Disclaimer: I don't own them

(A/U) Well, you see, work is a bitch. I've only been there for what…three weeks? And I'm still making mistakes! My boss gets so pissed with me! ROAR! I'm doing the best I can! Shit…sometimes I wish I wasn't so pathetic! Aha, it's alright. I'll live, and so will my boss. Life goes on, no matter how much you want it to slow down.

Chapter 5: Bleed Me Something Beautiful

I couldn't believe myself! How could I have let that happen? Do I have absolutely no self-control? Apparently not. God, I'm just as bad as Amy! There is no way I could tell her that I made out with Malfoy. She does stuff like that all the time, with everybody. She wouldn't understand how much of a big deal it is for me. I was raised to believe that sex should be reserved for the person you love most. It is not just some casual action that you can just give away to anyone. I didn't love Malfoy. I didn't even like him. Why had I given in so easily? Because he's bloody hot, that's why. Damn him! Everything has changed since he came along. He's messing everything up! All our peace and quiet that we have worked so hard to achieve, he shattered it. Ugh…

I threw myself onto my bed and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. The sun had just about set by now, so the light that was shinning through my window was more of a deep purple than a pink. It added a violet touch to everything it covered and made me smile, despite my bad mood. Things like this brought me so much happiness. Sunsets and flowers and cool summer breezes. All the things you can't see when you're locked in a cell, waiting for death. All the things you want to see one last time before they kill you.

We were going back to school in two days. Mom had made plans for a trip to Diagon alley tomorrow. At least I had that to look forward to. I sighed and watched the dying light play through my room, and I felt my eyes drift closed as the purple colour turned to blue, and finally to black. The softness of my bed enveloped me, and I drifted away into sweet oblivion.

I was ripped away from sleep as a loud bang resonated through my room. I sat up and almost screamed. I ripped out my wand and pointed it blindly at the door. My room was still dark and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. There was no one in the doorway, so I got out of bed, wand at the ready and crept into the hallway. Malfoy's door was open, and that alone was weird. I crept towards his room, my body flat against the wall, making myself less of a target. When I was next to his door, I peeked in. The moon shone through his window, illuminating his figure. Something was wrong. He was leaning heavily against the wall, and I could hear his harsh breathing.

"Malfoy?" I asked quietly, and immediately he rose his wand and pointed it at the door. Luckily, I wasn't exactly in the doorway, as he sent a curse flying through the air. It whizzed by me and the sharp smell that all curses have filled the hallway. It is a very distinct scent, and once you have smelt it once, you never really forget it.

"Malfoy. It's me. Are you going to let me come it and help you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. The light behind him made him nothing more than a silhouette and I couldn't see what was wrong with him. But his breathing was much too ragged for my liking.

"Weasely…" He said. That one word was so strained, that I knew if I didn't act fast, he might die. I waved my want and the room lit up. I stepped into the doorway just in time to see him collapse onto the floor, still breathing heavily. He as wearing silken green drawstring pants and nothing else. If it weren't for the huge diagonal gash across his chest I would have been embarrassed. Blood was pouring from the wound, making the floor slick with it. His silvery blond hair was dripping with the blood, and it streaked over the arm that he had held across himself, as if he were hoping to hold the wound together. His eyes were wild, as if he knew he was dying.

" Merlin!Malfoy!" I screamed and ran to him. My anger and my hatred for him forgotten. All that was left was the knowledge that there was a man bleeding to death in my brother's old bedroom. I could hear the house waking up, but it was a distant sound. My feet slid on the blood and I crashed to the floor. I didn't care. I pulled myself to his side, wand still clutched in my hand. I was covered in his blood now, and all that mattered was that he didn't die.

"Weasely." He said again, his voice cracking and his breathing slow.

"Shh…don't talk." I said, and guided him to the floor; he lay there before me, eyes staring up at the ceiling, consumed in pain and fear. I was frantically trying to remember a spell, any spell that would stop the bleeding. I had taken a course of healer training in fifth year, right before the war. There was a spell to fix this…something like Vigoramus? Vigoratue? No…nothing sounded right. I could hear people pounding up the stairs, but they wouldn't get there in time…not if I didn't do something soon.

"Weasely…my…you have to…know where my…mother is." I could barely hear him now. He was slipping away. I had to save him! The spell! The spell! I heard my mother gasp behind me. They were here…but…the memory hit me like a speeding car. Curses flew by me on the battlefield as I knelt by the dying girl. The gaping hole in her chest was enormous, and she looked up at me with wide terrified eyes.

'Help me!' She was gasping, over and over like a chant. 'Save me…please, I don't want to die.' But I couldn't, I tried over and over…the spell wouldn't work. She died there, right before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do…

'Vigoratus!' It finally came to me. A cool blue burst of light bled through the tip of my wand. It twisted and coiled itself over Malfoy's wound. He gasped audibly, arching himself towards the magic, his eyes closing as the wound healed before my eyes. We were both covered in blood, but the wound had closed and he was no longer bleeding. But his face was deathly pale , and for one paniced moment, I though he might have died anyway. But he lay before me, breathing softly, his eyes closed. I felt for his pulse and it was weak, but it was there. He was alive, he was going to live. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I turned as if I were in a dream, and saw my entire family staring at us. All of them pale faced and wide eyed.

"Wh-what happened?" Ran asked, his voice shaking. His hair was mused with sleep and his pyjamas were all wrinkly. I looked at him, and a horrible calmness swept over me. I don't know how to explain it to you, but in that moment, it felt as if I were alone in the room. No one there understood what I had just done. They didn't understand that if he had died, it would have been my fault. My fault because I couldn't remember a simple spell. They would never know what I was feeling…even I didn't understand it. But I didn't need to. I lifted Malfoy's arm and draped it over my shoulder and stood up, supporting his dead weight. This was no simple task, as he was considerably taller than I was, but it seemed like a mundane thing compared to what I had just gone through. My family stood there, watching me and I wondered vaguely how I must look. Covered in Malfoy's blood, and all but carrying the unconscious man out of the room on my own.

The blood on the floor had congealed already and it was no longer slippery, and I took a step forward before I answered Ron's question.

"I don't know." I said, and took a few more steps towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked softly, and I frowned at her.

"He needs a Blood Replenishing potion. I am going to make him one." I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The strange calm feeling still anchored like a cold chain in my chest. Suddenly, everyone seemed to snap out of it. Dad rushed forwards and took Malfoy from me. I didn't do anything to stop him, but stood, staring at the unconciouse man. The blood was black now, and covered him in great splotches. I looked down at my self, at my hands. They too, were covered in blood. I couldn't stop staring at them, and I began to shake. The cold calmness spreading through my body, and I trembled as I gazed down at my own hands.

"Ginny?" Hermione whispered. "Are you okay?" Dad and the twins had taken Malfoy downstairs, now only Ron, Hermione, Mum and myself remained. I wondered vaguely where Harry was.

"Look." I said softly, holding my bloody hands up to her, feeling incredibly cold. Hermione looked at them, and they shook uncontrollably. "It's drying. His blood is drying on my hands."

"Oh, Ginny." Hermione said, her voice full of concern.

"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, his voice a little shaky.

"She's in shock." Hermione said, rushing forwards to me. Just as she touched my shoulders, my knees gave out, and I collapsed into her. She caught me before I hit the floor and held me against her. Ron came forwards to help, and Mum rushed from the room. Togther, Ron and Hermione carried me down the stairs and into the kitchen. There was a cauldron over the stove and it was steaming. That was Malfoy's potion. I watched the steam rise from the small black cauldron and circling the ceiling. Dad poured some into a wooden mug and left the room with it, probably to give to Malfoy. I watched Mum pull out another cauldron and start adding ingredients to it. I wondered vaguely who she was making the potion for.

Hermione was stroking my hand soothingly as Ron sat me in one of the wooden kitchen chairs. They were both whispering nonsense words to me gently, trying to sooth me as I watched Mum make the potion. Hours seemed to go by before Mum finally poured some into a wooden mug, almost identical to the one Dad had used for Malfoy, and she came towards us. She handed the mug to me, concern written on her face.

"Drink this dear, it will help." She said. I didn't know what they though was wrong with me, but I did as I was told. I drank the thick potion and it tasted a bit like oatmeal. The warm liquid slid down my throat and into my stomach. It warmed the cold chain in my chest and I felt as if I were thawing. And then, the world swam before my eyes, and I passed out.

When I woke up the next morning, I was in my room again, and I was deliciously warm and comfortable. I smiled at the warm golden sunlight that filtered through my window. For a moment, I was Ginny again. Just formal Ginny. But then the events of the night before came back to me. I moaned miserably and rolled over in bed. What a night…who could have done that to him? Well, lots of people. My first guess would be Death Eaters…but why hadn't they killed the rest of us as well? Last time I checked, we were kinda on the top of their 'People to kill list'. It just didn't make sense. I sighed and got out of bed. I changed into grey jeans and an old worn out t-shirt. That was how I was feeling today. Grey and worn out. I put a brush through my hair and made my way into the hallway. There was a note stuck to my door and I took time to stop and read it.

'Gone to Diagon alley. Try to get some sleep.' Oh. Well, that's nice. Just because I had a little episode last night didn't mean I wasn't up to shopping…ah well. What could you do? They were just trying to take care of me.

I passed Malfoy's closed door, and decided to check up on him later. Right at that moment, I had to eat something…I was hungry. I made my way down the narrow steps and walked into the kitchen. There were two plates of food on the table waiting for me. Eggs, bacon, ham and toast were piled high on both of them, kept hot with a warming spell. I devoured my food within seconds, and dumped the plate in the sink. Mum wasn't home to make me clean it, so I wasn't going to. I grabbed Malfoy's plate and marched back up the stairs. I knocked on his door, but there was no answer. I frowned, suddenly worried. What if I opened the door and he was dead? Could I deal with that? No…I didn't think so…but what if he was bleeding to death again? I would have to save him! My heart was pounding and I knocked again, harder this time, his food balanced in my left hand. Finally, I heard him.

"Come in…" He said, he sounded very tired. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. He was once again sitting on the window seat, staring out at the yard. The floor was clean of blood as was he. I was startled to realise that I was clean as well. I didn't remember taking a shower…I felt a little stupid for no noticing this before. Hermione must have washed all the blood out of my hair and changed me into the pyjamas that I had woken up in.

Though he looked infinitely better than he had the night before he still looked a little worse for wear. There were dark bags under his eyes and his skin was paler than it normally was. Yet, he hair was once again perfectly coiffed, and his clothes crisp, clean and fresh. He was such a Malfoy.

I closed the door behind me and put the plate of food on his trunk and sat on the bed. I looked around at Percy's old room. It was still so impersonal it was almost empty. No dirty clothes on the floor, no pictures, no letters, no nothing. Just a bed, a trunk, and Malfoy. The only thing that was different about the room was it no longer had that stale, unlived in smell. It smelled like its inhabitant. It was a sweet cinnamon smell, maybe with a little bit of peppermint. There was also a slight scent of soap, which covered up the even fainter scentof blood. But you couldn't tell it was there unless you really concentrated.

"Thank you." He said, his voice still very tired. I knew he was talking about the night before and how I had saved him. I couldn't see him as my back was too him, but I knew he wasn't looking at me. So I didn't bother turning around. I didn't answer, mostly because I didn't know what to say. 'You're welcome,' seemed a little condescending, and 'No problem,' was a lie. It had been a problem. A big problem. We were silent again, until finally I spoke.

"Who did it?" I asked, turning around on the bed to look at him. He must have heard the sheets rustle because he turned to look at me as well. The look in his eyes was so intense I had to blink. They were so tired, so sorrowful. It seemed like he was filled to the breaking point with dark emotions that he could share with no one. Such a weight pressed against him that he seemed like he might break at any moment.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." He said, and I felt my throat tighten. Why did I suddenly want to cry? What was wrong with me? What was going on? I just didn't understand anything any more.

"I want to help you." I said softly. I don't know if he understood what I meant. I'm not sure I even knew what I was trying to say, but I said it anyway. Suddenly, it was like he had pulled down the curtains and blocked himself off from me. He was sneering again, the old malovent Malfoy gleam back in his eyes.

"If you want, you could help me take off your clothes." He said, and the huskiness in his voice made me blush. His smirked widened at the fact that he could affect me like that. I stood up from the bed, still staring at him. I made a show of narrowing my eyes at him and acted offended. But secretly, I was glad he was feeling well enough to come on to me.I laughed lightly.

"Ha, you wish." I said, and backed up towards to door, hand searching behind me for the doorknob. He stood up as well, ans took a few steps towards me.

"You have no idea, Weasely." He took a step closer; his voice dark with lust, but the massive weight of pain that had threatened to crush him only moments ago was receding. If acting like a pig was going to save him from insanity, I would give him a little slack.

"Enjoy your breakfast, Malfoy." I said, and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me. I leaned against it and let myself smile. The relief that welled up inside me was almost over whelming. He was alive, and feeling well enough to suggest sex. It was almost amusing, how yesterday, that fact that Malfoy wanted in my pants had made me nervous and angry, and now, it was a relief…God has a sick sense of humour.

(A/U) Kind of a short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry it took so long to update. But well, like I said: Work is a bitch. Anywho, anybody got any guesses on who attacked poor Malfoy? I do! … Haha, of course I do, I'm writing the story! HA! Anyway, leave me a pretty review. If you have any ideas on how I can improve, please let me know! Also, to my beta, I'm so sorry, but I haven't had tome to make all the corrections yet, but don't wprry, I will as soon as I can! Thanks so much for doing this for me!

Yours truly,

Ashen