Ginny went up to her bedroom and locked herself in. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She wasn't even interested in that pie anymore. She just wanted to be alone. She wrapped herself in a blanket and sat curled up on her bed.

Why was he acting like that? He had been so happy for a year, happier than she could ever remember him being. She remembered one time when he had jumped up and danced with her, even though there was no music. He had a party once, too, just for the sake of having a party. He always had a smile on his face, even when he slept.

And now, in one day, it was all gone?

What could be wrong with him? He's told me everything that happened when he was gone that year, everything. Except… what was that that Ron was talking about? What happened in the forest? He has always told me everything up until when he came to Hogwarts and then left the rest unsaid, as I was there and saw it myself. But… what happened between then and when he came out from under the cloak in the great hall? And why would that affect him now? Or am I overreacting? Maybe he just needs some time to get his head straight. Yeah, that's it. He'll be back to normal soon… I hope… She wanted more than ever to be able to roll over and lean on him.

Suddenly there was a loud pounding on her door. "Ginny!"

She shot up. "Harry?"

"Ginny!" She went for the door slowly. The pounding had stopped, but there was a lot of noise out in the hall. She heard Harry, and Ron, and some others. They were restraining him. Why? No, I want to see him! She opened the door quickly, but they were already downstairs. Ginny knew that her brothers would viciously defend her – she never expected them to go after Harry.

Well, he was horrible to you.

But that's no reason to attack him!

She began chasing after them, but noticed an odd wet feeling in her socks. It was red. Blood… the floor outside of her door was soaked in it. There was a trail going downstairs. What had they done to him?

She ran downstairs, trying her best not to slip. The blood trail had various sets of footprints in it. At the bottom of the stairs it broke into two paths. One was to the front door, and the other led into the kitchen, where she could hear an awful lot of noise. They had Harry on the kitchen table. The chairs and other kitchen things had been thrown to various parts of the room. Her mother, Hermione, and Percy were standing over Harry. Ron was standing nearby, looking squeamish.

She tried to run to Harry, but Ron held her back. "What did you do to him?"

"He did it to himself, spliced into a million pieces. They're trying to fix him."

Ginny pushed through Ron. "I want to help." She ran toward where his head was lying and pulled out her wand. They had already ripped off his clothes. There was a big gash in his right thigh and left forearm, along with several smaller ones all over his body.

His was still conscious – his eyes were open and staring at the ceiling, his mouth was hung open as his lungs tried desperately to keep him alive. She hadn't expected him to be awake. Her wand fell from her hand. She wanted to cry for him. It didn't matter to her what he had done. The man she loved was in pain, and it made her hurt inside to see him like that. She reached out and touched his face. His eyes flicked toward her. His mouth moved like he wanted to speak but nothing came out. Ginny bent down and kissed him on the forehead. His eyes closed, his breathing slowed down a bit. She put her mouth down to his ear and whispered for him to hold on. She stayed there for a while, listening to his still frantic breathing, and then it stopped.

Ginny looked up quickly. For a second she thought that he might have stopped breathing. His chest was still moving, however, although a lot slower. "That's the best we can do," her mother said. They had managed to patch up all of the major wounds. "He'll still be sick for some time from all that blood he lost."

"We should take him to a hospital," Ginny suggested.

"No, it's too risky to move him," Hermione said. "It could make it worse."

Percy floated Harry onto a couch in the living room. Mother Weasley and Hermione were cleaning the floors. Ginny got several blankets and tucked them in around him. She pulled up a chair and sat by him. He was horribly pale and covered in sweat, but he rested peacefully. She wished that he would just open his eyes and tell her that he was alright, but he didn't.