Chapter Six is FINALLY up! Woohoo!
(Please tell me if the plot is moving too fast with this one...I just had the urge to go for it and I'm not sure the story benefitted.)
Chapter Six: St. Mungo's
The Wizarding World was in an uproar, just as mother had said, and it took only ten minutes on the subway to get an earful of the swirling cloud of rumors and speculation that hung over the events of the Leaky Cauldron and the Estelle Mansion. The distressed witches and wizards were easy to spot: they stood in oddly dressed clusters, whispering to each other and occasionally looking around themselves. They didn't even seem to notice the bemused, curious glances that regular muggles were giving them. He overheard some snippets of conversation, centering mainly around the two-hundred deaths at the Estelle mansion, if they were linked to the eighty other murders in the past three months(which it was commonly agreed on that yes, they were) and also if Tom, the newly deceased former-owner of the Leaky Cauldron, was tied into all of this somehow.
It truly pained Draco to listen to the rumors that were false(which centered mainly around lazy Aurors and a collapsing Ministry), and it made his blood run cold to listen to the ones that were true. He wished that all of it was false, that he could scoff and laugh at the idiocy of the highly untrusting witches and wizards of the world.
It was another cold day, and he'd realized that morning that Christmas was next Thursday. It seemed strange, after everything that had happened, that the most cheerful holiday of the year still lurked in the near future. He wondered just how cheerful it would be now. He could imagine families gathered around a blazing fire, trying to act happy with strained smiles and false words of optimism. While his own family would never been foolish enough to pretend, he knew plenty of others who would, and he felt pity for them.
When he finally reached St. Mungo's at noon, he thought he had heard every scrap of gossip over the murders that existed. People everywhere were chatting and whispering, so there was no escape.
As bleak as he felt after the two hours of involuntary eavesdropping(there was no shutting out the fearful voices) Draco felt his heart beat happily in his chest when he thought of visiting Ginny. Only now, mere yards from the red-brick building of Purge and Dowse, did he wonder if it would seem strange that he was coming to visit her. He wondered if Potter would be there, or Weasley, or anyone else who'd question him. It made him irritated and worried at the same time. Then he wondered how Ginny would take it.
He knew she had no idea that he hadn't given her up, and there was the constant, gnawing fear that she truly loved Potter and she had forgotten about Draco all together. It would be the normal thing to do, after all, they had only spoken a couple of times since then.
Of course, he knew she loved Potter, that was a constant grating pain on him, but he'd always fancied the thought that he possessed a piece of her heart that no one else could touch. She'd made him believe that last Christmas, somehow, without having to say anything but his name.
Though he had spent every Friday in the Leaky Cauldron for the past month, he'd never spoken directly to her until last Friday. He'd always, always tried, but the terror of rejection had kept his advances at bay.
Draco Malfoy, who had never been afraid of any girl this side of the planet, was terrified of little Ginny Weasley. He was terrified of what she was doing to him, and was positive that her marriage to Potter would kill him, if not her first. Being married to the Head Auror was dangerous even without a gang of murderers hanging about. He was sure he could give her a better life, and he knew he had to act fast if he wanted to do so.
He just...didn't know how. The clock was always ticking, but fear held him back.
With a sigh, he reached the grimy glass window that sat between him and a dusty old mannequin that wore a green pinafore dress.
"I'm here to see Ginevra Weasley." He said quietly, hoping that the muggles that streamed down the street behind him didn't overhear.
The mannequin beckoned him forward with one dusty plastic finger, and he walked swiftly through the portal into the St. Mungo's lobby.
It was a large, sterile room, the gray walls lined with uncomfortable metal chairs, the linoleum floors gleaming under the florescent lighting.
A witch sat behind a large wooden desk, reading a magazine and looking bored. There were only a few people in the lobby today, one old witch supporting a shriveled green arm, another young wizard trying to plug up his nose, which was releasing a steady torrent of blood down his front.
The witch, in a disinterested tone, assigned them their floors without looking up.
When it was Draco's turn, he felt a nervous knot tighten in his stomach. What if she had visitors? What could he say that wouldn't blow his cover?
"Sir?" The witch asked, raising her brows. "I've asked you three times why you are here. If you've had your mouth glued shut, nod twice."
"I'm here to see Ginevra Weasley." He said firmly.
"Fourth floor on the left, Catrina Weslock ward." The witch said, returning to her magazine.
Draco nodded and proceeded to climb four flights of stairs, being passed by busy Healers covered in blood, slime, ash, mucus, and other disgusting substances.
One of them mixed it up and was covered with black feathers. He was suddenly glad that he had never decided to become a Healer as a child.
When he finally reached the long, narrow corridor lit by floating bubbles of light, it took him no time at all to find the correct ward.
Gently, he eased open the door and found a long, drab room with only four beds in it. On each of these there lay a new horror, a man with gigantic purple feet that were crisscrossed with blue veins, a very thin woman with long talons for hands, a mumbling child that kept crushing a piece of clay between his fingers and yelling strange obscenities such as "You old goat-booger you! Give me back the key to Waffleville!" And "The paper clips aren't magnetic! Dammit, Johnson!"
It took all of Draco's willpower not to laugh when the child looked directly at him with unfocused blue eyes and cried "The ant king has arrived!"
A Healer in long white robes bustled into the room and smiled apologetically at Draco. "Confundus spell gone wrong. Sorry."
"Not a problem." Draco said, stifling a chuckle.
"Draco?" A weak voice asked in surprise. He felt something inside of him freeze as a thin hand pulled back the white curtain that had concealed the bed closest to the window.
Ginny lay there, pale and thin, her hair hanging in lank bloody locks around her face. Her leg was thickly bandaged, and on the table beside her, many different vials of potions glimmered in the sunlight.
When she looked at him, she did not smile, but her face twitched like she hd just been stuck with a thorn.
Her deteriorated state scared him, and he crossed the room in three strides, almost running to her, sinking down into one of the chairs propped up beside her bed. The lurking feeling that she had died was banished, but there was something not right about her, something other than her weak state. There was a gloominess about her, and she seemed to project misery.
"You came to visit me?" She asked in her papery, light-as-air voice.
He wanted to grab one of her tiny pale hands and tell her everything he felt, tell her why he was here. Instead, mocking words bubbled to his lips.
"I did. I just wanted to see if Potter's girlfriend was going to die and crush our Head Auror." He said, smirking.
"That was good of you." Ginny said, but it held none of her fire.
Draco looked at the little table beside her bed, and saw that, behind the potions, there was a gigantic vase of red roses.
"Are those from Potter?" He asked, mentally hexing himself for not bringing flowers.
Ginny nodded. "To apologize for not being able to visit today. Work is very demanding, as I'm sure you're aware."
"He couldn't spare an hour?" Draco asked, raising his brows. "Must be hard on you."
"Malfoy, he has to work. I understand that." Ginny said, giving him an even stare.
How can he take her for granted? Draco thought. He knew Harry was extremely busy, and he knew how horrible things were becoming at the Ministry, but somehow the troubles of the Wizarding World seemed to melt away before Ginny. She drowned them out, becoming the center of everything.
"Are you doing any better?" He asked, a twinge worry making his palms sweaty.
"Yes. I'm just on this horrible new potion...it drains the life out of you." Ginny said, running a hand through her tangled mess of hair.
"I'm happy you aren't dying. You're very lucky that I was at the Cauldron to protect you." He said, trying to smirk and cover up his relief.
He knew it didn't carry to his eyes. He could feel his love for her smoldering on his face, and couldn't wipe it away.
Ginny snorted. "You seemed too busy protecting Jane to care about me." Her voice was playful, but there was a sharp undercurrent that he didn't understand, and her brows had knit together in a frustrated grimace.
"I would have covered you if you'd been with me." Draco said, unable to stop himself.
Ginny was staring at him oddly, and her expression had shifted into something he couldn't read.
Quickly, she peered over his shoulder, watched the Healer who'd been with the boy leave, and then got to her feet, wincing with pain as she dragged her bandaged leg forward. Though Draco grunted in protest to her movement, she pulled the curtain around the bed so that it hid both of them completely.
Shadows spilled across them, dulling the color of the roses and the vivid red of Ginny's hair.
She collapsed back onto the bed with a gasp of pain, and then pulled herself to a sitting position.
Utterly bemused, Draco stared at her as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Why do we need privacy?" He asked, using every scrap of charm he could muster.
She turned stone-cold eyes up to him.
"You have to stop this." She whispered bluntly and with a ferocity he didn't know she could posses in such a state.
Something in him seemed to catch fire, fizzle out, and explode all at the same time.
"That's not a very nice thing to say to someone who went out of their way to visit you." He spat, venom dripping from every word.
"Draco Malfoy, I'm serious." She hissed.
Hurt and fury swirled into a raging storm inside of him, and red tinged his vision. However, his voice was calm as he answered "Stop what?"
"I know what you're doing and it won't work." Were those tears in her eyes? No. A trick of the mute light.
"What do you mean?" He asked smoothly.
Ginny grabbed the hand he'd unconsciously placed on the quilt of her bed, and gently set it back in his lap.
"I'm marrying Harry," She said, her cheeks turning red, "and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Is this really what you want to discuss in a crowded hospital, Weasley?" He asked, his voice low and furious.
"Yes." She spat, and before he could say anything else, she hissed "I've seen you at Broomsticks."
This stunned him for a moment. She'd never let on, never glanced in his direction...never done anything to let him know she'd acknowledged his presence.
"I'm not clueless, Draco. I've gotten enough looks from boys to know that you still haven't gotten over the Christmas party." She said, her voice more gentle than before.
Hurt swelled in him, but he hid it behind a smirk.
"Maybe I am still a bit stuck on the fact that I banged Potter's girlfriend, and he doesn't even know. Old rivalries die hard, as I always say. But why do you care? If you can ignore me so very well," He said, leaning towards her slightly and praying that she wouldn't recoil, "what difference do my feelings make?" He asked, his voice harsh and cold.
Ginny didn't shy away from him, choosing to glare directly into his eyes, and he thought he saw her cheeks redden.
"I just want you to stop ogling me every time we meet. For one thing, it's annoying as hell, and for another, I don't want Harry to catch on." She growled.
"Yes, yes. It would be a shame for Harry to know that his little hapless kitten betrayed him. After all, he tries to protect you from so much, to know that you have mind of your own-"
"Shut up." Ginny glared at him with a completely livid expression, and he knew she was searching for something equally as hurtful to say.
"You have no idea what he's been going through-"
"Spare me the lecture on how wonderful Harry is. I know what he's doing for the Ministry. I wouldn't want to break his heart while he's doing so much good." Draco said sarcastically.
"Malfoy, if you breathe a word to Harry about what happened-"
"You'll do what? Hex me? I'm not a school boy anymore, Ginger. I've seen things that would make you go mad. There is nothing you can say that's going to scare me."
Ginny was breathing hard, and her eyes flashed like daggers.
"Dammit Draco, when will you learn to let things go? Move on. You always hold on so tightly that you crush everything. It was one stupid night when I was mad at Harry, and it didn't mean anything." She growled.
Draco's mind was a whirl of pain and fury. She was right, but he wouldn't admit that. He wouldn't let her win.
"It did mean something." He said, staring into her eyes, looking for any scrap of warmth in their chocolate depths that would tell him he was right.
Ginny just glared back at him. "No, it didn't. I was lonely and you were there."
Draco shook his head, determined to prove her words wrong.
"You can't honestly tell me that I don't mean anything to you." He growled, angry now and desperately believing in what he'd said. He had to be right.
Ginny was silent, but her expression had hardened. She glanced up at him, a cold, steely indifference in her eyes.
"You don't." She said coolly.
"Liar." He spat automatically. He wanted to make her love him, he wanted to physically force her to need him like he needed her.
Draco leaned forward, his senses dulled by his heartbreak, and kissed her ferociously, knotting his hands in her red hair and crushing her sweet mouth with his own. Her lips began to throb as they moved against his, and he knew he was bruising them, but he didn't care. He was oblivious to the hospital and the world. If she struggled against him, he didn't know it.
When they broke apart, he was panting and she was no better. Her eyes were wild and her face was flushed-with what? Anger, fear? Or could it be that she had enjoyed the kiss just as much as he had?
He fell back into his chair, and glared at her. She glared back, her face slowly turning the bloody shade of her hair.
"Get. Out." She snarled.
Draco merely crossed his legs, feeling reckless with grief, completely uncaring. "Oh come on, Ginger. You can't tell me you didn't enjoy that." He said smoothly, smirking at the fury that glowed in her eyes.
"Get out before I call my Healers and have them escort you out."
"You wouldn't do that." He said.
"Draco, I'm trying not to hurt you." She said, looking at him with an outraged, yet earnest expression.
"It's too late, Ginger." He growled, his eyes growing steely as he stared at her.
"Fine, then. I'm pregnant."
A distant buzzing rumbled in Draco's ears, and he felt suddenly weak. He thought he'd lost the ability to stand.
"What?" He asked, unable to comprehend her words.
"I'm pregnant. The Healers found out when I arrived for treatment." Ginny looked unsettled as she waited for his reaction.
"Potter's?" Draco asked stupidly.
"Who else would be the father, Draco?"
"God." He whispered, his shock giving way to more bone-crushing heartbreak. He saw every plan he'd made, every hope he'd had, dying and crumbling to dust. The storm inside of him picked up again, and he clenched his fists, fighting tears. He'd lost. He was too late.
A wild need to hurt her overcame him.
"I hope the baby doesn't care about having a slut for a mother." He spat, rising to his feet and storming out of the room without looking back.
Once he'd closed the door to the ward, he felt all the tension drain out of him, leaving a brittle husk in it's place. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool wood, breathing deeply to calm himself.
Pregnant. She was pregnant. And engaged. Truly, there was no place for him.
"Malfoy?" A surprised voice asked.
He opened his eyes, startled, and saw Neville Longbottom, standing just outside the door across from him.
"Neville? What're you doing here?" He asked, trying to hide everything that had just happened with feverish conversation.
Neville kicked at the wooden floor.
"I was just visiting Alice." He said, not meeting Draco's eyes.
"Oh." He said, unable to think of anything more complex.
"How is she?" He asked, the manners his mother had ingrained in him surfacing.
"Fine. Better, at least. Um...Harry wants her to get better as quickly as possible...for questioning." Neville's voice had dropped to a whisper.
"Yes, she will be useful." Draco said, half-smiling as hope dispelled a bit of his dread, though it did nothing for the earth-shattering storm inside of him. A.J. could tell them where the gang lived, how they moved so efficiently...everything.
If they would get her to talk.
"I guess she will be." Neville said, his face growing grim.
"Something wrong?" Draco asked.
Neville closed his eyes and sighed. "Harry is pushing her so hard. She's barely awake, and he's already asking her things. She's not clear enough to tell him anything yet, and he's been getting frustrated with her. He just doesn't except that she's just a child."
Draco was surprised at how furious Neville's voice was. He'd never been mad at Harry, at least, not in Draco's memory.
"We need information, Neville." Draco said, then kicked himself. He was not supposed to be siding with Potter, and the mere thought made his fists clench.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Neville asked suddenly, his voice a bit frantic.
Draco felt his mind fly in a million different directions. Well, Neville, I just came over to kiss Potter's pregnant fiancee and call her a slut. Nothing special.
"I was just...checking on a former customer of Borgin's. Um...I was trying to keep him from suing us over something...sadly, this is the wrong floor for that." Draco said, trying to act natural.
Neville cocked an eyebrow.
"Were you visiting Ginny, too?" He asked.
Draco kept his expression bland through sheer force of will.
"Yeah. I was up here, you know. Decided I should check up on her." He said, lying through his teeth.
"Mister Longbottom?" A cool voice said. A Healer had stepped out of A.J.'s ward, his brow pulled down low over his dark brown eyes. "Your daughter would like to see you. Her treatment for the hour has been completed."
The man walked away.
Neville turned eagerly back to the door, then froze when he realized that Draco was still watching him.
"Um...Would you like to see her?"
Draco desperately wanted to be by himself, but he was curious about A.J. Maybe Neville would talk about his relationship with Vanessa, and explain what the hell was going on with all of that.
"Sure."