Light in the Dark
By: PenDiva
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter - ha! - obviously.
PROMPT: Use Ginny Weasley in a Suspense/Angst story.
Word form Round One that I used → Eldritch: (adjective) weird, sinister, ghostly, eerie
…
A red beam of light hit the stone next to Ginny's face, briefly lighting up her eyes with a red fire. Ginny narrowed her eyes in the direction of where the spell came from. She hastily sent a stunner at the death eater but he was already attacking another opponent.
Ginny began running towards the stairwell. Her straight red hair swished with her running stride, bounced with every jump over broken rubble.
The full ring of silence in the hallway where she had been standing disappeared as she entered into the chaos of the stairwell.
"Protego!" Ginny shouted lifting her wand.
The tattooed death eater sneered. His appearance was haggard and he sent another curse with an exaggerated jab of his crooked wand. Ginny dodged but lost her footing on the stairs.
The death eater's cruel voice said, "Confundo!"
She rolled around to her stomach and ducked away from the spell covering her head.
"Bombarda!" Ginny said but her aim was off. The death eater moved to shield himself from debris.
"Fumos Duo!" Ginny shouted. A thick gray cloud of smoke erupted from Ginny's wand and formed a wall between her and the death eater. Ginny cast a protection spell and then got up and turned down the steps.
She sent a few spells to protect herself but engaging in a battle was not her goal right now.
Unfortunately for her though, Harry Potter was nowhere to be seen. Ginny was looking for him but he had run off an hour ago and was nowhere to be found. Ginny had no idea where her family was; she was only aware of the buzzing intensity in her ears and her own thudding heartbeat.
"Stupefy!" Hermione's voice shouted farther off. Ginny hesitated before going in that direction checking behind her every second.
She turned down a hallway, broken glass crunching under her foot. She saw Harry a little bit farther down talking to Ron.
Harry turned her way making Ginny's heart flutter. His face turned to fear, and all of a sudden Ginny heard a low growl behind her.
Fenrir Greyback stepped out of the shadows, blood dripping from his lips. His eyes were wild.
"GINNY!" Harry screeched.
She gasped and jerked backward, chest squeezing from fear. Her hand shook as she cast a spell but the werewolf blocked it.
Fenrir was blown backward all of a sudden by an unseen force and Ginny saw him crash hard on the ground, thirty feet away. She turned around and came face to face with Harry who had just can an angry, powerful spell.
His face softened when he turned to Ginny, but the fearful expression lingered. "You shouldn't be out here," he said. Ron and Hermione caught up to Harry and stood next to him.
"I'm going to help, and you can't stop me," Ginny said.
He shook his head. "You're risking your life-"
"Everyone is risking their life, Harry," Ginny retorted.
Harry's face turned grim but he quickly nodded. "You're right I'm sorry - but stay out of the busy hallways. The amount of spells flying is too dangerous."
Harry looked like he was reluctantly turning to leave. "Then let me help you," Ginny said, trying not to make it sound like she was begging although in a way she was.
Harry shared a glance with Hermione. "Actually, I think I do need your help," Harry said biting his lip. Ginny stared into Harry's eyes with surprise.
Harry continued after looking behind him and getting anxious at the sound of curses. "I'm looking for something; the Ravenclaw Diadem." His voice was intense and serious. "I talked to Helena Ravenclaw, the ghost, and I know the Diadem is in the Room of Requirement but I don't have time to search for it. There's something else I need to find and I can't look for both-"
"What? What else are you looking for?"
Harry looked around and brought their group into an empty side hallway. "There's no time to explain now, but they are called Horcruxes and we have to destroy them to kill Voldemort. I can find them because… I'm connected to Voldemort - it's complicated."
"Alright, well I can find the diadem and then you can do whatever you need to do," Ginny said.
Harry turned to Hermione. "I'm missing something, I know I am. There are seven Horcruxes. I think the snake might be one, but that's only six. I know where I need to go, and I think I can figure it out… and I will do whatever I need to do."
Hermione nodded and her face turned sad and she looked lost in thought.
Harry looked back at Ginny and rushed to say, "Your first year, you were possessed by Voldemort, so I think it might work with you. You'll know the Horcrux when you see it."
A huge crash was heard not far from where they were, causing them all to jump.
"It looks like a crown," Hermione added.
Ginny smiled. "Right, find it - destroy it. I can do that."
Ron dug through his pockets and pulled out a basilisk fang, much to Ginny's surprise.
"What in the-"
"Use this to destroy it, trust me," Ron said.
A second crash, not quite as large sounded again.
Harry gripped his wand tightly as he wrapped Ginny in a tense hug. Ginny tried to soak it in but Harry pulled away quickly.
He kept his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "You can do this. Stay safe. Meet me in the courtyard once you've destroyed it."
They all turned and went their separate ways, not daring to look back because of their focus on their goal ahead of them.
Ginny turned a corner and saw the back of a death eater.
"Stupefy!" she shouted. He fell and Ginny started running towards a secret passageway she knew about, barely acknowledging the younger Hufflepuff she had just saved. There was no time to think, there was no time to feel; she pressed on.
She entered a stairwell behind a statue quietly, checking the corridor before she closed the door. A quick Lumos spell lit up her path; she didn't want to stop her momentum, but Ginny couldn't help it. All of a sudden she collapsed mentally and she leaned against the wall next to her. Tears flowed freely down her face.
She was scared to death. She had no idea what she was doing, and her best friend was getting ready to face the most dangerous wizard in the world. She could see the fear and worry in his eyes as they had talked. She took a few hiccupping breaths and tried to steady herself.
Focus, Ginny. Get to the Room of Requirement. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of fear. An image of Harry's dead body came into mind, making her choke, but she pushed it away.
No, pull it together, you have to do this. Ginny convinced herself. She opened her eyes and began taking the steps in front of her two at a time.
She wiped away her tears as she went, trying not to drown in the darkness and hopelessness that she herself had created.
She exited the secret passageway through a painting and instantly cast a protego. Another battle was raging. Death eaters flew in shifting shadowy shapes above her head. Spells flew from every end of the room, and it was impossible to keep track of who they came from.
She jumped away from a nasty looking curse and tried to defend herself as she inched towards where she needed to go. An aggressive cutting curse grazed her shoulder making her hiss.
Too many people were blocking where she needed to go, and Ginny's heart was racing. Another explosion knocked her off her feet and she hit the ground hard. Getting up frantically she sent a few more stunners at people in black capes.
A couple of death eaters started to turn around and look her way. One turned around himself and became a shadowy shape in the air that started coming for her. Ginny's eyes widened.
She pointed her wand at the black mass and tried to cast a levitation spell and put all of her energy into it. She managed to steer it off course and it knocked down several people like bowling pins. Ginny raced through the empty space checking behind her. The other death eaters had already been engaged.
The noises of the mini battle grew distant as the hallway where the Room of Requirement was grew nearer. Ginny tried to calm her racing pulse and she drew herself up against the wall. Panting, but full of adrenaline, she peered around the corner to the hall where the entrance to the room was.
Six or seven death eaters stood in front of the blank wall, talking in hushed voices. Ginny whipped her head back around, cursing, glad nobody had seen her. She looked desperately at her surroundings, unsure of what to do. She was afraid to let Harry down, and she needed to figure something out.
Her eyes for some reason went to the ceiling above her. Ginny smiled as an idea came to mind and she quickly figured out how to make it happen.
Twenty minutes late, Ginny was using her balance skills from Quidditch to walk on a beam in the ceiling. She had gotten up there by levitating herself.
She made it so that she was almost directly over the death eaters when she sat down quietly on the beam. She gripped her narrow seat tightly.
Ginny whispered a spell and a huge block began slowly rising from just around the corner where the death eaters couldn't see. When it reached the ceiling, Ginny levitated it closer, trying not to strain although the rock was very heavy.
She levitated it right over the death eaters and then let it fall. A few seconds later, she sent a powerful reducto curse right at it. Dust and debris went everywhere, although Ginny had already erected a shield to protect herself. The death eaters scrambled around somewhat blind and dirty. Ginny sent wind with another wave of her wand and dust and dirt flew everywhere. The men ran in circles shouting and clutching at their eyes. The death eaters didn't move into another hallway, though, so Ginny resorted to any idea that popped into her head.
"Avis!" Ginny said, not worrying about whether they heard her. Birds shot out of her wand but the dust that hadn't settled made them angry. Ginny sent more wind at them, trying to rile them up.
She had no idea if this would work, but Ginny felt like she was on fire with adrenaline.
It seemed to work and the birds began attacking the death eaters, pecking, poking and inflicting pain in general. Ginny could almost laugh at watching death eaters covered in dust getting attacked by birds. They ran away, sending curses at the birds. Ginny ducked to avoid a stray red jet of light.
As soon as they had disappeared, she quickly levitated herself down the same way she got up. The hallway was clear, and Ginny took a deep breath in and thought of what she needed. Her eyes closed…
Suddenly a door was appearing in front of her. Ginny entered the Room of Requirement and was met with a still silence so foreign to her in the chaos of the battle inside the hallways of Hogwarts. Her ears adjusted to it, but her excited heartbeat would not calm down.
Ginny felt the familiar tug of evil that she had experienced when she had communicated with the diary in her first year. This time, though, it was much stronger and much darker.
She walked slowly, guiding her movements by the feeling of darkness. Her ears were ringing slightly.
Ginny stood in front of a table with a small box on it. This was it. Her eyes scanned it, and it seemed rather ordinary. Her fingers opened it, but now she was barely aware of her actions. Her movements were forced and automatic, like what she felt when during her first year; although, this time she was conscious.
The ringing increased, and Ginny's vision narrowed. All that mattered was this little black crown. The jewel on the top was deep and dark and very inviting…
Her hand wrapped itself around the crown and Voldemort's spirit was released, intent on attacking Ginny. It reacted in a violent rage and Ginny's hair whipped around her.
"I have seen your heart, Weasley." The voice was dark and cold, chilling Ginny to the bone.
Voldemort entered her mind, and Ginny saw herself and Harry. She saw every moment they shared. She saw him hurt; lying in the hospital wing; collapsing on the floor; her own nightmares flashed in front of her.
She tried to fight it, tried to tell herself that he was okay, that he would make it, but Voldemort's face stared at her.
She couldn't think.
Voldemort's face turned into an eldritch dark form, and suddenly tendrils of cold and evil were attacking her mind and body once again.
Ginny felt the tears run down her cheeks. In the Room of Requirement, she fell to her knees but her hand was still gripping the crown. More memories came back, and Voldemort's spirit continued to tear at her mind. His attacks were random but violent and full of hate, and Ginny saw her entire family and all of her friends.
There was only darkness.
Ginny was filled with fear and grief, and she could barely breathe from everything she was thinking and feeling.
Ginny had never felt so hopeless, but Voldemort was doing nothing to create this emotion… He was only bringing the truth to the surface. Voldemort brought to light everything Ginny had buried deep inside her but Voldemort had caused the penetrating darkness.
Ginny was stunned and shocked. Please, No! she pleaded in her mind. Her whole soul was in anguish. Some of the memories became twisted and everyone she loved was dying. Darkness nearly overtook her.
Voldemort's voice echoed in her mind. "I have found your life to be worth nothing…"
Ginny's face contorted in pain and she let out a scream, unknowingly.
The dark crown clattered to the floor and Ginny fell backward. She fell into a fetal position and began to sob.
The crown continued to call her, to tempt her, but Ginny was paralyzed. She had been denying all of her humanness and emotions until now trying so desperately to be strong and to push away all of her anxiety. The crown had attacked and come out of nowhere and now everything Ginny had been needing to express was hitting her like a hurricane. She has seen so much death, not just tonight, and she was afraid.
She had seen people she love hurt. She had been hurt herself.
She was afraid for Harry, and hated herself for how little time she saw him. She hated how she could never fully protect him or even herself.
Ginny's thoughts went wild, and she didn't even attempt to hold in her own sobs. She loved Harry Potter, and she could not lose him. That had been her fear all along.
Come back, Harry, please - please, Ginny sobbed and begged. Her babbling only made sense to her and it was her only way to express her loneliness, fear, grief, hopelessness and apprehension for a dangerous future...
Voldemort's face came into view once more. It was, changing though, melting away and suddenly Ginny was staring at herself. She felt herself sinking away and her own face smiled above her. Everything was chaotic, and Ginny could only focus on her own pain and fear which was devouring her.
Then she thought of Harry, and she saw his smile, his eternal, loving smile. She thought back to herself, back to who she was.
Suddenly a bright light tore through her vision. It gave Ginny warmth, and the evil was gone, if only temporarily. Ginny gasped desperately and opened her eyes. She looked down at her wand and saw a fire that tore at the blackness.
She was drawn to the light that her own wand was creating and stared at in awe. An elated feeling coursed through her, and she could feel the love of everyone she had just seen in her own mind embracing her. Ginny had never felt so completely safe and warm.
The fire burned brightly, but the crown was not being defeated. Ginny reached into her pocket and grasped the basilisk fang tightly. Her hands did not shake as she moved toward the crown.
She sunk the fang deep into the black jewel on top of the crown and was blown backward. The fire continued to rage in front of her, and she pointed her wand at the moving black shadows. She knew that its heat was safety and it would not have scorched her.
Voldemort's soul screeched in agony, and evil erupted into the air. The fire from Ginny's wand burned it away and in seconds, all that was left was a little flame, that burned on the top of her wand. The black was gone.
With a smile, Ginny put out the flame and looked again at the now destroyed crown. Her heart was filled with hope, and all of her anxiety and fear was gone.
Her fear would one day return, but now she could conquer it. Ginny Weasley could be her own light in her own darkness.