Ginny Weasley and the Writings of Silenus

by Arikel

Ginny has a lot on her mind for her final year at Hogwarts. Voldemort was defeated, but at a great cost. Harry, the boy she loves, is gone. But when she hears about the writings of a prophet named Silenus, she finds something she lost. Hope.

7. The Journal of Harry Potter

Chapter 7- The Journal of Harry Potter

It had just started to snow when Ginny made her way out of the alley she Apparated into and headed down to the address Ron had given her. Back home, back when she was much younger, the snowfall had always fascinated Ginny. It had an ethereal beauty that mystified her young eyes, but that appeal had inevitably evaporated, much like the snow itself. Now, all that was left was a dreary discontent that welled up inside her as the young witch was forced to trudge through the gray slush left behind by the Muggle street cleaners.

Finally arriving at her destination, Ginny stopped and took in the charm of the small cottage. It was painted a dark blue with white shutters and a latticework covering the porch where she imagined flowers must've bloomed during the warmer months. She smiled and could easily see her brother rolling his eyes as they stood outside the cottage, and most likely argued with Hermione about purchasing it. Harry would've stood and looked at the house, an odd smile on his face while he tried to ignore their bickering. Feeling a new warmth spread through her, and not because of the coat and scarf she wore or the warming spell she had cast, Ginny's smile widened and she reached out to the doorknob. Wondering for a short moment how she'd get in, the young woman heard a click and she smiled again. Turning the knob, she opened the door and stepped inside. The rather Spartan décor made it obvious that not only was this place lived in for only a short time, but also it was clear it never had a woman's touch. And while Ron had said they'd used it as a base of operations and more than likely Hermione stayed there, they all had more important things on their mind than making this place feel like home. There was a sheet and pillow on the sofa and a cup of coffee still sitting on the table just outside the kitchen. Papers and books were scattered all over the room, and it looked like this is probably the room in which they had done most of their planning and research. She smiled softly and sat down in the chair that was closest to the table. She picked up the papers and read over them briefly, seeing Harry's scratchy, practically illegible writing. It made her smile again and for a moment she closed her eyes, picturing in her mind a scene that could have occurred. Her Harry would be sitting in this chair with papers in hand, writing on the armrest and stopping to chew on the end of his quill, as she watched him do so many times over the years they were together at school. He would set the papers down and take a sip from the cup sitting on the edge of the table. She smiled, easily picturing him frowning in consternation at how cold the coffee had become, not aware that he'd been sitting there for hours working on the papers and completely absorbed, unaware of the passage of time. She looked up at the clock on the wall and watched the ticking of the second hand for a moment, wondering just how many hours Harry had spent in this chair, making notes, plotting.

Did he spend any time thinking of her?

Sighing, Ginny set the papers down and stood up, taking off her coat and scarf. Looking around the room again, she saw that to the right of the front door was a staircase, and she headed up. The first bedroom she peeked into didn't have anything but a mattress in it. The other one had a mattress and a footlocker. Ginny smiled and knelt down in front of it, and then her ears turned red as she remembered Ron giving her a hint as to what the password was. Harry had in fact said quite a few things that night, and her neck and face starting to turn almost as red as her hair, she started listing off some things that might be the password. After a few minutes, she saw a sparkling on the top of the trunk as the protection spell fizzled out. Sighing, she opened the trunk and whispered to herself.

"Harry, when I find you, I'm going to kill you for that."

Inside the chest were Harry's school robes, some treats for Hedwig, and a photo album with magical pictures of Ron and Hermione, his parents and one of her in the dress she wore for Bill's wedding. It was a candid picture that Ginny didn't even know was taken. She smiled as she saw herself in the picture looking off the picture and her image's face just lighting up as she looked off-frame. She remembered the moment and knowing that it was Harry that her image was looking at. He had looked so handsome in the dress robes that Bill had picked out for the boys in the wedding. Harry didn't talk to her much during the wedding, and she was grateful for it. Back then, she didn't know what to say, and she just knew if she spent too much time with him that something might be said she'd regret. That didn't stop her from looking at him, though. She had thought he looked so sad throughout most of the ceremony, at least, when people weren't talking to him or paying too much attention to him. But there was hardly a moment of the wedding that her attention wasn't on him, even during the ceremony itself. She watched him and saw that in those rare moments when Harry wasn't being observed, his mask that seemed to say 'I'm okay' slipped away, and he would frown. It was those moments when his eyes would search her out in the crowd. He would only hold her gaze for a moment before that damned mask returned, and he'd smile at her. She remembered the ache in her chest when their gaze would meet that way from across the room, and she sighed, putting the album back in the trunk. She then picked up the robes and noticed a small, brown leather book at the very bottom. Setting the robes aside, Ginny picked it up and read the inscription on the front cover.

The Journal of Harry James Potter.

Ginny's mouth opened and closed a couple times as she looked at the book and fought an internal battle as to whether or not she should open it. Hugging it to her chest, she closed the locker and left the house to go back to Hogwarts.

Ginny sat at the table in the common room Monday night and worked on her essay for Muggle Studies due tomorrow. Heather should've been here to work on her essay too, but Harper, the captain of the Slytherin team, had asked Heather if she wanted to go look at the stars with him. So now Ginny was sitting at the table alone.

This was the part that she always hated. That time of night when there was absolute silence. Not quiet. Quiet was what she had when Harry was around. When they would sit comfortably with each other and separately work on their essays or do research. Quiet was the way that they could sit in the same area for hours and not feel compelled to fill the room with idle chatter. Quiet was the comfortable blanket that they wrapped around themselves.

This was silence. The complete absence of his presence. Silence was the forlorn sound of just one quill scratching on parchment, not two. It was the absence of the odd little rumble that Harry did when he cleared his throat. The sound of the sleeves of his robe brushing against the armrest or his chest as Harry wrote at the table. Silence was the blanket that smothered her.

The silence was abruptly interrupted when the portrait hole opened and Heather came in, looking a little disheveled, with some grass stains on her robes. Heather smiled at Ginny and sighed as she plopped down into the chair beside her dormie.

"Ahhh."

Ginny smiled and continued writing on her paper.

"So… did you discover any new stars?"

"Plenty," Heather said with a sigh and sprawled out in the chair. "The Chin Constellation. And the Earlobe Constellation. The L-I-P-S Constellation."

Ginny chuckled and looked up from her work to shake her head at her friend.

"I don't remember those constellations in Astronomy class."

"I learned those constellations in class. What class were you in?" Heather said wickedly and laughed when Ginny shook her head again. She then leaned over to look at what Ginny was diligently working on. "Is that our Muggle Studies essay?"

"The one that's due tomorrow? Yes."

"Ugh! Gin-ny?" Heather drew her friend's name out in a sing-song way, and Ginny snorted.

"Yes, you can copy mine tomorrow morning. Good night."

"You are a goddess," Heather said and stood up, stretching languidly. "I am going to be dreaming about dashing, young, talented, virile…."

"Enough! Go to bed or you're getting sod-all to copy. Go!" Ginny said, mock-sternly, pointing to the dorms.

Heather stuck her tongue out at her dormie and ran up the stairs. Ginny heard the door thrown open and Heather saying, "guess who I just made out with," before the door closed shut.

She sighed and went back to working on her essay. Upstairs was definitely not a place she wished to be right now. Hearing the girls compare notes on the kissing techniques of different boys in the school would inevitably lead her into thinking about Harry. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

Putting down the quill, she slid the books over so she could see the small brown leather journal at the bottom of the stack. Ginny touched the cover of the journal, feeling its texture before shaking her head and shifting the stack of books back on top of the journal. She went back to working on her essay and after a few grueling hours finally finished it. Stretching and yawning, she plodded up the stone steps to her room where the exhausted girl pulled on her nightclothes and crawled into bed.

Whispers.

Sighs.

The brilliant light

from the fire was the only

source in the room and its dancing flames

were fading out to the point that they provided

just enough warmth so that the room's occupants

remained warm and just enough radiance that

the lovers were bathed in a rich, golden glow.

Lips.

Thighs.

A dichotomous night.

Boy/Girl.

Man/Woman.

A desperate need to find

a moment of happiness before they

parted ways. Knowing that they had all night

before they had to leave and wanting to

make it a night to remember.

Haste/Serenity.

Grief/Passion.

An unforgettable night.

Pleasure.

Pain.

Harry gently

stroked her long mane

of flaming red hair

as they

lay

on the bed

that the

Room of Requirement

provided for them in this-

their first and their last night together.

Harry murmuring to her that everything

would be okay. That he would

always be with her.

Sighs.

Whispers.

Ginny woke up from her dream and had to calm her racing heart and kick off the sheets to try and cool down. Ginny shuddered as she stretched her legs and let out a slow, ragged breath. Getting up, Ginny grabbed her bathrobe and put it on before heading down to the girl's bathroom. Ginny looked at her reflection in the mirror for a moment, taking in every freckle along her nose and under her eyes. Her cheeks colored as she remembered Harry taking in the sight of the freckles along her shoulders and traced them down her back. Ginny turned on the cold water and splashed it on her face before wiping it off with the sleeve of her bathrobe and heading back upstairs. Ginny untied the sash around her waist and started to take the robe off before she realized there was no going back to sleep at this point. The dream had done a thorough job of waking her up.

Ginny opened up her trunk and ruled out one book after another of reading material until she found the leather journal. With the memories of her dream still fresh in her mind, Ginny wasn't sure if what she really needed right now was another reminder of her absent love. But the temptation to open the journal and read what Harry had written last year was just too much. Ginny picked up Harry's journal and headed downstairs to curl up in the chair by the fire and read.

Ginny used her wand to add fuel to the fire in the fireplace and then took a seat. She let out a deep breath and watched the fire crackling for a few long moments as her fingertip traced the Harry's embossed name on the cover of the journal. A slight smile spread across her face as she felt how… quiet the room seemed. Feeling that he was here with her, she opened to the first page.

Property of Harry James Potter. If that's not you, what the bloody hell are you doing with my book!

Ginny chuckled at the inscription and wiped away a tear that was starting to form at the corner of her eye. Harry's journal in her lap and only the sound of the crackling fire piercing the calm of the common room at this early hour, Ginny sighed and turned the next page.

September 1, 1998

Hermione said a couple months ago that I should keep a journal for future generations. So they could know what we did. Course I told her why doesn't she do it then. After all, she could better explain what all we'll have to do than I ever could, but NO!

So here goes.

School let out a couple months ago after Dumbledore's death. For the record- that bloody, naffing GIT Severus Snape KILLED Dumbledore! Time and again I TOLD Hermione that that blithering idiot was bad! But NO! Did she ever listen to me? Or Ron?

I don't mean to attack Hermione, but it's just been tense lately. Ever since the wedding, I've been a little distracted. Ron and Hermione have been running around me all skittish, and it's getting old. I'm just looking forward to getting this over with.

September 5, 1998

Yesterday we went to Godric's Hollow. We wandered around the village for a little while before we finally found the spot where my parents were buried. It was weird standing there, looking down at my parent's tombstones. All my life, I'd known that my parents were gone, but standing there, looking at the inscriptions, it really sank in.

When we finally found the spot where my house used to be, we looked around the barren field that was there now to try and find something. I wasn't sure what but I just had the feeling I needed to be here. But all the evasive feeling gave up was a clue we couldn't find.

It was getting late at that point and we needed a place to stay. Hermione suggested we go to McGonagall and see if she wouldn't let us stay in the castle for the night, at least until we could find a place to stay and do some research.

September 10, 1998

I did some looking around today for a place that we could stay in the long term. Hogwarts was nice, but we were just bringing disaster to the people there if Voldemort found out we were still there. They had already violated the security of the school, they could probably find another way. Especially with Dumbledore gone now.

So I found a small home that we could use. Hermione performed the Fidelius Charm on Ron, making him our secret keeper for where we were making our base of operations. That girl continues to impress me. She's going to be one hell of a witch.

Professor McGonagall has given us full access to the school and any book inside it. I'm hoping we'll find something there that will give us a clue as to what the other Horcruxes could be, or where we could find them, or how we could destroy them. I'd take anything at this point.

November 16, 1998

Staying away from Ginny is going to be harder than I thought. I figured that with our quest for the Horcruxes, I'd be anywhere but at Hogwarts and I'd most likely never see her again. But Hermione insists that the answers we need could be found in the books at the school, and I can't deny that she might be right. The problem is every time I see Ginny in there she finds someplace else she needs to be. I know it's the best course of action. If we're going to be apart, then it's best if we not see each other at all. But every time I see her I can't help but remember the way she felt in my arms. The way her lips felt on mine. The glimmer in her eyes when she looked at me in that private way that was meant for only me to see. I remember the sound of her laughter. The way her hair spread around her as we lay on the grass and tried to see who could picture the funniest shapes in the clouds.

It makes me think about the life I could be having with her. Just one more bloody thing that Voldemort's taken from me.

December 11, 1998

Hermione's been going through public records all morning. She's been coming up with a list of every known witch or wizard whose initials are R.A.B. Every year I think there are limits to Hermione's persistence. Then she does something like this to blow my perceptions out the window.

But after a couple weeks of her persistence, Hermione narrowed it down to a list of three.

Rudolf Arnold Brand- captain of the Heidelberg Harriers. Unlikely due to the fact that he is rather young.

Reinhardt Adolfus Borgin- a possibility. He sells Dark Arts items.

Regulus Alphard Black- the only one Hermione found from last term that we couldn't rule out.

That's when Hermione started smacking her forehead and cursing herself. She mentioned the old locket at the Black family house that none of us could open. I had completely forgotten about it. So we immediately went back to the house to get the locket. Ron thought he heard the sound of someone else in the house, but it didn't seem like anyone was there. We found the locket and Hermione used the Deletrius spell to destroy any enchantments placed on the locket and then Reducto to destroy the locket itself. I couldn't help but chuckle when we all let out a collective sigh when nothing happened. I guess after seeing what destroying one horcrux had done to Dumbledore, we all expec

Ginny's brow furrowed as Harry stopped in mid-sentence, but then her eyes widened slightly as it picked up in a new paragraph, and she read on.

Turns out Death Eaters had been watching Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore was the secret keeper for the Order, and I guess with his death Voldemort's lackeys were able to figure out where the Order had been headquartered. They showed up when I was putting an entry in my journal and while Ron and Hermione were searching the house for any other possible Horcruxes on the offhand chance that Regulus had brought another one back home with him.

The Death Eaters might have gotten the drop on me if it weren't for the ghost of Regulus Black showing up and warning me that they were coming!

Turns out that Regulus had indeed taken the Horcrux after realizing that he didn't have it in him to be a killer. Regulus has been a great help and has proven to be quite informative about these Horcruxes. He studied them for his remaining time with the Death Eaters and when he deserted, he was going to find Sirius and tell him everything. But the Death Eaters caught him before he could find Sirius. They dragged him to the cave I visited with Dumbledore and killed him there, turning the locket into a Horcrux.

Regulus didn't know where all the Horcruxes were, but he knew that the Horcruxes were best hidden by being placed in an area connected with the person's murder. The locket in the cave where Voldemort killed him. The ring in the Gaunt's home. Which means that Hufflepuff's cup was quite possibly in the home of Hepzibah Smith. He also indicated that the sixth Horcrux was something that Avery had mentioned to Tom Riddle when they were in school at Hogwarts. Avery had been interested in a particular Ravenclaw girl who told him about a secret library in Ravenclaw tower that only the smartest students could figure out how to enter. She didn't say, but Avery suspected that she knew how to get in. When Riddle pushed Avery to find out from her, he said that the girl had lost interest in him. Apparently Avery didn't meet her high standards. Riddle then began wooing this girl himself and from what Regulus heard, Riddle got her to let him into the library. Among other things was a journal from Rowena Ravenclaw herself that contained numerous ancient magic spells that only a handful of wizards and witches had ever seen. Regulus suspected that this journal was the sixth Horcrux and that it was hidden in that library, because that girl was never seen again. When questioned about it, Riddle only said that she had gone home after finding the life of a witch wasn't for her.

This got me to thinking. Cho had once mentioned that the Grey Lady first showed up about fifty years ago. That would have been during the time that Riddle was in school at Hogwarts. So maybe the Grey Lady was this girl that Riddle seduced and then probably killed. So tomorrow we're going to return to Hogwarts and get McGonagall's permission to go into Ravenclaw tower. If this is the girl, then maybe we can talk her into letting us into the library. If it isn't, then certainly the Grey Lady knows whether or not there's a secret room and if so how to get in. So win-win.

I asked Regulus why he hadn't shown up with this information before now. Where he was when Dumbledore and I showed up at the cave. How he got the locket back to Grimmauld Place when he was a ghost.

He explained that he had ordered Kreacher to Apparate to the cave and told him how to cross the lake. Regulus then ordered Kreacher to drink the liquid from the basin, just as Dumbledore had done, and Regulus had to order Kreacher to drink the whole thing, and knowing this I wondered if that was why Kreacher was so loopy now.

His next reply answered my first two questions. Augustus Rookwood, one of Voldemort's supporters, used to work for the Department of Mysteries. Rookwood always hated Regulus in life and had wanted to kill Regulus himself. Denied the pleasure, he instead dragged Regulus' spirit back to the Department of Mysteries to be experimented on. Even when Rookwood was caught and imprisoned for giving secrets over to Voldemort, Regulus was still kept in the Department of Mysteries for study. Only recently, with the changing of Ministers was Regulus released tonight and he came straight here.

We're lucky to have him here, but it's kinda eerie at times. Not because he's a ghost but because he reminds me so much of Sirius. There are times when he looks at me and I smile because he looks so much like Snuffles that it hurts. I can't wait to get this over with.

December 13, 1998

Regulus was right and so were my suspicions. The Grey Lady, with quite a bit of sweet talking, admitted to the fact that she was indeed the silly little girl that Tom Riddle had talked into letting him see the secret library. We found out that Riddle had gotten her to show him into the room and then he used the Body-Bind curse on her. He cast some spells in the room and then bent down and kissed her. Riddle whispered in her ear before leaving the room, "I know this will come as little consolation, but your death will bring me eternal life. But that is something I give to you as well, my dear. You will continue to exist… forever."

I was confused by what he could have meant by that and decided to ask Regulus about it later. The Grey Lady said that when she could move again, she found that the door was sealed and she had no way of leaving. She eventually starved to death in that room.

When I told her that we were out to kill Tom Riddle, she was all too happy to help and showed us the way to the secret library. We started to look through the books until the Grey Lady pointed to a bluish-gray one. Hermione reached out to touch the book and as soon as she did a green gas started to spill out of it. Ron knocked the book away and grabbed Hermione as we headed for the door. But it was sealed, we couldn't escape and the gas was starting to fill the room. As the fumes got to us, we found it hard to breathe and we all started choking. We were spared when the door opened and a first year Ravenclaw with an amazed look on his face stood there with the Grey Lady behind him. We staggered out of the room and closed it shut. Once we recovered, Ron pointed out that the book was still in there. Hermione recommended the Bubble-Head charm and, properly armed this time, we went back in and got the journal. I think Hermione was happier to see this bloody book than I was, and she spent the better part of two hours going on about the spells in it when we returned home. I then remembered Riddle's comment to the Grey Lady and Apparated to Grimmauld Place. After a while of searching for him, Regulus came up through the floor and not for the first time gave a smile that reminded me so much of his brother. He said that the spell used to create the Horcruxes had the unintended effect of bringing back a wizard or witch as a ghost, whether or not that was their wish. When I got back home, we made plans of finding where Hepzibah Smith lived and see if the cup was there.

December 16, 1998

Regulus was right about the ghosts it would seem. When we finally found where Hepzibah lived, we found that her ghost had been haunting the home since her death, and no one had purchased the house. With Hepzibah's help, we found where Voldemort hid the cup of Hufflepuff. When I touched the cup, I felt an oily substance on its surface and noticed the veins on the back of my hand turning black.

Ginny cringed as she read this. She knew that Harry lived through it. She knew that he was okay, but to read about the danger he had gone through chilled her blood.

Hermione immediately suspected poison and Apparated away. When she returned, Hermione shoved a bezoar into my hand, and I immediately used it. I looked in the mirror and saw that the blackness hadn't stopped and was working its way up my neck. Ron cried that it wasn't working, but Hermione insisted that we needed to just give it time. The poison came up to my head, and I felt a cold pain in my brain, like I had eaten too much ice cream. I wasn't aware of having passed out, but when I woke up Hermione, Ron and Madam Pomfrey were all around me, and I was lying in a bed at Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey made a comment about it not being a regular school year without me gracing her infirmary at least once. Apparently the bezoar had worked, but Ron didn't have the confidence in it that Hermione did and Apparated with me back to Hogwarts. Hermione told me that while I was out, she returned to the house and washed off the cup before dispelling the magic around it. Five down, all that was left was to find Voldemort. Kill Nagini. Then kill Voldemort.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat as she saw the date of the next entry.

December 20, 1998

Ginny remembered it clearly. Harry had told her that they had caught up with Draco Malfoy and sent him to Azkaban. Ginny learned later from Hermione that "Draco had ratted out his Death Eater pals. Ron and I sought out Harry and found him in the Room of Requirement, reading."

"Tomorrow?" Ron had asked.

Harry had nodded. He was quiet for a moment before speaking up.

"I want you both to do something for me, for yourselves. Take the rest of the day off."

"Harry," I started. "I really think…."

"Hermione, we're ready. But today, I want you to go out. Live. Do whatever you want. Live the day like it's your last. Because it may be."

Hermione and Ron had spent the day together. Ginny found Harry wandering the halls, and they spent the day together in the Room of Requirement.

December 20, 1998

Last day before Christmas break. The day Harry disappeared. The day after they made love.

Uncertain of whether or not she should proceed, feeling, not for the first time, that she was intruding into Harry's private world, she read the first line and found a wellspring of emotions open inside her- relief, joy, pride, sorrow, loss, and profound love.

There are so many things I wish I could have said, but so many reasons that I couldn't. Now that the end is in sight, I want to share those things, since it's possible I won't get another chance.

I love you, Ginevra Molly Weasley.

A part of me regrets what happened last night. Only a small part, Ginny! So hear me out, before you throw the journal away or tear out the page.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at the book and moved her hand away from the top of the page where she was about to tear it out.

If I don't make it out of this fight- I aim to Ginny, but if I don't- I need you to know that I wanted a future with you, Miss Weasley. For the first time, I've really started to picture a life for myself after Voldemort. And it just wouldn't be the same without you.

What we shared last night means more to me than I can express. I wish I had the words. I wish I was a poet, but I'm not. I'm just me. I'm the Boy That Loves Ginny Weasley. And I guess now that's a more fitting title and one I'm happy to embrace rather than the Boy That Lived.

My regret is that I can't be there with you when you read this. I don't regret one moment I spent with you, Ginny. I just regret there won't be any more.

Ginny wiped the tears away as she read the last entry in Harry's journal. She knew that it wasn't Harry's intention to have sex the last night they were together. When he took her into the Room of Requirement to talk, he ended up just wanting to hold her. He wanted to be someplace that no one would see them. No one could leak word of their being together back to Voldemort. He felt safe there and so did she. The only people that would know what happened behind that hidden door would be the two of them. No one was going to barge in. No one could find them. No one would know. It was that security that made possible what happened that night.

"You weren't at my party Friday night," Slughorn said, making his way around the room to her. Since reading Harry's journal, Ginny had been a little distant and introspective. Her thoughts were scattered, ranging from missing her friends and wondering what they were doing now that the war was over to missing her boyfriend and wishing he were here. So when the hard to miss Slughorn actually managed to sneak up on her, it shook Ginny out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Professor. But… do you know about my brother Ron?"

"Miss Weasley, your brother was part of the magical trio that brought down Voldemort! I think the entire Wizarding world knows about Mr. Weasley! And the unfortunate tragedy that befell him," he finished, somberly.

"Well, on Thursday, Hermione… used a spell that got rid of the magic that was preventing Ron from waking up."

"That's amazing!" Slughorn said and clapped his hands together. "I always knew that one would make an incredible witch!"

Ginny blanched slightly and nodded her head, momentarily at a loss for words. Slughorn smiled down at her and started to move away, thinking there was nothing more to be said when she spoke softly.

"I'm sure she would have. But she used a spell that Rowena Ravenclaw invented. It was ancient and it… destroyed all the magic inside her, including the spell that she had taken off of Ron and placed in herself."

Slughorn paled and clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Oh my! Oh my!" he softly wailed and shaking his head wobbled back up to the front where the Professor sat in a daze and didn't say anything else for the remainder of the class.

Spending the rest of the class in thought, Ginny was the first out the door and away from the dungeons, brushing by students on her way to get to the lunchroom as quickly as possible. It wasn't hunger that called to her, but something deeper. Something that had her stomach tied in knots.

She wondered if this was how Harry had felt before he left. Not really knowing where he would have to go or what he'd find, but knowing that ultimately the answers wouldn't be found in the halls of Hogwarts. That to find the one he was looking for, he would have to leave the school. Smiling slightly as she entered the cafeteria, she realized she was keeping the new family tradition alive. Maybe her children would finish school.

Heading to the Ravenclaw table, Ginny bent over behind Donninc Baroun.

"Hey," she said and waited until he turned around to smile at her. "I'm going to take you up on your offer of help. I want to know everything there is to know about these prophecies. When they were written. How. What they mean. What do you believe has come true and what hasn't. And I want it now."

Donninc's eyebrows went up and a slight smile came to his face.

"Okay."

Ginny looked up from her reading and saw Heather wander into the room, dreamily. Ginny chuckled as Heather sat down at the table, still in a daze.

"So… I take it he was a good kisser?"

"No…" Heather replied, trailing of thoughtfully.

"Bad kisser?"

Heather looked up and seemed to focus on Ginny for the first time.

"What? Oh, no. I…," she began and was quiet for a long moment, during which Ginny began to think her dorm mate wasn't going to talk any more. Looking back up at her friend, Heather smiled sheepishly.

"I… uh, went to speak with Donninc after dinner. I… guess I wanted to know what his intentions towards you were."

"Heather," exclaimed the exasperated teenager.

"I'm sorry! Well…" Heather paused, seemed to think about it and then smiled slyly. "No, I'm not. But, I just wanted to know if he had come up with some BS just to spend time with you or something. And… so we talked."

"You've… been talking with Donninc all this time?"

"Yeah," she whispered, mystified.

"For six hours."

"Yeah."

"What about?" Ginny asked, setting down the notes of a 14th century monk that studied the Writings, and she looked up at her friend.

"Well, you for a little bit and Harry and the prophecy and Professor Binns and McGonagall and-"

"So in other words, a lot of things," Ginny interrupted with a grin and picked the notes back up.

"Yeah. He's wicked smart," Heather said emphatically. "I always heard smart was sexy, but I'd never really…."

Ginny chuckled and looked over at her friend. Heather was smiling and looking off into space, lost in her own thoughts. It brought a smile to the young Weasley's face and, not wanting to intrude on her friend's thoughts, she returned to reading. After a few minutes, Heather spoke up again.

"Can… I help? With the reading?"

Ginny glanced up and saw the timid look on her friend's face. The last time the two of them had talked about this, Ginny had nearly bitten Heather's head off. She smiled as Heather now showed her support and nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Taking some notes from the table, Heather tucked her legs up under her and settled in for a couple hours of reading before bedtime.

The next morning, while going through books in the library, Alek came and sat down at the table with her.

"What's up," she asked, without looking up. Alek was quiet for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Ginny? What's going on? You're in the library all the time and skipping class and meals. And… excuse me! We're talking here," the first year boy said to Donninc as he took a seat beside Ginny. Donninc looked at the boy oddly and snorted.

"It's okay, Alek. Donninc's helping with my research."

"For what? Has this got something to do with that Mors Animus spell?"

Ginny looked at him confusedly for a moment.

"No… what makes you think that?"

"It's just… I was reading in the Daily Prophet about it. There's this big article about how the Ministry is pursuing Hermione Grainger about the spell. I thought you were like… maybe helping her with research it or something."

"No," she said at a loss and looked at Donninc. "I hadn't heard anything about that. You?"

"Yeah," he replied, nodding slightly. "I didn't mention it because I thought it might throw you off course. You need to stay focused if you're going to see this through, Ginny."

She frowned but nodded and turned back to Alek.

"What did the article say?"

"Here," the Hufflepuff student said and handed her the morning paper.

MINISTRY SEEKS CURE TO THE DARK ARTS

Friday morning the world was shocked to learn that Ronald Weasley, one of the trio that brought down Voldemort, had awoken from the coma he had been in since that fateful battle. If that weren't enough, it was soon found out that Hermione Granger, another of our saviors, had brought him out of the coma at the expense of her own ability to use magic!

Before this weekend, it was believed that the Mors Animus spell could only be used to rid us of the dementors, but since then it has been buzzing around the offices of the Ministry. The question everyone is asking is if the Mors Animus spell should be used as a form of punishment. Proponents of the use of the spell have pointed out the use of chemical castration on repeated sex offenders in different countries was similar in concept. Detractors have pointed out the large difference between reducing the production of testosterone and obliterating the ability to wield magic.

What the Ministry will do….

Ginny sighed and tossed the paper on the table.

Alek didn't ask her any more questions and headed off to class while she tried to get back into study mode. But no matter how much she tried to focus, her mind kept coming back to that article and what Hermione had gone through. After an hour, Ginny told Donninc goodnight and headed back upstairs.