Chapter 20 - The Prodigal Daugher Returns....
"Father!!!!!!!!!!! It's Ginny! We need to help her!" Ron frantically shouted as the tension in the building subsided.
Molly quickly rushed to her daughter's side, ignoring the crowd that were now rounding up the apprehended death-eaters and removing their hoods for proper identification. "Oh, my poor baby! What spell hit her?"
"Is s-she ---?" The Weasley twins asked nervously after seeing the unmoving body of their youngest sister.
"NO!" exclaimed Ron and glared at the twins as if that was a very unthinkable thing to say.
"Who did this to her?" demanded Bill as he, too, stared at the unconscious figure, pain still clearly etched on her pale face.
"Stunning spell and the cruciatus curse. A death-eater cursed her when she ran in front of Mr. Weasley." said Harry while wondering why Draco, the cunning and manipulative bastard she chose over them, did not come to her rescue. And to think he had been gullible enough to assume that he cared enough for Ginny to not let anybody harm her in any way! 'I should have brought her back when I had the chance...'
"Oh, my darling little girl!" cried Mrs. Weasley.
"Come on, Molly, it's okay. We just need to bring her to Madam Pomphrey." said Mr. Weasley, carrying their youngest child carefully.
The emotions that engulfed the Room were very intense and diverse as they all waited for Madam Pomphrey's declaration about Ginny's condition. Of course, the Weasleys were simply ecstatic about her being with them now no matter what she had done. They seemed to think that her attempt to save her father had been enough retribution on her part and that signified that she was still not as corrupted as they had first thought.
Harry, Hermione and Neville were quite relieved although there were several questions that nagged their minds. How come Ginny followed the order to attack the ministry when she knew full well what could possibly happen if her father refused? Or did she know? What about Draco? How come there were more young death-eaters than adult dark wizards in the attack? Shouldn't there be more experienced death-eaters there or were they not expecting such strong resistance?
The other DA members were also occupied with theories of their own. Some seemed content about the positive turn of events but one was quite suspicious about the motives behind Ginny's actions ---- Luna. Something did not feel right and she always trusted her instincts. She gazed around the room, her forehead furrowed as she contemplated on what SHE SAW happened and what might have REALLY happened. Her lips curled in disgust as if she thought of something unpleasant.
Harry did not notice her reaction because he was sitting beside her and could not see her face....but Hermione did.
"What's wrong, Luna?" she asked, curious about what made her react that way.
Luna opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it. "Nothing." she said simply and closed her eyes to avoid Hermione's questioning stare.
Oblivious to the exchange, Harry turned to Hermione to ask her about the progress of the Power Reviving Potion.
"It's fine, Harry. We only need the essence of the Patronus' Kiss but we can only add that at Crigod's Commune and should immediately be administered to the wizards or else it would not be that effective." replied Hermione.
"That's great!" said Harry.
"Mr. Potter, meet me in the Training Room. We need to talk." said Professor McGonagall sternly as she walked silently to the place. Harry followed. It was not a request. It was a command and it made him slightly nervous about what they were going to talk about.
As he closed the door behind him, his jaw dropped as his eyes fell on the very serious faces of Professor McGonagall, Moody, Bill, Arthur, Lupin, Snape and the person he remembered as the one who conjured the impressive fireball spell. 'Why are they all here? This is worse than I thought.'
"H-have I done something wrong?" he asked tentatively.
"How clever of you to think that, Potter!" said Snape disdainfully. Harry simply ignored his remark.
"Why did you go there when I specifically ordered you to stay here?" asked Moody.
"No regard for the rules just like his arrogant father." Snape muttered under his breath.
"Enough, Severus." said Moody as if admonishing a naughty child.
"I-er We were afraid that your forces won't be enough against the enemies so we decided to check. We'll only stay if we think we're needed and it turned out that we were. You were late." said Harry.
"And thank goodness your group was there, Harry." said Arthur Weasley to prevent the brewing argument.
Moody looked a bit ashamed but disgruntled at the same time and Snape pursed his lips, annoyed that Harry did not get the tongue-lashing he expected.
"Relax, Harry. We did not bring you here to discuss that. We're here to talk about Crigod's Commune residents. Severus had already discovered the names and locations of the persons involved. Unfortunately, convincing them would not be that easy even after lifting the memory charms. They had already been so accustomed to muggle life that they might be reluctant to return." said Professor Lupin.
"I have already talked to a few and they all said they needed time to think about it first. Some are already dead." said Snape while staring down at his report to hide his face.
Harry tried to conceal his disappointment at the news but found it a very tedious task. So, that explains why they wore such grim expressions. After everything, he imagined this would be the easiest part. It never even crossed his mind that there might be other factors to consider...like the involved persons' wariness to return to the lives they had already forgotten.
"So what do we do now?" he weakly asked.
"We wait..." replied Arthur calmly.
"WE WAIT?!? AGAIN?!?" Harry suddenly exploded at hearing those words. How he hated hearing them....the bane of his existence!
The others glanced at him nervously as he radiated a powerful aura that seemed to electrify the room. Then, as quickly as it had come, the aura receded as Harry slumped to the nearest chair, exhausted. "Fine....so we wait...for how long?" he asked, resigned to the situation.
"We're not sure, Harry. It's hard to gauge the amount of time they needed to come up with a decision. Besides, I'm not really sure if they are willing to trust us..." said Arthur cautiously, not willing to trigger his temper again.
"Alright, sorry for my outburst. It's just that we were all excited about this...the potion is ready and all...we just needed the residents....It's really disappointing to hear the news." said Harry, then he suddenly stood up as an idea formed on his mind. "Maybe you should bring my aunt with you. She may be able to help you convince them since she's one of them."
"Why, that's a great suggestion, Harry, even if it came from you." said Snape with his usual sarcastic tone but Harry ignored it once more. He was used to his snide comments after enduring it for five consecutive years.
"And I'm sure you have enough sense on your head not to trust young Ginny with this information yet." Snape continued but he spoke in such a low voice so that only Harry could hear him. Harry stared at him, puzzled at his last comment but refrained from asking as Snape gave him a don't-ask-me- that-in-front-of-the-Weasleys look.
"By the way, Harry, this is Malcolm, one of the new recruits of the order. He wishes to teach your group with the fireball technique if you wanted to." said Bill for the first time, introducing the unknown visitor whom they all forgot was there as they discussed the recent developments on the plan.
"Nice to meet you, Malcolm. That was really awesome! Can you teach us now?" asked Harry eagerly, temporarily forgetting the disheartening news he received a while ago.
"That's what I'm here for. I can show you how to do it but you have to practice by yourselves. We have a lot of things to do, you know...Order matters." said Malcolm.
"That's still great! Wait here for a while. I'm just going to get the other members."
Harry excused him and excitedly left the room. The Order members, with the exception of Snape who usually gave an impression that smiling was a sign of weakness, just smiled good-naturedly at the young man eager to learn more. When Harry returned with the DA members, only Malcolm and Bill were there.
"I reckon they don't want to be accidentally hit with the fireball curse by overeager students." said Bill, cautiously charming himself with a fire repellant charm and looking a little more cheerful now.
It turned out that Malcolm was a very efficient instructor. Soon they all learned the basic technique and some were already able to form small fireballs on the palms of their hands. Ron, who hadn't seen the actual fireball that Malcolm conjured at the ministry, was simply bowled over and forgot his earlier dilemma too.
"Cool!" exclaimed Ron as Malcolm gave them a demonstration of what a really powerful fireball would look like.
"Cool? Don't you mean 'hot'?" said Hermione as she held the fireball on her small palm and was getting a little bit affected by the heat.
"Oh, yeah, that too." said Ron, with eyes still transfixed at the ongoing demonstration. Malcolm strode over to Hermione after he was done.
"Ouch, that must hurt! it's really not advisable to hold it for so long...You have to hurl it at the enemy as soon as you conjure it. That way, you won't feel the heat much." he explained as he looked at Hermione's blistered hand. Upon seeing her hand, the other members quickly hurled their fireballs on the ball and extinquished it with the water cannon spell.
By the end of the session, all DA members could perform the spell although some fireballs were bigger than the others but Malcolm assured them that with constant practice, their fireballs would be powerful enough to topple down at least ten death-eaters at once.
"You were great! Not all first-timers could do that but I guess your previous training helped you to learn the spell fast. Let your blisters heal first before you practice again. Ciao!" With that, he and Bill went out of the room and disappeared somewhere before they could stop them.
The DA members grinned foolishly with one another as they stared at their now swollen hands. It really hurts but who cares? That's one major spell that was worth the pain. They all went to Madam Pomphrey who just sprinkled some powder on each of their hands and within a few minutes, their hands were healed much to their relief.
It was already dinner time when they heard the news about Ginny.
"I assume you already know what happened to Miss Weasley so I don't have to elaborate. She will be fully recovered by tomorrow morning and I forbid all of you to bombard her with questions until she's ready to talk about it. Do I make myself clear?" said Professor McGonagall as she sliced a well done steak on her plate.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall." said everyone in a way that the sickeningly sweet Umbridge would be proud of.
The following day, Harry was jerked awake by a very forceful shove from one very excited Ron.
"Harry, you sleepyhead, get up now! Ginny's awake! Quick, let's visit her. Hermione and Neville are already there with her." said Ron, handing him his glasses to save time.
"Fine...fine...just when I getting to the best part of my dream, my so- called best friend interrupts..." grumbled Harry, slowly getting up from the bed.
"Hey, I didn't mean ---- what kind of dream?"
"Uhh...Never mind...." said Harry, turning his back on Ron and pretending to fix something to hide his flushed face.
"A-ha! That kind, huh?" said Ron, his eyes twinkling with mischief, the same look that the twins wore whenever they had thought of a particularly brilliant prank. "I can't wait till I tell the others..."
Harry's eyes went wide as he grasped Ron's innuendo. "Not that, you idiot! I was having a very wonderful time with...." Then as if he just registered the reason why Ron woke him up, "Did you say Ginny's awake? Come on!" He quickly grabbed the hand of his confused friend and ran to where Ginny was.
They found Hermione, Neville, Fred and George, and Colin chatting animatedly with Ginny while Luna observed them from a nearby chair. Ginny beckoned them to come closer when she noticed their arrival. She gave each of them a hug, murmuring an apology as she did so.
"Guys, I'm really sorry... especially to you, Ron and Hermione. I didn't mean to harm you in any way. I just don't know what came to me." she said, her lower lip trembling as tears started to flow from her eyes.
"Hush, it's okay now. We're here for you so never ever entertain the crazy idea think that we'd abandon you, okay?" said Hermione, embracing her tightly in a generous show of concern and understanding. Ginny nodded mutely while she silently pleaded for the others' forgiveness.
"Don't worry, Ginny. We understand. We know you are not really evil. It's that Malfoy! Maybe he had done something to make you do those things..." said Ron, not noticing how Ginny tensed at the mention of Draco's name.
Nobody noticed but Luna who was carefully scrutinizing Ginny's face for any sign of deception. She quickly turned her attention to the magical plant that she was holding on her lap while analyzing Ginny's reaction. She did not even notice when Harry sat by her side.
"Hey, hon, what's wrong?" Luna was startled by his question.
"Oh! Nothing...just thinking..."
"About what?"
"Nothing in particular...just wondering about the whereabouts of my father again...why Ginny was here...and what is going to happen now..." she answered truthfully. She was, afterall, her boyfriend and she valued their relationship too much to taint it with lies.
"Hmm...so you have doubts about Ginny too? Don't worry too much, love. Everything will be alright." said Harry, enveloping her in his arms and planting a soft kiss on her cheeks.
"Was Draco there? How come he did not come to your rescue when someone cursed you." they heard Fred ask and they walked over to join the conversation.
"Why did you come with them?" asked George, curious too.
"It was Draco who hit me and I can't believe he did that to me. I didn't know where we were going at first. I thought we're just going to a death- eater conference. I didn't even know that dad was the new minister." replied Ginny remorsefully. "I was afraid but when I saw what Lucius was about to do, I simply lost my mind and ran to protect him. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to him." Her brothers gave her sympathetic looks and offered to assassinate Draco at the first chance they got.
"You don't have to do that. I don't want my father to lock my brothers in Azkaban for killing someone." said Ginny, smiling slightly.
'If she was lying, then she's putting up a very convincing front.' thought Luna as she surveyed her reaction. '...or maybe I was just being paranoid...'
"Hey, Ginny! We're running the Quibbler now. Maybe you could help with the articles...you know...some inside info about the death-eaters...It's really great to have you back!" said Colin, aiming his camera at the stunned red- headed girl.
"You were the ones responsible for that?!? I should have known...It's giving Lucius a major headache. He couldn't figure out who was publishing the paper and how it was being distributed. He suffered Lord Voldemort's wrath because of his failure to find out." said Ginny, genuinely delighted at hearing the information.
"Out of the way now....give the poor girl a break." Madam Pomphrey ordering the visitors out, providing Harry with a perfect excuse to talk to his friends away from Ginny.
He immediately called all DA members, aside from Ginny, for a quick meeting. He updated them on the status of the Crigod's residents. As expected, they were all disappointed too but Harry alleviated their concern by pointing out that some things could not be rushed. The members reluctantly agreed as they could not argue with that fact. Harry took a deep breath before stating the last part of the agenda.
"I know most of us had been friends with Ginny, some closer than most and we're all very glad that she's back. However, we must limit the information that we share with her."
"What do you mean? You don't trust my sister?" exclaimed Ron indignantly. Fred, George and Neville looked a little miffed too. They thought Harry was close to Ginny.
"It's not that he doesn't trust her, Ron. He's just being careful." said Luna in Harry's defense.
"Yeah, Ron. She did hit you with the Cruciatus Curse, didn't she? That's not to be taken lightly." said Cho, agreeing with Luna for the first time.
"Wait a minute --- this is our sister we're talking about, not some bloody Slytherin!" exclaimed Fred in disgust.
"It's not about houses, Fred. Harry's right. We have to be careful. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? We'll let her in on everything as soon as we think it's safe." said Hermione calmly to diffuse the tension but Ron and the twins only gave her vicious glares before agreeing against their will.
"We have to be careful but not that careful that we won't even talk to her about anything. We can start with talking to her about old times...making her feel at home and secure. She can join our training if she's physically fit enough for that -- we don't want her to feel left out or anything. We can also share our past experiences with her but no information shall be given about Crigod's Commune and the house-elves liberation front until we're sure it's safe." stated Harry, quickly putting an end to the meeting before the hot-headed Weasley brothers decide to curse them all. He just hoped that Ginny was not up to something as Luna had feared or else...
"Father!!!!!!!!!!! It's Ginny! We need to help her!" Ron frantically shouted as the tension in the building subsided.
Molly quickly rushed to her daughter's side, ignoring the crowd that were now rounding up the apprehended death-eaters and removing their hoods for proper identification. "Oh, my poor baby! What spell hit her?"
"Is s-she ---?" The Weasley twins asked nervously after seeing the unmoving body of their youngest sister.
"NO!" exclaimed Ron and glared at the twins as if that was a very unthinkable thing to say.
"Who did this to her?" demanded Bill as he, too, stared at the unconscious figure, pain still clearly etched on her pale face.
"Stunning spell and the cruciatus curse. A death-eater cursed her when she ran in front of Mr. Weasley." said Harry while wondering why Draco, the cunning and manipulative bastard she chose over them, did not come to her rescue. And to think he had been gullible enough to assume that he cared enough for Ginny to not let anybody harm her in any way! 'I should have brought her back when I had the chance...'
"Oh, my darling little girl!" cried Mrs. Weasley.
"Come on, Molly, it's okay. We just need to bring her to Madam Pomphrey." said Mr. Weasley, carrying their youngest child carefully.
The emotions that engulfed the Room were very intense and diverse as they all waited for Madam Pomphrey's declaration about Ginny's condition. Of course, the Weasleys were simply ecstatic about her being with them now no matter what she had done. They seemed to think that her attempt to save her father had been enough retribution on her part and that signified that she was still not as corrupted as they had first thought.
Harry, Hermione and Neville were quite relieved although there were several questions that nagged their minds. How come Ginny followed the order to attack the ministry when she knew full well what could possibly happen if her father refused? Or did she know? What about Draco? How come there were more young death-eaters than adult dark wizards in the attack? Shouldn't there be more experienced death-eaters there or were they not expecting such strong resistance?
The other DA members were also occupied with theories of their own. Some seemed content about the positive turn of events but one was quite suspicious about the motives behind Ginny's actions ---- Luna. Something did not feel right and she always trusted her instincts. She gazed around the room, her forehead furrowed as she contemplated on what SHE SAW happened and what might have REALLY happened. Her lips curled in disgust as if she thought of something unpleasant.
Harry did not notice her reaction because he was sitting beside her and could not see her face....but Hermione did.
"What's wrong, Luna?" she asked, curious about what made her react that way.
Luna opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it. "Nothing." she said simply and closed her eyes to avoid Hermione's questioning stare.
Oblivious to the exchange, Harry turned to Hermione to ask her about the progress of the Power Reviving Potion.
"It's fine, Harry. We only need the essence of the Patronus' Kiss but we can only add that at Crigod's Commune and should immediately be administered to the wizards or else it would not be that effective." replied Hermione.
"That's great!" said Harry.
"Mr. Potter, meet me in the Training Room. We need to talk." said Professor McGonagall sternly as she walked silently to the place. Harry followed. It was not a request. It was a command and it made him slightly nervous about what they were going to talk about.
As he closed the door behind him, his jaw dropped as his eyes fell on the very serious faces of Professor McGonagall, Moody, Bill, Arthur, Lupin, Snape and the person he remembered as the one who conjured the impressive fireball spell. 'Why are they all here? This is worse than I thought.'
"H-have I done something wrong?" he asked tentatively.
"How clever of you to think that, Potter!" said Snape disdainfully. Harry simply ignored his remark.
"Why did you go there when I specifically ordered you to stay here?" asked Moody.
"No regard for the rules just like his arrogant father." Snape muttered under his breath.
"Enough, Severus." said Moody as if admonishing a naughty child.
"I-er We were afraid that your forces won't be enough against the enemies so we decided to check. We'll only stay if we think we're needed and it turned out that we were. You were late." said Harry.
"And thank goodness your group was there, Harry." said Arthur Weasley to prevent the brewing argument.
Moody looked a bit ashamed but disgruntled at the same time and Snape pursed his lips, annoyed that Harry did not get the tongue-lashing he expected.
"Relax, Harry. We did not bring you here to discuss that. We're here to talk about Crigod's Commune residents. Severus had already discovered the names and locations of the persons involved. Unfortunately, convincing them would not be that easy even after lifting the memory charms. They had already been so accustomed to muggle life that they might be reluctant to return." said Professor Lupin.
"I have already talked to a few and they all said they needed time to think about it first. Some are already dead." said Snape while staring down at his report to hide his face.
Harry tried to conceal his disappointment at the news but found it a very tedious task. So, that explains why they wore such grim expressions. After everything, he imagined this would be the easiest part. It never even crossed his mind that there might be other factors to consider...like the involved persons' wariness to return to the lives they had already forgotten.
"So what do we do now?" he weakly asked.
"We wait..." replied Arthur calmly.
"WE WAIT?!? AGAIN?!?" Harry suddenly exploded at hearing those words. How he hated hearing them....the bane of his existence!
The others glanced at him nervously as he radiated a powerful aura that seemed to electrify the room. Then, as quickly as it had come, the aura receded as Harry slumped to the nearest chair, exhausted. "Fine....so we wait...for how long?" he asked, resigned to the situation.
"We're not sure, Harry. It's hard to gauge the amount of time they needed to come up with a decision. Besides, I'm not really sure if they are willing to trust us..." said Arthur cautiously, not willing to trigger his temper again.
"Alright, sorry for my outburst. It's just that we were all excited about this...the potion is ready and all...we just needed the residents....It's really disappointing to hear the news." said Harry, then he suddenly stood up as an idea formed on his mind. "Maybe you should bring my aunt with you. She may be able to help you convince them since she's one of them."
"Why, that's a great suggestion, Harry, even if it came from you." said Snape with his usual sarcastic tone but Harry ignored it once more. He was used to his snide comments after enduring it for five consecutive years.
"And I'm sure you have enough sense on your head not to trust young Ginny with this information yet." Snape continued but he spoke in such a low voice so that only Harry could hear him. Harry stared at him, puzzled at his last comment but refrained from asking as Snape gave him a don't-ask-me- that-in-front-of-the-Weasleys look.
"By the way, Harry, this is Malcolm, one of the new recruits of the order. He wishes to teach your group with the fireball technique if you wanted to." said Bill for the first time, introducing the unknown visitor whom they all forgot was there as they discussed the recent developments on the plan.
"Nice to meet you, Malcolm. That was really awesome! Can you teach us now?" asked Harry eagerly, temporarily forgetting the disheartening news he received a while ago.
"That's what I'm here for. I can show you how to do it but you have to practice by yourselves. We have a lot of things to do, you know...Order matters." said Malcolm.
"That's still great! Wait here for a while. I'm just going to get the other members."
Harry excused him and excitedly left the room. The Order members, with the exception of Snape who usually gave an impression that smiling was a sign of weakness, just smiled good-naturedly at the young man eager to learn more. When Harry returned with the DA members, only Malcolm and Bill were there.
"I reckon they don't want to be accidentally hit with the fireball curse by overeager students." said Bill, cautiously charming himself with a fire repellant charm and looking a little more cheerful now.
It turned out that Malcolm was a very efficient instructor. Soon they all learned the basic technique and some were already able to form small fireballs on the palms of their hands. Ron, who hadn't seen the actual fireball that Malcolm conjured at the ministry, was simply bowled over and forgot his earlier dilemma too.
"Cool!" exclaimed Ron as Malcolm gave them a demonstration of what a really powerful fireball would look like.
"Cool? Don't you mean 'hot'?" said Hermione as she held the fireball on her small palm and was getting a little bit affected by the heat.
"Oh, yeah, that too." said Ron, with eyes still transfixed at the ongoing demonstration. Malcolm strode over to Hermione after he was done.
"Ouch, that must hurt! it's really not advisable to hold it for so long...You have to hurl it at the enemy as soon as you conjure it. That way, you won't feel the heat much." he explained as he looked at Hermione's blistered hand. Upon seeing her hand, the other members quickly hurled their fireballs on the ball and extinquished it with the water cannon spell.
By the end of the session, all DA members could perform the spell although some fireballs were bigger than the others but Malcolm assured them that with constant practice, their fireballs would be powerful enough to topple down at least ten death-eaters at once.
"You were great! Not all first-timers could do that but I guess your previous training helped you to learn the spell fast. Let your blisters heal first before you practice again. Ciao!" With that, he and Bill went out of the room and disappeared somewhere before they could stop them.
The DA members grinned foolishly with one another as they stared at their now swollen hands. It really hurts but who cares? That's one major spell that was worth the pain. They all went to Madam Pomphrey who just sprinkled some powder on each of their hands and within a few minutes, their hands were healed much to their relief.
It was already dinner time when they heard the news about Ginny.
"I assume you already know what happened to Miss Weasley so I don't have to elaborate. She will be fully recovered by tomorrow morning and I forbid all of you to bombard her with questions until she's ready to talk about it. Do I make myself clear?" said Professor McGonagall as she sliced a well done steak on her plate.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall." said everyone in a way that the sickeningly sweet Umbridge would be proud of.
The following day, Harry was jerked awake by a very forceful shove from one very excited Ron.
"Harry, you sleepyhead, get up now! Ginny's awake! Quick, let's visit her. Hermione and Neville are already there with her." said Ron, handing him his glasses to save time.
"Fine...fine...just when I getting to the best part of my dream, my so- called best friend interrupts..." grumbled Harry, slowly getting up from the bed.
"Hey, I didn't mean ---- what kind of dream?"
"Uhh...Never mind...." said Harry, turning his back on Ron and pretending to fix something to hide his flushed face.
"A-ha! That kind, huh?" said Ron, his eyes twinkling with mischief, the same look that the twins wore whenever they had thought of a particularly brilliant prank. "I can't wait till I tell the others..."
Harry's eyes went wide as he grasped Ron's innuendo. "Not that, you idiot! I was having a very wonderful time with...." Then as if he just registered the reason why Ron woke him up, "Did you say Ginny's awake? Come on!" He quickly grabbed the hand of his confused friend and ran to where Ginny was.
They found Hermione, Neville, Fred and George, and Colin chatting animatedly with Ginny while Luna observed them from a nearby chair. Ginny beckoned them to come closer when she noticed their arrival. She gave each of them a hug, murmuring an apology as she did so.
"Guys, I'm really sorry... especially to you, Ron and Hermione. I didn't mean to harm you in any way. I just don't know what came to me." she said, her lower lip trembling as tears started to flow from her eyes.
"Hush, it's okay now. We're here for you so never ever entertain the crazy idea think that we'd abandon you, okay?" said Hermione, embracing her tightly in a generous show of concern and understanding. Ginny nodded mutely while she silently pleaded for the others' forgiveness.
"Don't worry, Ginny. We understand. We know you are not really evil. It's that Malfoy! Maybe he had done something to make you do those things..." said Ron, not noticing how Ginny tensed at the mention of Draco's name.
Nobody noticed but Luna who was carefully scrutinizing Ginny's face for any sign of deception. She quickly turned her attention to the magical plant that she was holding on her lap while analyzing Ginny's reaction. She did not even notice when Harry sat by her side.
"Hey, hon, what's wrong?" Luna was startled by his question.
"Oh! Nothing...just thinking..."
"About what?"
"Nothing in particular...just wondering about the whereabouts of my father again...why Ginny was here...and what is going to happen now..." she answered truthfully. She was, afterall, her boyfriend and she valued their relationship too much to taint it with lies.
"Hmm...so you have doubts about Ginny too? Don't worry too much, love. Everything will be alright." said Harry, enveloping her in his arms and planting a soft kiss on her cheeks.
"Was Draco there? How come he did not come to your rescue when someone cursed you." they heard Fred ask and they walked over to join the conversation.
"Why did you come with them?" asked George, curious too.
"It was Draco who hit me and I can't believe he did that to me. I didn't know where we were going at first. I thought we're just going to a death- eater conference. I didn't even know that dad was the new minister." replied Ginny remorsefully. "I was afraid but when I saw what Lucius was about to do, I simply lost my mind and ran to protect him. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to him." Her brothers gave her sympathetic looks and offered to assassinate Draco at the first chance they got.
"You don't have to do that. I don't want my father to lock my brothers in Azkaban for killing someone." said Ginny, smiling slightly.
'If she was lying, then she's putting up a very convincing front.' thought Luna as she surveyed her reaction. '...or maybe I was just being paranoid...'
"Hey, Ginny! We're running the Quibbler now. Maybe you could help with the articles...you know...some inside info about the death-eaters...It's really great to have you back!" said Colin, aiming his camera at the stunned red- headed girl.
"You were the ones responsible for that?!? I should have known...It's giving Lucius a major headache. He couldn't figure out who was publishing the paper and how it was being distributed. He suffered Lord Voldemort's wrath because of his failure to find out." said Ginny, genuinely delighted at hearing the information.
"Out of the way now....give the poor girl a break." Madam Pomphrey ordering the visitors out, providing Harry with a perfect excuse to talk to his friends away from Ginny.
He immediately called all DA members, aside from Ginny, for a quick meeting. He updated them on the status of the Crigod's residents. As expected, they were all disappointed too but Harry alleviated their concern by pointing out that some things could not be rushed. The members reluctantly agreed as they could not argue with that fact. Harry took a deep breath before stating the last part of the agenda.
"I know most of us had been friends with Ginny, some closer than most and we're all very glad that she's back. However, we must limit the information that we share with her."
"What do you mean? You don't trust my sister?" exclaimed Ron indignantly. Fred, George and Neville looked a little miffed too. They thought Harry was close to Ginny.
"It's not that he doesn't trust her, Ron. He's just being careful." said Luna in Harry's defense.
"Yeah, Ron. She did hit you with the Cruciatus Curse, didn't she? That's not to be taken lightly." said Cho, agreeing with Luna for the first time.
"Wait a minute --- this is our sister we're talking about, not some bloody Slytherin!" exclaimed Fred in disgust.
"It's not about houses, Fred. Harry's right. We have to be careful. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? We'll let her in on everything as soon as we think it's safe." said Hermione calmly to diffuse the tension but Ron and the twins only gave her vicious glares before agreeing against their will.
"We have to be careful but not that careful that we won't even talk to her about anything. We can start with talking to her about old times...making her feel at home and secure. She can join our training if she's physically fit enough for that -- we don't want her to feel left out or anything. We can also share our past experiences with her but no information shall be given about Crigod's Commune and the house-elves liberation front until we're sure it's safe." stated Harry, quickly putting an end to the meeting before the hot-headed Weasley brothers decide to curse them all. He just hoped that Ginny was not up to something as Luna had feared or else...