I'm guessing with ages of the adults, ok? Don't bug me about it, please? Love, funky xxx

The next morning, Umbridge was flooded with Howlers-some filled with dangerous substances. Molly Weasley's voice screamed over the rest.

"How dare you make my son write with a blood quill? I will be doing something about this!" It continued along this vein for quite some time, and then taught even the teachers some new, extremely rude, cuss words.

Classes with Umbridge were worse than ever: soon, the whole school began skipping class, even Hermione. They would simply laze under a tree for the hour.

This was the way it continued until Christmas: something truly terrible happened to Ginny.

The first Shadow had heard of it was a letter from her mother:

Dear Shadow,

I'm very sorry to say the Mr. Weasley was taken to Saint Mungo's a few days ago during a mission for the Order, and sadly passed away this morning. Ginny is here, grieving with Ron Weasley and the twins. Bill and Charlie have come over to England to mourn with them. You'll be coming home for Christmas again, is that okay? Could you ask Hermione and Luna if they would come here for Christmas for Ginny? That would be brilliant.

All my love, Lily.

She sped off to pass the news to Luna, Hermione, Colin and Draco.

"Can we talk?" She asked them softly. "Alone?"

"Sure," they said chirpily.

"Have you seen Ginny?" asked Hermione.

"She's not here," Shadow sighed softly. "Her dad died last night."

"Oh, Merlin," said Draco, paling. "Poor Ginny."

"Yeah. Luna, Hermione, mum asked if you'd come to where we were during the summer to talk to her at Christmas?"

"Of course," they chimed.

"I want to be there," Draco said.

"I know, but Moody doesn't trust you. I'm sorry," she said.

"You know what? I'm tired of people judging me because of my father! I'm not him! I never will be! I'm in love with a half-blood! I'm best friends with blood-traitors and a muggle-born! You know what? Piss off to your bloody place and I'll find some pureblood friends, Mud-bloods." He stormed away. Shadow stared at him, and then shouted after him, "You know what? It's over! I hate you, you stupid..." She then called him something so foul that even Snape blushed. "And don't you dare coming back, you...Aggh! You're so frustrating!" She screamed at him. She threw a hex at him, and it hit his back. "Bitch!" He yelled at her as his whole body turned pink and had 'I love Gryffindors' written all over him. "Detention, Ms. Evans," sneered Snape, while Draco threw a hex back. Her front teeth began growing at an alarming rate. "Detention, Mr. Malfoy," said McGonagall. Shadow hurried to the hospital wing, Hermione, Luna and Colin following, Draco simply glared and began trying to reverse her hex.

"How could he say that?" asked Shadow, eyes glittering with tears. "How could he?"

"He's just upset," soothed Hermione.

"I'll talk to him," Luna said softly, turning and leaving.

Luna caught up with Draco as he stormed to the Library. "Why did you say that?"

"People think I'm a Death Eater because my father is," he said softly. "I'm not a Death Eater, Luna."

"I know," she smiled. "I know."

"Does Shadow really hate me?"

"No," she replied. "She's just upset. Her father may be a pureblood, but he's also a werewolf, and her mother's a muggle-born. Colin and Hermione are a bit upset, though."

"What can I say?"
"That you're sorry," she replied seriously. "That you aren't a Death Eater supporter, you don't believe that, and that you didn't mean it."

When they got back to the Hospital Wing, Shadow was sat up with Colin and Hermione asking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"For Merlin's sake I'm..." she saw Draco and trailed off with a weak "fine."

"I'm so sorry," he spoke to Hermione and Colin first. "I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay," they replied. "We know you didn't mean it." He nodded, slightly choked up: they were such good friends, they knew him so well... Luna beckoned to Hermione and Colin while Draco walked up to Shadow. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't want you to leave me alone. I want to stay with you."

"I don't hate you, you know," she replied. "I love you."

"Love you too," he smiled, and kissed her.

When Shadow, Hermione and Luna went to Grimmould Place, Ginny was holed up in her room, crying. Shadow whispered, "Hey, Ginny." Ginny smiled up at them through her tears. Shadow walked over and hugged the girl. "I'm sorry."

"I'd say it's ok, but it's not..." The other two girls joined in on the hug.

"How is everyone dealing with it?"

"Mum's cooking and cleaning all the time. She doesn't laugh anymore. The twins have stopped pranking everyone in sight, while Ron's just eating and eating..."

"How is that unusual?"

Ginny giggled. "It's not, is it? We sent an owl to Percy, he hasn't replied, while Bill and Charlie are just being strong."

"Colin and Draco send their best wishes," Hermione said softly.

Christmas didn't really feel like Christmas that year. Snape was sulking over teaching the 'Longbottom brat' Ollocumency, while Lily was upset about Remus, who still hadn't returned from his mission, and the Weasley family were all upset about Arthur's death. The daily Prophet didn't help:

MINISTRY WORKER KILLED!

In a shocking turn of events, Arthur Weasley has been killed in the Ministry.

Arthur Weasley, 45, father of seven, was found dead in the Ministry of Magic. He had been injured by a snake of some kind a week or so ago (the timeline is unsure), and was taken to Saint Mungo's, but sadly passed away a few days ago. Mr. Weasley, who worked in the Ministry and was head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office, but he was found in the Department of Mysteries. Head Unspeakable Croaker had this to say, "Mr. Weasley was not a member of our team, and he had no business being down in the department: more specifically, the Hall of Prophecy. We will be investigating this very thoroughly." But that rises even more questions: why was Mr. Weasley, an upper-level worker, down in the bowels of the Ministry anyway? And was the snake sent there on someone's orders? This reporter wants to know, and wants the Weasley family to know she is thinking of them in these dark times.

Written by J. Rowle.