beta: Sympathetic Me, thank you very much for your help, you're awesome
a/n: another thanks to all of you girls (snowfire81, kimonster, xVampireLoveBitesx (oh you!), Sarite.93 and xoxoxLoveKillsSlowlyxoxox), who read the last chapter and reviewed =)
Chapter 05
Before the inevitable interrogation could even start, Blaise had excused himself to the bathroom. He stole Ginny's lip-gloss (it was pink and strawberry scented) and fled through the front door, instead of returning to the kitchen like Red's brother would have expected or in his case, demanded.
They had most probably noticed that he was heading the wrong way, but he had been quick and used the moment of confusion, when Ginny received an owl from her dad, telling her that Death Eaters apparently have been seen around.
Not that his action would make him more suspicious.
He was out of the house, away from this bizarre meeting with his – or more Draco's – former sworn enemies and free of accusing and suspicious glares and glances from those Gryffindors.
Blaise was now standing on the corner of two streets, hidden half way behind some trees and looking out upon the street that opened up in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at people going in and out of houses, and the people in cars driving past, but there was nothing. He frowned upon feeling his heart rate quicken, almost unnoticeable, and decided to take a drop of his potion just to get down and calm again, so he could concentrate on this.
After having twisted the cap a few times without success, Blaise averted his eyes from the road and looked down at his hands. His fingers were smeared in pink lip-gloss. Cursing a few times, he put the gloss back into his pocket and ruffled around in search of his desire.
Draco had Apparated them to this place last night, and as Draco's third attempt had led them to Potter, Blaise figured there had to be some sort of connection to this street too.
He glanced at the street sign once more before sighing, unintentionally tapping the top of his shoe up and down the paving stone.
Just when he thought the potion wasn't working anymore, he felt calmness spread throughout his entire body, the feeling in his chest disappearing with a breath.
"Finally," he muttered before licking his dry chapped lips, as he looked to the sky, blinking. The thoughts, basically all about him being in serious trouble, along with being all alone, and without a clue where to go or how to find Draco, almost vanished, did no longer seem so heavy and dark. Blaise heaved a sigh of relief.
A girl on a bicycle rode past him, and he did not follow her with his eyes or notice the ridiculous short skirt she was wearing that showed her nice legs. With a smile, he began to study the houses once more. The sun was shining the wrong way for him to see inside any of the windows from where he was standing. They all looked black and shiny; he just couldn't make out a single thing.
What was the connection? Who lived here? Or had Potter just been here coincidentally too, just like in the pub; when Draco and Blaise had tried finding him again after hiding in some derelict area for some hours before feeling followed again.
Blaise turned his head and checked every open space one more time, just to make sure he wasn't being watched.
The large black dog that watched him from just some feet away, did not seem to like his presence. As it walked forward slowly, and slowing its pace still, the dog almost squinting to look up at him. If Blaise didn't know any better – did he? – he would have thought it actually frowned at him. But it definitely growled, and so Blaise glared down at it. Just until it became too much (A mutt! Please.), and Blaise rolled his eyes at the sudden surge of unwanted attention, and turned around, leaving the street and furry animals behind.
"Bloody Potter," he muttered angrily as he walked down the street, hands in his pockets, knowing he could now make contact with them at any time. He knew where Ginny Weasley lived.
- - -
Meanwhile, Ginny was dealing with her own world shattering problems. She couldn't decide whether to get up from the kitchen table or not. After all it was the weekend and all she wanted to do was nothing at all.
Her friends and brother had left after they had discussed the letter her dad had sent, and also talked about Blaise's possible connection to the Death Eater sightings in the area.
Think... Thinking was appreciated.
Blaise
Well, it was mostly appreciated.
Ginny let out a deep breath and buried her face in her hands.
What was going on with this boy anyway? Couldn't he have acted less suspicious and not ran off, especially when they had just received word about apparent Death Eater appearances?
Son of a Death Eater. Not too clever. She had seen it all before. With Draco. He had always fought simultaneously against his family as well as the side that could and would help him.
More or less, anyhow.
Some would need some serious convincing, but they'd help.
And then Hogwarts was over, they had left, Draco was gone and they never heard a word from him again...
As if they'd write letters back and forth, 'Dear Ginny, it's been a week, I miss your funny personality and I am looking forward to playing Quidditch with you and your brothers next weekend. Say hi to Harry for me. Love, Draco'
That's it.
Ginny got up from the chair, ignoring the dirty dishes from this morning, waiting to be cleaned. As she got into her room, she narrowed her eyes at the blue boxers on the floor on the far side of her room. She let out another breath and collected them. A second later she was in Colin's old bedroom and putting the boxers on the pillow. She leaned back, her hands on her hips and smiled satisfied, before she turned around and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.
Quidditch
Ginny pressed her eyes close and held back an embarrassed smile at the thought of the last casting for a place in a Quidditch team she had attended to.
Maybe she should try and think of something different.
Alas, nothing else came to her mind other than the repeating thoughts about Blaise, Quidditch or Death Eaters.
Stepping out of the shower she grabbed a towel and a minute later she was sitting by the kitchen table again, water dripping from her hair down at the floor, like the first open autumn rain fall. She frowned at the wall. She clearly needed to sort some things out, if she didn't want to get haunted by Slytherins, their families and laughing Bludgers in her sleep.
The whole night with Zabini had been so surreal. She couldn't even put all her questions in order and despite that, she knew there was obviously something wrong. The letter, Blaise's disappearance shortly after, and his whole behaviour the night before looked at in reverse told her, naturally, that he had problems. Big bloody surprise.
The question above all others, however, was probably more about: did it concern them as well? Were they in danger? What was Blaise doing in Muggle London, alone and drunk? And accepting her empty room for a night's sleep? Missing link?
Ginny groaned and rested her forehead against her arm instead, the tip of her nose touching the surface of the table.
Blaise was gone and was not her concern. He would have deal with his own problems.
The Death Eaters – those they had to watch. Be careful themselves and… there was nothing more she could do right now. Others would investigate. Ginny had her own life to handle. Which was not working out very well at the moment, or… which was working too well. As her constant goal the last years had been to get her own apartment and a job, so she could finally leave the nest and be independent, she had forgotten one important thing. One thing that always managed to take her mind off things, the one thing that she did for her own personal pleasure. Quidditch.
And yes, the last audition hadn't gone very well. Actually, it had been a catastrophe, but due to her lack of training (and free time, because someone needed to get independent very fast), she hadn't been properly prepared and… had made a fool out of herself. Oh, she had been good, but… not good enough. And as people knew her name (thanks to her connection to her Hogwarts Sweetheart Harry), she had a reputation, which she had failed. A bit.
Oh, well. Now she was practicing again, was playing with some friends and her twin brothers, who actually were on a proper team. And she was enjoying it more than ever.
And above this all, she missed Colin. He was one of those rare people, she could be herself with. It wasn't that she wasn't herself around other people; it was just less exhausting with him. There was no need to impress the other, there was no need to constantly be funny or yell at them, or do something. No need for constant action or talking, no need to worry how she looked when he was around, but they could just be.
Well, mostly anyway. She could never talk with him about her sex-life. She had tried once to explain to him, but apparently he was a sworn monogamist-supporter and did not (want to) understand the deal. Even though it gave her some distraction of mind and not another topic to deal with in her life afterwards, no relationships that she had to watch and work at and would fail at.
- - -
It had actually been quite a nice day, Blaise Zabini thought as he hobbled down the street. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow around the houses. Blaise squinted his eyes at the seeming ever distancing street signs, trying to remember which way to go.
A very nice day indeed. Hadn't it been for the Gryffindors finding out about Death Eaters, suspecting him for everything that involved them, that he had to flee, the gloss on his fingers, the growling dog, the man with the knife and a desire to kill…
Blaise's breath came out a bit fitfully as he pressed his hand against the side of stomach, blood staining his clothing and skin.
He looked down at his red hand and cursed, he was ready to scream, when he thought of how much easier it would have been, had he simply given in to his family's wishes, had he just been a good boy and done what they told him to, instead of making a riot with his best friend, who had now abandoned him instead of helping him.
He could have gone home now. Home. Get cleaned up, get someone to heal his wounds, take a shower, get into bed, see his mother's smile. Drowsy or not.
Wake up in his room after a good night's sleep without having to fear for his life every single minute… more or less.
And then this! He was being chased by Death Eaters, had fought against deadly rays that could kill a being within a split second, and then this.
And then this...
Just because of his bloody potion, his bloody need for a drug that made his reflexes fade and not help him properly to defend himself; that made him calm and relaxed, when he should have been on watch and alert, ready to defend himself!
A potion that made him too slow to get his wand out, before some dratted guy stabbed him, because Blaise didn't give him his money.
Money!
Muggle money!
Blaise gritted his teeth together tightly, the muscles in his jaw working visibly, and clenching his fist in which he held his wand. He didn't care who saw him, who saw his wand. Right now he needed to get this wound healed, or he wouldn't make it anywhere else anytime soon.
"Hold still!" Half an hour later and with a lot less energy than before, Blaise sat on the edge of the bathtub in Ginny's bathroom, naked from his waist upwards. Which didn't bother him. What bothered him – maybe – was Ginny kneeling there in only boxers and a small top. His thoughts were jumping from this to her apparent inability to hurry up and be over and done with this.
"I'm trying to!" Blaise cast back irritated, holding one arm up to give Ginny better access.
"I can't do anything, if you are constantly flinching back! You need to sit still!"
"I am!" He frowned at Ginny's weird wand movements and quiet mumblings and the curses afterwards.
"Do you actually know what you're doing?" he asked after having watched her frown.
"Well, sort of. This is not wha-"
"-WHAT?"
She stopped her tries for a moment to sit upright on her knees and glare up at him.
"You don't know what you're doing here?!" he asked, not intimidated by her angry looks, as his matched hers quite perfectly.
"Blaise. Be so kind and shut your mouth and let me work here! You don't want me to call Hermione, who'd be ten times better with this than me…" at this she raised her eyebrows at his wound again, taking a breath and making Blaise open his mouth.
"No! Just… try… ow!" Blaise flinched and shifted away from Ginny's hand, which tried to get a hold of his shoulder to hold him in place.
"Sorry. But sit still."
"You are not the one being tortured!"
"Okay, that's enough." Ginny stood up and Blaise followed her with his eyes, the anger gone suddenly. She stood in front of him and glared down at him.
"What?"
""What?! I'll tell you what! I found you last night on the sidewalk, lying drunk on the ground, which I found quite odd already, but you then accepted my offer for a bed for the night, and then this morning you ran off when you heard about the Death Eater rumour. Then you come back, ten hours later, with a bleeding stab wound in your side and tell me nothing! I'm not allowed to call the best healer I know, and you blame me for hurting you, when all I am doing is trying to help you, because you're incapable of doing so yourself, the reason for that – I don't know! I don't know anything and still I'm helping you and all you do is SHOUT AT ME!"
Blaise watched her for a moment, waiting for more, but apparently she was done. Done and mad.
He was one second from getting to his senses and leaving this place for good, when he felt a coldness spread through his body. Better get well again, before running anywhere.
He swallowed and took a breath, feeling the sharp pain from the wound sting throughout his body and closed his eyes for a second.
When he opened them again, he glanced at his wound before looking back up at Weasley. She was still standing in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest and eyes on Blaise's wound, instead of on his eyes.
"I must apologize. You are helping me, I'm sorry." Heal me, heal me, heal me. For a second, maybe longer, he thought of Imperiusing her, but that was just… a thought, really. He was in pain.
She sent him a warning look for a moment before slowly getting down in front of him again. Taking a deep breath, she raised her wand one more time.
Blaise swallowed and fixed his eyes on her breasts discretely for distraction.
important news: I have an announcement to make: hehem… oh well, okay. things have happened and had to be changed, since none of the characters would let me write anything else. so. from now on officially (i've even changed the summary): this is a ginny/blaise/draco story. sorry, if I'm losing readers because of this, but it has to be done this way. apparently I can't live without slash and I needed to go nuts and as this is my story, I probably had the right to. (it'll last a bit though, before draco returns)
well… surprise!