Solutions and Hallucinations

"YOU DID WHAT?"

For the first time in twenty years, Greyback found himself quivering at the fierceness of the masked-one's voice. He sat in the corner of the room, his clothes torn and his bodily scent reeking of blood from the tumultuous murder he had just committed a mere five hours ago; a murder that obviously did not sit too well with his masked master.

"I sent you after the Weasley girl and the Potter brat! No one else!" The masked man towered over Greyback, blocking what little light was in the room.

"B-b-but s-s-sir"

"Enough!" he shouted. "HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME!" whipping out his wand, he aimed it and screamed "Crucio!"

Although Greyback was massive in both his human and werewolf form, the force and anger laden behind the curse was enough to make him writhe in pain. Over and over again his masked-master tortured him, repeating the Cruciatus Curse for what seemed like a hundred times, until finally he stopped and Greyback lay sprawled on the floor, his limbs slightly jerking and his face contorted in a silent scream.

"You are one of my most valuable assets, Greyback." The man's voice had returned to the eerie calmness expected from him. "I cannot afford to lose you but if you disobey my orders once more," he paused and gave a stern piercing look that was unmistakable, even through the mask, "I'll be forced to get rid of you."

Greyback finally spoke and said, "I understand, sir."

"No, I don't think you do." The man walked away and sat at his desk. "With another Weasley dead, the war will continue. And that's all well and fine but what happens when the truth that you attacked both a Potter and a Weasley comes out?" He paused, staring at Greyback again. "What will happen is that there will be an inquiry, and all tracks lead to you and evidently to me. We can't have that now can we?"

"No, sir." Greyback stood up. "I'll fix it, sir."

"Right you will. And you better hope that Draco is able to do some damage control on his part."

The masked-man watched as Greyback staggered out of the room before sending a bottle of fire whiskey flying towards the door.

"Sir," a timid voice spoke from behind the door. "You're wanted at work. An owl was just sent explaining why."

The man stood up and walked towards the door, wrenching it open and pushing the house elf aside, grabbing the scrap of parchment he was holding.

It was a shame. Here he was a powerful and influential wizard and yet he was still at the beckoning call of others. 'Not for long' he thought. It was only a matter of time before things changed and he was in his rightful place. Only a matter of time.

Ginny remained quiet the entire way; she was still too angry at her father and at Percy's ignorance to say anything. Instead, she busied herself with analyzing where they were going. She struggled but couldn't remember this part of the house for anything. It was a lot colder and quieter than the rest of the house and there were all sorts of wizards and witches scrambling back and forth, probably authorities who had come to deal with Bill's murder.

She swallowed hard when she noticed that Ron had slowed and came to a halt in front of a room. There were two wizards standing outside who stared down at them.

"This is our sister, Ginny," Ron said calmly. "She wants to see Bill."

"No one is allowed in until the coroner has arrived." The taller of the two stepped forward and folded his arms.

"Yeah," Ron said, pointing his wand at him threateningly, "Well I say differently. Move!"

The two wizards looked at each other and stepped aside. "Five minutes," they said, trying to maintain some level of authority.

Ginny nodded and walked past them, reaching for the door. "Can I at least have some privacy?" The two men scowled but left nonetheless.

"I'll be just down the hall when you're done."

Ginny nodded and said, "Ok", before opening the door.

A wave of cool air welcomed her and she closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a few moments before advancing further into the room. It was a dark, cool room. There were cloths hanging over the windows and only a few candles were lit, casting dreary shadows on the wall. It wasn't until her eyes adjusted to the dimness that she noticed the mass lying in the middle of the room.

She approached slowly and stopped when she was a few inches away. There was Bill, lying on a low, wooden table. His body was covered in a white cloth with the bottom of his feet showing slightly. The cloth was darkened with blood in some places, mostly to the top where his face was. Ginny swallowed and gently pulled the sheet down, revealing Bill's face and the top part of his chest. Both were badly scarred and covered in dried blood.

"Oh, Bill."

Ginny covered her mouth and then lightly touched Bill's shoulder. His body was cold and she could trace the scars perfectly because of how deep they were.

"I'm so sorry, Bill." Ginny felt hot tears develop in her eyes. "I can't believe it. I never thought the day would come when you of all people would -". She stopped and sighed. "We've been through so much you and me. You were my favorite big brother. You always stood up for me whenever Ron or Fred and George tried to bully me." She wiped her eyes after one hot tear escaped.

"I remember that one time when Fred and George were practicing the hover charm and tried to dangle me over the lake, but it backfired and they dropped me and it was you who came rushing to my rescue. You were a whole lot angrier than mom was; practically chocked Fred to death that day." Ginny managed a light chuckle.

"I don't know what's going to happen. This war is probably only going to get worse now." Ginny shook her head. "Dad refuses to see reason. He just won't listen to anyone but himself, and well Percy, of course." She bent down and whispered.

"I'm so scared, Bill. I just can't shake the feeling that this war is going to end with everyone dying. I'm trying my hardest to stop it. You of all people would understand my desperation. I know I shouldn't be working with him but Harry understands my plea and wants this war to stop just as badly as I do." She paused and stared at her beloved brother. "I wish you were here, Bill."

Ginny rested her head on Bill's shoulder and sighed, trying greatly to accept that her brother was dead.

Just then, she felt a prickle on her neck and a soft voice whispered, "Ginny."

She shot up and looked around. "Who-Who's there?" A strong wind brushed over her and knocked her back.

"How could you be such a traitor?" the voice shouted but Ginny still saw no one.

"He's no good, Ginny." Another gust of wind brushed her from behind and she spun to see nothing but the blank wall. "You're a traitor, Ginny! A traitor!"

"Stop it!" she cried. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Just then, someone gripped her and she spun around, staring squarely into Bill's dismantled face. "Bill?" she whispered under her breath.

"How could you, Ginny? I needed you! But where were you? Off with some git who's using you!" Bill jumped off the table, still holding tightly on Ginny's wrist. "You betrayed me, Ginny; you betrayed us all! You should've been there to help me! You could have saved me!"

"I didn't know," Ginny pleaded, tears streaming heavily now. "I swear! I'm sorry, Bill."

"Liar! You're not sorry!" He pulled the sheet off of him. "Look at what he did to me! You could have stopped this, Ginny! You should have been there!"

Bill's eyes went red and his grip tightened. His entire body was covered with werewolf bites, blood oozing from them as if they were fresh wounds. Ginny felt her own skin start to tear at the spot where Bill was holding her and watched frantically as blood escaped. She yanked against his hold but he was too strong for her.

"Let me go!"

"You're not going anywhere!" Bill's voice mixed with the other two voices she had heard. "You're a traitor! A traitor! A traitor!"

The entire room started to get cloudy and Ginny's fear rose higher and higher. She pulled and pulled, thinking only of getting away. Finally she managed to wriggle herself free of Bill's grip and ran for the door. She grabbed the knob, turned it, and wrenched the door open. She ran out the room with so much force that she collided with the wall outside, but she kept going. The voices kept screaming in her head but she kept running. As she banked another corner she collided with a body and fell to the ground, screaming.

"No! Let me go! Go away!" Ginny struggled with whoever she had collided with because they had tried to grab her hands.

"Ginny! Ginny! It's Ron!"

Ginny stopped struggling and looked up to see her brother kneeling in front of her. She stopped fighting and collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily.

"What happened?"

"I didn't mean - I'm so sorry – I didn't want – Bill – and the voices – and I just -" She spoke so quickly and frantically that she was making no sense at all. "I don't mean to be a traitor. I just want it to stop." She broke down and started to cry, curling into a ball as Ron comforted her.

Then, she jumped up suddenly and started pointing. "Bill. He's not dead. He's alive!"

"Ginny, I know you're upset but there's no way -"

"I'm serious!" Ginny grabbed Ron's hand and lead him back to the room. She pointed at the door. "Look."

Ron, still staring at Ginny, opened the door and then peered inside. "I only see Bill lying on the table."

"What?" Ginny pushed past Ron and looked inside. The room was exactly how it was when she had first walked inside. Had she been hallucinating? Was it all just her imagination?

"Ginny, what's going on?"

Ginny didn't know how to say, or better yet what to say. She could have sworn that something had happened in that room; that Bill was alive and had confronted her, practically threatened her. Suddenly, she remembered something and looked down at her wrist, expecting to see a cut and blood but nothing was there.

"Ginny -"

"Ginny!" Hermione burst into the room, panting from running all the way down to where they were. "I'm sorry for the intrusion but we have to go. Mrs. Pompey saw the mess we left the studio in and is angry beyond words!" She stopped talking and looked at Ginny and Ron, noticing the distant expressions. "Is something wrong?"

Ginny looked at her and shook her head. "No. We better go." She took Hermione's hand and headed out the door. "I'll be back a little later, Ron."

"But -"

"I'll explain later, Ron," Ginny said, hugging him. "I promise. Bye."

Ron nodded and watched as Ginny and Hermione headed back down the passageway and disappeared around the corner. He looked back into the room and then closed the door. What could have possibly happened to cause Ginny to be so hysterical? And what mess did they leave at the studio? Ron never liked it when he didn't know what was going on. And he always found a way to figure it out.