Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the computer this was written on. All characters are owned by JKR, except for the one’s that will be mentioned in A/N at the end of the chapter, please read it over so I can give proper credit where it is due. I’m so broke I make the church mouse look like a millionaire, so please don’t waste your time or your lawyers.
Ginny sat alone at the table in the sitting room of the master suite in Malfoy Manor. The table had been set for a romantic dinner for two, for two reasons. The first was as a welcome home for Draco. He had been in Egypt for the last week on business and Ginny had missed him dreadfully. The second, and more important reason, was that Ginny had some exciting news she wanted to share with him and felt that this would set the mood.
Tired of just pushing the food around her plate instead of eating it, she threw her napkin down and moved over to the couch in front of the fire. Pulling the present that she had gotten for Draco out from under the couch and playing with the ribbon, she felt the tears of disappointment sting her eyes.
When Draco had finally gotten home this evening he had looked tired but she had quickly found herself in his arms. Just as he was deepening their first kiss in a week, the fireplace had burst to life and Blaise’s head had appeared in the fire. After apologizing, he told Draco that he had something urgent that they needed to discuss, and Draco told him to meet him in his study in five minutes.
When Blaise’s head disappeared, Draco had walked over to her; she had moved over to look at the tapestry again while they talked. Slightly annoyed that whatever they needed to discuss couldn’t wait, her shoulders stiffened when he put his hands on them.
Sighing when he felt her tense up at his touch, he said, “Ginny, I’m sorry, but Egypt was a mess and there are a few…details to be sorted out yet,” his voice sounded tired but she was too upset to care.
Slipping out of his grasp, she started towards the parlor door. After opening it, she stopped and turned to him, taking in his tired appearance and the hurt look on his face, and her anger softened. She sighed, “Draco, its fine. Dinner is in our room when you’re done.”
That had been over two hours ago! Ginny could feel the welcome burn of her Weasley temper beginning to flare. Two fucking hours! For Merlin’s sake, they had been in Egypt for a week, even staying a day longer than originally planned. What could be so damned important that they hadn’t had time to discuss it already?
Throwing the brightly wrapped package on the couch, she stood up and paced back and forth in front of the fire. She tried; she really tried to bring her anger back under control. She was not like her brothers, Ron and Percy; she didn’t like exploding the way that they usually did, making asses of themselves in the process. No she was more like Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, who would sit back and assess the situation before suppressing or unleashing their anger as the situation warranted. Oh, she could explode but it was very rare, but leave her on a slow simmer like Draco had done for the last two hours and she could work herself up into a fine fit of temper.
And that is where she was at this very moment in time, fueled mostly by frustration and neglect. Frowning, she knew that it was absurd to feel that way. Draco was many things, arrogant, snarky and sarcastic to name a few, but neglectful was not one of them. So she really did try to squash the feeling, knowing that it was probably hormones running amok fueling her anger.
But damn it, she had been so excited after the shock of learning that she was pregnant had worn off. She'd spent the afternoon trying to picture his reaction, the look on his face, the look in his eyes, as they were truly the window to his soul, when he opened the gift she had bought to help her announce his impending fatherhood. And now she was so disappointed that she just couldn’t muster any of her former enthusiasm.
Looking at the present she had bought for him, her frown deepened, the matching Falmouth Falcons Quidditch jumpers nestled inside. One for Draco and a much smaller one for their child. Scowling at the package, she walked over and picked it up. Feeling that it was just the stupidest idea she had ever come up with anyway, she just wanted to be rid of the now offending present.
Seeing the beautifully set table and the now-ruined dinner out of the corner of her eye, she decided how to solve both the problem of disposing of the annoying gift and of announcing her anger to her husband, her extremely 'living-permanently-in-the-proverbial-dog-house' husband. Setting the package on her husband's place setting, she could feel her magic gather up, and without her wand, she levitated the gift slightly above the dishes and with a whispered ‘Incendio’, she watched with satisfaction as the package burst into flames, the ashes raining down onto his plate.
With a childish smirk, she watched with satisfaction as the now smoldering ashes lay on his plate with only the attached card left intact. Now fully into the throws of her childish fit, adrenaline pumping through her veins, she decided that she needed to just get the hell out of the house for a while. Let him wonder just where in the hell she was and how pissed off she was while he was at it.
Turning to her closet, she grabbed an overnight bag and began to throw clothes and toiletries into it. Grabbing her wand, cloak and the bag, she walked down the stairs to her study. Opening the middle drawer of her desk, she pulled out the stash of both wizarding and muggle money that she kept there.
Having grown up poor, she had always felt the need to keep some of the money she earned as a healer where she could see it. She knew that it was silly; being married to Draco had ended any of the former need to horde and spend thriftily. But it was something that had been ingrained into her from a very young age.
She was very proud of the money she earned; it was hers, not something that available to her because she was Draco Malfoy’s wife. She knew that Draco knew of her insecurities and her stash, but he never said a word. In fact, he still had to fight her insecurities whenever they made a major purchase or took a trip.
She never spent any money easily and very rarely on herself, and when he bought her things, she had to stop herself from scolding him for being frivolous. Unlike when they were younger, he never made fun of her feelings. He would just gently remind her that they could afford the things he gave her and that it made him happy to be able to provide her with the things that she could never have had as a child.
Stuffing her money into her purse, she felt tears welling up in her eyes when she saw the picture of her and Draco that she kept on her desk. The tears spilled down her cheeks as she picked up the picture, running her fingers over the Draco in the picture that was hugging the picture of herself. Quickly stuffing the picture in her purse before closing it, she closed the drawer with a sharp push.
Angrily, she wiped the tears from her face; her scowl came back full force. Grabbing her cloak and her bags, she walked briskly out of the study heading for the foyer. Damn it, she just wanted to be mad for a while, suppressing the tender feelings the picture had caused. Her anger felt good, irrational but good, since her moods were swinging all over the place and she didn’t like it.
In the foyer, she set down her bags and jerkily pulled on her cloak, unsure just where she was going to go. She heard footsteps and the voices of her husband, Blaise and Anton. Quickly pulling out her wand and grabbing her bags just as they entered the foyer, she saw him stop when he saw her and the surprised look on his face when he saw her standing there with her cloak on, bags in hand.
He was only still for a moment before he started towards her, “Ginny, what the hell are you doing?”
She heard the anger in his voice as he closed in on her, but instead of answering him, she pictured Diagon Alley and Disapparated just as he reached out for her.
The last thing she heard was his hollered, “Fuck!”
~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~
It was well after midnight now as Draco finally climbed the steps heading towards the master suite of Malfoy Manor. Exhaustion and worry both fighting for control of his body. How in the hell had his life gotten so screwed up in just a week’s time?
Walking down the hall, he thought that just a week ago at this time he had been walking down this same hall with his wife’s legs wrapped around his waist as they kissed and laughed with each other.
They had just gotten home from Anton and Pansy’s, where they had gone that evening for dinner with all of their friends. It hadn’t been a grand formal affair, just a fun, relaxing night with those that were not only friends, but more like extended family.
The minute they had landed in the foyer, Ginny had wrapped her self around him and pulled him in for a scorching kiss. She looked so beautiful; she had glowed the entire evening as she laughed and relaxed. She had been slightly tipsy from the champagne they had drunk to toast Ginny’s cousin and her husband, Harry bleeding Potter, who had announced that they were expecting their first child.
Never one to disappoint Draco had led the toast, “Congratulations, Emily, you finally rescued Ginny and I from your family’s determination to marry my wife off to Harry by taking him off the market. Congratulations, Harry, you do know that one Potter in this world was enough but you just had to go and bring along another one.” Everyone laughed at the former taunt that was now a joke. “Seriously though, congratulations to you both,” everyone lifted their glasses and took a drink.
Harry stood, “Thanks, Draco, but I think you have more important things to worry about than another Potter,” he started with a smirk that would rival Draco’s.
“What’s that,” Draco had answered with a smirk of his own.
The grin spread across Harry’s face, “Well, Emily may have saved you from Molly trying to marry me and Ginny off, but now she'll be hounding you to provide her with more grandchildren,” he laughed, “I’ve done my bit so she’s off our case now, and you two are the only ones left for her to go after.”
Draco shot a concerned look over at Ginny. Considering her little break down over that very subject almost a month ago, he didn’t know how she would react to Harry’s unknowing statement.
To his surprise, Ginny had been laughing so hard that she was leaning against Jade, who sat next to her on the sofa, tears running down her face from her laughter. He had laughed then and walked over to his wife, grabbing her hand and starting to walk her towards the foyer. Wiping her eyes, Ginny had asked him what he was doing.
With an evil grin on his face, he looked back at their friends, “Well, Potter presents a very good point. So if you will all excuse us I’m going to take my wife home and get to work at remedying the situation."
Everyone had burst out laughing as Draco started pulling Ginny out of the room, her face scarlet red. Fred and George had been rolling on the floor at Draco’s announcement.
Ginny had stopped and hissed at them, “I don’t know what you two are laughing at, as you’ve yet to even marry Melody and Daphne. Not only will she be after you for weddings, but she won’t even give you time to breathe before the demands for grandbabies start."
She was satisfied when they not only stopped laughing, but also got sick looks on their faces. That caused their fiancées to start yelling at them for bringing down the wrath of Molly Weasley upon them. Head high, Ginny had then yanked Draco by his arm as she turned and stomped out of the room.
In the foyer, he had helped Ginny with her cloak and then wrapped her in his arms, “Gods, I love you, woman,” he'd whispered, and then bent down to kiss her, Apparating them home.
Walking into their bedroom, he instantly felt the emptiness emanating from the room. Looking around, he saw that the fire was still burning in the fireplace and that the table had been set for their dinner.
The candles on the table had burned down about halfway. He saw her plate where her food had been pushed around but not eaten. On his plate, there was smoldering ashes of something and he picked up the card that was singed around the edges.
Opening the card, he saw her neat handwriting: ‘To Draco, with all my love, Ginny’. He swallowed hard, feeling like his heart was in his throat. Not for the first time that night, he felt real fear in his gut.
Feeling his legs go out on him he lowered himself to the chair. He bent over and put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. He actually felt sick. Why hadn’t he just come up and explained to her what was going on?
He knew why, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself. His wife was the Gryffindor, not him. He wanted to put off telling her about the discovery that they had made on the trip to Egypt. He knew that it was going to hurt her badly, and he'd wanted to put that off as long as possible.
He had half of the British wizarding world looking for his wife. When he'd seen her disappear, he had just stared at the space where she had been a second before, and then turned to the two men that were like brothers to him, “You have to help me find her before he does!”
Hearing the door open, he looked up, hoping for just a second that it was her. When he saw that it was Blaise, he lowered his head again. Just a few minutes ago, Jade and Pansy had threatened to knock him out if he didn’t go and get some sleep.
"Here, Jade sent me up with this."
“I don’t need a sleeping potion, Blaise,” he growled.
“If you don’t take it, she'll come up here and knock you out, most likely the muggle way. This is just a mild dreamless sleep potion, just so you can get a few hours of sleep,” Blaise explained. “So get a few hours rest, and if we haven’t found her, then you’ll be rested when we go looking for her again.”
“He’s not kidding when he says that those two will knock you out if you don’t take it. I was told to come back with an empty glass or they were coming up,” Anton called from the doorway. “Take it, you need the rest. In the morning we'll head out again.”
Looking up at his two closest friends, his brothers, he sighed then took the glass and tossed it back like a shot, “Thanks, I don’t know what I’d do without you two.”
Blaise and Anton hauled him up and helped him to bed, “We’ll find her Draco,” began Anton. “We won’t let anything happen to her,” finished Blaise as Draco drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny reappeared right outside of W3, and after looking around to see if anyone was watching her, she unlocked the door to the stairs that led to the apartment above Fred & George's store. Even though it had been years ago that she had worked for her brothers, the wards around W3 were still tuned to her.
She slipped the key in the door and whispered the spell to unlock it. When she heard the audible click, she turned the knob and looked around once again before going in and locking the door behind her.
What she hadn’t seen was the wizard in a black cloak, hood up, who had heard the ‘pop’ of her Apparating and slid back into the shadows to see who it was that appeared by the Weasley twins' store. She couldn’t see the evil smile that crossed the man’s face, or know that he was thinking that his luck had just changed.
She had thought about going to her friends, knowing that Jade, Pansy and Emily would have welcomed her. But she also knew that her friends would demand explanations that she was not prepared to give right now. She just wanted to be alone and get her temper under control.
Looking around her brother’s apartment-turned-testing lab, she noticed that the former living room had been turned into a potions lab. She knew that when they'd bought the land that their two houses now stood on, they had thought about renting it out at first but had decided that it would server better as an expanded lab.
Well, that and the fact that Melody and Daphne had both put their feet down, decreeing that no experiments would be conducted in their houses. They still kept beds in the apartment when experiments were unable to be interrupted, and one or the other would spend the night.
She dropped her bag on the bed and pulled out her shampoo, conditioner, soap and toothbrush. Going into the bathroom and began getting ready for bed, after a short shower she brushed her teeth and returned to the bedroom.
Pulling on one of Draco’s old T-shirts and a pair of his pajama pants, she rolled up the waist and then pointed her wand at the fireplace to start a fire. Climbing into bed, she felt the exhaustion take over her.
Half an hour later, she was still laying there staring at the ceiling. Despite her body being tired, her mind just wouldn’t shut down. Sitting up and grabbing her purse, she pulled out the picture from her desk and hugged it to her.
She knew that she was being unreasonable, but she just felt like being mad at Draco for screwing up her plans so badly, which was completely stupid on her part because he had no idea what was going on, thus the plans. Now surrounded by his scent that clung to his shirt, all she wished was that she was back home in his arms.
For a couple of minutes, she thought about just getting up and going back home, and she actually started to get up, but changed her mind and laid back down. Knowing Draco, he was bound to be very angry with her, and with her temper finally soothed, she was afraid to go back home just to have them argue.
She decided that sending him an owl in the morning to let him know where she was and that she was coming home was the best choice, sort of a preemptive apology. With a plan in mind, she was finally able to relax.
Looking at the picture again in the firelight, she traced Draco with her finger and whispered, “I’m sorry for being so stupid, Draco. I love you,” she then kissed his picture and hugged it to her chest again as she drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~
The wizard who had observed the Weasley’s sister enter the rooms above their store had grinned when he saw her. A plan formed in his head. His previous plan may have failed spectacularly, but this would be even better.
His burning desire to destroy the last Malfoy consumed him. And by taking him down, he would also destroy the Weasley family, which had turned traitor when they allowed their daughter to marry Lucius’ heir. All of their newfound wealth would quickly disappear, leaving them ruined as well.
Two years of hard work had been destroyed when his scheme had been discovered just weeks short of having everything in place to destroy the glory that Draco had brought back to the Malfoy name since the end of the war.
Two years since he had first heard the discrete inquiries at the Ministry from the families of former Death Eaters trying to preserve precious family heirlooms considered to be dark artifacts. How to get them out of the country safely without discovery by the MLE.
Under heavy disguise, he had made all of the arraignments for the shipment of those items out of England using Malfoy’s import/export companies and had begun a paper trail that would lead to Draco and his two partner’s doorstep. When he would have presented the irrefutable proof of Malfoy’s involvement to the Wizengamot, they would have had no choice but to arrest and imprison Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy’s fall from grace would have been complete, proving once and for all that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, that all Malfoy’s were evil, dark wizards no matter what side of the war they fought on. Then his pretty little wife, being the good witch that she was and part of Potter’s surrogate family, would have had to abandon her husband head hung in shame.
And that would have been the final destruction of Draco Malfoy, last of the Malfoy line. For it is well documented that Malfoy’s only fall in love and marry once. His wife, despite being a Weasley and their known ability to reproduce, had not provided the young Malfoy with an heir, thus it would be the end of one of the oldest pureblood lines in wizarding Britain. A fitting end to his mind, considering what they had taken from him.
Deciding that he could get a few hours sleep before he put his plan into action, he went back to his rooms in the Leaky Cauldron. He wanted to be well rested when he set in motion the destruction of the man that he despised.
It was just past five in the morning when the wizard returned to his hiding spot across the street from W3. Watching the occasional drunken wizard stagger down the street, for the Leaky Cauldron never closed, he waited until the street was clear. Looking up and down the street again, not seeing anyone, the lone figure slipped from the shadows and made his way across the still, dark and deserted street.
Slipping back into the shadows, he walked towards the door on the side of the building that led to a stairway to the rooms above the store. Stopping and watching for any movement from the street, the wizard slipped a key from the pocket of his black cloak.
Just as he was about to slip the key in the lock, loud laughter from the street stopped him, causing him to flatten himself against the building. A group of people turned down the street that he had just left, heading towards a section of the alley where flats were available for lease or purchase.
Scowling, the wizard thought venomously, another great idea of the ‘Great Draco Malfoy and Malfoy Industries’. The wizard’s bitter jealously didn’t allow him to realize that the idea had been the brainchild of one Arthur Weasley when he had realized how hard it was for his children’s friends to find places to live in wizarding London. It was just Draco’s company that had assisted in getting the project off the ground.
When Fred and George had heard many muggleborns complaining that they couldn’t use the muggle appliances that they had grown up with in wizarding communities, they had formed a partnership with Malfoy industries to modify the appliances so that they would be powered by magic.
Not only had the Weasley girl married the young Malfoy heir, but four of the six brothers had approved of the relationship. The only hold out was the youngest boy, Ron, and the third oldest brother, Percy. How could generations of hatred between the families be overcome so easily? Even the mother had finally accepted Malfoy as her son-in-law when Harry Potter had married her brother’s daughter, officially making him family.
His and Ron’s friendship had suffered some over the years since his marriage to his cousin. Emily Potter had lived with the Malfoy’s during the war and had fallen in love the first time she had met the man who finally defeated Voldemort. Harry Potter had fallen just as fast, and the autumn after the end of the war, they had married at the Malfoy estate.
But even the youngest Weasley male was known to play Quidditch with the strange group of friends on weekends. So though the youngest boy may not like Malfoy, he made an effort for the sake of family harmony. Mrs. Malfoy had not spoken with the third brother, Percy, since he had vocally disapproved of her relationship with Malfoy, and then made a subsequent attempt to talk some sense into his sister shortly after their marriage.
Once the sounds of the group of people moved further down the street and finally disappeared all together, the wizard looked around again. The one thing that could give him some leverage with Malfoy and the authorities who were now after him, no thanks to the Weasley’s, Potter, and Malfoy himself, was asleep in the building that he was trying to get into.
Seeing that no one was about, the wizard once again went to the door, this time pushing the key into the lock and whispering the long time Weasley family unlocking spell. Not knowing about the additional wards around the building to prevent theft from the competition, the wizard was thrown back into the side of the building next door by a loud blast.
The wizard wheezed due to the air being knocked out of him. When the wizard got his breath back, he realized that he had at least a couple broken ribs and a burn on his hand where the key had melted into it.
Waiting to see if the woman upstairs came out, the wizard sat against the building next door with his wand at the ready. A light came on upstairs, but soon the alarms were silenced. And soon the lights were turned back off.
When the woman never appeared at the door, the wizard slunk further into the shadows, ignoring his injuries and trying to decide how to get to Malfoy’s wife. He decided that he would just have to wait until she came out in the morning, and he would grab her then.
~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~
It was a little before five in the morning when Jade Zabini woke up. Her husband’s snore was what did it, and he must have truly been tired if he was snoring, though he’d deny it to his dying breath. She had been so tired the night before that she hadn't thought she would wake up before noon. But that wasn't true, since tired or not, she was surprised that she had slept at all.
Her best friend, no, her sister, was missing and she couldn’t figure out what would have caused her to leave like she did. Before falling into an exhausted sleep last night, she had been in a constant state of motion, ever since her husband had Apparated back home last night hollering for her.
She had not answered him right away when he'd called for her, since she was more than a little pissed off at him. He had been gone all week in Egypt, since last Sunday night Anton had declared that there was a situation in Egypt that required that he, Blaise and Draco make an unscheduled trip.
They had left Sunday night and had promised to be back by Friday, but didn’t get home until Saturday night. She had no more than gotten him in her arms, attacking his lips, when the floo had burst to life and he was called away again. Someone was going to pay for the interruption, but since Blaise was the only one available at the time, her temper had been directed at him.
But when he called out for her again, she heard the panic in his voice, and since Blaise never panics, that got her attention. She went out to the foyer to see what was the matter, when he had grabbed her and hugged her, before pushing her back and asking if Ginny had come to see her.
When she told him that she hadn’t seen Ginny all day, he'd cursed and then called for their house elf. He told the elf that if Mrs. Malfoy was to show up to keep her there and then notify him at the Malfoy’s home. He’d then wrapped his arms around her and Apparated them to Malfoy Manor.
When they had landed in the Malfoy’s foyer, she had just started to demand that he explain what was going on when they heard the sound someone else Apparating into the foyer. Pansy could be heard cursing a blue streak at her husband and demanding an explanation from Anton.
When Draco walked into the foyer, Jade could see that he looked like hell. With a look at Pansy, she and Jade took over, leading the men to Draco’s study where they found Harry and Emily Potter already sitting. Emily was staring daggers at her husband.
Pansy called for the house elf and ordered tea and sandwiches for everyone. When the tea arrived, Pansy poured while Jade mixed firewhiskey into the men’s before giving it to them, and Emily pushed sandwiches into each of the men’s hands. The three women took their tea and sat together on the couch. Jade uttered a simple but forceful, "Explain".
Between them, the four men told them about the events of the last week and the discovery of smuggled dark artifacts using the Malfoy shipping companies. They explained the sting that was organized with the cooperation of the MLE, but most importantly, who the person behind the whole operation was.
When they finally got through the entire story, it turned out that the reason they had been called away that night was because the wizard behind the whole operation had escaped, and the three women where shocked. It was then that they grasped how important it was that Ginny be found right away.
That’s when they took over organizing the search, sending owls and making floo calls to anyone and everyone that they could think of, freeing up the men to go search. Within half an hour, Melody and Daphne had joined them at Malfoy Manor while their fiancées joined the search for their sister.
It was after midnight when they had finally been able to convince their husbands/fiancées to get some sleep. Well…not convince, but threatening bodily harm and to withhold sex did make them see things their way.
Knowing that the men would be waking up soon and would try to go back out looking without eating, Jade made her way to the kitchens to get the elves to start breakfast and set it up buffet style in the dining room. They would have no excuse to leave before eating if it was ready and waiting for them. Getting a cup of tea for herself, she made her way to Draco’s study.
Sitting in front of the fire, she tried to think of where her friend might be. It just wasn’t like Ginny to take off the way she did. Sure, she was a Weasley and had a terrible temper, but she was also the levelheaded one of their group. Often, it was Ginny who saved some poor soul from Jade and Pansy’s fiery tempers.
Suddenly, she got an idea, and setting down her tea, she went into Ginny’s study. Taking a piece of parchment from the side drawer, she wrote out a note and sealed it. Walking to Ginny’s owl, she coaxed her awake. Draco had bought the eagle owl for Ginny before her last year of Hogwarts.
Telling Sabra that she was counting on her to find Ginny and that they needed to warn her of danger, the possessive owl stuck out its leg and allowed her to tie the letter to it. She looked at Jade as if telling her that she knew right where to go, and Jade somehow believed that she just might.
Heading back to Draco’s study, she sat and finished her tea. When she started to nod off again, she decided to go back to bed and get a little more sleep. The clock in the foyer chimed half past the hour just as she started back up the stairs. She was nearly to the top of the stairs when the sound of a house elf Apparating into the manor caused her to turn around.
Hurrying back down the stairs, she saw that the two elves were Fred and George’s. Both elves began talking at the same time, and unable to understand them, she ordered them both to be quiet.
“Now, will one of you please tell me what you need,” she demanded.
The elves looked at each other, then the smaller one spoke, “I needs to inform Mr. Wheezy that the wards were disturbed at the store and set off the alarms.”
“Both of you wait here.” Jade ran up the stairs to the rooms where the twins were sleeping.
Knocking loudly on the door where Fred was sleeping, she opened it without further delay. “FRED, wake up and get out here, NOW.” Slamming the door behind her, she ran down the hall, doing the same when she got to George’s room.
Hurrying back down the stairs, she saw that Pansy and Emily must have come from the kitchens, as they both had a cup of tea and were questioning the house elves. She was almost to the bottom when Sabra landed on Emily’s shoulder. Handing her tea to Emily, Pansy removed the letter from her leg. It was addressed to Draco and in Ginny’s handwriting.
By that time, Fred and George were already coming down the stairs with Draco, Blaise, Anton and Harry following closely behind. They had all been woken up by the yelling and the slamming doors. Melody and Daphne brought up the rear, pulling their robes on as they ran down the hall towards the stairs.
“Draco, you have an owl from Ginny!” Pansy hollered up at him.
Draco flew down the stairs past everyone else and grabbed the letter from Pansy. As he scanned the letter, the relief on his face was visible, but as he read down farther, the worry started to come back.
At the same time, Fred and George were talking with their house elves, listening to them tell how the ward alarms had gone off at the store, but how soon after, they had stopped. Since they had been ordered to report anything unusual, the elves had come right over.
“Draco, does Ginny say where she is?” George asked after dismissing the elves.
“Someone attempted to breech the wards at the store this morning,” Fred finished.
Draco finished the letter and started back up the stairs, “Get dressed. She stayed in your old apartment above the store last night, she said that the alarms went off this morning, and she also heard a blast coming from the alleyway by the stairs. She said that she would wait for us to come get her, and for us to use the front entrance."
Five minutes later found everyone dressed and in the foyer, and Molly and Arthur had just Apparated in after Emily had flooed to let them know that Ginny had been found.
When Molly and the other women insisted on coming along, it was decided that they would approach the store from two directions. Arthur had called in Tonks and Remus just in case there was trouble, it would be good to have another Auror present. Tonks and Remus would lead Molly, Pansy, Jade, Emily, Daphne and Melody, and they would Apparate to Diagon Alley by Gringotts while Draco, Arthur, Blaise, Anton, Fred, George and Harry would Apparate in by the Leaky Cauldron and approach from that direction.
Draco, Fred and George would go into the store to retrieve Ginny and everyone else would cover them. After they got Ginny out of there, they would then check out the alleyway entrance.
With their plans finalized everyone Apparated to their spots and started the walk towards W3.
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The sound of a blast and the store’s alarms going off tore Ginny out of sleep. It was still dark outside; grabbing her wand, she turned on the lights and made her way to the control panel to turn off the alarms and reset the wards. Then calling herself an idiot for turning on the lights, she doused them.
Crap, what was she thinking, whoever had tried to breech the wards had probably seen the light come on. The blast had sounded like it had come from the alleyway, and not willing to go check it out by herself, anybody could be hiding there in the dark. She sent a more complex locking charm towards the door from the stairs.
Oh, why hadn’t she just gone home last night? She had a very bad feeling about all of this. She could be at home, asleep and tucked in next to Draco in their nice warm bed.
She needed a plan, but first she went back to the bedroom and got dressed. She needed to get an owl to Draco, but that required leaving the store. Since the owl post office was right next to the Leaky Cauldron, she may as well just go there and floo home. Feeling better about having a plan, she now just had to get out of the store undetected in case whoever had triggered the wards was still about.
Shrinking her bag and putting it in the pocket of her cloak, she was about to slip down the stairs that led to the store when an owl flew through the window, the glass reappearing after the owl passed through. It was Sabra, her eagle owl, and holding out her arm for the beautiful bird that Draco had bought for her, she removed the letter tied to her leg.
Opening the letter, she looked at the signature, wondering why Jade had used Sabra to send her a letter.
'Dear Ginny,
You knucklehead, leave it to you to get pissed off and take off at the worst possible time. Wherever you are, stay put and send Sabra back to let us know where you are. We will come and get you. If you can, stay out of sight, and I know that this won’t make any sense, but if you happen to run into Percy, stay the hell away from him. Do not go anywhere with him. Please, don’t question me, Draco will explain once you are back home.
Love You,
Jade.'
What the hell is she talking about, stay away from Percy? She hadn’t seen him in months, and why would she need to stay away from her own brother? Hell, she hadn’t spoken with him unless it was absolutely necessary for several years now. He had made his opinion on her marriage to Draco quite clear.
Tearing the bottom of the parchment off, she scribbled a note to Draco telling him that she was at the store. With the strange warning in mind, she told him about the blast and about someone trying to get in through the alleyway entrance. She also told him that she would wait for him by the store entrance. Adding an apology, she told him she loved him and for him to hurry.
Tying the letter to Sabra’s leg, she sent her out the window after telling her to go as fast as she could. Slipping down the stairs, she peaked out the front window, not seeing anyone, but she still moved back to where she could watch the street but no one could see her if they were watching.
Looking at her watch, she tried to guess how long it would take Sabra to get back to the manor. It was quite far from London, but eagle owls were very fast birds. Still, she wasn’t sure how long she’d have to wait.
Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was starting to get antsy. She couldn’t get the warning that Jade had sent her out of her head. There was no love lost between Jade and her brother, but she would never say anything like that unless something had happened. But what?
Checking her watch again, she saw that it had only been five minutes since she’d last checked. Getting up and looking out the window, she thought she saw movement coming from the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. Holding her breath, she waited for whomever it was to get closer.
Just as the sun started to break over the city, she saw Draco walking quickly towards the store. She saw that he had her father, Blaise, Anton, Fred, George, and Harry with him. What in the hell was going on?
Suddenly, the uneasy feeling she’d had earlier returned with a vengeance. She could see that Draco, Fred and George were continuing towards the store while the others were spreading out across the street. A crash from the storeroom caused her to jump as the store alarms went off again.
Running to the front door, she fumbled with the key, trying to get it in the lock to let herself out. Hearing footsteps coming from the back, she finally got the key in the lock and turned it.
Pulling the door open, she ran out yelling to Draco that someone was in the store. She saw Draco running towards her, he was still about a hundred yards away as she ran out the door, and just as she was about to step into the street, she felt someone grab her cloak and yank her backwards.
Tripping as she fell, she released a startled yelp as she was slammed back into a hard body. A strong arm held her in a vice-like grip, the cool wood of a wand digging into her neck.
She heard Draco yell, “GINNY!”
Then an all-too-familiar voice called out from behind her, “Stop right there, Malfoy. Imagine what a severing charm would do to your pretty little wife.”
“Percy,” she gasped, “What are you doing, why are you doing this?”
Draco stopped running but continued moving forward slowly, “Percy, let her go, you don’t want to hurt her, it’s me that you want."
As Draco was talking, the other men moved forward, forming a semi-circle behind him. Facing the front of the store, she then she saw her mother, Jade, Pansy, Melody, Daphne, Emily, Remus and Tonks complete the semi-circle, cutting off any escape. Using Ginny as a shield, Percy began backing up with the store at his back.
Ginny began to panic when he wrapped his hand around her throat, cutting off her air. “Percy, please,” she whispered, “let me go.”
“SHUT UP! You fucking bitch,” he screamed in her ear as his hand tightened further, “this is all your fault. You just had to go and marry that bastard didn’t you?"
“Percy, let your sister go right now!” Their mother shouted.
“You of all people should understand why I’m doing this,” he shouted back at her. “You fought her, forbid her to see him, and yet in the end, you gave in just like the rest of them. The Malfoy’s need to be destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth."
Ginny could feel his body trembling with rage, and his grip on her throat would tighten and then relax, allowing her to get some much needed air. She raised her eyes to look at her husband; his eyes were nearly black with rage.
He took another step forward with his wand raised. “I said let her go, Percy,” his deep voice growled at her brother.
Wrapping his other arm around her body, Percy pulled her farther back against his own. “I told you to stop, Malfoy,” his grip tightened again, completely cutting off her air. “Or I’ll snap her neck right now.”
Draco stopped when he saw Ginny’s hands clawing at her brother’s, and he backed up until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Arthur Weasley had stepped up behind his son-in-law and put his hand on his shoulder. “Percy, loosen your grip and let Ginny breathe.” He said in a calm voice. “Now.”
Years of training to listen to his father caused Percy to loosen his grip just enough for Ginny to start coughing as she tried to pull air into her oxygen-deprived body.
“Thank you, Percy,” Arthur continued in his calm, fatherly voice. “Now, why would you even consider harming your sister? Draco has taken very good care of her and proven himself to be a good man. Why do you continue to hold a grudge against him?"
It really was strange, Ginny thought, how time really seemed to slow down, and she'd seriously only thought that it happened in stories, but it truly seemed to be moving at a snail's pace. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen to her brain that was causing the shift, but it was strange nonetheless.
The entire time her father had been talking, Ginny had been trying to fill her lungs, her eyes never leaving Draco’s. She mouthed ‘I’m Sorry’ to him; she could see the fear in his dark eyes before they hardened again and moved back to the man behind her.
Ginny could feel the tension in her brother’s body as he listened to their father talk. She could feel his hand tightening and relaxing as if it were itching to squeeze the air right out of her.
It was a stalemate, really. He had nowhere to go except back into the store, but there was no way to escape once inside. He could try to Apparate them out of there, but seeing Tonks and Remus out in front of her, she was sure that they had cast an anti-Apparation ward around the store.
Feeling his grip tightening again, she knew that if she didn’t do something herself, her own brother might just snap her neck or choke her to death. She tried to catch Draco’s eye, but he was still focused on the man behind her.
Looking out, she saw her friends standing there, wands raised but unable to do anything. Catching Jade and Pansy’s eyes, she hoped that they could read the message she was trying to send them. Both girls' eyes seemed to widen and then they looked at each other before both gave a slight nod of their heads, letting her know that they knew she was up to something.
“Proven himself my ass, he’s a Malfoy and they're all evil.” Percy bit out. “It was his father who captured Penelope, who turned her over to the Death Eaters that raped her repeatedly and then put her under the Cruciatus curse until her mind broke,” he had gotten louder and louder as he talked. “She is at St. Mungo’s as we speak, in the same ward as Longbottom’s parents, nothing more than a vegetable." His breathing was ragged by the time he finished, and then he moaned. “His father took away the only woman I ever loved, and he,” nodding at Draco, “took away my only sister."
Shock was written on everyone’s faces. They had all thought that he and Penny had simply broken up. He had never said anything; he'd just quit speaking about her, looking very depressed. Their mother had told them to leave him alone, that if he wanted to talk about it, he would. So no one had ever asked him what had happened to his long-time girlfriend. How had she never heard about it? She worked at the hospital, for heavens sakes, and yet she'd never known.
Draco recovered first, and he lowered his wand a bit. “Percy, I’m deeply sorry for what my father did, but I’m not him and that is your sister that you're hurting. Please, I beg of you, let her go and I’ll let you have your revenge."
Ginny felt Percy shaking with rage. “You're damn right I’ll have my revenge. I’ll see you destroyed the same way your father and his friends destroyed me.” Percy growled in a voice that she no longer recognized, and she felt his hand tighten around her throat once again. “I’ll take away the love of your life just as mine was taken from me. After marrying you, she is no longer a sister of mine."
Then he began crushing her windpipe, and with tears rolling down her cheeks, she began to see stars. ‘No,’ she screamed in her mind. They were having a baby, and she would not lose her husband or let Percy do this to her. As pandemonium broke out around her, she used the last of her energy to free herself.
She slumped forward as if she were unconscious, which she nearly was. When she felt Percy’s weight shift forward with her sudden movement, she planted both feet on the ground and pushed up, using her momentum and throwing her head back into his jaw. Twisting as she came up, she slammed the elbow of her free arm into his diaphragm.
Her upwards movement combined with his downward momentum was enough to break his grip around her throat as his body was thrown backwards by her elbow. She then pulled her feet completely off the ground, causing all of her body weight to force his other arm to release her.
She landed hard on her hands and knees when she heard Jade and Pansy yell, “Expelliarmus!" She crawled forward to get out of the way of the spells that she knew would start flying in her direction.
Then she heard three loud voices behind her yell,“Stupify”, and she turned around to see Percy’s body fly towards her and land just in front of her. She looked up to see Ron, Charlie and Bill walk out of the store, wands still pointed at the unconscious body of their brother.
“Ginny,” she turned to see her husband beside her, “oh gods, Ginny, are you okay?” He asked as he gathered her up in his arms, rocking her back and forth.
Looking up at him, she saw the tears falling down his cheeks, and reaching up, she wiped his tears off his face and sobbed, “Oh, Draco, I’m so sorry."
He pressed her to his chest, and her hand slid to his neck, holding onto him as he bent and kissed the top of her head, “Shhh, it’s okay, love, I’ve got you, it will be alright, I’ve got you, you're safe,” he buried his face in her hair.
“Son,” she heard her father say, “let’s get her to St. Mungo’s and get her check out.” She could feel her mother hugging her from behind, murmuring, “My baby,” over and over.
“NO,” she said in a hoarse voice, holding tighter to Draco. “I just want to go home”.
“Ginny,” her mother protested. “You need to be looked at by a healer,” she tried to convince her.
Shaking her head against Draco’s chest, she said, “No, I just want to go home.” Looking up at her husband, she whispered, “Please, Draco, just take me home, I have an awful headache, please."
Stormy grey eyes ran over her face, “Okay, but only if you let me get a healer to come to the manor,” he said as his hand wiped the tears from her face, "Okay?"
“I don’t care,” she buried her face in his chest again. “You can call for Susan when we get there; I just want to go home."
Draco stood, picking her up off the ground and holding her tight. With his wife secure in his arms, he announced that he was taking her home, and then Apparated them back to Malfoy Manor.
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A/N: I have to thank dracademented for allowing me to play with her OC’s from her story ‘Unexpected’, Thank you darling for everything!!!!! Anton, Melody and Daphne are her characters and I’ve enjoyed playing with them, go read her story and fall in love with them also.
Jade is mine, well kind of, it’s complicated, as well as Emily who you will learn more about another time.
A/N II: I hope that the length of this chapter made up for the wait, I have never written more than 7 or 8 pages and this one ended at 22 +, I have all new respect for other authors who put out huge chapters, it’s hard work.
All mistakes are mine and I hope you don’t find many.
Please Review….I love to read your comments and thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, you’re the best!!!!!!!!!
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