10

A/N: Thanks to all readers and reviewers, especially: tryntee13 and amethyst-rose.

I was going through the notes for when I originally wrote this chapter, and it had seriously had about 7958,5685985.5 revisions. It was probably the most difficult chapter to write in all of DDD. But it's here because what it means for the rest of the fic, and also for who these characters are. And don't worry! It all comes out in the end. :)

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Ginny opened the door—

-and then she was tumbling, spinning, falling through space, falling down a long, dark corridor with smooth walls; she scrabbled at them but she couldn't stop until she reached the bottom or the top, she didn't know what or which because there was no up or down, and she fell and fell and fell but she never came any closer to the single black door at the end.

Somewhere during that first awful, endless moment, she understood that she had done the one thing she must not do. She had opened the wrong door, taken the wrong turning, and she had fallen into the soft spaces. She must have stumbled across a hidden part that was deeper and more dangerous than anything she had explored before, anything she had even imagined.

I shouldn't have tried find him, she realized.

Draco had told her that he wanted her. Needed her, even. But he hadn't asked her to come to him, and maybe there was a very good reason he hadn't done so, even as he had written things to her that she had never dreamed in a million years he would ever, ever, ever allow her eyes to see. As with quite a few other things in her life, she thought that perhaps she had realized it all just a little too late. Maybe trying to follow him was the most dangerous thing she had ever done.

He tried to tell me. Draco has tried to warn me all along—and I wouldn't listen. But if he'd only been more honest with me! If he'd only explained why it was so dangerous—if he'd just told me how bad the soft spaces really could be-

It was impossible to keep trying to unravel the twisted thread of all the truth and lies that Draco might ever have told her. She fell and fell, struggling desperately to grab onto something, anything, but the walls were as slippery as glass. She slipped endlessly down the glossy black corridor with its endless walls, the dark passageway that was like an endless chamber—

-Curiousity killed the cat, the silky smooth voice whispered in her ears, snakelike. The touch of a long-fingered hand rippled down her helpless body. Silly girl, with your silly little problems. Silly little girl, not to have known, not to have realized. Silly little girl, trapped forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and-

The old familiar voice of Tom Riddle was whispering in her ear. It was the dream that had so often haunted Ginny. If it really was happening again, then she should have been lying on the familiar floor of the Chamber, but she wasn't. She didn't really know where she was; she seemed to be sitting or lying on some sort of bed or cot in almost complete darkness. But everything had changed from what it had always been in this nightmare. At least that was familiar. This was not. Ginny realized it in a heart-stopping instant.

"Do you know now for whom I have always saved you?" Lucius Malfoy whispered, bending down to her, his face as dead-white as a drowned man. "For my son, Ginny Weasley. For Draco."

This is no dream, thought Ginny. It's real. Lucius Malfoy is really here. He's dead, he's a ghost, how can he really be here? But he is. His fleshless hand tightened around her arm. She tried to struggle, but all strength had left her.

"But, my dear, he can't have you quite yet. That wouldn't do at all," Lucius said.

"Let go of me!" She heard a child's voice leave her throat. Ten years of adult life, gone in an instant.

"I'm afraid that I can't."

"Draco, I have to get to Draco," she heard her own thin, frightened voice piping.

"Oh, I'm more than aware of how determined you are to follow that particular path tonight, were it only possible. Which is precisely why it mustn't be." Lucius chuckled and adjusted his fingers more firmly around her arm. He moved closer to her, closer, closer still, and she felt his lips brush her ear. "I certainly know what you'd like to do with my son. Don't worry. You'll have your chance, my dear. And he'll enjoy getting his hands on you more than even you can imagine. I understand him so very thoroughly, you see…" He trailed the tip of a finger up and down the inside of her wrist.

She whimpered for some unendurable length of time. There were no words in the sound except get away, get away, get away, and they blurred into babbling very soon. Lucius had moved so close to her that she felt his cloak brushing her breast—or was it his hand? No—no! Ginny fought to surface.

"You can't!" she gasped. "Can't. Touch. Me. I swore a vow that I'd—with Draco—"

Lucius shook his head. "Yes, yes," he said impatiently. "But some vows are made to be broken, and you can't be permitted to keep the one you made, I'm afraid. How dreadfully that would upset our plans."

If you touch me anymore, I'll kill myself as soon as I can, because I can't kill you. The thought raced through Ginny's head. Then- He said the one. Only the one. And he said 'our plans.' Lucius had moved back from her now, just slightly, and the raging agony had been beaten back and the room had come into focus again.

Think, Ginny! You've got to think. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how she'd got there. All she really knew was that she wasn't in the Chamber. And she knew, somehow, that this place was real, and that the things which happened here would be real. She couldn't get away from him—yet. Maybe her chance would come. She twisted to face him, feeling pain shoot through her wrist.

"You've been working with Astoria," said Ginny. "Haven't you?"

Surprise flashed across his pallid face, but he was silent. Ginny heard a loud gasp. But it hadn't come from him; she was sure about that. And she recognized the female voice. Her eyes went down to a glimmering white pearl stud on one of his cufflinks. Her other hand shot out to grab it.

Stupid!

Lucius had captured both of her wrists now. "Tut, tut," he chided her gently.

"It's a pearl-bug," said Ginny, hating how her voice was trembling.

"Indeed," said Lucius. "What a clever girl you are to have deduced the fact."

"My, but what a surprise. I suppose this means I have to admit that she's not nearly as stupid as I thought?" asked Astoria's disembodied voice from the pearl.

"Now, now, Astoria," said Lucius. "I shouldn't underestimate Ginny Weasley, were I you. It's a mistake you've tended to make, I'm afraid. She's always been extraordinarily resourceful." He turned back to Ginny, stroking her arm tenderly with his other hand. "Like a cat, I think. And you've had just as many lives, my dear. But they've all run out at last." He fixed his eyes on her. Steely grey, like Draco's, she thought dazedly, but so unlike his. His grip tightened like handcuffs round both her wrists. She tried to shrink away.

"No," she whispered, feeling her mind slipping away again.

"Yes," he said in the caressing voice she remembered so very well from every nightmare that had ever haunted her. "Tonight, my dear, you will remain with me." The pressure on her right arm increased.

He's… pulling… me… down…. To… the…. Bed…. The words dragged themselves through Ginny's thoughts, one by one.

Astoria's voice broke in. "Lucius, are you planning to keep her there until the night's over?"

"Astoria, are you certain that the spell is operating correctly? You really ought to have heard quite clearly that that's what I've just said," Lucius replied.

"But you're not going to touch her." Astoria's voice crackled. "Are you? You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"We've been through this before," he said. "She's reserved for Draco's future use alone."

Astoria's voice smoothed out again. "You know that I couldn't care less about that. As long as he has her after tonight, I don't mind what he does with the little whore."

"Astoria, I've always urged you to strive for accuracy. Ginny Weasley certainly doesn't fit that description, which is to our benefit. And she's going to remain virginal at least through the next twelve hours… aren't you, my dear?" He touched his lips to Ginny's ear. She had turned to stone again by now, and the tiny terrified girl hidden within her mind had gone back to whimpering silently.

"You'll be perfectly safe," he crooned. "Safe in my care, Ginevra; pure and untouched for my son when the proper hour has come. But tonight belongs to Astoria, my dear." He let go of one of her wrists. His other hand stroked her under the chin. Moving down and down and down.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I promise not to touch. But you wouldn't begrudge me a look, would you? You're so very pretty, after all. I only want a look. I won't do anything I oughtn't to. Any man would do the same."

She forced herself to speak. It seemed to take all the strength left in her.

"Draco wouldn't do it. He never would."

"Oh, my dear, he, of all men living, would do exactly the same!" Lucius laughed. "Is it truly possible that you don't yet understand? My son is my creation. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"No," whispered Ginny.

"Yes," said Lucius tenderly, leaning closer. "Let me share a fascinating fact with you, Ginny. There is only one reason why my son did not force himself upon you and end this nonsensical charade of maidenly modesty many years ago."

"It's because he didn't—he wouldn't—he isn't—"

"Oh, come come. No tiresome nonsense about scruples, if you please. It's because he enjoys the chase. He thrills to the challenge. You've led him on very cleverly, too. I must say, there's something tantalizing about purity successfully withheld," Lucius said in a thoughtful tone of voice. "I can quite see the appeal myself. Never fear—I'll leave you intact for Draco, my dear. He'll have you, and then he'll grow tired of you, I imagine, but it scarcely matters whether he throws you aside or not."

"He wouldn't…"

"But of course he would, my dear," said Lucius. "I have twisted his heart, you see, so that it cannot contain love. Only obsession, and obsession does not last." He began to trace the veins on her inner wrists with the tip of one of his fingers.

Something stirred in the depths of the ice that encased Ginny now. No. No. That's not true. Draco's heart… something about his heart… A memory. Two nights before. She had dreamed that Draco was tapping along the wall, and when she spoke to him, he turned to her with the bewildered eyes of a child. He had pointed to his own heart. Yes. That was it. She had opened his chest and laid her hands on the soft tender thing, and it beat with life beneath her touch. But her fingers caught on the dark jagged bits, and she felt the pain go all through her when she felt all the hurts that his heart had endured.

His father was wrong about him. Ginny knew it.

But Lucius was speaking again. She forced herself to turn her attention to him.

"So now let's return to the subject of that little look. Only a very little look, such as any man might desire. Hmmm?" His face was pleasant.

A living spark flared up in Ginny. She would need to be very clever now, she knew, clever and careful. She forced herself to push and pull her head into a nod. He smiled and unbuttoned the pearl-bug from his sleeve.

"There are certain things in this world which we're better off keeping between ourselves, don't you agree?" he said. "Best not to take any risks. Astoria is a dear girl, and so very useful, but her understanding can be rather…. Shall we say…. Limited."

Ginny wanted to beat him to death and rip the smile off his face with her bare hands, but she only nodded again, and lowered her face modestly.

She tried to move the fingers of one hand up to the bodice of her dress. His eyes gleamed, and his grip loosened to allow her greater access. Can I break free yet? she wondered. No. She couldn't see the rest of the room even as far as the end of the bed; she'd need to be completely clear of him first before risking it. Ginny began to loosen her gown, smiling childishly at him, watching every movement of his face like a hawk. Wait for it… wait…. oh gods, if I have to pull the top of this dress down to get him to do it I really think I'll die…

Ginny pulled one short sleeve all the way down, exposing a shoulder. She leaned forward, pressing her breasts together. Lucius's mouth went slack, and his fingers finally fell away from her wrist.

The spark burst into flame. Ginny kicked and bucked and writhed and swung her fist at him. It connected with his side. She felt solid flesh and bone. But he's a ghost flashed through her mind. Only a ghost. How can he feel so-

He came towards her, but it was too late. Ginny had already scrambled up off the bed and hit the stone floor. She hit something very hard in the darkness- a door! and fumbled desperately for a knob. Lucius was just behind her; she could hear his breathing; she grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open, and the dim light of the corridor dazzled her eyes. She felt a hand on the back of her neck like a creeping giant spider, and she whirled round and punched Lucius Malfoy in the chest as hard as she could. Then, even though she knew how desperately she needed to get the hell out of there as fast as possible, she stood and stared back into the room that had been her prison.

Ginny knew where she was. She had seen this place in dreams, or nightmare visions. But every time she had done, it had been Draco Malfoy sitting on the cot, waiting for a step he never heard, a touch he never felt.

She was in Azkaban.

And even as she stood, she did see Draco's figure on the bed where Lucius had been. He was there for no more than an instant, more insubstantial than any ghost, but he was the same vision that she had always seen.

As she stood staring, rooted to the spot, as unable to move as Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt, Lucius Malfoy staggered to his feet and touched her forehead with his finger.

"Glemme, he whispered. "Forget."

Then the iron door slammed itself, and his drowned face snuffed out like a candle.

Ginny turned and ran down the long gray corridor. Remember! Remember! Remember! rang frantically in her head.

She clung to the last scraps of memory ravenously, running, running, sobbing and gasping for air. Lucius Astoria he was helping her, she told him about the vow I made but I don't think he knew about the other one and neither did she or he would've said something and Azkaban, how can he be in Azkaban? Draco was there! Only for a second but… he was, and that was exactly where I always saw him, and what does it mean…. That means he's in danger, he's got to be! I've got to remember! I have to… and… and Lucius was touching me oh godsohgodsohgods Imgoingtodie. Die. If I remember I'm going to die. Can't forget. Can't remember. If I remember I'll die. So I can't.

It was too late. She knew it. Her divided mind moved in to protect her, as it had done when she was a defenseless child, and it forgot that which could not be remembered.

Then the walls were shifting and changing from rough stone to sheer, glass-like black, her fingernails scrabbling at the sides of the passageway; she was picking up momentum, moving faster and faster, the floor rushing up to meet her-

She fell with a painful thud. Her wrists ached horribly, and her mouth was as dry as dust. There was something! her mind shrieked. The most important thing in the world, and I wasn't going to forget-

Ginny had forgotten, of course.

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Thanks for reading this chapter! BTW, I never used to ever write any fanfic but HP… but I'm branching out. 😊 (And all it took was a global pandemic.) Check out my first Downton Abbey fic!

The Curious Case of Mr. Pamuk

In one awful night, Anna Smith learns Lady Mary's most shocking secret: a handsome Turkish diplomat named Mr. Pamuk died suddenly in her bed. The Crawley women are able to hide his death and avert the immediate scandal. But the mystery still nags at Anna's mind. How exactly did Kemal Pamuk die, and why? It's a mystery that she can't resist trying to solve. But as she learns more and more, danger draws near… Anna/Bates, Mary/Matthew.

Chapter 1:

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FFN doesn't seem to be letting its own links go through even though it's supposed to, so if you need to, just search for The Curious Case of Mr. Pamuk.