Title: Missing Chapter Title: Whisper Rating: Pg-13 (language mostly if any) Disclaimer: I own Jack Squat. That’s right, I own him…but nothing else on this page. Well, ok so I own my own little imagination and the angst that comes with it, so have fun and read on kiddies if you are braves. Again the thanks will be on the bottom! ********************* Draco sighed as he pulled open another cabinet and yanked down some bread. He had no idea the kitchens were so large, at least he knew how they stored the majority of the food. Pansy was on the other side of the counter reaching through some of the herbs and spices as though trying to find what she needed to use to make a meal of it. "Draco Malfoy, sir." A small voice squeaked. Draco spun around, nearly dropping the food in his hands before he sighed. "Dobby." he shook his head. "What is it?" "Er...Dobby would like to know what it is that Draco Malfoy need. Maybe then, Dobby can help?" he asked sheepishly, as though Draco would act like his father and beat him for his questioning. Draco paused and looked down at the little elf. "Actually...." he grinned and whistled to Pansy who looked over her shoulder. "Dobby here wants to help. Put what you have on the counter." he said and put his own food items on the counter before looking down at Dobby. "Now, we need alot of good food, Dobby. A friend of ours is sick and she needs to eat to get better. We also need a way of carrying all of this." Dobby's eyes widened happily at having been asked a duty and he bounces on his heels. "Oh yes sir! Dobby would be most happy to help Draco Malfoy's sick friend, sir!" he nearly giggled in glee and with a wave of his hand an entire feast popped up on the large counter before them. "Would this be enough sir?" he smiled widely, still bouncing on his heels, his large eyes sparkling. Draco looked up and grinned at Pansy, who's eyes were also wide. ***** Hermione entered the Gryffindor Common room with a quietness undoubtedly practiced. She looked around the room silently. Nearly noon and noone was in the common room. Most of the students were either in class or outside enjoying the day. Making her way up the stairs, she sighed softly, her eyes staring into nothing as she ran the thoughts over and over in her mind, scared to know exactly what had happened to Ginny, but knowing that in the back of her mind, she needed to know. "Mione!" Hermione jumped and spun around, then let out her breath and glared at Ron. "You startled me, Ronald. What is it?" "Well?" he asked coming to a stop in front of her, his eyes curious, his hands wringing together in front of his robes. "What did you find out? Did they say anything? Don't leave me out of this, Mione, shes my sister." he said quietly. Hermione Granger sighed and turned to look out a window for a moment before grabbing Ron's arm and pulling him into a small corner near the top of the stairs, shaking her head. "Give me a minute." she whispered and could see Ron shuffle on his feet in the darkness of the stairwell. She looked at his face, full of concern, curiousity and wonder and coudln't help but feel sorry for him. He'd had no clue what was going on, just like the rest of them. So caught up in their friendship with one another and saving everyone else, that they forgot the one person closest to them that needed their help. How selfish they had been. She sighed again and looked up at him, shifting on her feet. "Something happened, Ron." she said then put a hand up when he opened his mouth. "Just let me say what I know, without interrupting me, okay?" She watched him nod and continued. "Something happened to her down there, something horrible. I don't know exactly what, he wouldn't tell me." she sighed and shook her head. "I caught Malfoy coming out of the Hospital Wing. He said that...he said that Ginny had suffered something. He, He said that she knew painful things that men couldn't bare. He said that things had been done to her that hurt her inside...and out. I don't know exactly what, Ron, he wouldn't tell me, I was lucky enough to get what I got out of him." Ron paused for a moment, his voice low when he finally spoke. "What were his exact words, Mione? I need to know..." Hermione took a deep shuddering breath and looked into Ron's eyes. "There are some things that a person should never have to go through. Things that a grown man couldn't handle, let alone a little girl. There are things that leave a person scarred. Both mentally...and physically. Ginny knows those things with an intimacy, now. And that's what is killing her." she said softly, quoting him word for word. She heard a soft sob and watched Ron's head fall into his hands. She groaned and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a deep hug. They stayed like that for the longest time, Ron crying, Hermione holding him and trying to keep her own emotions in check before Ron lifted his face, tear stained and red as his hair. "I need to talk to her, Mione." ***** The first thing Ginny noticed when she opened her eyes was the warm chest she was laying against, the softness of the dark robes she clung to like an anchor in the darkness of the sea. She could almost see the light she needed to reach for and turned her eyes upward. Severus Snape, her potions master was her current pillow of choice, his eyes turned to the window, seemingly unnoticing of her eyes on him. She took the moment to study his face, younger and yet older than she'd ever noticed. She could tell he was not as old as others thought him to be. He had been in Harry's father's year after all. But the dark circles under his eyes and the lines of worry and anger across his face made his normally handsome facade turn mean and cruel. Yet as she sat against him in the dim light of the Hospital Wing, she could see his face relaxed more, some of those lines fading back into his face. The worry was still etched there, still embedded in his facial structure, but the tension and some of the pain was gone. The anger non-existant, simply worry and fear now. Deciding to let him know she was awake, she turned her whole head up, looking directly at him, her eyes seeking his. Severus' head snapped to attention, looking down at the girl resting against him, her eyes fixed to his own. "You are awake." he said softly. 'Oh that's right, Severus. State the obvious, go on now.' he chided himself mentally as she gave him a glimmer of a smile and sat up close to him, her side not lying against his chest any longer. She looked at him, then looked away. She started when he took her hand, suprised and baffled. "Miss Weasley....Ginny. It's alright to look at me as someone other than your teacher. I am here because I...I..." she could hear him struggle with the words. "...care." he said softly, nearly a whisper, as though the word would hurt him. "It's alright Professor Snape. I understand. You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. I don't want you to pretend to feel something you don't for me..." she said quietly, looking away. Severus looked stunned for a moment then turned her back to him. "I don't...care, about many people, Ginny. But I can tell you that the moment I saw you hanging over the side of that window, the utter lost look on your face, that is when I realized that I do care about some things. And you are one of those things, Miss Weasley. You feel a pain that few people in this entire world have felt, yet you have come out and lived, you have been here, going day to day without breaking for so long.." He praised her. Ginny shook her head. "Don't you understand. I haven't lived. Not really. Since that day, i've been in a shell. Sure I go to classes and I do my work, eat my food, sit by the others and cast around fake smiles, but I haven't lived for a long time Professor Snape. I haven't been alive for a long time. I died down there and I'm still dead up here. It's just....Draco...he..." she paused and looked up at him with a light flush. "He won't give up on me, no matter what I do and I don't understand why. I'm not special to him, he didn't know me before now and suddenly...he..." She shook her head in wonder and confusion. Severus placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes again, steadying her. "Because a part of him sees himself inside of you. Draco's father did things to him when he was younger, before he died. Unspeakable things sometimes. Nowhere near what you suffered, but Draco feels a kinship to you." "So he...he thinks of me as his...sister?" she frowned lightly. Severus chuckled and she looked up at him suprised. "No. I believe he thinks of you as...well for lack of a better word, his wife." Ginny's eyebrows shot up. "What?!" He shook his head with a grin again. "Not in the sense you think. He feels that because you share a same bond, he has a connection with you. And its the first connection he has felt in a long time, so he holds to it, to you. He wants to help you and at the same time feels that you will help him by being a part of his life. He wants to protect you, Ginny. He wants to be the person that you turn to if you are in trouble or need help of any sort. He wants to be the one there for you, so in a way, I suppose, wife is the only word that would cover that. Because his feelings for you are more than friendship, yet not like family." He nodded, approving his own small speech. Ginny looked down and thought about it for a moment. "He is the one I turn to now. I didn't realize it before, but everytime I see him in here, I feel safer. I feel like maybe...maybe I can be alive again." she whispered. Severus pulled her to him again and ran a hand through her hair. "You have every right to live again and you should know that we will all be here to help you return to that. I know that you want to live again, Ginny. And so you will. And so you will." he said softly. Ginny nodded and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug of which he readily returned. "Ahem." The two broke apart and looked over to see Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye as he smiled gently at the two. "I see you are feeling better than when we found you earlier, Miss Weasley?" he said gently. She nodded silently, her hand finding Severus' behind her back as she looked at the headmaster. His hand wrapped around her own and she felt a feeling of comfort wash over her. "I thought I might come myself to inform you that you have been excused from your classes as long as you see fit. I would ask you to consider looking through the work when you are up to it, however?" he eyed her from over his half-moon spectacles and smiled when she nodded at him. "Very well then. I'm most certain that you will be able to continue your studies here once you feel better and until then, do rest easy. You have had a hard time of it lately and should not overstress yourself too much." He smiled and nodded at her, before turning to leave. "Professor!" Ginny stood, her hand still holding Severus' behind her back. "I...I was wondering..." He turned to look at her over his spectacles again and she took a breath. "I was wondering about Draco...and...and Pansy. Could they also be excused? If only for a little while?" Dumbledore paused for a moment as though thinking then looked at her again. "They have been excused for the remainder of the week. However, they will need to continue their studies, you understand?" Ginny nodded and smiled at him. "Thank you, sir." He just smiled again, nodded and left the hospital wing smoothly. Ginny turned back to Severus and sat down next to him again, finally letting go of his hand to lean against the top of the bed next to him. Severus just turned his eyes to her, watching her before moving to stroke her hair softly, smiling when she closed her eyes. ****** "I will NOT be held outside this hospital wing when my daughter is in there!" the screech came from outside the doors. Ginny's head snapped to the side as Severus' hand fell from it. Her eyes went slightly wide as she backed into Severus, who placed his hands on her shoulders, standing as the large red headed woman burst her way through the doors, a tall lanky fellow in tow along with Ron. "GINNY!" her mother practically yelled. "Oh my baby! Are you okay!?" Ginny backed her back against the bed again. "Mrs. Weasley! Please! I told you she is not ready for visitors just yet!" Madam Pomfrey shouted, her face red with anger and frustration. Her hands were fisted at her side, her hair falling over from running. "What are you doing here?" Ginny whispered gently, her fear and anger flowing. She felt Severus' hand on her shoulder and watched as her mum ignored the question and turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Well HE'S here! I dont' see why I could not come in and see my child!" Ginny sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing. "I told her not to let you in." she said sternly. Molly Weasley's eyes turned to Ginny suddenly, her mouth opening and closing like a fish before she put her fists on her hips. "Why would you do that young lady?!" she cried out, shaking her head. "Because I didn't want to see you! Because I didn't want you to see me! I couldn't do it yet!" she cried out, a tear falling from her face, hearing Severus' intake of breath from behind her, his hand clenching down on her shoulder. "Ginny! Why would you do something like that? We just wanted to see if you were okay." Ron said softly, starting to move forward, but catching the look in her eyes and stopped, feeling his fathers hand on his shoulder. "If I'm okay? You want to know NOW if im okay?!" she glared at him. "Ginny, please. Let's just calm down and talk about this. We'll get nowhere if you don't let us hear what you have to say to us. We want to help you get better. We want to understand why you would want to do something like that to yourself." her father said gently, his words not harsh, but cutting deep into her already upset mind. "Get out. I don't want to talk to you. Not now, maybe not ever. I...I just can't. Leave. Please..." she begged quietly, trying to control her anger. Molly gasped and let her own tears come to her eyes. "Ginny..." she whispered. "Why in the world would you say something like that? Can't you see how your hurting me? Us?" she said softly. "Why are you doing this Ginny? Why are you trying to hurt us?" Ginny's breathing had hitched and grown faster as her mother spoke, her anger and tears catching up with her again. "WHAT ABOUT ME!?" she yelled, bursting the sound from her throat and moving to her knees. "WHAT ABOUT WHEN I WAS IN PAIN?! WHAT ABOUT WHEN I NEEDED YOU TO LISTEN TO ME!! Is this how you are supposed to treat FAMILY?! What about how much you hurt ME when you ignored me! When you ignored the fact that I had noone to turn to! That I had things inside me that I couldn't tell anyone because noone around me wanted to know! What about what I went through?! Did that mean nothing to you?! You ignored me! You never listened to what I had to say! You never even bloody ASKED me!!" she cried out, the tears rolling in fat droplets down her cheeks and onto the coverlet below. Her parents eyes were wide as they looked at her in confusion, fear and pain. Ginny shook her head, sobbing and shot her finger towards the door. "Get out! I can't do this now! Not right now! Get out!" she yelled. Madam Pomfrey ushered Mr. and Mrs. Weasley towards the front door, her other hand on Ron, who was tugging the entire way. "Lemme go!" he growled, but she held tight. Draco and Pansy came through the doors then, Pansy carrying the food as Draco rushed past the Weasley's to Ginny's side, running a hand on her hair. "Are you okay?" he whispered as she continued to stare with malice at her fleeing family. Ron broke free of Madam Pomfrey's grasp and ran back to Ginny, pulling her into a gentle hug before she could refuse and whispered into her ear. "You dont' have to tell me now, Ginny, but I want you to know that I'm sorry for anything i've done and I want to help you. I'll be here when you want to talk to me. I love you, Gin, please feel better." he kissed her cheek and took off before she could say a word, moving with swift steps after his parents, looking back at her as she nodded to him, the doors closing behind him. ***** Ginny leaned against Pansy, who was brushing her hair as Draco pulled out some of the food, Severus helping him to set it up for all of them to have a nice lunch together. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting Pansy's gentle touch sooth her aches for the moment before she felt Draco drop a kiss on her forehead. She opened her eyes and blushed as he grinned at her. "Food's done. What would you like first?" he asked, pulling over one of the medical trays lined with food. Ginny smiled at him genuinly and sighed, feeling better than she had in a long time. And somehow, she had a feeling that her outburst had something to do with that.... ENd Chapter. TBC.... Next Chapter: Draco and Ginny get some alone time, Ron learns the whole truth from Ginny and Ginny confronts a fear... ***** THANKS: WashoopiCandi - Omg thanks so much! lol Yay! I have fans! Sorry this took so long, i had a block and a flu, so now im back and writing again. I should have another chapter up before next month, so pray for me! lol Shadieladie - Yay!! Another Cosplayer! No im not going to Anima North, not even sure where that is yet. I'm going to Mini-con, Ronin-con, A-kon and Cos-con, they are all in the Oklahoma/Texas Area. I went to Oni-con last year. My name on Cosplaylab.com is inuyashas_baby007 if you want to check my stuff out though ^_^ Send me and email and we can talk cosplay. yay! countrygirl25 - hehe! Sorry i didnt' update for so long, i'll try and get on it better. I try to stick to the characters, but when something so dramatic happens, i just had to give their emotions a little tweak. Snape's got a heart, its just.....small...and invisible. lol jk light barrer - Glad to see you back again! whee! Thanks and I do hope you enjoy this one! Celi- Celi! My all time most reviewer! lol Thanks! Yah I knew she didn't know, but Hermione is supposed to be the most observant yet she saw nothing. Had to throw a little guilt on her. Amy Lee Fan - Thanks! I love that song, its so beautiful. I heard it in the car on a road trip and poof, up came the story from a small 'video' in my head. lol Hp Geek - now where do I know you from?! I know that name! Do you go in Hp chat on yahoo? Yah Snape is different, but don't worry hes still the greasy git we all love to ....well love. lol Thanks! Thanks again to all who reviewed! I appreciate it and love you all and come back! Anya Chapter 5 Chapter 7 NEW Back to Menu