The Shrieking Shack

Harry slipped the invisibility cloak off and passed it to Hermione, put who packed it into her bag. The group headed quietly up the stairs and down the hall toward the room where they could here hear muffled voices. They stopped for a moment at the door and exchanged a look to confirm that they were all ready. Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and looked at Ron and Hermione who already had theirs ready. He lifted his free hand to the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open.

"Hello Harry Potter." A familiar sly voice said. Four hooded men stood in front of him. The one who spoke wore a pompous smile on his oh too familiar face.

"Yaxley," Harry muttered to himself. He looked past the men to see Ginny and Mrs Weasley tied up and leaning against the room's back wall. "Ginny!" He called.

"Mum!" Ron called at the same time. The three teens stepped in the room. The Death Eaters watched with bemused expressions as Harry and Ron ran to Ginny and Molly, Hermione close behind

"Ginny!" Harry, said, crouching in front of her. He pulled her tightly into his arms. When he released her his hands remained resting on her shoulders. "Are you okay, is the baby okay?" Ginny nodded frantically. "What's wrong?" Harry asked. "Why aren't you talking?"

"It's a silencing charm," Hermione said, looking from Ginny to Mrs Weasley, who seemed to be in the same condition. She pointed her wand at Ginny and then at Mrs Weasley. "Loquius," she said, and Molly thanked her. Hermione looked reproachfully at the ropes restraining the mother and daughter, and banished them.

"Harry," Ginny said, pulling him toward her. She needed to kiss him; to feel his lips against hers; to feel safe again. She pressed a kiss on his lips. Harry pulled her tightly against him.

"Oh, how cute," One of the nameless Death Eaters called from across the room. "Go ahead, get as much of each other as you can. After today, you'll never be seeing each other again." He laughed.

Harry looked at Ginny as if to silently insure ensure that she was okay. She understood, and nodded. Harry jumped up and spun around on his heals heels to face the Death Eaters. "Well, you've got me here. What now?"

Something in the armchair stirred. Its back was to Harry, so he couldn't see it. "Well, look who finally woke up," Another nameless Death Eater said. He pointed his wand at her and banished the ropes.

"What-" The person asked confusedly. She stood up and looked around. Harry cursed under his breath when a glance at the woman's face gave away her identity. Her eyes landed on Harry. "Oh, Harry's finally arrived. I have to admit, I had my doubts." She smirked. A look of realization and memory flashed across her face. She stormed toward Molly. "You little bitch!" She said as she reached for her wand, which she did not find. "Where's my wand?" She shrieked.

A rather warped looking wand flew across the room from the hand of the third Death Eater and hit Bellatrix in the back. "Took it off the girl," he said. Bellatrix bent down to snatch it.

"Oh, I see," she sneered. "Now that your little boyfriend's here you think you're so brave." She laughed hysterically. "Well, let's see how brave you really are," She hissed. "Crucio!"

Ginny was suddenly overwhelmed with the most painful sensation that she had ever felt in her entire life. She cried and shrieked as the pain intensified. Bellatrix watched and laughed. Though it only took a split second for Harry to use 'Expelliarmus' and knock the wand out of the witch's hand, Ginny felt as though the pain was lasting an eternity. The pain was so intense that she felt sure that she was going to die. She watched as her life flashed before her eyes.

She was crying uncontrollably, thinking she'd lost her baby; she was cringing at the strong taste of strawberries; she was making love to Harry on New Years; kissing Harry for the first time on her birthday; fighting at the Department of mysteries; having her first kiss with Dean Thomas and wishing he was the boy she really wanted; listening in on Order meetings; visiting Egypt; being saved in the Chamber of Secrets; waking up from black outs; finding a strange diary in her bag; being sorted into Gryffindor; starting Hogwarts; meeting Harry Potter and feeling something she'd never felt before; watching her brothers go to Hogwarts and wishing she could go too; stealing her brothers' brooms and flying; being pranked by Fred and George; falling and scraping her knee and watching her mother heal it; she was three and crying because Ron had stolen her toy... All in one split second.

And then it was gone. Harry was at her side, pulling her up to stand. "Ginny, are you all right? It's gonna be okay. Can you here hear me?"

"I'm okay," Ginny replied, breathing heavily. "I'm okay now."

Her mother was now at her side as well. "Ginny!" she wailed. "Oh, my baby, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ginny said again. Ron and Hermione were with her now, too.

"Well that's one of you," Yaxley said. "But Harry won't be fine for very long."

Harry, remembering the plan, turned toward him. "If you're going to kill me, then kill me. What are you waiting for?"

"Stupid boy, I am not here to kill you, The Dark Lord wishes to have the pleasure of ending your life personally. No boy, we are here to ensure that you suffer as he did."

"Well you're wasting time, then." Harry said. He ran to stand in front of the Death Eater and pointed his wand.

"Crucio!" Yaxley shouted.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted back. The beams which shot from their wands hit each other and made loud cracking sounds as each spell tried to beat out the other.

The whole room was captured by the sight of it. It was exactly the kind of distraction Hermione was waiting for. "Ginny," she said. Ginny tore her eyes away to look at her. "Can you leave now?"

"No, the walls are jinxed and if I go through the door I'll lose the baby."

"I figured they would do something like that," Hermione said, rifling through her bag. "That's why I brought this." She pulled out a black kettle. "It's a portkey," Hermione said unnecessarily. "Dumbledore gave it to me. Come on, grab a hold of it. Mrs Weasley, come here. You too."

"Are you all coming with us?" Ginny asked, pressing her hand against the kettle. Sparks flew in the background as Harry's and the Yaxley's spells broke apart. They soon began shooting various curses at each other. Molly was now with them, grabbing onto the kettle.

"No," Hermione said.

"What? No, I'm not leaving without you guys." She pulled her hand off of the portkey and looked over at Harry who was still duelling, and her brother, who had just joined in the fray.

"Ginny, we can handle it. We have a plan. Getting you out of here is part if of it, now come on, grab on." Hermione said impatiently. She glanced at her watch. "Five thirty. It's about to activate,"

"No- I,"

"Thirty seconds," Hermione stated.

"Come on, dear," Molly said.

"No, I have to stay."

"Ginny!" Hermione nearly shouted. "This isn't about us. We'll figure it out. This is about you! This is why we're here! You need to get out of here now or we'd all be risking our lives for nothing. Now grab onto the portkey!"

"Hey, what in the name of Merlin is going on over there?" One of the Death Eaters shouted.

"Someone will be waiting for you when you get there, now, GO!" Hermione shouted.

Ginny reluctantly grabbed on to the portkey. "Good luck," she said. "Be safe!"

Hermione nodded, looking quickly at Bellatrix and one of the Death Eaters, both of whom were now advancing toward them. "In three...two...one."

And the kettle, along with Molly and Ginny Weasley, disappeared.

xxx

Ginny and her mother were spinning through a vortex of light and colour, with their their hands glued to the portkey. They could see the ground rushing toward them. They landed on the ground just outside the Shrieking Shack with a light thud, and could instantly here hear the footsteps of the people running toward them.

"Ginny! Molly!" A familiar voice called. It took Ginny a moment to decipher who the speaker was. "Dad?" she called.

They were suddenly being stared down at by her father and Mad Eye. Before she knew it, Ginny was being lifted to her feet and hugged by her father. In the frantic flurry of Mad Eye Moody's questions about whether or not she was okay, and what kind of things they're dealing with in there, Ginny nodded and glanced quickly at her mother, who was wrapped tightly in the arms of her teary eyed father, who was saying, "I thought I lost you," over and over again.

"Did they hurt you?" Her father asked. "Is the baby okay?"

"No, I'm not hurt, well, they used the Cruciatus curse on me, but I'm fine now..." Her father gasped and moved in closer to her. "And I think the baby's okay. I should probably see a healer though. Anyways, you need to help Harry, Ron and Hermione. They are still in there! They're fighting off the Death Eater's by themselves!"

"Do they need us in there?" Arthur asked.

"Isn't that what the girl just said?" Mad Eye said gruffly. "Come on, let's go."

"Easy Mad Eye," said Molly. "Maybe we should-"

There was a loud cracking sound coming from the house, followed by a moment of silence, then an even louder boom. Smoke poured out of the cracks in the boarded up windows. The Weasleys plus Mad Eye, all looked up with horrified expressions.

"That's bad news," Mad Eye said. He looked at Arthur, then to Molly. "Molly, take Ginny, go somewhere safe. We'll go lend a hand in there."

Molly nodded, leading her daughter away from the house.

"Let's get in there," Mad Eye said, and he and Arthur starting at a run into the building.