Chapter 18 – This is Just the Beginning
Ginny and Draco were sitting at their usual table, on a normal Thursday evening in late May. Finals were just around the corner, and the school year was soon ending. The library was quite empty as most of the student body were in the Great Hall for dinner. The two had gone to the kitchens before dinner this time, to get their snack, and had then gone to their favourite spot in the library to finish some schoolwork.
However, this night was different from most. Ginny was attempting to tell Draco something important but would soon be interrupted by Ron, Harry and Hermione.
"Draco, can we talk?" Ginny asked, while pushing aside her schoolwork. "It's kind of important."
He nodded, "Sure, what's on your mind, Red?"
Ginny bit her lower lip and thoughtfully gazed into Draco's eyes. "We're friends, right?"
Draco nodded, again, as Ginny continued. "Well, I just wanted you to know; I mean this war is coming soon and it would be so unfortunate if I never got to tell you…"
Ginny was about to confess something to Draco, but sadly, she was interrupted as her brother and his friends stormed into the library. From the looks of it, Ron did not look happy.
"Oi, ferret, get your grubby paws away from my baby sister! Ginny, you get away from him this instant, or I'll… I'll…" Ron hollered at the startled couple. He had finaly decided to confront them with the information he had gleaned from Lucius Malfoy.
"You'll what, Ron? You'll make us? I don't think so." Ginny managed to spit out.
Ginny and Draco both stood up with quizzical expressions on their faces. Neither knew what was going on, and were very surprised at Ron's outburst.
"What Ronald is trying to say, Ginny, is that we think that there's more to this whole situation than Malfoy's let on, and you might very well be in danger right now." Hermione tried to reason, but it did not seem to be working.
Ron attempted to redeem himself. "Yeah Gin, I bet you didn't know your precious friend had something to do with dad's kidnapping back in October! His daddy dearest ordered the kidnap and torture! Lucius told us himself!"
The trio had returned almost two weeks ago from their searching and destruction of the last two Horcruxes, and they all knew that war was soon to come.
"Draco had nothing to do with that, and you know it!" Ginny threw her Charms book at Ron, and screamed, "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you don't know what in the blazes you're talking about, and you'd do well to rememember that!"
As often happens when a witch or wizard is feeling extreme emotions, accidental magic is sure to occur. In Ginny Weasley's case, she accidentally apparated from where she was standing to behind Ron, where she then smacked him upside the head, without even thinking of what had just happened to her. What had just happened to her, in Hogwarts, of all places. She had not yet learned to Apparate, so this was quite strange indeed.
The trio and Draco all turned around to look at Ginny, and stared in disbelief.
"Err, Gin, dear, you just apparated… In Hogwarts." Draco was the first to say what all were thinking.
Before Ginny could say anything in return, loud cracks were heard as three Death Eaters appeared around them.
"Oh bugger. Looks like the war is on." Harry said calmly, and then threw a "Reducto" at the nearest Death Eater. His spell hit the wizard's wand arm and the spell about to be thrown at Harry was no longer a problem.
Ron and Hermione both sent a "Stupefy" at the next Death Eater, which gave the spell enough power to not only body-bind the man, but also send him flying across the library.
Ginny stood in her spot, still too stunned to do anything but stare at her friends and the fighting going on in front of her.
Suddenly, Ginny was brought out of her shock, as Draco knocked her to the ground. A jet of green light had just barely missed her.
"Snap out of it, Ginny! We're in trouble, here!" Draco tried to get her to realize the gravity of the situation at hand.
"Blimey, they destroyed the wards around the school! That's it!" Ginny screamed.
She jumped up and sent a Bat-Bogey hex at the last Death Eater standing. She then sent a nasty "Diffindo" at the Death Eater and managed to cut off the mask and reveal the Death Eater's identity.
Harry growled, "Bellatrix Lestrange." Without thinking, he said "Avada Kedavra" and the witch fell to the ground, dead.
The group of students stared at Harry, in shock, and did not say a word. To cast the killing spell, one must have deep hatred for the recipient of the spell. They all knew that Bellatrix had been responsible for the death of Sirius Black; it was obvious that Harry hated the woman.
Just then, Remus Lupin charged into the Library to see the two incapacitated Death Eaters, and the dead Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I was going to warn you lot that Death Eaters had attacked the castle, but it seems to be I am a tad late." Remus said, sheepishly. He looked down at the lifeless body on the library floor.
Harry looked Remus in the eyes, and said, simply, "I killed her." He stared blankly ahead at Remus for a good five minutes.
Remus walked up to the boy and shook him vigorously. "You had best snap out of this Harry, boy. We need you; the wizarding world needs you! Voldemort is somewhere in the castle, and he is absolutely livid. It's you or him, you know."
Draco had his arm around Ginny and was trying to console her. Hermione and Ron stood to Harry's side, and watched silently as he argued internally. What seemed like hours later, Harry gripped his wand tightly and said, "Let's go, then. That half-blood maniac is going down."
They ran out of the library, headed for the Great Hall where the student body had been attacked by the rest of the Death Eaters.
Outside the Hall, a few students were trying to protect themselves from the enemy. A Death Eater had two second-year Gryffindor students cornered at one side, and on the other side, another three were closing in on a fourth year Hufflepuff and his younger sister.
Ginny sent an Entrail-Expelling Curse at the Death Eater attacking the second-years, as Hermione sent a "furnunculus" his way, as well. The outcome was rather nasty, and both girls had to look away to keep themselves from gagging.
Draco sent an intense Gubraithian fire spell at the other three Death Eaters, causing them to set aflame. The spell was not normally used on people, and it was a shock to Remus Lupin that the boy had used it, even if on the Death Eaters. The wizards would stay ablaze, no matter what they did, until they were released from the spell. Or until they died.
When those Death Eaters were finished, the group continued on to the Great Hall, where the fighting was getting quite intense.
They burst through the double doors to find a room full of shrieking students and stressed professors throwing hexes and curses at maybe forty Death Eaters.
The war had begun.