Disclaimer: check previous chapters.

A/N: Am I the only one having trouble getting on fanfiction.net? Probably . . . *sighs* It's really frustrating . . . I might not be able to post this until tomorrow. Well, here's chapter nine.

Chapter Nine

Lost Sister

The next night, Ginny lay awake in her bed, thinking. She could hear Sarah snoring loudly and Laura talking incoherently in her sleep across the room, but that wasn't what was keeping her up. It was the fact that Draco wouldn't tell her what had happened.

As soon as she'd woken up from being stunned, Draco had been there. His expression had been blank but from the edge to his voice he sounded a little angry. She asked him what had happened, and he told her his father had stunned her.

"I know that," she'd said. "But after that?"

"I told him to leave and he did," Draco said, obviously lying. "I waited until you woke up."

He must've waited a long time, because when she returned to the dormitory, it was nearly eleven o'clock. Ginny didn't buy his story at all. What had really happened?

I'll probably never find out, Ginny thought with a sigh, rolling over onto her side.

The whole day she'd been trying to think of excuses so she could go and be alone with Draco. But Ron seemed to have suspected something and he never left her side. It was really annoying, because wherever Ron was Harry was. Harry barely even spoke to her, avoiding eye contact. Ginny wondered if he'd told her brother what had happened.

And it didn't help that Draco wasn't making any attempt to get with her. Could she have read him wrong?

He kissed me, she thought stubbornly. I reckon he was even trying to protect me from his father by standing in front of me. How else would he think I'd interpret that? Either he's sending the wrong signals or I'm just being paranoid.

Ginny sighed again, wondering if she'd ever be able to go off alone ever again. Even when she wanted to go to the bathroom Ron made Hermione go with her. Hermione, who obviously knew what was going on, looked at Ginny with pity but always obeyed Ron.

She closed her eyes, hoping to make her brain shut down and fall asleep. Only a few minutes passed when she opened them suddenly after hearing a thump. She sat up and listened, staring at the closed curtains around her bed. Had Rachel fallen out of bed again? In the silence that followed she dismissed that idea, because Rachel normally woke up, swearing loudly, when she hit the ground.

You just imagined it, Ginny, she told herself, reluctantly lying back down.

But she heard another sound. It sounded like the swishing of someone's close. Her eyes wide open, she was too afraid to even sit up again. Someone's in here, she thought. Someone who doesn't belong.

She knew it wasn't Melanie, because she never woke up once she fell asleep. It took a lot just to get her up in the morning. And it wasn't Rachel, because Rachel didn't wear a lot to sleep and her clothes wouldn't have made that sort of swoosh. Laura was still murmuring in her sleep, and Sarah was still snoring away.

It was someone else.

Ginny waited, so tense she felt like a block of ice, and listened for another noise. The next sound she heard wasn't so subtle – and she saw what was happening along with the racket. Someone threw open a curtain on one side of her bed.

She jumped into a sitting position, letting out a little shriek. Because of all the clamor she made, she didn't hear the person whisper something. She didn't see a wand pointed at her, but before everything went dark she caught a glimpse of silver hair.

The next morning was a Saturday, but Draco got dressed and went down to breakfast early, hoping to be finished eating by the time Gregory and Vincent got there.

But for some reason, they were already waiting for him and he was forced to sit with them. Draco hurried up to eat and leave, but even before he was halfway through his meal Pansy planted herself in the chair beside him and gushed over how brave he was to have been all alone in America.

He wasn't alone, but reminding Pansy that he'd been with Ginny was not something he had in mind to do.

Speaking of Ginny . . . Draco thought then, glancing over at the Gryffindor table. She wasn't there, but neither were her brother and Potter. Draco assumed they hadn't come down yet.

Draco had decided he needed to talk with Ginny, so he put up with Pansy and remained at the table for nearly twenty minutes after he'd finished his breakfast. He was about to just get up and leave when Ron, Harry, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall.

Ginny wasn't with them.

Maybe she's just not hungry, Draco figured with a frown. But even from across the hall he could see that Ron was looking a little worried. And Draco knew that Ginny always had breakfast – she'd told him so when she'd been complaining in New York about how hungry she was and how she hated missing a meal.

He felt a flicker of uneasiness in his stomach. Trying to tell himself that Ginny probably just had a fight with Ron and wanted to wait until after they left to come and eat, he remained at the table for a bit longer.

But Ginny never came.

And she wasn't at lunch, either.

That's when Draco knew something was wrong. He didn't even bother explaining himself when he abruptly stood up and walked to the Gryffindor table, right while Pansy was trying to tell him something.

He was aware that nearly every Gryffindor was glaring at him, but he didn't really care. He was used to it. Fixing his eyes on Ron, he stepped between Harry and Hermione (who sat across from him) and demanded, "Where is she?"

"We thought you knew," Hermione told him.

Draco smirked. "Lost your sister, have you?" he said to Ron.

"I didn't lose her," Ron snarled. "Someone stole her."

That made Draco stop smiling. Not because Ron had accused him, but because he was probably right. Someone did steal her, he thought. He very much wanted to smack himself in the head, but that would only give the Gryffindors some real material to tease him with.

Draco turned and strode out of the Great Hall. Someone stole her . . . of course, I should've known. Father asked me those questions for a reason. And I didn't do anything . . . I should've warned her, or put some sort of protection charm on her. . . .

He tried to think. His father had apparently taken Ginny. Draco didn't know the whole reason why, but it was obvious he did it. Where would he take Ginny? he wondered.

There were a million places he could've taken her. But most places would be too public . . . or too close to the public. And that's when it dawned on him. They owned a summerhouse that was nearly twenty miles away from the nearest house. The nearest village was almost fifty miles away.

Draco had gone there every summer up until the summer before fourth year. He wasn't sure of the real reason why he stopped going, but he had a hunch that it was the meeting house for Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

That's where he took her, Draco thought.

"Hey – Malfoy!" someone called behind him.

Draco recognized the voice. It was Potter. He kept walking, not wanting at all to speak with him.

Harry had to run to catch up with him, since Draco was walking so fast. But he did, and grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. Draco spun around, throwing his hand off.

"Don't touch me, Potter," he said viciously.

"Sorry," Harry replied, not sounding sorry at all. "But you know where Ginny is, don't you?"

"Don't speak to me, either," Draco added, and started to walk away.

"You do," Harry said, practically jogging to keep up. He was seriously beginning to annoy Draco. "You know exactly where she is. Did she spend the night with you?"

At this, Draco had to stop walking. He whirled to face Harry, who took a step back as if expecting the other boy to lunge at him.

"No," he spat. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"So how do you know where she is?"

"I never said I did!"

"But it's obvious you do, so why don't you just tell me?"

His calmness only infuriated Draco more. He forced himself to relax, forced himself not to rip Harry's glasses off and shove them down his throat. "And what could you do?"

"Do? If you tell me where she is, all I'll do is go get her."

Draco sneered. "Yeah, I'm sure you would. I'm sure you'd love to be the one to rescue her, O Brave Potter?"

"Rescue?" Harry repeated. "Why would she need rescuing? Is she in danger?"

"Well . . . yes, yes I reckon she would be," Draco replied.

"Where is she, Malfoy?" Harry asked again, this time with more anger. "If she's in trouble then you need to tell someone, even if it isn't me, where she is."

Draco stared at Harry for a moment. Easy for you to say, he thought. You don't have a father who would pull out your intestines while you watched if you ever gave away Voldemort's hiding place.

"I don't need to do anything," he finally said, and started walking again.

"So what, are you just going to forget about her?" Harry pursued, following. When Draco didn't reply, he continued. "Oh, wait, I forgot. For a second there I totally forgot that you were so wrapped up in yourself that you would never even help another human being, even if it meant saving their lives. Even if it meant that you wouldn't have to do anything but say a few words and then sit on your ass all day and not worry about it ever again."

Draco nearly laughed – he'd never heard Harry swear before, either. Instead, he just simply said over his shoulder, "I'm going to get her, you great prat. So quit your yapping and leave me alone."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Draco stopped walking again so he could see if Harry was serious. "You are, are you?"

"You can't stop me from following you," Harry said, a tad bit smugly.

"You can do whatever you want," Draco answered. "I'm just telling you one thing – I'm not in it so I can be proclaimed a hero."

"Neither am I."

Draco smirked. "Sure you aren't."

"I'm not. Are we just going to stand here all day or are we actually going to do something?"

He studied Harry for a moment. Before he could stop himself, he said, "Meet me at the lake in a half hour. Bring your broomstick."

As Draco walked away for the final time, he couldn't help but feel that he'd made a huge mistake.

Ginny woke up cold. As soon as her eyes opened, everything that had happened came rushing back to her, jolting her even more awake. She sat up quickly and looked at her surroundings.

She was in an empty stone room. It wasn't exactly a dungeon, because there was one thick wooden door in the corner that obviously led out. It looked impossible to break open. Underneath her was some straw, but she could feel the coldness of the floor seeping through it.

Slowly, she stood up. She was wearing pajamas that had a top and a bottom that had been Ron's when he was about seven (and had belonged to Fred before him, and Charlie before him). Since Ginny had a really small waist, it fit her fine there, but the shorts came up way too high. The top fit nearly perfectly except around her chest, and it was short sleeved. Plus she had no socks or shoes on. Every inch of her was covered in goose bumps.

Patting herself, she found that she didn't have her wand. Of course, she thought, feeling slightly stupid. They wouldn't leave me with my wand.

Not to mention she always put it on her bedside table when she went to bed. They would've been idiots to take it with them. Whoever "them" is, she contemplated.

The only thing she had besides her pajamas (and underwear) was the gold amulet that was tucked under her shirt. Like it would do any good, especially when the silver one was still with Harry. Or at least she assumed it was.

Ginny crossed her arms tightly and paced on the straw, trying to get warm. Despite the cold, dark stones the room was made of it was clean. It was the sort of place you'd expect water to be dripping down the walls and rats to be coming in and out of holes in the wall. But everything was dry and relatively spotless.

What am I doing here? she wondered, remembering the flash of silver hair she'd seen before she'd blacked out. She refused to believe that it was Draco, and that only left one person. Well, two people, actually, but Fluer Delacour was out of the question. Lucius Malfoy. What would he want with me?

Of course, he had seen her kissing his son. But honestly, did he want to kidnap her for that reason alone?

He is an evil person, she reasoned.

Ginny stopped pacing when she heard a noise. The door was opening. She looked at it, feeling as if her stomach had dropped to her feet.

About five hooded people walked into the room. Following them was Lucius, who was wearing dark robes but with the hood down. And Lucius was beside another hooded person.

But this hooded person was different. She was aware that Lucius was smiling evilly at her, but she kept her eyes on the man beside him. A wave of coldness swept through her, as if someone had just dipped her in a large vat of ice water.

The person lowered their hood to reveal a face that didn't belong to a man. In fact, it didn't belong to any creature. Red eyes, slits for a nose, yellowish skin. . . .

Ginny felt herself go numb.

She was standing less than five yards from Lord Voldemort.

A/N: I need to go off and write chapter ten, so no thank yous right now! But please review anyways! Thanx!