A/N: Been a while. At least one more chapter after this. C&C would be welcome. Ever write something so long ago it seems like it was the work of someone else? 2017-08-14 Minor revision. Something didn't upload right the first time.
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"'Idiot Known as Ron'? How dare they! I hope Volde-" he hurriedly clamped his hands over his mouth. Glancing around rapidly and as the sounds of apparating snatchers didn't fill the air, he knew he was safe. He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. As the anger subsided briefly, he finally took notice of a weird taste at the back of his throat. He spat into the nearby grass and then plopped onto his back. It was such a relief. Being caught like that would be a death sentence; though, the thought of Potter making that same mistake bought a smile to his face.
Thinking on his Potter problems caused his smile to become a scowl. Thanks to his association with Potter, he was definitely a person of interest to the Death Eaters, and while he agreed with certain aspects of Lord Moldyshorts worldview, the Dark Lord was the son of a muggle and no child of Molly Weasley nee Prewitt would ever bow to such a mongrel. And THAT was the heart of the matter. With Dumbledore dead, Harry Potter was really all that was left of the Light side and if the note they left was any indication, he had royally screwed up his chance to be first in line for any rewards for fighting for the Light. Hold on just a tick.
The disgruntled redhead began checking his trouser and jumper pockets. The vial of love potion his mum had given him before he left the burrow, in case Herms needed a little additional persuasion, had been tucked in a handkerchief that he had been fingering right before he entered the tent. He'd placed it in a pocket next to the shiny thing he'd gotten from Dumbledore. Let's see how Potter likes it when his slut of a wife is all over me…
He smiled in anticipation, imagining Harry being so disgusted at his wife that their sham of a marriage would end and Ron Weasley would be the winner. He conveniently ignored the difficulties in trying to even find them to administer the love potion. He snorted as a thought occurred to him. Should have used the potion in sixth year like mum wanted. It just didn't seem necessary, really.
He checked his last pocket and came to realize there was at least one problem with his plan that even he could not ignore. The potion wasn't there. In fact, both the potion and the shiny thingy was gone too.
That was the final straw. They'd snapped his wand, stolen his love potion and his shiny thingy, and to top it all off – Potter had stolen his girl! He seethed, he bellowed obscenities in frustration, he wanted to tear something apart, but all there was to see was the note the Potters had left for him laying tauntingly in the grass. With promises of retribution toward the Potters and a snarl on his lips, he snatched it up and was just about to rip it into tiny pieces when a strange sensation came over him. He wanted to – no, he needed to – he just HAD to turn the note over. His eyes widened at what he saw.
'Voldemort' was written plainly on the back of the parchment. Again, that strange, overpowering compulsion swept over him and as if a spectator in his own body, he felt his lips move and that forbidden name issued forth from his lips. "Voldemort."
Pops of apparition echoed through the forest. The brave Gryffindor's legs began to involuntarily knock and his bladder voided itself. He began to shriek in much the same way he did when exposed to a spider. Finally, when dark shapes began to converge from all around it occurred to him that he should try to apparate. To his horror, he couldn't. His hysterics had given them enough time to put up anti-apparition wards and it was probably a mercy, one he didn't deserve, when a bolt of red magic hit him square in the chest. Unconscious, bound and without a wand, he was portkeyed away. Several stayed after and searched the forest for several minutes before complaining loudly and apparating away.
Far away from the snatchers, nestled cozily underneath Harry's invisibility cloak, the two Potters (one lifelong and the other newly christened) were watching the redhead with interest. Their stadium glasses from fourth year were serving them in good stead as they rewound the scene of his capture and watched again to verify it was indeed a stunner that had taken down Ronald Bilius Weasley.
Satisfied that the traitorous bastard was still alive when he was portkeyed away, Harry called softly for Kreacher and Hermione called for Dobby. The two elves silently apparated right next to the married couple. They had been briefed beforehand and knew what to do.
Harry had come up with a vague plan involving the snatchers when they learned of them from Ron's interrogation. Despite how dim he always seemed in Hogwarts, they'd learned more than they thought possible from their ex-best friend. Information about Molly's schemes and Ginny's manipulations had been difficult to take, particularly for Harry, but they had already been suspicious even before Ron had returned to the tent.
Hermione had come up with the fine details for the plan, a specialty of hers. Surprisingly, she had been the one to suggest using Dobby to trail the snatchers and it was her idea to use the compulsion charms. Harry, still working his way out of the carefully crafted mindset Dumbledore had molded, suggested using emotion based triggers to activate the compulsion charms. He also suggested having Kreacher assist Dobby in his mission. Dobby was powerful, as shown by his victory over Lucius Malfoy, but as Dumbledore's death had shown, even the most powerful person could be taken unaware. Having someone to watch your back was invaluable by this point, and Harry trust the two house elves with their lives.
Both house elves nodded to the witch and wizard and then they simultaneously popped away. Clutched in Dobby's hand was a small potions vial wrapped in a handkerchief.
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What seemed like hours later, Ron woke on something soft. Terror rising up in him once again, he began to hyperventilate in an effort to keep from shrieking. The room was dim and the air felt chill upon his naked flesh. Wait – naked? He jerked around trying to sit up and failing miserably. He was tied up… specifically tied spread eagle on what appeared to be a bed. It all came back to him
He had been captured by snatchers, Potter and his mudblood had set him up, and after all he had done for them. His feelings of rage and injustice seethed and in momentary anger he struggled against his bonds. His effort ended quickly and in failure. It seemed that all his hours of quidditch practice sitting on a broom in front of the goals proved ill-suited to prepare him for hard physical exertion. He whimpered and turned his head in defeat.
A cruel squeaky voice caused Ron's head to shoot up rapidly. Wormtail!
The corpulent, balding man with a hand like silver had been just out of sight but now he skulked forward into Ron's view. The former Weasley pet cringed as he walked, as if he were still feeling the effects of repeated crucio exposure. His voice seemed raspier than before and Ron idly wondered if he had been screaming.
"Wake up, wake up. It's time to make yourself useful. My master will want to know what it is you have been doing and where you have been hiding. Former master should return Peter's kindness in sparing his life." The sickeningly sweet falsetto dropped away as the rat animagus moved a wicked looking, curved dagger to wave across Ron's face. "Boy, I must know!" he snarled. Then, in a much smaller voice, Peter Pettigrew whispered, "I must have good news for the Dark Lord, I must. Before she can…" he stopped to shudder momentarily. "I must have good news or the next time my Master will surely kill me!" The craven man cringed for a moment with his eyes close and his head shook back and forth as if denying the possibility of failure.
Ron's eyes had been fixed solely upon the dagger still being waved in front of his face. Wide-eyed, he had noticed there were darks specks and stains all over the blade. He gulped loudly as the blade was pressed against his neck and he felt the bite of the steel nick his skin.
"Tell me what I need to know. Where is Potter and what has he been doing all this time? Where is he hiding? YOU. WILL. TELL ME!" he yelled angrily. Spittle flew from his rat-like mouth.
At that moment, Ron's life flashed before his eyes. He considered all the trio had done together, all the times Harry and Hermione had been there for him and as much as he hated to admit it, how much he and the entire Wizarding world owed to the apparent couple. He knew he should die before he gave up their secrets. BUT on the other hand, he didn't like them very much and as a pureblood, he was willing to bet if he cooperated, he might be able to join the Dark Lord's regime. He was undecided until Wormtail upped the ante.
Seeing his captive firming his mind to resist, he reached into a grimy pocket and removed two sizeable walnuts with his silver arm. He held the nuts, still in their shells, in front of his Ron's face so he could clearly see them. When he was sure he had the redhead's full attention, he closed his hand in a firm grip and after several seconds he opened his hand to reveal a fine brownish powder. He let the finely ground nuts drop to the ground and then gestured with his silver hand to indicate that two more nuts were soon to join the fate of the ones by his feet. That proved to be the clincher.
"I'll tell you everything!" he shrieked.
"Good. Where are they and what have they been doing?"
He opened his mouth as if to respond, but then shut it again once he realized he couldn't remember. He knew of the clearing, but the exact location was gone. He quickly searched his memory and found he couldn't even remember what they had been doing those many months.
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After checking the map once more, Hermione slipped out from beneath the invisibility cloak. The corridor was dark and, in the torchlight, shadows ebbed and dipped ominously. It didn't help that the castle actually WAS haunted. Fortunately, the castle had been her home away from home for years and due to the many prefect patrols she'd had to make solo -lazy moRon- she was used to the creepy atmosphere.
Delicately brushing open the door to the girls' toilet so as not to make any noise, she stuck her head in and perfunctorily made several quick glances around to make sure it was empty. Moaning Myrtle kept most people away, but with the change in administration, one could never been too careful. If Myrtle kept to her routine, she should be haunting the Prefect's Bathroom for several more hours. Hermione stepped across the doorframe and held the door open wide as she glanced over her shoulder into the dim hallway. She supposed she must look very nervous, and if so then everything was going according to plan…
Gently closing the door to minimize noise, she made her way to the set of taps that comprised the hidden entrance to the Chamber of Secrets… or at least that was her intention. The entrance was already open or at least that was how things appeared. For all the time she had spent in this toilet brewing polyjuice potion, she had never once seen the Chamber entrance open, but she had no other explanation for why there was a gaping hole in the floor of the girl's loo. In addition, it matched the description Harry had once given her of the entrance when opened.
Having the chamber entrance already open wasn't part of the plan. She didn't like surprises and swiftly had her wand pointing just ahead of her. She edged closer to the hole in the floor to get a better look.
*TINK*
With battle hardened reflexes, Hermione spun and cast a stunner at the–a pebble!?
"Stupefy," whispered a voice behind her and to the right. The almost palpable malice filled the word with sinister intent.
The stunner impacted on Hermione's right should and she began to fall forward. As the last sparks of consciousness faded, she was sure she had heard a voice say, "Stupid bint." Unconsciousness mercifully claimed her before she hit the ground.
Hermione groggily pushed her way back to consciousness. She'd been stunned and from the chemical taste in the back of her throat she guessed she hadn't been enervated. She felt ropes wrapped snugly around her. Whoever had stunned her obviously hadn't noticed she had woken as Hermione could see from beneath her eyelids, what she surmised to be a Gryffindor girl (from the trim color and due to the skirt), pacing in front of her and muttering to herself.
"Where is that prat? I sent the fastest owl I could find ages ago. I don't have much time, so if I find out that idiot is dragging his feet I'll- What if Harry shows up…" she shivered and then resumed pacing. "I know they were still together the last time Ron saw them, but Hermione was here alone… Maybe they had an argument and split up? No, I can't imagine Harry leaving her behind; hell, he wouldn't even give her up when I slipped him those chocolates keyed to Cho at the end of second year. Not to mention all the gold I spent spiking his pumpkin juice with jealousy potion." She huffed in frustration. "Where is that moronic brother of mine? Hermione is here so Harry can't be far behind and my plan won't work without my good-for-nothing brother!" she was seething and stomped her feet whenever she turned her attention on her absent brother. "Unless… what if Harry is here now under his invisibility cloak?" What if he's seen everything I've done? Worse… what if he heard everything I just said?"Her eyes were very wide, and she had been rooted to that same spot since she stopped talking.
Listening intently at the increasingly paranoid rambling, Hermione began to grow steadily more concerned as Ginny suddenly lapsed into silence. Though inwardly seething that this colossal bitch had dared to potion HER Harry, she knew she had to get Ginny's attention; there were questions that needed answering and it would be counterproductive to let Ginny continue to ponder that particular vein of thought.
She groaned long and low as if waking from a deep sleep with a pounding headache. "Wah happen'd?" she moaned theatrically.
Ginny hopped back in surprise and leveled her wand at the bound figure sitting on the floor. She hadn't planned on this. She'd thought she still had time before she'd have to re-stun Hermione. This could end very badly… The ginger girl thought.
Waking from being stunned without an ennervate actually used to leave her groggy, but with enough practice, she had begun to develop a tolerance; she could recover from stuns faster and with lessened side effects, particularly if the spell didn't land dead center. Hermione resolved to show her appreciation to her husband later for all the dueling practice. She knew he had been reluctant to fire spells at her and her at him, but they were the better for it, of that she was sure. Playing the dazed and confused card for all she was worth, she looked around slowly and blinked her eyes, finally settling her purposefully unfocused gaze on Ginny. A short, raspy cough and "What happened… Ginny!? What's going on-" a glance down at the ropes "-and why am I tied up?"
Deciding to try a tactic from her mother's spell book, Ginny answered in a rush. "That's not important right now, Hermione. Harry's in trouble. I need you to tell me where he RIGHT NOW!"
Hermione blinked owlishly at the excited redhead. Harry in trouble? That can't be right. Almost as if in answer to her mental query, Hermione felt reassuring presence to her right. A quick but gentle squeeze of her shoulder and then it was gone. He was safe! Now she had to deal with Ginny. "In trouble. What do you mean by trouble? What is going on?" she asked in an exasperated tone.
"Never mind that now. Harry needs me and I NEED to know where he is. You have to tell me, Hermione. There's no time for this." Ginny asked beseechingly.
"Not until you tell me what's going on, "Hermione retorted.
"I thought you cared about him," she sneered.
"Of course I care about him, he's my – He's my best friend!" Hermione said without technically lying
"Well, he's my boyfriend, so I need to know where he is and I need to know NOW!"
Hermione couldn't keep the glare from her face as she responded in a tight voice. "He broke up with you, Ginny. You're NOT his girlfriend, not anymore."
At Hermione's declaration, Ginny gave up any pretense of being worried for Harry and began a long angsty rant. "NO! He's mine! Trelawny made the prophecy as plain as day.
'And the Chosen one shall meet his destined on his return to the land of his father's. Accomplished and strong but meek are her moments. Great danger will he overcome for her and to him devoted as none other. Look for her on the eve of the Dark Lord's return.'
"Don't you see? I met him his first day when he first rode the Hogwarts Express the very year the Dark Lord made his first bid to return, I'm the most popular girl in my year, and I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He fought the most dangerous basilisk ever seen for ME." Ginny's eyes had taken on a crazed glimmer. "No one is more devoted to Harry Potter than I am. I've loved the boy-who-lived, since I was old enough hold my story books and stare longingly at the pictures as they gazed lovingly at me. " She took a deep breath. "If you won't help me, then you're in the way." She took a step forward, "But you've always been in the way, haven't you?" and she raised her wand.
Righteous fire burned behind theatrically teary eyes. This she-devil thinks she's destined to be with my husband? Not if I have anything to say about it. Though I STILL think divination is a wooly subject, that prophecy fits me just as well as it fits her. AND he already picked ME. WITHOUT potions, I might add. This isn't over Ginevra Molly Weasley! "Ginny, this isn't like you… not like you at all. You're my friend and I know my friend would NOT do this," pleaded Hermione.
Ginny was unmoved by the impassioned appeal.
The bound Gryffindor tried again. "Something's not right, Ginny." She bit her lip and looked as if she were calculating something at a rapid pace. "I think you might be being influenced or controlled like when Riddle's diary controlled you. That must be it; you have to fight it, Ginny!"
At the mention of the diary, Ginny cocked her head to the side and her right hand came up to rest upon her lips. Her eyes took on a faraway look. "Controlled? He never controlled me. I was willing right up until he betrayed me." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He promised me power, he promised me riches, he promised me… Harry" Her voice trailed off until her voice was a harsh whisper as she mentioned the name of her obsession. Speaking his name, her expression hardened, and her eyes darkened menacingly. "Tom taught me so much, gave me so much, but he betrayed me in the end. At first, he wanted to kill Harry but I disagreed. I persuaded him, convinced him that Harry was more useful alive. Finally, he decided he wanted Harry for himself and suddenly I was expendable. I was only a means to an end. But I learned my lessons; I learned everything he had to teach me and more. I AM NOT a foolish, little girl anymore. I'm not some pampered princess or some poor little swot with hand-me-down robes. There is no right or wrong for me. There is ONLY power and those too weak to grasp it. AND I am NOT weak. I WILL take what is mine, and he WILL love me."
Hermione glowered at Ginny with such anger and force that to anyone watching, it would seem amazing that Ginny did not burst into flame on the spot.
"I know you and Harry made up somehow, but then how could it turn out any differently when my idiot older brother left the two of you in a tent together in the middle of nowhere for weeks on end? Harry may have deluded himself into thinking he likes you-maybe even think he loves you, but that's only because I wasn't there. He loves ME, he chose ME, and when you break his heart and leave him, he'll come back to me and everything I've worked for will come true. Everything. Will. Be. Perfect.
"Like hell he will. I wouldn't leave Harry for any reason and I know that he wouldn't leave me either."
"You don't have a choice. Imperio."
The unforgivable impacted Hermione's body; she stiffened and then immediately relaxed as a calming pleasure enveloped the bound witch. Unbeknownst to Ginny, a gasp of pure disbelief and outrage had echoed throughout the room the very second the curse incantation had left her lips.
"Once my brother gets here, you will apologize to him as exuberantly as possible and do WHATEVER he asks in order to gain his forgiveness. He is, after all, the man of your dreams and you are SO very sorry for offending him." She smirked before continuing.
The voice was back again. The one that had first began to torment her three years ago in that damnable defense class and continued to visit her on cold and lonely nights in the form of that life debt hell . It was a seductive and soothing voice that promised her pleasure, meaningless shags, and books; endless mountains of books, more books than she or anyone could read in a lifetime. She physically shuddered at the thought of so many books, but as always thoughts of Harry came to her rescue and her mind began to focus on her husband. "Ha-aarr-rry" she lightly sing-songed. Even under the Imperious Curse, her devotion to Harry never wavered.
"Yes, my Harry; not yours," snapped Ginny.
Ginny did not catch the minuscule shake of contradiction from Hermione's head; she had been clearing her throat in preparation for the completion of her plan.
"And you, Hermione Jean Granger, will come running up to Harry dragging my oaf of a brother. You'll be happy and smiling, just gushing with joy at how smart my brother was for recalling the way Harry had hissed at the taps 5 years ago and with a little trial and error reproduced the right sound to open the entrance to the chamber.
Still in a daze, Hermione was slowly but deliberately shaking her head "N-not possible… magic…" she murmured.
Ginny snorted. "Fuckwit. Of course it isn't possible. I opened the chamber. The diary made me a permanent parselmouth, but nobody knows it aside from you, me and the diary, and it certainly won't be telling anyone. Not that an imperiused fuck toy like yourself will be in a position to tell anyone about it in the near future either.
With unfocused eyes, Hermione weakly protested, "No…"
"No, what? I heard it all from Ron. When Crouch cast the Imperious on your entire class no one but Harry could shake it off." She clutched her wand tighter and narrowed her eyes. Hermione's body momentarily convulsed as Ginny cancelled the curse only to recast it as powerfully as she was able. In sickly sweet voice, vaguely reminiscent to Delores Umbridge, she continued. "And once you've explained about the Horcrux and the Basilisk fang you stabbed it with, Ron will mention something about saving the House elves. That will be your cue to enthusiastically take my brother in your arms and kiss him in full view of Harry. Just. Like. The. Slut. You. Are."
"But I don't even like Ron," came her response. To any normal person, the tone of her voice would have been cause for concern in this situation. Very few people can resist the Imperious Curse, but Hermione's voice was gathering strength and focus even as her body seemed to be losing the battle against the physical effects of the powerful spell. Ginny, in her distraction, completely disregarded that Hermione was actually resisting her fully powered Imperius.
"Like has NOTHING to do with it" she ranted. "You tried to come between me and Harry, well once my slow, WHO SEEMS TO BE TAKING HIS SWEET TIME, brother finally gets here, I'm sure he'll make sure you keep coming and coming and coming." She was smiling in outright cruelty now, but she wasn't watching Hermione any longer. Her gaze was staring at some empty space in front of her, caught up in her own twisted fantasies; she didn't notice Hermione's body grow still as the Imperious Curse broke.
A soft "finite" whispered in the open air and the magically bound ropes slackened. Ginny didn't notice a thing.
That is, until Ginny walked close enough to Hermione to grab a fist full of her hair.
"Look at me when I speak to you, Slut!" she growled as she made to yank painfully on Hermione's long brown hair. She was completely surprised when the bound and helpless captive suddenly stood forward and up, leaving her bindings behind, and head-butted her in the chin. The move was so unexpected that her teeth clacked together loudly in the still air of the toilet and she could feel warm, salty blood filling her mouth, informing her that she had apparently bitten the tip off of her tongue. Then the pain hit and she stumbled backward.
Backpedaling in an effort to remain upright and still in shock from the blow to her chin and the pain in her mouth, Ginny dropped her wand that landed right where she took her next step. Ginny's foot flew out from underneath her. The momentum added to her loss of balance caused her to collide head first with the far wall and knocked her unconscious.
Standing on unsteady legs, Hermione had a furious glare on her face but her mouth was soon occupied as her husband appeared from beneath his invisibility cloak and swept her up in a glorious kiss. Breaking the kiss to breathe, Harry exclaimed, "God damnit, Hermione. My heart almost stopped when that stunner hit you and you hit the ground. I almost cursed her a dozen times while you were questioning her. I don't understand-", but he was interrupted as Hermione flicked her wand at Ginny's prone form; the ropes that had previously bound her expertly bound themselves around Ginny and tied themselves off securely in knots that Harry didn't think he could have tied without a wand. Then, for good measure, she stunned the unconscious redhead to make sure she stayed down.
Hermione pulled the still active Marauder's Map from Harry's pocket and after giving it and her watch a brief once over then proceeded to show her husband her appreciation for both the dueling practice and for his concern over her. Breaking the final kiss, she leaned back and smirked at his goofy grin. "You were saying something?"
He shook his head briefly and took a deep breath to clear his mind and continued, "I was going to ask why we couldn't just stun her and then give her veritaserum like we did with Ron?"
"Two reasons. One, Veritaserum is almost 99% effective but like any truth serum, you need to ask the right questions. According to the military books I got from my Dad, a really good interrogator is more thorough and more reliable than any truth serum."
"More reliable than a truth serum that's nearly 100% effective?"
"That's the second reason. I didn't expect her to be here when we found we needed basilisk venom, but when she showed up on the map it seemed like the opportune time. I couldn't be sure she wouldn't be able to fight the effects, so I needed to check her behavior for myself. It made sense to have her willingly give up as much information as possible before we resort to the truth serum method."
"Resist veritaserum? I didn't think that was possible. I mean, Ron folded like a deck chair."
"Yes, but I originally made plans thinking she'd been able to resist the diary's mental control for months. I never imagined that she had actually cooperated with it willingly. Also, she's a student in a school that has a former potions master as its Headmaster. I couldn't be sure she hadn't developed a resistance due to repeated exposure.
"Makes sense." He pulled her into a tight embrace. "Please don't do that to me again." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It was like the Department of Mysteries all over again."
"Now you know how I feel whenever you play quidditch." She said affectionately.
"I'm serious, Hermione. She actually used an Unforgivable on you. I could have killed her where she stood." His voice tinged with worry. Touched by his concern, Hermione cradled his face in her hands and he reveled in the wonderful contradiction of her hands; delicate but strong, gentle to the touch but firm and unyielding when necessary. They were warm and comforting and his insides ached to think of how vulnerable she had been just moments before; how easily Ginny's Imperio could have been an Avada Kedavra. I could have lost you…
"So was I. Do you have any idea the number of times I've watched you nearly get killed on a broomstick? She asked sardonically.
"Three times come to mind."
"Try over two dozen," she replied matter-of-factly.
He looked skeptical.
"I never missed even one of your practices," she explained, channeling her old know-it-all persona. Noting the concern still on her husband's face, she drew him into a tight embrace. "It's fine, Harry. I'm safe. You kept me safe."
"I shouldn't have let you do it. I know we didn't have much time to make up a plan and I know you warned me she might try and bespell you, but to cast the Imperius Curse…"
"It was always a risk and we both knew it, but it isn't as if we haven't been preparing for this possibility for while now. In the short time that fake Professor Moody was here, I never had the opportunity to really develop a resistance to the Imperius Curse. I know it was hard on you to curse me, but we agreed I needed more practice breaking free of it." She wrapped her arms around his neck, the corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk. "And it was so worth it. Thank you for letting me try to break out of it by myself."
Harry still looked unsure. He looked off to the side. "I still shouldn't have used an unforgivable on you." He obviously still had issues about that particular aspect of their training. Hermione began to protest, but Harry kept on going. "Even if you were the one that asked me, I still should have found a way to keep from having to cast spells on the most important person in my life."
"It's in the past." Hermione said placatingly. "I'm more concerned that Ron said she was willing to do anything to get you back. Even if he didn't know all the details, I'd say this plan of hers matches the plan Ron knew about."
It was at that moment that Ginny regained consciousness. The first person she saw was Harry and as was often the case, she only had eyes for him.
"Harry! Thank Merlin! Hermione was just here. You've got to help me; she's completely lost the plot. Absolutely nutters and raving like a lunatic. You can't believe a word she says." Stopping to take a breath, then she continued at a fast pace. "She stunned me –" she looked down at the impressively tied ropes "- and tied me up. She's gone starkers, I tell you. She's gone insane. She's…"
"She's stood right behind you with a wand aimed at your pointy little head."
Twisting around to glare at Hermione, Ginny began to shake in outrage - Ginny exploded at Hermione. "This is all your fault! We would have been happy. He would have learned to love me! If only your whore of a mother had drowned you when you were born and done us all a favor, then I'd be with my one true love!
"My mother LOVES me and I love her. She would never do something like that."
"Bet she regrets not killing you when she had the chance – oh that's right. She can't regret anything because you obliviated her and sent her off to Austria(sic). She doesn't even know you exist now…"
"Shut up. Shut UP! SHUT UP!" Hermione shouted and smacked her so hard on the cheek that Ginny was sent crashing into the floor. Her face framed by brown curls, she looked murderous and fey.
Ginny's wand lay burning on the stone floor.
Visibly dented and already starting to bruise, Ginny couldn't resist adding, "You hit like a girl."
Stalking up to the face down girl, Hermione pointed her wand, her intentions obvious.
"You don't want to do that."
"And why not!? After all she's done to me… to us, how can you defend her, Harry?"
Harry was looking at her now. His gaze was steady and the side of his mouth was starting to twitch upward; a sure sign he was letting his marauder side come out to play.
"I don't intend to defend that THING upon the floor. I just thought you might be interested in a more creative and long lasting punishment. After all, you can only kill a person once."
Hermione cocked an eyebrow and just stared at him.
Harry looked very pleased with himself as he began to explain his plan.
Hermione's smile got wider and wider until she was sure her face would split if she got anymore pleased. When Harry finished, she had an overwhelming urge to kiss this wonderful, thoughtful, vindictive man. She didn't even try and fight it as she pulled him in for an animalistic and frenetic kiss to show her appreciation for her husband. She couldn't help but notice the look of eager anticipation on his face as she pulled him close. Yes, such thoughtfulness from her husband deserved to be rewarded several times – in many different ways. But he would have to wait for later for the follow-up rewards, as she definitely wanted to put his plans into action as soon as possible.
Their tender moment over, Hermione gestured for Harry to go ahead and then she stepped over to lean against a handy wall. Harry walked over to Ginny's bound and helpless body. He knelt down and used his wand to shift her so she was no longer facedown.
She was staring at him. It was unnerving.
Clearing his throat, he began. "You know, I figured that you probably used jealousy potions to make me your boyfriend and now I know for sure. I want you to understand that I don't regret breaking up with you at all, in fact that was probably the single best decision I made last year. I am a fool for not seeing how much Hermione meant to me until just recently and because of that I probably deserve to end up with a bitch like you; however, you tried to hurt my wife and I will never, ever forgive that. I want you to know that I did not face a basilisk for some stalker fangirl whose name I could barely remember; I faced the meanest basilisk in all of Britain for two reasons. One, to save the only daughter of a family that I thought loved me; and two, but most importantly, to make whatever nearly killed Hermione pay. You thought I was scary when I refused to follow you into a broom cupboard?" He paused and looked thoughtful before continuing. "When we're through with you, you're going wish you never even heard of the Boy-Who-Lived. JUST. YOU. WAIT. AND. SEE."
"Harry?" Hermione queried in the dim chamber light.
"Yes?" he responded as he searched his memory for the exact phrasing Riddle's shade had used when opening the statue.
"There's something that has always bothered me about the chamber."
'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts Four!'* he called aloud in Parseltongue. "What's that, Hermione?"
The stonework of the gigantic statue of Salazar Slytherin began to slide apart and a great grinding sound, as the pieces moved, filled the chamber.
"This chamber is named the Chamber of Secrets, isn't that right?"
"I've never heard different. You double-checked that in Hogwarts a History back in second year. Why do you ask?"
The statue's mouth rumbled and ground louder than normal, having reached it maximum aperture, the statue stopped. Its gaping maw ominous in the flickering light.
"Secrets, Harry. Plural. As in having more than one secret.
"I don't understand."
"Why call it the Chamber of Secrets if your only secret is a SINGLE basilisk? Shouldn't that be Chamber of a Secret or The Secret's Chamber?"
The sound of hissing filled the chamber.
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-To Be Continued-