T̶h̶e̶ D̶a̶r̶k̶s̶i̶d̶e̶

The Risky Plan

"Ginny?" Hermione scurried inside her dorm, sighing in annoyance when she tripped over some parchments scattered on the floor.

The dorm looked very similar to the one Hermione, Parvati and Lavender had shared in their own time at Hogwarts, and if one didn't closely enough, they would probably say it was the very same. The walls were covered in posters of musicians, kittens and Quidditch stars, and the Gryffindor red curtains that hung from the double-decker beds looked just the same.

The truth was, that Hermione had asked to move to another dorm after Lavender's passing and Parvati's moving out. It was sad enough that they weren't around anymore, and she didn't need a reminder that her friend was gone every time she glanced at what used to be Lavender's bed.

She was really surprised when she found out she'd been moved to Ginny's dorm, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of her life.

Now, the floor was covered in clothes, books and papers as Hermione made her way into the dorm.

Hermione and Ginny had been working on new attacks against Voldemort and his followers, and the papers with all the possible plans they had come up with lay scattered around the room - taped to the walls, piled on the desks, all over the floor. It was messier than usual though...

Hermione got a bad feeling. "Ginny?" She said tentatively. No one answered.

"Ginny?! Is this a joke? Because if it is, it's not funny." No one broke the silence that filled the room.

"She must be in the bathroom," Hermione said to herself, trying to keep calm. She ran into the bathroom and looked around.

No one.

She was alone.

That could only mean bad news.

It wasn't dinner time, and even if it were, the students had been instructed never to leave the common rooms alone.

Hermione's heart started racing. If Ginny had decided to go somewhere, she would've told her, right? Disappearing like that, it wasn't like her at all.

Trying not to panic, Hermione went to find Ron. Thankfully, she bumped into him just as she was running down the stairs to the common room. His face was flushed, and his eyes unfocused. "Hey. Have you seen Ginny?"

Hermione shook her head. "I was about to ask you the same thing. She isn't in our dorm." Hermione squinted in the faint light of the stairs. "You look like you've seen a ghost." She said to Ron. "What happened?"

"I found this." Ron pulled a small piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione. It was yellowish and neatly folded.

Hermione opened it carefully and skimmed the short message. She gasped as she read the words in dark ink:

The Dark Lord is sick of your games. If you want the girl back, you must stop immediately, or she'll end up like the Potter boy.

"Oh my God! He took her, didn't he? He kidnapped Ginny?"
Tears started pouring from Hermione's eyes and suddenly she couldn't stop.

Ron pulled Hermione to his chest. "We will fix this together, ok? Just like we always do. Breathe, love. Breathe."

"She could be dead already," Hermione said quietly, wiping away her tears.

"Voldemort won't kill her. He wants something from us."

"What do we do, then?!" Hermione cried, her voice shrill. She pointed at the message, "And what does that even mean? If Voldemort wants us to dissolve the Resistance, he's not going to find any loosening on our side. We must remain united now more than ever."

"You're right, but we have to get Ginny out first. I'll go tell Neville about what happened so he and the Resistance can figure out how Ginny was kidnapped and how to prevent it from happening again."

"Alright. How do we know where Voldemort is?"

"We can't. We'll have to use a bait. Someone willing to cause a scene or... Wait a second. How do people who don't get kidnapped know where to find Voldemort?"

"The Dark Mark," Hermione said, without missing a beat. "Oh! You mean one of us should turn ourselves into his Death Eaters?"

"No." Ron shook his head, "They could easily kill us. We're just a threat to them. Someone has to ask to become a Death Eater. Someone not close enough to Voldemort to have a Dark Mark, someone Voldemort truly believes to be on his side."

"So who shall ask to become a Death Eater?"

"I would say I'll do it myself, but they would never believe me." Ron shook his head, "Everyone knows who we are, Hermione. That would be like turning ourselves in."

"Polyjuice Potion!" Hermione said, her face lighting up for a second. "My last flask of Polyjuice is up in my dorm. It may wear off too soon or we may get discovered and blow up our whole plan, but if there's a chance at rescuing Ginny, I'm in."

"Me too. I'll stop by the Slytherin Common room and collect some hair from some known Death-Eater-to-be.

Hermione frowned, "How will you get in?"

Ron shrugged. "I'll just ask Alexander, the new Slytherin boy in the DA, to help me."

"Great. See you in the Great Hall in ten minutes. And hurry. Voldemort could be torturing Ginny this very second."