Deep End

"We have the girl my Lord, she is in the cellar as you requested." Malfoy said with a bow.

"It seems you are not completely useless. Prepare yourselves, I will see to it that Potter knows."

"Thank you, my lord." Malfoy rose, but hesitated. "My Lord?"

The Dark Lord smirked, willing to entertain the question "Yes?"

"Why is Miss. Parkinson in there? I thought she passed the test?"

The Dark Lord briefly entertained the idea of letting Lucius in on the plan, but knew it was safer the less people knew of this particular contingency. "If it comes down it, try not to kill her."

Lucius bowed again, knowing that was the only answer he was doing to get, and began to leave as quickly as was polite. However, Voldemort was not done with him yet. "Lucius. There is one more thing I need of you."

Malfoy stopped in his tracks, the slightest tremble of his hand the only sign of his fear. Voldemort let that statement hang in the air for a moment, before continuing "Your wand."

Malfoy wordlessly held his wand out for Voldemort to take, and he felt a stir of amusement at the man's obvious confusion over why he was being asked this. Voldemort took the proffered wand and weighed it in his hand, getting the measure of it. "It will do."

The barest twitch of Lucius' hand gave him away, a fleeting impulse, no doubt, but one he could exploit. "Give you my wand, Lucius?"

Malfoy stiffened, his face going white.

"I've given you liberty, is that not enough? Your son lives, with your cooperation. I have been merciful to you."

"Of course, my lord." Malfoy fell to his knees and looked to the floor. Tauntingly, Voldemort used Lucius' own wand to tilt his chin upwards so that he could look into his eyes. This was not merely to intimidate the man, no, with a swift precise strike he delved into Malfoy's memories, cutting like a surgical knife until he found what he was seeking and extracted it.

Voldemort barely paid Malfoy heed as he dismissed him, not caring how the mental assault had shaken the man. His mind was preoccupied with the task ahead of him.

He hadn't seriously probed Potter's mind since the events in the Ministry of Magic. It hadn't been worth the risk, not when he held all the advantages and could bide his time. This, however, was a unique opportunity. The rift between Potter and Dumbledore could be easily exploited. If it weren't for the Order, Potter wouldn't have stood a chance in the Ministry battle.

Setting another trap for the boy was perhaps uninspired, but there was one crucial difference this time. The bait was real.

He sought out Potter's mind, as he had done many times the year after he had returned. Planting the memory of Lucius' capture and harassment of the girl was simple… if only he hadn't gotten caught in the backlash.

There was rage, grief, and guilt, all emotions that he could cope with well enough, but underneath it all was something far deeper. Something that had the intensity to burn him to the core and made him reel back, screaming in pain.

-----

Harry awoke with a scream, bolting upright in bed. He stumbled to his feet, swaying as he moved to the bathroom and leaned into the sink. I'll check on her, Harry! Hermione called as she rushed to get dressed. The silent implication of her words being- don't go rushing into danger until we're certain she's gone. Harry might have resented the sentiment, but he forcibly reminded himself that if he'd followed that advice last time Sirius would still be alive.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Fleur asked from behind him, touching his shoulder gently. Even with the warning the contact was enough to make Harry tense and stiffen, he was sure his reaction would have been worse had he not been expecting it.

Her hand pulled back swiftly at his reaction and Harry turned his head to her. She was completely naked, but in the moment it had no impact on him. "You're bleeding!" She grabbed a towel and moved to wipe the blood, which had trickled down from his scar, off his face, but hesitated as she remembered his reaction to her just touching his shoulder.

"A vision." Harry took the towel from her and wiped his face "Voldemort. He had Dem. Or, at least, he says he does. 'Mione's checking on that." Fleur's face twisted in horror, but it was nothing compared to what was currently twisting Harry's gut. This was his nightmare.

"We need to get to England tonight." He declared.

"The train doesn't…"

"I know the train doesn't run this late. It doesn't matter, we need to get there tonight." It came out much harsher than Harry intended.

The force behind his words seemed to have an impact on Fleur, however, because she practically snapped to attention and uttered "Oui." Then she turned around and began to get dressed, but not in casual wear… no, she was wearing what could only be described as lingerie, before donning a simple, easy to remove black robe atop it.

"Where are you going?"

"To the French ministry. I will get us a portkey."

Harry did not ask how she intended to do that, and she didn't volunteer the information.

-----

Ginny surveyed the small group that had gathered in the Burrow's kitchen. When she'd asked Remus for every member of the order they could trust not to go to Dumbledore, she'd been hoping for a few more people. Most of her family was present- aside from Bill (of course), Percy (of course), and Charlie (who was out of the country). As were Remus, Tonks, and oddly enough, Hestia Jones.

It wasn't much.

"What's the situation, Ginny." Remus asked, no-nonsense.

"Hermione, Katie, and Susan went to Demelza's house. There was a dark mark, no one was there."

"Her parents?" Her mum asked, Ginny just shrugged.

"We don't know. Voldemort sent Harry a vision- says he has Demelza somewhere at Malfoy manor, we don't know where, and no mention of her parents. He even showed him a handy spot he can apparate into."

"Another trap." Remus muttered.

"I'm going to tell you now, there's nothing you can do to stop Harry from going after her."

"I know." Remus sighed "Where is he?"

"Still in France. Fleur says she's getting a portkey from the French Ministry, though we don't know how long that'll take." Frankly, Ginny wasn't thrilled with the idea of Fleur seducing her way to a magical item, but she was inclined to let the ends justify the means on this one.

"We need to be smart about this." Her dad added "We can't just go in guns blazing. That's just likely to get Demelza -and the rest of us- killed."

"There's also the matter of even getting to Malfoy Manor, we're not using the apparition point in Harry's vision, at least not for the main attack. The protections around it would be useful in same ways- I doubt you'd be able to detect underage magic through them, but without a curse breaker we won't be able to do anything."

"Wait. You aren't suggesting!" Her mom erupted.

"I'm going, Mum." Ginny interrupted.

"Absolutely not!"

"Try and stop me." Ginny snarled "I won't be sitting in the corner while Harry throws himself into danger again. We're doing this together. We're a part of this war, I'm a part of this war, whether you want to admit it or not."

Remus held up a hand to forestall further argument "At this point, we need every hand we can get. I'm sorry, Molly, but this is an emergency. That being said, none of us will be going into danger if we can't figure out a way around the wards."

It was at this point that Ron piped in, softly in realization, "Dobby."

-----

Harry was forced to watch all of this passively, trapped in a hotel room in France. He paced back and forth relentlessly, the need to act was so strong, but there was no way for him to satisfy it. He was surprised and reassured at how quickly everyone had gathered and the plan had come together. At this point, the only missing piece was, well, him.

Gabrielle watched him silently, her eyes following his pacing, but he paid her no mind. Perhaps if he had paid a bit more attention to her, he would have noticed her coiling up like a cat ready to pounce. So he was completely unprepared for Gabbrielle latching onto him and dragging onto the bed, sitting him down and perching herself onto his lap.

"Er, Gabby, what are you doing?" Harry asked warily, too confused to be upset.

"Calming you down, is it working?" The girl responded, refusing to let him go.

"Err, it's not not working." At the very least, it was distracting him from the gnawing dread and terror. The answer seemed to satisfy her enough, because she kept him pinned to the bed until Fleur returned (thankfully) a few minutes later. Fleur quirked an eyebrow at her sister.

"I'm calming him down." She explained defiantly.

"I can see that, but perhaps you should let me take over." Gabby nodded and reluctantly slipped away.

Seeing that Harry was much more accepting of touch now, Fleur kneeled and cupped his face in her hands. "Are you doing alright, mon tresor?" She crooned. Harry could feel her allure wash over him, but instead of trying to infatuate him, it seemed to instill a sense of… almost serenity in him. He felt the dread, anguish, and guilt melt away, replaced with a supreme focus and single minded determination.

"Well enough. You've got the portkey?"

"Yes." She held out an empty tin can.

"Good, we've got the plan. Here's what's going to happen…"

-----

Demelza awoke with brutal abruptness to the sensation of the most intense pain she could imagine- burning, piercing, crushing, biting, every possible flavor of the sensation lashed at her every nerve as she screamed and screamed and screamed.

For a moment, the pain cleared, and she could vaguely hear a conversation between several voices, footsteps and a closed door, before the curse returned even stronger than before. After an interminable amount of time, the torture ceased, and awareness only partially came to her. It was like she was underwater; her senses just weren't quite in tune. The first thing she really became aware of was the fact that she was clothed in nothing but her undergarments. The second were the two death eaters in the room, staring at her with differing mixtures of sadism and lasciviousness.

"Looks like the girl's finally coming around. What do ya think Wormtail, it'd be your first time wouldn't it?" The taller man burst into laughter while the shorter one fumed. Demelza curled into a ball, trying to obscure herself as much as possible.

"Oi! Leave her alone!" Another voice shouted. Demelza turned her head groggily to see another girl in the room, someone she actually recognized… Pansy Parkinson? She didn't look much better off than she was, but why was a pureblood stuck in Voldemort's dungeon?

Despite being unarmed and just as defenseless as Demelza, Pansy walked straight up to her, seemingly fearless in the face of the two death eaters. "What are you going to do about it girlie?" The taller one sneered "Unless you're suggesting you'd take her place."

"Didn't Malfoy say that your wife called dibs on her? You sure you want to get on her bad side?" Amazingly, the taller man backed down at that. Demelza had no recollection of that and no idea who this man's wife was, but was immensely relieved that there was something protecting her for the moment.

"Whatever girlie. You feel lucky now, but when Bella gets her hands on ya, you're going to wish it had been me." Bella? Wait, as in Bellatrix Lestrange? Demelza gulped, and the man- who must be Rudolphus Lestrange- laughed.

Demelza turned to Pansy uncertainly, and the older girl offered her what passed for a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. They like to play with their food. It'll be a while before they do anything really bad to you."

"That's not exactly reassuring." She managed in response.

"Well, it's the best I have, so you better appreciate it."

"How long have I been here?" She'd honestly had no sense of time under the cruciatus, or when she was recovering from it.

Pansy shrugged "A while… half an hour? You were pretty out of it and I don't exactly have a watch on me. You'd like to ask them?" She gestured to the death eaters.

Demelza tensed, fearing that even mentioning them would arouse their wrath. "Glad to see she has a healthy respect for authority." Lestrange chuckled "And we've barely even touched her."

"Oh, shut it. If you were going to do anything bad to us you would have done it already!" Pansy snapped back. Frankly, Demelza was impressed at her fearlessness in the face of them. She hadn't even known Pansy in Hogwarts other than by reputation, which hadn't painted a pretty picture. This wasn't at all the person she'd have expected.

"But… but what's happening?"

This time, Lestrange was the one who answered her question "You're bait, girl." He said with a unsettling smile. "A worm on a hook, wriggling." Demelza shuddered at the memory of the cruciatus curse. "Imagine how you looked while Malfoy was torturing you, half naked, screaming and writhing on the floor in pain. The Dark Lord beamed that straight into Potter's brain." No. Demelza shook her head "Yes. The boy's going to get himself killed trying to save you."

"A lot of people have said that about him before." Demelza said defiantly.

"Crucio!" Was his response.

While she had no idea how long the pain lasted this time, it was definitely much shorter. Demelza lay bonelessly on the stone floor, gasping as she took the respite for all it was worth. "What is that?" Lestrange said. It took a moment for Demelza to realize what he was talking about- a series of explosions.

"Wormtail, check it out." He barked.

"You alright?" Pansy asked from next to her.

"Better than last time." Demelza panted.

"You get used to it. I suppose." Demelza wasn't sure how true that could be, but Pansy had been there for longer.

"Looks like your boy hero has come to the rescue." Lestrange taunted. "Ya know what." He glanced offhandedly to Pansy "I think Bella'd understand."

"Wha?" Pansy uttered from beside her, but Demelza automatically, instinctively knew what he meant. An uncoordinated burst of energy seized her and she scrambled back until she was up against the wall. Lestrange lazily approached her, twirling his wand in his hand. "You're not supposed to do that!" Pansy screeched. "You're-" An offhand stunner dropped her like a sack of potatoes.

Her skin was crawling just from how his eyes roamed over her body. She kicked her legs out frantically, striking him in the shin. Lestrange responded by kicking her several times in the ribs, and then kneeling down to her level, holding his wand to her chest. She could feel his hot breath on her face, it smelt putrid. "You don't stand a chance, girl. You might as well relax and enjoy it."

NO! Something inside of her roared. Her hands went to his wand and she struggled to pry it from his hands, but it was no use, he was stronger than her. She didn't have a wand of her own, she couldn't do magic. She wasn't like Harry, she didn't have the answer to a situation like this.

I'm not special, or clever, or powerful. I'm just… just, Harry. Not some superhero. And- I- I have no clue what I'm supposed to do. Harry's words came through, like he was there in the room with her, and it gave her strength. Harry never had all the answers, he just fought like hell anyway, gave every part of himself to it, and that's what she had to do too.

She lashed out, not just with her physical strength, but something more. At first, Lestrange grinned at her fight, but the smile slid off his face. It took Demelza a second longer to register what was happening, the wand that was locked between them was heating up dramatically, almost scalding hot now. Recklessly, she charged onward, pushing more of her magic into the wand. The skin on their hands sizzled, sparks arced from the tips of the wand, and then a flash of light..

She had spots in her eyes that she blinked away as she tried to get a handle on what had just happened. Somehow, she'd forced the wand to backfire by pouring her magic into it, launching a beam of white energy in each direction. She'd been thrown against the wall, while Lestrange had been thrown back. He wasn't moving. There was a small charred hole in his cheek, angled upward into his brain. He was dead.

The wand was on the floor, Demelza picked it up gingerly, it was still warm to touch. "Reneverate." She tested the abused wand out on Pansy.

The girl awoke, gaping in confusion at the scene. "What happened? Did you… did you?"

"Yes." Demelza said simply. She didn't want to go into how it was sort of an accident. She didn't particularly regret killing Lestrange, maybe later she could concern herself with the moral implications of that.

"You do realize you just made one hell of an enemy, don't you?" Bellatrix Lestrange... didn't get much deadlier than that.

"Well, you know, I didn't have much of a choice."

"I guess not. Er, you got hit too, in your shoulder." Demelza looked down and realized that she was right, there was an identical cauterized wound in her shoulder. She shrugged and noticed a stinging pain at the movement.

Oh well, it was nothing next to the cruciatus.