Year Five, Part Five
"Fifty thousand galleons," Dolohov remarked with a low whistle. "Damn. I don't think I've ever seen any of us get such a high bounty before."
"Well," Ginny chuckled, "I did kill Dumbledore."
"Not only that. Apparently, you're the Dark Lord's second-in-command, and you were the one who masterminded the whole Hogwarts attack."
"Not that I mind taking the credit for that," Ginny said, sitting down and pulling the butter toward her. "But you, Bellatrix, and Rookwood came up with most of the plan."
"That's alright. You can have every Auror wannabe chasing after you. I'm fine with living in obscurity."
Ginny stopped spreading butter over her toast, a thought occurring to her.
"Who do you think told? That it was me to kill him, I mean."
Dolohov out the paper down. A large picture of Ginny standing alone in one of the Hogwarts corridors covered most of the front page.
'Looks like one of Colin's.'
"Doesn't have to be that someone told," Dolohov said. "There were enough of those kids still conscious when you did it. The Imperius doesn't make its victims forget what they saw or did."
"I guess. But the whole thing about me masterminding the attack and being his second-in-command. None of those kids could have told them that."
Dolohov shrugged. "Whoever it was, they probably figured they'll give the Aurors something that sounds important, but doesn't actually tell them anything about our future plans. And it's not like you mind. Do you?"
She glanced back at the paper again. In the photo, she was smiling and waving. Beneath the photo of her, there was an announcement for the bounty.
'Let them all know who I am.'
"No, I don't mind. Just, now I've got to be worried someone will try and turn me in for that reward."
Dolohov started to laugh and then looked at her, his mirth fading as a slightly confused expression stole over his face.
"You really don't get it," he said slowly. "No-one would dare turn you in."
"I didn't mean one of us," she said, tapping on her forearm. "I meant like-one of the werewolves or Scabior-"
"Even them. Anyone who knows where you are knows well enough to be careful of you."
"Fifty thousand galleons though…"
Dolohov was shaking his head, laughter making him look twenty years younger.
"You're, what, fifteen years old? And that thing they said about you being second-in-command, it's not too far from the truth. I don't think you understand how absolutely insane that is. I don't think you really get what that says about you."
"Yeah, but-"
"Even if none of that was true," Dolohov interrupted, "Even if you hadn't shown how people really shouldn't fuck around with you, they'd still be far too afraid of Bellatrix to do anything against you. You've got nothing to worry about."
Ginny took a bite of her toast, chewing his words over along with the bread.
"You really think people are afraid of me?"
Dolohov paused before answering, seeming to carefully consider what he was about to say.
"Definitely. We've all seen the things you've done, and those who haven't seen have heard about them. No offence, but you can be a bit...brutal. Like with Lupin, and those people you had in the dungeon, and the Malfoy kid."
"Huh. That's useful, I guess."
Dolohov grunted non-committedly, picking up the paper again and returning to his reading.
By the time he spoke again, Ginny had finished her toast and was sipping her tea.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you...doing what you're doing to Draco?"
"I've barely done anything to him. For the most part, I've been leaving him alone."
"Come on," he said flatly. "Yesterday, you had him trying to dodge curses. And that's not what I meant, anyway. I meant, why him?"
"Oh. Well, the Dark Lord said-"
"I know what he said. It's just that-you've never really struck me as the type to torture someone for the pure joy of it. You go a bit overboard, but you've always had a reason for the people you hurt. Why him?"
Ginny cocked her head to one side, thinking about it.
"He's always annoyed me," she finally said. "Annoyed isn't quite right, actually. He's always driven me fucking mad. He'd strut around Hogwarts like he owned the place, just because his daddy had money. Always acting like he was better than everyone else."
"Lucius was like that too," Dolohov said. "Hopefully, Azkaban will have taught him some humility."
"He used to mock me," she continued, ignoring his input. "My whole family, really. Mostly my brother Ron, because he's friends with Potter, but he used to rag on me all the time. And then...when he came here, he was acting like I needed to listen to him. And then, then he dared use me as an insult to my brother. That fucking shithead, he doesn't deserve to say my name!"
"Ah," Dolohov nodded.
"What has he even done?" She cried, slamming her fist on the table, her blood suddenly boiling, "what did he have to do to prove himself? His whole fucking family, all they actually care about is themselves! And he still thinks he deserves something because he's a Malfoy! Fuck him! People like him are almost as bad as blood-traitors! I've killed half my fucking family, and people like him think they've somehow shown how dedicated they are?! Fuck that."
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax and picked up the mug she'd knocked over.
"I'm not planning on killing him," she said, her voice coming out more evenly than it had before. "Even if I was, the Dark Lord said not to until Lucius is out. I think-I'm just going to make sure he knows his fucking place, that it's really drummed into him. Then I'll let him go."
"You don't think he knows that already?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes.
"Narcissa put you up to this, didn't she?" She accused.
"Guilty as charged," Dolohov answered, looking not a drop ashamed by the admission. "Said she'd fuck me if I get you to let him go."
"Didn't you say that Azkaban killed your libido?"
"Only mostly. Besides, I'm pretty sure Lucius enrages me as much as his son does you. I'd quite enjoy taking his pretty wife from him."
"Sorry," she said, "but if you want, when I do let him go you can claim you convinced me? Hell, maybe I'll tell Draco you convinced me not to kill him."
"Much appreciated," Dolohov said. "Anyway, are you and Bella going after that Vance woman tonight?"
"Not tonight. I don't know though, I still think if we want to hurt the Order, taking out Moody or Black or Shacklebolt would be the way to do it. Hell, if we go for Mundungus Fletcher that'd basically cut off their connection to the underworld."
"Yes, but-"
"I know," she sighed. "Black is hiding out with Potter in Grimmauld Place, Moody's-"
"Wait. Where did you say Potter and Black are hiding?"
"In Grimmauld Place, you know...their... headquarters."
She broke off, eyes wide.
"The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," she said, her heart pounding with excitement, "Can be found at number twelve Grimmauld Place."
A cold rain beat down, forming little rivulets around the edges of the Dark Lord's shield.
Ginny wasn't sure exactly what the shield was, but he'd said that it would render them invisible to the outside world, and that was what mattered.
Scarcely an hour had passed since Ginny had realized that she could tell the secret of Order headquarters before she, Bellatrix, and Dolohov had accompanied the Dark Lord to raid it.
Draped around his shoulders, the Dark Lord's snake hissed angrily as he lowered his wand.
"There are no living presences in this house," he announced softly, cold disappointment seeping through his simply spoken words. "Doubtless, they understood the implications of Dumbledore's death before we did."
"I'm sorry, my lord, I didn't-"
"I do not care for apologies or explanations," he interrupted, not looking at her. "I desire results."
Her eyes trained on her shoes, Ginny tried to ignore the burning pit of shame in her belly.
"There could still be information, they often used to-"
"It is possible they were incompetent enough. Well, Weasley. Lead the way."
The door swung open revealing the dark and gloomy entrance hall.
'It's probably booby-trapped or something. This is punishment for not realising soon enough.'
Well, she deserved it.
She glanced behind her for a moment. Dolohov was entirely blank-faced, but Bellatrix nodded, albeit looking slightly apprehensive.
'This is what I get for fucking up. It's only right.'
Her wand at the ready, Ginny entered the abandoned townhouse.
It was certainly different when empty to how it had been when the Order was using it.
The strange portraits on the walls looked almost predatory, the carpets seeming more motheaten.
None of the tapers set in the walls were lit. The whole house was dark, the sunlight streaming through the few windows doing nothing to lift the gloom.
It was as if, once empty, the house itself raged against any who dared enter.
'Anything I touch could be cursed.'
Slowly, cautiously, Ginny made her way down the passageway, careful not to brush up against the peeling walls.
She was just past the curtains blocking Sirius' mother's portrait from view when it happened.
A wispy, ghostlike apparition appeared a little bit further down the hall. Its scraggly beard was matted with blood, its empty eye-sockets set in a skeletal face.
It hovered in place for a fraction of a second before shooting toward her, erupting in a terrifying howl as its arm rose with one finger extended.
Her tongue seemed to shrivel up in her mouth, speech becoming impossible. Jerking back, she slashed her wand through the air, an Explosive Curse leaping from the tip just as the curtains shot open and Sirius' mother began to scream.
Her curse worked, though. The figure blew apart, dissipating into myriads of sparkling motes that hung in the air before vanishing.
Ginny's victory, however, was short-lived. Something had grabbed her foot in an iron grip.
She didn't get the chance to even look down before she was yanked roughly, falling straight onto the floor with her arms splaying out, just barely managing to keep a hold of her wand.
The wall itself had come to life. It rippled, plaster spraying Ginny's prone form as wood tore and broke free, the shape of a monstrous man slowly pulling itself from the wall.
Only its head and torso were visible, its wildly flailing arms showering her with broken-off bits of wallpaper.
Shrieking, Ginny raised her wand.
One of the wall-creature's arms shot out, moving impossibly fast. It seized her arm and smashed it repeatedly into the ground, her wand rolling out of suddenly useless fingers.
Mindlessly, she began to writhe, finally giving in and screaming for rescue.
"HELP, HEL-"
She gagged, frantically swallowing the vomit that flooded the back of her throat, panic beginning to set in.
The creature had shoved its arm into her open mouth, cutting off her scream and blocking her throat with one move.
She could feel its fingers rubbing at the back of her throat, could taste the dust coating it.
Its lower chest came into view as it continued to pull itself free from the wall, ignoring her hysterical kicks as if it didn't even feel them.
'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to fucking die!'
She was shaking and bucking, pushing with everything she had, punching ineffectually with her one free hand and mindlessly kicking off.
None of it mattered. The creature just carried on, its knees making popping sounds as they left the wall, its pale white face staring impassively down at her.
Everything around her seemed to grow dim, the lack of air finally starting to cut her vision off. She could feel her limbs becoming weaker, her attempts to fight dying along with her.
'No, no, no!'
The wall creature shimmered for a moment before exploding and coating Ginny in a thick layer of fine powder.
Ginny rolled over onto her side and retched, her throat burning as she emptied her stomach onto the carpet.
"I trust that you will not disappoint me in the future."
Ginny forced herself to rise and to face her lord, ignoring the numerous aches from around her body.
"I won't," she rasped, every word an exercise in agony, "my lord."
He nodded absently and turned away, jabbing his wand further down the hallway.
A series of dark grey balls of light shot from the tip of his wand. One by one, they barreled off into the house, smashing into the walls and floor as they went.
The Dark Lord hissed something, and the snake by his legs slithered forward.
"I want every inch of this place searched," he said, before striding into the bowels of Grimmauld Place.
Dolohov walked swiftly past Ginny, patting her on the shoulder as he went. A moment later, Bellatrix was by her side.
"Are you alright, love?"
Nodding, Ginny continued to massage her throat, relishing the sensation of air filling her lungs.
"I think that was Sirius' work," Bellatrix said. "Very much his style. Well, we'll have to work on your Curse recognition. That was an embarrassing display."
"I know," Ginny coughed. "Let's just check this place and get the fuck out of here."
"Avada Kedavra!"
Emmaline just managed to summon her dining room table into the path of Ginny's Killing Curse.
Her momentary distraction proved to be her undoing, however, as Bellatrix made a slicing gesture with her wand.
As if it were made of paper, Emmaline's head tore from her neck, an impossibly huge torrent of blood erupting from the stump and drenching the room.
Her headless body stood for a moment before realising it was dead and falling forward with a soft splat.
"I really thought she'd be more difficult," Bellatrix said, "why, that was barely a challenge."
"I did say she wasn't one of their better ones," Ginny replied, conjuring up a handkerchief and wiping her face. "We'd be better off going after Moody, or trying to find Black and Potter."
"They'll still be demoralised by this. And we don't have the first place to start looking for Potter and my dear cousin."
"I still think your sister might be involved. She-"
"I told you, her house is protected with far too many enchantments for it to be worth an attempt unless we are absolutely certain."
Ginny sighed, staring down at the decapitated corpse.
It had been over a month since their fruitless search if Grimmauld Place, and they still had no idea where the Order had moved to or what they were planning.
Ginny couldn't imagine that they'd have just fled the country, as many people were said to have done.
Kingsley and Tonks were still reporting for work, at least according to their sources in the Ministry. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to go home afterwards.
There had to be somewhere else under the Fidelius, somewhere big enough for the surviving members of the Order to hide.
"How the fuck are we going to find them?" She muttered.
"They'll pop up in time," Bellatrix said distantly as she opened the nearest bookshelf and began to rifle through it. "Besides, it won't be long until the Ministry will be ours."
"I don't really get it," Ginny admitted. "Do you honestly think that people won't realize we're actually in charge?"
"They might."
Bellatrix pulled a piece of paper from between two thick tomes and tapped it several times with her wand. After a moment, she scowled and wadded it into a ball before dropping it to the ground.
"They might realize," she repeated, turning to face Ginny, "but nothing will be absolutely certain. And once we have the power, they'll be too afraid to do anything anyways."
"Yeah, but-"
"And once they see that we're not doing anything bad to the average witch in the street, they'll stay quiet and stop worrying. Especially when they see how much better everything is when we get rid of the Mudbloods and scum."
"I guess so…"
"Trust me, baby," Bellatrix said, walking over and giving Ginny a kiss on the forehead. "Most people don't care enough to stand up and fight, once they know we're not attacking them. We'll finally be able to just go out and do what we want. Imagine, going for lunch in Knockturn. We'll be able to pay a visit to your family. It'll be lovely, dear."
Ginny squirmed as Bellatrix's hand entered her robes and snuck into her panties.
"When?" She hissed, "When are we taking over?"
"Soon. In the meantime...let's enjoy ourselves."
"So? How's life been as a wanted criminal?"
Theo chuckled, sipping at his glass of lemonade and staring out at the forest.
It was a beautiful day, with not a cloud in the sky and the sun beating down on them.
The grounds were covered in new life, fresh grass and reborn flowers, spring having already started a few weeks earlier.
"These last few months have been bizarre," he said. "Of course, I've just been staying at Blaise, so it's been more like a long summer holiday than anything. Last week was the first time they even came to his house."
"And…"
"Well, his mother's still got enough contacts in the ministry to have found out about it beforehand. She hid me in her secret potions lab."
He shivered visibly, an almost fearful expression crossing his face.
"That woman is fucking terrifying." He said.
"What's she got down there?"
"Merlin's balls, Ginny. She's got fucking bucket loads of Veela blood and hair, tons of Siren scales, and a lot of things I really didn't want to identify. I'm pretty sure...I'm pretty sure she had a fetus in a jar, too."
"That's incredible," Ginny giggled. "How long were you down there for?"
"Over an hour. They had a whole long interview with Blaise, and I had to sit there in this dinghy room with these glowing-hey! It's not funny!"
"It's pretty damn funny," Ginny said, draining her own drink. "I'm just picturing you there, cringing away from her strange stuff."
"Seriously, you have no idea what it was like. At least they bought Blaise's story though. Funny, one of the Aurors came back later with some flowers and an apology for disturbing them."
"What did Blaise's mum do?"
"Probably harvested him for ingredients," Theo shrugged. "I'm telling you, she is one creepy lady."
"She sounds cool."
"She is. How about you? How's it been here?"
"Not too bad. Really haven't done much since the last time I saw you. Bella and I attacked one of the Order people a few weeks ago-"
"The Vance woman?"
"Yeah. Since then, mostly been working on curses, I guess. We hit some muggles in Brixton the other day, apparently, they were connected with the Muggle ministry. And other than that...really, it's been like a holiday. Although, the Dark Lord did say that he'd take me with when he goes to free everyone in Azkaban."
"When's that planned for?"
"Next week sometime, I think. He wants to wait until Yaxley's got Thicknesse under the Imperius, something about how the Azkaban attack will make it much easier to take over the rest of the government."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Still some dementors in Azkaban, apparently. Between them and the released prisoners, the Aurors are gonna have their hands full."
"I'll bet."
"You want any more of that?" Ginny asked, noticing that Theo's glass was empty.
"Yeah. It's pretty good."
Placing two fingers in her mouth, she let out a piercing whistle.
"Uh, you know you can just refill it, right?"
Theo pulled out his wand, hesitating when Ginny shook her head and whistled again.
Draco came running.
Smirking, Ginny glanced over at Theo. Wide-eyed, he stared at Draco with his mouth hanging half-open, a perfect caricature of amused shock.
To be fair, Draco's appearance was rather startling. It wasn't even the black eye and cut on his cheek that demanded attention.
It was the enormous pillowcase he was wearing like a toga and the fact that his ears had been transfigured into those of a house-elf.
After a moment, Theo guffawed.
Flushing, Draco stared at the ground.
"What can I do for you, mistress?"
"Excuse me?"
Draco's blush spread, tears sparkling at the corners of his eyes.
"What can Draco do for mistress?"
"That's better. First, you're going to bring more lemonade. Anything else, Theo?"
"I think I'm good," Theo drawled.
"Ok. More lemonade. Then, when you're done with that, I want you to slam the front door closed on your hands."
"Ple-"
Draco cut himself off with a small shudder and looked down.
"Yes, mistress," he said, his voice choked.
"Do you know why you deserve that?"
He shook his head, still staring at the floor.
She whipped her hand across his face, putting enough force into the slap to send him sprawling to the ground.
He pushed himself up almost immediately.
"Do you know why you deserve to slam your fingers in the door?"
"No, mistress," he replied hoarsely.
"Because I want you to. Because you annoy me. Because you still think you're something more than what you are. What are you?"
"I-Draco is nothing," he said, tears streaming down his face, his voice shaking, "Draco is worthless."
"That's right," she said softly. Almost gently, she reached out and seized the long hair at his nape. Tugging on it, she forced him to look at her.
"I'll let you go when you actually believe what you just said. When you aren't trying to convince me anymore, and you know that you're just saying the truth. Now, go do what I told you."
Draco ran off.
Theo was goggling at her, his face a picture of horrified admiration.
"You and Blaise's mum would get along really well," he finally said, seeming to overcome his shock. "Merlin's balls. Is that what you've been doing to him all this time?!"
"Kinda? I mean, I only call him like once or twice a day. The rest of the time he just does whatever he does. I keep his wand, of course."
"Of course," Theo echoed.
"And-well, I used him to test a few spells the other day, but really I'm just leaving him alone for the most part."
"Fucking hell. Remind me to never get on your bad side."
Laughing, Ginny punched him softly on the arm.
"Don't worry. You're not nearly stupid enough to do something like that."
"Success, my lord," Yaxley reported, looking extremely chuffed. "Thicknesse is now under the Imperius. Not only that, but I managed to have Gareth Robards and his two bodyguards placed under it as well. The Chief Auror is now under our control, as is the assistant Minister for Magic."
A low cheer went up around the room, Dolohov actually stretching out and clapping Yaxley on the back.
"Excellent," the Dark Lord hissed. "You have served me well, Yaxley."
"It is my honour, my lord."
"Indeed. How much longer until Scrimgeour can be removed?"
Yaxley looked down, as if to gather up his courage before speaking.
"A matter of weeks, my lord, if that. In the meanwhile, with Thicknesse and Robards under our control, we will be able to truly prepare for the transfer of power."
"It must be utterly seamless," the Dark Lord said. "Even if the common folk understand something has occurred, they must not be allowed to truly see what has happened."
"Understood, my lord. We have already begun preparing the smear campaign against Potter and Dumbledore, as well as spreading rumours that Scrimgeour will step down. Tomorrow, Robards will hire approximately thirty new Aurors. Scabior has promised that he can supply at least that many of his fellow…"
"Once we have cleansed Azkaban, there will be more. Well done, Yaxley.'
"Thank you, my-"
"The time has come," the Dark Lord said, focusing on Ginny, "to release our captive brethren. And then we shall finally take ahold of this land, once and for all."
"We think Robards is under the Imperius," Kingsley said solemnly, looking far more stressed than Harry could recall ever seeing him before.
Kingsley and Tonks had urgently called the meeting, saying they'd got important news to share. Even on such short notice, everyone had come.
Fred and George were sitting next to Mundungus, near the bottom of the table. Beside them, Hagrid sat on a specially reinforced chair, a large yarn of wool and two knitting needles in his lap.
Hestia and Elphias were on Hagrid's left, while McGonagall, Bill, Fleur, and Sirius were on a series of stools by the counter.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had the last seats at the table, as Moody kept pacing around the kitchen.
It was rather depressing, really, to see how few of them there were, and of those that were there, so few were from the original Order.
'Robards,' Harry thought, looking around at the worried faces. 'He's Chief Auror, isn't he?'
"Are you sure?" Moody barked.
"No, Mad-Eye," Tonks answered wearily. "We just called this meeting for a lark. If he isn't under the Imperius, I'm a Harpy."
"What's he done?"
"He's hired about twenty new Aurors. Scabior's one of them, the rest seem to be his friends."
Mundungus swore loudly, but so did Hestia and Sirius.
"Uh. Who is this Scabior guy?" Asked Ron.
"He's a right cunt," Mundungus answered immediately, "Not quite a Death Eater, but he's always hanging around them. He was good friends with Greyback, always used to see them together."
As soon as Mundungus stopped speaking, Sirius continued. "He's one of those people always hanging out in Knockturn Alley, usually with a group of others like him. The type to hire if you want anything done and don't care about the law."
"And now he's an Auror," Tonks said. "Another thing, Robards had made it so that no-one can enter the Department of Mysteries. He says it's cause You Know Who wants something from there, but I think it's to make sure we don't take the prophecy before they're ready for it."
"Dung? You heard anything lately?"
Mundungus shook his head slowly, pulling his pipe out of one of his pockets.
"You know how it is, Sirius. None of them want to even talk to me anymore. They can see the way the wind is blowing. I'm telling you, smartest thing we could do is get to the continent. I've got a contact in Belgium-"
"There's a rumour going around that Scrimgeour's planning to step down," Kingsley interrupted. "Which really doesn't seem in character. Makes me think they're planning to take him out quietly."
"Can't you do something about Robards?" Harry asked desperately. "There are ways to break people out of the Imperius, right?"
Kingsley shook his head sadly, but Tonks answered.
"If they got to him, it means they got to his bodyguards as well. We try anything, likely we'll be cursed next. If we aren't arrested or killed immediately."
"We have to do something," Hermione cried. "We can't just sit here while they take over the country."
"We should be out fighting." Sirius agreed.
"Fighting who? It's not like-"
"Better than being-"
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone shut up at Moody's shout, a thick silence falling on the room.
"We're not attacking anyone until we have a plan," Moody said. "Now, the only way we're actually going to get anywhere is if we take He Who Must Not Be Named down."
"Pity no-one's ever tried that." Sirius said pointedly. "Fucking hell, Mad-Eye, it'll be much easier to get anywhere if they're not in control of the damn country!"
"And where do you propose we start? We don't have a plan!"
"We've been sitting here and working shit out for months and we still-"
"Without Dumbledore," Hestia started, but Sirius spun toward her, growling softly.
"Don't you start that shit. Dumbledore's dead, and there's nothing we can do about it."
"What we need," Ron said loudly, "is to capture a Death Eater. That way we can at least get some information."
"Bravo. And where do you say we get one?"
"Well, at least it's an idea!"
Everyone started shouting again.
Fred and George were an inch away from Kingsley, both of them gesticulating wildly. Sirius and Moody were both shouting so loudly Harry seriously doubted either of them could hear what the other was saying.
Standing up, he drew his wand and aimed it at the ceiling before firing off as loud a bang as he could make.
"Voldemort wants me," he said, once they had quietened down and turned to face him. "We can use that. If we set it up so he thinks he'll get me…"
"That's not a terrible idea," Moody said, "in fact, it's something I've been thinking about. But it would require a hell of a lot of preparation, and the chances of failure are incredibly high. We'd need to be somewhere that the terrain itself favours us."
"Somewhere like Hogwarts?" Asked Hermione.
"Possibly. Possibly. But it's something we'd have to work out extremely well first. We'd need to have him extremely outnumbered for us to even have a chance."
"It's worth it, though. The risk."
Moody nodded, absently stroking his chin as his magical eye spun around his head.
"Aye. But not until we've got it really clear."
"I still think we need to try and capture one of them," Ron grumbled. "We need information, and they're the best people to get it from."
"I wonder if there's any Death Eater in particular you're thinking of, boy?" Moody snapped.
Ron's hands bunched themselves into fists as the tips of his ears reddened.
Fred, George, and Bill all stood up, the same furious expression appearing on their faces.
"I get it," Moody said quickly, holding one gnarled hand up, "I do. But your revenge will have to wait until we've dealt with the bigger problem. Going headstrong after her and ignoring everything else will just get people killed."
Looking like he'd been punched, Ron dropped back into his chair.
"Well, I think we can adjourn-"
"Oy, Mad-Eye. My mum says there's been someone popping into the edges of her property and poking at the enchantments. They've been kept out so far, but she asked if we could keep up the patrols there."
"She thinks it's your aunt?"
Tonks nodded grimly, her hair turning a deep black for an instant.
"Tell her we'll keep a watch, but any sign that the enchantments are failing and she and your dad should get over here straight away. Ok, anything else?"
Nobody said anything.
"Then let's call this meeting to an end. Let's hope we've got something better to report next time. In the meanwhile, we're continuing as we were. Just remember-"
"Constant vigilance," Harry muttered to Ron.
"Always be prepared." Moody finished, his revolving eye landing on Harry and stilling.
"The Dark Lord said we're going to Azkaban tomorrow."
Bellatrix's hand continued its slow journey up and down Ginny's thigh, the nails just prickling the skin.
"I hope you're prepared," Bellatrix finally said. "Just being there-I don't know what Erkizdis did to it, but even without the Dementors it would be terrible."
"They're on our side though, aren't they?"
Bellatrix stopped stroking her.
Turning around, Ginny saw her lover's eyes misty in remembrance, the corners of her mouth twitching restlessly.
"They're on their own side. You shouldn't trust them, nasty, hateful things."
"But they-"
"Probably won't attack you, not if you're with him. But you'll still feel their presence, you'll still remember...everything you don't want to."
Closing her eyes tightly and grimacing, Bellatrix shook her head.
"They're not like us. They don't think like us, they don't feel like us. They're only with us because our lord lets them have more souls than the Ministry. If they thought they'd do better on their own, that's what they'd do. If they even think at all."
Bellatrix shuddered, an incongruous tear slipping out of her eye.
"It's terrible, there."
Ginny twisted, throwing her arms around Bellatrix and pulling her close.
Bellatrix was shaking, her heart pounding fit to burst.
"You're not there anymore," Ginny whispered, "you're free, Bella. You're not there anymore."
It took a while, but eventually, Bellatrix's sudden panic passed.
Ginny stayed in that position until it did, just holding Bellatrix against her and murmuring soft, comforting nonsense.
"You are a delight," she finally said, pulling away from Ginny and stretching out like a cat. "And I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll be with him, after all."
"Yeah. Bella...I really think we should be trying to find your niece, she's-"
"There's no need to bother yourself with that half-blood brat. She's too fresh a member of that Order to be anything important anyways."
"I know it's hard to think about killing family, but-"
"Enough."
Bellatrix's voice had gone cold, her back suddenly stiff as a board.
"Enough, love. Go to sleep. You need to be in top shape for tomorrow."
'Yeah, it's easy enough for her to talk about me killing my family, but when it comes to her sister and niece…'
Sighing, Ginny quelled that traitorous thought and lay back down.
Bellatrix did have a point though. Azkaban was known to be a hellish place for a reason.
'I'll talk to her about it again afterwards,' she decided. 'When I can think properly, and she can't use it as an excuse to shut me up.'