Chapter 6

Ginny walked a step or two behind Lance, thoroughly enjoying herself. A full moon now sat cradled in the clear sky and a thousand stars shone with magnificence; Ginny wandered on before stopping at a brook. She was indeed very thirsty and she cupped her hands to drink.

Twang! Ginny looked up in fear. A shaft of black metal whistled through the night, burying itself in her thigh. She fell backwards with a shrill scream and the water from her hands sloshed inside her mouth. She swallowed instinctively.

She could feel the poison from the arrow course through her veins, just as she could now feel many things. She felt the Heartbeat of the forest her bones, the water working it's strange magic, and many things she could not describe; every heartbeat in the forest was hers, from the mighty stag, to the giant spiders, to the smallest cricket, to the towering Oak, to the magical brook, she felt them all pounding in her heart.

It seemed for a moment that nothing stirred, every living being in the forest held it's breath, and then Ginny coughed and everything cascaded down on her.

The red fox in the burrow by the lake and under the great ash wanted to know when her pups were coming back.

A lonely salmon wondered where the tastiest worms were in the pool under the Hazel tree.

A moonsoaked rowan delighted in the clear air.

Ginny coughed again and was distinctly aware again of each being.

"Stop." She croaked, but the images and thoughts washed through her mind, heedless of her.

"Please..." Something listened, at the edge of her consciousness it waited patiently for her to summon it. "Help." She beseeched with a dying voice.

She was propelled back into her body forcefully. She sucked in air greedily and flopped on her back. She forced herself up and to look at her arrow wound.

The shaft was true and sat deeply in flesh. She shuddered from looking at it but she knew what she needed to do, the hard part being doing it. She ran a tentative hand down it's length. Her vision wavering; she felt herself on the edge of consciousness. She grit her teeth and pulled.

Her scream reverberated through the forest and in every mind of the creatures that dwelt there.

"Help..." And all faded to black.

She awoke with a painful head and an agony beyond description in her left thigh. She hesitated on the brink of wakefulness, weaving a few moments between dreams and half-realities before once again succumbing to unconsciousness.

Her left hand dropped into the shallow waters of the brook, a coolness slowly working itself up her arm, to her fore-arm, and gathering about the arrow-wound.

It was morning when she awoke again. She hissed as she rose to a painful sitting position. She looked at her cheap wristwatch and took note of the time; 4:03. She groaned and looked around for Lance, pointedly avoiding looking at the hideous black arrow and the caked, dried blood on her skirt.

She took in her surroundings with an amazed eye, everything suddenly seemed different. The light seemed to make the plants glow with a golden-green aura, the plants looking healthy, radiant, and alive. The sweet song of a morning bird drifted from the leafy canopy above her, sounding high, joyful, and beautiful throughout the forest, as if heralding her waking.

She lay and listened for awhile, having not seen Lance. She heard the pitter-patter of squirrels on branches and many sounds one does not hear unless one takes the time.

Slowly she began to examine what had occurred last night. There was now a pressure in her mind, contained only by another entity. Cautiously she reached out to it. It greeted her now somewhat remorsefully, ashamed, almost, of its rumbuncous greeting the night before. She stretched a tendril of thought to examine it.

Its origins were clearly magical, and now very, almost uncomfortably, familiar. She shook her head.

She rose, stoically biting back the pain. Her leg shivered under her, threatening to give way. She hesitantly took a few steps, testing her weight and how well it could carry her.

She called out in a whisper to Lance, but received no response, yet she had long since learned he would return to her when he willed.

She knew which way was out of the forest by some innate sense, no doubt one gifted to her the night before.

She limped along, thinking of anything and everything besides her wound. Who was her attacker? A centaur? Harry had told her of their disposition towards humans. A definite maybe. She fumbled for something else Or to think of as a wave of pain struck her. Malfoy? Now there was a mystery. What caused him to be so bitter, hateful, and wretched? His father? Or The Dark Lord? Was he already a Death Eater beyond salvation? Or could the right person cause him to change? Ginny painfully snorted at this; and yet some part of her resisted this cynic side and thought on. Could she help him?

Don't be stupid Ginny! She shook herself, breaking away into another train of thought. Yet the annoying voice in her head would not let her rest.

She went on, drowning out that consistent voice in her head that said 'Maybe, just maybe...'

Reviewer Response:

3roken5oul- Glad you like!

FieldofPaperFlowers- Sad is good! Put I do hope taht you find some parts funny...

AngelofHell- DOGS RULE! ;D At any rate, I'll try to update...I hate school!