Title: Missing Rating: Pg-13 to R for Angst and later on Sexual references POSSIBLY. Noone noticed. Noone ever did. And that was for the best, she supposed. It would make the act all that much easier on her, on them. If they didnt know, if they didn't try to stop her, then it would be so much easier...as long as the pain ended. Draco entered the Great Hall, his shoulders back, his head high as he strut to his table, sinking down between Pansy and Blaise, listening for a moment to the conversation Blaise and another Slytherin before turning his eyes to Pansy. Unlike normal, she looked very concentrated, her chin resting on her palm as she stared intently across the Great Hall. Draco blinked and turned his head, following her eyes across the room to the Gryffindor table. At first, nothing seemed out of order. Potter and his groupies were all chattering away, laughing. Those annoying twins had their hands waving around in the air. The bushy haired mudblood was laughing at something they and the red headed menace were saying. And that stupid little boy with the camera and the other Gryffindorks were all mooning over Potter, who was also laughing, talking. Then he looked...really looked. There, in the middle of it all, shoulders slumped, a pained look of excruciation on her face, sat the youngest Weasley. The others were laughing at talking around her, oblivious to her appearence. The boys arms just flailed around her as if she didn't exist and she had to move now and again to get out of the way before getting hit. His brows furrowed as he looked at Pansy. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "I just happened to glance over when i got here. She's been like that all morning. Like she's in pain or something. It's amazing how fucking stupid those morons around her are. It's like she's not even there." she said softly in a tone Draco had never heard before. Draco paused, his tone not harsh as he spoke, uncritisizing, more curious than anything. "Why do you care." Pansy looked at him, a pain her eyes he'd never seen before. "Because I've never seen someone in the same kind of pain that I was in. I know what she's going through. She's been pushed out of it, just like my parents did to me, but she...well she's got an entire family that seems to have forgotten her." she raised an eyebrow and turned back to watch the girl. Draco turned his attentions back as well, his eyes falling on the dull red hair of Ginny Weasley. She looked as though the tears would roll down her face at any moment, her arms hugging her stomach, her head facing downward. An arm came flying her way and she flinched, then stood abruptly. Draco suddenly found it incredibly stunning that absolutely noone at the Gryffindor table seemed to notice as she moved away, walking towards the exit. She stopped for a moment, turning back to look at the table, her eyes sad as a tear rolled from them, the others still laughing and talking animatedly. She turned her eyes back and for a moment, her eyes met his and the pain she held in them nearly shook him to the core. Draco shuddered as she fled the Great Hall, he and Pansy seeming to be the only ones that had noticed her sudden dissapearance. Draco shot a look at Pansy before the two stood up and followed her at a safe distance. By the time they reached the Astronomy tower, Ginny's shoulders were shaking hard and her soft sobs could be heard echoing through the stairwell. Draco and Pansy stayed quiet as they followed the girl up the stairs and into the tower, her small form standing in front of the large open window, the sky open and free to her. Her eyes were closed as she whispered soft words to herself. A small peice of paper floated from her hand and landed at Draco's feet near the entrance to the stairwell as her sobs started again. Glancing down, Draco reached out and picked up the paper, his eyes scanning, his heart clenching at the words he read. Please, please forgive me, But I won't be home again. Maybe someday you'll look up, And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one: "Isn't something missing?" You won't cry for my absence, I know - You forgot me long ago. Am I that unimportant...? Am I so insignificant...? Isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me? Even though I'm the sacrifice, You won't try for me, not now. Though I'd die to know you love me, I'm all alone. Isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me? He handed it off to Pansy, whos hand shot up to her mouth as she read, her own heart clenching tightly at the words. She looked up, her eyes wide. "Draco." she whispered. "She's going to....we have to stop her." she eyed him. He looked at her, then back at the girl. Normally he would have thought it a blessing the day that a Weasley jumped off a tower...but not like this. She was in pain and noone cared. What about her mum? Her Dad? Surely they had cared...surely they had noticed something...or that stupid Potter? He turned back to Pansy. "Go get someone, anyone, I don't care who, but if she does something i'm not sure if she'll trust me enough to let me help her." he eyed Pansy and she paused a moment before nodding and dashing down the stairs for the Great Hall. Ginny stared down at the ground. It was so far down...so far...but so close. So easy, all she had to do was take one more step. She shuffled her feet just on the edge, her toes hanging off the edge through her shoes. She could feel the light breeze sweeping through her, the cool wind flowing through her body. They hadn't noticed anything, they hadn't cared. They all just sat there, laughing, cheering, ignoring. They didn't know, they never knew what she'd been through. Noone asked. Noone ever asked her. It was all about Harry anymore. Harry, the one who had braved Tom Riddle and defeated him in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry, the one who Voldemort had come after. Harry, the one who had defeated him. Harry, the one who killed the Basalisk.... She clenched her eyes and shuddered with a sob. Noone ever asked her what had happened to her. Noone ever asked her if she was alright, just sent her back to her room with a scowl or two in her direction, a worried glance from Dumbledore before he went to greet Harry again. So noone knew. Noone ever wanted to know what had happened to her. Noone ever wanted to hear about what he'd done to her down there, what he'd said, how he'd touched her, hurt her, destroyed her in so many way...noone. Ginny shuffled forward again, her hands touching gently against the cold brick of the walls around her, crying openly, her eyes opening up through the haze of tears to the darkening sky above her. So beautiful, so free, she could fall into it...and she did. Pansy pushed the doors open hard, the slam catching the attention of many of the students, including the Gryffindors that had been laughing as she entered. She purposely shot a hard glare at them, one full of hatred and watched as a few recoiled, oblivious as she ran to the teachers table. She approached Snape and leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Snape's eyes widened unbelievably as his eyes shot to the empty spot at the Gryffindor table, making many of the 'glory team' frown in curiousity. He shot to his feet, not bothering to go slow as he ran out of the Great Hall, Pansy and Dumbeldore on his heels. Ron, Hermione and Harry all frowned and watched them, hearing shouts from their Potions teacher for various students to 'move out of the way, now!' as he ran down the hallway. Ron frowned and searched across the table to see what he was looking at. Spotting the empty seat between his twin brothers, his frown deepened, then worry sank in and finally realization. "Where's Ginny??" he practically yelled at the others, who looked at the spot as if just noticing it in fact existed. He quickly stood and ran out after the teachers, followed by his brothers, Harry and Hermione. Draco's eyes widened as he watched the small redhead take another step forward, her body falling forwards. It all seemed to go in slow motion. Her body falling from the window, his moving faster than he'd ever moved before, his hands grasping at her wrist as her body weight pulled at his own. His body falling to the ground as he braced with his legs, her tear stained face turning up to look at him with a pain he'd never felt before that rushed through him like a wave. She let her other arm hang down, not trying to grab him, her hands limp, her body limp as she hung, crying, her arm in his hands' grasp, swinging lightly, her robes fluttering around her feet. She gave no effort to come back up, no effort to help him pull her up. Instead her eyes bared into his for what seemed forever before her lips moved. It was the barest whisper of a movement, but he could read her words perfectly. 'Please....' He knew she meant to let go, to let her drop, to let her fall to the ground below, but he grimaced and shook his head at her, mouthing 'no' back. Her face never changed, sadness etched on every portion, her arms still hanging as she shook her head slightly at him, tears falling from her face and making the long journey to the ground below. Ginny's eyes closed painfully, another sob escaping as she felt Draco pulling her up. Her eyes opened gently as she felt another pair of hands join his own, then another. Severus Snape ran down up the stairs to the Astronomy tower with a speed he hadn't known he'd posessed. Reaching the top, he spotted Draco Malfoy on the ground, his arms and shoulders out over the edge of the window, his body straining. "Dear Gods, she did." he gasped and ran over, pulling the boy upwards a bit to steady him before kneeling down and reaching out to grab Ginny Weasley's thin arm below Draco's hands. His eyes met hers as she looked up at him, her pain stunning him. Her face was stained with tears, her hair damp, her eyes puffy and red, her pink lips quivering as she tried to hold back another sob. "Dear Gods." he whispered again, pulling her upwards. He watched Pansy reach down from Draco's other side, the boy's strength slowly giving out from holding the girl in the window. With the three of them, they hauled the unresisting girl up into the window. Ginny's limp body fell into Severus' arms, her head falling to his chest as she sobbed. He pulled her back with him as he rest against the wall, one of his hands resting on her head, the other holding her to him. He felt Draco approach on his left and Pansy on his right, both reaching out hands to the Weasley girl. Draco's hand rubbed at her back as Pansy's tried to sooth her by rubbing her arm as she cried. He looked up as Dumbledore entered the tower, followed closely by three Weasleys, Potter and Granger. He payed them no heed but ran his hand across Ginny's head in a soothing matter, then stood, lifting the girl easily in his arms. Pansy and Draco flanked him as he moved towards the Headmaster, who looked down sadly at Ginny. "Take her to the hospital ward. She will need care quicky, now." he said quietly, moving aside and holding his hand out to move the others behind him aside as well. As they fled past, the Gryffindor group watched in awe and amazement. Dumbledore placed his hand on Ron's shoulder. "You may come see her at the end of classes, but only if she wishes." he said, his eyes boring into Ron's, who nodded numbly. As soon as Dumbledore left, the group started quietly away. Hermione heard a crunch under her foot and looked down, grabbing up the paper and scanning it quickly. "Ron!" she gasped as she held out the paper, running to catch up with him. He took the paper silently and read it, his eyes watering up. "Ginny..." he sighed gently. He handed it off to his brothers and sulked off towards the Hospital Wing, ignoring his last classes to sit outside the doors until the end of the day. Ginny sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head turned to stare out the window as she watched the birds flying. She couldn't believe of all people, Draco Malfoy had been there to grab her. And he wouldn't let go either, even now. He had her hand in his, something that would have utterly shocked her if she had indeed cared at that point. His thumb was moving in gentle circles on the back of her hand and she could feel his eyes on hers. He, Pansy and Professor Snape had all stayed until Professor Snape had been called away by the Headmaster and Pansy had run off briefly to go get Ginny some clothes from her dorm. Malfoy on the other hand had flat out refused to leave, nearly growling at Madam Pomfrey until she just rolled her eyes and walked off. They had tried to get her to talk, to get her to eat, to do something, but she just sat there staring out the window. It's all she had.... Draco frowned as he ran his thumb across her skin, staring absently at the freckles on the back of her neck, her hair having been put up in a bun. She wouldn't look at any of them, woudln't respond to any of them. In truth, though, he didn't care, he was just worried that the minute he let go of her hand, she'd try to jump again, try to fall again into a place she couldn't come back from and for the life of him, he didn't want that to happen. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ TBC.... Next Chappie: Ginny is in the Hosptial wing and everyone goes through their emotions. Draco tries to find something out. Back to Non-Slayers Fanfiction. Next Chapter