Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter, I just like to play with the world and characters once in awhile.

A/N- Sorry for the long delay too much in life to have time to write, however I am back and as promised I will not abandon this story. If it is not finished by this December there will be one more delay in writing then too as I am pregnant with #4 and due in Dec, but I will always be back. Okay enough babble one with the story.

Chapter 45

A week had passed since Snape was murdered and the trio left on their quest, but life at the castle had continued on just the same as always. Ginny was surprised at how well all the various houses took to the new professor, she even overheard a Gryffindor in the hall one day saying how nice Professor Marque was. Neither Ginny nor Draco had heard from Voldemort or had any word on the hunting trio other than they were still alive. All things considered that was always a perk.

Ginny was heading out of her Monday afternoon potions class but rather than going down towards the Slytherin common room, Ginny turned and headed upwards to the room of requirement. Draco had taken to spending all of his extra time in the small library there, and since he would have had a free period last class she had no doubt in her mind that he would be there. In fact they had spent more nights over the past week in the requirement suite than their own room.

Upon entering Ginny tossed her bag onto the sofa and headed to the small kitchen for a glass of water. "Draco, you here?" She yelled pulling a glass out of the cupboard.

"Yeah in the library." She heard over the water running from the spout. There is a shocker, she thought as she drank the water then headed in to greet him properly. She walked in just as he was closing the book he had on the desk before him. He turned and smiled at her as she made her way over to his lap and sat down.

"How was potions?" He said conversationally.

"Wonderful actually, I have discovered that I actually love the subject when I feel so at home in the classroom. And it is nice to have Charlie around, it has been years since I have seen him this much." Ginny was trying so hard to be upbeat and cheerful, but in reality she was beginning to get really worried. Draco's already pale skin seemed to be getting paler every day, except just under his eyes. There he had dark circles. He laid down with her every night, but she knew that as soon as she dozed off he would get back up and go back into that damned library. One morning he hadn't even managed to come back to bed, she found him at his desk head over a book trying desperately to keep it from falling. She wished he would tell her what it was he was looking for so that she could help him, but every time she asked it was a different project or essay for one of his classes. She didn't buy this excuse for one second. She had even tried sneaking up behind him to see what he was reading about, but he caught her every time.

"Hey are we going down to dinner or eating up here tonight?" Called Pansy from the other room.

"You guys can go if you want but I am going to stay up here." Draco yelled back.

"Mate are you ever going to come out of this room for something other than classes?" Blaise asked sticking his head around the doorway to the library. "Draco, you look like dung. You have got to start sleeping and eating better too. You will be of no use to anyone in this war if you are half dead."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I love you too."

"He's right Draco, you are really starting to worry everyone. Do I need to write to your mum?" Ginny asked standing up and grabbing his hand to drag him down to the Great Hall.

"Okay, okay, I will go down for tonight but I am coming back up here after I have work I need to get done." And with that Draco reluctantly got up from the chair and the four friends went down to their first meal in the Great Hall in a week.

"Are you sure this was a good idea? You said I look like dung and now everyone in here is staring at me," Draco said sitting in his usual spot at the Slytherin table.

"Well actually I think they would all be more surprised if you didn't look horrible. After all your father is dead, and nearly every one here knows you were close with Snape too. They will all just think you are still in mourning." Ginny replied piling food onto her dish.

The rest of the meal went by without event, a few students came by to offer their condolences to Draco but other than that everyone left the small group alone. As they were standing up and getting ready to leave, Ginny felt her pocket warm. The trio was gone, Snape was gone, so she looked at the head table and sure enough Dumbledore gave a slight nod. She turned back to Draco, Pansy and Blaise who were also looking to the Headmaster.

"It was Dumbledore, we should head up." As they walked out they noticed Professor Marque also packing up his stuff and excusing himself. Once they were back in their meeting spot it took only moments for Charlie to join them instantly changing into himself as he shut the door.

"I am guessing Dumbledore gave you one of the muggle coins too?" Draco asked as they all sat down and got comfortable.

"Yeah, he had Hermione make up a few extras before she left, Neville and Luna have them too they should be here any minute." Charlie gave Ginny's head a pat as he made his way over to large over stuffed chair. They didn't have long to wait before Professor Dumbledore strode into the room whistling a unfamiliar tune, Neville and Luna in tow.

"I have received word from Harry, Ron and Hermione. They are all alive and well, so set your minds at ease. They have found Hufflepuff's Cup, they will be destroying it tonight as soon as they get back to their campsite." Ginny could feel Draco tense beside her at Dumbledore's words.

"They said they should be able to get to the tiara by the day after next. Things are progressing smoothly all we can do now is wait for them to finish and return to the castle. The order is busy working on a plan of attack for once all of the Horcruxes have been destroyed, but if any of you come up with any ideas please feel free to bring them to me for consideration. That is all for now, but I do need to have a word with Mr. Malfoy in private for a moment." Ginny gave Draco's knee a pat before he stood to follow Dumbledore. Hopefully the Headmaster would talk with him about taking better care of himself and getting his strength back up.

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Draco somberly followed Dumbledore into the library, placing silencing spells as he closed the door.

"I have a potion for you to give Ginny tonight for the effects she gets from a Horcrux being destroyed. You must get it into her before 9 o'clock. Unfortunately she will still have the same reaction as she did before with the locket, but her mind will sleep through it and not remember when she wakes. I know it is not much but at least it will keep her from becoming suspicious." Draco took the small vile of orange potion and slipped it in his pocket.

"Simply mix it with some pumpkin juice and she will never notice it is there it has no taste or smell just the color. I am guessing from your appearance that you have been looking for a way to rescue her and Harry from what must come in the end."

Draco knew it wasn't really a question but felt compelled to answer all the same. "Yes, I have spent every waking minute I can in here but have yet to turn up anything that might work." He collapsed in his chair at the desk out of exhaustion and frustration. "There has to be a way to keep them alive. And if there is I will find it somehow, I just hope I can find it in time."

"I have faith that we will find it, Draco. Just be sure to try and take care of yourself in between too. Your friends are all getting very worried about you and you will be of no use to Ginny if you kill yourself trying to find the answer." Draco simply nodded, then the Headmaster turned and left the room his robes gliding silently behind him. He heard the older man reassure his friends, that Draco would be okay as long as he rests once in awhile, before he left.

Draco sat for a awhile with his head in his hands before getting up and returning to the other room. Blaise, Pansy and Charlie were all gone and Draco looked at the clock, it was 8:30.

"Charlie had some papers to grade, Luna and Neville stayed for a minute but they had homework to get back to and Pansy and Blaise said they were worn out just from looking at you. You really should get some rest tonight Draco." Ginny said snuggling under a blanket on the sofa with her Transfiguration book open before her. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she looked up at him.

"I know and I will. Why don't I get you some Pumpkin Juice and we can just sit and finish our reading assignments together then go to bed?" Ginny agreed, so Draco headed to the kitchen area to pour her glass. He felt terrible spiking her drink like this, but he knew it was for her own good. When he was sure she wasn't watching he took the vile from pocket, uncorked it and let the liquid slip into her glass. He gave it a few swirls to mix the potion in then took it over and handed it to her with a heavy feeling in his heart.

After thanking him she took a few sips, then looked at the glass oddly. Draco almost forgot to breath for a second. "This must be a really fresh batch, it tastes much better than usual." And with that she finished the whole thing before setting the glass on the table beside the sofa. Dumbledore must have put something in the potion that would make her want more so she would drink the whole dose at once, the man really was brilliant. Draco picked up his History of Magic book and sat beside her to begin his reading for class the next morning. Five minutes later Ginny was curled up close to him sound asleep, all he could do now was wait for the others to destroy the cup and make sure that Ginny made it through the ordeal without incident.

At 9:21 Draco felt her whole body tense up beside him, just seconds before she began to scream and thrash around. All he could do was hold her so she did not hurt herself. He pulled her body in tight to him and held on with all his might. He wasn't sure how long the episode lasted by the time she stopped convulsing his vision was too blurred with tears to see the clock. Draco lay there holding her until his own sobs slowly died down and he fell asleep.

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Ginny awoke with a start, the grandfather clock was chiming, she counted five dings. Wiping the sleep from her eyes she shifted her position a bit and noticed that she and Draco had both fallen asleep on the couch the night before. Her body ached all over, she wasn't sure if it was just from sleeping on the sofa all night or from the death grip that Draco seemed to have on her. She was so happy to see Draco actually sleeping that she thought for a moment before she decided that her body really did need to move. Slowly and gently so as not to wake him, Ginny pried herself from Draco's embrace. He stirred for second then turned and was deep in sleep again. After a long stretch, drink of water and trip to the bathroom she found herself in the library heading for Draco's desk.

There was a stack of books upon it which she immediately sat down and began to look through. These were all books on very Dark Magic, things you couldn't even find in the restricted section of the school library. Ginny did find that there were certain sections of each book that looked much more worn than others, they all pertained to the soul. Some were about just the soul in and of itself, some were on how the soul is sucked out by dementors, others went into detail on the making of a Horcrux, and some were about mending souls. Ginny wasn't sure what to make of it, but with the way Draco had been pouring over these books lately she was almost certain that the worn sections on souls is exactly what he had been studying. Surely he wasn't considering making a Horcrux himself, he knew too much about what it did to a person and would never do such a thing. But they already knew of Voldemort's various ones and how to destroy them so what was it Draco was looking for?

Ginny began reading various texts throughout the books and found herself so immersed in her reading that she didn't hear Draco come into the room.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Draco's groggy voice right behind her made her jump so bad that the book she had been holding toppled onto the floor. Once her heart began to slow down she bent over to pick up the book.

"Maybe because you needed to sleep." She looked up at the clock surprised to find that it was already 7:30.

"Yeah I guess I did. So find anything interesting in the books?" Ginny could hear the strain in his voice as he tried to sound as casual as possible.

"Yeah actually I did. Why are you doing so much research on souls?"

"I am just trying to get a better understanding of this whole situation and maybe if I understand it more it might help." Ginny didn't buy this for one second, if that were the case he wouldn't be putting his health on the line for the sake of merely understanding something he already understood much better than most of the wizarding world. However she also knew that to push him any further on the subject may start a fight or make him close himself off completely, so she decided to let it drop, for the time being.

"Oh I see." Was all she said. The look on Draco's face told her that he was surprised she let it go just like that, but she didn't press the issue. "We should go to our room and get dressed if we are going to have breakfast before the morning classes."

The rest of Tuesday passed by, with little time for thought. Ginny had a full class schedule and she even managed to get Draco to attend every meal in the Great Hall. By that night what little color he had had returned to his face and the dark circles under his eyes were lightening up a bit from his full night of sleep. He didn't even ask to go to the room of requirement after dinner. Instead they went to their bedroom to do homework with Pansy and Blaise, just like they used to. Ginny was pretty sure Draco was trying to keep her mind off of the books she had come across that morning, but she didn't really care he was looking better and acting more like himself and that was all that mattered to her.

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As soon as Pansy and Blaise left for the night, Draco and Ginny changed for bed and climbed into the comfort of their own bed for the first time in many nights. Draco figured that after sleeping on the couch last night they could both use a night in a good bed. For some time they just lay their next to each other Draco running his thumb up and down Ginny's forearm. Then Draco suddenly had an idea.