"Of great pitch and moment"
The slow march of the students echoed through the dungeons, but Hermione had long since tuned it out. It was better not to show emotion anyhow. The teachers were always watching.
Finally, they made it to the common room. The students dispensed to their rooms silently, any chatter driven out by the everlasting fear that they were being watched. If they weren't for the Dark Lord before, this will almost certainly drive them to him, Hermione thought to herself as she made her own way to her room. Even Tracey's eyes held a growing anger in them. Dumbledore's stupidity disgusted her. Hermione never could stand idiots, but this surely had to be the worst mistake they'd made. They thought they'd forced the Slytherins into submission, they took their lack of protest for acceptance of their victory. They'd find out how wrong they were soon enough.
Hermione shut the door behind her with a soft click. Motioning to the girl on the bed to stay silent, she ensured the room was warded sufficiently with a wave of her wand.
Finally, they were free to speak. "I didn't think you'd be able to come," Hermione admitted.
"I nearly didn't." Ginny scowled. "They're watching me like a hawk in Gryffindor, but it's only for safety. They don't suspect I'd do something like, oh, I don't know, cavort with the enemy."
"Mhm." Hermione tossed her cloak over the desk and leaned against it. "How long do you have then? You didn't say why you wanted to talk."
The red head took a breath. Hermione didn't miss the hesitation in her voice. She's changed since last year. "I - I saw Harry a few weeks ago."
"What?" Hermione felt hope course through her for the first time before realization hit her. If Ginny had seen him... "Where? How?"
"The -" Ginny opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. "I saw him at -"
Hermione shook her head. "Don't bother," she said grimly. "It's probably under a Fidelius charm. How was he, otherwise?"
Ginny grimaced. "It's... how much do you know of Harry?" she asked abruptly.
"Not much. I knew he grew up with muggles..." Hermione's voice trailed off. "That's not right, is it?" she asked, her voice quiet.
The Gryffindor hesitated. "No," she admitted. "He's - well. It turns out he's actually a Potter. The Chosen One, in fact."
Hermione leaned back further on the desk, steadying herself. She had to take a second to breathe.
"That's... well. That's definitely... I thought - well..." Her voice trailed off. "It's not important now," she added quietly. "Why haven't they said anything though? Everyone still speaks about Charles."
Ginny bit her lip. "I don't know why they haven't said anything," she admitted quietly. "But they - somehow this summer, they found out... well. That's he's not the Gryffindor they want him to be. They're holding him, they made him sick somehow. He can't use his magic."
"They bound it?" Hermione felt rage pulse through her as Ginny nodded. "That's disgusting. That is - Merlin, Ginny, we have to get him out of there. Do you know how much danger he's in? If they bound his magic - there's potions and spells that'll do that, but it's not meant to be long term..."
"He asked me to go to the Dark Lord," Ginny admitted, not quite meeting Hermione's eyes now. Hermione eyed the girl with some empathy.
"Why were you able to see him?"
She shrugged. "The same story as usual. They wanted me to marry Charles a few years back, now I suppose Dorea - sorry, Harry's great aunt - she's... she's awful - I think she wants me to marry Harry."
"You're a teenager." Hermione couldn't keep the incredulity from her voice. "Marriage? Why?"
The Gryffindor rolled her eyes. "She's obsessed with breeding. There's some old lore - oh, right, you grew up in the muggle world. I'm the seventh child with red hair. There's old superstitions about red hair and when you're born and, ah... well, some people still believe them. Anyways, she wants me to marry one of them."
Hermione couldn't find the words for a moment. "That's absurd," she pointed out finally. "You - what, she wants some sort of super magical child? That's - that's not how genetics work. Someone does realize that, right?"
"She's not really the person you argue with," Ginny said, hesitating. "She... um, she's..."
"Are you going to go to the Dark Lord?" Hermione asked, changing the subject. Ginny relaxed noticeably. What had this woman done? But there wasn't time to ponder that now.
"He's the only one who'll be able to help." Ginny glanced up. "Help Harry. Help you."
"He can help you too," Hermione pointed out, studying the girl. "If you want it."
"Yeah." Ginny swallowed. "I know."
"You don't have to be the one to do this."
"No." Ginny's voice gained strength. "I should go. I'm going to go." She looked Hermione dead on, her gaze steady. "I'm going to go," Ginny repeated. "But I need your help in figuring out how."
"They've sealed the doors," Hermione said slowly, the gears turning slowly in her mind. "There are secret passages in and out of the castle, but they're likely watching those -"
"There's one they can't," interrupted Ginny. "It's in the Chamber of Secrets. I know it leads out past the Forbidden Forrest."
"The Chamber? From second year?"
Ginny nodded, breathing deeply. "Yeah."
"Let me guess," Hermione said dryly. "I don't know the full story."
"Something like that." Ginny laughed. "The point is, there's some sort of entrance to the Chamber in the Slytherin dorms. There's no way they know about it. But I never knew where it was - Harry used it to escape the Chamber, but he - he passed out, and we never found it again. I know Harry was searching, but -"
"Wait, he passed out?" Hermione had a spark of realization. "This was second year? The end of the year?"
"Yeah, from some sort of magical backlash when he was leaving -"
"I know where it is." Hermione said, her voice flush with excitement. "I mean, I think I do - I found him in one of the corridors down here - I thought he just hadn't slept enough, so I got Professor - well, it doesn't matter." She took a breath, trying to calm herself. "It's just down this passage. No one uses it anymore, it's the oldest part of the dormitory -"
"Let's go," Ginny said determinedly. "I'm leaving tonight," she explained in response to Hermione's unasked question. "I'm ready. I'm not risking losing this chance again."
"If you're sure." But as the Gryffindor got up to follow her out of the room, Hermione noticed she was wearing a heavy, unmarked cloak and regular clothes. She really means it. She was prepared to leave.
"This way," Hermione said softly, keeping an eye out for other Slytherins as they slipped down the hallway into greater darkness. She didn't dare to light her wand, instead relying on the intermittent light that trickled down from the common room. There was no point in leaving witnesses, no matter how loyal they wanted to be.
Finally, she stopped at the break in the wall she'd found Harry collapsed at while she'd been exploring the lower levels. "I..." she motioned, feeling useless.
"This is it," Ginny said, stepping forward, her hand reaching toward something on the wall. Snakes, Hermione realized. Barely noticeable, but they were there, carved deep into the wall.
Ginny hissed and the wall began to move.
"Don't worry," Ginny said, stepping back next to her. Hermione eyed the wall uncomfortably. "See. There we go." The new hole revealed nothing, only darkness. "Come on," Ginny told her, leading the way in.
The two were silent as they made their way through the passage. Behind them, the wall moved back into place, the stones cutting off the light of Slytherin dormitories behind them. But soon enough a new light began to grow at the end of the tunnel, and slowly, they reached the end.
Hermione gasped. She couldn't help herself.
"How is this beneath Hogwarts?" she asked in awe, taking in the magnificence of the chamber around her. "How does - I heard the stories, but why..."
"Because Slytherin made it," Ginny said, turning to face her. "I - the passage is down that way. Hermione, can - do you want to come with me?"
"No." Hermione shook her head, bringing herself back to reality. "It'll be better if they don't think it's connected. Besides, there's a tracking spell on me - the second I leave, they'll know." She steeled herself. "No. Leave. We've already lost a few days. The sooner you can get help, the better for all of us. Do you know where to go?"
"Not exactly," admitted Ginny. "I've tried listening in on Order meetings, but they're not sure either -"
"It's probably under a Fidelius too, at any rate," Hermione said with a sigh. "What are you going to do?"
Ginny bit her lip. "I have an idea where they might be," she admitted. "Past that - well, make a run for it. Try not to get caught."
"Okay." Hermione felt a lump grow in her throat. "Can - um, if - if you see my parents - and... well, my cousins, I guess. My family. Draco. Fia. All of them."
"I'll tell them," Ginny assured her, and pulled her in for a hug. "Don't worry."
"I'm not," Hermione mumbled, pressing her face into Ginny's hair as she tried not to get too emotional. "Tell them I'm fine. Tell them - tell them I'm fighting."
"I will." Ginny pulled back, glancing between her and the passageway. "Hermione - do you know how to get back?"
"Not really," she admitted. "What did you do?"
Ginny laughed, and let loose a hiss. Hermione tried to mimic it, but it took her a few times. "There you go," Ginny said encouragingly. "That's it."
"You should get going," Hermione reminded her. "Before it gets too late."
She watched the Gryffindor make her way out of the chamber, noting the spot she disappeared to. When that red hair was finally out of sight, she began to look around the room speculatively. "I can work with this," she told herself, her voice grim as the plans began to form in her mind.
Harry pushed himself up in the armchair, his body aching with the unrelenting fever. He eyed the food on the platter with a grimace. If he didn't eat, they'd force feed him. But if he did... if he did, the poison would take greater hold.
With a shaking hand, he moved some of the food on the plate, drawing the fork across the peas. His stomach growled angrily.
Someone knocked. The door opened a second later. "Oh, good." James paused at the entrance to the room. "You're eating."
Harry let the fork settle on the plate, nodding in response.
"Good, good." Harry didn't need to look up to know that James was smiling like an idiot. "I - uh - it's good to see you're getting your appetite back. The nurse said it'd help."
"Yeah." Harry tried to sound more enthusiastic, but he didn't quite succeed.
"Are you feeling any better?" James came closer, forcing Harry to look up.
"A bit." Harry swallowed. "I -"
"It's good to see you're no longer hallucinating," James said, cutting him off in a hurry. "You - well, you probably don't remember. You don't remember, do you?" he added quickly. His eyes bore into Harry, seeking validation.
Hallucinating. Right. "No." The lie came out of him easily.
James beamed again. "Good, good. I'm glad you're doing better." He nodded to himself. "Well, I have to head out, but - don't worry, Harry. You'll be better soon. And we'll train. You're the Chosen One. We need you to be better soon."
Harry watched the wizard nearly run out of the room with a cold anger. Hallucinating. Need. They didn't want him. They only needed him.
He'd been an idiot not to see it sooner, but he would never be so stupid again.
She'd managed to get pretty far into the castle without getting caught, actually.
The entrance into it had been right where Tom had told her - a hidden cave, only accessible during low tide. The door into the passage had been rusty with years of disuse, but she'd managed to get it open. Only the rats made noise as she made her way up and in. Terror overcame her at points, the deathly silence overwhelming, but she kept walking.
They'd caught her about five minutes out of the passage, but at least she was in. And at least it was a house elf who'd caught her, not a Death Eater. Otherwise she'd probably be wasting away in a dungeon, instead of at the door to the Dark Lord's - study? Study seemed too naive of a word, though -
The house elf shoved her in before she had a chance to finish the thought.
She gulped, keeping her gaze to the floor, as the darkness met her.
What if Tom's not there at all? No, no, she couldn't let that panic overtake her again - not now, not when she was so -
"What is your name?"
Ginny flinched a little, but her eyes were drawn upward by the power in that voice.
"Gin - Ginevera Weasley, my Lord," Ginny said, trying her best not to let her fear show. That the library was almost empty did not help. Lord Voldemort sat by the fire, flanked on either side by Sirius and Bellatrix Black.
"My Lord?" Lord Voldemort asked silkily. "I was unaware that I was my lord to you, girl." Bellatrix Black snorted next to him. Was it Lestrange, now?
"I – I'm sorry," Ginny blurted out, trying to get the words out before it was too late, but tripping over herself unhelpfully in the meantime. "When I met you before - I - you went by another name… but you warned me never to call you that again..."
Lord Voldemort's gaze froze her, but she raised her head to meet his eyes. He wasn't what they said he would be, she noticed. She'd expected worse. As much as she trusted Tom... it was still hard not to be terrified of the monster they all spoke of.
Despite his age, he didn't look to be more than forty. His face was unlined, a marble statue brilliant in its cold beauty. Had she met him prior, there would have been no mistaking who Tom was. But the resemblance to Harry was what was most uncanny.
"Yes," He said at last. "Ginny Weasley. You were quite brave to trust me. A brave and foolish first year."
"Not foolish now, my Lord," she told Him. "Please. Ha – our mutual friend asked me to come."
"You mean Harry," Lord Voldemort whispered, but his whispers had an odd way of cutting through the room. Ginny began to feel the full effects of his aura, one that should have felt so naturally abhorrent to her own… yet it was instead a strange comfort. Nostalgic, even.
"Yes," she answered, glancing at his two Death Eaters, but Lord Voldemort did not dismiss them.
"And why would the Light's new champion ask you to come to me?" He asked, his voice now turning cruel. "Is he too scared to come to face me on his own, that he would send a mere child as his emissary?"
"No," she whispered. "He wasn't allowed."
"And you were allowed to come to the Dark Lord, child?" Sirius Black's voice had turned oddly gentle.
"Yes – I mean, no," she said hurriedly. "They don't know I've gone. They won't miss me. Please, my Lord," she begged, "he asked me to give you this." The paper nearly fell from her fingers as she pulled it out of her robe.
Bellatrix took it from her and handed it to the Dark Lord, who glanced at it. His eyes flashed up to hers. "Harry gave you this?" he demanded.
"Yes," she answered, biting her lip. "The last time I was able to see him. He's at –" but the words wouldn't fall from her tongue.
"They've made it secret," Fia's father told her. "Their headquarters?"
She nodded, grateful for the help. The two Death Eaters looked at each other. "Likely where they're keeping your daughter as well," Sirius told her grimly. "Ginny, did you happen to see Hermione Granger there?"
"Yes," she told them. "She helped me to escape - but she isn't at - she's at Hogwarts. She helped me escape through the Chamber of Secrets..." Her voice trailed off. This wasn't the time to pass along the message, though, even as she saw Lestrange's face darken. "My lord, Harry - the Potters. They've bound his magic -"
The temperature in the room suddenly dropped. "What?" the Dark Lord demanded, the anger clear in his voice. Fia's father, she noticed, had turned white with rage.
Ginny needed no reminder that this wasn't Tom, that this was the Dark Lord. "They found out he grew up with the Blacks, my lord." She kept her voice steady. Harry needed her now, and she'd already failed him. "He said they want an Unbreakable Vow."
Sirius murmured something to Bellatrix, but she kept her eyes on the Dark Lord. He held her gaze, but he didn't try to read her mind. She swallowed, guilt running through her as she saw the cold rage growing in him.
Lord Voldemort raised a hand, silencing them all. "Bellatrix, summon the Inner Circle. I would meet with them." He looked at Ginny. "Sirius, show Miss Weasley here to Miss Black's room." The two Death Eaters nodded their assent, Sirius waiting for Ginny as he turned to leave the room. She followed after a moment's hesitation.
"One last thing, Ginny," the Dark Lord commanded. She froze, her hand just touching the doorknob. "How did you manage to make it this far into my castle uncaught?"
Ginny smiled. "You taught me how, my Lord." And as she left the library, she heard a whisper of a laugh behind her.
"Sirius." The Dark Lord's voice rang out through the room, silencing the whispers.
"Yes, my Lord?" Sirius knelt before the Dark Lord's throne, his face hard and unreadable.
"Take Rosier, Lestrange and Malfoy. Destroy their house and them. Leave no one alive." Sirius nodded, but as he rose to carry out his Lord's command, the Dark Lord spoke once more, his order a whisper. "No one else on that street is to be harmed, Sirius. Make an example of them."
"Yes, my Lord." And Sirius bowed to him with a glimmer of a cold smile, then turned to leave the room, his robe whipping through the air behind him as Lord Voldemort's most trusted bowed and followed.
"Bellatrix," He ordered. The dark-haired woman slipped forward from the crowd and kneeled. "I suspect Sirius will find some of the Order. I trust you know how to properly perform a tracking spell?" It wasn't a question; he had taught her how to break the Fidelius himself.
"Of course, my Lord," she said.
"Good," he whispered. "Then let us give them a reason to flee. Goyle, Crabbe, Zabini, Parkinson, Greengrass, wait for the signal," he ordered, rising from his throne.
In his pocket, the note from Harry burned like a fire.
Please, my lord.
