With Ginny's first inhalation she got a mouth full of air thick with dust and cobwebs. She coughed all over someone's shoulder. Draco let out an annoyed sigh.
"You are a queen of exaggeration, Weasley," he groaned. "Lumos!"
Ginny glared at him once she could see him. "I wasn't," she coughed again, "exaggerating. I figured being the Prince of Darkness that you are, this place would be cleaner."
"Because Princes of Darkness always dust their dungeons?" He asked in a growl.
"No, Ginny said, becoming fed up. "Because you'd use your dungeons a bit more often. To torture people.. perhaps force them to give up their candy or something."
"That was only once," Trenton chimed in. "And I was forcing HIM to give me his candy."
Ginny snorted. Draco turned around and looked at her blankly. Then he resumed walking forward, holding his wand out in front of him. Ginny suddenly stopped. Trenton, who had been walking behind her, bumped into her.
"What's the matter? Why've you stopped?" He asked looking over her shoulder in the darkness.
Ginny blinked. "There.. there's something.."
"What?"
"There's something in my bra." She stood absolutely still.
"Hah. Well I know I'm not wrong with this one. Could it perhaps be a breast?" Trenton grinned.
"It.. it tickles.." Ginny said.
Trenton suddenly became aware of a feeling below his abdomen. "It.. I'm sorry what?"
"Get it out," Ginny said. "Get it out! Get it out!" She spun around and faced him. Neither of them could see a thing.
"Uhm.. what do you want me to--"
"JUST GET IT OUT PLEEEEASE?!" Ginny was frantic and hopping.
"Okay, okay. Calm down." Trenton extended his hand over Ginny's shirt and pulled it out a bit. He peeked inside.
Ginny stared at him in the blackness. "Hmm. From all the stories I'd heard.. I figured you'd be a bit more manuevering than this."
"Quiet. I think I see it." He flicked his finger quickly along her skin. "It's gone."
"Was it a--"
"Spider. Yes. And it seemed pretty big," Trenton added. "Now we need to catch up with Malfoy."
Ginny nodded slowly.
"...Ginny, walk," Trenton said.
"Oh.. right." She spun around and pulled out her wand, lighting the end of it. She saw Draco not far ahead. Ginny and Trenton caught up with him quickly.
"All of the cells are empty," he said with a sigh. "We should go see if the others have found anything."
Ginny's heart thudded against her ribs. Trenton could feel her shaking through her hand that had just lashed out and grabbed his wrist. "Malfoy.. these cells aren't empty."
There were people in them. Half decomposed, chained to the walls of the cell, and hanging lifeless. Some looked as though they were wearing no clothes. But thin dead skin still hung to their bones around their thin bony chests. Even the cleanest skeletons still had bits of muscle attached. The stench was incredible, and Ginny wondered how they hadn't smelled it before. She let out a meek squeak and Trenton pulled her away from the cold iron bars. Ginny's face was buried in his shirt and he walked backwards pulling her with him.
"We need to get her out of here," he said quietly to Draco in his low voice.
Draco nodded and began leading the way down the narrow, congested corridor. Trenton heard a muffled sob come from Ginny. He felt slightly awkward all of a sudden. He patted her back.
"Shh. It's all right you can open your eyes," he said in his soothing baritone. But she wouldn't budge. She simply clung to him. He sighed and picked her up, holding her like an overgrown baby. Draco reached the steps and Trenton followed him. When they were back in the house Draco turned and looked at his friend.
He blinked. "What the hell? Is this a kiddie towing game?"
"She was scared, Draco. Have a heart," Trenton put her down and she immediately faced the other way. She wiped tears impatiently out of her eyes.
Draco sneered. "I don't have one." He stalked in the other direction.
---
"This house is too bloody big," Harry panted as the three ran down the corridors.
"In here! Harry! Ron! Come look at this!" Hermione's voice came from.. dammit, somewhere.
"Where are you, Hermione?!" Ron called, looking around at the walls and ceiling.
Harry blinked at him. "Ron, she's in a room. Not flying around your nose. Come on. I think she's in here."
Harry entered a room, Ron behind him. It was dark, and the silhouette of a large four poster bed loomed by the window. Hermione was standing by what looked like a wardrobe. Harry and Ron walked over.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
---
Draco stopped mid-stride. Room.. senses.. tingling. He turned around and headed toward the grande staircase and went to the left.
"There.. is a Mudblood.. in.. my room," he panted gruffly.
He swung around into his room and stared blankly at them. He turned on the light and continued to look at the three.
"Why.. are you in here?" He asked slightly panicky.
Harry and Ron grinned at one another. "Afraid we are going to sift through your drawers? Pull out a pair of pink briefs?" Ron said crossing his arms across his chest.
"Shut up, Weasley, you aren't funny. And what are you looking at my wardrobe for, Granger?" Draco stalked over to her.
"That light." She pointed to the crack between the doors of the wardrobe. "Don't you see it?"
Draco looked over her shoulder. "Faintly."
"Open it, Hermione," Harry said.
Hermione nodded and did so. Suddenly she was sucked inside, along with Draco. Harry and Ron looked at eachother, and dove into the wardrobe after them. Their heads knocked into the hard wood at the back.
"This is the second time this has happened to us. Why can't people just TAKE US ALONG?!" Ron rubbed his head.
"Be thankful it isn't brick, like last time," Harry said, massaging his arm. He started to feel around the wood. "I know! Get up, Ron." The two got up and stared at the open wardrobe until Harry closed the doors again. "Do you see that silvery light now?"
Ron nodded.
"Okay.. here goes," Harry wrenched the doors open again. The two of them were sucked inside, landing hard on stone slabs.
---
Trenton lied Ginny down on a couch. It didn't look comfortable at all. He sat down on a chair near her.
"This place is like Hell," Ginny said softly.
Trenton nodded. He wasn't sure what else to say. He'd been here since he was little. His father and Lucius were relatively good mates. Sure, the dungeon was a freaky place, but it wasnt really a place Draco and he went very much. Of course, curiosity had led them down there before. But most of the prisoners were alive then. They were sick, starving, and tortured, yes. But they were alive.
"You look tired," Trenton said to her.
She nodded. "I'm afraid to close my eyes. What I saw in Draco's playpen will come back to me."
Trenton grinned and pulled his wand out of his pocket.
Ginny blinked. "What are you doing?"
"When I was little I'd have nightmares all the time. My mum would put a spell on me so I'd sleep more peacefully. Do you want me to place it on you?" Trenton raised his eyebrows slightly.
Ginny spoke while failing to stifle a yawn. "But we.. we need to find.. find Abby."
"I doubt a short nap will hurt. I can always go look for her myself," Trenton added.
"No! ..I mean.. I don't want to be asleep in this place by myself. What if Lucius gets out?" Ginny shuddered involuntarily.
"Well that's the beauty of the spell. Doesn't matter how long you're under it, you still feel rested. And I'll stay with you if it makes you feel better." He twirled his wand in his hand.
Ginny nodded. "All right then."
He put the tip of his wand at the top of her head and muttered "Somnus!" quietly.
Ginny's eyes closed slowly. She nuzzled into the couch as though it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Trenton watched her for a moment.
She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Freckles splashed her nose and her eyelashes weren't very long. Her lips were in between plumpness and smallness. When open, her eyes were a muddy brown, not as warm as his. But there was something about the peaceful look on her face as she slept, and the way her deep red tresses fell over her face. Trenton lightly swept her hair out of her face and cradled her jaw. Then he sighed and stood up. He went back to the chair he was sitting in and plopped down in it.
---
Harry groaned and rubbed his back. "So tell me, Malfoy. Do you always go through this ordeal when you attempt to get dressed?"
But Draco didn't answer. Harry looked up. About six or seven hooded figures with masks were staring at the four of them.
Harry blinked. "My life sucks."
"I believe we can put you out of your misery," a female voice said. It was Bellatrix. Because of her, Harry was devoid of his godfather.
Draco stood up and strode over to them. Their eyes all looked frantic and they clearly had not expected him to walk over so calmly. The Death Eaters quickly blocked his way.
"What are you doing, young Master Malfoy?" one spoke slimily.
"Oh. Me? I'm looking for a girl. Yeah, you know. Really pretty. About this tall," he held his hand up just below his nose, "Schizophrenically colored hair. Green eyes. The one you are holding captive?"
"We do not have her. Your father, he has her." The man's eyes glittered with malice and deceit.
"Oh. I guess you're right," Draco said with a shrug. "Then you wouldn't mind if I just wander around this dungeon of a place aimlessly for a while?"
Bellatrix spoke up. "Oh.. Draco dear. You cannot do that."
He raised his eyebrows. "I can't?"
She shook her hooded head. "You cannot."
"Because.. aimless people make you twitchy?" he asked with an innocent smile.
Bellatrix blinked. "Because you cannot."
"Said the Death Eater who never breaks rules," Draco droned boredly.
"Draco.. nephew.. why don't you just go see your father. He has the girl." Bellatrix clasped her gloved hands in front of her.
Draco looked at them interestedly. "Are those the gloves my mother made for you when you were at school together?"
Bellatrix shifted her weight uneasily. "Y-yes. Go on. Back to Lucius, child."
"Dragon hide from under the belly, eh?" Draco continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "Yes, I remember the first pair she made for me. I was only a few months old. Gods, I had tiny little hands.."
The other Death Eaters were now all staring unblinkingly at Draco. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began sneaking around them. They were in a sort of dungeon type of room, alike the one Harry had seen in Dumbledore's Pensieve.
"My mother still has them. What was it she called them.. beevo-- beevey--" Draco said feigning thought.
"Beevums?" Bellatrix said.
"That's the one!" Draco called, pointing a finger at her. "Beevums! She called them my 'wittle beevums.' Haven't a clue what it means. I guess it is supposed to be cute or something."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued down a torch-lit hallway. They heard someone then; the shuffling of feet.. and someone's presence not far away. Their pace quickened.
---
"And ONE time she even made my father sing me to sleep. He was into country music at the time. I remember because he kept having trouble with the word 'ya'll'. Kept on saying yale or yell. Once, when I was about 10, he fell off a broomstick and landed in the lake on our manor's grounds. He chased after me for hours trying to put a memory charm on me. Finally I just pretended I hadn't seen it and he figured that one of his spells hit me. Heh.. little does he know.." Draco had all of the Death Eaters sitting in a circle around him. Some of them shifted uncomfortably, perhaps afraid that this new information about Lucius would get them cursed into next year. None of them seemed to notice that the three other children had disappeared.
---
"This way," Harry whispered.
They wound their way into stone rooms full of cells. They were all empty except for buckets in the corners. Hermione cringed.
"What? You've never made in a bucket before?" Ron asked with a grin.
Hermione hit him in the stomach. "Quiet."
"Shh. I see something." Harry lit his wand now that the torches were few. He saw someone leaning against the bars of a cell. It looked like Abby. "Abby? Is that you?"
"..Harry?" came her voice. She sounded tired and sick.
"Ron and Hermione are here, too. Are you all right?" he asked as he approached her.
Her face was dirty and her hair was every which way. Harry couldn't believe how beautiful she still looked. He shook himself as she spoke. "I feel sick, but I'm all right. Is.. is Draco--"
"He's here," Harry answered. "Having a pep talk with some of your capturers."
Abby's eyes went wide.
Harry laughed. "Calm down, it was just for a diversion. How do we get you out of here? Just a spell, you think?"
Abby nodded. "Yeah. I don't have a wand so there is no way for me to get out. But there was another person in here who dug their way out through a crap hole. So that's how we get out."
"What about Malfoy?" Ron asked. Then blinked. "Er.. I can't believe I just.. cared."
"He'll be fine," Harry said. "He'll know how to get back." Harry stood back and pointed his wand at the large lock on Abby's cell. "Alohomora!" It unlocked and Abby pushed through.
She wrapped her arms around Harry. "Thank you," she muttered when she let go.
He managed a meek nod. Both Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes.
Abby walked over to the cell across from hers. Harry pointed his wand at the lock and muttered "Alohomora!" once more. It unlocked and they pushed the iron-barred door open.
Abby walked over to a corner. Instead of a bucket there was just a hole. But as they got closer, they noticed that the hole was quite big. Abby looked at them.
"Are you sure we shouldn't get Draco first?" she asked, worry etched in her dirty face.
"It's safer this way," Harry reassured her.
Abby nodded and lowered herself into the hole. It smelled disgusting, obviously. She walked a few feet before she saw black sky above her head. She climbed out and was overly grateful to be welcomed by the breeze across her face and the cool grass beneath her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed her out.
"So.. now where are we?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked around. "It looks like we're back in that village near Malfoy's manor."
Hermione nodded. "We need to go back for them."
Abby's brow furrowed. "Them?"
"Yes. Ginny and Trenton are still at the manor. And maybe if we.. whisper through Draco's wardrobe he'll hear us or something," Hermione said absentmindedly.
Ron's eyes suddenly grew wide. "I just realised.. Ginny.. she's alone with.. Montague." He looked about ready to faint.
Hermione blinked at him. "You're so quick, Ron. Come on. Let's go get them."
---
"Lucius? Baking cupcakes? No way.." Bellatrix said, lightly hitting Draco on the shoulder.
"Oh yes. He even named a kitten Cupcake. But then he realised how dodgy he was acting and killed it. But he buried it outside under an oak tree. And I swear I see him standing by it on countless occasions when I come home for Christmas holiday." Draco grinned and pretended to take a sip of the butterbeer one of the Death Eaters had conjured for him. He wasn't about to get himself poisoned.
"Lucius had a gerbil when we were at school," said the Death Eater named Crabbe. "He accidentally stepped on it though. He was a right mess. I was the only one who knew why, though. So when he figured out that I knew he made me swear I'd never tell. Guess I'm going to get tortured later, right guys?" There was hearty murmered accord, and a few laughs.
Draco was wondering whether or not the others had found Abby or not. Dammit, he thought to himself, you'd think they'd give me some kind of heads up; not just leave me in a room of Death Eaters.
Bellatrix suddenly looked around. "Wait a minute. There were others with you.."
"You are one quick chick," Draco said.
She pointed her wand at him and muttered something. He shot backward and hit the stone wall very hard.
"Ouch. Dammit, woman." He rubbed his back.
"Where are they? Speak, you sneak!" There was noticable panic in her voice.
"Shot at poetry. Very nice. But I don't know where they are. I think they left the way we came." He shrugged his shoulders, which hurt a bit.
"Let's go," she said to the others. "And you.." she approached him. There was wickedness in her black eyes. She muttered something and Draco got an odd tingling feeling in his chest.
Everything was suddenly okay.. funny, actually. Hilarious.
"You are a queen of exaggeration, Weasley," he groaned. "Lumos!"
Ginny glared at him once she could see him. "I wasn't," she coughed again, "exaggerating. I figured being the Prince of Darkness that you are, this place would be cleaner."
"Because Princes of Darkness always dust their dungeons?" He asked in a growl.
"No, Ginny said, becoming fed up. "Because you'd use your dungeons a bit more often. To torture people.. perhaps force them to give up their candy or something."
"That was only once," Trenton chimed in. "And I was forcing HIM to give me his candy."
Ginny snorted. Draco turned around and looked at her blankly. Then he resumed walking forward, holding his wand out in front of him. Ginny suddenly stopped. Trenton, who had been walking behind her, bumped into her.
"What's the matter? Why've you stopped?" He asked looking over her shoulder in the darkness.
Ginny blinked. "There.. there's something.."
"What?"
"There's something in my bra." She stood absolutely still.
"Hah. Well I know I'm not wrong with this one. Could it perhaps be a breast?" Trenton grinned.
"It.. it tickles.." Ginny said.
Trenton suddenly became aware of a feeling below his abdomen. "It.. I'm sorry what?"
"Get it out," Ginny said. "Get it out! Get it out!" She spun around and faced him. Neither of them could see a thing.
"Uhm.. what do you want me to--"
"JUST GET IT OUT PLEEEEASE?!" Ginny was frantic and hopping.
"Okay, okay. Calm down." Trenton extended his hand over Ginny's shirt and pulled it out a bit. He peeked inside.
Ginny stared at him in the blackness. "Hmm. From all the stories I'd heard.. I figured you'd be a bit more manuevering than this."
"Quiet. I think I see it." He flicked his finger quickly along her skin. "It's gone."
"Was it a--"
"Spider. Yes. And it seemed pretty big," Trenton added. "Now we need to catch up with Malfoy."
Ginny nodded slowly.
"...Ginny, walk," Trenton said.
"Oh.. right." She spun around and pulled out her wand, lighting the end of it. She saw Draco not far ahead. Ginny and Trenton caught up with him quickly.
"All of the cells are empty," he said with a sigh. "We should go see if the others have found anything."
Ginny's heart thudded against her ribs. Trenton could feel her shaking through her hand that had just lashed out and grabbed his wrist. "Malfoy.. these cells aren't empty."
There were people in them. Half decomposed, chained to the walls of the cell, and hanging lifeless. Some looked as though they were wearing no clothes. But thin dead skin still hung to their bones around their thin bony chests. Even the cleanest skeletons still had bits of muscle attached. The stench was incredible, and Ginny wondered how they hadn't smelled it before. She let out a meek squeak and Trenton pulled her away from the cold iron bars. Ginny's face was buried in his shirt and he walked backwards pulling her with him.
"We need to get her out of here," he said quietly to Draco in his low voice.
Draco nodded and began leading the way down the narrow, congested corridor. Trenton heard a muffled sob come from Ginny. He felt slightly awkward all of a sudden. He patted her back.
"Shh. It's all right you can open your eyes," he said in his soothing baritone. But she wouldn't budge. She simply clung to him. He sighed and picked her up, holding her like an overgrown baby. Draco reached the steps and Trenton followed him. When they were back in the house Draco turned and looked at his friend.
He blinked. "What the hell? Is this a kiddie towing game?"
"She was scared, Draco. Have a heart," Trenton put her down and she immediately faced the other way. She wiped tears impatiently out of her eyes.
Draco sneered. "I don't have one." He stalked in the other direction.
---
"This house is too bloody big," Harry panted as the three ran down the corridors.
"In here! Harry! Ron! Come look at this!" Hermione's voice came from.. dammit, somewhere.
"Where are you, Hermione?!" Ron called, looking around at the walls and ceiling.
Harry blinked at him. "Ron, she's in a room. Not flying around your nose. Come on. I think she's in here."
Harry entered a room, Ron behind him. It was dark, and the silhouette of a large four poster bed loomed by the window. Hermione was standing by what looked like a wardrobe. Harry and Ron walked over.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
---
Draco stopped mid-stride. Room.. senses.. tingling. He turned around and headed toward the grande staircase and went to the left.
"There.. is a Mudblood.. in.. my room," he panted gruffly.
He swung around into his room and stared blankly at them. He turned on the light and continued to look at the three.
"Why.. are you in here?" He asked slightly panicky.
Harry and Ron grinned at one another. "Afraid we are going to sift through your drawers? Pull out a pair of pink briefs?" Ron said crossing his arms across his chest.
"Shut up, Weasley, you aren't funny. And what are you looking at my wardrobe for, Granger?" Draco stalked over to her.
"That light." She pointed to the crack between the doors of the wardrobe. "Don't you see it?"
Draco looked over her shoulder. "Faintly."
"Open it, Hermione," Harry said.
Hermione nodded and did so. Suddenly she was sucked inside, along with Draco. Harry and Ron looked at eachother, and dove into the wardrobe after them. Their heads knocked into the hard wood at the back.
"This is the second time this has happened to us. Why can't people just TAKE US ALONG?!" Ron rubbed his head.
"Be thankful it isn't brick, like last time," Harry said, massaging his arm. He started to feel around the wood. "I know! Get up, Ron." The two got up and stared at the open wardrobe until Harry closed the doors again. "Do you see that silvery light now?"
Ron nodded.
"Okay.. here goes," Harry wrenched the doors open again. The two of them were sucked inside, landing hard on stone slabs.
---
Trenton lied Ginny down on a couch. It didn't look comfortable at all. He sat down on a chair near her.
"This place is like Hell," Ginny said softly.
Trenton nodded. He wasn't sure what else to say. He'd been here since he was little. His father and Lucius were relatively good mates. Sure, the dungeon was a freaky place, but it wasnt really a place Draco and he went very much. Of course, curiosity had led them down there before. But most of the prisoners were alive then. They were sick, starving, and tortured, yes. But they were alive.
"You look tired," Trenton said to her.
She nodded. "I'm afraid to close my eyes. What I saw in Draco's playpen will come back to me."
Trenton grinned and pulled his wand out of his pocket.
Ginny blinked. "What are you doing?"
"When I was little I'd have nightmares all the time. My mum would put a spell on me so I'd sleep more peacefully. Do you want me to place it on you?" Trenton raised his eyebrows slightly.
Ginny spoke while failing to stifle a yawn. "But we.. we need to find.. find Abby."
"I doubt a short nap will hurt. I can always go look for her myself," Trenton added.
"No! ..I mean.. I don't want to be asleep in this place by myself. What if Lucius gets out?" Ginny shuddered involuntarily.
"Well that's the beauty of the spell. Doesn't matter how long you're under it, you still feel rested. And I'll stay with you if it makes you feel better." He twirled his wand in his hand.
Ginny nodded. "All right then."
He put the tip of his wand at the top of her head and muttered "Somnus!" quietly.
Ginny's eyes closed slowly. She nuzzled into the couch as though it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Trenton watched her for a moment.
She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. Freckles splashed her nose and her eyelashes weren't very long. Her lips were in between plumpness and smallness. When open, her eyes were a muddy brown, not as warm as his. But there was something about the peaceful look on her face as she slept, and the way her deep red tresses fell over her face. Trenton lightly swept her hair out of her face and cradled her jaw. Then he sighed and stood up. He went back to the chair he was sitting in and plopped down in it.
---
Harry groaned and rubbed his back. "So tell me, Malfoy. Do you always go through this ordeal when you attempt to get dressed?"
But Draco didn't answer. Harry looked up. About six or seven hooded figures with masks were staring at the four of them.
Harry blinked. "My life sucks."
"I believe we can put you out of your misery," a female voice said. It was Bellatrix. Because of her, Harry was devoid of his godfather.
Draco stood up and strode over to them. Their eyes all looked frantic and they clearly had not expected him to walk over so calmly. The Death Eaters quickly blocked his way.
"What are you doing, young Master Malfoy?" one spoke slimily.
"Oh. Me? I'm looking for a girl. Yeah, you know. Really pretty. About this tall," he held his hand up just below his nose, "Schizophrenically colored hair. Green eyes. The one you are holding captive?"
"We do not have her. Your father, he has her." The man's eyes glittered with malice and deceit.
"Oh. I guess you're right," Draco said with a shrug. "Then you wouldn't mind if I just wander around this dungeon of a place aimlessly for a while?"
Bellatrix spoke up. "Oh.. Draco dear. You cannot do that."
He raised his eyebrows. "I can't?"
She shook her hooded head. "You cannot."
"Because.. aimless people make you twitchy?" he asked with an innocent smile.
Bellatrix blinked. "Because you cannot."
"Said the Death Eater who never breaks rules," Draco droned boredly.
"Draco.. nephew.. why don't you just go see your father. He has the girl." Bellatrix clasped her gloved hands in front of her.
Draco looked at them interestedly. "Are those the gloves my mother made for you when you were at school together?"
Bellatrix shifted her weight uneasily. "Y-yes. Go on. Back to Lucius, child."
"Dragon hide from under the belly, eh?" Draco continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "Yes, I remember the first pair she made for me. I was only a few months old. Gods, I had tiny little hands.."
The other Death Eaters were now all staring unblinkingly at Draco. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began sneaking around them. They were in a sort of dungeon type of room, alike the one Harry had seen in Dumbledore's Pensieve.
"My mother still has them. What was it she called them.. beevo-- beevey--" Draco said feigning thought.
"Beevums?" Bellatrix said.
"That's the one!" Draco called, pointing a finger at her. "Beevums! She called them my 'wittle beevums.' Haven't a clue what it means. I guess it is supposed to be cute or something."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued down a torch-lit hallway. They heard someone then; the shuffling of feet.. and someone's presence not far away. Their pace quickened.
---
"And ONE time she even made my father sing me to sleep. He was into country music at the time. I remember because he kept having trouble with the word 'ya'll'. Kept on saying yale or yell. Once, when I was about 10, he fell off a broomstick and landed in the lake on our manor's grounds. He chased after me for hours trying to put a memory charm on me. Finally I just pretended I hadn't seen it and he figured that one of his spells hit me. Heh.. little does he know.." Draco had all of the Death Eaters sitting in a circle around him. Some of them shifted uncomfortably, perhaps afraid that this new information about Lucius would get them cursed into next year. None of them seemed to notice that the three other children had disappeared.
---
"This way," Harry whispered.
They wound their way into stone rooms full of cells. They were all empty except for buckets in the corners. Hermione cringed.
"What? You've never made in a bucket before?" Ron asked with a grin.
Hermione hit him in the stomach. "Quiet."
"Shh. I see something." Harry lit his wand now that the torches were few. He saw someone leaning against the bars of a cell. It looked like Abby. "Abby? Is that you?"
"..Harry?" came her voice. She sounded tired and sick.
"Ron and Hermione are here, too. Are you all right?" he asked as he approached her.
Her face was dirty and her hair was every which way. Harry couldn't believe how beautiful she still looked. He shook himself as she spoke. "I feel sick, but I'm all right. Is.. is Draco--"
"He's here," Harry answered. "Having a pep talk with some of your capturers."
Abby's eyes went wide.
Harry laughed. "Calm down, it was just for a diversion. How do we get you out of here? Just a spell, you think?"
Abby nodded. "Yeah. I don't have a wand so there is no way for me to get out. But there was another person in here who dug their way out through a crap hole. So that's how we get out."
"What about Malfoy?" Ron asked. Then blinked. "Er.. I can't believe I just.. cared."
"He'll be fine," Harry said. "He'll know how to get back." Harry stood back and pointed his wand at the large lock on Abby's cell. "Alohomora!" It unlocked and Abby pushed through.
She wrapped her arms around Harry. "Thank you," she muttered when she let go.
He managed a meek nod. Both Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes.
Abby walked over to the cell across from hers. Harry pointed his wand at the lock and muttered "Alohomora!" once more. It unlocked and they pushed the iron-barred door open.
Abby walked over to a corner. Instead of a bucket there was just a hole. But as they got closer, they noticed that the hole was quite big. Abby looked at them.
"Are you sure we shouldn't get Draco first?" she asked, worry etched in her dirty face.
"It's safer this way," Harry reassured her.
Abby nodded and lowered herself into the hole. It smelled disgusting, obviously. She walked a few feet before she saw black sky above her head. She climbed out and was overly grateful to be welcomed by the breeze across her face and the cool grass beneath her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed her out.
"So.. now where are we?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked around. "It looks like we're back in that village near Malfoy's manor."
Hermione nodded. "We need to go back for them."
Abby's brow furrowed. "Them?"
"Yes. Ginny and Trenton are still at the manor. And maybe if we.. whisper through Draco's wardrobe he'll hear us or something," Hermione said absentmindedly.
Ron's eyes suddenly grew wide. "I just realised.. Ginny.. she's alone with.. Montague." He looked about ready to faint.
Hermione blinked at him. "You're so quick, Ron. Come on. Let's go get them."
---
"Lucius? Baking cupcakes? No way.." Bellatrix said, lightly hitting Draco on the shoulder.
"Oh yes. He even named a kitten Cupcake. But then he realised how dodgy he was acting and killed it. But he buried it outside under an oak tree. And I swear I see him standing by it on countless occasions when I come home for Christmas holiday." Draco grinned and pretended to take a sip of the butterbeer one of the Death Eaters had conjured for him. He wasn't about to get himself poisoned.
"Lucius had a gerbil when we were at school," said the Death Eater named Crabbe. "He accidentally stepped on it though. He was a right mess. I was the only one who knew why, though. So when he figured out that I knew he made me swear I'd never tell. Guess I'm going to get tortured later, right guys?" There was hearty murmered accord, and a few laughs.
Draco was wondering whether or not the others had found Abby or not. Dammit, he thought to himself, you'd think they'd give me some kind of heads up; not just leave me in a room of Death Eaters.
Bellatrix suddenly looked around. "Wait a minute. There were others with you.."
"You are one quick chick," Draco said.
She pointed her wand at him and muttered something. He shot backward and hit the stone wall very hard.
"Ouch. Dammit, woman." He rubbed his back.
"Where are they? Speak, you sneak!" There was noticable panic in her voice.
"Shot at poetry. Very nice. But I don't know where they are. I think they left the way we came." He shrugged his shoulders, which hurt a bit.
"Let's go," she said to the others. "And you.." she approached him. There was wickedness in her black eyes. She muttered something and Draco got an odd tingling feeling in his chest.
Everything was suddenly okay.. funny, actually. Hilarious.