ACT I
"Morpheos…suavis…"
………
The words echoed in Ginny's mind as she went through her daily routine. Wake up, dress, eat, classes, practice, shower, study, bed, the everyday stuffs of a seventeen-year-old witch in her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But for the past week, those words had been echoing in Ginny's deeper thoughts, and right before she fell asleep, they were the last words she heard.
Today was no different. As Ginny shook herself from sleep, she muttered them to herself. Ginny looked around and realized that all of her roommates had left. Ginny pushed herself out of her bed, wanting nothing else but to climb back in it. She changed into her school robes, pinned on her prefect's badge and slipped down the stairs, which had become a long spiraling slide. Tumbling off the slide in as graceful a heap she could manage, Ginny dusted herself off and looked around for the offender. No one else seemed to notice the stairs though, and soon they were back to normal. Of course not. They never do when it's him.
Him. She must try not to think of him so early in the morning, it would put her in a mood for the rest of the day. "Mornin' Gin! Where were you? You weren't at breakfast."
Ginny smiled as her older brother Ron walked towards her. She smiled because he had brought her toast, and because it was now a trained reaction to his voice. For the past month he had been bothering her about the moods she had sunk to, and wouldn't stop until she had finally convinced him it was of the feminine nature, and even then, she couldn't stop from keeping up an act. She didn't want him to worry about her. "Oh, I slept in a bit. I'm just tired from practice."
Hermione came up behind Ron, frowning. "You had practice two days ago."
"Aw, Mione, I'm still tired form that last practice Harry put us through! It was murder!"
"I'm a murderer am I?"
The three froze and Ron turned pale as Harry walked up, but the grin from ear to ear showed there was no anger in his words. The color quickly returned to Ron's face. "Of course you are mate, you keep up these training techniques, and we'll have to start learning them from the hospital wing!"
Harry moved up between Ron and Ginny. "Aw, come off it, I'm not that harsh. It was just a few laps…"
"Around the castle…" added Ginny.
"While flying upside down," added Ron.
"You were not upside down," said Harry.
"You're right, that was because I had fallen off my broom. Ginny and the rest were hanging on by their numb fingertips!"
Hermione smiled indulgently and then whacked both boys on their shoulders. "Come on you two, we have to get to Hagrid's, we promised we'd help today."
"Oh yeah…" Ron said, as though he had forgotten.
"Later Ginny," said Hermione, as she sighed at Ron.
"Yeah, later Gin," said Ron, waving and walking back towards the portrait hole.
Harry put a hand on Ginny's shoulder. His hands were strong from quidditch, and she could feel it as he gave her shoulder a squeeze as he said "Later."
"Bye." She said in return, waving to the trio as the climbed out of the portrait hole.
Ginny pulled herself, and her things, together and started the long walk to the dungeons, to sixth year Advanced Potions. She did not particularly like the class, but she had gotten a knack for potions that even Snape and his terrible diatribe could not deny. He had quite unwillingly offered it to her and a few other Gryffindor fifth years last year, though she was the only one to take him up on the offer. This meant that she spent a class practically by herself, because the only other students were from Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and none of them seemed particularly interested in Ginny at all.
As she walked silently to the potions room, the phrase 'morpheos suavis' kept running through her thoughts. Then, as though night had suddenly fallen on her corridor, all became darkness, the torches faded to nothing and a cold wind blew through. Ginny could not help smiling. "You were always one for theatrics," she said.
A voice that seemed to made of velvet responded. "I can never resist anything when it comes to you, my love."
"You brought it then?" Ginny felt her heart racing as she replied.
"Of course, my love, who would I be if I did not remember my promises and gifts to you?"
"You would be everyone else."
"And this I cannot be, not to you. Never to you, my love."
"I know." Ginny could not help smiling at his words. He always knew how to make her feel wanted.
"Remember my love, sometimes, what is missing may not be necessary in the first place."
Then, another cold breeze, but this time, Ginny felt a warmth on her face, as though some one had pressed their hands to her cheeks. Then the torches lit and the cold became the regular dampness of the tiny corridor. On the floor, however, was a small package. Every one she had received was different, and every time he had managed to surprise her with the thing she needed or wanted or could use…every time she had been thankful to her angel. Was he her angel? What had he meant by 'what is missing'?
Ginny bent down and scooped up the gift. This one was heavy; in fact, it weighed more than any of the rest had. Although Ginny wanted desperately to open it and see what it was, but she knew she was going to be late to class if she didn't hurry, and Snape had no difficulties with giving her a detention.
………
"Miss Weasley, I do wish you would take my class seriously. You may manage to scrape out decent grades, but that does not mean you may scrape yourself out of CLASS. Detention. Tonight."
"Tonight, Professor?"
"Yes, TONIGHT, Miss Weasley, and if you have a problem with tonight, it can be every night for a week."
"No, it's fine Professor."
"I thought so, now get to work. The potion is on the board, but it is missing one ingredient, figure out what is missing and then make the potion. I will test your samples at the end of the class, and since this potion takes all class to make, I suggest you figure it out NOW."
Ginny carefully put her books and the gift from him down and set to work examining the recipe. Her dream phrase echoed through her head and she remembered today's visit from her angel. The she smiled, and set to work on the potion. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the others started their potions, all of them moving frantically; well aware that there was little chance they would finish in time.
………
At the end of the hour, only Ginny's potion was completely ready, the only other girl, Mira from Ravenclaw, was a close second, but her potion wasn't to full potency. The other three students weren't ready at all. "My my my, Miss Weasley, you were the only one to bring the potion to its peak, how did you do it?"
"It was quite simple, Professor. I still don't know what the ingredient that was missing is."
"You don't? Then how did you…"
" 'Sometimes, what is missing may not be necessary in the first place.' I knew that the rest of the ingredients were all that were needed for a 'Perfumpkin Antidote'-we've gone over it before. The potions will work fine if given a little extra time, which starting early gave me…and I suppose the missing ingredient sped up the waiting process."
"Yes, it did. As it is, you could not have gotten the last ingredient, even if you had tried to. I do not readily hand out perfumpkin poison to my students; it is quite dangerous when mishandled. Three points to Gryffindor. As for the rest of you, don't bother handing those samples in, I know they can't be right. I will not take this as a grade as I intended. You may leave now."
Ginny bit her lip and turned to clean up her things. She had been the only one to finish in time with the proper potion, and Snape wasn't taking it for a grade, it was unfair, but she knew better than to argue. He had given her three points, that was all she could ask for from him. He might take more than that back if she argued. So Ginny silently gathered up her books and the gift and left, hugging the gift close.
………
She didn't hear from her angel for the rest of the morning, which brought mixed feelings to Ginny's mind. She really shouldn't be so trusting of someone she had never seen, but he was so kind and so entrancing, and if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be passing all of her classes with such flying colors. For the past three months her angel had been leaving gifts and hints. Her last gift had been a small hand mirror that was magically enhanced to let you listen to whomever the mirror reflected. Once Ginny had used it to listen in on a conversation between Snape and Timothy Bentley, a Slytherin in her potions class. Snape had been warning Timothy what would be on the pop quiz for tomorrow. Needless to say, Ginny was the only one besides the Slytherins who passed the quiz.
She had no idea what this newest gift was, and curiosity was wracking her brain. When she decided to sneak off and open it during lunch, however, she was inhibited by the same strong hands from that morning. "Harry! I'm sorry, did I bump into you?"
"No," Harry replied, a smile on his face. He had put his hand out and caught her shoulder. "But they way you were hurrying, I'm surprised you didn't. Where are you off to?"
"Oh, the dorm. I wanted to change my books out," Ginny pulled her books closer to her chest, trying to hide the gift from Harry.
"Have you had lunch yet?" Harry's smile faltered for a moment as Ginny drew back from him. Ginny frowned, but spoke without thinking.
"No,"
Harry's smile returned, and he moved his hand to her elbow, "Good, why don't you join me for lunch before you change your books? Besides, I have something to tell you."
Ginny gulped down a 'no thank you' and smiled. She had a hard time refusing Harry, especially since he had started pulling her towards the Great Hall. Ginny finally gave up her panic and let him. The worst Harry could do was watch her force down food for a few minutes before she could run off and finally open her gift. The weight seemed to grow heavier the longer she waited. "…and as Head Boy, I get to know a lot about special things that are happening around school,"
Oh dear, thought Ginny, he's been talking since we started walking. I hope I haven't missed too much. "But it's not just that, Dumbledore has asked me to start telling other people about what's happening. You know, so it won't be as official."
By now they were right in front of the Great Hall. Ginny stared at Harry as he stopped right in front of the doors, which were closed for some odd reason. Harry put his hands on Ginny shoulders and she felt their weight as though he had just thrown a very heavy blanket on top of her. "What I'm trying to say is, Gin…"
Harry was looking straight into Ginny's eyes. His eyes were quite a thing to look at, and they were staring right at her, Ginny felt her cheeks beginning to warm and hoped she wasn't blushing. Suddenly Harry let go of her and pushed the doors open and Ginny almost dropped her gift as a wave of sound came at her. It seemed as though the entire school was throwing a party. Staring at the ceiling, Ginny saw a sign that read 'CONGRATULATIONS VIRGINIA WEASLEY!' and another that read 'WELL DONE MISS WEALSEY!' Staring in disbelief, Ginny didn't realize Harry was pulling her towards the teacher's table. It was only until she was half way through the room that she started looking around. On one side were Ron and the Gryffindors, all cheering like mad. Ginny noticed that Hermione was the only one showing any restraint. She was clapping, but she wasn't cheering and showing a goofy smile. The Hufflepuffs were cheering as well, though not as exuberantly as the Gryffindors. On the other side she saw the Ravenclaws all clapping politely, and a few of her friends in the sixth year cheering. Past them was the Slytherins. Her eyes passed over them, some of them clapping, most of them not. Draco Malfoy was clapping. Ginny blinked and realized that he was staring right at her. Then she blinked again and he was whispering something to Crabbe, or Goyle, or it may have Millicent Bulstrode, Ginny couldn't tell because now Harry had pulled her to the teacher's table beside Dumbledore, and Dumbledore had was silencing the room. "Now, now, children, calm down. This is a joyous occasion, and now, the Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge, will be addressing you."
Mr. Fudge smiled genially at Ginny, then turned his attention towards the mass of student's in front of him. "Yes, this is a joyous occasion. For those who do not know,"
Ginny stared. She didn't know what was going on. "Miss Weasley has attained an honor in this past year, of the highest school honor of Young Magus. This title, which many of you may well know, has not been given in the past two hundred and thirty-two years, and even then, it was to a graduating seventh year. It has been over three hundred years since a wizard, or witch, below that year has received such an honor. A Young Magus is a wizard, or witch, that has proven a talent for all available subjects and sources of magic. Virginia's grades are higher than any other's in this school, and she has already earned an honor from the Ministry for her actions outside of the school curriculum. Yes, today is quite a joyous occasion."
Ginny stared in shock at the Minister. She had heard only rumors of the Young Magus honor. It was said that only a student of exceptional skill, talent, and grade point average could possible think of attaining it, and the grades that it required were up in the two hundreds. Come to think of it, Ginny thought, I haven't seen what my grades are in some time. Not since before Christmas. But surely they can't forget my grades from previous years? Surely they brought my grades down? "You may wonder how a girl like Virginia could possibly have attained such a prestigious honor, well, her actions in the past two years, along with her grades, and her obvious gift for magic, she may seem like the rest of you, but I assure you, there is something very special about her, indeed. What do you have to say, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny gulped and replied as well as she could, "I have been well taught, sir."
Fudge chuckled and patted Ginny's shoulder. Ginny clutched the gift to her chest a little tighter, as though it's weight could bring her strength to withstand this shock. She was the smartest person in the school? How could that be? What about Hermione? How could she have ever beaten Hermione Granger? Dumbledore stepped in front of Fudge and raised a hand as he spoke, "And now, you may return to your feast, for the school is taking a holiday, in Miss Weasley's honor."
He turned to Ginny and motioned for her to sit down. Ginny sat, and placed her things in her lap, but she could hardly eat. As she looked around the room, she saw random people glance up at her, and she saw Ron talking avidly to Harry and Hermione. Hermione did not look happy. Then Harry turned and looked up at Ginny, he had a smile on his face that made her smile back. He looked very happy. The gift was weighing even heavier on her lap, but she did not dare open it.
………
Later, Ginny was hiding in the prefect study room. She had been swarmed when she had gone to the Gryffindor common room, and the library, and the W.C. and she desperately wanted to be alone. She heard the statue slowly moving aside, and then the door to the study opened. Then a voice sweet as sugar, "Adlaudabilis…"
Then a feminine, "Ginny? Ginny!"
Then the sweet deep voice again. "…Ginny…"
Jumping slightly, Ginny stared at Hermione as she walked over to the table Ginny was sitting at. "So this is where you've been hiding. I'm really proud of you, you know."
Ginny was on pins and needles. She didn't know how to talk to her friend without bringing up the subject of her status. "Thank you."
There was a moment of silence. "Who is your tutor?"
"Excuse me?"
Hermione was looking straight at Ginny with a look that tempered on being a glare. "Who is your new tutor? Your grades are amazing. I've seen them. Who's helping you?"
"I … I don't know. My angel, I suppose."
"Ginny, that doesn't make any sense."
"No, it doesn't, but it's true. He's my angel."
"He?"
Ginny looked up at the ceiling, speaking about him made him seem even more real, "Yes! He's always there when I need help, and he's been helping me for the past…"
"Three months. That's how long your grades have been up in the clouds."
"Yes. He's amazing."
"Who is he?"
"I told you I don't know."
"I would like to meet this angel."
"So would I."
Hermione seemed to be resisting her glare with as much will power as possible. "Adlaudabilis…"
Ginny jumped to her feet. "He's with me even now."
Hermione followed suit, grabbing hold of Ginny's hand and looking at her friend in the face, "Ginny, is he in here?"
Ginny looked wildly around for a moment, "He's every where."
"You haven't been eating well, you're hallucinating. You should go to the hospital wing. You really do look sick."
Ginny kept looking around, sure that her angel was somewhere close by. "This frightens me."
"Ginny, don't be frightened."
Hermione put a hand to Ginny's face and stopped her from looking around. "Look, you're tired, and probably sick, and today has been quite a surprise for everyone. You should go to bed now, at the very least."
Ginny removed Hermione's hand and shook her head. "I've got just a bit more work to do. I'll be up soon, alright?"
Hermione was silent for a moment, then she nodded. "Alright, but if you aren't up soon, I'm going to send some one in to check on you."
"That's fine with me. I'll see you later, Hermione."
"Yes, later, Ginny."
Hermione turned and walked out of the study. Ginny wiped the back of her hand across her brow and returned to the table where the gift lay half-open. Ginny had gotten all of the wrapping off when there was another creak of the statue moving, and the door opened again. This time it was Harry. "I didn't get to congratulate you earlier."
"That's alright, the banners were plenty enough."
Harry chuckled, and Ginny smiled. "Yeah, I hadn't forgotten you don't really like bringing attention to yourself, but when Dumbledore asked me to help out with the party by making sure you got to the party on time, I couldn't really refuse. You're amazing, Ginny."
Ginny finally blushed this time. "Thanks, Harry. But it's really just luck and tutoring."
"Yeah, Hermione mentioned something about a tutor when I saw her a minute ago."
"Yes, my angel. It's amazing how much you can learn with the right help…"
"You're amazing, Ginny."
Ginny turned to look at Harry and saw that he was staring right at her. "You already said that, Harry."
"I meant it."
Ginny could feel her blush slowly creeping all along her face and down her neck. "Ginny, want to meet me at the kitchens for dinner? Avoid the crowd of dinner and still have some company?"
"I'd love to, but I have something I'm working on from my angel."
Ginny glanced at her gift. She really was aching to open it now. "Oh, your tutor could stand if the smartest girl in the whole school had dinner first. I have to get some stuff from the common room, but I can meet you down there in about five minutes."
"Harry, I…"
"Hermione said you aren't eating well, so be there, okay? I'll see you in five minutes."
Harry had walked out the door, not listening to Ginny's protests. Ginny was still very flustered, but she decided she could at least open her gift before she met with Harry. Sitting down at the table, Ginny ripped off the top of the small box and saw a beautifully carved jewelry box. As she lifted the delicate creation out of the box, Ginny must have bumped some trigger, for a soft, soothing tune flowed out from it. After placing the box down, she opened it and saw a chain of gold. A beautiful necklace was lying inside the box, and the music grew louder with the lid up. Ginny placed the chain around her neck. "That fool does not know whom he deals with! He is trying to steal your glory! He did not help you win your title, I did!"
His voice was loud and terrible this time. Ginny twirled around, panicking. "Oh no! Angel, please do not be angry with me! He surprised me, I assure you! My angel, how I wish we could meet."
"Of course we can, if you will follow me."
Ginny turned towards the source of the voice and saw a figure, tall and lean, standing at the far corner of the room. She had not heard a creak of the statue, but there he was, her angel. He held out a gloved hand and she stepped forward towards him. As he drew her close to him, she saw he wore a mask over most of his face. But before she could start her questions, he had pulled her through the darkness behind him, through a door she had never seen before, and into a corridor she had never known about. Where was he taking her? "Angel, you have haunted my dreams for the past week."
"My magic has been affecting you, my love."
"The people I've told about you are afraid of you."
"As they should be, they can not understand what they are not a part of. This magic is ours. Mine…and yours."
"Yours and mine…I am so afraid that I am dreaming now."
"That is because your mind belongs to me, and it does as I wish it to."
"My mind belongs to you…"
"You belong to me, my love."
They had gone down many flights of steps, and many more slanted corridors that seemed to be never ending. After a certain point, Ginny could no longer see, and fell into the arms of her angel. But instead of stopping and helping her to her feet, he shifted and picked Ginny up into his strong arms and carried her. Ginny was nearly asleep in his arms, when he suddenly stopped, and placed her on a soft carpet. Then he walked over to a chair, and sat down. "I have brought you to the seat of my throne. I have brought you into my darkness, the place where I discover my magic."
"Your magic…"
Ginny was still under the holds of sleepiness, unable to keep her eyes more than half open. Her angel wouldn't let anything happen to her. "I want you here to help me make my magic. It is a wonderful place here, alone with nothing but magic and darkness. Feel the magic, because it is everywhere, it is a power you cannot deny! It is my power, it is my magic. I need you to make this wonderful magic."
Ginny felt his strong arms lift her up and carry her once again. This time, she felt a cushion behind her head. "Morpheos suavis, my love…"
………
The next thing Ginny knew, she was alone again. Sitting up, she saw she was in the center of a heart-shaped bed, covered in some of the most elegant deep red and silver laced covers and pillows she had ever seen. Shifting so that she could step off the bed, Ginny heard the same tune that had come from her jewelry box gift. Softly, she spoke to her self. "I remember cold and wind, I remember a man in shadows…who was this man?"
Her angel was sitting at a desk, writing, but he had apparently heard her. He looked up at her, his silver-blonde hair shining in the soft light of the candle beside him. Ginny reached out and touched his hair, then gently, ever so gently, pulled off the mask.
"No!"
He covered his face, but it was too late, Ginny faltered backwards in her horror. "Draco…no, you cannot be Draco Malfoy!"
"You fool! You could have been happy, but you had to find out! What more could be expected of a Gryffindor?"
Ginny fell backwards onto the stone floor and looked up. She gasped. "We're in, you've taken me back to…no! This can't be right! This is a nightmare!"
Draco stood up and walked towards Ginny, speaking softly, and darkly, "No, this is worse than any dream, you can hardly stand just looking at this place. You are back in the Chamber of Secrets. Your secrets, and mine, this is where monsters go to hide. This is my domain."
"No, you cannot be my angel!"
"I am a demon who dreams of being an angel."
"No…"
"Be quiet! You brought this pain upon yourself!"
Ginny was crying as Draco kneeled beside her. "I did not mean to be the one you hated."
Still sobbing silently, Ginny looked at the mask of her angel, a simple mask of silver-spelled material, then she looked at Draco and pushed the mask towards him. "Please, I wish to forget everything," she said softly, tears streaming down her face.
"If only you could forget enough," he replied, just as softly, placing the mask back on his face, then he stood up. "Come, those idiots at school will be missing you."
………
Fudge was pacing around in Dumbledore's office like he was trying to set the floor on fire. "How could a student go missing in Hogwarts? I demand you tell me how!"
Dumbledore, who was in much more control of himself replied, "If I knew how everything in this school happened, Minister, it would be no fun at all."
"You consider this FUN Dumbledore? Our prize student is missing the night of her debut! This is NOT fun at all!"
"I know it is not fun, Minister, but I do believe there is nothing more we can do than search the school, which the teachers and prefects are still doing, and notify her parents. Right now, yelling will do no one any good."
"But Dumbledore, I received a letter last night. It said that if I wanted to keep my vote-winning student around, I should try harder at shutting my mouth! Such insolence is disgusting, Dumbledore, disgusting!"
"Minister, I too received a letter, and I trust yours, like mine, was delivered via floo-services."
"Of course it was."
"Yes, well mine said that I should keep to myself, and all would be well for Miss Weasley. Which is another reason why I have decided that waiting in my office is a good idea."
"PROFESSOR!"
Harry Potter burst in through the door to Dumbledore's office. "Why, yes, Harry, what is it?"
"Professor, I just received a letter by floo…and it's about Ginny!"
Harry was out of breath, and furious by the looks of his face. "What did it say?" asked Fudge.
Harry gave the Minister of Magic a curious look, "You mean you didn't send it?"
Fudge stepped back, aghast, "Why would I have sent you a letter about Miss Weasley?"
Harry pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and shook it in the Minister's face, "You mean to tell me that this isn't the letter you wrote?"
Fudge pulled himself up to his full height, which was around Harry's nose, and said "And just what is that I'm meant to have wrote?"
Harry raised an eyebrow as Fudge slowly de-puffed himself. "You mean 'written', Mr. Fudge."
Fudge's face froze in a moment of embarrassment, "Yes, well, what did it say?"
Harry opened the letter and read, "While your intentions may be pure, they are unwelcome. As a Young Magus, Miss Weasley will simply be too busy for your affections, so you are advised to desist further actions."
Harry ripped the paper in half as he finished the last sentence. "You're sure you didn't send it?"
"Of course I am, why would I care if you and Miss Weasley were…affectionate?"
Fudge seemed rather perturbed by the last word her spoke, and before he could recover himself, Hermione burst through the door. "PROFESSOR!"
Fudge rounded on Dumbledore. "Is it normal for the Head Boy and Girl to come bursting into your private office yelling at the top of their lungs?"
Hermione seemed to frustrated to be embarrassed. "Professor, you won't believe this note I just received!"
Dumbledore sighed and said, "You'd be surprised what I'll believe, Miss Granger, please go on."
Hermione was shaking in anger as she read her neatly unfolded letter. "Dear Miss Granger, there is no need to be jealous of Miss Weasley, it will do you no good. Her gifts are far beyond simple book knowledge, which is all you appear to have a gift for. You are there fore encouraged to stop lying to yourself that as her friend you can put yourself on her level. She is no longer your friend. She is your superior."
Hermione crumpled the letter in her hand after she had finished it. Her voice was shaking as she spoke, "I don't know who would have sent me such a letter. It's simply horrible. Ginny is my best friend, I would never…"
Dumbledore held up a hand, "I know Miss Granger. Miss Weasley would never consider herself above you. But right now, the concern is Miss Weasley's safety. How has the search been for the two of you?"
Harry shook his head, but Hermione tossed her hair over her shoulder with a sigh of exasperation. "Ginny's back! I sent her straight to bed, and then I received this bit of dirt and rushed here to see if you could explain anything."
Harry looked at Hermione in relief, "Ginny's back?"
Fudge also looked at Hermione, "No worse for wear?"
Dumbledore gave Fudge a questioning look, "We hope?"
"She's fine, but I think it's best if she's alone. She needs to rest."
Harry turned Hermione to look at him. "May I see her?"
Hermione shook her head, "No, Harry, she won't see anyone. I don't know what wrong."
"Why did she stand me up last night?"
Fudge turned to Harry, "So you two are…er…affectionate!"
Harry turned to Fudge and replied, "I wouldn't know, she never showed up!"
"Please, please, everyone. I think it best if we simply let her sleep. Miss Weasley will have to explain herself, but not until she is ready to explain."
………
Madame Pomfrey had insisted that Ginny be moved to the hospital wing. There Ginny slept until late that night. When she woke up, she saw Harry at the foot of her bed. "Harry…"
"Ginny, you're awake."
Ginny was silent as the memories rushed back. Her angel was Draco…he was the one with the sweet deep voice and magic that had entrapped her mind. It was Draco. "Ginny, what happened? Everyone was worried. I…was worried."
Ginny looked up at Harry. His eyes showed his pain. He really was worried about her. Ginny sat up and leaned forward, stretching her hand out to touch the hand he hand on her bed, but Harry caught it and held it in both of his strong hands. "Please Harry, you shouldn't be here. He'll know, and he'll be angry."
"Who is this angel of yours? Who is he?"
Ginny pulled her hand back and wrapped her arms around her self. "He is a nightmare…"
Harry moved his chair closer to the head of her bed, "Ginny…"
Then some one screamed. Madame Pomfrey ran from her office in the back of the hospital wing. "Help! Oh my goodness! Someone help!"
Harry jumped to his feet and ran after Madame Pomfrey, Ginny, in her bedclothes, was close behind. Just outside of the hospital wing, being lifted by Madame Pomfrey and Harry when he arrived, was the limp form of Dean Thomas. Ginny gasped and stepped back. Out of Dean's limp hand fell a bunch of flowers, daffodils, Ginny's favorite. Ginny leaned down to pick them up, when she heard a voice. "DID I NOT SAY YOU WERE MINE?"
"No…"
Ginny ran back to see Madame Pomfrey checking over Dean. Harry turned to Ginny as she ran up. Misunderstanding her panic, he spoke in a soothing voice, "He's alive, but barely. The headmaster should be on his way, Ginny you should…"
Ginny grabbed Harry's arms and gasped, "No! He's here! You're in danger! I'm in danger! We have to leave! Now!"
Ginny turned, still holding Harry's arm, and ran out of the hospital wing as fast as she could manage. Through corridor after corridors she ran, pulling Harry behind her. "Ginny, what are you doing?"
"I can't go back there!"
"You must return, you're still weak!"
"He'll kill you!"
"Ginny, don't say that!"
"He'll find us, he's get us too!"
"Don't even think it!"
Farther and farther she ran, up and up, away from the dungeons, away from the Chamber of Secrets, his chamber and her secrets. "Who is he to do this everyone?"
"Who is this voice of night?"
"I can't escape from him!"
"Who do you hear?"
"He is my phantom, never my angel!"
Ginny pushed open a door, and the two were out in the open air of the Astronomy Tower. Ginny was freezing in her bedclothes, but this cold air was refreshing, magicless. Harry stepped forward behind her, "Ginny, whoever you speak of, he doesn't exist. There isn't a ghost who could do all this to you."
Ginny turned on Harry, "He's not a ghost! He's real! I've seen him! He's taken me there, to his place of darkness! He is a monster! I've seen him…"
Ginny faced the wind, trying to hide her tears from Harry. "I've seen his face, and I can never forget it. I have never been so entranced by anyone, or so scared. He can make my soul so happy that I feel I'm higher than clouds…but I know now that, with him I'll never be higher than his dungeon prison…I'll never be able to escape his magic."
Harry walked around Ginny, putting his strong, comforting hands on her shoulders once again. "Ginny, Ginny…"
The sweet voice of shadows echoed, "Ginny…"
Ginny tried to spin around, but Harry's strength kept her in place. "Ginny, stop talking like this. I know you're scared of darkness, we've both seen it. But you must move past it. Listen to me, I will protect you. I could never let anything happen to you."
Ginny looked up into Harry's green eyes. Ginny then buried her face into Harry's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I promise to hide you from this evil, trust me, please trust me."
"All I want is to be free, a world safe from darkness. I want to think of summer and I want to be safe…"
"I will keep you safe…"
"I want to be safe with you…"
"Then say you'll trust me! Say you'll be with me, Ginny."
"First say you'll believe me! Say you'll hold me and you'll hide me…"
Harry hugged Ginny tighter then tilted her head up to look at him. "Ginny, I love you."
"Please say you'll need me with you forever! Just say the word and I will stay with you."
Ginny turned her head away from the wind, her voice pleading, "Say you love me."
"You know I do."
Harry turned, shielding Ginny from the wind entirely. Ginny looked up into his eyes, and finally smiled, "That's all I ask of you,"
Harry leaned down and as Ginny looked up, and they kissed.
It was only for a moment, and when they separated, Harry carefully guided Ginny back to the door, into the castle, back to warmth.
"You could have forgiven me…"
Draco stepped forward, out of the shadows. "I gave you my magic, I accepted you! AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?"
He fell silent as Ginny and Harry's voices drifted up to him from the inside corridor. "You promise to guard me?"
"I promise on my life, to protect you."
Draco silently stifled his dry sobs of despair. "You betrayed me…you denied me and betrayed me…"
Turning to face the wind, Draco held out his wand, "YOU WILL CURSE THE DAY YOU DID NOT LISTEN TO ME!"
………
Inside the castle, the windows started shaking from the wind, and suddenly all the candles floating in the Great Hall fells, lighting the wooden tables on fire.
This was a bad omen for the end of the school term.
………
INTERMISSION!
