A/N:
This is based off a challenge at Portkey from Draco&GinnyConvert. The particulars are at the bottom, if you feel so inclined to read them.
I've never written a one-shot this long, and am excited about it. I hope that you guys enjoy it.
Please review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
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Neither one had meant for it to happen. They were just throwing verbal spars at one another. She had passed him on her way into the Great Hall to meet her date for Yule Ball when he tripped. All of the sudden, Peeves was standing above the pair with mistletoe. It all happened so fast after that. She felt a jolt as her lips touched his, and then as quickly as the mistletoe appeared, it vanished. The two students stared at each other before he quickly turned on his heel to leave her, his robe making a flourishing swish.
***
Ginny was having the same dream she'd been having for weeks. She was running after a man but was unable to catch up to him. As she ran farther, her steps became slower, heavier, until her feet stopped moving, and she was left reaching out to the man she couldn't reach. This one was different, however. Now someone was calling her name. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it. Now someone was shaking her. This dream was so vivid. What were they saying?
"Healer Weasley, we need your help!"
The shrill exclamation along with the physical shaking finally broke her out of her hazy slumber. She knew now that the voice belonged to that of a young nurse from the fourth floor of St. Mungo's, which the Spell Damage floor was. Seeing that she now had Ginny's full attention, briefed her of the situation.
"Healer Weasley, a three year old boy was dropped off by someone who has since disappeared. He is unconscious but breathing. Not much is known about his condition at present, but there seems to be some residual magic emanating from him."
"What room?" she asked, her mind and body fully awake after she learned of her newest patient's age. Kids were always the hardest to work on.
"412."
Ginny took off towards the room, walking at a pace that most would be running at. She walked in to a chaotic scene. Nurses were milling about, not quite sure what to do for the child. He was pale and diaphoretic. Ginny could see his chest rising and falling, a good sign. She took a deep breath in and started rattling off her orders.
"Place a non-rebreather on him, he needs more oxygen. Get him warmed up, he's freezing. Draw some blood and order trauma labs."
Ginny waited for her initial orders to be followed. She then ran a barrage of diagnostic spells on the unconscious boy in front of her. She found nothing remarkable in the results. There was nothing to do now but wait for his blood work to come back. She couldn't risk trying to heal him when she didn't know what was wrong. She didn't want to exacerbate the boy's condition. Unable to stand the possibility of having the young boy wake up to find no one there, she conjured a chair and her charts, and sat by the boy's bedside catching up on her charts until the labs came back.
**
"Ginny, you need to go home."
"I can't. He might wake up," she replied, looking up to her boss, Healer-in-Charge Derwent.
"Ginny, he's been asleep for days. Go home. I'll make sure someone is with him. Our star healer isn't going to do him any good if she's too tired to think," Derwent went on, more insistence showing in his voice.
Ginny heard a quiet sound come from the bed. She looked over and saw that the patient she had been hovering over for days was beginning to stir. The little boy opened his eyes and looked up at her with big brown eyes before tears started spilling out of them. Ginny gathered him in her arms and shushed the crying child. She looked up at Derwent, eyes full of determination, when he placed his hands up and walked out of the room.
**
"He has leukemia," Ginny said, throwing the file onto Derwent's desk. "I checked his red cell counts. They're low. He has anemia. Looks like acute lymphocytic leukemia."
"That's not spell damage. He needs to be transferred," Derwent said evenly.
"I'm not transferring him. No one can take care of him like I can. I'm looking for a bone marrow match right now. He still might have spell damage. I've appreciated a cluster of half moon-like scars on the back of his right shoulder. I believe that whatever spell these scars are from affected his red cell counts. I need more time to research," Ginny finished.
Derwent thought Ginny was the most promising healer he had had the pleasure of working with in years. Although she had a slight habit of flaunting the rules, she always did what was in the best interest of the patient. When she decided her course of action, she didn't budge.
"I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Healer Weasley. If I think that there is no evidence of spell damage in this case, I will be transferring the boy."
"I'm calling him Valerio," she added as though she hadn't heard him.
"Why?"
"It means `to be healthy and strong,'" she answered, walking out.
Ginny was met with the charge nurse who had been the most attentive to Valerio's needs, aside from Ginny. She was smiling and waving a manila envelope in front of Ginny's face.
"What's that?" Ginny asked, part out of curiosity, part to entertain the Brenna.
"We found a match for Valerio!" she said excitedly. She watched Ginny's eyes light up at the prospect of
healing the little boy.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Let me see. Oh, here's his name. Draco Malfoy!"
**
Ginny took a deep breath in. She had showered for the first time in days. She had been faithfully entertaining Valerio up until this point and didn't want him to have to be alone. Today, however, she had left him in the charge of Brenna, who had come in on her day off so she could give Valerio all her attention.
Ginny had been more than slightly reluctant to leave Valerio, despite her knowledge that he was in good hands. However, she had to do this. It was for Valerio.
She hadn't seen him since her sixth year, his seventh. He was sitting in the Great Hall with his parents after the end of the Final Battle. Now she was standing outside the door of his office at the illustrious Malfoy Enterprises. After one more deep breath, she pushed open the door as she exhaled.
"Hello, how may I help you today?" asked a young, blonde woman.
"I'm here to see Draco Malfoy," Ginny said confidently. She was in her best St. Mungo's Healer robes, and she sincerely hoped that with her air of confidence and her official robes, she'd be able to talk to Malfoy.
"Do you have an appointment, Miss…" she trailed off.
"Healer Weasley. No, I am afraid I do not. However, it is extremely important I talk to him today. It is a rather time-sensitive issue."
"One moment please."
Ginny turned away and listened to the one-sided conversation the secretary was having, presumably with Draco Malfoy himself. After a quick, hushed conversation, the secretary hung up the phone.
"You may go to his office. Take the elevator to your left. His office is on the 15th floor. He is expecting you."
Ginny nodded her understanding and thanked the secretary for her help. She strode over to the elevators, pushed the up arrow and stepped in when the doors opened, allowing her entrance. Ginny pushed the button for the 15th floor and held on to the railings as her stomach began turning over in nervousness. She had never liked riding in elevators by herself.
She stepped shakily out of the elevator once the doors opened. She pulled herself together and opened the glass door directly in front of her. She found herself looking at another secretary once inside. After briefly describing who she was and what she wanted, she was buzzed in to Draco Malfoy's private office.
"Healer Weasley," he greeted her, offering out his hand for a handshake. She shook his hand and felt a tingle rush through her body.
"Mr. Malfoy," she responded.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Healer Weasley," Malfoy said silkily. Ginny could not believe how much he had changed, yet remained the same. His hair had not changed since school, but his build had. She noticed his broad shoulders and toned body. His eye color was still the same shade, a very pale shade of blue that seemed to be gray upon closer inspection. However, now he had slight wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, aging him slightly, yet fitting all the same. Ginny shook herself out of her reverie as she observed him staring at her in anticipation.
"I have a patient at the hospital. He's very sick and needs your help. We've been looking through medical files trying to find a match, and you were the only one we've been able to find so far. He really needs your help. I'll do anything," Ginny said, rushing to finish before she lost her nerve and walked out.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" Malfoy questioned, reverting to old habits in his confusion.
She looked at him and cocked her head to the side. Then her eyes went wide as a light went off.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I was a little nervous about coming her today. I didn't mean to rush through everything." She steeled herself and took a deep breath, then started her explanation again.
"A week ago a three year old boy was dropped off at the lobby of St. Mungo's. Whoever dropped him off vanished as quickly as he had appeared. The boy was brought up to my floor, Spell Damage," Malfoy nodded. He had been to St. Mungo's before, after all. She continued, "He was unconscious and barely alive. We tried all the diagnostic tests we knew of. We sent off muggle blood works as well. When the results came back, we realized he had acute lymphocytic leukemia. To begin to get better, he needs a bone marrow transplant. For this to work, the bone marrow has to match. Your bone marrow, Mr. Malfoy, is a match."
He was speechless. He had brought his family a long way since the days of the war. He had grown up a lot. However, he wasn't so sure that he had come far enough to give something for absolutely nothing in return.
"What would be involved with this procedure?"
"We would first need to extract some of your bone marrow to run additional tests on it. We would need to make sure that you are in tip top health."
"Can I think on it?"
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy, but I want you to know that Valerio really needs your help. I don't know how long it'll take to find another match."
"Valerio?" he questioned.
"It means `to be healthy and strong.' He didn't know his name, so I figured I might as well give him a lucky one."
He nodded. Ginny, sensing the conversation was over, thanked him for his time and said she hoped to hear from him soon, leaving Draco to mull over his thoughts. He didn't get much time, however, as he heard a shriek from Lola, his secretary. He ran out to see what the commotion was and saw the very woman who had been standing in his office not moments before sprawled on the floor.
"What happened?" he asked Lola.
"I don't know. She walked out and then just fainted dead away," she answered.
"Right. Cancel my meetings," he instructed. Then he picked up the red-head and apparated to St. Mungo's.
**
Ginny woke up to the sound of Valerio's laughter.
"Hey, what's this?" she heard him ask. She looked over when she heard Malfoy's voice answer.
"What's what?" he said when he looked down.
Then she heard Valerio go "zippppppp" as he trailed his finger up Malfoy's chest and poking his nose with a flourish.
Not even a minute later, the scene repeated itself. She giggled when Malfoy managed the same surprised look he had on his face after the last time.
"What happened?" Ginny asked, looking at Malfoy. Just then Brenna walked in the room.
"Mr. Malfoy brought you in after you had apparently fainted. He said that you had fainted outside his office. Have you been eating?" Brenna asked, voice full of motherly concern.
"Of course I have," she answer. Then Draco spoke up.
"I think she just wanted to lure me to this hospital to meet Valerio. She knew that I wouldn't be able to say no after I met him. This was the most dramatic way she could think of," he finished.
"I wouldn't put it past her," Brenna said thoughtfully. Ginny protested at their assumptions, but Brenna continued. "Healer Derwent will be in here in a few minutes."
"I heard you were awake," Healer Derwent said as he walked in. "How are you feeling?"
"I am feeling fine. Did you find anything?"
Healer Derwent looked at Draco Malfoy with his eyebrows raised.
"I've an appointment for the bone marrow thing a week from today," he told Ginny. "I'll be back then. Feel better," he said as he exited the room, after a high-five to Valerio.
After Draco's exit, Derwent looked back to Ginny.
"Ginny, did you know that you have some Veela blood?"
She shook her head. She had no idea that she had any Veela blood.
"Well, you have some faint traces of Veela blood. It seems as the cells have activated very recently," he said, placing particular emphasis on the last two words.
"What are you getting at?" Ginny questioned, the wheels turning in her head. She hoped he had a different explanation than the one she had in her head.
"Veela blood only activates after one has met their soul mate. After the blood activates, separation from the soul mate is very draining on the body. The magic in your body is drawn to the soul mate, and when it feels that you are ignoring the obvious, you suffer the consequences. These consequences can become quite dangerous."
She nodded grimly. This is exactly what she had hoped he would not say.
"Do you understand what I am saying, Ginny?" he asked imploringly.
She nodded, trying to find the words to say.
"You are saying that I need to find my soul mate or I will die."
Derwent nodded and Ginny's heart sank. At this moment, Valerio had decided that he had been ignored long enough and let out a yelp. Ginny looked over and crawled out of her bed, moving into Valerio's, bouncing the boy up and down on her legs as she thought about what to do next.
**
"My baby!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she walked into room 412, followed by the rest of her red-headed family. She dramatically threw her arms around her youngest, squishing the little boy in between them until she heard a strangled cry.
"Who is this?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"He's a patient of mine mum. He's here all by himself. I've been staying with him," she
answered.
"So this is why you have been too busy to floo your own mother!" she stated huffily.
"Molly, now is not the time, dear. How are you, Ginny?" Arthur asked.
"I am fine. I feel fine and have no residual side effects," she said as she gave her father a hug.
"Who did this to you?" Ron asked from the back of the pack, ready to go on the hunt.
"If anyone did anything, it was me. Mum, did you know that I had Veela blood?" Ginny asked, turning her attention back to her mother.
Molly chewed at her bottom lip, something she always did when she didn't want to answer a question.
"Mum," Ginny pressed.
"Yes, I knew. I only knew it was a possibility, though," she defended.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Ginny asked.
"I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily, dear. Why do you ask?" Molly questioned, despite her fear of the answer.
"I found my soul mate, apparently, and I need to find him again and forge some sort of loving relationship with him in order to live," she answered frustrated.
Her brothers broke out in protest, her father placed a comforting arm around his daughter, and her mum sat on the chair, placing her head in her hands.
**
Ginny was ready to sign herself out of St. Mungo's AMA if Derwent didn't let her go soon. She had been a patient for twenty-four hours and was having no more of it. She needed to go find the one and only person she could think of that would be her mate.
Finally after much pestering by Ginny, Derwent signed the release papers. Brenna offered to watch over Valerio again, as no one had turned up looking for the boy. Ginny had spent all night looking through the missing persons reports that Harry had granted her access to. No one had reported a little boy missing and no one had asked after him. She had no idea would do such a thing.
After she had left the hospital, Ginny flooed home and showered. She applied a few make up charms, did her hair and put on a royal blue wrap dress that went to her knees and a pair of wedge sandals.
Then she found herself in the exact same place she had found herself two days before: pacing outside Malfoy Enterprises. After a low conversation with herself, she pushed open the door and saw the same secretary as before.
"I'm here to see Mr. Malfoy," Ginny said. The secretary looked at her knowingly before picking up the phone. This time the conversation was finished with a few short words.
"Do you remember the way, Healer Weasley?" she asked.
"I think so. Thank you."
"Of course. Good luck."
Ginny walked to the elevator, wondering why the secretary thought she needed good luck. She reached the desk where Lola sat. After some inquiries about her health, Ginny was permitted inside Draco's office. However, he wasn't there. Ginny sat down on the windowsill, just as Draco walked in, muttering something about incompetence. He sat down at her desk and didn't even notice her.
"Draco."
Malfoy's head snapped up from his desk and the sudden intrusion into his space. His eyes roved her glowing hair, to her ample chest, and down her long legs.
"Weaslette?" Draco let the shock on his face show.
"Yes, it's me, but call me Ginny." She had hopped off the sill and was walking toward him now, and he had a much better view of her - "Listen, you know how some of your family has Veela blood?"
"Yes." Draco struck a quick pose before moving on. "Nobody in seventeen generations has actually had the
full-on Veela effects."
"Well, you know how our families are related to the Blacks?"
"What are you getting at?"
"It seems that I have the opposite of your affliction: I have none of the Veela appearance and all of the Veela's need for a mate."
"This affects me how?" One could see the subtle fright in his face; Draco could tell where this was going.
"Apparently... I'll kill myself if I don't find love with..."
"Me?"
Ginny nodded vigorously. "Exactly."
A few seconds later, Malfoy fainted.
Ginny had pictured this conversation in her head many times on the elevator ride up here, but she had not allowed for this situation.
She muttered `ennervate' and watched as Draco blinked his eyes.
"What happened?" he questioned.
"I just told you that I need you to save me," Ginny answered.
"Oh," was all he could say. He was still too shocked.
"I'll let you think on it. I'll ask you what you think when you come in for the bone marrow testing on Friday."
She walked out before she could let the enormity of the situation settle on either of them.
**
Ginny had been faithfully attending to Valerio ever since she had seen Draco. Valerio was a fighter and he was holding up well, considering the circumstances. Derwent had given her a few days off after her fainting episode. She had spent all of her time at the hospital with Valerio, despite her time off. She read him books, they walked outside, and they made up stories. The little boy was so happy; one could easily forget he was very sick.
Friday came much sooner then she had anticipated. Ginny was eating breakfast with Valerio when Brenna came in and told her that she had a patient waiting for her in 420. Ginny pulled on her healer robes and left the messy task of eating with Valerio in Brenna's hands.
Ginny walked in to 420 and was shocked to see Draco Malfoy.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"My appointment was scheduled for today. I assume you had forgotten?" he explained.
Ginny hadn't realized that it was Friday already. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't bear to hear what he had decided. After all, the fate of more than one person was in his hands.
"Of course. Let me get the tray, and I'll perform the procedure."
Ginny nearly ran out of the room and closed the door, leaning on the other side of. She banged her head against the door and fell into Malfoy's arms when he opened the door. He looked just as surprised as she was.
"Sorry," he told her, helping her up, "I thought someone was knocking on the door."
Ginny just nodded and went to get her tray. When she returned, she explained the procedure to Draco.
"I will insert this needle," she showed him the needle, "into your hip bone to extract a sample. I will, of course, put you under a local, so you shouldn't feel a thing. I'll send it to the lab and we'll know within the hour. I can never understand how muggles can stand waiting weeks for the results."
Draco had paled at her explanation, but appreciated her honesty with the needle.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Draco?"
He nodded before he could find the words to answer. He signed the sheet of paper assenting to the test, and she asked him to put on the gown on the chair, then hop onto the bed.
She close the door behind her and knocked after she stopped hearing rustling on the other side of the door.
"Is it safe?"
"Of course, although you've missed the fun parts," he answered cheekily to cover his fear.
She cast the spell for the local, then cleansed his skin.
"Draco, are you ready?" she asked.
He nodded in response.
She inserted the needle and he watched it advance every inch. He couldn't bring himself to look away. It looked like it should hurt, but he felt no pain, for which he was grateful.
"Okay, you might feel a sharp pain as I suck the marrow out," Ginny warned. He watched the syringe fill up and then watched as she pulled the needle back out. Once the needle was fully out, he comprehended the actual size of it. After one final look at his Healer, he fainted for the second time.
Ginny heard his head fall back against the bed and looked up at an unconscious Draco Malfoy for the second time. She jumped to his side, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Draco! Draco!" she said forcefully. Just as she was about to say `ennervate,' his eyelids began to flutter.
"Are you okay? Do you feel any pain?" Ginny asked.
"I think I'm okay. Why, worried about poor old me?"
"Of course I was. You're my patient," she responded. "I'm going to get this to the lab. I'll be back."
**
True to her word, Ginny returned. Much to his pleasant surprise, she had Valerio in toe. The little boy's eyes lit up when he saw Draco. He ran up to Draco and said, "What's that?" point to Draco's stomach.
Oddly enough, two words had never comforted him this much. Draco looked down.
"What's what?" he asked.
"Zippppp!"
Ginny left the two boys alone and went to check on the labs. She had placed a rush order on Draco's bone marrow testing.
When she re-entered the room, Draco watched her eyes dancing. She told him that he was a perfect match and was so excited, that she leaned down to give him a hug. Some inexplicable force drew their lips together and the electricity between the two made both parties jump.
"Oh my god. I am so sorry. I don't know why I did that," Ginny spurted, a blush darkening her cheeks.
"Don't worry about it, Ginny," he said, rising out of bed and walking to her with a slight limp. "Why were you worried about me when I fainted, Ginny?" he asked, placing his hand on her cheek.
"I don't know. I can't really explain it. I just felt like I wouldn't be able to go on if anything had happened to you," she answered truthfully, looking into his eyes.
"Ginny, I think that maybe spending sometime together might not be such a bad idea. After all, I wouldn't want your death on my conscience," he told her.
"No, wouldn't want that," she replied.
Draco bent down to place his lips on hers. Draco decided that as long as he could continue to kiss her like this whenever he wanted, he'd have to consider himself pretty lucky.
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The challenge from Draco&GinnyConvert:
Okay, you know how many people assume that Draco has Veela blood in him? And how Ginny is related to the Blacks which are related to Draco? Soooo, do the math.
In this challenge, both Draco and Ginny must have The Veela Gene and be each other's "mate". How exactly this trait awakens in them, is up to you. I would also like it if you used the following piece of dialogue:
"Draco."
The Malfoy in question looked up from his desk and promptly felt his brain explode. Sitting on his windowsill, in a garment he didn't recognize but thought he was a negligee or something like that, was... was...
"Weaslette?" Draco let the shock on his face show.
"Yes, it's me, but call me Ginny." She had hopped off the sill and was walking toward him now, and he had a much better view of her l- "Listen, you know how some of your family has Veela blood?"
"So what? All it does is make us beautiful." Draco struck a quick pose before moving on. "Nobody in seventeen generations has actually had the full-on Veela effects."
"Well, you know how your family is related to the Blacks, and how mine is too?"
"And I care... why?"
"It seems that I have the opposite of your affliction: I have none of the Veela appearance and all of the Veela's need for a mate."
"This affects me how?" One could see the subtle fright in his face; Draco could tell where this was going.
"Apparently... I'll kill myself if I don't find love with..."
"Me?"
Ginny nodded vigorously. "Exactly."
A few seconds later, Malfoy fainted.
**
I altered the conversation some to better fit in with the story. Don't hate me because of it!
I hope that you enjoyed it! If you did, please let me know!
I'm toying around with doing a follow-up. I know that Draco, Ginny, and Valerio would most likely be happy to oblige. You know what to do if you want see some more!
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