A/N—Although it is technically possible to reduce one's own dislocated
shoulder, it would be horribly painful and difficult to get the correct
pressure, pull and angle. So please forgive me when one of the characters
proceeds to do just that. I do realize that it isn't likely to really
happen outside of battle or a Rambo movie, but, hey! This is fiction! Don't
ya love it? Oh, also, my first and probably last attempt to write in 'old
English'. K
Ginny stared up the corridor, willing the two deranged young men to go away. Then she saw Gregory Goyle! He rushed around the corner, his face red, his lips cracked and bleeding from the effect of her brothers' gag candy. His eyes fastened on her with evil intent. He hooked his hands into claws and charged at her, screeching incoherently. Ginny backed up a few steps, frightened nearly out of her wits. Goyle was almost on her when she finally shrieked, "STUPEFY!"
Goyle's momentum carried him forward as he collapsed, causing him to smash into Ginny and drag her to the floor. She landed hard, wand flying and Goyle right on top of her. Ginny heaved at him, panicked. She shoved and kicked at him, finally moving his unconscious form off of her. Ginny sat panting for only a second when she realized Crabbe wasn't around. She scrambled up and reached for her wand, when a large hard hand gripped her arm and yanked her around. She let out a little shriek and felt like passing out when she found herself looking into the enraged face of Vincent Crabbe.
Crabbe squeezed Ginny's arm hard. He was gripping her over the knife wound and Ginny gasped in pain.
"Oh, you like that, do you?" he sneered. He squeezed again, harder.
"Get OFF, you bastard," Ginny cried, panicked. She kicked out at him. This time, however, she missed.
Crabbe dodged her foot easily and raised his hand. He backhanded her so hard she would have crumpled to the ground if he'd not been holding onto her arm.
"Get up, you little bitch!" he bellowed at her.
Ginny was dazed and could barely understand what he'd said, much less react. Then she heard another bellow, but this came from the hidden panel. Crabbe heard it, too and spun around looking up and down the corridor frantically, trying to see where the voice had come from. A few more seconds and he would realize there was a hidden room here. He'd find the door, and Draco would be in danger!
Ginny pulled herself together and bent her knees under her. Using all the strength she could muster, she straightened her legs suddenly, driving her head into Crabbe's chin. His head snapped back and he once again let go of her arm. Ginny ran toward the stairs at the end of the corridor, wanting to get him as far away from Draco as possible.
Crabbe followed closely behind and was on her before she got to the bottom of the stairs. But they were in a more populated portion of the castle now. Ginny started screaming for all she was worth. Crabbe jumped at her, grabbing her around the waist and dragging her to the ground under him. Ginny's head struck the floor and she blacked out.
When she came to, Ginny was sitting propped against a wall in what looked like a dark tunnel. It was cold and damp, and it smelled horribly like the chamber Tom Riddle had led her to when she'd been under his enchantment in her first year at Hogwarts. Though there were a few guttering torches set along the wall, the flickering light only made the shadows jump ominously. Looking about, she saw that there were chains on the walls at intervals. She shivered as she noticed that there were chains on her own wrists. One arm was drawn well above her head, and felt cold and numb. The other was in agony! Looking at the way the head of her long arm bone was pushed forward and her whole shoulder looked as though it had dropped three inches, she figured it was definitely dislocated this time.
Ginny tried to pull herself up by the chain with her uninjured arm, but as she pulled, the chain ran through the ring on the wall above her and yanked up the dislocated arm. Pain exploded in her shoulder, making her gut wrench. Shivering harder, Ginny sat and panted, willing the pain to go away. If she'd had her wand, she would have reduced it herself, but she didn't' think she would be able to do it without magic. It was just too painful. Ginny looked around again, wondering where she was. And where was Crabbe, she wondered desperately, biting her trembling lip. From the smell and the damp, she figured she was in the dungeons somewhere. He could be anywhere, just waiting to see what she'd do. But Ginny didn't think so. She was terribly afraid he might be making arrangements for her to 'disappear' as he'd said earlier. She had to get away! But she couldn't do anything with a dislocated shoulder. A sudden, terrible idea struck her.
Ginny took a deep breath, thinking hard. What she was about to try was stupid. People didn't fix their own dislocations without magic. But, she reminded herself, Muggles did it all the time if the movies she'd seen at Hermione's house were any indication. And even if they didn't fix their own, they did get them fixed, and without magic! It was simply a matter of pulling the head of the long arm bone, the humerus, out far enough to slip back into place.
"Dear lord, I can't do that," she breathed quietly to herself. Even in Hermione's ridiculous movies, they made it look painful, and she knew from her studies that even with magic, it was uncomfortable.
Ginny honestly didn't think she would be able to maintain the pull long enough for her shoulder to 'pop' back into place. She might not even have the strength for it. But she had to try. She wasn't about to allow Crabbe to take her without a fight. She'd already realized he wasn't as stupid as he let on, so he must have discovered her injury. He would know that it would basically disable her. If she could fix it, and then pretend she was still injured, she might be able to catch him off guard and find a way to get away.
Not giving herself a chance to think it through, Ginny struggled to her feet, carefully supporting the injured arm against her chest. Despite her efforts, she was pale and trembling when she finally stood. The knife wound was still bleeding slowly, she'd found. There was a small pool of blood on the ground where her arm had lain, and her sleeve was fairly soaked. That scared her more than the dislocation. It meant that Crabbe must have used a bleeding curse or potion on his knife. She could slowly bleed to death in a matter of hours from the cut unless she did something to counteract the magic.
"I'll worry about that later," she muttered to herself. The high, piercing tone of her own voice frightened her a bit.
Get down to business, she thought to herself. Crabbe could be back any time. With that thought, Ginny examined the chains, the ring set into the wall and the manacles on her wrists. The manacles were actually fairly loose. She might just be able to wriggle her hands free if she could find something to lubricate her wrists. She almost giggled. She could use blood; she seemed to be producing plenty of that! Ginny quickly stifled the giggle, though. It felt more like panic than mirth, and she didn't like the idea of uncontrollable hysterics when her life was in danger. Concentrating, Ginny finally formed a plan.
She would keep her wrists in the manacles for now. She really didn't think she could force herself to hang on to the chain if it weren't attached to her wrist. Ginny took a deep breath and started pulling out the slack in the chain. She wound her uninjured arm round and round, winding the chain about it, and slowly raising the injured arm. When her arm was almost level with her chest, the pain began. Ginny pulled her arm higher and the level of pain grew. When she had her arm at shoulder height, she was biting her lips to keep from groaning.
I can't do this, she thought again. It hurts too much! Tears welled in her eyes as she took one last turn of chain around her arm. By now it looked like she was wearing a chain sleeve. Her fingers were turning blue at the tips as the circulation was cut off. But she finally had her arm in position. Trying to remember everything she'd read or seen, Ginny leaned back slowly. The chain tightened and began pulling on both arms. Ginny pivoted slightly, pulling the good shoulder back farther to put more pull on her injured arm.
Lord, the pain was almost blinding! Just a little more, she told herself. She knew she couldn't keep at it for more than a few more seconds. Finally, desperately, Ginny allowed her legs to buckle. As she fell, she felt her weight yank against the chains, sending a bolt of pain crashing through her shoulder. She uttered one strangled cry and passed out again.
Ginny was only out for a few seconds this time. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she had landed on her knees, facing the wall. Her arms were still suspended above her, her hands still tightly gripping the chains. But, while her shoulder ached, it didn't hurt anymore. Gingerly, she moved it slightly. Again, aching, but no explosions of pain. Ginny quickly unwound the chain from her arm, letting out the slack. She stood, marveling at the fact that she'd actually done it!
She was about to dribble blood onto her wrists to work her hands from the manacles, when she heard shouts and scuffling from the tunnel. Someone was coming!
Draco's hands were shaking. Who had she stupefied? And why didn't she come into the chamber where she might be safer? What the hell was the girl thinking? He grabbed at his wand and stood quickly. He pointed the wand at the chain and muttered a quick spell. And felt nothing! He looked at the wand again and cursed loudly. It was the wrong wand! This was a stupid prank wand he'd gotten in Hogsmeade weeks ago! With an oath, he threw it down and grabbed up the robe again. But both pockets were empty! His wand wasn't there!
Draco looked quickly to where the robe had been folded and saw his real wand. It was lying on top of the green ribbon next to the wall. Gods! He had to do it again? Taking a steadying breath, Draco focused all his will on the wand. He pointed his finger at it and narrowed his eyes.
"Accio!" he fairly shouted.
The wand, and the ribbon, shot straight toward his outstretched hand. Draco barely had time to recover from his amazement and catch the wand before it went shooting right by him. He absently stuffed the ribbon into his pocket before he was at the chain again. He called out a spell and this time felt the magic coursing through him to his wand. But nothing happened to the chain. It must have been carefully charmed to resist breaking spells. Draco didn't waste a second on it.
He moved to the bars and immediately cried out a shrinking spell. The bars he pointed to began to become thinner. The iron shrieked as it tried to pull itself from the solid stone it was embedded in. Draco watched in satisfaction as the bars became thinner and shorter. Then they stopped. He'd have to cast the spell again. He lifted his wand when he heard Ginny's shriek. His eyes flew to the door and he strained his ears for any sounds. What he heard made him launch himself at the thinner bars like a madman.
He heard Crabbe calling Ginny a bitch, then he heard what sounded like a solid blow! He began yelling as he threw himself at the barrier.
"You bastard!" he bellowed. "I'll kill you! You touch her and I'll cut your heart out!"
Draco was about to launch himself at the bars again when he heard a loud thud followed by running footsteps. A second set of footsteps followed shortly. He finally pulled himself together and hit the bars with a blast of fury-driven magic. The bars burst apart, sending iron, rock and cement flying outward. The backlash threw Draco against the wall. He struck the wall and slid to the floor, dazed.
As the dust settled, however, he pulled himself up and gazed in awe at the huge, gaping hole he'd made in the barrier. The opposite wall was riddled with shrapnel and there was now a large section of iron bar buried in the door. The DOOR! Draco ran to what was left of the wall of bars and easily slipped through the mangled remnants. He paused only long enough to locate and scoop up his knife and the bag of powder. His robe was in tatters so he left it. Then he ran to the door, opened it, and rushed into the hallway, hoping he would be able to figure out where he was quickly.
Once he was in the hallway, Draco almost laughed. He was in the Magical Healing corridor! What brought him back to earth, though, was the groaning, twitching lump of flesh that was Greg Goyle. Draco looked around the corridor, noting the drops of blood in both directions, but decided he'd deal with Goyle first. He might be able to learn something useful from him. Draco roughly nudged Goyle onto his back with the toe of his shoe. Then he gasped at the swollen, cracked, bleeding face. This poor bastard seemed to have gotten what he deserved already! Nevertheless, Draco pointed his wand at him and whispered, "Enervate!"
Goyle croaked loudly. "My mouth! My throat! Oh, you bloody bitch!"
Draco felt the corner of his mouth pull up in a harsh smile. He kneeled next to his classmate and grasped two handfuls of robe. He yanked the other young man into a sitting position and shook him violently.
"You great, stupid bastard! Wake up! I need to know where Crabbe took her!" Draco said harshly.
Goyle finally opened his eyes.
"Malfoy? Lord, where you been?" Goyle looked astonished to find himself face to face with Draco. Then his eyes narrowed.
"Took who?" he said carefully. "Don't know what you're talkin' about. I need some water!"
Draco shook Goyle again, making his teeth rattle. "Tell me where Crabbe is taking Weasley, or I'll beat the crap out of you!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't have time to play games, damn you!"
Goyle gave a weak laugh, blood spilling from his lips and dribbling down his chin.
"Too late, Malfoy!" he said hoarsely. "Your little whore already got to me! My gut's on fire, my mouth's ruined, I can barely talk! But she won't be much to look at when Vince is done with her! He's taking her to meet another whore!"
With a final wheezing cough, he lost consciousness. Draco let him drop to the ground. He turned him onto his side so he wouldn't drown on his own blood. Draco wasn't about to let him get off that easily. He'd wait until Goyle was better, then he would beat the crap out of him. He thought he had an idea where Crabbe might be, though. As he stood, he muttered to the inert form, "Stupid bastard. You thought she was just a cute, fluffy little weasel. You forgot that weasels are vicious, dangerous creatures."
Draco finally turned away and studied the blood on the floor. The trail leading away from Goyle looked fresher, and the spots of blood were farther apart. He knew Ginny was hurt, he'd felt it. Now he knew she was bleeding, and running for her life. Draco took off, following the trail to the stairs and down. He came to a spot where there was a large patch of blood smeared across the floor, then the trail stopped.
That didn't bother Draco now, though. There was a hidden passage that he was sure only a few Slytherins knew about. It let to the dungeons and below. In fact, it was rumored that it was connected to the old chamber that Salazar Slytherin had built himself. Many Slytherins had tried to find the chamber, but since it's being opened a few years ago, no one had tried to explore any further. They still used the passage, though. And if he were trying to kidnap a popular, well-known student, that was the way he'd go. Draco hurried down the corridor, down a flight of stairs, around a corner and up a small set of steps. This brought him to a dark alcove. Inside the alcove was a portrait of a pale, gaunt woman with a longish straight nose and dark, piercing eyes. Her auburn hair was pulled into a tight coil about her head and her clothing marked her as having lived centuries ago. She was said to have been Slytherin's unwilling mistress, but as she spoke to no one, no one knew for certain. Draco approached the portrait and waited until she looked at him with those strange, dark eyes. She wasn't scowling, as usual. She looked distressed. And she looked Draco up and down, taking in his filthy, disheveled appearance. Her thin eyebrows rose, then quickly lowered. Then she waited.
"Lady," Draco said politely, with a small bow. "I know you don't deign to speak to us, but can you at least tell me whether one of my former companions has passed recently with a young woman? Perhaps she was unconscious?"
Draco tried to keep the concern out of his voice. Who knew if she might be like Peeves and would withhold information out of pure contrary behavior? The woman's eyes became more distressed. Although she didn't speak a word, she waved at Draco with a beckoning gesture. She pointed agitatedly behind her and gave Draco the 'come on' gesture again. Draco approached, but didn't know what she wanted. She seemed to want him to enter the passage, but she didn't open the doorway. Then, as she kept gesturing and looking pleadingly at him, he remembered.
"Salazar!" he said quickly, speaking the password.
The portrait opened so fast, he had to jump back to avoid being struck by it. Draco bowed again to the lady and made to enter the passage. He stopped, shocked, when he heard a thin, reedy voice rasping at him.
"Go, thee, quickly, ere the evil whelp does her grave injury!"
Draco glanced quickly at the portrait, suddenly noticing the startling resemblance between the woman in the portrait and almost every Weasley he'd ever seen. Could she possibly be some descendant? Her voice brought him back.
"Get thee gone! Else thou shalt be too late!"
Draco bowed again and disappeared down the passage.
Ginny stared up the corridor, willing the two deranged young men to go away. Then she saw Gregory Goyle! He rushed around the corner, his face red, his lips cracked and bleeding from the effect of her brothers' gag candy. His eyes fastened on her with evil intent. He hooked his hands into claws and charged at her, screeching incoherently. Ginny backed up a few steps, frightened nearly out of her wits. Goyle was almost on her when she finally shrieked, "STUPEFY!"
Goyle's momentum carried him forward as he collapsed, causing him to smash into Ginny and drag her to the floor. She landed hard, wand flying and Goyle right on top of her. Ginny heaved at him, panicked. She shoved and kicked at him, finally moving his unconscious form off of her. Ginny sat panting for only a second when she realized Crabbe wasn't around. She scrambled up and reached for her wand, when a large hard hand gripped her arm and yanked her around. She let out a little shriek and felt like passing out when she found herself looking into the enraged face of Vincent Crabbe.
Crabbe squeezed Ginny's arm hard. He was gripping her over the knife wound and Ginny gasped in pain.
"Oh, you like that, do you?" he sneered. He squeezed again, harder.
"Get OFF, you bastard," Ginny cried, panicked. She kicked out at him. This time, however, she missed.
Crabbe dodged her foot easily and raised his hand. He backhanded her so hard she would have crumpled to the ground if he'd not been holding onto her arm.
"Get up, you little bitch!" he bellowed at her.
Ginny was dazed and could barely understand what he'd said, much less react. Then she heard another bellow, but this came from the hidden panel. Crabbe heard it, too and spun around looking up and down the corridor frantically, trying to see where the voice had come from. A few more seconds and he would realize there was a hidden room here. He'd find the door, and Draco would be in danger!
Ginny pulled herself together and bent her knees under her. Using all the strength she could muster, she straightened her legs suddenly, driving her head into Crabbe's chin. His head snapped back and he once again let go of her arm. Ginny ran toward the stairs at the end of the corridor, wanting to get him as far away from Draco as possible.
Crabbe followed closely behind and was on her before she got to the bottom of the stairs. But they were in a more populated portion of the castle now. Ginny started screaming for all she was worth. Crabbe jumped at her, grabbing her around the waist and dragging her to the ground under him. Ginny's head struck the floor and she blacked out.
When she came to, Ginny was sitting propped against a wall in what looked like a dark tunnel. It was cold and damp, and it smelled horribly like the chamber Tom Riddle had led her to when she'd been under his enchantment in her first year at Hogwarts. Though there were a few guttering torches set along the wall, the flickering light only made the shadows jump ominously. Looking about, she saw that there were chains on the walls at intervals. She shivered as she noticed that there were chains on her own wrists. One arm was drawn well above her head, and felt cold and numb. The other was in agony! Looking at the way the head of her long arm bone was pushed forward and her whole shoulder looked as though it had dropped three inches, she figured it was definitely dislocated this time.
Ginny tried to pull herself up by the chain with her uninjured arm, but as she pulled, the chain ran through the ring on the wall above her and yanked up the dislocated arm. Pain exploded in her shoulder, making her gut wrench. Shivering harder, Ginny sat and panted, willing the pain to go away. If she'd had her wand, she would have reduced it herself, but she didn't' think she would be able to do it without magic. It was just too painful. Ginny looked around again, wondering where she was. And where was Crabbe, she wondered desperately, biting her trembling lip. From the smell and the damp, she figured she was in the dungeons somewhere. He could be anywhere, just waiting to see what she'd do. But Ginny didn't think so. She was terribly afraid he might be making arrangements for her to 'disappear' as he'd said earlier. She had to get away! But she couldn't do anything with a dislocated shoulder. A sudden, terrible idea struck her.
Ginny took a deep breath, thinking hard. What she was about to try was stupid. People didn't fix their own dislocations without magic. But, she reminded herself, Muggles did it all the time if the movies she'd seen at Hermione's house were any indication. And even if they didn't fix their own, they did get them fixed, and without magic! It was simply a matter of pulling the head of the long arm bone, the humerus, out far enough to slip back into place.
"Dear lord, I can't do that," she breathed quietly to herself. Even in Hermione's ridiculous movies, they made it look painful, and she knew from her studies that even with magic, it was uncomfortable.
Ginny honestly didn't think she would be able to maintain the pull long enough for her shoulder to 'pop' back into place. She might not even have the strength for it. But she had to try. She wasn't about to allow Crabbe to take her without a fight. She'd already realized he wasn't as stupid as he let on, so he must have discovered her injury. He would know that it would basically disable her. If she could fix it, and then pretend she was still injured, she might be able to catch him off guard and find a way to get away.
Not giving herself a chance to think it through, Ginny struggled to her feet, carefully supporting the injured arm against her chest. Despite her efforts, she was pale and trembling when she finally stood. The knife wound was still bleeding slowly, she'd found. There was a small pool of blood on the ground where her arm had lain, and her sleeve was fairly soaked. That scared her more than the dislocation. It meant that Crabbe must have used a bleeding curse or potion on his knife. She could slowly bleed to death in a matter of hours from the cut unless she did something to counteract the magic.
"I'll worry about that later," she muttered to herself. The high, piercing tone of her own voice frightened her a bit.
Get down to business, she thought to herself. Crabbe could be back any time. With that thought, Ginny examined the chains, the ring set into the wall and the manacles on her wrists. The manacles were actually fairly loose. She might just be able to wriggle her hands free if she could find something to lubricate her wrists. She almost giggled. She could use blood; she seemed to be producing plenty of that! Ginny quickly stifled the giggle, though. It felt more like panic than mirth, and she didn't like the idea of uncontrollable hysterics when her life was in danger. Concentrating, Ginny finally formed a plan.
She would keep her wrists in the manacles for now. She really didn't think she could force herself to hang on to the chain if it weren't attached to her wrist. Ginny took a deep breath and started pulling out the slack in the chain. She wound her uninjured arm round and round, winding the chain about it, and slowly raising the injured arm. When her arm was almost level with her chest, the pain began. Ginny pulled her arm higher and the level of pain grew. When she had her arm at shoulder height, she was biting her lips to keep from groaning.
I can't do this, she thought again. It hurts too much! Tears welled in her eyes as she took one last turn of chain around her arm. By now it looked like she was wearing a chain sleeve. Her fingers were turning blue at the tips as the circulation was cut off. But she finally had her arm in position. Trying to remember everything she'd read or seen, Ginny leaned back slowly. The chain tightened and began pulling on both arms. Ginny pivoted slightly, pulling the good shoulder back farther to put more pull on her injured arm.
Lord, the pain was almost blinding! Just a little more, she told herself. She knew she couldn't keep at it for more than a few more seconds. Finally, desperately, Ginny allowed her legs to buckle. As she fell, she felt her weight yank against the chains, sending a bolt of pain crashing through her shoulder. She uttered one strangled cry and passed out again.
Ginny was only out for a few seconds this time. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she had landed on her knees, facing the wall. Her arms were still suspended above her, her hands still tightly gripping the chains. But, while her shoulder ached, it didn't hurt anymore. Gingerly, she moved it slightly. Again, aching, but no explosions of pain. Ginny quickly unwound the chain from her arm, letting out the slack. She stood, marveling at the fact that she'd actually done it!
She was about to dribble blood onto her wrists to work her hands from the manacles, when she heard shouts and scuffling from the tunnel. Someone was coming!
Draco's hands were shaking. Who had she stupefied? And why didn't she come into the chamber where she might be safer? What the hell was the girl thinking? He grabbed at his wand and stood quickly. He pointed the wand at the chain and muttered a quick spell. And felt nothing! He looked at the wand again and cursed loudly. It was the wrong wand! This was a stupid prank wand he'd gotten in Hogsmeade weeks ago! With an oath, he threw it down and grabbed up the robe again. But both pockets were empty! His wand wasn't there!
Draco looked quickly to where the robe had been folded and saw his real wand. It was lying on top of the green ribbon next to the wall. Gods! He had to do it again? Taking a steadying breath, Draco focused all his will on the wand. He pointed his finger at it and narrowed his eyes.
"Accio!" he fairly shouted.
The wand, and the ribbon, shot straight toward his outstretched hand. Draco barely had time to recover from his amazement and catch the wand before it went shooting right by him. He absently stuffed the ribbon into his pocket before he was at the chain again. He called out a spell and this time felt the magic coursing through him to his wand. But nothing happened to the chain. It must have been carefully charmed to resist breaking spells. Draco didn't waste a second on it.
He moved to the bars and immediately cried out a shrinking spell. The bars he pointed to began to become thinner. The iron shrieked as it tried to pull itself from the solid stone it was embedded in. Draco watched in satisfaction as the bars became thinner and shorter. Then they stopped. He'd have to cast the spell again. He lifted his wand when he heard Ginny's shriek. His eyes flew to the door and he strained his ears for any sounds. What he heard made him launch himself at the thinner bars like a madman.
He heard Crabbe calling Ginny a bitch, then he heard what sounded like a solid blow! He began yelling as he threw himself at the barrier.
"You bastard!" he bellowed. "I'll kill you! You touch her and I'll cut your heart out!"
Draco was about to launch himself at the bars again when he heard a loud thud followed by running footsteps. A second set of footsteps followed shortly. He finally pulled himself together and hit the bars with a blast of fury-driven magic. The bars burst apart, sending iron, rock and cement flying outward. The backlash threw Draco against the wall. He struck the wall and slid to the floor, dazed.
As the dust settled, however, he pulled himself up and gazed in awe at the huge, gaping hole he'd made in the barrier. The opposite wall was riddled with shrapnel and there was now a large section of iron bar buried in the door. The DOOR! Draco ran to what was left of the wall of bars and easily slipped through the mangled remnants. He paused only long enough to locate and scoop up his knife and the bag of powder. His robe was in tatters so he left it. Then he ran to the door, opened it, and rushed into the hallway, hoping he would be able to figure out where he was quickly.
Once he was in the hallway, Draco almost laughed. He was in the Magical Healing corridor! What brought him back to earth, though, was the groaning, twitching lump of flesh that was Greg Goyle. Draco looked around the corridor, noting the drops of blood in both directions, but decided he'd deal with Goyle first. He might be able to learn something useful from him. Draco roughly nudged Goyle onto his back with the toe of his shoe. Then he gasped at the swollen, cracked, bleeding face. This poor bastard seemed to have gotten what he deserved already! Nevertheless, Draco pointed his wand at him and whispered, "Enervate!"
Goyle croaked loudly. "My mouth! My throat! Oh, you bloody bitch!"
Draco felt the corner of his mouth pull up in a harsh smile. He kneeled next to his classmate and grasped two handfuls of robe. He yanked the other young man into a sitting position and shook him violently.
"You great, stupid bastard! Wake up! I need to know where Crabbe took her!" Draco said harshly.
Goyle finally opened his eyes.
"Malfoy? Lord, where you been?" Goyle looked astonished to find himself face to face with Draco. Then his eyes narrowed.
"Took who?" he said carefully. "Don't know what you're talkin' about. I need some water!"
Draco shook Goyle again, making his teeth rattle. "Tell me where Crabbe is taking Weasley, or I'll beat the crap out of you!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't have time to play games, damn you!"
Goyle gave a weak laugh, blood spilling from his lips and dribbling down his chin.
"Too late, Malfoy!" he said hoarsely. "Your little whore already got to me! My gut's on fire, my mouth's ruined, I can barely talk! But she won't be much to look at when Vince is done with her! He's taking her to meet another whore!"
With a final wheezing cough, he lost consciousness. Draco let him drop to the ground. He turned him onto his side so he wouldn't drown on his own blood. Draco wasn't about to let him get off that easily. He'd wait until Goyle was better, then he would beat the crap out of him. He thought he had an idea where Crabbe might be, though. As he stood, he muttered to the inert form, "Stupid bastard. You thought she was just a cute, fluffy little weasel. You forgot that weasels are vicious, dangerous creatures."
Draco finally turned away and studied the blood on the floor. The trail leading away from Goyle looked fresher, and the spots of blood were farther apart. He knew Ginny was hurt, he'd felt it. Now he knew she was bleeding, and running for her life. Draco took off, following the trail to the stairs and down. He came to a spot where there was a large patch of blood smeared across the floor, then the trail stopped.
That didn't bother Draco now, though. There was a hidden passage that he was sure only a few Slytherins knew about. It let to the dungeons and below. In fact, it was rumored that it was connected to the old chamber that Salazar Slytherin had built himself. Many Slytherins had tried to find the chamber, but since it's being opened a few years ago, no one had tried to explore any further. They still used the passage, though. And if he were trying to kidnap a popular, well-known student, that was the way he'd go. Draco hurried down the corridor, down a flight of stairs, around a corner and up a small set of steps. This brought him to a dark alcove. Inside the alcove was a portrait of a pale, gaunt woman with a longish straight nose and dark, piercing eyes. Her auburn hair was pulled into a tight coil about her head and her clothing marked her as having lived centuries ago. She was said to have been Slytherin's unwilling mistress, but as she spoke to no one, no one knew for certain. Draco approached the portrait and waited until she looked at him with those strange, dark eyes. She wasn't scowling, as usual. She looked distressed. And she looked Draco up and down, taking in his filthy, disheveled appearance. Her thin eyebrows rose, then quickly lowered. Then she waited.
"Lady," Draco said politely, with a small bow. "I know you don't deign to speak to us, but can you at least tell me whether one of my former companions has passed recently with a young woman? Perhaps she was unconscious?"
Draco tried to keep the concern out of his voice. Who knew if she might be like Peeves and would withhold information out of pure contrary behavior? The woman's eyes became more distressed. Although she didn't speak a word, she waved at Draco with a beckoning gesture. She pointed agitatedly behind her and gave Draco the 'come on' gesture again. Draco approached, but didn't know what she wanted. She seemed to want him to enter the passage, but she didn't open the doorway. Then, as she kept gesturing and looking pleadingly at him, he remembered.
"Salazar!" he said quickly, speaking the password.
The portrait opened so fast, he had to jump back to avoid being struck by it. Draco bowed again to the lady and made to enter the passage. He stopped, shocked, when he heard a thin, reedy voice rasping at him.
"Go, thee, quickly, ere the evil whelp does her grave injury!"
Draco glanced quickly at the portrait, suddenly noticing the startling resemblance between the woman in the portrait and almost every Weasley he'd ever seen. Could she possibly be some descendant? Her voice brought him back.
"Get thee gone! Else thou shalt be too late!"
Draco bowed again and disappeared down the passage.