Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Series and all its locations and characters are, of course, the intellectual property of the magical J.K. Rowling
The Circle Around The Moon : Prologue
"If one more person asks me where Harry is, I'm hexing everyone."
Ignoring Ginny's threat, Luna gently steered her away from the Serbian president. All Ministry functions had a "Ginny" corner, where the redhead could be isolated from guests before she started a diplomatic incident.
The Creature's Rights Convention opening ball had furnished the Ginny corner with a large L-shaped sofa surrounded by softly glowing hinkypunk lamps.
"Sit," Luna ordered. Ginny collapsed onto the squishy purple cushions. An auror trainee appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Watch her please. I believe she's been bitten by an Umgubular Slashkilter."
"Uh... Of course," stuttered the trainee as Luna floated away toward her husband, who was deep in discussion with a rather hungry looking vampiress. "Umgubular Slashkilter?" He mumbled to himself.
"Their bites cause extremely aggressive behavior," Ginny informed him. "Cornelius Fudge had one as a pet when he was minister."
"Oh, I didn't know that Mrs. Potter."
"Trainee…."
"Gilbert, ma'am."
"Gilbert. There's no such thing as Umgubular Slashkilters. I just miss my husband and have been taking out my frustration on unsuspecting party guests."
"Oh, okay." He swayed awkwardly, looking everywhere but at Ginny.
"You don't need to try to entertain me, Trainee Gilbert. Just keep any important officials from approaching me." Closing her eyes, she leaned back and drifted away daydreaming that she was flying.
"You're in time out already?"
Ginny straightened up, fixing Tori with a radiant smile. "Having Harry gone so long has done terrible things to my composure."
"I'm about to be your new best friend, then" Tori proclaimed as she sat elegantly next to Ginny.
"How does that work with you being my old best friend?"
"Harry is coming home. We just received ministry approval to build Haven. He's coming for the ground breaking ceremony."
"You efficacious bitch!" Ginny teased. "We all thought it was impossible."
Tori smirked smugly. "It's surprising how amicable people are when you tell them that Harry James Potter, The Savior, The Chosen One, would be ever so grateful for their assistance."
Ginny guffawed. "I've noticed that. However, I've only ever used my powers for evil not-"
A man who did not belong limped along the back wall. The shape of him was familiar in a way that sent fear seeping down Ginny's spine. No one else seemed to notice him amidst the glitter and laughter of the ballroom. Ginny began to wonder if she was over reacting, when Tori seized up beside her and exhaled the word "Macnair."
"He's in Azkaban," said Ginny, uncertain if she was trying to reassure herself or Tori.
Tori shook her head. "I know that limp. That's Walden Macnair."
Macnair lurched down a corridor leading into the bowels of the Ministry.
Ginny swore loudly. She shouted for her auror babysitter. "Trainee Gerbert!"
"It's Gilbert, Ma'am," he mumbled as he raced over. "Not that it really matters. You can call me whatever you'd like. I don't-"
"Shut up," Ginny commanded and he did. "Find Minister Shacklebolt tell him that Walden Macnair is in the building heading downward. I'm going to follow him."
Ginny didn't wait to see if he obeyed her instructions. She raced after Macnair. There was a Deatheater in the Ministry the very idea terrified her. For the first time in two months she was glad that Harry was in Argentina. At least Macnair's plan couldn't involve harming her husband.
As Ginny ran down the corridor she became aware of the sound of clicking heels behind her.
"Go back to the ballroom, Tori," she yelled over her shoulder.
"And let you chase after a killer alone?" Tori snorted. "You're my best friend. I'd prefer it if you didn't die."
Ginny stopped abruptly, causing Tori to run into her still form.
The door to the Department of Mysteries stood open.
Ginny rushed inside the Entrance Chamber. The soft blue lights dancing around the room like water made her feel like she was drowning. All twelve of the handle-less doors were closed, concealing a possible Deatheater plot. She didn't know which room to investigate first. Each holding a mystery of existence, all of them volatile, dangerous and barely understood even by the Unspeakables.
Behind her Tori called out "Praeviusmeta". A pale purple outline emitted from one of the doors. "This way," Tori instructed as she wrenched open the door and entered the Time Room.
Upon entering the chamber, Ginny saw seven dark-robed figures encircling the Bell Jar of Time, chanting. Reacting instinctively, she cast a Bat-Bogey Hex that caused the figures to cease their spell. They waved their arms wildly, fighting of the flying bogeys.
The Bell Jar emitted a bright pulse of light. Ginny suddenly felt dizzy and grabbed onto Tori, who was also swaying on unsteady legs.
Another pulse brighter than the first.
"We need…" chocked out Tori. "-Need to stop it."
Ginny tries to nod, but a blinding pulse of light hit them and she sank to the floor. Wave after wave of light, some how simultaneously pure white and all the colors of the rainbow, crashed down on her. Ginny shut her eyes against the onslaught. But the light was inside her eyes. It was part of her very existence. Her existence, which was being wrenched apart and put back together, over and over and over.
Suddenly everything was quiet and dark. Ginny remembered her name and what she was. She moved her fingers and felt other fingers moving against them. Tori. She remembered her too.
"How fascinating," commented a long unheard but familiar voice.
Ginny laboriously pried her eyelids open. She was in Hogwarts' Great Hall. A pair of sparkling blue eyes looked down on her. "Are you quite alright, Ms. Wealsey," asked Albus Dumbledore.
She opened her mouth to speak but was cut of by an "hem-hem" from the end of the staff table.
"This is not an occurrence to be treated so casually, Headmaster. How did these women get within Hogwarts' wards? What is their purpose? The Minister most be notified at once, so the Auror Department can investigate."
Turning away from Dumbledore to glare at the hateful woman, Ginny's lips curled into a snarl. "Eat dung and die, Umbitch."