Posted: February 27, 2005

Chapter Eighteen: The Other Brother

Draco's head was pounding as his heavy eyelids began to open. He groaned slightly as he began to make the motion of lifting his hand to his head, but found only that his hand was heavier than usual. His eyes then snapped open as he realized he was no longer in Percy's home, but back in England. . . in the Dark Lord's castle.

He was sitting on the floor with his wrists in chains, attached to the wall. The chains were spell proof, not even his wandless abilities could help him now. He was in the dungeon, but his own fate was not what he was concerned about at the moment. "Tulip, Rose," he whispered weakly.

The dungeon was dark, cold, and damp as he looked around, thinking about how he had gotten himself into this situation, and how the hell he was going to get himself out. Just then a light started to shine in the distance above his head, a door was being opened. A person stepped through, but all Draco could make out was the silhouette. He could hear the sound of the person's shoes as they descended the stairs towards him.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here," said the man as he approached.

"Where is my family? I demand to know." Draco looked up at the face of his childhood rival, through half opened eyes, still fighting back the sleep.

Voldemort stepped closer. "You are in no position to demand anything, now are you?" He smirked as he squatted down in front of Draco. "But I'll tell you what, tell me where your father is, and I'll tell you all you need to know."

"I don't know where he is," Draco spoke the truth as he cast his gaze downward. His father had left his house before Angelina went to Percy's and he had not heard from him since.

"That's a shame," Voldemort began. "You have a beautiful child, you know. My Queen has become quite fond of her. She's kind of taken her under her wing, as if she were her own," he explained. "And I'm only happy when my Queen is happy, so we've decided to keep her as our own. Of course, we will have to change that ridiculous name of hers." Draco held in his anger, this was neither the time nor the place to have Voldemort riled up. "And your wife. . ." Draco's eyes immediately shoot towards him. The reaction made Voldemort grin. "Are you sure you don't know where your father is? Because you know I could always have it tortured out of you."

"And I still wouldn't know," Draco explained.

"Well, if you don't know, maybe Mrs. Malfoy does. I should go and pay her a visit. From what I've been told, I understand she has a very nice set of. . ." he made a small gesture towards his chest. "Lungs," he laughed. "And me, well, I'm always up for a screamer."

Draco then furiously lunged at him, completely forgetting he was chained to the wall. "I'll kill you! Mark my words Riddle, I'll kill you!" he yelled though clenched teeth.

Voldemort rose from his squatted position. He then drew back his hand as he balled it into a fist and struck Draco across the face. Draco's head went flying back at the speed of which Voldemort used. "Don't make me lose my patience," Voldemort warned.

As Draco turned his head back towards Voldemort with narrowed eye, blood streamed down from the corner of his mouth and slid down the length of his chin and jaw. And then, for some reason Voldemort could not explain, he gradually reached out his hand and gently wiped away the blood with his finger. Voldemort looked at his hand strangely; he couldn't control what he was doing.

He then brought his finger, covered in Draco's blood, to rest within his mouth and sucked the blood off of it. Draco's narrowed eyes eased as he looked at the actions of Voldemort. He then said softly, "Potter? Are you still in there?"

At the sound of Harry's name, Voldemort seemed to regain control and once again assaulted Draco's face with his fist. "What the hell did you do?"

"I did nothing!" Draco yelled as he lifted his arms to show. "My magic, as you know, is bound." Disturbed by what just happened Voldemort turned on his heels and retreated out the dungeon, once again leaving Draco alone in the dark.

OoOoO

Percy yawned and stretched his body freely as he began to wake. He didn't remember much, he didn't even remember falling asleep. All he knew was that earlier he was eating breakfast and then was confronted with a very pissed off Draco before being cleaned up by Angelina. Then after she left the room he went back to his breakfast and everything after that was kind of a blur. He yawned again he scratched his head as he sat up and looked at his surroundings.

The walls were made of stone and there were decorative tapestries hanging from the walls to keep in the warmth. The place was dreary and lightly lit. A shiver ran down Percy's spine. "Well, I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore," he said to himself. His eyes then made their way to the door as it slowly opened. "No," he whispered. "No. Why do you haunt me?"

"Hello, Percy," greeted his little sister.

"No." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "You're not real. You're just a figment of my imagination." Percy had had a hard time dealing with his younger siblings' deaths and had a mental breakdown a few years earlier, where he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. He had lots of hallucinations before getting the help that he needed, but there had been days where he had forgotten to take his medication, like today, and had to suffer through the thoughts of actually thinking his siblings were still alive.

Ginny walked over to the bed and climbed in. "Brother, look at me."

"Go away. You're not real. None of this is real. My brothers and sister are dead. Dead!"

"No, I'm here brother and I am very real. So look at me," she begged. "Please, I need you to look at me. I need you to see me."

"I can't," he told her. "Because as soon as I open my eyes and I start to believe, you're going to disappear. Just like you always do."

"Not this time. I'm not going to disappear, I promise."

Percy opened one eye and then the other as he stared at his little sister's face. "Ginny?" he said slowly. "You look different." He reached out with tears in his eyes and ran his fingers through her flamed colored hair. "You're real?"

"I am," she beamed. "I'm real."

"My God." He pulled his sister close and hugged her. He began laughing with joy as he realized that this was not a dream or a hallucination and that his sister was actually here with him. And then it hit him and he slowly pulled away from her with wide eyes. "Am I dead? Are we in hell?"

Ginny snorted back a laugh. "Of course not. We're in my home," she clarified.

"Your home?" he said a little confused and looked around again. "Ginny, where exactly are we?"

"England," she replied.

"What!" He nearly jumped out of his skin. "We're not supposed to be here!"

"Percy calm down." She put a hand on his shoulder. "We're perfectly safe."

"How is that possible?" fe asked, but before she could answer, the door reopened and another person came stepping through.

"Love, is he awake?"

"Yes, beloved."

"Harry?" Percy said confused beginning to think he was dreaming.

"No, brother." Ginny got out of bed and walked over to Voldemort. She took his hand and led him to her brother. "Percy, this Lord Voldemort, this is my husband." The only thing Percy could manage to do was blink. "Brother?" He just stared in disbelief. "Brother, speak to me."

"Sister, what have you done?"

"I did nothing, but fall in love," she declared. "He's my family now. . . and you can still be too. And all you have to do," she stretched out her arm and extended her hand, "is reach."

Percy looked upon his sister's face. He had never seen her look so frightened, not since her first year at Hogwarts. Her whole expression wordlessly pleaded with him to take her hand.

If he does not accept, Voldemort mentally spoke with Ginny. I'm sorry my Queen, but he will be killed. . . immediately.

No, he'll accept. I know he will. I know it, she told him. I will not watch another one of my brothers die. She then cut off her link with him and thought, Not like George, please not like George.

Ginny thought back to the last moments she shared with George. It had been about several months since the Final Battle, where Harry was killed, and only a couple of weeks since Hermione had found Ron's dead body in the apartment they shared, and so the Weasley family was in a period of mourning.

Ginny had woken up early that day. She liked the quietness of it before the rest of the family woke, but this morning she was surprised to see that she was not alone. "George?" she called as she rubbed the sleep from her eye as she entered the kitchen.

"Morning, sleepy head. Care to join me?" He held up a skillet of bacon.

"Um. . .no." Ginny had learned long ago to be weary of her brothers' cooking.

"Come on now, trust me. It's just bacon."

"Fine," she gave in. "I'll make toast."

The two siblings sat and enjoyed their breakfast together as they spoke. "I miss him, George," Ginny confessed into her plate.

"We all do, Ginny."

"I just. . . I should have done something," she whispered to herself.

"There was nothing any of us could do."

Ginny looked up, not realizing he had heard her. "You're right," she sighed then looked around. "Did we cook the last of the bacon?"

"Yeah, but no big deal. There's still sausage for everyone else."

"Well, I'm going to go get dress anyway and head into town to buy some more, before everyone else wakes up."

"I'll go with."

"No," Ginny said quickly. "That's okay. I'll go on my own."

"Nonsense. No one should be venturing out on their own, not after everything." He rose from his seat and took his and Ginny's plates over to the sink.

"Brother, please it's a small trip into town. I'll be fine on my own. I'll be gone two, three hours tops." Ginny at that time was not old enough to Apparate so she would have to walk.

"You're a big girl, I know that, but it would put my mind at ease, if I came with you. Okay?" he explained.

Ginny only nodded before heading upstairs. About half an hour later, George wrote a note telling the rest of the family where they had gone and then the two were out the door. The Muggle village they were headed to was about a three mile walk, but everyone in the Weasley family was quite used to the journey.

They started their journey by heading into the woods and following the well beaten path that led to the village. Ginny hung on to her older brother's arm as they spoke. "I don't know what the future holds, now that You-Know-Who has won and will now be rapidly gaining strength with Harry being gone, but I want to think positive. A lot of his people were killed during the battle, but of course, along with a lot of ours."

"Losing Dumbledore was a great lost. He will be missed."

"Yes, he will be."

They walked in silence for a little while. "Are you thinking about Fred?" Ginny asked.

George smiled. "Of course, it's kind of a twin default thing."

"How is he and Faith?" she asked about the girl Fred had been seeing recently.

"He pretends to be happy with her, but she's no Angie, far from it."

"You went to her wedding with Malfoy, didn't you?"

George stopped. "How did you know?"

"Because you'd do anything for her."

"Okay, don't go there." He shook his head. "I know very well the rumors that went around about me and Angie. They were just rumors, okay?" He then laughed. "There was even that crazy one, where people thought she was pregnant our fifth year and that it was mine. Come on now please, it was never like that between us. Besides, you know very well how I feel about Alicia." He smiled at the thought of her.

"Really now?" They began walking again. "That didn't stop you from going against your own brother's wishes when it came to Angie."

"Look, I have my own mind, okay? And Angie is already going through enough and all Fred wants to do is punish her more for something she can't control." He shook his head. "I just couldn't turn my back on her, not when everyone else had."

"I'm glad to hear that." She let go of her brother's arm as there came a rustle in the trees around them. Unknown to George, Ginny had picked his pocket and tucked his wand safely next to her own.

"You hear that? It sounds like it's coming closer." And then from the greenery a group of Death Eaters materialized. "Ginny! Stay close." George ordered.

"You were supposed to come alone," spoke one of the Death Eaters.

"I know, put he would not let me leave his sight."

"Sister?" George looked at her confused, but she paid him no mind.

"Lower your masks, I wish to know whom I am speaking to." George watched as his sister's demeanor change before his eyes. She no longer appeared to be the little fragile girl he had always known. She held her head high and carried herself with a refine dignity as she watched the Death Eaters lower their masks. "Ah, Montague, good to see you lived."

"Thank you, your highness." Montague bowed followed by the others.

"Ginny, what's going on?" George asked.

She turned to him, her hair whipping wildly in the wind. "I'm going home, to my soon-to-be husband."

George looked at the Death Eaters surrounding them. "Sister, you can't possibly mean. . ." he looked at her face. "Ginny, no."

"Yes. The facts are I will be Queen and the world in which you know it will crumble and fall, only to be replaced by me and my love's vision." She smiled at the thought. "And I have decided I want you to come with me. The three of us can be a family."

"We already have a family," George stated angry.

"Brother, please. . . just come with me." She stretched out her hand for her brother to take. "I can keep you safe, and all you have to do, is reach."

George smacked her hand down. "Are you crazy!" The Death Eaters started to advance towards him, but Ginny put her hand in the air and signaled for them to stop. "That man - No, that monster had our brother killed! And you love him!"

"I know." She lowered her head in shame. "There was nothing I could do about Ron." She looked at him again. "And there is nothing I can do about who my heart loves. But I need you, brother, to help keep me sane. So please, just reach." She extended her hand once again.

George looked at his little sister who once again looked fragile and his instincts yelled at him to take her hand and to save her somehow, but doing that meant betraying the rest of the family and that, he could not do. "No, sister, I can not."

Ginny lowered her arm as Montague put his hand on her shoulder and whispered. "I have my orders. They are to think you are dead, until the Dark Lord has seized full power. He can not be left alive," he explained.

Ginny sighed as she looked to George. Her lip quivered as she spoke. "So be it."

Montague smirked evilly as he spoke again. "You may not prefer to watch."

"Just do what needs to be done and leave me alone." She turned around and began to walk off.

After a few moments, the only sound that could be heard were George's screams. Ginny dropped to her knees and held herself as she heard the horrifying sound. But then she heard the most alarming thing her ears had ever heard in her sixteen years of life. She heard laughter and it was filled with a joy that went beyond words. Despite herself, Ginny slowly turned her torso towards the amused sound.

She gasped at the image of George, on the ground, crawling away from Montague, who was still laughing as he spoke. "Where do you think you're going, Fred, can't take a little joke? Hmm?" He kicked George in the ribs and knocked him to his side before rolling him over on his back. "Settle down now, because I've only just begun."

"Montague," spoke another Death Eater. "There's no reason for this. Let's just kill him quickly and go."

"Nonsense, Moon. I've waited a long time for his day. And I plan on enjoying every, single, moment." He viciously stomped down on George's chest making him spit up blood. "Isn't that right, Weasley? Not so tough without your brother and your little bag of tricks." Montague squatted down with his wand now in hand. "Infermo," he whispered and the tip of his wand glowed in a bright reddish color. "You two," he directed at a couple of Death Eaters, "hold down his arms," he told them and they obeyed because he was of higher rank.

Montague then traced the tip of his wand from the rim of George's shirt down to right below his navel. He pushed the shirt out the way. "So tell me, can you feel the burn?" Montague than lowered the point of his wand onto George's skin. George immediately jumped at the sudden sensation, but was being held down.

He clenched his teeth together trying to hold in his pain. "Come on now, Weasley, you know you want to scream for me." Montague laughed as the smell of hair and flesh polluted the air. "I said scream!" Montague yelled, getting impatience he dug the ignited tip further into George's skin piercing through it.

George's whole body felt as if it were on fire. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. "Montague, stop!" Ginny yelled from where she sat, her eyes full of tears. "Stop right now!"

Montague didn't even look at her. "Come, your highness," Moon helped her to her feet, "I'll take you to the Dark Lord."

The moment before they Apparated, Ginny saw George looking at her gasping for air. "Ginny," he barely got out, "no," they were the last words she ever heard him say.

And now Ginny stood before Percy, with her outstretched hand, hoping he would make the choice that George did not. "Please, Percy, just reach and take my hand. We can be a family." A tear slid down her face.

"A family?" Percy whispered as he stared at her hand.

"Yes," she smiled and nodded. "A family." Percy's arm slowly rose from his side and reached for his sister. That's it Percy, that's it, she thought excitedly.

Percy then gently took his sister's hand and said, "I've missed being part of a family."

"Well then, you should want no more, because a family is now what you have," Voldemort spoke.

"Thank you," Percy slowly replied.

Ginny giggled joyfully and jumped into her brother's arms. "I told you, Tom. I told you he would accept."

Voldemort smiled as he watched his wife and brother-in-law. His Queen was happy, but better yet, she had someone from her past to keep her sane and endure the bearings of T.A.S.

When Ginny entered the diary in her first year, she became a part of Voldemort's past, a key to keeping him sane. She was someone who would be there to remind him what he was and what he wanted, but he could not do the same for her, so they needed someone else. She wanted George because she thought he was the best bet, but it did not work out well and there were moments where her mind would slip and she actually frightened him.

That would not do from a queen, so they were actually very lucky that they had had Malfoy followed in hopes of finding where his father was hidden, only to find him with the Weasley member who was the most likely to accept Ginny's offer of being in a new family, the Voldemort family.

"Come, my Queen, let him rest," he told her as he headed towards the door. "We now know where the ones who had fled are located. I must make plans and I may want your opinion."

"Of course, Tom," she smiled and followed him out. Before closing the door behind her she turned to her brother. "You made the right choice, Percy. So sleep well."

"I will, sister, no doubt about it," Percy said as he returned her smile. When she was gone he curled up into his bed, inside of the room of his new home and as he drifted back to sleep he thought happily, a family.

To Be Continued. . .

Preview of Next Chapter:

"Don't you want to know what family he was hosting?"

Fred took a calming breath. "Fine, who were they?"

"They are the Malfoys," he said not liking how Fred had put them in past tense.

All the color slowly drained from Fred's face. "Angelina?"

A/N: Yes, people the return of Fred. Finally, right? I also want to let you guys know that there is an ending in sight. . . now all I have to do is write it.