This was written for Round One of The DG Forum's 'Battle of the Drabbles' challenge. The prompt is listed at the end.

Martyr for the Stars

She cannot move. There is blood dripping down her wrists, staining the metal digging into her flesh a deep crimson. The cloth wrapped around her eyes is itchy and damp, and as she licks her cracked lips she can taste the salt of her tears on her tongue—the only liquid she has had in what feels like days.

Hands grip her shoulders—bruising, unforgiving hands that make her feel like her collarbone is going to snap. Instinct makes her struggle, but her legs and arms are bound too tightly to the chair. She is helpless.

"Where is he?" a voice growls. "Where is the Lux Stellarum?"

She spits in the direction of the voice, defiant to the bitter end. Something hard collides with her cheek a second later, making her head snap back from the impact and her ears ring with such intensity that she is momentarily deafened. A metallic tang fills her mouth and she vaguely realises that she must have bitten her tongue. The pain does not even register; it's becoming so difficult to focus now, and the darkness is just so thick. She knows that she will not last much longer.

More hands touch her face, forcing her head up. The man's breath is hot on her cheek as he leans over her. "Your silence cannot save him," he murmurs in a twistingly soothing voice. "I know you've got the information we need tucked away in that little mind of yours, and I will have it whether you want to cooperate or not."

Something hard digs into her temple—a wand. She squeezes her eyes shut behind the blindfold, heart pounding in sickening flutters. Any minute now they're going to use Legilimency on her. They'll delve into her mind like termites, searching and searching, but they won't find him. He is the star shining at the centre of her world, and she will never give him up. She will never let them hurt him.

After all, he taught her well.

"Your mind will always be your ultimate weapon, Ginevra. Remember that."

"What do you mean?"

"All of our knowledge and memories are locked inside our heads, but there are layers and, within those layers, you can use Occlumency to create false paths and walls to stop people from extracting your secrets. You can make them wander for hours through the web of your thoughts and they'll still never reach the truth."

"So it's like a maze."

He nods. "And you have to make sure they get lost, because once they reach the centre, it's game over for all of us."

"But what if I can't do it? Draco, I—"

"Shh." He places a finger on her lips, silencing her doubts. "I know you're strong. You can do this."

She stares into his eyes, so beautiful in their unique shade of grey. Whispers of unspoken words fill the space between them, and it's as if something just falls into place. Her breath catches as he brushes his finger caressingly against her bottom lip, and then he is kissing her—kissing her so desperately that she knows he is just as afraid as she is of what the future might bring. The shadow has cast its hand over them all, and they both know they're running out of time. That he is running out of time.

But she will not fail him. She will never fail him.

Ginny tightens her grip on the chair, conscious of the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. The incantation has already been spoken, allowing the wizards to penetrate her skull and search her memories. She cannot move and the blood is still dripping down her wrists, but then that doesn't matter. Her mind is her weapon, and she will draw them all into her web. She will let them wander through her thoughts, whispering lies and false images for them to follow until they can no longer perceive the truth. Until they are so lost in her maze of illusions that they will be forced to flee or risk losing themselves completely.

Until there is no breath left in her lungs and all they are left with is an empty shell.

This is what she has been trained to do, and she will protect her secrets to the end. She will protect him. Because he is the star shining at the centre of her world—of all their world—and she cannot let him die.

She will not let him die.

Round One:

Prompt: Write a DG piece inspired by the selected picture, which was of a maze.

Word count: 750 words.