Chapter 17

Ginny walked up the long flight of stairs to her second story apartment. She lived in a mixed apartment complex, and her neighbors were made up of Muggles, Squibs, and wizarding kind. The majority of the Muggles that lived there had wizarding children or family and knew of the magical world, although many of them made it a point to stay away from anything magic.

She waved off Mr. McAllester, assuring him that rent would be in soon and narrowly escaped Mrs. Vanmeter's questions about when she would settle down with a 'lovely young man'—like her son. She made it to her apartment door and reached into her purse to grab her keys. They jingled loudly as she pulled them out and she held them out to the door. She dropped them, and with a tired sigh, bent over to grab them.

'Wonderful' Hadn't she just been thinking how the day couldn't get any worse? She had the key ring grasped between her fingers and was just about to stand when—she dropped them, again. "Argh!" she huffed in annoyance as she grabbed the keys from the floor once more.

She stood, flipping her long pony tail behind her shoulder, as she looked for the right key. Mumbling angry words under her breath, she shoved the key into the lock and twisted the knob. She pushed the door open, entered, and then kicked it closed behind her.

Ginny walked over to the side table beside her couch and dropped her keys on top of it while she kicked off her shoes. She sighed as her feet were released from their prison. Her feet hurt.

"MEOW!" Jasper yowled at her and wrapped his body around her legs, circling her feet and purring loudly.

She put her purse on the table and reached down to grab her cat, lifting him into her arms. She rubbed the fur on the top of his head and walked into the kitchen while cooing at him. Placing him on the counter she opened the refrigerator, pointedly ignoring its pathetically empty state, and pulled out some milk.

She opened the jug and sniffed before making a 'hm' sort of noise that meant 'still good' and poured some into Jasper's saucer. Jasper began lapping at his drink immediately, and Ginny placed the jug back into the fridge.

She walked back into the small living room and then beyond into her bedroom. Her apartment was a mess, she noted, too tired to do anything about the thought at the moment.

She shed her Auror robes and walked over to her closet, looking for her favorite comfy shirt. She found it at the back and threw it onto her bed along with a pair of well- worn baggy pants.

She leaned against her bed, raised her feet and removed her socks, then she moved to her shirt and pants, letting them fall to the floor. She'd move them to the hamper later. As she removed her bra, she couldn't help but think of how terrible her week had been, and it wasn't even Friday.

Her bloody bastard of a partner had continued on with his cold shoulder treatment of her this week. Only speaking to her when necessary or if it was to insult her about: A. her family, B. her incompetence, or C. her failure.

Her failure. Ah, yes. That was how the week had begun, being called into Tonks office to discuss what a failure she was. She had felt almost relieved when it was Tonks who had called her. It was leaps and bounds better than having to face Kingsley's fatherly disappointment.

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It was Clara who stopped her on her way down to her office, whispering to her, in sympathetic tones, that Tonks' wanted to speak with her. In her office. Alone.

Gulp.

She made her way towards Tonks' office, deciding to get it over with as soon as possible. She knocked on the door and it immediately opened, a pale hand gabbing her wrist and pulling her inside. She heard the door close behind her as she was pulled into a brief embrace.

"You ok?" Tonks asked as she pulled back.

Ginny nodded slowly, not wanting to meet Tonks' eyes. "Don't be nice. I know I'm here to be questioned on my actions and reprimanded. I know I messed up, and I want to be treated as any other Auror. No special treatment." Her words made her feel determined and she looked up, meeting Tonk's eyes.

The older woman laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Blimey, Gin. You're so stubborn." She stepped back, walking over to her desk. She tripped a little and fell gracelessly into her chair. Blushing, she cleared her throat, motioning for Ginny to take the chair in front of her.

When Ginny sat down, Tonks began speaking. "I know that you know you messed up. That's why I'm not going to be very harsh. I'd just like to know why it happened. I've read both your report and Malfoy's on the assignment. I just want to understand where it all went to hell." A gentle smile softened her words, and Ginny puffed out her cheeks, letting a huff of air out.

"I—it..." she started, not sure what she wanted to say. "It was all going so well. I was hidden and Auror Malfoy was disguised. We were just supposed to be gathering information, and if the suspects incriminated themselves, we would take them down."

She looked up to see if Tonks understood. "Then it all went wrong. Nott knew somehow, knew Auror Malfoy wasn't Thuban, and knew he was an Auror. He pulled his wand and I wanted to step forward, but Draco signaled for me to stand down. Then Draco was thrown against the wall of a building and—and..."

"You freaked." Tonks summed it up for her, and Ginny nodded, her eyes focusing on her hands that were folded in her lap.

"I freaked." She sighed. "I thought he was seriously injured. When he had hit the wall, it was with so much force, and I thought… I don't know what I thought. I just knew I was all alone and my first thought was for survival and my second was to get to Draco."

"You were worried about him?"

"He's my partner," Ginny said quickly. "Of course I was worried."

It was funny, actually, if you thought about it. Ginny Weasley --who had taken down numerous Death Eaters, dark wizards, and dark magic creatures during the war, and later during her work as an Auror-- had failed to take down two bumbling idiots who were a part of a black market slave trade.

How funny.

Tonks was sympathetic, saying that Ginny was just shocked when she had seen her partner go down, having never been in that situation before. Ginny argued that she had been trained to be in that situation, but Tonks had waved it aside.

"It's always hard to see someone you care about be hurt," she said. Ginny looked at her questioningly, confusion wrinkling her brow.

A few moments later she was dismissed, without punishment, and she felt worse for it. She had wanted yelling and anger, she deserved yelling and anger. When she reached her office, Draco didn't disappoint on this count. She'd make the slightest mistake and he would either yell at her or snidely insult her.

As it turned out, Alecto Carrow's questioning bore no results. She knew nothing, only the little bits that Nott had told her. Things they already knew. Having nothing to hold her for, they had let her go with a warning, assuring her that she was under surveillance and to watch her step.

Between dealing with her guilt, Draco's insults, lack of new leads in their case, and receiving multiple owls from her mother asking her for dinner, she was ready to snap by Wednesday—which was today.

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Ginny walked into her bathroom, the cold tile of the floor cooling her sore feet. She looked at herself in the mirror briefly as she passed by it and did a double take. Leaning forward she looked at her cheek. She touched it with her fingers, pushing it to the side so she could get a better look at the large, dark black smudge that was stained there.

'Beautiful..' she groaned, licking a finger and rubbing at the ink on her cheek, succeeding in only making the smudge bigger as some more ink was painted upon her face by the fingers of her quill hand. A small sound of annoyance escaped her throat as she stalked towards the shower.

She turned the handle of the faucet onto hot and let her fingers be caressed by the spray, checking the temperature. When it was just right, she pulled the shower curtain aside, stepping under the water and letting it sooth away some of her stress. She rubbed at her cheek under the water, washing the ink off and getting lost in her thoughts.

Draco had been worse than ever today, reminding her heavily of his younger self. He had been going on and on for an hour about how terrible her family was, how disgustingly poor and worthless they all were. Then he had gone on to say that if they hadn't had so many kids then maybe she- their last child- wouldn't be such a screw up. He had kept going, digging at her, and she was amazed that she had been able to keep her temper for so long and then… SNAP!

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"If I'm so detestable, then why did you ask for me to be partnered with you!" she yelled. "Obviously you thought I was good for something! Good enough to work with, good enough to kiss, good enough to push against a wall and—"

"You're a woman," he said, cutting her off.

"What?" she whispered the question, her brows drawing together in shock and confusion.

"I said you're a woman. You have all the right parts. Some of them very nice parts," he said with a smirk as he looked her over. "It could've been anyone, Weasel."

This was the first time in almost two weeks that they had spoken about what had happened in the flying room. She had been too scared to bring it up before, and now she wished she hadn't. A sharp pain filled her chest at his words. Oh how she wished she hadn't brought it up.

"You're lying," she accused as she looked at him. He had to be lying.

"Am I?" he asked cryptically, a single eyebrow rising in consideration as he looked at her.

She felt sick as she stared back at him, determined not to be the one to back down. They sat there for several minutes, staring at each until he snorted, shaking his head as if she wasn't worth the time or effort, and turned back to the papers on his desk.

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Ginny stepped from the shower, the water having long ago turned cold, and wrapped a fluffy blue towel around her middle. She quickly dried herself and walked into her bedroom, dressing in the comfy clothes she had left on her bed.

Pulling her damp hair up into a messy bun on top of her head, she walked towards the kitchen, bent on having a yummy snack and then sitting down with a blanket, hot tea, and a nice book.

She needed to relax.

The redhead was almost done putting the finishing touches on her sandwich when she heard a sizzle and the sound of her name being called from the living room. She left the plate and sandwich on the counter and rushed into the next room.

"Auror Weasley!"

"I'm here!" Ginny said breathlessly as she fell to her knees in front of the fireplace. "What is it?"

"Sorry, dear, but it seems you forgot to sign some of those documents before you went home. We need you to come back in and sign them really quick," Said a square faced woman that Ginny recognized as someone working in the file room.

Ginny closed her eyes tightly in irritation. "I'll be right there."

The woman's head disappeared from the fire and Ginny moved to grab her purse and wand from the side table and slid her feet into her shoes. Deciding it would be a good idea to place her sandwich in the refrigerator, she walked back into the kitchen only to see that Jasper had already pulled the sandwich apart in his quest for the meat and cheese inside.

"Pig," she grumbled at the cat. Jasper simply looked at her with wide, glassy, yellow eyes, remnants of ham hanging from his mouth. "You heard me," she huffed.

Leaving the sandwich as a lost cause, she hurried over to her door, walked out and locked it behind her. She jogged to the Apparation area a few feet from her apartment building and Apparated back to the ministry.

She was standing in her darkened office, looking over and signing the papers she had missed. She rolled her shoulders, satisfied by the 'Crick!' noise of her back cracking. After signing the last page, she smiled brightly with the knowledge that now she could go home. Now she could finally relax.

"Auror Weasley!" A short balding man rushed through her office door. "I'm so glad you're here." She recognized him as Mr. Douglas, the head of the Surveillance and Location department. A thrill of hope slid up her spine.

"What is it?" Ginny asked with wide eyes.

"We've located Nott," he said, his voice trembling with excitement that matched her own.

"Does Kingsley know?"

"Yes. He wants you to inform Auror Malfoy A.S.A.P. and brainstorm."

"Tonight?" she wondered aloud.

"If possible," Mr. Douglas confirmed.

She nodded numbly and turned to her desk, gathering her things.

"Oh, and Auror Weasley?" the man asked, his tone filled with amusement.

"Hm?"

"I don't believe that is the regulation uniform", he finished with a chuckle before leaving the room.

Ginny looked down at attire, a bright blush warming her face. She had never changed out of her t-shirt and comfy pants. Damn.

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After transfiguring her clothes into a nicely tailored suit, Ginny apparated to Malfoy Manor, excitement thrumming through her body. All was not lost, she hadn't ruined everything. They knew where Nott was. They could catch him and bring him in for questioning. She climbed the stairs to the door and grabbed the thick knocker in her fist, slamming it frantically against the door.

A moment later the door opened, revealing Malfoy's butler, a kind, elderly Squib named Gerard. "Auror Weasley, what a pleasant surprise." He smiled, creating deep crinkles in his face.

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Ginny?" she admonished teasingly.

His eyes twinkled at her as he invited her inside "I'm sorry to say that the master is not here at the moment but—"

"Do you happen to know where he might be? I have important business to discuss with him."

Gerard gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I do not. I only know that he is out with Ms. Torres, but not where they are."

A cold knife twisted in her chest. "Ms. T-Torres? Rosa Torres?" she whispered, her chest feeling tight.

"The same. They've been seeing each other for the last two weeks. She's a lovely girl."

The knife twisted again and she could feel her eyes burning with unshed tears. "Will you tell him that I came by?" she asked quietly.

"Of course."

She left hurriedly, rushing down the steps and out into the outer garden of the manor. Tears streamed down her face and she spared one last glance towards the large house before Disapparating.

As she fell into bed numbly, she tried to tell herself that it didn't matter. That maybe it was a misunderstanding on her part or Gerard's.

But it did matter, and deep down she knew it wasn't a misunderstanding.

Draco had said that she could've been any woman; she was just there at the right time. At the time, she had been so sure he had been lying.

Now, she wasn't sure of anything.

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A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! virgie2x2, kasey07, ellie2305, Bella118, ien-eva-ninque, Dumbledore's Troop, jhaycita, harrypotterchick4ever

I'm just posting this quickly before rushing off to bed! Enjoy!