�To Ron and Hermione!�

Everyone shouted in agreement and drank to the toast Harry had just made to his two best friends. It was mid-day in the Leaky Cauldron and they had decided to hold an impromptu �engagement� party for the happy couple, since Harry, Remus and Tonks had missed the first one. Looking around the table Harry felt a sense of happiness and contentment. His eyes lighted on Ginny talking to Tonks, and he smiled. His eyes fell on the small ring on her finger and he felt another burst of joy. If someone had told him last week that he�d be engaged to Ginny Weasley, he would have laughed in their face. As it was, laughing was really all he felt like doing now...

�Harry, that was a beautiful toast, thank you,� Hermione said, interrupting his thoughts. Harry smiled at her.

�Well, I meant it, every word. Especially about the bickering.�

Hermione laughed and gave him a hug. �Well, you�ll have to remember exactly what you said for the wedding.�

�Yeah, mate,� Ron said as he joined them, �Best men have to make the speech, right? The one that makes everyone cry and dab their eyes? Think you got it in you?�

Harry laughed. �Hmm. Maybe. I might go another way though. I could tell that story about you and Hermione sneaking out of the dorm one night, right before school was over-�

�Harry! That would not be proper for a wedding! Think of my parents!� Hermione said, her voice scandalized. Harry laughed.

�Hermione, you�ve been living with Ron for close to seven years now, I think they know you do more than... sleep.�

Ron laughed at Hermione�s expression and pulled her into a tight hug. Harry watched as Hermione�s expression softened and she turned to his friend, giving him a small kiss. Harry turned away and looked at Ginny again, who was now laughing at something Fred and George had told the group. He went back to his seat and sat down, taking her hand into his.

She gave it a squeeze and then turned back to her brothers, who were now talking about a new idea for candies that could make your enemies speak backwards all day. Harry caught Remus�s eye and he smiled at his friend as he nodded at him and Ginny. Harry wanted to tell Remus about Ginny agreeing to marry him more than anything, but he knew they had decided on keeping it quiet for now. Harry looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and knew he should probably ask them before he said anything to anyone. He didn�t think they�d object, but still it was proper to ask a girl�s parents, wasn�t it? He�d have to ask Ginny about it later.

Arthur caught his eyes and smiled benignly at him and Harry nodded. It felt weird that his future father-in-law knew so much about them. Harry still felt a bit embarrassed at that and knew he was turning pink in the face. He looked away and realized Tonks was saying something to him.

�Er... Harry?�

�Sorry, I was daydreaming, what did you ask me?�

Tonks smiled knowingly at him, her eyes flicking to Ginny. �I said, when are you going back to work? Amelia said a few days, but... the Auror�s are having absolutely no luck with finding Malfoy. Not a scrap. It�s like he�s disappeared.�

Harry shook his head. �I know. We ran into Terry Boot before we got here. He says Fagan is driving them all like workhorses. Malfoy�s a personal obsession of his-�

Ginny, who Harry knew had been listening despite her attention to her brothers, turned her head at the mention of his old boss�s name and gave him a strange look.

�Did you say Fagan?� she asked him, quietly.

Harry looked at her. �Yeah, my old boss in America. Donald- remember? Terry said they�d been working non-stop practically, patrolling?�

�I didn�t know you had worked for Donald Fagan.�

�Er, yeah. He�s the one who came and got me to go to America, actually. Why?�

Ginny shook her head but Harry could tell something was troubling her. He was about to ask her about it more when the bartender came over to him with a note in his hand.

�Mr. Potter, this just came for you.�

Harry took it and suddenly felt a prickly feeling at the back of his neck. Turning slowly around, he looked at the rest of the pub. It looked like the normal mid-day crowd. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then Harry had reasons not to accept things at face value. He narrowed his eyes and looked at everything more closely. Ginny noticed the change in him and squeezed his hand.

�Harry, what is it?�

Harry turned around to face her and pulled his hand away from hers. He stood up and brushed his lips across her forehead.

�Nothing. Just a feeling, I�m going to take a walk around the pub. Stay here.�

Ginny opened her mouth to argue but George and Fred had chosen that moment to get Ron to try one of their Hair Changing Chocolates and a great roar had gone up at the table as Ron�s hair had grown longer while turning bright purple and green.

The prickly feeling was growing and Harry had the strange sense that they were being watched. He remembered the note in his hand and stopped, halfway towards the back rooms. He opened it up and stared at it in disbelief. He looked back at the table and saw Ginny watching him, a frown on her face. She was moving to stand up when Harry shouted at her to stop.

�Ginny, no!�

But it was too late, the movement had been noticed and true to the words in the note, a loud crack of magical power went through the pub. Harry watched as a bodiless head appeared out of nowhere, right next to where Ginny had been sitting. He barely heard the yelling and the screaming. All he saw was Ginny knocked to the floor from the blast of the spell that had hit her and Draco Malfoy standing over her, aiming his wand at her. Harry dove towards her, to throw himself over her. Somewhere his mind acknowledged the fact that Ron, Remus and everyone else was aiming their wands at Malfoy and shouting at him. He watched as Malfoy laughed and then disappeared again, his invisibility cloak falling back into place. Harry was holding Ginny in his arms, checking to make sure she was okay. He heard a scuffle behind him but didn�t take his eyes away from her face. He felt someone at his elbow and turned to see Mrs. Weasley, who was saying something to him about his wand. Harry looked down in realization at the wand he hadn�t realized he�d drawn and used it to wake up Ginny.

With relief flooding through him, he watched as her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him, her face white.

�Harry? How did I get on the floor?�

Harry held her closer to him, thanking the stars that Malfoy had only hit her with a stunner. He could have done a lot worse. Looking around suddenly, he kissed Ginny quickly and handed her towards her mother. Standing up, Harry took off after the others, running into them as they made their way back to the door of the pub.

�He�s gone, Harry. We can�t find him with that cloak on,� Remus was saying as he took a hold of his arm.

�How�d he get a cloak, he�s supposed to be destitute!�

�Obviously he has some friends we don�t know about. Come on, back inside everyone,� Remus turned at the rest of them and then looked at Harry. �How�s Ginny?�

Harry ignored him for a second, his eyes scanning the street in front of the pub. He had a feeling Draco had stayed close by, so he could laugh at all of them. Growling at the thought of it, Harry pushed away from Remus and started walking away from the pub.

�Harry! Ginny�s asking for you,� this was from Hermione who had joined the group outside. Harry stopped and swallowed his anger. With a sharp look around he relented and headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry hoped Draco was aware of the fact that he had just signed his own death warrant with the little stunt he�d just pulled. The next time Harry saw him he would not be aiming his wand for stun. Unforgivable Curse or not, Draco Malfoy was a dead man.

Sarah Brocklehurst was asleep on her sister�s bed. She�d spent the last few days looking for her sister and she was exhausted. She had been hoping against hope that the thing that had happened to the Eaton girl had not happened to her sister, but as the days dragged by Sarah felt that hope begin to dissolve. She could only pray that her sister was at least still alive somewhere...

Sarah didn�t hear the door of the flat open, nor the sound of his footsteps as he entered. She didn�t know that he peeked in on her, watching her sleep. She didn�t know he felt bad for what he had done, for the part he had played.

A few hours later and Sarah woke up, her mind feeling clearer. She didn�t know about the attack at the Leaky Cauldron, and she didn�t know that all of the wizards who had been out looking for her sister had been called in to look for Draco Malfoy instead. It didn�t matter anyway.

Sarah found her sister as soon as she entered the living room. And she found a message left for Ginny Weasley scratched onto her sister�s skin.

�I�m fine, really,� Ginny was insisting to her parents that she did not need to go to St. Mungo�s.

Harry lingered in the doorway of the bedroom; feeling frustrated yet relieved at the same time. Draco had merely wanted to play with them and not permanently hurt her. Still, it brought home to Harry the idea that he couldn�t protect Ginny against things. Not even if he was right next to her. It was a very unsettling thought.

He caught her eyes as she was talking with her mother and gave her a little smile. Harry went back into the living room and found everyone talking amongst themselves. Fred and George were sitting with their heads together, having what looked like to Harry a very intense conversation. Bill and Charlie were talking with Remus and Tonks, while Ron and Hermione were walking over to him.

�How is she?� Ron asked, his hair having changed back to normal finally.

�She�s good. She�s fighting your parents about going to St. Mungo�s which of course means she could probably take on a whole pack of raging hippogriffs.�

Ron nodded and then got a very intense look on his face. �What�s the plan, Harry?�

Harry merely looked at him and then looked at Hermione. Hermione took Ron�s hand and shook her head.

�Ron, Harry doesn�t need you to go-�

�Malfoy just attacked my sister in front of me; you are not going to talk me out of helping, Hermione.�

�It�s okay, Hermione,� Harry said after a moment. �I don�t think I can stop any of them from helping even if I wanted to. The more Weasley�s involved the better, if you ask me. Malfoy�s been having this coming to him for a long time.�

Hermione blinked at the harshness of his voice and then nodded as though she�d already realized it was a losing battle. Arthur came out of the bedroom then and looked around at everyone. His eyes rested on the three of them and he came over.

He nodded at Ron. �Well, you sister is as stubborn as always. And she�s asking for you, Harry, but- � Arthur put his hand on him before he could leave, �She�s going to make you promise some silly thing about not going out into any danger. But I want you to promise me you won�t take that vow. I want you to find Draco Malfoy and I want you to find him. Now. Until he�s...taken care of, I fear the two of you will just be objects for him to play with.�

Harry looked Arthur in the eye and knew that Arthur understood exactly why Malfoy had targeted Ginny and only Ginny. It was because of their relationship. It was because of him.

Harry nodded his head slightly and went back towards the bedroom. He paused as Mrs. Weasley came out. She met his eyes and smiled.

�She�s in a state, Harry. She�s pretending to be okay, but deep down I think she�s frightened. Do something to calm her, would you? Make her drink that potion I made for her, so she can sleep.�

Harry nodded and then walked into the bedroom to find Ginny laying out clothes on the bed.

�And what in Dumbledore�s name do you think you�re doing?� he asked her, crossly.

Ginny barely looked at him. �I�m getting dressed. I will not be lying about all day while everyone I care about hits the streets looking for that slimy git.�

�And you think the fact that everyone will be worrying about you while they�re looking is going to help, do you?�

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms. �Everyone should know that I can take of myself.�

�Except when someone does something that you didn�t see coming. Like today. Ginny, be reasonable. Malfoy targeted you for a reason and you damn sure know why!�

Harry hadn�t meant to raise his voice and felt immediately sorry when he saw her flinch. But it didn�t take the determination out of her eyes and Harry knew they were really going to have a row.

�It doesn�t matter why he targeted me. The next time it could be you. The next time it could be Ron or Hermione. I want to make sure there is no next time!�

Harry shook his head. �Malfoy�s not interested in Ron and Hermione, he�s interested in hurting me and you know that.�

Ginny shook her head. �Well then, he�s going to have to go through me, first. I will not let you go out there and fight my battles for me, Harry.�

Harry rolled his eyes, which in retrospect he realized was his first mistake. Ginny made a snarling noise and walked over to him. She poked him hard in the chest and even Harry had to blink at how strong she was.

�Let�s get this straight Harry, I can�t stop you from protecting me from things, this I know, but you need to know that you can�t stop me from wanting to protect you either. I�m going with you and that is that.�

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head. �No.�

Ginny raised an eyebrow and made as though to hit him, he didn�t know why, maybe she thought she could just hit him out of the way until he gave in. He grabbed her arms and pulled her off the ground. She struggled and glared at him.

�Put me down, Harry. You�re going to let me get dressed and you�re going to let me go out there with you.�

�No.�

Ginny cursed and tried to use her free hand to slap his face. Harry had never seen her so angry and if he hadn�t had been a friend of the Weasley�s for so long he might have actually been worried about her. With a determined effort he placed her back down on the bed and held her down. She struggled against him and glared up at him.

�Get off me Harry or I�ll scream for my brothers.�

�No. Not until you listen.�

Ginny opened her mouth to call out but Harry stopped her by kissing her. Kissing someone while they didn�t want you to was not a good experience, Harry discovered. He pulled back, his lip red from where she had bitten it.

�Ginny Weasley you are going to listen to me, do you understand?�

She stared defiantly at him and didn�t say anything. Well, at least she had stopped struggling. Harry thought about how he was going to make her see reason when the idea came to him. He bent down to kiss her again, but instead of kissing her mouth his kissed her neck and it only took a short while until he felt her relax slightly.

Using the distraction of his mouth against her skin, he removed one of the arms that was holding her. Harry went for his wand. Ginny immediately started to push herself out from under him but Harry was quicker, once again thanking his many years of Quidditch skills. He aimed his wand and two small white ropes shot out from the tip and bound themselves around her. Ginny gasped and then before she could open her mouth to scream, Harry uttered the Silencio! spell at her.

Nodding at his work, Harry pulled away from her and looked at her. Ginny was shooting murdering glances his way and if a look could maim, Harry was pretty sure he�d have been knocked down a long time ago.

�Now since I have your attention, maybe I can get you to see reason.�

Ginny�s look told him not to count on it, but Harry plowed on anyway.

�You will not be going out onto the streets, as you put it, to help anyone do anything. You have been the victim of a Stunning Spell, which wasn�t as bad as it could have been, but it was bad enough. You have also just recently gotten over having the life sucked out of you, by yours truly of course, and are in no condition to fight anyone off, judging by the easy way in which I just got you tied up,� Harry paused as Ginny made a frustrated squirming sound on the bed. �Your parents are right outside that door and your father has already personally asked me to get Draco for this little stunt. There is also your brother Bill, your brother Charlie, Fred and George who appear to be planning some terrible thing and Ron, all boiling over with revenge and retribution for your sake. And then there�s me-� Harry stopped and made sure he had her attention.

�There�s me. This person who defeated Voldemort, this person who asked you to marry him not less than 7 hours ago, this person that loves you more than his own self. This person who is now asking you from the bottom of his heart that you calm down and not make him do anything worse then what he�s already done to you. Because if it comes down to it Ginny, I will hit you with my own Stunning Spell just to make sure you sleep until we get Draco into custody. Do I make myself clear?�

Ginny looked at him and saw that he was dead serious about knocking her out. For the first time, Harry saw some of her anger leave her. But she still stubbornly shook her head at him. She made a notion with her head and opened her mouth, indicating she had something to say. Harry shook his head.

�Nope. Not going to give you your voice back until we reach an understanding here.�

Ginny�s eyes grew wide and then she slumped. Harry felt bad but he had to make sure she wasn�t just faking it so that she could get loose. He kneeled down in front of her and held her chin with his hand.

�Please, Ginny. Let me go out and find him and know that you�re safe and well. I don�t want to worry about you- and yes, I know you can take care of yourself. I think I have a permanent hole in my chest from where you poked me earlier. This isn�t about me thinking you can�t handle yourself, it�s about me kicking Malfoy�s arse once and for all and making sure he can never use anyone to hurt me ever again.�

Harry stared into her brown eyes and saw what he wanted- the start of her relenting. With a small smile he used his wand to untie her and then removed the Silencing Charm. She didn�t say anything and looked down at her hands. Harry reached out and took her hand into his.

�See, now we have matching rope burns.�

Ginny blushed and looked at him. �Very funny,� she whispered.

�You�re mad at me,� it wasn�t a question Harry asked because he already knew the answer.

But surprisingly, Ginny shook her head. �No. But I just... I feel powerless and I hate that. I want to help, I want to protect you, I want-� Ginny paused and looked at him. �I let you go by yourself last time and look what happened!�

�Is that what this is about? Ginny, we can�t watch each other everywhere we go. I�m an Auror. This is what I do; I get into dangerous situations. I break a few bones. Scratch this face a few more times. What do you want me to do? Never leave the flat? And just yesterday you were saying we shouldn�t spend too much time together-�

Ginny pulled her hand away and then started crying. �It�s not something to make fun of Harry. How can you when...oh, I don�t know what is wrong with me.�

Harry pulled her into his arms and held her. He couldn�t say anything that would make it better because he knew nothing would. Ginny either had to make peace with the fact that he would be in dangerous situations from time to time or she would always be miserable every time he left the front door. Harry suddenly felt very old.

Shouldn�t couples who had just become engaged be arguing about who to invite to the wedding? He�d have to ask Ron and Hermione about that one the next chance he got.

Ginny stopped crying almost as soon as she�d started. She moved away from him and then shook her head. He watched as she looked down at her hand.

�Fine,� she said, quietly. �Go off and find him and hit him once, no, twice, for me. Make sure Fred and George get to spend some quality time with him too.�

�So we�re okay?� he asked her after a moment.

Ginny nodded but didn�t look at him. She wiped at her eyes and then stood up.

�Ginny-�

She glanced at him and then hugged her arms around herself. He recognized it for the nervous gesture that it was and stood up as well, to embrace her. She put her hand out in front of her.

�Just go, Harry. Don�t... look, if you touch me right now I can�t say that I will let you go, so... just go. And come back in one piece.�

�I promise,� he said simply. Ginny shook her head and then turned away from him. It broke something in Harry�s heart to see her suffering but he didn�t want to make it worse then it already was. He walked to the door, his hand on the handle, when he suddenly felt her behind him, her arms gripping him tightly.

Harry turned and Ginny moved closer and pulled his head down to hers. She kissed him for a very long time and somehow Harry had managed to sink down to his feet, his back against the door. He had pulled Ginny down with him and they sat there, entwined in a tangle of robes and odd angles. Finally coming up for air, he gazed at her. His skin felt hot inside and out. What had Mr. Weasley said again about Eros...?

�Now that was a goodbye kiss,� he said, his voice rough in his ears.

Ginny looked into his eyes, her own skin flushed. �No, it wasn�t. It was a get your arse back here so I can do that to the rest of you sort of kiss... you understand me, Harry Potter?�

Harry nodded and Ginny smiled slightly. She stood up and even giggled as he struggled to right himself.

He dusted himself off and then smiled at her. �Take the potion your mother made, would you, please?�

Ginny grumbled something he didn�t quite catch and Harry was sure he wouldn�t be happy about what she�d said even if he had. With a final look, he opened the door.

�If you take it, I�ll be back by the time you wake up, I promise.�

Ginny nodded and then Harry left, a new determination settling over him. He�d be back beforehand, if he had anything to say about it.

Ginny sat morosely on the bed. She heard Harry and her brothers leave. She knew Hermione and probably her mum and possibly her father were still out there, waiting. She also knew her mother would probably be in to check on her as well. Ginny looked at the potion she was supposed to take and frowned. It was just a Sleeping Draught and maybe a good long sleep is what she needed. She was certainly grouchy enough. Sighing, Ginny got up and moved her clothes off of the bed and flopped down in their place.

Ginny felt depressed now that her anger had left her and she felt an ache for Harry to return, knowing full well that he�d just left and would probably be gone for hours. Shaking her head at herself and calling herself bad names inside her head, Ginny rolled over to drink the potion. Maybe she did just want to forget everything for awhile...

A tapping on the bedroom window stopped her and Ginny recognized one of the Ministry owls waiting to be let in. She jumped up off the bed and opened it. The owl flew in and landed on the bedpost. It hooted at her and stuck out its leg.

Ginny recognized her name on the envelope and took it. She walked over to Hedwig�s cage and snagged an owl treat. The Ministry owl caught it when she threw it and soared back out again. Ginny� s attention was already on the note in her hand.

Mandy had been found, returned to her own flat, unconscious like Winifred had been. Another clue had been left and this time it was left for Ginny specifically. Ginny needed to get to St. Mungo�s as soon as she could. Staring at the closed door, she knew her mother and Hermione would never let her go by herself and Hermione couldn�t Apparate yet and Ginny didn�t fancy taking her mother with her. There was nothing for it, she was just going to have to leave and suffer the consequences later. Ginny grabbed her clothes off the table and got dressed, hurriedly. She pulled her hair back and put it into a ponytail. Leaving a hastily scribbled note on the back of the one she�d received from Dex on the bed, she used Harry�s balcony to Apparate. She would just go and see what was going on. That�s all. They couldn�t expect not to do her job, could they?

�You did what?� Louis asked Draco again, his anger coiling like a snake just below his surface.

�I only stunned her, don�t worry. She�s no worse for-�

Draco�s head snapped back as Louis�s fist met with his face. Draco recovered and narrowed his eyes. His hand went searching for his wand.

�You�ll want to watch who you�re hitting there, Fagan. Malfoy�s don�t take to getting punched-�

Louis hit him again and Draco stumbled backwards. He aimed his wand at Louis but before he could utter a spell, Louis had already cast his own. Draco fell like a dead weight to the floor.

Louis stood over him and looked down at him, a sneer on his face. �You pathetic excuse for a wizard. You never were too quick were you Malfoy? No wonder Potter�s always been able to best you. No wonder your father died. Probably couldn�t bare the thought of living with such a useless git for a son.� Louis spit at Malfoy, his rage barely contained. But no, he still needed the stupid bugger. Louis took a deep breath and then kneeled down so that he was close to Draco�s face. The Body-Binding spell did have its uses; it gave you a very captive audience. He lowered his mouth to Draco�s ear, to make sure he wasn�t misunderstood.

�You. Are. Never. To. Harm. Ginny Weasley ever again,� Louis said, pronouncing each word with care. �If you so much as look at her then I will kill you Draco and I�m not talking about some easy flash of green light that sucks all the life out of you. No, I�m talking about slow, deliberate death. A Muggle death. Something tortuous and foul. Something that will drive you crazy before I release you. Do I make myself clear?�

Draco�s eyes stared malevolently back at him and Louis laughed. Ah, the Malfoy pride. Louis stood up and walked over to the box he kept for the girls. Pulling out the instruments he wanted he walked back over to Draco, sitting down next to him. He held the long knife up to the light and smiled.

�This is a very interesting knife, Draco, did you know that? It cuts very deeply and hardly leaves any mess behind it. I could use this on you right now, if I wanted. It goes in smooth, like you�re just cutting into a stick of butter. But then I imagine you don�t know anything about that. You probably had house-elves do everything for you, didn�t you? Even something as simple as fetching butter for your toast. No slave labor for a Malfoy, eh?� Louis smiled down at him again. He ran the edge of the knife along Draco�s arm.

Knowing that he had the other man�s attention now, Louis dropped the knife and then held up the other object he�d grabbed. It was in the shape of a corkscrew and had tiny teeth along the side of each curve; the end point was very sharp. Louis moved this one to Draco�s face, using his wand to make it hover there as he sat back and spoke.

�Now this one, this one leaves a mess. It goes in quite leisurely and comes back out even slower, Draco. I think maybe I�ll use this one on your face, I know how you pride yourself on how good looking you are. Part of the Malfoy arrogance, after all.

And then maybe I�ll just toss you outside, so someone can find you and they�ll scream and cry at the horrid mess I�ve made of you...� Draco�s eyes had gone from defiant to wavering fear. Louis chuckled. Draco may be full of himself but never let it be said that he didn�t have a run on the concept of self-preservation.

Louis moved the instrument out of the way and then lowered his face down again.

�Ginny Weasley is worth ten of you Malfoy, never forget that. You will never hurt her, again. Are we perfectly clear on that?�

Louis watched as Draco nodded his head. Louis stood up and then released the other man. He tossed the knife and other object back into the box and went to the door. He opened it and nodded at Draco.

�Now get out there and keep the whole wizarding world busy. I�ve got things to do.�

Draco paused as he passed him. He stopped and looked back at Louis with something close to respect. Louis wondered if the man was even aware of it.

�Why don�t you want anyone to hurt Ginny? She�s the easiest way to get to Potter,� Draco said, his voice a whisper, as though not wanting to provoke him.

Louis paused and looked at him. What did it matter? Draco would probably be picked up as soon as he left the safety of the house and now since he�d hurt Ginny, Louis knew everyone in her family would be aiming to kill. He shrugged and smiled at Draco.

�Because I�m not after Potter, I couldn�t care less about him. What I want is something much much more. I want Ginny�s pain all for myself, you see. I�m going to be the one that hurts her, Draco. Just me. I�ve been in love with her since the moment I saw her and I had her once, but I was young and stupid, I let her get away. Well, this time, there is no getting away for our Miss Weasley. This time, she�s mine until she dies.�

Draco blinked at him and backed away slowly. Louis barely registered the look on his face. His mind was working backwards to that time when he had first touched her... oh, the memories were rich... closing the door, Louis started humming to himself. It was almost time for him to meet up with his redhead again. Just one more girl and she�d be ready....