A/N: I really love writing Ginny. Like, I really love her.
Please R/R, and follow me, because I'll be trying to post more often!
Written for The Hunger Games Fanfic Style III Competition. Prompts listed at the bottom.
Until the Very End
Ginny was halfway up the stairs to the fifth floor when she heard it: the faint echo of a high-pitched scream, followed swiftly by muffled shouting.
She stopped dead, whirling around. A surly seventh-year smacked straight into her, swore loudly, and shoved past her, stalking up the stairs, but she hardly paid him any attention. She was already moving back down the staircase, fighting her way through the throng of people who were heading back to their common rooms for free period.
The normally packed third floor corridor was deserted; clearly, people had fled at the sounds of conflict, which were now steadily growing louder. Thinking quickly, Ginny ducked behind a tapestry, nestling back into the alcove concealed behind it.
"Thought you could spy on us, did you?" came a furious snarl.
There was a bang and a shriek of pain.
"Please!" cried a tiny voice. Ginny clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her sharp gasp; it was a boy's voice, and he sounded incredibly young. Holding her breath, Ginny shifted very slightly so that she could peer out into the hallway through the crack between the tapestry and the wall.
Two figures came into view, one much taller than the other. Ginny recognized the sloping shoulders and stocky build of Alecto Carrow, who had hold of a small boy's ear and was dragging him down the corridor, despite his squeaked protestations.
"Answer me, filth!" Carrow snapped, tugging the boy's ear so hard that his feet left the ground momentarily. He squealed in pain. "What were you doing in that corridor, boy? Trying to gain information for your precious Order, were you?"
"I was lost! I got lost! Please!" the boy squealed, cowering helplessly.
"Got lost, didja?" Carrow spat. "In that exact corridor, where me and my brother was talking? Likely story, innit?"
"Maybe you shouldn't have private conversations where anyone can hear you, then."
Simmering with rage, Ginny had stepped out from behind the tapestry, drawing her wand. Carrow spun around at her words, her face contorting into a snarl.
"Well, well," she breathed. "If it ain't the Weasley bitch, sticking her nose where she shouldn't. I oughter throw you in the dungeons for eavesdropping. Maybe you could keep the boy company, eh?" She shook the boy by his ear; he whimpered, his tear-filled eyes meeting Ginny's.
Ginny took a step forward. "Let him go," she said in a clear voice, raising her wand higher.
Carrow only sneered at her. "Threatening a teacher with a wand? That's three weeks' detention right there."
"Teacher?" Ginny scoffed. "You're no teacher. You're a bully and a fraud." She tightened her grip on her wand. "And you're not taking that boy to the dungeons."
Carrow grinned. "Watch me."
They raised their wands at exactly the same time.
"Stupefy!"
"CRUCIO!"
The boy screamed as Ginny's spell missed Carrow by an inch and ricocheted off the wall, shooting over the top of his head. Momentarily distracted, Ginny ducked a second too late and Carrow's spell hit her in the shoulder.
Pain wiped out all thought, blinded her, ripped the breath from her lungs. Her ears were filled with a horrible, piercing scream as the pain went on ceaselessly, mercilessly—
Then it was over. Someone was cackling, the sound bouncing off the walls of the corridor. Ginny laid with her face pressed against the cool stone floor, shuddering and gasping for breath.
"Liked that, didja?" Carrow crowed. "You ain't so proud now, are you?"
Distantly, Ginny heard the terrified, heaving sobs of the boy. She struggled to push herself up; before she could even get to her hands and knees, something hot slashed across her cheek, forcing her to crumple back to the ground.
"And stay there, bitch."
Footsteps shuffled away, the sobs dissipating and fading into silence. Ginny stayed on the ground, drawing in one breath, then another. She was shaking so hard that she didn't think her legs would support her if she tried to stand.
One minute passed, then two; Carrow and the boy had probably reached the dungeons by now. She wondered what they would do to him. Torture him, probably, and chain him up to starve. She saw him in her mind's eye: small, helpless, shaking with fear. Just a kid. He ought to be worried about getting to class on time and whether or not his house would win the Quidditch cup. Instead, he was being punished simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Anger surged through Ginny; without thinking, she pushed herself to her feet. The world swayed around her, and she had to fetch up against the wall for a moment. Then, blood pulsing in her ears, she set off down the corridor.
"Bundimun," she snapped at the Fat Lady five minutes later.
The portrait frowned at her. "I could do with less attitude," she sniffed, but the frame swung forward and admitted her. Still seething, Ginny strode into the common room and flung herself into a chair opposite Neville, who was poring over a lengthy essay.
"Hey, Ginny," he said unconcernedly.
"Ugh."
He chuckled, glancing at her. "What's got you in—what happened to you?" he gasped, doing a double take.
"Ran into Alecto Carrow," said Ginny grumpily, flicking blood away from her cheek.
"Don't tell me you antagonized her," said Neville exasperatedly, handing her his handkerchief. She took it and began to dab at her cut.
"I did, in fact," said Ginny, wincing as the wound stung slightly. "But only because she was dragging a first-year off to be tortured in the dungeons. So I tried to duel her—"
"You what?" said Neville faintly.
"—but then she tortured me—"
"She what?" Neville yelped, accidentally upending his bottle of ink onto his essay.
"—and then she took the kid away before I could help him." The wound had stopped bleeding; muttering a hasty "Scourgify," Ginny handed Neville back his handkerchief. He took it silently.
"Wow," he said finally. "That's…I'm sorry, Ginny. That's awful."
"Yeah."
There was a long silence; Seemingly unsure what to say, Neville gave her an awkward pat on the hand before turning his attention to his essay, which was now drenched in ink. Ginny picked at a hole in the upholstery of her chair, pulling out bits of fluff. None of this was fair. Hogwarts was meant to be a safe haven, a place where children could learn and grow. It was barely three weeks into the school year, and already it was clear that being inside Hogwarts this year was going to be as dangerous as being out of it. Ginny couldn't help but feel that she would have been better off dropping out of school…perhaps joining Harry and the others on their mission…
No, she thought, pulling at the stuffing more ferociously. Don't think about that. Her heart gave a little pang, and she bit down hard on her lip.
"Ginny," said Neville, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You're—er—destroying that chair."
Ginny looked down; she had pulled half the stuffing out of the arm of the chair. "Sorry," she sighed, repairing the chair with a half-hearted wave of her wand. "I just hate this."
Neville smiled sadly, and they lapsed once more into silence. Ginny let her thoughts drift amongst the murmur of conversation around her and the scratch of Neville's quill as he rounded off his essay.
Suddenly, an idea sprang into her head. She sat up straight, brightening. "Hey," she said, turning to Neville. "We should—"
"No," Neville moaned.
She scowled at him. "I haven't even said anything yet!"
"I know that face," said Neville, shaking his head. "It means you've got a mad plan, and I want nothing to do with it."
"Not all my plans are mad!" said Ginny crossly. Neville gave her a look. "All right, most of them are mad," she conceded, "but we can't just sit on our backsides while a first-year is being tortured!"
"You know I agree with you," said Neville, sighing heavily. "But I don't think there's any way we can help him. It's impossible."
Ginny grinned. "Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."
Neville put his head down on his book, groaning. "You're going to convince me to take part in this, aren't you?"
"Yep!"
She explained what she wanted to do. With every word, Neville looked more and more skeptical.
"That's impossible," he said, once she had finished.
"You said that already."
"So, to clarify," Neville said, leaning forward, "you want to sneak out at night, get all the way down to the dungeons, rescue the kid, and make it back without any of the patrolling teachers seeing or hearing us?"
"Yes," said Ginny.
Neville flopped back in his chair. "You're going to be the death of me, Ginny Weasley," he said.
"So you'll help?" Ginny said hopefully.
He sighed. "I'm going to regret it…but yes, I'll help." He gave her a small smile. "Dumbledore's Army, until the very end."
She grinned. "That's the spirit."
The bell rang, signaling the end of their free period; Ginny leapt to her feet, gathering up her bag. "Meet me in the Room of Requirement after dinner," she said. "We should work out all the details if we're going to pull this off."
"Always the optimist," Neville called after her wearily as she hurried out of the common room.
After hastily dodging Peeves, who was lurking on the first floor armed with paint-filled balloons, Ginny arrived in the small antechamber that gave way to the Muggle Studies classroom. The walls, Hermione had once told her, used to be lined with Muggle artifacts; now the cabinets had been stripped, and the walls had been decorated with various drawings and paintings of dull-looking Muggles, many of them bowing to wizards. Ginny felt slightly nauseated. She turned away quickly, searching the room and making a beeline toward the girl with long, dirty-blonde hair.
"Hello, Ginny," said Luna dreamily as she approached. "You've got a cut on your face."
"I know," said Ginny impatiently. "Look, I've got something to—"
"Out of the way!" barked a voice. Alecto Carrow shoved her way through the crowd, unlocking the door to the classroom with a jab of her wand. "Inside," she snapped, and the students filed in quickly, heads bowed. As she passed Carrow, Ginny lifted her chin, keeping her expression stony. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carrow scowl.
"Not there!" Ginny hissed as Luna made to sit in the middle of the classroom. "Here…" She led Luna to the back of the room, choosing the two desks in the corner.
"Right," Carrow said, slamming the door shut. "Today's class will be about Mudbloods."
"Listen," Ginny whispered, leaning over as Carrow began to lecture. "I need you to meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight. It's important."
"Yes, I can tell," said Luna vaguely. "You've got that look in your eye. Like you want to burn something down."
"You bet I do," Ginny muttered. "I want to—"
"Oi! Shut up back there!"
It felt as if something heavy slammed into Ginny's head; she jerked back, gasping in pain. Carrow cackled.
"Pathetic," she sneered. "Want another taste of the Cruciatus, do you?"
Though her blood was boiling, Ginny arranged her features into a calm, bland expression. Carrow wrinkled her nose, seemingly deciding Ginny was not worth her time. Turning away, she continued to lecture the class.
After an excruciating hour of Carrow describing the "many hateful characteristics of Mudbloods," Ginny bolted down her dinner and then immediately headed up to the seventh floor. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was around, she made her way to the bare patch of wall opposite the tapestry of dancing trolls and began to pace.
I need a place to meet…somewhere no one will find us…somewhere safe from the Carrows…
She turned on her heel, pulled open the door that had just appeared, and stepped into the room.
She gasped.
It was an exact replica of the D.A. headquarters. Ginny took in the silk cushions, the shelves stuffed with books with titles like The Dark Arts Outsmarted and Jinxes for the Jinxed, the collection of Dark Detectors along the back wall. She could almost hear Harry's voice, calmly explaining how to produce a Patronus…out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw a glint of silvery light. She swallowed painfully.
"Whoa."
Neville and Luna had arrived. They, too, were gazing around at the room in awe. Smiling slightly, Ginny went over to one of the cushions and plopped herself down on it, beckoning the others over. They joined her.
"Right," she said, tucking her legs beneath her. "I should probably get Luna up to speed, and then we'll need to figure out a plan." Quickly, she recapped the events of the afternoon. "So we just need to figure out how to rescue the kid," she finished.
Luna looked mildly concerned. "I feel like there are a lot of variables in this mission."
"There are," Neville agreed. "We don't even know where the boy is being held. Not to mention if anyone's with him, or whether there are any charms to prevent him from leaving—"
"We'll figure it all out," said Ginny decisively. "I'm not going to bed tonight until that boy is free."
By the time they had formulated a plan, reciting it over and over at Neville's behest, it was nearing ten o'clock.
"I still don't think this is a good idea," said Neville, twisting his hands as Ginny stood up, stretching.
"Look," said Ginny, "I know this is mad. I know it's terrifying. But we can't leave him there. You know we can't."
An odd look crossed Neville's face. "You know what?" he said, springing to his feet. "You're right. I'm tired of being scared and meek and cowardly. The Carrows are monsters, and we've got to fight them, because no one else will!" He threw his shoulders back. "I won't be afraid anymore," he declared. "Let's give them hell."
There was silence.
"That was a beautiful speech," Ginny said finally. Luna nodded sagely.
Neville turned pink. "Thanks," he mumbled.
Grinning, Ginny went over to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening intently. The corridor outside sounded deserted. "Coast is clear," she said to the others. They joined her at the door.
"Ready?" Ginny said.
They nodded. "Let's stage a rescue," said Neville.
Ginny opened the door a crack, peering out. The hallway was empty, the torches burning low. The flickering light cast dancing shadows across the wall, so that the tapestry opposite the Room of Requirement seemed to come to life. Ginny stepped out, beckoning the others to follow. She heard the door close with a soft click behind Luna, and when she glanced around it had disappeared.
"Let's go," she whispered, holding her wand out.
They set off down the through the castle, keeping close to the wall and within the shadows. Occasionally, a teacher would be patrolling nearby, and they would have to press themselves against the wall and wait until they had disappeared around a corner.
It wasn't until they reached the third floor that they ran into trouble. As they rounded a corner, Ginny caught sight of Professor McGonagall at the end of the corridor. Hastily, Ginny pulled Neville and Luna against the wall, and Neville's shoe gave a loud squeak. McGonagall turned toward the sound, raising her wand.
"Who's there?" she called.
Ginny held her breath, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. McGonagall began to slowly approach.
"What's going on?" came a gruff voice.
Ginny's heart sank as Filch joined McGonagall, peering into the darkness. Mrs. Norris's eyes glinted as she emerged from the shadows and pressed herself against Filch's leg, hissing.
"It's nothing, Filch," said McGonagall, sounding a touch irritated. "I thought I heard…"
For a heart-stopping moment, Ginny thought McGonagall's eyes locked with hers. She saw the professor's brow furrow slightly—then, suddenly, McGonagall turned to Filch.
"I believe I saw a student out of bed," she said in a clipped tone. Ginny covered her mouth with her hand, not daring to breathe. "They went this way." To Ginny's surprise, McGonagall pointed up the adjacent corridor, in the opposite direction as Ginny and the others. "Help me look, won't you?"
Grumbling under his breath, Filch followed her. Ginny watched them go around the corner, then let out a long exhale. "That was too close," she whispered.
"It was so nice of Professor McGonagall to help us out," said Luna, smiling after McGonagall.
"What?" said Neville, but Ginny shushed him and continued down the corridor.
Finally, they emerged in a dark stairwell, which descended onto a long hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. Ginny stood on tiptoe to peer into the closest one on the right; it was empty, save for the shackles hanging from the walls and ceiling. The metal clinked softly in the drafty dungeon. Shivering slightly, Ginny began to walk down the hallway, Neville and Luna just behind her.
As they neared the end of the corridor, Ginny became aware of a soft whimpering noise, almost like a wounded animal. She glanced over her shoulder; the others had heard it, too. Carefully, she approached the last door, tapped the handle with a murmur of "Alohomora," and opened the door.
There was the little boy; he was hanging by his wrists from shackles set deep into the ceiling, his little legs dangling several feet above the floor. He lifted his head as they entered.
"Don't hurt me!" he squeaked.
"Shh!" Ginny whispered sharply. "Someone will hear you!"
He gazed at her, his brow furrowing. "I know you," he said in a small voice. "You tried to help me."
"That's right." Ginny approached him cautiously. "And I'm going to help you now. But you have to stay quiet, all right?"
He nodded; he was trembling all over, the shackles rattling. Ginny glanced around for something to help, but the room was empty.
"Help me get up there," she muttered to Neville.
He drew his wand shakily. "Win-wingardium Leviosa!"
Her feet left the ground. She tried not to panic; it was a very different sensation than flying on a broomstick. Determinedly not looking down, she raised her wand and tapped one of the boy's shackles. "Relashio!" It released his wrist, which looked swollen and bruised in the dim light coming from the corridor. He whimpered slightly; he was now dangling from one wrist, high above the ground.
"Don't look down," said Ginny softly. "Look at me, okay?" His terrified eyes met hers. "Hold onto me. I'm going to release the other one."
His arm wrapped around her waist. It was so small that it could barely reach across her. Wrapping her free arm around the boy, Ginny reached up and tapped the other shackle. "Relashio!"
It opened, releasing the boy. With nothing else to hold up his weight, the boy fell heavily on Ginny, sending them both crashing to the ground. Ginny landed hard on her back, smacking her head against the stone floor, and the boy fell on top of her.
At that exact moment, a loud shrieking noise split the air. Luna pulled the boy to his feet as Ginny staggered to her own, clamping her hands over her ears.
"They've put up a detection spell!" Neville shouted over the din. "They know he's escaping!"
Ginny swore. "Run!"
They took off—out the door, back down the corridor, and up the flight of steps. Ginny could hear the thundering of footsteps both behind her and ahead of her—as she reached the top of the steps and skidded around the corner, Ginny found herself face-to-face with both of the Carrows.
"You!" Alecto snarled, whipping out her wand. Behind her, Ginny heard Neville and Luna skitter to a halt.
"Get him out of here!" Ginny shouted as the Carrows began to fire curses at her. She deflected, pressing back against the wall.
Distantly, she heard Luna say, "Hi. I'm Luna. What's your name?"
"Will," whispered the terrified boy.
"Hi, Will. Come with me. We'll get you somewhere safe."
"Don't let the boy escape!" Alecto howled, flinging a curse at Luna and the boy. Neville leapt forward, deflecting it; the jet of light hit the opposite wall, leaving black scorch marks. Luna took the boy's hand and began to run. As Amycus made to follow them, Ginny cried, "Stupefy!" The jet of red light hit him square in the back, and he crumpled. Alecto let out a shriek of frustration, jabbing her wand at Ginny. Somehow, Ginny found herself side by side with Neville as they both held off Alecto, who was growing more and more furious.
At last, as Ginny ducked a jet of electric blue light, Neville shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" and Alecto's limbs sprang together, sending her to the ground with a resounding crash. Ginny fell back against the wall, breathing heavily.
"Nice one," she managed as Neville collapsed beside her.
"You, too," he gasped.
But there was no time to relax; rapid footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing louder. Exchanging a look with Neville, Ginny grabbed his hand and began to run the other way.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" came Filch's shriek. "STUDENTS DUELLING IN THE—AAAARGH!"
Ginny heard him trip over one of the Carrows, landing with a satisfying thump. She picked up her speed, pulling Neville along beside her.
They ran flat out through the castle. By now, the other teachers had heard the commotion and were moving toward the dungeons. Ginny and Neville had to dive through a tapestry, into a secret passage, to avoid running into Flitwick, Slughorn, and Snape as they rushed past. Ginny bounded up the narrow staircase, taking the steps two at a time, with Neville hot on her heels.
"AHHH!"
Ginny whirled around; Neville's foot had sunk through the staircase, and he was wobbling on one leg, waving his arms wildly to keep his balance. With a thrill of horror, Ginny heard the footsteps on the other side of the tapestry stop, then pick up again, growing louder; someone had heard Neville scream. Frantically, Ginny hurried back down and seized Neville under the arms, attempting to yank him out of the step.
"Pull harder!" said Neville in a panicked voice as the footsteps grew ever nearer.
"I can't!" Ginny gasped, heaving at him.
"Yes, you can!"
"Oh, look, your words of affirmation have magically made it possible!" Ginny snapped.
"This is not the time to—"
With an enormous effort, Ginny pulled one last time—and Neville's leg came free.
"Go! Go!" he shouted just as the tapestry was ripped aside; there was a shout from below as they bolted up the stairs, whipping around the corner. Ginny ducked as a jet of white light shot over her head; she smelled singed hair.
"In here!" she hissed, pulling Neville to the side; they dashed through a door that was pretending to be a solid wall and up another narrow staircase, finding themselves on the seventh-floor corridor. Down the hall, Luna's head was poking out of the Room of Requirement.
"Hurry!" she called out.
Ginny ran forward as Luna opened the door wide, and she and Neville threw themselves into it with not a second to spare; the moment the door closed and locked, they heard shouting down the corridor. Ginny, gasping for breath, pressed up against the door, distinctly hearing McGonagall cry in frustration, "This is absolutely pointless! I will not be chasing students up and down the castle all night!"
There was a murmur of response, but McGonagall drowned it out. "Perhaps, Alecto, if you learned to discipline with less violence, you would have fewer rebellions on your hands. As it is, I do not think we will be finding whoever these rulebreakers are tonight. So if you'll excuse me, I am going to bed."
Footsteps echoed away. Ginny let out a low exhale, sagging against the door. Neville sank down onto one of the cushions with a moan of relief. The boy, Will, was sitting on another one, pale and unsteady-looking. Luna crossed the room and sat beside him, smiling reassuringly.
"Are you all right?" Ginny asked Will. He looked a little startled, but nodded. Ginny went over to him, kneeling on one of the cushions near him. "Let me take a look at your wrists."
He held them out; they were rapidly purpling, and his fingers looked stiff. Ginny lifted her wand. "Episkey."
The purple and blue tones seemed to drain from his wrists, leaving them looking quite normal, if slightly raw. "Thanks," said the boy, smiling shyly. "That feels better."
Ginny smiled back. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner."
"That's okay." Will looked as if he were trying to stay awake, and failing miserably. Ginny glanced around for a moment; in the corner, a small bed appeared out of nowhere, just the right size for a little boy.
"I think we should stay here tonight," said Ginny, addressing the others. "I don't want to risk getting caught." She offered her hand to the boy. "Are you sleepy?"
"Y-y-yeah," said Will through a wide yawn. He slid his hand into Ginny's and let her lead him to the bed. He climbed in, his eyelids drooping as Ginny pulled the cover up over him. By the time she tucked him in, he was already asleep, snoring softly.
"That was very sweet of you, Ginny," said Luna as Ginny came back over to them. "Wanting to rescue him and everything."
"It was the right thing to do." The adrenaline was draining out of Ginny; she, too, was beginning to feel exhausted. "Though we probably shouldn't make a habit of it," she added. "Who knows what the Carrows will do to us?"
"I want to make a habit of it," said Neville, surprisingly vehemently. "I don't care what they do to us, I want to help everyone we can, and fight back against those sorry excuses for teachers." There was a fierce glint in his eye, something fiery that Ginny had never seen in him before. "I think we should bring back Dumbledore's Army," he said.
Luna's eyes widened. "Oooh," she said happily, "I'm in! Will you teach us this time, Neville?"
"There won't be any teaching," said Neville. "This time, we'll be dedicated to making the lives of the Carrows and Snape absolute hell." He turned to Ginny. "So? Are you in?"
A slow smile grew on Ginny's face. "Hell, yes." She reached out and took both their hands, squeezing them. "Dumbledore's Army, until the very end," she declared, catching Neville's eye with a grin.
"Until the very end," he and Luna agreed.
And there in the Room of Requirement, sweaty, exhausted, and covered in dirt and dust, Ginny swore she could see Harry's face, glowing fiercely with pride.
A/N: Written for The Hunger Games: Fanfic Style III Competition (Day Two)
Prompts:
(Word) Impossible
(Emotion) Anger
(Dialogue) "I can't." / "Yes, you can." / "Oh, look, your words of affirmation have magically made it possible."
(Character) Neville Longbottom
(Setting) Room of Requirement