Party In The Dungeons

Chapter 7 - St Mungo's and the Truth

Disclaimer - I do not own anything in this story except the plot :)

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Hermione and Harry were laying face down on the murky, dungeon floor. Their bodies ached, they were exausted, and at the moment, unconcious. Thin, moth eaten blankets covered them, but did not keep them from shivering in their sleep. The basement was cold and dark, for there were no widows. Harry's eyes slowly fluttered open. The windowless dungeon was dark, but his eyes quickly adjusted to it. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, using his elbows as support, but quickly collapsed again. Harry let out a groan. He had never before felt so weak, so helpless. Voldemort now had him where Harry could not be saved. As he had had to do all the other times before when he faced Voldemort, he would have to save himself. But what were the chances that he was going to get out, when this place was filled with Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort himself? Harry had been lucky to get out alive all the other times, but even he knew there would be no good for him at the end of this. He would most likely spend the rest of his life here, however long that may be. He was like a puppet, and Voldemort was pulling his strings. He could not escape. And it was only so long until Voldemort decided to end this all for him..

Harry groaned once more, as he rolled over and turned his head towards Hermione. She was still unconcious. Her hair was sprawled all over her head, and covered parts of her face. Her skirt and top that she had worn to the party, was ripped and torn in serveral different places, as was Harry's own clothes. Slowly Hermione's hand moved, and her eyes flickered open. She looked up at Harry and smiled weakly. Harry smiled back, wincing in pain as he did so. Suddenly they heard footsteps down the corridor. They stopped right outside the dungeon. Harry braced himself for the worst and felt Hermione tense up beside him. But the people on the otherside of the door didn't come in. They seemed to be discussing something, talking in soft, hushed voices as if they werent supposed to be talking about what they were discussing. Harry concentrated his hardest on trying to catch the words they were saying.

'She's dead. Touched the thorn on that purple rose. Lord Voldemort said she died instantly,' one of the voices said.

'Dead? Who's dead?' Another voice said.

'Patil,' said the first voice.

'Patil? Parvati Patil? The new Death Eater?' Harry and Hermione exchange looks of horror.

'What!?' Harry mouthed silently to Hermione. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and put a finger to her lips signaling for Harry to be quite, her eyes wide with shock.

'The one and only. Lord Voldemort is very displeased. He told her to be careful in the Purple Room. Lots of dangers in there-'

'I know about the purple room!' The second voice snapped impatiantly. 'What happened with Malfoy and Weasley?' Harry felt Hermione tense up beside him. He, too, lay stiffly. Both were not sure what to think.

'Well Voldemort said they floo'd St Mungo's from the Purple Room... but they can't of. You cant escape the Purple Room unless you're a Death Eater. Or if its at the exact right time... but they wouldn't have known about all that!' The other replied.

'So... say they werent Death Eaters... and it wasn't the right time.. What would happen to them then?' The other person asked, curiousity and suspicion in his voice.

'Well, I don't know much, but I remember Lord Voldemort saying "One who passes through the Purple Room at the wrong time, will be trapped between worlds. Between the past, present and future. A place of the unknown."' The Death Eater answered.

'Can they get out if they get trapped in this "Place of the unknown"?" The other Death Eater asked.

'With a price. But I doubt either of them would like to pay it,' the other said grimly, as though he too was not too thrilled with this price.

'Well whats this price?' The Death Eater asked dramatically.

'One would have to sell their soul to the ruler of this land. He's unknown,' the Death Eater added quickly before his companion could ask. 'Their soul would forever be enslaved in the land of nowhere and everywhere. The past and the present. The good and the bad. Its worse than any death,' the other Death Eater said gloomily.

'Well if they are stuck there then they deserve it! Especially that Malfoy. He should know better than to defy Lord Voldemort. The only other person who deserves it more is Potter. But I guess Lord Voldemort will have fun torturing him for as long as he see's fit.' Harry and Hermione jumped when the door suddenly burst open, and the two Death Eaters that Harry and Hermione had heard talking emerged. They both had their masks on so they werent too sure of what they looked like. Harry and Hermione just stared at them, eyes wide with shock.

'Oooh, it looks like Potter and the Mudblood heard our little conversation! No matter,' said one of the Death Eaters, walking down the stone steps into the dungeon, followed closely by the other Death Eater. Hermione looked up at the Death Eater defiantly.

'What happened to Parvati?' Hermione asked, her whole body shaking in fear and anger.

'She died. Pathetic little brat she was. Never did anything right. Always knew she would be no good when she became a Death Eater,' one of the Death Eaters laughed.

'No, that's not true! Parvati cant be a Death Eater! She - she.. she just cant!' Hermione exclaimed. She felt tears sting her eyes, overcome with all this news.

'She was a Death Eater!' The Death Eater hissed. 'Don't speak of what you don't know you stupid Mudblood!' Hermione let out a sob as tears leaked down her cheeks. She dropped her gaze quickly to the floor, but made no move to wipe the tears.

'Aww, isnt that cute! She's crying!' The Death Eater teased, roaring with laughter. Suddenly the other Death Eater elbowed him in the ribs.

'Come on, enough playing around. We need to take them to Lord Voldemort,' he said, walking down the last few steps, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her to her feet. Hermione screamed at him, and tried to pull away, her arms flailing everywhere.

'Let go of me! Get off!' Hermione screamed over and over at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to get out of his death grip. The Death Eater holding her slapped her hard across her face. She stopped struggling immediately. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

'Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can either come quietly, or I'll force you to. Your choice. Decide now,' he told her threateningly. She pulled her face away from him and looked down at the floor in defeat. There was no use in trying to struggle or resist. There were around fifty Death Eaters in this building, plus Lord Voldemort himself, and probably more close by. There would be no way of getting out, and if there were, it would be easy to find them when they were weak and exausted. Though defeat was hard to accept, Hermione knew that's all that lay on this path. The Death Eater laughed, and Hermione could imagine him smirking underneath that ugly mask. She looked briefly over at Harry, who looked at her sympathetically. Suddenly, the Death Eaters roughly grabbed them.

'Enough talking. Time to go!' The Death Eater said, dragging Hermione up the stairs, the other Death Eater following closely behind with Harry. The Death Eaters turned at the corner, went down strange corridors and a staircase or two. Harry and Hermione tried to keep track of which way they were going, but it was too hard to remember. The Death Eaters seemed to know where they were going and Harry and Hermione had no choice go along quietly. Suddenly the Death Eater holding Hermione turned right down into another corridor and into one of the rooms in the middle, but the one with Harry kept walking straight ahead. For a moment there, Harry and Hermione both tried to get away, but stopped quickly after realising it was close to impossible. Hermione shot Harry one last look of fear before the door slammed behind her. Harry's concern for her grew with each step up the corridor he took. But little did he know the terrors that awaited him a little further up the corridor.

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~'You are weak, pathetic. You don't deserve to keep the name Malfoy!' Draco groaned softly and rolled over in his sleep.

'Avada Kedavra!' Voldemort screamed, as a green light flew out of the end of his wand, heading towards Draco. A shape suddenly darted across infront of him and he was pushed to the floor. Looking up at the shape he saw the familiar face of Ronald Weasley, dead. His face had gone all pale, his eyes were open in terror and his mouth was twisted in horror. Suddenly Ron blinked a few times and moved his head on a tilt.

'You killed me,' Ron said in a drawling voice quite unlike his own, pointing lazily at Draco. Draco pushed himself away from Ron, backing away as fast as he could. Suddenly he bumped into something behind him. He looked up. It was Hermione. She had the same pale face as Ron.

'You killed me,' Hermione said in an echo of Ron's, in the same drawling voice. Draco looked up at her in terror and backed away in the other direction, bumping into something else. Harry.

'You killed me,' Harry repeated. Suddenly the whole room echoed with the same words over and over again. It was as though a hundred people were in the room, chanting the words together. Draco got to his feet, but in every direction there was someone else, with a pale face. All of them looked like zombies. They formed a large circle around him. Draco span around, staring at all the people who were suddenly in the room. He felt an over powering dizziness take over him. He fell to his knees. The people came closer and closer. He then fell on his stomach, unable to keep himself up anymore. Suddenly the group of people closed in on him and they went silent. He looked up weakly at the closest person. It was Ginny. She glared down at him.

'You killed me,' Ginny said frostily, pressing her cold hand on Draco's chest...~

Draco gasped in pain and clutched at his chest, sitting up suddenly. Freezing cold pain shot up through his whole body. The doctor who had tried to question him before was suddenly at his side, shaking him.

'Draco, Draco!' She repeated over and over. Draco looked at her. Her face was filled with concern. Draco frowned at her, still clutching his chest. Who was she? What was she doing?

'Draco, you are at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. My name is Dr. Isabella Honey. You came here last night with Ginny Weasley. Can you remember all this?' Isabella asked him in a calm and relaxed voice. Draco looked at her with unblinking eyes for a few moments before replying.

'Yes,' Draco answered dully. All the images and memories of what happened last night rushed back to him. Suddenly a weird feeling hit his chest and he found himself asking the question he had been longing to know since he got there.

'Is Ginny alright?' Draco asked quickly. Dr. Honey looked down at the ground, before looking up again at Draco.

'She has had serveral types of operations and went through them alright, but has yet to regain consciousness,' Dr. Honey replied gloomily.

'Is she going to be okay?' Draco asked hastily.

'Its difficult to say at the moment.. As soon as I get any more news about her, I'll tell you. For now, just rest,' she said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder and pushing him back down, ' You've been through a lot. It's a miracle you got her here. If you hadn't, who knows what may have happened to her..' Dr. Honey trailed off, as she walked out of the door of the room Draco was in. Draco had barely acknowledged the room when he had first woken up, but now that he had, he found it quite interesting.

Pictures of dragons flying through clear blue skies over vast mountain rangers and oceans were painted on the walls. The roof was painted as a beautiful sunset, starting with the vibrant yellow sun, to the oranges, reds, and eventually, black velvetly sky, dotted with silvery stars. Draco found himself staring at these moving pictures for quite some time, and felt a sudden sense of comfort, and reassurance wash over him. Just by looking at these pictures, he knew Ginny was going to be alright.

When he finally tore his eyes away from the ceiling, he gazed around the rest of the room. There were no other beds or people in the room. There was a large mirror on one wall, bordered with pictures of kind-looking witches and wizards, who smiled at him reassuringly. The carpet was a light shade of blue that reminded Draco of cloudless skies, much alike those on the walls. As he swung his legs over the bed and put one foot on the floor; the soft, fluffiness of the carpet was quite soothing. He almost felt as if he wanted to drift back into a dreamless sleep..

Draco shook his head. It must be, thought Draco, an enchantment of some sort to make him feel like this. Clearing his head of all thoughts, he placed his other foot on the floor, and stood up rather shakily. He felt somewhat lightheaded, and had to grip onto the side of his bed, otherwise he was sure he would fall over. He shook his head once more, and cleared his head of all thoughts, before releasing his grip from the bed and walking over to the door. With one sidewards glance back at the room, Draco grabbed the doorhandle and pushed. Immediately the soothing, calm feeling he had felt from the room vanished and he was left with one of dread. He closed the door quietly behind him and wandered down the suprisingly empty corridor. Draco could hear muffled voices somewhere ahead of him, so he continued quickly down the corridor.

He wanted to meet some kind of doctor who could tell him what was happening with Ginny. Even is he could find Dr. Honey, he could ask her some more questions about the surgery and see if she had found anything more out.

'Why didn't I ask her before?' Draco thought exasperatedly. This thought made him quicken his pace. He turned down another corridor, where voices and other noises were much clearer, and he found himself standing at a reception-like desk. A young witch in around her twenties, wearing black rimmed glasses and her hair pulled up on her head in a tight bun was sitting behind it, chewing on the end of a pencil going through some notes. She looked up as Draco approached her.

'Hello! How may I help you?' She asked cheerfully. Draco glanced down at the name tag pinned to her jacket. "Maree Heart" it had printed on it.

'I was wondering if you could tell me anything about a patient here,' Draco said quickly, looking up again, hoping not to sound too much like he was nosing around. The woman smiled up at him.

'Sure! Whats the patients name?' She asked, her perfect teeth gleaming in the light as she smiled.

'Ah - Ginny Weasley,' Draco answered. The witch smiled at him again, spun around on her chair and flicked her wand at a large rack of shelves. A fat folder came zooming out and landed neatly on the desk in front of her.

'Warden.. Wallus.. Aha! Here we go, Weasley!' She said, flicking through the files.

'Wow, theres a few of them! Arthur.. Bill.. Charlie.. Fred.. George.. Molly..' Draco began to get a little nervous as they had not yet said Ginny's name, 'Percy.. Ron.. Virginia-'

'That's it! Virginia Weasley!' Draco said suddenly, jumping slightly with relief. The witch once again smiled at him and took out Ginny's file from the thick folder, and slammed it shut. She then opened Ginny's file, which looked quite new, and started reading the notes inside it. Her face remained epressionless as she read the first few lines, but as she read down further she began to look a little grim. Suddenly she closed it shut and looked up at Draco who was wringing his hands anxiously. The cheery smile that was usually on her face had disappeared and she looked very stern, and reminded Draco a lot of McGonagall.

'Miss Virginia Weasley is not allowed allowed any visitors and news about her is strictly confidential,' the receptionist said, suddenly changing from cheery to professional in a matter of seconds. Draco's jaw dropped.

'But - But I brought her here! No one else knows she even here!' Draco exclaimed.

'Immediate family members only. Are you even related to Miss Weasley at all?' She asked, as her eyes flicked upwards to look at his hair, obviously comparing blonde to red. Draco opened his mouth to say that he probably was, in some way or another as most Pure Blooded families were these days, related to Ginny in some distant way but stopped as an older witch with a white lab coat on walked in through the double doors behind the desk with a frown on her face.

'Is there a problem here?' She asked in a professional voice. Suddenly both Draco and the recepionist began talking at once.

'I was just looking for-'

'He barged in here demanding-'

'I did not demand! I just asked if I could-'

'ENOUGH!' Draco and the receptionist both turned and looked at the older woman guiltily and stopped talking at once.

'Now one at a time! Before I throw you out,' she said looking at Draco, 'and sack you!' she said, moving her gaze to the younger woman.

'Yes mam,' the receptionist said, looking downcast.

'Last night I brought in a patient, Gin - Virginia Weasley, and I wanted to know how she was, she,' ' Draco said pointing roughly in the receptionists direction, 'wouldn't tell me anything.' The younger woman shot Draco a dirty look and began to look very snobbish. Draco ignored her and looked up at the other woman instead, hoping she could tell him how Ginny was.

'Ah, Miss Weasley. Yes, you must be Mister Malfoy.' Draco nodded his head uneasily. This woman was giving him the creeps.

'Yes, yes,' she said, looking him up and down. Finally she stopped and looked as though she was sure that is was him, and then added, 'Follow me,' before turning around and walking back through the double doors behind her. Draco hesitated momentarily before walking around the desk and through the double doors after her. Draco had to run to catch up to her. The long hallway had doors all the way down it, and at the end of the hallway was another double door. The woman stopped abruptly at one of the doors and Draco almost ran into the back on her. She grabbed the key that hung on a chain around her neck, put it in the keyhole and turned. The room behind the door was small and had a small desk crammed into it and a couple of chairs. The woman motioned for Draco to go inside, then closed the door behind them. The walls were plain white and very boring. Draco sat down slowly on one of the chairs and turned to face the woman. But before he could say anything, she spoke.

'Draco Malfoy?' She asked. Draco nodded.

'Hi, I'm Dr. Amelia Sweet-' What is it with all these doctors names? Draco thought, '- And I'm the doctor in charge of Miss Virginia Weasley. You brought her in last night at approximately-' The doctor paused, looking down at her notes, '- five tweny three this morning.'

'Whats wrong with Ginny?' Draco asked immediately. The woman sighed.

'Well that stab wound on her chest punctured her right lung and she's having a bit of trouble breathing. The doctors have done what they can to repair it and it should be as good as new, if not better, in a few days-' Draco's spirits lightened slightly,' -But she lost a lot of blood and has yet to regain conciousness. We cant do anything more to help her now until she wakes up,' the doctor said.

'Can I-'

'No. Sorry Draco but I just cant allow any visitors.' Draco felt the pit of dread in his stomach grow deeper and he wasn't sure whether he really had wanted to know the detail of what happened to Ginny; it made everything seem a hundred times worse. What he really wanted to do was go and see her, but he wasn't even allowed to do that. Draco said nothing as the doctor stood up and opened the door, beckoning him to leave. He stood up wordlessly and left the room staring at his feet as he walked back down the corridor and back through the double doors into reception. The receptionist glared at him as he walked past but Draco ignored her and kept walking. Draco didn't know where he was going or how long he had been walking for. All he knew was that Ginny was hurt and he could do absolutely nothing but wait. Suddenly he found himself facing a door. The plaque on the wall above it said "Room 13". Without even thinking Draco grabbed the handle and pushed open the door. There was only one bed in the room occupied with a very small, fiery haired person.

'Ginny!' Draco murmered under his breath, as he walked slowly forward towards the sleeping figure. Her face was unusually pale, making her freckles more distinct than usual. He flaming red hair was messy and all over the place. She was dressed in a white hospital gown and Draco could distinctively see the bandages over the wound on her chest; blood was seeping through it, leaving patches of red on her gown. Draco let out a soft moan and sank down into the chair beside her clasping her hands. Her hands were suprisingly cold and clammy, but Draco clutched onto them nevertheless. He began silently praying that Ginny was going to be alright. She couldn't possibly die, she was going to be alright. She was going to be alright...

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Every step Harry took closer towards the room he was to be taken to, the feeling of dread in his stomach seemed to double. He wondered what was going to happen to Hermione, or what may be happening to her at this very moment. He also wondered what was going to happen to himself. Finally the Death Eater stopped in front of a door. He grabbed the brass knocker and rapped on the door.

There was a momentary pause that to Harry felt like an eternity before a cold and eerie voice hissed, 'Enter.' Harry felt chills run up and down his spine. The Death Eater pushed the door open and dragged Harry inside. Voldemort was standing in the centre of the room with his back to them as the walked in. Slowly he turned to face them. Harry felt a sudden surge of pain from his scar so intense he was sure his head was about to explode. He tried as hard as he could to hide the pain, but it was slowly becoming more and more painful it was almost impossible. He screwed his eyes shut, hoping that if he didn't look at Voldemort the pain would subside. But if anything, the pain increased. He heard the voices of Voldemort and the Death Eater, but they were so muffled now by the pain searing through his head.

'Now Harry-' Harry heard a door slam in the distance, '-It has come to my attention that you have - ah, overheard a little conversation two of my Death Eaters were having.' Harry felt a sharp pain in his knees and suddenly found himself on the ground with no memory of how he got there. His scar felt as though it was on fire, surging white hot pain through his whole body.

'So I am quite certain that you will want to know what has happened to your little friends,' sneered Voldemort, as Harry felt a particulary painful surge of white hot pain from his scar again and he almost cried out in pain.

'Well Potter, Parvati Patil. She was your date at the Yule Ball in your forth year wasn't she?' Voldemort asked Harry, but Harry was in too much pain to reply, so Voldemort continued.

'Yes, yes, she was working for me at the time. I hoped she would get you to like her, but you were too thick to notice her, and were running after that Chang instead. I was going to have Patil kill her, but it wasn't necessary. It would only raise suspicion. So I waited. I waited until the final round in the Triwizard Tournament. The second you arrived by portkey to my fathers grave, I had you. You werent going to get away that time, I had thought. But I was wrong Potter, and you managed once again to get away. So once more I was forced to wait. Then, at the Ministry, I was sure that the prophecy would show me how to destroy you at last! But you smashed it! And yet again I had to wait. But it was well worth it Potter. Theres no way you can get away now. No one knows you're here. There's no Albus Dumbledore to save you. No portkey to transport you back. No one on you side here except that Mudblood Granger, and that's nothing to get your hopes up about. Death Eaters roam the place, I'm in control Potter, theres no way you can escape,' Voldemort said. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been before for Harry, but he still couldn't bare to look up at Voldemort. The cool stone floor pressed against his cheek and he could feel blood in his mouth.

'Well, there is one way,' Voldemort said. Harry managed to raise his head off the ground slightly, to look up at Voldemort. There's a way out? Harry thought hopefully.

'Yes Potter, theres a way out. Join me Harry. Together we will be unbeatable. Everyone in the Wizarding World - and the Muggle World - will be afraid of us. We could have total control!' Voldemort said. It wasn't the first time Harry had the feeling Voldemort could read his thoughts. He looked up at him in horror and disgust.

'Never,' Harry breathed. Voldemort frowned and Harry felt a sharp pain in his head.

'Oh well. No matter. There are other ways of making people do what you want them to...' Voldemort smirked. Harry gulped. He didn't like the sound of this at all.

'Imperio..'

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Heyaz again! Yes finally I have finished my 7th chappie! Sorry it took so long, I kept getting stuck! Well I hope it was worth the wait! Please review! :D:D:D

And thanks for everyone who review my last chappie! Mwa! :P:P:P

~Marauders Gal~