The Fight

MALFOY MANOR

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ginny yelled as the doorbell rang and rang again. The person behind the door obviously hadn't any patience and to be frank, she didn't either right now.

She opened the door with a smiling face. Only to slam it closed again.

A soaking wet Ronald Weasley entered the house only to be faced by five pairs of glaring eyes. After nearly an hour of pounding on the door and yelling through the letterbox he had eventually been let in by a disgruntled Pansy, who had only agreed to let him in because he was waking up her sleeping baby.

He took a closer look at the people in front of him. Blaise and Pansy were both glaring at him, both of their arms were crossed but Ron could see Pansy's hand itching to reach her wand. Next was Ginny, she already had her wand out and held it firmly in her clenched fist to her left. Her eyes were rimmed with red and it was obvious she had been crying a lot recently. Harry also had his wand out and was pointing it at him, his lips stretched into a thin line, ready to spit out a curse at any minute. Finally there was Draco, even from only being there five minutes Ron could see that Hermione's kidnapping had been treating him badly. He was deathly pale and thin, his prominent cheekbones practically breaking through his skin. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and his normally perfect hair was a mess. He also wore a pair of baggy trousers and a thin t-shirt, very different from his usual suit and tie. He was glaring but Ron could see from his stance that he hadn't the energy to hurt him in any way; with or without a wand.

Ginny was the first to speak, noticing the silence and the steadying of her husband's hand.

"What are you doing here Ron?" she said in a low voice, it was solemn and Ron was taken aback by the tone. He had never heard his sister talk like that before, at least not to him.

Ron glanced around the room.

"I..."

"The last time you spoke to me Weasley, I told you to leave us alone," Draco said, his eyes lowering to the floor.

"Um, actually," Ron started "Hermione said that it didn't change any..."

Draco looked up and his eyes narrowed again "I did not let you into my house so I could be cheeked and reminded of my late wife," he spat. Ron's mouth fell open.

"She could be still alive you know, are you even looking for her?"

"Of course we are Weasley, we have the best Aurors on the case," Harry retorted angrily. Ron scoffed, annoyed by how they weren't doing anything to help Hermione.

"Yet you are here soothing pretty boy whilst you leave the others, including me, to do your dirty work,"

Ron only just had time to duck as a curse sped his way. He looked around to see that neither Ginny, Harry nor Draco had shot the curse, instead; Pansy was the one who had her wand directly pointing at him, having removed it from her pocket seconds earlier.

"Don't act like you are the victim in this situation Weasley! We are doing all we can to find Hermione and we don't need you telling us to do better!" She shrilled. Ron gulped and took a step back as Pansy lowered her wand, returning it to her pocket. Blaise stepped forward.

"Why are you here Weasley?" he asked in a calm but stern voice. It reminded Ron of the way Professor Dumbledore had used to speak when he was trying to get something out of a student.

Ron turned to Ginny, Harry and Draco. He smiled weakly.

"I didn't come here to lecture and criticize you; I came here to see if I could help you."

That's when the curses started flying.

"You're lucky Ginny stopped Harry before he could cause you any more harm than just a bloody lip," Eva sighed as she dabbed a flannel at Ron's upper lip. It had swollen to almost double in size on the left side of his mouth and stung painfully whenever she touched it.

"And a bloody bad back," Ron hissed as she touched an open cut again.

"Yeah well, you're lucky you hit the wall and not the window a metre away. Now stop squirming!"

Ron huffed, shrugging his shoulders.

"How's he doing Eva?" Ginny asked, entering the kitchen and pulling five mugs from the cabinet "Do you want a hot drink?"

"Yes please," Ron mumbled

"Not you," she turned to the young girl "Eva?"

"No thanks, but I'll have some pumpkin juice if you're offering drinks,"

Ginny smiled before putting the kettle on. After having married Hermione, Draco had become quite accustomed to muggle appliances. He rather enjoyed them.

Ginny handed Eva her drink before telling her to go and see her father. The blonde nodded before saying goodbye to Ron and leaving the room.

"She's nice," Ron said once she had left "I didn't think Malfoy would ever have children,"

Ginny's eyes narrowed "Well you didn't think would marry Hermione,"

Ron shut his mouth, looking down at the ground.

 After handing out everyone's drinks, Ginny sat down next to her brother.

"I can't believe Draco is letting you stay in his house after everything you did," she sighed, stirring her tea and tapping the spoon on the rim. Ron shrugged.

"You should thank him," she suggested.

Ron let out a cruel laugh "Thank Malfoy, yeah right,"

"Ron!" Ginny cried "You don't understand what he's going through; his wife has been kidnapped by a psychopath who is most likely doing it to get to him. Not only that; but Hermione is pregnant as well!"

"I don't understand? Hermione is my friend as well," Ron argued.

"Last time I checked, you weren't exactly at the top of Hermione's friends list," Ginny said snidely.