Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.

Chapter Ten

Draco had never cared much for Ginny. It had taken him long enough to warm up to any of the Weasleys, but Ginny he had never grown used to. He supposed it was because she was not quite like the rest of them—not only because she was a girl, although that stood out of course, but because she was ambitious, sharp-tongued, and always had an aggressive shine in her eyes. She would have done well in Slytherin, Draco always thought. Nevertheless, he didn't especially enjoy her company, which is why he felt quite disconcerted when he looked up from his desk crowded with papers (overdue filing on past captured Death Eaters) and saw none other than Ginny Weasley standing in front of his desk. She wore a dark forest green skirt and striped vest, her light red hair tied back into a tight ponytail, her brown eyes lined with black eye liner and mascara.

"Ginny," Draco said.

"Hello Draco," Ginny said hastily, "May I speak to you in private?" She cast a glance around the small room, her eyes landing on Pansy, who was drifting over her computer reading a magazine and smacking purple Bubble Gum (the only Muggle treat she would admit to fancying).

"What about?" Draco asked, standing up. Ginny half-turned, giving Draco a look.

"We'll talk outside."

Draco nodded at Neville on his way out, who raised his eyebrows at Ginny.

"Hey Ginny," Neville said, waving at Ginny and grinning.

"Nice to see you Neville," Ginny said without so much as casting a look in Neville's direction. Draco shrugged at his friend and followed Ginny out into the hallway.

"What's this all about, Ginny?" Draco asked, eyeing Ginny's flustered expression.

"I need to speak to you about my brother."

Draco's cheeks grew red.

"What are your intentions with him?" she continued.

"What?"

Ginny sighed exasperatedly. "Why are you dating Ron?"

Draco breathed an inner sigh of relief that she wasn't referring to Fred.

"Well I suppose it's because I enjoy his company," Draco replied hautily.

"Hah. You do, do you?" Ginny crossed her arms. "People may think you've changed, Draco, but once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater."

Draco blinked. "Have you forgotten Snape?"

"Snape is one exception that even I still have doubts about sometimes."

"Well that's fine for you, but I do not appreciate you coming to my workplace and throwing accusations at me. If you haven't noticed, I'm working against the dark cause right now. And if you didn't know already, I didn't choose to become a Death Eater."

Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"I saw you with her," she said.

Draco sneered. "What are you talking about?"

"Pansy Parkinson," Ginny answered. "I saw you together at the Leaky Cauldron, and I saw you two leave together."

Draco laughed. "That was Order business. She works here too, you know."

"Order business? Order business in which you hold hands?"

"How old are you, five?"

Ginny drew herself closer to Draco, her brown eyes flashing angrily.

"I don't trust her," Ginny said.

"Well, that's your predicament," Draco snorted.

"Look, perhaps this hasn't been the best way to go about this—"

"Clearly."

"But I'm pretty good at detecting bad blood. And Pansy is not someone you can trust."

"According to you, neither am I."

Ginny looked away. "I admit that I would put my life in your hands before I would with Pansy."

"Good to know. Now, if that's all you have to say—"

"Just listen to me, Draco," Ginny hissed, grabbing his arm. Draco sneered down at it but Ginny didn't loosen her grip.

"Please. I know what it's like to be…" she took a deep breath. "With evil. I know how it feels. I am familiar with its movements."

Draco knew what Ginny was referring to—her very first year at Hogwarts she had been possessed by Voldemort, forced to petrify others, nearly killed herself.

"So do I," Draco said, as he was raised by one of the highest Death Eaters to ever live.

"Exactly," Ginny said.

Something, suddenly occurred to Draco. "Is this why you said you wanted to talk to me back at the Burrow?"

Ginny blushed. "Well…yes, and no. I did want to ask you about your intentions with Ron, but…"

"But what?"

Ginny looked away. "I also wanted to know if you could help me with my hair. I want to dye it blonde and I was wondering if you could recommend anything…"

Draco laughed. "Honey, this color is natural."

Ginny grimaced.

"Are you done wasting my time then?" Draco asked, turning to leave.

"Just…please, keep an eye on her," Ginny said, true fear filling her eyes. Draco sighed.

"Like I haven't been doing that since day one."

When Draco went back into the office he glanced at Pansy, who was sitting cross-legged on her swivel chair reading Vanity Heir: The Slytherin Right. Draco rolled his eyes and was about to go back to his seat when he thought better of it—the conversation with Ginny, though ridiculous and random, was still playing in his mind, and even though Draco wasn't about believe a word Ginny said, he knew that she was a smart girl. And as Draco thought begrudgingly, it was his responsibility as a member of the Order to check this kind of thing out. He walked over to Neville's desk, where Neville was whistling and watering a small orange plant.

"What's this?" Draco asked, nodding at the plant.

"This is an Octopie! They only grow in Jamaica but I was able to ship one over here for half price! Isn't she beautiful!" Neville exclaimed, beaming.

"It's…orange."

"It won't be orange for long. With the right amount of firewhiskey and sunlight, this baby'll turn bright pink and its leaves will span two feet!"

"Is it wise to keep it in the office?"

"Oh yeah, they're perfectly harmless. Unless you're a fly. Or a careless finger."

Draco cocked an eyebrow and rested his hands in his pockets.

"Neville, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Haven't we been?"

"About something else?"

Neville shrugged. "Well sure. It's not about Bunny, is it?"

"Bunny?"

Neville pointed to his plant.

"Uh…no, Neville, it's not about…listen, we need to step outside."

Neville suddenly turned serious. "You're sacking me, aren't you?"

"What? No, just…come on."

Draco lead Neville into the hallway, turning warily to look at the door in case someone followed them. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Neville.

"What is it, Draco?" Neville asked, his eyebrows furrowed with curiosity and slight worry.

"We've known each other for a long time, right Neville?" Draco asked.

"Um…yeah?"

"So can I ask you a question?"

"I suppose I can't keep you from it…"

Draco sighed. "Neville, I need to ask you…"

"Yes?"

"…is there anyone here that you don't trust?"

Neville was silent for a minute, his stare inquiring.

"Neville?" Draco prompted.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Is there anyone who works here, in the Righteous, that you don't trust, is what I mean."

"I don't exactly know how to answer that, Draco. It's quite random. Does this have to do with what Ginny said to you? Just now?"

Draco ran a hand through his hair, looking around. "Ginny isn't stupid," Draco mumbled.

"Nope," Neville said, stepping forward. "Draco, what's going on? Did she upset you?"

"Ginny warned me."

"Warned you? About what?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "About Parkinson."

"What?"

"Odd, isn't it?"

"Well…yes. And no…to tell you the truth, I've always wondered about Pansy."

"Have you?" Draco asked, staring up into Neville's brown eyes. Neville shrugged.

"She just seems a bit shady to me, that's all."

Draco put a hand to his forehead as if it ached. "I don't know what to think."

"Draco…if you think there's any reason to doubt Pansy's loyalty, you need to tell Harry."

Draco nodded.

"Do you have a reason?" Neville continued.

Other than the fact that she's an attention whore, Draco thought.

"No. If I had, she wouldn't be here."

"Well it's like you said Draco, Ginny isn't stupid. If she doesn't trust Pansy, and she snuck over here during her work hours to tell you about it, then you can bet she has a reason. And I think you need to find out what that reason is."

---

"I knew you'd come around," Ginny said lightly, smiling as she poured Draco a cup of tea, extra sugar. Her hair was tied back into a loose pony tail and she wore a white cotton shirt. She looked much less tense now than she had yesterday, and Draco felt slightly less uncomfortable sitting here in she and Harry's living room with his tie loosely hanging around his collar and his black dress shoes off.

"Let's just say it's my responsibility," he said, taking a sip of tea and sitting down on a sofa across from Ginny. "Tell me what you know."

"Would you like me to tell you?" she asked, standing up. "Or show you?"

Ginny worked as a Forensics Investigator at the Ministry of Magic. It was after hours, but Ginny brought she and Draco inside with no problem. She offered him a pair of gloves and put some on herself before entering the lab. Draco watched as she opened a filing cabinet and took out a folder and some plastic evidence bags.

"Do you remember the Bellatrix meeting five months ago?" Ginny asked.

"Five months ago…you mean when that Muggle car blew up?" Draco remembered. He and the others were chasing after Bellatrix in a strict Muggle community (entirely risky) when a Muggle car had blown up out of no where and Bellatrix was no where to be seen.

"That explosion?" Ginny continued. "It wasn't an accident."

She held up one of the plastic bags. "Evidence A. This was found at the scene of the crime. I sent it into the lab months ago but only got it back a couple of days ago because of all the back-up due to…well…you know, all the shit that's been happening since Voldemort was killed. Crimes still occurring all over the place."

Draco peered into the bag, which in it looked like black dust.

"Wand residue. Unicorn and cherry."

"So?"

"So. This could belong to anyone. A lot of people have wands of unicorn and cherry. But when we ran it through at the lab, we found that it is a perfect match of the wand that Ollivander sold to a certain witch oh about…ten years ago?"

"Pansy," Draco sighed.

"Bingo."

Ginny held up the next bag.

"Evidence B."

It looked like a piece of paper with moving red lines on it that zapped from one side of the page to another. Draco had never seen anything like it before.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Apparation tracking that shows Pansy apparating from London to an island off the coast of Europe," Ginny said. "And this—" she continued, holding up another bag of what looked like a ticket, "is a ticket to the Azkaban train, purchased by Pansy about four months ago. Now Draco, can you think of any reason why Pansy would book a trip to Azkaban?"

"Plenty," Draco said gravely.

"My guess? Pansy blew up that car. Pansy went to Azkaban to visit former Death Eaters."

"And now Pansy is going to meet Bellatrix," Draco whispered to himself, panic filling his heart.

Ginny put the evidence down. "What?"

"I have to go," Draco said.

"She's going to meet Bellatrix?"

"Yes. And I can't let that happen. I need to tell Potter, now."

"I'm coming with you," Ginny said, grabbing her coat.

"Whatever then, come on," Draco said, grabbing Ginny by the arm.

"Hold on, Draco. I have one more question to ask you," Ginny said.

"What?"

"What were you doing with Pansy that day at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"I told you, Order business."

"Bullshit," Ginny said.

Draco sighed. "I'm in a hurry, Ginny."

"Calm down. Five more minutes won't cost you anything."

"What is it you want me to tell you?"

"The truth."

Draco rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, his lips pouting. "Pansy…told me that she needed to discuss Order business with me," Draco said hesitantly. "But when I went to meet her…it just seemed that…she wanted to…do other things…"

Ginny crossed her arms. "I'm not going to pry anymore into that, even though I love my dear brother."

"Pansy wants me back," Draco said.

"That isn't all she wants."

"What do you mean?"

"Call it a hunch Draco, but it all seems a bit coincidental. She knows that she's going to come into contact with Bellatrix soon, and then she makes a move on you? Why do you think that is?"

Draco said nothing.

"I think she's trying to turn you to their side, Draco."

"What? She can't just want to get with me?"

Ginny cleared her throat. "As…charming…as you may be, Draco, no. I mean, don't doubt that Pansy really does want you back to some degree. But I think she wants you back all of a sudden because if she doesn't do it now, she'll never have another chance." Ginny paused. "Bellatrix will try to kill all of the Order, including you."

"But not if I'm on their side."

"Exactly."

"Is that all then?"

"I believe so."

"Then let's tell Potter," Draco said anxiously. "We need to act quickly."

---

"I've always liked you, Pansy."

"Really?"

"Yes," Bellatrix smiled. "You look like me."

"Thank you."

Narcissa rolled her eyes.

"This is ridiculous."

But Pansy couldn't help being flattered by the comparison. It was quite true—they were both pale with dark hair, dark lips, big, dark eyes. Bellatrix wore a dark crimson robe, her wand at her side, and Narcissa wore a royal blue robe, her hair falling over her shoulders, her pale eyes cold and wide.

"So, Pansy," Bellatrix said, her lips curled into a strange smile. "You pledge your allegiance to the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix shot a look at her sister, who looked bored.

"A noble prospect," Bellatrix said. "But you need only pledge your allegiance to me now." Bellatrix sauntered over to Pansy and sat down beside her.

"Of course," Pansy said.

"I'm glad for you Pansy," Bellatrix smiled. "I thought that all the good ones had gone. And my dear sister wouldn't dare join me, all because she doesn't want to end up like her silly husband."

"Watch your tongue, Bella," Narcissa hissed.

Bellatrix smiled at Narcissa coolly. "No worry. Once we begin, he will be free."

"And do you expect there to be much of him left?" Narcissa asked angrily. Bellatrix ignored her and put two fingers on Pansy's forearm, closing her eyes.

"If you concentrate, you can still feel him," Bellatrix said. She opened her eyes suddenly and stared into Pansy. "His power still runs in our veins."

She lifted her sleeve to show her Mark, looking up at her sister. "Narcissa," she whispered. "It's time."

Narcissa drew her wand and rolled her eyes, strolling over to the pair. Bellatrix joined hands with Pansy and together they knelt on the floor, looking into each other's eyes. Narcissa stood over them, her wand at the ready.

"Pansy," Bellatrix said. "Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?"

"Yes."

"Do you vow to live under my service, under the service of the Dark Lord's will?"

"Yes."

"And do you promise to be loyal to that service, or else die upon its promise?"

Pansy did not even hesitate. "Yes."

As Bellatrix spoke, three red chains of smoke evaporated from Narcissa's wand, wrapping around Bellatrix and Pansy's joined hands.

Bellatrix smiled slyly. "It's done."

Little did the witches know though, that while they secured their sacred evil promises, a pair of eyes watched from the window. With his wand ready, his eyes narrowed, Draco Malfoy watched.

And waited.

Author's Note:A Crimson Crush is part one of a two part story. I want to take time away from this story to concentrate on The Room of Requirement, and then I will begin a new story which features Hermione and Draco (and vampires). After those stories are completed, I'll start on the second part of this story, called Scarlet Fever. The narration will be Harry, Ron, Draco, and there will be more smutty Fred/Draco action for all of you sick bastards. Thank you my loyal readers! kiss

--Phoenix D.