Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling.
Summary: This story deals with the choices of Draco, Ginny and Lucius. What path do you choose when you are facing
Darkness? Will you survive in the face of your worst nightmares? And most importantly, do you even have a choice or are
you just a pawn in a game you don't understand?
Chapter 1: Alone & Helpless
Some years earlier:
Ginny Weasley, sixteen-years-old and at the end of her sixth-year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a fairly carefree, pretty red-haired girl whose happy-go-lucky attitude had made her many friends in the last two years. The incident in her first-year had been as good as forgotten by most, including her.
She had grown from a shy and timid child to a lively and outgoing young woman, determined to make the best out of life and the chances it offered her. She had been kept protected for the last couple of years, her older brothers looking out for her when they thought her in need of it.
Which they did many times.
Despite that protection, she still met with a dangerous situation, now and then. At least when she stumbled right into it.
Hurrying toward the castle to join the end-of-term festivities in the Great Hall, she tripped over a small rock and fell.
Cursing herself for her clumsiness and for being late again, she felt her right hand which had been scratched pretty badly by her fall, when a shadow fell over her. She looked up, startled, when a curse hit her and the world blacked out.
XXX
A throbbing headache wasn't the nicest way to be awakened. It didn't matter too much, though, as she woke up in a dark room, with no hint of light to break the blackness.
She was too terrified to notice the pain, panic gripping her heart with memories of times better left forgotten, invading her brain, and wounds that she had thought healed, breaking open again.
`The Chamber, I'm in the Chamber, he's going to kill me…' She forced those thoughts down. It wasn't possible; this couldn't be the Chamber... that was years ago…
Breathing in and out slowly, she tried to regain control over herself, tried to get her thoughts sorted.
She listened intently, the darkness pressing in on her, too afraid to get up from where she was lying. The ground was soft, probably some kind of mattress. The air was damp and smelled of decay, and nearby she heard the soft drops of water hitting the ground in a steady rhythm.
A dungeon probably, she thought, feeling as if a cold hand were gripping her heart again. Ginny felt her heart beating like it was going to burst out of her chest at any second, and she desperately struggled to regain her calm.
She reached out to feel the area around the mattress; it was cold, and somewhat moist stone. She gathered all her courage and slowly crept off the mattress. If she wanted to find out where she was and how to get out of here, she had to take action.
She didn't know how she had gotten here or how long she had been out. She didn't even know who had been the person hitting her with the hex.
It had all happened so fast, she had had no time to recognise or identify anyone, or at least she couldn't remember now, no matter how hard she thought about it. Who would want to harm her?
She started creeping carefully with her hands reaching out before her, feeling the wet, stony ground and the air above her.
Nothing.
She kept inching forward until her hand hit a wall. She started to edge along the side of the room, feeling for a door.
There had to be a door, some way to escape the darkness!
She tried to get up, but her knees felt too wobbly; her head felt like it was going to explode.
She rested her forehead against the cold wall for a while, then crept on, determined to find a way out. Not to be helpless again...never again. She had sworn that to herself so many years ago.
Her heart practically jumped when she reached out and her fingers didn't touched anything.
Then something wooden - a door. She searched for the handle, frantically, her search growing more and more desperate when she didn't find it, didn't find anything.
There was no handle.
She cried aloud, and the first sob escaped her lips as she crawled back to the mattress and hugged her legs tightly with her arms.
Helpless. Again.
XXX
Ginny was lying on the mattress, her whole body aching and her mind in a state of numbness. She felt like she had been there for days, crying and screaming, but still no one came.
Now she was too tired and too worn out to cry anymore. She was terribly thirsty and hungry. Her eyes couldn't penetrate the darkness and she felt like it was already seeping into her soul, filling her with utter hopelessness.
Suddenly, there was a sound somewhere.
Footsteps.
She opened her eyes and sat up, desperately listening, hoping that it was true, that there was truly somebody coming, that she wasn't mad already.
Maybe it was Harry and Ron coming to save her, like they had done before. They must surely have been looking for her and now they had found her...she thought she could hear them talking outside, laughing... Oh yes, it had to be them; if anyone was capable of finding her, it would be them.
Finally, there was light. It was streaming under the door, the first rays of light that she had seen after what seemed like an eternity of darkness. And light brought hope, the hope that it was over, that she would be saved and could go back to her life, her family, her friends.
Then the sound of a key being turned, and the door opened. Ginny looked at the door and she smiled with anticipation as a shadow appeared in the opening, her eyes still used to the darkness and unable to focus on the person's face against the light from outside.
Harry and Ron.
Then it dawned on her that it was only one person, slender and tall, much taller than either one of them. The shock swept over her like a wave of hopelessness and despair and she cried out, not wanting to believe her eyes, not wanting to see anymore.
The man laughed cruelly at her pain and fear; after all, it was what brought him the most pleasure.
She knew who he was, she had seen him before, and she knew instantly that it had all been for nothing. All those years of trying to forget and move on, all those years when she thought she had finally managed to put the past behind her and forget what he had done to her.
Oh, not he himself, but he had masterminded it all, had set her up for the experience that had almost destroyed her, almost killed her.
Lucius Malfoy.
He stepped into the room and it was instantly filled with his presence, breaking down all her defences and crushing all her hopes with just one smile, which never did, and never would, reach his eyes.
Lucius smirked at her fearful look and at that moment, he knew that he would have his fun with her, that he would have something to pass the time. As long as it didn't come too easily. That was his worst fear: that it would be too easy; that it would go too fast.
After all, she was already a broken toy.
But her fear and pain made him feel powerful; he could almost feel it washing over him in waves; he could smell it and suck it into his own soul with deep breaths, filling the void that was always there and could only be filled by suffering.
Suffering of others. And she would suffer; there would be more pain and more waves of fear rolling over him soon, and he would not even be able to compare it to this moment... It would be so much more powerful.
Ginny felt paralysed as she looked into his pitiless eyes, which she was sure knew neither love nor mercy. He was the predator; she was the prey. She knew that all right; after all, she had once been marked by Malfoy's master, who had taught her fear and betrayal.
"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this to me?" she asked him, her voice trembling from fear and thick with emotion.
His voice sounded like crackling ice when he replied. "I am going to teach you pain."
And then it ripped through her with so much force, as if he were trying to tear her soul from her body, and she screamed, screamed like she never had before. There was no room for fear, no room for any emotion; the pain filled her body and soul and left no room for anything else.
His pleasure was immense as he cursed her over and over again. This was one of those moments, one of the moments that he lived for, one of the moments that he eagerly anticipated every day.
The rush of power made him feel alive. When he finally had to let go, the disappointment was nearly overwhelming, just like every other time. The joy never lasted much longer than the torture itself.
But he was not to kill her; she still had a purpose to serve. His plans had to be fulfilled; she would be perfect for it, even though she was second-hand material.
He had dreamt about it one night; he had seen the perfect way to get back into his master's good graces. It had all been laid out, and even though Lucius didn't really have a history of visions, this dream had just been so incredibly real that when he had awakened, he had known that she would be the one.
His master would be pleased if he succeeded, and if he didn't, he wouldn't care too much anyway. There was nothing to lose. At least not for them. It was a chance to get back in his good graces; a chance he had to take.
He looked at her slumped form on the floor, still shaking from the pain that had been inflicted on her. His mouth curled into an ugly smile.
"This was only the beginning, girl. Somebody else will take over. He will take it from here and he will be your teacher, as of today."
Smirking at her, Lucius found that thought rather unpleasant, but after all, he had other matters to attend to, more important matters than his little project down here.
Alliances had to be formed and allegiances had to be pledged, there was a lot of work for someone like him. But he was confident that the Dark Lord's plans would work out in the end.
Ginny didn't hear him leave; she didn't notice the return of the darkness. She wasn't able to think; the pain filled every fibre of her body, reaching to the deepest corners of her soul.
As it started ebbing off, it was replaced by an emptiness.
The darkness was pleasant now, much more than before because it meant that she didn't have to see. She felt like she was being sucked into a deep black hole, down to a place where she had never wanted to be again, where her life, her soul and her sanity were at stake.
She was scared now, no doubt, and still in pain.
But she had survived and, right now, fear was good. It meant that she was still able to feel and think straight. She knew it was the only thing that could keep her from the insanity.
Last time she had survived, too. They had come to rescue her. What were they doing right now, she wondered, were they searching for her, was her family worried?
Most definitely. They loved her and they would always be there for her.
That was the thought that she had to hold on to, that could keep her going. Hope was the only thing that could keep her going.
But then, hope always dies last.
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