Chapter III – Secrets of the Fallen Snow
Ginny woke a few hours later feeling a little distressed. Harry hadn't come back while she was awake, so she assumed for the best that be came while she was sleeping. Getting up Ginny shivered and she left the blanket behind in the common room as she ran upstairs to her dormitory.
Once she got up there she sighed and changed into some day clothes, it was only half past nine, then she pulled on her old moccasin boots and parka, mitts, scarf and a toque. She needed a walk, a cold yet refreshing walk in the deep, deep snow. Ginny ignored the pile of presents that lay at the edge of her bed but turned around and left her dormitory.
Once in the great hall she pushed open the enormous wooden doors and stepped out into the cold. Closing the door with a bang she aimlessly wandered to the edge of the forest, where she had thrown her chamorè.
It was quite a slow walk in the snow, mostly because it was down hill and snow was varying from a foot to two feet deep and the drifts were even more.
Exhaling indicated to her that it was probably below zero for she could see her breath rise from her lips in a silent cloud of fog. A few steps closer to the forest she went she stepped on something big, pulling her foot back she saw the slight glimpse of dull colour. It was Harry's coat.
Frantically Ginny dug down to him and tried lifting him out of the drift.
"Your too heavy Harry…" she muttered to his cold limp body sobbing. "Hagrid!" she yelped, realizing he lived in the hut nearby. "HAGRID!" she screamed his name when he appeared at the door of his hut.
"Wha's all the racket all abou'?" she grunted trudging toward Ginny but when he noticed Harry she broke into a run. "Good Lord wha' happened ta him?" she asked her scooping Harry into his arms.
"I have a faint idea," said Ginny looking into the void where Harry was lying moments ago, the handle for his firebolt was sticking out of the snow, she snatched it quickly. Where was Olivia? That question ran through her mind all the way up to the hospital wing.
When they stepped in Madam Pomfrey came dashing to them as Hagrid carefully placed him onto a bed.
"Merlin, the boy is frozen," she said feeling his pale cheeks.
"Will he be all right?" Ginny asked her worriedly.
"Well, I hope, but he's not dead if that's what your asking," Madam Pomfrey replied rushing away for a bucket of hot water, "but that's not absolute."
"Wha'? sobbed Hagrid, "You don' mean he might die do yah?"
Ginny tiptoed up to Harry and placed his firebolt nearby him.
Moments later Hermione and Ron came thundering in with Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Is he alright?" Hermione shrieked running toward him Ginny shrugged shaking her head fighting her welling tears. Madam Pomfrey had returned with a wooden pale of steaming water and a flannel cloth and started to warm him up slightly by wiping him with the hot cloth.
It was really a horrible sight to see for anyone, Harry lying there frozen and limp, any of his visible skin was a pale blue colour.
Madam Pomfrey stood up and started to take Harry's shirt off to expose a bare icy chest. Then it hit her, it was Ginny's fault, she wished that he would brake it off with Olivia… she remembered her exact words, i "I wish that Harry… will notice me as more than Ron's little sister. I wish that he break it off with Olivia…" /i That must have been the reason, or else he would have had a happy Christmas with Olivia, that's better than her wishing him dead. A tear started to form I the corner of her eyes as her vision of Harry lying there became distorted with tears. She dropped herself off onto a vacant chair as she felt a hand on her shoulder; she looked over her shoulder and saw a blurry Dumbledore.
He looked at her cordially and said, "Bad things are happening for the best," looking into her eyes with his. She felt comforted, and then she smiled a half smile of console and of sorrow. Dumbledore stood up and signaled for Ginny to follow him, he took her to the corridor outside the hospital wing.
"Tell me what happened, Miss Weasley," he said to her.
Ginny to a deep breath in and started, she told him about the wish where she smiled warmly, she even told him about Harry sneaking out with Olivia, he nodded with his eyes twinkling and then she told him about finding him, where he said:
"Miss Weasley, I know you may think that that wish was just a hoax?" he paused, "but what you wish for will come true soon enough with time, or else nature itself will have to change its course," Ginny's jaw dropped, how did he know? She still nodded at his words.
"It's not your fault, this is part of what will soon come, but however, along with your wish of love soon to come will peril and dangers you will have to endure. Dark time will lay ahead of your path, Ginny, but in that darkness there still will be a beacon of love a lantern of hope and a candle faith.
"Don't try to speed up the process though, use it right," Dumbledore said and walked down the corridor whistling i O Come All Ye Faithful. /i
Upon returning to the hospital wing Ron asked her what Dumbledore wanted and she responded with a simple "Ron, I don't want to talk about it" forcing him to shy off.
After a few hours Madam Pomfrey had completely defrosted Harry and he now had a heavy thermal blanket covering him up to his neck, but he was still unconscious. Finally Madam Pomfrey kicked the three of them out of the wing.
"Ron, did you ever see Olivia since last night at supper? Wasn't she supposed to be with him?" Hermione asked looking almost sorry that she couldn't show her disappointment to Harry of his own behavior.
"No I haven't "Moine, but when he left he said he was meeting her at the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room."
Ginny was walking a few paces behind them.
"But Ginny and Hagrid only found Harry, right?" Hermione asked turning around to look at Ginny who nodded.
"You don't think she left him out there do you?" Ron asked.
"She could have, most likely before he got into this state though."
"I bet they got into a row or something," Ron shrugged as the three of them entered the common room.
That night Ginny drifted in and out of an uneasy sleep and eventually found herself restless despite her lack of sleep the previous night, so she got out of bed and went down to the common room, where her feet somehow drifted her to the window where she watched then snow start falling again. The she established the need to go for a walk around the school, and so she did. Her feet were taking her to the hospital wing where she desired to go, but half of her didn't, she was split in two.
When she felt it, it only felt like a knife slightly scratching her body, when if became worse and worse—it was terrible, she started to bleed and could almost see evil and slap it across the face. What was happening? She thought as she curled into a little ball on the cold stone floor screaming. Everything was spinning-
"Arghhh! AAAARGHHHHHH!" she howled, "don't kill me! Please!" But whom was killing her she didn't know, but she was completely alone in the dark corridor. Nothing but a shadow to laugh at her distress but it didnt.
Soon her shrieks and wails were echoing throughout the school and Professor McGonagall came running to her shrieks in a tartan nightgown and her hair was loose and flowing fast her shoulders.
"What are you doing out of bed?" she looked at Ginny to see her lose consciousness, "Oh dear!"
Professor McGonagall saw pools of blood on the floor flooding out of gaping wounds all over Ginny's body.
McGonagall chose a few words to stop the bleeding and then said, "Mobilicorpus," causing Ginny body to lift off of the ground and follow Professor McGonagall to the hospital wing.
In the hospital wing Dumbledore had shown up finally, almost a whole hour later. "What happened Minerva?" he asked her looking at Ginny laying there unconscious.
"I was just getting into bed when I heard someone howling," she frowned, "so I went to go see what was going on, and I only got there in time to see Miss Weasley lose consciousness," she said to Dumbledore as Madam Pomfrey tended to Ginny's wounds healing them the best she could. Dumbledore looked at her and muttered a few words and put hut palm over her eyes then removed it quickly in time for them to glow.
"She'll be alright, how's Harry doing?" he contemplated.
"He hasn't moved one inch, there isn't much hope for Mr Potter I'm sorry to say—" she broke off and started to cry. Dumbledore patted her back and frowned looking at Harry solemnly, he promised Ginny he would be alright.
"Minerva, would you go wake Ginny's friends, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked her.
"Yes, of course," she replied and off she went to the Gryffindor tower.