Bill Weasley led the way down the narrow corridors of the Ministry, Ginny and Draco following behind him, tethered uncomfortably close by the invisible bond. Every step they took was accompanied by a small tug of resistance, forcing them to walk in awkward unison. Neither of them spoke, though the frustration and tension between them were palpable.

"This is ridiculous," Ginny muttered under her breath as they awkwardly rounded another corner. "We can't keep walking around like this."

"His office is just there," Bill called back without turning around. "We'll figure it out from there. Can you manage to make it down this hallway without killing each other?"

Draco scoffed, glancing sideways at Ginny. "No promises."

They reached the door to Bill's colleague's office. Without pausing, Bill knocked and stepped inside, gesturing for Ginny and Draco to follow.

The room was cramped and cluttered with stacks of parchment, old files, and various magical trinkets shoved into corners. Slouched behind the desk, a middle-aged man with thinning hair radiated the apathy of someone who checked out years ago - and was now irritated by anyone who hadn't. His nameplate, placed haphazardly on the desk, read: B. J. Hendricks – Head Cursed Object Incident Remediation Manager.

Hendricks barely glanced up, his tired eyes landing on Ginny and Draco, standing awkwardly close together. He let out a long, weary sigh.

"What did you touch?"

"It was a cursed Snitch," Bill confirmed, stepping aside so the two could explain for themselves.

Hendricks glanced between them, his face tired and unimpressed. "Brilliant," he muttered. "And now it's my problem."

He leaned back in his chair, sighing heavily, as if the mere thought of doing his job was more effort than he could bear. "Cursebreakers are obviously already on it." He said, looking up at Bill, "but it's not a quick fix. It's going to take time."

Ginny shot Draco a look before asking, "How long are we talking here?"

Bill stepped in before Hendricks could reply, his demeanor calm but cautious. "A few days, maybe more. We're dealing with old, complicated magic."

At that, both Draco and Ginny exploded into a simultaneous uproar, their frustration only making the tether pull tighter.

"A few days?!" Ginny exclaimed. "How are we supposed to deal with this for days?"

"There's no way I'm going to survive being chained to her for more than an hour, let alone days!" Draco added, tugging at the invisible tether in frustration, as if pulling harder would break it.

Ginny, still talking over him, attempted to take a step back to emphasize her point, but the tether snapped her closer to Draco, causing them to stumble into each other. "Excuse me?!" she snapped, glaring up at him. "I'm the problem here?"

Hendricks sighed, louder this time, rubbing his temples as if their noise and bickering were giving him a headache. "Fantastic," he muttered, clearly regretting their presence. He pinched the bridge of his nose before finally saying, "Since you can't work like this, you're both going home."

Ginny looked at him incredulously. "Go home? Whose home?"

Draco's face darkened, his tone cold as he shot back, "I'm not going…wherever it is you live."

Ginny scoffed, equally annoyed. "Well I'm not going to Malfoy Sodding Manor."

Draco looked mildly insulted, his tone dropping a little colder. "Weasley, I am 25 years old. I do not live with my parents. Is that what you think?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow, still frustrated. "Oh yeah? So where do you live, then?"

"I have a flat," Draco shot back, crossing his arms. "Not that it's any of your business."

Ginny scoffed. "Oh, of course. Let me guess - Daddy bought you a flat?"

Draco's eyes flashed in annoyance. "I received a very modest down payment," he said, his tone defensive.

Before Ginny could fire off another retort, Bill cut in, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, that's enough. Neither of you is going to each other's place, clearly. There's a Ministry safe house you can use for the time being. Neutral ground."

Hendricks, looking deeply uninterested in the rest of their discussion, nodded in agreement. "Yes, a safe house. You'll both stay there until the Cursebreakers can figure this out."

Ginny sighed, clearly defeated. "Fine. Bill, could you at least grab a few things from my place and bring them to the safe house?"

Before Bill could respond, Draco cut in, his tone sharp. "Don't be an idiot, Weasley. He needs to work on the curse. Don't waste his time fetching your hairbrush." He paused and rolled his eyes, "Can't one of your other 14 brothers do that?"

Ginny's eyes flared with irritation. "Excuse me? I do not have 14 brothers, and you know that."

Draco raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by her reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I offend your vast family tree? I've lost count."

Ginny took a step toward him, despite the magical tether holding them close. "At least I have a family who taught me how to not act like an entitled prick."

"Oh, that's rich coming from someone who couldn't resist touching the cursed object in the first place."

"Maybe if you hadn't grabbed me, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Before the argument could escalate further, Bill quickly stepped in again, holding up his hands. "Okay, enough. Both of you need to cool it. Merlin."

Ginny crossed her arms, still glaring at Draco. "He started it."

Draco smirked, clearly satisfied. "Just pointing out the obvious."

"Enough!" Bill snapped, his tone sharper now. "I'll have you both make a list and someone can bring your things. And Malfoy, stop winding up my sister. Trust me, she's scarier than she looks."

Ginny shot Bill a sharp look, but he brushed it off, unfazed.

Bill nodded toward the door. "Let's go to the safe house. The sooner you two settle in, the sooner we can get this sorted."

Draco rolled his eyes but said nothing.

With a sigh, Ginny turned toward the door, Draco awkwardly turning with her, tethered by the invisible bond that was quickly becoming the bane of both their existences.

Bill led the way up a quiet street just outside of Diagon Alley, stopping in front of a nondescript townhouse. It was the kind of place that didn't draw attention - perfect for its purposes. Ginny and Draco followed close behind, albeit with much difficulty.

"Welcome to your new home for the next few days," Bill said, his tone trying to stay professional but with an underlying note that clearly said he was already done with the both of them.

The interior of the safe house was simple but well-maintained. The main room had a cozy sitting area, a small kitchenette, and a narrow staircase leading to two small bedrooms upstairs. The air was thick with tension as Ginny and Draco tried to avoid bumping into each other while exploring the space.

Bill gestured around. "This is it. Not much, but it's neutral ground, and you'll be safe here while we work on breaking the curse."

Draco folded his arms, glancing around disdainfully. "Neutral ground indeed."

Ginny snorted. "This must feel like living in a barn to you."

"Please, this is probably the nicest place you've ever stayed." Draco replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Before Ginny could retort, Bill cleared his throat. "Alright, that's enough. You two are going to have to survive this without driving each other mad. Now, I'm going to show you the important part."

He led them down a short hallway toward the bathroom. As soon as Ginny and Draco realized what they were walking into, both stopped in their tracks.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ginny said, holding up her hand. "What's the bathroom situation? We can't possibly be expected to…"

Draco grimaced. "If you think for one second-"

Bill raised a hand, already weary of their bickering. "Relax. I sent someone over earlier. They put up a charmed partition next to the loo."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "A partition?"

"Yes," Bill replied, gesturing to the bathroom. "It's soundproof and provides visual privacy. It'll separate the space enough for you both to use it without any, uh, awkwardness."

Draco snorted. "A charmed partition? That's your solution?"

Bill sighed, clearly exasperated. "It's the best we could do on short notice. Trust me, it'll work. Go on, try it out."

Ginny and Draco exchanged looks of disgust, but reluctantly, they awkwardly shuffled closer to their privacy barrier. They positioned themselves so that the gap between them lined up with the partition and stepped forward just enough to gauge whether it blocked any sound or sight.

Almost immediately, both of them winced, their hands going to their temples as a sharp headache surged through them.

"Ow!" Ginny groaned, stepping back quickly, Draco following. "What the hell was that?"

Bill, leaning in the doorway, didn't look surprised. "The curse is meant to keep you close. Trying to evade that by staying out of each other's proximity causes discomfort - headaches, in this case. It's the best we can do until the curse is broken."

Draco scowled. "This whole situation is ridiculous."

Bill shrugged, clearly at the end of his patience. "It's the best we can offer for now. You'll just have to deal with it."

Ginny sighed again, rubbing her forehead. "Well…headache's worth it for the bathroom, I guess."

Draco grumbled something under his breath but didn't argue. Clearly, they were both going to have to suck it up and deal with the discomfort if they wanted any semblance of privacy.

Bill lingered by the bathroom door as Ginny and Draco recovered from their brief experiment with the partition. They were still rubbing their temples, clearly annoyed by the limitations of the curse.

"Alright," Bill said clapping his hands together, not even bothering to hide how done he was with the situation. "Let me show you the bedroom."

Ginny and Draco followed him reluctantly up the narrow staircase, still tethered uncomfortably close to each other. Bill pushed open the door to a small, modest room. At first glance, it seemed perfectly ordinary - until their eyes landed on the singular bed in the middle of the room.

Both Ginny and Draco froze.

Ginny spoke in a high-pitched yelp. "Is that…Is that the only bed?"

Draco blinked, then frowned deeply, his entire body stiffening. "This just keeps getting worse."

Bill raised an eyebrow, his patience clearly thinning. "Not really sure what you were expecting?"

Ginny shook her head, gesturing wildly at the bed. "But…but there's only one bed! We can't-"

Bill sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Listen, there are two beds - one's right across the hall. But you two can't use that one because you touched that Snitch like lunatics, and now you're stuck together."

Ginny let out an exasperated groan. "So, what? We're supposed to just sleep next to each other like this is normal?"

Draco shook his head, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "I'm sure you'll manage, Weasley. Try to control yourself."

Ginny's eyes narrowed, her face flushing with irritation. "Control myself? Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy. I'm not the one who'll get any ideas. You'll probably take this as an invitation."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Please. As if I'd stoop that low. I'm more worried about you getting a little too comfortable."

Ginny crossed her arms, glaring at him. "In your dreams, Malfoy. Believe me, I have zero interest in sharing a bed with you."

Draco smirked, leaning in slightly. "Don't worry, Weasley. I'm not into redheads."

Ginny huffed, stepping closer to him. "Good, because I'm definitely not into entitled prat dickheads."

Bill raised his hands, groaning. "Alright, alright, enough. You two need to figure out how to make this work without tearing each other apart. No partitions, no separate beds. You're stuck."

Ginny rolled her eyes, looking Draco directly in the eyes. "As long as you stay on your side, we won't have any issues."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, I'm staying as far away from you as this curse allows. Just make sure you don't get any ideas in the middle of the night."

Ginny's eyes flared in annoyance.

Bill, sensing that their argument was about to spiral out of control again, sighed deeply. "Believe me, that's the one thing I'm not worried about. I'm more concerned about the paperwork I'm going to have to fill out when you two inevitably kill each other."

He rubbed his temples, clearly tired of the situation. "Look, you've both survived worse than this. Keep calm, don't kill each other, and let's all hope I can fix this curse before you drive each other mad - or worse, me!"

Ginny gave the bed one last glare, then crossed her arms tightly. "Fine. But if he even so much as touches me-"

Draco smirked. "Believe me, I'd rather sleep with a Dementor."

Bill groaned, all professionalism leaving his body. "I'll check in tomorrow. Try to chill the hell out until then, yeah?"

With that, Bill turned on his heel and headed toward the door, leaving Ginny and Draco in stunned silence, still glaring at each other from a foot and a half away.

Ginny broke the silence first, throwing her hands up in frustration. "This is going to be hell."

Draco gave a short, humorless laugh. "For once I agree. The only thing worse than being cursed is being cursed with you."