Title: Guilty By Association
Author: Tiny Q
E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com
A/N: Well here's the next part. I don't know, I had real troubles with this one, but oh well. The next part might not be coming in a while because the damn Albertan Government has declared it an emergency and the teachers are being forced back to work tomorrow! I get double english! Goody. I hear a fire truck outside and I can't help but wonder if it is to respond to a mass suicide held by students over the news. ~sigh~ Harry Potter isn't mine, he's J.K. Rowlings. Warner Bros. owns the rights I believe. The Bureau idea comes from the TV show Angel, (The WB owns it I think). All that is mine is the plot. And it's not that great at that.
Guilty By Association
Chapter 3
Field Medic
Ginny Weasley did the first thing that came too mind when Draco Malfoy collapsed into her. That was Apparate home. In the light of her apartment she saw that he was bruised and covered in blood. Looking down at herself she realized that she was covered now too.
She dropped him as gently as she could onto the couch in the center of the room. She then turned and rushed into the bathroom to get some warm water and towels, flinging her bloody mitts, scarf and cloak away from her on the way. When she returned she placed a large bowl of water and a pile of towels on the glass table in front of the couch.
'He doesn't look good,' she thought grimly as she knelt beside him and began to unclasp his once expensive looking black cloak. As she was doing this he groaned and his eyes began to flutter open.
"Where am I?" he asked groggily as he looked around.
"You're in my apartment," Ginny said, gently pulling the cloak away from him and dropping it onto the hardwood floor. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Weasley?" he asked looking at her as though he was going insane. He tried to sit up but she pushed him back down.
"Stop moving and let me take a look at you," she said firmly, unbuttoning his black silk shirt. His chest underneath was muscular but covered with blood from various wounds and there were also large bruises along his ribs. 'Probably broken,' she thought grimly.
"I bet you've been waiting your whole life to see this," Malfoy sneered and Ginny snapped her eyes up to his face.
"Oh yes," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I can die a happy woman now, for I have seen Draco Malfoy's bare chest. Now sit up." She grabbed his shoulder roughly and forced him into a sitting position pulling the shirt off, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Nice bedside manner," he muttered through clenched teeth.
"My bedside manner is impeccable, thank you very much," she hissed angrily, sitting on the couch behind him. 'He's such a git,' she thought but her demeanor softened when she saw his back. 'What the hell?' she wondered. His back was even worse than his chest. There was blood everywhere running from large lacerations and a wound on his left shoulder that looked suspiciously like a bullet wound.
"What happened?" she gasped, taking out her wand. Pointing it at him she began to whisper healing charms and repair the damage.
"I don't really know," he said, wincing as she healed his wounds. "I met my father-"
"Your father?" Ginny interrupted.
"Yes," he said, angry that she had interrupted him, "My father."
"But I thought he was a Death Eater," she interrupted again.
"He is," Malfoy said flatly. "He sent me an owl and told me to meet him."
"But-" she started.
"Never mind," he hissed and turned his head away from her and looked around her apartment. "Is this the best you can afford?" he drawled, wincing as she "accidentally" slipped with her wand.
"Is that all you ever think about?" Ginny snarled, "How poor others are compared to yourself? That's really sad you know."
"That's not all I ever think about, Weasley," he sneered. "Damn!" he swore as she began to heal a deep cut, "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"
"No," she said sarcastically, "I'm just testing out new methods on you since it is illegal for a field medic to try them on animals. Seriously." He glared at her and she glared back, after a moment though she turned her attention back to the task at hand.
"Field medic," he muttered.
"Got a problem with it?" she growled as she stood up and sat in front of him.
"No."
"Good."
It did not take long to heal his chest even with the broken ribs. It seemed that his back had taken the brunt of the attack, what ever had happened. The entire time they sat in silence glaring at each other every so often and shaking their heads. Soon Ginny was once again seated behind Malfoy examining the one wound left to heal. She had stopped it from bleeding and was now examining it closely trying to determine if it really was a bullet wound.
"You know Weasley, if you lean in any closer your going to get blood on your nose," Malfoy sneered, breaking the silence that they had held for the past few minutes.
"Did you get shot?" she asked, ignoring what he had just said and sitting back.
"Shot?"
"With a gun," she sighed. 'He couldn't be that closed off from the muggle world, could he?'
"I know with what," Malfoy snapped. His eyes seem to focus in on something only he could see. "I don't remember," he said after a few moments of silence.
"Interesting," Ginny muttered, not believing him. "Well there is definitely something in there," she said gently running her finger over it. "I have to get it out."
A grunt was his only reply so Ginny took a large breath and pointed her wand at the wound. "Accio," she said firmly and a bullet came shooting out to land in her hand. Malfoy let out a muffled cry and clenched his hands at his sides.
The wound began to bleed again so Ginny quickly healed it and Malfoy relaxed. This done she took a towel and dipped it into the warm water and began to wash the blood away.
"I can do it myself," he hissed and grabbed the towel from her hands.
"Whatever," she snarled and stood up, not bothering to ask if he was hurt anywhere else. Looking down at her once blue couch she sighed with disgust. Remembering a charm from one of her magazines, Ginny said the incantation and all the blood disappeared from the piece of furniture. "Why don't you just take a shower?" she asked Malfoy who was trying to clean himself with the now bloodied towel.
He looked at her for a moment then nodded, "Alright." He stood up and gathered his clothes from the floor. He pulled out his own wand and magicked them clean. Ginny raised an eyebrow at this. "What?" he asked, "You're not the only one who knows cleaning charms."
"I never thought I would hear that coming from you," she said shaking her head. She turned on her heel and led him to the main bathroom ignoring her own fallen garments along the way. "Towels are under the sink," she said holding the door open. He paused in the doorway giving her an odd grin and looked her up and down.
"You know Weasley?" he finally said.
"What?" she asked half heartily.
"You look like hell." Ginny gave out a squeak of rage and slammed the door in his face. She could hear him laughing behind it and she headed angrily into the kitchen. She ripped the door to the fridge open and grabbed the cranberry juice just as she heard the water from the shower turn on. Slamming the container on the counter she went and got a glass. After the drink she felt a bit better and went back into the main room of her apartment.
'What the hell is he talking about? This place doesn't look poor at all,' she thought angrily. 'Sure it's not Buckingham Palace but it's not like it's falling apart.' And she was right, the apartment was not a dump but rather a clean, comfortable place. A place she enjoyed living in more than anywhere else she had ever stayed. The walls were white with various pieces of art hanging on them and large windows that had views of the east side of London. She had multiple bookshelves filled with books scattered across the walls and a selection of comfy blue furniture facing a quaint looking fire place.
She hurriedly began to clean the results of Malfoy's wounds. She magicked the towels and bowl clean and sent them floating to rest on the kitchen counter. Then she plopped down on the couch and noticed that the bullet was still sitting on the glass table in the center of the room. She reached out and took it idly in her hands and nearly dropped it in her surprise.
She had seen a bullet like this before and she strongly doubted that there were many of their kind in England. Dudley Dursley, being a muggle, couldn't use magic so instead he used rare weapons that he had imported from the States through one of his informants. Most of these weapons were illegal in England so they were kept locked up tight in a weapons closet in the Bureau. This was a bullet from his silenced shotgun.
His favorite weapon.
'Why would Malfoy have a bullet from Dudley's gun lodged in his shoulder?' she asked herself not noticing that the shower had now turned off. 'And how would anyone have gotten a hold of the gun? The closet was still sealed this morning when I came in.' There was a rune on the top of the closet that would glow red if the closet had been tampered with. They had all agreed that it would be best so they could check if anyone, magical or otherwise, had removed a weapon. Thinking back too this morning, Ginny realized that she had not checked the closet as she usually did every morning. It had just slipped her mind.
'But there is no way anyone could have gotten in,' she thought, angry with herself that she had not checked the closet. 'We were closed all week, and I doubt that Dudley would come in to work over a holiday without telling us. But if it was Dudley then why Malfoy? He doesn't even know him,' she continued to think, 'But who else in England carries a weapon like that?' she sighed and began to roll the bullet between her fingers. 'There are probably plenty of people out there who own a gun like this and want Malfoy dead.'
"Haven't you ever seen a bullet before Weasley," a voice behind her drawled, interrupting her thoughts. Startled she whipped around to see Malfoy standing behind the couch dressed in his now clean clothes.
"Of course I have," she said slowly. Glancing down at the projectile Ginny couldn't help but shudder. She quickly placed it back on the table and stood up, backing away from it. She would deal with this in the morning.
Without looking at the man standing behind her she walked across the room to the door opposite the kitchen and into her bedroom. Pulling the linen closet open she began to rummage around until she found an extra blanket. Returning to the main room she saw Malfoy sitting on the couch and looking curiously up at her.
"You can stay here tonight," she said standing in the doorway. He didn't say anything so she walked up and dropped the blanket beside him on the couch. She then turned and headed back to her room.
"Where are you going?" he finally spoke.
"To take a shower," she said without turning around.
"You need one," he sneered but she didn't respond, instead closing and locking the door behind her. She slowly walked to the right towards her bathroom feeling quite confused and tiered over what had happened in the past few hours. 'First Seamus, now Malfoy,' Ginny mused as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her once forest green robes were covered in blood and her shoulder length red hair was askew. She sighed and locked this door as well and got ready to have a shower.
An hour latter she opened the bedroom door which led into the main room with her blue plaid Joe Boxer pants on and a grey fleece over top a black tank top. She had pulled her damp hair into a loose ponytail but already the pesky bangs had fallen back into her face. What she saw once she had entered the room surprised her.
Malfoy was asleep on the couch with the blanket pulled up to his chin. There was a fire crackling cheerfully in the fireplace and all the lights had been dimmed. Heading into the kitchen she saw his cloak as well as her own hanging off the backs of the two chairs around the island. Her mitts and scarf were lying on top of the island counter beside the fruit bowl. All the items had been cleaned. Completely dumbfounded at his act of kindness she walked across the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water.
On her walk back to her room she looked at Malfoy's sleeping form and realized that it really was true what people say: When a person sleeps they look so much younger and innocent. Looking at him she was surprised at how peaceful and, well, cute he looked without the sneer he usually wore.
'Cute?' she asked herself after she realized what she was doing. 'Malfoys are not "cute". Evil, yes. Cute, no.' Sighing she waved her wand and turned the already dimmed lights out completely. Now the only light came from the fire that he had started.
Shaking her head she turned and walked into her room closing the door, forgetting to lock it. She walked blindly through the dark room until she stumbled into her bed which was directly across from the door. After placing the glass of water on the bed side table Ginny pulled back the heavy feather blanket and crawled under. Taking off her fleece and tossing it across the room in the general direction of the chair she lay her head back on the over stuffed pillows. The moment her head hit the pillows she fell asleep.
~*~
Draco Malfoy did not have the honor of sleep like Ginny. He just couldn't figure it out. He had been saved by a Weasley. True, he was no longer as cold as he had been at Hogwarts, Anny could testify too that, but it didn't mean that he all of a sudden loved the Weasleys. Or Potter for that matter. Too much had happened between them all in the seven years they had known each other.
'So why don't you just leave?' a distant part of his mind hissed. A part that he had thought long dead until recent events showed that he was mistaken. 'You can't can you?' it chided, 'You've grown weak over the years. You disgust me.'
'Shut up!' he snapped at the voice, which suddenly reminded him of his father. Images of the days events suddenly came rushing back to him.
His father had disowned him and then tried to kill him. He had quit being an Auror for him, something he enjoyed immensely, and the bastard had tried to kill him. After waking up from the blow to the head he saw that he was surrounded by a large group of Death Eaters. At the head of the group was his father and the Dark Lord, Voldemort.
"You have failed me for the last time, Draco," his father had hissed after they realized he was awake. "I will not allow you to corrupt the family name any farther. As of this moment, you are no longer my son." Draco had just sat there silently unsure of what to say. What can you really say too something like that, when you are surrounded by the most lethal group ever known to exist.
His father had then looked at the Dark Lord and gave him a slight bow. "He's all yours." He stepped out of the circle and Voldemort grinned wickedly.
"You know what to do," he said in his icy voice to the others in the circle. He then stepped out of the circle after Lucius Malfoy.
Draco had tried to fight but needless to say it didn't work too well. He still got the beating of his life. Yet even now, he still did not know how he had escaped. It was all a blur of pain and noise, but somehow he had found himself stumbling across an alleyway, feeling his mind slipping from consciousness. And then he saw her. Red hair glinting in the street lights and for some stupid reason he could not explain, he thought she was an angel.
'A red hared angel from a fairy tale,' he mused, 'Maybe I have gone soft. Or just insane. I wonder if talking to yourself in your mind warrants insanity.' Now he knew he was tired. Whenever he began to think philosophically it meant that his mind was past the point of functioning properly. Rolling over and smashing his face into one of the pillows, Draco finally felt himself drifting off to sleep.
"Hey," a voice called and Draco wondered if perhaps he was dreaming. "Hey you," the voice called again. For some reason it sounded so familiar. "On the couch!" Now Draco knew he wasn't dreaming.
Rolling over, his eyes widened and he almost fell off the couch at the sight of Harry Potter's startled face.
"Malfoy?!" Potter gasped, his head floating in the fire. "What are you doing in Ginny's apartment?!" Draco stared at him silently as he slowly sat up. He looked just like he remembered him, glasses and all. Just older and more weathered.
"Long story," he finally said and walked around the table in front of him and over to the fire. Glancing down at his watch he saw that it was two in the morning. "What are you doing in her fireplace?"
"None of your business," Potter snapped, "Go and get her will you."
Draco looked at him for a moment then for reasons unexplained he turned and walked into Ginny's room. It was pitch black in there so he stumbled across the room and fumbled around until he found the curtains. Pulling them back the light of the moon fell into the room revealing a queen sized bed on which Ginny Weasley slept. Her face was half covered by pillows and the warm looking blanket pulled up to her chin.
'Red hared Angel,' a voice in his head whispered but he ignored it and gently shook her shoulder.
"Weasley," he said, "Wake up."
"Ten more minutes," she grumbled and pulled the blanket over her head.
"Potter's in the fireplace," he said shaking her harder.
"Tell him to wait," she said, rolling over and pulling the blanket with her, "I need to sleep."
"Weasley! Get up!" he said sternly. When she didn't reply he realized with disgust that she had fallen back asleep. Sighing he griped the edge of her blanket and quickly pulled it off the bed and dropped it on the floor.
"Hey!" she screeched sitting straight up. "What the hell did you do that for?"
He smirked at her then tossed her the fleece that he saw lying on the floor behind him. "Potter's in the fireplace and he wants to talk to you."
"What? Harry?" she asked confused pulling on the fleece, "What does he want?"
"I don't know," Draco said irritably, "Why would he tell me?"
Ginny made an irritated noise in her throat then got off the other side of the bed. "Bloody hell," he heard her mutter, "This had better be good." He followed her out the door and sat back down on the couch as she sat cross legged before the fireplace.
"What is it Harry?" she asked, her voice now full of concern.
Potter glared past Ginny and looked Draco straight in the eye. "What's he doing there?" he demanded, not taking his eyes off him.
"I found him," she said, glancing back to look at him.
"I can leave," Draco said angrily, standing up. A furious look from Ginny made him sit back down.
"No," she said, then turned her attention back to the head in the fire. "He is not going to do anything," she assured him. He looked back at Potter with a smirk.
With a final weary glance in Draco's direction, Potter turned his attention back to Ginny. "Something terrible has happened," he said. Draco could see her stiffen at his words. "Ron and Hermione were attacked after their dinner."
"What?" she gasped. "Are they alright?"
"Ron's in St. Mungos right now. He's a mess but the doctors say he'll pull through," Potter said.
"What about Hermione?" she asked anxiously.
"She's missing," he said sadly, "And since Ron hasn't woken up yet we don't know who took her."
"You don't think who ever it is, is after her baby?" she asked shrilly. 'Baby?' Draco thought 'Why would anyone want Granger's baby?' He now looked intently at the two people before him.
"She's pregnant?!" Potter asked in surprise, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she said quietly, "She told me this morning. That's why they were going out tonight, she was going to tell him over dinner."
"Well that changes things," he said, his eyes now blazing with anger. "Come down here right away, I'll contact Dumbledore and the others. I have a feeling that our sleeping dragon has decided to rear his ugly head." With that said Potter's head disappeared and the normal fire was cracking about as though nothing had happened.
Ginny sat before the fire for a moment staring blankly at it. Draco just stared at her. 'What the hell is going on around here?' he wondered, 'First that Wallski git, then fa-Lucius, now this. What's next? Purple people eaters?' He heard her take a large breath then she turned and looked at him with determination written all over her face.
"We're leaving in five minutes," she said to him as she stood up.
"What do you mean 'We'?" he asked in surprise. "This isn't any of my concern. I'm staying here."
"No," Ginny snapped irritably, "You are coming with me. I am not going to leave you alone in my home, I don't care what you say you are." With that she turned on her heel and marched into her room and slammed the door shut.
Arching an eyebrow, Draco got up and put on his shoes and cloak. He might as well humor her, maybe he could find out what was going on around here.
A few minutes latter Ginny returned to the main room wearing robes of shimmering blue-black material with her hair tied back into a quick ponytail. She stormed past him into the kitchen and put on the garments that he had cleaned for her before he had attempted to sleep. It was his way of saying 'thanks' with out him actually having to say it.
"What?" she demanded as she noticed that he was looking at her.
"You're not a morning person are you?" he asked with amusement.
"Well unlike the insomniacs in this room, I like my sleep," she hissed and walked quickly over to the fireplace. She grabbed a jar from the mantle and pulled the top off to reveal Floo powder. Draco groaned inwardly, he loathed Floo powder. All the spinning always made him sick to his stomach, though he would never admit it to any one but Anny.
"You go first," she said holding the container out to him. He walked up to her and took a pinch.
Sighing inwardly he threw the powder into the fire and called: "St. Mungos." Bracing himself he stepped into the fire.
~*~
A/N: Well that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for all the reviews you have sent so far. I really enjoy reading what your reactions are and what you think should happen and stuff like that. So make me smile and review please! J
