When Ginny’s D.A. Galleon changed and the urgent message from Neville appeared she knew exactly what it meant. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were back and the war would soon be coming.
For nearly a year the Trio had been gone, doing Merlin only knew what. It had all been this great secret and they hadn’t told anyone, but they were hopeful that their success would bring an end to Voldemort and his destruction. For good this time.
Ginny, Fred, George and the twins' friend, Lee Jordan, all made a mad dash for the school (Ginny had gone to stay with them near the end; strength in numbers and all that), Apparating straight into the Hog’s Head as Neville had instructed. They passed through a tiny tunnel hidden in a painting and eventually came out in the Room of Requirement.
Dean Thomas and Luna had arrived just before and Ginny exchanged a smile with her friend. Luna grinned dreamily and glanced significantly around the room.
Ginny had never seen anything like it. The room was divided into sections by house, banners hung from the walls like miniature common rooms. Slytherin was the only one not represented. There were hammocks in each section and bulging bookshelves along the walls with books varying in subject from Muggle fiction to Hogwarts: A History.
Students crowded around, all talking at once in excitement and curiosity. Bits of conversation could be heard, but not enough to make any sense. Ginny stood between Fred and George, who were busy cracking jokes, and surveyed the scene. It looked almost the same as a normal D.A. meeting with only one exception.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing together, seeming slightly separate from the rest of the group. They looked so different; grown up and tired. They looked as if they’d lived ten years in their comparatively short time away from home.
Harry looked up as they were coming in and Ginny gave him a smile. Ron and Hermione were standing shoulder to shoulder behind him. They all looked a little surprised.
“Aberforth’s getting a bit annoyed,” said Fred, speaking of Dumbledore’s brother, the owner of the Hog’s Head. He raised his hand in greeting to the other students. “He wants a kip and his bar’s turned into a railway station.”
At that moment, Cho Chang climbed through the tunnel. “I got the message,” she said in a soft voice, holding up her fake Galleon with a dazzling smile at Harry.
“So what’s the plan, Harry?” asked George with the air of one ready for a fight.
“There isn’t one,” said Harry. He looked a little dazed and he had a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Fred chuckled. “Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind.”
Harry turned to Neville. “You’ve got to stop this! What did you call them back for? This is insane.”
A couple of other people spoke up with their two bits, then Ron pulled Harry aside and the Trio had a mini-conference. They spoke in hushed voices for a minute so that even those who were leaning close could not hear.
Then Harry turned back and called, “Okay!” All noise stopped and everyone looked at him expectantly. “There’s something we need to find. Something… something that’ll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It’s here at Hogwarts, but we don’t know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?”
He looked over towards the Ravenclaws and Luna piped up. “Well, there’s her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy’s trying to duplicate it.”
“Yeah, but the lost diadem,” said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, “is lost, Luna. That’s sort of the point.”
Ginny tuned out the conversation, contemplating why Harry would be looking for Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem. How could an old, lost accessory be of any use in the fight against Voldemort? Why was it so important that he would come back to Hogwarts looking for it?
Her attention was caught back when Harry swayed slightly and his eyes looked off into middle space, apparently seeing something that was not there. He whispered something to Ron and Hermione, then glanced at Cho, and back to them. “I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going to go and look at this statue,” -Ginny wondered what statue he meant- “at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know… the other one… safe.”
Cho jumped to her feet, ready to volunteer to lead Harry to Ravenclaw Tower, and Ginny burst out, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you, Luna?” She may not have still been in love with Harry, but having been for so long, she was protective of him. She remembered the fiasco with Cho and was reluctant to leave Harry in her clutches.
“Oooh, yes, I’d like to,” said Luna happily, and Cho sat down again, looking disappointed.
Harry and Luna left and the room exploded into mayhem. Everyone had a speculation about Harry’s mission. After a while, Ron and Hermione began mumbling to each other again, looking edgy and nervous. They said something about a bathroom and snuck out the door.
The tunnel opened up again and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur climbed out. Molly embraced Ginny and the twins while Arthur explained to Neville that one of the D.A. members had contacted the Order and that the others were on their way.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin arrived. They were closely followed by Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet.
Pandemonium ensued as everyone began telling their version of the story at the same time. Ginny sat quietly in her chair, her thoughts focused on a certain blond Slytherin. Where was he? What had he been doing these past few weeks?
She tried to catch up with her fellow D.A. members, but found her attention slipping. It was a long time before Harry and Luna came back and people were getting restless and agitated.
When they finally appeared Lupin rushed forward and asked, “Harry, what’s happening?”
Harry replied hurriedly. “Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school… Snape’s run for it… What are you doing here? How did you know?”
Fred explained the chain of events, then George asked loudly, “What’s first, Harry? What’s going on?”
“They’re evacuating the younger kids and everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” Harry said. “We’re fighting.”
Molly pulled Ginny up out of the chair and began pushing her towards the tunnel. “Mum!” Ginny cried.
Molly turned wide, frantic eyes on her daughter. “Come along, dear. That’s it! G-go back to the Hog’s Head, then Apparate home. No matter that you don’t have your license, we’ll just…”
“Mum!” Ginny said again. “I can’t just leave! How could I?”
“You’ll be safe at the Burrow, dear,” Molly went on as if she hadn’t heard. “Well, safer at any rate. Come on, Ginny! Don’t dawdle!”
“Mum!” Ginny exclaimed, yanking her arm backwards to keep from being pulled along. “You can’t expect me to leave. The battle’s about to start! I have to fight!”
“You’re underage!” Molly shouted, ignoring Harry’s approach and still trying to get Ginny into the passage. “I won’t permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you’ve got to go home!”
“I won’t!” Ginny cried, finally getting her arm free. “I’m in Dumbledore’s Army…”
“A teenager’s gang!” Molly cut in.
“A teenager’s gang that’s about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!” said Fred, unexpectedly coming to Ginny’s defense.
“She’s sixteen!” Molly shouted. “She’s not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you…”
Fred and George looked sheepish while Bill said, “Mum’s right, Ginny. You can’t do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it’s only right.”
“I can’t go home!” Ginny said forcefully, feeling tears spring to her eyes. “My whole family’s here, I can’t stand waiting there alone and not knowing and…” She turned to look at Harry, hoping he would understand.
He shook his head and she turned away angrily. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll say good-bye now, then and…”
She was cut off by a loud thump as someone tumbled out of the tunnel and fell over. He used a chair to pull himself up and looked about the room, his horn-rimmed glasses half off his nose. “Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I… I…”
The entire Weasley family stared in shock at Percy, who trailed off and stared back. After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Fleur turned to Lupin and asked desperately, “So… ‘ow eez leetle Teddy?”
Lupin looked startled before replying loudly, “I… oh yes… he’s fine! Yes, Tonks is with him… at her mother’s… Here, I’ve got a picture!”
Suddenly Percy yelled, “I was a fool! I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a… a…”
“Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,” Fred supplied.
Percy gulped. “Yes, I was!”
“Well, you can’t say fairer than that,” Fred said, holding out his hand to Percy.
Molly burst into tears. She ran forward and pushed Fred aside to pull Percy into a strangling hug while he patted her on the back, his eyes on Arthur. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he said.
Arthur blinked quickly and hurried to wrap Percy in a hug of his own.
As the family caught up, Ginny sneaked forward, trying to get up the stairs to leave the room. If she could make it out she could find Draco before the battle started. They could talk about their argument and…
“Ginny!” Molly yelled. She’d spotted her just as she was about to make it out. Ginny came back down the stairs she had managed and folded her arms as she leaned against the wall grumpily.
“Molly, how about this,” said Lupin. “Why doesn’t Ginny stay here, then at least she’ll be on the scene and know what’s going on, but she won’t be in the middle of the fighting?”
“That’s a good idea,” Arthur said firmly, cutting off both Ginny’s and Molly’s protests. “Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?”
She wanted to argue so badly. She wasn’t a child, after all. Well, technically she was, but really, in a war one grows up so much more quickly than normal. But at her father’s stern look, Ginny nodded her head.
The others started preparing to leave and Ginny watched them glumly. She vaguely heard Harry ask where Ron and Hermione were and Arthur mumble something.
“They said something about a bathroom,” she said, “not long after you left.”
“A bathroom?” Harry asked. Then he walked away without another word.
Ginny plopped down on one of the hammocks beneath the Hufflepuff banner and ignored the rest of the room.
Before she knew it, she was alone. She could hear people running around frantically, and shouts, but she couldn’t tell what was going on. This was almost worse than not being here at all.
A couple minutes later, the door opened and a crowd of students jostled each other to try to get in ahead of the others. Everyone who was underage and all the Slytherins were lining up to go through the tunnel into the Hog’s Head.
Ginny stood up and began searching for a familiar shock of white-blond hair. She finally spotted him, just as he was being pushed into the tunnel. “Draco!”
He turned around and his wide grey eyes locked with hers. He opened his mouth, but someone shoved him, anxious to make their own way through. He stumbled out of sight as more people climbed in after him.
It took almost half an hour to get all the students through. Several fights broke out over who would get to go first, but finally it was over, quiet ringing out once again. Ginny sat back on the hammock and waited. She kind of hoped that Draco would come back through.
It wasn’t long before the door swung open again. Ginny jumped up and ran forward, but it was only Tonks. Her face fell, but she quickly caught herself and smiled. “Tonks!” she exclaimed.
Tonks smiled back a bit shakily. “Where is everyone?” she asked, quickly scanning the empty room.
“They’ve all gone to fight,” Ginny said, her own gaze drifting up to the door leading to the school. “They told me to… to wait for you,” she finished in a rush. “Lupin suspected you’d come.”
Tonks looked at her suspiciously, but then the door opened again. Once more Ginny looked up in anticipation, only to come face to face with an old woman who was wearing a moth-eaten hat with a vulture atop it. She could only be Neville’s grandmother.
“Well, hello there,” Mrs. Longbottom said. “You must be Ginny Weasley.” She stuck out her hand and Ginny took it, mildly startled. “Neville’s told me so much about all of his friends, I’d know you anywhere.”
She turned and shook Tonks’ hand as well. “Come on then. We don’t want to miss this.” Waving her wand at the tunnel, the old woman made her way up the stairs. Ginny and Tonks shrugged at each other and followed.
They’d just reached the bottom step when Harry, Ron, and Hermione came flying down. “Ah, Potter,” Mrs. Longbottom said. “You can tell us what’s going on.”
“Is everyone okay?” Ginny and Tonks asked at the same time.
“As far as we know,” Harry replied. “Are there still people in the passage to the Hog’s Head?”
“I was the last to come through,” said Mrs. Longbottom. “I sealed it…”
Ginny’s heart dropped, and she didn’t hear the rest. Sealed it. That meant that no one could use it anymore. Draco wouldn’t be coming back to the school. She came back to the present as Mrs. Longbottom ran, actually ran, out the door.
Harry turned to Tonks and said, “I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother’s?”
“I couldn’t stand not knowing…” she replied with a look that echoed how Ginny felt. “She’ll look after him. Have you seen Remus?”
“He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds…” Tonks was gone before Harry could finish.
He looked at Ginny and said, “Ginny, I’m sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in.”
Ginny nearly laughed with relief as she hurried off toward the battle. Harry shouted after her, “And then you can come back in! You’ve got to come back in!"
As if, Ginny thought. She got to the entrance hall, stopping now and again to throw a curse out of a window at the advancing Death Eaters, and skidded to a stop.
People were running everywhere, trying to get organized. There were sounds of fighting from outside, and from up the stairs Ginny could hear several voices yelling spells. The battle had begun.
The enormous front doors opened and the Death Eaters charged into the entrance hall, eliciting screams from those standing nearby. Ginny stunned the first two while people came from all directions to meet the invaders. She was soon caught up in a duel with one of the masked figures.
Someone managed to catch the doors on fire so the Death Eaters had to jump through, two or three at a time. This made it a little easier to fight them, as they couldn’t all charge at the same time. That is until one of them got smart and put out the fire.
Death Eaters poured through the opening faster than the Hogwarts fighters could fire spells. Ginny found herself face to face with two Death Eaters now, both shooting at her with surprising speed. She was only just able to deflect the curses as she was forced slowly backwards.
Suddenly someone slammed into her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. At the same time, someone screamed the killing curse and another shouted a stunner. Whoever had hit Ginny collapsed on top of her, crushing her to the stone floor.
She twisted desperately, trying to get out. She caught a glimpse of pale blond hair and a scream caught in her throat. When she finally managed to sit up, her worst fear was confirmed. Draco lay there limply, half in her lap.
Ginny dragged him behind a statue, blocking a spell as she went, gasping for air. “No, no, no!” she said pleadingly. “Merlin, please no!”
Praying harder than ever that he’d only been hit with the stunner and not, God forbid, Avada Kedavra, Ginny held her wand shakily over his head and stammered, “E-enervate!”
Draco’s eyes flew open and Ginny collapsed onto his chest, sobbing hysterically, “Oh, thank you! Thank you! He pulled himself up and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand tangling in her hair. He planted a long kiss on top of her head and whispered,” I love you, Gin.”
“I love you, too,” Ginny said, sniffling. “And I’m sorry we fought.”
“Me too.”
They kissed fiercely, almost desperately, and sat there for another minute, unwilling to let go to return to the fight, until a misfired spell caused the statue to crumble around them. As if it was a cue they’d both been waiting for, they jumped up, firing spells, hand in hand.
Eventually they were torn apart by the crush of fighting students, teachers, and Order members. Ginny engaged with three Death Eaters, Luna by her side. She looked around when she could, searching for a glimpse of Draco.
That’s when she saw a Death Eater shoot a spell into the crowd and slink down a hallway. Ginny stunned one of her opponents and took off after him.
For nearly a year the Trio had been gone, doing Merlin only knew what. It had all been this great secret and they hadn’t told anyone, but they were hopeful that their success would bring an end to Voldemort and his destruction. For good this time.
Ginny, Fred, George and the twins' friend, Lee Jordan, all made a mad dash for the school (Ginny had gone to stay with them near the end; strength in numbers and all that), Apparating straight into the Hog’s Head as Neville had instructed. They passed through a tiny tunnel hidden in a painting and eventually came out in the Room of Requirement.
Dean Thomas and Luna had arrived just before and Ginny exchanged a smile with her friend. Luna grinned dreamily and glanced significantly around the room.
Ginny had never seen anything like it. The room was divided into sections by house, banners hung from the walls like miniature common rooms. Slytherin was the only one not represented. There were hammocks in each section and bulging bookshelves along the walls with books varying in subject from Muggle fiction to Hogwarts: A History.
Students crowded around, all talking at once in excitement and curiosity. Bits of conversation could be heard, but not enough to make any sense. Ginny stood between Fred and George, who were busy cracking jokes, and surveyed the scene. It looked almost the same as a normal D.A. meeting with only one exception.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing together, seeming slightly separate from the rest of the group. They looked so different; grown up and tired. They looked as if they’d lived ten years in their comparatively short time away from home.
Harry looked up as they were coming in and Ginny gave him a smile. Ron and Hermione were standing shoulder to shoulder behind him. They all looked a little surprised.
“Aberforth’s getting a bit annoyed,” said Fred, speaking of Dumbledore’s brother, the owner of the Hog’s Head. He raised his hand in greeting to the other students. “He wants a kip and his bar’s turned into a railway station.”
At that moment, Cho Chang climbed through the tunnel. “I got the message,” she said in a soft voice, holding up her fake Galleon with a dazzling smile at Harry.
“So what’s the plan, Harry?” asked George with the air of one ready for a fight.
“There isn’t one,” said Harry. He looked a little dazed and he had a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Fred chuckled. “Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind.”
Harry turned to Neville. “You’ve got to stop this! What did you call them back for? This is insane.”
A couple of other people spoke up with their two bits, then Ron pulled Harry aside and the Trio had a mini-conference. They spoke in hushed voices for a minute so that even those who were leaning close could not hear.
Then Harry turned back and called, “Okay!” All noise stopped and everyone looked at him expectantly. “There’s something we need to find. Something… something that’ll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It’s here at Hogwarts, but we don’t know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?”
He looked over towards the Ravenclaws and Luna piped up. “Well, there’s her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy’s trying to duplicate it.”
“Yeah, but the lost diadem,” said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, “is lost, Luna. That’s sort of the point.”
Ginny tuned out the conversation, contemplating why Harry would be looking for Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem. How could an old, lost accessory be of any use in the fight against Voldemort? Why was it so important that he would come back to Hogwarts looking for it?
Her attention was caught back when Harry swayed slightly and his eyes looked off into middle space, apparently seeing something that was not there. He whispered something to Ron and Hermione, then glanced at Cho, and back to them. “I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going to go and look at this statue,” -Ginny wondered what statue he meant- “at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know… the other one… safe.”
Cho jumped to her feet, ready to volunteer to lead Harry to Ravenclaw Tower, and Ginny burst out, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you, Luna?” She may not have still been in love with Harry, but having been for so long, she was protective of him. She remembered the fiasco with Cho and was reluctant to leave Harry in her clutches.
“Oooh, yes, I’d like to,” said Luna happily, and Cho sat down again, looking disappointed.
Harry and Luna left and the room exploded into mayhem. Everyone had a speculation about Harry’s mission. After a while, Ron and Hermione began mumbling to each other again, looking edgy and nervous. They said something about a bathroom and snuck out the door.
The tunnel opened up again and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur climbed out. Molly embraced Ginny and the twins while Arthur explained to Neville that one of the D.A. members had contacted the Order and that the others were on their way.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin arrived. They were closely followed by Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet.
Pandemonium ensued as everyone began telling their version of the story at the same time. Ginny sat quietly in her chair, her thoughts focused on a certain blond Slytherin. Where was he? What had he been doing these past few weeks?
She tried to catch up with her fellow D.A. members, but found her attention slipping. It was a long time before Harry and Luna came back and people were getting restless and agitated.
When they finally appeared Lupin rushed forward and asked, “Harry, what’s happening?”
Harry replied hurriedly. “Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school… Snape’s run for it… What are you doing here? How did you know?”
Fred explained the chain of events, then George asked loudly, “What’s first, Harry? What’s going on?”
“They’re evacuating the younger kids and everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” Harry said. “We’re fighting.”
Molly pulled Ginny up out of the chair and began pushing her towards the tunnel. “Mum!” Ginny cried.
Molly turned wide, frantic eyes on her daughter. “Come along, dear. That’s it! G-go back to the Hog’s Head, then Apparate home. No matter that you don’t have your license, we’ll just…”
“Mum!” Ginny said again. “I can’t just leave! How could I?”
“You’ll be safe at the Burrow, dear,” Molly went on as if she hadn’t heard. “Well, safer at any rate. Come on, Ginny! Don’t dawdle!”
“Mum!” Ginny exclaimed, yanking her arm backwards to keep from being pulled along. “You can’t expect me to leave. The battle’s about to start! I have to fight!”
“You’re underage!” Molly shouted, ignoring Harry’s approach and still trying to get Ginny into the passage. “I won’t permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you’ve got to go home!”
“I won’t!” Ginny cried, finally getting her arm free. “I’m in Dumbledore’s Army…”
“A teenager’s gang!” Molly cut in.
“A teenager’s gang that’s about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!” said Fred, unexpectedly coming to Ginny’s defense.
“She’s sixteen!” Molly shouted. “She’s not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you…”
Fred and George looked sheepish while Bill said, “Mum’s right, Ginny. You can’t do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it’s only right.”
“I can’t go home!” Ginny said forcefully, feeling tears spring to her eyes. “My whole family’s here, I can’t stand waiting there alone and not knowing and…” She turned to look at Harry, hoping he would understand.
He shook his head and she turned away angrily. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll say good-bye now, then and…”
She was cut off by a loud thump as someone tumbled out of the tunnel and fell over. He used a chair to pull himself up and looked about the room, his horn-rimmed glasses half off his nose. “Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I… I…”
The entire Weasley family stared in shock at Percy, who trailed off and stared back. After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Fleur turned to Lupin and asked desperately, “So… ‘ow eez leetle Teddy?”
Lupin looked startled before replying loudly, “I… oh yes… he’s fine! Yes, Tonks is with him… at her mother’s… Here, I’ve got a picture!”
Suddenly Percy yelled, “I was a fool! I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a… a…”
“Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,” Fred supplied.
Percy gulped. “Yes, I was!”
“Well, you can’t say fairer than that,” Fred said, holding out his hand to Percy.
Molly burst into tears. She ran forward and pushed Fred aside to pull Percy into a strangling hug while he patted her on the back, his eyes on Arthur. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he said.
Arthur blinked quickly and hurried to wrap Percy in a hug of his own.
As the family caught up, Ginny sneaked forward, trying to get up the stairs to leave the room. If she could make it out she could find Draco before the battle started. They could talk about their argument and…
“Ginny!” Molly yelled. She’d spotted her just as she was about to make it out. Ginny came back down the stairs she had managed and folded her arms as she leaned against the wall grumpily.
“Molly, how about this,” said Lupin. “Why doesn’t Ginny stay here, then at least she’ll be on the scene and know what’s going on, but she won’t be in the middle of the fighting?”
“That’s a good idea,” Arthur said firmly, cutting off both Ginny’s and Molly’s protests. “Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?”
She wanted to argue so badly. She wasn’t a child, after all. Well, technically she was, but really, in a war one grows up so much more quickly than normal. But at her father’s stern look, Ginny nodded her head.
The others started preparing to leave and Ginny watched them glumly. She vaguely heard Harry ask where Ron and Hermione were and Arthur mumble something.
“They said something about a bathroom,” she said, “not long after you left.”
“A bathroom?” Harry asked. Then he walked away without another word.
Ginny plopped down on one of the hammocks beneath the Hufflepuff banner and ignored the rest of the room.
Before she knew it, she was alone. She could hear people running around frantically, and shouts, but she couldn’t tell what was going on. This was almost worse than not being here at all.
A couple minutes later, the door opened and a crowd of students jostled each other to try to get in ahead of the others. Everyone who was underage and all the Slytherins were lining up to go through the tunnel into the Hog’s Head.
Ginny stood up and began searching for a familiar shock of white-blond hair. She finally spotted him, just as he was being pushed into the tunnel. “Draco!”
He turned around and his wide grey eyes locked with hers. He opened his mouth, but someone shoved him, anxious to make their own way through. He stumbled out of sight as more people climbed in after him.
It took almost half an hour to get all the students through. Several fights broke out over who would get to go first, but finally it was over, quiet ringing out once again. Ginny sat back on the hammock and waited. She kind of hoped that Draco would come back through.
It wasn’t long before the door swung open again. Ginny jumped up and ran forward, but it was only Tonks. Her face fell, but she quickly caught herself and smiled. “Tonks!” she exclaimed.
Tonks smiled back a bit shakily. “Where is everyone?” she asked, quickly scanning the empty room.
“They’ve all gone to fight,” Ginny said, her own gaze drifting up to the door leading to the school. “They told me to… to wait for you,” she finished in a rush. “Lupin suspected you’d come.”
Tonks looked at her suspiciously, but then the door opened again. Once more Ginny looked up in anticipation, only to come face to face with an old woman who was wearing a moth-eaten hat with a vulture atop it. She could only be Neville’s grandmother.
“Well, hello there,” Mrs. Longbottom said. “You must be Ginny Weasley.” She stuck out her hand and Ginny took it, mildly startled. “Neville’s told me so much about all of his friends, I’d know you anywhere.”
She turned and shook Tonks’ hand as well. “Come on then. We don’t want to miss this.” Waving her wand at the tunnel, the old woman made her way up the stairs. Ginny and Tonks shrugged at each other and followed.
They’d just reached the bottom step when Harry, Ron, and Hermione came flying down. “Ah, Potter,” Mrs. Longbottom said. “You can tell us what’s going on.”
“Is everyone okay?” Ginny and Tonks asked at the same time.
“As far as we know,” Harry replied. “Are there still people in the passage to the Hog’s Head?”
“I was the last to come through,” said Mrs. Longbottom. “I sealed it…”
Ginny’s heart dropped, and she didn’t hear the rest. Sealed it. That meant that no one could use it anymore. Draco wouldn’t be coming back to the school. She came back to the present as Mrs. Longbottom ran, actually ran, out the door.
Harry turned to Tonks and said, “I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother’s?”
“I couldn’t stand not knowing…” she replied with a look that echoed how Ginny felt. “She’ll look after him. Have you seen Remus?”
“He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds…” Tonks was gone before Harry could finish.
He looked at Ginny and said, “Ginny, I’m sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in.”
Ginny nearly laughed with relief as she hurried off toward the battle. Harry shouted after her, “And then you can come back in! You’ve got to come back in!"
As if, Ginny thought. She got to the entrance hall, stopping now and again to throw a curse out of a window at the advancing Death Eaters, and skidded to a stop.
People were running everywhere, trying to get organized. There were sounds of fighting from outside, and from up the stairs Ginny could hear several voices yelling spells. The battle had begun.
The enormous front doors opened and the Death Eaters charged into the entrance hall, eliciting screams from those standing nearby. Ginny stunned the first two while people came from all directions to meet the invaders. She was soon caught up in a duel with one of the masked figures.
Someone managed to catch the doors on fire so the Death Eaters had to jump through, two or three at a time. This made it a little easier to fight them, as they couldn’t all charge at the same time. That is until one of them got smart and put out the fire.
Death Eaters poured through the opening faster than the Hogwarts fighters could fire spells. Ginny found herself face to face with two Death Eaters now, both shooting at her with surprising speed. She was only just able to deflect the curses as she was forced slowly backwards.
Suddenly someone slammed into her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. At the same time, someone screamed the killing curse and another shouted a stunner. Whoever had hit Ginny collapsed on top of her, crushing her to the stone floor.
She twisted desperately, trying to get out. She caught a glimpse of pale blond hair and a scream caught in her throat. When she finally managed to sit up, her worst fear was confirmed. Draco lay there limply, half in her lap.
Ginny dragged him behind a statue, blocking a spell as she went, gasping for air. “No, no, no!” she said pleadingly. “Merlin, please no!”
Praying harder than ever that he’d only been hit with the stunner and not, God forbid, Avada Kedavra, Ginny held her wand shakily over his head and stammered, “E-enervate!”
Draco’s eyes flew open and Ginny collapsed onto his chest, sobbing hysterically, “Oh, thank you! Thank you! He pulled himself up and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand tangling in her hair. He planted a long kiss on top of her head and whispered,” I love you, Gin.”
“I love you, too,” Ginny said, sniffling. “And I’m sorry we fought.”
“Me too.”
They kissed fiercely, almost desperately, and sat there for another minute, unwilling to let go to return to the fight, until a misfired spell caused the statue to crumble around them. As if it was a cue they’d both been waiting for, they jumped up, firing spells, hand in hand.
Eventually they were torn apart by the crush of fighting students, teachers, and Order members. Ginny engaged with three Death Eaters, Luna by her side. She looked around when she could, searching for a glimpse of Draco.
That’s when she saw a Death Eater shoot a spell into the crowd and slink down a hallway. Ginny stunned one of her opponents and took off after him.
Author notes: A bit of an action-packed chapter for you people. I thought it was kind of exciting! Please let me know what you thought about it. I really do enjoy 'hearing'! Thank you to 4everdandg, Noel, Nakita, choravenclaw, and raye for reviewing! Loves!
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