The Seers Truth: Beyond the Darkness
By Lady Lestrange
Chapter 30
Dungeon of the Dark LordDisclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infrigement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. Thanks JK.
--Lady Lestrange
Special thanks to my beta, ennui de mort who thought of the title and who always does such a good job being my extra muse as well as proofreading, moral support and just plain fun.
15 reviews: I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 15 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to the reviews follow the story.
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down.)
Up to this Point: Alternate 5th year book. Voldemort was uncertain which was the prophecy child, Samara or Ginny so he kidnapped them both. Beatrice made a mad dash after them in her animagus form. She has been since crucioed and rescued and returned to Hogwarts still in her bunny animagus form.
Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle to figure out how the prophecy might aid them. The trio travels to Hermione's house, Samara's house, the Riddle house and eventually the Snow Castle in search of the girls.
Ginny, who has a Dark Mark, is torn between the visions of Tom in her head and what to do to stay safe from Voldemort at the Snow Castle. Snape is an unexpected help to her.
Voldemort meanwhile has some unpleasant Christmas surprises in store for Harry and Neville. Neville's grandmother ends up in the hospital and the Dursley's are dead, leaving Snape as Harry's guardian.
Back at Hogwarts, the trio tries to ascertain how they will save the girls. They enlist Draco and Lauren's help.
Voldemort has some trouble within the ranks and sends Ethan to learn with Narcissa and Gloria. Meanwhile, the trio works out some differences with Draco, and miss a chance to save the girls. Now, Snape gives some timely advice and Harry invites Neville to their little planning gatherings, which ends in an altercation between Neville and Draco.
Voldemort sets his plans in motion by giving Samara the Dark Mark, but she is far from defeated by this. Ginny on the other hand is ready to give in to save her family. The plot continues as Volemort sets family members upon family members in a quest to destroy all who might thwart him.
Meanwhile, Harry considers the meaning of curcio and tries to puzzle out what Voldemort is doing by reading his scar pangs.
Ethan and Edward prove their worth to Voldemort and Beatrice is finally released from the bunny animagus.
Ginny, under polyjuice potion, is impersonating Madam Amelia Bones. She is following direct orders from Voldemort who is speaking to her in parseltongue from the small snake animagus she is carrying. She saves her father and her brother, but doesn't seem to be able to save herself. However, Harry Potter and his trusty Gryffindor rescue squad is on the way. Unfortunately, they get waylaid…
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And now, on to the story…
Chapter 30
Dungeon of the Dark Lord
Voldemort's dungeon made the Chamber of Secrets look like a palace. The shadows lengthened and the slime on the walls thickened as they proceeded deeper into the bowels of the Snow Castle. The air cooled somewhat and Ginny couldn't control her shivering.
"Come on, Ginny Love," admonished Tom. "You are way too old to be afraid of the dark. Anyway, this is much better than the Beauxbaton's wing. This is almost like the Chamber. The Chamber wasn't so bad was it?"
"You mean, where you tried to kill me?" Ginny asked.
"I was a different person then," said Tom. "I would never hurt you. Well, not much," he clarified, thinking of the number of times he had tried to possess her to follow the Veelas.
He wouldn't, thought Ginny. He was different. He was nothing like Voldemort anymore. Her influence had changed him. She had to believe that.
Ginny pulled her wand, planning to cast Lumos, but Tom interrupted her.
"I wouldn't do that, Ginny Love. The light might wake all manner of things that are better left sleeping."
Ginny put her wand away and resolved to feel her way along the damp and slimy walls, all the time muttering, "I hate tunnel passages. I hate tunnel passages."
"Maura said the dungeon wasn't used at all until He came," Samara whispered as if there was some reason to leave the silence undisturbed. She didn't seem to have trouble navigating in the dark.
"I thought you knew where Lauren is?" said Hermione as she peeked out from under the Invisibility cloak making her look rather like a ghoul with only a floating head of wildly matted hair and an invisible body.
"Well, not exactly," said Samara. "Not yet." She hissed to her basilisks and then told the girls, "Alvin came this way. They don't know Lauren's scent so I can't have them trace her. We can only hope that Alvin followed her the whole way."
"She should stay under the Cloak," Tom said of Hermione. "We are more likely to find a guard or two in the dungeon than any where else."
Ginny passed on the information to Hermione, and she disappeared beneath the cloak.
Samara paused and put a hand out to stop her companions. There was a light ahead, a shadow of gray on the darkness and she frowned recognizing the light as the aura of—something. It was definitely not wizard or witch. It was too big. It was a creature of some sort, but a creature of such size that she was momentarily cowed.
"Go back," she whispered. "We will go around—find another way."
Her basilisks were hissing anxiously, Samara warned them in parseltongue to be silent, when Hermione spoke, still in a whisper, "It's a dragon."
Suddenly the whole corridor shook as the creature shifted its body position to look at them with one of its three heads. One head spoke in parseltongue, "(It is too late to be silent, my hissusss. The Master has said, 'Many will enter, but none may leave.' Prepare to die)."
A movement further down the corridor warned Samara of its impending attack. For just a second she thought it was another doorway opening, but then she realized it was the length of the creature's tail. "Run!" she shouted, thinking it could crush them all with one blow, and although Ginny stumbled at her side, she didn't see Hermione under the cloak. She turned loosing a spell from her wand, "Somnus!"
"It takes at least six wizards to Somnus a dragon," said Ginny, "and that's no dragon. Dragons don't have three heads."
"It's something Salazar created," surmised Tom. "NO!"
Tom's shout issued through Ginny as Samara threw oculis! blinding the creature, and Ginny reacted almost instantly, pulling Samara's wand arm off focus. The spell bounced harmlessly along the bony ridge of one eye and they both darted out of the way of the striking tail.
"What's wrong with you!" Samara snapped at Ginny.
"What good would it do to blind one head?" asked Ginny, as Tom told her that was sure to anger it beyond rage.
Samara's basilisks dropped from her body, hissing a challenge, but Visha stayed firmly around Ginny's neck.
"(Protect the mistresses!)" hissed Zissi, and Samara's hand went automatically to Salacia who remained at her waist. "(No. Stay back, all of you,)" she hissed to the basilisks. "(We are not fighting. We are escaping.)"
"Do dragons speak parseltongue?" asked Samara as they tried to regroup in an outcropping of rock. She looked around frantically for Hermione, who was no where in sight.
"I didn't think so," said Ginny, thinking of Harry stealing the dragon's egg in the Triwizard Tournament. If he could have spoken to the dragon, he might have been able to convince it that he didn't want its real eggs, only the golden globe in the nest. She tried to remember anything that Charlie had told her about dragons, when the corridor was lit with fire from a different head. The fire was like lightening, white hot and seared their lungs before it reached them, rolling through the corridor like a forest fire.
"Glacio Flagro!" shouted both girls, grasping hands and trying to pull each other away from the blast of flame. In response, a wall of ice was formed with the monumental force of their shared spell. It held the first blast, but the fire melted through the second, creating a rush of steam and water.
"Whoa!" breathed Ginny. "That was more than a double spell.
"Give me your hand," demanded Samara, and consciously sharing magic, cried, "Somnus!"
The spell hit the creature, and it stumbled back momentarily stunned. The walls shook with the weight of its staggering. Its muzzle drifted downward as if it was sleepy, but it shook itself free of the spell and roared its rage, spewing fire.
Again, Ginny and Samara held it off with Glacio Flagro.
"It's not enough," said Samara.
"Hermione!" Ginny screamed, unheeding of secrecy now, and a dozen voices answered her from the cells further down the corridor. Ginny sprinted for them, followed by Samara. "Let us out. We'll help you." they called in seductive voices.
As Ginny rushed to open the cell doors, Samara reached out to her.
"No, Ginny, wait. They don't have human auras," she said, but it was too late, the cell was already open and the creatures pushing forward, opening the cells of their companions.
"Vampires," said Tom, and when Ginny made no move to attack them, he said, "These, unlike Darla, have tasted human blood. They are dangerous and have probably been deprived of their potion."
"Diem Meridius!" shouted Ginny, filling the chamber with light and a thousand shrieking voices filled her ears as the noon day sun flooded the area sending those of the undead scuttling for the dark corners of their cells.
"Dragon," said Tom, as the other creature stalked them.
Although the vampires were hurt by the pseudo sunlight, it didn't seem to have enough strength to kill them. "It's not the real sun," said Samara. "Try it together."
"Dragon!" said Tom anxiously.
The girls joined hands and the Meridius spell set one of the vampires on fire. He hissed and dove forward rolling on the floor, squashing the flames, but again wasn't killed. When he came to his feet he was inches from them and the others behind him were enraged.
"Dragon!" screeched Tom in Ginny's head and she grabbed Samara's hand, warding Glacio Flagro again.
The flames from the dragon fried the vampire in front of them, but the girls managed to get behind the ice.
"Thank you for finally listening to me," snarled Tom. "Are you trying to get us killed, Ginny? You almost succeeded, and I don't relish becoming one of the undead either."
The remaining vampires scattered from the flames and were lost in the shadows.
The dragon rolled his head and snapped up the burnt remains of one of the vampires swallowing him whole, muttering in parseltongue, "(There was no undead. I did not burn any of the undead, Master. Only hissusss!)"
"(We are not hissusss!)" shouted Samara in parseltongue, but the dragon ignored her, continuing to mutter worriedly to himself.
Several of the vampires, hissing and spitting approached the dragon. "He promised that if ever you should loose your fire on us, we could claim you. We shall taste dragon blood now!" said one of the vampires as they suddenly swarmed like dozens of hungry mosquitoes over the body of the dragon.
In a feeding frenzy the three headed dragon was snapping up one vampire after the other, blowing flame and crushing their bones like broom splints, but more and more vampires were just as intent upon feeding upon the dragon.
Samara and Ginny turned and ran the other direction, deeper into the dungeon. "Wait! Wait!" called Samara. "Where's Hermione?"
"She's under the Invisibility cloak. I can't see her," said Ginny. "What if she's unconscious? Hurt?"
"I could probably find her aura," said Samara looking back into the pandemonium which had broken loose in the chamber. "And heal her if need be. Hermione!" she shouted.
"Coming after Lauren was a mistake," said Tom. "You should have just gone after the boys."
"Too late now," thought Ginny.
"No it isn't too late. Let's get out of here. Leave them both. There's nothing you can do."
"No, Tom. I didn't leave you, and I'm not leaving either of them." She turned to Samara. "Are you sure, Samara?" she asked looking worriedly at the raging creatures in the chamber beyond. "We could go back together and then find Lauren."
"No," said Samara turning back towards the Chamber. "The vampires will smell her blood. I can find her. If I look for it I can probably see her aura through the cloak. You can't help me with this. You go on and find Lauren. I'll meet you at the entrance to the dungeon."
"But you have no one to share magic with—" said Ginny. "You can't use your gifts without another person."
Samara grinned at her. "So I'll have to find Hermione fast." She paused. "I'm still a witch, Ginny, and I think a little Fire Elemental might slow the vampires down. I'll be okay. I have the known enemy. Be careful." She gave Ginny a little push and then headed back into the chamber at a run. Ginny stared at her for a moment before pushing on into the darkness of his dungeon.
"I hate tunnels," whispered Ginny, "and I especially hate being alone in tunnel passages."
"Who ever said you were alone, Ginny Love."
Ginny slunk down the dark narrow corridor, keeping watch for any Death Eaters that might be guarding his dungeon.
"I can't believe we're doing this," thought Tom, "I can't believe that this is even happening! Ginny Love, His dungeon is not a safe place."
"I know that Tom. So help me. Lumos," Ginny muttered. The dim light, illuminating not even twenty feet in front of her, shone weakly in the dank corridor, and Tom continued to remind her of just how foolish she was to get involved in this in the first place, and how lighting her wand was doubly foolish.
"Shut up," Tom, she hissed.
Tom was growing more anxious by the second. "Ginny, you need to go back. This is stupid."
"So you continually tell me," snapped Ginny. "It's in my nature, you know. I can't help it. So let's just drop it, OK?"
"What?"
"Stupidity," she said with a sharp edge to her voice. "If you have nothing constructive to offer, I really wish you would be quiet."
The request seemed to be better taken than her demands for him to shut up. She could feel his nervous presence, but he ceased his constant chatter. He certainly didn't have a Gryffindor bone in his body.
"Well, actually, Ginny Love, all of the bones in my body are Gryffindor," said Tom.
"It's my body," Ginny disagreed.
"Oh, Ish kabible," said Tom and with a mental shrug, he continued his nervous vigil.
"What?"
"Whatever," Tom translated.
Then Ginny heard a sound. She stopped.
"Lauren?" said Ginny as she reached one of the lower, darker cells.
Lauren jumped to her feet.
"We need your help," said Ginny.
"My help?" said Lauren amazed. She pushed the strings of her white-blonde hair out of her face as she grasped the bars of the cell. "I think it's the other way around. I need your help. Can you get me out? I don't want to be a Death Eater," she said. "I know what the ward is. I just can't open it."
"What?" asked Ginny as she lay her hands on the lock trying to ascertain what the ward was. It was complicated. "If you know what it is," she asked, "why can't you open it?"
"Because my father made these locks. I know how to open all of them, but I can't do it. The sealing word is in parseltongue." Lauren continued speaking, giving Ginny directions to open the lock and then instructed, "Now, we'll have to try to discern the sealing word."
Ginny hissed a single word in parseltongue. The lock snapped open, under her hand, and Lauren looked around amazed. "That was awesome," she said. "It would have taken me a good ten minutes to find the word to break that ward, even if I could say it."
"I had help," Ginny said enigmatically. "Don't worry. Soon we will be safe. The boys can take you back to Hogwarts, Lauren. He can't get to you there."
"He already did," said Lauren. "Or at least Narcissa did."
"He made the wards at Hogwarts too, you know," said Tom.
"What?" Ginny struggled to listen to Tom and Lauren at the same time.
"Salazar helped to make the original wards of Hogwarts," explained Tom in a patient tone. "I just wanted you to know."
"Why? So that I would never feel safe again?" spat Ginny.
"So that you would never feel complacent," corrected Tom. "After all, if Marshall's daughter could get through his wards, how long do you think it will take Salazar to demolish the wards that he and the other founders originally placed."
"But Dumbledore changed them. Someone changed them," protested Ginny. "Didn't they?"
"And they went down—" Tom said.
Ginny sputtered, but her voice ground to a halt.
Tom snorted. "Your naiveté amazes me," he said.
"Come on," Ginny said trying to ignore Tom and pulling Lauren forward.
Lauren took several steps out of her cell and fell. Ginny put her arm around the Slytherin, attempting to help her rise.
"I can do this," Lauren said stubbornly through her tears, gritting her teeth. She finally stood.
"What did he do to you?" asked Ginny.
"Not Him," said Lauren. "Aunt Narcissa."
"Merlin," breathed Ginny, thinking of her own aunts. Aunts she probably would never see again now that she was a Death Eater. "Did Narcissa curse you?"
Lauren shook her head. "Just some sort of weakness spell," she said. "And Confundus. Not a serious curse." There was a roar in the corridor ahead and Lauren looked around wildly. "What was that?" she demanded.
"Dragon," said Ginny. "Or something He fashioned that is similar to a dragon. It has three heads."
Lauren sank down against the wall. "Oh Merlin—"
"Are you hurt?" asked Ginny. "How can I help you? I don't see anything that needs immediate attention—"
"No," said Lauren at last. "I'm not hurt. Valeriana wanted to, but Narcissa said they couldn't, not until after—after—" Lauren broke down absolutely unable to speak.
"After she gets the Dark Mark," supplied Tom.
"I guessed that," thought Ginny. "I'm not completely stupid, you know."
"One wonders at times," replied Tom.
"Oh just at times now? I must be getting better." Ginny surprised herself by joking with Tom when Lauren was in such obvious distress. Well, perhaps it was because she herself had a Dark Mark and was trying desperately not to consider herself completely lost because of it.
"That's because of my influence," Tom assured her.
"Oh dragon dung," said Ginny, and then she continued speaking in her thoughts to Tom. "You flatter yourself."
Lauren looked up at Ginny's exclamation and tried to get herself under control. "They took Alvin. I don't know what happened to him." She sat down and sobbed, completely fouling Ginny's attempt to rescue her.
"You have to hurry," said Ginny. "The boys are stuck with the Veelas. They came to rescue us, Lauren. We should get out of here, now."
"Boys?" she asked confused. "Alvin?"
"No, sorry," said Ginny. "Not Alvin. He's back at Hogwarts. He didn't want to leave you, but they forced him to go back. Some of the Gryffindors have come to rescue us with Draco."
"Where are they?" asked Lauren looking around a little confusedly.
"Well, they got side-tracked by the Veelas. We need your help. Can you follow the Veelas' Apparition trial?"
"Veelas?" said Lauren, and then she shook her head as they began climbing the dungeon stairs. "Sure, if I knew where they started from," said Lauren, "but I don't know the Castle really well. That's why Narcissa caught me, and her Confundus is making me feel a little foggy."
"Maybe if you try Finite Incantatum?" suggested Tom.
"Finite Incantatum," said Ginny, pointing her wand at Lauren.
"I'm not making a single comment about your intelligence or lack thereof," Tom said. "After all not every one would have known how to interrupt that spell--"
"Shut up, Tom."
Lauren shook her head as if she was shaking off water after a swim in the lake. "Oh that's better," she said. "Thank you."
"Samara can see the Apparition," said Ginny, walking quickly back towards the corridor where she had left Samara with the dragon. "I just hope Samara is alright."
"She can see it?" exclaimed Lauren.
"Yes, said Ginny. "She says it's like an aura. She can even tell which one is the most recent, but Voldemort didn't want us to learn to Apparate, and we don't know what to look for in the signature."
"You can Apparate," said Tom. "Of course, not right now. You can't Apparate in His dungeon, but as soon as you get out—"
"No Tom."
"Merlin, she would be wicked good at Apparition tag," said Lauren, and Ginny grasped her arm. "There were some vampires up here," she said, "and a dragon-like creature. We need to be careful."
Lauren nodded. "I don't have a wand," she said, as she raised her hands in readiness of a spell.
"You'll need fire for the vampires," said Ginny.
Lauren shook her head. "I can't. I can't control fire."
Ginny looked at the wand in her hand, ready to offer it to Lauren, but Tom protested.
"No, Ginny Love. You don't have that much control of fire either. No! We've got her this far. She's on her own now!"
"Water for the dragon and Air for the vampires then," Ginny suggested, "Fan my Incendio." Lauren nodded.
"Ginny!" called Hermione as they entered the chamber.
Ginny had thought that Hermione and Samara would be gone by now, but she was terribly relieved to see them both still alive and well. They were backed against the opposite wall, just a few feet from the doorway. It was obvious that they had inched their way around the wall by working in tandem. Unfortunately, the doorway was guarded by the dragon. He was dripping blood, but still roaring flames at the handful of vampires that were left around him. Many were singed and blackened corpses at his feet, but those left still attacked with vigor.
Samara and Hermione threw Somnus at the dragon and then while the dragon was shaking his head woozily, Samara called to Ginny, "We will protect you. Get ready to run along the wall."
Ginny hesitated. It seemed a far distance to get to Samara and Hermione. "Tom," she asked, "do you have a better plan?"
"No," he answered. "Not unless you want to attempt to Imperio one of the Vampires to help you," he suggested.
"What?" asked Ginny.
"I did this the hard way, remember?" he said. "No magic. For the basilisk potion?"
"Three consecutive nights of collecting blood of a dragon—" whispered Ginny. "Without use of magic. I remember."
"Not as vividly as I do," said Tom.
"My memory and yours are the same," protested Ginny as she suddenly knew where the vampires needed to bite the dragon to immobilize it. She didn't need to Imperio a vampire. She just needed to tell them where to bite it. The vampires were quite capable of choosing to do the deed themselves.
"No!" shouted Tom in her thoughts. "If you immobilize the dragon, you will have to contend with all of the vampires. Let them play each other out—"
"Diem Meridius!" Ginny cried as she and Lauren ran for the door, as the vampires shielded themselves from the light.
Hermione and Samara cast another shared Somnus spell. The Dragon stumbled woozily and crouched against the dungeon wall.
The vampires weren't expecting the two girls to rush forward, but when they did, many of the vampires turned from the dragon to see the witches hurtling towards the door. As the light dimmed, they moved to intercept Lauren and Ginny, and Samara and Hermione's shared Incendiocremated the nearest of them.
Hermione threw her arms around Ginny. "I didn't think I'd see you again," she said with a heartfelt hug.
"Let's put that dragon to sleep," said Samara.
"It takes six or more wizards to Somnus a dragon," said Hermione.
"Not with my enhancement," said Samara. "I couldn't do it with just Hermione, or with just Ginny, but I'm quite sure all four of us will be enough." She stuck her wand in her hair and reached out both hands, one to Ginny and one to Hermione. "Lauren, have you shared a spell before?"
"Oh yes," she said, as she grasped Hermione's hand and then reached out to Ginny.
"Keep the vampires off of us for a moment, Ginny," demanded Samara.
"Wings," suggested Tom. "The wings are extremely vascular and the vampires won't be able to resist the blood."
Ginny threw two quick Sectum spells cutting deeply into the webbing that stretched across the wings of the great beast and then grasped Lauren's hand. "Now, Samara," she said. "SOMNUS!"
The word echoed from their circle and the dragon crumpled falling in the doorway. The vampires gave a cry of glee as they abandoned the witches for the easier prey of the downed dragon, who was bleeding profusely from the Sectum cuts on the left wing. The vampires hissed and fought each other over the dragon.
"Heal the cuts," suggested Tom. "It will still their bloodlust."
"But—" began Ginny. "Why? They are distracted."
"Because in seconds the vampires are going to be bored with the dragon and they are going to come after you anyway," spat Tom. "They are not thinking creatures right now. They have been deprived of their potion, and nothing is so appetizing to them as wizard or witch blood. Even dragon blood cannot compare, but they are too hungry to be choosy."
"But the dragon—" began Ginny.
"Has an abundance of fire that may be useful. Now MOVE!"
Ginny healed the cuts with Medico. The floor was slippery with blood and it was with difficulty that the witches continued down the corridor heading for the door holding each other like macabre ice skaters, but it was only seconds before several of the vampires turned their attention to the little group of witches.
"Diem Meridius!" cast Ginny
The vampires hesitated, but didn't back off. Instead, the spell drew more vampires' attention and the four girls were forced against the wall half way to the door. There was no cover, and they were surrounded by vampires.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," chided Tom.
"You aren't helping," said Ginny waspishly.
"Tell them that Salazar knows what has happened here. Tell them with my Legilimency," said Tom. "Choose one vampire and tell them."
"No," said Ginny. "I can't use the Legilimency. I can't break into someone's mind. That's horrible—a violation—"
"Then let me do it," snapped Tom. "It's not a problem for me."
"No!" Ginny protested.
Sparkles of pain shot through her, but Tom was once again, unsuccessful in taking her over. After a brief silence, Tom spoke again in Ginny's mind. "Then have Samara help you ward the corridor," suggested Tom, as the vampires closed in on her. "Use the twelve point ward and fill it with Elemental Fire. The problem is the ward has to stay after we leave. It will need a bit of yourself—" He broke off and Ginny could feel his concern.
But it wouldn't stay without her active intervention, Ginny knew what concerned Tom. This spell would have a price, and she was already tired. "Samara! Your shield spell," said Ginny as she grasped Samara's hand and repeated exactly what Tom told her to do. She felt Samara's shielding magic add the building blocks to the spell just as she had done when she had warded them between Voldemort and Dumbledore. As the magic settled into a wall, Ginny pushed the Elemental Fire through herself, determined to add to the wall by the Fire and not conflict with it as she said the incantation, which Tom repeated slowly and carefully, "arcti terreum armara, eurues armara, meridies aquosum armara, vespertinus flammae armara, ignigenae pervigilo armaro" She felt the power sucked out of her with an inexorable swiftness. The vampires hissed in fear as a wall of fire went up between them and the witches. As long as she physically held it, the ward was fine, but it needed a bit of herself to remain standing while they ran.
"Dark magic," thought Ginny, just before she decided to sacrifice her consciousness.
Her friends would take care of her.
"No. No. No," protested Tom. "You can't put your body in the hands of others."
She turned, meeting Samara's eyes. "Run!" Ginny whispered as she shoved enough of herself into the spell to hold it for a brief moment, and then she crumpled into unconsciousness. The shield spell remained shimmering with Elemental Fire when Samara let go of it.
"Hermione! Lauren! Help me," called Samara as she realized from Ginny's aura that she had fortified the shield spell and lapsed into unconsciousness. "We have to get out of here. I don't know how long the shield spell will last."
Lauren and Hermione moved to help. The vampires screamed in anguish as they launched themselves at the wall of Fire. The floor shook as the Dragon attempted to drag itself to its feet. It roared its displeasure as it shook itself awake.
"We need a place to hide until the wards go back down," said Samara as she clamored for the doorway. She and the others were dragging Ginny indecorously with them. Once they were clear of the dungeon, Lauren turned and using Ginny's wand, re-warded the outside door. Then she grinned. "How's your Patronus, Samara? I have an idea."
"Not with Ginny unconscious," said Samara. "She should be awake shortly."
"Let's go find the boys," replied Hermione who knew as well as the other girls that it would be unwise to Ennervate Ginny when she had already overloaded herself with magic. The extra magic would bring her to consciousness, but she would be sorely confused and befuddled—not someone who would be a help in the current situation.
"We should hide," said Lauren.
"No," argued Hermione. "We have to find the boys." She paused. "What would you do if it were Alvin?" Hermione asked, and Lauren nodded. "We'll have to start where the Veelas Apparated from," she said.
Samara took the lead, levitating Ginny's unconscious body between them. "I imagine they ended up somewhere on the Beauxbatons' wing."
"No, no, no," said Tom protested. "We can't go there, Ginny. Please wake up. You just said, you can't surround me with Veelas and expect me to stay sane, and for once, you were right."
"Ginny?" said Samara noticing the change in aura color, but Ginny remained unconscious.
"OK, I could try that deafness spell," thought Tom, "but I'm not going to know if it works until it's too late. Ginny! Please wake up!"
Your reviews are like kisses for the poor unconscious Ginny. You do want her to wake up, right? 15 reviews and we will go see what the boys are up to….
Authors Note:
A variation on the warding spell that Ginny used in The Seers' Truth: A Broken Beginning
arcti terreum armara northern stars of the earth provide protection
eurues armara eastern wind of the morning provide protection
meridies aquosum armara south mid-day of water provide protection
vespertinus flammae armara west evening of blazing fire provide protection
ignigenae pervigilo armaro born of fire through the dark night provide protection
Answers to reviewers:
Potter-gurl17: So glad you are back to reading my stuff. Nothing like a good read for the weekend! I know that's how I spend mine. I really need a life….
DarkLordLongbottom: Erm--about Ron being a virgin. We do not know that he was a virgin when he started dating Hermione. After all he had some pretty crass advice for Harry about Cho. But essentially, yeah. And you expected that Hermione read first. I expect she had the how to book on the pillow. Poor Ron.
Jager: glad you are enjoying
Elbereth: Missed your reviews. Glad you are back
Raptors galore: Glad you liked my veelas. I was afraid people were going to say they were out of character with JK's, but well, I didn't think JK did much with Fleur. She seemed to just be a witch, and not even a very good one. Couldn't get away from the grindelows which were water creatures. I couldn't figure that one out. So I made them my own way.
Kemenran: The whole point is making the reader say: How on earth are they going to get out of that!
Fire sprite 16: You think Volde is going to find out. Oh don't you trust Snape?
Field of Gold: Now are you dancing in the Chamber of Forever?
Cronenus: Posting asap
Lauz: Angst? When do I write angst? MY angst turns into comedy. Ie Harry in the closet with the bunny. LOL Yes, I like jealous Tom too. Love Ginny/Tom forever. Thank you for saying I write Tom well. I do try. And yes, I don't know what else to call what happened to Ginny but rape. A lot of people were confused in book one. They couldn't figure out how Tom could rape her when he didn't have a body, but I think the understanding of "my magic" has helped people to see the intimacy--forced or not.
Alaxander: Strange spelling of your name. Is it really spelled that way or couldn't you get it spelled with an e? I haven't seen you before. About time you reviewed. I expect you to continue to review.
Mook: Very inciteful
Wormtail: More Draco coming
Silverfox1: Basilisk phone. LOL. Yes, I'm sure Samara could handle it, but I don't want to be accused of making a Mary Sue….And it's so fun humiliating Tom. Talk about horses. I'm going to put up pics of our baby horses on group. As soon as I can figure out how to do it.
DraginLover: Nope. No hints. Glad you loved the veelas. More veelas to come. I will keep Neville's ducky underwear in mind.
Ennui deMorte: Hey! Back from the dead. So glad to hear from you. I think Tom would tease Hermione worse than Draco. He would think of things that would push her buttons instead of just calling her a mudblood. I'm impressed with the reviewers too. They are keeping me on my toes.
Little Red Rabbit: Oh Ginny loves that teenage boy in her head. And just think of all the insights she gets that the rest of us have to do without.
Chernobyl: Yes, feel sorry for Tom. And yes the other boys were with the other veelas. Girls to the rescue soon.
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