Bringing Harry Home
Chapter 1
Four years after Ginny's graduation from Hogwarts...
Ginny sighed as she hung her head in worry.
It's been six days already since her brother, Ron, disappeared, and she was getting quite worried.
Of course, Ginny knew exactly where he was. It was all too much of a coincidence not for it to be. He was obviously with Lord Voldemort...and Harry. Ginny shuddered at the thought of her actually having a crush on one of the three most powerful Death Eaters in the world.
Nobody had expected the legendary Harry Potter to be a Death Eater when he grew up. Most likely the opposite, actually. But whatever turned him against the Dark side obviously won. Along with Draco Malfoy and Lord Voldemort, he was one of the names few utter without fear or revulsion. And to think that once, his name was spoken with the most joy and thankfulness from all the wizards and witches.
Draco Malfoy, now that's a totally different story. Ginny, and just about everybody else, always knew that he would turn out the way he was. A murderous, sniveling little handsome prat who loved to hurt people. Not that he wasn't that in the beginning.
A sudden clatter of pots and pans followed with a string of very strange cursing distracted Ginny from her thoughts. She looked around. "George? Fred?"
"It's Fred, Ginny. And why in tarnation do you like the kitchen with the lights off?" a muffled voice said.
"I was thinking about Ron," said Ginny.
Fred flicked on the lights, and walked over to hug his little sister. "Aw, it'll be okay, Ginny. I don't think they would kill him...not Harry, at least...I hope..."
"You are not very good at comforting people," said Ginny.
Fred flashed a fake smile. "I am good at telling jokes. Wanna hear one?"
Ginny shook her head. "I'll pass." She sighed. Why did they want Ron? Ginny thought. And another thing that frightened her was the fact that the attacks were getting closer and closer to London, to Hogwarts, and to the Burrow.
She sighed. "I think I'm going to go to the shelter. Need to get my thoughts together."
Fred's eyebrows shot up. "It's three o' clock in the morning, Gin."
Ginny waved him off as she took her coat and walked out the door.
"Be careful!" called Fred.
~~~~~~
"Yo, Ginny!" said Isabel Wisteria, a local volunteer at the Magical Shelter. "Hurry up and get your stuff ready! There's been another attack."
Ginny shivered as she threw on her white uniform and gloves and rushed to follow Isabel.
"What happened?" gasped Ginny as they ran quickly through the maze of halls.
Isabel shook her head. "You-Know-Who and his two companions struck right outside of London."
"How many?" asked Ginny apprehensively.
"About two hundred. It's an absolute massacre out there. Only about sixteen were found alive. Five of those were brought here."
Ginny shuddered, and grabbed a clipboard from the hallway. She looked down at the name.
Cho Chang.
Oh dear God, Ginny thought. I can't do this. She pressed her hand to her forehead, and leaned against the wall.
"Ginny?" asked a worried Isabel. "You okay?"
Nodding, Ginny walked toward Room 131. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the knob and pushed the door open. Closing the door behind her, Ginny walked cautiously toward the unmoving lump of the bed.
Ginny's hand went for her mouth to cover her scream as she stole a look at Cho. Her chest was burned really badly, pieces of skin hanging from a violet pulp of a body. Tears filled Ginny's eyes as she looked at Cho's face, which was swollen to a humongous size. Scratches and tears ran from her forehead to the base of her neck.
"Mommy?" whispered Cho. Her eyelids were swollen shut. "Is that you? Mommy?"
Tears poured forth from Ginny's eyes.
"Mom? I'm hurt. Somebody came and hurt me. Please, Mom, make the hurt go away. Please..." rasped Cho.
Healing was a very powerful tool, but it took time to complete. Ginny sat down by the bed, and said softly, "Cho? It's me, Ginny. Remember me? I'm going to heal you, okay? Just lie still and all this will be over."
Many people have told Ginny that her voice had powers of their own. One reason why the shelter had wanted her was because of her soothing voice that could calm down anyone. Cho's body relaxed and Ginny placed her hands a few inches above Cho's body, and started to sing.
*****
Once Cho was almost back to her normal look and asleep, Ginny placed another blanket around her and slowly crept out the door. There, she met up with Isabel.
"Hey," greeted Isabel. "How was your first one?"
Ginny shook her head. "I knew her from school, and...it was the worst I've seen in a long time."
"Yeah, same here," sighed Isabel. "Well, we can't dwindle. Next customer it is."
"Oh boy," muttered Ginny as she took the next clipboard. Please, don't let it be someone I know, she thought. Of course, it was very unlikely, since London was full of Hogwarts formers. She peeked a glance down at the paper.
Lauren Frost.
Releasing a little sigh of relief, Ginny braced herself this time before entering Room 72.
However, as she approached the bed, Lauren started to sing.
"Frostie the Snowman..."
Ginny shivered at the eeriness of her voice. "Lauren?" she asked quietly.
"No! Don't come any closer!" shouted Lauren as her body flew to a sitting position.
Shock rippled through Ginny as she stared at the girl. Lauren's blonde hair was disheveled, and she had one green eye and one blue. But her skin...Poor girl, Ginny thought as she stood her ground.
Someone had played tic-tac-toe on Lauren's skin. Xs and Os filled the little squares that were drawn with burnt lines.
Ginny tried again.
"Lauren?"
"My name is not Lauren!" screeched Lauren. The girl was obviously in some state of insanity. "It's Frost! Frostie! Frostie!" Then Lauren proceeded to scratch herself fractically. Blood started to flow from the unhealed wounds.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, thought Ginny. Before Lauren could do any more harm to herself, Ginny ran to the cabinets and pulled out a needle. Telling herself that this was for Lauren's own good, she grabbed Lauren's arm and pierced her skin.
Within seconds, Lauren was asleep.
Ginny sighed as she once more placed her hands over the body and started to sing.
*****
"Isabel, I don't think I can do this anymore," said Ginny with a grimace. Holding her stomach, Ginny walked over to the counter.
Isabel gave a weak smile. "It'll be okay...You wanna take the last one?" She held out the last clipboard and gave Ginny a pleading look.
"Alright," mumbled Ginny as she headed toward the room. She looked down at the paper.
Hermione Granger.
Great, she thought. Isn't Hermione the editor of The Daily Prophet? Pondering this thought, Ginny walked into the room and expected to see Hermione on the bed, possibly either burnt like Cho or scratched to near death like Frost.
What Ginny had not expected was Hermione pacing the floor like a madwoman, looking quite normal.
"Hermione?" whispered Ginny.
Hermione spun around on one bare heel, and stared at Ginny with surprise. "Ginny? Oh my gosh! You gotta get out of London," she spat out quickly.
Ginny chuckled nervously. "Ehh...Glad to see you too, Hermione." Truth is, Ginny had always been trying to get out of London, but with the shelter and everything, things were kinda rough.
Shaking her head, Hermione walked up to her. "You don't understand, Ginny. Harry's after you."
Ginny frowned. "You know, seven years ago, I would have been very happy to hear that."
"Stop trying to be funny, Ginny," snapped Hermione. "This is serious." She started to pace again. "Ginny, he's after you. He's got Ron." Here she took a deep breath. "And I know where they are."
*****
