Ginny woke in a strange room, in a strange bed, Draco Malfoy snoring on a cot next to her. His mouth hung open, slightly askew, drool trailing out onto his pillow. She couldn’t stop her snicker. So dignified.

As she watched him, one eye cracked open. An unreserved smile lit his face as his gaze met hers. “Hey, you,” Ginny said lazily.

At the sound of her voice, Draco shot into an upright position, fully awake. “Ginny! How do you feel?”

“Much better, I think.” As she said it, she twisted to face him. Pain flared across her stomach, radiating up her left side. With some trepidation, she pulled up the edge of her shirt, needing, but not wanting, to see how bad it was. She was greeted by an oozing mass of raw flesh. The skin bubbled around the edges, bruised and yellowed.

“It’s… not so bad,” Draco said, voice tight. “You’ll be back up and about in no time.”

Ginny allowed herself a small laugh, surprised that it hurt less than she might have expected. “You’re a terrible liar, you know that?”

“Hermione did put dittany on it,” he replied, taking on a more sober tone. “And she would have Flooed you to St. Mungo’s if she hadn’t been able to handle it.”

Ginny nodded, pleasantly surprised to see Draco's newfound respect for Hermione. “It’s why I came here. I knew whatever was going on, Hermione would be able to handle it. Or, at least, better than anyone else would,” she corrected.

Draco nodded easily, again surprising her. He gestured to the stacks of odd crates and half-finished gadgets strewn about the floor, on the table at the foot of the bed, and mixed in among the multiple bookcases along the walls. “Are we…?”

“Above Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.”

“So this is where the magic starts,” he chuckled.

“Draco,” Ginny started hesitantly, “any word from the others? You know, Blaise--”

“No word.” His face drew tight. “Not yet.”

Concern lit her face. "Your mother?"

He smiled at that. "She's fine. In Argentina, actually, and plans to stay there for as long as it takes."

That was good news, at least. She couldn't tell how Draco was holding up, with his house compromised, but at least he didn't have to worry about his mother. "There are only four of us left on active duty." Immediately, realization dawned and a dreaded thought clenched at her throat. "How will we tell the team?" she whispered. "

Draco dropped flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Haven't the faintest."

A soft knock came on the door, Hermione pushing it open. "Sounded like you were awake," she smiled. Hermione and Fred walked around to the side of the bed that didn't have Draco's cot. Self-conscious, he instantly sat up.

Fred tried to look unconcerned, but worry lines furrowed between his eyes. "Scared us a bit last night, Gin."

Ginny shrugged as well as she could. "Consider it retaliation for you scaring us at the Battle of Hogwarts. Is there any more you can do, Hermione?"

She nodded, pulling out her wand, and murmuring a few spells. The skin writhed and itched terribly, but nothing like the pain from the night before. Putting her wand away, she added, "That should be the last round. Put some more dittany on it once the bubbling goes down, and you should be back to normal."

Stretching experimentally, Ginny was pleased to note how manageable the pain was now. Draco, Fred, and Hermione all tensed as Ginny levered herself into a sitting position against the headboard. "I know my own limits," Ginny responded dryly. All three still watched her with skepticism.

"Any news?" Draco finally asked Hermione.

The witch winced, shaking her head. "Only bad. The Wardbreakers are still over there, and haven't made much progress."

A deep sigh left Draco. "Which means the Death Eaters definitely knew exactly how to take them down."

"They really are impressive wards, though, you were right on that count."

He gave her a withering glare. "So impressive that they held off the enemy for a whole thirty seconds."

Fred scratched his head. "Well you did say they were from Voldemort himself. Wouldn't that be how they were, you know, designed?"

Thankfully, Hermione cut in before Draco could. "Not if he re-keyed them. No one can get through even their own ward if it's been keyed against them." She turned to Draco. "You did re-key it, right?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "We've only re-keyed it about, oh, seventeen times since Voldemort's downfall?"

"Constant vigilance," Ginny smirked.

"For all the good it did," he muttered.

Ginny turned to Hermione. "Who knows about the raid?"

Hermione winced again. "Harry and I have classified the information until we know what's vital, but speculation is running rampant. Every newspaper seems to know about the attack, but reports vary widely even on who survived.”

Even Fred looked impressed by the mess. "People think Malfoy's dead, that he's fled the country, joined Voldemort, everything. Daily Prophet doesn't know what to say, so it's just trying to make him look like the victim."

Draco's brow furrowed. "I am the victim, if you hadn’t noticed."

Fred shrugged off the irrelevant detail.

"We need to talk to the team," Ginny said softly. She wasn't looking forward to it, not one bit, but it had to be done. "They deserve to know the truth."

Draco nodded solemnly. "I do, you mean. You're not going anywhere for a while."

Growling, Ginny swung her legs over the bed.

"Ginny, you shouldn't--" Hermione said.

Still growling, Ginny ignored her. In one great surge, she got to her feet. A bit unsteadily, but Draco grabbed her shoulders.

Looking her straight in her eyes, he pleaded, "Ginny. Stay here."

She ignored him. "Hermione, I'll need to borrow an Auror robe. And Fred, if you don't give me back my wand, I'll hex you so hard afterwards that you'll see the inside of your own skull."

Fred assumed a look of feigned innocence. "What makes you think I have it, Gin?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't be the first time. Give it."

No one moved.

Hermione turned out to be the bravest. "Ginny, stay and rest up. The squad can function without you for one day."

Anger and grief mixed, unbidden, as Ginny fought to keep her composure. "The squad just lost two members. Like everything else wasn’t enough, we're down to four now. There won't BE a squad tomorrow." Ginny was greeted by silence from the rest of the room. Draco's carefully guarded expression spoke for him. He'd already realized. She turned back to Hermione and Fred. "Now, I will Floo to Madame Malkin's in my pajamas if I have to, wandless and all, or you can treat me like an adult and help me."

Without a word, Fred handed back her wand.

Resigned, Hermione turned to Draco. "Don't let her Apparate. Use the Floo when possible, Side-Along Apparate her if you have to." Draco nodded, and Hermione turned to Ginny. "Be. Careful."

Ginny smiled, hoping no one realized she might fall over at any second. "As careful as I always am."

Oddly enough, no one found that reassuring.

 

 

 

The Auror Floo luckily wasn't far from their Training Room. Draco kept an arm wrapped around Ginny as she walked as fast as she could manage. Still, it wasn't fast enough. Heads turned as they passed the few rooms and offices. At least it might fix the worst of the rumors, but there was no telling.

Outside the Training Room, Draco paused, taking a deep breath. Ginny watched him silently. Steeling himself, he shoved open the doors.

Warrington draped across a chair, drumming with his wand. Daphne...a fist clenched around Draco’s heart just looking at her. She perched on the edge of her seat, shooting up at the first sound of the door.

Eagerly, she peered past Draco and Ginny as they entered, searching. Finally, slowly, her gaze turned to Draco. “Where’s Blaise?” she asked. Every muscle in her face held taut as she waited for the answer.

“Blaise and Goyle were captured last night. By Death Eaters,” came Draco’s simple reply. As Daphne stood in shock, Draco guided Ginny to a chair. Daphne’s wrath would come, and he couldn’t risk Ginny receiving any of it. Warrington ceased his drumming, watching Draco with face blank.

Pronouncing every word with exacting precision, Daphne asked, “Where is he now?” Her eyes never left Draco’s face for an instant.

“I don’t know yet,” he said carefully. “We -- Ginny and I -- managed to capture a Death Eater, so there’s a chance he’ll know.”

She lifted her chin in the air, knuckles white on a wand he hadn’t seen her draw. “And why aren’t we interrogating him right now?”

“Harry already is,” Ginny replied quietly.

“Why aren’t we?” Daphne insisted.

Draco steeled himself. “Because we’re being disbanded.”

“WHAT?!” Pure fury exploded from her.

Ginny, seated while Daphne towered in rage, still met her gaze. “We’re under five members. At this size, we’d be a liability in battle, not an asset. They’ll split Slytherin Squad and divide us up among the other standing squads.”

Daphne blinked hard. Looking away, she took a minute to compose herself. “We’ll still be chasing Blaise and Goyle, right?” she finally managed.

Slowly, Draco shook his head. “It’s not likely. It’s the most dangerous case right now, so it’ll be senior squads only. And as you and Warrington are fairly fresh out of training…”

“We’ll be on a junior squad, guarding some monument,” she replied, all emotion gone.

He could only nod.

“And after you and Weasley find them?” Warrington asked. “We come back?”

“Potentially,” Ginny said. “But for all we know, it could be a while before we get them back.”

Daphne’s face contorted as she looked away. Even as she tried to hide it, tears poured unmistakably down her cheeks.

“I’ll keep both of you informed of everything I learn.” Draco gave them the only thing he could. “But I don’t know if I’ll even be on one of the squads.”

“You will be,” Ginny said softly.

Surprised at her surety, he turned to her.

She just shrugged. “Harry offered me my choice of any squad, and I’m not going to one you’re not on. Or one that isn’t chasing Blaise and Goyle.”

Draco could only stare, grateful once again. “But aren’t you on medical leave?”

Ginny waved his concern away. “I’ll be fine in a few days. You can last that long on a squad without me, right?”

“It had better be more than a few days,” Draco insisted. He’d seen the severity of her injury, and started to realize why her family was being so protective of her.

Warrington tilted his head. “What’s this?”

Ginny sighed. “I splinched myself in the raid on Malfoy Manor. It won’t be bad for much longer.”

“No, not serious at all!” Draco said, exasperated. “Only right across all your vital organs!”

But Ginny’s attention wasn’t on him anymore. Instead, she focused on the quietly crying girl behind him.

Ginny stood, trying to hide her wince. “Will you excuse us?” She put a hand on Daphne’s shoulder, guiding her through the sound-proof glass doors into the combat area of their Training Room.

 

 

“I’m fine,” Daphne tried wiping her eyes. “Go be with the rest of the team, I’ll be ok.”

Ginny didn’t believe a word of it. Instead, she sank to the ground behind one of the enormous white blocks used for cover. As an added benefit, it completely hid the view from the doors, giving them privacy. Ginny motioned to the ground next to her. “I’d rather be with the quarter of the team in here.” Reluctantly, Daphne sat.

Both girls awkwardly stared straight ahead. Ginny regretted not getting to know Daphne better before this. “Blaise was ok before I Apparated out.” Daphne spun at this, eyes glued to Ginny’s face. “Captured and bound, but still perfectly intact. He warned Draco to run, I think because they’d kill me. I’m not sure, they re-bound his mouth before Blaise could finish.”

Closing her eyes, the Slytherin girl let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

“Just when he’d gotten better, too.”

Silence stretched, but not so awkwardly as before. “Is there anything I can do for you?” Ginny asked. “A junior squad you’d like to go to? I can’t promise anything for certain, but I will try my hardest.”

Daphne just shook her head. “I never had much patience. I’ll just resign and get it over with.”

That caught Ginny by surprise. “But they won’t let you back in, once we have Blaise!”

“I’m aware of that,” she replied softly. “But I joined to help Slytherin and to stop getting glares from self-righteous witches when I walk down the street. Not to watch everyone I love be destroyed.”

“Won’t guarding a monument at least be better than sitting around waiting, doing nothing?”

Daphne arched one perfect eyebrow. “I’d hex my Captain on the first day. Don’t tell me you don’t know it.”

“Or punch them. You have a mean right-hook.”

That made her smile. Looking down at her hands fiddling with the hem of her robe, she added, “If anyone needs a place to stay, my home’s always open. My parents left Britain after the War, and Astoria has her own place, so it’s just me.” She shrugged. “The wards aren’t Malfoy-level, but they’re the best Blaise could…” She squeezed her eyes shut.

Ginny placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you. That means more than you could know.”

Daphne gave a strangled laugh. “Oh, I know the rate of homelessness on this team. It’s the least I can do.”

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