Montol Chapter 36: To Be Insane, a harry potter fanfic

A/N: Thank you so much to reviewers! I love you all. Late February. This is another REALLY long chapter, sorry. It's an exciting one, though. The plan is put into action, and Ginny confesses to herself something that she never thought she was even capable of. This chapter is a little weird, because instead of being from ONE person's point of view (i.e. Ginny or Draco) it is instead from FOUR people's alternating points of view. I am also going to warn you that this chapter has some language. Enjoy!

DEDICATION: I've never done a dedication before, so bear with me on this. I'm dedicating this chapter to three lovely people: Oceane, my best friend. And then to MissDedodakes and BestDreamer, who have pratically been reviewing me from the very first chapter. I love you all and thankyouh! (Yes, thankyouh has an 'H'.)

Disclaimer: I am not lucky enough to be as smart enough as to invent these characters myself. They are not mine. Too bad. –pout-

The Stone Speaks

Chapter Thirty-Six: To Be Insane

DRACO, GINNY, LUNA AND MYRTLE

"I'm a genius," replied Ginny sarcastically. She had to say something witty, say anything to cover her immense fear. "Myrtle – got your Dungbombs? Luna – ready to haul a wounded seventeen-year-old Slytherin through a miniscule window?"

They nodded. Ginny took a deep breath. "Let's roll."

…

Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Myrtle Tristanebury sprinted up the dirt path (after tethering the Threstral to a nearby aspen tree), all clenching their wands determinedly and staring defiantly at the castle ahead, the Muggle street-lamps picking out the tiredness on their weary faces. As they reached the tall, wrought-iron gates with the L for Lestrange twisted into the bars, they all paused to gather their breath – and their courage.

"Ready to go?" Luna asked kindly.

Ginny didn't speak; she nodding, gripping her wand tighter. She felt about as ready as a wrongly-convicted criminal would on his walk to the electric chair.

In other words, she felt positively sick.

However, Ginny didn't share these feelings. She was supposed to be the brave, fiery leader who wasn't scared of anything. It was a very hard appearance to keep up, and as she cast the Immoblising spell on the gates, she fought to keep her small hands from shaking.

Now Immobilised, the gates could not alert a warning to the Lestrange household as the three teenagers forced it open and slipped silently through. "Right. Luna, the window is around that way," Ginny said, pointing, "give me your wand for a second… euphius!"

"Thanks," said Luna, taking back her wand and inspecting it.

"Now, when I speak into my wand… you'll hear it, and then you break into the basement. Got it?" Ginny asked. Then she took Myrtle's wand. "Euphius," she muttered. "Right, Myrtle, when you've gotten Rodolphus Lestrange away from the basement, say 'euralia Ginny' and then your message. Then I can go in and get Bellatrix away."

"You're insane," said Myrtle flatly. "Pure bloody insane."

"If I wasn't," said Ginny dryly, "then this whole plan would probably never work."

Luna and Myrtle nodded. "We're all insane. It's agreed. I'll go in first, then," Myrtle said, and she floated up to the castle, gliding through the thick, mahogany doors.

"Luna, get into position," Ginny said, "you'll be hearing from me soon. Remember – if I'm not out of the castle two minutes after you are, or if you're being chased, get the bloody hell away from the castle. Just get on the Threstral and ride back to Hogwarts. Get Hagrid, he'll know what to do. I'll come back with Myrtle."

Luna nodded again, and scurried away. Ginny tried to push bad, unhelpful thoughts from her head.

"Miss Weasley, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named intends to kill you."

"I am merely worried for your sake that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is doing this on purpose – drawing you out of safety by kidnapping one of your closest friends in the hope that we, quite sensibly, would deny you from going, and that you would go to rescue him by yourself."

Professor McGonagall's words rang through Ginny's head repeatedly, but she ignored it, and followed the path up to the grand doors. As she waited in the shadow of an oak tree, she heard it again, making her blood run cold.

"PLEASE! PLEASE, STOP IT! NO!"

Ginny's hands began to shake, and she grabbed the amulet to give her courage. She suddenly noticed a pool of black water, which seemed to be swirling. She stepped closer to it and peered inside. Though it was deadly dark, the water was totally transparent, and, at the bottom, Ginny could clearly see the shattered remains of a mirror she knew very well.

The Mirror of Erised. It was smashed, and in a thousand pieces… but did it still worked. Ginny glanced over her shoulder, checking that it wasn't her time to go yet, and then stared into the water. What she was surprised her incredibly. There was a reflection of herself, gazing in awe at the mirror, and then, behind her, his arms twined around her waist, was… not Harry, not Roger Davies, not Alan Levent, not even Orlando Bloom… but Draco. Astounded, Ginny staggered away, trying to comprehend what she had seen.

Then, she heard shouting, and a ridiculous taunting voice that Ginny had heard many times over the year. Myrtle was putting the plan into action.

Luna

She ran across the lawn, holding her wand out in front of her so that the dim light it gave off would help her to see the window intended. Wrong window… wrong window… where is it!?!

Luna heard a rough, male voice shouting, and a thin, female voice teasing and calling out. Myrtle was in the building. Come on, I have to find the window now, she thought desperately. There! A tiny window, weak on the outside, but barred and heavily protected on the inside. She ran to it, and crouched there, peering through.

"PLEASE!" He was screaming, curled up on the floor. Luna shuddered uncontrollably as she saw the puddle of blood that Draco lay in. "PLEASE, STOP IT! …PLEASE…please… no!"

"Don't worry, Draco," Luna whispered to him, hoping that he would know that help was on its way. "We're here! We're coming!" her voice broke into a little sob, but she glared defiantly at Bellatrix Lestrange and held her wand tighter.

Myrtle

"Come on, come on, stupid," Myrtle yelled, picking up an expensive-looking vase and hurling it at the big, beefy man in front of her. "Bring it on! You couldn't hurt a Puffskein!"

"SHUT UP!" Rodolphus bellowed. "I'll rip you limb from limb – crucio!"

Myrtle yelped and ran up the curving stairs. She had to pretend that she was alive and vunerable, otherwise Rodolphus would give up and go back to the basement. "Is that all you've got?" she hollered from the banister, ripping off the wood and lobbing at him. "BRING IT ON!"

Come on, up the stairs… you have to come up the stairs! We're running out of time… Draco could be dying downstairs!

"You big, ugly brute! You may have the looks of a savage murderer, but to be a killer you also need a brain, which I'm sorry to say you're lacking!" Myrtle shouted. "Your wife is the dominant one! She's one to be scared of! But you Puh-lease! A Billywig's more macho than you are!"

"HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME! AVADA KEDAVRA!" Rodolphus roared from the bottom of the stairs.

The flash of green light rushing towards her was strangely thrilling to Myrtle, and she wanted to laugh. However, she kept up the pretence, and screamed loudly, dodging. "Missed me, missed me, now you've gotta kiss me!" she taunted over the banister. She picked up a chair and tossed it down, shattering the expensive dining room table. "OOPS! Did I do that?"

Rodolphus snarled and shot more curses at Myrtle. Finally, he was coming up the stairs! "You're going to wish you had never been born when I get to you!" he howled.

"Oh, really?" Myrtle asked boldly. She picked up another chair and threw it. This time, it hit Rodolphus, knocking his legs out from under him and pushing him down the stairs with a bang. "Come ON, man! You're getting beaten by a fifteen-year-old girl!" she yelled.

Rodolphus let out a roar of anger and flew up the stairs, beaten and bloody, grazes covering his free skin. "I'LL GET YOU, LITTLE BITCH!" he screamed.

BINGO! We have him upstairs!!

Before the madman reached her, Myrtle grabbed her wand and whispered into it, "Euralia Ginny – the bulldog is up the stairs!"

Ginny

She could hear a lot of shouting and smashing. Though Ginny couldn't see it, she had to admit that it sounded like Myrtle was doing an excellent job of a distraction. However, she was sick with nerves, and was singing quietly to keep herself under control. Then, suddenly, her wand lit up, twirled mid-air and said in Myrtle's voice, "The bulldog is up the stairs!"

Feeling as though she wanted nothing better than to fall over and vomit, Ginny took a deep breath, grabbed her necklace, snatched her wand from the air and turned to the doors. "Alohamora," she told it. The door flashed blue, and then the invisible sixteen-year-old redhead pushed through it.

"PLEASE! STOP IT!"

All nerves disappeared from Ginny's body. She stormed through the destroyed dining room, wand held aloft. "Point me," she said, "Draco." Her wand twirled on her open palm and the tip faced the direction of a little side-door. She moved swiftly towards it and tore the door open. A set of narrow stairs arched and twisted out of sight, and the screaming grew louder.

"Sonorus," Ginny said through gritted teeth. Then she bellowed as she ran down the stairs, "Hey, bitch!"

There was a stunned silence at the bottom, only broken by a tragic whimpering that tore Ginny's insides to pieces. She stood at the bottom steps of the stairs. All she could see was red-stained wooden table, several bloody chains, and a tall, furious dark-haired woman. "Who's there?" snapped Bellatrix.

"Your worst nightmare," Ginny said, still not revealing herself. "IMPENDENTIA!" she cried. Red flashed from her wand, and Bellatrix was knocked backwards, onto the table.

"REVEAL YOURSELF!" Bellatrix snarled, spitting a globule of blood onto the stone floor.

Ginny had done this before. She looked down, up through her hair, and then touched the necklace.

Bellatrix sharply in took her breath. The silhouette of a small figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs. All that was visible was unnaturally bright, flaming crimson hair, penetrating eyes and a glowing wand-tip, pointed at Bellatrix' heart. "Your worst nightmare," Ginny said, fatally gentle.

"I know you – you're that Weasley girl!" Bellatrix snapped. Then she sneered, "how lovely. We don't have to look to kill you now – you've presented yourself to us!"

"NO!" Draco's voice screamed from inside the room. "PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP – PLEASE!"

Ginny saw a growing pool of blood from the corner of her eye and her eyes narrowed. "I'm not here to give myself up, Lestrange… though, if you want me…" she hissed. "COME GET IT!" She grabbed the necklace, disappeared, and ran up the stairs, making sure to thump her feet loudly on each step so that Bellatrix knew where she was.

"What the devil? GET BACK HERE!" Bellatrix screeched. "CRUCIO!"

The beam of blue light bounced off the stone walls, reflecting around the arch, chasing Ginny… "No!" she yelped, darting away. The spell crashed into the floor, missing her by inches. Then, spinning. "Come get it!"

Bellatrix appeared at the foot of the stairs, Ginny at the head. Both had their wands pointed. "You ready for this?" Bellatrix sneered. "Don't worry, darling – death is only agony…"

"CRUCIO!"

"CONFRINGO!"

The air crackled with electricity as both spells hit the walls. The stone exploded and fell down, missing both of them and landing messily in between.

"You'll have to do better than that," Ginny snarled. "Perriculum!" Red sparks flew from her wand, hitting Bellatrix in the chest.

The older woman stumbled down a few stairs, waving her wand madly. "SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Ginny shrieked and pressed herself flat against the wall. Three of the seven slashings missed – four met their targets. Blood seeped through her sliced clothing, between Ginny's splayed fingers as she tried uselessly to keep her body intact. She gripped her wand and flailed it at Bellatrix. "Stupefy," she growled.

Bellatrix flared up a Shield charm in time, but the impact of the spell hitting her shield still knocked her back. While Bellatrix was getting back to her feet, Ginny hissed into her wand, "Euralia Luna – go now!"

Luna

She saw Ginny appear at the foot of the stairs and gasped. "No, she's going to be killed!" Bellatrix and Ginny duelled at the bottom of the stairs for a moment or two, before they both started fighting further up the stairs. "Come on, Gin, hurry!" Luna urged.

Then, her wand squeaked loudly, lit up and hissed, "Go now!"

"On it," Luna said, and stepped back from the window. "Brace yourself, Malfoy. CONFRINGO!"

The window and bars shattered in an explosion of glass and metal; Luna covered her face, waiting for Bellatrix or anyone else to notice that their basement was just partially blown up. No-one came, and, with a kiss to her wand and a touch of her gold socks for good luck, Luna crouched and began the rescue mission.

Draco

Her harsh, high-pitched screams were still audible, amplified a thousand times, it seemed. He couldn't hide away from it. She was writhing, twisting horribly in the dirt, crying out in her death throes. Her hair was coming loose from its neat ponytail, hair flying over her distorted face. Now came something that Draco had not seen before: a Muggle knife.

"NO!" Draco screamed. "PLEASE, SAVE HER!" he twisted. The spell was suddenly gone, Bellatrix was talking to someone, probably Rodolphus, it didn't matter, Ginny was being hurt –

Ginny screamed as blood bubbled from her mouth and she staggered backwards, bleeding, screaming, dying, her neck at a very strange angle –

"PLEASE, STOP IT!" Blood was dripping from his hair, blood was dripping from the fresh chain-wounds all over his skinny, under-fed body. "STOP IT!"

She was everywhere, screaming, thrashing, bleeding, weeping…

"SAVE HER, PLEASE! DON'T MAKE ME!" he howled, and then suddenly the world exploded. Glass and metal were showering him, slicing his skin, the pain was terrible, but not as bad as –

She was writhing, twisting horribly in the dirt, crying out in her death throes. Her hair was coming loose from its neat ponytail, hair flying over her distorted face. Now came something that Draco had not seen before: a Muggle knife. But then she and Macbain were in front of him as well, and he was watching her squirm in pain.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Draco screeched. "JUST KILL ME, PLEASE!"

There was a soft thump, and then someone was crouching beside him. He couldn't see the person through the blood on his face and the swimming images of Ginny…

"DON'T HURT ME!" he screamed, it must be Bellatrix.

"Oh, dear God, please, Draco, don't scream, shush," said the voice. It was softer, sweeter, and desperately concerned. "Come on, we're getting you out of here."

Draco sucked in a breath of shock and gagged on his own blood. "Don't hurt her, please – leave me ALONE!" he screamed, twisting away from Bellatrix.

"Draco, no – I'm not Bellatrix. Trust me, we're hear to help you," the voice said kindly. "Come on, we have to go, come on, now."

"Who… who are you?" Draco croaked. He didn't want anything or anyone, he just wanted death… a female face, soft and caring, was floating over him, looking deathly worried. "Is that… Ginny?"

"No, it's not Ginny, it's -"

"GET OUT! GINNY, GET OUT! NO, THEY'LL KILL - NO! PLEASE!" he screamed again, writhing in Ginny's arms. Hey, Ginny's gotten taller…

"Draco! It's not Ginny… it's Luna," said the voice urgently. "Ginny's here too, but don't worry, she's…" a pause, "safe. I think. We have to go now. Are you strong enough to stand?"

"Luna, Luna," Draco sobbed breathlessly. "Get Ginny out – please, kill me – get Ginny out – kill me! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Shush!" Luna reprimanded him desperately. "Bellatrix will hear – and if she hears us, she'll… she'll kill Ginny!" she said suddenly.

"No," Draco wept. "I'll… I'll stay quiet, I swear…" Then Luna was helping him up, and they staggered across the room.

Luna

"Come on, Draco," she urged, and she pushed him up through the window. His blood was dripping all over her, but that didn't matter. She had to save him. The jagged edges of the windows were tearing at his skin – oh God, oh God, he's too big, she panicked – but then he was through. Lightly, with the perfection of years of gymnastics, Luna leapt up and scrambled through. "Let's go."

She slid an arm under his armpits and half-supported, half-dragged him through the garden. "Draco… Draco, listen to me, you have to walk on your own for a bit, I have to tell Ginny that you're safe."

"Get her out… please!" he moaned desolately, clinging to Luna's robes. However, he seemed to remember Luna's lie about keeping quiet, and, sobbing to himself, he staggered away a few steps before falling into the long grass.

"Oh hell," Luna swore, "er… euralia Ginny and Myrtle – I have Draco, repeat, I have Draco. Get back to the Threstral," she said hurriedly into her wand, and then hastened to haul Draco out of the garden. After what seemed like a lifetime of mumbling, crying and tiny screams, they were stumbling down the winding Muggle path to where the Threstral was tethered.

"Good boy," said Luna, partially to the Threstral and partially to Draco. Then she helped the Slytherin onto the horse's big back, and told Draco comfortingly, "Don't worry, Draco, don't panic, Ginny's coming."

Draco cried into the Threstral's mane, and Luna felt close to crying too. She had abandoned her best friends to the wrath of two Death Eaters.

Ginny

"Get back," Ginny snarled. "Stupefy, confringo!"

Bellatrix dodged both, and from the malicious grin on the female Death Eater's face, she knew what was coming. Ginny forgot the fight; she turned on her heel and raced up the stairs… GO! Her brain screamed again and again…

"CRUCIO!"

It hit Ginny in the spine, and she fell forwards, smashing her chin on the hard stairs. She cried out, but the pain in her chin was nothing compared to what followed – her skin was being shredded into a million pieces. As she screamed, curled up on the floor, her wand fell out of her pocket and lit up.

"I have Draco, repeat, I have Draco. Get back to the Threstral!" Luna's voice said urgently. Ginny gasped, trying to get her wand, but the pain… she screamed, sliding down the steps until she was resting at Bellatrix' feet.

The older witch looked horrified. "That's what you were doing!" she shrieked. "You've taken our hostage! DOLPHUS!"

Myrtle came flying through the door. "Ginny, we have to go! They've got – oh. Shit." She saw the situation, and her mouth fell open.

"Shit, indeed!" snarled Bellatrix. "So this was your plan, eh? This fat bitch gets my husband, red bitch gets me, and skinny bitch climbs through the window to steal Malfoy. Well done, girls. It actually almost worked." She turned to Rodolphus. "Dolph. Do the honours."

Rodolphus raised his wand – "AVADA KEDAVRA!" he roared, pointing at Myrtle.

Myrtle burst out laughing as the magic flowed through her. "That tickled! Do it again," she teased, batting her eyelashes behind her glasses.

"What the hell? She's – avada kedavra! Bella, she's -"

"Dead?" Myrtle offered. "Well done. Took you long enough," she sneered.

"Now, see, ghosty, the thing is… you may be dead. But the Weasley isn't… however, that's all about to change…" Bellatrix cackled, and she finally pulled off the Cruciatus curse.

Ginny's screaming stopped, and, beaded with sweat and tears, she stared fearfully up at the long, sinister-looking piece of wand pointed at her face. Think happy thoughts, Ginny instructed herself. Remember that promise you made? You're going to die smiling. Think happy thoughts…

Ginny was spinning under his arm, her own arm stretched upwards to almost its full extent, her skirt flaring around her knees, and then her journey across the dance floor came to abrupt halt and Draco caught her, his head lightly clapping her back, and then they were dancing, closer than ever, their bodies flush of each other.

The smallest of smiles flickered across Ginny's face, and then, as she looked up at Bellatrix, she whispered, "Thank you."

Bellatrix frowned. "What the hell? Stupid girl, I'm going to kill you – you don't thank me, you plead for your life!" she snarled, obviously furious at the lack of dramatics.

"No, sorry, Bellatrix… I'm thanking you… I wouldn't have wanted to die any other way – I'm dying to save the person I… love," she whispered the last word, as she realized how true it was.

Myrtle

She stared at Ginny. No. No, you were going to live forever. You can't die – I won't… I won't let you… Myrtle glanced sideways at Rodolphus and Bellatrix, then, lifting her wand, she hissed, "euralia Luna. Go! Now, go, they're coming for Draco! Rodolphus is coming!" She stared down at the redhead, wondering what to do.

BRAINWAVE.

Myrtle whispered, "Ginny," and then instructions.

Ginny began to raise one hand, as if reaching into the light for her death. Perfect. Bellatrix raised her wand, and instantly Myrtle raised her own. All as one spell, Myrtle yelled, "ACCIO WAND SHOUSAMNA ALARIC," reached forwards, grabbed Ginny's hand, and then, with a flash of light, they were gone.

Draco

"Where is she?" asked Draco. Now that he was sure that no-one was going to hurt him, he was staring up at the skeletal castle. It seemed so long ago that he had been dancing with Ginny, happy and safe.

"I don't know, Draco, but she'll be fine," Luna reassured him, and opened her mouth to say more when her pocket lit up.

"What's that?" Draco asked, moving away from it nervously.

"Calm down," Luna told him soothingly, but she was trembling as she drew her wand. It spun in the air, and then Myrtle's anguished voice hissed, "Go! Now! They're coming for Draco! Rodolphus is coming!" Luna paled. "Budge up," she ordered Draco, and she swung onto the Threstral behind him. "Yah!" she cried, and then the Threstral was rising into the air.

It was frightening, but cogs were turning in Draco's head. "Wait," he said urgently, "w-where's Ginny?"

Luna stiffened. She didn't speak.

"Luna, where's Ginny?" Draco demanded. "My God – you're not actually going to leave her-"

Blood was pouring down her gaunt face, so crimson that it made her hair seem pale and dull; her clothes were stained scarlet as she slowly bled to death –

"I'm not going without her!" Draco shouted. "No – NO – Luna, you haven't – not – no – land this stupid creature – GINNY!" he clawed at the air, trying to reach desperately for the castle, as if he could pick up Ginny with one hand and carry her away. "Take us back! We can't leave her there – I went through so much for her and you've left her to die!"

He pounded his fists against the dome as he sobbed hopelessly, clawing at the barrier. "Let me through," he pleaded to Macbain; the other Death Eater ignored Draco and pretended that he couldn't see him. It was shredding him to pieces… he couldn't take it anymore, and screamed, "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT HER!"

"You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Draco hollered, writhing madly on the Threstrals back.

"STOP IT!" Luna snapped. "You're going to get us both killed!" she wrestled his arms behind him and held him still while he screamed.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Draco screamed into the night.

Blood was pouring down her gaunt face, so crimson that it made her hair seem pale and dull; her clothes were stained scarlet as she slowly bled to death.

"PLEASE, STOP IT!" he begged. The castle disappeared from view as the Threstral flew quickly from the Lestrange grounds. The time dragged past as Draco yelled, until, out of the corner of his eyes he saw the castle again. "LET ME IN!" he cried. "I HAVE TO SAVE HER!"

"Draco, it's Hogwarts!" Luna told him, "stop worrying."

"GINNY!" he screamed. "NO – I'M NOT – STOP IT –" Blood, dripping down her face, blank, staring eyes. Draco dug his fingernails into her face – any pain to stop the visions in his head – Ginny gasped and choked on blood – "MAKE IT STOP!" – she screamed and writhed – "WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!"

He could vaguely hear voices – then he blacked out.

Luna

She steered the Threstral to Hagrid's Hut expertly. She could see Hagrid, Madam Pomfrey, McGonagall, Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione all gathered there, looked terribly worried. Luna landed there and slid off. "Madam Pomfrey, you need to help Draco," she told the elderly matron. "He's been tortured."

Draco was still screaming. Finally he shut up – and keeled sideways off of the Threstral. Smelling blood, the black horse eagerly began to lick Draco. "No – good boy, good boy, come on, back to the Forest, I'll bring you some meat tomorrow, you've been very good," Luna told him, and smacked the Threstral's rump. It neighed loudly and cantered into the darkness.

Luna ran to Draco's side and crouched there. "Oh, will he be alright?" she pleaded with Madam Pomfrey.

"WHERE'S MY SISTER?" bellowed a male voice, and Ron Weasley pulled Luna's shoulder back harshly.

"OW – hang on, Ronald, I'm busy, Draco's dying -" Luna snapped, losing her nerve. Hermione joined the younger girl at the Slytherin's side, and together they peered anxiously into his face.

"Mione, what are you doing?" Ron snapped. "He's obviously faking – and I want to know where Ginny is!"

"HE'S NOT FAKING AND GINNY IS WITH MYRTLE!" Luna roared, astonishing everyone, including herself. She returned her gaze to the gaunt, sickly boy collapsed in the grass.

"Myrtle?" Harry echoed incredulously.

"Yes, she's a ghost who lives in the second floor girls' toilets," Luna said sharply. She nervously felt Draco's forehead. "He's freezing – get me a blanket and a warming potion." Snape and Hagrid strode away.

"I will when you tell me where Ginny is!" Ron snarled.

"I wasn't even talking to you, Ronald!" Luna retorted, taking a blanket from Hagrid and folding it over Draco.

"Where the bloody hell is my sister?"

"RON! Don't talk to her like that!"

"I'll talk to her how I like – anyway, why do you care how I talk to Loony? She's not your girlfriend," Ron argued. Hermione shot him a dark, don't-you-dare-go-there-Ronald-Weasley look, which the redhead in question chose to ignore.

"DON'T CALL HER LOONY!" Harry shouted.

McGonagall pushed through the fighting. "BOYS! Silence, that is a detention for both of you! Miss Lovegood, where is Miss Weasley?" she said concernedly. "I warned hernot to do this, I forbade her to do this. So what does she do? She does it."

"Professor, she's with the ghost, Moaning Myrtle. They're travelling by the ghost network," Luna said, not looking up from Draco.

"Rubeus," McGonagall said, "go get a ghost – any ghost, just not Peeves – and tell them to look out for a young female transported one of the Living through the network." Hagrid nodded, and jogged away, each of his footfalls causing the ground to tremble.

"Now what?" asked Hermione fearfully.

"Now, Miss Granger, we wait."

A/N: Sorry about splitting up this chapter. But it's so exciting that I COULDN'T let it just end, and the next chapters are normal, starting with Ginny. Please review, I hope you liked it.

I'd also like to let the public know how much of a geek I am. I research every name or spell that I make up. For example, Myrtle's last name (never mentioned in the books) is Tristanebury, because the name Tristan means 'sad'. Euphius and Euralia both mean 'speak'. Shousamna Alaric, the spell that Myrtle uses to get through the Ghost Network, which I cunningly invented for ghostly beings to travel, comes from Shou and Amna, which both mean 'fly' and Alaric, which means 'safety'. Anywho. Moving on… -brandishes Christmas-coloured candycanes- If you read this far, well done, you get a candy-cane!! I LUFF YOU.

And, yes, I did steal a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean. "You're insane" – "if I wasn't, then this would probably never work" is, of course, the words of the AMAZING Cap'n Jack Sparrow.