Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros
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The Red Room
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'I'm lost,' Ginny Potter concluded after wandering around in an unfamiliar part of Hogwarts Castle for hours.
She'd waited for Harry to finish his lessons in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes since they had a scheduled appointment with Headmaster McGonagall. Bored, Ginny had decided to go on a stroll in her old school, thoughts far away. Minutes later she'd found herself in a darkly lit hall that smelled of rot. "Bloody moving staircases," she'd muttered, hands on her swollen belly as if it'd shield the baby from foul words.
Now, she was lost in the hall that seemed to go on forever, five months pregnant and without a wand. A hollow feeling throbbed in her chest along with her increasing heartbeat. She was lost, so terribly, terribly lost.
After walking for what felt like hours, she suddenly saw a massive door made of stone. But no matter how hard she pushed, the door wouldn't bulge.
In her desperation, she went up on her tiptoes and peeked through the keyhole.
The room was in complete darkness, save for a few enchanted torches, with a table of some sort in the middle. And in the corner of her view, she saw a pale, human shaped form; a ghost, believably. "Hello!" she tried, and the ghost's head slowly turned to her. "Can you please tell me how to open this door?"
That was when the baby kicked, and she instinctively stepped back. She swore she heard footsteps on the other side of the door. Again she peeked through the keyhole.
This time, all she could see was red.
Something awful awakened in her, but she pushed it down, thinking it was merely pregnancy nausea. Had the person on the other side of the door put a hand chief in front of it, wanting to be left disturbed?
Her eyes widened.
The red was the exact same colour as blood.
(like wine running in the cracks in-between the flagstones from bodies still warm but devoid of life—)
Ginny backed away, wiping away tears that wouldn't stop. 'Some scars run deeper than others,' she thought and remembered huddling together with Harry after he'd had yet another nightmare, kissing his forehead, sharing old pain.
She ran from the room of blood for what felt like an eternity, brown eyes closed tightly.
"Ginny!" Never had she thought she'd be so happy to hear Harry's voice. She embraced him tightly, inhaling a familiar scent that wasn't rot. "Where have you been off to? We'll be late to McGonagall's little meeting!"
"I—" the words died in her throat. Harry's forehead wrinkled up, silently asking if she was alright. Ginny closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm fine," she insisted, and he smiled, carefully guiding her to the headmaster's office. When asked why they were late, Harry told the truth.
McGonagall frowned at Ginny, "You were never the one to go on careless adventures, Miss. Weasley, oh wait, I mean, Mrs. Potter, of course." Somehow, her mistake made her look like a self-satisfied cat. She eyed Ginny's stomach with a raised brow, "Must be the Potter blood."
They shared a laugh.
"Must be," Ginny agreed, awful feeling forgotten. "Though I must ask. As I wandered the castle... It was dark and I might've seen wrong, but there was a huge stone door in the middle of an odd, foul smelling hall. Do you know what I speak of...?"
McGonagall's smile fell like a ton of bricks.
Harry went white.
"That... my dear... is Voldemort's Tomb."
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A/N: Themes borrowed from the CP The Keyhole. No spoilers in the comment section please—such ruins fridge horror, y'see.
PM me if you didn't get it and I'll happily explain it to you. Hint: Voldemort's eyes are red.