Traitoress

Assassination and Realization

Ginny walked through the mansion, Draco leading the way by a few metres, and although the rooms were at a reasonable temperature, she shivered.

"You should eat something," Draco held out a white bread roll and she took it gratefully.

"Why?" she asked, sensing a connection to the incident earlier. She remembered a jet of light, a colossal sound and flying through the air into a wall, but little else.

"No reason," he said annoyingly, and grinned slightly as she gritted her teeth. They arrived at the large door into the ballroom, and Ginny knocked on it smartly.

The Dark Lord hissed, "Enter, Ginevra, Draco."

The room was brighter than before, and the grey light from the cloudy afternoon filtered through the windows. The Dark Lord sat in a spot of grey light, twirling his wand.

"My Lord," the two teenagers both murmured and bowed.

"I have a job for the two of you," the Dark Lord gripped his wand and his piercing red eyes stared at Ginny. Her world tilted to the side suddenly and she was aware of Draco catching her as she fell, feeling the brutal attack on her mind by the Dark Lord. She scrambled back onto her feet, and stood rigidly as he searched her mind.

He finally halted his search and sat back in his chair, smiling contentedly. "You do not know yet why you are a puzzle to me, Miss Riddle."

Ginny glanced at Draco who was fighting a smile at her name, then looked back and replied, "No, My Lord, but I am eager to find out."

The Dark Lord rose out of his chair and swept towards her, his black robes rustling across the floor behind him. He took her chin in his fingers and his red eyes bored into her brown eyes. With his other hand he held up her wrist and spoke.

"My blood runs in your veins, Miss Riddle, and you are aware of the fact we are second-cousins, but you do not yet know our family history. Strange gifts run in our family. You are a parselmouth, I know - " at this Draco shot her a surprised look and she shrugged " - and you are unaware of your other gift."

"With respect, My Lord, I do not know what you speak of," she confessed.

He let her wrist fall and stepped backwards. "Miss Riddle, when I cast the Cruciatus Curse on you earlier this morning, I was expecting some kind of small magical power to reveal itself. However, I was wrong. A gift of immense power showed itself. When you dodged my first curse, were you not worried for your safety? And then, when you could not escape my second curse, you revealed your power.

"Miss Riddle, you do not need a wand to perform magic." There was an almighty silence in the room as Voldemort grabbed her wrist again and hissed, "Our blood…"

"There must be some mistake, My Lord," she said. "I can’t perform magic without a wand!"

"If I may, My Lord," Draco stepped forward, and said, "I saw you deflect a curse with your bare hands. You had no magical weapon or shield, but the curse rebounded off you."

"Draco, it couldn’t have been me!" she cried. "That’s impossible!"

"The force of the spell and your shield was so strong that it resulted in flinging you into the wall, and it is possible. I’ve studied such possibilities," Draco said.

The Dark Lord had been watching them for a minute, then he laughed his high, cold laugh. "The truth is, cousin, you are the most powerful witch in the history of the world, and you are sworn to serve me. I want you and Draco to search down Harry Potter and his friends and bring them to me."

There was a silence in which Draco watched Ginny’s reaction closely. She shrugged and curtseyed, murmuring, "Of course, My Lord."

- - - - -

"Harry!" Hermione hissed at him as he sat on watch. He turned around and she stood their, holding a mobile phone.

"Yes, Hermione?" he asked, as she sat down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I have something really important to tell you," she said, "and it isn’t going to be easy."

"Then shouldn’t Ron be here?"

"I suppose," she sighed and he called Ron from inside the tent.

"Alright!" Ron grunted. "What is it?"

"I just received a call from our Death Eater. She says You-Know-Who is deploying a team of two young people to hunt us down."

"Only two?" Ron asked. "I wish them luck." He snorted in derision. "Was that your important news, Hermione?"

"She says we shouldn’t under-estimate these two," Hermione looked miserable.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Who are these two people?"

"One is Draco Malfoy," she whispered, "and the other is Ginny Weasley."

A short pause filled the tent, then Harry and Ron started to laugh until tears rolled down their faces.

"I’m serious!" Hermione said indignantly, then she began to see the funny side of the star-Gryffindor being a Death Eater. "I suppose our contact might be a bit confused."

Harry suddenly stopped laughing. "How do the Death Eaters know about Ginny going missing? For all they know, she’s with the rest of her family in hiding!"

Ron stopped laughing as well. "Shit!"

The three of them stared at each other, all arguments between Ron and Hermione forgotten as Harry whispered, "You-Know-Who’s got Ginny."

- - - - -

Ginny was watching Draco closely as they left the manor. It was getting dark and only the light of their wands showed them the way to the front gate.

They walked on in silence, Ginny staring at him, until Draco couldn’t contain himself.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"Why do you trust me?" she asked abruptly.

He was floored for a minute, then said, "Legilimency."

She snorted with laughter. "You’ve been going through my head?"

"You didn’t notice?" Draco laughed as well. "And there I was thinking you were the most powerful witch in history."

She elbowed him. "I’ve been kind of distracted."

"With what?"

"Like you don’t already know." She seemed unsure of whether to be amused or annoyed at his annoying attitude, and eventually settled for being irritated.

Draco smiled gleefully. "I want to hear you say it."

She glared at him and he dodged her elbow as she tried to hit him again. "I’ve been distracted by you, okay?"

He laughed.

"What’s so funny?" she demanded and stopped in the driveway, hands on hips.

"Nothing," he replied, and flashed her a dazzling smile.