A/N: "Swear to shake it up, and you swear to listen."
-Panic! At the Disco
She couldn't believe that she was actually here, in this office, waiting to see him of all people. But he was the best, they told her, and Harry and Ron trusted him and he was her last hope. She sat there in his simple yet elegant outer office and tried not to fidget. She was the only person in the office, besides his secretary, and she didn't see any reading material so she took the time while she waited to wonder about the man she was meeting. She hadn't seen him since right after the war, at the end of her sixth year when apparently he'd gone into auror training. That was six years ago. She wondered if he was still the arrogant prick he'd always been; if he still lived under the impression that he was Merlin's gift to Wizardkind; if he was still undeniably good-looking.
Someone cleared their throat and Ginny looked up, startled. It was the secretary who had welcomed Ginny earlier.
"The detective will see you now." The woman said in a low, gentle voice. She turned and pointed to a closed door across the room, her steel-grey hair fanning out around her shoulders.
"Tha-Thank you." Ginny muttered and then rose unsteadily and crossed the room. She paused at the door and turned back to the older woman who smiled encouragingly. Right, Ginny thought as the turned back to the door, it's now or never. Then she knocked.
Her timid, barely audible knock annoyed him. He wasn't sure exactly why it annoyed him but it annoyed him nonetheless.
"Enter." He said tonelessly and watched from behind his desk as the door swung inward and she stepped into the room.
She was small, like he remembered. Although he did not remember her filling out her clothes quite so nicely, or perhaps it was that these clothes actually fit her. She was wearing a simple black skirt with a short-sleeved blouse of purple and cream in some sort of geometrical pattern. Her legs he noticed, for the simple reason that it was his job to notice things, seemed to go on forever in the simple black heels she was wearing.
"Well," he finally drawled. "If it isn't the littlest Weasel." He smirked at her and suddenly she was the Weaslette he remembered from school. Her eyes narrowed and she kicked the door shut behind her as she stepped further into the room.
"Still the same greasy ferret, I see." She rolled her eyes and sat smoothly in the chair opposite him, crossing her legs and placing her handbag on the floor. They stared at each other for a few moments until finally he spoke.
"Why are you here Weasley?" She frowned at him before answering.
"I so missed our witty banter that I decided to look you up after all these years. Perhaps we could do lunch." His sneer was more natural than it had been in years as he gazed across the desk at her.
"I would, you see, but I find that Weasels don't do much for my appetite."
"You've dined with many Weasels, have you Malfoy?"
"A few."
"And yet you seem perfectly well-nourished to me." She smiled sweetly. His responding smirk was cold.
"Honestly Weasley, I could do this all day but I do have another meeting in an hour so perhaps you could get on with it and tell me why you're here." Her face fell and she looked down at her shoes before looking back up at him. Her eyes were shadowed.
"I need your help Malfoy." He almost fell out of his chair. Once he'd recovered he looked up at her.
"What was that? Let me see if I'm hearing you correctly. Is that - is that a Weasley asking a Malfoy for help?" He wasn't sure what he was expecting, some more banter, an outraged cry, some witty remark about his breeding, but what she finally said was not it.
"Yes." She nearly whispered.
"You…ye…yes?" He stammered.
"That's what I said Malfoy. Or are you hard of hearing?" He stared at her for a moment before lowering his eyes to the desk before him. "Luna's missing." She finally said. He looked up at her then but she was very intent upon her fingers which were fidgeting in her lap.
"Luna? As in Loony Lovegood?" Her head snapped up and she glared at him, her brown eyes narrowing to mere slits.
"Yes Luna, Luna Lovegood." He nodded slowly.
"Why would you come to me?" She looked back down at her hands.
"I hear you're the best."
"Yes, well," he smirked. "I am, but you haven't answered the question really. Why not go to the aurors?"
"Because the aurors don't care!" She nearly shouted. "They think she's just run off with some handsome wizard and forgotten to tell anyone." He could see tears forming in her eyes. Whether tears of anger or worry he wasn't sure, either way tears were not something he was willing to deal with.
"Don't you know people at the auror department? Don't you have a brother and a boyfriend over there?"
"Ex-boyfriend." She muttered. "And he plays quidditch now." He smirked.
"Not really the point."
"No, the point is that Ron can't disobey his superiors and take on a case that's been deemed 'low-priority'."
"And he won't do it as a personal favor? Off the books?" He smiled as her face grew a bit pinker.
"He's not exactly working at the moment and…I…I'm not asking him!" She shouted. "I'm asking you." She stopped then and stared at him, her chest heaving in a way that made him wish it wasn't June and way too hot.
"I'm too busy." He said.
"Wha…you…"
"Weasley, when I say that I'm busy, I mean that I cannot help you. So if you would please stop stammering and…" There was a knock at the door. Draco cursed inwardly, closing his eyes briefly to regain some semblance of calm. "Yes?" He called.
His secretary stepped into the room, her purse over her shoulder. "I'm going on break Mr. Malfoy. I'll check the owls when I get back." He nodded and raised a hand in farewell as she shut the door.
"She doesn't seem your type of secretary." Weasley said, turning back to face him. "No blonde hair or simpering smile, and her breasts are actually covered." He waved a hand dismissively.
"Yes, well, there were Kelly and Amber and then there was Jeanette but I always seemed to get distracted from the actual work. Not to mention all of the jealous boyfriends. So now there's Edie. She hasn't dated since 1974." He stated matter-of-factly. She stared at him for a few seconds, as if trying to determine whether or not he was joking, he wasn't, and then cleared her throat.
"I know you're a busy man Malfoy, but how can you turn me down when you haven't even heard all of the case facts yet?"
"From what you've told me, Weasley, there are no case facts. Your friend simply found herself a loverboy and ran off for a weekend of how's your father." He smirked at the redness now creeping up her cheeks.
"Luna," she gritted out. "Did not run off with some guy and forget to tell me, her best friend, about it."
"Have you got proof?"
"I thought that was your job." She smirked at him, actually smirked, and he had to pause a moment to think about the fact that a Weasley had just used his own signature facial expression against him. "I'll pay you." Oh now how could he pass this up.
"You'll pay me?"
"Yes, Malfoy, as hard as it might be for you to believe, I do have a job."
"Oh yeah? And what's that? Are you an antique dealer? Selling off your family's possessions to pay for food and private investigators." She glared at him, her red hair seeming almost on fire before she took a deep breath and answered, "I'm a waitress." He felt his mouth fall open. She glared harder.
"A waitress?" He asked, feeling like the complete imbecile that he knew he was. He could feel the smirk beginning.
"I'm between real jobs." She had her hand in her purse, probably fingering her wand. "I make good money." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying very hard not to laugh.
"Fine, whatever, a waitress. The point is that I do not have time to help you find your little friend." He did have time. He only had two other open cases and they'd both come to dead ends, but he wasn't sure he could stand the little red-head long enough to do anything about her friend. "You'll have to find help elsewhere, Weasley." He finally opened his eyes. "I'll recommend another PI and you can be on your way." He reached for a quill and ink to write down a name but she put her hand over his, effectively stopping him.
"I don't want some other PI," she said quietly. "I want you." He jerked his hand out from under hers so quickly that the ink bottle tipped and spilled all over the desk. Bloody Merlin, he was either going to have shag her or kill her. He wasn't sure which would be more pleasurable and right then he decided that there was no way he was taking this case.
"Scourgio." He said, pointing his wand at the spilled ink. He looked up at her.
"Look, Weasley…"
"Just hear me out, Malfoy." She said, sliding a thin file across the desk to him. "I know that Luna hasn't run off with some bloke. I don't know how I know it and I haven't got any proof, I just know it. Something's happened to her and no one will believe me and …"
"How long has she been missing?" Draco asked quietly as he flipped open the file. It was practically empty.
"Three days." She looked so sad and desperate. Three days, a lot could happen in three days. The girl could be married and in Fiji right now or she could be lost in the middle of the Arctic or she could be…dead.
"Alright, let's assume that you're right and Loony hasn't run off with some bloke."
"Luna." Ginny corrected stiffly.
"Right, Luna, anyway she didn't run off. So what did happen to her?"
"I think someone's taken her."
"Taken her? Who? Why?"
"I don't know Malfoy. I just…"
"Is this all you've got?" He asked, holding up the file. She nodded.
"That's all that the aurors found before they gave up."
"All this says is that she disappeared from her flat three days ago. There was no evidence of a struggle and it was apparent that she had packed a bag. I'm sorry Weasley," he said, closing the file. "But I have to agree with the aurors. It all points to her having run off."
"But she didn't run off, she…"
"You have no proof, Weasley, nothing for me to work with. What do you expect me to do?" She stared at him for a moment and then closed her eyes.
"I don't know." She whispered. "But who knows what those anti-muggle people might do to her."
Draco froze. "What?" Weasley's eyes slid open and she stared at him. "What anti-muggle people?" She blinked a few times before answering.
"The Anti-Muggle Incorporation Group. Luna's been writing some pretty nasty articles about them." Of course she has.
"Why are you just mentioning this?"
"I guess I just- I dunno. I thought you weren't interested in this case." She accused.
"I might be now. Those anti-muggle people have been making a lot of trouble, maybe its time someone brought the law down on their asses." Ginny almost smiled.
"Does this mean you'll help me?" He stared at her for a moment before answering. She had her hands clasped in her lap and the most horribly hopeful expression he'd ever seen. This was going to be a very dangerous case, in more ways than one.
"I'll owl you." Her lips curved up in the most adorable smile he'd ever seen and he almost regretted his decision.
"Thank you. Thank you so much Malfoy, really, I mean…"
"You can go now." He drawled. She froze and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Fine. If that's how you want this to be." She gathered up her bag and stood. "Don't keep me waiting on that owl Malfoy."
"Wouldn't dream of it Weasley." He smirked at her as she turned to go. "Oh and Weasley," she paused at the door and turned to look at him. "Keep your wards up." She nodded quickly and left the office, shutting the door a little too loudly on her way out.
"You're late!" Ginny turned to find Marena smiling at her from the other side of the room.
"I had an appointment." Marena's dark eyes narrowed. "Is Ayer out back?"
"Where else?" Ginny nodded and went around the bar to the door that led to the back office. She knocked twice and entered.
"You're late." Ayer said as soon as Ginny had stepped into the room.
"I know. I had an appointment." She put her purse in the cabinet beside Marena's and locked it back up.
"No excuses. You're late one more time and I'm firing you." Ginny turned to stare at him as she tied her apron around her waist.
"It won't happen again Ayer." She said, knowing that he'd never fire her. No one else would work for him, the scumbag. She left the back room, shutting the door behind her.
"So, what kind of appointment did you have? Was he cute?" Marena grinned as she sidled up beside Ginny behind the bar.
"It wasn't that kind of an appointment." Ginny said. Marena gave her a look that clearly said, yeah right. Ginny sighed. "He was Draco Malfoy."
"My God Gin, he's more than cute, that man is sex in designer robes." Had he been wearing robes? Funny, Ginny couldn't remember.
"It wasn't like that. I was meeting him on a strictly professional basis." Marena cocked a perfectly sculpted black eyebrow. "He's a PI, I hired him to look for Luna." Marena's face fell.
"Oh Gin. Oh Gin I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…"
"It's alright Mars." Ginny forced a smile. "I have all the confidence in the world that he'll find her."
Mars smiled. "And when he does…" Ginny rolled her eyes and moved down the bar to serve a customer.
When Ginny got off at two her feet ached, her head was pounding and she'd been groped more times than she cared to count. She left Mars at the floos outside the bar and continued on to the apparition points at the other end of Diagon Alley. She'd shut off her own floo after Luna had gone missing. She knew the odds of her also being kidnapped were slim but she wasn't taking chances. She figured the fewer ways there were to get into her flat, the better. She'd encouraged Mars to do the same but Mars hated apparating, said it made her feel all squishy inside.
The Alley was quiet. Shops were closed for the night, shoppers were home , cozy in their beds. Lucky them. Ginny thought she heard movement behind her. She turned to look, thinking it might be Mars, having changed her mind about the apparition thing. No one was there. She turned back around and kept walking. The footsteps picked up again and Ginny spun around. No one. This was kinda creepy. Ginny took off her heels and practically ran the rest of the way to the apparition point. The guard looked at her strangely but said nothing as she stepped on a point and apparated away.
She apparated straight to her flat. She was the only one the wards would let in. Everyone else had to go to the apparition point in the lobby and take the stairs to the fourth floor. Her building didn't have a lift.
She'd left the living room light on since she knew she'd be getting home late. She was glad. She couldn't stop thinking about the footsteps in Diagon Alley. Probably it was just some customer who'd had a few too many and thought she might let him into her bed. She got those customers on occasion.
She took off her cloak and threw it on the couch. That was when she noticed the roll of parchment on the coffee table. She approached it cautiously. She wasn't sure why, after all it was just a piece of parchment, but the fact that someone had gotten it into her flat, onto her living room table without her knowing was a bit worrisome. She tapped it with her wand and watched it slowly unroll.
The writing was thin and sharp, written in black ink.
Red,
Meet me at the Crystal Bell at 8 a.m. Don't be late.
D. Malfoy
Ginny looked at the clock on her mantel. 2:37. Great.
She spotted him at an outdoor table. His back was to the building's wall and his eyes were focused on some point across the street. She sat down across from him.
"Late. But I guess I shouldn't expect much better from a Weasley." He said, not taking his eyes off whatever it was he was staring at.
"What are you looking at?" The corners of his mouth turned up almost imperceptibly.
"Hot chick." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Ugh." Then she laid her head down on her arms on the table.
"What the hell's wrong with you Red? Boyfriend keep you up too late?" She imagined herself glaring at him but she couldn't actually work up the energy to lift her head.
"I worked last night."
"Splendid." She could hear the grin in his voice. "Anyone throw up on you?" She didn't answer him. What an immature jerk. She raised her left hand and felt a waitress appear beside her.
"What can I get for you?" The woman asked.
"Mocha latte." Ginny said from under her arm. She heard Malfoy laugh.
"Anything else?" The woman asked. Ginny shook her head.
"Coffee. Black, extra sugar." Malfoy said, sounding like he might still be laughing. "And an omelet. Mushroom, sausage and green pepper."
"Coming up." The waitress said and Ginny felt her vanish. There was silence for a few moments and then Malfoy cleared his throat.
"As amusing as this is Weasley, why did you even come if you were going to sleep through our meeting?" Ginny lifted her head just in time to see their orders appear on the table. She lifted her mug to her lips and took a sip, letting her eyes slide closed as she savored the combination of chocolate and coffee and warmth. Oh and caffeine. One shouldn't forget caffeine.
When she opened her eyes Malfoy was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. They stared at each other for a moment, then he shook his head, picked up his fork and dug into his omelet.
"So, what's the plan Malfoy?" He took his time in chewing and swallowing, then he took a sip of coffee. Finally, he looked up at her.
"The plan is that I am going to the Ministry today to speak with the aurors. After that…"
"Hold it Malfoy. You are going to see the aurors? What about me? This is my friend that's missing. I want to be in on what's going on." He took another sip of his coffee.
"Weasley, you're dead on your feet. You can hardly sit upright. You're no good to me passed out in the atrium with drool dripping down your cheek."
"I do not…"
"Also, the aurors aren't going to tell me anything with you there. You're the upset girlfriend, the whiney widow, the…"
"I'm not…"
"Whatever. The point is, I used to be one of them."
"Used to be."
"Doesn't matter. I'm still law enforcement. They're more likely to tell me than some scrawny little red-headed waitress."
"Excuse me?"
"I take that back, you're not scrawny." His eyes swept her from head to toe. She glared at him.
"I'm coming with you."
"Listen Weasley, the only place you're going is home to bed. Get a few hours of sleep. I'll owl you with what I find out." She glared at him a moment longer but he seemed uninterested in argument. He was back to eating his omelet.
"Fine." She said. He nodded, his eyes still on his plate. She took another sip of her coffee and resisted the urge to go to sleep right there on the table. "Than what?" He looked up at her, as if surprised to find that she was still there, which he wasn't. Ginny didn't think that Draco Malfoy missed a thing.
"Then, I figured we could go on over to Lovegood's flat, take a look around."
"Oh, we this time. What, do you want me there to take down the wards so you won't have to waste time calling in a security team?" He leaned forward, his eyes hard on hers.
"First of all, Red, I don't need a security team. And second, if her wards were up we wouldn't be having this discussion." He sat back and regarded her. "I want you there so that you can tell me if anything is out of place. You might notice something the aurors didn't." She nodded slowly and looked down at her latte, mostly undrunk and getting cold. "Go home Red. Get some sleep." She looked up at him slowly.
"You'll owl me later?" He nodded. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and held it up, getting ready to apparate. Malfoy's hand was at her wrist, lowering her wand before she could so much as blink.
"I think maybe you should use the floo. Wouldn't want you to splinch yourself. Then I'd have to sit here and stare at some part of you while I finish my breakfast." His eyes slid over her once more. "Although…"
"I can't use the floo. I had my flat disconnected after…I'll be fine." He let go of her wrist and leaned back.
"Just do me a favor and leave me something good. A breast. A leg." Ginny closed her eyes, lifter her wand and prayed to God she'd have all her body parts when she got home.
A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the title contest! A special thanks to Regan for the winning title! Thanks for reading and don't forget to let me know what you think! Oh and all the chapter titles are going to be song titles, try to pick out the references to the song within the chapter (the only one in this one is the A/N at the beginning).