Chapter 2: Teacher
Ginny was sitting at the kitchen table in The Burrow, close to the heated stove which was warming her back and adding to the peaceful and welcoming atmosphere of the house.
Her mother was cooking and it smelled absolutely delicious; her mouth was already watering; after all, Mum was cooking her favourite dish: a 'Weasley-Style'-Steak, as she called it.
The windows were open and she could hear the birds singing outside in the garden; she could see the flowers in full bloom, shining bright in their different colours in the warm summer sun. The house was full of laughter; her brothers were upstairs, having a playful argument. Just then, her mum let out a muffled moan, dropping the pan she had been holding.
"Mum, is everything okay, have you burnt yourself?" Ginny asked with a worried tone in her voice. Her mother turned around, blood running down her face: out of her eyes, her nose, her mouth.
"Of course, darling, nothing is wrong. You wanted your steak bloody, didn't you?" her mother answered, an affectionate smile spreading on her face.
Ginny gasped in shock; fear gripped her heart, making it nearly impossible for her to move.
"Mum, you're bleeding, can't you see that?" she whispered, wanting to get up and help her mother, wanting to wipe the blood off her face: the blood which was now coming in heavy streams, soaking her mother's robe and forming a large puddle on the floor.
Molly looked at her, her eyes now bloodshot, and she smiled, but this time it was not a warm smile; it was a cold, terrifying distortion of her face, merely the mockery of a smile, and she said: "Didn't I tell you you'd be the death of me yet, girl? You make me bleed; you make my heart and soul bleed. Always out running around, worrying the life out of me. Just like back then. You're doing this deliberately, aren't you?" Her voice was menacing, taunting. "But this time we aren't going to come for you; we aren't going to fall for your little games, anymore..." Molly laughed cruelly, more and more blood dripping from her mouth as she laughed and laughed...
Ginny cried aloud, wanting to tell her mother that she was wrong, that it wasn't like that at all. She wanted to
reach out and comfort her and be comforted in return, wanted to hold her and tell her everything was all right, that
she had never meant to hurt her.
But it wasn't possible.
She wasn't there; she was somewhere else, somewhere dark and lonely, far away from her mum and the rest of her family.
'It was just a dream,' she told herself as she cried silently. 'Just a dream.'
But then, reality wasn't any better either. She felt drained, lying there in the darkness of the dungeon, not knowing her fate, not knowing what would happen to her. She felt terribly exhausted, not wanting to think anymore, especially not about what had happened the last time she had been awake.
She had been laying in the darkness for quite a while when she heard a sound outside the door. Someone was coming to her prison, but this time she dreaded it, her mind filling with panic; she was too afraid of seeing who was out there and what he would do to her.
The door opened mercilessly, no matter how much she wished for it to remain closed: just this time, just to be safe. She started to beg as the door opened: beg for him to please not hurt her, she was just a girl, not important at all, why didn't he just let her go, no one would notice...
The man walked in, dressed in black robes, not reacting to her fear and her begging.
At first she thought it was Lucius Malfoy, but when her eyes started to get used to the light, she recognised that it wasn't him at all. It was Draco Malfoy, Lucius' son.
She felt relieved at first; he was just a little bit older than she. He hadn't got on with her brother and Harry at school, but surely he couldn't be that bad, he was still young after all. But when she looked into his eyes they were cold, and she knew he didn't care: not about her, not about anybody, apart from himself.
"I am your new teacher, and you will do as I tell you, whatever I tell you and whenever I tell you," he said with a voice devoid of any emotion. "You will learn to be obedient; you will learn to follow the Dark Lord's and my father's orders, coming to you through me."
And then he said the word that she dreaded, of course had always dreaded - because every decent wizard did -, but she especially dreaded it since her last meeting with Lucius.
"Crucio."
Draco watched the girl writhe in pain, her body twisting and twitching on the floor, ear-piercing screams coming from her mouth. He didn't particularly care for this, unlike his aunt or even Lucius, but he knew what he had to do.
He hadn't been all too pleased when he had first heard about this assignment, but he certainly knew better than to disobey Lucius, anyone who did paid dearly, he knew that from firsthand experience.
He kept on for what seemed like a long time, growing increasingly bored. He was glad when the girl finally passed out; there was no point in continuing right now; she wouldn't feel anything anymore, anyway. He would just continue tomorrow.
This was already a task that he didn't like - it was going to be too lengthy and too boresome for him - and he silently cursed Lucius' little project. He didn't take much pleasure in torture, and he wished someone else would do this, but he knew that wishes were something for fools, because they never came true anyway, no matter how bad you wanted something to happen. That was something he had learned from first hand experience, too.
He sighed and walked out of the room, locking the door to the cell, leaving the girl behind. There was even more work waiting for him today: an appointment with Lucius later on and, right after that, a meeting with a select group of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord.
He walked out of the dungeons, using a secret staircase and door that led into one of the many side corridors in the West Wing of Malfoy Manor. He strolled down the corridor and onto the main one leading up to his private quarters. The pictures of his ancestors sneered at him as he walked past, making hushed comments about his lack of enthusiasm at his new position.
He was never enthusiastic about anything anymore, especially not since he had completed his studies at Hogwarts and returned home about a week ago.
Draco sneered at a house-elf and told it to go and take the girl some food and drink; his father wouldn't be pleased if she starved to death and ruined his plans. He slammed the door to his quarters shut and started to change for the afternoon meetings.
XXX
Later in the day, as he walked down the main staircase, on his way to the library, Draco's mood sank even lower.
'Whose wouldn't, with the happy prospect of meeting Lucius,' he thought, grimacing to himself.
He walked into the library and, seeing his father's expensive cognac by the fireplace, decided to serve himself with one. This was his father's favourite, after all; he wouldn't be happy to see him drinking it away... His mood lightened a little bit: it was only a small pleasure, but pleasure nonetheless.
"Enjoying yourself, are you?" a cold voice drawled from behind. Draco turned around and toasted Lucius, a cold smirk firmly in place.
"Have you seen to the girl already Draco? You know how important this is to me; I expect you to follow my plans carefully and to the letter."
"I am well aware of that, Father, thank you, and yes, I am working on it."
At that point Draco felt the Dark Mark burning on his arm, and for once he was actually relieved; it put an end to the short conversation, and without a word of parting, he Apparated away.
Returning to the Manor half an hour later, Draco felt tired. He knew he was on a one-way street, and that he had been on it for a while. The decisions that he made now would be irreversible, though; there would be no way to ever turn around and walk away from them; they wouldn't let him: not the Dark Lord, not Lucius, not the wizarding community.
The Dark Lord had given Draco assignments and missions that he would be in charge of, and he had actually given him a group of Death Eaters to command. Most Death Eaters would have seen this as a great honour, but Draco didn't.
All this wasn't going as he had wanted it to. He felt overwhelmed by the role that Lucius and the Dark Lord had decided for him, and he had been feeling like this for a long time.
It had started a couple of years ago, when he had still been in school; and Lucius had had him attending Death Eater meetings on the holidays, reminding him of the role he expected him to play. It had always been crystal clear that Lucius wanted him to follow in his footsteps; the path had been marked since Draco's birth.
Back in the early days, he had sometimes wished to rebel against it, to free himself of the expectations and limitations that it brought. But now he had this ever-present feeling that it was too long past the time for that.
The feeling bothered him, but what bothered him even more was the notion that he was actually becoming someone that he had never wanted to be. He had already started to fill the role that had been set out for him. And the most terrifying thing was that deep down - in the deepest corners of his mind - he knew it was hopeless.
He sensed the coming of something powerful and dark, and all he could think about was that it was going to swallow him whole, until there was nothing left of him. And he knew that it wouldn't only be him. The girl would be forced to follow in his footsteps, just like he had to follow in Lucius' footsteps.
Lucius' plan would ensure that. He would break her in a way that no one had ever done before, but Lucius would make sure that she didn't end up like the Longbottoms. Insanity would surely come, but in a different way; they still had a purpose to serve. Plans had to be fulfilled, even though they were only a product of Lucius' twisted mind.
It seemed that one day he had suddenly decided it might be a good idea to recruit some people into the Dark Lord's ranks, some people that no one would expect to be Death Eaters. He had told Draco he had already come up with a perfect candidate: the Weasley girl.
Draco sighed heavily and shoved those thoughts away. He had had only one real choice: it was do or die. He had to fulfil his orders or face the wrath of both the Dark Lord and Lucius.
But right now, he had to come up with a plan to attack and destroy a prominent wizarding family; he had to succeed in taking on his first assignment.
There would be many such missions in the near future, he thought darkly, as he was now in charge of sabotaging and creating havoc in the wizarding community. Basically: random maiming and killing. All wizards were supposed to fear the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters; everybody had to know that nobody was safe from his wrath.
He had to prove himself worthy of his position and show that he was ready to play a key role in the Dark Lord's future plans. Draco didn't know what those plans were, and wasn't sure if he wanted to know, either.
XXX
Down in the dungeons, Ginny was slowly coming back to consciousness. The pain was everywhere, and her thoughts were in desperate turmoil.
What if this was never going to end? What if no one ever came to rescue her? She would just die down here and nobody would ever know; her family would never know why she had disappeared or what had happened to her.
In the darkness of the dungeons, she hugged her knees and wept silently.