Ginny couldn't believe who was standing in front of her.
"YOU" she screamed and tried to get to him, but Hermione grabbed her friend in a second. She may have known how dangerous this man in front of them really was.
"Uh-uh-uh" he made and waved his index finger provocatively "I do like little girls who have manners but I do not like little girl getting involved in things that are none of their business"
Ginny grunted. Was he serious? He was the one who sent that man after them. She watched him carefully, trying to find out how to fight him best.
"And I do really hate little girls who tie up my… employees" he said and smiled cruelly at the man behind of the girls.
With a movement of his wand, he let the bonds disappear. The man got up rubbing his wrists and stepped towards his boss.
"I can't believe you would have the guts to return…" Hermione said to him.
"Me neither, but you're leaving me no choice" he snatched his attention back to Ginny and Hermione.
"I don't understand… We were doing nothing" Ginny snapped back at him. Well as far as she knew they were not after him. George, Ron and Harry were acting strange but they would never be after… Oh my god, they would!
"No…" Ginny said and looked at Hermione "Was this all about… revenge?"
Hermione looked at her and shook her head. That was not the time to discuss this issue.
Is that why they were sneaking around all day or going after Ginny, Luna and Neville? They weren't thinking they couldn't defend themselves. They were hunting him. Hunting Augustus Rookwood- the murderer of Fred. And he was closer than they had imagined.
"You… YOU" Ginny started but Augustus just laughed.
"Come on, little girl" he said "You really are surprised, aren't you?"
"I thought you were… dead or in Azkaban"
"Well… You were wrong" he said angrily "And now since we are talking about that… I'm telling you once and only once, that I won't be that stupid and let Harry Potter put me into Azkaban"
Hermione was about to say something, but thought about it and just stared at the former Death Eater.
"You tell him and his little friends that this game's over" he said.
"Who do you think you are?" Ginny screamed before anyone could stop her "You killed my brother and you think this is some kind of game?"
"Ginny, please…" Hermione tried to calm her down. It seemed like Ginny couldn't see how dangerous the situation was right now, all she did was concentrating all her anger on Rookwood.
Rookwood looked at the girls with a mixture of anger and amusement. How could he dare stand there in front of them and smile down at them.
"You will pay for what you did" Ginny threatened him. She wasn't too sure about what she was going to do when she lifted her wand.
Without blinking Rookwood fought off her spells. They walked in circle for a while, Rookwood laughing and Ginny getting angrier and angrier. It ended with Rookwood shocking Ginny. Hermione screamed as she watched the curse hitting Ginny.
She felt through the air and landed a few feet away on the ground. Her back ached terrible and so did her chest. What spell did he use on her? She didn't move for a moment or two. Hermione was by her side, her eyes in tears. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. That her friend was well… More or less, that is.
Ginny got up and held her head. She wasn't bleeding and she was conscious, that was all she could tell so far. His smile had disappeared the moment Ginny had moved again.
"This is not possible" Rookwood screamed in anger "She should've been dead. What happened here?"
Ginny looked at him with disgust. He was walking up and down and suddenly looked at his companion.
"How is THAT possible?" he screamed now a bit terrified as Ginny could tell. Before Ginny or Hermione could do anything else, Rookwood grabbed Hermione by her hair.
"YOU! You are supposed to be a genius… Why. Isn't. She. Dead.?"
Hermione, though visibly in pain, smirked.
"You forgot, Augustus, that we are protected, no matter where we go" mockery was clearly heard when she said his name.
Rookwood, obviously not satisfied by her answer grabbed it more violently. Hermione groaned.
"You should be happy about that… What do you think would happen if- if you'd kill another of the Weasleys" she managed to say. Rookwood let go of her immediately and Ginny managed to crawl to her friend. He stumbled a few steps backwards and looked at his companion again.
"We will go… But remember Miss Granger, tell Mr Potter and the Weasley's that they should stop looking for me, or else… Or else I will truly kill her"
And with a PLOP both men disapparated. The girls were quiet for a moment as to make sure that they were alone.
"What? Did he hit me with 'Avada Kedavra'?" Ginny said and felt her heart race at the image of it.
"He did" Hermione said dead serious. Oh my god, Ginny was so close to dying and didn't even recognize it. She would've been gone and could've never had the chance to make it up with Luna and Neville. She would've been gone and would've never had the chance to see her family again. She wouldn't have been ready to leave.
"But how could I survive… I mean… what?" Ginny stuttered.
"Harry told you what happened in the forest, didn't he?" Hermione asked as she sat next to Ginny.
"Yeah, he went in there to let Voldemort kill him…" Ginny responded.
"No… Well yes, but did he tell you what exactly happened?"
Ginny didn't understand, what was her friend on about? Harry had told her, that Voldemort had used the killing spell on him and that he found himself next to Dumbledore. He had the choice and chose to stay alive and fight.
"Ginny… There was so much more to that… He sacrificed himself for us" she smiled at the thought of it "Do you understand what that means?"
Ginny shook her head. How would she know?
"That means that nobody can hurt you" she giggled and wiped away a tear "Harry did so much more than "just" defeating Voldemort… And nobody really knows"
Ginny was speechless. He had sacrificed himself for all of them just like his mother once did for him. Voldemort could not harm Harry and now nobody could harm her. She put a hand on her chest at the spot where the curse hit her, just under her heart and felt her heartbeat. She owed Harry so much more than just the rescue in the Chamber…
"He… he did" Ginny finally said and got up. "How can I ever-"
"No" Hermione interrupted her friend "You can never tell him"
Ginny was confused. Why not, he was a hero after all…
"He would not want anybody to know… Especially not you"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked angrily.
"It means that you can hardly look at him now and him and I both know what would happen now" Hermione sighed "It should've never come to this…"
"I am looking at Harry" Ginny said stubborn. She had even kissed him… twice! How dare somebody tell her that she was afraid of Harry Potter- haa, not after all those years she had been fighting next to him and the order!
Hermione just gave her friend a look, saying 'Come on, who are you kidding' but Ginny didn't let her provoke her. She slowly got up and that's when she realized her ribs were hurting immensely.
"Dammit" she said between her teeth. Hermione was next to her and put up her shirt.
"This looks horrible, we have to get you to the infirmary" she said and supported her side. "Do you think we can make it back to your dormitory?"
Ginny nodded but kept her teeth together. She knew she would scream otherwise, it hurt more than she could've imagined.
Back at her dorm, Ron and Chris were sitting together, not really talking at all- the one didn't know what to say to his girlfriend's sister and the other didn't want to say anything to his sister's twat. Both were hoping for the girls to return as fast as possible, bringing along Neville and Luna to loosen up the atmosphere.
Ron, slightly uncomfortable and trying to keep it together looked outside the window. It's been quite a while since the girls had been gone and this campus couldn't be that big could it?
After, what it seemed an eternity of time, in which neither of the boys talked at all, Hermione burst into the room, helping a visibly injured Ginny into the room.
Ginny's face was grey and her forehead was covered in sweat. Hermione put her on the bed and helped her lie on the pillows.
"What happened?" Ron was the first to speak. He was terrified and his already pale face turned white.
"Not now" Hermione hissed and got around the room to look for her purse.
"Oh my god, Ginny" Ron said and got back down next to his sister "Are you alright?"
"No, as you can tell" Ginny said more harsh than she intended to. "I'm okay, Ron"
She grabbed his hand and breathed through her teeth. She then looked at Chris.
"Could you… Bring Neville and Luna here?" she asked him. They were the people she needed to see the most right now. She had to make things right, after all she almost didn't get the chance to do so. Chris only nodded his head and made his way through the door.
"Now tell me what happened" he demanded to know from Hermione who was throwing out staples of books and other things out of her little purse.
"Death Eater… Rookwood…" she said while looking through her stuff.
"Oh my god, what did he do to you?" Ron asked in shock. He was angry at himself for not being there and concern was written all over his face.
Hermione found what she was looking for, stepped to the bed again and pushed Ron aside as gently as she could right now. She started to put some serum on Ginny's ribs while telling him the whole story. She had to ask him multiple times to stay calm. Ginny could tell by his face that he was just about to run out into the woods and find Rookwood himself.
"I'm alright…" she tried to assure him.
"THAT son of a-" Ron started to yell but just in that moment, Chris came through the room bringing along Luna and Neville. Luna looked concerned and Neville's face was almost as white as the wall.
"Good god, what happened to you?" he asked and sat on the edge of her bed.
Ginny put a hand up to reach for his hand. He took it and Luna sat down on the ground so her face was the same level. She smiled.
Hermione put her things back in the purse and made Chris and Ron leave with her. She closed the door behind her and the silver trio sat there in silence for a few moments. She then started to tell them what had happened.
Neville and Luna listened in silence, nodded, widened their eyes and almost shrieked (yes even Neville almost shrieked at the image of Ginny almost dying) and when she finished her story, the three of them were silent again.
"I'm sorry…" Ginny started but Neville shushed her.
"No, I am… Or rather, we both are so sorry…"
"Yes, we should've told you what was happening… None of this would've-" Luna said
"It would… I think I would've gone after him anyway…"
"But Rookwood… He was here…" Neville said.
"It doesn't matter… None of that does anymore…" Ginny said and looked from Neville to Luna "I figured that I could've been dead and that the only thing that mattered when I've realized what happened is that you both are my best friends… And I couldn't stand losing you"
Luna smiled brightly and Neville squeezed Ginny's hand. There were no further words needed, all three of them knew that they felt the same way and were happy more than anything else in the world, that they had each other. The silver trio was back on and the things that were going to start, Ginny thought, would only be able to get done if the three of them stuck together.