Chapter 15

Heroine

Ginny's POV

I spent all my time those five days with Luna. She might be odd and a bit daft, but she knew her curses. After all, she was a Ravenclaw. The other good thing about Luna, was that she didn't ask questions. She seemed to understand that I was in a hurry too.

It wasn't until right after I left that I realized Luna would have helped me save Dean. Earlier in the week, she had asked if I'd heard from Dean lately. I'd forgotten that they had spent a lot of time together during their capture at Malfoy Manner years ago.

I just shrugged. She wondered aloud why he missed their weekly coffee and I struggled to keep my face clear of emotion.

As I unlocked my flat, a small part of me wondered if Luna could help. I pushed back the thought. There was no way that I'd let anyone else get involved in this. No way.

I ran frantically around my room searching for any items that might help me in anyway. I grabbed my rucksack off the desk and ran into the bathroom. I flung open the bathroom cupboard and dropped random bottles inside without bothering to look at the labels. Running back into my room, I threw open my Hogwarts trunk and picked out a few items to add to my rucksack. If they weren't helpful, at least I could possibly transfigure something out of them.

I could tell that I was getting frantic again. I sat down on the edge of my bed and concentrated on my carefully crafted plan as I breathed in and out slowly.

Lucius had given me one week to find Harry and bring him to Malfoy Manner before he'd hurt Dean. It had only been five days and I was banking on the fact that he would be surprised by my early appearance. I didn't have a lot on my side.

I had never been to Malfoy Manner, but I knew where it was. Every wizard in England knew where it was. I figured that Lucius would hold Dean in the Dungeons again. I had a basic idea as to how to find him there. I had heard the detailed explanation from Ron and Dean about the adventure there enough times.

I had one other thing on my side; a way out, even if I were to get captured. Luna and Mr. Olivander were still close, and I slyly convinced Luna that my wand was beginning to wear. Within 48 hours I had a replacement, or in my case, an extra. It was strapped carefully to my let side, under my robes.

I wasn't an idiot. And I wasn't going to lose.

Finally, as the sun set, I pulled on my black robes and shrunk my rucksack, placing it inside my sock. A trick learned from Hermione.

I apparated out of my flat to a country road about a half-mile from the gates to the Manor. My mum had told me years ago about old wizarding manors. She had lived in one until she married Dad. It was common for them to have an underground tunnel system. Most were no longer used because of the cave in threat. I doubted if Lucius even knew about them. Mum's family was all about wizard history and all that. Malfoy's seemed to be only worried about blood status.

I snuck quietly along the fence line of the manor, searching for an entrance. I didn't even know what to look for, just hoping that something abnormal would catch my eye.

After an hour of fruitless searching and finding myself only a fourth of the way around the grounds, I began to get discouraged. It wasn't but a few steps later that I suddenly felt a change in the air. It felt like a tingle in my bones. As if the magic was more concentrated in this spot.

I bent down cautiously and felt around the seemingly undisturbed ground. There was nothing out of the ordinary here, but I could feel it. This had to be the entrance. I stood up and pulled out my wand.

"Bombarda." I whispered, pointing at the ground.

I knew it was going to be loud, but the sound from my spell was deafening in the complete stillness o the night. I ducked down and gazed around for any movement other than the widening hole in the ground. When nothing stirred after a few minutes, I dropped quickly into the hole.

It was pitch black, almost like the time that George and Fred discovered Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and we couldn't see anything upstairs for a week.

I gave myself a few moments for my eyes to adjust and then moved forward. I had indeed found the tunnel system. I walked forward a few hundred meters before I found a narrow twisting stair that headed down. As I made my way down, the warm summer night was left behind and a cold, damp blackness loomed in front of me.

As the moments passed, I wondered how deep into the earth this tunnel went. I had a dark thought that this was a lot like descending straight into Hell.

The stairs ended suddenly and my left jammed up into my kneecap as I was caught off guard by their abrupt stop.

I grimaced as I straightened up and looked around. There was one door at the bottom of the stair. Well, that made my decision easy. I took a deep breath and pushed it open, wand out.

"STUPIFY!" a familiar voice called and I was thrown back against a stone table. The blow to my back caused all my breath to woosh out of my lungs. I scrambled to my feet, clutching my wand and still unable to breathe.

Lucius stood, wand pointed at my face inside the large room. It appeared to be a rather large potions lab.

"Well, well." His cold voice drawled in amusement. " You are rather clever, finding your way down here." He smiled and flicked his wand towards me.

I collapsed to the ground, convulsing in extreme paint. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. I struggled to remain conscious as the pain raked through my body. Suddenly, it stopped.

"You are alone, Ginny." He purred in my ear. At some point he had moved forward and bent down. His long white blond hair tickled against my cheek. "That is not a good thing for your poor Dean," He flicked his wand again and my body stiffened, trying to fight off the pain. My head snapped back and smashed hard against the floor. I could feel a warmth spreading on the back of my head.

He removed the spell again and stood up. In the split second his eyes were away from me, I whipped my wand out from under me and screamed.

"SECTUMSEMPRA"

Lucius's chest seemed to explode. His robes tore open in jagged tears and blood poured out from under them. He staggered forward, swayed a bit and then steadied himself on the counter.

"Filthy little whore," he spat. "STUPIFY!"

And then the darkness that had been on the edges of my vision finally pulled me under.

I knew I wasn't awake. But the visions in my head were not dreams. They were my memories. And they overwhelmed me.

Harry grabbed me the instant I walked in the door, picking me up and spinning me around. My champagne colored dress swirled around us.

"Beautiful," he whispered before his lips caught my own.

He didn't look too bad himself. In fact, I hadn't ever seen him look so good. He had a simple tuxedo on, with a ruby red silk tie. His hair was still untidy, but it seemed a bit calmer than usual. The main difference was his glasses. The round frames that usually perched upon his nose were gone and in their place were a pair of silver rectangular glasses. I scrutinized his expression carefully, he looked uncomfortable.

"Did you go shopping with Draco?" I asked, trying to hide my giggles.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Yes, remind me never to do that ever again!"

* * * * *

The image faded to black, and a new one took it's place.

The locket clicked open and inside was a picture of Harry and myself. I had never seen the picture before, but I could remember the moment that it was taken with perfect clarity. It was the very moment of our first kiss, right after we won the quidditch cup. I smiled down at the miniature scene that played our first kiss over and over again.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, as I continued to watch our embrace.

"Dennis Creevey gave it to me a while back. He found it in Colin's stuff."

"It's perfect," I whispered, inches from his lips. I could feel his hot breath against my mouth. "Thank you." I kissed him soundly and pulled away, remembering the strange phrase that opened the locket.

"What does this phrase mean?"

"It's something like, 'We choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving.'" He smiled down at me and kissed me again, this time a bit longer. "I love you, you know."

"I love you too," I replied.

* * * * * *

The fresh pain of the sweet memory washed over me, yet I was still not awake. It faded and a new memory overtook me.

"No," I cut me off. "I am letting you go. You're free. Go figure out your life. I can't fix or help you anymore." My bravado slipped and my voice cracked. Tears began to fall down my face in earnest now. "Just, when you find you, come back to me."

He pulled my hand against his chest, pressing my lips urgently to his. My hands were immediately into his hair, tangled in it, pulling him closer to me yet. Damn the consequences. I wanted this.

"Gin, no. We can't." He croaked.

I closed my eyes, leaning forward and pressing my forehead against his bare chest.

"Just," I whispered, "Just let me say good-bye." I began pressing kisses down his chest and stomach. The pain in my voice was very clear. I knew he wouldn't be able to hurt me by saying no.

"Okay," He whispered, and I pulled us under the waves of pain and love.

* * * * * *

I wondered how long this would last, how much of this my mind would replay.

"He went with," I whispered, disbelieving.

"What?" Hermione asked as she entered the room, my trunk levitating behind her. Behind the trunk, Ron followed, red-faced and tense.

"Draco's gone. He went with him," I didn't allow myself to say his name. The sight of him leaving suddenly expanded in my head, him grabbing Draco's arm, turning and disappearing. My focus had been so narrow; I hadn't realized that he wasn't alone. I also realized that it was raining in my memory. Even if I went back to the spot where he left, there would be no evidence that he was there. The rain could wash that away.

"Well, this makes my next move quite simple," Lucius's voice brought me to the edge of consciousness. He must have been controlling and watching my memories while I was too weak to prevent him. The blackness overtook me again, and this time I knew it would be a while before I came back again.

A/N Don't kill me! My beta threatened to eat my fish (coincidentally is also a beta) Fruitloop if I didn't keep writing... I know it's a huge cliffhanger, but hang on. We are in for a ride! ;-)