A/N- I blame the amount of fic recs I've been recieving lately for the lateness of this update. That and oodles of plot bunnies.
Chapter 12- Informative Adventures
Ginny woke up the next morning with a groan and silently thanked the powers that be that it was a Saturday.
But in Ginny Weasley's world, Saturdays don't mean squat.
The fact that she still had those leads to check out was hovering over her like a little black cloud. A potentially helpful little black cloud, but an annoying black cloud all the same. If gone about the wrong way, the black cloud threatened to rain on her, thus far, perfectly good Saturday.
So with another groan, Ginny yanked the covers off of her, sat up in her bed and yawned, going over her to-do list for the day.
One, go to Liverpool and look up a Ms. Natasha Atkinson. Two, go to St. Mungo's and see if they have any information as to a Ms. Andrea Lowe's whereabouts.
"Luckily, my list is rather short. Liverpool, though. That's a bit of a trek, but that's what Apparition is for," Ginny said after going through her list.
With another yawn, Ginny made her way to her shower, praying that today's work wouldn't be a complete waste of her time.
* * * * * * * *
About an hour and two cups of coffee later, Ginny Apparated herself to a narrow alleyway outside of a small pub in Liverpool.
She stepped out of the alleyway, hoping that she didn't look too shifty, and made her way to the street.
Within a few steps, Ginny found what she was looking for: a telephone booth.
Entering the booth and closing the door behind her, Ginny picked up the rather large telephone book, searching for Natasha's phone number, if she had one.
After three minutes of scanning over the small print, Ginny gave a small, "A-ha!" upon seeing a number for a Miss Natasha Atkinson.
Grabbing the receiver, Ginny entered in the number, waiting for the woman on the other end to answer.
"Hello," stated a warm, feminine voice on the other end.
"May I please speak to Miss Natasha Atkinson?" Ginny asked.
"This is she. May I ask who is calling?"
"This is Doctor Ginevra Weasley; a psychologist from St. Mungo's. I was wondering if you could provide me with directions to your house; I have a few questions I would like to ask you," Ginny replied in the most professional tone she could muster.
"Of course, doctor. Are you currently in the Liverpool area?"
"Yes, I am. Right now, I'm on," Ginny paused and glanced at the street sign outside. "The corner of Kirkdale Road and Lancaster Street."
"Alright. From there, you're going to go west on Lancaster, until you hit Stanley Road. Then you're going to make a right onto Stanley and keep going until you get to Great Mercey Street. Make a left, and go west until you make it to Heriot Street. My house number is 52 Heriot Street. It takes a good fifteen to twenty minutes walking."
"Thanks. I'll see you in about twenty minutes," Ginny stated before hanging up.
Ginny stepped out of the phone booth, the crisp winter winds whipping up her hair and reddening her cheeks. She took a deep breath and exhaled, watching the small cloud of hot air form before her.
Walking west on Lancaster, she prayed for the second time that day, with the same prayer in mind: Please let this not be a total waste of time.
* * * * * * * *
As Natasha predicted, it did take Ginny about twenty minutes to reach her doorstep.
Ginny knocked twice before the front door opened, revealing a sweater-clad Natasha, her red hair pulled back into a loose bun, a side-sweeping fringe partially covering her green eyes.
Natasha blew up part of her fringe, before deciding to pin it back with a bobby pin.
"You must be Doctor Weasley," Natasha stated, extending her hand.
"Yes, but I much prefer Ginny," Ginny replied, taking Natasha's hand with her own and moving it up and down a bit.
"You look freezing! Please, come in. I would hate to have you die of frostbite."
Ginny entered the small house, following Natasha into a rather inviting sitting room.
"Would you like tea?" Natasha asked, indicating for Ginny to sit down in one of the plush chairs.
"Oh yes, please," Ginny replied, taking off her dragon hide gloves and pea coat.
"Cream, sugar, or lemon?" Natasha asked as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Cream with two sugar cubes, if you don't mind."
A few moments later, Natasha re-emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray with a small teapot, two filled teacups and any other accoutrements that might be needed.
Natasha gave Ginny her cup, Ginny emitting a small "Thank you," before taking a sip.
"Now, Ginny, you told me over the phone that you wished to ask me a few questions?" Natasha asked, taking a sip from her own cup of tea.
"Ah, yes, that," Ginny replied, setting her cup and its corresponding saucer on the table in front of her. "Well, you see, I'm currently Draco Malfoy's psychologist at St. Mungo's -"
"I'm sorry. Did you just say that you were Draco Malfoy's psychologist?" Natasha asked, cutting Ginny off.
"Yes, but I don't see what the big deal is?"
"If I were you, I'd leave now and never give him a second thought."
"Why? I know Narcissa got rid of you, but Draco, or Narcissa, for that matter, never told me why."
"Narcissa got rid of me because I was the only one to see exactly what Draco was trying to do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is that he's using you to get to her. The first one. The one he wants but can never have."
"Who's 'her'? Narcissa? Some previous girlfriend that he's trying to reach?"
"You can consider her a girlfriend. Have you ever noticed if anything was actually wrong with Draco?"
"Well, he does tend to talk in third person, but that happens every so often. And he's also a favourite amongst the staff. But he's criminally insane, so there's bound to be things wrong with him."
"You see, what I learned was that he's not really insane. Sadistic, yes. But insane, not even close."
"What do you mean? Of course he's insane! Why else would he be in St. Mungo's?"
"Because his mother has the money to put him there. Narcissa couldn't stand to see her baby rot away in Azkaban, so she was able to pay his way into St. Mungo's. And about the insane part, all of his little quirks, like the third person thing, are for show. He just uses them to ensure that everyone believes that he belongs there. He really belongs back in Azkaban, but Narcissa ensured that I would never make that happen."
"So that's why she got rid of you? Because wanted to put Draco back in Azkaban?"
"Precisely. And when Narcissa realized that I was seeking to do just that, she replaced me. But now that I think about it, maybe he should stay at Mungo's."
"I'm sorry, but this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This just goes against everything that I've worked with these past two years. And you still didn't answer one of my previous questions: Who is this mysterious 'her'?"
"She is who I said she was: the first one."
"The first one of what?"
"I'm assuming that you researched into Draco's other psychologists, since that's how you found me." Ginny nodded her head in concurrence. "Well, did anything weird stick out from our profiles? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Ginny wracked her brain for information about the other psychologists; for anything that would be deemed "strange". Much to her aggravation, she was coming up with a blank. Ginny grabbed her cup of tea and took a sip, allowing the bittersweet liquid to slide down her throat, as she mulled over Natasha's question a bit more.
"Well, I did notice that part of Andrea Lowe's profile was missing, but that could have been caused by somebody spilling something on it, right?" Ginny asked, with a hint of uncertainty.
"Not exactly," Natasha replied with a slight wince. "Andrea was the one that Mungo's wanted to hide from the public. If it weren't for what happened, she would have more than likely gone on to be the Head of the Board of Psychologists. You should pay her a visit; I'm sure she could help you out more than I could."
"Really?" Ginny asked, excitement apparent in her voice. "Do you think you could tell me where I could find her?"
"I don't know where she is now, but Draco does."
* * * * * * * *
Ginny exited Natasha's house, a look of complete and utter shock strewn across her face.
That woman had to be completely barmy! Draco not insane? What was she on? LSD or something?
Ginny kept mentally repeating what she told Natasha not fifteen minutes ago: this just goes against everything. Everything she's ever worked for, everything she ever learned about Draco.
She had to speak to Draco and immediately. She had to find out where Andrea was now and ask her about Draco. Instead of relieving some of her stress and answering some of her questions, Ginny's visit with Natasha only created more problems; all involving a man who, as a child, wouldn't give her the time of day.
Ginny still didn't know why she was still Draco's psychologist. After all, he was nothing but unpleasant to her at Hogwarts, and he still is, even when she's nothing but cordial and at times, friendly. He treated her like scum, yet she still continued to help him. And Ginny wasn't exactly sure why. After a year, she learned everything there was to know about him; at least, everything he was willing to reveal. She was positive that by the beginning of summer she would be able to speak with Narcissa and inform her that there's nothing else that she could do, thus relieving her of Draco forever. But this was just more than she could take.
Right about now, Ginny needed a nice bubble bath and a nice steaming cup of chamomile tea.
But first, she needed to pay Mr. Malfoy a visit over at St. Mungo's.
* * * * * * * *
"Ginny!"
Ginny whipped her head around to glare at whoever tried to deter her of her goal: talk to Draco then get the hell out of St. Mungo's.
Her eyes softened a teensy bit when she saw Alise running towards her.
Alise made it to Ginny's side, panting heavily, trying to catch her breath.
"Ginny! I've been looking all over for you today. I really need to talk to you about something," Alise said as her breathing returned to normal.
"Alise, I'm sorry, but can't this wait? I'm about to have a session with Draco in a few minutes."
"But you don't have one scheduled for today."
"It's a last minute session. Alise, can't we do this sometime tonight? When I'm not in a hurry?" Ginny asked, turning to walk away from Alise.
"I wanted to ask you about Luna and Blaise."
Ginny stopped dead in her tracks. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know what happened between them the night of Slughorn's Christmas party your fifth year."
Ginny gave in with a sigh. She motioned to a row of plastic chairs along the wall with a, "Sit down."
Alise proceeded to sit down in one of the stiff chairs, while Ginny plopped down into the one next to her friend.
"Luna and Blaise were going out at the time of the Christmas party my fifth year. About a week before the party, Harry had asked Luna to go with him, as friends. When Blaise went to ask Luna if she would like to go with him later that week, Luna explained to him that she already had an obligation with Harry. Blaise became suspicious of what was really going on and basically turned into a jealous prat, even though Luna insisted that she and Harry were just friends.
The night of the Christmas party came and when Luna arrived, she saw Blaise acting a bit too friendly with some Slytherin sixth year girl, if you know what I mean. When she went to his dorm that night to try to apologize for the whole situation and knock some sense into him, she found him with the same Slytherin girl, in a very compromising position. Needless to say, she was heartbroken and the next day, she called it quits."
"Oh," was all Alise could say.
"Yeah. So, I guess now you know why I don't like Blaise all that much," Ginny stated with a weak smile.
"That I do. I'll just let you get on with the rest of your day, Ginny," Alise said, giving Ginny a slight nod.
"Right," Ginny replied with a couple of nods of her own.
Ginny began waking away from Alise, looking back every now and then to see the Asian girl staring at some indeterminate point on the wall in front of her.
Ginny felt kind of bad. It seemed like Alise really liked Blaise and then to hear that he cheated on a past girlfriend; that's a lot to take in. But Ginny also hoped that Blaise had changed. After all, he acted just as interested in Alise as she was with him. But that's what it could've been; an act.
Oh, hush, Ginny. Now you're just filling yourself up with conspiracy theories, Ginny chided herself mentally.
Clearing her head of such thoughts, Ginny entered the Criminal Ward at St. Mungo's, hoping to have a little chat with her patient.
* * * * * * * *
"You again?" Draco asked as soon as Ginny entered his cell.
"Nice to see you too, Draco," Ginny replied, a hint of venom lacing her words.
"What do you want this time?"
"Oh, nothing substantial; just some information," Ginny stated as she conjured her trusty plush armchair.
"Ah, yes. It's always information from me," Draco responded with a sneer. "It seems I am good for nothing else but."
"Will you quit with the snark and sarcasm already? It's bad enough to have dealt with you during school, but these sessions are quickly grating on my last nerve," Ginny snapped.
"Then why don't you just quit?"
"Because."
"That's not a good enough answer, doctor, and you know it," Draco stated in a hush voice.
Ginny cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure and control of the situation.
"Why I choose to stay with this job is none of your business; understand?"
Draco nodded his head in acquiescence.
"Why I cam here today is to ask you if you could tell me the whereabouts of a certain person. Someone I believe you know quite well."
"Really now? You know, I happen to know a fair bit of wizarding society. It might be hard to pinpoint just one person," Draco commented, buffing his nails of the lapel of his uniform.
Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes, continuing on as if Draco had never made that comment.
"I want to know where I can find Andrea Lowe."
"Who? I don't think I know her."
"Are you having a sudden bout of amnesia or something?" Ginny asked incredulously. "She was your first psychologist, you half-wit."
"Oh, that Andrea Lowe."
"Yes, Draco; that Andrea Lowe."
"Last I heard she was locked up in Azkaban."
Ginny's eyes bugged out at that last bit.
"Actually, Draco, I do believe we have the wrong Andrea."
"No, we don't, doctor. The last I heard of her was in the Daily Prophet. It stated that she was locked up in Azkaban. As to why, though? Your guess is as good as mine. St. Mungo's was pretty ticked off about the whole ordeal. She was supposed to be the Head of the Board. Once word leaked out that she would be shipped off to Azkaban, they panicked tried everything in their power to prevent news as to why she was going there from leaking out to the masses. Specifically Rita Skeeter; and with good reason."
"Well, th-that's really all I needed from you today, Draco. I shall visit you some other time," Ginny stated almost mechanically, getting up from her chair.
"Ginny, are you okay? I didn't shock you, did I?" Draco asked, grabbing Ginny's wrist.
And for the second time that day, Ginny stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at Draco before looking at her wrist with wide eyes, his hand still firmly around her wrist.
"I'm fine," she replied before wrenching her wrist from his grasp.
There was something weird about that touch and Ginny knew it. She couldn't put her finger on it, walking out of Draco's cell, but there was definitely something.
Maybe that bubble bath could help her sort out these pressing issues.
Besides, she was going to need it. A trip to Azkaban always required a level of relaxation in Ginny's mind. One needed to be relaxed around those creepy Dementors.
A/N- Angel's the coolest. And before you ask, yes those are ACTUAL streets AND directions in the
Liverpool area. I researched and figured out the directions. I'm pretty sure that the street that Natasha lives on
is residential. If not, meh. I plead artistic license.
Originally, this chapter was NOT supposed to contain Draco, but the darn dialogue between Ginny and Natasha persuaded me otherwise. Aren't you lucky?!
And before I forget, I've adopted the TFL.org approved fanlisting for Harry Potter Het Fanfiction! I HIGHLY suggest you join, not only because it's Harry Potter themed, but it's run by me. Here's the link for all your HP shipping needs: http://mia.starry-sky.com/hphet
Next Chapter: Ginny goes to Azkaban! It shall be fun. :D