A/N: So, I know I already updated, but here I am with this finished chapter and in need of some reviews to make my mood better, so why not just give you guys a bonus chapter as a little gift from me? Sounds good. Here's chapter ten. Things Heat Up.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Draco looked up from where he had been reading a book on the couch when the door opened. He stood immediately, eyes wide, as he stared at a wary Alex and a beaten up, bloody, bruised Ginny leaning against her. "What happened?!" were the first words out of his mouth as he rushed to Ginny's side, taking her in his arms.

Alex sighed and collapsed onto the couch, and he noticed she was not lacking in bruises herself. He repeated his question, louder this time, making her put her hand to her ear. "Don't yell, please."

"Then answer my question?!" How could she be so calm when Ginny looked like she did? "She's bleeding, Alex!"

"I know, but I'm bloody tired, so give me a moment to collect myself, would you?! I just saved her arse, beat up your dad in the process, and I'm kind of exhausted, not to mention a bit worried about what the hell is going to happen to me now that I've left your dad unconscious in the hallway!"

Draco almost dropped Ginny in shock, but quickly grabbed her, laying her down on the couch. Alex took Ginny's bleeding head in her lap, cradling it gently. "What happened?! What did my father do?!"

Alex just shook her head. "There's no time for explanations now. You need to get Blaise, make sure he brings his healing kit."

Draco found it hard to pull himself away from Ginny in this condition, but he went to the fire, throwing in some Floo powder, and stuck his face into the fire. "Blaise?!"

The boy's face popped up in the ashes quickly. "Bloody 'ell, Draco, you don't have to stir the entire house, I'm right here."

"And that's the problem. I need you here, now. Ginny's been hurt by my father, so bring your healing stuff." Blaise's face conveyed his obvious shock and worry as his face quickly disappeared from the ashes. Draco pulled his face out of the fire, rubbing at the soot on it, and returned to Ginny's side. He wished he was a healer, so he could know how serious her injuries were and help her out, but he didn't know what to do except sit there and worry until Blaise came.

Luckily his friend was there within a matter of minutes, a black kit in his hand, and kneeling down by Draco's side. "I'll take care of you later, Alex, you look like you'll live. Just go and lay down in Draco's room." Alex nodded and did as she was told and Draco took her place on the couch, cradling Ginny to him.

"How bad is it? Is she going to be okay? She isn't going to…to…to die, is she?" Blaise held up a hand, silencing him, and went about pulling bottles and herbs out of his kit.

He worked on Ginny's head first, stopping the bleeding and stitching up the small gash with his wand. Occasionally he would mutter something, such as, "She may have a concussion," or "Turn her head more towards me." Finally, when her head was healed, he woke the girl up.

Ginny stared up at Draco in confusion, reaching a hand up to him. He took it, kissing it and cradling her head in his arms. "Are you okay, Ginny? Where does it hurt?"

She nodded to the first one and reached her hand to her head. "It will hurt for a little while. I could only stitch it up, but the headache will have to go away with time." Ginny nodded in understanding. "Now that you're conscious again, I need you to sit up, okay? Draco will help you, don't worry, but I need to see where else you are hurt." Draco sat Ginny up slowly, noticing her wince of pain, and laid her back against his chest. He tried to ignore how perfectly she fit into his arms, tried to resist the urge to wrap himself around her and hold her there forever, but it was hard. "Okay, point to where it hurts the most, Ginny."

She put her hand to her side, under her breasts. Blaise nodded, reaching for her shirt, shocked when a tight, masculine hand grabbed his wrist. Draco was shocked to find that hand was his. "Draco, what's wrong?" he asked, his eyes calculating and speculative.

"Why are you lifting up her shirt?!" Draco yelled, feeling a mixture of emotions, namely fury and confusion and jealousy.

Blaise sighed, prying Draco's hand off his wrist. "Draco, I have to see what's wrong. She may have a broken rib, maybe even more than one. In order to do so, I'm going to have to take off her shirt."

"Well what if she doesn't want you to?!" Draco tried to ignore Blaise's exasperated expression and cold eyes.

"Ginny, I need to know, do you trust me? I would never hurt you. I am your friend. But I'm going to have to take off your shirt to see where you are hurt. I won't touch you anywhere personal, you just have to think of me as a doctor, not Blaise." She nodded slowly after a few moments, to Draco's irritation. "Thank you. Now, Draco, may I go about healing her?" Draco turned his eyes away and shrugged, throwing down Blaise's wrist. "Okay, Ginny, I need you to lift your arms up."

She tried to, but winced and hissed in pain as soon as they began to raise, clutching her arms around her ribcage. Blaise's face looked grim. "Draco, please help me. Hold her arms up for me, okay?"

Draco nodded grimly and lifted Ginny's arms slowly, trying to ignore her sobs of pain. Blaise pulled her shirt off, leaving her only in her bra and the short skirt Alex had garbed her in, dubbing it her new uniform. "Shh…Relax Ginny, please, I'm here, okay? I know it hurts, but just try to relax." She did, her body molding against his, and Draco tried to ignore how nice she smelled, how warm and small and fragile she felt.

Blaise placed his hands low on her ribcage, feeling for broken bones and reading Ginny's signals. Whenever she whimpered in pain he knew he had come to a bruised or broken rib, and he would either heal it or put a bruise balm on it. Finally, after many slow, aching minutes of meticulous searching, Blaise smiled up at her and patted her on the head. "I'm all done. You can lower her arms now, Draco."

Draco did so, noticing how she immediately let out the breath she had been holding. Draco laid her down on the couch where she curled into a ball, stroking her hair out of her face. "We'll be right back, okay Ginny? We just have some things to discuss with Alex."

She nodded, closing her eyes tiredly, her face still pained. "Here, drink this, Ginny, and you'll go right to sleep." Ginny did as she was told, swallowing the potion Blaise gave her, gagging only slightly. Within minutes she was fast asleep on the couch, and Draco pulled the covers around her body. "Let's go talk to Alex."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Blaise opened the door to find the girl lying tiredly on the bed. Now that Ginny was not in immediate danger or pain, Draco noticed her bruises and cuts for the first time. Most were shallow and he figured would be easy to heal, but she did look exhausted. "How is she?" asked the girl, clearly worried over Ginny.

"Ginny will be fine with time to heal. But Alex, we need to know what happened to you two." Blaise sat down on the bed beside her, but Draco could only pace the room anxiously, knowing it had something to do with his perverted father.

Alex nodded, sitting up with a groan and propping herself against the headboard. "To be honest, I couldn't tell you how it started out. I was only walking out of the slave's quarters when I saw Ginny and Lucius Malfoy in the halls. He…he was on top of her, and it looked like there had been a struggle, but she still had her clothes on, for the most part. His eye was all bloody; looked like she gouged it out with her heel, and he was ripping at her shirt, but she appeared to be physically intact, if you know what I mean."

They did. Alex was saying Ginny didn't look like she'd been raped; at least, not yet. "I attacked him, didn't think twice. Punched him in the nose, and bloody hell, it felt good. Think I might've even broken it. But he wouldn't stay down. He got up and pointed his wand at Ginny and me and cast the…the Cruciatus." She shuddered, closing her eyes. "That was the most pain I've ever experienced in my whole life. I told Ginny to run, but when I looked up next he had her by the stairs. He threw her down, before I could get to them, and she tumbled out of sight. So, I launched myself on him, began attacking, flailing fists and kicking. In the confusion of the brawl we both landed at the bottom of the stairs with Ginny and his wand was by my foot. I grabbed it up, stunned him, picked up Ginny, and ran here as fast as I could."

"What do you think Draco?" Blaise asked, clearly confused as to why his father was attacking an innocent girl.

Draco snarled and slammed his fist into the wall, wincing as he felt the bones break. "I think my father is a pervert that likes to rape little helpless girls, that's what I think!"

Blaise merely rolled his eyes and grabbed Draco's hand, healing it. "No, I mean, what do you think we should do now? About this whole situation? Alex and Ginny are both clearly in danger in this house."

Draco leaned against the wall with a tired sigh. "Ginny is getting locked in my room and she's never leaving, that's what." He heard a feminine giggle beside him, and glared over at Alex, annoyed. "What?!"

"Locked in your room? Sorry, it just sounded a little, you know, perverted."

Draco blushed and glared at her harder. "Shut up, that's not what I meant at all!"

"Okay, calm down Draco. Alex, stop teasing him. I actually agree with Draco on that one, the least we can do-"

Alex's face was suddenly serious and angry. "I can't believe I'm hearing this! Ginny was almost raped. She doesn't need to be locked up in Draco's room, she needs to be out of this manor!" There was a pregnant silence as Draco and Blaise looked at anything but each other and Alex stared between the two of them with growing frustration.

"Alex, saying things like that are dangerous," Blaise whispered quietly.

Alex glared at him, sitting up further. "I'm serious! You need to run away with Ginny and me! She isn't safe here and neither am I!"

"Do you think it's that easy?! Do you think you can just up and walk out of Malfoy Manor?! We're prisoners here, Alex, just like you. Blaise is a prisoner in his manor to his mother and here, to the Dark Lord, as am I. We can't just leave. We'll be caught. We'll be killed. It's the truth of the matter and there's no point in feeding silly fantasies like that!" Draco felt Blaise's hand on his shoulder and looked away, taking deep, raggedy breaths to calm himself.

"I understand that, but you're eighteen! They can't keep you here forever! And besides, Ginny belongs to you, she's yours, so you should be able to do whatever-"

Draco grabbed her by the throat, pinning her against the wall. Alex stared at him with wide eyes, her voice cut off from surprise, even though he was not choking her. "Ginny is not mine! She isn't anybodies! I'm her guardian, though, and I know what's best for her! My father…my father would never let us just waltz out of here; he would rather see me dead. He wants me dead, he just needs an excuse! You have to understand, we can't leave, not that we don't want to. We just can't. It isn't possible."

"So you're going to let her rot, let her waste away in this hell hole?! You're going to just sit idly by while people abuse her and treat her like scum?!"
"What else can I do, Alex?!"

"Set her free. She has to get out of here, it isn't safe or healthy for her, and neither is it for you or Blaise or me. We all need to get out of here. It's the only way."

He heaved a heavy sigh and let her go. Alex rubbed lightly at her neck, but he hadn't left bruises, so she didn't complain. "Fine. But if we're getting out of here, it will take a lot of time. A lot of careful planning. And you can't know anything about it, neither can Ginny. You girls aren't studied the art of Occlumency like Blaise and me."

"I don't think we need to worry much about that. Alex is in the most danger right now for attacking Lucius, Draco. She is the one that needs to get out of here now," Blaise commented, his expression thoughtful, as it always was. "I shall hide her tonight somewhere she will be safe, then return quickly so I am not connected. We will say she ran away if anyone asks us. Ginny will know nothing about our plans; it's best that way. Come, we should go now, before Lucius comes looking for you. I'm sorry, Alex, but there will be no time to pack your belongings."

Alex nodded. "No worries. I haven't got anything of value to take. Draco…thank you. For taking care of Ginny, for promising to free her. It will work out in the end for both of you."

He shrugged. "You think so?"

Alex nodded and hugged him around the middle. "I regret not being able to say goodbye to Ginny. But I don't want her getting any more tangled up in this mess than she already is. Please be safe, and you three come and get me as soon as you can. Who knows? Maybe we could go to Australia or France or even America."

She smiled and took Blaise's hand as he stood ready to apparate. "We'll travel by apparition first, then by floo, and finally by foot, for they'll surely trace us."

"Goodbye Draco. Not for long, I hope." She did her best to keep a brave smile on her face.

"See ya soon, mate." He waved his hand to them in farewell.

They were gone with a crack.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Draco lifted a shaky hand to Ginny's shirt hem, his face noticeably blushing. She was sitting on the couch in front of him with a pained expression, her arms by her side and her shirt under his hand as he kneeled before her. How had they ended up like this again?

That's right, Blaise. Blaise, after healing her broken ribs, gave Draco a bruise balm for her bruised ribs and other injuries. Draco was to rub it on the blue-black bruises every twenty-four hours until they disappeared. Although the stuff smelled nice, like lavenders, it was nothing but a plain, off-pink cream, and looked like nothing more than hand lotion in a jar. However, Blaise had insisted the bruise balm would make her feel better, and she had started to complain an hour ago about her ribs hurting again.

Draco had been hoping, wishing on his lucky star or some deity he didn't believe in, to let her magically heal overnight so he wouldn't be stuck in this uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately, twenty-eight hours after he was given his strict instructions, Ginny had come to him clutching her ribs in pain. He didn't want to see her hurt but…to put the balm on her he would have to…to…to touch her. Her chest. Her bare chest.

Draco tried to tell himself it was in the name of making her better. Blaise hadn't been embarrassed, hadn't even broken a sweat or blushed or looked the least modest, when he had healed Ginny's wounds. Yet he expected Draco to be able to do it? How? Draco wasn't a doctor. Draco had never seen a girl with her shirt off, other than in the occasional Playwizard magazine. But never right before him. And never had he been expected to touch a topless girl.

Was he embarrassed? Yes. Was he shaking? Hell yeah. Was he so freaked out his body wasn't responding at all? Not in the least.

In fact, that was about as far from the truth as you could get. Draco was sweating, blushing, trembling, and she still had her shirt on. His body felt charged, excited, even as he tried to tell it he was doing this to help Ginny, even as he tried to ignore it and quench the rising desire as she stared down at him with her dark brown eyes, her fiery red hair falling in her face, her soft pink lips parted slightly to reveal her tongue.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen her bare chest before. He had, when Pansy Parkison had spilled hot tea all over her. But he had been so blinded by fury he hadn't even noticed; all he could see then were the bright red burns. Not to mention, she had filled out considerably since then, her breasts a more than noticeable under her white, button up shirt. Oh, and then there was the touching thing again.

Ginny made a noise, like someone clearing their throat, and he looked up from his shaky hand to see her staring at him in confusion. "Oh…uh…sorry, I zoned out there Ginny." He grinned stupidly and she nodded in return, her lip twitching. It did that a lot, he noticed. Whenever he cracked a joke she never smiled or laughed, but her lip would twitch, just a little bit, in the corner. He knew it was her way of smiling, that she wasn't quite comfortable enough to come out of her shell and beam at him completely, which he was fine with. At least this way, he knew if she ever did smile at him, it would be a true, genuine smile, not a fake laugh and deceptive smirk hiding a cold heart like the many people that surrounded him.

Draco went back to the task at hand, unbuttoning Ginny's shirt from the bottom button and moving his way up. His breath came out louder, harder, as his hands brushed against her breasts to reach the upper buttons. But finally her shirt came away, and Draco couldn't help but stare as her perky, bouncy breasts peeked out from the white cotton bra she wore, worn and thin, so he could practically see through it. He tried to divert his eyes, but it was too late, he had the image burned into his brain now, amongst others. His perverted mind went about filling in the rest of the image, imagining her in her knickers, on his bed, her red hair splayed out beneath her.

Focus, Draco! He pushed the image away, trying to ignore it as he unscrewed the cap on the bruise balm and pulled some of it out. It was slightly thicker than lotion, but felt all in all the same, though it was pleasantly warm as he began to rub it on her sore ribs. He heard her occasional sharp intake of breath and watched her face clench in discomfort, but she wasn't in too much pain, and that was good. Draco rubbed the balm onto her bare skin, trying to ignore how silky and smooth her skin was, pale with a pink undertone, and brushed with freckles on her neck and chest and nose and shoulders. He wondered if those freckles were everywhere on her body.

Shut up, you perverted asshole! He was yelling at himself now. Great. Just what he needed, to be arguing with himself.

Though, it wouldn't make much sense for her to have freckles there, after all, unless she sunbathed nude. And she just didn't seem the type. Though she did used to fly a lot. Could you fly nude?

Why was he wondering these things?! What was wrong with him?! Draco felt his hand brush cotton cloth and he was pulled out of his head and back to reality, where his knuckles had brushed against her bra as he made circular patterns with the bruise balm, as Blaise had instructed. Draco gulped, suddenly feeling terribly thirsty. He wanted to look at Ginny, wondered what was going through her head, but he was too ashamed. Could he just stop now, call it quits, before he went insane, or worse? No, he noticed. She had a huge purple bruise peeking out from under the bra. "Umm…I'm going to need you to lift your arms up Ginny."

She lifted them, slowly, looking uncomfortable at the movement as it stretched her sore muscles and shifted her bruised ribs.

That's when he realized it. He would have to take her bra off. There was no way around it, truly, for the bruise was under the bra, on the rib that her breast rested against. He reached for it, hand shaking so hard he missed a few times, and shakily pulled her bra up, gasping. Her pink nipple peeked out at him as a shiver, of cold he assumed, ran up her spine. He stared at the way her breast rose and fell with her breathing, and he was suddenly consumed by a masculine lust to play with her bouncy, perky breasts for hours, to rub and kiss and caress them. And more. He wanted to kiss her. He licked his lips at the thought. And her body. He wanted to run his hands all along her body, over every curve and hill and valley and mountain, exploring everything, getting to know her by feel alone.

Draco's pants were beginning to feel uncomfortably tight as his brain screamed at him, the voice getting dimmer and dimmer, that those thoughts were horrible and wrong, that this was Ginny, innocent little Ginny, and he couldn't do any of those things to her. He reached up a hand with the bruise balm, trying to ignore her soft breast brushing against his hand, and began to rub it in, glad when the bruise began to get lighter and she seemed to be in less pain. Finally, he was done, all of her bruised ribs taken care of. Draco quickly pulled her bra down and closed her shirt over her bare chest, still unable to stand as he kneeled before her, staring at her knees and picking at a piece of unraveling thread on her skirt. "Is-Is that all? Ummm…do you have any more bruises?" He sincerely hoped they were finished here so he could go take an icy cold shower and try to quell his insatiable lust.

She shifted around for a moment, and he stared in wonder as she unzipped her skirt slightly, revealing her hip, which had a huge, hand shaped bruise on it going down under her skirt to her thigh. Draco gulped and stood quickly, turning his back to her so she didn't notice the lump in his pants, and ran to his bathroom, shutting the door. "Sorry…I…ask one of the servants!" This was definitely too much for him to handle.