The Truth Behind The Lies
Small authors note: My spelling is fucked up! I can't spell nothing at the moment, and WordPad doesn't have spell checker. I really wish I had Microsoft Word, it has a spellchecker. Also, I'm sorry this is so very, very, very late, my bloody computer keeps breaking and I've nearly lost this chapter five times. Really fake sounding spell coming up, hehehe, I need a latin dictionary.
Disclaimer: Sod off, I own nothing! Don't make me hurt you lawyers and your fancy briefcases! Did I also mention the fact that I Do Not Own the Simpsons? They belong to Matt Groening.
Anyway enjoy the show, and keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle for the remainder of the ride. Thankyou.
Chapter Nine
"I just don't get it," Ginny moaned to the empty room,
"How the hell does it all add up? I know he didn't do it but who did? Both the Maid and the Cook have alibis, and Lucius is way to old to have looked like Draco." Slamming her fist on her desk she looked up when Ron walked into the room, a happy grin on his face.
"Why are you so happy?" She asked accusingly, sighing Ron sat down in a chair,
"I'm in love."
"What?" Ginny asked with a delighted laugh,
"Who is she?" Ron sighed again a dreamy look on his face, although Ginny noticed the tips of his ears were turning red,
"Her name's Patricia Malone, she's the new keeper for the cannons, we've been dating for a while." Ginny looked up sharply,
"Patricia Malone? She joined the Cannons over a year ago, you've been dating for over a year? When is the wedding?" This time the rest of Ron's face turned bright red.
"As soon as possible."
"You mean?" Ginny asked excitedly, Ron nodded proudly,
"Got down on one knee, asked her to marry me and she said yes." Shrieking Ginny flung her arms around Ron and asked him a million questions about his fiance, all of which he answered with a proud grin.
"I'll tell mum, she'll probably organise a huge family meal for everybody and you can interogate Patricia, which I am sure you will." Ron said, finally he remembered the reason for his visit,
"I interviewed the neighbours, some say a short guy around fifty with black hair and a false leg, thers say about my age, tall with blonde hair, one lady though was walking her dog and she was sure she saw a young woman one minute and a tall man the next, I said it must have been a trick of the light, she then grinned and said,
'You spelt department wrong when you transfigured the banana.'
It turns out she was half muggle half witch, she said she knew a polyjuice potion when she saw it." Cheering Ginny kissed her brother, then she said with a grin,
"Now we just have to figure out who did it, come on, I need your help on this." Puzzled Ron followed Ginny outinto Diagon Alley where Ginny had her wand ready to apparate.
"Wait, where are we going?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Ginny asked in surprise,
"No," shrugging she checked her watch,
"First we get Harry and Hermione, secondly we get Draco then we go to Privet Drive, we need to look around, I'm sure there is more evidence there that hasn't been found." Shrugging Ron pulled his wand out,
"Lets go then."
*******************
The house on Privet Drive was black with soot, the hole in the front wall had a single yellow police tape across it and on the once neat front lawn bricks lat scattered. Stepping under the tape Ginny muttered
"Lumos," the end of her wand lit up and she pointed it at the chalk outlines of three bodies on the floor.
"Okay guys, come in," She saidquietly, Draco and Harry lifted the tape up for Hermione and then stepped under themselves, Ron came last his wand already lit up.
"What are we looking for?" Hermione asked picking a piece of wood up and throwing it over her shoulder onto the sofa, standing directly behind her Draco was forced to duck,
"Geez woman, watch where you throw things!" He whined rubbing a scrape on his arm,
"Don't be such a baby, Draco," Ginny scolded pointing her lit wand at Dracos arm, the cut was bleeding slightly, sniggering she rubbed it until it stopped bleeding,
"Honestly Draco you need to go on a first aid course. Right people, we need to be on the look out for anything out of the ordinary, Harry, Hermione, this is probably where you two will shine, you both know what is not normal in a muggle house hold, especially one that hates magic." Harry pointed at a tipped up chair and nodding Draco helped him move it, looking around at the burnt out surroundings Draco said sadly,
"I can't believe you had to live here, its so Muggle, its creepy." Harry nodded,
"I know, at least Ginny's has magical things in it, then again the Dursleys hated anything magic,"
"Thats because the Dursleys were the worst kind of muggle." Looking to where the voice had come from they say a young woman standing behind the line, she had long blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes, she reminded Ginny of Dumbledore only younger and female.
"Patricia? What are you doing here?" Ron asked, crossing the room to embrace his fiance, Harry and Hermione exchanged mystified glances and Draco gave Patricia an appraising look. The thought of Draco giving the elevator stare to somebody other than herself, for some reason, bugged the hell out of Ginny, and sharply reminding herself that Patricia was Ron's fiance she focused back in on what Patricia was saying.
"I was visiting my aunt, she lives a few doors down, I believe you met her yesterday." Ron nodded and stepping forwards Ginny held a hand out which Patricia clasped with a small delicate hand,
"Hi I'm Ginny, Ron's sister, this is Draco Malfoy my client, and Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, friends from school. It's nice to meet you." Patricia grinned,
"I've heard a lot about you, and, the reason I haven't insisted I meet you sooner, is I heard what happened to an old girlfriend of Bills." Ginny laughed, although it was more of a snigger or an evil laugh to the people in the room,
"Fleur? Yeah, we sent her screaming, that was about two years ago though." Leaning closer to Ginny, Patricia said,
"Are you and Draco dating or something?" Embarassed Ginny shook her head, and Patricia leant back a bit a smirk on her face, *Very Draco like* Ginny thought, shaking her head she said quietly,
"I'm his attorney, I can't date him. Its unprofessional."
"Ah ha! I knew it, you fancy the pants off of him! Not that I blame you he is very easy on the eyes. Nice ass as well, not as nice as Ron's though, I always did have a thing for red heads, thats how Ron got me, apart from his charm and good looks, and his..... well you know."
"Yeah, I do, and now I wish that conversation could be wiped from my mind." Patricia laughed.
"Mind if I help?"
"Sure, go ahead," Grinning Patricia went over to where Harry and Draco were down on their knees, looking at something in the soot, their wands pointed at a small space on the ground.
"What *is* that?" She asked, Hermione pulled a pen out of her pocket and bent down next to them, poking the pen around in the soot she pulled a loong strand of hair out,
"Who's hair is that Harry? Your aunt?" Shaking his head Harry stared at the long hair,
"Nope, Petunias hair was short, she always said long hair was sluttish." Sounds of disgust came from Hermione, Patricia and Ginny, all of which had long hair.
"I'll take it to the ministry tomorrow, they can find out who it belongs to." Ginny grinned,
"No need, that hair belongs to...."
*A/N, and I'm going to leave it there. hehehe, alright, put the weapons down, I'll continue.*
"Marianna." Draco looked confused,
"But why?" Ginny shrugged,
"As of yet, I dont know, but I'll bet a months pay that that hair is hers. Hermione, we need to pay a visit to the ministry tomorrow, I want to look at her files." Hermione nodded, her face a mask of confusion,
"Can I come?" Patricia asked standing next to Ron who put an arm around her waist.
"Sure, why not, the more the merrier, Draco, could you stay in my house please, and try to keep out of trouble."
"But, I...." Draco began, Ginny held a hand up,
"Simpsons marathon on Sky One." He grinned,
"Woohoo!"
******************
"You, progress report!" Lucius snapped,
"Yes sir, we think Mrs Malfoy is in Lancashire somewhere, we are narrowing the search down as we speak."
"No need," Lucius interupted with a smirk,
"I think it's time we pay the Weasleys a visit."
*****************
"This is fun, we're like the Charlies Angels of the wizarding world." Hermione said as she wrapped her long black cloak around herself.
"Who?" Ginny asked pushing the Ministry door open,
"It's a muggle television show, they were female detectives working for a guy named Charlie, how about we just say we are Draco's angels." Hermione said with a sigh,
"Sure, whatever floats your boat."
"Hi," Ginny said to the security guard sitting behind a large desk.
"I'm Virginia Weasley, I need files on two imigrants from Russia," The security guard nodded,
"What names?"
"Marianna and Katarina er..... I dont know their last names. Sorry." Shrugging he flicked through a pile of papers, handing a stack to Ginny, a stack to Patricia and a stack to Hermione,
"Here's all the imigrants from the Russia in the past ten years, find their photos, I'll get you their files." Nodding Ginny smiled cheerfully and sat down at a table.
"This will take years." Hermione complained, snorting Patricia rolled her eyes,
"I thought you were supposed to be smart, use a spell, it'll be much easier." Laughing Hermione pointed at her stack of photos,
"Sortus Katarina." The papers began to shuffle themselves until a small stack of papers with the name Katarina on, sat in front of her. Grinning Hermione handed the papers to Ginny and pointed her wand at the rest of the papers,
"Sortus Marianna." Once again the papers shuffled themselves faster than a card dealer in Las Vegas, and Hermione was left holding a pile of papers.
Sorting through the papers took less than a minute and Ginny concentrated on finding the photos, suddenly she let out an excited squeal.
"Why didn't I think of this before?" Hermione looked up enquiringly,
"What?" Ginny held the photos up triumphantly,
"They are related! Thats something they forgot to mention when they were interviewed." Calling the security guard over she showed him the photos, glancing at them he whistled in surprise and slowly made his way back to the front desk, a few minutes he came back with a manilla folder, he raised an eyebrow and placed it on the table.
"What are three young ladies like you doing involved in the Russian Mafia?" Ginny could hear Hermione and Patricia gasping in surprise and suddenly the case wasn't as simple anymore.
"Mafia?" He nodded sourly,
"My buddy was murdered by their leader, Don Petrakov, they deal big time in black magic and the dark arts, black market potions and equipment, makes Knockturn Alley look like a muggle occult shop." Blinking in surprise Ginny opened the file and quickly read through it, she moved closer to Hermione and Patricia and said in a low voice,
"Katarina Petrakov is the wife of Don Petrakov, first name Rudolph, Marianna is their first and only child, it seems Don Petrakov was murdered by one of Voldemorts death eaters a month before the downfall of Voldemort himself, Katarina swore revenge on the man who did it and you can bet your bottom galleon its Malfoy senior who did it. It seems that they can't get at Lucius because he's to well protected for them to just burst in and murder him, so they are going for the next best thing, Draco. They know Draco is Lucius only heir, so if he is killed then the Malfoy name dies with it, a perfect way to get back at your enemy, hit him where you know it hurts, his family name." Pausing for a minute she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet,
"We did it, we now know for sure Draco is innocent." Hermione smiled warmly and hugged her younger friend,
"And now you can prove he is innocent and you won't ever have to be annoyed or upset by him again." Ginnys face fell and she suddenly felt sick,
*I won't see him again. Oh gods no* Patricia exchanged looks with Hermione and gently touched her arm,
"Gin? You okay?" Ginny smiled and tried to look excited,
"Yeah, I just can't believe it, against all the odds we proved he was innocent. I guess the odds kind of loomed up a bit, I guess I realised what we were up against, and that we are now in a lot of danger, if anybody finds out we know this we could be killed by the Russian mafia, keep it quiet until we get back to the Burrow, we need Sirius and Remus here and we need a plan." In deep thought she copied the files, slipped them into her briefcase and left the ministry building. Hermione and Patricia followed her and together they apparated to the Burrow.
****************
"Where is Narcissa?" Lucius yelled at Molly and Arthur who were standing close together in the kitchen.
"Out! get out of my kitchen!" Molly screamed stepping towards Lucius her wand pointed at his head.
"Don't be a fool woman." Lucius snarled disarming her easily,
"Where, is, she?"
"I won't tell you!" Molly said stubbornly, smirking Lucius raised his wand to kill her,
"Don't, please Lucius, leave them alone, I'll come with you, just leave them alone." Narcissa said standing in front of Molly and Arthur, she was pale and shaking but refused to move,
"So the little mouse returns, did you really think you could escape, you really are more stupid than I thought you bitch." Lucius sneered, still shaking Narcissa tried to put a brave face one,
"I, I, I want a divorce, you can't stop me Lucius, you have no control over me." Laughing Lucius pointed his wand at her and said calmly,
"avada ka....." he got no further as Draco burst through the fireplace with his wand out, standing up he yelled,
"Avada Kadavra!!" Green light filled the room and the occupants of the room all heard a rushing sound, Lucius collapsed dead on the floor, a stunned look on his face.
"Oh, shit, I am in so much trouble." Draco said in shock as Narcissa hugged him,
"I just used an unforgiveable curse, I am so dead." Narcissa shook her head,
"Lucius is a wanted death eater, you stopped him, you are a hero, you saved all our lives." Narcissa said, picking Molly's wand up off the floor she handed it to Molly and turned startled as the door opened and Dumbledore walked in, he was followed by Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Patricia. With a cry of relief Ginny flew into her parents arms hugging them closely, turning she hugged Narcissa who smiled and hugged her back, letting her go she hugged Draco who looked surprised,
"Thank you." She said bursting into tears, eyebrows raised Draco awkwardly patted Ginny on the back, glancing at Molly he shrugged slightly and she motioned for him to sit Ginny down which he did with relief. Ron coughed slightly and hugged his parents, pulling Patricia forwards he said proudly,
"Mum, Dad, Narcissa, Professor, this is Patricia Malone, my fiance." The chaos that followed rivalled the quidditch cup final at Hogwarts between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Molly shrieked excitedly and hugged Ron again, then she hugged Patricia and finally she hugged Arthur who looked at Patricia with a smile, Dumbledore shook hands with Ron and winked at Patricia who blushed,
"A fine young lady you are engaged to Mr Weasley, went to Beuxbatons if I am not mistaken, yes a fine young lady. I have seen many a fine match and if I am not mistaken they are all here on this fine winters day." Eyes twinkling he left looking twenty years younger than he actually was.
"Congratulations Weasley, after the hell I put you through at Hogwarts you deserve something good like Patricia." Draco said holding a hand out, after a few seconds of looking at his hand warily he shook it and collectively the whole room breathed a sigh of relief, Draco included.
"Draco, could I have a word with you in private?" Draco nodded and followed Ron into the hallway, what was said between them could not be heard in the kitchen but a few minutes later they returned Ron looking smug and Draco rather red in the face, he was looking thoughfully at Ginny, every so often he would glance at Ron who would nod.
"What did you say to him?" Harry asked Ron who smirked,
"Just a few home truths."
"You didn't yell at him and say you didn't trust him did you?" Harry asked worriedly, Ron laughed and shook his head,
"Hell no, Ginny would bite my head off." Harry looked more confused, and Hermione rolled her eyes and said in a whisper to him,
"Harry, it's obvious to all in the room that Ginny is falling for Draco, and if I'm not mistaken the feeling is mutual, he is in love with her, I suspect though that he remembers his past treatment of her and feels awkward. Ron just did the good big brother thing and informed him of Ginny's feelings." Harry's mouth dropped open in an O shape and he said with a laugh,
"Ohhhhhhhhh."
Draco sat next to Ginny and said quietly,
"Are you okay?" Nodding Ginny flashed him a smile and Draco could feel his stomach turn to butterflies.
"I'm fine, thanks." Leaning back in his chair Draco smiled,
"Good."
*A/N, okay peeps, still more to come. Well come on, as of yet it is circumstancial evidence and asking her if she was okay was hardly declaring his undying love for her. Stay tuned.*
Small authors note: My spelling is fucked up! I can't spell nothing at the moment, and WordPad doesn't have spell checker. I really wish I had Microsoft Word, it has a spellchecker. Also, I'm sorry this is so very, very, very late, my bloody computer keeps breaking and I've nearly lost this chapter five times. Really fake sounding spell coming up, hehehe, I need a latin dictionary.
Disclaimer: Sod off, I own nothing! Don't make me hurt you lawyers and your fancy briefcases! Did I also mention the fact that I Do Not Own the Simpsons? They belong to Matt Groening.
Anyway enjoy the show, and keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle for the remainder of the ride. Thankyou.
Chapter Nine
"I just don't get it," Ginny moaned to the empty room,
"How the hell does it all add up? I know he didn't do it but who did? Both the Maid and the Cook have alibis, and Lucius is way to old to have looked like Draco." Slamming her fist on her desk she looked up when Ron walked into the room, a happy grin on his face.
"Why are you so happy?" She asked accusingly, sighing Ron sat down in a chair,
"I'm in love."
"What?" Ginny asked with a delighted laugh,
"Who is she?" Ron sighed again a dreamy look on his face, although Ginny noticed the tips of his ears were turning red,
"Her name's Patricia Malone, she's the new keeper for the cannons, we've been dating for a while." Ginny looked up sharply,
"Patricia Malone? She joined the Cannons over a year ago, you've been dating for over a year? When is the wedding?" This time the rest of Ron's face turned bright red.
"As soon as possible."
"You mean?" Ginny asked excitedly, Ron nodded proudly,
"Got down on one knee, asked her to marry me and she said yes." Shrieking Ginny flung her arms around Ron and asked him a million questions about his fiance, all of which he answered with a proud grin.
"I'll tell mum, she'll probably organise a huge family meal for everybody and you can interogate Patricia, which I am sure you will." Ron said, finally he remembered the reason for his visit,
"I interviewed the neighbours, some say a short guy around fifty with black hair and a false leg, thers say about my age, tall with blonde hair, one lady though was walking her dog and she was sure she saw a young woman one minute and a tall man the next, I said it must have been a trick of the light, she then grinned and said,
'You spelt department wrong when you transfigured the banana.'
It turns out she was half muggle half witch, she said she knew a polyjuice potion when she saw it." Cheering Ginny kissed her brother, then she said with a grin,
"Now we just have to figure out who did it, come on, I need your help on this." Puzzled Ron followed Ginny outinto Diagon Alley where Ginny had her wand ready to apparate.
"Wait, where are we going?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Ginny asked in surprise,
"No," shrugging she checked her watch,
"First we get Harry and Hermione, secondly we get Draco then we go to Privet Drive, we need to look around, I'm sure there is more evidence there that hasn't been found." Shrugging Ron pulled his wand out,
"Lets go then."
*******************
The house on Privet Drive was black with soot, the hole in the front wall had a single yellow police tape across it and on the once neat front lawn bricks lat scattered. Stepping under the tape Ginny muttered
"Lumos," the end of her wand lit up and she pointed it at the chalk outlines of three bodies on the floor.
"Okay guys, come in," She saidquietly, Draco and Harry lifted the tape up for Hermione and then stepped under themselves, Ron came last his wand already lit up.
"What are we looking for?" Hermione asked picking a piece of wood up and throwing it over her shoulder onto the sofa, standing directly behind her Draco was forced to duck,
"Geez woman, watch where you throw things!" He whined rubbing a scrape on his arm,
"Don't be such a baby, Draco," Ginny scolded pointing her lit wand at Dracos arm, the cut was bleeding slightly, sniggering she rubbed it until it stopped bleeding,
"Honestly Draco you need to go on a first aid course. Right people, we need to be on the look out for anything out of the ordinary, Harry, Hermione, this is probably where you two will shine, you both know what is not normal in a muggle house hold, especially one that hates magic." Harry pointed at a tipped up chair and nodding Draco helped him move it, looking around at the burnt out surroundings Draco said sadly,
"I can't believe you had to live here, its so Muggle, its creepy." Harry nodded,
"I know, at least Ginny's has magical things in it, then again the Dursleys hated anything magic,"
"Thats because the Dursleys were the worst kind of muggle." Looking to where the voice had come from they say a young woman standing behind the line, she had long blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes, she reminded Ginny of Dumbledore only younger and female.
"Patricia? What are you doing here?" Ron asked, crossing the room to embrace his fiance, Harry and Hermione exchanged mystified glances and Draco gave Patricia an appraising look. The thought of Draco giving the elevator stare to somebody other than herself, for some reason, bugged the hell out of Ginny, and sharply reminding herself that Patricia was Ron's fiance she focused back in on what Patricia was saying.
"I was visiting my aunt, she lives a few doors down, I believe you met her yesterday." Ron nodded and stepping forwards Ginny held a hand out which Patricia clasped with a small delicate hand,
"Hi I'm Ginny, Ron's sister, this is Draco Malfoy my client, and Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, friends from school. It's nice to meet you." Patricia grinned,
"I've heard a lot about you, and, the reason I haven't insisted I meet you sooner, is I heard what happened to an old girlfriend of Bills." Ginny laughed, although it was more of a snigger or an evil laugh to the people in the room,
"Fleur? Yeah, we sent her screaming, that was about two years ago though." Leaning closer to Ginny, Patricia said,
"Are you and Draco dating or something?" Embarassed Ginny shook her head, and Patricia leant back a bit a smirk on her face, *Very Draco like* Ginny thought, shaking her head she said quietly,
"I'm his attorney, I can't date him. Its unprofessional."
"Ah ha! I knew it, you fancy the pants off of him! Not that I blame you he is very easy on the eyes. Nice ass as well, not as nice as Ron's though, I always did have a thing for red heads, thats how Ron got me, apart from his charm and good looks, and his..... well you know."
"Yeah, I do, and now I wish that conversation could be wiped from my mind." Patricia laughed.
"Mind if I help?"
"Sure, go ahead," Grinning Patricia went over to where Harry and Draco were down on their knees, looking at something in the soot, their wands pointed at a small space on the ground.
"What *is* that?" She asked, Hermione pulled a pen out of her pocket and bent down next to them, poking the pen around in the soot she pulled a loong strand of hair out,
"Who's hair is that Harry? Your aunt?" Shaking his head Harry stared at the long hair,
"Nope, Petunias hair was short, she always said long hair was sluttish." Sounds of disgust came from Hermione, Patricia and Ginny, all of which had long hair.
"I'll take it to the ministry tomorrow, they can find out who it belongs to." Ginny grinned,
"No need, that hair belongs to...."
*A/N, and I'm going to leave it there. hehehe, alright, put the weapons down, I'll continue.*
"Marianna." Draco looked confused,
"But why?" Ginny shrugged,
"As of yet, I dont know, but I'll bet a months pay that that hair is hers. Hermione, we need to pay a visit to the ministry tomorrow, I want to look at her files." Hermione nodded, her face a mask of confusion,
"Can I come?" Patricia asked standing next to Ron who put an arm around her waist.
"Sure, why not, the more the merrier, Draco, could you stay in my house please, and try to keep out of trouble."
"But, I...." Draco began, Ginny held a hand up,
"Simpsons marathon on Sky One." He grinned,
"Woohoo!"
******************
"You, progress report!" Lucius snapped,
"Yes sir, we think Mrs Malfoy is in Lancashire somewhere, we are narrowing the search down as we speak."
"No need," Lucius interupted with a smirk,
"I think it's time we pay the Weasleys a visit."
*****************
"This is fun, we're like the Charlies Angels of the wizarding world." Hermione said as she wrapped her long black cloak around herself.
"Who?" Ginny asked pushing the Ministry door open,
"It's a muggle television show, they were female detectives working for a guy named Charlie, how about we just say we are Draco's angels." Hermione said with a sigh,
"Sure, whatever floats your boat."
"Hi," Ginny said to the security guard sitting behind a large desk.
"I'm Virginia Weasley, I need files on two imigrants from Russia," The security guard nodded,
"What names?"
"Marianna and Katarina er..... I dont know their last names. Sorry." Shrugging he flicked through a pile of papers, handing a stack to Ginny, a stack to Patricia and a stack to Hermione,
"Here's all the imigrants from the Russia in the past ten years, find their photos, I'll get you their files." Nodding Ginny smiled cheerfully and sat down at a table.
"This will take years." Hermione complained, snorting Patricia rolled her eyes,
"I thought you were supposed to be smart, use a spell, it'll be much easier." Laughing Hermione pointed at her stack of photos,
"Sortus Katarina." The papers began to shuffle themselves until a small stack of papers with the name Katarina on, sat in front of her. Grinning Hermione handed the papers to Ginny and pointed her wand at the rest of the papers,
"Sortus Marianna." Once again the papers shuffled themselves faster than a card dealer in Las Vegas, and Hermione was left holding a pile of papers.
Sorting through the papers took less than a minute and Ginny concentrated on finding the photos, suddenly she let out an excited squeal.
"Why didn't I think of this before?" Hermione looked up enquiringly,
"What?" Ginny held the photos up triumphantly,
"They are related! Thats something they forgot to mention when they were interviewed." Calling the security guard over she showed him the photos, glancing at them he whistled in surprise and slowly made his way back to the front desk, a few minutes he came back with a manilla folder, he raised an eyebrow and placed it on the table.
"What are three young ladies like you doing involved in the Russian Mafia?" Ginny could hear Hermione and Patricia gasping in surprise and suddenly the case wasn't as simple anymore.
"Mafia?" He nodded sourly,
"My buddy was murdered by their leader, Don Petrakov, they deal big time in black magic and the dark arts, black market potions and equipment, makes Knockturn Alley look like a muggle occult shop." Blinking in surprise Ginny opened the file and quickly read through it, she moved closer to Hermione and Patricia and said in a low voice,
"Katarina Petrakov is the wife of Don Petrakov, first name Rudolph, Marianna is their first and only child, it seems Don Petrakov was murdered by one of Voldemorts death eaters a month before the downfall of Voldemort himself, Katarina swore revenge on the man who did it and you can bet your bottom galleon its Malfoy senior who did it. It seems that they can't get at Lucius because he's to well protected for them to just burst in and murder him, so they are going for the next best thing, Draco. They know Draco is Lucius only heir, so if he is killed then the Malfoy name dies with it, a perfect way to get back at your enemy, hit him where you know it hurts, his family name." Pausing for a minute she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet,
"We did it, we now know for sure Draco is innocent." Hermione smiled warmly and hugged her younger friend,
"And now you can prove he is innocent and you won't ever have to be annoyed or upset by him again." Ginnys face fell and she suddenly felt sick,
*I won't see him again. Oh gods no* Patricia exchanged looks with Hermione and gently touched her arm,
"Gin? You okay?" Ginny smiled and tried to look excited,
"Yeah, I just can't believe it, against all the odds we proved he was innocent. I guess the odds kind of loomed up a bit, I guess I realised what we were up against, and that we are now in a lot of danger, if anybody finds out we know this we could be killed by the Russian mafia, keep it quiet until we get back to the Burrow, we need Sirius and Remus here and we need a plan." In deep thought she copied the files, slipped them into her briefcase and left the ministry building. Hermione and Patricia followed her and together they apparated to the Burrow.
****************
"Where is Narcissa?" Lucius yelled at Molly and Arthur who were standing close together in the kitchen.
"Out! get out of my kitchen!" Molly screamed stepping towards Lucius her wand pointed at his head.
"Don't be a fool woman." Lucius snarled disarming her easily,
"Where, is, she?"
"I won't tell you!" Molly said stubbornly, smirking Lucius raised his wand to kill her,
"Don't, please Lucius, leave them alone, I'll come with you, just leave them alone." Narcissa said standing in front of Molly and Arthur, she was pale and shaking but refused to move,
"So the little mouse returns, did you really think you could escape, you really are more stupid than I thought you bitch." Lucius sneered, still shaking Narcissa tried to put a brave face one,
"I, I, I want a divorce, you can't stop me Lucius, you have no control over me." Laughing Lucius pointed his wand at her and said calmly,
"avada ka....." he got no further as Draco burst through the fireplace with his wand out, standing up he yelled,
"Avada Kadavra!!" Green light filled the room and the occupants of the room all heard a rushing sound, Lucius collapsed dead on the floor, a stunned look on his face.
"Oh, shit, I am in so much trouble." Draco said in shock as Narcissa hugged him,
"I just used an unforgiveable curse, I am so dead." Narcissa shook her head,
"Lucius is a wanted death eater, you stopped him, you are a hero, you saved all our lives." Narcissa said, picking Molly's wand up off the floor she handed it to Molly and turned startled as the door opened and Dumbledore walked in, he was followed by Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Patricia. With a cry of relief Ginny flew into her parents arms hugging them closely, turning she hugged Narcissa who smiled and hugged her back, letting her go she hugged Draco who looked surprised,
"Thank you." She said bursting into tears, eyebrows raised Draco awkwardly patted Ginny on the back, glancing at Molly he shrugged slightly and she motioned for him to sit Ginny down which he did with relief. Ron coughed slightly and hugged his parents, pulling Patricia forwards he said proudly,
"Mum, Dad, Narcissa, Professor, this is Patricia Malone, my fiance." The chaos that followed rivalled the quidditch cup final at Hogwarts between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Molly shrieked excitedly and hugged Ron again, then she hugged Patricia and finally she hugged Arthur who looked at Patricia with a smile, Dumbledore shook hands with Ron and winked at Patricia who blushed,
"A fine young lady you are engaged to Mr Weasley, went to Beuxbatons if I am not mistaken, yes a fine young lady. I have seen many a fine match and if I am not mistaken they are all here on this fine winters day." Eyes twinkling he left looking twenty years younger than he actually was.
"Congratulations Weasley, after the hell I put you through at Hogwarts you deserve something good like Patricia." Draco said holding a hand out, after a few seconds of looking at his hand warily he shook it and collectively the whole room breathed a sigh of relief, Draco included.
"Draco, could I have a word with you in private?" Draco nodded and followed Ron into the hallway, what was said between them could not be heard in the kitchen but a few minutes later they returned Ron looking smug and Draco rather red in the face, he was looking thoughfully at Ginny, every so often he would glance at Ron who would nod.
"What did you say to him?" Harry asked Ron who smirked,
"Just a few home truths."
"You didn't yell at him and say you didn't trust him did you?" Harry asked worriedly, Ron laughed and shook his head,
"Hell no, Ginny would bite my head off." Harry looked more confused, and Hermione rolled her eyes and said in a whisper to him,
"Harry, it's obvious to all in the room that Ginny is falling for Draco, and if I'm not mistaken the feeling is mutual, he is in love with her, I suspect though that he remembers his past treatment of her and feels awkward. Ron just did the good big brother thing and informed him of Ginny's feelings." Harry's mouth dropped open in an O shape and he said with a laugh,
"Ohhhhhhhhh."
Draco sat next to Ginny and said quietly,
"Are you okay?" Nodding Ginny flashed him a smile and Draco could feel his stomach turn to butterflies.
"I'm fine, thanks." Leaning back in his chair Draco smiled,
"Good."
*A/N, okay peeps, still more to come. Well come on, as of yet it is circumstancial evidence and asking her if she was okay was hardly declaring his undying love for her. Stay tuned.*