Clichés, Kisses and Killing

Clichés, Kisses and Killing.

Chapter 6: Violence and Fury.

I am in love with you
You set me free
I can't do this thing called life without you here with me
Cause I'm dangerously in love with you.

'Dangerously In Love' - Destiny's Child.

"Harry! For Christ's sake!" Ron held onto Harry's arm as he reached for the jar of Floo Powder by the fireplace.

Voldemort hadn't bothered taking it away because the kitchen fireplace couldn't take you to anywhere other than the other castle rooms so there was no danger that they would escape. In fact, to his knowledge, no one had used it so far. Harry opened the jar and Ron grabbed his arm again.

It had been two days since Hermione had been raped, and Ron was made to witness it. Harry had lasted that long. It had been last night, with the sounds of Ron's horrific nightmares that had convinced him to go. He threw the powder into the fire and Ron made a last attempt at convincing him.

"Harry! I don't want to lose anyone else!" Harry turned and looked at his friend's hurt face. "Please," he pleaded. "Don't make me lose someone else I love. You know how much I miss Ginny; you know how much I loved her." Harry struggled away from Ron's grip and took a step backwards, tripping over the hearth as he spoke.

"Of course I know how much you love Ginnyyyyyyyy...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He fell backwards and disappeared into the flames, leaving a very baffled Ron.

"But he didn't say where he wanted to go," he said confusedly.

*~*~*~*~*

Harry tumbled through the fireplace and looked up quickly as he fell onto a thick red rug. His clothes and face were streaked with soot, and he was on his feet in an instant, looking at the bed in complete shock. Or looking, more importantly, at the girl in the bed.

"Ginny!"

"Harry?"

"Potter?" Harry whirled round to see Draco Malfoy halfway through buttoning up his shirt. He looked at Draco, and his eyes darted back to Ginny, half naked under the covers, and then back to Draco. Ginny could practically see his brain working.

"Harry, it's not-" She was too late. Harry launched himself at Draco, shouting a stream of obscenities.

"Malfoy, you bastard, what are you doing to her!" Ginny could only sit there and watch as Draco managed to get Harry onto his back, and tried to say something. Ginny sighed forlornly as she thought about what Harry must be thinking.

The fact was, Draco came and saw her more or less every day because she hated being cooped up in the room on her own all day. And, there wasn't much to do in the room besides talk, and they had done that for a long time. So, basically, every time he came she ended up sleeping with him. Not that she was complaining.

"Draco! Let him go!" He released him and stepped back, leaving Harry up against the wall breathing heavily. Harry stared at Ginny again, and then at Draco, now standing by Ginny's side, and then back to Ginny.

"What the hell is going on?" he hollered.

"Draco and I, we're-"

"Screwing. Yes, I did realise."

"Don't call it that," she snapped, giving Harry a shock. That was exactly what he had said to Hermione once. "It's important to me. He comes to see me to stop me getting so damned bored. And I love him, Harry, so back off." Harry stared at her, shocked, as he slid down the wall.

"You love him?"

"Yes. And he's trying to get us out of here."

"Whoa there, Gin. Never said anything about them. I said I would get you out of here, I never, ever mentioned getting your friends out." Ginny stared at him disapprovingly and he shrugged. "It's true."

"This is a stupid time to have this conversation." Ginny smiled at Harry, excited to see someone she loved and could talk to.

"How is Ron? And Hermione?" Harry still couldn't quite get over the fact that Ginny was sitting there, alive and well. He cleared the distance between them in a few strides and swept her up into his arms.

"Oh my God, Ginny, I'm so happy to see you."

"What?"

"Gin, they think you're dead. Remember? The Death Eaters planted a body." Ginny nodded at Draco's words and wrapped her arms around Harry's back.

"I'm glad you're here, Harry."

"Wait until Ron finds out, he'll be so happy. He's heartbroken, Ginny, completely heartbroken, and he had to see something terrible the other night so he hasn't got any better."

"Why? What happened?"

"Your boyfriend can probably tell you," he spat. She immediately turned to him.

"What happened, Draco?"

"I don't know. Potter, stop beating around the bush. What did they do to your friends?"

"They raped Hermione. They took Ron and made him see it." Ginny closed her eyes immediately and then clasped at Draco's arm.

"I need a bucket." He didn't need to ask why; he simply conjured one out of thin air with his wand. Ginny grabbed it and threw up violently. "Still with them, Draco?"

"Don't say that, Ginny, you know I'm your last chance at getting out of here. And I can't do it if I get killed or thrown into a cell." She nodded and he stroked her arm gently.

"I should get back to the kitchen." Harry got off the bed, away from Ginny and Draco, and looked away. "They'll wonder where I am."

"Potter, if you tell Weasley make sure he doesn't tell anyone else. You're not meant to know about Ginny. If they know you know, it'll be traced back to me, and then I can't get Ginny out of here. Please be careful." Harry nodded, shocked at how emotional Draco's voice sounded.

"Thank you. I have to go." Draco leant down and kissed Ginny's lips once, and twice, lingering against them. "See you tomorrow." He went over to the door and slid out of the room.

"Ginny-" Harry started, before Ginny cut him off.

"Don't, Harry. Just don't. I know it's stupid and I know that he won't be able to do anything, but I love him. And he looks after me. He stops me...he stops them using me, like they've used Hermione." Harry frowned at her, he had never thought of it like that. He had never thought about why they were keeping Ginny in this room, or why they were keeping all the other girls as well. God only knows what they're all being put through, he thought.

"I have to go as well. I love you, Ginny, and we'll try and help you when we can."

"Don't jeopardise everything, Harry. Draco loves me, he does care, no matter what anyone thinks, and he's trying." Harry nodded.

"I know he loves you. I'm just not sure if he loves power more." He smiled at the small redhead as she sat there, and then he stepped into the fireplace. And leaped out again. "Fuck! No powder, bugger." Ginny bit her bottom lip suddenly.

"Harry, that's the only way out. Except the door, obviously." Harry looked over at it, and raised his eyebrows. "No, Harry! You can't, you'll get caught!" He shrugged.

"What else is there to do?" She stood up suddenly, and he saw that she had pulled on her red blouse over a pair of knickers.

"Stay here and wait, Harry. Please." He shook his head.

"I can't. I'll get caught." He shook his head and headed towards the door. He took a deep breath and opened it, checking the corridor before going out, leaving Ginny on her own in her room to sink back onto her bed and hope that he would be alright.

*~*~*~*~*

Harry crept along the stone corridor and kept his ears open for any small noise at all that could be one of the Death Eaters. Unfortunately, he forgot that they were big and scary and were professional evildoers, whereas he was a wizard who wasn't out of school, who knew how to cast spells in a classroom but not in the real world.

His past experience had taught him a lot though. Mostly, look after your friends and be brave no matter what, but he did know about the way a Death Eater thinks. And when he saw the statue, he leapt behind it just as there was a 'pop' where he had been standing, and a man appeared, who had his back to Harry.

It didn't take a genius to work out who he was, however, because Harry didn't know any other Death Eaters, or any other person for that matter, with silver-blond hair the exact same shade as Draco Malfoy's. It could only be Lucius Malfoy.

He raised his head and sniffed the air, then turned suddenly, making Harry gasp softly. Not softly enough. Lucius' face spread into something that was trying its hardest to resemble a smile.

"Accio Potter," he hissed. And Harry shot out and was in his grip before he could blink. The smile made an appearance again, and suddenly there was a distant 'pop', Harry's head spun, and he found himself in the Hall of the castle.

"Look what I found, Master." Voldemort's eyes narrowed in surprise at Harry's appearance in Lucius' grip.

"Where?" he hissed.

"Third floor, outside the Jewel Room."

"Hmm, that wouldn't be one corridor along from the girl's room, would it?"

"It would be, My Lord." Harry shook his head.

"I don't know where she is."

"Don't know where who is, Harry?" Voldemort smiled, and it looked shockingly like Lucius' excuse for a smile. And Harry realised he had fallen into the trap. He wasn't supposed to know where Ginny was, because he was supposed to think Ginny was dead.

"Hermione," he said, thinking fast. "We're talking about Hermione, aren't we?" He wasn't quite fast enough.

"Maybe we should cast the Veritas on him, Master, maybe then we could find out what he thinks about everything. And what he knows." Harry stood up.

"I found Ginny, by accident. I fell into the kitchen fire and I fell into her room. I don't know anything, I just wanted to go back to the kitchen and do my work. But Lucius found me."

"Why the secrecy, Potter? Don't you trust us?" The laughter rung out across the room and Harry tried to keep hold of his temper. He hated being mocked by these people, but he couldn't stop it. "Maybe you came here to tell us that you want to give up? That you want to join us? Stop the pain? Thank me for killing your parents and saving you a job?" Harry was shaking so violently he could barely stand up. "Well, Harry? Do you want to join us?"

"I'd rather die!" he screamed. His voice rebounded off the silence that followed, and all the Death Eaters looked shocked. Voldemort took a step towards him.

"That's far too good for you, Potter. I think I'll arrange something else for you instead." His voice was dangerous and he stuck out his wand.

Suddenly, Harry felt pain beyond anything else. Beyond pain, beyond life, beyond death and suffering. It was all consuming and made him wish for the release of unconsciousness and death. When Voldemort had finished, he picked Harry off the floor with a flick of his wand, and spoke to Lucius.

"Come. We're going to pay the Weasley girl a little visit." Harry didn't even bother to beg them to stop. He just closed his eyes and let his head fall down to his chest, giving in to the fact that he couldn't stop this, no matter what he did.

*~*~*~*~*

Ginny was sitting on her bed when the door blew open, praying that Harry was alright, and that Draco was going to get them all out of here soon. She leapt up and her eyes widened when she saw Voldemort standing there, Harry suspended in the air next to him. Lucius Malfoy stepped out from behind Voldemort, his face blank but terrifying, and Ginny looked up at Harry's face. He was crying silently, his eyes red as they stared sadly at her. She realised what was coming. Swallowing hard, she took a step back.

"Let Harry go." Voldemort nodded once, something tugging at the corner of his mouth. Harry fell out of the air. He grabbed Harry by the arm and tugged him out of the room.

"Have a good time, Lucius." He nodded and Ginny's brow creased as he turned to her and began to undo the clasp on his robes. The door slammed shut, and she heard Harry bang once on the door, and then everything went silent in her world.

Lucius' lips were moving, but she couldn't hear the words they were forming. He threw her back onto the bed and she stared at the ceiling before closing her eyes and not making a sound. Even when he viciously tugged her clothes off and hurt her more than she thought possible, she remained silent. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt her.

*~*~*~*~*

Harry sat outside the door and felt the tears slide down his cheeks, just staring at the wall as he sat and realised he couldn't hear a single thing from inside the room. He leaned his head against the wall behind him and thought about Ginny. The first time he had arrived at the Burrow and she had taken one look at him and run. Christ, he thought, if only everyone had had that reaction. Then none of them would be in this mess. He was shocked out of his wallow in self-pity by the door flying open and Lucius staring down at him.

"Get up, Potter. Get up and give your friend some help." Harry leapt to his feet and Lucius shoved him into the room. Before he closed the door, he called out Harry's name. Harry turned and something hit him in the chest. He looked down to see a small leather pouch. "Use the Floo to get back to the kitchen. And there's no point going anywhere else. See you soon."

With an evil smile, he slammed the door shut and Harry turned back to Ginny. She was curled up on the bed, staring ahead with dry eyes, just staring. Harry went over to the bed and sat down next to her. He tried to pull her shirt back up her arms, where Lucius had left it.

She shook violently and sobbed once.

Harry tried to help her back into her clothes and she let him pull the sheets up around her waist as she half cried, half hyperventilated. Harry put his arm around her shoulders and she turned around and buried herself in his chest, starting to cry forcefully against his shirt.

"Ginny, I-" She didn't care what he was trying to say so he simply let her cry. He lay back and she went with him, letting out all the pain she had just experienced.

*~*~*~*~*

Draco Malfoy ran along the corridor as fast as he could. No one was around, he knew that, but he was still worried a little that someone would see him. He didn't want anyone to see him going in this direction, towards Ginny. When he reached the door, he opened it straight away and took several steps inside.

And saw Ginny in Harry Potter's arms, sobbing her heart out. If she hadn't been crying, Draco would have seen red, but she was sobbing and it broke his heart to hear it. Harry looked up and saw him, his eyes narrowed. He stared at Draco, barely controlling the fiery hatred and the sneer.

Draco stared back, but at Ginny. His blood was running cold, and he couldn't see anything but her. As he moved towards the bed, she looked up. And her red-rimmed eyes hit him straight in the chest. He felt so angry, and so violent, that he shocked himself. The thoughts running through his head as he stared at her, as she sat there hurt and upset, were not thoughts he had had before. And they almost frightened him. He went over to her and took her into his arms, letting her bury her face in his chest.

"Oh God, Ginny, I'm sorry I couldn't stop it. I didn't know what was going on." She gulped in some air and wrapped her arms around him even tighter. He saw that Harry had stood up and was standing by the bedpost, looking upset.

Draco lifted the sheets around Ginny's waist and sucked in another breath. There was little blood, but it was there none the less. He looked up at Harry again, and despite the hate in his eyes, Draco knew he was thinking the same thing as him. Whoever did this to Ginny should die. And he will, Draco thought, even if he is my father.

*~*~*~*~*

Draco managed to drag himself away from Ginny, and he started walking straight towards the main Hall of the castle. He stormed down the corridors, his mind still with Ginny, still looking straight into her eyes as she begged him not to do anything rash, as she looked so frightened at the prospect of being on her own, as she tried to stop crying because of what his father had done to her.

His blood was boiling, and he was surprised because this kind of heat was unusual for him, he was normally just cold as ice, no matter what was going on. Even anger had always brought cool, calm, spiteful words. But now he wanted to break something.

Actually, he wanted to break someone, someone in particular, and in his mind's eye a picture of his father replaced his picture of Ginny. All the times he had seen his father's face break into that terrifying smile at the prospect of someone else's pain flooded back to him. The times his father had smiled at the prospect of Draco's pain coming back the most strongly. And his fury was fuelled when he saw Lucius standing over him as he watched Draco writhe in pain for the first time.

That was two days after his seventh birthday, and he had smashed his toy broomstick into one of the trees in the grounds of Malfoy Manor after charming it to fly faster and higher than it should. His father had subjected him to the Cruciatus curse for the first time, and it had nearly killed him. He had not been punished for crashing the broomstick, his father had bought him a new one a week later, and it was not even because he had used magic that was forbidden for children to use. It was simply because he had not asked for his father's permission.

And from that day on, Draco had always lived in fear of his father's wand and his vicious nature. Until now, he thought, and entered the Hall.

He found Voldemort and Lucius subjecting a Death Eater to the Cruciatus curse. From the cries, Draco gathered that the man had made a mistake and was paying for it dearly.

And the bottom of his stomach dropped out. If that was what they did to their own people who made a mistake, what would they do to him? He almost laughed at his own stupidity. Had he thought they were just going to let him go after he killed Lucius? If he got himself killed, Ginny would be stuck here. And he couldn't let that happen.

"Draco!" called Lucius. Voldemort looked up and the smiled showed again.

"Yes, Father?" Draco managed to keep some of the bitterness out of his voice, but it took all of his strength.

"Come over here and take off your shirt."

"Why?" He didn't move a muscle.

"Don't question your father's orders, boy, they come from me," Voldemort said softly. Draco walked forward and whispers followed him.

He wasn't liked among the Death Eaters; that was no secret. They hated him because he was cocky and good-looking, and sarcastic about their stupid little hidden lives. They were also jealous of the fact that he had done nothing to earn his place in their ranks, but had just been born to Voldemort's right-hand man. His name had been his only qualification, apart from his natural spite and cruelty, and his hatred of anyone like Potter and Weasley.

He removed his black silk shirt, having already disposed of his robes, and dropped it on the floor.

"What do you want with me?" He stood in front of them, his strong, pale chest bare, and raised his trademark eyebrow.

"We want to initiate you, Draco. You haven't been given the Mark yet, and so you are not one of us yet. And we believe you are truly one of us now, especially after your visit to the Weasley girl."

"What?"

"Oh, we knew where you went, Draco, we presumed that's where you would go," Voldemort said, his eyes narrowing. "I presume you had a good time?"

"Yes, I hope I didn't wear her out for you, boy," Lucius added, a smug smiled curling his lips. Draco looked at him, controlling his lips enough to stop them curling up. "Anyway, get the wine from Nott." Draco turned to get the wine and he heard Voldemort let out his breath with a hiss.

"Draco, did the Weasley display actions that she didn't want you?" Draco turned back.

"Why, My Lord?"

"You have scratches on your back." Draco peered over his own shoulder and caught a glimpse of five long red scratches down his shoulder blade. He almost smiled when he thought of how he had attained them.

"She was just...excited, My Lord." Voldemort's non-existent eyebrows rose, and Draco knew he had said the wrong thing.

"She injured you, Draco, maybe we should teach her how to behave around Death Eaters. What do you think, Lucius?" Lucius nodded, and Draco's eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter. I got what I wanted."

"No, boy, she will learn. We'll do it now." Voldemort smiled and clicked his fingers, taking the three of them to Ginny's room. Draco hoped that Harry had gone, because that would only get them into more trouble. He looked up and his eyes met Ginny's as she sat frozen on the edge of the bed.

"Weasley, you have injured one of my rank," Voldemort hissed. Ginny frowned and tried to say something. Voldemort grabbed Draco and turned him around to show her the scratches. He heard her gulp, and he turned himself back round. Voldemort raised his wand. "You'll learn, girl." Draco couldn't stop himself.

"No!" He ran forward in front of Ginny, shielding her with his bare chest and swallowed hard as he faced his father and his supposed master. "Don't do anything to her. I don't want her hurt." They stared at him. "I want to marry her."

There was a thump as Ginny fell off the bed.

"You want to marry a Weasley?" If Lucius Malfoy had been sitting on a bed, he too would have fallen off.

"She's pure-blood, Father, she'll provide good heirs, she's strong, and she won't complain. What more do I need?"

"But, but...she's a Weasley." Lucius was wholly bewildered.

"She'll do," Draco answered simply.

"You need someone you feel nothing for, Draco." He shrugged and Voldemort smiled.

"Kiss goodbye to your son, Lucius. I want him and his whore in the dungeon before sundown. I can stand a lot in my ranks. But I won't have a Death Eater in love with that." He pointed at Ginny and Draco frowned.

"Who says I'm in love with her?"

"No one has to say anything. Do you think I'm stupid, boy? Do you think I don't know you've come to see her every time you think our backs are turned? Well, you've had your chance. Dungeon. Now."

Two masked Death Eaters came forward and grabbed him, then Ginny, who didn't squeal like he expected her to, and they were dragged out of the room.

"Wait!" Voldemort stared at them again. "This seems a little too coincidental for my liking. I knew about the Weasley and Draco, but Potter was here earlier as well. It seems to be too much. Get Potter and the other Weasley from the kitchen, I'm sure they're probably in it together." He waved his hand at some of the other Death Eaters and they disappeared as Ginny and Draco were dragged off to the dungeons.

*~*~*~*~*<>*~*~*~*~*

DUM DUM DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Press the little green button. You know you want to............................................................

Thank yous go to: Annie Potter, Danielle Florence, Animagus, SilaElen and Liz R

Beki - Thanks for the continued support, especially in the reviews for my other fics!

Tamz - Thank you!!! You never fail to make me feel better about what I'm writing. And, I know, the words of 'Hero' do just kind of fit in, don't they?

Lavinia - Tap your foot no more!!!!

Holly Clairsworth - Sorry to disappoint, but there is NO WAY I would kill Draco. No way. Uh Uh. Never.

Loving you and leaving you,

Anais xxxxxx;)