The News
Saturday came very quickly, much to Ginny's dismay.
"Wake up, Gin!" Mackie yelled, jumping on top of a sleeping Ginny Weasley.
"Gerrof me," she mumbled, pulling the covers over the top of her head.
"Ginny! You promised!" MacKenzie whined.
"What time is it?!" she demanded.
"Ten. We have to get started! Come on, Gin!"
"Fine." Ginny sat up slowly and looked around. "Where's Misty?" she asked yawning and climbing out of bed.
"Eating. I told her to go on, and we would catch up."
"Well," she replied, tugging on a strand of ginger hair. "Let me get dressed and we'll get started."
"Hurry, okay? Don't want to keep all of the unsuspecting boys waiting, do we?" Mackie asked with a mischievous gleam in her ice blue eyes.
"I'm sure they won't mind, and neither do I, to be honest."
"Just hurry, Ginny."
Ginny and MacKenzie were down in the Great Hall in less than 15 minutes and found that Misty had just finished eating.
"Are you guys ready or do you want to eat first?"
"I'm not hungry," Ginny lied. The truth was that she was starving and hadn't eaten since Wednesday, but she had to lose weight.
"Me neither," Mackie replied, twirling a strand of long silver-blonde hair in her fingers. "I'm so excited about this... thing, that my stomach is doing flips."
"M-me too," Ginny stuttered, wringing her hands nervously.
Misty's dark, forest green eyes narrowed slightly at Ginny. Even though Ginny considered the two friends, she had a feeling every once in a while that Misty couldn't stand her.
Mackie bit her lip and started bouncing up and down slightly on her heels. She always did that unconsciously when she was nervous or excited.
Misty, on the other hand, threw her long, light, brown hair over her shoulders impatiently and cried, "Are we going or not?!"
"We're coming," Mackie said, leading the way.
"Okay, Ginny. This is what we're going to do. You and I are going to take turns tickling boys for cookies." She paused long enough to giggle. "I'll go first. If there's a group of two or more, I'll take one and you'll take one. Whoever's turn it is gets to choose who they want first. The rest.... are just there. Understand?"
Ginny's light brown eyes glanced nervously at the other two girls and she nodded. "How long do we have to do this?"
"An hour. But you guys have to hurry up and get started, because the sooner you two get started, the sooner we can stop," Misty replied, grumpily.
"We?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. "You don't have to do anything but watch, so I wouldn't complain if I were you."
"Sure," Misty said, rolling her eyes.
"Okay, let's go, Gin," Mackie said excitedly, grabbing Ginny roughly by the arm and pulling her into the corridor.
"You first, remember?"
"I know, I know."
The three girls were walking down the fourth floor corridor when they spotted their first victim.
"Dennis Creevey," Misty giggled, pointing down the corridor towards the spot he was walking. "Go get him, tiger!" she exclaimed, nudging Mackie.
Mackie charged and tackled him. There was a group of four Hufflepuff girls in the corridor and they looked on, bewildered.
"Cookies! Give me your cookies!" she yelled maniacally, tickling him.
"I... don't have... any... COOKIES!" he exclaimed in between shrill giggles.
The Hufflepuffs quickly walked away, looking frightened.
Mackie stopped tickling Dennis and walked over to her friends, the three of them laughing, while Dennis scrambled up and ran away.
Misty giggled and pointed and an upcoming group of three.
"Harry, Hermione, and my brother. I'll take Ron," Ginny said wickedly, rubbing her hands together.
"But I wanted Ron!"
"My turn, my choice. Ron's mine."
"Fine. We go on three. One..."
"Two..."
"THREE!"
They charged.
"Ahhh!" Ginny yelled, heading straight for the boy that shared the same genes of freckles and red hair.
"POTTER! YOUR COOKIES ARE MINE!" Mackie yelled, charging at the black-haired boy.
"Ginny?!" Ron exclaimed right before Ginny tackled him very hard onto the floor.
"Argh!" Harry yelled right before he got tackled by MacKenzie.
"Give me your cookies, Ron!" Ginny yelled, tickling her brother in his ticklish spot.
"Ginny.... stop... stop... STOP IT!" he yelled between laughs.
"Ouch! Hey... haha... Are you two out of your minds?!" Harry yelled between his laughs.
"All we want are your cookies, Harry!" Mackie explained, giggling like mad.
"Ginny... that's not... not... fair... STOP IT!"
"GERROF ME!" Harry yelled, trying to hold in his laughter.
Mackie and Ginny reluctantly got up off of the two helpless boys and noticed that Hermione was bent over, trying not to laugh.
"'Mione, that's not funny," Ron complained, glaring at Ginny.
"It really wasn't," Harry replied, dusting himself off.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asked, noticing that her face was cherry-colored.
"I.. I'm fine... AHAHA! I'm sorry... Ron... I... really am!" she giggled, holding onto her knees to help support her.
"Are you mad?!" Ron demanded at Ginny, ears turning bright red.
"Ron, leave her alone," Hermione said firmly, quickly regaining her composure.
"Yeah, Ron. I mean, it is the first time I've seen her truly laugh since... last year," Harry replied quietly.
"Exactly, Ronald. Can't you lighten up, and let me laugh?" Ginny asked, flashing her puppy dog eyes at him.
"Stop it, Ginny. Of course I want you to laugh. Just don't embarrass me in front of someone next time," he said, jerking his head towards Hermione, and Ginny grinned.
"Of course not, Ickle Ronnikins!"
Ron opened his mouth to respond, while Hermione buried her hands in her face, but Misty interrupted him.
"It's been a nice little chat, but we'll be heading off, now, seeing as we have more boys to steal cookies from," she said snootily, as she grabbed Ginny's and MacKenzie's arms and drug them off.
"Okay, so is it mine or your turn?" Ginny asked Mackie.
"Yours. It's like I went after you, so it's your turn again."
"Fine," Ginny sighed.
"What's wrong Gin?"
"Ron and them. They could have at least waited until I was gone to talk about me, don't you think? That would have been at least a little more decent."
"Oh, come on, Gin! You were having so much fun, for almost 10 whole minutes! Don't get upset on me, now!"
"Yeah. We don't want the waterworks to get started on us," Misty replied, scathingly.
"What's your problem with me, Misty? Why are you always so hateful towards me?"
"Don't you remember what happened last summer, Ginny?! I'm not surprised that you don't! As big of a slut that you are!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Not now!" Mackie yelled at Misty, shooting a warning glance at her. "We were all getting along just fine Misty. Admit it, you were having fun."
"No I-"
"Don't even finish that sentence," Mackie said, cutting her off. "You just had to start acting like everything revolves around you, right when we were all getting along. Don't try to act like our time being ruined is her fault, because it's all on you!"
'What are they talking about?!' Ginny wondered.
"Come on, Gin. Let's go finish the rest of the dare, just for fun," Mackie said, grabbing Ginny's hand and glaring at Misty.
A few minutes later they ended up on the sixth floor corridor.
"What was that all about, Mackie?"
MacKenzie shook her head darkly. "I'll tell you later, when we have plenty of time to talk."
"I know it's my turn, but you can take it. After you do it, I'll probably get back in the mood, but right now, I'm not feeling up to it."
"Okay, Gin. I'm only doing this once, though. Okay?"
"Fine."
They walked for a few minutes whenever Ginny realized that they hadn't seen anyone since they talked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Where is everybody?" Mackie asked, looking around, as though reading Ginny's mind.
"Probably still sleeping. Or eating. I know that that's where I'd be if it weren't for this stupid dare."
"Yeah. That's probably where I'd be, too." The walked for a little while longer and finally saw someone, but it wasn't a living someone. It was more of a something.
"Hello, Sir Nicholas!" Mackie exclaimed, in a fake, cheerful voice.
"Hello MacKenzie! Ginerva! Why, Ginny, what's the matter?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Nick."
"Are you sure it's nothing I can help you with? I'm very good at helping students out with their problems."
"I'm positive, Nick. Thanks for offering, though."
"No problem, my dear. And as you know, I'm here to talk to, if you need it.
"Yes, I know."
"Good day, girls."
"Good day, Sir Nicholas," they replied in unison. Nearly Headless Nick floated away in the opposite direction.
"Oh no," Mackie groaned. Ginny looked at her, curiously, when she pointed down the corridor. Ginny suddenly felt sick.
'Not him!' her mind screamed, angrily.
"Malfoy and Zabini. I get Zabini!" Mackie said, in a useless whisper, seeing as they were about a hundred feet away.
"No fair!"
"My turn, my choice. I get Zabini."
"Fine. We go on three. One..."
"Two..."
"THREE!"
Once again, they charged at their unsuspecting victims.
Even though there was no one there, Ginny yelled, "STOP THOSE BOYS! THEY HAVE COOKIES!"
Mackie giggled as Draco and Blaise Zabini gave them looks of utter surprise half a second before they got tackled.
"ZABINI! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING YOUR COOKIES?!"
"MALFOY! I KNOW YOU HAVE COOKIES, NOW GIVE THEM UP!"
"Malfoy! What... are... they talking about?!" Blaise asked his friend in between attempts trying not to laugh.
"What are you up to, Weasley?" Draco asked, not even close to laughing.
"You've got cookies, Malfoy, and we're going to find them," she replied, raising his shirt up.
"That's it! 15 points from... HEY!" He started in a fit of laughter as Ginny blew a raspberry on his stomach.
"Oh, so that's your ticklish spot, Malfoy. Who knew? Is that yours, too, Zabini?!" Mackie asked raising his shirt up just over his stomach.
"No! Malfoy... DON'T DO THAT!" he yelled at Mackie when she blew a raspberry on his stomach. He tried to hide his laughter, but failed miserably. "Malfoy, do something! Take... haha... take POINTS OR SOMETHING!"
"I... I..." he started but couldn't finish, because he was trying his hardest not to laugh. His usually pale face was plum red.
"Get off of me, Johnson!" Blaise yelled at MacKenzie and stood up, letting Mackie fall on her bum.
Malfoy forcefully pushed Ginny off of him and stood up quickly.
"Weasley, Johnson. That will be 20 points each from Gryffindor. And an extra 20 for every time that Zabini and I told you two to get off. So that will be... 100 points from Gryffindor total."
"That was nowhere even close to 100!" Mackie yelled, pushing herself off of the ground and fuming.
"That's another 20 for questioning my method of math."
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Ginny roared. She pushed herself off of the ground and stared dangerously at the two boys. She was letting the Weasley temper take over, and that's never a good thing.
Draco just gave his Malfoy trademark smirk. "I can too. And that's another 20 for questioning my authority, Weasley. You two care to push it further?"
"Come on, Gin," Mackie said calmly, pulling Ginny towards the staircase. "We don't want to get in any more trouble."
"Fine," she said through clenched teeth. Ginny let MacKenzie lead her to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"You alright, Ginny?" Mackie asked whenever they got inside the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"I'm fine."
"Oh Kenzie!" Misty yelled, her face red, coming down the stairs of the girls' dormitories.
"What do you want?" she snapped.
"I want to talk to you. Alone," she added, stealing a look at Ginny.
"I'm not really in a chit-chat mood right now. Especially with you. So I wouldn't try me right now if I were you."
"Listen, I just want to talk, not have a fight or anything."
Mackie looked at Misty then at Ginny. "Gin, you don't mind if I..."
"No, not at all. Go right ahead."
"I mean, it will only be for a minute."
"It's fine, Mackie. Just go. I'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. Positive."
"Okay. I'll be right back." She got up and followed Misty to a deserted part of the room.
Ginny started playing with her hands as Hermione and Harry came running through the portrait, both red in the face and breathing heavily.
"Hey, guys. Have you been running around?"
"Yes. Trying... to... find you," Hermione said, panting.
"Me... but, why?"
"We have... to... take you to... Professor... Dumbledore's office," Harry replied, also panting.
"What? Why?! What's wrong?" she asked, quickly standing up. Harry and Hermione each grabbed an arm and pulled her, running to Professor Dumbledore's office. When they were almost there, they came across the person that they wanted to see least.
"Snape," Harry said, disdainfully. "Why him, why now?"
"Weasley. Potter. Granger. You three know that there are know running in the halls. 10 points each from Gryffindor and detention with me tonight," he barked, a smile playing on his lips, showing his crooked teeth.
"Fine!" Harry yelled, grabbed Hermione and Ginny by the hand and started running towards Professor Dumbledore's office again.
"No running!" Snape yelled after them. The three teenagers ignored him and ran the rest of the way. When they got there, they found Professor McGonagall waiting outside of the gargoyle statues for them.
She said the password and they went up the spiraling staircase to the door. "Potter. Granger. You two are to wait outside until further notice."
The two nodded and stood solemnly while Professor McGonagall led Ginny inside the office, with a very grave look on her face.
'I can't be in trouble. No, they wouldn't have been running so fast if I was in trouble. And Professor McGonagall... she seemed worried. No, no... that was my imagination. What am I doing here?' Ginny wondered as she walked inside.
She saw Professor Dumbledore along with Ron and the twins. Her heart started pounding as soon as she saw the looks on their faces and the fact that her brothers didn't even look her in the eye.
"Fred, George?" she managed to choke out.
Dumbledore looked at her. His eyes' usual twinkle was gone, but his voice was firm, but soft, calm, and caring. "Please sit down, Miss Weasley. We are waiting on 3 others before I tell you all what I have brought you here for."
Ginny looked around for a place to sit and Dumbledore outstretched one of his arms towards the chair in front of his desk. "Your brothers thought it best that you, a young lady, should take the chair."
Ginny glanced at Ron, then Fred and George, and shook her head violently. "If it's okay, I would like to sit in between my brothers," she replied quietly, gesturing towards the three boys.
"That is perfectly all right with me."
Ginny sat down and on either side of her were Ron and George. Ron wrapped his arms around her shoulders and Fred and George each gave her a hug.
"Headmaster, should I wait outside with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"If you wish, Minerva." Professor McGonagall nodded and walked briskly out of the room.
"What happened. Why are we here?" Ginny whispered to Ron. He shrugged.
"What are you two doing here?" she asked Fred and George. "Who's watching your shop?"
"Professor Dumbledore asked us to come," Fred answered.
"One of our trusted employees," George replied.
'They're not letting me know anything. I bet they all know what's going on and don't want to tell me!' Ginny thought, frustrated.
"So, Professor, who are we waiting for?"
"Percy, Bill, and Charlie. Who do you think?" George replied smartly.
"That is correct Mr. Weasley."
As if on cue, three red heads appeared in the fireplace.
"Hello Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley."
"Hello, Professor," they replied in unison.
"Headmaster, will you please make this quick? I have very important matters to attend to," Percy said, in his usual bossy, pompous voice.
"How are you three in the same fireplace at the same time?" Ron asked, wide-eyed.
"We're all at the Ministry of Magic," Bill replied.
"Okay, now to the reason I brought you all hear. You all know that Voldermort was defeated last year, correct?"
"Yes, Professor," they replied in unison.
"And you also know that even though he was defeated, there were still faithful servants of his running around, correct?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Well, we thought we caught them all by the summer began, but... There was one that was hidden away somewhere."
"Lucius Malfoy," Ron, Fred, George said bitterly together.
"Well, we finally found out that he was in America. Somewhere called the Grand Canyon. Ever heard of it?"
The Weasley's shook their heads, and Ginny was getting annoyed. 'Tell us why we're here! Get to the point!'
"A group of Aurors traveled to the Grand Canyon about a month ago. They found where he was apparently located, but there was only remains of what he had there. The basics such as food and clothes. He fled again. It seemed as if he was always one step ahead of us, like he was watching us."
"Headmaster, no disrespect, but could you please get to the point?" Charlie asked.
"Of course, Mr. Weasley. We finally caught him today! Good news, wouldn't you say?"
"You drug us all here just so you could tell us that stupid information? You had me worried sick!" Ginny yelled, outraged, standing up. Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her back down beside him.
"Miss Weasley, there is still more. I have some very awful news. It's where we found him. We found him in the Burrow." He paused here and looked at each of the red-heads in the eye.
"Mom and Dad!" Ginny cried. "Are... are they alright?!"
"Gin, calm down," Ron said in a shaky voice that sounded unconvincing. "I'm sure they're fine."
"I'm very sorry," Professor Dumbledore said quietly and his eyes quickly filled with tears.
"NO!" Ginny screamed, collapsing to the ground. Ron wrapped her into a tight embrace, pulling her off of the ground. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George all hugged each other very tightly. Bill, Percy, and Charlie's heads all hung down and they were soon out of the fireplace without saying a word.
"I'll give you 4 some family time. I'll be back later," Professor Dumbledore said quietly, wiping tears from his eyes, and walking outside of the room.
Ginny head was foggy, all her thought tangled. Her throat felt dry. 'It's not real. It doesn't seem real,' she told herself.
"NO!" she yelled, surprised at how loud her voice was. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! IT'S NOT TRUE!" She jumped up and ran out of the room, ignoring the calls of her family, Harry, Hermione, and the two Professors. She ran to the Gryffindor tower and ran into her room and locked herself in the bathroom. She slipped and hit her head on the side of the sink.
Author's Note: Hey, thanks for reading another chapter of this story..... and thanks to:
FlyingHamsterofDoom and Cinder2004 for reviewing!