Smoke and Mirrors
A/N: Prompt will be included at the end, so as not to spoil anythng. Enjoy!
Ginny wasn't sure how long she had been locked up.
Maybe it had only been mere weeks, or a month, or even a year. It didn't matter anymore. Time seemed to blur in the cold confines of her cell, melting away into the pitch-blackness that surrounded her.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Ginny shifted slightly on the hard stone ground, the coils of the chains binding her to the wall at her back clinking with her movements. Ginny flinched. Alone in her solitude, except for when the masked men entered to force-feed her gruel, every noise was too loud. Too harsh.
And every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Luna. Beautiful, perfect Luna, as her eyes went eerily calm and her face went slack-jawed and she fell to the ground, almost in slow-motion, with her golden hair fanning into a halo around her.
Luna had been able to predict the future.
But not even she had been fast enough to dodge the bullet that took her life.
Every single second that she was alive, shackled in her tiny cell, Ginny tortured herself. Replaying the memory over and over again in her mind.
She should have done something. She should have saved her.
It was Ginny's fault. Everything was all Ginny's fault, because she had stupidly believed that the regular humans would accept people like them.
Freaks.
Supers.
People who possessed extraordinary power, enough to bring the world to its knees.
But, back then, Ginny and Luna had wanted to help. Had wanted to use their abilities to make a difference in the world, to change lives.
Ginny knew better now.
If only she weren't too late.
But now she was trapped, tied up, and the iron handcuffs slapped around her ankles and wrists muffled her powers.
There was no escape.
Then again, Ginny didn't deserve an escape. She deserved to be alone for eternity, hidden away in some dark, underground dungeon, paying the price.
It should have been Ginny who died that day.
X
Footsteps echoed in the stone corridor outside of the cell.
Ginny stared numbly at the steel door, listening to the clank of the key turning the locks, waiting for the masked guards to storm inside her room and throw a piece of rock-hard bread at her feet.
The door creaked open, casting rays of watery orange light into the cell. It was enough to make Ginny flinch, her eyes too accustomed to the darkness.
A figure was silhouetted in the light.
Not a guard.
Ginny's heart stuttered in her chest and she blinked- once, twice, and over again. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.
Luna was dead.
But, no, there she was, standing in the doorway of Ginny's cell, in all her familiar, golden-haired glory.
"Luna?" Ginny croaked out. The first word she had spoken in what felt like forever, and every syllable was painful to say.
"Ginny," Luna breathed, and Ginny's eyes suddenly burned with tears. Her voice. God, how she had missed Luna's voice.
Ginny glanced down the front of Luna's short-sleeved lavender shirt, at the place where it tucked into her battered jeans. No bloodstain. No bullet wound.
She was okay.
The tears started to fall, trickling down Ginny's face. "How?" she asked, voice trembling. "How did you survive?"
Luna shook her head sadly, those pure blue eyes focusing on Ginny. "I'm dead, Ginny."
Any hope that had bloomed in Ginny's heart shattered in an instant. "Then- then how-"
"It was all your fault, you know," Luna interrupted, jaw tightening. "My death was your fault."
A wave of ice crashed through Ginny's veins. "I- Luna, I'm so s- sorry, I-"
And then Luna smiled, and Ginny knew.
The smile was too cold, too calculated, too wicked to be Luna's.
Any regret and pain was replaced by burning-hot anger.
"Shifter," Ginny hissed, spitting out the word like it was a curse. She had heard of Shifters before- superhumans who could take on any shape they wanted- but she had never actually seen one with her own eyes.
Luna threw back her head and cackled, and it was the most terrifying thing Ginny had ever seen.
And then Luna's face was twisting, warping, her blue eyes fading to an almost ebony black. Her hair darkened, all streaks of golden-blonde vanishing. Her face grew sharper, her skin slightly darker, her limbs much leaner and more muscled, her clothes morphing into a long, black robe.
Luna was gone.
Standing in the doorway was a new woman, who smirked down at Ginny, flashing her pearly white teeth.
"Hello, Ginevra," the woman purred. "How was it, seeing your little girlfriend after all this time? And blaming you for her death, too." The woman tsked under her breath. "Must have been hard to watch."
Ginny's fists clenched. "Who are you?" she growled, hatred oozing from every word.
"Pansy Parkinson, at your service," the woman grinned. "The boss asked me to test out your powers. Make sure you still remember how to use them, after eight months in a cell."
Eight months.
Eight months since Luna had died, and Ginny had done nothing to stop it.
Pansy started crossing the cell, her high-heeled boots clicking on the stone floor. She knelt in front of Ginny, and Ginny forced herself not to flinch as Pansy reached for the coils of chains on the ground.
And then, for the first time in eight months, Ginny was free- well, free from the wall, anyway. Her wrists and ankles were still cuffed by thick iron bracelets, but she could move.
Pansy straightened, staring down at Ginny expectantly.
Ginny just scowled up at her. "I'm not coming with you," she rasped.
Pansy's grin slipped off her face. "Oh yes you are," she growled, before her claw-like nails dug into Ginny's forearms and she was hauled to her feet.
It took all of Ginny's effort to stumble along through the stone corridor Pansy was leading her through. Her muscles screamed, agony shooting through her with every step. The dim light, cast from torches on the walls, was enough to make her eyes throb with pain.
Though the hallway looked dusty and old, there was a glass doorway at the end of it- one that looked extremely out-of-place amongst the torches and stone.
Pansy yanked open the door and shoved Ginny roughly through the doorway and into an empty, white room. Harsh white lights glared down from the ceiling, making Ginny's eyes water.
Pansy stepped through the door, shutting it behind her, so she was on the outside of the doorway.
"Okay," she said, pressing her hands against the glass. "What's your ability?"
Ginny just looked at her miserably. Her legs were trembling, struggling to keep her upright after not being used in so long.
"What's your ability?" Pansy repeated, more impatiently this time.
Ginny forced a tight smile, wishing more than anything that she was back in her cell, where she deserved to be. "I can disappear."
Pansy raised an eyebrow. "You… disappear," she echoed, scoffing. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I can vanish and reappear in an entirely different place," Ginny elaborated.
"So you can teleport," Pansy clarified.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Let Pansy believe that her power was mere teleportation. There was no way she could possibly explain how her ability worked- the way it felt when she stepped out of the normal world and into the third dimension, where everything was dark and silent and roaring with invisible flames and an untapped vault of raw power.
"Show me," Pansy demanded.
Ginny glanced pointedly down at the cuffs on her wrists. "I can't."
When she was first locked away and the chains were first secured around her hands, she had felt it- the loss of her power like a gaping hole in her chest. Somehow, with the metal locked around her arms, she couldn't use her ability.
It was almost painful, at first, to have the magic she had carried with her for her entire life suddenly stripped away from her.
But Ginny knew she deserved that pain, for what she had let happen to Luna.
Pansy slipped her hand into the pocket of her robe- a pocket Ginny hadn't even realized existed- and pulled out a small, black box.
A remote.
With the click of a button, the metal on Ginny's wrists went very, very cold.
All of a sudden, there was a burning in Ginny's lungs, making it hard to breathe. Her head pounded, the blood in her veins sizzling as the power- the power she hadn't had access to in eight months- came flooding back into her bones. Her very self seemed to be thrumming with energy, and it felt…
For the first time in months, Ginny was strong.
And for the first time in months, thoughts of Luna flew out of Ginny's mind as she disappeared.
No longer was she in the white room- no, now she was standing in the middle of a pitch-black, infinite space. It was endless, this dimension, and it crackled with burning energy. Now, Ginny could travel to wherever she wanted- just by thinking it.
But before she could even think of a single place, there was a tugging sensation in her abdomen, like somebody was yanking on a string connected to her stomach.
And then she was back in the white room, shielding her eyes from the glaring light.
"You really think you could just escape from here? That easily?" a grating voice laughed, and Ginny turned towards the glass doorway. Pansy.
"At least we know your powers still work," Pansy shrugged. She hit another button on the small remote in her hands, and the cuffs around Ginny's wrists tightened.
It was a struggle not to cry out as, just as quickly as it had returned, the power vanished, leaving Ginny feeling empty and hollow and helpless.
But she deserved this.
She deserved anything awful that came her way.
X
Misery.
That's what it was, letting Pansy lead her out of the white room and through another maze of stone corridors. Ginny had long since lost track of how many corners they had turned, of how many rickety flights of stairs they had climbed.
Maybe that was Pansy's intention- to disorient her, so she had no way of escaping.
Not that Ginny had enough effort left in her to actually attempt an escape.
Eventually, they reached another doorway- and this one, being made from glossy oak wood, seemed much more natural considering its surroundings.
Pansy knocked on the door, just once.
It swung open from within, revealing the interior of a circular stone chamber. It was empty, save for a bare throne at the front of the room. Perched on the throne, and dressed in casual clothes, was a man- one who couldn't be any older than Ginny, with messy black hair and dark eyes.
"Pansy," the man mused, smiling slightly. His gaze darted to Ginny. "And Ginevra. Pleasure to properly meet you."
Ginny didn't respond.
"My name is Tom Riddle," the man said. As if Ginny cared. "And I think you're going to have a lovely time working here."
"You kept me in a prison cell," Ginny replied numbly. "You should just kill me now, because I will not help you."
Tom Riddle laughed quietly. "Why don't you listen to what I have to say? Then you can re-evaluate whether or not you want to die."
Ginny clenched her jaw, curiosity keeping her silent.
"What if I told you," Tom began slowly, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his throne, "that I know who killed Luna Lovegood? And that I could help you get your revenge?"
Ginny's spine stiffened. Gone was the pain in her legs, and the hollowness in her heart from her missing magic.
Revenge.
She swallowed hard. "I'm listening."
Tom grinned, a smile not unlike Pansy's- cold, vicious, calculating. "Eight months ago, you and Luna went to… what? Become heroes? Prove that superhumans weren't all bad?"
From beside her, Pansy snorted. Ginny wanted to punch her for it, but Tom was already continuing.
"And then you were found, camping out in the woods," Tom went on. "They shot at you, didn't they? And, if I remember correctly, a bullet hit your precious Luna."
Ginny's pulse pounded in her ears. "I don't need to relive it, thank you very much," she ground out. "Is there a point to this?"
"Getting there," Tom replied. "You see, Ginevra, you might not remember this part- you were too busy screaming, as I recall- but my people were there that day, in the woods. We arrived just as Luna died, and we ended the fight. You were… unpredictable. Not in control. We had to chain you up and silence your abilities so you didn't overwork yourself and die. And Luna's killers went free. But we know who they are."
"Who?" Ginny breathed greedily. "Who killed her?"
"They call themselves the Order of the Phoenix," Tom said in distaste. "They fancy themselves the saviors of civilization. Ordinary humans who are terrified of us simply because they don't understand us, Ginevra. Simply because we are stronger than them, and they know it. They will not stop hunting us. But if we could take them down first, then our people could live in peace. Could be free. We won't have to suffer the same fate as poor Luna."
Tom lowered his voice. "Don't let her death have been in vain."
Ginny's hands tightened into fists. And then, out of nowhere, the metal cuffs around her wrists went slack. The power flooded back into her veins at an almost dizzying speed, and Ginny turned to Pansy, who was grinning by her side.
"What do you say, Ginny?" Pansy asked. "Are you with us?"
Ginny smiled back at her, but it was more of a baring of teeth than an actual smile.
"I assume that's a yes," Tom said from his throne in the back of the room. "Welcome to the Death Eaters, Ginevra. It's time to save humanity."
X
Pansy poked at the fire with a long twig. The red-hot flames danced even higher, casting patches of amber light onto the dark forest surrounding them.
Ginny swallowed hard, staring deep into the light of the flames. The last time she had camped in the woods, it had resulted in Luna's death.
This time, it would result in vengeance.
The last two days had passed in a blur- a blur of plans and schemes and whispered plots.
And now Ginny was here. With Pansy. Spending the night in the thick woods surrounding the towering building that was the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
She could practically taste the revenge on her lips. Freedom. Once Luna was avenged, Ginny would finally be free, and Luna's soul could hopefully rest in peace.
"You remember the plan, right?" Pansy asked for the third time.
"Of course," Ginny replied, not finding it in her to get annoyed. "In just four hours, I'll teleport us into the building. You'll change our appearance to make us look like ordinary guards. And then we start killing."
It was a simple enough plan, really.
There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the crackling of the flames. Ginny wrapped her black robe, matching with Pansy's, more tightly around her. After eight months in the prison cell, she was nothing more than a pile of skin and bones; at least she had showered, though, and was mostly clean.
"Why did you join the Death Eaters?" Ginny asked Pansy, more to break the silence than anything.
Pansy continued staring into the fire. "The Order of the Phoenix took loved ones from me, too," she said quietly, still avoiding Ginny's gaze.
For the first time, Ginny felt sympathy for the Shifter.
"Who?" Ginny whispered, glancing down at her hands.
Pansy inhaled sharply, her breathing shaky. "My best friend," she replied, "Daphne. We were like you and Luna once- eager to help, and wanting to be heroes. But they killed her."
Icy, glittering rage filled Ginny's veins. "They killed a lot of people. Too many people."
Pansy finally met her eyes, giving her a small smile. "And now we'll finally defeat them, once and for all. Look at that- we will become heroes, after all."
Ginny sighed softly at the thought.
She hoped that, wherever she was, Luna would be proud of her. Even though Ginny wasn't the same person she had been eight months ago, she was finally going to set things right.
Just then, the snap of a branch breaking exploded into the air around them, shattering the peace.
Both Ginny and Pansy were on their feet in an instant, back to back, standing in front of their small fire.
"Looks like they discovered us earlier than anticipated," Pansy murmured.
Ginny shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We'll end them, here and now."
They both turned to the woods, shadows cloaking any figures that were probably hiding amongst the trees.
It was time to fight.
And, this time, Ginny wouldn't lose.
HPFC
Ultimate AU Prompathon Challenge - Location / Time AU - "shifter!AU."
Shay's Epic Board Game Challenge - Shapeshifters - "Write a shapeshifter!AU."
Hogwarts
Assignment #1 - Mythology #12 - "Write about someone getting their revenge."
Writing Club - Liza's Character Appreciation - "23. (word) hero."
Writing Club - Shannon's Showcase - "26. (title) Smoke and Mirrors."
Writing Club - Lizzy's Showtime - "7. You'll Be Back - (action) crying."
Writing Club - Lizzy's Lyric Alley - "4. Then you walked in and my heart went 'Boom!'"
Writing Club - Ami's Audio Admirations - "5. The Maze - Write about someone who is trapped somewhere."
Writing Club - Sophie's Shelf - "Vault 69 - (restriction) only one male character."
QLFC Season 6
Seeker: Appleby Arrows - Round 5 (Borrowed Inspiration) - "Use the title of a story written by your Captain for inspiration (it's cold and it's dark and there's no way out)."
The Golden Snitch
Centaurus, Aurora - Through the Universe Challenge - "58. Ejecta - (character) Pansy Parkinson."
Room of Requirement
Wand Wood Category Challenge - Fir - "Write about a character surviving something."
The Muse-Breaker Competition - "Write an angsty story about your OTP." - 1/1 complete
The Ultimate Hogwarts House Competition - Ravenclaw - "118. (action) grinning."