Unofficial Portkey Archive

Coeur Corrompu

Chapter One

That day, That day

What a marvellous mess

This is all that I can do

I'm done to be me

Sad, scared, small, alone, beautiful

It's supposed to be like this

I accept everything

It's supposed to be like this

That day, That day

I lay down beside myself

In this feeling of pain, sadness

Scared, small, climbing, crawling

Towards the light

And it's all I see

And I'm tired and I'm right

And I'm wrong

And it's beautiful

Natalie Imbruglia - That Day

Taking a deep breath, Virginia Weasley rolled over in bed. Dozily she opened an eye and tried to focus on the digits displayed by her alarm clock. A smile played about her lips, and she relaxed back into her pillow. '9:15,' she murmured, letting her eyelids drop close again. A second later she sat bolt upright, her messily tied up hair flopping down in front of her face. '9:15…' She repeated and bit at her lip for a second. 'Merlin!' She screeched angrily.

Outside a bird tweeted happily and the golden rays of the sun had lit up the world. It seemed all so ironic to Ginny. Quickly she tried to untangle herself from the quilt and stood up in the middle of her room, looking round her at the mess. She sighed, her shoulders slumping forward. There she stood, her hair covering her face, her eyes swollen and puffy and her clothes all crumpled. Things couldn't get any more worse then they already were. Hurriedly, she climbed out of her pyjamas and searched the floor for a clean bra. She growled softly and pulled one out from under a pile of discarded clothes. 'Not like anyone's going to be looking…' she muttered as she flung open the wardrobe doors. Slipping the bra on, Ginny ran her hand through the line of dresses. Grabbing one at random, she pulled it sharply off the hanger and tucked it under her chin as she did the bra up. Then as swiftly as she could she pulled the dress over her head, grabbed a cardigan and shoes, and scooted out of the room at top speed.

Downstairs Honey the cat washed herself in the morning rays, totally oblivious to her mistress's distress. Ginny smiled at the cat fondly. Honey was like the order among the chaos. She was the only thing that never seemed to be affected by Ginny's feelings. There had been a point where she had been so angry that she had taken a tin of paint and covered the whole of one wall in the kitchen in black paint. At the time it had seemed fitting, but when she woke up, the reality had been infuriating. Yet there had sat Honey, same as always and somehow everything seemed alright in the world. Reaching down, Ginny smoothed the fur between Honeys ears and was delighted to hear a purr. 'At least someone loves me,' she said sadly.

Glancing round the kitchen she caught sight of her reflection in a mirror and gasped. Walking forward she winced at the horror of what she was seeing. Her eyes looked black and blue from crying and her nose was shiny. Letting out a squawk she quickly ran her hands through her hair to tidy it up a bit and fetched some foundation. There was no way she was going to go out with a shiny nose. After a strenuous couple of minutes, she looked at herself critically. 'It'll do. What do you think Honey? I think mummy looks…passable.' Honey mewed in agreement.

As she ran out of the house, Ginny thought about the previous night. It had been one of those nights, where you think about it all week before hand. You think about the perfect dress, and the perfect shoes, how to do your hair in a way that it looks like you haven't tried at all. It had been the only thing on her mind and she had done all of the above. She'd picked out the shoes and the dress; in fact she'd looked gorgeous. The night had all been planned out by the love of her life. The only man Ginny had ever had eyes for. Mr Potter himself. They had been dating now for 2 years and Harry had told her that tonight they needed to talk. She had insisted they go out to the best restaurant in Diagon Alley, being the silly little creature she was. Of course once they were there it had been downhill since. Trust her to choose a posh place to be publicly humiliated and hurt in the most inhumane way.

Suddenly she stopped half way down the path and took a deep breath. 'Knickers,' she muttered as she ran back into the house.

***

The door in front of her made her stomach turn. Eventually she would have to push it open and face what lay ahead of her. Now though, she could collect her thoughts and map out how she would explain being so late. Looking down at her dress she noticed the creases for the first time. With a sigh she rubbed her temples gently with her cold fingers. At school she had learnt that the only way to overcome her fears were to face them. That thought in mind, Ginny stepped forward and pushed the huge door open.

The first thing that struck her was the familiar musky smell that she loved so much. It wasn't the best smell in the world, but it was one that she felt comfortable in. Memories of days sat at her desk, with the sun shining on her, sprang to mind. It was at times like that where she wished she was a cat, that way she could bask in the sunlight all day long. The first true smile of the day crossed her face, and she strolled over to her small desk at the front of the room.

The second thing that struck her was the lack of people. Normally there would be people milling in and out, and even if that didn't happen, her co-workers were sure to be milling about. A frown creased her forehead. Something just didn't feel right.

'Hello?' Ginny called out nervously.

As she spoke the side door to the main room swung open and she jumped. Generally Ginny was a jumpy, fractious person but working as an Auror's researcher was enough to put anyone on edge. The number of charms and curses that she knew off the top of her head were many. It wasn't all living in fear though, her co-workers made sure of that. She didn't get a lot of action when it came to fighting, but without her they wouldn't be able to find their prey.

'You're late,' said a soft cutting voice, which made Ginny smile with relief.

'Sorry, 'Mione,' she said with a grin, 'I over slept.'

Hermione Granger hadn't changed that much since she'd left school. She'd gone on to train to be an Auror along with Ginny's brother, Ron. It had seemed the only thing to do, their mission in life almost. Together they had set up a small office and worked with the Ministry to bring down Death Eaters. Voldemort had been brought down in the final year that Hermione had spent at Hogwarts, yet still people tried to bring him back. The war had been bitter and many friends had been lost. Once Ginny had left school, she instantly went to help those who needed her support. She knew she would never be able to fight in the way Ron and Hermione did, but something told her she was needed.

'Well, I'll let you off seeing as it's your first offence,' said Hermione with a slight smile. Today she was wearing Muggle jeans, underneath a robe of deep purple and her hair was pinned back with a single silver clip. Ginny always thought that her simplicity was her charm and could see why Ron loved her. Hermione of course was oblivious to his affections, which made Ginny laugh. It was so obvious!

'So where is everyone? I was expecting people queuing outside the door,' she said, walking over to her desk and sitting down in the larger then life chair.

'The Ministry called in and said they wanted us to concentrate on one case for them. Apparently they need to find this person, but they won't tell us why. I have a suspicion that it has something to do with some of the recent disappearances of suspected wizards.' Hermione said evenly, sitting in the chair opposite Ginny. 'The file will come in soon. I'll need you to work really hard on this one, I'm afraid.'

'That's alright,' Ginny said wistfully, opening up a draw, and then closing it again.

'Is there something wrong Gin?' Hermione said her voice laced with concern.

'Yes,' she replied simply. 'Harry dumped me.'

The silence that stretched through the room seemed like a dull buzzing. Ginny could tell this hadn't been what Hermione had expected. Harry was wonder boy and could do no wrong in her eyes. This didn't surprise her though. Harry was almost unrealistically perfect. After the fall of Voldemort, he wanted to escape the world that had built up around him. He wanted to be free of the fear. With that in mind, Harry had turned down joining Hermione and Ron and taken to playing Quiddich with the best of them. Now he was one of the wizarding world's best seekers, and had been Ginny's man. That wasn't true anymore though.

'Oh…' Hermione said finally, her forehead creasing into a frown. 'I'm so sorry, Gin. I had no idea he was going to do that.'

'Yeah well,' Ginny said as she busied herself with some papers, 'Came as a bit of a shock to me too.'

Hermione watched her friend with concern. Finally Ginny looked up and gave Hermione the best smile she could muster without bursting into tears. 'I'll be fine 'Mione. It hurts like hell, but I'll get over it.' Eventually, she added mentally.

'I know there's nothing I can say to help but…' she was cut off by a flash of blue light, and a heavy file of paper landing on the table. Ginny jumped back slightly, and coughed as the wave of dust hit her.

'Merlin! This guy is either really old or really bad…' Ginny muttered, waving her hands to clear the air. In front of her lay a high pile of papers, all one file on this one person. A sigh escaped her lips. 'Looks like its going to be another late night at the office.'

Hermione chuckled gently. 'Well I'll leave you to it. I said I would have a training session with Ron for a couple of hours.' Slowly she eased herself out of the chair and stretched. As she turned away she said softly, 'If it gets too much Gin, I'm always here for you.'

'I know,' whispered Ginny as she opened up the file to reveal a face staring up at her, with intense silvery eyes, which seemed to be everywhere at once. 'Hermione?'

'Yes?' She replied as she was opening the door to leave.

'Who is this? He looks very…familiar…' Ginny said as her eyes roved over the features presented before her. It was almost bewitching to her.

'Well it would be,' she said with a soft laugh, 'I knew one of these days I'd get the chance to hunt down Draco Malfoy.' With that she left, slamming the door behind her.

'Oh…'

***

To the west, the sun was beginning to set taking with it the day and bringing forth the night. All day Ginny had sat at her desk reading through Draco Malfoy's file. It was like an epic, going from one twist to another. For a researcher like herself, it was the perfect file. It had all the adventures, where he'd been, who he'd worked with, his social status and most of all lots of anomalies. Gaps in the stories that didn't fit in with his actions. Occasionally her eyes would flicker back to the picture on her desk and she would think about the changes in his face.

At Hogwarts, Draco's face had looked a lot smoother, almost flawless in fact. In this picture however, Ginny could clearly see the toll that a hard life had had on him. Even though his face had weathered slightly, his skin was still a pale white, and his hair blonder then blonde. She smiled slightly. This boy manifested everything she had hated at school and now it felt like he was getting his just desserts. The only problem she had with this was those eyes. One glance at them and you were snared. The first thing in the file had been a personality profile given by various people. Some praised him, others despised him, but one woman had put something very simple.

"His eyes are windows to his soul. Once you've glimpsed upon it you will never be the same again."

This had made Ginny laugh. Obviously this was some woman that Draco had had his wicked way with. Visions of Pansy sprung to mind and Ginny found herself imagining her at the Ministry all moon eyed, describing her man. Just in case this was relevant though, Ginny had jotted down on her list of assets, "eyes".

At this present point in time though, the room was beginning to darken, with the shadows of the night consuming the small office. Ginny sat alone, reclined far back into her seat, her legs tucked under her, and the file spread open on her knee. As she flicked the last page open she gasped at what confronted her. A death certificate. This was different to what she normally had. Surely if the Ministry wanted to find Draco they should look in his grave. Then a thought struck her, a faked death. It wasn't uncommon with hunted men to fake their own death as means of escape. Well this was going to make it a lot harder. 'Why me?' she muttered to the darkness.

After a couple of minutes of thought, Ginny stood up and pulled her wand out of her handbag. Clutching the file to her chest she whispered the words and soon found herself stood in her living room. She smiled satisfactorily. Last time she'd tried apparition from the office she'd lost her favourite shoes. Dumping the file down on her coffee table, she lit a couple of candles and walked into the kitchen. Glancing outside she noticed an owl and swiftly had a window open. The huge tawny owl fluttered in and landed on her work surface. She clucked at it testily. Quickly she took the note from its legs and unfurled it.

Dearest Ginny,

I can't leave you on these terms. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please talk to me.

Harry

'Yeah right,' she said storming back into the living room. 'I'll show you bad terms.'

With that she held the parchment up to one of the candles and let the fire burn it. Holding it to her face, she watched the dancing flames slowly consume it. A sigh escaped her lips, all the anger slowly draining from her body. She was too tired for this. Dropping the parchment into a bin, she muttered a spell and the fire was smothered. 'Back to work, aye, Honey?'

She turned round to get the file and stopped suddenly. In that precise moment her heart stopped beating and she felt like crying forever. Instead of the file being where she had left it, there was a single lily and a note that read:

Let this rest in peace

Ginny closed her eyes and screamed.

!!