Chapter XV: The Rune Tree
Ginny set the deck on the end of her bed.
"Well," Amilia began, "what are you waiting for?"
"You don't even know what I'm doing," Ginny told her, smiling.
"You're picking a card," Amilia guessed.
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"Since they're tarot cards..." Amilia concluded, "you're making a prediction."
"You're so clairvoyant," Ginny said sarcastically.
"So why are you picking a card?" Amilia queried.
"I am seeing how talented I am in tarot," Ginny explained. "The card I pick will tell me who I am."
Ginny put her hand on the deck and spread the cards across her bed. Ginny cleared her mind and focused on the cards. In the long line, one card looked almost 3-D compared to the rest of the cards. She slipped that card out of line and held it to her chest.
"What are you doing?" Amilia whispered.
"I'm thinking," Ginny informed.
Ginny pulled the card away and looked at it. It was the Fool. Ginny nodded slowly and set the card down.
"What was it?" Amilia asked.
"The fool," Ginny told her. "The Fool stands for things like mistakes, lack of judgment, and unrealistic goals"
"So?" Amilia said expectantly.
"Well, I think I made a good tarot reading," Ginny muttered, swallowing. "Sounds just like me."
"Oh, come on," Amilia began. "You don't believe that, do you?"
"It's right here," Ginny pointed out. "The cards told me who I am."
"That's just a bunch of blather," Amilia assured her.
"It's not blather to me," Ginny cried. "This is the only thing that I'm good at and it's true."
"This stuff is only true if you believe it," Amilia said.
"We did find out that Harry is in trouble and that's what the tealeaves said," Ginny explained.
"Alright," Amilia gave in. "You've shown me enough of the divination coming true to convince me. I still say it's in your mind, though."
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.
"Maybe you were led to pick up that card because some psychic energy," Amilia admitted. "To tell the truth, I think that fate did tell you to take that card."
Ginny looked down at the jester on the card. Even her best friend thought she was a fool.
"You know why you were drawn to that card?" Amilia queried. "It's because you wanted to pick that card. Mistakes, lack of judgement, and unrealistic goals. Think about it. You wanted the cards to tell you how stupid you were for this whole Harry Potter thing. The card didn't tell you who you are. The card told you who you think you are."
Ginny had to admit that Amilia, who didn't know anything about divination, was right. She told the cards what she wanted to see and it showed her.
"What if I'm right?" Ginny questioned, gathering the tarot cards and putting them into their box. "What if I am a fool?"
"You're not," Amilia assured her. "You have nothing in common with that fool. I think you have very good judgement. You haven't made any mistakes either."
"If I didn't make any mistakes then why is Harry mad at me?"
"Because he doesn't realize what is going on," Amilia told her. "Cho has blinded him. We need to help him find himself and realize his true feelings."
That reminded Ginny of the rune prediction she did for Harry. Like a dream, that moment flooded back to her.
"The factor that will help you make the right decision is Mannaz," Ginny told Harry in the library. "It is the nature of humankind. The self and its place in the humanity is recognized here. Acknowledge the importance of every one self to the greater many. This is a time of personal reflection and remembering to respect the human feelings. Cleansing is important now."
"So to make the decision, I need to meditate and be cleansed?" Harry asked.
"More then that," Ginny said with urgency in her voice. "This is getting back to your human nature and realizing your true feelings. Some outside force is effecting your decision and you have to trust in yourself and focus on what you really want."
"Thanks for the reading," Harry began, standing up, "but I really don't think this has to do with my question."
Ginny's eyes widened. Her prediction did have to do with Harry. Somehow Cho's spell was interfering with some problem that was important to Harry. Ginny racked her brain to think of what the other two stones were. One was the dark influence. That had to do with Cho. The other rune was bliss and glory. If only she knew the question, maybe she could better help.
"Gin," Amilia began. "What are you thinking about?"
"Harry," Ginny said simply.
Amilia smiled, "I should have known that."
"What does Harry want?" Ginny asked. "If only I knew what he was really feeling."
"Gin„"
"I am a fool," Ginny stated. "I am a fool for thinking everything would come so easily."
"The way I look at it," Amilia voiced, "you're only a fool if you give up. Keep trying."
"To what?" Ginny queried. "You want me to stalk Harry until he listens to me? Or do you expect me to confront Cho?"
"I wouldn't think either of those," Amilia told her. "There's more to know and we'll find it out."
"How?"
Amilia looked at Ginny in a way that told her that Amilia hadn't the foggiest idea what they should do. Ginny just smiled. Something would come up.
****************
Ginny and Amilia stood at the end of a long line of students. Professor Hawthorn knelt in the middle of a large circle that was drawn on the ground. This circle was divided into seven sections. Ginny glanced passed Professor Hawthorn and stared off toward Hagrid's hut. A group comprised of Gryffindors and Slytherins was standing next to several large crates. Harry reached in and took something that looked like a mix between a lizard and a crab. Harry laughed as he thrusted it toward Ron who was also laughing.
Professor Hawthorn stood up and turned to the line of students.
"Alright," he said. "We must rid this area of any plants or trash. Please pick up anything that seems of a negative feel in the circle."
While Professor Hawthorn took a hand-held broom out of his robes and swept the circled area, the student pulled weeds and picked up stray parchment. Ginny took a broken quill from inside the circle. She looked up and watched Harry as she sat on the edge of the crate and kept pretending to almost fall in. Ron laughed while Malfoy grumbled to his buddies, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Everyone balance yourselves," Professor Hawthorn commanded, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. " This balance is to be found first within yourselves, second within the circle in which you celebrate and finally with the spiritual world to which you are connected. Let go of the day, week, month, life and live only in this present moment."
Ginny tried to focus on balancing herself, but she couldn't get her mind off Harry.
"This is a time of coming together and sharing," Professor Hawthorn explained. "You must have your integrity, discipline, intention, and responsibility."
Ginny wasn't even sure if she knew what Professor Hawthorn was talking about. It seemed almost like gibberish lost in the consuming thoughts of her mind.
"Whatever, whoever you believe in as a higher and good spiritual guidance in your life, call them to join us in the circle," the professor instructed as he knelt in the middle of he circle again. "Do not fear what will come."
Professor Hawthorn stabbed a knife in the middle of the circle, in front of where he knelt. He pulled the knife out and put it in his robes. In the hole, he dropped a rose petal, drops of water, and a small rune stone.
"Remove your shoes and jewelry," Professor Hawthorn told them.
Ginny slipped out of her shoes and the small blue ring she got for Christmas.
"Enter the circle in a clockwise direction from the East," Professor Hawthorn ordered.
The long line of students began to enter the large circle. Ginny glanced at Harry as she entered.
"Kneel and chant with me."
Ginny, along with the other students, dropped to her knees. She closed her eyes.
All the students began to chant:
"We begin.
A circle within a circle.
A life within a life.
A universe within a universe.
A moment is eternity.
Eternity is a moment.
I declare this circle to be mine!"
"Silently," Professor Hawthorn whispered, "ask your spirit guide what you came to ask."
Ginny though hard. What did she want to ask? She had so many questions. How would she get Harry to talk to her again? How would she keep Cho away from Harry? What was Cho going to do to Harry? When was Cho going to do it to him? How was she supposed to stop Cho? How could she break the spell that was over Harry? With all her confusion, the only question she could ask was "What do you want me to know?" And that is what she asked.
In the silence, a voice came to her. It was a small and airy voice that seemed to be so far away. It whispered:
"Follow the sun to the night.
Follow the glimmer in your sight.
Follow my words and all will come to light."
Ginny's eyes shot open in surprise. She had never had anything talk to her like that. She had been shown but never told. It freaked her out just a little.
"Oh, no," Professor Hawthorn moaned. "Ginny, you're off balance with the circle and you broke your contact with the spiritual world. You're thinking too much on the day, on life. Now, we have to do the ceremony all over again. Five points form Gryffindor."
Ginny had had to do ceremonies several times over in Study of Ancient Runes, but it was never her fault before. The other students glared at her.
"Professor Hawthorn," interrupted Amilia, "it's time for break."
"We must do a proper Moon ceremony Wednesday," Professor Hawthorn warned.
"Wednesday is the final," A blonde boy reminded.
"Well, then," Professor Hawthorn said, "I suppose you will not get the benefit of thanking the elements for your many questions. You're dismissed."
Amilia and Ginny started toward the castle for lunch.
"I didn't get an answer," Amilia told Ginny.
"What did you ask?" Ginny queried.
"I asked if Millicent Bulstrode will eat the entire last feast," Amilia giggled.
"No wonder you didn't get an answer," Ginny voiced.
"What did you ask?"
"Well," Ginny began, "it isn't what I asked. It's what I was told."
"You got an answer?" Amilia exclaimed. "What was it?"
"Whatever it was," Ginny said, "told me where to find the answers."
"Answers?" Amilia blurted. "We'll find everything out? Where?"
"Toward the sun until dark, then I'm supposed to follow some light," Ginny explained.
"How cool!" Amilia shouted. "Didn't I tell you if you didn't give up everything would be alright."
"You just said I wouldn't be a fool," Ginny corrected. "You didn't say anything about things being alright."
Amilia put her arm around Ginny.
"Don't you worry," She began, "We'll fix that git Harry Potter."
***************
Ginny took the invisibility cloak out from under her mattress. Amilia glanced out the hall and made sure no one was comming. Quickly, Ginny stuffed the cloak into her robes. Her and Amilia went down the stairs into the common room. Nobody seemed to notice the bulge in Ginny's robes. Ginny glanced back at Harry as they crawled out the portait hole. Harry was writing a report and didn't look up.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait till night?" Amilia asked.
"No," Ginny began. "I have to follow the sun."
"Don't loose that cloak, Gin," Amilia whispered, looking worried. "Besides the fact that Harry'd kill you, I don't want anything happening to you. Other then the normal dangers, there's You-Know-Who and Death Eaters in there. Be careful."
Ginny nodded as they got to the Entrence Hall. Amilia had started to cry.
"Don't worry, Amilia," Ginny said, "I'm going to be fine."
"Alright," Amilia cried. "But just in case you aren't, I wanted you to know something."
Ginny, sniffling, looked over at Amilia.
"Last year," Amilia began, "when you got all upset because someone had sprinkled rose petals on Harry's bed as a joke and Harry thought it was you. He was so embarassed that he had Ron tell you to leave him alone. Remember that?"
Ginny nodded, not wishing to be reminded of that day.
"It was me," Amilia admitted. "I did because I knew you didn't have the courage to. I didn't know he'd react like that."
"It's alright," Ginny told her. "Harry's not still upset about it so I have no right to be."
"You know what else?" Amilia asked.
"There's more?" Ginny gasped.
"You are the best friend I've ever had," Amilia voiced.
"And you're mine," Ginny whispered.
The two girl's hugged, tearing up a storm.
"Now, let's stop all this," Ginny ordered. "I'm going to be all right. I have the cloak. In have directions. I'm going to be all right."
Amilia nodded, wiping away her tears.
Ginny pulled the large front door open and left Hogwarts.
Ginny threw the cloak over her as she walked down the grounds. The sun was sinking behind the Forbidden Forest as she knew it was going to. She hurried down toward it. As she entered the forest, she gazed about for a light. There was none except for the sun, so she kept following. She followed until sun had gone from view, the night stars began to appear, and her feet fell like they were going to fall off.
Ginny felt lost. She was alone in the darkness and saw no light to follow. As she sat herself on a flat rock, she heard music. It was the humming of a woman who had a beautiful voice. Ginny looked around for such a woman but there was no person there. Instead she saw a yellow„green glow. It was faint, but Ginny could see it. As she followed the glow, the humming got louder. Ginny stoped and gazed in awe at what stood before her. It was the Rune Tree.
As in the drawling in Hogwarts: A History, the tree was tall and slender. The branches flowed outward and up, causing the appearance of the tree to look top heavy from the myriad leaves. Each leaf was a very distinct and beautiful color of green. Fireflies drifted about the top of the tree contently.
Ginny approached the tree, examining the symbols that were lined up the tree like a pant seam. Reading of the signs was difficult because they were not in a form of sentence or format of divination. It seemed to Ginny that it was just a line of all the symbols in no apparent order. She ran her fingers along the symbols feeling the perfectness of the carving.
"What does't thou seek?" A voice ethereal and feminine asked.
Ginny backed away from the tree as it's trunk became iridescent. As if the wood had turned to clay, it began to reform itself. The tree trunk contorted and shifted until it rested on a form. It was the form of a woman. The great mass of leaves stood on top her head, like hair. Her legs were fashioned as one and her toes were stretched out into the ground. Ginny thought her quite beautiful except for the dying bark that seemed to be pealing from her skin.
Pulling two branches down from the collection of leaves like long arms, the Rune Tree repeated, "What does't thou seek?"
"Seek?" Ginny asked. "Er..I wanted, I mean, I seek to find answers."
"Answers are only important when asked the right question," the tree replied.
"Huh?" Ginny said, gaping into the hollow eyes of the tree.
Here was her chance to find out anything she wanted to know. The problem was, Ginny wasn't sure what she wanted to know. She tried to focus on the problem. Cho Chang was bewitching Harry with the necklace of Gebo, supposedly. She had to be sure that all her suspicions were confirmed.
"Rune Tree," Ginny began, "did someone make a..a, er...a Gebo charm recently?"
The tree's dark eyes scanned Ginny over, "Define recently."
"Like," Ginny counted on her fingers, "twent-four years ago..or maybe less."
The tree blinked, saying, "A Gebo charm was made twent-three years, two months, and twent-six days from this date."
"Who made it?" Ginny blurted.
"One Ken Change came to my roots and carved out a round portion of my essence," the Rune Tree explained with some sadness in her voice.
"A portion of your essence?" Ginny echoed.
The tree pointed on of it's arm„like branched toward a spot just above ankle. A baseball„¼sized, round hole was roughly carved from her lower leg.
"Ken Change?" Ginny said, returning to the problem at hand. "How did he make a Gebo charm from your...wood?"
"Such a charm requires a certain incantation during the carving," the tree told Ginny. "This certain Gebo charm is not just a charm."
"It has a spell on it," Ginny anticipated.
"A most evil spell," the tree whispered. "A spell of dark magic. That charm should not have been taken."
The Rune tree closed her eyes.
"Er..Miss Tree," Ginny began, "how do I stop this charm's dark magic."
"It takes a great deal of selfishness and callous to use this charm," the Rune Tree voiced. "Such an act must be refuted by the opposite. One with a deep love and compassion for the person whom is under the spell must preform an act of endearment."
Ginny stared at the tree, not exactly sure what she was supposed to do. What did the tree mean by "act of endearment"? Ginny was about to ask this, but the tree continued.
"Without such an act, the spell will get stronger and the captive will loose his volition," the tree went on, leaves beginning to fall from it's plentiful hair. "It is very dismal when a being lives without volition. No agency. No purpose. No desire."
The leaves feel faster and more numerously. Ginny was being showered in leaves that seemed to wither at the touch of anything they feel upon.
"That charm should not have been taken," The Rune Tree said with an urgency. "It should not be worn. The use of it must cease."
The tree„woman's form began to distort and transform again. As her body slowly changed back to the shape of a tree, she looked at Ginny with pleading eyes. Just before her face sunk into the hard wood, she moaned, "Terminate the Gebo charm before it's too late."
The tree was a tree again. Ginny looked at where the face once was. She felt much like the tree seemed to. It filled her with sorrow to think about a person without free will. Ginny almost began to cry, thinking of Harry being that way. She had to get that necklace from Cho.
A/N: I just thought I'd mention that most of the characters don't belong to me. And also, I fudged up. I mixed around Rune meanings a bit so they would mean what I want. Don't take my rune definitions as fact or anything.
Ginny set the deck on the end of her bed.
"Well," Amilia began, "what are you waiting for?"
"You don't even know what I'm doing," Ginny told her, smiling.
"You're picking a card," Amilia guessed.
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"Since they're tarot cards..." Amilia concluded, "you're making a prediction."
"You're so clairvoyant," Ginny said sarcastically.
"So why are you picking a card?" Amilia queried.
"I am seeing how talented I am in tarot," Ginny explained. "The card I pick will tell me who I am."
Ginny put her hand on the deck and spread the cards across her bed. Ginny cleared her mind and focused on the cards. In the long line, one card looked almost 3-D compared to the rest of the cards. She slipped that card out of line and held it to her chest.
"What are you doing?" Amilia whispered.
"I'm thinking," Ginny informed.
Ginny pulled the card away and looked at it. It was the Fool. Ginny nodded slowly and set the card down.
"What was it?" Amilia asked.
"The fool," Ginny told her. "The Fool stands for things like mistakes, lack of judgment, and unrealistic goals"
"So?" Amilia said expectantly.
"Well, I think I made a good tarot reading," Ginny muttered, swallowing. "Sounds just like me."
"Oh, come on," Amilia began. "You don't believe that, do you?"
"It's right here," Ginny pointed out. "The cards told me who I am."
"That's just a bunch of blather," Amilia assured her.
"It's not blather to me," Ginny cried. "This is the only thing that I'm good at and it's true."
"This stuff is only true if you believe it," Amilia said.
"We did find out that Harry is in trouble and that's what the tealeaves said," Ginny explained.
"Alright," Amilia gave in. "You've shown me enough of the divination coming true to convince me. I still say it's in your mind, though."
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.
"Maybe you were led to pick up that card because some psychic energy," Amilia admitted. "To tell the truth, I think that fate did tell you to take that card."
Ginny looked down at the jester on the card. Even her best friend thought she was a fool.
"You know why you were drawn to that card?" Amilia queried. "It's because you wanted to pick that card. Mistakes, lack of judgement, and unrealistic goals. Think about it. You wanted the cards to tell you how stupid you were for this whole Harry Potter thing. The card didn't tell you who you are. The card told you who you think you are."
Ginny had to admit that Amilia, who didn't know anything about divination, was right. She told the cards what she wanted to see and it showed her.
"What if I'm right?" Ginny questioned, gathering the tarot cards and putting them into their box. "What if I am a fool?"
"You're not," Amilia assured her. "You have nothing in common with that fool. I think you have very good judgement. You haven't made any mistakes either."
"If I didn't make any mistakes then why is Harry mad at me?"
"Because he doesn't realize what is going on," Amilia told her. "Cho has blinded him. We need to help him find himself and realize his true feelings."
That reminded Ginny of the rune prediction she did for Harry. Like a dream, that moment flooded back to her.
"The factor that will help you make the right decision is Mannaz," Ginny told Harry in the library. "It is the nature of humankind. The self and its place in the humanity is recognized here. Acknowledge the importance of every one self to the greater many. This is a time of personal reflection and remembering to respect the human feelings. Cleansing is important now."
"So to make the decision, I need to meditate and be cleansed?" Harry asked.
"More then that," Ginny said with urgency in her voice. "This is getting back to your human nature and realizing your true feelings. Some outside force is effecting your decision and you have to trust in yourself and focus on what you really want."
"Thanks for the reading," Harry began, standing up, "but I really don't think this has to do with my question."
Ginny's eyes widened. Her prediction did have to do with Harry. Somehow Cho's spell was interfering with some problem that was important to Harry. Ginny racked her brain to think of what the other two stones were. One was the dark influence. That had to do with Cho. The other rune was bliss and glory. If only she knew the question, maybe she could better help.
"Gin," Amilia began. "What are you thinking about?"
"Harry," Ginny said simply.
Amilia smiled, "I should have known that."
"What does Harry want?" Ginny asked. "If only I knew what he was really feeling."
"Gin„"
"I am a fool," Ginny stated. "I am a fool for thinking everything would come so easily."
"The way I look at it," Amilia voiced, "you're only a fool if you give up. Keep trying."
"To what?" Ginny queried. "You want me to stalk Harry until he listens to me? Or do you expect me to confront Cho?"
"I wouldn't think either of those," Amilia told her. "There's more to know and we'll find it out."
"How?"
Amilia looked at Ginny in a way that told her that Amilia hadn't the foggiest idea what they should do. Ginny just smiled. Something would come up.
****************
Ginny and Amilia stood at the end of a long line of students. Professor Hawthorn knelt in the middle of a large circle that was drawn on the ground. This circle was divided into seven sections. Ginny glanced passed Professor Hawthorn and stared off toward Hagrid's hut. A group comprised of Gryffindors and Slytherins was standing next to several large crates. Harry reached in and took something that looked like a mix between a lizard and a crab. Harry laughed as he thrusted it toward Ron who was also laughing.
Professor Hawthorn stood up and turned to the line of students.
"Alright," he said. "We must rid this area of any plants or trash. Please pick up anything that seems of a negative feel in the circle."
While Professor Hawthorn took a hand-held broom out of his robes and swept the circled area, the student pulled weeds and picked up stray parchment. Ginny took a broken quill from inside the circle. She looked up and watched Harry as she sat on the edge of the crate and kept pretending to almost fall in. Ron laughed while Malfoy grumbled to his buddies, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Everyone balance yourselves," Professor Hawthorn commanded, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. " This balance is to be found first within yourselves, second within the circle in which you celebrate and finally with the spiritual world to which you are connected. Let go of the day, week, month, life and live only in this present moment."
Ginny tried to focus on balancing herself, but she couldn't get her mind off Harry.
"This is a time of coming together and sharing," Professor Hawthorn explained. "You must have your integrity, discipline, intention, and responsibility."
Ginny wasn't even sure if she knew what Professor Hawthorn was talking about. It seemed almost like gibberish lost in the consuming thoughts of her mind.
"Whatever, whoever you believe in as a higher and good spiritual guidance in your life, call them to join us in the circle," the professor instructed as he knelt in the middle of he circle again. "Do not fear what will come."
Professor Hawthorn stabbed a knife in the middle of the circle, in front of where he knelt. He pulled the knife out and put it in his robes. In the hole, he dropped a rose petal, drops of water, and a small rune stone.
"Remove your shoes and jewelry," Professor Hawthorn told them.
Ginny slipped out of her shoes and the small blue ring she got for Christmas.
"Enter the circle in a clockwise direction from the East," Professor Hawthorn ordered.
The long line of students began to enter the large circle. Ginny glanced at Harry as she entered.
"Kneel and chant with me."
Ginny, along with the other students, dropped to her knees. She closed her eyes.
All the students began to chant:
"We begin.
A circle within a circle.
A life within a life.
A universe within a universe.
A moment is eternity.
Eternity is a moment.
I declare this circle to be mine!"
"Silently," Professor Hawthorn whispered, "ask your spirit guide what you came to ask."
Ginny though hard. What did she want to ask? She had so many questions. How would she get Harry to talk to her again? How would she keep Cho away from Harry? What was Cho going to do to Harry? When was Cho going to do it to him? How was she supposed to stop Cho? How could she break the spell that was over Harry? With all her confusion, the only question she could ask was "What do you want me to know?" And that is what she asked.
In the silence, a voice came to her. It was a small and airy voice that seemed to be so far away. It whispered:
"Follow the sun to the night.
Follow the glimmer in your sight.
Follow my words and all will come to light."
Ginny's eyes shot open in surprise. She had never had anything talk to her like that. She had been shown but never told. It freaked her out just a little.
"Oh, no," Professor Hawthorn moaned. "Ginny, you're off balance with the circle and you broke your contact with the spiritual world. You're thinking too much on the day, on life. Now, we have to do the ceremony all over again. Five points form Gryffindor."
Ginny had had to do ceremonies several times over in Study of Ancient Runes, but it was never her fault before. The other students glared at her.
"Professor Hawthorn," interrupted Amilia, "it's time for break."
"We must do a proper Moon ceremony Wednesday," Professor Hawthorn warned.
"Wednesday is the final," A blonde boy reminded.
"Well, then," Professor Hawthorn said, "I suppose you will not get the benefit of thanking the elements for your many questions. You're dismissed."
Amilia and Ginny started toward the castle for lunch.
"I didn't get an answer," Amilia told Ginny.
"What did you ask?" Ginny queried.
"I asked if Millicent Bulstrode will eat the entire last feast," Amilia giggled.
"No wonder you didn't get an answer," Ginny voiced.
"What did you ask?"
"Well," Ginny began, "it isn't what I asked. It's what I was told."
"You got an answer?" Amilia exclaimed. "What was it?"
"Whatever it was," Ginny said, "told me where to find the answers."
"Answers?" Amilia blurted. "We'll find everything out? Where?"
"Toward the sun until dark, then I'm supposed to follow some light," Ginny explained.
"How cool!" Amilia shouted. "Didn't I tell you if you didn't give up everything would be alright."
"You just said I wouldn't be a fool," Ginny corrected. "You didn't say anything about things being alright."
Amilia put her arm around Ginny.
"Don't you worry," She began, "We'll fix that git Harry Potter."
***************
Ginny took the invisibility cloak out from under her mattress. Amilia glanced out the hall and made sure no one was comming. Quickly, Ginny stuffed the cloak into her robes. Her and Amilia went down the stairs into the common room. Nobody seemed to notice the bulge in Ginny's robes. Ginny glanced back at Harry as they crawled out the portait hole. Harry was writing a report and didn't look up.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait till night?" Amilia asked.
"No," Ginny began. "I have to follow the sun."
"Don't loose that cloak, Gin," Amilia whispered, looking worried. "Besides the fact that Harry'd kill you, I don't want anything happening to you. Other then the normal dangers, there's You-Know-Who and Death Eaters in there. Be careful."
Ginny nodded as they got to the Entrence Hall. Amilia had started to cry.
"Don't worry, Amilia," Ginny said, "I'm going to be fine."
"Alright," Amilia cried. "But just in case you aren't, I wanted you to know something."
Ginny, sniffling, looked over at Amilia.
"Last year," Amilia began, "when you got all upset because someone had sprinkled rose petals on Harry's bed as a joke and Harry thought it was you. He was so embarassed that he had Ron tell you to leave him alone. Remember that?"
Ginny nodded, not wishing to be reminded of that day.
"It was me," Amilia admitted. "I did because I knew you didn't have the courage to. I didn't know he'd react like that."
"It's alright," Ginny told her. "Harry's not still upset about it so I have no right to be."
"You know what else?" Amilia asked.
"There's more?" Ginny gasped.
"You are the best friend I've ever had," Amilia voiced.
"And you're mine," Ginny whispered.
The two girl's hugged, tearing up a storm.
"Now, let's stop all this," Ginny ordered. "I'm going to be all right. I have the cloak. In have directions. I'm going to be all right."
Amilia nodded, wiping away her tears.
Ginny pulled the large front door open and left Hogwarts.
Ginny threw the cloak over her as she walked down the grounds. The sun was sinking behind the Forbidden Forest as she knew it was going to. She hurried down toward it. As she entered the forest, she gazed about for a light. There was none except for the sun, so she kept following. She followed until sun had gone from view, the night stars began to appear, and her feet fell like they were going to fall off.
Ginny felt lost. She was alone in the darkness and saw no light to follow. As she sat herself on a flat rock, she heard music. It was the humming of a woman who had a beautiful voice. Ginny looked around for such a woman but there was no person there. Instead she saw a yellow„green glow. It was faint, but Ginny could see it. As she followed the glow, the humming got louder. Ginny stoped and gazed in awe at what stood before her. It was the Rune Tree.
As in the drawling in Hogwarts: A History, the tree was tall and slender. The branches flowed outward and up, causing the appearance of the tree to look top heavy from the myriad leaves. Each leaf was a very distinct and beautiful color of green. Fireflies drifted about the top of the tree contently.
Ginny approached the tree, examining the symbols that were lined up the tree like a pant seam. Reading of the signs was difficult because they were not in a form of sentence or format of divination. It seemed to Ginny that it was just a line of all the symbols in no apparent order. She ran her fingers along the symbols feeling the perfectness of the carving.
"What does't thou seek?" A voice ethereal and feminine asked.
Ginny backed away from the tree as it's trunk became iridescent. As if the wood had turned to clay, it began to reform itself. The tree trunk contorted and shifted until it rested on a form. It was the form of a woman. The great mass of leaves stood on top her head, like hair. Her legs were fashioned as one and her toes were stretched out into the ground. Ginny thought her quite beautiful except for the dying bark that seemed to be pealing from her skin.
Pulling two branches down from the collection of leaves like long arms, the Rune Tree repeated, "What does't thou seek?"
"Seek?" Ginny asked. "Er..I wanted, I mean, I seek to find answers."
"Answers are only important when asked the right question," the tree replied.
"Huh?" Ginny said, gaping into the hollow eyes of the tree.
Here was her chance to find out anything she wanted to know. The problem was, Ginny wasn't sure what she wanted to know. She tried to focus on the problem. Cho Chang was bewitching Harry with the necklace of Gebo, supposedly. She had to be sure that all her suspicions were confirmed.
"Rune Tree," Ginny began, "did someone make a..a, er...a Gebo charm recently?"
The tree's dark eyes scanned Ginny over, "Define recently."
"Like," Ginny counted on her fingers, "twent-four years ago..or maybe less."
The tree blinked, saying, "A Gebo charm was made twent-three years, two months, and twent-six days from this date."
"Who made it?" Ginny blurted.
"One Ken Change came to my roots and carved out a round portion of my essence," the Rune Tree explained with some sadness in her voice.
"A portion of your essence?" Ginny echoed.
The tree pointed on of it's arm„like branched toward a spot just above ankle. A baseball„¼sized, round hole was roughly carved from her lower leg.
"Ken Change?" Ginny said, returning to the problem at hand. "How did he make a Gebo charm from your...wood?"
"Such a charm requires a certain incantation during the carving," the tree told Ginny. "This certain Gebo charm is not just a charm."
"It has a spell on it," Ginny anticipated.
"A most evil spell," the tree whispered. "A spell of dark magic. That charm should not have been taken."
The Rune tree closed her eyes.
"Er..Miss Tree," Ginny began, "how do I stop this charm's dark magic."
"It takes a great deal of selfishness and callous to use this charm," the Rune Tree voiced. "Such an act must be refuted by the opposite. One with a deep love and compassion for the person whom is under the spell must preform an act of endearment."
Ginny stared at the tree, not exactly sure what she was supposed to do. What did the tree mean by "act of endearment"? Ginny was about to ask this, but the tree continued.
"Without such an act, the spell will get stronger and the captive will loose his volition," the tree went on, leaves beginning to fall from it's plentiful hair. "It is very dismal when a being lives without volition. No agency. No purpose. No desire."
The leaves feel faster and more numerously. Ginny was being showered in leaves that seemed to wither at the touch of anything they feel upon.
"That charm should not have been taken," The Rune Tree said with an urgency. "It should not be worn. The use of it must cease."
The tree„woman's form began to distort and transform again. As her body slowly changed back to the shape of a tree, she looked at Ginny with pleading eyes. Just before her face sunk into the hard wood, she moaned, "Terminate the Gebo charm before it's too late."
The tree was a tree again. Ginny looked at where the face once was. She felt much like the tree seemed to. It filled her with sorrow to think about a person without free will. Ginny almost began to cry, thinking of Harry being that way. She had to get that necklace from Cho.
A/N: I just thought I'd mention that most of the characters don't belong to me. And also, I fudged up. I mixed around Rune meanings a bit so they would mean what I want. Don't take my rune definitions as fact or anything.