Unofficial Portkey Archive

Shame on Me by Azure Black

Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the plot, all characters, places and reference belong to the almighty J K Rowling, we salute you!

Story Summary: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ginny lost him twice. Now he's back again with no explanation. Will she allow him back? What if he disappears for a third time? Could Ginny survive that again? A tale of love lost and found...and lost again. Set Post Hogwarts, during the War.

Chapter 1: Mundane Chaos

Ginny ran down the ward, panic and adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Lime green and purple flashed past her as she made her way through the hospital. The Medi-witch at the end of the corridor gasped, "Ginny, no, please don't - " but Ginny ignored her. She burst through the double doors to an unnerving silence. Her mother looked up.

"Oh gods, no!" Ginny exclaimed. Only her father's arms around her stopped her sinking to the ground.

Ginny ran down the ward, panic and adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Lime green and purple flashed past her as she made her way through the hospital. The Medi-witch the end of the corridor gasped, "You're not late again?"

She shouted something that resembled an apology as she skidded round the corner into the Healer's changing rooms. She quickly stripped out of her jeans and t-shirt into her purple robes. She shoved her mass of red hair into a messy knot on top of her head and taking a deep breath she hurried out to meet her staff witch.

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Ginny rested her head against the cold metal of the staff lockers. "I will not cry, I will not cry." was the mantra going through her head. Today had not been easy - today? More like the last 48 hours. Hundreds of soldiers had poured into St Mungo's, in various states of health. She didn't know why it continued to upset her so much, Voldemort had been launching attacks on the wizarding world for almost three years now.

They'd managed to stay afloat, always just beating the dark but at great cost. So many friends had fallen, today being no exception. It seemed Voldemort and the Death Eaters had attacked a camp of soldiers just outside of Derby on Thursday night. It was now Saturday morning and Ginny had finally finished her shift.

However many casualties came through the door, however long the war had raged for, Ginny never got used to seeing a friend or ally slip away. Today they had lost Dean, amongst others. She sighed, pulling open her locker. "Don't go there, Gin." Taking off her robes she grabbed her Muggle clothes and apparated.

She opened the door to her shared flat in West London. Melanie, her flatmate, was also a healer. She normally worked in the accidental magic reversal ward, but any healer available was now working in Emergency. Mel was obviously still at work. Dropping her bag in the hallway she walked into her room and not even bothering to undress, fell asleep.

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Ron Weasley entered the smoky pub, creasing his eyes up as he searched the small tables. His face broke out into a smile at the sight of his best mate looking slightly uncomfortable seated next to a hag in a lacy black veil.

"Harry." He called out, the smile turning into a grin at the look of sheer relief on his friend's face.

"Ron!" Harry leapt up, already steering Ron to the other side of the pub. "Thank Merlin you turned up then," he said quietly out of the side of his mouth, glancing back at the hag. "She had just recognized me." Ron didn't miss the look of irritation flash in his friend's eyes.

They moved to a table by the window, getting drinks on the way. Harry took a sip of his butterbeer.

"Right, what's so important that you had to see me now? I'm not going to need a firewhisky am I? Luna's not pregnant?" he smiled to show he was teasing, but his smile quickly faded at the look on Ron's face.

"Merlin, she is, isn't she!"

"No, Luna is not pregnant!" Ron said quickly. Taking a deep breath he continued, "I need your advice. Something happened, or rather someone has. Malfoy's back." He stopped, letting the words sink in. Harry just stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open.

After several moments of silence, he finally spoke.

"Does she know?"

"No, that's why I need your advice! Should I tell her?" Harry ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand up even more.

"Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, he was at the Ministry."

"Did you speak to him?" Ron shook his head. "Maybe you should leave it then. Speak to him first, find out what he is doing here before you tell her."

"That's what I was hoping you'd say!" Ron clinked his bottle against Harry's and took a large swig.

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Stolen touches. Urgent kisses. Everything forgotten. No War. No Death. No one else. Mercury turned to Slate. Passion. Desire. Need.

Dreams, that's all she had left. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to collect her thoughts. She rolled over to look at her clock, 9:36 am. She still had 25 minutes left of her break but there didn't seem much point in waiting. Sleep only meant more dreams of things she didn't want to think about.

She sat up groggily, reaching for her wand. Quickly re-doing her hair she left the healer's nap room to go back to the emergency ward. The chaos she had left two hours before hadn't died down. The number of injured was increasing but not the number of fatalities. Could the tables finally be turning? Was the end in sight? The Second War had been going for so long it was hard to comprehend that it could be nearing an end. How strange she couldn't remember what it was like not to be at war. Of course she had memories before the war, of Hogwarts and her family, but she couldn't remember basic day to day living before war entered the equation.

"Ginny! Thank God, help me get him to a bed." It was Colin, holding up a drooping soldier, his robes as bloody as the soldier's.

"Colin, are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

"I've got to go Gin, they're fighting hard, but we're beating the bastards!" and with that he ran to the nearest fireplace and practically jumped into the flames. Ginny sighed and steered the patient to the nearest bed.

"I need a Medi-witch and potions specialist, now!" she yelled out.

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She apparated to her flat, amazed she hadn't splinched herself, the state she was in. Despite being tired she felt good. The soldier had pulled through and would be fine, after a month at St Mungo's, mind.

"Mel? Are you home? She called through their flat.

"In the living room." Ginny followed her flat mate's voice, grinning as she imagined finding Mel spread out on the sofa watching muggle soaps as she often did. Instead she found utter chaos when she walked in. Mel had pretty much her entire wardrobe across the floor.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, throwing her keys down on the coffee table.

"We're going out." Mel said, not even bothering to look up as she rummaged through various piles.

"Oh WE are, are we?" Ginny replied, hands on hips. Mel looked up at her tone and grinned.

"Yes, Molly, we are!" Ginny looked slightly confused at the use of mother's name until she followed Mel's gaze, quickly dropping her hands.

"Fine, I'll go and get ready, but I am not staying out long, I'm absolutely knackered." She wandered into her room. It was cream and duck-egg blue, and quite bare but Ginny liked it this way. You didn't get a chance to be spacious at the Burrow. She pulled off her day clothes and set about picking clothes for tonight.

She settled on a pair of skin-tight jeans and a black backless top. She charmed her hair so it hung in wild curls that trailed halfway down her back. Using a glamour charm she rimmed her eyes in black and decided on a clear lip-gloss. Slipping her feet in to her favourite Four-inch heels, she grinned. She never understood woman who didn't like wearing heels, yes okay, so they hurt occasionally, if not all the time, but for Ginny it wasn't until she sank her feet into those shoes, did she feel the excitement of going out. This time was no different. "We're going out!" she thought, still grinning stupidly at herself in the mirror.

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Snakebite was situated at the end of Diagon Alley. The Club never had a queue outside; it was too dangerous to stand outside for long periods of time. As Ginny and Mel drew closer though they could practically feel heat and magic radiating off the building. They reached the entrance.

"Hey Jimmy!" Mel grinned at the large toothless bouncer.

"Hi girls! It's going down heavy tonight, looks like it's gonna be a good-un!"

He waved the girls through to the wand inspection point. Dropping her wand in, Ginny had a quick glance around. Jimmy had been right, it was heaving! Jimmy quickly checked the print out from their wands (the new form of ID in the wizarding world) and waved them through.

The club was dark and close. Hot bodies were crammed together on the dance floor. Mel and Ginny made their way through the crowd heading towards the bar. Ordering their drinks, they were soon pushing their way onto the dance floor.

The beat was heavy, pulsing up through the floor, infecting the clubbers with energy. Mel and Ginny were soon separated but Ginny didn't mind, she liked dancing on her own, it felt much more liberating. She let out a sigh, giving herself up to the music, her hips swaying dangerously from side to side. She felt strong hands grasp them. Normally she would have removed them, but something about the way they grasped her, tightly, with authority, caused her to leave them there. She imagined they belonged to the one man she really wanted it to be. She backed up slightly, pushing her curves into the hard body behind her.

'Good dancer.' She thought as he ran his hands up and down her body, causing an involuntary shiver to go through her, something no one had done to her in years. She looked down at the hands that were now grasping her hips again and stopped. A silver signet ring glittered in the low lighting. A snake twisted around an emerald. She tried to swing round, to see who was behind her but the strength of the man stopped her, holding her tightly in place.

"Just let go." He whispered, his mouth grazing her ear. The next song slowed to a dark hypnotic pace. Ginny began dancing with him again, but halfway through the song she could take it no longer and slowly turned round. Brown met silver. Her breath caught in her throat. His face remained still but his eyes shifted, betraying the emotion she knew he was trying to hide. She brought a hand to his face, tracing the livid scar that was the only mar on its porcelain surface.

She learned her head forward, a gesture deeply familiar to both. Just before her lips met his she was shoved violently away. A drunken wizard had stumbled into her. She gazed down at the offender as he tried and failed to apologize. She started to smile looking up to share the joke with her dancing partner but the smile died on her lips.

He had gone.

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Author's Note; Thanks to everyone to reviewed, and a special thank you to my beta English_Rose, who is going through this chapter by chapter with me.