Veiled

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Prologue: Saving Lives.

The Weasley family was mourning. Their youngest daughter, Ginny Weasley was taken once again by Lord Voldemort. Today would have been one of the happy days for Harry, Ron and Hermione; they had finished their N.E.W.Ts and were to be preparing for graduation. Harry knew that he would never forget this day.

It all started when they woke up that morning, to take their last exam, Potions Theory. Harry was dreading this exam, it was the one that would decide whether he would get into Auror training or not. He did rather well in his practical, better than he thought he would. The Potions Theory exam however was known to have a few essays, which had proven to be Harry's weak point. After dressing, he rushed down to the common room so that he can get to breakfast on time. He remembered Ginny and Neville, who had dropped Potions wishing him luck. He could see Malfoy boasting to Crabbe and Goyle, who had not passed their potions O.W.L. and were therefore not qualified to take N.E.W.T. level Potions about the extra Potions lessons he had taken at home.

The exam was rather okay for Harry. He did well on the essay on Polyjuice Precautions, of course because he remembered brewing the potion illegally and the results on his best friend Hermione when she used cat hair by accident. The second essay was a harder for Harry than the first as it was on Veritaserum but Harry managed to remember the steps on brewing it. He could see Hermione a few rows in front of him asking for extra parchment and ink. Typical Hermione, he thought. Harry finished the exam 30 minutes before the time was up. He could see Hermione still writing at the edge of the longest parchment he had seen. He looked behind him and saw Ron writing on his rather short piece of parchment, looking as if he was about to doze off.

Harry really hated the way his life has been planned for him; he hated Trelawney for making that stupid prophecy about him. He had finally found a spell that would vanquish Voldemort; he had to get Ginny to translate it for him, as it was written in an ancient spell book written in Runes. He would of asked Hermione, but she would of probably tried to talk him out of it and he was thankful that he never asked her later. The spell seemed to a very ancient Dark Arts spell that was really complicated. Ginny translated the text for him and he assured her that he wouldn't use the spell. He knew that Hermione would get suspicious even if he told her he wouldn't use the spell. He hoped that Ginny didn't tell Hermione about it, he knew that they had become great friends and told each other everything.

Professor Flitwick announced that the exam was over and summoned all of the exam papers, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. He walked over to Hermione and Ron, who were waiting for Harry at the Entrance Hall. As usual, Hermione was panicking about her essay on Veritaserum.

"Come off it, Hermione," Ron said as they walked past Professor Snape. "If you did bad in the exam, there's nothing you can do now. I doubt that you'd get less than an O with that huge essay you were writing."

They walked outside to the grounds, where they could visit Hagrid. Harry couldn't wait until they were out of school, he would find Voldemort and use the spell he had found in the ancient text. He didn't know whether he'd survive or not, but he hoped Voldemort wouldn't survive. He followed his two friends to the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest wondering if he'd ever see the Hogwarts grounds again. He wasn't prepared for the sight he was about to see. Dumbledore talking to a sobbing Arthur and Molly Weasley inside Hagrid's hut. Ron rushed inside to see his parents while Harry, not wanting to be an outsider to them, stayed outside with Hermione. He wondered what could possibly happen to see the Weasleys in such a state. It wasn't long before Ron rushed out of the hut red eyes, possibly from crying.

"Ginny... she snuck off to Hogsmeade using your map and she's missing now," Ron managed to say before sitting on the steps to the entry to Hagrid's hut with his face in his hands.

Harry was shocked, he remembered Ginny borrowing the map from him the night before in the common room. He didn't think that Ginny would use the map to sneak out of school, he thought she just wanted to get past Filch in some kind of scheme she had in mind. If he had known that she was planning to sneak out of the school, he would of stopped her. What was she thinking? It was a known fact that anywhere outside of Hogwarts was very dangerous; they even cancelled all Hogsmeade trips. He knew that she was captured because of him. Of course, every Weasley was in danger because it wasn't exactly hidden that they were like family to Harry.

Harry had been practicing Occlumency very well lately so that he can block Voldemort out of his dreams. He wished that he hadn't practiced that hard; he might have gotten the location of Voldemort. It wouldn't of helped since Harry was sure that Dumbledore and the rest of the Order wouldn't allow Harry to leave the school. He had to find a way out of Hogwarts; he would go to the library and search every book he could find on tracking charms. He'd then perform it to find Ginny's location and sneak out of Hogwarts through the Honeydukes passage, the same one Ginny used. It wasn't a very brilliant plan, but it's all Harry could think of.

He looked at Ron, who was still sitting on the steps. He didn't know if he should let Ron in on the plan, Ron would probably do anything for his sister but he knew that Ron might tell his parents, who would tell Dumbledore for sure. He was going to have to do this on his own, the prophecy did say that Harry was the only one would be able to defeat Voldemort, taking Ron along would put Ron under a huge risk.

"Ron, I'm going to go up to my room. I'll be back later," Harry said. Ron just nodded, not really moving from where he was sitting. Harry walked back to the castle and went up to his dorm. He reached his trunk and started looking for his invisibility cloak; he knew that he would need it. He saw Dean and Seamus talking, he decided not to tell them any news about what happened since he knew that Dean used to be Ginny's boyfriend and he wasn't sure how Dean would take it, they did remain friends after breaking up. Harry left the dorm and went down the spiral staircase hoping that he would find a tracking spell that would work. Climbing out of the portrait hole, he saw Neville saying goodbye to Luna, they didn't look too happy. He knew that they must have found out somehow.

Harry reached the library and started immediately went to the shelf that had all of the books on tracking charms. He searched through book after book, giving himself hope that he would find the spell in the next book when he couldn't find it. Every time he saw the words tracking charm, he would stop at that page, only to find it on tracking lost belongings or tracking spells that required something like Ginny's hair or one of her belongings. He knew that he couldn't get to her belongings without explaining what he was up to. There was no way to get to the girls' dorm, he was sure of that after the disastrous incident that happened in fifth year when Ron tried to go up and the stairs turned into a slide.

He wasn't sure if there were anyway to get up there. He could try his Firebolt but he was sure he'd be seen. He decided to just sneak out to Hogsmeade and ask around, maybe someone would have seen the Death Eaters somewhere. "Potter?" he heard while getting his invisibility cloak out of his bag. He knew that voice very well.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry muttered. Malfoy looked around him, as if to make sure no one was around.

"I know where she is, Potter." Malfoy replied. He was still looking around, Harry knew now that he was looking to make sure that Crabbe or Goyle didn't come around.

"What would make me trust you?" Harry asked. "You're the son of a Death Eater, What if you're taking me to some kind of trap? I know that you hate me."

"Come on, what have you got to lose?" Malfoy drawled. Harry didn't know whether he should go with Malfoy or not, he knew that he didn't have much to lose. Either way, he was going to Voldemort's; there was really nothing to lose.

"Fine," Harry finally told Malfoy. "I've got nothing to lose, but if have some kind of trick up your sleeve and I end up surviving, you'll be sorry."

"Fine by me," Malfoy answered.

"Well?" he demanded, eyeing Malfoy suspiciously.

"Okay, they're in the Wiltshire mansion," Malfoy replied. Harry was wondering why Malfoy was telling him this; he surely couldn't be turning his father in, could he? "I have to come with you though, since the house is warded and you can only enter with a Malfoy."

"Okay, Malfoy. Why are you telling me this stuff?" Harry demanded.

"Well, you see Potter, it's not because of my sudden change of heart. I just want to be my own person and not just do what my dad tells me."

Harry wondered if Malfoy was telling the truth, he always did notice that Lucius Malfoy usually gave Draco orders and Draco usually just did what his father asked. He wasn't sure what Draco was up to, but he decided to go along anyways, after all, there wasn't much to lose.

He nodded at Draco and they hid under the invisibility cloak. Looking around to make sure that Filch wasn't around, he opened the hump of the one eyed witch and they both entered carefully. As soon as they got into the passage, they took off the invisibility cloak and started running down. By the time Harry reached the steps to the cellar of Honeydukes, he had lost count of how long he'd been there. Carefully, they climbed up to the cellar, slipped on the invisibility cloak and exited Honeydukes.

Draco was walking towards the end of High Street, looking around to make sure no one has seen him, Harry followed. After walking through many of the rocks, Harry found himself walking towards a cave. It wasn't the same one that they had met Sirius in during fourth year. Cautiously, Harry followed Malfoy into the cave. The cave looked somehow like the Chamber of Secrets. The only difference was the fact that there were no real snakes, only drawings on the walls. In front of him was a giant fireplace, when they reached the fireplace, Malfoy turned around to face Harry.

"Look Potter, use this Floo Powder and say 'Wiltshire' and it'll get you to a local pub, from there we'll walk," Malfoy explained. "We'll need the invisibility cloak, since it's too risky to be seen. Here," Malfoy handed Harry Floo Powder, "Follow my lead," he tossed the powder into the large fireplace, which turned green and yelled, "Wiltshire!"

Following Malfoy, Harry took the powder and did the same.

He landed out of the fireplace and ran into Malfoy, who was brushing soot off of his robes. After brushing the soot of his robes, Harry pulled Malfoy under the invisibility cloak and they walked quickly to the exit. The streets were not busy at all, Harry walked with Malfoy down the street until they entered a smaller street that contained a row of identical houses, all of them were white and grey. At the end of the road, a house stood, larger than all of the others and it looked less cheerful. It was a dark grey Victorian style mansion that Harry assumed was the Malfoy Manor.

He followed Malfoy to the large gate, where he said a password Harry could not hear. Suddenly, the gates opened and they both stepped into the Malfoy Manor garden as quietly as they could. They walked inside the house, where Malfoy took Harry downstairs to what he assumed was a dungeon. He was not prepared for the sight he saw.

It looked exactly like the Chamber of Secrets. They stopped in front of a solid wall which two entwined serpents were carved on it, reminding him exactly of the entrance to the chamber of secrets. He hated to think what Ginny must have been going through in there. He was sure that the Chamber incident was her worst memory and he had a feeling that Voldemort was making her re-live it.

"This is the Dark Lord's quarters, no one can get in without him. Just tell the wall to open up, in parsel tongue of course," Malfoy told him. "She's in there, at least that's what father told me."

"Open up." Harry hissed at the door, in what he assumed was parsel tongue.

The snaked parted, opening the door to the quarters. Looking at Malfoy, he slipped off the invisibility cloak and walked in first, followed by Draco. They walked down the Chamber, in the original one; there was a statue of an ancient and monkeyish looking man. In the new version of the room, there was a statue in the same area, but of a tall thin man with gleaming red eyes. He knew that this was Voldemort. In between his feet, Ginny was lying there unconscious in her Hogwarts robes. His fear was immediately confirmed that Voldemort was making her relive that memory.

He looked around him to check for any source of movement, not noticing any. He ran towards Ginny, when he reached her, he checked her pulse. Feeling a weak heartbeat, he realized that she was alive and decided to hide her under the invisibility cloak. He turned to Malfoy and motioned for him to come over. Malfoy rushed over to their side and put the cloak over her.

Harry knew that Voldemort would come by soon. He decided to go over the spell he learned in the ancient text. He knew that the theory of the curse was more important. The spell would only work against someone who had visibly marked him; he had his scar for that. He was supposed to concentrate as hard as he could on Voldemort getting struck by lightning, the shape of the scar. The incantation was one that he knew well, the Reducto curse along with the ancient spell that had no incantation, only visualization would work. Harry had no idea what exactly would happen, he only assumed that he would be blasting Voldemort out of his way. No sooner than remembering the spell did he hear a cold high-pitched laugh that he knew too well.

Harry raised his wand, it was now or never. Concentrating as hard as he could, he pictured Voldemort getting struck by lightning; he hoped that this spell would work since he didn't know how to use Avada Kedavra. He could hear Voldemort, taunting him about Ginny having to relive her worst memory and how it was his entire fault.

"Reducto!" Harry yelled as loud as he could, still picturing Voldemort getting struck by lightning. He noticed that Voldemort wasn't blasted, as the Reducto curse usually would do. For a moment, Harry thought that the spell didn't work. Voldemort's eyes suddenly widened in fear as a lightning bolt suddenly came out of nowhere and struck Voldemort. Harry closed his eyes in pain, he felt as if his scar was on fire. The pain suddenly stopped and Harry opened his eyes to realize that Voldemort was lying lifeless in front of him, mysteriously split in half in the shape of a lightning bolt, his scar.

Malfoy was still sitting next to the unconscious Ginny, trying to wake her up but she wouldn't budge. Harry walked over to Malfoy, who had picked up Ginny. When Harry reached them, Malfoy held Ginny up on her feet and slipped the invisibility cloak over the three of them. They had a hard time moving since Ginny was unconscious, how they reached the outside of the mansion, Harry didn't know.

Harry felt cold all of the sudden. He heard himself screaming for Sirius as he fell through the veil, he immediately knew it. Dementors were gliding towards them from every direction, thousands of them. He threw off the invisibility cloak, thinking of Voldemort being dead; it was a happy thought for him.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled as a stag galloped out of his wand, chasing half of the dementors away. He didn't have time to direct the stag at the other side and he just picked up Ginny and ran as far away as he could. As soon as he got off the Malfoy grounds, he ran down the road, then to the main road until he reached the pub. Holding on to Ginny, he took a handful of Floo Powder and threw it in the fireplace where the flamed turned immediately emerald green.

"The Three Broomsticks!" he yelled after stepping on. They were spinning at a very high speed and then came crashing out of the fireplace at the famous Hogsmeade pub. It wasn't until then that he realized that he left Malfoy with the Dementors. He couldn't believe it. How could he not notice that Malfoy wasn't with them? He was mainly concerned with getting Ginny back to Hogwarts that he forgot about Malfoy.

As soon as they walked through the Hogwarts gates, Harry put Ginny on the ground. Feeling very dizzy, he collapsed on the ground.