Chapter 13: Scatter the Loyal Men
"Dear Draco," Lucius read. "I miss you. Miss you," he repeated, sneering. "I certainly don't miss the weakling. Yet, oddly enough, a letter is delivered here for him. I know he's not here in the manor, so I can only assume the owl had no choice to return the letter to its author... and I certainly haven't written Draco. The house-elves can't write. That only leaves you."
Lucius fisted the doily in one strong hand. With the other, he lifted his wand to her temple, resting it lightly against her skin. His tone was deceptively smooth. "You told Lord Voldemort that you hadn't any clue where Draco was. Were you, by any chance, lying?"
The red haired one will betray the snake's tongue.
"No, of course not," she said, remembering the Patils' prediction, but her voice was pitched a little too high and Lucius knew. He knew. His mouth widened in a narrow, red line and turned up at the corners.
Lucius took Ginny's chin firmly in his grasp. "I want you to feel pain," he said, pulling her closer.
And she did.
The pain lanced through her and Lucius let go of her arm as it began, grasping his own instead. She turned her wrist to see the Dark Mark bubbling and black. Lucius had pushed up his sleeve and she could see that his Mark pained him as much as hers did her.
Relief came in the form of a distraction. A tawny owl hooted wildly outside the window. It seemed determined to get inside and pecked at the panes until Lucius removed his charms from the window and let it through the portal. When he removed the letter the owl waited for neither reply nor reward, but took off again immediately.
"Dear Virginia. My, aren't we popular today?" Lucius frowned over the top of the parchment at her. "When you receive this, Lucius will most likely have Apparated to my side. You, however, must needs find other transport. I will expect you to be in place at Hogwarts no later than four o'clock tomorrow morning, when I believe Mars will be in the correct alignment for the most powerful wizard to take control. I have one strict rule for each of my disciples: you shall bring Harry to me alive if you find him. You may otherwise do as you wish with any who resist."
He tossed the letter aside. "Obviously, Lord Voldemort has no inking of your clandestine correspondence." Lucius considered her for a moment and the look in his eyes filled Ginny with dread.
"I should kill you now," he whispered, and she shrank backwards while he took a step forward with every phrase. "I should run you through for your disloyalty. I should slit your throat and watch your precious, pure blood stain the floor." Ginny was backed up against the window, and she realized belatedly that it was no longer closed. "I should push you," he said, leaning down so his breath warmed her cheeks..
Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her and jerked her close. "But I think I'll wait until tomorrow to tell him, and then I'll watch," he murmured against the spot where his wand had rested when he threatened her before. He reached behind her and closed the window, locking it tightly with his own secret, magic words before releasing her roughly. Without so much as glancing at Ginny, Lucius left.
***
There was nothing special about that afternoon. For Draco, it was mending, which he didn't particularly like and was not particularly good at. As such, he was relegated to darning holey socks with his lumpy stitches.
Evan had propped the door open to catch the sun and fresh air, but had left him with the basket of socks near the entrance. The others had finished their baskets of more complicated sewing and gone on to other chores, except for the old woman who had been cooking on Draco's first day in the sanctuary. Draco, however, remained as the hall gradually darkened and torches lit themselves on the walls. The old woman hummed a lilting tune as she embroidered a bit of cloth; he didn't know how she could see in the half-darkness to do it. He grumbled as he stabbed his finger with the needle for the third time in as many minutes.
This was nothing out of the ordinary; he generally needed to wrap his fingers in gauze after mending. What was unusual, though, was Neville Longbottom, standing not ten feet from him.
"Malfoy!" he said as Cho Chang stepped through the golden flag on the near wall. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were still..." He trailed off, looking to Cho for assistance.
"I was still what?" Draco asked as he kicked the basket of socks beneath his chair and out of sight.
"Still in school, I think," Cho said warily. "But it doesn't look like you are to me."
"Then we've won!" Neville beamed, brandishing a scroll. "We got to the last place on the list first. Before Harry and Hermione, even. Too bad we can't take that flag to prove it. Is it some kind of Portkey?"
Cho answered for Draco. "I don't think so... It was more like a barrier, but we passed through one to get to the ferry --"
Cho was interrupted by the sight and sound of the rest of the Integrated Magic class coming through the flag, some jostling and joking with one another. However, they all fell silent when they noticed Draco.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron Weasley pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
"I was here first. You explain what you're doing here," he retorted, coming to stand toe to toe with the Weasel even as his obnoxious twin brothers flanked him.
"Dumbledore sent us," Harry said, and Draco drew breath to insult him but Blaise put a hand on his arm.
"Practical exam, traveling in the Muggle world," she explained. "We're supposed to go with our partners to each location on a list and collect something. When we're finished we're supposed to wait for Dumbledore to fetch us back."
"But we'll be waiting a long time for that, won't we?" Hermione asked softly, examining the golden flag.
"What do you mean?" Ron was distracted, and Draco took the opportunity to step back and search the crowd, most of whom were glaring at him.
Hermione answered in her professor-in-training voice. "A barrier within a barrier. According to Magical Geography of the United Kingdom, this is a sanctuary open only to wizards in mortal peril," she explained calmly, even though her mouth turned down with worry.
"Now Granger sounds like me, for a change," Draco muttered.
Ron's attention snapped back to Draco. "What?"
"Nothing," Draco replied. "But where's Ginny?" He craned his neck, looking for her over the shoulders of the Weasley twins, who were uncharacteristically silent and glowering.
"We thought she was with you," Harry said as Ron growled and clenched his teeth.
"No -- What?"
"I said we thought," Harry continued, taking hold of Ron's sleeve. "She went missing the same time you did. But she turned up -- well, sort of. We don't really know where she is."
Draco's patience was wearing thin. He grabbed the neck of Ron's robes and snarled, "Where. Is. She?"
"With," Ron said, his face crumpling, "she's with, with... Voldemort. Went Death Eater." He hung his head and took one long, shaking breath. He continued softly, "I should have seen. It's my fault. I should have known this would happen."
"Stop sniveling, Weasel. She needs you now." Draco let go of Ron after giving him a little shake. “And I hate the both of you, but she likely needs Potter as well.”
Harry looked Draco in the eye. “Now wait just a minute. We would have tried to find her but we have no idea where she is --”
Draco’s blood boiled. “Are you stupid? Don’t answer. You’re in the wrong place entirely.” He saw red and tossed his hands into the air. “Granger, it looks like you’re going to have to explain as usual.”
"Hermione?" Harry asked.
Hermione had been strangely quiet. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “This is really it, isn’t it?”
Sighing, Blaise cut in. “Gryffindors. Spare me the density. It’s obvious. Dumbledore sends our whole class somewhere that can only be reached if we’re about to die. Voldemort is evidently putting his plans into action, and we’re meant to be out of the way. Of course, wherever Voldemort is Ginny can’t be far behind since she’s a Death Eater, now, can she?”
Harry and Ron went white. “We’ve got to hurry. Hogwarts,” Harry gasped as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and unwrapped a dirty shoelace. Hermione sprang forward, taking an end at the same time Harry did.
Nothing happened.
“You’ll have to use your Portkey outside,” Evan said from the doorway. “Magic can’t pass through the flag.”
With a hurried ‘thanks’ and a reluctant nod to Draco, Harry touched the flag and disappeared. Students clad in silver began talking all at the same time and within a minute nearly everyone had followed Harry through.
“You know, you’ll have to share this with Finnigan.” Blaise handed Draco her wrapped Portkey, the cap to a milk bottle. “Don’t leave him behind. Otherwise, I might have to put up with him here.”
“You’re staying,” Draco said.
“And you’re not,” Blaise replied wistfully. “If you see my parents...”
“I’ll tell them where to find you.” Draco turned to Evan. “It’s been pleasant, but I hope I never see you again.”
Evan raised his hand in salute. “Agreed.”
"And, er, thanks for everything," he said to the old woman who approached. She chuckled and her mouth opened wide in a toothless grin. Draco turned to face the flag, thinking that his knees felt a little like jelly. It was time. On three, he decided. One, two...
The old woman smacked him hard on the backside. "Three," he heard her say as he was propelled through the tapestry.
***
"Alohomora! Open sesame! Aperto!" Ginny ran through every single unlocking charm she knew twice over. The moon had already set behind a thin layer of clouds, and she was slightly chilled in her thin chemise. Giving up on the door, she walked toward the bed and tripped over a low table. All of her fear and anger welled up inside her when she banged her shin on the edge and she lifted it, running toward the window and swinging it at the glass.
The panes shattered and fell away. Ginny dropped the table, reaching her hand carefully around the sharp edges that clung to the frame, and pushed the window open. As before, there was no way down.
"Help me!" she screamed wildly into the night air. "I don't want to die!" She would, she knew; Tom knew every possible way to kill her and now that he was grown he would know how to make it last. Once started, she screamed again and again, her throat growing hoarser with each repetition. Her screams became silent sobs and she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Help me," she whispered.
The door opened.
Golly was holding onto the doorknob with one hand. As Ginny watched, frozen, the house elf swung the door on its hinges -- not to close it, but to hit herself firmly on the head. Once done, Golly brought in a tray from the hallway and set it on the floor before slamming her fingers several times between the latch and the door frame. Then, she was gone, banging her head against the wall as she ran down the corridor. And the door was still open.
Ginny blinked away her tears and crawled toward the tray. A saucer of Floo powder rested in a corner and a soft gray cloak was folded in the middle. "Thanks, Golly," she said in a raspy voice.
***
She tumbled out of the fireplace at the Three Broomsticks coughing and wiping soot out of her eyes. Rolling to her feet, she ran out of the empty pub and into the road. Hogsmeade was dark and silent, and many of the shops had their windows smashed. Doors stood open throughout the village. Not a soul was in sight.
A thin fog wafted knee-high and seemed to thicken in the sky the closer she got to Hogwarts. No, not fog -- smoke. Ginny broke into a run.
The gates were twisted and shriveled as if they had been melted by a great fire. The surrounding walls had been knocked down in several places, and she climbed over the shifting pile of stone.
The forest was on fire. Darkness Charms were scattered across the grounds, and shadowed figures ran between them. Distant shouts alternated with the rumble of explosions and intermittent flashes lit up the sky to reveal that at least one of the castle's towers had collapsed, but none of this mattered to Ginny as much as the person leaning against an undamaged section of the gates.
"Ginny, about time you stopped gallivanting about," George said.
There were ghostly white silhouettes imprinted on the wall, and sitting below the terrible marks were George, Fred, and Lavender. George held a crystal ball in his hand, and his other arm was around Fred's shoulders. Lavender rested her head in George's lap with her eyes closed.
Ginny ran to George, falling on her knees on the grass. "Oh George, I'm so stupid --" Her voice failed her when she realized that Lavender wasn't breathing, and that Fred was waxy and pale. "No... Let me get help, just stay here --"
George leaned forward and held onto the hem of her cloak. "Be quiet and listen," he said brusquely. "There are some things you have to do. You have to find Ron. He needs you the most now. There's no time to lose."
"But, George," she said, bursting into tears and throwing her arms around his neck. "You... Fred..."
"You'll give Mum and Dad our love," he said, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. He choked and spit red. "And Angelina, she's going to have twins around Valentine's Day. She doesn't know yet. Take care of her for us."
"Let me get you help, at least," Ginny said again, her tears ricocheting off George's face. She wiped the blood from his chin with a free corner of her cloak.
George looked at her with the most serious expression he had ever worn. "No. It wouldn't be any fun without Fred, anyway." His eyelids began to flicker. "No time. Find Ron. Hurry. Love you, Gin."
"No, oh no. George, wait," she pleaded. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to you." She rocked his body in her arms, reaching out to enfold Fred in her grasp as well. "Not to my family." She wished that she could do something, anything, but knew it was useless. Death was stronger than magic. Sniffling, she drew back and closed the twins' eyes for them.
Ron, George had said. Find Ron. That's what she would do, although she didn't know why or how. She rose to her feet and pushed her loose hair over her shoulders. She would do what had to be done. It was the only thing she could do.
When she turned to go, she found herself looking down the blade of Godric Gryffindor's sword.
"What did you do?" Hermione said, her eyes wide. The sword shook in her hand and grazed Ginny's throat, scratching the skin. "Did -- did you kill them?"
"No, they were -- not George, but Fred and Lavender," Ginny sputtered.
Hermione eyed her with suspicion. "You're a Death Eater."
Ginny covered the skull and snake with one hand. "It's just a mark," she said. "It doesn't mean anything."
"Doesn't mean anything? Every Death Eater I've seen here tonight has been killing people. Who are you going to kill?"
Ginny took a step backward. "Hermione, I've never, I'd never... don't you know that?"
"I don't know what to believe. You were all over the Daily Prophet, everyone was looking for you and then your house --" Hermione jumped, dropping her sword as Professor McGonagall stumbled from a nearby Darkness Charm with her hand over her chest and collapsed to the ground.
Ginny regained her composure first, running toward her and holding a hand near McGonagall's face. "She's still breathing, and," she said, pressing her hand over the older woman's heart, "she's alive."
Hermione knocked her hand away and removed McGonagall's hand from where it rested on her ribs. "Don't touch her." Grasping the amulet there, she drew the chain over the professor's head and looped it around her own neck.
"No," Hermione gasped, as she turned the charm over and sand spilled from one end into her lap. "It's the last one." She bowed her head for a moment before yanking hard and breaking the chain. Slowly, she drew herself to her feet and picked up the sword, leveling it at Ginny. "Where's Harry?"
"I don't know. Where's Ron?" Ginny asked.
"We got separated -- Harry needs help. I have to find them." Simultaneous explosions echoed from the forest, lake and castle; another of the towers fell. "When this is over, you'd better have a good explanation," she finished reluctantly before dashing off around the castle.
Ginny picked herself up with a last look at Professor McGonagall before she too broke into a run in the other direction. Rocks fell from the walls of the castle, narrowly missing her. Twice she ran blindly through Darkness Charms; one was empty, and in the other she ducked a Freezing Charm and dodged two cries of "Cruciatus!" before coming out the other side.
As she rounded the corner a horrific blast knocked her sideways. She landed and rolled, scraping her knees. Another chunk of the castle had fallen away, and a ray of light beamed up into the sky.
A strange, limbless tree was growing out of the castle. Its trunk was shimmering bronze even through the lingering dust, and it ceased its reach toward the sky as she watched. Waves of lighting were arcing across the sky above like a canopy. In the flickering light she could see someone standing on the flattened top.
And, at the base of the tree, facedown, was Ron.
He grunted when she rolled him over. "Ron," she shouted, slapping his cheek. He had a black eye and an enormous purple bruise was spreading across his forehead. "Wake up. Please. Say something."
Ron opened his eyes, staring at Ginny as if he'd never seen her before. "Harry," he groaned.
"I'm sure he's fine. But I'm supposed to find you, and, oh, Ron, it's terrible..." She trailed off as Ron's eyes closed again. "Stay awake," she commanded. Panic throbbed in her chest and she was dangerously close to tears again.
"You have to help Harry," he gritted out, one hand coming to cover his eyes. "He needs, Hermione says he needs, he lost..."
"I don't understand." Ginny held his hand tightly. "Harry can take care of himself, I'm worried about you. Can you -- do you think you can walk at all?"
Ron shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. "Shut up and listen to me. You have to get to Harry. I know you can do it. Take my pin."
"What?"
"Susan noticed it first." A half-smile crossed his face before fading back into a grimace. "The pins we got after our first exams. They're made of phoenix tears, crystallized phoenix tears. Powerful protection. Harry's lost his. You have to take it to him, because I don't think I can."
"As soon as I find someone to take care of you, Ron."
"No." He swallowed. "Now. He's up there." Ron gestured up the tree.
Ginny decided that the blow Ron had taken to the head was even more serious than she had thought. "I can't -- there's no way up."
"Catapultus."
Ginny couldn't breathe. "You'd let me throw you?"
Ron opened his eyes just after a wave of lightning rolled across overhead. "I'm not the one going."
"H-how do you know I'm not your enemy? Look!" She held out an arm. "I have the Dark Mark. How do you know I won't just push Harry over the side?"
He stared at her. "Because I know you. And I trust you."
It had been so long. So long. She had waited and waited to hear that from Ron, and now she realized that she had known it anyway and it didn't matter if he said it or not. "Ron, I'm sorry."
"Me too, and if we live through this, let's just rock-paper-scissors to decide who's right." Ron squeezed her hands as she helped him sit up enough to get the leverage to throw her. "Ready?"
With shaking hands she took the pin he offered and found her wand. Ginny looked up. It was a long way to where Harry was. "Ready."
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Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.