Chapter 1: Taken
On the backdrop of a tragic funeral, Harry Potter had broken up with her.
She had not expected him to sugar-coat his words or spare her the painful truth, when the inevitable had stood between all along.
Dumbledore's death had served as a bitter reminder of the realities they were fighting against.
Ginny was not as self-absorbed as to imagine this was about her and Harry, but there was no going around it. Their relationship, if it could be called that, had been doomed from the start.
She had tried all these years to tell herself otherwise, but she had always come to the same conclusion.
'Ginny, listen...' Harry had told her as the people who had attended the service started to move about, 'I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together.'(1)
It was strange, but now that these words had finally been uttered, Ginny felt a horrible sense of relief and disgust washing over her; relief that Harry would no longer be burdened with her and she would not have to pretend to make things work anymore, and disgust with herself for accepting this situation so easily. In a way, she would have wanted to be more revolted. She was angry with the world, but not angry enough to protest the end of their brief relationship.
'It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?'(2) she had asked.
'It's been like...like something out of someone else's life, these last few weeks with you. But I can't...we can't...I've got things to do alone now.'(3)
In the following silence, Harry had waited wordlessly for her to say something. Maybe he had waited for a fiery argument on her part, maybe he had expected tears. But she could not will herself to say anything that would hide how she truly felt about it; that this was the end. And that, more importantly, she had felt like this for a long time.
'Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to,' Harry continued bitterly. 'He's already used you as bait once, and that was just because you're my best friend's sister. Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you.'(4)
The mention of Voldemort's name made her flinch involuntarily. She wasn't afraid of him anymore, but whenever she thought of him, she was taken back to her youthful days, when she had been under his command. She knew all too well Voldemort, or better yet, Tom Riddle, used people. She had been used and thrown away, just like any other victim of his. But Harry's words implied that she had been submitted to torture and mind possession only because she was Ron Weasley's sister, who was Harry's closest friend. In truth, Tom could have picked anyone else to bear this burden, but she had been the convenient person at the time, young and naive, weak and gullible and, most importantly, closely tied to the Boy Who Lived. And while Ginny had lived with this humiliating truth all these years, its reminder was as bitter as always. The idea that he might submit her again and use her to get to Harry was terrifying, but she knew that if she and Tom Riddle were to cross paths again, she would not hesitate to do everything in her power to stop him from harming Harry.
'I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you. I don't care what happens to me, because I've already seen what he can do,' she confessed.
'Ginny, please, don't speak like that. It would kill me to know you were harmed because of me. I need you to be safe. I...I can't lose you...or anyone else.'
'There will be sacrifices along the way, Harry, you can't prevent that.'
'I will try for as long as I can, Ginny. No one has to die for me anymore. I can't allow it. I will fight my own battles.'
'Dumbledore's man through and through,' she repeated what he had said to Scrimgeour.
He nodded grimly.
'I knew this would happen in the end. You wouldn't be able to rest until you hunted him down,' she added. 'That's what I like about you, Harry. You never give up.'
Harry sighed and caressed her cheek longingly.
'I don't want to give you up, Ginny. I really don't. But I have to, because I love you.'
Harry's confession startled her. Her eyes widened considerably. She had not expected him to declare his love while he was breaking up. It had been so direct, so honest and so unguarded that she had thought for a moment that she had heard him wrong. But his expression told her everything she needed to know.
And it tore her into tiny pieces that she could not tell him she loved him back. Her love for him was something special, it was a mixture of admiration and affection, but it was not the kind of love Harry would have wanted from her.
'I...I understand,' she replied instead, feeling like a fool. 'I know why you must do this.'
If Harry had been disappointed by her frugal reply, he did not show it, but he blamed her sudden reluctance on the tragic events that had transpired in the last couple of nights.
'I will always be on your side, Harry. And I will always fight for you,' she said after some quiet moments.
'I know,' he said, holding her hand gently. She felt his pulse between her fingers and smiled at the warmth of his gesture.
He slipped something light inside her palm.
'Harry, may I have a word?' Rufus Scrimgeour called from afar. He held her eyes for a moment longer, before he let go of her hand and brushed past her with the frailty of a ghost.
When she looked down at her hand, she discovered a small vial of swirling gold liquid.
Felix Felicis.
Unshed tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, but she knew that they were not going to alleviate her guilt.
This young boy whose heart was so wonderful did not deserve to be let down by anyone, much less her. He was the most selfless person she had ever met. It almost sickened her to think that such a kind soul had suffered so much at the hand of the worst man alive. It was not fair. It would never be fair.
And now, he had given her the remains of his lucky potion instead of keeping it for himself.
In these moments, Ginny wished she really did love Harry Potter, heart and soul.
But she had not told him the truth, it wouldn't have been of any use to anyone. And it wouldn't have mattered now that a new war was about to break. It would have only hurt him more and he had had enough of that.
As she watched the crowd disperse around her in small groups across the field, she realized she was going to have to live with this alone.
Ginny couldn't recall the exact moment when she had discovered she did not truly love Harry Potter. She had worshipped him for so long that she had confused her blind admiration with deeper feelings. It had started with a small crush and had developed into a sort of brotherly affection which she had not bothered to analyze. That is why it had been quite a blow to find out she had been lying to herself all that time.
In the books, a girl like her would always end up with the hero of the story. It was an unwritten rule. She hated that rule. Her mother used to tell her Harry would choose her in the end, but Ginny had never wanted to be a 'choice'. She had wanted a 'chance', which was an entirely different thing. Well, she had gotten her chance. Being with him had been a strange experience. She had kissed him like she had kissed other boys, she had gone out with him, had spent time with him and talked of unimportant things, just like she had done in the past with Michael Corner. It had been much more special, though, because he was Harry and they meant a lot to each other, but it had not been enough. Despite their mutual understanding, holding hands with him or standing by the Black Lake in a loving embrace had felt incestuous. His promises for a better, brighter future had fallen flat. And his contagious smile had not been able to erase everything that had happened.
It was a tragedy that Ginny Weasley, the girl of his dreams, did not want to be in them.
It was more tragic that Harry had no idea about her feelings.
He had always resented the fact that no one ever told him anything, that he was made to live in the dark. Now it was inevitable that he should remain in the dark.
Her forehead leant against the cold pane of the foggy window, her eyelids closing and opening momentarily as she fought the heavy langour that was spreading through her bones.
The train meandered through the grey valleys, casting a long shadow over the slants of yellow soil, reminding her of a decaying body. The bristling June rain was harrowing, every drop falling like a hammer on her fragile nerves.
Perhaps this wasn't the best of times to be sitting idly while the scenery moved quickly before her eyes. Perhaps the right thing to do was to run out of her compartment, find Harry and tell him she wasn't about to let him fight alone, that he didn't have to bear it all alone, Voldemort or Tom Riddle be damned.
She might not have loved him, but she could at least give him her unwavering loyalty.
She was about to get up in determination when she remembered he wasn't on the train. He hadn't left with the rest of them and she hadn't said goodbye.
She cursed her weakness. She was tied to her seat. There was nothing behind her and nothing in front of her, only the grey valleys and the constant fear.
Hogwarts would not stand a chance without Dumbledore, she knew that. He had been a staple of hope and safety to everyone living there. With him gone, Hogwarts had no purpose. It was going to be the imminent victim of an escalating war.
The muggle world would follow closely. Muggles would be submitted as easily as children and the world would cower before Riddle.
Between these two realms, Ginny felt desperately helpless.
The door to her compartment flew open and Luna stepped inside quietly, dragging her heavy luggage behind her. She looked a bit more weather-beaten than usual. Ginny rose to help her lift it up. Neville entered after her with a gaunt expression plastered on his face as if he had not seen the sun in a while.
The three of them sat down eventually without speaking a word to each other. They felt words would only make matters worse. Their Headmaster had died. Hogwarts was falling.
There was no point in making conversation.
It was only after the stretch of an hour that Luna put down the Quibbler and broke the silence.
'Do you feel that?' she asked, looking around disconcerted.
Ginny raised her eyes to hers.
'Feel what?'
'There's something foreign in the air...I can't put my finger on it,' she muttered, looking out the window with a grimace.
Neville patted her hand briefly.
'It's just the rain, Luna. It's getting dark,' he said awkwardly.
'No,' she contradicted him, shaking her head. 'There's something out there. I can feel it.'
'Hogwarts was ambushed not five nights ago. I'd expect anything by now,' Ginny said morosely, feeling the throbbing pulse at her temples.
'We should have our wands ready,' Luna advised, though she was aware that Ginny and Neville were both holding theirs tightly.
Five more minutes passed in tense silence.
Suddenly, they heard a screeching, metallic noise outside, almost as if someone were bending cable wires across the rails.
Luna's eyes darkened. 'Merlin, please let me not be right.'
A heavy pause followed the wrenching sounds. Beads of sweat were falling down their foreheads, sticking to their skin like shards of glass, warm and sharp.
The window pane trembled briefly and another terrible shriek filled the air.
Neville rose up out of the blue and bravely opened the compartment doors, popping his head outside to inspect if anyone else had heard the jarring noise.
He noticed other reluctant heads coming out of their compartments.
'Did you hear that?' someone was saying quietly.
'Yeah, I think we hit something. Or maybe we're making a stop,' another voice replied.
'I don't think we've ever made a stop anywhere. No, it must be some problem with the rails.'
'Was it lightning?'
'No, it sounded like metal.'
Neville was about to intervene when he suddenly felt the ground shaking. At first it was a small turbulence, but then his legs started moving without his accord. The train was rocking back and forth. Neville grabbed the door frame quickly and sank his nails in his palms.
'Neville, what's happening out there?' Ginny asked behind him, her voice urgent and demanding.
'I don't know! I think we're...'
'We're being attacked,' Luna finished for him, pushing him aside gently. 'We have to go find the Order members. We have to stick together.'
'There's no time for that,' Ginny said, taking out her wand. 'If there's someone out there, we'll all have to fight, not just the Order.'
'There are First Years on the train, Ginny.'
She closed her eyes. 'I know.'
The train shook again, throwing Luna into Neville's arms. He pulled her to his chest.
'We need to get out of here,' he mumbled.
'There's only one way out,' Ginny said, pointing at the windows.
Neville clamped his hand over Luna's and dragged her outside. 'Come on, let's find Dean and Seamus.'
'I'll go find the Ministry Aurors,' Ginny told them, going the other way. The Ministry of Magic had sent trained wizards to guard the children leaving Hogwarts.
Ginny hoped they would be of some help to them if they really were being attacked.
She had thought that after infiltrating Hogwarts, they wouldn't be attacking so soon again. It seemed unlike them, even if she knew she couldn't apply logic to Death Eaters.
'Lisa, have you seen the Ministry Aurors?' she asked a frightened Lisa Turpin as she made her way through the throngs of people that were now filling the corridors.
'N-no...I think they're u-up front.'
Ginny nodded her head and moved past her, wishing that someone would help her find them.
She roamed every compartment with her eyes just in case anyone from outside had gotten in.
She halted when she saw drops of blood on the floor. She followed the trail and discovered that it led to a compartment whose doors were shut tightly over a limp, bloodied hand.
She gasped.
'Everyone, be ready to use your wands!' she shouted towards the students.
She pushed open the doors and her fears materialized before her eyes. Two of the Aurors were lying dead on the floor, their faces contorted into one last grimace of pain, their limbs showing clear signs of torture.
The compartment window was broken.
They were already inside. She had to move quickly. She had to -
'There she is, boys. Handed to us on a silver platter,' a wicked voice drawled behind her.
She gripped her wand tightly and turned around.
'Petrificus Totalus!' she shouted and one of the Death Eaters fell on the floor, but the other two immobilized her, binding her legs and arms.
'You'll pay for that one, you bloody - ' one of them shouted in her ear, pulling her by the hair.
Ginny struggled against him angrily.
'If you don't take your filthy hands off me I swear -'
'You'll what, darling? Beg for mercy?'
'I will make you regret your allegiance to that wretched, foul -'
'Careful, sweetheart, I wouldn't want to kill you for slandering his name,' the Death Eater warned her darkly, sticking his wand into her throat.
'Don't get stupid, Nott,' his companion intervened. 'We'll let him take care of her.'
'But I want to have a little fun with Potter's girl - '
'I'll kill you sooner than let you do anything to me!' Ginny shouted, jerking her knees against his ribcage.
'Look at'er man! She's begging for a little shake.'
'Fool! We are supposed to follow orders, not play around. You can go hunt another Ministry idiot if you feel the need.'
Ginny realized with a pang that this wasn't an attack. They were just here for her.
'You're a dull sport, Macnair.'
'I'm the one getting things done around here,' he said, gripping Ginny's chin roughly.
She tried wrenching herself out of his grip, but he was stronger.
'Now you listen to me, if you don't want all your beloved friends to die right here and right now, you won't put up a fight anymore.'
Ginny stared daggers at him.
'You wouldn't. Riddle didn't order you to do that,' she spoke glacially.
The Death Eater almost jumped at the sound of the name. He had not heard it in years.
'The Dark Lord did not say we shouldn't remove any obstacle in our way,' he contradicted her, his nails digging sharply in her cheeks.
'I will repeat myself one more time; do you want your friends to die?'
Ginny fought back the hot tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
'No.'
'Very well then. Will you obey?'
'If you promise to take me and leave, yes,' she replied.
'Ah, you needn't say more,' he replied cordially.
'Should we wait for Goyle to wake up?' the first Death Eater asked carelessly.
'No, he'll Apparate later. We're running out of time,' the other replied, checking a small hourglass at the base of his neck.
Pulling her between them, the two Death Eaters apparated with a soft and sinister pop, leaving chaos and panic behind.
(1) Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 30, page 423, PDF format.
(2) Idem
(3) Idem
(4) Idem