A Plan of Action
Ginny lay in her bed, heart beating uncontrollably as she willed her body to move. It didn't seem to want to respond to the instructions her restless brain was sending it. Finally, as if by some divine power, Ginny's leaden legs moved off her bed. All of her motor functions seemed to suddenly catch up with her and she was shaking madly as she searched for her wand. Where did I put it, Ginny thought frantically, I need my wand! This is horrible! That was when Ginny realized where her wand was. It was in the pocket of the jacket that Hermione had grabbed when she left the room. Hermione! Both Hermione and Ron had gone who-knows-where in the Burrow. Ginny took several breaths to calm herself and decided to go find Harry, who she assumed would still be in Ron's room.
Ginny stepped out of her room quietly and slunk through the shadows of the dark Burrow. Now that she had a mission to accomplish, Ginny was much calmer and focused on achieving her goal. Thankful for the number of times she had snuck out of the house to fly brooms or swim in the creek, Ginny avoided the steps that creaked as she quickly made her way up the stairs to Ron's room. She reached his door, softly turned the knob and pressed the door towards the frame so it wouldn't squeak as she opened it. She rapidly made her way over to the sleeping form on the cot. She put her hand over Harry's mouth so he wouldn't make much noise when she woke him.
"Harry," Ginny gently shook him as she called his name softly. "Harry, wake up and be quiet." Harry started and made a muffled noise before Ginny shushed him. "Harry, it's me, Ginny, and you've got to listen to me. Be very quiet or I can't tell you what's going on," she felt Harry nod but continued to keep her hand over his mouth. "There are Death Eaters in the house." Harry made a noise that would have been quite loud if Ginny hadn't muffled the sound with her hand and he made to sit up. "Be quiet Harry!" she whispered violently. He nodded and motioned for her to take her hand away, which she did.
"Where?" was all he said. At that, Ginny quietly explained what had happened, including where Ron, Hermione and her mother had gone. Harry made a startled gesture when Ginny told of the Death Eaters outside of her room and grabbed her arm, not letting go. As she finished, he took a deep breath and started to form a plan in his mind.
"Alright, we'll go downstairs and make sure they aren't anywhere near the kitchen. You'll Floo to Grimmauld Place. Then, I'll find Hermione and Ron and come to headquarters." Harry finally said.
"No, I'm not leaving you here by yourself," Ginny shook her head.
"Fine, we'll go find Hermione and Ron and then Floo there. But we need a plan before we set off to find them," Harry said. Ginny nodded.
"They probably went to the tree house, Ron always liked it there and it's a good place to be alone," Ginny said.
"You're probably right. So that's where we're headed, and then if they aren't there, we'll come up with another plan. So, we'll just go downstairs, wands out of course, and out the back door. If we skirt around by the trees, we can't be seen and then we'll make for the tree house. If we get separated, just keep heading for the tree house and we'll meet there. If I don't show up in ten minutes, get away from here fast," Harry said his entire plan very quickly. Ginny agreed and they stood quietly to put it into place when Ginny suddenly remembered something and grabbed Harry's arm.
"I don't have my wand, Hermione took it by accident." Harry looked at Ginny and made up his mind.
"You're going to Floo straight to headquarters. I'll find them by myself," he said to her.
"No! I can still help and you know it. We're not planning on doing any fighting, anyway. We just want to find those two and get the hell out of here," Ginny said fiercely. Harry nodded, knowing she was right. But before they left the room, Harry grabbed her by both shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.
"Do not leave me," he said protectively. Ginny nodded and the two stepped out the door of Ron's room and onto the landing.
Ginny led the way, since she knew where to step and Harry followed her movements exactly, holding on to her hand the whole time. They slowly made their way down the stairs, without encountering anyone. Harry thought maybe the Death Eaters had left already but didn't want to jump to any conclusions. They made it to hallway by the living room, Harry was checking to see if he could see anything in the living room before they went in. Ginny stood quietly behind him. Suddenly, Ginny felt a hand clap down over her mouth and someone trying to drag her away. She gripped Harry's hand, her nails digging into his palm. Their hands were ripped apart as Ginny's assailant dragged her into a room and prepared to lock the door with his wand. Ginny fiercely kicked her attacker in between the legs, giving her a brief moment of respite, and moved keep the door from closing but the Death Eater tripped her after recovering from her attack. He grabbed his wand and performed a locking spell on the door. Ginny started to panic. She didn't have a wand and Harry was locked out of the room. Her attacker laughed maliciously, putting himself between her and the door, raising his wand to point it at her. As Ginny started trembling madly, the door blasted open and a furious Harry stood on the other side.
"Stupefy," he said evenly. The Death Eater slumped to the ground before he had a chance to do anything. Ginny stared in wonder at what Harry had just done.
"Thanks," Ginny said, feeling somewhat lame that that was all she could manage to say.
"Are you alright?" Harry crossed the distance to her, looking concerned.
"Yeah, just hurt my ankle a little, but it's been like that ever since…" Harry knew she was remembering the Department of Mysteries. "How did you do that? I didn't hear you use a spell to blast the door open," Ginny asked in awe, still trembling a little.
"I-I… I didn't," Harry said, looking relieved that she was alright but now looking confused as to what happened. "I just was really upset and angry that he had taken you from me and I just thought I need to get to Ginny and the door blasted open." Ginny looked at him with wonder. Harry walked past her and over to the fallen Death Eater and pulled back his mask. Harry recognized him from the Department of Mysteries as Antonin Dolohov. Harry looked down at the stunned man with a look of pure disgust. He looked down at the man who dared enter the Burrow and muttered bastard and kicked his head, causing blood to trickle from his mouth. Harry walked back over to Ginny and clutched her convulsively, saying, "We need to get out of here."
"So," Ginny said, trying to lighten the mood, "I hear the Death Eaters are still here." Harry smiled weakly at her joke, too distraught at the fact that he had almost lost Ginny to laugh. The two moved towards the door and stepped out, still intent on finding Ron and Hermione.
