Authors Note: Once again, I've given up sleeping to churn out another chapter. I'll try and get a bit more done, but I'm not making any promises. If you'd like to discuss this chapter, or any others, review, and come talk to me in the WAiSaD chat room, at the e-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WAiSaD, Wednesday the Fifth at 9:30PM central time. I expect to have this story wrapped up in a couple chapters. I'm seriously considering writing a sequel, quite possibly starring Glin, and maybe a bit of Ron, depending on how he treats me. Somehow, I suspect one of them is a Cancer. Quite possibly both of them. Anyhow, take the polls about this story at the e-group, or e-mail me about whatever at mlpmama@yahoo.com
Chapter 36
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marigold stared at the two bodies laying on the floor, then turned her gaze to her father. "Is that my mother?"
"Yes," his voice broke as he watched pain flit through his daughters eyes. "Bring me my wand, please."
Silently, she obeyed him. Within moments, Draco was free from the armchair, and was hastily tying Pansy up.
"Is Aunt Ginny going to die."
"I don't know," he told her truthfully as he finished binding Pansy.
Ginny wasn't moving, and if it wasn't for the very slight rise and fall of her chest, he'd have thought she was dead. Blood was still flowing freely from the lesions on her face. She looked broken, like a doll played with too roughly then thrown away. "Marigold, fetch me all the towels you can find. Wet two or three of them, please."
The little girl ran off without a word. Draco slipped an arm under Ginny's head, and kissed the top of her head. She began to stir, and he quieted her. "Don't move, Darling. Marigold's coming with some compresses, and when she gets back we'll owl for help."
"Can't, wards on the house," Ginny bit out. "Pansy?"
"Marigold knocked her out. I haven't a clue where she picked it up, but she's evidently quite magically adept. We'll take her to someone, find out exactly what's going on with her."
Ginny smiled for a moment before a coughing spasm over took her, and a look of agony crossed her face. Marigold rushed back in, dropping scores of towels next to Ginny. "I-"
"Go wait in the hall, Marigold."
"But I-"
"Go please."
Grumbling, the child left.
"Thanks," Ginny told him "Don't want her to see me like this." She began coughing again, and a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. "I just want you to know-"
"Tell me later," he said fiercely, not trying to hold the tears back any longer. "You're not going to get away from me this easily."
"Sorry," she told him, a single tear tracing it's way across her temple. "Not enough time."
Draco sobbed openly now, huge, fat tears falling on Ginny's too-pale face. "We'll find a way out, we'll get you to a medi-wizard- I'll..." his eyebrows rose as an idea came to mind. "The catacombs. She won't have warded the catacombs, we'll go out that way."
He picked her up gently, and he knew he had to be hurting her, jostling broken bones or bruised muscle. She didn't cry out though, just rolled her head to rest against his shoulder. Then he realized she hadn't rolled her head at all. It had just fallen there. Her body was limp and her eyes were closed and no matter how loud he screamed her name out, she didn't respond.
It didn't matter. Marigold had been nearly this bad, and she's still made it. He'd fight his way though the catacombs, and then he'd disapparate to the nearest hospital. He made his way down the stairs, Marigold trailing behind him, into the dank basement, and then into the catacombs. He hadn't gone very far when four women clad in black came into view.
A tall woman with honey blonde hair began barking out orders. "Where's Parkinson?"
"She's tied up in the study," Marigold told her helpfully.
"Knight, see that Parkinson is escorted to the nearest containment facility. Ferran, watch the kid. Granger, you're transporting us to the nearest medical center."
The other women dispersed, and Hermione began setting parameters for a mass transportation spell.
"Excuse me," Draco said. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but who in the blazes are you?"
"Joanne Law, Commander, Special Ops. We'll have you out of here in a moment Mr. Malfoy. Everything is being taken care of."
A motley assortment of people sat in the waiting room. The men wore the stubble of a long day on their chins, and the women were rubbing tiredly at their eyes. The cat, for the most part, was irritable.
"Plain idiotic, if you ask me," she told Hermione. "What were they thinking? 'We'll just keep this plot against the Minister under wraps. Wouldn't want to alarm her.'"
"Now, Minnie, be fair. They're not Ministry people, they're Americans and they're Special Ops. You can't expect them to clear their operations with us first." Secretly, Hermione thought you could expect them to clear these sorts of things. It was all well and good that they'd caught Pansy, but Ginny'd almost died in the meantime.
"That's departmental protocol bullshit, and you know it."
Glin chimed in. "McGonagall, shut up. What's done is done, and you're just getting everyone all riled up again."
The cat grumbled something unintelligible and laid her head upon her paws.
Marigold slipped off Draco's lap and walked over to Glin.
"Why's the cat talking?"
McGonagall raised her head. "Not really a cat. I'm enchanted."
"Oh." Marigold thought on this a moment before reaching out her hand to pet McGonagall. "'lo Talking Cat. I'm Marigold."
"Really!" The cat said, affronted at being treated like a house pet. "This is most undignified! I..." Minnie's voice trailed off as Marigold began scratching beneath her chin. "Do that some more."
A mediwizard came out, and everyone stood. "Sit down," he told them. "We've got her stabilized. I won't lie to you, the damage is extensive, and she's not out of the woods by any means. We probably won't know for a week or so. She's unconscious now, and we don't expect her to come out of it for a few days, at the least. Most of her bones are on the mend, and there doesn't appear to be any damage to the spinal column. There's been a strain to her heart, and her liver and kidneys have been pretty beat up. From what Mr. Malfoy told me, she was lucid immediately before becoming unconscious, so major psychological damage is fairly unlikely. That's really all I can tell you right now."
"Can we see her?" Molly asked through bits of torn tissue.
"Yes, but only for a moment or two, and only immediate family members." He surveyed the group of people who'd stood up at his last remark, and revised his statement. "Only her parents."
Ginny was sitting in a lawn chair, waiting for something. She wasn't entirely sure who or what it was, but she was fairly certain it was important. The room was a creamy, off-white color, and very simple. Four walls, a ceiling, and two lawn chairs. Someone far away was singing, but the only bit of the the lyrics she could make out was "seven days."
A clicking sound came from behind her, and she noticed a door had materialized out of nowhere. Neville stepped through, wearing robes of the same color as the room. He smiled. "Hullo Ginny."
"I'm dead then?"
"Not really," he told her.
"Then this isn't Heaven?"
"Technically, it is. It's kind of difficult to explain, actually. It's kind of like Monopoly. You're the little Scottie dog in 'just visiting," and I'm the shoe in lock-up." He winked.
"You're... different here."
"Everyone is really," he told her.
"Even Percy?"
He laughed, and she wiped a tear out of her eye. She's missed that laugh. "Especially Percy. Affter the introductory fondue get-together at God's house, he's become a regular party animal. He and Einstein got smashed at the birthday shindig 'Pac threw for Biggie last week and were lip-synching to Debbie Gibson while completely... but that's entirely irrelevant."
"Can I see him? Percy, I mean?"
"Perhaps for a moment or two. I need to talk to you first and our time here isn't unlimited.
"About what?"
"Draco. You've gotten pretty close to him, haven't you Gin?"
"It's just-"
"No need to explain," he said with an understanding smile. "I'm not upset about it, Ginny. He's a good man. I wouldn't have helped him otherwise."
"But I still love you!"
"It's not the same and you know it. If Pansy hadn't hurt you, you'd be sitting eating French toast with him and Marigold right now."
"But she did."
"Think for a moment. If you had to go through all the pain again just to be with him for an hour, would you do it?"
"Of course."
"Then stop making trouble about it. That's why you're here. You're brain can't seem to accept the fact that in a month or two you're going to be unfathomably happy."
"You make it sound like a fairy tale, Neville. It's not. We fight and we scream, and we constantly hurt each other."
"And then you kiss and you makeup. That's what love is, Ginny."
"But that's not what I had with you!" She countered.
"And what we had wasn't love," he told her reasonably. "Not in that kind of way. It was friendship, and we deluded ourselves into thinking it was more. I'm not going to be hurt by any of this Ginny. I'm dead. I've got too much to be doing to be worrying about you all the time."
"Can you honestly tell me it wouldn't bother you at all if Draco and I lived happily ever after?"
"I want you to be happy, and I'm telling you right now, he can do that. I couldn't. I refuse to argue about it any more. I'll page Percy and send him in." Neville walked out the door and moments later, Percy appeared. He was wearing a sombrero.
And a kilt.
"I've only got a minute, so let's be quick about it." Percy hugged her tightly. "Yes, it bothers me that it's Malfoy, yes, I'll watch the wedding anyway. Wish I could be there in person, but it'd probably send Mum into hysterics and I'm fairly certain it's not even possible. Let them know that I'll be there for all of it, even if you can't really see me. I miss you, Gin. I miss all of you terribly, but it's really fantastic here. It sounds a bit like a postcard from summer camp, but I mean it." He hugged her tighter. "You're about to leave, so I guess this is goodbye."
She blinked, and Percy began getting fuzzy, like an abstract painting of her brother. His voice was softer. "Tell Pen I'm sorry I was a git, an I'll always love her."
She blinked again, and the darkness of sleep enveloped her.
Chapter 36
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marigold stared at the two bodies laying on the floor, then turned her gaze to her father. "Is that my mother?"
"Yes," his voice broke as he watched pain flit through his daughters eyes. "Bring me my wand, please."
Silently, she obeyed him. Within moments, Draco was free from the armchair, and was hastily tying Pansy up.
"Is Aunt Ginny going to die."
"I don't know," he told her truthfully as he finished binding Pansy.
Ginny wasn't moving, and if it wasn't for the very slight rise and fall of her chest, he'd have thought she was dead. Blood was still flowing freely from the lesions on her face. She looked broken, like a doll played with too roughly then thrown away. "Marigold, fetch me all the towels you can find. Wet two or three of them, please."
The little girl ran off without a word. Draco slipped an arm under Ginny's head, and kissed the top of her head. She began to stir, and he quieted her. "Don't move, Darling. Marigold's coming with some compresses, and when she gets back we'll owl for help."
"Can't, wards on the house," Ginny bit out. "Pansy?"
"Marigold knocked her out. I haven't a clue where she picked it up, but she's evidently quite magically adept. We'll take her to someone, find out exactly what's going on with her."
Ginny smiled for a moment before a coughing spasm over took her, and a look of agony crossed her face. Marigold rushed back in, dropping scores of towels next to Ginny. "I-"
"Go wait in the hall, Marigold."
"But I-"
"Go please."
Grumbling, the child left.
"Thanks," Ginny told him "Don't want her to see me like this." She began coughing again, and a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. "I just want you to know-"
"Tell me later," he said fiercely, not trying to hold the tears back any longer. "You're not going to get away from me this easily."
"Sorry," she told him, a single tear tracing it's way across her temple. "Not enough time."
Draco sobbed openly now, huge, fat tears falling on Ginny's too-pale face. "We'll find a way out, we'll get you to a medi-wizard- I'll..." his eyebrows rose as an idea came to mind. "The catacombs. She won't have warded the catacombs, we'll go out that way."
He picked her up gently, and he knew he had to be hurting her, jostling broken bones or bruised muscle. She didn't cry out though, just rolled her head to rest against his shoulder. Then he realized she hadn't rolled her head at all. It had just fallen there. Her body was limp and her eyes were closed and no matter how loud he screamed her name out, she didn't respond.
It didn't matter. Marigold had been nearly this bad, and she's still made it. He'd fight his way though the catacombs, and then he'd disapparate to the nearest hospital. He made his way down the stairs, Marigold trailing behind him, into the dank basement, and then into the catacombs. He hadn't gone very far when four women clad in black came into view.
A tall woman with honey blonde hair began barking out orders. "Where's Parkinson?"
"She's tied up in the study," Marigold told her helpfully.
"Knight, see that Parkinson is escorted to the nearest containment facility. Ferran, watch the kid. Granger, you're transporting us to the nearest medical center."
The other women dispersed, and Hermione began setting parameters for a mass transportation spell.
"Excuse me," Draco said. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but who in the blazes are you?"
"Joanne Law, Commander, Special Ops. We'll have you out of here in a moment Mr. Malfoy. Everything is being taken care of."
A motley assortment of people sat in the waiting room. The men wore the stubble of a long day on their chins, and the women were rubbing tiredly at their eyes. The cat, for the most part, was irritable.
"Plain idiotic, if you ask me," she told Hermione. "What were they thinking? 'We'll just keep this plot against the Minister under wraps. Wouldn't want to alarm her.'"
"Now, Minnie, be fair. They're not Ministry people, they're Americans and they're Special Ops. You can't expect them to clear their operations with us first." Secretly, Hermione thought you could expect them to clear these sorts of things. It was all well and good that they'd caught Pansy, but Ginny'd almost died in the meantime.
"That's departmental protocol bullshit, and you know it."
Glin chimed in. "McGonagall, shut up. What's done is done, and you're just getting everyone all riled up again."
The cat grumbled something unintelligible and laid her head upon her paws.
Marigold slipped off Draco's lap and walked over to Glin.
"Why's the cat talking?"
McGonagall raised her head. "Not really a cat. I'm enchanted."
"Oh." Marigold thought on this a moment before reaching out her hand to pet McGonagall. "'lo Talking Cat. I'm Marigold."
"Really!" The cat said, affronted at being treated like a house pet. "This is most undignified! I..." Minnie's voice trailed off as Marigold began scratching beneath her chin. "Do that some more."
A mediwizard came out, and everyone stood. "Sit down," he told them. "We've got her stabilized. I won't lie to you, the damage is extensive, and she's not out of the woods by any means. We probably won't know for a week or so. She's unconscious now, and we don't expect her to come out of it for a few days, at the least. Most of her bones are on the mend, and there doesn't appear to be any damage to the spinal column. There's been a strain to her heart, and her liver and kidneys have been pretty beat up. From what Mr. Malfoy told me, she was lucid immediately before becoming unconscious, so major psychological damage is fairly unlikely. That's really all I can tell you right now."
"Can we see her?" Molly asked through bits of torn tissue.
"Yes, but only for a moment or two, and only immediate family members." He surveyed the group of people who'd stood up at his last remark, and revised his statement. "Only her parents."
Ginny was sitting in a lawn chair, waiting for something. She wasn't entirely sure who or what it was, but she was fairly certain it was important. The room was a creamy, off-white color, and very simple. Four walls, a ceiling, and two lawn chairs. Someone far away was singing, but the only bit of the the lyrics she could make out was "seven days."
A clicking sound came from behind her, and she noticed a door had materialized out of nowhere. Neville stepped through, wearing robes of the same color as the room. He smiled. "Hullo Ginny."
"I'm dead then?"
"Not really," he told her.
"Then this isn't Heaven?"
"Technically, it is. It's kind of difficult to explain, actually. It's kind of like Monopoly. You're the little Scottie dog in 'just visiting," and I'm the shoe in lock-up." He winked.
"You're... different here."
"Everyone is really," he told her.
"Even Percy?"
He laughed, and she wiped a tear out of her eye. She's missed that laugh. "Especially Percy. Affter the introductory fondue get-together at God's house, he's become a regular party animal. He and Einstein got smashed at the birthday shindig 'Pac threw for Biggie last week and were lip-synching to Debbie Gibson while completely... but that's entirely irrelevant."
"Can I see him? Percy, I mean?"
"Perhaps for a moment or two. I need to talk to you first and our time here isn't unlimited.
"About what?"
"Draco. You've gotten pretty close to him, haven't you Gin?"
"It's just-"
"No need to explain," he said with an understanding smile. "I'm not upset about it, Ginny. He's a good man. I wouldn't have helped him otherwise."
"But I still love you!"
"It's not the same and you know it. If Pansy hadn't hurt you, you'd be sitting eating French toast with him and Marigold right now."
"But she did."
"Think for a moment. If you had to go through all the pain again just to be with him for an hour, would you do it?"
"Of course."
"Then stop making trouble about it. That's why you're here. You're brain can't seem to accept the fact that in a month or two you're going to be unfathomably happy."
"You make it sound like a fairy tale, Neville. It's not. We fight and we scream, and we constantly hurt each other."
"And then you kiss and you makeup. That's what love is, Ginny."
"But that's not what I had with you!" She countered.
"And what we had wasn't love," he told her reasonably. "Not in that kind of way. It was friendship, and we deluded ourselves into thinking it was more. I'm not going to be hurt by any of this Ginny. I'm dead. I've got too much to be doing to be worrying about you all the time."
"Can you honestly tell me it wouldn't bother you at all if Draco and I lived happily ever after?"
"I want you to be happy, and I'm telling you right now, he can do that. I couldn't. I refuse to argue about it any more. I'll page Percy and send him in." Neville walked out the door and moments later, Percy appeared. He was wearing a sombrero.
And a kilt.
"I've only got a minute, so let's be quick about it." Percy hugged her tightly. "Yes, it bothers me that it's Malfoy, yes, I'll watch the wedding anyway. Wish I could be there in person, but it'd probably send Mum into hysterics and I'm fairly certain it's not even possible. Let them know that I'll be there for all of it, even if you can't really see me. I miss you, Gin. I miss all of you terribly, but it's really fantastic here. It sounds a bit like a postcard from summer camp, but I mean it." He hugged her tighter. "You're about to leave, so I guess this is goodbye."
She blinked, and Percy began getting fuzzy, like an abstract painting of her brother. His voice was softer. "Tell Pen I'm sorry I was a git, an I'll always love her."
She blinked again, and the darkness of sleep enveloped her.