A/N: Hey, I just wanted to say before you started reading that I'm going to be taking a bit of a break for a while. With my Christmas break coming up, I'm going to be taking some time off not only to visit family and stuff, but to catch up with myself. I want to be on top of things and at the moment I don't feel that way, so please be patient and understand that I need some time to get my thoughts together and stuff. This DOES NOT mean that I won't finish the stories. I will finish them. I just need some time to get a few chapters ahead of where I am right now so that I feel like I'm really getting somewhere.
Thanks for understanding!
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. -Unknown
Hermione followed Ron down the stairs and into the kitchen where quite a few people were gathered. Before she had a chance to really identify any of them her vision was blocked by long brown hair and a sob that brought more pain to Hermione than any car crash ever could.
"Mum!" she whispered, hugging the person back as hard as she could while her father came up beside her. When her mother pulled away, she gave her father a hug as well, her heart breaking even more when she saw tears come to her father's eyes. "I'm so sorry!" Hermione cried. "I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted-"
"It's okay, Hermione," her mother cut in, hugging her again. "We're just so glad that you're okay. We heard about the car accident and we saw Curtis when you came in! There was so much blood! We didn't know if you would be okay!"
"Mum, it's my fault! I didn't…" Hermione drifted off when she caught sight of Curtis, standing in the corner with Remus. He looked a little worse for wear. "Oh Curtis! Are you okay?" she asked, sill clinging to her mother. "Were you hurt?"
Curtis went over and placed a hand on her shoulder, watching her carefully.
"Better than you," he whispered. "Are you okay?"
Hermione shook her head, pulling away from her parents and leaning into him, burying her face in his chest.
"I don't know," she sobbed. "Everything's gone wrong…"
Ron felt his heart constrict a little at the sight of her in the young man's arms and he turned, leaving the kitchen quietly.
"Ron."
He looked over to the living room to see his father standing there, ashen and grave.
"Yeah dad," Ron responded weakly, moving over to the door of the living room.
"Are you okay?"
Ron snorted, leaning against the wall in exhaustion.
"I don't know… Angelina's gone… Harry's missing… Ginny's missing…" he muttered, fading out when his mind flashed back to what he had just witnessed in the kitchen. Mr. Weasley observed his son with concern. He was still wearing the bloody clothes that he had had on when Hermione had come in and he was looking extremely sick. He placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and frowned when the young man actually wobbled a little.
"Ron, you need to get some rest. You're wearing yourself out," he said.
Ron shook his head.
"I'm fine. I got about twenty minutes upstairs after the Healer left," he muttered before he closed his eyes as a sudden wave of lightheadedness overtook him. Mr. Weasley frowned.
"Ron, you really should-"
"What's going on with Snape?" Ron gritted out through clenched teeth, not wanting to get into an argument with his father.
Mr. Weasley sighed.
Ron had always tried to prove himself to others and over the past few days, especially with Hermione and Harry gone, he had been pushing himself harder than his body had time to recover for and it had been starting to show in the past couple of days. Arthur also knew that it was no use arguing with Ron.
His youngest son was a determined young man.
He got that from his mother.
Sighing again, he glanced behind him into the living room where Snape, Moody and Dumbledore were talking quietly with Tonks standing near by. Moody looked upset, as always, but Snape had a surprisingly unhinged look in his eyes.
"We lost Stephanie Warner earlier this morning," he said.
"What?"
Mr. Weasley looked over at his son.
"Warner switched her Overseer from Snape to someone else who happens to work for Voldemort… Dumbledore hasn't told the Ministry yet," he muttered. "If he does, he'll have to hand over Snape."
Ron frowned.
"Why would Stephanie-"
"It doesn't matter why, Ron. What does matter is that it happened and now Voldemort can use her… he could find Harry before we do."
Ron visibly paled, but stood straighter against the wall.
"We still can't find him?"
Arthur knew that this was eating away at his son. It was eating away at all of them. They knew Voldemort did not have him yet; that was for certain. But the fact that he had not yet surfaced gave them little comfort.
"We're searching Ron, but we have to be very careful about this. If the wizarding world finds out that we've lost Harry Potter again then things are going to look very bad," he told his son. "This all has to be done delicately."
"What about Ginny?" Ron asked quickly.
At that, Ron's father's face drained of all color at the thought of his only daughter.
"I…" his voice cracked and it took him a moment to get it together. "Dumbledore assures me that Voldemort will not harm her until he gets Harry… and since we know he doesn't have Harry-"
"Dad, do you honestly think that's going to work for long?" Ron asked incredulously. "If Voldemort doesn't get Harry soon he'll start baiting him and then he'll hurt Ginny. He knows Harry will come if she's hurt."
Mr. Weasley took a shaky breath and tried to calm his nerves.
"Let's hold on to the faith that she'll get out of there before anything happens…"
Ron looked around the grim area, eyes darkening.
"Mum still at the hospital with Fred?" he asked bleakly.
Mr. Weasley nodded, the pain of his twin son showing prominently in his eyes. Things had gone from bad to worse with Fred ever since he'd found out about Angelina. The poor young man had been inconsolable and even George had to stop trying after a while. In the end, the twin ended up crying on the ground, his mother holding him as his world crashed beneath him. Bill, Charlie and Percy had been called away by the Ministry and Ron had been forced to stay at home after he had almost collapsed from pain and exhaustion at the hospital. Luna and Neville had accompanied Ron's oldest brothers at the Ministry. Alicia had been released and after a hasty and cold goodbye to George, she had gone to her parents' home to make sure they were okay, leaving George with no doubt that he would not be seeing her for a very long time. Lee Jordon and Katie Bell showed up at the hospital a short while after the attack and had sat with George silently while Fred continued to lose it.
"Arthur."
Mr. Weasley and Ron looked into the living room to see the fireplace burning bright green before Kingsley stepped out.
"Alastor, we have a situation in London," he said in his deep voice.
"What's going on?" Moody asked while the others approached the tall Auror.
"Death Eaters are approaching the Muggleborn district. We've sent people ahead but with this sort of attack we're going to need every one we can get," he explained quickly, glancing over at Mr. Weasley and Ron. "They think Harry's hiding there."
Dumbledore shook his head.
"They don't know he's missing."
Kingsley nodded, pointing towards the front door angrily.
"Yes, but they saw him leave here, Albus," he snapped. "They know he's not here!"
"So they're attacking the Muggleborn district… why?"
Ron went tense instantly.
"Hermione. They knew Hermione was staying in the district so they figured Harry must have been," he said quickly.
Moody shook his head.
"Well it doesn't matter now. Come on, all of you. Remus!" he called towards the kitchen.
Mr. Weasley shook his head, grabbing Ron by the shoulder before he could get to the fire place.
"I don't think so. You're not going out there," he snapped.
Ron shrugged his father off, shaking his head.
"You heard Kingsley, Dad. They're going to need all the help they can get! I have to go and help!"
"You're not going!"
Ron narrowed his eyes.
"I'm of age, Dad, you can't stop me from going," he growled.
"You're not well, Ron," Mr. Weasley hissed. "You're not focused on the right thing-"
"Arthur, he's coming," Moody growled, grabbing a hold of Ron's arm and yanking him over to the fireplace before turning to Snape. "You better hope Stephanie hasn't cracked yet or we're all screwed!"
"WE'VE GOT HER!"
Ginny looked up from what she was doing when the cheering started around Hogsmeade. She bit her lip, shivering terribly as the cold snow drifts past through the tool shed slates. The fact that they had removed her coat and shoes did not help her current condition in the slightest.
She moved to the front of the shed and peered through the slit in the door. Beyond the guards at the door she could see the town beyond the house nearby. There were many Death Eaters around, cheering and pointing at something she could not see.
She watched her breath crystallize in front of her as she sighed before she moved to the back of the shed again. She kneeled down to peer through the small hole she had managed to make in the corner of the shed. She could see the snow falling heavily to the ground, covering the backyard she was in and the forest beyond.
After five hours of working on it, she had only made it big enough for her head to get through. Not that she hadn't been working hard, she had bloody fingers to prove that she had; the problem was that her fingers had become so numb from the freezing cold that her progress had slowed significantly. She also had to do some other distracting things so that the guards outside would not get curious as to her occasional gasp of pain and then longstanding silence.
She had created a castle out of the firewhiskey bottles left by Hogwarts students and gardening potions she had found on various shelves in the shed. She had also attracted a lot of attention to the front of the shed when she tried to break the door with a shovel. That had not ended well for her.
Let's just say that when she woke up a couple of hours later, her coordination was not the only thing that was off for a while.
Ginny reached up and gingerly touched the gash at the back of her head. The wound had stopped bleeding a while ago because of the cold, but it still ached. She sighed again as she reached out and began pulling at the wood, trying to make the hole bigger.
She had tried to escape earlier and it had not worked out so well. It was when they had still been in the woods and somehow she had managed to get off the train. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Voldemort was getting on the train so that he could go to Hogwarts and she had run right into him.
A very frightening thing.
She had not been punished for escaping. But her guards were.
They're probably at the bottom of the river by now, she thought bitterly as she tore off a small piece of wood. She examined her fingers briefly and pulled out a particularly large splinter from her bleeding fingertips.
"Who do you think her Overseer is?" one of her guards asked.
"I think it's Malfoy, lucky bastard," the other guard said. He then snorted. "Figures, since Snape was her original one."
This caught Ginny's attention.
She moved away from the hole again and leaned her ear against the door, biting her lip to hold back the jolt of pain that came from her injury.
"The traitor. I don't know why the Dark Lord trusted him for so long. Sleeping with a silly little telepathic," the first guard muttered darkly.
The other one laughed.
"Have you seen that silly little telepathic? She's hot," he said with a hint of lust in his voice. "Curves in all the right places, just like Weasley in there," he added.
Ginny pulled away from the door, her stomach churning sickeningly. She wobbled a little when her head became a little light before she leaned back in to listen some more.
"Humph! Sure, but we can't touch either of them, can we? I don't know why the Dark Lord's so interested in keeping little Miss Bitchy all untouched. She's Potter's girl, I don't know why we have to show her any sort of respect," the first man grumbled.
"You've seen what he'll do if you touch her," the second guy hissed. "The Dark Lord fried the last guards."
"So! I haven't had any for months and that little bitch is pushing my buttons because she knows we can't touch her! I just want a chance to push some of her buttons and see how she likes it," the first guy growled.
Ginny suddenly started trembling more than usual and pulled away from the door, not wanting to listen anymore.
She had seen the way her guards had looked at her over the past few days and her only comfort was that Voldemort had worse plans for her…
She sighed, looking down at her fingers.
So much for only comfort…
She moved back to the hole and began working on it again, but that time she got up way to fast, her head became very light and she ended up tripping over herself. She hit a shelf and a couple of extra bottles of fertilizing potions crashed to the ground. She let out a small cry when a few shards dug into her hand.
"What the hell is she doing now?" she head one of the guards ask.
"I swear to God, I'm going to break her," the other one growled.
Ginny's eyes widened and she quickly moved, shoving a large crate into the corner, effectively blocking the hole before she pulled out the castle she had made earlier and pushed it towards the broken glass. She picked up a couple of rags from the shelf and wrapped around her bleeding hands and fingers. Ginny had just grabbed another bottle when the door opened and the two guards came in, Death Eater masks on. She took a small step backward, wobbling a little and blinking rapidly.
"What?" she snapped.
They removed their masks and looked around suspiciously. The first guard approached her, his eyes roving over her trembling body with obvious lust.
"You causing trouble again?" he asked.
Ginny pointed to the castle, which was the only thing that was between her and some serious physical and possibly emotional damage.
"I'm bored," she replied heatedly. "Do you expect me to just sit around and twiddle my thumbs?"
The second guy eyed the castle carefully.
"Among other things," he said, looking up at her. "Cold?"
They saw her jaw set as she placed her hands on her hips and took another step backwards as the first guard approached her again.
"It's snowing outside and this place is like Swiss cheese, what do you think?" she snapped. Her stomach did another nauseating flip flop when her back hit the shed wall. She noticed a glint of want in the man's eyes and she held up her rag covered hand.
The man smirked.
"How'd you like to get warm?"
Ginny tried to put on a brave front while she started to panic internally.
"How'd you like to get your arse kicked by your boss when he finds out you screwed me?" she growled.
The second guard pointed his wand at her.
"You've always been a bit too mouthy," he snarled. "How about we shut you up?"
Ginny grabbed the closest bottle of potions and lobbed it at the first guard. The man dodged the bottle and lunged at Ginny, snatching her by the throat and slamming her into the wall, causing the wound on the back of her head to start bleeding again. The man leaned into her ear, his hot breath on her cold skin bringing more nauseating feelings into her body.
"I'm going to make you scream for me to stop," hissed into her ear, pressing himself against her.
"Let go of me!" she screamed. "Let go!"
"Not until I get what I want," he growled.
Ginny spit in his face.
"There!" she snapped. "Now let go!"
"Bitch!"
He swung her around and slammed her into the shelf, spilling potions all over the place as she let out a cry of pain. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her over so that she was on her back in the glass. Ginny reached out and clawed at his eyes. He swore and hit her in the face with the butt of his wand, stunning her effectively.
"Hold her down," he hissed to the other guy. "I'm going to enjoy myself."
The second guard grabbed her hands while the man on top of her reached down and ripped open her shirt, causing her to let out a terrified cry.
"Hold still you little bitch!" he growled.
"Avada Kerdava!"
Ginny screamed as the man who had held her hands down fell to the floor, dead. She pulled herself out from under him, clutching her torn shirt as tightly around her shaking body as possible as she looked up to see Voldemort standing there for three other guards. The first guy stood up, eyes wide and face pale.
"My Lord… I was just-"
"SHUT UP!"
Everything fell silent. Even the wind outside seemed to quiet down at the sound of Voldemort's enraged voice. His snake like eyes fell upon the guard, burning into the man's soul.
"I know the temptation is very great, but I will ask you one more time not to touch her. Do it again and the next thing you'll be screwing is yourself," he hissed.
The man fell to his knees.
"My Lord, thank you," he mumbled along with some other adulations to the evil before him. Ginny watched in disgust as he blubbered and thanked Voldemort profusely. Voldemort had the same expression on his face.
"Get that out of there," Voldemort hissed, eyeing Ginny and her shredded shirt. He then looked at the randy guard. "Get back to your post!" The man stumbled out of the door and went to the side of the shed. She heard a thump against the wall and she let out a whimper. Voldemort's eyes fell on her once again and she covered her body with her quivering arms, lowering her eyes from his. She knew he was reading her mind and she tried to think of anything besides the hole in the wall and Harry.
Unfortunately, Harry was the first thing that came to her mind and she gasped when a certain memory popped up.
"If the vampires decide to join Voldemort, they're going to kill us!" Ginny yelled. "We're going to die!"
"Ginny, why are you acting like this?!" Harry demanded. "You're scaring everyone!"
"Because I don't want to lose you!" Ginny bellowed before she fell completely silent, staring at Harry with a shocked look on her face. Everyone else held their breath as they waited for Harry to respond, though by the shocked look on his face, it seemed unlikely that he would.
But he did move. He took a quick step towards Ginny and gathered her in his arms, holding her tightly as she broke down sobbing in his arms.
"I can't lose you, Harry," she whispered. "Not now."
Harry looked completely petrified now as he held her close, kissing her brow.
"You're not going to lose me, Gin," he whispered into her hair. "I won't let that happen…"
Ginny gasped again as pain swept from the gash on her head down her back. She opened her eyes and saw Voldemort watching her carefully before he turned to a small crowd that had formed outside. He moved out of the doorway so that they could all see Ginny inside. He pointed at her.
"If anyone touches her again, I'll make sure that you all suffer."
With that said he moved off and disappeared into the snowstorm that had now made the town of Hogsmeade almost impossible to see. After the bodies had been removed from the shed, four more guards took up post at the shed, slamming the door in Ginny's face.
Ginny looked down at what was left of her shirt before she moved to the door to look out. She could see two of the guards standing by the door, but beyond that she could not see anything anymore. The snowstorm was too bad.
Biting her lip, she crawled to the back of the shed, shoved the crate out of the way and began tearing at the wooden boards desperately. She would stop occasionally to see if the guards outside had noticed, but all she could hear was the howling of the wind coming through the boards.
When she got a hole in the wall that she knew was big enough for her, she stuck her head out and checked to see if someone was around. Biting her lip, she pulled her head back in and shoved the crate in front of the hole before she looked around the shed for something. After her little stunt with the shovel, they had removed all of the tools from the shed. She would have to resort to using the broken bottle glass.
She snatched one up from the floor and tucked it in her jeans before she went to the door.
"Um… I'm really cold in here," she whispered. "Could I get a jacket?"
She heard the man who had attacked her before snort and she heard movement outside of the door.
"Don't fall for it. The little bitch'll get you in trouble," he hissed. He slammed his fist against the door, causing her to fall back a little before she narrowed her eyes and she moved back to the door, tapping on it a little.
"I'm sorry," she whispered urgently. She tried to think of something that would get him in here. "I've never been with anyone before and you scared me…" She bit her lip and closed her eyes. "Harry never had the… balls to try to make love to me… He's not a real man…"
There was another snort.
"Damn right he's not a real man," someone muttered under their breath.
Ginny glanced over at the hole in the wall. She could tell that the storm was getting worse and with the clothes she was wearing, or lack thereof, she would not be able to last long if she stalled for any longer.
"I'm really cold… I promise not to make a sound… I just… I need someone to keep me warm… And Voldemort… you can't let him have all the fun," she whispered, disgusted with herself for saying such words. But she needed him to come inside.
"You're not going to fall for that are you?" one of the other guards asked. "She'll get you in trouble."
She heard snow crunch and the door shifted a little.
"Don't worry. This time I'll silence her," the guard hissed before opening the door. Ginny stumbled back as he entered and shut the door. She bit her lip, seeing the lust in the man's eyes. She stood up and pressed herself to the back wall, glancing over to the crate. However before she could make a move he had her against the wall, his lips on her clammy skin. His hands moved down to her jeans, unzipping them quickly before he pressed his wand to her neck.
"I'm going to make you forget who Potter even is," he growled into her neck, his wand digging into her skin. Ginny let out a gasp before he murmured something and her voice was gone. She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt her jeans being pulled off. She managed to slip the piece of glass out of them before they hit her ankles and he started working on her already torn shirt. "I'm going to have fun with this," his hands moving forcefully up her leg to her hip, pulling her closer to him than she ever wanted to be.
Suddenly he staggered away from her, falling into the shelf as he clutched the piece of glass that protruded from his neck. Ginny pressed herself to the wall as he began to choke up blood, falling to his knees, eyes wide with shock. Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from crying out loud as she slid to the ground, watching the man die before her. His wide eyes met hers and he reached out for her.
"You bitch," he gurgled before toppling forward into the shelf. The door was hit.
"Hey, Macklen? What the hell's going on in there? Too much to handle?" the guard asked quickly.
Ginny grabbed the man's wand and waved it over the dead man's throat before she waved it over her own.
"Weasley's just a little wound up," she growled out with the voice of the Death Eater inside. She reached out and snatched her jeans, shoving them back on.
The man outside chuckled.
"Well, hurry up and loosen her up before Voldemort decides to come back."
"Then shut up and let me concentrate!" Ginny barked as she shoved the body out of the way and pulled the crate away from the hole, glancing behind her continuously. She was about to crawl through the hole before she stopped and looked back at the body. Fighting back the terrifying tears, she reached out and began pulling on the robes around the man. She got them off of him and put them on before she grabbed his mask and tucked it in the robes. She then went back to the hole and after glancing out to make sure no one was out there, she crawled through, biting her lip when certain sharp pieces pierced through the robes and into her side. She managed to drag herself through and pressed herself to the back of the shed, as the snow began to plow into her. She then took off for the woods, wand in hand and body quaking as she ran as fast as she could through the freezing cold gale force winds.
When she made it to the woods, the winds let up a little and she was able to move a bit easier through the knee deep snow. She tried to apparate as she moved, but it was not working so she continued to run.
"ARRH!"
Ginny skidded to a halt and fell backwards into the snow before she turned and moved slowly through the winds to the voice. Someone continued to scream with tremendous volume through the thunderous winds that surrounded them in the storm. She found herself looking into a clearing where a small camp had been set up. There were three cages outside of a large tent in the middle and a huge table was near the cage. But that was not what had frightened her.
What was in the cage and on the table was what stopped her…
"Oh my God…" she gasped, peering out from behind a tree. "Viorel…"
The vampire was strapped down to the large table by bonds that seemed tighten every time he struggled against them. Though he was perfect in every other way, the arm that had been ripped horribly from his body when they had been in the Bypass was still missing, making it a strange and terrifying sight to behold.
Four Death Eaters were standing around Viorel, eyeing him and prodding him with their wands while a few others mulled around, avoiding the cage as much as possible.
A Manic…
The terrifying mutation seemed to be sleeping in the cage, making strange noises occasionally if someone got too close to the cage.
"How long do we have to keep that thing?" one of the Death Eaters asked, glancing fearfully over at the dormant monster.
"That thing is the only reason this thing hasn't attacked us yet," the eldest of them growled.
In response Viorel let out a menacing growl that echoed briefly in the clearing before the Manic in the cage cut him off with a retaliating snarl, making Ginny realize that the thing was not sleeping. It was just pretending to sleep.
"Shut up," one of the men snapped, while taking a tentative step away from the Manic cage. Viorel was about to growl again when a gust of wind blew through the trees past Ginny and to the tents. The vampire instantly went stiff, his nostrils flaring and his razor sharp teeth clenching.
Biting her lip, she knew he had caught her scent and that only worried her. If she wanted to help him, she would have to move quickly.
She did not have much time to get away before they noticed that she was no longer in the shed and that her randy dead guard was well… dead…
Pulling out the wand she pointed it to the furthest tent and took a deep breath.
"Incendio," she muttered under her breath and fortunately the tent caught fire. She quickly put on the mask in her pocket, in case someone spotted her.
Immediately the four dealing with Viorel along with seven others who appeared out of no where ran over to the flaming tent, ignoring the small Death Eater that moved from out of the snow covered bushes and towards that table. Before she even had a chance to speak, Viorel's head swiveled around, his black eyes piercing her soul. She should not have been surprised that he knew who she was, even with the Mask on.
"Ginerva," he hissed warningly. "You're bleeding!"
Ginny saw the lust in his eyes and hesitated.
On one hand she could free him and risk being killed, but on the other hand, she could just run away and leave him to the Death Eater's experimentations.
Biting her lip and regretting what she was about to do, she pointed her wands at his bonds. She muttered the counter charm and the bonds were immediately released.
Viorel was up instantly, crouching feral like down on the table as his eyes moved from both Ginny and the now wide awake Manic, who had also smelt Ginny and noticed Viorel's movement. The thing began jumping at the bars, howling a bloodcurdling scream every time the cage strengthened itself against him. The Manic grabbed the bars and bared its teeth and mandibles at them.
"I WILL HAVE YOUR FLESH!" it screeched.
"HEY! THE VAMPIRE'S GOTTEN LOOSE!"
Ginny whirled around to see five of the Death Eaters heading back, the tent flames out completely. Viorel got off of the table, putting himself in front of Ginny and backing them up quickly. Whether or not it was to protect Ginny or a possessive instinct to guard his soon-to-be kill, Ginny was unsure of, but she was glad he did.
"GET THEM!"
Viorel turned and without missing a beat, snatched Ginny up into his arm and began to move with breath taking speed through the snow and trees, his eyes getting darker with every second. Ginny could tell he wasn't breathing and knew that her blood was posing too much of a temptation for him.
She was about to suggest him letting her run herself when a heart stopping shriek rent through the air and Viorel stopped himself, eyes narrowed and deadly. Ginny looked behind them and her eyes widened.
"Oh my God!"
"Lucius, how long is this going to take?"
The Malfoy trembled a little at the impatience and menace in Voldemort's voice as they continued to watch Stephanie Warner sit in a chair across from them.
"She's still recovering, my Lord," Lucius muttered, concentrating on Stephanie. "It may take a while."
"I do not have a while," Voldemort hissed. "Harry Potter is out there somewhere and I want to know where."
Lucius shifted in his seat before leaning forward and glaring at Stephanie, who refused to look at him.
"Show me Harry Potter, Stephanie," he growled.
Stephanie blinked wearily, swaying a little.
"I want to go to sleep," she murmured.
"Show me Harry Potter."
She let out a groan.
"I'm tired… Please let me sleep," she begged, her eyes closing momentarily.
"Stephanie, find Harry Potter!"
"I'm tired, I can-"
"ENOUGH!" Voldemort roared, getting up from his seat and moving over to Stephanie, wand drawn. He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her head back so that she had to stare up at him, eyes wide and fearful. He placed his wand at her neck, digging it into her skin. "Ask her again where Potter is, Lucius, or she'll go through much worse than Dreyfus gave her," he hissed.
Lucius leaned forward in his seat and began speaking again.
"Stephanie, if you want to rest, tell me where Harry is!"
"Harry's a good person," she gasped out.
"Crucio!"
Stephanie screamed, her body writhing in the chair before Voldemort released his hold on her. The young woman shook her head, sobbing pitifully.
"Please… I'm too tired!"
Malfoy looked up at Voldemort.
"Telepathics are useful when they're at their full capacity, my Lord," he murmured. "Perhaps we should give her a few hours of sleep?"
Voldemort's red snake-like eyes rested on Lucius.
"Perhaps I should torture you for information, Lucius, since you obviously have qualms about doing this," he hissed.
Lucius quailed under the look and turned back to Stephanie.
"Tell me where Harry is."
"I'm tired-"
"CRUCIO!"
"In the woods!" Stephanie shrieked, sobbing uncontrollably as her body was wracked with excruciating pain. "He's in the woods!"
"What woods?!"
"The Forbidden Forest! He's here!" Stephanie screamed before he released her and she crumbled to the ground, a sobbing mess. She started mumbling something about Severus Snape, but Voldemort and Malfoy ignored her.
"Where in the woods?" Voldemort hissed.
At this point, Stephanie did not care anymore…
"The train tracks… he's passing over the bridge…" she mumbled into the ground. "Can I please go to sleep?"
"Harry's here? Why would he come here?" Lucius murmured, ignoring Stephanie's mutterings.
Voldemort rolled his eyes.
"Because his lady love is here. Bring the girl in here and shut that one up," he added, pointing to Stephanie, who was still crying on the floor. With that said, Voldemort moved silently out of the room, his mind racing.
He had been searching for Harry for a long time…
And the fool had finally come to him…
This would be easy…
He exited the Three Broomsticks with five Death Eaters trailing him at a safe distance and quickly made his way through the snow past the many buildings and Death Eaters who crowded Hogsmeade's streets. He made it to the back of a large house and approached the shed where Ginny Weasley was being kept. There were three guards that he could see.
To further add to Voldemort's annoyance, one of the Death Eaters started pounding on the shed door as if hoping to warn his randy friend to hurry it up and get out.
That would not help him though.
"Open the door," Voldemort hissed, ignoring the bumbling explanations from his incompetent men. "Open it."
One of the guards did as they were told and opened it.
There was a momentary silence in which Voldemort just stood there, his eyes darkening while the others began to tremble with fear.
"Sir, we had-"
"Avada Kerdava!"
All three of them dropped dead in the snow while the five behind him barely flinched at the flash of familiar green light. Voldemort took a deep breath and turned to look at them.
"Find her. Now."
A/N: Thanks for Reading!
nextbestthing: Well, she didn't willingly switch. She just wasn't able to handle the pain so she switched. Now she's just extremely tired.
Snowwolf: 'Tis okay! I'm just glad you like the story!
jenny: Well, make sure you pay attention next time. I'd hate to hear from you while you're in the hospital, telling me that you were just trying to review for my story while getting a glass of milk downstairs. :-) As for Harry, we'll see what'll happen to him later.
Mae Silverpaws: Well, what's a good R/Hr fic without some Ron jealousy? :-) I'll try not to make it obnoxious to the point where you're rooting for Curtis, but I'll try to sneak it in there a little more.
rhr4eva: It will be very interesting to do a bit of Ron/Hermione/Curtis stuff, but at the moment, I think I'll worry a bit more about Ginny. Later, of course there will be a lot more of Ron and Hermione.
ThEnAmEsGiGi: I don't think I could ever bring myself to kill off the twins. You were right about Ginny. Nothing good has come and nothing good is going to come, judging by what Voldemort's planning to do.
mgmve2008: I loved Snape in the books! I was sooooo upset when he died! It was so sad!
MerDerGirl: As for Stephanie's new Overseer, that was an involuntary act of self-preservation.
ronandmion4ever: The torture scenes I write, I never reread, which is why I take so long to write them. I have to get every detail I want in there at that time so that I do not have to reread it. I gues I'm weird like that. To be honest, I hardly read any of the stories I write after they've all been completed. As for the chapter being short, I thought it was pretty long when I wrote it... Yeah, I don't think the Overseers in this fic kill children, but they're not all that good of people either. :-) I liked the R/Hr part also, but it wasn't necessarily my favorite one to write. I think my favorite one to write was in Stand to be honest. The one where Ron wakes Hermione up after she finds out that her parents are missing. As for the boyfriend thing, I think everyone wants someone to hold on to, even when their in excruciating pain. Though I hope you're never in a situation where you would be in excruciating pain.
Fyre of the Funeral Pyre: Yes, the caps do tell me how excited you are. I think you will be fairly surprised by the next chapter.
Chaper Tease:
The Muggle Ministry is putting out word as quickly as possible to have Kings Cross evacuated as a national security precaution, but the radio station as been advised to repeat this for the rest of the night as a warning.
I repeat, Death Eaters are heading towards Kings Cross!
Evacuate that vicinity immediately or risk a painful death by a Death Eater!
Evacuate Kings Cross!
