Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay! Hit a bit of a roadblock with this story, but here it is... the next chapter! I would like to thank everyone who favourited, followed or reviewed this story!
"Never has the words of
a devil seemed so beautiful."
The sound of water dripping close by causes Ginny to grunt in annoyance. She tries to open her eyes to see where the water is coming from only to realise that she is blind-folded. The rough material digs into her temple as she tries to remove it with her shoulder. "Ah, I believe someone is waking up!" A voice exclaims in front of her. The youngest member of the Weasley clan tries vainly to sort out whose voice it was when a wand is pressed against her throat. Ginny flinches under the pain caused by the wand, making the person at the other end of it chuckle darkly and rip the blindfold from over her eyes.
The young witch blinks back furiously as her eyes adjust to the torch lit room around her. She stifles a scream when she notices that she is in a dank, musty dungeon along with the rest of her family and friends. Her voice finally reaches her throat when she realises that the wand being held against her throat belonged to Draco Malfoy, a person who Ginny thought was never actually a part of the awful life his parents lived. At the sound of her voice rising in the dungeon like a mist, the door creaks open causing the torches to flicker dangerously low almost dousing the flames with the force of the wind from the outside. "Is it true?" Narcissa calls out from the top of the stairs.
"Yes,mother!" Draco answers back. "One of the Weasel children is awake. I promise you she will not try to escape while you bring back the Dark Lord."
Narcissa smirks as she watches her son press his wand against the girl's throat causing dark burn marks to mar her pale skin. "With the wards that are activated here, I do believe she would never ever escape. Come Draco, let us both speak with the Dark Lord on the recent developments."
Ginny doesn't know how long she has been left alone, how long she has been in there in general. As she looks around the ill-lit dungeon, she sees that her brothers, mother, Moody, and Professor Trelawny are all in the gaol with her. "Fred... George..." she calls out weakly, her voice rough due to lack of water and use. A low moan comes from both brothers causing her to sigh in relief, but the comfort is short lived when she notices the battered state of both of them. She searches her mind trying to think of when her brothers would have sustained such injuries, but the only thing her thoughts rest upon is Hermione breaking her mother's jaw back at 12 Grimauld Place. The youngest Weasley tries vainly to release her manacles to check on her mother but to no avail. She tugs one last time at the chains when the door to the dungeon springs open causing the torches to go out completely.
A childish giggle bubbles from the darkness, making Ginny shiver in dread at the realisation that Draco and his mother actually brought Bellatrix instead of Voldemort. The young witch knew that in her current predicament, she would rather deal with the most evil of all wizards than his psychotic lieutenant. He would kill her swiftly, just to rid the world of one more Blood-Traitor. Bellatrix, on the other hand, would torture to the point where she would beg for death just to stop the pain.
The torches slowly light, one by one, as a voice echoes off the wet stone walls. "My dear Bellatrix," the Dark-Lord begins, "Why must you torture our new guests so?" The wizard stands before Ginny causing her to shrink back in fear. "Just look at the young Weasel... she is quaking in fear!" He looks down at the witch and smirks. "Have no fear child, I have come for bigger fish today!"
The Dark-Lord strolls over to the far end of the dungeon where Alaister Moody is chained to the wall. Ginny bites back a gasp when she notices that someone had gouged out the ex-Auror's magical eye. The hollow socket stares at nothingness. A low moan escapes the wizard throat when Voldemort kicks him in the side. "I must commend you, my dear, on how well your performance was back at Walburga's house." He calls out into the darkness of the doorway to someone Ginny could not see. "When Severus first devised the plan to capture members of the Order of the Phoenix for Potter's whereabouts I had my misgivings, and when you added more to it, I still did not think it would work, but here we are with six members! That was more than I thought we would capture!"
"It was my pleasure, My Lord," the person answers back from the darkness.
Ginny's eyes narrow as she recognises the voice. "You! You did this to all of us! You were never under the Imperius curse!"
The person walks slowly out of the shadows towards the young witch chained to the ground. "Of course, Ginerva," Hermione says with a smirk. "Did you honestly believe that poor excuse?" She rolls her eyes and moves closer to Bellatrix who was leaning against a wooden support beam in the middle of the room. The dark witch smirks as she wraps her arms around Hermione's waist. "That is the problem with most Gryffindors, they always trust more than they should!"
"Do not torment the prisoners so," the Dark-Lord says with a smirk as he moves closer to the two women. "They will have enough problems to deal with soon enough. I think we should bring Moody up to the ballroom this time, maybe we can get more information from him than we did Minerva. Dumbledore did have a weird... 'fascination' with Moody."
"Professor McGonagall... but she was still at Andy's when we left," Ginny whispers. "So was Professor Trelawney. How could you possibly..."
"How could we have captured them and your group at the same time?" Hermione asks with a smirk. "You aligned yourself with the wrong side, Ginerva. And simply put, we have more players on our side than your side originally thought." The brunette laughs causing Ginny to shiver uncontrollably at the malice underneath.
The group walks back towards the stairs and out into the blustery night, leaving the young Gryffindor alone with her thoughts. Ginny sniffles as tears flow down her cheeks as she tries to pull on her chains to escape. "It's no use, my dear," a hoarse voice says from the dim corner of the dungeon. "They took all of our wands and warded the room heavily. Even our chains are magical." The person coughs, a persistent hacking cough. "It is only a matter of time before we all are taken out of here... one by one."
The young witch furrows her brow as she tries to place the voice. It was clearly female, but she could not remember why it sounded somewhat familiar. "Who are you?" The younger witch asks when her brain fails to register the voice.
A gravelly chuckle gives way to a coughing fit. After a few moments, the coughing subsides and the woman continues. "Ginny, you should know who I am by now. You spent several days in my home before we were all captured."
"Andy?!"
"Yes, who else would you expect?" Andromeda says as she tries to shuffle closer to the torch light. Ginny gasps in horror when she is finally able to see the older woman. Bruises and blood mar her swollen face causing the younger woman to barely recognise her. "Bet you can not even recognise me? I thank Bellatrix and Hermione for this," the older witch says bitterly.
"What happened?" Ginny asks as she remembered that Voldemort had said that Minerva and the rest had been captured as well.
"After you all left, we were sitting round the kitchen when, out of nowhere, several Death-Eaters surrounded us and brought us here. When we arrived, the took Minerva into the Manor and had left the rest of us here." Andromeda sniffles. "Right before you all arrived, they had taken Nymphadora. I have no idea what they are doing to them... don't know when they will be brought back... if they are ever brought back."
"What happened to you, Andy?" Ginny asks as she bites her lower lip.
"After they had whisked Minerva away, my darling older sister and Hermione paid a visit to the dungeons." Andromeda coughs again and tries to swallow. "Told me that the Dark Lord had granted them some play for doing such a great job. Bella-... Bellatrix decided that I would be the best play for them. They tortured me as my daughter watched. Bellatrix brought up my poor husband's death over and over again. Taunted me with what she was going to do to my daughter after I had died. It was... it was..." Tears stream down the older witch's face when she remembers the death of her husband.
"Andy, it's okay... we will get out of here. I promise." The younger witch bites her lower lip and looks around the dungeon. "There has to be a way to bypass the security here."
"There is no way! Don't you think that if there is a way out of here, I would be gone? We are trapped and you know it," Andromeda states sullenly.
Silence envelops the two witches as the flames from the torches cast flickering shadows along the stone wall. The minutes stretch before them like a deep chasm, causing the younger woman to become impatient. "There must be something we can do!" Ginny exclaims finally when the silence becomes too much. Suddenly, the door at the top of the stairs creaks open letting the sound of rain echo loudly in the once silent room.
Andromeda looks around wildly, seemingly searching for something that Ginny could not see. "You must warn him!" the older witch hisses when loud footsteps echo off the wooden stairs.
"Warn who?"
"Harry! You must warn him about the Dark-Lord!"
"But I am stuck in here just like you... how can I?"
The footsteps stop at the bottom of the stairs and the two witches can here two different voices whispering to one another. The older woman lowers her voice. "I know you still carry your D.A. Galleons... Dora told me. If we can not get out of here, he can at least be warned to leave the country!"
"But..." The footsteps continue towards them causing Ginny to stop. She looks up to see Hermione and Bellatrix standing in front of Andromeda.
"I think we should play with my sister again, don't you think?" Bellatrix asks Hermione. "The Dark-Lord doesn't require her... she was just an added bonus for us."
"No!" Ginny cries out before she realised what she was doing.
"No?" Hermione turns towards the youngest Weasley and smirks. "Well, I would have never thought that a Weasel would come to the aide of a Black! The world has gone mad, I believe!"
"I can't believe you, Hermione!" The young witch continues as she tries to reach something... anything resembling a heart within the person who used to be a very good friend to her. "They hate your kind! They call you Mudblood! They tortured you for Merlin's sake! How can you possibly be on their side? You are their enemy!"
Hermione moves closer to Ginny causing the young witch to flinch. Chuckling darkly, the brunette replies, "I was never their enemy. And what you deem as torture was nothing compared to the torture I endured while spending my school days with your brother and Harry! The Order was quick to give the accolades to them, while I was constantly pushed to the back." She walks back towards the stairs where Bellatrix was waiting with Andromeda. "Have fun in the dungeon! Who knows how much longer you will live!"
Bellatrix and Hermione walk back up the stairs, pushing a still chained Andromeda in front of them. As the group nears the top of the flight, the younger witch pulls out her wand and quickly douses the torches. As soon as the three our out of the dungeon, Andromeda straightens her back and smirks. "You know, I think you enjoyed pushing me up the stairs."
The eldest Black rolls her eyes as she flicks her wand releasing her sister from the manacles. "And I think you enjoyed your little performance back there. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were really a member of that horrid little group!"
"Never! Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl!" Andromeda replies as she takes her wand back from Hermione. "I am glad to be rid of them all!"
"Do you think she will contact him?" Hermione asks as she continues to look back towards the prison door.
"I do," Andromeda states as she removes the glamour from her face. "And he will still believe that Our Lord is without His Horcruxes, so he will not run away. He will try to save his friends and he will die trying to save them! Then Our Lord will be able to rule as he was meant to rule!"
"Let us not get our hopes up, Andy," Hermione admonishes. "We still have a few more things to do before we can say that. I know from personal experience to never assume anything. Let us go back to the Manor. I am sure Our Lord has another task for us."