin, if Susan found out about this... It wouldn't be pleasant. His cheeks started to glow red as he carefully looked at the ceiling.
"Um... Well... You see... I had to tell you something about someone and I asked him if I could and I already kinda told Ron and it didn't seem fair to keep you out of the loop because it technically applies to you as well and well you should know..." Neville stopped talking and took a much needed breath. "So... Um… Yeah... Here I am. To tell you. About him. Yes."
"Him?" Ginny questioned, confusion etched on her face clearly. "Who him? And what does Ron have to do with anything? Is it Harry? Is he keeping something from me? Oh God, he has someone doesn't he? You found out and told Ron. And now you've come to tell me. Who is it? I'm going to kill her and that lying chosen piece of shit"
Ginny was almost shouting at the end of her tirade.
Neville backed away from the girl, trying not to duck behind something in an obvious way. "It's not... No... It's Draco..." Neville managed to get the words out before covering his face with his hands.
Ginny fell silent for a moment before she began to speak in a strained voice.
"Are you telling me that Harry's someone is Malfoy? That's not funny Neville"
"No. No." Neville back-pedalled verbally as well as physically, holding his hands up in a conciliatory way. "No... That's not what I meant. It's… It's about Malfoy!"
He could throw smart comments back at You-know... Voldemort but a red-haired girl who was about four inches shorted than him... Not a chance! Maybe this hadn't been the best idea in the world. Maybe he could at least get some sympathy from Susan later when he came back half dead? Although knowing his luck, she'd probably take Ginny's side and finish him off.
Ginny crossed her arms in an effort to restrain herself. It wouldn't do to hex Neville just yet.
"What about Malfoy? And why have you come all the way here to tell me about that foul git? And why all the secrecy?" she asked impatiently.
Surely Neville was joking. He couldn't have put her through all this worry (and risk bodily harm) just to tell her something about the ferret now would he? He couldn't possibly be that stupid.
Neville took a second to marvel at how everybody he'd ever talked to always considered the blond boy some kind of git. Draco seriously needed to hire a new PR Wizard. Neville paused for another second to wonder if somehow he'd been suckered into the job. After all, he was risking life and limb to tell Ginny about him. He sighed. It didn't matter either way. He'd said he'd talk to Ginny and that was just what he was going to do. Even if it meant a black eye or a semi-permanent limp. Wasn't like he hadn't had them before. Neville pulled himself up and put down his hands. Damnit, he'd grown a backbone over the past couple of years. He should be using it. Even when he was scared rigid. Especially when he was scared rigid.
"Right. Well. You have to promise to hear me out first. No shouting, screaming or throwing punches - or anything else - until I'm done, okay?" He looked Ginny in the eye, trying to make himself feel as confident as he needed to be. Ginny was about to argue when she saw the look in Neville's eyes and fell silent. It wouldn't hurt to hear what the boy had to say.
"Fine. I promise. No shouting, screaming, throwing punches or anything else... until you're done"
Well, it was at least a compromise. "Right. So. Well. You see." There were only so many things he could use to start this and he was rapidly running out of pointless opening volleys. "Okay. So the morning after the war, when we were all in the Great Hall, there was a bit of a scuffle and the Aurors wanted to arrest Malfoy, eh, Draco that is, but Lucius as well but I kinda stepped in to save Draco because he didn't really do anything wrong. He got caught up in the whole thing thanks to his family and couldn't get out of it. Everyone assumed he was bad, and well, he had been a large arse for the past six years so when he finally coped on, it was a bit hard to change public opinion. But after the Carrows and Snape took over Hogwarts, well, he had it as hard as anyone else. His parents had fallen from favour and he was the ideal punching bag." Neville paused. "Everyone wanted to take it out on him. He was the poster child for every Junior Death Eater out there. But well... It wasn't true anymore. He'd go back to the dorms and get beaten up. Then walking around the halls, our lot would find him alone and gang up on him. And I couldn't let that happen. Not even to Malfoy."
"See, I felt that if we dropped to their level that we would be every bit as bad as they were." Neville's hand rose to the scar on his cheek, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to what he was doing. "I caught some of the lads kicking the snot outta him one day and pulled them off. Never expected anything to come of it. But a couple of days later, Malfoy bumped into me and I found a note in my pocket telling me that the Carrows were about to drag off one of the Ravenclaws. So we got there first. Nothing happened again for ages and I didn't just want to go up to Draco and say thanks. That would have gotten him killed."
Neville looked up at Ginny. "But it kept on. Every couple of days there'd be a note. And we'd move. I'll admit that I was wondering when he'd turn and sell us to the Carrows but he never did. Then one day, last November. It was your name on the note. They knew you were helping us and they'd planned another capture. Everything was in place to get in and steal you out from under their noses but for some reason they decided to go early." Neville paused for a second. "Malfoy... Draco was there and he set up a distraction, some hex or other on a suit of armour. Didn't hang around long but it was long enough for us to pull you out and get you back to the Room."
Neville turned and walked over to the window, looking out. "Anyway... I thought you should know. I told Ron that Draco helped us while he was with Harry. Don't think it's sitting too well with him but he needed to know that Malfoy helped us out, helped you out when he could. We lost enough people during the war and there are more than enough grudges still out there. But I think we all need to bury the one against Malfoy."
Neville turned back and looked at Ginny. "If you need to hit me now... Just please not below the belt and no hexes that I don't know the counter of? Please?"
When Neville finally started speaking, Ginny wasn’t sure what she expected to hear but it sure as hell wasn’t this. Her whole world had been turned upside down in a matter of moments. To know that she owed her continued existence to a person she despised was almost beyond her comprehension.
“Malfoy… he saved me, but why? He hates me, us… Blood traitors” she stuttered trying to make sense of what had happened.
Feeling overwhelmed, Ginny sank down onto her bed. Her thoughts were tumultuous. Suddenly she shot back to her feet.
“Did you say that Ron knew? And Harry as well?” her voice was tinted with barely concealed fury.
“All of you knew and you didn’t tell me. How dare you keep this from me? Do you know when the Aurors came to arrest Malfoy and his family I was happy? I thought he deserved. They all deserved it. It’s because of them I was possessed by You-know, I mean V-Voldemort. I heard you defending him that morning and I was angry with you, down right furious that you would stand up for a person who has tried his best to make our lives miserable these last few years. And now you’re telling me I have no right to feel this way because he risked his life to save mine?”
"No... Harry doesn't know. Just... I was afraid that Ron was going to do something that land him in Azkaban too. I had to." Neville was almost pleading with Ginny as he spoke. "I kept it from you. Yes. I kept it from everyone. I was the only one that knew. I was the only one who knew what he was doing. So... Yes. You had every right to feel that way. More than half the people in that room were on the verge of cheering when the Aurors came. And 8 months ago I would have been cheering with them. But I had to step in Ginny. I had to. It was the right thing to do."
Neville's eyes were a little wet. He'd never been good with this whole having people mad at him thing.
"I'm not saying to forgive him. I'm not saying that you have to be best friends with him. I don't even know why he decided to change sides. I just know he did and I'm very happy that he did. Without the notes, how many more would we have lost? How many more people would have been tortured and left scarred?" Neville stopped and moderated his tone of voice. Shouting wouldn't do anything but cause already frayed tempers to flare.
"Look. I didn't tell you about this so fine. Blame me. But now it's all over and people deserve to know that he's not like his father - well not totally anyway. What you do about it is up to you, Gin. Just... You needed to know about it." Neville sighed.
Ginny sighed heavily and turned away from Neville. She wanted to rage at him some more, but the sight of his damp eyes pulled at her heart strings. It was Neville and no matter how much she wanted to, she knew she couldn't blame him for anything that happened.
"I don't blame you Nev, I just don't know what to think. I mean this is Malfoy. Last time I checked he despised my whole family. To know I owe him my life, it's almost unfathomable"
Ginny closed her eyes and tried to picture what Mal- No, what Draco had had to endure the last year. To save her life and the lives of so many others he’d risked his own and suffered through innumerable beatings. She remembered the few times she had seen him at school, always covered in bruises, always trying to help she now realised.
“Nev I need to talk to Mal- D-Draco”
Neville ran a hand through his hair. "Right. Um... Well... I suppose I could ask him for you. Can't guarantee he's going to do anything. You might be better owling him. But if you want I'll try." Neville's mind was already trying to figure out what to say to Malfoy to get him to meet with Ginny.