CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
The Eye of the Storm
Nobody felt like eating.
The rain continued to hurl itself wildly onto the window panes, blotting out the view of the Hogwarts grounds and replacing it with grey torrents of icy water pouring down the glass. Even up in the sound, solid Infirmary the eaves creaked and groaned with the force of the wind - a terrible, haunting sound that would make even the bravest invalid pull the duvet over their head and pray for an end to the storm.
Ron was the only occupant to be unphased by the noise and the sudden darkness, lost in a dreamless sleep that would last at least until tomorrow morning according to Madam Pomfrey. Then the damage could be assessed.
Hermione sat beside his bed, leaning her elbows on the mattress and staring exhaustedly at his face. In six hours she had not moved a muscle, and Madam Pomfrey watched her anxiously from the doorway of her office.
"You should eat something, Miss Granger," she said, earnestly. "It's past dinnertime, but I can send for a house-elf."
Hermione shook her head. "I'm not hungry," she replied, hoarsely.
Madam Pomfrey looked across at Ginny, standing at the window with her arms crossed, staring out into the darkness. And then at Harry, slouched in an armchair close to the fire, frowning into midair.
She sighed to herself, and retreated into her office once more.
The silence could have been sliced through with a knife.
Harry's eyes flickered towards Ginny. "Do you think your parents should be told?"
She returned his gaze and shook her head. "No, it would only worry them. There's no need until he regains consciousness, and then there may be no damage at all."
"What damage could there be?" Harry didn't want to know the answer.
"Loss of memory, perhaps. Or - " Ginny turned away and faced the window again. Her shoulders were shaking.
It was unbearable torture. Harry got to his feet and bridged the distance between them, his hands coming to rest gently on her upper arms. He could feel her warmth and smell the sweet fragrance of her silky hair. She sniffed slightly before turning into his arms.
She felt different somehow, and not like the other thrilling times he had been able to hold her. That spark of excitement was not there now, replaced by an overwhelming peace and warmth. She was so precious to him. He smiled into her hair.
This was love.
How could he blame her for doing something he himself was doing, and almost all her brothers, and Hermione too? True, she was in more danger now than ever before, but how brave and strong and capable she was to do it! A medic in the field of battle, watching her closest friends and relatives charge off into unknown dangers and having to pick up the pieces afterwards. Perhaps that mattered more than the battle itself, in a way - having people like Ginny to hold everything together and bring hope to the hopeless.
Nobody but Ginny could do it. Nobody was better able to do it.
He pulled her closer, sweeping her long hair away from her cheeks and neck so he could see her beautiful face lying tearlessly against his chest, her arms around his waist.
His Ginny. His beautiful, brave, fearless Ginny.
"You know, don't you?" she whispered.
"I know," he replied.
"I should have told you."
"I was a prat, Gin. How could you have told me? I didn't deserve to be told."
"So you're not angry with me?" She raised her head, gazing into his eyes with wide, child-like eyes.
"No," he smiled, brushing her cheek with his fingers lightly. She leaned into his caress, and laid her head against his shoulder again with a little sigh.
Perfect.
The storm was so loud that no-one heard the heavy Infirmary door open.
"Harry!"
Harry turned round, his arm still around Ginny. Sirius was striding towards him across the stone floor, with Truth and Remus on his heels, his black cloak swirling out behind him like a cloud.
He paused long enough to glance over at Ron, by whose bed Hermione still sat, watching his face like a hawk for the first signs of life.
"How's he doing?" he asked, anxiously.
"Out like a light," replied Harry, wondering what could have brought three Order members out of the Founders' Rooms before midnight.
Remus went to Hermione and laid a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly.
"You're as cold as ice, Hermione," he said. "You should go to bed. We'll watch over him."
"No," she replied, firmly. "I'll wait here until he wakes up."
"That could take days."
"I've got days."
Remus glanced towards Sirius and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Ginny," said Sirius, softly. "But well done."
She smiled weakly at him. "Thankyou."
"What brings you down here?" asked Harry, suspiciously. It was dangerous for them to walk the school without the cover of darkness and the curfew.
Truth had been walking the length and breadth of the Infirmary, peering out of every window and opening and closing every door. "A little matter of security," she said, simply.
"Security?"
Sirius took a deep breath and exchanged glances with Truth. She nodded.
"Last night," he began, "ten Order members stormed a tumbledown farmhouse in west Russia. Three were killed, one was put under Crucio, and two are being put back together again by Healers in Moscow. The farmhouse was being used as a meeting point by a small group of Voldemort's followers to plan attacks on couriers coming to and from Britain. I don't know where they got the tip-off from, but they caught Macnair and Avery redhanded along with two others from the Russian sector. The rest got away or were killed in the skirmish. The result of this is that we are now able to question Macnair and the others and get some idea as to what Voldemort's next move is going to be."
"What if they don't talk?" asked Harry, with a frown.
"Oh, they've already talked," replied Sirius, grimly. "Dumbledore has just received word that Voldemort intends to breach the school as soon as he has enough Death Eaters concentrated in this area. He means to take on the whole Order if he has to, though Merlin knows how he got the information that we were gathering here! His chief aim is, however, to terminate your life, Harry, so you'd better listen damn hard to what we've got to say!"
Ginny's grip on Harry's arm tightened convulsively, and the colour drained from her cheeks.
"Sensitive way of putting it, Black," muttered Truth, scowling at him.
"We don't have time for sensitivity!" he snapped. "We need to take action and now, before he finds out we know his plans. As soon as the ones that got away report back that Macnair and the others have been taken, he'll know straight away that they will have talked, and he'll do something horrendous as quickly as he can."
"Like what?" asked Harry.
"Like launch some kind of attack to remove our defences from Hogwarts so he can breach the school while we have weakened forces."
Madam Pomfrey emerged suddenly from the shadows, her expression stern. "Mr Black. I appreciate that you have important military concerns regarding the present situation, but may I remind you that this is a school?"
"School or not, Madam Pomfrey, it will be under attack before spring and it's better that everyone should be prepared than to be taken unawares."
"Surely the children should be sent away!" she exclaimed in horror. "Surely the Headmaster means to evacuate the school!"
Sirius nodded, calmly. "Preparations are underway, but we'll never get everyone out before Voldemort decides to strike. It's an impossible feat! Especially after he hears of Macnair's little indiscretion, he'll attack immediately and without warning."
A little cough from the direction of Ron's bed brought everyone's attention to Hermione, still sitting pale and wide-eyed in the armchair there. "Hogwarts is protected by hundreds of spells and incantations. He can't possibly breach them all!"
Sirius shook his head sadly. "You're forgetting the devious assistance he has from Lucius Malfoy and that formidable ilk. Malfoy knows every spell that was ever put on this school, except for the oldest and most obscure which Voldemort has spent the past three years trying to crack."
"Malfoy!" exclaimed Harry, suddenly, making Ginny jump in surprise. "Draco Malfoy, Sirius! He's been creeping around in the dead of night and he's definitely up to no good. Remus, you saw him too!"
Remus nodded. "No proof, though, Harry. But I would love to be able to arrest Draco Malfoy for conspiracy and treason."
"You've got enough on his father, though," Ginny pointed out. "Dumbledore ought to be aware of the danger. Why doesn't he expel him?"
Sirius gave a hollow chuckle. "I'm sure you'd enjoy that, Ginny, as we all would, but unfortunately it's too late even if Draco is being used by Voldemort to spy. The damage is done."
"How do we know Voldemort knows how to breach the spells?" insisted Harry. "If there is still just a few he can't crack, surely that gives us a chance?"
"Not much of one," replied Sirius, gravely. "It buys us time, but only a matter of days. We don't know when he'll decide to attack, but we can be sure that he'll use counterfeit in some form or another to divert us, which is why we need to gather all the forces we can in and around Hogwarts."
"What is the Ministry doing about it?" demanded Ginny. "Aren't they organising defence?"
Sirius' gaunt, tense face broke into a handsome grin. "The Ministry, for want of a better expression, is about to finally get its arse into gear and do something sensible, yes. That idiot Fudge was kicked out three days ago, and they've got a new man on the job."
Ginny echoed his grin, and squeezed Harry's arm again. "It's Dad, isn't it?"
Sirius nodded. "He's been in the job twenty-four hours and already he's accomplished more that Fudge did in fourteen years! He's got every official in Europe on stand-by, and he's going to spend the next few days stationing reserves as close to Hogwarts as he can get them. He's having to be damned economical, though. We're outnumbered even with the reserves, and we need every man we can get!"
"Do we have a plan, Sirius?" asked Hermione. "What should we do?"
"The Order is convening here tomorrow night, with every member who can make it from the corners of the globe. Dumbledore is going to arrange for the first and second years to be taken home by the Hogwarts Express as soon as possible, hopefully the day after tomorrow. All you can do is keep practising your defence skills and sit tight until we know more. Ginny, that includes you, I think," he added, with a fond smile. "No need for secrets any more."
She smiled back and shook her head.
"And look after Ron," said Truth, softly. "He needs to get better so he can help us." She gave Hermione a swift hug which was gratefully received, before sweeping out of the Infirmary.
"Where's she off to?" asked Harry.
"Order members don't arrive in random places without being told, Potter," replied Sirius with a grin. He clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Keep your chin up, lad. It could be worse. We've got time. Just watch out for yourself, and tell me or Remus or Truth or somebody about ANYTHING odd going on, OK?"
Harry nodded.
Sirius paused in the doorway as he and Remus began to follow Truth out into the corridor. "Oh, and Harry? Don't do anything stupid, will you?" And with a final grin, he was gone.
Harry snorted. "He's got a lot of confidence in me, hasn't he?"
"He's worried," said Ginny, moving into his embrace again. "He tries to smile and make a joke out of it, but his eyes give him away. He's petrified you'll walk right into danger."
"I don't walk into it," objected Harry. "Danger just seems to find me."
Ginny, as she had not been deceived by Sirius, was not deceived by Harry either. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled his head down close to hers.
"Everything will be OK," she said, softly. "Ron will be OK, Hogwarts will be OK, we'll all be OK. Don't worry, Harry."
Oh, he wanted to kiss her so badly, right then and there. Her beautiful, shining eyes were gazing into his, her arms held him, her body was pressed so close, her lips were inches from his own, just like the night of his birthday party. It would have been so easy -
Reminded just in time that his best friend and Ginny's brother was lying comatose in the same room, watched over vigilantly by a pale Hermione, Harry contented himself with a brief kiss on her forehead before leading her over towards the bed.
"How is he doing?" he asked.
"He hasn't woken up," answered Hermione, blandly. Kneeling beside the bed, her palm rested gently on Ron's hand.
"He will," said Harry, firmly. "He's got to."
Hermione smiled, and the familiar sparkle rose in her eyes again. "Or you'll do what?"
"Throw him off the Quidditch team, for a start." Harry sat down in the armchair and squeezed her shoulders. "But we need you too, 'Mione. Just in case he's lazy enough to miss Voldemort's arrival."
"You can't fool me, Potter," she said, with a little laugh. She nudged him gently. "You're worried too."
"Of course I am. But I know Ron's going to be all right, just like I know we're going to get through this attack in one piece. All of us. We just need to stay strong."
Hermione sniffed, and brought Ron's hand up close to her face, leaning against Harry's leg. Harry felt Ginny's familiar touch on his shoulder, and he turned to smile into her mesmerising eyes, glittering like stars. Slowly, she slid onto his lap, her arm around his neck.
"We make a good team, don't we?" she whispered, reaching out to take Hermione's free hand in hers.
"A damn good team," agreed Hermione, with an affirmative nod.
They stayed like that for a while, until the storm began to die down and the moon shone through the dark, churning clouds. His eyes never leaving the steady rise and fall of Ron's chest, Harry slipped into a half-daze. What stirred him he could not tell, but he raised his head to find Hermione kneeling beside Ron's bed, fast asleep with her head on the mattress beside him, and Ginny lying across his lap, her face, half covered by her hair, nestled against his shoulder.
Gently he shifted her weight to ease the growing numbness in his arm, and she sighed in her sleep. A thrilling warmth spread through his insides as she cuddled down closer to him, wafting her sweet perfume up to his nose.
He brushed her hair away from her face, letting his fingers linger on her soft cheek.
Kiss her, you idiot, a voice at the back of his head seemed to say.
If only he could!
Why not? No-one will ever know.
He watched her sleep for a few moments, feeling himself being drawn by some invisible force. He oughtn't to, really. There seemed something quite deceitful about kissing a girl without her knowing about it.
Not if she wants you to.
How could he tell, though? For weeks he had been psyching himself up for the news that she had chosen Malfoy, and now to discover that she hadn't after all - what did that say?
His brain hurt, and he shook his head slightly. Just because she wasn't with Malfoy didn't mean she would appreciate Harry kissing her while she was asleep, or awake, for that matter!
A nagging doubt at the back of his mind refused to go away. How was it that Malfoy had known all along what Ginny was up to? Why would she possibly have told him?
"Forget it, Potter. If I know what's going on and you don't - I think that says it all, don't you?" he had said, in that pretentious, icily charming voice of his. If ever that boy deserved a black eye it had been at that moment.
Blackmail, perhaps? Yes - perhaps he had discovered Ginny's secret and she had made him promise not to tell anyone. In exchange for what, though? Harry shivered, and decided he didn't want to think about that.
For Merlin's sake, world war had practically been declared three hours before!
Exactly. You might not get another chance, the little voice said, earnestly.
Harry paused for a moment, gazing down at Ginny's sleeping face. Defeatist and exaggerated it may have been, but something clicked inside him just then.
His Ginny - his beautiful, brave Ginny was in as much danger as Ron and Hermione now. If she ever became his, that would put her right up with him as number one on the death list. How easy it would be for Voldemort to get whatever he wanted from Harry if Ginny was the bait!
It must never happen, he told himself. Never. No-one must ever know how I feel about her.
Without more hesitation, Harry bent his head and gently pressed his lips against hers.
Oh, so soft. So warm. If only -
"I should punch you on the nose for that, Potter," came a weak, croaky voice from Harry's elbow.
Harry's head shot up, his eyes meeting a pair of vivid blue ones staring straight back at him from under a mop of messy red hair.
"You did it!" Harry blurted out, too shocked to say anything sensible.
"You're cheating. She's asleep!" Ron nodded his head towards his sister.
"Oh, you idiot, Ron," Harry found himself saying. "If you'd hung around long enough you'd have discovered that she did actually want you to do it!"
Ron gazed at him, bemusedly. "What?"
"Look at her," said Harry, nodding to Hermione, fast asleep beside Ron's bed, her fingers still entwined with his. "She hasn't moved a muscle since you got here, and she hasn't taken her eyes off your face once. Don't tell me she doesn't care about you! She's been damn near sick with worry."
"She has?" Ron's eyes fell to the sleeping form kneeling beside him, a flood of warmth brightening his tired eyes.
"She has."
Harry smiled as Ron slowly raised a hand and lightly touched Hermione's hair with his fingertips. It was time for him to leave now, he thought. He could practically hear his own bed calling him, and now he knew Ron was awake and all right, he could sleep soundly. Hermione would wake up and find Ron gazing stupidly at her and all would be well, and about time too.
Gently, Harry lifted Ginny in his arms and carried her across the Infirmary and out of the door. She must have been exhausted, because she didn't stir once on the short journey to Gryffindor Tower, despite the howling gale that blew through the narrow corridors, shaking the windows and making the figures in the portraits mutter furiously all along the walls.
"How is she?" asked a soft, familiar voice from the shadows.
"Worn out," he replied. "Ron's awake, but she needs to sleep before she's told."
Truth nodded, with an engaging half-smile. "Miss Weasley doesn't do things by halves, does she? Come on - I know just the thing."
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, you can't take her up to her dormitory and you can't give up your bed for her in a room full of seventh-year boys so you'd better bring her over to the Founders' Rooms. There's something we need to tell you anyway."
Too tired to question her further, Harry obediently followed her downstairs and through the passageway behind Godric Gryffindor. Ginny weighed almost nothing in his arms, and still she slept like a baby, her head against his shoulder.
Truth stopped beside a small oak door and opened the latch.
"Put her in here," she said, pointing to a four-poster bed leaning against the farside wall. "And then come downstairs. Third door on the left after you pass the bust of Hermes at the foot of the stairs."
And then she was gone in a whirl of black cloak.
A fire was burning in the grate, but that was all Harry took in of the little room. Carefully he laid Ginny on the bed and drew the covers over her, smiling as she unconsciously turned towards him.
"See you tomorrow, Gin," he whispered, brushing aside her hair. "Sleep well."
With a final, lingering glance at her in the doorway, he left her to her dreams.