A/N
AU! warning, this does not follow cannon.
Written for Chaser 3, Round 7 QLFC Holyhead Harpies
Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognize
Prompt - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life(2003)
Optional Prompts -
(6) (location) Godric's Hollow
(7) (dialogue) "Well, that did not go according to plan."
(10) (word) watch
Word Count w/o A/N - 1781
Ginny woke to a tapping sound on her window. She got out of bed and quickly grabbed her dressing gown from the nearby chair.
She quietly opened the window and let the insistent owl in. It dropped a blank envelope onto her desk before departing again. It obviously wasn't expecting a reply. Ginny flipped it over and saw a phoenix stamped on the back.
She sat down and produced a letter opener from her desk drawer. She carefully sliced open the letter and dumped the contents onto the desk, revealing a blank piece of parchment, an encoded letter, and a phoenix necklace.
Ginny stood when she saw Michael approaching from the other side of the restaurant. Once he reached their table, she pulled him into a hug.
"It is good to see you Michael."
"Likewise," he replied, before breaking the hug and sitting down. "I assume that this is not a lunch simply to catch up for old times sake?"
"You would be correct. But let us eat before getting down to business." Ginny signalled a waiter to their table.
"While I do appreciate the food here Ginny, I'm not one to waste any more time. What is this so called business?" Michael asked, after taking a sip of his wine.
"I'm sure you're aware of whom I work with? And that I can trust you to keep this between the two of us," Ginny replied ominously.
"Yes and yes." Michael set down his knife and fork, staring at her expectantly.
"I have been tasked with finding a mythical object, I figured you may be able to provide some insight."
"What's this object?"
"You'll find the answer in here." Ginny pulled an envelope from her bag and slid it across the table. "This is everything I know. If you can help, meet me at the enclosed location tonight."
Ginny left a few banknotes on the table as she stood up to leave.
"Good day Michael." With that, she walked out of the restaurant.
Ginny sat at the bus stop that evening. The sun had just set and she was waiting to see if Michael would show.
She glanced at her watch. 7:48, which meant that he had two minutes left. She was beginning to think he wasn't going to show up when she saw someone Apparate onto the street corner. She stood and made her way across to him.
"That was reckless. Muggles could have seen you," Ginny commented when she got close enough.
"I'm good with memory charms," Michael replied, referring to his position as an Obliviator at the Ministry.
"Do you have any information on the object?" Ginny asked when Michael handed her back the envelope.
"Godric's Hollow was its last known location," Michael replied.
"Let's go then," Ginny responded before Apparating away.
When Ginny landed in Godric's Hollow, she hesitated Something didn't feel right. Michael Apparated next to her.
She turned around, drawing her wand in one swift motion. She sent a stunner into the nearby alley and heard a thud. She walked slowly towards the sound and found someone laying on the ground. She reversed the stunner and waited for the person to regain his senses.
"Who sent you?" she asked lowering her voice.
"I'll never tell you," the man replied, pointing his wand at Ginny. Before Ginny could disarm him, the wand went flying out of his hand. She glanced at Michael behind her.
"The lady asked a question. Who sent you?" Michael pocketed his wand and went to snap the stranger's wand.
"Tom," the man spat. Michael snapped the wand and tossed it at him.
"What should we do with him?" Michael asked.
"Incarcerous," Ginny muttered, pointing her wand at the spy. "That'll do. Lets go."
When they got to the street corner Ginny pulled out the blank piece of parchment that had arrived in the letter. She quietly muttered a few words, causing lines to start forming.
"What's that?" Michael asked curiously as Ginny started walking down the street towards the church, her eyes glued to the parchment.
On the map, it showed they were being followed and she gripped her wand tightly.
"It's a map," Ginny explained, before turning to send a stunner at the person following. Grabbing Michael's hand, she pulled him into an alcove between to houses and covered his mouth to stop him speaking.
Two people in black cloaks passed them, completely ignoring the person stunned in the middle of the sidewalk.
Ginny slipped out from the alcove and motioned for Michael to follow. She glanced down at her map, realising where the two cloaked people were headed.
"Stun the one on the right," Ginny whispered, pulling a hood over her face. Michael nodded and sent off a silent stunner in unison with Ginny.
Both of the men dropped to the ground.
"We don't have much time," Ginny said as she led Michael across the quiet street.
They walked into the cemetery attached to the Godric's Hollow church. Ginny began scanning the headstones for a familiar name. If the Elder Wand was truly hidden in Godric's Hollow, she had a pretty good guess as to where it would be and the map seemed to back that up.
"What are we looking for?" Michael asked. But Ginny simply shushed him in response, continuing through the cemetery. At the back where the oldest graves stood, she found three large tombs and used her gloved hand to brush the snow off of one of them.
Antioch Peverell
"We're really chasing down an old myth?" Michael asked in a surprised tone. "I thought there had to be something more to it."
"It's the only lead we have," Ginny hissed in response.
Ginny turned at the sound of clapping.
"Thank you , you really have done all the work for me." The map flew from Ginny's hands and into those of the newcomer.
"I don't think I've met your companion yet. I'm Tom Riddle. Honestly thank you so much for helping dear Ginny find her way here. But now you have to say goodbye." Tom waved his hand derisively. Ginny went to take a step but stopped when Tom interrupted her.
"I would watch your step if I was you." He gestured to the ground which began to crumble underneath their feet.
Ginny looked up and started assessing her choices, noticing a branch. She knew she'd be able to make the jump, but she wasn't sure if Michael would. It was quite a high branch, and he hadn't been trained like she had.
"When I tell you to jump, jump," Ginny whispered to Michael. She jumped up and latched onto the tree branch above her with both hands. She swung herself up and pointed her wand at Michael.
"Jump!" She yelled, casting Wingardium Leviosa to help him up. She floated him to the tree opposite her.
"Smart girl, but you're too late." Tom flicked his wand at Antioch's grave, causing the top piece to slide aside with a grating sound.
Instead of a body, which Ginny was at least partially expecting, despite the intel that told her differently, there was a staircase leading into the ground. She knew she needed to stop Tom from entering the tomb, but as she moved to leap down from the tree, he aimed his wand at her, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Don't even try it," he murmured, casting stunning spells at her. She managed to swing herself out of the way, but had to let go of the tree to dodge the last one. Landing badly, she clutched at her ankle, giving Tom the opening to catch her with Petrificus Totalus, leaving her paralysed on the ground.
Tom swiftly descended into the tomb, leaving Ginny and Michael behind. Michael had remained crouched in the tree, waiting for Tom to leave before climbing down and casting the counter spell.
"Well, that did not go according to plan," Ginny commented, casting a spell to stabilise her ankle, before cautiously making her way down the stairs with Michael following closely behind.
After what felt like hours of searching, they had found their way to the middle of the labyrinth that lay below Godric's Hollow. She assumed that the middle was where she would find the Elder Wand, and Tom had both a headstart and the map, putting her at a disadvantage.
Sure enough, when she peaked around a corner, Tom was standing in the centre of the maze, the Elder Wand in his grasp. He paid no mind to any of Antioch's other treasures, his attention clearly taken with the wand.
Ginny cast detection spells and was unsurprised to find the tomb center had been layered with various detection and protection spells. She quickly countered the spells, unwinding them from each other with skill that had taken her many years to learn. Once it was clear, she motioned for Michael to follow. They stepped out from behind the wall, wands drawn.
"Took you long enough," Tom said, attempting to distract them but the slight flick of his wrist didn't escape Ginny's notice. She responded to the movement with a shield charm, blocking the stunner sent her way.
"Quite perceptive, I see," Tom added, sending a second, more powerful volley towards her.
"I was trained well," Ginny responded, reaching slowly and almost imperceptibly behind her back.
"Too bad it didn't pay off." Tom raised the Elder Wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
Ginny ducked and the green light narrowly missed her. She quickly brought her arm from behind her back, throwing the knife she had in her hand. Seconds later, it was embedded in Tom's thigh.
He screamed out in pain, the wand falling to the floor as he clutched his leg. In his distraction, Michael took the opportunity to grab the wand from the floor.
Ginny quickly subdued Tom, tying him up securely before she turned to Michael.
"I need the wand." She held out her hand.
"Actually, I think I'll keep a hold of it. I mean, it's remarkable," Michael responded, twirling the Elder Wand between his fingers.
Ginny moved her wrist and silently cast a body binding spell on Michael.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured, as she pried the wand from his frozen fingers. "I can't let you do that, Michael."
She snapped the Elder Wand in half. No one should have that kind of power. She left one half sitting on the pestle it had been removed from. Unfreezing Michael, she Apparated away with the other half before he had a chance to react.
She found herself in an alleyway near the Thames. She quickly headed over to the river and tossed the rest of the wand in.
Mission complete.