Stumbling, Ginny fell, dropping the book, hitting the packed dirt ground with a thump. Her hands were empty. Scrambling up, she frantically searched the clearing. Her frightened gaze landed on Lucius Malfoy, who was standing on the edge of the clearing, outlined by the glow emitting from the end of her wand.
"Looking for this?" Malfoy sneered.
Ginny’s fright turned into blazing hatred as she glared at Lucius Malfoy. Backing away from him, her eyes scanned the edges of the forest looking for others, looking for help. She counted two more Death Eaters, hoods covering their faces, blanketed in shadows. She could feel the fear seeping back into her mind but pushed it out, instead filling her heart with loathing for the man standing in front of her.
"Were you expecting Harry? If you want Harry, you’ll have to go through me."
"Silly girl," Malfoy scoffed. "I'm not here for him. I'm here for you."
Caught off guard, Ginny blinked. "Me? Why me?"
"You proved your value to the Dark Lord in the Chamber of Secrets. Now it appears he has found another use for you."
"Never again," Ginny hissed, "will Voldemort be able to invade my mind."
"He doesn't want your mind," Malfoy smugly answered. "He wants your blood."
"Blood? What does my blood have to do with anything?"
"My dear girl, you are an essential factor to a piece of ancient magic. Your blood is the key to his supreme invincibility, his true immortality."
Ginny could feel the sweat trickle down between her shoulder blades. She heard Harry’s voice repeating Borgin’s words in her mind. ”Going beyond revival…that’s new.” Her mind scrambled for reason.
"But the prophecy,” Ginny started. “Harry has the power to vanquish the Dark Lord! If he has the power that means Voldemort isn’t immortal. He can be killed," she argued desperately. She thought she heard one of the Death Eaters snigger.
"Foolish girl, don’t you understand the power of true love? True love endures all things,” Malfoy snarled.
Ginny thought she saw Malfoy shudder as he said the last part. Her mind raced. "But Voldemort doesn't believe in love. He doesn't even have a heart," she spat.
"Voldemort will never again underestimate the power of love.”
Malfoy raised his wand. Silver rope shot out of the end, catching Ginny's hands and binding them together. Malfoy stepped forward and pushed her to the ground. The Death Eaters closed in.
She wanted no part of this. Suddenly she understood with alarming clarity the weight of responsibility Harry carried with him because of the prophecy. She watched horrified as Malfoy reached inside his robes. He pulled out a large glass vial half filled with a thick, reddish liquid. Sickened, she realized it was blood. In his other hand, he held a gleaming silver blade.
Blinking, she realized Malfoy was not holding her wand anymore. Where was her wand? Where had he put her wand?
Sitting on the cold, hard earth, Ginny tried to look around without raising suspicion. Her eyes darted from Malfoy’s hands as they twisted the glass stopper off the vial to the stumps, the logs, the roots. There! Her wand was on the ground just behind Malfoy.
Gathering her wits, Ginny's reply was barely above a whisper, but the hatred in her voice made it audible.
"I will die before I let this happen."
"You do not have a choice,” Malfoy sneered. "Love such as yours endures forever. I will give him that.”
Malfoy stood up and pointed his wand at Ginny’s heart.
”IMPERIO!”
+++++
Harry threw himself against the door of The Three Broomsticks so hard that the thick wooden door hit the wall behind him and bounced back. Pushing it away, Harry stumbled into the pub. The couples who had been swaying back and forth to the music curiously turned to look at him. Ron and Hermione broke apart. Seeing it was Harry, they rushed up to him.
“Dumbledore! I need Dumbledore!” Harry panted, his eyes wildly searching the pub.
“He’s not here, Harry. It’s late. He went back to the castle half an hour ago,” Hermione explained worriedly. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s got her,” Harry said hoarsely. “I just know it. He’s got her.”
“Who’s got who?” Ron asked bewildered.
Harry searched the The Three Broomsticks. Where was everyone? Professor Borgin was supposed to be on chaperon duty now. As this thought crossed his mind, the pub door slammed open again. A concerned looking Nathan Borgin filled the doorway. His eyes landed on Harry. Grabbing Harry by the arm, Borgin pulled him out of the pub and out of eyesight of the remaining students. Ron and Hermione followed.
“Harry, where’s Ginny?” he asked quickly.
“He’s got her,” Harry replied frantically. “HE’S GOT HER!”
“WHO’S GOT WHO?” Ron yelled.
“Ginny! Lucius Malfoy has Ginny!” Harry ground out tensely. “One minute she was sitting beside me, the next she had vanished.”
“Ginny?” Ron said, panic creeping into his voice. “Lucius Malfoy has Ginny? Why? Where?”
Borgin thought for a moment. “Can’t Apparate within the grounds. Portkey, most likely.”
“Do you know where to?” Hermione asked.
Nathan paused for a moment and looked at Harry. Harry’s eyes bored into his. Borgin nodded.
“I know where he has her. I’ll explain on the way. Come on,” Borgin urged as he started back toward the castle grounds.
+++++
“It should have been me,” Harry whispered angrily as they made their way into the Forbidden Forest.
“I don’t think he wanted you, Harry,” Borgin explained quietly. “He wanted Ginny.”
“But why?” Harry asked harshly.
“Voldemort doesn’t want to bring people back from the dead, Harry. He wants to avoid dying altogether,” Nathan explained quickly. “He knows you have the ability to defeat him because it was prophesized. He is taking the steps necessary to remove any chance that you will.
“Near the time of my father’s death, he discovered that, through a combination of spells, there was the possibility that a person would be able to achieve immortality.”
“What do you mean ‘a combination of spells’?” Hermione asked frantically. “If it was that easy, why aren’t there books on the subject?”
“Because it’s not that simple and it’s banned,” Nathan countered. “When Malfoy said he wanted to go beyond our school activities, go beyond revival, I had no idea he meant immortality. I just made the connection tonight after receiving a parcel from my uncle. The Order discovered it tonight as well. This is magic at its most experimental. There is no proof that this will work.”
“Voldemort already believes he is immortal,” Harry bit out.
“True, he does believe that. But my fath-“
“But your father’s work is ludicrous!” Harry hissed.
“Some of it, yes,” Nathan said, grabbing Harry’s arm and turning him to face him. Eye to eye, Nathan began to explain. “Harry, you know from class that ancient magic is organic. It is very emotional based. Wizards who practice ancient magic believe the very pulse of everything flows through us -- in our blood.”
Harry nostrils flared. Nathan could see Harry had little, if any, patience left. He spoke faster.
“When Voldemort returned, he took some of your blood, correct?” Nathan asked.
Barely nodding, Harry could still hear Wormtail’s voice, gasping in agony, saying those words “ “Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe.” Involuntarily, Harry shuddered.
“By taking your blood, Voldemort returned to power; but there is more to the spell, Harry. Your blood in his veins makes a small part of him, however little it may be, human again. In humans, love, the emotion of the heart, is the ultimate power. It can heal just as easily as it can kill. My father wrote about this; now Voldemort knows this,” Nathan took a deep breath and rushed on.
“My father found out that if the blood of the enemy is combined with the blood of the enemy’s heart, or true love, within the same wizard, true immortality can be achieved.”
Harry shook his head. This was absurd, even by wizarding standards. No, he shook his head again. No. “NO!” he shouted.
“I don’t understand,” Hermione broke in. “How can that be?”
“True loves endures all things,” Nathan said quietly. “It is immortality in its purest form.”
Then he paused. “There is a catch, though.”
“What catch?” Ron breathed, pale as snow.
“Ginny would have to willingly give her blood,” Nathan stated.
Harry stared at him. “She would never do that. She would die before she would do that.”
“She won’t die, at least not right away. Once she dies, her blood looses its life giving properties. They will keep her alive until the spell is done,” Nathan said quietly. “As far as willingly giving her blood, unfortunately, under the Imperius Curse, she may not have a choice.”
Something Borgin said back at the pub finally soaked into Ron’s frantic thoughts. “How do you know where she is?” he asked suddenly.
“Because I showed him where to take her,” Borgin answered.
+++++
The foursome crouched behind the brambles separating them from the clearing. On the far edge, Harry saw the limp figure of Ginny. Harry started forward, but Borgin held him back nodding toward the circle. Lucius Malfoy stood in the center, a glass vial held above his head. Harry could see his lips moving, two Death Eaters surrounding him, wands out, pointed toward the vial. Borgin released Harry’s cloak and leaned over.
“Allow me two minutes,” he breathed and stood up, motioning for the trio to stay put.
Stepping into the clearing, Borgin surveyed his surroundings. Crumpled on the ground where Malfoy had pushed her, Ginny lay, her chest barely rising and lowering. Her hands were bound, and there was a cut just above her wrist that continued to ooze blood. Her eyes stared at Borgin, glassy and unseeing. Bastard, Borgin seethed. Looking up, he composed himself.
“Good evening, Lucius,” Borgin said in a calm, disinterested tone.
“Nathan,” Malfoy said suspiciously. “This is unexpected.”
The distrust in Malfoy’s eyes confirmed the suspicion in Borgin’s mind. The reason Malfoy had not told him any particulars was Malfoy wanted all the glory. The rewards he believes the Dark Lord will bestow on him must be unimaginable, Borgin thought.
“I was on my way home from chaperoning the dinner. Your son, by the way, left early. I noticed Miss Weasley was missing. I had an inkling she might be with you,” Borgin noted casually, walking around the circle. “Potter was missing, too. Do you have him as well?”
“No,” Malfoy sneered, “although it would make my evening complete if I could deliver Potter, too.”
“You have taken the girl’s blood?” Borgin commented, nodding toward Ginny’s still form.
“Yes. It has been mixed with the Dark Lord’s, and we have started the incantation. When finished, it only has to be reunited in the Dark Lord’s body,” Malfoy said, eyes bright with demented excitement.
“Are you sure you did it properly?” Borgin asked, stopping so he blocked Ginny from Malfoy’s view.
“What do you mean, Nathan?” Malfoy snarled.
“I received a parcel from my uncle’s shop today, Lucius. It included an addendum to a manuscript that went missing several months ago. The manuscript was one of my father’s finest achievements; however, it contained some grave errors. He corrected some of them, but never had the chance to rewrite the original.” Borgin stared directly into Malfoy’s bloodshot eyes. “His immortality spell was incorrect,” he finished coldly.
Malfoy looked at Borgin, his eyes disbelieving slits. He shifted slightly, bringing his hands into the glow of the Death Eaters’ wands. Harry could tell from where he was crouched that Malfoy held a clear vial full of a deep red liquid. His stomach churned as he realized what was in it. Harry heard Hermione gasp and felt Ron grip his shoulder to steady himself. They watched horrified as the vial shook in Malfoy’s hands, the brownish liquid sloshing from side to side.
“No,” Malfoy hissed, shaking his head. “No, you are wrong. You are lying. You betray the Dark Lord!” He stepped back and tripped over a root, righting himself at the last minute.
“No, Lucius, I’m not betraying Lord Voldemort,” Borgin pushed. “My father discovered a flaw in his original spell work. What you have there will not give the Dark Lord ever lasting life. It will give him death.”
Malfoy raised his wand, pointing it directly at Borgin’s chest.
“Nathan, this was supposed to be your finest hour. Now it will be your last.
“Crucio.”
Harry exploded from the bushes as Borgin hit the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. Pointing his wand at Malfoy, Harry bellowed, “EXPELLIARMUS!”
Malfoy’s wand went flying as he was knocked backwards. Malfoy pushed himself back up and shoved the vial into his robe pocket. His wand landed at Ron’s feet. Ron burst from the bushes, picking up Malfoy’s wand, only to be sent backwards by a stream of red sparks from the side. One of the Death Eaters had attacked him, making him loose hold on both his and Malfoy’s wands. Malfoy lunged for his, scooping it up and pointing it at Ron.
“CRUCIO!”
Ron dove behind a fallen tree trunk, the spell burning into the bark. Malfoy whipped around to face Harry.
“POTTER! I should have known you would come looking for your girlfriend. Well, you won’t be much use to her after I kill you. Tonight, I will give the Dark Lord everything he wants,” Malfoy laughed insanely.
“NO!” Harry shouted pointing his wand toward Malfoy. ”EXPELLIARMUS!”
Malfoy fell backwards, tripping over the roots on the ground, loosing his grip on his wand once more.
”ACCIO WAND!”
Malfoy’s wand flew through the air toward Harry’s outstretched hand. Before he caught it, Harry was tackled, folding over from the force of Lucius Malfoy physically throwing himself at him. Harry hit the ground, the weight of the much larger wizard crushing him into the hard dirt floor. Malfoy rolled off Harry and dove for his wand. Harry struggled to his feet. A searing pain burst from his scar causing him to drop to his knees, his head in his hands, blinded by the exploding anger Voldemort was feeling somewhere at this very moment.
Wand drawn, Hermione burst from the bushes and ran to Ginny. Resting her hand on Ginny’s chest, Hermione felt movement, slight but there nonetheless. “Hang in there, Ginny. You’re going to be okay,” she whispered.
“HERMIONE! WATCH OUT!” Ron yelled as a Death Eater approached.
Hermione felt a force send her backwards. She hit the ground, her head slamming into the dirt and the world went black. Ron charged from behind the trunk and grabbed at his wand. Pointing it at the Death Eater, he screamed.
”STUPEFY!”
The Death Eater fell forward as a flash of scarlet light shot from his wand hitting Ron in the chest. Knocked off his feet, Ron fell backward. Malfoy whipped around and pointed his wand at Ron.
”PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!”
Ron felt his body go rigid and a feeling of helplessness wash over him.
Borgin struggled to his feet. “LUCIUS! THE VIAL? WHERE IS IT?” he shouted harshly.
Malfoy whirled around and reached into his robe pocket.
Pressing his palms to his forehead, Harry pulled himself to his feet. Malfoy stood in the middle of the clearing. Ron and Hermione were crumpled heaps on the forest floor. The two Death Eaters surrounding Malfoy were barely standing. Borgin limped toward Malfoy, his wand outstretched. Harry raised his wand.
“Lucius, listen to me. You cannot do this!” Borgin panted. “Give me the vial.”
”You cannot stop this,” Malfoy cackled evilly, holding the vial above his head in triumph, his eyes focused on Borgin.
Borgin inclined his head slightly.
From the far side of the circle, a voice, husky and weak, muttered, “Accio Wand.”
Harry felt all the hatred coursing through his veins travel down his arm and out his wand. ”STUPEFY!”
Simultaneously, Ginny leaned weakly up on her elbow, raised her wand, pointed it at the vial and whispered, “Reducto.”
Malfoy was knocked off his feet by the force of the two spells. Ginny’s spell hit its target, shattering the glass vial, blood spraying forth, hissing as it made contact with skin. Malfoy’s screams of agony fell silent, his mouth frozen open in anguish.
“COVER YOURSELVES!” Nathan shouted.
The Death Eaters launched themselves toward Malfoy, one lunging to the ground, scrambling for something. Harry thought he saw a small flash of pink before they were all gone.
Falling over Ginny, Harry wrapped his cloak around their heads and pulled Ginny into him, wishing warmth into her frozen form.
The clearing was filled once more with the sounds of the forest.
“You can uncover your faces.”
Harry felt Nathan place a hand on his shoulder. He threw off the cloak and looked around the clearing. Malfoy and the Death Eaters were gone. In the midst of the scuffle and scorch marks, crimson smoke rose out of spatter holes. Looking up, Harry saw a flash of scarlet sail across the break in the trees. He looked at Professor Borgin.
“I’ll explain when we return to the castle, Harry. Let’s get Ginny and the others up to the hospital wing.”
Harry nodded and gathered Ginny into his arms. When did she get so little? he thought. He kicked something and almost tripped. Looking down, he saw his mum’s poetry book. Sinking down, Harry rested Ginny on his knees and reached out for the tome. Slipping it into his cloak pocket, he stood back up. Ginny’s eyes flickered open.
"Harry?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Yeah?” Harry said roughly.
"We have to stop doing this." Ginny smiled weakly up at him before closing her eyes and loosing consciousness.
++++
A/N - I've been stressing about this chapter for a couple of weeks now. I wrote the last two chapters of this tale before the first two, or anything in the middle for that matter, just to make sure I knew where all of this was going. At that time, I knew Voldemort's immortality was subject to interpretation, and I used mine.
Then, after posting eight chapters, I was doing a little fact checking to make sure everything was just so when I googled (for grins) the debate over Voldemort's immortality (Is he? Is he not? If he is, how can he be defeated?). While I knew it was a hot topic, I had no idea how HOT! (I live in my own little world, what can I say?)
I now know more theories about this (The spell rebounded off of Harry so it wasn't full strength! Tom Riddle's locked inside himself! He's hidden his soul in Gringotts! The phoenix feather in his wand saved him! And my favorite - Voldemort's a vampire!) than I care to admit. And of course, adding to my tizzy, this was happening during our winter break so I had two wound up kids running around the house with NOTHING to do except to ask Mom why she was pulling her hair out and when is Dad going to be home?
Finally my beta told me basically to get a grip, do what I needed to do for my peace of mind and move on! (She's so great!). So, here you go. No matter where you land on the immortality debate, I hope you enjoyed this chapter in the spirit it was offered, that being for entertainment.
Thanks!