Ginny's POV Tuesday Morning

Ginny strokes Fawkes's feathers while she waits for Sirius Black to join them in Albus's office. Fawkes's red and gold feathers remind Ginny of the Gryffindor colors, and she absentmindedly wonders if any of the Hogwarts founders had a Pheonix. They were supposed to be the greatest witches and wizards of their time, so why wouldn't one of them have had a phoenix?

The office door opens, and Sirius Black walks into the office looking exhausted. His clothes look as fashionable as every other time she's seen him, but his eyes have dark circles under them, his hair is in a messy ponytail at the base of his neck, and he's missing his little, Lord Black badge.

"Sirius!" Harry says, jumping up from his seat to hug his guardian. Ginny watches as they greet each other. Harry has a wide smile on his face, and Sirius is looking at his charge fondly. Ginny reckons Sirius is more of a father than a guardian.

"Alright, let's get this meeting started," Albus says, standing. Albus bows his head and then shakes Sirius's hand. Ginny almost forgot her manners!

"Ah, Ginny, nice to see you again," Sirius says when he spots her.

Ginny ducks her head in respect and says, "And you as well, Lord Black."

Sirius waves her formality away but nods back to her.

"Alright. I'm sorry we had to wait until today, but you guys have been keeping me busy with paperwork," Sirius says. He looks at Ginny from the corner of his eye, and Ginny can only assume he's talking about her killing a few Death Eaters on school grounds. Whoops.

"Our deepest apologies. I've asked you here today to explain what happened on Friday, and how we're going to proceed," Albus says.

Ginny zones out while Albus explains what happened on Friday. She does take notice when Sirius cuffs Harry on the back of the head for walking past the detection ward. She stifles a laugh with the back of her hand.

"So," Sirius says when Albus finishes his story, "you illegally took the trace off of their wands, put a charm on them that made it so the ministry couldn't find them, went against my wishes, and put both of them in a dangerous situation, and now Voldemort knows we've been hunting Horcruxes? Did I get all of that?" Sirius asks.

Ginny winces and sees her accomplices of crime do the same.

"Well, when you put it like that, you make it seem like we did more bad than good," Harry says.

"We might be a step closer to killing Voldemort, but now he knows we've been hunting Horcruxes, and that's beyond dangerous. It's his move."

Ginny thinks of all those muggle deaths, and the guilt she'd felt yesterday morning returns in full force.

"Let me take the fight to him before he does anything else! It's literally my destiny! I'm no good here, waiting for him to come to me!" Harry exclaims.

Sirius sighs and shakes his head. Ginny turns to Albus to find him already looking at her. Soon enough, everyone in the room is looking at her, and she starts feeling uncomfortable with their blazing stares.

"What?" She asks.

"What do you think, Ginny?" Harry asks her.

Ginny looks at him. Really looks at him. If he's the key to killing Voldemort then, why not take the battle to him? Harry has proven himself to be magically capable. She ignores the memory of him almost touching the ring, and thinks about everything else he's done. She's seen him in battle once, and she's seen him use elemental magic twice. He's a good guy who has everyone's best interests at heart.

Ron was right; she trusts him. She trusts him to kill Tom, and make the right choice when it comes down to it. He's a protector, with a history of getting himself in trouble.

"I agree with Harry." Ginny finally tells them.

"I say we take the fight to Tom. We only need to get rid of Nagini. That snake is the last Horcrux, and we can't risk being caught off guard. If Tom's confident enough to kill twenty-five of his own Death Eaters, then he must think he has enough allies to take us out. We shouldn't give him time to plan an attack too."

Harry smiles at her and mouths thank you to her.

Ginny nods her head. He's doing that thing with his eyes that makes her chest burn. She looks away and turns to Albus, who's nodding his head.

"What do you think, Sirius?" Albus asks.

"If what Ginny said is right, and Voldemort has enough followers to be confident," he trails off.

He looks around the room until he locks eyes with Ginny.

"I don't think we'll need to plan an attack. He'll be coming to us soon."

Ginny feels shivers go down her spine.

"If he comes here, then what are we going to do about the other students?"

"I'd make Professor Flitwick start making Portkeys to the ministry and make the students take them," Albus says, nodding his head.

"No," Ginny interrupts.

"There are too many Death Eaters undercover at the ministry. We need somewhere else," Ginny says. She's heard too many things from her dad about how awful the ministry has become.

"Any other suggestions then?" Sirius asks.

"Can't we just fortify the castle as best we can? Albus, you mentioned that one room where you found the diadem. Can't we hide them there?" Harry asks, interrupting Ginny's thought process.

"We can't risk them here," Ginny says, scoffing.

"Yeah, well, we can't risk them at Hogsmead, or the Ministry," Harry argues.

Ginny bites her lip. He's right.

"What about the order? What if we had the order use their homes as locations to send students?" Sirius asks Albus.

"There are too many students to do that," Albus says, waving his hand.

"How many are we going to le stay and fight?" Harry asks.

"Only the ones of age can stay," Albus says.

"So you plan on sending me off then?" Ginny asks, glaring at Albus.

"You are essential to the defeat of Tom; I will speak to your parents and get their permission for you to stay," Albus says.

Ginny nods her head. Her mom will press and argue, but with Albus's insistence, she'll let Ginny stay.

"I think we should give that option to every student who's at least a fifth year, maybe even the fourth year. Send out a permission slip of sorts," Harry says.

"And risk the information that we're preparing to fight Voldemort?" Sirius asks.

"What? You think Voldemort doesn't know we're preparing to fight him?" Harry asks.

Ginny tries to think it over quickly in her head. Tom already knows they're hunting Horcruxes, so he probably assumes they're training to fight as well. It makes sense, plus even if they have every Auror dispatched to Hogwarts, they'd still be understaffed three-to-one at least.

"I agree with Harry," Ginny says.

Harry gives her a surprised look, and then he smiles at her softly, obviously grateful for her support.

"I can't risk the students," Sirius says. He shakes his head and sighs.

"You can't, but I can. Harry, Ginny, I trust both of your judgment. If I do this, the four of us - Sirius when he's available - will hold a training for the older students, and I will hold an emergency Order meeting right after this," Albus says.

Ginny zones out as Sirius and Albus roll out the details. Albus wants her to help train the students. Her, Ginny. She knows she's an excellent dueller; she's proven herself time and time again. But that doesn't make her a teacher!

"Albus, can I borrow your office and speak to Ginny privately?" Sirius asks.

Ginny turns back around and stares at Sirius questioningly. Harry gives her a weird look which she ignores, and Albus nods his head slowly.

"Of course, Lord Black, I need to speak to Harry about some things anyway."

Harry and Albus leave quickly but not before Harry shoots her another look which she once again ignores.

Sirius leans against the edge of Albus's desk, so Ginny leans against the wall next to the door and crosses her arms over her chest.

"As the Auror in charge of Hogwarts, I know all the details of your battle. We took a look at your wand, and while I'll compliment you and say your spell work is brilliant, I'm afraid killing people is illegal," Sirius says slowly.

Ginny blinks at him.

"They were trespassing!" Ginny says lowly.

"Oh, and they were all Death Eaters as well," Ginny adds, scowling.

"You killed three men, Ginny. I don't think you understand the consequences of your actions," Sirius tells her.

Ginny pushes herself off the wall and straightens her back. She will not be accused of stupidity. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"Did you even check their wands? They were firing the killing curse!" Ginny glares at him, and Sirius's only response is to raise his hands in surrender.

"I didn't say I was going to put you in prison. The consequences I was talking about were emotional and mental consequences," Sirius says calmly.

"I'm fine."

"Ugh, you sound like Harry. I'm fine, Sirius."

Ginny watches Sirius wave his arms and mumble to himself, and she wonders if he's mentally alright.

"The fact that you seem okay is what worries me," Sirius finally says.

Ginny scoffs. Can't people just make up their minds? Do they want her to act like the tortured little girl or the girl who's moved on and is doing just fine?

"Shall I scream and cry? Maybe throw a few things around?" Ginny asks him.

Sirius chuckles, "I don't think Albus would be very happy if he came back to a broken office. Ginny, I just want to make sure you understand that taking lives shouldn't be done unless you're in a fight, where it's improbable to win unless you kill."

"That's what that situation was like. It was ten to one, and they were trying to kill me. I did whatever I could to survive," Ginny says sternly. She refuses to rethink her decisions.

"I understand that Ginny-,"

"You obviously don't! If you understood, then you wouldn't be lecturing me right now!" Ginny yells. She's not the bad guy in this situation.

"Sit down," Sirius growls.

Ginny takes a step back. Did he just growl at her? Ginny resists the urge to just leave the office. He's not a Death Eater, and she didn't do anything wrong; plus he said she wasn't facing jail time, so she didn't really need to be here.

Ginny glares at him, a glare that would make Tom Riddle shit his pants and sits down.

On the floor.

Because she's nobody's bitch.

"Once this war is over and Harry convinces you to marry him, I think we'll be good friends," Sirius says with a smile.

It's Ginny's turn to growl. It doesn't sound nearly as real as Sirius's had, but she thinks she gets her point across when Sirius rolls his eyes.

"Did you know that half of the people who end up joining Voldemort only do it because of blackmail? When they're caught, they will say anything if we promise them and their family's safety.

"Most of those Death Eaters don't actually care about Blood Purity or torture; they're people who were caught in a bad situation. Fathers and mothers who are only trying to survive. Just like you," Sirius says.

Ginny feels like she's been punched in the gut. Did she kill an innocent man? Did she kill one of her classmate's parents?

"Who did I kill?" Ginny whispers.

Sirius gives her a look over like he's deciding if he should really tell her.

"Tell me."

"Tucker Perish, Chase Lachlan, and the other one was unidentifiable," Sirius finally says.

Ginny says the names in her head over, and over again, trying to see if she recognizes them.

"What are their stories?" Ginny asks, tears coming to her eyes.

"Their names are enough," Sirius says softly.

"Tell me. If you want me to feel responsible, then tell me," Ginny says fiercely.

Sirius obviously notices the tears in her eyes, but Ginny only glares at him. Now that he's started telling her, he needs to finish.

"Tucker Perish was married to his Hogwarts sweetheart and had three kids, his oldest being a first year at Hogwarts. I don't know what house he's in," Sirius says, his voice soft.

Ginny knows his son. Daniel Perish. He's a Gryffindor first year with golden brown curls and a gap-toothed grin. Adorable. Innocent. Fatherless.

"Chase Lachlan owed Luscious Malfoy money and was blackmailed into joining. His wife just gave birth to twins."

Ginny wishes she could have seen their faces. Knew who she was dueling. Maybe then she would have held back. Maybe they were reluctant to fight her. Maybe their families were being held, hostage. Maybe they weren't sending deadly hexes like the others. She'll never know.

"Do you know why Daniels's dad was a Death Eater?" Ginny asks, trying to hold every emotion at bay. If she lets her tears fall, she doubts she'll be able to stop, and she's so sick of crying. She's cried enough to last her a lifetime.

"When we brought in Daniels's mom, the only thing she knew was that her husband was having trouble sleeping and had started drinking. She didn't know what was happening. She was crushed when she found out he was a Death Eater. She kept repeating that he was a good man and that there had to be a reason. We had to give her a calming drought more than once."

Ginny nods her head slowly. Mr. Perish must have tried protecting his family by keeping it a secret. She sits in silence as she goes over that particular battle.

"Ginny?"

Ginny blinks and takes in Sirius's worried face. She must have zoned out for a bit.

"Yeah?"

"If someone ever tries to kill you, then realize all you've got, but if you're fighting more than one person, and you don't know who threw that nasty hex, don't take it out on all of them."

Ginny nods her head and takes a few deep breaths.

"Does Daniel know his father has died?" Ginny asks. Sirius nods his head yes.

"Does he know that I killed him?" Sirius shakes his head.

Ginny nods and stands up. Sirius stands with her and opens his arms in invitation. Ginny wants to shake her head and leave, but he's looking at her like her mom does when she's worried about her.

His arms wrap around her, and she struggles to keep her tears at bay.

"Thanks for talking to me," Ginny mumbles.

"I didn't want you to go through what I have. I'm a broken man Ginny. All I have is Harry and my duty to magical Britain. My future has been laid down and lived. You have a very loving family who I have had the honor to meet. You have friends and Harry and a future you can pick. Don't let yourself break."

Ginny nods into his shoulder and then pulls away. She smiles at him before turning and leaving. She makes the decision to not go to her classes that day as she descends the stairs.

She killed three men. Two of them had committed crimes, but nothing that should have been punished by death. She knows better than anyone how deceiving Tom can be. She's probably done worse things than a handful of the people with dark marks, and here she is, going to school without any punishment to show for her actions.

"Ginny?" Ginny looks up and sees Harry looking at her worriedly.

"Are you okay?" He asks when she doesn't say anything.

Her eyes start to burn, and this time, she can't hold back her tears. Why is it that when someone asks if you're alright, it opens the floodgate of tears?

Harry closes the distance between them and has his arms wrapped around her in seconds. She buries her head into his chest and lets him comfort her. She's too upset to find herself embarrassed for crying into his chest. She doesn't mind the fact that it's Harry who is comforting her. His frame is skinny, but he has muscles that cushion her head as she burrows into his chest.

She hears the gargoyle that guards Albus's office move and assumes that Sirius has finally made his way down. Harry and Sirius speak in hushed tones that GInny can't understand over her choked sobs. Sirius leaves quickly, and Harry pulls her tighter to him and puts his chin on her head. He starts to speak slowly, but she thinks he's speaking to her.

She knows he's saying soothing words by the softness of his voice, but his words don't process in her brain. He starts running a hand through her hair, and his lips press to the top of her head. His ministrations distract her from the devastation she feels.

Those twins will never know their father. She left three other kids fatherless, and to make the situation worse; she knows one of them. She sees Daniel every night in the common room. He's small and young and was always laughing. Did she take that away from him? Should she tell him? Apologize and let him do his worst?

Her tears slow, and her sobs slowly subside into small gasps of air. She tries to gently pull away, but Harry's hold on her only tightens. She lets him hold her, and soon her breathing has slowed, and her body relaxes.

She breathes deeply and lets herself enjoy his scent. He smells like pine and broom polish, something she didn't even know someone could smell like, and yet she will admit to herself that she loves it. It reminds her of Christmas and Quidditch, two of her favorite things.

"What's wrong?" Harry asks softly.

Ginny tries to pull away again, but Harry holds tight. She sighs, kind of exasperated.

"I killed three people when those Death Eaters broke through the wards, and two of them were innocent," Ginny says, her voice soft. She doesn't want to admit that she's a monster, not to one of the last people who looks at her like she's normal.

"They trespassed and took the mark; they weren't innocent," Harry says softly, trying to reassure her and failing miserably.

"I've done worse things and got off without a scratch. They had kids, one of them just became a father, and the other-," Ginny's throat closes and she can't speak without risking another meltdown.

"Ginny, you didn't come out of anything you've been through without a scratch! You were mentally tortured, physically tortured, and you just fought for your life and ended up seriously injured! They made their choice!"

Harry pushes her away, and her chest clenches.

Now Harry's mad, great.

"Did you know that Death Eater initiation involves killing people? If they took the mark, they've most likely killed people. I've killed people before. I've been fighting this war since I was eleven. The first person I killed was an accident, the second wasn't intentional, the third and fourth were a surprise, and I stopped counting after that. I'm accountable for people's unhappiness, yes, but I never killed someone who didn't try killing me first.

"It's a casualty of war. Losing your innocence by killing someone. It's a risk of war, being killed. They knew that," Harry says fiercely.

Ginny shakes her head. She killed two fathers. They had kids and were blackmailed into doing something wrong. She needs to talk to Daniel. She won't be able to sleep or even eat, knowing she killed her housemate's dad.

Ginny pulls out her wand and tries to think of her happiest memories, but her thoughts are plagued with death.

"Gin"

Ginny looks up at Harry and puts her wand away.

"Will you do me a favor?" She asks.

"Anything."

Ginny bites the inside of her cheek. She doesn't want to ask him, but what else can she do?

"Will you send a Patronus message to Daniel Perish and ask him to meet me in the Room of Requirement at his earliest convenience?"

Harry pulls out his wand and raises it halfway before he stops and locks eyes with her. She feels like he's looking right through her. She wonders if he knows legilimency and is reading her thoughts. She hopes not. They're not pretty.

"Do you want to find out what your animagus is while we wait?" He asks.

Ginny raises her eyebrows. That is not what she thought he was going to ask her. She's actually surprised he remembered she wanted to learn how. If she's being honest with herself, she forgot that Harry promised to teach her.

"Sure, will you have Daniel meet us outside the Room of Requirement then?" Ginny asks.

Harry nods his head and then casts his patrons and sends it to Daniel with instructions on how to get to the room of requirement.

Once Harry is finished with his message, Ginny turns and starts making her way to the seventh floor. Harry takes her hand as they walk, and Ginny decides she doesn't care anymore. It doesn't bother her; she knows he isn't going to use her hand to get the upper hand to kidnap her. She remembers what Ron told her and goes over it in her mind.

If she trusts Harry as much as Ron thinks she does, then why is she so nervous around him? It's not as overwhelming when they're in a group of large people, but when they're alone, she gets nervous. She doesn't understand it, because while she's nervous, she trusts him. She truly does. Which makes Harry an even larger conundrum than she had ever thought him to be.

She wouldn't have broken down in front of him and let her guard down if she didn't trust him. She appreciates his kindness, and she finds herself holding back a snort every time he quotes a film he likes. He holds her hand while they walk, and he smiles at her whenever he catches her eye. He asks her questions and actually listens to her when she speaks. He says the cheesiest things in emotionally heavy situations that make her heart pound and her stomach flutter.

And yet, she's nervous.

She stops in front of the tapestry of ballet-dancing trolls and watches as Harry grabs their hands with his other and starts playing with her fingers.

"It's amazing to think I was told I shouldn't be a chaser because my hands were too small and my fingers not long enough," Harry says. He takes her right and holds his left up against it to align their hands. His fingers are longer than hers by a little more than half a fingertip/

"And yet, here you are, one of the best chasers I've ever seen, and you have smaller hands than I do," He finishes.

She knows what he's trying to do. He's trying to distract her. His eyes are studying her fingers again, and a warmth settles in her chest. He has a million other things he should be doing, yet he's here with her, trying to distract her from her darker thoughts.

What he doesn't realize, is that lately, he's never been too far from her mind.

Ginny turns her attention to the end of the corridor when she hears footsteps heading in their direction. A small boy with brown hair and true English skin is slowly making his way down the corridor.

Ginny bites her lip and worries it with her teeth. She always tries to include the younger years in conversations about quidditch and other mindless chatter, in hopes that they'll adapt to being away from home, and she remembers how invested Daniel had been in her stories of quidditch matches. He kind of reminds her of Oliver Wood. His enthusiasm is unparalleled.

Daniel reaches them but directs his attention to Harry first.

"You asked to speak with me?" He asks.

Harry smiles softly at the smother boy and claps him on the shoulder softly.

"I'm just the messenger. I'll leave you to speak with Ginny for a bit," Harry says.

Ginny releases her lip from her teeth and smiles at Harry in thanks. She watches him walk away and stop in front of a portrait to talk before she gives Daniel her full attention.

How does one go about telling someone that you killed their father and you're sorry about it?

"You wanted to speak with me, Ginny?" He asks. He's smiling at her, and Ginny wishes he would stop. She doesn't want to see his face do a complete one-eighty until he's crying and screaming at her.

"I, um," Ginny clears her throat and looks up toward the ceiling, trying to blink back the tears that come to her eyes.

"You heard about my dad?" He asks softly. Ginny snaps her head down to look at him. He's still smiling at her softly, but his eyes look haunted.

"I did," Ginny says softly. She watches as the boy wipes his eyes furiously. Watching him try and be brave, breaks her heart, more than it already has.

"It's okay. Now he won't be so worried and stressed all the time," he says, obviously trying to look at the bright side.

"I need to talk to you about it if you're okay with that," Ginny says.

She kneels down and pulls Daniel until he's kneeling with her.

"Sure."

Ginny takes a few calming breaths and then, without planning a better way to say it, says, "You're father was in the group that attacked Hogwarts a little while ago. You might have heard that I was the one fighting them off," Ginny starts. Daniel holds up a hand to stop her from saying anything more.

"You don't have to finish. We all knew he was a Death Eater. He didn't want to be, but-," Daniel stops when a sob breaks through his calm facade.

Ginny pulls him into a hug and lets the small boy break down in her arms.

"He didn't want to," sob, "want to join them but," sniffle, "but he didn't want to risk," sob, " didn't want to risk Voldemort coming after us."

Ginny shushes him and softly comes his hair with her fingers.

"Daniel, I," Ginny clears her throat and starts over, "I never meant to kill an innocent."

Daniel doesn't respond for a long time. Ginny continues to soothe him as best she can while he cries against her shoulder.

"He would have done worse things if you didn't stop him."

Ginny lets the tears fall when she hears him say that. Small, eleven-year-old Daniel, isn't blaming her as she expected him to. He's accepting her role in her father's death and is even allowing her to comfort him from his grief.

She wishes she could have saved his father instead of killing him. She will never kill a Death Eater who hasn't been convicted of true crimes. An unknown Death Eater could be an innocent. She would rather a loved one be imprisoned for a few days instead of killed and lost to her forever.

"I'm sorry," Ginny whispers when Daniel has gone silent.

Daniel pulls away from her, and there he is, smiling at her again.

"I ruined your shirt. Sorry," He says.

Ginny looks down at her white shirt and smiles. His tears made her shirt partially see through.

"Don't worry about it. If you don't want to go back to class, I'll send a message to McGonagall for you. She'll excuse you from your classes for the rest of the day."

Daniel nods before he's looking over Ginny's shoulder, and his eyes widen. Ginny frowns and follows his gaze until it lands on a black panther. The black panther is laying in the middle of the corridor under a large beam of sunlight that filters through a large window.

Ginny turns back to Daniel and finds him with his arm up and wand in hand. Ginny laughs softly before she leans over and whispers the incantation to a stinging hex he won't learn until his third year. Daniel stares at her, and Ginny shows him the arm movement and makes him practice a few times before nodding towards Harry's animagus.

Daniel shouts the incantation, flicking and twisting his wand in the correct motion. Ginny watches a purple hex fly its way to an unsuspecting Harry and hit him. She laughs when the panther growls, surprised, and jumps a good three feet in the air.

She laughs when Daniel tries to send the same hex again, only for Harry to turn back to himself and dodge it, by rolling over.

Daniel yelps in surprise, and Ginny laughs even harder when Harry shouts an indignant, "Hey!"

Ginny stands up and bites her lip to stop her laughter. Daniel hides behind her as Harry stalks toward them, an indignant look on his face.

"The great Harry Potter, bested by an eleven-year-old!" Ginny crows happily.

The previously tense atmosphere shatters as Harry laughs loudly and reaches around Ginny to rub Daniels's hair in a loving fashion.

Ginny watches as Harry picks up a shrieking Daniel and puts him on his shoulders. Ginny watches them mess with each other with a large smile on her face. The scene in front of her reminds her of when Ron made Quidditch Captain, and the twins had lifted him up on their shoulders and danced around the Burrows' garden. Her mum was too happy to scold them for dancing on her vegetables.

Ginny is so lost in her memories that she doesn't even realize Daniel has left until Harry is in front of her, grabbing her hand and leading her through a door that wasn't there previously.

Ginny steps into the room and is greeted with a meadow. Her feet meet dirt and grass instead of cracked stone, her lungs fill with fresh air, she hears a stream, and she breathes in the scent of wildflowers. She's once again amazed by the magic of this room.

"I brewed up the potion after I promised I would teach you, but I could never find the right time to start teaching you. Our nightly training kept getting canceled, one of us or both of us were injured, and sometimes you wouldn't want anything to do with me, so today seemed like a good day. A bright spot in the darkness if you will," Harry says, pulling a small vial out of his robes.

Ginny nods her head and follows him deeper into the room until they pick a spot along the stream.

Harry starts explaining how the potion works, and Ginny listens with rapt attention. She had wanted to become an animagus as soon as Minerva had shown Ginny her cat transformation. It was fascinating, and it was something that none of her brothers had accomplished.

Harry hands her the vial of potion and goes over the instructions in her head one more time.

Get yourself in a meditative state, don't search for the animal; let the animal find you. Reach your hand out to the animal and let it accept you. Whatever you do, don't go into it with a certain animal in mind.

Ginny sits up straight and tries to clear her mind of everything that had happened that day. She forgets about the war, she lets the burden of murder roll off her shoulders, and she pushes her nerves about being alone with Harry to the very outskirts of her mind.

She tells herself when to inhale and when to exhale, and when that's all that's in Ginny's mind, she lifts the vial other lips and tosses it back like a shot of firewhisky.

The light of the room fades behind her eyelids until everything is pitch black. She watches as splashes of color whip around like colorful mist in the wind. As she focuses on the colors that remind her of the northern lights, she starts noticing details of different animals.

Ginny waits patiently as different animals made out of colorful light run around her. She doesn't let herself focus on any of the animals in fear that she'll see an animal she likes and keep it in her mind like Harry had warned her not to do.

After what feels like hours, a wisp of color stops circling her and starts to approach her. The color is a mix of red and orange. The closer the color gets, the more detail is presented to her until a lioness of red and orange stands before her.

Ginny is so taken with the animal she almost forgets to reach out her hand. Ginny slowly stretches out her hand until she can't reach any further. Her fingers wiggle in anticipation as the lioness struts forward like the proud animal it is and sniffs her hand.

Ginny watches the lioness's nose twitch before it sniffs her palm again. After a few more experimental sniffs, the lioness lifts its head until its nose is touching her palm.

Ginny grins happily and rubs the lioness's snout. Ginny lets the animal twist its body around hers, rubbing against her leg.

With a sudden jerk, Ginny winces as white light appears behind her closed eyelids.

Ginny blinks quickly and slowly; the room of requirement comes back into view, and she realizes she's being shaken by Harry.

"Ginny!"

Ginny closes her eyes and shakes her head to rid herself of the dizziness she feels in her head and stomach.

"They're here! We need to go, now!"

Ginny blinks her eyes open again and takes in Harry's worried face. She repeats the words he said in her head and snaps her head to look at him in horror.

"Now!? Tom is here right now?" She asks loudly, jumping to her feet.

"Yes, right now! I don't know why he would come here so early, but we need to leave!" Harry says, grabbing her hand and racing to the door. Ginny stumbles after him for a few steps until she gets her footing and races beside him.

They stop in front of the door, Harry grabbing the door handle and twisting. Ginny waits for him to open the door, but he never does.

"Harry, let's go! We need to distract the Death Eaters so we can get the kids to safety!"

Ginny tries to push past him, the thought of Daniel, blood all over him, laying on the ground like his father, playing in her mind. She needs to get the students to safety. She won't be able to live with herself knowing she could have acted sooner.

"Harry!"

He spins around, blocking the door with his body, his lips a tight line.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Now is not the time!"

"Can I please ask you a question!"

"FINE! What?"

"I love you."

Ginny snaps her mouth shut and blinks at him. Her mind races with different reasons as to why he would say that or even think it, but her mind gets caught on one thing.

One obvious thing.

"That's not a question," she says, completely caught off guard.

"And it never will be."

Ginny watches Harry, and it's like every problem she needs to deal with right now can be put on hold for just one more second.

Harry said he loves her. She's known him for a little over two weeks. She hasn't even kissed the bloke!

"I'll do everything I can to distract Voldemort and his cronies. I'll send all the students up here, and I need you to make the room of requirement a fortress to hold the students in. Seal it off when you're done with your best wards, and then join the fight. Don't get killed."

Ginny blinks stupidly for a few seconds before the situation rushes through her again, and she nods. They have work that needs to be done; she'll think about his confession later.

Harry nods his head and then turns and burst through the door. Ginny follows him, but closes the door behind her and tries to think of a room that would be good to hide and keep children for an unknown period of time.

Her mind startles into clarity, and she hears Harry's voice through a sonorous.

"ANY STUDENTS UNDER THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN OR STUDENTS OF AGE THAT DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN BATTLE, HEAD TO THE SEVENTH FLOOR IMMEDIATELY! LOOK FOR GINNY WEASLEY; SHE'S THE BEAUTIFUL REDHEAD STANDING AT A SOLID FIVE FEET AND TEN INCHES! SHE'LL DIRECT YOU TO THE RIGHT PLACE! THERE IS AN ARMY OUTSIDE OUR WARDS SO, SWIFTLY BUT CALMLY HEAD TO THE SEVENTH FLOOR. I REPEAT THE SEVENTH FLOOR. THANK YOU!"

Ginny's mind reaches a clarity she wishes she had reached minutes or possibly even days earlier. She's not nervous because she doesn't trust him! She's nervous because she likes him! Loves him even! People don't go through the shit they'd been through and not form a bond! Everything slots together and make sense!

"Harry!" She yells. Ginny thinks of a giant room filled with bunkbeds and water tanks, something that will be big enough for all the students, paces back three times to get a door, and then races down the corridor.

She needs to reach Harry before he gets too far away and the staircases block her way.

She doesn't make it far before Harry comes racing back into the corridor his eyes wild and his wand at the ready.

"What is it?" He exclaims, closing the distance between them and locking their eyes. Ginny doesn't let her think for another second before she's grabbing both sides of Harry's robes and tugging him at her. When he's within her reach releases her right hand, encircles his neck, and brings his face to hers to give him a searing kiss.

I know it's short, I'm sorry!

-Ace