Disclaimer: not mine!!
A/N: hey! I'm in a big rush (about to go out of town for a couple of days) so you're lucky I got this up!! Hope you all enjoy! Piercing the Darkness
Chapter 11 A Red Glow
******
Draco dropped the bags he was carrying and gripped his right arm. Ginny turned to him, startled that he had let go of her so quickly, he had been gripping her hand to be sure she didn't try to get away or something like that. She watched as he bit his lip, his face turning red, and the way he clutched his arm. Then she realized what was going on. His mark must be burning. She stood next to him on the sidewalk, not knowing what to do. People on the street were beginning to stare at Draco, wondering what was wrong with him. He turned and looked at her, the pain still evident in his face, and he walked forward clumsily, as though he were about to fall over at any second. She grabbed the bags full of new clothing and followed him as he stumbled onto a side street, trying to get away from questioning eyes. Draco rolled up his sleeve, and Ginny gasped as she saw the mark burning brightly against his pale skin.
Thoughts crossed through her mind. Should she try to make an escape, and just leave Malfoy to deal with his problems? Or should she stay and help him? Ginny glanced at him. He was rested against the wall of a building, his head tilted upwards, his eyes shut tightly, his chest rising and falling in great gasps as he struggled to find breath. She timidly approached him, still wondering what she should do. 'This could be my opportunity to get away!' she screamed at herself. But she couldn't leave him-and she couldn't figure out why.
He glared at her as she rested her small hand against his chest.
"Keep away!" he muttered through clenched teeth. "Neither you nor I know what I might be capable of."
"Isn't there anything I can do?" she asked, as she felt his racing heart through his chest. So he had a heart after all.
He glared at her again, and was about to reply, when he let out an awful moan and sank to the ground.
Ginny dropped down to her hands and knees and shook him hard.
"Snap out of it Malfoy!!" she yelled at him.
And to Ginny's astonishment he did. But there was something wrong with him. He raised his head slowly, a glow in his eyes that Ginny felt burn through her. His hand left the clutch of his right arm, and he moved towards her, that smug of evil plastered on his face.
Ginny began to scramble backwards, a dark alley was not the place to be trapped with an insane Death Eater.
"Where are you going?" came an icy voice. It was Draco's voice.
Ginny scrambled up, her knees shaking, her feet trying desperately to move faster. But she watched as his perfect figure moved menacingly towards her, the glow in his eyes becoming even more evident.
Her brain screamed at her, demanding that she get away. But her legs wouldn't obey.
"You can't run." His voice again. "Face it Ginny, you don't want to run."
He was directly in front of her now, and he picked up her arm, tracing it with his fingers. Ginny shivered at his touch, and was convinced that her knees were going to give way. He tilted his head towards her, an evil smile lingering on his lips.
"Ginny.." He whispered her name in her ear. It sounded strange, but pleasant. She looked into his eyes again. But the glow wasn't there anymore. As quickly as it had come it was gone. She could even see the grayness of his eyes. Suddenly he grasped her arm in a tight grip, and she gasped in pain.
"Let's go." He said coldly. And without hesitating, he grabbed the bags and pulled her into the darkness of the alleyway.
******
The Death Eater ripped off his mask and pulled back his hood, satisfied with a job well done. He, his wife, who also took off her mask as she walked up to stand beside him, and his daughter had all recently become trusted servants of Voldemort. Voldemort had given this job to him and his wife, for their daughter had now been exposed as a spy. They would watch over Lucius' son and the girl until Voldemort gave more instructions. He had happily excepted this challenge-no one was going to get away with putting Pansy in danger.
Lucius Malfoy suddenly apparated into the kitchen of the late Michael Fletcher's cottage.
"Ah, Peter Parkinson, once again you have successfully gotten the job done." He said as he looked down on the body of Rose Fletcher.
"Yes Lucius after taking the potion everything will be ready."
"Good, then you will wait for further instructions." Lucius said as he prepared to disapparate.
"Yes, it is a pity though isn't it?" Peter said before Lucius had a chance to go. An expression of mock pity came over Peter's face. Lucius hesitated, well aware at what Parkinson was going on about, although he pretended not to understand.
"Whatever do you mean Peter?" he asked innocently.
"You know, this whole business with your own son deserting the Dark Side, after you were so convinced that he was ready. Quite a lot of trouble that boy's put us through."
Lucius winced. He had gotten this from not only Voldemort but many other Death Eaters as well.
"Yes, but I have disowned him, he is no longer my son." he replied coldly, ready to end the conversation and leave.
Peter's wife, Claire Parkinson spoke up. Lucius had always though Claire was to pretty of a name for such an ugly woman.
"We feel so bad for Narcissa, she must be going through a tough time right now." she said with that annoying twang in her voice.
"She is upset, I will not deny that. This whole thing has made her sickness even worse, and she hardly ever leaves the bed." Lucius replied. "But she does not think of Draco as our son anymore either. She has also disowned him."
"Well we are sorry that this had to happen to you." Peter said, not sounding sorry at all. "But we must finish the polyjuice potion and get ready for their arrival. Voldemort has placed this in our hands, and I would not want to disappoint him." He said boastfully.
"You will see that even though my former son wrongfully deserted the Dark Lord, it will still work out for the best in our master's case. He will now be able to use Draco and the girl to get to the one person he desperately wants to kill. Draco will have his punishment."
"Ah, you are right. Draco did receive the mark you say?" Peter asked.
"Yes"
"Then he has already received some punishment. He probably felt it burn when we murdered the muggles here. Why I remember the first time my mark burned, shortly after I received it. But after that it began to exhilarate me every time it would burn. I knew it meant we had defeated another 'good' wizard or witch, or killed another bothersome muggle-"
"Yes," Lucius interrupted. He didn't feel like listening to Peter's incessant babbling. "I'm sure Draco felt the mark. But he should be here soon, so I advise you to get ready. I must be going."
"Alright then. Good-bye Lucius. I will be waiting for instructions."
"Good-bye Peter- Claire." He nodded to them and disapparated.
"Claire you cut a chunk of this woman's hair out, and I'll go cut some of the man's." Peter instructed. "Then we'll finish the potion, and wait for our little friends to arrive. Make sure you save a good bit of the muggle's hair. I don't know how long Voldemort will need us to be in disguise."
******
Draco had been waiting for it to happen. It hadn't surprised him, but the pain had been even greater than he had imagined. He wasn't sure if Voldemort was trying to summon him, or if it had to do with something else. The mark just doesn't burn horrifically like that for no reason. Did Voldemort know where they were? It was very possible. Draco was pretty much kidding himself. What were the chances that Voldemort was not going to find them? If he did, both he and Weasley would die. 'Why can't Ginny understand that? Why can't she see the danger she's in?' he asked himself. The only thing he could do was run. He wasn't going to let her go. She would spill everything she knew about him and his whereabouts if Voldemort didn't get to her first.
Draco pulled a whimpering Ginny along down the alley. He had definitely scared the hell out of her when he went all crazy like that a while back. He didn't know what had come over him. It was sudden and thrilling. He had felt powerful and Ginny had looked so helpless and small...he didn't know what he might of done to her if he hadn't snapped out of it. She had kept staring into his eyes, a terrified expression on her face. Well, at least she finally seemed a little scared of him. He almost laughed as he remembered that day that she had told him to 'go to hell' and then punched him. Punched him twice! She had then stood imposingly back and watched as he surveyed her in shock.
"I don't like this alley at all." Ginny's voice brought Draco back from his memories. She jumped as a rat ran out from behind a pile of trash.
"It seems nice and cozy to me. Hey!" he said as though he suddenly had a great idea. "We could spend the night out here! It probably wouldn't be any different from your own home. I'm sure you sleep with plenty of rats there."
"Don't talk to me Malfoy." She said, ignoring his comment.
This hadn't been the desired affect Draco had been hoping for. He hated it when people ignored his rudeness.
"What, does thinking of your home bring back horrible childhood memories?" he asked tauntingly
"Actually, it doesn't. I only have good childhood memories. Except for the time Fred and George--" she stopped. "What do you care? I'm sure you couldn't say the same about your childhood. Tell me, what was it like living with two heartless Death Eaters?"
He turned around and raised his hand as though to slap her, but Ginny barreled into him, knocking him to the ground and effectively landing right on top of him. He rolled over, taking her with him, so that now he was on top, crushing her with his body.
"How many times do I have to tell you!? Don't talk about those people in front of me!" he could see the fear beginning to show again. She squirmed underneath him.
"Don't make me mad Ginny." He said quietly, and a bit threatingly, still not moving off her. But he definitely didn't mind this. After all, he was a teenage boy.
"Okay." She whispered.
"What?" Draco asked, pretending not to hear.
"I said Okay! Now would you please get off before I suffocate!?"
"You were the one who knocked me over." He said, as he finally got up and extended a hand to help her up.
She stared at his hand, as though debating weather or not to take it. Draco sighed and was about to drop it, when she placed her hand in his. He pulled her up, and she blushed! Even in the dark alley he could see the tint of red on her face. Draco smiled that famous smirk, causing her to drop his hand quickly.
"Yes, well I did grow up with six brothers you know. I know how to knock people down."
******
Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their free time with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were staying in the castle. All of Ron's brothers had shown up as well, trying to comfort their parents. Molly had insisted that some of them go and stay at the Burrow in case Ginny came home, so Charlie and Percy had gone home, according to their mum's wishes. Only Fred, George, and Bill remained. Both Fred and George were unusually calm, except when they starting talking about Malfoy and all the things they would do to him and his family when they got a hold of him.
"I'll hold the little ferret down, and you can poke his bloody eyes out." Fred had said angrily to George after they heard the news of Ginny being taken.
"And then we can try that new spell you found. The one that makes your fingernails and toenails grow quickly the opposite way, so that they actually grow into your flesh." George said. "He'll wish he'd never been born."
Harry couldn't wait to see that.
******
"Do you know where you are going?" Ginny asked Draco as they continued to walk down the dark alley.
"No." was his reply
"Great." Ginny said sarcasticly.
"That's the whole fun of it- not knowing where you're going" He said nonchalantly.
"Yeah I'm having a real blast." Sarcasticly once again
"We're going to that cottage that you insisted on knowing about." He said exasperately.
"And how do you know where that is?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?! We'll get there!"
And surprisingly enough, they did. Ginny didn't know how Draco had found his way, but suddenly they were walking down a cheery lane that had a white picket fence running down the length of the property until it reached a beautiful cottage. She thought it was probably just a stroke of luck on his part, or maybe magic had been involved.
*****
Peter Parkinson pulled out the dead man's wallet. The driver's license he found in there said that the old guy's name was Michael Fletcher. Peter quickly cut of a large portion of the man's hair, and stuffed it into his robes. He then dragged the body down the cellar steps and into a corner of the cellar. He didn't have time to bury the muggle, and would have to do it later. He went to the kitchen and found the woman on the floor, a lot of her hair missing too, and preceded to drag her down to the cellar as well. Claire met him at the top of the stairs. She had already changed into one of the older woman's dresses.
"I have the potion in the master bath." She said. He followed her down the hall, through the master bedroom and into the bathroom.
"Ugh. It's pink." He said disgustedly.
"Yeah, I found out the old lady's name is Rose." Claire said, pointing to a white bath towel that had 'Rose' inscribed in pink on it. The one next to it said 'Michael'. Peter showed her the license.
"We are the Fletchers." He said.
"Okay. Here's your clothes. I'm afraid the muggle was a bit skinnier than you, but once we take the potion they won't be as tight."
Peter scowled as he quickly changed.
"Now, put a bit of his hair in here." Claire handed him a glass full of bubbling polyjuice potion. She also took a glass and added hair.
Before they had drunk the last drops, the Parkinson's had begun to transform. They were now the Fletchers.
There was a knock at the door, and Peter laughed in a voice that wasn't his own.
"I do believe our friends are here."
TBC
A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to update! If you want a sneak preview of the next chapter, review and leave your e-mail address!! Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Everyone make my day and review!!
**if you're looking for a good and interesting read, check out Yin's fic, it's titled Elfoa Magus, it's really good, and she needs some reviews other than my own!!
A/N: hey! I'm in a big rush (about to go out of town for a couple of days) so you're lucky I got this up!! Hope you all enjoy! Piercing the Darkness
Chapter 11 A Red Glow
******
Draco dropped the bags he was carrying and gripped his right arm. Ginny turned to him, startled that he had let go of her so quickly, he had been gripping her hand to be sure she didn't try to get away or something like that. She watched as he bit his lip, his face turning red, and the way he clutched his arm. Then she realized what was going on. His mark must be burning. She stood next to him on the sidewalk, not knowing what to do. People on the street were beginning to stare at Draco, wondering what was wrong with him. He turned and looked at her, the pain still evident in his face, and he walked forward clumsily, as though he were about to fall over at any second. She grabbed the bags full of new clothing and followed him as he stumbled onto a side street, trying to get away from questioning eyes. Draco rolled up his sleeve, and Ginny gasped as she saw the mark burning brightly against his pale skin.
Thoughts crossed through her mind. Should she try to make an escape, and just leave Malfoy to deal with his problems? Or should she stay and help him? Ginny glanced at him. He was rested against the wall of a building, his head tilted upwards, his eyes shut tightly, his chest rising and falling in great gasps as he struggled to find breath. She timidly approached him, still wondering what she should do. 'This could be my opportunity to get away!' she screamed at herself. But she couldn't leave him-and she couldn't figure out why.
He glared at her as she rested her small hand against his chest.
"Keep away!" he muttered through clenched teeth. "Neither you nor I know what I might be capable of."
"Isn't there anything I can do?" she asked, as she felt his racing heart through his chest. So he had a heart after all.
He glared at her again, and was about to reply, when he let out an awful moan and sank to the ground.
Ginny dropped down to her hands and knees and shook him hard.
"Snap out of it Malfoy!!" she yelled at him.
And to Ginny's astonishment he did. But there was something wrong with him. He raised his head slowly, a glow in his eyes that Ginny felt burn through her. His hand left the clutch of his right arm, and he moved towards her, that smug of evil plastered on his face.
Ginny began to scramble backwards, a dark alley was not the place to be trapped with an insane Death Eater.
"Where are you going?" came an icy voice. It was Draco's voice.
Ginny scrambled up, her knees shaking, her feet trying desperately to move faster. But she watched as his perfect figure moved menacingly towards her, the glow in his eyes becoming even more evident.
Her brain screamed at her, demanding that she get away. But her legs wouldn't obey.
"You can't run." His voice again. "Face it Ginny, you don't want to run."
He was directly in front of her now, and he picked up her arm, tracing it with his fingers. Ginny shivered at his touch, and was convinced that her knees were going to give way. He tilted his head towards her, an evil smile lingering on his lips.
"Ginny.." He whispered her name in her ear. It sounded strange, but pleasant. She looked into his eyes again. But the glow wasn't there anymore. As quickly as it had come it was gone. She could even see the grayness of his eyes. Suddenly he grasped her arm in a tight grip, and she gasped in pain.
"Let's go." He said coldly. And without hesitating, he grabbed the bags and pulled her into the darkness of the alleyway.
******
The Death Eater ripped off his mask and pulled back his hood, satisfied with a job well done. He, his wife, who also took off her mask as she walked up to stand beside him, and his daughter had all recently become trusted servants of Voldemort. Voldemort had given this job to him and his wife, for their daughter had now been exposed as a spy. They would watch over Lucius' son and the girl until Voldemort gave more instructions. He had happily excepted this challenge-no one was going to get away with putting Pansy in danger.
Lucius Malfoy suddenly apparated into the kitchen of the late Michael Fletcher's cottage.
"Ah, Peter Parkinson, once again you have successfully gotten the job done." He said as he looked down on the body of Rose Fletcher.
"Yes Lucius after taking the potion everything will be ready."
"Good, then you will wait for further instructions." Lucius said as he prepared to disapparate.
"Yes, it is a pity though isn't it?" Peter said before Lucius had a chance to go. An expression of mock pity came over Peter's face. Lucius hesitated, well aware at what Parkinson was going on about, although he pretended not to understand.
"Whatever do you mean Peter?" he asked innocently.
"You know, this whole business with your own son deserting the Dark Side, after you were so convinced that he was ready. Quite a lot of trouble that boy's put us through."
Lucius winced. He had gotten this from not only Voldemort but many other Death Eaters as well.
"Yes, but I have disowned him, he is no longer my son." he replied coldly, ready to end the conversation and leave.
Peter's wife, Claire Parkinson spoke up. Lucius had always though Claire was to pretty of a name for such an ugly woman.
"We feel so bad for Narcissa, she must be going through a tough time right now." she said with that annoying twang in her voice.
"She is upset, I will not deny that. This whole thing has made her sickness even worse, and she hardly ever leaves the bed." Lucius replied. "But she does not think of Draco as our son anymore either. She has also disowned him."
"Well we are sorry that this had to happen to you." Peter said, not sounding sorry at all. "But we must finish the polyjuice potion and get ready for their arrival. Voldemort has placed this in our hands, and I would not want to disappoint him." He said boastfully.
"You will see that even though my former son wrongfully deserted the Dark Lord, it will still work out for the best in our master's case. He will now be able to use Draco and the girl to get to the one person he desperately wants to kill. Draco will have his punishment."
"Ah, you are right. Draco did receive the mark you say?" Peter asked.
"Yes"
"Then he has already received some punishment. He probably felt it burn when we murdered the muggles here. Why I remember the first time my mark burned, shortly after I received it. But after that it began to exhilarate me every time it would burn. I knew it meant we had defeated another 'good' wizard or witch, or killed another bothersome muggle-"
"Yes," Lucius interrupted. He didn't feel like listening to Peter's incessant babbling. "I'm sure Draco felt the mark. But he should be here soon, so I advise you to get ready. I must be going."
"Alright then. Good-bye Lucius. I will be waiting for instructions."
"Good-bye Peter- Claire." He nodded to them and disapparated.
"Claire you cut a chunk of this woman's hair out, and I'll go cut some of the man's." Peter instructed. "Then we'll finish the potion, and wait for our little friends to arrive. Make sure you save a good bit of the muggle's hair. I don't know how long Voldemort will need us to be in disguise."
******
Draco had been waiting for it to happen. It hadn't surprised him, but the pain had been even greater than he had imagined. He wasn't sure if Voldemort was trying to summon him, or if it had to do with something else. The mark just doesn't burn horrifically like that for no reason. Did Voldemort know where they were? It was very possible. Draco was pretty much kidding himself. What were the chances that Voldemort was not going to find them? If he did, both he and Weasley would die. 'Why can't Ginny understand that? Why can't she see the danger she's in?' he asked himself. The only thing he could do was run. He wasn't going to let her go. She would spill everything she knew about him and his whereabouts if Voldemort didn't get to her first.
Draco pulled a whimpering Ginny along down the alley. He had definitely scared the hell out of her when he went all crazy like that a while back. He didn't know what had come over him. It was sudden and thrilling. He had felt powerful and Ginny had looked so helpless and small...he didn't know what he might of done to her if he hadn't snapped out of it. She had kept staring into his eyes, a terrified expression on her face. Well, at least she finally seemed a little scared of him. He almost laughed as he remembered that day that she had told him to 'go to hell' and then punched him. Punched him twice! She had then stood imposingly back and watched as he surveyed her in shock.
"I don't like this alley at all." Ginny's voice brought Draco back from his memories. She jumped as a rat ran out from behind a pile of trash.
"It seems nice and cozy to me. Hey!" he said as though he suddenly had a great idea. "We could spend the night out here! It probably wouldn't be any different from your own home. I'm sure you sleep with plenty of rats there."
"Don't talk to me Malfoy." She said, ignoring his comment.
This hadn't been the desired affect Draco had been hoping for. He hated it when people ignored his rudeness.
"What, does thinking of your home bring back horrible childhood memories?" he asked tauntingly
"Actually, it doesn't. I only have good childhood memories. Except for the time Fred and George--" she stopped. "What do you care? I'm sure you couldn't say the same about your childhood. Tell me, what was it like living with two heartless Death Eaters?"
He turned around and raised his hand as though to slap her, but Ginny barreled into him, knocking him to the ground and effectively landing right on top of him. He rolled over, taking her with him, so that now he was on top, crushing her with his body.
"How many times do I have to tell you!? Don't talk about those people in front of me!" he could see the fear beginning to show again. She squirmed underneath him.
"Don't make me mad Ginny." He said quietly, and a bit threatingly, still not moving off her. But he definitely didn't mind this. After all, he was a teenage boy.
"Okay." She whispered.
"What?" Draco asked, pretending not to hear.
"I said Okay! Now would you please get off before I suffocate!?"
"You were the one who knocked me over." He said, as he finally got up and extended a hand to help her up.
She stared at his hand, as though debating weather or not to take it. Draco sighed and was about to drop it, when she placed her hand in his. He pulled her up, and she blushed! Even in the dark alley he could see the tint of red on her face. Draco smiled that famous smirk, causing her to drop his hand quickly.
"Yes, well I did grow up with six brothers you know. I know how to knock people down."
******
Harry, Ron and Hermione spent most of their free time with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were staying in the castle. All of Ron's brothers had shown up as well, trying to comfort their parents. Molly had insisted that some of them go and stay at the Burrow in case Ginny came home, so Charlie and Percy had gone home, according to their mum's wishes. Only Fred, George, and Bill remained. Both Fred and George were unusually calm, except when they starting talking about Malfoy and all the things they would do to him and his family when they got a hold of him.
"I'll hold the little ferret down, and you can poke his bloody eyes out." Fred had said angrily to George after they heard the news of Ginny being taken.
"And then we can try that new spell you found. The one that makes your fingernails and toenails grow quickly the opposite way, so that they actually grow into your flesh." George said. "He'll wish he'd never been born."
Harry couldn't wait to see that.
******
"Do you know where you are going?" Ginny asked Draco as they continued to walk down the dark alley.
"No." was his reply
"Great." Ginny said sarcasticly.
"That's the whole fun of it- not knowing where you're going" He said nonchalantly.
"Yeah I'm having a real blast." Sarcasticly once again
"We're going to that cottage that you insisted on knowing about." He said exasperately.
"And how do you know where that is?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?! We'll get there!"
And surprisingly enough, they did. Ginny didn't know how Draco had found his way, but suddenly they were walking down a cheery lane that had a white picket fence running down the length of the property until it reached a beautiful cottage. She thought it was probably just a stroke of luck on his part, or maybe magic had been involved.
*****
Peter Parkinson pulled out the dead man's wallet. The driver's license he found in there said that the old guy's name was Michael Fletcher. Peter quickly cut of a large portion of the man's hair, and stuffed it into his robes. He then dragged the body down the cellar steps and into a corner of the cellar. He didn't have time to bury the muggle, and would have to do it later. He went to the kitchen and found the woman on the floor, a lot of her hair missing too, and preceded to drag her down to the cellar as well. Claire met him at the top of the stairs. She had already changed into one of the older woman's dresses.
"I have the potion in the master bath." She said. He followed her down the hall, through the master bedroom and into the bathroom.
"Ugh. It's pink." He said disgustedly.
"Yeah, I found out the old lady's name is Rose." Claire said, pointing to a white bath towel that had 'Rose' inscribed in pink on it. The one next to it said 'Michael'. Peter showed her the license.
"We are the Fletchers." He said.
"Okay. Here's your clothes. I'm afraid the muggle was a bit skinnier than you, but once we take the potion they won't be as tight."
Peter scowled as he quickly changed.
"Now, put a bit of his hair in here." Claire handed him a glass full of bubbling polyjuice potion. She also took a glass and added hair.
Before they had drunk the last drops, the Parkinson's had begun to transform. They were now the Fletchers.
There was a knock at the door, and Peter laughed in a voice that wasn't his own.
"I do believe our friends are here."
TBC
A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to update! If you want a sneak preview of the next chapter, review and leave your e-mail address!! Thanks to all of you who reviewed! Everyone make my day and review!!
**if you're looking for a good and interesting read, check out Yin's fic, it's titled Elfoa Magus, it's really good, and she needs some reviews other than my own!!