The Power Of Premonition
Chapter Four
Ginny awoke with a shriek, jerking up in her bed, panting as if she had been running. She looked around in sheer panic, recalling the events of the last days – and nights. Even though she still felt Madam Pomfrey's sleeping potion running through her veins, making her feel rather drowsy, she couldn't help seeing the disturbing images of her last dream in front of her inner eye – images that had burnt themselves into her brains, images she unlikely could ever forget again.
A flash of green light seemed to illuminate the Hospital Wing and she winced in shock and pressed her eyes shut, suddenly feeling something inside her fist. She slowly opened her hand and looked at it in the darkness. There it was, almost shining in the dim light – Cedric's handkerchief. She ran a finger across the white material und tried to breathe normally again, shutting out her dreams and fears. It worked – she calmed down just by looking at that piece of linen.
Clutching the handkerchief, she leant back into the pillows and stared at the dark ceiling where weird shadows danced across the old stones. She closed her eyes – only to see another image of her dream behind her lids – Voldemort's red eyes burnt in the darkness. She winced and tried to jerk open her eyes again – yet they wouldn't listen to her. It seemed as if her body was controlled by somebody else – a feeling she recalled with another stroke of panic.
A muffled scream emerged from her throat, her heart beat pounding in her ears – and two eyes dancing behind her lids. Dark eyes, staring, intensely, eyes in the middle of a handsome face with smiling lips and black hair framing pale skin. Remembering his looks, she felt fascinated and horrified at the same time. He always was something like a contradiction – and what she felt for him was something of the same nature. However horrible things he made her do, whatever influence he had on her, she never forgot how he made her fall for him, fall for his charms, his smile, his nice words, his persuasive attitude.
Tom Riddle made her do such terrible things – he also almost killed her by claiming her energy so that he could come alive again – yet there was something about him that was making her feel guilty. Guilty for feeling what she felt. She herself didn't know how to describe it, she couldn't yet understand what was going on inside her, what made her heart jump against her ribcage and what tickled inside her stomach. It wasn't Tom Riddle, who caused these things, but it was Tom Riddle who made her open to feel all those complicated feelings – even though it occurred to her several years afterwards.
When she saw his face again, lying on her bed in the Hospital Wing, glooming in the darkness as if he was standing right in front of her, she felt her heart sink, her hands clutching Cedric's handkerchief until her knuckles turned white. It was, however, his voice ringing in her ears, that made her feel desperate with every fibre of her being.
"How could you do this to me, Ginny?", his voice echoed through the infirmary and Ginny hoped that Madam Pomfrey would hear it – yet at the same time, she knew that only she, Ginny, could hear what Tom Riddle told her.
"I didn't do anything…", she whispered, her eyes fixed on the face looming in front of her.
"Yes, you did, Ginny-dear", he said with his infamous smile. "And you're doing it right now!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on, Ginny, I know you are not that stupid."
"I –"
"You are trying to betray me, Ginny", he said and his voice made her shiver – and the way he said her name made it even worse.
"No, I'm not, Tom, I'm not. I couldn't – I'd never –"
"But you did, dear", he whispered, his voice so close to her face that she almost felt his breath on her skin. "You betrayed me."
"No", she whined, feeling tears burning in her eyes. "I didn't mean to –"
"Ginny!", his voice suddenly rose to an angry bark that made her wince.
"Please, Tom, I -"
"Don't think I'll forgive you this time", he said, his voice calm again, almost hypnotic. "You betrayed me once, you killed me, remember?"
"No, I didn't! Harry –"
"Yes, that Potter boy did… I know, dear, and guess how my revenge will look like… ah, right, you already know that!"
"But I didn't mean to have these … visions, I am sorry, Tom, I didn't want to have seen all this… I swear… I -"
"Stop it, stupid girl!", he said angrily, his rage echoing in her ears. "You know exactly what you did to me!"
"Tom – I –", she whined again, tears now streaming mercilessly down her cheeks.
"You told everyone what's going to happen!"
"But I –"
"And now you have to pay for it!"
"No!", she screamed, her eyes widening, when Tom Riddle's face vanished into green smoke and became a jolt of green light, aiming directly at her heart.
Her scream echoed from the high walls of the large room, ringing in her ears long after. She quickly sat up in bed and looked around with sleepy eyes, suddenly noticing the sun beams that danced through the Hospital Wing. Her eyes scanned her surroundings hectically – but there was no sign of Tom Riddle or anything else frightening.
Ginny leant back against the cushions, sighing loudly. It was then that she realized she wasn't alone in the room. She blinked several times before she could focus on the figure sitting next to her bed. It was hard to see the face of the figure because it was hidden behind a large book. She then recognized the bushy brown hair looming over the edge of the book.
"Hermione?", she asked the girl cuddled into a chair next to her bed.
"You're finally awake?", Hermione asked without looking up from her book.
"Didn't you hear me… umm… scream?"
"You scream a lot these days, you know? Nothing out of the ordinary. You must sleep a night in my dormitory, there's someone screaming every other night. Bad dreams, everyone got them", she said in a rather casual tone before she turned a page and put a bookmark on the spot she read last. Then, she finally looked up. "How do you feel?"
"I don't know", Ginny said after a while, feeling rather distracted and confused.
"Anything new about your dreams?", Hermione asked, watching her closely.
Ginny turned her head away and stared at the windows where beautiful sunlight had fought away every single dark spot that had made her shiver just hours ago. She recalled the night and the reason why she was in the Hospital Wing.
"Well", she said after a while. "I -" She stopped, remembering Tom Riddle's angry voice in her ears. "No", she lied – feeling only a little guilty.
"Really?", Hermione asked doubtfully.
"Yes, nothing new, just the same thing over and over again…"
"Hmm, and I thought there was something new to the sound of your screams…"
"No…"
"Ginny, come on", Hermione went on. "I know when you're lying!"
Ginny stared at Hermione.
"And I saw someone's worried face today."
"What?"
"Cedric looked particularly distracted this morning."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, let's just say his mind had been somewhere else when he ran into me while entering the Great Hall. He looked really… torn out, so either he fought with Cho or you told him something even worse."
Ginny sighed. "I guess it's a bit of both."
Hermione raised one eyebrow. "Well, tell me."
"When I… collapsed in the Great Hall yesterday, he brought me here and I had a … vision about what happened after he would die. And then Cho came in and saw us."
"Alright, so what's more shocking? Sunny boy being caught with another girl or the events after his soon-to-come death?"
Ginny just shrugged, still feeling someone else's breath on her skin, reminding her of horrible consequences of her betrayal.
"Ginny, tell me, what's going to happen after Cedric is killed?"
Ginny leant into the cushion, closing her eyes.
"Harry's blood –"
"Harry's blood? What do you mean?"
"May I finish?"
"Go on."
"Harry's blood will resurrect… You-Know-Who!"
Hermione's eyes widened. She stared at Ginny while her book almost slipped from her fingers.
"He is going to return?", she whispered.
Ginny nodded, biting her lip.
"You must tell Dumbledore!"
"That's what Cedric said as well…"
"So he believes you now?"
"Well, at least he doesn't think I'm lying…", she said and looked down at the handkerchief she was still clutching with her knuckles turning white and her hands going numb. Yet it made her feel a lot more at ease.
"Alright, Ginny, when I finished my classes this afternoon I'll go with you to Professor Dumbledore and you'll tell him about your dreams."
But Ginny wasn't so sure about it. She moved a little uneasy in her bed sheets and looked around, somehow fearing to find Tom Riddle's face looming in a dark corner of the room.
"Ginny?"
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?", she asked and continued looking around.
"You keep staring around as if you're looking for something. You're acting really weird lately, you know?"
"Oh yeah, I know, maybe those damn dreams are the reason why!"
With that, Ginny tossed away her bed sheets and got up from bed, ready to leave.
"Hey!", Hermione called after her. "I hope you're storming off to tell Dumbledore about it!"
"Whatever!", Ginny replied and left the Hospital Wing, her head spinning, her breath stuck in her throat. She couldn't quite say why she felt a little angry with Hermione or why she was acting like she did. Hours ago, she was eager to tell everyone what she had seen, what was about to happen – and now she just wanted to get away from everyone bothering her.
It was then that she saw Cedric Diggory standing at the bottom of the stairs leading down from the Hospital Wing into the Entrance Hall. He was talking to someone she couldn't see – but when he moved a little she saw black hair next to his shoulder. Cho Chang. Something else formed inside her stomach – apart from confusion, anger and fear. She just didn't know what it was.
Yet when she reached the end of the stairs, she stormed past Cedric, more or less accidentally bumping into him while going past him. Her head was filled with the feeling she couldn't describe, making her blind to his confused gaze that followed her down the Hall.
She walked through the corridors, completely forgetting that it was Monday and that she had classes. When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, about to utter the password, she heard an loud voice from behind her. Just when she turned around, she could already see Professor McGonagall's dark robes rushing up the stairs. She tried to duck away – but too late – as the elderly witch came to a halt right behind her.
"Miss Weasley, I finally found you!", she said a little out of breath.
"You've been looking for me, Professor?"
"Yes, indeed. You missed my class today, did you notice?"
"Oh, umm, I totally forgot! I'm sorry, Professor. I'm a little… distracted lately."
"I heard Madam Pomfrey talk about you spending the night in the Hospital Wing. Is there something you wish to tell me?"
"No, Professor", she lied and tried to smile up at the Head of her house.
"Really?", McGonagall asked, watching her closely. "Well, anyhow, you look a little pale. I guess you go right into your dormitory and lay down for the rest of the day. But tomorrow I want to see you back in my class – and make sure to get today's notes from one of your classmates!"
With that the professor turned around and stormed off into the opposite direction.
Just as Ginny was alone again, something stroke her like a jolt of electricity. She spun around in shock before a voice rang through her head.
"Be a good girl, Ginny, make me proud!"
She looked around but she was still all alone in the corridors. And however often she looked around, she knew whose voice she had heard. Whose voice made her shiver all over again. Yet suddenly she felt something else. She saw a face glowing in the distance, her surroundings began to spin around her and so did the face coming closer. She saw grey eyes that stared at her without blinking, a face motionless like a mask. A mask of death. Cedric's dead face.
"No!", she yelled out and stopped in her tracks, her fists clenched by her sides, her breath as if she had been running. "No, Tom! No, I won't let this happen! You can't scare me anymore! I won't let you! I'm going to save him!"
A tear rolled down her cheek when she turned around and headed past the portrait of the Fat Lady who stared at her with her mouth wide open, small eyes following her suspiciously.
Ginny didn't care, she had to do something and so she walked straight forward to the only person who might be able to help her – even though she didn't know how.
When she approached the huge gargoyle, she suddenly remembered that it needed a password to spring to life and let her enter. Tom Riddle's voice rang once again in her head: "There you go, Ginny! Not even the great Dumbledore is there to help you! No one will help you – so why don't you just let it happen?"
"No I won't, Tom! Forget it!", she mumbled and stared up at the enormous statue, trying to figure out how she could open the entrance.
When she was almost about to turn around again, she heard footsteps behind her and spun around – to see a rush of white hair and light robes coming towards her.
"Professor", she said as Dumbledore came into view.
"Ah, Miss Weasley", he said with a sparkle in his eyes. "I assume you wanted to see me?"
"Why, yes, I did", Ginny replied, a little taken aback that he already knew.
"Well, come on in, then", he said and stepped next to her, looking up at the gargoyle, before he said: "Chocolate gnomes!" whereupon the entrance came into view. He stepped onto the stairs, closely followed by Ginny.
They entered his office and whereas Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk, Ginny stood in front of it, feeling slightly uneasy.
"Sit down, Miss Weasley", he said and summoned a chair for Ginny to sit on. She did so and slowly looked up into the headmaster's face.
He watched her very closely over the edges of his half-moon spectacles and she felt as if she didn't even need to open her mouth to tell him what was wrong.
"So, why did you want to see me?", he asked nevertheless.
"I – umm, I don't really know how to start, professor", she said honestly.
"Well, how about the beginning?", he said with a smile.
"Some days ago", she finally began, "I had a weird dream about –"
"Yes?"
"About the Tri Wizard Tournament."
"Go ahead."
"Well, I dreamt about the Third Task which is about to take place in a maze – what I didn't know before until Hermione told me the Champions already knew, yet I didn't know about it and saw it in my dreams. And I saw that the Tri Wizard Cup will be a –"
At this moment, the door of Dumbledore's office burst open and a limping figure entered. Ginny recognized Mad Eye Moody immediately as she already felt his magical eye fixed on her.
"Alastor? How can I help you?", Dumbledore asked, looking past Ginny.
"Headmaster, I was sent by Professor McGonagall to bring this girl into the Hospital Wing!", Mad Eye said, both his eyes fixed on Ginny who just stared at him, puzzled.
"Why's that?", she wanted to ask, knowing that McGonagall sent her to her common room just minutes ago – but Dumbledore merely nodded.
"Alright, do as you were told, Alastor", she said before turning to Ginny. "I'm afraid our talk has to wait a little, Miss Weasley. Take a rest and we'll talk later."
She stood up hesitantly, nodding to Dumbledore before she turned to Moody, her heart hammering against her chest. Even though looking at the weird professor of Defence against the Dark Arts was always awkward, this time Ginny felt as if something was wrong. Very wrong.
What was he up to?
A/N:
Chapter Four and Part One of Day Three in our Seven Days Until Cedric Diggory Is Going To Die story xD
Wow, finally a new chapter, I am terribly sorry I didn't write before, I just had a lot of stuff to do, namingly my major exams and graduation and preparation for university and such. So I was busy and also had a major writer's block - I also abandoned my other stories -.- Anyhow, here it is, finally, a new chapter of Ginny and her premonitions.Only a little Cedric in this part, more of him is about to come soon. So, again, thank you for your patience and thank you for reading and reviewing (thank you EVERYONE who reviewed sooo much, I am so glad you like this story, I'm flattered to hear you like the idea!)!
Disclaimer:
Everything found in the Harry Potter universe belongs to JKR.
General information found at MuggleNet dot com.
Up next:
What's going on with Mad Eye Moody? What about Cedric and Cho? Can
Ginny save both Cedric and Harry and the whole world from the
resurrection of the Dark Lord?
