Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, my longest one so far in this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Enjoy.

A Chance To Say Goodbye

The Order was still rather depressed. Though they were feeling a bit better since it was time for Snape's report, his first since Ginny had been kidnapped days ago. Now they were all sitting in the library of their new headquarters, eagerly awaiting anything he may have to say on the subject of Ginny Weasley.

Once Snape had finished his usual reports on death eater activity, Harry couldn't help but interrupt him, "Snape, sorry Professor Snape, have you seen anything of Ginny at all?" Snape's mouth turned to a sneer at Harry's rudeness, "no, I'm afraid that I have yet to come into contact with Miss Weasley."

Most of the room were merely disappointed by his words, but some were angered by his response. "How can you not have seen her Snivellus, you're a bloody death eater," shouted Sirius. He looked like he was about to say something, probably even more insulting, but Remus put a restraining hand on his arm and Sirius fell silent.

Snape's onyx eyes flashed and he drawled his response as if it bored him, "well Black you should perhaps understand before you start making unfounded accusations as I know you planned to. I cannot merely walk up to her door and get invited in for tea and a chat. I am supposed to be her hated potions professor and so it would give my position as a spy away in a heartbeat."

"Even if that wasn't an issue," he continued, "the Dark Lord is rather protective and possessive of Miss Weasley. She had a verbal confrontation with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange just after she arrived, which was interrupted by the Dark Lord, He got the two to spread his warning by word of mouth - you touch her and die. I don't even think she's seen anyone but the Dark Lord since that confrontation. Death Eaters are afraid to go near her for fear of what He shall do to them, so they just steer well clear."

Molly Weasley began sobbing at the thought of her baby girl being at the mercy of Lucius and Bellatrix, however all were comforted by the thought that death eaters were keeping their distance from her.

Ron looked a little confused, "couldn't we just get Snape," he broke off at Hermione's glare, "sorry Professor Snape, to tell us where Ginny is being held. Then we can storm the place and rescue her."

Snape rolled his eyes, but Dumbledore looked kindly at Ron, "a nice idea Mr Weasley, but we already know where they are - Malfoy Manor. However, Professor Snape's dark mark and the oath he took as a death eater prevents him revealing where exactly the Manor is, all we know is that it is somewhere around Wiltshire. The Manor also has many enchantments and charms, it is also unplottable. At the current time we are, I'm afraid, unable to enter the Manor."

Everyone looked disappointed, but resigned as Dumbledore spoke again. "Now the final item on our agenda is of some importance. I received this letter today and have a suspicion that it is from Voldemort himself. I have of course had the letter checked and there are no curses," he added when he saw the worried looks on many of the Order's faces.

"I am going to read the letter to you all now and I want you to know that as of yet I also have no idea what it contains. I ask that no one interrupts until I am finished." The room nodded and went quiet, all leaning forward in anticipation. Dumbledore slit open the letter and cleared his throat before beginning:

Dumbledore,

I won't insult your legendary intelligence by writing simpering pleasantries that I do not mean. You, no doubt, know that I have one Ginevra Weasley in my possession and are eager to return her to her blood traitor family. This I cannot allow.

However, I do believe that Ginevra at least deserves the chance to say a proper goodbye to her family and friends, no matter how much I despise them. Therefore the two of us and no others shall be present in the far east clearing in the Forest of Dean tomorrow night at 7pm.

You can bring your whole organisation if you wish to say a final goodbye since you will not see her again until I am triumphant and many of you shall not live to see that day.

I know you assume that this is some sort of trap, but I can assure you it is not. Someone as clever as you will understand the enchantment I have placed on this piece of parchment - everything it says is true and if I digress from these terms that it is simple. I shall die.

Obviously I would not like that so you will know I am, reluctantly, sincere. Consequently, I shall undoubtedly see you and your motley crew tomorrow at 7.

A word of warning though, do not think of trying to trap me there, for there shall be measures to prevent such actions. I should also hate see what it would do to Ginevra if I had to hunt down and kill one of her precious family or friends for the simple reason that they tried to attack me.

Remember, tomorrow night - Forest of Dean, far east clearing - 7pm

Lord Voldemort

There was complete silence during the reading of the letter and also right after Dumbledore was finished reading it, everyone was trying to process the offer. Then everyone was speaking at once, trying to get their opinions heard over the crowd and Dumbledore had to resort to using a room wide silencing charm to quieten everyone.

"I apologise for the use of silencio but I had no choice, we must make a decision on this issue now. This could be our only chance for a while to see Miss Weasley and she may be able to provide us with some information that could prove useful in defeating Voldemort. Now we shall have to vote, if you believe we should go to this meeting then please raise your hand now."

He smiled a little as almost the entire room raised their hands in favour of the meeting. "And those opposed," the only member to raise their hand at this was Moody and given his paranoia most of the Order disregarded his worries. "Well it looks like we'll all be going to the Forest of Dean tomorrow," Dumbledore said with a small smile.

He dismissed the meeting after this, though most lingered to talk about their excitement at being able to see Ginny again and the questions they would ask her.

Snape caught Dumbledore just as he was about to leave, "for obvious reasons I cannot go with you all to this meeting since it would give my loyalties away. However, if you could mention quietly to Miss Weasley to perhaps bring up a wish to continue studying potions with the Dark Lord. She was the best in her class and I'm sure she's a capable enough liar to say it was her favourite subject, teacher notwithstanding," he said with a wry smile.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, "excellent idea Severus, Tom will probably grant her that small request and you are the only death eater with a mastery in potions so he would have no other choice but to send her to you. We could send messages back and forth through you, I'm sure it would be a great comfort to the Weasleys." Snape nodded and with a quick good bye he vanished in a swirl of black robes.

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The days following her 'punishment' were terrible for Ginny. She was confined to her room, the second part of her punishment, only allowed out to eat breakfast and dinner with Him. She really wished he'd make her eat on her own as a punishment, but she had a suspicion that he knew how much it pained her to be forced into his company. She lamented how much he knew about her and her only consolation was his annoyed expression as she sat in stony silence while they ate and refused to answer any of his questions.

She spent most of her days reading the few books she had left in her room in an attempt to forget where she was being held, who was holding her and the murder she had seen committed right in front of her eyes.

Of course, once she'd read all these books she was left with nothing to do but think. She hated herself for it being partly her fault that Dean had been killed. She couldn't close her eyes without seeing his face and she wondered just how heartless the dark side had to be to not constantly see images of those they killed.

She spent the time she wasn't hating herself muttering curses at herself for being so incredibly stupid and picking up that fucking diary in the first place - that was the cause of all her problems.

A few days had passed since Dean's death and it was 6 in the evening. Ginny and Tom had just finished another silent meal when he spoke, "you may not grace me with an answer Ginevra, but you need to know that we are going somewhere tonight and will be leaving at 6.50. Please be ready to leave and I shall fetch you from your room then."

She merely nodded her head and stood up from the table when he did, steadfastly ignoring the customary kiss on the cheek and heading back up to her room as quickly as possible.

She went to her closet room to try and decide what to wear, but she didn't even know what they would be doing and she wasn't about to go find Tom to ask. They couldn't be eating out since they'd just had dinner. Well whatever it was she wasn't going to wear anything formal because Tom hadn't specified it and fancy dresses just weren't comfy.

She instead decided on blue jeans, a white gypsy top and a pair of white converse. She magically straightened her hair, but didn't bother with any makeup - she was probably going to end up crying later that night from nightmares of the terrible things she'd seen and she really didn't fancy looking like a panda due to running mascara.

When she was finally done getting ready it was only half past six. She didn't want to spend 20 minutes thinking about her captivity since that line of thought was liable to make her depressed, so she decided to re-read one of the books in her room.

Tom arrived right on time and took her arm almost immediately before apparating them both away, she didn't even have time to ask where they were going. She wondered briefly about how it was possible for him to just apparate in and out of Malfoy Manor before remembering that he was Lord Voldemort and probably created the wards himself.

They arrived in a forest and Ginny was very confused, she couldn't think of any reason they would be there. For one terrible moment she considered the possibility that he'd brought her along to meet with werewolves, but she knew that despite his evil, he'd never put her in that kind of danger.

"Where are we?" she asked as she watched him wave his wand around the clearing in complicated motions she recognised as shield casting. "We are in the far east clearing of the Forest of Dean for a meeting at 7. The name is nicely symbolic isn't it," he added with a smirk. She felt her anger with him grow, knowing he was referring to her now dead ex-boyfriend.

They waited in silence, Ginny watching for whoever would come at 7 and Tom casting non-verbal spells to build the shield in front of them up. She wondered why he would need protection, or maybe it was her who needed it.

When 7 o clock came she moved forward, eager to see who they were meeting with. The many pops of apparation came at the same time and Ginny began to make out the people as they came closer towards her and out of the trees. To say that she was surprised to see the Order making their way towards her was an understatement.

"Mom," she screamed as she saw the short, plump red-head Weasley matriarch approach where she and Tom were standing. Molly turned in shock at the sound of her voice, "Ginny!" She looked like she was about to cry and Ginny ran forward to reach her. However, about a foot from where her mother was standing she suddenly found herself hurtled backwards by an invisible force and into Tom's waiting arms.

By the time Tom had set Ginny on her feet the rest of the Order had discerned where they were and had run over to Molly Weasley. Seeing Ginny's wrist being held in a tight grip by Tom a large group of the Order made to move forward to help her, but Tom stopped them in their tracks with his words.

"I wouldn't bother trying if I were you, I wasn't about to let you just grab Ginevra and go, there is a barrier between you of epic strength. Of course you can see her and talk to her, but you will not come too near her." Tom turned to Ginny, "I shall leave you to converse with your loved ones then Ginevra." With that he turned and strode a little distance away from her, allowing her some semblance of privacy.

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione immediately pushed to the front of the crowd gathered near Ginny and she was bombarded with a barrage of questions from her nearest and dearest. "How are you darling?", "has the snake touched you at all?", "we'll get you out soon Gin, as soon as we can."

She took a deep breath, "I haven't been hurt, not physically at least. My room is completely luxurious, but I miss my old room back at the Burrow and I miss you guys so much it hurts." Molly wiped a tear from her eye, "how much do you have to see Him then Ginny?"

Ginny grimaced, "I have to eat breakfast and dinner with Him and he occasionally stops by to see me." Mrs Weasley nodded, seemingly satisfied by her daughter's answer. Harry, Ron and Hermione began to catch her up on all the news in the Order and she drank up every word, eager to discover how their progress with the war was going.

While the youngsters chatted to each other a tense conversation was taking place between Voldemort and the older members of the Order of the Phoenix. "Tom," said Dumbledore in a calm, but firm, tone, "you cannot keep Miss Weasley with you forever. Her place is with her family and friends and she is merely a frightened 16 year old girl. You have no reason to keep her captive and it is cruel to the poor girl."

Tom merely smirked at the old wizard, "alas Dumbledore, you are wrong and I cannot comply. Ginevra must be taken away from the ridiculous notions of her blood traitor family and your Order. She is of tremendous importance to me, for we are soul mates and she shall one day be my queen, once I triumph over Potter and your pathetic Order."

He spat the last words out like they were venom and Dumbledore looked disappointed, while the other Order members glared with disgust at Him.

Back with the youngsters, Ginny and Ron were having a rather loud argument, "don't know why you don't just try and escape Gin, you don't want to be there do you?" asked Ron with shock. Ginny looked upset, "of course I don't Ron, the thing I want most in the world is to be back with all of you. But I can't escape."

Their argument was becoming louder and the older Order members were looking at the warring siblings with concerned faces, while Tom merely had an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh come on Gin, you haven't even tried to escape," shouted Ron, ignoring warning looks from his brothers, Harry and Hermione. Ginny burst into tears at his angry words, "oh yes I have tried to escape Ron Weasley and look how that turned out," she choked out while salty tears ran down her face.

Harry glared at Ron and he looked a little ashamed with himself, but Ginny was getting into her stride and as with Mrs Weasley, once that happened there was no stopping her.

"I tried to escape Ron, I was almost there too. I went through the kitchens at night and found an unguarded door in the hedge. But when I stepped through it was like a portal and I got dropped right in front of Him back in the Manor. He knew what I had tried and I was punished."

The whole Order went pale, "how did He punish you Ginny," whispered Hermione with a fearful look on her face, chocolate eyes wide with worry.

"I had to watch …" she broke of to sob some more, "… had to watch as He, … he ki-ki-killed Dean right in front of me. I'll have that death on my conscience forever and I will not risk that sort of thing happening again. I cannot try and escape." She hung her head in shame and sadness, hiding her sobbing and blotchy red face with a curtain of fiery red hair.

If looks could kill Tom would have been dead 100 times over with the looks the Order was giving him. Molly Weasley was fighting to stop herself just jumping at the barrier between them to try and get to her daughter and comfort the distraught girl. Harry and Ron were looking at Him with utter hatred and Hermione's eyes were tearing up at the sight of her best female friend breaking down after her revelation.

Dumbledore looked at Tom with a mix of horror, shock, disgust and disappointment, "how far have you fallen Tom?" he asked softly. Tom merely sneered at his old teacher, "fallen Dumbledore, I have fallen nowhere. In fact I have risen above all my peers and soon I shall rise above you all."

"Tom, you claim to care for Miss Weasley and yet you subjected her to an experience which will probably haunt her for the rest of her life. She's an innocent child Tom, you had no right."

Tom snarled viciously and though there was a barrier between them the whole Order, apart from Dumbledore and Harry, stepped back at his tone. "I have every right Dumbledore. The filthy mudblood boy was trying to prevent my work and he deserved what he got. It was just more convenient for Ginevra's punishment that he was an ex-boyfriend, though she really should have had more taste."

He ignored Ginny's louder sobs at the his degradation of Dean. Dumbledore still looked angry, "what right did you have to punish Ginny though?" Tom looked impassive, "I had explicitly warned her of the severe consequences she would face should she try and escape me, yet she tried. She needed to be punished or she would never learnt her lesson and you must admit that the punishment did it's work, she will not try to escape again."

"Yes but you've broken her Tom, destroyed her innocence, she will never be quite the same again," Dumbledore said sadly, with an apprehensive glance at Ginny, whose tears had subsided into quiet sobs. Tom pretended not to hear, but he appeared angry at Dumbledore's words and turned to Ginny, speaking sharply. "We're leaving Ginevra, say goodbye to these … people."

It was a mark of how much Dean's death and her imprisonment had affected Ginny when the usually fiery witch merely nodded her head and moved towards the barrier, passing each person with a whispered goodbye while Tom looked on as though he was rather bored.

When it was her family's turn she looked like she might cry again, but kept up a stoic face, crying inside. She wished so much to be able to hug them all, but knew Tom would never allow it.

She moved to Hermione and gave her a ghost of a smile, a kind of reassurance that they both knew was false. "Look after Harry and Ron please Mione, you know they can't get along without you." Hermione nodded and burst into tears before stepping back, Remus and Sirius coming over to her to comfort the distressed witch.

Harry moved in front of Ginny and gave her a small smile, which she returned. "I still love you Gin, always will," he spoke softly, "and when we get out of all this and the bastard is dead then we can finally be together." Ginny looked into the emerald eyes she loved so much, "yes Harry, I want it so much it hurts, I just hope you can destroy him before he devastates everything we hold dear." He blew her a soft kiss and stepped out of the way to allow the final person to say his goodbye.

Dumbledore surveyed the youngest Weasley with sorrow, she had been through so much, too much for one of her age. He leant down to her to deliver Snape's message, "tell Tom you have a wish to continue studying potions, you may get to see Severus and that will help us." Her nod was almost unnoticeable and then she spoke so Tom could hear her, "I'll miss you too Headmaster."

Satisfied that her words had alleviated any suspicion Ginny shuffled slowly over to Tom with an air of resignation. He gripped her tightly around the waist and she had only time for one last wave before he disapparated them both away and the magical barriers fell. Those who remained slumped at the departure of the two, knowing that Ginny had left any chance of happiness behind her, in the clearing with them.

By the way, I am not positive if Dean is in fact muggleborn, if I remember correctly he went on the run in the final book because his mother was muggle and he didn't know his dad so he didn't know if he was a half-blood. But the book mentioned he had sisters and since none of them appear to be witches then I went with the idea that he was muggleborn, it gave Voldemort a reason to capture him in my story.

As always, the next chapter will be out in a couple of days.