A/N: Well, here 'tis, and it's not easy getting it to you. I don't have an internet connection anymore, so…here I am, giving the chapter to my faithful friend Veldan to post for me, bless her heart. Special special thanks to such a wonderful and selfless friend who makes it possible to me to supply my readers with their tenth dose of ghostly goodness.
Yes, well, the first time this was posted, the chapter ended right about…here. Veldan, I love you dearly, but what the hell did you do to the rest of my chapter??? Good thing I got my internet back tonight…
Chapter 10 ~ The Guardian of the Sword
Ginny rested on the shadows inside the heavy, red velvet of Harry's bed curtains, watching his face in the steady blue glow which she radiated. His face looked older, wiser, almost otherworldly. It wasn't the face of a boy of sixteen but rather the face of a man in the middle of a war, steadfast and certain of victory. She sighed and thought of herself, nothing but a little, redheaded girl. She was younger in years, younger in spirit, and younger in mind than Harry had ever been and she felt that chasm between them now more keenly than she ever had before. And now, even worse, she would stay fifteen forever while he grew and matured and lived his life. What chance, truly, had their mad plan of working? Despair gripped her heart and she left Harry in the shadows to soar aimlessly through the halls.
The night was eerily quiet and she saw no one in the halls, not even a hungry first year attempting to find the kitchens. The other ghosts avoided her, though she didn't know why, and the solitude and silence of the halls made her want to wail and rattle things, like the ghoul in the attic had done at home. Home….this was her home now and would be for the rest of time. She flew faster, her lank, transparent locks whisked behind her, paying no attention to where she was going.
The shadows reached for her and the air itself seemed to be crying a mournful dirge…but it wasn't the air. The sound came from somewhere ahead of her, and she moved forward more circumspectly, curious in spite of her black mood. She drifted down a spiraling ramp lined by white marble columns and tiled in light blue. The farther down she went, the darker the marble became and the grayer the tiles were. By the time the path leveled out, her eyes rested on black marble columns and tiles of dull ash gray. The path opened out into a large hall with a dry pool in the center of it. Tiles on the floor and walls were cracked and chipped and the sides of the pool were caked with dried scum. On one wall, between the columns, there was a large portrait of a young man with black wings and sad eyes. When he saw Ginny, he opened his wings wide and then furled them around him like a shield against the world. The desperate sobbing echoed around the room, bouncing from wall to wall and ringing in Ginny's ears.
There…in the far corner, a bluish glow trembled and moaned. Ginny approached it cautiously, ready to flee at the least sign of hostility. As she drifted closer, the glow defined itself into shivering feathers enclosing their owner in much the same way as the black wings of the man in the portrait had done. Their transparent luminescence matched Ginny's own and a small gasp escaped her lips. Here was a Hogwarts ghost whom she had certainly never met.
At Ginny's gasp, the ghost's sobs stopped abruptly and a wide, frightened eye peeked from behind one of the wings.
"Ummm…hi?" Ginny said uncertainly to the ghost, wondering what might happen next.
For a moment, the only response was the continued staring of that one eye, but then a hesitant "Hi," emerged from behind the glowing wings. The voice sounded young and high, like the voice of a child.
"What's your name?" Ginny asked gently, trying to be friendly and unthreatening.
"What's yours?" the child shot back suspiciously. The tentative smile faded from Ginny's lips to be replaced with uncertainty.
"My name's Ginny Weasley," she said.
"Oh," was her reply. "It's you."
Ginny gaped for a moment and then floundered mentally until she recovered the power of speech.
"What d'you mean, it's me? What do you know about me?"
"Oh, well…" the girl-child said, lowering her wings and standing straight to face Ginny, "I just heard some things…here and there." The measuring look bestowed upon Ginny made her suspicious.
"What exactly did you hear?" Ginny said, her voice thick wish distrust.
"Oh, just…things…" the girl said, fanning her wings in an attitude of complete disinterest. Her eyes twinkled mischievously when she looked at Ginny, however.
"Oh, well it can't be very interesting, then, if it's just things," Ginny responded, faking a similar boredom.
"Oh, but it's very interesting," the girl said, in an abrupt change of mind. "Very, very interesting."
"I don't think so," Ginny said with a yawn. She looked the girl over disdainfully. "In fact, I'm getting rather bored now, so I think that I'll leave."
The girl paled, though how she managed to do that with her blue-white complexion, Ginny didn't know. "No, no, no, don't leave! I'll tell you, just don't leave,"
"Well, go ahead, and let's see if you can keep my interest," Ginny said, feeling sympathetic to the girl's obvious loneliness, but unwilling to totally excuse the hard time she'd been given.
"I heard the other ghosts talking. They don't like me very much, 'cause I was Dominated and I guess I'm not good enough for them or something…but I was listening to a conversation and I heard them talking about a new ghost who didn't know her place. Said she thought she was still alive. Spent all her time hanging around living people and didn't stay properly with the dead. Said she thought she was too good for the dead. Even said she had plans to go back to being alive. And they said…" the winged ghost giggled, "They said you had a living boyfriend."
A hurt had been growing inside Ginny as she listened to the accusations which were so patently false, but she was temporarily distracted by something the ghost had said early on.
"Dominated? What's that mean?" Ginny asked, wary of looking ignorant and foolish, but unable to subdue her curiosity. The girl sighed deeply and gave Ginny a long-suffering look before answering.
"Dominated is when a ghost was killed with Avada Kedavra and their murderer decides to keep control of them. I guess I'm the first Hogwarts ghost with the affliction, so the others avoid me. It's like they think I'm contaminated or something, even though I'm stronger now than they'll ever be, in life or death…" her voice trailed off in bitterness and Ginny understood her loneliness even more fully. Here was someone who was just like her…
"Will you tell me now what your name is?" Ginny asked in a more gentle tone than she had been using. She got another look of suspicion for her pains, but chose to ignore it.
"Why're you so desperate to get my name?" the girl asked bitterly. "It's not as if you'll ever speak to me again, now that you know about Domination."
"Of course I will. It doesn't bother me that you're Dominated, as long as it doesn't bother you that I am, too." Ginny had to force that confession out, and it sounded rather breathless and rushed even to her ears. The other ghost just gaped at her.
"You too…? No. That's not true." The girl's glare was full of malice. "What do you really want from me?"
"A friend," Ginny whispered, feeling the pain of her own situation in the girl's desperate bitterness. "Someone who understands and doesn't avoid me."
The little girl looked at her curiously, fanning her wings behind her, bewilderment clear in her eyes. After a long pause, she nodded slowly.
"My name was Liandra Trevoy when I was alive. As a ghost, they've called me the Winged Demon." Liandra made a face. "I couldn't get a pretty name like the Gray Lady, no…just because I was enslaved by demons they decide to believe that I'm one as well. You'd think they'd know better."
"Well, I think Liandra is a lovely name, and I certainly don't intend to call you the Winged Demon! That is pretty foolish of them not to know the difference. After all, I'm the newest ghost around, and I can tell you're not a demon."
Liandra smiled with surprised delight at Ginny's support and nodded enthusiastically.
"Liandra…what is this place?" Ginny asked, looking at her surroundings again. "It's beautiful in a sad, despairing sort of way, but I can't imagine why this place is here."
"It used to be the Hogwarts swimming pool when I was enrolled here," Liandra replied. "We used to come down here and splash around and swim and we had the most wonderful times. It was so beautiful then and it wasn't at all sad…it's changed, you see. The room became sad when the children stopped coming to visit and so it changed its colors. It was so light and beautiful and I'd put a spell on my wings so that I could swim without getting my feathers wet. Then I'd fly up to the ceiling and dive down into the water…ooh, it was fun. But then Will drowned and nobody would come near the room." Liandra lapsed into silence.
"Somebody drowned here? That's awful…no wonder no one comes down here anymore. But why would he drown? Why didn't someone save him?" Ginny queried, thinking of levitating spells.
"He didn't want anyone to save him," Liandra whispered, remembered sorrow clear in her voice. "He wanted to drown, so he did. That's him, right there," She pointed to the portrait on the wall, the young man still enveloped in his black feather cape. "I painted it for him, after he drowned. He always wanted to have wings, so I gave them to him." Liandra sighed sadly.
"It's a beautiful painting," Ginny said, feeling boorish for bringing up a subject which was so obviously painful.
"It's not half of what he deserved. He would have been famous if he'd grown up a bit more. He was the best student Hogwarts ever had!" The small girl's chin jutted aggressively, daring Ginny to challenge the statement. Ginny decided not to take the challenge, under the circumstances. She somehow doubted that this mysterious Will could have been better at spells than Hermione, braver than Harry, or more fun than Ron, but didn't want to argue with the determined girl defending her long-dead friend.
"I couldn't help but notice that you weren't very happy when I came down here," Ginny said, changing the subject. "D'you want to talk about it?"
"You'll laugh," Liandra said, the look of suspicion back in her eyes.
"I wouldn't," Ginny said, adopting a tone of injury. "I would never, not when you were to upset about it."
Liandra looked at her for a moment more, but then sighed and seemed to surrender.
"I don't have a purpose anymore. Now that the sword has been claimed--"
"The sword? You were the one guarding Harry's sword!" Ginny gasped in revelation.
"You know the sword bearer?" Liandra asked in a similar tone of amazement. "Who is he?"
"It's Harry Potter. He's my so-called 'living boyfriend'," Ginny said, her mouth twisting wryly at the memory of the ghosts' condescending conversation.
"Harry Potter…" Liandra said, rolling the name off her tongue as if she tasted it. "Both my savior and my curse."
"Why your curse?" Ginny asked curiously. "How can freeing you from whoever was controlling you be bad?"
"I don't have anything to do anymore," Liandra explained. "My purpose is gone. I thought that once the sword had been either claimed or protected, the Lord Ayshra would destroy me, or if he was feeling generous, release me to go on to the afterlife. But he didn't. He released me and left me here. And what is there for me here? I'll spend the rest of eternity being shunned by the other ghosts and gawked at by new students. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to talk to…" Liandra sounded thoroughly depressed by her lot.
"Well, you can always talk to me," Ginny said cheerfully, trying to bring the other girl out of her sorrow. "I'll be here for just as long as you will."
Liandra looked at her askance. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
"What do you mean?" Ginny replied, aghast. "I meant every word of that."
"And so did I. You'll be leaving, if your boyfriend has anything to say about it."
"How did you know what he's trying to do?" Ginny said suspiciously. "I thought you didn't know him."
"He's the sword bearer," Liandra shrugged, as if that explained everything.
"Yes? And…?" Ginny raised one eyebrow in inquiry.
"He's not going to lose you to death when he has the power to bring you back. He's not that kind of person. No sword bearer is. That's why they're sword bearers."
"Oh," Ginny said, her eyes wide. Obviously there was more to this whole sword thing than she'd thought. Liandra merely shrugged again.
"Anyway, you've got your living friends and I've got my memories. You should go back to them, you know. You shouldn't get too used to being dead."
"I have a better idea, Liandra. Why don't you come and meet my living friends, and then you can remember what it is to be alive. I don't think I'm likely to forget, but you…" Ginny's voice trailed off.
"Why would they want to meet me? I'm a ghost…" Liandra sounded scornful and derogatory.
"They went to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party once. I don't think that they're likely to refuse to meet you. And they do hang out with me on a regular basis. I don't think they're going to discriminate because you're a ghost. Come on, what's the worst that can happen?" Ginny wheedled. "Come on, we can go to the Gryffindor common room while we wait for them to get up."
"Well…" Liandra said, her resistance weakening in the face of promised companionship. "I suppose it can't hurt."
"Nope," Ginny replied cheerily. "Follow me." Ginny floated toward the passage through which she'd come, glancing back to make sure that Liandra followed. She did, albeit with an expression of reluctance on her face. Ginny threw her an encouraging smile before speeding up.
"What house were you in?" Ginny asked over her shoulder. Liandra sped up and floated even with Ginny before she answered.
"I was in Ravenclaw, of course. Where else would I go with these?" she asked facetiously, flapping her wings.
"True, true," Ginny said, sharing a smile with the small girl.
"If you don't mind my asking…" Liandra trailed off, glancing at Ginny for reassurance. Ginny nodded, glad that the girl was going to keep up the conversation.
"Well, how did you die? And why are you Dominated?"
Ginny took a deep breath to steady herself. Memories of the night she died tended to unbalance her already shaky emotions. Steeling herself, she proceeded to tell Liandra about the night when she, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had snuck out into Hogsmeade and straight into Voldemort's trap. She ended up having to explain quite a lot about Voldemort, since Liandra had been out of touch with the world for hundreds of years.
"As for why I'm Dominated…well, I really couldn't say. I didn't even know what Domination was until you told me. Harry had a theory, but other than that, it seems to be lost knowledge in this day and age. Is there any way I can…fight it?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"Well, I fought it. It wasn't supposed to be possible, but I did it, so it must be."
"How?" Ginny said with a painful eagerness.
"I…don't really know all that clearly. At first when the Domination was in effect, it was just like going to sleep. But then I became more aware of what was going on, and it was as if I dreamed it. And finally I was able to…sort of erect a barrier between the sleep and my mind. And if I pushed it forward, I was less under control. If I got it all the way to the front of my mind, I was free. D'you see?"
Ginny shook her head in bewilderment. "No, I don't, really. I can relate to the going to sleep part, though. That's how it felt for me. But…"
"But it took me hundreds of years to resist. You need it faster if it's going to do any good at all. I'll see what else I can remember and let you know," Liandra said with fierce determination. Ginny nodded her thanks and they continued on their way in silence.
The halls were very quiet in the early morning stillness. They passed the occasional portrait whose occupants slept with a faintly heard snore. One hugely fat and bearded monk snored so badly that his frame vibrated against the wall. The suits of armor shifted their weight restlessly, creaking irritably, but no human life stirred. The two ghosts passed unremarked upon through Hogwarts' halls.
When they reached the Gryffindor common room, the fire flared up brightly for their benefit. Ginny and Liandra curled up in front of it to watch its flickering flames, and, grateful of the appreciation, it added touches of bright green and brilliant blue to it's flickering crimson and orange. They talked of inconsequentials and traded memories of their lives until the sun rose and the first student began to stir in the dormitories above.
~*~
A/N: Ick, I have to call my friend to get the names of all my reviewers. Thanks, all!
Domino84: Thanks, and I'm glad you find Draco realistic. I was kinda resigned to making him unrealistic, since I couldn't see a way to really do realism, but I'm glad it worked anyway! As for the other Weasley's…thanks for pointing that out. I was planning to take care of that in this chapter, but I got sidetracked. Soon.
Bessorla: Thanks for trying to help with the plot, but I've already got a plan for a larger plot…joy of joys, it's so complicated. Oygh. Maybe if you ask nicely, I'll discuss it with you, but I'm not gonna spoil it for the rest of my readers. :-P
Temporary Insanity: Nah, nah, nothing so deep as that. I just like ghosts and demons and such. Though a dragon animagus is an intriguing idea…but not for this story. Glad you liked the chapter!
Morgan: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Pseudonym Sylphmuse: Apparently I only skim things as well, if it took my this long to figure out I was spelling it wrong! You're very welcome, and thanks for reading!
CelticKnight: Well, I had to impose on a friend to get it posted, but I did, and all for you and my other wonderful readers. I apologize for not being able to notify you immediately about the post, but…as I said before, Internet is down. Next time! Promise!
Texas Emma: Thanks and glad you liked it!
Silver Witch: Thank you, thank you…though if you ask some other people, they say I don't update often enough…lol.
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