The following morning, Ginny woke up late. Romilda prodded her non-too-forcefully in the shoulder and she finally jumped up out of bed. The dream had caused her a terribly sleepless night. She had tossed and turned until it was beginning to get light through the windows, which was when she had finally become exhausted. She thought about how Harry had turned into Tom kissing her, and the thought made her shiver as she showered and got dress.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the common room, waiting for her. She jumped when she saw them on the stairs, feeling still shaken after her dream. Harry grinned at her and said, "You ok? You look exhausted." Ginny nodded as she took hold of his hand and nodded, "Yeah. I just…had a bad dream." He frowned at that but otherwise didn't comment because she gave him a look that said she would explain later.
When they arrived in the Great Hall, there was a small gathering in the centre of it all. Hermione leant over and whispered to Harry, "It's Katie!" He squinted and then released Ginny's hand before running forward. Ron grinned, "Brilliant! Now we won't have to use McLaggen on the team after all!" Ginny murmured, "Yeah, but she may be in no condition to be on a broom yet, Ron." They'd been playing one man down in practices because Harry had blatantly refused to let McLaggen back on the team which Ginny had laughed about at the time, but now she was entirely grateful. Hermione murmured, "We should say hey to Katie later, when she's less crowded." Ginny nodded in agreement.
As they were eating, Ron asked suddenly, "Where's Harry?" Ginny frowned and Hermione turned around to where he had been. She saw that Harry had disappeared from the crowd surrounding Katie. She murmured, "Probably forgotten something for class I suppose." The rest of the day nothing happened until lunch time. When she entered the Great Hall, however, Crabbe and Goyle blocked her path, arms folded and one of them said, "It seems like your boyfriend is in major trouble, Weaslette." Ginny frowned and asked, "What are you talking about?" The other chuckled and grinned, "You don't know? Well, you'll find out soon enough." She frowned then and Luna approached her as she sat down beside Hermione and asked, "Hey Ginny, is Harry alright? Sounded like a nasty fight." Ginny was truly confused by now and she asked Hermione, "What the hell is going on?" Hermione murmured repeatedly, and tight lipped, "I told him. I told him!" Ron was quiet, for the first time in his life and Ginny grumbled, "Fine, if no-one will tell me what's going on…!" That's when Neville grabbed her arm from behind her as she stood up and said, "Hey, I'll tell you. Just…not here." She kept on getting strange looks from passers-by and she didn't like the judgmental looks on their faces. Neville led her all the way to the bookshelves at the far back of the library and finally she said angrily, "Nev! What's going on?! What's wrong with Harry?"
Neville inhaled sharply and replied concernedly, "He got in a fight with Malfoy. There was loads of blood." Ginny's heartbeat sped up, "Harry's?!" she asked quickly, but Neville was shaking his head before she had gotten the words out, "No, Malfoy's. People are saying that Harry was the one who attacked him." Ginny's jaw slackened and she shook her head determinedly, "No…no Harry wouldn't." Neville shuffled on his feet uncomfortably and Ginny asked quickly, "Where is Harry now?" Neville sighed, "I think he's busy speaking to McGonagall and Snape. Possibly Dumbledore too."
Ginny exhaled loudly and nodded, "Thanks Nev, for being the only one willing to tell me." She gave him a quick hug and then she paced back and forth outside of Dumbledore's office, waiting for Harry to come out. When he did, he could barely even look at her. She had a sinking feeling then. She hadn't seen him look so…morbid in such a long time.
Ginny waited breathlessly for him to approach her before he said sadly, "Gin…I'm so sorry." She waited with baited breath and whispered, "I dunno what you mean. I don't know what's going on! It's why I'm here." Harry seemed surprised, which he probably was and he grimaced painfully, "I'm off the team. For the rest of the season." Ginny gasped and shook her head, "I can't…what happened?!" Before he could even say anything, he enveloped her in a viper-like squeeze. He was so tense she could feel every muscle in upper back tighten. That's when Snape came out of the stairway and said with a smirk, "Don't worry, Weasley. He's just doing that because he thinks you will dump him. Which you should."
Ginny had never felt much repulsion towards Snape before that moment, she could have gladly gone and slapped his face. Harry's hand was tense and she took his hand, pulling him towards the lake. Lunch would nearly be up but she didn't care if she missed classes today. Harry needed her. That was obvious. He began explaining, "When I was talking to Katie…I saw her looking at someone behind me. She was scared, I could tell. I turned to Malfoy staring at her intently at the doors. He was scared-I think he was worried that she might be telling me it was him who had given her the locket in the bathroom. When I turned around, he looked terrified and so he ran. I followed him, because I wanted to know where he was going." Harry paused in his story and Ginny squeezed his hand to encourage him to continue. He sighed and shook his head, "I was so stupid Gin! I snuck up behind him in the bathroom and told him, "I know what you did Malfoy! You hexed her didn't you?' which was when he threw the spell at me. So obviously I defended myself and we dueled." He shook his head sadly, as if none of it had really happened, or he hadn't yet processed it. He sighed again as they sat down at the lake and he said solemnly, "And then I heard him say "Cru…" when I cursed him with a spell from the Half Blood Prince's book."
Ginny sighed and asked, "What was it?" Harry swallowed, "Sectumsempra. Basically…Malfoy started bleeding uncontrollably and the bathroom was leaking from our spells so his blood was spreading. I panicked. That's when Snape walked in and started healing Malfoy." He exhaled slowly and shook his head, his hands were trembling. Ginny nodded as she squeezed his hand, "And that's how you ended up in Dumbledore's office." Harry blurted, "Gin, I'm sorry! So so sorry! I can't…" Ginny gently placed a finger on his mouth and he glanced up at her, his eyes tightened as she said, "It's ok, Harry. I still love you." He smiled immediately and whispered, "I still love you too." She pressed her head against his shoulder and whispered, "The rest of the team, however, may not be so understanding. I mean, we just got Katie back, and now we're losing you." He nodded, "I know. That's who I'm dreading telling the most after you, Ron and Hermione." Harry grimaced, "But I was kind of hoping that you play Seeker." She laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, good one!"
Harry frowned, "I'm being serious. There's no one else good enough." Ginny rolled her eyes, "Come on Harry please be serious. You're just being bias here." Harry sighed, "Gin, I couldn't be more serious." She bit her lip and replied, "You do that everyone will say you're just doing it because I'm your girlfriend?" Harry groaned, "We've been through this before, Gin! I kept our relationship a secret long enough because you wanted to! You've proved that you are good enough, regardless of what others say. And to be perfectly honest at this point, I don't really care what people who don't matter think about me anyway." Ginny nodded in agreement, "Alright, thanks Harry. Who will replace me then?" Harry shrugged, "We'll have to see. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it." Ginny nodded in agreement and they lay by the lake for the rest of the afternoon, until dinner time. Harry was dreading telling Ron, Hermione and the rest of the team.
Author's Note: Hey guys! So I know I've been on a looong break, but I've finally managed to write what I wanted to! Life got busy really quickly and there have been plenty of assignments that have been cropping up since my teaching ended! I loved every second of it! I need to say a very, VERY big thank you to all of you who have stuck around patiently and continued following this story and waiting for updates even when I couldn't give you any! This truly means the world to me! I can't thank you enough! Anyway, this is a bit of a short chapter, but it's about a big part of the Half Blood Prince so I hope you enjoy it! I'm sure there will be another chapter up by the end of the weekend so thank you all so much for you constant support! Hope you enjoy this!