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Author: Tari Story: Beneath the Eye of the Storm Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Reviews: 5 Words: 27,946
Chapter Five *^*^* Reliving the Past Ron, holding Hermione's hand, entered the kitchen at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and looked around at those gathered. There wasn't a spare seat, in fact there were many people left standing. Ron glanced at the familiar faces surrounding him grimly. They were all here for a very important reason. They would all be briefed on what would probably turn out to be the most important battle of the war. This would be the battle that dictated who would take the upper hand. It had the potential to be the turning point for them, if not the battle that clinched the victory of the entire war. Needless to say, everyone in the kitchen knew all of this. No one spoke a word. They all looked expectantly at Ron, and he knew they were waiting for him to speak. Clearing his throat, Ron pulled out several maps and his wand. "You all know why we're here today," he started in a strong voice. "We are going to infiltrate Voldemort's headquarters." Ron paused and his eyes circled the room, noting the looks of nervousness etched on some peoples' faces. He couldn't blame them, he was terrified, himself. "We won't be going into this alone," Ron continued. "We'll have assistance from some of our international affiliates. Mainly from the La Secte, from France, and a few groups from Romania and Egypt. Parvati Patil is here as our liaison from the La Secte." Ron nodded towards Parvati, who was sitting on the floor next to a tall, skinny man, who had his arm around her shoulders. "Parvati, when can we expect the members from La Secte?" Hermione asked. Glancing at the man next to her, Parvati answered, "They'll be here within the hour." "Good," Ron said shortly. "I trust you'll be able to brief them about the attack?" Parvati nodded, and Ron turned to Bill and Charlie. "And you two will be able to handle those coming from Egypt and Romania?" After getting a nod out of both his eldest brothers, Ron continued the briefing. "We have three goals for this attack. One, rescue any and all of the prisoners being held here. We know there are several prisoners held captive here, including Miss Ginny Weasley. We need to get them all back tonight. This will be the priority. "Second, capture Death Eaters. We are invading their headquarters, and we will thus have our hands pretty full with this task. If at all possible, try to bring them in alive. "Third, and lastly, bring down Voldemort. That task is in the hands of one of our members. I expect every one of you to be prepared to help this person achieve this goal to any end," Ron finished darkly, shooting a look of apology towards Harry. He knew his friend wouldn't appreciate that last remark, but it had to be said. Sure enough, Harry was glaring at him. "We'll be attacking their weakest point, here," he said, pointing to a spot on the map. "We'll come up through the ground into this hall. They won't know what hit them." * There had been a loud bang in the distance some time ago, but it hardly registered with Ginny, she had grown numb to her surroundings. Curling up in the centre of her cell, she rested her head against the cold floor. Her left hand had taken to drawing formless shapes on the stone floor. The floor was rough on her fingers, but Ginny didn't mind. In fact she welcomed the discomfort; it was distracting. She had lost count of how long she had been in this place. Days? Months? Mere hours? No light ever came in through her windows to help determine this aspect. Time had lost all meaning in this place. In order to keep her sanity, Ginny had forced thoughts of what was happening to her back to the furthest corners of her mind. Instead, she thought about happier times, few as there were. Ron and Hermione. Their wedding. It had been thrown together quickly, but it had been joyous. Ginny thought back to her childhood, before Hogwarts, before Voldemort. Back when life was simple and she hadn't known pain beyond sibling teasing. Yet, on the other hand, that had also been a time before Harry. Harry. She thought about Harry the most. From the boy he had been in Hogwarts, where she had first met him, to the man he had become since he had left school. She thought of the kiss they'd shared in the alleyway, while they were being chased by Death Eaters. She thought of the way he looked when she awoke in the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny shuddered violently at that thought. This place felt like the Chamber of Secrets. It had the same kind of air to it. It felt cold. And dead. She felt as though she was dying, as though she was slowly wasting away. It felt as though Tom was back, taking her life away so he could live. Harry had saved her then, and she hoped in a way she knew was silly and childish, that he would come to her rescue again. Ginny shut her eyes tightly and told herself not to get her hopes up like that. Harry didn't know where she was. Hell, she didn't know where she was. But that hadn't stopped him from coming to the Chamber of Secrets, a voice in the back of her brain reminded Ginny. Ginny gave out a dry sob. She wanted Harry. She wanted to be with Harry now. Away from this place. She wanted the night of Ron and Hermione's wedding back. She wanted him to touch her like that again and for always. She wanted to touch him back. She wanted him to look at her the way he had that night. There had been a fierceness in his eyes, a look of want, desire, and admiration. It had stunned Ginny to see such openness in his eyes; he was usually so guarded with his emotions. Then he had left without so much as one word. That had been the last time Ginny had seen him. Ginny pressed her fingers more roughly into the stone floor as silent, unwanted tears flowed from her eyes, creating a small pool just beside her face. * Harry ran down the stone corridor. Panting, he came to a stop where the corridor split into two directions. He knew she was here... somewhere. It was just a matter of finding out where. Yet he had been frantically searching for over an hour now, and he was starting to doubt his senses. Looking down either direction, Harry swore. One sloped downwards, while the other went up and to the right. One of these had to lead to Ginny, but which one? Harry stared into one and then the other for a moment. Something in his gut told him to take the one to his left, leading down. So, with one last wayward look into the path leading right, Harry took the left corridor, leading down farther into the depths of Voldemort's headquarters. It was cold, and Harry's nose and ears stung as though they were being bitten while he ran down the stone corridor. The air was heavier down here; it was thicker. Harry thought he was probably near the dungeons, where Voldemort killed and tortured his victims. A violent rage rose up in Harry's gut. He wanted to kill Voldemort. He deserved to die. It would be over soon; Harry would find Voldemort tonight and prevent any more of this horror. However, first he had to find Ginny. Harry strained his eyes to see through the dark. He instinctively raised his hand to straighten his glasses, but to no avail. The dark was thick, and unnerving. Harry wanted to use Lumos, but thought better of it. It would be safest in the dark, undetected by Voldemort or his minions. Harry stopped short as he heard someone cry out. It hadn't been Ginny--Harry knew that immediately--but he strained his ears for another sound. After a tense minute, another cry from the same person pierced the silence. It was a woman and she was in pain. She was close by; she sounded as though she was just on the other side of the wall to Harry's right. Sticking his right hand out, Harry searched for the wall. He pushed against the cold, damp stone as another cry rang out. Harry winced. The voice sounded familiar, and he tried to place it. He heard muffled sounds through the wall. They were from different people, but Harry couldn't place how many people, or if it included that same woman he had heard screaming. However, before Harry could try and decipher any more, a voice rang out behind him. "Crucio!" Harry's legs buckled, and he fell to the floor writhing in pain. He couldn't think of anything but the pain stabbing at his body unmercifully. He heard a man screaming distantly, and it barely registered that it was probably his own voice. There was only pain. And just as suddenly as the pain had started, it had stopped, and Harry lay panting in a huddled mess. How could he have been so stupid? He had turned his back so that anyone could sneak up on him. Shaking, Harry slowly got to his feet and turned to face his attacker. But all he saw was darkness. "Lumos," Harry muttered. A tall figure appeared before Harry, his red eyes shining out under his hooded cloak. * Hermione opened the wooden door in front of her. It was heavy, but it didn't squeak, and Hermione slide soundlessly into the deserted room. It was large, with a tall ceiling. There was one window on the opposite wall letting in the distinctive light that went with twilight on the brink of a storm. Hermione walked towards the centre of the oval space, towards a small dais of some sort. She tightened her fingers around her wand, ready for any surprises. Upon the dais was a marble stand holding up a silvery sphere. On closer inspection, Hermione noticed that the silver looked to be swirling within the orb, like clouds almost. Hermione glanced around the room to make sure she was alone. Satisfied that she was the only one in the room, she stepped up to the dais to get an even closer look. There was something about the orb that entranced Hermione. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She knew part of it was her curiosity of the object, but there was something else luring her to the orb. She felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and touch it. There was probably something about the magical configurations of it that naturally attracted people to its silvery glow, thought Hermione, entranced. She made a mental note to try and figure out what this was when she got out of here as she shook her head to wake her from the trance. Just before she could turn around, however, the silver clouds within the orb began to part, and Hermione's eyes were drawn to the image appearing before her. In the orb was a person: a woman, curled up on the floor. Hermione couldn't see her face, but there was something familiar about her. Intrigued Hermione pulled her face closer to the orb as lightning flashed outside of the lone window, reflecting in the orb's glassy depths. Hermione started as she realised that this was an image of the present. The flash of light showed Hermione something she was both fearing and hoping; the woman had red hair. Hermione had found Ginny. Panting, Hermione raised a hand to cover her open mouth. She had to find out where that room was; she had to get there. Looking frantically around the room, Hermione hoped to spot a map, or anything that would help her; however, the room seemed devoid of anything except the dais she stood upon. A thought suddenly came to Hermione, and she reached out her hand to the sphere. She knew she shouldn't touch things that she didn't know anything about, but this was an emergency. Besides, Harry told her how, with Pensieves when you touch them, they bring you to the place they're showing. Perhaps this would be similar. She tentatively reached out to the orb. As her hand came into contact with it, Hermione's first thought was how it felt unusually warm. She had expected it to be cold. However, her next thought was quiet different. She had been prepared to be transported to where Ginny was, but to her shock, nothing at all happened. She remained in the oval room, standing on the dais with her hand on the silver sphere. Hermione stared at her hand thinking how stupid she had been and was just about to remove it when it began to happen. A warm wind started to flow around Hermione--a wind that seemed to be emanating from the orb itself. Hermione tried to remove her hand from the orb, but found she couldn't. It seemed to be stuck, as though glued to its surface. The wind blew more violently with every passing second, as the orb grew warmer until it was almost unbearable to touch. Hermione started to frantically pulling at her left hand with her right, her wand clumsily entwined between her fingers. Just as she thought things couldn't possibly be worse, Hermione felt the wind pull her towards the sphere. She tried to resist and pushed against the wind, but her attempts were useless. The wind was much too strong and it pulled her forward. She felt her feet lift off of the ground as her body was sucked in. A moment later, Hermione found herself on her hands and knees. The winds had stopped abruptly, and it had got colder. Hermione quickly got to her feet and realized she was no longer in the oval room anymore, but instead in a square one with three small windows high up. A few torches hanging on the walls were the only source of light in the room. In the centre of the room lay the figure Hermione had seen in the silver orb. "Ginny!" Hermione rushed forward. Ginny bolted up into a sitting position and stared shocked at Hermione for a moment before screaming, "No! Hermione, stop!" Hermione froze mid-step. "Ginny, what? Oh, are you all right?" It was a stupid thing to ask, but she had to inquire. Ginny stared, wide-eyed and unblinking at Hermione. "Don't come any closer. There are these wards surrounding me. You can't get through them." Hermione bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Where are they?" "About a meter from where you are now. It seems to be in a circle around me. They walk around me, but never come too close. They don't want to be hit by the wards." Ginny hugged her knees. "Who are 'they,' Ginny" Hermione asked terrified of the answer. Ginny looked at the floor. Hermione noticed the fingers on Ginny's left hand seemed to be oozing a red liquid. "Death Eaters. Mostly Malfoy." She swallowed hard. "And... Tom." Tom? Hermione thought for a moment if she knew anyone by that name. "Tom? Ginny, I don't kn..." Hermione gasped as she realised who "Tom" was. "You mean, Voldemort?" Ginny nodded weakly. Hermione bit her lip. She knew Voldemort would be around and she couldn't dwell on that now. Pushing that to the back of her mind, Hermione concentrated on more pressing matters. "What happens if you come in contact with the wards?" "You get thrown back," Ginny replied dryly. Hermione shook her head in frustration. "No, I need specifics. I need you to tell me exactly what happens. How far do you get thrown back, if it sparks or not when you touch it? You also need to tell me what it feels like." She counted this small list off on her fingers as she spoke. Ginny stared with a look of incomprehension at Hermione for a moment before starting slowly. "Well, I got thrown back to about there." Ginny pointed to a spot about three and a half meters from where Hermione was standing. "And there was a flash of light. It lit up the entire room." Ginny hesitated. "And it hurt." "What colour was the light?" Hermione prodded. "Er..." Ginny squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to pull up an image of the light. "Yellow?" "Ginny, are you sure? I need to know exactly." She opened her eyes and looked at Hermione directly. "I'm sure," she said more confidently. "All right." Hermione took a deep breath. She knew Ginny wouldn't want to answer her next question, and Hermione didn't particularly want to ask it. However, it needed to be answered. "Can you be more specific about what it felt like?" Ginny winced visibly at this demand. She looked up at the ceiling, towards the three windows. "It was like the Cruciatus." Hermione gasped. Of course Voldemort would use something as horrible as the Cruciatus for his wards. "That should be enough to figure it out," Hermione muttered. She started to pace, being careful not to get too close to where Ginny said the wards were in place. If she could figure out the basic Arithmantic equation for the wards, she could do something about them. Yellow. Cruciatus. Two point five meters. The Cruciatus hints that it's physically and elementally based. It was causing a yellow light. That's interesting. It should result in a murky brown colour, but since its yellow that must mean... Yes, of course! "What are you doing here, Granger?" spat a voice. Hermione spun around and pointed her wand at the intruder. "Malfoy! What do you want?" Malfoy only sneered. "I think I'll be the one asking the questions here, Mudblood. Lower your wand, if you know what's good for you." Hermione suddenly realized he had his wand pointed straight at her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ginny clutching her throat. Malfoy must have put a silencing charm on her when he'd first arrived so Ginny couldn't warn Hermione. But how could Hermione not have heard Malfoy say the spell? Had she really been that wrapped up in her thoughts? Giving him a defiant look, Hermione kept her wand at the ready. She could out-duel Malfoy in a heartbeat; she wasn't about to take orders from him. "Lower your own wand, Malfoy." Malfoy only sneered. "I think not." He really didn't know whom he was dealing with. "Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled. However, to her astonishment, her spell didn't reach Malfoy. It was almost as though it bounced of a wall about a foot away from him and shot back towards Hermione. Before she had a chance to duck, the spell hit her and she felt her wand tear out of her hands. Hermione's stomach plummeted. He had set up a ward of his own. From the looks of it, however, it would be down after the first spell hit it. A lot of good that did her now that she didn't have her wand. Malfoy laughed outright. "I call that the home turf advantage." Hermione's eyes searched for her wand. Then she spotted it. Her wand at least hadn't gone to Malfoy, nor had it gone into the magical wards surrounding Ginny. It was a few meters away from her, next to the stone wall on Hermione's left. She had to get to it. "Not so powerful without a wand, Mudblood?" Hate was pouring out through Malfoy's voice. "Can't do anything but stand there?" He laughed mirthlessly. His pale eyes shot through Hermione like daggers. Malfoy opened his mouth and spat, "Crucio." Hermione fell to the floor in agony. She was screaming, but was only vaguely aware of that. There was nothing but pain. "Enjoy that, Mudblood?" Malfoy sneered as he pulled the curse off. "Would you like some more or have you had enough? Tell me how you got here. Come to join your Mudblood-loving friend, have you? The Dark Lord always appreciates new toys, especially ones with such assets and as much information to give as you have." Hermione looked up at Malfoy and spat, "You're sick. Mad. If you think for one minute we're going to be staying here..." "Shut it, Granger. Crucio." Hermione screamed in agony once again. When Malfoy took the curse off of her, Hermione remained, panting, on the stone floor. As soon as she was able to think somewhat clearly, she rolled to her left, determined to get to her wand. Her muscles hurt, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered was getting her wand so she could defend herself. And Ginny. "Hermione, watch out!" Ginny screamed. She must have broken through the silencing charm somehow. "Crucio," Malfoy screamed out again, and the curse hit Hermione for a third time. "Weasley, haven't you learned your lesson yet?" "Malfoy, you cowardly bastard! I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Ginny sounded furious. Hermione crawled towards her wand as inconspicuously as she could. She was almost there. Just a bit further. Malfoy sneered. "Why don't you walk over here and try, Weasel?" Hermione's hand grasped her wand and she turned and muttered what she hoped was the spell to bring down the magical wards surrounding Ginny. Catching Ginny's eye, Hermione nodded. "Gladly," Ginny said simply, as she started walking briskly towards Malfoy. Hermione sat, leaning against the wall trying to catch her breath and willed herself to get up and help Ginny. The effects of the Cruciatus were powerful. Malfoy stood there; stupidly sneering for a moment before he realized Ginny had gone past where the wards had been. He stumbled backwards, looking terrified. "Fractus," he yelled frantically just as Hermione yelled, "Expelliarmus." Ginny fell to the ground, clutching at her left ankle as Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand and landed next to Hermione. From behind the wall Hermione was leaning against, someone cried out in agony. For a moment all three of them looked at the wall in surprise. However, Hermione recovered quickly and muttered a spell causing ropes to spring from her wand and tighten around Malfoy. "Filthy Mudblood! Let me out of these now, or you'll live to regret this." Malfoy thrashed around the ground in a very undignified manner. "My father won't stand for this." Hermione rolled her eyes at his unbelievable arrogance. "Stupefy. Ginny," Hermione called, struggling over to the redhead. "Are you all right?" "I... It's my ankle. I think it's broken." Ginny winced. The cries from the other side of the wall were still audible. "Who is that?" Ginny asked fearfully. Hermione looked at Ginny's ankle. It was definitely in an unnatural angle. She quickly muttered a spell to splint it, as she knew she wasn't as skilled in Healing to properly mend the broken bone. "I don't know, but we have to get out of here. Will you be all right?" "Yeah, I'm okay. We have to help them," Ginny said softly, but determinedly, as the screams died down. Hermione bit her lip. She knew they had to, but Ginny wouldn't be safe. She wouldn't be able to run away with a broken ankle. "Hermione, don't look at me like that. I know what you're thinking, but I'm fine. Will you summon Malfoy's wand for me?" Ginny gave a disgusted look as she took Malfoy's wand from Hermione. "One of the last wands I would ever choose to work with, but what choice do I have? I need a wand." Hermione nodded and walked over to the wall from which the screams had been emanating and placed a hand against the moist surface. "We should be able to get through with the Reductor curse, although it'll probably need more than one person, Ginny," Hermione looked back to the redhead. "Ready." Ginny nodded. "One minute, I want to make sure we won't be blowing anyone to bits with this." Hermione cast a revealing charm at the wall. "Two people, there." Hermione pointed, "and there. No, wait. Three people, there's another one back there, behind these two." Hermione turned to make sure Ginny got this. Ginny nodded once again. "One, two, three..." Together they cast the spell causing the wall to collapse in front of them. *
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