CHAPTER SIX: THE LABYRINTH

Ginny stared at the empty box, once filled with potions. She felt just empty as the box, picturing what it once held. She knew what this meant, too—it filled her with a sense of dread to think of it. She would have to go back to Master Doru's manor to get more for her stash. Ginny didn't have the strength right now to go without, not after what had happened with Harry the other day.

Thinking of him seemed to send her into a spiral of desire, guilt, anger, and then finally, numbness. It wasn't as if she were in love with him, but something inside her did feel a magnetic pull towards him that she had never experienced before. None of her past lovers had ever elicited such a feeling.

Of course, she hadn't been an addict then, either.

Ginny gnawed on her lip as the pain in her back grew worse at the thought of not going back to Doru's. She needed to go back.

She stood up, throwing the box in the trash bin. They would provide another for her next stash, and she didn't need extra boxes around. Ginny grabbed the painting-in-progress to show Doru her efforts. It wasn't too shabby, if she said so herself. Very promising beginnings, though still nowhere near the masterpiece it would be within the next few weeks.

She supposed, on the bright side of everything going on in her life, at least she had time now to complete the painting during the day. She had been fired from the Leaky Cauldron, despite her best attempts to cajole and plead to keep her spot on payroll. One missed shift, and she was out. She knew that she needed to find another gig to keep her flat, but now she would have to wait until after she finished the painting.

After all, what was a flat, compared to one's life?

Ginny charmed her hair brunette again, almost sure that everyone at Doru's knew exactly who she was despite the change in colour. Still, it did make her feel safer if there was anyone outside the usual there.

She decided to fly her motorcycle this time. The weather outside was beautiful, golden autumn sunlight dappling through the trees outside her flat.

Ginny wore her leather jacket, grabbed the painting and her helmet, and walked up the stairs to the roof where she stored the motorcycle behind a magical privacy fence she had installed for it when she'd moved in.

Placing the keys into the ignition, she grinned as it rumbled to life. Her baby, her first purchase after she'd gotten hired on with the Harpies. Lucky, her bonus had been enough to pay for it outright, otherwise she would have had to sell it to get rid of her monthly payments. The motorcycle was Ginny's one luxury she had left in her life.

She pushed away the memories of the life she'd led when she'd been a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and focused on the drive she'd be making. It would take her an hour or two to get there, but she anticipated that the trip would help her clear her head a bit. Flying always did.

She pressed the invisibility booster button and took off to Staffordshire.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Harry was all she could think about as she drove. The way the light caught in his dark, lustrous, and messy hair. The green shade of his eyes darkening above her as he prepared to enter her, and the way his calloused hands had felt against her cheek.

Ginny shook her head of the memories, pushing it all into the furthest recess of her mind.

As she continued her drive, the air got chillier and more damp. She found herself shivering in her leather, wondering if she should turn around. It certainly seemed like an omen as the sky continued to darken, rain clouds gathering around her. Finally, Ginny decided to land, preferring not to get struck by lightning.

She drove the motorcycle on the ground the rest of the way to the manor. By the time she arrived, she was soaked through to the bone. Teeth chattering, she pushed the electic button on the entrance gates, barely able to keep her finger steady. She waited for a moment, the chill reminding her of the chamber, and as the gate finally opened, the rain began pouring even harder, hitting Ginny's face like sharp pellets of ice. Wincing, she ran towards the front doors, glad to have shelter so near.

The door opened quickly enough, as if they had prepared themselves when she had buzzed in at the gates. It was Morana who opened the door to let her in, her eyes widening at the sight of Ginny, pale and shivering.

"Come in, quickly," Morana ushered her in. "I can take you to get changed into something dry before you meet with the Master."

Ginny nodded, every muscle in her body quivering and cramping. Nothing sounded better than a hot bath, dry clothing, and steaming hot tea.

Morana led her to a part of the manor she had never seen before. Everything seemed to grow colder the further back they walked. The artwork, too, grew more grotesque, and Ginny suppressed a shudder. At the end of a long, dark corridor, Morana opened a large oak door and motioned for Ginny to go in. With some trepidation, she stepped into the room. Frankly, she wasn't surprised by what she found inside. It matched every part of the manor that she had seen thus far—antiquated, rich in color and old-world feel.

There were also statuettes of serpents set on various surfaces, and she wondered if they knew just how much she fucking hated snake statues. It felt like they taunted her every time she visited.

The carpets laid over the limestone flooring were plush and expensive feeling under her feet; she immediately removed her shoes so she wouldn't ruin it. She wondered if it was Turkish but did not voice her questions to Morana.

"You can draw a bath if you would like, cousin," Morana gestured to the corner of the room. "The lavatory is right through that closed door."

"I'll be back in an hour or so to escort you to the Master, cousin."

Ginny nodded wordlessly and watched as Morana left, closing the door behind her. She gravitated towards the door Morana had shown her, opening it hesitantly.

It was indeed a lavatory, with a large, clawfoot bathtub that looked wonderful to bathe in. Oh, how Ginny adored long, hot baths.

She played with the taps for a moment, twisting them this way and that until the water was the perfect temperature. She peeled off the wet clothes, feeling as if she were ripping a plaster off her whole body. She unplaited her hair and turned off the tap, grabbing a thick luxurious looking towel off the nearby rack.

Setting it on the table next to the tub, she climbed in and allowed herself to sink down into the water. Her skin burned deliciously, and she knew that she would be red when she emerged.

She watched as tendrils of steam billowed upwards from the water, delighting in the humidity and the cool sheen of water it left on the sides of the tub. Her muscles relaxed for the first time in hours. Holding her breath, Ginny submerged herself completely, enjoying the way her hair looked as it moved in the water currents.

After what seemed like ages, the water started to cool, and Ginny climbed out of the bathtub grudgingly. She luxuriated in the feeling of the soft towel against her skin, rubbing every part of herself to dry. Wrapping the towel around her body, she walked into the bedroom proper and looked for where she might find the dry clothing Morana had promised.

There wasn't anything set out, so she checked the wardrobe. The only thing that it held was a dress that looked like it belonged in the Regency era. It had Bishop-style sleeves, an empire waist, and a wide, square neckline. Worst of all, it was pink! Albeit, it was a lighter, prettier shade of pink, but she still made sure to look for anything else the room might have had.

Of course, it had absolutely nothing else.

Regrettably, the old-style dress was the only thing to wear besides her wet clothes, which had mysteriously disappeared while she had been in the bath… in their place, a hot cup of tea with crème.

She put the dress on, glad to find that it at least did not confine her movements. Finding a brush on the beside table, she ran it through her hair, working out any tangles that had found their way into the strands.

She sipped at the tea, finding that it was her favourite that Morana always brought to her—Lady Grey, and honey. There was a hint of something else in the flavor, but Ginny couldn't quite place it.

She was finally somewhat presentable, and she thought that Morana ought to have appeared by now, but she was still alone.

Ginny sat down on the bed, looking around at the art that decorated the room, ignoring the snake statuettes.

In the room, the paintings only had unmoving landscapes. She wasn't sure if the occupants were out visiting friends, or if they were Muggle art. Quirking an eyebrow, she moved closer to one that seemed familiar. It was a landscape, still, and she knew it wasn't the work of any renowned, great artist, but the painting style and stroke technique told her that the artist had considerable skill, and talent. Something in the way the strokes had been done made her feel like she was on some sort of precipice as she stared at the cliffside scene, and the way that the sea spray hit the treacherous looking rocks below.

She was sure it was just her artists' eye, more than anything else, that drew her to it. Ginny drained the small remainder of tea in her cup and set it down where she had found it, finally deciding she had had enough waiting.

Ginny opened the door and peered down the corridor. It was empty and seemed even darker than before. Nevertheless, she set out to find someone. Hopefully, Morana.

She couldn't quite remember where they had turned from at the other end of the corridor, as they had traversed many staircases and hallways and had seemed to double-back sometimes. She took a random guess, hoping that it was the right direction.

She climbed up a flight of stairs, feeling strangely woozy. The dress made her legs feel heavier, she decided. She didn't recognize where it had taken her. She hadn't been here before. Her heart began to race, images of other times and other places pushing their way to the front of her mind. Dark rooms, dungeons, wands drawn on her and her friends… the chamber, cold and wet and full of the echoed sounds of slithering

You're not there, Ginny told herself sternly. You're a grown woman who can protect herself.

She wasn't sure if she believed it, but she tried to convince herself.

She walked carefully down the hallway, listening for any sound in the rooms she passed by. It was silence besides her own steps and the sound of the rain against the window at the end of the corridor.

When she reached it, Ginny stared out, trying to get a grasp of where she might be from the view of the gardens. It was so dark, though, that all she could see was the distant light of a town and the droplets of water on the glass. Everything else was obscured by the night.

Another corridor to her right was the only choice, and so she followed it, thinking maybe it would lead her somewhere. Just to another set of stairs, it seemed.

On and on it went, dizzying Ginny. Finally, in what she thought might be a lower level, she heard sounds from something other than her own heart.

The sound of a voice—it sounded like it might be Master Doru, she thought. Normally, she wouldn't approach him without prior arrangement, but she had been wandering lost for ages, and she just wanted this nightmare to end.

She listened at the door for a moment, but she didn't hear anything else from inside. Opening the door carefully, Ginny looked through the small crack she had created.

It was Master Doru, and someone else as well. He had his mouth to her neck, and Ginny couldn't tell if it was a kiss, or… something else. His eyes met hers, and his mouth detached from where it had been planted. Blood trickled down the smallest bit from the corner of his mouth, and he smiled, showing even more blood in the cracks of his teeth.

"Ginevra," he greeted. "How unexpected." He let go of the girl he had been holding onto, and she dropped like a limp ragdoll onto the floor.

"Hello, Master Doru," she said, keeping her voice steady.

"It is too bad you saw that," he told her.

"I didn't see anything if you didn't want me to," Ginny assured.

"Oh, Ginevra, if only that were true." In seconds, Master Doru had ripped the door from her grasp, opening it fully. He grasped onto her wrist and pulled her further into the room.

Ginny was torn between fighting him and freezing up. All these years, she had thought herself strong and brave. She had done horrible things in the name of staying alive, and protecting others, and now every bit of her that had felt like steel before felt like it was turning into something icy. Fear.

After a moment of awful indecision, she pulled her arm away from his hand, realizing how tightly he had grabbed her. He grabbed for her again, pulling her into his body.

"No!" she shouted, pushing against him. "No!"

Ginny reached for her wand, realizing that she hadn't had it in quite a while.

He tutted and stared into her eyes. She felt her will sliding away from her grasp, and Master Doru began to lean down towards her, lips so close to hers… revulsion echoed in her, but her body would no longer fight. At the last moment, his lips diverted from their path and found a new target: her neck.

His teeth lingered, scraping against her skin for the smallest second before they clamped down, sharp and awful.

Her mouth opened involuntarily, and Ginny wanted to scream in terror. She was trying to push away from him, to disengage him from her neck, but her body wouldn't move. And suddenly, his bite was both awful and wondrous.

Images began to find their way to the front of her mind again: memories that she had long kept hidden from even herself.

First was the Chamber of Secrets, and the way it had seemed like she was staring down at her own lifeless body from above as she had waited desperately for someone, anyone, to save her from Tom. He had gloated and gloated about what a stupid little girl she was, how she had been so naïve and trusting, how she had given him her very soul and allowed him to live.

She saw Alecto Carrow's face, grinning madly as she tortured Ginny in front of her friends, and how she had allowed Amycus to tear her blouse open. She watched as she twitched on the ground in pain, unable to move, how Neville had come to her aid, but Alecto had turned her curse on him.

"This is what happens to blood-traitors," Alecto had told them all when Neville laid next to her on the cold, wet stone floor, unconscious and bleeding from his mouth.

Ginny felt like throwing up, the sight of Neville's injuries turning her stomach.

Now, she was marching to Alecto's quarters and murdering her. She was retching in the Forbidden Forest, already knowing that Amycus would be next. She was planning his death, making it crueler, but more honourable than Alecto's had been.

She was at that final battle of the war, watching a boy named Harry Potter die at Tom Riddle's hand. His body went limp, and Tom's high, cold laugh filled the terrible silence that surrounded them all. The Death Eaters were all laughing, too, taunting them. And Ginny marched toward the Dark Lord, intent on finishing him herself, or dying in the attempt.

It was her mother who held her back, hugging her to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Ginny felt so small and cold and alone, all her steel bars in her chest disintegrating into dust.

I am not a victim, Ginny thought. I have survived every cruelty this world has offered me, and I am not dying here. She was steel, cold and strong.

Finally, her arms worked again, her eyes pried themselves open. Ginny pushed Doru away, no longer afraid. She was angry, and there were warm rivulets of blood trickling down her neck onto the ugly, old dress that she had been forced to wear.

"Get the fuck away from me!" she yelled.

His dark eyes narrowed in anger. "You will not defy me, Ginevra," his eyes stared into hers, and she reciprocated, daring him to control her once again.

"You may not have noticed, but I defied the Dark Lord multiple times," she hissed. "I lived with him in my head for nine months, and I have quite a tolerance for those shuffling through my memories."

Her blood was on his high, white collar.

She saw red, casting a spell she had never attempted without a wand. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green spell flew from her fingers, hitting Doru in the chest. Ginny stared at him silently, shocked that she had even been able to cast the spell without her wand.

Doru, however, was not dead. No, he wasn't dead—but he was enraged. Snarling, he flew towards her, backhanding her across the face.

Ginny saw stars as she crumpled down, trying to keep her wits about her. "How dare you?" Doru growled. "Come into my home, ask for my potions that I know you need, and try to murder me!"

Out of breath and head spinning, Ginny grit out, "It's not murder if you're already soulless." It seemed to enrage him even more, and Ginny wondered if that would be the last thing she would ever say.

How could she escape? she wondered, trying to devise some sort of plan. Ginny had gotten herself out of a number of sticky situations before, but this seemed even more impossible than anything else that she had encountered—something she would have been hard-pressed to believe possible if anyone had asked her this morning.

If only she were an animagus, she thought. And if only she had her wand… how stupid it had been of her, she realized, to walk away from that room without it. She hadn't been thinking clearly, she admitted, though she wasn't sure why.

Merlin, she was so tired…

Doru was staring at her, as if waiting for her to try something else, but all she wanted to sleep. Still, she did have to at least try to run. Stumbling to the door, she opened it and began to run, her legs leaden cinder blocks that she had to drag along with her.

She felt like she'd been running forever, but when she stopped for a quick breath, she found herself back in the room with Doru.

"You cannot run, Ginevra," he informed her. "You're too weak from the blood loss, and the wandless magic, and, oh, yes, the potion that we put in your tea."

Somehow, Ginny felt even more betrayed than she had previously. Morana had dosed her? Was that the reason why she had even begun to wander this god-awful manor in the first place? Oh, she was so sleepy. She tried to keep her eyes open as the stars around her began to dance around her, but blackness engulfed her, and she knew no more.