Ginny was woken by the sound of voices drifting into the room and it took a few tries before she was able to open her eyelids. When she looked around she saw that it wasn't as dark out as it had been which must mean that dawn was breaking. The pain coursing through her body was excruciating and she knew that she had to find a way to let someone know where she was. Escaping on her own wasn't an option, she could barely move, and when the three Death Eaters didn't get what they wanted they would kill her.

She rolled onto her side in a painstakingly slow movement, biting her lip to keep from making any noise. She looked around the room for anything she could use to signal someone where she was, but there was nothing. Feeling something digging into her hip, Ginny reached down to see what it was and her eyes widened in realization. Putting her hand into her pocket, she slowly pulled out the charms that Hermione had given her to hold onto while her bracelet was being fixed. She put them on the floor beside her and moved the three she needed closer, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the quill, scroll, and broom charms were still enlarged. She had been playing with them while she'd been walking around the little store in Hogsmeade on her own and had never returned them to their original size before putting them back into her pocket.

Ginny used every ounce of strength she had to push herself up enough to scratch something out on the scroll with the quill. Not having anything to tie the scroll to the broom with, she squeezed as hard as she could until the top of the scroll bent around the tiny silver broom handle. Bringing the broom to her lips she whispered, "Hermione Granger," and laid her palm out flat. She watched as the little charm lifted off of her hand and flew towards the shattered window across the room, disappearing with a quick glint of silver.

No sooner had the broom gone out the window than the voices of her captors started moving towards her. Hastily shoving the other charms back into her pocket, Ginny rolled onto her back, all of her energy spent, and shut her eyes, feigning sleep. The door creaked open and Ginny felt a shadow fall over her.

"Oh, she's asleep...isn't that nice?" Bellatrix's voice came soft and low only to be followed by a terrible kick to Ginny's side. Ginny gasped in pain as she felt Bellatrix's foot collide with her body. She heard a sickening popping noise that told her a rib was broken.

"Now, where were we?" Dolohov came to stand on Ginny's other side while Malfoy moved to stand guard by the door.

"I know!" Bellatrix said eagerly, "This little blood-traitor was about to tell us what the prophecy said."

Ginny felt like she was going to be sick but she forced out a single word, "Wrong."

"That's too bad. Bellatrix, you can go first this time," Dolohov said carelessly and the older witch practically skipped with eagerness until she stood at Ginny's feet.

"Crucio!"

The last thing Ginny thought about before the waves of agony hit her was a black-haired boy with green eyes and a small, jagged scar on his forehead.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"What is that?" Ron asked as Hermione's eyes focused on the small silver broom hovering in front of her.

She gasped, "It's from Ginny!" Harry and Ron shot off the couch and came to stand behind Hermione, who had grabbed hold of the little broom.

"How do you know it's from her," Ron asked.

"It's the broom charm from the bracelet you gave me. I asked Ginny to hold on to the charms for me and I had shown her how they worked when we were still at the Burrow. This looks like the scroll charm, but it's been bent." Hermione pried the two charms apart and held up the scroll.

"What's this?" Ron swiped his thumb over a dark-colored smudge on the bent piece of silver.

Harry went pale and Hermione held back tears, "It's blood." Ron hastily wiped his fingers on his jumper, wanting to distance himself from the sight of Ginny's blood on his hand.

"Wait, she wrote something on here," Hermione tilted the tiny scroll so it caught the light. "It says...Shrieking Shack."

"That's where they have her, we have to go!" Harry ran towards the portrait hole.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione shouted as she and Ron raced to catch up to him. Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "We can't go on our own, Harry."

"Most of the Order is watching over our families and Dumbledore wouldn't let me go if he knew. Please, Hermione?"

Looking over at Ron, Hermione nodded her head, "Fine, but I'm sending a note to Dumbledore. He needs to know what's going on." She waved her wand, making a scroll and quill appear. Quickly scratching out a note, she folded up the paper and tapped it once with her wand. The note lifted off her hand and floated away. Before Harry and Ron could move, Hermione raced back to the common room, returning less than a minute later.

"Where'd you go?" Ron watched as she shoved something into her pocket.

"I needed to get something," Hermione patted her pocket to make sure whatever she'd put in there was secure and looked up to see Harry already going in the direction of the Entrance Hall.

"Come on, we need to hurry," Harry said over his shoulder. The three of them made it to the front doors unseen but had to stop short before reaching the Hogwarts grounds. Three wizards they didn't recognize were making their way around the perimeter of the castle.

"Who are they?" Ron whispered.

"They must have been brought by Dumbledore to guard the castle. Now that the Death Eaters are so close there'll be extra protection everywhere." Hermione watched the guards until they were out of sight and then made a run for the Whomping Willow, Harry and Ron close behind her.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron reached out to grab Hermione's arm but she slipped away, deftly maneuvering her way between the long, whip-like branches of the tree that had come to life. It fought blindly, not knowing who woke it from its slumber but striking out in all directions. Hermione reached the trunk of the tree and pushed on the small knot near its base, making the tree become immobile.

Hermione waved them over and they both stared at her.. "Bloody hell, how'd you do that without getting hit?" Ron asked, but Hermione just shrugged her shoulders as if she hadn't just outsmarted a magical tree that had defeated fully-grown wizards.

"Come on, already," She moved to crawl through the opening but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"No way am I letting you go in first," Ron looked at her like she was crazy.

"I'm perfectly capable of going in first," Hermione crossed her arms.

"There could be Death Eaters right inside and I won't watch you get hurt."

"So you're going to go first and make me watch you get hurt?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort, but Harry pushed in front of them and entered the small opening. Their argument forgotten, Ron and Hermione hurried in after him and they all came to a stop as they looked down the long, dirty tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack. They walked cautiously, using their wands to light their way. A blood-curdling scream ripped through the air and echoed off the walls long after it had stopped.

Harry felt his heart race as he bolted from Ron and Hermione, leaving them behind as he ran towards the screams. His eyes blurred with tears but he dashed his hand across his face and kept running. The tunnel finally came to an end and a set lopsided wooden stairs protruded from the ceiling. Harry ran for the steps when a pair of hands grabbed him from behind.

"Hermione let me go! I need to get to her!" Harry turned away but was pulled back again.

"Harry, we can't go barging in! We need a plan," Hermione placed a finger to her lips and pushed past Harry. She climbed the stairs and placed a hand on the small square door above her head, giving it a gentle push. She looked around for a few seconds before she quickly shut the door, waving her other hand behind her to signal Harry and Ron to keep quiet. They heard footsteps above their heads and Hermione opened the door again when the walking stopped.

"They went up the stairs. I think they left Ginny alone," Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"How do you know where she is?" Ron asked.

"Before I shut the door I saw them leave one of the rooms and I think I saw her hair through the door. Now hurry, we need to go before they come back!" Before either boy could say anything, Hermione pushed up on the door again and quickly climbed through. Ron and Harry scrambled up after her and Harry ran ahead of them. As quietly as he could, he threw open the door to the only other room and went in.

All of the air left his chest as his heart squeezed painfully and all color drained from his face. Ginny laid crumpled in a heap on the rough wooden floor, her face deathly pale and blood pouring from wounds that covered her arms. He moved to kneel beside her and shook her shoulder, "Ginny?" he whispered. She didn't move and Harry remembered that Ron and Hermione were with him.

"Harry, they're still upstairs, we need to—," Hermione broke off as she got her first look at Ginny. Her eyes widened in horror before she ran to Ginny and began looking at her arms, "Harry, start putting this on the cuts."

Hermione held out a small vial of salve and Harry poured some onto his hand, "What is this?"

"It's Draxian Aphaedin, remember we made it in Potions. I grabbed it before we left, just in case. These cuts are old but the bleeding hasn't stopped. I think they used poison."

Harry covered all the cuts he could find and wiped his hands on his clothes, unable to look at the sight of Ginny's blood on him. "Why isn't she waking up?" he turned panicked eyes on Hermione.

"She needs a hospital. We have to leave, now."

"Leaving so soon?" Harry and Hermione froze as the shrill voice filled the room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Harry turned so he was standing between the Death Eaters and Ginny. Bellatrix Lestrange was coming through the doorway as Antonin Dolohov appeared behind her, one of his arms wrapped around Ron's neck while his other hand held a wand to his head. There was a cut above his left eye that dripped blood down the side of his face.

Hermione let out a small gasp when she saw Ron and started to move forward but Ron widened his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. She stayed where she was and glanced around the room to see if there was another way out but the only option was a small window on the opposite side of the room. They'd never make it there in time.

"I was hoping you'd come," Bellatrix drawled as she eyed Harry. He already knew why Ginny had been taken but he needed to buy them more time to find a way out.

"Why did you take Ginny?"

"Stupid boy, haven't you figured it out yet? We knew that you would have told her about the prophecy. And even if she didn't, taking her was the best way to get to you."

"What did you do to her?" Harry braced himself for her words but it didn't dull the pain of finding out what they'd done to Ginny.

"Used a little persuasion, didn't we Bellatrix?" Dolohov finally spoke up, a pleased grin on his face.

"Threatening her didn't work so I gave her some initiative," Bellatrix produced the dagger that she'd used on Ginny. "That didn't work so next came the Raexian venom. Doesn't her blood look lovely against the silver of the knife?"

Harry felt like he was going to be sick when he saw Ginny's blood on the dagger, but Bellatrix continued talking, "I'll admit that didn't work either. The little brat still refused to speak so Antonin and I used another method. I believe you know of the Cruciatus Curse?"

Dolohov laughed, "I think I enjoyed that much more than I did with your uncles." He gave Ron's neck a slight squeeze.

Harry could feel the anger coursing through him, "Where's Malfoy, then? Get scared and run away?"

"On the contrary, he's on his way to our Master to get permission for us to dispose of this," Bellatrix curled her lip in disgust as she pointed down at Ginny.

"Scared of Voldemort?" Harry questioned.

Bellatrix stiffened, "How dare you say our Master's name!"

"You are scared of him, aren't you? I'm not. He's a pathetic excuse for a wizard and no match for Dumbledore."

Bellatrix lunged at Harry with the dagger but he jumped out of the way. Dolohov's grip on Ron loosened and Ron took the opportunity. He threw his head back as hard as he could, hearing a cracking noise as he connected with the wizard's face. Dolohov screamed, shoving Ron forward and raising his wand but Hermione threw all of her weight at him and they both fell backwards into the main floor of the house. Hermione jumped up off the floor and grabbed for her wand but Dolohov was too fast. A burst of red shot from his wand and hit Hermione in the center of her chest. She looked at Ron for a moment before she fell limply to the floor, blood trickling out of the side of her mouth.

"Hermione!" Ron screamed and ran forward, dropping to the ground next to Hermione.

Harry watched in horror as Hermione dropped to the ground, his distraction giving Bellatrix enough time to swing her knife at him. He turned to the side at the last second but felt the sting of pain as the dagger slashed his arm. Running to the other side of the room, Harry saw Dolohov leveling his wand at Ron's back, "Ron, behind you!"

Ron had never moved so fast in his life. He lunged for Hermione's wand where she'd dropped it as she fell and spun around, "Stupefy!" Dolohov was thrown back by the force of the spell and fell to the floor unconscious.

Bellatrix stared in disbelief, giving Harry enough time to run out of the room. He ran for the stairs, hoping that Bellatrix would follow him and he could draw her away from the others. He heard her heels thudding against the floor behind him and he took the stairs three at a time. Reaching the second floor, Harry saw that it was mostly empty save for a few armchairs and a couch. He dove behind one of the chairs as a streak of light shot past his head. He turned and sent a spell at Bellatrix but she ducked and it hit the wall behind her, splintering the wood. She screamed in rage and fired spell after spell at Harry who managed to block them all except for the last one which hit the chair he was hiding behind with such force that he was thrown backwards, his head slamming into the floor.

By the time he rolled to his side, Bellatrix was standing over him. She was breathing heavily but a delighted smile stretched across her face, "Don't worry, once I'm done with you I'll take care of your friends. And that little girlfriend of yours, well I'll make sure she feels every part of it." She raised her arm above her head but never got the chance to speak. An explosion that sounded like a clap of thunder spread throughout the tiny shack as a gust of wind rushed past him. Bellatrix was frozen in place, her arm still poised above her before she fell to the ground. Harry was vaguely aware of someone coming into the room and he grabbed for his wand as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.