A glimmer within a trial

A/n I finally got this part done!! Thanks to all my reviewers. Hopefully fanfiction will let this story go up this time so I don't make a mess of itJ

A glimmer within a trial

Part xii

Everyone silently stood around the barking black dog. After a few minutes, the dog quit, and Bridgett's body slowly started to stir. She was breathing hard, and looked very exhausted. Finally, Ginny voiced the question aloud that they were all thinking.

"Did you do it?"

"I think so…yes, I believe I did!"

"Way to go Bridgett," Ginny called, throwing her arms around her old friend. "I knew you could do it."

The rest of the day was spent getting ready to go back to Hogwarts the next day, and celebrating the New Year. They planned to go to Dumbledore as soon as they returned to Hogwarts to plot out what to do next. That night they gathered around the living room with butterbeers and waited to welcome the New Year.

At around eleven, the room cleared out a little. Snape and Shelby were in the kitchen to make some 'snacks'. Sirius and Remus pried Liberty outside so they could talk about old times. A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione headed towards the library, but Ginny didn't think they were going to look up books this time. Ginny figured this would be the perfect time to find out what was on Harry's mind earlier that morning.

She excused herself from her conversation with Bridgett, and went to get Harry. He was sitting on the other side of the room, playing a game of chess with Kimberly.

"Kimberly, do you mind if I borrow your chess partner for a second?"

"Sure, but make sure you bring him back. I'm going to win this game."

"You win. I quit," Harry told her.

"I can't win by forfeit."

"Maybe Bridgett will finish for me then," he suggested.

They left Bridgett and Kimberly to play chess, and Ginny followed Harry into another room on the second floor. It was modeled much like the living room, but Shelby only used it in the Summer time because it did not have a fireplace. Ginny went to sit on a little red couch that was placed between two small chairs. Harry came to sit beside her. He opened his mouth about to speak, but closed it back up out of indecision.

"Okay Harry, you told me you had something to tell me, and it's been bugging me all day. You need to tell me what is wrong!"

"Er, nothing's wrong. It isn't important, just something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it Harry," she asked, grasping his arm.

He pulled a deck of exploding snap cards from his robes. "Do you want to play a game of cards?"

"That can't be all you wanted to tell me. What is the big secrete of playing cards?"

"Look, I just want to be alone with you for a little while. Is that so much to ask?"

"No, of course it isn't. I just thought you had something to tell me."

"I do, and I will. Just give me some time, please?"

Ginny gave in to play cards with him. She was having a hard time concentrating. Harry looked so disturbed about something. It really worried her. Sometimes she wished he would just say what was on his mind. Time must have gone by fast because before she knew it, Liberty was calling up to them telling them that the countdown starts in five minutes. Ginny got up to go downstairs, but Harry grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Wait, I need to tell you this now, before I lose my nerve."

"What is it Harry," she asked for the second time that night. He had now let go of her hand and was pacing around the room. Ginny could feel the worry from the pit of her stomach.

"I, er…Ginny, do you remember what I told you this summer?"

"Not really," she said, confused.

"I er…well, I …we um…"

"Harry, just spit it out." She was starting to get impatient. Something was defiantly bothering him and he obviously couldn't tell her.

"Well, we've been going out for almost a year now, and I er…I said this summer that, you know, I wasn't…but I am now, and I just wanted to tell you that…"

"Tell me what Harry?" She did not have the slightest clue what he was trying to tell her.

"I…"

"You guys better get down here, the countdown is beginning," Liberty yelled up again.

"We'd better go Harry," Ginny said hesitantly, walking down the stairs with Harry quickly on her heels. They arrived just in time for the beginning of the countdown.

"20…19…" the room called.

"Ginny, I need to tell you this," Harry whispered, pulling her into a corner so they were still in the presence of their friends, yet they could not hear them giving them some privacy.

"16…15…14"

"Out with it Harry," Ginny said slightly annoyed.

"12…11"

"Ginny, I er…"

"Not this again." She suddenly got a jolt in the pit of her stomach. "Harry, you're not trying to break up with me, are you?"

"6…5"

"No, not at all," he said, throwing his hands on his shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is that…"

"3…2"

"GinnyIloveyou," he said, swooping down to kiss her.

"1...HAPPY NEW YEAR…"

"What," she asked, stunned, after he pulled her out of his embrace. "Harry, I think I need to get my ears cleaned out. You'll never believe what I thought you just said."

"Believe it, you heard right," he whispered. He leaned down and kissed her again. For Ginny, it was the perfect start of the New Year. They stayed up a little longer celebrating, until all the butterbeers where gone. Ginny walked up the stairs to go to bed. She turned to Harry one last time, and said to him, "Harry, thanks for making this New Year so special to me. I love you too." With that, she bounded up the stairs and went to bed.

The next morning, the crew headed back to Hogwarts. Shelby and Liberty went to some hiding place with Sirius to wait for Dumbledore to issue the plan. That left the students with Snape. Needless to say, they did not have a very pleasant trip back. Snape kept sneering at them the whole way, only stopping to gripe about how he would rather be locked up in a cage than to be stuck with all the children. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, Snape marched them straight up to see Dumbledore.

Ginny gasped when she walked into his office. She wasn't amazed on the fact that Dumbledore was not there, after all, he could be anywhere around the school. Her shock came from the fact that the whole office was cleared out, including his desk. It was just an empty room.

No one spoke as they glanced around the office, and then at each other. Footsteps were heard going up the stairs to Dumbledore's office, and soon afterwards, Professor McGonagall appeared through the doorway.

"Where's Dumbledore," Harry asked frantically.

"Haven't you seen the Daily Profit this morning," McGonagall asked.

"We didn't have time to this morning, Professor. We were too caught up in getting back to Hogwarts," Hermione told her.

"What happened," Ginny asked the professor.

"The ministry has Dumbledore in content, it seems that they have found sound evidence that he has been in contact with Sirius Black."

A/n You can thank our ice storm for me getting this chapter out since I didn't have to work tonight!! I'll try to write faster, but I'll be gone all next weekend so I don't know when the next part will be out.