A/N: As always the characters aren't mine except Tab and Cliff
The lyrics are from 'When You Believe' by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
This chapter aint very long and is very boring I'm afraid but it's a crucial part of the story so had to be done.
Keep reviewing people it helps! thanx to everyone who reviews, you rock! cheers babes xx =)
Chapter Eleven – The Vessel
There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracle, you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe
Tab slowly opened her eyes and sat up, looking around she instantly knew she wasn't at Sparrow House anymore. She got shakily to her feet and shivered, her eyes taking in the room she was in. It was a long oblong shaped stone room with a huge wooden table stretching from one end to the other and tattered banners hanging limply from the beams running across the ceiling.
Taking a closer look at a banner that was waving in the slight breeze through a whole in the roof; she saw it was entirely black with a white handprint emblazoned across the centre. Moving further into the room she suddenly felt faint and as though someone had swept their hand over the room changing it, the walls were suddenly rebuilt properly with torches burning in brackets and there was a huge fire crackling merrily in the fireplace before her. The table was gone, replaced with a huge four-poster bed richly swathed in cream, white and gold sheets and pillows much like Ginny's bed at Sparrow House.
Glancing down her eyes widened when she saw she was wearing a full length wedding gown, completely white with beads embroidered all over the bodice. The long sleeves were made of some kind of lace and fell well beyond her hands. Reaching up she found her hair was twisted up into a hairpiece and intricately woven with fresh flowers and gems. Hearing a noise by the door she watched as a tall man with long black hair entered and crossed the room towards her, his arms thrown wide.
"My bride."
He said smiling, kissing her hand and stroking her face.
"Soon we shall be wed."
Tab's eyes widened even further when her mouth opened of its own accord and a voice that did not belong to her issued from it.
"My love, our wedding is no more than a formality for me. I was already yours many years ago; this is just to prove it to the world as it is necessary for the law to bind us together."
The voice was cool, calm and noble, a voice you would expect to hear royalty. Lifting her hand again Tab felt the top of her head, jumping as her fingers brushed an elaborate tiara perched on top of her hair, a long cream veil attached to its base.
"You look so beautiful; I have the envy of every nobleman in the court this day"
He smiled once more at her and gently spun her around. She gasped when she saw her reflection in the huge mirror for the person looking back at her from the glass was not Tabitha Duncan. The person staring back had rich, fiery red hair piled on top of her head, pale freckled shoulders and cleavage rising out of the white dress, a cute button nose and huge almond shaped eyes she had only seen on one person in her life.
Taking a step towards the mirror Tab reached out a hand and touched the glass gently, the person in the mirror did the same. She swallowed hard as she studied the face looking back at her; she had seen that face so often in her life that it was almost as familiar as her own.
"Is something wrong, my love?"
The man asked, placing a cold hand on the back of her neck and looking first at Tab then at the reflection.
"Of course not."
Tab replied, but things were wrong, things were very wrong for the person staring out of that mirror was not the person staring in. The person in that mirror was someone Tab loved very much, someone she would die for, but it was definitely not her. That person staring back was none other than Ginerva Weasley.
"Then come, we have our ceremony to attend."
The man let go of her and swept towards the door, his long black robes billowing out behind him.
"Jocelyn?"
The man paused at the door and turned to look at her curiously. Tab swiftly decided that the rose obviously hadn't shown her all she needed yet so she had no other choice but to go along with whatever was happening. She smiled up at him and he took that as an answer before leaving the room, pulling the huge door closed behind him.
Tab waited a few moments before running to the door and opening it just enough to see out, checking no one was coming she quietly closed it and darted around the room, she had no idea what she was looking for but she continued looking anyway.
Pulling open a large jewel encrusted jewellery box she searched through it and found a bundle of love letters in spidery black handwriting held together by a purple ribbon. They were all signed with a wax seal that consisted of two wands crossed and the name, William, was scrawled under each of the seals.
Hearing a shuffling noise outside the window she stuffed the letters back into the box and spun around as the door was once more pushed open. But no one entered the room and when she searched the corridor outside she could see no one. She pulled the door closed and walked back into the centre of the room sighing. What was it she was meant to see? She couldn't leave this place until she found it and what had looked like fun at first was getting old real damn fast.
Hearing what sounded like horses clattering across cobblestones and several screams she darted to the high arched window and gasped at what met her eyes. Hundreds of soldiers on huge war horses were barging around the courtyard below killing anyone in their way. The cobbles beneath them were splattered with blood and bodies were scattered all over the courtyard.
"Jocelyn! You need to get of here right now!"
The man dashed back into her room with his sword drawn and began physically dragging her out of the room and down several sets of staircases and twisting hallways.
"What? Why?!"
Tab cried, screaming as someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the man.
"William!"
She shrieked as a hand clamped around her neck and hauled her backwards, her fingernails scrambling helplessly against his hand as her legs kicked out at him trying to get him off her. William ran after her, engaging in a vicious swordfight with her captor while she collapsed on the floor, huddled against the wall trying desperately to catch her breath. He fell face down on the floor before her, his sword clattering across the floor out of either of their reach. He struggled onto his hands and knees, freezing when he heard Tab's captor raise his sword above his neck. Tab screamed as the sword came down with a hissing sound, squeezing her eyes shut as something hot and wet sprayed across her face and chest. The last thing she heard were her own bloodcurdling screams ringing in her ears and footsteps pounding towards her before all became black and she slumped onto the cold damp floor.
"Tab! Tab, it's alright stop screaming."
Tab shot bolt upright, colliding with someone's chest and she clung onto them, tears streaking down her face. Several voices began clamouring around her but one voice spoke loudly above them all and they all fell silent. Her sobs finally ceased to occasional hiccupping as she sniffled.
Dumbledore set up a piece of parchment and what looked to Harry like Rita Skeeter's Quick Quotes Quill, only this one was a vivid dark blue colour, and knelt before her, gently coaxing the story out of her, the room listening in silence as she relayed everything that had happened. She clutched Cliff to her, involuntarily rocking backwards and forwards, her eyes focused on the fire.
"And you say you were in Ginny's body?"
Mr Weasley asked, his hands gripping his knees so hard his knuckles had turned white.
"I'm not sure; she looked exactly like Ginny but with some differences, like her freckles were more widely spread and in a different pattern and her eyes were green. Oh and her name was Jocelyn."
Dumbledore's eyebrows emerged swiftly from behind his half-moon glasses and he exchanged a look with the group of Auror's that had accompanied him, Sirius's mouth dropped open but he quickly closed it when Harry shot him a quizzical look.
"And this man's name?"
Lupin pressed, Ron furrowed his brow as he noticed beads of sweat on his old Professor's forehead and upper lip.
"William."
Tab repeated, feeling completely exhausted now the horror of her adventure inside the rose had faded.
"Tabitha, I need you to think clearly now. The writing on the letters what was it like?"
Tabitha creased her brow and glanced around the room while her mind worked furiously to remember the fast fading facts.
"It was thin and sprawling... just like that!"
She cried, pointing at the card still lying on the table in the centre of the room, Dumbledore lifted the card with his fingertips and held it out before her.
"Exactly like this?"
Tab nodded, her eyes fixed on the card as though mesmerised.
"Exactly."
Another look was exchanged between the elder members of the group and Harry sighed impatiently.
"It's just like being back at Hogwarts again! Are you going to tell us what all the looks are about or just pretend we're too young and foolish and... and..."
He trailed off, his anger and frustration constricting his throat as he stared moodily into the fire brooding on all the times they had been left out of secret Order talks because of their age.
"Harry, we have no intention of keeping you out of the loop, so to speak."
Dumbledore replied with slight twinkle in his eyes. The room gave a gasp and jumped as one as two people appeared spinning in the fire place.
"Minerva, Severus. Just in time."
Dumbledore handed the piece of parchment from the table to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape and they both read in silence for a few minutes, McGonagall's eyes zipping from one side of her glasses to the other until they were nearly a blur. Once they had been filled in the two Professors conjured their own chairs and joined the already cramped group around the fire, nodding at the room before turning to look at Dumbledore.
"A few years ago a book came into my possession, a journal. And inside it was written the private thoughts and unfortunate events that went on in its owners last years of life."
Dumbledore sighed, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a few seconds before replacing his glasses and surveying the group once more.
"The journal spoke of betrayal, murder and deceit that led its owner to take her own life."
Tab spoke so softly that she had to repeat herself to the room;
"Jocelyn."
Dumbledore nodded, putting his fingertips together and watching her over them.
"Unfortunately for her, her captors never told her that it wasn't William who died that day."
Tab jerked her head up and stared at Dumbledore incredulously.
"No it was her first captor that suffered the final blow."
Draco broke out of his dark thoughts and put forth his own view, making Ron, who was still besides him, jump at the sudden noise.
"So this William guy, he could still be alive?"
Tab shook her head and Dumbledore let her speak before he let them know his suspicions.
"I don't think so, from what I could see of the place I was in and the clothes they were wearing, it was a very long time ago."
Dumbledore nodded his agreement before speaking again.
"It was indeed, but once Jocelyn was lost, the diary passed on to William once more who wrote of events that followed."
Not one person spoke as they waited for Dumbledore to take a sip of the tea he had just conjured for them all and continue with his story.
"Once William learnt of his love's death he vowed to bring her back using whatever means necessary. He poured his soul into the darkest of spells so that he would live once more once Jocelyn was reincarnated in her true form."
"Ginny."
Hermione whispered, her hand clenched in Ron's as she bit her white lip to stop from crying again.
Dumbledore nodded and the room lapsed into an uneasy silence before Bill asked what they were all thinking.
"So what is it that he plans to do with Ginny?"
Fred butted in now, adding his point of view noisily.
"Yeah, I mean he might still be who he was thousands of years ago, but Ginny's Ginny, she's not this Jocelyn person he keeps banging on about."
The room turned to look at Dumbledore but he was looking at Snape waiting for an explanation. Snape cleared his throat loudly, glaring around the room and nearly everyone there was reminded forcibly of hours locked in his dungeons for the daily torture that was Potions lessons.
"There is a potion that can be brewed, though it takes many weeks and some of the rarest ingredients ever needed, that can bring a person's reincarnated soul from the grave and into the body of the chosen carrier, known as the Vessel."
Angelina gulped and fought against the urge to raise her hand.
"That sounds painful."
Snape glanced at her briefly, as he had so often done to them all in his classes with the same look he always reserved for Griffindor's; blatant dislike.
"Yes Miss Johnson, it is very painful as first the Vessel has to have their own soul removed."
The Weasley's blanched as one at this but made no comment waiting for someone to speak.
"And that's what he plans to do to Ginny?"
Draco asked, his heart twisting painfully as he said it and he shuddered.
"It certainly appears that way."
McGonagall conceded, her eyes sombre behind her glasses as she patted Mrs Weasley awkwardly on the shoulder when she dissolved into noisy sobs once more.
"I think, we should have a small break."
Dumbledore said, rising to his feet and helping a still trembling Tab up.
"I think you might need a change of clothes, Tabitha."
Tab glanced down and gasped in horror, she had been so upset when she had first come out of the rose that she hadn't noticed she was still wearing the white wedding dress stained with blood and covered in dirt that she had been wearing inside. Her hand flew to her hair and she sighed in relief when it was still the same short vibrant pink that was her trademark. The room dispersed, several people racing to the toilet while others began pacing from room to room, deep in thought. Tab quickly showered and changed before heading back downstairs, wondering what Ginny was doing now.
"You know, it's a shame your soul is going to have to die, I kind of like you; you're sassy."
William said as he got to his feet from the floor, wiping the blood off his face where Ginny had scraped her long nails down his cheek. He advanced towards her again and she raised her fist threateningly, narrowing her eyes when he laughed at her. He grabbed her left wrist as she swung her fist at his face, grunting when she jabbed the knife he had brought in, concealed in his pocket, at his kidneys piercing the skin and releasing a torrent of blood over her arm.
"You're good."
He said, his voice thick with pleasure at her fighting back, just as Jocelyn would have done.
She wrenched her hand out of his grip and spun around, kicking him backwards so he soared into the wall behind him, she stood over him, glowering down.
"You have no idea."
He grinned at her and lifted his shirt so she could see his skinny, once well-built chest and stomach. The wound she had given him had already healed, leaving nothing but a thin white line and a lot of blood on his clothes.
"What the hell are you?"
She cried, backing away from him and dropping the knife in shock.
"I am life beyond death, love beyond hate. I am more than you could ever imagine."
He had climbed to his feet while he was talking and he now clicked his fingers at the door, another of the crouching minion she had seen when she first arrived bustling in carrying a long white dress with beads all over the bodice and long lacy sleeves reaching well past the waist of the dress.
"Are you serious?"
Ginny asked quietly, staring at the dress now lying on the thin mattress she had been given to sleep on.
He watched her silently, seeing the anger flash in her eyes so like Jocelyn's but a rich earthy brown colour instead of her sharp moss green ones. She snorted and shook her head, swinging her hip to one side and folding her arms across her chest.
"No fucking way. I have no idea who you are or what the hell you want and if you think I'm going to dress up for you; you have another thing fucking coming!"
She snarled, tossing her head back so her fiery red hair caught the light drifting in with the early morning mist through the window besides her.
"It wasn't a request."
William growled, his voice dangerously calm and Ginny felt her anger melt into fear, there was something about those eyes; it was as though he was haunted. She knew he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, that much she could tell in the few hours she'd been his captive.
"I'll consider it."
Ginny replied coolly, nodding her head at the dress, he seemed to accept this for the moment and he retrieved his fallen, bloodied knife before retreating out of the room. After Ginny had heard his footsteps fade away into the distance she collapsed onto the floor breaking into pitiful sobs.
"The first thing we need to do is find out where the place you visited in your head is. It may very well be the same place Ginerva is being held."
Dumbledore told the room, nodding at Tab when she was mentioned and summoning piles and piles of books which all opened at various maps.
"Well..."
Hermione began tentatively, eyeing the nearest book longingly. Ron and Harry exchanged an amused look; they recognised the gleam in her eye she had always had when researching for their adventures at Hogwarts.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
McGonagall asked fondly, Hermione was one of her favourite students from all her years at Hogwarts, though she would never admit it as it was unprofessional.
"Well, from Tab's description, the stone walls, burning torches and courtyard. It sounds like it may have been a castle."
Dumbledore gave her a small half-smile.
"Very good Miss Granger, we must now search for all castles capable of human inhabitants in the whole of England."
There was a flurry of movement as people grabbed a few books each and began flipping through them.
"What are you going to do Professor?"
Draco asked, noticing Dumbledore had risen to his feet.
"I have leads of my own I must follow up in private. If I have news I shall inform you all."
Tab looked nervously up at him, speaking rapidly as she knew he was close to departure.
"Maybe, Professor, maybe I could try again with the rose and see if I can get a better view of the castle."
He watched her for a few seconds with a slight frown on his face.
"Do you feel up to that, Tabitha?"
He asked gently, already knowing the answer from the determined look in her eyes.
"Yes."
She said firmly, ignoring the stricken looks the Weasley's, Draco and Cliff her.
"Then so be it, I shall return at six o'clock exactly this evening to check our progress."
Dumbledore addressed the room, which immediately fell silent as people stopped calling out for reference books and murmuring to themselves.
"And..."
Everyone once again turned to look at him.
"It's Albus, my friends."
He smiled kindly round at the all before Disapparating with a loud crack.
Draco felt about to explode, there was nothing he could do to help Ginny but search through a bunch of books with no clear idea of what they were looking for! Everyone seemed to be feeling something along these lines as they attacked the books with a frenzy of activity, hardly a word being spoken unless it was to ask for another book, check a fact with the others or tell the group there was nothing in a particular book.
Each time a book was tossed to the side considered useless the group got a little more disheartened and eventually they were all rubbing their eyes and yawning, desperate for sleep but feeling the urge to help Ginny was so strong they wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway.
Draco sighed and dropped another useless book onto the large pile by the fireplace, rubbing his eyes wearing he turned to stare out of the window at the setting sun, wishing more than ever that Ginny could be there to see it with him. He leant his head against the glass in despair and once again fingered the pendant she had given him for his birthday, his one comfort since she'd disappeared.
The lyrics are from 'When You Believe' by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
This chapter aint very long and is very boring I'm afraid but it's a crucial part of the story so had to be done.
Keep reviewing people it helps! thanx to everyone who reviews, you rock! cheers babes xx =)
Chapter Eleven – The Vessel
There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracle, you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe
Tab slowly opened her eyes and sat up, looking around she instantly knew she wasn't at Sparrow House anymore. She got shakily to her feet and shivered, her eyes taking in the room she was in. It was a long oblong shaped stone room with a huge wooden table stretching from one end to the other and tattered banners hanging limply from the beams running across the ceiling.
Taking a closer look at a banner that was waving in the slight breeze through a whole in the roof; she saw it was entirely black with a white handprint emblazoned across the centre. Moving further into the room she suddenly felt faint and as though someone had swept their hand over the room changing it, the walls were suddenly rebuilt properly with torches burning in brackets and there was a huge fire crackling merrily in the fireplace before her. The table was gone, replaced with a huge four-poster bed richly swathed in cream, white and gold sheets and pillows much like Ginny's bed at Sparrow House.
Glancing down her eyes widened when she saw she was wearing a full length wedding gown, completely white with beads embroidered all over the bodice. The long sleeves were made of some kind of lace and fell well beyond her hands. Reaching up she found her hair was twisted up into a hairpiece and intricately woven with fresh flowers and gems. Hearing a noise by the door she watched as a tall man with long black hair entered and crossed the room towards her, his arms thrown wide.
"My bride."
He said smiling, kissing her hand and stroking her face.
"Soon we shall be wed."
Tab's eyes widened even further when her mouth opened of its own accord and a voice that did not belong to her issued from it.
"My love, our wedding is no more than a formality for me. I was already yours many years ago; this is just to prove it to the world as it is necessary for the law to bind us together."
The voice was cool, calm and noble, a voice you would expect to hear royalty. Lifting her hand again Tab felt the top of her head, jumping as her fingers brushed an elaborate tiara perched on top of her hair, a long cream veil attached to its base.
"You look so beautiful; I have the envy of every nobleman in the court this day"
He smiled once more at her and gently spun her around. She gasped when she saw her reflection in the huge mirror for the person looking back at her from the glass was not Tabitha Duncan. The person staring back had rich, fiery red hair piled on top of her head, pale freckled shoulders and cleavage rising out of the white dress, a cute button nose and huge almond shaped eyes she had only seen on one person in her life.
Taking a step towards the mirror Tab reached out a hand and touched the glass gently, the person in the mirror did the same. She swallowed hard as she studied the face looking back at her; she had seen that face so often in her life that it was almost as familiar as her own.
"Is something wrong, my love?"
The man asked, placing a cold hand on the back of her neck and looking first at Tab then at the reflection.
"Of course not."
Tab replied, but things were wrong, things were very wrong for the person staring out of that mirror was not the person staring in. The person in that mirror was someone Tab loved very much, someone she would die for, but it was definitely not her. That person staring back was none other than Ginerva Weasley.
"Then come, we have our ceremony to attend."
The man let go of her and swept towards the door, his long black robes billowing out behind him.
"Jocelyn?"
The man paused at the door and turned to look at her curiously. Tab swiftly decided that the rose obviously hadn't shown her all she needed yet so she had no other choice but to go along with whatever was happening. She smiled up at him and he took that as an answer before leaving the room, pulling the huge door closed behind him.
Tab waited a few moments before running to the door and opening it just enough to see out, checking no one was coming she quietly closed it and darted around the room, she had no idea what she was looking for but she continued looking anyway.
Pulling open a large jewel encrusted jewellery box she searched through it and found a bundle of love letters in spidery black handwriting held together by a purple ribbon. They were all signed with a wax seal that consisted of two wands crossed and the name, William, was scrawled under each of the seals.
Hearing a shuffling noise outside the window she stuffed the letters back into the box and spun around as the door was once more pushed open. But no one entered the room and when she searched the corridor outside she could see no one. She pulled the door closed and walked back into the centre of the room sighing. What was it she was meant to see? She couldn't leave this place until she found it and what had looked like fun at first was getting old real damn fast.
Hearing what sounded like horses clattering across cobblestones and several screams she darted to the high arched window and gasped at what met her eyes. Hundreds of soldiers on huge war horses were barging around the courtyard below killing anyone in their way. The cobbles beneath them were splattered with blood and bodies were scattered all over the courtyard.
"Jocelyn! You need to get of here right now!"
The man dashed back into her room with his sword drawn and began physically dragging her out of the room and down several sets of staircases and twisting hallways.
"What? Why?!"
Tab cried, screaming as someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the man.
"William!"
She shrieked as a hand clamped around her neck and hauled her backwards, her fingernails scrambling helplessly against his hand as her legs kicked out at him trying to get him off her. William ran after her, engaging in a vicious swordfight with her captor while she collapsed on the floor, huddled against the wall trying desperately to catch her breath. He fell face down on the floor before her, his sword clattering across the floor out of either of their reach. He struggled onto his hands and knees, freezing when he heard Tab's captor raise his sword above his neck. Tab screamed as the sword came down with a hissing sound, squeezing her eyes shut as something hot and wet sprayed across her face and chest. The last thing she heard were her own bloodcurdling screams ringing in her ears and footsteps pounding towards her before all became black and she slumped onto the cold damp floor.
"Tab! Tab, it's alright stop screaming."
Tab shot bolt upright, colliding with someone's chest and she clung onto them, tears streaking down her face. Several voices began clamouring around her but one voice spoke loudly above them all and they all fell silent. Her sobs finally ceased to occasional hiccupping as she sniffled.
Dumbledore set up a piece of parchment and what looked to Harry like Rita Skeeter's Quick Quotes Quill, only this one was a vivid dark blue colour, and knelt before her, gently coaxing the story out of her, the room listening in silence as she relayed everything that had happened. She clutched Cliff to her, involuntarily rocking backwards and forwards, her eyes focused on the fire.
"And you say you were in Ginny's body?"
Mr Weasley asked, his hands gripping his knees so hard his knuckles had turned white.
"I'm not sure; she looked exactly like Ginny but with some differences, like her freckles were more widely spread and in a different pattern and her eyes were green. Oh and her name was Jocelyn."
Dumbledore's eyebrows emerged swiftly from behind his half-moon glasses and he exchanged a look with the group of Auror's that had accompanied him, Sirius's mouth dropped open but he quickly closed it when Harry shot him a quizzical look.
"And this man's name?"
Lupin pressed, Ron furrowed his brow as he noticed beads of sweat on his old Professor's forehead and upper lip.
"William."
Tab repeated, feeling completely exhausted now the horror of her adventure inside the rose had faded.
"Tabitha, I need you to think clearly now. The writing on the letters what was it like?"
Tabitha creased her brow and glanced around the room while her mind worked furiously to remember the fast fading facts.
"It was thin and sprawling... just like that!"
She cried, pointing at the card still lying on the table in the centre of the room, Dumbledore lifted the card with his fingertips and held it out before her.
"Exactly like this?"
Tab nodded, her eyes fixed on the card as though mesmerised.
"Exactly."
Another look was exchanged between the elder members of the group and Harry sighed impatiently.
"It's just like being back at Hogwarts again! Are you going to tell us what all the looks are about or just pretend we're too young and foolish and... and..."
He trailed off, his anger and frustration constricting his throat as he stared moodily into the fire brooding on all the times they had been left out of secret Order talks because of their age.
"Harry, we have no intention of keeping you out of the loop, so to speak."
Dumbledore replied with slight twinkle in his eyes. The room gave a gasp and jumped as one as two people appeared spinning in the fire place.
"Minerva, Severus. Just in time."
Dumbledore handed the piece of parchment from the table to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape and they both read in silence for a few minutes, McGonagall's eyes zipping from one side of her glasses to the other until they were nearly a blur. Once they had been filled in the two Professors conjured their own chairs and joined the already cramped group around the fire, nodding at the room before turning to look at Dumbledore.
"A few years ago a book came into my possession, a journal. And inside it was written the private thoughts and unfortunate events that went on in its owners last years of life."
Dumbledore sighed, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a few seconds before replacing his glasses and surveying the group once more.
"The journal spoke of betrayal, murder and deceit that led its owner to take her own life."
Tab spoke so softly that she had to repeat herself to the room;
"Jocelyn."
Dumbledore nodded, putting his fingertips together and watching her over them.
"Unfortunately for her, her captors never told her that it wasn't William who died that day."
Tab jerked her head up and stared at Dumbledore incredulously.
"No it was her first captor that suffered the final blow."
Draco broke out of his dark thoughts and put forth his own view, making Ron, who was still besides him, jump at the sudden noise.
"So this William guy, he could still be alive?"
Tab shook her head and Dumbledore let her speak before he let them know his suspicions.
"I don't think so, from what I could see of the place I was in and the clothes they were wearing, it was a very long time ago."
Dumbledore nodded his agreement before speaking again.
"It was indeed, but once Jocelyn was lost, the diary passed on to William once more who wrote of events that followed."
Not one person spoke as they waited for Dumbledore to take a sip of the tea he had just conjured for them all and continue with his story.
"Once William learnt of his love's death he vowed to bring her back using whatever means necessary. He poured his soul into the darkest of spells so that he would live once more once Jocelyn was reincarnated in her true form."
"Ginny."
Hermione whispered, her hand clenched in Ron's as she bit her white lip to stop from crying again.
Dumbledore nodded and the room lapsed into an uneasy silence before Bill asked what they were all thinking.
"So what is it that he plans to do with Ginny?"
Fred butted in now, adding his point of view noisily.
"Yeah, I mean he might still be who he was thousands of years ago, but Ginny's Ginny, she's not this Jocelyn person he keeps banging on about."
The room turned to look at Dumbledore but he was looking at Snape waiting for an explanation. Snape cleared his throat loudly, glaring around the room and nearly everyone there was reminded forcibly of hours locked in his dungeons for the daily torture that was Potions lessons.
"There is a potion that can be brewed, though it takes many weeks and some of the rarest ingredients ever needed, that can bring a person's reincarnated soul from the grave and into the body of the chosen carrier, known as the Vessel."
Angelina gulped and fought against the urge to raise her hand.
"That sounds painful."
Snape glanced at her briefly, as he had so often done to them all in his classes with the same look he always reserved for Griffindor's; blatant dislike.
"Yes Miss Johnson, it is very painful as first the Vessel has to have their own soul removed."
The Weasley's blanched as one at this but made no comment waiting for someone to speak.
"And that's what he plans to do to Ginny?"
Draco asked, his heart twisting painfully as he said it and he shuddered.
"It certainly appears that way."
McGonagall conceded, her eyes sombre behind her glasses as she patted Mrs Weasley awkwardly on the shoulder when she dissolved into noisy sobs once more.
"I think, we should have a small break."
Dumbledore said, rising to his feet and helping a still trembling Tab up.
"I think you might need a change of clothes, Tabitha."
Tab glanced down and gasped in horror, she had been so upset when she had first come out of the rose that she hadn't noticed she was still wearing the white wedding dress stained with blood and covered in dirt that she had been wearing inside. Her hand flew to her hair and she sighed in relief when it was still the same short vibrant pink that was her trademark. The room dispersed, several people racing to the toilet while others began pacing from room to room, deep in thought. Tab quickly showered and changed before heading back downstairs, wondering what Ginny was doing now.
"You know, it's a shame your soul is going to have to die, I kind of like you; you're sassy."
William said as he got to his feet from the floor, wiping the blood off his face where Ginny had scraped her long nails down his cheek. He advanced towards her again and she raised her fist threateningly, narrowing her eyes when he laughed at her. He grabbed her left wrist as she swung her fist at his face, grunting when she jabbed the knife he had brought in, concealed in his pocket, at his kidneys piercing the skin and releasing a torrent of blood over her arm.
"You're good."
He said, his voice thick with pleasure at her fighting back, just as Jocelyn would have done.
She wrenched her hand out of his grip and spun around, kicking him backwards so he soared into the wall behind him, she stood over him, glowering down.
"You have no idea."
He grinned at her and lifted his shirt so she could see his skinny, once well-built chest and stomach. The wound she had given him had already healed, leaving nothing but a thin white line and a lot of blood on his clothes.
"What the hell are you?"
She cried, backing away from him and dropping the knife in shock.
"I am life beyond death, love beyond hate. I am more than you could ever imagine."
He had climbed to his feet while he was talking and he now clicked his fingers at the door, another of the crouching minion she had seen when she first arrived bustling in carrying a long white dress with beads all over the bodice and long lacy sleeves reaching well past the waist of the dress.
"Are you serious?"
Ginny asked quietly, staring at the dress now lying on the thin mattress she had been given to sleep on.
He watched her silently, seeing the anger flash in her eyes so like Jocelyn's but a rich earthy brown colour instead of her sharp moss green ones. She snorted and shook her head, swinging her hip to one side and folding her arms across her chest.
"No fucking way. I have no idea who you are or what the hell you want and if you think I'm going to dress up for you; you have another thing fucking coming!"
She snarled, tossing her head back so her fiery red hair caught the light drifting in with the early morning mist through the window besides her.
"It wasn't a request."
William growled, his voice dangerously calm and Ginny felt her anger melt into fear, there was something about those eyes; it was as though he was haunted. She knew he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, that much she could tell in the few hours she'd been his captive.
"I'll consider it."
Ginny replied coolly, nodding her head at the dress, he seemed to accept this for the moment and he retrieved his fallen, bloodied knife before retreating out of the room. After Ginny had heard his footsteps fade away into the distance she collapsed onto the floor breaking into pitiful sobs.
"The first thing we need to do is find out where the place you visited in your head is. It may very well be the same place Ginerva is being held."
Dumbledore told the room, nodding at Tab when she was mentioned and summoning piles and piles of books which all opened at various maps.
"Well..."
Hermione began tentatively, eyeing the nearest book longingly. Ron and Harry exchanged an amused look; they recognised the gleam in her eye she had always had when researching for their adventures at Hogwarts.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
McGonagall asked fondly, Hermione was one of her favourite students from all her years at Hogwarts, though she would never admit it as it was unprofessional.
"Well, from Tab's description, the stone walls, burning torches and courtyard. It sounds like it may have been a castle."
Dumbledore gave her a small half-smile.
"Very good Miss Granger, we must now search for all castles capable of human inhabitants in the whole of England."
There was a flurry of movement as people grabbed a few books each and began flipping through them.
"What are you going to do Professor?"
Draco asked, noticing Dumbledore had risen to his feet.
"I have leads of my own I must follow up in private. If I have news I shall inform you all."
Tab looked nervously up at him, speaking rapidly as she knew he was close to departure.
"Maybe, Professor, maybe I could try again with the rose and see if I can get a better view of the castle."
He watched her for a few seconds with a slight frown on his face.
"Do you feel up to that, Tabitha?"
He asked gently, already knowing the answer from the determined look in her eyes.
"Yes."
She said firmly, ignoring the stricken looks the Weasley's, Draco and Cliff her.
"Then so be it, I shall return at six o'clock exactly this evening to check our progress."
Dumbledore addressed the room, which immediately fell silent as people stopped calling out for reference books and murmuring to themselves.
"And..."
Everyone once again turned to look at him.
"It's Albus, my friends."
He smiled kindly round at the all before Disapparating with a loud crack.
Draco felt about to explode, there was nothing he could do to help Ginny but search through a bunch of books with no clear idea of what they were looking for! Everyone seemed to be feeling something along these lines as they attacked the books with a frenzy of activity, hardly a word being spoken unless it was to ask for another book, check a fact with the others or tell the group there was nothing in a particular book.
Each time a book was tossed to the side considered useless the group got a little more disheartened and eventually they were all rubbing their eyes and yawning, desperate for sleep but feeling the urge to help Ginny was so strong they wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway.
Draco sighed and dropped another useless book onto the large pile by the fireplace, rubbing his eyes wearing he turned to stare out of the window at the setting sun, wishing more than ever that Ginny could be there to see it with him. He leant his head against the glass in despair and once again fingered the pendant she had given him for his birthday, his one comfort since she'd disappeared.