A/N: Although this is a continuation of the idea I posted in Chapter 36, this is actually the scene I first came up with when I first got this idea. It is also the only other scene I have of this not quite fic, as I haven't really been able to come up with more. While my muse, lately, has been good to me, she hasn't given me everything I've wanted, only just enough. Whatever my muses' plans, they don't include this particular idea anytime soon.
Harry Potter and the Rise of the Dark Lords: Ginny (working title)
Harry crept through the tower, his disillusionment charm helping to conceal him from those not actively looking for him. His thoughts turned to the others, those fighting outside, hopping to put an end to the dark menace, and those of his friends who were still missing.
Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna...
Ginny...
None of them had been located since they had gone missing. Not a trace of them had been found, even with all the raids and the captured minions of the Black Knight and his ilk. Wherever his friends were, Harry mused, the Dark Savior had hidden them quite well before he was betrayed and murdered by the Black Knight.
Harry's thoughts turned to the Dark Lords themselves; The Dark Savior, the Enchantress, the Black Knight, the Chronicler, the Black Lion and the Seer. He had a feeling some of the others knew more about them than they let on, but he couldn't be sure.
All Harry knew of them was the Black Knight's repeated attempts of trying to kill and torment him. The Dark Savior had been betrayed and killed by the Black Knight around the time the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix had rescued Harry, which had been a stroke of luck on their part. The Enchantress had not been seen since the attack and the Black Knight stepped in to fill the role of leadership when the Dark Savior fell, the Chronicler at his side as the Enchantress had been for the Dark Savior.
He came to a door. He felt it was important. Harry wasn't sure why, but an instinct in his gut told him it was so. Behind the door he could feel two powerful presences.
"How fares the battle below?" he heard an attractive female voice.
"As expected Mistress," said another female. Both gave off a feeling of odd and unsettling familiarity that Harry often felt in the presence of the Black Knight, but he figured that was due to both his time spent in their captivity and his amnesia. "Both our forces and the Aurors are stalemated."
"Very well," said the first woman, "And Potter?"
Harry stiffened at the mention of his name, his heart pumping rapidly in his chest.
"He's at the door, listening to us at this very moment," said the second woman.
"Good. Most fortunate," said the first woman. Harry thought he could almost hear the smiling expression on her face that was inflected in her voice. "Why don't you join us, Harry?"
Harry mentally cursed, but did as she requested. He dispelled the disillusionment charm and slowly opened the door, his wand in front of him, ready to start slinging spells at the first sign of danger. He took a quick look, taking in as many details as he possibly could before focusing on the two lone women in the luxurious room.
Both wore hooded black cloaks, though one of the women's back was to him and that was all he could see. The other one was kneeling at her feet. He could see her curly blonde hair peaking out from underneath her hood. His familiarity with her increased, he saw a flash of something but it was gone before he could process what it was.
"Leave us," ordered the woman with her back to Harry. Harry recognized her voice as the first woman who spoke.
The blonde nodded, and left with a muttered, "Yes, Mistress..."
"Hello... Harry..." the woman greeted him as she turned around. Her voice had a sort of melodic quality to it, one that affected Harry more deeply than he'd like to admit.
Harry kept his wand leveled at her. He could not see her face, but he could see her dark crimson hair underneath the hood. He also took in the sight of her body. It was lithe and extremely attractive. She wore a black gown with gold embroidery and trimmed with black lace. It hugged her body's curves, but was rather conservative, only the slightest hint of cleavage showing. There were also two slits on either side of the gown that showed off the woman's sleek and very attractive legs as she moved.
Harry mentally cursed himself for being so enamored by her apparent beauty, especially when he still loved Ginny, whom had been taken from him by this woman and her allies. Harry knew instantly who this woman was.
"Enchantress..." He gritted out.
"Pity... You realize who I am, yet you do not recognize me..." she said with a hint of disappointment. "It seems the Ministry was a bit more thorough than we'd expected. That is both reassuring and possibly problematic..."
"Wh-What?" Harry was genuinely confused. The woman was calm and collected, despite having a wand trained on her. She had not even shown the slightest indication that she was even worried or even planning to retaliate.
She almost seemed relieved to see him.
Ignoring his shock, she moved gracefully towards the book case, before carefully pulling out a rather large tome.
"It's time..." she said cryptically. She placed the tome on a desk before opening it up and taking an object that had been hidden in it.
"Time for what?" asked Harry.
The Enchantress kneeled before him, placing the mysterious item on the floor in front of him. "Time for what is yours to be returned to you... Master..."
Harry was floored. He wasn't sure what to say or how to react. Especially once he saw the object she had laid on the floor.
It was a wand.
His wand.
The Elder Wand.
It was the very same wand that had a legendary bloody history and was also known as the Deathstick. An object that, coupled with the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility, allowed the wielder to become the "Master of Death". The very wand the Black Knight was searching for despite being in the possession of the Enchantress.
He looked at the kneeling woman. "Why?"
Instead of answering, the woman stood and turned away from Harry. She threw back her hood and turned towards him once more.
"G-Ginny...?"
She was different. Her skin paler, her chocolate brown eyes were more of an amber color and her fiery red hair was a dark crimson rather than the near orange-ish hue it had once been. Though she had gone through many changes, there was no doubt the woman before him, the Enchantress, was Ginny Weasley.
Still, despite her new and darker look, Harry couldn't deny how much more dangerous and sexy he found her. However, he fought desperately against this new feeling, letting the feelings of shock and betrayal win out over the new found surge of lust.
"Why? How… How could you?" he asked accusingly. "Your family... How could you choose this over them?"
"I didn't," she said calmly as she looked him square in the eye. "I chose you."
"I... I don't understand..." Harry said as he dropped his wand arm. He still kept a rather tight grip on his wand.
"I betrayed everything we thought we knew for you. For years, I would have followed you to the ends of the earth," said Ginny, "My loyalty has been and always will be yours."
"But... You... You're...." Harry managed to slightly stutter out, realization slowly coming to him. "What about the others?"
"You haven't put it together yet?" Ginny frowned, seemingly slightly disappointed. "I suppose it is a bit of a shock, Master."
"So, Ron... And Hermione..." Ginny nodded, "Neville and Luna..." Harry was bewildered. "Then I..."
"Yes, until my oaf brother betrayed you," said Ginny. "It was subtle at first, but he craved more, more than what you were willing to give, more than you even had, but he was blinded by power. Lusted over that which you commanded. Even now, I am still unsure how much Hermione was aware of at the time, and how much she knows now. Her loyalty to you was only surpassed by my own and Luna's."
"So you're unsure whether she is more loyal to me or to Ron," replied Harry. Ginny nodded, however as she did something else occurred to Harry. "Wait… You said the Ministry was 'a bit more thorough than we'd expected', what did you mean by that?"
Ginny let out a small, alluring laugh. It was easy to see why she was called the Enchantress. "Because, like Ron, they are fools and easily manipulated. It was part of our plan… Your plan. A few whisperings to the right people, and instead being publicly exposed and executed, you were simply stripped of your memories and set against us. The Ministry was incredibly thorough in erasing the past few years, however they were not able to completely subjugate you to their collective wills as many of your skills have been bleeding through, if the reports about your abilities are to be believed."
"Who else is aware of this?" asked Harry.
"Only you, Luna and myself," replied Ginny easily.
Harry ran his hand through his hair and sat down, trying to digest everything he was being told with a tired sigh.
"Why did I do it?" asked Harry.
"Why did you 'go dark' you mean," Ginny stated. At Harry's nod, she sighed. "That, even I don't know."
Harry looked up incredulously at her. "What do you mean, you don't know!"
"Exactly what I meant," Ginny replied as she met his gaze straight on. "You never told anyone. Not even me, and Luna could not ever discern the reason even with her considerable gifts. When you and Voldemort disappeared in front of Hogwarts, it felt as if my heart was being ripped out of my chest and when you returned, victorious, I knew my place was to always be by your side. I love you, Harry, I have for years. I am utterly and completely yours. I have and will always follow you unquestioningly, for as long as I live."
Ginny looked away from him with a wistful expression. "What I do know, is that wherever you and Voldemort went, you saw something, something that almost killed you. Something you saw fit to prepare the Wizarding World for."
"I don't understand," Harry frowned.
"When the world believed Voldemort to be dead the first time, they grew complacent," Ginny explained. "The cycle began to repeat itself again after the Battle of Hogwarts. The Wizarding World, as it was, would surely have been destroyed. It was only through your efforts that the Wizarding World has become strong, united even, in the face of the common enemy. While many were confounded by your actions, I saw them for what they truly were. However, in your absence, my oafish brother has undone much of what we sought to gain. He might be a consummate chess player, but he knows nothing of subtlety or strategy. If allowed to continue, his brutish tactics will see the world destroyed by a threat that only you perceive, yet can not remember."
"So what would you have me do, destroy your brother and retake the mantle of Dark Lord?" Harry asked accusingly.
"If need be, yes," replied Ginny coldly. "Luna once said that it was your destiny to rule the Wizarding World. Whether it is still true remains to be seen. However, if one thing is certain, that was never Ron's destiny."