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Day 40: Insomnia
The house was dark and silent. It must have been about three of the morning, and Ginny sat alone under the kitchen table, hugging her knees. She had stopped hiding under here when she was about seven years old, but ever since she had returned from her first year at Hogwarts, it had become her refuge again. A refuge not from one of her brothers, angry that she had taken a toy, but from something much darker and more terrifying. And much less substantial.
When Ginny felt a hand on her arm, she leapt away in fright, a shriek clawed its way up her throat but all that came out was a gasp.
"Hey, whoa, take it easy, Gin, it's just me." Ginny blinked and her brother George's face came into focus, his usual teasing grin replaced by a look of concern.
Ginny took in a shuddering breath, "I-I didn't hear you come in here."
"Years of sneaking out has made me a master of stealth." When Ginny didn't even crack a smile, George frowned, his expression growing even more concerned, "What are you doing down here, Ginny? I haven't seen you hide under this table for years. Why aren't you in bed?"
Ginny sniffled, "I- I can't sleep. I don't want to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see that chamber. I hear his voice in my head. I have nightmares- All those things that I did. I attacked Mrs. Norris and all those people – Colin and Hermione and-and" Her breath was coming in sharp pants now and her words were broken by intermittent sobs, "I see it over and over again. And even when I wake up, it feels like he's there in the room with me. Hiding in the shadows."
George pulled her into his arms and held her tight. For a moment he didn't speak, and when he did, his voice and his face looking down at her were uncharacteristically serious, "There's two things I want you to know, Ginny. First of all, you did not attack Colin or Hermione or even that stupid cat. He did. None of it was your fault. And secondly, that thing from the diary is gone. He's never coming back and he can't hurt you anymore. Okay?"
Ginny hiccuped, "O-okay,"
George squeezed her tighter, "Oh, yeah, there's one more thing."
Ginny looked up at him, "What?"
"I'm your big brother, and I'm always going to be here to look out for you okay?" For a moment, George's face was shadowed with its own guilt, "I won't ever let anything hurt you again."
Slowly, a small smile crept onto Ginny's face. She burrowed closer to her brother as she had done when she was very small, feeling safer with his arms around her than she had felt in weeks, "I love you, George."
She could hear the smile in his voice, George was never one to stay solemn for long, "I love you too, Gin-Gin."
I actually used a discord bot to pick who found Ginny under the table. Hope you enjoyed!