/
Chapter thirty five
Unexplored recesses of mind
/
"Why are you so unnecessarily stubborn, Angela?" the Dark Lord wondered in a low, chilly voice.
His words echoed through the vast, deadly quiet chamber and reached even the ears of Death Eaters, who stood the farthest from his throne. Most of Voldemort´s followers gathered there, motionless as they apathetically watched the kneeling girl. The repetitive torturous performance ceased to interest them.
"You know that eventually, I will break you," Voldemort continued persuasively. "It might take a while longer, but you'll end up as a miserable wreck completely helpless in my hands. A single word from you, a simple agreement to answer my questions and your futile suffering will be over."
The pale witch curled up at his feet did not move or answer; she just kept staring at the ground.
On the surface, the feared dark wizard was calm, but his inner anger was rising with each passed minute. His prey´s resistance was beyond his understanding.
Just how could that petite girl withstand his powers for so long?
Until now, Voldemort was unable to penetrate the imaginary wall protecting her mind. He had already known that little Rosier was good at Occlumency, but right now, she was completely physically exhausted and the constant presence of her mother's corpse was definitely influencing her mental state as well. So, where did she get the strength to oppose his will? He was certain there was something unusual behind her abilities.
All the answers were hidden in her mind; he just had to find a way to get them.
/
Angela felt Voldemort's piercing gaze, but she did not raise her head to look at him as she had done the day before. Unless she was forced to, she was not willing to set eyes on her tormentor anymore.
She was also aware of her former ´colleagues´, who assembled there to watch her torture without a shred of sympathy, but somehow, she managed to ignore them. She was gradually closing in on herself, but without having any real will in it. Some kind of strange fog was slowly spreading around her and she did not even want to fight it.
"As you wish," that cold voice hissed again, dispelling the numb white wall.
The Dark Lord focused his attention on the line of twelve masked wizards, who were standing two steps ahead of everyone else.
"Severus… You may start first," Voldemort addressed the first of his servants.
A smirk flashed over Snape's face, while another figure at the other end of the line was digging his nails into his palms…
Severus Snape stepped forward with his wand raised. Confused, Angela slowly looked up, with messy and sweaty strands of hair falling into her eyes. She saw the wizard´s satisfied smile, but still, she had no idea what Voldemort was up to.
"Pointure!" Snape hissed.
Angela's body began to writhe in new, excruciating pain.
This time, Snape did not use that curse only on her hand, but on her entire body. She felt the unbearable pressure in all her bones, her head threatened to explode. When it finally stopped, she almost could not believe it. She just knelt on the icy floor, trying not to move in fear that she would simply break apart.
Severus slowly stepped away from her.
"Bella…" the Dark Lord stated another name.
The slender female Death Eater moved to where her colleague had originally stood. And Angela understood. All of those wizards were chosen to use one curse each against her. Only Voldemort himself knew what they did to deserve it.
Angela scanned the whole line of Death Eaters with her hazy gaze.
Twelve… So eleven more… she realized in her tired mind.
Immediately after that, a wave of unbearable forced laughter washed over her. She could not catch a breath, her stomach was painfully cramping, but she just kept laughing loudly, as if she intended to keep doing it till her death…
/
"My dear… You know that none of this is necessary," Voldemort spoke to her after what felt like eternity.
Angela did not react. Her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. If she had eaten something recently, she would definitely throw it up and some invisible drums were resonating inside her head. Yet, she remained silent.
I must keep my mouth shut… That´s all…
She had always thought it was not hard not to talk. Now, it felt like the most difficult test of her life. Another Death Eater came forward, more suffering followed. This time it was as if her whole body was on fire. Her throat was no longer even capable of making screams. She was just wheezing helplessly. And then…
"Draco…" the cold voice said blankly and got to Angela despite everything she had been going through.
That name hit her with terrifying irreversibility. The last Death Eater from the waiting line approached her swiftly. Frightened and with tears in her eyes, she looked up at his face partially covered by the ugly mask. As she gasped for a shaky breath, he raised his wand. Angela did not want to admit to herself, that Draco would really…
The young wizard did not say a single word. Nevertheless, despite her hurting vocal cords, she began to scream terribly again, while her body writhed on the floor. However, to Angela´s inner shock, there was no new pain. It was like someone was gripping her tight and forcing her body to twitch and her exhausted vocal cords to scream.
Then it suddenly stopped. Angela remained lying on the floor with her eyes closed, feeling like she had lost her voice for good.
What was this? the question appeared in her sub consciousness. How did he… do that?
"You´ve got a talent for non-verbal magic, Draco," she heard that awful cold voice again. "We'll talk about that later…"
Straining her sore muscles, Angela made herself to move, raised on her shaking knees and looked at the figure standing above her. In that moment, Draco lowered his head and returned her look. She was not sure if she was not imagining things, but there was a glimmer of pity and worry in them.
Then the young Malfoy quickly turned away and headed back to his spot.
The strong charm lifted Angela up to her feet. Helpless and devastated, she was carried right in front of the Dark Lord. Whether she wanted to or not, she had to look into his cruel, red eyes. She could feel the claws of his Legilimency trying to crush the impaired defences of her mind and she did not have time to ponder about what to hide. Or, if she was even able to do it...
She gathered all the strength she had left somewhere deep inside and put together the most important memories, which were related to Harry and the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort could not be allowed to know anything about her love, not to mention other things she did not want him to see. She just focused on those instinctively. She could not do more.
Voldemort took advantage of her weakness and finally managed to break through the solid wall she had always managed to maintain up to that point. He was mercilessly digging through every thought, memory and feeling Angela had ever had. From time to time, they flashed before her eyes…
She saw sad Daria, then her dead aunt… She argued with Snape, her screaming mother lashed at her… Meetings with Dumbledore followed and there were more and more important moments of her life...
It was a mess of excruciating pain and dark shadows. Angela only hoped that she could control herself and keep the vital information hidden from Voldemort. She just had to believe…
/
The Dark Lord finally achieved what he strived for. He saw many things in that foolish girl´s mind, but… But he realized that she had somehow managed to hide the most important things. He found almost nothing about that cursed Potter and neither anything he could use against the Order. He kept attacking the small, impregnable part of her mind furiously, but to no avail.
Then he found something interesting. Many Rosier´s memories were about Severus. The girl literally hated him; she was capable to kill the wizard. And she had a good reason for it...
Voldemort released the spell holding the girl. Not even after all that torture; he could not penetrate her stubborn subconscious. And that was where the little Rosier hid everything she did not want him to find out. Yet, not only because of that was he furious.
The young witch fell to the floor, where she remained lying, shaking and breathing hoarsely. However, the Dark Lord was no longer paying attention to her. He fixed his gaze on one of his servants. At Snape. The former Potions´ professor glanced from his Master to the lying girl and back again. He realized what happened and turned deathly pale.
How came he did not think of this danger at all? After all, the little Rosier knew a lot about him, much more than he would have liked and could…
"Lucius… Rodolfo… Take that filthy bitch back to her cell," Voldemort commanded.
Both Death Eaters immediately moved to carry out the order. Shortly, the door closed behind them.
"Severus… To me," the dark wizard said in a tone which would freeze even a boiling spring. "The rest of you, get out!"
With deep bow, the figures in black cloaks gradually left the chamber. Snape knelt in front of his Master´s throne, waiting tensely.
"Severus… You must explain a few things to me…" the Dark Lord began, fiddling with his wand.
/
A loud pounding shook with the main door. Daria slowly stood up from the soft armchair, walked through the living room enlightened by the afternoon sun and crossed the narrow entrance hall.
"Who is it?" she asked in a low voice.
"Hermione! Daria, open the door, please!"
This time, she did not give much thought about the fact that it could be someone pretending to be her friend. She did not have the strength to care anyway. She tapped on the door with her wand and opened it wide. A white glow reflecting from the layer of snow hit her already stinging eyes.
"Daria!" Hermione blurted out and then stiffened, when she observed the girl in front of her.
Daria Prescott was pale, with huge circles under her teary, red eyes and dressed all in black. With a crumpled handkerchief in her hand, she looked like sadness incarnate. Ron, standing right behind his dear girlfriend also stared at the young witch in surprise.
"Daria… What happened to you?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Grandpa died…" Daria whispered hoarsely. "Yesterday morning."
"Oh, l see… I… We're so sorry to burst on you like this… We didn't know," Hermione spoke slowly and uneasily.
"Hermione… We should probably go," Ron commented quietly.
"Yes, that´s right…" Hermione agreed, lowering her head.
Only now, Daria came back to reality a bit and took a good look at their worried faces.
"What's going on?" she asked urgently.
Both Gryffindors kept silent and they just looked at each other nervously.
"Come on! Something happened! Tell me!" Daria urged them with a bad suspicion.
"We should better go. It's not worth it, Daria," Hermione mumbled. "You must help your grandmother and…"
Daria crossed the threshold and looked into the other girl´s eyes.
"What happened?" she asked again adamantly.
"The Death Eaters captured Angela," in the end, Ron replied her instead of Hermione.
Daria paled. In that moment, she looked like a freshly plastered wall.
Hermione observed her worriedly.
"When?" the black-haired girl breathed out.
"Yesterday afternoon," Hermione informed her hesitantly.
"And Harry…?" Daria gasped.
"He wants to save her, of course," Ron responded a little disapprovingly. "Although we don't know anything about her current situation."
"We've got a plan and we're looking for anyone who wants to help," Hermione followed up not very willingly.
Daria lowered her head at first, but then she straightened up. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, put it in her jeans´ pocket, went into the house and scribbled a message for her grandmother on a piece of paper. She placed it on the shoe rack and slipped into her boots.
"Daria, you don't have to…" Hermione started, but was stopped by the girl´s stare. "All right," she nodded then.
Daria just grabbed her coat and promptly left her home.
/
At the first glance, the pure chaos reigned in the ancient seat of Blacks that afternoon. Wizards and witches were passing through the main door one over the other, some rushing out, others uncertainly entering. There was no time to hold a meeting of the entire Order. Sending messages via owls was dangerous, and therefore most members learned about the planned attack on the Dark Lord´s residence either through the Floo network, or those who already knew told them in person. Gradually, those who wanted to participate in the greatest defiance against the Dark Lord so far were brought together and informed of the planned gathering.
No one knew anything certain, so the defiant wizards were not given any vain hopes, yet many promised to help the Order. Everyone had already had enough of suffering and death Voldemort was spreading everywhere. Even the chairman of the Wizarding Council Merogh, though only after the long argument with Lupin, Tonks and Dumbledore, presumably agreed with their bold plan…
/
From the spacious kitchen fireplace, Aberforth Dumbledore stumbled out rather ungracefully, shaking the ashes off his robe. For that moment, Remus Lupin pushed away the tensely described parchment, which was the list of magicians, who were about to them help out and turned to him hopefully.
"So?" he blurted out impatiently. "How did it go?"
"He approved it…" Aberforth breathed out. "It took a while, but he agreed in the end. I´ve got the address as well."
"Excellent!" Lupin was obviously relieved. "Will it be that Muggle about whom Hermione was talking?"
"Yes. The Prime Minister will call him personally, using the phone or something like that. We´re supposed to pick him up with that strange device within two hours."
"Hermione had a great idea, didn't she?" Lupin mused.
"Yes. She´s an extremely bright young witch," Aberforth nodded. "Hopefully, it will work."
"And what about Hagrid?"
"I had to join him in persuading them, but it worked out. His relatives will also go with us, if we transport them on the place safely," the older wizard stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"That´s great, but… How did you manage to talk them to it for Merlin's sake?" Lupin wondered. "They have never…"
The once again opened kitchen door interrupted his words, letting Hermione, Ron and his twin brothers inside. Their small group was carrying the good news as well. Many of their former classmates from Hogwarts decided to join the cause, after Hermione explained everyone, what exactly was going to happen in the upcoming hours. They brought not only Daria Prescott or Neville Longbottom, but also Patil twins, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Ernie McMillian, Cho Chang, Dan Matthews, Robert Singer, Zachariah Smith, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson. All of them were waiting upstairs in the hall, most of them accompanied by their wizarding parents, who either did not want to let them go alone, or were persuaded by their offspring to come as well.
Naturally, there were others, who did not come. For example, Dennis Creevey, whose parents refused to let him go. No one blamed them; they had already lost one son and did not want to go through the same pain again.
All of Weasleys were also with them already, including Bill and Charlie. Even Percy finally reconciled with his parents. His farther Arthur was currently setting up the heavy security precautions at the St Mungo´s hospital and his wife was upstairs in Ginevra´s room.
Even though they were afraid, many wizards wanted to fight against the senseless evil…
"So?" Hermione focused at Aberforth Dumbledore right away.
Lupin smiled slightly as he remembered his own reaction a moment ago.
"It will be done," Aberforth nodded.
Hermione let out a long exhale. "Are you going to get him personally?" she asked then.
"Yes. We'll have him here in two hours and also with that..."
"We must wait for so long yet?" complained Ron without letting the wizard finish.
"Unfortunately…" Lupin confirmed, since Aberforth just frowned.
"Maybe I should come with you," Hermione suggested seriously. "His daughter Bridget is a good friend of mine. When I'll explain our situation to her, her father might accept it more easily from her."
"All right, I agree," Aberforth responded almost happily. He did not like dealing with Muggles alone. "Still, we'll have to change their memory after that…"
"I understand," the young witch nodded.
"Okay… Can someone finally explain to us, what this talk about Muggles is all about?" George and Fred asked both at once.
"Well…" Lupin sighed somewhat uncertainly.
"It´s all right, leave it to me, Remus," Hermione offered kindly. "This will be easier for me to explain."
"Exactly," agreed Aberforth. "Can you please include everyone up in the hall for that explanation? You can take Tonks for help; she should be back by now."
Without any objections, Hermione nodded and was on her way out of the kitchen, with the twins hot on her heels. In the doorway, they almost collided with Molly Weasley, who had been staying with her daughter until that moment.
"Well, then I should prepare something proper to eat for everyone," she stated with a faint smile.
She was very, very pale, which was not surprising. Her entire family was part of the Order now, and was about to take part in a pretty suicidal action.
"What about Ginny, Mum?" Ron turned to her after Hermione disappeared up the stairs.
"She's fine now… She´s just troubled by remorse," his mother replied, already dancing around the stove. She obviously needed to do something. "She'll be down in a moment."
"Well, all right… I must go to Moody's house then," muttered Aberforth.
"Are you sure he hid that cloak home?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"Of course. He told me personally that he bequeathed it to the needs of the Order," replied Aberforth, unwillingly crawling back into the fireplace.
Once his figure melted in green flames, Ron turned to Lupin. "Where's Harry?"
"I think that at Buckbeak´s place," Remus replied gloomily.
"You haven't given him the wand yet, have you?" the red-haired wizard asked quietly.
His former teacher just shook his head.
/
Ron carefully opened the door and stepped into the attic of the Black house. Remus was right. Harry was there, standing close to Buckbeak, smoothing the feathers on his massive neck with gentle, slow movements.
Ron watched his long-time friend for a while, before closing the door behind him and leaning against the wall next to them. Harry made no sign of noticing his presence. His fingers continued to regularly run through the feathers of the surprisingly calm hippogriff.
"Harry, do you really want to go there alone?" Ron asked in a low voice.
Without any reply, Harry kept stroking the hippogriff.
"It will be terribly risky. Already on that street… If you had someone to cover your back, you could…"
The young wizard with jet black hair and emerald green eyes turned to him. Ron fell silent. That way Harry was looking at him… There was something in it he did not like. With a frown, he marched right in front of him.
"I want to go with you," Ron Weasley stated firmly. "Who knows when we'll get to that place to help you! Merlin knows where it is and what it´s like there! I won't let you go alone!"
Slowly, Harry reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ron…" he breathed out heavily. "No."
"But…"
"I'll go alone."
There was so much determination in Harry´s gaze that Ron simply ran out of words. He still wanted to try and refute his intent, but he did not know how.
"Thanks for wanting to come with me," Harry continued seriously. "You are a true friend, Ron."
The silence filled the attic. It was a rare moment that could only occur between two people who were really close to each other. And Ron backed down.
"I believe you, Harry," he stated quietly. "I know you'll make it. That you will finally put an end to that evil bastard. I just know it."
Harry smiled at him gratefully, but his eyes remained serious.
/
In endless silence, she suddenly heard some muffled voices outside the door of her gloomy prison.
Oh, no… They're coming for me again...
Angela took a shaky breath, but otherwise did not move from her spot by the wall. They would have to pick her up if they wanted to take her away. She did not care. She was conserving her energy just to be able to protect the important memories and information in her subconscious from lord Voldemort. But at least, she would get away from this hell of remorse and stench for a while.
One positive thing about this whole fucked up situation of mine, she thought cynically. She quite wondered how came that she was still in the mood for such thoughts.
The doors and bars of her cell opened and a figure appeared against the torchlight from the corridor. An unexpectedly quick slamming followed. Confused, Angela raised her eyes to the only incomer.
/
Draco Malfoy walked in and pulled his hood back over his head. After a while, he got used to the bluish gloom in the dungeon. As for the smell of decay, he would never be able to.
He turned away from the body outline on the left side and focused his gaze on sitting Angela, who had just raised her head. She was crouching near the wall, obviously as far away from the corpse that inhabited the dungeon with her as was only possible, with her arms wrapped around her bent bare legs in dirty jeans. Her hair fell loosely along her ragged and deathly pale cheeks. Her lips were bitten and swollen. She kept staring at him blankly for a few moments.
Draco felt shivers on his back, when he remembered how lively and beautiful this girl once looked. She had always given him energy just by her presence. How different she was from this wreck…
Then Angela finally recognized him. "Draco…?" she gasped in disbelief.
At first, he could not move, subdued by the unfamiliar screeching of her voice and her gaze hardened.
"What do you want here?" she rasped heavily. "Have you come to enjoy the sight of my suffering?"
"No," he replied calmly.
Draco crossed those few inches that separated them and knelt on the ground beside her on one knee. Instinctively, she pulled away. After what the Death Eaters had put her through lately, he was not surprised… Slowly, he pulled out his wand and waved it toward the closed door.
"Why?" Angela sneered weakly when she realized that he used the Imperturbable Charm.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly without answering her question.
"Not particularly well," she assumed bitterly. "I think that´s quite visible, isn´t it?" she was still speaking in that strange, hoarse voice.
"Yes, unfortunately it is," he replied quietly.
Angela cocked her head to the side in a thoughtful gesture, which was and at the same time was not like her at all. Draco observed her intently.
"How much longer do you think you can resist him?" he asked after a moment.
"As long as I can," she replied quietly at first. Then she shook her head and frowned. "Listen, what's your point, Draco? You shouldn't be asking me such things. You risk that Voldemort will find this in my mind."
"As far as I know, the Dark Lord had not found in there anything that you did not really want him to," Draco responded still calmly.
Angela looked into his eyes in the bluish light, as if trying to figure out if he was just pretending or if he was being honest.
"How did it go with Snape?" she suddenly asked almost smugly.
"Well…" Draco drawled coldly. "The Dark Lord had a private conversation with him for about an hour. He did not look good when he came out of there…"
"I believe so," Angela smirked faintly.
"What did he find about Snape in your memories?" he asked, unable to hide the curiosity in his voice.
"He knew I was on Dumbledore's side and blackmailed my mother with it. She slept with him so he wouldn't betray me to Voldemort," Angela replied without hesitation. "I wonder what excuses Snape made that Voldemort left him alive for this cover-up."
Draco fell silent in surprise. It seemed that he was far from being the only one, whose life Severus Snape had ruined…
"I hate him," Angela said unexpectedly harshly, staring at the corpse of her mother nearby. "One day, I will kill him for what he had done."
Draco was eyeing her expression lost in thought. If only Angela knew that he was aiming for Snape´s death as well… It was so damn hard not to strangle that slimy bastard with his own hands whenever he met him. Every time he saw the damn wizard, the lifeless body of his half-sister and his torn, teary-eyed mother flashed in front of him. Not to mention his father, burdened with it and suffocating with desire for revenge…
Helplessness and despair crept into Angela's eyes again, which disappeared for that short moment.
"You won't last much longer," Draco stated quietly.
"Thanks for encouragement," she scoffed.
"I'm glad you haven't lost your sense of humour yet," he commented with a small smile.
"I'm certainly not far off it," Angela declared hoarsely. "How come they just let you in here?" she suddenly asked.
"I convinced the Dark Lord that I would try to get some information out of you," Draco shrugged. "After all, we knew each other pretty well…"
"Well, then this is not exactly the best way to fulfil that promise," she noted the obvious.
"No, it's not..." he nodded calmly.
She buried her dark gaze into his: "I don't know you, Draco. I used to think I knew you. I was wrong. And… I´m sorry. Again."
He looked away from her pale, desperate face for a moment. He had to convince himself to say those words he had been planning. Then he turned to her again, serious and determined.
"You should start talking, Angela."
She froze and her eyes widened. "And by doing it to betray everyone and everything I believe in?" she let out a laboured exhale then. "I've already done that once. To you... I will not repeat the same mistake."
It stung somewhere in Draco´s chest when he remembered their ´breakup´, but at the same time it was somewhat comforting to know she regretted it so much. He paused, thinking his words through. "If you don't start talking voluntarily, he will break you completely and you won't recover from it," he tried to convince her again.
"He's going to kill me anyway, so why should I make it easy for him?" she responded harshly.
Draco sighed: "You're losing your strength, Angie…" he whispered.
Angela´s eyes started to shine unnaturally. She quickly looked away. "Stop trying, little Dragon," she reacted in shaky voice. "I´m not worth it…"
He ignored her statement and continued persistently. "I don't know how long he´s going to torture you like this, before he finally uses you to get Potter. He wants to know the answers and he knows they´re in your mind. But it may take some more time for him to lose his patience and you won't be able to withstand it until then. If you speak by yourself, he will speed it up."
She sighed and looked at him again, a tiny sparkling tear falling down her cheek. "And then he'll kill me and Harry as well…"
"Maybe not…" Draco opposed. "Is what they say true? That Potter is the only one who can defeat him? That he is the Chosen One?"
Angela was thinking only for a short moment, if it was worth telling Draco anything at this point. But seeing his expression, hearing his words, she knew he was not going to do anything what would hurt her. He would not talk to Voldemort about any of this.
She slowly nodded. "Yes, it is. He is destined for it by the prophecy."
"So, the Seer prediction?" Draco shook his head. "I imagined it could be something like this. Then maybe… Maybe everything will turn out well in the end," he said in a strange tone.
"But for whom?" she hummed bitterly.
"You must believe and hold on until then," he reacted surprisingly simply.
"That you're the one saying that," Angela rasped. "Do you still believe in anything, Draco?"
The blonde wizarding aristocrat paused again. "This is not about me," he finally replied.
"But yes, it is," she countered. "It's as much about you as it is about everyone else. Voldemort's hatred and lust for power affects or will affect absolutely everyone."
Draco did not react on it, but Angela's words awakened some curious thoughts in his mind. There was a piece of truth in them…
"That fool is coming for you, isn't he?" he stated in a not-very-questioning tone. "He will not wait for the Lord to start luring him here."
Angela stared into Draco´s eyes, suddenly feeling terrified by his words. No, Harry could not end up as she did… Not him. Yet, at the same time, she was desperate to see his face again, to feel his lips, to lose herself in his arms…
"That´s impossible… How could he do it?" she whispered.
To Angela's astonishment, Draco shrugged. "As I know Mr. Haughty Potter, he'll find a way," he stated and stood up. "I'd better go now."
She watched him as he put his hood back on. "What are you going to tell him?"
"Nothing," he replied simply and turned to the door.
"Draco?" she called his name softly.
"Hmm?" he looked at her questioningly.
"Why did you risk being exposed, when you didn't really torture me?" she asked tensely. "And you had even tried to warn me about the Death Eaters´ attack on Hogwarts with the bracelet… Don't look at me like that, I figured it out…"
Draco was silent.
"Why are you treating me like this?" Angela urged. "After what I did to you, I don't deserve it."
Draco took a deep breath: "I think you know the answer to that question."
"Then help me escape," she asked with sudden and foolish hope. In the very same moment, she would like to slap herself for saying such nonsense in the first place. But it was too late.
"I can't," Draco said stiffly. "And you know it..."
Angela curled up to make herself as small as was only possible.
"I do… I´m sorry," she murmured, supressing new tears gathering in her eyes.
Draco was still standing over her.
"Don´t be… Not this time. I have only one advice for you, Angela. Speak up. Even if you tell the Dark Lord everything, he won't kill you. He still needs you."
Draco Malfoy cancelled the spell that had been concealing their conversation the whole time and tapped the bars twice with his wand. They opened immediately, he walked through them and Angela was once again left alone with her dark thoughts.
/
"Harry… We're going to get that device. We´ll be back in no time. Just… for you to know."
Hermione stood in the doorway of the room, watching Harry's back intently. Her best friend stood by the window, staring at the fading red of the recent sunset reflecting off the snow.
"Okay..." he replied calmly. "Thank you, Hermione. For everything you´re doing. What you have been always doing."
Touched by his words, the clever witch paced indecisively for a moment, as if she wanted to say something more. But then, with a sad expression, she closed the door again. Harry leaned his palms over the cold windowsill. It was freezing outside; the whole window was decorated with strange ornaments. From one of them, it was as if a human skull stared at him.
Angela had been in Voldemort's hands for almost thirty hours. Ever since Harry had convinced the others of the feasibility of his plan and Hermione had sworn that the Muggle gadgets would definitely work, everyone had been flying back and forth all night and day. Many things needed to be arranged. All his friends were sleepless, with dark circles under their eyes and with worries written on their faces about how this madness would turn out. But Harry was about to relieve them of all those worries… Yes, he would take this awful responsibility for making decisions, which would influence everyone, on himself.
He was not willing to risk anyone else´s life. He must not allow them to sacrifice themselves for his destiny. It had been already too much. Too many people died protecting him. He would go through it alone, even though he knew very well that he had almost no chance.
The most important of all, he had to find Angela and save her. He had to at least try. He would not wait until it was too late. And if he would not succeed... Well, either he was about to kill Voldemort or die trying. He did not care. Without Angela, his life would be not worth much anyway. He wanted to hold her in his arms so badly. Alive and healthy. He would sacrifice everything for it. He still held onto the hope that she would be okay. That they will be together again. If not... If he did not believe in it and gave up, he would not be able to look at himself anymore.
But what if I can't? he thought gloomily. What if I get all the way to Voldemort and then… then I won´t be able to cast the worst of the Curses against him?
Then all those people suffered and died in vain? The Prophecy would prove itself useless?
"I don't know… I just don't know if I can do it…" Harry whispered to himself. "But I have to try…"
The door creaked behind him again. He turned to see the unwelcome visitor off politely. He was not in the mood for anyone right now. To his surprise, it was Ginny.
"Oh, Harry…I'm so sorry," she breathed out with tears in her eyes. "It´s all my fault…"
"Ginny, what are you talking about?" Harry spoke in a soothing tone and walked over to her, even though he originally wanted to send her out. "It's definitely not your fault."
"But if I… I… I just…" she began to snivel.
Harry reached on the table by the wall for a paper tissue. "There you go."
"Thanks," Ginny blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "I want… I want you to stay here. You can't go anywhere!" she then snapped urgently. "That's suicide! I won´t let you go."
"Don't get involved in this, Ginny," Harry retorted a bit harshly. "Either I will save Angela or die trying."
"No!" Ginny´s sudden scream made him flinch. "You will stay here with me!"
Harry pulled away from her and took a closer look at her contorted face and wide eyes.
"Ginny?" he addressed her cautiously. "Are you okay?"
"How can I be okay?" Ginny was starting to yell at the whole house. "I didn't sacrifice everything for you to follow her and get yourself killed!"
Suddenly, she lunged at him and wrapped her hands around his neck.
Harry tried to push her away gently, but she was persistent. "Ginny, wait!"
"I'm your only love, don't you get it?" she howled desperately, her eyes widened and strangely glossy.
"Ginny, what are you saying?" Harry snapped at her impatiently, ripping her hands away from him. "Are you crazy?"
He froze, as he said those last words. Because yes, that was exactly what Ginny looked like – as if she was going crazy.
The gleam in her eyes with which she fixed them on him, her behaviour towards Angela, the harsh looks with which she had been watching them all the time, it was not just some dislike or jealousy. She absolutely hated Angela. Like she was obsessed to despise his girlfriend. Like she was obsessed with himself…
"We have the whole month to ourselves now!" Ginny continued pleadingly, trying to wrap her arms around him again. "Just the two of us! Finally! I wanted you so much, Harry! For so many years! Love me and we will be happy together! Please!"
"A month?" Harry widened his eyes in confusion, before he realized. "We have a month!?" he was the one shouting now. "So, they captured Angela thanks to you!"
"Yes! What other way I had to make you understand!"
"You can´t be serious! You… you made a deal with Voldemort! How could you do that? You betrayed us!"
The door to his room flew open. Standing in them, there were Ron and Remus, brought in by excited voices echoing all the way down to the hall.
"What's going on…?" Remus started, but was stopped by the sight of Ginny who was still trying to hug Harry. Harry himself was red with rage.
"No, no, darling!" Ginny assured him. "I didn't betray you! It was just a deal! And I won't give you away, don't worry! I just got rid of that nasty girl who bewitched you! Let's run away together!"
"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, shoving her roughly away from him.
Ginny fell to the ground, her face crooked with rough emotions.
Also Molly Weasley appeared behind Remus and Ron.
"You betrayed us all!" Harry snapped at Ginny. The pent-up anger and concern for Angela boiled over inside of him. "How could you? You weren't lost in the woods! You went directly to Voldemort, didn't you? That's exactly how it was!"
Ron stared wide-eyed at the whole scene and Molly made her way in front of him.
"Harry, dear, why do you…" she began not very kindly, but Harry ignored her.
"How can you have so much hatred in you?" he growled.
"But I love you, Harry! It's been so long!" Ginny pleaded from the ground.
"If you loved me, you would not knowingly hurt me! You know very well that I only love Angela!"
"No… No! NO! NO!" Ginny kept raising her voice and shaking her head in all directions.
Then she jumped up to her feet and lunged at Harry again. Completely surprised by her attack, he was only able to restrain her hands so that she would not scratch his eyes.
"I hate you! I hate! I hate! You were supposed to love me!" Ginny yelled madly.
Ron was the first to recover and rushed to his sister to pull her away from Harry. However, he could not do it himself and even Remus had to help him. Both of them then held the girl´s arms, while she was still screaming, and her mother watched her in pure shock.
"Why don't you love me!? Why? Why!?" Ginny screamed, trying with all her might to break free from Ron and Remus' grip.
Harry's anger gradually drained away. What he saw in his friend´s eyes scared him. There was terrible hatred and insanity in them. How did she manage to pretend in front of them for so long? What caused her feelings to multiply and surface like this? Who was to blame for this?
"Molly! Use your wand!" Remus called to Mrs. Weasley. "Molly!"
But Mrs Weasley stood there absolutely perplexed and just stared blankly at her daughter. Ginny was shouting something unintelligible at Harry and throwing herself around, making her hair fly in all directions. Remus laboriously pulled the wand out of his robes himself, still holding Ginny with one hand.
"Stupefy!" he blurted out quickly.
The girl immediately fell silent and slumped in their hands. A deafening silence ruled over the room. Ron picked Ginny up and placed her gently on Harry's bed. Mrs. Weasley was still watching her daughter shocked.
"Harry… What was that supposed to mean?" surprised Ron turned to his friend.
Harry just shook his head helplessly. "I don't know... She just came here and started persuading me not to go anywhere. But then she just screamed and screamed... You heard it yourself. She was the one who gave Angela in to Death Eaters," Harry finished quietly.
"It's not possible… No, it can´t be…" Molly repeated in disbelief.
"Molly, just keep calm," Lupin walked over to her and took the woman´s arm. "Come sit down," he settled her on Ron's bed.
"What are we going to do with her now, Remus?" Harry asked anxiously.
Remus thought for a moment. "I suspect Ginevra may be under magic influence of something. A curse or a potion, it's hard to say. We must get her to the hospital."
"I'll go with her," her mother decided at once. "I'll stay with my little girl."
"Sure, Molly," Remus nodded, shooting her a searching look. "I'll go get someone. Almost everyone is already at the gathering place…"
Quietly, the werewolf left the room. Ron watched his sister's still flushed face for a moment before turning to Harry.
"Did she really betray us?" he asked in a baffled voice.
Harry just nodded weakly, but didn't look at him.
"She screamed that she loved you..." Ron breathed out.
"And then she changed it to hate," Harry reacted seriously. "If she´s under the spell, we can´t take anything she said seriously, Ron."
"But… Even if someone cursed her, why this all of a sudden?" Ron wondered.
"I´m not sure, but I think this has been going on for a while. We just didn't see it," Harry replied, landing heavily on one of the chairs.
He wasn't looking at anyone, just down to the ground. But he felt that Mrs Weasley was giving him a look that brought chills on his back.