Sorry for the delays I've now got three stories going and a bit of writer's block. I sorta took off on this chappie so tell me if it got a little over T rated. I hope not and I don't think it did, but I was half exhausted and determined to finish when I wrote this.

Ginny, the next day

I woke early. A zombie-like feeling had settled itself through my mind and I could feel no incentive to get up. I just wanted to lie here in the hospital wing, comfortably waiting…waiting for what?

"Ah, you're up," Madame Pomfrey said as she peeked past the curtain. Sweeping the barrier aside, she began to set a plethora of bottles upon my bedside table. Muttering, she began to sort through them. "Anti-paralysis, sleeping, no, laxative, definitely not-"

I blushed involuntarily.

"-deflating, no, blood replenishing, possibly- ah. Here we are. Pepper-Up."

I was amazed as I wordlessly took the potion she handed me. I'd never seen her so disorganized.

I swallowed the Pepper-Up and tried not to cough as the spiciness and steam washed over me. It passed in a few seconds, though, and I felt immediately de-zombified.

Madame Pomfrey sighed as she took the empty bottle from my hand, gathered up all the rest, and bustled past my curtain. "Oh, dear, my stocks are running so low…"

I found my clothes on the chair next to my bed and dressed clumsily, trying to avoid the bandage still wrapped around one hand. When I opened the door out of the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey called to me.

"Miss Weasley, come back in a week, please, to get that bandage off. And go straight to class, no detours!"

I muttered an affirmative and went in search of Draco. He should be getting out of Potions in a few minutes, so I walked up to Gryffindor tower to fetch my books. When I emerged, I had just enough time to hurry down to Slughorn's room before class ended.

I melted into the shadows beside the door until I saw Draco. Pushing away from the wall, I trailed him for a few strides before speeding up, roughly bumping against him and continuing to walk away without a glance.

I turned into a rarely used side corridor and continued until there was no doubt that I was out of sight. A few moments later, Draco followed me and caught me up in an embrace.

I gasped for air. "Draco…can't breathe…"

He set me down, but didn't remove his hands from me. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm…okay," I said, still trying to regain my breath.

"How are you feeling? Is there something wrong?"

I smiled. "No…just wanted to see you before I went…back to class."

"I'm glad." He brought me into his arms again, gentler this time, and I felt his lips press under my ear. "I love you," he whispered.

I hugged him back, tight as I could, and savored the warmth of his embrace. "Love you too. I've missed enough classes, though. I should get back to Slughorn's room."

He pulled back and started on his way back down the corridor. "Wait a few minutes before you go," he said quietly. "There are still people in the corridors."

I saw him disappear and quickly followed in his tracks. A voice interrupted me when I emerged from the corridor.

"I just saw Malfoy come from this doorway, Weasley." Alecto Carrow's ugly face leered at me.

I hadn't waited long enough. "Professor, ma'am, what's your point?"

"I know for a fact that this corridor is a dead end."

"I-I got lost. I was just turning around when Malfoy came in. Aren't you wondering why he was there, too?"

"The Malfoys have their reasons. You, however, have practically been living here for the last five years. Getting lost is hardly and excuse."

"What else can I say, Professor?" I began backing up slowly.

"The truth, Weasley." She watched maliciously as I turned and tried not to run to the classroom.

The weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays went very slowly. At least, they did until it sunk in that I wouldn't be able to go to the Burrow and return to Hogwarts safely. Then time crawled along, my life only brightened by moments with Draco or Luna or Neville. Dumbledore's Army continued to paint its acts of rebellion upon the walls, and I began to fear that the stains of pigment would become permanently ingrained in my skin.

One night we were on the first floor, dangerously close to the Headmaster's office, painting one of the prefects' bathrooms.

Packets of red paint were being poured into the toilets, ingrained into the insides of the sink pipes, and rubbed over the mirrors. Neville had set to work spreading it across the light fixtures so everything came out bloody and shadowed. Seamus and Dean cast Unlimiting charms on the paint they flung up to the walls and ceiling so it continuously dripped to the floor, creating a sticky, dirty, blood colored carpet.

The other houses were doing their parts too; it had become too difficult to pass messages without using the now-malfunctioning charmed coins, so we all vandalized separately. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were now being supplied with violent shades of yellow and blue paint, respectively. I had managed to slip a little green to Draco. He managed to smear it in inconspicuous nooks and crannies, places only the Carrows would see. He told me he enjoyed unnerving them and that it was one of the only small pleasures he got out of Hogwarts anymore.

I was just chucking another packet up to Neville when a loud bang echoed outside the door. The paint dropped to my feet and splattered in a wide echo of dots along the bottom of my robes. We both looked to the door just as it burst open.

"All right, you bloody wankers. Break up the party."

Amycus Carrow's voice echoed through the cavernous, paint coated bathroom. Nobody dared move.

Suddenly, Neville kicked over his ladder. "Run!" he yelled, and shot a hex at Amycus. The Death Eater dove to the side, creating an opening through which the DA members could escape. I saw Luna make it through, and Dean follow her with Seamus close on his heels. Neville and I tried to skirt around Carrow, but he returned our hexes with a look of near insanity. A slicing hex skimmed Neville's glove, and the paint on his skin made it impossible to tell whether it had broken the skin or not.

I shot a Stunner at Carrow and he went down, giving Neville a chance to duck through the doorway. "Ginny!" he shouted at me, "Ginny, can you get past him before he-"

Amycus was already stirring when Neville was cut off. "Alecto," he croaked, "did you get him?"

The sounds of scuffling from the doorway continued. "Amycus, he got away!" the awful voice of the other Carrow came through the door.

"No matter, Weasley's still here! We've got her!"

I tried not to look at him and searched for an escape. The only door was the one Amycus was blocking.

"Expelliarmus!" I surprised him and deftly caught his wand as it soared through the air. I chucked it into one of the red-stained toilets behind me and ran forward, straight for him. He dove to the side and ran for his wand.

"Alecto, grab her!"

I dashed out of the bathroom and down the corridor, away from the Headmaster's office. My robes ripped as her long fingernails caught in the fabric, but I kept running. Her feet pounded behind me all the way I ran; up to the second floor, then to the third, until I feared I could run no longer.

The Carrows' labored panting told me they couldn't either, and I put on a last burst of speed. For a moment I thought I was free.

Then a whirl of air hit me as the Cruciatus burst through my body. My lip split when I hit the floor and I struggled to breathe through the pain and the blood. It was worse than I remembered.

A silencing spell was cast over me. I writhed quietly now, the stones digging into my body. Slicing spells flew over me, intensifying the curse until I was begging silently for them to stop. Blood and paint ran into my eyes until I couldn't tell which was which.

"That'll teach you, bitch, to mess with us."

I almost laughed through my agony. It was such a cliché that I nearly couldn't stand it. The curses wracked me, and I wished to scream. Something that would make it possible to let out this tension building inside me.

"What was that?" One of the Carrows whipped around. "I just heard something."

The other looked from side to side. "I didn't hear anything. Probably just one of the ghosts."

The attack lessened upon me, and I struggled through the remaining pain to get to my feet. The Grey Lady and Nearly Headless Nick floated through a nearby wall.

"See, Amycus? I was right. They can't do anything to stop us-"

They turned back around, but I was already gone.

I continued to run until the liquid running into my vision forced me to stop. Then I walked quickly, trying and failing to blink the blood and paint from my eyes. Residual shocks shook me and I eventually had to stop completely.

"Ginny? Is that you?"

I looked around, searching for the source of the voice, mouthing wordlessly until I felt the silencing charm lift. "Neville?"

I sensed someone in front of me. "No, Ginny. It's me. Draco."

I gasped. "Draco?"

"Can't you see me, love?"

"No. I can't see anything. Oh, Draco-"

And suddenly, I was in his arms, crying my eyes out.

"Shh, love. Cry quietly. I want you to get that mess out of your eyes. A Scourgify wouldn't be pleasant."

I miraculously felt the stinging begin to recede and my vision return.

"Is this blood or paint?"

"I-I can't tell. Both."

"What on earth happened?"

I shuddered. "We were in one of the prefects' bathrooms. They came- and- and everyone escaped but me. I ran but it wasn't enough."

"Who's they?" The low venom in his voice told me he recognized the effects of the Cruciatus.

"The Carrows."

He made a low growl in his throat that made me glance at him apprehensively. He caught my gaze and circled me in an embrace again. "I'm just angry, love, so angry that someone would do that to you. It makes me hate them more than anything in the world." He squeezed harder and I made a small noise as my cuts twinged. He immediately let go. "Where are you hurt?"

"I don't know. Everywhere."

"Lets go." He started off down a staircase.

"Where?"

"My rooms. It's an advantage to having a high-ranking Death Eater father."

I followed him until we reached an ornate door decorated in green and silver. Draco placed his palm upon the door and it melted away, revealing a large bathroom not unlike the one Dumbledore's Army had just vandalized.

"Are your wounds still bleeding?"

I nodded as dizziness came over me. I stumbled and nearly fell.

Draco swore. "Blood loss," he said. "I'm going to need to get you out of these robes."

He lay me down at the side of the gigantic bathtub and began ripping my robes open. He left them as a cushion between me and the cold bathroom floor, and if I'd had any blood to spare I'd have blushed with embarrassment at my near-nakedness.

Exhaustion suddenly flooded over me and my eyes drifted shut. "No, Ginny, no, I need you to stay awake…" his voice drifted away. "Ennervate!" I was forced alert again and I groaned at not being able to sleep. "I'm sorry, love, but if you fall asleep now, you won't wake up."

I glanced down and saw he now had me in nothing but a bra and panties. I was distantly grateful I'd worn my nice but modest blue silk bra today, but my underwear was as cotton as ever. At least it was grey. That matched. A little.

A wet washcloth ran over my skin, clearing away the red. My cuts and wounds continued to ooze and more blood dripped off my lips.

He sealed the cuts with a quick potion poured over the washcloth and continued to clean off the blood. I stiffened when he felt at my midsection for broken ribs. Apparently satisfied, he moved to my hands. Pain shot up my arm as he picked up my left hand.

Draco's teeth gritted. "Impressive. They really are thorough. Every single finger broken on this hand. You may require some Skele-Gro, love." He attempted an Episkey, but it only caused my groans to turn into quiet screams as the bones shifted. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault," I managed.

"But it is. I need to protect you. Every time you're hurt, I feel as if I've failed."

"I can take care of myself…most of the time…"

He magically stiffened my fingers so I couldn't hurt them any more. "I'm going to turn you over now."

I winced and struggled not to make a noise as he shifted me onto my back. I felt him wiping the wounds with the cloth and shuddered as they closed.

When I was facing him again, I said, "Can I take a shower?"

"After you drink this." Draco held out a blood-replenishing potion to me. I uncorked it with my teeth and spit away the stopper.

I paused. "All of it?"

"All of it."

I downed the foul potion in three gulps. I immediately felt steadier and could see Draco's worried face much better. I sat up and he clutched me to him. He had discarded his robes at some point and he was dressed in a red-splotched white oxford shirt and black dress pants. His Slytherin tie made him look a bit like Christmas to my exhaustion-addled brain.

"You're not taking a shower." I began to protest. "You're taking a bath because you're so tired you won't be able to stand up. And I'm going to stay here. I'll keep my back turned, but if anything goes wrong, there's no way I'll stay at the edge of the water."

I almost said no, but realized I was too weary and there wasn't anything really wrong with the proposal anyway. He got up and started one of the many taps along the tub. "Leave your clothes at the edge of the tub. I'll get the elves to launder them and get you new ones for tonight. And please don't fall asleep in the water. As appealing as it is, I'm sure you don't want me waking you up naked."

I blushed and started to unclip my bra. I glared pointedly until he grinned and turned a chair around so he could sit. When I was fully unclothed, I slipped into the heavenly rain-scented water and moaned as its heat enveloped me. I scrubbed at my skin until I was pink, trying to rid myself of the essence of the Cruciatus. The soap and shampoo and conditioner were all rain-scented, which I vaguely wondered whether it was something from the bottle or whether it changed with the person.

The soap coated me, and when I rinsed it off, the red stains of the paint were gone. When I was sure that not a speck of red remained except in my hair, I looked to the edge of the tub to find my bloodied clothing had disappeared. A fluffy green towel was folded there instead, and a darker green bundle of cloth that I couldn't identify.

I warned Draco and climbed out, realizing he was right that I could barely stand. When I was dry, I opened the bundle.

"Uh… Draco?"

"Yes, love?"

"What did you tell the elf?"

"That you needed attire for the night. Why?"

"Do the elves…tend to…take liberties?"

"Oh, no," he groaned. "What did they give you?"

"Well…I don't really know… how to describe it." In fact I knew exactly how to describe it. It was, simply put, a negligee. A very skimpy negligee. One that was dark green satin and came to about mid thigh. Plus there was matching lacy panties and bra.

"Should I call them back?"

I debated.

"How about this," he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. "Put it on and I'll decide whether it's too bad."

I sat down in another chair and began dressing. The satin slid over my skin like water and I marveled in its lightness, plus the underwear was exactly my size. I cast a drying and untangling spell over my hair and faced Draco.

"Okay. Go."

He turned around and I saw shock slowly spread across his face.

"You look…amazing."

"Do I need to change?"

"No, definitely not."

"Draco, this isn't a debate over your control. It's about my modesty. Right?"

"Of course."

"And do you still think this is okay?"

"Eh…yes."

I smiled and held out a hand to him. "All right, Prince Charming. Help me up."

Gah! I actually wanted to continue it here but it was too good of a stopping point and I think my late night craziness may have taken over if I went on. Review please!