"Hungry?"
Malfoy flicked his wand, and a plate of food and a glass of water appeared in front of Ginny. She refused to look at them, and simply stared at the wall in front of her.
"Oh come on, you've got to be hungry. I don't want to have to deal with a dead body."
Ginny turned her head and glared at Malfoy. "You have just forced me to betray my friends and my family. Do you think I'd trust, let alone accept anything you give to me?"
"None of it's poisoned, if that's what you're referring to," Malfoy drawled, stepping out of the room and closing the door once again, though leaving the candle inside for Ginny. Now that the door was closed, the scents of the food were wafting around the small space without being able to escape into the room beyond were making Ginny's mouth water. Though she tried to ignore the plate, the food didn't seem to be getting cold or lose its flavor as it continued to steam. Finally giving in, Ginny pulled the plate toward her and began eating.
---
Three hours later, Ginny was suddenly awakened by a gust of cold air. The candle snuffed out. Her brain had only time to register a dark figure enter the room before it pulled her up by the shoulders and stuffed a thick cloak in her arms. "It's me. Put that on." Ginny glared at him and dropped the cloak to the floor. His breath hissing out in annoyance, Malfoy picked it up and forced it on her, and then pulled her out the door. "Where are you taking me?" Ginny whispered as they ran down the staircase.
"Away from the Manor. My father's suspicious. Don't speak."
A little spark of fear ignited inside Ginny. She had heard about Lucius Malfoy at home from her parents before she even met his son at Hogwarts. He had been a Death Eater when Voldemort first rose to power. She dreaded what would happen if he found her. She quickened her pace until she was equal with Malfoy, the two of them now at a full run through the forest surrounding the Malfoy Manor. They finally came to a halt at a stone platform on the top of a hill, in the middle of a clearing. Malfoy quickly grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her closer to a stone statue of a wizard and a dragon. Malfoy's hand was cold and slick with sweat. Quickly whispering under his breath, he set his hand against the haunch of the dragon.
It was a similar rushing sensation as in using a Portkey, but instead of being lifted up by an invisible hand this method of transportation made Ginny feel like she had been turned to stone, just like the statue. After a few seconds, Malfoy and Ginny came to a halt in an identical stone courtyard, though here there was a garden surrounding them instead of a forest. For a moment Ginny just stared at the beautiful plants illuminated by the moonlight, but then Malfoy pulled her toward a distant building.
"Come on, you're not safe yet."
Once they reached the structure – which turned out to be a house only slightly smaller than Malfoy Manor – Malfoy led her to a room and spelled so that no one could hear what went on inside. "Stay here," Malfoy warned her as he stepped out the door, "my father might be coming." The door closed, and Ginny heard Malfoy whisper a quiet Sealing Spell on the other side.
Ginny sank down in one of the chairs the room contained, brushing orange hair out of her face as it stuck against her damp forehead. She tried not to think of what would have happened to her if Lucius Malfoy had found her.
But then her thoughts led to other things: that when Malfoy told her that she might be discovered, she was more fearful of Lucius Malfoy than the fact that the man's son was taking her away from the Manor. Looking back, for all Ginny knew, Malfoy might have been taking her to Voldemort (if a little dramatically). And why did she believe him in the first place? He was a Malfoy, and a Death Eater, and he had forced her to tell him everything he knew about the Order…but wait, that's wrong…
He hadn't really asked for information, had he? Just yes or no questions, which confused Ginny. Why hadn't he asked about anything else? He had simply had her confirm what he was already thinking.
Malfoy didn't return and for lack of anything better to do, Ginny fell asleep in the armchair.
---
An owl swooped into the room, gently dropping that morning's Daily Prophet on Ginny's lap, stirring Ginny from her slumber. The confusion of the last day's events still troubled Ginny, but she was eager enough for a bit of news of the outside world to open up the newspaper and begin reading through it. She froze as her eyes ran over one of the major headlines.
Aurors Attacked
Late last evening, a brutal attack was made on three Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. Auror "Mad-Eye" Alastor Moody, along withMinnie Shrivnerand Ronald Weasley, were all attacked in their offices around midnight as they stayed for extra work. It is lucky for them that Moody, the most experienced Auror of the trio, had a way to signal for help otherwise, as Mediwitch Streep states, "they could be dead, looking at the injuries they sustained before help arrived." All three Aurors are resting in critical condition in Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but are expected to return home within the month. There is no word as to the identities of the person or persons that did the deed, though some are worried that this might be a Death Eater attack.
Ginny stared horrified at the paper. Ron? Attacked? In 'critical condition?' She quickly scanned the rest of the article, but all it was about was extra precautions and Minister should have taken to protect his Aurors, what they could do now, etc. No other news about Ron.
Malfoy entered the room, but stopped short when he saw the tears on Ginny's face. He opened his mouth so say something but quickly closed it again when he saw the paper in her hands. Ginny stood up and held the paper out to him so that the article she had just read was almost under his nose. "Did you do this?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion. Something flickered through Malfoy's eyes, but he did not answer. "YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, throwing herself at him, trying to hurt him in any way she could. He quickly grabbed her fists and held her at arms length, where she struggled weakly. He pushed her back into the chair and left the room, locking it behind him before Ginny could follow.
Malfoy came back again that evening, when Ginny had calmed down a bit. He was in his Death Eater garb, all in black with only the mask on his face showing a bit of flesh around his pale eyes. He had a quill and paper in his hands. "Here," he said, shoving them at Ginny, "I'll get it to Saint Mungo's. But no secret messages," he warned her. Ginny glared at him, but quickly penned a short note to Ron, as it might be her only chance to do so. She did desist from putting any messages to the Order in her letter, though; she had a feeling that if Malfoy found them, she wouldn't be the only one to suffer. As soon as she put the quill down Malfoy seized it and the paper, quickly folding the note into his pocket and Banishing the quill. Waving his wand once again so that food appeared on a table, he rushed out the room.
It didn't take very long for Ginny to realize that he forgot to lock the door.
Oh for crying out LOUD this took ages to write. I seriously have no idea what is going to happen next in the story in relation to the plot. Like I said, I know what needs to happen, but not when or how…-growls-. The next chappie, tho, is going to be what I'm calling Ginny's "Beauty and the Beast" moment. And I'm not talking about them spontaneously falling in love with each other, but you know that scene in the Disney movie where Beauty's wandering through the house and she finds that pinky rose and the Beast yells at her and all that, but now she knows his secret? (Personally, I prefer scarlet or orange roses – or black! I actually know a guy who got a black rose for Valentine's Day…the note on it said something about it reflecting his black heart… :-) And for all of you people who've never read the Beauty and the Beast story or seen the movie, I'm not going to explain the story for you so you better look it up on Google or something. You know, remembering the movie now, as I'm older, the talking candelabra scares me…-shivers-
-morough-