DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be worrying about where I'm going to get the money for college before I've even begun high school.
A/N: In HBP, Lupin says that something like a shock or an emotional upheaval could result in a changed Patronus. This is my play on that with Ginny and her "emotional upheaval" at not knowing Harry's whereabouts, at dealing with Death Eaters running the school, at all that was happening in The Deathly Hallows. Enjoy!
~Ari
The courtyard was invaded with pitch black as thick as cotton, pierced only occasionally by the fickle flames that torches along the outer walls of Hogwarts provided.
It appeared empty at first sight. The flicker of firelight caught on hair that shimmered and blended with the fire itself.
Ginny's chocolate brown cloak drowned her in it's folds of warmth, but she was cold to the core. Her pale hands trailed over her long wand of dark wood, feeling the magic swirl in tendrils over her skin and seep through her pores into the highly-charged air around her.
She raised the thin strip of wood and murmured, "Expecto Patronum," reveling in the Latin words and wondering if they could bring her warmth. I await a protector.
Silver, like that unnameable substance that was Harry's invisibility cloak, flowed and curled into a strong slender form. Four legs, a body of graceful power, a long neck and a head that dipped to nuzzle her palm.
It should have been familiar. It should have been her mare.
It wasn't.
Her finger traced antlers like bolts of lightning, her eyes dropped to take in the loping dance of its hooves.
"Stag," she gasped softly.
Her focus faltered, and so did the Patronus.
She blinked.
It was gone.