CHAPTER 3: Ginny's flight
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After Ginny's confrontation with Ron, she'd found herself hiding in the garden. She was too afraid to show her face in her house; that they now knew something was wrong with her, and she didn't like feeling helpless.
But she finally decided, after two hours of sitting and feeling sorry for herself, that she needed to go inside.
The sun shone brightly behind her, making her bright red hair glow.
She trudged miserably toward the door to the Burrow and carefully made her way back inside, making sure she was quiet so as not to get caught.
If anyone besides Ron knew that she'd been outside crying and feeling sorry for herself, she'd die of shame. She wanted to be seen as stronger than that. She was terrified of the thought of her whole family confronting her, and demanding to know what the matter was. She just wasn't ready for the horde of questions that she knew her family was dying to ask.
George looked up from his Quidditch magazine, which was lying open on his lap, as she walked into the brightly-lit room. The light from outside streamed into the room, leaving patches of light on the carpeted floor and the couch that he was lounging on.
"Gin? You all right?" he asked with concern.
"Fine," she said gruffly, and disappeared on the stairs, not daring to look behind her.
She shut the door to her room behind her, and flung her tired body on the soft mattress. She stared at the ceiling, making connect the dot patterns with the small ridges in her ceiling.
She didn't think she could handle being around Harry or Hermione at all. She wasn't in the mood to explain herself; she had to get away before they arrived. She only had to leave for a week or two to sort out her thoughts. No one had to find out, no one had to know. It was simple.
She just needed to think of a good strategy to hide it.
She remembered her original thought about running to Colin's house. The idea seemed more perfect than ever before, and stood out like a beacon of hope in her mind.
She would definitely run to Colin's tonight, before Harry or Hermione came. It seemed to be the only solution to her ever-growing problem.
She wasn't sure if she should be happy or relieved by her train of thought. She felt neither; all she felt was sadness. The late afternoon light streamed in between her curtains, providing a strange contrast to her gloomy mood. She soon found herself drifting off into the familiar fitful sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Hall was cramped with students all filling their stomachs with some of the delicious foods Hogwarts had to offer for dinner.
Ginny stared around. She sat between Colin and Harry, but she couldn't figure out how she got there. She saw their mouths moving, but she couldn't figure out what they were saying.
The room dropped many degrees. All the windows around the Great Hall shattered inwards towards the students.
Dumbledore stood up and glanced around the room, until his piercing blue eyes came into contact with Harry. For the first time in Ginny's life, she noticed that they held none of the sparkle that she was so used to seeing in the Headmaster. This frightened her; it was unnatural.
Harry stood like a bullet being fired from a Muggle gun, and stood rigid and scared. Without warning he grabbed Ginny's arm roughly, and hauled her under the table. He was shouting something to her, but she couldn't make it out. She shook her head, trying to indicate that she didn't know what he was saying. Ron shoved Hermione under the table next to her with difficulty. Hermione tried to stay and fight, but Ron wouldn't have it.
Suddenly a high, cold, cruel voice echoed through the hall, and the students went up in panic. She soon found herself being embraced tightly by Harry.
He was muttering something in her ear, but she couldn't hear a thing. She stamped her foot in protest, clutching onto his robes, trying to keep him from going anywhere. She was frustrated with not knowing what he was telling her. Harry finally stood up, and Ginny opened her mouth to shout, even though she couldn't make out what she was saying.
Voldemort grinned evilly at Harry, and spoke to him, Ginny strained to hear just one word but it was no use. The tablecloth that was surrounding her blocked her from view. Voldemort raised his wand and suddenly the tablecloth, the only protection that was concealing Hermione and her, was ripped from the table, and Ginny opened her mouth in shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny sat bolt upright, sweating. It wasn't real! It wasn't real! Her mind whirled with what she had seen. She urged her rapidly beating heart to slow down, and reached up and felt hot tears sliding down her pale cheeks. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was already 8:00 PM! How could she have slept so late
She'd been asleep for about 4 hours. That was more than she'd had previous night, but she didn't feel any more refreshed.
As she swung her legs over the side of her bed and moved over to her wardrobe, she tripped over something hard and big in her way. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from shrieking in pain.
It was Hermione's trunk. She'd forgotten that they would of course be here by now. Maybe if she hurried, she wouldn't have to see them until school started.
She looked in the mirror, and pulled her long fiery red hair into a messy ponytail. She picked up her wand that lay forgotten on her trunk next to her mirror, and muttered a quick packing charm. Her trunk immediately filled with the essential items. She quickly charmed her trunk to be feather light, so she wouldn't have any problems. She sat down at her desk, and lit her wand. She grabbed a quill from the cup on her desk, and began her explanation.
Dear Family,
I'm really sorry, but I have to leave. Please don't cry, Mum, I'm not leaving for good. I just need time to myself to think. There are too many people in this house for anyone to sort out their thoughts. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going, so you can't track me down, but I will tell you that I'll be fine, and safe. I should be back before we go to Diagon Alley in two weeks, so no worries about school. I truly am sorry that I'm doing this to all of you, but if I didn't I think that I may just go insane.
Much love, Ginny
She placed the quill back in the container on her desk, and stood up. She pulled on a simple black robe to block the summer chill, and grabbed her Comet 360 from the corner near her bookshelf, and grabbed onto her trunk. It hovered a foot off the ground, level with her broom.
She hastily walked over to the window, and flung it open with ease. She jumped onto her broom, and kicked off the carpeting. Her curtains flapping lazily in the evening breeze.
She grinned as the cool night air touched her burning skin; she was finally free, escaped from her shackles, at least for a few days. She put on a burst of speed, and soon she had disappeared, away from the Burrow.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Ginny's confrontation with Ron, she'd found herself hiding in the garden. She was too afraid to show her face in her house; that they now knew something was wrong with her, and she didn't like feeling helpless.
But she finally decided, after two hours of sitting and feeling sorry for herself, that she needed to go inside.
The sun shone brightly behind her, making her bright red hair glow.
She trudged miserably toward the door to the Burrow and carefully made her way back inside, making sure she was quiet so as not to get caught.
If anyone besides Ron knew that she'd been outside crying and feeling sorry for herself, she'd die of shame. She wanted to be seen as stronger than that. She was terrified of the thought of her whole family confronting her, and demanding to know what the matter was. She just wasn't ready for the horde of questions that she knew her family was dying to ask.
George looked up from his Quidditch magazine, which was lying open on his lap, as she walked into the brightly-lit room. The light from outside streamed into the room, leaving patches of light on the carpeted floor and the couch that he was lounging on.
"Gin? You all right?" he asked with concern.
"Fine," she said gruffly, and disappeared on the stairs, not daring to look behind her.
She shut the door to her room behind her, and flung her tired body on the soft mattress. She stared at the ceiling, making connect the dot patterns with the small ridges in her ceiling.
She didn't think she could handle being around Harry or Hermione at all. She wasn't in the mood to explain herself; she had to get away before they arrived. She only had to leave for a week or two to sort out her thoughts. No one had to find out, no one had to know. It was simple.
She just needed to think of a good strategy to hide it.
She remembered her original thought about running to Colin's house. The idea seemed more perfect than ever before, and stood out like a beacon of hope in her mind.
She would definitely run to Colin's tonight, before Harry or Hermione came. It seemed to be the only solution to her ever-growing problem.
She wasn't sure if she should be happy or relieved by her train of thought. She felt neither; all she felt was sadness. The late afternoon light streamed in between her curtains, providing a strange contrast to her gloomy mood. She soon found herself drifting off into the familiar fitful sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Hall was cramped with students all filling their stomachs with some of the delicious foods Hogwarts had to offer for dinner.
Ginny stared around. She sat between Colin and Harry, but she couldn't figure out how she got there. She saw their mouths moving, but she couldn't figure out what they were saying.
The room dropped many degrees. All the windows around the Great Hall shattered inwards towards the students.
Dumbledore stood up and glanced around the room, until his piercing blue eyes came into contact with Harry. For the first time in Ginny's life, she noticed that they held none of the sparkle that she was so used to seeing in the Headmaster. This frightened her; it was unnatural.
Harry stood like a bullet being fired from a Muggle gun, and stood rigid and scared. Without warning he grabbed Ginny's arm roughly, and hauled her under the table. He was shouting something to her, but she couldn't make it out. She shook her head, trying to indicate that she didn't know what he was saying. Ron shoved Hermione under the table next to her with difficulty. Hermione tried to stay and fight, but Ron wouldn't have it.
Suddenly a high, cold, cruel voice echoed through the hall, and the students went up in panic. She soon found herself being embraced tightly by Harry.
He was muttering something in her ear, but she couldn't hear a thing. She stamped her foot in protest, clutching onto his robes, trying to keep him from going anywhere. She was frustrated with not knowing what he was telling her. Harry finally stood up, and Ginny opened her mouth to shout, even though she couldn't make out what she was saying.
Voldemort grinned evilly at Harry, and spoke to him, Ginny strained to hear just one word but it was no use. The tablecloth that was surrounding her blocked her from view. Voldemort raised his wand and suddenly the tablecloth, the only protection that was concealing Hermione and her, was ripped from the table, and Ginny opened her mouth in shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny sat bolt upright, sweating. It wasn't real! It wasn't real! Her mind whirled with what she had seen. She urged her rapidly beating heart to slow down, and reached up and felt hot tears sliding down her pale cheeks. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was already 8:00 PM! How could she have slept so late
She'd been asleep for about 4 hours. That was more than she'd had previous night, but she didn't feel any more refreshed.
As she swung her legs over the side of her bed and moved over to her wardrobe, she tripped over something hard and big in her way. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from shrieking in pain.
It was Hermione's trunk. She'd forgotten that they would of course be here by now. Maybe if she hurried, she wouldn't have to see them until school started.
She looked in the mirror, and pulled her long fiery red hair into a messy ponytail. She picked up her wand that lay forgotten on her trunk next to her mirror, and muttered a quick packing charm. Her trunk immediately filled with the essential items. She quickly charmed her trunk to be feather light, so she wouldn't have any problems. She sat down at her desk, and lit her wand. She grabbed a quill from the cup on her desk, and began her explanation.
Dear Family,
I'm really sorry, but I have to leave. Please don't cry, Mum, I'm not leaving for good. I just need time to myself to think. There are too many people in this house for anyone to sort out their thoughts. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going, so you can't track me down, but I will tell you that I'll be fine, and safe. I should be back before we go to Diagon Alley in two weeks, so no worries about school. I truly am sorry that I'm doing this to all of you, but if I didn't I think that I may just go insane.
Much love, Ginny
She placed the quill back in the container on her desk, and stood up. She pulled on a simple black robe to block the summer chill, and grabbed her Comet 360 from the corner near her bookshelf, and grabbed onto her trunk. It hovered a foot off the ground, level with her broom.
She hastily walked over to the window, and flung it open with ease. She jumped onto her broom, and kicked off the carpeting. Her curtains flapping lazily in the evening breeze.
She grinned as the cool night air touched her burning skin; she was finally free, escaped from her shackles, at least for a few days. She put on a burst of speed, and soon she had disappeared, away from the Burrow.
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