A/N: Thanks so much for the enthusiastic response! You guys are so great! Therefore, I'm very sorry for my next announcement. School has started again! So my updates won't be coming as close together as they have been. I'll try to set aside time once every couple of weeks to write and post but I'm not making promises.
That said, you don't need to get sad just yet. I went on a writing spree this weekend and got the next 5 chapters done! So it's just a matter of how much time I have for typing for now. Please be patient with me though, as I have a pretty heavy class load as well as work. And if for some reason I don't update for a very long time, don't give up on me! I'll finish this fic! And once school's out in May, I've got two other D/G story ideas floating around that I'd like to write. And maybe a little Booth/Bones Who knows?
Oh and for the purposes of my fic, the offices of the Daily Prophet reside in the Ministry of Magic. I put them on Level 5 with the Department of International Magical Cooperation (at least according to the HP Lexicon), just cuz. So sorry for the really long A/N. On with the show!
"So," Draco said after they'd finished their meals and were headed back to his office. "Have any of your boyfriends cooked you such a delightful meal?" She turned to look up at him. His eyes were focused ahead of him and he wasn't quite smiling.
"No." She said, looking away from him. "But then I haven't had much luck with men." He stopped her at the door to his office by stepping in front of her.
"I don't think," he leaned down and caught her eyes, "that Potter counts as a man." She was off-put for a moment by the serious look on his face but then he smirked and she smiled and shook her head.
"There were others."
"Yes." He opened the door and placed a hand at the small of her back to usher her in past Edie, who was still smiling smugly, and into his office. "I've heard about them." His voice was low and smooth but with an edge of something that Ginny couldn't place, wasn't sure she wanted to place.
"It wasn't always bad." He glanced back at her.
"What?"
"With Brody. I mean, he wasn't always…what he was." His face became unreadable.
"We don't have to talk about this, Red." He said softly, sitting behind his desk. "If you don't want to."
"I want to." He nodded once, stiffly. "He was really nice at first; all candy and flowers and moonlit strolls." She closed her eyes briefly, remembering how it'd been in the beginning. She opened her eyes to find Draco staring down at his hands. She went on. "It started out with a light smack. Just on the shoulder, you know, like 'Cut it out' or something like that. I thought he was just playing around, so I let it go." He looked up at her, his eyes like molten pools of silver.
"Really, Red, you don't have to tell me." 'I don't want to know' was what he meant. Well, he could suck it up and listen.
"I need to tell you Draco." Unshed tears stung the backs of her eyes. Draco nodded. "It didn't come on all at once. He'd grab my arm a little too roughly to get me to listen or he'd tell me to shut up in front of one of our friends. He'd get rough during sex or he'd shove me to get me moving. Little things, you know, things I could write off as a loss of control or too much alcohol. Hermione started to notice. She told me to get out but I was blind to what was happening." She took a deep, shaky breath. "I was so stupid."
"You weren't, Red. You were brave and strong. Stronger than a lot of women I've known. You got out." She nodded slowly.
"One night he came home drunk and smacked me so hard I almost blacked out." Draco's jaw tensed beneath the days' growth of stubble. His eyes seemed to darken. "I left. I apparated to my parents house and never went back. Ron and the twins went to retrieve my stuff. They still won't tell me what they did to him but he was out of work for the next week. I left the ministry shortly after that. I've only seen him in passing since." She turned away from him so he wouldn't see the tears. Not tears of sadness or pain, but tears of regret, of embarrassment. She'd been so weak and stupid. "I'll never let it happen to me again. Not ever."
"No one deserves what he did to you, Red. He was a fucking bastard; A coward of the worst kind, preying on those weaker than him. If I ever got my hands on him…" She heard him stand behind her and then he was at the window, staring down at the alley.
"I should be getting to work." She glanced up at him through her wet lashes but he was focused on something outside the window.
"Alright." He turned and moved back to his desk. "Be careful." He caught her eyes briefly then walked her to the door. "I'll be in touch."
She nodded. "Goodnight, Malfoy." She said softly but she wasn't sure he heard for he simply stepped back into his office and closed the door, leaving her alone in the waiting room.
She stood there a moment, staring at the closed door, wondering what she'd said, what she'd done, why it should matter so much, until someone cleared their throat. She spun to find Draco's secretary smiling at her from behind her desk.
"He's an odd lad." Edie said softly. "Just give him time." She winked, and then stood to open the door to the hall. "You have a good night now, Miss Weasley." Her smile was warm and welcoming as Ginny stepped past her into the hall.
"You…you too."
Work that night was rather uneventful. Ginny closed up with Gareth, Ayer having left sometime around 11. It was Marena's night off.
"You be careful going home now Ginny." Gareth said once they were on the sidewalk outside the Lethe.
"I always am, Gareth." The large man nodded then, with a small wave, turned and headed towards the public floos. Ginny turned and headed in the opposite direction.
She was halfway to the apparition points when she was hit with the horrifying knowledge that she was being followed. She kept walking, slowly, not wanting to let on that she was aware. Her shoes clicked loudly on the cobblestone and she wished that she'd worn flats so that she could better hear anyone approaching.
Her heart pounding somewhere near her throat, she turned down a side alley and stopped just outside the light of the streetlamps, her wand drawn. She had a vague wish that Draco were here, and then she peeked out into the alleyway. It was empty.
She stood there for several moments, watching the shadows for any movement, her heartbeat slowly returning to a more normal pace. Then she leaned back against the wall behind her and took a few deep breaths. It was no one. Only her imagination. Merlin, she was letting these kidnappers get to her. Surely they couldn't have any reason at all to kidnap her, too. She spared another moment for a vague hope that Draco would suddenly pop out and walk her to the apparition point, then she gathered her courage, reminded herself that she was a Gryffindor and a damn fine one at that, and stepped back into the alley. Still empty. She turned and ran, with as much dignity as she could, to the apparition points.
There was another rolled up note on her coffee table when she got home.
Red,
I'm sorry I was so short with you earlier. Yes, yes, I know, a Malfoy apologizing. It must be mighty frosty in hell. I'll call tomorrow around noon to make plans. Be careful.
D. Malfoy
"I've got a new plan." He told her over the phone the next afternoon as she munched on her toasted turkey sandwich.
"Which is?"
"I'm getting to it, Red. We're going to draw them out." Ginny stared down at her sandwich. It didn't seem to know what he was talking about either.
"We're going to what?"
"Here's my plan: we go to the ministry. Pansy has a friend at the Daily Prophet who writes a gossip column." Ginny grinned, no surprise there. "We're going to ask her to get a story out about how close we are to finding Luna."
"But…we're not."
Draco sighed. "I know that, Red, and you know that but the kidnappers don't."
"So what good will it do to tell them we are?" She took another bite of her sandwich and threw the burnt crust in the garbage.
"If they think we're close they'll get desperate, they'll make mistakes, they'll leave clues." Ginny pondered her glass of water.
"If that's what you think we should do…"
"It is."
"Then that's what we'll do. When do you want to go?"
He was quiet for a moment. "How soon can you be ready?" She looked down at herself, still in her pajamas.
"Give me an hour."
"Alright. I'll pick you up." Then he disconnected.
Ginny stepped out of the floo and looked down at herself then back up at Draco who was grinning.
"You suggested the floo just so you could laugh at me." He'd insisted they use the floo in her building's foyer instead of apparating like she'd wanted.
"Would I do such a thing?" He asked with a barely contained chuckle. His own clothes were spotless and unrumpled as always. Prat.
"That is exactly the sort of thing you would do." His smile softened and he aimed his wand at her and muttered a cleaning spell.
"There." She huffed in response and led the way over to the guard who was waiting at the entry desk. They handed their wands over for inspection then made their way to the lifts.
The Atrium was uncharacteristically crowded for this time of day but then, Ginny supposed, people were probably still coming and going on their lunch breaks. The lift they stepped into was equally as crowded and they found themselves hustled to the back of the cart.
Ginny found that she could either take a step forward and risk touching the man in front of her who smelled strangely like tuna and was carrying something in a brown paper bag which seemed to be moving, or step back into Draco. She took a step back and felt Draco's arms come up around her waist as the lift rocked a bit then started its ascent. Draco took his arms from her waist once they'd started moving but left one hand on her hip, his other hand finding a hold on the railing running around the cart at waist height.
She tried very hard not to move. The weight of his hand and the heat seeping through her clothes to her hip made her want to lean her head back on his broad chest and moan. She resisted. Barely.
Quite a few people got off at the Level 7 but then even more people crowded on and Ginny reached back and grabbed Draco's arm to keep from being jostled away. He chuckled and the sound vibrated through his chest and through her back until she felt it throughout her body. He smoothed his hand around to her stomach and pulled her a bit closer.
"You alright, Red?" He asked, his breath warm against her ear.
"Yeah." She managed as her eyes slid closed, but she wasn't sure he even heard her over the rumble of the cart and the chatter of the other people and the beating of her own heart.
When they finally stepped off the lift at Level 5, Draco dropped his hand from her waist and led the way forward. Ginny rushed to catch up with his long strides and collided with what felt like a brick wall. Strong arms caught her before she fell and she looked up into the bluest eyes ever.
"I'm so sorry." Said a low voice with an unmistakable Italian accent. It couldn't be. But it was, she discovered, as he set her upright and looked her over as if searching for an injury.
"You!" She said, feeling like an idiot. He'd never told her his name. Then she felt a hand at the back of her neck and Draco's voice said from over her shoulder,
"Cane." Reynold Cane stepped into view and nodded at them both.
"Malfoy."
"This is…"
"Ginny." The Italian man finished.
"You…you've met?" Cane stammered. Draco's hand tightened briefly on her nape then relaxed.
"Yes. He came into the bar where I work." Ginny explained.
"I'm Marco, Marco Ignazio." The man said, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips. Draco's hand moved to her shoulder and squeezed.
"Yes, well," Cane began, "what are you doing here?" Ginny thought that that might have been a crude way of phrasing the question as she took her hand back from Marco. Draco's hand slid back to her neck and his thumb started stroking the very tip of her spine. Ginny found that it was suddenly very hard to think.
"We have a meeting with someone at the Daily Prophet." Draco remarked calmly. "We believe we're very close to…" He paused and Ginny knew that his eyes had fallen on Marco. "Our goal." He finished elusively.
"Are…are you now?" Cane asked, his voice cracking a bit. The idiot. He was head auror. His arse was on the line if this turned out to be as big as she thought it was and he'd passed it over.
"We are." Draco answered shortly. They were all silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry." Marco said, his eyes focused on Draco's hand still gently stroking her neck. "I don't believe we've met." He held out a hand but Draco ignored it.
"No, we have not."
"I'm Marco Ignazio."
"Yes. I know. I was standing here when you introduced yourself to Miss Weasley." He said coldly.
"Yes, um, Marco is consulting with the aurors. He's here for a few weeks on a special case." Cane said. Ginny found her eyes stuck on Marco's. He smiled.
"That's very nice." Draco said. "We really must be going now or we'll miss our appointment." His stroking stopped and he urged her gently forward, his hand still on her neck.
"It was good seeing you again Ginny." Marco called after her. She turned.
"You, too." She called back, then Draco's grip tightened and she turned obediently. "What is your problem, Malfoy?" She asked, knowing that she should shrug off his hand but finding that she really didn't want to.
"I just hate Cane, that's all." She rolled her eyes and kept walking. Somehow, she didn't think it was Cane that Draco had the huge issue with.
"Draco!" Lynnette shrieked as he and Ginny stepped into her office.
"Lynnette." He said, accepting her hug then stepping back. Her eyes crinkled with a wide smile.
"How are you? Pansy's told me all about your big case. Missing girl and all." Draco knew Pansy hadn't told her much because he'd told Pansy pretty much nothing.
"That's why we're here, actually. This is Ginny." Lynnette turned to survey Ginny, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders.
"It's so great to meet you." She exclaimed, pulling Ginny in for a hug. The girl was nothing if not exuberant. Ginny pulled back looking a bit dazed. "Sit. Sit." Lynnette said, gesturing to the two chairs in front of her desk. She moved around behind it and took her own seat. "What can I do for you?"
"We need an article written." Draco said, pulling his chair a bit closer to Ginny's.
"Alright, but you know I only do gossip." He smiled.
"I know Lynnette, but I figure you'll make sure my story reaches the right ears."
"Oh!" She smiled conspiratorially, her cheeks dimpling. "I can do that."
Draco nodded. "You know we've been looking for Luna Lovegood." Lynnette nodded.
"Yes, there was an article about her disappearance. She was, after all, a fellow member of the press."
"Is." Ginny corrected quietly. "She is." Draco placed his hand on Ginny's knee. He glanced over at her before continuing but her attention seemed to be riveted on Lynnette.
"We're getting very close to finding her." Draco said simply. Lynnette would fill in the blanks. He didn't much care how.
"Ohhhh!" She squealed. "And it'll be a real bust, right? Let me guess, stolen wands or, no, muggle drugs." Draco glanced at Ginny out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling slightly.
"Something like that." He said.
"Oh how brilliant!" Lynnette exclaimed, jumping from her seat. "Yes, Draco, I'll make sure your story gets to the right people."
"Good." He stood. "Thank you so much Lynnette." She ushered them both to the door and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Take care." She sing-songed as Draco took Ginny's arm and led her back down the hall to the lifts.
"There'll be an article by tomorrow morning." He told her with a smile.
"And then we'll find Luna?" She asked, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her eyes seemed troubled.
"Oh, we'll find Luna, Red." He tugged her closer, his arm tight around her for a moment. "You can count on that."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought! I'll post the next one soon; the end of it (chapter 9) is my absolute favorite.
