Ginny's Secret
Prologue
Darkness. It's so cold. What's on my face? It feels like pin drops. Oh. It's rain. There are people all around me. Hundreds. I can't see them, but they're there. Silence. No one speaks. Everyone is too afraid, too shocked. What happened to me? Why am I lying in the mud? What's the last thing I remember? Saving Harry. Have to save Harry. Did I save him? Is he all right? I think I remember now...
Chapter two
I hated my name. Ginny. Ginny Weasley. It was the perfect annoying-younger-sister name. Which I suppose I was to my brothers. I wanted Lavender Brown's name. Lavender Brown was a name you could take seriously. No one would take someone named Ginny Weasley seriously. Especially not Harry Potter.
Harry Potter. Why did my thoughts always return to him? I had gotten over my childhood crush years ago, yet there I was, in my sixth year, thinking about him.
"Earth to Ginny. Come in Ginny," said Lizzy, by best friend at Hogwarts. I shook my head.
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"I bet I know about who."
"Shut up," I said grumpily to her. Why do I keep thinking about him?, I asked myself silently. The way he smiled, the way he talked, and the way he was always nice to me even though he must have seen me as just "Ron's little sister". I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
"Come on, Ginny. It time for herbology," Lizzy reminded me. I got up and followed her to sixth year herbology, where we were studding magical plants and poisons you could make with them.
Herbology was a little boring, but only because we didn't get to work with the plants themselves. Instead, we just sat in greenhouse one and took notes as Professor Sprout talk for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, the lesson was over. I walked with Lizzy across the lawn, headed for the castle.
"...it's going to be so exciting!" she was saying.
"Hm?"
"Ginny! Why don't you ever listen to anything anyone is saying? Are I so boring that you have to go to 'la la land' every ten seconds?"
"No, no, I'm sorry. Go on."
"I was talking about the big Quidditch match between Gryifendor and Ravenclaw! It's going to be so exciting! With..." and she talked on and on again.
Suddenly, a yellow flash caught my eyes. I stopped dead.
"What is it?" Lizzy asked, coming beside me.
"Nothing. You go on ahead."
"Alright..." Lizzy said, giving me an odd look.
I looked again. What was that? Could it be... no, that was impossible. But it sure looked like...Scabbers? But that old rat had died in my second year. Deciding to investigate further, I walked in the direction the spot of yellow was heading, the Forbidden Forest.
I was close enough to see that the yellow spot was a rat. And it did look a lot like Scabbers. What in the world...?
I was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I looked in. I was dark and scary, but I had to find out. Mum always said I could be very determined. I followed the rat a little farther, until something on a tree caught my eye. I bent down to look closer. My stomach did a flip-flop. I gulped. Burned into the wood of that tree, was a skull with a snake through it. The symbol of the Death Eaters.
I was about to get out of there, when a voice made me halt. I peeked around the tree. About fifteen feet in front of me stood a bald, small man where the possible Scabbers rat had just been. The man was talking to a taller figure in a dark hood. I stood as still as I could and listened.
"Please, master, wouldn't it be much simpler to use the 'Avada Kedavra' curse and be done with it?"
"No, no," the hooded figure said slowly, "You tried to convince me to do something simpler last time, too. And I ignored you. And it turned out for the better, didn't it?" he said as if daring the other to say otherwise.
The other was apparently not to good at picking up on hints, because he continued in a small voice, "but he got away last time."
"But that was because we were too hasty. We tried to capture and kill Harry Potter," Ginny's heart gave a sudden jerk, "in the same night. No, I learn from my mistakes. We will proceed slowly and carefully, making sure there are no errors."
"I have to get out of here," I thought to myself. He may have fooled me before, but I wasn't stupid. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was standing in the woods right in front of me. "I have to warn Harry, I have to tell-"
But my thoughts were interrupted by a voice right behind me.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
I straightened up and turned around very slowly. There stood Lucius Malfoy, with his wand aimed right at my head.
Chapter Two
I gulped again. Lucius Malfoy was one of the most dangerous rumored dark wizards in the world. He also happened to particularly dislike my family, including me. I didn't like the way he was holding his wand to my head.
"Snooping about in the Forbidden Forest are we? I don't think that's allowed," he said with a mocking scowl.
"Your-your right," I stammered. Think fast, Ginny, I thought to myself. "I'll just be leaving now." I took a step away.
"Stop right there, girl. You don't think your going to get away with this, do you? Come with me." My heartbeat quickened. How was I going to get out of this mess? When I wouldn't move, he grabbed me by my shoulder. Hard.
"Ow!" I cried out involuntarily. Lucius Malfoy was evidently not use to having his orders disobeyed.
"I said come with me!" he commanded. He turned me around and forced me to walk to the last place I wanted to go. Right up to You-Know-Who himself.
"Malfoy. Why do you bring a little girl to me?" the hooded figure asked.
"I'm sorry, master, but I caught her listening in on your conversation. I'm not sure what we should do with her."
"Kill her," he replied. He sounded bored with this annoyance.
"But, master, surely you must see the problem with that. With a student missing, that fool Dumbledore will not rest until he has found her. With the entire personnel at Hogwarts on guard, it will be nearly impossible to continue with the plan."
I was only half listening. The other half was thinking a mile a minute. Is this it? Am I going to die? But I need to apologize to Ron for that fight we had last week. And I have to give Lizzy those earrings I found for her at Hogsmade. And I have to tell Harry...I have to tell Harry...
Tears suddenly sprang up in my eyes. No! This isn't the time to cry! I have to keep a cool head. I have to think. I have to live, if only to tell Harry- Stop it! Is all I can think about him? Damn, I am obsessed.
"Well, you do present a problem for us, don't you my dear?" The Dark Lord spoke directly to me. I shivered.
"Master, master!" the small man spoke. Everyone looked at him as if realizing he was there for the first time.
"Yes?" the "master" asked him.
"I know who she is!" He sounded positively delighted to be of at least a little use. "That's one of the Weasleys! I recognize her from the time I was a rat!"
From the time he was a rat?, I wondered.
"Ginny Weasley? Is that really you? My, you have grown," Lucuis Malfoy looked me up and down. I almost laughed out loud. The people who say "you have grown up" to me are always plump, present-bringing aunts and old, gray-haired grandfathers. Not blond, disgusting dark wizards who want nothing more than to kill me.
"How long has it been? You know, since the diary incident." I visibly flinched. And more tears, this time of shame, flooded my eyes.
"Are you the little brat who discovered my diary?" He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spoke to me again. I looked down at the ground rather into the dark folds of his hood. "I never got a chance to thank you. Although that 'wonder boy' did manage to screw it up in the end."
"Shut up," I whispered.
"What was that?"
I didn't know if I had the bravery to continue. Oh well, I was going to die anyway. Might as well tell him off. "I told you to shut your rotten mouth! You took me over! You made me do awful things, and embarrassed me in front of the entire school. Do you know what it was like, walking down the halls, everyone muttering as I passed. 'That's her! That's the girl who lead the attacks!' That what they said when they saw me. You, you son of a-"
"Well, this really is a nice stroll down memory lane, girl, but we must decide what to do with you," You-Know-Who cut me off.
"Imperious curse?" the small man suggested.
"No, no. That will take too much time and energy."
"Don't worry, master," Lucios Malfoy said with a confident air. "Now that I know who she is, this little incident will be no problem. The Weasley's are a very close knit family." He sneered at the thought. He then came right in front of me and looked in my eyes. I didn't want to hear what was coming next. No, please, I thought. Don't let it be anything awful, don't him hurt my family! I should have known what was coming. "You don't want to cause your parents any pain do you? After all, there's always a chance I may let something slip at the Ministry." He dropped the tone of his voice and looked at me even more intently. His eyes seemed to bore into my very soul. "I could have your precious parents sent off to Azkaban in the blink of an eye. Do I make myself clear?"
What else could I do? I nodded and whispered, "Yes." My mind swam with visions of my family wasting away in prison. My heart seemed to stop beating.
"Good." He straightened up and spoke to the Dark Lord. "We should let her go now. If she's missing any longer she will be noticed."
"Very well, release her. It's such a shame we couldn't just kill her now and be done with it." He went back to talking with the small man.
"You," Malfoy spoke to me. "Go." So, numb with shock, I went. I couldn't think about anything. The whole experience was just too overwhelming.
I stumbled out of the trees, and into warm, yellow sunlight. What was I going to do? I sighed and did the only thing I could think of, I went to class.
Of course, the next class was potions, and Snape wasn't very happy about the fact that I missed half of his class. Gryfinndor lost twenty points, and I got detention. As I lay down in my bed that night, exhausted, I could only think, "This has not been a good day."
Chapter Three
It was the Chamber of Secrets all over again. My heart was heavy with one terrible, terrible secret. I should have gone straight to Dumbledore. But I didn't. This time it wasn't just me at stake if I told, my family was at risk, too. Every night was swarmed with nightmare of my mum and dad, lifeless skeletons from Azakaban, shrieking at me. Telling me it was all my fault, it was all my fault.
The next day started off well. It was so normal I wondered if my encounter in the woods yesterday has simply been a dream. In fact, for the next couple of weeks I almost was convinced.
But my heart knew it was real.
Finally, about two weeks later, it was Friday, which meant that the next day would be the big Quidditch match. Normally, I would have been excited. I would have given anything for a normal Friday. After going over a little of my homework with Hermione, I decided to go to bed early. I was tired, and the struggle with my secret had taken its toll.
I fell asleep almost immediately.
Suddenly, I was flying. Fast over trees, lakes, and hills, the wind blowing through my hair and making my eyes sting. I could see a recognizable figure in the distance. What was that? It was the Hogwarts castle. But no one was inside. Almost everyone was outside, at the Quidditch field.
As soon as I realized this, I was sitting in the stands. Excitement was in the air as the crowd followed the paths of fourteen people on broomsticks in the air. But something wasn't right. I could feel it. There was something dark on the horizon.
It was coming closer! But no one seemed to realize this but me. It was almost here. I couldn't do anything.
As the darkness took shape, I was suddenly not in the stands anymore, but on the field. The dark was almost formed now. It took its shape. The hooded figure. The dark was You-Know-Who.
I screamed. I screamed a high-pitch, inhuman scream. I screamed as the figure shot down thirteen of the fourteen figures on broomsticks. I screamed as the fourteenth one battled the dark. I screamed as the dark overtook it. I screamed as the body fell to the earth, right in front of me. And I screamed when I saw Harry Potter's dead stare.
Chapter Four
"Ginny!" I couldn't stop! I couldn't stop screaming!
"GINNY!" I felt hands grabbing my shoulders, shaking me awake. As I opened my eyes, I my scream slowly died. My throat felt raw and scratchy, and tears were pouring down my face.
Lizzy stood in front of me, her face ghostly white. "Ginny! What happened?"
"I-I had a nightmare," I muttered lamely, my voice came out as a horse whisper. Lizzy just stared at me.
"It took forever to wake you up. And you were screaming the entire time. That has to be more than just a nightmare," she told me as she sat down on my bed.
"Oh, did I wake anyone up?" I asked.
"No, everyone's at the Quidditch match."
"The Quidditch match!" I sat upright, struggling with my sheets to climb out of bed.
"You don't have to go. I'll stay here with you. Quidditch isn't that important," Lizzy offered.
"No, you don't understand," I tried to tell her, as I hastily got dressed. "I have to warn him!"
"Warn who?"
"Harry Potter!" I realized I was making no sense, but there was no time to explain. The dream had left a definite knowledge of what was to come.
"Ginny, wait you're confused by the dream! Tell me about it." Too late, I was already running down the stairs and into the common room. "Ginny!" I heard Lizzy's last cry as the painting of the Fat Lady swung shut.
I tore down the hallways, going for the quickest way to the locker rooms. With any luck, Harry would still be there.
I arrived at the door, gasping for breath. "Here goes nothing," I said as I swung the door open and walked in. There was Harry. He had on his scarlet Quidditch robes already, and it looked as if he was just about to leave. I had gotten there just in time.
"Harry!" I gasped as I ran up to him. He turned and looked at me, startled.
"Ginny! You're not suppose to be in here!" Then he notice my untidy appearance and scratch, thin voice. "What happened?"
"There's no time to explain. Harry, listen. You can not play Quidditch today."
Whatever Harry had been expecting, it wasn't this. "What do you mean? Exactly why can't I play Quidditch?"
"I can't really tell you."
"Why not?"
"I don't think I can tell you that, either." I wished I had thought of a more convincing argument.
"Ginny..." he paused, then started over. "You've always been my friend, but I can't just say 'I'm not playing today' because you tell me to."
"But, you have to believe me! I had this dream! You can NOT play today!"
"You're starting to sound like Professor Trelawny." He was starting to get annoyed. "Look, I have a responsibility towards my team! I am not going to let them down. I'm sorry, Ginny." He grabbed up his broom and walked out of the locker room, to the Quidditch field, leaving me behind, stunned.
It had not occurred to me that he might not believe me. Well, I would just have to go to the match and help defend him. Dumbledore was out of town, making this the perfect opportunity for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to strike.
My stomach did that flip-flop thing again when I realized I had forgotten my wand. Again I ran, up to the common room, searched frantically for my wand, grabbed it, and sprinted out of the castle towards the Quidditch field.
I only hoped I wasn't too late. As I neared the field, I could hear an excited crowd watching the game. It was just over the hill, a little farther. Clouds painted the sky gray, and a cool wind pressed against my face.
Suddenly, what I feared came true. A scream, followed by several more shrieks. I couldn't see the field, but I knew what would be there.
As I reached the crest of the hill, my fears were brought to life. Down below a green, shimmering bubble hung over the stands, apparently preventing the people in them from doing any sort of magic, or even moving. A dark, cloaked figure was shooting green electricity at the players, several bodies lay on the ground already.
It only took me a few seconds to take all this in, but by the time I was moving again, two more bodies laid on the ground. I hoped he had only stunned them, and not killed them.
I ran onto the field as You-Know-Who shot one last spark at the thirteenth figure. Harry Potter was the only one left. Fortunately, the Dark Lord didn't know about me.
Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do. I was only a sixth year, facing the most powerful and deadly dark arts master in history. But there was not time to think. At the moment, green sparks were forming at the tip of the figures wand.
I didn't know any spell, charm, or enchantment that would help in this situation. So I did what felt natural. I ran up to the figure, and jumped on top of him. I his surprise, the green lightning traveled up into the clouds, turning them briefly from their dark gray color to a acid green.
"You! Fool girl! I thought we had taken care of you!" He managed to toss me on my back and came after me with his wand ready. But something swooped down and knocked him to the ground, instead.
It was Harry! For what seemed like and eternity, we battled like that. Me on the ground, and Harry in the air. I thought we had almost won until the Dark Lord tried to go after Harry for a fifth time. I prepared to knock him over, as usual, but at the last second, he turned.
"Crucio!" he bellowed. At once, pure white-hot searing pain shot through my body. I tried to scream in agony, but it came out as a raspy, unearthly sound. My sight darkened, then lightened for a second, making my vision come in flashes. As I fell on the ground, I could only view a few images.
Harry swooping down on the Dark Lord, fury in both their eyes.
Harry knocked off his broom, falling through the air.
Harry, on the ground, the Dark Lord advancing.
Harry, seconds from death.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I shrieked. But no sound came; my voice had been worn out. Suddenly, the pain was gone. The curse hadn't been removed, I had simply blocked out the pain. My body had prepared to do one final thing before I died: save Harry.
I painfully got onto my feet and started running. I was seconds away from him, but the Dark Lord had already started the curse.
I was almost there. The curse was headed towards Harry. I prayed that I wasn't too late.
At the last second, I jumped in front of Harry, letting the curse hit me full-force. An incredible, deadly power travel throughout my body, leaving ripples of pain. I could barely see, barely hear, barely feel. I felt myself traveling down, down, down.
Darkness. It's so cold. What's on my face? It feels like pin drops. Oh. It's rain. There are people all around me. Hundreds. I can't see them, but they're there. Silence. No one speaks. Everyone is too afraid, too shocked. What happened to me? Why am I lying in the mud? What's the last thing I remember? Saving Harry. Have to save Harry. Did I save him? The answer is yes, I did.
Then everything is ok.
The last thing I see is Harry's face, peering over me. Such an intense play of emotions is on his face.
Then I can only see darkness.
A/N Don't worry, there's more. I couldn't decide whether I wanted Ginny to die, or whether she and Harry would get together. So I did both. The following is two epilogues, the first one is happy, the next sad. Read whichever one you want, or read both.
Epilogue One (happy)
I woke up to sunlight. Is this heaven? It can't be hell.
Then I realized I'm in the hospital wing. I tryed to get up, move my head, do something, but I couldn't. My entire body felt as if it had been weighed down with lead. Then I saw Harry. He came over. I found I could move again.
"Ginny! You're awake!" he said gently as he helped me to sit up. "It took Madam Pomfrey almost three hours to save you."
"Where is she now?" I asked. Usually she stayed with her patients, demanding that they get enough rest.
"She's resting. So is your family." He laughed and shook his head. "It took me two days to convince them to leave your side for an hour, and then you have to wake up when they're not here. They're going to kill me."
I laughed with him. After securing me with pillows, he tuned away and took a deep breath. When he faced me again, I was shocked to find tears in his eyes.
"Why did you do that, Ginny?" he asked me. No pretense, very direct.
I don't pretend not to know what he's talking about. "Well, I- I suppose I love you." I looked down, not daring to see what his reaction would be. It was such a relief to finally get the words out.
"Do you really mean that?" he asked me in a whisper. I looked up and met his eyes. They seemed to burn with their own fire, entrapping me. I could not look away.
"Yes," I answered. He slowly leaned forward and kissed me.
I saw a wedding, my mother crying happily while Ron, the best man, grinned. I saw children, some with green eyes, some with black hair, and some with red. I saw a new life, no You-Kn- well, he was dead there was no fear. No Voldemort. I saw a happy life.
And as I kissed the person I loved, I knew it would come true.
Epilogue Two (sad)
The day was dark, a light drizzle rained from the gloomy clouds overhead. Just like the day she died.
Harry Potter sat in the back. Funerals were always depressing. He knew he should be with the Weasleys in front, but somehow he could not face them.
Why had she died for him? First his mother, then Ginny. He felt like screaming at the world, "I'm not that special! I would have died for either of you! Why did you have to die for me?!"
It was so unfair. He didn't want to be Harry Potter, people dieing for him all the time.
The funeral was over, he realized with a start. Most of the people had left. Just him and the rain. He walked up silently to her grave, and took out a red rose.
He laid it gently down.
"Ginny," he whispered to no one, and at the same time, he whispered to everyone, "I loved you. I love you. I always will love you. And I will never forget you."
And the clouds seemed to mourn with him as they rained.
Prologue
Darkness. It's so cold. What's on my face? It feels like pin drops. Oh. It's rain. There are people all around me. Hundreds. I can't see them, but they're there. Silence. No one speaks. Everyone is too afraid, too shocked. What happened to me? Why am I lying in the mud? What's the last thing I remember? Saving Harry. Have to save Harry. Did I save him? Is he all right? I think I remember now...
Chapter two
I hated my name. Ginny. Ginny Weasley. It was the perfect annoying-younger-sister name. Which I suppose I was to my brothers. I wanted Lavender Brown's name. Lavender Brown was a name you could take seriously. No one would take someone named Ginny Weasley seriously. Especially not Harry Potter.
Harry Potter. Why did my thoughts always return to him? I had gotten over my childhood crush years ago, yet there I was, in my sixth year, thinking about him.
"Earth to Ginny. Come in Ginny," said Lizzy, by best friend at Hogwarts. I shook my head.
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"I bet I know about who."
"Shut up," I said grumpily to her. Why do I keep thinking about him?, I asked myself silently. The way he smiled, the way he talked, and the way he was always nice to me even though he must have seen me as just "Ron's little sister". I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
"Come on, Ginny. It time for herbology," Lizzy reminded me. I got up and followed her to sixth year herbology, where we were studding magical plants and poisons you could make with them.
Herbology was a little boring, but only because we didn't get to work with the plants themselves. Instead, we just sat in greenhouse one and took notes as Professor Sprout talk for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, the lesson was over. I walked with Lizzy across the lawn, headed for the castle.
"...it's going to be so exciting!" she was saying.
"Hm?"
"Ginny! Why don't you ever listen to anything anyone is saying? Are I so boring that you have to go to 'la la land' every ten seconds?"
"No, no, I'm sorry. Go on."
"I was talking about the big Quidditch match between Gryifendor and Ravenclaw! It's going to be so exciting! With..." and she talked on and on again.
Suddenly, a yellow flash caught my eyes. I stopped dead.
"What is it?" Lizzy asked, coming beside me.
"Nothing. You go on ahead."
"Alright..." Lizzy said, giving me an odd look.
I looked again. What was that? Could it be... no, that was impossible. But it sure looked like...Scabbers? But that old rat had died in my second year. Deciding to investigate further, I walked in the direction the spot of yellow was heading, the Forbidden Forest.
I was close enough to see that the yellow spot was a rat. And it did look a lot like Scabbers. What in the world...?
I was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I looked in. I was dark and scary, but I had to find out. Mum always said I could be very determined. I followed the rat a little farther, until something on a tree caught my eye. I bent down to look closer. My stomach did a flip-flop. I gulped. Burned into the wood of that tree, was a skull with a snake through it. The symbol of the Death Eaters.
I was about to get out of there, when a voice made me halt. I peeked around the tree. About fifteen feet in front of me stood a bald, small man where the possible Scabbers rat had just been. The man was talking to a taller figure in a dark hood. I stood as still as I could and listened.
"Please, master, wouldn't it be much simpler to use the 'Avada Kedavra' curse and be done with it?"
"No, no," the hooded figure said slowly, "You tried to convince me to do something simpler last time, too. And I ignored you. And it turned out for the better, didn't it?" he said as if daring the other to say otherwise.
The other was apparently not to good at picking up on hints, because he continued in a small voice, "but he got away last time."
"But that was because we were too hasty. We tried to capture and kill Harry Potter," Ginny's heart gave a sudden jerk, "in the same night. No, I learn from my mistakes. We will proceed slowly and carefully, making sure there are no errors."
"I have to get out of here," I thought to myself. He may have fooled me before, but I wasn't stupid. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was standing in the woods right in front of me. "I have to warn Harry, I have to tell-"
But my thoughts were interrupted by a voice right behind me.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
I straightened up and turned around very slowly. There stood Lucius Malfoy, with his wand aimed right at my head.
Chapter Two
I gulped again. Lucius Malfoy was one of the most dangerous rumored dark wizards in the world. He also happened to particularly dislike my family, including me. I didn't like the way he was holding his wand to my head.
"Snooping about in the Forbidden Forest are we? I don't think that's allowed," he said with a mocking scowl.
"Your-your right," I stammered. Think fast, Ginny, I thought to myself. "I'll just be leaving now." I took a step away.
"Stop right there, girl. You don't think your going to get away with this, do you? Come with me." My heartbeat quickened. How was I going to get out of this mess? When I wouldn't move, he grabbed me by my shoulder. Hard.
"Ow!" I cried out involuntarily. Lucius Malfoy was evidently not use to having his orders disobeyed.
"I said come with me!" he commanded. He turned me around and forced me to walk to the last place I wanted to go. Right up to You-Know-Who himself.
"Malfoy. Why do you bring a little girl to me?" the hooded figure asked.
"I'm sorry, master, but I caught her listening in on your conversation. I'm not sure what we should do with her."
"Kill her," he replied. He sounded bored with this annoyance.
"But, master, surely you must see the problem with that. With a student missing, that fool Dumbledore will not rest until he has found her. With the entire personnel at Hogwarts on guard, it will be nearly impossible to continue with the plan."
I was only half listening. The other half was thinking a mile a minute. Is this it? Am I going to die? But I need to apologize to Ron for that fight we had last week. And I have to give Lizzy those earrings I found for her at Hogsmade. And I have to tell Harry...I have to tell Harry...
Tears suddenly sprang up in my eyes. No! This isn't the time to cry! I have to keep a cool head. I have to think. I have to live, if only to tell Harry- Stop it! Is all I can think about him? Damn, I am obsessed.
"Well, you do present a problem for us, don't you my dear?" The Dark Lord spoke directly to me. I shivered.
"Master, master!" the small man spoke. Everyone looked at him as if realizing he was there for the first time.
"Yes?" the "master" asked him.
"I know who she is!" He sounded positively delighted to be of at least a little use. "That's one of the Weasleys! I recognize her from the time I was a rat!"
From the time he was a rat?, I wondered.
"Ginny Weasley? Is that really you? My, you have grown," Lucuis Malfoy looked me up and down. I almost laughed out loud. The people who say "you have grown up" to me are always plump, present-bringing aunts and old, gray-haired grandfathers. Not blond, disgusting dark wizards who want nothing more than to kill me.
"How long has it been? You know, since the diary incident." I visibly flinched. And more tears, this time of shame, flooded my eyes.
"Are you the little brat who discovered my diary?" He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spoke to me again. I looked down at the ground rather into the dark folds of his hood. "I never got a chance to thank you. Although that 'wonder boy' did manage to screw it up in the end."
"Shut up," I whispered.
"What was that?"
I didn't know if I had the bravery to continue. Oh well, I was going to die anyway. Might as well tell him off. "I told you to shut your rotten mouth! You took me over! You made me do awful things, and embarrassed me in front of the entire school. Do you know what it was like, walking down the halls, everyone muttering as I passed. 'That's her! That's the girl who lead the attacks!' That what they said when they saw me. You, you son of a-"
"Well, this really is a nice stroll down memory lane, girl, but we must decide what to do with you," You-Know-Who cut me off.
"Imperious curse?" the small man suggested.
"No, no. That will take too much time and energy."
"Don't worry, master," Lucios Malfoy said with a confident air. "Now that I know who she is, this little incident will be no problem. The Weasley's are a very close knit family." He sneered at the thought. He then came right in front of me and looked in my eyes. I didn't want to hear what was coming next. No, please, I thought. Don't let it be anything awful, don't him hurt my family! I should have known what was coming. "You don't want to cause your parents any pain do you? After all, there's always a chance I may let something slip at the Ministry." He dropped the tone of his voice and looked at me even more intently. His eyes seemed to bore into my very soul. "I could have your precious parents sent off to Azkaban in the blink of an eye. Do I make myself clear?"
What else could I do? I nodded and whispered, "Yes." My mind swam with visions of my family wasting away in prison. My heart seemed to stop beating.
"Good." He straightened up and spoke to the Dark Lord. "We should let her go now. If she's missing any longer she will be noticed."
"Very well, release her. It's such a shame we couldn't just kill her now and be done with it." He went back to talking with the small man.
"You," Malfoy spoke to me. "Go." So, numb with shock, I went. I couldn't think about anything. The whole experience was just too overwhelming.
I stumbled out of the trees, and into warm, yellow sunlight. What was I going to do? I sighed and did the only thing I could think of, I went to class.
Of course, the next class was potions, and Snape wasn't very happy about the fact that I missed half of his class. Gryfinndor lost twenty points, and I got detention. As I lay down in my bed that night, exhausted, I could only think, "This has not been a good day."
Chapter Three
It was the Chamber of Secrets all over again. My heart was heavy with one terrible, terrible secret. I should have gone straight to Dumbledore. But I didn't. This time it wasn't just me at stake if I told, my family was at risk, too. Every night was swarmed with nightmare of my mum and dad, lifeless skeletons from Azakaban, shrieking at me. Telling me it was all my fault, it was all my fault.
The next day started off well. It was so normal I wondered if my encounter in the woods yesterday has simply been a dream. In fact, for the next couple of weeks I almost was convinced.
But my heart knew it was real.
Finally, about two weeks later, it was Friday, which meant that the next day would be the big Quidditch match. Normally, I would have been excited. I would have given anything for a normal Friday. After going over a little of my homework with Hermione, I decided to go to bed early. I was tired, and the struggle with my secret had taken its toll.
I fell asleep almost immediately.
Suddenly, I was flying. Fast over trees, lakes, and hills, the wind blowing through my hair and making my eyes sting. I could see a recognizable figure in the distance. What was that? It was the Hogwarts castle. But no one was inside. Almost everyone was outside, at the Quidditch field.
As soon as I realized this, I was sitting in the stands. Excitement was in the air as the crowd followed the paths of fourteen people on broomsticks in the air. But something wasn't right. I could feel it. There was something dark on the horizon.
It was coming closer! But no one seemed to realize this but me. It was almost here. I couldn't do anything.
As the darkness took shape, I was suddenly not in the stands anymore, but on the field. The dark was almost formed now. It took its shape. The hooded figure. The dark was You-Know-Who.
I screamed. I screamed a high-pitch, inhuman scream. I screamed as the figure shot down thirteen of the fourteen figures on broomsticks. I screamed as the fourteenth one battled the dark. I screamed as the dark overtook it. I screamed as the body fell to the earth, right in front of me. And I screamed when I saw Harry Potter's dead stare.
Chapter Four
"Ginny!" I couldn't stop! I couldn't stop screaming!
"GINNY!" I felt hands grabbing my shoulders, shaking me awake. As I opened my eyes, I my scream slowly died. My throat felt raw and scratchy, and tears were pouring down my face.
Lizzy stood in front of me, her face ghostly white. "Ginny! What happened?"
"I-I had a nightmare," I muttered lamely, my voice came out as a horse whisper. Lizzy just stared at me.
"It took forever to wake you up. And you were screaming the entire time. That has to be more than just a nightmare," she told me as she sat down on my bed.
"Oh, did I wake anyone up?" I asked.
"No, everyone's at the Quidditch match."
"The Quidditch match!" I sat upright, struggling with my sheets to climb out of bed.
"You don't have to go. I'll stay here with you. Quidditch isn't that important," Lizzy offered.
"No, you don't understand," I tried to tell her, as I hastily got dressed. "I have to warn him!"
"Warn who?"
"Harry Potter!" I realized I was making no sense, but there was no time to explain. The dream had left a definite knowledge of what was to come.
"Ginny, wait you're confused by the dream! Tell me about it." Too late, I was already running down the stairs and into the common room. "Ginny!" I heard Lizzy's last cry as the painting of the Fat Lady swung shut.
I tore down the hallways, going for the quickest way to the locker rooms. With any luck, Harry would still be there.
I arrived at the door, gasping for breath. "Here goes nothing," I said as I swung the door open and walked in. There was Harry. He had on his scarlet Quidditch robes already, and it looked as if he was just about to leave. I had gotten there just in time.
"Harry!" I gasped as I ran up to him. He turned and looked at me, startled.
"Ginny! You're not suppose to be in here!" Then he notice my untidy appearance and scratch, thin voice. "What happened?"
"There's no time to explain. Harry, listen. You can not play Quidditch today."
Whatever Harry had been expecting, it wasn't this. "What do you mean? Exactly why can't I play Quidditch?"
"I can't really tell you."
"Why not?"
"I don't think I can tell you that, either." I wished I had thought of a more convincing argument.
"Ginny..." he paused, then started over. "You've always been my friend, but I can't just say 'I'm not playing today' because you tell me to."
"But, you have to believe me! I had this dream! You can NOT play today!"
"You're starting to sound like Professor Trelawny." He was starting to get annoyed. "Look, I have a responsibility towards my team! I am not going to let them down. I'm sorry, Ginny." He grabbed up his broom and walked out of the locker room, to the Quidditch field, leaving me behind, stunned.
It had not occurred to me that he might not believe me. Well, I would just have to go to the match and help defend him. Dumbledore was out of town, making this the perfect opportunity for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to strike.
My stomach did that flip-flop thing again when I realized I had forgotten my wand. Again I ran, up to the common room, searched frantically for my wand, grabbed it, and sprinted out of the castle towards the Quidditch field.
I only hoped I wasn't too late. As I neared the field, I could hear an excited crowd watching the game. It was just over the hill, a little farther. Clouds painted the sky gray, and a cool wind pressed against my face.
Suddenly, what I feared came true. A scream, followed by several more shrieks. I couldn't see the field, but I knew what would be there.
As I reached the crest of the hill, my fears were brought to life. Down below a green, shimmering bubble hung over the stands, apparently preventing the people in them from doing any sort of magic, or even moving. A dark, cloaked figure was shooting green electricity at the players, several bodies lay on the ground already.
It only took me a few seconds to take all this in, but by the time I was moving again, two more bodies laid on the ground. I hoped he had only stunned them, and not killed them.
I ran onto the field as You-Know-Who shot one last spark at the thirteenth figure. Harry Potter was the only one left. Fortunately, the Dark Lord didn't know about me.
Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do. I was only a sixth year, facing the most powerful and deadly dark arts master in history. But there was not time to think. At the moment, green sparks were forming at the tip of the figures wand.
I didn't know any spell, charm, or enchantment that would help in this situation. So I did what felt natural. I ran up to the figure, and jumped on top of him. I his surprise, the green lightning traveled up into the clouds, turning them briefly from their dark gray color to a acid green.
"You! Fool girl! I thought we had taken care of you!" He managed to toss me on my back and came after me with his wand ready. But something swooped down and knocked him to the ground, instead.
It was Harry! For what seemed like and eternity, we battled like that. Me on the ground, and Harry in the air. I thought we had almost won until the Dark Lord tried to go after Harry for a fifth time. I prepared to knock him over, as usual, but at the last second, he turned.
"Crucio!" he bellowed. At once, pure white-hot searing pain shot through my body. I tried to scream in agony, but it came out as a raspy, unearthly sound. My sight darkened, then lightened for a second, making my vision come in flashes. As I fell on the ground, I could only view a few images.
Harry swooping down on the Dark Lord, fury in both their eyes.
Harry knocked off his broom, falling through the air.
Harry, on the ground, the Dark Lord advancing.
Harry, seconds from death.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I shrieked. But no sound came; my voice had been worn out. Suddenly, the pain was gone. The curse hadn't been removed, I had simply blocked out the pain. My body had prepared to do one final thing before I died: save Harry.
I painfully got onto my feet and started running. I was seconds away from him, but the Dark Lord had already started the curse.
I was almost there. The curse was headed towards Harry. I prayed that I wasn't too late.
At the last second, I jumped in front of Harry, letting the curse hit me full-force. An incredible, deadly power travel throughout my body, leaving ripples of pain. I could barely see, barely hear, barely feel. I felt myself traveling down, down, down.
Darkness. It's so cold. What's on my face? It feels like pin drops. Oh. It's rain. There are people all around me. Hundreds. I can't see them, but they're there. Silence. No one speaks. Everyone is too afraid, too shocked. What happened to me? Why am I lying in the mud? What's the last thing I remember? Saving Harry. Have to save Harry. Did I save him? The answer is yes, I did.
Then everything is ok.
The last thing I see is Harry's face, peering over me. Such an intense play of emotions is on his face.
Then I can only see darkness.
A/N Don't worry, there's more. I couldn't decide whether I wanted Ginny to die, or whether she and Harry would get together. So I did both. The following is two epilogues, the first one is happy, the next sad. Read whichever one you want, or read both.
Epilogue One (happy)
I woke up to sunlight. Is this heaven? It can't be hell.
Then I realized I'm in the hospital wing. I tryed to get up, move my head, do something, but I couldn't. My entire body felt as if it had been weighed down with lead. Then I saw Harry. He came over. I found I could move again.
"Ginny! You're awake!" he said gently as he helped me to sit up. "It took Madam Pomfrey almost three hours to save you."
"Where is she now?" I asked. Usually she stayed with her patients, demanding that they get enough rest.
"She's resting. So is your family." He laughed and shook his head. "It took me two days to convince them to leave your side for an hour, and then you have to wake up when they're not here. They're going to kill me."
I laughed with him. After securing me with pillows, he tuned away and took a deep breath. When he faced me again, I was shocked to find tears in his eyes.
"Why did you do that, Ginny?" he asked me. No pretense, very direct.
I don't pretend not to know what he's talking about. "Well, I- I suppose I love you." I looked down, not daring to see what his reaction would be. It was such a relief to finally get the words out.
"Do you really mean that?" he asked me in a whisper. I looked up and met his eyes. They seemed to burn with their own fire, entrapping me. I could not look away.
"Yes," I answered. He slowly leaned forward and kissed me.
I saw a wedding, my mother crying happily while Ron, the best man, grinned. I saw children, some with green eyes, some with black hair, and some with red. I saw a new life, no You-Kn- well, he was dead there was no fear. No Voldemort. I saw a happy life.
And as I kissed the person I loved, I knew it would come true.
Epilogue Two (sad)
The day was dark, a light drizzle rained from the gloomy clouds overhead. Just like the day she died.
Harry Potter sat in the back. Funerals were always depressing. He knew he should be with the Weasleys in front, but somehow he could not face them.
Why had she died for him? First his mother, then Ginny. He felt like screaming at the world, "I'm not that special! I would have died for either of you! Why did you have to die for me?!"
It was so unfair. He didn't want to be Harry Potter, people dieing for him all the time.
The funeral was over, he realized with a start. Most of the people had left. Just him and the rain. He walked up silently to her grave, and took out a red rose.
He laid it gently down.
"Ginny," he whispered to no one, and at the same time, he whispered to everyone, "I loved you. I love you. I always will love you. And I will never forget you."
And the clouds seemed to mourn with him as they rained.