sleeping with a broken heart [straw+open]

[Ginny Weasley]

It was well and truly night now. The sky outside Ginny Weasley's office window was jet black, though the flickering light of stars pricked the dark canvas like pins through paper. A half-moon hung lazily in the sky as Ginny sighed heavily to herself, running a hand through her dark red hair, which had come down from its loose bun from earlier that day. She was still dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing all day, black skirt and white blouse, and her knees were still dark with dirt where she had kneeled beside the latest victim of the random attacks that were plauging London. The parchment of rushed notes she had taken down at the scene was spread out across her desk as Ginny carefully copied them down again, trying to recall the details as correctly as possible.

She was still mad at herself, of course. She had been trained better than this. Three people dressed in black cloaks who hurried out of a dark alley should have been enough to pique her interest, not just a huddled figure of a victim of assault. It was the assault itself that was interesting her so much, in a perverse way. From her own observations, and from those of the Mediwitch from earlier, there seemed to have been no magic used on the woman, Ivy, to cause her injuries. Instead, plain and simple brute force had been used to great extent. It didn't make sense; the dots just didn't connect. Dark magic users wanting to exert their power didn't just use force. What was the point?

Annoyed, Ginny stood up from her desk and stretched, trying to get blood moving through her limbs again, and flicking her wand a mug on her desk filled with hot coffee. It was going to be a long night. She stood with her back to the door, looking out the window at the night sky, wondering who was going to be next in this viscious game of cat and mouse. She only hoped that her partner would arrive soon, so that they could put a stop to this once and for all.

[Straw Buckett]

Straw didn't want to leave but what was the point in staying. Ivy would not be ready for questioning even if she did wake up. Having nformed Erik of Ivy's attack, Straw had for the past few hours been walking in and out of the hospital room while Erik sat by his wife's side. She hadn't woken up, even Jacques had woken up faster then this, Straw was worried. He'd believed and wished that somehow none of his friends and family would ever get involved or hurt this badly.. how naive and stupid. Angry at himself, Straw ignored the fact there was nothing he could have done to save his sister and blamed himself. He was supposed to be fixing this and yet no matter how fast and strong he was, he was never fast enough to save them, even the ones he cared deeply about.

Arriving back at the Ministy Straw made his way to his office where he knew Ginny would be waiting for him. He was torn between leaving Ivy, no more harm would come to her now. Erik was by her side and there was nothing more he could do. It was hard to ignore the pinging sensation that stung his chest, perhaps all in his mind but Straw's link to Ivy was their hearts and it wasn't the first time he'd felt a similar pain when she's hurt herself.

Straw walked into the office without a word to Ginny, he sat down at his desk located next to hers and stared at the papers. The room was silent for a moment before a frustrated Straw violently swept all the papers off his desk onto the floor then slammed his fist hard on the desk. He lent forward and placed his head in his hands, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths the rubbed his eyes before leaning back into his chair, avoiding Ginny's eyes. "She's stable." he said anticipating her question. "Her husbands with her now, Just waiting for her to wake up"

[Ginny Weasley]

Ginny watched Straw carefully as he entered the office. If she were being honest, she'd have to say that she was surprised to even see him there right now. Once she'd put all the pieces together - the man she met in the supermarket, the woman in the alley beaten to a pulp, and her relationship to both him and Straw - Ginny could see there was a family tied up into this mess now. Brushing a hand through her already static hair, the witch waited for Straw to speak before she said anything. She wasn't going to ask questions; if he wanted to talk about it, she would listen, but she wasn't about to pry.

A small jump was the only reaction Ginny gave as Straw hit the desk, his emotions finally getting the better of his calm exterior. She silently waved her wand, causing the papers to fly back up onto the desk in the order they had been in originally, but her expression did not hold blame. Ginny nodded as Straw informed her that his sister, Ivy, was in a stable condition. "That's a start then," she replied quietly. Biting down on her bottom lip gently, Ginny reached over and placed a warm hand on Straw's forearm.

"You don't have to do this right now, Straw," she said gently, though her voice was devoid of pity. She knew, from personal experience, that pity was not what Straw would want right now. "I know what you're feeling right now, and I realise that everyone says that, but I really do. I know what it's like to not know if somebody you love is going to get through something like this." And she did. She'd been there, all those years ago, when mysterious injuries had been the least of their worries.

Ginny cleared her throat and removed her hand from Straw's arm. "But, if you're anything like me, and I think you are, you want to be here right now, so that we can try and figure this all out. So if you do want to stay, you can, but I'm also giving you an out. You can go home and be with your family if you wish."