A/N:
Thanks to all those who reviewed! It's great to read what you all think of this story. Keep 'em coming!
Also, I've just realised that ff has ever so kindly been undoing some of my formatting so the chapters should get easier to read from now on.
Two of a Kin
"Bill," she said shocked, her eyes fearful as they met his.
"Didn't catch his name," Alex replied, oblivious. "But he had-"
"Ginny," Bill breathed as he took in the sight of her. She looked different. It was more than the haircut. Her whole demeanour was different, and something else. She seemed taller somehow. She stood a little straighter. Something had changed within her. He just couldn't put his finger on what exactly.
Bill moved forward quickly, rushing towards Ginny. Ginny's eyes widened as Bill neared and she took a few hurried steps back. Bill stopped with horror etched on his scarred face. She was afraid of him. His baby sister was afraid of him.
"Ginny?" he said, pained.
"What are you doing here, Bill?" Ginny asked, her voice cold and hard despite the small wobble in his name.
Bill stared at her, lost for words. "I-I-I came to find you. Make sure you were alright."
"Fucking peachy," Ginny answered, folding her arms over her chest. Bill was slightly taken back, not so much by her language, God knows he'd heard her let out a tirade of words their mother would kill them for, in fact, he'd taught her to say some of those words, but it was her cold, harsh tone. He'd never heard her talk to anyone like that before, let alone him. "Now that you've checked on me feel free to leave."
"Gin-"
"You heard her," Alex said placing a hand firmly on his chest. "It's time you left."
"I want to talk to my sister," Bill ground out, roughly pushing Alex's arm away from him.
"Well she doesn't want to talk to you so fuck off before I call the cops!" Bill looked over to Ginny. Her small face fearful, unshed tears painting a sheen over her eyes.
"I'm going," Bill said softly, defeated. He paused at the door, his hand poised over the handle. "Gin," he called over his shoulder. He didn't turn his head. Couldn't stand to see her look upon him in fear. "I like your hair."
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Ginny watched her brother's retreating figure, his red head disappearing as he climbed the stairs to the street above. Bill had always been her favourite brother. He had always been the one to take her side. Always been the one she turned to. He was the only one she would talk to about The Chamber. He always seemed to know when something was wrong and how to fix it. Always the one to check on her, to protect her. And he had been the one to look for her, to find her.
She briefly registered Alex running his hand over her arm in a comforting gesture, asking her if she wanted to go home for the day. Maybe go see Mama. She had discovered that was his solution for just about everything. Go to Mama. Mama was his Bill. The one to make all your problems disappear.
"Yeah, I think I might just go home," Ginny said absently to Alex. "See you at dinner." Ginny walked hurriedly to the steps, taking them two at a time. She burst out onto the street, scanning the slowly filling sidewalk for a shock of red.
"Bill!" she yelled as she spotted him across the street. He turned quickly, watching her as she crossed the busy street with ease. As she stopped in front of him, he noted that she bit her bottom lip, a nervous gesture she had had since childhood. "Hi," she said softly, looking at the ground.
"Hi," Bill replied in kind.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Forty minutes later, Bill sat on the edge of the slightly uncomfortable couch in Ginny's small flat, a half drunk tea in his hands. His knees grazed the edge of the coffee table. They sat awkwardly, neither knowing how to start the conversation. Bill couldn't stand it any longer, so he asked the first thing that popped into his head.
"So why does Malfoy want to find you so badly?"
Ginny blanched, spilling her untouched tea onto the carpet. "What?" she croaked.
"Draco Malfoy paid me to find you." Ginny simply stared at him, her eyes unbelieving. "If he hadn't approached me, I don't think I would have been able to find you. I definitely couldn't afford to."
"I don't know," Ginny answered, her mind whirling with unwanted memories. Course if you want to go again for old times' sake. Ginny shook her head. "I don't know."
Bill looked at her closely. Now wasn't the time to press the Malfoy issue. He would come back to that in due course.
"Why'd you leave, Gin?"
She laughed humourlessly at him, giving him a look that clearly stated she thought he was deeply stupid.
"Did you know that Harry and I never once even broached the subject of children?" she asked, giving him a wry smile. "So imagine my surprise when he announces to the press that were about to start our very own little family."
"No," Bill answered, his surprise colouring his voice. "I just assumed-"
"Yes. You assumed. Everybody just assumed," she interrupted bitterly.
"Gin, I-"
"Want a drink?" Ginny interrupted, not ready to hear his half-hearted explanation. She moved to the small kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine from the fridge. "It's all I've got," she said as she plopped herself down beside Bill, glasses in one hand, bottle in the other. "Charlotte gave it to me as a house warming gift."
"Oh," Bill said taking the proffered glass and making a mental note to ask whom Charlotte was.
"Gin, I don't understand. If you were unhappy, why didn't you say something?" Ginny stared at the liquid in her glass, tears stinging her eyes.
"And then what Bill? Go home to the Burrow? Listen to mum attack me over leaving Harry? Or Ron? Listen for God knows how long on how I broke poor Harry's heart? Beg the twins for a job? Always be the girl who left Harry bloody Potter?"
"It wouldn't have been like that," Bill insisted.
"Yes it would," Ginny scoffed, downing the partially full glass of wine.
"Couldn't you have gone to Malfoy for help?" Bill ventured softly. Ginny stiffened at his words, her hands shaking.
"No," she said, her voice suddenly hard. "I couldn't."
"So he's willing to pay thousands of Galleons to find you, but he wouldn't be willing to help you?" Bill asked incredulously, frustrated by the secrets being withheld from him.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Bill," Ginny said sharply, slamming her glass down on the scratched coffee table with such force that a thick crack appeared in the smooth glass.
"So tell me, Ginny!" Bill said desperately, grasping her small hands in his large calloused ones. "Explain it to me because from where I'm sitting nothing makes any sense!"
"Just leave it, Bill," Ginny replied pleadingly, wrenching her hands from his grip, snatching up the cracked glass and storming to the kitchen. Bill jumped up to follow her, desperate for answers. Desperate to understand his little sister as he had when she was a child, always able to understand the reasons behind her actions.
"Fine!" Bill yelled, righteous anger colouring his voice. "You don't want to tell me why you just up and left without telling anyone b-"
"I left a note!" Ginny began, her anger mirroring her brothers. "It's not my fault-"
"But just tell me why bloody Malfoy wants to find you so badly!" Bill yelled, raising his voice over Ginny's indignant interruptions.
"I don't know!" Ginny screeched, throwing the cracked glass at the wall, shattering it. Bill stared at her in shock. "I don't know! It doesn't make any sense, alright? He made it perfectly clear that-" Ginny stooped abruptly, a tide of tears threatening to crash. She turned her back to Bill, slumping against the kitchen counter.
'What, Gin?" Bill asked softly, gently turning her by the shoulder to face him. Her tear stained face looked up at him with a pained expression. Bill suddenly felt the intense need to do something particularly painful to Malfoy.
"That he didn't want me," Ginny said, her voice barely above a whisper.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Bill sat next to Ginny's curled up form in disbelief. "So you and Malfoy. You two were…I mean you and him…"
"Yes, Bill."
"While you and Harry…?"
"Yes."
"How long?" Bill asked perplexed.
Ginny shrugged. "Not long really. A bit in my seventh year. And last year."
"When were…when was the last time…when did you and he-"
"Just before the Final Battle," Ginny said with a small smile at her eldest brother's uncomfortable shifting. "When I stayed at Malfoy Manor."
"He broke it off with you… right before the Final Battle?" Bill asked slowly, his mind working furiously.
"That's suicide!" Bill said in shock. "There's no way anyone can get that many in."
"Why do you think Malfoy's doing it?" Harry sneered.
"You can't be serious?" Bill asked incredulously, looking around the room. "Malfoy's on thin ice as it is, if he's caught…" Bill trailed off, letting his sentence hang, the weight of his words pressing heavily down on the room.
"After what he did, it's the least he can do," Moody growled, his magical eye shifting unnervingly around the socket.
"Yep," Ginny said scornfully, raising a freshly filled glass to her lips. "Should have known better than to trust a Malfoy."
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Draco sat in the darkened and rapidly cooling cavern, his bum stinging from his fall. "Weasley?" he called uncertainly. "Weasley!" he called again, this time more gruffly and demanding. He scanned the room pointlessly, the pitch black of the temple impenetrable. Bloody hell! Where was the bastard? Draco thought, panicked.
Draco had never seen blood magic preformed before and frankly, never wished to again. He almost cried out when Weasley slashed his arm, the flesh parting sickeningly. He had squinted through shielded eyes as Weasley fell forward, disappearing, the magic suddenly invisible. It had fallen from top to bottom, like water down stone.
He knew why the Dark Lord had wanted to find this place so badly. He understood why it had been so highly guarded against him and others like him. This temple or cavern or whatever it was, held devastating power. The circle of pure magic that had encircled Weasley had been blindly bright, the vivid red and green staining his sight still. He could feel the air still crackling with unused magical energy. It sent shivers down his spine, his flesh tingling.
Rising awkwardly to his feet, Draco withdrew his wand. "Lumos," he muttered, holding his wand out in front of him. To his dismay, the tip remained lifeless, the cavern still shrouded in darkness. He scowled at his wand, shaking it roughly through the air. "Lumos," he commanded. "Bloody hell," he growled, his wand remaining unlit. "Most finely crafted wands in the world my arse," he muttered under his breath, fumbling around in the darkness until he felt a break in the continuous circle of warm wall.
The trek up the stairs seemed longer in the darkness then when he had walked down them not an hour before. He felt uneasy being in a place of such unrestrained power without Weasley. At least he understood some of what was going on. He stopped mid-stride abruptly, smacking his palm against his forehead. No magic other than the old ways worked down here. How could he forget that?
Draco didn't bother to put any kind of disillusionment charms on Stonehenge as he Portkeyed back to his office. It wasn't his ruddy problem. His only concern now was owling Greg.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
"I still don't understand," Bill sighed, looking intently at Ginny. "You barely spent any time – alone- with Malfoy."
"Umbridge," Ginny said with a small smile. "She assigned him to my piano lessons. Had the pleasure of his company for nearly all of fourth year. He had to walk me back to Gryffindor tower afterwards too. I'd never seen someone pout and sneer at the same time before. Quite amusing really."
GMGMGMGMGMGM
"What do you mean you can't find it?" Draco thundered, his eyes flashing maliciously.
"I mean I can't find it," Greg repeated himself to Draco calmly. "It's not there anymore."
"I want that-"
"Draco," Greg interrupted sharply. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe Weasley had to summon the temple?" Draco faltered, looking across at Greg dumbly. "The spell probably ended when you left. Now, I have people stationed at Stonehenge. If and when Weasley makes an appearance we'll bring him straight to you, okay?" Draco nodded. "Right well, sorry mate, I have to get going. I'm late as it is."
"Got a date with your secret older woman?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"Something like that," Greg replied leeringly, walking across the room.
Draco scowled, pouring himself a rather large fire whisky. Taking a large gulp as the door closed behind Greg, Draco noticed his perfectly aged and expensive liquor held a distinctive and out of place flavour.
"Tilly!" Draco called placidly, waiting patiently for the House Elf to come to him. "Why is there calming draught in my fire whisky?"
"Because Master Draco is stubborn," Tilly answered with a definitive nod before disappearing with a loud crack. He heard Greg's deep belly laugh fading as the man made his way down the corridor. Draco sat staring at the spot where moments before his insubordinate House Elf had stood, trying to force his serene features into a scowl.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Ginny felt as a though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she told Bill everything about her relationships with both Draco and Harry. She had had to censure so much when talking to Charlotte, it felt good to be able to tell someone the full story. Well, as much of the full story as she could tell her brother. There were some things that little sisters shouldn't share with their big brothers.
Bill sat silently as she talked, never interrupting or pushing her, even when the silences stretched on for minutes. His facial expressions barely changed throughout, her only indication that he was listening the way his eyes seemed to flare when she spoke of her mistreatment by the two men.
"The press conference was the final straw. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave. So I emptied my Gringotts accounts and left,"
"How'd you get here though?" Bill asked, draining the last of his cold tea. "The Aurors checked every Apparation point in England."
"I flew," Ginny answered simply.
"You flew all the way from England to Los Angeles? Not even cross country fliers can make that distance,"
"Not on a broom, Bill," Ginny said, fiddling with a piece of loose thread from a buttonhole on her shirt. "On a Muggle aeroplane. That's actually how I meet-" An insistent knocking on her door interrupted Ginny. "'Scuse me."
Ginny raised herself slowly from the couch,and walked the short distance to her front door. She took a deep breath before unlatching the chain.
"Oh thank God! Gin, you're okay," Charlotte cried, as Ginny opened the door.
"Yes, I'm fine," said with a small smile at Charlotte's concern for her.
"Oh good I was so worried when Alex told me that a hideously mangled man was-
"He is not hideously mangled," Ginny interrupted harshly. "It's just scar tissue and they can do great things with cosmetic char-surgery now!"
"Alex said you looked fucking petrified when you saw him! Said your face was white as-" Bill raised himself from the couch, coming into the woman's line of sight, cutting her off abruptly. Ginny looked over her shoulder at Bill and sighed.
"Bill, this is Charlotte," she began, gesturing towards them each in turn. "And Charlotte, this is Bill, my brother."
"Brother?" she questioned, eyebrows raised. Ginny nodded, not meeting either of her guest's eyes. "Well now that you mention it I can see the family resemblance. It's the nose. Although, he does have a lot more gangle in him than you do, Gin." Ginny shot Charlotte a grateful smile, which Charlotte returned warmly. "Now am I setting an extra place at dinner?"
GMGMGMGMGMGM
"So let me get this straight," Bill said as they sat in the back of a taxi on their way to Charlotte's. "There's Charlotte, who I've meet, her husband, Wyatt and their foster boys, Tyler and Sean. Then there's Alex and his son Jet. Is that right?"
"Perfect," Ginny said happily. "You'll be the belle of the ball."
"Oh hardy-haha,"
Ginny laughed, the sound making Bill's heart swell. He hadn't heard her laugh, genuinely laugh, in years. "So, um, hows Fleur?"
"Oh good show, you managed not to call her Fleghm! I'm impressed. Yes, Gin, I knew about that less than friendly nickname," Bill said scoldingly at Ginny's vehement denial. Ginny smiled guiltily.
"I never said it to her face." Bill rolled his eyes.
"She's fine. We've just found out she's pregnant actually,"
"What? Oh Bill congratulations!" Ginny said excitedly, leaning over to envelope her brother in an awkward hug. "I bet mum was happy when you told her."
"She doesn't know yet. Fleur wants to keep it to ourselves for a while and if I like all my bits in the right places, I'm to want to keep it quiet too." Ginny laughed.
"Poor Charlie though," she said sadly.
"Poor Charlie?" Bill asked mystified. "What do you mean 'poor Charlie'?"
"Well you've married and producing spawn. You've fulfilled your obligation to Mum. She'll be onto Charlie next," Ginny said very matter-of-factly.
"Charlie boy's got himself a girlfriend."
Ginny scoffed, "Charlie's always got himself a girlfriend,"
"No, he's still with the one with the tattoo," Bill insisted.
"Of the butterfly?" Ginny asked flabbergasted.
"Don't be an idiot," Bill said dismissively. "That was nearly a year ago. Of the Ridgeback,"
"Oh, what's that five months?" Bill nodded. "Wow. Maybe you're right. They haven't lasted more than a month since that one he brought to my 13th birthday party. Poor Charlie,"
"Poor Charlie," Bill agreed sorrowfully. "Although he does live in Romania. It may be inconvenient for her to nag from so far away. She may just skip straight to Percy,"
"Lost cause. Percy's gay," Ginny said flippantly.
"He is not!" Bill exclaimed shocked. "I know we call him a poofter a bit," Ginny raised her eyebrows at him. "Okay, we call him a poofter a lot, but he's not literally a poofter,"
"Yes he is,"
"No, he's not," Bill said slowly.
"Yes, he is," Ginny said, handing the taxi driver a few bills. "Keep the change,"
"I would know if he was gay," Bill said over the taxi, closing the door.
"Well obviously you don't," Ginny said, stepping onto the curb and stopping outside Charlotte's.
"He would have told me and do you realise we're at a hairdressers?"
"No, he wouldn't and of course I do. Charlotte and Wyatt live upstairs,"
"Why wouldn't he tell me?" Bill asked as they walked through the business level of Charlotte and Wyatt's home. They could hear music playing and soft voices as they came up the stairs.
"Because you and the other homophobes always make fun of him about being a poofter,"
"We are not homophobes!" Bill whispered harshly, defending himself and his brothers.
"Look," Ginny said, suddenly turning to face Bill, her hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter if you are or not, the point is Percy thinks you are and he doesn't feel comfortable telling any of you. Now, we can talk about this later?" Bill nodded. "Good. Come on."
"Still can't believe he wouldn't tell me," Bill muttered under his breath petulantly. Ginny rolled her eyes.
'Hi everyone," Ginny called as she ushered Bill through the door.
"Hello, Ginny," Charlotte said, taking the bottle of wine from her. "Hello Bill, lovely to see you again. Why don't you head over to the kitchen and Jet will get you a drink,"
"What?" an incredulous voice sounded from the couch. "I hate being the eldest,"
"I'll be back in a minute, Bill, I'm just going to go to the loo," Ginny whispered.
Ginny exited the bathroom, softly singing along to the music played in the other room.
"So Weasley, hey?" Ginny stopped mid-stride, turning quickly to face Alex who was leaning causally against the doorframe. "I can see why'd you change it to Pearce," he said, smiling wickedly. "But just so we're clear, next time someone comes looking for a Ginny Weasley, I've never met her and don't know who you're talking about?"
Ginny nodded. "Thank you, Alex," she said sincerely, giving him a quick hug.
"Welcome," he said returning the hug. "Now should we go save your brother from Mama's clutches?"
"If we must,"
"So Bill," Charlotte said, handing him a glass of wine. "How long have you been married for?"
"Almost five years now," Bill answered happily, finding himself warming to the rather blunt woman.
"Oh that's nice. You realise you can't take her back with you, don't you?" Bill chocked on the sip of wine he had just taken.
"What?"
"Gin," Charlotte clarified. "She belongs here, not back in England,"
"I know," Bill began. "I-"
"Now don't get me wrong," Charlotte continued as though he hadn't spoken. "I think you coming here will do her the world of good. I haven't seen her fire up about anything like she did when I called you horribly disfigured, which I apologise for by the way, it's really not that bad up close."
Bill raised his eyebrows slightly at the 'apology' but took no real notice. It wasn't the cruellest comment he'd received about his face. Even now people still gasped when they saw him and he had had his face plastered all over the news after The Final Battle. Being the almost-brother-in-law of the Saviour of the Wizarding World will elevate a person in the eyes of the press. He'd learnt not to take any notice of what people said. If he did, he would probably never leave his flat.
"But her home is here now," Charlotte continued, "not anywhere else,"
"I know," Bill repeated, a little more forcefully than he intended.
"Good," Charlotte said warmly as Ginny and Alex approached.
"We've come to rescue the man from your clutches, Mama," Alex declared loudly, drawing quiet laughter from the younger boys.
"Oh and just who is going to rescue you?"
"Wyatt," Alex answered promptly and confidently.
"Oh really?" Mama questioned. "And just what leverage do you have over him that I cannot better?"
Alex wavered looking between Wyatt, who was in the kitchen, and Bill and then back to Charlotte. "I've changed my mind. You can have him." Ginny snorted, covering her mouth with her hand to cover her laughter as Alex glared balefully at her. "I don't see you trying to save him!"
"That's because I'm not deluded enough to go up against Charlotte," Ginny cried, laughter bubbling through her.
"You," he said, pointing to his laughing son. "Show no loyalty whatsoever."
"Alright that's enough," Wyatt called from the kitchen. "Boys come here and help carry the food out." Grumbling the boys made their way to the kitchen. "Alex could you get the wine, please?" Charlotte stuck her tongue out at Alex and mouthed 'I win' as she took her seat.
"Wyatt! Mama stuck her tongue out at me!"
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Bill watched, throughout dinner how Ginny interacted with her friends. The conversation was light and easy with much laughter. Bill noticed that Ginny smiled more than she had at the last Weasley gathering. He couldn't remember when she had stopped smiling. He wondered if it was a gradual process or whether she had simply stopped one day. He didn't like that he couldn't say which. When had he stopped paying attention?
He was drawn from his thoughts when Charlotte placed a bowl in front of him with a large and delicious looking piece of cake.
"You know what, Charlotte," Ginny said as Charlotte placed a piece of cake larger than Bill's in front of her, glancing around the table. "I would really like a mug of your hot chocolate, if it's not too much trouble of course,"
"Of course it's not too much trouble, Baby!" Charlotte exclaimed, bustling round the table, clearing excess plates. "Would anyone else like one?"
A chorus of 'yes' went out from around the table. "And what about you, Bill?"
"A hot chocolate sounds great." Charlotte beamed at him before turning and disappearing into the kitchen. Bill turned his attention back to the table and shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he felt every pair of eyes trained on him.
"Taste the cake, Bill," Ginny ordered, her own fork poised in her hand. Bill glanced around the table, each of its occupants in a similar position as Ginny, forks poised above the cake. "How's it taste?" Ginny asked as Bill swallowed his first forkful.
"Good," Bill replied, uncertain as to why he was on the receiving end of such scrutiny.
"Really?" Tyler asked sceptically.
"You taste buds haven't been damaged in any way have they?" Alex asked, waving his fork at Bill.
"No. My tastebuds are perfectly fine." He snuck a confused glance at Ginny and was surprised to see her staring tentatively down at her plate.
"Gin, maybe you should taste it?" Alex suggested, nudging her arm.
"What? Why me? Make Jet taste it!"
"Hey!" Jet protested.
"Because you're the newest. She's not as attached to you as the rest of us," Alex answered, pushing Ginny's hand towards her cake. "Go on take one for the team." Ginny stared down at her cake pitifully, slowly raising a small corner to her mouth. Bill watched with raised eyebrows as Ginny chewed slowly, the others faces looking upon her intently.
"It's really good," Ginny said surprised.
"Why thank you, Baby," Charlotte said, carrying a tray laden with mugs and placing them on the table.
"Mama, did you really make this?" Alex asked, awed.
"Of course I did," Charlotte snapped.
"Really?"
"Well, maybe make is too stronger a word," Charlotte said carefully.
"Lotti," Wyatt said warningly.
"Alright fine I went out and bought it! My own fucking exploded!
The room was silent for a moment.
"Wyatt, how do you make a cake explode?" Sean finally asked.
"No way that I can think of,"
GMGMGMGMGMGM
"And the cake thing?" Bill asked, as Ginny unlocked her apartment door, standing aside so Bill could enter.
"Mama makes Hagrid's cooking look gourmet,"
"You're kidding me?"
"Nope," Ginny said with a shake of the head settling on the couch. "She can make hot chocolate and that's about it. Oh and toast."
Bill laughed. "I really like her, Gin. She's like the anti-mum,"
Ginny's smile fell and she looked over to Bill with sad eyes. "Bill, how are mum and dad?"
"They're okay, Gin," Bill said soothingly, dropping down beside her. "They miss you and are worried about you, we all are, but everyone's fine,"
"Can you let them know that I'm okay? Without letting them know where I am," she added quickly. Bill nodded, wrapping an arm around her small frame. "I think you'll make a great dad," Ginny said, smiling. "Even if it's half Fleur." A few moments later Ginny snuck furtive glances up at Bill as she sat curled up against him on the couch, a playful glint in her eyes. Bill eyed her with mock suspicion. Her smile grew wider as Bill caught her looking at him.
"Cradle robber,"
"Snot machine."
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Bill watched as Ginny served a pinched looking woman a cup of coffee. He could clearly see the scowl Ginny was suppressing and watched with a small smile as Ginny glared at Alex, who suddenly immersed himself in the paperwork laid out before him.
"Bloody wanker," Ginny growled, coming up beside Bill. "He makes me serve her every day! Right bitch that one is," Ginny said exasperatedly. Bill laughed, musing Ginny's curled hair with one hand. He'd forgotten how curly it was when it wasn't bogged down with the extra weight length brought. He chuckled at her disgruntled expression. She glared at him, her lips pursed. Suddenly her expression changed to one of concern, her mouth dropping open.
"Oh God, Bill! Your arm!"
Bill looked down at his arm, a deep red stain slowly seeping outwards, running down his arm.
"Ow," he squeaked as he felt his skin continue to part beneath his sleeve. "Apparently it's time for me to go."
"Go? But you just got here," Ginny whined. "You haven't even met Angie yet."
"Sorry, Gin," Bill said, giving her a one armed hug. "I used blood magick to find you and now the spell is breaking. I have to get away from all these Muggles before the spell really get going,"
"I thought you said the spell was breaking,"
"Yes," Bill said, rising from the bar stool and walking across the room. Ginny trailed behind him, pouting. "Remember magic cannot be created nor destroyed merely transformed from one form to another. For the spell to start the other needs to end."
"So why is it breaking now?" Ginny asked petulantly, pulling the door open for Bill and leading him onto the street.
"Because I have what I intended to get," Bill answered enigmatically, turning into the alley he had arrived in the day before. He continued hurriedly, the glare Ginny trained on him easily putting their mother's to shame. "The knowledge that you were safe and happy. That's all I wanted."
"I love you, Bill," Ginny said, wrapping her arms around Bill's waist.
"Love you too, Gin." Bill wrapped his blood free arm round her body. "Right, let go, I'm getting blood on you," Bill said gruffly, his eyes glistening.
"Good bye, Bill," Ginny said, a tear running down her cheek.
"See you later, Gin," Bill said, making his way to the centre of the alley, trying to remember exactly where he had been before.
Ginny shielded her eyes as a wall of bright red and green flew up, encasing Bill. She could feel the magical energy radiating of the wall in waves, making her the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. As suddenly as the wall had sprung up it fell. The only reminder it had ever been there, the tingling of Ginny's skin and the black dots that plagued her sight.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
Bill once again saw a swirl of images, reaching for the image of the deserted temple; he fell forward, landing heavily on the stone floor. Bill raised himself from the ground carefully, brushing the grit form his grazed palms. He felt the heat of the room slowly return as flames once again rushed around the room. He trudged up the stone steps taking his time to observe the symbols engraved on the smooth rock the fire illuminated.
The mid-afternoon sun beat down on his back as he surfaced, his dragon hide bag swung over his left shoulder. Bill stopped suddenly. Sighing heavily, he dropped his bag to the grass, raising his hands in front of his chest.
"I'd wager that you're one of Malfoy's," Bill said calmly turning to the wizard behind him, who had his wand trained to Bill's heart.
GMGMGMGMGMGM
"Was the crony really necessary, Malfoy?" Bill asked as he took a seat in Malfoy's office. "I would have come if you simply owled." Bill looked at Malfoy with distain, restraining himself from wrapping his hands around the pointy little bugger's pale neck and squeezing the life from him.
"Merely a precaution. An insurance policy, you could say," Malfoy said, leaning back into his plush leather chair. "Now I assume as you're back, in one piece and everything, that you know where Ginevra is."
"Yes and no," Bill answered. Maybe he'd settle for one good punch to the nose. Git like Malfoy, his world would probably end if his face got bloodied.
"Yes and no?" Malfoy sneered, a single eyebrow raised at the red-haired man.
"I know where Ginny is mentally, spiritually, nutritionally, although her physically location remains somewhat…"
"Elusive?" Malfoy suggested pleasantly, his eyes piercing through Bill's steady gaze.
"Yes." Bill's skin crawled. He couldn't stand to be around Malfoy. He had hurt Ginny so badly and yet Bill wondered whether all was what it seemed. He knew he had seen Malfoy at the one-year anniversary, skulking in the shadows always in the background. Always close to Ginny. At the time he had put down to a coincidence, how he always seemed to be so close but now he was beginning to wonder.
"You mean to tell be that I wasted thousands of Galleons so you could see a bloody alter?" Malfoy asked with an odd calmness. It was odd, Bill thought, how Malfoy's nature could seem forced and so utterly natural at the same time.
"Malfoy," Bill said, leaning forward in his chair, his elbow resting on his knees. "The temple didn't allow me to actually go to Ginny, but was more of a vision quest. I saw things, felt them," he lied with ease, his eyes never leaving the deep silver of Malfoy's. "I know that Ginny is alright. I know that she is safe and more importantly that she is happy. I know that she's put on weight so she's not gaunt anymore and that she's cut her hair, but I don't know where she is."
Draco stared at Bill. He didn't know anything! After everything, he was still no closer to finding Ginny than he was the first day she went missing. He'd wasted months relying on the Weasley. "Clean up your arm before you leave, Weasley," Malfoy sneered, his gaze lingering disdainfully on Bill's bloodied sleeve. "You're going to give my clients the wrong idea about what goes on inside the Malfoy Corporation."
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Bill Apparated from Malfoy's office to the back yard of the burrow, hitting his head on a brightly coloured box hanging from one of the tree branches. Carefully, he sidestepped the now swinging box, afraid of whatever the twins had put in it.
"Hello, Ronnie. Where is everybody else?" Bill asked, taking a seat beside Ron on the back steps of the burrow.
"Hermione's inside yelling at Harry 'bout not believing that Ginny wasn't kidnapped. Mum's upstairs crying that her baby left her. Dad's with her, trying to comfort her or something. Fred and George blew up the back shed and are hiding from Mum and Perce, well he's Perce."
"So why aren't you inside fighting with Hermione too?"
"Because she left, Bill," he said tiredly. "We've all known she left since the second letter. I was just holding onto the hope that she was taken." Ron answered mournfully.
"You wanted your baby sister to be kidnapped by Death Eaters?" Bill asked incredulously, staring at his youngest brother.
"No! Of course not, it's just," he took a deep breath, staring out at the back garden, shredding a leaf between his fingers. "If she left, she was running from something which means I failed. Again. I didn't protect her from something... Again."
Bill clapped a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder, unwilling to lie by anything more than omission.
"And you know what the worse part of it all is? I don't know what it was I was meant to be protecting her from."
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