Whee, another chapter with a, (considering my updating timeline), very short wait! Sorry it's going a bit slow, patience is a virtue, and I know by the flame-free reviews so far that you are all VERY virtuous!! I would really really really like it if I got a bit more feedback - constructive criticism and the whole nine yards is very much needed! I am also currently looking for a beta (a very patient one), please "apply", if willing, through a review - giving me a sample of your grammar and plot "whippaging"! I know my writing has a lot of room for improvement…
Anyway might be a bit of a delay between this and the next update, hence the reason for the 3.8k words, depending on how the rest of this will be written it might have to be bumped up to NC17. Got exams coming up and a trip to France afterwards, but should be writing loads over Easter break after I get back from France!!
On with the next chapter and REVIEW FOR MERLIN'S SAKE GIVE ME A REASON TO CARRY ON!!!! *screams*
Burning in Hell's embrace
"My Lord," Draco bowed as he made his way up to Voldemort's throne.
"Drakkus," Voldemort hissed in acknowledgement.
"My Lord, I come to make a request… it seems my father is becoming highly suspicious of my position in this war and I seek milord's guidance and approval."
"Speak," Voldemort nodded.
"My faith is without question, milord has been more than Lucius could ever be to me, I do not wish to fail you. I have a trusted acquaintance, who, should milord approve of will willingly take my place through polyjuice potion as my fathers son." Draco said confidently.
"Why do you fear your father's knowledge of your status, Drakkus?" Voldemort's eyes bored into Draco.
"I am not fearful of his knowledge of who I am my Lord, I am proud of the power and trust milord has bestowed upon me, I simply do not wish my father to use my position as a means for his own end."
Voldemort laughed. "Aah, young Drakkus, it seems your loyalties are somewhat torn between your father and I."
"Not at all my Lord, I serve you first and foremost, however, I know my father and it is without doubt that he will use my status to gain his own power in the ranks, I do not want there to be any form of disruption, not when we are so close to victory."
Voldemort nodded and seemed o be thinking over what Draco had said. "And who do you have in mind?"
"Zabini junior, he'll not betray me, I have his trust and confidence."
"How can you be so sure?"
Draco clenched his teeth, he knew it would come to this, and he made sure not to hesitate before answering. "Because I am the secret keeper of the love of his life, My Lord, that and he is by far the most loyal of all my acquaintances."
Voldemort laughed, "I see you leave no loopholes, do as you will Drakkus, you have my faith!"
"Milord," Draco bowed and turned on his heel before heading from the throne room.
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"My lord Phantom," Pansy curtseyed low before him, glancing up through her eyelashes seductively as he strode past the Dark Novices' quarters.
Draco hissed and strode past her without so much as a glance. He knew her ways well enough, Pansy would stop at nothing for power and fame, at Hogwarts she had used him as much as he (and the better half of Slytherin) had used her, though most people thought she was a slut and offered her body easily to anyone who showed interest Draco knew that she was very selective in her men and targeted those who had more money and power than her own family.
When he entered his chambers he found Ginny curled up in a tight ball shivering on the cold stone floor and hidden away in a corner, he chuckled at the state of chaos that surrounded him. Glancing at the dining table Draco frowned, her lunch lay cold on the table and he doubted very much that she had eaten dinner or breakfast either during his absence, checking the great grandfather clock Draco groaned, it was almost time for dinner again and he had not slept for almost forty-eight hours since her capture. She would awake soon and he'd have to prepare for another sleepless night of her screaming profanities at him, sleep was indeed out of the question.
He sighed as he stared down at her sleeping form, wanting more than anything to place her in his bed or on the couch so she was at least comfortable but knew that if he did she would awake prematurely, and with good reason to scream and shout at him even more than she was going to already. Instead, he drew his wand and waved it casually around the room causing anything broken to mend itself and anything that was out of its place to rush back to its usual position. Hesitating slightly Draco conjured a blanket to float gently on top of Ginny's shivering form before heading for his desk to write to his father regarding his progress in the far north with the Ancient Ice Lords.
Ginny's eyes snapped open fearfully, cursing herself mentally for dropping off to sleep. Her eyes travelled wildly around the room and landed on the Dark Phantom at his desk seemingly immersed in his work, she bolted and scuttled as far back as possible into her corner, pulling the blanket up around her as if to hide under it. On hearing her awaken Draco slowly put his quill back in its holder and turned.
"I see you're finally awake, Ginevra," he said softly his lips curled into the all-too-familiar smirk before standing and striding gracefully towards her. "I noticed you made good use of my absence by completely wrecking my chambers."
"Stay away from me!" Ginny flared. Draco was sure if she tried hard enough to get away from him the force in which she was straining back against the wall, it was sure to give way.
Draco chuckled and clucked his tongue, "Come now, surely you're not banishing me from my own quarters?"
Ginny glared at him hatefully and her lips were clenched shut in a thin line.
Snapping his fingers twice the dining table behind him was laden with food. "Join me for dinner, Ginevra."
"I'm not hungry!" She snarled.
Draco sighed, "We both know that that's not true, besides, it wasn't a request." He pointed his wand at her making her eyes widen and flicked it towards the dinning table, without warning Ginny screamed and went gently sailing through the air, her chair at the dinning table swivelled around to receive her before turning itself with her seated in it back to the table.
The candles at the table lit up once Draco arrived at the table and started eating. Ginny stared at her plate trying with all her will power to force back the tears that were threatening to fall.
"Ginevra, it would please me if you ate," Draco muttered.
Ginny shook her head, not trusting herself to speak as she was sure her voice would crack and her tears would finally fall.
"The food is not poisoned," he said softly.
Ginny continued to stare down at her plate, though she could feel his eyes on her.
Draco sighed, "You need to eat, woman, I'll not have you starving to death on my watch." Ginny heard his chair scrape against the stone floor and the clinking of his knife and fork against his plate, before she knew it he was seated in his chair next to her, his own plate slid in front of her, pushing her own empty plate out of the way.
"Now, if you refuse to eat from your own plate out of, what I am going to assume, fear of it being charmed with poison, then you shall dine from mine with me."
Ginny's eyes snapped up to meet his, "Why would you care? Why are you even doing this? Just leave me be." She hissed.
"If I told you that, I would really have to kill you," he replied. "I've been entrusted with your wellbeing, and I fully intend to uphold the trust that has been placed upon me."
"But you're a cold blooded and heartless murderer!" Ginny snapped.
Though she couldn't see it, Draco's eyes hardened, "What of it?"
"This is a little out of character, I'm here for a reason, I want to know why, you're obviously not going to tell me, but I sure as hell know that Tom wouldn't have had me kidnapped by you of all people to have a nice little dinner together. Especially not with you - being his most trusted and highly esteemed, ruthless, merciless and heartless death eater scum as you are!"
Draco was seething under his mask but kept his self-restraint in check. "Indeed, though perhaps I was not referring to Lord Voldemort."
Ginny gasped, "You said his name."
"Always the perceptive one," he sneered.
Ginny glared at him, "If not Voldemort, then who else could you possibly be taking orders from, Dumbledore?" Ginny laughed, "You humour me, oh, maybe you're taking orders from Merlin himself who's come back to lead us all to salvation and that you're just playing the part of the Dark Phantom for shits and giggles." She sneered.
Draco almost laughed but instead he smirked, "I'll leave you to your creative speculation, for now, eat - don't make me force feed you."
Scowling Ginny picked up her fork and stabbed at the food on his plate. Draco sighed mentally; this was going to be a long night.
She forced herself not to eat too fast under the scrutiny of her captor, but it was hard as she realised that she was famished. Having eaten her full Ginny placed her knife and fork down and wiped her lips with her napkin.
"That wasn't too hard was it?" The Phantom smirked.
Ginny frowned, "You've not eaten."
"You've eaten enough for both of us, if not for the whole of Britain," he chuckled. "Have some wine." A glass of red wine appeared in front of her, seeing her regard the wine glass suspiciously Draco reached across and sipped from it himself before handing it to her, "It's not poisoned, I promise."
Ginny accepted the glass and gulped down the sweet taste of liquid, she stopped abruptly when she saw the Phantom watching her.
"Thank you," she said softly, avoiding his gaze.
Draco grimaced, "You've nothing to thank me for… on the contrary a lot will be done to make you hate me."
Ginny paled. "Until that day comes, accept my thanks," she whispered fearfully.
Draco inclined his head slightly, behind his mask he could be kind, even though he wore the face of a ruthless, merciless, heartless and cold-blooded murderer, yet she still had it in her to put that aside and it was as if she actually saw him as a person.
"Does it make it easier?" her voice asked softly, her eyes pierced his.
When he did not reply she looked away before clarifying her question. "The mask, does it make it easier?"
Draco stared at her while contemplating whether or not to answer her question, sighing he shook his head, "No, it does not."
"Then why do you wear it?"
"Its part of who I am expected to be," he replied simply.
Ginny felt a strange pulling sensation in the pit pf her stomach at his answer, she didn't know what it was but it was as if she felt for him, as if she could empathise. "Everyone has choices… even you."
He smiled at her sadly, "The right choice isn't always the best choice, Ginevra. And I chose this path willingly."
"Why…?"
The Phantom shook his head, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, we are all but pawns in life as Fate and Destiny play their games. It does not matter to me who wins or loses this war, I am simply protecting my own, you'd do the same for your family."
Ginny shook her head, "I don't think I would, I'd rather die, they'd not want me to become -"
"- a murderer?" Draco finished her sentence for her and laughed, "The honour code of a Weasley… yes, I
know your family. We are all murderers, Ginevra, despite what side we fight for, everyone has their own cause and
reasons."
"No! We fight for what is right! What is just! Not for power!" Ginny retorted.
"Who are we to judge what is right and just in this world, innocent little Ginevra? Who are we to kill others for what we believe in? Who is the Order of the Phoenix to kill in the name of what is right and justified? Power is needed despite what side you are fighting for or what you believe in, power is always needed to enforce rules. So, are we not all committing the same crime?" He asked softly.
"It would be a greater crime to allow Voldemort and Death Eaters to go on killing sprees and on rampage across the world! Sacrifices have to be made; as long as they are for the better cause, the right cause… then it is justified." Ginny replied hotly.
Draco smirked, "Indeed, and I have made my sacrifices for my cause, and this is the path I have to walk for what I believe in." He stared at her intensely; her wide ochre orbs stared back at him, questioning his morals and his reasons. "Don't dwell on it, Ginevra. Some questions are best left unanswered," he added softly.
"Why am I here?" Ginny whispered. "What does Tom want with me now…?"
He rose and headed back to his desk and continued writing, it was evident that her question was not to be answered. Ginny felt her tears return and she let them fall as she stared at her hands twisting in her lap. If her time here was to be the last moments of her life she would make the most of it and prepare herself for the bitter end. She knew Tom would not be merciful and her death would not be swift, it was in his nature to draw out his victims suffering, to torture, taunt and torment. She would be ready; she was no longer the naïve 11 year old child that longed for the comfort of a friend, she would face him without fear.
Draco listened quietly to her inner-turmoil, in her despair her thoughts travelled to his open mind almost by their own free will. He could taste her fear and sensed her defiance, his heart pounded, there was nothing he could do or say that would comfort her.
.
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"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.
Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I went to Hogwarts today, Snape's not heard anything about Ginny except confirmed that she's alive, and was indeed captured by the Dark Phantom himself. Have you seen Ron?"
"No, not at all since Ginny was taken… he needs time Harry," Hermione replied softly.
"Time that we don't have! We have to keep going…" Harry muttered.
Hermione sighed as she poured two cups of tea, "Ginny is their sister, Harry, they can't just not do anything about it, they can't just move on so easily, it's tearing them apart."
"I know… we'll find her, but we can't sacrifice more time, the Death Eaters are closing in on us, and they're moving fast. The Dark Phantom is not to be taken lightly, Hermione. He's as ruthless and as evil as Voldemort… if not more." Harry sighed, "He knows that all the Weasleys are part of the Order, and he knew that to take Ginny would be a big blow to us…"
Hermione placed his mug of tea before him and sat silently beside him, they fell into a comforting silence as they brooded.
"I've a theory…" Hermione said quietly, interrupting the silence.
Harry smiled, "You always do, and they're almost always right too, lets hear it then."
"The Phantom… I've gone through a list of Slytherins and likely Dark Wizards, well I decided to broaden the search a bit, and you know I have access to the old Hogwarts records, Fleur is sending me the Beauxbatons ones, Viktor is working on the Durmstrang records… and anyway, so I looked through the whole list of Syltherins since Voldemort's time…"
"Jesus Christ, how long did that take you?" Harry breathed, his heart beating, he had a very bad feeling that Hermione would get it in one… he was scared she would on one hand but on another he was dying to talk to her about it. The Golden Trio never had any secrets from each other, yet he was bound to secrecy from both, if she just guessed it then he'd be able to talk about it to her freely.
"A few months but I've narrowed it down to 8, those who had the potential to be the darkest and… well, I've been able to trace up all 8, except Malfoy…" Hermione met Harry's gaze as if she knew that he would confirm her hunch. "There are many more potentially dark wizards on the list but they're less suspicious… well, as far as suspicion goes, I've at least managed to find them and their whereabouts but Malfoy… he just simply disappeared… it is Malfoy isn't it?"
Harry glanced down at his mug and sighed.
"I knew it! And then there's the question of who Snape's 'sidekick' is… it just really doesn't tally up. Why all this secrecy? If he's in the order he should feel safe enough to reveal himself." Hermione said excitedly.
"It's not always safe, for all we know anyone could be working as a double agent, with curses such as the imperious used so freely among the Death Eaters… not to mention Legilimens and Occlumency… unless you're a master such as Snape then his caution is not wrongly placed." Harry muttered, more to himself than to Hermione.
"So… Malfoy is our closest and best guess as to who the Phantom is, I still can't figure out who Snape's little friend is though… naturally with all the secrecy about him, he has to be in the Dark Order too… he feels familiar, if you know what I mean… but poor Ginny… to be taken by Malfoy, I cant bear to think of it." Hermione's lip quivered slightly, but before she allowed herself to cry she took a deep breath and abruptly headed back to the kitchen counter. "Want another cup of tea?"
Harry shook his head before draining his cup, "No, I'm good, thanks. Got to go to Hogwarts again and see Dumbledore about something quickly."
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Ginny stole curious glances at the Phantom as he sat writing endlessly at his desk, it had to have been at least a few hours since the Phantom had started writing again after dinner. There was something about the man that disturbed her, and Ginny couldn't put her finger on it, it was almost a sense of familiarity, but yet not quite because every time it felt like she would be able to pinpoint it, the feeling left her. He was young, she could tell by his elegant hands and skin that he could not be older than 30, he was as kind as he was cruel… she'd summed up that much about him so far, he was the exact and the opposite of everything he was rumoured to be, yet she knew, deep down she knew he was not the type of man that one could take lightly. He radiated power, magical, physical and mental power surrounded him like a foreboding dark aura daring anyone to test it. Ginny stood slowly from where she still sat at the dining table and made her way to the closest window, she had a sudden urge to look up at the darkening sky, perhaps to pray to the stars, if there were any, to protect her or something, she really didn't know.
The window looked down on a large courtyard where a few robed figures were loitering about, some were duelling, and others were gathered in pairs or groups seemingly talking or animatedly watching the duels. Ginny gasped as one of the figures looked up at her as if feeling her presence.
"Malfoy!"
Draco snapped his head up from his writing, nearly cursing aloud as he almost spilt ink over the rolls of parchment he had written. Seeing Ginny at the window he quickly made his way to her, his heart pounding in his chest as for a moment he had thought she had guessed who he was, even though he knew it was close to impossible, the mask forbid it.
"Dark Novices are allowed the evenings free for practicing what they have learnt," he muttered quietly from where he stood behind her, his eyes on his father. "Do you know Lucius Malfoy?"
Ginny turned to face the Phantom, conscious of his close proximity to her. "No - I know of him, but don't know him personally."
The Phantom stared down at her, "You had quite a reaction to someone you claim to not know, Ginevra."
Ginny averted her gaze to the floor. "I - he attacked me in Glasgow a few weeks ago…" she stammered.
"Aye," The Phantom nodded. "He was sent to capture you, but you managed to evade him. I believe you went to school with his son too, didn't you?"
Ginny glanced up to meet his intense gaze, "Yes, Draco Malfoy, but he was in the year above me." She had a strong feeling that there was no point in withholding information from her captor, regardless of what it was. "He's probably down there too."
Draco laughed causing Ginny to jump. "No, you'll not find Draco Malfoy among the crowd down there, Ginevra. Though he would've made quite a Death Eater."
"He was bound to become a Death Eater," Ginny scoffed. "Everyone knew he was probably a Death Eater before he even graduated from Hogwarts!"
"How can you be so sure?" He asked softly.
Ginny shrugged and cast her eyes towards the swirling sea to the west. "The apple doesn't fall far from its tree, and Draco Malfoy was Death Eater material at its finest."
"I take it that you did not get along well with him," The Phantom asked softly, though Ginny noted that his voice was somewhat amused.
"That's an understatement, he hated Weasleys, and I suppose we hated Malfoys, always have done." Ginny replied.
"Indeed, any reason why?" The Phantom asked curiously.
Ginny frowned, the answer would be obvious, Weasleys and Malfoys had always been in opposing houses, namely Gryffindor and Slytherin, yet when she really thought about it, no Gryffindor or Slytherin actually held so much animosity for each other as the Malfoys and Weasleys.
"I guess its just the Slytherin - Gryffindor thing really, Malfoy made my brother's life a misery at school and insulted my family left, right and centre."
"I assume you are referring to your youngest older brother, Ronald Weasley?"
Ginny nodded. "All of them really, but especially Ron, Harry by association and Hermione because she's muggle-born."
"Malfoys have always been purebloods, as have Weasleys, though I believe your families have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, do they not?"
Ginny spun around to meet the Phantom smirking down at her, her eyes wide with bewildered fear as she recognised those words to be uttered by none other than her own father only moments before Lucius Malfoy had placed the cursed Diary of Tom Riddle between the tattered pages of her Transfiguration book and thrust it into her hands.
Ginny clenched her jaw and stared defiantly up at him. "Clearly," she hissed.
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Re-updated because I'm an idiot… been meaning to add this link for AGES!
Don't think I really described the Phantom's eyes too well… so here's what they look like: http://www.geocities.com/arcanist_ve/The_dark_Phantom.jpg
Now bloody review or I'll update next year!!
