Disclaimer: I make no claim to the rights of any characters that are owned by J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros., and make no money from this venture. This work is purely for entertainment purposes.

—CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE—

Rescue Mission IV: Distractions

"You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one."
- Tom Kite

Ginny Weasley

6th January, 2004

"Bill, I was the one to suggest this," Ginny said firmly in a low voice. "I know how dangerous this is."

"Do you?" Bill asked.

"Of course I do," Ginny replied, her anger rising slightly. "Just as much as you do. Maybe even more when it really comes down to it. I know what the Death Eaters can do. I know what You-Know-Who can do as well. I've known that since I was eleven years old, in case you've forgotten."

"I haven't forgotten," Bill replied calmly. "I know what you've been through, but you must see how dangerous this is. No one else will be there with you. No one will be able to save you if anything happens."

"I know that," Ginny replied in a softer tone, her anger abating slightly. "I know that all too well. The fact is, if I don't do this there's more of a chance that you won't get out alive."

"Not much more of a chance," Bill murmured. "But I see your point. Don't get me wrong here, Gin, we appreciate that you're doing this. I'm just worried for you."

"Don't be," Ginny said with a confident smile. "I'm quick. They won't catch me. Even if they do, I don't think they could hold me all that long."

"If they do –" Bill began seriously but Ginny put up a hand to silence him.

"You won't do anything rash," Ginny finished, knowing full well that wasn't where Bill was headed with that sentence. "We're risking enough as it is, so there's no point risking more."

"You expect us to just sit here if you're captured then?" Bill asked. Ginny nodded.

"Absolutely," Ginny replied. "I know what I'm getting into today. I could get caught. Anyone could be caught by them. But we've got one chance right now, and we can't throw away the advantage we will gain if everything goes well just to save me."

"I don't know if I could deal with it," Bill said quietly. "Not after Fleur."

"It may not even happen," Ginny said softly. "For all we know this whole thing will go off without a hitch." Bill scoffed.

"Yeah, and maybe Mad-Eye will stop being paranoid," he said wryly.

"Anything's possible," Ginny said. "Everyone just has to be careful."

"Promise me you will be," Bill said, his eyes locking with hers. Ginny nodded.

"Of course I will you prat," she said with a laugh. "You surely don't expect me to do something stupid like take on thirty Death Eaters at once, do you?"

"They wouldn't stand a chance," Bill said laughing as well. It was at that moment that a group of others entered the room and sat around Mad-Eye. Ginny looked at the group headed to the Ministry for a moment before looking back to Bill.

"We really are going to deal a blow today, aren't we?" Ginny asked. Bill nodded.

"Assuming all goes well, we most definitely are," he replied.

"We have a long way to go, though," Ginny said seriously. "Today isn't even about You-Know-Who."

"You-Know-Who is the King in our game of chess," Bill said thoughtfully. "But chess is more than an assault on the King. There are smaller struggles that eventually lead to the King's downfall. Today isn't about Checkmate, it's really about Check."

"Ron lives!" Ginny chuckled and Bill laughed.

"Who do you think taught him?" Bill asked seriously. "Dad wasn't into chess, Charlie and Percy were busy with other things and Fred and George … well, you know what they were like."

"I suppose I do," Ginny said, pausing for a moment. "If You-Know-Who is their King, who's ours?"

"In the last game it was Harry," Bill said. "Right now, I can't really say."

It was at that moment that Ginny felt the sudden urge to get up and leave the living room. Bill must have felt the same thing as they both walked into the kitchen together. Dennis was the only one in the kitchen at the time, save for his Phoenix.

"You okay, Dennis?" Bill asked. Dennis nodded.

Ginny was still getting used to having Dennis Creevey around. Ginny had known Colin as they were both in the same year and the same house. That being said, Ginny had never been great friends with him, but she was nice enough. In truth, she kind of felt bad about that because she could tell that Colin was lonely, and yet she wasn't prepared to get close to him. To Ginny, there was always something or someone else.

Now Dennis was around, with no family left in his life except for Teddy Lupin who his parents had been looking after. When Ginny looked at Dennis, she could see aspects of Colin within him, but there were certainly more differences than similarities, especially since Dennis actually looked like a man, as opposed to Colin who seemed to be perpetually a boy.

"I just want to get moving," Dennis said. He had not spoken much during his stay at Grimmauld Place. In fact, Ginny was not sure that she had heard more than ten words spoken by him in the entire time. "I can't stand the idea of Teddy in that … place."

"Nor can we," Bill assured him. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"I have to be," Dennis said. "He's not coming though." Dennis had pointed at his Phoenix as he spoke and the bird trilled, which made Ginny's spine tingle.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"He says he can't," Dennis replied.

"He said?" Ginny asked.

"It's a bit difficult to explain," Dennis replied. "He sometimes sends me these signals. Like he's telling me something. I've been getting a distinctly negative vibe whenever I mention or think about what we're about to do. I don't think he wants to be involved at all."

"I'm not surprised," Bill said. "Does he have a name?"

"Not yet," Dennis said, stroking the bird's red feathers. "I have a feeling he might already have one, so I'm waiting for him to tell me. I'm hoping that these messages get stronger soon. I suppose I'm only in the process of the Bonding, so I guess I can't ask for too much, can I?"

The three were silent for a few moments before a high-pitched noise resonated through the house.

"That's the detection ward," Bill said quickly. Bill turned and walked into the Living Room. Just as Ginny was about to turn away too, Dennis stood up from his seat. As he did so, the Phoenix let out a few bars of a beautiful song before disappearing in a burst of flame, leaving nothing behind except the remnants of the seed that Dennis had been feeding him. Ginny finally turned and followed Bill into the living room once again.

The moment Ginny walked into the room, Moody had thrust a broom in her direction which she grabbed. It was an odd feeling. All things considered, Ginny had not ridden a broom since the summer after her fifth year at Hogwarts as she had been in hiding pretty much since that point. It wasn't until Moody showed up with too many brooms for one person to logically need that Ginny realised how much she had missed it. It was the one thing that she had never once lost her passion for.

On the other hand, a great bout of nerves settled into her as she clasped the broom in her hand. Not nerves because of her flying, she could never ever forget how to fly. It was the nerves for what she was about to do. She couldn't not see just how much danger she was putting herself in, and it truly did frighten her. Then she pictured a little boy who looked a lot like Tonks in a cell in Azkaban and her nerves started to drain away.

This is what we've survived for, Ginny thought to herself as she watched Hermione and Charlie share an embrace. Our world can't fight Voldemort, so we have to. I have to.

Ginny watched as Draco, Angelina, Katie and Alicia walked into the room. Alicia looked terrible, so much so that she was being supported just to stand.

"You ready for this?" Hestia asked, snapping Ginny out of her thoughts. Ginny looked around and saw Luna talking to Dennis, an arm on his hand.

"I have to be, don't I?" Ginny said with a weak smile. Hestia smiled back. It was just as weak as her own.

"Well, you don't have to be," she said. "But you are."

"Yes I am," Ginny confirmed. She felt someone touch her arm.

"Please be careful," Bill said. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"We just had this discussion, Bill," she said in a fake annoyed voice. "I will. Don't worry. Just make sure you do as well."

"I'll be fine," Bill replied. "I'll get back. I have to. I can't leave the kids in France." Ginny laughed.

"That's as good a reason as any I suppose," she said. Bill kissed her on the cheek and let go of her arm.

"Let's get moving," Mad-Eye grunted. "We've got a limited window here. Let's not waste it."

Without any further word, Ginny followed Mad-Eye to the front door, Charlie next to her and Hestia behind. As Moody pulled the door open, Charlie squeezed Ginny's hand.

"I'll go first," Ginny said quickly. "That way you don't have to worry about having too many people show up."

"You know where you're going?" Mad-Eye asked one final time. Ginny almost rolled her eyes, but simply nodded. "Good. Meet up with us in a little bit. No longer than fifteen minutes, got it?"

"Understood," Ginny replied just as she turned on her heel, broom still in hand, and disappeared with a soft pop.

Ginny was now surrounded by trees. The air was cooler where she had Apparated to, and the sky was slightly darker. She decided not to waste any time admiring the scenery.

"Voldemort!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. A second later she heard at least three loud pops. Ginny herself turned on her heel and dispparated away before they had a chance to see who she was.

This time, Ginny was standing in an open, empty field. The wind blew her long red hair slightly, and she had to brush some of it out of her eyes. This time, she waited for a little while. At least thirty seconds had passed before she spoke again.

"Voldemort!" she cried. As soon as she spoke the last syllable she disapparated. As she did so, she saw four men arrive in the field. She knew that they could not have seen her enough in order to identify her.

The next place she found herself was near a lake somewhere in Scotland. She was on the side of the lake with a lot of plant life. In particular, she was pleased to see so many trees. The sky was darkening here and it was colder again. It was not snowing, but Ginny had prepared for the possibility. She was glad to be wearing warmer clothing.

Ginny actually got on her broom this time, pushed off the ground and took to the air. For the first time in years, Ginny remembered why she loved flying. She flew as fast as she could forward over the lake, before darting high into the air and flying upwards. When she reached a sufficient height, Ginny slowed down enough so she could speak.

"Voldemort!" she yelled. She then sped up upon hearing several loud pops behind her. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and laughed at the sight. She had not known what would happen should she do this, but it seemed to work to perfection. What appeared to be a mixture of Death Eaters and Aurors, set apart by their black and red robes respectively, began to plummet towards the water below. They had not expected her to be on a broom and, so, were not prepared. Ginny let them fall and flew to the edge of the lake where she dismounted and promptly disapparated.

Ginny was back in another field, this time populated by three cows. Ginny looked around her for a moment before the image of her pursuers falling towards the water filled her mind again and she started laughing. After a few seconds she stopped laughing, but continued to smile.

Some of them probably needed a bath anyway, she thought to herself.

She started to pace around the field, eyeing the cows that now appeared to be watching her from a distance. When she was little, Ginny remembered being chased by a cow once. She couldn't really remember where, but she thought it must have been at one of her Aunt Muriel's friends' homes as she remembered the look on Muriel's face when the cow was abruptly levitated. It wasn't Ginny's first bout of accidental magic, but it was the most memorable. Ginny had been wary of cows ever since.

After a few minutes of pacing and staring at the distant cows, Ginny prepared herself.

"Voldemort!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Instantly she turned on the spot and disapparated. Before she disappeared she noticed a green spell miss her by almost nothing. When Ginny appeared at the next site, an old abandoned saw mill, she swore violently.

"They're getting quick," she mused to herself. "This has to be the last one."

Ginny decided to wait even longer for the last one, as they might just think that she was done playing with them. If she got them to think this, they might not expend too much force on the others. This time she waited for five minutes, sitting at the base of the saw mill on a weathering piece of stone. When the five minutes were up, she stood up and opened her mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a silky voice said from behind her. Ginny attempted to disapparate, but the man only laughed. Ginny tried to place the man, but he didn't seem familiar to her at all. "We followed you here you stupid cow. We put up an anti-apparation field ages ago."

"Wait," another voice said from behind the first man. It was then that Ginny saw just what she was being confronted with. There were at least twenty people present, some dressed in the Auror's red robes and some in the Death Eater's black. Ginny recognised the new speaker immediately. It was Amycus Carrow. "Isn't that the Weasley girl?"

"Amycus, you may be right," the first man, who was dressed all in black said with a sneering smile. His face was younger than most of those around him. Ginny actually thought he was rather attractive. His hair wasn't quite as black as Harry's was, and it was certainly well-maintained, and his face was tanned slightly and he just looked nice. Ginny guessed that he was only a few years older than she was. Overall, he was not the type of person that Ginny associated with the Death Eaters. She always thought of them as more like the Carrows. Or Crabbe and Goyle. "Maybe we won't kill her. The Dark Lord will want to question her."

"Like hell," Ginny said angrily. The first man reached out and slapped Ginny across the face hard.

"You will do what we tell you too you blood traitor whore," Carrow almost screamed. Ginny looked up with a smirk on her face. She looked at the other faces and was amused to see that there were some in the group who were still wet from the lake.

"Oh, come up with something better, will you?" Ginny spat. "I'm proud to be a blood traitor and I'm not a whore. Isn't that your sister? That's how you like them, right?"

With that, Ginny leaped onto her broom and sped immediately upwards, avoiding the sole Killing Curse aimed at her, presumably from Carrow. Ginny levelled her broom out and started to dodge the spells that were beginning to be thrown upwards at her. She started off by simply weaving from left to right, but soon had to alter herself slightly as the spells were starting to become more diagonal.

The spells that Ginny was seeing were of many colours, but only one every so often was the green of the Killing Curse. Ginny assumed that it was still from a seething Carrow, and that made her smile inwardly. A bright yellow curse came dangerously close to hitting her, so Ginny began her descent into the forest nearby. It was as she was doing so that some of the curses were coming distinctly from behind her.

Ginny stole a glance backwards and saw three of the Death Eaters trailing behind her, including the attractive one. They were firing spells and curses at her with alarming speed. As Ginny approached the tree line, she heard one of them call out.

"Fall back Terrence!" the woman called out. Ginny was focused ahead of her as she entered into the trees, slowing down only slightly so as to dodge the branches and tree trunks. She occasionally got hit on the face by a stray branch that she couldn't have avoided and eventually felt a slight trickle of blood forming on her face. She could feel a cut on her forehead, and the blood was trickling down quickly so that it was almost in her eyes. Ginny was well aware that this was dangerous, so she finally decided to slow down and stop in the forest.

When she did, she found that it was very dark where she was. Ginny wiped the blood away from her eyes. Just as she was about to apparate away, she heard footsteps behind her. She felt what was coming.

"Stupefy!"

Ginny rolled out of the way, scratching her left leg on a fallen branch as she did so. She rolled to her feet, no longer holding the broom. She reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. The attractive man had followed her into the forest.

"You've got nowhere to go," he said with a smile. "Just give in."

"Not gonna happen," Ginny said. "Reducto!"

The spell was aimed at the man's kneecap, but he deftly dodged out of the way and the spell hit the ground, sending dirt and leaves into the air. While the man was distracted, Ginny attempted to disapparate, but found that she couldn't once again.

"I figured as much," the man said. "I'm surprised you got through all of those trees with only a little damage. Play Quidditch did you?"

"Dissiposse!" Ginny cried, pointing her wand at the man's wand arm. The spell missed and hit the tree behind him harmlessly.

"I played Quidditch too. A Seeker, myself," he said with a too-nice smile. "Those others are making their way in here right now, you know? It might take them a little time to get here. They're not all as moral as I am."

"Moral?" Ginny scoffed. "If you haven't noticed, you're wearing Death Eater robes."

"They are only robes," he replied coolly.

"Do you have the Mark?" Ginny asked.

"Naturally," he replied. "It's almost a necessity. Enough of this now. I don't want you to be taken by those men, I assure you. Let me take you in and you won't come to any more harm than you have to."

"What could they do to me that you won't?" Ginny asked with a scoff.

"Are you truly that naïve?" the man asked. "Some of those men are monsters. I've seen them do horrible things. Things that won't leave me."

"You don't have to be with them," Ginny said, her mind and heart racing. "You have a choice."

"I really don't," he replied with an almost sad smile. "Look, just let me take you back to the Dark Lord. It's either me or the monsters that are chasing you right now."

Ginny stood motionless for a moment. She could hear yelling in the distance.

"Fine," she relented. "I'll go with you. But I want to know your name."

"Why?" he asked. "What difference does it make?"

"Exactly," Ginny said. "What difference does it make?" The man smiled.

"Touché," he replied. "Terrence Higgs." Ginny extended her left hand.

"Ginny Weasley," she said. Terrence smiled and took her hand. Instantly Ginny's right hand flew forward and hit Terrence with all the strength that she could muster directly in the nose. His hands went right to his face and he cried out in pain. Ginny snatched up her broomstick and started running in the opposite direction to where she had heard the others yelling.

She did not stop running for at least five minutes. By the time she stopped she was near a clearing in the forest and her legs felt ready to drop off.

"I need to exercise more," Ginny said, panting. She was sweating and her sweat was falling into the small open wound on her forehead. She would have stopped to heal it, but she knew that she had to get to the others, so she disapparated from the forest, now apparently out of the anti-apparation field.

Ginny could see Hogsmeade from where she was standing. There were a few lights here and there, but the town appeared deserted. Ginny mounted her broomstick and turned to Hogwarts. She moved as fast as she possibly could towards the castle. As she got closer, she saw that there were some colourful spells being fired. As she crossed the wards, at least seven people on brooms turned and looked to see her enter. Most of this group, except for one, were Aurors. As they looked at her, one of them plummeted from their broom. As he did so, Ginny saw Mad-Eye sitting on his custom-made broomstick behind where the Auror had been.

Ginny's heart dropped when she noticed that he was alone. She was so worried for Hestia and Charlie that a Stunning spell almost hit her. It was deflected by a shield at the last minute. Ginny shot off a stunner herself at the caster of the first, who dodged it.

"Careful, Gin," Charlie told her.

"Hestia?" Ginny asked immediately. Two Aurors and the one Death Eater had turned to face Mad-Eye, leaving four Aurors facing Ginny and Charlie.

"Stupefy!" Charlie yelled, deflecting an oncoming Stunner with his own. "She's flanking them. Should be here right …"

As if on cue, two of the Aurors facing them were hit with Stunners in quick succession, while the other two dodged. One of the Aurors slumped on their broom and didn't fall. However, their posture caused the broom to dart forward, forcing Ginny and Charlie to dodge out of the way. The other Auror fell from their broom and plummeted to the ground below, which had to be fifty metres at the least.

"Now," Charlie finished. Ginny turned her eyes to Mad-Eye who was fighting three and holding his own. Ginny moved to help him, but Charlie stopped her.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Not now," Ginny snapped. "We'll talk later."

"Oh, Merlin," Charlie breathed. Ginny looked at him and followed his eyes. She swore.

Coming towards them was a horde of Death Eaters and Aurors, all on brooms. Ginny couldn't tell from the distance that she was at, but she assumed that they were the ones that she had been running from only minutes before.

"That's not good," Ginny said, just as a pink spell missed Charlie by centimetres. There was one Auror left looking at them. Another was fighting Hestia.

"You stay here," Charlie said, pointing his wand to the remaining Auror and firing five different spells in quick succession.

"You can't expect to take all of them on by yourself," Ginny said quickly. "Reducto!" she yelled, aiming at the broom of the Death Eater fighting Mad-Eye. He did not see it coming and the broom beneath him burst into thousands of wooden pieces, and the man started to plummet to the ground. Ginny suddenly felt sick.

"Now's not the time to be squeamish," Charlie said, apparently having noticed the look on Ginny's face.

"He's dead," Ginny said. "I killed him."

"You might not have," Charlie said. "Besides, he's a Death Eater." With that, Charlie sped forward towards the remaining Auror that he was duelling in the air. Surprised, the Auror tried to spin to avoid him, but lost control of the broom. He was bucked off and started to fall to the ground below. Ginny watched him fall. Before the man could hit the ground, someone on a broom flew underneath and caught him. It was one of the reinforcements.

"RETREAT!" Mad-Eye bellowed at the top of his lungs as the group of at least thirty others approached them at a great speed. "NOW!"

Ginny looked over to see that Mad-Eye had finished the two Aurors that he was duelling. He had a nasty gash on his neck that seemed to be pouring blood. So much so that Ginny was afraid for his life. Hestia flew up to her quickly.

"We need to go now," she said quickly.

"Where's Charlie?" Ginny asked, panicking. Ever since he sped towards the last Auror, he had not returned to her side.

"Here," Charlie said quickly. "We can't leave now. The others need more time."

"NOW!" Mad-Eye bellowed again.

"We need to go," Hestia said. She looked at Charlie and sighed angrily before speeding off into the direction of Mad-Eye.

"They need more time," Charlie muttered, seemingly to himself. He raised his wand.

"Charlie," Ginny pleaded. "Let's just go."

"More time," Charlie said finally. His wand was pointed at the head of the pack. "Avada Kedavra!"

Ginny watched as if in slow motion as the sickly green light hurtled towards the Death Eater. It struck him directly in the chest and he went flying backwards off his broom and into a second Death Eater who fell off their broom from the impact. It was then that Ginny recognised towards the front of the pack Terrence. His nose had been bleeding profusely and still was. Next to him was Amycus. Next to Amycus was Alecto Carrow. Ginny knew she had to get out of there.

"Charlie," Ginny said. The procession of Death Eaters and Aurors had stopped moving after Charlie had cast the Unforgivable. Ginny looked at her brother and saw something horrifying. He looked haunted.

"Ginny, go now," he said softly. "I'm not going to have your death on my conscious."

"Stop being stupid," Ginny said angrily and pulled at Charlie's arm. "This won't do any good."

"Just go, Gin," Charlie said. The procession in front of them were apparently waiting to see what was going on, as there were no spells fired at them. Ginny saw Terrence arguing with Amycus, but otherwise they were all transfixed.

"No," Ginny said. "If you're staying, so am I."

"No you are not," Charlie said angrily. "I can deal with this. I've dealt with worse in my life."

"They aren't a dragon, Charlie!" Ginny yelled.

Charlie looked at Ginny for a moment with a sad look.

"Okay," he said. Ginny breathed out and let go of his arm.

Charlie shot away from Ginny faster than she had thought possible. Within seconds he was to the left of the large group of Death Eaters and Aurors. As he had shot away so fast, most of the group followed where he was headed and flew towards him. Charlie swerved and flew directly into the Forbidden Forest with about twenty men on his tail.

Ginny was in shock at what Charlie had done, but still managed to see the group headed towards her, headed by Amycus and Alecto Carrow, who looked utterly furious. Ginny took one look at the Forbidden Forest and tears sprang from her eyes. Despite this, she turned her broom quickly and flew towards the castle. The eight that had been chasing her did not expect this and had to quickly alter their own course.

Ginny sped towards the open doors to the castle and flew inside. She quickly entered into the Great Hall which, to her astonishment, was also open. She pointed her wand at one of the stained glass windows.

"Reducto!" she yelled. The spell impacted the window and glass shattered and fell to the ground in a million pieces. Ginny dodged a Stunner and flew out the window, which was barely wide enough to fit her. She then turned abruptly and then flew towards the Astronomy tower. As he did so, she looked behind and saw that there were only three remaining on her tail, and not one of them was a Carrow.

As she got to an acceptable height, Ginny turned the broomstick to face towards the ground. She hurtled herself directly at the ground below at breakneck speed. It seemed as though the grass was rising to meet her. At the last minute she pulled the broom up and narrowly avoided being a splatter on the grass. She was not sure whether or not the Death Eaters behind her did the same.

Ginny was facing the Forbidden Forest at this point and considered going in search of Charlie. So much of her wanted to do so, but she knew that it was not the smart move.

Charlie will make it back, she thought to herself as she changed course and flew towards the wards. He has to.

Just before she made it to the wards, Ginny looked behind and saw that she was no longer being followed at all. This gave her little comfort as she went through the wards and landed her broom. She stepped off and took one last look at the Forbidden Forest. She shook her head and quickly disapparated before she could change her mind.

When she arrived at the porch of Number Twelve, the door was open and Mad-Eye was standing in it looking mad as hell and pointing his wand at her.

"I'm Ginny," she said weakly.

"I know that, stupid girl," Mad-Eye growled. "What the bloody hell was that? When I say retreat, that means RETREAT!"

"Charlie wanted –"

"I don't care what that fool wanted!" Mad-Eye yelled. "Where the hell did you get this tracking charm?"

"What?" Ginny asked dumbly.

"Tracking charm," Mad-Eye said angrily.

"Th-they tracked me to the saw mill," Ginny said.

"That explains why so many of the bastards showed up when they did," Mad-Eye said, his voice lowering somewhat. "Where's Charlie? I've got a word or two for that idiot."

"Lay off, Alastor," Hestia said from behind him.

"I don't see why I should," Mad-Eye snapped. "Bloody idiot could have gotten us killed. Well? Where is he?"

"He – he stayed behind," Ginny said. "I saw him lead some of them into the Forbidden Forest." Mad-Eye swore violently.

"Do we go back for him?" Hestia asked. Mad-Eye shook his head.

"We can't change plans for him," Mad-Eye said bluntly. "If he comes back, he comes back. If he doesn't, I'm sure we'll read about it tomorrow."

"He'll be back," Ginny said. She tried to sound sure of herself, but deep down inside, she wasn't.

"I'm sure he will," Hestia said softly.

"If you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere else to be," Mad-Eye said. He began to push past Ginny, but she pushed back. His magical eye locked on hers.

"Wait," Ginny said firmly. "Let me heal your wound first."

"It's not that bad," Mad-Eye protested.

"You could bleed out, then you would be no good to anyone," Ginny said. "It will only take a few minutes." Mad-Eye looked her up and down and Ginny thought she could see something in his one remaining good eye. She couldn't tell what it was. He nodded and walked back into the house.