The news about Hermione's kidnapping spread like wildfire and Harry's smart, bushy-haired friend had never been more popular. People were also treating Ron with a newfound respect, but this didn't really surprise Harry at all because he'd been a great deal angrier than he normally was.

Ron had been spending a great deal of time in the bathroom and the library, where Madam Pince told Harry he'd been sitting in the back, crying.

A month had passed and no news had come of Hermione, Neville, or the other Death Eaters. Ginny, on the other hand, had made quite a turn.

They knew that the teenage girl was a great deal more dangerous than she had been before, but there wasn't much to do about it. They couldn't take her out of school—she'd already tried that, but she ended up badly burning three Order members. She'd also rounded up a new group of gloomy looking yes-men, including Blaise Zabini, Icicle (no one knew her last name), Crabbe, and Goyle. They followed her everywhere, and were endlessly annoying.

Pansy, on the other hand, seemed to have completely lost her mind. She quit showing up to classes, and even when she did, she always fell asleep. Some of the other Slytherin girls said she was sneaking out at night, but no one could discover where she was going. Draco, to Pansy's horror, was still dating Icicle, who was more obnoxious than Harry felt he had patience for.

Ginny was forgetting who people were more and more. She avoided Harry as much as possible, acted like she didn't know who Ron was, and talked to Crabbe like they had known each other since they were children. The only normal thing about the girl was that she'd always hated Pansy Parkinson, and Pansy Parkinson still hated her.

In fact, they hated each other so much that it was beginning to cause problems. Pansy had obviously lost her mind and Ginny was only making it worse.

"Harry!" called Seamus, catching up to him on their way to Potions. "Where's Ron?"

Harry shrugged.

"I wouldn't know," said Harry. "Don't ask me."

"The library, probably," said Seamus. "Or crying in that girls bathroom with the ghost."

"Myrtle's?" asked Harry, somewhat amused in spite of himself. He hated that bathroom, but it wouldn't surprise him if Ron went in there to walk down memory lane.

"Yeah," said Seamus. "That's the one."

"HARRY!" Luna was screaming. "HARRY? DEAR GOD, WOMAN! WHERE'S HARRY?"

Harry and Seamus looked for her in the crowd. Luna had grabbed a small fourth year by the shoulders and was shaking her slightly.

"WHERE'S HARRY!" she was screaming. "WHERE—!"

"LUNA!" called Harry. "What—?"

"Holy shrieking fairies, Harry," she said. "Its Ginny! She's gone crazy, she's going to kill Pans—"

"What? Where?"

"The courtyard, they were—"

Harry and Seamus started to run toward the courtyard while Luna shouted explanations in their ears. Apparently, Pansy was crazier than even they'd thought.

"—And so Pansy said that she'd look better if—Harry! There!"

Luna pointed at the doors, where it was obvious that there was a problem.

"Where's McGonagall?" asked Seamus through gasps. "Where's Snape?"

"Ginny!" shouted Harry. There was a crowd of people standing around in a huge clearing next to the lake. Even the giant squid was pushed a little over the surface of the water.

"Get out of the way!" said Harry, pushing Goyle into some girl from Ravenclaw Harry didn't recognize.

"Ginny!" he shouted again.

But it was very obvious that Ginny didn't hear him. Behind Harry, Fred, McGonagall, Lupin, Snape, and Mr. Weasley were all walking out onto the courtyard after a meeting of the Order.

"What's going on here?" asked McGonagall. She froze when she saw Ginny and Pansy.

When Harry looked at Ginny, he had a sudden flashback to two years before, when he had come face to face with Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes were lined with red and they'd somewhat changed shape.

"Give it to me," Ginny was screeching at the girl, almost in a hiss. Harry looked at the crowd of people, who were whispering to each other.

"What'd she say?" asked Chang.

It was then when Harry suddenly realized she was speaking Parseltongue.

"Ginny," said Harry, in Parseltongue. "What are you doing? Get away from Pansy."

"DON'T SPEAK TO ME IN SNAKE LANGUAGE, POTTER," she hissed, turning on him. People were giving them scared looks. Harry noticed that her belly was starting to stick out a little bit, and he wondered what Hermione looked like.

Pansy was obviously very angry. She still had the bear in her hands, ripping the fur out little by little.

"Don't tell me what to do," Pansy said quite calmly.

Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it at the girl.

"I'm warning you, filth," Ginny said. Pansy made no visible reaction. "Give me the bear."

"Why do you want it so badly?" asked Pansy. Harry couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how Pansy could understand Parseltongue. Parseltmouths were supposed to be very rare.

Ginny aimed her wand at Pansy and a silvery light came out the other end. It hit Pansy square on the chest and the dark-haired girl flew backwards, landing, miraculously, somewhat on her feet. Pansy adjusted her robes walked straight toward Ginny, stretched out her hand, and said something in a frighteningly deep voice in some language Harry couldn't understand.

The next thing that happened was a shock to all of them.

Pansy was surrounded by a swirl of red light, and a blast of red flame shot straight at Ginny Weasley. The blast hit her, and she too flew backwards, landing somewhat on her feet.

"STOP! STOP!" screamed McGonagall bravely. Harry wouldn't have wanted to interfere.

"Luna!" said Harry, leaning over toward her. "On the count of three, impedimenta. Ok? Seamus, you too."

They nodded, pointing their wands at Ginny, who they assumed had started the trouble. She was already starting toward Pansy again.

"One...two...three! IMPEDIMENTA!"

Ginny froze in her place.

"Thank you," said Pansy, looking saner than she had in days. She stuck her hands into the pockets of her robes. People were still staring at her.

"Good God," stuttered Snape. "What was that?"

"Fred, let's get Ginny to the hospital wing," said Mr. Weasley. Fred was staring at Pansy.

"That was hot," he said to Pansy, who blushed.

"FRED," said Mr. Weasley again, exasperated.

"Oh, right," said Fred, pulling Ginny off the ground.

"Hey!" said Icicle, one of the followers. Fred pulled out his wand and pointed it at her.

"Don't try me, Hufflepuff," the red-haired man said. Icicle backed away.

"We've got to do something about this, Harry," said a tired looking Arthur Weasley as Harry trailed after them to the hospital wing. "My entire family is falling apart."

They pulled the girl through the doors and Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes.

"Pretty soon people are going to start showing up to take their kids home, Minister," said the woman. "Stuff like this can't stay secret forever."

The doors opened again and Pansy came in, followed by Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin.

"Someone should have mentioned that," said Snape.

"Well I couldn't really mention it if I didn't know," said Pansy, tossing her hair back in a haughty way that was probably all a show for Fred. Fred noticed.

"What's going on?" asked Harry, addressing McGonagall. He didn't like to look Snape in the eye.

"Miss Parkinson is a Warlock, Mr. Potter," she said. She looked as if she had aged a thousand years in two months.

Harry had heard the term before, but he wasn't entirely sure what a Warlock was.

"What's a Warlock?" he asked. Snape rolled his eyes, as if Harry was the dumbest person he'd ever met.

"A Warlock is a different sort of magician," said Mr. Weasley, inspecting his daughter carefully. "Their magic is a bit...darker than our kind of magic."

"What does that mean?" asked Harry.

"It means that a Warlock's magic is tied to demonic magic," said Snape in a bored voice. Harry was annoyed by Snape's lack of care, and then wondered if he ever got excited; this thought lead to another and he had a horrible mental image. Harry suddenly wished he had some kind of handgun to smother the image out of his brain with.

"Christ," said Pansy. "You make me sound like the anti-Christ."

"A Warlock has a similar degree of power that is like a demon's, Miss Parkinson," said McGonagall. "It doesn't mean you have to be evil."

"Hmph," she said, bored. "So, can I go now?"

Harry marveled at her ability to get over things. A month ago she was muttering things to herself and ripping the hair off of a defenseless toy, and now she was completely calm. Fred was still staring at her, and Harry hoped this didn't lead to what he thought it would.

"Oh, whatever," said McGonagall. "I've lost control over everything..."

"Thanks," said Pansy, and she walked out the door.

"I...um, need a glass of water," said Fred, and he ran out the door.

Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes.

"Right, Harry," said Lupin. "I think your assistance is needed—"

"Professor," he said. "I need to talk to you."

Lupin sighed, but didn't look entirely surprised. He led the boy out the door, and they closed it sharply after them.

"Right, so, what's this about?"

"I want to find her," said Harry. "Ron too. I want him to come with me, and we're going to go find her."

Lupin sighed.

"Harry, it's not safe for two teenagers to run off—"

"I've fought Voldemort more than anyone," said Harry angrily. "And now he has one of my best friends. I want to find her—"

"Harry, please," said Lupin. "The Order—"

"Harry!" said Luna, sprinting toward him. "We've searched everywhere, Harry—he's gone!"

"Who's gone?" asked Harry, although he was sure he knew the answer.

"Ron!" said Luna. "He's gone! He left this."

She pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket, and Harry grabbed it. Lupin had already disappeared through the door.

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry I didn't tell you,

but it was a last minute decision

and I've got to leave now

or I know I'll never have the courage to go. I'm sorry.

-Ron

Harry looked up at Luna, and she was giving me a pitying look. He knew that Ron was gone, and there was no telling where he was.