He had lost hope that he would ever feel it, and so it took a moment before
he realized what it was. She was calling him.
Impatiently, he shook off the hand that was wrapped around his arm, breaking one of the long scarlet fingernails of the woman with the predatory smile and the prominently displayed bosom. Ignoring her protests and the stares of the glittering, soulless horde gathered to drink and mate and tear each other to shreds, he strode out. He would need his wand. Anything else he could get after he knew what trouble she was in.
Because she had to be in trouble. After all these years, she wouldn't call for Draco Malfoy unless the situation was dire. He knew himself a fool for rushing to her, but he knew that nothing would stop him from reaching her. Break both of his legs and he would crawl to her. Within seconds of first feeling the pull from the enchantment he'd placed on the locket, he had apparated home and opened the box that held the portkey he had prepared years ago to take him to wherever the locket was.
He was disoriented when he felt the pull of travel stop. The air smelled of disinfectant and there was an incessant beeping and whirring, accompanied by soft murmurs of people talking. There seemed to be a number of beds and he turned, only to feel like he'd been punched in the gut. She hadn't called him, after all. The locket was in the hands of a dignified, mournful black woman. He started to say something when the figure on the bed caught his attention.
"Ginny." She'd cut her hair, and it was black now. It was the only color against the whiteness of her skin and the sheets that swathed her. There was a clear mask over the lower half of her face, and all sorts of wires and tubes coming from her frail body. He didn't move consciously, but he was soon at her bedside, his hand hovering above hers as he wondered if touching her would hurt her.
"You can touch her, baby. Just be careful with her IV." The woman's voice was strange, hoarse but also slow and foreign.
Draco glared at the woman even as he picked up Ginny's hand with all the tenderness in the world. "Who are you, and what's wrong with her?"
"My name's Neeko, and she was in an accident." Her voice caught slightly, the hint of a sob making a hitch in her talking, but before she could continue, two men approached.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The normally even tempered Harry Potter looked murderous as he stalked towards Draco. Without letting go of Ginny's hand, Draco turned to face him, wand in hand.
What might have happened next was anyone's guess, as Neeko's voice cracked like a whip and stopped both men in their tracks. "If you boys don't shut up, I'll have both your asses kicked out."
The doctor, who had been nonplussed at what seemed like the possibility of bloodshed in his ward, cleared his throat and looked appreciatively at Neeko. "Perhaps I might be allowed to check on my patient, gentlemen?"
"Of course." Draco moved aside, but started peppering the doctor with questions. "Will she be all right? What's the matter? Is there anything I can do? I'll pay all costs, for any specialists, anything that will help her."
The doctor smiled at him, kindly but grave. "She should pull through, but right now the question is whether or not she'll lose the baby."
"Baby?" Harry sat down abruptly, his face pale. "She's pregnant?"
Neeko frowned slightly, and the doctor cleared his throat again before saying, "Perhaps if I might have a minute alone with my patient, Miz Granger can tell you everything."
Harry glared. "I'm her fiance, I should be told--"
The doctor's smile disappeared and he stared Harry down. "Miz Granger is the one listed as next of kin on the official papers Miz Kingsley has on record."
"Kingsley? That's Ginny Weasley! She's been missing for months!" Harry was furious, but the doctor wasn't backing down.
"I know who you are, Mister Potter, and I know who she is. Miz Granger has paperwork written and signed by my patient that say she is the one who is in charge of all decisions about my patient, and those are the wishes that I will respect." In a swift move, the doctor pulled a wand out from the pocket of his lab coat. "Now you can leave peacefully or you can leave the hard way, but you will leave."
Harry shot one last glare at Draco, who had silently returned to holding Ginny's hand, and stormed out of the room. The doctor glanced at Draco, who nodded and put down Ginny's hand before following after Harry.
As soon as the door had shut behind him, Draco started to wonder if perhaps he would end up in a bed beside Ginny. The glares of a horde of Weasleys hit him with an almost physical force, and his face automatically settled into cool, impassive lines. With the manners drilled into him since childhood, he turned to Ginny's mother. "Mrs. Weasley. I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
She stared at him blankly, manners warring with the worry and stress she had lived with ever since Ginny had first gone missing. Finally she croaked out, "Mister Malfoy."
"How dare you, you bastard! You're probably the one who kidnapped her in the first place, and now you have the nerve--" Ron's face was dark red and his fists were dead white from how hard they were clenched.
"Funny thing about her kidnapping... My sources managed to follow her trail into London, and there was no sign of anyone coercing her in any way." Draco's voice was steady, his lips set in the sneer that Ron and Harry were all too familiar with. "Odd sort of kidnapping, that."
Harry's cheeks were dusted with color and he would have said something if Neeko hadn't emerged from the ward at that point. "Miz Weasley? I'm Neeko."
Molly nodded, her mind reeling even as she looked up hopefully. "How is she?"
"She's still unconscious. They think she might need an operation if there's to be a chance of saving the baby." Neeko took a deep breath before continuing. "There's a couple of things that y'all need to know, so I'd appreciate if I could get it all said at once before your boys go ballistic."
"Of course." Molly swept a glance around at her family and they obeyed her unspoken command, sitting quietly and attentively. The red haired matriarch then turned her full attention to the regal looking black woman. "Please, tell me everything you know."
Neeko took a seat on one of the hard plastic chairs and began. "I called you because I'm a mama and it wouldn't be right for a mama not to know when her baby's in the hospital. Otherwise, I never would've let y'all know where she was, since she didn't want you to know."
Percy sputtered at this, but subsided at a look from his mother, who said quietly, "Did she tell you that?"
"Yeah. She would've run harder once she found out I was sorta family, but we made a deal. She stuck around and I didn't rat her out." Neeko glanced briefly at Fred, who was holding tightly to Angelina's hand, but swiftly turned her attention back to Molly. "I'm not sorry. She needed to sort things out and she couldn't do that with all y'all breathing down her neck."
Ignoring the various disapproving males, Neeko concentrated on Molly's steady stare. "She's been living and working here almost since she left England. Once she's better, she's welcome to stay, if she needs to."
Molly nodded, slowly. The nightmare of Ginny being missing, and then hurt, had made her reconsider a lot of what was really important. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"I didn't take care of her, she took care of herself." Neeko's tone was disapproving. "That y'all didn't think she could is one of the reasons she ended up on my porch like something the cat dragged in."
Before any of the Weasleys could speak, Neeko continued. "She'd just decided she was going to keep the baby, and I know she was thinking about you folks, but then she had the accident."
Molly Weasley took a deep breath. Harry had told them what the doctor had said about the legal paperwork, and that in itself said a lot about both Ginny's state of mind and this woman's character. "When can we see her?"
"The doctor will let us know. Right now we just need to pray and hope the good Lord will see us all through this."
Impatiently, he shook off the hand that was wrapped around his arm, breaking one of the long scarlet fingernails of the woman with the predatory smile and the prominently displayed bosom. Ignoring her protests and the stares of the glittering, soulless horde gathered to drink and mate and tear each other to shreds, he strode out. He would need his wand. Anything else he could get after he knew what trouble she was in.
Because she had to be in trouble. After all these years, she wouldn't call for Draco Malfoy unless the situation was dire. He knew himself a fool for rushing to her, but he knew that nothing would stop him from reaching her. Break both of his legs and he would crawl to her. Within seconds of first feeling the pull from the enchantment he'd placed on the locket, he had apparated home and opened the box that held the portkey he had prepared years ago to take him to wherever the locket was.
He was disoriented when he felt the pull of travel stop. The air smelled of disinfectant and there was an incessant beeping and whirring, accompanied by soft murmurs of people talking. There seemed to be a number of beds and he turned, only to feel like he'd been punched in the gut. She hadn't called him, after all. The locket was in the hands of a dignified, mournful black woman. He started to say something when the figure on the bed caught his attention.
"Ginny." She'd cut her hair, and it was black now. It was the only color against the whiteness of her skin and the sheets that swathed her. There was a clear mask over the lower half of her face, and all sorts of wires and tubes coming from her frail body. He didn't move consciously, but he was soon at her bedside, his hand hovering above hers as he wondered if touching her would hurt her.
"You can touch her, baby. Just be careful with her IV." The woman's voice was strange, hoarse but also slow and foreign.
Draco glared at the woman even as he picked up Ginny's hand with all the tenderness in the world. "Who are you, and what's wrong with her?"
"My name's Neeko, and she was in an accident." Her voice caught slightly, the hint of a sob making a hitch in her talking, but before she could continue, two men approached.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The normally even tempered Harry Potter looked murderous as he stalked towards Draco. Without letting go of Ginny's hand, Draco turned to face him, wand in hand.
What might have happened next was anyone's guess, as Neeko's voice cracked like a whip and stopped both men in their tracks. "If you boys don't shut up, I'll have both your asses kicked out."
The doctor, who had been nonplussed at what seemed like the possibility of bloodshed in his ward, cleared his throat and looked appreciatively at Neeko. "Perhaps I might be allowed to check on my patient, gentlemen?"
"Of course." Draco moved aside, but started peppering the doctor with questions. "Will she be all right? What's the matter? Is there anything I can do? I'll pay all costs, for any specialists, anything that will help her."
The doctor smiled at him, kindly but grave. "She should pull through, but right now the question is whether or not she'll lose the baby."
"Baby?" Harry sat down abruptly, his face pale. "She's pregnant?"
Neeko frowned slightly, and the doctor cleared his throat again before saying, "Perhaps if I might have a minute alone with my patient, Miz Granger can tell you everything."
Harry glared. "I'm her fiance, I should be told--"
The doctor's smile disappeared and he stared Harry down. "Miz Granger is the one listed as next of kin on the official papers Miz Kingsley has on record."
"Kingsley? That's Ginny Weasley! She's been missing for months!" Harry was furious, but the doctor wasn't backing down.
"I know who you are, Mister Potter, and I know who she is. Miz Granger has paperwork written and signed by my patient that say she is the one who is in charge of all decisions about my patient, and those are the wishes that I will respect." In a swift move, the doctor pulled a wand out from the pocket of his lab coat. "Now you can leave peacefully or you can leave the hard way, but you will leave."
Harry shot one last glare at Draco, who had silently returned to holding Ginny's hand, and stormed out of the room. The doctor glanced at Draco, who nodded and put down Ginny's hand before following after Harry.
As soon as the door had shut behind him, Draco started to wonder if perhaps he would end up in a bed beside Ginny. The glares of a horde of Weasleys hit him with an almost physical force, and his face automatically settled into cool, impassive lines. With the manners drilled into him since childhood, he turned to Ginny's mother. "Mrs. Weasley. I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
She stared at him blankly, manners warring with the worry and stress she had lived with ever since Ginny had first gone missing. Finally she croaked out, "Mister Malfoy."
"How dare you, you bastard! You're probably the one who kidnapped her in the first place, and now you have the nerve--" Ron's face was dark red and his fists were dead white from how hard they were clenched.
"Funny thing about her kidnapping... My sources managed to follow her trail into London, and there was no sign of anyone coercing her in any way." Draco's voice was steady, his lips set in the sneer that Ron and Harry were all too familiar with. "Odd sort of kidnapping, that."
Harry's cheeks were dusted with color and he would have said something if Neeko hadn't emerged from the ward at that point. "Miz Weasley? I'm Neeko."
Molly nodded, her mind reeling even as she looked up hopefully. "How is she?"
"She's still unconscious. They think she might need an operation if there's to be a chance of saving the baby." Neeko took a deep breath before continuing. "There's a couple of things that y'all need to know, so I'd appreciate if I could get it all said at once before your boys go ballistic."
"Of course." Molly swept a glance around at her family and they obeyed her unspoken command, sitting quietly and attentively. The red haired matriarch then turned her full attention to the regal looking black woman. "Please, tell me everything you know."
Neeko took a seat on one of the hard plastic chairs and began. "I called you because I'm a mama and it wouldn't be right for a mama not to know when her baby's in the hospital. Otherwise, I never would've let y'all know where she was, since she didn't want you to know."
Percy sputtered at this, but subsided at a look from his mother, who said quietly, "Did she tell you that?"
"Yeah. She would've run harder once she found out I was sorta family, but we made a deal. She stuck around and I didn't rat her out." Neeko glanced briefly at Fred, who was holding tightly to Angelina's hand, but swiftly turned her attention back to Molly. "I'm not sorry. She needed to sort things out and she couldn't do that with all y'all breathing down her neck."
Ignoring the various disapproving males, Neeko concentrated on Molly's steady stare. "She's been living and working here almost since she left England. Once she's better, she's welcome to stay, if she needs to."
Molly nodded, slowly. The nightmare of Ginny being missing, and then hurt, had made her reconsider a lot of what was really important. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"I didn't take care of her, she took care of herself." Neeko's tone was disapproving. "That y'all didn't think she could is one of the reasons she ended up on my porch like something the cat dragged in."
Before any of the Weasleys could speak, Neeko continued. "She'd just decided she was going to keep the baby, and I know she was thinking about you folks, but then she had the accident."
Molly Weasley took a deep breath. Harry had told them what the doctor had said about the legal paperwork, and that in itself said a lot about both Ginny's state of mind and this woman's character. "When can we see her?"
"The doctor will let us know. Right now we just need to pray and hope the good Lord will see us all through this."