A/N: I don't really have anything to say.  Enjoy the chapter.  Cheers.

Disclaimer: I just realized that I haven't done one of these in a really long time.  Oops.  I should warn you that all these wonderful characters are not mine.  Promise.

Chapter 13 ~ A Golden Mirror

            The next day passed in a blur for Ginny.  It seemed as if her consciousness was expanding and time was contracting.  The years she had spent on Earth seemed a paltry few in comparison with the long ages a ghost was likely to see.  A day was little more than an eye blink and a year a mere trifle.  She wouldn't age – wouldn't change – for millennia, and would probably see Hogwarts crumble to the ground when magic was a thing of the past and the power of witches and wizards mere superstition.  For all she knew, she might be there when the world crumbled and dissipated into the vastness of space, and all she would have left to haunt would be the black void.

            She drifted in an abstracted lassitude, watching the lives of her friends as they scuttled about in unseemly haste.  But they had only a measly parcel of years while she had eternity to contemplate the frailties of life.

            Resurrection…was it really so desirable?  She floated in the common room, watching the petty quarrels, the silly jokes, the transient loves.  Nothing was permanent except death; why should she give up the security of her existence for the tribulations of life?

            The sun moved through the sky and Ginny floated without movement, her body, such as there was of it, ensnared in thought.  As darkness fell, her brother came into the common room to sit near her.  Her abstracted gaze grazed over him, not really registering his presence as anything other than another fragmentary bit of life.

            "Hullo, Ginny," he said quietly.

            "Hello," she replied in a distracted voice.

            "How are you?" Ron asked.

            "Fine," she said, her mind disinterestedly supplying the accepted response to the useless question.

            "What have you been doing all day?" he asked curiously.

            "Nothing," she said.

            "You sound like Fred and George when I'm getting in the way of one of their experiments.  They're so touchy about letting people see half-finished jokes," he grinned.  "Hey, d'you remember when I walked in on them when we were younger – they were making fake toe mold – and they decided to try it out on me?  I had green toes for six months and I couldn't wear sandals all summer.  And then there was the time they forced you into those stiletto heels that were cursed so that you'd trip every other step.  Mum just about killed them when you almost fell down the stairs.  And then there was the time when…" Ron went on, obviously lost in his memories of a time when their family had been whole and happy.

            Ginny listened at first with boredom but then with growing interest.  It was as if she had been frozen and her brother's memories were poring over her in a torrent of warmth, thawing the ice inside her.  Ron's voice soothed her and she began to remember why she had wanted to live.  All the things she had scorned so recently – love, joy, the ever-changing touch of humanity – were gifts beyond price.  The numbness faded from her heart and she felt again the stabbing pain of her separation from her family her friends…from Harry.  She felt again the bitterness of a revelation come too late and the bittersweet joy of love at long last requited.  She welcomed the pain; it was an affirmation of her humanity, as a tingling limb affirms that it will once again be functional, with time and patience. 

            When Ron's reminiscences trailed off, Ginny spoke in a halting voice of her own childhood memories and Ron listened quietly, sharing them.  She spoke until the tears pouring down her face choked her, and she was forced to stop.  Her sobs were the only sound in the room save the crackling of the fire, and even that seemed to dampen itself in respect for her grief.  She cried for what she had lost, for what she had found too late, and for the utter relief of feeling herself once again a human being.  The remoteness of her earlier thoughts brought a shudder to her skin, as if she was bathing in ice.  Ginny focused on the present with a concentration which was almost fierce; she would not lose herself again.

            Ron sat quietly, looking at her with an expression of almost desperate sympathy.  His hands twined in his lap as if he couldn't quite figure out to do with them and he shifted uncomfortably.  Ginny pulled herself together and stopped crying, if only to ease her brother's discomfort. 

            "Are – are you ok?" Ron asked hesitantly.  Ginny buried the pain resolutely and nodded. 

            "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, feeling proud that there was only a small tremor in her voice. 

            "Oh, well…ok.  Um, Hermione's supposed to go meet Malfoy soon.  Are you still feeling up to going with her?" Ron's expression indicated that he really hoped that she was still going or he might have to tie Hermione up and forbid her to go.  Ginny almost giggled but the depression still weighed her down too much for any levity. 

            "Of course, Ron.  I'm not going to let Hermione walk into the lion's den unprotected.  Or the serpent's lair, if you prefer.  Don't worry, she'll be fine.  What, do you think Draco's going to molest her or something?" Ginny said with heavy irony.  When Ron's expression said that that was exactly what he expected, Ginny growled in exasperation. 

            "Nothing is going to happen to her, Ron.  Trust me, ok?  I know what I'm talking about."

            "Since when did you get to be such an expert on Malfoy, eh?" Ron asked, but with less accusation than curiosity.

            "You could say that I've gotten inside his head recently," Ginny smirked and then flitted away through the wall, leaving Ron agape in her wake.

~*~

            Ginny found Hermione in the library, just as she had expected.  Harry was there as well, doing homework with half of his mind.  Ginny didn't know where the other half was, but it definitely wasn't in the library.  No one with a full mind would be dipping the wrong end of the quill in the inkbottle without noticing and then trying to write with the dry tip.

            Ginny waved to Hermione and then floated up to the distracted boy. 

            "You might want to try dipping the tip in the ink, dear," she whispered into his ear, and he jumped. 

            "Oh, hello, Ginny," he said quickly, then looked at his quill and blushed.  She giggled fondly and brushed an insubstantial kiss onto his cheek.  He smiled embarrassedly at her and then carefully dipped the correct end of the quill into the ink and rewrote the last line of his homework.  When he glanced back up at her, she winked saucily at him, determined not to let him know how upset she was at the moment. 

            "Are you ready to leave for our little rendezvous?" Ginny asked, turning to Hermione.

            "As ready as I'm ever likely to be," the older girl replied, closing her Ancient Runes book with a snap.

            "Come find me when you get back," Harry said to Ginny with a smile and a wink of his own.

            "Ok," Ginny agreed happily.  She'd never pass up time with Harry.

            Ginny and Hermione left the library, Hermione walking with her arms carefully crossed in front of her, as if she was cold.  When they were out of sight of Madam Pince, Hermione extracted the invisibility cloak which she had had concealed beneath her robes.  Once she had disappeared beneath it, Ginny led the way to the Slytherin common room where Draco was again waiting for them.

            Draco nodded curtly to Ginny and then again to Hermione as she appeared from underneath the cloak.  He wasted no time on formalities but instead got right to the point.

            "I know how to cast the spell now.  It may seem rather complicated at first, but really it's quite simple --" Draco said and launched into an explanation peppered with obscure terms such as antimagical vectors and irrational counterreflective charms.  Ginny was completely lost and she was very glad that she was not the one who had to understand this.  She left it with relief in Hermione's capable hands and, after the first five minutes, ceased to even listen. 

            Her mind drifted back to the events of earlier and the black depression descended upon her again.  What was wrong with her that she had, for that little while, not wanted to live again?  This was the second time she had come close to losing her grip on reality…what was wrong with her?  And, more importantly, how long would it be before she was lost irrevocably and there was no one there to bring her back?  She sighed forlornly, attracting no notice whatsoever from the two others, who were so deeply embroiled in their technical discussion that Ginny doubted a herd of wild elephants could have disturbed them.

            Ginny drifted in her dark thoughts until Hermione turned to her, the light of comprehension on her face. 

            "All right, I know how to cast the spell now," she said proudly. 

            "Do you know how to get around it?" Ginny said, sounding somewhat surlier than she had intended to.

            "Well…no," Hermione said with a strange look at Ginny.  "Are you alright, Ginny?  You look pale."

            Ginny burst out laughing, much to Hermione's consternation.

            "What's so funny?" Hermione said crossly.

            "Think about it.  You just told a ghost that she looks pale…" Ginny started giggling again, but there was a tinge of hysteria in it.  Hermione's mouth opened in an 'O' and then quirked unwillingly into a smile. 

            "So, seriously, d'you have any ideas on getting past that mirror spell?" Ginny said, seeing that she'd distracted Hermione from her question.  She really didn't want to lie to her friend and say that she was fine.  It was better to not answer at all. 

            Hermione immediately launched into a complicated explanation which Ginny halted with a frantic waving of her hands.

           "Hermione, I know you're brilliant, but that's just way over my head.  Dumb it down a little, ok?" 

           Hermione sighed with a long-suffering expression and said, "Ok, ok.  I think you're just being lazy and you could understand if you really tried…" Ginny glared at her and she backed off.  "Well, I don't know if it's going to work yet and I'll have to test it out on someone before I know, so I don't really know if I should say anything about it…" Ginny glared again.  "Well, ok, if you insist.  I think that a spell of sufficient strength should be able to shatter the spell just like a mirror shatters if you hit it too hard.  The only problem is getting a spell that powerful, because, as far as I know, nothing like that exists."

            "Well, then what use is it to us?" Ginny said, turning away in angry frustration. 

            "A lot of use," Hermione said soothingly.  "Ginny, are you sure you're ok?  You're being so strange tonight."

            "When am I not strange?  I'm a Weasley," Ginny replied, turning around with an ironic quirk of her lips.

            "You," Hermione said accusingly, "are dodging the question."

            "Yes," Ginny said unabashedly.  "Please, tell my why something we can't do is of a lot of use to us."

            "Because we can use it.  You just jumped to the conclusion that we couldn't and that's not like you," Hermione said, with a look that promised a heart-to-heart when they were alone.

            "Stop pestering her, Granger," Draco said suddenly.  "Sometimes people don't want to tell their secrets to all and sundry."

           Hermione glared at him but Ginny sent him a look of gratitude.  The help was appreciated, even if he might have said it in a slightly nicer way.  Draco sent her a small smile once Hermione's attention was back on Ginny and she returned it with a slightly lighter heart.  Maybe she was doing some good and Draco would mend his ways, at least a little…

           She turned her attention back to Hermione's explanation which seemed ready to turn into a lecture at any moment.  "Since the spell is acting like a magical mirror," Hermione prattled on, "it seems that it would have the same characteristic of magnification as a regular mirror, as well.  Thus, any spell cast on it is slightly stronger once it has been reflected.  This should allow us to create a spell strong enough to break through the spell itself.  The only problem is finding a way to 'catch' the reflected spell in order to send it back at the mirror to be reflected again."  Hermione turned back to Draco and asked, "D'you have any more ideas on that?"

           He shook his head slowly.  "It seems to me that any person trying to catch and hold a spell that powerful might get burned to ash before they had a chance to send it back.  It's not a power that I'd care to play with."

           Ginny sighed in dejected surety.  This plan wasn't going to work.  She might as well give up and go back to her abstracted consideration of the stupidity of life.  At least she hadn't been hurting then.

            "There has to be some way to do it," Hermione said frantically, noting Ginny's despairing expression. 

            "I've got an idea that's just in the back of my brain and it refuses to come out," Draco said, his voice thick with frustration. 

            "Let's outline what we have so far," Hermione said logically.  "Then maybe we can come up with a solution."  Draco nodded his agreement while Ginny just looked at Hermione, her eyes dark with unhappiness.

            "First, the mirror spell both reflects and intensifies spells," Hermione said.

            "That's still only conjecture," Draco added warningly.  Hermione ignored him.

            "Second, a spell of great enough power will shatter it," Hermione continued as if he hadn't spoken.

            "That is also unproved," Draco interrupted.  Hermione glared at him and then shot a glance at Ginny.  He followed her gaze and seemed to get the point, though Ginny didn't.  She roused from her apathy just enough to send bewildered glances at both of them. 

            "Third, we need a way to reflect the spell back into the mirror without incinerating ourselves," Hermione concluded heavily.

            "Why don't you just put another mirror spell around the first?" Ginny asked innocently.  Both Hermione and Draco gaped at her.

            "Ginny," Hermione said slowly, "that's brilliant."

            "The spell gets magnified twice as fast without any of us having to get near it," Draco said with something like awe in his voice.

            "And we'll be protected from it because of our mirror spell which will contain anything the broken mirror does," Hermione concluded, looking at Ginny with new respect.  "I'm certainly glad you came along, Ginny!  We could have been up half the night trying to figure out how to safely handle that much magic when we don't have to!"  Her grin of triumph was infectious and Ginny felt a smile tugging on her lips in response. 

           But even better than Hermione's smile was the knowledge that she had contributed something vital.  Innocent and un-thought-out as the question had been, it had moved the effort forward.  She might be dead, but she was not useless.  A larger smile spread across her face and the three of them stood in a circle, sharing in the feeling of triumph.

            "We should test it out," Draco said, remaining the voice of caution even in their accomplishment.  "We won't really know for sure until we do, and we don't want to find out it doesn't work when we try it on Lucius."  The two girls nodded their agreement and he went on, "I volunteer to pretend I'm Lucius and you can cast the spell, Granger, since we all know you're the best," he concluded with a mocking bow that seemed almost half-serious.  Hermione have him a funny look but didn't protest either the volunteering or the compliment.  Draco walked to the center of the room and spun what looked like a shimmering golden egg around himself.  It contracted around him until it coated his entire body and then vanished with a pop.

            "Alright," he said, "go ahead.  I'm ready."

            "Wait!" Ginny said just before Hermione cast her spells.  "What if it makes noise when it shatters?  We don't want people running down and finding out what we're doing."

           Hermione smiled ruefully.  "Right again.  What would we do without you, Ginny?"  With a quick flick of her wand, Hermione cast a silencing charm on the room's walls and then turned back to Draco with a look of fierce determination on her face.  Ginny smiled; if she were the spell, she would break just to avoid Hermione's wrath.

            "Finite Incantatem!" Hermione yelled and then another golden globe didn't so much spin itself from her wand as appear in a whirlwind and snap into place.  This one retained a shimmer of gold so that it's location easily discernable.

           The air between the two spells roiled and miniature thunderstorms grew, shot lightening at the ground, and then dissipated in seconds.  Strange blue and violet mists coiled along the ground and little winged demons and angels fought pitched battles in the air.  Then an explosion of golden light momentarily obscured Draco from sight.  Both Ginny and Hermione held their breath, hoping that he hadn't been hurt, and their ears, for the explosion created an awful din reminiscent of one hundred tubas badly out of tune.  The golden light separated into separate golden snowflakes and drifted to the ground, disappearing when it touched the floor, or possibly simply passing though it into the nether regions of the earth. 

           Inside the shimmering golden globe of Hermione's mirror, Draco lay unmoving on the carpet.  With a cry, Hermione dispelled the globe and rushed to him.  Just as she reached his side, his silver eyes popped open and he creakingly eased himself up on one elbow.

            "Are you alright?  Draco?" Hermione said with obvious distress.  "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

            "No, I'm just a little rattled," he said, shaking his head to clear it and then wincing.  "Well," he said, looking from one girl to the other.  "I'd say it definitely worked."

~*~

A/N: Well, true to prediction, it took me longer than I thought to finish this.  Even as we speak (or as I write) I should really be working on either one of two essays due on Monday.  But why should I want to do that?   So thank you to all my reviewers.

Temporary Insanity: Wow, you sure had a lot of ideas on mirror spells!  If I hadn't already known what I was going to do with it, your suggestions would have been extremely helpful…as if is, I almost wish I hadn't know so that I could have used your suggestions.  Thanks!

Bessorla: I have a deal for you.  I agree to nag you and you can agree to nag me and we'll be even.  Eh?  Of course, I can't nag you right now 'cause you just updated but…hell, why not?  Hurry up and update!  Hehehe….

Veldan: Why on earth would I ever give them a break?  No one ever gives me a break, so it's only fair.  Right?  Have fun with Lackey but not with homework!

Mike: Thanks, dearest.  I'll take a blessing from you any time.  Though I do find it strange that you reviewed the 10th and 11th chapters and not the 12th when it was already posted….but that's ok.

Pseudonym Sylphmuse: Thanks for the inundation of reviews!  Wow.  Very cool.  And I can see a little explanation is in order here.  The author's note that was posted as ch 10 was a mistake…a computer glitch.  At the time, my internet was down, so I gave the chapter I had written to my friend so that she could post it on her computer.  I am the one and only, all-powerful author!  Lol.  But really, I'd never let anyone else tamper with my baby.  And Liandra has wings as a ghost because she had them when she was alive.  She's not human.  I guess I didn't make that very clear.  Oops.  Thanks again!

Slayerjenn: Thanks a lot, and I'm planning some more H/G scenes soon.

Silver Witch: I'm glad I wasn't the only one with posting problems too.  It had me in a dither for almost 2 days until I got it working.  Or, more accurately, my boyfriend got it working.  What is it with guys and machines?  I think there's an unwritten law that he can get anything to work that I can't.  Thanks for the review!