The way water sounds, dripping in a cave.
Ginny didn't breathe. It hurt her chest to hold her breath, but the odds of being caught if she was heard far outweighed the pain. Hiding under a broken down mining cart, she waited until she could see the legs of her stalker disappeared down another branch of the cave system. She tried to ignore the fact that they were grey, rotted legs that couldn't reasonably support the rest of the creature's body.
The way the air smells, deep below the surface of the earth.
In other cases, Ginny might've run away. As it was, every footstep seemed too loud. Her face was hot and her eyes stung. It was fear that leaked across her cheeks in tears, but she would not wipe her face. There was no time to consider such things. She needed to listen and watch. She needed to know if her last moment was coming.
The way light looks, reflecting off dead eyes.
Someone a long time ago had told Ginny that if she ever got lost in a maze or something, she could pick either the left or right wall and follow it all the way out. She'd run into some dead ends, but she would get out. But now she wasn't sure that was true. Rivers and earthquakes had had billions of years to form this cave system; there might not be a way out anymore. But how had she gotten in?
The way smoke tastes, lingering too long in the air.
Footsteps behind her sent panic through her chest. She couldn't turn around. It was too dark and she might fall if she wasn't looking. But if she didn't look, she might be caught. She had to turn around. She had to know which familiar face was pursuing her, mottled and ruined from the curse of the inferi.
The way cold stone feels, slipping out from underneath you.
The sound was closing in and Ginny couldn't risk not knowing…not seeing. She turned and saw white hair and grey eyes, too familiar and too grotesque. Radish earrings swung from rotted ears and an emaciated hand reached towards her. Ginny launched herself forward, away from the hand, but her foot caught on a rock and then…nothing. She had found a chasm by falling into it.
She gasped, and then turned to look over her shoulder, back up towards where she had fallen from. Instead, she found the scent of a corpse and a snarl as that same familiar face fell above her.
Ginny screamed.
"Luna!"
She sat up sharply, eyes jerking open, and Luna Lovegood sleeping peacefully beside her. The woman was stirring, having been awoken by Ginny's sudden launch from bed, and she smiled blissfully at her.
"I'm here," Luna whispered, placing her head against Ginny's shoulder and letting the redhead ease into an embrace when she was ready. Tears stung on Ginny's face and she hugged Luna tightly.
"You were…and I… and…"
"I know, dear, but I'm here. We're both here, and safe."
Luna waited until Ginny's breathing had returned to normal before helping her to lay back down. She wrapped an arm around her and kissed her softly on the cheek.
"I'm right here," she said again.