The Maltese Phoenix

Harry Potter's once bright, green eyes were dull. His black hair seemed to have outgrown its youth's unruly naivete, and now each strand lay sleepily over another. His face had a gaunt quality to it, his jaw long and bony, frown lines running across his forehead like World War I trenches over France. His office was dimly lit, the Venetian blinds behind his desk allowing only enough light for him to read the day's Daily Prophet. Murders and disappearances seemed to be on the menu of the day, week after week after week....Harry sniffed cynically and put down the paper while lighting a cigarette.

"Harry!"

The door was thrown open and Hermione rushed in; she'd been helping Harry as his secretary since he had fired his last one. Hermione's SPEW's popularity was lacking, people thought it was a joke, and reporters had dragged Hermione's name through the mud. They found it offensive that she would be preoccupied with house elves when people were being killed left and right by the Dark Lord. Since her books weren't selling, and no one would hire her, Harry had taken her as his secretary for the time being.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Harry, it's Ginny!"

Harry looked up from behind his paper. "Weasley?"

Hermione put her hand on her hip and sighed obnoxiously. "How many Ginnys do we know?"

Harry eyed her suspiciously. "You know she's a Death Eater, what does she want?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, Harry! She needs help, she looks really worried. I am telling you Malfoy forced her!"

Harry didn't reply, but Hermione took his silence as hesitance. She scoffed angrily. "Harry, she's your best friend's little sister, she was possessed by You-Know-Who her second year, she fought amongst us! How could you even consider believing she would dump her family and friends and join the dark side out of her own free will?"

Harry shrugged. "In my line of work you are taught to suspect everyone, 'mione." He made a motion for her to show Ginny in. "Not bad advice considering the times we live in..."

Hermione opened the door and sweetly called Ginny's name. Harry leaned back in his chair just as the redhead came through the door, filling the room with the smell of chypre. Her face broke into a smile as she saw Harry. She rushed over, her heels clicking on the wooden floor before throwing her arms around Harry.

"Harry! Oh, it is so good to see you! Thank you for agreeing to see me. I have so much to tell you . . . I have been through so much that I -" Ginny choked and looked down as she squeezed her eyes shut so as to prevent them from tearing up. Hermione went over to Ginny's bent over form and hugged her. Ginny smiled gratefully at her before straightening up and sitting down in front of Harry's desk.

"Call Ron, tell him Ginny's here," Harry told Hermione, who nodded and went out of the room. Ginny watched her go before turning to look back at Harry; she gave him a sad smile.

"You've changed."

He smirked while pulling out another cigarette from his pocket, bringing it between his lips, and lighting it. He inhaled sharply, held the smoke in, and then let it out in a sigh.

"I can only say the same for you."

"Can I?" Ginny said, nodding towards his cigarette. Harry chuckled, got one from his pocket and handed it to Ginny while holding a light for her. The redhead placed the cigarette between her full lips and leaned in towards the lighter. Harry took this as an opportunity to study her. She had changed, indeed. Her red hair had been dyed a darker shade, and her freckles had been removed as if trying to erase all evidence of her ever having been a child. Her body had filled out quite nicely, too, Harry noticed, as she gave him a grateful smile and leaned back in the chair, holding the cigarette between her fingers. She wore an expensive-looking, green crepe dress that looked like it had been tailored especially for her. The neckline came low, forming a half circle over her prominent chest, and the rest clung onto her body accentuating her small waist and curvy hips.

"You seem to be doing well for yourself," he said. She huffed while looking away and shaking her head.

"No, this," she said, motioning at her perfectly kempt hair and outfit, "is what got me into trouble in the first place. I was stupid at Hogwarts. I didn't know what I wanted; I thought that if I had money I would be happy, and so I started seeing Malfoy."

She took a long drag from her cigarette and looked up at Harry, she opened her mouth to go on, but just then the door was opened, and Ron came in looking frazzled. Ginny squealed when she saw her older brother and threw her arms around him, Ron pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Ginny, I knew you would come back to us," Ron muttered. "Malfoy forced you, didn't he?" he added holding Ginny at arm's length and looking at her sternly. Ginny pressed her lips together before looking away letting out a small sob.

"Can you tell us what happened, Ginny?" Harry said not hiding his impatience, "and why is it that you need our help?"

Ron sat down on the side of Ginny's desk just as Hermione came in and took a seat on the sofa. The room fell silent as Ginny composed herself and parted her blood red lips noisily.

"Well, you all know that I started seeing Malfoy my seventh year," she began while taking a small drag from her cigarette and blowing it out. "He was kind to me and bought me nice things which I'd always strived to have, I feel ashamed to say that at first I dated Malfoy because of his money and influence. However, after I got to know him more, I started seeing beyond such superficial things and I . . . fell in love."

Ron groaned. Harry leaned back in his reclinable chair, Venetian blinds casting a striped glow onto his face.

"However, I knew that he was a Death Eater and that his racist ways would never change," Ginny said softly. "I knew that the Malfoys were known sexists and that they never hesitated to strike their women when the opportunity came . . . however, I was in love, and when he asked me to marry him, I accepted because I felt that I could change him." Ginny looked up quickly, her hands buried amongst the fabric of her dress.

"I think it was about a year into our wedding that I finally realized this would not happen. He spent most of his time with the Dark Lord, on missions, or with other Death Eaters, and I almost never saw him . . . when I did we would fight and that always ended with me being bed-ridden until my injuries healed," Ginny sighed. "One day I started talking to Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix had just died, and he was feeling just as depressed as I. One thing to led to another and we became lovers. Pretty soon he had filled the void in my heart that Draco had created, and I made him promise that he would help me leave Malfoy. He was a little weary at first because he was afraid of Malfoy's influence over the Dark Lord, but in the end he agreed to help me and try to steal Malfoy's place as the Dark Lord's second." Ginny swallowed as she reached over and extinguished her cigarette in the ash-filled bowl on Harry's desk. "One day, the Dark Lord called Malfoy, Rodolphus and I to come see him. He told us that he wanted us to retrieve an object for him: the Maltese Phoenix. He sent us to Constantinople to get it from a Russian dealer, Kemidov, and so we did. Everything was going well, and we decided to go out for a drink to celebrate, but then Draco got drunk and once we were back in our hotel room, he started beating me." Ginny paused, her eyes slightly red. Ron got up and put his arms around her as he kissed the side of her head.

"The people staying next to us heard me screaming, and so they called the police who came and arrested him. Rodolphus came down to the station with me, and convinced me to press charges so that Malfoy would be arrested and thus, draw attention to himself, which is the last thing the Dark Lord would want. We figured, when the time came, he would be more likely to support Rodolphus and I when I got the divorce . . . so I filed charges, and Draco was held in prison to await trial. That night, Rodolphus and I grabbed the bird and left for Hong Kong where the bird was stolen from our room. Rodolphus was sure it was Malfoy. He said that Draco probably bribed his way out of prison so as to steal the bird and run back to London where he could present it to the Dark Lord, and tell him that we were trying to steal it. Fearing the worse, we rushed back to England to kill Malfoy before he could harm us; however, once we arrived, Rodolphus found out that Malfoy was still in Constantinople, and that the Dark Lord had the phoenix. Apparently, he had thought that since we went to China, we were trying to keep it for ourselves. The Dark Lord had the bird taken from our room, and let us believe that it was Malfoy who took it so we would come back to England, give him the spell to activate the bird and then he could kill us."

"Why did you go to Hong Kong?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged. "Rodolphus wanted the bird for himself."

Harry sniffed humorously. "And why didn't Voldemort just wait for you in your room, take the bird, get the spell from you and kill you? Why did he want you to come back to London? Why wait?"

"I -I don't know," Ginny said, her forehead scrunched up. "How should I know how his mind works? I only know what Rodolphus told me."

"Let her continue," Ron told Harry, who looked like he was about to press her for more questions.

"So, Rodolphus didn't want to go see the Dark Lord because he knew that once he gave him the spell he would kill us; however, we couldn't leave the country or Disapparate because the Lord had spies in the ministry who could reveal our hiding place. Instead, we went to a muggle hotel and stayed there under false names while we figured out a way to escape the country. Yesterday, Rodolphus told me that he had agreed to meet with the Dark Lord in exchange for a vow prohibiting him from hurting us. Now, I thought this was a horrible idea because I know that the Dark Lord will find a way around it, but also because I don't want him to get his hands on that bird! Merlin knows what he could do with its power, and that's why I came here. I need you, Harry, I need you to help me get this bird away from Voldemort." Ginny finished, staring at Harry pointedly.

"What powers does this bird hold?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"I don't know much, the Dark Lord didn't tell us, but from what Rodolphus knew, it secures its owner's power as well extends it."

"When are you meeting him?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight?" Ron asked, running his hand through his hair. "We don't have much time then! When exactly?"

"Midnight," Ginny said, looking up at her brother, and then focusing on Harry. "I came up with a plan of what we could do."

Harry gave a slight nod, sitting up so that his face was out of the darkness.

"What is it?"

Ginny sighed, "You could come under your invisibility cloak -"

"Don't have it anymore," Harry said. Ginny looked at a loss of words.

"But go on, we might still be able to use some of your plan."

"Well, you could follow Rodolphus and I from our hotel," Ginny said, and then added, "We can't Apparate so we will be walking there."

"Why can't you Apparate?" Ron asked.

"Dark Lord feels we might be tempted to leave the country," Ginny explained. "Anyway, it's not far from our hotel. We're meeting at the Delphi Hotel in Elyssian Alley."

"That's not very low-key; besides, would they let Death Eaters congregate there?" Ron asked.

"Dark Lord has the penthouse," Ginny said simply. "Anyway, you can meet us at the entrance of Elyssian Alley and follow us from there."

"I could take Polyjuice potion and transfigure into Macnair," Harry said thoughtfully, "he was captured about an hour ago in Constantinople, actually."

"I don't think you should go," Ron said suddenly. "Your scar will act up as soon as you're in Voldemort's presence, and no amount of Polyjuice potion will stop that. I'll go."

"No, Ron, I think Harry should go because he has the most experience with the Dark Lord," Ginny said, turning towards her brother who shook his head. "No, I want to go."

Harry shrugged. "Fine, I know you're too stubborn to be talked out of it, but promise me that you will send out your Patronus if you're in danger so I can come help you."

Ron nodded. "Sure."

Ginny looked worriedly from Ron to Harry. "Ron, please . . . ."

"Gin, as Unspeakables we know what's at stake," Ron said motioning towards himself and Harry. Ginny looked distraught for a moment, but then looked down and gave a sharp nod.

"Just promise me, Ron," she said looking up, "that you will have your wand on you, because if Rodolphus sees Macnair, he will think the Dark Lord sent him to murder him, and he'll attack you."

"He wouldn't do that though," Harry muttered thoughtfully, "because Rodolphus knows the spell which Voldemort wants, so why would he have Rodolphus killed before he could give him the spell?"

Ginny nodded, her brown eyes on Harry. "I know, but Rodolphus is not so smart."