Were it not for Colin continuously kicking Ginny under the table, she never would have been able to stay awake during Wednesday morning's Transfiguration class.

"Crap, did you copy out the formula before she erased it?" Ginny asked in a panic, her eyes snapping to the board at the front of the room. Colin moved his messy notes into the middle of the desk and poured over them with her.

"If you don't start paying attention, I'm going to ask to switch partners." Colin said under his breath. Professor McGonagall had started teaching them Human Transfiguration as soon as they returned from holidays, which was not only the most complicated branch of transfiguration, but incredibly dangerous as well.

"I'll catch up, just take some decent notes." Ginny stifled a yawn. "Is that a V or W?"

"I thought it was an A…" Colin muttered, squinting at his own scrawl.

"Merlin's balls Colin, I'm about to ask to switch partners! Pass me my textbook, it's got to be in there." Ginny and Colin weren't the only two who were having troubles with their newest assignment. Demelza had stormed away from the table she shared with Jack and was kneeling next to Christian and Curtis Bradley, comparing notes. Ethan Gerard and Andrew Kirk were staring at their textbooks with their eyes crossed, for reasons no one could explain.

Finally, Professor McGonagall dismissed the class, and the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students breathed a collective sigh of relief as they packed up their things. Ginny barely acknowledged Colin leaving to meet Sean and Neville in Herbology as she blindly followed Demelza, Christian and Curtis to Professor Vector's classroom.

By the end of Arithmancy, she could think of nothing but the steaming pot of coffee awaiting her in the Great Hall as she wandered off to lunch.

Ginny could have been sleep walking as she made her way through the crowded corridors, barely registering who she was passing along the way. It took longer than it should have to register that Colin, Neville and Sean had pushed their way up to her against the flow of students. Before she could wonder what they were doing, Neville had grasped her arm and guided her into an empty classroom.

"They've been spotted" Neville whispered in her ear as Colin locked the door behind Sean. It was like someone had shocked her, her eyes went wide and she stared at Neville in disbelief.

"Where? When?" She demanded, doing her best not to pounce on him as he dug a scrap of parchment out of his pocket.

"I wrote it all down; there was an emergency broadcast while I was in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout before class. One of the hosts of the Wizarding Wireless Network said something funny, so I tried switching to Potterwatch and heard..." Neville moved to the light streaming in through the window and began reading Lee's latest announcement aloud.

"The Order of the Phoenix recently received intelligence that Harry Potter was seen escaping the ruins of Xenophillus Lovegood's home on the fourth of January." Neville recited in a hushed tone.

"That was the night before we tried to rescue Luna!" Ginny realized suddenly. Sean hushed her, motioning for Neville to continue.

"It appears that Death Eaters, who are currently holding Luna Lovegood, Xenophillus' daughter, as a hostage, interrupted a meeting between Mr. Lovegood, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger, a well-known associate of Harry's." Neville stopped for a moment to look at Ginny, who could feel the blood drain from her face as she blanched, clinging to his every word.

"Harry and Hermione are said to have disapparated after setting off an explosion on of the upper floors of the Lovegood house. Mr. Lovegood, the eccentric editor of the Quibbler, has had his memory modified, and was unable to give any further information." Neville put down the paper. "It went on to talk about Luna for a bit, how she broke into the Ministry with us and stuff like that."

Ginny's mouth had gone dry.

"That must be why the Death Eaters were all at the Crouch house when the Order was trying to rescue Luna…" Colin said, but Ginny wasn't listening.

"There wasn't anything about Ron?" Ginny asked. She couldn't believe how hard she had to work to get the words out of her mouth. Colin's eyes widened as he realized what she was asking, but Neville just shook his head.

"They wouldn't have said anything if he was seen though, would they?" Sean said, trying to sound confident. "Hermione's parents went abroad, but Ron still has family here. They wouldn't risk putting you and your parents at risk, especially after Luna."

"That wouldn't matter, they left when Death Eaters showed up, so anything we know, they would already know." Ginny was almost tripping over her words now. "And I'd know if Ron was seen with Harry, mum made me swear I'd come home if Ron was found out. She had it all arranged with Professor McGonagall."

"Well let's ask her then!" Colin went for the door, but Ginny ignored him.

"She's eating next to Snape right now, and she'd have had the perfect opportunity to tell me in Transfiguration this morning." She had begun pacing the room, going over everything in her head.

"They must have split up," Sean offered "can you think of any reason they'd need to?"

"How could I? I don't know what they were doing!" Ginny fumed. "But I can't see them wanting to separate unless they were forced to. Luna's dad is an ally, they know that, he was at Bill and Fleur's wedding. They wouldn't have any reason to split up before seeing them, unless…" Ginny counted back the days on her fingers.

"I was at Mike's…" she whispered suddenly. "Did they say what time they were seen?" she asked. Neville re-read the parchment, biting his lip trying to remember.

"Just the date, the fourth of January."

"That was Saturday, Remus and I took the bike into the village for an hour that night. Luna's house isn't far from the burrow. But why would he come without Harry and Hermione? Why wouldn't they have told me he'd been there? Why were they at Luna's place at all?" She questioned, looking to the others for answers.

"Maybe they wanted to put something in the Quibbler?" Neville suggested halfheartedly.

"They may not have wanted to all come to the Burrow in case you were still being watched, if Ron was caught, they could easily say he'd recovered and would be coming back to Hogwarts for second term." Sean reasoned.

Ginny thought about this for a moment. The trio wouldn't have known that Luna was missing, or that her house wasn't safe if they were keeping to themselves. They wouldn't even know about Potterwatch or anything that had happened since Remus left them at the Grimmauld Place.

"But why wouldn't they have told me Ron had been there?" She asked.

"We don't know how long Harry and Hermione were at Luna's house, maybe they only just split up, and Ron saw the explosion and went back to meet them?" Colin suggested.

"But then they could still be separated!"

"If Ron couldn't meet up with them, he would have come to the Burrow, if that's where he was heading in the first place." Neville offered, but it still wasn't adding up for Ginny. "Let's check with McGonagall and send a message to your parents, to see if Ron did come by." Ginny nodded reluctantly, but couldn't stop the questions from stirring in her mind. Her head felt fuzzy from lack of sleep and answers.

Would her parents and the order hide Ron's visit from her? What were Harry and Hermione doing at Luna's? Did they somehow know she was taken? Were they trying to rescue her? What if something had happened to Ron, and they were trying to get to the Burrow? They'd had no news since hearing the three of them were alive in early December, but a lot could happen in a month. Ron could very well have been too injured to travel, or caught by snatchers, or killed.

"We should go if we want to get something to eat before Muggle Studies." Ginny didn't even realize the others were heading towards the door until Colin spoke. "Come on Ginny, you have a study block before dinner, so Alecto'll probably try to keep you"

Ginny only agreed to eat lunch once they ran into Dennis and Jimmy, who offered to run a letter up to the Owlery before class. Ginny tore the bottom of her Arithmancy essay and scribbled a quick note.

Mum,

I was talking to some of Ron's bunkmates this morning- they were wondering if he would be well enough to come back to school soon? I know he wasn't much better when I was home, but I said I'd ask.

Love, Ginny

Ginny spent two more nights scrubbing away at the Entrance hall, until finally, Filch had to accept that only time would fade the names of the lost. Ginny was a little disappointed when she was tasked with repairing the greenhouses and polishing suits of armor, as she had found comfort in the resilience of the painted walls.

Once, Amycus decided that the seventh year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students needed extra practice with their hexes after class, which happened to be on a Wednesday, when Ginny had a spare block after Muggle Studies. The ensuing riot landed Neville, Seamus, Ernie, Hannah, and (to Ginny's annoyance) Lavender Brown in detention with her that weekend.

Neither the Carrows nor Filch were willing to supervise such a volatile group of students though, so the six of them were frog marched across the grounds Friday after supper, and delivered to Hagrid.

"Well, it can't be any more dangerous than Dark Arts class," Seamus said, almost cheerily as Hagrid led them towards the edge of the forest. A fresh powering of snow covered the grounds, giving off a soft glow that ended abruptly at the treeline.

"Don't count on that until we know what we're doing. There's werewolves and - "

"Don't you even start." Ginny snapped, before Lavender could finish her dire warning. "You were taught by a werewolf for a whole year, and he was one of the best professors we've ever had! The centaurs are more likely to carry you off out of sheer annoyance than anything else."

"Don't be stupid! Firenze is a centaur, and he's - "

"Yeah, it's almost like Remus and Firenze are individuals, and shouldn't be judged by their race or affliction." Ginny cut across her again, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on now girls, I don' wan' you squabblin' when we're in there. Lot's o' beasts you don' want ter cross." Hagrid called to the back of the group.

"Now, we'll be takin' the long way 'round today, skirtin' 'round Centaur territory, like Ginny said. You'll be keepin' yer wands out, but at yer sides and out of sight unless I tell yeh otherwise, right?" Hagrid instructed, passing out oil lamps to each student and swinging a rucksack over his shoulder.

Ginny dawdled behind the others, taking the place next to Neville at the back of the group while Lavender was joined by Ernie near the front. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief that the two off them were choosing to walk together.

"Any idea what we're doing?" Seamus asked, hanging back slightly as well.

"I have an idea, but I don't think you'll like it…" Ginny said slowly. She exchanged a glance with Neville, but his questioning look told her that he hadn't been let in on Hagrid's secret yet.

"I won't tell you in case I'm wrong. You won't believe me anyways." She said finally, hoping against hope that Harry had exaggerated some of the Gawp's more vicious features.

The advantage to skirting around the edge of the forest was that the moonlight and snow still basked the undergrowth in cool light for the first portion of their journey. Eventually though, they turned in on a path leading into the heart of the forest, though its twists and turns seemed to have them doubling back at least half the time.

"Hagrid, shouldn't we be there by now?" Ginny asked finally. There was no way Harry and Hermione could have made this trek and gotten back in time for the end of the Quidditch match last year.

"Jus' a bit further. Had to move him back after Hallowe'en." Hagrid answered.

"Him?" Seamus asked skeptically. Ginny took a deep breath, accepting that there was no possible way they were headed anywhere other than Grawp's territory.

Harry,

I think what the Carrows are enjoying the most about having me in detention every waking moment is that it's becoming harder and harder to make plans for the DA, so things are getting a little quieter. Neville's doing great though, Seamus is helping him plan meetings, so of course there's a lot more explosions, or so I hear. A fair few of the others are stepping up to help teach the younger students during meetings as well, but I doubt they'd be giving you nearly as much backtalk as they're giving Michael. I'm sure you'll love the fact that he's being compared to you and found wanting once again.

We heard about you and Hermione blowing up Luna's house, and I know that if you didn't know she was taken before, you will by now. I don't know what you're doing out there, but I know you'll be looking for her if you can.

I guess I've been skirting around the issue for long enough now, and I don't know why, because asking it won't get me an answer either way. Where was Ron? When you were at Luna's, Potterwatch didn't mention him at all, and he should be with you. Colin and the others keep trying to distract me, but mum still hasn't answered my letter and I haven't had a chance to corner McGonagall. I just really need to know that he's okay, and I need you three to keep looking out for each other.

You'd probably like to hear about the mundane stuff too, but it's getting harder to find pieces of normal life right now. Colin and Sean started apparition lessons last week, and they promised to help me catch up once I'm out of detention. So far it sounds like I haven't missed too much though.

Oh, and we finally had the pleasure of meeting Hagrid's brother… Hagrid says he's really improved over the past year, so I don't know WHAT you had to deal with when you met him. He's really taken a shine to Seamus though, so that's probably the most destructive duo that will ever walk the earth. And don't tell Hermione, but I think I'm failing Transfiguration. If she finds out, I'm sure she'll confine me to the library until she can bring my marks up, and I might be forced to hex her just so I can get some sleep.

Sleep… that sounds like an amazing idea actually, and I think I can manage a few hours now. Maybe you'll come into my room again; it's been happening a lot lately. I don't know why or how, but I swear it's you. If it is, and I'm not just going mad, please don't stop whatever it is you're doing to make that happen. Fooling myself into thinking you're here is the best part of my day right now.

All my love,

Ginny

She folded the letter carefully, creasing it with more precision than necessary, and stared at the parchment for a moment. As always, there was a fleeting moment where she imagined sneaking up to the owlery before sense could catch up to her.

But the moment passed as quickly as it came. Ginny got up from her table in the empty common room and walked over to the fireplace. She watched soberly as the flames curled the edges of the parchment before turning them black, not letting herself look away until there every trace of the letter had burned away.