He was there. Living, breathing, unharmed. Far thinner, far paler and far older than she remembered him, but somehow more handsome, more perfect. She couldn't help but smile, but he looked devastated.
The room was packed with students, all of them jabbering away excitedly, shouting greetings and whooping to see Fred and George, those old legendary heroes, return. There, too, was Ron, and the joy of seeing him even made her forget that he had abandoned Harry and Hermione. Hermione herself stood with them, looking serious and capable; they had all aged significantly in the last few months. Neville stood proudly beside them, looking every bit a natural-born leader and with an excited expression of determination.
'Aberforth's getting a bit ratty,' Fred told him. 'He wants a kip, and his bar's been turned into a railway station.'
Ginny heard a scuffling behind her, and saw Harry's eyes momentarily move from her to the entrance of the tunnel, his mouth dropping open. Ginny turned, and some kind of darkness in her heart arose. There was Cho Chang, with that perfectly punchable face, dropping elegantly into the room.
'I got the message,' she said, holding up her coin.
You bloody what, Chang? Ginny found it presumptuous at the very least for Cho to muscle in on her, Luna, and Dean's invitation, but she glanced down at her own coin and saw that Neville had once again changed the message, this time encouraging everyone to come.
'So what's the plan, Harry?' asked George, rubbing his hands in eagerness.
'There isn't one…' Harry said, still with a look of devastation on his face. He sounded faint and confused; he was looking around at everyone as though he expected them to vanish at any moment.
'Just going to make it up as we go along are we? My favourite kind,' said Fred, grinning widely.
Harry rounded on Neville. 'You've got to stop this! What did you call them all back for? This is insane!'
'We're all fighting, aren't we?' said Dean, standing close to Seamus. 'The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand though-'
'You haven't got a wand?' asked Seamus, looking horrified.
Dean began to explain, but Ginny spotted Ron and Harry whispering together, Hermione listening intently. Trying her hardest to block Dean out, and now Fred and George who had started trying to come up with a cool revolution name, Ginny tried to move subtly towards them to listen in.
'Ginny!' Luna had quietly hurried over to her, and she embraced her tightly.
'Luna, I've been so worried- It's wonderful to see you-'
'It's just lovely to be back,' Luna replied, as though she had merely been on holiday. 'Why are you shuffling like that?'
'I'm trying to listen to…' She gave a subtle nod to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
'You can hear them well from my chair,' Luna whispered back. 'Come on.' She led Ginny to a squashy looking armchair and sat her down, perching herself on the arm.
'…We need them,' Hermione was murmuring. Harry rubbed a hand over his forehead and into his hair, looking unconvinced. 'You don't have to do everything alone, Harry,' Hermione added. Ginny wanted to run up to her and give her a high five.
She saw Harry give a slight nod and mutter something, then turn to the room at large. 'OK,' he called out, and the room immediately fell silent, faces eagerly watching him. 'There's something we need to find… Something… Something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?'
He looked hopefully at his ex-girlfriend and her little gang of Ravenclaws, but Luna piped up confidently. 'Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it.'
Pride burst in Ginny's chest for her friend, but she was quickly reminded of one of the many reasons she dumped Michael Corner when he rudely rolled his eyes and said, 'Yeah, but the lost diadem is lost, Luna, that's sort of the point.'
'When was it lost?' asked Harry.
'Centuries ago, they say,' said Cho, looking irritatingly attractive. 'Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?' She looked to her friends, who all shook their heads solemnly.
'Sorry, but what is a diadem?' asked Ron awkwardly.
'It's a kind of crown. Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer,' said Terry.
'Yes,' said Luna excitably, 'Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons-'
'And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?' Harry interrupted, his voice strained with urgency. There was silence as they shook their heads again, and Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, looking crushed.
'If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry?' said Cho, her voice silky. 'Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue.'
Harry looked as though he were in pain; he closed his eyes and swayed slightly, before mumbling something to Ron and Hermione. Was it his scar? Was Voldemort close?
'Listen,' he said, 'I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know- the other one- safe.'
Cho got to her feet, but there was no way Ginny was going to let her weasel her way back into Harry's life now, not after she'd been waiting all year. 'No, Luna will take Harry won't you Luna?'
'Oooh, yes, I'd like to,' said Luna happily, springing up at once. With satisfaction, Ginny saw Cho sit down again with a look of disappointment, and as Harry and Luna left, she threw Ginny a resentful look in her direction.
With Luna gone, Ginny went over to Ron and Hermione, ready to barrage them with endless questions. But Ron pulled her into a hug.
'I've been so worried about you,' he said in a low voice.
It hit her quite suddenly. Perhaps she hadn't been truly aware of how much she had missed him. 'Ron…'
'You shouldn't have come back here,' he said. He looked at Fred and George. 'Take her home! What were you doing? You were supposed to be keeping her safe.'
'Nice to see you again too,' said Fred.
George looked tauntingly at Ginny. 'Come on then, Ginny, you heard the man-'
'I keep myself safe, thank you,' said Ginny, throwing a warning glance at Fred and George.
Ron shook his head and looked swiftly at Seamus, whose face was swollen and bruised. 'I haven't been able to stand it, the thought of you being here.'
'I'm fine,' she said firmly. 'Why are you guys back here if you weren't planning to fight? Just to find this thing? What are you going to do after?'
'Yes,' said Hermione, who sounded rather overwhelmed. 'Although I have no idea what we're going to do then, oh, Ron, we've been so stupid, why didn't we think this through? We have no idea how to get rid of it, we still have the cup! Oh, and Merlin, we'll never get the sword back-'
'We'll figure something out,' said Ron, looking distant. 'You've done loads of research on it. There'll be a way…'
He took a step away from them, looking down at the floor, his eyes moving rapidly as though reading. Ginny took the chance to hug Hermione. 'I heard you'd been tortured. Are you all right?'
'Had a brief meeting with Bellatrix Lestrange, but I'm better now,' said Hermione with a small smile. 'It sounds as though you've all suffered just as much.'
'I got away before the worst of it, I didn't have anything like that,' she lied. 'When you've found whatever it is, please come back with us to Muriel's place, it's well protected, and there's plenty of room, and-'
'The sword,' Ron interrupted abruptly, grabbing Hermione's arm. 'The whole reason it could destroy them…'
Hermione looked up at his face with a mixture of shock and confusion. 'Yes, when Harry… Oh!'
Ron began to drag her to the door, barely looking at anyone else. 'Where are you going?' Ginny yelled after them.
Ron yelled something back, but the room was filled with excitable and chatty students, so all she heard was "ertle bathroom".
'Did he say something about turtles?' asked Fred.
'No, something about a bathroom, I think? Oh, I don't know. I can't believe he's run off and abandoned us again.'
'Ginny! GINNY!' Demelza was running towards her, Colin hot on her heels. 'I'm so glad you're back, we've missed you so much!'
There was a bright flash as Colin took a photo of them hugging, and Ginny had to blink several times to get rid of the floating purple patches blinding her. 'I've been reading the messages on the coins, it sounds like it's been hell…'
Colin nodded grimly. 'We've recorded it all though, Zaha and I… We're going to publish a book about it when all this is over.' He looked at her, eyes shining with hope. 'If Harry's here, this could be the night, couldn't it? It could all be over soon!'
Ginny hadn't thought of it that way, but with the Order surely on their way and Harry, Ron and Hermione looking so frantic and panicked there was a real possibility that things could escalate. She had come here purely with the intention of overthrowing the Carrows and Snape, but of course that would never happen without consequences…
Her eyes drifted to Neville, who was talking animatedly to a group of Hufflepuffs. They were nodding to his words, inspired and awestruck, and she felt a prickle of foreboding climb up her back.
'…And then we'll go and have that Muggle day out,' he continued happily. Her attention snapped back to him; she hadn't been aware that he'd been talking.
'Wha-? Oh, yeah, I still have that bottle cap, as a matter of fact, I showed it to my dad and-'
She was distracted as George gave a whoop and Fred a loud cackling laugh; evidently one of them, or possibly Lee, had contacted some old friends, as what looked like the entire of the old Gryffindor Quidditch team came swaggering into view.
'Haven't missed the party, have we boys?' asked Angelina, laughing as the twins jumped into the crowd of their old friends.
'There's no party 'til you arrive, Angie,' said George. 'Wood, glad you could make it! Saw you on the cover of Which Broomstick?, you've sold out mate…'
'Didn't you see his pull-out in Witch Weekly?' giggled Alicia. 'Most charming smile award.'
Fred's expression was of pure delight. 'Never! My, my, Oliver…'
Oliver looked bashful, but didn't deny the claims. 'Side effect of Quidditch success, what can I say? What's going on anyway?'
'We're just waiting for the Order to show,' said George, checking his watch. 'Oi! Nev! Is there anyone else we need to contact?'
Neville hurried over, his face set in determination. 'Is there anyone else who was in the D.A that's not here?'
'Marietta told me she might join us later,' said Cho.
Ginny snorted. 'Course she will. Has the whole D.A been hiding in here then, Neville?' she asked, ignoring Cho's flash of anger.
'A few people have managed to avoid it,' he said. 'Like, Zaha, and Polly and Dennis and a few Ravenclaws, but they've all been responding to my messages, so they're ready to go when we are.'
'What's actually happening though?' asked Michael Corner. 'Harry and the others just ran off, is there going to be a fight or-?'
The rumbling of footsteps drew there attention back to the tunnel, and Kingsley was leading the Order into the room, looking about in wonder. 'Quite the set up you have in here, kids,' he said admiringly.
'Ginny! Fred, George!' Molly looked furious. 'What on earth is she doing here?'
'I'm old enough to look after myself!'
'You are not! Fred, George, you should both be ashamed of yourselves, I don't know what you were thinking-'
'She's more than proved herself!' said Fred.
'Where's Harry?' asked Remus urgently. 'You said he was here.'
'He is,' said Neville, who looked delighted to see his old teacher again. 'He's just gone to get something with Luna, but then he'll be back, and we're gonna fight-'
'Harry will get back and tell us the plan,' said Ginny firmly. 'I think he actually wanted to be in and out with no one noticing him.'
'How on earth was he going to manage that?' asked Fred, amused. 'Was he hoping he'd just be mistaken for a student that doesn't have a ten thousand galleon price on his head?'
'Speak of the devil,' said George.
'Wh-?' A startled Harry stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the huge crowd gathered below.
Remus walked swiftly over. 'Harry, what's happening?'
'Voldemort's on his way,' Harry confirmed. 'They're barricading the school, Snape's run for it- What are you doing here? How did you know?'
Fred explained, and Ginny stared up at Harry. Was he really going to face Voldemort tonight? She would be beside him, she promised herself fiercely. She was going to fight in this. She wasn't going to sit at home waiting, not knowing until it was too late…
'They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised,' Harry announced. 'We're fighting.'
Ginny cheered with the others and began to follow the wave to the door, but a hand grabbed the back of her jumper and held her back. 'Get off!' she yelled.
'Absolutely not,' her mother snarled. 'You're going home!'
'I'm not, I'm fighting! Let go of me!' She tried desperately to wriggle out of her mother's grip, but her mother had a fierceness in her eyes that went beyond Ginny had ever seen, and kept a tight hold.
'You're underage! I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to home!'
'I won't!' she finally wrenched her arm out of her mother's vice-like grip. 'I'm in Dumbledore's Army-'
'A teenager's gang!'
'A teenager's gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!' said Fred passionately. Ginny's heart swelled.
'She's sixteen!' shouted Molly, her eyes welling with angry tears. 'She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you-'
'Mum's right, Ginny,' said Bill hesitantly. He touched her arm softly. 'You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right.'
Out of all of her brothers, it had always been Bill, the thrill-seeking adventurer, that she had admired most. His approval would have meant everything to her, and yet here she was, having the same old argument that she'd had so many times this year, yet again having to defend herself against those that thought her too weak, too fragile, too young… 'I can't go home!' she insisted. 'My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and-'
She looked to Harry for support. He had always understood her, he had not seen her as a victim for years. Hadn't she joined him the night Sirius died? Fought alongside him then, and then once more the night Dumbledore was murdered? But the look in his eyes was pleading, his own expression something close to grief. He wanted her out of the way too.
Defeated, she looked over at the tunnel that she knew she would have to walk down alone, leaving others, more capable, stronger… 'Fine. I'll say goodbye now, then, and-'
Her eyes widened in shock. There was a clumsy scuffling and a painful-sounding clunk. To her astonishment, Percy, in what she presumed was an effort to be as quick as possible, had clambered ungracefully out of the tunnel, and fallen onto the floor, sprawled in a heap. He used a nearby chair to pull himself up, straightening his glasses and saying desperately, 'Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I- I…'
She wondered if she was having a bizarre dream. He stared at them, and they stared back, and Ginny couldn't stop thinking about the time she had thrown parsnips at him. So much had broken between them all, and though he had always been greatly loved by his parents, he had always been different to the rest of them, always irritating and obnoxious… But she'd missed him. But he'd also been the world's biggest prat.
She could hear Fleur and Remus loudly talking, no doubt trying to break the tension, but she was transfixed on her long-lost brother, still just a ridiculous and awkward looking as he had been all those years ago, but finally here, with them. It occurred to her that for the first time in over three years, the entire family was under the same roof.
'I was a fool!' Percy suddenly roared, his shame bursting from him. 'I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a- a-' he seemed overcome with emotion, gesticulating wildly.
'Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,' Fred finished for him.
Percy swallowed, looking helplessly at them. 'Yes, I was!'
'Well, you can't say fairer than that,' said Fred, holding out a hand. It were as though he had unleashed something.
Forgiveness filled Ginny's head, and Molly promptly burst into tears, pushing past Fred to embrace her returned son.
Percy patted her on the back, looking straight at Arthur. 'I'm sorry, Dad,' he said. His voice sounded small and child-like.
As most little boys do, Percy had always looked up to his father, and so it was no surprise that it was his forgiveness he sought the most.
Arthur hurried forward too, seizing Percy fiercely and looking up as though to thank the heavens that all his children were here. George asked and Percy answered; the story of his epiphany began to tumble out. Ginny backed towards the staircase slowly. Even Harry had his eyes fixed on the reuniting family. If she could just make it closer to him… He wouldn't dare try and fight her, she could easily push past…
'Ginny!'
Hiding behind Remus had not fooled Molly. She looked up at him pleadingly, and with relief saw sympathy in his eyes.
'Molly,' he said carefully. 'How about this… Why doesn't Ginny stay here, then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she won't be in the middle of the fighting?'
That wasn't what she meant!
Molly frowned. 'I-'
'That's a good idea,' said Arthur. He glared at her. 'Ginny, you stay in this Room, you hear me?'
Was there any use in arguing? No doubt she'd have her opportunity to sneak out later. Still feeling highly resentful, she nodded, and watched bitterly as everyone climbed the stairs without her.
'Where's Ron? Where's Hermione?' asked Harry, who was looking increasingly pale.
'They must have gone up to the Great Hall already,' came her father's voice as he passed out of sight.
'I didn't see them pass me,' said Harry worriedly.
'They said something about a bathroom,' she told him. 'Not long after you left.'
He looked bewildered. 'A bathroom?' He vanished for a few moments and then returned, still looking perplexed. 'You sure they said bath-?' His eyes rolled back in his head, and, deathly pale, he dropped to his knees.
'Harry!' she lunged forward and caught him before he toppled down the stairs, but he was barely conscious, his eyes glazed over as though seeing something far away. 'Harry? Harry? Is he here? Harry!'
He seemed to shake himself, blinking rapidly. Then he grabbed her tightly, his face inches from her own. 'Stay here,' he said fiercely. 'Please, Ginny, stay here.'
Then he left her alone, again.
The room was silent. She moaned quietly and threw herself down on a beanbag in the middle of the room, awaiting news, or a new person, or at least for the noise to grow loud enough so that she could argue she was in danger staying in the room…
So Snape had gone… Fled the castle just as he had the night Dumbledore died. She wondered where he had run to, and whether they would ever find him and bring him to justice for all the people he'd murdered and hurt and betrayed… She gazed sullenly at the huge notice board the D.A members had created opposite her, filled with plots and home-made posters and cut-outs from magazines and even a few photos…
Something clicked in her mind, merged her trains of thought. Snape and photos, Snape and photos. She could almost hear Aunt Muriel's voice smugly announcing that Lily Potter had been friends with Severus Snape, she could see the photo in Remus's kitchen of Lily laughing, and then, quite suddenly, she remembered another photo.
She sat bolt upright, gasping as though she had been running. It had been Ron and Hermione mentioning the sword that had done it, it had reawakened the memory of her breaking into the headmasters study, wrenching open drawers and pulling out bundles of papers and letters and a photo… of a laughing girl.
She hadn't recognised her then, of course. She had never seen a picture of her before. She had looked away at the wedding. But now she could see it, as clear as day, the same laugh in Remus's kitchen had also been found in Snape's desk drawer.
Her heart was thudding. She looked up at the stairs to where Harry had been, ten minutes before. Did he know they had once been friends? Had they been close friends? Why would he still be keeping a picture of her?
'Pretty little thing… Lovely dark red hair…'
There was a distant boom, like thunder. Ginny jumped slightly and kept staring at the door. She suddenly felt extremely lonely. Afraid. Maybe the others were right. Maybe she was too weak…
A noise from the tunnel caught her attention, and she spun round, drawing her wand as she did. An elderly witch was gently lowering herself to the floor, carefully steadying a large moth-eaten hat with one hand.
'Er… Hello?'
The witch looked up. 'Well, come and help me, girl! Can't you see I'm struggling?'
'Oh, sorry!' She hurried over and supported the witch, who she now recognised. 'Are you Mrs Longbottom?'
'Yes, I am, and it took me a ridiculous amount of time to get here, that man in the pub was frightful. Have I missed it? What's going on? Where's my grandson?'
'He's gone upstairs, I'm not really sure what's going on, I think people are planning to fight, but I don't know if it's started yet-'
A cold, cruel voice filled her ears, amplified, echoing, and terrifying. She recognised it instantly, and her chest seemed to tighten. 'I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you.'
Ginny looked at Mrs Longbottom with horror, who looked silently back, stony faced.
'I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded… You have until midnight.'
