While I was chatting online with a friend, I was ambushed by this plot bunny. I was slightly horrified, mainly because I have enough stories to write without adding more. But this thing refused to be left to die, and so I got this done in an hour. Persistent little bunny, I must say.
Uber love to Briannah for beta-ing this.
AU, and proudly so—Ginny managed to convince Harry, Ron, and Hermione to let her, Luna, and Neville join the hunt too. That's all the context strictly necessary for this.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Really, in hindsight, this has to be the most stupid thing they've done since Harry led them into the Department of Mysteries, just based on the fact they have no clue what's going to happen once they get in there. And yet, Ginny isn't afraid—she's alert, she's ready, maybe even anxious, but she won't let herself be afraid. They're all necessary here; if her fear cripples her, it won't just be her neck on the chopping block. Around her Luna is cool and detached, but Neville is practically buzzing with energy. Ron's clenching his wand so hard, the creaks of the wood almost covers the noise of his jaw tightening. Hermione's façade is a pale imitation of Luna's, but Harry manages to keep his mostly blank. Only the flickering of his eyes gives away his own nervousness—she wishes she could reach out and soothe him, anchor him back here with her.
Not even he can risk being distracted now.
Harry takes a deep breath and glances back at Hermione. She nods after checking the talisman—it must hold, otherwise they'll be gone before they can get the horcrux. "Twenty minutes, Harry," Hermione reminds him. There will be time later to destroy the horcrux—the plan is snatch it and run.
Harry nods, and then casts a look to the rest of him. He lingers on her the longest, so she gives him a grin feral enough to make even him smile for a moment. "We go in on three." They all nod, tense. He nods back. "One," he begins, reaching for the door. "Two," he grabs the handle, and she notices a shake in his grip that makes the handle rattle a bit. "Three!"
The door flies open, and they're in.
Ginny quickly tries to absorb the room and its features, although more than the murky shadows obscure it. But it is enough, it has to be, because the talisman has activated already, lighting the room like a lantern.
Its light nearly drives the dementors mad. They rear back from it at once, but that does not stop them from reaching against the light, reaching for them. Hermione tosses it to Harry, and he takes off running through the room, because Voldermort isn't so stupid as to leave the horcrux out in plain sight. But as the light recedes from them, the dementors recognize that the accursed light's not protecting them now.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" It is not many voices, but one, because there is one wish, one desire. A hare speeds up at the dementors high on the ceiling while an otter and dog go after the lower hanging ones. Neville's patronus goes off towards another corner, and her Arabian mare charges at the others.
Casting the patronus charm is difficult enough to do once and maintain, but if any of them want to live to see Harry, they're going to have to hold their own.
But she will do this. Doubt is not only foreign, it is nonexistent. Because Harry needs her to live, and she will not let a few bloody dementors separate the two of them. It was hard enough to convince him to just agree to not try to send them home. Ginny isn't sure if his psyche could deal with…anything unsavory happening to her now.
Fifteen minutes stretches on into infinity, but Harry appears clutching a golden cup in one hand, the quickly dimming talisman in the other, and the dementors turn to him now. Either they are draining the talisman faster than planned, or it's failing. Either way, it's still a long run back to them, and for a moment, Ginny catches a glimpse of movement below Harry's feet. It's Hermione who screams however, and her otter flickers out as Harry slams onto the ground hard, the talisman flying into some dark corner.
The dementors, if they could hope, were praying for this, and they are at him in an instant, fighting to get to him first. Neville makes a choking noise, and his patronus disappears as well.
For a moment, the dementors' full influence falls heavily on Ron, Luna, and Ginny's shoulders. She sees the patronuses buckle, but not vanish. She can hear Hermione and Neville desperately try to recast the charm, but the influence is barrelling in on them now, since the three of them both unconsciously sent their patronuses to Harry's side.
"Ginny!" Hermione shrieks suddenly, and Ginny's concentration slips nearly too much. She almost snaps at Hermione to pay attention to her own work, but the warning makes her glance over her shoulder.
A cold, decrepit hand caresses her cheek like Harry's did once and Ginny's horse vanishes as if it were never there. She can hear the others scream, but Ron and Luna can't spare their own patronuses now—Harry is too important, and she would never, never, excuse them for abandoning Harry now, not even if they all came out of it alive. Hermione and Neville are desperate.
The dementor's breath is oddly not like rotting as she once thought. It's like stagnant air, and she nearly chokes on it.
I'm going to die.
It lowers its head so gently, so slowly, like Harry coming in to gently brush her lips.
Behind her, Harry screams something and then Ginny's jaw clenches.
Harry needs her. Her Harry needs her.
What she feels is not despair. This is anger. This is rage. There is fear and there is pain, but there is rage and protectiveness and determination and if they for one second think they are going to take Harry from her, she will teach them otherwise.
This is not despair.
This is hope.
This is love, and she will kill them.
The noise comes from her throat is not entirely human in retrospect, and for a moment they swarm over towards them, reacting to her pure emotion. Her heart hammers in her ribs, and the hoof beats thunder her in her ears.
Her wand flashes silver before half the spell fell from her lips. The mare flies from it, thundering forward, looking as incensed as its mistress.
No dementors, no matter what amount, will separate her from Harry again. She will make sure of it.
The dementor does not quite shriek, but it certainly abandons her in a hurry. Free from its influence for a moment, Ginny turns on her heel and gallops into the room. Ron yells after her and follows, his terrier going berserk to fight off the dementors. Behind her, Hermione and Neville manage to recast their patronuses as Ginny falls to her knees next to Harry.
Ron is beside her as she reaches for Harry, and they both haul him up. He grips her shoulder, then hands the cup to her. (Harry needs her.) And he shouts "Expecto Patronum!" right into her ear.
There is something off about his stag, she realizes distantly as they race to get out of the room. It is too large, too muscular, not sleek and slender as it should. For a moment as they stumble out the room, Ginny's mare joins its side, and Ginny blinks as she realizes why.
Then she smiles.
Because Harry needs her even her mare can't leave his stallion.