With the Sound of Settling Leaves
Potter47
Th e son of sorrow's staring down forever with an aching view...
Disenchanted, "Let's go down together, with the fatal wound."
– Jon Foreman
Harry fell to the ground, and Ginny fell atop him. She
smiled, burrowed her head against his chest and breathed.
"You smell so good," she said.
"I do?"
"Mmhmm," said Ginny. She lifted her head to face him. "Amazing."
He blinked. "Have I always smelt so amazing?"
"I dunno," said Ginny. "I think you've smelt particularly
amazing lately, though."
"Well, I haven't done anything different..."
"Yes, you have," she said, grinning. She rolled over,
pulling Harry so he was above her. "You've rolled around in leaves."
Another grin, and she reached up to kiss him.
–|–
The leaves fell to the ground, and Malfoy thought they
must've changed color on the way down. All the ones left in the trees were
still green and vibrant, but the grass was littered with brown. It was odd to
look at.
He walked across the grounds, wondering where he was going.
It was one of those coldish autumn days that he hated. It wasn't summer
anymore, but winter was still so far away. Malfoy loved the winter, and he
liked the summer just fine. But the fall was just an in-between.
"So where are you going?"
Malfoy looked up at the sound of the voice, turned round and
saw Pansy Parkinson standing behind him.
"Just a walk."
"Why didn't you invite me along?" Pansy said, sounding
irritated. Her tone swiftly swerved, however: "It would have been so... romantic...."
She clasped him round the chest like he was some
sort of shiny-haired pillow, and whispered in his ear:
"Don't you just love the fall? It's so beautiful, isn't it?"
"Sure," said Malfoy. He was bored now–he liked walking
by himself, but with company he could see the futility of it and couldn't see
the point.
He wished she would leave so he could see it again.
Instead, she kissed his cheek. "I always thought the fall
was the most romantic time of the year, in fact."
"Oh, yeah, of course it is," said Malfoy. He tried to sound
more interested than he was, because he knew one day he would be interested so he didn't want to upset her...
Pansy eased her grip on his chest and grabbed hold of his hand,
dragging him to the nearest tree. It was a great willow, whose
still-green leaves ate them up quickly as she proceeded to the trunk in the
center–and there, she pressed herself up against the bark and pulled
Malfoy into a kiss.
He kissed her just like he always kissed her–and just
like he always kissed the other girls she didn't know about–but this time
he was distinctly aware of his surroundings, rather than the girl whose air he
was sharing. Just going through the motions.
When Pansy laid him down on the grass and began to kiss him
deeply, kiss his neck, press herself against him, he could not remove his mind
from the annoying leaves beneath his back. Why couldn't it be summer, so that
the grass would be clear? Or why couldn't it be winter, so that they would be
warm inside the castle, a flame in an icebox?
Finally, Pansy seemed to get tired of kissing him and simply
laid down on top of him. He instinctively wrapped his arms round her as she
smiled at him.
"I love you, Draco."
Malfoy very nearly said, "I love you too," just to satisfy
her, but instead he squeezed her in his arms–she took it as a reply, and
settled into a more comfortable position. He let out a breath and wondered if
she'd gained weight.
He didn't feel like lying today. What was the use?
–|–
Harry lay on the ground, and Ginny lay atop him, with her
head on his chest and the rest of her spread out to the side.
"I could lay like this forever," Ginny said.
"Mmm," Harry agreed, smiling at the cloudy ceiling above
them and feeling like he wasn't real, like he was in a love story because
surely nothing could feel this amazing. He let his eyes close, and he was, for
a brilliant moment or two, emerged in a perfect peace.
A whisper in the wind and then a scream–Ginny leaped
up from his chest and Harry's eyes opened so fast that he had to close them
again before they could stay open.
"Oh my God, oh my God–"
"Oooh, LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" cried a loud, malicious voice
that Harry knew at once was Malfoy's, even without seeing the malicious face
attached. A crowd was starting to gather. "Potter and Weasley've been getting
to know each other–"
Harry blinked, looked around, and felt a cold wind on his
skin–his skin? He looked down and saw his robes were nowhere to be seen,
and his shirt was gone with them. And he felt skin and fabric burrowing against
his back as well–it was Ginny.
Harry's eyes widened as suddenly the odd sensations came
together–Malfoy had stolen their robes and left Ginny in just her skirt
and her–her–
"MALFOY!"
The crowd was laughing–Harry was dizzy. He should do
something, there was a charm that covered things up, what on earth was it...?
Blood was rushing to his face and he could not think clearly–all he could
think of was how much he wanted to strangle Malfoy–
Before any of his thoughts reorganized themselves, he heard
a shout from beside him and saw a flash and suddenly there was a thick, yet
somehow transparent black bubble around the two of them.
"I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him–"
muttered Ginny as she grabbed hold of Harry's hand and began to ran. Her bubble
ran along with them, shielding them from the gazes and jeers of those outside.
Ginny ran and ran and ran and Harry realized he didn't know where she was
going.
After what seemed like forever they found themselves in a
small courtyard far, far away from where the crowd had gathered, and Ginny
whirled round and–arms wrapped around herself–threw her head
against Harry's chest and began to sob.
Still in shock, Harry wrapped his arm around her and patted
her back–awkward and intensely aware that his skin was touching her skin,
rather than a sweater or a robe, and that there was only a bit of clothing on
her top half at all.
And there was none on his, he remembered, suddenly feeling a
very cold autumn wind blowing against his back from the courtyard's opening.
"I cannot believe
him," spat Ginny, her voice ripe with anger yet stale with tears. "How dare
he–that went so incredibly beyond any stupid thing he's ever, ever
done–"
"I know," said Harry. "I'm going to strangle him–"
"Not if I get him first..." A strange, fierce growl emerged
from Ginny's throat. "You have no idea
how much I want to hurt him right now..."
"I know–"
"No, you don't," said Ginny. "You couldn't."
Harry felt a strange tickly feeling against his skin and
realized after a minute that it was Ginny's eyelashes.
She bent her head up off his chest, looked him in the face,
and he watched her face turn suddenly redder than he'd ever seen it before. Out
of the moment of panic, she had realized that she should be deathly embarrassed
around Harry too.
She turned around in a flash and faced away from him, arms
tighter than ever around her chest.
"It's cold out here," she said, very high-pitched. "Do you
know any clothes-conjuring charms? I don't really feel like walking through the
Entrance Hall in a bubble..."
–|–
Nothing could keep the smirk off of Malfoy's face all
afternoon–he felt better than he had in ages, more alive than he had all
year. He was the hero of Slytherin House again.
It felt so savagely good to get at the Perfect Couple,
Potter and the Weaslette. Their robes and shirts were hung as trophies above
the fire in the Slytherin Common Room. He'd considered going for broke and
stealing all their clothing but he figured he'd be more likely to get expelled
that way, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to reap the benefits of
his success.
Malfoy was laying with his legs up on one of the velvety
couches by the fire with his head on Pansy's lap–she was stroking his
hair affectionately and for once he was enjoying it completely. He was beginning
to consider sneaking her up to his dorm, in a few minutes, but a gruff voice
cut into his thoughts suddenly:
"Malfoy," said Professor Snape, standing above him. Malfoy
opened his eyes in a flash.
"Professor?"
"Sit up, Malfoy." He did so, and the teacher continued:
"Word has reached my ears of this afternoon's incident on
the grounds," said the professor. "The Gryffindors are claiming that it was
your doing."
"I had nothing to do with it, I just stumbled on them,
honest," said Malfoy in a rehearsed tone.
Snape quirked an eyebrow at the robes hanging above the
mantelpiece, but didn't comment on them.
"It has also reached
my ears," continued Snape, "that Potter is planning to challenge you to a duel,
tomorrow afternoon." He smirked. "I am required by the headmaster to warn you
that you are in no way to agree
to taking part in this duel, as it is a direct violation of school rules."
"Of course I won't."
"However," said Snape, "I hear that your marks have not been
up to snuff this year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. If you would like a bit
of a... shall we say... extracurricular lesson
on dueling practices this evening, I would be willing to oblige."
Malfoy grinned. "That sounds excellent."
–|–
"You can't duel him,
Harry, you just can't..."
Hermione had just heard of the proposed duel–from Dean
Thomas, in the library, who had heard of it from Parvati, who had heard of it
from Neville, who had heard of it from Ron, who had heard of it from
Harry–and rushed to the Gryffindor common room as fast as she could in an
attempt to talk him out of it.
"Think of the trouble it'll get you in. Dumbledore doesn't want you dueling, why on earth are you going
to go against his wishes...?"
"It's just gone too far, Hermione. This wasn't Malfoy
telling McGonagall you, Ron, and me were out after hours with Hagrid. This
wasn't him making fun of me on the train. This wasn't him trying to curse me in
Potions Class. This was him going way, way, way too far..."
"I know... but you can't just duel him... there has to be another way..."
"Well, I'm all ears."
Hermione pursed her lips, wishing that some idea would
strike her but doubting very much that it would.
–|–
It was raining the next morning, that heavy, autumn rain
that beat upon the ground harder than anything. The wind was blowing, hard and
harsh, and the trees were dancing to its song.
Words buzzed through the halls of the castle all through the
morning: It's at noon, the duel's at noon. Everyone
had been making bets on who'd win, or just arguing about it for free.
Ginny left Great Hall at breakfast with a knot of anxiety in
her chest. She certainly hadn't protested the notion of a duel–and in
fact had wanted very much to duel the ferret herself–but now that the
hour was approaching, she couldn't help her thoughts from straying into her
fears.
What if Harry lost? What if Malfoy did some dark spell that
really, really hurt him?
She didn't know if she could take that... she'd likely send an
Unforgivable Malfoy's way without even thinking of it.
How on earth was Malfoy still at Hogwarts, anyway? After all
the trouble he'd caused, year after year, how was it that he'd never been
expelled?
That was another fear of Ginny's... everyone, everyone knew that it was Harry who had suggested the duel,
and duels were forbidden on school grounds. What if Harry was expelled?
Ginny was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly
walked straight into Pansy Parkinson.
"Sorry," Ginny mumbled, and Parkinson–instead of a
customarily-Slytherin remark, said, "It's OK."
Ginny blinked.
"Weas–Ginny,"
said Pansy then, and there was an odd, distressed sound in her voice, and look
upon her face, "I need to ask you something."
–|–
It was noon. The rain had let up in its berating of the
ground, which only made the wind seem all the more windy. The crowd was quickly
gathering in a circle again on the grounds just where they had gathered the day
before, but there were far more of them this time.
Harry and Malfoy stood opposite each other with what seemed
to be their entire house gathered around. Ginny was just behind Harry, and
Pansy behind Draco. Both were wondering if they should say something to prompt
the start of the duel, and both figured they would wait just a little while
longer.
Finally, Harry felt that they might as well get it over
with. He took a few steps forward, away from the crowd and towards the center
of the circle. Malfoy took this as his cue and walked forward as well. They
raised their wands.
–|–
"What?" asked Ginny.
"We need to stop the duel," said Pansy. "I'm dreadfully
scared for Draco... he'd hate me for saying this, but I don't know if he could
hold his own against Potter. He's faced
the Dark Lord, after all..."
Ginny quirked an eyebrow–she found it hard to believe
that Pansy Parkinson doubted Malfoy's ability one bit. It just seemed wrong...
She was going to voice such a doubt, but Pansy continued:
"And if he was to hold his own..." and
here she hesitated, but then ploughed on determinedly, "he would have to use
Dark magic. Professor Snape gave him a dueling lesson last night, and I can
only imagine what came up... If he uses Dark magic, he's bound to be expelled..."
Pansy's gaze, which had been rather unfocused, settled upon
Ginny once again.
"And just think what he'd do to your Harry." Silence, for a
moment, while that sunk in. "So what do you say?"
Ginny was torn. Yes, she wanted Harry to be safe–and
yes, she definitely didn't want him to be expelled for the duel in the first
place–but she really, really wanted to see Malfoy beaten. Harry had gone
up against Voldemort and survived, so
surely he could stand up against a bit of Malfoy's dark magic...?
Ginny wanted so desperately to see Harry win, and to see
Malfoy suffer for all he'd done, that it shocked her. And, perhaps seeking
forgiveness for the horrible direction her thoughts had taken her, she agreed
to help stop the duel.
"Yeah," said Ginny. "I'll help. What do you want me to do?"
"Well, first we should tell Dumbledore about it," said
Pansy. "If he can stop it then there's nothing to worry about, is there?"
"Why couldn't you just tell him on your own?"
"Don't you think he'd take it more seriously if we both did
it? A Slytherin and a Gryffindor,
together? And you know what Dumbledore's like–he'd probably try to pin
the whole thing on Malfoy if he could. He'd believe you if you said it was just as much Harry's idea."
Ginny nodded. "OK. Let's go."
–|–
"STOP!" came a deep,
angry voice from somewhere in the crowd. Harry and Malfoy both looked round to
where it had come from, but saw no one. Perhaps it was just a whisper of the
wind.
They turned towards each other, and were about to raise
their wands again when the voice sounded once more–"STOP THIS INSTANT!"
They knew they hadn't imagined it this time, so they looked
around once more–in a moment they saw Professor Dumbledore emerging from
the crowd, looking frustrated that it had taken so long to get through.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, you both know very well that
dueling is forbidden on Hogwarts grounds. Please, step away from each other or
there will have to be penalties against your houses, and against yourselves..."
They did not step away from each other, however. At first,
Malfoy just looked at Harry... and then Harry looked at Malfoy. Their eyes
connected, perhaps alighting on a shared thought, and without another thought–without any thinking at all, most
likely, just a great deal of built-up anger–Malfoy began to run as fast
as he could away from Dumbledore, and Harry began to follow. If they couldn't
duel here, they would settle it somewhere else.
–|–
"Wait," said Pansy, as Ginny began walking–before we
do that I should tell you about my other plan."
"Other plan?"
"Well, yeah... just in case that one doesn't work."
"Of course it'll work–it's Dumbledore, don't you think
he'd be able to stop a duel?"
"Maybe," said Pansy. "But I'm not too sure about him these
days. And besides, Draco's been waiting for a chance like this for years, he's
not going to give up easily."
That was probably true–and Harry had been more than
determined to get a stranglehold on Malfoy after what happened yesterday, he
probably wouldn't stop the fight without a fight either...
Pansy continued: "Well... if Dumbledore can't stop it, then I
figure we'll have to break it up ourselves."
–|–
Harry ran and ran and ran, wondering where Malfoy was
leading them. This was probably reckless, but he didn't care anymore. He wanted
to hurt Malfoy, he wanted to get back at him, once and for all, for all the
times he'd gotten in the way, all the times he'd done something awful, every
time he'd done anything...
So he ran, always cautious that Malfoy might stop short and
start the duel then and there. But Malfoy never did–he just kept on
running. They were just inside the Forest now, where it was still safe but
invisible from the grounds, and the trees were rocking back and forth like
giants were shaking them. Grawp didn't venture this close to the school, did
he...?
As yet another thunderous rumble of leaves faded into
nothingness, Harry heard what sounded like footfalls about a hundred feet
behind him. He assured himself he was just imagining them, that they were just
his own steps echoing, but still could barely resist the urge to turn around
and see if anyone–or anything–was
following him.
The sound continued for what seemed like ages and ages, as
Malfoy kept on running ahead of him, farther and farther away. He must be
heading for the Hogsmeade border, Harry figured. Then they would be off the
school grounds and they couldn't be expelled for the duel. Why hadn't they just
planned the duel for Hogsmeade in the first place? They could have snuck out
and avoided the crowd...
Suddenly, Malfoy stopped, turned round, and faced Harry, who
raised his wand instinctively. Malfoy just stood, however, waiting.
"Are you ready, Potter?" he called against the wind.
Harry stopped, within dueling distance, caught his breath
and assumed the proper stance.
"Are YOU ready, Ferret-Face?" he called back.
Malfoy grinned, and even from afar Harry could see a
desperate, wicked look upon his features–so desperate, in fact, that he
was frightening.
"You know it," he
said, and raised his wand as well.
–|–
Pansy spoke proudly of her plan: "What we do is, just as
they're about to duel, we get in between them. You in front of Harry, me in
front of Draco."
"Pansy–"
"It's desperate, I know, but you know it'll work."
"But you're saying we should jump in the middle of
wand-fire–"
"Ginny, would Harry ever
fire a spell at you?"
"Of course not. But–"
"Well, that's the point. People don't throw curses at people
they love. That'd break it up for sure."
–|–
Ginny ran the last few steps faster than she'd ever run in
her life–probably faster than she'd ever flown–and suddenly Harry's wand was just in front of
her face. His mouth was in the middle of forming some curse when his eyes flew
wider than she'd ever seen them and he dropped his wand on the ground.
Such an amazing feeling of relief flooded through Ginny that
she nearly fell over. In a moment, a million thoughts coursed through her mind:
They'd done it, they'd stopped the duel, Harry was going to be OK, nobody
was getting expelled, Pansy had been right–
But before that tiny moment could even end, Harry's
eyes–on which Ginny's gaze had remained affixed–widened even further, against all logic.
A bright green flash illuminated the woods, reflecting in
Harry's glasses like his eyes were on fire. Ginny turned around as fast as she
could (and she would swear that everything from her jumping in front of Harry
up till right then had to have only taken a second) and saw the leaves on the
ground fly into the air like a great orange cloud.
Pansy fell to the ground, and those leaves began to fall
back down atop her. Malfoy still stood with his arm outstretched, his face as
white as snow. Ginny would never forget the look on his face, nor would she
ever be able to describe it.
The world seemed to stand still for ages. They were statues,
frozen among the trees, and all the motion among them belonged to the leaves,
continuing their descent slowly, slowly, slowly...
And then Malfoy blinked. Ginny could see it clearly from
where she was standing. He blinked again, and suddenly they were all alive
again–except for Pansy–and Malfoy turned tail and began to run.
Ginny raised her wand to Malfoy's retreating form and fired
off every curse that she could name.
He fell to the ground–just as Pansy had, albeit
breathing–and the world was silent, but for the sound of settling leaves.
Finis