They'd been sitting there for what felt like hours. Ginny refused to talk, refused to think about Harry. But Draco needed help; insight on what Potter could have been doing before he was…killed. Even Draco couldn't bring himself to say that word.

He partly was responsible for Potter's death. Draco told Voldemort where he was. But he was doing it for a good cause—his father would be killed if he didn't. Draco kept telling himself that. He was doing it for the good of his family, even if he did potentially kill half the wizarding population and make all muggles their slaves.

He wiped the image of helpless muggles serving him, cleaning after him and begging him for forgiveness for the slightest misdoing. Draco tried to focus on the present, on Ginny glaring at him from the corner.

"I'm not telling you about him." Ginny said. She couldn't say his name, no matter how many times she tried. That would be like admitting he was gone, and she knew after that she would be broken, unable to try to escape, to help, to even live after that. She would welcome death, like a mother welcoming her eldest child home from college.

Draco grimaced, hitting the wall with his fists. He leaned his head against the cold rock, savoring the feel against his head, now burning against the stress building in his temples. What he wouldn't do for one of Pansy's famous massages. But she was at school, learning how to do Dark Magic, with all the other kids his age. But Draco already knew everything. He had all the time they were playing, hanging around at the Quidditch pitch and the big tree. He was too busy trying to regain his family's name, trying to save his father while appearing normal.

"Why do you want to know about him anyway?"

"He was doing something important against the Dark Lord when he was-"

"Yeah." Ginny said, unable to hear that word, especially out of his mouth. The one that sold out her love, sent him to his own death, like he did to Dumbledore.

"The Dark Lord wants to know what he was doing. It might be important."

Ginny sighed, thinking back to the endless nights she sat up wondering the same question. Was he still alive and free, or was he already locked up like she was, or worse? She could feel Ron on the back of her neck, listening intently now.

" I don't even know what he was doing. He didn't tell me for reasons like this. He knew I would want to not tell, but I honestly don't know." She sounded so sincere, so honest. No one could lie that good.

Draco knew she didn't know. It was unlike Potter to put anyone in danger that didn't need to be. The other two wouldn't know either, or wouldn't tell at any rate. He had to admit: they were strong. He sighed, producing a patronous out of thin air. It was a fox, beautiful and graceful, standing there with his head held high, staring at Draco. Ginny squinted against the abnormally bright light. It vanished soon, only to be replaced with another bigger one, this time a bear standing on his hind legs. He faced Draco and opened his mouth.

"Use the Cruciatus on her until she talks." It disappeared, leaving behind a mist that hung in Ginny's eyes, masking her view with dots winking at her. Before she could react, another patronus was in front of her, Draco's again. It left.

Ginny stared at Draco, clearly scared now. She had already been tortured with the Cruciatus. Voldemort had a game of it, seeing who could make the different prisoners scream louder. No one cried out until they were locked back in the cells.

"Ginny-" Draco started to say, until he was cut off by a swirling black cloud now in the cell. Ginny squeezed as tight as she could into the corner, blocking the hole from view. She felt Ron's ear squish against the wall and let up until he could pull away.

In front of her stood Avery, one of the torture-mad Death Eaters she had the displeasure of meeting during their little 'game'. He was smiling at Draco, who was looking at Ginny, who was looking at Avery.

"So, afraid to hurt your little schoolmate, huh?" He asked, now walking around the cell, looking at Ginny. "I told them, a teenager shouldn't be aloud to do what the big boys should be doing." He shifted his look to Draco, who looked at him with a glare that could match Snape's.

"Crucio!" Avery cried, pointing his wand at Ginny.

Ron couldn't bear to hear his sister in pain anymore. He tried everything he could think about to get out and help her. But she was blocking the hole, moaning. Avery was laughing at the top of his lungs, another sound Ron couldn't stand. Hermoine was sitting in the corner, covering her ears. Her eyes were screwed up in frustration and she was rolled up so tight in a ball, Ron thought she might never get unraveled.

On the other side of Ginny's cell, Neville was talking to Luna, trying to block out the sound of their friend.

"We need to think of a way to get out of here. But we don't have a wand, and without that, we can't apparate, or even try fighting them. I guess if they take us out, we can make a run for it, but they would catch us in an instant. We can try to grab one of their wands. That shouldn't be very hard, but then they can just call for help, and by the time we get everyone out, we would be surrounded." Neville said all in one breath. He gasped for air, sucking in as much as he could. Luna was staring at the opposite wall, her eyes glazed over.

"Luna?" Neville asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"

"What if we never get out?" Luna asked in her sing-song voice. "No one has a wand, the only person who knows how to fight without one is Hermoine, and she is too distraught to think of a plan, and they're Death Eaters. I mean, a whole swarm of them could be upstairs, waiting for us to crack or die, whichever comes first."

It was the first time Neville had ever heard her say something negative before, even while they were fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic. This is bad. If she's not able to think positive, she may be right about not getting out of here.

Neville heard Ginny scream and cringed at the sound. It was the first time she had screamed while they were in there, Avery hitting her with every curse he could think of.

Draco couldn't stand to watch Ginny anymore. Her face was streaked with cuts, bright red blood falling down her cheeks and onto her robes, making her white collar spotted with red. Her red hair was stuck in the cuts, defiling every auburn strand there was. She was doubled over in pain, but didn't scream out. Instead, she bit her lip, forcing it down so hard that her teeth, too, were covered in blood. She had deep gashes where her teeth sunk in, and other cuts where Avery was hitting her with his spells: causing whips to hit her, her own mind to think it was in danger, and, each time he felt like it, burning spots in her forehead, like a cigarette.

He turned away, thinking of how good he will feel when this was over, when Voldemort became the most powerful wizard, and had no other troubles to worry about. Draco only hoped that happened soon.

So I've done two chapters so far and wanted to post one since I wouldn't be able to tomorrow. Sunday I'll probably have one up, though. Like it so far? All you have to do is hit that little blue button, right there. Below this. The one that says "Submit Review". Don't like it? Tell me why by hitting that button (the "submit review one"). Will respond to any questions and comments, and will change to different techniques if you guys want.

Sccrdiva