Traitoress

Strange Magick

The first night in Malfoy Manor had passed and it was still dark outside as Ginny entered the ballroom, Draco at her side.

"My Lord," Ginny curtseyed, her black cloak revealing a dusty silver miniskirt and a black tank top, while Draco stood on her left, trying not to look at her for too long in case she read something into his glances.

"Ginevra…" he breathed and glided towards her, placing a cold finger on her cheek. "I assume your Dark Mark is healing at a healthy pace?"

"Yes, My Lord," she replied, and vanished the bandage around her arm, showing him the red skin where he had put the mark the day before. Ginny knew nothing of the healing of a Dark Mark but assumed everything was proceeding as it should.

"Woah!" Draco gasped as he saw her arm and she looked at her arm again. Instead of a thick black skull, it was a glittering deep green skull which glowed silver as the Dark Lord’s hand passed over the air above it.

"Interesting…" Voldemort hissed as he held her wrist to keep her arm in place.

"May I ask why it is interesting, My Lord?" she asked politely, and flinched as his long fingers suddenly gripped her wrist far too tightly.

He suddenly withdrew his hand, pulled out his wand and glided to about five metres away. Confused, she held her own wand at the ready, prepared to practise her duelling. She was yet more bewildered as he gestured for her to put her wand away.

"My Lord - " Draco began, but was silenced by Voldemort’s hand.

"Prepare yourself, Miss Riddle," he hissed and she adopted a fighting stance, looking at Draco, who had a wry smile on his face as he heard her real name being used. He raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged subtly.

Voldemort flicked his wand lazily and said, "Crucio!"

The red jet of light sped towards Ginny and she leapt to the side as it hit the statue right behind her. A stone shard lodged itself in her cheek and her blood flowed down her face like tears.

"Crucio!" Another curse was aimed at her and this time she was too slow to get out of the way. She raised her hands and flinched away from the red light. There was a colossal bang and she found herself flying through the air, and only vaguely registered the stone wall before she hit it and passed out.

- - - - -

"Is there any news on Ginny?" Harry asked Ron quietly as the red-head put aside the Daily Prophet and stared moodily out into space.

"What do you bloody think?" Ron replied bitterly.

Harry patted Ron’s shoulder. "I’m dead sorry, mate," he said. "I wish we knew what happened to her."

"Well, I’m going to find out," Ron growled. "I’m gonna hunt down the stinking Death Eater who took her and tear their eyes out."

"Woah, mate," Harry put his hands up and continued, "there’s no evidence that Ginny was kidnapped…"

"She disappeared in the night!" Ron argued. "How could she not have been kidnapped?"

"There was no Dark Mark over the house, her things had all been packed and there was absolutely no sign of a break-in, Ron!" Harry pointed out.

"HER BLOOD WAS ON THE WALL!" Ron roared, and Harry shrugged, as it was true. They had discovered a splash of blood on the wall in the hallway of the Burrow and it had taken next to no time at all to identify it as her blood.

"I was just saying, she could have gone by herself," Harry said after a minute. Hermione was scouting out the nearby village, and he was grateful for the peace it gave him to talk to Ron. "There wasn’t a trace of her left, Ron! Everything that she owned was taken! Does that sound like a kidnapping to you?"

"YES!" Ron yelled, and glared at Harry, who took the hint and shut up.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Ron sighed and asked, "What do you reckon about Hermione?"

Harry’s breath caught in his throat for a minute, then he said breezily, "What are you talking about?"

"Do you reckon she’s ever going to forgive me?" Ron asked. "I mean, what can I do?"

"Look, mate, I don’t know how to say this, but I…I think she doesn’t like you in that way anymore."

Ron’s face fell but he quickly covered it up and had a fake smile on his face as he said, "How do you know that?"

Harry bit his lip, then decided to play the safe card. "You remember when you walked out?" Ron shifted uncomfortably and started to say something, but Harry spoke over the top, "She cried herself to sleep for months, and I don’t think she wants to get hurt in that way again. She’s over you."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the tent, then Ron got up and slowly walked out of the tent.

- - - - -

Ginny opened her eyes to see her new room. There was no fresh bleeding on her face but she could feel the dried bloodstains and she lifted her arm to touch her cheek. She hissed and drew in a breath, and everything went hazy for a minute. The next thing she was aware of was Draco pinching her unhurt arm and saying her name over and over again.

"For Godric’s Sake, Ginny, wake up!" he growled and she sat up and slapped his fingers away from her arm with her painful arm. She ignored the pain and slid out of the bed, noticing she was still wearing the clothes she had been before. Looking up, she saw Draco’s raised eyebrow and she realised that he was surprised at her use of her arm.

"It doesn’t hurt that much," she lied, and headed towards her wardrobe where she had begun to put her clothes yesterday.

"Sure it doesn’t," he said sarcastically. "You broke it only half an hour ago."

"It doesn’t hurt," she tried confidently, but her voice wavered at the end as she stumbled and jerked her arm. She swore silently, and he laughed.

"What was that, Ginny?"

"Get out of my head!" she glared at him. "And since when have you known Legilimency?"

"A while," he said evasively.

"How long?" she tapped her foot on the floor and stared at him.

"Last year at Hogwarts."

"Fair enough," she said, and used Occlumency to hide her thoughts from him. She leant into the wardrobe and picked out a pair of black leggings and red dress that plunged daringly low, then siphoned off the blood on her face. Taking her time in the bathroom, it took her only a few minutes to dress in clean clothes and she picked up the dirty ones. He took them from her and they disappeared. She looked inquiringly at him and he shrugged and muttered, "House elves."

She shook her head slightly at that, then asked, "What happened?"

"With you and the Dark Lord?" Draco asked, and she nodded. "I’m not going to tell you," he said and when she opened her mouth to protest, he said quickly, "Not that I’m trying to keep you in the dark, but what you did…it’s best you know as little as possible about that when you go to see the Dark Lord."