Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Ginny's D.A.

Chapter 11 – The Chamber

Upon realizing where she was, she shivered and let out a small gasp. It was enough. She heard footsteps coming toward her, and a male voice she'd never heard before saying, "Good, Weasley, you're awake." He kicked her right side. She kept her mouth closed. "Where's Harry Potter?"

"I don't know," she replied, glaring.

"Crucio!" he shouted, and then pain unlike anything Ginny had ever felt before shot through her. For the first time, she was glad she didn't know where Harry was, because she didn't know how much of this she would be able to take without answering his questions.

After what seemed like days of writhing in agony (actually about two minutes), she heard a familiar voice next to her shout. "Stop it, you monster! She doesn't know!"

"Good," the Death Eater responded. "Longbottom, you're awake. Let's see how you hold up under the cruciatus. I heard your parents didn't last very long. Crucio!"

As she heard Neville scream in pain, Ginny knew she had to do something. She decided to use the only advantage she had. While Neville was writhing in agony, Ginny transformed into a cougar, easily breaking the bands that had bound her. She violently jumped on the surprised Death Eater, mauling him to death as he screamed, and then she ran toward the other side of the room, making sure to become a difficult target by moving around as quickly as the cougar could run.

She saw and heard curses thrown at her, but most missed. She felt pain from what was apparently a cutting curse grazing her back. This only fed her fury as she jumped on the closest enemy. Slashing a throat with one claw and slashing the wand hand with the other, she sprinted at the only other enemy in the room. She pushed the feelings of nausea that her actions were causing her to the back of her mind, focusing only on escape. She heard the word, "Avada…" being yelled as she jumped at her prey, knocking the wand out of her hand before the curse could be completed.

When that Death Eater had finally eaten death, Ginny changed back into her normal form and grabbed the wands that had belonged to her fallen enemies. She then used one of the wands to silently light up the room. She shivered as she looked around, but then forced herself to focus. She walked over to where she'd been tied, and saw Neville still shaking a bit from his torture, and Luna lying unconscious with a black eye. She quickly innervated Luna and after freeing them, helped them both up, handing them each a wand. Neville whispered, "You're an Animagus! When did you learn that?"

"McGonagall helped me learn this year."

"Oh. Anyway, I know where they put our wands. I was conscious when they brought me here. They're hidden in the bathroom that leads to this place. I didn't know this place was here. Do you have any idea what this place is?"

"Yes," whispered Ginny, "This is the Chamber of Secrets. Follow me."

Ginny changed back into a cougar, to use her enhanced senses and agility, and went ahead.

Just before the entrance, she saw a few more people in cloaks and masks ahead of her, just at the entrance. She silently changed forms, put up a shield, and fired full body-binds at them, one right after the other. The first one didn't even raise his wand before falling. The other one managed to graze Ginny's left shoulder with a hex. She waited about thirty seconds before Neville and Luna caught up, taking in her surroundings.

She noticed two broomsticks on the ground, presumably the way the Death Eaters got out of there. When her friends showed up, she whispered, "I'll take one broom, and you two take the other. "We'll put up our shields, and I'll fly ahead, cursing anyone I find in the room." She didn't wait for an answer as she mounted the nearest broom. She was working on pure adrenaline. She smiled slightly as she noticed that the broom was a Firebolt. She thought to herself, "Tom steals nothing but the best," as she took off, holding the broom with one hand and pointing her wand with the other.

She was surprised to see no one in the bathroom, not even Moaning Myrtle. She locked the door with her wand, and started checking the stalls, looking for their confiscated wands. She found all three of them in a toilet with the handles sticking out of the clear water. She grabbed them, and was rinsing them out at the sink, looking at her reflection in a mirror when Luna and Neville unskillfully arrived.

Ginny commented, "I look like Hell," noticing the her disheveled, filthy hair, not to mention her dirty face, her cuts and bruises, as well as her torn quidditch uniform. She decided to at least wash her face while she was there.

"Actually," corrected Luna, "you look like you've just escaped from Hell." Ginny gave her friend a quick glare and continued washing up. Both Neville and Luna decided to join her.

Neville mentioned, "I guess you never heard how bad I am on a broomstick. I thought everyone knew. If it wasn't for my bad luck in our first flying lesson, Harry wouldn't have made it to the quidditch team in his first year," he proudly proclaimed.

She chuckled slightly, "Now that you mention it, I believe Ron did write about that. Anyway, here are your wands, but keep the others for spares."

Luna asked, "shouldn't we block this passage so that they can't keep prisoners down there? All the rat skeletons and dirt, not to mention the mangrentas, make it a really bad prison."

Ginny pointed her wand at the opened entrance, and the floor around the hole seemed to stretch until the hole had been sealed. Ginny said, "Hopefully, reopening that hole won't be worth the trouble to Tom. Now, we've got to get out of here and find out what's going on. Wormtail has probably told Tom about the secret passages out of the castle, so they wouldn't be secret anymore. I wonder if that's how he got inside. Is everyone ready?" Both her friends nodded. "Then, let's go." She pointed her wand at the bathroom door, and it opened.

Ginny slowly stuck her head out the door and looked all around. Not seeing anyone, she signaled for the others to follow. She was carrying one broom, while Luna carried the other. Ginny whispered, "I wish I had Harry's cloak," to herself as she crept along the hallway, not sure of where she was headed. Upon hearing some movement ahead of her, she half-jumped into a dark classroom. As Neville and Luna joined her, she realized they were not alone. There were at least four people in the room with them.

"Miss Weasley," came a familiar whisper toward her.

Ginny would recognize that voice, whispered or not, anywhere. "P-Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes, I'm here with Professors Tonks, Flitwick, and Sprout. I'm afraid Professors Trelawney and Vector have been killed. The remaining students have been locked together in the Slytherin dorm. I'm not sure about anyone else. When I saw you taken, I was sure you would be killed."

"They wanted to interrogate me about Harry's whereabouts. I guess they also wanted to interrogate Neville and Luna. When I woke up, I surprised them with my furry little friend and we managed to escape."

Ginny could barely see anything, but she knew McGonagall was smiling. "I'm glad you're furry little friend has already been of use. We may need her again, very soon."

Chapter end