Changing Sides
Chapter 16: At The Manor
Disclaimer: Yup. Enough said.
I am sad to say that soon enough I am going to wrap up this story and throw in my writing pencil. People don't seem to like my writing so I think I'm done.
Previously:
She looked over at Harry. She could not believe that Malfoy would have actually shot her. 'He had tried to shoot me again,' Ginny thought. 'Well he was just trying to pin me down, but still that was incredible aim to hit my sleeve and the back of my robe.'
"What do you mean?" Malfoy asked Ginny. "I missed." He smirked at her and then they disapparated.
Ginny felt her feet hit the ground, well the mud. She slipped in it and landed on her back looking up into the face of Draco Malfoy, again. Geez, this kid was everywhere.
He grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her up again and dragged her forward in the rain. Harry and Professor Connelly were no where to be seen. Ginny looked around her. Mostly trees, only trees. Then through the trees, there was a clearing of something maybe it was white? It was hard to tell in the downpour.
They made it to the clearing and Ginny realized it was a house. No, it was a mansion. That would describe it better. Then Ginny realized what it was, Malfoy Manor. Oh joy, she thought, Why the hell am I being brought here?
"Potter needs incentive," Malfoy said.
"I didn't say anything," Ginny said.
"Doesn't mean I didn't hear it," Malfoy answered and pulled on Ginny to keep her coming forward.
Ginny discovered that Malfoy could get into her mind and hear her thoughts. She had to not think things that she didn't want him to hear, or things that she did want him to hear?
'Malfoy,' Ginny thought.
"What?" Malfoy asked.
'I think that you're an ugly, two faced, ferret faced, smelly, snake-like monster from the worst house at Hogwarts who has no brain and is obnoxious in more ways than I have brothers and has no friends because you're too conceited or too busy trying to get everyone else to bow down to your pathetic status,' Ginny thought. She kept repeating this thought in her head over and over. It was clearly agonizing Malfoy.
"Will you stop it!" Malfoy yelled turning around. He faced wandpoint.
"Stupefy!" Ginny yelled pointing Malfoy's wand at him.
The spell hit him in the face and he flew backwards and landed on his back. He did not move.
"Accio wand," she said and her wand zoomed from Malfoy's robe to her outstretched hand. She pocketed Malfoy's wand and held on to her own. "Point me." She was thinking of Harry. Her wand spun in her hand and pointed towards Malfoy Manor. "Figures," she said to herself and went towards Malfoy's house... mansion... manor... whatever it was.
She got close to the house to peer in one of the windows. There was a large sitting room and a fireplace but there was no one in there. Would Malfoy's house have alarms? She looked up. There seemed to be a floor directly above her but it was outside. Suddenly she heard voices.
"Lucius, relax. He was bringing Ginny Weasley. I'm sure he is..." the voice trailed off.
"What? Finish Dolohov!" Ginny recognized the voice as Lucius Malfoy.
"Draco," the other voice said. This was obviously Dolohov, as Lucius had addressed him but his voice sounded oddly familiar to Ginny. "He's on the grass down there."
Suddenly the two figures came flying down in front of Ginny on brooms and landed right in front of her facing away from her. She didn't move. She didn't even breathe. Lucius and Dolohov threw the brooms to the ground and launched into a run towards Draco, lying on the grass, thanks to Ginny.
Without thinking twice, Ginny grabbed one of the brooms, mounted it and held onto the other one and flew up to the balcony that the two Death Eaters had just come from. She didn't look back at them. They would realize soon enough that she was inside the Manor. She turned around and faced two giant windows that could be doors they were so huge. She stepped inside the window and then closed it twisting the lock into place.
She faced the room she was inside. It was a bedroom, that part was obvious enough. It was green and silver and black. How Slytherin, Ginny thought. There was a huge bed, a nightstand, some dressers, a closet, a closed door, probably a personal bathroom, and an overstuffed bookshelf. Was this possibly Draco Malfoy's bedroom? Ew. She was inside Draco Malfoy's bedroom. It smells of ferret, she thought. She went to the door and looked out into the hallway. It was extremely long.
The door across was slightly ajar. Ginny took a step towards it and peeked through the crack. It was also a bedroom. But it was red and gold. How... Gryffindor? Ginny sidestepped through the door and closed it behind her. She faced the massive bedroom. It had the same things in it as Malfoy's bedroom. But to Ginny's complete surprise, this bedroom held a sleeping Harry Potter on the bed.
He was sleeping, wasn't he? He wasn't... dead, was he? No, Ginny could see his chest rise and fall with his breathing. His bare chest, where was his shirt? Ginny realized it probably had to be removed to take that arrow out of his stomach. Ugh, she would kill Malfoy for doing this, for almost doing it to her. There was a large white bandage wrapped around his stomach, and where the arrow had punctured him was tinted red. Ginny sat on the bed next to him and held his hand and waited for him to wake up, hoping it would be before a very angry Malfoy found her first.
But when the door burst open, and Ginny expected a furious blonde Slytherin to be standing there, she nearly had a heart attack when a brown haired Gryffindor was standing there by the name of Miranda Wesley.
Back at Hogwarts, the absence of three certain students and a teacher was not noticed by many, but noticed in grave detail by some.
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were running around frantic that their friends were missing.
"No alarms went off," Hermione said, "so no Death Eater snuck into the castle and kidnaped them."
"No one was killed or hurt," Ron pointed out. "No one seems to notice their absence."
"Let's go," Hermione suggested.
Ron nodded and he and Hermione dashed from the Common Room to the Headmaster's office. The gargoyles were facing sideways revealing the staircase to Dumbledore's office so Hermione and Ron didn't need a password. They shared a confused glance but raced up the stairs.
The door was slightly open and Hermione and Ron just burst through it.
"Professor!" they both shouted as they got into the room.
"Pardon me, but you two should not be in here right now!" McGonagall said. "We are having a crisis."
"The hell we are!" Ron shouted ignoring a smack on the arm from Hermione at his language. "Harry and Ginny are missing!"
"Missing?" McGonagall asked. "How do you know?"
"For one, it's been almost sixteen hours since we have seen them and we have checked everywhere. They are not in Hogwarts," Hermione stated. "But last night, I did hear a small explosion."
"There was a thunderstorm Miss Granger," McGonagall said. "It could have been thunder."
"Professor, I know a thunder clap different from an explosion. Especially since it sounded like glass was exploding," Hermione said.
Professor McGonagall looked stunned and stepped aside so Hermione and Ron could get a look at the exploded glass case that used to hold the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
"Gryffindor's sword," Ron said. He remembered it being there. He came back from the Chamber with Harry and Ginny and remembered the discussion with Dumbledore well. "It's gone?"
"Stolen, actually. Well this one was," McGonagall said.
"The fake one," Hermione pointed out.
"How did you--?" McGonagall was speechless.
"I've done my fair share of reading, Professor. The Sword of Godric Gryffindor was hand crafted by Goblins themselves making the blade virtually indestructible. The pommel, or the handle, has large rubies on it," Hermione explained.
"Thanks Hermione, but how did you know it was fake?" Ron asked.
"The sword that Dumbledore kept in here had emeralds on it. Clearly different, clearly fake," Hermione concluded.
"Well bravo Miss Granger. I didn't know anyone paid special attention. Since it is such a powerful item, it cannot be duplicated so we just had to make another one look like it and we had to settle for emeralds. The real one is safe inside a vault at Gringotts that belongs to Godric Gryffindor's decendants," McGonagall explained.
"Well at least it's safe there from whoever stole this one," Hermione pointed out.
"Actually, it's most vulnerable there. See, Godric Gryffindor's decendants come all the way down to James and Lily Potter. It was Harry Potter who stole the sword and it is in Harry Potter's vault that the true sword resides," McGonagall said.
Ron and Hermione were standing there with open mouths. "Harry is a decendant of Gryffindor?" Ron asked.
"I do believe so, yes. But, why he took the sword I do not know. Why he disappeared along with Miss Weasley, Mr. Malfoy and Professor Connelly, is entirely another matter which I am trying to sort out," McGonagall answered.
"Malfoy is missing?" Hermione asked. She looked at Ron and he looked at her and they both darted from the office. They knew where Harry was and most likely where Ginny was. "Thank you Professor!" Hermione called as they practically flew down the stairs. The were flying through the corridors as they ran back to the Common Room. Ron shouted the password ahead of time so the Fat Lady's portrait opened and they could run right through it.
"Come on Hermione. We're taking Harry's Firebolt," Ron said as they ran to Ron's dormitory. Ron took Harry's firebolt from beside his bed and pushed open the windows. "Holding on?"
"Just do it," Hermione said closing her eyes tight.
Ron took a leap of faith and jumped out of the window on the broom. Hermione instantaneously started screaming but Ron pulled the broom up and zoomed away from Hogwarts. The massive castle looking like no more than a tiny play toy to them now as they soared towards Malfoy Manor.
Ginny stared at the girl standing in the doorway. Why the hell was she here? Was she going to try and kill Harry too? Ginny had her own wand, she had Malfoy's wand, she could take her. Dueling with double wands, she had never attempted that before, or even attempted the thought.
"Miranda, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked bravely while subtley placing herself in between Miranda and Harry.
"Relax Ginny, I'm not going to hurt Harry," Miranda said.
"That's easy for you to say. You tried to blow him apart in the Room of Requirement, without so much as a second glance backward to see what you were really doing or allowing an explanation," Ginny said.
"Did he give you an explanation?" Miranda asked folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.
Ginny thought about that. No, he didn't. But that's because Hermione said there was something about a Fildelius Charm or some sort of secret thing that he couldn't tell them anything even if he wanted to. "No, he didn't," she finally answered. "We know you used Legilimency on Harry and that's how you discovered his secrets, but we don't know how. Surely Dumbledore or Snape could have tried that one."
"But Harry had already given me his full and complete trust so when I entered his mind, I didn't pose as a threat so he didn't really notice it. But Snape, when Harry joins You-Know-Who is the day that Harry trusts Snape," Miranda explained. "I saw what was in his mind and reacted completely wrong. I realized what I was supposed to be doing and looking for but I didn't think it would be true. I overreacted when I found out the truth of my so-called boyfriend."
"Wait, you realized what you were supposed to be doing? Looking through his mind? I am so lost," Ginny said.
"I am undercover for the Ministry of Magic. I am working on the whole Voldemort situation and trying to keep it under wraps. No one had seen Harry Potter all summer and rumor went around that he was here, at Malfoy Manor. Which I obviously found out was true, by gaining his trust and using it. My real name is Miranda AnneMarie Fudge."
Ginny was shocked. Did she just say Fudge? Like she was related to that psycho of a man who calls himself the Minister of Magic? Well, obviously. No one in their right mind would spy for Fudge unless they had to because they were related to him. "Wow," Ginny finally said. "And is all of that true?"
"Yes. But after Harry and I were over because I overreacted. A good reporter never shows a reaction in front of the one we're currently with if it involves them and I did so I blew my cover and couldn't get anymore information from Harry. So I turned to a new source of information," Miranda explained.
"A new source?" Ginny asked.
Miranda nodded.
"So, like not Harry but..." Ginny was cut off as the door flew open with such force that she was afraid it would fly off of the hinges.
Draco Malfoy came storming into the bedroom.
"Weasley!" he yelled. "You--"
"Now, now, Draco," Miranda said stepping next to him and taking his hand in hers. "I have already berated the blood traitor enough. Leave her be."
Ginny stared at them both in shock. More like staring at their intertwined hands. Ew. Gross.
"You're very fortunate that Miranda is here and I always take her advice otherwise you would be not so fortunate," Draco said. "Get my wand. I know she took it." Draco finished and stormed out of the bedroom. "Quickly Miranda!" he yelled from the hallway.
"Ginny," Miranda said rushing towards her and kneeling next to the bed. "You must keep your thoughts to yourself when near Draco, he is extremely good at what he does with the whole mind reading thing and if he finds out who I really am, well for one, I'll be dead and you're next in line, right behind Harry. I'll try and keep you two safe, Harry is safe for now only because he is in critical condition."
"Alright, push my thoughts to the back of my mind and pretend that you're an evil maniac too. Got it," Ginny said as she handed Miranda Draco's wand unhappily. Ginny contemplated saying something about her own wand, she opened her mouth and then shut it again.
"Hold on to your wand, I'll tell him I didn't find it on you," Miranda said standing up as Draco came back into the room.
"Are we having a problem here?" Draco asked.
"No, I got your wand sweetie. It just took a lot of threats," Miranda answered and left Ginny's side. Draco held out his hand for the wand. "I'll just hold on to this until you recompose yourself and your temper goes down. You might accidentally blow up the house and all of us inside it."
"That wouldn't be a completely horrible idea," Draco said shooting a look at Ginny and then turning and leaving suddenly with Miranda following in his wake. She closed the door behind her as she left.
Ginny shook her head. This was so much to take in. There was a huge crash of thunder and Ginny moved closer to Harry. She held his hand and laid down on the bed next to him, waiting for the nightmare she was experiencing to end.
A/N: I'm updating quickly, I hope to your liking. Thank you for the reviews I got last chapter. Some more positive than others, thank you for that as well. Sorry this chapter jumped from Ginny to Ron and Hermione and then back to Ginny again. It was all necessary.
--Elizabeth