Disclaimer: I'm not Jo, though I do love her magical way of writing. Unfortunately none of these lovely characters belong to me, except the orphans.
A/N: I'm really sorry this chap took so long. It's been done for quite some time but, real life has been hectic to say the least. But here it is…
Above and Beyond
Chapter 11 – In which Ginny's Friends Come to Help and an Evil Plot Thickens
Belle, as it turned out, had not had her debutante and neither did she want one. Even under Draco's protests, Narcissa's gentle ministrations and Addy's not so subtle wishes that she was old enough to have hers, she would not change her mind. Ginny had to give the girl props for determination or maybe it was just stubbornness.
Ginny was still daydreaming about Erin and the moments when she would black out were becoming more frequent. Much to the increasing worry of her friends, she had progressed from not sending owls to sending disgustingly chipper replies to their enquiries if all was well.
Draco had so far not been able to discover whether she was under any sort of dark influence and had been pressured by Belle to inform her friends and invite them to the Manor. He knew Belle didn't have nay qualms against inviting Granger or Lovegood, despite what his father liked to term the purity of their heritage. Well, thank god for their parents, he thought.
They were now positioned in the foyer awaiting their arrival, Draco with some trepidation, Belle with concern for Ginny. She was to alert Ginny when they arrived, but not before. They'd decided that feigning surprise at their visit was the best way to go. They had tried to separate her from the children as much as possible, knowing that they would have intuitively picked up on her distracted state.
A house-elf Apparated into the air in front of them with a loud crack. Draco nearly jumped a mile high and heard Belle chuckle before laying a soothing hand on his arm.
"Ms. Granger and Ms. Lovegood to see you, Master and Young Miss."
Draco nodded curtly and the huge double oak doors that let Draco sleep better at night swung open. Draco hadn't seen either of them in person since he left school all those years ago. He occasionally saw a picture of Hermione in the paper, usually getting some award or the other and Luna sometimes wrote the editorials for her father's newspaper.
Luna's already protuberant eyes widened on seeing Draco and she nudged Hermione in the ribs. She hissed something in her ear and Hermione gave a small smile in response. They walked forward and Hermione extended her hand while Luna looked him up and down.
"Mr. Malfoy, thank you for inviting us."
When Draco didn't appear to be moving any time soon, Belle moved forward and shook Hermione's hand.
"Ms. Granger, we can dispense with the formalities. It's Belle, by the way, and feel free to call my cousin Draco or Malfoy." She smiled warmly and Luna immediately liked her.
"Ok, Belle, may we see Ginny?"
Draco and Belle exchanged glances before Belle bustled off to find her. Hermione started pointedly at Draco until he remembered his manners.
"Granger, Lovegood."
He motioned for them to follow him into the lounge. They exchanged glances behind his back and rolled their eyes. When they took seats on the couch, Luna, silent until now, fired away with questions.
"Where is she, Draco? I swear, f you've done something to her we'll have the whole Weasley clan on your estate in 5 seconds flat."
She looked like she could carry through on that threat too, so Draco hastened to pacify her.
"I haven't done anything to her. I swear." He said holding his hand above his chest. Well unless you count that passionate kiss a few days ago, his conscience reminded wickedly.
"As far as I can tell, she's suffering from nothing more than being sickeningly, sweetly in love." As much as it twisted his gut to say that, her friends had a right to know that his tests hadn't shown anything unusual.
"Well, if it's all the same to you, Malfoy, we'd like to run a few tests of our own."
Draco's hackles raised, but he shrugged nonchalantly. He knew the little chit was purposely goading him about his less than saintly testing methods, but he figured you might as well use Dark magic to find out about Dark magic. Not that his tests were Dark, they just weren't standard Ministry procedure.
Belle entered that moment with the distant Ginny in tow. Her friends jumped up immediately and rushed to hug her, but she pushed them off.
"I told you, you worry too much, Hermione Granger. That little one of your s is going to be smothered." She gave a chuckle and patted her friend's cheek absently.
Hermione grasped Ginny's arm concernedly and Luna glared at Draco over her friend's head. Draco looked away. He and Belle watched uneasily as Hermione performed detection spells on the vacantly amused Ginny. She looked rather like Luna did at Hogwarts and now Luna was the one looking on in concern.
"I can't pick anything up so it's either a really well concealed charm or there really is nothing wrong with her. I'd like to believe she's in love, but we'd thought—"
She broke off and glanced at Luna who shook her head slightly. Draco frowned in confusion at this exchange, but Belle nodded her head in understanding.
"I read her letters." She admitted. "When we realized something was wrong with her, I went through all her owls to see if there was any clue as to what went wrong. I would have reached the same conclusions you did if not for her behaviour now."
"I don't think she's in love." Luna said decidedly "I mean we've seen Ginny in love, haven't we? Fifth year with Harry, she was unbelievably happy and yet she was still grounded and— well— sane. I think this is more proof that someone's messing with her emotions. We just need to find out how and why."
"You should come to our ball." Belle put forward, ignoring the looks from Draco that clearly said he disagreed.
Luna and Hermione peered at her in confusion.
"I should invite you properly. It would be my greatest pleasure if you could attend the Grand Ball for our formal introduction into society, as Draco calls it. It'd let you keep an eye on Ginny as well."
She saw Draco scowl and looked at him curiously. So he had hoped to have her to himself, did he? Well no such luck Draco old boy, you won't be seducing this governess— not that she was capable of seduction in her current state.
"Que magnifique!" Luna gushed.
Belle could only assume this meant she was coming. She turned to Hermione expectantly. She looked hesitant.
"I don't think you need to tell Ron that it's a ball, just mention that you're visiting Ginny at the Manor and spending the night with her."
Hermione still looked hesitant, but concern for her friend won through. She nodded and Belle clapped her hands delightedly. Ginny still looked pretty out of it and Draco had started sulking in a corner. Belle smirked; she'd deal with him later. Right now, she just needed to make sure Ginny would be in good hands.
"Ginny should stay here." Luna said "Her brothers will ask too many questions."
Hermione pursed her lips, but didn't comment. Apparently lying to her fiancé didn't faze her as much as Belle thought it would.
"The ball's in five days. It's formal, as in you'll require gowns. I've got loads in my closet, Narcissa went overboard with the shopping and—" she looked at both of them, sizing them up, "Luna's about my size, but I'm sure we could modify one of them to fit you, Hermione."
Luna's eyes started shining with fantasies of her in a sweeping ball gown. Belle herself had entertained those fantasies of being swept of her feet by some dashing young wizard. But her fantasies had been shelved with her old robes, packed away in boxes. She sighed; it did no good to dwell on the past. She had a brilliant future ahead of her, if she could only shake the feeling that there was someone out to get her.
o o O o o
"All goes well, my lord. The operation proceeds as planned."
"Excellent, Xavier. The time approaches for the final phase to be implemented. Your spell must continue until the final moment. We must secure the children. Perhaps you should increase your control over the witch."
"I assure you, my lord, she is fully under my power. I have tested her repeatedly and she is easily susceptible to my charms with no recollection of her actions."
"Very well, you are excused."
Xavier bowed out and disappeared into the shadows.
"Doherty and Cunning, you will be present at the Malfoy ball. You must find a way to abduct the children before midnight and bring them here to me. They are vitally important to our plans. We must have them before the new moon. Dispense."
After murmuring their assent the collective of dark shapes disappeared into the night.