"I think I'm going to be sick," said Hermione, and she immediately doubled over and retched all over the floor next to Dumbledore's old office. Fred and George backed away, frightened.

"Urgh," said Ron, trying to pull her hair out of the way.

"Maybe Hermione should go to the hospital wing, Ron," said Fred, still staring at her warily.

"Yeah, I know," said Ron, helping her up.

"I'd show her," said someone behind them. Ron was hobbling toward the hospital wing with Hermione, but Fred, George, Mr. Weasley, and Harry all turned.

Pansy Parkinson was holding the stuffed animal of a polar bear in her hands. It was very battered looking, one of the eyes was missing, and the fake fur looked as if it had been ripped out. Pansy herself was muttering softly under her breath, and eyeing the ceilings with a wide, crazy look in her eyes. Harry noticed that she was stroking the fur, sometimes jerking at it, so that little wisps of it came out and floated to the floor like glitter.

"Pansy?" asked Harry. She was looking out the window, and made no notice of them.

"She'd get it," said Pansy. She had dark shadows under her eyes and she looked paler than usual. "I'd show her—what's that?"

She held the bear up to her ear.

Fred tossed Harry another frightened look.

"Yes, honey," she said, stroking the bear some more. "We wouldn't let her touch you, would we? We can't let her take you away from me..."

Harry made a mental note to never date Pansy.

"What is happening to this school?" asked George, as Mr. Weasley pulled the three boys away from Pansy. "Girl's going crazy and pregnant and getting possessed all over the place..."

"Many things have happened that we can't control, Fred. Dumbledore was like a staple to this school. Without him, there's nothing."

They continued toward the school's kitchen and a house elf ran by, clutching a mop.

"Good evening sirs," said the house elf at the door to the kitchen. She tickled the pear and the door slid open.

"Good evening sirs," came a chorus of voices. The four men jumped.

"Can we get something for you?" asked Winky, who looked less drunk than she normally did.

"Let me get you something," said another elf, pulling up four chairs.

"Look, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, drinking a glass of water. "I know this is all nerve wracking, for all of us, but you must stay calm, and stay brave. Hermione and Ginny will need the utmost protection if news like this gets out."

Harry nodded. He already knew this.

"Yeah," said Fred, taking a sip of butterbeer. "Hermione and Ginny—"

"Sirs!"

Harry and the three Weasleys turned, where Dobby was standing close to a large oven.

"There's some kind of trouble in the Great Hall, sirs!" said Dobby. "The Headmaster is looking for you—the girl is gone! Disappeared! Harry's Weezy—"

"What?" shouted Mr. Weasley, and the four of them burst through the door and clambered down the hallway back toward the Great Hall.

"What happened?" shouted Mr. Weasley at a terrified Molly Weasley. Ginny was in the corner, crying.

"She's gone! And Ron—"

Harry stepped over, afraid of what he would find. In the middle of a huge crowd of Order Members and teachers, Ron lay on the floor, bleeding heavily from a wound on his chest.

"RON!" Harry shouted, and he pushed through the adults.

"Harry, don't touch him," said Madam Pomfrey. "He'll be ok, don't move—"

"What happened?" Harry shouted at the circle of adults.

"We don't—Harry, we just walked in—"

"Where's Hermione?"

"She's gone," choked Ron. The adults stared at him.

"Neville—Lucius—Rodolphus," said Ron, still having trouble breathing.

"Neville?" asked Harry incredulously. "How did—"

"Hogwarts-Azkaban Outreach Association," sputtered Ron. "He wrote a letter to that awful—"

"Neville," fumed Ginny, very red in the face. "I'm going to kill that worthless—"

"No," said McGonagall. "Miss Weasley, you aren't going anywhere, you're in as much danger as Hermione."

"No," said Ginny, shaking her head. "They shouldn't have taken Hermione, it was me—"

"There's no possible way we can know that, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to pull her onto her feet.

"No, I lied."

The room went quiet.

"What?" asked Lupin.

"Remember when I told you that...that the baby's father was Oliver—Oliver Wood?"

Madam Pomfrey had healed Ron's shoulder, and he was sitting propped up on his elbow, staring at her with accusing eyes.

"I lied...It wasn't Oliver," she said. Mrs. Weasley had let go of her, and was standing a few feet away, almost as if she was afraid to touch the girl. "When I heard the prophecy, I knew that it must mean—"

"Then why did you lie?" screeched Ron. "Now Hermione's gone, and—"

"Ron," said McGonagall. "We wouldn't want either girl to be in danger—"

"I'm sorry they stole your precious girlfriend!" spat Ginny. "Like I had any control over it! You prefer it had been me or something?"

"I didn't say that, Ginny," he said tiredly, as Madam Pomfrey messed with his shoulder. "If you'd only told us sooner—"

"What would you have done?" she yelled at him. "If you'd been me, if you'd suddenly started to lose track and forget where you were again? If someone told you that you were pregnant and you'd never—"

"Come on Ginny," said Harry, pulling her angry eyes away from Ron, who looked as if he didn't quit know what to say. "Sit down a bit."

"Now what?" asked Molly, still scared. "Now that we know, how are we going to save Hermione and hide Ginny?"

"What do we do about—you know—in there?" asked Fred, gesturing toward Ginny with little nods of his head.

"What are we going to do about Hermione?" shouted Ron, looking frantic.

For some reason, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Lupin, McGonagall, Mr. Weasley, and a number of other people were all looking at Harry. Ginny was staring at the floor.

"What?" he asked.

"Well...you've fought the Dark Lord more than any of us, Potter," sneered Snape. "Surely you can—"

Harry shot a frantic look at Ginny.

"I can't fight her!" he said, pointing at Ginny. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Well," said Trelawney. "Let's think about the prophesy." She was looking very proud and dignified.

"Mother unloved by her peers," said Fred quietly. "What does that mean? I thought that meant muggle-born."

"Maybe it meant blood traitor," said Harry coldly.

"Mingled in the darkness of his dormancy," said Mrs. Weasley.

"I've been possessed before," said Ginny matter-of-factly.

"Ah," said George. "I didn't really get that the first time I heard it."

"That still doesn't change the fact that either me or Harry has to die," said Ginny so emotionlessly that several of the adults gasped.

"It's not—we don't know for sure—" sputtered Lupin.

"We can't possibly know that's what it means," said McGonagall firmly. "We're just going to have to wait, and we'll find out soon enough."

"So there's no way to get rid of it?" asked Ginny.

"The Dark Lord would have seen it so," said Severus Snape from the corner. "He knew we would discover the truth, and he would have ways to make himself unbeatable."

"Fantastic," said Ginny with a mirthless laugh.

"What now?" asked Harry. "What happens to Ginny now? Where is she going to go? How are we going to get Hermione back?"

"We don't know anything yet, Harry," said Lupin.

"The grandmother," said Harry. "Neville's grandmother. What was her name? Someone needs to find her."

They all looked at him.

"Ok," said Moony doubtfully.

"Well do it!" said Harry grouchily. "Ask her to try and communicate with Neville. The sooner we get him back, the better."

It was at this moment that Harry suddenly noticed Luna, who walked in through the door to the Great Hall.

"Oh, hello Harry," she said. "What's everyone doing here?"

They stared blankly. Luna looked at his feet.

"Your shoes look angry," she remarked. Harry stared at her.

"Luna, maybe you should give us a moment—" tried Mr. Weasley.

"No, she won't say anything," said Snape. Harry tried to act like he knew nothing and McGonagall threw Snape a funny look.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, Potter," said McGonagall. "You may go."

"What about Hermione?" asked Harry. "Will Ron and I—"

"No," said Mr. Weasley firmly. "The Order will deal with it—"

"What? That's not fair!" said Ron. "It's my girlfriend, it's my baby!"

"Ron," said Molly, exhausted. "Please don't—"

"Well," said Ginny quite calmly. "I'm going to bed."

"Fine," said Ron, getting to his feet and rubbing his newly healed shoulder. "I'm going to the library."

He walked out the door after Ginny. Harry stared at him, thinking The Library?

"I'm going," said Harry, and without another word, he left the room.