A/N: Terribly, terribly sorry how long this took. I know you don't want to hear excuses, but my family has had to endure a terrible, terrible loss this year. After which, I haven't much felt like writing. But I FINALLY got back into the fan fiction business (thanks in large part to my best friend Tori, and my favorite fan fiction author, Davesmom) and started reading and writing again. I can't believe the 6th book came out before I got this done. That's just… wow.

Anyway, I decided that this is a story set after the fourth book, in Harry's 6th year-going-on-7th Summer. Meaning that, although this occurs in his 7th year, the happenings of books 5 and 6 didn't necessarily take place. Confusing much? Yeah. I know. But it's okay, we'll figure it out together!

Anyway, without further ado, chapter three…

Chapter Three: Burns and Bandages

Draco, wondering just how much someone as bland as a Weasley could write about her life, moved one of his hands to the front cover. His finger paused at the corner, already in the process of opening the book, as a slow warmth spread through his fingertip and the palm under the book. Not another second passed before a white-hot, searing pain flashed over his hands, spreading half-way up his arms before he screamed and dropped the book to the floor.

-

Ginny mentally cursed Draco as all three heads shot up to look up the stairs. She tried not to worry herself as she quickly turned back to the two boys.

"What the bloody-"

But Ron was cut off by Ginny's quick thinking, "Err, that damn ghoul up in the attic! He's been screaming all day for some reason!"

Ron 'hmphed' a little at this, and muttered to himself, "Sounded more like a girl screaming than a ghoul, really…"

Desperately changing the subject, Ginny remembered what Ron had said earlier, "What 'news' did you have to tell me, Ron?"

Ron's face seemed to light up again as Ginny reminded him, "Ah, yes. Mum's off to some muggle city. Apparently Fred… or was it George? Anyway, one of the twins got pretty banged up. So mum will be gone for a while to look after him."

"Look after him?-" Ginny began incredulously, but Ron quickly went on to explain more thoroughly.

"Look, he's got hurt and some muggle woman took him to hospital, and now they won't release him until he's well enough or some rot. I don't have all of the facts yet, because mum was rushed and kind of in hysterics. She said she might be gone a few days."

While Ginny was dumbfounded at the news, she also couldn't believe her luck. Molly was off with the twins, and Arthur Weasley wasn't home much these days. Everyone knew that You-Know-Who was getting ready for a final war, and everyone at the Ministry was absolutely swamped. It didn't really matter what job they had.

"She said if she's gone too long she might send Bill or Charlie over to help look after us, and probably take us to Diagon Alley for our school things."

Ginny nodded, only partly taking all of this in as her mind wandered to Draco. She might actually get away with this. Although, she was still quite unsure of what all she was dealing with, and how exactly she could fix this… But current events happened to be in her favor at the moment.

"I should go… think about all of this in my room. Don't bother me for a while." As she turned back to continue up the stairs, she deftly pulled the bottle of potion in front of her and out of the boys' line of vision. She scurried quickly up the stairs, ignoring their creaks and groans of protest, and leaving two slightly befuddled boys behind her. She passed the door to her room, instead heading quickly into the small washroom next door. She grabbed a washcloth, ran some warm water over it, and then left for her room. She bustled through her bedroom door, leaning back against it and turning the lock behind her. Her eyes immediately found Draco's, he was standing between her bed and chair.

"What in the name of Merlin are you thinking? Screaming like that!" She muttered lowly, advancing on him slowly and dropping the bottle of potion in the empty armchair.

Draco shrugged, "An owl startled me." He tossed an envelope at Ginny's feet. She ignored it.

"Not to further inflate your ego, but I highly doubt a little owl could even so much as 'startle' you."

"Lay off, Weasley. It was nothing."

She glared at him questioningly, "Sure didn't sound like nothing. Ron didn't think so either, I'm sure. You'd just better be glad I'm so quick to wit. Now, out with it. What really happened?"

Draco could tell she meant business. But Draco was a stubborn git, "Look, Weasley, I don't have to explain myself to you-" but as he moved his hands about in normal human gesturing, Ginny could get a good look at them, and it was quite obvious to her what had happened.

"That's alright Malfoy, you don't need to explain anything. Your hands tell me everything I need to know. I do believe the popular muggle phrase goes 'caught red-handed'?"

Draco stiffened a bit, scowling and drawing his hands behind him. That wretched journal had burned them, and now they were a bright shade of red, contrasting starkly against his pale skin. But Draco's snooping and extremely rude behavior was inconsequential at the moment. A very professional and Ministry-looking envelope lay at Ginny's feet.

Ginny sighed, "Oh… bugger…" she muttered, knowing full well what was to come. Although it was her first, she'd seen plenty like them addressed to the boys before. She bent to pick up the letter, staring at it as she crossed the room to her bed and sat calmly on the corner of it. She tore it open as Draco moved toward her. He could stand it no longer. His entire body was fraught with shivers of pain, and now his hands would probably develop blisters on them. They still felt as if they were on fire. His eyes were watering and his vision blurred. He stumbled over to the bed, barely conscious of where Ginny sat, and collapsed beside her on the mattress. Ginny was about to protest, until she looked over at him and felt her emotions surge at the sight. He was out already. She brushed a few strands of hair away from his left eye, so that she could see the bruise forming quickly around it. She still couldn't believe what she'd done to him. She sighed again, turning back to the letter as she got up off of the bed and instead took a seat on the armchair. It was, of course, from the Ministry of Magic. A warning letter, that she was not allowed to use magic outside of school. It also said a letter would be sent to her mother, who was absent from the household. She groaned. She thought she might have actually been able to get away with that one. Although, she did seem to get off lucky, because the charm was cast far enough outside of a muggle village, in a forest, and probably wasn't at all noticeable. She let out a relieved breath as she crumpled the letter and envelope, and tossed them into her wastebasket. Unfortunately, she would probably still have to explain herself to her mum.

Ginny reached under her, removing the bottle of potion from the spot where it had been happily jabbing into her side. She looked over it, then to Draco. She really needed to clean those wounds up, but couldn't rightly do that while Draco was asleep. She didn't think he would be all too happy with her if he was rudely awakened by the sure sting of the potion. But, then again… when was he ever happy with her? She shook her head. No matter how rude he had been, she just couldn't wake him right then. Although, he did look pretty knocked out. Remembering the damp washcloth, she grabbed it up in her hand. Though she probably couldn't get away with pouring the stinging potion on his open wounds, she could at least clean off all of the blood. With her mind set, she raised up from the chair and strode easily to the bed. She sat down gently on the edge, trying her best not to rouse the sleeping young man.

He looked like complete and utter hell. Even as he slept, he shook violently, even his teeth were chattering. To make the sight more chilling, he was absolutely covered in blood, especially his face. She supposed that was due mostly to her little spell. She swallowed and tried not to think about that. She leaned over to his face with the warm washcloth and began dabbing lightly at the streaking blood. She hoped the blood wouldn't stain her bed covers, and then felt really guilty for thinking that. The blood was a bit stubborn, but eventually she almost had his entire face cleaned up. By this time his teeth had thankfully stopped chattering. He was still shivering, but not as bad. She got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to rinse out the blood in the washcloth so she could start anew.

----

Deep black clouds, clouds seemingly made of liquid, encircled Draco. He welcomed the darkness and warmth, it felt so good. So good to drift away from the harsh, hard world that haunted him while he was awake. He let himself go, let himself be suffocated by sleep. If he had only known what nightmares would befall him, perhaps he wouldn't have allowed himself to drift so deeply, but that was all out of his control. The warmth Draco was swimming in soon turned ice cold. At first the cold crept up his spine, and soon it even filled his veins.

The screams… the screams that haunted him whether he was sleeping or awake. The screams came to him then, as loud as ever. They were a constant. Never ending, like a white noise. Only louder. Even as images that didn't have anything to do with the screaming filtered into his mind, the screams never ceased. He saw a bunch of broken images then. Most of them were the same flashes of his mother's body in a pool of her own blood. But there were others. Lucius, laughing. The forest he had found himself running through. A letter. What was it for? Too late, it was gone. He was running again, over a cobblestone street. God, he hoped nobody saw him. Now he heard someone familiar… so very familiar. Who was it? Telling him he would be safe…

Warmth began spilling slowly back into his body, he was swimming further and further away from the cold. Soon his entire body was warm again. The screams ebbed and finally disappeared, along with the cruel imagery. Draco breathed a sigh as he slipped into a dreamless slumber.

----

Ginny had cleaned all of the blood from Draco's head, neck, and arms. The only blood that remained on him was stained in his clothes. Finally Draco had stopped shaking. He sighed in his sleep. Earlier, his skin had been cool to the touch. Now it was rather warm. She smiled, looking over her work. Without all the blood on him, he looked really quite innocent and peaceful. Still, she knew she couldn't yet trust him. She decided that she really had to search his pockets and things for any concealed weapons, no matter how embarrassing that task would be. While he was staying with her in her house, with her unknowing family, she would take his wand away from him. If he confronted her about it, she would just have to tell him flat out that she didn't trust him in the least, and if he wanted to remain in her household without his father knowing, she would make sure her family was safe. She took a deep breath and held it as she ran her hands quickly over the front and sides of his still-damp shirt, desperately trying not to let her mind settle on the subject of the muscles she could easily feel underneath. Before letting her breath out, she patted the front pockets and down the sides of his legs. She released the breath she'd been holding. He wasn't hiding anything there. But she was sure those pants of his had back pockets, and she knew she'd have to check them before feeling completely safe. She grabbed the belt loop at Draco's hip and tugged until he was laying on his side. She sighed. Well, that was easy enough. She tried not thinking about where she was about to put her hands, but couldn't for the life of her stop the blush that crept onto her face as she patted down his back pockets. Aha! She watched Draco's face, praying his eyes didn't open, as she reached into the pocket and quickly extracted the metallic pocket-knife within.

Her eyes widened a bit, but she tried telling herself that boys often brought pocket-knives with them where-ever they went. She shoved it hastily into her pocket to dispose of later, and then quickly finished patting down the back of his legs, though didn't expect to find anything more. She was right, and knew Draco must've been in a huge hurry to have forgotten his wand like that. Maybe he had been telling the truth…

Now that that was over, Ginny looked around the room and found the discarded first aid kit she had given Draco earlier. She sat back on the bed, opened it on her lap, and pulled out a load of Quick-heal band-aids. For the small cuts along his arms and face she would just cover with these, but for the larger gashes on his head she would have to use the potion when Draco woke up.

She began quickly unwrapping the wizarding equivalent to band-aids, placing them across Draco's face. She had to admire Draco's high cheekbones as she stretched a band-aid across one cheek. His features really were quite striking, and… she hated to admit it; gorgeous. Well, if you go for that sort of "classic" sort of handsome, that is. When she was done bandaging his face, she couldn't help giggling. Hopefully those would heal enough while he was asleep so that most of them could be taken off that same day, because she was sure Draco would not be pleased with her handiwork.

Then she shifted her position so that she could easily reach his arms. She opened yet another band-aid and stretched it over one of his biceps. As her fingers pressed the adhesive side onto his skin, she felt how hard his arm was. She pretended to smooth the band-aid out with both hands and glanced quickly at Draco's face to make sure he wasn't awake and watching her. You couldn't tell just by looking at Draco how strong he was, but Ginny had felt some of his strength that very day, while Draco had been almost unable to otherwise move when he grabbed her in the forest. His entire body was tight with muscles. She inhaled sharply, looking him over once more. He still looked so innocent. But Ginny couldn't help being somewhat afraid of him.

Ginny finished applying the band-aids to his arms as fast as she could, although it wasn't exactly the quickest task. It would have been a lot faster if the band-aids hadn't had all that paper around them. It didn't help that Draco's arms were what had the most cuts on them. When she was finally done with his arms, she was half tempted to cover the cuts on Draco's neck, but every time she would think about it her face would flush horribly and she had to look away from him until the feeling passed. Finally she gave up on bandaging his neck. Her poor, tired fingers needed a rest anyhow. She tiredly stuffed the remaining bandages into the first aid kit, gathered all the garbage that had accumulated from the other band-aids and dumped them into her waste basket. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about his scalded hands at the moment, not sure if even the potion would heal burns, but she knew she'd figure out something later. And if she didn't, well, that's what he gets for trying to snoop in her personal belongings! She walked to her desk, pulled open one of the drawers, and withdrew a key to her room. She pocketed the key and then walked to her bedroom door. She paused, hand on the doorknob, and glanced over at Draco one last time. So quiet and harmless at the moment. She sighed, knowing it would never last, and ducked out of her door, locking it behind her. She was so surprised as she ran into Harry right outside of her room that she leapt away from him, her back slamming into her newly shut door.

"Wow, Gin', why so jumpy?" His smile seemed to melt her thoughts and worries about Draco away, and she couldn't help but grin back.

When she spoke, she sounded a little breathless and flustered, "Oh, I'm just not at all accustomed to having boys lurking right outside my door, that's all."

Harry feigned hurt, "I was hardly lurking! You just happened to catch me when I was heading downstairs to get a drink."

Ginny shrugged, "Call it what you will." She teased, moving away from her door and heading down the stairs. Harry followed close behind. At the base of the staircase, Ginny turned to take a seat in one of the living room's armchairs, while Harry veered into the kitchen.

"Want anything while I'm in here, Ginny?" Harry called.

"Yeah, anything to drink would be great. Thanks."

When Harry returned with two tall glasses of iced lemonade, he looked from Ginny sitting in the armchair, to the empty couch. Ginny thought she saw the flicker of a frown before he passed her a glass and sat down opposite of her on the couch. Harry's hair was a bit wet, it drooped unnaturally in his face and clung to his forehead. The look was really quite becoming. He must have just showered, Ginny realized with a skip in her heartbeat.

Ginny drank deeply from the lemonade, having not had anything to quench her thirst since her Quidditch workout out back. She had intended to come downstairs to sort out her thoughts about Draco and all of the recent events, but with Harry around her mind couldn't settle on anything like that. She looked out the large living room window, wondering how long Harry would stick around. She was stuck between wanting him to stay, and wanting him to go so that she could try to organize her mind a bit. But she did need to know when he would be leaving, and she didn't want to be rude about it, so she stuck with a neutral question.

After another drink, she cleared her throat and looked back at Harry, "So, where is that darling brother of mine?"

"Showering. He'll no doubt be down here soon to steal me away from you again."

"Oh, pity." Ginny smiled, sipping slowly at her lemonade again.

"Was there any reason you were coming downstairs? Besides the lemonade, I mean."

"Well, you know, to take a break-"

"A break? From being alone in your room?" Harry smiled crookedly at her.

"Err, yeah." Ginny blushed, and turned again to look out the window.

"You girls and your secrets. You're such a mystery."

"I thought guys liked a little mystery?" Ginny's comment was meant to be offhand, but when she realized what she said she couldn't help blushing and shooting a quick glance over at Harry. He wore his same crooked smile, but his eyes seemed like they were studying her, trying to figure her out. He shook his head suddenly, eyes downcast, as if he gave up trying. After sitting silently together in the room for what seemed like an eternity, they both jumped as they heard Ron's pounding footsteps echo down the staircase.

"Oy, Harry!… Oh, hey Gin'. What're you doing down here?"

"Just enjoying some lemonade with Harry, here." Ginny smiled wryly at her brother and avoided Harry's gaze when it turned on her. As Harry stood up to follow Ron, Ginny looked down at her glass and swirled its contents lightly. Harry took one last look at Ginny before Ron beckoned him again to follow, but she was still looking down at the glass in her hands. He jerked quickly away from her and jogged to and up the stairs.

Ginny felt a relieved sigh escape her, but wasn't sure why so much negative tension was released with it. Then she remembered how badly her thoughts needed sorting, and she couldn't have done it with Harry around. She inhaled sharply as her mind began to backtrack over the strange occurrences that met her that day. She was so shocked and afraid when she first found Draco lurking behind her backyard, and only hoped he was telling the truth about his father. She bit her lip, wondering if she had welcomed the enemy into her home with open arms. Why did she have to trust people? Well, at least she had made sure he didn't have a wand to use against them, and took away his pocket knife. Remembering the knife, she pulled it out of her pocket and gave it a once over. It was a pretty simple design. The knife was fairly long, and both blade and hilt were silver metal. And then, just before she closed it up, she noticed a small engraving on the blade.

At the top, just two small letters "D. T." which was, apparently, Draco's first two initials. And below that, in letters twice the size, read "Malfoy".

She folded the knife and thrust it into the crack of the armchair, and let it settle there under the cushion. It's not like anyone would find it there, anyway. And she just needed to keep it away from Draco.

Lord, what was she going to do with him? She shifted uncomfortably in the chair, continuing to mull her thoughts over. She absently stared out the window as the sun crept lower and lower towards the rolling green hills. She needed to get him some dry clothes. She would have to borrow some from Ron, and maybe she could find some spare clothes left behind by her other brothers. Where was he going to sleep? He definitely couldn't sleep in her room. Definitely. But it's not like she could just lay him out on a couch in the living room, either. But, then again, there were quite a few spare rooms now that all but two Weasley children had moved out. And luckily Ron's room was set away from most of the spare bedrooms. Yes, she decided, Draco would use Percy's old room. It would suit him just fine, since he was just about as stuck-up and obnoxious as Percy was.

The sun was burning a deep crimson before Ginny snapped out of her reverie and realized she needed to get some things done before nightfall. She picked herself up out of the chair, dumped the glass of melting ice into the kitchen sink, and jogged up two flights of stairs to Ron's room. She knocked thrice as she tried to catch her breath. Ron poked his freckled face out and stared at her, looking slightly bewildered.

"What is it now, Gin'?" He sounded a bit annoyed, but Ginny ignored it.

"Would you and Harry mind cooking something for dinner? We can take turns, and I'll cook tomorrow. Oh, Ron, honestly. Don't give me that look, it's not like you have to whip up a three course meal! Just something simple. Grilled cheese sandwiches would do fine."

"Sure, we'll get right on it." Harry's head popped up over Ron's shoulder, and Ginny smirked.

"Thanks, you two!" Ginny turned away quickly and headed back downstairs before Ron could complain. She'd let Harry deal with him.

"Okay, first thing's first, Ginny girl." Ginny muttered quietly to herself, pulling the key to her room out of her pocket and turning it in the lock, "Need to get Malfoy some dry clothes." She entered her room, head down, and ran smack into a bare-chested Draco. He caught her by her elbows before she could stumble backwards, and glared into her face. She could tell her wasn't pleased.

"Where have you been, Weasley?"

----

A/N: Alright, wow. It's finally done… It's finally done? Really?… Cool… It feels like so much is lifted off of me. Let's see how long that lasts, eh? Anyway, the story will hopefully go a lot smoother now, since I now have most of the key plot points and all that jazz figured out (whereas in the beginning I was kind of just going off on a random plot bunny).

Anyway, on to the thank you's!

Mo the Deatheater: Aww, thank you! I'm so pleased you stuck around for the second chapter, and really hope you made it to the third as well. Sorry to keep you waiting, but thank you so much for your wonderful review!

AnimagisInTraining: Wow, thanks for reading and reviewing both chapters :D It is really appreciated. Hehe, we never know what's up with Ron, do we? And don't worry, I'm furiously a Draco/Ginny 'shipper as well

PnAyxTrAcKsTaR01: Thanks for the review! Short and sweet :D

Fireangel92: Hehe, don't worry! I already had that bit planned out Although, now JKR tells us that some out-of-school underage magic is looked over because the Ministry can't tell, out of a house of wizards, which wand the spells came from. Pfft. And yeah, I oftentimes feel sorry for Draco too. Not just after something particularly nasty wanders his way, either. Just in general. He seems to me to be a very sad/lonely/angry individual / Anyway, THANKS for the reviews!

Toes of the Tickled Kind: Aww, you don't think I'd really let Draco read poor Ginny's journal, do you? Nah, that's not my style. Besides, it wouldn't be all that interesting anyway, since she wouldn't have anything written about HIM in there :P Thanks for the review!

Wcoast-girl: Aww, THANK YOU so much for your kind review! I really hope you stuck around to read the third chapter. And tsk-tsk! Trying to get the author's secrets out of her, are we? Hehe. You'll just have to wait around and see what happens, hm?

Tapegnome/friend Tori: Stop giving away all my secrets, woman! Are you MAD? Anyway, thank you for helping me get back into the swing of things, and getting rid of my writer's block, and just plain THANK YOU for being such a good friend Now go update ..