Flashback
Ginerva Weasley was a professional Quidditch player, a damn good one too and her hexes could send any grown wizard cowering in the corner; she was smart, passionate, funny, and beautiful. Her family respected her and her fans adored everything about the red-head witch, she was a legend to many. But there was one thing Ginny could never resist, something that always made her forget her own name and that was Hermione…in a sundress.
The older witch had no idea of her effect on Ginny; she never noticed the way her fiancée would stop talking whenever she breezed by in her knee-length yellow dress, or the way Ginny would trip over her feet whenever Hermione came downstairs wearing the baby blue dress, and she certainly never took attention to the way Ginny would squeak and cross her legs as she came down the stairs in a white sundress that hit her mid-thigh.
"They are going to be the death of me, I swear it!" Ginny complained as she sat in the Three Broomsticks with her team from the Harpies, her face scrunching as she took another swirl of her Fire Whiskey before swirling it around in her mouth. "She prances around in them and never notices the way I can't even breathe when she's around, it's like they were made to torture me! You've seen her legs, and I know for a fact you've all looked at her ass."
"Oh yeah," Kayla Griffin, one of the Chasers, smirked as she took a drink of her own Fire Whiskey before smirking as she looked off into the distance with a glazed expression. "You may go boggers over those dresses, but I prefer her in those muggle brand jeans."
"I love you, Portlee, but if I ever catch you looking at my fiancée again I'll have to bludger you and possibly hex your ass." Ginny warned, getting a laugh from the rest of the team as they all fell into comfortable silence before Ginny groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "Oh come off it, she's actually wearing another one!"
Every head turned to the door as Hermione Granger entered the pub with a smiling Ron Weasley and a skeptical Harry Potter, but Ginny was right there was the older witch in a mint green sundress that hugged her curves and made eyes drift down to pay special attention to the top of the line pair of legs Hermione had been blessed with. It was easy to see why Ginny lost herself when Hermione wore those outfits, she looked bloody brilliant.
"Ginny!" Hermione happily exclaimed as she finally found her fiancée in the crowded place, her brown eyes brightening instantly at the sight of the woman she hadn't seen in almost three weeks; it was one of the things both witches hated about Ginny playing Quidditch, she was continuously leaving for games and was forced to be away for weeks at a time.
"Hey baby, I missed you." Ginny replied in a whisper as she gathered the caramel-haired witch in her arms, kissing the top of her head and smiling as she felt Hermione's nose brush against her neck before soft lips were pressed against her flesh. "I'm sorry you couldn't make it to the game this time, you'll be happy to know we kicked ass."
"I heard, your forgetting that your brother is a brag. He always plays the telecast in the office, I usually go down and listen with him. You are my fiancée, after all, I can't miss out on your games." Hermione reminded her, pulling away from the embrace as she placed herself in the red-head's lap and pressed their lips together.
For Ginny it was absolutely intoxicating to be this close to the other woman, her hands couldn't stay still as they ran up the soft cloth of the dress Hermione wore. The mint green fabric pooled softly against Hermione's thighs and Ginny couldn't resist slipping her hand underneath to touch warm flesh, groping softly as the dress material rubbed against her knuckles while Hermione gasped and pulled away from the kiss.
"Now that's a kiss." Gina Lewis, one of the Beaters, smirked.
"Shut-up, I haven't seen her in three weeks." Ginny chuckled, gazing devotedly up at the blushing witch and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before Hermione bowed her head and situated herself comfortably in the Quidditch player's lap. "And plus, she's my fiancée now."
"Oh, so it didn't matter that much when I was just your girlfriend?" Hermione scoffed with a teasing raise of her eyebrow, Ginny blushing as her teammates and friends began to give long, exaggerated sounds of oohs and busted, but it was Ginny's view of Hermione's bright eyes that made her feel her whole world spin upside down.
It was always this way for Ginny though, one look into those brown orbs and she felt as if she was floating without a single care. Hermione had made her feel like everything was going to be okay; she made the world seem like a better place. It had been hard at first, especially since Ginny had been forced to watch as Ron and Hermione sorted out there feelings for each other but after that it was all secret kisses and whispered words.
Their romance had been one out of a book, while they had kept it a secret it was still alive and bubbling into something neither knew existed. It had taken Ron almost a year for him to accept them and when he had found Maria everything suddenly changed and he did everything in his power to protect Hermione and Ginny from anyone who thought wrong of their relationship, same with Harry and literally every other person in the two witches' lives.
"Ginny? Okay, darling, obviously you've slipped away into your thoughts…so, how about a penny for them?" Hermione whispered into her fiancée's ear, Ginny jumping slightly before she turned her dazed eyes onto the older witch and Hermione's face lit up at the goofy grin Ginny gave her, a grin that always made her weak at the knees. "You had that look on your face, the one that says your like a million miles away from me."
"Yeah, I tend to get it when you're around. I was just reminiscing on the past, thinking about how stable our relationship is." Ginny replied teasingly before she kissed Hermione's neck, the witch giggling and curling her body into the red-head's as she tried to escape the nipping teeth.
"Okay, that's our cue to hit the road." Portlee Brown, a Chaser, chuckled as she stood and slid on her jacket, her eyes full of a light drunken glaze as she tossed a few of her Sickles before glancing to her girlfriend Morgan who played Keeper. "Come on, babe, let's get out of here before these too go completely loony and end up snogging on the tables."
"Behave, Portlee." Morgan scolded as she swatted her girlfriend playfully in the arm before lacing their fingers and waving to Hermione and Ginny as they disappeared with a large chunk of the team behind them leaving the couple, Ron, Harry, and Gina behind.
"Y'know, I see what you two got the whole stability, trust, permanence." Gina sighed as she stood, tossing a few silver coins down as she smiled at the pair of witches who were looking up at her with wide eyes and quickly she turned her frown into a smirk and corked her brow at them. "And I think…God, I'm glad I'm not you two."
"Whatever," Ginny scoffed as she rolled her eyes at her teammate before waving to her as she left Three Broomsticks whistling under her breathe.
Eventually, the four of them got bored sitting around the pub and Apparated their way back to the loft they were sharing with each other; quickly, Harry sought out Luna and his son while Ron yawned and called over his shoulder about calling Maria. Hermione simply blinked sleepily and led her fiancée to their bedroom, both witches clasping on their comfy bed and snuggling up.
"I have a confession to make." Ginny murmured as she rolled Hermione over, straddling the witch and smiling as Hermione stared up at her with tired eyes.
"And that would be?"
"Whenever you wear these dresses, it drives me absolutely mad." Ginny whispered as her hands made their way through silky hair before curving down a long pale neck, the journey continuing as she trailed them over perfect set shoulders and paused there as she grinned. "Your yellow one makes your eyes stand out, your pink one makes your ass look absolutely fantastic, this green one really brings attention to your boobs, and don't even get me started on what your white one does to me."
Hermione laughed lightly before grabbing a hold of Ginny's t-shirt and twisting it tightly in her fists, bringing the red-head down so their lips met in a fiery lock that drew two twin moans from them as they moved in a familiar dance. Ginny removed one hand from Hermione's shoulder and wrapped it around the fist twisted in her shirt and quickly Hermione caught on and interlocked their fingers, the red-head drawing their hands to rest on the white pillow above Hermione's head.
Inwardly, Ginny smiled as she gave the soft palm a squeeze because there was a time when she wasn't allowed to touch Hermione this way. When they were secretly dating Ginny would hold Hermione's hand as long as she could in the dark, knowing that when the light hit them that she would be forced to break the connection out of fear of being discovered. It always made her feel wrong; it made her feel as if she was ashamed to be with the older witch even though they both knew it wasn't true.
Hermione ran her tongue over the red-head's plump bottom lip and the access was granted to her at once, causing the caramel haired woman to bend her knee, Ginny straightening her body so Hermione's knee was cupping her right side. Slowly, Ginny pulled back from the kiss and stared down at the woman who always made the sun come out when the days were so dark.
"I'll love you forever, Hermione." Ginny whispered, running an adoring hand over her fiancée's face as Hermione gave her a soft smile in return and pecked her lips once more causing Ginny to giggle and blush lightly. "Just know, no matter what happens I'll be there to fight alongside you. Whenever you need me, just call me and I'll be there, I promise."
"I know, and I love you too." Hermione replied as she kissed Ginny's nose before closing her eyes and giving the red-head a smirk of her own as Ginny corked a brow and laughed along with the beautiful woman she was supposed to marry in a few months; they were finally going to have it all. "But you'll have to realize that I'm usually always the damsel in distress, love."
End of Flashback
Ginny's brown eyes ran upward and downward upon the body lying in front of her wrapped in a thick blanket, the chest rising slowly but surely. Both of her hands were wrapped around the soft left hand, her thumb running continuously over the large diamond that rested on her ring finger. Ginerva Weasley sat staring at the broken body of her wife, the woman who made everything in this world worth breathing in and worth living.
When Ron had Flooed his way back to their house, his eyes full of tears and his voice broken, Ginny had known that her world was about to crumble and it did all with his one explanation on exactly where Hermione was. When the words had left her brother's mouth she could see the sadness in his eyes. The information had literally stopped her heart in her chest, she had Apparated without a single glance to the people surrounding her; all she knew was that she needed to get to Hermione and she needed to make sure she was okay.
But she was far from it.
Three Healers were surrounding her when Ginny appeared, each of them healing some type of injury on the mangled witch's body and all Ginny could do was stumble back into the warm embrace of Ron, both had clasped in the nearest chairs and pushed their faces in their hands as they cried; it broke their hearts, they hadn't been around to save Hermione. The promises they had made to her, all the things they had said had been completely lies apparently. The one time when she needed them, they weren't there and that hurt more than anything.
"How could I have let this happen? I made you a promise, a promise that I've always been able to keep. I've protected you from hundreds of things and now look at you, you're broken and it's my entire fault. I should've gone after you, I should've known that you weren't in the right state of mind to handle something if it came your way but I didn't think it would." Ginny admitted as she chocked on her tears, releasing a bitter laugh as she shook her head. "And it did, it did happen to you."
"Oi, baby sis, don't go blaming yourself."
Ginny jumped slightly but turned her head and a smile lit up her face for a moment when she looked into the eyes of her older brother, George Weasley was standing there in all his glory with that crooked grin on his face as he waggled his brow at her. It was rare for him to make this kind of appearance; after Fred had died he had kind of vanished from the Wizarding world along with Angelia. He had handled Fred's death the worse out of all of them, but how could he not? Fred was his best friend and his twin.
Occasionally, George would pop in and visit Ginny because their relationship had always been strong and he had always been the one to dry her tears when Fred couldn't. He popped in to make sure she was still alive and to reassure her that he was still alive, and on top of that he seemed to know when she needed him the most when relationship drama came around. Like the first time she and Hermione had broken up, he appeared five minutes after the older witch had stormed out of the apartment and he was there to hug her and insure her everything would be okay.
The younger red-head released a small sob as she stood from the chair and released Hermione's hand for the first time in hours, her arms going around her older brother as she sought out the comfort she knew he would give and without a single hesitation he picked her up and fell back into the chair, whispering soft words as he caressed her hair and rocked her. It was amazing how at thirty she was able to still fit comfortably in her older brother's lap as if she was still twelve or sixteen.
"This shouldn't be her, George. She shouldn't be lying in this bed, no one even knows what happened! All Ron and Harry managed to get out of her was words about her not being a mudblood, which makes everything even more confusing because just last night she was proud to be one. I just…I'm losing it here, Georgie." Ginny admitted with a sniffle, finally calming down and listening to the soft thumps of George's heart as she pressed her ear to his chest.
"She's going to wake up soon, Gin, and then we can all get to the bottom of what happened. We know someone attacked her, and you can bet when I find out they'll be wishing they hadn't laid a single curse upon her." George hissed in a voice he rarely ever used, it made Ginny smile and she brightened inwardly because of George's huge soft spot for her wife.
"G-Ginny…?"
Ginny felt her heart meet her throat when her ears detected that small call of her name, it drifted through the air and hit her full force causing her to sit up from George's embrace and stare at the older witch whose eyes were still closed tightly with her lips still cracked and parted, but the red-head could detect a small amount of fluttering from long lashes that shielded beautiful coffee colored eyes. A long silent minute passed and Ginny gave a cry of relief when she noticed her wife's fist curl and her head move.
"G-Ginny…?"
Hermione couldn't understand why everything around her felt like white noise, she couldn't fight against the blanket of numbness that guarded her, and all she knew was that she felt like she was floating and all her strength was being drained. Her arms felt heavy and her eyelids seemed unable to do much than shiver slowly, but she wanted nothing more than to look around and find the source of the cry that had spilled into her ears moments ago. Hermione knew that cry, she had only heard it once and it was when a certain Weasley man had fallen dead at their feet.
"Hey, baby, I'm here."
By this time both George and Ginny had themselves pressed against the railing of Hermione's bed and were hovering over her with eager grins on their faces. They watched as the caramel-haired woman struggled to form words and her eyes attempted to open, but to no anvil. As Ginny breathed in lightly she heard footsteps behind her and she chanced a glance over her shoulder, smiling brightly when she met the eyes of Ron.
"I don't…I don't wanna go to work today, Ginny." Hermione murmured and the sounds of laughter rang through her ears, each sound a different one and it made her feel even more confused as to why there were other people in her bedroom, she just wanted to sleep away the dark that seemed to embrace her in a tight hug. "Shh, too much noise. I wan…make it stop, Ginny. Make the loud go away now."
Ginny was dizzy with relief as soft tears made their way down her freckled cheeks, landing on the hands that were gripping Hermione's bed railing so tight her fists were white. Everything that mattered was okay again, her wife was waking up and responding to her voice and she was just thankful that Hermione was in the medically induced coma any longer. The red-head took a moment to wipe her eyes, taking a long glance at the older witch before chuckling.
"Okay, I'll make the noise go away and you don't have to go work. But, I'd really like to see those pretty brown eyes of yours, do you think you can open them for me?" Ginny questioned in a soft tone, running a hand over Hermione's forehead as she stared down at her with an absolute adoring expression. "Come on, baby, let me see those gorgeous eyes."
The older witch drew in a long breath before wincing as a stabbing pain enveloped her left side causing her to whimper lightly, Ginny's hand moving to caress her cheek as she whispered soothing words to the struggling witch. It took her a large amount of concentration to focus on fluttering her eyes and she winced as the bright light greeted her and made a dull ache pound in her head. Along with the stabbing and dull aches, a throbbing inside of her head started up, making her realize it was all too familiar.
Memories of flashing images and howling screams settled in her mind, and everything went cold as the hazy images began to plague her every thought and she blinked rapidly to fight off the bright light. The details of what had happened came back to her, along with the fear of protecting her wife and kids and her friends as well. She recalled random moments, like returning from her creek trip and having the conversation with her friends and making dinner with Ginny attached to her hip.
She remember stumbling out the door after Rose had spit that hateful word at her and she remembered facing Malfoy and seeing the disgust curl upon his face, but after that all she could remember was searing pain that ripped through her entire body as hands came down to pound upon her already weak body. But it was hard to remember anything else, the haze inside of her was impossible to break through.
Her eyes finally settled on the three bodies that stood beside her and Hermione looked up to her wife and gave a crooked smile, Ginny sobbing and Hermione watched her mouth move but couldn't make out what the red-head was saying. It calmed her down though, watching as a smile appeared on the Quidditch player's face and a hand came down to intertwine with her own, it made everything a little better and it made a little bit of the pain disappear.
Hermione moved her head on the itchy pillow rested under her head, she could tell her body was slightly elevated and if the pain in her side was any indication then she was obviously suffering from a few bruised ribs. For a moment, her eyes trailed around the room and then landed on three red-heads staring at her anxiously, all of them wearing matching smiles as their eyes twinkled causing the caramel-haired witch to wince as she tried to force her mouth to open.
"Shh, baby, it's okay. Just squeeze my hand if you're in pain, okay?" Ginny ordered as she intertwined her fingers with the older woman's, Hermione glancing down at their twisted limbs before she gathered her strength and gave the pale hand a tight squeeze and Ginny's face dropped as she felt the tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I wish I could take all this pain away, I'm so sorry I even let this happen. I'm just…I'm sorry."
"S'not yo-your fault." Hermione croaked out and Ginny didn't miss the grimace that traveled across the caramel-haired woman's face and acting quickly, the red-head shook her head and locked her brown orbs with another pair of brown orbs. "Don't look at me like that, Ginerva Molly Weasley. It's not your fault, I don't need you feeling guilty about this."
"Ah, there's the Hermione Granger I know." George chirped with a relieved smile, he was happy to see his sister's wife awake and herself, well as much as herself Hermione could be at the moment. "I'm going to go Floo back to your house and give everyone the good news, rest up Hermione."
Hermione gave him a tight smile and watched the man vanish before she glanced up at Ginny and saw the sadness lighting up dark orbs, softly she squeezed the hand still resting in her own and watched Ginny give her a slight smile in return; Hermione wanted nothing more than to take all the guilt out of the red-head, but she knew Ginny blamed herself and Hermione also knew she couldn't change her wife's mind about something like this.
"Hey, you need to rest up so I can get you home soon. Do you need anything?" Ginny questioned as she forced a grin and watched as Hermione shook her head, the Quidditch player nodding as she removed her hand from Hermione's and pulled back a little bit, placing a soft kiss on her wife's forehead. "Goodnight Hermione, I'll be back in a bit."
"Stay,"
After all the things Hermione had said, that one word seemed to rip away all the strength the older woman had and quickly she was draining before the eyes of her best friend and wife. It made Ginny's heart break and warm all at the same time, so with a half-smile she moved back to Hermione's side and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips causing the older witch to whimper as she attempted to keep their lips locked together.
"Give me five minutes, I just want to talk to Ron and I'll be right back here with you." Ginny promised, brushing a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear as she gave her a sigh and when she looked into those tired eyes Ginny caught something that made her frown. "I'll be right back and I promise I won't leave again, I won't let anything hurt you again. Just give me five minutes."
Hermione nodded weakly before finally succumbing to sleep and Ron watched the terrified brown eyes disappear from view before he swallowed around the lump in his throat and motioned towards the corner of the room, Ginny following behind him with the same sad look. Even when she was standing next to her brother, Ginny couldn't remove her gaze from the battered face of her wife; she hadn't seen Hermione this way since the war.
"We're going to have Aurous here around the clock, Harry and I are going to take the second shift and Dean Thomas and Neville come up for the first." Ron sighed, dragging a hand through his fiery hair as he gazed down at his sister for a moment.
"What? Neville is a professor at Hogwarts, he hasn't been in the Auror for almost three years now, why in the world would you ask him to?" Ginny demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted from foot to foot, she was desperately trying to avoid the concerned blue orbs Ron had cast upon her, she wasn't looking for anyone's pity.
"He's a friend, someone we can trust. Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Ron whispered softly as he reached out and placed a soothing hand on his little sister's shoulder, the woman only shaking her head as she put on her brave face and tried to avoid showing the tears building in her eyes. "We're going to catch Malfoy and his friends, Gin. We're not going to let him get away with what he did to Hermione, I promise you that."
Ginny sighed and allowed Ron to pull her into an embrace, it didn't bring her the same comfort Hermione's hugs did but it was as good as she was going to get right now. She always felt protected around Ron, he had always been the one to come to her defense whenever she was in trouble and she also knew how protective both he and Harry were over Hermione, she had no doubt in her mind that him putting Dean and Neville first was so he and Harry could get a head start on Malfoy hunting.
She knew Ron and Harry were going to find Malfoy, she could feel it in her gut and she prayed they would inflict as much pain on Malfoy as they could; she wanted him feel all the aches and bruises Hermione was suffering from, she wanted to watch him break. Ginny had a craving for violence and the temper she had always had seemed to be flaring up, she needed to get revenge for her wife.
"No, you and Harry need to go hunt down Malfoy and rip him apart." Ginny hissed and Ron pulled away from her to cast a surprised and semi-innocent look at her. "You and Harry can't fool me Ron, I know how protective you are of Hermione and I know that's why you aren't taking first shift just…I need you to make sure he feels the pain. I need you make sure he doesn't ever forget who he messed with, make him hurt, I want you to break him."
Ron eagerly nodded as he gave a slight smile, he was still bothered by everything that had happened but he knew Ginny was the most affected and he also knew she was more than capable of taking care of Hermione for him and Harry, "Oh believe me, Malfoy is going to wish he never even looked in Hermione's direction. I'm going to make him regret ever being born."
Hermione gave a light groan and whimper and Ginny peeked over her shoulder before giving Ron a quick hug as she sighed, "You should get out of here. Go find Harry and then go find Malfoy, I'll keep you both updated."
"Alright, take care of Mione, okay?"
"I will, Ron. I promise." Ginny nodded and her brother gave a single jerk of his head before Apparating out, and Ginny gave a puff of air before wondering over to her wife and sitting on the chair again, her fingers going to tangle with Hermione's as she bit her lower lip. "I'm gonna fix this, Hermione. I'm going to make him go away."