Harry Potter 1. Brave New World

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, friends, enemies, or even mythical creatures. I just enjoy playing with them.

Chapter One: Brave New World 

Draco listened to his father. It was something he'd always been taught to do and it was drilled into him so deeply that he would probably have done had he been unconscious.

But then, unconscious didn't seem like such a bad idea right now. He'd returned – triumphant – from a field mission with the others and he felt like he was going to drop dead from exhaustion any moment. Every muscle in his body was throbbing with overuse and under-rest and he just couldn't keep his concentration completely on what his father was saying.

"_Crucio." _Oh, but he heard that loud and clear.

The pain flooded his system, causing his already agony filled lungs to expel a groan. He was going to die, right now, he knew it. This was it, the end, and Draco wasn't under any false pretences, he knew there'd be no shining light, no fluffy clouds for him, nope, he was going straight to the fieriest fiery pit in hell. Was fieriest even a word?

Suddenly, the pain just stopped, as abruptly as it had started. Then Lucius' voice drifted through his hazy mind.

"Stop fantasizing, you're far from death's door Son, but you'll be a _lot_ closer if you don't start listening to what I'm saying to you." He sounded peeved.

Draco forced one eye open, surprised to find himself lying on the cold stone floor. "Sorry, Father," he rasped breathily.

"Forgiven," his father snapped, sounding singularly unforgiving. "I will talk to you later when you are more focused."

Draco listened to his father's sharp receding footsteps and then thankfully let the darkness claim him, leaving his fate to the house elves that were already lifting him off the castle stone.

"He will be with us shortly, my Lord," Lucius said from his kneeling position on the floor.

"I do not like to wait," Voldemort snapped.

There was a commotion at the door, just as Lucius was about to prostrate himself further. Draco breezed in, looking as dishevelled as a Malfoy ever can, which wasn't much Lucius was proud to note.

"I am sorry my Lord," Draco said clearly, sinking liquidly into the kneeling position alongside his father.

"I do not tolerate lateness," the Dark Lord replied coldly, his voice sending a shiver through both Malfoys.

"I am your servant," Draco intoned, keeping his mind purposefully blank. "Do with me what you may. Your bidding is my life."

The younger man could feel Voldemort's slanted eyes burning into him as he spoke the loyalty vow. "Do not let it happen again," he finally snapped. Next to him, Draco could feel the breath whoosh out of his father in relief. "Besides," the Dark Lord continued, "I have found a task for you that will not only prove your loyalty but also – should you be successful – will make you eligible as a member of the inner circle Deatheaters."

_Finally, _Draco thought. "Please enlighten me as to what I must do my Lord," he replied.

"Do not _prompt _me," Voldemort exclaimed. Draco sank lower into his bow. "I should torture you for that–" one of the cloaked and hooded figured at the edge of the stone dungeon started forwards but Voldemort held up his hand to stop him, "but it would only waste my time. So I will cut to the chase, so to speak. There is a stronghold of the Order of the Phoenix on the borders of no-man's land; it is their first line of defence. Although it was mainly for the battle injured to begin with, we have information telling that Harry Potter and the other strategists for their side of the war are to meet there to discuss their tactics. We need someone on the inside."

Draco nodded slowly. He was being sent in as a spy? That was such an amateurish job, he couldn't even get any violence in. He'd rather dig his own grave than be made to spend time 'spying' on boring goody-goodies.

"Do not misunderstand me," the Dark Lord resumed. "It will not be easy, or safe. Your disguise will be that of a Dr Sebastian Harvey who – it is needless to say – you will have to capture first in order to concoct the polyjuice potion from."

"Like Mr Crouch did at the triwizard?" Lucius specified, speaking for the first time since Draco had entered.

"Yes," agreed Voldemort. "But you will not get caught, need I say anymore?"

"Only when I shall be leaving and where I shall intercept Dr Harvey on his way to the stronghold?" asked Draco.

"You will leave tomorrow before first light and catch the good doctor as he crosses the river Avon. You will have to spend the rest of this evening brewing the polyjuice so that you can change into Harvey straight away."

"Yes my Lord," Draco bowed lowly to the floor.

"You have another question Lucius? Make it the final one, my patience is being tested."

"Sorry my Lord. How long will Draco be posted at the Order of the Phoenix stronghold?" Lucius didn't dare raise his eyes to make direct contact with the Dark Lord, he could feel the irritation rolling off of him in waves.

"As long as it takes!" Voldemort spat. "Now be _gone_, before I kill you both."

The two Malfoys quickly bowed their way out of the dark dungeon.

* * *

Ginny whooped as she went back under tree level. She loved this feeling; it was irreplaceable, incomparable to any other feeling. It was like Christmas but without the anti-climax, like a birthday without getting older, like falling in love without heartbreak, it was all of these things and so much more.

The broom barely protested beneath her practised hands as she whizzed through the forest at breakneck speed, weaving through the trees as though it was a slalom race. Leaves grazed her face gently, but Ginny barely noticed, so focused was she on the task at hand.

Up here there were no worries, no fear. She could fly all day and then some more, just to feel as free as she did on the broomstick.

Abruptly, the trees cleared and she was in the open again. Her companion flew down to join her.

"I thought I had lost you!" he exclaimed, blonde hair sticking out at random directions. "Must you always fly through the forest; it's not particularly safe y'know?"

"Oh Seb," she breathed, he never understood. "It's a great feeling!" With a careless grin she jumped cleanly off her broom and fell the remaining three feet to the ground, landing deftly on her feet.

"I just wish you wouldn't do it. It worries me," he mumbled, dismounting in a somewhat more conservative manner.

"Don't worry about me," she said, smiling impishly. "I practically bounce when dropped."

"Let's not put that to the test, eh?"

She rolled her dark eyes. "So what do we do this afternoon, hmmm doctor?"

Her newfound friend and present fling looked at her thoughtfully out of dark blue eyes. "Picnic sound good to you?"

"It'll do," she smiled, flicking scarlet hair away from her face. He impulsively leaned in to kiss her, but she sidestepped, pretending not to notice and instead linking arms with him. He looked slightly nonplussed, but allowed her to march him across the field towards the ramshackle building in the distance; the Burrow.


	2. Reporting to HQ

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. Neither do his friends, neither do his enemies. In fact there are a few original bits in this story; the plot and a couple of characters.

Chapter Two: Reporting to HQ 

"Honestly m'dear, it's not like I'm never going to see you again!" Ginny exclaimed wearily wishing Sebastian would wipe the kicked-puppy look off his face.

"But you promise you'll be there in a few days?"

"I already have, haven't I? I'll do my best to be quick here, but my family are quite demanding – all one hundred thousand of them!" Ginny growled internally, why was he being so clingy? Why did she _always_ end up with clingy guys?

"Well can I have a kiss goodbye then?" the doctor asked, looking down at her from his stocky 5'11.

She reached up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his bristled cheek. "You'll have a real one to look forward to when I see you next," she promised, ruffling his hair, which was difficult to do considering she only just brushed 5'4.

He smiled with a mixture of disappointment and endearment. "You're a funny woman, you know that Miss Weasley?"

"Why thank you," she replied dropping a little curtsey. He just smiled. "Well off you go, then, the train won't wait for you y'know." Ginny briskly pushed him in the direction of the stationary steam train.

"Yes Mum," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He finally disentangled himself from her grip – which took more effort than he expected – by the doors of the train, turning so he could look down on her. "See you soon Gin," he said softly, dropping a gentle kiss on her forehead.

She smiled in return as the Guard's whistle blew. He went into the nearest carriage, quickly stashing his small trunk into the confines of the overhead rack. He hurried to the window just as the train began to move, seeing Ginny standing, eyeing a nearby couple and their small child thoughtfully. He rapped on the glass to get her attention. The red head looked up, answering his wave with a smaller one of her own, Sebastian kept his eye trained on her red hair as he pulled out of the station feeling the loss of her already.

He understood that maybe he was feeling a bit much considering they were only a month or so into the relationship but Ginny was unlike any girl he'd ever met. She was frank, honest and never thought herself above any task. It seemed that every person he knew who had met her liked her and he couldn't think of a single person who had ever expressed any type of frustration or irritation where she was concerned. And he's been friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley for quite some time.

Her brothers had scared him off for a time but eventually her impulsiveness and enthusiasm just blew him away. Sebastian thought that Ron was happy with the new-found arrangements but this could perhaps be because Ginny's last boyfriend had been a total cheating git – in Seb's opinion – whereas the Doctor prided himself on being the epitome of stability and reliability.

The usual trolley witch bustled down the aisle offering warn pumpkin pies and chocolate frogs to anyone who appeared interested. Seb wasn't and thought, instead, that he might get an hour or so of shut eye considering he wouldn't reach the field hospital station for at least two hours, three at the most. There wasn't anyone else in the carriage so the doctor fell asleep nearly straight away, blissfully unaware of the fate that was about to befall him.

Seb awoke nearly forty-five minutes later immediately aware of a strange young man sitting opposite him in the carriage. "Hello," he said cautiously, eyeing the man warily. There was something about his cool grey eyes and chiselled features that was immediately untrustworthy.

The man smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, they remained ice-cold. "Dr Harvey?" the man inquired. Seb nodded without thinking. "Draco Malfoy," the man continued, holding out his hand in a gesture of acquaintance. The doctor hesitated… Malfoy? Where had he heard that name before? But took the man's hand anyway, otherwise he would seem rude. It was the last he would do for a very long time since, as soon as the skin of their hands touched his vision immediately faded into black. He didn't even hear Draco's chuckle at how trusting people were.

When the 13.21 pulled into the station an unruffled Dr Harvey alighted on the platform, a dignified smirk fixing its place – somewhat uncomfortably – onto his features. The trunk that hovered behind him was inconspicuously a little larger than it had been when he had got on, and nobody thought twice, certainly not the trusting Ministry official who greeted him and led him to the secret hideaway of some of the most powerful good wizards in existence.

* * *

Ginny finally managed to escape her Mother's nagging and reminders to be careful, wash her knickers, eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day, keep her brother under wraps etc. and into the floo network. She emerged in small stone-walled room with a sigh of relief, she knew Mum just cared about her but could she say _claustrophobia._

She looked around what she now recognised as the arrivals containment room, meaning that if an enemy had managed to navigate the floo network to find their port they could be destroyed before any harm befell the stronghold. As far as she knew the room was fire-proof, heat-proof, reinforced stone and metal and the Unforgivable Curses resistant.

"Strawberry Laces," she said aloud, giving the recognisable password for all members of the Weasley family. After a few seconds, a panel in the opposite wall slid open to reveal a mischievous-looking elder brother.

"Hello Ginny love," Bill said coyly.

"Bill!" Ginny exclaimed, running up to hug him. "You didn't tell me you were back!" She hit him non-too-gently on the arm. "What's the big idea: keeping your favourite sister in the dark?"

He looked exactly as he had when she had seen his last – nearly 18 months earlier. His red hair was still long, though not quite as long as hers, and pulled back into a ponytail and she noticed he now had two fangs and what looked like a claw hanging from his right earlobe. He was rubbing his arm surreptitiously; "Wish I'd never taught you to hit properly," he muttered.

Ginny rolled her eyes before linking arms with him. "You have to tell me everything!" she exclaimed leading him away down the corridor.

* * *

Ginny awoke early the next morning, unaccustomed to the bed she had been given. The Order's first line of defence was certainly far from luxurious, but it was good enough for her; she had her own quarters and her bathroom which were modest but then she didn't have that much stuff to spread around anyway. Since arriving the evening before she hadn't seen Harry, Ron or Hermione, she hadn't even been briefed on her duties as a nurse in the Hospital area, in fact, she had spent the entire evening sharing stories with Bill and hearing about everything he had done in the past year and a half whilst they'd been apart only finally retiring because it was getting very late and she'd have to report to Seb this morning.

Seb… it was something she hadn't allowed herself to think about in the four days of their separation. She didn't want to go through the never-ending questioning of her own decisions and challenging what had possessed her to be with him in the first place. He was nice, sure, but he didn't ignite anything in her… except, perhaps, a dull boredom. Well she'd give it a couple of weeks she supposed and then see how it went, Ginny didn't want to hurt the poor guy, but so far she just couldn't think of any reason to necessarily stick with him. The redhead found the fact that he hadn't contacted her at all since he got here as a little strange, but she brushed it aside, he probably just had a lot of work to do.

She steeled herself as she walked towards the well-signposted hospital wing. She hoped he wouldn't be too… enthusiastic.

* * *

Draco looked up as the youngest Weasley strolled into the brazenly white hospital wing. He hoped he wasn't supposed to know _her._


	3. Let the Games Begin

Chapter Three: Let the Games Begin

"Hello Seb," Ginny said cheerfully, successfully hiding all her doubts behind a lively smile.

"Miss Weasley," he greeted her coolly.

Ginny suddenly felt awash with confusion. He seemed completely unexcited to see her. In fact, judging from his expression he even seemed a bit… inconvenienced?

"How are things?" she asked awkwardly pushing hair behind her ear self-consciously.

"Good thank you," he answered blandly watching her with an ambiguous look.

"Did you miss me?" she ventured somewhat nervously but attempting to pitch her tone as carefree.

"Should I have done?" There was a coldness to his face that hadn't been there before. Although he looked superficially the same, from the dark blue eyes to the unruly dirty blonde hair, there was something new about him, something Ginny couldn't put her finger on: something belying description.

"Well I'd say so." The redhead felt her temper rise slightly at his lack of commitment; sure she wasn't head over heels for him, but they did _have _something. At least she thought they did. "Since when I left you couldn't wait to see me."

That seemed to have stumped him. If Ginny had not been so caught up in wondering what had happened to him in the last four days she would have seen 'Seb' searching desperately for words.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. Ginny looked up into troubled blue eyes. What was he apologising for? For not being enthusiastic? For not contacting her? For not… liking her? What had happened in the last four days? Suddenly she found that she didn't want to break up with him after all, it was a complete turn around from her previous feelings… now that she was faced with the prospect before she'd even really given him a chance.

Draco was internally cursing himself. He'd done all his research on this Sebastian guy. And to be honest he wasn't a particularly fascinating character: dead boring to be honest. He'd gone to medical school, he had two sisters, he had an apartment in Soho, he'd been a Ravenclaw and his favourite colour was blue. That was really as far as it went. Apparently what Draco hadn't found out was that Harvey was dating, how could he have overlooked that?

But was he dating Weasley? And for how long? Were they serious? Did he like her more than she liked him or the other way around? A relationship made his whole job nearly twice as hard because in all other respects Dr. Harvey was a complete loner and therefore the perfect candidate to impersonate.

"Sorry for what?" Ginny finally asked.

Draco searched for words again, feeling mentally like a fish out of water. "It's been really busy for the last few days," he finished lamely.

Ginny looked around at the almost empty hospital ward and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Busy huh?"

Finally Draco just threw a bit of caution to the winds. Judging from the youngest Weasley's manner towards him he figured they can't have been together that long so maybe she didn't know all that much about Harvey's real personality. This meant he could improvise – it might actually add some interest to this otherwise boring mission.

"What can I say? I work quickly."

Ginny's brown eyes snapped back to his face, surprised at the arrogant tone to his voice. She'd never noticed anything even near to that before.

"Who are you? And what did you do with Sebastian?" she asked lightly, jokingly.

Draco froze internally but decided his best course of action was to blag it. "Oh he's tied up in the backroom," he replied ironically, responding to the levity in her voice.

The original awkwardness of their meeting was gone, replaced with a cautious flippancy. "So what're my tasks for today?" Ginny asked, the back of her mind still wondering whether her kind-of boyfriend really was on drugs or something.

She was the _Mediwitch_! And Harvey's girlfriend to boot. Ah, Draco thought, he was going to have a lot of fun with this assignment after all. The Weaselette wasn't that bad looking; he could just have some fun with her until the end of his job and then dispose of her, betrayal would be such a sweet type of revenge for all the years her family had blighted his existence at Hogwarts. A relationship with no strings – the best kind. Maybe he'd even be able to find out some useful information, after all she was the sister of the Weasel King who _was _Scarhead's best friend. Possibly a long shot but so far all he'd done was piss about in the hospital wing trying not to arouse suspicion.

"Well, as you can see; the Hospital is both clean _and_ tidy. So today there is very little to be done, tomorrow, however, we have some scheduled patients to be imported from Treetops Sanctuary across the river. They will need to be well for the Front line within the next couple of weeks." Draco read most of this from the brief that had been planted on his desk, but didn't let Ginny see that so that it looked like he actually cared.

"So what are we going to do for the rest of the day then Doctor?" Ginny asked suggestively, batting an eyelid. She couldn't help it, sure, she wasn't sure if she liked the guy, but flirting just came naturally.

Draco fought the urge to pull a face. He fought it _really_ hard but still ended up with a part sneer, part surprise and part curious look on his face that only looked as though he had trodden in a puddle of honey. "Well," he stumbled lamely. "What do you want to do?"

Ginny relaxed. This was the Seb she knew; always slightly perplexed. Maybe the coldness from earlier was just because he'd had a bad night or something. "How about dinner?" she suggested.

Again he fought the urge to pull a face. He didn't wine and dine at the best of times and he'd never dream about doing it for a Weasley. What if they really did have no table manners?

Ginny caught the look on his features but wrongly interpreted the hesitation as shyness. "So flying then?" The redhead remembered the last time they'd gone flying near the Burrow and he'd thrown a funny turn because she'd flown through the forest at speed. Something seemed different about him now though, something she couldn't identify.

"Flying. You're on." He turned briskly back to his desk, abruptly signalling the end of their conversation.

Ginny narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "See you later then."

Draco found himself outside the hospital on a wide stretch of grass, broom in hand, at 7.30 that evening. He had been waiting for Weasley for nearly 20 minutes and any vague resemblance of a good mood had quickly dissipated in the chill summer breeze that hinted at autumn on the horizon.

Finally he depicted the garish ginger glow of the youngest Weasley appearing at the bottom of the stairs. She hurried towards him and he noted dispassionately that she really was abominably short with very little to recommend her. He remembered at Hogwarts she had been held by most of the male population as a very good-looking witch, he hadn't understood why then either.

"Sorry," she apologised, looking flustered. "Lost track of time."

Not even a decent excuse, he observed. At his icy gaze she looked away self-consciously, tucking hair behind her ear.

He looked down and readjusted his broomstick ready for him to get on it but when he looked back at her she was nowhere to be seen.

"Catch me if you can," she challenged from above before whooshing into the gathering darkness.

Ginny kept one eye carefully trained over her shoulder; although Seb wasn't a very confident flyer she still didn't want to get caught unawares. She wheeled through the night sky finally seeing the familiar figure shoot up to join her. The redhead was surprised that he seemed to be gaining on her, usually the doctor wasn't particularly competitive in their flying chases and – even if he had been – her skill on the broom had become natural and easy after practically being raised on one.

She was further surprised then when it became clear that her kind-of boyfriend obviously meant business and she was in danger of being caught up with somewhat quickly. Maybe he'd been practising whilst she'd been gone?

Ginny tried a few basic manoeuvres to see how superficial his skill went. She circled, looped-the-loop and banked in quick succession revelling in the freedom the broom offered.

Yet he was still behind her, and gaining fast by the looks of things!

Not prepared to lose her own challenge or her pride, Ginny decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. Gripping the front of the broom tightly she shot straight towards the ground searching out some cover in which to lose him. She skimmed low over a small lake, so close to the broom that the tail twigs in the broom nearly went into the water in place of her feet.

Without losing any speed, she found what she had been looking for in the unfamiliar territory and shot under tree cover, her cloak blending with the darkness under the boughs.

Draco had gritted his teeth; he thought this would have been a piece of cake: since when had the Weasleys had any sort of talent on a broom? He had found her loop-the-loop laughable, her dive mediocre and her water skating only relatively skilful. Now, however, not only could he barely pick her out beneath the trees, but he could barely distinguish the trees! He just knew that he would plough into a tree at goodness-knows-how-fast and get himself killed and all because of a silly little girl. Finally they broke out from beneath the trees and he managed to get a good look at just how far ahead of him she was: some distance. However then she swung round and came to a stop, as he neared he caught the look of surprise on her face as she looked at him.

"You've improved," she remarked once they were within speaking distance.

"You're crazy," he replied.

"Perhaps"

"Perhaps? You nearly got me killed!"

"Stop being such a baby. You didn't _have_ to follow"

Draco would rather have been killed than admit defeat to her so he remained silent. Ginny watched him with an unreadable expression;

"You're not going to tell me not to do it again?"

Draco shrugged; he really didn't care one way or the other, but he supposed he should keep up the pretence. "Would you listen?"

All throughout their conversation they'd been drifting ever nearer the ground and Ginny fluently dismounted before shaking her head.

"No, probably not"

Draco also got off his broom and stood very close to her suddenly determined to try and make her feel uncomfortable. "And why would that be Miss Weasley?"

She smirked back at him, only a little put out by his sudden nearness. Ginny put her face very close to his, daring him to make the next move. "Guess."

Draco suddenly regretted his desire to try and make her feel awkward since the sudden proximity was making him feel quite hot under the collar.

This thought broke him out of the hypnosis that her eyes had brought upon him and he was suddenly aware that they were standing in the middle of a field in the middle of the night and _worse_ he was having lustful thoughts about a _Weasley_. Which was only because he hadn't had a woman in weeks he assured himself.

"We should go back," he announced, not missing the look of disappointment in her eyes. He smirked; "Maybe another time." And then walked off leaving her staring after him in confusion.

Ginny frowned to herself, what was wrong with her? She didn't usually just throw herself at men, but then, she thought, she never really had to. What had changed with Seb? Why had he become so different… and why did she find it so much more attractive than she had four days ago?


End file.

Harry Potter, Romance