Title: Guilty By Association

Author: Tiny Q

E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com

A/N: Hi! Well here is then next part Sorry it 's so late, but all the stupid teachers keep giving soooo much homework! Bah! Tiny Q looks in disbeliefe at Chained Raven There's two of you now?! ~shudder~ Penguins and evil fluffy rabbits?! Ahhhh! Tiny Q pulls herself up off the floor ~sigh~ Anyhoo . . . I had to skip ahead in time a bit so as to spare you the boring details. Just so you know. I own nothing! Just the plot! Bwa ha ha ha!

Guilty By Association

Chapter 8

Happy New Year

Harry Potter sighed as he looked down at his large pile of mail then longingly out the window. It was still snowing. It was almost as if the weather were a reflection of the misery in his heart over what had happened. It had been nearly a week since his best friends had been attacked. Ron Weasley was still lying unconscious in St. Mungos while Hermione Weasley and her unborn child were still missing.

Ginny Weasley had been in bed sick a few days back but had refused to let him take her to St. Mungos. He knew she was going slowly crazy with the stress, not to mention Draco Malfoy, who seemed to take great pleasure in pissing her off. Though the man had surprised Harry by staying with Ginny while she was sick. If there was something going on-

Harry Shook his head. Now was not the time to thing about that. Tabitha Murphy was miserable with the guilt that she could not find anything to help. He was sure that they were over looking something so obvious, like back in his first year with the Philosopher's Stone but he just couldn't see what. Harry thought that she looking at it in the same way.

Dudley Dursley seemed to be all over the place trying to find something. Anything. Harry and Ginny had been trying to keep an eye on him to see if he would lead them to where Hermione was, if in fact he was the mole. Events were sure leading up to that. When ever something seemed to happen, Dudley was never around. But Harry just couldn't bring himself to believe that his cousin would do something like this. Sure he had been a brat when he was younger, but times had changed.

Harry sighed miserably and went back to his mail. On top of all this, He still hadn't heard anything from Remus or Sirius. He had sent Hedwig to them right away with the hopes that they would know something, but it seemed the vampires were keeping them away. He couldn't see them not responding though, and that thought worried him.

The resistance at all of Hogwarts, including Dumbledore, had also found a definite lack in information on what was happening. Even with Hogwarts and all the resources available to them, none of them had found anything of use. Which was unusual to say the least. Usually the resistance was the best source for information.

He sighed and signed another parchment then tossed it to the small finished pile. Bidding their time was not working. And it sure as hell was not helping Hermione. 'If anything happens to her,' he thought bitterly, dragging his quill so hard against the parchment that the tip snapped off.

Cursing under his breath, he got up from his desk and walked towards the library to get a cup of coffee to cool his nerves. Upon entering the lobby he saw Ginny asleep on the couch. She was still getting over what ever she had had, and it was not unusual for her to take a nap on the couch.

He was about to walk over to the library door when something caught his eye. Malfoy was standing by the fireplace, simply watching her sleep. But it wasn't with his usual sneer. If Harry didn't know better his face gave the impression that he cared for her. 'No,' Harry thought desperately, a protective anger rising in his chest. 'Not again.'

"Malfoy," he said in a whisper so as not to wake Ginny.

"Hmm?" he asked, not taking his eyes away from her.

"Can I speak with you?" Malfoy reluctantly turned his head from the sleeping form that was Ginny. His eyes hardening instantly and the sneer returning like the ocean over a beach.

Arching an eyebrow, he followed Harry back into the offices. As soon as the door closed, Harry turned and faced the blond and his sneer.

"What the hell do you think you are playing at Malfoy?" he hissed angrily, trying to keep his voice down.

"Wha-" Malfoy began in confusion but Harry cut him off.

"No," he snapped. "Now you listen and you listen closely. She has been hurt to many times Malfoy, and I'll be damned if I let you hurt her as well."

Malfoy glared at him blankly, then realization seemed to hit him and he grinned wickedly, his eyes filling with malice. "Let me guess," he drawled. "You were the first."

Harry snapped and charged forward so quickly that Malfoy's face was full of surprise as Harry grabbed the front of his robes and slammed him into the wall.

"You don't understand," he hissed, still trying to keep his voice down. His green eyes were filled with anger and his glasses askew. "She is always going around with men like you. Horrible people who take advantage of her and treat her like shit." Malfoy seemed to go paler but kept his mouth shut.

"We try to tell her to get away, to leave before they hurt her but she tells us that we are shallow for not seeing the good in them," he practically spat the words. "Ginny has this thing where she sees the good in people and ignores the bad. No matter how bad they are. All because of that bloody diary your father gave her back in her first year." Harry tightened his grip on Malfoy's robes. "Riddle somehow got her this way. To not care about herself or whatever the hell she thinks she is doing. All I know is that when it's over she is a wreck and we have to pick up the pieces. Try to put her back in the shape she was before."

The sneer on Malfoy's face slowly faded to be replaced by a blank look. After a moment of staring he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as when the door to the office opened. Ginny stood in the doorway, blurry eyed, looking at them with a blank expression, mirroring Malfoy's.

"What is going on in here?" she asked quietly. Harry hoped against hopes that she had not heard their conversation. The last thing he needed was for her to try and prove him wrong.

"Just having a nice chat," Malfoy sneered, pulling out of Harry's grasp. Ginny stared for one to the other suspiciously then shrugged.

"Whatever," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Are you coming over tonight Harry?" she asked. He stared at her blankly. 'Why would I be coming over?' he asked himself. Ginny answered him before he had to ask. "New Year's Eve," she said slowly, eyeing his suspiciously. "You always come over New Years Eve with everyone else. To watch the fireworks?"

"It's New Years Eve?" he asked stupidly. How could he have lost track of time? He heard Malfoy snort and sent his a sharp look.

"Are you alright Harry," Ginny asked him. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine Gin," he said. "Just," he paused. 'Just what?' he thought. 'Sick at the thought of you getting hurt again?' "Tired," he said finally.

She looked at him with concern for a moment than gave him a lopsided smile. "You don't have to come tonight it you don't want to," she said softly. "We've all been under a lot of stress lately. And I am sure Malfoy here will be more than enough entertainment." She sent the blond evil look.

"Don't worry," Harry said quickly. "I'll be there." Ginny smiled.

"Good. I'm going to go see if everyone else is coming too." With that she turned on her heel and headed back through the door. As soon as it had closed, Harry turned and looked at Malfoy. The man turned and headed towards the door as well.

"You don't know me as well as you think you do, Potter," he said coldly and was gone.

Harry sighed, 'Now is not the time for this,' he thought warily. 'Not at all.'

~*~

'New Years,' Ginny thought from her seat on the couch beside Malfoy. 'She went missing on Boxing Day and still nothing.' She shook her head. 'I told myself I wouldn't think about that tonight.'

So far the evening had gone be quite well. They had all decided to just stay in at her place and have dinner. It had been a very nice break from the stress they had all be under lately. And it was also nice to have a home cooked meal for once rather than take out or McDonalds, which she had been living on for the past while.

Malfoy had been civil through out the whole night, surprising Ginny. Him and Dudley seemed to get along quite well and somehow Dudley seemed to keep him in check. She caught Tabitha looking at him at different points through out the night. Ginny had felt an anger in her chest rise each time. Then after realizing what was happening, would become disgusted at herself. 'He's a Malfoy,' she repeated in her head every time.

After dinner they all went and sat in the main room. She had dragged all the couches and chairs from through out the apartment and brought them in. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits somehow. Perhaps it was the third bottle of wine Tabitha had opened. Ginny stuck with her coke. The WQL Canada versus England New Years Eve match began at nine and they had all sat about and listened to Lee Jordan commentating. Harry placing bets on England and Malfoy Canada while Dudley just looked around, not being much of a Quidditch fan.

After about an hour Tabitha had left. She had said that she was going to meet an old friend of hers and bid them a happy New Year. Dudley had left shortly afterwards claiming that a group of his old partners were having a party. That just left Harry and Malfoy.

The two of them were listening with rapt attention as Lee Jordan, hollered and hissed as Canada scored yet again bringing their score to ninety. Usually Ginny was quite into Quidditch, but today she just couldn't pay attention. She felt her head drop.

"Thompson dives!" Lee Jordan voice boomed out of the radio. "Yes! There it is! The Golden Snitch!"

'I'll just close my eyes for a moment,' Ginny thought tiredly as she heard Harry cheering the English seeker, James Thompson. The second her eyes closed she could feel herself slip away. When she opened her eyes again she was no longer in her apartment but on the snow covered streets by the docks.

There was no one in sight and she could hear nothing. Not even the ring of silence. Looking around Ginny couldn't help but feel that she was on a vacant muggle movie set. The lighting just seemed so artificial.

She walked forward, compelled by some unknown force. She heard no foot steps as she walked. Turning a corner, she saw her brother and his wife walking hand in hand down the snow covered street.

A dark shadow cast over them and Ginny tried to shout out a warning but found that she had no voice. She tried to run forward but her legs and feet refused to move. All she could do was watch helplessly as Hermione opened her mouth to give off a horrified scream which Ginny could not hear.

A horrible laughter, filled with malice, suddenly sounded through the air. Ginny looked around, wide eyed, for the source but found none. The laughter seemed to emanate from everything, berating Ginny from all sides.

The ground beneath her feet melted away and she felt herself fall downwards into a large body of water. She struggled and attempted to swim, but her body would not listen to her. She sank slowly down. Her lungs screamed for air but all that was there was water and the horrible laughter.

Ginny opened her mouth, and screamed.

"Weasley!" she heard someone scream. "Wake up!"

Ginny snapped her eyes open and sat forward with such a jolt that she collided heads with Malfoy, who had been leaning over her. Ginny quickly lent back down while Malfoy sat back, both holding their heads.

"What was all that about?" he snarled, looking at her angrily from under his arm.

"None of your business," she snapped back and looked around her apartment. Harry was no longer in the squishy chair that he had occupied before. In fact, he was no where to be seen. "Where's Harry?" she asked Malfoy, looking at him pointedly.

"Behind the couch," he said simply.

Ginny looked at him as though he was crazy but sat up and looked over the back of the couch. Sure enough, there was Harry, unconscious on the floor.

"What happened?" she asked, glancing between the two of them.

"To much to drink," Malfoy said with a smirk. "Or it could have been the fact that he just lost a 1,000 galleon bet to me. Either way, it wasn't my fault."

Ginny just looked at him and his smirk then glanced down at her watch. Thirty seconds until twelve. She stood up and walked over to the window, where she could see the park before her, moving as though alive with throngs of people.

As they had every year, there was a huge celebration held by the city of London. It was a muggle celebration but it was well known to wizarding folk as well, and Ginny bet that there was a good half of them down there right now.

She heard Malfoy get up from the couch and walk forward to stand behind her. He stood so close that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, sending chills down her spine. 'Stop it,' she snapped at herself, 'He's a Malfoy!'

The moving crowd bellow had begun to count down from ten so loudly that she could hear them from the closed window. And Ginny held her breath as she saw the giant clock at the head of the crowd, counting down along with them. Malfoy took another step forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently turning her around. She looked up into his grey eyes and was surprised to see that the anger that had been there before was gone.

"Three . . .Two . . .One!" the crowd bellow chanted and Malfoy lent in and Ginny closed her eyes. The shouts of "Happy New Year!" were cut off how ever by a giant explosion which caused everything in her apartment to rattle violently. Ginny snapped her eyes opened. She looked into Malfoy's startled eyes, inches from her own.

There was another explosion then another. On the third explosion the glass of the window that they were standing before shattered and sent glass flying at them. Malfoy flung her to the ground then himself afterwards.

Ginny heard screams of fear and terror from outside her window and was about to sit up and see what had happened, though in her heart she had a sinking feeling as to what had, when a fourth explosion rocked the building, larger than all the rest. Something fell of a book shelf above her and hit her on the head. The screams and sirens bellow faded and everything went black.

~*~

A/N: Well that's it for now folks! And I won't say "Next part coming soon" for fear of jinxing it again!

Thanks to: dinky, Nala /Ethereal, Verena Gruen, tajuki, pinkish panther, Chained Dove, Chained Raven, and paranoidchick 13!!! Tiny Q smiles and waves