Hi All,
Welcome to chapter 29 of Little Red Bird as Ginny enters her second year at Hogwarts.
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Ginny spent the last few days of the holidays learning more about the Black family in general and Sirius Black in particular. His escape from Azkaban and the articles in The Daily Prophet painting him the heir to the Dark Lord was what got her interested apart from the fact that he was Cissa and Bella's estranged cousin.
It turned out that he wasn't even a low-level Death Eater let alone be an heir apparent to the group's leader. Bellatrix was particularly vocal about her dislike of her cousin Sirius. It seemed Peter Pettigrew was the one who served as a mole amongst the light side and was the one who gave away the Potter's location to the Dark Lord. He was also the one killed by Sirius Black alongside thirteen muggles for which he was carted off to Azkaban.
It was her final night at the Manor before she started her term at Hogwarts and she sat gazing into the distant sea from the balcony of her bedroom. The sounds of the gushing sea crashing against the rocks in the distance eased her mind and distracted her from the fact that she may not be able to meet Bellatrix for an entire year, maybe more.
The potion to track him was almost ready and it would be soon that Bella would set off on her mission.
"You know I'm always there for you, Ginny." a warm hand on her shoulder got her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, hello Cissa! I didn't notice you coming." Ginny replied with a wry smile.
"I can see that. You seem quite distracted and perturbed. Rightly so, I'd say. Bella's being a bit of a child" Narcissa settled on the chair nearby.
"Why does she have to go, Cissa? It's still not safe for her. With Black's escape, the bounty on her head has been increased as well. I don't want to lose her, not like this." Ginny's voice croaked.
"And you won't lose me. You and Cissy both need to calm the fuck down." Bellatrix entered the room and perched herself on the balcony to face them both, "It'll not take so much time as far as I understand. The potion would give me an exact location and with help from Cissy we can transport him back to Britain."
Narcissa shot a stinging hex at her sister who yelped a loud shriek, before holstering her wand, "No crass language, Bella. Besides Ginny isn't wrong, it isn't safe for you to undertake international travel. There's very less I can do if you're caught by one of the ICW countries."
"Stop it Cissy! It's annoying. Look, both of you… I have to do this, I have to find him. So please just trust me I'll be careful and victorious." she finished with a smirk.
"So, why did you say you can't meet me for a year?" Ginny asked.
"It's just precautionary, maybe we can meet if I'm back soon. I don't want you to do anything hasty in case I can't meet you or talk to you. I may need to stay low for a while once I'm back from the mission, away from the Manor. Nothing to worry about. Just enjoy your year, keep practicing your transformations and beat that mudblood in all your tests, okay?" Bellatrix gave her a warm hug while patting her head.
"Who would believe the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange is such a softie!" Narcissa taunted her sister who gave her an unimpressed glare. Ignoring the scathing looks she continued, "Well, be that as it may, it's getting late now. You should get some sleep dear, I'll send your favourite cauldron cakes with Draco. Good Night and Have a safe journey."
"Right, sleep well little bird. I'll turn in for the night as well. Come Cissy, you can take the floo from my study. I have a few more things you need to procure, I'll share the list as well." Bellatrix pulled her along.
"Good night! I'll just stay here for a bit more before going to bed." Ginny settled into her chair leaning back with her feet resting against the railings.
Next Day
It was the usual last minute dash to reach the platform for the Weasleys as they hustled through the muggle crowd at King's Cross station. With barely a few minutes to spare, the contingent of redheads crossed the gateway to Platform 9 ¾.
Ginny heaved a sigh of relief and dashed off towards her usual compartment at the back of the train. She entered the train and moved towards the end as the train jolted into motion slowly chugging off the station.
She found Astoria sitting alone in one of the compartments down the corridor. Astoria unlocked the door with a shake of her head, "You're late! Again!"
"Are you going to let me in or not?" Ginny quipped back, "Honestly, it isn't my fault that my family takes so much time getting ready. Mostly it's just Ron who delays it, I was packed and ready before breakfast."
"Ughh! Gin, don't go on a rant trip now. You're meeting me after such a long time and I hardly want to listen about how big of a pig your brother is." Astoria helped Ginny stow her trunk before settling down near the window.
"Well, that's the sad reality now, isn't it? He's too big of a pig and still I don't get to gut him. Besides, why're you sitting alone, where's Mel?" Ginny took a seat opposite her.
"She's down with doxy-flu for the past week, don't worry she'll join back in a few days. I visited her a few days back, she's recovering well. So, how was your vacation? You didn't say much in your letters."
"And for good reason. I don't know who intercepts and reads them. I've got myself in trouble for a mere birthday card from you. You can imagine how Mount Weasley would explode if she comes to know half the things I do. Now, to answer your question, it was quite eventful to say the least. I'll give you the details later but the gist of it is that my family won some money, I learnt some more magic and visited my brother Bill in Egypt which was the other highlight of the holidays."
"Yes your Egypt trip, I've seen your pictures across the Prophet, glad you enjoyed it. I'm assuming you left a few details as usual. For your information, my shields are strong enough now. My father taught as well as assessed my Occlumency Shields over the holidays and he's certain no one can read my thoughts without me knowing and I can repel non-verbal attacks, although they give me a headache afterwards. You know what, Daph was particularly envious of how my body was so… uhmm…"
"Toned? Chiselled?" Ginny supplied.
"Yeah, how toned my body was. I guess we should continue our workouts. Also, now that the Heir of Slytherin business is past us, what chaos have you planned for this year?" Astoria finished with a grin.
"Huh, is that what you think of me? I didn't plan on causing chaos. It was a small prank that snowballed into the whole fiasco. I actually plan on having a quiet year. No plotting, only studies and of course, beating the mudblood."
"Come on Ginny, let her be. She's not that important now, nor she'll ever be in the future. You know my father said, there's hardly a muggleborn occupying a consequential position at the ministry. It is mostly just purebloods and half bloods. Even your dad is the head of the department over Mr Jeffords, who has much more experience yet is your dad's junior in the department owing to his muggleborn status."
"And you know that, how?" Ginny gave her a pointed look.
"Father occasionally takes us along to the ministry. I've met quite a few people and Mr Jeffords was one of them." Astoria replied, "Besides, that's not the point. The po-"
"The point is she's stuck to Potter and my brother like a leech. If she wasn't such an insufferable git I'd have admired the move, it's so cunning and resourceful of her to align herself to Potter who's the top dog at Gryffindor and renowned throughout the wizarding world. My brother thinks she can become the Minister of Magic, and he might be right if she does latch on to some of Potter's fame."
"Calm down, there's a lot of time for that. I'm sure you'll stop your nemesis from becoming the Minister of Magic." Astoria said with a lopsided smile.
"That's really funny of you, Tori. She's not my nemesis, not even worth the dirt beneath my shoes. Enough about her, she's the least of my problems. I just have to ace my tests to show her up." Ginny leaned back into her seat resting her head against the window, "Now, if you don't mind, I'll just have a short nap."
"Be my guest, I'll just catch up with Flora and Hestia meanwhile." Astoria stood up fixing her robes.
Ginny simply nodded with her eyes closed, she was already drifting off to sleep by the time Astoria left their cabin.
A few hours down the line Ginny was woken up after the train jolted to a halt in the middle of nowhere. Ginny groggily looked around to find it had gone dark and the lights were on with Astoria sitting opposite her reading some leather-bound book.
"What happened? Why have we stopped? Hogwarts is still a few more hours, I thought." Ginny tried to look outside the train, however the windows had frosted over as a sudden chill encompassed the atmosphere.
Astoria rubbed her arms to keep warm, "I'm not sure, Ginny. It's getting cold here and I'm getting a bad feeling. Stay close, I'll lock the cabin."
"Oh okay, I'll pull on the curtains." Ginny stood up and put the curtains in place just as the lights went off in the train, "Fuck! That's not good. Stay quiet Tori." She lowered her voice down to a whisper.
Astoria moved closer to her as both of them stayed as far from the door as they could. Ginny pulled her wand and dagger getting ready to attack if she had to.
The silence inside the train was deafening and was broken by the opening of the train doors. Both of them heard it and knew someone just entered. Whoever it was reeked of death and decay as Ginny felt nauseated at the smell which was getting stronger by the passing moment.
An outline of something wearing a ragged cloak moving across the cabin could be seen while an unexplained feeling of dread encompassed her. All the painful memories since her childhood flashed across her eyes and her head hurt to the point it became unbearable until there was nothing but darkness.
"-nny! Ginny, are you alright?" A familiar voice spoke as Ginny felt a throbbing pain in her head. The lights were too bright for her as she held her palm to shield her eyes.
"What happened Tori? My head hurts. Ughh, what was that thing?"
"That was a Dementor, Ms Weasley." a girl in Slytherin robes wearing the prefect badge answered.
Ginny craned her head sideways to look at the girl, "I'm sorry what? Did you say Dementors?"
"Yes, Azkaban guards, probably looking for Sirius Black. How are you feeling now? Ms Greengrass informed me that you fell unconscious as it passed your carriage."
"Honestly, I feel like a herd of Hippogriffs trampled me over. Thanks for checking in Gemma. I'll visit Madam Pomfrey after the feast if the headache doesn't go." Ginny answered, trying to sit upright.
"Easy there, Weasley. Have some chocolate, it helps with the effects. Also, try and rest a bit, we have a few more hours to reach Hogsmeade. Let me know if you need any help. Greengrass knows where to find me." Prefect Farley said before leaving the cabin.
Astoria who had been silent for a while locked the doors and shut the curtains while Ginny sat nursing her head.
"Hey Gin, you okay? I was really scared when you started screaming before you fell unconscious."
Ginny looked up feeling panic when she touched the empty holster on her leg, "My dagger! Where is it?"
"Calm down. I have kept it safely in my trunk. It fell below the seats when you tumbled over."
"How long was I out for?" Ginny said nursing her head.
"Just 15-20 minutes. Lights came back a few moments after you fell."
"Didn't they affect you? The Dementors."
"Yes, a little bit but not too much. The thing is from what I know of Dementors, they feed on happiness and make you relive and experience your worst memories. I don't have any traumatic experience as compared to you I suppose. You had a near death experience last year so it could have affected you more for that reason." Astoria replied while fishing for something in her trunk overhead before pulling out a few chocolate frogs. "Here, have some."
Ginny picked one and unwrapped the box, promptly catching the frog in her mouth as it jumped off the box. She picked the collectible card before groaning, "Ughh! Dumbledore again. What did you get?"
Astoria picked her card nonchalantly flicking it in Ginny's direction, "Just Morgana. Have it if you want, it's not that interesting either."
Ginny caught it swiftly before it fell to the floor, "Are you kidding me? You don't find Morgan Le Fey interesting."
"Yes, what's so surprising about it? She was just another foolish Dark Witch who was defeated by a Light Wizard."
Ginny's eyes lit up as she was in Astoria's space in a flash pinning her to the seat, "Not just another Dark Witch, Tori. She was a brilliant and powerful sorceress, a transfiguration master, a master healer, potioner and an animagus. Don't forget she was also an expert practitioner of the Dark Arts."
"Oh..ohkay Gin! My shoulder, backup a bit, it's hurting." Astoria was shocked at the outburst.
Ginny backed off breathing heavily, she rubbed her face feeling embarrassed. "Hey I'm sorry I didn't mean to… you know. Ughh! It's probably my throbbing headache."
Astoria sat next to her, "No Gin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you when I said that." She bumped her shoulder playfully, "Besides, Morgana was alone, you have me. No one's defeating you while I'm around."
"Hmmm, thanks Tori. I hope no one taunts me for fainting earlier."
Astoria laughed heartily, "Really, that's what you worry of all the things now. No one knows apart from Farley and I. She's a family friend, so I guess I can count on her not spreading the gossip."
"Great, now be a lamb and stay quiet. I'd like to get a couple of hours rest before the feast."
Astoria pinched her arms before settling back in her seat, "You're such a git, Ginevra Weasley."
"Owww! I'll get you for that Greengrass. Later maybe." Ginny said with a stifled yawn.
Thanks for reading, please do write a comment if you liked/disliked the fic. It's like a shot of Red-Bull to my viens, keeps me awake writing at 3AM
Cheers!