** As the series by JKR was completed in July 2007, this story is now A/U. I have one more chapter I had written prior to the release of Half-Blood Prince and may upload it here. Disclaimer: All characters, settings, etc. belong to JKR, etc. etc.
Chapter One
"Ginny! Look out!" Harry shouted across the dark chamber.
Ginny leapt to the side as flashes of red cut across her path. Her legs burned but she ran as fast as they would carry her, willing herself to reach Harry.
"You can't save her." cried Bellatrix Black, her voice filled with malice, dodging Harry's curses as she chased after Ginny. She raised her wand, and Ginny's ears were filled with a rushing sound. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak. She stood frozen as Bellatrix shot a stream of green light straight at her.
"NO!"Harry reached Ginny just in time, knocking her to the ground. He then stood to face Bellatrix.
"You'll have to do better than that!" he mocked.
"No, Harry! Don't!" Ginny yelled in panic.
Flashes of red light flew towards Harry, and jumped aside to avoid them. Ginny struggled towards him, but he raised his hand to stop her just as the final red beam hit him directly in the chest. Harry fell backwards towards the black veiled archway, and then he was gone.
"Harry! HARRY!" Ginny screamed, her heart beating like a hammer in her chest. All around her the Death Eaters and Order members continued to fight, but Harry, oh Merlin, Harry was gone. She crawled up to the dais and towards the veil, praying that it wasn't real, that he simply fell on the other side. Beyond the veil, she heard whispers ... was it Harry's voice? Her hands fell to the ground, where he had stood only a moment ago. Tears leaked from her eyes onto the ground, and she felt as though her entire body was shaking with anguish. Somewhere behind her Bellatrix was laughing, a deep and wicked laugh.
Anger welled up in Ginny's heart like nothing she had ever felt before. She rose to her feet and turned, determination mingling with the pain and disbelief in her heart. A wand was lying on the ground beside the dais, and she found it in her hands without thinking twice. Bellatrix was finished laughing, and her eyes narrowed as Ginny stood there with the wand shaking in her hand.
"Did you LOVE him, little girl?" Bellatrix shouted in a sickly sing-song voice. "Did you think your hero would love you back, and that you'd live happily ever after?"
Bellatrix skipped down the steps towards the base of the dais, her eyes fixed on Ginny's. They were dark and hooded, with an emptiness in them that made Ginny doubt that she was human.
"Are you going to attack me now? To get me back for killing your lover boy?" Bellatrix continued.
"SHUT UP!" Ginny yelled, rage boiling in every cell of her being. She ran straight at Bellatrix, which took both of them by surprise. Ginny raised the wand and pointed it straight between Bellatrix's eyes, which widened with apparent fear, and then relaxed.
"You can't do it, can you? The Killing Curse isn't like levitation, sweetie. You don't have enough hatred in you to do it!" Bellatrix challenged, her lips curling into an evil, twisted smile.
Ginny smiled back, her own features twisted with an ugliness she never knew existed within her. Her own experience with Voldemort had left its impression on her soul, a deep well of darkness that now surfaced for the first time since her first year of school.
"Honey, I don't think ANYONE has EVER hated anyone as much as I hate you right now," Ginny whispered, her words dripping with venom.
She held her wand there for an eternity-filled moment, and then found the words slipping from her tongue with ease.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Ginny awoke with a start, breathing in short gasps and sweating profusely. She shook her head to clear it and her surroundings came into focus slowly.
"Ginny? Are you okay?" came Ron's voice from behind her closed bedroom door.
She raised her hands to her face to wipe away the sweat beads and realized that she was also crying. Quickly mopping away the mingled tears and perspiration, she called out to Ron that she was fine, but he had already opened the door and was peering inside. Despite the darkness, moonlight streamed directly onto her bed, and he could easily see the state she was in. Quietly, Ron shut the door behind him and tiptoed over to sit on the edge of Ginny's bed.
"Was it about Death Eaters again?" he asked softly.
Ginny tried to laugh and tell him no, but what came out was more of a miserable sob. Ron nodded wisely, his brow furrowed. Though he would never tell any of their other brothers or friends, Ginny knew that Ron had his share of nightmares too. The horror they had endured in the Department of Mysteries at the end of last term had a lasting effect on both siblings. Ginny also knew that whatever they had experienced, it had been nothing compared to the pain and loss that Harry was now feeling.
"Have you heard anything from Harry?" she asked Ron, though she knew the answer.
"He says everything is fine." Ron replied, and Ginny heard a slight edge in his voice. Ron's best friend was shutting him out, and she knew it hurt her brother a great deal. It hurt Harry's other best friend, Hermione, as well. Even Ginny felt the aching loss of Harry's confidence, though she never really had it like Ron and Hermione did. All the adults had made countless attempts to reach out to the orphaned boy, but Harry continually gave them the same responses ... he was fine, he didn't need anything, he didn't want to talk about anything. Everyone could tell that Harry was deeply scarred by the death of his godfather, Sirius Black.
Ginny's dream rushed back to her with a start. It wasn't Harry they had lost behind the veil. It was Sirius.
Dark and brooding ... yes, that was Sirius Black. Yet there were times, though few and far between, when Ginny had seen a different Sirius, a happy and handsome Sirius. He had a glow about him that sometimes came from continuous rounds of Firewhiskey and talking about Harry, or talking about James Potter, or talking about both.
"James was fantastic on a broom, you should have seen him Ginny!" Sirius told her one night at Grimmauld Place, when all the others had gone to sleep. Ginny kept pouring flagons of Firewhiskey, hoping that it would keep Sirius talking about James Potter, so that she could keep talking about Harry too.
"So is Harry, Sirius! He's amazing. It's like he was born to fly or something!" she told him enthusiastically. Normally, she wouldn't allow herself to talk so openly about Harry ... after all, she had worked so hard to convince everyone that she was truly over him, once and for all. But with Sirius it was different, partially because she knew he loved talking about Harry as much as she did, and also because after three or four Firewhiskeys, he wouldn't remember what she said in the morning anyway.
"Just like James," said Sirius, his dark eyes twinkling. He launched into a story about a particularly difficult match against Ravenclaw, which at the time boasted Diana Shillwinger as their star Chaser and Captain.
"Diana was a tough one, Gin, because she was tiny and quick ... she didn't look like she'd be up for much, which made all her opponents underestimate her. But James didn't, no sir! Besides, he wasn't starry-eyed over Diana cause he was already over the moon for Lily by then!"
Ginny sat up. Sirius told wonderful tales about the romance between Harry's parents, and they were some of her favorite stories.
"Lily wouldn't even look his way then, no matter how much he tried! Oh, how I used to tease him! He just couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong! But then in our seventh year they joined the Order, and well, when you're united on such an important task and you're both passionate about it ... something's bound to happen, right?" he tipped his flagon towards Ginny again.
"Something's bound to happen." She repeated dreamily as she filled the flagon for the fifth time.
"Yes, something's bound to happen. Don't you worry, Ginny. Something's bound to happen." He winked at her.
Ginny gaped at him. Was Sirius talking about her ... and Harry? He couldn't know ... she hadn't as much as said anything! Except about how wonderful Harry was at Quidditch and how brave he was. How noble he was in his second Triwizard task when he tried to save all the hostages, and how he stood up to Malfoy whenever he said anything about Harry's friends. About how Mrs. Weasley had inherited one pair of beautiful emerald earrings exactly the same color as Harry's eyes and had already promised them to Ginny someday.
"Sirius, I ... I mean I never ... I ..." she stammered, blushing deeply.
Sirius chuckled and patted her knee. "No worries, Ginny-girl. I won't rat on you. But I've got to say, he's a fool if he lets you walk away."
"I have a boyfriend, Sirius." She said feebly, staring into the crackling fire and hoping the heat in her cheeks would subside.
"Yeah, well, I'm no expert on the subject," Sirius yawned and stretched as he rose from the armchair by the fire. "All I know is that there's something there. Goodnight Ginny."
"Goodnight Sirius." Ginny responded, still looking deep in the flames as though the answers to life were hidden there.
"Ginny?" Sirius asked from the doorway.
"Yes?" she said coming out of her reverie.
"If something should ever happen to me, will you look out for Harry for me? Just make sure that he's happy?" Sirius said, looking uncharacteristically grave.
"Nothing's going to happen to you." she said simply.
"Just say you'll take care of him. You'll do whatever you can to make sure he's happy?" Sirius asked, his voice wavering slightly.
"Of course I will." She smiled at him, and his deep grey eyes brightened slightly.
"Thank you Ginny." He said, and slipped out of the room.
That was the last time she ever saw Sirius Black.
Ginny gazed out her window at the starry sky, comforted by her brother's presence. She knew Ron missed Sirius too, and had his own memories of him. Only Ron knew about the many nights that Ginny stayed awake with Sirius, discussing their fears for Harry.
"Don't worry Ginny," said Ron, attempting to sound self-assured for his sister. "Harry's okay. He's got Dumbledore and the entire Order looking out for him."
"Are we okay, Ron?" she asked in a small voice, not wanting to sound afraid but unable to disguise it.
Ron moved closer to pat Ginny's arm. "We're okay, Ginny. We're okay. Now you get some sleep alright?" He got up from her bed and headed for the doorway.
"Ron?" Ginny called to him.
"Yeah?" He paused and turned his head.
"Thanks." she managed, unable to say more.
Ron smiled sadly at his little sister, and closed the door behind him.
