** I don't own the Harry Potter world, characters or places. They belong to J.K. Rowling. Now, enjoy! ES <3 **

Chapter Twenty – Four ~ Terror

“You truly are an interesting witch.” Cho Chang told Ginny as she stepped into the dungeon and caught sight of Lucius Malfoy lying unconscious on the floor. “What did he have planned? Did he accomplish it?” 

“If he did, he wouldn’t be lying there unconscious.” Ginny said back, her voice dripping with menace.

“That’s true, that’s true.” Cho agreed as she stepped over Lucius and got right in Ginny’s face. “What did he try to do?” She asked.

“He tried to destroy me.” Ginny told her as she stared straight into Cho’s eyes. “And I showed him what happens when someone touches me without my permission.” 

Cho’s eyebrows shot up, “are you threatening me?”

“No, it’s a promise.” Ginny glared. “Now, release me before I kill the both of you.” 

“Kill the both of us – what? How do you think you’re going to accomplish that? You’re the one shackled to the wall.” Cho pointed out. 

“I’ll kill you some other way.” Ginny told her. 

Cho frowned, “whatever you say, Ginny.”

“I’m serious, Cho.” Ginny explained.

Cho shrugged as she stepped over Lucius and pointed her wand at him. “Mobilicorpus!” She said and Lucius’ body lifted from the floor. When she reached the door, she looked back.

“I’ll be back in a moment, Ginny. I feel like we need to have a bit of girl talk.”

An hour later, Cho returned to find Ginny sitting on the floor and leaning back against the wall. Cho walked in and shut the door behind her. 

She conjured a chair and sat in front of Ginny.

“Now, where were we? Ah, that’s right. I have some questions for you. You will answer them or else you’ll suffer the consequences.” Cho crossed her legs causing the knee length skirt she was wearing the rise up to her thighs.

“No, you will answer my questions and then you will release me or else you’ll suffer the consequences. I can assure you, they will not be pretty.” Ginny promised.

“I reckon you don’t understand the situation you are in, Ginny.” Cho cocked her head to the side as if looking at an odd specimen.

“I understand the situation perfectly. Probably better than you do.” Ginny laid her hands on her knees, the shackles clanking as she moved.

“Why did you join the secret organization?” Cho asked.

“What secret organization?” Ginny asked back.

“The one within the Ministry of Magic that kills innocent people,” Cho explained.

“There’s one of those in the Ministry!” Ginny’s eyes widened in surprise. “How can that be?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Ginny. I know it’s true!” Cho shot back.

“I used to work at the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, if you didn’t know. Now, in New York, I stay at home or sometimes I work at a small diner that a friend owns.” Ginny explained.

“You lie! Seventeen years ago, you worked for a secret organization with the Ministry. It was like a hit – squad.” Cho exclaimed.

“Have you lost your mind?” Ginny asked in shock.

“Who did you report to in England? Who do you report to now in the United States of America?” Cho asked, skipping the first question.

“I don’t report to anyone usually… well…” Ginny it her lip.

“Tell me, already!” Cho leaned forward.

“Colm Kristoff is sometimes my boss though he doesn’t really agree since he owns the diner and his brother Thomas works there.” Ginny said.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Cho hissed.

“You asked who I report to. The answer is Colm,” Ginny shrugged. 

“How many people have you killed, Ginevra Weasley? How many innocent people have you murdered for the Ministry? How many people had families, friends, and children? How many, Ginevra, how bloody many?” Cho was leaning toward Ginny, screaming at her.

Ginny leaned back and hid her surprise. Cho knew way too much for a civilian. She had no idea how Cho could know so much about the organization though she had some things wrong. The people the organization ordered dead were nowhere near being innocent. They were people who murdered and raped innocent muggles and magical folk alike; sold classified information to the enemy and did terrible, terrible things. Civilians were not informed because they wouldn’t understand.

Ginny sighed as Cho stared at her with hatred in her eyes. Ginny had no idea what she had done; no idea what she could have done to make Cho Chang hate her so much. Ginny ran her hand over her face and took a deep breath.

“Killing people is wrong, Cho.” Ginny told her.

“You’re telling me?” Cho asked in anger.

“So is kidnapping people, especially children. Amélie and Thomas are still children and you kidnapped them. They are innocent, barely out of graduation from Liatris! I should kill you for lying a hand on my daughter.” Ginny growled.

“Yes, Ginny, yes!” Cho screamed, “yes, let me see your anger, your hate. Show me the monster that is inside you that killed her and all those other innocent people!”

Ginny frowned; innocent people that she had killed? As if! All of those that she killed were not innocent; not that she was going to tell Cho that. The woman was babbling about things she didn’t understand. That was going to get her killed. Not to add kidnapping kids and helping someone escape from Azkaban. She’ll be lucky if she ends up there.

“You killed them all, didn’t you? I know that you can’t be the only person to work for the organization but you’re the top hit – witch, aren’t you? You’re very talented. What do they call you? C’mon, tell me.” Cho smiled insanely.

Ginny bit her lip. The woman was absolutely loony, off of her Merlin freaking rocker.

“You’re mad.” Ginny told her.

“Yes, I’m very upset,” Cho nodded.

“No, Cho, you’re mad, crazy, out of your bloody mind.” Ginny explained.

“I am not crazy!” Cho yelled. “You – you – YOU KILLED HER! IT WAS YOU! I KNOW IT!”

Ginny’s eyes widened.

“YOU KILLED HER! AND THEN THE BLOODY MINISTRY COVERED IT ALL UP! YOU’RE A MURDERER! A PSYCHO KILLER! A MURDERER, GINNY, YOU’RE A MURDERER!” Cho yelled at the top of her lungs.

Ginny tried to force herself back but she couldn’t go through the wall. Dammit, she was in serious trouble.

“YOU KILLED HER! YOU BLOODY KILLED HER, YOU ANIMAL! YOU’RE MAD. A PSYCHO KILLER! I KNOW IT! I KNOW IT! THEY CAN’T HIDE IT FROM ME! I’LL AVENGE YOU, DON’T WORRY! I WILL AVENGE YOU, MARIETTA! I WON’T LET THIS HIT – WITCH GET AWAY WITH IT!” Cho continued to yell.

“Marietta?” Ginny mumbled out loud.

“YOU KILLED MARIETTA! YOU KILLED HER FOR THE ORGANIZATION! SHE WAS INNOCENT! AN INNOCENT WOMAN IN THIS WORLD! HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?” Cho went on.

“Marietta Edgecombe?” Ginny asked her.

Cho then continued to yell at the top of her lungs but it was gibberish now and Ginny knew that this was worse than horrible. The woman was in a bad state. She needed to get away. Forget about revenge, Cho was going to kill her. Ginny thought just as Cho lunged from her chair for Ginny’s throat.

And Ginny now knew that she had all the answers she needed and her plan had worked out perfectly but if she wanted to truly survive this, she needed to get away from this mad Cho.

“You killed her – yeah, yeah, yeah you killed her Ginny! I know you did! Marietta was innocent. How could you kill my best friend. She never did anything wrong in her life. Yeah, yeah, she was a good girl. Innocent, never did anything bad – bad – bad, I know she didn’t.” Cho was muttered as she tried to get Ginny in a good position.

“Oh Merlin,” Ginny mumbled as she tried to get away but the shackles prevented her.

“Marietta, Marietta, Marietta,” Cho muttered as she pulled Ginny’s hair.

Ginny cursed loudly.

“Marietta, I love you. I’ll avenge you. I’ll kill the woman who killed you. I’ll do it. Just watch me, I know you’re watching me.” Cho mumbled insanely.

Ginny turned and kicked Cho in the chest causing the woman to fall back but that didn’t stop her. Cho jumped to her feet then threw herself on top of Ginny. Cho struggled to get her hands around Ginny’s neck. Ginny fought her but the shackles didn’t help.

If her bloody plan got her killed, both Draco and Amélie were going to be so angry. The torture was much more than they planned, actually, Ginny knew they wouldn’t be too happy about that. Now that she thought about it, Ginny was lucky that they didn’t kill her when they found her. She didn’t think Draco and Amélie had really thought about that. They were going to be so mad when they saw her; she probably looked like a disaster.

Cho grabbed the shackle attached to Ginny’s left hand and tried to wrap it around her neck. Ginny fought her but the woman was extremely strong in her insane state.

“Marietta, I’ll make it right.” Cho whispered as she pulled the chain around Ginny’s neck. She gasped in pain and the lack of air.

Ginny fought her but she was losing. She needed to do something. She reached to Cho’s body and felt something poking the back of her leg. Ginny reached for and cheered mentally when she realized that it was Cho’s wand. Ginny pulled it out and poked Cho in the eye with her own wand. Cho release the shackles and Ginny immediately pushed the screaming woman away. As she turned towards Cho, Ginny kicked Cho in the head and the woman fell back slamming her head against the wall. The woman fell without a sound.

Ginny looked at Cho lying quietly on the floor. She wondered if the woman was dead; she sincerely hoped that she was so that all this mess would be over.

Ginny took a deep breath and got to her feet. She pointed Cho’s wand at shackles and they opened without a problem. Ginny took a deep breath as she stepped into the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and imagined her nice, comfy and warm living room. Praying that all the comforts would be there; Draco, Amélie and everyone else, Ginny thought as she blinked herself away from the dungeon and all of its terrors.

~.~.~

“Something is wrong. Something is very, very, very wrong.” Draco muttered as he paced the living room of Ginny and Amélie’s apartment.

Amélie, Thomas, Colm, Pansy, Blaise, Neville, Fred, Luna, Jeff and Kingsley watched the man pace. Draco had done nothing besides that for the last two days since Ginny put her plan in motion. They had no contact with the woman. Ginny was supposed to get her information and then get out. It was supposed to take a maximum of five hours; not two days. Everyone was worried, Draco was frantic.

“She should be here already. She should have been back ages ago. The plan wasn’t supposed to take this long. What if she’s hurt and she can’t contact us? What if she’s –” Draco panicked but Amélie jumped up to stop him.

“Don’t even think it! Mom is not dead! I know it! I’d know if she was… I would… I would right?” Amélie whispered the last part.

Draco looked at his daughter then pulled her into his arms. He needed to relax. Amélie didn’t need the added stress. She was worried enough as it was.

“I’m certain she’s okay, Amélie.” Draco assured her.

Amélie smiled at him slightly. Draco smiled back.

“Maybe she needed to blow off some steam, if you know what I mean.” Pansy shrugged jokingly.

Everyone turned to her and glared.

“I was just kidding, people. You lot are no fun.” Pansy sighed.

“She’ll be okay, Pansy.” Colm caressed her shoulder.

“I know that, Colm.” She frowned as her face flushed lightly.

Draco smirked. Colm knew that Pansy was really worried at Ginny. He was surprised that the man had noticed.

“Mom most definitely is not “blowing off some steam”, Pansy! How could you say something like that?” Amélie hissed.

Pansy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Truthfully, I don’t know why I’m so shocked whenever she does something like that. She’s exactly like you, Draco. The similarities are disturbing. I can’t believe you reproduced. The world is definitely going to end.”

Draco rolled his eyes but then continued to pace, silently this time. He couldn’t sit down. He was too worried about Ginny. He needed her back, in his arms, to make certain she was okay. He needed her back and after this, he was never letting her out of his sight. Never.

“Is anyone hungry?” Luna asked as she got to her feet. “I’m famished.”

“I’ll help you, Luna. Lunch would be good for everyone.” Neville jumped up. “We’ll make sandwiches. They’ll be ready in a bit.”

The two disappeared into the kitchen.

“Well, now that the two women are in the kitchen –” Blaise started to joke when a bottle hit him over the head. He fell off the couch and cursed colorfully.

“What was that, Blaise? Did you say something?” Neville asked from the kitchen.

“Nothing, love, absolutely nothing,” Blaise muttered as he got back on the couch, rubbing his head. Neville had thrown a Butterbeer bottle at him. “I can’t believe he threw this blasted thing at my head! He could have killed me!”

“You’re fine, mate.” Draco smirked as he looked at the man. “You deserved that.”

Blaise shrugged, “just trying to lightening the mood,” he explained as he got to his feet to stand beside Draco. “I know you’re worried, mate, but you’re not alone. Everyone is worried even though they’re not saying anything. The Weasel will be back, don’t you worry. She wouldn’t let you off the hook that easily. She still has seventeen odd years that you owe her –” Blaise was talking when a body stumbled into him from out of thin air.

Draco immediately reached for the body when he realized who it was.

“Ginny!” He yelled as the half naked, badly bruised and bleeding body fell into his arms.

******

I decided to upload this ahead of time. i kind of got tired of waiting. Anyway, tell me what you think :)