Chapter 9:

Holding on to keep her from falling on the hardwood floor, George looked at Ginny's face with concern. "What's wrong Gin?"

"Blaise is in the hospital. He's really sick." She spoke quietly, "Can we get this over with so I can get back to Draco?"

"Oh crap." Fred rubbed her back, "It'll only take a few minutes."

Lying there on her stomach, the tattoo exposed, Ginny ignored the various spells and charms that the twins soon had coursing through her, instead concentrating on just getting through this so that she could get back.

The twins' apartment was located over the shop, and she had spent a lot of time there over the summer when she had worked for them. It was comfortable, with wide low couches, bright colours, and with more muggle artifacts and electronics than Ginny had ever seen in Diagon Alley. It suited them… right down to the doorbell that screamed "Feck off" at solicitors.

Wordlessly, Fred pressed a glass of water into her hand, "We're almost done. A bit has changed since you were here last week."

Ginny nodded, and took a long swallow. Her head felt fuzzy, her chest tight, but she attributed that to the sheer amount of tests that they were running.

She moaned in pain as the tattoo burned slightly, and George put his hand over it, forcing cool Power into it, "Sorry Gin. Had to do it."

"I know." Ginny shook her head to clear the dizziness, "I really don't feel well. And I need to get back before Draco wakes up. Are you finished?"

Fred shot George a look, noticing the flush that was covering Ginny's pale skin, how her muscles were trembling. They hadn't done anything to cause that.

"Gin, how sick is Blaise?" George asked, frowning.

"Very." Ginny gulped past the ache in her throat, her eyes tearing at the effort, "He's… well, really weak, plus he has an infection, and a bad flu."

George arched his eyebrow at Fred, and quickly placed his palm over Ginny's sweating forehead. She moaned weakly, and tried to turn away.

--

Draco watched his cauldron, waiting for the tell-tale smoke to rise. He had been working on the bloody Veritaserum for almost a month, and according to Slughorn, it would be ready in another couple of weeks. NEWT Potions could be a real joy sometimes. It almost made him miss Snape…

Cursing as he dropped his knife dangerously close to his thumb, Draco forced himself to concentrate. God knows, he had escorted Vince and Greg to the hospital wing often enough from 5th year Potions. Was it bad that he couldn't remember if they had even been in his 6th year Potions? He couldn't remember a lot from the year before.

Checking his watch, he realized that Potions was nearly over, and he started packing his quill and parchment into his bag, before checking his potion one last time against the text, and the writing on the board, before shoving the book in his bag as well.

Walking to lunch, he felt alone. He wasn't used to missing anyone, and yet… He was lonely. There was no Blaise to make him laugh, no Ginny to tease him and call him a "conceited git". He walked behind into the Great Hall, and spotted Pansy and Greg sitting together at the table with relief. It wasn't the same, but he trusted them… to a certain degree.

Pansy looked up from her soup, to smile at Draco, worry crossing her face briefly, "How's Blaise today? I want to stop by to see him after Transfigurations this afternoon."

"He seems better." Draco answered shortly, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice, "Quiet. Which is mildly worrying."

Pansy smiled faintly, before turning away to greet Vince who was making his way over. Draco watched her from under his lashes.

Pansy was beautiful, but he had never felt a whole deal more for her than a brotherly affection. He and Blaise had known her for too long… It didn't help that she had had something going on with Vince for a number of years, that they seemed to think was still a secret.

Looking around the table, Draco realized just how much of everyone's secrets he did know. He knew that Theo tolerated him simply because his father had commanded it, and that he looked forward to a day when his wand could be at his throat. He knew that Greg secretly watched Blaise, hopeful that one day his lust would be returned. He knew that Milly had an appointment with the toilet after each and every meal.

It was really amazing what one could learn if they just watched and listened. Draco glanced over at the Gryffindor table, taking a note of Ginny's absence almost without thinking about, before he realized what he was doing. He scowled.

At least the Golden Trio weren't in school this year. He wasn't entirely sure where they were. No one seemed to. Blaise had asked Ginny about it once, but she had simply stared at him, and said that she didn't care for the topic. And that had been that. Draco had made a note to himself to press her on it later… but, well, little too late now. He knew that Harry had been there last June…

Draco did what he did best, thinking about the previous year, he closed off. Staring into space, he blanked his mind, and concentrated on tasting the soup that had appeared in front of him, not really noticing that it could have tasted like sawdust for all that he was noticing.

For all that he talked about hating Hogwarts, it was always so much easier to be here. Blaise had spent most of the summer with him, as he was finally of age, and could get out from his mother's hold, but Malfoy Manor was just… nothingness.

Wondering briefly what they would do come Christmas, Draco shifted in his seat, stretching out his long legs to cross them at the ankle under the table. He glanced up at the head table, and took in McGonagall's absence, Slughorn sipping what looked to be a very fine wine, and Tonks amusing Sprout by changing her hair colour. As their DADA professor she was… interesting, if nothing else.

Realizing he would have to hurry if he wanted to spend time with Blaise before Transfiguration, he quickly finished his lunch, and nodded at the few Slytherins he counted as friends, before leaving for the hospital wing.

It had been a week since Blaise had woken, and he was going stir-crazy. He was also worried about Ginny. Glancing over at Draco, he knew not to say anything.

Draco had been by his side almost every moment when he was not pushed out to go to class by Madame Pomfrey. But he had not mentioned Ginny since that first night. Anytime Blaise tried to bring her up, he had shut down, staring at Blaise blankly, silently, until the subject had been changed.

"What?" Draco drawled, not looking up from his book, but feeling Blaise's navy eyes on him.

"I just want out of here." Blaise rested back against the thick white cushions, feeling the lack of tension in his chest with relief.

Slowly, he was getting better, even though everything still looked fuzzy around the edges. With Madame Pomfrey watching him like a hawk, he had started to sleep regularly, but he would never allow her to give him any sort of sleep potion.

He watched Draco, watched Draco shut down again. For a while, it had seemed like he would open up to Ginny… but Blaise was pretty sure that would never happen. Draco made it a point of not forgiving, never forgetting… and her leaving, well, that was a big betrayal.

Blaise wasn't entirely sure what he personally thought about it. He just wanted to see her… talk to her, listen to what she had to say, hoping she had some kind of explanation. Ginny was… well, Blaise was pretty sure he loved her, as he loved Draco, though he had never said the words to her.

Draco heard what Blaise was thinking, as he never thought to shield himself, showing the degree of trust he placed in Draco.

Trying to throw up his shields, Draco stared at Blaise in surprise when he wouldn't let him. A stream of memories flew threw his mind… Blaise's memories… thoughts, images of Ginny.

Closing his eyes at the force of Blaise's mind, Draco drank in what he wanted him to see…

Ginny grinned at him from her broom… they were both looking for the snitch, Blaise sitting in the middle of the pitch, looking up at them. Draco smirked at her, feeling the wind tossing his hair wildly, and saw that she was staring at him with hunger in her eyes. The snitch had been forgotten about that day, and Draco had had to buy a new one. It had definitely been worth it.

Ginny studied at the table in Blaise's room, trying to ignore Draco and Blaise calling her from the bed. Draco watched as she tried not to grin, before standing up, and stretching her back languidly in the little nighty she was clothed in. Draco had moaned, yelling at her for being a tease, as Blaise had laughed.

Blaise watched as Draco and Ginny talked quietly in the Great Hall, their bright heads bent together. Ginny had initially been closer to Blaise in every way but the physical, Draco did not open up, or trust easily. He was a bigger enigma, despite the secrets that she knew Blaise carried. They had found common ground in Quidditch, and realized they were more alike than either had thought.

Ginny riding Draco slowly, Blaise taking her from behind at the same time. The three of them touching, stroking any skin they could find-

"Stop!" Draco commanded, holding up a pale hand to try to ward off the images. Blaise glared at him, "I don't want to think about her."

"Well, I do. I'm worried. She hasn't even been at school for a week. Don't you think that's weird?"

"What I think, is that she fucked me, and then left in the middle of the night without saying anything."

"Have you asked McGonagall?"

Draco shot him a look, and Blaise sighed again, his head dropping back on the pillows as he stared at the ceiling.

"When are you getting out of here, by the way?" Draco asked, grasping his hand to run his thumb over Blaise's knuckles in a gesture as close to an apology as he could manage.

"You miss me?" Blaise turned his head to smile tenderly at him, watching Draco's full lips curve into a genuine smile, transforming his face. It was somewhat awe-inspiring, and Blaise felt a flutter in his stomach.

"Something like that." Draco answered huskily, watching Blaise's eyes darken to an almost black.

"Good. I like being missed." Blaise grinned, trying to lighten the suddenly heavy mood, and Draco shook his head at him slowly, "It won't work. I want you."

Shuddering at Draco's frank admission, Blaise knew he couldn't do anything, his body just wasn't strong enough. He missed Draco. He missed Ginny.

--

Checking over her shoulder, Padma looked around to make sure that she was alone in the Ravenclaw common room. She had picked suppertime for a reason, she did not want anyone to overhear this.

Grabbing the handful of Floor powder, she tossed it into the roaring fire, and said firmly, "Weasley twins' apartment."

Looking over the store's accounts for the week, George tugged at his longish red hair. Irritated at himself, he forced his hand down to the desk. He had been trying to get rid of that particular nervous habit for years, and it was only when he was exceedingly stressed that he resorted to it again.

Pulling the cash register receipts, he frowned, quickly working out that one of their new lines was not selling as well as hoped. He'd have to talk to Fred about that, when they changed shifts.

George leaned back in his chair, resting his arms over his chest. Fred was due home in about two hours, and he couldn't help the fearful, restless feeling that had been in his chest for over a week now.

"Weasley!" A firm female voice called from the fireplace in the living room. George's eyes narrowed, and he stalked from the office to see who would be Flooing them. It was in his nature to be suspicious.

"Parvati?" He looked at the head in the fire with confusion, "What the hell do you want?"

"Where's Ginny?" Her voice was soft, and yet there was a scary undercurrent of authority there, "I've been trying to Floo you for a week, and McGonagall won't tell me anything. And it's Padma."

"Well, Padma, I can't really talk right now, but I will definetly Floo you later." George stared down at her floating head, a smirk firmly in place.

Narrowing her eyes venomously, Padma responded, "Look, you great red buffoon, you need to tell me where my friend is, or you will regret it."

George raised his pale red eyebrows at the snarl in her voice, and looked at her fascinated, "Did you just call me a great red buffoon? Words hurt."

"So does a knee to your groin." Was her reply. She then smiled slowly, remembering something Ginny had mentioned, "So does a nice long letter to your mother detailing exactly what you and Angelina did in the Gryffindor common room 6th year."

George laughed, "Do you really think I care if my mommy knows what I did in school?"

"Nope." Padma acknowledged, "But I'm sure she'd care if she knew about Fred's involvement."

Tensing, George stared at her, "That's rather below the belt."

"Quite literally."

"Do you know about our project?"

"Not everything, but I know enough." George wondered to himself for a moment how she could look at him so coolly with her head floating in flames.

"Well, we were running our tests on her, when she started getting really sick," He put his hand up as Padma opened her mouth to interrupt, "Let me finish. She started getting really sick, and as she had spent so much time with Blaise while he was sick the previous few weeks, we assumed that she had caught something from him. We took her to St. Mungo's that evening when she started vomiting."

"Is she ok?" Padma's eyes had widened, and George sighed, tugging on a piece of hair that hung almost to his shoulder.

"She will be. As soon as their healers checked her, they could see our Power in her, and notified the Ministry." He recounted bitterly, still irritated, "And now, well, Fred and I are under investigation, and the Ministry is trying to take our patents for the new… project. They've placed a big gag order on everything. I shouldn't even be talking to you, but well, you blackmailed me."

"A gag order?" Padma thought long and hard back to what she'd studied concerning the Ministry's jurisdiction over the summer when she had interned that, "I thought they could only do that for matters of State Security."

"So they can. Our work is rather… Well, it will be revolutionary, though they are setting us back a bit, as the healers are not allowing us to check Ginny as thoroughly as we need to." George sat down on the couch with a sigh, closing his eyes and thinking about just how much work had gone down the drain in the last couple of weeks.

"Oh, bully for you!" Padma's stern voice snapped his attention back to the fireplace, "I mean, Ginny just had to get sick and be brought to the hospital, but oh no, you've lost a bit of work. Grow the fuck up!"

"Miss Patil!" George put a hand to his chest in mock outrage, "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Eyeing the Ravenclaw he'd never really noticed before with interest, he almost didn't hear what she muttered under her breath, "I'm sorry, I missed that." He grinned mockingly.

"You know full well what I called you, you prat. How is Ginny? Can I visit her?"

"She's awake, and doing better. Weak. Quiet. Which is mildly worrying. Fred's with her right now, I'm going down later to trade with him. And no, you can't visit her. Didn't you just hear what I said about the Ministry gag order?"

"Can't you sneak me in?" She arched an eyebrow at him appraisingly, "Or is that beyond one of the great trickster princes of Hogwarts?"

George looked at her for a moment, eyebrows raised, "You think you can pull that shit with me?"

"Yes. I really do."

"Fine. If she's still in there by this weekend, I'll come get you. Now, be a good girl, and go do your homework or something."

"Crap insult." Were her last words before she left. George shook his head wondering why Ginny hadn't told him more about her spitfire friend. Part of him hoped his sister was still in the hospital this weekend, although he felt slightly guilty about it.

Padma sat back from the fireplace, a frown curving her lips. She had never really spoken to any of Ginny's brothers other than Ron, but it was an irritating experience. Putting the lanky redhead out of her mind, she decided to head down to supper before she was missed.

Making her way into the Great Hall, she noticed Draco's bright head at the Slytherin table. He was sitting with a group of 7th years, but he always seemed alone, even in a crowd. He didn't really talk to any of his companions, but seemed almost infuriating self-confident.

Padma had no idea what Ginny saw in him… he disconcerted her at the best of times, terrified her at the worst. At least Blaise had the charm. And he was friendly.

Ginny… Padma was at once relieved to know exactly what was going on, though she didn't fully understand, and worried that Ginny had been in St. Mungo's for so long. It seemed like a bad sign.

Parvati caught her eye from across the hall, and raised an eyebrow. Padma nodded at her briefly, letting her twin know that she had found something out. Parvati raised her eyebrows, before turning to talk to Dean.

Covering a piece of bread with the thick butter, Padma relaxed slightly, before realizing those disconcerting silver eyes were staring at her. Staring through her, as if he could see all of her secrets. She deliberately looked away from him, to talk to the 2nd year on her right.

Draco sat back, his mind blocked from hers. It was almost instinctual from what he had felt… she feared him. That made him wonder, but he shrugged to himself, and stood up gracefully, stilling as he felt Pansy rest a small hand on his wrist.

"Draco, we were thinking about having a mini game of Quidditch. Do you want to come?" She indicated herself, Vince, and Greg. Feeling the need for open air, and wind, Draco nodded, "Give me twenty minutes. I need to see Blaise first."

Pansy nodded, and watched him walk out of the Great Hall with the elegance of a big cat. Noticing Padma watching her with big chocolate eyes, Pansy turned away. She still felt deceived by their tentative friendship when she had refused to help Draco.

Padma's breath caught at the deliberate slight, and she again turned her attention to her plate. Well, wasn't she the popular one this evening.

--

Ginny woke slowly, her head feeling light, and looked around the darkened hospital room for a moment before remembering where she was an why. At least it was a private room… the Ministry took care of that.

Feeling a tug on her hair, she looked over to see Fred staring at her, a small smile curving his lips, "Hey Gin."

"Hi." Her mouth tasted like cotton. Not pleasant. "Where's George?"

"He's doing the accounts for the shop… Well, hopefully." Fred grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood, and felt a surge of happiness when she grinned back at him, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." Reaching up to run her hands through her hair, she grimaced at the grimy texture, "Were you able to tell Blaise and Draco?"

"No." Fred replied quietly. Ginny had been asking about them when she was delirious with fever, and asked about them every day. "Scrimgeour believe them to be a security threat due to their families. He won't allow them told. I'm sorry Gin. George and I have been trying, but it looks like we can't appeal that again."

"It's ok. I know you tried." Ginny wiped a small tear that ran down her cheek away. She missed them. It was so hard to sleep without them around her now… it was almost frightening to realize just how much she now depended on them in such a short time.

Fred threaded his fingers through hers, and noticed absent-mindedly just how small she really was. He squeezed, giving her silent comfort. "On the bright side though, it also means that Mom doesn't know. Can you imagine what she'd be like if she were here?"

Ginny giggled slightly, thinking about their mom's face glowing red with rage, arms crossed over her chest, tapping her toe, and glaring. Fred continued with his impersonation of their mother that he had perfected over many years of getting screamed at, "Fred and George Weasley! How DARE you put your poor sister through this! She is not an experiment! You had absolutely no right! Off with your heads!"

Grinning, he added, "Well, the last part probably isn't as accurate, but I felt it fit." Ginny smiled at him, appreciating his efforts, before turning her eyes to look out the window that was showing a night sky. She knew that it was just a charm, but it was still nice.

Distantly, she heard the door open, and Fred and George exchanging quiet words, before Fred left, and silence settled again.

"Hi Gin." George said quietly, unsure if she was asleep. She turned to look at him slowly, trying to smile. Ginny had never really been able to hide anything from George, and tonight was no exception.

His smile fading as he took in her face, he climbed up beside her, and hugged her shoulders close as her silent tears fell. "Gin… don't worry… you'll be out of here, and then you can ride off into the sunset with your boys. Don't cry…"

George rocked her slightly, not quite sure how to handle the situation, and heard her murmur, "They won't forgive me."

George stayed with her until she slowly fell into a fitful sleep, holding her slight shoulders, wondering when the hell everything had crapped up.

The Ministry wasn't supposed to know anything until he and Fred were ready… they would just fuck things up. There was also a chance now, that they would try to keep Ginny out of Hogwarts, and in one of their own safety houses, and George just couldn't let that happen.

Feeling a tightness in his throat, he felt truly guilty for the first time. Ginny had seemed like the perfect person for this, but now… He rubbed the small star tattoo that was located on his inner elbow, and sighed. Things were spinning out of control, and he didn't really know what to do.

A/N: Ok, a little shorter than I wanted, but well… this seemed like a good place. As I said in my profile… I know how badly is messing up right now, half the time anything past chapter 5 (reviews included) aren't showing up. It's not me messing with anyone, I swear! Check my profile if you have any questions, because I've had quite a few people now complain to me. I'm sorry! I'd fix it if I could!

Thank you for the wonderful reviews! A few people guessed she was going to the twins, though Airmid suggested Harry (hehehhe, that would have really messed with everyone's mind, huh?) I love reading what people think is going to happen, and I really do take some suggestions, because they are really good.

Few comments:

toxicvamp – I was wondering where you were! Hahahah, your reviews always make me laugh, I love the running commentary

Seravenia Briar Rose – exactly! They needed her, and she left. That's going to be a big deal, no matter that she had to go and so on.

dragoncharmer79 and ellen – DAMMIT!!! You guys guessed. I was so upset… hahhahahahhaha

lovelukaslithium – I don't know how I write so fast… I have a really high WPM, so maybe that's why… everyone has different styles, no worries. And I tried to put in a lot more Draco, so I hope that you like it.

Misery DeSoul and JulieMalfoyZabini – thanks so much for reviewing. And Misery, a little bit of a violent streak, huh? 