Disclaimer: Do I really have to go through this with you? Again? Ok, ok,
Harry Potter is not mine. If it were I would not be slaving away at the
hellhole- aka my school. *Deep Breath* Did I go over the top there?
Authors Note: I had this ready about a day and a half after chapter 12 was posted it just needed some tweaking. (Tweaking= major re-work) And I had to make Draco nicer, it was hurting me to keep him as a bad guy.
Chapter 13:
"Then I'm coming with you," Ron added with a large grin spreading over his face but the reason why Harry couldn't see.
Harry stopped putting his jacket on,
"You're not Ron," he said firmly pushing his arm through the other sleeve, "And that's final,"
Ron's smile disappeared as quickly as a sweet down Dudley's gullet and for anyone that's doesn't know- that's fast,
"And what," he answered thickly through the jumper he was pulling on, "Gives you the right to tell me what to do? I just might want to help your sorry cause,"
Both of them started opening his mouth to argue some more when Hermione's voice interrupted them from the living room door,
"I shouldn't bother apparating," she stated almost mechanically, stopping both of them dead in their tracks, "If this is Malfoy's work she'd be at their manor by now-"
Harry gritted his teeth. His apartment, the Malfoy Manor- it made no difference because by the end of the day there'd be one less Malfoy in this world.
He knew where the manor was perfectly having been there for more raids than Hermione had A's in Hogwarts. Ron must have had the same thought running through his brain,
"So?" he asked childishly while making sure his wand was in his pocket. Hermione folded her arms and leaned against the door frame,
"So," she answered slowly just for Ron's benefit, "Do you think the Malfoy's leave there manor unprotected? They have enchantments, spells, charms and all kind of things stopping people like you getting in when your not wanted,"
That could be a problem.
"But, Harry's been there loads of times on searches and stuff,"
Harry was getting restless now even though he knew this was important,
"Yes, but he had permission," Hermione explained quickly seeing Harry's harassed look, "Off the ministry- he had evidence why he should raid the manor,"
He had no evidence, and if this went to court they only had the answer phone recording and all the proof on that could convict him was in Parsletongue. Being able to understand the snake's language was not a good thing in his situation.
There had to some proof back at the apartment- at least finger prints or something,
Unfortunately before he apparated Ron heard him mutter where he was going.
~*~
The place was a tip to say the least. All of the chairs had been toppled over and the magazines from the coffee table were splayed about with pages ripped out. One of the lamps lay smashed the ground as the glass cracked under his shoe as he made his way across the floor of his once tidy apartment.
There was a small pop behind him and Harry took his wand out of his pocket,
"Jesus I thought I was messy,"
Harry still didn't put his wand back into his pocket,
"Ron," he growled dangerously, "What did I tell you?"
Ron merely shrugged and even if he had heard Harry's question he didn't answer it as he picked a chair up and set it straight. Harry was distracted for a moment wondering why a chair from the kitchen was blocking the doorway.
Choosing not to talk to his partner, Harry swept off into the rest of the apartment searching in his room first of all then the kitchen.
There seemed to be nothing missing anywhere- it looked like somebody was looking for something- or someone and hadn't found it/them.
All of the apartment was a mess and not just in a pants-all-over-the-floor way but in a ransacked way.
"I guess crime is going up then," Ron muttered unnecessary as he kicked a cushion that lay on the floor onto the sofa.
"Why are you here Ron?" Harry snapped not even looking at him as he looked out onto the fire escape wishing that pigeons could talk. All he heard in reply was a grunt and a bang,
"Ron?" he called steeping out of the kitchen and into the main living area with all the annoyance temporality lifted away, "Ron what are you doing?"
Ron took a few steps back and wiped his brow before taking a run up and hit the door with his shoulders. Groaning and splintering the door gave way and fell through leaving dust fluttering upwards in the wind that blew in through the window.
"I'm guessing this is her room," he heard through Ron's heavy breathing, "No?"
Harry didn't answer; instead he just brushed Ron away and stalked into Paige's room. He knew he was being awful to Ron now and Ron had every right to just go home, do nothing and stay completely out of harms way. He had no right to be waspish like this- at least they were spending time together.
Ignoring his conscience for a moment, he scanned the room while the dust settled but unlike all of the other rooms this one seemed relatively untouched. Of course she wouldn't be impressed if she came back on found her room with no door.
With no sign of life Harry was about to turn around and make an apology to Ron.
He got as far as the turning round. He even opened to his mouth to say 'sorry' but Ron's fist connecting with is jaw stopped him.
No matter how tough you are or, like Harry, no matter how hard you've been trained to take pain if someone punches you and takes you by surprise you tend to fall. It seemed like Harry wasn't the only one who wasn't scrawny any more.
Although he was surprised, Ron only managed to get Harry down onto his knees where he clutched his jaw for a moment before healing it with his wand,
"Stop being a prick Harry," Ron said determinedly but unable to suppress the little waver of shock in his voice, "It doesn't suit you,"
Harry nodded absent-mindedly and spat the blood out his mouth. He started to get to his feet when a sharp stabbing pain raced up his leg,
"Ouch!" he exclaimed lamely as he managed to haul himself onto his roommates neatly made bed trying to ignore the large pool of blood growing on his knee. Pulling the leg of his jeans up, the grizzly sight of his knee came into sight,
"Glass?" was Ron's only comment before he bent down and gingerly picked something off the floor where he had just hit but Harry had bigger problems.
Shards off glass where embedded in his knee at odd angles and he could have sworn he saw something pulsate deep inside. No wonder it hurt when he tired to stand up.
Muttering a quick healing charm again, he stood up and cringed at the bloodly mess he had left on her light blue sheets and the fact that whole bits of glass were just popping out of his leg. Just as he was about to clean the second mess he had made, Ron tapped him on the shoulder,
"I think you might have a stalker," he said, biting his bottom lip in what was either worry, being grossed out by Harry's knee or just plain humour, "Look-"
Ron passed a small, blood encrusted photo frame to his friend.
Harry glanced down at it thinking it was some kind of twisted joke but the wariness in his mind turned to shock. The glass was splintered like a spiders web and blood leaked into the photograph but it was still remarkable clean and recognisable,
It was a photo of him and Ginny.
The one when he took her to Paris after her OWL exams.
The one that only she had a copy of.
~*~
Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip
Ginny sat, blindfolded, gagged and tied to a chair with some kind of rope that cut into her wrist. She had no idea where she was it was just somewhere damp, cold and smelly.
Well the place she was in just smelt of wetness but the piece of material they had used to gag her with reeked.
That was her own fault- she had been hollering abuse to whoever could hear her until her throat went sore and some one came up, hit her around the face again and gagged her.
That stunned her for a moment or two and that person went to sit back down but then she started humming. There was something about living with six brothers that made her able to annoy any one.
But now she just couldn't be bothered with it anymore. It seemed like she had been here for hours and still there was no sign of anyone coming to help her. Lucius was right, though she would never admit it,
She had no knight in shining armour.
Her head hurt from someone dragging her across the room by her hair and because she was blindfolded she stumbled and made it even worse. Her cheek was already hurt from the slap from earlier on and later he had kicked her in he stomach. She could feel the blood trickling down her hand and on the tips of her fingers only to fall off and join the constant drip of water from somewhere else in the room.
Or at least she hoped the other drip was water.
Unable to prevent it, she let a single tear roll down her bloodstained and bruised face. Another then another followed it as she silently poured her soul out onto the floor.
Not for the first time she felt alone in this world.
~*~
Harry swallowed with some difficulty as he slipped the photograph out of its frame, ignoring the glass that scraped his fingers, and studied the picture.
Unlike the glass that had previously framed it, it was completely void of blood or any kind of mess- it was spotless. There was no way a muggle photograph could have someone's knee rammed into it, have blood poured all over it and glass splitters around it without some much as a crease.
"Ginny," he whispered, drawing a circle around her face with his bloody finger. Beside him Ron was shifting his weight nervously,
"I think you've lost it," he remarked somewhat nervously, "She's dead,"
But she wasn't and Harry knew that for a fact.
She wasn't dead and all that time she had been living with her and he hadn't figured it out.
Everything came together and he kicked himself for not figuring it out sooner.
The ginger roots she had once and when she first arrived he thought it was her for a split second before she introduced herself as Paige. The fear in her eyes when she saw the Dark Mark was unexplainable until now- most of the Muggle's around them thought it was another kind of firework until the stage nearly blew up.
Harry ran his fingers through his hair as more and more memories came floating back to him.
She had called him Harry once and before he always got the feeling she wasn't telling the truth- not lying exactly, just not the complete truth. Today as well, Deatheaters wouldn't bother capturing a muggle- they'd just killed them on site especially one like Malfoy senior.
There was just one thing he couldn't figure out- why she freaked out when she saw he had blonde hair on New Years day.
Who had blonde hair that Ginny had had a bad experience with before today?
The answer cam far to quick for his liking:
Draco Malfoy.
Years ago when she first came to him with this idea of running away he had attempted to kidnap her and use her as bait.
It had taken three years and a different Malfoy but finally they had done it.
They had pretty much the one thing that he loved above everything in their possession- that was not good. Not good for them that is.
~*~
Her blindfold was pulled off her eyes roughly and she was shocked- she hadn't heard anyone walking up to her. Squinting in the sudden change of light for a minute or two, the scene in front of her slowly came into focus, five Deatheaters surrounded her or at least she thought there were five.
She recognised more than one of them from school and of course there was Lucius Malfoy grinning evilly at her. No one said anything for a moment,
"Everyone," Lucius barked glaring at everyone around him, "Out! Now!"
Not one person showed any sign of change in their face- no questions were asked as they trooped out obediently like little dogs.
He brought out his wand and pointed it straight at her and she winced expecting pain only to find herself able to stand up.
Standing up carefully, she looked at the person in front of her with distain,
"Welcome to the Malfoy manor Weasley," he declared spreading his arms out wide displaying the dungeon they held her in like it was a fine banquet hall, "You must be the first Weasley here in, oh, 500 years,"
Ginny swallowed a whole wave of sarcastic comments only to settle on,
"I'm honoured,"
Instead of reacting violently like she expected he merely smirked, brought his arms back down to his side and swaggered over to her. His grinning face was barely six inches from her own bruised one,
"You should be," he whispered stoking an ice-cold finger down her blood-and- tear stained cheek, "Because you won't be coming out,"
Ginny recoiled away from his touch as if he had just send an electric shock through her though the laugh that followed this was just as effective,
"Don't you worry your pretty little sweetie," he hissed with failing kindness, "There's worse to come,"
"Why?" she found herself saying despite her plan to stay quiet and find a way out,
"Why?" he repeated slightly amused that she didn't already know, "I would have thought you would know Weasley- after all you are living with him,"
Harry. She had figured that much but that couldn't be it- a long time had passed since Harry was wanted-
"Voldermort's dead," she snapped, resisting the urge to add a swear word at the end of it, enjoying the fact that he still flinched from the name. She allowed a small smile to tug at her lips,
"Or are you still scared of your old master's name? Do you miss him?" she taunted without thinking, "I'll tell you what, you can lick my shoes if you want-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence.
Lucius, who was pacing back and forth getting more and more angrier at every word she spoke, suddenly snapped and with one swift movement he had her pinned against the slimy wall,
"If you say anything like that again girlie," he warned with Ginny cowering below him, "I swear you will regret it,"
Ginny gulped and lost her voice again.
The two stared at each other with equal hatred for what could have been hours if some one hadn't interrupted them,
"Er, sir," came the timid voice from the doorway, "I think you'd better see this,"
Ginny could have sworn she heard him growl before he let her go, swept out of the room, robes billowing, and slamming the door behind her.
She slid down the wall wanting to cry now more than ever in the pitch-black darkness.
~*~
"Ah Potter," a familiar voice greeted him, "Long time no see!"
Harry forced a smile, nice thoughts, nice thoughts, nice thoughts, nice thoughts-
"Hello Draco," he answered stiffly through gritted teeth as he pulled out a chair and sat himself opposite his school years enemy. He nodded to a guard who left to stand outside of the room while some other officials dealt with Malfoy's security.
Even with two years out of interviewing Deatheaters, the rooms hadn't changed. The same sickly yellow or cream was painted on the walls only this time paint was peeling giving the effect that it was snake skin more than ever.
The simple, wooden table they were both seated at stood in the middle and apart from the three chair that surrounded it, two on Harry's side and one on Malfoy's, there was no other furniture.
He didn't have to look behind him to see that there was a long mirror that covered the entire length of the wall. He knew that Dumbledore, Percy Weasley, Arabella Figg and many more important individuals stood behind it watching and listening to his every move.
Finally they were alone in the room- or as alone as they could be with half a dozen people peering through and tight security buzzing around.
"Who's in there Potter?" Draco asked as innocently as he could with an annoying smirk plastered all over his face, "Dumbledore I suppose," He casually leaned back on his chair and starching his arms as if this was already boring him.
Nice thoughts- think nice thoughts,
"Amazing," Harry answered calmly ignoring Dumbledore's order to keep it strictly business, "Even after all these years and a couple of weeks in Askaban you still remain the prick you were in school,"
If it wasn't for the fact that Draco was bound to the chair and wand less Harry had good reason to believe that he wouldn't be awake now. The person opposite him swallowed with some difficultly before speaking,
"Why are you here Potter?" he said not even looking at him, "I get dragged away from my favourite meal just so you can gloat? Well, this is low, even for you-"
"Listen," Harry interrupted knowing too well that this was not going to go anywhere good anytime soon, "Your darling father has kidnapped someone," he didn't give him the pleasure of knowing exactly how close to home they had hit, "And guess who he wants,"
Taken back was one emotion that until now Harry though Draco impossible of,
"You?" he offered somewhat weakly and not sure what to expect,
"Yes me," Harry snapped, Lucius had been Voldemort's right hand man and with the Dark Lord gone who knew how twisted his mind had become, "Someone else as well, so why do you think I'm here?"
Of all the things he expected, a smile or thinly veiled happiness, when he told him this, Harry did not expect a dark look to come over his face.
"No,"
Laughter bubbled up in Harry's throat when he knew that that humour should be shock,
"No?"
"I would rather spend my day's rotting in Askanban than join that lunatic again,"
Harry knew that he wasn't the only one shocked by this news. He could almost imagine Ron's eyeballs falling out of their sockets,
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me Potter," he answered with a little less venom, "I hate the man- I hate my father,"
The Daily Prophet was going to have a field day when they found out about this.
~*~
About an hour previously - Auror Headquarters London:
"Good afternoon Harry,"
Harry stood up quickly and came face to face with Albus Dumbledore and his now twinkling light blue eyes. To his left was Arabella Figg who merely nodded and smiled at him wearily. Ron, who stood behind them both, was grinning beside a smug looking Percy.
"Afternoon Sir,"
Dumbledore made his way across the room and sat behind his desk and opposite Harry,
"Please," he said after a moment, "Don't call me sir, Harry, it has been many years since you were at school,"
Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again; it had been too many years since he had seen his old headmaster- or any of his school friends for that matter. Dumbledore had aged, he looked a lot more tired than the man he knew from his first year at Hogwarts but his light blue eyes still shone.
"So Harry," Dumbledore asked after a second-too-long silence, "What brings you back to our world?"
His stomach twisted with guilt for the ninth time and three minutes - most of the waves of new guilt had come when he spoke to Percy. Harry pulled a piece of parchment he had received earlier out of his robe pockets, it took a while as he wasn't used to them, and placed it on the desk,
"I got this," he answered, pushing the letter towards him and leaning back in the leather armchair, "About ten minutes ago,"
He watched Dumbledore's eyes scan through it and when, Harry presumed, he got to the end he swallowed with some difficulty,
"I think we should pay Draco a little visit,"
In the corner Harry could hear Ron having a coughing fit.
Authors Note:
Yes, I know I'd say there was going to be some Harry/Ginny action and all kinds of violence and stuff but I have this weird need to have this fic AT LEAST 15 chapters long, ok?
*Weeps* sorry but I'm have to have it like this.
This was nine pages long so don't winge.
Chapter 14 will be soon and I PROMISE it will be-
Long
Action packed (take that either way)
Erm, good?
Authors Note: I had this ready about a day and a half after chapter 12 was posted it just needed some tweaking. (Tweaking= major re-work) And I had to make Draco nicer, it was hurting me to keep him as a bad guy.
Chapter 13:
"Then I'm coming with you," Ron added with a large grin spreading over his face but the reason why Harry couldn't see.
Harry stopped putting his jacket on,
"You're not Ron," he said firmly pushing his arm through the other sleeve, "And that's final,"
Ron's smile disappeared as quickly as a sweet down Dudley's gullet and for anyone that's doesn't know- that's fast,
"And what," he answered thickly through the jumper he was pulling on, "Gives you the right to tell me what to do? I just might want to help your sorry cause,"
Both of them started opening his mouth to argue some more when Hermione's voice interrupted them from the living room door,
"I shouldn't bother apparating," she stated almost mechanically, stopping both of them dead in their tracks, "If this is Malfoy's work she'd be at their manor by now-"
Harry gritted his teeth. His apartment, the Malfoy Manor- it made no difference because by the end of the day there'd be one less Malfoy in this world.
He knew where the manor was perfectly having been there for more raids than Hermione had A's in Hogwarts. Ron must have had the same thought running through his brain,
"So?" he asked childishly while making sure his wand was in his pocket. Hermione folded her arms and leaned against the door frame,
"So," she answered slowly just for Ron's benefit, "Do you think the Malfoy's leave there manor unprotected? They have enchantments, spells, charms and all kind of things stopping people like you getting in when your not wanted,"
That could be a problem.
"But, Harry's been there loads of times on searches and stuff,"
Harry was getting restless now even though he knew this was important,
"Yes, but he had permission," Hermione explained quickly seeing Harry's harassed look, "Off the ministry- he had evidence why he should raid the manor,"
He had no evidence, and if this went to court they only had the answer phone recording and all the proof on that could convict him was in Parsletongue. Being able to understand the snake's language was not a good thing in his situation.
There had to some proof back at the apartment- at least finger prints or something,
Unfortunately before he apparated Ron heard him mutter where he was going.
~*~
The place was a tip to say the least. All of the chairs had been toppled over and the magazines from the coffee table were splayed about with pages ripped out. One of the lamps lay smashed the ground as the glass cracked under his shoe as he made his way across the floor of his once tidy apartment.
There was a small pop behind him and Harry took his wand out of his pocket,
"Jesus I thought I was messy,"
Harry still didn't put his wand back into his pocket,
"Ron," he growled dangerously, "What did I tell you?"
Ron merely shrugged and even if he had heard Harry's question he didn't answer it as he picked a chair up and set it straight. Harry was distracted for a moment wondering why a chair from the kitchen was blocking the doorway.
Choosing not to talk to his partner, Harry swept off into the rest of the apartment searching in his room first of all then the kitchen.
There seemed to be nothing missing anywhere- it looked like somebody was looking for something- or someone and hadn't found it/them.
All of the apartment was a mess and not just in a pants-all-over-the-floor way but in a ransacked way.
"I guess crime is going up then," Ron muttered unnecessary as he kicked a cushion that lay on the floor onto the sofa.
"Why are you here Ron?" Harry snapped not even looking at him as he looked out onto the fire escape wishing that pigeons could talk. All he heard in reply was a grunt and a bang,
"Ron?" he called steeping out of the kitchen and into the main living area with all the annoyance temporality lifted away, "Ron what are you doing?"
Ron took a few steps back and wiped his brow before taking a run up and hit the door with his shoulders. Groaning and splintering the door gave way and fell through leaving dust fluttering upwards in the wind that blew in through the window.
"I'm guessing this is her room," he heard through Ron's heavy breathing, "No?"
Harry didn't answer; instead he just brushed Ron away and stalked into Paige's room. He knew he was being awful to Ron now and Ron had every right to just go home, do nothing and stay completely out of harms way. He had no right to be waspish like this- at least they were spending time together.
Ignoring his conscience for a moment, he scanned the room while the dust settled but unlike all of the other rooms this one seemed relatively untouched. Of course she wouldn't be impressed if she came back on found her room with no door.
With no sign of life Harry was about to turn around and make an apology to Ron.
He got as far as the turning round. He even opened to his mouth to say 'sorry' but Ron's fist connecting with is jaw stopped him.
No matter how tough you are or, like Harry, no matter how hard you've been trained to take pain if someone punches you and takes you by surprise you tend to fall. It seemed like Harry wasn't the only one who wasn't scrawny any more.
Although he was surprised, Ron only managed to get Harry down onto his knees where he clutched his jaw for a moment before healing it with his wand,
"Stop being a prick Harry," Ron said determinedly but unable to suppress the little waver of shock in his voice, "It doesn't suit you,"
Harry nodded absent-mindedly and spat the blood out his mouth. He started to get to his feet when a sharp stabbing pain raced up his leg,
"Ouch!" he exclaimed lamely as he managed to haul himself onto his roommates neatly made bed trying to ignore the large pool of blood growing on his knee. Pulling the leg of his jeans up, the grizzly sight of his knee came into sight,
"Glass?" was Ron's only comment before he bent down and gingerly picked something off the floor where he had just hit but Harry had bigger problems.
Shards off glass where embedded in his knee at odd angles and he could have sworn he saw something pulsate deep inside. No wonder it hurt when he tired to stand up.
Muttering a quick healing charm again, he stood up and cringed at the bloodly mess he had left on her light blue sheets and the fact that whole bits of glass were just popping out of his leg. Just as he was about to clean the second mess he had made, Ron tapped him on the shoulder,
"I think you might have a stalker," he said, biting his bottom lip in what was either worry, being grossed out by Harry's knee or just plain humour, "Look-"
Ron passed a small, blood encrusted photo frame to his friend.
Harry glanced down at it thinking it was some kind of twisted joke but the wariness in his mind turned to shock. The glass was splintered like a spiders web and blood leaked into the photograph but it was still remarkable clean and recognisable,
It was a photo of him and Ginny.
The one when he took her to Paris after her OWL exams.
The one that only she had a copy of.
~*~
Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip
Ginny sat, blindfolded, gagged and tied to a chair with some kind of rope that cut into her wrist. She had no idea where she was it was just somewhere damp, cold and smelly.
Well the place she was in just smelt of wetness but the piece of material they had used to gag her with reeked.
That was her own fault- she had been hollering abuse to whoever could hear her until her throat went sore and some one came up, hit her around the face again and gagged her.
That stunned her for a moment or two and that person went to sit back down but then she started humming. There was something about living with six brothers that made her able to annoy any one.
But now she just couldn't be bothered with it anymore. It seemed like she had been here for hours and still there was no sign of anyone coming to help her. Lucius was right, though she would never admit it,
She had no knight in shining armour.
Her head hurt from someone dragging her across the room by her hair and because she was blindfolded she stumbled and made it even worse. Her cheek was already hurt from the slap from earlier on and later he had kicked her in he stomach. She could feel the blood trickling down her hand and on the tips of her fingers only to fall off and join the constant drip of water from somewhere else in the room.
Or at least she hoped the other drip was water.
Unable to prevent it, she let a single tear roll down her bloodstained and bruised face. Another then another followed it as she silently poured her soul out onto the floor.
Not for the first time she felt alone in this world.
~*~
Harry swallowed with some difficulty as he slipped the photograph out of its frame, ignoring the glass that scraped his fingers, and studied the picture.
Unlike the glass that had previously framed it, it was completely void of blood or any kind of mess- it was spotless. There was no way a muggle photograph could have someone's knee rammed into it, have blood poured all over it and glass splitters around it without some much as a crease.
"Ginny," he whispered, drawing a circle around her face with his bloody finger. Beside him Ron was shifting his weight nervously,
"I think you've lost it," he remarked somewhat nervously, "She's dead,"
But she wasn't and Harry knew that for a fact.
She wasn't dead and all that time she had been living with her and he hadn't figured it out.
Everything came together and he kicked himself for not figuring it out sooner.
The ginger roots she had once and when she first arrived he thought it was her for a split second before she introduced herself as Paige. The fear in her eyes when she saw the Dark Mark was unexplainable until now- most of the Muggle's around them thought it was another kind of firework until the stage nearly blew up.
Harry ran his fingers through his hair as more and more memories came floating back to him.
She had called him Harry once and before he always got the feeling she wasn't telling the truth- not lying exactly, just not the complete truth. Today as well, Deatheaters wouldn't bother capturing a muggle- they'd just killed them on site especially one like Malfoy senior.
There was just one thing he couldn't figure out- why she freaked out when she saw he had blonde hair on New Years day.
Who had blonde hair that Ginny had had a bad experience with before today?
The answer cam far to quick for his liking:
Draco Malfoy.
Years ago when she first came to him with this idea of running away he had attempted to kidnap her and use her as bait.
It had taken three years and a different Malfoy but finally they had done it.
They had pretty much the one thing that he loved above everything in their possession- that was not good. Not good for them that is.
~*~
Her blindfold was pulled off her eyes roughly and she was shocked- she hadn't heard anyone walking up to her. Squinting in the sudden change of light for a minute or two, the scene in front of her slowly came into focus, five Deatheaters surrounded her or at least she thought there were five.
She recognised more than one of them from school and of course there was Lucius Malfoy grinning evilly at her. No one said anything for a moment,
"Everyone," Lucius barked glaring at everyone around him, "Out! Now!"
Not one person showed any sign of change in their face- no questions were asked as they trooped out obediently like little dogs.
He brought out his wand and pointed it straight at her and she winced expecting pain only to find herself able to stand up.
Standing up carefully, she looked at the person in front of her with distain,
"Welcome to the Malfoy manor Weasley," he declared spreading his arms out wide displaying the dungeon they held her in like it was a fine banquet hall, "You must be the first Weasley here in, oh, 500 years,"
Ginny swallowed a whole wave of sarcastic comments only to settle on,
"I'm honoured,"
Instead of reacting violently like she expected he merely smirked, brought his arms back down to his side and swaggered over to her. His grinning face was barely six inches from her own bruised one,
"You should be," he whispered stoking an ice-cold finger down her blood-and- tear stained cheek, "Because you won't be coming out,"
Ginny recoiled away from his touch as if he had just send an electric shock through her though the laugh that followed this was just as effective,
"Don't you worry your pretty little sweetie," he hissed with failing kindness, "There's worse to come,"
"Why?" she found herself saying despite her plan to stay quiet and find a way out,
"Why?" he repeated slightly amused that she didn't already know, "I would have thought you would know Weasley- after all you are living with him,"
Harry. She had figured that much but that couldn't be it- a long time had passed since Harry was wanted-
"Voldermort's dead," she snapped, resisting the urge to add a swear word at the end of it, enjoying the fact that he still flinched from the name. She allowed a small smile to tug at her lips,
"Or are you still scared of your old master's name? Do you miss him?" she taunted without thinking, "I'll tell you what, you can lick my shoes if you want-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence.
Lucius, who was pacing back and forth getting more and more angrier at every word she spoke, suddenly snapped and with one swift movement he had her pinned against the slimy wall,
"If you say anything like that again girlie," he warned with Ginny cowering below him, "I swear you will regret it,"
Ginny gulped and lost her voice again.
The two stared at each other with equal hatred for what could have been hours if some one hadn't interrupted them,
"Er, sir," came the timid voice from the doorway, "I think you'd better see this,"
Ginny could have sworn she heard him growl before he let her go, swept out of the room, robes billowing, and slamming the door behind her.
She slid down the wall wanting to cry now more than ever in the pitch-black darkness.
~*~
"Ah Potter," a familiar voice greeted him, "Long time no see!"
Harry forced a smile, nice thoughts, nice thoughts, nice thoughts, nice thoughts-
"Hello Draco," he answered stiffly through gritted teeth as he pulled out a chair and sat himself opposite his school years enemy. He nodded to a guard who left to stand outside of the room while some other officials dealt with Malfoy's security.
Even with two years out of interviewing Deatheaters, the rooms hadn't changed. The same sickly yellow or cream was painted on the walls only this time paint was peeling giving the effect that it was snake skin more than ever.
The simple, wooden table they were both seated at stood in the middle and apart from the three chair that surrounded it, two on Harry's side and one on Malfoy's, there was no other furniture.
He didn't have to look behind him to see that there was a long mirror that covered the entire length of the wall. He knew that Dumbledore, Percy Weasley, Arabella Figg and many more important individuals stood behind it watching and listening to his every move.
Finally they were alone in the room- or as alone as they could be with half a dozen people peering through and tight security buzzing around.
"Who's in there Potter?" Draco asked as innocently as he could with an annoying smirk plastered all over his face, "Dumbledore I suppose," He casually leaned back on his chair and starching his arms as if this was already boring him.
Nice thoughts- think nice thoughts,
"Amazing," Harry answered calmly ignoring Dumbledore's order to keep it strictly business, "Even after all these years and a couple of weeks in Askaban you still remain the prick you were in school,"
If it wasn't for the fact that Draco was bound to the chair and wand less Harry had good reason to believe that he wouldn't be awake now. The person opposite him swallowed with some difficultly before speaking,
"Why are you here Potter?" he said not even looking at him, "I get dragged away from my favourite meal just so you can gloat? Well, this is low, even for you-"
"Listen," Harry interrupted knowing too well that this was not going to go anywhere good anytime soon, "Your darling father has kidnapped someone," he didn't give him the pleasure of knowing exactly how close to home they had hit, "And guess who he wants,"
Taken back was one emotion that until now Harry though Draco impossible of,
"You?" he offered somewhat weakly and not sure what to expect,
"Yes me," Harry snapped, Lucius had been Voldemort's right hand man and with the Dark Lord gone who knew how twisted his mind had become, "Someone else as well, so why do you think I'm here?"
Of all the things he expected, a smile or thinly veiled happiness, when he told him this, Harry did not expect a dark look to come over his face.
"No,"
Laughter bubbled up in Harry's throat when he knew that that humour should be shock,
"No?"
"I would rather spend my day's rotting in Askanban than join that lunatic again,"
Harry knew that he wasn't the only one shocked by this news. He could almost imagine Ron's eyeballs falling out of their sockets,
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me Potter," he answered with a little less venom, "I hate the man- I hate my father,"
The Daily Prophet was going to have a field day when they found out about this.
~*~
About an hour previously - Auror Headquarters London:
"Good afternoon Harry,"
Harry stood up quickly and came face to face with Albus Dumbledore and his now twinkling light blue eyes. To his left was Arabella Figg who merely nodded and smiled at him wearily. Ron, who stood behind them both, was grinning beside a smug looking Percy.
"Afternoon Sir,"
Dumbledore made his way across the room and sat behind his desk and opposite Harry,
"Please," he said after a moment, "Don't call me sir, Harry, it has been many years since you were at school,"
Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again; it had been too many years since he had seen his old headmaster- or any of his school friends for that matter. Dumbledore had aged, he looked a lot more tired than the man he knew from his first year at Hogwarts but his light blue eyes still shone.
"So Harry," Dumbledore asked after a second-too-long silence, "What brings you back to our world?"
His stomach twisted with guilt for the ninth time and three minutes - most of the waves of new guilt had come when he spoke to Percy. Harry pulled a piece of parchment he had received earlier out of his robe pockets, it took a while as he wasn't used to them, and placed it on the desk,
"I got this," he answered, pushing the letter towards him and leaning back in the leather armchair, "About ten minutes ago,"
He watched Dumbledore's eyes scan through it and when, Harry presumed, he got to the end he swallowed with some difficulty,
"I think we should pay Draco a little visit,"
In the corner Harry could hear Ron having a coughing fit.
Authors Note:
Yes, I know I'd say there was going to be some Harry/Ginny action and all kinds of violence and stuff but I have this weird need to have this fic AT LEAST 15 chapters long, ok?
*Weeps* sorry but I'm have to have it like this.
This was nine pages long so don't winge.
Chapter 14 will be soon and I PROMISE it will be-
Long
Action packed (take that either way)
Erm, good?