A/N: Thanks so much for all your amazing support! You guys rock! Sorry for the wait, school's been a real pain in the behind. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Draco hated hospitals. He hated the clean, utilitarian walls, the too-shiny tile floors, the hushed voices. In some ways they reminded him of Malfoy Manor with its furniture so clean it discouraged touching and its silence so complete you were almost afraid to break it.

St. Mungo's was no different, except perhaps that the normally grey waiting room chairs were hard, red plastic. It was in one of those plastic chairs that Draco sat now. Ginny sat two chairs over, constantly in motion, tugging her hair or biting her nails or tapping her foot. She was still mad at him. He wanted to think that he didn't blame her; she'd almost lost her friend, after all. But he had saved her, for Merlin's sake. Didn't that count for something?

He stretched out his legs and took long, deep breaths, relaxing his body. It was a technique he'd learned in auror school; relax the body to free the mind. But though his body was relaxed, his mind was anything but free. It kept replaying the explosion over and over again in frightening clarity. His conscience was plagued by what if's and what now's. What if he hadn't found her? What if Blaise hadn't gotten Luna out in time? What now that they had rescued her?

"Ms. Weasley?" He looked up as Ginny rushed across the room to the nurse in the doorway, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Yes."

"Ms. Lovegood is awake. You can go and see her now." Draco watched her go. This was her reunion, he didn't want to intrude. Besides, he didn't think that he could stand to be in the same room with her right now, the anger radiating off of her in almost tangible waves. Maybe he'd go home for awhile, let Blaise get Luna's statement.

They should turn it all over to the aurors, he knew, but he didn't think this was over and he was loathe to let them reap the rewards of all his work. He resigned to wait a little longer at the hospital, see if Ginny came back, then he'd head home and try to decide what to do next.

Ginny stepped into the dim recovery room and looked around. Luna was lying in the bed looking small and helpless, her blonde hair splayed around her like so much gossamer thread.

"Ginny," she said with a smile and Ginny rushed over to give her a gentle hug.

"Oh Luns. Oh Luna, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Luna smoothed Ginny's hair back away from her face.

"It's okay, Ginny. I knew you wouldn't give up on me." She smiled as Ginny sat back. "It'll be alright."

"Oh Merlin," Ginny sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Here you are in a hospital bed, strapped to all of these contraptions and you're comforting me." She grasped Luna's hand. "I'm so glad you're okay Luns."

"Me, too, Gin. Me, too." Ginny just looked at her then, taking her in, memorizing her. She was almost afraid that this was all a dream and Luna was really still out there…but, no, she was here and she was going to be alright. "I heard you hired Draco Malfoy to look for me," Luna said with her serene smile.

"How…how did you know?" Ginny asked, thrown off a bit by the comment. She'd almost forgotten about Malfoy.

"Well, my captors mentioned 'that Malfoy man' more than once. And also the mediwitch told me he was with you in the waiting room." She patted Ginny's hand. "I wouldn't have minded if you'd brought him in."

"I…well, we had a fight," she said in a tight voice. "He…we, he…I don't want to talk about it."

"A fight?" Luna cocked an eyebrow. "Well, that would imply that you'd been getting along before." Ginny nodded.

"We were. We were getting along fine, surprisingly. But he…he…"

"She thinks he was more worried for her safety than yours." Ginny turned. Blaise was lounging in the doorway, looking just as edible as always even with the healing cuts on his cheek and neck.

"He would have let her die," Ginny muttered. "He would have left her."

"If I hadn't gotten her out before the whole place went 'Kaboom', there wouldn't have been much to go back for." Ginny winced.

"But he should have looked for her in the first place."

"And leave you?" Blaise asked, stepping into the room.

"No!" Luna gasped. "No Ginny, of course not."

"He could have…he should have…"

"He's only human," Blaise said softly.

"And I'm fine," Luna remarked airily. "This kind man here saved me."

"Oh, oh Luna, this is Blaise Zabini," Ginny said, turning back to her friend.

"Pleased to meet you." Luna smiled.

"And you," Blaise replied, squeezing her hand gently.

"Thanks for saving my life." She smiled up at him, her blue eyes twinkling.

His voice was low and rough as he said, "My pleasure." Ginny cleared her throat.

"Are you…are you sure you're alright Luna? They didn't hurt you?"

"No," Luna replied sweetly, "they treated me very nicely actually."

"They?" Blaise asked, pulling out a muggle notebook and pen, and settling down in a chair on the other side of Luna's bed.

"There were three of them," she said, "but I didn't see their faces. They always wore masks."

"Like Death Eater masks?" Ginny asked.

"No, like muggle ski masks. You know, like the ones robbers wear in all those old muggle movies." Ginny nodded.

"Did you hear their voices?" Blaise asked quietly, while making a notation in his book.

"Well, they spoke, yes, but I think they used distortion spells because they never sounded the same from day to day," Luna answered. "One day they'd be Irishmen, then the next they'd be French, then the day after that they sounded like women."

"And yet they were always the same men?" Blaise asked.

Luna nodded. "Yes, I think so."

"Sounds like a distortion spell to me," Blaise muttered. "Can you tell me anything about their physical characteristics?" Luna was quiet for a moment.

"Well," she began, "they all had brown hair and brown eyes beneath their masks."

"That could easily have been a charm," Blaise commented.

"Yes," Luna said, "I think it was."

"What about weight or height?" Blaise asked. "Those are harder to change."

"One was kind of short for a man. An inch or two taller than me." She said, holding a hand about an inch from the top of her head. "I'm 5'7"," she said, then watched as Blaise made a note. "He was thin," she said. "And he seemed older than the other two. There were more mollacks around him."

Blaise nodded as if it made all the sense in the world. "And the other two?"

"Oh, they were taller. One was maybe six foot and he was very muscular." She smiled mischievously.

"Luna!" Ginny gasped.

"I'm sorry, but he was the nicest one," Luna replied, her face sobering.

"And the other one?" Blaise asked. Ginny thought she saw him roll his eyes.

"He was the tallest. And thin too, but not as thin as the other."

"Is that all you can remember about them?" Blaise asked, looking up from his notepad. Luna nodded.

"And you're sure they didn't hurt you, Luns?" Ginny asked anxiously, looking her friend over with a critical eye.

"No, Gin, they were pretty nice actually. Well, right up until they tried to blow me up." She smiled grimly. "The healers just want to monitor me because I'm a bit dehydrated and malnourished." She paused and looked down at her bandaged wrists. "And my wrists and ankles hurt a little where they kept me chained."

"Oh, Luna."

"Ginny, I'm fine. They kept saying that I was such a great hostage because I didn't fight and I didn't whine."

Ginny looked up. "You didn't fight?"

"There were three of them, Ginny, and they were all bigger than me. What good could it have done?"

"I…I…" Finally Ginny shrugged. "I don't know."

"Did your captors say anything else?" Blaise asked.

"They told me that if I argued or gave them any trouble, they'd kill me since I wasn't their primary goal anyway."

"It was smart not to fight then," Blaise assured her. "What else?"

"They mentioned Ginny and Malfoy a lot. Mostly they seemed annoyed that they weren't giving up." Ginny smiled to herself. She found it very satisfying that somehow she and Draco had gotten under the kidnappers' skin. "Then one day they came in talking about getting caught and cutting their losses. After that, they stopped coming altogether."

"The article," Ginny muttered. Blaise nodded at her.

"They said they'd lure 'her' there and 'she'd drag him along'. I assume they were speaking of you and Malfoy?" Ginny nodded. It had been a trap. Draco had been right. "They said that once all of us were dead, they'd have accomplished their initial goal," Luna finished.

"Those were their exact words?" Blaise asked suddenly. "Once all three of you were dead? Their initial goal?"

"Yes," Luna replied, "they were very obvious about the fact that killing me wouldn't really matter one way or the other." Blaise looked thoughtful.

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Well, Draco would know better than me, but I imagine it means that capturing Luna was only a means to an end; to draw in you and Draco." He looked over at her, his dark eyes intense.

"But…but when they took Luna, they had no way of knowing that I'd hire Malfoy," Ginny said. She was starting to get a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Well," Blaise replaced his notebook in his pocket and leaned his elbows on the bed. "There would only be so many choices for PI's in this area, so they could have just been hoping you'd pick him but…" He sat up again slowly, watching her the whole time. "The more likely scenario is that you were the target."

Ginny just stared at him. She was vaguely aware of Luna sitting up and touching her on the arm, of the mediwitch stepping into the room to tell them that visiting hours were almost over, Blaise assuring her that they'd be done soon. Then the world seemed to sink back into place and she took a deep, shaky breath.

"Ginny?" Luna was saying. "Gin, are you alright?"

"How would they know I'd get so involved?" She finally asked Blaise.

Blaise shrugged. "Most likely it's someone who knows you, who knows you'd want to be involved." His eyes searched hers. "Is there anyone who'd want to harm you that badly Ginny?"

Was there? Merlin, things like this didn't happen to her anymore, not since Tom, not since that random incident of hate on the part of Lucius Malfoy. But someone wanting to hurt her, and her specifically, so badly that they'd hurt Luna and Draco and Blaise in the process? She didn't want to think about such a thing.

"Ginny?" Blaise was still watching her, his eyes narrowed in question.

"I…I don't know." She whispered. Blaise watched her for a moment then stood.

"I have to call Draco." He headed to the door, then turned and pinned her with a gaze. "Do not leave this room." She nodded then fell back in her chair as the door swung shut behind him.

"Shit," Draco said once he'd heard Blaise's account of the interview with Luna.

"You really should think about finding a new curse word," Blaise commented wryly. Draco ignored him.

"This is what I was afraid of."

"I know," Blaise said quietly.

"Is Ginny still there with you?"

"She's in Luna's room. I had to step outside, muggle cell phones don't work inside St. Mungo's."

"Yeah, right." He needed to think. He needed to plan. He needed to throw large, breakable things at the wall. "Don't leave her alone, Blaise. Don't let her out of your sight."

"I won't, Drake. I'll bring her home myself." Draco pressed a hand to his forehead. He needed to see her.

"I'll meet you at her flat," he finally said. "Don't leave her unless you're sure it's me."

"Password?" Blaise asked. Draco smiled to himself.

"Blonder."

"Blonder?" Blaise asked, a grin evident in his voice.

"Blonder."

"Got it. I'll get your girl home safe, Drake."

"She's not my…" But Blaise had already hung up.

"This really isn't necessary, Blaise. I can get home on my own," Ginny insisted as he led her down to the apparition points within St. Mungo's.

"I know," he said simply, then was silent until they reached the apparition platform. Ginny would never admit it aloud, but she was actually very grateful that Blaise had insisted on escorting her home. Their discovery had shaken her considerably.

He turned to face her and grasped the tops of her arms. "I can apparate myself, Blaise," she said, trying half-heartedly to wiggle away.

"I am not taking chances," he said, gripping her tighter. "I'm going to check out your flat before you just go apparating into it." Then she felt the squeeze of side-along apparition and had no choice but to shut up.

A second later, they arrived in the foyer of her building and Blaise let her go. He glanced around quickly, and then led her up the stairs to her flat.

Draco was standing in the hallway.

"What the…"

"Password?" Blaise asked, placing himself between her and Draco.

"What?" She asked, trying to get by him. He stood his ground like a brick wall.

"Blonder," Draco muttered. His cool, grey eyes were focused on her. She couldn't suppress a shiver.

"She's all yours, mate." Blaise pushed her forward towards Draco and took a few steps back towards the stairs. "Have a wonderful night." He smiled, then opened the door behind him and slipped back into the stairwell. Ginny turned slowly to face Draco.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, moving past him to her door. She waved her wand, silently taking down her wards, then took the key from her pocket. Bill had charmed her ordinary muggle lock to be imperturbable to all but the most advanced unlocking spells. Draco grabbed her hand before she'd reached the door and pulled it away.

"I'm protecting you, Red. I hear there's a psycho out there with a grudge against you." He took the key from her and slid it into the lock. The mechanism clicked and Draco pushed the door open. "Stay behind me," he ordered. She obeyed, if only because of the menacing tone of his voice.

He moved smoothly, systematically through the flat, wand drawn, pausing sporadically to cast some spell or another; tracing and detection spells, she assumed. Then he moved back to the door, closed and locked it and replaced her wards.

"Everything seems fine," he said, finally turning back to her. She'd taken a seat on the sofa, now she stood.

"A much as I appreciate your concern, Malfoy, your job has been fulfilled. Luna is safe. You can go now." He watched her for a moment.

"This isn't about money anymore, not about what you hired me to do." He stepped towards her slowly. "This is my case, Red. We may have found Luna, but her kidnappers are still out there. I will find them and eliminate them." Eliminate? That sounded ominous. She chose to ignore it.

"Turn it over to the aurors, Malfoy. You don't need to be a part of this. I'm sure they can find someone else to babysit me." He took another step forward until they were nearly touching.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said.

"Why not?"

"I made a promise." She sighed loudly.

"And I've told you, I'm letting you off the hook."

"I already fulfilled my promise to you," he said smoothly. "I found your friend."

"Well, technically…"

"Red," he growled. She took a step back and fell onto the couch.

"To whom did you promise what then?" She asked, looking up at him. He sat on the coffee table facing her.

"I promised your father that I'd take care of you." She stared at him for a moment in shock, then she felt her eyebrows raise and heat rush to her cheeks.

"You what?"

"You heard me, Red."

"I did. Maybe I'm giving you a chance to take it back before I strangle you." He shrugged. "You made a deal with my father?" She asked loudly, sitting up to jab him in the chest with her finger. "You went behind my back and agreed to be my guard dog? What, did you scare those other two off?"

He took her hand gently from his chest and lowered it back to her lap. "I simply told them that their services were no longer needed," he said. "Now your father holds me responsible."

"Ugh." She stood and paced to the center of the room. "So that's what he was hiding earlier," she muttered. "Well, I'll just tell my father that I sent you away and he can hire back those other two goons."

"Goons who couldn't even hide their presence from you?" He stood and walked to her. "Not very good security specialists, Red."

"And you are?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. He mirrored her stance.

"Yes."

"Ugh." She stomped her foot. She knew she was acting like a spoiled child but, hell, no man was going to make plans about her behind her back. "Get out."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because this is personal to me now. You're mine to protect."

"I'm what?" She asked, her voice rising. Now she was some possession to be passed between bodyguards like some rare, expensive diamond. Like hell!

"You can get as angry as you like, Red, but from now on, I'm your shadow. Everywhere you go, expect me to be there."

"Excuse me?" She was fuming now, moving towards him until they were nose to chest. He appeared perfectly calm, unaffected. Bastard.

"You may not always see me, Red, but I'll be there. Walking you to work, home from work, to St. Mungo's. Everywhere you are, Red, I'm there."

She stuck her finger on his chest. "I'll call my brothers and tell them you're harassing me. They'll make you leave."

He smiled. "They'd have to kill me."

"They probably would." She grinned.

"I'm fairly certain they'd see my point on this one." She glared at his too-handsome, arrogant face.

"Fine." She finally exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. She'd outsmart him. There was no way he was going to follow her every move. A girl needed some privacy, even with a psycho kidnapper on the loose.

"Oh and Red," he said, grabbing her arm to pull her close again, "don't think that you can lose me on the way home or anything." He ran a finger from her temple to her chin. "I will follow you home." She swallowed and pulled away from him.

"Out." She pointed at the door. "You are not staying here."

"Fine." He moved towards the door. "Lock up behind me." He smiled. "I'll be seeing you around." She closed the door behind him and slid to the floor. Suddenly the flat seemed very, very empty.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought!