Chapter Text
Chapter Five - Truth or Torture?
September soon became October and Ginny, Neville and Luna were busy hosting secret DA meetings. They knew they would literally be dead if they were caught but they knew they needed to fight. No one wanted to feel weak anymore.
As the second week of October came around, Ginny was starting to feel more comfortable. It was strange without Hermione pestering her to go to the library, Ron annoying her and Harry, well just being Harry but she got used to the new silence.
She was in the common room one evening trying to focus on her charms homework when Lavender Brown came rushing through the portrait hole.
‘Ginny, you gotta come, it is Neville and Luna’ she said, a little out of breath. Ginny nodded, put her school work under an armchair and went rushing out of the common room. Lavender guided her to a classroom on the second floor. Ginny walked in and saw Neville and Luna sat down, looking terrified and Acymus and Alectro Carrow leading on a desk each with their arms crossed.
‘Ah, Weasley, how nice of you to join us,'' proclaimed Acymus, clapped his hands together and stood up. He waved his wand and several desks went flying; crashing against the wall. He pulled Neville and Luna’s chair closer to him. He then pointed to a third one then at Ginny.
She looked back and saw Lavender had gone. She did not blame her. She sighed then and sat down.
She crossed her arms ‘What is this about?’
‘Less of the cheek, Weasley. We have been thinking of new punishments because some of you are stepping out of line. And we saw Longbottom and Lovegood out for a night walk and thought what a perfect opportunity’ Alectro said with an evil smile on her face.
Ginny looked from Neville and Luna then at the floor. She knew peace was too good to be true.
‘And what does that involve?’ Luna said after a moment.
‘It is a little game called Truth or Torture’ Alectro went inside her robes and pulled out a viral ‘Veritaserum to speed it along or a fun blast of a crucio. But be warned, the potion can be just as painful as the curse’
‘What do you want from us? What do you want to achieve with this?’ Ginny questioned. Her heart was racing. She knew the type of questions they would want to ask. Standing with Ron and his ‘illness’, Hermione’s whereabouts and possibly the truth about her and Harry. Fucking marvellous she thought to herself.
Her answer came soon enough when Luna was in tears five minutes later and was in floods of tears as they questioned her about her father’s writings. She cried that she did not know anything and her Dad was one person.
‘I don’t think she is the one, Alectro’ Acymus sighed and then turned to Neville.
‘Your turn’ he walked over, grabbed the boy by the throat and forced the potion down his throat.
‘I’m not going to tell you anything!’ Neville protested but then began to fidget.
‘Feel that Longbottom? The potion is pushing you already. Right, okay, where is Harry Potter?’
‘And how am I supposed to know? I shared a room with him for five years, doesn’t mean we told each everything’
‘So you wouldn’t say you were friends?’ Alectro shot an eyebrow up.
‘Of course we were friends… just not like Ron and Hermione… and well Ginny’ Neville sighed. The redhead stared at him and exhaled deeply.
‘I don’t… I don’t know anything!’ she hissed. She was silenced by a slap across the face from Alectro. She fell onto the floor. She almost growled in annoyance, picked herself up, grabbed her wand and went charging towards the female Carrow. Luna jumped up and held her back.
‘Sit down, Weasley, it will be your turn soon. Things just got interesting,’ Alectro said. Ginny exhaled deeply and sat down.
‘So, you say you weren’t close to Potter like her, what do you mean by that?’ Acymus said and sat down opposite Neville.
‘Because… They were in love. Are in love’ he said after a moment.
‘Neville…’ Ginny said in a pained tone.
‘But I thought it was just a bit of fun?’ Alectro said in a mocking tone.
‘That is what she is saying but I saw how Harry looked at her last year. How she was around him. Anyone with eyes could tell you that they were never just a bit fun’ Neville replied and flexed his neck as the pain traveled his body.
‘Neville, please stop’ Ginny pleaded to him but looked away as Alectro shot her a poisonous look.
‘Interesting… and where is her brother?’ Acymus said. He stood up again and started circling the space.
‘They say he is sick…. But…. please, I don’t want to do this’ Neville cried and held his shoulder.
‘Oh, now you decide to fight it!’ Ginny tutted and faced away from him.
‘Come on Longbottom, tell us!’ Alecto said but Neville remained quiet. She shot a Crucio at him. Ginny stayed facing away from him, angry for him not fighting but she closed her eyes as if in pain herself.
‘No, please, no more!’ Neville pleaded and nearly fell off the chair. Another Crucio was fired and then said ‘I don't…. Believe her. I don’t believe her on anything’
Ginny swallowed loudly and she felt Alectro’s breath on her face. She felt her cold hand on her face but she refused to open her mouth to let the potion in. Eventually after a struggle, the potion was in her mouth but as soon as Alectro had her back turned, Ginny spat it out onto the ground and wiped her mouth, looking at the siblings with great disgust.
Alectro laughed ‘oh we get to torture you, what fun!’
The pain came moments after, her bones were on fire and she felt like she was being stabbed a thousand times over. They would have to kill her… she was not going to tell them anything. She fell off the chair and landed on all fours. Her knees stung and she knew she had badly scraped them.
‘So now, we have got started, time for some questions, Weasley, where is Potter?’ Alectro said and leaned down to pull Ginny’s hair.
‘Go to hell’ she muttered. It lasted for ten more minutes and when she stood up, her legs felt like jelly. They were dismissed. Neville rushed forward to help but Ginny pushed him away. She fell onto Luna and they walked out of the classroom.
‘Ginny, talk to me’ Neville sighed as they started to climb the stairs.
‘I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to go to bed and sleep’
But sleep did not come. Her bones and muscles still felt limp and sore. She tossed and turned. Pain came every time she did. She was thinking about what Neville had said, though she was angry. She understood he was under a truth potion but she wished he had just fought it a little bit. She thought about how he had said her and Harry were in love and how she never got to tell him she loved him.
She had planned to. She had woken up on the day of Dumbledore’s funeral and had decided she would tell him after the service. She had decided to do that because she thought he would need to hear it. Instead, her biggest fear came true and he broke up with her. She understood, she did but it still hurt.
Eventually, Ginny admitted defeat and jumped out of bed. She wrapped a blanket around herself and headed out of her room. She stood in the common room for a moment then looked up at the boys dormitory when she realised where she wanted to be. She crept into the seventh year boys room and quietly climbed in the bed that once was Harry’s.