Ginny had taken to waking Colin up early on Mondays and Thursdays, so they could spend their mornings off studying in the Library or Great Hall. It worked fairly well, especially as a number of their classmates usually joined them after being roused by Ginny's unrestrained efforts at dragging their half-asleep dorm mate out of bed.
Sean had managed to decipher where Ginny had gone off-course with Transfiguration by now, but having Amber and Christian to study with helped to keep her from getting frustrated.
"Weasley!" Seamus called across the great hall, slightly out of breath. The sixth years checked their watches and looked up in confusion, as classes weren't due to be dismissed for another half hour.
"Neville said to come get you, it's Hagrid – " Seamus explained, jogging up to their table. Ginny didn't need telling twice, she threw her textbook, parchment and quills into her bag, and followed Seamus out of the hall, Colin on her heels.
"What's happened to him?" She asked, once they'd reached the grounds. From the steps of the castle, nothing looked out of the ordinary at the Groundskeeper's cabin. "Should we get McGonagall?"
"It's what's going to happen that we're worried about," Seamus said. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya, anyways." A thousand possibilities were spouting uninvited into Ginny's head, most of which included Grawp, or something akin to a Blast-Ended Skrewts.
As they approached the Forbidden Forrest, they saw that most of Seamus' class was congregating at the edge of the vegetable patch. Ginny made a b-line for the seventh years, but Seamus grabbed her arm.
"Not over there, they're fine," He said, and Ginny saw that he was steering them towards the cabin, where Hagrid and Neville seemed to be having some sort of discussion.
"Morning Ginny, Colin." Hagrid called out cheerily as he saw them approach. Neville turned to greet them, looking frustrated. "'Bin meaning to ask yeh something."
Neville stepped back with his arms crossed across his chest, and eyebrows raised.
"I 'bin thinkin', about what you lot've done up at the school, with the Entrance Hall and posters and all," Hagrid began. "An' I'd like to help."
"Er – What did you have in mind?" Ginny asked cautiously, while Neville shook his head out of Hagrid's line of sight.
"Just a little get-together before you all go away for the Easter Holidays. A bit of a party." Hagrid was getting excited, but Ginny was still wary.
"That sounds… who would you be inviting?"
"Tha's the best part, it'd be open to anyone who wants to come and show their support for Harry!" Hagrid said, his face split into a grin. Ginny stared at him, not quite sure if he was being serious.
"Hagrid…" Ginny began, unsure of exactly how to respond.
"That's mental!" Colin exclaimed.
"It's not!" Hagrid argued back. He looked genuinely shocked that they were not as excited for this plan as he was. "There's a lot 'o bad stuff going on, we should be doing something to support Harry!"
"Harry won't care if you have a party for him," Neville was sounding exasperated now.
"It's not just for Harry though, is it?" Hagrid continued, seemingly unphased. "When kids go home, they forget that they're not alone, that the rest of us are still fightin'. I was thinking, if we could throw a big party - "
"How big, Hagrid?" Ginny asked, bracing herself.
" – They'd remember a little better." Hagrid finished.
"That'd actually be really great," Colin mused, much to Neville's surprise, but Ginny knew better. "Because then, at least we'll have a nice party on our last night of freedom before we get chucked into Azkaban."
Seamus snorted.
They tried to make Hagrid see reason, but eventually had to go in search of Sean, hoping he would have better luck while the rest went off to their next classes.
"What are we going to do, if he goes ahead with it?" Colin asked, halfway through Charms. They both kept glancing out the window, but it was no use.
"Plan a DA meeting for that night for starters," Ginny answered. She'd been brainstorming ideas since they'd left the cabin. "That should dissuade most of the students, once they know we're not behind it."
"And Hagrid? When he gets caught flying a Support Harry Potter pennant over his hut?" He pressed.
"Then it's his own stupid fault." She grumbled, checking the wand movement for the spell they were working on. Colin raised his eyebrows skeptically, and Ginny sighed in defeat.
"Fine, we'll tell McGonagall. But only because I don't want to get stuck looking after Grawp."
"Liar."
"Oh shut up," She retorted, before successfully expelling water from the tip of her wand.
Ginny and the others tried to keep a close eye on Hagrid, but he showed no sign of going ahead with his plans, and meant that they soon became distracted again by the DA, homeowork, and, in Ginny's case, Quidditch.
The team had been thirty points behind Hufflepuff when Dennis won their last match by catching the snitch. Ginny actually found herself wishing that Fiona could play as well as Ron could, when he was at his best. She would have to spend a lot of time with the Keeper if they were going to beat Ravenclaw in May, something which Michael Corner had mentioned near her no less than three times since.
"You're not quitting the team, you just need more practice." Ginny said, talking Fiona down after she had overheard Michael's comments over breakfast a few days before Easter Holidays.
"That fourth year from tryouts can have my spot, or Kirk or Sloper - "
"I don't have time to train up another Keeper, and they're nowhere near as good as you were when you joined the team." Ginny interrupted. "You had one bad game, just promise me you'll practice over the holidays and think about - "
But Ginny stopped herself when she heard Harry's name from behind her. She whipped around, grabbing a third year Ravenclaw girl by the arm as she passed.
"What did you say?" She asked, trying to keep calm. Nobody was stupid enough to talk about Harry in the great hall, where so many Death Eaters could evesdrop.
"N-nothing!" The younger girl stammered, trying to pull her arm free. Ginny held on just tightly enough to keep her from leaving. "Just some stupid rumor some of the Slytherins are spreading."
"What rumor?" Ginny demanded, suddenly panicked. There hadn't been a Potterwatch broadcast in days, she had no idea what was going on outside of Hogwarts.
"About a – a trap to catch… well, you know…" The girl gestured to Neville, who had noticed the altercation. Ginny stared at her, trying to compel her into elaborating.
"They're trying to trick people by saying there's some gathering for people who follow Potter, as if we'd be that stupid." The girl's friend offered with a scoff.
"When?" Colin asked as he removed Ginny's hand from the Ravenclaw's robes. He seemed to have understood something that Ginny hadn't caught yet.
"Well it's obviously a trick. They're trying to get Potter's supporters to go to some stupid party at Hagrid's hut on Friday, so they can - "
"He didn't…" Ginny breathed, looking at the others, hoping they would offer some other explanation.
Ginny raced out of the hall, not caring who was following her across the grounds.
Hagrid's door had been blasted off its hinges, and the vegetable patch was still smouldering despite the early spring chill in the air.
"They must have come for him early this morning, after everyone had a chance to get to sleep after detentions." Sean reasoned as he emerged from the small house. "Fang's gone, that's a good sign."
"And that," Colin added, pointing out the Grawp-sized gap in the trees Ginny had failed to notice.
"He probably told a few students in his last class about that stupid party, how did he think he'd be able to stop Snape and the Carrows from finding out?" Neville groaned.
Ginny wasn't sure if she felt more relief, or satisfaction when she walked into Dark Arts class and noticed that Amycus' arm was heavily bandaged, and the left side of his face looked like it had collided with a giant's fist.
Their compartment on the Hogwarts Express was unusually quiet that Saturday, the excitement of confirming Hagrid's escape was dampened by the feeling of finality that had become normal whenever the students left Hogwarts. Most of them had come to terms with the reality that it may not be safe for many of their number to return to Hogwarts after the holidays. Ginny had charmed the inside of her school bag to nearly triple its original size, and filled it to bursting with every textbook she owned, and her most treasured belongings she couldn't risk leaving behind, just in case.
And so she sat, re-reading the last chapter they had covered in Transfiguration, trying to pretend she was confident she would be handing in her essay in two weeks' time.
"I got a letter from my cousin last week," Sean's voice was almost too casual, as if he had been rehearsing this conversation in his head. "Sounds like they finally finished moving into their new house. She says it's huge, four bedrooms for just the two of them, plus a carriage house over the garage."
"That's your cousin Sarah, the one in British Columbia?" Colin asked, a little suspiciously.
"Yeah. She said Jason wants to fix up the apartment and rent it out to some uni kids or something. Help out with the mortgage, you know?" There was very little subtlety left in Sean's voice, and he turned to look at Colin directly. Ginny was finding it harder and harder to decipher her Transfiguration notes.
"And you think Dennis and I should pack up over Easter and take dad to Canada?" Colin asked in disbelief. The compartment went silent for a moment.
"We all want - " Sean took a deep breath, his eye downcast.
"What do mean we?" Colin asked, a little hotly. Ginny quietly closed her textbook and began packing her notes into her bag.
"That's not what I meant, when Sarah was here over the Christmas, she said we'd be welcome- " Sean looked slightly panicked.
"Well tell her thanks, but no thanks." Colin interrupted. From his expression, he clearly thought that he had gotten the final word.
"I'm going to go walk with Neville," Ginny announced, tucking Arnold into the crook of her neck as she stood.
"What? Why?" Colin seemed genuinely confused.
"Because, I don't want to sit here and eavesdrop on your row." She had already opened the compartment door and was halfway into the corridor.
"We aren't having a row!" Colin protested. Ginny turned and narrowed her eyes at her best friend in disbelief.
"You are having a row, and I am leaving." She hissed, despite the empty hallways. "Now, I'm going to shut this door, cast muffliato, and leave. YOU are going to stop being a prat and have whatever discussion Sean is trying to have."
She turned on her heel and shut the door firmly before Colin had a chance to answer her. She would leave them to fight it out, and come back to help Colin pull himself out of whatever hole he ended up digging himself into.
She roamed the corridors for a while, stopping to sit with Curtis Bradley and his group of friends for a while, and then moved on to wish Demelza, Amber and Romilda a good holiday. She did find Neville, but he and Hannah Abbot seemed to be occupied with a gaggle of second years who had apparently decided to practice dueling in their compartment. After popping in to offer a hand, she left the Prefects to deal with the younger students, although it was difficult to restrain from complimenting a particularly good jelly-legs jinx.
When she saw the lunch trolley start to make its way through the corridor, Ginny decided it was probably safe to head back. She bade Christian and the other Gryffindor boys farewell and started to make her way to the next car, when she almost ran into Sean.
"I just saw the- you okay?" She asked when she saw the look on the tall boy's face.
"Fine."
"Liar."
"I just need a walk." Sean insisted. Ginny looked him up and down, chewing on her bottom lip. "It's fine. I just want to cool off."
"How much trouble should he be in when I get back?" She asked as seriously as she could, keeping her voice low. Sean just shook his head.
"I'm going to go check on Jimmy and Dennis." Ginny reached out her arm to stop him, but the look on his face made her change her mind.
"Okay, but make sure they come to our compartment when we get close to King's Cross. We're getting off the train together." She reminded him, giving his arm a squeeze.
Sean had left the compartment door open a crack when he left, which Ginny took to be a good sign. At least it wasn't so bad that he'd slammed it behind him.
"Did you decide anything?" She asked, making Colin jump.
"Yes, we decided I'm staying. Sean's going to talk to Dennis so he can make up his own mind." He grumbled. Ginny sat down across from him.
"Dennis is getting to be more independent, but you and I both know he'll do whatever you decide to do." Ginny said.
"That's fine, and even if he didn't stay for me, he'd stay anyways." Colin wasn't usually the stubborn type. "You don't get it, Ginny. Neither of you do."
"My family's in as much danger as yours!" Ginny protested. "My parents are both members of the Order, Ron's on the run with the most wanted man in the wizarding world, who also happens to be my boyfriend, and that's not even mentioning Bill's lycanthropy or the twin's joke shop!"
"That isn't what I meant. Just, nevermind." Colin muttered, turning away from her.
"I will mind! I'm not getting off this train until you talk to me." Ginny said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. The two stared at each other, until Colin finally gave in. He was less practiced at being bull-headed.
"It's different for Dennis and I. After I got my Hogwarts letter, I refused to sleep for days, because I was afraid that when I woke up, and this would all be a dream." Colin explained. "Then I came to Hogwarts, and it finally sunk in that this world was real and special, and I was a part of it."
Ginny stayed quiet, unsure of how to react. She'd always known that Hogwarts meant more to Harry, because how could it not be to someone who'd grown up under the same roof as the Dursleys? But she'd never expected that Colin and the other muggle borns would have such an intense attachment to the school as well.
"It was a complete fluke that I ended up a part of this world, a coincidence of genetics. But it's my world now too, and I'm not giving it up." Colin finished.
"You don't have to give it up, it's not like wizards only exist in Britain. And if you do decide to go, it won't be forever. We're going to win the war, and once we do, Dean and Ted all the others who've gone into hiding or abroad will come back home." Ginny insisted.
"You sound like you want me to go!"
"Of course I don't want you to go!"
"So stop trying to make me!"
"Colin," Ginny said, taking a deep breath. "I can't make this choice for you, and neither can Sean, and you can't make it for Dennis." She moved to sit next to him when she saw he was fighting back tears.
"But I can't! I don't want to have to choose," he hiccupped. Ginny wrapped her arms around him and squeezed for a second, feeling Colin take a deep breath.
"Sarah told Sean that he and I could have the flat. Just the two of us." He sounded completely dumbfounded. "There would be space for all three parents in the house, and Dennis and Jimmy would share a room." Ginny was at a loss for words.
"Do you want to go?" She asked finally, unable to think of anything else to say.
"No, but I want to be with him, and I want Dennis to be safe." He choked. "But I can't just leave when everyone is fighting for us to be able to stay. I can't leave you and-"
"Colin, don't," Ginny warned, swallowing hard and trying to sound stern. "Don't use me as your excuse. I'll be fine. And I'd never be angry at you for leaving if it meant you would be safe." She thought back to all the times she'd been frustrated at Harry and the others for leaving her behind, and instantly felt guilty. She'd been selfish, not realizing she'd been making Colin feel guilty about taking his family to safety.
"I still can't expect everyone else to fight for our rights while we hide on the other side of the world." Colin was rubbing his eyes fiercely with the heel of his hand. Ginny stared down at her lap to steady herself.
"What did you tell Sean when he told you about the flat?" She asked finally. Colin avoided her eye when he answered.
"I told him he wasn't being fair, asking me to choose him over my whole world. He got mad and said he was going to leave before he said something stupid. I'm glad he did, because I almost said something stupid too." Ginny waited patiently for him to continue. "I can't go, and I hate that he doesn't get that. But if he tells me I have to choose…"
"You'd leave everything behind to follow him." Ginny finished when he grew silent. Colin nodded and rested his head on her shoulder, defeated.
Sean, Jimmy, and Dennis didn't show up until the train had started to slow down on its approach to King's Cross. Ginny checked that they all had their DA coins in their pockets before hugging each of the boys in turn. Even Jimmy didn't make a fuss about it as they said their goodbyes. All throughout the train, students began nervously making their way out of compartments in small groups. Last of all, Ginny pulled Colin in close.
"I'll fight for you every day, whether you can be here or not." She whispered into his neck, hugging him tightest of all. Silently, she prayed he would go to Sarah's house, but at the same time, she knew that Sean could never bring himself to give him the ultimatum. Finally, she let him go, holding tightly to his hand as she led everyone out onto the platform. Sean was gripping Colin's other hand, and Jimmy and Dennis were both holding tightly to the back of their brother's robes. It probably would have felt quite ridiculous if they weren't all so afraid.