A glimmer within a trial

A/n: Well, Spring Break is over, and I'm literally getting plagued with homework!! Sorry this is such a short, uneventful chapter, but I'm getting closer to the actual trial.

A glimmer within a trial

Part xiv

Ginny awoke the next morning, surprised that no one else was awake yet. 'Oh well,' she thought. 'I can just take a little rest until everyone else wakes up.' She turned to her other side so she was facing the door, which was creaked open just a crack. She could smell freshly brewed coffee and French toast in the air. Curious, she finally dragged herself out of bed to follow the tempting smells. She followed them, and ended up in a little kitchen complete with a tiny stove and refrigerator. The woman, still cloaked in heavy robes looked over to her.

"Good morning. Aren't you up early this morning?"

"Yes I'm usually the last person up, but the smells of breakfast rousted me out this morning."

"I used to be a late sleeper too. When you have lived here though, you don't really take on a sense of time. You just sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry, and get up when you can't possibly sleep any more."

"So what do you do here?"

"A whole lot of nothing. It's peaceful in this part of the woods. Gives you a lot of time to think." Then, the woman let out a small chuckle. "You know, until I saw you come out here this morning, I could've sworn last night was a dream."

"How long have you lived here and where did you come from?"

"I've lived here for almost fifteen years. Enough about me, I want to hear about you."

"What about me," Ginny asked.

"What are you doing here and most of all, how did you get here?"

"I can't tell you what we're doing. I'm sorry, it's sort of a secrete," Ginny said guiltily. "As for how we got here, I wish I knew myself"

"What is your name?"

"Ginny…Ginny Weasley. What is yours?"

"I told you before," the woman said sadly, "I have no name."

"Is there anything I can call you…"

"Ginny? How on Earth did you manage to get out of bed this early," Harry teased, taking a seat beside her.

"Shut up and eat," she said, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth. "This is really good," she said to the woman.

"Thank you." Ginny noticed that the lady kept steeling estranged glances at Harry. "What is your name boy?"

"Harry Potter," he grinned, extending his hand.

"Harry Potter? The Harry Potter?"

"I take it you've heard of me. Not a big surprise really, being the boy who lived and all," he mumbled.

"Oh! Yes, yes, the boy who lived. You survived the attack from You-Know-Who," she said almost confusedly.

"I think you've been living away from civilization a bit too long lady," Liberty said, walking into the room. Everyone seemed to be getting up and piling into the kitchen. Sirius waltzed through in his dog form. "You have heard the story of how Harry defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Correct?"

"Yes, yes. Of course I have! It's just been a while," the woman answered. All throughout breakfast, she kept glancing from one to the other, her glance even flashing on Sirius a couple times. "You can have some toast too doggie. Snuffles, right?" Sirius barked in reply.

"Have we met before," Lupin asked the woman, "your voice sounds very familiar."

"That's silly, tones of people probably sound like me," she stated.

"Yes, you're right. So…do you mind if we go into the storage room and have a quick chat before we go on our way," Remus asked.

"No," she said awkwardly, but please be quick. It is very dangerous in the forest if you don't know proper survival methods. You should leave here as soon as possible."

"Don't you get lonely and scared all by yourself," Ginny blurted out.

"No, not anymore," she said sadly. "Now, hurry." They followed Remus into the storage room while the woman stayed behind to clean up the dishes. Being the last one in, Ginny pulled the door closed behind her.

The plan was simple; they were going after Wormtail, this afternoon. It was decided that Bridgett should be accompanied while she went out to possess him. The problem was, they could not agree on who would go with her, and where the others would go.

"I think I should go with Bridgett. The rest of you should go back to Hogwarts."

"No way you're going alone Harry."

"If he's going. I'm going too."

"How will we get back to Hogwarts without the map?"

"How can we find Wormtail without the map?"

"I don't think Harry should go. He's just a kid."

"He needs to learn."

"WILL YOU GUYS PLEASE SHUT UP!" They all turned their faces towards the open storage room door, where the woman had her fists balled up for energy directed towards yelling at them. "Now, I wasn't listening to your whole conversation, and even most of the conversation I did hear, I didn't understand. However, if the rest of you need to stay here for a while as some of you finding this Wormtail, feel free. It does get lonely here sometimes."

"Are you sure we aren't a burden," Shelby asked carefully.

"No, not at all." She looked around at them and spoke in a jaunty voice, "You seem to have lost a dog and gained a human."

Ginny gasped. In all the commotion they seemed to have forgotten about Sirius being Sirius, and not Snuffles. Luckily, the woman did not seem to recognize Sirius as an escaped convict. In fact, she did not look very startled at all.

"Yeah. He was, er, the dog's master. He came to get his dog…and, well…he stayed here to help us," Ron explained rashly.

"And what happened to the dog?"

"The dog? The dog decided he was sick of the forest and went home."

"Ah, yes. Go on, continue your conversation."

At these words, the room once again broke out in argument. "Fine, Harry and I will go with Bridgett. The rest of you should stay here," Sirius concluded. The rest opened their mouths to protest, but Sirius hushed them saying, "That's final."

"But shouldn't Bridgett stay here? She doesn't look to well, I think she's coming down with something," Hermione said, nodding her head towards the woman, who was still standing in the doorway. Everyone looked at Hermione like she lost her mind, so she turned instead to the woman. "Miss, could you please bring Bridgett some water. She seems to be getting pale."

As the woman left Hermione explained herself. "Bridgett will need to leave her body here, where it's safe. If anything should happen too her…"

"Hermione is right. If anything were to happen to my body, I'd be stuck as Wormtail forever." Ginny shuddered thinking of being stuck in Wormtail's body.

Once they got everything settled, Ginny went with Hermione to put Bridgett's limp body to bed. They then continued on into the kitchen to see Harry and Sirius off. Ginny walked up to Harry and gave him a hug, adding in a few encouraging words. "Don't worry. Just think, in another day or so, Sirius will be found innocent and Wormtail will be rotting in Azkaban. Good luck Harry."

They all took their turns at hugs and handshakes. Even Liberty enveloped Harry into a big hug, and hesitated when she straightened up and became face to face with Sirius.

"Oh, all right. But remember that it is not going to be a habit," she said, pulling Sirius into a hug.

"Gee, I'm heartbroken," he countered.

"Good. You deserve to be."

"Children," the woman chimed. "You better go before it gets dark out. Remember it is very dangerous out there." With one last goodbye, Sirius and Harry took off. The hut got a lot quieter after they left. They were all waiting, horrified of what could happen to Harry and Sirius in the forest. The more time that went by, the more worried they got. Ginny tried passing the time by playing a game of Exploding Snap. It wasn't much of a distraction to her, with the exception of during the third round, when Ron accused Hermione of cheating. Ginny knew that Ron knew perfectly well Hermione wasn't cheating. It was almost like he just started the argument for Ginny's sake, trying to get her mind off Harry, Sirius, and Bridgett. It wasn't working.

"I wish they'd just get back already," Ginny said aloud.

"Don't worry dear. They'll make it back safely," Shelby said.

"I wouldn't be to sure about that. Do you know what this forest is packed with? They'd be lucky…" Snape stopped as Shelby shot him a look.

"They'll be fine," she stated.

"Besides, Sirius and I have been through the forest several times when we were at Hogwarts," Remus said with a slight chuckle.

"Yes, Sirius has always had some sort of death wish," Liberty giggled. She stopped as the concern was spreading from Ginny's face to Hermione and Ron's. "I mean, when he was in Hogwarts, not now."

"I think what these guys are trying to say is that Sirius has had plenty of experience in the forest," the woman said, speaking for the first time since Harry and Sirius left. "I've lived in this forest for a long time, and I survived. They'll be back soon."

About that time, the door opened…

A/n Like I said, very uneventful. I just had to get passed this part. Please review, I love the inputJ