Propensity- an innate inclination to act or do something

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Chapter Three

Arthur Weasley surveyed the damage of the crude battlefield before him. It was riddled with the scent of smoke, and several trees nearby were singed from exploding hexes. He quickly did a head count and was relieved to see that none of their own had been lost. He made his way over to his sons. As he did so, a small elf owl flew overhead and dropped an envelope into his hands.

Arthur opened the envelope and pulled out the broken wand. A note fluttered to the ground. He picked up the note and read it...

"And the werewolf too..."

"No!" cried Arthur. "No!"

Upon hearing their father's anguished screams, the Weasley sons ran to him. Bill reached him first.

"What is it, Dad?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Arthur was too overcome to speak, but Ron knew what it was.

"That's Ginny's wand," he said softly. "But...but she can't be...."

"Ginny?" asked Charlie. "She's at Headquarters with Oliver."

"No, she's not," said Oliver, having just landed not far from them. "They took her," he said frantically. The other men looked at him, perplexed.

Molly Weasley, noticing the crowd of her family, came rushing over. "What's going on? Are you all alright?"

"Ginny..." Fred said, unable to finish his thought. His twin put a comforting arm on his shoulder.

Arthur held out Ginny's broken wand to them all. Molly screamed in horror and began to cry hysterically. Bill held his mother, and the rest of the boys stared in shock.

Oliver's eyes widened in terror. "But, I just thought they'd taken her. I didn't know they'd-"

"No," Arthur said harshly. "This isn't the place. Quickly, back to Headquarters."

They all quickly Apparated back to Grimmauld Place to wait for the rest of the Order.

Upon entering the kitchen of the Headquarters, the Weasley family and Oliver sank dismally into chairs around the table.

Arthur, through tears, turned to Oliver. "What happened?"

Oliver sighed heavily, desperately trying not to cry in front of her family, and told them everything. "Well, when the rescue mission for Professor Lupin got called off, Ginny went mad. She insisted on going after him herself." He turned to look at Molly. "I tried to stop her, I swear it! But she wouldn't listen. So I went with her."

Charlie banged his fist on the table in frustration. "I knew we should have gone ahead with the mission. I knew something like this would happen!"

Bill patted his brother's shoulder and nodded at Oliver to continue.

"We flew to the hideout, up north. We found a spot to sneak in, and we'd just broken through the first set of wards when I heard something behind me. I went to look; it was just a fox, but when I turned around, Ginny had already broken through the other wards and was about to go in through the window." His voice began to waver, and his eyes filled with tears, as he could no longer contain them. "I tried to get her to come back to me, but he grabbed her and put something over her head and ran off with her. I flew overhead to see if I could find her, but I saw other Death Eaters mounting brooms to come after me. I didn't know what to do!" he cried desperately.

Charlie looked the younger man in the eye. "How could you let this happen, Oliver?" he yelled. "We trusted you to keep her safe here. And now she's gone!"

Oliver slumped over the table in sobs. "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry!" he wailed. He sobbed harder, and George put his arm around his friend to comfort him. Oliver had lost the woman he loved and deserved to grieve.

Arthur sighed heavily and began to pace around the kitchen. "They're both gone- Ginny and Remus," he said succinctly. He turned back to his family, his face hard. "Your sister died trying to save someone she cared about. She died a hero's death. We should all learn from her. She was-"his voice strained to finish- "She was the best of all of us."

He went to Molly, helped her up, and they went upstairs. Bill mused that his father would probably convince her to take a Calming Potion and rest.

The other Weasley brothers sat around the table, staring at their hands, listening to Oliver's continued crying. When he'd finally calmed down, he left the room and walked outside. Several moments later, the household heard the anguished screams of Oliver Wood, which could only be described as the cries of a man in agonizing pain.

The other members of the Order kept quiet the next few days, letting the Weasleys mourn. Dumbledore insisted they be kept in the loop on Order business, but he refused to let any of them participate. He also prevented Harry, Hermione and Oliver from tackling anything heavy. Ginny had been like a sister to Harry and Hermione, and Dumbledore knew that Oliver was not only mourning the loss of his love, but he felt extremely guilty for her "death."

It was three days after receiving her wand that Oliver even spoke of Ginny again. He was out behind the house when Harry came out to join him.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, watching the older boy practice hexes and curses.

"Training," he replied tersely. "I'm going to find that Death Eater who took her and kill him."

"Do you really think Ginny would want you to do that, Oliver?" Harry was concerned. "She'd want you to be safe, to keep on studying Healing, live your life without the shadow of vengeance," he said softly.

Oliver raised himself up to his full 6' height and loomed over Harry's 5' 9" frame. His expression was emotionless and his eyes conveyed only hatred and revenge. "I think Ginny would want to avenge my death if it happened to me, so why shouldn't I do the same?" His voice began rising. "Ginny gave her life trying to rescue Lupin, and I couldn't do anything but watch. I failed her, Harry. I let her die. It's my fault, and I will do anything to make it up to her family, to her memory. And for me, that's taking the life of the man that took hers." He turned from his former schoolmate and walked back into the house.

Harry stood where he was and completely understood where his friend was coming from. He'd loved Ginny as he could have loved his own sister, had he had one. He knew her fiery temper, her spontaneous nature and her tenacity. She'd been the one, from the moment he'd been captured, who wanted to go after Remus. He'd never quite understood why, but she had been hell-bent on going after him. He shook his head, realizing how stupid they'd all been, believing that she wouldn't attempt to rescue him herself. He picked up a rock from the ground and through it as hard as he could in the pond in the distance.

He turned back to the door where Oliver had entered and muttered, "Find him, Olli. Find that bastard and kill him- for both Ginny and Remus."