Chapter 10- The New Evil

Bright brown eyes scanned the grounds of the Riddle House, a pale hand reached up to brush flaming red hair behind her ear. Ginny Weasley had been trapped in this room for three days now, waiting and wondering. She still didn't know who had ordered her capture, but she did know who had done the capturing.

His name was Mark, and he had been kind. He had talked to her, given her food and some clothes; he had even gone so far as to tell her that she was to be used in some sort of ritual. Ginny was certain that he would have told her more, provided he had been given the chance.

Only a few hours after their arrival, it had been discovered that Mark was telling her of the plans. He had been killed right before her very eyes, in the doorway that her back was now facing.

She wondered who was coming for her… if anyone was. Did anyone even know that she was gone? If they did know, were they aware of where she was? If someone was coming… would it be Harry?

She suppressed a laugh at the image of his face upon finding out. She could only imagine how panicked he must have been, after all, he wanted to protect her… and if she was missing… well, that was far from being safe and protected.

The door at the far side of the room opened and Ginny bolted away from the window, turning to look at it.

"Put this on."

Green fabric was thrown into the room, and then the door snapped shut again. She moved toward the pile of fabric, wondering what she was supposed to wear.

"No way."

She stared at the clothing. It was a green silk nightdress with lace around the collar and edges. The straps were small, and the dress was short. She knew that when she put it on, it would only go to about midthigh. She was trying not to imagine what they possibly wanted her in this dress for, when the door opened.

"Hurry up!"

Then it shut again. Whoever was outside seemed to know that she was not changing, which meant that they were watching her… and that thought did not comfort her at all. So, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she put the little dress on. Immediately after, the door opened.

"Now come on. He's ready for you."

Ginny snorted, but didn't move.

"It's about time. I've been here for three days."

The man stared at her.

"Let's go."

She still didn't move, so he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the door. She jerked away from him when they reached the corridor. He was not going to treat her this way.

"I can walk thank you very much!"

The man just smirked.

"Then follow me, and don't think of running, because there are other people watching you."

She looked around, and indeed there were. So she sighed and followed him down the hall.


Harry Potter stumbled out of the clearing; The Riddle House was now in view. His eyes immediately moved towards the window in the top left corner of the house. There she was, turning away from the window and walking away from it. Had she seen him? If she had seen him, was she upset that he was the one who had come?

As he walked towards the house he began to pull his invisibility cloak on, all the time beginning to wonder. Maybe he should have contacted the Auror office. He had planned on it, but somehow the idea of rescuing Ginny by himself had its merits… or maybe he was just stupid.

Nonetheless, he headed quickly and quietly into the house. A small pang hit him as he remembered that the last time he had been in this dusty old place, Ron and Hermione had been with him and he was searching for a Horcrux.

He moved quickly to the stairs, the entire bottom floor seemed empty. Above him he could hear feet moving up and down halls, and in various rooms… one of those people could be Ginny.

As he reached the top of the stairs a familiar voice rang out.

"I can walk thank you very much!"

He breathed a sigh of relief, even though he had seen her in the window, hearing her voice was even better. Still invisible, he moved onto the landing, scanning the hallway for Ginny, and upon seeing her, his mouth became dry.

"Bloody hell…"

The sight of her in that nightdress was enough to make him insane, and just as he was beginning to picture scenarios of the two of them that would involve her in that particular garment, he remembered that he was supposed to be saving her, and he followed as they headed down the hall.

The man leading her pointed her towards the door, and he couldn't help but grin as she showed her stubbornness, refusing to go in. He slipped inside before she did, and when the door closed he glanced around the room.

There was a large bed pushed against a wall, looking rather clean and impressive, a fireplace was crackling merrily, the blinds on the window were shut, and there was a cup of some unknown substance sitting on the bedside table. He watched Ginny sigh, looking around with an expression that clearly showed fear and confusion.

He moved toward her, pulling the cloak off as he went. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and she was faced with an impulse to yell at him, but then he pulled her into his arms and she forgot all about it, sinking into his warmth.

"I- I was starting to think that no one would come."

Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, and he had a feeling that she was resisting the urge to cry.

"Of course someone was going to come. You didn't think I would just ignore the fact tat you were missing did you?"

Ginny mumbled something that Harry couldn't hear, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it or not, so he didn't ask her to repeat it. Instead, he lifted her chin and kissed her softly, all ideas that it was too dangerous, that he couldn't be with her vanishing completely.

Ginny was surprised at first, but after a second she kissed him back, her arms moving around his neck. She deepened the kiss and moved closer to him, forgetting that she was angry at him, and forgetting that they were both in the middle of an unknown room.

After a second more, Harry pulled away.

"Let's get you out of here Ginny."

He reached for the discarded cloak, prepared to pull it over them, when a door at the other end of the room opened, and a man stepped into view. Harry tried to determine why he hadn't noticed the door earlier.

"Now Mr. Potter… you can't take her away. I'm not finished with her yet."