Fic: Hospitality - 1/? - M - Draco/Ginny
Right, so, for a lot of people this isn't actually a new fic. I've been posting it at various sites for quite some time now, but strangely, I never posted it here. I'm rectifying that now, since I've started working on the future chapters again...
Title: Hospitality
Pairing: Draco/Ginny
Rating: R (M) - eventually
Summary: “There was no snide quip though. No deliberately cutting comment. Ginny stared and then a second later the grey eyes rolled dramatically and turned away from her towards the tasteless curtains.” Post-war fic. Ginny was just plodding along, enduring her perfectly well-ordered normal life and dreaming that maybe something more interesting might come along. She just never thought that the ‘something’ might actually turn out to be a ‘someone’.
Spoilers: HBP
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
PART ONE: PAPERWORK
Pursing her lips, Ginny Weasley glared accusingly at the sheet of parchment she was clutching, or, more specifically, at the empty line at the bottom of the page. Her irritation increased further. That one little line was all that stood between her and finishing work for the day.
Looking up, she glanced around the office, eyes darting from one desk to another as she tried to seek out someone who would not mind taking the work off her. Every desk except one was vacated though and there was no way that Ginny could possibly ask that person to cover for her. Agnes Busby already thought very little of her junior colleague. Finding out that she was trying to get rid of work would only make matters worse - particularly since Ginny knew she had a review coming up.
She sighed and looked back down at the piece of parchment. There was nothing to be done; she was going to have to go and hunt around the hospital until she found the particular witch in question who had forgotten to sign off on the form.
For Ginny it was one of the most unenviable tasks that she often found herself undertaking since coming to work in the administration department of St Mungo’s. The hospital was huge, larger even than most people seemed to realise. There were a multitude of hidden rooms that enabled the doctors to treat more delicate or dangerous cases and the research laboratories that took up an entire level of the building that most patients and visitors never even had to go near. It made finding anyone easily virtually impossible - although, since the witch in question was Erika Linden, Ginny was able to narrow her search area down slightly.
Pushing away from her desk she hurried towards the door, holding the piece of paper and contemplating the disapproving face she was going to use as she reminded Linden of the importance of remembering to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. It was the fourth time in a month that Ginny had been forced to track down the witch and she certainly did not want to have to do it again. She knew the most likely place to find Linden was in the recovery units. There were the wards where patients who were no longer critical or who only came in for minor procedures were housed. It was in that direction she now headed.
Working in the administration department of the hospital had only ever meant to be a temporary measure. On leaving Hogwarts, Ginny had immediately found herself plunged into the middle of the war that had been brewing ever since Harry had first turned up at the school. The previous twelve months, ever since Harry had graduated, had been strangely quiet - much to everyone’s surprise. Within a matter of weeks of the following year group leaving the school, the situation had taken a drastic turn for the worse. Suddenly Voldemort began to move his supporters, leading to dreadful assaults until no one could deny any longer that the magical community was being thrown into war.
For the next three years Ginny had battled alongside her friends until finally they defeated the dark wizard. It had been a horrendous period in her life; far worse than anything else she could remember and the truth was that Ginny did not like thinking about it. There were things that had happened; memories forever lingering on the edges of her mind that made the seemingly impossibly horrible events that had happened to her in her first year at school look timid by comparison.
Needless to say, when the signal had come through that they had been successful, that the fighting was over, Ginny had been ecstatic. She remembered fondly the celebrations that followed. The days and weeks that were filled with nothing but catching up with people she had feared she would never see alive again and spending some much needed recovery time with her family. It was only when the initial burst of excitement had worn off that the reality of their situation seemed to dawn on people. The war had left them with years, if not decades, worth of reconstruction work that even extended beyond their own world and into the muggle one. It was one of the reasons that Ginny had found herself working in the administration department at the hospital.
When she had first taken the job it had been because there was a huge backlog of cases that needed to be sorted through and filed. Ginny had told herself it was only a temporary measure and that as soon as she had helped them get organised once more then she would leave. Besides, she reasoned, working at the hospital for a few months would help her figure out what she wanted to do with her life. The truth was that when she had been at school a career had been the last thing on her mind. Instead she had been consumed with thoughts of the impending, inevitable, fight.
The two or three months that Ginny had expected to spend at the hospital had rapidly turned into six and then into an entire year. Now she had been working in the department for just under two and a half years and she still did not know what she wanted to do with her life other than that she really did not want to stay at St Mungo’s forever.
Heals clicking in what, Ginny hoped, was a menacing manner, the redhead stalked down the corridor, flinging open the swing doors that were the entrance to the recovery unit so that they banged the walls on either side. At the sound the nurse working on the reception desk shot her a disapproving glare that only deepened when Ginny suddenly changed direction and approached her.
Placing the file down on the countertop, Ginny said, “I’m looking for Linden. Is she around?”
Eyeing the file carefully, the witch said, “Has she messed up again?”
“I’m starting to wonder if she has ever managed to fill one of these things in right in her life.”
The witch sighed and rolled her eyes. Apparently Ginny wasn’t the only one who was getting impatient with the doctor in question. It wasn’t wholly surprising for the young witch from administration.
Turning and picking up a clipboard from a stack of them the witch behind the desk pursed her lips and said, “Hmm… she is meant to be on rounds at the moment but you can never tell whether she is or she isn’t going to make it on time.” Looking up at Ginny, she said, “I haven’t seen her, but I’ve only just come on duty.”
“Okay, thanks, I’ll just take a wander and see whether I can find her,” the redhead replied and then mentally added, And see if I can find Hermione and finally convince her that someone needs to keep a closer eye on the doctors working in her department.
Her exploration of the department led her through three wards and the doctors’ common room before Ginny finally found someone who could tell her where the illusive Erika Linden was. By that time the irritation that she had been feeling had concentrated into a nice tight knot in the middle of her chest that the redhead was just longing to release on a certain member of the medical profession.
As she stalked into the ward that she had been pointed towards Ginny let a stiff, sharp little smile creep onto her lips. In her mind she was already preparing a barrage of bladed comments to direct at Linden that, while coming short of actually openly criticising the doctor, would certainly let her know what Ginny thought of her. Armed and ready the redhead walked purposefully towards the cubicle where the woman was meant to be. With any luck she would be able to stop her from being able to make any excuses that would lead to her inevitably trying to disappear again.
The cubicle was a closed off area, complete with the yellow and green patterned fabric curtains that Ginny had always thought were slightly garish for a hospital. They gave way easily as the witch grasped them and she determinedly burst into the area.
“Doctor Lin- Hermione! What are you doing here?”
The brunette woman turned slightly, a startled expression on her face. “Ginny!” She exclaimed in astonishment. “What on earth are you doing? I’m with a patient.”
Ginny started. Abruptly she realised exactly what she had just done and glanced towards the bed where her gaze was immediately greeted with a rather indignant, sullen expression.
She could not help but stare. It took several moments for what she was seeing to actually seep into her brain. The look of complete and utter distain that was being directed towards her registered first, followed only a second later by the sharpness of the grey eyes and the sneer.
Put together it was all startling familiar.
There was no snide quip though. No deliberately cutting comment. Ginny stared and then a second later the grey eyes rolled dramatically and turned away from her towards the tasteless curtains on the opposite side of the cubicle.
To say that she was surprised was an understatement. Not once in her life could Ginny think of another occasion when Draco Malfoy had not taken the opportunity to humiliate her.
A hand grasped Ginny’s upper arm, pulling her away from the bed and out of sight of it. Stumbling a little until she managed to regain her footing, Ginny tore her eyes away from the bed and towards the woman who had dragged her away from it.
Meeting Hermione’s gaze, she exclaimed, “He’s a patient here?”
“And why shouldn’t he be?” the muggle-born witch asked.
“Why should he?” Ginny replied quickly. “I’d have thought he would rather have been treated at the Rosewood Clinic or one of those private places in Switzerland.”
A small smile played briefly over Hermione’s lips but she covered it quickly. “Are you suggesting that the quality of care here is less than at Rosewood?”
“Well, no,” Ginny said, quickly backtracking as she did. “It’s just… Well I would have thought Malfoy… He’s letting you treat him?”
Hermione’s eyes widened. “I always thought you believed I was quite a good doctor.”
“Of course you are,” the redhead said. “I know that - you know that - the whole hospital know that. But Malfoy… Even if he did know that I wouldn’t have thought he cared.”
The brunette gave a small knowing smile and placed her hand on Ginny’s shoulder. Gently she steered the other witch further away from the curtained area while saying quietly, “He doesn’t exactly have much choice in the matter.”
“What?”
“You know I can’t say anymore,” Hermione told her swiftly. “He’s my patient and I’ve said too much already. You’ll be getting me in trouble, Gin.”
She spoke in such a friendly manner that Ginny could hardly protest despite the raging curiosity that was still coursing through her. She glanced back towards the curtained area, half wondering whether she was going to catch a brief sight of Malfoy’s malevolent glare again.
“Don’t even think about it,” Hermione told her sternly. “If I find out you’ve been bothering him then I will not be happy. Malfoy’s really not been very well lately and I don’t want him getting all excited.”
Ginny bristled. “I wouldn’t want to anyway.”
Hermione shot her a disbelieving look.
“I wouldn’t! The less I have to do with him the better,” she protested. “I only wanted to know what he was doing here.”
“He’s getting better,” Hermione said calmly. “That’s all you need to know.”
Eyes still narrowed in suspicion, Ginny glanced back once more.
“No, Gin,” her friend told her firmly. “Malfoy might have been - may still be a bit of an arse but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the same rights as the rest of us where patient confidentiality is concerned.”
Ginny wrinkled her nose. Considering what she knew of Malfoy, she seriously doubted that he even fit in with ‘the rest’. She would not have been surprised to learn that he was an entirely different species.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “I’ve got to go - I need to finish up with him.” She turned to walk away and then stopped abruptly. Looking back at Ginny, she said, “Listen, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention to Ron that he was here. Actually, it would probably be best if you didn’t mention it to anyone.”
“But…”
“The last thing I want is Ron rushing down here to bother him. Harry would only be a few paces behind and they’d probably both bring a half a dozen aurors with them.”
“I…” Ginny began and then stopped as she saw the way in which Hermione was appealing to her silently with her eyes. “Okay. I won’t say anything.”
“Good,” Hermione said, apparently satisfied. “Were you looking for Linden by any chance?”
Ginny nodded.
“The last time I saw her, she was headed for the supply closet on the fourth floor.”
“What on earth would she be doing there?” Ginny exclaimed.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “Merlin only knows. The woman’s more slippery than a snake. Good luck catching up with her.”
“I think I’ll need it,” Ginny answered. “Maybe we can catch up later?”
Hermione nodded then turned and disappeared back through the curtains. Ginny hesitated for a moment, listening to her friend’s muffled voice and the even dimmer reply made by her patient. Her brow creased into a frown before she turned away.
2: The Good Life
Title: Hospitality
Pairing: Draco/Ginny
Rating: R (M) - eventually
Summary: “There was no snide quip though. No deliberately cutting comment. Ginny stared and then a second later the grey eyes rolled dramatically and turned away from her towards the tasteless curtains.” Post-war fic. Ginny was just plodding along, enduring her perfectly well-ordered normal life and dreaming that maybe something more interesting might come along. She just never thought that the ‘something’ might actually turn out to be a ‘someone’.
Spoilers: HBP
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
PART ONE: PAPERWORK
Pursing her lips, Ginny Weasley glared accusingly at the sheet of parchment she was clutching, or, more specifically, at the empty line at the bottom of the page. Her irritation increased further. That one little line was all that stood between her and finishing work for the day.
Looking up, she glanced around the office, eyes darting from one desk to another as she tried to seek out someone who would not mind taking the work off her. Every desk except one was vacated though and there was no way that Ginny could possibly ask that person to cover for her. Agnes Busby already thought very little of her junior colleague. Finding out that she was trying to get rid of work would only make matters worse - particularly since Ginny knew she had a review coming up.
She sighed and looked back down at the piece of parchment. There was nothing to be done; she was going to have to go and hunt around the hospital until she found the particular witch in question who had forgotten to sign off on the form.
For Ginny it was one of the most unenviable tasks that she often found herself undertaking since coming to work in the administration department of St Mungo’s. The hospital was huge, larger even than most people seemed to realise. There were a multitude of hidden rooms that enabled the doctors to treat more delicate or dangerous cases and the research laboratories that took up an entire level of the building that most patients and visitors never even had to go near. It made finding anyone easily virtually impossible - although, since the witch in question was Erika Linden, Ginny was able to narrow her search area down slightly.
Pushing away from her desk she hurried towards the door, holding the piece of paper and contemplating the disapproving face she was going to use as she reminded Linden of the importance of remembering to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. It was the fourth time in a month that Ginny had been forced to track down the witch and she certainly did not want to have to do it again. She knew the most likely place to find Linden was in the recovery units. There were the wards where patients who were no longer critical or who only came in for minor procedures were housed. It was in that direction she now headed.
Working in the administration department of the hospital had only ever meant to be a temporary measure. On leaving Hogwarts, Ginny had immediately found herself plunged into the middle of the war that had been brewing ever since Harry had first turned up at the school. The previous twelve months, ever since Harry had graduated, had been strangely quiet - much to everyone’s surprise. Within a matter of weeks of the following year group leaving the school, the situation had taken a drastic turn for the worse. Suddenly Voldemort began to move his supporters, leading to dreadful assaults until no one could deny any longer that the magical community was being thrown into war.
For the next three years Ginny had battled alongside her friends until finally they defeated the dark wizard. It had been a horrendous period in her life; far worse than anything else she could remember and the truth was that Ginny did not like thinking about it. There were things that had happened; memories forever lingering on the edges of her mind that made the seemingly impossibly horrible events that had happened to her in her first year at school look timid by comparison.
Needless to say, when the signal had come through that they had been successful, that the fighting was over, Ginny had been ecstatic. She remembered fondly the celebrations that followed. The days and weeks that were filled with nothing but catching up with people she had feared she would never see alive again and spending some much needed recovery time with her family. It was only when the initial burst of excitement had worn off that the reality of their situation seemed to dawn on people. The war had left them with years, if not decades, worth of reconstruction work that even extended beyond their own world and into the muggle one. It was one of the reasons that Ginny had found herself working in the administration department at the hospital.
When she had first taken the job it had been because there was a huge backlog of cases that needed to be sorted through and filed. Ginny had told herself it was only a temporary measure and that as soon as she had helped them get organised once more then she would leave. Besides, she reasoned, working at the hospital for a few months would help her figure out what she wanted to do with her life. The truth was that when she had been at school a career had been the last thing on her mind. Instead she had been consumed with thoughts of the impending, inevitable, fight.
The two or three months that Ginny had expected to spend at the hospital had rapidly turned into six and then into an entire year. Now she had been working in the department for just under two and a half years and she still did not know what she wanted to do with her life other than that she really did not want to stay at St Mungo’s forever.
Heals clicking in what, Ginny hoped, was a menacing manner, the redhead stalked down the corridor, flinging open the swing doors that were the entrance to the recovery unit so that they banged the walls on either side. At the sound the nurse working on the reception desk shot her a disapproving glare that only deepened when Ginny suddenly changed direction and approached her.
Placing the file down on the countertop, Ginny said, “I’m looking for Linden. Is she around?”
Eyeing the file carefully, the witch said, “Has she messed up again?”
“I’m starting to wonder if she has ever managed to fill one of these things in right in her life.”
The witch sighed and rolled her eyes. Apparently Ginny wasn’t the only one who was getting impatient with the doctor in question. It wasn’t wholly surprising for the young witch from administration.
Turning and picking up a clipboard from a stack of them the witch behind the desk pursed her lips and said, “Hmm… she is meant to be on rounds at the moment but you can never tell whether she is or she isn’t going to make it on time.” Looking up at Ginny, she said, “I haven’t seen her, but I’ve only just come on duty.”
“Okay, thanks, I’ll just take a wander and see whether I can find her,” the redhead replied and then mentally added, And see if I can find Hermione and finally convince her that someone needs to keep a closer eye on the doctors working in her department.
Her exploration of the department led her through three wards and the doctors’ common room before Ginny finally found someone who could tell her where the illusive Erika Linden was. By that time the irritation that she had been feeling had concentrated into a nice tight knot in the middle of her chest that the redhead was just longing to release on a certain member of the medical profession.
As she stalked into the ward that she had been pointed towards Ginny let a stiff, sharp little smile creep onto her lips. In her mind she was already preparing a barrage of bladed comments to direct at Linden that, while coming short of actually openly criticising the doctor, would certainly let her know what Ginny thought of her. Armed and ready the redhead walked purposefully towards the cubicle where the woman was meant to be. With any luck she would be able to stop her from being able to make any excuses that would lead to her inevitably trying to disappear again.
The cubicle was a closed off area, complete with the yellow and green patterned fabric curtains that Ginny had always thought were slightly garish for a hospital. They gave way easily as the witch grasped them and she determinedly burst into the area.
“Doctor Lin- Hermione! What are you doing here?”
The brunette woman turned slightly, a startled expression on her face. “Ginny!” She exclaimed in astonishment. “What on earth are you doing? I’m with a patient.”
Ginny started. Abruptly she realised exactly what she had just done and glanced towards the bed where her gaze was immediately greeted with a rather indignant, sullen expression.
She could not help but stare. It took several moments for what she was seeing to actually seep into her brain. The look of complete and utter distain that was being directed towards her registered first, followed only a second later by the sharpness of the grey eyes and the sneer.
Put together it was all startling familiar.
There was no snide quip though. No deliberately cutting comment. Ginny stared and then a second later the grey eyes rolled dramatically and turned away from her towards the tasteless curtains on the opposite side of the cubicle.
To say that she was surprised was an understatement. Not once in her life could Ginny think of another occasion when Draco Malfoy had not taken the opportunity to humiliate her.
A hand grasped Ginny’s upper arm, pulling her away from the bed and out of sight of it. Stumbling a little until she managed to regain her footing, Ginny tore her eyes away from the bed and towards the woman who had dragged her away from it.
Meeting Hermione’s gaze, she exclaimed, “He’s a patient here?”
“And why shouldn’t he be?” the muggle-born witch asked.
“Why should he?” Ginny replied quickly. “I’d have thought he would rather have been treated at the Rosewood Clinic or one of those private places in Switzerland.”
A small smile played briefly over Hermione’s lips but she covered it quickly. “Are you suggesting that the quality of care here is less than at Rosewood?”
“Well, no,” Ginny said, quickly backtracking as she did. “It’s just… Well I would have thought Malfoy… He’s letting you treat him?”
Hermione’s eyes widened. “I always thought you believed I was quite a good doctor.”
“Of course you are,” the redhead said. “I know that - you know that - the whole hospital know that. But Malfoy… Even if he did know that I wouldn’t have thought he cared.”
The brunette gave a small knowing smile and placed her hand on Ginny’s shoulder. Gently she steered the other witch further away from the curtained area while saying quietly, “He doesn’t exactly have much choice in the matter.”
“What?”
“You know I can’t say anymore,” Hermione told her swiftly. “He’s my patient and I’ve said too much already. You’ll be getting me in trouble, Gin.”
She spoke in such a friendly manner that Ginny could hardly protest despite the raging curiosity that was still coursing through her. She glanced back towards the curtained area, half wondering whether she was going to catch a brief sight of Malfoy’s malevolent glare again.
“Don’t even think about it,” Hermione told her sternly. “If I find out you’ve been bothering him then I will not be happy. Malfoy’s really not been very well lately and I don’t want him getting all excited.”
Ginny bristled. “I wouldn’t want to anyway.”
Hermione shot her a disbelieving look.
“I wouldn’t! The less I have to do with him the better,” she protested. “I only wanted to know what he was doing here.”
“He’s getting better,” Hermione said calmly. “That’s all you need to know.”
Eyes still narrowed in suspicion, Ginny glanced back once more.
“No, Gin,” her friend told her firmly. “Malfoy might have been - may still be a bit of an arse but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the same rights as the rest of us where patient confidentiality is concerned.”
Ginny wrinkled her nose. Considering what she knew of Malfoy, she seriously doubted that he even fit in with ‘the rest’. She would not have been surprised to learn that he was an entirely different species.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “I’ve got to go - I need to finish up with him.” She turned to walk away and then stopped abruptly. Looking back at Ginny, she said, “Listen, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention to Ron that he was here. Actually, it would probably be best if you didn’t mention it to anyone.”
“But…”
“The last thing I want is Ron rushing down here to bother him. Harry would only be a few paces behind and they’d probably both bring a half a dozen aurors with them.”
“I…” Ginny began and then stopped as she saw the way in which Hermione was appealing to her silently with her eyes. “Okay. I won’t say anything.”
“Good,” Hermione said, apparently satisfied. “Were you looking for Linden by any chance?”
Ginny nodded.
“The last time I saw her, she was headed for the supply closet on the fourth floor.”
“What on earth would she be doing there?” Ginny exclaimed.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “Merlin only knows. The woman’s more slippery than a snake. Good luck catching up with her.”
“I think I’ll need it,” Ginny answered. “Maybe we can catch up later?”
Hermione nodded then turned and disappeared back through the curtains. Ginny hesitated for a moment, listening to her friend’s muffled voice and the even dimmer reply made by her patient. Her brow creased into a frown before she turned away.
2: The Good Life