Three days after the feast, Ginny had walked up to the common room with Harry and Ron from dinner in utter silence. Ginny wondered idly if Harry's grouchy behavior had anything to do with Ron and Hermione being made prefects. It had been horribly awkward when the two of them had had to patrol the train half way through the journey and Ginny had been left in the carriage alone with Harry. She'd read her book and hadn't spoken a word until the prefects returned.
Ginny also knew that Harry was upset about the Seamus incident which had taken place the previous evening. When Seamus had questioned Harry about his reliability in the events of Cedric's death, Ginny had stood up and defended him, as had Ron. She'd snapped at Seamus, "I was Cedric's friend, too, Seamus! Remember that? And if I believe Harry, then the rest of you should too!" Seamus had sniped back, "Well…you were Harry's friend before you were Diggory's. You could be lying for him." Ginny had stood her ground and retorted, "I would never lie about Cedric's death! It would be an insult to his memory." At this point, the entire common room had fallen silent, watching the stance intensely. Ginny continued coolly, "Seamus, I suggest you never mention Cedric in front of me again, since you obviously don't believe the truth!" after which she had turned her back on him and headed up the stairs to her dorm. She heard Harry and Ron arguing with him, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.
Harry had never even thanked her for defending him. He'd also snapped at Ron when they'd stormed off to the dormitory later. Now, when she had to walk up the stairs with him in absolute silence, she couldn't wait to retreat to the confines of her dormitory. She needed to get away from Harry so she could clear her head and think.
Ginny needed her space. She couldn't put up with his general moodiness for much longer. The only time she ever saw him smiling these days was when Cho was around, and in some bizarre way Ginny was grateful for some sort of distraction from whatever was eating him. Everyone had noticed it. Fred and George had even commented on Harry's moodiness after the Seamus incident. The twins had approached Ginny the following day and George had asked, "What's with Mr Grump recently? You guys have hardly spoken since we got here." Ginny rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Don't even get me started on it! After I defended him against Seamus the other evening he didn't even thank me!" Fred raised his eyebrows and murmured, "He better put a smile on that dial soon or I will say something!" Ginny shook her head and relied, "Just leave him to get the sulk out of his system."
This had cause the twins to laugh and Fred shook his head, "My my, it seems Gin-Gin has gotten over her crush on The-Boy-Who-Lived." Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically and retorted, "I got over the crush after my first year." George snickered, "Because you found out he was such a jerk?" Ginny couldn't help but giggle, "Something like that." The twins laughed as Hermione approached them with a stern look and told them firmly, "You two cannot test your products to be tested on students!" She brandished the advertisement at two and George shrugged his shoulders, "It's all in the name of business, Hermione. You'd understand that if you weren't a prefect."
Even Ginny raised her eyebrows at this commented and asked, "George, did you seriously just say that Hermione wouldn't be banning illegal testing on students if she wasn't a prefect?" The twins looked at each and shrugged their shoulders, "She'd probably just ignore us," Fred commented stoically. Ginny laughed and whispered as she continued writing her essay, "In your dreams." Hermione turned to Ginny and retorted, "Hey! I'm supposed to be your friend! Besides, I don't see you trying to console Harry every time he gets in a rage! What happened to you being there for him?"
This caused Ginny to drop her quill and fold her arms irritably before she said, "Well, he hasn't exactly been trying to listen has he?" At that moment, the portrait hole opened and Hermione sighed, "No, I guess not." Ginny turned to see Harry and Ron walking through the portrait. She watched as they received a nod from Dean, and a smile from Neville.
As they reached the couch desk where Ginny had been writing her essay and where the twins had joined her, Harry avoided eye contact with her at all costs. Hermione smirked and told Ginny pointedly, "Cho spoke to Harry today." That caused Ginny to look up briefly, shrug her shoulders and mutter, "Oh. Well good for him." She could feel Harry's glare on her so she turned back to her essay purposefully and refused to otherwise acknowledge his presence. From the minute he'd arrived at Grimmauld Place, Harry had jumped down her throat for not writing to him and she just wasn't going to withstand it, even if Ron and Hermione were. He was jealous. He was mad. He was moody. He wasn't the Harry who was her best friend and she missed the real him.
The first week of classes dragged, and Ginny's first day with Umbridge was a nightmare. Not being able to learn how to defend herself was undoubtedly going to make Ginny and their entire class fall behind, no matter what Umbridge said. The witch accused Harry of being a liar to the class and Ginny had fiercely defended him saying, "Harry would never lie! He is too good to lie. He's telling the truth!" which had resulted in a detention from Umbridge. Ginny was surprised that she had defended Harry again, even though he was being such a jerk towards her and everyone else. It seemed like the defense was almost ingrained in her and she had no control over it.
On the Thursday evening when she had received the detention, Ginny had found Harry telling Ron and Hermione about it. They were sitting in the common room by the fire. Hermione was vehemently saying, "Harry, you've got to tell Dumbledore!" Ginny sat down on the table opposite them and looked Harry in the eye for the first time that week. They had barely spoken due to his moodiness and Ginny asked him seriously, "Tell Dumbledore what, Harry?" He glanced up at her and then turned his gaze back to the floor before replying, "Nothing. You guys don't understand," he grumbled as he began packing up his things.
Hermione whispered concernedly, "Then help us to!" but he was already off to the dormitory.
Ginny's mouth fell open and she asked, "So he hasn't just been avoiding me?" Hermione shook her head sadly and whispered, "Umbridge has cruel, evil methods which she is using on Harry and which should be illegal." Ginny clenched her fingers as she watched him disappear up the stairs and asked, "What kind of methods?" Ron looked up at Ginny and replied, "She's making him write I must not tell lies," over and over again using a quill that uses his blood to write it. The words are scarred into his hands."
Ginny's eyes widened in shock and she gasped with her hand over her mouth. She bit her lip and whispered, "That's barbaric! And I've got a detention with Umbridge tomorrow!" Hermione's eyebrows shot up and she asked, "What did you do Ginny?" She sighed and replied, "I defended Harry when Umbridge told us that he's a liar." Ron grumbled, "Gin…I know you want to be a good friend to Harry, but defending him and getting yourself into trouble won't help."
Hermione's nodded in agreement and Ginny sighed, "I'm going to go and talk to him." Hermione and Ron glanced at each other before Hermione whispered, "Good luck with that." Ginny gave Hermione a reassuring look before she headed for the boys dormitory. She knocked on the door and Harry's voice replied, "Who is it?" Ginny sighed at grumpiness in his tone and replied, "It's Ginny." He opened the door and snapped irritably, "What?"
Ginny took a step back and she said sternly, "Harry! That is no way to talk to me! I haven't done anything to you and you've been acting strange for ages now! Don't forget, I'm still mourning Cedric too." He analyzed her for a second before murmuring, "This isn't just about Cedric, Ginevra!" It was the first time he had called her that and it felt like a slap in the face! He knew that her mother was the only one who ever called her that and it was only when she was cross.
Insistently, Ginny slammed passed him and pushed into his room. She turned coldly to face him, arms crossed and she yelled, "Don't you EVER call me that again Harry Potter! Ever! You're not the only one going through stuff! I still miss Ced each and every day! I promised myself I'd be there for you, but you're making this incredibly difficult!" Harry watched her, folding his arms before retorting, "What if I don't want your help, Ginny?"
She raised her eyebrows sky high before whispering icily, "Then you're not the Harry Potter I know." Harry stiffened and nodded, "Maybe I'm not. That's my problem, not yours." She shook her head as she walked out and turned back to him, "You know you're giving in and giving Riddle what he wants? He wants you to feel like this." Harry turned back to her and snapped, "Like what?" Ginny murmured, "All alone. You're letting him win."
Harry grabbed her arm and whispered, "That's what Luna said." Ginny nodded briskly and pulled her hand away from him as she retorted, "Don't treat me and everyone else so badly, Harry. It's not fair to us.." He sighed and whispered, "I know. I'm sorry." Something in the change in his voice made Ginny glance up. He looked genuinely sorry so she took pity on him and sighed, "Really, what is causing you to act like this?"
He sat down on the nearest bed and shook his head, "You wouldn't understand." Ginny sat down pointedly beside him and whispered, "Try me!" He glanced at her and she smiled at him somewhat encouragingly as he sighed again, "No. I can't." Ginny shook her head and whispered, "Harry, your grumpiness is getting you into trouble. The more you suppress it, the worse it will get." He seemed to be debating with himself and Ginny asked, "Why can't you tell Ron and Hermione what's going on?"
Harry sat up, looked her in the eye and whispered, "I can't understand why Ron was made prefect over me." Ginny nearly burst out laughing but she noticed the seriousness in his tone and she bit her lip, "Harry…I can't answer that question. You should ask Professor Dumbledore." Harry shook his head, "Nope. He's been avoiding me since I went to court."
Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Is that why you've been so…" she looked for a word and Harry supplied her with one, "Lost?" She smiled grimly, "Not the word I was looking for but we can use it I suppose." Harry shook his head and replied, "I've…I've just lost so much. People around me seem to be in danger because they're around me. I don't want that to happen to any of you."
Then she finally understood what was gnawing at him. She felt the exact same way after the Chamber of Secrets incident-like she hadn't wanted Harry to be a part of her life for fear of it happening again. Harry's fear was the same one she'd had-just on a much larger scale. Ginny whispered, "I know how you feel, Harry. I used to feel that way after the Chamber incident. It seems Tom has this ability to create fear in people that isolate them from everyone else. We can't fall prey to it, Harry."
Harry had raised his eyebrows and asked "Why did you call him Tom?" Ginny smiled sheepishly and replied, "He seems more human with a first name. That's why I've always used his surname as opposed to his self-given name. He seems less powerful if he is more humanized, even though he is evil. It makes conquering my fear of him easier."
Harry smiled properly and replied, "You're a really smart girl. I wish I'd spoken to you sooner." Ginny grinned a little and sighed, "Just don't lash out at us, okay? You're not the only one being affected by things going on. If you're not going to speak to me, then speak to Luna. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to chat to you." Harry nodded and whispered, "Thank you."
Ginny got up to leave but as she did he whispered, "And thank you for defending me to Seamus." Ginny smiled and whispered back, "I'm defending you probably more often than I care to admit, Harry. That's what friends do." He smiled gratefully at her as she left the room.
Hermione was waiting on the other side with Ron, as if they had been listening in. Hermione blushed and asked, "Well…?" Ginny shrugged and replied, "I talked some sense into him. All that matters now is whether it sticks or not." Hermione blinked in surprise, as did Ron who tentatively went inside the dorm. Ginny returned to her homework as she was falling behind. She had too much to do and not enough time to do it.