All Ginny could hear was a constant humming in her ears. Her head was aching, she couldn’t focus on anything. A filthy, putrid smell filled her nostrils. She definitely wasn’t at the Burrow.
Where was she? Why did she feel so insecure, so afraid? What was this lingering sense of dread that she couldn’t seem to shake? She slowly opened her eyes, blinking to get a better focus on the small, dark room she was in. She barely made out the outlines of three other people.
Then she remembered. An involuntary shiver ran throughout her body as the memories of the previous days rushed through her mind like a breaking dam.
Ginny could still taste the smoke that filled her lungs during the chaos of the Diagon Alley raid. It was a brilliantly clear day when the cracking sound of dozens of apparating Death Eaters filled the air. Screams and explosions drowned out anything that anyone might have tried to tell her. Stores and warehouses were set aflame and she could already see a few, lifeless corpses laying on the ground, never to rise again. The black smoke blurred everything; she didn’t even realize Bellatrix Lestrange standing in front of her until it was too late.
The last thing she could remember of the raid was the look in Harry’s eyes as she was falling to the ground, stunned. His fierce, green eyes that always showed strength and courage were filled with something she had only seen in them once before, the day when he thought Sirius was captured by Voldemort. She saw fear in them, and the intensity of it shocked her. Looking into the windows of his soul she saw that Harry wasn’t afraid of the Death Eaters or of the flames surrounding them, but of the thought that she was being captured, the thought of her, Ginny, being in the hands of the most evil wizard ever to walk the earth.
For the past two days Ginny drifted in and out of consciousness, rising only to make sure Ron, Hermione, and Luna were still breathing. The Dementors only bothered them a few times a day, but when they did they made sure to make their hostages suffer. Ginny’s mind would be filled with memories of the Chamber of Secrets, of the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore’s funeral, memories of Harry ignoring her for the past year. It was horrible, but she wouldn’t give up. She knew Harry would save them, she knew he wouldn’t let Voldemort have his way with the ones he loved.
But what had awakened her? No Dementors were in the room, and the others were still asleep. Maybe her nerves woke her again, she never could get much sleep in this place.
But then she heard it. Two dull thuds. Ginny sighed, maybe the Dementors were toying with some unfortunate prisoner again. But there it was again, and this time she felt the floor she was lying on shake. Something was going on, and the Dementors didn’t like it. She could feel their anger in the air, the atmosphere was thick with it.
Ginny sat up but almost fell over on her side again due to the extreme dizziness that filled her head. She rested her head in her hands to try and calm herself, and once the dizziness passed she slowly crawled over to Hermione.
“Hermione….Hermione wake up,” said Ginny hoarsely. It hurt to talk.
“Wha…,” replied Hermione, disorientated.
“Something is going on, the Dementors are all on edge. Something big is happening and they’re not happy about-,” Ginny started to explain, but was cut off by another series of thuds and vibrations throughout the room.
“What was that?” asked Hermione, frightened. This place could drain the courage out of the bravest warrior.
“That’s what I was trying to say, something isn’t right. Come on, let’s wake the others.” Ginny helped Hermione get to her feet and steadied her when she almost fell over in exhaustion. They started to move towards Ron and Luna, but before they could reach them the creaking sound of their prison cell door opening froze them in their tracks.
Both turned in horror to see three Dementors clothed in black robes hovering in the doorway. Frost began to form on the walls, floor and ceiling. The cold emanating from the terrible beasts chilled the two girls to the bone.
Ginny gasped as the middle Dementor pointed at them with one, long gnarled finger.
It’s flesh was all but deteriorated. She had never seen underneath the cloak of a Dementor before, and it terrified her more than any memory she had. It was pure evil, how could the Ministry ever have trusted such beings?
It pointed out the door, but Ginny was frozen by fear. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t make a muscle in her body move. She was paralyzed by dread.
Suddenly a loud crash sounded from far off in the castle. Dust fell from the ceiling and Dementors swarmed by outside the doorway in the direction of the commotion. The two Dementors flanking their leader swooped into the room and grabbed the unconscious forms of Ron and Luna by the collar, dragging them out into the hallway. Whatever was happening, the Dementors definitely didn’t have control over it.
Ginny heard Hermione take a steadying breath. She glanced over at her and received a nod from her friend. They slowly walked from their cell and followed the two Dementors dragging Ron and Luna. Ginny saw the Dementor that had spoken, constantly glancing behind them. They were nervous about something, something big was happening.
The prisoners and guards walked down countless hallways and flights of stairs, the farther they went the more filthy and gruesome the walls and floors became. Every few minutes another thud would resonate throughout the fortress and shake dust from the ceilings. It seemed that the Dementor escorts were leading their hostages to the heart of the castle, away from the cause of the commotion. As they passed a ceil with the door slightly opened, she chanced a glance inside. What she saw horrified her.
Whether it was a man or woman, she couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, it was huddling in the corner of the room hugging it’s knees halfway enveloped in the shadows. As Ginny looked into it’s eyes all that she saw of them were white, they where left without a soul.
With a slight gasp she took her eyes from the horrible sight and focused them on the ground in front of her. It helped her both to keep herself from seeing something like that again as they continued to walk past countless ceils, and to keep her conscious.
Ginny’s suspicions of the nervousness the Dementors seemed to have were confirmed. Every other minute a group of them would glide past, all headed in the same direction. Ginny knew they were going in the direction of whatever was happening, and the escort was leading her and her companions away from it.
“Hey, Hermione.”
“What?”
“What do you think?”
“I think the Ministry or someone is attacking the fortress, I think somebody is here to rescue us.” As Hermione spoke, Ginny couldn’t help but notice the lack of hope in her voice. It was if she had already given up on the thought of getting out of this dreadful fortress.
“Hermione if you’re right then that’s great news, we’ll be free. Why don’t you sound more excited?”
“Ginny, after torturing us for three days straight do you really think they will let us be rescued alive?”
Ginny was struck at Hermione‘s sense of defeat. “Hermione, the Ministry wouldn’t let that happen to us. Harry wouldn’t let that happen-”
Ginny fell silent at the Dementor’s up-stretched hand, her voice rose above a whisper when she heard Hermione’s reply. They continued walking in silence for another ten minutes, until the sound of the thuds could no longer be heard. The escort rounded a corner and came to a closed door standing luminously at the end of the hall. One of the leading Dementors lifted a twisted hand and turned the handle. They threw Ron and Luna into the cell and parted to allow a path for Ginny and Hermione to slowly limp across.
The first thing Ginny noticed when they entered the room was the overwhelming smell. It felt as though she walked into a brick wall. Only the hallway light spilling through the opened door let Ginny see where she was standing, the rest of the room was left in darkness. She was thankful though, for she wasn’t curious at all to what could cause such a horrible, decaying smell.
Hermione fell to the ground exhausted, the smell must have taken the last ounce of strength away from her. Ginny fell shortly after Hermione did, she was on the verge of passing out. The three Dementors hovered over to the fallen girls and unceremoniously dragged them off the ground and slammed them against the wall. The back of Ginny’s head hit the wall, causing millions of stars to erupt in her eyes.
Ginny felt cold, metal chains being clasped around her wrists as the Dementors chained their prisoners to the wall. Soon all four teenagers were bound and left hanging. Ginny didn’t have the strength to prop herself up with her feet, the blow to her head had left her dizzier than she thought possible.
The Dementors hovered back to the doorway and excited one by one. The one who seemed to have authority turned his head before he left, Ginny was willing to bet what she had left of her life that it was smiling underneath it’s hood. It would probably laugh if it could have.
Then the door slammed shut, leaving the prisoners in absolute darkness.
“Hermione?” Ginny asked into the darkness, but no answer came. She must have finally passed out due to the pain and exhaustion.
“Hermione?” she tried again. “Hermione? Ron? Luna?”
Nothing. Ginny lowered her head in despair. All traces of hope she had left were beginning to leave her. The iron cuffs chaining her to the wall were cutting into her wrists, she could feel a trickle of blood running down her forearm. For the first time since she had been captured, she accepted defeat. The Ministry could never rescue them here, from the heart of the Dementor’s fortress. She would never see her Mum or Dad again. She would never laugh at another one of the twin’s jokes or pick fun at Ron again. She would never talk to Bill or Charlie again, she would never have another girl-talk with Hermione. And she would never again gaze into those beautiful green eyes. She would never again ruffle that thick, untidy, jet black hair. She would never again see Harry Potter…
But then she heard it.
A dull thud once again shook the floor of the room she was chained to. The chains binding her to the wall vibrated. Whatever was causing the Dementors to be in such a frenzy was getting closer. A spark of hope once again ignited in the heart of Ginny Weasley.
She could feel some of the coldness leaving her body. She could feel the sorrow in the atmosphere ebbing away. The frost on the walls was beginning to melt, the Dementors were loosing their dominance of the terrain. Whoever was out there, whether it was the Ministry or some other enemy of Voldemort, was gaining the upper hand in the battle.
The thuds were getting louder and louder by the second. Maybe they were going to be rescued after all. As soon as this thought crossed Ginny’s mind, her terrible memories of the worst times in her life began to fill her head. She could feel the warmth drain from her body and the frost once again form on the surfaces of the room. They were coming back, coming back to finish the job.
The door to the Chamber opened, not slowly this time but abrupt and loud. The Dementor who escorted them to the room entered, but Ginny noticed that it seemed wounded. It didn’t hold the sense of composure it had earlier, but was acting rushed and…terrified? No, Ginny thought, a Dementor couldn’t feel fear, could it?
But all thoughts of what a Dementor could feel were swept from her mind as it turned and latched the metal door shut with a heavy bolt. Ginny knew what was coming next, if the Ministry didn’t get there soon she and her friends would be worse than dead, they would be left soulless.
Ginny shivered as the tall, hooded figure turned to face her. She felt her insides tighten as looked at her.
“I’ll never give in to the forces of evil,” said Ginny, the strength of the determination and resolution in her voice surprised even herself.
The Dementor began to shake his head, it was mocking her, she knew it.
But Ginny’s thoughts were cut short by a painfully loud thud outside the chamber followed by a shout, a shout that she knew. It was him! But all the hope and love that flooded her heart at the thought of seeing Harry again diminished as the Dementor began its approach.
Ginny’s eyes widened in horror as the Dementor approached her. She wished her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark, she didn’t want to see her death hovering towards her. A single tear escaped her wide, brown eyes as she accepted what was about to happen, she would never again see the boy she loved.
Ginny stifled a scream as the Dementor raised its frozen hands and lowered its hood. It was all she could do to keep herself from gagging as she gazed into the face of the enemy that had tormented them for the past days. She held back the flow of tears as it brought its head down to her level and slowly inched nearer. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
The Dementor was only an inch form her lips when something collided with the Chamber door. The Dementor spun around and pulled itself to its full height, facing the entrance. Ginny opened her eyes and felt her jaw drop when she saw the door.
Tips of a set of glowing, silver horns had pierced the metal door. It creaked on its hinges until it crashed open, twisted and broken, caught in the antlers of magnificent patronus. A patronus in the form of a stag.
The stag flipped its head to the side, sending the door crashing into a wall of the Chamber. But Ginny was no longer watching the stag, her eyes where fixed on the illuminated silhouette of a man standing in the door frame. Her heart jumped to her throat as she heard the voice she longed to hear for the past three days.
“Don’t you dare touch her, only I’m allowed to kiss that girl.”
The Dementor backed into the wall as the man’s eyes blazed a fiery green against the darkness of the room. A weak smile graced Ginny‘s lips, she was finally safe. Harry Potter had come to save the day.
Candles in the Night by patronous
Chapter Notes: ok here is chapter two, sorry it took forever. but i am inspired and back. plz review! and of course, everything is JK's