This idea has been playing around my head for past few months, and it refused to leave me until I wrote it down. I really wanted to finish the story before I started posting the chapters, but having written the first few chapters few weeks back, I have realised I have been procrastinating and have been editing the written chapters again and again and again and again. So finally, I decided to post the first chapter to stop dawdling and get on with finishing the story.
Warning: This story will feature manipulative Dumbledore and there will be slight bashing (nothing major, other than him acting like himself).
Please read and review. Oh and one more thing, all recognisable characters belong to JK Rowling. No copyright and trademark infringement is intended. Without further ado, read on!
|
Consequences | ||||
|
Category: Post-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:All, Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 9 Summary: All Harry ever wanted was to attend Hogwarts when he turned 11, but his Godfather and his honorary Uncle decided not to send him and train him for his destiny. Now, 5 years later, all Harry wants to do is fight the Death Eaters responsible for Padfoot’s death. However, with Dumbledore assuming his guardianship after these events, Harry is forced to attend Hogwarts. As Harry defies Dumbledore and continues fighting Death Eaters from the shadows, who is this mysterious figure, he keeps running into during the fights? Independent Harry! Independent Ginny! Hitcount: Story Total: 4780 Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work. Author's Notes: |
|
|||
|
Chapter 1: Never Will I Break Ginny Weasley was extremely happy. In a week’s time, she was starting her first year at Hogwarts. All her life, she had seen her brothers go off to Hogwarts and regale stories about their adventures and mischief when they were home for their Christmas or summer break. She was two when Bill had first gone to Hogwarts, and slowly but surely all her brothers had gone as well until she was the only one home with her parents. She could not wait for her chance to go, learn some magic, make friends, and have an adventure. As she retrieved her wand from the nightstand, Ginny thought back on the day. Today morning they had all gone to Diagon Alley to buy their books and supplies for coming school year. First, they had stopped at Flourish and Blotts to buy their schoolbooks, which included most of Lockhart books. When they had been exiting the shop, Malfoy Jr. had insulted Ron and her Dad had intervened, Malfoy Sr. had proceeded to insult the state of her second-hand books as well as Hermione’s parents. But when her Dad knocked him into the bookshelves and sneaked in a few punches, she could not have been prouder of her Dad, even if her Mum disapproved. They had then gone to Ollivander’s to buy her the wand. Her Mom had first wanted her to use Grandma Prewett’s old wand, but Ginny had insisted she would buy her own wand. She had been saving all the pocket money she had ever received from her parents and Great Aunt Muriel for this very reason. Her Aunt had always been generous with her pocket money. Ginny did not know why her Aunt bothered to give them any money. She was mean and vile old woman. All she, ever, did was insult and belittle them. There was no love lost between Ginny and Aunt Muriel, as her Aunt always made snide comments about her lanky body, short hair, and mud-strewn face. Aunt Muriel always complained that Molly’s only daughter looked no different than her brothers and would grow up to be a ruffian. She always said no decent boy will want to marry Ginny and she will never have a worthy heir for her beautiful tiara. However, Ginny felt that her brothers’ acceptance of her mattered more to her than that of her Aunt’s, as she met her Great Aunt Muriel only once a year. If short hair made her brother’s momentarily forget that she was a girl and not another one of their brothers, then it was worth it. Not that short hair helped matters much; they always remembered her gender at the most inopportune moments. Ginny always saved the money she got from Aunt Muriel as well as the small amount her parents gave them, unlike Ron who always spent them on sweets and chocolate frogs. She had seen her Dad often put some spare changes in jars named after his each child. When she had asked him about it, he said, Ginnybug, it will help me to buy things for you that I might not have enough money for right now. Seeing her Dad save and scrap by with whatever was available, she decided to save her money to buy a broom of her own one day. She had been meaning to ask him to buy her a broom for Christmas as her brothers had dibs on all the brooms available and they never allowed her to play Quidditch or fly with them. Buying her own broom with the money she saved will surely surprise Dad and make him happy, she thought happily. One day, as she was browsing through Charlie’s Quidditch Weekly, she had ‘borrowed’, she received a harsh reality check when she came across the broom catalogue. Looking wide-eyed at the prices, she lamented that she would never be able to afford a broom ever! This had required change of plans. Instead of buying her own broom, Ginny had started ‘borrowing’ her brothers’ brooms. Of course, the only time she had been able to do that had been the dead of the night. But the thrill of flying, along with the pleasure of doing something forbidden, made her forget all about her nosy and sometimes irritating brothers. After some deliberation on what to do with her money, she had just decided to spend the money on sweets or maybe a few storybooks when she had come across Bill’s copy of ‘What’s in a Wand?’ She had first assumed it to be some phony comic book, but when she had started reading and come across deep insights about wandlore, she decided the book was legitimate. In spite of that, she could not help but giggle at the title. She had not understood most of the subject matter discussed, but she understood enough to know that the magic was best performed when one used the wand that chose them and that wands choose the wizard or witch in a way that was neither random, nor accidental. When she first held her 13 ¾" long wand made of Sycamore wood and Phoenix feather core in Ollivander’s shop, and golden and red sparks shot out, Ollivander had been delighted. He said the wand was very special t him as it was the first wand he had made. He had given her the wand holster free of charge and told her to take good care of her wand. Looking at her wand, she cracked open Bill’s book on wands to look up information about her wand. She found what she was looking for and read that Sycamore’s ideal owner is curious, vital and adventurous, and when paired with such an owner, it demonstrates a capacity to learn and adapt that earns it a rightful place among the world's most highly prized wand woods. She also read that Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic and are the rarest core type, while being picky about who they choosing a potential owner. Giving her wand a giddy wave, Ginny decided to get a head start with reading her schoolbooks. Sorting through her books, Ginny found a battered old diary with the name ‘T. M. Riddle’ written in smudged ink. Flipping through the pages of the blank diary Ginny deduced that her Mum must have bought her the diary. She decided to thank her Mum tomorrow morning for the diary, as she thought it was perfect to store her thoughts as she started with Hogwarts. Ginny placed the diary on top of her desk and opened her Potions textbook. She often heard her brothers complaining about Snape being greasy git and picking on students for not knowing answers as well as not being in his snake house. The words in the book were nothing but a blurry line as her mind kept wandering back to the diary. She suddenly felt very anxious and had a strange urge to write in the diary. She tried to shrug it off and tried to concentrate on her Potion’s textbook, but she could not seem to settle her mind. With the belief that writing down her thoughts would calm her nerves, Ginny retrieved the book along with some ink and quill. She dipped her quill in the ink-pot on the mattress and poised it over the diary as she wrote ‘Ginny Weasley’s Diary’. Before she could start writing her thoughts, the ink shone brightly on the paper for a second and then, as though it was being sucked into the page, vanished. She watched shocked as new words appeared in place of her writing. “Hello, Ginny Weasley. I am Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?” Shocked and slightly scared, Ginny pushed the diary off the bed and scooted back. Her father always said, “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.” Looking at the diary, a bad feeling settled at the pit of stomach and her intuition screamed at her to run away. She decided to show the diary to her parents first thing tomorrow morning. Next few days passed in a blur and September 1st dawned bright and early. Ginny was so excited that she hardly slept through the night. She had packed her trunk yesterday evening, and just needed to pack few knick-knacks. As Ginny was putting the Transfiguration textbook into her trunk, her eyes fell on the diary on her nightstand. She frowned looking at it as she had yet to talk to her Dad about it. As of yet she had not been successful in taking the diary out of her room. Also, every time she tried to broach the subject with her Dad, or her Mom for that matter, she ended up speaking about some mundane stuff. She was not sure what was happening. As she finished packing, Ginny thought about just leaving the diary and going off to Hogwarts without one. ************** Hogwarts was not what Ginny thought it would be like. On her first day at Hogwarts, she had been dazed when she found she still had the diary and it was not back home as she had thought. She could not recall ever placing the diary in her trunk. This weird and suspicious behaviour of the diary had Ginny approaching her teachers and her brothers, not that anything came off it. She always forgot about the diary when she approached them. She had even approached Professor Dumbledore, one time, during breakfast. He had looked her in the eye for some time, giving her a mild headache, and then smiled genially asking her the reason she had approached him. As she looked into his twinkling blue eyes, she had felt calmness wash over her. She had then stupidly proceeded to ask him for his autograph. Laughter of students sitting near the staff table had broken her out of her trance and she had ran out the Great Hall, blushing hotly. She had then discarded the choice of approaching anyone. Every time she was in her dormitory, she had to resist the compulsion she felt to write in the diary. She felt like she was in a constant war with an unknown entity, protecting her virtue and her independence. Slowly her resistance had broken and she had given in to the urge to write in the diary. She had tried disposing the diary by flushing it down the toilet, but when she returned to her dormitory, she found that she still had the diary in her robe pocket. Tom Riddle often spoke to her crudely, showed her violent visions, belittled her constantly, and fed her lies. The control it had on her grew as she had started writing frequently. After a while, she could not stop herself from writing, even if Tom was doing his damndest to break her. Ginny promised herself to fight him until her last breath, if she had to, but to never to give into him. One thing being youngest had taught her was never give up. But as days went by, she felt her resolve breaking. Ginny could not help but feel helpless. She felt like she was stuck in some never-ending nightmare. On Halloween, Tom was able to take complete control of her mind for the first time. In spite of putting a fierce fight, she had woken up in second floor girl’s bathroom much later with her robes and hands covered in rooster feathers and blood. She had panicked and run all the way to Gryffindor tower. As everyone in the castle was enjoying the feast in Great Hall, she was not seen by anyone. While running, she could still feel Tom’s presence in the recesses of her mind and he seemed very happy for some reason. She also heard his whispers that he had immensely enjoyed their little tryst, more so because of her continued resistance, and could not wait to take over her again. However, for the first time in a long time she felt Tom’s control from her mind slipping in wake of his victory. Ginny tried her best not to think about anything as she silently, robotically approached the bathroom in the first year dormitory. She quickly loosened a wall stone in one shadowy corner of the bathroom and stowed the diary inside. Just as quickly, she replaced the stone and cast a series of wards at the wall. She watched the myriad of colours fading from sight, and was shocked that she even knew these warding spells in the first place. Still in shock, she barely made to the toilet in time as she vomited over and over. After emptying her stomach, she wanted nothing more than to wash off the grime and blood from her body. Standing under the spray of scalding hot water soaking through her robes, she welcomed the tears. After scrubbing herself raw, she slid down the wall and started crying in earnest. She felt violated and weak. She had failed. She had failed her parents and her brothers. She had failed herself. She had let Tom take control of her mind. She vaguely remembered twisting rooster heads and laughing hysterically while watching life leave their eyes. She could also faintly recall fighting for control with Tom when he was, or was it her, shooting cutting curse at the roosters. But she could not remember how she got into the second floor bathroom. She did not think she could look at herself in the mirror again, after she killed those innocent roosters in cold blood. How was she ever going to face her family? Her parents and brothers would disown her if they found what she had done. No one would ever believe her that it was diary’s fault. Would everyone hate her? Ginny felt the weight of her pendant on her neck. When Bill had given her the firefly medallion before moving to Egypt, he had promised her that she will always have a piece of him with her, to help her and protect her. However, Ginny had never felt so alone, so bare, so unprotected. She felt like it was choking her. With a snarl, she made to rip off her necklace, but as her hands closed around the pendant, she felt calming feel of Bill’s arms around her. Drawing comfort from it, she turned it over in her hand and gave a melancholy smile at the etching on the back, Ginny you will always be my Firefly, Love Bill. As she heard her dorm mates moving around in the dorm, she pulled herself together. As she entered the dorm, she noticed her dorm mates were whispering furtively about some chamber. She tried to listen in when approaching her bed and could only heard them talking about Mrs. Norris. Giving it no mind, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. ************** Severus Snape was in a foul mood as he marched towards the Gryffindor common room. He would not let the Weasley twins get away with their latest prank. They had gone too far when they charmed the Slytherin common room entrance to turn anyone crossing the threshold into a Potter lookalike. When Marcus Flint had rushed into his office in Gryffindor robes sporting those silly round glasses, lightning-bolt scar, and black messy hair, only his absolute shock allowed Flint to not be cursed into the oblivion. Adding salt to the injury, he as well had ended up looking like Potter when he had entered the common room to check upon the situation. He had realised it too late that the charms were placed on the entrance. By the time, he had disabled the charms on the doorway and failed to reverse the effects on the students and himself, Severus was in a towering rage. The Weasley brats reminded him of those stupid Marauders, always thinking that they were above law and breaking havoc in their wake. Expelling them was going too easy. He could not wait for Christmas break to start and get a reprieve from all the dunderheads that were around the school. As he rounded the corner, he stopped short as he looked at the most unusual sight. Few hundred metres ahead of him, the Weasley girl was repeatedly walking straight at the wall. Her eyes were wild and unseeing. The look in her eyes and her strange actions led Severus to believe that someone was trying to control her using Imperious and the girl was trying to fight it. With this clarity, Severus promptly fired the stunner and cast a cushioning charm to cushion her fall. As she fell, something fell from her hands onto the floor. It looked like some diary. He held out his wand and started to approach the girl. “Severus? Is that you? What in Merlin’s name are you doing?” exclaimed Professor McGonagall when she saw him with his wand outstretched towards the unconscious Gryffindor. “Minerva,” drawled Severus, “It seems one of your lions has found herself in a pickle. By the looks of it, Miss Weasley was Imperiused. She also had this diary in her possession, which reeks with dark magic. I just stunned her to stop her from harming herself or anybody else for that matter. When I first found her she, she was trying to make human shaped dent in the wall by repeatedly walking into it.” Professor McGonagall’s eyes widened at this relevation. “Who would do such a thing at school?” she asked, “Severus I will take Miss Weasley to the Hospital Wing. Why don’t you take this diary to the Headmaster’s office, brief the Headmaster about the situation and get him to the Hospital Wing? And for Merlin’s sake, clean yourself up before coming to the Hospital.” All business-like, Professor McGonagall promptly conjured a stretcher and then started levitating Miss Weasley towards the Hospital Wing. Severus turned his attention towards the diary and cast a few detection spells. He had never seen such type of magic at work. There were multiple compulsion and confundus charms placed on the diary. He also discovered a charm on the diary, which worked similar to Fidelius, and did not allow the writer to speak about it to anyone who did not know about its existence. He did not think anyone at school, including Slytherins, possessed such magical potential. Casting a containment charm around the diary, Severus started levitating it towards the Headmaster’s Office, completely forgetting that he still sported Potter look. ************** Severus saw Madam Pomfrey working on Miss Weasley as he entered the Hospital Wing along with Headmaster and Black. When he had burst into Headmaster’s Office with the diary, Black and Dumbledore were deep in conversation. They had been startled to see Severus standing at the door looking ridiculous in his Potter getup, levitating a diary in front of him. Black had promptly dissolved into laughter after taking a look at Severus’s appearance. The look on Dumbledore’s face, as he glanced at the diary, was the only reason that stopped Severus from retaliating with his wand. Headmaster had then cast his own set of detection spells on the diary, few of which even Severus did not know. He saw Dumbledore’s eyes widen and heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, “What have you done Tom?” “Headmaster?” queried Severus, but Dumbledore brushed it aside with a wave and asked Severus about the origin of the diary. Severus had a feeling that Dumbledore already knew the answer to that question. After he explained everything that he knew, all three of them had left for the Hospital Wing. Gazing at Miss Weasley’s unconscious form on the Hospital bed, Severus could not help but feel sorry for her. “Is she alright Poppy?” Dumbledore asked, his look softening, as he looked at Miss Weasley. “She will be. Currently she is unconscious and magically exhausted,” Madam Pomfrey answered, “She was not under the Imperious curse. It seems like her mind had been in a long and vicious battle. There seems to be a different kind of magic at work here. I have contacted St Mungo’s to send over a mind healer to look over Miss Weasley. You all will have to come tomorrow morning to talk to her as she is in no state to talk right now and needs her rest.” “Poppy! You should not have involved St Mungo’s just yet. A very dark object belonging to Voldemort tried to possess Miss. Weasley. If this knowledge were to get out, it can have disastrous effects,” admonished Dumbledore. “Possessed? What type of magical object is that diary? And where did Miss Weasley find such an accursed item?” exclaimed Professor McGonagall. “I do not have all the answers now,” replied Dumbledore, “But I believe that the diary contained 16 year old imprint of Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Riddle. Miss Weasley must have been writing in that diary this past term, enabling Tom’s memory to take control of her mind and body. I am now sure that it was Miss Weasley, under Tom’s influence, who opened the Chamber of Secrets and petrified Mrs. Norris. “If St Mungo’s is involved, they will most likely involve the Aurors. Not everyone in the ministry can be trusted and we will not like the consequences if they get hold of diary. Miss Weasley will also most likely find herself in trouble and under scrutiny. So you must understand my concerns of involving St Mungo’s in this matter,” finished Dumbledore looking at everyone. Madam Pomfrey looked displeased and expressed her it by saying, “Be as it may Headmaster, but if Miss Weasley has been possessed, it is imperative, now more than ever, that she be looked over by a Mind Healer. I will delay the arrival of Mind Healer until tomorrow morning. You have time until then to do as you please regarding the magical artefact involved and find the answers possible to share with the Healers. If withholding information hinders Miss Weasley’s recovery, I will not stand for it and share everything I know. I am not going to risk her life to please you.” “Poppy, you are failing to look at the bigger picture here,” he sighed and looked at her over his glasses. “All right, I will let the Mind Healer have a look at her tomorrow,” acquiesced Dumbledore, “But before she speak to Healer, I need to speak to Miss Weasley to know what the extent of her knowledge about the diary is. I also think it will be beneficial if we just obliviate Miss Weasley about this ordeal to protect her and help her recover from this nightmare.” What a load of crap. Severus knew Dumbledore only wanted to protect the information and did not care about Miss Weasley’s well-being. But he kept his mouth shut. However, others had no such qualms and spoke out in outrage. Professor McGonagall, being the most vocal, said, “Albus I cannot believe my ears. Firstly, Miss Weasley’s parents need to be here. Secondly, they should decide what is best for their child. In their absence, I think opinion of her Head of the House or Healer precedes than the Headmaster has. Your duty as the Headmaster includes you finding out the perpetrator responsible for Miss Weasley’s state and informing the Aurors. If you need to speak to Miss Weasley, you can speak to her in my presence, but if you do anything underhanded or attempt to wipe her memories, I will file a formal complaint against you.” Dumbledore tried to placate her by saying, “It was only a suggestion Minerva. As this ordeal must be very hard on Miss Weasley, I was thinking about ways to ease her pain. Very well, I will just speak to her for now and then decide on the next course of action. Poppy before waking Miss Weasley, please let St Mungo’s know about our change of plans. And Minerva?” continued Dumbledore, as Madam Pomfrey left for her office, “Can you please brief Miss Weasley’s parents about the situation.” Professor McGonagall’s lips almost disappeared as she tightly replied, “Albus, do not take me for a fool. I am not leaving you here alone with Miss Weasley. We can inform her parents after you have your talk. As it is once Molly gets here, you might not be able get a word in edgewise,” she finished. Before Madam Pomfrey returned, Miss Weasley woke up with a start and in panicked voice started screaming for help. Madam Pomfrey quickly bustled in with a calming draught and administered it to the girl. After she had calmed considerably, Madam Pomfrey asked, “Miss Weasley how are you feeling? Is anything hurting?” “M..my head..,” she moaned, “My head hurts. My eyes feel itchy and everything is looking blurry.” “I will get you some Pain Reliever for your headache and some Oculus Potion for your eyes Miss Weasley,” said Madam Pomfrey gently. After drinking the potions, the girl seemed to relax a bit as they started taking effect, but suddenly she started shrieking out again in panic. “Miss Weasley please calm down and tell me what the matter is,” said Madam Pomfrey, trying to placate the girl. “I cannot see anything. Everything went dark,” cried Miss Weasley. Madam Pomfrey looked worried and not without a good reason, as Severus knew Oculus potion has the power to restore the drinker's sight and also counteract the effects of the Conjunctivitis Curse or any other blinding hex. “Miss Weasley, can you tell me what happened? Did someone hex you in the eyes? Do you remember which spell was used?” Madam Pomfrey asked her gently. But the girl was shaking her head, “It was not a hex or curse. It was Tom’s Basilisk.” “Basilisk!” everyone exclaimed in unison. “Where did the Basilisk come from? Where is it now? We need to lock down the school!” “It is not here anymore,” Miss Weasley interrupted impatiently, “It is back in the Chamber. And it cannot come out until called.” “I think it is best if you start from the start Miss Weasley,” said Dumbledore gently. “It all started when I found an old, used diary among my school books….” started Miss Weasley and she told them everything that had transpired since she had first written in the diary. Severus had a feeling that she was not sharing everything, but did not want to call her on it, lest she stop talking. Finally she started telling what had happened before Severus had found her. “Today morning, after my shower, I slipped and fell in the bathroom and hit my head on the wall near where I had hid the diary. I do not remember much about what had happened after that, until I was again in second floor girls bathroom and was staring into the big yellow eyes of the biggest snake I have ever seen. Suddenly I could not see anything. Tom had lost his temper and had lashed out angrily. I don’t know what and how did it, but I felt my entire body seize in pain. It was terrible,” she paused remembering the pain and horror, plainly visible on her face. “He had then hissed tauntingly, ‘You should have listened to me. You lost your eyesight because of your own stubbornness Ginevra. No matter, when regain my 16-year-old body, I will take care of all the Mudbloods in this school. First one to die will be your brother’s girlfriend and we all will have you to thank for it Ginevra, don’t we,’” and she started sobbing again. She then said she did not remember anything after that nor coming to the Hospital Wing. “Miss Weasley, do you remember anything that can help us determine how the diary came into your possession?” asked Dumbledore brushing aside her unasked question. “I don’t know Professor,” she sobbed, “I am sorry I could not stop myself from writing in it. Am I….am I in trouble?” “No Miss Weasley. You are not in trouble. As there has been no lasting harm done, there will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than you have been hoodwinked by dark objects. That diary was indeed a very dark object, but you need not worry about it anymore, I will take care of it,” said Dumbledore with twinkling eyes. Severus looked at Dumbledore in disbelief. Was he was not going to tell her that the most evil Dark Lord had possessed her? And no lasting harm done? What about the nightmare she went through. Looking at others in the room, he could see them thinking along the same lines. “Madam Pomfrey why don’t you administer Sleeping Draught to Miss Weasley for now. I will go and contact Miss Weasley’s parents and brief them about Miss Weasley’s ordeal. She can then go St Mungo’s tomorrow to have her eyes checked,” said Dumbledore, “And Miss Weasley, I would like to caution you who you share all this information with. I will let your parents know what you shared, but Healers at St Mungo’s might not be as open-minded. I will leave the decision up to…” “Albus,” interrupted Professor McGonagall warningly. Severus could not help but think, Manipulative old coot. “Anyways Miss Weasley, I wish you speedy recovery and will now be taking your leave,” said Dumbledore and left the Hospital Wing. Black and Severus, as well, turned to leave after wishing her good health. Severus could not help but be amazed at the strength of this girl. At mere age of 11, she had shown more character and strength than most grownups. He grudgingly respected her for not letting darkness control her, when he himself had not been so strong. Now only if he could figure out what that diary was. ************** As he came out of the healer’s office, Lucius Malfoy spotted his nemesis Weasley consoling his wife. Watching them, he could not help but smirk as he remembered his plan to discredit Arthur Weasley and sabotage his Muggle Protection Act had been successful so far. Draco had written home about Chamber of Secrets being opened and squib’s cat being petrified. But he frowned when he remembered he had not heard from Draco yet about any more ‘incidents’. When Dark Lord had entrusted Lucius Malfoy with his diary before he fell in 1981, the plan then had been to use the diary to reopen the Chamber of Secrets to purge Hogwarts of all the Mudbloods. But after Dark Lord fell, with the accusations flying around of being a Death Eater, Lucius had hidden the diary in his secret dungeon instead of carrying out the intended plan. However, when Arthur Weasley had started conducting raids on several wizarding households and confiscating Dark or illegally enchanted objects under the Muggle Protection Act, Lucius had planted that diary with Weasley’s daughter to kill three birds with one stone. He hoped to sabotage Weasley, while purging the school of Mudbloods and eliminating a very incriminating Dark artefact. When he passed the couple, Lucius smirked as they failed to recognise him in his polyjuiced form. He stopped short when he heard the Weasley’s wife wail, “Oh Arthur, I just can’t imagine who would have done this to my poor baby! She was possessed Arthur, Possessed! Only if that diary had not been destroyed. We could have used it to trace the person who planted it on our baby.” “Don’t fret Molly-love. I will not rest until I find the bastard who gave that damned diary to our daughter. He will rue the day he decided to lay hand on my princess,” Weasley said angrily. “Also, Healer Smethwyck is getting Mind Healer Williams to help our daughter. I am sure with his help she will be able to remember who might have slipped her the diary,” he continued. Lucius forced himself to keep walking to avoid attracting any suspicion. He decided he had to act fast. If they found out he was involved, all will be naught. As the diary was already destroyed, only thing connecting him to the diary or the incident was the girl. He had to dispose of the girl, but he could not do that in St Mungo’s. Moving the girl somewhere else would allow him the time to formulate a plan to dispose off the girl, without attracting attention. It was opportune that he had come to St Mungo’s today to take care of his other business involving his Mistress. Or else he would missed knowing that his plan for diary had failed. Taking another swig of Polyjuice potion from his flask, he hid himself in the alcove and transfigured his robes to match that of an Assistant Healer. He watched Healer Smethwyck and his Assistant exit the room and approach the Weasleys, and leave after few exchanged words. He neared the couple to listen what they were saying, and heard Weasley say, “Dear you go and check up on Ginny, while I go and have a word with Healer Smethwyck. I will call for you if needed.” She tearfully jerked her acceptance and entered the room as he followed the Healers. After few long minutes, Lucius purposefully strode up to the girl’s room and knocked. Opening the door, he said, “Mrs. Weasley? Healer Smethwyck has requested your presence.” She looked pitifully at her daughter not wanting to leave her alone. How pathetic. “Mrs. Weasley, I will stay with your daughter and be here in case of an emergency. It is best not to keep Healer Smethwyck waiting. He is, after all, a busy man,” said Lucius impatiently. She looked ready to refuse him, but instead said, “Yes, you are right dear. Thank you. I’ll be back shortly,” with obvious reluctance. Few moments after she left, he grabbed the sleeping girl’s arm and activated his portkey to his safe house in Brussels. This house was unplottable and he was the only person to know about it. Even Narcissa did not know about this house in Brussels. As they landed, he let the girl drop to the floor and stunned her before she could wake up. Now he had to make few choices, and he had to make them quickly before he was missed. He thought about killing the girl and getting it over with, but then he remembered Weasley’s family clock. He had seen their family clock once when Arthur Weasley had brought it to Ministry. He had been trying to propose a new bill, petitioning to create a similar clock for the Aurors. Few well-placed donations from Lucius had helped shoot down that petition rather quickly. No. Killing the girl would be going too easy on the Weasleys, he thought with a smirk. Their family clock will alert them about their only daughter’s death. He was sure that muggle loving fool would not let it rest until he brings the perpetrator to justice. Whereas, if the girl was to turn up missing, all his resources would be busy searching for the girl and not the person responsible for planting the diary. Plus, he figured, it will get Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act out of his as well as other wizarding families way. Now all Lucius had to do was to make the girl disappear without incriminating himself in the process. He knew just the thing to do. |
| Reviews 9 |
|
