"Fine, thank you," Natalie said, still not quite believing she was going on a double date with Draco Malfoy in attendance.

"Good," Dean said with a grin. "Let me guess - she's not ready yet."

"This is a first for me," Draco said. "Usually I'm hearing You look FINE. Draco, come ON."

"Leave her alone. She's a girl." Natalie smiled at Ginny coming down the stairs.

"Yes, a girl who likes to look good for her men." She finished putting her other earring in as she hit the landing. "And whose men like to look good for their girls, apparently." Ginny grinned and tossed a smile at Natalie. "Right? We have some very good looking men."

"I'll agree with that. Dean's very pretty. Just don't tell Harry I agreed about Draco," Natalie said with a smile.

"McDonald... I mean, Natalie, you have entered the no Potter zone. There will be no mentioning him tonight."

"And that's different from any other night... how?" Ginny grinned before grabbing her coat and draping it over her arm. It wasn't too cold out, but she wanted it just in case.

"I look prettier than usual."

"And still not the prettiest man here," Dean remarked, playfully preening himself. "And a 'No Potter Zone', Malfoy? When you're out with two of his mates and one of his co-workers?" He snorted. "Good luck with that."

"Yeah, yeah, we're all very pretty to look at. Can we get dinner? I'm hungry," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes

"All right," Draco said. "No Happy Hearth, no Leaky, no Sticks, no Blue Owl. I made reservations at Paulie's in Diagon. I figured a little Italian might be nice. Any objections?"

Pasta? Hell no, there are no objections. "Sounds good to me," Natalie said.

Dean grinned fondly at Nat. You and your pasta. "Me, too. It's that little place next to Fortescue's, right? Maybe we can wheedle some of that muggle ice cream you liked so much out of him."

Ginny nodded at Dean. She grinned, weaving her arm through Draco's and motioning towards the door. "Well then, let's go where there's food, yeah?" She waited until Natalie and Dean had cleared the door before setting the wards. "Do the honors," she told Draco.

The familiar sensation of apparation soon followed and when Ginny appeared in front of Paulie's, she could smell the pasta from the inside. Her stomach answered with a growl, which earned her a funny look from Natalie. "It does that a lot. Dean and Draco can testify to that." She was grinning as she pushed open the door, almost groaning at the smell. "You said you have reservations, right? Your name is on the books and we don't have to wait to be seated? Please tell me the food is only a few minutes away."

"The girl likes to eat," Dean told Natalie in a stage whisper.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Natalie said. "I like to eat. What are you trying to say, Dean?"

Draco was grinning as he moved to the hostess. "Malfoy."

"Party of four?"

"Yes."

"This way, sir."

They all made their way to the table. It was near the back. This felt normal. Nice. It was going to be okay. Draco took Ginny's coat and hung it on the little hooks they had on the walls next to the tables. Draco held the chair and pushed it to the table for her. He noticed Dean doing the same for Natalie before taking his own chair. Draco was the last one to take his seat.

He he was reaching for the menu when he felt an oddly familiar pull behind his navel no sooner than he had sat down. "What the-"

Ginny was out of her chair and dry heaving the second they landed. Portkey's messed with her stomach when she was expecting it, not expecting it made it that much worse. She had no idea what had happened, besides the fact that her stomach was trying to empty the small bit of food she'd had for lunch. She looked up at Draco through watery eyes.

"Fuck," Draco finished.

Natalie rolled out of her chair with her wand drawn. They were in a deserted room. "Dean?"

Dean spun out of his own chair, his DA training coming to the fore as he drew his wand. "Here. Draco?" he asked as he scanned the room.

He was crouched next to Ginny rubbing her back. His wand was in his other hand though. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Expelliarmus!" The green flash of light lit up the darkened room, all four wands flying into Vincent's hand as he pushed out of the shadows he'd been hiding in. "You have a bad feeling about this, Draco, because this is a bad situation for you and yours." He'd only really been planning on Draco and Ginny, but having these two to play with as well just made it even sweeter. Vincent sneered at all of them, watching as Draco slowly rose to his feet, his bitch looking up at him with wide eyes. "Oh, that's right sweetheart. I didn't get it right the first time. But you know what they say? 'If at first you don't succeed'..."

"You," was all Draco could say in a menacing tone. His hatred started to bubble and unfurl in his belly.

Natalie's eyes went wide before she calmed herself. No need to let him know she was scared. She would not be scared. She refused to be scared. Well, at least they knew where Vincent Crabbe was now. Bright side to everything.

Crabbe. Shit! Dean calmly shucked off his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves, all the while trying to ignore the icy ball of dread forming in his belly. A psycho werewolf, and not a wand between us. This is not going to be pretty.

"Of course it was me," Vincent hissed, his eyes darting to everyone in the room, placing their heartbeats for easier recall later. He'd be able to hear them even if he was blind. All he had to do was follow his ears. He could feel the heartbeats on his tongue. If they were trying to stay calm, their bodies were betraying them. He grinned, a feral look crossing his features before he stuck all their wands in his back pocket. He thought about breaking them, but he might need them later. Always good to have a few wands laying about, his father had always said.

"And now I'm going to finish the job the potion didn't."

He tried to kill me. He was the one with the poison. I hugged him, thinking he was Charlie. Her stomach rolled again, and she coughed as she slowly climbed to her feet, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. Her hands were shaking. He'd already almost killed her twice. Third time's the- "What do you want?"

"Want? WANT?!" Vincent stalked towards her, his wand clutched in his hand. He growled when Draco took a step in front of her, blocking his path to the healer. "I want what he was supposed to bring us," he said, the wand raising towards Draco's face.

"Fine," Draco said in an even tone. "You let them go. You want me? You deal with me. They have nothing to do with it."

"Not acceptable," Natalie said, starting to get a little angry. She'd seen Ginny the morning after she had been poisoned. This piece of trash had been responsible.

"Stay out of it, little bit."

"I don't think that's really an option," Dean said tightly. "He hurt Gin, Draco." He was literally trembling with rage. "I don't think either of us can let that stand."

"Yeah, Draco," Vincent said, mimicking their scared voices. "Let's let them stay since they want to so bad," Vincent said, flicking the wand over his shoulder. "Petrificus Totalus!" He didn't wait to see their bodies fall to the ground before turning the wand back to Draco and Ginny. "They want to watch while I kill her," wand jutting in Ginny's direction. He walked slowly towards Draco, a dark grin on his face. "You think I'm going to let them go? I know you, Draco. It was my job to know you, and you can't stand to see the people who you love hurt. It's pathetic. A weakness."

Ginny's hands were fisted into the back of Draco's shirt as they backed up, putting as much space between themselves and the wand in Vincent's hands. She looked over at the prone forms of Natalie and Dean, her chest as paralyzed as their bodies were. She didn't know where they were. They didn't have any wands, and they were locked in a room with a murderous werewolf. She focused on her breathing, trying to parlay her fear into useful thinking. She needed to get a wand. She couldn't do anything against him without one. her brain was screaming terror, her head filled with the image of those two bodies he'd left at the Sticks. They'd been like ragdolls, thrown about. They were fighting against a dragon without any armor.

"A wand, Vin? I would have thought you'd want to thrash me again, or are you worried?"

Draco rolled his head, making his neck pop. He knew if Dean, Gin, or Natalie got the chance, they'd take it. All he had to do was be the distraction.

"Let's have a little fun first. Don't be a little bitch and hex me. Let's hit each other again."

"Worried? Maybe the fact that I cut off your air for so long the last time we met hurt your memory." The smirk on Draco's face only made Vincent's beast rise. "Worried about you? I could take you and the mudblood," he screamed his finger jutting towards the man on the ground behind him.

She'd jumped when he screamed, Ginny's eyes instinctively widening. They could be anywhere. One portkey, and they could be anywhere. Her eyes kept starting to Dean and Natalie, making sure she could see their eyes, their chests moving.

"Prove it," Draco said smoothly, smirk firmly in place. "I think you're a lot of talk, bitch. Man up."

The wand in Vincent's hand was up and blazing, a red spark hitting Ginny squarely in the chest. He watched her fall in his periphery vision, the wand now trained on Draco. The sound her body made when it hit the floor was satisfying, her skull making a nice 'thud' against the concrete. His lip lifted in a silent laugh as he glared at Draco. "I'm going to make sure I don't hurt you too bad. I want you to see me rip into her body, watch her blood as it crawls across the floor." He shrugged. "Oh, I guess I forgot you never really liked the blood play."

Stay calm. Center. Focus. It was Mei's voice in Draco's head. He kept his breathing even. Ginny was all right. She was fine. He'd just stunned her.

"No, I never really got into that. Blood gets in my nail beds. Too difficult to explain away when I get a manicure."

"You always were so worried about your appearance," Vincent said, not a hint of joke in his voice. He turned and pointed at Dean, releasing the full body bind on him, leaving the girls on the floor. He backed himself against the wall, stuffing all five wands into the waistband of his jeans. They'd stay there. He was going to enjoy doing this with his hands, feeling their bones break.

You stupid fuck. I can't believe you fell for that. Draco was still smirking.

Dean climbed slowly to his feet. He realized what Draco was doing, and was impressed with the bravery of it. Setting yourself up for a likely fatal distraction? Ballsy. Dean just hoped that between the two of them, they'd be able to slow Crabbe down enough for the girls to have a fighting chance.

Readying himself, he said quietly, "So... are we going to do this, or are we just going to stand around and bitch at each other all night?"

"Go ahead. Try and hit me," Vincent sneered. "Come on."

Dean looked over at Draco and raised an eyebrow. "Well, you did say that I could have what was left after you were done with him."

"Oh all right." Draco knew he would not have the element of surprise this time.

They both moved at once. Vincent had the option of choosing which fist to avoid, so he chose to avoid Draco's, thinking that it'd be the strongest one. He was a little unprepared for Dean's punch to connect, causing Vincent's head to spin towards him, a small grin on his lips. Man likes to play. Good. Focusing his attention on Dean had left him open to attack, and Draco darted in, landing several quick punches to his kidneys. Vincent turned with a growl, swatting at Draco with the back of his hand like he would an annoying fly.

He let out a groan when Dean's fist was in his face, followed shortly by the sharp point of his knee into his solar plexus. Vincent stumbled back, clutching at his chest, his face slowly losing the grin that had been on it. He grabbed Dean's leg when it lashed out again, spinning him through the air with it, laughing when he tried to land on his feet, only to stumble over the little Auror who was still on the ground. "Come on, now! You're supposed to be cleaning up here! Two on one is in your favor!"

The thing about being tall and knowing how to kick a person properly was that you didn't have to be that close to the to make it hurt. While Vincent was talking trash, Draco managed to kick him in the face. He had impressive range and height. It was a quality he was proud of. Of course, Vincent caught his foot on the next kick, and shoved him back, sending Draco sprawling. When he advanced, Draco sent a boot to his gut. Then flipped himself up off the ground.

Dean leapt in with a flying knee that drove Crabbe back a couple of feet, trying to give Draco some breathing room. Vincent recovered quickly, and lashed out with a punch that split both of his lips. Gods above, he's quick!, Dean thought. Realizing that full punches and kicks had little chance of landing, Dean waded in with knees and elbows until a backhand sent him reeling back again.

Vincent was grinning. The corner of his mouth was wet with blood and his tongue darted out to catch it, taste it. Draco's hair was mussed, and for some reason this was hilarious to Vincent, his laughter filling the dark room. This was fun. Reminded him of the time in the Sticks and the feel of that person's windpipe crushing under his hand.

He was still laughing when Dean's elbow lashed out and caught him in the cheek. Growling, angry that his moment had been spoiled, Vincent's fist shot out, his hand gripping Dean's shoulder, squeezing, tightening. "That wasn't very nice, mudblood."

"Says the homicidal psychopath," Dean gritted.

Draco circled around and slammed his boot down on the back of Vincent's knee making his leg buckle a bit, making the werewolf let go of Dean. That was enough of a distraction, though Draco paid with a swift fist to his face that he tried to block but ended up glancing off his temple a bit.

The moment Vincent loosened his grip, Dean grabbed his hand and turned it, putting Crabbe's into a painful joint lock, before pivoting and driving his shoulder into the other man's armpit and yanking down on his arm as violently as he could. As he felt the shoulder give way he twisted, and was rewarded with a sharp crack as Crabbe's wrist broke. He pivoted again and hammered two more elbows to his temple before a blow he could barely see crashed into Dean's chest, lifting him off of his feet and slamming him into the wall with bone-jarring force. As he hit the wall, Dean's head struck with a sickening crack. His knees turned to rubber and his vision blurred as he fell to his knees.

Vincent was done playing with these two. He knew his arm was hurt. It was numb and freezing cold at the same time. He'd had worse, Fenrir's claws in his belly coming to mind, but it was still painful, and he was done. He wanted the fun to start now, and that meant getting to the girls. The mudblood wasn't going to be standing anytime soon, so Vincent turned his attention back to Draco. "All alone, Draco."

Draco raised a brow and spit on him. It was a beautiful loogey. Like a comet with a tail of saliva... and blood.

Then he lashed out and kicked Vincent in his hurt arm. He was finished playing. Not that he had been before, but Thomas might have actually gotten hurt. Draco needed to do some real damage here. He got as many blows in to the bastard's face as he could before Vincent punched him, and Draco saw stars. He staggered back with a frustrated growl, shaking his head to clear his vision.

While Draco was stumbling back, Vincent's leg shot out, kicking him solidly in the gut. As he was bent over, Vincent pulled his wand out of the bundle. He flicked it at Draco, full body-binding him, before turning to Dean, who was just starting to get up. He bound him as well. He sighed, holding his arm to his chest. He'd wanted to have a little bit more fun, but they were making that very difficult.

He crossed the floor with a pained grin on his face, almost enjoying the dull ache in his ribs. They'd probably fractured a few of them with their elbows and knees, but they were small pains. He'd healed worse on his own. Of course, a higher metabolism and increased healing also helped. He'd need protein soon, to speed the healing. The Auror looked good enough to eat. Literally.

With a grunt, he grabbed the front of Draco's shirt and drug him slowly across the ground to where Ginny was lying. Propping and situating the blond up against the wall, giving him a full view of what was about to happen, Vincent grinned. He knelt next to the person he once saw as a leader, his leader. "I only bound you because I want you to watch what I'm going to do to her. I want you to see every drop that I take out of her. I thought about turning her and letting her live, but I learned from our father's mistakes. Don't leave them alive. Never leave them alive."

He stood again, the flash of anger in Draco's eyes making him grin. He stood over Ginny, pointing the wand at her and lifting the stunner he'd thrown at her earlier.

Ginny came to, coughing, rolling onto her side as the air rushed from her lungs. For a split second she forgot where she was. It came rushing back when she saw Vincent standing over her. In a panic, her head turned, the air pushed from her lungs again when she spotted Draco. "Drac-"

"Ah ah ah, not so fast."

She froze when there was a wand pressed to the underside of her throat. She rose slowly as he pressed the wand harder, trying not to breathe, to move.

"You're going to help me first."

"Help you what," she managed to bite out, swallowing harshly.

"My arm got a little hurt by your friend over there, and you're going to heal me."

Dean. Oh, Gods, Dean. She desperately wanted to turn and make sure Dean and Natalie were alright.

"No, I'm not." It was decisive. She was not going to heal him. She didn't care if he killed her. There was no way she was going to heal him. She physically didn't think she could.

"Oh, yes, you are. You see, if you don't, you'll be watching me break every one of Draco's fingers. And then his wrists. And elbows. Etc, etc. I think you understand..."

Ginny looked down at Draco, her eyes watering as she took in the blood on his face, on his shirt. How long had she been out? "No," she whispered.

"Alright. Fine." I'm going to enjoy this. Vincent grabbed her by the upper arm and threw her to the ground in front of Draco. With speed that wasn't human, he was suddenly kneeling beside the blond. He reached out and grabbed Draco's hand, lifting it away from his stiff body. "Which finger should I start with? The pinkie? I think that's a great starting point." He threw a feral grin Ginny's way. "Heal me."

She wasn't sure why she didn't think he'd do it. He'd killed before, tried to poison her. There was no reason why she should believe him incapable of something so... small. Naivete maybe. Either way, she shook her head mechanically. The snap of Draco's bone drew a sob from her throat, the sound impossibly loud in the room. "Stop! Stop, alright!" She moved forward quickly, reaching out to Draco. She screamed when Vincent grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, her body draped on top of the boyd-bound Draco as the werewolf growled in her face.

"I'm going to give you a wand, but if I even think you're thinking about doing something, I will crush his throat, do you understand me? I know you know I can do it." To prove his point, he lifted his good arm and wrapped his large fingers around Draco's neck.

Ginny nodded, reaching out to pick up the wand where Vincent had laid it on the ground. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Draco, her eyes filling with tears. She'd caused his hurt. If she would have just agreed.... The air in her lungs was coming out in quick gasps as she looked down at Draco. "I'm sorry."

She rose the wand, swallowing harshly. Usually it was so easy for her mind to completely reformat, for her emotions to leave her, the years of training to take over. This wasn't easy. This was very far from easy. This was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. She was healing someone who'd tried to kill her, and would most likely kill them all after she did so. She said the words, her breath hitching. It did nothing.

"DO YOU THINK I'M PLAYING?"

"Stop!" Ginny could see Vincent's fingers tighten on Draco's throat, "I'm trying!"

"TRY HARDER!"

Her hair had been blown back from her face with his yell, her jaw clenching. She needed to focus. Healing. It was completely wrong and unnatural to do so, but she had to. She had to heal this monster. If she didn't...

No. You can do this, Weasley. You can do this. Think about it. His shoulder is more important. Torn ligaments, hurt muscles. The wrist is easy. A clean break. Simple. Emergent things first. Prioritize. Compartmentalize.

The words flew out of her mouth, the healer part of her brain screaming in rage as she mended his shoulder, piece by piece. There was a myriad of muscles and tendons in the shoulder she had to heal before she could pop the shoulder back into place. For some reason, she was reminded of Daphne's dislocated shoulder. She'd done it without magic before. She highly doubted Vincent would let her manually set the shoulder. He wanted healed. She could only hope that her using so much magic to heal him would slow him down.

It was slow, and she kept glancing at the fingers wrapped around Draco's neck, making sure he could still breathe. She desperately wanted to turn and check on Dean and Natalie, but she knew that if she looked away, Vincent would tear Draco's throat out. When she'd finished doing what she could on his shoulder, she moved to his wrist. The break was clean and only took a spell she'd done hundreds of times. She sat back on her heels. "Your shoulder needs-"

She flinched when his arm shot out and up, the crack of his shoulder popping back into place reverberating off the walls.

"Good as new," Vincent said, his hand darting out and pulling the wand from her grasp before she could even think about using it on him. He looked down at the three prone forms before turning his eyes back to Ginny, a grin on his lips. "Now the real fun begins." He kept his body facing Ginny as he walked towards Dean, slowly dragging him across the floor, grinning at Ginny the whole time. He propped Draco next to Draco, giving them both a good view of the rest of the room.

"Stand up," Vincent commanded at her, looking over at the other body on the floor.

Ginny blinked up at him, unsure what to do.

"STAND UP!"

She scrambled to her feet.

"We're going to play a game. Two on one. It'll be much more fun than the two on one that Draco and the mudblood attempted. You and the Auror bitch against me. But, I suppose, Draco and the mudblood are the real winners, as they get to see the game." He flicked his wand at Natalie, unbinding her. The fact that she'd been conscious for the whole thing, able to hear but unable to move, satisfied a large part of him. He tucked his wand back with the others, bowing to both the ladies before grinning. "Alright. Round One."

Ginny froze. Did he really expect them to fight him? There was no way. She knew how damaging Dean could be, and if he hadn't been able to hurt him, how were they supposed to? He had double the weight of both of them. She looked over at Natalie, too scared to move towards her, but able to see her stand from the corner of her eye.

Natalie sat up and rose slowly. She'd never, never in her life been this angry. He'd hurt Dean. That was a serious error in judgement on his part. She was just staring, taking things in. He'd probably think her afraid, which she was, but fear was not why she was standing still. This was too important. She needed to choose her move wisely. Natalie walked slowly to stand next to Ginny. She was nowhere near as fast as Crabbe, but she didn't have to be if she could get her hands on one of those wands.

"I'm not going to rush you like the boys did. You're going to have to come and get me," Natalie announced matter-of-factly.

She was getting that he did not see her as a threat. She could use that.

Ginny didn't know if she could do this. She couldn't fight him. Draco and Dean were much stronger and faster, and look what he'd done to them. She could tell that Natalie was trying to do something, but Ginny had never really been trained in wandless combat. Not formally. Certainly not enough to take on a werewolf. She felt pathetic, feeling helpless, but he was a werewolf. It was different if she was going to trade hexes back and forth across the room, but he didn't want that. He wanted them to actually fight him.

It was delicious. The fear was pouring off the blood traitor in waves, but the Auror tasted like fear with a chaser of determination. Vincent let it roll around on his tongue for a second. "I think coming to get you is just fine with me. Isn't that how it goes in all the fairy tales? Big bad werewolf gets the girl, eats her up?" Vincent darted forward. He was more worried about the Auror, the one that had been trained.

She didn't move until she needed to. Silently thanking Dean in her head, Natalie dropped, grabbed, and pitched Vincent Crabbe over shoulder. She used his own weight against him. He landed quite hard. Natalie snatched a wand out of the waist of his trou and scampered away.

Game mother fucking on. Now you are in trouble.

She was angry. So very angry. Natalie twirled the wand in her fingers a bit, deciding what to cast first. Because she was going to hurt him. That had been decided the moment he damaged Dean.

Vincent pulled his wand from the back of his jeans, the wood familiar in his hand. Yes, he preferred to use his hands if possible, but he wasn't above hexing her. He kept one eye on her and the other on the redhead who had stepped closer to Draco and the mudblood.

She was ready when he started throwing nasty shit at her. Her shield charm held firm. Thank you, Harry. Then she returned fire. Bruising hexes, stinging hexes, anything to slow him down or hurt him. He was able to shield a lot of it, but it was definitely taking a toll. Natalie danced back and knocked two of the chairs over and engorged them for cover. He'd blow them apart, but it would at least give her a minute's peace to keep herself together.

"I am not training to be an auror because I think I'll look especially fetching in the robes," Natalie called. "Or did you just think because I am a tiny little woman, I could not possibly hurt you?"

He drowned her talking out like he drowned most women's words out. Nothing women said ever meant anything to him. He had four wands, she had one. She also had someone who was avoiding the fight. Potter's girl didn't know how to fight? Really? He smirked to himself before throwing two stinging hexes over his shoulder, hitting Draco and the Mudblood. It would have been better if he could have heard them scream, but there was no time. If she was going to hide, he'd let his hexes fly at people who couldn't protect themselves. Maybe that would draw her out.

Watching him hex Draco and Dean propelled Ginny forward. She jumped onto Vincent's back and began pulling at his hair, scratching at his neck with her nails. Maybe if she distracted him, Natalie would be able to really hurt him, really take him down. At least she could do that. She could do that.

Vincent stood, spinning in circles as he pulled on Ginny's arms, trying to dislodge her. He grabbed her thigh and squeezed, earning a scream before he threw her against the wall and turned back to the one with a wand.

Natalie came out, hexes flying. She hit him in the back with a few bruising hexes before he turned and threw one at her. It hit Natalie in the chest, throwing her down. She groaned, but sat up and lit his hair on fire before hitting him with a stinging hex to the face. She managed to get to her feet while he was howling in pain.

Part of Ginny's mind was telling her to go for the wands in the back of his jeans, despite the fact that he'd probably hurt or kill her for doing so. The other part of her mind found it ironic that she'd just been reading up on new burn healing techniques.

Clawing at his head as the rest of the flames were put out, he rushed across the room, wand pointed. "Reducto!" The chair she'd been hiding behind was blown into splinters as he ran.

Natalie danced away from him. Distance. Distance is key. She was moving a bit more slowly. It hurt when she tried to breathe. He threw something nasty at her. It bounced off of the shield she cast, taking a hunk out of the wall. Natalie countered. She was pushing him back, her face angry and determined. He was not winning. This piece of murdering shit was not better than her. Even if he was, she could not let him be today.

The next round of volley had her shield charm bouncing something into Ginny that knocked the other woman from her feet.

"Ginny!"

And that's when Natalie took a real hit. A familiar one too. The Cruciatus. Her legs buckled, sending her to the floor. Natalie was determined not to scream, but as the pain intensified, a slow sound was ripped from her that became piercing. Suddenly she was screaming.

She felt the air leave her lungs as she hit the floor. Sitting up, Ginny gripping at her throat as she gasped for breath. When she could hear over the pounding of blood in her hears, Natalie's screams registered. She stumbled forward, using her shoulder to catch Vincent in the small of his back. He'd been so focused on casting the Unforgivable that he'd been surprised, falling with her to the ground. He caught her with a backhand as she was rising to her feet, sending her back to the ground, spinning. Vincent jumped back onto his feet and advanced toward Natalie, forgetting about Ginny for the moment.

Ginny hissed when she felt something cut into her thigh. At first, she thought one of the splinters from what had been a chair had stuck her. When she reached down, however, she pulled the blade Blaise had given her from the thigh sheath.

Natalie forced herself to stand. Her legs were shaking.

"REPELLO!"

The repelling charm worked as it should. Crabbe was blown backwards. Natalie was ready with another hex. She blasted him again. It clipped his shoulder. He staggered, spinning as he fell face-first onto Ginny.

Ginny screamed when Vincent collapsed onto her, his entire body weight pinning her to the ground. Her eyes were wide as she looked into his face, a scant few inches away from hers. Their eyes matched, both wide and unblinking. He opened his mouth to speak, a gurgle of blood and a small gasp the only sound that came out.

His face registered shock, his body limp and dead weight as she attempted to push him off. She managed to roll him to the side, her mouth opening when she saw the blood coating her front, the green of her shirt black where it was thick. Oh my Gods, I'm bleeding. She pressed a hand to her stomach, feeling for an entrance wound. I'm in shock, so it doesn't hurt. I'm bleeding. She lifted the front of her shirt, running a bloody hand over the skin there.

There was no wound.

It seemed like slow motion as she turned to look at Vincent. The silver blade was sticking straight out of his chest, some trick of the light had it glinting just above where it was coated in blood, the rest of it disappearing into his skin. His hands were clenching and releasing at his sides. His legs were shaking a bit, the movements clearly not of his own control. Ginny slowly crawled across the floor towards him, her hands hovering over the dagger as she looked down, her eyes impossibly wide.

She really wasn't sure how long she stared down at him, her body frozen as she realized he was dying. There was no way that knife hadn't pierced his heart. He was coughing, blood flying out of his mouth as he looked up at her, his eyes wide and full of hate.

She watched his eyes dim as he gurgled, his last breath leaving him as his body stilled. Ginny physically felt the wards that had been placed on the room evaporate. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, the one she'd healed, and checked for his pulse. There wasn't one. Not anymore.

Draco shouted when he could move. "You mother fucker! I can't believe you broke my finger! What the shit is that shit!"

"Is he dead?" Natalie asked. She was swaying on her feet. "Is he dead? He has to be, right? He's dead."

"I can move," Draco said. He still could not quite move so well. "He's dead. Gin? Ginny, you all right?"

There was a loud thud. Natalie's body had been running on adrenaline while there was still a threat. When there was no longer a threat, it gave out. She shut down and passed out from magical drain.

"Nat!" Dean screamed. He tried to get to her. He needed to get to her.

His knees buckled, though, and dizziness overtook him halfway there. As he fell roughly to his hands and knees, Dean groaned as he felt one of his broken ribs grind in his chest.

Draco forced himself to his feet and stumbled over to Ginny.

"I think she just passed out, Thomas. That was a hell of a fight from her. She's probably tired. She's breathing though." Draco got next to Ginny and turned her away from staring at the body. "Don't look at it, love."

He put an arm around her. Draco needed to figure out how to get all of them out of here, and where here was maybe.

He was dead. Vincent Crabbe was dead. The knife she'd been holding had killed him. He was just... there. He was dead. Her body had a rush of utter relief and complete panic. "He has my wand," Ginny said, turning to look over his shoulder. "He has my wand!" She went to reach past Draco, towards the body, frantic to have her wand back. "I can't heal them without it!"

"Easy," Draco said. He took the remaining wands from Vincent's body. He handed Ginny hers, tucked his away and frowned. "McDonald cast all of that with Thomas' wand."

Dean. Her panic had her ignoring Draco's words, had her scrambling over the werewolf's dead body to get to Dean and Natalie. Natalie was on the ground, Dean hovering over her. She immediately started casting diagnostic spells on the Auror trainee. "The spells sapped her energy. She hasn't broken anything. Slight concussion from being thrown about, but she'd be alright."

Ginny grabbed Dean's chin harshly and spun his face around to look at her. "Tell me where you're hurt," she demanded, eyes already roaming his body, looking for any obvious wounds.

Dean grinned. She's back, he thought in amusement. "I hurt all over. As far as injuries? I've got broken ribs, a bruised shoulder and a concussion, I think." He gave a rasping chuckle, wincing as his ribs protested. "Well, that and my face feels like hamburger."

When he said concussion, Ginny frowned, her wand flicking and swishing in the air. "You have a small fracture right here," she said, pointing to a spot over his left ear. "Was he throwing you around? Why didn't you stay down," she asked, grabbing his neck lightly and stabilizing it.

"Because we were trying to slow him down enough for you and Nat to have a chance to either put him down or get away." He smiled ruefully. "I don't think either of us figured on him getting you to heal him back up, though."

"Oh, slow him down enough so that I, unconscious, and Natalie, who was in a full body bind, could get away? Yes. Brilliant plan. Use yourself as bait and a distraction so the two people who can't move can get out? Bloody spiffing plan, Dean Patrick Thomas!" Her wand was flashing, the lights reflecting on their faces.

"I didn't say it was a great plan," he replied, grunting as he felt bones shifting under his skin. "It was the just the best of a lot of bad choices. No matter what, Crabbe was going to leave Malfoy alive, if only to make Draco watch him hurt the two of you. He needed you and Nat unbound for that part."

"And you getting beat bloody was going to change that?" After focusing on the fracture, she'd moved onto his ribs. She was not in a good environment to do this. She wanted to be back at her clinic. She wanted to be back home. "What was I going to do if I woke up and you were..." She shook her head. She was not going to break here. She had work to do.

Draco was sitting on the floor staring at Vincent. He was not taking his own advice here. He was looking. This had been his friend. Once upon a time he had not gone anywhere without this person and Greg right behind or beside him. Now they were both dead. Yes, he had ended up hating Vin for all that, but he still felt a loss here. So much of his past was disappearing in such horrible ways. Draco reached out and pulled Vin's eyelids closed.

"Can we not do this now," Draco snapped.

"Excuse me for calling attention to the fact that you both could have been killed. He was a werewolf Draco! He almost killed you the last time you saw him, did you think of that?" When she was sure Dean's ribs had been healed and the most pressing pains had been addressed, she stood and spun around towards Draco. "He was going to kill you! You were literally baiting the beast!" She stalked towards him. "You almost died! Again!!"

Draco didn't say anything. He was taken back to having to claim Millicent's body because she had no one left. Would he have to make arrangements for Vin too? His body felt heavy. He couldn't feel his hands anymore. His finger didn't hurt. Draco reached over and moved some of Vincent's hair. He shouldn't look bad when they came to get the body.

"We were friends once."

"No," Ginny said, her legs collapsing under her as she reached for the front of Draco's shirt. She shook him, making sure he looked at her. "This is not that person. This is someone completely different. Your friend died years ago. This was a monster. He deserved to die. He deserved it. It was the only way. He would have killed you. He had to die. There was no other choice. No other choice."

"I mourned him then. I thought he was dead before. He deserved to die for what he did to you, but that doesn't mean I have to like how it ended. Doesn't mean I have to like that he involved all of you. I just... I thought I was finished burying people for a bit."

"No other choice," Ginny repeated, her eyes drawn back to the dagger sticking out of his chest, the blood starting to turn darker, getting tacky and sticky. There was no heart pumping it now, so it had stopped spreading across the floor. She wasn't sure how long she'd been staring at the body before her mouth started moving again. "We need to get out of here. Now." I can't look at him anymore. I can't.

Draco nodded. He flinched when he got to his feet. Draco made his way over to where Natalie was lying on the floor. He pulled her up as much as he could, wincing as he bumped his broken finger. He moved her next to Dean.

"I need to see where we are because I don't think I can apparate all of us at once. Also, we need to be able to tell the MLE where to find... the body. I'll... I'll be right back."

Ginny scrambled to her feet. "No! Don't go! We don't-" She grabbed at his shirt. "Don't leave us here. Please," she was completely incapable of stopping when the tears started, "don't go."

"Hey," Draco said. "I'm getting us out of here, okay? You want to come with? That's fine. I just need a lay of the land here, love."

Draco looked at Dean. He nodded as if to say he would be fine here with Natalie until Draco got back.

She nodded, the tendrils of fear still spread throughout her body. They didn't know where they were. They could have died here and no one would have been able to find them. She kept a hold of Draco's shirt, nodding mechanically again. "Alright. Alright." Alright. Alright.


Summary: Vincent attempts to accomplish his plan of killing Ginny and Draco. Natalie and Dean are included in his plans by accident. The night does not end as he'd planned it.