When the War is Over: Chapter Six
(I don't own any copyrights to the Harry Potter series, or anything to do with it).
"How is the subject fairing?" A voice rasps from the shadows. I know that voice...yet, I cannot place it. Everything seems blanketed in darkness, my body feels heavy, my mind wanders in a fog-like state. Who am I? Even the voice in my thoughts sounds strange. Who am I...?
"Coming along splendidly--" An arrogant-voice replies, somewhere nearby, "perhaps we should increase the dosage?"
"My faithful servant---" The name is lost to my ears, "are you trying to kill him? I wouldn't blame you, except that you swore yourself to my service, and I need him alive at any rate."
"Hee-hee," wheezes another voice, "what about the others?"
"Their purposes are nearly served, all that is left is to extract that---" Again, my hearing fails me, "where is -----?"
"----attending to a matter at Azkaban."
"See that I am alerted when ----- arrives." The voices fade, but the rasping voice says something at the last moment. "And Malfoy, you may increase the dosage...but don't kill him, hmm?" Searing pain rips through my body, blotting out consciousness. I want to die...
I jerk from sleep in a cold sweat, one name, Malfoy, ringing clearly in my mind. Why did I dream that? What does it mean? A matter at Azkaban? I throw off my covers and race from the room, rocketing through the corridors and finally bursting into my brother's room!
For a few moments, there is a shocked silence; I've just walked in on my brother and Hermione in bed together, naked...
"Gin---Gi---" Ron sputters, pulling the covers up to his chin. "GINNY!"
"I'm sorry-- Really sorry!" I whirl around and rush from the room. In the hallway, I allow myself to feel the pulsing heat in my face. A few moments later, Hermione opens the door and ushers me back in. She's now wearing a blue bathrobe, securely wrapped around her body; Ron is loosely dressed in pajama pants and a ragged t-shirt.
"OK--" he breathes, "now, what exactly was so important that you had to---"
"A dream!" I interrupt, feeling stupid and childish all at once, "I think I had a dream about what the enemy is going to do next!"
"Are you sure?" Hermione puts an arm around my shoulders and leads me over to the bed. I sit down, and recount everything I can remember about the dream. When I am finished, Ron and Hermione are staring at me.
"And so," I blurt out, "I think we need to--to go to Azkaban and stop them!"
"Oh Ginny," Hermione says comfortingly, "do you know how difficult it'll be? I mean, we're not exactly the right type to blend in...and, well, what if it was only a dream?"
"It wasn't!" I'm shouting now, throwing a tantrum like a little girl, but I don't care, "I know it was real! I know what the enemy is planning next!"
"OK Ginny," Ron tries to sort it all out, "say we humor you and go there, what exactly are we looking for?" I think for a moment, and than it hits me!
"Lucius Malfoy! Malfoy was in my dream, and someone else was on their way to Azkaban on some 'buisness', what else could it be?...They're planning to break Lucius Malfoy out of jail!" Hermione and Ron share a glance and stand up.
"Well, if your right...we're gonna need some help," Ron replies. We get to work.
Hours later, we're on our way to Azkaban; Our plan is to arm ourselves with Patronus charms, get to Lucius Malfoy, and extract him before the enemy can reclaim him.
Azkaban is a great island prison, surrounded by the ocean, and battered constantly with gale-force winds; This is probably the reason why only one man has ever escaped from there, and now he's dead. There is no chance of flying to Azkaban, the howling winds would scatter us, we would be lost to the ocean; We apparate to the edge of the island, knowing our presence will draw the Dementor's attention at once. Within moments, we are surrounded, patronus shields go up, and we march towards the prison; If we stay within the protective shield of the patronus, the Dementors cannot touch us, but it takes great energy to keep the shield up, so we must move quickly.
When the war really took off, the Dementors sided with no one; In the end, they retreated to Azkaban, and kept it's prisoners mostly to feed off of. Dementors love to feed off the life-forces of others, to suck all the happiness out of them, and although they rarely interfere with either side, there have sometimes been sightings linked with disappearance of people, hence, many people are staying inside and bolting their doors after sunset.
Azkaban is built primarily to torture it's prisoners, with the most ruthless and mad being locked away deep in the underground dungeons where they never see the light of day again. A source informed us that Lucius is on the second level of the underground dungeons, so that is where we head. The castle is empty, after the uprising of the dementors, no one stuck around to try and bring about order; No one generally stayed here anyway, even when Azkaban was in use, after all, who would want to work with dementors everyday?
There are long flights of stairs that descend into the moldy dankness of the prison, the air is sharp and cold, salt from the ocean is thick with every breath. It seems like hours, but we reach the first level; Just as we exit the stairwell something electric barely misses my head, the wall next to me explodes. My eardrums ring, I can't see straight, I'm on the floor and it feels slick and slimy. Distant shouts, I see bright streaks of light being passed back and forth, the words of the three forbidden curses being shouted so carelessly.
"Ginny get up!" Ron is kneeling beside me while Hermione provides us with cover fire, "c'mon, we've gotta get you out of here!"
"No!" I shout, coming to my senses, "no, I'm gonna fight too!"
"Ginny--" Ron begins to protest, but I cut him off.
"I'm a member of the order! Your not going to stop me!" He grudgingly agrees, muttering something about how Mum'll kill him if anything happens to me.
Hermione dodges a bright bolt of lightning and I fling my wand out and try a bat-boggey hex on the nearest death eater. Direct him, his face suddenly begins flapping; He flings his wand down and runs around in circles, panicking. I disarm another death eater who is aiming at me and just muttering the words 'Avara Kadavara!', charging the last death eater standing, I somehow manage to break his wand with the force of my blow, he staggers up and attempts to flee, only to be petrified by Lupin as he reaches the stairwell.
The silence is sudden, I lower my wand, convinced they're all gone. Sudden sharp pain rips through my body, I stagger backwards, clutching my side; Taking my hand away I see bright red blood staining my hands. Lupin disarms Lucius and dives for him, wrestling him to the ground before he can reclaim his wand. Lucius must have been hiding in the shadows...how careless of me...my vision grows dark, I fall to the floor...my patronus charm goes out, and I can feel the dementors closing in...