Stealing Him Back

Chapter One

Stealing Him Back

What's In a Name?

~*~~*~~*~

Draco looked into the full length mirror overlooking his bedroom. He went through the usual check list one by one.

Hair: Check

Face: Check

Clothes: Check

Watch: Check

Shoes: Check

Fiancée fast asleep in my bed?: Ch-.

He stopped and peered into the mirror closer, his bed was empty. Where is she? He turned around to face the empty room

"Cynthia?" he called. There was no answer. "Cynthia!" he called again. Once again, there was no answer. He frowned. She couldn't have left already, he had been in the bathroom for well over an hour.

Then again, he did have three.

"Cynthia!" he yelled.

"Will you stop calling me that?" said the woman who stormed into his bedroom, fully showered and changed and ready to leave. She was wearing her work uniform, a dark blue dress suit with a matching jacket and shoes. It fitted her perfectly hugging every aspect of her body. "My name is Cindy." She put her hands on her hips and watched him in disdain.

He shook it off. "Same difference."

She looked at him incredulously tossing her long red hair over her shoulders to glare at him through her dark brown eyes. "You ask me out, you call me Cynthia, you sleep with me, you call me Cynthia. You wake up next to me in the morning, you call me Cynthia. Three months of dating after two years of knowing you, you call me Cynthia, you ask me to marry you, you call me Cynt-." She stopped and flung her arms up in the air as if she had had enough. "How am I supposed to marry you if you don't even remember my name?"

"I remember your name," he said obviously.

She watch him with an, 'oh yeah? Prove it,' look and crossed her arms.

He thought hard, he really did. "Erm, give me a minute," he said thinking some more.

She flung her arms up again. "You are unbelievable!" She turned to storm out of the room.

"Ok, alright, I'm sorry," he said holding onto her arm. She stopped but didn't face him. He rounded her instead and held on to her shoulders. "So, why do you stay? Can you answer me that?" he said using that voice he did, the one she couldn't resist smiling to. And she did smile. When she did, he kissed her.

Well that shut her up, he thought to himself with relief.

When he pulled away from her, she smiled some more. "I'm leaving."

He did a double take. "What?" he said a little distraught that it didn't work.

"Oh no, not you," she reassured him. He sighed. If he had lost that trick, he'd lost it all. "There's this big business going on with the new branch, it's only been open for a few weeks and we have to do the usual checks. My boss says that because things are going so well in muggle London, he's thinking of suggesting it to the others, 'upstairs,' that they should branch out even further into the muggle society."

He turned back to the mirror. "Really?" he said not really listening.

"Yeah, so the partners and such in sales are going somewhere and seeing as the man can't stand to go somewhere without taking notes, I have to go and put up with a bunch of snooty people drinking and talking Quidditch all week."

"Well as long as you come back, I'm fine with it."

"Aww," she said in a babyish voice. "Honey," she continued kissing him all over his face repeatedly. When she stopped, she looked at him with what he could only describe as a psychotic grin. "I wasn't asking your permission. I'm just giving you a week to get my name right because if - and I use this term strictly - if you say, 'I do, Cynthia,' I will personally string you up myself." She gave him a quick peck and then grabbed her coat from the chair and apparated.

Draco went to look in the mirror again and winced at the apparent serious case of measles she had created all over him. Stupid woman, I'm going to have to start all over again.

He began his check list once more only pausing when he saw her purse on the bedside table.

***

Ginny rolled over on her large bed and smiled as she practically hugged it. She had bought it yesterday with her first pay cheque from her new job. She was now a sales clerk at a new branch of Bruce Corp. Department stores in muggle London. Only bad thing was, after three months of unemployment she had entered a stage of laziness and, even though it felt good to wake up with a purpose instead of sitting around on her arse all day, it was hard getting up at five o'clock every morning.

Especially from this bed.

But she did eventually and showered and changed in record speed due to the fact she was quite late. She checked herself in the mirror before she joined the society and wondered exactly where they got these dresses from. She had never owned a dress that fit her so well and she was sure that the second she lost this job she would still be wearing it on nights out. She combed through the knots in her hair reprimanding herself for having it out when she slept and swore when she could practically feel her hair being rooted from her scalp. When the pain died down she watched it and nodded finally satisfied. Rushing around some more to find her shoes, she tripped over the bed and fell face first on the floor swearing fluently and probably in tongues too. It wasn't until she remembered that she could simply apparate did she slow down a little and actually chew on her toast. She opened the paper and flicked to the back to read her horoscope. She cocked an eyebrow to see what the stars had in store for her today.

Venus climbs your chart to help you win the love game. A long awaited love is in trouble and you feel compelled to help them. You find new clues to their past but will have to take risks to know their future. Destiny visits door eleven.

"Oh please," she said to herself as she picked up her jacket. She took one last look at the picture frame that stood on her fireplace, smiling sadly at the six people smiling and waving inside it happily she apparated and landed in an alleyway she recognised as two blocks from the department store. She only had five minutes so she had to hurry. She braced herself, put on her jacket and walked out onto the main road and turned toward her place of work. Soon, she could see the sign hanging out high over the pavement. Just below, a man was standing in the centre of the road looking at something and completely ignoring the very large, very fast and very heavy looking truck hurtling in his direction.

***

He knew she left her purse behind on purpose. She must have because she never left behind her purse. Women never leave behind prized possessions.

He entered muggle London cursing every muggle who dared touch him as they passed. He could see the store; the big arsed sign told him exactly where it was on Oxford Street. It was the idea of some money crazed big shot wizard who thought that expanding his store into the muggle world would boost sales. And it did. And Draco hated him. He stopped before entering and thought about what he had just thought about. He didn't really hate him, not entirely anyway. Hate was a very strong word. He had probably just spent too much time with Cynthia's friends. They didn't like muggles at all, though they seemed to overlook Cynthia in general considering her father was one. He honestly couldn't care less but found it hard not to conform when he had spent over two years surrounded by a group of people who couldn't stand them.

He shrugged and walked into the busy store grimacing at the amount of muggles in it. He went to the customer service desk and greeted the woman there. He knew for a fact all the workers were wizard folk. The owner of the fine establishment may have been open to the idea of expansion, but he wasn't insane.

"Do you know if Cynthia Martin is still here or has she left already?" He put the purse on the desk and shoved his hands back in his pockets as if he didn't want to touch anything there.

He didn't want to touch anything there.

"She left her purse behind and I want to return it," he concluded monotonously. He felt like he was performing some duty. Is, 'Bring my belongings like a dog,' part of the job description of a husband? He sighed heavily waiting for the woman's answer.

The woman behind the desk frowned. "Cynthia Martin? We don't have a Cyn-." She stopped. Realisation dawning on her face, she looked up at him and said, "You must be Draco, Right?"

He nodded.

She raised an eyebrow and looked him over as if she were appreciating the view. "Erm, Cindy is upstairs. Would you like to go up to sales? She leaves in about an hour by floo."

"No," he said backing off, "I have to go. Could you just give this to her please?" He then stopped and went back. "Wait, what is she doing in sales?"

The woman watched him with an incredulous frown. "She's the secretary for the head of the sales department, you didn't know?" she said slowly. She thought some more on this topic. She cocked her head to the side. "Aren't you marrying her?" she asked.

"Yes, in a week. So?"

She shook her head dismissing it and laughed to herself. "Nothing."

He said goodbye and left.

When he stepped outside he felt like he was breathing in fresh air from that cooped up muggle hell he was just in. That was until he realised where he was. In the middle of muggle London where they roamed free, like cattle.

However, his face changed when he saw that divine specimen travelling down the road.

A Jaguar.

He had seen them before, they looked so clean, so beautiful, so new, so... so incredibly rich.

He walked down the road following it in the traffic of the other things like it that didn't even compare. Well, perhaps muggles aren't so bad. He was so caught up in his musings that he didn't notice he had walked into the middle of a road and was now standing in the direct path of the largest truck imaginable.

"Get out of the road!" he heard somewhere. Then there was loud horn and he jumped before turning toward the ugliest thing he had ever seen. However he did know that if it hit him, it would definitely hurt. He froze and stared at the front of it. It was travelling so fast toward him. Even though he was seeing it in slow motion, it wouldn't - couldn't stop in time. He shut his eyes tight.

Suddenly he felt something push him. He exhaled quickly as he hit the ground. His head was killing him as it stung and throbbed so painfully. He heard screams emitting from people around him and he could feel himself rolling and opened his eyes only to realise he was rolling with someone else too.

Someone who had saved his life.

Then there was applause and he blinked a few times to get rid of the blind spots behind his eyelids. They were leaking with tears from the pain. It intensified with the sounds of honking horns and applause from people around him. He turned on his side and winced in agony as he tried to get up.

"No, no don't move. Don't try to move," he heard. "Can someone get an ambulance?" It was a woman's voice. Someone standing around ran off to find a phone booth while others took out smaller telephones in their pockets.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

When Draco's eyes focused on the ground in front of him he turned his head to the person above him, the first thing he saw was the red hair, and he saw the scratches on her face. When he tried even harder he could see the slight hazel in the centre of her eyes. She was wearing a blue suit jacket that she was taking off to put under his head. He knew that colour suit; he had seen it not a half hour ago.

Cynthia had saved him.

***

Ginny wasn't sure if the man was a muggle or not, but they were in muggle London so the chances of him being a wizard were not very high.

"Can someone get an ambulance?" she said loudly as she took off her work jacket. Dammit and I just got this.

He winced a little and she grimaced as she lifted his head carefully to slide her jacket under the side of his face. She was panting from all the running she had just done and felt as if she was about to collapse. Ginny looked down at him from behind as he refused to turn over, he was trying to focus on a spot on the ground. "Are you alright? I suppose I pushed you a little too hard," she chuckled slightly.

She began to turn him over, for her sake as well as his. "Just don't move, I think you hit your head pretty -." Ginny finally looked at the man's face and froze. The man closed his eyes grateful for not having to move, his back was hurting a lot. "Oh - my - god." She began to hyperventilate and swallowed hard through her tears.

She had found him.

"Draco?" she said softly as she ran a hand through his hair and around his cheek. She smiled and bit her lip. She had found him, finally. One of her tears fell on his closed lids. "Oh, I knew it. I knew you weren't dead." It was then she realised his eyes were closed. "Oh God, no! Draco, no!" she said hitting his face lightly and repeatedly. "No, don't close your eyes - you might have a concussion." She looked around desperately at the people standing around. If only she was in a wizarding town. She could have fixed this already. This must be the only thing she didn't like about muggles, how they survived this long she had no idea. "Has anyone got anything cold?" she asked hurriedly. "Please, I need to keep him awake!" An old man with grocery store bags went searching in them and pulled out a frozen bag of peas.

"Will this do, love?" he said.

She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you," she said and took it from him. She cradled Draco's head in her lap and pressed it on his cheek.

What the hell was he doing? Who stands in the middle of a road when there are cars and trucks driving about?

Draco jumped alarmed from this new development. He was wide awake now. The cold had seen to that. He blinked his eyes repeatedly and looked at her. He seemed to recognise her from somewhere but was frowning as if it didn't make sense. Then his forehead smoothed.

"Cynthia?" he said hoarsely.

***

He knew that face. She must be his red-haired vixen. She had the hair, the eyes, even the uniform she was wearing this morning when she left. No, she couldn't be anyone else. Though she didn't look a little different than usual. Maybe it was just one more thing he hadn't noticed about her. Well, that was about to change.

He moved his head to the side. "Cynthia?" he said hoarsely.

Ginny suddenly looked hurt and confused all at the same time. "Who?" she said.

"Cynthia is that you?" he asked again.

Ginny didn't know what to do or say. He doesn't remember me? Wait - who the hell is Cynthia? She wished again that she were somewhere in Diagon alley, she could have fixed him up with a good enervate and then dragged him to Saint Mungo's. She couldn't heal him here, she was too jumpy, too nervous and - just who the hell is Cynthia?

She looked down at him again. What was she supposed to say to him? He was looking at her as if she were his world, the way he always looked at her. Her heart skipped a beat and then continued hammering away in her ribcage. Oh hell, why not? "Erm, sure it is. It's me... Draco," she answered with a smile. "I need you to stay awake for me, can you do that?"

He nodded slowly and then closed his eyes. Ginny tutted and pressed the peas closer to his face. His eyes opened a little but not much. He was becoming immune to this trick. She began pinching his ears instead.

Draco batted off her hands. "Stop it, Cynthia, I'm trying to sleep."

She wasn't having any of it. "No! Sleep is bad."

He began to laugh deliriously. "No, sleep is good," she smiled at him and how he was acting and he stared at her looking more awake than ever. She furrowed her eyebrows at his manner and then looked up as she heard sirens echoing from down the road.

Well, it's about time.

She looked back down at him. "It's going to be alright now, can you still hear me?"

He grinned madly. "Always, Cynthia." She laughed and looked up as a large white van pulled up beside her. The word, 'Ambulance,' was written back to front. Ginny frowned.

Muggles are so weird.

"Morning, what's your name?" the man who ran out of it asked her quickly.

"Erm, I-."

"She's Cynthia, she's my fiancée," Draco answered.

Ginny suddenly gasped and he head snapped down to him watching her with a broad smile. Oh shit. Whoops. "Your what - I'm sorry?" she said as another two men brought out a stretcher from the back of the van. He's engaged? Again? They laid it beside them on the street and began checking their patient. Who the hell is this Cynthia?

"Oh, well congratulations. Ma'am, we need you to help us lift him, can you do that?" she heard.

She looked over at him and nodded blankly. "Sure." With the four of them helping, Draco became secure on the stretcher that they began hauling into the back of the ambulance.

Ginny stood with the bag of peas in her hand and watched them close the door. When she felt the drips of cold water running down her legs she looked down and remembered she had to give them back. She turned to the old man and handed them back with a smile for good measure.

The door to the back of the ambulance opened again. "Cynthia?"

For some very out of this earth reason, Ginny turned at the name-that-was-not-her-name.

"Miss, are you coming? He's calling you."

He's calling me. She smiled before she remembered he was actually calling his new fiancée. Ginny frowned but began to walk over to it anyway. Every little helps, she thought to herself.

"Oh wait!" she heard and turned around. It was the old man. "He dropped his... stick - thing," he concluded unsurely and frowning. Ginny looked at it and gasped. She took it from him before going back to the ambulance.

As they all sped off Ginny sat there with one hand being held by the love of her life knowing that they were all going to the nearest muggle hospital and thought hard to how she was going to get him out of it. She had completely forgotten.

She stared at the... stick - thing in her hand. Draco's wand.

There was a reason why Muggles never went to wizard hospitals. It's the same reason why Wizards are never treated with muggle medicine. They reacted differently; it was just in their blood. She would have to get him out of the muggle hospital and fast. Wizards aren't meant to go there. They put you to sleep and... numb things and do... blood tests. She had to think fast.

An attendant in the ambulance watched the woman sitting next to him as she seemingly stared at her fiancé. "That's a nice piece of... stick you've got there." Ginny's head snapped up to one of the men that was watching her. His eyes slid to the name tag on her dress. It said BRUCE CORP. DEPT. STORES. SALES CLERK; GINEVRA. "Do you work in that new department store then?" he said with a smile changing the subject.

Ginny was quite glad for the change in subject. "Yes, I just started three weeks ago." I wonder why I never saw him before now.

The man nodded. "Oh," he said. "Was he seeing you off then?"

She thought hard. "No, no I don't know what he was doing there," she said honestly. "I think he was trying to surprise me."

He suddenly frowned. "Isn't your name Cynthia?" he asked. "He called you Cynthia."

"He did, didn't he?" she asked wondering about that herself. Who is this Cynthia that's replaced me?

"But your name tag says, Ginevra."

She looked down. "Yeah, it does. It's Ginny for short. He um -." She swallowed hard. "He always messes it up for some reason," she said with sudden inspiration. "Ginny - Cynthia, why, I don't know," she laughed nervously.

He nodded in agreement. "Hey, it'll be alright," she said mistaking her laugh for fright of a loved one. "It's just a mild concussion he should be alright by tomorrow."

Ginny wondered how long she would be required to stay there with a delirious Draco being treated with muggle medicine. Tomorrow. I'll be fired by tomorrow. He might remember I'm not who I said I was and then call the real Cynthia. Oh Merlin, where the hell is everybody when I bloody need them? The van stopped and the back doors opened. Ginny was ushered out and escorted to a waiting room as her rescue victim was wheeled off somewhere else.

The room was small and silent. Mainly because there was no one else there. She twirled the wand in her hand in the empty side-room. She thought about how she was going to break this to the rest of the group. Blaise would be delighted, she knew. Draco's disappearance had hit him almost as hard as it had hit her. She looked down smiling and looked at the wand closely. It wasn't the same one she knew from two years ago, he must have gotten a new one. When she looked at the thicker edge of it, her forehead creased and she brought it impossibly closer to her face to read the name carved into the side.

Draco Malone?

She had no time to ponder on this new development, however as someone knocked on the frosted glass door so she transfigured the wand instantly and turned red-faced. The doctor came in and sat her down.

The doctor watched her face and heard her sniff of surprise mistaking it for her trying to cover up the fact she had been crying. "He's going to be alright. He's got a mild concussion and a cracked rib but he'll survive it. You must have pushed him pretty hard," she smiled. "Wanted him alive for the wedding huh?" she laughed. "Well any other bride to be would have done the same thing I suppose." Ginny smiled in her best 'I'm trying to look brave,' face. It seemed to have worked because the doctor changed the subject. "The shock took a lot out of him and he's calling for you right now. Will you come by?" she asked. Ginny nodded and took up her jacket as she followed the doctor out. "He may seem a bit out of sorts because of the hit he took on his head. Good job keeping him awake, Hank said you used a bag of peas?" she said smiling.

Ginny looked at her. "Hank?"

She held her smile. "You travelled with him in the ambulance."

"Oh yeah, yes I did use peas."

"Good job. Not many people know to do that. He also said our patient was rubbing at his ears."

"Yeah, a trick I picked up from my mum when a good old ennerva - um, when we use to bump into things as kids."

"Oh, good for you to have a mum who knows these things. You may have saved his life two times over. I'm sure he'll have plenty to say on your wedding day."

Ginny suddenly stopped. "Wedding - no you see, I'm not his-."

"Cynthia!" she suddenly heard as the doctor opened the doors. Ginny looked over at him. He seemed a bit out of his mind. He was grinning madly and his eyes were bright.

Ginny looked concerned as well as confused. "What's wrong with him?"

"He seems to react differently to the meds than we thought." Oh god, Ginny though to herself. "We don't know how he can be so... well, high I guess is the right word for it."

"What did you do to him?" she asked genuinely concerned.

"We just gave him a sedative to calm him down, he was already acting strange," the nurse said defending the accusation.

Draco smiled maniacally. "Cynthia, come here." The doctor smiled and left her alone with him.

She had had enough of this Cynthia rubbish. If she was going to go through this, she wanted him to call her by her actual name. "My name is not Cynthia," she said irritated.

He calmed down a little. Now he knew it was her. "I know I'm sorry, I'm always calling you that..." he trailed.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "... Ginny?" she supplied.

"Ginny! Yes that - wait, Ginny? Are you sure?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "I think I'd know."

He frowned. The name did sound familiar. Then again, he had been calling her the wrong name for a while now so it should sound a little foreign to him. He didn't think he'd ever really have the need to call her by her real name. He only really wanted her for one reason anyway, to shut his foster mother up. She had been pressuring him into marrying for months now because she was becoming too old to be a grandmother. He still rolled his eyes at the thought of it. But, he'd gone after the first girl he could find anyway. He didn't think she'd care enough to save his life though. Obviously he had underestimated the relationship. She must have gone down for her purse and then run outside to find him. Thank god she did or else he would be dead. "Oh, well, Ginny it is then." He gestured for her to come and sit next to him. Ginny stood by the bed until he reached out and pulled her to him.

Ginny wasn't sure if she should be doing this. Rescuing was one thing, pretending to be his fiancée, even though she was his fiancée originally, so he wouldn't be alone was another but kissing him, even though it was her right, when he believed she was someone else was just plain... well, it wasn't so bad actually. She leaned into him and felt his arms wrap around her. Then suddenly, he winced.

"Cracked rib hurts like hell." He then stopped at the mention of hell. The department store. "Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere with those sales people?" he asked.

Ginny came back to reality. "What sales people? How did you know that I worked in sales?" she asked suddenly curious.

"Well, you left your purse this morning, which wasn't by accident I'm guessing, to get me down to Bruce Corps. Don't look at me like that, you know it's true. They told me that you worked in sales."

She got his point. "That Cynthia works in sales, you mean?" She thought about it, she didn't know a Cynthia that worked there at all. Then again, she was new. She also found it quite unnerving that his new fiancée worked there too. She worked with his fiancée, it was too weird for words.

He laughed as if he knew something she wasn't letting on. "No, that you, Ginny, works in sales. See, I remembered your name." He stopped. He did actually remember her name. That was new.

Ginny stood there looking at him. It was bothering her that he was her Draco and yet... not. She shook her head at the whole situation. None of it made any sense. She was just on her way to work, another normal day to stand around and help people who had no idea how to help themselves and get paid to go home and buy new furniture for her home. Meeting her fiancé after two years absence, her engaged and still extremely good looking fiancé, was not supposed to be part of the plan. Not only that but he was half insane and calling her by his new fiancées name, which, as she was beginning to find out, was not even the woman's name anyway. She rubbed her head with her hands and then looked down at the magazine in her hand. She then wondered what a magazine was doing in her hand but realised it was his transfigured wand. She opened it up and saw it was the same magazine she had been reading that morning.

She suddenly stopped and her horoscope drifted through her head once more.

Venus climbs your chart to help you win the love game. A long awaited love is in trouble and you feel compelled to help them. You find new clues to their past but will have to take risks to know their future.

Damn that bloody Mystic Meg.

Not only had the damn diviner pulled a once-in-a-life-time-Trelawny-experience but it was actually happening. Here was the engaged love, and her soon to be rather spiced up life. She had saved his life and even acted as a very personal acquaintance of his because he had called her by his fiancées name. She had taken the risk without even knowing it.

She was still thinking this over as she watched him when the doors behind opened again. "Well, I'm afraid our patient will need to be getting some rest. Miss, would you mind stepping outside for a bit, please?"

She was glad for the reprieve. She needed to think. "Ok, sure." Ginny turned to leave the room and was then escorted out by someone who seemed to have popped out of nowhere.

"Sir, by chance, would you be able to give us some personal details? You had no identification on you and we would like to get your insurance number."

"My name is Malone, Draco Malone."

Ginny froze as the door shut behind her. She wondered why he was using that name. She turned around and stared through the clear glass as the doctor spoke to him and wrote some things out on a form. She was still staring when he suddenly looked up at her through the glass and waved. "Oh my god." She had worked it all out. Ginny took a step back.

The absence, the reason they couldn't find him. The reason why for two whole years there was no record of a Draco Malfoy having been found on any shore of Britain. It all made sense. Why didn't I think of it sooner? She blamed Meg; it was the only thing to do right now. She had to get out of there and find someone, anyone to tell this to. "The first good horoscope in months and you couldn't just let me win the lottery, huh? Had to cock this one up, didn't you Meg?" She looked around blindly and it felt like she was spinning when she suddenly stopped in disbelief and swung back toward the door.

She took a step back and then stopped again as she looked up at the top of it and gasped out loud.

Door number eleven.