As the Heart Grows Colder

CHAPTER 01

Ginny Weasley was out in the backyard of her family's home, christened the Burrow. She was lying in the grass, watching the clouds roll by, something she had not done since she was a very small child. It was midday, and a very nice day out, so she had on a very short pair of shorts, a black halter-top with three silver stars on it, and a pair of black flip flops on her feet. She never painted her nails, fingers or toes, and opted to go without makeup during the holidays, as it was too much work when all she wanted to do was relax. She had opted to leave her hair down after her shower, and had spread it out behind her on the grass to let it dry.

She was feeling very good in the heat and the sunshine, so she closed her eyes and began to daydream. The thoughts that immediately came into her head were those of her on-again boyfriend, Harry Potter. He had broken up with Ginny at the end of the previous year, during Dumbledore's funeral, claiming it was to protect her. She had broken him down soon enough, though, after explaining to him time and time again that she was a Weasley and wasn't going to be safe whether they were dating or not. Finally, he had agreed, and it had been bliss. He and Hermione were arriving at the Burrow the next day.

Ginny daydreamed about their first kiss - and all the ones that had followed. Her favorite had been the one where they had snuck out under Harry's Invisibility Cloak just as it was starting to get dark, and had laid underneath a tree beside the lake, and had watched the sun set... had watched the colors slowly darken from blue, to violet, to pink and orange streaked with marigold... until the sun had finally disappeared beneath the horizon and they could finally see the stars... and they had kissed passionately in the twilight.... They had lain there afterward for what felt like half the night before sneaking, under the cloak, back up to the common room and to their separate dormitories - but not before another passionate embrace in the glow and heat of the slowly dying fire.... Yes... that had certainly been her favorite night... her favorite kiss, the sunset, and the stars.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the cracking of a twig, the sound jerking her sharply out of her reverie. She thought at first that it was one of her family members, come home by Floo Powder, because she had not heard the tell-tale pop of Appartition. But then... they would have said something by now.... They wouldn't be standing silently, waiting for her to make a move. She thought longingly of her wand, sitting safely on the bedside table in her bedroom, on the second floor of the house - absolutely no help to her now. Very slowly, she got up and leaned forward onto her hands and feet, so she could climb, still slowly, to her feet. She braced herself before turning around, not sure in the least what she would find when she did. Finally, deciding she could no longer stand there like a coward and bracing herself for what she was about to do, she turned.

At first, she could not take in what she saw: six, tall, hulking creatures in long, black robes. Her first thought was, "Dementors!" A second later, she realized how stupid this was. Dementors did not break twigs underfoot; they did not even touch the ground, but glided a foot above it. They also did not wear masks, nor did they possess wands - six wands that were all pointed straight at her. For as Ginny took in the scene before her, finally believing what she saw, there was only one thing that made sense, that fit, and she said this out loud.

"Death Eaters."

"That's right, Red," said a gravelly voice behind one of the masks (Ginny couldn't say which). "We're having a little... get together... and you just happen to be one of our guests of honor." The Death Eaters all laughed, which seemed to shoot intense shards of fear straight to her heart.

The Death Eaters began to advance towards her, and moved in a way so they began to encircle her; she would now be completely hidden from view if anyone were even anywhere near enough to look in on the situation. Ginny looked from one to the other, turning around so fast that their faces were almost a blur. However, everywhere she turned, trying to get away from them, she backed into one as she stepped away from another. They were all laughing at her, lurid, jeering laughs, as they began to shove her back and forth between them. Their hands seemed to grope her and brush her in the most intimate of places.

After a few moments of being humiliated this way, a different voice than the first spoke up. He had a deep voice that might've had the possibility of being warm (if the situation had been completely different, and this man had not been a Death Eater, of course). However, what he said wiped out any possibility of warmth from her body. "Let's take Red here back to the manor. We can have so much more fun with here there." He grabbed her from behind and grabbed her breasts painfully enough to make her cry out. One of the other Death Eaters reached over and slapped her hard, once on each side of her face, dazing her. She had the stupid thought that, were she in a Muggle cartoon, there would be birds twittering around her head. The Death Eater who had grabbed hold of her, released one of her breasts, only to grab a handful of her long, reddish-brown hair. She felt some of the strands come loose at the roots.

"Let's go," said a man with an oily voice that was barely more than a whisper. The voice was slightly familiar, but Ginny couldn't think where in the world she could have heard it before. "We have to get out of here before any of the others come back." He pointed his wand into the sky and shouted, "MORSMORDRE!" A gigantic, glittering, emerald green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, erupted from the tip of his wand and floated up into the sky, finding its resting spot directly above the house.

*The next thing Ginny knew, everything went black; she was being pressed very hard from all directions; she could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around her chest; her eyeballs were being forced back into her head; her eardrums were being pushed deeper into her skull and then -

She gulped great lungfuls of air and opened her streaming eyes. She felt as though she had just been forced through a very tight rubber tube. It was a few seconds before she realized that the Burrow had vanished. She and the Death Eaters were now standing in the middle of a narrow, sunlit lane. The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. Her comprehension catching up with her senses, Ginny realized that she had just Apparated for the first time in her life.* She was too filled with fear, however, to make any noise - let alone say anything - so she let herself be pushed and shoved along the lane in the very midst of the Death Eaters - one on either side of her, two in front, and two behind.

*They walked forward before turning right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring their way. None of the Death Eaters broke step: shunting Ginny between the lot of them, all six of them raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.

The yew hedges muffled the sound of the group's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right. One of the men drew his wand, pointing it over the group's heads, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.

The man with the gravelly voice spoke from behind his mask. "He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks...." He thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort."*

The name 'Lucius' pricked something in the back of Ginny's memory, and with a jolt of fear she realized where she remember it from. Five years prior, in the bookstore called Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. And the scene from that day swam across her mind with amazing speed.