Disclaimer: This does not belong to me. I long for it to, so that I can
make the characters obey my twisted wishes, but it doesn't. I make no money
from this.
Many thanks to my Beta, Dom, who corrects all my silly mistakes.
***
Chapter One
The Weasley family, joined by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger sat in the Leaky Cauldron, drinking their drinks. Harry and Ron were excitedly talking about the spectacular Quidditch game between the Chudley Cannons and The Bromley Badgers that they had heard on the Wizard's wireless station. Ginny and Hermione were talking about school.
"Well, fifth year is a very important year of course, with your owls. Although there are no major exams in sixth year, it is a very hard year." Hermione was saying.
"And the way he pulled of that goal against Flanders was amazing!" Ron interrupted.
"Oh for god's sake Ron, you didn't even see it!" Hermione snapped. Harry pulled a face that made Ron laugh, and they continued to talk.
"You know what? I think I'm going to pop into Flourish and Blotts, see if I can get that book on Animagus'." Ginny said.
"But that's not on you list." Ron pointed out, checking her list.
"I know, but it'd be a good read, and I haven't got my gift for being made a prefect yet." Ginny quickly checked with her mother who nodded, thankful that another broomstick wouldn't be demanded, "I'll meet you at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour in about fifteen minutes, ok?"
"Ok, see ya Gin." Ron called at his sisters disappearing back.
"Well, it's good to know that Ginny's serious about her studies." Hermione said, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Yeah, I hope she's not gonna turn out like Percy, being a stuck up idiot who won't believe his own family." Ron muttered darkly.
"Now Ron, don't speak about your brother like that." Arthur Weasley scolded, glancing at his wife. She had a far away distant look, one she always adopted when her third son was mentioned.
"Well, I wouldn't if it wasn't true." Ron continued, although so quietly that only Harry heard.
"Hey, let's go get some ice-cream." Harry said, trying to break the dark mood. Hermione nodded eagerly, and Ron and his parents agreed.
"They've got a new flavour." Ron said after a moment of walking, "Mushroom soup."
Harry and Hermione laughed, and the dark mood was lifted. Harry and Ron continued their discussion on the Quidditch match, and Hermione tried to remind them of the importance of school.
They reached the Ice-Cream Parlour and Harry ordered the mushroom soup flavour as a dare. They all sat down and started to enjoy themselves. They had been there five minutes when they heard the explosion.
"What on earth?" Mr Weasley shouted.
"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley screamed "its Flourish and Blotts!"
The Weasley's ran at full speed, followed by Harry and Hermione. The air was filled with screams, and people were running away from the bookshop. Ron, being the tallest and fittest, pushed his way to the front. Already officials were apparating from all over, and one tried to step in front of Ron.
"Sorry son, you can't go in there." He said, trying to calm the struggling boy.
"Get off me!" Ron shouted "My sister! Ginny!"
"MacDougal!" Mr Weasley called "My daughter's in there!"
The man loosened his grip on Ron for just a moment to turn and look, but that was all the boy needed. He pulled away and ran straight into the shop, which had purple smoke billowing from its windows.
"Ginny!" He called, from inside he heard gasps and screams, but had no idea what it was that was frightening people. All that mattered to him was to find Ginny.
"Ron!" He heard Harry shout "Ron! You have to get out of there!"
"Ron!" That was Hermione. She sounded like she was crying. Something was going on outside.
He stumbled over something, and fell to his knees. Looking over to see what it was, he had to hold back vomit.
It was Neville, or at least a part of him. All Ron could see clearly was the head and a mess of things below it. He looked away before he could take anything else in. he crawled onwards, not knowing if he could stand. His hand came down on something soft and dry. He looked down, and felt a sob form in his throat. It was a clump of strawberry red hair.
Blackness crept into his vision, and Ron realised that he was passing out. A moment before he was completely out, he heard movement at the back of the shop, and then nothing.
***
Ron woke up in a soft bed in a white room. At first the bright light hurt his eyes, but soon his eyes adjusted, and he recognized his surroundings. He was in St Mungo's, the wizarding hospital.
"Mum?" He called, "Dad?"
"Ron? He's awake! Ron?" It was Hermione, her bushy hair filling his vision.
"Hermi?" He asked, dazed.
"Ron, its ok, your mum and dad are here." She assured him.
"Ginny?" He asked. Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she looked away. Ron knew exactly what that meant, and he felt tears falling down his own cheeks "Oh Gin."
"I'm sorry Ron." Someone said. Not Hermione. Harry?
"Harry?" He asked. The bespeckled face came into view, and he was also crying.
"Where are mum and dad?"
"They're outside with Bill and the twins, Charlie's on his way." Harry told him.
"Can I see them?" Ron asked.
"Sure, one moment." Hermione disappeared, and he heard some whispering.
"Harry, help me sit up." He ordered. His friend's arm was instantly lifting him, supporting him. Soon he was up straight, "Thanks."
Now that he was sitting up he could see that he had a room of his own, and that made him think. All that had happened was that he had passed out with shock, surely that did not warrant such extremities.
"It's because of. what happened." Harry explained, "They were going to wake you up, but then Dumbledore said to let you rest until everything was sorted out. And the room's because they thought you wouldn't want people to see if you. you know."
"Cried?" Ron asked. His friend nodded, "I want to cry; only I can't make myself believe it."
"I know, it's just. we saw her, only five minutes before. And she was so happy." Harry looked away, hiding his tears. It wasn't like when they thought she had died in their second year. He had been sorry, because it hadn't been fair, and because Ron was so upset, but now she was family, more family than the Dursley's. He loved all the Weasley's now, and Ginny's death now made him want to die himself.
"Did they find.?" Ron couldn't finish the sentence.
"No, or if they did they didn't tell me or Hermione."
"Then maybe she's not dead!" Ron's face was now lit up "Before I passed out I heard someone at the back of the shop. Maybe she got scared, and ran away! She might be alive!"
"Ron, no." The look on his friend's face was unbearable for Harry. The look of pure, cruel hope. Hope that would continue to exist for years to come but was completely pointless, because everyone else knew that there wasn't any hope.
"But she wasn't dead before, when everyone thought she was, and we looked for her, and we saved her life. If we look for her now, before it's too late, we can find her, maybe. She might still be alive!" Ron's face was too much.
"Ron, there is no chance, and deep down you know it. It'll just hurt more if you let yourself believe this. Ginny. She's dead, I wish she wasn't but she is." Harry took his friends arm, but he pulled away.
"So it's only convenient to save Ginny when you want to, is that it? When you can be the hero?" Ron snapped, but instantly regretted it. Harry's eyes filled with tears, "I'm sorry.I."
"It's ok." Harry said, and then he pulled Ron into a hug, because that was the only way he could hide his own pain. Ron's body shook as sobs racked through him.
When Mr And Mrs Weasley walked in with three of their sons and their almost adopted daughter, that's how they found the two boys, locked into a hug, trying to find the ability to cope in each other, which neither of them had.
***
Where was she? What happened? Was this nothing? It couldn't be nothing, nothing didn't exist. But she couldn't see, or hear, or smell or touch or taste. All her feelings had gone; there was nothing but the impossible nothingness.
Hello? No, she couldn't speak either, or if she could she couldn't hear it. What had happened?
Flourish and Blotts, talking to Neville. He was asking her about Dean, if they were still going out. It was embarrassing sometimes, how sweet and obvious he was. But Neville's eyes had grown wide with fear, and a hand had clamped around her mouth, pulling her backwards. The person who had grabbed her hissed something, and a purple light had sparked from his wand. Then she had heard an explosion, so close that it could have been right next to her. Wait, it had been. Of course, that's what the purple light had been. And then there had been a burning sensation at the back of her neck, and she watched as a clump of her hair fell to the ground. She remembered her irrational thought at the time:
My hair will grow uneven now.
And then she has seen someone, someone familiar. Ron! Ron, help me!
But he had been on the floor, looking at her hair, falling, even though he was already on his hands and knees.
"Did you cast the mark?" Her captor asked, but not to her. Someone else.
"Yes! Now let's go!" then being dragged somewhere, and knocked unconscious.
And waking up here. But was this waking up? Maybe she was asleep.
Maybe it was time to think.
***
Ron spent the day in St Mungo's before being told that he was allowed to go home. They flooed back, and Mrs Weasley instantly made herself busy by making everyone a cup of tea. At one point she stopped, trembled, but then continued.
"Dad?" Ron said quietly, "When I was inside the shop, I heard people screaming. What happened?"
Arthur coughed, and indicated towards the living room. Fred and George had gone straight up to their room, so it was only Bill, Charlie, Ron, Harry and Hermione who followed him into the living room. Once there he pulled out The Daily Prophet. The article read 'Seven killed in Death Eater attack' and the photo showed the bookshop, smoke billowing out, and a huge glittering skull hovering above it.
"The Dark Mark." Ron sighed.
"I'm sorry." Muttered Bill, standing up "I can't."
He walked out of the room and headed up to his old bedroom. Charlie looked at his dad for approval before following his older brother. After a moment Mr Weasley coughed, stood up and went into the kitchen to comfort his wife, who Ron could hear crying.
"What are we gonna do?" He asked finally, not to anyone in particular.
"I wish I knew Ron, but I don't." Hermione answered.
***
"What's happened so far?"
"Not much. She's only tried to talk once, but she's not stupid, she realised that she couldn't."
"Do we have any idea how long this is going to take?"
"If she's weak willed, a week at most, is she's not. it could take years for all we know, this is untried."
"Well, we're trying it now, so take note of everything. By the way, how are we supposed to know when it works?"
"Well, there'll be a definite change in M-waves, as they are two different people. Other than that, I have no idea. For all we know, she could change shape!"
"I very much doubt that."
"Well, of course, it's unlikely. What I'm saying is that we have no idea. It's a Muggle thing. Who knows how it'll affect a witch?"
"We'll know soon. What do Muggles call it?"
"Sensory Deprivation. The idea is that she'll take refuge inside herself and find him. Of course, she might just go mad."
"Well, keep me posted, and I'll tell our Master what's important. But you must tell me everything. I want to know if she so much as sneezes."
"Well, it's actually impossible for her to."
"Don't be deliberately stupid."
***
The trip to Hogwarts this year was a glum one. One or Mr Weasley's workmates had been kind enough to get Ron, Harry and Hermione their school things, to save anyone the ordeal of having to go back to Diagon Alley. After the clean up squad had been through, the street had been reopened for the public. Not surprisingly, many people had kept away.
They shared the compartment with Luna Lovegood, who had joined them shortly after the train had left the station.
"If she even mentions the Ginny and conspiracy in the same sentence I swear I'll." Ron began, but Luna did no such thing. After apologising to Ron for his loss, she'd got out a book and spent the rest of the journey in silence.
Upon arriving at Hogwarts, the four of them huddled into a carriage, and Ron and Hermione looked glumly at the Thestrals.
"They're not really ugly." Hermione said after a while. She had been surprised that she'd seen them, but she said nothing. After a while she concluded that seeing the act had been enough, and after further though she decided that she had definitely seen death on that day. But she said none of this to her three companions.
"No, they're not." Ron agreed, "Ginny said that she hadn't thought they'd be."
Hermione instantly regretted bringing up the conversation. Not knowing what else to do, she placed her hand on his, and he smiled weakly back at her.
They were ushered into the Great Hall, and said goodbye to Luna as she joined the rest of the Ravenclaws. They sat next to Seamus and Dean, the latter looking just as depressed as them.
After a moments silence, Ron turned to Dean and patted him on the shoulder.
"She talked about you a lot over the holiday." He said, "She said she missed you."
"Thanks. I'm really sorry." Dean nodded, and then turned away, trying to save face. Seamus gave Ron a sympathetic look, and then went to comfort his friend.
All while this was going on, the new students were being sorted. The Gryffindor table was now much more crowded. Ron looked round the hall and noticed that many other people were looking depressed.
"Ahem." Called Dumbledore, standing up, "I'm sorry, but we'll be starting this year on a much more sombre note then most. As you all know, there was an incident in Diagon alley. It is to my great grief, that I must announce that five of our students were killed in the explosion. Jacob Applegate, Lisa Hughes, Neville Longbottom, Dinah Rosenfeld and Ginny Weasley. I think it would be appropriate of we held a moment's silence, starting now."
The hush that had fallen over the crowd when Dumbledore had begun his speech now extended over the hall in what seemed to Ron like a roar. He could hear the silence ringing in his ears, and he couldn't tell whether he approved or not. He knew that part of this silence was in honour of Ginny, and that many of the people in the hall were remembering her face, her smile, and her laugh. But how can a silence be enough to remember a girl whose whole life had been noise? A girl who had learnt to shout extra loud she that she could be heard over her brothers? Remembering Ginny with silence wasn't what she would have wanted. She would have wanted laughter. But, truthfully, Ron couldn't have laughed at that moment, not for a million Galleons.
The silence ended, and Dumbledore made his usual announcements. Ron looked over at his friends, and saw that Hermione was wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and Dean was fiercely biting his lip, and Ron could almost hear Ginny scornfully telling him that he's ruin his mouth like that. He could hear her say, "Do you really want me to kiss that scabby lip?" And then she'd laugh. And he would have had to say something like "You're not doing any kissing" And she'd frown at him, and tell him to shove off, and he'd hug her, and try to keep her a baby forever.
And now she was. She'd never grow up, never get married and have children. Never know how much he loved her.
"Ron." Hermione whispered. He looked around, and noticed with astonishment that there was food on the table, and that it was nearly all gone. The food had come and he's missed it, but it didn't really bother him. He really didn't feel like eating.
When he and Harry stepped into their dorm room, they faltered for a moment. Instead of the five beds that they had always been used to, there was now only four. They had found out early on that Neville had also died in the attack, but his bed being missing brought that sharply into focus.
Seamus and Dean came in a moment after, and they also faltered. Then Dean moved to the open space where the bed had been, and walked round in a circle.
"Do you think that if I stand here long enough, I'll get something, like a vision?" He asked, his voice choked. Seamus shrugged, and moved to his own bed, rummaging through his things. Harry followed his example, but Ron remained at the threshold of the room.
"Come on Ron, you need some sleep." Harry said. The tall boy sighed and nodded, changing into his bedclothes. It had been strange, but at that moment where he looked at his room, it had occurred to him that if he just turned around and left, when he came back the world would be normal again.
It won't, He told himself; it'll never be normal again.
***
The boredom was the worst part. The complete and utter lack of anything to do. It overwhelmed her, and made her forget her fear, her anger. All that really mattered now was doing something to occupy her mind.
At first she had fantasized about someone coming to rescue her. Someone would suddenly place a hand on her arm and she'd be able to feel things again.
Sometimes it was Ron, and that made sense. He was the last person she had seen, and he had always been her favourite brother. Other times it was Dean, smiling at her and pulling her into a kiss. Or Harry, his green eyes twinkling.
But more often than not it was her parents. She could imagine her father bursting into the open space of nothingness that was her prison. Suddenly there would be an up and down again, and she'd be able to move, and shout. Her father would be sweating slightly, as he always did when he was scared. He'd have a worried look on his face, but it would disappear once he saw her. Following him would be her mother, and her face would be twisted into a comical mask of rage. Sometimes, in her mind, her mother was brandishing a frying pan like a deadly weapon.
And they'd take her into their arms, and shower her with kisses, and take her away from this, and place her into her cosy bed, and stay with her all night in case she got nightmares.
But the more she waited for this to happen, the more desperate she became. In her mid she fixated on one spot that she imagined was the door, and stared at it constantly, willing it to open.
WHY! She screamed, hating that no sound came out. And then a thought came to her.
Maybe this was hell. Maybe she had died in the explosion, and her punishment for what had happened in her first year was this, eternal nothingness.
I'm going to go mad. She thought to herself. I'm going to go mad and I'm looking forward to it, because I can't stand this any more. Anything to make this more bearable.
Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, she closed her eyes, and reached down inside of her. What she found was.
***
"Lucius! It's happening!"
***
Darkness.
*** "Lucius! I'm not kidding!"
***
Evil.
***
"Lucius, damn you! Get over here now!"
***
Him.
***
Please Review. I will continue only if I get good reviews.
Many thanks to my Beta, Dom, who corrects all my silly mistakes.
***
Chapter One
The Weasley family, joined by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger sat in the Leaky Cauldron, drinking their drinks. Harry and Ron were excitedly talking about the spectacular Quidditch game between the Chudley Cannons and The Bromley Badgers that they had heard on the Wizard's wireless station. Ginny and Hermione were talking about school.
"Well, fifth year is a very important year of course, with your owls. Although there are no major exams in sixth year, it is a very hard year." Hermione was saying.
"And the way he pulled of that goal against Flanders was amazing!" Ron interrupted.
"Oh for god's sake Ron, you didn't even see it!" Hermione snapped. Harry pulled a face that made Ron laugh, and they continued to talk.
"You know what? I think I'm going to pop into Flourish and Blotts, see if I can get that book on Animagus'." Ginny said.
"But that's not on you list." Ron pointed out, checking her list.
"I know, but it'd be a good read, and I haven't got my gift for being made a prefect yet." Ginny quickly checked with her mother who nodded, thankful that another broomstick wouldn't be demanded, "I'll meet you at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour in about fifteen minutes, ok?"
"Ok, see ya Gin." Ron called at his sisters disappearing back.
"Well, it's good to know that Ginny's serious about her studies." Hermione said, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Yeah, I hope she's not gonna turn out like Percy, being a stuck up idiot who won't believe his own family." Ron muttered darkly.
"Now Ron, don't speak about your brother like that." Arthur Weasley scolded, glancing at his wife. She had a far away distant look, one she always adopted when her third son was mentioned.
"Well, I wouldn't if it wasn't true." Ron continued, although so quietly that only Harry heard.
"Hey, let's go get some ice-cream." Harry said, trying to break the dark mood. Hermione nodded eagerly, and Ron and his parents agreed.
"They've got a new flavour." Ron said after a moment of walking, "Mushroom soup."
Harry and Hermione laughed, and the dark mood was lifted. Harry and Ron continued their discussion on the Quidditch match, and Hermione tried to remind them of the importance of school.
They reached the Ice-Cream Parlour and Harry ordered the mushroom soup flavour as a dare. They all sat down and started to enjoy themselves. They had been there five minutes when they heard the explosion.
"What on earth?" Mr Weasley shouted.
"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley screamed "its Flourish and Blotts!"
The Weasley's ran at full speed, followed by Harry and Hermione. The air was filled with screams, and people were running away from the bookshop. Ron, being the tallest and fittest, pushed his way to the front. Already officials were apparating from all over, and one tried to step in front of Ron.
"Sorry son, you can't go in there." He said, trying to calm the struggling boy.
"Get off me!" Ron shouted "My sister! Ginny!"
"MacDougal!" Mr Weasley called "My daughter's in there!"
The man loosened his grip on Ron for just a moment to turn and look, but that was all the boy needed. He pulled away and ran straight into the shop, which had purple smoke billowing from its windows.
"Ginny!" He called, from inside he heard gasps and screams, but had no idea what it was that was frightening people. All that mattered to him was to find Ginny.
"Ron!" He heard Harry shout "Ron! You have to get out of there!"
"Ron!" That was Hermione. She sounded like she was crying. Something was going on outside.
He stumbled over something, and fell to his knees. Looking over to see what it was, he had to hold back vomit.
It was Neville, or at least a part of him. All Ron could see clearly was the head and a mess of things below it. He looked away before he could take anything else in. he crawled onwards, not knowing if he could stand. His hand came down on something soft and dry. He looked down, and felt a sob form in his throat. It was a clump of strawberry red hair.
Blackness crept into his vision, and Ron realised that he was passing out. A moment before he was completely out, he heard movement at the back of the shop, and then nothing.
***
Ron woke up in a soft bed in a white room. At first the bright light hurt his eyes, but soon his eyes adjusted, and he recognized his surroundings. He was in St Mungo's, the wizarding hospital.
"Mum?" He called, "Dad?"
"Ron? He's awake! Ron?" It was Hermione, her bushy hair filling his vision.
"Hermi?" He asked, dazed.
"Ron, its ok, your mum and dad are here." She assured him.
"Ginny?" He asked. Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she looked away. Ron knew exactly what that meant, and he felt tears falling down his own cheeks "Oh Gin."
"I'm sorry Ron." Someone said. Not Hermione. Harry?
"Harry?" He asked. The bespeckled face came into view, and he was also crying.
"Where are mum and dad?"
"They're outside with Bill and the twins, Charlie's on his way." Harry told him.
"Can I see them?" Ron asked.
"Sure, one moment." Hermione disappeared, and he heard some whispering.
"Harry, help me sit up." He ordered. His friend's arm was instantly lifting him, supporting him. Soon he was up straight, "Thanks."
Now that he was sitting up he could see that he had a room of his own, and that made him think. All that had happened was that he had passed out with shock, surely that did not warrant such extremities.
"It's because of. what happened." Harry explained, "They were going to wake you up, but then Dumbledore said to let you rest until everything was sorted out. And the room's because they thought you wouldn't want people to see if you. you know."
"Cried?" Ron asked. His friend nodded, "I want to cry; only I can't make myself believe it."
"I know, it's just. we saw her, only five minutes before. And she was so happy." Harry looked away, hiding his tears. It wasn't like when they thought she had died in their second year. He had been sorry, because it hadn't been fair, and because Ron was so upset, but now she was family, more family than the Dursley's. He loved all the Weasley's now, and Ginny's death now made him want to die himself.
"Did they find.?" Ron couldn't finish the sentence.
"No, or if they did they didn't tell me or Hermione."
"Then maybe she's not dead!" Ron's face was now lit up "Before I passed out I heard someone at the back of the shop. Maybe she got scared, and ran away! She might be alive!"
"Ron, no." The look on his friend's face was unbearable for Harry. The look of pure, cruel hope. Hope that would continue to exist for years to come but was completely pointless, because everyone else knew that there wasn't any hope.
"But she wasn't dead before, when everyone thought she was, and we looked for her, and we saved her life. If we look for her now, before it's too late, we can find her, maybe. She might still be alive!" Ron's face was too much.
"Ron, there is no chance, and deep down you know it. It'll just hurt more if you let yourself believe this. Ginny. She's dead, I wish she wasn't but she is." Harry took his friends arm, but he pulled away.
"So it's only convenient to save Ginny when you want to, is that it? When you can be the hero?" Ron snapped, but instantly regretted it. Harry's eyes filled with tears, "I'm sorry.I."
"It's ok." Harry said, and then he pulled Ron into a hug, because that was the only way he could hide his own pain. Ron's body shook as sobs racked through him.
When Mr And Mrs Weasley walked in with three of their sons and their almost adopted daughter, that's how they found the two boys, locked into a hug, trying to find the ability to cope in each other, which neither of them had.
***
Where was she? What happened? Was this nothing? It couldn't be nothing, nothing didn't exist. But she couldn't see, or hear, or smell or touch or taste. All her feelings had gone; there was nothing but the impossible nothingness.
Hello? No, she couldn't speak either, or if she could she couldn't hear it. What had happened?
Flourish and Blotts, talking to Neville. He was asking her about Dean, if they were still going out. It was embarrassing sometimes, how sweet and obvious he was. But Neville's eyes had grown wide with fear, and a hand had clamped around her mouth, pulling her backwards. The person who had grabbed her hissed something, and a purple light had sparked from his wand. Then she had heard an explosion, so close that it could have been right next to her. Wait, it had been. Of course, that's what the purple light had been. And then there had been a burning sensation at the back of her neck, and she watched as a clump of her hair fell to the ground. She remembered her irrational thought at the time:
My hair will grow uneven now.
And then she has seen someone, someone familiar. Ron! Ron, help me!
But he had been on the floor, looking at her hair, falling, even though he was already on his hands and knees.
"Did you cast the mark?" Her captor asked, but not to her. Someone else.
"Yes! Now let's go!" then being dragged somewhere, and knocked unconscious.
And waking up here. But was this waking up? Maybe she was asleep.
Maybe it was time to think.
***
Ron spent the day in St Mungo's before being told that he was allowed to go home. They flooed back, and Mrs Weasley instantly made herself busy by making everyone a cup of tea. At one point she stopped, trembled, but then continued.
"Dad?" Ron said quietly, "When I was inside the shop, I heard people screaming. What happened?"
Arthur coughed, and indicated towards the living room. Fred and George had gone straight up to their room, so it was only Bill, Charlie, Ron, Harry and Hermione who followed him into the living room. Once there he pulled out The Daily Prophet. The article read 'Seven killed in Death Eater attack' and the photo showed the bookshop, smoke billowing out, and a huge glittering skull hovering above it.
"The Dark Mark." Ron sighed.
"I'm sorry." Muttered Bill, standing up "I can't."
He walked out of the room and headed up to his old bedroom. Charlie looked at his dad for approval before following his older brother. After a moment Mr Weasley coughed, stood up and went into the kitchen to comfort his wife, who Ron could hear crying.
"What are we gonna do?" He asked finally, not to anyone in particular.
"I wish I knew Ron, but I don't." Hermione answered.
***
"What's happened so far?"
"Not much. She's only tried to talk once, but she's not stupid, she realised that she couldn't."
"Do we have any idea how long this is going to take?"
"If she's weak willed, a week at most, is she's not. it could take years for all we know, this is untried."
"Well, we're trying it now, so take note of everything. By the way, how are we supposed to know when it works?"
"Well, there'll be a definite change in M-waves, as they are two different people. Other than that, I have no idea. For all we know, she could change shape!"
"I very much doubt that."
"Well, of course, it's unlikely. What I'm saying is that we have no idea. It's a Muggle thing. Who knows how it'll affect a witch?"
"We'll know soon. What do Muggles call it?"
"Sensory Deprivation. The idea is that she'll take refuge inside herself and find him. Of course, she might just go mad."
"Well, keep me posted, and I'll tell our Master what's important. But you must tell me everything. I want to know if she so much as sneezes."
"Well, it's actually impossible for her to."
"Don't be deliberately stupid."
***
The trip to Hogwarts this year was a glum one. One or Mr Weasley's workmates had been kind enough to get Ron, Harry and Hermione their school things, to save anyone the ordeal of having to go back to Diagon Alley. After the clean up squad had been through, the street had been reopened for the public. Not surprisingly, many people had kept away.
They shared the compartment with Luna Lovegood, who had joined them shortly after the train had left the station.
"If she even mentions the Ginny and conspiracy in the same sentence I swear I'll." Ron began, but Luna did no such thing. After apologising to Ron for his loss, she'd got out a book and spent the rest of the journey in silence.
Upon arriving at Hogwarts, the four of them huddled into a carriage, and Ron and Hermione looked glumly at the Thestrals.
"They're not really ugly." Hermione said after a while. She had been surprised that she'd seen them, but she said nothing. After a while she concluded that seeing the act had been enough, and after further though she decided that she had definitely seen death on that day. But she said none of this to her three companions.
"No, they're not." Ron agreed, "Ginny said that she hadn't thought they'd be."
Hermione instantly regretted bringing up the conversation. Not knowing what else to do, she placed her hand on his, and he smiled weakly back at her.
They were ushered into the Great Hall, and said goodbye to Luna as she joined the rest of the Ravenclaws. They sat next to Seamus and Dean, the latter looking just as depressed as them.
After a moments silence, Ron turned to Dean and patted him on the shoulder.
"She talked about you a lot over the holiday." He said, "She said she missed you."
"Thanks. I'm really sorry." Dean nodded, and then turned away, trying to save face. Seamus gave Ron a sympathetic look, and then went to comfort his friend.
All while this was going on, the new students were being sorted. The Gryffindor table was now much more crowded. Ron looked round the hall and noticed that many other people were looking depressed.
"Ahem." Called Dumbledore, standing up, "I'm sorry, but we'll be starting this year on a much more sombre note then most. As you all know, there was an incident in Diagon alley. It is to my great grief, that I must announce that five of our students were killed in the explosion. Jacob Applegate, Lisa Hughes, Neville Longbottom, Dinah Rosenfeld and Ginny Weasley. I think it would be appropriate of we held a moment's silence, starting now."
The hush that had fallen over the crowd when Dumbledore had begun his speech now extended over the hall in what seemed to Ron like a roar. He could hear the silence ringing in his ears, and he couldn't tell whether he approved or not. He knew that part of this silence was in honour of Ginny, and that many of the people in the hall were remembering her face, her smile, and her laugh. But how can a silence be enough to remember a girl whose whole life had been noise? A girl who had learnt to shout extra loud she that she could be heard over her brothers? Remembering Ginny with silence wasn't what she would have wanted. She would have wanted laughter. But, truthfully, Ron couldn't have laughed at that moment, not for a million Galleons.
The silence ended, and Dumbledore made his usual announcements. Ron looked over at his friends, and saw that Hermione was wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and Dean was fiercely biting his lip, and Ron could almost hear Ginny scornfully telling him that he's ruin his mouth like that. He could hear her say, "Do you really want me to kiss that scabby lip?" And then she'd laugh. And he would have had to say something like "You're not doing any kissing" And she'd frown at him, and tell him to shove off, and he'd hug her, and try to keep her a baby forever.
And now she was. She'd never grow up, never get married and have children. Never know how much he loved her.
"Ron." Hermione whispered. He looked around, and noticed with astonishment that there was food on the table, and that it was nearly all gone. The food had come and he's missed it, but it didn't really bother him. He really didn't feel like eating.
When he and Harry stepped into their dorm room, they faltered for a moment. Instead of the five beds that they had always been used to, there was now only four. They had found out early on that Neville had also died in the attack, but his bed being missing brought that sharply into focus.
Seamus and Dean came in a moment after, and they also faltered. Then Dean moved to the open space where the bed had been, and walked round in a circle.
"Do you think that if I stand here long enough, I'll get something, like a vision?" He asked, his voice choked. Seamus shrugged, and moved to his own bed, rummaging through his things. Harry followed his example, but Ron remained at the threshold of the room.
"Come on Ron, you need some sleep." Harry said. The tall boy sighed and nodded, changing into his bedclothes. It had been strange, but at that moment where he looked at his room, it had occurred to him that if he just turned around and left, when he came back the world would be normal again.
It won't, He told himself; it'll never be normal again.
***
The boredom was the worst part. The complete and utter lack of anything to do. It overwhelmed her, and made her forget her fear, her anger. All that really mattered now was doing something to occupy her mind.
At first she had fantasized about someone coming to rescue her. Someone would suddenly place a hand on her arm and she'd be able to feel things again.
Sometimes it was Ron, and that made sense. He was the last person she had seen, and he had always been her favourite brother. Other times it was Dean, smiling at her and pulling her into a kiss. Or Harry, his green eyes twinkling.
But more often than not it was her parents. She could imagine her father bursting into the open space of nothingness that was her prison. Suddenly there would be an up and down again, and she'd be able to move, and shout. Her father would be sweating slightly, as he always did when he was scared. He'd have a worried look on his face, but it would disappear once he saw her. Following him would be her mother, and her face would be twisted into a comical mask of rage. Sometimes, in her mind, her mother was brandishing a frying pan like a deadly weapon.
And they'd take her into their arms, and shower her with kisses, and take her away from this, and place her into her cosy bed, and stay with her all night in case she got nightmares.
But the more she waited for this to happen, the more desperate she became. In her mid she fixated on one spot that she imagined was the door, and stared at it constantly, willing it to open.
WHY! She screamed, hating that no sound came out. And then a thought came to her.
Maybe this was hell. Maybe she had died in the explosion, and her punishment for what had happened in her first year was this, eternal nothingness.
I'm going to go mad. She thought to herself. I'm going to go mad and I'm looking forward to it, because I can't stand this any more. Anything to make this more bearable.
Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, she closed her eyes, and reached down inside of her. What she found was.
***
"Lucius! It's happening!"
***
Darkness.
*** "Lucius! I'm not kidding!"
***
Evil.
***
"Lucius, damn you! Get over here now!"
***
Him.
***
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