Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I write for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note: Annnnnd here's the chapter I've been excited about all along. No commentary beyond the fact that things are going to pick up with this chapter and the ones moving forward. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on this one, and thanks for all the reviews!

Prisoner 79934: Ginevra Weasley

By: Rae

-A "Harry Potter" Fic-

Ginny shivered in the hallway by the man called Sirius Black. She was still trying to process what was happening. One moment she'd been dreaming of being turned away from Hogwarts, the next she'd woken up and seen a man in a prison uniform staring at her from outside her cell. It was still baffling to her how he'd even managed to escape his own cell, let alone find her and know the charm to release her from her cell.

She stood on the cold stone floor trying to take in the surrealness of it all.

When he'd offered to release her, she thought it must be some strange trick. Maybe it was a test the guards did to see if a prisoner was gullible enough to believe they'd be able to escape. Maybe it was just one big joke with her as the butt.

Then he'd started in on that ridiculous story about needing to help Ron and Harry. It was too unbelievable to be true. Scabbers, an Animagus? She scoffed just thinking about it. The strange man cocked an eyebrow at her, and she turned it into a cough.

He was armed, and she wasn't. He had a wand and apparently knew enough about the prison to know how to release the cell bars. She needed to consider him dangerous till she was freed, she decided.

It was when she'd looked back at the wall behind her and the paper on the ground she'd made the real choice. She could stick it out and trust her parents, Dumbledore, the system to release her in three years. She could try to live in this dismal reality and keep hope alive that once she served her term she would at least be released to go home, even if she'd never be able to hold a wand again and perform magic. Even if she'd be forced to live as a Squib.

The thought stuck in her brain. Staring at those damning words on the paper, she knew there was little to no chance of her good behavior providing her freedom. The words were so bitter, so twisted, and no one believed her. She'd already made her vow. Maybe she could see it filled a little sooner.

Now she was in the hall and staring at Sirius Black. She'd never heard of him before. She didn't know why he was in Azkaban. That he was dangerous was obvious in the cruel twist of his lips, the appraising stare he had, and the matted hair that framed a face that had clearly seen torment. He seemed to disavow You-Know-Who, but Ginny knew many others, including current prisoners, did the same thing and were liars. He couldn't be trusted, but if he could at least give her her freedom, she could maybe make an escape once they were away from the prison.

Turning back, she looked at the paper on the ground. She couldn't help it. She quickly shuffled back inside and snatched it up. Folding it in half, she lifted her shirt and tucked it into the waistband of her pants. Then she stepped back out into the hallway where Sirius waited.

"Just behind that wall, yeah?" He asked her, pointing to the wall between her corridor and Lucretia's. She nodded. He sighed and said, "Fine. Let's go get her and see if we can somehow get three people out of here in one piece."

Ginny walked after him, aware of how long his strides were in comparison to hers, and she picked up her own pace to keep up. She studied him as they walked to the next wooden door. He had wild black hair that fell in gnarled waves down his head and stopped just below his shoulders. His uniform, which fit him far better than her own did, fell over a thin frame. His wrists and arms were visible where he'd rolled the sleeves up, and she could see the edges of different tattoos on his skin. Or was that just grime? Ginny wasn't entirely sure since he was also incredibly filthy. His skin was dark, but it could have just been from years of dirt and grime caking in layers on his features.

He took hold of the doorknob and twisted it silently, opening the door. Ginny was surprised not to hear a single creak from the hinges and wondered at that. Every time Dirk came through the doors, it was with a loud bang. Maybe he just did that on purpose to startle her.

They walked through a hall that was very similar to her own with empty bar-less cells until they came to one in the center.

After the Dementors had visited her earlier, Lucretia had settled into an eerie silence. She'd screamed her fury during their visit, and then she went quiet to recover. This was twice in as many days they'd come for her, and Ginny wasn't entirely sure why, but she was concerned for the other witch. She didn't exactly care for her, and she certainly wouldn't call Lucretia a friend, but as she was the only other contact she'd had in this hell, she wanted to bring her along. She craved a familiar companion who didn't treat her like an errant child or worse, a cunning criminal.

They drew up on the other cell, and Ginny got her first glimpse of the witch she'd once called a hag.

She lay in a contorted position on the floor, one leg stuck out to the side, the other folded up under her. Her hair was pitch black and fell in matted curls that framed her face wildly, almost as if a potion had exploded and sent her hair into a frizz. She wasn't looking at them, but she was awake. Her eyes stared at the opposite wall with a strange, manic glow and an eerie smile on her full lips. Ginny thought perhaps hag was actually a good descriptor after all.

"Lucretia?" She called gently.

Instantly the other witch flipped off her side and sat up, pushing to stand as she stared wildly at the cell bars. Her mouth opened widely, and Ginny knew she was about to scream curses.

"It's me! Ginny!" She said quickly, holding her hands up to placate the other woman. "Please don't scream! We're here to get you out!"

Lucretia's mouth shut with a snap. Her eyes narrowed in a calculating manner, and she surveyed Ginny for a moment before looking behind her to Sirius. That man, Ginny realized, was surprisingly quiet.

As she turned to see what had caught his attention, she saw his expression. His mouth had dropped open in shock, his eyes filled with something like a twist between hatred and disgust.

"Oh, hell no," he finally said softly, his hand coming up to aim the wand right at Lucretia. "You have got to be kidding me right now." He turned and speared Ginny with a searing gaze. "Do you even know who this is?"

"She never told me her name," Ginny said in explanation. "So I called her Lucretia."

"Her name is not Lucretia," he spat. His arm was steady, still pointing that wand directly at the other witch. "And there is no way in hell I'll be taking her anywhere out of here. She's exactly the kind of scum Azkaban was created for, and she should rot in here for the rest of her life."

"How kind, cousin," Lucretia finally said, and Ginny turned back to see the woman had crossed to the bars and was leaning against them, her eyes lit up. "Did I hear that you're breaking out of Azkaban with the Heir of Slytherin? Curious. And have you told her why you're here?" She cackled, and the sound traveled up Ginny's spine and made her shudder.

"I am innocent," he said, softly but with an edge of steel in his voice. "And you can just stay and rot for all I care." Turning to Ginny, he said, "Let's go."

"Wait!" She cried out. "You told me we could bring Lucretia with us!"

He snarled at her, his upper lip curling in fury. "Her name isn't Lucretia! It's Bellatrix, and she is a murdering, traitorous wretch who followed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named along with her husband and brother-in-law. I refuse to set her free to wreak more havoc!"

"They say the same thing about you, cousin," came Lucretia's–no, Bellatrix's–sing-song voice, now clearly enjoying something Ginny couldn't understand. "They say you killed Muggles for him. You betrayed your friends for him. They say you killed your best friend for him."

"None of that is true," Sirius said evenly, but there was a hint of strain in his voice.

"Please," Ginny said. "Please let her come with us. She won't hurt us, right, Lucretia?"

"Bellatrix," he insisted.

"No," Bellatrix said. She looked at Ginny with shrewd eyes and asked her, "Do you trust me?"

A shiver crawled up her spine, and Ginny knew better than to answer immediately. She thought about that. Her time with Bellatrix had been spent learning about the wealth of the Wizarding world, dark spells used against virgins, and potentially dangerous curses she could use in escaping Azkaban. Bellatrix made no bones about making fun of Ginny when she failed at something. She disdained the younger girl and thought it was ridiculous that anyone could believe someone like Ginny had opened the Chamber of Secrets on her own.

"I don't trust you," Ginny finally said, locking eyes with the other witch, "but I'd like to. Would you promise not to hurt us if we set you free to come with us?"

Bellatrix raised an imperious brow, and she looked between Ginny and Sirius. "He won't believe any promise I make," she finally said, not looking the least bit upset about that.

"She's right," Sirius gritted out between clenched teeth. "Her promises are worth less than flobberworm dung. And anyway, I can never trust her." He glared at the other witch while speaking to Ginny. "You heard her. Bellatrix is my cousin, and I know her well enough to know there's not an honest bone in her body."

He took a step back from the cell and said, "Come on. We need to go. We're running out of time."

"What are you going to do to her?" Ginny asked, noting the way he lifted the wand in his hand.

Bellatrix stood, glaring defiantly at him.

"I can't very well let her raise the alarm," Sirius said. "I'm going to petrify her so she can't make a fuss."

Bellatrix's hands were clenched at her sides, but she looked unperturbed.

"What about an unbreakable vow?" Ginny blurted before she could think. The two stared at her. "She could take an unbreakable vow promising not to harm either of us, and to…protect us? Or maybe not to follow him anymore?"

"Never!" Bellatrix shrieked, and Ginny blanched. "I will never betray my Lord!"

"See?" Sirius said drily. He reached out his other hand to pat Ginny on the shoulder. "Needs must, Ginevra. I'll take care of you, but we need to get going now. So say goodbye to Lucretia." The name twisted on his tongue into something dirty.

"I won't swear to everything," Bellatrix said suddenly, her voice back in what Ginny thought of as her normal tone of voice. "But I will swear not to harm you." Her chin lifted as she met Sirius's speculative gaze. "And I won't swear to you. I'll swear it to her."

"You'll swear an unbreakable vow to her?" Sirius asked her. "Fine. Swear you won't betray, harm or kill either of us. And swear to assist us in our goals."

"In your goals?" Bellatrix asked, her eyes watchful. "And what goals would those be? You must be specific for the vows, you know, cousin."

"You'll vow to help us track down Pettigrew and stop him," Sirius growled out, and Ginny noted a gleam in his eye she couldn't quite understand.

"And to help me prove myself innocent," she added quickly before Bellatrix could respond.

"What do I get out of the deal?" Bellatrix asked. She looked between the two and added, "You have all the power. How do I know you won't kill me once we're free of Azkaban?"

"What? I wouldn't kill you," Ginny said, shocked.

"I would," Sirius said. His tone was no-nonsense. "But swear this to us, and once we have what we want, we'll give you leave to be free of us and go your way." It looked like he was biting back more words, and his entire being radiated a restrained fury. "Now, will you swear the vow or not? Time is wasting."

Bellatrix threw him a look of pure loathing, her eyes wild with something inhuman. She knelt at the edge of the bars and thrust her arm out toward Ginny. "Come on, little Gryffindor," she said, a taunting challenge. "I won't bite."

Ginny didn't know much about making an unbreakable vow, but she came closer and knelt outside the cell as well. She reached a tentative hand forward, and Bellatrix immediately grasped her arm, her nails brushing against Ginny's skin as she pushed the oversized sleeve up to grip her tightly.

"Very good, little Gryffindor," she said with a sneer. She jerked her head at Sirius, who held his wand and moved forward to place it against their joined arms. "Now you must give the terms of the vow while my cousin binds it between us." Ginny hesitated, uncertain what to say, and the other woman scowled. "Don't be shy. Get on with it."

Ginny glanced up at Sirius, who was looking at them intensely. He seemed to realize her dilemma and shook himself out of whatever he was thinking.

"You should ask her a set of questions starting with 'Will you' that outlines the terms we discussed," he said.

Nodding, Ginny looked back at Bellatrix. Up close, the woman looked entirely deranged. Her skin might have been pale beneath the grime of Azkaban, and her eyes were sunken with a dark gleam that made her nervous. She swallowed hard and reminded herself of the terms they'd discussed before opening her mouth to begin.

"Will you agree to not attempt to harm, maim, or kill Sirius Black or myself by magical or other means?"

Bellatrix's throat moved convulsively, but she replied, "I will."

A gleam of light threaded around their entwined arms and rested just over their skin. The magic power from it felt like tiny sparks that raised the hairs on her arm.

"Will you travel with us and assist us in our plans to stop Peter Pettigrew from harming Sirius, my brother Ron, or Harry Potter and assist me in proving myself innocent and Lucius Malfoy to be the one who gave me Tom Riddle's diary?"

The other witch twitched and glared deep into Ginny's eyes, a venom seeping into her expression aimed all at the younger girl. Still she grit out through clenched teeth, "I will."

A second ribbon of light twined round their arms.

"Will you continue to teach me magic and help me grow my abilities while we travel together until we part?" She threw that last bit in on a whim, hoping the other witch wasn't so enraged with her she'd decline it. She desperately wanted to continue learning, and Bellatrix had been her only teacher who never acted as if she was too young to learn something. She simply taught whatever came to mind for Ginny's voracious consumption.

The venom in Bellatrix's expression turned acidic as she replied in a scarily monotone voice, "I will."

The third and final ribbon of light wound round their arms as Sirius lifted the tip of his wand away from their skin. The pulsing, sparking magic seared and sizzled against her skin, and she winced as it branded her. Her second tattoo, she realized, looking at the markings, which were thin white lines now.

"Done?" Sirius asked her caustically, and she jolted to a stand. "Good. Let's go."