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Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, don't sue. Again, Paul is my character. I know most people wouldn't claim him, but he's still my bastard of a creation. If you want to use him in a story, ask me first, but I'll probably tell you yes.
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Scarlet Woman:
Part Three
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Draco ran to the door. He quickly kickedit nearthe knob, breaking through the thin, cheap wood, smashing it open.
A man, a little shorter than Draco but heavier, was kneeling over the unconscious form of Ginny.He looked up at the sound of the door breaking in.
"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded, standing up and moving towards Draco.
Draco stepped into the room. Eyeing the man, he smirked. "Someone you're not going to forget."
Quickly, hepunched the guy's face.The man grabbed at his nose, blood spurting onto his shirt.
"You fucking asshole," he growled. "I'll make you pay for that, you son of a bitch."
He swung at Draco, who dodged the punch. The man's other meaty hand swung around and hit Draco in the kidney.
Draco lurched back. Growling as he straightened up, he swung his leg around, knocking the man's feet out from under him. The floor shook from the impact.
The man stood slowly, blood still dripping from his nose, though slower now. Moving cautiously towards Draco, he smiled.His grin turning into a snarl, he charged Draco, a roar ripping out of his throat. Draco quickly grabbed the man's arm and swiftly, surely, with years of practice, flipped him. The man twisted towards Draco, trying to grab him, and landed on his side, his arm trapped underneath his body. A sickening crack shot through the room. The man curled into a ball, cradling his arm to his body.
"You broke my arm, you fucking bastard," he moaned.
"Be glad I didn't bust your head in, you bloody git," Draco spat.Heheaded over to Ginny, crouching over her.
"Virginia," he murmured,"are you all right?" He checked her breathing,relaxing when he saw her chest rising, though shallowly. A dark bruise was forming on her cheek. Checking her head for any more injuries, Draco slowly lifted her into his arms, along with a nearby knapsack that had the letters 'GW' stitched on it in gold.
Looking at themoaning form of the man he'd beaten, Draco said softly, slowly, "If you hurt her again, I'll kill you."
He walked out of the room, Ginny hanging limply in his arms.
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When Ginny finally came to, she knew that she was going to feel sore for days. Her face was pounding, the blood beating a slow tempo of agony through her cheek. Groaning, she rolled over and opened her eyes. Draco was sitting next to her, nearly three inches away from her face.
She gasped. Draco jolted back, his chair tipping. He fell to the ground.
"Shit," he muttered, trying to get up.
"Oh, Christ. I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't expect you to be… Let me help you up." Ginny sat up on the couch and made to help Draco to his feet. He waved her offered hand away.
"No, I've got it." He cringed, his lower back killing him. Ginny noticed. She stood and placed a hand on his back. Draco flinched and moved away.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, concerned.
Draco smirked. "You mean besides the huge bruise from your 'friend'? Yes, I would say I'm fine." He bent down and righted his chair. Standing up, he locked eyes with her. Slowly, still smirking, he moved closer, until the back of her legs were against the couch and she was stuck.
He ran a gentle thumb over her cheek and the blossoming bruise there. She winced.
"That's going to be pretty bad. You'll probably want to put some ice on it." With that, he moved away, heading into the kitchen.
Ginny idly ran a fingerwhere his thumb had beenand wincedagain when she pushed too hard. Paul had always had a strong hand, but she'd forgotten how hard he could hit. Slowly, she movedafter Draco.
When she walked in, Draco was fishing around in his freezer. He pulled out a blue cloth bag, and then wrapped it in paper towels. Ginny pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Here." Draco passed her the small bundle. He sat down at the table and leaned his head against his hand.
"Thanks." She pressed it to her cheek, the icy-cold bag soothing away the pain. She glanced up when she felt his eyes on her. He had a weird expression on his face."What?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."
"Why are you living here, Draco?"sheasked suddenly, leaning her weight slightly on the hand holding the ice pack to her cheek. He sighed andstood up.Opening the refrigerator, he took out a can of soda.
"It's a long story," he said, popping it open and taking a sip as he sat back down.
"It's part of our agreement." Shesmiled sweetly when he smirked over his can.
Slowly sipping, he started his story.
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Draco flinched as the man next to him fell to another curse. Screams surrounded him,spells whizzed through the air, ruffling the hair of the fallen. It was dirty fighting, anger and fear and rage at everything piling together to form stronger, deadlier spells.
He didn't know how many people he'd killed. He'd stopped counting after his first battle, where he'd killed over twenty. Icily, he shouted out spell after spell, carefully taking aim, then waving his wand. When he saw his target fall, he moved onto the next.
No one knew who friend or foe was. Black robes were worn by all, whispering through the air as they moved across the battle field. Draco had seen one man kill someone, then realize it was a friend.He had fallen to the ground next to him and cas Avada Kedavra. Draco had turned away, and then continued to fight.
It seemed like he was fighting for days when it was only hours. The killing dragged on, violence coating the field like fog, clouding everyone's minds. When it was over, no one knew who had won; the victors, who had conquered their enemies, or the losers, who didn't have to fight again.
He'd stumbled back to the camp they'd set up a couple of miles from the battlefield. When he found his tent, he fell onto his commissioned cot, and waited for the screams in his mind to stop. But he knew it would be awhile. It always was.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and waited for the nightmares to come.
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"After the War ended, I wasn't able to do as much magic as I used to. I guess it was my subconscious telling me that what I'd done wasn't worth using magic for. So, for little things like bruises I tend to use Muggle means." He took another sip from his soda.
"But when I first got here, you made a cup of tea with your wand," she pointed out.
"There are some things that I'm willing to bend rules for." He smiled enigmatically, stood up and left the room. Ginny watched him leave, the condensation from the ice pack seeping through the paper towels and settling on her cheek.
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Draco walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He took off his shirt and looked in the mirror at the scars riddling his chest. Running a finger over one that resembled a snake, he shook his head and continued to undress. Turning on the shower, he stepped into the hot spray and sighed in pleasure from the insistent pounding on his sore back. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and let his mind wander.
Telling Ginny about the war hadn't been as hard as he'd expected it would be. The story had rolled off of his tongue without any hesitation. It had just become words for a short time. So what if there was still more? The first step, just talking about it to someone, was enough to make his apprehensions about the entire story lessen. Lazily, he ran a wash cloth over his scarred body.
These would take just a bit more explanation, he thought, chuckling as he traced another oddly shaped scar on his left side which resembled the edge of a Hari Kari knife that he'd seen in one of his father's trophy cases as a child. He'd gotten it during his first battle, his first scar.
Telling Ginny about these wouldn't happen for awhile. There weretoo many stories associated with them. Too many memories that, while over, were still alive in his heart and mind. Draco continued washing, his mindturningto other matters.
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Draco stepped into the living room, where Ginny was laying on the couch with a magazine. He smirked when he saw itwas the one with the article on Harry's new Quidditch career.
"You know, it's impolite to stare," Ginny said, putting the magazine down. Draco smiled again.
"Yeah, and you're a paradigm of manners?" He pulled a chair up to the coffee table.
Ginny scowled, but sat up and put the magazine away. "What do you need, Draco?" she asked, still holding the ice pack to her face.
"It's not so much what I need as whatyou need todo. We've got your clothes, but what about other things. Do you still have your wand?"
Ginny shied away when he asked the question. "No," she confessed."I broke it when I left."
Draco nodded briskly. "All right, then we'll need to get you a new one."
"What?"
"You're not going back onto the streets, Virginia. I already told youthat. And you need a wand if you're going to be doing anything in the Wizarding world again."
"I told you, I left. Why do you think I'd want to go back now?" Ginny demanded.
"Because, it's not up to you in this situation. You're going to need to protect yourself and the only two things I can think of that can protect a person are a wand and a gun. I don't have the proper license to own a gun, so we're getting you a wand." He looked at his watch. "It's already nine in the morning. We'll go to Diagon Ally this afternoon." He got up andpulled his keys from his pocket.
"Where are you going?" Ginny asked, rising from the couch.
"Grocery shopping. I'll be back in an hour."
When heleft the apartment, the door locking behind him, Ginny kicked the couch.
"Damn him." She sat down again andglared attheclosed magazine. "Damn him to hell."
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Authors Note: All right, this chapter took quite some time for me to get out. I wrote the first half (the fight scene and going back to the apartment) about 6 days ago, but I didn't get working on the main body of the part or the end until last week. I feel like a heel for taking so long to get this out. *sigh* The next part is going to be a little easier to get written, too. And school's almost out! Yay! Here are the thank you's!
Americasweetie, megs, Psycho-Kitty-Purra (Yes, he is. I never said I liked the guy. *g*) HPFreekGirl, weirdsisters, Iden's Garden, Neca, Kitkatgalie, and Emily.Hart. Thank you all for taking the time to comment. Extra strong thank you's go out to those of you who decided to put me on your favorite authors lists. I really appreciate it; it's definitely made my day better.
And, as always, a huge plate of fudge to my beta, Sarah. I couldn't do it without you. And now I'm off to enjoy the homework free day I'm having and possibly start writing that part four…
paranoid