Chapter Twenty-Nine: Reckless


Ginny sat down in the garden with Hermione. The sun was beginning to rise, and Ginny was glad for it, as she was tired of feeling in the dark as well as sitting in it. Hermione picked at her cloak slightly, a look on her face that denoted that she had something to say. As much as Ginny hated to see Hermione stumble over her words, she was really in the mood to talk. They had done enough talking for her liking. It was time for action, and all of this conversing about unimportant things was beginning to grind on her last nerve.

Hermione looked at Ginny as if she had finally decided how to voice her thoughts, then froze at the look on Ginny's face. Quickly, Ginny changed the anger from her face into mild curiosity, as talking was much better than sitting in silence, no matter how she felt about the subject. This sudden change in expression seemed to urge Hermione on, just as it had been meant to do. She began slowly.

"Do you think that Professor Snape is angry at me?" Hermione asked.

Ginny stared, "Please don't tell me that you want to take back that insult. If you do, I might have to hit you."

Hermione shook her head, then looked down at her knees. "I just don't like the thought of him getting mad at me right now. This is a very delicate setting, and it seems a little juvenile to act this way with all that's happening."

"Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" Ginny couldn't help but ask.

Sighing, she looked over at Ginny warily. "It's just too much, isn't it?"

Ginny shrugged, "I suppose so. I always thought you were good enough in these sort of positions. You never seemed to show any sort of weakness before."

"I think it's just the anxiety of it all. I've never really been all that level-headed," Hermione clucked her tongue. "This is taking a bit long, isn't it?"

Ginny, glad for a different discussion, nodded. "Hasn't it been nearly an hour since they left?"

"Forty-five minutes," Hermione said, checking her watch. She looked at Ginny meaningfully, "How long should it take?"

"Not this long," Ginny said, standing up and looking toward the house. She couldn't see anything from where they were. "Maybe we should go up there."

Hermione looked up at her apprehensively, "What if it's nothing? We'll look stupid if we just run up there like something's wrong."

"That doesn't matter," Ginny said passively. "I think we should be included in the first place. Just because Snape seems to think he's running this operation doesn't mean that we don't have a say."

Hermione stood up, looking at Ginny with a sort of annoyance. "He's only been your boyfriend for a little while, Ginny. I don't know why you're so militant about all of this. Though I hate to stick up for him, Professor Snape really has more on the line here."

Ginny glared at Hermione. "If you hate to stick up for him, then don't. I wish you all would stop trying to make excuses for me. I'm doing this because Draco wanted me to, and because I care about him. I don't need to know him for years in order to care about him, Hermione."

Both of the girls stood, staring fiercely at each other. "I'm sorry, but it just isn't believable to me. While I understand how someone might fall in love with someone else, under those circumstances, I don't see how you could care about him more tha– more than . . ."

Ginny's eyes narrowed to slits, "Say it. Just say it already, Hermione. I know you've been aching to tell me off about this all week."

"Fine then!" Hermione yelled. "I don't see how you can suddenly care more for him than you did for Harry."

"You know why you can't see it, Hermione?" Ginny asked scathingly.

"Why is that?"

Ginny drew in a breath and stared Hermione hard in the eyes. "Because you never cared for Draco in the least bit. It always did you and Harry, and Ron even, more good to torture him than to be the bigger person. Don't even try to tell me that half of the conflicts that you all had couldn't have been solved by simply walking away, because I know better."

Her eyes wide with shock and her hands shaking, Hermione looked down at the ground. "You're right, but still . . . look at what you've done to Harry. I just . . . I don't understand how you could do that to him."

"And you can understand clearly how he could ignore me all summer and expect me to come back to him like everything was perfect? I'm not that kind of person."

They stood in silence now. Ginny could tell that Hermione was like she, and was not wanting to argue anymore. It was some senseless sort of pride that kept them going, but Ginny wasn't going to give into it anymore. She waited for Hermione to say something, but it never came.

Ginny sighed, "That's the end, then? No more?"

Hermione looked at her blankly, "I imagine so. What more could we say?"

"Not much, really . . ."

Their mutual silence was beginning to make Ginny uneasy, so she decided that it was time to look for the men. She looked at Hermione once more, still wanting to say more, but having no way to put any of it. Hermione nodded slightly, as if to show that she understood. With that, they made their way to the Mansion. The large house loomed before them, tall towers and a large front door. Ginny stopped short, just as they came up to the brick walkway that led them up to the door. The large porch and surrounding area were completely empty, with no one in sight. She yelled loudly.

"Damn!" She kicked the trunk of a tree. "It would happen that they'd just leave us here!"

Hermione looked around wildly, "Oh, they couldn't have just left! They'd never . . ."

"They would," Ginny said spitefully. "Actually, Snape would. That bastard."

"Stop calling him that! He might hear!" Hermione said, frightened.

Ginny simply glared at Hermione, who looked down at the ground guiltily. "What are we going to do?"

Hermione shrugged. "We could go inside and wait for them, I suppose."

Ginny shook her head. "No way. There's no telling what we'd find in there. I highly doubt that the house isn't guarded."

"We should at least try. Maybe they're inside."

Rolling her eyes, but complying nonetheless, Ginny followed Hermione up the brick walkway, standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the porch while Hermione went up. She knew it was a waste of time, and she didn't feel like following her up. Hermione walked confidently to the door, and reached for the handle. That's when Ginny heard the rumbling.

"Hermione! Get off of the porch!" Ginny yelled.

Hermione stared at Ginny for a moment, then shrieked as the rumbling became louder. Running off and jumping down the stairs,she fell the ground just as the porch collapsed in on itself. Ginny liftedher from the ground, and watched as the porch assembled itself slowly again.

Hermione coughed slightly. "Well, I think you're right about them not being inside . . ."

"So," Ginny said calmly, "what do you suggest we do now?"

Hermione looked around a bit, apparently deep in thought. Ginny waited patiently as she did this, trying her best to come up with a plan of action also. They knew nothing about where Draco would be taken, or where Snape would have led Bill and Ron to. Two girls without a clue was what they were. Ginny sighed. There was only option in her mind, and she wasn't looking forward to that at all. Going back home meant sitting in the dark with her mother and a very worried Fleur, as well as not having anything to do but join in the worrying. That was the last thing Ginny wanted to do. Hermione turned suddenly and looked at Ginny excitedly. Ginny raised an eyebrow, waiting for Hermione to explain herself.

"Hogwarts!" Hermione said.

Shethought about it for a moment. "That's perfect!"

Hermione smiled proudly, "Of course it is. I thought of it, didn't I?"

Before she had the time to tease Hermione, a thought came into Ginny's mind. "Wait a minute . . ."

"What?" Hermione asked apprehensively.

"How will we get there? I mean, sure . . . you really have no problem. You can just Apparate to Hogsmeade and get to Hogwarts from there, but what about me?"

Hermione thought about this. "Well, we could call for the Knight Bus, couldn't we?"

Ginny shook her head, "We don't have any gold, Hermione. Unless, that is, you keep some on you all the time . . ."

"No . . . I didn't even think about it." Hermione was now wringing her hands together nervously.

Gasping, Ginny looked at Hermione hopefully, "We could do a Side-Along."

Instantly, Hermione shook her head fervently. "No . . . no, no. That wouldn't be a good idea at all. I don't have the experience! Any number of things could go wrong. I don't want to splinch either of us, or end up Apparating into an ocean or lake or something."

"But, Hermione . . ." Ginny mused, looking for a way to convince Hermione that it would work. "You're so good at everything. I believe you can do it. I mean, does it even mean anything to you that I trust in your ability?"

"Ginny," Hermione began desperately, "It's too much! It has nothing to do with trust and all of that. It's too risky!"

"You're the brightest witch I know, Hermione. Everyone's always saying it. You passed your Apparation test easily. I know you can do this." Ginny gave Hermione her most reassuring face, as well as a persuasive smile.

Hermione lingered over the possibilities for a moment, looking around nervously, as if for a way out of the whole thing. She sighed loudly, still wringing her hands together. Ginny stepped forward a bit, ready to present more information to Hermione to boost her confidence, when suddenly Hermione threw her arms in the air out of frustration.

"Fine! I'll do it!" She looked at Ginny with a crazed sort of vehemence. "Come on then. Take my arm and let's get this over with."

Ginny placed her hands on Hermione's outstretched arm, gripping it tightly. Just as Ginny prepared for the Apparation, Hermione stopped and looked at Ginny cautiously.

"You're not going to blame me if anything does go wrong, are you? I mean, you wanted me to do this, and I'm only going along with it because it's the only way and---"

Ginny stopped her. "Don't worry . . . I won't blame you for a thing. We'll be fine, and once we get to Hogsmeade, we can find Professor McGonagall, and perhaps find out where to head next."

Hermione looked at Ginny thankfully, then planted her feet firmly on the ground, leading Ginny to do the same. After a moment of hesitation, Ginny finally found herself being pulled after Hermione.