The Seers' Truth: Beyond the Darkness
By Lady Lestrange
Chapter 36
Branded as EvilDisclaimer: 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 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. You guys are catching up to me, so maybe I should make it 20 reviews…
(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. Ginny is unconscious and the girls are currently looking for the boys and wind up in Voldemort's dungeon with a slew of vampires and a three headed dragon. The boys, Harry, Ron and Draco are going to rescue the others from the veelas, but Valeriana and Narcissa get in the way--or not-- Luckily the twins are armed with puppy puffs and a sense of humor. Now, the intrepid trio have some difficulty determining a course of action. It's no wonder! Perhaps, they should put it to a vote there are so many people involved in the decision. Well, as Dumbledore says, "it is the decisions we make, that make us the witches and wizards we are!" Such is never more true than in the case of Ginny Weasley. Will her decisions save her or damn her?
For further discussion, visit: YAHOO GROUPS, TheSeersTruth
Chapter 36
Branded as Evil
SSSS
They were safe for the moment. Since they had walked rather than apparating, they were hopeful that Voldemort and his minions had not followed. According to Ginny, they weren't far from Voldemort's private chambers. She walked along the corridor as if she owned the place, hissing in parseltongue at various sections of wall and they opened immediately as if she were Voldemort himself, only she called him Salazar with such certainty that it made Harry's blood run cold. She spoke as if he were an intimate acquaintance. It made all of them wary. She held herself differently, as if she expected to be in charge. It was unnerving. Harry wondered if she acted this way first year.
Harry jumped every time he heard the pop of a distant Apparition and there seemed to be a lot of them. Ginny however didn't seem to notice the sounds of the vampires feeding, which quite frankly was making Harry extremely nervous. If Harry was nervous, Neville was panic sticken, and Draco was clinging to Samara, but Harry was uncertain who was caring for whom in that couple.
"Relax. They won't come here," Ginny said with exasperation She was completely ignoring the sounds of the vampires feeding as well as the screams of their victims. Fred and George had moved up on both sides of Ginny, flanking her with brotherly concern and even wrapped their arms around her as if to comfort her. She stiffened, but didn't push them off. She didn't look like she needed them either. She was utterly sure of herself, and yet she didn't tell the twins to shove off.
Harry didn't think Ginny was fooled though. The twins were frightened of her. Weren't they all, thought Harry. She was an enigmatic combination of power and innocence.
Ginny looked rather pale and tired, but of course, Harry reminded himself, this wasn't really Ginny. He wasn't quite sure what had happened to her. He didn't know if he should believe Samara. Did she mean that literally? The memory of Tom Riddle hadn't left her. He didn't think so. After all Ginny had appeared normal since first year. He had talked to her over the summers when he stayed at the burrow. She wasn't going around petrifying people anymore or killing roosters. The diary was destroyed and with it the Memory of Tom Riddle. He had to believe that. Surely if there were some problem, Dumbledore would have found it by now. Of course Dumbledore wouldn't find anything now. The thought of Dumbledore's death hit him like a super-spelled bludger. Although he had accused Dumbledore of manipulating things for the benefit of what he saw as the cause of Light, Harry could no longer accuse the man of anything. He was dead. The thought left a hollowness inside of him when he thought of it. So he resolved not to think of it until they were safely away.
"Ginny!" demanded Ron.
Harry knew his friend well enough to know that even though his voice was angry, what he was really feeling was fear. He had grown so close to Ginny since the Chamber of Secrets incident. Now, to think that he wasn't close at all, was appalling to him. He was hurt and confused and needing answers, but answers were not forthcoming.
"Are you--still---my sister?" Ron croaked.
Ginny stopped and looked at Ron, no not at Ron, though Ron, as if she were far away in another world altogether and Ron wasn't even part of it.
SSSS
"Ginny?" Ron repeated.
"Tell him you are Ginny. Tell him to ask you something only I would know," urged Ginny.
"I'm here, Ron," said Tom sincerely. "Ask me anything, if you don't believe I'm Ginny. I'll answer any of your questions."
"Why should we trust you?" asked Harry.
"Could it be because I just saved this little group of holier than thou Gryffindors?" said Tom.
"No. no. no." moaned Ginny. "That didn't work! Tom you have to listen to me."
"Ginny?" said Hermione. "You are a Gryffindor."
Draco burst into laughter. Well, that just proves you aren't always right, Granger."
"What are you on about, Malfoy?" said Ron.
Another of the vampire induced screams pierced the air.
"Nevermind. We can't stand in the hallway," protested Draco. "Someone--or some thing could come along at any minute."
As if she were summoned by his words, Carman stopped at the other end of the corridor. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" she cooed. "Could this be the little group of kiddies the Master misplaced?"
"Crucio!" snapped Tom, and his spell shattered Carman's hastily conjured testudo as if it was not there at all. He stalked towards Carman with a long stride, his right hand holding the spell and with the left, he drew up a rush of wind pushed the others out of his way. He released the spell on Carman and growled. "You used me, you callous bitch. You ruined my life. All I can do is kill you. It's really a pity it will be over so quickly."
For a moment he felt Ginny in his mind trying to dissuade him from continuing. Angry sparkles of magic flowed through him for a second, and he sucked in his breath with pain, but he shook off the strange feeling.
Carman looked at him with wide eyes. She was panting for breath. "Your magic," she whispered. "You can't be—"
"Ah, but I am," said Tom.
The annoyance of a spell whipped by him, but he warded impedimenta, over his shoulder, and the spell shattered. Who dared to try to stop him?
"Tom?" Carman squeaked.
"Ah—So you do recognize me, do you?" he spat. "Then you know exactly what you are being punished for. What you will die for--"
"No—"
"No, what?" asked Tom. "You don't want to play with the Mudblood? No you don't want to be seen with me? Or no you don't want to die." Water dripped from his hands like sweat and Carman gurgled as he spat, "Crucio! Are you having fun with the little Mudblood yet, Carman?" he asked. Her eyes were narrowed with hate, and he could hear her grinding her teeth together to keep from screaming, but he saw her as she was 53 Years ago, her white blonde hair around her face like a halo. "Tom," she whispered, her voice laced with pain. "I won't tell anyone you were here. I won't tell—"
"You mean you won't tell, Salazar? Like you didn't tell anyone I wasn't a pureblood! I doubt that," he spat, and she cringed. Crucio!
The spell blew her against the wall and as he held the crucio, he remembered:
"I won't tell anyone—" The words transported him back to the time when she discovered his most closely held secret: the secret that he had managed to hide from all of Slytherin house, that his father was a Muggle, but of course she already knew the truth. His dad was not a Muggle. His father was a Squib of Salazar's line and his mother was a witch whore for the cult that wanted to resurrect the bastard. His mother—His own mother--
"So your dad was a Muggle," Carman had said pityingly, knowing full well that he wasn't. "I know I shouldn't be friends with you," Carman had said, winding her arms around his neck and her magic around his heart. "But, Tom, I can't be without you. I can't. I don't care what your lineage is—I don't care what my parents say—promise me, we'll be together, Tom." He remembered kissing the hot tears from her cheeks, sharing magic--
He released the crucio and looked at her. She was shaking and tears were streaming down her face.
For a moment he felt Ginny's emotion and thought that she was crying too, but he couldn't listen to her now. Instead he dragged Carman to her feet.
"You knew from the beginning, Carman. You sold me out to Salazar. You never wanted me. It was Salazar you wanted. Tell me. Was he worth it?
"Yes!" she hissed, still sobbing from the pain of the crucio, she stumbled, but managed to gather magic to her hands. "You can't be—you are a child—Virginia—"
He laughed at her, a cold hard laugh that held no humor as he held her in thrall. "What do you think I am then? A figment of your imagination? The embodiment of your guilty conscience? Tell me, are you happy now, Carman?" he spat. "Are you the Lady of Dark Magic? Or does that title belong to one of your daughters? To Samara? To—Ginny? To the next generation and the next and the next? Has he offered you immortality, with him. Carman? Has he shared anything of his power with you? Has he?" yelled Tom, shaking her. "Is your fabricated Dark Lord everything you wanted him to be?"
"Yes!" Carman shouted in his face, gathering handfuls of fire.
He shoved her aside. 'Liar!" He raised his hands for the spell, also gathering fire.
"Stop, please stop," Ginny begged him, and when he ignored her, she changed her tack. "Water! Water! Use water, not fire." And he very definitely felt her try to pull the water Elemental through his body. The burning stinging of a thousand hungry bees seemed to assault his skin as he fought Ginny for control of the spell.
SSSS
Carman cringed away, curling into a ball and trying to avoid his wrath. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Tom spat, the fire of the curcio hot in his hand, warring with Ginny's water.
"Don't fight me, Ginny Love," he thought, but he didn't have time to listen to her answer.
Someone again had tried to stop him with a spell. He felt the power of it and a swift jolt of energy. He warded testudo without even looking at them and reached down, grasping Carman's forearm. A smirk crossed his face as he realized that he could use a magic that Ginny could not interfere with. He pushed his finger against Carman's Dark Mark, and felt the power of her essence leap from her to him as the Mark began to burn with her magic flowing through it to him. He hadn't been sure that he could activate it alone. It was his creation, but it was Salazar who had perfected it; Salazar who had burned the brand into her flesh. By the time the Dark Mark was created, he had been in no condition to opposed Salazar, and apparently Salazar had no longer considered him a threat. He wasn't blocked from the Mark. Tom laughed aloud. He hadn't expected it to work so well for him. He could taste the bitterness of Salazar's magic within her, but mostly it was hers. "Remember, Carman, when you gave your magic to me freely?" he asked, as he reveled in the pure power pulled from her.
"It was never free," she croaked through the pain.
"No. Perhaps not. Not for either of us," he said coldly, and tightened his grip till the Mark burned black, holding it until Carman began to scream in earnest. Finally someone dove at him in a flurry of red hair he fell, losing his footing and the spell at the same time.
"Tom?" Carman croaked, and lost consciousness.
SSSS
The arms holding Tom were too strong. "I'm not finished," he roared, trying to beat off the gang of redheads that had attacked him. It was like the orphanage all over again. The bigger boys always picking on him, holding his arms, but he learned to fight dirty and he was a match for them, even before he knew he was a wizard. He elbowed one hard in the gut and when his arm was released, he turned, punching the other red head in the face. He felt the satisfying crack of bone beneath his knuckles, but as his fist connected, someone else joined the fray. They fell against a door and it opened into a stair well. He was suddenly immersed in a memory.
A part of himself tried to stay in the present, but he had spent the last fifty four years living as a memory, with no body to control. The dizzying feeling of Carman's magic through the Dark Mark and the three wandless crucio spells he cast were all separating him from reality. It was very easy for him to slip into a memory.
SSSS
He blinked and he was at Hogwarts, fifty some years ago.. He had thought it would be different this time. He was a wizard, but they hated him anyway. He was a Mudblood, and they knew. He must keep them quiet. It must look like an accident. No magic in the halls. His fists and feet were sufficient. He didn't need a wand to hurt them. The Slytherins had once again cornered him, teasing him, and he edged closer to the stairs. Merlin knew, they had shoved him down the moving steps more than once. This time, the prats were going with him. As the Slyth pushed, Tom latched onto the prat's neck. He couldn't save himself, but the bastard screamed rather satisfyingly as he realized he couldn't save himself either. He was tumbling over and over. He felt his shoulder crack as it hit the marble floor and then, his hand was on Slytherin boy's face. He felt the weight of the earth in his hands, pushing the boy under, burying him. Tom began slowly and methodically cracking what bones hadn't been broken in the fall. A couple of Gryffs had pulled him off--twisting his arm roughly-while another had laughed. "Let the bloody Slytherins fight. Maybe they'll kill each other off."-
Dippit had called him to the office the next day. "Tom, do you realize what spell you did yesterday," he asked.
Tom shrugged.
"It's called crucio," said Dippit. "It's a hate spell, Tom. There is no reason for it other than hurting someone. It's illegal, and I don't want to put this on your record. I'm going out on a limb here Tom, since you are only twelve. You must never do this spell again, Never, or I won't be able to save you. You will go to prison.
Crucio! Thought Tom. He had learned that the spell was easier if you said the word.
SSSS
With a dull thud Tom landed against the floor in the Snow Castle and the blow brought him back to reality. He had broken enough bones to know that nothing of his was broken, but it still hurt and it interrupted his concentration. Someone stroked his hair, but he jerked away.
He heard Ginny yelling at him. "Stop Tom," screamed Ginny. "You are going to kill her. You aren't a killer. I know you aren't."
The boiling, pure rage inside of him frightened Ginny. He could feel her fear.
"How can you grant her mercy, Ginny? You know what she did. What they all did. Don't you remember what Frank Longbottom said? "There was a secret cult, In integrum restituere, Antonin Dolohov told him, before he died". They killed my mother. Tell me. Let me see the truth of your thoughts, Ginny--if it were your mother--if it were Molly Weasley--what would you do?
He felt the flash of pure anger course through her before she gathered her thoughts to speak to him. "I would not seek vengeance. I wouldn't. I understand your hurt, but Tom, this isn't the way."
Tom's anger tightened even more... Deny all you want Ginny, but when we first found out, you were right with me. You wanted them dead, just as I did. You can't lie to me, so hang your righteous Gryffindor justice. You know she deserves to die.
His emotions distilled down to a single thought death: revenge upon those who ruined his life. Painful, horrible death. Die you worthless bastards! My Deatheaters. My friends. How could they? Various types of crucio that Ginny didn't even know existed coursed through her mind. So fast. So brutal. Then slowing to a torturous crawl, and she felt an alien flash of rightness in the death of someone so evil. Betrayal is punishable only by death.
"Not so alien as you would have others believe, Ginny Love."
She cringed. His calling her Ginny Love when he was speaking of such an ugly subject seemed almost sacrilegious. Tom? She thought. Such intense hatred she had not felt since Salazar was warded out, since Tom first found out about the cult, but this was Tom. Her Tom!
She felt as ragged and raw as Voldemort's hands, her body unable to contain his hatred. Like a unicorn wand casting Avada, she felt the searing alienness of his thoughts like she hadn't felt them for a long time. The pain of his friends' betrayal ate into her soul.
"I-want-them-all-dead," thought Tom, but his thoughts encompassed so much more than death. He wanted them to suffer like he had suffered. More than he had suffered. Give them back tenfold. His intent was a hot, writhing cancer consuming them both. Carman is only the first.
"I want her dead," he growled aloud, trying to struggle out of the grasps of Ginny's brothers, but Ginny's body was too weak and he was only focused on the crucios He had no energy left to fight them. "I have four more crucios before I let her die," he shouted. "She deserves to die. She ruined my life. She killed my mother! They killed her in the worst possible way with In immolo relinqui pectoris and she deserves no better."
All movement around him stopped.
To his horror he realized that tears were rolling steadily down Ginny's cheeks. His chest was heaving with exertion and he was shaking all over, fire magic still streaming from his fingertips. His knuckles were bloody and sore. It was then he realized that Ginny's body wasn't up to doing this much magic or physical fighting. He sat panting, held down by Ginny's brothers and let the magic crackle around them. He felt dizzy and disoriented. It took him a moment before he placed the sensation. He was drunk on Elemental Magic. Ginny's body couldn't handle the power of initiating the Dark Mark. Ginny?
At last he heard Ginny's tearful pleas. a tingling of magic went through his skin, but it didn't belong to him. Again the magic came, piercing his skin like knives and he finally understood what it was—Ginny. It was Ginny trying to regain control of the body.
"Not yet," he told her.
In a burst of furious magic, she tried again with a stronger intent.. "Oh—Ow!" He sucked in his breath against the pain. "That hurts!" he told Ginny, angrily, and her brothers loosened their hold somewhat in reaction to his words.
"No shit," she snapped. "Not that you cared when I was on the receiving end. Give me back my body."
"When we are out," he promised, and exhausted and furious, she complied for the moment.
"Ginny?" said Ron, touching the tears on Tom's face. "Ginny?"
Tom closed his eyes. What could he say to them? He wasn't Ginny. These weren't his brothers. He had no family. He had never had the need to deal with family. He looked around at them all: bruised and bloodied by his hand. Harry and Hermione both had retreated, but both still held their wands on him, Shesha peering curiously from Harry's robe sleeve. One of the Weasley twins, was holding his arm, and looked like he had taken a bludger to the face. The other was vomiting in the corner. Samara was trying to heal him and clean him up at the same time. Draco Malfoy was with her, but his eyes were on Tom. Draco reached up once to push his blowing strands of hair out of his steely gray eyes, but his gaze never wavered. Lauren stood beside him, silent and still.
Neville was the first to speak to him. He came in front of him, braving the fire still streaming from his hands. "I will help you," he said softly. "But not now. Now the girls are the priority."
Tom looked at the round faced boy. There was a determination there that startled him.
"You agree with me?" Tom was dumbfounded. This was a Gryffindor, and not just any Gryffindor. This was a Longbottom.
"Some people deserve it," Neville said with conviction. "Justice will be done, but now isn't the time."
Tom looked at the outstretched hand that Neville was holding in front of him. Neville Longbottom!
"Do you know who I am?" asked Tom, thinking the boy had to be making a mistake.
"Yes." The hand outstretched still hadn't moved.
"And you will still help me?"
"Yes," Said Neville. "The same people took my parents from me."
A strange expression crossed Ginny's face, contorting her features into a smirk that had never graced her lips as Tom grasped Neville's hand firmly, thinking I have my first follower, and it is not who I had expected.
"Binding wizarding promise," continued Neville as he pulled Tom to his feet and supported Ginny's body in a gentlemanly gesture, that completely undid Tom. "I swear on my Gryffindor honor, I will help you. I will see justice done." Said Neville.
"Justice, my ass," thought Tom. "It's revenge this boy wants." Out loud he said, "Don't get too full of yourself Longbottom. You're starting to sound just like your gag me Gryffindor Grandfather."
"Really?" said the boy and he sounded almost pleased.
"You have control of the body, Tom," spat Ginny. "You can gag if you want to. I know I'd like to."
He paused, but no one spoke. "Gryffs, too stupid to spot an insult," he said to Ginny and only then he realized the depth of her upset.
"I thought you were really going to kill her Tom.
"I was."
"You would go to Azkaban, and my brothers. You hit my brothers."
"Don't tell me you never wanted to hit them, Ginny Love. I know your thoughts on the matter. You wrote it all in the diary long before I had the ability to look for myself."
"I love them!" she shouted in his mind and he was inundated with her feelings of remorse. A steady stream of memories of her brothers and the burrow came flooding through him like a tidal wave. He tried desperately to shut it out as Ron patted his back with a comforting gesture, but he felt Visha move at his neck, hissing a warning to the gathered Gryffindors. They were plotting. He felt it as surely as he felt the lies in the air.
No one spoke for a long while.
SSSS
Harry was too startled to move when Ginny had first crucioed Carman, but he overcame his lethargy pretty quickly when she started in on the second crucio. He knew how hard it was to cast crucio according to the books that he had read on the subject. It was a spell completely propelled by hatred, the sole intention of the spell, to cause pain. He threw a stupefy spell, which bounced off of Ginny's impedimenta like it was no more than an annoying insect. She never even lost the concentration of the crucio. The entire episode happened so fast, he didn't even see Hermione raise her wand until the confundus charm was thrown. It should have caused Ginny to falter, but she warded testudo, against it, and Harry wondered what sort of Dark Arts she had been learning at the Snow Castle. As if to answer his unasked question with the Darkest of the Dark Arts, Ginny wrapped her hand around Carman's forearm. At first Harry didn't understand what she had done. What could she possibly have done to cause Carman such anguish? When Carman's shrieks rose in volume and intensity and wild eyed, she called Ginny, Tom, he finally understood with an awful clarity. Ginny—no not Ginny—Tom Riddle had somehow activated Carman's Dark Mark, and that meant, whatever she was, she couldn't possibly be Ginny. A wave of pure horror washed over him, a feeling of such terror that he had not felt the like since Cedric Diggory lay dead at his feet. "Ginny—" he croaked, backing away from her, unwilling to give her up to death and unable to befriend her.
In desperation, the twins had launched themselves at her, attempting to restrain her physically, since they could not combat her magically, but she elbowed Fred in the stomach with amazing ferocity and immediately punched George in the face. He started to bleed from the nose or the mouth or both. The twins were momentarily incapacitated, but Ron shushed Ginny, stroking her hair and trying to comfort her. She stiffened and ignored his embrace. A moment later she shuddered like something was hurting her—magic— Harry realized she hadn't released the Elemental magic and it was streaming from her in hot crackling sparks. She began to cry, and he immediately thought that she had thrown off the insanity that possessed her. He took a step forward, but then she spoke angrily through the tears and he realized they were tears of frustration, not tears of pain. Her eyes flashed as she spat in a low vicious voice,
"I want her dead! I have four more crucios before I let her die," she shouted. "She deserves to die. She ruined my life. She killed my mother! They killed my mother in the worst possible way, with In immolo relinqui pectoris--- and she deserves no better." Ginny struggled against Ron and George's renewed hold on her. "Gin! Ginny!" Ron soothed holding her stiff body in his embrace, but when she spoke, even he grew still.
Harry looked at Samara who had retreated to the corner and was trying to help Fred who was clutching his stomach and retching. Draco was beside her, but watching Ginny with wand drawn. Harry realized he hadn't put his own wand away and neither had Hermione or Neville. Neville and Melisande were standing closest to him and Harry heard her whisper, "She seems very—masculine. I might be able to control her. If she attacks again, I'm going to sing. You deafen yourself and then the other boys, Neville."
Neville nodded sagely.
"Oh—OW!" Ginny cried out and Ron and George released her. She didn't move from them.
Melisande took a step forward, but Neville caught her hand and she didn't sing. It seemed as if everyone was frozen, unable to act against their friend, but unable to trust her either.
"So whose aura is it, Samara?" whispered Draco in a rough voice. "Can she alert Voldemort to where we are?"
Harry felt his blood run cold as Samara whispered her answer, too softly for him to hear, but she was shaking her head. Of all of them though, Samara was Ginny's friend. Harry wondered, would she tell the truth? And to what lengths would she go to protect her friend? What was he saying? This was Ginny: his best mate's sister. Ron would never forgive him, if he went against her. Never.
Draco leaned his head close to Samara nuzzling her neck as she worked on Fred. He spoke in soft tones, that Harry couldn't immediately hear. Prat! Harry thought. Just like Draco—as if he had time to snog Samara right now. Draco moved his hand up to Samara's neck, lacing his fingers through the loose hair that had escaped her bun and pulling her close. Harry wished he knew what the others were planning. They needed to make a concerted effort if they were going to subdue Ginny--if they needed to subdue Ginny.
As if she understood his thought, Shesha moved from his wrist to his neck with such speed that if he hadn't felt the swift movement of scales against his skin, he would have guessed that she apparated there, and then she was hissing in his ear, Draco's words, to Samara if he was not mistaken: "(I will speak,)" said Shesha, as introduction, "(Since master blocks the mindspeak.)"
What? Thought Harry. "He was blocking the basilisks' messages? Harry didn't know that he was doing that. Maybe it was the occlumency wards he was trying to hold while at the Snow Castle. He debated whether he should let them drop or not, whether or not the advantage of the basilisks' thought was worth the risk of Voldemort's legilmency. Perhaps he should lessen the occlumency wards at least when Voldemort wasn't closeby.
Shesha began to speak. "(Watching her. Watching the bitemate as if she were sisshauss.)" and suddenly Samara's thoughts slid through Salacia to Shesha and into his own with the cool efficiency of a snake seeking refuge in a favored spot. The one called Dragon is ready to attack, to disable, not kill, but we must escape, and if it means killing her we must do it.
No. No. Shesha rejected the thought, even as it came through her consciousness from Samara. Cannot kill a bitemate.
"What if the bitemate would bring death to us all, to the other bitemates?" Samara wondered and Harry saw Draco's influence in the words. "Then what?" Samara wondered, but Harry was relieved to realize that even though the basilisks seemed undecided on the topic, Samara immediately rejected the idea of killing, and they followed her direction.
It was something Shesha could not fathom, and she was upset by the thought. Harry closed his mind to all but Shesha, and he soothed her with the thought that there would be no killing.
Draco's eyes never left Ginny. "(I am watching her,)" Shesha said in parseltongue, and Harry didn't know if Shesha meant she was watching Ginny or Draco was watching her. Perhaps they both were. Several of Samara's basilisks silently slid from her body to Draco's. All of the basilisks grew agitated at Draco's intentions and Visha rose up at Ginny's neck, hissing threateningly at them all."(You cannot kill a bitemate,)" she said with distain.
"(We can and we will if you betray us, Visha and Mistress of the double magic,)" said Cush."(Master says, 'kill those who betray us.' Make them sisshausss.)"
"(Yes,)" added Salacia."(Mistress says, bond to one another. Preserve one another. Who fails the bitemates, will be part of our power.)"
"(We have not failed you,)" Visha countered haughtily. "(We are not betrayers. Did we not bring you out of the danger that your own Mistress perceived.)"
"Yes," Salacia agreed, and they all knew she was speaking of the Apparitions which took Samara and the basilisks out of danger.
"(I didn't understand that danger,)" Tacita added, but Salacia silenced her with a soft hiss. "(There is much you do not understand. You only need to know to protect and defend the bitemates as Mistress has spoken.)"
Visha continued, "(See, the Mistress of double magic has defended her bitemate. Did she not bring you all to safety? She has only shifted her magic to the other. I am the same creature with eyes open or eyes closed, but the wizards say, always eyes closed, and we smell their fear. The wizards do not sense the magic as basilisks do, and they are frightened by the change in Mistress of the double magic. Calm your master and mistress. Tell them nothing has changed. All is as it should be.)"
"(Be that as it may,)" said Shesha, "(But your life or death is in your own care. Betrayal will be swiftly dealt with.)"
The basilisks all seemed to agree with Shesha, even Visha, but Harry interrupted.
"(There will be no killing,)" he told Shesha again, and he stepped forward, looking carefully at Ginny. Her red hair was plastered to her face with sweat and the tiny new hairs had formed little ringlets at her temples. He wanted to say something to her, but he reminded himself, this wasn't really Ginny. "We have to obliviate Carman. She'll tell Voldemort," Harry said into the silence.
SSSS
"Not if she's dead," said Tom reasonably.
"Allow me," said Neville, who raised his wand. "Obliviate!"
Tom was going to argue that Neville's spell was not sufficient, when Ginny said, "I don't know Tom. I can't imagine Neville was terribly concerned about the perameters of that spell. Carman may not remember how to tie her shoes.
"We need to find that floo," Samara said softly.
"And get the bloody hell out of here," added Draco. He stopped and turned to face Ginny asking directly, "Will He—He know you activated her Dark Mark?"
"What happened here, was between me and Carman," said Tom, looking significantly at the Gryffindors who tried to interfere, and then he turned back to Draco. "You know Salazar has the power to call you individually." Tom smirked, and tried to contain the fire in his hands. "As long as she doesn't tell, I won't," he said.
SSSS
Answers to Reviewers:
Silverfox:Yes, Tom did leave his calling card in the eyes of the Gryffs with him, but remember he is using Ginny's wand, which is why he is having such a rough time. Don't be too hard on him. Remember the mess that Ron made with a wand that was not his. Tom is much more comfortable with wandless, as we see in this chapter, but he hasn't apparated wandlessly, so Voldie really has no reason to notice him. As far as Samara is concerned, and her Hufflepuff persona, I agree that it is still there, but she has been living among a pretty "Slytherin" group lately, and like a camerlieon, she is changing to fit the environment.
cronenus What Tom really does with control of the body you will have to wait to see.
Tiamat Warcraft Glad to have you back. You asked: 'Could Tom see what Ginny saw or did he just hear what she heard? because why did he say "You must be Malfoy" maybe you said something in the first book, but I can't remember it.
Tom has a sense through magic of what Ginny feels/knows while he is in the back of her mind, as Ginny is with Tom now. He could not actually see Malfoy, but he knew the others because Ginny was close to them. Obviously, Ginny has never daydreamed about Malfoy like so many fanfic writers think she has. Hehehe.Why would she? She has Tom. Anyway, that is why Tom senses who the Gryffindors are, but for example never realized Samara was pretty. This wasn't a priority in Ginny's mind--the part that Tom "sensed" through magic. He never had any control over any part of her body except in the First year stuff and now.
DarkLordLongbottom one question how come Neville feels the wards. Did you read my first Seers Truth book? Neville and wards and the only coherent words from his mother in St. Mungos are mentioned there. Plus if you remember Neville managed to get the Gryffindor Common Room open when they were locked in it last book. Just reminding my readers of some of Neville's talents.
Potter-gurl17 Glad you are impressed. Hope this chappie meets your approval.
Sayuri-Kikio It's so much easier to understand a story when you read it straight through. You said: "Ironic that he is always telling Ginny she is stupid, yet now that he has the control he makes it completely obvious Ginny isn't being herself." He doesn't care if they know. He figures none of these Gryffindors will kill Ginny.
Trillium"You said," Tom is really doin a number, cursing Gin's brother, setting up wards, and now, everyone knows their little secret. Yep. Everyone knows, especially now.
cronenus You said: " I had a thought, I know its not like me but the spell that dumbledore and snape used could it be used to get tom out of ginny and in to say a body that a dementer has kissed?' Ewww. Yuk.
kittybro 2004- obsessed ? cool
KemenranMore is on it's way
Jager I just love the way you keep saying, "This is the best chapter ever" I guess I'm building suspense and doing something right.
kailiAs you see, Tom isn't that anxious to give control back over to Ginny.
Wormtail You said, "Tom's incharge now :) poor Ginny!" I love that half of my readers are saying poor Ginny and the other half is saying poor Tom LOL
DraginLoverYou said, "Tom is in trouble now,"Much, much more Tom/Ginny to come.
Little Red RabbitGlad you liked
Chernobyl If you thought the last chapter was wild, what do you think of this one. Smirks. He wasn't even obnoxious and ignorant yet. Now, he's obnoxious and ignorant. Anyway, don't you think he's more equipped to deal with whatever they come across? Tom certainly thinks so, and he never said exactly when he was going to give back control. Not exactly. Oh, and how come the, what, 20? apparitions in this chapter didn't tire them out? It was 12 or a few over, and it tire them out. You will see soon, plus did you notice how many times Draco apparated with Samara when they were playing tag last time? Spells like the unforgiveables can only be cast by the normal wizard approximately four or five in a row without becoming exhausted, but I never said that about apparitions. Of course, Tom isn't exactly your average wizard and Ginny isn't your average witch either. Since it isnt' Darla's story, I'm not going into exactly how she ended up in Salazar's dungeon, but if you remember, a while ago, Fudge said they were collecting "creatures". They already had the veelas from way back at Durmstrang. At that time, and several other times creatures were mentioned including vampires which were used when Salazar was studying death.
Elbereth Ginny can still amaze them with awesome feats. Give her some credit.
And now, it's time for you to review.
15 reviews gets the next chapter. I don't know if I should count these mini reviews--the ones that say. "Update please. Write more." Much as I like even those, I'm having trouble keeping up with you guys. Most of the story is written, but it does need some fine tuning. Be patient with me. I want to do my best for you. I will try to get the next chapter up with 15 reviews as promised. In the meantime, go read my other fics or go discuss this one on group. I love to hear your comments.--Lady Lestrange