Chainless Soul

Chainless Soul

by Cinnamon

Chapter Seven

A week passed quite quickly, filled with tiny, thoughtful gifts from my master, compliments, and affectionate gestures. I was rarely out of his sight, because my confidence in the world had been shaken so badly by Lucius that I felt if Tom wasn’t there to protect me, Lucius would appear and take me away again. I did not explore the building we lived in. I sat with Tom while he told me stories about why what he was doing was right, stories about the power he was trying to get and what he hoped to do with it.

I remember in particular one thing he said to me. “Once the world is cleansed of Mudbloods, Squibs, and Muggles, the true, supreme race will emerge as the cleanest, purest, strongest race the world has ever seen. Those who are not worthy will be destroyed.”

And I sleepily absorbed every word he carefully fed me until I could repeat it back to him nearly perfectly. I lived for his proud smiles and his gentle pats on my head, because it meant I was pleasing him; and I would have done anything to please him.

He got into the habit of leaving Nagini in my bed at night, her heavy body curled up beside me keeping the nightmares away, the teddy bear always in my arms. My sleep was deep and dark, like the sleep of the dead.

And then, a week after he had rescued me from Lucius, the day before the first night of the full moon, he drew me onto his lap before the fire in his bedroom. Stroking my hair, he asked, “You love me, don’t you, Ginny?”

“Yes, master,” I whispered.

He smiled. “And you want to help me?”

“With anything,” I promised.

He nodded. “We’re family.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember your old family?”

I sat up and tried to pull away, my breath hissing out through my clenched teeth. “They hurt me,” I said sullenly.

“It’s all right. They’ll never hurt you again, I promise. As long as you do everything I say, they’ll never hurt you again.”

I paused. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want to punish them for hurting you.”

I smiled slowly, wolfishly. “You do?”

“Yes.”

“I want to watch,” I hissed.

He laughed softly. “You can help, if you wish.”

I nodded, childlike enthusiasm in my smile. “How?”

“You must bring them to me. I cannot get to them because their house is protected, but you can get to them and draw them out, bring them to me, and I will punish them for loving Harry more than they loved you.”

My eyes narrowed, and I slipped off his lap. “How will I get them here?” I asked, clenching my fists.

He smiled gently. “I will give you something to help.” He reached into his robe and pulled out a dagger. The blade shone dully in the firelight, the point razor sharp, the handle a complicated, intricate swirl of copper wires, twisted around black gemstones. He handed the small knife to me, and leaned forward. “Listen carefully, this is very important, Ginny. This dagger is enchanted, it will bring them straight to me so I can punish them for hurting you, but you must follow my instructions carefully. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“You must take this dagger and stab it into the heart of whomever it is you wish to come back here. It is a sort of portkey, it can be used as often as you wish. Each time it penetrates flesh, it works, sending that body back here.”

“Body?” I asked, licking my lips nervously, again, those phantom memories that were not real of laughing brothers sweeping me into their arms and spinning me around and around whispering restlessly in the back of my mind. “It will kill them?”

He shook his head. “No. How can I punish them if they are dead? It does not cut flesh, it is an enchanted dagger. It will appear to cut into flesh, but what it really does is penetrate the soul, binding it to the blade, which is in turn bound to this place. The soul will be brought here, and as the body and soul are still one, the body will come with it.”

I was frowning thoughtfully. “Must I stab them all?”

He nodded solemnly. “They are all at fault, Ginny. They deserve it.”

Yes, I remember thinking, They deserve it. “What about Harry Potter?” I asked, hating him most of all. They had chosen him over me.

“He is with his aunt and uncle on Privet Drive. After you send your family to me, you must go there and find him, tell him that I have Ron and the others. He will come to free them, and we will take him as well. Now, you mustn’t let Harry know that you had anything to do with this, mind you. Otherwise he may hurt you.”

I hissed, my hands twisting into claws. He was a threat then, if he would hurt me.

“I will not let him hurt you,” he promised. “But you must not let him know.”

“I stab him as well?”

“You cannot. You will not have the dagger with you when you go to him, you must leave it. You will not be able to carry it. You will be a wolf.”

My eyes widened. “How will I get him here without it?”

“You will bring him back with you. After you send your family to me, you will use Floo powder and go to The Rolling Head Pub, it is the closest registered Floo hearth to Harry’s home. By then, it will be nearly nightfall, and you will leave the pub, change into a wolf, and go the rest of the way to his home in your wolf form, you will cover more ground that way. You will tell him what has happened, lead him back to the pub, and use Floo powder to return here, with Harry. Then I will deal with them all.” He smiled brightly. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I can Floo here?” I asked, glancing around.

He nodded. “It used to be a hospital for the criminally insane,” he said. “Until they built the new facility they use now. That is why this building is in the middle of a dense forest. If a patient escaped, they could not cause much harm, as they were most likely be killed by werewolves and such before they made it to civilization. To return, just toss the Floo powder into the hearth and say ‘A Thousand Miles From Anywhere’. Those are the words that will get you back here. It had to be secret so no one who wasn’t supposed to be here came to free the mad men It’s not so hard to remember.” He smiled.

“I can do it,” I said. “Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. “I will do it,” I promised.

That night, even with Nagini beside me, my sleep was haunted with restless dreams. My subconscious rebelled against what my conscious mind thought was right. Betraying my family.

I drank a draught of Wolfsbane Potion the next morning, dressed in a pretty, velvet dress of scarlet, split down the middle to show off the sheer black silk slip underneath, slipped the dagger into the sleeve, and prepared to leave for The Burrow. Tom came to check on me, kissing the top of my head.

“You look beautiful, Ginny,” he said warmly. “Now, if you get into any trouble, the necklace I gave you before is a portkey as well, enchanted to transport you back here. To activate it, simply hold it in your hand and say ‘dream snake’. Only use it in an emergency, however, it will only work once.”

I nodded solemnly, the strange dreams from the night before making me uneasy. “I leave now?”

He pressed some Floo powder into my hand and smiled. “I will see you soon, Ginny. Don’t forget, they hurt you and deserve to be hurt in return.”

“They will hurt,” I echoed, forcing a smile. The prospect of leaving his side where I was safe and going off on my own terrified me and I wanted to cry ‘I changed my mind, I can’t do it’. Only the thought of how disappointed in me he’d be kept me from falling apart.

“Good luck,” he said, smiling again.

I nodded and tossed the powder into the hearth of the room I had stayed in. The flames changed colour and I stepped into them, taking a deep breath and calling out, “The Burrow.”

My master watched me, smiling broadly enough to show his teeth, until I was gone.

The fireplace at The Burrow was filled with a bright flame, and I lifted my dress a little to avoid getting soot on the hem as I stepped out into the main room. I barely remembered having been there before. My eyes skimmed over the layout of the chairs, the pictures on the walls watching me with happy tears running down their faces, waving to me as I looked at them. I felt uneasy just being there.

It was still early morning, the sun coming up and casting pale amber lights over the floor through the window, and in that dim light, I could see my brother Ron sleeping in the armchair. His bright red hair, the same shade as mine, was untidy and too long, he hadn’t gotten it cut in a while, I knew, and his face was more pale than usual. His eyes had dark circles around them, and on his lap was a book of spells, the title on the opened page was ‘Locating Charms’. He looked as if he had fallen over in exhaustion, his head arm of his chair, and he looked younger than my mind vaguely remembered. I stepped closer, pulling the dagger from my sleeve and wondering why my hand was shaking.

I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip, stepping still closer.

My foot knocked into a pile of books I hadn’t noticed on the floor, and Ron sat up with a jerk, his eyes still clouded with sleep.

He squinted out the window at the rising sun and then grimaced, slamming the book shut and dropping it to the floor. And then he saw me standing there.

His face went very pale and his eyes widened impossibly. He started shaking, and slowly stood up, his eyes running over me as if he weren’t sure it was really me. The soft, forgotten memories started stirring once more, and I petulantly took it as proof that he did not love me that he did not sweep me into his arms and spin me around. Now, however, I knew if he had, I would have attacked him, and he must have seen that ferocity in my eyes.

“Ginny,” he breathed, very softly as if fearing I wasn’t real, and talking would break the spell that had brought me there. “You’re back.” He reached out hesitantly to touch me and I drew away, the dagger slipping behind my back where he wouldn’t see. I didn’t speak, only watched him warily, the words my master had fed to me about how this was all my family’s fault running through my mind. They were doing battle with the shadowy, laughing memories of my closest brother. “Are you all right?” He asked.

My hand tightened on the dagger, and when I spoke, my voice sounded rusty, as if I hadn’t used it in years. “Where’s mum and dad?”

“In their room,” he whispered. Then he grinned. “They’ll be so glad you’re home, Gin! They’ve searched everywhere, and Dumbledore told us that Snape had told him that he’d seen you, which was in itself a shock, and he said that he had seen you with Voldemort of all things, which is just ridiculous, but mum didn’t think so and she’s been crying ever since, I told her that it was rubbish.”

“Rubbish,” I echoed. Then I forced a smile. “I shall just go and tell her I’m home then. Wait here, will you?”

“Yeah.” He was inspecting my face very carefully, and his eyes filled quickly with tears. “God, Ginny, I was so scared.” Before I could flinch away, he pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly. I could smell the salt of his tears when he buried his face in my hair.

“It’s all right,” I said nervously, pulling away. “Wait here.”

I moved silently out of the room, dagger in hand, and went up the narrow staircase to my mum and dad’s room. I opened the door silently and slipped inside.

The shadows were long and dark, draping across the room, and I carefully kept myself hidden incase they were awake. Stabbing an awake family member was proving to be more difficult then I had thought, as evidence by my inability to take Ron downstairs.

I can still remember the second before I stabbed my mother. It seemed an eternity, standing above her sleeping body, knife held high, in which I considered just where my loyalties lie, what I was doing, and why. There was an empty bottle that must have held a sleeping potion lying nearby, and I knew by the ravaged look on her face that my mother had been crying. I gritted my teeth with resolve and plunged the knife into her chest.

For a moment, there was nothing. I held my breath, waiting. Then the very air seemed to harden for a moment, like invisible lightning snaked through it, and there was a slight jolt. Faint green light flashed briefly, bursting from her eyes when she opened them, her lips opening in a silent scream, and then disappearing, her body with it. My mother was gone.

I smiled grimly and moved on to my father. It was easier after the first, to do it without thinking. They deserved it, I told myself. They had hurt me.

After my father, I moved down the hall to where Percy slept. Snobby, perfect slimy little git, I thought, as I slammed the dagger into him. When he was gone, I moved on to George and Fred’s room.

I stabbed Fred first, and George stirred as I made my way over to him. His eyes fluttered open and he squinted up at me in shock.

“Gin?” He whispered. “Oh god, you’re home.”

I stabbed him quickly, ruthlessly; but because he had woken before that he was awake, he let out a shallow scream before the light took him.

Ron came running, and I waited calmly in the twins’ room for him. He threw the door opened and burst inside. “Ginny,” he panted. “I heard a scream! What… where are George and Fred?”

I smiled. “You hurt me,” I told him.

He looked confused. “What?”

“You let him hurt me,” I hissed, before lunging at him, the force of my jump giving the dagger the force needed to slam into his chest.

He didn’t scream. His eyes went very wide and filled with tears, and then he was gone.

Bill and Charlie weren’t home, and I figured it was just as well. They had been so much older than me anyway, I hardly knew them, and didn’t blame them so much as the others.

I wandered around the house for a little while, the sun slowly rising. Every room sparked the memories I didn’t want to remember, and finally, in disgust, I left the dagger on the kitchen counter and stole some Floo powder from my mum’s canister. I stepped into the hearth Ron had left burning and called out, “The Rolling Head Pub,” leaving my childhood home behind for what I thought was the last time.

The Rolling Head Pub was a small, old stone stable that had been converted to a pub sometime in the 1700’s. It was dark and shadowy inside, and no one bothered me as I sat in the darkest corner, drinking a butterbeer and watching carefully for any threats. My eyes never stopped moving, they flicked from one table to the next, and I was always on guard.

I spent the day there, saving my strength, because it was still quite a ways to Harry’s and I knew it would take all my energy to run there that night, even in my wolf form. I was looking forward to being a wolf again, though for different reasons this time than the others. I wanted to be a full animal, not just an animal in a human body. I wanted to actually have the power and strength to tear rabbits from their holes and rip them apart. I wanted to taste blood.