Disclaimer: Yada… Yada… I own nothing… Yada… Yada… Credit is mostly given to one J. K. Rowling. Anything you might recognize that you saw somewhere else… I don't own it.

Author's notes: 15th Chapter! I'm so happy I got this far into this story. I didn't expect that I would actually continue. The reviews, of course, kept me going. Even though I'm too busy during the school year to actually upload a new chapter, I am trying to put something up. Thank you, once again, to my reviewers. I would never get tired of saying thanks. Special thanks to luv2dance756, maerose899, Mrs. BoogerSnooger, silverflame715, PoTTeRFaN2009, Flipinpenname, xfirexhairx, Daftlilme, and LoVeAngel97 for reviewing the previous chapter.

Chapter 15: Attack Against the Heirs

Harry was lying on the first bed to her right, sound asleep. Ginny just wanted to check up on him before going to her classes. She even took with her a sandwich that the house-elves prepared for breakfast. After placing it on his bedside table, she sat on the chair beside his bed and took a moment to observe him. His skin was a bit pale. There was a bruise on his lower left cheek caused by yesterday's commotion with Draco. As she continued to contemplate, she noted that every time that something was happening or was about to happen between them, Draco manage to be there and break it up whether by throwing a hard cover book at Harry or by punching him.

Brushing his hair from his face, Ginny muttered, "I'm sorry for what he did, Harry. You know he was possessed. I'm sure if he was in his regular state of mind, he wouldn't be this violent. By the way, I left you a sandwich. I know you'll be hungry when you wake up. I hope you like it. It was today's breakfast."

For the next few moments, she took the time to survey him in quietude. Up until now, she didn't know what to say if she was confronted again about her feelings for him. She was certain that Harry could take her response from the kiss as something more than friendship. Even after writing yesterday's events on her diary, she didn't feel any better. She was still confused.

Sighing, she stood up and took one quick look at him before deciding to head for her classes. She has Transfiguration first. It was the first day of classes since they got back from the winter break so she didn't want to be on McGonagall's bad side. She was about to open the doors of the infirmary when she heard something. It sounded a lot like somebody yelling. Alarmed, she looked around searching for the source of the screams. Immediately, Madam Pomfrey's office doors swung open revealing a peeved looking nurse. Ginny could see her muttering as she approached the bed closest to her office. The bed had its curtains closed preventing her from seeing who it was. By the sound of its voice, Ginny could tell it was a boy.

"Hermione!" the voice yelled. Ginny recognized as to whom the voice belong this time. It was, of course, her older brother, Ron. She almost forgot that her brother was also confined in the Hospital Wing. He didn't stand a chance against his fight with Draco last night. With Draco wielding the Seiryuu, he was capable of fighting with incredible strength. Ron was lucky that Draco have not mastered controlling the bracelet's power just yet. He was still trying to summon the blue dragon. Draco was about to give him another blow when good thing that Ginny arrived right on time to break up the fight.

Ginny found herself smirking. She just discovered that her brother was actually dreaming about Hermione. A nice bit of information that Hermione just might do anything to possess! Hnn… she does need help with her History of Magic essay that was given prior to the start of the break. It was, thankfully, due tomorrow.

Classes were dull as always aside from the conversations that she kept on overhearing about the recent activities that her fellow students participated during the Winter Break. 'Like the past few days weren't enough for them to catch up with each other's lives,' she thought.

She managed to go through with all her classes for the day. McGonagall gave them immense amount of homework trying to compensate for the days that they were out. Herbology was a bit interesting that day. They were learning something called gillyweed. It was suppose to help you breathe underwater. Ginny could recall Harry telling her about it. He told her that he used it during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament on her third year.

During Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid started the lesson about phoenixes. Along with him was Fawkes with his majestic red and gold plumage. He seemed to have taken a liking to her as he kept hovering just above her head. The other girls were just at awe.

"He likes you, Gin." Hagrid told her. Ginny only responded with a smile. "Now, hold yer han' like this. Maybe he'll lan' on yer arm."

She was doubtful at first but nevertheless held right her arm up just as how she was instructed. Fawkes continued flying in circles above before flapping his wings wildly. It seemed scary because he appeared ready to attack Ginny with his talons stretched out. Everybody was anticipating the bird to attack her but it simply landed on her right arm. They all released a loud sigh when they saw that the bird was safely perched on Ginny's arm.

"Well done, Ginny!" Hagrid said clapping his hands. The others did the same. She merely smiled as her cheeks started turning red. "Don't ye worry. Fawkes is a tamed phoenix. It wouldn't hurt anybody."

Hagrid, then, continued his lesson and sometimes pointed towards Ginny's direction to indicate some of the physical characteristics of the phoenix. As Hagrid proceeded, Ginny couldn't help but notice how still Fawkes was. He has still yet to move after landing on her arm. Shifting her attention to Fawkes, she found herself staring at his red eyes. Scarlet orbs greeted her hazel ones. Realizing that he has gained her attention, Fawkes began lightly pecking the bracelet that she wore on the same arm. Confused with his behavior, she attempted to stop his assault against the Suzaku. The bird was determined. She decided to hold back his neck. When she did, the bird yet again met his eyes. It was as if the bird was trying to tell her a message. It was obviously something about the bracelet since it wouldn't stop pecking it.

Before she could contemplate any further, Hagrid interrupted her thoughts informing her that class was over. He took Fawkes from her but it was obvious that the bird didn't want to part from her yet. Fawkes was flapping its wings uncontrollably. For a brief moment, Ginny thought that he saw tears falling from the bird's eyes.

Ginny was still wondering what had happened with Fawkes when she entered her last class for the day, Potions. Since Ron and Harry were not present at the moment, Ginny was paired up with Hermione much to her relief. They didn't do much potion making. Snape was just giving them a lecture and tons of notes about antidotes for various poisons.

She could hear the noise of Hermione's quill scratching the parchment. She was writing with incredible speed hoping to take all the notes down. 'Typical Hermione,' she said to herself. Then, she thought of her brother screaming her name in his sleep. This placed a smile on her lips.

Grinning, she took another piece of parchment from her bag and scribbled a note. She was careful to look at Snape's direction before passing the note to Hermione. Hermione eyed the letter with curiosity. She too decided to look at Snape before opening it. A detention would be the most unpleasant thing to have the first day back.

How are things with you and Ron? greeted Hermione's eyes.

Hermione appeared to be taken aback with her message. Ginny's smile grew a lot bigger when she noticed that the older girl was blushing. Hermione quickly wrote something down and passed it back to her.

What are you on about? was her reply.

Nothing. Just asking if everything's fine with you and him.

Ginny, that would be the last question I'm expecting from you while we're in Potions Class! You wouldn't be asking unless something's up. Tell me.

Answer me this. Did things with you and him progress yet? Or is he still mourning over the break up with Sephire?

I don't know… Ever since the break up we've been very close. Closer than we were before but I think he still likes her.

Hermione! Don't be daft.

Gin, we're just friends. I've accepted that.

Jeez… Hermione! Ron likes you! Don't you remember the reason why Sephire wanted to break up with him in the first place? Sephire knows he likes somebody else and I think it's you!

Please stop raising my hopes up.

Hn… what if I tell you that I have some sort of proof?

Proof? Are you hiding something from me? Gin, you better tell me now especially if it concerns Ron!

I don't know, Hermione. It is a valuable bit of information. I wasn't even supposed to know about it.

Come on! You have to tell me!

Help me with my History of Magic essay?

There was a long pause before Hermione wrote the following, Fine. I'll help but I won't do it for you!

Thanks.

Well? What is it?

Ron was screaming your name in his sleep.

Ginny found Harry already awake when she came up to the Hospital Wing. He was munching the sandwich that she left that morning. She smiled up to him as she approached his bed. He even gave her with one of his own. She was carrying with her tons of books, and blank parchments and she dropped them all in his bed when she reached him.

"What're those for?" Harry said after taking a swig of his pumpkin juice. "Doing your homework here, Gin?"

"Nope, these are YOUR homework. Hermione took the liberty to get them for you." She just grinned when she saw Harry scowling.

"Oh bugger." He muttered placing his half eaten sandwich on the table. He gathered all the books, parchments and quills and also placed them on the table. "It's the first day back and they already gave this much homework? This is plain torture."

"You tell me. I had to do a whole bunch of them before coming here. So, Potter, how're you feeling?" She plopped on the chair next to his bed.

"Better, I guess. My head hurts like hell, though."

Biting her lower lip, she said softly, "I'm sorry about what he did, Harry."

"It's not your fault, Gin. You don't need to be sorry about anything. It's not him. It's just the bracelet acting up again."

"Argh! I swear I want to punch him for what he did to you and Ron. I was about to confront him after Potions but he was out of sight right away when we were dismissed."

"It's okay, Gin. Don't bother with it." He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. "I should be the one to actually apologize. I'm sorry for behaving the way I did. It was totally inappropriate."

She shook her head and said, "You don't need to apologize."

"Gin, I never had a chance to ask…" while he was saying this Ginny could feel her heart beating uncontrollably in her chest. Is he going to ask her? She still doesn't know the answer!

"… if you feel…" he continued.

"Harry, can we talk about this some other time," she interrupted. "I still don't know the answer." She averted her eyes from his. The air surrounding them was slowly becoming tense. Her answer to his question might break the close friendship she had with him.

"If that's what you wish." Harry said wearily. He knew what her answer would be. He knew that a certain Slytherin was invading her thoughts. He knew that the bracelets would stop at nothing to bring them together. He knew he already lost her ever since she was born. She was just meant to be with the Slytherin bloke but somehow he was hoping that he might have a shot.

She gave him a sad smile and also gave his hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go. Trying to ease the tension, Harry started a conversion about anything other than their situation. They started off with Ginny's day. Ginny complained a lot about the ton of homework that the teachers gave them. She also mentioned Fawkes' weird attitude during Care of Magical Creatures. Harry pointed that it seemed pretty odd that Fawkes' would behave that way.

"Do you reckon he's giving you a warning?" he said as he drank the rest of his pumpkin juice.

She, then, remembered what Draco told her. 'Impending Danger.'

"You should really watch out. You'll never know what'll happen. Not to mention that you are the owner of the Suzaku." he continued.

"I know."

"Just be careful, alright. Hopefully, the necklace I gave you is actually working."

"Why? What's it suppose to do?" she asked as she held the pendant in her hand gazing at the purple stone that the phoenix and the dragon were holding.

He smiled when he saw that she was actually wearing it. "The old man from The Priscus said it has a minor protective charm."

The days seemed to pass by quickly. Before she knew it, it was already Saturday and she was walking towards the lake to meet up with Draco. As she made her way through the snowy grounds, she spotted him there already waiting. He was clad in a set of black robes with the infamous Slytherin scarf wrapped around his neck. He was watching her as she approach him. She hugged her robe a little bit tighter as the cold January wind blew. She could sense that her face was a little flushed either by the cold wind or maybe because she was under Draco's gaze.

"Well? What's the reason that you want to meet up outside in this frigid weather?" she asked as soon as she was on audible range

His reply was only his renowned Malfoy smirk. Brandishing his wand, he muttered something that Ginny didn't hear. Minutes later, two brooms gave hurtling by. Two Nimbus 2001 stopped in front of them.

"Up for another broom ride, Weasley?" he drawled as he walked closer to her.

"Where are we going?" She crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look.

"Look, could you just take the damn broom and follow me? Zabini's waiting for us." He forced his other Nimbus 2001 on her hands and mounted his own.

"Malfoy, I won't go anywhere with you unless you tell me where you're taking me!" she yelled up at him.

"Weasley, mount the damn broom if you don't want a repeat of the other day's incident! Come to think of it, I think we're better off with that arrangement." He took a dive dashing towards her direction with one of his arms stretched out to capture her.

Eyes wide, Ginny grabbed the handle of the other broom and hurriedly mounted it. When she was already up in the air, she could hear Draco's raucous laughter. "I knew you would see it my way."

She followed Draco as he flew above the canopy of the trees that are found in the Forbidden Forest. She could feel the temperature dropping as they continue their trip. She wrapped her scarf a little more securely as it was almost blown away. She could not fathom the reason for this trip above the Forbidden Forest. She felt shivers running up her spine when she heard a loud roar of some beast nestled in the Forest. Her left hand grasped the necklace she was wearing hoping that there really was a protective charm.

"Malfoy!" she yelled trying to get his attention. He was quietly flying a few meters in front of her.

"We're already there, Weasley. Save your questions later." came his quick reply.

If Voldermort wasn't already defeated, she would actually think that Draco was giving her to the Dark Lord; going to the Forbidden Forest and all. She came into an abrupt halt when she almost collided with Draco's back. She scowled. 'Please don't tell me that we're lost.' she said to herself. She couldn't blame him, though. It was really not easy to navigate through the dark mist above the forest. Heck, it was only minutes passed three and it appeared like it was almost seven at their location.

"Malfoy?" she whispered flying over to be beside him.

"I can't see through the fog," he told her. "It's here somewhere. We just have to wait a bit. I told Zabini to collect some wood and start a fire after I left. I was actually expecting that I would take more time to drag you here. He's probably looking for more wood up until now."

They waited for a few more minutes to see any sign where this place was supposed to be. Ginny's curiosity was getting the better of her. Draco and Blaise were not exactly her best friends. Heck, they weren't even friends at all. They all just share one thing in common. They all have an heirloom that held three of four legendary creatures that helped defeated Rinden. She needed to know where they're going.

"There!" Draco pointed at the place where a small fire seemed to be burning. Directing their broom to that direction, they both lunged downwards as if racing to see who gets there first.

They landed on a small clearing where the fire burned precariously. Ginny felt adrenalin rush as soon as she saw where they were at that moment. All her dreams came flashing back. One of the four pillars stood in front of her. In the middle was a round flat surface. The Ceremonial Ground.

"Malfoy, this is… this is…" she stammered amazed by what she was seeing.

"Zabini and I found this a few days back. I was going to bring you here but it will be impossible to see at that time without somebody giving us some sort of signal," Draco told her.

"But how did you manage to find this place?"

"We were racing and haven't realized that we were already flying over the forest. We decided to roam around and take a look." Blaise answered her. "It was bright and early so navigating was possible."

"Lumos!" she mumbled. She went around doing a close inspection of the place. The pillars were not that high. They stood for a good five feet or so. They were cylindrical and different symbols were carved at the top of each. Ginny couldn't quite decipher what they are saying. Remembering one of her dreams, she figured out that the bracelets were placed on top of each pillar.

"We've figure out what those symbols meant," Draco said. "They represent the four general directions."

"The four general directions?"

"Yes, you could imagine the time we spent in the library to actually figure that out. North, South, East and West. I want you to also look at this." Draco moved towards the round stone in the middle. He pointed the glowing tip of his wand at an indentation.

"What about it? It's just probably caused by weathering." Ginny asked confused.

"Here's another one on the opposite side. Look." Blaise pointed his wand on the other indentation. "Seeing that there are no other indication of weathering, we just find it odd. Don't you?"

Indeed, they were right. The stones were still smooth despite the years that passed by. No cracks whatsoever could be seen on both the pillars and the middle stone. The indentations were also quite distinct now that she had thought about it. It was as if there was something supposed to be there.

"Do you remember anything about this in your dreams?" Draco asked her.

She shook her head.

"Neither did I."

A loud growl came from near the fire. All three of them instantly shifted their attention to look at the creature that stood glowing with intense brightness. In the Forbidden Forest, you might find numerous creatures ranging from unicorns to giant arachnids but no one has ever spotted anything like this in the forest. It was a white tiger. Ginny searched for the brooms in a hope of escape in case the creature decided to attack but they were not on the place where they left them.

"Watch out!" Draco yelled as he pulled her to the ground. The tiger just released a ball of energy to her direction. If it wasn't for Draco, she could've been ashes by now like the trees behind them.

All three of them brandished their wands throwing different curses to stun or subdue the white tiger. The curses were just bouncing off the animal. Frustrated, Draco attempted to even cast the Unforgivable Curses but alas, none was working.

The tiger then began another set of assault. Blaise was thrown to the trees and knocked out cold when the tiger hit him with its paw. On his head was a trail of blood flowing down to his face. The front of his robe was singed as if the fabric was burnt by the tiger's touch. Ginny released a loud scream as she witness what was happening. Draco instinctively pulled her behind him as he muttered curses at the creature. Everything else happened so fast. The last thing she saw was Draco screaming her name before everything else went black.

AN: There you go. The 15th chapter. This is probably one of the longest chapters of this story so far. I hope you all like it. I was supposed to update sooner but alas, I was suffering from a minor writer's block. Ciao for now! Oh, and please review! Clue for the next chapter's events: the title of the chapter would be… The Awakening of the Seiryuu.