Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine – god bless JK!!!
Chapter 2 – Beyond the Grave
Reminder: If this was a prank it was the greatest prank of all time, but I knew it wasn't a prank; my life could never be the same, because my life had become my death.
Realizations
My world and everything around me was falling apart, Dead? How could I be dead? Me Ginny Weasley, the whole thought was laughable, the worst thing I've ever done is to .. well actually I suppose there's the whole diary thing, I did kill all those chickens, but still surely I didn't deserve to die, after all I was just a puppet in ..
"My baby, she's too young, what harm did she ever do anyone?"
Mam, I'd forgotten about mum… I'd forgotten about everyone…. Bill and Charlie were there, Bill was even crying, I'd never seen Bill cry but he did now and those tears were for me.. Charlie was just sat on the floor running his hand through his hair, not seeming to know where to look, Hermione ha her head in Harry's sheets, and sobs could be heard once in a while whilst Ron had returned to her side, and was staring at a painting opposite.
Harry still hadn't spoken, and he just sat there with a strange gleam in his eyes, it's was then that I noticed his hand, his knuckles shone white from clutching the sheet … so he cared too? Harry was mad and it was because of me?
Dad meanwhile was doing his best to calm mum down, but even he was white as a ghost, Ha! A ghost... Good one Gin... The irony of it struck me, and then another thought occurred to me…. Ghost? Was I a Ghost? Surely not, someone would have see….. But someone had seen me, and I realised slowly that she had known…
I made up my mind in that moment, there was nothing I could do here, I could do nothing to stop mum's heart from breaking, or to dry anyone's tears, I would be of no use to anybody until I at least knew what I was.
It was with true Weasley determination that I made up my mind, no use crying over spilt milk after all, or dead bodies… ha ha! It was time to get down to business, my plan – to find the Grey Lady…
I quickly realised that if I were some sort of ghost it was about time I started acting like one, no more waiting for people to open doors... I should be able to walk through walls… so I tried … I walked straight to the heavy doors of the hospital wing my mind grimly set….
"Ow!, damn that hurt," the doors creaked in agreement… ok so I could not walk through walls, I sat on the floor rubbing my head, If you've ever walked into a door by accident you can imagine how much it hurts, I say by accident, because really I had to be the first person in history who was stupid enough to walk into a wall intentionally…
As I was sat there deciding how I would leave the room I became aware of the conversation going on behind me, "imagining things Charlie… "
"No, Mrs Weasley I heard it too, it was like someone crashed into the doors" Harry had finally spoken..
"your all on edge" said Madam Pomfrey, "it's to be expected, besides your in…
Charlie and Harry, they heard me? Well the doors at least … well in that case there was only one thing for it, I stood up, took a few steps back and bracing myself for the pain I ran at the door…
The pain never came… Instead I flew through the door, and landed with a smack on the floor the opposite side.
Did someone open the doors? I spun around to check, but they were still closed, I had run through the door….. But how did I do it? I decided to save that thought for later, and got to my feet, and headed for the one place I was bound to find a Ravenclaw - - the Library.
I headed to the Library. barely taking in the muted conversations going on around me, now and again I would dodge out of the path of a student walking to class, and all the while the same thought replayed again and again in my mind, what were they doing, I was dead, a classmate had died, and they were going to class. I mean what was Dumbledore playing at… my thoughts were interrupted as I heard someone else mention my name…
"Ginny?"
"Not today, have you? I know her family were all here earlier, do you think she's alright?"
I spun around, the two girls talking, Emily Fischer and Gemma Taylor, both of them Gryffindor 6th years who shared my dorm room... If they didn't know ….. Did anyone know??? I'm dead, and my own roommates don't know it? Why hadn't Dumbledore told anyone?? Were they keeping my death a secret?? This thing was getting more and more complicated... I turned and blindly hurried on down the corridor once again skipping out of the paths of oncoming students and suffering a few near misses.
I entered the library, thankful that Madame Pince always left the door open, and headed to the reference area, lokking between the tall stacks filled with books on various subjects…. Sure enough my target was sat at one of the desks reading from a ghostly volume in front of her…
"Excuse me?" I whispered, almost certain that she wouldn't hear me, but she looked up, straight in my direction, and gave me a sad smile.. "You know!"
I nodded, she looked around,
"You want to know why they can't see you"
Once again it wasn't a question … she's done this before I thought to myself stifling a giggle… she rose from her seat... well actually her feet floated through the middle of it,
"Follow me" she said quietly and glided towards a nearby wall … immediately I panicked.. "wait!" I yelled, "I can't get through there"
She turned back to me …. "I'd forgotten what it was like to be young" she sighed, "first lesson then, your no longer alive, so stop thinking as if you were alive, walls doors, even steel hold no restrictions for our kind, or yours" she added as an afterthought….
"So you know what I am then?"
she nodded patiently…. "we will discuss it all later… first we must go somewhere we can talk, forget the wall is there, in simplest turns it's time to start thinking outside the box"
I made-up my mind and took a deep breath, and began to run at the wall … Ow! It's no use, once again I had ended sat on the floor with my nose throbbing, the Grey Lady meanwhile was giggling at me...
"Thanks" I glared in her direction… she merely inclined her head... "Try again, forget there is a wall ... there is no barrier, because you are able to do anything"
I stood up, and this time walked towards the wall repeating to myself, "there is no wall, there is no wall" sure enough when I stopped and looked around I was stood in the corridor the other side – I heard claps from my left hand side and turned to see the lady stood there,
"Well done, follow me"
Without waiting for my response she turned and glided down the corridor occasionally nodding at students she passed, how was it they could see her and not me, I thought.
I struggled to keep up with her, I was still used to using my feet and physically walking whereas you couldn't see her feet because of her long skirts, but I had a sneaking suspicion that if I had looked under her skirt her legs would just taper of in to nothingness .. I was almost certain she merely floated.
We rushed through the old corridors now almost empty now except for the few stragglers as people had been called to class. The portraits past by in blur and I didn't really take in much of what was happening around me, focusing more on the matter at hand.
Finally we came to a stop; I looked around me at the planet models and star maps and the gleaming telescopes pointed at the huge iron framed windows, and realised we had arrived in the astronomy tower..
"Its daytime, we can talk here without interruption" The grey lady smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes … for a moment I wondered if the expression of a ghost could be caught in the eyes, but my question was quickly resolved as I saw the depths of emptiness in hers, and the sadness that seemed to cloud them.
"I suppose you have many questions, it's only natural with death, especially one as unforeseen as your own. But first I request that you allow me to talk" … I nodded mutely while she glanced out the window before taking a deep breath? And beginning...
"Ginny, there is very little I will be able to tell you, but first let me begin with the most obvious question of all ... I do not know why you died Ginny, or who killed you …. These are things that only true witnesses would be aware of, and indeed if it was only yourself and one other there then you would take that knowledge to you grave and only they could disclose it.
As for what you are …. You are a ghost, no more no less... But you exist on a different plain to the Hogwarts ghosts that you would have come to know during your time here … you can still spend your time around humans, but you will not be able to have contact with them….
I nodded, "But why … why can't they see me?"
She gave me a sad look, "there are many more ghosts that roam Hogwarts, the ones you can see and know, we are only the tip of the iceberg, we are the ones who do not move on, we remain on they're plain, you are another.
You have moved on but are unable to go any further, because you have a job to do, the same job that all your kind do, you have to find out who it was that killed you, you will be unable to move on until this is done"
Hang on a minute "Killed?" I asked incredulously "who would want to kill me? I never did anything to anyone! You're wrong, besides that I was in Hogwarts, nobody can get into Hog….."
I broke off as realisation struck me – I was right no one could get into Hogwarts, it's the safest place on the earth which meant one thing only …. Whoever killed me was inside Hogwarts, and they could kill again.
[A/N – so what you think? Please please please please review!!!]
Silvermoonluna