Broken Hearts – Broken Dreams
Chapter 4
The end of the term was fast approaching and in one sense, Ginny dreaded going home for the summer. She knew it would curtail her ability to train and that thought irritated her greatly.
Though she hadn't cut back on her training, she had increased the time she spent on her homework. The only thing that had suffered because of it was the amount of sleep she was able to get. Most nights she managed to get about five hours but there were times even that would have been welcome. At least she had been able to turn in all of the essays that were required, even though many were less than stellar efforts.
Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she cancelled the training dummies before her. She wanted to get cleaned up before she headed down to dinner.
Sighing in satisfaction, she headed toward the shower the Room-of-Requirement provided. She was pleased with the progress she had made in training herself. She could consistently handle four of the most advanced training dummies that the room provided and given favourable circumstances she had even handled five and sometimes six at one time.
Finishing her shower, she paused and looked at herself critically in the mirror. Gone was any last vestiges of the young girl she had been. The image looking back at her was that of a young woman. She was lean and muscular with a look of hard determination in her eyes. All in all Ginny was pleased with how she looked.
Shaking her head, she thought of the attention it had brought on her, though Colin had been the biggest problem until she had dragged him in to see McGonagall, he hadn't been the only one to ask her out. Luckily the rest had backed off when she had pointedly declined.
Shaking her head, she finished dressing and headed off down towards the Great Hall. She hoped that Ron and Hermione were already there so she could sit away from them and forgo their constant badgering about what she was up to.
As she walked along in silence, her thoughts turned as they often did to the enigmatic man, Traveller. She still hadn't figured out who he was, though she did have a niggling thought deep back in her mind. The thing was, she just couldn't see how it could be possible and she kept avoiding it as much as she could. That thought was that Traveller could only be Harry but she didn't think that could be possible.
As much as she trained, she couldn't fathom that Harry had learned as much as Traveller knew and did. In her heart she wished it to be true as much as her head told her it was impossible.
Thinking of Harry brought a sad smile to her face. As much as she had thought about Traveller, she had spent more time thinking about him. Oh, how she wanted to see him, talk to him and let him know how much she regretted her actions on the train to Hogwarts all those months ago.
He was the only one she really cared for, wanted to be with. "If only," she thought to herself.
She arrived at the Great Hall and luck must have been with her, as she entered she saw Ron and Hermione sitting half way up the Gryffindor table. They looked at her and motioned for her to join them. She pointedly ignored their entreaty and sat by herself at the end closest to the door. Tucking right in as she was famished because of the energy she had expended. Now if she could only avoid them when they all got back to the common room.
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Dolohov looked at the Death Eaters around him and smiled. While not of the calibre of the Inner Circle, they were the top fighters of all the rest.
They were finalizing their plans for the attack he had come up with. Even Voldemort himself was impressed with the audacity of what he had come up with.
"Now remember, be on the lookout for whoever has been thwarting the Dark Lord's plans," he reminded those about him.
"Our first priority is the students and if we can get this other meddler all the better," he said, looking at the eager faces of his attack team. "Stay in groups and watch each others backs. If we stay focused there is little that can stop us."
Dolohov smiled as he watched the assemblage nod at his words. He thought about their intended target with glee. No one had ever attacked it because it was thought to be unstoppable; hence it was lightly guarded. There would only be the Head Boy and Head Girl along with the Prefects. No Aurors would be present.
"Meet back here tomorrow at 10 am," he said in dismissal.
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Ginny placed the last of her things in her trunk, shut the lid and latched it. With a sigh she turned and headed down to the common room, the elves would make sure that her trunk arrived at the station.
She was glad that Ron wasn't there, though Hermione was, pacing in front of the fireplace. With an annoyed look she muttered, "Why can't your brother ever pack the night before?"
"Don't look at me," Ginny responded. "He's never done so before, why do you think he'd start now?" she said irritably.
"Sorry," Hermione said contritely
Ginny just nodded. "Well I'm heading down now," she said, heading for the portrait hole.
Hermione frowned but nodded in return. "We'll be down if Ron ever gets his act together."
Ginny didn't say anything more, glad to be away from the incessant questioning that had been her constant irritation the whole term. She had just about reached the end of her patience with Ron and Hermione and she really didn't want to have to hex someone right before they left. Hopefully they'd leave her alone on the trip back to London.
Ginny boarded one of the first carriages leaving for the station, once there she located her trunk and boarded the train. Knowing that Hermione would prefer a compartment closer to the front of the train so she could get to the Prefect's meeting, Ginny headed the other way. She'd find some place near the end of the train where she hoped to find an empty spot where she could be alone.
Since she was early she pretty much had her pick so she chose one almost at the end of the last car. Hoisting her trunk into the overhead, she sat down and stared out the window.
She dreaded the coming confrontation she was sure she was going to have with her mother about her grades. Though sure she had gotten at least an Acceptable in everything and maybe an Exceeds Expectations in DADA, it was well short of her previous years. Not that she cared, she had met her own goals for the year.
Watching out the window, she saw the trickle of students change to a much heavier flow as the majority of the school made their way to the train.
She sat back and hunched a little as she noticed Ron and Hermione pass by, breathing a sigh of relief when they failed to notice her watching.
She hoped that just maybe her wish to be alone would be granted but as the train started to pull away from the station, the door opened.
Ginny glanced up, a frown on her face, only to find Luna Lovegood staring back at her.
"Mind if I join you?" the blond girl asked. Then not even waiting for and answer, she dragged her trunk in and sat down.
Ginny sighed, at least it wasn't Ron and Hermione.
"No, it's fine," Ginny said, though her voice didn't sound all that pleased.
Luna gave her a small smile, pulled out a copy of the Quibbler and began to read.
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Ron and Hermione boarded the train, being one of the last to do so.
"Do you want to go and find Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"Why bother," Ron replied with a frown. "She'll just ignore us and she probably doesn't want us with her anyway."
Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said sadly, feeling that somehow she was missing another opportunity to get some answers from the youngest Weasley, not that she'd been able to get any all year.
They headed down the corridor looking for a compartment. Hermione glanced into one. "Here's Neville, why don't we sit with him?" she stated.
Ron just shrugged his shoulders and pushed the door open.
"Hey Neville," Hermione said, giving their fellow Gryffindor a smile.
"Hi guys," Neville replied in greeting.
Neville helped the two stow their trunks and he sat back down.
"We'll be back in a little bit after the prefect's meeting," Hermione said, as she and Ron headed back out.
"Okay," Neville said with a wave as he returned to reading his copy of Herbology Today.
Just as they shut the door, the train lurched into motion, starting the long journey back to King's Cross Station.
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Ginny sighed in relief as the train left the station. She could tolerate Luna's company knowing that her strange friend would leave her alone for the most part.
She stared out the window watching the countryside slip by, her thoughts drifting to Harry as they usually did when left to her own devices with nothing to do.
She hoped he was okay and taking care of himself and she gave a small smile thinking that at least he wasn't headed back to his horrible relatives for the summer. She just wished she could see him and let him know what she really felt.
Ginny heard Luna fold up her paper.
"You'll be seeing him sooner than you think," Luna said dreamily.
"What's that?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"You'll be seeing him sooner than you think," Luna repeated.
"Who?" Ginny asked with a frown.
Luna gave her a patronizing smile. "Harry, of course."
Ginny gave her a questioning look, wondering how her friend knew who she had been thinking about.
"He's been missing all term," Ginny said lowly.
"Oh, he's been closer than you think," Luna replied with a smirk.
Ginny jerked in surprise. "What, have you seen him?" she asked intently.
"No, he hasn't wanted to be seen, but I know he's been around," the blond-headed girl replied enigmatically.
Ginny just shook her head, though she wouldn't discount what Luna had said. The girl had an uncanny knack for knowing things that others didn't.
"Besides, now that the Wrackspurts have left you so you aren't focused on other boys, Harry will be happy to see you." Luna continued, her smile growing.
"I hope you're right," Ginny whispered in reply.
"You'll see," Luna said smugly. She stood up and stretched. "Well, I need to use the loo, so I'll see you in a bit." With that she left, leaving Ginny alone with her thoughts.
Ginny laid back, letting her eyes close, enjoying the warmth of the sun that came in though the window. Slowly she drifted off to sleep, her mind full of thoughts of Harry.
Ginny awoke with a start. The lurching of the Hogwarts Express, jolting her out of her slumber. Its squealing brakes, sounding out loudly, letting the young Gryffindor know that something was desperately wrong.
As the train shuddered to a stop, almost throwing her from her seat, it drove her into action. She was immediately on her feet scanning out the window for whatever was causing the problem.
Glancing toward the nearby rear of the train, she could see a small mass of black cloaked and masked figures pointing their wands at the rear door. A quick look in the other direction let her see more figures at the juncture of the cars.
Ginny's eyes narrowed in intensity as she mulled over her options. Heading toward either exit would only put her in the midst of those who were attacking the train.
Stepping back away from the window as far as she could, her back to the door, she did the only thing she could think of, she sent a strong blasting hex at the side of the train.
It exploded outward, a shower of splintered wood and shattered glass, catching three Death Eaters who had the unfortunate luck to be walking by at the time.
Wasting no time, she ran and leaped out of the compartment even before all the debris had settled. She noticed in satisfaction as she vaulted out of the car at the three who lay in the wreckage. One had a large piece of wood sticking out the side of his head, his glassy eyes letting her know without a doubt that he was dead.
The other two were moving feebly, one with a shard of broken glass protruding from his neck, his blood spurting high into the air, his time alive would be short lived. The other was a little luckier, but not by much. He had numerous pieces of both wood and glass embedded into his body from the waist up. He was no longer a threat and unless he got medical attention quickly, he'd be joining his two companions in death.
Sprinting as fast as she could, she headed away from the train, not wanting to be caught between the two groups of Death Eaters who were staring stunned at the carnage she had wrought.
As soon as she was clear, Ginny turned and began to fire off spells as fast as she could. She caught several unaware, their reaction slowed by the unexpected events that had just unfolded.
Ginny moved to her right, towards the end of the train, away from the larger group who were finally starting to move. There were only four of the original ten still standing and they turned their wands at her and began firing off spells.
Ginny dodged the first volley and kept up her attack, felling two more with a couple of well placed Bludgeoning curses. Pressing her attack, she closed the distance with her adversaries, keeping them on the defensive as she drove her attack home with a withering array of spells.
First one and then the other fell to her well placed curses, both dead before they hit the ground. Not taking a moment to collect herself, she immediately turned to face the larger group who had taken the time it had taken her to eliminate the smaller group to spread out and move to confront her.
Ginny shook her head as she counted the group that was confronting her, never before had she tackled one so large in all her training. Undeterred, she refused to back down, knowing that each moment she survived she gave time for help to arrive.
Further up the train, Ron, Hermione, the Head Boy and Head Girl along with several of the older Prefects were trying to stem the assault near the Prefect's compartment.
Though they had so far kept the Death Eaters from boarding the train, they were barely holding their own against the onslaught.
An explosion rocked the train as a section of wall flew in, showering the occupants with splinters of shattered wood. Ron screamed out in pain causing Hermione to spare him a quick glance. A six inch splinter protruded from his thigh and though he had fallen over he kept firing spells out of the hole now exposing them to the outside.
Hermione squelched down her concern, knowing she couldn't stop to help as every wand was need to keep the Death Eaters at bay. Already several of the Prefects had been felled by their attackers. If help didn't arrive soon, there was no telling what the carnage would be.
Harry stepped from the shadows, casting blasting hexes with both hands. They landed in the centre of the group at the front of the train. Five fell, never to rise again, multiple others were thrown through the air crashing hard to the ground, but they rose quickly, once more returning to the fight.
Harry turned to the train crew. "Get those tracks cleared, I'll cover you," he yelled to be heard over the cacophony of the battle.
Getting nods in return, Harry turned his attention back to the group of Death Eaters before him, once more firing off spells as fast as he could. Though he would rather have moved to attack from different places, he stayed in place to buy time so the tracks could be cleared.
Though hard pressed, Harry remained where he was blocking the way to the frantically working train crew. He had been forced to use one hand to erect a Shield while continuing to fire off spells with his other.
Ginny knew she was tiring, never before had she expended so much energy both physically and magically. Still she refused to give in, firing off spells as fast as she was able. Already she had felled several of the group before her but all that seemed to do was draw more of the Death Eaters toward her.
Her Shield flared as two more Bludgeoning curses struck it and she briefly wondered why none of the Death Eaters had fired off the Killing Curse, not that she wanted them to.
Almost resigned to her fate, she knew she couldn't hold out much longer but if she was going to die, she wanted to take as many of the bastards with her as she could before she succumbed.
Hermione glanced about her taking note of those about her. Ron looked as pale as a ghost, but he doggedly continued to fire spells off from his place on the floor of the compartment.
Several more of the Prefects had fallen to injuries, but as far as she could tell there hadn't been any fatalities.
To her surprise the number of spells coming their way suddenly dropped in number. Chancing a quick look, she noticed many of the attackers outside there car had turned away and were headed toward the front of the train. Looking in the other direction, she was gratified to see the staunch resistance that the rest of the students were mounting against the attacking Death Eaters.
It seemed an eternity but Harry finally heard a gruff, "We have the tracks cleared," from behind him. "Go!" he shouted, firing off another Blasting hex at the group before him, blasting yet another small group of Death Eaters killing several and injuring as many more.
He heard the wheels of the engine spin hard before they grabbed and slowly at first, and then with increasing speed the Hogwarts Express moved off down the tracks.
Freed at last, Harry slipped into the shadows and reappeared behind the group attacking him. Firing off several Bludgeoning curses, he took down several more of the Death Eaters. Just as he prepared to fire off several more he heard a scream behind him, freezing his blood in his veins.
Turning quickly, he watched in horror as a lone figure at the end of the train fell to a spell.
Ginny knew the time had come, one last spell struck her Shield and it flickered out. She was able to side-step a couple of spells but there were many more coming her way. With every last ounce of her strength, she fired off one last spell, severing the head of one of her attackers. Too bad there were at least a half a dozen more.
She screamed in pain as a cutting curse slammed into her, cutting her open from her left hip to her right shoulder. As she fell and darkness took her, her last thought was "I'm sorry I'll never see Harry again."
Harry recognized the figure who fell and an anger enveloped him like he had never felt before. Stepping into the shadow of the passing train, he instantly appeared behind the group who were advancing on the fallen Ginny. With an icy fire in his eyes, he fired off a number of spells, catching each of the Death Eaters square in their backs. Even before their dead bodies hit the ground he was at Ginny's side.
He took a quick glance at the fastly disappearing Hogwarts Express and the handful of remaining Death Eaters who were shooting a few last spells at the train. Ignoring them, he bent down and scooped up Ginny and without looking back he disappeared into the shadows.
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It was a battered and smoking train that pulled into King's Cross Station much to the shock of the parents waiting for their children. Within moments Aurors and Medi-personel were Apparating onto the platform to give aid, having been notified by the crew of the attack on the train.
Immediately they began to render aid to the injured and the Aurors started to question the students to find out what had happened. Within moments a large contingent of them Apparated away to the scene of the attack.
Molly and Bill Weasley were frantically scanning the crowd of students who were slowly making their way off the train, many looking shell-shocked and confused, milling about. Many of the youngest were openly crying, huddled together in small groups.
Miraculously there had been no fatalities thought there were numerous with injuries, some critically so.
Bill finally spotted Hermione, herself bleeding from several cuts on her face and neck. She was leaning over talking to someone on a stretcher, her face a mask of concern.
It took a moment but Bill finally identified the person as none other than Ron. Molly started crying as they hurried to their side.
Molly blanched and Bill grimaced at the sight of the piece of wood standing out straight from Ron's thigh.
"Oh, Ronnie, are you alright?" wailed Molly.
"I'm fine, Mum. Really I am," replied Ron lowly, his teeth clenched in pain.
As Molly fussed a Medi-witch came over and checked Ron. When done she affixed a bright yellow tag to Ron's shirt. She then looked at Hermione and affixed a green tag to her.
Molly looked confused so Hermione took pity on her. "They're assessing everyone who is injured. It's called Triage. The Yellow is for someone with an injury that doesn't require immediate treatment to save their life. People like that receive a red tag. My green tag tells them I have only minor injuries that need treatment."
"What were the black cards she had with her?" asked Molly, watching the Medi-witch move on to assess others.
"They're for the dead or those who will not survive their injuries no matter what," Hermione answered grimly. "I'm fairly certain they won't be applying any of those to anyone."
Molly suddenly looked up, once more in a panic. "Where's Ginny," she asked frantically. "Wasn't she with you?"
Hermione looked scared to answer, finally saying "No, she decided to ride elsewhere."
Molly looked torn and started to rise from beside Ron. Bill placed a hand on her shoulder, "Stay here with Ron, I'll go and find her," he said reassuringly.
"Okay, Bill," Molly said hesitantly. "Just hurry and find my little girl."
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks, wondering what Ron's mum was going to say when she saw the changes her "little girl" had undergone.
Bill left and headed down along the train, scanning both the compartments and the crowd still milling about on the platform. At least there seemed to some semblance of order starting to take place amidst the chaos that had reigned after the Express had first arrived.
It wasn't until he was three quarters of the way down the train that Bill's sense of unease grew. There was hardly any students left this far down the platform. He espied Tonks, Shacklebolt and another Auror standing at a large hole in the side of the train, inspecting it closely.
"Hey Kingsley, have you seen Ginny?" he asked as he came up to the trio.
The large black Auror turned in his direction. "No, I haven't," he said plainly, a frown forming on his usually stoic face. "Wasn't she further up the Train with your brother and Hermione?"
Bill just shook his head, a very concerned look settling on his face.
"Bill," Tonks said lowly. "Isn't that Ginny's trunk?"
Bill looked at where Tonks was pointing, inside the compartment they were gathered outside of. He had to close his eyes and take a moment to steady himself. There in the rack was a trunk he knew so well, the initials GMW inlaid plainly for him to see.
"Yeah," he croaked out eventually. "That's hers, I'm sure of it."
It was then he noticed something strange about the hole in the side of the train and the compartment beyond. Tonks was absently fingering some of the damaged wood surrounding the hole, staring at it intensely.
Bill shook his head in confusion for a moment, then the light of recognition brightened his face.
"Noticed something, have you?" Kingsley asked him with a wan chuckle.
"Yeah," Bill replied, touching the edge much in the same manner that Tonks was.
"Tell me what you see," Kingsley said.
"The blast came from inside the compartment," Bill replied, glancing at the senior Auror.
Kingsley nodded his head in agreement. "It appears that someone, possibly Ginny, blasted out the side of the train."
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of someone Apparating onto the platform and an Auror came hurriedly over to Kingsley. The man gave a report to the Head Auror but he spoke so lowly that Bill could not make out what he was saying.
Kingsley glanced at Bill before turning to Tonks. "Tonks, check with the St. Mungos people," he ordered, his eyes briefly flitting to Ginny's trunk.
Tonks just gave a curt nod, before she hurried away up the platform.
"Bill, can you come with me?" Kingsley asked, his face full of concern.
Bill glanced up the platform where he knew his mother was waiting. He nodded his head apprehensively, knowing he didn't want to return to the others without some word on where Ginny was.
"I'll have to take you by side-along," the Auror said, taking a hold of Bill's arm.
Bill nodded his acceptance and with a loud pop, the duo disappeared.
Bill staggered al little when they arrived at the scene of the attack, more from the amount of carnage than anything else.
It was obvious that the front and rear of the train had seen the heaviest fighting by the number of dead Death Eaters at each location. There were scattered dead and injured along the length of where the train had rested but two large groups marked the front and back.
Kingsley immediately headed for the rear of the train. As they approached the end they came upon the debris field left by the explosion that had come from inside the last car. Three dead Death Eaters lay among the wreckage, one doing a fine approximation of Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, a large shard of glass sticking out of his neck, nearly decapitating the man. Another lay with a large piece of wood firmly embedded in his skull, obviously having died instantly from the wound.
The two walked passed, barely slowing as they went, towards the end where the train had stood. There they found seven more dead Death Eaters, all having sustained horrific wounds.
Kingsley looked about, studying the layout. He walk purposely away from the tracks, to roughly the middle of where a number of dead made an almost complete circle if the previous seven were taken into account.
Bill counted an additional dozen dead bodies and he stood in confusion about what had taken place.
Kingsley was busy, looking back and forth from where they stood, laying out angles, assessing the battle from where all the bodies lay.
"Whoever did this, really fought like hell," he said lowly to Bill.
Bill looked around, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, his mind trying to piece together what Kingsley was seeing.
"Whoever did this, Ginny, I suppose," the Auror said apologetically, "moved from the train, straight out, taking down a couple of the Death Eaters as they did so. They then turned to confront those remaining at the rear of the train. Taking them all out from the looks of it."
He then turned and walked forward slightly. "They then turned and fought with the larger group moving from further up," he pointed out. "You can tell from the way the Death Eaters fell where the attack was coming from."
Bill nodded, trying to picture the battle as Kingsley described it.
"Though someone came to her aid because there are seven who were hit from behind," Kingsley added.
He stopped suddenly, looking down, his shoulders slumping at what he had found.
Bill looked at where Kingsley was looking. He had to steady himself as he saw the pool of blood, too much blood.
Bill sunk to the ground, his eyes shut and taking his head in his hands, he cried out softly. "Oh Ginny! What happened to you."
Kingsley came over and rested his hand on the distraught young man's shoulder. Shaking his head, he said lowly, "All I can figure is for some reason the Death Eaters took her with them. Nothing else explains it. If it were another student who saved her, they would have taken her back to the train, wouldn't they have?"
Bill's shoulders shook with his sobs. How was he going to tell his family it looked like Ginny had been taken by the Death Eaters.
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A/N: Hope you liked this chapter, at least you know Ginny isn't with the DEs. What will Harry do with Ginny, how will it play out? Stay tuned intrepid readers if you want to find out.