Chapter Eight

Ginny slowly opened her eyes and adjusted to her surroundings.

'What am I sleeping on? It's so soft, and it's moving!' thought Ginny, and then all the memories came flooding back. Last night. Avery. Nott. Draco. Her knife, Draco and her.

Ginny looked down and blushed a little to see she was directly on top Draco. In a very compromising position. She hunched herself up on her elbows and looked down directly at Draco.

Draco, the name filled her, as if merely thinking about him made Ginny feel complete, and she had never felt that way before.

There were dried tear stains on Draco's cheeks. Ginny remembered how he cried himself to sleep the night before in Ginny's arms. She had never connected with anyone in that way before. She remembered the emotion in his eyes and she could feel the pain he went through. Ginny didn't know what made Draco upset, and she didn't have to. Not if Draco didn't want to tell her.

His hair was mused and he looked so adorable.

"What happened to you Draco?" murmured Ginny. Realizing how wonderful it felt to say Draco's name so intimately. She looked at her watch and noted it was only 4:13 in the morning. Still early and she could sense the safe house was close.

Her arms were getting sore so she figured Draco wouldn't mind if she lay on his chest for a while. He was strong, she was pretty light, even she had to admit. Ginny closed her eyes and enjoyed the comforting masculine scent coming from Draco.

"I grew up Ginny, I just grew up," murmured Draco, pleasantly startling Ginny.

In reply, Ginny only nuzzled his chest with her nose and he wrapped his arms around her.

'Well this is inevitable, she likes me back. This isn't pity affection, I know it,' thought Draco. Racing through both the young lover's minds was 'what will happen now?'

After an hour of lying next to each other in silence comfortably, Draco looked at his watch and broke the silence by saying "we better get a move on."

"Mm, yeah," replied Ginny looking at her own watch. She looked over at him and he could tell what was going through her mind.

"Let's just make it to the safe house first, then we'll see," murmured Draco softly, which sent shivers down Ginny's spine.

With that, the two of the got up and got ready for the day ahead.

"Shit, it's just a rabbit," muttered a distracted Ginny as she steadily worked her way through dense forest, in the direction of the safe house.

"Natural animals around, this can only mean the Death Eaters are getting repulsed," replied Draco.

After a few more meters, a scream could be heard and both Aurors stiffened up. It was a female, probably one of the other Aurors on mission.

"To the left," hissed Draco and he headed in that direction, Ginny following stealthily and keeping a steady pace. Millions of thoughts were running through her head, and all of a sudden she remembered a passage from an Auror newsletter.

"Beware traps. A real cry for help has a specific tone to it. Try to tune in on the tone, some enemies may take advantage of your kindness by faking a cry for help, e.g, screaming."

Eyes widening, Ginny quickened her steps and grabbed Draco's forearm.

"It's a trap, damn it, stop," hissed Ginny hurriedly into Draco's ear.

"What? Someone screamed, they could need my help," Draco replied hastily.

"No, stop, it's a trap. That scream isn't real, someone's watching us," said Ginny rapidly. She could feel the eyes on her. She tightened her grip on Draco's arm, the final persuasion.

Draco simply nodded, kept his wand out and followed Ginny who was backtracking to their original route. He knew whatever was following them wouldn't attack until their most vulnerable moment, which was usually never. But he knew they were tailing them to the safe house to try to figure out a way to get in, but it was protected by a multitude of enchantments to ward off evil, and he badly needed to get there.

So for the next fifty minutes, he followed Ginny's red bobbing hair towards the safe house. Eventually, he could see it. It was massive and oddly random in the middle of this dark forest. It was startling yet subtle at the same time.

Draco noticed Ginny with her wand drawn out and one hand on the hilt of Godric's sword. Draco had learnt this was Ginny's attacking stance and that he better get ready. She had a second-to-none sensing skill and could sought out an evil Auror from afar.

He looked up to face three hideous and large creatures which slightly resembled large boars called Antegestar standing guard at the safe house's entrance. Voldemort bred them to be vicious attackers, which they were but they were more a hindrance then opponent, and they apparently hadn't seen the two. It was common knowledge they couldn't enter the house so they waited around, to see who could be their next victim.

Ginny stared straight ahead with determination. These Antegestar were the only thing standing in her way to two months rest and she was going to kick their arse. She started firing off attacking spells to distract the stupid beasts before she would incinerate them with her wand. Draco followed in suit and soon the two of them were engaged in a battle with three stinky Dark animals and some tainted blood.

Ginny took on two of the Antegestar and Draco one of them. After a lot of yowling and angry grunts, Ginny had her two beasts in agony, before she burned them to death with an incinerating spell. She turned around to help Draco who was nearly wrestling with a large Antegestar when she heard a cracking noise. Ginny whirled around to see a large tree trunk falling from its stump where an Antegestar had limped blindly into. All she had time for was to scream and close her eyes before she could hear the bones in her left shoulder crack and see her world fade into black.

Draco was exhausted from his fight with the Antegestar but once he heard Ginny's scream, anger and determination burned within him. With a final roar, Draco incinerated it and rushed to Ginny's side. She was half under a gigantic tree trunk. Draco quickly levitated the trunk out of the way and quickly inspected her. Not good, she was out cold with a smashed left shoulder, her wand lightly gripped in her right hand uselessly.

Grimacing at how her left arm dangled oddly from her shoulder, he picked her up in his arms and rushed towards the gate. This was the only chance he could get in before more Merlin knows what creatures would arrive to the commotion.

Touching the tip of his wand to the heavy duty gates of the safe house, Draco soundlessly muttered the complicated charm that would let him through the gates. It would only remain open for three seconds so he had to be quick.

He heard a satisfying click and he hurried inside and strode quickly up to the front door and kicked it open with his foot. Inside, he was met with a housekeeper.

"Where's the infirmary?" demanded Draco breathlessly.

"In here," replied Manny pointing at a large door to her left. She was one of the house-hosts. She was used to the harshness in people's voice when they asked her where the infirmary was because she knew how their partner must be injured badly.

Draco could feel Ginny's blood soaking into his robes and his heart rate went up even higher.

'If she doesn't have brain damage from the concussion, she'll die from loss of blood.' He thought hurriedly.

Draco placed her on the closest bed and ripped off her robes to reveal her in jeans and a once white singlet. Now half of it was soaked in blood.

"Damn, how much has she been bleeding?" he asked aloud to no one.

"Too, much, you've got to stem that blood," replied a steady voice from somewhere besides Draco.

"Fuck! Harry! You've got to help me here," said Draco in a rushed voice. "Clean the blood, I'll get ready to check if there're any toxins in there," Draco ordered. Harry reacted straight away, siphoning all the blood off a very big gash in between Ginny's breast and left shoulder. Or, what was left of her left shoulder.

"Clear," muttered Draco and he did a complicated healing spell which would knit all of Ginny's flesh, veins and arteries back together. To describe the wound as a 'cut' would be an understatement. A sharp branch had impaled Ginny's flesh and had nearly gone all the way through. That would explain all the blood.

Harry and Draco looked at each other with some sort of relief. At least she had stopped bleeding. Draco knew his next step was to try and get Ginny conscious, it would let him know if there was any damage to Ginny's neurological functions. Draco decided to try something simple. Pointing his wand at Ginny's temple, he said "enervate."

It worked. Ginny gave a soft and very feminine (noted Draco) groan and opened her eyes. It felt like millions of little needles were prodding her and that she felt something on her left side sticking itself together.

"Ginny, Ginny, can you hear me?" said Draco anxiously.

Another groan. And then he heard something that made him very relieved.

"Yeah, fucking Antegestar, walked straight into a tree which just happened to have very sharp edges," muttered Ginny softly, the sound of her own voice sounding very loud in her mind.

"Squeeze my hand Ginny," said Draco from somewhere above. Ginny tried but it hurt too much.

"Okay, it's okay, I'll give you something for the pain," came the muffled voice again from somewhere above. All of a sudden, the pain went away, leaving Ginny with a very clear mind, and she tried to sit up.

"No, keep laying down," came a familiar and friendly voice.

"Harry?" said Ginny incrediously, hoping it was a familiar face as well.

"Yeah, it's me, how you doin'?" mused Harry, happy that Ginny was looking better. Draco not so much, since Harry was taking up all of Ginny's attention.

So, he cleared his voice and said "Ginny, your left shoulder is completely smashed in."

"You serious?" replied Ginny. That would explain why her shoulder felt, scattered. "It was the tree right?"

"Yep," came the reply. "Look, I'm not going to try and fix your shoulder with my wand, it won't heal properly. This place should have some skele-gro," said Draco pointedly at Harry.

As happy as Draco was that his closest friend was there in one piece, he really needed a few moments alone with Ginny.

"Aye yie, Captain 'I want some time alone with the girl I have the hots for'" said Harry cheerfully and saluted Draco. Draco scowled.

"Are you okay Draco?" said Ginny quietly, seeing a cut on the side of Draco's forehead.

"Yeah, that's nothing compared to your shoulder," said Draco amazedly. Here was Ginny who had her entire left shoulder mutilated but cared enough to ask about his small cut. "Can you remember what happened?" asked Draco, checking if Ginny had amnesia, and if she could tell him what exactly happened.

"Finished the two beasts off, they go running blindly while they still can and I assume they ran into a tree and caused it to crash. My back was turned at the time, fuck, not enough reaction time," muttered Ginny.

"Oh I see, well I'm glad you're alright now," said Draco with emotion, making Ginny's heart swell with a warm feeling. Draco was now toying with some stray pieces of Ginny's hair which made Ginny giddy with more happiness.

Suddenly a skele-gro bottle was shoved under Draco's nose. Draco looked up to see Harry smiling.

"I'll see you outside the Infirmary Draco, Gin should definitely get some sleep while taking that stuff. It's purely potent. Actually, might not be too bad since she still has her bones, they're just shattered into a lot of pieces," mused Harry.

Mustering all her energy, Ginny raised her right arm and slapped a bemused Harry on the head.

Harry only laughed and said "alright alright, no need to prove you're Miss Tough-Stuff here." Then he left Ginny and Draco alone in the infirmary.

"Okay, you really need this potion, however nasty it is," sighed Draco opening the bottle.

"Yes mother," replied Ginny sulkily. Draco only gave her one of those classic "uh-huh" looks which made Ginny smile in spite of herself.

'This is from some classic love scene from something isn't it, the whole hot guy looking after injured girl thing,' thought Ginny.

'God she's beautiful, even though her left shoulder has been crushed.'

"Here comes Mr Airplane!" said Draco childishly with a measurement spoon full of skele-gro.

Ginny snorted awkwardly and started to choke on herself. Draco quickly put the spoon down, rushed to her bed and held her hand while her erratic coughs subsided. Ginny just couldn't help but smile at how he cared, even though she was only choking on her own saliva.

(AN, lol I know, I totally ruined the moment by saying saliva!)

"Okay, okay, just give me the potion," murmured Ginny, and so Draco opened Ginny's mouth and poured the potion in.

The two of them enjoyed each other's company in a comfortable silence for a while. The last thing Ginny could remember before she fell asleep was the feeling of Draco's soft lips on her cheek.

Close my eyes

Let the whole thing

Pass me by

There is no time

To waste asking why

I'm not away with you

By my side

I'm not away with you

By my side

Hi guys! What do you think? Don't you just love Ginny/Draco fics? Anyway, the lyrics in italics are from the song Echo by Trapt. Review! Luv, Jessica.