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There's only for my soul
And undo this fear
Forgiveness for a man who was stronger…
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Soon after Voldemort's victory, a fine mist settled on the edges of Little Hangleton. It seeped through the trees in the darkness, creating a thick pale wall of bewitchment. All those who'd once lived there were gone, and unlike most other muggle villages, it remained void of inhabitants beyond him who now owned it. It all became The Dark Lord's grounds, and few were invited to tread upon them. Little Hangleton was Voldemort's greatest triumph, in that he had completely wiped his besmirched history from existence. Within the mists were all of his spoils, all that he'd taken from anyone he saw as a threat.
It was in this enchanted ghost village that Ginevra Weasley spent her days, under a twilight and darkness that never faded. Certainly, she'd spent her first few days there shouting for help, searching for people, and trying to run off through the mists only to be thrown back. Then she dissolved into yelling, cursing, and raging against empty air, with no one to hear her, save Voldemort, who shut his eyes and enjoyed the sound from his Manor. He'd turned the area into his shrine to revenge, and the girl was the perfect touch. And when he tired of the shouting, he set about to silencing her.
She knew that Voldemort planned to live forever, immortal and untouchable. As such, he had not the same need for her as his mortal followers might have, as a means of an heir. Also, he hated the very thought of tarrying with a blood traitor. It might have been good and logical sport for his Death Eaters not to waste one drop of pure blood, but The Dark Lord had higher standards. He was not fully human, and nowhere near as subject to such distractions and lusts. And of course, why take any sort of partner, when one of your greatest joys is in the destruction of life, and your only fear is weakness?
Still, the duality of that reasoning is what led him to taking her into the manor every so often. It was an easy affirmation of his power, of the corruption of her and Harry's old world. It was a highly seldom event by the time Ginny had nearly been under Voldemort's spell for a year, as even only once was enough for her to be silent, afraid to utter a word lest her pain and horror escape from her throat, thus reminding her of terrible things she'd much rather block away. It was a cruel amusement to him though, and why should he deny himself?
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By February and into March of the following year, Ginny was very silent. Having finally picked a place to stay in the village, she spent her days staring at walls, or reading rare books (plucked from the Hogwarts library before the castle was left in ruins) that she'd already read a thousand times. For days on end she would be alone in the deadly, shadowed silence and stillness, walking numbly under the cover of the trees to keep her limbs from forgetting how to move. If left alone for too long, flickers of her old spirit would come back to her eyes, and she would start to wonder if there were still yet ways to outsmart her prison.
But then He would return, the mists parting just slightly for him as he made his way through empty houses and his empty captive, on his way to the manor he'd stolen back for himself. Ginny's eyes would go dim again, retreating into herself, so that she would not feel the flickers of horror that still ran through her in his presence. She did not like being afraid, and she did not like when she was not in control of her own reactions. But the memory of all Voldemort had done to her…indirectly or otherwise…was burned into her.
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He had been away for three weeks this time. Near the end of it, Ginny found herself wondering if someone out there was causing trouble. It was all she hoped for anymore, that someone would cause him trouble. That maybe someone was out there hiding, still alive. She could not grasp the full scale of what had gone on in the outside world, but she had certainly been an ear to his self-praise. Still…that hope lingered, only to be tucked away quietly when he returned, and called her back to the manor.
"You shall be accompanying me out, at the beginning of next month," He hissed in her ear that night, as she stood by his chair before his fireplace, staring dully into the flames. She had been out only once before, fully hooded and without view of the world around her, and silenced. It was many months ago. She had been able to see Luna, serving them dinner at Nott Manor, but Ginny had not been able to greet her, bewitched as she was.
"There will be a grand event celebrating the Anniversary of my victory," Voldemort went on, as if speaking to the walls. He might as well have been, for how much Ginny responded, "All of my faithful shall attend. And I think it time to put a few of my spoils on display, now that our world is far more secured and absolute," He looks at her, eyes glowing, boring into hers mercilessly for a moment, holding her frozen, "You'll do nicely."
He looked away, and only then did Ginny feel a slight bit of hope stir inside of her. If nothing else, she would at least see her best friend again…
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It was probably one of the more foolish risks William Arthur Weasley had taken in recent months, but he was getting accustomed to risking life and limb. And Stephen Cornfoot was young and foolish enough to follow the older man on adventures in death wishing. They took a floo to Europe, by way of an empty old bakery in Alberta's Wizarding community. They landed in the fireplace in The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, where the likelihood of running into swarms of Death Eaters was rather high. It seemed luck was with them though, because the only thing they ran into was a huge, hulking, furry half-giant with a crossbow trained on them.
"WHO'RE YEH, COMIN' IN 'ERE?" A voice bellowed as soon as Bill rolled out of the fireplace, Stephen smacking into him a second later. At seeing who they were though, Hagrid lowered his bow, blinking down at the pair of them incredulously, "Bill Weasley? That you?"
"Aye," Bill winced, standing up and brushing himself off in the dusty, rather crumbling room that had once been inhabited by a truly great man, "Who'd you expect, Lucius Malfoy?"
"Yes," Hagrid said gruffly, helping the younger boy up off the floor and staring at the two of them, "Well blimey! Come 'ere!" He cried at last, pulling them both into a bear hug that had both somewhat gasping for air, "Thought both of ya's were dead'n gone with th'rest of them," With only a bit of awkwardness, they realized that the man was trying not to cry. Finally he let them go, wiping his eyes with his big hands.
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"Hagrid, how come nothing's happened to you yet?" Bill asked straight out, as the large man motioned them to follow him out of the office and into what remained of Hogwarts. Hagrid shrugged, glancing into a few rooms as they passed. Stephen had to pause outside of the library for a moment…half of the walls were gone, and birds were nesting in the exposed beams, the vast green and snowy Highlands stretching out before them. Mouth agape, he continued to follow.
"They kept comin' back fer days," Hagrid was saying, his voice suddenly tired asit echoed through the halls, and his face suddenly seeming quite old, "Findin' kids hidden in the place 'afore I did. Taking them away, killin' em off…" Hagrid shook his head, reaching up to dry his eyes with the arm that wasn't holding his crossbow, "Me'n Firenze was hiding out in the forest with a bunch o'the kids, jest watchin' them ruin the place. But then," He ducked as they passed under a collapsed archway, "Then they went to destroy Dumbledore's tomb, heh," He shook his head, "Soon as they did, was like the place woke up mad! They were all thrown out of the grounds, n'You-know-who 'imself couldn't get inside!"
"You're kidding!" Bill gaped, "I've…never heard of wards just regenerating like that. And so strongly? Voldemort ripped them to bits!"
"Hasn't been a Death Eater 'ere since," Hagrid told him, as they descended the stairs to what was once the Great Hall. The once famed ceiling was mostly gone, and what was left was nothing more than ordinary, rotting tiles and timber, silhouetted against the blue sky. The House tables were toppled and the floor and walls were all scorched, the banners above tattered or missing.
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The other two men went to go outside, but Stephen stayed. He approached the Ravenclaw table, which was lying on its side, and he touched the aged oak, feeling a lump forming in his throat. This is where he used to sit. And Morag would sit next to him, between he and Michael...he looked left. Lisa and Anthony and Terry all used to be over there, before they disappeared or died. He looked across the way, where the toppled benches were. Luna used to sit across from him, sometimes squished between Ginny and Ernie as they laughed, swapped Quibbler articles and ate off of each other's plates. And behind him, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger would be sitting all together at the Gryffindor table, which had been splintered in two.
Stephen shut his eyes. They'd all been at dinner when it happened. He'd tried to get to one of the first year girls before the Death Eater behind her did, but was too late. As such he'd been separated from his friends. He was there in time to see Voldemort blow the Gryffindor table to bits and then engage Harry Potter in a duel, before he'd been knocked over, stunned. The very last thing he remembered of that night was a girl's voice he thought he knew, shouting his name as he fell...
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"Stephen!" He turned around on his heel, eyes wide. It took a few minutes to process in his brain, as he saw the small figure with choppy blonde hair hurling herself at him. It wasn't until she had him in a death-grip of a hug that he grinned, hugging her back,
"Hey Morag…" He swallowed, shutting his eyes… "Wait," He pulled back, resting his hands on his shoulders and looking down into her face, frowning, "We heard you'd been sold!"
"I was," The former Ravenclaw said matter-of-factly, nodding. And then she grinned, "And you know how very hard I work to endear myself to Death Eaters."
"You pissed him off?" Stephen laughed, incredulous, as Morag MacDougal nodded again,
"And while I was being shipped back to my dad and his child bride, I bolted," She smiled in an overly brilliant manner, and for a moment it almost felt like they were back in school and Morag had just tripped someone on the way to dinner. But at the same moment, they sobered, stepping back and looking at each other, "Where have you been?" Morag asked him softly. Stephen shrugged,
"Canada," He replied, looking away, "Extermination Camp,"
"Oh," She nodded, biting her lip, "I'm sorry…"
"I don't remember any of it," He was quick to say, looking back at her. Morag looked up at him, nodding again. Stephen kicked at a few splinters at his feet, "So, how long were you…?"
"Four months," Morag said quickly, tucking her hair behind her ears, speaking very quickly, "My dad's marriage to Nott's daughter gave me some protection, but then he was getting pressured to have me married off so," She took a deep breath, "Turns out the guy had very low tolerance for a severe lack of submission. But why risk hexing Aeneas Nott's step-granddaughter?" Morag gave a mirthless smirk, and Stephen slowly smiled back. He pulled her back for another hug,
"I'm glad he didn't," He said quietly. Morag nodded against his shoulder,
"And good job not getting yourself killed," She managed in a shaky voice.
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Despite the mysterious protection now surrounding the grounds of Hogwarts, the school itself stayed empty. The few who took advantage of its protection were living deep in the Forbidden Forest, in outbuildings and other sorts of shelters. The Centaurs had long ago abandoned them to their fates, save for one. And though he did not fully understand the new ward that had fallen over Hogwarts, Firenze did his best to daily strengthen it, with what natural magic lingered there.
Bill and Stephen were led into the trees, where once had been a temptation to youthful restlessness. Now it was sheltering a collection of orphans and their meager guardians. Hagrid has built two cabins, one a home for Professor Flitwick, who'd gone deaf in the last battle but still had a lot of life in him. He was in charge five of the younger children that had survived, along with Morag, who'd chosen to live with them in hiding as opposed to going home to her father only to be married off again. In the other cabin, Augusta Longbottom and Neville were keeping an eye on Frank and Alice. Bill wanted to ask how they'd managed to escape London, but Morag warned him not to, until he had time to listen to Augusta rant for a few hours. And somewhat removed from the other two shelters was a small cave, where extra buildings had been added on, and a few tree-houses were in the nearby pines and oaks. Hagrid told the visitors that this was where the supplies were kept safe, guarded at night by Seamus Finnigan, Katie Bell…and George Weasley.
"GEORGE!" Bill shouted as if he'd been shot when he saw his brother walking out of the cave under the sunshine that filtered through the trees above. The two embraced, as Katie Bell laughed down at them from one of the tree-houses, "Damnit, you filthy bloody wanker!" Bill laughed, hugging George, "You were supposed to be dead!"
"I am!" George said cheerily, though everyone could tell that his eyes were getting misty, "Fred died, but…well, with a bit of clever paperwork on someone on the inside's part, his body became both of ours'," He explained, once Bill had gotten over some of the initial shock,
"Someone on the inside…?" The older Weasley was highly confused. No one had ANYONE 'on the inside' in their world. But George nodded,
"Yep, Michael Corner," George replied, as they set about getting some food together to celebrate the simple fact that more people were alive that they didn't know about, "So holy hell, Bill!" He laughed again, "Why are you risking your neck traveling?"
"It's Ginny, George," Bill told him, getting serious once more, as he was swiftly reminded of why he was back in Europe, "She's in a…really bad place."
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Author's Notes: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, but I do hope it flows well with the next. Hmm. Anywhoo, thanks for all of the reviews guys, you make me feel special hehe