Authors Note's: Hello. Long time no see… Hmm… I'm back, at least I think that. Then again, this break I took was longer than before; it was almost of six months. WHOA!
Well… I would have stretched it more but the review by ginnyandharr'slove reminded me and I picked up from the 2,000 words I had already written.
Thanks to all my previous reviewers(rainstorm77, AryaAliceLuna, HyperLily) and here's the next chapter for you.
CHAPTER – 14
POTTERWATCH
"Hello friends," came a strangely familiar voice, "This is River, your host for the evening. All of you, the one who are currently listening to the first broadcast of Potterwatch, must consider yourself lucky."
Silence fell and everyone held their breath, waiting for the mysterious 'River' to continue.
"I will be joined by others as the show progresses," River said and all the while Ginny was plagued by the feeling of knowing the speaker. It was not one of the twins, she was sure and neither was it the voice of Professor Lupin, "But for now I will just give you a quick run through the happenings of the Wizarding world."
"Isn't it Lee Jordan?" shouted Seamus suddenly.
"Shut up," came many angry voices, "we are trying to listen here."
Seamus grumbled angrily and sat silently, with a scowl on his face. But at least the prat had helped her, even if he had done it unintentionally.
"As all of you know," said Lee, "the Death Eaters have been causing havocs. Muggles are being killed like pests, like it is some kind of new sport for them. Every known supporter of Harry Potter has either been driven away or locked or killed or if that supporter belongs to a pure blood family, kept in a very close surveillance by the Death Eaters, or theoretically saying, the Ministry under Merlin knows what accuses."
Ginny insides clenched after hearing this. She now knew why her parents hadn't been locked up but somehow she thought that their present condition was worse.
"And we have also got hold of a very disturbing piece of information," said Lee, his voice heavy, lacking the usual vigour, "which shouldn't be too disturbing if you know the person herself, as I and many others had the misfortune of. I'm talking about our very own toad, Dolores Umbridge, who had been made the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, which should be renamed to Muggle-Born Termination Commission if you ask me. I mean, how can people believe in the Ministry? It goes beyond me folks; it's like ridiculing a Chimera and hoping to go out on a date with it."
After a short silence, in which everyone present in the Room of Requirements seemed to hold their breath, Lee continued, "All the Muggle-borns who had registered themselves with the Ministry are rotting in Azkaban Prison. So, if you are a Muggle-born and haven't registered with the Ministry, think of yourself as one fortunate lad. Run while you have the chance and hide if you can. If you know a Muggle-born, inform them."
"Now," said Lee in a lighter tone, "I would like to introduce you to Romulus, my correspondence for tonight."
"So Romulus," said Lee, "what are your views on this whole mess?"
"Well," said the unmistakable voice of Professor Lupin, "all I say is, believe in Harry. Dumbledore believed in him and I think that should be a reason and motivation enough for anyone."
Professor Lupin voice seemed a little strain when he talked about Harry and it let Ginny wonder if he still was mad at Harry.
"But what would you say on all the rumours about supposedly Harry being captured?" asked Lee.
"I don't believe that River," said Professor Lupin, "If Harry was dead, Death Eaters would have made quite a show of that because it would have killed the last of resistance. First our idol, our beacon of strength Dumbledore was killed cold-bloodily by Snape. And now with him gone the stress of keeping the hopes high of Wizarding folks lie on Harry. And if by any misfortune, he is killed, people will be lost. And it is very easy to lead a lost crowd. So I believe that Harry is still alive and doing what he must do."
"Which is?" enquired Lee further.
"Only he and Dumbledore know," said Professor Lupin, with a very audible frustrated sigh, "Dumbledore is dead and Harry being the second most elusive men on earth, we have no chance of knowing."
"You have to give that to him at least," said Lee joyfully, "With the Ministry and Death Eaters at his tail, he is doing a marvellous job of hiding."
"Yes," agreed Lupin.
"And what would you like to say to the people who think Harry is just saving his own arse by hiding?" asked Lee again.
"I would just say that," said Professor Lupin, "those people, mind me, are better off dead. Because only those people are saying this who still believe that Harry killed Dumbledore —"
There was a scraping noise and the sound of whipping of wands followed. Everyone in the Room of Requirements sucked in shocked breathes as their ears strained, trying to listen to the faintest of sound coming from the Wireless.
"Oh," came Lee relieved voice after a bit of incoherent murmuring, "it's just Royal, another contributor; looks as he made it in time."
"I couldn't have missed it even if I my life depended on it," came a slow deep voice. Ginny instantly recognised the voice; it was of Kingsley.
"So any news?" asked Lee.
"Yes River," said Kingsley, "First of all folks, remember to never say You-Know-Who name. I know what Dumbledore used to say, but I am sure even Dumbledore would have advised you against it. Because You-Know-Who have Taboo-ed his name, an ingenious way to track down the last of Dumbledore and Harry supporters. So I urge every one of you against it."
Kingsley sucked in a deep breath, and then continued, "You would have heard about former Minister Scrimegour resigning from his post. Well that's a lie; he didn't resign, he was murdered when he refused to tell the whereabouts of Harry. Rumours are that he was killed by You-Know-Who himself. While he was alive, he was misunderstood by many but in the end, he proved that he had nothing but concern for the future of wizard-kind. So let's hold silence for a moment and pray for his soul."
Silence surrounded them and Ginny closed her eyes, thanking Merlin that it was Scrimegour who was the Minister that time, not Fudge.
"And now the news we all have been dying to tell you," said Lee excitedly, "We would have liked to discuss more, but we don't have much time on this secured line.
"It's a news that I'm sure Daily Prophet and Wizarding Wireless Network News probably missed. So who among you gentleman, would like to tell it to our listeners?"
"You should tell it River," said Kingsley and Professor Lupin agreed.
"Okay," said Lee, "Some renegades broke into Ministry yesterday, and freed almost all of the Muggle-born who were there. Also they caused quite a ruckus there. Some eyewitnesses had said that one of them had a stag as a Patronus and the other had an otter. We wonder who they —"
"RUN!" came the voice from the wireless and it was so alarming that almost everyone in the Room of Requirement jumped out of their skin, "Death Eaters are in the area. Pack up."
"Sorry," said Lee, "There was so much to talk about, but our lovely Death Eaters require our presence and it wouldn't be becoming of us if we keep them waiting. So, goodnight to all. The password of our next meet-up is 'Phoenix'. Hope to see you in front of your Wireless again. We can't confirm a date but keep twirling these dials regularly and maybe we will meet again."
Loud scraping noise came out of the Wireless, followed by the whoosh of spells.
"Ah…" said Lee again, "And before I forget, book your copies of Quibbler while you have the time. There is a surprise awaiting for you in it. Don't complain later that you weren't informed. This is River with Royal and Romulus, signing out for the night. Till the next time, believe in Harry."
With that, the light behind the tuning panel died out and tuning dialled whirled for a last time.
"Ah…" said Ernie, "That was something."
"But what exactly happened?" asked Lavender.
"My guess is as good as yours," said Seamus.
"But it couldn't have been that bad…" said Neville, his voice unsure, "I mean someone shouted that the Death Eaters were in the area not in the exact place."
"Then what about the spell fires?" asked Ginny who had been in a shock until now.
"Maybe they were just removing the traces of their presence," supplied Ernie, "And as we have learnt, it can sometimes be quite a noisy task, especially when did in a hurry."
"Yeah," said Parvati, "that may explain the spell fire."
"Let's hope for the best," said Neville.
"We should go back to our dorms," said Luna abruptly.
"Yeah," agreed Seamus, "we have nothing to do anyway."
Everyone murmured their consent and in less than a minute, the Room of Requirement was mostly empty, except Seamus, Neville, Ginny and Luna.
"When do you plan to return back?" said Seamus, already making his way to the door.
After a bit of thoughtful silence, he added, "Just make it back fast before I have to drag your arses out of trouble."
With that, he left the three friends to ponder over their thoughts.
"Well…" Ginny was the first to break the silence.
"Yes…" said Neville, looking happy that someone had broke the silence.
Silence fell again as the three of them looked at each other, all the while communicating with their eyes and begging the other to break the silence.
"Should we check on Potterwatch again tomorrow?" said Neville tentatively.
A smile stretched on Luna lips as she said, "Let's do it."
Ginny nodded, a little happily and sighed; it was frustrated to be in dark.
"Aren't you coming Ginny?" came Neville's voice. Ginny whipped her head in the direction of the voice and saw Neville and Luna standing near the door.
"Coming," said Ginny as she ran to them.
After Ginny reached them, the three friends started to walk towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Luna took her leave when they reached the staircase, and reassured Ginny and Neville again and again that she would be alright and would reach her common room without any trouble.
As Ginny climbed through the portrait hole, she prayed the common room to be empty; she needed some time to organise her drifting thoughts.
But unfortunately her prayer was unheeded, because the common room was packed with students. Ginny looked around and saw the entire Gryffindor house sprawled around the common room. The students, who have attended the meeting, seemed to be some kind of celebrity tonight, with Seamus being their ringleader.
What a show off, Ginny thought, glaring holes in Seamus body. But that thick-skinned idiot didn't even seem to notice her scalding glare.
"Hey Ginny," someone suddenly called and Ginny felt her hackle rose. As she heard the footfalls coming in closer, Ginny prayed from all her heart that it wasn't the person she was dreading.
Slowly turning around, Ginny looked in Brian's eyes, a tight smile framed on her lips.
"What!" she said harshly, but it come a little less harsh than she intended it to be.
Brian made a sour face but it was all the indication he gave to Ginny's tone.
"I was wondering," he said, his head turned a little bit to the side where her fellow house mate were busy chattering, "what were you guys up to? I don't know what happened, but some of the idiots there"— he pointed to the corner where most of the D.A. members were huddled — "came late and suddenly the common room was in an uproar. But none of them is telling anything."
Ginny sighed in relief; she had Neville tell every one of the attendees to stay quiet about their meeting and it seemed as they had obeyed the advice. But someone trap must have gone loose, for the others to know that something important has happened.
And with these thoughts, her eyes instantly snapped to Seamus. But somewhere in her heart, she knew that Seamus couldn't have been the leak.
When Brian glared at her, waiting for a response, Ginny turned to glare him in the eyes as she said,
"It's none of your concern; so don't sweat over it."
"I deserve to know," said Brian, loosing his calm composure, "I am as much as a Gryffindor as the others, more than some if I might add."
"Personally Brian," said Ginny, a sour look on her face, "I doubt you are even half the Gryffindor. And let's just assume, just assume that you are a Gryffindor; it still doesn't give you the right to intrude on our lives. We can go and slaughter whole of the Slytherins" — (someone hooted loudly at this and the rest of the house followed suite) — "and still it wouldn't be of any concern to you."
"And if you have a problem, my Oh-so-un-humble fellow Gryffindor," piped in Seamus looking quite flustered and happy, "go and bicker to someone who will listen."
"I just might do that," said Brain, glaring scornfully at Seamus.
"Who do you think you are threatening?" said Seamus, his face instantly clouding up with anger, "You rotten excuse of a wizard."
"You are the one to speak," spat Brian, "pathetic half blood."
"That's it," said Seamus and before anyone had the chance to do something, Seamus whipped out his wand and training it at Brian's chest, shouted, "Stupefy!"
But Brian seemed to be anticipating it, because his wand was in his hands in a moment and he shouted, "Protego!"
The jet of red bounced back from the shield with a harsh 'thum'. Before Seamus could utter another spell, Brian shouted, "Depulso!"
The months of training with DA came handy as Seamus jumped away at the right moment.
Snarling like an angry cat, Brain unleashed a horde of spell towards Seamus. Ginny was amazed to see that Brian possessed such good duelling skills.
"You sucker of a…"
Seamus cursed as he jumped another one of Brian's spells.
"Diffindo!" cried Seamus and without even waiting for the spell to hit its target, he shouted, "Reducto!"
The first spell missed Brian by mere millimetre but the second one hit Brian squarely in the shoulder, blowing him back in the wall with a resounding thud.
"Enough playing prick," said Seamus, his chest heaving up and down, "Now I'll show you how real duel happens. But before that, I have a present for you."
He said as he lifted Brian's half-conscious body by grabbing his collar.
"Enough," said Neville, "Leave him Seamus… NOW!"
Startled by Neville's uncharacteristic harsh and loud voice, Seamus lost hold of his collar and Brian was dumped on the ground.
"What's your problem Neville!" spat Seamus, "if you are not wizard enough to get rid of pests like him, at least don't interrupt the people who are capable of doing so."
Ginny's cheek burned red as he heard Seamus ridiculing Neville, but somewhere in her heart she knew that Seamus was right. Neville was too soft hearted to take any serious action and in times like this, they needed to take serious actions and decisions on a whim.
But Seamus was too hot-headed, maybe even more than Ron and that was saying something.
"So what?" said Neville, his cheeks tingeing with furious red, "Are you going to fight everyone who raises their opinion?"
"Opinions?" spat Seamus again, "OPINIONS? No one in the entire common room think what this blighter say is opinion, except you."
"But that doesn't mean that you will start fighting," said Neville, "We need to be united in time like this."
"GODDAMN IT!" cursed Seamus as he punched the wall in frustration.
Neville sighed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
Brian, who was half-conscious by now, rushed up the stairs, muttering something darkly. But no one seems to care about what he thought or said.
Soon everyone in the common room calmed down except Seamus; he was still busy brooding.
And when Ginny was getting ready to head to her room, the portrait hole suddenly slid open. Ginny's body tensed and she could feel the others mirroring her action.
And she heaved a sigh when she saw Professor McGonagall figure appeared in the common room.
"What are you all doing?" she said in an angry tone. Seeing her appear so suddenly, most of the students started scramming here and there, while some of them just stared at her, still in shock. And that was understandable; it was the first time, as far as Ginny could remember that she had never seen Professor McGonagall come in the common room after dinner, no, she had never seen Professor McGonagall in the common room to begin with.
"Professor," someone stuttered and the common room fell in complete silence.
"Don't you have classes tomorrow?" lashed out Professor McGonagall.
No one replied as they continued to stare on the floor.
"ANSWER ME!" Professor McGonagall was very angry, even for her usual angry self.
Silence continued as no one even dared to breath, afraid that it will draw attention to them.
"What are you standing here for?" barked Professor McGonagall, "Go back to your rooms now or detention for each one of you."
Everyone in the common room shot towards the stairs in such urgency that it was like Professor McGonagall has shot Killing Curse at them.
"Mister Longbottom and Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall and Ginny could feel her blood freezing in fear, "you two will stay here."
Ginny cursed her luck as she slowed down and turned around. From the corner of eyes, she saw Neville doing the same. He looked like he would like nothing better than to run as far away from Professor McGonagall as possible. And Ginny could understand that; she wanted to do the same.
"Yes Professor," said Ginny after waiting for some seconds for Neville to speak something. But Neville seemed to have the same thoughts as he waited for Ginny to initiate. Ginny cursed him, but she also knew that it would be dangerous for them to stretch this silence.
"Mister Finnigan," said Professor McGonagall, looking past Ginny's shoulder, "I remember saying to all of the students to go back to their rooms, and the last I checked, you were no exception."
"But…" Seamus began weakly but Professor McGonagall cut him off with a sharp glare.
Seamus reluctantly nodded and trudged up the stairs.
Ginny sighed; she couldn't believe that someone could be that daft.
"So," said Professor McGonagall and Ginny could feel Professor McGonagall eyes on her body, but Ginny still couldn't muster the energy to look her in the eyes, "what were you both with Miss Lovegood doing out of your rooms at such late hour? Don't you know about the strict timings of Hogwarts or do you consider yourself above the rules?"
"That's not the case Professor," said Ginny in a weak voice, still looking down on the floor.
"Then why?" asked Professor McGonagall.
Ginny remained quiet, not sure how much she could disclose to Professor McGonagall. She knew that Professor McGonagall had been an Order's members for a long time, but in these times of despair, she was not sure who to trust. To her, everyone felt like they were hiding their inner self, their dark self.
Finally, what felt like an eternity, Professor McGonagall said in a whisper, "Can it be something related to Potterwatch?"
Ginny eyes flew open wide and her head whipped up itself; she couldn't believe that Professor McGonagall knew about it.
"You knew about it?" asked Neville, beating Ginny to the question.
"As a matter of fact Mr Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall turning to look at Neville, "I do. You will be amazed how much Order member know."
"We know that you are an Order member," said Ginny, "But — we were not sure how much we could disclose in you."
Professor McGonagall lip stretched in a thin line as she glared at Ginny. Ginny gulped; she now knew that she had hurt McGonagall's pride.
"What are you trying to say Miss Weasley?" asked Professor McGonagall, her voice low and viscous.
"I have been a loyal member of Order of Phoenix from a very long time, even before you were born," she said, her eyes burning with rage, "And you ask if I can be trusted!"
"That's not what I mean Professor," said Ginny, stepping back, "What I wanted to say is…"
Ginny voice faltered as she tried to think of something to calm Professor McGonagall's anger.
"What she meant Professor was," said Neville suddenly, in a shaky voice, "that we weren't sure…"
Neville's voice faltered and any hope that Ginny had, crashed with it.
Silence surrounded them, gnawing at them restlessly.
"Professor," began Ginny, getting more and more uncomfortable by the passing seconds, "I didn't meant to sound impertinent, but I am… I mean, we all, Neville, me, Luna and the others are so confused; we don't know who to trust and who to suspect."
Professor McGonagall stayed silent, instead choosing to stare deep in Ginny's eyes. Ginny had to fight the preliminary reaction of looking away.
"Anyway," said Professor McGonagall, "I am giving you a first and last warning, never roam in Hogwarts after curfew hours."
Did someone see us while we were coming back?
Ginny mind was instantly filled with questions like this.
"If it wasn't for me," said Professor McGonagall, her eyes cold and furious, "Professor Snape, who happened to be on patrolling this night, would have seen you three coming out of the Room of Requirements and you three would have to serve severe detention. If it was a normal session, I would have given detention to you myself, but I know that it has been hard for you."
Ginny instantly felt a little relieved that it wasn't a normal school year.
"Don't smile Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, "if I catch you again, be ready for a severe punishment."
Ginny sighed, she should have excepted it. But even the first warning was a bit too much, coming from Professor McGonagall. She was always very strict on the rule breaker; she didn't even let Harry off the hook when it came to rule breaking.
"Now off you go to your room," said Professor McGonagall.
With that, Professor McGonagall walked out of the common room and Ginny heaved a sigh of relief as she slumped down on the floor.
"I just wish that Luna had it a little smooth," said Ginny, her head bowed down in weariness.
"Ravenclaw's Head is Professor Flitwick," said Neville, "So I don't think she is going to have it tough."
"I agree," came the voice of Seamus.
"What do you want now?" said Ginny, tired to such extent that she couldn't even be angry at him.
"I just came to see how you guys are doing," said Seamus, "I couldn't hear anything from the stairs, seemed as McGonagall had threw a charm around when she was talking with both of you."
Ginny perfectly understood the need of precautions; with warts like Brian in Gryffindor, precautions would never be enough.
"It is nothing that concerns you," said Ginny with a slight victorious smile.
She saw Seamus open his mouth to complain, but then he suddenly closed it. Ginny looked around and saw Neville looking away purposely.
"Merlin," said Ginny standing up on her knees, "you boys have looser mouths than most of the girls here."
With that, she trudged up the stairs. Now as she neared her room, she could feel stress from the day coming back to her. Her legs felt like a ton of weight had been tied to them and her muscles felt sore.
Maybe the weariness from last night was catching up to her.
Not even having the strength to change in her pyjama's, Ginny just jumped on her bed and felt strangely relived when the soft cloth of the bed sheet ruffled across her face.
She breathed in her sheet, as she felt sleep seeping in her eyes and blanking her mind. Maybe she would have a dreamless sleep tonight.
Ginny woke up to the slight commotion in her dorm room. Rubbing her groggy eyes, Ginny tried to remember what had happened the night before. Everything was hazy, like her mind was covered in a dense fog.
Slowly it came back to her; yesterday had been the first telecast of Potterwatch.
As she sat on her bed, cross-legged, Ginny tried to give herself an excuse to get herself away from the bed.
"Get up Ginny," said one of her roommates, throwing a pillow at her. Ginny managed to dodge it as she stared wistfully at her roommate. What she wouldn't give to swap places with her?
She was everything that Ginny wanted to be… at least everything one could be while being in this mess. She didn't have to worry about her family being at the tip of Death Eaters wand and she surely didn't need to worry about other things.
Sighing, Ginny stood up as she shook her head, trying to dispel the ominous feelings out of her head. It wouldn't do well to her if she spoiled her mood first thing in the morning, after having an almost nightmare free night. She still saw some flashes of her old nightmares, but it was a huge improvement, considering the nightmares and flashes she saw the night before.
Picking up her clothes, Ginny headed to the bathroom. As Ginny opened the door to the bathroom, Ginny wondered if she could just go like this, in a wrinkled dirty dress with hairs being a tumbled mess. If nothing, it would perfectly mirror her mood.
But glancing a look in the mirror, Ginny came to the conclusion that it was better if no one saw her like this, ever.
Ginny trudged down the stairs, her mood a little better than that of the past days, but still not back to its usual charm.
"Good Morning guys," said Ginny, plopping on the sofa besides Neville.
"Here comes the lazybones," grumbled Seamus; seemed as he was still scoffing about yesterday.
Well, she couldn't careless.
"Why do we even wait for it?" grumbled Seamus darkly to Neville.
"No one said you to wait for me," pointed out Ginny.
"I just do it because Neville waits for you," said Seamus, leafing through an outdated copy of Daily Prophet. At least it looked outdated; it was so wrinkled and crumpled that it looked as someone used it as their pillow.
"What are you reading Seamus?" asked Ginny making a move to snatch the paper from Seamus hands. But Seamus was too fast for her, as he raised the paper above her head and out of her arms reach.
"Mind your own business, will ya," said Seamus, jumping out of her reach.
"And Neville," said Seamus turning to Neville, "let's go. I don't have the patience to wait more and I don't want to miss my breakfast again because of her."
"Don't accuse me," said Ginny, jumping to her feet.
"Hey you both," said Neville, "just cut it out."
Neville got up from the sofa, sighed and said, "Let's go."
Seamus folded the Prophet, shrunk it and slipped it into his pocket.
The three of them climbed out of the portrait hole and started their weary trek down the stairs. Ginny trailed behind them, looking at the two friends curiously.
Somehow to Ginny, they felt closer than before, like they shared some kind of intimate secret now.
Well, to certain extent, Ginny could understand. Seamus best friend didn't come back to Hogwarts and Harry and Ron were the only good friends for Neville. They both were pretty much friendless here and so they bonded.
But what Ginny could not understand was how could that transformation happened so fast? Till some days before, they were mere acquaintances and now look at them; they look like they had been best friends for an eternity.
With these thoughts, came the faces of Harry and Ron. They were more or less like them, fighting one second and back to being best friends another.
As Ginny lost herself in these thoughts, a silent tear trickled down her cheek, making her remind how much she missed her brother and Harry and Hermione.
"Easy there," someone said, grabbing a hold of Ginny's arm.
"What!" said Ginny in a harsh tone, whipping to look at the person. There stood Ernie, looking at her like she was some kind of animal at exhibition.
"Watch where you are going," he said.
"I was walking down," said Ginny indignantly.
"It looked like you were planning to dive directly down to the Great Hall," quipped Seamus, looking up from his position.
"What!" said Ginny, still confused.
"Your foot slipped, Ginny," whispered Parvati and Ginny's cheek instantly tinged red with embarrassment.
Making a show of ignoring the others, Ginny hurried down the stairs.
Taking her usual seat at the Gryffindor table, Ginny looked around, waiting for the others. She was still embarrassed about the incident earlier but she just couldn't eat alone, just for the sake of ignoring them; it just didn't feel right. Even though their new way of life had started a couple of days ago only, still it felt like they have been following this routine for all their life now.
Soon Neville and the others reached the Great Hall and their group split up according to their houses.
The 'Gryffindor Group' reached their table and sat down and silently started piling their plates with food.
As Ginny played with the food in her plates, she noticed the eerie stillness in the Great Hall. The only source of noise was coming from Slytherins table and it felt out of place. It was like a merry band had sneaked in a funeral, a funeral of a much loved man.
After they finished eating breakfast in complete silence, Seamus said, "Let's head to Muggle Studies."
Ginny who was too lost in her thoughts, gave a lurch when Seamus shook her.
"Are you planning to attend the classes today Ginny?" he asked looking at her weirdly.
"What!" said Ginny and as the words registered in her mind, she added, "I told you, I don't need a bodyguard."
"Who has the free time to be your bodyguard?" said Seamus as if the mere idea disgusted him, "But if you hadn't noticed, we all have Muggle Studies class."
Ginny turned to stare in Seamus eyes, disbelief etched all over her face as she said, "The last I checked, you both were in Seventh year."
Seamus plunged his hand in his pockets and shoved a parchment in Ginny's face.
Ginny gave a cry of outrage but Seamus just pointed at the parchment.
Ginny read it and almost dropped the parchment when she saw that seventh year also had Muggle Studies.
She threw the parchment on the table and fished out her own schedule. Her eyes skimmed over the text till they landed on the schedule for Friday.
"It must be a mistake," said Ginny pointing to her schedule and then to the seventh year schedule, "how can two years have classes at the exact same time."
"My guess is as good as yours," said Seamus, "And it is not a mistake. If you have read the notice in the common room, you should have known. But it seems as you haven't, so let me just give you a quick run down; the combined Muggle Studies class will happen in classroom no 50. That's the biggest classroom in Hogwarts and can hold around 150 students at once."
Ginny sighed at the excess of information and at the tone of Seamus voice. She didn't know what she had done to piss Seamus so much and actually, she didn't care.
"Let's go then," said Ginny, her head bowed down in frustration.
They silently left the table and reconciled with the others on the stairs.
"What do you reckon they wanted to hold joint classes of Muggle Studies for sixth and seventh year?" asked Ernie, "It's not like they will achieve something special by doing this."
"Who knows what is brewing in the sick mind of those Death Eaters?" said Terry.
"And how do you reckon Alecto plan to control such a crowd of students on her own?" asked Susan.
"Most of the students are controlled by fear," said Seamus, "And the rest who aren't, won't dare to speak up, just to keep them shielded from the Carrow eyes."
"But shouldn't we rebuke?" said Ginny.
"And get our arses whipped," answered Seamus, "Thank you but I'll rather like to stay intact."
"What? Are you scared?" criticised Ginny.
"No," said Seamus, coming to a halt, "but I know enough to know when to speak or when to not."
"Now I understand why you have been like this," said Ginny, "You are afraid, afraid of the Death Eaters. Maybe your Mommy shouldn't have sent you to Hogwarts."
"Ginny!"
This time it was Neville's alarmed voice who stopped Ginny's rampaging mouth.
"Shut up Neville!" spat Seamus and he turned to Ginny, "What do you know? Huh… let me tell you, you don't know shit about me. So don't you dare criticise me or comment on my life. If you don't like, feel free to ignore me."
"Touched a nerve, did I?" jeered Ginny, her posture of that of a warrior, "Well, it wouldn't amaze if you are scared. You are a bloody coward. A good for nothing excuse of a —"
"GINNY!" Neville shouted, coming in between her and Seamus.
"Get out of my way Neville," said Seamus as he pushed Neville away.
And without even a moment delay, he pressed his wand tip on Ginny's throat as he hissed,
"Never ever call me a coward again."
Seamus drew deep breathes as his chest heaved up and down. As if suddenly remembering his wand was pressed against her throat, he pulled it away and pocketed it.
With a final growl of helplessness, he walked away.
Ginny, on the other hand, was too shocked to do anything as she just looked at Seamus retreating back.
"What happened to Seamus?" asked Susan and Ginny mentally thanked her because this was the exact question going through her mind.
"Something is really wrong with him," said Terry, "He was never like this. Hot headed yes, but this irrational, never."
"Something is wrong with him," nodded Neville.
"So what is it?" asked Ginny.
"He made me promised that I will not tell anybody," said Neville as he started to walk to classroom 50.
"We should hurry if we don't want to get late," added Neville without turning around.
As if Neville words had triggered on some kind of switch, everyone started to hurry down the corridor.
They entered the classroom with just a minute to spare and bade their goodbyes to each other, heading towards their respective house.
"Where is Seamus now?" murmured Neville looking around.
Ginny spotted him; he was sitting in a far corner of the middle row, camouflaging with the students and it didn't look as he had saved seats for them.
"Isn't that Seamus?" Ginny said to Neville, pointing at Seamus.
"Yeah," said Neville, "Let's go and se if there are empty seats around him."
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Ginny giving a tentative look at Seamus.
"He won't even remember it after some time," said Neville as he started to walk towards Seamus, "Just don't talk to him for some time."
"And you say to act casual around him," grumbled Ginny as she started to follow Neville.
"Hey Seamus," said Neville as he neared Seamus. Seamus smiled and patted the chair next to him. His eyes fell on Ginny and those sprinkling eyes instantly turned cold. Ginny froze in her tracks as she contemplated taking another step towards them.
She looked around Neville and saw that there was no empty chair around him.
Good, now she had an excuse.
Ginny turned around and as she started to retreat back, Neville's voice stopped her.
"Where are you going?" he asked, getting up from his chair.
"To look for a empty chair to sit on Neville," said Ginny with a resigned sigh, "The Carrows already target me enough without me begging for their attention."
"There is an empty chair here," said Neville.
"There is none," said Ginny with a slightly worried tone.
"There is," said Neville, pointing to an empty chair just above his row, "Parvati saved some seats for us."
Ginny looked at the pointed direction and sure enough, there was an empty chair. Ginny cursed her luck as she plastered a slight smile on her lips. She had to fight the urge to snarl at Parvati while she looked at Ginny like she was excepting a 'thank you' or something.
Ginny just huffed and silently sat on the given chair, choosing to ignore everyone.
Soon, both the Carrow walked in the room. There was a huge applause from the Slytherins side and that was it. None of the other house students welcomed them; for most of them, it was better when they hadn't come.
"Good morning students," said Alecto, a sick grin plastered on her face.
"Professor Amycus would be joining us for this lecture," she said, pointing to her brother, "Isn't it great?"
The applause coming from the Slytherins side filled the room with noise while the member of other three houses sat still like a doll.
It would have been great if this was a normal Hogwarts class with normal teachers, but right now it is anything but normal, thought Ginny grimly.
Alecto smiled broadly as if the applause was coming from every house, but then again, these rotten snakes only care about their own little group.
Alecto walked to the teacher's podium while Amycus sat on a lavish chair, just beside the teacher's podium.
Alecto grinned one last time and this time it was aimed at Gryffindor's side.
Ginny hadn't notice it before, but Gryffindor's were made to sit in front of the teacher's podium, such that Alecto and Amycus had a good look on them. And as she looked around, she noticed that she wasn't the only one who had noticed that.
"Let me start our first joint lecture by telling you the need for this joint Muggle Studies lecture," said Alecto, walking around the platform.
"As you know, you all have passed OWL's. You have overcome a hard hurdle in your life and now you are studying in the final years of Hogwarts to make your future career, because by now, all of you have some kind of dream, some kind of aim you want to fulfil…"
Ginny had a hard time believing what she was hearing; she had never excepted Alecto to use this tone with them. She sounded almost like a caring teacher.
No, Ginny shook her head; it couldn't be true. She was a Death Eater for crying out loud; she wasn't supposed to sound this understanding.
"… and this bring us to the real aim for organising a combined Muggle Studies. As you all know, most of the younger students look up at the sixth and seventh year. So your mentality affects your juniors. And as you all know, your education concerning the touchy subject of Muggles have been very false leading…"
"She is trying to sweet poison us," whispered Seamus and Ginny leaned a little more to hear what he was going to add, "She is trying to make us doubt ourselves. That old wretched…"
Ginny turned her attention back to Alecto, trying to listen to what Seamus was calling 'sweet poisoning'.
"… Throughout our literature, we have seen Muggles being cruel to our ancestors because they were different, because they were better than them. Muggles are like a stained part of our society, a part we need to terminate as fast as we can. Doesn't your heart bleed when you read about the cruelty those Muggles inflicted on our ancestors. They were someone's father, someone's mother, someone's parents, and someone's family; but did those Muggles cared… no, they didn't. It burns my heart when I read about them. And you know what I want to do, I want to avenge them; I want to make sure that the Muggles knows who the better one is, who is the one who should be rushed into hiding…"
Alecto stopped to look around in the pretence of taking a breath after her long speech. Most of the students were entwined in her sweet sounding words, but Ginny felt like she was being slowly pulled deep in a cobweb.
She now understood what Seamus meant by sweet poisoning. If Alecto would have taken the old way, by trying to beat them into submission, almost all of the students would have agreed here but in their hearts, they would have believed the opposite. But by trying to make their cause look justifiable, she was gaining the students trust.
"And I ask for forgiveness for my previous attitude," said Alecto, "I was ruthless and I acted a little too harshly on some students…"
Ginny nearly fell out of her chair; this woman just couldn't be Alecto Carrow. She was a bloody ruthless lady, a Death Eater, not a subtle, ladylike witch.
"But I am prepared to use force again," said Alecto, a little more forcefully and more in her usual self, "on the students whose minds are settled on creating troubles for others. Because I believe that all of you are now old enough to know what's good and bad for you and for the society."
Ginny felt like the last lines were aimed directly at her as she had been the only one in the entire sixth year to get a beating from Alecto, at least she thought she was the only one.
"So with that," she said, "Let's start our lessons."
And with that Alecto started droning on about the superiority of wizards over Muggles and Amycus often piped in with his unneeded and absurd thoughts.
To sum it up, it was a rather pleasant class. In the start, it almost crushed Ginny's heart to hear such cruel things about Muggles. If not for the worried glances Neville was casting at her, she should have just jumped down and cursed Alecto to eternity and back.
But as the lecture continued, Ginny find herself less and less bothered by it. Instead of listening to the revolting words of Alecto and get her temper high, Ginny used the period to gather her thoughts about everything that had happened around her. She was sure she couldn't keep up with these double torture lectures every week and it was very clear in her eyes that Alecto would reveal her true colours after some lectures. Maybe they had already anticipated what the unneeded pressure could do to some students and it could very well explain their new strategy.
But Ginny could bet her life that Alecto wasn't the type of woman who could pull it off for long. Her fangs were already at the verge of coming out.
"Ginny,' someone said, shaking her out of reverie, "Ginny, the class is going to be over. Get yourself together."
Ginny smiled thankfully towards Parvati and blinked her eyes a couple of time, trying to clear her mind.
"It was a pleasure talking to you all," said Alecto, "I will say it again, consider these lectures more of a time to relax and state your opinion then as a class. I'm your friend after all."
Even after seeing Amycus drone in this pleasant voice for two lectures straight, Ginny still couldn't believe that it was the same person, the same person who was here with other Death Eaters on the night when Dumbledore was killed by Snape. Maybe someone imperiused her and was forcing her to do these things.
Because there was no way in hell she was going to believe that Alecto could sound like a normal Witch.
"I will not give you any homework," said Alecto in the same sick-ing-ly sweet voice and Ginny felt like barfing her breakfast out, "but I'll urge you to take this discussion to your common rooms."
"Now you may leave," she finished with what she must have thought was an enchanting smile but which looked like a leer coming from a Dementor.
Ginny, with the others quickly scuffled out of the room and inhaled a deep breath of relief as soon as she was out of the classroom.
"I thought it would never be over," said Ginny, leaning against a wall.
"I will have to check my ears for internal bleeding mate," said Seamus to Neville, "I'm quite sure that they have suicided after that lecture."
Neville and the others laughed while Ginny just stared at them wistfully, carving an understanding friend company.
Suddenly Neville turned to look at Ginny.
"We have a free period now Ginny," he said, "What about you?"
"We have potions," sighed Ginny already dreading going to the dungeons, "And then a free period."
"Okay," he said, "Do you…"
"No," said Ginny, cutting off Neville, "I don't; I have Luna with me."
"Okay," said Neville, "But where is Luna?"
"She was just here," said Ginny looking around.
Ginny saw Luna standing in one of the corner of hallway, looking out of the window wistfully.
"What happened Luna?" asked Ginny worriedly, placing a hand on Luna's shoulder.
Luna turned to look at her, her protuberant eyes blinking rapidly. Ginny was not sure if she had surprised Luna or nor; Luna looked surprised almost always.
"What were you doing Luna?" Ginny rephrased her earlier question, getting self-conscious because of Luna's constant stare.
"Nothing," said Luna in her usual dreamy voice, "I was just looking out of the window."
"Something on your mind," said Ginny as she looked at her watch; they still had some time before the Potion class started and she was quite sure that Professor Slughorn won't have much problem with her coming late.
"Nothing Ginny," said Luna taking a glance out of the window, "I was just wondering what Dad is planning to do with the Quibbler?"
"Hmm…" hummed Ginny, not understanding what Luna meant to say.
"Don't you remember him saying about having a surprise for us in the Quibbler?" asked Luna and Ginny nodded her head meekly.
"And yesterday, Lee said about booking copies of Quibbler," added Luna, her eyes wandering off to look into space.
Now when Luna said it, Ginny started to wonder about it. Luna's father must be planning something big if Lee took the time to mention it. Usually it was just Luna's father lunatic rambling about some strange plants and animals, which only Luna and her father could see.
"When will he dispatch the magazines Luna?" asked Ginny, now getting curious about what was in the magazine which was being deemed so important.
"I don't know," said Luna in a dreamy voice as if she didn't give a damn about it, "But he said he will be done with it before the first week of September ended."
"So I guess he must have completed by now," said Ginny, "And maybe we will receive our copies with mail tomorrow."
"Maybe," said Luna nonchalantly.
"But I didn't book my copy," said Ginny leaning against the wall. To tell the truth, she didn't exactly care, but hearing the magazine name on Potterwatch had somewhat perked her interest.
Getting bored, Ginny looked around. Now she could see students started to hurry to their classrooms and it almost felt like a normal day in Hogwarts.
"Don't worry," said Luna smiling, "He will be sending complementary copies for you and Neville. And maybe with this massive sale, we will finally be able to go on a hunt for Wartspurts."
"I wish you luck," said Ginny looking at her friend weirdly.
"What are you both doing here?" came a cold hollow voice which Ginny instantly recognised to be that of Snape.
"Don't you have class," he said as he glided towards them, his greasy hairs slapping across his cheek, "Or are you looking for punishment."
Both of them stayed quiet and looked down as Snape burnt holes in their body with his cold gaze.
"What are you waiting here for now?" growled Snape.
Not wanting to be told twice, Ginny grabbed Luna's hands and started her trek towards the dungeons. Almost all the hallways were empty and even the students having free period were nowhere to be seen.
It was almost like a ghost town and very depressing to say in the least. Ginny contemplated using the secret passageway just for the sake of change of scenario, but quickly thought against it. Who knows what kind of traps these Death Eaters had laid in the passageways.
Ginny sighed as she stared out in the sky, admiring the beauty of the late sunset.
The day had been uneventful and by now, Ginny was literally bored to death. Nothing was happening which could get adrenaline pumping through her system, so that she could feel alive once again. If anything, she thought that Death Eaters were trying to bore the students into submission. For Merlin sake, even a normal Hogwarts normal day was more eventful than this.
When she had first read that Snape was going to be the Headmaster, she had dreaded the coming days feeling like Hogwarts was going to turn into hell. But this, it wasn't hell; heck, it was anything but hell. It was so damn peaceful that it left Ginny practically begging for something out of order to happen. All the other students sounded grateful that they were able to lead a normal life here and some of them went as far as to say that Snape was the best Headmaster Hogwarts ever had.
Ginny's stomach lurched and twisted in knots when she had heard this blasphemy but she had somehow managed to control her anger at that time.
So now here she was, looking out of the window and straight in the sky, waiting for hell to break through Hogwarts walls. She felt guilty when these thoughts raked her mind, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted some piece of action; she wanted to at least play a part in the revolution her family had devoted themselves into.
Ginny sighed, her frustration getting the better out of her. Her temper was running a little too short lately and she was well aware of the fact. But she couldn't help it; the pent up agitation was having its effect on her.
"Hey Ginny," said Lavender, "What are you doing, standing here all alone?"
"Just bored," said Ginny with a deep sigh. Her shoulders stooped down as she leaned against the warm wall of the common room. Not many students were in the common room; most of them were down in the ground, playing and enjoying their time thoroughly like there was nothing to be worried about.
How much Ginny wished to have her place swapped with them? And it wasn't like someone was stopping from her going and enjoying herself; if anyone was stopping her, it was she who was stopping herself. She thought that if she enjoyed herself, it would be like betraying her family, betraying Harry and Hermione.
"Why don't you come down and spend some time with us?" said Lavender, pointing to her and Parvati, "I guarantee that you will not be bored."
"No," said Ginny, "I have something to think about."
"You sure?" asked Lavender, her tone worried.
"Quite sure," said Ginny and turned back to stare out of the window, wondering what Harry and the others were doing right now.
She didn't hear the two of them leaving and neither did she felt sleep slowly and steadily pulling her into oblivion.
Ginny eyes slowly cracked open as she felt her body being rocked sideways. Her eyes felt very heavy and her mouth felt like someone had stuck a wad of cotton in it.
Ginny blinked her eyes a couple of time, trying to gain back their controls. The sharp light wasn't helping too as it was piercing her sensitive iris mercilessly.
Ginny rolled around, trying to avoid looking into the light and in the process, she fell on the floor with a 'thump'.
"Oww…" said Ginny while massaging her hurting leg. But that impact helped her to regain complete consciousness.
"What time is it?" asked Ginny in a low voice as she pulled herself in a standing position, slightly ashamed.
"Dinner time," replied Neville, "We were just going to leave you here."
"Some friends you lot are," grumbled Ginny as she rubbed her eyes.
"It was you mistake for sleeping like a log," accused Neville good-heartedly, "The last I check, nights are there for sleeping."
"Funny," quipped Ginny dryly as she turned towards the portrait hole.
"Can we go now?" she added as her stomach growled slightly. Her cheeks flamed red even though no one seemed to have noticed it.
"Stop behaving as it wasn't you who is the reason for us being late in the first place," said Seamus and Ginny had to use the last bit of her patience to stop herself from lashing out at him.
As they started their trek toward the Great Hall, Ginny asked what had happened while she was asleep and how she had gone to sleep in first place.
For the former question, she got the answer she had been expecting; nothing had happened. And for the latter, no one knows. Seamus found her leaning against the wall, like she was admiring the sky.
Long story short, when she continued to stand in the same position, Seamus got worried and came to check on her.
Well, she had a hard time believing Seamus would be worried about her out of all people and even Seamus was vehemently denying the fact.
Buried in these thoughts, they reached the Great Hall and before she knew, they were piling their dishes with food.
Ginny didn't even know what she had eaten for dinner; she had just gulped everything down that was in her plate without tasting it. She just wanted to get away from this suffocating peacefulness and the Great Hall seemed to be the hub of this strangling peacefulness.
Ginny sighed as she stood next to the portrait hole, waiting for her friends and fellow D.A. members. She was in a foul mood and that was because of those dimwit friends of hers. Most of them felt like there was no need of such rough resistance seeing that the Death Eaters were not even doing anything suspicious or forcing strict rules or being bias towards Slytherins house.
It had taken the combined effort of her, Neville and even Seamus to force them into coming. And even then they were taking their sweet time. Ginny just hoped that Luna was more successful than her.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the rest of the members circled around the portrait hole, signalling that they were ready to go
As the students from the three houses met at the rendezvoused place, Ginny was shocked to hear that Luna didn't have much trouble convincing others; almost all of them were ready to go in another D.A. meeting.
This left Ginny wondering what had happened to the students of her house. They were Gryffindor for Merlin sake; they were supposed to be impulsive and brave, not a bunch of pantywaist.
Huffing in anger, Ginny entered the mildly lit Room of Requirements. The Wireless they had left yesterday sat in the centre of room, like it was some kind of trophy they had left for exhibition.
Even though no one said a thing, they all gathered around the Wireless, forming a perfect circle around it.
As Neville tapped his wand against the Wireless, murmuring the password again and again, everyone waited for the all so familiar voice of Lee to come out of the Wireless.
With every unsuccessful tap, murmuring in the room started to grow till it was almost unable to ignore.
"What is your problem, guys?" asked Ginny already in a foul mood because of her house mate earlier behaviour.
And it seemed she wasn't the only one who was pissed off.
"Nothing," said someone and that someone turned out to be Terry, "but what are we doing, sitting here and tapping that Wireless. We are supposed to be practicing Defence Against Dark Arts not wasting our time like this."
Ginny had no reply to that so she just glared daggers at Terry. It seemed as Terry wasn't the only one who was thinking along that line as Ginny could feel almost every pair of eyes boring into her, demanding an answer.
When no answer came, Ernie stood up, and said, "I'm out of here. Call me when you want to resume DADA practice. And frankly, I don't see a reason for D.A. to reassemble. We are more in peace in Hogwarts then we ever were."
As if his actions were some kind of trigger, almost everyone got up and walked out of the Room of Requirements until Seamus, Neville, Luna and Ginny were the only one left.
"Why are you waiting here?" spat Ginny, looking at Seamus with cold eyes, "Go ridicule me and leave the damn room too."
"Who gave you the damn idea that it is about you?" snarled Seamus, "I was never here for you; I'm here because I believe in Harry and I know that there is something brewing under the Death Eaters pretence of model Wizards."
Ginny huffed as she found herself unable to put up a worthy rebuke. She felt more vulnerable now, like someone had stripped her of her last shield.
Silence surrounded them; silence so thick Ginny wanted to scream her lungs out just to escape the deafening silence.
But once again, Ginny found herself unable to do so. Somehow, Ginny felt that her will was being drained more and more by every second. She never would have thought that a peaceful day could do this much to her.
"Let's go," said Neville, "I don't think they are broadcasting today. I had checked every available channel but I heard no familiar voice."
As if Neville words had moulded the harsh reality into a rigid structure, Ginny felt disappointment compressing down on her heart.
Standing up on wobbly legs, Ginny headed towards the door. With her hands placed firmly on the knob, she turned to the three and asked, "Aren't you coming?"
"Yeah," said Neville as he jumped to his feet.
"Turn off the Wireless at least," said Ginny in exasperation, "we don't want it to be accidentally found."
"Yes, yes," said Neville as if in a daze.
Maybe he was disappointed too, Ginny thought but her line of thought was soon cut by an all too familiar voice.
"Welcome again to Potterwatch," acme the unmistakable voice of Lee, "We are sorry for the lateness but something came up and you know how life goes, we had to take care of it. But worry not; we can never leave our wonderful listeners hanging in uncertainty."
"Stop Neville," cried out Ginny but it seemed as there was no need for it for Neville's hand had automatically stopped when he had heard the familiar voice coming out of the speakers.
Ginny quickly scurried towards the Wireless.
"And while we are apologising," said Lee, "let me also apologise for our rather abrupt departure yesterday. But we promise that it won't happen again."
The day which seemed like a punishment to Ginny up until now, suddenly felt a lot livelier. Forgetting all about her previous depressing thoughts, Ginny gave all her attention to the Wireless as if enchanted by it.
"And so leaving it behind, let's take up from where we left yesterday. If I'm not wrong," said Lee, "we were discussing about the event that transpired in the Ministry of Magic on the second of September."
There was a short pause and Ginny held her breath, dreading that she might miss something if she took a breath.
"Some people managed to sneak in the Ministry by using Polyjuice Potion and they well, caused havoc in there and released many of the arrested Muggle-borns and yet-to-be arrested Muggle born. Now, if rumours are to be believed the Patronus of the rescuers were a Stag and an Otter."
Ginny felt happiness and anger coursing through her body at the same time as she deciphered what Lee meant to say.
"But others say that it was some other animal," added Lee and Ginny somehow felt relieved, "But the crux of the matter is, someone had the spirit to go inside and save their fellow Wizards. We need to make them our model; we need to be like them.
"And on a graver tone, someone in the Ministry saw one of the member from the rescuer team get splinched while they were Apparating away. Let's just pray for their well being.
"And now I'll give the mike to my fellow reporter here," added Lee, "Romulus."
"Hello friends," said Professor Lupin, "nothing much had happened in the span between the two broadcasts. It seems as the Death Eaters are lying low after the attack on the Ministry or it just might be the calm before the storm. But the thing that is most important is that the people had finally started to see the Ministry as the threat they are. They no longer believe them blindly and their supporters had dwindled down to a handful, even which is mostly comprised of Death Eaters.
"It may not be a big feat to boost about, but it is something which we should know because it shows the retaliation Order of Phoenix has been putting up is finally starting to fruit."
"But still," came the unmistakable deep voice of Kingsley, "I will advice all of you to lay low. We can be a force to be reckoned with when we are together but alone, we are nothing. So just lay low and protect your Muggle friends and everyone you can. Because in these dark times, we are everything the weak has."
"Now now Royal," said Lee, "I believe that everyone who is listening to our broadcast is already following this path. But we can never be too careful; so, thanks for sharing your views. Now one important and unnecessary announcement before we depart for the night; the people who have ordered Quibbler should check their post owl yesterday, you lot are in for a surprise."
Silence surrounded them and suddenly a heavy sigh came out from the speaker of the Wireless.
"Man," sighed Lee dramatically, "it was depressing, wasn't it? I know we discuss some grave topics in here and all that, but still it was quite grave for my liking. I had hoped that it will be a show where after a certain phase of graveness we will just joke around and do all the funny stuff."
"River!" came the alarmed voice of Professor Lupin.
"Shut up for a moment Romulus," said Lee and Ginny could almost hear Professor Lupin growling, "So rest assured, you are going to have a fun time the next time we broadcast. Till then I'll be sure to give our scriptwriters a good beating or maybe just a good earful."
"That's enough," said Professor Lupin, "We're supposed to be broadcasting news, not cracking jokes here. Honestly… now I'm thankful that those two jokers didn't come…"
"Well friends," said Lee, over the laughs of Kingsley, "our friend Romulus here is quite grave, don't you agree? I promise I will straighten him up by the next time… So till next time, keep believing in Harry. This is River, with Romulus and Royal, signing out for the night."
With that, the voice from the Wireless died down.
"Hmm…" hummed Ginny as she played the broadcast once again in her head, trying to find any hidden meaning in it. She found nothing worthy of her curiosity, except the Patronus scene in the Ministry. If those people were to be believed, Harry along with Ron and Hermione infiltrated the Ministry.
"Hey Ginny," said someone, successfully pulling her out of her reverie, "Let's go. I don't think you plan to stand here all night long."
It was Neville.
"Coming," said Ginny as she started running towards the door. There was no way Harry would have infiltrated the Ministry, he wasn't this reckless and Hermione would have fought tooth and nail for stopping him. And Hermione when riled up was something no one liked to face.
Neville glanced out and gave a signal for others to come out. They followed him closely, aware of the fact that it was well past the curfew hour. Ginny glanced at her watch and realised that it was midnight already.
They neared the stairs and bid Luna goodbye while Neville asked Luna again and again if they should escort her to her common rooms or at least as far as they could go.
"Well… well," came a sick cold voice and Ginny blood froze. She slowly turned around, hoping with all her might that it wasn't the person she was dreading.
But alas, fate had some different plans for her as she found herself looking deep into the eyes of Severus Snape. A sick smile graced his lips and the greasy hair just added to the sinister look. His overlong night robe bellowed with the wind as he smiled, smiled like a child who had just found some candy.
"What are you four doing here?" asked Snape, as he flicked his wand. A weird clock materlised out of thick air and landed softly on his palm.
"Ah, it's well past midnight my dear students," he continued in what he must had thought was a worried voice but what came out as an overly happy voice.
"If I may ask," said Snape and when Ginny opened her mouth to retaliate, he added, "and I will ask, what were you doing out of your dorms at this hour."
Ginny quickly snapped her eyes to the floor as she remembered that Snape was a Legimens.
"Silent answer," said Snape sounding all the more happy, "well than I will have to resort to detention. Don't blame me later."
Authors Note's: Hello once again
It was a pretty long Chapter with around 11,100 words (without counting my rants).
And now I will be very thankful to you lot if you can at least give me 10 reviews per chapter or is my story writing so bad that you lot feel that it will be a standard degrade for you.
I didn't mean to rant here about that too, but as a writer who puts his work on showcase, I except to get at least this much reviews for putting in around 10+ hours in writing a chapter.
I know I do it for myself, but still…
Anyway, enough ranting and dragging you in my cluttered brain…
Please R&R.