Title: Ginny's Games

Chapter Summary: Things go haywire after an unexpected and eerie arrival at Number 12 Gimmauld Place; a glimpse into an eerie quirk of Ginny's and where Sirius's affection for Ginny extends from.

A/N: I know a lot of you probably want to kill me because I haven't updated in forever, but I've been so busy with college aps. and making sure that I have everything for school done plus with auditioning to colleges because I want to be a music major...I just haven't had anytime. I hope to be writing regularly now though (well...more regularly than lately). For those of you who are also keeping up with Father's Minion which I also haven't updated in a while I hope to have another chapter up within the next two or three weeks. Thanks to all who have reviewed, they really keep me writing and it's great to know that so many people are interested in my stories. Oh, and just as a standard disclaimer: these aren't my characters or places...yada yada, and so on and so forth...all property of JK Rowling blah blah blah. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I must digress it's not happy...at all...sorry.

Chapter Four: Hear Me

"Hear me I'm crying out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me"

Hear Me Kelly Clarkson

The rain pattered upon the window sill located in the stuffy room that Ginny found herself holed in. Ginny would have given anything to be able to sneak off to the enchanted garden in the study right now; as misfortune would have it Mrs. Weasley's charm she placed on the door made this impossible. No matter how many different counter charms Hermione tried on the door it wouldn't budge. The bushy haired girl currently lay on the bed nearest the door piles of books scattered about the bed that the coverlet couldn't be distinguished under the copious array of volumes.

A frustrated grunt from the floor attracted Ginny's attention. Ron and Harry were currently sitting on the floor a wizard's chess board sitting between them. As usual, Ron was winning, although unlike other times it seemed as though Harry's mind wasn't really in the game this time. Ginny couldn't say she blamed him. They had all been enjoying some lunch together companionably when Tonks stumbled through the fire ashen faced and petrified. Charlie had immediately gathered her into his arms; soon her face crumpled and she'd sobbed all over him. The rest of the room seemed to freeze not entirely certain what was going on. Charlie had to carry the frightened woman out of the room and even then her sobs could be heard; Molly Weasley followed the couple looking extremely worried, followed by Mr. Weasley whose expression was unlike anything Ginny had ever seen on her father's face. Mr. Weasley had returned to the room and informed Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry that they would need to go and take residents in the girls' room for a while.

It was extremely difficult not to argue, not to protest in some way and demand to know what exactly was going on; yet Ginny sensed that now was not the time for arguments. She sensed Harry getting ready to argue his case, but she grasped his hand and shook her head; this was serious, something devastating had occurred and they would just have to wait until things were sorted before they would be told what had happened. Ginny had sent looks of longing toward Remus and Sirius, wishing that she could stay with them and hear about what had happened, but she knew that wasn't possible. Instead, she held fast to Harry's hand and led him upstairs to the room that she and Hermione shared. The first hour in the room had been spent trying to figure out ways to get out of the room to figure out what was going on downstairs. The extendable ears wouldn't work since the charm that Mrs. Weasley put on the door made it so that the ears couldn't slip through the crack in the bottom.

The next hour in the room was spent ranting about how they were old enough to know what was happening. After the ranting was well and over and they had exhausted all of their anger, there was nothing to do but speculate and worry about what could have possibly happened. Ron had found the chess board in the closet and Harry was too eager to occupy his mind with other thoughts that he didn't turn down the offer of a game. This left Ginny with her thoughts and the methodic pounding of the rain. She peered out the window toward the gray street below, then averting her eyes to the equally gray sky above. So mesmerized by the sight she thought that maybe if she could only step out through the window she might be able to fall into the gray and leave all this restless worry behind, just seep into the gray.

Ginny had always felt a certain pull when it came to nature; there was just something about nature that just felt so primal; so raw; so simple and complex at the same time. Ginny placed her hand against the window and took a deep breath feeling the vibrations of the rain as it hit the window pane. The moment she felt the vibrations she knew, someone was dead, someone very important was dead. Then she felt it, the pain the emotion, and she was crying, tears streaming down her face and as she cried the rain pounded harder in response to her feeling of loss, drowning out her sounds, this feeling that came from nowhere and yet seemed so valid and true.

Such strong emotions, she wished she knew who it was that died and the moment she thought it she felt herself being jerked as though someone had grabbed her hand and was swirling her through the rain. Her journey stopped on the glen of what appeared to be farm lands in Scotland. There was a slight whistling in the air which made it extremely hard to hear the other sounds around her. Clearly shaken Ginny tried to figure out where she was; somewhere in the back of her mind she knew where she was, she was there at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place sitting with her hand on the window pane, and yet no matter how much she willed herself to be there, to feel the mattress beneath her she was still in this landscape.

A strangled cry tore through her throat and she was faintly aware of a far off voice that sounded distinctly like Ron say, "Ginny…what?" Yet, no matter how much she wanted to answer she couldn't leave this place. The strong whistling was still about in the air. Ginny ran in one direction toward a cluster of trees to her left, deciding against it she turned around fully and ran in the other direction. The pull this way was stronger. She ran faster feeling more earnest in her pursuit though she wasn't entirely certain what she was pursuing. Her feet moved through the tall grass and she was racing up a hill, but she didn't feel at all fatigued from all the running she was doing. Her pace slowed as she neared the top of the hill because she was suddenly overcome with this horrible stench. She reached the top of the hill and then the whistling wasn't the only sound she'd heard now she could hear shrieks, shrieks of horror filling her ears, it took her nearly a minute to realize that the screams came from her.

XxXxXxXx

"Ginny! Ginny!" Harry yelled at the girl but she wasn't responding to him, her eyes were and eerie silver and they stared blankly ahead as she shrieked at the top of her lungs. Harry didn't know what to do, Ron was trying to open the door but it still wouldn't budge and Hermione was flipping furiously through books to see if there was anything residing in the ancient volumes that might tell them what was wrong with Ginny.

Just then Ron was sent sprawling against the floor as the door flew open and Sirius ran in. Her immediately rushed to Ginny and snatched her up and away from the window. Sirius was followed by a parade of people: Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Charlie, Bill, even Percy was there looking like a frightened little boy. Tonks was clinging to Charlie looking no better than when she'd first arrived. Mad Eye Moody came clunking into the room next. Ginny had gone slack against Sirius and he slid to the floor rocking her back and forth, he looked frantic and as though he was going to cry if he hadn't been already; in fact looking about the room Harry noticed that every single adult looked as though they'd just been having a cry, this unnerved Harry extremely.

"What happened?" Mr. Weasley demanded frantically. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other dumbly. The truth was that they weren't even sure what had happened.

"Please Mr. Weasley, we were just sitting here, Ron and Harry were playing wizards chess and I was brushing up on my studies…Ginny was just staring out the window at the rain. I remember glancing up to see what she was doing, she had her hand against the window pane and she was shuddering slightly. I wasn't sure what was going on and I was about to ask when she—" Hermione started.

Ron picked up with, "She made this horrid sound like a dying animal. I asked her what was wrong, but she didn't answer me, her eyes just started changing color, they went from the usual brown to blue to purple and then to silver—"

"And that's when she started screaming," Harry squeaked. Arthur Weasley strode to the bed near the window and placed his hand upon the window pane looking out the window in concentration.

"Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley's question was strangled by a sob as she looked between her husband and her youngest child lying in the arms of Sirius Black. Rather than answering his wife, Mr. Weasley nodded to Sirius.

"Let's get her into another room; she'll be coming around in a few minutes I think." Sirius nodded dumbly and lifted the girl in his arms and proceeded to carry her out of the room. The rest of the adults followed closely while Harry, Ron and Hermione were left staring dumbly at one another. Ron mouthed silently for a while until he was able to mutter, "What just happened?"

XxXxXxXx

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours and soon dinner was being served. Sirius didn't understand how Molly could tear herself from her daughter's side in order to make food, but Arthur explained that it was the only thing keeping Molly from going insane. It seemed logical, when you're busy preparing food for a bunch of hungry witches and wizards it distracts you from some of the thoughts that drive you insane.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair; he'd remembered being in Azkaban and making little tasks for himself everyday just to keep himself busy so he wouldn't go insane. Anything to keep him from thinking would do; because when he thought he'd always see Lily and James and he'd always blame himself. Sirius swiped angrily as a tear escaped his eye. Ginny had been his distraction lately. He hated being in this house all of the time; his magic was still out of use because of all the time he spent in Azkaban, then being in the veil for that time. Sirius gripped Ginny's small hand in his, rubbing his thumb lightly over her soft skin. She was a pleasant distraction he decided.

She was everything he thought he could need in times like these. She was flirty and bubbly; very much the epitome of everything he'd ever wanted in the girls he used to date. It was hard at times to remember that she was sixteen and he wasn't as young as he thought he was anymore. In the beginning he was simply attracted by her glow, she seemed to blaze wherever she went, and Molly had always remarked the fact that her daughter was extremely popular at school. He'd spoken to Ginny when everyone else was too busy with their own things; too busy for him.

Their twisted little joke had started one day when she'd started wearing Hermione's hand me downs:

Sirius was sitting on the sofa in the library trying to sort through all the Dark Arts volumes that still resided in the room. He was in another one of his moods that always developed from his having to deal with things that had any relation to his childhood. He turned when he heard a creak from the entryway; he looked toward the doorway and saw something he wouldn't likely forget for a while. There stood 'little Ginny Weasley' looking rather grown up in a pair of shorts that didn't reach longer than mid thigh and a rather tight tank top on that accentuated her curves; curves that Sirius up until that point hadn't even known she'd possessed.

His mouth grew dry as he stared at her, and she blushed slightly at him looking awkward by his gawking.

"Erm—I'm sorry Sirius, I didn't mean to bother you, but Tonks said that this is where I might find you. I'll just go if you're busy." Ginny made a movement to leave, but Sirius was up and striding toward her before she could leave.

"No, no it's alright. You can come in, I wasn't doing anything important, just trying to rid this house of the last remnants of my parents," he smiled meekly at her and ushered her to the sofa that he'd abandoned, "Erm…where did you get those clothes?" He sat on the sofa trying to put as much space between them as possible.

"Oh well, these are Hermione's. Her mum bought her these clothes that she never plans to wear ever, so she thought I might like to have them considering I only always receive hand me downs from the blokes in the family. I suppose they are erm…more snug than the clothes I'm used to wearing, but they do alright. Ron had a right fit when he saw me of course; told me I should go back to my room and change." Ginny paused in her tirade to take a breath.

"Of course when I told him where I'd gotten the clothes he got the glazed look on his face. And you know what Sirius?" Ginny asked. It took Sirius a while to remember that his name was in fact Sirius and that this young woman in front of him had asked him a question.

"Oh—er—what?" Sirius hoped that she hadn't latched onto the fact that he was having troubles keeping his eyes inside of his head. To his surprise Ginny leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "I think he might have been wishing that Hermione would wear some of these clothes." Sirius could see the logic in this assumption because obviously Ron Weasley would never appreciate such clothes on Ginny, but on a girl that he very obviously fancied, he probably wouldn't mind at all. He missed that, being able to enjoy a woman and all that she had to offer. Women were such sensual creatures and always knew how to drive men crazy; and if there was ever one thing in his life that Sirius Black was certain of it was women. He could figure out what drove each and every woman crazy, what made her randy, what made her sad…Focus; you're sitting here with Ginny Weasley. It seemed that he'd been too silent for far too long because Ginny had a knowing look on her face.

"Sirius?" Ginny said, surprising him by crawling across the sofa and nestling herself in his lap, directing his arms around her middle. This is bad this is very, very bad. Sirius had to fight the inner battle not to flip her over on the sofa and snog her senseless. She's everything I've ever wanted, he found himself thinking, then finally relenting…Except for the fact that she's sixteen.

"Ginny—I—"

"Shh," she hushed him quickly burrowing herself further into his arms. He stiffened slightly afraid that if he allowed this Arthur or one of her brothers might come barging in and curse him to hell and back. Then he thought better any of the men than Molly, for if it was Molly that caught her daughter in his lap, she'd probably curse his bits off. The unpleasant thoughts were all pushed from his mind when Ginny's voice filled his ears, "just hold me."

And so he did.

Sirius sighed at the memory and looked down at the woman lying in his bed, that's how he viewed her now, a woman, for that is what she was. She looked like death, her brow was sweaty and her hair was sticking to the sides of her face, her face was a ghostly pallor and her condition was starting to worry everyone in the house, so much so that Harry, Hermione and Ron still hadn't heard the horrible news.

Remus had left earlier to go grab some food for them both while they waited for Ginny to wake up. Remus would be returning at any moment; before Sirius could lose his daring he leaned forward and brushed his lips against those of the occupant of the bed. Immediately and without any warning Sirius was looking into a pair of deep brown eyes.

"Ginny," Sirius breathed so surprised that he couldn't completely comprehend what was going on. Before he could begin asking any questions she leaned over the side of the bed and retched in the dust bin, then before Sirius had time to comprehend that, Ginny's face crumpled and she was sobbing crawling into his arms. Scratching at her arms, hair, face, legs; Sirius was certain that this young woman was going to draw blood soon, but he couldn't seem to detain her.

"Ginny! Ginny love you're shaking! What happened? What happened?" Sirius demanded at the room at large in a very loud voice. He was soon aware that he and Ginny were no longer alone as alarmed voices were coming from all around, it seemed that everyone had heard Ginny's cries and still she carried on, though she seemed to be calming down because she was shaking a little less and less. She kept muttering something, but it was hurried and raspy wisps of a word that Sirius couldn't quite comprehend.

"Gin-noel," Arthur called his daughter's childhood nickname, she didn't respond directly but seemed to calm more. Ron, Hermione and Harry had just entered the room looking extremely alarmed. Arthur sat next to Sirius and placed a hand on the small of Ginny's back, "What did you see Gin-noel?" Ginny shook in a frightening way before she let out a raspy sigh and then.

"Dumbledore," as the only silent tear of the hour slid down her freckled cheek.

A/N: Please oh please review! I love reviews. They keep me writing. Let me know what you think.

Shmily,

Meg