Harmonious Fire

Chapter Eight
Draco and Blaise were awake early, leaving their respective women sleeping soundly. They had wordlessly swept down the corridor and to Draco's room. Blaise loitered in the doorway, whilst Draco walked over to where Ron's body was still sprawled on the floor. He grimaced, and looked back to Blaise,
"How should we play this?" Blaise shrugged, and walked over to stand by him,
"Its going to be hard. We need to play for maximum effect." Draco nodded. He needed something from Potter, the item the Dark Lord had sent them to retrieve. The idea that flashed in his head was risky but it was a shot. He had to take it,
"We trade. We give them back Weasle's corpse and they give us what we want." Blaise was skeptical,
"He won't go for it, he'd only give us that if we gave him back Weasle alive. Its kind of late for that...." He shook his head, maybe they should just toss Weasle's body outside the Ministry gates and be done with it. At least it would send Potter the right kind of message. Draco's anger simmered below the surface, if they didn't retrieve the last and final piece of Voldemort's grand puzzle they would be killed for their incompetence, of course Potter would kill them also for murdering his loyal sidekick. The blond grimaced, a plan flickering at the back of his mind, Blaise wouldn't like it, but it was the only avenue that he could picture working.
"Wake up your wife Blaise, she can make the decision. If she chooses to return to Potter along with her dead brother, then so be it. If not, then we dump it outside the Ministry and be done with it." He could feel the distaste rolling off of his friend, and he was fully prepared for the backlash of anger he was about to receive.
"You think I'm going to let her go back there?! If I give her that choice in the state she is in now, I will lose her! I cannot believe you even suggested it!" Blaise threw his arms up and was halfway walking out the door when Draco called back, stopping him,
"Don't you think you've lost her already?!" Blaise whirled around to face his blond lover, angry magic swirling around them in waves.
"What the fuck is that meant to mean?!" Draco growled,
"Think about it you idiot! We killed her brother! Fuck the last six years, we murdered her own kin after fucking her best friend! If you think that she still wants you after that, you're fucking delusional! You saw the way she looked at Hermione after she found out, hatred like that doesn't just die Blaise, if we leave it that little bint could do something that'll get us all killed. Now, wake her up and give her the choice. At least with her out of the way we can concentrate on what is important." Blaise didn't like it, but he obeyed, something about the way Draco was looking at him scared him. Like he was challenging to choose between his wife or his lovers. But he knew in the back of his mind there was no contest, Draco and Hermione were his life, and he would be a fool to give that up for a person who would end up resenting him.
"Alright, I'll talk to her." Draco nodded, then swept out the door in search of some morning coffee. Blaise stalked back to his room and stood in the doorway watching Ginny sleep. He lit up a cigarette and took a long drag, his dark eyes never leaving her figure. Looking at her now, he wasn't sure he could let her go. She was his perfect match, like him in all ways. She had put up with a lot of shit from him, mostly vicarious shit from Draco. He couldn't believe that she would betray him, but Draco was right, the way she had looked at Hermione. Hatred grew and festered, creating an immensely strong desire to seek some kind of revenge. If she took that revenge, he would never forgive himself. He walked to the bed and sat down. Stroking her hair out of her face he gently roused her from her slumber. She looked up at him, bleary eyed, he smiled sweetly,
"Morning Red," She stretched and sat up, clutching the silk sheet to her body, though she wasn't fully awake, she was aware that he was looking at her differently, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and said,
"Blaise, what is it?" He shook his head,
"What makes you think that something's up?" She chuckled,
"I've been married to you for six years, I know when something is wrong. So, what is it?" He grimaced, stood up and turned his back to her,
"You have to make a decision..." He paused, then half turned back to her, "...about your brother." Her breath hitched in her throat, he heard it, and swore under his breath. "Either you accompany your brother's body, return to the Order, and..." His lip curled into an ugly sneer, "...Potter. Or, you can stay here and we dump him outside the Ministry. If you choose to go, I will not stop you. However, know this, you won't be welcome back here under any circumstance. If you choose to stay, I promise to love you forever." He turned to her, she wasn't looking at him, staring off into the distance. He walked to her and snapped her head so she was forced to look him in the eyes, "But if you betray us, I will kill you." She shuddered under his touch, the utter sincerity in his eyes bore into her and burned into her soul. She would never forget it. She pulled away from him, and scrambled out of the bed,
"How can you ask me that?! You claim to love me, yet you're forcing me to make this decision?! How dare you!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her,
"I asked you last night Red, with us or against us. You made the choice to be with us, after Draco killed your brother. You were in shock then, now you're playing with a clear head. I need to know. Make the choice." She huffed, her mind was split. She wanted Blaise, but did she want her revenge more? She fully believed that Blaise would kill her if he knew what her mind was concocting. She had to choose.
"I'll go. I can't stay in this house Blaise, not with them. He killed my brother in cold blood, on her orders. I cannot allow that to go unnoticed. I'd rather leave you, then lose you to them." He let go of her, his eyes glossing over, his voice turning cold,
"Very well, pack your belongings and be in the entrance hall in ten minutes." With that he left her to an uncertain future. He watched from the shadows as she descended the stairway, coming to a halt when she saw her brother's body sprawled on the pristine marble floor. Draco and Hermione standing not far off. He didn't run to comfort her as she broke into tears, nor when Draco stood over her and told her exactly what she was to do. He didn't feel anything when he watched her and the body disappear with a crack. Nothing at all.
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The Ministry was business as usual. After its destruction, it had taken three years for it to become a fully functional organisation again. The community had elected Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister for Magic. In the time of war, the whole wizarding world was more inclined to have an Auror in the seat of power then a useless politician. Those who had survived the attack returned to work. The empty positions were filled by Hogwarts graduates, students with no place to finish their studies. All in all, it was a normal day. The Auror office was in full swing, the reappearance of Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy was their top priority. So far the only lead they had was from Harry Potter himself, the young man wishing to be the first to be told of any developments. Elsewhere, others were monitoring Death Eater activity, and muggle involvement. The Muggle Protection office having never been so busy in years. This was where the day found Arthur Weasley. The disappearance of his youngest weighed heavily on his mind as he tried to continue with his daily tasks. He flicked through the papers on his desk, muggle killings in Hampshire, children missing in Devon. The pile was endless. This war was taking its toil, the world may never recover from the evils being inflicted on it. He looked up and out of the fake window, the weather was nondescript. As it had been since the war had started, the controllers didn't have the need for weather when more important things needed their attention. It was then that he heard it, a piercing scream that rang through the halls of the building, ricocheting off walls and doors. Infecting everything. His assistant burst through his door,
"MR. WEASLEY! You need to get to the atrium! Right now!" Arthur Weasley had never moved so fast in his life, wand in hand he raced down the stairs to the grand hall of the atrium. Its marble floors stretching for yards upon yards. A group of people had gathered by the fountain. Aurors with their wands out in the centre, surrounding the source of the screaming. Kingsley Shacklebolt saw him and headed towards him, the eldest Weasley saw the look on Kingsley gave him and his strides faltered. His friend stopped in front of him and said,
"Arthur, I...There is no easy way to say this. It is your son." Arthur shook his head,
"No, no it can't be. No..." Kingsley nodded solemnly,
"I am sorry, my friend. We have contacted Harry, he is on his way here. However, I am afraid there is more."
"What? I have just found out my son is dead, what more could there be?" Kingsley took him by the arm and led him towards the crowd. The gathering people parted and allowed the grieving man to come forward. He was not prepared for what he saw. Sprawled next to his son's lifeless body was a woman he hardly recognised. Yet he had brought her up in his own home sixteen of her twenty two years of life. His daughter. From the screaming coming from her, he was inclined to believe that she had returned willingly with her brother. Aurors had their wand trained on her, as if they expected her to attack. He pulled them back and dropped to his knees next to her. Taking her head in his hands he tipped her head to look at him,
"Ginny?" He whispered, "Is that you?" The screaming stopped as she took in the scene in front of her,
"Dad?" She whispered back, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop it...." She started to sob into his robes. He wasn't quite sure how to take this, she had betrayed her family and married the enemy. He didn't know whether he could trust her. The crowd around them had dissipated, silence dropping around them. Only Ginny's small sobs echoed in the halls, Arthur turned to the Minister,
"What now?" Kingsley looked at the Aurors, then back to him,
"We must take her in for questioning. If we find that she acted willingly, then I am afraid we have no choice but to take her custody and formally charge her." Arthur gently disentangled himself from his daughter, and stood. Before he had a chance to speak, the silence was broken by a loud crack next to them. He looked to see who had arrived, half knowing who it would be. Harry took in the scene in front of him. His best friend, lifeless and cold on the ground, next to him a woman he had loved, who had betrayed him. No one could restrain him as he surged forward and hauled her onto her feet by her arms. No one even stopped him when he dragged her down the hall to one of the sidechambers. He tossed her in, she landed with a thump on the floor. She looked up at him, tears clouding her vision,
"Harry...." She whispered, he cut her off from saying anything else. Pacing up and down in front of her, he had waited for a long time for this confrontation but now he had her in front of him he couldn't place the words to say to her. He needed to calm down, or he may end up hurting her. No matter what she had done, he didn't want it to come to that. After a prolonged silence, he looked down on her. She was still sobbing brokenly, over what he didn't know, if they had fully turned her, then Ron's death would have meant nothing to her. But maybe, just maybe there was some hope for her left. He bit his lip then choked out,
"Why Ginny?" She looked up and began to recite her tale.
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"You know that this changes things?" He said to her, they were still stood in the entrance hall, staring at the space where her dead husbands body had disappeared from along with her ex-best friend. She tore her eyes away from the space, and looked up at him.
"I know, baby. Do you think he'll be okay?" Draco sighed,
"I'm not sure. I didn't want to have to force him to make that choice. But it was the only way. I couldn't have had her screwing this up." Draco took her by the hand, and led her back through the corridors to the kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee and stood watching her. They still hadn't talked about what had transpired between them the night before. He had asked her to marry him, and she had pledged to him her life and soul, forever. Nothing could tear them apart now.
"Draco..." His eyes were burning into her, she could feel him under her skin, sinking into her every fibre. He was a part of her now, nothing could take that away from them. She spoke again, "Draco, what do we do now? Its inevitable that Voldemort is going to find out about us, then thats it, it'd be over before we can achieve what we want." He finished up making the coffee, serving both of them a large cup. She sipped hers gently, still watching Draco, she could see his mind working the situation over. Those grey eyes were far away, processing their position and playing out options. So she did the same. There was no way that their relationship could go unnoticed now. The fact that the return of Ginny Weasley to the wizarding world would be splashed across the front page of the Prophet in the morning, would tip Voldemort off to the change in status. Then no doubt he would have Draco and Blaise watched, especially if he suspected that Ginny would crumble under interrogation. The only outcome would be that they would be discovered, and all three of them would be killed for their deceit. Unless, Draco presented her to the Dark Lord as his wife, but no matter if she pledged her allegiance, she was still a muggleborn. Her blood would have her killed on site. So that option was out of the door. She couldn't get her head around, she just hoped that Draco would come up with a solution. He looked at her again, then spoke, his voice somewhat weary,
"He won't find out. I'll make sure of it." He didn't sound sure, and she heard it in his tone,
"Draco, don't treat me like an idiot. How can you be sure that he won't find out? You can't stay here with me twenty four seven, you have to do your job! That's the only way we can finish this." He came to her, and took her hand,
"Angel, I'm going to be honest with you. I can't be sure that he won't find out. But if he does, we can deal with it. I'll deal with it."
"How Draco?! We are only three people, he's got a whole fucking army at his call, if he wants us dead, he'll find a way! Couple that with the fact that the whole Order is after us to, we may as well just give up!" He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up, shoving her backwards so she was bent over the counter,
"Don't you dare say that. I am not going to give up on this! Not after all this time. That army you speak of will be ours one day. If I have to kill Voldemort tomorrow, I will do it so we can succeed. Do you want that Hermione? I'll do it for you." She knew if he went after Voldemort without destroying the last Horcrux then he would most certainly die in the attempt. If she could just help him. Something sparked in her head, she needed a few hours alone in the library of Malfoy Manor. After six years of research she knew every book in the Grimmauld Place library cover to cover. Some made references to books she had never even heard of, books that after researching in the archives of the Ministry were found to be in the possession of Lucius Malfoy. As far as she knew, no one but Draco could get past the wards on the Manor, she looked up at him. He was so close to her, she could feel every inch of his body pressed up against her. The position she was in was uncomfortable, she struggled to get the words out,
"Give me a day in the library at the Manor. I can find the information we need. Please its the only way. Then we can kill him and take this world like we planned." He drew back slightly. Raised his eyebrow. He had trawled through most of the books he deemed relevant to find the exact location of the last Horcrux but had come up with nothing. But he also knew he was no bookworm Granger, she undoubtedly would find something he missed. He let her up,
"Very well, but I'm coming with you. Get dressed, I don't want to be in that place longer then need be. I'll go and find Blaise." She lifted herself off the counter, and wrapped herself around him.
"We'll be okay, baby. I'll find what we need." He kissed her gently, then smiled,
"I meant what I said last night Hermione, I want to marry you. Soon." She kissed him back, then moved her hands down, slipping them down the front of his jeans,
"I know, and if you don't marry me soon, I am going to have to get rough with you." He cocked his eyebrow, then pushed her back over the counter again, pulling her jeans down as he went. He leant over her and said huskily,
"Sounds thrilling, maybe I won't marry you after all." She smirked and nipped his bottom lip.
"Very well then Mr. Malfoy, get ready for your punishment." He chuckled and proceeded to show her just what punishment he enjoyed the best.