Twelve: The ancient and noble house of Riddle

It had hardly been luck that had seen her assigned to the group with Bill and Fleur. Fate, perhaps. Or more likely her eldest brother insisting upon it. It was easy to imagine him arguing with Percy over the responsibility. No doubt N.E.W.T. scores had been compared. All much lovelier images to think of than the wet undergrowth they were currently crawling through towards the manor house at the top of the hill.

Next to her, Astoria mimicked her crawl, her pale face leaving no doubt as to what she thought of this operation happening on what had so far proved to be June's wettest day. Each wet branch that swung back into place after Fleur's passage and slapped in Astoria's face as a result saw her mood worsen.

Not that Ginny was off any better. She was cold, soaked and annoyed that they had apparated into Little Hangleton and continued their journey from there on foot. It had made sense, of course. Their approach would hardly have remained a secret had they apparated on Voldemort's doorstep. But it had not been convenient. The journey through what had recently become a ghost town had unnerved her. The whole town still looked pristine, the decay that followed any culling of the population had not yet set in. It looked like any normal village. Only empty, with only echoes of laughter and life and—if you listened closely—screams.

Voldemort must have loved that.

Currently, they were working their way up the slope, coming from all angles and shimmering with disillusionment spells while equally relying on the cover of dark. The group led by Remus should be somewhere on her left, but she hadn't heard or seen them for a while now. But that wasn't a surprise. Given the tales she'd heard of his youth, he should be an expert at stealth and skullduggery.

So instead of worrying, she continued her way up the hill, the well-lit Manor house a beacon in the storm. Voldemort must be entertaining, with how many rooms had the light in. First Malfoy Manor, now here—why could they never catch them on their quiet night in?

The closer they crept, the more it became apparent that few had loved the manor since the Riddles their demise. There were cracks in the walls, and some planks were still half-attached to the wall, pulled aside only crudely from their original position to free up the windows. It was hard to imagine Voldemort settling for something like this. Or perhaps he revelled in showing to the world what had become of the first people to wrong him, his father who had rejected him even before his birth.

She'd feel sorry for him if she didn't want to kill him that badly. As it was, she gritted her teeth and continued, the sword of Gryffindor shifting on her back with each movement. After all the trouble she'd gone through with that sword, it better prove its worth today.

Strange to think that this was it. The big one, as Wood would have said. Win or lose, something would end today. Voldemort or the Order of the Phoenix. Life or death. The last Horcrux or the knowledge thereof.

Losing really wasn't an option.

Near the estate, they rose into a crouch and pressed themselves against the wall. No noise could be heard from inside, but that could just be silencing spells. Or the fear Voldemort inspired into his underlings.

Remus and Tonks had resurfaced to their left, paired with two people she vaguely recalled being Aurors. One of them had his wand out, casting complex spells at one of the windowpanes. She could see several oddly shaped glyphs and runes light up as the spell did its work. Bill next to her was staring at it with a professional's concern.

"Shouldn't you be doing it instead?" she asked him in a quiet whisper.

"I should, but he got here first. Hope he knows what he's doing. Typical auror behaviour," he muttered. "Just be ready to throw up a shield if—" his eyes widened just as a red glyph appeared. "Duck!" he screamed as he hurled himself to the ground, dragging her with him.

The glyph blinked twice and then the world exploded. A deafening roar and a red glow she could see even with her face smashed into the ground and with Bill on top of her. Then a strong wind and deadly quiet. Ginny balled her fists as something washed over them. She only dared open her eyes when Bill tapped her on the shoulder. As she rose, she wiped something sticky off her face. Her hand came away red and she tried not to think too hard about it. Bill was speaking, or at least his lips were moving, but she couldn't make out anything.

Then, her eyes fell on the auror—or what remained of him—and her stomach turned. Where he had been before, only his legs remained. The second auror lay a few feet further, missing an arm and a part of his face. Tonks and Remus at looked unharmed, though both were visibly shocked by what had happened.

Slowly, her hearing returned, first a high beeping noise, until gradually she could make out Bill's voice again. It didn't sound like she'd missed much, just a lot of swearing.

"So much for the effect of surprise," Astoria said, even as Bill had another few coarse words to spare for aurors.

"At least the window is open," Fleur said, her wand out and a fire in her eyes as she studied it. "Come on, let's go." Without another word, she leapt through the window. "Hurry up. And leave him!" she said to Remus and Tonks, who had kneeled next to the injured auror. "If they catch us out here, we're all dead."

Bill was through the window next, Ginny and Astoria hot on his heels. Her feet landed on shattered glass, she could hear it crunch beneath her and irrationally worried about cutting herself on it. As if that was a risk worth thinking about at a time like this.

The interior of the Riddle Manor matched the exterior. Peeling paint, dust on paintings that were impossible to identify in the darkness and a rusty chandelier dangling over them, swaying still from the earlier explosion. At least it hadn't come down on them.

"Ssh." Fleur raised a finger and the distance, they could hear voices and footsteps running.

All their wands were pointed at the door, seconds ticking by as the footsteps got closer. She should have used that time to come up with a spell, but when the door swung open and three Death Eaters burst through, she acted on instinct.

It ended up not mattering. Their combined spellwork slammed into the Death Eaters and saw them down in an instant. Dead, probably, judging by the incantations she'd heard. It didn't matter. This was war. They just stepped over the smouldering bodies into the corridor beyond.

"They must have expected the glyph to have taken us out," Bill muttered. "Amateurs." The disdain in his voice was earned. The Order hadn't been allowed to make mistakes ever since Dumbledore's death.

With their next step, the world turned upside down. Below her was the ceiling, chandelier included. Above her the floor. Ginny froze in place even before Remus' barked command could.

"Don't move. And don't panic," he said even as he advanced with very small steps. He looked like a dancer walking a tightrope. "I guess we should have expected traps inside as well. Fortunately, I know this one. I helped Albus set up a less deadly version for the Triwizard Tournament."

At that, she could hear Fleur scoff with long-harboured resentment. Remus ignored her, his wand moving in a slow, mesmerising pattern as he murmured an incantation. Slowly, the air around her began to shimmer and then turn. They remained immobile, but the room itself moved around them. An immense feeling of vertigo overtook her as it straightened itself.

When the spell cleared, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange were standing in front of their little group, flanked by several masked Death Eaters.

"Oh, I'd been hoping it would be you," Bellatrix said, looking at Ginny as she said that. She tilted her head and then threw it back, laughing maniacally.

Bill stepped in front of Ginny, shielding her with his arm. "You're going to die," he said simply and then hurled a Killing Curse at her. Bellatrix batted it aside without interrupting her laughter.

"Alright, if you want to play that badly, we can play first." Her wand was a blur as she hurled a Killing Curse at Bill. Ginny could see him block it with a hastily conjured stone, but after that, the hallway devolved into chaos.

A blasting curse tore open a wall, leading into what had once been a dining room. She and a masked Death Eater moved around it, exchanging spellfire. She had no idea who she was fighting. It could be a veteran of the First War, or a new recruit. It didn't matter. He was in the way. And he was not as good as she was.

With a leap, she landed on the table and heard the ancient wood creak underneath it. With a flick of her wand, the remaining cutlery clattered towards the Death Eater. A hastily conjured shield caught the barrage of knives, forks and spoons, but it gave her the time to look sideways.

In the hallway, Bill and Fleur were both duelling Bellatrix, who was still taunting and cackling like it was a game. Perhaps it was, to her. Even against two of their best duellists, she stood her ground with a mad grin on her face. Casting Unforgiveable Curses left and right, she seemed utterly in her element and they were the perfect testament to her confidence. Dangerous as they were, they only worked when they hit. If dodged, they couldn't alter the battlefield. Only someone on her level could afford to rely on such crude but horrific tools.

Her opponent hurled a blasting curse at her that she only narrowly dodged. A chandelier and a large part of the ceiling came down on the table with a resounding crash. As she leapt out of danger, she cursed her carelessness. She couldn't help her brother if this idiot took her out.

A tripping jinx went wide, but as a follow-up, she banished the remnants of the chandelier towards him. That one he dodged too, but left him wide open. Normally, she'd have looked to Tom now for advice, or just for a culprit. But it was all up to her now. "Fulmen Atenor."

The lightning hit the Death Eater straight on. His whole body stiffened and then went still forever. She already turned away before his body could hit the floor. Bill, Fleur and Bellatrix had moved into the dining room too, the latter tapdancing across the table before plunging back into the fight. Her brother was limping already and she could see the sweat shine on Fleur's face. It was the first time she hadn't looked maddeningly perfect.

Clearly, they needed help. She raised her wand, but a hand landed on her arm and pushed it downwards. Snape stood next to her. "Stay out of it. You will only make matters messy."

"They're losing," she snapped.

"They are. It takes a particularly skilled duellist to defeat Bellatrix. Fortunately, I am here." He pushed past her and strode across the table, robes billowing and wand out. "Bellatrix!" It was the first time she'd truly heard him shout. Somehow, his dangerous whisper had always carried. Yet here in the middle of the fight, he raised his voice.

Bellatrix' head turned so quickly it was almost comical. The mirth left her face the instant her eyes fell on Snape. "Snape! You filthy traitor." Snape spread his arms out, as if to welcome her. That only enraged her further. "Die! Crucio!" she roared, Bill and Fleur already forgotten as she stormed at him.

Snape simply sidestepped the Unforgiveable, then levitated a chair in front of her Killing Curse. "Disappointing as always, Bella. Really, my N.E.W.T. students could do better." Another Cruciatus Curse went sailing wide. "Have done better, really. Despite being taught by that idiot Rookwood."

"At least he wasn't a traitor. Avada Kedavra!" This one was caught by what looked like a conjured statue of a lion.

"Did you know I was actually the one to kill him?"

That at least gave Bellatrix pause as she searched his face for any sign of deception. When she found none, her expression hardened and what little amusement still lingered, left with it.

Snape smirked as Bellatrix hurled another Killing Curse his way. "Do you really know only two spells?"

Another hole was blown in the wall when she hurled an exploding charm his way that made the building tremble. Snape dove out of its way, disappearing in the smoke. Bellatrix anxiously looked around, peering into the smoke to catch sight of Snape.

Instead, a green curse sped her way to meet her. With incredible reflexes, she dropped to the ground and then jumped up, hurling curses back into the smoke at an even greater pace than before.

However, when the smoke settled, Snape was nowhere to be seen. Bellatrix turned around, as if possessed of some kind of special instinct. And yet she was too slow. Far too slow.

"Sectumsempra," Snape said coolly, wand pointed at her back.

Wounds burst open all across Bellatrix' body, blood spurting forward as if she'd been stabbed by a thousand daggers. She slumped to the ground, shaking and quivering. Snape, however, paid her no further mind and walked towards Bill and Fleur.

"I always hated that woman," he said as he came to a halt in front of them. "Are you ready to proceed?"

"We're good, where's the rest of your group?"

"Dead."

"What happened to them?" Fleur asked.

"The Dark Lord has also entered the fray," Snape said as he turned towards Remus and Tonks. Remus was reclining against a wall, the body of Rodolphus Lestrange laying not much further away. "I'd have thought a werewolf would be tougher. It is what it is. You can cover the rear," he sneered, leading the way into the hallway.

#

Remus ended up coming with them, though supported heavily by Tonks. It would have been smarter for him to stay behind without a doubt. But in his stead, Ginny would have insisted upon coming along too, so she held her tongue. Instead, they trouped further.

As they moved through hallway after hallway, Ginny couldn't help but be reminded of her first year. The walls seemed to hiss at her, promising to rip, tear, kill. Perhaps that was Nagini. Or perhaps it was just the house getting to her. Already, it felt like they had been in here for hours, far longer than even a luxurious manor such as this should take to traverse. Sometimes they could hear spellfire and screams, sometimes only their own footsteps and—far in the distance—the dripping of water.

Only Snape seemed to know where they were headed. Every intersection saw him choose a direction without hesitation, clutching the spot on his arm where she knew the Dark Mark would be. His expression was pale and grim and any questions on where they were headed or how much longer it would take were simply ignored, except for a brief reference to the Dark Lord's magical skill.

She wished Tom was here, he would have been able to explain it. Instead, all she could do was exchange glances with Astoria as they moved through identical hallway after identical hallway. The only difference were the painting, which increased in number. It was the same family portrait over and over again. An older couple flanking a younger, handsome man—Tom Riddle Senior, she remembered from the memories Dumbledore had shown them. The first hallway had only one copy, the next two and it only got worse after that until even the ceiling and floor became plastered with the portrait.

Ginny grimaced as she stepped on the faces of the Riddle family. "What's happening?"

"The Dark Lord has always been capable of influencing the minds of weaker witches and wizards. This is a defensive stratagem," Snape said as he pushed open a door that looked like the portrait and stepped into yet another hallway. "However, it seems the destruction of his Horcruxes has influenced his mental faculties."

The next hallway was bereft of the portrait. Instead, snake imagery was carved into the walls, reminding her of the Chamber of Secrets. A shiver ran down her spine when she spotted the massive stone basilisk head mounted above the next door, green emeralds shining from the eye sockets. Then her scars flared up suddenly, burning like fire. She gasped and sank to her knees, clutching her face.

"Watch out," she hissed out. She didn't know what was about to happen, but something dark was coming. She could feel it.

The rest just had time to look at her with varying degrees of concern. Then, the basilisk head hissed and the room collapsed. Rubble descended upon Bill and Fleur, then Ginny was falling as the floor beneath her gave way. Astoria tumbled down with her as they tumbled down a dark and seemingly endless shaft.

There was a sensation of her hitting the ground hard. Then, everything went black.

A/N: That awkward moment when your title is too long for FF. Also, is posting accelerating for this year's grand finale? Maybe