Shadows

Prologue: Ginny - Darkness

Shivering the girl clasped her arms around her legs. Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds. That is the only way to live, the only way to survive. Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds. Maybe then they would not notice her. Maybe then they would leave her alone and not hurt her anymore. Hurt. The word engulfed her whole body when she thought of it. Hurt did not cover the way she was feeling. Her whole body ached, ached with pain. Physical pain. Pain of memories. Memories haunting her, teasing her, seducing her when darkness surrounded her. Suffocating darkness in a strange comforting way. Her only comfort now.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

Rocking her body slowly, her mind raced. What would be next? What were they going to do? Would she live through this? She was a forgotten part of the world now. One that was buried two days ago. Just two days; the longest days in her small and insignificant little life. Only two days ago they had removed her from the world. They had taken her life and her existence had ceased then. Now all that remained were shadows, shadows of her former self. Shadows of the girl she used to be. She only existed now in pain and darkness, slowly fading into the circles of hell.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

Suddenly she heard iron footsteps approaching and held in her breath. Would they come to her cell? Would they hurt her more? Memories of last night and the days before flooded her mind. Her body cringed when the images passed before her eyes, and she started rocking her body harder as quietly as she could. An iron face surrounded by long blond hair. A voice so cold it made her shudder. Rough hands. Curses. So much pain. Tears rolled across her face, leaving a path through the dirt. She wanted the images to stop desperately. Living through them once was enough.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

The footsteps passed, slowly teasing her along the way. Relief flooded through her tainted body. They would leave her alone today. No pain, no new memories. Just a day of rest. A day of waiting on the horrors that tomorrow would bring. Her eyes tried to distinguish something in the surrounding darkness. A hint of hope, a sign, anything. All she wanted was some light in this suffocating darkness, anything to let her now she was not alone. As if someone had heard her prayers a horrifying scream pierced through the darkness. She was not alone. There was somebody else down here. For a split second she felt happy until guilt started spreading through her veins. They were hurting someone else, someone was suffering the same pains as she. Nobody deserved to go through what she had gone through; nobody deserved the scars she had, the memories. The daunting memories. And maybe if that person was not satisfying enough, they would come to her. Her whole body stiffened at that thought, and she pushed herself into a far corner.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

Too late. The door to her cell opened and light streamed in. Light so fierce she had to shut her eyes. The voice spoke again, the cold hard voice.

"Ms Weasley, how are we today?"

A hollow laugh followed.

"Hopefully you are feeling more cooperative than yesterday."

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked right into the face of the one person haunting her memories of the last two days. Images of the things he had done to her flooded her mind. The gates were open and pain took a hold of her. Shivers went visibly up and down her body. A sly smile graced his stern face.

"Although, I must admit, that I take great pleasure in your refusal to cooperate."

Tears slowly rolled out of her eyes. She tried desperately to stop them. Stop them from showing her fear, her weakness.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

"Yes, yes, Lucius. We are all aware of your slightly disturbing obsession with extreme pain."

This was a new voice, one she had not heard before. It had a strangely familiar sound. A sound long forgotten, something pressed into the farthest corners of her memory. A phantom of years passed. Lucius disappeared out of her sight, and was replaced by a dark cloaked figure.

"So it is true, it is you."

Strangely enough the voice all of the sudden sounded warm, comforting, and so familiar.

"Ginny."

He knew her name. Panic flashed across her face. What did this man want? How did he know her?

"It has been a while. I did not forget you. It seems my little girl has blossomed, and grew to be a beautiful flower."

He lifted up his hand and she could feel a cold hand caressing her face lightly. It could almost be described as loving if it did not cause her instincts to scream.

"So perfect," he whispered. "Yes, pure perfection."

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

Perfect. Just one simple word. It made everything fall into place. Panic filled her eyes, slowly invading her whole being. This was not happening. This could not be true. This was not real. This was all a bad dream and she would wake up any second now. Any moment. The shivering of her body became uncontrollable. Two cold laughs echoed through her cell.

"So you do recognize me?", the kind voice asked.

"Please," she whispered. "Please leave me alone. Please."

Maybe if she begged they would listen. Maybe then they would leave her be. Wishful thinking. She knew that that was what it was, but she could at least try.

"You know I can't. You and me, we are bound to each other. And I have a job for you, a very desired and honourable one."

He moved closer and began caressing her face and hair, slowly lowering it to her arms and side. It felt like her insides were turning inside out. Her whole body went rigid.

"Please, Tom, no. Please no!" her inner voice screamed.

She tried to say it out loud, but her voice was just too weak. Her whole body was. She felt all her strength slipping away slowly which each word Tom said, each move, each touch.

"Fighting has no use, Ginny. You were mine, you are mine and will always be mine."

Softly his lips touched hers. It was so tender, that it disgusted every fibre of her body. She had not been kissed like that often, sometimes by a fling, but never so lovingly. She choked and began to sob. This was not happening, this could not be happening.

"You are mine!"

His voice was hard and piercing. Fear took her over completely. Every rational thought disappeared. Darkness clouded her mind. Her whole body quaked with fear. The last thing she saw was a flick of a wand and then her whole world went dark.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

Complete darkness. Never ending blackness. That is what she saw when she regained consciousness. Painfully suffocating darkness accompanied by a silence she never experienced before. Her body ached, ached with so much pain. It was almost unbearable. Tears began streaming down her face. Flashes of what happened crossed before her eyes. Cold hands. Caresses. Pain. Blinding pain. This was a dream, it had to be. Tomorrow this would all be over, she would be safe. They would come to rescue her. Her knight in shining armour would come, together with her archangel. They would set her free, let her float away from all of this. A smile graced her face as she closed her eyes. She let herself drift off to happier times, times without worry. Family dinners. Her and Ron's self-made teahouse. Bill taking her out for walks. Her first actual dress. Pure bliss. That is what she saw, what she desperately wanted.

Do not move. Do not breathe. Do not make any sounds.

A lie, that was what it was. Reality struck back hard. Cold started penetrating her whole body. Shivering she pulled her legs closer to herself, ignoring the throbbing pain. Closing her eyes, she wrapped a tiny blanket around her. The pain of memories came back instantly. Haunting her, teasing her, seducing her. She desperately wanted to cry, but no tears were left. They were spent. Wishing for sleep, she waited for the darkness to cloud her mind, comfort her, soothe her, heal her and prepare her for tomorrow. Tomorrow. Just another wasted day. A day without comfort, hope and freedom. A day filled with pain. A day in the life of a shadow.