CHAPTER XX

Ginny woke up slowly, feeling the ache in all her muscles. She lay in some sort of muck for a while, not knowing where she was or what she was doing there. Eventually, she forced herself to lift her head and look around. It was a forest of some kind. She was lying in the shallows of a small creek. Light shone through breaks in the canopy, and red and purple dragonflies zipped by, skimming the water and picking up smaller insects. Ginny thought she must be in paradise. She lifted her hand and wiped the hair from her face, finding the small blue stone Harry had handed her at the last second clutched in it. She examined its pretty sheen. Harry. He'd been hit with a killing curse trying to save her. She remembered it all of a sudden, and the way Snape had helped her, knocking her towards him and spilling the cauldron. This little stone had saved her life. Ginny sniffled, feeling hot tears rolling down her cheeks. She put her head back down on the damp riverbed sand, and cried herself to sleep, the little talisman clutched tight to her cheek.

***

Ron and Hermione sat in Dumbledore's office, with the rest of the Weasley family, Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks. They were all discussing some serious concerns, mainly Harry and Ginny, but also the dissapearence of Draco Malfoy when after his father had not returned him. One could imagine their dismay, when one of the spoken three, as well as Severus Snape, appeared in the room with a loud bang, covered in blood, dirt and curse marks. Draco promptly fell to the floor with exhaustion and relief. Dumbledore was on his feet immediately. He was worried; Severus had a much worse expression on his face than he was accustomed to seeing in the emotionless potions master. Something must be terribly wrong. Several of the others in the room seemed to have noticed the same thing. Remus steadied Severus as he swayed, and guided him to a chair, where Snape promptly sat down, put his head in his hands, and to everyone's shock, began to shake.

"What happened Severus?" asked Dumbledore urgently. Everyone waited, with baited breath, disturbed by this blatant display of out of character behavior, but Severus did not speak. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, and was gripping his forearm, rhythmically clutching then relaxing his hand, and gritting his teeth. Someone cleared their throat. Everyone turned, jumpy, except Albus who, as usual, remained fairly calm. Draco stood in the corner leaning on the wall slightly. His eyes were glazed over, as though the full impact of something he had not thought about just registered. He too was gripping his forearm, rubbing it. He didn't seem to realize he was doing it. Draco spoke, but when he opened his mouth, it cracked. He cleared his throat.

"We were inside Azkaban," he told them thickly.

Molly clutched at her husband.

Ron and Hermione stared. Malfoy did not look remotely like the young arrogant ass-hole they were used to. His eyes shifted to them, they filled. For the third time in his life, Draco came to a conclusion all by himself. These people were on his side; there was nothing wrong with speaking to them decently.

"I'm sorry," he said, still looking at Ron and Hermione.

Draco was not accustomed to apologizing, in fact, he never had apologized to anyone, but it felt like something he was supposed to do.

The two students stared at him with anxiety. What was he ranting about?

"Harry…"

There was suddenly a very heavy atmosphere in the room

"Harry is…he isn't…"

Ron sat down heavily, knowing what he was about to hear.

"Harry isn't alive anymore," Malfoy managed. He leaned completely agains the wall and slid to the ground as well.

Hermione screamed. Everyone would have thought it would be Ron who got angry, that it would be Ron who pinned blame, but not today. She ran across the room and kicked his sorry blonde face with all her might. He fell over, spitting blood.

"NO!" shouted Malfoy, as loud as he could, trying to fend off her attack. "STOP! I DIDN'T DO IT! IT WAS HIM!"

He batted her away again.

"It was Vol-Voldemort! The killing curse…Harry was trying to save Ginny…" he finished weakly. Hermione fell down next to him, crying like a small child.

Molly froze.

"Ginny…Ginny!" she said in a panicked voice. "Where's Ginny?" she demanded.

Malfoy shook his head and spat out more blood.

"I don't know. Harry gave her something. Like a portkey but different, before he died…" Ron, across the room, made a weak sound of protest, "…she disappeared. She's not in Azkaban anymore. I don't know where she is," he said weakly.

Dumbledore looked weary. He strode to the fireplace and tossed some powder in the flames.

"MADAM POMPFREY!" he roared.

The hospital matron appeared promptly. She conjured to stretchers and magicked the two men on one each, strapping them in.

"What happened?" she asked, busily checking vital signs.

"They've been in Azkaban," said Dumbledore.

Her hands faltered slightly, but Madam Pompfrey had been hired for her no-nonsense, dependable, do-whatever-it-takes attitude and she stuck to it.

She nodded, a look of grim unease on her face as she marched out of the office, the two stretchers trailing behind her. She stopped in the doorway and turned.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked.

Dumbledore shook his head. Madam Pompfrey nodded slowly, and turned again, leaving through the office door. Everyone stared at the headmaster, looking for guidance.

"Kingsley, Tonks, I need you to alert the Order."

They looked at him sadly.

"I'm sorry," he told them, "But we cannot all fall to our knees and give up. Time is of the essence, grief must come later," he emphasized. Kingsley nodded, Tonks wiped her eyes, and they both disapparated. Dumbledore turned to everyone else. Remus at least, saw the pain the old man was feeling. He did not deserve to always have to help everyone else.

"I think everyone needs some time alone," said Lupin. "There is nothing Dumbledore can do immediately. Let him some time for his own grief."

Everyone, except Hermione, who still lay in a heap on the floor, and Ron who was not listening, had the grace to look briefly ashamed. They all moved slowly to the door. Ron stood up, and went over to Hermione. He kissed her tear-stained cheek, and picked her up effortlessly, following his family. Remus layed a hand on Dumbledore's shoulder, and gripped it. Albus was grateful for the comfort.

***

When Ginny woke again, the water had sunk slightly, and she no longer lay in it. She had no food, but she drank from the stream, and pulled herself up, holding onto a tree trunk. She wasn't injured, just sad. She also had no idea where she was, so she began to walk. Ginny didn't know if this was going to help her at all, but it was a way to pass the time. When it was night she slept, and when it was day she walked, and after a few days of this tedious routine, she lost complete track of the date and the time, and new only to find what food she could, and to survive. Back at Hogwarts, her family did something similar, except for Molly and Arthur, who had been through a little more, a dealt marginally better, worrying about they're daughter while searchers were out looking for her, hoping she was alive.

Ginny was definitely alive, she knew that as much, but not for long if she didn't have a little more to eat. A few mushrooms, thankfully not poisonous, and some grubs was all she'd had in the past couple of days. Her steps were unsteady and her vision blurred. She ran her tongue over her cracked, dry and bleeding lips, and clutched and the stone she had kept with her. She stumbled on something, cursing, looking down to see what it was. It was an orange… a lovely ripe orange. Ginny picked it up, hungrily peeling it, and looking around. The trees were full of them; she'd stumbled into some sort of orchard. Ginny looked up and her knees trembled as she stared at the sight in front of her, not trusting her eyes. This was impossible. A house. A log cabin, with smoke billowing from its chimney. Not possible. Ginny stumbled forward frantically, hoping to any god existing that she wasn't about to walk straight into the hands of some deatheaters. She reached the stone steps and half walked, half crawled up them, reaching a sturdy wood front door, which she banged on with all her might. Ginny waited hopefully for several painful seconds before the door opened. A middle-aged woman who reminded her or her mother stood in the doorway.

"Could I have something to eat?" asked Ginny hopefully. She didn't even get to hear the answer, because she was already unconcious.

***

Harry was damning himself for not having held onto Ginny tighter when he said the location and gripped the talisman, because she was quite clearly not with him and he was quite clearly not on the grounds of Hogwarts. He hoped she at least, had arrived safely. He knew three things. One, that at least three of his ribs were broken. Two, that no one was coming after him, and three, that he doubted that if they were coming after him they'd know where to find him because he sure the hell had no idea himself. That was the extent of his knowledge. He was completely unable to transform to animagus form and was limited to only the smallest spells, as his magic had been sucked completely dry when he was hit with the killing curse. The only thing the hydraskin seemed to have repelled was the primary effects of avada kedavra; death. Any secondary effects definitely lingered, and so he limped, very carefully and very slowly through the forest in the direction that his instincts were leading him. It was a painful experience. He had been surviving the last few days he'd been in the forest on berries and mushrooms, but was hoping that he'd be well enough soon to start catching rabbits as a shadowcat, his stomach grumbled for a little more food. He was hoping that somehow someone would think to send out a search party, but he didn't know whether that was going to happen. The kedavra spell he'd cast was pretty strong, it was a variation of avada kedavra, except instead of killing someone, it merely created a dead body. It had been so strong actually that it had taken what was left out of him. He was almost positive that the copy of his dead body was good enough to convince everyone in Azkaban.

***

Ron, Hermione, and the Weasley family sat, once again, in Dumbledore's office. This time they were discussing Ginny.

"I have aurors officially and member of the Order unofficially searching for her everywhere we can think of," Dumbledore was saying. He looked old and tired. The knews of Harry's death had hit him just as hard. Hermione admired him. She so far hadn't been able to bring herself to speak much more than please and thankyou at the dinner table.

"If she's out there, we'll find her eventually," he said.

"But what if she starves? What if we can't reach her in time? It's already been three days!" said Mrs. Weasley desperately. Everyone knew it was a bit of a useless question.

"We'll just have to hope they do find her in time Molly," said Arthur gently.

"Try not to worry, if anyone can find her it's the order."

"Harry could have found her faster," broke in Hermione. She knew it was a pointless thing to say but she knew everyone was thinking it.

Ron rubbed her back sympathetically. No one replied. The students were beginning to return to Hogwarts from the Christmas holidays, and soon Dumbledore would have to announce the bad news. The funeral was set for two days from now, when everyone would be back. They were going to build Harry a little monument in his honor. That at least, Hermione was grateful for. No one would forget him for a while.

***

Matilda Applebury watched the fiery haired young woman who had appeared on her doorstep a few days ago, as she thrashed in her bed sheets, dreaming something terrible. Matilda went over to her, stroking her hair from her eyes and gently shaking her awake.

"It's okay," she murmured to the girl, "only a dream, only a dream."

The girls breathing slowed, and she opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in my house, in Orange Grove Forest, a ways outside London."

The girl's eyes widened.

"London?" she repeated breathlessly. She sat up, surveying the room around her.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," she told Matilda.

"Matilda Applebury," replied her host. "Can you stand?"

Ginny nodded, getting out of bed slowly. Matilda saw her fully for the first time.

"Oh my dear! What is that you're wearing?"

Ginny looked down at herself, having trouble remembering. She was still in her dress robes, although they were dirty, torn, and one of the filmy silk straps had snapped.

"I wore these to the Yule ball at my school," replied Ginny quietly.

"How on earth did you…" Matilda trailed off mother-like, but seeing the look on the girls face, she decided not to pry too much. She patted Ginny's arm.

"Well don't you worry, I have some old clothes from my daughter, I'll get you some of those, and then you can come on out and have something to eat."

At the mention of food, Ginny's mouth began to water. Any thoughts of getting out of here quickly and finding her family were banished from her mind. Matilda brought her a clean set of clothes, a clean towel, and a bar of soap, and bustled her off to the bathtub to have a soak. Ginny washed and rinsed her hair three times, and refilled the bath-tub twice, scrubbing until her skin was pink, trying to get as much of the Azkaban filth off as possible. When she was satisfied as to her cleanliness, she emerged from the bathtub, donning a rose wool ankle length skirt and a white three- quarter blouse. The clothes were old-fashioned, and Ginny realized that Matilda was much older than she had originally thought, probably in her late sixties. She padded barefoot through the cosy long hallway, until she found the dining room. It was painted all white, with wooden furniture of the palest color, yellow curtains, and sunflowers sitting in the middle of the table. There were stacks of toast, a plate of sausages, eggs, grilled tomatoes, orange juice, tea, and fresh picked oranges arranged on it. It reminded Ginny of home. Matilda came bustling in, wearing a starched lacy apron, and holding a pan of fresh baked muffins with her oven-mitted hands.

"Thank you so much…" Ginny began.

"Oh no, don't you worry about any of this, It's nice to have someone knew to speak to," interrupted Matilda.

Ginny smiled gratefully.

"Do you live alone?" she asked.

Matilda nodded.

"Family comes to visit quite often but my husband passed away a few years ago and I stayed here by myself," she said.

Ginny nodded sympathetically. She eyed the table.

"So much food!" she exclaimed.

Matilda smiled happily.

"You just go ahead and eat as much as you want!" she told Ginny imperiously.

Ginny sat obediently and began serving herself a little bit of everything.

Matilda sat across the table from her and poured herself some tea. Ginny watched her. She was a dainty little woman, the essence of maternal warmth, and she seemed anxious to ensure Ginny was comfortable. There was one problem. Ginny had no idea whether she was a witch or not. She so far had not gotten a chance to see if the little old lady did magic or not. Ginny wanted to ask if she was connected to the floo, but if she was muggle that would be a strange question obviously, so she opted to wait a little so she could think of a good way to ask it. Ginny's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Matilda rose quickly.

"That'll be Hilary," she told her guest.

"Hilary?" Ginny asked.

"She's my daughter," Matilda said going to the door, "She's brought her son as well."

Ginny nodded and stood up, tea in hand. When the door opened Ginny smiled at the nice looking middle aged woman in the door way. She stepped inside smiling and Ginny's heart gave a huge painful thump. There was a boy standing in the doorway, he looked about seventeen. At first, Ginny could have sworn it was Harry, but his eyes were blue and now that she really looked at him, there were differences in face structure and build. This guy was less toned than Harry, and not as broad in the shoulder. She closed her eyes, fighting back tears.

"Hilary this is Ginny, I have to tell you, it's the most extraordinary thing…" burbled Matilda, speaking of how Ginny had appeared on her doorstep. Ginny shook herself out of her own thoughts and plastered a smile on her face. She went over and shook hands with Matilda's daughter, and then with her grandson, trying to avoid his eyes. He was painful to look at. Matilda turned and hugged her grandson.

"Hello grandma," he said to her hugging her back. His voice was deeper than Ginny would have expected. She was pretty sure they were all muggles, they were dressed as muggles and there was not a wand in sight. They all went back to the dining table and served themselves breakfast. No one summoned the teapot, no one salted their eggs using magic. Breakfast passed quietly, with small burst of light-hearted conversation that Ginny did not take part in. She kept her eyes averted from Ethan and concentrated on her muffins. It kept her from bursting into tears.

"Could you get us some more orange juice Ethan? It's in the refrigerator," Matilda told him.

So his name's Ethan, thought Ginny.

Ethan did something surprising.

He pulled a slender stick of wood from his pocket and exclaimed, "Accio orange juice!"

The orange juice jug soared into the room and he caught it in his hand and put it on the table before he realized his mistake. Hilary and Matilda were staring apprehensively at Ginny, and then when Ethan discovered what he'd done, he too stared at her anxiously. Ginny realized they thought she was a muggle, and they were panicking because someone had just done magic in front of her. A huge wave of relief swept over her and she jumped to her feet. Everyone flinched thinking she was going to run away.

"You're a wizard?" she asked him incredulously, and then began to laugh. They stared at her curiously.

"For goodness sake I've been sitting here racking my brains on how to ask you all what I want to know without scaring you because I thought you were all muggles," she laughed again. "I'm a witch!" she told them, making sure they understood. Matilda clapped her hands and Ethan blew out a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was going to get carted in to the Ministry," he said.

Ginny shook her head.

"But listen," she said, knowing she could ask now. "Are you connected to the floo?" she asked Matilda hopefully. Maltida shook her head.

"I'm afraid not, but Hilary is, they live a couple hours from here," she said. Ginny sighed in frustration.

"You don't understand I have to get home!" she said desperately. "Know one knows about…" and she trailed off, realizing she'd just dug herself into a hole. What if these people were the kind of wizards who refused to accept Voldemort's return? What if they didn't believe her, and refused to help once she told them? Ginny began to worry. Despite the fact that Voldemort had been active for two years, many people were still in denial. Ethan seemed to understand the look on her face.

"You've had some sort of confrontation with deatheaters havn't you?" he asked boldy.

"Ethan!" his mother hissed, but to her dismay, Ginny nodded, looking relieved. She knew she'd have to tell them now.

"Where do you go to school?" she asked Ethan.

"Private school, near my hometown."

"Not Hogwarts?" she asked.

Ethan shook his head.

"I go to Hogwarts," she told them. "I had a bit of a relationship with someone Voldemort…" everyone flinched "…someone you-know-who wanted. So I was kidnapped."

Matilda looked horrified. Ginny felt like she was going to cry.

"He…My friend came after me…" she said, her voice thick with tears. She sniffed and paused, trying to continue without breaking down.

"They…" she blew out a breath, "they killed him, he gave me something that took me away from Azkaban, where they'd taken me. Like a portkey only different."

She showed them the little talisman around her neck, lower lip trembling. Everyone seemed at a loss for words.

"Who was this friend of yours?" Ethan asked gently.

Ginny began to cry fully now.

"I have to get back to Hogwarts," she told them, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"My friend they killed, it was Harry."

Everyone snapped to attention.

"Harry who?" asked Hilary quietly.

"Harry Potter," Ginny choked.

Ethan looked concerned. Ginny looked at him.

"You look so much like him you know," she whispered.

***

Harry trudged on unsteadily. If he didn't get up in the air and find out where he was soon he was going to be so royally lost he'd die in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, he was still sucked dry. He'd barely managed a lumos spell at night without collapsing. Harry kept walking in the general direction he thought he should be going. He'd observed the sunrise and sunset, trying to get his bearings, and had concluded that he needed to travel vaguely in the north direction if he was going to get anywhere. He hoped he wasn't completely wrong.

***

Hilary was busy making a port key. This is how they had decided to get Ginny home. Hilary's house was too far away and Ginny could not apparate. Ginny had no idea why she had the authorization, because the ministry controlled making portkeys strictly, but Hilary seemed to have a license. It made Ginny vaguely suspicious.

"Your part of the Order aren't you," she said, taking a wild guess.

Hilary's gaze snapped to her.

"How do you know about the Order?" she asked slowly.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and put her hands on her hips. From across the room, Ethan looked on interestedly.

"My last name is Weasley," she said with exasperation. "Surely you know my parents, they're in the Order as well."

Hilary's eyes widened. She had received orders from Dumbledore to begin a sweep of Orange Grove forest. There had been a girl missing who was called Ginny. No one had actually told her why or who this girl was.

"Molly and Arthur's daughter?" she said in surprise.

Ginny nodded. Hilary began to fill with dread. At first, when she'd heard this girl's story, she had been inclined to think that half of it was made up. How could Harry Potter possibly be dead? But now that she knew who this girl was, she began to worry. What if he really was dead? That would mean literally the end of the world. Her mind couldn't even fathom it. She busied herself with setting anti-interception spells on the portkey. She straightened.

"Alright, it's done," she announced.

Ginny could barely contain her impatience.

"It'll take me straight to Hogwarts?"

"Straight to Hogwarts…or Hogwarts grounds really, Dumbledore has set up extra wards because of the current situation," she clarified.

Ginny nodded. She turned the Ethan.

"Thank you for being so sympathetic," she told him gratefully.

Ethan shrugged and smiled. Ginny's stomach twisted, but she passed it off for nervousness.

"It was nothing" he told her.

Ginny smiled back and gave him a hug. He hugged her back, perhaps a little too close to be passed off as friendly. Ginny chose not to notice it. She turned away from him and went into the kitchen to say her farewells to Matilda, who was doing the washing up from breakfast.

"Thank you so much for having me," said Ginny.

Matilda dried her wrinkled hands on a dishtowel and patted her shoulder.

"It was no trouble dear. Come and visit me when everything's calmed down a bit why don't you."

Ginny nodded.

"I promise," she said.

She gave the old woman a hug and a kiss oh the cheek. And then left the kitchen.

"Go now, the portkey is made for one person, it'll expire if you leave this too long."

Ginny nodded, taking one last look around at the cozy little cottage. There was a crash of breaking glass from the kitchen.

"Mum?" called Hilary. "Are you alright?"

No response. Hilary moved to the kitchen doorway, and yelled. A blue spell shot passed her ear and she dove out of sight into the kitchen. Ethan ran to see what was up and was promptly caught in the crossfire and knocked unconscious, being propelled backwards and slumping against a wall. Ginny screamed, knowing she had no wand, but not wanting to leave her friends.

"GO GINNY!" shouted Hilary from the kitchen. "GO AND GET HELP, NOW!"

Ginny picked up the portkey and activated it with a click of button, feeling the familiar tug behind her navel as she whizzed away from Orange Grove forest. Seconds later, she was falling several feet in the air, where the portkey had left her. Hilary must have made a mistake in the arrival location when she made, thought Ginny vaguely as she fell. There was a white hot pain and a snap as her foot came in contact with the ground and her ankle broke. She screamed. Every student on the grounds heard it. Ginny tried to stand, knowing she had to get to Dumbledore so someone could help Hilary but she collapsed back on the ground.

"SOMEONE GET DUMBLEDORE, HURRY!" she yelled and the top of her lungs. "Hurry please!" she shouted. Several students dropped what they were doing and sprinted. She sighed, hoping they wouldn't take too long.