"She's lying," Harry said confidently as Ron and Hermione looked at him with rapt attention, "And it's about something big too."
Hermione was muttering to herself as Harry approached the corner of the common room where she sat. Harry stopped in front of Hermione's chair and managed to catch snippets of what she was saying.
"Infusion of wormwood…pinch of wolfsbane…witch hazel…Ron…stupid git…"
Harry smiled and tried to hold in a laugh. It seemed like Ron and Hermione's mutual feelings were obvious to everyone except Ron. He wouldn't be surprised if Hermione got fed up enough to hex Ron one day just so that he would get some sense knocked into him.
"Hey Hermione," Harry said to his grumbling best friend. It would be better to get her out of whatever mood she worked herself into. Who knew what would happen if Ron suddenly showed up?
"Oh," Hermione said, surprised by Harry's voice, "Hi Harry."
"Having fun talking to yourself?" Harry teased.
"What?" Hermione said as she flushed red, "I was just trying to memorize a potion, that's all."
"Okay," Harry said in a tone that made Hermione wonder how much he had heard, "Oh, and Ron is going to be down in a minute."
"Why would I care when Ron is coming down?" Hermione said defensively.
"No reason," Harry replied, "Except that you had to tell him something about Ginny."
"Oh, well, I had forgotten," Hermione said as the flush crept back into her cheeks, "It's just that…"
Hermione's voice trailed off and Harry got the impression that she was contemplating whether to voice something aloud. She opened her mouth to speak when all of the sudden her gaze jerked to a place behind Harry's head.
"Honestly Ron! What took you so long?" The 6th year prefect seemed to be back to her normal self and appeared rather indignant. However, the rosy color of her cheeks had yet to fade.
Ron just shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go sit at the table."
Hermione and Harry followed Ron's suggestion and the three made their way over to a large wooden table in the common room. As soon as they had gotten settled, Ron spoke up.
"Okay, we need to figure out what's going on with Ginny. Hermione, why don't you start."
The brown-haired Gryffindor looked at Ron and nodded.
"Well, I hadn't talked to Ginny in a while because prefect duties take up so much of my time, so when I saw her in the common room earlier I thought it would be the perfect time to catch up."
Ron and Harry nodded at her to continue.
"We were talking about her divination class and my status as prefect and she kept dazing out. Then I really looked at her and I realized how unwell she was looking. It surprised me. Then I thought back and realized that she hadn't looked well at all since school started. I felt like a really awful friend for not noticing. I asked her what was wrong and then she got up abruptly saying that she had to study with Colin."
Hermione's eyes sparkled as she told the story and Ron had to work hard to keep his mind on the topic at hand. The fact that his sister had been acting stranger than usual wasn't lost on Ron. He had noticed a few months ago. He just felt that most things tended to work themselves out as long as you left them alone. Plus, Ginny had gotten really mad at him in the past for meddling in her business. He didn't want another showing of her temper. Oh sure, everybody thought that Ginny was sweet and quiet. Ron knew the truth. He knew that Ginny could talk your ear off if she felt comfortable with you and that her temper could rival his mother's if you got on her bad side. Well, the sweet part isn't entirely a lie, Ron thought, she is my baby sister after all.
As he tuned back into Hermione's monologue he realized that he would have to do something about the situation.
"…And she forgot her books," Hermione said as though it were sacrilege. " And this is the worst of it…a few minutes later Colin walked into the room and I said, 'Weren't you supposed to be studying with Ginny?' and he looked at me strangely and said that he hadn't seen Ginny since lunch. Ron, is she okay?"
Ron looked at Harry and then at Hermione. "I don't know. But I'm worried about her. She looks as though she hasn't slept in days and she's acting really odd. She ran straight into Harry earlier, said she had to go to the library, and then went off in the wrong direction."
"She isn't sleeping well," Harry said quietly, finally deciding to speak up. "I talked to her earlier and that's what she told me."
"Well, if that's it then we can just make her a sleeping draft or something," said Hermione, hoping to fix the situation.
Ron didn't say anything and looked at Harry, waiting for him to continue. Ron could tell that there was something else on his best friend's mind. Harry looked down at his hands and then back up to look at Ron.
"She's lying," Harry said confidently as Ron and Hermione looked at him with rapt attention, "And it's about something big too."
"How do you know?" Ron asked seriously.
"I don't know how to describe it," Harry said, feeling a little flustered, "It's in her eyes or something. She's trying to hide something."
"What do you think it could be?" asked Hermione curiously as she leaned slightly forward in her chair.
"I'm not sure," Harry said, "I just think that it's got to be something big if she's trying so hard to hide it from everyone."
"Well," Ron said as he paused a moment to think, "We just have to try and convince her to tell us then."
"Ron, I'm not sure if that'll work," Hermione said hesitantly.
"I'd have to agree with her Ron, I don't think it'll be that easy," Harry added.
Ron was quiet for a moment while he weighed his options. Something had to be done. Ginny was starting to act the way she had…well, second year. It was scaring Ron a lot more than he'd ever admit. Now with Fred and George out of school, he was the one who had to protect Ginny. If only he knew what he was protecting her from.
"Well, have you got any other plans?" Ron queried. Harry and Hermione stayed silent. It was enough for Ron. "Weasley plan A it is then. Let's go get dinner, I'm starved."
The three Gryffindors made their way down to the Great Hall where crowds of hungry students had already gathered. They sat down at their usual seats and Ron immediately started shoveling food into his mouth. The other two were less eager to chow down. Hermione was slowly picking at her food as she stared off into the distance. It looked like her brain was working overtime. Harry was simply pushing his food around his plate, not eating a single bite. Every once in a while he would look over toward Ginny's empty seat a little farther down the Gryffindor table. Soon Hermione caught the direction of Harry's gaze and turned to Ron.
"Honestly Ron, how can you eat like that at a time like this?"
Ron gave a garbled reply that sounded slightly like "A tryme wrike rut?"
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms as Ron swallowed his food.
"A time like what?" he repeated.
Hermione rolled her eyes as though Ron should know exactly what she was speaking about.
"Did you notice who's missing?" Hermione said while looking pointedly at a seat farther down the table.
Ron looked at the seat. Ginny. He sighed.
"She probably just wasn't hungry. I'm sure it's no big deal." Ron felt like he was trying to convince himself instead of Hermione.
Hermione looked as unconvinced as Ron felt. She looked over at Ron and he felt as though she could read his mind. When she spoke, her tone had softened.
"It's just that I'm worried about her."
"And you think I'm not?" Ron asked in a passionate tone, "You think I'm not scared that something's wrong?"
Hermione was quick to come to the defense. "Ron I didn't mean-"
"Don't you think I'm scared to death that it's going to be like second year all over again and that I won't be able to help her this time?" Ron continued in a sharp whisper. "I'm not stupid you know. I knew something was wrong months ago. Right before we came to school she was having nightmares…lots of them. She would daze out a lot and wouldn't eat much."
Hermione and Harry hadn't moved since Ron started speaking. They both felt that they had somehow underestimated their best friend. It wasn't a secret that Ron could act dense sometimes, his relationship (or lack thereof) with Hermione being a prime example, but apparently he noticed more than he let on.
"But Ron," Hermione questioned gently, "Why didn't you-"
"Why didn't I say something…do something?" Ron said with a sigh. "I thought that the nightmares had stopped once we got to school. Ginny seemed happier and didn't look as worn down. And I didn't see her as often so I didn't notice the changes. I was too caught up in school and quidditch. I just…"
Ron trailed off.
"Ron, it's okay," Harry said as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Ginny's fine, we just have to get her to talk to us about whatever is going on."
"Yeah Ron," said Hermione while reaching across the table to put her hand on top of Ron's, "It'll all work out."
Ron sighed deeply and then seemed to come to a decision.
"We'll talk to her after dinner then," he said, "No use us losing out on dinner just because Ginny isn't hungry."
Ron forced a laugh and then took to staring down at the table. Hermione squeezed his hand and he looked up for a moment and was surprised at the comfort and love he saw in his friend's eyes. Harry decided that it would be a good time to switch subjects.
"So, are you ready for the upcoming match against Ravenclaw, Ron?"
Ron seemed to awaken from whatever calming trance he found himself in and started going on about his plans for training during the next week and ideas he had for the team, even though technically Harry was captain. Ron talked on as they ate, rambling about Quidditch as usual. In fact, Harry thought, things almost seemed back to normal. Everything, that is, except for the concern for Ginny that lurked in the back of his mind. And the fact that his two best friends were still holding hands across the table and neither one seemed in a hurry to let go.
In a darkened room a lone figure sat gazing into a crystal ball. A single candle flickered on the table and cast eerie shadows on the gauzy pieces of fabric that were draped casually around the room. The figure pointed a wand at the crystal ball and muttered an incantation. Suddenly the ball started to glow and it was filled with misty swirling shapes. The shapes gradually began to take their places in the ball. There, in the middle of the vision, stood a fifteen-year-old Ginevra Weasley clutching a leather-bound journal. Her red hair was being blown about by a mysterious breeze and her eyes were determined. In the background Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ginny's brother Ron were gathered. Ginny took a step forward, and the other three looked as though they wanted to protest. Instead, however, they stood still and led Ginny go forward alone. Pain and worry was evident in the trio's eyes. Ginny finally stopped and put the journal on the ground, pausing a moment to steal a quick glance at her friends. Then she slowly took out her wand out of her robes and pointed it the sky. She muttered an incantation and a sickening green light filled the vision. Seconds later, nothing was left except the tattered remains of the leather-bound book whose pages were being blown by the wind.
"Well Miss Weasley," said Professor Dumbledore with a sigh, "It has begun."