Hide Away

Hide Away

Chapter 9- the mission

I woke up later that evening. I looked at the window above my head and found the sky dark.

Suddenly, my foot screamed with pain that I was fully awake. I almost screamed as the pain refused to leave and then slowly got up.

I was sleeping in Malfoy's car (no, I wasn't sleeping WITH him in his car....just sleeping) and we were still traveling.

Malfoy heard my grumbling so he asked. "You feel any better?"

Being woken at five in the morning, getting silenced and then getting my ankle broken had not done justice to my temper.

"As good as any person with a fractured ankle can feel!" I snapped.

"Sorry for being nice."

I snorted, "You? Nice? Ha, those two words never co-exist together...ever!"

"I should've left you back there, unable to walk," he said. "I wouldn't have to be here listening to your crap."

I ignored him, as my head ached. I didn't say anything and leaned back in my seat with the blanket around my legs. A few minutes later, we were in the parking lot of an Inn.

He didn't say anything, but put his arm around my waist and helped me walk into the Inn.

He helped me onto the elevator and then into my room, which was on the fifth floor. It was a one-bedroom suite and the bed was in the centre of the room.

He turned on the light and steered me to the bed and sat me down.

"Thanks," I said.

He glanced at me and said with a frosty voice, "Why would you say thanks to someone who's not nice."

I shrugged and he helped take off my shoes. He put them on the side and then said, "Wake up by seven thirty. I don't want to be late."

"Just don't come into my room again," I said.

He looked at me and then said, "I won't. I've already seen what a Weasley looks like sleeping with all that red hair."

I picked up my shoe and threw it at him, just as the door closed. I groaned at missing him, and then closed my eyes.

****

I woke up the next morning, feeling rested and refreshed. I yawned and my ankle didn't feel so bad today.

I got up, and hobbled my way to the bathroom. I took a shower and got dressed in a pair of khaki coloured flared pants and a white sweater. I brushed my hair and dried it with a hairdryer. I wasn't a complete dunce with this type of muggle technology.

As soon as I put the hairdryer down, I heard a knock on the door.

I checked the mirror and made sure I looked all right. My red hair was a golden blonde and hung straight and perfectly, to my shoulder. I looked nice, I thought. It was a nice change, for sure.

But it didn't feel like me. Before I could curse my hair, there was another knock on the door.

I rushed to the door and opened it. Malfoy stood standing in my doorway.

"Are you ready?" he asked me.

I nodded and said, "I just have to put my clothes into my bag."

He waited while I grabbed my purse and my things.

We left the Inn and I followed him out to the car. We sat down and he put his arm on the back of my seat, while backing out of the parking space.

We got on the road and he said, "How's your ankle by the way?"

"It's fine, thanks," I said. I suddenly got a spasm of dizziness and my head spun. I tried to remember the last time I ate. It was at eight or nine in the morning yesterday, tuna sandwiches.

I glanced at the clock. It was eight in the morning. I had spent a whole day without anything to eat. My sugar level must be really low. I would faint any second if I didn't eat anything.

I grabbed a pill from my purse and looked around for something to gulp it down with. All I could see was Malfoy's water bottle.

"Can I please have a sip?" I asked.

He nodded, keeping his concentration on his driving.

I placed the pill on my tongue as nonchalantly as possible, making sure he didn't see me and then washed it down with some water.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. After a few minutes, I felt a bit better, but still tired.

"Thanks," I said, handing the water bottle back to him.

He put it beside him and said, "Ok, here's the plan. We're going into town, where he'll be. I want you to tail him, as close as possible but also keep contact with me over your phone and tell me his exact movements. Your earpiece is high muggle technology so there'll be no need to shout into it. It's whisper active, so you can whisper and I'll be able to hear to."

I nodded and he continued, "Don't let him get away. This may be the closest we get to him. So don't mess up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said.

"Knowing you, I know there's bound to be something wrong," he said. "I know it's hard for you, but for once, please try not to mess up."

I glared at him and said, "I'll do better than that, Malfoy. You watch. I'll get the real goods on him."

He smirked and said, "I'd like to see that happen."

We pulled up in front on the side of a street with stores lining it.

"He's in there," said Malfoy, pointing to the coffee shop.

I nodded and said, "Any last words?"

"Don't mess up," he said again.

"Gee, thanks," I mumbled as I got out of the car, taking my purse with me.

I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the first number. I then put the earpiece into my ear and the mouthpiece to my jacket, where it blended in nicely.

I opened the door to the coffee shop and found two small lines at the counter for two different cashiers. I got in line, and saw Peacock standing in the other line.

I decided to order something, while I was at it. My line moved forward and I decided to order a bagel and a coffee.

I fumbled with my purse, pretending to put my change in my purse while Peacock ordered.

He bought a coffee and then left the shop. I followed him, keeping enough distance behind him so he wouldn't know he was being followed but close enough so that I could watch him.

I sipped my coffee and heard Malfoy's voice, "Well, what's he doing?"

"He's drinking coffee, Malfoy," I said. "Please let me drink mine in peace."

He didn't say anything and I walked at a brisk pace. He was just drinking his coffee and was walking, pausing every once in a while to look at store shops. I was always ready to duck behind cars and doors though, in case he ever turned back.

I remembered his face that day in the shop. He looked so scary to me and here I was tailing him.

I shivered, not from the cold this time, but from fear. Malfoy thought that nothing could happen, but what if something did. He had his wand and I didn't. What if he knew I was following him and he led me to some deadly trap? Malfoy would be at the base and couldn't do anything if they cursed me or even killed me. He would be miles away, and unable to reach in time anyways.

"What if this is a trap?" I whispered.

"It's not," was his answer.

"How the hell do you know?" I asked him.

"I'm watching him, remember? He doesn't seem to be turning around or even changing direction."

"So what? He could know that I'm following him and he could be going to his gang of death eaters. What if they kidnap me and want a ransom? And then they get the money but they don't return me? Or what if they want me to join them? And then later they turn me against everyone? Or what if..."

He laughed through my earpiece. "My god, Weasley. You have one hell of an imagination. Stop thinking like that."

"So, it's better to be prepared than to.... not be prepared," I finished lamely. "And besides, what do you to have to worry about? You're sitting in your nice little Corvette, warm and safe, far away from him. I don't see you risking your butt out here."

"He knows me," said Malfoy. "Or he knew my father and he often came to visit my house. So if he sees me, he'll recognize me and we won't get anywhere."

I snorted, softly and said, "So what, he saw you in seventh year. He won't remember you."

"He will," said Malfoy, "people who I haven't met my entire life recognizes me immediately."

"Maybe they've heard of you," I said, still walking behind Peacock, keeping close tabs on him.

Malfoy sighed and said, "Look, Weasley, I don't want to get into this with you right now. Just trust me for now."

"Trust you?" I asked. "With my life? What if something happens to me? I mean you might try to help, but you'll be miles and miles away."

"Nothing will happen to you," he said.

"How can you say that? You don't know."

"I placed a couple of Protection spells on you yesterday. You'll be fine."

I felt warm all of a sudden. Wow, he cared about me enough to 'protect' me?

"Don't get any ideas, Weasley. It's just that I'll have to pay your insurance if you die."

I swore; so much for that thought.

I followed him, and watched as he suddenly started walking faster, turning corners and went uphill.

He came to a hill that had a cave near it and started walking slower.

"Great, what do I do?"

"I can't see anything; your hand is in the way."

I moved my hand and then he said, "Wait at the bottom of the hill for a few minutes and then go up to the cave."

I waited at the bottom of the hill and waited and watched until he was at the top.

"I'm getting scared, Malfoy," I said. "What if they see me? I can't do anything then and it'll mess up the plan."

There was no answer for a while and then came his voice, "I'll instruct you. Don't worry; they won't see you. Just follow my directions."

I waited and then he said, "Go up to the cave now, and get right behind it."

I did as he told me and I heard hushed voices inside.

"Put the recorder right next to the wall," he told me. I did as he said, and I could make out what the voices were saying.

"No one followed me," came a voice.

"Are you sure?" came another voice.

"Absolutely," said the same voice.

"Well, we've found the bottle of the potion he Dark Lord used, to restore power to himself," said another voice.

"We'll have it delivered to you on Thursday."

"Where?" said the earlier voice.

"My contact can bring it to you at Flamingo Club. It's in the heart of London. Meet them there at nine on Thursday."

"All right," said the voice.

"Come back now, Weasley," came Malfoy's voice through her earpiece.

I wasted no time and walked down the hill. I then walked briskly, but nonchalantly through the shops, back to the Corvette.

I opened the passenger door and slid in. Malfoy didn't look at me and just drove. After we were out of town, he turned to me and said, "Good job. We got a lot of great information."

I nodded and leaned back into my seat. I was glad it was over; I had been dead scared at the cave, scared of being found out.

"How's your ankle?" he asked me.

"It's ok," I answered. "It kind of hurts, but it'll be ok."

I looked around the car and noticed a bunch of strange things about the car. For once thing, the little screen that showed where we were, was showing the side of my leg right now.

Malfoy noticed me looking curiously at all the gadgets, so he pressed a button on the side of his door and they disappeared.

"Thanks for not messing it up," he said, changing lanes.

"I tried my best," I said, failing to stifle my yawn. "What time do we get back to London?"

"Probably around twelve or one," he said.

I groaned and mumbled, "So much for the weekend!"

"I was thinking, Weasley. If you want, you can take Monday off and Friday too."

"Really?" I perked up.

He nodded and I said, "What's the catch?"

He smirked and said, "This time, nothing. It wasn't fair of me to take your weekend so I owe you two days."

"Wow, thanks," was all I could say.

"You still have to finish the work I assigned you," he said.

"What?!" I groaned and swore. "It was just too good to be true, wasn't it?"

He smirked. "What did you think I would say? Sure, Ginny, take two days off work and I'll pay you too. Don't finish the work either, you can do it whenever you feel like it," he said in an all too familiar chirpy voice.

I raised my eyebrow at him and said, "Don't ever use that voice again."

He smirked again and turned back to driving.

I made myself comfortable in the seat and said, "I'm sleeping now, so don't bother me if you know what's good for you."

He rolled his eyes at me and didn't say anything.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep, finally relaxing.

Near seven o'clock, I felt someone lightly shaking me.

I groaned and swore at them. They continued shaking me until I screamed, "What in bloody hell do you want?"

I slapped the person and opened my eyes.

I cursed myself when I saw Malfoy beside me in the car.

"Oh shit," I muttered.

I rubbed my eyes and said, "Sorry."

"Is that the way you treat everyone who tries to wake you up?" he asked, grumpily.

I couldn't help but grin. "Sometimes it's worse. One time my mum was trying to wake me up and I gave her the finger."

He laughed and rubbed his cheek, "At least she didn't get abused."

I smiled a bit and then said, "What is it?"

"Do you want something to eat? You didn't eat anything all day."

Awe, that was so sweet! He knew I hadn't eaten anything all day and wanted me to eat something.

"It's just that if you faint, I'll be the one you'll slap after," he said.

I smiled a bit. "Sure," I said.

I followed him out of the car and into a restaurant. It was some really posh place, but I don't think I had any money to afford it.

I followed Malfoy to a table and sat down, across from him.

While we waited for a waiter, I nervously brushed my brown hair out with my fingers.

"This place is so fancy," I said, hoping he wouldn't get my meaning.

"Don't worry, you look fine," he said. "Besides if anyone insults you...I'll agree with them."

I sighed, so much for my hidden meaning. In fact, he had understood perfectly what I had been talking about and he also insulted me about it.

"Are we out of the 'non magic' area yet?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Then why are we here? We could've apparated home!"

"No, because we're still very close to the border and the magic we do could still trigger their alarm, so we have to wait until we get farther away from it."

I sighed and watched as Malfoy leaned back in his chair, and relaxed. He was wearing a pair of dark black pants and a navy blue shirt. His bangs fell into his eyes as he surveyed me, without me noticing.

The waiter came and gave us our menus.

I glanced at it nervously and couldn't help but notice that everything was too expensive for me. He still hadn't paid me yet, so I had no money on me. Just a few pounds.

"Uh, Malfoy. This is too expensive for me," I finally admitted.

He raised an eyebrow at me and said, "It's not too expensive for me."

I pushed my annoying bangs out of my eyes and said, "That's ok. You don't have to pay for me."

"Why not?"

I blushed a bit; I had never told this to anyone. "I don't like it when people pay for me. I can take care of myself."

He surveyed me through his deep gray eyes. "People like who?"

I shrugged. "Anyone, mostly everyone."

"Even your brother?"

I nodded, "Especially my brother. He likes to think of himself as my father. Providing for me and taking care of me, when I can take care of myself."

He didn't say anything, just continued looking at me.

"So you can just eat, and I'll wait for you in the car," I said.

He smirked and said, "I'm not that much of jerk, Weasley, that I would let you sit in the car while I stuff my face."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Do you want me to sit here and watch you stuff your face then?"

He smirked and said, "Neither. I told you in the beginning that I would pay for all of your expenses. You're working for me because I dragged you here and so I should pay for it."

"That's ok," I started to say, but he interrupted.

"Stop arguing before I change my mind altogether and make you go to McDonalds."

I smiled and said, "All right."

I picked out something from the menu and gave the menu back to the waiter.

"So, what are we going to do about Peacock now?" I asked.

He rubbed his head and said, "I'm tired of talking about work."

"Ok, then what do you want to talk about?"

He looked at me through his blond bangs. He looked so irresistible and sexy that my heart started beating fast.

"Tell me why you're not an auror," he said.

"Huh?"

"You told me you wanted to be an auror. I actually thought you would go through with it. I was quite surprised to see you in my office," he said.

"You knew I wanted to be an auror?" I asked him incredulously.

He smirked and said, "Did you forget? We 'went out' at the end of my seventh year?"

My heart started beating faster. It was the first time he ever mentioned our going out. Even though it was all a ploy, I still got nervous thinking about it.

"I didn't forget," I said. "I remembered, but I don't remember what I told you...then."

"You told me a lot of stuff," he said, tilting his head to look at me.

I gulped, what kind of 'stuff' was he talking about?

"You don't remember?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "I have a horrible memory. I remember that we pretended to go out, to humiliate each other. But I don't remember how I felt or what happened."

He nodded and then asked me again, "So, why aren't you an auror?"

"I thought you of all people would know," I said. "After I completed the three year program, there were no more jobs for Aurors. So all my training was for waste."

"You could've joined the Luminositers," he pointed out.

"True, but I had given up."

He looked at me for a minute before finally asking, "Why'd you give up?"

I shrugged, playing with the tablecloth. "I don't know. I was tired and there was no point of it anymore. Besides, no one cared if I did anything with my life or not."

There was a pause and then, "Aren't you doing it for yourself though and not for other people?"

I looked up and said, "Just forget it. I gave up so I gave up. Whatever."

He shrugged and acted like he didn't care, which I'm sure he didn't.

The waiter came and gave us our food. I kept my eyes down, and began eating.

After a few minutes, he asked me something else.

"How's your mother?" he asked me.

I looked up from my chicken and into his deep eyes.

"My mother's been dead for 4 years now," I said, and then I picked up my fork again and ate.

The rest of the meal was spent in silence. He didn't say anything to me and I didn't say anything to him.

At the end, I told him I would owe him back for the dinner.

"Why?"

"I don't need people to pay for me. Why should you pay for me when I'm perfectly capable of doing it?" I asked him.

He didn't say anything and walked back to the car.

It had started to snow and he had told me to wait near the doors, while he got the car, which was parked quite away.

I waited for a few minutes and then I saw the Corvette making its way to me.

It came right in front of me and I opened the door and got in.

He changed the gear and started driving.

I rubbed my hands together, to get some heat going through them. We weren't talking and I preferred to keep it that way.

After a half hour of silent driving, Malfoy turned to me and said, "You can apparate back home now."

I turned to look at him and asked, "Are you sure it's safe?"

He nodded and Accio-ed my bag from the backseat to me.

I grabbed it and said, "Well, thanks for the dinner and everything.

"How's your ankle?" he asked me.

I twisted it a bit and said, "Great! It doesn't hurt at all."

He nodded and said, "I healed it."

I was in awe so I said, "Thanks, I guess I'll see you on Tuesday."

He nodded and I apparated home.

I landed with a pop near my entrance. I yawned and giggled with glee as I felt Snowflake nuzzle at my feet.

I dropped my bag on the ground and picked her up.

"Awe, my little baby," I said, hugging her close to me.

She meowed and I took off my jacket.

I sat down on the couch and put my hand in my pocket to get my wand, when I noticed it wasn't there.

Oh shit, I remembered that Malfoy had taken it from me as a precaution.

I cursed; now how was I supposed to get.

Snowflake was playing with my jacket, which was on the ground where I had thrown it.

I got up to take her off the jacket when I noticed my wand sticking out of the pocket.

I wrinkled my nose. Whoa he worked so secretly, I never even noticed when he placed the Protection Charms on me.

I yawned and made my way to my room. I checked my watch and saw that it was only eight o'clock.

I was tired from the whole weekend, so I unpacked all my things, putting them away where they belonged. I then checked up on Snowflake's food ration and gave her some more. Then, I changed my clothes and got into bed, by the time it was nine.

I got under the covers with Snowflake, glad that I didn't have to go work tomorrow.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and was dead asleep the whole night.