A Serpent Among Lions
Chapter 12 - Questions and Answers
Ginny awoke and found herself in a dark room. She reached over for Harry, and found herself touching a wall. Terrified, she called out to him and no one answered. Then she remembered. She had been kidnapped by some faceless person. She wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman, but judging by the way they easily lifted her after she had been petrified and the rough way they handled her she was guessing her captor was a male.
She felt her stomach rumbling and knew that she wasn't going to make it to the bathroom in time, even if she knew where one was. Leaning over the side of the bed, she vomited on the floor. Her head ached and her morning sickness left her physically drained. Laying back on the cold hard bed, she shivered, mostly out of fear, because the room was stifling hot.
She wondered what Harry had done when he had found her gone. She had seen the person go back into their flat and guessed that they were leaving him some sort of note, but she didn't know what it said or what they had told him. Maybe they had told him that she was dead. Maybe they were going to kill her eventually. She heard footsteps coming towards her room and saw the doorknob turning and she wondered what lay in store for her...
The man in black brushed dirt off his hands and stood. He looked around at his handiwork and smiled. The abandoned meat packing plant that he had commandeered for his own use had been transformed into the perfect holding cell for his prisoner.
He had built a room in the center of a large open space and surrounded it with an assortment of spells. Spells ensured that no one could enter or exit without his permission; that no light could trickle in through any cracks in the wood; that the temperature would remain stiflingly hot to ensure that the girl became and remained weak and tired; and best of all, that no screams would escape the room. He had also placed an enchantment around the cell that allowed him to see whatever the girl did.
The man watched with relish as the filthy girl vomited. Leave it to a woman to be so weak-willed, he thought nastily. But of course the wife that Harry Potter had chosen would be weak; the stupid boy would not have chosen someone stronger than himself to be his wife. He examined the state of the girl and determined that she was now ready for his treatment. Special treatment, he thought with a nasty smile.
He grabbed his bag of tools and walked towards the door, making sure that his footsteps could be heard clearly. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, the man slowly turned it and creaked open the door. As light streamed into the dark room, the man stood framed in the doorway and laughed like a maniac.
Ginny sat up straight on her bed as she heard her captor enter the room and surveyed him. He was of medium height and didn't appear to be very heavy girth wise. He still wore the mask which he had worn the night before, and for that she was grateful. She knew that the longer that he kept his identity hidden, chances were the longer that she would remain alive. Sweat dripped off her brow and pooled upon her robes. Her moment of nausea had left, for the time being, but the stench of her vomit was quickly making her queasy again.
She saw that his hands were full of tools and wondered what fate he had planned for her, "Please, do whatever you want with me but don't harm my baby," She said with fear in her eyes.
Still laughing, the man swung his tool bag merrily and walked towards her. He pointed his wand at her and thin strands of rope began to weave themselves around her ankles and wrists. "My dear, the safety of your baby will depend on your actions and words, as well as the actions of your dear, dear husband." His voice was soft and raspy, almost sounding unused.
The man sat down on a chair that he conjured for himself and placed the tool bag on his lap. "Now, I am going to ask you a few questions and your responses will determine my actions and your comfort. Am I understood?"
Ginny nodded solemnly, not willing to trust her voice. But after she nodded, she had a feeling that he expected a verbal response, so she said, "Yes, I will do anything to protect our child."
Nodding as if he expected her conciliation, the man leaned back in his chair to get more comfortable. "My first question is simple; how much does your husband know about his aunt and uncle's murders?"
Ginny thought hard, thinking about everything that he had told her and knew that the answer was an easy one, "He doesn't know much at all. I know that he has been trying to figure out who killed them, but he has gotten nowhere. I know that everyone thinks that he hated them but he did feel sorrow when they died. He's just that kind of person."
The man brushed off her last comment with a derisive laugh but accepted the rest of her response. "Okay, that was a good start. Who did your husband leave to see tonight?"
Ginny sighed, she knew that her dad wouldn't want her to chance it if it meant endangering her life or the life of his grandchild, "He went to see my father, the Minister of Magic. But I can honestly say that I don't know where they were meeting, he didn't tell me," She said, feeling more ill by the moment and attempting to bend her head down to wipe it on her robes but finding she couldn't.
"You are choosing the right path," he said condescendingly. "Your answers have been correct so far. Let us now move on to another subject. What is your husband's favorite meal?" He knew this question would throw her off and she may think it was unimportant but it was more important than she could know.
Ginny thought for a moment, thinking that this was an odd question to ask her and for a moment she was befuddled, unable to think straight, "Well, he likes lamb chops and a baked potato and green beans almondine. I'd say if he had his choice of what food to eat that is what he would pick," She felt a bit apprehensive about telling him this bit of information, "You're not planning to poison him, are you?" She said, a concerned look on her face.
Chuckling, the man said, "Not to worry, my dear, I'm not that barbaric. It was just a question." He decided to direct her attention with another question, one that would set her mind more at ease. He knew he had gone too far, too fast by asking that question so soon. "How much does the ministry know about the murders? Are they close to discovering that it was not your husband who committed them?"
Ginny shook her head emphatically, "Not to my knowledge. In fact many people still believe that he committed them, despite my father's support of his innocence. They believe that my father is biased, since we went to school together, and since Harry defeated Voldemort. They would rather believe the unbelievable then think someone set him up."
"Now isn't that just like people? You give them a peaceful world and they throw everything back in your face a few years later." The mocking tone was evident in his voice. "Well, I think those are enough questions for now. You did well with your answers so I will give you something to eat." He conjured a bowl of oatmeal and a roll of bread on a tray and set it in front of her. Next to the food, he placed a glass of water. "I hope this will be adequate. Enjoy."
He turned and left the room, closing the door quietly after him. The man sat down on a comfortable chair facing the cell and assessed his performance. He would have to punish himself later for the mistake he made by asking the question about the meal too soon in the interrogation. There was just no room for a stupid mistake like that. Otherwise, he was relatively happy with the rest of the interrogation. He had verified the girl's fear of him with questions to which he already knew the answers. From this point forward, they would step into unknown territory.
Ginny sighed after he left, and looked at the food he had set before her. Then, glancing around at the room, she noticed something she hadn't before; a toilet and a sink in a corner of the cell. There were some coarse paper towels near the sink and she knew that there wasn't any way that she was going to be able to eat anything until she cleaned up the vomit from earlier.
Going over to the sink she soaked some paper towels through with water and mopped it up as best as she could, throwing the paper away in a small waste paper basket near the sink.
After she was finished, she splashed some cold water on her face and that seemed to help with the nausea. Through an act of sheer will, she tried sending Harry a mental message to let him know that she was all right and not to worry, but she knew that it was futile. Even if he was able to get the message by some stroke of luck, there was no way he wasn't going to worry.
Sitting back down on the bed, she ate her breakfast. She didn't have much appetite but she knew that she needed to do it for the baby's sake. She had to do all she could to protect their child.
Something then occurred to her. When he was leaving, she thought she had caught a glimpse of reddish hair peeking out from under his disguise, but she could have been wrong. Her mind had been through so much lately that it could have been playing tricks on her.