A/N- Again, I know that I haven't updated in quite a while, but if you read my latest one shot, "The Blower's Daughter," I do say that this chapter was being a pain. Now as to the story, you might get confused in this chapter, you will have questions, and of course, I shall try my best to answer them in the vague way that I do. ;D
Chapter 10- Catalyst
"Name?"
"Pansy Parkinson."
"Visiting?"
"Draco Malfoy."
"Do you have proper clearance?"
"What does the note say?"
"Ah, yes. Sorry, miss; I didn't see Mr. Zabini's signature. Here's your visitor's pass."
"Thank you."
The guard gave Pansy a curt nod as she passed through the double doors, grabbing the note from Blaise as she did so.
She couldn't help but smirk at how she got Blaise to sign off for her clearance. She loved the man like a brother, but he was a tool. Period. It wasn't that Blaise was not intelligent, because he was, but if one were to give him a paper and ask him to sign off on something like, oh, say, a petition asking for better wages for those working in his department, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he would do it without a moment's hesitation. As long as it'd advance him in the Ministry or make it seem like he's the better man, he'll do it. So Pansy took her little request form over to Blaise's office with that same idea in mind and Blaise signed it, not even noticing what he was signing off on.
It felt good to have connections.
But to say the least, Pansy was initially shocked when she heard that Blaise was attempting to court one of the psychologists at St. Mungo's. For a while, one of Zabini's main priorities was trying to fuck any new intern that entered his department, or even the Ministry for that matter. Pansy only had one thought on the matter: May God have mercy on the poor girl's soul.
But she didn't decide to get off her arse and visit Draco because of Blaise. Oh no. Nor was she visiting his Royal Bastardness because of Weasley. In fact, Pansy came to respect the red-headed witch in her efforts to help Draco. Turns out Ginny Weasley wasn't as bad as she thought she was.
Pansy started to slow down her step; she would be at Draco's cell soon enough. Thinking back, she realized that she hadn't visited Draco since last summer and on a whim at that. In her mind, she felt the little arse hole was biding his time until some stupid bint came along and deem him clinically sane. And he came close, several times, in fact, but that Ginny Weasley wasn't one of those "stupid bints."
She paused in front of Draco's cell, observing her once best friend. He was laying back-down on his cot, his butt inches away from the wall, while his long legs rested on said wall, crossed. He couldn't see Pansy thanks to his angle and she was thankful for that; she wanted the advantage when she entered. She heard a faint whistle from within and figured it was Draco's doing.
Pansy looked down at the guard on duty, a small, balding man, who was currently asleep in a fold-out chair near the door of Draco's cell.
It's a wonder Draco hasn't escaped, Pansy thought with an eye roll.
She bent down and gently tapped the man on the shoulder, who awoke with a snort.
"Wh-what? What did I miss?"
He looked up to see Pansy and stood up at full attention. Pansy raised one perfectly crafted eye brow before explaining why she woke the man.
"I'm terribly sorry for waking you, but I'm here to visit the prisoner you're supposed to be guarding. And if the pass dangling around my neck doesn't rest your little troubled head, then yes, I do have proper clearance."
The guard squinted at the pass before doing an about-face in order to remove the wards around the door of Draco's cell.
With a whispered "thank you," Pansy entered her friend's cell.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ginny felt bad for Luna's tawny barn owl. She really did. The poor creature was forced to carry all seven profiles that Luna had unearthed from the records room at St. Mungo's.
Upon seeing the owl struggling to maintain its height in front of the window to Ginny's kitchen, she let it in, watching it careen onto the small island in the middle. For a minute, she was briefly reminded of the Weasley family owl, Errol.
Placing the knife she was holding on the granite countertop, she walked over, immediately freeing the bird of its load. With a quick look over to see if it was fine, Ginny gave the owl a few treats before sending it off.
On top of the stack of manila folders was a letter with Ginny's name scribbled across it in Luna's familiar, looping handwriting. Ginny picked up the letter and tossed it to the side; she'd read it later.
She was about to pick up the pile of files before remembering something with a snap of her fingers.
She walked back over to the countertop where she had placed her knife and put it away, deciding to order out that night instead of making herself dinner.
After placing a quick call to her friendly neighbourhood Japanese restaurant, Ginny gathered the profiles and headed over to her living room, plopping herself on the large sofa. Her dinner wouldn't be at her door for another thirty minutes, so she had some time to kill.
Glancing at the name printed across the first profile, Andrea Lowe, Ginny flipped open the folder.
* * * * * * * * * *
Pansy's midnight black pumps echoed on the tile floor of Draco's cell, causing the blond young man to swing his legs around and sit up to look at his new visitor.
Draco got up with a smile, pleased to see someone other than his doctor.
"Why, Pansy, what a -"
Crack!
Within a span of five seconds, Pansy had reared her arm back and placed a perfectly executed slap across Draco's face with a lovely crack.
Instinct taking over, a thoroughly shocked Draco placed a hand to his stinging cheek, allowing the sound of Pansy's slap to reverberate before her decided to speak to his friend.
"Unholy fuck, woman! What in the bloody hell was that for?"
"You fuck around with your mother again and you'll be begging Weasley to send you back to Azkaban, you fucking arse hole."
"What do you mean I fucked around with my mother? My mother is perfectly fine, not to mention sane, you bloody bint."
"Don't tell me you haven't notice how depressed your mother has gotten lately? And don't tell me it's because it's getting close to the six year anniversary of Lucius's death, because I sure as hell know it's not."
"Depression? Pansy, my mother was quite happy the last time she visited."
"That's only because she was near you, but Draco, she's been acting rather off lately."
"More so than normal?"
"I'm serious, you idiot. I know Narcissa's always been a bit aloof and at times eccentric, but you should have seen her at her birthday party."
"Why? What happened?"
"The entire night she behaved as if in a trance and no matter who she talked to, no one could pull her out of it. She won't talk to me, Saphira, or Sophia anymore and whenever someone mentions you, she starts crying uncontrollably. You've done something to her, Draco, and I'll be damned if I let this shite continue."
"Well, besides the fact that I'm her precious prodgeny, why does she care about me so much? What about her sister, Aunt Bella? In case you haven't noticed my dear Ms. Parkinson, Bella's in the same position as I am, mentally, at least."
"You know, for a mentally unhinged patient, you do make a very valid point."
"I do try," Draco replied with a goofy smile.
"Well, now that we know that maybe your mother should sign up as Ginny's next patient, how is the little Firebrand treating you?"
"Very well, I must say. I believe that -"
Draco was cut off by an incessant tapping on the glass of his cell.
Pansy whipped her head around, causing the guard to jump. He signalled to her with a jerk of his thumb towards the exit. She turned back to Draco with a pout.
"Oh, poo. I guess our little chat has come to an end. Just remember what I said about your mother, Draco, and maybe I won't slap you the next time I see you."
In response, Draco saluted Pansy before she strode out of the cell.
She's clueless.
* * * * * * * * *
Upon opening the file, Ginny was greeted with the picture of a smiling young woman. Her hair was, just as Draco said, chocolate brown, except her long mane was currently pulled back into a loose plait. And also as Draco had said, she was very pretty. As Ginny looked at the picture, a seemingly friendly Andrea Lowe smiled and waved every now and then.
Ginny placed the photograph off to the side and picked up Andrea's extensive file.
She was from your normal Irish Wizarding family, but because she was born a squib, she was never able to attend Hogwarts much like her older brother, William, did. As a result, her parents put her through the local school system and she went on to receive her psychology degree at the University of Dublin. Four years after graduating, she was approached by the Board of Psychologists at St. Mungo's to join their staff. At the time of Draco's transfer over to St. Mungo's from Azkaban, Andrea was assigned to various patients; often times juggling two or three at the same time.
Andrea was assigned to Draco by St. Mungo's, not by Narcissa Black. About two months into her assignment, observations were made by her colleagues regarding her behaviour and treatment of Draco, citing that she didn't treat him as a patient, but more like a "best mate;" a claim Andrea vehemently refuted. Nonetheless, enough evidence of her treatment of Draco warranted an investigation from the Board and the eventual discovery of…
"Hm. That's odd," Ginny said, looking at the parchment. Apparently, someone smudged out the remaining portion of Andrea's profile. Ginny could only make out the word "facility."
Scratching the nape of her neck, Ginny placed the profile on the floor, grabbing the next one.
The next one belonged to one Natasha Atkinson.
Ginny opened Natasha's profile with a bit of a gasp. Draco wasn't lying when he said that Ginny looked like Natasha. Of course there were slight differences here and there in the eye colour, nose and face shape, but the staples were there: the red hair, the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, even their smiles were eerily alike.
Shivering slightly, Ginny reluctantly placed the picture of a clearly confused Natasha to the side and read the small profile.
Not much was known about Natasha by the St. Mungo's staff. She was originally from Glasgow, but moved to Belfast after dealing with problems within her family. She was a half-blood; her mother, a Muggle and her father, a wizard. She went to a small university in the Belfast area to receive her psychology degree and applied at St. Mungo's as an intern some five months later. She came to be Draco's psychologist on recommendation of her mentor and his previous psychologist, Beatrix Walker. She stayed on as his psychologist for six months until Narcissa Black intervened, dismissing her from her job.
The official profile stopped there. But there was a side note at the bottom. The print was smaller than that of the profile and Ginny nearly missed it. It was one line that read as such:
Natasha was last seen living in Liverpool.
Well, there's something, Ginny thought as she heard a knock on the door.
Jumping off of the sofa, Ginny raced to the front door, Muggle money in hand, ready to eat.
She opened the door to see the usual delivery boy, a young man by the name of Jun Li, who was in fact Chinese. Go figure.
"Hi, Jun," Ginny greeted, handing him the money.
"Here you go, Ginny. Enjoy," he replied, exchanging Ginny's food for the money.
"You know I will," she replied with a smile, closing the door.
* * * * * * * * *
Two hours, eight profiles and a snapper and tuna roll later, Ginny had nothing.
Absolutely, positively nothing.
The only two profiles that were of any importance were Andrea and Natasha's and those barely had anything to give.
So much for those, Ginny thought as she crawled into bed.
* * * * * * * * *
The next afternoon, Ginny found herself walking through the pristine halls of St. Mungo's Trauma ward.
Luckily, she didn't have to work today and she was hoping to fulfil her end of her bargain with Luna.
So dressed in a pair of dungarees with a crimson jumper, Ginny scanned the halls for Luna's golden mane.
Eventually, she found her, attending to a man with a massive arm wound, trying her best to console the bleeding man.
Ginny carefully snuck up to Luna, trying her best not to alert the young Healer of her presence.
"Excuse me, miss, but could you tell me where I can find the Healers' station?" Ginny asked with a smile.
Luna began to turn around, shouting out "Ginny!" once she realised who asked the question.
Luna wrapped the redhead in a big hug, grinning as she pulled away.
"It's good to see you too, Lu. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Did those profiles -"
"Excuse me, miss? My arm?" the man interrupted.
Luna shot up her hand, palm facing the man, indicating for him to cease his complaining.
"I'm so sorry, Ginny. As I was saying, I was wondering if those profiles were of any help."
"Only two of them and even those weren't all too helpful."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was hoping they would be. So, what are you in here for?"
"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could have our little lunch get together today."
"Great! My lunch break starts right about now," Luna replied, grabbing Ginny by the arm and leading her towards the ward's exit.
"Miss! Please, miss! I still need help here!" Luna's patient screamed out.
Luna turned around, smacking the palm of her hand to her forehead.
"Oh, right. I forgot all about him."
Luna scanned the ward before shouting out, "Hey, Simpson! Can you take care of this man for me?" To which a young woman with jet black hair nodded and scurried over to the annoyed patient.
Luna turned around to Ginny with a smile.
"I'm ready."
* * * * * * * * *
Ginny and Luna strolled along the streets of Diagon Alley, attempting to make a decision as to where they should have lunch.
After about ten minutes of arguing, the two stopped once they reached the entrance of a small, hole-in-the-wall tea shop. The painted, Arabic-style letters on the front window read "Mystique" with a slender crescent moon and a smattering of stars bordering the "M".
Ginny and Luna stepped inside, instantly feeling several degrees warmer, despite the lack of multiple fireplaces, like many restaurants normally have.
A hostess, dressed in blues and violets, sat the pair at a table near the front, placing two menus before them with a smile.
The place had an old world, Moroccan feel about it. Heavy silk tapestries scattered about, sheer patterned cotton as table cloths, plush pillows instead of chairs and brass chandeliers hung low over every table. Ginny and Luna decided it was a nice change from the high-scale eateries that were beginning to pop-up all over wizarding England.
After receiving their tea and a few cakes as a starter, Luna decided to begin her questioning.
"So, Ginny, care to tell me about this "Antonio" that you met while at Narcissa's party?" Luna asked before taking a sip of her tea.
Ginny, who was in the middle of taking a sip of her tea, choked and sputtered in surprise at Luna's cut-to-the-chase attitude regarding Antonio, before setting her cup down. She stared at it for a while, trying to formulate a proper description of Antonio. With a sigh, she looked up at Luna, who was staring at her with a blank look.
"Well, Antonio is…the thing about how I met him is that…huh," Ginny finished rather dully.
"Is anything wrong?" Luna asked rather pointedly.
"As weird as this may sound, I feel slightly uncomfortable talking about him."
"That is peculiar," Luna replied, stirring her tea.
"I know, but I have this nagging feeling that it's almost subliminal in a way. As if me falling for him signifies something bigger, something unthinkable. And each time I get close to feeling as though I know what it is, who I'm really falling for, I'm eluded once more."
"Well, tell me how you two met and we'll go from there," Luna suggested.
"Okay. When I was at the party, I was walking over to the bar when I bumped into him. I back-pedalled onto something and the next thing I knew, I was falling to the ground. Luckily, Antonio caught me in his arms. He righted me with a smile and introduced himself. I remember he had his hair slicked back and he was wearing black dress robes."
"What does he look like?"
"Oh! Right. He was platinum blond, I would say about ear-length, hair and chocolate brown eyes. He's a little pasty for an Italian, but then again so's his mum, Sophia. He's also tall and extremely well-built; muscular, but not overly so. Just a nice, happy medium. He's a perfect gentleman and a great conversationalist."
"Sounds divine," Luna said with a smile.
Ginny chuckled a bit. "I guess he is. You'd like him, Lu."
"Now how about those profiles…" Luna started.
"Eh…those profiles are the bane of my existence right now. The only ones that were of any help were Andrea Lowe's and Natasha Atkinson's, Natasha's being the only one that actually gave me a location. It's so aggravating."
"I wouldn't dwell on it too much, Ginny. You already put all of your heart and soul into working on Malfoy's case. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt him, or you for that matter, if you weren't so anal retentive."
"I guess you're right. But all I want is to just figure out exactly what his problem is, even if I do work too hard."
"I know you do, Ginny; it's in your nature. But even you deserve a bit of time for yourself as well. Do you have any plans for this weekend?"
"I do have a date this Friday with Antonio. Blaise and Alise are coming as well."
"There you go! I suggest you take the day off and do something in preparation for your fate with Antonio. And speaking of Blaise, tell the little prick I say hello."
"Will do. By the by, since when have you become a therapist?"
"I get it honest, m'dear," Luna said with a smile and a nod to Ginny.
A/N- Again, any questions, review! Thanks to Angel. I'd also like to thank everyone who has read and subsequently reviewed, sometimes just to get me to update! I really appreciate it. :D
Next Chapter: Ginny meets with Professor Chuffery nee Upland, Ginny and Alise's date, as well as
why Luna called Blaise a "prick". It shall be fun.