[RM] Taste of Poison

The Red Moon series

Phase Two: Taste of Poison

---


Draco sat back in a chair, hands behind his head as he monitored the workings of Ginny Weasley. He had thoroughly gone through each step of the potion she had done the previous week but had failed miserably, and he hoped that he had been thorough enough to prevent her failing it again. If she failed once, it just meant one more night he'd have to spend with her and that was the last thing he wanted.

She began chopping more ingredients and once she finished he saw what she was chopping. She moved the chopping board towards the cauldron and before he could stop her, she stopped herself. She looked down at the ingredients then looked at him. He had already schooled his expression to apathy. If he was going to teach her potions, he wasn't going to make it easy on her. Not receiving any hint or clue if what she was doing was correct, she placed the chopping board back down on the table and looked at her other ingredients. The previous week, Snape had told them they must memorize this particular potion because they were now in their sixth year and that specific potion would be as easy as Lumos' to them. Apparently for Ginny, Lumos' wasn't that easy. She had hours memorizing the potion, but in the end, she had failed.

"The second time around is supposed to be easier," she muttered angrily at herself.

"I cannot believe you're having this much difficulty with potions," Draco finally said, "Even that dimwitted brother of yours wasn't the last of our year."

"Shut your mouth Malfoy. Just because I'm not good at this one thing doesn't mean I'm worst than Ron," Ginny defended, not even bothering to look at her tutor.

He wasn't going to argue with her; he knew she was correct. It was already their third night of tutoring and after a somewhat awkward start (awkward meaning complete silence the first night and absolute bickering the second) they were finally getting something done. However, after the first night, he decided he'd do some research on the littlest Weasley. He had gone directly to Dumbledore and asked for Ginny's school records, with reasons such as he was Head Boy and her tutor and he needed to know what her learning skills were and if she was bad in everything. To his surprise, potions class was the only thing she couldn't do. She was getting extremely good marks in all of her other classes and Draco had decided (although he would never voice it) that had Ginny and Ron switched ages, she would have given Hermione and himself some competition in their year.

Her frustrated exhale brought him out of his reverie and he looked over at her progress. She had once again picked up the chopping board and was putting the contents into the cauldron. Silently, Draco stood up, took ten steps backwards and crouched behind a desk as she began mixing the solution, her back to him. In his mind he counted as she stirred.

One, two, three-

On four, he covered his head with his arms. On five, he closed his eyes. As if on cue, Ginny let out a scream and jumped away from the cauldron as it not only bubbled over, but soon exploded.

Nine, ten.

Draco uncovered his head, opened his eyes and stood up. The damage was evident: the classroom walls were covered in electric pink soot; the cauldron had shattered into millions of pieces, scattered throughout the room; potion ingredients were either sprinkling the floor or melted and he was most certain there used to be a door between the class and the hallway. He walked over to Ginny. She was lying on her stomach, her arms covering her head. She was covered in the pink soot and wasn't standing up.

"Weasley? You can get up now," Draco drawled.

Slowly, she uncovered her head, shook her head out of its daze and stood up. She sighed heavily as she looked at the back of her robes, which were stained by the soot.

Draco went to the table where the ingredients once were, inspecting the damage, "The classroom will be easily fixed, but I'm sure Snape will be mad about that cauldron, not to mention the door." He walked to the entrance, "Oh, the door's here, just not altogether." He turned back to Ginny who was looking at the pink ceiling, "I'll see you tomorrow night then."

"What!? You're leaving? You're not going to even help me clean?" She questioned,

"It's your mess. Consider this a learning experience," he smirked before leaving her to her own designs. Just before he left earshot of the classroom, he was sure he heard her cursing his name.

---

The next morning, Draco was surprised (despite hiding it) to see Blaise reclining in his common room,

"You are in trouble Malfoy," Blaise said in an all-too-happy tone.

"What are you blabbering about now Zambini?" Draco asked as he left the common room, Blaise just behind him,

"I passed Snape this morning and he was muttering yours and Weasley's death," Blaise explained,

"Zambini, you're a horrible liar," Draco pointed out, "You used to be good at spinning tales, now that you've lost it, I no longer see your use to me."

Blaise rolled his eyes before replying, "Fine, wait until potions, then we'll see if I'm lying."

"Well, you're clearly lying since there's nothing Snape could be mad at me for," Draco said but stopped the moment the words left his lips.

His sudden halt caused a smile to cross Blaise's mouth, "Remembering a reason for Snape wanting to wring your neck Malfoy?"

"Sod off Zambini," Draco scowled as he continued on, his pace quicker than before.

When they reached the main floor, Draco saw the familiar head of hair of Ginny Weasley. He called after her. She stopped and turned; surprised to see it was him calling her. By the time he reached her, her friends had all ran away into the safety of the Great Hall.

"Malfoy?"

"Did you clean up your mess last night?" He demanded, eyes narrowing suspiciously,

"Of course I did, even if you left me to do it on my own. I wasn't going to risk detention just to spite you. There's no point in both of us being in detention," Ginny replied, feeling uneasy under her glare,

"If you say so," Draco muttered before pushing past her,

"I do say so! Trust me." She said confidently,

"That's the last thing I'll do," was all he said before disappearing into the Great Hall.

---

Apparently, Blaise had not been lying, the smug prat. He was listening to every word when Snape came up behind Malfoy in potions.

"Mr. Malfoy, why is it I wasn't informed that there were complications in last night's session?"

"It was a minor mishap with her potion."

"A minor mishap doesn't explain one missing cauldron and the complete disappearance on my stash of Elder Wood. The potion doesn't even require it, yet the ingredient is completely missing from my storage, even the jar!" Snape hissed angrily,

"Sir, I went through the procedure with her in thorough details, if she used it all, you can hardly make me share the blame," Draco replied,

"You saw her make the mistake didn't you Mr. Malfoy?" Draco remained silent, "Ah yes, I can see it now. You would be supervising her, you're not so ignorant as to let her make a potion unattended, but you anticipated the mistake when you saw her adding the Elder Wood."

"Professor, had I known she used up all of your -"

"Tonight you and Miss Weasley will not have a tutoring session. I have already asked the Headmaster and have received his approval: the two of you imbeciles shall go get me more Elder Wood instead. The closest source is the Forbidden Forest. Be at the main entrance after dinner Mr. Malfoy." Snape walked away immediately after, in a more horrible mood than usual for the rest of the class period.

"I'm going to kill the Weasley," Draco scowled to Blaise,

"MR. MALFOY! If you do not wish to spend the entire night in the Forbidden Forest rather than just a few hours, I suggest you shut your mouth and copy down the notes!" Snape demanded.

---

"There's no point in staying here," Draco muttered, "I don't even eat." He stood up from the Slytherin table,

"So you're going to wait for Snape outside?" Blaise inquired

"Snape already left. And it's better than watching her eat," he motioned towards Pansy who had the decency to stop eating and sneer at him. Without another word, Draco left the Great Hall and headed towards the main entrance. By the time he got there, Professor Snape was already waiting, arms crossed.

"I didn't expect you to take so long," Snape drawled,

"You said after dinner, you didn't specify a time," Draco replied in even tones,

"Don't be insolent with me. You and I both know you just spent an hour's worth of time in there sitting at the table and watching your food," he hissed,

"It was an hour well spent considering I'd have to wait for Weasley before I went into the forest," Draco muttered.

"Wrong again Mr. Malfoy. She was anticipating your departure the entire time," and as if on cue, Ginny came running around the corner and came to a halt before them, "So good of you to join us Miss Weasley."

She nodded while she tried to catch her breath.

"I've already told you both your main objective of tonight's job. I suggest you do it good and efficiently. If my storage of Elder Wood isn't replenished by daybreak, don't bother returning to potions - either of you," his stare hardening when it reached Draco. "Don't get any ideas Mr. Malfoy." He turned to leave but Ginny stopped him,

"Professor, how will we even know where to find it or how it looks like?" The look Snape gave her was one of complete loss of patience. Fortunately, before Snape could reply Draco pushed Ginny outside and shut the door behind him. "What's with the pushing!?"

"I don't know about you Weasley, but I do not want Snape giving me detentions until the end of the school year just because of your ignorance," Draco sneered before lighting his wand and heading before her towards the Forbidden Forest.

"What do you mean my ignorance?" she demanded, feeling her temper rise,

"Must I explain everything?" Draco said exasperatedly as they made their way towards the forest, "Asking that question just told Snape that you had no idea what you were doing last night with the Elder Wood, thus increasing the trouble your in. I wouldn't have given a damn had that fact not also meant that I didn't explain things well enough to you, thus, increasing the trouble I am in. Understand?"

Ginny remained silent,

"Good, now let's get this over with."

---

With both their wands lit, Draco and Ginny proceeded into the depths Forbidden Forest. Manoeuvring around twisted roots, which surfaced everywhere, blocking each sound of things that go bump in the night and having to fight off a few of the things that make those sounds.

"So where do we find Elder Wood?" Ginny asked finally,

"Weasley, do you ever shut up?" Draco questioned,

"I haven't spoken for at least an hour and half! So yes, I can shut up!" She retorted, "Besides, shouldn't I know where to find Elder Wood so you're not the only one searching?" Draco remained silent, continuing his search, "If there's two of us looking, we'll get out faster," she tempted.

"Elder Wood thrives easily in forests, so it tends to be bigger in diameter than any of the other trees," he couldn't have answered any faster, "However, the fact it thrives so well is because it tends to suck the life out of plant life surrounding it. Its roots don't grow so long, so it has its limits, but it continues to grow after killing all surrounding plant life with the basics of photosynthesis and such."

"So we just look for a really big tree surrounded by dead plants?"

"Or that," Draco aimed his wand to their left.

The light illuminated a clearing of a circumference of twenty-five meters. In the centre stood a gigantic tree whose diameter was at least five metres. The tree grew tall and eventually its branches and leaves meshed with the surrounding forestry, creating a canopy void of the sky's nocturnal lights.

"Finally! Now we can grab some and get out!" Ginny sighed happily and began to jog ahead of Draco.

"Stop you idiot!" Draco hissed, grabbing at her arm.

However, at the moment he got a hold of her, something flew towards her and pierced her right calf. She stumbled and almost fell to her knees but Draco pulled her to him and held her up with an arm around her waist. Quickly he put up a protective barrier around them and they heard noises as more things came at them, hit the shield and ricocheted off.

"Don't you ever listen!?" Draco demanded as he pointed his wand towards the base of the tree. Growling out an incantation, electric blue shocks shot from the tip of his wand and made contact with the massive tree. Suddenly, ice began to form at the base and spread both upwards towards the branches and foliage and also down to the roots along with the ground at their feet.

"What did you do?" Ginny asked, feeling a constant pain in her lower leg,

"Elder Wood is full of nourishment because it feeds off other plants. In return, certain creatures live in the branches of the Elder Wood and feed off it. There are several different kinds and, as you can see, thoroughly protective of the Elder Wood. If you approach it haphazardly the creatures attack. Lucky for you, only one thing tried to attack you before I put up a shield," he scowled, "You have to immobilize everything in the tree's vicinity so that anything protecting it becomes harmless while you extract samples from it."

"What about the other things around the clearing? With everything frozen, won't other things come at us?"

"Even if they did, once they hit the edge of the clearing, they'd freeze up," he explained as he let go of her, "Can you stand while I go get enough Elder Wood or do we have to go back and do this again tomorrow?"

By the expression on his face, Ginny knew there was only one way to answer him, "I'm fine."

Letting out an exasperated breath, Draco headed towards the tree and began thawing parts of the wood in order to extract it. When he got back to Ginny, she was lying on the ice-covered ground, holding her leg,

"Let's get out of here," He muttered as he grabbed her wrist and hauled her up and continued to drag her through the forest,

"Must we get out so fast? We got in fine enough at the pace we were at before," Ginny muttered defiantly,

"Do you want the creatures I turned into ice cubes to come after us once they've thawed?" Draco sneered, "They know our scent, they'll easily find us if we don't get out of here and frankly, I do not want to risk loosing the Elder Wood I just collected in order to fight off magical creatures you angered."

---

They had cut the time it took them to find the tree almost in half when they reached the castle doors, Draco dragging Ginny the entire way. He released his hold on her immediately and they entered the warmth of the castle.

"Malfoy-"

"What now?" He turned back, exhausted and exasperated.

She had opened the front of her robes and was looking down at her lower leg, her socks had slipped to her ankles on their trek back to the castle and her calf had turned a pale purple.

"Merlin's ghost, why didn't you say anything before?" He demanded,

"Every time I said something you'd get mad!" She defended as she cringed in pain and dropped to her left knee, holding her other leg.

"I did not get mad!" He replied before lowering his voice, "Damn it, you've been poisoned." He pulled her up quickly and she grimaced from the pain that shot through her leg. He pulled her towards the closest room and shut the door behind him. Casting silencing and locking charms, he pulled her to the centre of the abandoned classroom. It was void of any sign of cleaning, desks were pushed to the side and by the dust collecting on the floor it was obvious the classroom hadn't been used in well over a few years. "Sit," he pointed to a desk.

She did as she was told, gingerly trying not to hit her right leg in any way. Once she settled on the tabletop, her robe lying beneath her, she bent up her right leg,

"No, keep it straight, if you do that, the poison will spread faster. You want to keep the rest of your body higher than your leg," Draco instructed as he took off his robe and lit his wand. As he began rolling up the sleeves of his uniform, Ginny took off her school sweater, folded it and sat down on it, with her left leg curled beneath her. It wasn't much, but she was able to raise the rest of her body a few more inches higher than her right leg, which she now let hang over the edge of the desk.

"Why don't we just go to Madame Pomphrey?" Ginny asked as Draco began examining her leg.

"Time. And if you walk more, it'll cause the poison to spread faster," Draco explained distractedly,

"So you making me walk faster was a bad idea?" He glared at her then returned to his examinations.

"It's a slow enough poison that it didn't spread higher than your knee," Draco concluded, "but it should be taken out of your body before it does damage to your leg permanently."

"How are you going to do that?" Ginny asked slowly,

"Do you know what to do if you get bitten by a snake?" Draco inquired and she nodded slowly, eyes widening, "Same theory." He pulled out one of the jars Snape had supplied them with which he had not used (there was getting potion supplies, then there was being excessive), opened it and placed it on the ground. "Once I pull out the spike you were hit with, I'll have to start sucking out the poison so you don't lose any blood in the process," he suddenly looked up at her seriously and, for once, without contempt, "do you object?"

She shook her head, how else was she supposed to reply? Here she was sitting in an empty classroom in the middle of night with the archenemy of her brother and basically herself, and he was about to rid her body of poison but not before he asked for her consent. He nodded before returning to her leg,

"W-won't you get poisoned?"

"Not if I do this right," he said, "Trust me."

"That's the last thing I'll do," she repeated his words and he had to smirk at it, "But if I must."

"Ready?"

"Mhmm," she mumbled, closing her eyes tightly.

Quickly, he pulled out the cause of the poison and the spike turned out to be two inches long, more than half of it had lodged itself into her calf. Kneeling on the ground, he immediately put his lips to her leg and began to suck at the wound.

When he had a mouth full, he immediately spat it into the open jar, the poison was bitter and felt as if it were burning the inside of his mouth. However, after spitting out all the poison he held in his mouth, he returned to continue extracting the poison from her. In his mind, he kept concentrating on whatever wandless magic he had developed over the years and willed the poison to come to him. Again and again, he spat out more of the purple liquid and again and again, he continued to suck it out of her.

Inside her head, Ginny wasn't sure if she had fallen in the Forbidden Forest and what was happening was a dream. Malfoy didn't have to do this, he could have left her for dead and he wouldn't have any blame on him. But no, here he was, and he was basically saving her life.

Not if I do this right .

Saving her life and putting himself at risk. She had to admit that maybe Malfoy wasn't as bad as he used to be. Of course, she'd never voice that.

After what seemed to have been an eternity, Draco tasted something coppery enter his mouth. He spit the contents of his mouth into the jar and was relieved to see there was a streak of red in the jar before it dissolved into the purple.

"There, the poison's gone," Draco said in an exhausted tone as he tore off a piece of his uniform shirt and wrapped it tightly around her leg.

"Are you sure?" Ginny said, looking at him sceptically,

"Yes, I got some blood that last time," Draco said in a matter of fact tone as he sealed the jar and stood up, dusting himself off,

"But is that solid enough reason? You could've missed something, shouldn't you try one last time? If all you get is blood then-"

"NO!" He sighed. He had been more than a saint with her since bringing her to this room and he didn't need to be tempted to be a devil. "If you're that worried about it, you can go to the Hospital Wing."

After they had gathered their things and left the class room, Ginny paused before they parted ways; she going up to the Hospital Wing and Draco going down to Snape's classroom to leave the Elder Wood.

"Malfoy," she called after taking a few steps up the stairs,

He looked over his shoulder at her, pausing his descent,

"Thank you."

Once she disappeared from his sight, he leaned against the stairwell wall and closed his eyes. Out of habit he probably would have replied, but he couldn't. Not that night and not because she was a Weasley. He couldn't because she tempted the devil inside him that night. She tempted him and he wasn't sure how long he could fight his temptations.


(Phase 3: To Be Like Glass)