A/N: sorry for the delay, the updating of this fic basically depends of my mood. I'm too busy. But thank you for keeping an eye on it. I'm just lacking inspiration right now. I'm posting but I'm not convinced by it. Not at all. So review and let me know if I should just give up on it.

Chapter 33

Snape's pov

„Too much stress, Severus. Way too much stress; which is perfectly understandable considering the situation. She needs rest, possibly a break from the castle, if you can convince her. Or get someone to convince her," Madam Pomfrey babbles.

I hardly listen. I mean, it's only Molly Weasley, she'll be fine. Besides, she's so stubborn I doubt I would be able to talk her into taking a break from all this. Besides, this is rubbish. She can handle a family of seven, she can handle whole classes of daft students, she can handle anything from war to her teenagers but she's breaking now? Human beings are beyond my comprehension. It's now that we need to be careful and strong.

"Severus, are you even listening to me?" shrieks Pomfrey.

I mentally cringe but present an even face to her. "Of course I'm listening, but you know her, she won't be as complacent as me when it comes to listening."

"Then the only way is to sort out this mess."

"Yeah, you go stop Voldemort and his evil little plots, eh."

"Cynicism rots you Severus," she finally snaps and turns away.

I roll my eyes and stalks towards Molly. She opens her mouth to speak but my glare stops her. I stand in front of her with my arms crossed in what I hope is a scary enough attitude. "Let's get this straight. You shut up and listen and anything I will say is not open to discussion. I'm going to owl your husband today, because you are taking a break. You are going to spend a nice, relaxing week at your house and not think about anything else than knitting and that kind of quirky stuff."

I can see she's ready to protest but I nonetheless continue. "I will take care of everything here, you have nothing to worry about. End of discussion. Comments? No? Excellent."

I turn around and flee from the hospital wing before she can say anything or express any protest of any kind. I immediately owl Arthur Weasley (the earlier he comes and gets her, the better) and finally can relax in my office. Think over stuff again. Think about everything Hannah Abbott told us of Voldemort's plans. Twisted. Twisted but very smart. And very random. Too many variables. But if it amuses him to figure out screwed up plans, it's his problem. I just hope they fail. Ginny has maybe been possessed, but she's too bright to go on his side. And Draco… Would he really ally with someone who promotes torture after everything he endured?

Ginny's pov

I'm hiding in my favourite spot in the library. I'm confused, worried, hurt and plenty of other things that I can't seem to figure out. Basically, I'd say I'm a mess. I'm not sure of what I overheard of Blaise's and Draco's conversation a couple days ago. I'm hurt he treated me like that because I thought our friendship mattered to him. But then again, if I heard correctly, his actions sort of make sense in a very stupid way.

And now I just had a talk with Snape about Mum. She's gone nuts, apparently. Something about not being able to handle the stress. It worries me, Mum never loses it. She's like a rock. And now I feel lost and alone. Like I have nobody to rely on anymore. Draco doesn't speak to me, Mum broke. They're the only two people whom I really trust and I feel I've lost them both in a couple of days.

I'm so caught up in my train of thought that I don't hear the footsteps coming in my direction. Actually, I haven't even noticed that the library closed and that Mrs Pince forgot me inside. My brain goes dead as Lucius Malfoy towers in front of me. His cold, hateful eyes bore into mine.

"Evening, Miss Weasley," he drawls contemptuously.

I pack all my stuff quickly and get to my feet. I need to get out of here, I can't stand him here. I don't even know what he's doing here. I thought Fudge was supposed to arrest him. I thought it would be okay. I can hear the blood rush inside my brain and make his voice seem distant as well as my heartbeat blocking out the rest of the world.

I finally manage to ask him what he's doing here, I can't seem to move, I'm petrified with fear.

"Ah well, you see, our Prime Minister, Mr Fudge, came to me stuttering this very annoying and pitiful story about Draco. Seems that the little slime-ball is trying to get me into trouble, for some unknown reason. That little ungrateful brat, with everything we've given him. But it's been sorted now. Fudge has been informed of how much of a little attention-seeker Draco is. Honestly, inflicting such wounds on himself to get himself the spotlight and get his father into trouble with justice; what an undeserving child."

I feel anger rise in my chest as the trail of lies is unfolded with a smirk and a touch of cruel cynicism. I can hardly believe he managed to get rid of Fudge, I refuse to accept someone could believe this load of rubbish. My head is buzzing, I hardly hear myself scream at him that he's a liar and a bastard.

The slap I receive calms me quite effectively. I can feel the blood trail from my lip but I can't seem to command to my hand to wipe it away. I can't do anything else than look at the man. He regains his falsely charming composure and smirks at me once more. "Now, Miss Weasley, shall we go for a walk? Imperio."

I feel my body move, walk out from the library. I want to scream that Lucius Malfoy is right behind me, under an invisibility cloak, but I can't. nobody seems to notice me as I head for the main entrance of the castle. I can't break the spell; being trapped in my own body makes me panic beyond belief. I pray with all my strength that someone sees I'm not myself but they're all blind. I keep walking without hesitation. Then an arm grabs me and Hogwarts fades in front of me.. We apparated away.

Dumbledore's pov

I'm sitting quietly, feeding Fawkes, when Draco comes running in my study. I don't know how he got the password as I changed it just one hour ago. That kid is too smart for his own good.

"Professor, something's wrong with Ginny, but I can't understand what."

He's out of breath, he must have run all the way from the dungeons, which is completely idiotic considering his body definitely not fully healed. I sigh and look at him above my glasses.

"Maybe you can't understand her anymore since you two fell out."

I can see that this comment makes him angry. "Can you be serious five minutes? Aren't you like, supposed to be the headmaster of this nutty place? The highest authority? Can you stop treating me like an idiot for once? Or do you have to always be this pathetic sort of father figure that I personally don't want?

I slightly smile, even though I suppose I should be quite offended. "Are you sure you don't want a father figure though?"

He slams both hands on my desk and leans forward with ice in his eyes. "Parents are useless. I could have done without, thank you. Now can we get back to the important topic here instead of wasting time babbling about your fantasies of happy families?"

"Enough of that attitude Mr Malfoy. I will not tolerate this anymore. You need to learn how to control yourself." Now my voice is sharp and devoid of sympathy.

"I can control myself."

"I meant, without a knife. Now, leave. Come back when you're calmer. I'm sure Miss Weasley is just upset about your behaviour and her mother's problems. Maybe you can also ponder what friendship means to you, it will do you some good."

The frozen mask is back on his face. "If that's how you take it, professor. A bit easy to provoke me and then get rid of me without hearing anything of what I had to say. But as you said, it's my mistake, right?"

The door slams behind him as an owl lands on my desk. I realise I might have been a bit hard on him, but he needs to learn.

An owl lands on my desk, Fudge's writing on the envelope. It's my turn to be truly angry when I read the contents of it. Lucius Malfoy won again, I'm nauseated.

McGonnagal's pov

"WHAT?"

"I had the whole castle searched Severus, she's nowhere to be found!"

"Minerva, she has to be somewhere for Merlin's sake."

I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. Very deep breath. So deep I nearly choke. Ginny Weasley is nowhere to be found and it's getting late. Her dorm is tidy, nothing is missing except herself and her schoolbag. I checked the library, I checked the kitchens, had the house elves look for her in all the other houses but there's no sign of her anywhere.

"Have you had the Slytherin quarters searched?"

I sigh. Who does he think he's talking to? "Yes Severus, I have. I even called at the Burrow to see if she hadn't gone with her mother. I even had Potter look on the map of Hogwarts that he possesses, she's not on it. That map never lies and shows everybody. And no, this is not the time to discuss why Potter has such an item in his hands," I add sharply before he can say anything.

The gargoyle finally springs apart and we both run up the stairs. Dumbledore's pacing his study, as per usual. Most of the portraits on the walls are already sleeping, snoring more or less loudly. He seems even in front of our obvious distress, it's rather unnerving.

"You mean, she's not in the castle anymore?" he asks softly, looking pensively out of the window.

I roll my eyes in chorus with Severus. "She's not in the castle, she's not on the grounds, Hagrid even had creatures search the forest. She is nowhere to be found Albus."

He looks down to the floor. "So perhaps I should have listened to the young Malfoy when he came here earlier. He said something was wrong but he couldn't pinpoint it."

"Fine, let's get Malfoy here," drawls Severus.

"I don't think it will be necessary, professor Snape."

I jump about a foot high. I wasn't exactly expecting a ghost to meddle with our conversation, but Hannah Abbott suddenly appeared in the air. Looking even paler and sicker than usual… if that's possible of course.

"I saw Ginny. She's at Malfoy Manor. With Lucius Malfoy… And You-Know-Who."

I feel a very big, very hurting ball grow in my throat and suffocate me. I can hear Severus in the distance, ranting and screaming about Fudge's incompetence, stupidity and lack of basic courage or dignity, Albus trying to calm him down and sending Hannah back there to watch over Ginny, pondering who should be informed of the happenings.

I'm losing my mind.

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