Labelled Caustic

Chp10: Challenging Darkness

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Voldemort suddenly looked amused and said, "Let´s have a little experiment," while Nagini slid towards him, slowly.

"Crucio!" With that, Voldemort's wand was now pointed at Draco Malfoy who struggled to keep himself standing, his face bathed in pain.

When Ginny saw this, her eyes fluttered wide open and Hermione struggled to keep her from running to Draco, but as the Dark Lord continued Draco weakened and he finally fell to the floor, struggling from the pain. Ginny got stronger and she was so angry at this point of time that she finally broke lose of Hermione´s bruising grip and ran forward to Draco. Covering him with her own body and as such she to was struck by the curse and she gave a faint whimper and Voldemort ceased his curse.

"Well, well, what have we here?" he said quite amused.

When Draco finally regained his composure he was looking up at huge brandy coloured eyes that yearned for him to hold her. His heart ached and he knew then that he loved her. He breathed in raggedly and closed his eyes.

"Get off me you Weasel! You´re dirtying my robes!" he cried, getting up and leaving her on the floor like a raggedy doll.

Ginny was too stunned to reply. She thought that the curse would hurt at least a little but it didn´t. She whimpered at the thought of the curse hitting her but it didn´t at all. She felt the ring around her finger to be utterly warm and Ginny quickly shoved her hands in her pocket and let the ring reside there for fear of it being identified by the Malfoy´s. Then finally what Draco had said hit her but what she saw in his eyes was unmistakable but she let herself start to bawl.

"Fancy a mudblood running around in your home Lucius," Voldemort deadpanned.

Hermione was stricken but if she intended to save lives she had to get the hell out of there and fast. She spotted Nagini slithering away from her master and towards the door. Hermione wrapped the cloak around her tightly and ran out as fast as she could. Reaching a stair well, she waited and then heard footsteps. She forced herself to stand very still and pressed herself against the wall.

It was Narcissa, she looked like she was about to throw up. "Please save my son," she whispered, hoping Hermione would hear this plea. Then she crept up the stairs and the tears flowed freely.

Hermione exhaled and thought staying in the corridor wasn´t the best plan, but where was she to go?

She stayed in the very darkest corner of the corridor and she could still hear their voices. Hermione then grinned at what happened in the Library. The spell had worked. The shield had actually worked! She couldn´t wait to tell McGonagall! But then again what´s to stop Voldemort from trying again? She shuddered to think so but strained to listen to their conversation.

[In the Library...]

"Don´t worry Lucius, she won´t get very far. She´ll turn up and then she´ll be the first filthy mudblood that we´ll make a lesson of for everyone," Voldemort said sinisterly.

"Draco the time has come to prove yourself worthy," he said simply.

"Kill the girl."

Draco looked over at Ron and Harry, who had been mysteriously silent for the past few minutes. They looked over wrought and they were staring back at him, if looks could kill he would be a dead man at this very moment. He turned his eyes towards his father and the rest of the death eaters who looked at him with expectation. Lavender was grinning from ear to ear.

He swallowed hard. He would rather die himself than let her be killed.

"She might still be of some use to us," was his terrible feeble excuse; He knew he was done in.

"Draco finish her!" his father commanded.

Draco tried to think of a way that would save the situation but there was no grace. His face cold and steely, "No."

"What are you saying?" Lucius snarled.

"Simple, he´s making his death wish," Voldemort said, he pointed his wand at Draco once again.

Hermione had heard what was going on and she quickly went to towards the Library, Nagini was roaming around her and Hermione was wondering if it could sense her. So she made a dash for the library and edged her way carefully towards Harry and Ron. Hiding behind one of the numerous bookshelves.

"Draco, You´ve spoilt my mood and I´m starting to get rather tetchy," Voldemort continued.

"Tetchy? Is that a euphemism for being fucked up? Right," Draco said cockily, his eyes raging with anger. Draco stole a glance at his father who looked like he was going to explode any moment, then to the door where his mother was now coming through, looking rather confused.

Voldemort was rather impressed by his show of confidence, or was that just plain stupidity in the face of danger. He wasn´t in the mood to just kill now, actually torture felt rather good right now. The death eaters that were assembled in Malfoy mansion loomed in over Draco as they moved in closer around Voldemort.

Instead of lashing out in anger, Voldemort actually grinned vindictively. Draco didn´t know what that was supposed to mean but he jammed his hand into his robe pocket to get at his wand but before he could get to it he was under the Cruciatus curse once again. Draco fell to the floor, pain coursing through every vein in his body. He wanted to tear his hair out at the pain he was going through.

Draco´s nose started to bleed profusely and just as fast as it came it had ended. Voldemort proceeded to levitate his body and fling him against the wall. Draco landed in a crumpled heap.

Hermione wanted somehow to help him but in her position she was the only one that could save all of them and right now wasn´t just the right time. The odds were horrible.

Ginny watched in horror as Draco tried to get up and smiled sardonically.

"Best you can do?" he asked, licking his bleeding lip.

Voldemort looked at him with a glint of confusion and burst out laughing. "Crucio!"

Once more, Draco fell to the floor, trying his best to ignore the pain that was eating away at him. He looked up and saw Ginny looking at him with tears in her eyes. He stared back at her, his resolve hardening. He could even stand up now, not tearing his eyes away from her.

Voldemort curled his lip in disgust and bore him down, throwing him around the room. Ginny looked away as she saw blood pooling around his head. She couldn´t stand to see him this way. Ginny gulped down the sob that wanted to escape. Then Voldemort threw at him a round of curses and yells of pain erupted from him and Ginny couldn´t take it anymore.

She looked away with eyes wide and sobbing she and quickly scrambled towards her brother and Harry. Trying to undo the knots that were bound around their wrists.

Voldemort laughed once more at this and glared at her, grinning. Ginny had flinched at his laugh. It sounded unearthly. Then strong arms were gripping both of hers and they were dragging her away. Out of the library with Lucius at her feet. She screamed and hollered until her face was almost blue. She struggled in the grips of the death eaters that were taking her away. Ginny received a blow to her face and her lip split open. She pressed back a sob and heard shouts from both Harry and Ron.

"Don´t you hurt her, you filthy bastards!" Harry shouted through grit teeth, then she heard a most sickening noise.

"Ginny! You´ll be alright!" Ron shouted to her, trying his best to assure his little sister.

Ginny couldn´t stand it anymore and started bawling, kicking and struggling to get out of their tight grasps but it tightened and their nails dug into her skin so hard that it scratched her skin and made it bleed. She thrashed around and when they turned a corner she could see both her brother and Harry being dragged as well to where she was going. Harry´s leg looked broken and Ron´s face was smashed up pretty badly.

Ginny´s head was aching and she couldn´t cry anymore and she felt herself being torn up in several different directions. "Where are you taking us?" she whimpered.

"You´ll see," Lucius sneered.

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