From the moment the liquid coolness slipped over her, Ginny felt guilty. She knew she shouldn't have taken it. But she had to make sure he was okay. There were rumors flying about—that someone had been killed, that Voldemort was back. Voldemort. Ginny had always been able to think him by name—after all, hadn't he been a part of her for a time? She shuddered. But somehow Ginny couldn't speak it, not just yet at least.
As she walked to the door, she passed a mirror. She backtracked and stared at the reflection—or where it should have been. She smiled to herself with a newfound feeling of mystery and mischievousness. Slowly, Ginny stuck her hand out of the cloak. In the reflection, a small, trembling hand appeared. She quickly pulled it back and left the boys' dormitories.
Ginny tiptoed down into the dimly lit, but fully packed, common room. No one could sleep tonight. Everyone was huddled into small circles, gasping and clapping their hands to their mouths as they heard bits of gossip. Most of the girls were either silently sobbing or had puffy eyes. No one seemed to know what had happened. There had just been lots of screaming and mayhem. Even now in the common room, hours later, people were still shaking and trembling uncontrollably.
She herself had been terrified. From the stands, one couldn't see all the way inside the maze, but when Harry hadn't come out, she had been so worried. Then when everyone had rushed the field, she had been pushed aside, almost trampled. There were people pushing and shoving and shrieking and screaming. She had pushed along the outside until she finally caught a glimpse of what she thought was Professor Moody and what she had hoped was Harry. Now she had to find out. As Ginny sidled around the edge of the room, plastering herself to the walls, she caught tidbits of their conversations—
"—Heard Cedric's Dead—"
"—Something about a port key—"
"—You Know Who's back!—"
"—Krum was under a curse—"
"—Fluer was attacked!—"
"—Never seen Dumbledore like that! Scared the hell out of me!—"
After what seemed like an eternity, Ginny reached the portrait hole. She waited as patiently as she could for the entrance to swing open. It finally did, and Ginny slipped by just before the portrait slammed shut.
The halls of the tower were completely deserted, creating an eerie atmosphere and making every step she took sounded magnified a hundred times.
She made her way through the corridors, the residents of the portraits she passed peering expectantly at her footsteps as she passed. Despite the fact she was invisible, Ginny stuck to weaving in and out of the shadow cast by the giant windows in the hallway. At the end of one corridor, Ginny came across an office with the door open, light streaming into the hallway. As she crept past, Ginny peeked in. On the floor was a man and Professor McGonagall was standing over him. Confused, she pressed on.
As Ginny was walking down a set of stairs, she heard footsteps. Ginny plastered herself against the wall, making herself as flat as possible. Instantly and without warning, a cold blast of air swept over her. She clung on to the banister desperately as her head started to swim. This is what happened when a Dementor was near! What was wrong? Why was a Dementor in Hogwarts? As she struggled to stay standing, a man rounded the corner and at his side, there it was—the giant gray hooded figure, its rotted hands at its side. The Dementor slowed as it and the man ascended the stairs, getting ever closer to Ginny. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Just as the Dementor started to turn its body towards Ginny, the man shoved the Dementor on.
After they had turned the corner, Ginny sank down onto the cold marble of the stairs. She took a deep breath, swallowed, and tucked a few loose tendrils of hair behind her ear with a trembling hand. How she hated Dementors. All of the horrible memories they brought back…Ginny shook her head, and wiped the sweat from her face. She couldn't bother with that now—she had to get to the Hospital Wing, and to Harry.
Once she regained her composure, Ginny started off again. She wove her way in and out of hallways with great ease, due to the fact that there were no further interruptions on her way. She quickly made it to the doors of the hospital wing.
Ginny edged her way into the room, careful not to move the cracked door. When she came into the room, a massive black dog raised its head and perked its ears. Ginny held her breath. After a moment, the dog laid its head back onto its paws. Upon looking around, Ginny saw that a lot of her family was there—Ron, Bill and her mum.
And there he was, sleeping. Harry was okay. Ginny let out an internal sigh of relief. Her mother was just taking a goblet out of Harry's hands, and she then set it on the table. She ever so slowly tiptoed next to the bed, careful to stand far enough away so that if someone went to his bedside, they wouldn't bump into Ginny. She just stared, memorized every feature on his relaxed face. But there was tension—a slight knit in his brow. Ginny wanted to go, to rub his forehead until all his sorrows were gone. But she couldn't. Instead, acting on an impulse, she removed his glasses when she was sure no one was looking and held them in her hands.
A large ruckus in the hallways snapped Ginny back into reality. Two people were yelling, a man's and a woman's voice, coming ever nearer. Ginny heard her mother hiss "They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" and Ginny couldn't have agreed more. She looked to Harry, whose eyelids were fluttering at the noise. His eyes opened and squinted around. His glasses! Ginny panicked, fumbling with them in her hands. As carefully and quietly as she could, she set them with on the nightstand next to the table. And at the perfect time, too. Not more than three seconds later, Harry sat up and put his glasses back on.
With a loud bang, the man Ginny had seen earlier with the dementor barged into the room. She now recognized him as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. What had he been doing with a Dementor?
"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.
"He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to—"
Ginny's mother was cut off by Dumbledore coming into the ward. His face, which was usually cheery and bright, looked hard and very serious. He asked what had happened, and that was when Professor McGonagall went off. Ginny stared at her in disbelief. She had never seen—or heard her like this. Her voice was shrilly and she was yelling, and there were angry blotches of color all over her face. Ginny was almost frightened by her as she and the Minister of Magic argued back and forth—
"The moment that—that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and—and—"
Ginny gasped very loudly. Luckily, so did almost everyone else in the room. The dementor that had been here had given someone…The kiss. Ginny shuddered. She looked over at Harry, who was clinging to every word exchanged by Dumbledore and Fudge. Ginny, absorbed in Harry, only faintly noticed what Dumbledore had just said. Voldemort? Returned? Ginny felt a swoop of panic, as if Voldemort was in the room, attacking her. She quickly regained control of herself, and actually saw the Minister smile.
"You are—er—prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you Dumbledore?" Ginny couldn't believe he had just said that. To Harry's face. Everyone had read the articles in Witch Weekly and the newspaper, but few believed them.
At that moment, the great black dog started to growl, hackles raised. Ginny was glad she was on the opposite side of the bed from it.
Fudge was still blundering on, accusing Harry of having funny turns, headaches, nightmares, and hallucinations. Ginny admired both Professor Dumbledore and Harry for not slapping him. Though they probably would have punched him, not slapped him. Either way, Ginny could feel her jaw working at what the Minister was saying.
Suddenly, interrupting their conversation, Harry yelled, "Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Ginny's mum had to hold Harry in bed. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy!" Ginny's eyes flickered to Harry. He ticked off names of people who he had seen. Fudge yelled back, then Professor McGonagall yelled, and then Fudge again. Professor Dumbledore remained calm.
"Voldemort has returned," he repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors—" Dumbledore was cut off by Fudge, who shouted back at him, looking more and more frazzled. Ginny was amazed by his stupidity and close-mindedness for not seeing the obvious…that Voldemort had indeed come back.
She took a small step closer to Harry's bed, now only leaving centimeters in between the bed and the cloak. Her hands fidgeted at her side as she saw the concern etched, almost permanently, into Harry's face. How she wanted to be by his side (although, at the moment, she technically was), to help him not be alone.
Ginny was jolted back to her senses when the door to the hospital wing slammed shut. Dumbledore immediately started to give orders. He sent Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, and Bill off. Ginny waved to him good-bye, but instantly felt foolish when she realized he couldn't see her.
Dumbledore turned to the dog on the floor. "And now," he said, it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius…if you could resume your usual form." Ginny looked puzzledly at Dumbledore, then at the dog. But it wasn't a dog! There was a man standing there! Sirius Black!
Her mum screamed and leapt back from the bed.
"Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.
"Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!" Ginny didn't understand…it was okay that a convicted murderer was standing amongst them, nonetheless the one that had given Harry's parents to Voldemort? She eyed the man; he was tall, with ragged robes, and long, matted, tangled hair. He was almost skin and bones. A twang of sympathy struck Ginny. She wanted to help this man, give him something to eat, or a comb, or something!
As quickly as he had become a man, Sirius Black became a dog again. He turned the infirmary door with his paw and left. Soon after, Professor Snape followed him. There were several minutes of silence before Dumbledore spoke again.
"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry—take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later." Ginny could have sworn that his eyes had flickered up at her when he said this, but he turned and left, so Ginny thought nothing of it.
Everyone was staring at Harry. Finally Ginny's mother said at last, "You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry." She handed him his goblet and added. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think abut something else for a while…think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!" Ginny could see her mum try to look cheerful, which, if not for the circumstances they were in, would have been comical.
Ginny looked to Harry. He blinked and quickly adverted his eyes to the ceiling. Were those…tears? Ginny wanted to reach and hug him, curl up next to him, hold him until everything was better. How she envied her mother at the moment. She got to hug him, to comfort him. What Ginny had intended to do in the first place, but of course, could not. She contented herself in sending Harry her own invisible hugs, which would have to do. She watched Harry gulp the rest of his potion, then fall almost immediately asleep. Sleep well, Harry. And remember…I'll always be here for you. Even if you don't know it. Always.