Chapter 8

Gwynny moaned, and opened her eyes, pretending that she hadn't heard what the two people were saying. She made her voice high and frightened, not too hard, considering she was.

"Where am I?" She asked. She was slapped across the face for her troubles.

"Shut up, girl. You're at Malfoy Manor." Gwynny immediately stiffened. She could sense another person in the room, the female. It was the male one who had slapped her. Both of them were projecting hatred like nothing she'd ever felt before. She felt tears running down her face, and was sort of glad, because it would just reaffirm the fact that she was frightened to them. I've got to do something. She thought desperately, as they left her alone in the room. But what? I'm tied up, and I'll bet they took my wand. So what can I do? I'm totally blind. An idea was slowly forming in her head. She searched the room mentally for any animals. All she found was what seemed to be a snake. She hissed at it, to see.

Hello? She felt mild surprise.

Yess? Where are you?

I'm over here, chained to the wall.

You are human, yet you sspeak my tongue. How?

I have the gift of parseltongue. I inherited it off my father.

What iss your father'ss name?

His name was Harry Potter, but most snakes called him Raven.

Ahh yess. I know of thiss Harry Potter. He ssaved many of us ssnakess from being killed. I sshall help you. What do you want me to do?

Please, do you know of a way that you can find my wand?

What iss a wand?

It's a long piece of wood, I use to help channel my magic. Mine is cedar, 14 inches, with the fang of an Egyptian Black Cobra inside.

Very well, I sshall try to help you. What iss your name?

Gwynny.

That iss a very sstrange name. I sshall call you Maer. My name iss Emryss.

Thank you, Emrys. I am most grateful.

She felt the snake leave the room, and she sagged in her chains, sighing in relief.

"Well, well, well. How amusing." A taunting voice said. Gwynny immediately recognised the voice. It was Desmona Malfoy! "The little weaslette, all tied up." Gwynny remained silent. Perhaps, Malfoy wouldn't realise she'd recognised her. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or did my father curse that away, as well as your eyesight?" That meant it was Draco Malfoy, her father's worst enemy, and one of the only Death Eaters to escape Azkaban, had been the one who had taken her eyesight away. She felt a burning hot rage assault her, but she pushed it away. She didn't need to alert them to the fact that she hadn't given up hope. She allowed a faint tinge of despair to leak past the emotional barrier she always constructed around herself; just enough that the Slytherin witch could sense it. Malfoy cackled. "Don't worry, my little weaslette. You aren't going to be here for much longer. Father's decided that it would be too good for Professors Potter to see their daughter's corpse even." She spat out their last name like it was poison. Gwynny felt Malfoy's ice-cold hands unlock her wrists from the chains. She drooped into a heap on the frigid stone floor. Malfoy hauled her up, roughly. "Don't think I have any qualms about hurting you." She hissed in Gwynny's ear. Gwynny feigned weakness, staggering, and limping with each step. "Get moving!" Malfoy slapped her hard across her left cheek. She whimpered, pretending that it had really hurt. It hadn't, not much. As a Potter, and the youngest of three with such a huge family, she had quite a large pain threshold. Even if her mother thought she was a weak little baby." Malfoy dragged her along. "There are some steps here." Malfoy snarled. Gwynny counted them. One, two, three-twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. They finally reached the top. Malfoy dragged her into a large (she assumed it was large from the way her steps echoed) stone-floored room. This room, unlike the dungeons, was warm. She was shivering in her lightweight cloak and her summer robes. She didn't usually feel the cold, but the lack of heat in this house seemed to penetrate her very soul. "Here she is, Father." Malfoy said, and Gwynny could hear the malicious laughter in her voice.

"Ahh, good. So, we meet at last. A Weasel-Potter crossbreed." An aristocratic voice sneered.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, "Ahh, good. So, we meet at last. A weasel-potter crossbreed." An aristocratic voice sneered.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mr. Malfoy." Gwynny felt her voice tremble with rage. "Finally, I'll have the answer to the question that has plagued me most of my life."

"And what's that?" He asked, sounding amused.

"You can tell me, I'm sure, what happens when you cross a dragon with a ferret." She said spitefully. She felt the anger slap her in the face.

"Crucio." He hissed. She screamed in agony. The pain! It felt like a billion red-hot needles were piercing her body at once. If felt like the first time she'd fallen off a broom, but worse. The pain was…gone. She lay there, shivering. "What? Not screaming anymore? Perhaps you need another dose." She heard his voice say, as if from far away. "Crucio." Once again, the pain stopped after a few minutes, but, this time, she gave into the merciful blackness that surrounded her.

~*~

"Gwynny's gone? Are you sure?" Albus asked. Harry nodded solemnly.

"Unfortunately, yes. She wasn't in Charms, and another first year saw her running towards the Forbidden Forest after a…disagreement with Ginny. Also, Kati had a vision. She was chained to a wall, and some people were talking about how dumb she'd been to go into the Forbidden Forest, and how by the time I arrived, all I'd find would be her skeleton." Albus nodded, looking older by the minute. Gwynny was his favourite of all the Potter children; everyone knew that, just like Kati was Sybil's, and Ron was Minerva's.

"This isn't good." He said. "We'll have to go investigate. Do you know where she is?"

"No! And there's no way we can tell!" Ginny wailed.

"Relax, Ginny, we'll find a way." Albus said comfortingly. "Just wait." This was their signal to leave, so both adults walked out.

***

"Should we tell Ron and Kati?" Ginny asked.

"We can't leave them in the dark. They're sure to wonder where their sister is." Harry replied. Just then, he bumped into a short, blonde girl. He helped her up. "Sorry, Miss Malfoy." The first year Slytherin smirked at him.

"That's quite alright, Professor." She sneered, and kept walking. Harry stood there, shocked.

"What was that all about?" Ginny wondered.

"And why did she act like she knew something we didn't?" Harry added. "Ginny, I'm going to go Owl Hermione. Perhaps she can help us with this mess." Ginny nodded.

"Ok. I'll go tell Kati and Ron."

~Preview of Chapter 9~

"We have to do something!" Kati exclaimed.

"I know, but what?" Ron asked.

"I think I can help." Said Danniella, walking up to them.