A/N: don't own anything so don't sue

The lyrics at the beginning are from 'The Exquisite Machinery of Torture' by Meshuggah

The lyrics in the middle are from 'Personal Jesus' by Marilyn Manson

Sorry for the long wait but here you are, thanks to all who reviewed they're answered at the end as always.

Chapter Ten – The Exquisite Machinery

of Torture

A Burning Mass Of Emotions Denied,
Enraged By Years Of Silencing.
An Accumulation Of Feelings Suppressed,
Returning To Devour.
Bright Rays Of Chaos,
Generated By Subconsciousness.
A Retribution By Own Thoughts;
Twisting The Mind Into Fits
Fuelled With Pains Unveiled.
Burning With Contamination.
Set Afire By Disowned Self-Lies;
They Penetrate The Eyes.

I... Am I The Next?
Self Inflicted Overload.
Thoughts Returning To Think Me Away.
I... Will I Be Reprieved,
Or Am I Just Awaiting The Sentence Of My Exquisite,
Internal Machinery Of Torture

Draco snapped into reality the second the sunlight pierced into his eyes and he lay perfectly still for a moment, savouring the feel of Ginny curled up against him. She had been shaking uncontrollably with the haunted look more prominent in her eyes after the third time they had resurfaced from the trance in the mortuary and he had insisted they stop. Instead of taking her back to the hospital he had brought her to his apartment, cleansing her body of the dust and aches in his large marble bath, carefully making sure she was covered by her underwear as she was in no state to stop him if he had tried anything.

After placing her in his bed in one of his old t-shirts he had been about to make up the couch for himself when a nightmare had brought her screaming to the present and she had pleaded with him to stay in the bed with her. She had looked so desperately terrified in the shirt much too big for her and her hair falling out of her two plaits and into her wildly flushed face, her eyes huge and dark against the startling white of her skin he had just had to say yes and crawl obediently under the covers with her.

Sleep had taken much longer than usual to meet him as her body unconsciously coiled around his in her apparently peaceful sleep some time during the night. Being in this position with her and yet not being able to do what he wanted was exquisite torture and when he finally did drift into a fitful sleep he was taunted by dreams of his fantasies playing out before him on the other side of a mirror he couldn't escape from. The next were worse as his father and Ginny systematically tried out what seemed to him like every position of the Karma Sutra and then some of their own before him and, being bound to a wall, he couldn't seem to close his eyes or wake himself up.

After the third of these nightmares shook him into consciousness he turned over and came face to face with a serenely slumbering Ginny. Her eyes were flickering underneath her eyelids and he knew she was dreaming, her lips slightly apart and her cheeks flushed. A lock of her hair fell over her nose to tickle his hand on the pillow besides her head but he made no attempt to move it as she shuffled closer towards him slightly, her bare leg rubbing against his own flesh. He felt the t-shirt she was clad in rising against his silk boxers until he could feel the smooth lace of her pale pink underwear against his inner thigh and he swallowed, hard.

He made to move away but her hand clutched at him convulsively, her now bitten-down nails scraping against his bicep as she clung to him, her brow furrowing in her sleep as her mind struggled to link to what her hands were doing.

His own mind wandered back to the present when she stirred besides him, her cheek rubbing against his shoulder covered in a slight sheen of sweat from the last of his nightmares.

Before she could fully wake up Draco threw back the sheets that were pooled at his waist and slipped out of the bed quickly. He padded across the room and flicked his wand at the Wizard TV on the wall, the latest invention of his father's company and an even more expensive prototype than the Firebolt 3000 series.

The two white rods in the centre of the wall split apart and a hazy blue screen appeared between them with the newest Minister's round nervously sweating face slap in the middle, obviously halfway through some speech or other. Frowning and rolling his eyes Draco waved his wand at the TV and it switched to a music channel where Marilyn Manson was blasting out.

Ginny sat bolt upright at the sound of the music and a slow sleepy smile drifted onto her face when she realised who it was; she loved Manson.

"Please, leave it?"

Draco jerked around to look at her and nodded, wandering over to the kitchen to start on breakfast. Ginny watched him cross the room with an unreadable expression on his face before turning over and snuggling back into the pillows, the music sweeping over her as she closed her eyes and revelled in the sounds of Draco banging around the kitchen in time to the music.

'Feeling unknown
And you're all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I'll make you a believer
Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver'

Ginny was once more rudely awakened from her slumber when Draco handed her a steaming plate full of bacon and eggs on a tray. He still hadn't spoken a word to her and Ginny was starting to get nervous as he rejected the bed besides her in favour of eating cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV.

"Draco?"

His heart clenched at the underlying emotions in her tentative whisper and he stiffened, his old walls from Hogwarts closing him inside as he smoothed all emotions from his face and turned to look over at her.

"Are you OK?"

He shrugged carelessly, hating himself as she flinched at his words and lowered her gaze;

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Ginny shook her head and looked down at the food she no longer fancied so much.

"No reason."

-------

Draco was silently cursing himself as he watched her curled up on the window seat reading a battered copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin with a stray tear or two rolling down her flushed cheek as she flipped over the page. He was furious with himself for pushing her away but he had to do it for his own sanity; he was a Malfoy! He winced at the thought but carried on anyway.

Malfoy's were not meant to feel! Not that she'd want him anyway after what his bloody father did to her. Anger boiled up inside him as the images of That Night swam over him again. He didn't want to hate her for being the one person he cared for and being tainted by the one person who could screw it up, and he was trying valiantly to stop it.

'There's a thin line between love and hate'

Draco jumped as though he had been burned as his mother's voice from long ago resounded in his head, sounding slightly amused and he sighed, pressing his head back against the cool wall as she wriggled around to get more comfortable in the seat, her back now pressed against the window as she crossed her legs underneath her and laid the book in her lap. A single lock of her hair fell forward over her face and into the tiny printed words but she ignored it.

That was it.

"Ginny?"

Ginny jerked her head up and the book fell from her lap with a dull thud against the shiny laminate flooring at her feet. She stared at him as he bent down to retrieve it, his eyes never leaving hers as he rose to his feet, towering over her.

"We need to sort this out; you have to give evidence against him. You have your memories back now; you can send him to Azkaban for good."

Ginny looked down and sideways at the floor, her book lying forgotten on the now empty window seat as she got to her feet.

"Draco, I could send him to Azkaban I know, but if you help me..."

She trailed off and he held his breath as he waited, half of him already knowing what she was going to say and the other half praying she wouldn't.

"...If you help me would you be doing it for me and my friends, or for you?"

Even though he had known it was what she would say he was stunned and he took a step back from her, his eyes widened as she stared into them almost hopefully. Eventually she shook her head and took a step back, her eyes sweeping down to the floor as she side-stepped him and made to go past him. He caught her arm and she turned slightly, her eyes flying open when he pressed his lips to hers.

His lips were icy against hers and she instantly melted into the kiss, her body melding to his as his hand kept a bruising grip of her wrist still held out slightly to their right as his other sought out the small of her back.

His achingly skilful tongue flickered over hers sending shockwaves down her spine and she shuddered into his body, her hip nudging against the result of their heated exchange and he caught his breath.

Her hands were perfectly steady as one slipped under his shirt, caressing his smooth hairless chest for a moment before laying her palm flat against him and sliding her hand to tickle the sensitive skin just below the waistband of his boxers. He growled warningly at her and she smirked into his mouth as he nudged her backwards and she fell into a sitting position on the window seat. He knelt before, still not breaking the contact between their lips, and edged her legs apart slightly so he could get better access to her mouth.

He was seconds away from taking her right then and there when he heard a gasp followed by a girly giggle and Ginny shoved him away from her in a sudden panic, her hands flying to smooth down her ruffled hair and rub at her swollen lips gingerly. Coop merely flicked her long matted hair over her shoulder, giggled once more and skipped off down the corridor.

Ginny looked cautiously up at Draco who was straightening his clothes and watching Coop disappear with an odd expression on his face.

"Draco? There's a problem with the Azkaban thing..."

He fixed his gaze on her and she shifted slightly, suddenly uncomfortable as he surveyed her silently with his eyes piercing through hers, still slightly darkened through lust.

"We could take your father before the Wizengamont for sure, but if he would just get sent somewhere like here."

Draco's brow furrowed slightly before his eyebrows retreated up into his hair in shock as a familiar breathless voice interrupted them.

"She's right Draco, sorry to break it to you but your father is more than a little bit completely insane."

-------

Dracosbaby7 – well I can't really answer your question about Lucius yet because it will give away the next part of the fic but stay calm they will indeed by answered

bigreader – thanks muchly, it had to be kind of sad since it was a bit of a massacre

valentines-hater – thanks here's your post

im no muggle – hey she's a Weasley so she has to be stubborn :P but Draco is far from someone who'll just give up himself

Dangerous Soul – indeed Lucius is anything but gentle Ginny is a lucky girl but hey if I can't have him at least someone nice gets him

Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's – I hope you confusion gets cleared up in the next few chapters where things are explained more

Nickel – thanks a lot! Well it wasn't just Lucius but I can't say anymore yet. I'm glad you reviewed no matter how long it took :D

Chantal J – thanks you!