A/N: Thank you again for all your reviews. They are greatly appreciated. =) Keep on reading and I'll keep on writing.
Chapter 5
Guilt
Ginny ran through the woods as fast as her feet would move her. She was severely scratched across the face and body by branches that had stood in her path. Her feet were blistered now, and she did not know how much longer she could keep this up. The beast was still behind her. She could hear it snarl. She knew that its fangs were poison and that if she were to be pierced just once by them, it would be fatal. She was crying now, her, body read to give up, but she knew she could not stop. She had to run until she died. She reached a large clearing, circular in shape, and in the middle of it stood a rock. She knew that she had to get to it as fast as she could. Getting closer to the rock, she noticed that it there was something sticking out of the middle of it. A sword. The rock was no ordinarily shaped rock either. It was in the shape of a human heart. She reached the rock now and pulled and tugged at the sword. Nothing happened. She started to panic, realizing that she had lost precious moments by stopping. The growling was growing closer now and she moved to run again, only she could not move her feet. She stared wildly around, first in the direction of the sound, and then at the rock. She realized that she was going to die.
The animal had finally reached the clearing, and had just stopped mere five feet away from Ginny. She breathing was hard and she knew that it smelt her fear. It looked like a hyena, only it was about 3 times larger and hundred times more hideous. She looked on in fear as the creature slowly began to morph into a human being. A dark ugly human with foul eyes.
"What do you want with me?" she asked him. He merely smiled with his rotting teeth, and licked his lips with his black tongue in answer. She looked over at the sword once more. The heart-shaped stone was now bleeding. She tugged on the blade again and this time she was able to remove it. She wielded the sword and pointed it and him.
"Why thank you," he finally spoke.
"For what?" Ginny asked despite herself, confused as to why he would be thanking her for pointing a sword at him.
"For giving me my knife back," he said as he effortlessly plucked it from her hands. "It's been stuck in there for so long and now thanks to you, I have it again."
She watched him with loathe as he licked the blade while staring at her with lustful eyes as he did so. "You are despicable," she said to him.
He grinned a grin that bore only malice, with those ugly teeth of his. "Maybe so," he replied to her. Then, he pulled her close to him and planted a kiss on her lips. "Sweet wasn't it?" She wretched in answer and he laughed. Still holding onto her, he spun her around so that her back was now facing him, and he pulled her close. Placing his free hands on one of her breasts, he moved his hips in a circular motion against the back of her, rendering his swollen groin close to explosion.
Ginny winced in pain as he held on to her. His grip was hard, and her already tender breast was now sore and bruised as he gripped it to keep her in place. She could feel him, hard on the back of her as he moved in circles against her backside. She was grateful that at least her back was facing him, so that she would not have to see his horrible face or breathe his foul breath. He mumbled something in her ear about wanting to reciprocate what she did for him, and as she feared, he ripped off her panties. He wrapped his arm that held the sword around her to keep her in place and brought her down to the ground, so that she was now in a sitting position with her back to him, in between his spread legs. With his now free hand, he shoved an extremely large finger inside of Ginny so hard, that she cried out in pain. She winced as he moved his finger around her dry insides.
"Awww not happy are we?" he mocked her. "Well how about if I try this?"
He maneuvered his fingers so skillfully that Ginny had to curse her body for involuntarily succumbing to him. How could she even be turned on by this monster? Her mind was dead set against him that was for sure. Her body felt so disconnect from her brain at the moment that she wondered if it would betray her by taking the knife from the creature, and placing it into her own heart. Her thoughts were stopped short at the moment as she was hit by the most powerful orgasm that she had ever had in her life. She involuntarily screamed out and he smiled behind her.
He withdrew his hand from the Weasley woman at the peak of her orgasm, and he heard her groan she replaced her own hand so that she could continue where he had so untimely left off. He licked his fingers, tasting her. She tasted like nothing she had ever had before. He watched her as she moved her hand furiously inside of her, and then she went limp. He held her head back against his chest, and brought the knife against her neck, slicing her horizontally across the neckline. He let out a scream as his swollen penis exploded into the heights of passion.
………
Ginny woke up with a start. Her entire body was wet with sweat and she was trembling like a leaf. "It was just a dream," she said as hugged herself, rocking her body back and forth. Or was it? She knew she could no longer stay at the Borrow, as for some unexplainable reason she felt as if her life was in danger. She knew that so far the victims were chosen at random, since none of them had any connection to each other, aside from the fact that they were all young and female. It was probably silly of her to think this way, but somehow she could not help it. Maybe it was the stress from Charlotte's death earlier in the day or maybe it wasn't, but just in case, she could not place the lives of her family in danger. A very pregnant Luna was staying at the Borrow as she was so close to having her baby, that Ginny knew that she could never forgive herself if anything had ever happened to any one of them. She remembered with clarity the monster in her dream; his foul breath, the way he made her skin crawl when he touched her. But the worst part was that her body had actually gone along with this vile creature. She kept on consoling herself that with the fact that it was only a dream but she felt the need to get clean anyway. She got off her bed, grabbed a towel and headed for the shower.
………
He stood in his quiet corner smiling to himself. He had managed to worm his way into her dreams and his biggest conquest yet, had been getting her body to surrender to him while her mind had been against it. This had been another carefully laid piece in the intricate puzzle he was designing, and he thirsted for the day it would all be put together and revenge would be his. For now though he would have to be patient.
………
"I'll be okay mom, I can't stay here forever you know," Ginny told a worried Molly.
"One night is hardly forever, Gin and I am worried about you." Molly replied.
"I know you are, and I would be too if I were you, but I think he'll know better than to come back when he could so easily be caught this time. Life must go on and I can't live my life in fear. Let me do this. Let me go home." Ginny said, masking the doubt in her voice.
"Okay," Molly said reluctantly, "but if you want to come back at any time, we're always here for you."
"I know mom, I know." Ginny said as she hugged her. "Anyway I have to go finish making preparations for Charlotte's funeral tomorrow. See you and love you."
………
"She is finally with her family again, and I know that wherever she is, she is happy and she is loved." Ginny finished her eulogy. She went over to Charlotte's coffin. She had chosen to leave it closed, instead placing a picture of Charlotte smiling and waving on the top of it. The morticians had done a good job of casting a spell that made Charlotte's face look human again, but Ginny wanted everyone's last memory of her to be a happy, full of life one, hence the reason that she had chosen to leave it closed. She looked at the teary crowd, most of whom had known Charlotte. Some were close to her and some just mourned her because she had lost her life so young. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the head of silver-blonde hair, belonging to Draco Malfoy leaving the funeral. Excusing herself from the crowd that had gathered to hug her, she ran after him.
"Malfoy!" she yelled as soon as she was in hearing proximity of him. "Malfoy, wait up." He stopped abruptly and she almost crashed into him.
"What do you want, Weasley?" he asked as he turned to face her.
"Well, currently, for you to stop looking at me as if I am some sort of insect would be nice," she said sarcastically.
"I don't have time for this," he turned to walk away again.
"Wait," she said stopping him in his tracks once again. "I want to help you."
He looked amused. "Help me?" he asked. "How the bloody hell can you help me?"
"I want to help you find the killer," she answered.
Draco laughed at her ludicrous suggestion. "And what do you propose," he asked, "that we design our way to him?"
She huffed. "No you arrogant ass. What I propose is using me as bait. I mean he is after young women right and…"
"Yes," he cut her off "and I really need Weasley and Potter on my tail when you're dead right? Plus there is the small matter of you being a Weasley, and as much as I like doing charity work, I do not like it that much to ever entertain a Weasley, and one who talks too much at that."
She sneered at him now. "Look," she said, "I hate you just as much as you hate me, maybe even more so, but I need to catch this creep and nothing, and I mean nothing is going to stop me."
"Then why not go bother Potter and his freaks? Why come to me?" he asked.
"Because they play by the rules too much. They would never let me in on anything."
"And you think I would?" Draco asked in amusement. "Weasel, you have a better chance at getting information from a corpse."
"Think about it," she said completely ignoring his words, "you have the one thing that he'll be looking for. Beside, two heads are better than one."
"And the entire Auror division doesn't have one young woman that they could use as bait right?" he asked sarcastically.
She bit her lip, "I hadn't thought about that."
"Clearly," he replied.
"But don't you want that vantage point too?" she recovered quickly.
"Look Weasley," he began, "I know what you want and you don't have to be embarrassed to admit it. I mean, when I saw you eyeing me the other day I though it was out of pure hatred, but now that I think back upon it, I may have been wrong. But, whatever you may feel, I just want to let you know up front that I can never date a Weasley. It's bad for my image and all you see. So you might as well give up right now."
"Why you obnoxious bastard," Ginny began "I do not want you, nor have I ever wanted you. Just the thought of you makes my blood crawl, far less for wanting to touch you."
"You should be so lucky," he replied.
"To touch you?" she asked, changing her voice to a more seductive one as she inched closer to him, swaying her hips as she walked.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Chicken, Malfoy?" she asked.
"Do you see me moving?" he countered. "But as I told you, I am not interested. Now, please do not come any closer as I don't want to risk getting any diseases you may have."
"Then why don't you move?" she asked.
"And let you win? Never," he replied. She was dangerously close now and he could not help but notice just how pretty she was. Her long, red hair reached past her tiny waist. Her face was pale and glowing, a few remaining freckles from childhood spread across it. Her almond shaped eyes were a beautiful hazel colour and were surrounded by long, thick lashes. Her lips were pink and rosy. She may have been a Weasley but she was still a woman.
"Good," she said, as her face was merely inches away from his now. He had always been beautiful as a child, and now he had grown into a beautiful man. His piercing grey eyes had been his most beautiful feature. As horrible as he was, even she had to admit that he could sweep almost any woman off her feet with his dashing good looks. What a waste of a good man, she thought to herself as she pulled her right hand into a fist and brought it straight up to his jaw, causing him to stagger backward. "Grow up," she said to him as she turned to walk away.
………
Ginny cursed herself as she got to her flat. What was she thinking? She needed him to help her and now she had blown her chances. Or maybe all she needed to do was lower herself and apologise to the git. He was such an asshole that just the thought wanted to make her steer clear of him, but she needed him if only to catch the bastard so that she could feel safe again. She still had the card that he had given to her with his address on it, in her purse. She would go over there and grovel and hopefully he would give her another chance.
Ha, a Weasley groveling to a Malfoy. And one who is such a baby at that too. Who in the hell says things like, "do not come any closer as I don't want to risk getting any diseases you may have," in this day and age anyway? But if you want to get on his good side, you have to get a hold of yourself and suck it up, Weasley. You're tough, you can do this. It can't be worse than that time you had to sit in stinkweed for a whole hour just to get rid of those rare fleas that you had gotten from Dino. Though the stinkweed may have been a more pleasant experience. Okay, stand tall, chest out, you're going to take him, and you're going to make him realise that he needs you on the case. A Weasley never gives up. Ginny finished giving herself a pep talk, got some floo powder, threw it into the fireplace and said, "154 Crone Avenue."
…………
Draco sat in his office with a bag of ice held against his left cheek. Weasley had packed a good punch and his jaw was killing him. Damn her, she was good. He could not believe that she had called him a baby. It was not as if she was acting any older, using her body as bait and then punching him in the face. And what a body it was too. She had great curves. Her upper body was a bit on the smaller side, B-cups he had guessed, but it made her all the more sexy. They looked like two perfect lawn tennis balls. He could just imagine…
*Roar*
Draco looked up, interrupted by the noise in his fireplace, when he found that the very body that he was having not so P.G. thoughts about, flooed into his fireplace.
"Lucky for you or should I say unlucky for me that I did not have a fire going in there," he said. She immediately looked angered and he felt satisfied. He liked having that effect on her.
Control yourself Ginny, remember you want to get on his good side. "Hullo, Malfoy," she said sweetly.
Draco arched an eyebrow. "Is that all I get? Hullo, Malfoy? Don't tell me you plan on boring me to death?"
Ginny traced the tip of her shoe along his tiled floor while carefully thinking up her next line. "Umm, I just came to apologise for the way I acted earlier," she said reluctantly.
"You came all the way over here just to apologise to me. Yeah right, Weasley, what do you really want?"
"Why would you assume I want something, Malfoy?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you are suddenly being nice to me?" Draco replied.
"Fine," she said. "I will tell you but you have to hear me out before you say no."
Draco smirked, he loved being right. "Shoot," he said. "Finish telling me why you so desperately want to work with me."
"Because, Malfoy, Charlotte was my best friend and I loved her dearly. Because I am scared for my own life and I will never feel safe again until he is in Azkaban where he belongs. And most of all, because I deserve to be punished for my guilt and this is the best way I can think to make it up to her," she finished.
Draco's curiosity was peaked now. "Your guilt?" he asked.
"Yes," she sighed wearily. "I deserve to be punished because I was glad that it was not me who died. I mean I hate that Charlotte died, but at the same time I was so relieved that I was not there at the time. And it kills me that I am so selfish." She bowed her in shame.
"Hmm," Draco said thoughtfully. "Can't say that I've ever that feeling myself."
Ginny looked at Draco, shocked at how uncaring he could be. But then she remembered who his family was and this brought her back to her senses. Why would he even care about helping me? I am wasting my time here.
"Fine," Draco said. "You can help me but make sure that you stay out of my way of all times."
Ginny blinked, unable to believed what she heard. "Did you just agree to my help?" she asked, just to make sure she had heard correctly.
"Yes, Weasley," he said as if he was speaking to a five year old, "I said yes. And if you would get that idiotic look off your face, allow me to explain. You see, one of my greatest aims in life is to piss off Potter, and now I can kill two birds with one stone by pissing off both Potter and that ugly brother of yours."
"Nice to know that your life ambitions are so great," Ginny replied sarcastically.
"Plus," he said ignoring her, "there are the added benefits of what you can give me."
Ginny looked disgusted. "I thought Weasleys weren't good enough for you," she stated.
"But you are a woman first and foremost and I have needs that need to be fulfilled. Never let it be said that a Malfoy never gave to charity," he replied as he moved closer.
Ginny backed away. "Sorry to bust your bubble, Malfoy but there will be no fulfilling of your needs. Not now, not ever. See, maybe the sluts you sleep with are into one night stands, but I prefer being in a relationship where love is actually involved before I hop into bed with someone. Something that you obviously know nothing about." To Ginny's immense surprise, he nodded and backed away, going behind his desk, quietly to work.