Chapter 83 - Reality
The room darkened again, and what little hope there was in Ginny’s heart, suddenly failed. How foolish could they have been? Every attack flashed through her mind and she began to realise the miscalculations she, Hermione and Harry had all made. Ginny was in the way of the Dementors when she was attacked on the pitch in the Fall; they were flying downwards, but they were all flying at Hermione. The same thing was true for the second attack on the train and the one on the pitch where she’d broken her leg. If not for Draco reacting on the train, the Dementors might have taken her right then.
Draco. She pulled Hermione closer and turned a bitter eye at him. If he was helping Crouch, why had he saved Hermione then? And when they were attacked by the bubble and when she fell in the Black Lake? Was it all a rouse on his part? She turned to look at him, really look at him, and he had a blank expression on his face, as if he couldn’t see what was to transpire.
He turned his eyes to the ground and Ginny tried to breathe evenly as Crouch closed in on her again. ‘Why don’t you let go of that?’
His eyes were piercing hers, but she shook her head and said shrilly, ‘Leave her alone!’
Ginny pulled Hermione closer and could feel her head going light. They’d been wrong the whole time. She was never a target, nor were the ring and locket. Crouch grinned down at her. ‘I think she’s figuring it out.’
She turned her face away from them and tightened her grip on Hermione. ‘You…you were doing this the whole time? But why her? Why did you…all the misdirection…You could have taken her at any time.’
Tom stepped forward. ‘No, you both were always too close together…it was only after we separated you from Potter that we had a chance, but someone fouled it up.’
A sharp jab to Draco and Ginny saw him limp another step away from them. Ginny shot Draco a withering glance and said, ‘You…if they don’t kill you or me, I might take care of you myself.’
She glanced behind her to see Harry’s eyes trained on hers. His mouth was tied by an invisible gag, but he was glaring past her. Crouch saw this and shook his head. ‘Tut, tut, Potter, your bird isn’t getting out of here anymore than this filthy Mudblood.’
Harry’s eyes bulged for a moment and then he shut them quickly. The unclean blood; it was a sacrifice of a person of non-magical blood. He shot Ginny a worried glance and she turned her eyes back to her friend. ‘Why her? There are so many other Muggleborn students…’
Crouch smirked. ‘Only one I know of that helped this idiot to kill the Dark Lord. And only one that has a connexion to our guest of honour.’
Ginny felt the reality of the situation start to dawn on her. There was no escape. Both she and Harry were helpless. She had Hermione’s wand, but it would only allow her one shot, if that. She could feel the tears threatening in her eyes again. She could see the life she and Harry should have fading. She wouldn’t die like this. Someone had to know. Someone at the match would have to come and see what was going on. She had to buy them some time.
Crouch grinned at her and before she could say anything, the room darkened, though there was a bright light filtering towards them. Being escorted by the Bloody Baron was Bellatrix Lestrange. Ginny pulled herself up taller, trying to sit up and see further. Hermione was taller than she was and was heavier than Ginny had expected. She wouldn’t be able to carry her if she wasn’t conscious.
Tom left from his vigil over Harry and joined Crouch in front of Ginny. They both turned away from her to face the oncoming ghost. He asked quietly, ‘Do you think she’ll remember me?’
Crouch wrapped an arm around Tom’s shoulders. ‘She may be slightly mad, but she knows her only son.’
Ginny thought her eyes were going to fall out of her head. She turned to see Harry trying to sit up. She gave him a sad look and turned slightly, pointing Hermione’s wand at Harry. Using a non-verbal spell, she cleaned some of the blood off of his face and mended some of the cuts. He gave her a startled look and saw the wand. She turned to see Draco watching her, but he didn’t say anything. He smirked at her and then nodded at the ghost that was fast approaching.
Bellatrix called shrilly, ‘You caught her? Where are the filthy Mudblood and her worthless Blood Traitorous friends? I am going to take great joy in torturing them!’
Draco took a step back into the growing darkness and Ginny felt the ghost’s cold eyes on her. Ginny was torn between trying to figure out why Draco was running off into the night and this mad ghost coming towards her. She remembered something Hermione had said and knew Bellatrix herself could not kill her, but this did not make her feel any less scared at the malice that exuded from her.
Bellatrix leered at her. ‘You’re the one…the one she killed me for…aren’t you?’
Ginny pursed her lips together, fearful of what response she might make. Tom glared at her and jabbed his wand in her direction. ‘She asked you a question. Answer her!’
Ginny nodded. ‘She did…and I’m glad she did!’
She glared at Bellatrix and the ghost looked taken aback for a moment before she began to cackle. She stopped abruptly and flew close to her. ‘You do know I’m going to kill you, don’t you?’
There was no reason to think otherwise, but for some reason Ginny felt her Gryffindor defiance come into play. ‘You won’t lay one finger on me. You’re already dead.’
Bellatrix flew right at her and then through her. Ginny felt a sudden chill and then shuddered from a sudden stabbing coldness. Bellatix wheeled around and glared. ‘I may no longer have physical power, but I can still kill you.’
Crouch lowered his eyes to Ginny’s and said coldly, ‘You will die. Count on it.’
Ginny tried to breathe evenly, but his cold, hollow gaze was unnerving. She looked away quickly, turning her face into Hermione’s bushy hair. Bellatrix flew through her again and Ginny pulled Hermione’s body close, uttering a silent protection charm around them both.
Bellatrix veered around and grinned. ‘I will take great pleasure in killing this…this thing that I only got a taste of torturing last year.’
Crouch nodded. ‘Yes, we wanted to make the sacrifice that much more meaningful. It made perfect sense to use the filthy Mudblood who had refused to give Potter up last year, when we had the chance, at Malfoy manor.’
Bellatrix smirked. ‘Yes, it will be an enormous pleasure to get rid of her…to show her the error of her ways, with death and she was most enjoyable to torture.’
Bellatrix flew close to Crouch and Tom took a deep breath and smiled broadly. ‘I’m so happy I finally get to meet you again.’
Bellatrix tilted her head, as if seeing him for the first time, and nodded. ‘Yes, wonderful. You, too, are serving our fallen Dark Lord?’
Ginny saw the flash of disappointment as Crouch wrapped an arm around Tom’s shoulders, pulling him closer to Bellatrix. ‘He does serve the Dark Lord, but Bellatrix, this is your son, Ethan.’
She looked perplexed. ‘Is that so?’
Ginny grimaced. She couldn’t imagine how upsetting having your own mother not recognise you could be. Tom tried to keep a brave face on, but it was no use. He took a step forward and said shakily, ‘I am. And I…I wish I could have known you before…’
She waved her hand dismissively. ‘All things were done for the Dark Lord. I hope you had a decent childhood.’
He nodded mutely. It was clear on his face that he was utterly lost at this turn of events. Ginny avoided looking at him, knowing fully that he would turn his anger at her or Harry, or worse yet, Hermione, at any moment. Ginny turned to glance at Harry, but he was lying with his eyes shut.
Tom pulled away from Crouch and his disappointment turned to fury in a moment. ‘Are we going to finish this or not?’
Crouch turned awkwardly to Tom. ‘Patience…’
He pulled Tom to the side and said something quietly. The anger didn’t dissipate, but Tom looked slightly calmer. Bellatrix pouted. ‘Barty, this is boring, I agree with the whelp, can we get on with this?’
Tom’s hands tightened into fists. ‘The sooner this is over, the better…Where’s Malfoy?’
‘Right here,’ Draco replied, walking from behind Tom.
Tom pushed him away and sneered. ‘Getting scared?’
Draco strolled towards Ginny and Hermione. ‘No, not in the least.’
He seemed to have changed in the few moments he’d been gone and Ginny gave him a distrustful look. He smirked at her, a similar smirk to Crouch’s. Tom pushed past Draco and stood over her. ‘Let’s get this over with.’
Crouch shook his head. ‘I think we should make sure the time is ripe.’
Bellatrix chortled. ‘This is why you were sent to Azkaban, twice; at least I died doing my duty.’
Ginny could only hope that a dissension in the ranks would prove helpful for her, but their chances of survival still seemed bleak. Tom locked his eyes with hers and said, ‘Let me amuse myself then.’
Crouch shrugged. ‘Have at it. Might be amusing to see how much Potter will want to kill us if we torture his bird.’
Ginny leaned back. There was no way she could avoid the agony of the Cruciatus curse now. She grimaced, shutting her eyes and hoped the protection spell she’d put up was going to hold a little. She didn’t dare look at Harry.
Draco put a hand on Tom’s shoulder. ‘You promised me.’
Tom shrugged him off. ‘Don’t touch me.’
‘Don’t touch her,’ Draco replied evenly. ‘She’s mine and you bloody well know it.’
Ginny balked; horrified at Draco’s words. Tom turned, his eyes bulging. ‘You’re mad. She doesn’t want you! Even that filth didn’t want you!’
Draco chuckled. ‘I think you’ve proven that someone wanting you has nothing to do with anything.’
Tom turned and threw a hard punch at Draco’s face. He easily dodged it and knocked Tom flat on his back. Ginny was startled by this move, as Draco clearly looked like he could have defended himself at any time, but took the earlier beating anyway.
He turned and glared at Ginny. ‘You’ve been a thorn in my side all year.’
Tom jumped to his feet and looked as if he were going to tackle Draco, but Crouch stepped in between them. ‘We did promise…we have to have some honour.’
‘Why?’ Bellatrix asked, clearly bored. ‘If he isn’t going to kill her, then we should. Her mother killed me.’
Crouch sighed, seeing Tom’s body stiffen. ‘You lot are making me crazy. Tom, why don’t you walk the perimeter, make sure the Dementors are keeping things under control.’
Tom nodded curtly, but didn’t move. He glared at Draco. ‘I don’t think we owe him anything. She would rather die than have you touch her.’
The challenge was clear, and Draco didn’t falter. He smiled at Tom and said with a laugh, ‘You know nothing about women.’
Ginny leaned back and shot Harry a panicked look. He was struggling with the bindings, practically dragging himself upright. Tom turned and grinned. ‘Looks like Potter wants to say something.’
With a wave of his wand, Tom released the gag on Harry. The words came tumbling out, ‘Stay away from her, Malfoy, or so help me I will beat you within an inch of your life, for starters!’
The phrase wrung strangely familiar, but Ginny was far too concerned about the look that Draco was giving her. He stepped towards her and turned to Harry, ‘Shut up, Potter…you couldn’t keep her if you tried.’
Harry started to respond when Tom reapplied the gag. ‘His voice is grating…’
Draco bent down in front of Ginny and smiled. ‘Come on, Weasley, like you’ve never wondered what life would be like with a bad boy like me.’
Ginny pulled away, but he grabbed her arm with his left hand and curled his fingers around her chin, turning her face towards his. He leaned forward and the only thing Ginny could feel was the rising panic that was turning to outright terror before he pressed his lips to hers in a vicious kiss. His lips were thinner than Harry’s and he had a distinct smell that was a mix of blood and some sort of cologne. He had a strange tangy flavour in his mouth, like iron.
She pulled away, practically gasping, and could hear the laughter behind her. She felt sick. He whispered so no one could hear, ‘If you don’t play along we’ll all be dead.’
She felt him slip his hand up her sleeve in what probably looked like something romantic, but she felt him slip something under the sleeve and realised quickly it was her wand. He pressed his lips to her cheek and said, ‘That wasn’t so bad.’
‘You’re disgusting,’ was her only reply as she was trying to figure out what she was supposed to do with two wands.
He smiled at her, an eerily sweet smile. He kissed her again, more deeply than before and she was too stunned to react. She tried to push him away, or hit him, but he caught her hand easily, as she wasn’t using her other hand because she was keeping a steady grip on Hermione. She practically retched when she felt him pushing her lips apart with his, leaning into the kiss, deepening it further.
After a few moments that dragged on, Draco pulled away, a satisfied smile on his face. ‘I’ll win you over.’
She could still taste him in her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, wishing for the memory to go away, trying to purge it from her mind. She didn’t dare look in Harry’s direction, but knew how furious he would be. Tom chuckled. ‘Malfoy, you really did it. Potter looks like he’s about to explode!’
Ginny turned slowly, wincing. Harry’s eyes were boring holes in hers. He had a mixture of hurt and anger on his face. He turned his gaze at Draco, but the latter was unfazed. Draco shrugged. ‘Sorry, Potter, the ladies like me best.’
Ginny had never seen Harry this angry. With Dean he had seemed upset, but this was another level above that. He was clearly flexing and it looked as if the binding around him was about to break.
Draco stood up and stepped away from her. ‘I think I win that one, eh, Tom?’
Tom glared and laughed. ‘You’re a prat…but I love that you did it in front of Potter.’
Draco smirked. ‘We hated each other all through school. If I can give him some more pain, why not?’
Crouch nodded. ‘This is all well and good, but now we really need her to let go of the Mudblood so we can kill her.’
Ginny wrapped both arms around Hermione and glared at Draco. He shot her a quick smile before turning to Crouch. ‘I think we should make sure the line is being held before we do anything. If we’re interrupted, it won’t work.’
Crouch shrugged. ‘Where’s that kid? The one that helped us get in? Snively? We can use him.’
‘It started with a ‘C’,’ Tom replied, ‘Haven’t seen him since he let us in…not sure we’ll be able to find him quickly enough.’
‘Potter’s grandparents were Muggles; that might work…’ Crouch said, thinking out loud.
Draco stared blankly forward and Tom grumbled, ‘I’m going…I don’t know why he gets to stay.’
The shift in the room was very confusing. Ginny didn’t know why, all of a sudden, Draco was being allowed to stay and Tom was being forced out. But as she glanced at the insane look Bellatrix was giving Crouch, she guessed it had something to do with the newest discovery.
As Tom disappeared, Draco walked towards Harry, a smirk on his face. Bellatrix didn’t waste a second. ‘Barty! Are you mad! Why would you bring some kid who thinks he’s my son?’
Crouch put his hands up. ‘I needed help, he knew Gaunt.’
Bellatrix laughed. ‘Is that what he’s calling himself these days? How vulgar to take that name.’
Crouch nodded. ‘He was an idiot…he got what he deserved.’
Ginny was following the conversation closely, but wasn’t able to make sense of it. Why would Gaunt have changed his name? And did this have something to do with Voldemort? Gaunt had said he hadn’t fought in that battle. She glanced back at Harry, but he was gone. She noticed Draco was gone as well. She turned back around and tried not to make any sudden moves so neither Crouch nor Bellatrix would notice. They seemed engrossed in their conversation.
‘He isn’t coming, is he?’ Bellatrix asked. ‘I loathe the man.’
Crouch chuckled. ‘He’s too stupid to piece things together. We should be all alone…’
Bellatrix grinned at him and floated towards him. ‘It’s too bad our time together was truncated…the Dark Lord should have never fallen.’
She wafted a ghostly finger down his chest and he replied, ‘No, but he did and we must make do to honour him by destroying this school.’
She pulled away, as if stung, and said curtly, ‘Yes, lets begin this tiresome process…it’ll be no fun to torture her if she isn’t awake, not as much fun as it was the last time.’
She grinned at Ginny, but Ginny glared at her. Between Draco kissing her and Harry disappearing, Ginny’s mind was reeling. Bellatrix closed in on her and she looked up suddenly. ‘I won’t kill you, dear, I’ll have someone, something, do it for me.’
The Dementors had been watching silently, but her words were a call, and they flew low and circled around Ginny. She gripped her wand and knew if she called her Patronus, both she and Hermione would be dead. For Hermione’s sake, she lowered her wand and silently cast another protection spell around her and Hermione.
There was a loud shriek and a crash, but Ginny couldn’t see anything through the black haze the Dementors created. For a moment, the room went silent and she felt every sorrow she’d suffered again. The previous year came flashing through her mind, the death, the pain, all of it, and she had no way to stop it. But the feelings passed and although she felt herself falling over, a bright silver light filled the room. Crouch had been hit with something, but Bellatrix was wheeling around the room, unbothered by the Patronus.
As Ginny’s eyes focused, she saw a massive bull. It stomped through the room and then charged at Bellatrix. She laughed hysterically as it passed right through her and she evaporated in a mist.
Ginny took a deep breathe and heard two sets of footsteps pounding towards her. Then she heard Gaunt, ‘Get them both out of here. Go to the hospital wing, you’ll all be safe there.’
She blinked a few times and then felt Harry’s comforting and familiar hands on her back. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded, turning her face into his chest. Draco leaned down and said, ‘I told you so.’
He was smirking and Ginny could feel Harry pull his arm back. She noticed Draco had a new cut across his face and didn’t have to wonder whether it was Harry who levelled that blow. Draco reached for Hermione, but Ginny shook her head. ‘No, Harry will carry her. I’m fine.’
‘Like hell you are,’ Harry replied. ‘They broke your ankle. I hate to even think about trusting Malfoy, but we need to go. Gaunt can’t hold them off forever.’
Ginny turned to see the Dementors had scattered and Gaunt looked as focused as ever. He didn’t break his gaze as he pushed his Patronus to the top of the room, forcing the Dementors out of the school. Ginny very reluctantly let go of Hermione. Draco gently lifted her and asked, ‘Did you put her wand back?’
Ginny shook her head, handing him the wand. ‘Why didn’t you take it?’
He shrugged as he started to stand up. ‘I thought you might need it.’
Harry lifted Ginny off the ground, though she could see he was still hurting. She touched his cheek and said, ‘Harry, are you okay?’
He smiled. ‘I’m better than I look…really.’
‘I can limp along, Harry, you shouldn’t carry me,’ she said quietly.
He laboured until they got within a hallway and he slowly lowered her. ‘I think I cracked a few ribs…’
She touched his face gingerly, looking at all the cuts he had from the hits he’d taken. She wanted to inspect him more closely, but they both needed to get some rest. She leaned forward and kissed him softly. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist. As they broke their kiss, she could feel him pull her close, burying his face in her neck. He said quietly, ‘I thought…next time I ask you to go…please just do it…’
She rubbed his back and replied, ‘You first.’
He pulled away to give her a tired look, but she could see the pain in his eyes. ‘Harry…we’re okay…amazingly enough…and we owe it…even more amazingly, to Malfoy…’
Harry glared past her as Draco had already left them alone, hurrying Hermione to the hospital wing. He gripped her hand firmly. ‘Come on, we’d best get down there before either of us just falls over.’
She smiled and limped along, resting a lot of her weight on him. They didn’t speak as the headed to the hospital wing, both too thankful and relieved to be away from the madness they’d just witnessed.