The Thrill

Phantom Keeper

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Mystery
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 5
Published: 07/09/2005
Last Updated: 07/09/2005
Status: completed

Long one shot, flashbacks, interrogation room fic; post war. :: Ginny’s been called forth by Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt in attempts to find out what happened with Draco Malfoy, the man Ginny had been assigned to hunt down. Slightly romance and mystery, more general though. HARD PG-13 to LIGHT R

Chapters

1. The Thrill

1. The Thrill

The Thrill

&&&&&

Long one shot, flashbacks, interrogation room fic; post war. | Ginny’s been called forth by Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt in attempts to find out what happened with Draco Malfoy, the man Ginny had been assigned to hunt down.

&&&&&

The room smelt of stale smoke. Nicotine, sweat, and alcohol was mixed in as well. The room was a like Muggles’ interrogation rooms in police stations. The size of a small bedroom, a steel table situated in the middle with three steel chairs, a one-sided glass window reflected the callous woman that sat boredly in on the right side along the length of the table. One arm stretched out, wrist resting against the table, hand flexed upward as fingers twirled her Zippo lighter. Her other arm was stretched around the back of the cold chair as she waited impatiently for the Aurors to enter the room once more. Her legs were stretched out too, right heel of her boot dug firmly against the cement while the left leg crossed over the right, hooking at the ankles. She’d been sitting in the same room for at least two days, being questioned by fellow Aurors about the sudden disappearance of the man she’d be tracking down; Draco Malfoy.

Ginny Weasley had rebelled against her mother’s ideas of a woman’s proper occupation, and joined the Aurors a year out of Hogwarts. By then, the war had ground to a halt in the blink of an eye, after the simultaneous deaths of Voldemort and Harry Potter. Anybody who was anybody had been involved in the war. All of Ginny’s family, Ginny herself too, which is how she got her taste for action. The thrill of being on the battlefield had convinced innocent Ginny Weasley to become an Auror. She’d witnessed death, destruction, mayhem, and part of her wanted to help make that stop. When she’d watched friends die, Harry, Padma, Luna, Neville, Colin, Justin, Percy, Moody, Sirius, Dumbledore, she changed. She wanted revenge against the Death Eaters for killing the people she loved. She wanted revenge on the ones that escaped from the battlefield as all watched Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort fall. That was deciding factor. But she was mostly in it for the thrill.

When she’d been assigned to go after Draco Malfoy, she knew why she’d been chosen. Not because she was best for the job… well, not qualifications wise. She was chosen because of what she looked like. At 26, Ginny Weasley had gotten past the lanky Weasley image, and filled into that form. She was, in all ways, beautiful. At 5’7”, Ginny had long wavy dark red hair to her waist, glittering blue green eyes, full lips, and a curvaceous womanly figure, which often had its advantages with the males when feeling restless. Her lips were bathed in a darker red than her hair, eyes rimmed in black liner and shadow, making her eyes striking. She wore sleek black boots, dark blue, low cut jeans, and a black top as revealing as a bra. She was right off the mission when she’d been nabbed, having no time to change into more slightly demure clothes. Her persona with Draco Malfoy hadn’t been much further from her own. She liked partying, enjoyed any kind of pleasure she could obtain, was interested in anything that could get that flip floppy feeling. That’s what she’d gotten on her mission.

Eyes looked up boredly as the door opened once more. A tall, well built African American man entered the room with a box in his hands, hazel eyes flickering from the box top to Ginny’s as he set it on the table. Kingsley Shacklebolt was usually the warmer of a duo when doing an interrogation with a fellow Auror, but that wasn’t the case with Ginny’s case. The short woman that followed him had a heart shaped face, crystal blue eyes, and, for the moment, curly, strawberry blonde hair. Nymphadora Tonks’ normally kind face was hardened, glaring at Ginny with narrowed eyes, not liking the fact that she was interrogating a friend and fellow Auror over the possibility of betrayal to their government.

“Aurors Tonks comma Nymphadora and Shacklebolt comma Kingsley sitting in with Auror Weasley comma Ginevra Molly. Questioning about the apparent death of Malfoy comma Draco Andros,” everything the emotionless voice of Tonks said was copied onto the parchment in front of her, parchment which she’d retrieved from the box, which held spare parchment rolls, quills, and ink bottles, along with the case files in case they were needed. Her fingers held the weathered paper flat as sparks shot from her want to right onto the paper. Everything said from there on out would be copied like a transcript. The role was about 10 inches, and the writing was tiny, but wouldn’t last the whole interview. They’d already gone through eight 10-inch rolls in two days. “Why don’t…”

“We go over it again? Starting from the beginning,” Ginny’s roughened voice drawled in boredom. She tossed her head back, letting out an annoyed groan, finishing it with a sigh as she straightened her neck. This was getting old. Every time her supposed colleagues entered the room, they asked her to go over it from the beginning, when she first arrived in Italy, “accidentally” running into Blaise Zabini, Draco’s best friend. From there on, she charmed Blaise, who had no idea who she was, or what of her lineage. He eventually introduced her to Draco, saying that they’d make an interesting couple. Draco, or Damien as he went be an assumed identity while in hiding, immediately took to Ginny’s wild nature, though she went by Nev in Italy.

“Actually,” Kingsley started, annoyance evident in his voice as well, “How about you start from the last week this time? Saves all of us some time. Maybe if you cooperate, and give us everything, we can go home sometime this century.”

“Aww,” lower lip jutted out in a pout as Ginny’s eyes snapped to Kingsley’s, “and here I was thinking we were just getting to be best friends. Guess there’s no matching friendship bracelets in our future, ‘ey King?” her voice was dry, eyes glittering with mischief as her tongue drew along her bottom lip. “Then again, if you want me to go home with you, let just have at it. I’m ready to go when you are. I don’t think Tonks would mind much, maybe she could join us. I also doubt the Minister would mind. Be the most action the man has seen in years.” Her hand lifted as a sneer quirked Ginny’s lips, fingers wriggling as she looked at the glass, “Hello Minister. How’re the wife? Kids doing well? Good to hear.”

“Miss Weasley! This has gone on long enough!” Tonks’ hand slapped impatiently against the table, a smack echoing through the small room, along with Ginny’s hollow laugh. “You’re acting ridiculous, unbecoming of an Auror. You will tell us now, what happened with Draco Malfoy, exactly, or you’ll have your badge removed, and be thrown into Azkaban until you decide to talk.”

Ginny’s laugh tapered off, a glimmer of a grin left in its wake as she stared at Tonks, “Ah, good ol’ Azkaban. Probably better than this hole anyways. Better food too, I suppose.” She said, staring at the plate she’d begun using as an ashtray, half a stale sandwich, and cigarette ash were covering the white porcelain dish. The sandwich hadn’t been that appetizing the day before, and Ginny doubted flies would even like it at this point.

“From your present attitude, I doubt the Dementors would affect you in anyway,” Kingsley mumbled from his perch against the wall. He leant back against the grey painted wall, the curve of his shaved head resting against it, chipped paint scraping uncomfortably against his stubbled skin. He hadn’t had time to do a hair removal spell since they’d brought Ginny in. Normally, bringing in the undercover Auror of a mission when a target suddenly turned up dead was standard procedure. However, upon closer inspection, Tonks and Kingsley had begun to realize that Ginny’s affection towards the target, Draco Malfoy, was real. They’d had people watching Ginny’s progress in Italy, people that Ginny didn’t know about. “Ginny, look, we have evidence that you may have fallen for Draco, and we need to know if his death was real. You have power to get him a full new identity, and we just want to make sure that the Minister isn’t overreaching.” That’s what Kingsley had said to Ginny the moment he entered the interrogation room the first time. That’s when the game began. “Ginny, you can end this now. One way or another. Just start from the fourth.”

“Which fourth? I’ve been on this case for 9 months, King. I suppose you mean two weeks ago. Alright, here we go again. It started like any day with Draco. We awoke after a long night of clubbing and sex, and went for breakfast at a nearby bistro. This time, we met Blaise though, along with Blaise’s bride to be, Zoey. Draco wanted to talk with all of us, the only ones he trusted, and because he thought an Auror was on his tail.” With a tired sigh, a Zippo’s cap was tossed open, thumb stroking the wheel to spark a flame as she began her recount of September 4.

&&&&&

“Long night?” Blaise Zabini, a tall Italian man with black brown hair, matching eyes, and in a pristine Italian suit asked with a wiry grin, staring at the couple that sat itself at his table, best friend Draco “Damien” Malfoy, and his girlfriend, Nev. He had an inclination that “Nev” wasn’t who she said she was, but left it alone due to the fact that she made Draco the happiest he’d been since going on the run.

“Not like that… well, not just like that,” Draco said, seating himself across from Blaise, a curt nod towards Zoey after a moment. His hands scrubbed over his face, lines etching it from sleeplessness and worry. “First, Nev knows who I am, which is why I brought her along. You three are the only ones I can trust now.”

Ginny looked at Draco with worry. She was surprised when she realized that the worried look that crossed her face wasn’t a faux one, solely for the purpose of maintaining her cover. It was genuine worry. She could tell by, not only his voice, but Draco’s last sentence, that something was wrong, “What’s happened? What’s wrong, Dam… Draco?” She pretended to slip up, supposed to be use to Damien, not Draco, and not having known him in the past. She knew she was lucky that he hadn’t recognized her. She supposed it was either 10 years without seeing one another that helped, or possibly because she’d finally charmed away her freckles permanently. Freckles and red hair were Weasley trademarks. Without freckles, she supposed she was just another red head.

“There’s a large possibility that the Auror’s have found me.” Draco dropped the bomb, judging everyone’s reactions. He noticed ‘Nev’ paled considerably, and gently placed a kiss to her temple, then he noticed Blaise was stony, seemingly frozen, and he heard Zoey snort into her coffee.

“What do you mean ‘large possibility’?” The blonde asked, fear and annoyance present as she raised her napkin to her chin, dabbing away a drop of black liquid before is splashed onto her pants. She had chestnut hued blonde hair cut in choppy layers to her shoulders, almond shaped hazel eyes, a slim figure, and impeccable style. She was dressed in soft grey, white pinstriped pants, white designer heels, and a soft white satin sleeveless top with a subtle ruffle following the v-neck. A square shouldered jacket hung over the back of her chair, the color matching her pants, in pinstripes as well.

“I know there’s one on my tail,” Draco confirmed how big of a possibility, “I know there’s one in Italy, with sole intent on finding me.”

“How do you know this?” To say Ginny was curious would be an understatement. She wanted to know what caused her to slip up after nine bloody months on the case. She tried to make it seem as casual as possible, while still remaining worried. He was either playing with her and knew she was the Auror, or she wasn’t completely screwed with this mission. Her mission had been to get close to Draco Malfoy, then bring him back to England to meet her family if they got close enough. She wasn’t allowed, legally, to apprehend him in another country. It would cause too much conflict between the British and Italian Magical Ministries. Another understatement would to say that she’d gotten close to Draco. She was living with him, sleeping in the same bed, showering in the same shower… sometimes at the same time, and possibly falling for him.

“I placed an unwanted visitors spell on my apartment. Wizards living as Muggles, or in Muggle communities, place the spell on their homes to ward off solicitors, the annoying people like that. I use it to ward off Aurors. A few months ago, around the time Nev moved in, it seems someone intruded and it set off my alarm. That’s why I rushed in that day, remember?” Draco asked, turning to Ginny. At her nod, he continued, “At first, I thought it was the guy the broke into Nev’s old place, but then I remembered I modified the spell specifically for Aurors. I put a highly sophisticated cloaking spell on the apartment, Nev, and me after that, to make sure they didn’t come after us again, but I think he’s back.”

“Or she.” Zoey cut in.

For once, Ginny wished the blonde would shut her trap. If Draco got to suspecting women Aurors, she’d be first on his list. Her apartment had been trashed by Ginny herself. She’d been upset about not being able to get Draco back to England, and not being as close to him as she’d like that far into the case, so she angrily threw things. Weasley temper, another trademark. As she surveyed the mess, and idea formed in the young woman’s head, and she grabbed a shard of glass, sliced her head open, and called Draco, telling him in a fit of tears that someone had broken into her home, slapped her around, trashed the place, and ran when she threatened him with a knife. He ran right over, taking her in his arms, and informing her she was moving in with him, “I doubt it’s a woman. I’ve heard that Ministries rarely send woman Aurors out anymore. It’s a shame.” She tutted, trying to derail Draco from the possibility Zoey brought up.

“Nev’s right.” Was all the Draco said, “Besides, the only two women close enough to me are you two.” Grey eyes looked fondly at the woman beside him, “And I know neither of you would do that to me.” He said, arm sliding around Nev’s shoulders, pulling her towards him. His cool lips pressed against her jaw line as he whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

&&&&&

Smoke flew from full lips on the ‘o’ of two. Halfway through her recount of the bistro, Ginny had lit a cigarette to calm herself. She however, left out what Draco said after declaring his trust for Zoey and ‘Nev’. “After that, we left. Nothing happened over the next few days. He remained alert, refusing to leave Italy, and run once more. Maintained his innocence, saying he’d been working deep undercover with Albus Dumbledore, and only Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter knew of this. Inconvenient how these three are all dead, and can’t help confirm or deny his innocence, ‘ey?” Ginny asked, licking her dry lips as she looked between the two Aurors.

“You sound like you believe there was a chance Malfoy was innocent.” Tonks’ voice was slightly accusing, eyes narrowing as she leant forward, elbows perched on the table as she searched for any indication on Ginny’s features and her eyes on where she stood on if he were guilty or innocent.

“Isn’t there an old saying ‘innocent, until proven guilty’?” Ginny asked smartly, grin gracing her lips as she took another drag from her cigarette. Nasty habit she’d picked up, but a satisfying one. The lazy drags calmed her like a tranquilizer, her eyes lulling closed in pleasure as the smoke burned her senses. What did she believe? Did she believe he was innocent? Did she believe he was guilty? There was no proof that what he said was true, nor that it was false. There was no proof that he’d ever actually killed anyone, yet that was what he was being charged with. Facilitating Death Eater activity.

“What about the saying ‘trust the one thing that never lies; the evidence’?” Tonks asked in irritation, disbelief flittering through her eyes as she entertained the thought that Ginny Weasley had either fallen or believed the innocence of Draco Malfoy. Their names alone meant they were sworn to hatred. A family feud that had never, and would never, dissipate from history. Should, by some miracle, Draco Malfoy have a child before he were captured by the British Ministry of Magic, and he would, and Ginny, or one of her brothers were to have children, their spawn would hate each other as well, and annoy Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, when they went to Hogwarts.

“What evidence?” Ginny retorted, “There’s never been physical proof that Draco Malfoy was in league with the Death Eaters. You all automatically assume he was, because of his father. Sorry to burst your bubble, strawberry, but he had no Dark Mark. And we all know those aren’t removable, or able to be glamour-ed away. And there were plenty of times for me to see it.” She drawled with a smirk, one identical to the man she’d betrayed for nearly a year.

“Did you now?” Tonks inquired, reclining back in her chair, trying to look casual as she really shrank back from the cigarette smoke. “So then, it’s true you two had a relationship.”

&&&&&

Lithe fingers stroked the skin over her arm slowly, drawing upward, and then brushing downward in a continuous motion as they lay in bed, wrapped only in a sheet as they began to drift into sleep.

“I love you.” His voice whispered, fingers stopping briefly as he waited to see if he’d receive an answer, unsure whether or not the woman beside him was still awake. He discovered his answer seconds later.

“Love you too.” She muttered as she drifted in and out of consciousness, snuggling deeper into Draco’s side as his fingers abandoned her arm, and ran through her hair instead as he too fell asleep. Moments later, Ginny’s blue green eyes snapped open, alert as she realized she’d just said that she loved Draco. Did she? Was it an automatic response that people had while drifting between states of consciousness? Like when they were told to get up, their normal response was ‘five more minutes’. Was hers a normal response? Something told her it wasn’t, and that she was in love with Draco Malfoy… and that certainly wasn’t in the plan.

&&&&&

“No.” Came Ginny’s firm response, “There wasn’t a relationship. There was a mission, and my orders were to get close to him by any means necessary, and I did.” Her tone was clipped, attempting to keep her voice, eyes, and movements hollow. If she gave away what had really transpired between she and Draco in Italy on their last few days, nothing would be the same… for anyone.

A loud sigh erupted from Kingsley, breaking his cool façade that had been in place since before Ginny began her tale again. His large hands scrubbed over his face, attempting to rub away the desire to sleep as he tried to remain focused on the task at hand. “Why don’t you tell us about your last day. In full detail. Than maybe we can all go home… to our respective homes.” He added at the little smirk, and eyebrow raise he got from Ginny, remembering her earlier words.

“When we awoke after post-sex sleep, we were still tired. We’d been fu…”

“Not that detailed.” Tonks interrupted quickly, before the sentence could finish being transcripted, “Get to the fight.”

“He figured out I was the Auror. He yelled at me, screamed at me. Called me a whore, a liar, the basic textbook insults, slapped me around a few times.” A new cigarette clenched between her index and middle finger left smoke curling through the air as that hand lifted to motion towards the bruise surrounding her eye, “I’d attempted to brush away his accusations, tried to salvage the mission. But, then he pulled his wand on me; I had no choice but to pull mine out as well. I fired body binding hexes, jelly legs, all the immature spells to attempt to immobilize him, but he easily blocked them. Things got heavy, going from body binding to incineration hexes. He was trying to make sure that my knowledge of his whereabouts didn’t get reported back to the Ministry by any means necessary. A Crucio and killing curse barely missed me. I was backed into a corner,” she turned the cigarette box on it’s left side, the bottom, then right side, then top, and continued turning the box in a circle as her empty eyes stared into the cold silver tabletop, “He was on the first syllable of Kedavra. I had no choice. The first thing that came to mind was the spell he’d fired at me earlier: incineration. He exploded… it smelt like burnt hair. You know, when you were a kid, and held a piece of hair over a flame because you were curious, and it curled? That sort of smell.” She said distractedly, carelessly flicking ash from her cigarette onto the stale sandwich.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny continued, “After that, I stared in shock as the ash from his body floated to the ground… dusting it with human remains, so to speak. I’ve taken lives before… on the battlefield, on missions, everyone has.” Her lifeless eyes looked into Tonks’ as she took another drag from the cigarette, “But I’ve never taken the life of someone that cruelly. I’ve read about incineration spells. A dying wizard subjected himself to the curse for research purposes here at the Ministry a decade ago. They recorded his thoughts as the spell was instigated. They recorded that it felt like someone sets you on fire… at first. Then every nerve seems to go into overload, and with the burning feeling, it seems like you’re being burnt alive, multiplied by a thousand. Then, after a few minutes, you explode, and that’s what hurts the most. You feel your skin tear apart, blood vessels, organs, your brain, everything either melt or burst. It’s worse than the Cruciatus curse. Which is pretty bad, seeing as that’s Latin for Torture. It’s basically you’re modified, enhanced, Incendio spell, which I’m sure you know.” She shifted restlessly in the chair, her back sending spasms of pain along her spine as she did, not liking the first real movement in over an hour, “After shock wore off, I went outside, had a cigarette to calm myself, and called the Ministry, from there I proceeded to wait for the clean up crew to come in, identify the remains, which was obviously impossible, and I was told to come home immediately.”

“But you didn’t. Records show that you didn’t return to your flat until the following day at 9… 13 am. Care to explain?” Tonks asked, checking the record log of when the Auror put on Ginny’s flat, reported in that she’d returned.

“I actually returned at 8 58. I remember, but I was in time for a morning talk show that was going to have Phoenix Rising performing. You know, that hot new band? The guitarist is a babe.” She said with a half grin around her cigarette. Taking one last drag, Ginny stubbed it out on the plate, discarding it with the dozen or so other butts. “Billings went on tea break. When I saw he’d returned, I waved to him, and that’s when he called it in.” She cleared her throat slightly, twisting her neck from side to side, working out several kinks in the process, “When I arrived at my apartment was when I left Italy. Girl’s gotta unwind after committing murder,” She noticed Tonks’ jaw twitch, and before the witch could open her mouth, Ginny said, “‘Justifiable homicide’, I know, but I still killed someone cruelly. Anyways, I stayed to tell Blaise and Zoey that they wouldn’t be meeting anyone at the bistro in the morning like usual. Then, I Apparated and went to a club in Prague. Like I said, girl’s gotta unwind.” Her fingers dug into the tear ducts of her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose, willing away the ache that had gone from dull to raging in under ten minutes. Her patience was wearing thin, and quickly too. “I think I’ve been very patient with the two of you, recounting how I murdered Draco Malfoy. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to bring him in, but that’s the way it happened. He discovered me, attacked me, and forced me to kill him. If you want my badge,” Ginny lifted her hips from the chair, and reached into her left pocket. She pulled out her Auror badge, and flung it onto the table, watching it skid to a stop at Tonks’ hand, “There. You can have it, and keep it. But can I please go?” She knew her tone was boarding on pleading, but Ginny could care less right now.

Two identical sighs echoed through the room, after a long silence, making it seem like the loudest noise possible, like it could shatter eardrums, and cause people to cry out in pain. Tonks was the first one to actually look at Ginny. Really look at her. She saw vulnerability, uncertainty, fear, hate, as well as several emotions Tonks couldn’t pinpoint. “You’re free to go. We have enough to present to the board. We’ll try to get your badge reinstated, Ginny.”

Ginny stood up quickly, stuffing her cigarette box into her pocket, along with her lighter. Her eyes hardened immediately, façade back in place, “Don’t do me any favors.” She took a deep breath, and stretched her tight muscles, “Wish I could say it’s been fun, but… well, frankly, it hasn’t.” Her eyes looked to the mirror, where she knew the Minister of Magic was standing on the other side, she raised her hand, index and middle finger poised against her forehead as she pretended to salute the older gentleman on the other side as she rounded the steel table, heading for the door. As her hand reached for the doorknob, she felt a shock run through her arm, overloading her senses for a moment, “Damn it, Tonks!” She growled, blinking away the stars that danced before her eyes as she shook off the feeling that had just passed through her, “What the hell?”

Tonks stood, standing in front of the younger woman, “Ginny, I know you. I’ve known you half your life. Please, please do not spit on our friendship.” Noticing Ginny’s confused expression, she elaborated, “Are you, or are you not, lying about killing Draco Malfoy?” She asked softly, eyes pleading for the truth. She knew that Ginny was holding something back. What it was, Nymphadora Tonks was for once in her life, unsure of. At the moment, she was entertaining the thought that Ginevra Weasley had fallen for her family’s enemy. Their enemy.

“Let me out of here now.” The red haired vixen enunciated each word through gritted teeth, hand wrapping around the doorknob, taking the shocks the lit up her eyes, frizzed her hair, and sent her arm into a numb state. Once the feeling passed, she knew that the protective wards had been removed from the door, so she threw the offending barrier open, stalking out of the interrogation room, and the Ministry altogether, forgetting about her promise to stop by her father’s office to assure him she was alright, like she had when they’d brought him into the interrogation in an attempt to break her down quicker. Ginny was aware that they still thought she was holding back, and as a smirk lifted her lips once outside in the autumn air of England, she realized that she’d just gotten away with something much bigger than the Ministry was aware of. They had no idea. No real idea.

&&&&&

“Nev? What’s wrong?” Draco asked as he examined his girlfriend. She was sitting on their couch, slightly hunched forward, knees firmly pressed together with her wrists rested between the small gap between the curves, hands clasped together. She was paler than normal, teeth gnawing gently at her lower lip, and when she looked up, he noticed tears shining in her eyes, “Nev?” He inquired softly, sitting next to her, hand rising to run along her spine in a comforting gesture.

She jerked away, standing up abruptly, shaky hands lifting to run through her hair as she stared blankly at Draco’s knee, lips pulled in a tight line as she shook her head, “I can’t do this anymore. Damn it. I can’t.” She whispered to herself, eyes clenching closed, and forcing tears out as she began pacing. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Draco.” She muttered, a sob escaping her throat.

Draco stood with a sad sigh, walking over to Ginny slowly. He didn’t want to startle her, his steps forward filled with apprehension. Hands lifted to wrap gently around her forearms, stopping her in her tracks. He smiled softly as his right hand lifted to her chin. His index finger pressed underneath, while his thumb brushed the swell of her lower lip. He pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead, “It’s okay. I know.” He said, eyes closing as he accepted what he’d learned about ‘Nev’. His right hand coiled around the back of her neck, as he blindly placed feather-light kisses along her face, until claiming her lips in a searing kiss. Passion, love, hate, anger, disgust were rolled into one kiss that had the other fighting for control. “I love you.” He told her once he pulled away, “Whether you’re Nev Jordan, or Ginny Weasley, I love you.”

A sob escaped her throat as her eyes fell to the Adam’s apple that bobbed up and down as he swallowed after saying those words. Her little fists began banging at his chest, “Don’t say that! You can’t love me! You can’t! Please, you can’t!” She cried, attempting to force him to take back the words by pounding his chest, even though it was futile. His arms snaked around her, pulling her firmly against his chest as she sobbed, giving up, and letting into the emotions that threatened to suffocate her.

“Ginny. It’s okay,” he attempted to soothe her; by telling her he didn’t hate her, or blame her. He explained that he’d known for quite some time, but he was in love with her, and would keep her around for as long as possible. But none of it seemed to help. If anything, it made it worse, as she became boneless in his arms, slipping straight to the floor, like putty in his arms. He knelt down, embracing her once more in his strong arms, refusing to let her go, even as her elbows dug into his abdomen in protest.

“No, let me go. Please, let me go,” she pleaded, “I can’t do this. I can’t turn you in when I love you.” Three little words, technically a vowel and two words, yet powerful all the same, transforming Ginny’s no-nonsense attitude about the mission, refusing to get attached emotionally as she tried to fight everything. Tried to fight realizing that she was in love with him. But the second she said it, she dissolved, “We have to do something. They know about you, we have to get you out of here, but…” A finger being pressed firmly to the center of her lips cut her off.

“Ginevra, there’s nothing you can do anymore. I’ve been running long enough. Three years is too long. I’ll go with you.”

“Hit me.” Ginny said suddenly, energy suddenly flowing through her as determination replaced sorrow. She looked up into Draco’s silver eyes, fire flashing through her blue green irises. She nodded once, confirming for the bewildered Draco, what she’d said, “Hit me. We have to make this look real.”

“Make what look real?” Surprise and apprehension lined the blonde’s voice as he stared down at Ginny like she had teetered over the edge of sanity and straight into insanity in a matter of seconds.

“I’m going to kill you,” she informed him as if it were obvious. She switched her weight from foot to foot as she prepared herself for a blow that she was sure would come, but unaware that Draco had no intention of ever hitting her. When she saw his reaction to her bit of news, she sighed, and slouched slightly, “Not literally kill you. We’re going to fake your death. They’ll interrogate me about it, I’ll convince them that we fought, and I had no choice but to kill you. You’ll get away, and you can live out your life.”

“Until someone spots me as Draco Malfoy.”

“No one will. We’ll… oh! Glamour spell. Everyone will see you with slightly different features, so you don’t have to completely change yourself. What about a new nose? Cause you know, it’s really pointy.”

“Ginny, what’s with your sudden mood swing? One minute you’re sobbing, the next you’re plotting my faux demise. What brought this about? You came here on a mission, why aren’t you going to…” It was his turn to be cut off as Ginny’s hands grabbed at his cheeks, drawing him forth to smash their lips together in a passionate, longing kiss.

“That’s why,” she said softly when they broke apart, she smiled slightly when she saw the dazed look on her counterpart’s face, “I’m not turning you in. I know their methods, Draco. They want information about certain things, and they think you’re a Death Eater, they want to know what the general plans of the War was, an if the Death Eaters still out there are looking to finish Voldemort’s plan. Draco…” She sighed, forcing herself to look into his eyes as she prepared to tell him what they’d do, hoping it’d have the full effect and scare him into her plan, “They’ll torture you, even if you say you don’t know anything. Several of them are ruthless bastards, who will continue to torture you, even if you do tell them something. If they think you’re a Death Eater, with or without information or the Dark Mark, they’ll break you down, and either drive you into insanity with the pain, or kill you.”

“The only thing they can do to hurt me, is go after you.”

Ginny sighed, rolled her eyes, and stomped her foot, all in irritation. “And they will hurt me if they do that to you, Draco. I know those people. I know this is new to process, that I’m an Auror, but you need to believe me when I say they’ll hurt you. Far worse than that man you shared blood with once, and were forced to call ‘father’, ever was able to.” Her eyes shined by now, “Please Draco, please.”

After a few moments of silence, and a staring contest, the older of the two sighed, head dropping in defeat, causing silver toned blonde hair to drift into his eyes, “I’m not hitting you.”

Ginny sighed once more, irritation present yet again as she narrowed her eyes, “Fine. I think I know someone who’s willing to,” she said as she stomped towards the fireplace, fingers curling around a handful of powder to throw it into the fire, calling for Zoey Daniels’ head. The brunette popped up, questioning look on her face, “I need you to get here right away, Zo. It’s an emergency.” She said with urgency, stepping back to wait for the woman. Her arms crossed over her chest, fingers drumming against her arm in impatience as it took the woman three minutes to Apparate from her apartment to Draco’s. “Good thing we weren’t dying,” Ginny stated dryly as Zoey Apparated into the living room.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened? Are you two alright? Did the Auror’s find out about Draco?” Zoey asked in alarm, noting tear tracks along Ginny’s flushed face, and Draco’s defeated look.

“Long story short; I’m the Auror after Draco, I’m in love with him, and can’t turn him in. I’m going to help him fake his death, and it needs to appear that we fought, so I need you to…” Ginny was caught off guard when the woman’s hand connected with her face, sending Ginny reeling towards the fireplace. Her hands splayed out against the brick before she could fully crash into the rough texture. She blinked, feeling blood trickling from a small cut where Zoey’s ring had connected during the backhand. “Hit me.” She finished as she raised a hand to wipe at the blood. “Nice.”

“You little…”

“Zoey.” Draco’s voice held anger, constricted with it, as he stared at his best friend’s fiancé and his girlfriend. The former had waves of anger rolling off her like a raging ocean, while the latter was the epitome of calm. “Leave.” He said in the same tight voice. He watched at she looked undecided, before realizing that she shouldn’t argue with Draco Malfoy, and raised her wand, jaw clenched tightly as she Apparated out. He melted, and was standing in front of Ginny within seconds, examining the cut that the princess cut diamond had caused to the woman’s temple.

“I’m fine,” Ginny assured him, “It was perfect. I knew I could count on her to,” she paused as she winced when Draco’s fingers brushed over the already bruising flesh by her eye, “get upset and smack me. That is what I needed. Now, you have to go. Get your wand, get a few things you need, and get out of here. I’ll mess up the place; make it look like we struggled, and whatnot. Get as far away as possible. Never come back to Italy, and especially not England.” She told him, hands grasping his face to make sure he looked into her eyes to see the sincerity. After a moment, tears began gathering in her eyes as she realized the weight of what she was saying, what she was doing. Her arms wrapped tightly around Draco’s neck, and she pushed her lips to his in another long kiss, savoring what may very well be their last moment together. She pulled away as slowly as possible, tears traveling down her cheeks as she pressed her forehead against his, “I love you Draco Malfoy. I truly do.”

A lone tear dripped from chrome eyes as Draco pulled away, pressing a final kiss to Ginny’s forehead, “I love truly you too, Ginevra Weasley.” He mumbled against her forehead, before detaching and walking away.

Ginny stood there, wracked with silent sobs as she heard Draco shuffling around the bedroom. Her small fist pressed against her mouth to keep in the sounds of her sobs, unwilling the let him hear, and attempt to comfort her. If he did, she’d never let either of them go through with this scheme to trick their magical government. She heard him walking back towards the living room, and hastily wiped away her tears, turning around with a sad smile as he entered, “Got everything you need?”

His eyes connected with hers, “No,” a sigh traveled through the room before he continued, “Is there any way I can convince you to come with me?”

“I wish I could come Draco, but I have to stay, and perfect this. I need to make sure you’re never thought about by any Magical government ever again, or they’ll never stop hunting until they see your dead body before them. Go, Draco. Go.” She said, as the desire to go with him began to become too great. She turned away from him as fresh tears leaked from her eyes.

“Why did you become an Auror?” Draco’s voice asked out of the blue. The question had struck him as he raised his wand to Apparate out. She didn’t seem like the type for the job, but then again, that was probably the point.

“The thrill.” She said with a smirk, even though he couldn’t see that, “Everything’s always been about thrills for me. Nothing would deter me if it got me that fluttery feeling. I always thought that becoming an Auror would be the greatest thrill in the world… but I was wrong.”

“What is the greatest thrill?” Draco questioned, noting that her voice let that hang in the air, meaning she knew what that greatest one was.

“Love.” She said simply, a small shrug of her small shoulders following. She waited a few minutes, still as stone, and just as quiet, until she heard Draco Apparate out, three words in his wake once more.

&&&&&

After Draco had left, Ginny had broken, collapsing to the floor in sobs, hot tears trailing along her face, leaving mascara in its wake. Before long, she was trashing the house in an angry haze, letting out screams of frustration as she threw vases, sent explosion spells at pillows, destroyed the place to back up her story, and release her anger at the Ministry, Draco, Zoey, herself, mostly. And even now, as Ginny walked into a club in England, wearing red leather pants and a black cut out top in place of the clothes she’d been wearing for two days straight, she was still angry at herself. She ignored grabby men, and jealous women, and went straight for the bar. She requested the strongest thing from the bartender, hands drumming against the bar-top in impatience as she waited for her drink.

“Hey.” A voice said to Ginny’s right, and without looking, she knew the guy was smiling at her, attempting to be charming.

“Not happening, buddy, so quit while you’re behind.” Ginny told him as her hand curled around the glass, and she tossed back whatever the concoction the bartender had made her. “Another.” She told the barkeep, eyes hard with anger, tone sharp like a serrated knife.

“What’s wrong?” The persistent man asked, “Got a bloke at home?”

“Sorta. But even if I didn’t, it still wouldn’t be happening babe,” she tossed back her second, and looked up expectantly at the bartender for a third, “I don’t go home with strange men.”

“Going home with a strange man certainly is a thrill. And I thought you were all about the thrills, Ginevra.”

Ginny finally looked up at the man, breath hitching in her throat as she looked into grey eyes, so much like Draco’s that she nearly began weeping with joy. “Do I know you,” she questioned as she looked over the rest of the man, not about to fall into a trap set by the Ministry.

“Then again, that’s not the greatest thrill,” He said, ignoring her inquiry on whether or not they were acquainted, leaning forward to press his lips next to her ear, “Love is, isn’t that what you said?” He whispered, before slowly pulling back from Ginny.

“Damien?” She used his false name, in case someone from the Ministry was in the bar as well. At the genuine smile that lifted his lips, she jumped on him, pressing her lips against his. She didn’t know how she’d missed it. Sure, his hair was a darker blonde, his lips slightly fuller, and nose not as pointy, but it was still his eyes. Not to mention their kiss sent off an explosion of fireworks, like every kiss, hug, and touch did with Draco. She pulled back from him, “Well, Mister Moore, it looks like I can go on that trip with you after all.”

His grey eyes lit up as he smiled, “Where to, Miss Jordan?”

“Anywhere, as long as you’re with me.” She told him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

&&&&&

Over the course of three years, Damien Moore and Nev Jordan, formerly known as Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley, traveled the globe, finding home in several places, before finally settling down in New Zealand, where they proceeded to get married. Blaise and Zoey Zabini moved to New Zealand as well, and with daughter Camilla on the way, they intend for Damien and Nev to be the Godparents, hoping that being around a baby would get the two started on their own offspring. However, the four in newlywed bliss, were unaware that back in England, a few very determined Aurors were still working on the Malfoy case.

&&&&&

God! I started this a few days ago, and I just wanted to continue writing this. I really had some fun with this one. I was even considering making it a full-blown fic, but I’m rewriting another story of mine, Haunting Visions. I did leave it open though, for the possibility of a sequel, which would be a full fic, but that wouldn’t be for awhile.

My goal with this was 10 pages, and I made it with 11 on Verdana 9 point, so woo!

I hope you all enjoyed this, and please take a few moments to reply with a review. I’d really appreciate it.

Also, this is unbeat’d, so sorry to the grammar police out there. I don’t think there’s any major errors, but I haven’t been to sleep in ages, so please forgive me =) Thanks

-- Ashley also known as Numbly Breaking