Freedom

Raven made her way down to the depths of the Ministry building where the guard had directed her, and easily found the Auror office.



Stepping inside, she waited for the door to snick shut behind her before crossing to the reception desk, making sure a bright smile was on her face as she beamed at the older man sitting at the desk.



"Pardon me, sir," she said when she had his attention, doing her best to keep her tone soft and respectful, "but is Ronald Weasley in?"



"Down the hall, take a left, and keep taking lefts, he\'s the third cubicle on the left," the man replied, unable to help himself from staring at the girl.



Ron sat at his desk and dropped his head on his blotter. Raven still hadn\'t returned his note and he was becoming downright paranoid about it. Had he really screwed things up that badly with her? Was there any chance that he could redeem himself? He didn\'t even look up when someone knocked at the entrance to his cubicle. "Come in," he mumbled, his voice muffled by his desk. "If you\'re here to put me out of my misery, please do so quickly and have a nice day."



"Oh, dear, that\'s a tall order. I have no idea how I would accomplish something like that," she said playfully from the door. "How would you like to be put out of your misery?"



Ron\'s head jerked up so quickly he groaned at both the head rush and crick in his neck. "Shiiiit," he moaned, reaching up to rub his poor neck. "Raven! What\'re you doing here? Sit down um..." he looked at the piles of parchment and files on the two chairs and grimaced. "Here."



With a wave of his wand, he moved one of the piles so she could sit and carefully set the pile on top of an already precarious stack next to his desk. "It\'s good to see you, did you get my letter?" Could you BE anymore obvious, Weasley? he winced at himself.



"I did. But I was getting ready to... to meet my brother for the first time. I thought I should wait to reply until I could do it justice, and then... well... I thought I\'d just see if I could talk to you, instead," she said watching him for a reaction at the mention of her brother to see if her father had been right about the shared animosity as she sat gingerly by his desk. "But, Ron, I wanted you to know that... well... I was upset, but I know you weren\'t trying to be mean. And... thank you for the cards and cake. It really means a lot to me."



Ron\'s face darkened at the mentioning of Draco, but he\'d (mostly) moved past the old animosity and didn\'t comment on it. It wasn\'t her fault she was related to such a git. A small smile erased any lingering darkness in his expression. "Good, I\'m glad. Hermione says I have a permanent case of foot-in-mouth disease and while we usually bicker about everything, that\'s at least one thing we\'re in agreement about. I\'m glad you\'re here though. Is there anything I can help you with or is this a social call?"



"Maybe a bit of both?" she said. "Mostly a social call, but I may need some help later, too. I have no way home, for starters. But I just really wanted to see you again, too. You offered a chance to hang out. Although you probably didn\'t mean here at work," she grinned.



"Heh. Yeah, that sorta thing\'s frowned on generally, but for you I\'ll make an exception. Have you had lunch already? We can go out and grab a bite if you like," he replied, leaning back in his chair and trying very hard not to sound like a desperate puppy and knowing he was failing miserably.



"Actually, I already ate, but... we skipped dessert. Would you... like to get an ice cream? I know it\'s the wrong time of year for that, but..." she trailed off with a shrug. "Mum and I used to get ice cream every time we came to Diagon Alley. I think its my favorite dessert, to be honest. Although, that could just be the memories that go with it."



Casually, mostly to test his reaction, she reached over and slowly covered his hand with hers, her thumb gently brushed over the back of his hand.



Ron gulped softly, his eyes glued to where she was touching his hand. How could such a simple touch feel so good? Turning his hand over to take hers, he grinned a bit stupidly at her. "Ice cream is a year round thing for me. There\'s never not a good time for it. Fortescue\'s?" he asked, standing and walking around the desk, his hand never releasing hers.



"Is there anywhere else that even comes close?" she asked with a hint of a giggle in her voice, squeezing his hand once and standing from the chair, a part of her wondering if he\'d drop her hand to leave, but more or less unsurprised when he didn\'t.



They made their way through the building, Raven noticing the looks they were getting, even if Ron was a bit oblivious. She wouldn\'t be at all surprised if someone wrote about them in the paper tomorrow, but Ron seemed unconcerned by the prospect. Amused more than anything else, she just smiled at people.



They arrived at Fortescue\'s, and Raven was flooded with memories. She looked at Ron, then went to the counter. "Hello William," she told the man behind the counter who had been scooping her ice cream for as long as she could remember. "I think I\'ll have the Lady of the Lake."



"Of course, love," he said, flashing her a grin and beginning to scoop her ice cream, two scoops of vanilla surrounded by blueberry puree.







"I\'ll have the Mint Chocolate Surprise. Um, what\'s the surprise today?" Ron asked, his hand unconciously slipping down to rest on Raven\'s lower back.







"And why would I tell you, Mr. Weasley? Where\'s the surprise then?" William asked grinning cheekily.







"Last time it was some pissed off licorice snaps. They nearly bit off my nose!" Ron told Raven in a stage whisper to which William laughed, handing them their bowls of ice cream. Ron paid him and they moved to the delicate looking white wrought iron chairs and tables dotting the parlor.







"So you\'ve forgiven me for what I said? I talked to Hermione and she helped me see it from your point of view. I didn\'t... mean to generalize like that. I just didn\'t want you to feel... like I\'d be ashamed of you or something," he finished in a mumble, looking down at his ice cream.



"Yes," she said softly. "I suppose I have. How could I stay mad? You obviously weren\'t trying to hurt me. Besides, it\'s not like people are crawling out of the woodwork to be friends with the bastard-whore daughter of Lucius Malfoy. I\'m not really sure why you would want to, to be honest. Not that I don\'t appreciate it, because I do. But... there you have it. If ever a friend came with baggage and liability, it\'s me."







Ron looked up from his ice cream with a frown. "Why wouldn\'t they want to be friends with you?" he asked with genuine confusion. "Why is your past so important that they don\'t want to be your friend now? I know that may make me sound naive, but you\'ve done nothing to piss any one off... unless they\'re offended by your very existance, but if that\'s the case, they don\'t deserve your friendship anyway. And I want to be your friend because you\'re nice and I think you\'d fit well with my other friends."



She felt herself blushing and decided not to fight it. "Well... I suppose my very existence is offensive to them. Partly because of my Papa, and what he represented. But also partly because, well, I\'m what frightens Pureblood women to death. My very existence represents the way their husbands approach the marriage bed... compared to the beds of other women. My father\'s wife hates me because he loves me," she said simply. "Because he loved my mother. On top of that, a number of wizards have personally... had me. And, it bothers wives or mothers to think that one of those men might be their man or father or son. So I make them uncomfortable on a lot of levels."





She shrugged, pretending like it didn\'t hurt, but she doubted she was being all that convincing.



"I... I do have a favor to ask, though. It wasn\'t entirely a social call."







Ron instinctively leaned over and laid his hand over hers, hoping to aleviate some of the sadness he saw in her eyes. He couldn\'t even imagine the life she\'d lead even before being thrown in the Club. It wasn\'t so much that he hadn\'t realized how good his life had been (aside from the whole being hunted by Voldemort thing), but more like how much worse other people\'s lives had been in comparison to his.







"Anything," he murmured, his thumb running over the baby soft skin on the back of her hand. "What do you need?"



"To see the Minister. I think he\'ll see me on my own. Between being a Malfoy and... my recent... fame.... But if not, I would like you to help me. I have an idea, and Papa agreed. I want to help those other girls. Papa\'s agreed to let them have a townhouse, and he and Draco are going to hire tutors for the younger girls and a physician to see to them... one we trust." She bit her lip, deciding to play the vulnerable card a bit. "I... I don\'t know if you heard what happened... at the hospital," she said, a slight quiver in her voice.







"I did," he murmured, the rage he felt before when he\'d first heard about Raven\'s rape threatening to overwhelm him again. Biting it back, he took deep calming breaths, squeezing her hand comfortingly. "Yeah, I\'d heard. I\'m not on the case obviously, but I\'ve heard from the grapevine that we\'re close to catching him. We\'ve got some good solid leads and a couple of suspects so hopefully we\'ll be able to bring him in in a couple more days.







"But that sounds like a brilliant idea for the girls. I\'m not... quite sure what you\'d want the Minister to do though." He was a bit disappointed that there wasn\'t something he, personally, could do other than get her in to see Shacklebolt.



She bit her lip. "Ron, some of those girls are minors. Maddie\'s twelve. She has no family. I assume she\'s to be a ward of the state. She\'s the youngest, but she\'s not the only one who needs real help. Beyond the medical. And she can\'t go to Hogwarts, none of them can. They\'d never fit in there, with... normal children. Even if Hogwarts took illegitimate children. It still doesn\'t. That\'s why I didn\'t go."







That didn\'t sound right to Ron, but he didn\'t question her. Hogwarts still had some antiquated rules that even he didn\'t know about. But his heart went out to the youngest of the girls even as his stomach roiled with anger and disgust that men would use a child like that. He couldn\'t help but remember the condition he found Raven not so long ago and had to bite back the urge to hit something. "I see what you mean. Once we\'re finished here, we can go to Kingsley\'s office."







"Thanks, Ron," she said softly. "I can\'t leave my friends to be forced back into that life. Not when I have the means to see that they don\'t have to. If they choose it, then that\'s their choice. But... I want them to have the same option I do. To get an education, pass their exams, have a chance at a normal life."







Nodding his agreement, Ron took a bite of his ice cream and sighed when his skin began to turn purple. "Surprise," he muttered feeling like a grape.





She took a bite of her own ice cream, sighing in pleasure as the blueberries made her tongue tingle from whatever Fortescue mixed with them. She looked up then and saw that Ron had turned purple, and her eyes went a bit wide as she forced back a laugh. "Purple isn\'t your color. Clashes with your hair...."







"Ugh! I just hope it doesn\'t last long. I can\'t exactly go back to work like this," he replied, grinning at her amusement. "Or see Kingsley looking like a grape. So you and Mal - Draco get along? That\'s good. I didn\'t get alone with one of my brothers and even though he\'d been a git his entire life, it still... was not fun. Not to piss you off or anything, but I\'m surprised Malfoy would want to help the girls. Is he doing this out of the goodness of his heart or is he doing this for another reason?"



"Honestly? I think it\'s partly that he wants to help, and partly that he wants to show the world that he wants to help. But honestly, does it matter? The girls need the help, and they trust me. I\'m one of them, after all," she said, meeting his eyes and ignoring his purple face. "But Papa really does want to help. I think he thinks it\'s a way to make up for... for not being there for me," she said with a shrug. "But it\'s not like there\'s only room for one motive, is there?"







"It\'s difficult not to be wary of them. They\'ve disguised their true motives for so long, it\'s hard not to think that everything they do is suspect of some deeper plan to cause pain and misery to the masses. It\'s going to take a long time for me to take anything Lucius and Draco Malfoy say or do at face value. Besides it\'s my job as an Auror to be suspicious," he added with a grin. "We\'re a notoriously paranoid crowd with good reason."



She grinned right back. "Then why don\'t you think I have an ulterior motive? I\'m a Malfoy, too, after all," she asked, her hand turning over in his and tracing ticklish patterns on his palm. She didn\'t know why she was playing with him like this, but something about him felt safe to tease and flirt with. She didn\'t intend to really follow through on it, but it felt lighthearted and normal.







"Ah. That\'s true. Do you have any nefarious ulterior motives?" he asked giving her a mock glare. Her fingers on his palm were doing strange flippy things to his stomach that were hard to control. "Am I going to have to keep an eye on you?" At this he cocked his eyebrow and grinned in a flirtatious way that gave his words a double meaning.



She lowered her eyelids and looked at him from under her lashes. "Probably. We are a tricky lot. Are you watching closely?" she asked, tilting her head back and exposing her throat, taking her hand from his to run down the long column of her neck and through her long black hair.







His eyes were glued on her fingers running down her neck and through her hair. How he wished those were his fingers or his tongue running down her skin. "Yeah," he rasped softly, feeling himself go quite willingly under her veela effects. "Closely."



She looked at him then, a promising smile on her lips. Then the smile turned into a grin and she picked up her spoon, taking a bite of the ice cream and licking the blueberries off her lips.



"Your purple is fading," she said softly, giggling a bit at his slack-jawed expression. "You\'d better hope you never go up against a woman like me, Ron. You\'d be putty in her hands."







Snapping out of his veela induced stupidity, he snapped his mouth shut and shook his head to free it of the cotton and cobwebs in it. "Yeah, well. It doesn\'t take much," he grumbled, digging back into his ice cream. Now that he\'d had the surprise, he knew he wouldn\'t get another one and he could eat it without worrying. "Damn women. Damn veela, too," he grumbled though the grin tugging at his lips betrayed him.



"How did you know?" she asked, a smile of her own. "I never told anyone. But yes, Mum was a veela. I am, too. I inherited all of the benefits, and the prices, of that."







"Women dumbfound me but I\'ve only ever fallen into a spell like that once before during the Quidditch World Cup. The Bulgarians had veela mascots and I felt like I would\'ve given them my right nut if they would smile at me. Plus my sister-in-law is half veela. You get to know the signs. So you can shapeshift? And remind me never to piss you off. Even though Fleur is only half veela she\'s got quite the temper and I don\'t think it comes from just being French."



She chuckled softly. "I can, yes. Among other things. So don\'t piss me off, Ron. That way, you\'ll never have to see what I\'m really capable of."



She took another bite of her ice cream, licking the spoon clean, still watching him.







His eyes shot over to that spoon almost as if he\'d been expecting it and was waiting for it. That little tongue was making his cock twitch and instantly he felt guilty and no better than the men she\'d been forced to endure. Was she flirting with him because she liked him or because it was habit and she didn\'t quite realize she had a choice now? Because he was fairly certain she\'d choose anyone other than him if she knew otherwise. He wasn\'t good enough for her, but he at least wanted a chance with her.







"I\'ll have to remember that. But for now, we should probably go," he murmured, giving her a small grin as he shuttered his thoughts away.





"Probably," she said, standing from the table and taking his hand as they made their way out of the ice cream parlor and down the street back to the Ministry building.



She was still wearing her visitor pass from that morning, so the guard waved them through, all eyes on the two of them as they moved to the lift, Ron pressing the button to take them to the floor with the Minister\'s office.



Ron barely noticed the looks they were getting. He was used to being stared at now and rarely acknowledged the looks he got. Even if he weren\'t used to the looks, he wouldn\'t have noticed anyway. All his attention seemed focused on Raven\'s little hand clasped in his much larger one.







So wrapped up was he in that small sensation, he nearly missed their floor and had to battle their way through the crush of bodies. Laughing, he pulled Raven out of the elevator just in time for it to close inches from her foot. "Sorry about that," he chuckled, patting her shoulders, arms and head. "All there? Did you leave anything behind? Because if you did, kiss it good bye."



"I seem to be in one piece," she said, stepping closer to him and brushing a kiss lightly on his cheek. "But thank you for getting me here in one piece," she whispered, her lips brushing lightly on his skin.



Taking a step back she winked at him. "Now, are you coming with me?"







Ron felt all the air woosh out of his lungs at the feel of her lips against his skin and it took a LOT of effort for him to regain control of himself or hell, even to just think and function again. "Don\'t... don\'t do that," he gasped. "That\'s just down right evil. Gimme a minute to recover." Leaning a bit over dramatically against the wall, he clutched at his heart and gasped loudly before perking up and grabbing her hand. "Okay, I\'m set."







They walked down the hall to the Minister\'s office where he walked straight in, ignoring the small crowd in the waiting room and walked right up to Mathilda\'s desk. "Hello, my sweet," he said smiling brightly at the beleagured and harried looking secretary. "You are looking very harrassed today. How many pencils have you lost in your hair so far?"







"Three," the older woman sighed, the tension in her body melting away until she gave Ron a grin. "And a good afternoon to you, Mr. Weasley. What can I do for you?"







"I was wondering if I could see Kingsley for just a few moments. I won\'t be in long," he added looking at the crowd of irate people sitting and standing around the waiting room.







"He\'s in a meeting right now, but he should be finished in a minute, if you\'d like to wait," Mathilda replied smiling up at him again.







"Of course. And here\'s a little something for your trouble." Ron slipped a wrapped parcel from his pocket onto her desk and gave her a wink before tugging Raven along behind him to the last two empty seats in the room. "I always keep at thing of Honeyduke\'s in my pocket just in case," he whispered to Raven, not wanting anyone else to know his secret of how best to get into Mathilda\'s affections.



She giggled at his blatant and very unsophisticated bribery, sitting daintily in the chair and turning her body towards him. She\'d learned from her mother how best to use her attributes to get what she wanted, and right now, she wanted and needed Ron\'s help. But more than that, she wanted him to want her. Partly because his innocent desire was cleansing after her life, partly because she hoped that eventually if he wanted her, he\'d come to like her for herself. She was well aware that that was how her parents had come to love one another. And if she were being honest, she\'d admit that a large part of her was amused at the thought of her being with someone her father and brother disliked, a subtle form of revenge, but there it was. And it\'s not like they could say he was a bad person, or even bad for her.



No, this was a very fun game.



Especially since, the more time she spent around Ron, the more she was sure he did, in fact, fancy her.



Ron glanced over at her and shifted in his chair. She was too close and presenting too tempting a target to kiss. She\'d made it quite clear that they were only to be friends so why was she leaning on him like she wanted a bit more than that. Clearing his throat, he stretched his arm along the back of her chair and absently played with her hair. "Do you have any plans for this weekend? Harry, Hermione and I were going out to our favorite restaurant and we\'d love to have you come with," he said softly. "Not like as a double date or anything like that... unless you want it to be." He winced and rolled his eyes upward in exasperation at himself.





She met his eyes, her own flashing in happiness, and grinned. "I\'d like that. Coming with you... on a date. I\'ve never been on a date before. What kind of restaurant is it?" she asked breathlessly. Then she giggled. "Papa and Draco are going to be horrified, you know. Me, going on a date with a Weasley. Are you sure you\'re not only asking to piss Draco off?" she pouted playfully.



"Uh. Restaurant. Oh. It\'s an Italian place, a little hole in the wall, but it\'s run by Italian immigrants and all the food there is straight from Napoli." Holy mother of Merlin, she actually agreed to go on a date with him! He wasn\'t sure if he should jump up and dance like the fool he was feeling or just play it cool so he just played it cool. Or tried to. "No, I\'m not asking just to piss Malfoy off, though that is quite an advantage, but mainly it\'s because you\'re um... quite beautiful. Inside and out. God, that sounded like a greeting card, didn\'t it?" he groaned, thinking it was easier being purple.



"Ron? Minister Shacklebolt will see you now," Mathilda called out, grinning over at where he sat with the pretty girl.



The two of them stood and walked into the Minister\'s office, ignoring the heated glares of some of those who\'d been waiting longer. Raven looked at the Minister even as the door was still closing, sizing him up quickly, and smiling at him broadly, with no reservations, so that it lit her eyes. "Minister," she said, letting her voice drop so that the scratch of misuse was apparent, wanting his sympathy, after all. "Thank you for seeing us, well... me."



Kingsley looked over at Ron wryly but gave Raven a warm smile nonetheless. "Anything for a friend of Ron\'s," he replied, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Please, sit. What can I do for you?" he asked as he settled back behind his desk.



"I\'m afraid it\'s not really a simple request, sir. I don\'t think we\'ve been properly introduced. My name is Raven Iris, although that is changing to Malfoy once Papa handles the paperwork," she said, waiting for him to draw the correct conclusions.



Recognition flashed in Kingsley\'s eyes. "Miss... Iris for the moment then. Pleased to meet you," he murmured a bit more sedately as he glanced over at Weasley. He cocked and eyebrow and looked back at Raven. "What is your not so simple request then?"



She sighed. "I want to help my friends. We\'ve been through so much together. And so many of them have nothing... and no where to go. I know the Ministry will do its best, but... I don\'t think there\'s any precedent for this. I don\'t know how much you\'ve been briefed on, but... some of the girls are very young. And none of them have much education. And frankly sir, after what happened to me at the hospital...." she trailed off, her eyes hardening briefly. "I can\'t leave my friends to fend for themselves. I\'ve talked to Papa about it, and he has agreed to give the townhouse to them to live in, to hire tutors, physicians, and to help them get on their feet, make a different sort of life for themselves. But... some of them are minors. Legally, I was wondering what would happen to them now. They... they won\'t fit in with other children, even if they were to be... allowed to."



"Legally they\'d be wards of the state and legally we would have to place them in an orphanage if they had no immediate relatives or godparents to claim them. But I believe certain arrangements can be made to have the girls stay at this house considering they know the other women living there and would feel more comfortable than they would around children their own age. Your father wouldn\'t be able to take permanent custody of them, but if they were put in temporary custody such as a fostering situation, I think that would be acceptable. He would be providing and education, shelter, food and clothing to them in a sort of half way house setting yes? Would other women be allowed in this house or will it be strictly for those that were in the Club?"



"We... hadn\'t discussed opening it to other women, but I wouldn\'t have a problem with that. At least, once the women from the club are settled. Until my friends are... are making their lives work... I think it would be best for them to be able to have a place that was... just theirs, to be honest. Shared experiences, shared horrors... call it what you will. Although if you are in need of another shelter, I will see if my father and brother would be willing to support one."



"The community is always in need of other shelters, but the one you\'re opening up for the women will be fine for now. I was just wondering if you were thinking of expanding or keeping it to the core group. Whatever support you need, my office will give it to you. If any of the departments give you any grief, tell them to come talk to me personally. That\'ll shut them up," Kingsley replied with a grin that Ron responded in kind to.



She smiled at him, nodding her head. "Thank you, sir. I... I would like to to help as much as I can, Minister. I\'ll get it set up right away. After what happened to me in the hospital, I\'d like to get them out of there as soon as I can. No offense, but they are very vulnerable. And they don\'t have someone like my father to take care of things... yet."



"I just read the report on the investigation surrounding your rape and they\'ve just brought in two suspects; a healer and a medi-witch. They don\'t think the medi-witch was personally involved in your case but it\'s possible she was a culprit in some of this healer\'s other illicit activities. Perhaps you\'ll be able to identify him despite your Oblivated memories. At any rate, the Aurors will most likely be calling you soon. If that is all? It was a pleasure meeting you," Kingsley said standing and offering his hand to Raven along with a warm smile. "Weasley, pleasure as always."



"Yes, thank you, sir. I\'ll send you reports, so you know personally how everyone is doing. Again, thank you for your help," she said with a genuine smile. At his nod, she and Ron left his office to return to the crowded waiting chamber.



Once they were through the bedlam, she turned to Ron and offered him a smile full of promise. "Thank you, Ron. I never would have gotten in to see him without you," she said, stretching up once more and kissing him on the cheek. "Do you think you can take me to the townhouse now? I can\'t Apparate yet."



"Of course," he replied, the tips of his ears glowing red with her praise and the touch of her lips on his cheek. "What\'s the location?"



He nodded once she explained the major intersection. He knew the area well. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her gently to him and Apparated them to the coordinants that Raven had described to him. They walked up to the front of the townhouse hand in hand and stopped at the door. "I\'ll owl you with a time when we get together on Saturday. It changes according to our schedules, but it\'s usually around seven or eight," he said, lifting her hand and giving the backs of her fingers a kiss.



She smiled, dropping her eyes to their joined hand, her thumb caressing his knuckles as he kissed her hand. "That sounds fine," she said stepping closer. Stretching up on her toes, she moved closer to him until her chest brushed lightly against him. Closing the distance slowly, meeting his eyes, she slowly let her eyes flutter shut until she felt his breath on her lips. There she stopped, waiting to see if he\'d close the distance and kiss her.



He was used to women knowing what they wanted and getting it from him so he wasn\'t at all surprised when Raven took the initiative to lean up and almost kiss him. His arms automatically wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to him until she was pressed against him. Leaning down the rest of the way, he brushed his lips against hers once then again, deeper and harder this time. He closed his eyes and sank into her kiss, his tongue slipping between her lips to taste her.



Moaning softly, her arms tightened around his neck, holding him to her as she melted against him. The kiss went on and on, and she felt her knees getting weak.



Finally, she stepped back, her eyes fluttering open to meet his eyes, a smile on her lips. "That... was my first kiss," she whispered. "Now... now I know... that you don\'t think I\'m a whore."



"I never thought you were," he whispered, his breath shaky against her lips. He brushed his lips against hers again, a soft kiss full of promises he hoped he could fulfill, not all of them physical.



Giving her a tight hug and a kiss on her neck under her ear, he reluctantly released her. "See you Saturday then?" he murmured, reaching up to brush his thumb against her cheek.



"See you Saturday," she said, noticing that the curtain to the townhouse was dropping and fighting off a giggle that her father had seen her kiss Weasley.



Turning, she stepped lightly to the door and into the house, closing it behind her, and leaning her back against it, a huge grin on her face, feeling for the first time in years that her life was exactly the way she wanted it to be.