Title: Guilty By Association
Author: Tiny Q
E-Mail: one_legged_lesbian_seagull@hotmail.com
A/N: Hi! It's me again! Stop your grumbling! Anyhoo! Yes . . . New part! Great fun! Though I will have to finish writing this thing soon because the snow has finally melted after that freak snow storm last week. Honestly, snow in April! Anyways, the snow was my inspiration and now that it's gone, I might lose the inspiration as well. Perhaps you will all have to wait until next winter before I finish this thing! JK! Just remember! I own nothing! Now on with:
Guilty By Association
Chapter 9
Disturbing Discoveries
Graffiti decorations
Underneath a sky of dust
A constant wave of tension
On top of broken trust
The lessons that you taught me
I learn were never true
Now I find myself in question
[They point the finger at me again]
Guilty by association
[You point the finger at me again]
Paper bags and angry voices
Under a sky of dust
Another wave of tension
Has more than filled me up
All my talk of taking action
These words were never true
I wanna run away
Never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth
Instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers
No more lies
I wanna shut the door
And open up my mind
Gonna run away
--Runaway
--Linkin Park
A/N: I have always thought that song reflects Draco Malfoy so well. I would just like to say thanks to McGregor, for saying "Guilty By Association" every bloody morning in chemistry while I was working out this story in my head. I guess in his own stupid way, he helped me out.
~*~
"London was rocked last night by four explosions at the stroke of midnight. It occurred in the Westbird Park, where thousands of muggles and wizards alike had gathered for the New Year celebrations. The exact casualties are unknown at this time, but there have been 500 confirmed deaths and countless injuries ranging from life threatening to minor scrapes and bruises.
"There is no doubt as to who caused this tragedy. There have been hundreds of confirmed reports from all across London of wizards and witches seeing the Dark Mark over the scene. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has finally made his return after remaining silent since August after the mysterious death on Ms. Pansy Parkinson.
"Investigations are underway as I speak and it is believed that muggle weapons were used in the attack. This is a bold move by You-Know-Who, which many say is his way of saying that this time, no one is safe.
"There have also been unconfirmed reports of a large number of Aurors moving in on the scene moments before the explosions took place. When asked to comment, Joe Wallski, head of the Aurors, refused to speak. We have received information however, from an inside source who claims that Mr. Wallski had been acting on a hunch. If this is true then it is feared that our already dwindling Auror force has just been cut in half.
"The muggles are writing this attack off as terrorism and the Ministry is still indecisive as to whether or not the leaders should be informed as to who it actually was. Percy Weasley, head of the department of foreign affairs has been quoted saying: "The last thing we need right now, is to deal with another muggle war." This argument is held by many in the Ministry.
"Our hearts go out to all who were involved or who knew those who were involved. Have no fear. Vengeance will be had.
"After this short break, we will have Samuel Sputnik, a retired professor, and hear his opinions on this tragic occurrence."
~*~
It had been a day since the attack on New Year's Eve and Ginny Weasley still couldn't get herself to believe it had actually happened. She had awoken in her bed fifteen hours after being struck on the head by a large vase. Too late to help in the rescue effort for it had not taken them long to move people to the hospitals, much to her disappointment. She had wanted to help.
Instead she settled with patching up both Harry and Malfoy, who had both received multiple wounds from flying glass and falling objects. They themselves were no healers and had done a pretty poor job of it.
Ginny had spent the rest of the day cleaning her apartment and listening to the radio for any new news. So far nothing that they didn't already know. And now here she sat at a tall table in the Purple Gecko Café, across from Harry and Malfoy who were once again arguing over the incident. They had been doing that ever since she woke up.
"He thinks he has the upper hand," Harry said insistently. Ginny saw Malfoy roll his eyes from across the small top of the table.
"How do you know that?" he sneered. Ginny sighed and looked around the café. It was dusk and the place was half full, mainly muggles.
"I know that, Malfoy, because I have been following Voldemort since my first year at Hogwarts," Harry snapped back. "This is exactly the sort of thing he would pull to say he was back. Remember our fifth year?"
Ginny noticed a pair of muggle males sitting at the table beside theirs. They were both dressed in suits and she suspected they had both just got off work. They were talking animatedly about something.
"With muggle weapons?" Malfoy asked skeptically. Taking a sip of her coffee, Ginny decided to listen to the two muggles rather than the two wizards before her.
"So awful I know," the one was saying. "But what do you expect with everything that has been happening lately?"
"I know," the other conceded. "It was only a matter of time. At least it wasn't as bad as the nine-eleven attack."
A waitress came and refilled the men's coffee cups. After she had walked away the two men began to talk again. Ginny was looking at the coffee cup that was before Malfoy and was pretending to be listening to their heated argument.
"I have to work late again tonight," the first muggle said.
"I hate working late night shifts," the other said bitterly. "I'm telling you, that building across the street is haunted."
"You mean the Jackson building?" The other nodded. "Isn't that the building where the anthrax was sent?"
"Yeah," the other sighed. "It's supposed to be quarantined but the last time I worked late there were lights on in there. And I swear to God there are people in there!"
"Impossible," the first said. "You must have been imagining things. Anyone in there would die."
"I know," the other said then stopped short. "What are those two going on about?" Ginny glanced and realized that Harry and Malfoy looked about ready to pull their wands out and hex each other into the next century.
"Sit down," she snapped at Malfoy who had stood up in anger and knocked his chair down. He looked down at her coldly then glanced around the café and must have realized that everyone was staring, for he retrieved his chair and sat back down.
"Honestly you two," Ginny hissed. "Are your testosterone levels that high?!" Drinking the last of her coffee in one gulp she stood up.
"Gin," Harry started. "Where are you going?"
"Home," she snapped.
"Are you-"
"Walking," she cut him off. She knew that the café was a good 15 blocks from her apartment but she needed some air. Turning on her heel, she walked out without a second glance at the table.
Outside it had stopped snowing, but large grey clouds still hung low in the sky. 'When will this weather ever let up?' she thought bitterly and pulled out her mitts. After half an hour of walking, Ginny managed to calm herself down. She had stopped thinking about how all men were idiots and instead thought of ways to find Hermione.
There was no one on the streets and the sun had gone down completely. The only light was from the quarter moon and the scattered streetlights. Looking around, she realized that she was by the Jackson building the two muggles had been talking about. The Jackson building was an old warehouse that had been renovated a few years back to add on six more stories of office space. The building had received a letter laced in anthrax from an unknown source and had been under muggle quarantine ever since. As she turned the corner the building came into view and Ginny stopped short.
There were lights on.
She stood there for a moment, wondering if perhaps she was seeing things. 'That can't be right,' she thought and slowly approached the building. She saw the eight foot fence around the building with warning signs all across it saying things like: BIOHAZARD and QUARANTINE.
She looked around. The street was still deserted. This neighborhood had never had many people in it. For one thing it was mainly an industrial area and the fisheries around it had been out of business for a few years. The building faced the docks.
A thought struck Ginny like a ton of bricks. 'What if-' she thought but dare not think anymore for fear of jinxing it. Glancing around again to ensure the vacancy of the streets, she pulled out her wand and made her way to a section of the fence that was out of sight of the building. Magicing the fence apart, she carefully entered.
Ginny walked over to the fire escape and looked up. The ladder was two feet above her head. 'Thank Merlin I'm tall,' she thought, pulling her mitts off. She reached up, grabbed the lower bar and pulled herself up as quietly as she could. Once on the second landing she crouched down next to a window, in which light was coming through. Bracing herself, she cautiously looked in and gasped at what she saw.
The interior of the building was a huge warehouse lit by thousands of floating candles. Scattered across the floor on the ground level were hundreds of crates all labeled fragile. The second landing seemed to be a balcony that traveled along the perimeter of the walls and had a bridge through the center.
Though it wasn't the building's interior that surprised her. It was the fact that the landing and floor were scattered with black cloaked figures. All of who had their hoods up.
'Death Eaters,' Ginny thought, feeling an excitement rising in her. 'This must be Voldemort's hideout!' She quickly moved away from the window and tried to catch her breath, which she hadn't realized she had been holding. 'I've got to tell Harry!' she thought and headed down the fire escape as noiselessly as she had came. She couldn't afford to be seen. Not when she had what they had been looking for all these days.
She managed to get to the ground unnoticed and she quickly headed back to her hole in the fence. Once out, she resealed it and began to run down the street, back towards the café. She was afraid to Apparate incase they had some sort of detection spell set up, like in the Ministry.
The streets were still deserted and she ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She slid around a corner and continued her fast pace. She was within five blocks of the café when her boots slid on a patch of ice and she felt her feet give way beneath her. She gave a small yelp of surprise and it the ground. Hard.
She sat dazed, seeing little white spots for a moment. Then her mind seemed to click back to normal. 'Bloody ice,' she hissed at the ground. Her hands and knees ached terribly but it didn't seem that she had broken anything. 'Wouldn't that have just been perfect,' she thought sarcastically and looked down at her knee to see that she had ripped her new robes and scrapped the skin off her right knee.
"Great," she muttered, then realized that her hands were all bloody. "Even better."
Groaning, she got weakly to her feet and was about to continue her when she heard a horn honk from behind her. Turning she saw a dark metallic blue Mercedes pull up next to her and roll the window down.
It was Dudley's car.
"Ginny!" he called through the window. "Are you alright? I saw you fall."
"I'm fine," she said breathlessly. "I need to get to Harry."
"So do I," Dudley said quickly. "Hop in." Ginny felt a sinking feeling in her stomach but she pushed it aside and opened the door. "Where is he?"
"Purple Gecko Café," she said as she closed the door. Dudley floored the gas-peddle and they sped off down the street. "What's the hurry?" she asked, looking down at her bloodied hands.
"It's your brother Gin," Dudley said, an odd tone to his voice. "He's waking up."
~*~
The darkness that had surrounded Ron Weasley's mind was fading. He had been fighting it for what seemed to be an eternity. The warmth and sound of the waking world were getting closer. He could hear two people talking. They still sounded so far off.
He struggled to remember what had brought him to this dark void, but all he drew was a blank. 'Just like this bloody darkness,' he thought bitterly. 'What else have I forgotten?' The thought struck him and the voices seemed to get louder. 'I can't very well go out into the waking world totally oblivious to who I am.' He tried to think of a question to ask himself as the sounds of what he now realized to be an argument, got louder.
'What is my name?' he finally asked. He thought for a moment. 'Ron Weasley,' he finally said in his head, relieved that he had known that. 'I can't be to far gone if I can remember my name.' He paused for a minute and listened to the two arguing voices. It was that of a man and a woman. Something in the man's voice told him that he should recognize him.
'Where do I live?' he asked himself a second question, ignoring the bickering pair. He had to think a little harder on that one. A large, white, house slowly came into his mind's eye. 'That must be it,' he thought in triumph. 'And what a lovely flat it is.'
The voices doubled in volume and he could almost make out what they were saying. He could tell by their tones that the woman was being stubborn and the man was being insistent. Something about their tones told Ron he should remember something.
Ignoring the voices again, he tried to think of another question to ask himself. 'Do I have any family?' he finally decided. Thinking hard, he was pleased to find that they image of a young woman with red hair appeared faster than the house had. 'She must be my sister.' He thought a moment longer. 'Ginny,' he concluded.
The voices became louder again and Ron began to get the feeling that there was something extremely important that he was to remember. Once again he tried to think of a question, this time to help reveal the answer to this odd feeling.
'Do I have a wife?' he thought tentatively. A blurry image of a woman formed in his mind's eye. Thinking hard he attempted to will the image into clarity. Suddenly it was like a light had been turned on, and the image became as clear as day.
She was beautiful.
Long, wavy brown hair flowed down to mid arm. A cheerful smile and sparking brown eyes. Skin that looked so soft and pale. 'Hermione,' he though with a giddy sigh. 'Hermione, my wife.'
The feeling became stronger. So strong that it began to over come him, making him feel as though he was going to be sick. 'Something . . . happened . . . to her, Hermione . . .'
Realization struck him so hard that he snapped his eyes opened with surprise and horror and fear all mixed into one. 'Death Eaters,' he thought with a sick feeling. 'They took her!'
~*~
"Ron!" Draco heard Ginny gasp right in the middle of her argument with Potter about her injuries. He turned around to see the once unconscious Weasley, sitting up in his bed, looking around, wide eyed. She rushed to him and forced him to lay back down.
He opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed being unconscious for a week and a half had taken his voice away. He watched as Ginny gave her brother a glass of water from the bed side table and helped him drink it.
'Figures,' Draco thought darkly. 'The one time the Weasel can't talk is the time we need him to."
"Hermione!" he gasped after drinking the whole glass, and began to look desperately around the room.
"Ron," Ginny said soothingly. "It's alright . . ."
"No it's not!" he snapped. "They took her!"
"Ron we know," Potter said, standing beside Ginny.
"And you're not doing anything about it?!" He tried to sit up again, but Ginny forced him down.
"Ron!" she said sternly. "Calm down. We know where she is!"
"Where?" the man asked desperately. Draco glanced at Dudley who was standing beside him. He was watching the scene with a vacant look, as though he was lost in his own thoughts. He turned back to the soap opera unfolding before him.
"The Jackson building," Potter said quietly. "Ginny just found them."
"The Death Eaters?" he asked. Draco snorted. They all turned and looked at him sharply. Weasel's face seemed to contort instantly in shock. He turned wide eyed to Potter and Ginny. "What the hell is that Death Eater doing here!" Draco frowned.
"Ron-" Ginny started but he cut her off.
"No!" he screamed. "You can't seriously tell me that you've been working with that . . . that . . . creature. It's totally insane!"
"Ron," Potter tried. "Malfoy's been-"
"Drop it, Potter," Draco snapped. "I am fucking tired of this," he paused. "All this guilty by association bull shit." He glared daggers at the three of them. 'What am I doing?' he thought desperately, but the words just continued to come out of his mouth. "Yes, my father is a Death Eater, but I am not my father. Why else do you think I left? To travel the world? Finding new recruits in North America? This entire town is full of shit."
He stood there for a moment, shocked at what he had just said. He didn't know why he had said it exactly. Probably the stress from being around Potter and Weasley all week. Or perhaps it was the fact the he had been disowned by his father and yet people still related him to him. Either way, it was true. He wasn't his father. Just the former son of a Death Eater.
Sending the three of them one last glare and avoiding Dudley's gaze, he turned and headed towards the door. His robes billowing behind him. The sound of someone Apparating struck his ears, but he grabbed the doorknob violently and twisted it open.
"Mr. Malfoy," an old man's voice said sternly. "Stay." Draco turned to see Dumbledore standing in the spot he had appeared in before. He released the doorknob and silently returned to his spot beside Dudley. "Good to see you awake, Mr. Weasley," the old man said and seated himself in a seat beside the bed.
"What's going on, sir?" Potter asked.
"We have found out why Voldemort took Mrs. Weasley," he said softly. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath. Draco looked at Ginny and saw a mixture of anticipation and dread on her face. "Severus stumble upon a book tucked away on a shelf in one of his store rooms," Dumbledore explained. "It had a whole passage on the child your wife is carrying," he said looking at Ron. "He intends to convert the child to evil by keeping it in the presence of evil while it is growing."
~*~
A/N: Well yes, that's it for now! Now we move into the part I have been anticipating most . . . But what will happen . . .? Well! You'll just have to wait and see! Ha Ha Ha!
Thank you sooooooo much to: IM-obsessive, Nala /Ethereal, Chained Raven(all in good time . . .), Verena Gruen, Chained Dove(If I find penguins on my door step, I'm going to freak. Just so you know. Might interfere with my writing . . .), paranoidchick 13, dinky, Stargazertimes 3(I'm honored! I hope you get excellent results! And no . . .I never noticed that . . .), pinkish panther, and draco's sister(hmm . . . we'll see . . .)
Seeya'll letter!
