Disclaimer- Hi! I'm J.K. Rowling! Don't you all love me? Oh, I know you do!
But see, there's just one problem. I'm not her! Ha! Ha! I tricked you,
fools! Ha!
Authors Note- Well, none of you AT ALL answered my plea for help. Thanks. Thanks soooo much, guys, 'faithful reviewers'. Right. You just tell yourselves that. Please I need help! How should I incorporate her being an Unspeakable in here? Help!!
Chapter Six (grumbles)
The little house elf, which would not tell Ginny her name, came to deliver breakfast the next morning. The food that arrived on the platter was warm, fresh and delicious, though Ginny hated taking each bite, knowing that the Malfoys obviously treated their elves with no more respect than the dirt they walked on, and she was eating their slave labor.
Ah, no. She was beginning to sound like Hermione in her fourth year. This wouldn't do.
But still. She wanted to cry when the little elf scurried off, bent low as though constantly wincing from a fear of beatings.
Draco was gone. Not that Ginny cared.
The entire day passed and she did nothing. She wanted to rip her hair out from boredom, to scream and set the place on fire. In her insanity she began thinking of ways to escape. Perhaps she could climb up the chimney? But no, she looked up there and reached up into the sooty black shaft, cramming her whole body into the hearth and reaching up, but it was blocked. Clearly, the fire was magical. Then she tried to rip out the drain in the bathtub (which appeared when she felt like taking a bath at one point), but that held fast, much to her annoyance. Or maybe she could smash her chair into the wall and bust a hole into it and run away, or maybe her body. But she tried that, and it only resulted in a broken chair and her shoulder aching horribly.
The door, too, wouldn't open. She tried to cram her hand in the space under the door but it got stuck and that was another ten minutes wasted, screaming and kicking the door, trying to get loose. She finally succeeded, but at that moment, the space shrank; the door elongated, so there was virtually no crack.
She ran over, threw herself on the bed, and after a good time of screaming, just simply cried.
At some point, she didn't know when, the house elf returned. Immediately she launched herself practically onto it.
"Elf! You! Please, please get me out of here! Is there a way to escape? Please!" she shrieked, on her knees, her eyes wide with desperation. The elf shrank away, quivering slightly; its ears flopped to the side of its bald little head.
"I is not allowed to say anything but my orders. You is to attend supper tonight with masters. You is to get clothes from your dresser." Its long-fingered hand pointed to the wooden bureau. "I is going to come collect you at the right time." And then, it fled, straight through the door, which melted away in a space perfectly large for its body. Ginny, enraged, threw herself against the door, hoping to be let through. No such luck.
"Dinner. I am going to eat dinner with Draco and probably Lucius and who knows? Maybe even You-Know-Who! Why, I'll probably see my old chums Crabbe and Goyle, probably that ass-wipe Pansy, that rapist freak Zabini and that stupid cow that Draco went to that ball with!" She sank onto the chair, shaking slightly, her fists clenched. "Yet he wants me to dress up and dine in this beautiful manor. No! I won't do it!"
She glared into the empty hearth, her arms wrapped around each other, rocking back and forth. She probably looked like some freak from St. Mungo's. But her stomach began growling loudly, pleading for food, and she knew that the food served to them would be absolutely delicious.
Hating herself, she went over to the bureau and threw open the doors. Dresses hung there, beautiful gowns of blood red, midnight blue, black velvet and silk, forest green, even a deep gold. Shoes, too, were lined up along the floor of it, all lovely and heeled. Fuming, she began sifting through the gowns, trying to find the simplest and ugliest. But they were all gorgeous. Desperate, she found the simplest, though one could hardly call it simple. It was deep grayish silver, slim, sleeveless and down to her ankles, though not very low on the front. She would rather not display cleavage in front of Lucius Malfoy or some Death Eaters.
Draco, maybe, but...
No! No, she did not want to show cleavage to Draco. Damn Draco. Shaking her head and muttering incomprehensible words to herself, she touched the smooth fabric that shimmered slightly in the light. The shoes matched, though they were black. When she looked at herself in the mirror in the bathroom, she hated her beauty. She didn't want to show it.
~*~
The air in the hallway was cold, and the only sound she could hear was the tapping of her heels against the stone floor. The walls on either side of her were green, (what did she expect?) with torches here and there between portraits of rather handsome men and very beautiful women, all dressed in fine robes and gowns, dripping with jewelry. Their smiles faded every so often as they got bored and their eyes followed her as she made her way down the silent hall.
The door ahead of her was made of intricately carved wood, and the moment she got within a foot of it, the door opened. She entered a grand dining room with a long, already set table. The tablecloth was cream colored and the flames of everlasting candles lining the center of it danced, letting off unnatural amounts of light to fill the room.
But she was alone.
Slowly, cautiously, she seated herself at one of the chairs, marveling at how comfortable it was yet hating all of this hospitality. Yet, just at that moment, a panel in the wall opened and four men entered.
She wasn't at all surprised at who it was. Draco Malfoy, of course, stunning in simple black robes, his hair yet again slicked back, a terribly placid expression on his face. Following him was his father, Lucius, dressed exactly the same, though he was smirking. And of course, Crabbe and Goyle, still enormous (though she expected it was all muscle rather than fat) in dark green robes, staring blankly at her, either not surprised or inwardly excited.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, how kind of you to join us." Lucius bowed, and she doubted it was mockingly. She stood, and ducked in an odd half-curtsey half- bow.
She briefly saw Draco's eyes widened as they scanned her in her dress. She didn't care if he was astonished. Let him be amazed at what he could never have.
"Mr. Malfoy. How kind of you to invite me to dine in such a lovely room." She paused, the bitter sarcasm in her voice filling the room. "Lord knows I have been getting slightly bored in that room of mine."
Lucius walked slowly towards her and cocked his head slightly, ice- like eyes shining with delight. "And which Lord would that be, Virginia?" She just stared at him, horrified.
He approached her until he was six inches away from her and reached his hand forward. She froze in horror, staring past his shoulder at the wall, dreading what he would do or say. His icy thumb pressed lightly at the nape of her throat, the rest of his fingers brushing the side of her neck. His hand reached up, his fingers winding into her hair, and she thought she would scream with anger. How dare he touch her so slowly, so intimately as that!
"Such beauty...a pity it shall go to waste." His voice slid across her as his hand traveled back around her neck, to her shoulder, then down her bare arm. She shivered and felt the hairs rise all over her body. Her eyes found Draco's face. He was looking away.
"And how shall it go to waste?" she murmured, voice quavering. He just smirked and said nothing, letting the effect of his silence sink in.
"Now, let us dine." She hurriedly found his seat again, and was relieved when Draco sat across from her. Lucius sat at the head of the table, and Crabbe seated himself one seat down from her, and Goyle across from him. Lucius snapped his fingers, and immediately, food appeared in front of them. Ah, she thought bitterly, they must have taken the idea from Hogwarts. How clever.
The first course was soup, dreadfully delicious, though she had no idea what was in it. The wine she drank was rich and wonderful, the water was icy cold. Then there came a large steak of fish with sweet and regular potatoes and countless vegetables in a little pattern around it. She ate every bite of it, hating how good it tasted.
Five courses in all arrived in front of her, each finer than before, and they ate in complete silence. Lucius, it looked like, loved all of this, mostly her fear of him. Draco looked slightly uncomfortable, though when she almost choked on a bit of potato, she saw him almost smile.
Crabbe and Goyle were just stumps that ate everything in sight, grunting softly as they shoveled food into their mouths. Every time Lucius looked at them, his lip curled up in distaste. Finally, the meal was finished, and Lucius spoke.
"Draco, you will so kindly escort Miss Weasley back to her room." Then, having stood away from the table, he disappeared. Crabbe and Goyle followed moments after. Draco stood, walked over to Ginny, took hold of her arm and began to walk towards the door. She jerked her arm away as they entered the hall.
"Am I supposed to thank you for a lovely meal? Am I supposed to smile and refer back to the warm conversations we had? Oh, wait, what conversation?" He grinned a bit and looked sideways at her.
"You look very pretty, Ginny."
"That's not exactly what I was looking for, Malfoy. What was the point of that? Why couldn't I have just eaten in my room, alone, in some comfortable clothes? Why the fuck am I here anyways?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." He was still grinning in a terribly sardonic way.
"Ha ha, you are just so damn funny, you know that?" They entered her room and he closed the door behind them. "Seriously. I want you to tell me. Or at least tell me how Will is doing. You must know, seeing as you are such a criminal mastermind."
He laughed. He actually laughed. She liked his laugh. She hated him, but she liked his laugh. It was true. Evil, but true.
"All right, Ginny. I'll tell you. Will is absolutely fine. Well, you could say that he's going insane because he has no idea where you are, but other than that, he's fine." He smiled again, looking straight into her eyes. She felt tears in the back of her throat. She wanted to see Will so badly.
"Percy, your brother, is fine too. Everyone is fine, Weasley, we haven't harmed anyone."
"Except me."
"If you call this harming, then sure." He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs. She remained standing.
"You already told me why I'm here, but not enough. I want to know more."
He nodded. "Understandable. Well, one thing I didn't tell you was that we made a barter. Give us Harry Potter, and we'll give you back." She shrieked in horror, and his smile dimmed a bit. "He's already offered to give himself up for your return. He'll do anything, you know. He wants you safe too badly."
This was clearly too much. Ginny promptly burst into tears right there, tears splashing down her front, her clenched fists covering her eyes. He hated seeing her cry, to see her in such pain. This was Ginny, after all, one of his love interests in his sixth year.
"Voldemort has plans to kill you, Ginny, even if they give us Harry." He regretted saying it as soon as it left his mouth. She looked up, eyes wet and huge.
"Oh my god. No. That is not possible. Not Harry, just for me!" She began to cry again, harder. "Draco, don't let him kill me! Come on, please, at least postpone it, please, Draco, please..." another wave of tears hit her and she turned and went to the bed, kicking off her shoes and lying down on top of the covers. She shook from the force of her sobs. He rose and approached her.
"You honestly think I could do that?"
"Yes. You could. If you really loved me."
He raised his eyebrows. "Who ever said I loved you?"
"You did."
"What? No. Then when did I say that?"
"Never." He looked at her for a long moment, wondering if he would actually give into her pathetic, soft gaze. He snorted and reached down into his pocket, pulling out his wand. He began to fiddle with it, just running his fingers up and down it, spinning it around, looking curiously at it. He was clearly quite bored with her. He sat in one of the chairs, sinking down into the plush leather.
"Yeah, sorry, that's not really good enough for me. I'm not in love with you, Ginny, I don't know what you're talking about." For a moment he said nothing. "If your brother gives us what we want, I'll let you go freely, off into the world, and you can tell anyone you want about who took you, because it won't matter. We'll succeed, we'll wipe out all the filthy mudbloods."
"What is it you want? He'll give it up, for me."
"You, his sister, in return for the lives of all the people that he is expected to serve and be loyal to and govern fairly? One girl for hundreds? Or really, one girl for the forfeit of his power and-" just then, there was a terribly loud bang off in the hall to the right. Draco looked up, alarmed, and stood abruptly. "Stay right there," he ordered her, and dashed off. Ginny stared as the door opened and closed, but not completely. A crack was still there.
Ginny knew this was her chance. Looking around, she suddenly noticed his wand sitting on the little table next to the chair in which Draco was sitting, just waiting for her. Draco's wand. What a moron he was, to forget it! Gasping, she darted forward, grabbed it, and ran towards the door. It opened easily and she stuck her head out, looking both ways. Empty.
The dining hall was to the left, she knew that. But the noise had come to the right, and that's where Draco had ran. Where to go? Her palms began to get sweaty and she hitched up her dress above her knees so she could run easier.
Oh great, her dress. She would have to flee in a dress and bare feet.
Barely even thinking, she turned left and began to run down the long hallway. She passed door after door, painting after painting, rounding corner after corner. Twice she heard more loud bangs to the right, through the walls, as if in some center room she couldn't reach.
Her bare feet slapped the wood floors as she flew ahead, looking frantically left and right, as if expecting to see a glowing red 'exit' sign hovering above a doorway. Finally, realizing that she would never get anywhere just running, she stopped abruptly and grabbed the handle of a door at the left. She held her wand out, steeling herself for what might come.
She shoved open the door and looked inside. Nothing. It was a completely empty room, with checkered black and white tiles on the floor, walls and ceilings. It was horribly mesmerizing, as if pulling her into it. She saw a gaping black hole in the middle of the floor and inched forward, looking down, quite afraid. Blackness stared back at her.
Behind her, the door slammed shut. She shrieked and looked around. No way out. Running back, she struggled to open the door, using numerous spells from Draco's wand. Nothing helped. She returned to the hole and stuck her hand down into it. Cold, clammy air circled her hand, but that was it. She would have to jump.
And then, from inside it seemed, below the floor, there came another loud crash, bang and numerous shouts and voices, rising up through the hole. She could hear the pounding of feet and the zing of things flying through the air; things, or just particularly violent spells.
Taking her chances, she stood at the edge of it and, clutching the wand, jumped. Freezing air swept past her as she shot downward, squeezing her elbows in to her sides, her hair whipping at the edges of the tube. And then she landed against rock-hard ground, falling horribly onto her ankle. It snapped beneath her and she screamed in pain, falling backwards. Her ankle, she had broken her ankle!
But then, someone grabbed her from behind, grabbing her underneath the arms and hoisting her upward. She screamed again as her weight rested momentarily on her ankle. The person roughly held her around the waist and she shrieked, but then she felt the chilling, tiny circle of the tip of a wand being pressed against her neck.
"I've got her," said a rough voice that she couldn't at all recognize. "Make one move and she's off to join the dead." Terror filled Ginny's brain, making it impossible to think. She could feel the warm breath of the man holding her on her ear, ruffling her hair, and his hand squeezed her flesh around her waist, traveling upward quickly...struggling, she shoved his hand downward and he chuckled in her ear. Pain was overwhelming her senses.
"Don't move, Ginny." She recognized the voice, she tried to identify it. "Please, don't move." Percy! Percy, it was Percy!
"PERCY!" she screamed, quite forgetting that her life, and probably his, was in danger.
"No, Gin, shut-" There was another loud scuffling, a muffled cry, more bangs and the explosion that only a backfiring spell could make, and another shout.
And then, quite suddenly, some very smart person decided to fill the room with light.
~*~
Authors Note- Okay, that's enough for one chapter. I hope I didn't make that whole thing too abrupt. And yes, the end was confusing, I know. I am laughing right now, you see. Anyways, I was wondering if ANY OF YOU would like to reply to my plea for help, deciding WHAT THE THING IS that the Death Eaters wand/need, that Percy and the Ministry has, and what Ginny doesn't know about. Please, I'm not going to update until SOMEONE answers me in any way. Maybe I'll just attack my dear friends until they give me some support. So if you have any suggestions, put it in your review or just email me at star.clare@verizon.net. Thanks soo much!! ~Clare. And if you truly love me/ this story, you WILL answer me.
Authors Note- Well, none of you AT ALL answered my plea for help. Thanks. Thanks soooo much, guys, 'faithful reviewers'. Right. You just tell yourselves that. Please I need help! How should I incorporate her being an Unspeakable in here? Help!!
Chapter Six (grumbles)
The little house elf, which would not tell Ginny her name, came to deliver breakfast the next morning. The food that arrived on the platter was warm, fresh and delicious, though Ginny hated taking each bite, knowing that the Malfoys obviously treated their elves with no more respect than the dirt they walked on, and she was eating their slave labor.
Ah, no. She was beginning to sound like Hermione in her fourth year. This wouldn't do.
But still. She wanted to cry when the little elf scurried off, bent low as though constantly wincing from a fear of beatings.
Draco was gone. Not that Ginny cared.
The entire day passed and she did nothing. She wanted to rip her hair out from boredom, to scream and set the place on fire. In her insanity she began thinking of ways to escape. Perhaps she could climb up the chimney? But no, she looked up there and reached up into the sooty black shaft, cramming her whole body into the hearth and reaching up, but it was blocked. Clearly, the fire was magical. Then she tried to rip out the drain in the bathtub (which appeared when she felt like taking a bath at one point), but that held fast, much to her annoyance. Or maybe she could smash her chair into the wall and bust a hole into it and run away, or maybe her body. But she tried that, and it only resulted in a broken chair and her shoulder aching horribly.
The door, too, wouldn't open. She tried to cram her hand in the space under the door but it got stuck and that was another ten minutes wasted, screaming and kicking the door, trying to get loose. She finally succeeded, but at that moment, the space shrank; the door elongated, so there was virtually no crack.
She ran over, threw herself on the bed, and after a good time of screaming, just simply cried.
At some point, she didn't know when, the house elf returned. Immediately she launched herself practically onto it.
"Elf! You! Please, please get me out of here! Is there a way to escape? Please!" she shrieked, on her knees, her eyes wide with desperation. The elf shrank away, quivering slightly; its ears flopped to the side of its bald little head.
"I is not allowed to say anything but my orders. You is to attend supper tonight with masters. You is to get clothes from your dresser." Its long-fingered hand pointed to the wooden bureau. "I is going to come collect you at the right time." And then, it fled, straight through the door, which melted away in a space perfectly large for its body. Ginny, enraged, threw herself against the door, hoping to be let through. No such luck.
"Dinner. I am going to eat dinner with Draco and probably Lucius and who knows? Maybe even You-Know-Who! Why, I'll probably see my old chums Crabbe and Goyle, probably that ass-wipe Pansy, that rapist freak Zabini and that stupid cow that Draco went to that ball with!" She sank onto the chair, shaking slightly, her fists clenched. "Yet he wants me to dress up and dine in this beautiful manor. No! I won't do it!"
She glared into the empty hearth, her arms wrapped around each other, rocking back and forth. She probably looked like some freak from St. Mungo's. But her stomach began growling loudly, pleading for food, and she knew that the food served to them would be absolutely delicious.
Hating herself, she went over to the bureau and threw open the doors. Dresses hung there, beautiful gowns of blood red, midnight blue, black velvet and silk, forest green, even a deep gold. Shoes, too, were lined up along the floor of it, all lovely and heeled. Fuming, she began sifting through the gowns, trying to find the simplest and ugliest. But they were all gorgeous. Desperate, she found the simplest, though one could hardly call it simple. It was deep grayish silver, slim, sleeveless and down to her ankles, though not very low on the front. She would rather not display cleavage in front of Lucius Malfoy or some Death Eaters.
Draco, maybe, but...
No! No, she did not want to show cleavage to Draco. Damn Draco. Shaking her head and muttering incomprehensible words to herself, she touched the smooth fabric that shimmered slightly in the light. The shoes matched, though they were black. When she looked at herself in the mirror in the bathroom, she hated her beauty. She didn't want to show it.
~*~
The air in the hallway was cold, and the only sound she could hear was the tapping of her heels against the stone floor. The walls on either side of her were green, (what did she expect?) with torches here and there between portraits of rather handsome men and very beautiful women, all dressed in fine robes and gowns, dripping with jewelry. Their smiles faded every so often as they got bored and their eyes followed her as she made her way down the silent hall.
The door ahead of her was made of intricately carved wood, and the moment she got within a foot of it, the door opened. She entered a grand dining room with a long, already set table. The tablecloth was cream colored and the flames of everlasting candles lining the center of it danced, letting off unnatural amounts of light to fill the room.
But she was alone.
Slowly, cautiously, she seated herself at one of the chairs, marveling at how comfortable it was yet hating all of this hospitality. Yet, just at that moment, a panel in the wall opened and four men entered.
She wasn't at all surprised at who it was. Draco Malfoy, of course, stunning in simple black robes, his hair yet again slicked back, a terribly placid expression on his face. Following him was his father, Lucius, dressed exactly the same, though he was smirking. And of course, Crabbe and Goyle, still enormous (though she expected it was all muscle rather than fat) in dark green robes, staring blankly at her, either not surprised or inwardly excited.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, how kind of you to join us." Lucius bowed, and she doubted it was mockingly. She stood, and ducked in an odd half-curtsey half- bow.
She briefly saw Draco's eyes widened as they scanned her in her dress. She didn't care if he was astonished. Let him be amazed at what he could never have.
"Mr. Malfoy. How kind of you to invite me to dine in such a lovely room." She paused, the bitter sarcasm in her voice filling the room. "Lord knows I have been getting slightly bored in that room of mine."
Lucius walked slowly towards her and cocked his head slightly, ice- like eyes shining with delight. "And which Lord would that be, Virginia?" She just stared at him, horrified.
He approached her until he was six inches away from her and reached his hand forward. She froze in horror, staring past his shoulder at the wall, dreading what he would do or say. His icy thumb pressed lightly at the nape of her throat, the rest of his fingers brushing the side of her neck. His hand reached up, his fingers winding into her hair, and she thought she would scream with anger. How dare he touch her so slowly, so intimately as that!
"Such beauty...a pity it shall go to waste." His voice slid across her as his hand traveled back around her neck, to her shoulder, then down her bare arm. She shivered and felt the hairs rise all over her body. Her eyes found Draco's face. He was looking away.
"And how shall it go to waste?" she murmured, voice quavering. He just smirked and said nothing, letting the effect of his silence sink in.
"Now, let us dine." She hurriedly found his seat again, and was relieved when Draco sat across from her. Lucius sat at the head of the table, and Crabbe seated himself one seat down from her, and Goyle across from him. Lucius snapped his fingers, and immediately, food appeared in front of them. Ah, she thought bitterly, they must have taken the idea from Hogwarts. How clever.
The first course was soup, dreadfully delicious, though she had no idea what was in it. The wine she drank was rich and wonderful, the water was icy cold. Then there came a large steak of fish with sweet and regular potatoes and countless vegetables in a little pattern around it. She ate every bite of it, hating how good it tasted.
Five courses in all arrived in front of her, each finer than before, and they ate in complete silence. Lucius, it looked like, loved all of this, mostly her fear of him. Draco looked slightly uncomfortable, though when she almost choked on a bit of potato, she saw him almost smile.
Crabbe and Goyle were just stumps that ate everything in sight, grunting softly as they shoveled food into their mouths. Every time Lucius looked at them, his lip curled up in distaste. Finally, the meal was finished, and Lucius spoke.
"Draco, you will so kindly escort Miss Weasley back to her room." Then, having stood away from the table, he disappeared. Crabbe and Goyle followed moments after. Draco stood, walked over to Ginny, took hold of her arm and began to walk towards the door. She jerked her arm away as they entered the hall.
"Am I supposed to thank you for a lovely meal? Am I supposed to smile and refer back to the warm conversations we had? Oh, wait, what conversation?" He grinned a bit and looked sideways at her.
"You look very pretty, Ginny."
"That's not exactly what I was looking for, Malfoy. What was the point of that? Why couldn't I have just eaten in my room, alone, in some comfortable clothes? Why the fuck am I here anyways?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." He was still grinning in a terribly sardonic way.
"Ha ha, you are just so damn funny, you know that?" They entered her room and he closed the door behind them. "Seriously. I want you to tell me. Or at least tell me how Will is doing. You must know, seeing as you are such a criminal mastermind."
He laughed. He actually laughed. She liked his laugh. She hated him, but she liked his laugh. It was true. Evil, but true.
"All right, Ginny. I'll tell you. Will is absolutely fine. Well, you could say that he's going insane because he has no idea where you are, but other than that, he's fine." He smiled again, looking straight into her eyes. She felt tears in the back of her throat. She wanted to see Will so badly.
"Percy, your brother, is fine too. Everyone is fine, Weasley, we haven't harmed anyone."
"Except me."
"If you call this harming, then sure." He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs. She remained standing.
"You already told me why I'm here, but not enough. I want to know more."
He nodded. "Understandable. Well, one thing I didn't tell you was that we made a barter. Give us Harry Potter, and we'll give you back." She shrieked in horror, and his smile dimmed a bit. "He's already offered to give himself up for your return. He'll do anything, you know. He wants you safe too badly."
This was clearly too much. Ginny promptly burst into tears right there, tears splashing down her front, her clenched fists covering her eyes. He hated seeing her cry, to see her in such pain. This was Ginny, after all, one of his love interests in his sixth year.
"Voldemort has plans to kill you, Ginny, even if they give us Harry." He regretted saying it as soon as it left his mouth. She looked up, eyes wet and huge.
"Oh my god. No. That is not possible. Not Harry, just for me!" She began to cry again, harder. "Draco, don't let him kill me! Come on, please, at least postpone it, please, Draco, please..." another wave of tears hit her and she turned and went to the bed, kicking off her shoes and lying down on top of the covers. She shook from the force of her sobs. He rose and approached her.
"You honestly think I could do that?"
"Yes. You could. If you really loved me."
He raised his eyebrows. "Who ever said I loved you?"
"You did."
"What? No. Then when did I say that?"
"Never." He looked at her for a long moment, wondering if he would actually give into her pathetic, soft gaze. He snorted and reached down into his pocket, pulling out his wand. He began to fiddle with it, just running his fingers up and down it, spinning it around, looking curiously at it. He was clearly quite bored with her. He sat in one of the chairs, sinking down into the plush leather.
"Yeah, sorry, that's not really good enough for me. I'm not in love with you, Ginny, I don't know what you're talking about." For a moment he said nothing. "If your brother gives us what we want, I'll let you go freely, off into the world, and you can tell anyone you want about who took you, because it won't matter. We'll succeed, we'll wipe out all the filthy mudbloods."
"What is it you want? He'll give it up, for me."
"You, his sister, in return for the lives of all the people that he is expected to serve and be loyal to and govern fairly? One girl for hundreds? Or really, one girl for the forfeit of his power and-" just then, there was a terribly loud bang off in the hall to the right. Draco looked up, alarmed, and stood abruptly. "Stay right there," he ordered her, and dashed off. Ginny stared as the door opened and closed, but not completely. A crack was still there.
Ginny knew this was her chance. Looking around, she suddenly noticed his wand sitting on the little table next to the chair in which Draco was sitting, just waiting for her. Draco's wand. What a moron he was, to forget it! Gasping, she darted forward, grabbed it, and ran towards the door. It opened easily and she stuck her head out, looking both ways. Empty.
The dining hall was to the left, she knew that. But the noise had come to the right, and that's where Draco had ran. Where to go? Her palms began to get sweaty and she hitched up her dress above her knees so she could run easier.
Oh great, her dress. She would have to flee in a dress and bare feet.
Barely even thinking, she turned left and began to run down the long hallway. She passed door after door, painting after painting, rounding corner after corner. Twice she heard more loud bangs to the right, through the walls, as if in some center room she couldn't reach.
Her bare feet slapped the wood floors as she flew ahead, looking frantically left and right, as if expecting to see a glowing red 'exit' sign hovering above a doorway. Finally, realizing that she would never get anywhere just running, she stopped abruptly and grabbed the handle of a door at the left. She held her wand out, steeling herself for what might come.
She shoved open the door and looked inside. Nothing. It was a completely empty room, with checkered black and white tiles on the floor, walls and ceilings. It was horribly mesmerizing, as if pulling her into it. She saw a gaping black hole in the middle of the floor and inched forward, looking down, quite afraid. Blackness stared back at her.
Behind her, the door slammed shut. She shrieked and looked around. No way out. Running back, she struggled to open the door, using numerous spells from Draco's wand. Nothing helped. She returned to the hole and stuck her hand down into it. Cold, clammy air circled her hand, but that was it. She would have to jump.
And then, from inside it seemed, below the floor, there came another loud crash, bang and numerous shouts and voices, rising up through the hole. She could hear the pounding of feet and the zing of things flying through the air; things, or just particularly violent spells.
Taking her chances, she stood at the edge of it and, clutching the wand, jumped. Freezing air swept past her as she shot downward, squeezing her elbows in to her sides, her hair whipping at the edges of the tube. And then she landed against rock-hard ground, falling horribly onto her ankle. It snapped beneath her and she screamed in pain, falling backwards. Her ankle, she had broken her ankle!
But then, someone grabbed her from behind, grabbing her underneath the arms and hoisting her upward. She screamed again as her weight rested momentarily on her ankle. The person roughly held her around the waist and she shrieked, but then she felt the chilling, tiny circle of the tip of a wand being pressed against her neck.
"I've got her," said a rough voice that she couldn't at all recognize. "Make one move and she's off to join the dead." Terror filled Ginny's brain, making it impossible to think. She could feel the warm breath of the man holding her on her ear, ruffling her hair, and his hand squeezed her flesh around her waist, traveling upward quickly...struggling, she shoved his hand downward and he chuckled in her ear. Pain was overwhelming her senses.
"Don't move, Ginny." She recognized the voice, she tried to identify it. "Please, don't move." Percy! Percy, it was Percy!
"PERCY!" she screamed, quite forgetting that her life, and probably his, was in danger.
"No, Gin, shut-" There was another loud scuffling, a muffled cry, more bangs and the explosion that only a backfiring spell could make, and another shout.
And then, quite suddenly, some very smart person decided to fill the room with light.
~*~
Authors Note- Okay, that's enough for one chapter. I hope I didn't make that whole thing too abrupt. And yes, the end was confusing, I know. I am laughing right now, you see. Anyways, I was wondering if ANY OF YOU would like to reply to my plea for help, deciding WHAT THE THING IS that the Death Eaters wand/need, that Percy and the Ministry has, and what Ginny doesn't know about. Please, I'm not going to update until SOMEONE answers me in any way. Maybe I'll just attack my dear friends until they give me some support. So if you have any suggestions, put it in your review or just email me at star.clare@verizon.net. Thanks soo much!! ~Clare. And if you truly love me/ this story, you WILL answer me.