Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters belong to JKRowling, I am just taking them out to play for a while and promise to put them back nicely when I'm done.

The Curse-breaker's Sister
Chapter 19

Any minute now Ginny expected flames to spit out of her pocket. She wondered if she'd been wearing these trousers the last time she was with Fred and George and they'd put some sort of delayed-reaction prank in her pocket.

Squirming, she tried to dig whatever it was out of her pocket, but it was too hot. Draco, realizing what she was trying to do, reached in himself and pulled out a palm-sized, gold compact and quickly dropped it on the floor.

"What is that thing?" he asked, clutching his burned hand to his chest.

"Oh no!" Ginny cried out. "It's Ron!"

"That thing is your brother?" The look on Draco's face was almost comical.

"No, no," Ginny replied. "It's how we communicate when we can't be together, with mirrors. Only Ron would be cheeky enough to make it burn that hot."

She picked the compact up off the ground, gingerly passing it back and forth between her hands until it cooled down enough to open it. With a practiced hand, she flipped the compact open and watched as Ron's livid, red face filled the surface of the mirror.

"Ginny, where in the bloody hell are you!" Despite the fact that he was thousands of miles away, the anger in her brother's voice still caused her to flinch. "Mum's going out of her mind looking for you, do you know that! It's not enough that Bill is missing, but bloody hell, Ginny! She's just flooed me to tell me that your hand on the clock reads 'Mortal Peril' and Dad's on his way home from work!"

"I'm really busy right now, Ron, can we talk about this later?"

"No we can not talk about this later!"

"Ron, will you calm down! If you must know, I'm about to rescue Bill, I'll contact you when I've found him."

"You're WHAT!" Ron's face in the mirror turned a shade of red Ginny once thought was not humanly possible. "Where are you? I'm coming to get you right now. I can't believe you, Ginny! I told you to stay put!"

"Oh do shut up, Ronald! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and you bloody well know that! When will you people accept that I am an adult!"

Ron snorted. "Sure, Gin, sure! Haring off to Merlin-Knows-Where looking for Bill. Really bloody mature of you, Ginny! Now tell me where you are so I can come and get you."

"I'm not telling you, Ron. I've made it this far on my own," Draco gave her a sharp look when she said this, "well, not entirely on my own, I've had help."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You've had help? Hermione's sat right beside me, and Harry's in Paris. Who'd you call on to help, Neville Longbottom?"

"If you must know," Ginny told him a sarcastic tone, "I've been working with Draco Malfoy. And we've almost found Bill, so stop your bloody shouting, and let me go and rescue him!"

Ron's face paled, his freckles standing out in sharp contrast to his now pasty-white face. "Ginny, you little fool. Why didn't you just stay at home like I told you too! I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that DRACO MALFOY is responsible for Bill's disappearance! The Ministry of Magic's been after him for weeks! They think he's the one who's hurt Bill and stole the treasure he was after. Not only has the Ministry been after him, but Bill's boss, some Nasir guy's been after him too! And there you are in bloody Merlin knows where with Draco bloody Malfoy! Ginny!"

"Are you telling me the truth, Ron?" Ginny asked in a steady, careful voice.

"I wouldn't joke about Bill, Gin, and you know it. Malfoy was hired to act as a go-between for Bill and this Ea Nasir guy. One night, Bill, the treasure, and Malfoy went missing. You put the pieces together."

"Thank you, Ron." Ginny's voice was calm, and cool. " I have to go now. I'll contact you soon."

Ginny closed the compact and slid it back into her pocket. It took a few moments for Ron's words to set in. Draco had been in contact with Bill the night he went missing. Draco knew Bill's boss. And all along he'd said nothing! No wonder he was so eager to help her find Bill, it was so he could clear his own name! Or maybe make sure that the truth about what happened never came out.

She fixed Draco with a stony glare. "Is it true?"

"Well, not entirely."

"Not. Entirely?"

"Well, it's true that the treasure is missing and the Ministry is after me…"

"Why didn't you TELL me! I can't believe I've been…been...working with you, been friendly with you and you never said anything. How dare you take advantage of me like that!"

"Ginny please," Draco said, reaching out for her, "let me explain! It's not what you think!"

She batted his hands away from her and stood facing him, arms crossed over her chest, the angry glare still set in her eyes. "And what is it that I'm thinking, Malfoy?"

"Merlin, Ginny! I don't know! Just let me explain. It's not at all like Ron said. I got the staff from Bill, we met at a pub in Ur and then that night-"

"I don't want to hear it, Malfoy! We're wasting time. We've got to find Bill, we can argue about this later." Ginny struggled with herself and managed to resist the urge to stomp her feet and stalk off like she did when she was younger.

Draco grabbed Ginny by the wrist and pulled her too him before she could get away. "Listen to me, Ginny, if I had told you the truth when you first hired me, if I had told you that I might have had something to do with Bills disappearance, would you have still hired me?"

Ginny sighed angrily and tried to step out of Draco's arms, but he was stronger then her and wouldn't let her go.

"Answer me, Ginny. Would you have still hired me if you knew that I was connected to Bill's disappearance?"

"No." Her voice was cold and unfeeling, but she spoke the truth.

"And would you be right here, right now, about to find Bill?"

"No."

"Exactly." Draco began to say something else, but Ginny yelled at him to shut up.

Draco was about to argue with her, but realized she was trying to listen for something. He paused for a minute; not moving, not speaking, and Ginny did the same.

Bill's voice could be heard, rising above the stifling silence encompassing them.

"Bill!" Ginny screamed loudly, her argument with Draco forgotten. "Bill can you hear me!"

Ginny ran down a dark stairway towards the sound of Bill's voice. Draco ran after her, his long legs allowing him to catch up to her easily. At the bottom of the steps was another very long corridor but unlike the hallways upstairs, there were no doors. The corridor widened at the end and opened into a dungeon. Draco could see wraithlike men chained to the wall. And there, in the corner, recognizable only by his shock of red hair, was Bill.

"Bill! Oh, Merlin! Bill!" Ginny ran over to him and hugged him tightly. "Bill, I was so worried."

Draco gave them a moment alone together. He turned to look at the other men in the room. None of them seemed to pay them any mind. A few looked up at him with madness in their eyes, most just stared at him blankly. A minute passed, then another. Finally, he approached Ginny and Bill.

"Draco," Bill said weakly. Ginny was surprised that Bill used Draco's first name.

"Hey, Bill. You were looking a lot better the last time I saw you," Draco kept his tone light. He was trying not to let his shock at Bill's current state come through in his voice.

Bill was emaciated. His cheeks were gaunt, almost skeletal and the skin around his eyes was a sick shade of purple. In between trying to talk to Ginny, he kept coughing, a dry hacking cough that caused his entire body to convulse, and Ginny to flinch each time his body spasmed.

"Let's get you out of here," Draco said firmly. One look at Ginny told him that she was about to loose her cool, Bill was in no state to take charge.

Ginny tried to hex the chains that held Bill to the wall away but her hands were shaky. Draco took her by the shoulders and led her away. "Ginny, you're shaking. Let me do this."

Ginny was too emotionally drained to argue. She stepped back and watched as Draco tried first one spell, and then another to remove the chains. Finally on the third spell, a particularly nasty severing Charm Ginny remembered seeing used during the war, Bill was free. He tried to stand up, but fell down almost immediately. Ginny dove to catch him, but Draco was closer, and after a minute, Bill was standing up once more, leaning heavily on Draco.

"Let's get out of here," Ginny whispered. "Draco, can you Apparate with him?"

Inwardly, Draco sighed with relief. Ginny was calling him Draco again, and not Malfoy. "I can handle it," he said out loud. "Are you okay to Apparate?"

Ginny nodded.

"Wait…" Bill croaked, his voice hoarse from screaming. "Nasir."

"What about that old bat?" Draco asked. "It's his fault we're all here."

"No," Bill shook his head. "He's here…too…in the…corner." It was getting harder and harder for him to talk. The weeks of torture and lack of food were catching up with him.

Ginny looked at the man chained to the wall in the corner. His skin was dull, wrinkly, and yellow and he did not look up when she called out to him.

"He's not talked in days, doesn't even scream anymore," Bill said quietly. "We need to…bring him…"

"Bill! Let's get you to safety, first. Then we'll come back for him."

"No, Ginny," Draco said forcefully. "Bill is right. We need to bring him with us now, and figure out what happened to the Staff."

"The staff is no concern of yours, foolish mortal."

Ginny whipped around at the sound of a new voice. There, in the opening to the dungeon stood a tall, dark haired woman. Her dress – what there was of it, involved strips of fabric that barely managed to cover her breasts. Ginny's eyes were drawn to a heavily inked tattoo on the woman's chest. The symbols on it were familiar. Ginny recognized them from the palace she'd been exploring the past few days.

"What are you staring at, little girl? Do you not know who I am?"

"Ginny, RUN!" Bill bellowed.

"Silence!" Lamaštu shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the dungeon.

Somehow Draco managed to drag Bill over to Ginny. He kept one arm around Bill's shoulders and with the other arm, grabbed Ginny around the waist. He was going to Apparate them all out of there. Nasir was on his own.

Unfortunately for them all, it didn't work.

Lamaštu laughed at him, a husky, low laugh that under other circumstances, would have intrigued – and even excited – Draco.

"Foolish boy, do you think I would let you get away so easily? You who stole my staff and dared to take away my power!"

Lamaštu stretched out a long, taloned finger and pointed it at Bill. Ginny watched in horror as the demoness slowly raised her arm, her brother raising up off the floor in unison with her movements. Her efforts to keep him anchored to the ground were futile.

Bill rose several feet off the ground, and his skin began to glow a pale, unearthly green. His mouth was open, but no screams could be heard. Soon Bill hovered below the ceiling, and the greenish grow extended from his body and into a thin line that jutted out of his heart and connected to tip of Lamaštu's finger.

A smug grin spread across Lamaštu's face. Every pain induced movement Bill made sent a shiver of pleasure through her body. A crook of her taloned finger had Bill screaming in agony, a scream so awful it sent pangs of terror through Ginny's heart. Without thinking, she tore herself away from Draco, and leapt in front of Lamaštu. Her body intercepted the thin line of ancient magic connecting Bill to Lamaštu, and instantly Bill fell to the ground, his screams turned to whimpers.

Lamaštu howled in anger. How dare this red-headed snippet take her prize! She reached out with her magic, prepared to destroy Ginny once and for all and found herself powerless. Something was taking away her power! And it was the girl!

Ginny wasn't sure what was happening. She had braced herself for pain, but felt nothing, despite the fact that the edgy, green line of magic that had harmed Bill, was now aimed directly at her chest. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, and Lamaštu's howls drowned out the sounds of her brother, and Draco. She could see their mouths moving but no sound reached her ears.

Turning away from them, she looked at Lamaštu once more, crying out in surprise when their eyes met. The beautiful, scantily clad woman from earlier was gone, and in her place was an awful, winged monstrosity. Lamaštu's once finely shaped head was replaced with that of a lion, and it was roaring in anger at Ginny. Her naked body was spattered with old bloodstains, and one disproportioned arm clutched a piglet suckling at her breast.

From around her neck, Ginny's protective amulet began to pulse, expanding in size every time it throbbed against her chest. Every blast of magic thrown at her by Lamaštu was reflected by the amulet, and aimed back at the monstrous demon. Lamaštu screamed, a sound so high pitched that Draco and Bill clutched their ears, and turned away.

Failing to kill Ginny made Lamaštu very angry. As her anger increased, so did the curses and hexes she launched at Ginny. None of them, worked though. No matter what she did, the magic was tossed back at her, exploding in her face. With an angry snarl, Lamaštu leapt across the room. If magic wouldn't kill this red-headed irritant, than she would kill her with her bare hands.

No sooner did her hands touch the skin on Ginny's neck than they started to burn. Lamaštu screamed, but didn't let the pain stop her from choking Ginny. Moments dragged on like hours. The skin on Lamaštu's hands started to crackle, but still she held on. Ginny tried to breathe, but couldn't. Just when she thought she was about to pass out, the grip on her neck relaxed. Lamaštu's body rocketed away from her, slamming into a concrete pillar before sliding to the ground.

Ginny stumbled forward before collapsing herself. Whatever magic Lamaštu used to hold Bill and Draco in place dissipated and Draco rushed toward Ginny, as fast as he could while holding onto Bill. Both of them knelt at her side.

"Is she…dead?" Ginny managed to whisper, her throat hoarse from being choked.

"Stay here," Draco said firmly, fixing first Ginny, and than Bill with what Ginny would remember later as a very parental glare. "I'll find out."