Ginny passed down the aisle of the train, ignoring the dozens of full compartments in the long stretch. Ron had slipped into one near the front, reserved for Prefects. He made some passing remark of finding her later, but she did not think he would. The look of excitement on his face was enough to tell her he would remain with his fellow prefects for the duration. Whoever had thought he would make a good prefect was mental, in her opinion.
She lugged her trunk behind her, hearing it thump as it struck on edges and gaps. As much as she ignored everyone else, she felt the same level of notice coming her way. That had been an on-going, of course, for the last year or so, but after the Tournament, things had grown darker still. Ginny would take a little more being ignored after the questions they had pestered her with before and during the trip home.
"You were close to them, right?" "Where do you think they went?" "Surely, they're visiting your family, right?" "It's quite a stunt, isn't it?" "You know where they are, of course. Of course you do." "The Weasleys have always been close with that sort."
Ginny shook her head. She didn't like the idea of voices in her head, even real ones. That had happened. Today was a different day. The first empty compartment appeared to her after she had walked three quarters the length of the train. Slipping inside, Ginny shut the door and then pushed her trunk into the overhead bin with effort. She put on her robes and curled up in the corner of the compartment bench, pulling out one of her books and idling through the pages. Her eyes ran across the diagrams and blurred lines of words, never focusing enough on any to fully take in what she was reading or even the subject matter.
She shut the book, and looked out of the window. It faced onto the platform, and dozens of families gathered in sight. However, Molly and Arthur were no longer amongst them. They had had much to do, for the Order - her mum - and for the Ministry - her dad. They had chivvied her brother and Ginny onto the train as fast as possible.
Ginny knew they were doing important work, as were Harry and Hermione, but it was still sad. She missed the old days. The family would all be there, gathered around as they came to the station. After countless rounds of hugs, they'd get on the train and gather into one big compartment, laughing and enjoying their trip to Hogwarts. The whole year would loom with excitement, promise of many antics and learning. This year, though, was completely different.
The twins aside, she had lost basically everyone else she had been growing up with in some way. Sure, she'd still have her House, and dorm mates who'd been friendly enough. How friendly would people be with all the suspicion and worry going around the school? How could she face the relentless questions alone? Ron would be around, but as a Prefect, he'd be busy. He wanted to play Quidditch this year, too, he'd said. She'd hardly ever see him, then. She was alone.
"Well, well," said, a voice. "Look what we've found."
Ginny looked up, finding a smirking Draco Malfoy and his two goons framed beside him in the hall. She frowned, and looked back down. Maybe if she ignored him, they'd go away.
"No Potter or brothers to hide behind, this year," Draco said, laughing. "How's it feel to be abandoned? Eh? You may not be a filthy Mudblood, but you Blood Traitors deserve little better. What do we do to Blood Traitors, eh boys?"
The muscly trolls on either side of him cracked their knuckles, snickering maliciously. Ginny felt a sinking inside. So, that was how it would be. Not only was she alone, the company she did have would be bullies coming after her because she was alone. A part of Ginny wanted to respond with something snarky, the part of her that had watched the twins with admiration, enjoying how they never took a negative word against them. That voice was small, though, small and far away, today.
"I guess she's already given up," Draco laughed. "Her kind need to learn when they're beaten… Ah."
His voice trailed off with a strange sound, and Ginny looked up just as he fell, stiff as a board to the ground outside the compartment, shock filling his eyes. With another couple snaps and flashes of light, his companions fell to the ground, one with legs kicking - out of control - and the other covered in a bunch of tentacles, crying out. Ginny just stared. Who?
"I knew those three would be up to no good," Neville said, sticking his head in. "You alright there, Ginny?"
"I'm… I'm okay," she replied, still staring in surprise.
"Mind if we join you?" asked another voice from around the corner.
"Y-yeah, I mean, no," she said. "C-come in."
Luna followed Neville in, shutting the door without a glance at the pile of Slytherins just without. Luna smiled at Ginny, looking at her curiously.
"Is your family not with you?" Luna asked, stumbling as the train lurched into motion. She caught herself on the bench.
"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, jumping forward to help Luna.
"I'm fine," Luna replied, smiling, taking Ginny's hand, nevertheless, to stand up again.
"Don't worry about that lot," Neville said, pointing his thumb at the door while he lifted his and Luna's trunks into the compartment rack. "They won't bother you again today."
"I - thank you," Ginny said. "I just didn't expect anyone to…"
"To sit with you?" Luna asked, popping next to Ginny on the bench. "Because you're friends with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger?"
"Yeah," Ginny admitted. "After everything that has happened, I dunno."
"I can't believe the Ministry is blatantly calling them fugitives," Neville said, shaking his head as he took a seat. "Whatever You-Know-Who is up to, it's not subtle."
"You don't mind?" Ginny asked. "Hanging around me could draw attention from them." She gestured to the pile in the hall.
Neville shrugged, frowning. "People like them are why Harry and Hermione aren't able to come to the school," he said. "Why make it easy to isolate anyone?"
"Besides," Luna said, "with Harry out of school, who will run the DA?"
"Will there even be a DA?" Ginny asked. "Who'd want to be a part of it, now?"
"More than you think," Neville said, smiling in a knowing way. "I talked to Dean in the hall. He's already asking about it."
"So, you'll run it, Neville?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Neville said. "I'm sure someone would be better suited. But… I want to be in it. That's for sure."
"You must have learned a lot from Fred and George," Luna said to Ginny. "Maybe you should run it?"
"Me?" Ginny said, laughing for the first time, she thought, in ages. "No way. I mean I-"
"Have had to deal with more dark wizard business than most of us," Neville said.
Ginny blushed. "Not in a good way," she muttered.
"Who has good business with dark wizards?" Luna asked, her tone light.
"Besides," Neville said, "you can probably communicate with them, right?"
"I don't know," she replied. "Owls probably wouldn't get through and the Communication spell is watched, now."
"Your family might even know where they are," Neville said. "I'm sure someone can get them a message."
"The Minister probably knows," Luna said, her voice far-away. "As part of the Rot-fang conspiracy, they have traced everyone's incisors."
Ginny nearly laughed, but stifled it. Luna did believe some odd things, but she didn't care about that. The pair of them had completely turned her day around. How had she thought they would all turn their backs on her? A wave of shame rushed through Ginny. What was she doing? Giving up before the year even started? That wasn't what a Weasley did. That wasn't Ginny, either.
Setting her jaw, Ginny sat up straighter. "I heard they've made Professor Snape the Headmaster," she said.
Neville frowned. "Maybe we w-won't see him as much, then," he said, sounding uneasy.
"I bet they'll replace him, Moody and Dubois with more of their people," Ginny said. "So, we'll need to look out for other students. If they're anything like You-Know-Who, then they might torment the students for fun."
"But what could we do about it?" Neville asked, shaking his head. "We can't override teachers. Other than getting messages out, there's not much we could do to stop them."
"We protect them," Ginny said. "If we have to, using magic. Harry and Hermione aren't the only ones who are resisting You-Know-Who. Just because we're in school doesn't mean we're useless."
"We'll need to be careful," Neville said. "Have back up plans. What if they come after us? Try to arrest us?"
"You could use the Room of Requirement," Luna said, her voice floaty.
Ginny stared at the girl. Luna was in Ginny's year, but sometimes she said something so simple and wise, Ginny thought she was older. Luna, for her part, hadn't even opened her copy of the Quibbler. Usually, she would spend most of the train ride buried in it.
"Brilliant," Neville said. "We find some way to make the Room a safe place."
"We'll have to make it ours," Ginny said. "I heard that You-Know-Who got in there during the Third Task. So, we'll need to make it so he and his group can't."
"I'll do it," Neville said. "Maybe I can try keeping one of you out, and see if that works."
"Excellent," Ginny replied. "We can use that to connect students, too. We can have DA meetings in the Great Hall, but that will just be for show. The real meetings will be there."
"But no one gets involved unless they want to," Neville said. "They have to want to take the risk. So, I don't think we should take anyone under year four. Harry was year four when he competed in the Tournament."
"He was year one when he fought Quirrell," Ginny pointed out.
Neville waved his hand. "I'm not putting first years in danger," he said. "Harry wouldn't want that, either. If they want to learn defence, they can come to DA."
Knock. Knock. The three of them looked over to the door, eyes filled with worry. Ginny sighed, laughing. A lady stood, looking into the compartment with a kindly expression, her left hand still on the handle of the sweets trolley.
"It's just the trolley," she said. "Anything?"
"Gran gave me a couple galleons for the trolley," Neville said, hopping up to buy some sweets.
The three of them snacked on the sweets in silence for some time. The interruption had brought Ginny out of the euphoria of the moment. They were talking about rebelling against the people running the school, the Ministry. It would be dangerous. People could be hurt or imprisoned. This wasn't a game. The silence surrounding the others made Ginny feel that they were aware of the same. Would they still want to proceed?
Ginny held the last bit of her Cauldron Cake, hesitating with it in the air. Was it even the right thing to cause trouble at the school? Would it send the Death Eaters after her parents, her brothers? A frown came over her face that she couldn't shake. Hermione had sent her family far away. Harry didn't have any. Sure, they could risk themselves and only themselves… But she? She had many loved ones. The risk was high.
"My dad said that they're not letting any Muggleborns come to Hogwarts this year," Luna said, sounding sad.
"Many have had to go into hiding," Neville said. "According to my gran, anyway. Apparently, Dumbledore's helping them."
"It's so terrible," Luna said. "Being kept out for being who you are. Right, Ginny?"
Ginny bit her cheek. Idiot. Worried about your family when others are already running for their lives? Your parents are already fighting Him. So are your brothers. They were already doing their part.
She nodded. "All of the students should be here, with us," she said. "It's not right. We'll stop them, You-Know-Who and all of his followers. All of us, not just the adults out there. The adults need our help."
"Too right," Neville said, his smile broadening.
Click. Ginny turned, smile still on her face when she saw a dark hooded figure filling the doorway. Whomever it was stood tall, nearly brushing the ceiling with the hood. The figure made no move, just observing them, quietly and looming.
"Yes?" Neville asked, nervously stepping forward between the figure and the two girls. "Did you need something?"
"Ginevra Weasley," a thick, foreign voice intoned, "you are a known associate of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. You will tell me their whereabouts, immediately."
"Go away," Neville said, stepping forward with more bravery than Ginny had thought he had. "They're not on the train."
"You will stay out of my way," the figure said, addressing Neville with a growl in his voice. "I'm only here for her. You're disposable."
Ginny stepped forward before Neville could draw his wand. She put a hand on his arm to stay the movement, and looked directly at the figure.
"Let me guess," she said, sarcasm thick in her voice, feeling more angry than she had thought she would be, "you already tried to pester Ron and other people who knew them all the way down the train, and… you got nothing. We're near the back of the train and have been traveling for a while. If you were any good at what you do, you'd be done, am I right? Looks like your 'dark lord' is digging at the bottom of the barrel for his minions this week."
"How dare you!" cried the man, sounding furious. "If you think I'll go easy on you because you're a little girl…"
Ginny's wand was in her hand before she realised it, saying, "Vespertilio pituita nasam."
With a flash of light, the man cried out, falling back against the compartment door behind, his face covered by bats that had emerged from his nostrils. Ginny flicked her wand, saying, "Colloportus."
"You're a bit scary sometimes, Gin," Neville said from beside her.
The man was banging around outside the door, waving his wand at his face and cursing angrily. Ginny sneared at the man. "He's the man who's been trying to scare my brothers," she said. "That one was for them."
"What if he comes back?" Neville asked.
"Most people don't know how to remove that jinx," she said, smiling. "He'll probably have to go to St. Mungo's for one of the Healers to deal with it."
"And then?" Neville asked.
"Then, you can't Apparate onto the train," she said. "He'll have to try to meet the train at Hogsmeade, with Hagrid there, or bother us at the school with the other professors."
"He did look a bit silly, didn't he?" Luna said. "Running around with a bat on his face."
"Yes," Ginny said, smiling. "Yes, he did."
Neville laughed. "I guess we're doing it, then," he said. "If that doesn't send a message, I don't know what would."
"Of course, we are," Ginny said. "People like him are the reason people are scared. And Riddle. I spent too long trying to take care of myself with all that. Now, we can do something, can't we?"
"Yeah," Neville said. "Together. That's what Harry would tell us, anyway. He was always talking about how we can do more together, wasn't he? Always trying to get us to get along and work as a whole, for the whole school, not just Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. Not even just everyone except Slytherin. Harry saw the school differently than all of us."
"He still does," Ginny said. "He's not gone, just not at Hogwarts this year."
"Have you really seen him?" Neville asked, his voice low.
Ginny nodded, whispering. "Harry came back," she said. "They're going to take down the barrier and then stop You-Know-Who."
"Did he say where he'd gone?" Neville asked, looking at Ginny with curiosity.
"Paris," Ginny said. "That's what I heard. I don't know why, but he must have had a good reason."
"Maybe he was looking for a weapon to defeat You-Know-Who," Luna said. "My dad says the Paris catacombs have artefacts that could level a city."
"Or…" Neville said, "he was recruiting the Beauxbatons to help in the fight."
Ginny shrugged. She had only heard bits and pieces of what Harry and her dad had said to each other. Maybe it was a weapon! They could take everything they could get. Who knew how strong the enemy was. This man had been a pest, but some of the enemy were really strong. The inner circle had powers she couldn't even imagine, much less You-Know-Who.
Silence fell and Ginny watched the countryside pass by. They would have time to plan strategy later. For now, the school was fast approaching. It was an ominous return, but a better one than she had originally thought. Ginny wouldn't be alone, not really. She had friends, friends looking to help. They would rebuild the DA, make a secret organisation to protect students. Somehow, they would help in the fight against the enemy. They would do everything they could.