The Christmas holidays were fast approaching and Ginny was anxious to get home. She wanted to know how her parents were doing. She wanted to see her brothers again! She was eager to know how Tonks was coping, what with the baby being born soon. And she just wanted to be home in the comfort of the Burrow…no matter how confined she might have to be.

Ginny thought about her conversation with Malfoy a lot. It really bothered her and since their last interaction two weeks ago, he hadn't bothered her again. Yet every time Ginny saw him at meal times, he looked thinner and thinner and it seemed like he was eating less and less. She watched him now at breakfast, feeling like she was responsible for the state he was in. She asked Neville, who was sitting beside her, "Is it wrong not to help someone, even if they desperately need it and you know that they need you for the wrong reasons?" She was watching Malfoy and Neville glanced up from his cereal and followed her gaze. He frowned and asked curiously, "Why are you staring at Malfoy? Are you referring to him?" Ginny dropped her gaze and she sighed, "Yeah. He needs my help and his life basically depends on it." Neville grimaced at her and muttered angrily, "Ginny! Wasn't his father the one who put the diary in your cauldron?" Ginny sighed and whispered, "Yeah…why?"

Neville rolled his eyes and said sternly, "Simply because he's already risked your life once. I wouldn't put it past him to do it again." Ginny felt torn. She felt terribly sorry for Draco, but she also knew helping him in anyway would cause serious drama. She couldn't afford to let these feelings of guilt get to her. She shook her head and Neville questioned her, "What's all this about, Gin? I can tell you're not telling me everything."
Ginny sighed and murmured, "It's nothing…" Neville scowled and rolled his eyes, "Yeah right, nothing. Back to the secrecy are we?" She stared at him and asked irritably, "What is with you lately? You've been…unreasonable. That's not the Neville I know." Neville stared at his food and murmured, "I've lost friends too, you know. I'm worried too."

Suddenly Ginny felt like she understood Neville more so than ever before. They were both outsiders when it came to Harry, Ron and Hermione. The same with Luna, now that she thought about it. Each of them had taken an active role in forming the D.A. Each had gone with Harry, Ron and Hermione to the Department of Mysteries and fought. And yet, they were all stuck here in the school that was slowly being destroyed.

Ginny felt a sudden anger surge within her. She had never felt such anger towards Harry, Ron and Hermione. In particular, towards Harry. He had specifically told her that she wasn't allowed with, because she was "underage" and she understood his reasoning, yes. But that didn't mean that she agreed with it.

Suddenly, without warning, Ginny shoved away forcibly from the table. She felt like she needed to scream or throw something, and she didn't want the whole dining room to witness this. She got up and ran without thinking and without knowing where she could go? She thought frantically of a place that would be perfect for an outlet…and then she scrambled up the stairs to the perfect location- ignoring Neville's shouts of "Ginny! Wait!"

She hurtled up the last staircase, ignoring the many stares from the passers-by. When she finally reached the big doors in front of her, Ginny closed her eyes and thought to herself: "I need a space I can scream and shout and no-one will hear me." She inhaled sharply and then once she'd thought it three times, the doors opened in front of her.

Ginny ran in, not noticing that someone had followed her. She took the closest thing she could find- a pillow- and flung it across the room, screaming, "AAAAAH!" as she did so. She flung another and another and another. There was a cupboard of plates which Ginny decided on instinct to grab and fling at the wall on the far end. She screamed, "Harry! You liar!" and once every single plate cracked, she curled into a ball and clung her arms around herself.

She just about realized when another strong pair of arms curled around her. Ginny flinched in surprise and pushed away, wiping tears onto her sleeve. She gasped, filling her lungs with some much-needed air, "Nev…Neville! What are you doing here?" He stared at her and gestured at her bag, "I was calling you and…" Ginny raised her eyebrows and whispered in a deadpan tone, "You were not meant to see that…"

Neville shrugged his shoulders, "Well…I did." Ginny bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Neville whispered nervously, "Why were you calling Harry a liar?" Ginny sighed and pushed back her hair, "Because…" She stared at the floor in front of her and whispered, "I'm sorry you had to see that." Neville dropped the bag and took a tentative step towards her. He held open his arms and whispered, "Come here, Ginny." She debated it for a second before flying into his arms. Neville stroked her hair comfortingly and Ginny sighed in relief as she cried into his arms. She needed to cry about this. She'd held it in for too long.

XXX

The day dragged and Ginny felt a little better after her burst of emotion. It had been too much pent up energy that had needed a good outlet. Smashing plates, throwing pillows and screaming certainly had been a good way to go about it. She was fortunate that she has a place she could go to vent like that.
Ginny trudged through the rest of her day, somewhat avoiding Neville. She had finally relaxed in his arms when she suddenly realized how that long hug might have been misinterpreted by Neville. The last thing she wanted was to give him the wrong impression about them…

As if her day couldn't get any worse, she turned out to be wrong. During Defense, Carrow said coldly, "Now then, have any of you heard of the art of Occlumency?" Ginny froze and turned to stare at her fellow Gryffindor's, who were all looking pale and rather nervous about this subject. Carrow's eyes turned to the Slytherin's and he asked, "Anyone care to volunteer any information?"
Ginny knew that if Hermione were here, her hand would automatically shoot upwards, without restraint. However, now that Ginny knew what the lesson was going to be about…she felt a little more reserved about sharing her knowledge. One Slytherin girl- who was just a little less smart than Hermione- was chosen to answer the question, "Occlumency…" she bean and then paused, looking around the class, "Is the art of reading another's mind…"

There was some muttering in the class and one of the Gryffindor's in Ginny's year- Bella- raised her hand and Carrow nodded at her. She asked tentatively, "But Sir…isn't Occlumency supposed to be for only really powerful witches and wizards?' Carrow chuckled, "Indeed, but you need to know how to use it on others…in case they try to invade your mind first of course."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Since when had they ever been concerned of the students being able to defend themselves? However, Carrow unfortunately noticed her eye-roll and said, "Ah! Miss Weasley! Since you seem so…unconvinced by this idea of your need to learn this skill, I think I will use you to demonstrate!" She inhaled sharply and cursed herself internally! Ginny had refrained from making any sarcastic remarks in class lately. She'd had more satisfaction from seeing Carrow taunt her and holding her tongue –not giving anything away- than she did giving him the satisfaction of a fancy remark. But now her facial expressions had gotten the worst of her!

Ginny hesitantly walked forwards and Carrow smiled at her maliciously, "Prepare to defend yourself, Miss Weasley." The next thing Ginny knew as she stood with her fists clenched at her sides, was that her mind felt a throbbing pain and she felt memories echoing to the surface of which she had no control of. The memories of Harry leaving the wedding came swarming to fore…and how miserable she'd been once they had left. They memory of their break up seemed to be playing in her mind's eye over and over again.

It was only when the invasion slowly ebbed away, that Ginny realized she was clutching her skull tightly. When she glanced up, she saw some Slytherin's snickering in the corner at her display of vulnerability. She glared at Carrow with utter hatred on her face. Carrow smirked at her and rolled his eyes, "Didn't even try to stop me." He chuckled, as did all of the Slytherin's and then she stood up and walked back to her desk. If Carrow had any idea, he would have seen Ginny's fury boiling to the surface. The complete humiliation was making her face burn with rage.

Once she sat down beside Amelia, she whispered, "Did I scream?" Amelia shook her head and sighed, "No. But nobody would have blamed you if you did." Ginny nodded and bit her lip, trying to keep the emotions in. She was becoming fairly good at this. The outburst she had the other day was just long overdue. But if she wanted to survive this year, she was going to have to harness them in to the best of her abilities. She could not allow that kind of weakness again.

A/N: Hi all! I'm so sorry for my long break! I was busy doing a TEFL course which took every ounce of energy out of me and I've spent the last few days recovering it! Anyway, I'm back and I hope you guys like this so far? Any feedback would be awesome.

ALSO on a side note: I do not feel like keeping your emotions in is a good thing. BUT considering how I feel like Ginny is a strong-willed character, she would not like other's seeing her weak side, do you agree? I'm definitely not encouraging it for anyone else.
Anyway hope you guys are well and I'm so glad I can be back to writing!