Chapter 10:

Cheshire

"'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get,' said the Cat."

"We're doing it tonight."

Those were the first words Neville had said to her for days. She looked up from the book she was pretending to read while she was thinking. It was only in her imagination that she could pretend that she was engaging in some daring act, thus cooling down her need to act, which burned like fire in her veins from the moment she woke up in the infirmary that morning.

"Do what?"

"We'll break into Lestrange's office. We'll steal the wands. You've been there, you probably know where he's keeping them."

"Yeah," she blurted out uncertainly, not wanting to think about it. "Why tonight?"

"Why not?" Neville said with a shrug, and Ginny realized that Dean hadn't told him about the new approaching threat.

"Alright," she said, wanting to do something although she didn't really think it would work. She closed the book and looked at Neville, who averted her gaze stubbornly. "What's the plan?"

"I heard Lestrange talking to Carrow about a staff meeting tonight. We'll sneak into his office when he's not there."

Ginny had a feeling that she knew what was the reason for the Death Eater meeting. She wondered if she should tell Neville about it, but before she could he said in a final tone, "So tonight." And left.

It seemed that it was crucial to Neville that Dean and Seamus wouldn't know what they were going to do, because that evening he was waiting for Ginny in the common room in his school uniform, pretending to work on last-minute homework while the room clears.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked him as he made his way to the portrait hole, not even checking if she was following him.

"I've never been more sure," he stated.

The warm light from the common room was cut off when the portrait closed, leaving the two of them in the cold darkness of the hallway.

"It's after curfew, dears," the fat lady told them.

"We know," Neville said surly. The darkness cast a heavy shadow over his eyes, and his mouth was stretched to a thin line. "Thanks for your concern," he added courteously, and began to walk without looking at Ginny.

Ginny wanted to demand an explanation for his unusual behavior, but at the last moment decided she didn't have the strength to argue with him at the moment – she was sick of fighting with everyone, and they had a much more important task ahead of them.

They almost ran into a couple of Death Eaters on the third floor, but the two were laughing so loudly that they heard them in time and managed to make a detour. Once they had to go into an empty classroom in order to avoid another patrol, but otherwise they reached Lestrange's office easily.

Neville glanced at his watch and then put his ear to the door. "He's supposed to be in the meeting, and I can't hear him inside... What's wrong?"

Ginny realized she was biting her nails. She herself wasn't sure why she was doing this, or why she felt so tense. She knew Lestrange wasn't in there, so why was she so scared?

"Binns," she lied. "He was here the last time I was here..."

"Binns?" Neville's forehead wrinkled. "Oh, Binns..." He lost interest in the matter and took out a charmed pocket knife from his pocket. While he was busy picking the lock, Ginny noticed the words 'Property of Frank Longbottom' engraved on the handle in silver curly letters.

Something in Ginny wanted Binns to be there with his meaningless mumbling. The absolute silence of the dark corridor made her fear lash uncontrollably. The sight of the heavy door awoke strong memories from the night of her "detention", so strong that for a brief moment she had trouble reminding herself that it was in the past.

The lock clicked open. Neville opened the door and peered into the dark space. Ginny could imagine Lestrange's face with a shuddering clarity, smiling nastily at her over Neville's head.

"There's no one there," Neville announced in a whisper, and Ginny didn't think twice before stepping into the darkness, her hand gripping Harry's gift tightly.

When she was little, Ginny used to be afraid of the dark. The darkness would creep under her blanket at night, suffocating her, terrifying her. No one could ever take that fear away; Not her mom and dad who came to comfort her, not Bill who allowed her to sleep with him in his bed, not Charlie who told stories to soothe her, not the twins who entertained her with colorful lights. So the only way to overcome it was to deal with it – to embrace the darkness.

Ultimately she overcame that fear. And since then she would never sink in agony or cry, but would make the fear a part of her. She was afraid to devote herself physically and emotionally, so she moved from boyfriend to boyfriend with the ease of leafing through a magazine. She was afraid to remember what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets, so she never stopped thinking about it. She was afraid of the war, so she did everything she could to take a part in it. She was afraid to be dependent on someone else, so she tied herself to Harry so tightly that when the ship sank, she went down with it.

Some people called it courage. In reality, it was just a different kind of fear.

Now she felt a small triumph as she stood in Lestrange's office when he wasn't there, as if she had conquered it. The place where he had hurt so many has become a place from which she would fight back.

After her eyes got used to the darkness, she could see the objects illuminated by the cool moonlight. She went to the window, where she stood three days ago, and looked at the glowing, steady eye in the sky. An uncontrollable shudder climbed up her spine. She didn't feel brave at all.

She was startled when Neville kicked the box at her feet, apparently unaware or uninterested in her strange behavior. "This is it?"

"I think so," she replied hoarsly, urging herself to stop thinking about what had happened before, and concentrate on the now. "Can you pick the lock?"

"I don't think so," said Neville, examining the half dozen different locks on the box. "I think Granny used to have one like this. It only opens if you open all the locks at the same time."

Ginny aimed her wand. It was strange to use a wand after a time that seemed like an eternity.

"No, wait – " Neville began, but the spell was already on Ginny's lips –

"Alohomora."

The locks on the chest began to rattle violently, as if possessed, creating a deafening alarm that filled the whole room and the corridor outside.

Ginny felt as if she suffered and insulting slap to the face. Neville sat up and took hold of her wrist, pulling her out of the office easily. The sound of thundering footsteps was approaching them already, echoing from the corridor to their left; Neville yanked her with him as he ran right, into the darkness.

The self-reproach she had inflicted on herself for her horrible stupidity slowed her down, and when she realized this, she urged herself to make sure they both reached safety before she started cursing herself. As soon as she was fully aware of the danger she was in, she began to run faster, and now she was the one who was leading the escape.

" – The alarm sounded at Lestrange's –" A voice could be heard from the floor below. They both stopped abruptly on the top of the descending stairs, turning and running the other was thoughtlessly.

Ginny felt like they were running forever. They didn't even know if they were running toward the common room – the main thing was not to be caught by the Death Eaters, who emerged from rooms and corridors in search of the person who had triggered the alarm.

"Over there!"

Bright rays of light emerged from several wands, moving across the dark walls around them, searching. Ginny and Neville stopped abruptly when they realized that their escape route had been blocked by silhouettes that were approaching them quickly.

Ginny looked around wildly. A single window looked out into the cold night. But what floor were they on? Surely they were too high – they couldn't escape through it... Portraits, armor suits – maybe they could hide behind them? It would never work... One tapestry – they were getting closer – and one statue of a hump- backed witch, watching the couple of runaways with an ancient scorn.

Ginny felt as though she had been splashed with ice water. How had she not thought of it before?

Her wand was still in her hand when she whispered, "Dissendium!" Her heart pounding in her throat. The statue moved. She pulled Neville through the little opening after her and threw all her weight on it in order to close it. A ray of light blinded her for a moment before the two were secured in the dank darkness of the passage.

"Did you find anything?" A Death Eater asked on the other side of the statue, his voice ringing clear through the rocks and mud, above Ginny and Neville's fast breathing.

"Nothing. The corridors are empty," someone answered.

"Keep looking. We put guards at the entrances to all the common rooms, they can't hide."

After she was sure they had left, Ginny dared to light the end of her wand. Neville, the bright light casting a heavy shadow over his eyes, looked around in wonder and apprehension. In the darkness it wasn't clear how small the passage was; now it was clear that even as each of them clung to an oppisite wall, there was only a small space between them.

"What is this place?" He asked finally, still breathing a little hard.

"A secret passage to Hogsmeade," said Ginny, studying the cobwebs on the high ceiling absently.

How could she forget this passage? It was supposed to be the first solution that came to her as soon as she realized that Hogwarts had been conquered. After all the times she had sneaked with Harry through this passage last year she should have remembered it immediately, Especially after the last time they sneaked into Hogsmeade, after her Astronomy OWL the year before. It was one of the most wonderful evenings in Ginny's life – it was before she thought Harry might leave her, before there were Death Eaters in Hogwarts, when she felt loved and safe...

For the third time that night, Ginny felt a jittery understanding flooding her. Her Astronomy exam took place on May 8, 1997. That evening she and Harry used this passage to go to Hogsmeade.

She stuck a hand in her pocket, even though she knew she had left the mysterious note in the dorm. May 8, 1997. That was the date that was written in the note she got in the infirmary. Was it just a strange coincidence that she remembered the passage tonight, or was someone trying to direct her to remember it?

But who could have known what she had done that evening? She might have told Luna about it, but she wasn't sure she had mentioned the secret passage. She believed Harry would have told Ron and Hermione, maybe Neville, too, but Ron and Hermione were far away, and Neville was confused by the existence of the passage almost as confused as she was by the note.

A new thought occurred to her then. No one had a reason to remember that date – it didn't mean anything to anyone – except her and Harry. So maybe – maybe – He was the one who sent her that note? Maybe he was there, somewhere close by, watching over her?...

The thought filled her heart and mind with a brilliant light, but it went out almost imminently. Harry couldn't be at Hogwarts. He was probably searching for a way to defeat Voldemort somewhere far away; Sending mysterious clues wasn't like him, anyway.

It had to be someone else. That date must have had a different meaning. She didn't do anything meaningful that day, not that she could remember...

"You heard what they said," Neville said, looking into the darkness beyond the tunnel. "They're watching the common rooms, we can't go back without being caught. Where in Hogsmeade does this tunnel lead to?"

"The Honeydukes storage room. We can hide there until morning," Ginny said, and then had an idea. "Do you think it could be possible to... Escape from here?"

Neville looked troubled. "You're going to run away from Hogwarts?"

"Not me," Ginny said immediately. "Other children. Muggle- borns. The Ministry is sending representatives tomorrow – I'm not sure what that means for them, but – "

"What do you mean, representatives?" Neville asked, even more troubled. "And how do you know that?"

And why didn't you tell me before? Ginny heard the words he didn't say out loud and wished she hadn't brought up the subject.

"I happened to hear Lestrange talking about it... I told McGonagall, and she said she would do what she could to protect the muggle- borns, even though she didn't believe there was much she could do..." She was careful to omit the fact that she had also told Dean about it.

Neville nodded gravely, not looking at her. Ginny tried to figure out whether he was hurt that she hadn't told him before, or if he was just concerned about the situation. She preferred to leave the subject and pretend that she hadn't brought it up at all.

"We should go," she said, and he nodded again. She led and he followed her, both of them walking in complete silence.

Feeling Neville's eyes in her back, Ginny knew that he was somewhat angry with her, while something inside her already forgave her. Neville was like that. She would have preferred that he would get angry and yell like Dean did, and not to give her that hurt silence.