LIFE AFTER DEATH

Part Six: Freedom?

Ginny found herself feeling impatient for the second time that week, and, once again, it was all Tom's fault; why did he have to go around smirking like that, like he knew something she didn't? Smarmy git, she thought rebelliously, and he has another thing coming if he thinks I'm going to let him shag me tonight without any word of what he's up to. She decided to be straight with him, she would simply ask him why he was smirking like that. He had been doing it since the afternoon, when he had disappeared for a couple of hours, she was going to ask him at dinner, but thought it best to wait for when Leo was in bed.

Sighing, she went and checked on Elizabeth, who was simply sleeping soundly, Ginny looked around furtively and poked the baby gently, which did nothing, so she poked her just a little harder, and she woke with a wail. "Aww, shh, shh," Ginny soothed, feeling a little bit guilty as she picked her up, "Mummy's here…and you've given me good reason to be up," she added. She went back into the main bedroom, and rocked Elizabeth gently until Tom came in, still with that triumphant smirk on his face. He had a piece of folded parchment in his hand, she noticed, as he walked toward her.

He reached up, and pulled the blanket covering Elizabeth away slightly. "Still as beautiful as I left her," he muttered. And he walked away after that, placing the parchment down on his bedside table as he unclasped his cloak, he laid on the bed, his arms behind his head as he watched Ginny, still with that irritating smirk, only stopping when she went to place the baby back into her crib.

"So," Ginny said as she returned. "Are you going to let me in on your secret?"

"I have many secrets, Ginny, so I can't think what one you wish to know," he said in a smug voice.

"The one that has had you grinning to yourself for the past 10 hours," she replied in an obvious tone.

"Oh, I was wondering when you would notice that," he said as he shut his eyes slowly, with a mysterious smile on his face. "I suppose you have the right to know, so I'll let you in the little secret; read the parchment beside me, and that should explain everything clearly."

Ginny almost ran to his bedside table, snatching up the parchment with excitement. One look at it, and it seemed to be a contract of sorts, it read;

I hereby declare absolute loyalty to the Dark Lord Voldemort, by breaking this loyalty in any way will result in punishment of death, and in anything that follows death. All loyalties to Harry Potter, and the Order of the Phoenix, will be destroyed, and broken upon the acceptance of the Dark Mark. Thereby, I henceforth accept the Dark Lord Voldemort as my one and only true Master; I will obey the Dark Lord Voldemort whatever he commands, I will not lie to my Master, and I will not try to overthrow him.

I accept that any breach of this Unbreakable Contract will result in death or a lifetime in a cell with no way of knowing about the outside world.

Signed:

Ronald Bilius Weasley Hermione Jane Granger

Ginny looked up to find Tom had been watching the whole time she read. "I-I can't believe this… no… this is a joke, isn't it?" she said incredulously, and she wasn't acting; she knew what they planned to do, but they had signed this contract, a contract that would forbid them disobeying whatever Tom asked of them, what if he asked them to kill? How could they build up a resistance when they couldn't be disloyal to him in any way, shape or form?

"Oh, it's no joke, my sweet, I have two new Death Eaters with great potential," he replied. "This is good for you, now you can see them whenever you like, and I think this is a very generous offer for me to give, surely you can see the benefits?"

"…Yes, I'm just shocked, that's all…" she said quietly. "But, Hermione's muggle-born, why would you let her join the Death Eaters?"

"Ginny, she is clever, very clever, I could use her when needs be," he explained, "most of my Death Eaters are half-bloods, those who embrace magic as the dominant force are welcome, those who don't can die."

"But, they could die…" Ginny said almost inaudibly.

"Not if they remain loyal to me, Ginevra," Tom said pointedly. "No more worrying now; they were very accepting of this agreement, Ginny, and you should be too." He stood up, and pulled his jacket off. "And I've given them a place to stay, Ginny, their very own humble abode," he said sarcastically, "and that is all. End of the matter," he muttered in a finishing tone. He picked the parchment from her grasp, and walked toward the door with it.

"Where are you going?" Ginny called out as he opened the door.

"Somewhere that doesn't concern you, my sweet," he said with a grin, then added as an afterthought, "wait up for me, I shan't be long."

Ginny knew what was on his mind, as she had predicted earlier. All men are the same, she thought, even evil overlords. She called a House Elf to help her untie her dress, and then put on a black silk babydoll. This is going to be fun, she thought, and she ran into the bathroom with a laugh.

Tom returned to find Ginny nowhere in sight, he unbuttoned his shirt, checking under the bed as he did so. "I thought these tiresome games were finished with, Ginny," he called out, "or perhaps," he said to himself, "she thinks its fun for me to chase her around." Which I am not going to do, he decided, and he sat on the bed and waited. Waited and waited, until the sound of the bathroom door clicked open.

"You're no fun," he heard Ginny say, "I wanted you to find me. Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to wear this all night." And Tom looked up, the desired effect, to see her standing in the black nightie he had bought her ages ago, yet she had refused to wear it at all, and now… he suddenly felt like a predator staring longingly at its prey.

"Maybe I will play your silly game after all," he said standing up, and walking toward her, when he held her by the waist, he muttered in her ear, "or maybe I won't." He pulled her closer to him, and kissed her. "You look like a Dark witch," he said in a low voice before he went to place kisses on her neck.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," she replied, equally quiet, "you might start putting ideas into my head." He chuckled, and took Ginny by the hand, leading her out to the balcony. "Why are you taking me out here?"

"I thought it would be a good time for a change…" he murmured, pressing Ginny against the wall with a very lusty smirk.

Ginny awoke to cool rays of sunshine on her face, when she turned to her side; she saw that Tom was still there for once, it was very rare for him to stay in bed for long. But, she saw, he was awake anyway. She remained still for a while, contemplating what her options were now that Ron and Hermione were 'incapacitated', she wondered if they still wanted to be free of the man beside her. Perhaps she should go to see them, try and work around this contract. Ginny sighed inwardly; time to be affectionate….

Ginny shifted toward him, and snuggled closer. "What are you doing?" she heard him say in a hoarse voice.

"Lying next to you," she replied quietly, "don't you want me to?" He didn't answer, choosing to remain silent as he lifted her face up to kiss her, triumphing wordlessly at how well he had tamed her. Ginny waited patiently for him to finish kissing her. "Tom? How are Ron and Hermione bound to the contract?"

She heard him laugh at this. "Very complicated magic, Ginny, much like an Unbreakable Vow, but completely different, this is tangible magic," he explained. "But, I shall not give you any other information, princess." Ginny could just see the smirk on his face from the corner of her eye, much to her dismay.

"If it's tangible, won't that make it easier to destroy?"

"Maybe, maybe not," he replied in a vague, and teasing manner.

Ginny frowned a little, out of his view. She needed to know about that stupid contract… well, she thought, who knows everything there is to know? Someone who she could see whenever she liked, so Tom had said. "Can I go and see them today?" she questioned in a sweet voice, turning her eyes toward him.

He looked down at her, and it seemed he was swayed again by her little affections. "I'm afraid that is impossible," he replied, and Ginny was rather surprised that he was refusing her. "They are undergoing some intense training, and tests, I don't just let anyone become a Death Eater."

Ginny looked doubtfully at him. "Crabbe, and Goyle? They are the dumbest people on the Earth; they could never pass any test, no matter what it was."

"Ah, yes, but I don't just require intelligent people, Ginny, I require people who are easily led too, and a bit of muscle goes a long way. Crabbe, and Goyle fit those last two preferences."

"What kind of tests?" Ginny said, prying further.

"They don't concern you, so you need not worry about them," he answered in an almost aggravated tone. "No more questions, they –." But the next part of his sentence was drowned out as loud wailing coming from the baby's nursery cut him short.

Ginny stood up on the bed, and jumped off the end in a hurry to get to the crying Elizabeth, she hated when babies cried for too long. Tom watched as she hurried away, desperate to get to the needy child. Sometimes, when Ginny was asleep, he'd go into the nursery, and look down at Elizabeth, sometimes he'd hold her hand, and give her some of his magic to her, since he hadn't found a spell that could accelerate her learning. He couldn't pass too much of his magic into her, otherwise she would die. The crying had stopped, and he decided to get out of bed, and have a wash.

Ginny came back into the bedroom, smiling widely, as she had just had a thought whilst attending to the baby; Hermione and Ron couldn't disobey Tom, but she could… and all she had to do was find out how to make the contract null. She found Tom in the bathroom, washing his face, she had to remain affectionate, to make sure he wouldn't find out about her plan, so he wouldn't suspect foul play.

Ginny searched and searched over the next few weeks, though it was a search in vain, there were no books on the subject at all; she supposed that the spell was of his own making, but she had read a passage explaining binding spells, and it suggested that objects creating a bond, like a wedding ring, needed to be destroyed, or the maker of the spell needed to be destroyed. How could she destroy something she couldn't find? Yet, she didn't even contemplate killing Tom. Ginny desperately needed Hermione to help her, but she couldn't, and now she was just getting immensely frustrated.

Then she had an idea.

"Leo," Ginny called as she stepped into five year old's bedroom, it was very tidy, and well-kept, due to the excellent service of the House-Elves. "Leo," she called again.

"Mummy, here," she heard his voice coming from the other side of the bed, when she looked around, she saw he was playing with one of his toy broomsticks. She sat down with him, and pulled him onto her lap.

"You're getting big now, aren't you?" she said softly, and he nodded happily, at being called 'big'. "I remember when you were just a baby, like Lizzy."

"I look after Lissy," he said.

"Yes, but you can only look after her properly if you listen to what Daddy tells you," she said in a gentle manner, feeling sad at having to use Leo to get to the Contract, but it was for the best.

"Daddy don't like me," Leo replied quietly.

"Of course he does, darling," Ginny assured, "you just have to listen to him, he wants to teach you things, things that you'll need to look after Lizzy. Lizzy will be very happy knowing that she has you protecting her, won't she?"

"Yes," he answered. "Will Daddy play with me if I listen?"

Ginny laughed. "Maybe," she kissed his head, and set him back down. "I'll tell Daddy that you are ready, OK? We'll see if he isn't busy tomorrow. And I'll come and read you a bedtime story later, OK?"

"OK," he echoed.

Studiofreek: Now, Ginny has got Leo in on the manipulation, but we'll have to wait and see how she is going to use him.

Kitty Grenwood: Thanks for your compliments. I was a bit puzzled on the 'exciting' thing, because I don't think the story is very fast-paced. Oh, well.

Sapphire Crystal: There may be a death… or two. But, I'm not suggesting anything yet.

Slythery: Thanks for your review. I always thought my language was quite dull in retrospect.

Gnomy123: If I wrote He Who Must Not Be Named continuously, I'd get annoyed with the story, plus I like the name Tom. Love plays an important part in the plot, and it'll play an important part in the ending too.

I want at least 10 REVIEWS , thank you.