Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: After Hogwarts with Voldemort gone and Harry by her side, life should be perfect for Ginny Weasley, but when the lies start to pile up she starts to wonder. Maybe the chosen one is not so wonderful after all. D/G, Post-Hogwarts, rated M for later.
A/N: Sorry for the delay, I kept getting an error message for weeks when trying to edit the story... now I guess it's all fixed though :)
Draco tried to suppress a slight tinge of fear as he gazed up at the looming green skull hovering over an old stone cottage in Buttermere. It was the first time since Voldemort's death that the Dark Mark was spotted in the sky and to say that the Auror office had been shocked was an understatement. Robson had finally recovered from the shock and ordered a pack of Aurors and all the Auror trainees to the site. Draco didn't think that sending so many Aurors was a great idea when they did not know who was behind the deed and what their intentions were, but he kept his mouth shut.
Draco, Potter, and Weasley had been ordered to stay behind while a group of fully trained Aurors carefully approached the building. Draco tightened the grip on his wand as they drew closer to the door. Williamson, an Auror with long hair tied back in a pony tail wearing scarlet robes, opened the door by with a silent spell and walked inside.
Suddenly there was a flash of green light, followed by a flash of red inside the cottage. Williamson must be alive, as he was able to respond to the threat. Whoever conjured the mark was still inside. The other Aurors rushed inside as the light show inside the cottage continued.
"We should go and help them!" shouted Potter. He made to start running towards the cottage, but Draco grabbed him by the collar.
"No we should not!" Draco hissed icily. "We were ordered to stay here in case the Death Eater tries to escape, remember? I know following orders is an instruction someone of your intellect simply cannot understand, Potter, but do try for once," He said as he let go of Potter's collar.
"They didn't expect anyone to be in there. They need our help," said Potter agitatedly and glared at Draco.
"I'm sure they can manage on their own, Potter," replied Draco and turned back to observe the cottage.
"Common Ron, lets go, we don't need him!" whispered Potter to Weasley, as if Draco would be unable to hear him when he was virtually right next to him.
"I dunno, we're supposed to stay here. I didn't do too well on that tracking test so I don't want to screw up today," replied Weasley uncertainly.
"Forget the stupid test, this is the real thing!" Potter growled angrily and then took off sprinting towards the cottage.
Draco could hear Weasley cursing silently, apparently unsure whether to help his best friend or to follow orders. After only a few seconds he apparently made up his mind and started running after Potter.
"Idiots," murmured Draco to himself.
As Potter and Weasley entered the knocked down door, a dark cloaked figure came crashing through the front window. The person scrambled around on the ground for a few seconds looking for its wand. Draco seized the opportunity and stunned the probable Death Eater before they could Disapparate away.
Screams of frustrations sounded from the cottage as the Aurors inside the cottage thought the Death Eater was getting away. Williamson came rushing out the door first, followed by Proudfoot, Savage, Dawlish, Weasley, and Potter.
"Sweet Merlin, I'm glad one of you trainees managed to follow orders!" Williamson exclaimed angrily and turned to face Weasley and Potter while Savage produced chains to tie up the Death Eater.
"The reason you were told to stay behind was NOT because you would be safer that way! YOU WERE ASKED TO STAY BEHIND SO YOU COULD CATCH THE DEATH EATER IF HE OR SHE WOULD TRY TO ESCAPE!" Williamson roared at the top of his lungs, his face matching Weasley's hair. "YOU ARE LUCKY MALFOY SUCCEEDED IN STUNNING THE DEATH EATER OR YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN IN WORSE TROUBLE THAN YOU ARE NOW!"
"Look, let's deal with this back at the office. Right now we have more important things to do, such as getting the Death Eater back and hearing what he has to say," Proudfoot cut in tiredly.
Draco smirked and followed Savage back into the cottage to search it for a victim. Since Death Eaters produced the Dark Mark only when they had killed someone or were about to kill someone it was strange that they had not found a body yet.
They turned the cottage upside down but did not find anything until finally they discovered a trap door leading to an underground cellar. Draco peered down the dusty darkness and illuminated his wand.
On the floor lay a small form, probably a woman. Before Draco could do anything else Savaged gasped loudly and jumped down into the cellar. Confused, Draco followed.
"No, no, no, it can't be!" he heard Savage mumble crouched down over the woman.
"Who is she?" Draco asked carefully, sensing that something was terribly wrong.
Savage turned to meet his eyes. He was pale as a ghost and looked absolutely mortified.
"It's my wife…" Savage whispered, his voice barely audible.
Draco paled as the gravity of the situation dawned on him.
"I didn't know this was your cottage," Draco said, his voice shaking slightly.
"It isn't," Savage replied and Draco shuddered.
Ginny was pacing angrily around her room. It really should not have taken Malfoy so long to respond. Even if he could not meet up, just sending an owl saying so should not be too much to ask.
She let out a frustrated sigh and threw herself on her bed. At that moment she heard the familiar crack of someone Apparating into the hallway. Knowing that only she, Ron, Hermione, and Harry could Apparate into the flat she looked up. She was curious if it would be both Ron and Harry, or just one of them.
She swiftly jumped up from the bed and exited her bedroom. She ran trough the living room to the hallway. There stood an agitated and anxious Ron, Ginny could not remember seeing him so distressed in a long time, not since before Voldemort had been defeated.
"What happened?" she heard Hermione yell as she arrived in the hallway just a heartbeat after Ginny.
"A Death Eater killed Savage's wife…" whispered Ron, looking mortified.
"I thought the remaining Death Eaters were trying to stay low, remain in hiding!" exclaimed Hermione.
"They seem to have become more active lately, no one knows why… we're trying to catch them, just doesn't seem like we're fast enough." Ron continued weakly. He looked like he was going to puke any second.
"That's horrible!" exclaimed Ginny "Why did they attack Savage's wife though," she wondered. She felt oddly cold, even though it was a warm August evening.
"They're trying to get that out of the Death Eater… using Veritaserum and stuff. The fully trained Aurors are. They sent us aspirants home to rest. I guess they don't need us or something," answered Ron and walked past the two women into the living room and slouched down on a patchwork sofa.
"So where is Harry?" asked Ginny, trying to mask the suspicion she felt.
"He got caught up in something, said he'd be home later… Accio Firewhiskey!"
"Just one shot," Hermione urged sternly as Ron summoned a tumble to pour the liquor into.
Ginny left the couple alone to bicker. It worried her that the Death Eaters were active again, but she was also wondering where on earth Harry was. Would it not be appropriate for him to check on his girlfriend after another Auror's spouse was found dead? Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping sound on the kitchen window. She rushed to open the window and to her surprise it was a falcon swooshing in and not an owl.
The beautiful bird landed elegantly on the back of a kitchen chair and stretched its leg out. Ginny approached it carefully, seeing as the bird looked rather vicious. She untied the parchment with caution and jumped a little as the bird took off immediately.
She unrolled the parchment quickly and a familiar slanted writing.
Meet me in the Leaky Cauldron immediately. Use the Floo.
The message was not signed, but Ginny knew who sent it. She rushed into her room to grab a light traveling cloak and ran back into the kitchen. She wrote a quick note to Ron and Hermione, she did not want to interrupt their bickering and she had a feeling Hermione would try to stop her from going anywhere in the evening after what just happened.
She threw a pinch of glittering Floo powder into the fire and watched it turn a bright emerald green.
"The Leaky Cauldron," she spoke clearly as she stepped into the fire. She watched fireplaces spin by until she finally stopped spinning and jumped out of the fire into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Follow me," a cold but familiar voice spoke quietly right behind her. She straightened up and cast a quick cleansing charm before she followed.
Malfoy was covered under the hood of a dark cloak, which was a wise move in Ginny's opinion. She had no desire to be seen in public with Malfoy. She put up her hood to cover her hair and face too for good measure.
He led her out of the pub and out to the street. Malfoy stopped abruptly, which caused Ginny to bump into him and fall backwards. Malfoy grabbed her instinctively and stopped her from falling.
"What are you stopping for?" Ginny hissed angrily, annoyed that she walked into him and trying to ignore the tingling fire that soared trough her at his touch.
Malfoy did not respond but lifted his wand and made to tap her on the head, as if he was going to place some kind of charm on her. Ginny reacted instinctively. She whipped out her own wand and cast a formidable Bat-Boogey Hex before Malfoy had time to realise what was happening.
"What the fuck are you doing, Weasley?" he yelled, lying on the ground covered in flapping wings.
"I was just wondering the same thing!" Ginny exclaimed angrily. "What do you mean by trying to place an unknown charm on me without asking me first?"
"You're creating a scene, just make these stupid boogers with wings go away already!"
"What were you trying to do to me? Answer that question first, Malfoy!"
"It's just a spell that makes your robes look like regular clothing to Muggles," hissed Malfoy vehemently. "Now would you stop shouting my name, I do not want anyone to know that I am going somewhere with you!"
"Hey, you're the one who shouted my name first, ferret!"
Malfoy growled angrily, which would have looked intimidating if it was not for the flapping bat wings and boogers that covered his face.
"Now be nice," said Ginny and smirked as she lifted the hex.
"Nice," Malfoy mocked and stood up as the wings disappeared. "Now will you let me put this harmless and brilliant spell, that I recently invented myself, that makes your robes look like Muggle clothes to Muggles?" sneered Malfoy and took a step closer, towering over Ginny as if he was trying to intimidate her. Ginny huffed at his attempt as she still had the image of Malfoy covered in flapping bat wings in fresh memory.
"Yes, you may," she responded sweetly and this time she did not hex him when he placed the spell on her. She had to admit it was a smart spell, though she would never tell him that.
They started walking in silence again and Ginny could tell that Malfoy was still angry, which made her perfectly happy. They walked past a Muggle pub with a group of drunken men outside. Once they saw her and Malfoy they started wolf whistling and waving for her to come over.
"What kind of Muggle clothes did you make me wear," she hissed trough gritted teeth as one of the men shouted "hey pretty, you sure know how to show off those legs!"
Malfoy feigned a look of innocence and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh, I don't really know, I'm not a Muggle."
"I suggest you change it to something more appropriate or I'll hex you into a Flobberworm!"
"Oh, but I could not possibly do that right now! What would the Muggles say if your clothing all of a sudden transformed in front of their eyes? Almost like magic!"
"You just wait," Ginny muttered and started walking faster, hoping to leave the group of Muggles behind her quickly. She swore she could hear Malfoy sniggering as he lengthened his stride, keeping up with her fast pace with ease. She supposed having long legs enabled you to walk much faster.
Unfortunately, the street they were walking on was rather busy so Malfoy could not transform her outfit. She felt extremely uncomfortable as random Muggle men stared at her like she was a piece of meat.
Finally, Malfoy walked up to a set of ornate oak double doors of a beautiful building. "Keep your head covered," he said as they entered the grand foyer.
Ginny stepped carefully across the marble floor, following Malfoy into a large lift. She watched him swipe his wand across the dial and an additional button appeared. The lift took them smoothly up the building. Finally, it stopped and Malfoy exited right away.
They entered what seemed like another fancy foyer, but then Ginny realised it had to belong to one flat. Straight ahead were a set of silver double doors and off on the side was an elegant fireplace. She guessed that the fireplace was there so that visitors could not Floo straight into the flat.
Malfoy started muttering incantations under his breath and waving his wand towards the closed doors. Ginny watches curiously as several wards and curses were lifted. Once he was done she dared ask a question.
"Do you always have to go trough this process when you come here?"
"No, only if I'm bringing someone new with me. It is nearly impossible for anyone to enter my flat without permission. That's why this fireplace is here for guests. I can use any fireplace in my flat, of course," he responded in a bored tone and pushed the silver doors open.
Ginny could not help but to be impressed. She often got annoyed when random people helping Hermione with S.P.E.W would stop over with little consideration that their flat was a private residence with other people than Hermione living in it. It was also annoying when she felt like being alone and friends would stop over without invitation. If the fireplace had been outside their flat she could at least pretend to not be home.
They walked into a large sitting room with dark oak panelling and Victorian furniture with forest green clothing. Large floor-to-ceiling windows caught her attention. From what she could see it seemed like Malfoy had a nice view of the Thames, the river cutting trough London.
"Impressed, Weasley? Though I would have though that the Harpies pay you more than enough so that you could purchase something quite luxurious yourself nowadays," Malfoy drawled and removed the spell that made her robes appear like Muggle clothing.
Ginny glared at Malfoy, "What do you know about what the Harpies pay me?"
He smirked wickedly and lifted one perfect blond eyebrow, "I know more than you could possibly imagine, Weasley."
"The Harpies pay me well enough, but so far I'm just saving most of it. Harry prefers living in Diagon Alley with Ron and Hermione," said Ginny, not really sure why she shared that piece of information.
Malfoy snorted and looked at her disbelievingly, "Are you serious? You let Pothead walk right over you, don't you?"
"No, I do not," Ginny replied defensively. She did not let anyone walk over her.
Malfoy did not bother to answer her and simply gave her a skeptical look before looking away from her and snapped his fingers.
A loud crack sounded and a House-Elf with a green loincloth appeared bowing by Malfoy's feet.
"Master called Binty," said the Elf quietly with its pointy nose touching the ground.
"Did mother do as I asked her to?" Malfoy asked Binty.
"Yes, master, Mistress is no longer at the Manor," replied Binty carefully.
Why would Malfoy make his mother leave the Manor, wondered Ginny as she gazed at the small House Elf that looked oddly out of place. It did not make any sense at all.
"Good, now leave and follow through with the rest of the plan," demanded Malfoy. He turned back to face Ginny. "I received your Owl after I got back from a mission. I'm sure your brother and Potty filled you in on what happened today?"
"Yes, or well, Ron did. Pot- I mean Harry never came home," answered Ginny. She was horrified at how close she had been at calling Harry "pothead"…
Malfoy considered her response briefly, "He did not return home? Not even to make sure his girlfriend was safe? Then again, of course not! Why else would you be here… if he had returned he would surely have stopped you from leaving the house. It makes no sense, unless..."
"What?"
"Unless he knew Weasley would make sure his youngest sister was alright and therefore decided to visit someone else…" Malfoy trailed off deep in thought.
"Someone else… but who?" Ginny stuttered. She did not want to understand what Malfoy was implying. He was just assuming the worst because he hated Harry, that was all. Yet a small voice in the back of her head was scolding her for lying to herself.
"Why did you Owl me today? What did you find out that made you contact me?" asked Malfoy as if he did not hear her question.
Ginny felt sick. The whole mess with Harry lying was taking a toll on her, even though she did not want to admit it to anyone. In fact, the only person who knew of her suspicions was standing in front of her.
"Why don't you take a seat?" said Malfoy tiredly pointing at one of the large armchairs angled towards the fire
Ginny did as he suggested and felt a little better. The velvet armchair was extremely comfortable and she felt herself sinking into the backrest. Malfoy took a seat in the armchair next to her.
"I was going to visit Colin Creevey today," she started, but was interrupted by Malfoy.
"I thought he died?"
"Well, we all did… turned out he was hit by a particularly nasty spell that made him appear dead, while he was alive." Ginny shivered at the thought. "He would have been buried alive under normal circumstances, but with so many victims it took longer than usual before it was time for his funeral. Scared us all, but at least he is alive," she explained quietly.
"Wow, I wonder if anyone else got hit by the same curse and got buried alive!" Malfoy exclaimed and then grimaced as he saw Ginny pale.
"Don't say that, the thought haunts me enough as it is."
"Do any of the Aurors other than Pothead and Weasel King know about this curse?"
"Don't call my brother that! And I don't know if they know, I would assume Harry or Ron told them about it though."
"Probably. You did not answer my first question though."
"Well, you interrupted me," Ginny responded peevishly and crossed her arms.
"So? Continue with what you were saying," responded Malfoy disdainfully and twiddled his wand between his index finger and thumb.
Ginny gave him a murderous glare that would cause most people to cower. Malfoy did not seem to be affected in the least though.
"Colin was not at home," she continued, "and I ended up hanging out with Seamus Finnegan instead. First he thought I was single because he had seen Harry alone in the alley, visiting someone. It confirms that he has indeed been visiting that alley more than once."
Malfoy rubbed his chin slightly. "Yes, and I bet he is probably there now…"
"Well, I suppose there is only one way to find out."
Malfoy stood up and walked over to a corner bookshelf. He opened up a drawer and rummaged around, looking for something. "Ah, here they are!" he exclaimed and walked back over to the fire holding two Galleons. "We can communicate with these more effectively."
He handed her one of the Galleons and Ginny took it warily. She turned it over in her hand and realised it was the same kind of Galleon Dumbledore's Army had used to communicate.
"Where did you get hold of these?" she asked suspiciously.
"I charmed them. I trust you know how they work, I got the idea from Granger."
"Yes, I know how they work. Do you have a plan?"
"I want you to return to your flat and see if Harry is there. Let me know wether he is or not. If he isn't home, then I will Apparate to the alley and see if I can find any tracks of him. We have practiced tracking each other numerous times in Auror training so it will be easy. I will contact you once I find him," stated Malfoy. Ginny realised he was not asking her what she thought of the plan, merely informing her of it.
"And I have to sit at home and wait?"
"I work alone. Don't forget that you were the one asking me of a favour, not the other way around," Malfoy remarked coolly and brought out a silver pouch from his black robes.
"Fine! You'll let me know as soon as you find something though?"
"Naturally. If I will find what I suspect I will find, you will have to play an essential role in humiliating Potter," replied Malfoy and smirked mischievously.
Ginny sighed, again unsure if she was really doing the right thing. She regretfully left the comfortable armchair and followed Malfoy out to the foyer.
"Now, in the future you can use the Floo to come back here. Just call it The River Flat to avoid suspicion," said Malfoy in a businesslike tone as he opened the silver bag, which Ginny supposed contained Floo powder.
Ginny nodded in response and grabbed a pinch of Floo powder from the bag Malfoy held out for her. "How do you know I'm here, do I just knock on the silver doors?"
"You just need to touch the doors and I will know that you are here."
"Alright," said Ginny and threw the powder into the fire. She did not have to crouch to step into the fireplace, which was pleasant. She was just about to state her destination when Malfoy interrupted her.
"Oh, and don't wander around alone too much; those Death Eaters seem to be targeting people who are close to Aurors," said Malfoy quickly, then he looked like he regretted saying anything.
Ginny was slightly confused, but she could not stand around in the fire much longer so she just nodded and Flood back home.
Thanks to Written Sparks for beta reading :)