Finding Color
Part Seven
My Mell8
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Ginny felt Voldemort die only as an afterthought. Draco was dying and something as important a Voldemort’s death couldn’t bring Ginny away from Draco’s side.
She was pouring her magic into Draco’s body, fighting not only to fix his eyes and nose, but also to keep him alive. She had used her magic to force his body to make new blood to replace what had been lost. She used her magic to rebuild the broken flesh of his eyes and face.
But she couldn’t give him his sight back and she couldn’t wake him from his coma.
For three days Ginny sat at Draco’s bedside, pouring more and more of her magic into him. She didn’t eat or sleep or do anything to replenish her magic.
At the end of the third day she fainted and Lucius Malfoy was left alone with his comatose son and soon to be daughter.
Lucius gently tucked her into bed with his son and sighed. He needed to take both of them to St. Mungo’s for healing, but to do that he needed to be able to go out into the world without the threat of capture and being tossed into Azkaban. Ginny was the only one who had proof of his aid in her spying mission and she was unconscious.
Still, Draco was dying and Ginny was killing herself trying to heal him. It was up to Lucius to get them the help they needed, and to do that he needed to speak with the Weasleys.
Lucius pulled on his robes and left his wand in his office. The Portkey he created was set to go off in a few seconds so he held onto the little crystal tightly. There was a pull just below his navel and Lucius left his office.
He reappeared just outside the wards protecting the Burrow and was gratified to see movement inside the ramshackle building. Lucius took a deep breath and crossed over the wards.
He kept his hands in the air to show he was unarmed as the door was flung open and witches and wizards with their wands drawn rushed towards him.
“I know where Ginny is!” he yelled before the stunning spell hit him directly in the chest.
III
Moody stalked along the hallways of the Burrow with his magical eye roving in all directions. The Weasley’s were going crazy searching for their sister and Moody wasn’t in the mood to be accosted by another red-haired nutter asking if he had thought of another way to find the missing girl.
Ron had described what he had seen of Ginny during that brief time he had to focus on other things besides battling. Everyone had heard the scream she let out before vanishing.
The general consensus was that Malfoy had done something to her, but Moody didn’t believe that. According to Ron’s description, the young Malfoy, Draco, had been severely injured and Ginny had been hovering hopelessly over him.
Moody also wasn’t a fool. After discovering that Ginny seemed to have some connection with Draco Malfoy, he had gone over all the missives sent by her to the Order. None of them had any information incriminating any of the Malfoys.
With that clue in mind, Moody had gone to meet with Narcissa Malfoy in her jail cell.
The Malfoy Matriarch had told him quite a lot of interesting information. Apparently Ginny had been staying at the Malfoy’s for all of the long months she had been gone. Apparently Ginny and Draco were planning on marrying. Narcissa had even mentioned that she was sure that “Weasley brat” was spying and that her husband and Draco had been in on it.
Veritaserum had proved the validity of Mrs. Malfoy’s statements. Moody wanted to know whether Ginny’s reports were as true. If she were in love with the Malfoy boy, her bias could hide his crimes from the Order.
All Moody had to do was find her and, if his suspicions were correct, she was probably at Malfoy Manor. The problem was figuring a way to get her out.
Everyone in the Burrow felt the wards trip. Moody jumped and dashed with everyone else out to see whom the intruder was.
It was clear the Weasley’s were hoping for Ginny’s return. Moody doubted it was her, because when she had left she hadn’t tripped the wards. She certainly wouldn’t trip them on her return.
Moody was almost surprised to see Lucius Malfoy standing there with his hands up in the air. Almost, because he didn’t think Lucius had the courage to blatantly step into dangerous Order territory, but Moody also knew that his son was probably severely injured and needed the help of the Order. Someone would have come eventually, Moody just hadn’t been sure if it would be Lucius himself.
“I know where Ginny is!” Malfoy yelled right before a Weasley’s stunner hit him right in the chest.
“Fred!” Molly snapped at the son who had thrown the curse. “He has information on Ginny!”
“He’s still a Death Eater,” Fred snarled and was echoed my many nods of agreement around him.
“That is un-debatable,” Moody agreed as he made his way over to where they were securing Lucius Malfoy. “However, I have to wonder what his role in Ginny’s spying mission was.”
“What?” Fred gasped. “Malfoy’s a Death Eater. He wouldn’t spy on his own kind.”
“Yet,” Moody said loudly to forestall any further yelling. He waited until everyone was listening before he continued. “Yet, Ginny was hovering protectively over his bleeding son in the middle of the battle. I have been investigating this thoroughly and have come to the indisputable conclusion that Ginny went to the Malfoy’s for help in spying.”
“No!” Arthur snapped. “The Malfoys would torture her.”
“Not according to Narcissa Malfoy,” Moody snapped. He whipped his wand through the air in a complicated spell that showed all the magical items on Malfoy’s person. All he could find was the fading Portkey spell Malfoy had used to transport himself here.
“No wand,” Moody commented so everyone could hear. “He must have come with only the intent to share information.” Moody dug into his pocket and found the bottle filled with the remainder of Veritaserum left after his interrogation of Narcissa Malfoy. “Someone open his mouth,” Moody grunted and waited while Bill pulled Lucius’ mouth open before putting two drops of the Truth Potion onto his tongue.
“Incarcerous,” Bill said once Moody was done with the potion. Ropes shot out of his wand and around Lucius, tying the man up so he couldn’t move.
“Enervate,” Moody snapped.
Lucius Malfoy carefully sat up, moving as much as he could while bound.
“You know where Ginny Weasley is?” Moody asked.
“I do. She’s at Malfoy Manor and I need to take both her and my son to St. Mungo’s,” Malfoy said immediately.
“Ginny’s hurt?” Molly gasped.
“Not physically,” Lucius answered. “She’s been awake for three days trying to heal my son. She passed out from magic loss and has joined my son in a coma.”
“What did you do to her to force her to heal your son like that?” Lupin asked from behind Moody.
“She probably doesn’t want to marry a corpse,” Moody answered.
“What!” Molly screeched. She turned to glare at Lucius. “You’re forcing her to marry your son?”
“They’ve been together for a year,” Lucius snapped back, furious that the woman would immediately jump to such a terrible conclusion. “I didn’t even know until she showed up at a Death Eater meeting demanding Draco.”
Molly Weasley went white and had to be helped to the ground where she could sit. “But, Harry?” she whispered.
“We broke up,” Harry said with a shrug.
“She did say she had a reliable source for the information,” Moody sighed. “Having a boyfriend who would protect her as well as feed her information is probably what she meant.”
“She told me that she would ensure Draco’s and my own safety after the war if we fed her information,” Lucius called into the shocked crowd. “I don’t expect you to hand that to me,” he added when he was glared at. “But I thought you might want to get Ginny to the hospital before she dies…”
The reaction was to that statement was immediate. Molly and Arthur had their wands out, preparing to apparate to Malfoy Manor. The Weasley boys all went to their parents, pulling out their wands to apparate away too.
Lupin and Tonks, Kingsley and McGonagall, and all the rest of the Order members present all ran to do something they clearly thought was productive at that moment.
Moody groaned and would have slapped himself except he was already in enough pain from watching the idiots he was supposed to be allied with run around like chickens with their heads cut off.
He saw Malfoy roll his eyes in exasperation and the shared camaraderie they felt when their eyes caught let Moody know that Malfoy was no threat.
The ropes falling off Malfoy as the blond stood was enough to alert the flustered Order members that something aside from going after Ginny was amiss.
“You are all fools,” Malfoy snapped. “You have wards around your house; I have wards around mine. The difference is, my wards only allow family to cross. None of you idiots would ever make it through.” He looked around for a moment as everyone gaped at him. “Except Nymphadora,” he added. “She’s blood related to Narcissa.”
“Wait,” Moody said, worried at this suddenly revelation. “Anyone blood related can cross?”
“Yes,” Malfoy snapped. “Which means I just need an assurance that I won’t be killed on sight when I try to bring Draco and Ginny to St. Mungo’s before I go and get them.”
“Bellatrix Lestrange can get through your wards?” Moody asked dangerously. “Because if she can, she’ll be intent on killing the spies who allowed her master to be killed.”
Malfoy went white and looked pleadingly at Moody. Moody dangled his wand in his fingers and didn’t try to stop the frightened father when Lucius snatched away the wand and vanished with a pop.
Part Seven
My Mell8
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Ginny felt Voldemort die only as an afterthought. Draco was dying and something as important a Voldemort’s death couldn’t bring Ginny away from Draco’s side.
She was pouring her magic into Draco’s body, fighting not only to fix his eyes and nose, but also to keep him alive. She had used her magic to force his body to make new blood to replace what had been lost. She used her magic to rebuild the broken flesh of his eyes and face.
But she couldn’t give him his sight back and she couldn’t wake him from his coma.
For three days Ginny sat at Draco’s bedside, pouring more and more of her magic into him. She didn’t eat or sleep or do anything to replenish her magic.
At the end of the third day she fainted and Lucius Malfoy was left alone with his comatose son and soon to be daughter.
Lucius gently tucked her into bed with his son and sighed. He needed to take both of them to St. Mungo’s for healing, but to do that he needed to be able to go out into the world without the threat of capture and being tossed into Azkaban. Ginny was the only one who had proof of his aid in her spying mission and she was unconscious.
Still, Draco was dying and Ginny was killing herself trying to heal him. It was up to Lucius to get them the help they needed, and to do that he needed to speak with the Weasleys.
Lucius pulled on his robes and left his wand in his office. The Portkey he created was set to go off in a few seconds so he held onto the little crystal tightly. There was a pull just below his navel and Lucius left his office.
He reappeared just outside the wards protecting the Burrow and was gratified to see movement inside the ramshackle building. Lucius took a deep breath and crossed over the wards.
He kept his hands in the air to show he was unarmed as the door was flung open and witches and wizards with their wands drawn rushed towards him.
“I know where Ginny is!” he yelled before the stunning spell hit him directly in the chest.
III
Moody stalked along the hallways of the Burrow with his magical eye roving in all directions. The Weasley’s were going crazy searching for their sister and Moody wasn’t in the mood to be accosted by another red-haired nutter asking if he had thought of another way to find the missing girl.
Ron had described what he had seen of Ginny during that brief time he had to focus on other things besides battling. Everyone had heard the scream she let out before vanishing.
The general consensus was that Malfoy had done something to her, but Moody didn’t believe that. According to Ron’s description, the young Malfoy, Draco, had been severely injured and Ginny had been hovering hopelessly over him.
Moody also wasn’t a fool. After discovering that Ginny seemed to have some connection with Draco Malfoy, he had gone over all the missives sent by her to the Order. None of them had any information incriminating any of the Malfoys.
With that clue in mind, Moody had gone to meet with Narcissa Malfoy in her jail cell.
The Malfoy Matriarch had told him quite a lot of interesting information. Apparently Ginny had been staying at the Malfoy’s for all of the long months she had been gone. Apparently Ginny and Draco were planning on marrying. Narcissa had even mentioned that she was sure that “Weasley brat” was spying and that her husband and Draco had been in on it.
Veritaserum had proved the validity of Mrs. Malfoy’s statements. Moody wanted to know whether Ginny’s reports were as true. If she were in love with the Malfoy boy, her bias could hide his crimes from the Order.
All Moody had to do was find her and, if his suspicions were correct, she was probably at Malfoy Manor. The problem was figuring a way to get her out.
Everyone in the Burrow felt the wards trip. Moody jumped and dashed with everyone else out to see whom the intruder was.
It was clear the Weasley’s were hoping for Ginny’s return. Moody doubted it was her, because when she had left she hadn’t tripped the wards. She certainly wouldn’t trip them on her return.
Moody was almost surprised to see Lucius Malfoy standing there with his hands up in the air. Almost, because he didn’t think Lucius had the courage to blatantly step into dangerous Order territory, but Moody also knew that his son was probably severely injured and needed the help of the Order. Someone would have come eventually, Moody just hadn’t been sure if it would be Lucius himself.
“I know where Ginny is!” Malfoy yelled right before a Weasley’s stunner hit him right in the chest.
“Fred!” Molly snapped at the son who had thrown the curse. “He has information on Ginny!”
“He’s still a Death Eater,” Fred snarled and was echoed my many nods of agreement around him.
“That is un-debatable,” Moody agreed as he made his way over to where they were securing Lucius Malfoy. “However, I have to wonder what his role in Ginny’s spying mission was.”
“What?” Fred gasped. “Malfoy’s a Death Eater. He wouldn’t spy on his own kind.”
“Yet,” Moody said loudly to forestall any further yelling. He waited until everyone was listening before he continued. “Yet, Ginny was hovering protectively over his bleeding son in the middle of the battle. I have been investigating this thoroughly and have come to the indisputable conclusion that Ginny went to the Malfoy’s for help in spying.”
“No!” Arthur snapped. “The Malfoys would torture her.”
“Not according to Narcissa Malfoy,” Moody snapped. He whipped his wand through the air in a complicated spell that showed all the magical items on Malfoy’s person. All he could find was the fading Portkey spell Malfoy had used to transport himself here.
“No wand,” Moody commented so everyone could hear. “He must have come with only the intent to share information.” Moody dug into his pocket and found the bottle filled with the remainder of Veritaserum left after his interrogation of Narcissa Malfoy. “Someone open his mouth,” Moody grunted and waited while Bill pulled Lucius’ mouth open before putting two drops of the Truth Potion onto his tongue.
“Incarcerous,” Bill said once Moody was done with the potion. Ropes shot out of his wand and around Lucius, tying the man up so he couldn’t move.
“Enervate,” Moody snapped.
Lucius Malfoy carefully sat up, moving as much as he could while bound.
“You know where Ginny Weasley is?” Moody asked.
“I do. She’s at Malfoy Manor and I need to take both her and my son to St. Mungo’s,” Malfoy said immediately.
“Ginny’s hurt?” Molly gasped.
“Not physically,” Lucius answered. “She’s been awake for three days trying to heal my son. She passed out from magic loss and has joined my son in a coma.”
“What did you do to her to force her to heal your son like that?” Lupin asked from behind Moody.
“She probably doesn’t want to marry a corpse,” Moody answered.
“What!” Molly screeched. She turned to glare at Lucius. “You’re forcing her to marry your son?”
“They’ve been together for a year,” Lucius snapped back, furious that the woman would immediately jump to such a terrible conclusion. “I didn’t even know until she showed up at a Death Eater meeting demanding Draco.”
Molly Weasley went white and had to be helped to the ground where she could sit. “But, Harry?” she whispered.
“We broke up,” Harry said with a shrug.
“She did say she had a reliable source for the information,” Moody sighed. “Having a boyfriend who would protect her as well as feed her information is probably what she meant.”
“She told me that she would ensure Draco’s and my own safety after the war if we fed her information,” Lucius called into the shocked crowd. “I don’t expect you to hand that to me,” he added when he was glared at. “But I thought you might want to get Ginny to the hospital before she dies…”
The reaction was to that statement was immediate. Molly and Arthur had their wands out, preparing to apparate to Malfoy Manor. The Weasley boys all went to their parents, pulling out their wands to apparate away too.
Lupin and Tonks, Kingsley and McGonagall, and all the rest of the Order members present all ran to do something they clearly thought was productive at that moment.
Moody groaned and would have slapped himself except he was already in enough pain from watching the idiots he was supposed to be allied with run around like chickens with their heads cut off.
He saw Malfoy roll his eyes in exasperation and the shared camaraderie they felt when their eyes caught let Moody know that Malfoy was no threat.
The ropes falling off Malfoy as the blond stood was enough to alert the flustered Order members that something aside from going after Ginny was amiss.
“You are all fools,” Malfoy snapped. “You have wards around your house; I have wards around mine. The difference is, my wards only allow family to cross. None of you idiots would ever make it through.” He looked around for a moment as everyone gaped at him. “Except Nymphadora,” he added. “She’s blood related to Narcissa.”
“Wait,” Moody said, worried at this suddenly revelation. “Anyone blood related can cross?”
“Yes,” Malfoy snapped. “Which means I just need an assurance that I won’t be killed on sight when I try to bring Draco and Ginny to St. Mungo’s before I go and get them.”
“Bellatrix Lestrange can get through your wards?” Moody asked dangerously. “Because if she can, she’ll be intent on killing the spies who allowed her master to be killed.”
Malfoy went white and looked pleadingly at Moody. Moody dangled his wand in his fingers and didn’t try to stop the frightened father when Lucius snatched away the wand and vanished with a pop.
Author notes: Sorry this chapter was so late being posted. Turkey Day was away at a place without internet. I hope you all had a good long weekend!
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