A Trio of Serpents

63: To Be or Not to Be Suspicious

Summary: Dumbledore's Army will not give in that easily; Harry can't sleep

Two weeks since they've arrived at Hogwarts. Two weeks since Ginny had last seen her parents, and even longer since she had heard from her brother. From day one, Hogwarts had transformed from a place of comfort and learning to hell on Earth. The Slytherins mostly got away unscathed thanks to supporting the new regime. A few refused to follow through. To Ginny's frustration, Daphne seemed content with keeping her head down and pleaded with Ginny to do the same.

"You're joking, right?" said Ginny. "I come from a family of blood traitors."

"You're still a pureblood," Daphne pointed out, eyes wide. "You can still make it through. You and Jayson."

Ginny turned away right then and there. Fat chance of that. In the common room, one of the few places where anyone got any privacy, she, Paisley, and Jayson spent their time together trying to figure out their next move.

"We could try the Chamber," Paisley suggested in a low voice. "Harry won those stone snakes' allegiance; they won't open for anyone unfamiliar."

"It's an idea," Ginny agreed slowly. "What do you think, Jay?"

Jayson didn't answer. He had been staring at the same spot in his book for the past several minutes, but it was obvious he wasn't taking in a word of the page or of them.

"Jayson!" Ginny nudged him sharply, making him jump.

"Wha'? Oh, yeah. The Chamber. Sounds cool."

Ginny and Paisley exchanged a glance. Then Ginny said softly, "Still thinking about Sid?"

Jayson turned an unhappy gaze on her. "What do you think? The Dark Mark was seen over his house. He's probably..." He looked away.

"You don't know for sure if he's dead," Paisley said bluntly.

"I'd rather he were dead than being tortured like our classmates are," Jayson retorted just as bluntly.

Paisley winced.

"We can't help Sid right now," Ginny pointed out gently. She missed him, too, with his random outbursts about mountain chickens and gender-defying turtles. It had also been amusing watching girls stare at him from other tables while he remained entirely oblivious as he rambled about the importance of not bathing frogs, and especially how you shouldn't pour water directly onto a frog's face as that could drown them. But she knew that didn't compare to how Jayson would be feeling.

To Ginny's relief, Jayson seemed to pull himself out his dark thoughts. "You mentioned the Chamber."

"You still have your coin, right?" said Paisley. "We can still use them to call other members if we need to."

"When we need to," Ginny corrected her, because there was no doubt they would before long. She shifted around in her seat. Ever since she had first come back, she had felt like she was missing something. But what?

The screeching of the cell door cut through the pain. He couldn't muster the strength to even attempt to lift his head as a shadow fell over him. That didn't mean he couldn't stop the jolt of disdain as the short man squatted over him, holding a bowl.

"Your food, Amsel," he squeaked.

Sid rolled his eyes. Not only was he being tortured to hell and back, but the person in charge of keeping him alive was the slimy rat.

Pettigrew shifted, growing more anxious when Sid didn't move. "You need to keep your strength up."

"And then what? I get cut up again?" Sid sneered. His arm lay limp by his side, blood seeping through the carelessly-wrapped bandages.