owl post

(a harry potter story)

Dear Ginerva,

I don't think you realize what a savior you are.

You, quite literally, saved my life.

I don't think I can hang on for much longer without you with me. You're the only person who knows the real me.

I think I'm in love with you, Ginerva.

Every time I write your name a little pocket of warmth explodes inside of me. You make me feel normal.

My letters are getting shorter and shorter. I don't like that, Ginerva, so I'm going to write a poem down.

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as black as a blackboard,

I wish he were mine, he's really divine

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

Ha, ha. Do you remember that? I do. It was so adorable—you with your cute little flushed cheeks, wild hair, and soft voice. You were so cute as a child, Ginerva.

You must be beautiful now.

Oo,

Harry

Ginny felt a tear slip down her face.

He was so sweet, so caring. He cared for her. He complimented her. He made her feel okay about her hectic, horrible life at Hogwarts.

Harry was everything she wanted.

In a best friend.

She clutched the letter tightly; her tears making the ink bleed. Stop crying, Ginny told herself. Don't cry. You can't cry.

And yet she did.

She sobbed. She bawled her eyes out. She screamed internally.

Harry is a light in the dark.

Harry is in love with me.

Am I in love with Harry?

Goddamn it.

Seamus knocked at the dormitory door. He always showed up with the dormitory was empty. It was as though he had memorized her schedule—Ginny was often in her dormitory during free periods. Sometimes she made a jaunt to the library, but she couldn't stand the mustiness of it. Hermione was appalled at this thought and suggested Ginny simply get lost in a book. Ginny was no good at reading. Ginny would also hop on her broomstick some days and fly around the pitch, practicing with ping-pong balls, but most times she couldn't get permission from Madam Hooch.

So often she curled up in her dormitory with a different book from the musty library, reading. Nowadays she wandered all over the school, watching for Seamus. It was exhausting and numbing, but also exhilarating. She was like a superspy, evading capture. It was like a little girl's storybook coming to life: the damsel in distress flees from the villain while her prince charming is just out of reach.

She always would creep back into her dormitory, though, because she couldn't just run all over the castle—Filch would get furious and tell her off for "loitering".

So Ginny wrapped herself in blankets and stuffed her face into her pillow. I'm asleep. I'm asleep. I'm asleep. She prayed he wouldn't think her awake.

"Gin? Are you up?" he asked, so softly. Her heart damn near ripped in two. She had to convince herself she HATED him.

I hate you. I hate you, Seamus. I hate you.

But Ginny couldn't forget the ghost of him, the ghost she loved so dearly. The one who made her feel magical for awhile. Ginny wanted to forgive him.

She couldn't, though.

She couldn't look him in the goddamn eyes.

He believed he was keeping her away, keeping her to himself. But instead he was just hurting her repeatedly, making her blood boil. She wanted to expose the real Seamus, the Seamus she had fallen in love with. He must be mentally insane, Ginny thought as he moved closer to her bed. She tried to calm herself.

"Muffliato," he murmured.

He wouldn't.

Seamus's fingers brushed her collar.

He wouldn't.

He lifted her from the bunk.

He wouldn't.

He set her down on the floor.

He would.

Corey watched as Ginny took a seat in Herbology.

"Gin—?"

She looked at him and his world collapsed.

Her eyes were deadened and red, but no tears were present (this embedded a glinting jewel of fear in his heart—she was too numb to cry. She could not cry. Crying was a sign of emotion, a cry for help. Ginny could do nothing). Her lips were puffy and swollen. Her neck was bruised, her arms bruised, her cheek bruised. Her collarbone was bright red. Numerous crescent-shaped fingernail indentations lined her skin. She looked like she had been brutally beaten and then kissed.

A horrible lightbulb flicked on in Corey's head.

Not—Seamus?!

"Ginny," Corey said seriously, as Professor Sprout wasn't in the greenhouse yet. "What the hell is happening?"

She bit her lip and a fresh bead of blood squeezed out between her teeth, staining them red.

"I can't tell you," she whispered, her voice raw. She sounded like she'd been screaming in vain. "I'm so sorry, Corey." Her eyes remained dry, and Corey was full of blinding panic.

"Ginny. I need to help you. This isn't like the letters. If you're getting physically hurt—"

"It's…not intentional…it's accidents…Qu-Quidditch…"

Corey took her by the shoulders, looking into her hollow brown eyes, the eyes that lost their normally burning fire, now replaced with a flickering, sputtering, dying tongue of fire—

"Ginny," Corey whispered, his voice cracking with tears. "I love you, and I can't see you like this."

Ginny threw her arms around him and he hugged her tightly, holding her close. He wanted to embrace her and stick all of her rough jagged edges back into the beautiful, lovely Ginny he knew.

"I'll—I'll—I'll tell you at dinner," she said, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Corey saw that she needed help, and he would do whatever it took to get the love of his life back on her feet.

Herbology was a noisy experience that day. The Enchanted Ball was only three days away. Corey wanted to work up the confidence to ask Ginny—but that hardly mattered now. Her eyes were rimmed with a heavy grayish purplish color. She looked like she was being forced to carry a dragon on her back. Corey wondered in vain if this had something to do with the letters. She had acted like this for a very brief period of time when they first arrived, but admittedly had recovered quickly. Again, the thought "who are the letters from?" floated across Corey's mind.

"Ginny—I know it doesn't matter," Corey said quietly, "but would you like to come to the Enchanted Ball with me?"

A hush fell over the greenhouse. A few girls clutched at each other, squealing, while the boys talked amongst themselves.

"Oooh, Ginny! Ginny, aren't you with Seamus?" Tara Armstrong asked. "You must be attending with him, right?"

Ginny shook her head and shot a weak smile at Corey. "I'd love to go with you, Corey." She squeezed his hand under the table and the greenhouse went into fits of chaos.

"What about Seamus, oi?" Dean called angrily. "He's going to be mad!"

Corey was filled with a cold sensation that made him shiver.

"Seamus…Seamus isn't going to the Ball," Ginny said quickly. "Seamus and I are on a break. We just need some space. Corey's my best friend—nothing romantic." The corners of her mouth turned up. "I just need a bit of cheering up."

Ginny bent her head toward her notes and started scribbling down notes on Pillary Puffs. Corey studied her. She was hiding behind her hair. Corey was thanking the heavens over and over again that Seamus was not in their Herbology class.

"So—um—what time will you pick me up?" Ginny asked softly, smiling.

Corey's heart flooded with love for Ginny. When Ginny was in public, around her friends, she was strong, sarcastic, and confident. To see her so quiet and soft was adorable to him—but it was also wrong. She should've been cracking jokes to the class, kicking Corey's feet, and doodling on her notebook. Instead she was silent.

Ginny took Corey's hand and held onto it like a vice.

Seamus was walking into the greenhouse.

"No," Ginny said, pupils dilated with nothing but icy fear. "He—He—"

"He's the one hurting you," Corey said in a low voice.

Ginny nodded.

Corey felt a red tinge settle over his eyes. Nothing—nothing—but rage seeped through his bones, into his bloodstream, pounding in his ears. He wanted to rip Seamus apart and chuck him off a cliff into a boiling vat of lava filled with Blast-Ended Skrewts. He wanted to give his goddamn worthless life nothing but hell. He deserved nothing but hell. He deserved nothing. His filthy self didn't deserve to look at Ginny. He didn't deserve to touch Ginny. His slimy lips weren't fit to speak her name.

"I'll kill him," Corey said.

The scary thing was, he meant it.

In that moment, if Seamus was in front of him, touching Ginny, Corey would've grabbed his wand and screaming the Killing Curse.

It would've worked, too.

Seamus would've lain, sprawled-eagled, on the greenhouse floor. Ginny would've screamed and pushed Corey into the wall. Professor Sprout would've Stunned him, thinking that Corey would kill more people. Professor Dumbledore would've been contacted. Aurors and Ministry officials would've arrived and taken him to a special ward in St. Mungo's. Realizing he was sane, they would've whisked him off to Azkaban after trial. He would've spent a few months in Azkaban before being released.

It's scary how much could've happened if one variable in the equation had been moved.

"Corey, it's ok-kay." Ginny was white as a sheet.

"No it's not!" Corey almost yelled—but quickly remembered Seamus was now in the greenhouse. "He's a sick bastard and he needs to go to Azkaban!"

"Oh shit, here he comes, just—don't say anything."

Seamus smiled as he sauntered over to Ginny. She smiled back. Corey was astounded by how great of an actress she was. This bastard was abusing her and she grinned at him like he'd saved her life.

"Hey, babe," he said slyly, and she giggled.

"Hey, sweetie. What're you doing here?"

"Schedule got switched. To tell you the truth, I did it for you."

Corey's insides crawled and squirmed. He had to be freaking kidding. He was a psychopath. An utter sociopath.

"So does this mean we're off a break?" Ginny squealed, her voice hopeful—and also loud enough that the rest of the greenhouse could hear.

"Um, yes?" Seamus said, confused, but still nuzzling her nose with his. "So there's a question I've been meaning to ask. Will you be my date to the Ball?"

Ginny looked at Corey painfully. "Well, you see, when we were on break I already said yes to another boy. I didn't know you wanted to go with me. I thought you didn't like me anymore." Ginny bit her lip again, all of her fake emotion and love fading into real terror. Blood spurted out of her bottom lip, smearing across her top lip.

"What?" Seamus growled. "You said yes to another guy?"

Ginny nodded.

"Excuse me, Professor Sprout? May Ginerva and I be excused? I completely forgot that Professor McGonagall requested both of us before I came here." Seamus looked at Ginny, eyes full of fire.

"Oh, alright, Finnigan. Do you have a note?"

Seamus presented a forged signature to Sprout, and that was adequate to her. Seamus took Ginny by the upper arm and dragged her out of the greenhouse, Ginny looking very pale and also very helpless.

"Professor? Bathroom?" Corey asked quickly.

"Jameson, finish your notes first."

Corey tore his parchment, he wrote so rapidly. "Done!" he half-shrieked five minutes later.

"Go on."

Corey sprinted as fast as he could up to the castle. Ducking past Filch, he searched for any sign of Ginny. After about two minutes of nerve-wracking looking, he found a small splatter of blood on the floor. Another drop winked at him a few feet in front of him. An entire trail of blood led to an empty wall in front of him. A dead end.

Where did Seamus take her? There were no windows. There were no doors.

Corey beat his fist against the wall.

I just want Ginny to be okay. If I could just find her, I could stop this. I need to see Ginny.

He felt hot tears pour down his face. Ginny could be dead. It could be his entire fault, too, for not being fast enough. For not reporting the facts to Professor Sprout before Seamus arrived. For not preventing Ginny from leaving the greenhouse.

Corey's hand felt cold. Maybe feeling was leaving them. Maybe he was going to freeze.

He looked up, his eyelids nearly glued together with tears.

A door had materialized in front of him.

He seized the handle and opened it.

The door swung open to reveal a dark room with only one lantern in the center.

There was Seamus.

There was Ginny.

She was bloody and cowering under him as he hit her.

"You know how much I love you and you betray me like this?" he screamed, smacking her across the face.

"I swear, I thought you d-d-didn't love me!" she begged. "Please, Seamus! P-P-Please d-d-don't do this!"

He kicked her in the side. "This is punishment, you bitch! This is punishment!"

"No, no, st-st-stop!"

Seamus raked his nails across her cheek. Blood beaded there and dripped onto Ginny's neck.

"How could you? You belong to ME! No one else! Me! You idiot!"

He pulled her up by the hair. She gave a bone-chilling cry of pain. Seamus pulled out his wand and absolutely roared, "Diffindo!"

Deep crimson blood blossomed around Ginny's lips, eyes, nose, and hairline. She looked like a puppet being torn at the seams. If Seamus kept it up, Ginny would surely be ripped to pieces—

"STUPEFY!" Corey screamed.

Seamus fell on top of Ginny, who gave a guttering screech, not unlike an animal in the process of dying.

"Ginny, oh my god, Ginny, Ginny…"

Corey ran over to her. She heaved and coughed up blood. It spilled over her lips and trickled onto her ruined robes. Seamus had obviously tried to tear them off.

"What the hell was he doing to you?"

Ginny shook her head. She was shaking so violently that it looked like she was vibrating. "H-H-He…."

Corey cradled her in his arms and ran out of the demon room as fast as he could.

"N-N-Not the hospital w-w-wing," Ginny mumbled as Corey raced to his dormitory.

"Never," Corey whispered, kissing her bloody forehead. He set her down on his bunk. "Don't worry, Gin, I can fix these cuts."

He took out his wand. Copying what he learned in DADA, he started chanting, almost as though in song. Ginny's gashes—some of which were very deep—begun to seal as though she was being stitched up. Once they were healed, Corey started cleaning the blood off of Ginny's skin.

"Aguamenti," he said softly, and a gentle trickle of water spewed from his wand. The rusty red stuff coating her slowly disappeared.

"Terego," Corey muttered, cleaning up the water that soaked the floor.

Ginny was looking much better, but bruises flowered her body, making her look more purple than pale.

"Corey," she said through puffy lips. "Th-thank you so m-much…"

"Shh. I need to fix these bruises. Episkey!"

Her bruises slowly disappeared, replaced by only slightly pinker than normal skin. Her black eye also vanished. "Looks good, Gin."

"Hurts to breathe," she whimpered, clutching her side.

"Broken ribs, yeah," Corey said quietly. "I don't know if this'll help, but—Episkey!"

The skin revealed by her brutally slashed robes rippled slightly. She relaxed.

"Ankle?" she asked, her voice raspy.

"Episkey!" Corey said, smiling sadly at her. "It's a good thing I'm a master at the spell."

Her ankle straightened slightly. "Ferula," Corey said again, and her leg was wrapped tightly in a splint.

"Corey, I owe you my life," Ginny said in a low voice, tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes.

"I…I just can't believe…" Corey sat next to her. "I can't believe Seamus would do that."

Ginny bowed her head. "He—has been doing it for awhile. For the most part I could fix myself up enough to make it look like I'd just gotten back from an extremely rough Quidditch practice. But that time I don't think I could've. I think he would've killed me." Ginny interlocked her fingers with Corey's. "I can't thank you enough."

"You don't need to thank me, Ginny. I should've been faster to get to you—Sprout made me finish my notes before I could go to the 'bathroom'."

"D'you think anyone noticed us coming back?"

"No," Corey said immediately. "I made sure of that."

"What about classes?" Ginny asked, nervous.

"Screw classes."

Ginny gave a sad little laugh. "You can't tell anyone, you hear?"

Corey looked at her blankly. "What?"

She sighed. "Seamus said he'd put me under the Imperius Curse—or kill me—if I told anyone. Do not let him know that you know about this. He'll do terrible things to both of us. I couldn't bear to see you get hurt, Corey." She bit her lip.

"Who are the letters from, Ginny?" Corey asked softly.

Her expression hardened. "That's one thing I can't tell you, so please stop asking. I do promise you that nothing bad is coming out of it."

She got up, winced, and then relaxed.

"I owe my life to you, Core," she said with a smile. "Thanks again." She kissed his cheek softly.

Ruffling his hair, she departed, leaving an immensely relieved but an enormously confused Corey Jameson.

hey guys! lauren here. i haven't done an author's note in a really long time! i just wanted to give some of my thoughts on this story so far.

-yes, it has been moving rather quickly. i kind of want to get into the main plot—these chapters have been building up to it.

-i don't know if ginny will ever meet harry, frankly. i don't know if i want that to happen because it might ruin the letter-writing between them.

-i also don't know if ginny will end up with corey or harry. there might be a few more variables in this equation to come.

thanks for reading my story! i've got over 500 reads now, that's really spectacular. i love you all. don't forget to r & r about your thoughts, concerns, constructive criticism, to tell me what's up…my pm box is always open! don't be shy! xx -lauren