Die to Live

Chapter Nine

By Mell8

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Ginny woke up and almost screamed. She was lying in her familiar bed, in her familiar bedroom and it was the last place she wanted to be. She desperately needed to get back to Azkaban. Her head ached and her stomach was cramped and she was miserable.

The door to her room opened quietly but Ginny ignored it. Her head hurt too much for her to bother with moving it to see who was bothering her.

"Oh! Ginny dear, you're awake!" Ginny would have groaned if she didn't hurt so much. "When Ron brought you in unconscious I didn't know what to think but you are here now and I am never letting you out of my sight again." Her mother began bustling around the room, dusting minute specks of dirt off the shelf while she waited for Ginny to acknowledge her.

Ginny whimpered.

"Oh! Ginny dear. I know that you must be overwhelmed to be home; especially after six years of living with those horrid Death Eaters!"

That got Ginny's attention. "Mum," she forced out through her pain. "Draco and Blaise are not Death Eaters."

The older woman clicked her tongue impatiently. "That's what Harry said you would say dear. Now that you're home you can forget all about what those awful boys forced you to say and do. You are safe now!"

Ginny growled in a very Draco-like manner. "Mum," she snarled. "Go talk to the twins and see what they say! I was the one who decided to save Draco and Blaise! I was the one who decided to run away from you and the Wizarding World. It was entirely my idea."

"But Ginny, if you were safe why didn't you at least owl us. I know that the Death Eaters kidnapped you and have not let you even speak with you family. It must have been horrible." She bent down to hug her daughter but stopped when Ginny let out a gasp of pain. "Oh, Ginny, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

Ginny snarled at her mother and forced herself into a sitting position even though it made her head spin and her stomach roll uncomfortably. "Look Mum. Go talk to the twins. Fred and George have known where I have been hiding the entire time. They helped us to escape from the Death Eaters and from the Order. You are just being blind."

Mrs. Weasley ignored her daughter and gently placed her hand on Ginny's forehead. "Oh my! Ginny you have a terrible fever." She bustled out of the room and returned moments later bearing an armful of potion bottles. "Here, Ginny. Take these. You'll feel better once you wake up again." Ginny scowled at her mother but carefully lifted up her aching arm and took the potions. Ginny fell into a pain hazed sleep and dreamed horrific dreams of Draco and Blaise screaming in pain.

III

"The reactions are all similar; high fever and extreme amounts of pain. I don't think any of them have moved once since the separation," Hermione shook her head. "This is serious." She absentmindedly flipped through the book she had sent Ron to get as she contemplated what circumstances must have occurred for Ginny, Malfoy and Zabini to have bonded so deeply.

Mrs. Weasley walked into the room carrying empty potion bottles. "Ginny woke up!" She chirped happily. "She has a bit of a fever and seems to be a little achy but it must be from spending a night in that horrible prison. She was delirious too!"

"What did she say Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"Some rubbish about planning the entire kidnapping and death scene herself and more rubbish about the twins knowing where she has been the entire time. Complete trash!" The Weasley matron answered scornfully as she disposed of the bottles. "Who wants a spot of tea?"

Harry looked at Ron and motioned towards the door with his eyes. Ron nodded. "Sorry Mum," he said quietly. "I have some last minute investigation to do."

"About what?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I thought the investigation was closed. Ginny was kidnapped by those horrible Death Eaters and-" BAM

Hermione dropped the heavy tome on the kitchen table and gasped. "Harry! We're going to kill them!"

"What?" Harry gasped as he and Ron rushed to read over her shoulder.

A couple bound tightly should be able to sense where the other partner is even with extreme amounts of spells disrupting all forms of contact. This bond goes deeper than any spell can penetrate. If this characteristic of the spell occurs, the bonded couple are truly soul mates and their love will overcome all obstacles. This form of the spell is rare due to the fact that true soul mates are extremely difficult to find. If this does occur be warned. The forced separation between tightly bonded couples causes extreme pain and eventually death. After two days of forced separation both sides of the couple begin to whither and die. The closer the couple, the sooner death will occur.

"Why are you reading about soul mate binding?" Mrs. Weasley asked from over Harry's shoulder. She had read the article and couldn't understand why Harry, Hermione and Ron were whiter than her freshly washed sheets.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped. "Go to the twins. See if they really have enough evidence to acquit Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. Harry, go to the Minister and request that they be moved to St. Mungo's at once. Mrs. Weasley, please don't let Ginny move until they get back. We'll be taking her to the hospital."

"What's wrong with my baby girl?" Mrs. Weasley asked tearfully. "What does she have to do with those terrible boys?"

Hermione looked pointedly at Harry and Ron who quickly apparated away. Then she turned to the crying woman. "Mrs. Weasley, you have your facts wrong. What Ginny told you was true. She did help Malfoy and Zabini escape. She saved their lives. Nobody kidnapped anyone. In fact, from what I have seen since we captured Ginny, she loves those boys."

"Loves? She can't love Death Eaters!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed.

"We don't have all the facts yet, Mrs. Weasley, but Malfoy is the only one with a Dark Mark and he disappeared just after Snape killed Dumbledore. As far as our sources can tell, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini have never practiced the dark arts other than the one time when Dumbledore was killed."

"Why was Ginny with them?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Her tears were drying up now that she had something else to focus on besides her daughter being moved to St. Mungo's. "Why were you looking at love binding spells?"

"We don't know much about the first part," Hermione answered. "That's why Ron is going to visit the twins. If Fred and George have been keeping an eye on Ginny they must know why Ginny took up with Malfoy and Zabini. I was looking at love binding spells because I believe that Ginny, Malfoy and Zabini are soul mates who somehow managed to bind themselves together without magic."

"So separating Ginny from those two boys is what is causing her illness?"

"Yes. In fact, Malfoy and Zabini are experiencing the same symptoms. Harry went to the Minister to ask to have them placed in the secure ward in St. Mungo's where we can bring Ginny. Hopefully bringing them back together will erase all the harm done to them by separating them."

Ron stomped into the kitchen followed closely by Fred, George and Lee Jordan. "I've got our evidence right here. Can we please save Ginny now?" Ron snarled. Hermione nodded at her husband and Ron rushed upstairs to carefully bring Ginny downstairs.

III

When Ginny woke up again the pain was ten times worse. She slowly opened her eyes and even that movement hurt. The light pierced her eyes so she quickly closed them.

"Ginny blinked!" Ginny couldn't tell who yelled but even hearing someone else's voice hurt.

"Ginny dear, how are you feeling?" Someone gently touched her shoulder and Ginny screamed. Just being touched hurt more than anything else she had ever experienced in her life. She stopped screaming because drawing enough breath to scream hurt. Ginny settled for whimpering quietly.

"Quick, do something to put her back to sleep!" Ginny quickly faded from awareness.

III

"Why isn't it working?" Hermione moaned. "We put them in the same room together and everything. They aren't being forced to separate any longer." Hermione surveyed the large room at St. Mungo's with a worried frown on her face. Ginny was carefully laid out on the bed closest to the door and there was a privacy curtain in place around the bed. The two other beds were across the room to give Ginny some seclusion and those beds also had curtains around them. The healers were hovering in the room. There was nothing the healers could do to save the three people dying. It was frustrating to Hermione knowing that all she had to do was bring them together and the binding spell would reassert itself and save Ginny's life but Hermione didn't know how to bring them together other than put Ginny in the same room as Malfoy and Zabini. There was something important that was missing and she couldn't figure out what.

By the end of the day Hermione had read the entire book twice and she still couldn't figure out why Ginny was still dying. Ginny was now moaning in pain in her sleep and the two boys echoed her. All three of them looked frail, almost brittle, and they were gaunt. Ginny's cheeks were sunken and her body looked starved. It was horrible. Plus Malfoy and Zabini looked just as bad.

There was a timid knock on the door and Hermione looked up cautiously. Mrs. Weasley had been led into another room where she could be sedated and neither Ron nor Harry ever bothered to knock.

"Come in," Hermione called softly. The door opened slowly and Fred, George and Lee poked their heads inside.

"Can we come in?" Lee asked quietly. Hermione nodded and all three of them entered. "This is horrible!" Lee gasped as soon as he saw what had become of Ginny and her boys. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"I don't know!" Hermione sniffed. "I can't think of anything and all this book mentions is returning them to the place where they bonded but that could be anywhere!" Hermione buried her face in her hands and completely missed the look that passed from the twins to Lee.

"Umm, Hermione, I think I know where they bonded," Lee said tentatively. "Would it help if we took them there?"

Hermione jumped up from her chair and let the heavy book fall to the floor. "One of you needs to run and get Harry and Ron. Lee, how many people can you take using side-along apparation?" She didn't wait for his answer. Instead she started taking down the curtains around the beds and carefully turning down the covers.

Harry and Ron ran in and immediately started helping Hermione. Fred had briefed them on the way downstairs from the tearoom. Once everyone was gathered Lee apparated into Draco, Ginny, and Blaise's small apartment.

"Here," Lee said as he led the way to the bedroom. "Put them here." Fred and George carefully walked into the room carrying Zabini. They carefully put him on the bed in the closest position to the wall. They put Ginny in the bed next and Draco was placed on the edge closest to the door.

Hermione, Ron, Harry, Fred, George, and Lee all settled back into the small space to see if this idea would save Draco, Ginny, and Blaise or if the three of them were really going to die.

Only time would tell.