A/N: A few people are quite angry with me for bringing Harry in so here is my reasoning: This fic has always been about getting over your past, and getting passed the barriers that keep you from a happy future. Harry is a big part of Ginny and Draco's pasts, he is just one hurdle they need to get over, along with Draco's past cruelty and the way they each were raised (their prejudices for one) . I never wanted it to be easy for D/G to be together in this story, but I promise that this is still a Draco/Ginny story, and it will all work out in the end.

Chapter 23

Ginny was sitting at her desk, twirling her quill between her fingers like a miniature baton as she stared out the window, unseeing. She had arrived at work an hour early, unable to sleep much the night before. She had decided it would be a good day to arrive to work early. Maybe there she could find something to take her mind off of… things.

No such luck. An hour later, she was just gazing out the window, daydreaming and wondering if the previous night's dinner had actually happened. Knowing that it had.

She was jolted out of her roaming thoughts when her partner came sweeping into the room. She sat up straight in her chair, ready to greet him, but he didn't even look at her as he made his way to his desk and sat down gracefully in his chair.

His eyes roved over his desk and he froze. She could see the tightness in his shoulders, the set of his jaw and the way his eyes had darkened. She followed his line of sight, wondering what had made him act like this, and gasped.

The Daily Prophet. Everyday, Malfoy would come into the office to find the day's edition of the paper on his desk, placed there by the elves per his request. The paper was there as normal, with its bold captions, but in the middle of the front page was a picture of none other than Harry Potter. In the picture, Harry was smiling and looking at the viewer, his green eyes sparkling behind his glasses. Ginny had to admit that it was a lovely photo of him.

Harry Potter has Returned Home! The bold print at the top said in scrolling letters.

'He came home for you.' She remembered Hermione's words from the previous night and blushed crimson.

Ginny's eye rose up to look once more at Draco's reaction, only to find him looking at her. His gaze was penetrating and she could feel her heart beat pattering against her chest. She felt trapped in his steely gaze, and guilty-- But why?

Breaking eye contact, Draco crumbled the paper in his hands and tossed it into the rubbish bin beside his desk. He didn't look at her again for the next hour or so, and Ginny could feel the thick cloud of suffocating tension crowding the room.

She couldn't stand it. Someone had to be the adult here; they had a job to do. Gathering her courage, she broke the silence. "Malfoy, we need to get out there, look for clues, and ask around."

His eyes lifted and for a moment, she saw a strange new emotion flit over his features. For a brief second and then it was gone, a self-controlled mask in its place. He just stared, and Ginny swallowed, determined not to be intimidated by him. If he could act so unaffected by her then she could do the same to him.

"Where should we start?" he asked and she shivered at the bland tone.

"I don't know. But, we have to do something. We have to find Avery! Someone has to know where he is."

"Avery didn't have many friends," he said sardonically.

"He was friends with Snape in school, wasn't he?" she asked, her eyes squinting in thought. She was happy to be able to think about something else, something that wasn't why Harry had come back.

Draco snarled. "Snape's dead. He won't do us any good."

Ginny looked at him sadly, knowing that her partner had been close to the Potion master. Suddenly a light bulb went off in her brain. "Your father," she said, feeling giddy and breathless.

"No," he said immediately. "Absolutely not."

"Yes! Your father was close to Snape, who was close to Avery. They were all comrades, all friends," she pleaded.

"My father didn't have friends, only people who could do something for him," Draco responded coldly.

"It's our only lead. We've been trying for weeks, not knowing where to begin, and this might be it!" She was flushed with excitement and Draco could feel his resolve crumbling.

"No," he managed weakly.

"I'll do the questioning if it's too hard for you. We need to do this." Her eyes were wide and he pursed his lips in thought, knowing what his words would be even before they left his mouth.

"Get your things, then. We're going to Azkaban."

O…o…o…o…o…o

They were led down a long hall of cells by a pudgy guard of incredible height and the face of a baby. They walked in a line: the guard, Ginny, then Draco.

The cells had no bars, only a clear magical barrier that separated the inmates from the outside world. Ginny felt as if she was in a surreal pet shop, as some of the prisoners would place their hands or faces against the glass-like barrier. Others seemed uninterested and still others were sleeping. Everything felt cold and damp here. It was an unhappy place, even without the Dementors.

The guard stopped at a cell near the end of the row, and Ginny watched as he sent a spell at the unsuspecting prisoner inside, pinning the man to the wall with invisible shackles. "Yuh gotta Auror 'ere ta see yuh." the pudgy guard said, sending a last word of warning. "Play nice."

Ginny knew the guard wouldn't go far, and she knew that Draco was standing just outside the cell, not wanting to come in unless she needed him to. She should feel safe, but being faced with a man that had caused her so much pain since the time she was eleven was not a nice experience.

She looked at the man, shackled against the wall, a mere shade of who he had once been. His once long, proud mane of blond hair was now cropped short against his head. His silver eyes -so like his son's- were now dull and hollow, surrounded by dark circles and deep wrinkles. He looked haggard.

She stepped closer, saying his name in greeting as she stepped into the light. His eyes slid lazily to hers and she saw recognition light in them.

"Well, well, well", he said in a voice that croaked as if it hadn't been used in a long time. "Ms. Weasley, what a surprise! Still poor and living on dreams? Still writing in diaries?" he asked cruelly and she could feel her jaw tighten. She heard a rustling noise by the door and took a long, soothing breath.

"How is your disgusting, Muggle-loving family? Hm? Better yet, tell me, Miss Weasley, what is it like to be on the winning side?" he rasped, sneering at her.

"Wonderful," she said with a bright smile. She wouldn't let him know that his words had any effect on her.

The blond grunted at her. "Fabulous," he said with a strange smile of his own, showing off a set of black and rotted teeth.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm hear to question you. We have reason to believe that you have an idea of the whereabouts of our suspect, and may even have some insight on our case. Now, if you cooperate and answer our questions to the best of your knowledge and ability, we may be able to arrange something for you. You do this for us and we will do something for you."

He laughed, a bitter sound that fell somewhere between the sound of a cough and a laugh. "There is nothing that you can give me that I want. You can't lessen my sentence -I'm here for life. You can't make my quarters more comfortable or make the guards treat me better." He spat as he eyed her up and down.

Suddenly his gaze turned calculating. She recognized the look of a Slytherin mind at work. "Why don't we play a… game, Auror Weasley? You answer one of my questions and I'll answer one of yours."

She stared back at him for a moment, considering. "I will answer any questions I can and not any that I can't," she said finally. The older man smiled that strange smile again. A mad smile, she decided.

"Agreed." He paused, his eyes searching the room. "What day is it?"

"The twenty-fifth of July, 2001," she answered. "How close were you to Avery?"

"Very. We spent a lot of time together at meetings and worked together on many missions." He paused again. "What does the sky look like today?"

"Blue, bright and sunny, but with a touch of clouds that hint towards rain."

"Ah, rain. I miss it. Where—"

"Tsk, tsk. It's my turn. Where did Avery hide after the first war?"

"He has a house in France…"

"No he doesn't, it would be in our file."

"He does. It's unlabeled. He purchased it under another name. You owe me two questions." She nodded and he continued. "Where is my wife buried?"

Her eyes softened slightly. "In the Malfoy family plot, in Paris."

"Good. Was her funeral nice?"

"It was… small. Small and nice. There was an article in the paper." She watched as his chin fell to his chest. "What name is the house under?"

"Hm? Oh, Martin."

"Martin?"

"Yes. That counted as a question. You owe me two questions again." The calculating look was back.

She was about to protest, but decided against it and she gestured for him to go ahead.

"Was the article about her or me?" he intoned solemnly.

"It was mostly about her being your wife, the wife of a Death Eater," she said quietly and he made a noise in the back of his throat, telling her that he understood. "You have one more question," she reminded.

"Is my son alive?" he asked, his eyes rising to hers once more, no longer dull, but instead alive with emotion, sadness and desperation.

"Ye-"

"I'm right here, Father," Draco said, stepping around the corner and into the cell.

"Draco," Lucius said, his words quavering with feeling.

Ginny turned her gaze to her partner's and the blond offered her a small reassuring smile. "Wait outside, Gin. I need a moment with him."

She inclined her head in acceptance and took his previous post by the door, leaving him to speak with his father for the first time since the war. The first time in almost five years.

o…o…o…o…o…o

Draco and Ginny were silent as they apparated to the Ministry and walked down its long corridors, heading in the direction of their department. Auror HQ. They remained mute as Draco pushed the button for the lift, calling it to their level, and they both entered. Draco pressed the button for the floor that held the Auror offices. A moment later, the doors closed and they began their noiseless descent.

Draco glanced over at his partner and noticed the stirrings of a small, mysterious smile gracing her lips. Her expression was so relaxed and peaceful, an expression that he hadn't seen her wear in a long time. Seeing her with it now made him have to consciously fight down a smile of his own. Then it hit him, the situation they had just been in, her smile…

"You did it on purpose," he accused quietly.

"What?"

"There could have been other leads; we could have tried more angles. You chose my father so that I would speak to him. You knew that I would speak to him."

"No, I didn't," she denied with a shake of her red mane. "The decision of whether or not you would talk to him was always yours, and you made it. It was very brave of you actually —almost Gryffindor," she teased.

"And it was very Slytherin of you to set it up so I would speak with my father," Draco retorted.

"Believe what you want to, Ferret. It doesn't matter anyway, we have our information. We now know he has a house in France, that it's under the name 'Martin', and thanks to you, we now know the name of the town it's in—Anger," she said, saying the town's name with a cocky faux accent.

He was about to inform her that Martin was the most-common French surname, and even with all the information they had, it would take quite a search to find their query- Avery, but chose not to. He raised his eyes to hers and his mouth parted to begin the words in his mind, but the look on her face stopped him. It was so proud, so happy, and so beautiful.

Draco's eyes searched her face, warming her skin with their intensity, and making her skin flush a healthy pink. He raised a long-fingered hand to the side of her face, just barely touching as he brushed his thumb across her cheek bone and Ginny's heart thumped loudly at the jolt that went through her at the simple gesture.

"You've had a smudge of ink here all day, did you know?" he breathed, the pad of his thumb sliding over the skin of her cheek as he spoke, sending tingles down her sides that ended in her belly.

His hand slid down her cheek and down the column of her neck before settling at the back of her head, his fingers threaded in her hair. He breathed, sending a gust of warm air across her face and neck, making her legs weak.

Ginny's heart raced as he leaned in, his mouth slowly coming down to meet hers.

Ding!

The elevator sounded, alerting them that they had reached their floor and snapping Ginny out of her trance. She blinked twice and pulled away quickly before rushing out the opening doors.

"Gin—"She heard him call, but she kept walking, hurrying towards their office. She needed some space between them for a few moments, needed to think, to breathe. She hurried her pace a little more as she turned the corner.

She couldn't feel this way; she wouldn't let herself be so weak. He wasn't worth it, he was just a playboy, the grown up version of a mean spirited little boy that had been her enemy growing up. It was lust; that was all it was. Just lust.

She turned one more corner and had almost made it to the door of her office when she stopped suddenly.

"Ginny"

"Gin!"

Two voices called her name simultaneously and her head swam. She heard Draco coming up behind her, but her eyes remained frozen on the dark haired man in front of her office door.

"Potter," Draco said coolly, as he stepped to Ginny's side.

Harry inclined his head in greeting, his body stiff as he regarded his old enemy.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, uncomfortable with the tense body language the two males were displaying.

Harry brought his gaze back to hers and he smiled lazily. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to her. "I was just visiting Tonks. Then I decided to come looking for you, see where you work, and ask you to lunch," he explained with a wink.

"Oh. That- that sounds nice," she said with a nervous smile of her own.

Draco let out a short, quiet growl and Ginny's eyes shot to his, but his gaze was steady on Harry, a bored expression firmly in place. "You know… that does sound great. It's my lunch time as well, and I am a bit peckish," he drawled.

Harry stuttered, looking at the blond in shock, and then turned to Ginny, watching as she gave him an apologetic look and shrugged helplessly.

"Wonderful," Draco said, clapping his hands together. "Where are we going?"

A/N: Wikipedia is a wonderful thing. It is where I get most of my information on the Death Eaters, although some of it I make up, lol!

I know nothing about France, lol! I used Google to look up small towns in France and found Anger, France. I also looked up popular French last names to find the name. I can't believe I'm doing research for a fanfic!

Thanks to all of my reviewers! jasmine,hpbooklover127, dragoncharmer79, SilverUnicorn66, M i s s G i n e r v a Z a b i n i, QueenBee11, babi-gurl-chels, Robin (thanks for the rec. of 'The Vamp and The Veelan' i love it!), Bella118, mell8, HyperSquishy, CanYouLovetheImaginary, kasey07, cmg0889, jhaycita, harrypotterchick4ever, HarryGinnyfan23, Dru Sharpeye, beckysue2, AuntAnnie, grannyHPfan

I love you guys! hugs each of you until you cant breathe oops...