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Chapter 29
Revelations and Resurrections
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing, Greengrass!" Ginny's voice echoed hollowly off the shiny tiles. Her hand instinctively started to reach for her wand but she thought better of it with her assailant's own weapon at Ginny's throat.
"Cool it, Weasley - I only want to talk - just you and me!" hissed Astoria.
Ginny looked hurriedly about the girls' toilet but they were alone. While she still had her wand beneath her robes then one good distraction and she might get the better of the younger, inexperienced Slytherin. She glanced behind herself. A bland recess of glazed green brickwork, as cracked and weary as all the rest, was the only indication of where she had entered.
"What d'you do with the door!"
"I don't want any interruptions. I'm taking a chance and I've not got much time."
Ginny looked across at the single window. It had fixed, badly-painted metal frames and narrow iron slats at the top. No way out there. There was an extra-strong smell of a Rosewood charm in the air. The elves must have refreshed it very recently but they couldn't help her now either. She was on her own.
"Your poxy boyfriend put you up to this?" snarled Ginny, pushing Astoria's wand aside from her neck and glaring at the Slytherin.
"Nothing to do with Draco. We argued about it. He made me promise not to speak to you. If he found out... If... anyone did..."
The younger girl backed off a few steps and bumped nervously against a wash basin behind her. "I'm lowering my wand, okay?"
"Suit yourself. I notice you're not putting it away though."
Astoria hesitated. "Look, I owe you - for getting me and Draco back together."
"Nice way to show your gratitude, I must say!"
Astoria champed her lips and frowned. "I want your word - if I put away my wand, you won't try anything."
"Why should I?"
"I... I have information."
"And you're going to tell me for free? What's the catch?"
"No catch - I told you, I'm obligated to you."
"Since when did a Slytherin ever honour a debt?"
"Screw you, Weasley! Don't know why I bothered!" Astoria raised her wand again and, keeping it steadily pointed at Ginny, she circled around her towards where the doorway had been.
Ginny's shoulders fell. Likely she would be missing an opportunity. "No... wait." She raised her hands, empty palms forward. "I'll listen."
"Your word?"
Ginny sighed. "Yes - I won't try anything if you don't."
"And you'll not mention this to... You won't tell anyone it was me?"
"What are you hiding?"
"That's the price or you get nothing! You don't reveal who told you!"
Ginny stared. The Slytherin girl was white-faced and looking closer, Ginny could see she was trembling. "Merlin! - You're under threat of death aren't you!"
Astoria stifled some deep emotion, struggling for control, then gave a weary reply, "We all are. We always are." She put away her wand and looked as if she was thinking hard what to say.
"Potter and Granger are alive - far as we know. They didn't die at Lovegoods. They Apparated away."
Ginny snorted. "Is that it? I already know that, you fool! I thought you had some real information!"
"How'd YOU know? How could you know?"
Now it was Ginny's turn to hesitate. "They searched the place - villagers from Ottery went over there. No bodies were found."
"You live near there?" Astoria seemed disappointed. "Well, anyway, I thought you'd like to know."
"That it, then? That's the big secret? Can I go now?"
At that moment there was a creaking and splitting noise from the wall where the doorway was concealed. Particles of grout flaked from between the tiling and dusted to the floor, but the wall held firm.
"Who's that? Who've you-"
"Somebody must be really desperate to use the toilet," smirked Ginny. "I'll be off then, if there's nothing else you'd care to share. Nice talking to you - NOT!"
"That's not it."
"What?"
"Something else."
"What else?"
Astoria was shaking now and her jaw was trembling so much she could hardly speak. Ginny barely heard what she said.
"Lovegood's alive."
"He's in Azkaban. We already guessed that! That's what you lot do to innocent people isn't it?" Ginny let go a long breath and shook her head disappointedly.
"Not him - Luna, I mean."
"YOU LIE!" Ginny eyes narrowed and she took a step forward menacingly. Her hand went to her wand. "Don't you dare talk about Luna! Don't you think we've suffered enough!"
Astoria stared. "I tell you, she's alive."
"I know for a fact she can't be!" shrieked Ginny, her voice bouncing off the walls loudly in the confined space. "Why'd you keep saying that!" There were more bumps and groans from the wall behind her; they were growing in both urgency and threat.
"You have to believe me! Why won't you believe me? Why would I risk my neck for-"
"Because I have proof and it's none of your business! Now let me out of here before my friends break through or it'll be the worse for you!"
"You're with someone? They mustn't see me! You promised!"
"No I didn't! I only promised I wouldn't try anything here."
"But-" Astoria broke down and began sobbing, "Please... Ginny... please help me..."
Further along the sombre row of wash basins, several of the cold taps commenced to gush water so powerfully in response to the outburst of young, magical emotion, that it rapidly overwhelmed the sinks and cascaded from them. Ginny's blood was racing to her head too.
"You cowardly Slytherin!" she shouted above the noise of rushing water. "If you can't stand the heat you should have kept out of the kitchen! You chose your life, not I!"
The entrance wall began to bulge and smoke and strain. A tile burst off and shattered its fragments to the floor. Something was about to give. Ginny felt like screaming and never stopping. She lifted her wand, furious that the girl had invoked Luna's name, apparently for some practical joke.
"No... my life was chosen for me. You can't imagine what it's like to be a Greengrass." At the thought of her family discovering her infidelity, Astoria fell to her knees in the gathering pools of water. She had seen before what happened to traitors to the pure-blood cause and the memory terrified the girl.
Ginny was towering menacingly over the shrinking Slytherin and her wand was high. The air, already tingling with tension from the impending breakthrough, seemed, to Ginny, to become shadow-dark, the walls pressing in against her pulsing temples. Her outrage was a measure both of love for her lost friend and her suspicion of a plot to defile Luna's name in some way. Through the gloom, something brightly silver trembled over a seething hiss of water; above that, a face, white with fury. The eyes flashed but thanks to her mother's enchantment, the uplift of Harry's kiss would never reveal itself upon face or reflection; only within her soul.
There was a moment's ugly revulsion and shame as Ginny beheld what she might have been. Her gaze dropped from the mirror and she perceived how young the girl cowering before her really was - in some ways, quite childlike under pressure. She had never before considered her as weak. Now estranged and vulnerable, she appeared much less than her fifteen years. Ginny relented. At once she was astonished to behold the chamber was not at all dark. There was a lengthier, ominous creak behind her and the entrance began to emerge from the stone as its enchantment yielded and finally failed. Ginny stepped away from the expected inrush and pulled Astoria to her feet, dragging her to one of the toilet stalls. She cast a disillusionment spell upon the Slytherin. "You know how to undo this charm?"
"Yes," said Astoria, weakly, but with a first trace of hope. "You won't give me away, then?"
"I shall not - I'm a Gryffindor!" boasted Ginny, glad that she had found herself again; proud to be Harry Potter's girl. "Stay quiet till we're gone."
The floods of water slowed to a stop as the door burst inward and its knob of brass collided thunderously against a side pillar. Ginny flushed the loo then went to wash her hands but her eyes were on her medallion hanging within the veil of her hair. I'm for you, Ginny.
"Ginny! You alright? What happened!" She recognised Neville's voice and could hear footsteps splashing about amidst the gasps of her other friends; they were still all magically concealed.
"Sure - what you doing in the girls' lavatory?" Ginny was surprised at how level was her tone for she was still trembling inside.
"Well, I..."
Ginny wondered if his invisible face was reddening. She could hear the movement of the others but they had the good sense not to speak.
Quickly drying her hands, she gestured to her escort to follow her out. "When you've got to go, you've got to go."
"What happened in there, Ginny?" asked Neville as their wet footprints progressed down the corridor.
"Neville! You shouldn't ask such things!" Ginny forced a dry laugh.
"No, I mean..."
"Who was in there with you? We saw someone drag you in," said Seamus.
"Nobody important. Look, some fool tried a silly joke and I put her in her place. It's taken care of."
"What about Snape? What'd he want?" asked Hannah.
Ginny's face fell. She had forgotten about him for a few minutes. "Cancelled my Hogsmeades again - banned for the rest of this term."
"What!" cried Michael.
"It must have all been planned last year," moaned Ginny. "He couldn't legally ban me forever so I reckon he was always intending to invent some excuse to forbid me at the start of each term. He just hates me."
"What about me? Why's he not stopped me?" said Neville. "He hates me more than anyone. Always has."
"Don't know. Reckon he thinks I'll-" The thought entered Ginny's head that Snape knew, or suspected, that she'd met Harry in Hogsmeade before. But why hadn't he called You-know-who to lay a trap?
"What?" said Neville.
"Likely he believes I'm up to no good in the village. Probably thinks it's me smuggling stuff in, wands and suchlike."
"Why didn't you just show him your wand, Ginny?" said Michael. "That would prove you didn't cast your Bat-Bogey hex. We can get Flitwick to argue your case - get the penalty reversed."
"No, Michael - I confessed," said Ginny.
Nobody spoke as they digested this in astonishment.
"You what!" said Seamus.
There was the far-off clatter-and-trudge commotion of the other Hogwarts' students' mass exodus from the Great Hall after having finished lunch. It seemed a long time ago to Ginny that she had skipped dessert to go to the library.
"Seamus, everyone, you can cancel the concealment spells now. Neville, the tip-off you were told was just a joke. There's nobody out to kill me. It was all a prank to scare me. Didn't work. Thanks for the escort though but it's not needed anymore. We've got lessons to go to."
"What's going on?" said Seamus, as he and the others became visible again. "Why'd you confess - to what? You mean you confessed to hexing Goyle when you didn't?"
"Yeah."
"But why?"
A stream of students came hurrying along the passage so the friends pulled to one side and lowered their voices.
"Think about it. I was about to give Snape my wand to prove it wasn't me. Then I remembered. It's not my own wand. It's the one I used this morning to mark the walls, yes? I've not had chance to swap it back yet for mine. Well, I suppose I could have - I put it off really until later."
"Oh, Ginny," said Neville. "That's the whole point of swapping wands."
"He knew. Snape knew. He saw me reach for my wand then leave it alone. He was sure if he tested it then I'd be worse off because it would prove I did the graffiti. He's sly. He worked it all out beforehand - blame me for a spell he knew I daren't disprove. If I'd only swapped back my own wand then I could have gotten away with it - for now at any rate." She shook her head, despondently.
"Then why didn't he? Why didn't he do that and hand you over to the Carrows for punishment?" said Neville. "Makes no sense."
"Dunno. Think he was more concerned about me going into Hogsmeade."
"So you confessed to hexing Goyle so he wouldn't check your wand?" said Seamus. "But he knew you never hexed Goyle. He set it all up."
"Yeah. He got me good. Slimy git."
...
"Now it's just you and me, Ginny - tell me the truth," said Neville. "What really happened?"
Ginny resigned herself to Neville's questioning. She settled down in an armchair beside him near one of the tall windows of the Gryffindor common room and looked around before speaking. Parvati and Lavender were evaluating each other's tarot readings together on the great rug in front of the fireplace. Seamus was trying to explain what a postage stamp was to a first-year he was sitting with on one side of the hearth. There was a noise of someone dragging back their chair in the reading room but otherwise it was fairly quiet except for the wind gusting against the dark casement on the other side of Neville. He shivered and rubbed his hands together occasionally.
"Couldn't you have found a warmer spot this late in the evening, Neville?" grumbled Ginny.
"Want to sit near the fire? Want everyone to know?" he said in a loud whisper.
Ginny shook her head and paused before proceeding. As she spoke, the wind picked up again and the window panes rattled noisily, obscuring what she said.
"What's that, Ginny?" Neville leaned forward.
"Like I told you, it was just a nasty joke."
"Who by?"
"Can't say - I promised not to say."
"It was a joke and you promised you wouldn't tell anyone whose joke it was?" snorted Neville. "Must have been worse than one of my jokes then. Look, I'm not going till you explain! Was it about me?"
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Neville. It was a stupid, cruel, nasty joke about Luna - you don't want to hear it, honestly." The glass in the window rattled angrily again.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Ginny. I thought it must have been something somebody said about me and you didn't like to say." Neville lapsed into silence for a while then said, "Why are some people so spiteful, Ginny? Talking ill of the dead is repulsive."
"Wasn't so much talking ill. Somebody was trying to kid me she was still alive. I didn't fall for it."
Neville stared. "That's just sick. You didn't listen to them did you?"
"Course not - we were there, weren't we? Then there was the... Luna's friendship flame."
"Yeah - that magic can't be wrong." He lapsed again into a lengthy silence, deep in thought. "Unless..." He took something from his pocket and gazed at it, held within his hands. A puzzled expression slowly spread over his face then he gave a start and glanced at Ginny.
Ginny had been watching him for a while, joining in his meditative frame of mind. As he lurched upright, a thought struck her. "You didn't! Is that the-?"
Neville had an excited look on his face. He held the little droplet up; it glinted silver. "Yeah, I couldn't leave it behind."
"Luna's friendship charm! Why?"
"I thought you might regret throwing it away, Ginny. It's a memento of her."
There was a look of almost revulsion on Ginny's face. "That teardrop only reminds me of her death. I don't want to see it."
"But that's the point, Ginny!" he said, his excitement building.
"What is?"
"It's not a teardrop anymore!"
"Must be!"
"Here, see for yourself." He offered it to her.
"No, I shan't - I can't go through all that again! - NO! - don't Neville - it's impossible. I've just begun to handle my feelings and now you're raking them up again! Nobody can come back! The teardrop is just for when you're first mourning, I would think. We're over that now, right? Right, Neville?"
"Yet somebody said she was alive?" Neville continued to stare at the little silver ovoid.
"How can she be?" said Ginny, tearfully.
"Ginny, we have to," said Neville. "I think it should be you that opens it. It is yours, after all." He offered it to her again.
"No - I won't!" she said, but she took the droplet, trying not to look at it directly, turning it over and over, feeling its shape. A torment was struggling within her; it was too painful. She shook her head and held it out for Neville to take back. He refused.
"How you going to sleep tonight for wondering, if you don't?" he said.
The window rattled again noisily with the wind, and Seamus, distracted from the advice he was giving, got up to poke the fire and top it up with a few lumps of coal from the scuttle.
"But why don't Muggles use owls, then?" piped up a little voice at his back.
Seamus smiled. "Told you - they have people deliver their letters."
"People? I thought you said Muggles can't fly?"
"They walk. The postmen walk or ride a bicycle."
There was a sudden almighty squeal from Ginny's corner and she leapt into the air, jumping for joy with a huge grin on her face, Neville exulting with her, bellowing at the top of his lungs, "SHE'S ALIVE! LUNA'S STILL ALIVE!"
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—oOo—
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"You've nearly got it!" The old man's excitement started him coughing and choking again.
Luna's hands cupped a faint golden glow that was almost fire yet not quite flame. Whatever it was, only she knew, suffice to say she had practised hard for almost two weeks to achieve her first tiny spark of wandless magic. She cast it forth and sagged backwards into her blankets.
The shininess drifted from her through the gloomy darkness towards Mr Ollivander who wheezed his distress yet watched entranced as the glow engulfed his chest, helped to ease the harshness there, and to relieve the constriction. He took a deep, clear breath with only a little croakiness.
"How did you do that? How did you learn that?"
"Oh, I listened to Mr Pettigrew very closely."
"But how! You were in terrible pain and then collapsed. You were- It looked as if you were-"
"I was dead I'm sure and I wanted to go up to heaven to see my mum but my friends wanted me to come back. Mum wouldn't mind. She'd want me to anyway. I couldn't leave them could I? I could hear that nice Mr Pettigrew and I could see him. I just practised his chants over and over without a wand how you told me. You have to really mean it. It's like an unforgivable but in a good way," said Luna, then added wistfully. "He must have really meant it sincerely when he healed me."
"You also need a lot of magical talent and strong will, my dear - thank you." He looked at her more closely. "You've weakened yourself though - and dissipated your magic for a few hours, I expect."
"I know." Luna smiled. "But it strengthens you in the long run, don't you think? It's like exercise - tires you out the first few days but then the body grows stronger."
"Indeed it does. Indeed it does," said Ollivander, thoughtfully.
"I might try standing up for a few minutes tomorrow. Then one day I can go exploring."
"Exploring! I've crawled all over this basement and all I ever found was this rusty nail!"
"It's a very nice nail - just the right size for gripping and scratching and so on. We're jolly lucky because it might have been a tiny pin or even a splinter of wood. Imagine that! I thought I might collect up dust from the floor and make a garden. We could try a plum stone or an apple pip perhaps. Would that work? Do you know any sunlight spells?"
Ollivander shook his head. Two weeks had not been enough to get over his wonder of this strange girl.
"And the treatment is also very good. I expected shackles and red hot pokers and black bread and ice-cold, bitter water but they give us steaming vegetables, soups, stews, minced beef, salads, fruit, and-"
"It's not that they care. The house-elves prepare it along with whatever the Malfoys are having. We get part of what they are served I believe. It's easier for them than cooking something else, no matter how lowly."
"Yes, I suppose it would be a lot of bother for the elves to especially make black bread and bitter water just for us. I'm glad in a way they don't have to but I should have liked to try it once to see if it's as horrible as they say. Imagine living a hundred years in a dungeon on black bread and bitter water if you didn't like it after all!"
"I'd rather not."
"Do you suppose we might stay here for a hundred years?" Luna snuggled down into her blankets.
"I sincerely hope that you don't, my dear - I know I shan't."
"Oh! Don't say that! If you practice your magic, it might make you strong enough - then you might look forward to even longer than a hundred!" Her eyes, peeping out from her blankets, suddenly went as big as saucers. "Think of all the dirt garden we would collect together in a hundred years!"
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—oOo—
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"Where is Luna then? What happened to her?" cried Seamus. "How did you find out?"
Neville's expression lost a little of its exultation as he and Ginny joined the others before the fireplace. "We don't know. Azkaban, you reckon, Ginny?"
Ginny was still holding the opened silver droplet with its inner friendship flame all aglow. Her face, too, darkened a little and she looked thoughtful as she closed the tiny metal case. "I'm not sure... no! I don't think so!" It had occurred to her that Astoria Greengrass must have heard from Draco. They had argued about not telling Ginny. Her boyfriend was a Death Eater himself. Perhaps he had seen Luna! Ginny ran to the exit from the common room but then stopped to give it further thought.
"Ginny? What is it?" said Neville, who had followed her.
Ginny frowned. She couldn't burst in on the Slytherins at this time of night and confront Draco. Anyway, he would then know that Astoria must have told her - and Ginny had given her word to not tell anyone. If Draco heard that others knew about Luna being alive he would suspect Astoria had divulged it.
"Ginny?" persisted Neville. Seamus has joined them at the door. An expanding crowd of Gryffindors looked on, bemused.
Ginny raised her voice for everyone to hear. "We discovered that Luna is alive because she gave me a friendship flame that only extinguishes with the friend's death!" She opened the little case once more and held it up for all to see. "It dimmed for a while but it's bright again now - and that's how we know she is alive!"
She turned to Neville and Seamus and lowered her voice. "I don't think she's in Azkaban. I think they're just holding her somewhere."
"Why?" asked Seamus. "Why would they?"
"To stop her causing trouble here at school I suppose," mused Ginny. Her face suddenly filled with frustration. "The Carrows are Death Eaters - they'd know!"
"Yeah, let's just ask nicely and they'll tell us!" laughed Seamus. "Might as well ask Snape what are You-know-who's plans for world domination."
"Snape!" cried Ginny. "How can we get him to tell us?"
"I was joking, Ginny," said Seamus.
Ginny paced up and down before the portrait hole. "I'm going to confront him - in front of the whole school tomorrow at breakfast. Shame him!"
Neville put his hand on Ginny's shoulder and she stopped in mid-stride. "Steady on, Ginny. Think it through. There is absolutely no way he would admit publicly that he knows anything about this."
"Privately then! I'll have a go at him now!" Ginny shrugged off Neville's hand and went out.
Neville stepped out too and called after her in a low voice. "Ginny - you won't even be able to get into his office will you!"
Seamus came out behind him. "Remember what they said on Potterwatch - 'Avoid unnecessary risks.' You'll just get into trouble for no good reason,"
Ginny stalled, fretting and biting her lip. "You're coming with me Neville!"
She grabbed his arm and started to pull him along.
"Then you'll both be in trouble," said Seamus, shaking his head in disbelief. "What's the point?"
"The point is that I want to know what happened to Luna!" cried Ginny. "Neville, you're not coming up to his office with me - you're going to guess his password."
"What!"
"You said they were all Latin potion ingredients, right?"
Neville sighed and nodded.
"Right then, what are you waiting for?" She stomped off down the tower stairs.
Neville and Seamus looked at each other. Neville shrugged and went after Ginny, leaving Seamus standing bewildered.
"Wait up, Ginny," panted Neville. "At least use a concealing charm till you get to see him. It'll soon be curfew."
"Right," said Ginny.
...
Half an hour passed at the headmaster's gargoyle before Neville guessed the correct name. "Absinthium!"
The stone creature swung to one side with a bored expression on its face. "About time!"
"Go, Neville," said Ginny. "No point in you hanging about."
"You sure about this, Ginny?"
"No - so quick before I change my mind!"
"Right then..."
Ginny did not wait any longer but started up the spiral stair. Her courage and resolve had slowly drained away during the half hour she had waited for Neville to guess the password and she felt a chill creep over her. She knocked on the headmaster's door then suddenly remembered to remove her concealment spell.
"Come!"
Ginny entered. The headmaster was alone, sipping a steaming goblet before the fireplace.
"You!" thundered Snape as he turned to her. "What do you mean by coming here at this hour?"
Ginny flushed. "I want to know what's happened to Luna - where they've taken her!"
"You will leave my office immediately and I shall deduct 20 points from Gryffindor!" snarled Snape.
"I'm not going until I know she's okay! All I want is to know she's safe!"
"How... dare you! Leave me now! Do you suppose that I am answerable to-"
"TELL ME!" screamed Ginny, "Or I shall cause such a stir in this school that you've never seen before! Where is she! What are they doing to her!"
"Detention!" announced Snape as if that settled the matter. "You will be one of the first to scrub walls and-"
"I shan't do it! And I shall not go to lessons. I shall do nothing but cause trouble until you tell me!"
"Are you now completely mad!" Snape stared at the girl for a few seconds, looking thoughtful.
"If you do not leave immediately and behave appropriately then I shall have no choice but to hand you over to the Carrows. You will be permanently detained. Do I make myself clear? Even you must understand the meaning of 'permanently.' Believe me, you will be worse off than Miss Lovegood."
"So you know where she is?"
"The Dark Lord's secrets will never be revealed to such as you. Can you not get that through your thick head! I'm losing patience, Miss Weasley. This is your last chance - now get out!"
"You never cared about anybody or you'd know what it's like!" cried Ginny.
"OUT!" bellowed Snape. His face had turned savagely dark and his eyes flared.
Ginny realised she had gone too far and all was lost. Her hot temper might mean she would never know if Luna was suffering.
"Just tell me..." whimpered Ginny. Bright tears had sprung to her eyes. "Are they hurting her?"
Snape glared at her. "Will you please leave me in peace if I tell you! Will you go away and conduct yourself as is appropriate for a Hogwarts' student?"
Ginny nodded.
"To the best of my knowledge, Miss Lovegood is not being punished. In fact, I am certain she is not. There is no reason to. That is as much as I am prepared to say! Now, GET... OUT!" He raised his wand threateningly and he looked as if he intended to use it.
Ginny stared at the headmaster for a few more moments then turned on her heel and left.
...
Ginny looked at the grey gloop in the cauldron with disinterest. She was sharing with Terry Boot but his attention seemed to be elsewhere too. For days she had pondered how she might sneak out to Hogsmeade to meet up with Harry at the end of the week. There had to be a weakness in Hogwarts defences somewhere...
"Not even up to your usual standard, Miss Weasley," said Professor Slughorn disappointedly as he prodded the gooey lump with his wand. The lump seemed to be indignantly prodding his wand back. "Though I suppose it might serve to heel the boot of a one-legged wizard." He chuckled at his own joke then moved on to Neville's bench but called back over his shoulder, "You need to think in new directions, Miss Weasley, be more adventurous. The ingredients are different so you need to forget the old approaches."
"He's right, you know," said Terry, half to himself and both eyes on Eloise Midgen on the other side of the potions classroom. "I need to forget the usual moves and try-"
"Try a little straightforward sincerity, that might work," smirked Ginny.
"What? What did you say?"
"Eloise Midgen is not going to openly respond to your grotty suggestiveness, Terry. Just tell her you like her and ask her if she'd go with you to Hogsmeade this weekend."
Terry stared at her for a few seconds, pondering Ginny's advice, then, with a glance at Slughorn's back, he strode over to Eloise's workbench.
I didn't mean right this second, you prat! thought Ginny.
Slughorn turned and saw her smiling. "Ah, thinking in new directions, already, Miss Weasley? Excellent."
Twit! thought Ginny but she nodded her head vigorously in agreement. There aren't any more directions than Hogsmeade, are there!
She idly added more spirituous honeysuckle nectar to her gloop, several spoonfuls in fact, and waited for its destruction so she could start again. "Tergeo." Instead of the gunge dissolving in the spirit and being syphoned away it merely reverted to the previous purple foam stage. Ginny sighed and prepared to go and tip it away into Slughorn's safety urn. If I only had Xeno's flitfloat I could sail away in a new direction alright: through the-"
"Great idea!" said Terry, excitedly, as he came back. "Now we can start over!"
"We can?" puzzled Ginny, staring as the foam settled down to a clear amber-coloured essence. "Oh, of course! All we need is to work forward from there! Do the spell again but do it properly this time!"
"Spell? No - the magic comes later!" beamed Terry, turning to see if Eloise was looking at him.
Ginny squinted towards the blackboard at the front of the classroom. "Oh Merlin's Wotsits! You're right! Stand for three days first!"
Terry muttered without turning round, "Stand? What for? What you on about, Ginny?"
"Me? What you on about, you mean?" said Ginny. Something was nagging from the back of her mind. Then it suddenly burst upon her like the midnight opening of a colourful Flitterbloom bud.
"Wonderful! Ten points to Gryffindor!" said Professor Slughorn, as he bent down to smell the potion's aroma. "You've managed to resurrect it from a lost cause to a perfect preparation!"
Ginny didn't hear him. She was too busy thinking about when she could use her medallion.
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—oOo—
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Author's Notes
MelGinnylover raised the important issue that Ron being seen publicly would blow the story that he is meant to be ill in bed with Spattergroit and not with Harry. I've changed that now (10 Dec 2012) in the story so only Granley's wife sees Ron, and Bill now Obliviates both Granley and his wife when she gets back to the paper shop.
MelGinnylover also find Ginny rather clingy at the start of Chapter 28. Point taken. The love interest meetings become harder to write than the action/conflict/arguments because they risk becoming just one more Harry and Ginny head to head repetition. The next should be a bit more interesting!
gonekrazy3000 mentioned another important issue about canon that I'd like to clarify. In my story I have Bill and Fleur at the Burrow over Christmas. This accidentally conflicts with canon because the book specifically states they stayed at Shell Cottage to be with Ron. It might seem strange to point out the above canon error when there are so many variations in my story that are not in canon. What I mean is that Noble Spirit is obviously not part of the canon story (nor is any normal fanfic) but it does not conflict with canon - it meshes in-between the DH story, enlarges and adds to it, but does not change it.
gonekrazy3000 asked if the story will progress beyond the Great Battle and its immediate aftermath. This is unlikely beyond perhaps, a few days. Love Breaks The Noble Spirit explores the theme of the conflict between love and nobility, in particular, is love greater than 'doing the right thing' of estranging Ginny? Once Voldemort is vanquished then Harry and Ginny's forced separation no longer applies. Anything beyond that would be a new book. In addition, I have other ideas for other other stories on the drawing board.
Many thanks for all comments and reviews. These are most welcome and very encouraging. I hope you don't mind if I answer general questions and make comments through the reviews publicly. If anyone needs a pm though just say so. :)
- Hippothestrowl
