Of Seasons and Shadows
Eva Yasha
A/N Sorry it's taken so long...life caught up with me (i.e. school). But I shall try to remedy the situation. I've rewritten chapter one to take HBP into account, so if you read the old version, you should go back. Be warned, there will be spoilers. Also, this will be Harry/Ginny for a couple of chapters, but don't worry, I'll fix it. :)
Ginny slowly opened her eyes, her mind still fogged with unconsciousness. Two faces swam into focus, Ron and Harry, leaning over her with worried expressions.
Ginny gasped. Harry's eyes, dull and vacant the past two months and more, were back to the clear bottle green she had come to love so much. Leaning over her, his eyes sparkled with renewed life and vitality.
"Harry!" She exclaimed, flinging her arms around his neck. "You're back!"
"What, no hug for your own brother?" Ron said crossly, but Ginny could see the relief shining in his eyes.
Harry smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head in a gesture he'd picked up from Sirius back in fifth year.
"I dunno what happened. When you fainted, there was this...wave, for lack of a better word. A wave of power. When it touched me, I just...woke up." He looked around, taking in their surroundings. "What's happened? How did we end up back at Hogwarts? And...where's Hermione?"
Ginny sucked a breath at the dreaded question and shot a glance at her brother. Ron shrugged.
"He's been asking since we got you up here, but I told him iit would be better if we waited untill you woke up."
Ginny nodded. "It all started..."
She was interrupted by the doors of the hospital wing swinging open. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini entered the room, supporting a pale and shaking Pansy Parkinson between them.
"Where to Pansy?" Draco asked tersely.
"Anywhere, just get me to a bed...HURRY!" Her voice was tight with pain, ending almost in a scream.
Madame Pomfrey rushed out of her office and all but flew across the ward to the three slytherins.
"What happened to her? Why wasn't she brought here sooner?" The mediwitch snapped.
"Crutacious. We were trying to rescue Rosaline..." He trailed off, looking around the ward suspiciously. His eyes rested one the three of them, but instead of sneering, he simply nodded curtly and continued.
"The Parkinson's are holding Rosaline captive against Pansy's continued loyalty to the dark lord. We had some hope that Mrs. Parkinson might see the light and help us free her daughter...as you can see, we were wrong."
Madame Pomfrey's face had grown paler and paler. Finally she sighed and seemed to pull herself together.
"I can't believe it" she muttered. "Her own daughter...Poor Rosaline, poor Rosette...I never would have..."
She shook her head as if to free it from her memories. "But still," she said, turning to Pansy, "Why didn't you come here immediately?" She waved her wand over Pansy's abdomen, and the girl immediately seemed to relax, some color creping back into her cheeks.
"I had to go to the feast..." She murmured. "Had to keep up appearances...for the other slytherins..."
Madame Pomfrey sighed. "You royals and your appearances...very well. Rest now, child."
Ginny, Ron and Harry looked at each other, bewildered and amazed. Harry turned and looked over his shoulder at Malfoy, his eyes clouding with anger. He looked back at Ginny. "You guys had better get to explaining, fast."
A/N Coming soon... Chapter three! In which much is revealed, including: The whereabouts of Hermione, Harry's battle with Voldemort, and the Royalty of the houses.