Chapter 10-Liadawn McGary

Ginny thought it was even more awkward than usual at the last parting at Platform 9 and ¾. Her mother held her longer than usual, and her father looked as if there was something that he wanted to say, but didn't know how to do so. He finally hugged Ginny and let her join her class mates on the train.

They had been early arriving at the station, Ginny thought that it probably had something to do with the fact that there were usually more people to make time for, and Mrs. Weasley hadn't thought to not leave early enough all of the usual mishaps. Nothing had gone wrong, however, and they had arrived with very few other people at the station. Ginny found an empty compartment, and deposited her things. She leaned out the window, and waved her hand out the window, attracting the attention of her parents.

Mrs. Weasley walked to Ginny and grabbed her hand. "We're going to go, dear." She said, looking around. "It's best for us not to... linger."

Ginny wasn't sure why her mother was acting so strangely, but then again, she was rarely sure of anything anymore. "Alright." She answered, simply. "Goodbye. I'll see you at Christmas."

She blew her mother a kiss and gave her father a fake smile, which he returned. Mrs. Weasley took one more look over her shoulder, blowing a final kiss to her only daughter, and then followed her husband through the wall between platforms nine and ten.

Ginny sat back down, and listened to the other students as they passed by her compartment, most of them talking in low tones. Soon, as the other compartments filled, people began opening her door, to see who was inside. Then they would close it quickly as if Ginny carried some deathly disease. Not that Ginny was complaining. She really didn't mind sitting alone.

Soon, people had stopped opening the compartment door, as if the word had spread that she was in there. She knew it must be getting close to time for them to leave, as the train seemed to be warming up to leave. Just as the train began moving, the door opened once again. There stood Luna and her fellow Ravenclaw, Liadawn McGary.

Liadawn was a the same age as Ginny. She was a light skinned girl, with shaggy chin-length dark brown hair, streaked a shocking blue to match the crest on her robes. She wore the normal gray skirt, white blouse, tie and scarf, but the scarf was tied strangely and she had changed it up with matching gloves and leggings. Ginny remembered that at one point last year, Liadawn had cut her hair shorter than most of the boys in the school. She had also found someway to change her eye color. For now it was a teal-blue, that clashed slightly with her hair.

"Hi, Ginny." Luna said, entering. "Do you mind if we sit with you? Everywhere else was full."

Had been anyone else Ginny might have said no. She nodded, and the two others placed there belongings in the compartment, and sat across from Ginny. "This is Liadawn McGary." Luna said, sitting back and pulling out a copy of The Quibbler. She tucked her wand behind her ear, and proceeded to cover her face with the magazine.

"Hi," Ginny said holding out her hand. "I'm Gi-"

"I know who you are." Liadawn said in her thick accent, grabbing her hand and shaking it briefly. "We had Care of Magical Creatures together last year."

"Oh..." Ginny didn't want to say that she didn't recall, but the truth was that she had almost forgotten Liadawn was even in the same year as her. She really didn't remember having a class with her.

"It's okay." Liadawn said, smiling knowingly. "I don't really expect you to remember. What with everything that you have been through in the last year."

"Its not..." Ginny didn't know what to say. She didn't really know Liadawn that well, and she wasn't sure what she could tell her, and how trustworthy the girl really was.

"I understand." Liadawn said, Ginny knew the girl was genuine. "I've lost a lot on account of You-Know-Who."

"I'm sorry, Liadawn."

"Please," She said, smiling. "Call me Lia."

"Okay." Ginny said, she smiled. There was silence for a moment.

Luna peeked over the magazine, and sighed. "I'm hungry." She said, putting The Quibbler back in her bag. "I think I'll go see if I can't find the trolley." With that she got up and left.

"Strange girl." Liadawn said. "Strange, but amazing."

"Yes..." There was another long silence. "Lia?" Ginny said, Liadawn looked up at her, questioningly. "If you don't mind me asking, what have you lost on account of You-Know-Who?"

Liadawn looked at her knees for a minute and then took a breath. "Well, I'll start at the beginning." Ginny sat back, ready to listen. "My father is an auror. My mum is a half-blood. Her father was a pediatrician, her mother was a witch. When my mum found out the life of an auror's wife was very different from the life of a doctor's daughter, she left my father. I was nine when they split up. My mum decided she would keep me and my brother during the summer and my father would get us for Easter and Christmas." She grimaced at the idea of being shared like a piece of meat. "Last year just before Christmas my mother sent my brother, who was eleven, but not at Hogwarts yet, to my dad's house early. She and her new fiance were going to holiday in Tahiti. Not long after that, I got a letter from my dad telling me not to come, but to stay at Hogwarts. I did. My mother went to pick up my brother after the holidays, and found a dark mark hovering over the house. She didn't dare go in, but alerted the ministry." She took a breath. There was silence for a moment. Ginny wasn't sure if she should say something encouraging or not, so she did not say anything at all. After a minute of building up her nerve, Liadawn continued. "They found my father in his bedroom. The doors were locked from the inside, but he was dead." Liadawn stopped.

The words slipped out before Ginny could stop them, "What about your brother?"

Liadawn frowned deeply. "They never found him."

"What?"

Liadawn shook her head. "No one knows why they would kill my father and leave him there but kidnap or hide my brother." Ginny was speechless. "I think..." Liadawn was wringing her hands together. "I think that my dad probably hid him before... before he died. He warned me, so he must have known."

There was another pause. "Do you know... who...?"

Liadawn shook her head, and sat back. "But... I have my theories." She grabbed her bag and pulled out a bag of sweets. "Peppermints?" She offered the bag to Ginny, who grabbed one of the candies. They both knew that the conversation was over. They made small talk for a few more minutes, until Luna returned announcing that it would soon be time for them to dress.

As they pulled on their robes, Luna asked, "What do you think will happen to the other teachers now that Snape is headmaster?"

Ginny simply shook her head, but Liadawn said, "I heard that most of them stayed just for the sake of us students." She finished clipping the top of her robes. "I think that is very noble of them." The other two nodded their agreement, as the train pulled to a stop, and they gathered the belongings that they were going to carry, leaving their trunks for the house elves.

Author's Note: Since I know that you are going to want to know what Liadawn looks like, I have made up a Zwinky of her, as I am a terrible artist. The website is http://profile. zwinky . com / zwinkyprofile / main. jhtml ? username pinkpirategirl. doesn't work then go to zwinky dot com and search pinkpirategirl. My Zwinky that is on that site is what I think Liadawn looks like.