Crucio
~~~~~
Just as they were all about to give up and go back for the night, a searing pain ran through Draco’s left arm. He sighed. ‘Not again!’ he thought to himself. It was getting a tad annoying, this incessant summoning. He wanted to go to Ginny. With another sigh, he Disapparated.
~~~~~
“Young Malfoy!”
“Yes Master?”
“What is it that I hear about the Weasley being protected by a Fidelus Charm?”
“I was not aware of that. I still have no idea where she is,” he answered quickly.
“I see.” Voldemort looked as though he wasn’t quite sure whether to believe that or not.
“How did you find out?”
“The young Parkinson overheard a conversation between Potter and his two friends about putting the Weasley under the Fidelius Charm. She even overheard who the Secret Keeper was,” There was an almost giddy tone to his speech and a glint in his eye.
“Really? Who is it?”
“Ronald Weasley,”
‘Shit’ Draco thought to himself upon hearing this news. It felt like his heart weighed about twice as much as it had the second before. ‘Now he’s going to bring Ron here to try to get the information out of him. As if that isn’t bad enough, I can’t even begin to imagine what he’ll do to Ginny if he finds her.’ His evening was really turning into a nice big bag of old dog crap.
“That’s wonderful,” Draco said out loud as cheerfully as he could manage.
“Yes, it is. And since the brother Weasley is one of Potter’s friends, we can use him to bring the boy here. We don’t have to wait to bait him with the girl Weasley.”
“Wonderful,” he said, feeling more and more sickened by the turn of events.
~~~~~
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were wandering down the street near the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. They had been bored on this uneventful Saturday, and had decided to get away from the never-ending snowball fights. It wasn’t a Hogsmeade weekend, so they’d had to sneak out using the statue of the witch.
“So, Harry, are you nervous for the Quidditch game tomorrow?” Ron asked, starting an idle conversation.
“A little. I suppose it gets better as time goes-hey!” he yelled as he was knocked in the back with a strong stunning spell. He fell to the ground, and Ron and Hermione soon joined him.
~~~~~
When they came to, they found themselves inside an old house. They seemed to be in one of the main living rooms. There were several old, green, rundown couches lined up against a once-brightly-painted wall. An ancient brick fireplace occupied most of the space on the wall opposite them. They were tied onto several tall columns that stood in a row on the edge of the room.
“Ah, you’re awake. Let the fun begin,” a cold voice hissed from one of the dark corners of the room.
The owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows, followed by Draco.
Draco looked at the prisoners and tried to communicate to them that this was in no way his idea and that he was very sorry. They looked like they believed it, but they still had fear in their eyes.
“Weasley, I am led to believe that you seem to know where a certain someone who I want to find happens to be.”
Draco gave them a pleading look that clearly said ‘I didn’t tell him!”
“Go to hell!” was the only response Voldemort got out of Ron.
“I was afraid of this. That’s why I brought your mudblood girlfriend too. CRUCIO!”
“HERMIONE!” Ron yelled, watching in horror as the woman he loved writhed in pain, struggling against the bonds that held her to her column. But there was nothing he could do.
“Just tell me where your sister is and I will be obliged to stop.”
“Never.”
“Well then, I’m afraid we’ll have to just make her hurt some more,” Hermione gave a scream as her body began to twitch twice as hard. “This is getting a little boring. Potter is looking much too comfortable. CRUCIO!” Harry started to writhe in pain as well.
Ron looked torn. To save his best friend and his girlfriend, he would have to put his sister in horrible danger.
But Draco made it easy for him.
“STUPIFY!” he yelled, sending a jet of red light into Voldemort’s back.
Hermione burst into tears of relief as the curse was broken. Ron struggled to get out of his ties to go comfort her, and with a wave of Draco’s wand, he broke free. Hermione was also released, and he hugged her tightly and whispered to her that it would be okay. While they were off in their own little world, Harry broke free and shakily asked Draco, “Why did you do that? Now you’re in danger.”
“I had to. He wasn’t going to stop torturing you guys unless Ron told, and then Ginny would have been in danger. Better me that her.”
“You really love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” This statement was followed by an awkward pause.
“I suppose we should be getting back,” Draco said after a moment. “There’s some Floo powder over by that fireplace.”
“You go with Ron and Hermione. I’ll follow you.”
“Okay,” Draco said. He went over to the couple and walked them to the fireplace. He decided to go with them, as they were hardly in a state to concentrate on finding the right grate. He threw a handful of green powder into the flames, stepped in, and yelled, “HOGWARTS”
They all tumbled out of the fireplace in Dumbledore’s office. He looked slightly surprised at the unplanned visit. After a quick explanation of what had happened, he immediately thought of a plan.
“Draco, you are no longer safe. You will need to go in hiding with Ginny. I will get Professor Flitwick, and he will take you all there to perform the spell. I’ll go to find Harry, as he should have been back by now. I’ll have to call several Aurors for back-up.” He hurried out of the office to go get the professor.
~~~~~
“DRACO!” Ginny yelled. The spell had just been cast, and they were both safe for now.
She ran up to him and squeezed him into as tight of a hug as she could with her belly in the way.
“I missed you too,” Draco said. But he was interrupted by a slap on the face.
“What the hell took you so long? I was worried sick! And you KNOW that’s not good for the baby!” she yelled with an angry glare in her eyes.
“Sorry, love, I kept being called. I got here as soon as I could,” he then continued to tell her all of that night’s events.
“I’m so sorry that I slapped you. It’s just that I love you and I missed you so much!” Ginny started to cry into Draco’s chest.
“Damn hormones,” Draco muttered under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Love you, dear.”
~~~~~
Just as they were all about to give up and go back for the night, a searing pain ran through Draco’s left arm. He sighed. ‘Not again!’ he thought to himself. It was getting a tad annoying, this incessant summoning. He wanted to go to Ginny. With another sigh, he Disapparated.
~~~~~
“Young Malfoy!”
“Yes Master?”
“What is it that I hear about the Weasley being protected by a Fidelus Charm?”
“I was not aware of that. I still have no idea where she is,” he answered quickly.
“I see.” Voldemort looked as though he wasn’t quite sure whether to believe that or not.
“How did you find out?”
“The young Parkinson overheard a conversation between Potter and his two friends about putting the Weasley under the Fidelius Charm. She even overheard who the Secret Keeper was,” There was an almost giddy tone to his speech and a glint in his eye.
“Really? Who is it?”
“Ronald Weasley,”
‘Shit’ Draco thought to himself upon hearing this news. It felt like his heart weighed about twice as much as it had the second before. ‘Now he’s going to bring Ron here to try to get the information out of him. As if that isn’t bad enough, I can’t even begin to imagine what he’ll do to Ginny if he finds her.’ His evening was really turning into a nice big bag of old dog crap.
“That’s wonderful,” Draco said out loud as cheerfully as he could manage.
“Yes, it is. And since the brother Weasley is one of Potter’s friends, we can use him to bring the boy here. We don’t have to wait to bait him with the girl Weasley.”
“Wonderful,” he said, feeling more and more sickened by the turn of events.
~~~~~
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were wandering down the street near the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. They had been bored on this uneventful Saturday, and had decided to get away from the never-ending snowball fights. It wasn’t a Hogsmeade weekend, so they’d had to sneak out using the statue of the witch.
“So, Harry, are you nervous for the Quidditch game tomorrow?” Ron asked, starting an idle conversation.
“A little. I suppose it gets better as time goes-hey!” he yelled as he was knocked in the back with a strong stunning spell. He fell to the ground, and Ron and Hermione soon joined him.
~~~~~
When they came to, they found themselves inside an old house. They seemed to be in one of the main living rooms. There were several old, green, rundown couches lined up against a once-brightly-painted wall. An ancient brick fireplace occupied most of the space on the wall opposite them. They were tied onto several tall columns that stood in a row on the edge of the room.
“Ah, you’re awake. Let the fun begin,” a cold voice hissed from one of the dark corners of the room.
The owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows, followed by Draco.
Draco looked at the prisoners and tried to communicate to them that this was in no way his idea and that he was very sorry. They looked like they believed it, but they still had fear in their eyes.
“Weasley, I am led to believe that you seem to know where a certain someone who I want to find happens to be.”
Draco gave them a pleading look that clearly said ‘I didn’t tell him!”
“Go to hell!” was the only response Voldemort got out of Ron.
“I was afraid of this. That’s why I brought your mudblood girlfriend too. CRUCIO!”
“HERMIONE!” Ron yelled, watching in horror as the woman he loved writhed in pain, struggling against the bonds that held her to her column. But there was nothing he could do.
“Just tell me where your sister is and I will be obliged to stop.”
“Never.”
“Well then, I’m afraid we’ll have to just make her hurt some more,” Hermione gave a scream as her body began to twitch twice as hard. “This is getting a little boring. Potter is looking much too comfortable. CRUCIO!” Harry started to writhe in pain as well.
Ron looked torn. To save his best friend and his girlfriend, he would have to put his sister in horrible danger.
But Draco made it easy for him.
“STUPIFY!” he yelled, sending a jet of red light into Voldemort’s back.
Hermione burst into tears of relief as the curse was broken. Ron struggled to get out of his ties to go comfort her, and with a wave of Draco’s wand, he broke free. Hermione was also released, and he hugged her tightly and whispered to her that it would be okay. While they were off in their own little world, Harry broke free and shakily asked Draco, “Why did you do that? Now you’re in danger.”
“I had to. He wasn’t going to stop torturing you guys unless Ron told, and then Ginny would have been in danger. Better me that her.”
“You really love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” This statement was followed by an awkward pause.
“I suppose we should be getting back,” Draco said after a moment. “There’s some Floo powder over by that fireplace.”
“You go with Ron and Hermione. I’ll follow you.”
“Okay,” Draco said. He went over to the couple and walked them to the fireplace. He decided to go with them, as they were hardly in a state to concentrate on finding the right grate. He threw a handful of green powder into the flames, stepped in, and yelled, “HOGWARTS”
They all tumbled out of the fireplace in Dumbledore’s office. He looked slightly surprised at the unplanned visit. After a quick explanation of what had happened, he immediately thought of a plan.
“Draco, you are no longer safe. You will need to go in hiding with Ginny. I will get Professor Flitwick, and he will take you all there to perform the spell. I’ll go to find Harry, as he should have been back by now. I’ll have to call several Aurors for back-up.” He hurried out of the office to go get the professor.
~~~~~
“DRACO!” Ginny yelled. The spell had just been cast, and they were both safe for now.
She ran up to him and squeezed him into as tight of a hug as she could with her belly in the way.
“I missed you too,” Draco said. But he was interrupted by a slap on the face.
“What the hell took you so long? I was worried sick! And you KNOW that’s not good for the baby!” she yelled with an angry glare in her eyes.
“Sorry, love, I kept being called. I got here as soon as I could,” he then continued to tell her all of that night’s events.
“I’m so sorry that I slapped you. It’s just that I love you and I missed you so much!” Ginny started to cry into Draco’s chest.
“Damn hormones,” Draco muttered under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Love you, dear.”
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