A/N: Okay, so even if I do want to explore this year more thoroughly than the others, I will be skipping some details. I hope it won't feel too jumpy here and that you'll get the general picture. Anyway, just read on and enjoy!
Seventh Year. Part II.
Ginny had been the first one they'd asked to demonstrate the Cruciatus Curse, on Luna Lovegood. She had refused, as expected, and had been punished for her disobedience a thousand times worse than Lovegood would have suffered from a curse the thrower wouldn't have truly meant. That was three days ago, and Ginny had just been let out of the Hospital Wing, after one night in the dungeons with some kind of torture that the others could only imagine. She still looked horrible as she arrived at the DA meeting, ashen-faced and wincing every time she moved too fast.
It was Longbottom who spoke up. "Okay. So they think they've got a hold over us. They'll want to use it as much as possible – they'll ask us to hurt each other, and they'll have an excuse to hurt us like hell when we refuse. What do we do?"
Everyone exchanged shrugs, until Lovegood spoke up, in an almost unrecognizably undreamy voice. "Well, I think that Ginny should have done it. It wouldn't have been that bad, since she didn't mean it. It would have been better for everyone, I think."
Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Longbottom raised his hand. Padma knew he was one of the few people who could get Ginny to quiet down when she didn't want to. "Y'know, Luna has a point," he said, cringing as he did as if expecting massive protests.
Instead, Seamus spoke up. "I agree. Any o' ya get asked to do't to me, jus' do't."
Her face pale, Lavender nodded. It was probably only Padma who detected the slight tremble in Parvati's voice as she said "Me too".
Soon, the whole room had agreed, some more hesitantly than others. Padma was one of the last. She'd never imagined herself telling anyone to torture her if they had to, but she also knew that this was the reasonable thing to do. It was. If they did, they'd have some semblance of control over it. Plus, they'd not give the Carrows what they wanted.
The meeting ended quickly after this decision had been made. Susan and Ernie were the last ones out of the room, smiling a little more broadly at each other than they probably should, since their closest friend Hannah had been too upset to attend today. Soon, it was just the three leaders, Padma, Michael, Terry and Anthony. This time, it was Michael who stalled.
"Gin, you comin'?" Longbottom questioned, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Ginny jumped at his touch, looking at him, disoriented. Obviously, she had been deeply lost in her thoughts. "Wh-what?"
"Are you coming?" he asked again, frowning in concern.
Her eyes searched the room, locking with Michael's for a brief second. Then she, looking surprised herself, shook her head. "No. You guys go ahead. I'll just – I'll be right behind you, 'kay?"
Still looking puzzled, Longbottom left the room. Padma noticed him grasping Lovegood's hand, as soon as he had made sure that Ginny was looking the other way, though.
As soon as the door was closed, Ginny bowed her head, waiting. Anthony took a step backwards, as if he was trying to melt into the wallpaper. Terry kept his eyes on the floor. Simultaneously, Padma and Michael stepped forward.
"Hey, Ginny," Padma said gently.
Ginny merely nodded, still not lifting her head. Padma watched Michael set his jaw, and then step so close to her that he could be touching her, if he wanted to.
"Ginny," he murmured.
Seemingly just from the mention of her name, or from the sound of his voice, or simply because of everything that was wrong with the world, Ginny's shoulders started shaking. She didn't look up.
Without a word, Terry and Anthony left the room. Padma hesitated, wondering if this conversation was too private for her to be present. Her eyes pleaded with Michael for an answer. "It's okay," he said softly to his former girlfriend. "It's just us now, and Padma. You want her to go too?"
But Ginny shook her head, croaking out, "I-It's fine."
"Okay then," Michael nodded, reaching out to pull her into his arms. It amazed Padma how he was able to do this, like it was no big deal. It should be. He and Ginny had barely spoken since their awful break-up, a year and a half previously. She had hurt him, badly. She had moved on to get together first with the boy he had accused her of flirting with and then with the boy he had known, deep down, that she had always been pining for. He was still sort of together with the girl he had started dating just a week after their break-up. And yet, despite all of their painful, awkward history, here he was, simply embracing her as she wept. Padma was amazed, and yet she wasn't. It was just Michael, really, to do something like this.
"You gonna be okay?" he questioned as she made to release herself, wiping at her eyes in frustration.
She dropped her scowl, and her face fell again. She shrugged, seemingly not yet ready for words. For a moment, she just looked so lost that Padma acted without thinking, giving the girl a tight hug herself. Ginny was surprised, first, but then she just gave into it.
"You miss him, don't you?" Michael's voice was level, any trace of bitterness wiped away with time and circumstances.
Padma almost gasped. If anyone else would have asked Ginny that, she was sure they would have been hexed to the moon or further. With Michael, however, there was something so simple about the way he just knew things and then said them. You couldn't be mad at him for it.
Ginny nodded. "And – and my brother," she whispered, and began dabbing at her face furiously again. "Shit. I'm not – I don't – "
"I know," Michael nodded, giving her a half-smile. "It's all right, though."
Ginny merely shook her head, not giving any further explanation. Instead, she blew out a breath and forced a change of subject in a tone that didn't open for arguing. "How're you and Cho doing?"
Michael's face darkened, but he spoke (surprisingly, since he hadn't brought up Cho in weeks, and Padma, Terry and Anthony had assumed asking was out of bounds), his voice unnaturally monotone. "She's not here. I am. It – sucks."
Ginny gave a weak smile. "Yeah. I know a bit about that." She waited a beat, biting her lip, this time succeeding in keeping the tears at bay. "At least you can write, though, right?"
Michael nodded. "Yeah. At least for now. Not sure how long it's gonna be possible, but yeah, for now, I guess we're lucky. Even if it's bloody hell not the same just to have a few words about nothing important…"
"I guess not," Ginny said, still looking unconvinced. Padma couldn't blame her. Just a line saying that Cho was okay was a lot more than Ginny got from Harry these days.
"You gonna be all right now?" Michael repeated.
Ginny hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. I s'ppose so. I'll just have to watch out so I don't catch Luna and Neville snogging their asses off on my way back." Seeing both Michael and Padma's shocked expression, she gave a small smile. "Oh, come on, like you haven't seen the way they're on about each other? It's just for show they're not doing it every second of every day. They don't think I can handle it or something. Which I can, obviously. I just – I'd prefer not to meet up with them right now."
"Okay then. You know, I could walk you back, and let my manly footsteps scare off unwanted people on the way?" Michael suggested.
"Thanks, but no thanks." This time, Ginny actually grinned, if only for a second. "Really. I'll be fine. They can't lock me in the dungeons just for bloody walking, can they?"
xxx
It was October, and Seamus and Lavender's very relationship-like situation had finally crossed the line. They had become a couple, who not only touched each other very frequently, or hugged and comforted each other, but who actually kissed, too.
"You all right with all this?" Padma asked her sister with a furrowed brow as she had gotten this piece of news reported to her in a frighteningly detached voice.
Parvati forced a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?" Padma merely looked at her. Parvati's grin faded as she realized that this was her sister, who knew her well enough to know. "Fine. I'm not, really. I should be, I know that. She's been fancying him forever, forget the whole Ron business last year. In fact, that makes her even more deserving of this, because he was a real prat!" Parvati caught herself, swallowing. Padma thought she saw something like guilt in her sister's face, something like you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, or the possibly and quite probably dead soon. "Anyway," Parvati continued, shaking herself with a sigh. "She deserves Shay, who really does care about her. And I know he needs her, with D-Dean not being here. He's been a mess, y'know. Lavender tells me he's not sleeping, but you can tell that just from looking at him. The guy's a bloody walking corpse. If it wasn't for her, he'd probably forget to even put food in his mouth." Padma knew Parvati was right about this. She had seen Seamus too, in DA meetings, in class, in the halls, his eyes haunted and lost (even if this eased remarkably whenever Lavender was around).
"That still doesn't change the fact that you're not happy about this," Padma pointed out softly, putting her hand on her sister's, whose face fell again.
She took a deep breath. "Guess it doesn't. I wish it did, though. But I just – well, it's not that easy, watching the two of you with your boyfriends, when – y'know."
Padma didn't know what to say. Sorry? Instead, she just pulled her sister into a hug. "You do know you should probably tell Lavender about this too," she said as they let go.
"Why?" It was obvious from Parvati's eyes that she did know this, but that she didn't want to.
"Because she needs to know. She's your best friend. You're hurting. She needs to know, and we both know she would take this a lot better if it came from you rather than from me."
Parvati gave a soft chuckle. "Well, you're right about that. If it were you, she'd probably think you were trying to steal Shay or something, despite you still being disgustingly happy with Terr."
"See? You've got no choice here, okay? If it was her, wouldn't you want to know?"
Parvati made a grimace, and then nodded grudgingly. Padma hoped this meant she would actually do something about this, but had a sneaking feeling she wouldn't. Still, she didn't press the matter. Right now, Parvati needed her. After all, she had told her. That was better than no one, really.
xxx
"We – have – to go," Padma panted against Terry's lips that were driving her absolutely crazy. "We'll be – late!" she protested, just as his tongue did something that made her forget just why that was so important.
"Just a – few seconds," Terry mumbled, his eyes burning with need. He needed her to keep kissing him. She needed him to keep kissing her. Just a few seconds more, how could that matter?
It could. Because that was when the classroom door was banged open by the triumphant Alecto Carrow. "I thought I heard something," she grinned maliciously. "Now, who do we have here, but our very own little Miss Prefect? Well, well, well. You know, I'm gonna have to put you in detention, Miss Patil. You really should be setting up a better example for the other students."
Padma was frozen, remembering how Neville had looked coming back from detention, and Ginny, Luna, Ernie, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati… It seemed to be getting worse, too, when the scaring off effect apparently wasn't working.
Terry, however, took a step forward, his knuckles white. "You can't do that! It's not even past curfew yet!"
"And how exactly were you and Miss Patil planning to return to your common room within the next thirty seconds, I wonder?" Alecto asked silkily.
"Well, we might've made it if you hadn't been here, preventing us, wouldn't we? What kind of shit is that – giving out effin' detentions for crimes you've made us commit, huh?"
"Language, Mr Boot," Alecto said, still grinning, while shaking her head. "Actually, I was just going to put your little friend here in detention, who should've known better, but since you are practically begging for it…"
"Then put me in detention instead! It's crap anyway, just punishing her. We both know you were just looking for whatever reason to punish her 'cause you caught her talking with Neville and Ginny this morning. But you know what – speaking is not a fucking crime!"
Alecto had dropped her grin, and her mouth had now grown very thin. "I'll see you both in detention tomorrow evening, eight o'clock." With that, she stormed out of the room.
xxx
Padma hadn't cried, before. She had looked at Terry's thin lips, and she had known she couldn't. They had walked down together, trying to not think about the grim, worried faces of Anthony and Michael they had left behind. She had tried to keep her hand from shaking in his, but she wasn't sure she'd succeeded.
It was frightening. Walking to your torture, to unimaginable pain.
Neville's face, slashed open. Ginny, trembling with exhaustion and aching all over.
She could do this. Sure, Padma had never experienced anything like this – she hadn't even ever broken a bone before this. So she didn't know for sure that she could do this. But she had to. Ginny and Parvati had (but Ginny and Parvati were strong, so much stronger than her).
Now, she knew for sure that she couldn't. It felt as though every fibre of her was blazing with fire, and her mind had been wiped blank from anything else. It was unbearable. And then it stopped, for just a few seconds. For just a few seconds, she sank shakily back to the floor, and she looked into Draco Malfoy's white face, wide eyes.
Then a sound pierced her heart. His howls of agony, of desperate pain. It had been there before too, obviously, but she hadn't really heard it, though her own haze. Now, she heard it. She heard exactly how much he was trying to push every sound back down, still fighting it, to not give in, and to not let her hear. But he couldn't. He couldn't.
She knew why, as she carefully turned her head and saw Crabbe's face shining with delight at his victim's failed attempts at resistance.
As she clasped her hands to her mouth, a sob escaped her. She felt the tears that had been clinging to her eyelashes start to run freely, as she realized there was nothing she could do.
Right then, a rough hand slapped her cheek back to the ground. Her face hit the cold stone floor, and she could feel her left eyebrow start to throb fiercely. While she felt it with her fingertips, recognizing an already beginning swelling, she heard Amycus Carrow bark at Malfoy to get a move on.
She caught a glimpse of Malfoy's clenched jaw, and still pale face, before he muttered the curse and her body started burning again. This time, though, she never stopped hearing Terry.
A/N: Let me know what you think, okay?
