Author's note: Here's chapter 24! Yay... This chapter will be major R rating, and it will have a lot of Harry OOC... It contains rape let's just say... Well almost... I'll let you read :)
Chapter Twenty-Four
Severus dropped down to his knees and gathered her up in his arms. "You are alive Virginia! You're more alive than I ever was. You have a loving family who cares about you. You have worried friends who are concerned for you and you have a life ahead of you." he said compellingly.
She felt startled about what he said about him being alive, and she, much to his astonishment, she hugged him tighter, and she remembered how close he was to Draco as well. He practically thought of him as his own son. But she found one flaw in his words. 'None of us know whether we have our lives ahead of us.' she thought grimly. 'The war has taken away that option for most people.'
"Now you can stay in here and mentally/physically abuse yourself or you can come back into the world." he said kindly, while leaning back slightly to look into her eyes.
She diverted her eyes and bit her lip again, trying to decide what she would do, even though she knew already. When she looked up to meet his gaze, he searched her eyes for the answer.
He gave her a smile because he knew she had chosen to leave this room. "Come on, I need to get you to the infirmary first. You haven't slept or eaten in almost four days." He told her, standing up, then pulling out his wand, and drying her clothes. He waited for her to stand up, and when she did, she fell back down seconds after.
Her legs were too weak to support her from having such a lack of movement and nutrients. Ginny looked up at him apologetically, but he told her that it was alright, and he would just carry her to the infirmary. He picked her up much the same was he did to bring her to the shower, and she finally left the room for the first time in four days.
The Slytherin common room was empty, so Ginny assumed classes were still in progress. As he carried her, she almost burst into tears again because she remembered when she had made Draco give her a piggyback there.
They didn't meet anyone in the hall, and Ginny was appreciative of that fact. They made it to the infirmary in about fifteen minutes, and Severus opened the door after a moment of difficulty, then he walked to the nearest bed and put her down. "Thanks." was all she muttered.
Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office with a tray full of vials and she placed them on the bedside table closest to Ginny. "Well Virginia, you had us all worried. Severus told me you would be needing these, so bare with me and you will be done in a few minutes. This one here is for the food you haven't eaten, much more effective than the one you had before." she said handing it to Ginny, she swallowed it, and immediately felt it react. She felt some strength return to her body, and her stomach wasn't in pain. "This second one is for your lack of sleep, it should work throughout the day, rebuilding your internal clock." he handed Ginny another bottle, she took it, and felt much better after. "This one is for your eyes." she explained, then raised a tiny bottle to Ginny's face, and poured a drop in each eye, Ginny's vision cleared, and once again, she was left painless. "This is merely a cheering draught. Much like the calming draught, it only lasts an hour... But you will feel better..." she trailed off, but finally Ginny protested.
"I don't want it." The nurse looked at her doubtfully, but put it back down. "Well, you really should sleep now, that really would be the most helpful thing right now, but I don't know if anyone has any problems with that... Your teachers per say..." she said looking at Severus.
"No, whatever she needs to get better, she can take it." he said conclusively. Madam Pomfrey nodded, then Severus bid Ginny farewell. "I'll see you in class tomorrow Miss Weasley." then he left.
"Here Virginia, this is a sleeping potion." the nurse said, then handed the last vial over to her. Ginny chugged it, lay down and was out before she could even pull up the blankets.
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When Ginny woke up twelve hours later, the light beside her bed was the only thing lighting the otherwise empty room. She looked at the table on the end of her bed, and was once again shocked to see it had cards and small gifts on it. Ginny sat up, still groggy from the potion, but she stood up and looked at them.
She got a box of really expensive chocolates with a card from her brother, a beautiful mythology book about the history of magic from Colin and Neville, and cards from some of the Slytherins... and on the table was a vase with her four black roses in it. Ginny took the vase and put it on the night table. She found a sleeping potion beside it, so she took the last gulp in that, and fell asleep looking at the roses.
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In the morning, Ginny woke to find a bag at the bottom of her bed. It had a pair of clothes in it, and all her books, parchment and quills for class. Another note was left on her bed, and the vase now contained five black roses. Ginny left a little note beside them to tell Madam Pomfrey to get them sent to her room, then she changed her clothes and shoved the rest of them in her bag along with her cards and gifts, then walked out, not waiting to see Madam Pomfrey.
She had Transfiguration class first, and breakfast was already half over, and she was so full of potions, she didn't think she could eat anything, and it's not like she wanted to either.
She walked to the Transfiguration classroom and the door was open. She walked slowly in, and found the Professor writing on the chalk board. She tapped her knuckles lightly on the door, and it caught her attention. She turned abruptly and looked at Ginny inquiringly. "Miss Weasley, it's good to see you up and running, but class doesn't start for another half an hour..." she explained lightly. Ginny shrugged her shoulders and found a seat in the very back of the class. McGonagall muttered something incomprehensible under her breath, then she returned to writing on the chalkboard.
Ginny got her book out, but didn't bother opening it, instead she glared at it, like it held the plague or something. She sat there for the entire half an hour staring at it, and not once did a single thought pass through her mind, in fact she was so out of it, when someone asked her how she was doing, she jumped back and fell out of her chair.
She stood up, righted the chair, and sat back down pretending nothing ever happened. The person apologized and asked the question again, Ginny ignored them, not wanting to talk.
They left her alone after a period of awkward silence, and found themselves a seat near the front. A few other people came to talk to her, but she looked ahead blankly, and didn't say a thing. Soon the whole class arrived, and no one had sat with her. She didn't care.
Even when she was called on from the teacher, she wouldn't reply. She was let off the hook since she had been gone for the better half of the week, and everyone assumed she had been ill.
The class was over, and Ginny hadn't opened her book still, let alone pulled out the needed parchment to copy notes and answer the questions. Ginny didn't think class was that important.She was saddened when she remembered the afternoon she and Draco had spent when they decided that classes weren't important... She had fallen asleep with her head on his stomach.
She walked to potions class, and went in with the rest of the class. Everyone looked at Snape distressed and surprised, so Ginny figured that he had only come back this morning. Ginny found a spot to the front of the class, and once again, no one sat with her. The first class of their double potions went well, Snape never once called on Ginny to answer, because he knew she hadn't spoken to anyone for four days, and was not going to speak in front of an entire class.
To everyone else though, they thought he was acting disturbingly strange. He seemed almost... happy, some of them thought, and a few people looked around in bewilderment when he gave them a compliment.
Ginny on the other hand knew that he was acting happier than most people had ever seen him, because he no longer had to worry about being a spy... Not that most people knew he wasa spy... But Ginny had spent a summer in Grimmauld Place, and she got to learn/see things most people didn't.
They finished brewing the potion, and now they were doing a quiz on it and it's uses. By the time third period was over, everyone was rushing out of the class in order to get some lunch.
Ginny walked out slowly, still not hungry, but she went to the Great Hall anyways. She walked in, and sat down at the table, and some people gave a surprised gaze at her first appearance in days. She looked down, and tried to eat a muffin, but could barely swallow a bite before her stomach protested. After a moment, Ron and Colin had managed to find themselves on either side of her, and Neville, across from them. They were smiling and laughing and telling her how happy they were to see her, but she was lost in a memory of her first visit with Draco in the forest that fateful night. Ginny was amazed by what different people they were back then, even though it was only three weeks ago.
She knew he wasn't in any pain or wasn't dead, because of the soul binding, but was he in mental agony like her? She looked down at the muffin she was still holding, and she shoved the rest of it in her mouth to distract her thoughts and stop the tears that were threatening to fall. She jumped out of her seat, and ran out of the hall, she was trying to run from her memories.
Her brother, Colin and Neville watched her go sadly, but they knew she needed space, especially Ron and Colin. They all went back to eating quietly, and no one noticed a certain boy walk out quickly after her.
"Ginny!" they called out, and she stopped, her shoulder hunched and her body tense. She turned slowly and was met with the raven haired, green eyed boy.
"What do you want!" she asked feebly.
"I just wanted to say 'hi' Gin." he said with a smile.
Ginny was far too upset to be suspicious. "Well you said it, now leave me alone!" she pleaded angrily.
He walked towards her and placed a hand on her upper arm. "And I wanted to ask you something..." he explained with a glint in his eyes.
Ginny was shaking with fury, but too weak in spirit to lash out. He took her silence as reassurance. "Well, since Malfoy left, I wanted to know if you wanted to go out with me." he explained offhandedly.
Ginny's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed in anger. "No! How could you ask that? Cant you see it? Can you not see that I love him!" she yelled. "And I don't want you to come near me ever again! Leave me alone!" she tried pulling away form his grip, but he tightened it, and dug his nails into her arm, she visibly flinched from the pain. His eyes narrowed as well, and a dangerous look filled his gaze.
She tried to pull away again, actually frightened of him. He grabbed her by both arms and shoved her up against the wall, now pinning her with his body, and holding both her wrists with his one hand, above her head.
Hot tears were streaming down her face, and she tried crying out, but was silenced by his mouth crashing down onto hers, in a violent bruising kiss. He used his free hand to grope her chest, and she felt completely defenseless until he stuck his tongue deep into her mouth, and she regained her reflexes.
She bit down with all her might, and her mouth filled with blood, he jumped off her in horror. She took her opportunity, and bolted away from him down the empty corridors and spit out the blood, he was hot on her heels though, and she had only a slight head start.
She was sprinting for a good three minutes, before she felt him grab her wrist, and using their momentum, he yanked her harshly around, and they both flew into the empty classroom. Ginny was flung onto the ground, and Harry stood in front of her only escape. She jumped up quickly though, and searched her robes frantically for her wand. She almost vomited when she realized it was in her bag, and she had left the Great Hall in such a hurry she didn't bring it. He was grinning like a demented cat who had just spotted its prey.
He walked over to her slowly, and she couldn't do anything but back up into a corner. Her heels hit the wall behind her, and she became far more afraid than she could ever remember in her life. He reached her, and she tried to hit him in the face, but he caught her arm once again. She was about to kick him, but he locked her legs between his.
She whimpered, but that seemed to turn him on even more. Ginny could feel him harden in his pants as it pressed against her, and she was so frightened that she couldn't even try to use her powers.
Harry pulled her robe off violently and yanked her hands above her head. "This is what you want isn't it? This is what you crave!" he asked huskily, and she yelped as he thrust into her stomach. "What Ginny, don't you love me? Remember Ginny, I'm the savior of the world, and you would be dead if I never saved you."
She was wearing a light blue button up shirt, and he ripped it open, revealing her black bra. He slid his free hand under it, and she squirmed as hard as she could to get out of his grasp. She took in a breath to yell, but he silenced her again with his mouth. She didn't bit him this time, knowing he wouldn't reacted as fortunately as last time, but she stopped crying out into his mouth, so he took him mouth off hers, and he started kissing down her neck, and then her went lower, and was kissing in between her breast, and she closed her eyes tightly.
She was assaulted with images of Draco, him smiling at her, laughing with her... Protecting her, and before she could stop herself, she cried out his name pleadingly.
Harry's head snapped up to meet hers, and his glare was nothing to compare the rage his eyes showed. He grabbed her chin roughly, and shoved her head back into the stone wall. She screamed in pain, and he slapped her painfully across the cheek. "Your mine, and you will always remember that!" he hissed at her, and she knew what was going to happen. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, and he reached around her back and began undoing her bra.
She then heard the unforgivable curse yelled out, and she braced herself for the unbearable pain. She felt the hands fall from her, and she opened her eyes to see Harry convulsing in pain on the ground, with tears streaming down his face. She raised her own water filled eyes to see Severus Snape holding his wand out, and pointing it straight at Harry, with an anger she had never seen on anyone, not even Harry. He dropped the curse, and stunned him.
He looked into Ginny's eyes with a look of deep sorrow. "Virginia?" he asked her quietly, and before he did anything else, she grabbed her robe, and ran.
She ran right passed him, and out the hall. She heard him call out after her, but she pulled her robe on and hugged it around her, covering her bare torso and chest. She ran past the questioning glances of her schoolmates and she ran past the voices of concern.
She made it outside, and the cool late September air hit her tear covered face. She ran across the grassy field, and ran past the Herbology greenhouses. She ran straight to the cover of the dark trees, and she didn't stop when she reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She ran deeper and deeper in, and she didn't follow any path, but it was as if the trees moves out of her way, because no matter which way she turned her way was clear. She ran so far at a vastly quick pace, and after about twenty minutes of hard sprinting, her legs gave out with exhaustion, and she was sent rolling down the slope she was running down.
Once she stopped falling, and was at the bottom of the hill a good fifty meters lower than she had been, she heard a vivid crack, followed by an ear splitting scream. She realized it was her own when her throat dried out with pain. She looked down at her leg, and it was twisted in a stomach wrenching manner. She reacted by turning her head, and emptying everything in her stomach from the past day, all the potions and the muffin.
She looked around the forest and became overpowered by anguish. She cried out again, this time forming words. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!" she screamed out to Draco vainly, wherever he was. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD PROTECT ME! I NEEDED PROTECTION! LOOK AT ME NOW!" she screamed through her sobs. She tried to voice all of her anguish to the forest, but no words could say what she wanted, so she screamed louder, and longer than humanly possible.
She looked up the hill, and tried moving her undamaged leg, but she couldn't muster the energy to. Her arms and face were now turning purple, and she realized her robe flew off when she was falling. She feebly covered herself with her shirt, which was now ripped and filthy, not to mention all the buttons had been removed during her assault. She tried screaming out her agony again, but she had completely lost her voice, still she opened her mouth and pushed the air through her throat, not caring if it made a noise or that it felt like her throat was on fire. She looked up to the sky, as everything around her went dark.
She wanted to die when she saw the black rain clouds fill the sky above her. She felt a rain drop fall on her cheek, and it wasn't just a little one, as it fell, it splashed upon contact and it covered a good part of her left cheek. Soon many followed, and it poured harder than Ginny could remember. Then the lightening started, and the thunder. The ground she was on, she all too soon realized was dirt, and from the rain, Ginny became partially submerged in thick mud. She closed her eyes and didn't even try to move.
She began humming a song her mother had sung to her when she was little, and she let the rain fall with the rhythm.
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She had begun to think she was actually dead as the mud sucked her deeper into what she though would be her grave. That is until she heard the distant voices two hours later. "Albus!" someone yelled a distance above her, she could barely hear through the rain though. "I think we've found her! There, at the bottom of the hill!" Ginny tired to open her eyes, or make a noise to signal them, but she didn't have the strength or will to do so. She heard more voices responding, and she felt someone pick her up and wrap her in a thick blanket. She tried again to open her eyes, but they had glued shut, so instead she opened her mouth to say something, but her teeth were chattering from the cold, and it wasn't until she was in another person's arms did she notice she was shivering violently. She sensed many people around her, and they were now making the difficult trip up the completely mud hill. Without magic, they never would have made it. There were more voices once they reached the top, and Ginny felt the familiar tug behind her navel signaling she had been transported by a portkey.
The pounding of the rain stopped, and she could feel the light penetrate through her eyelids. She was placed on a bed, and she knew she was in the hospital wing. Now that the rain had gone, the voices became louder, and they were so loud in Ginny's ears that she thought her head would burst. She moaned out of pain, and then only one voice spoke.
"Albus, I need to inject her with needles, she's unable to take the potions down her throat!" they said informatively. Then she heard someone agree, and she felt a sharp stinging in the inside of her elbow.
As someone was injecting the different potions in her arm, another was mending her leg with their own wand, and someone else was muttering heating charms to bring colour back to her blue tinged flesh and drying her clothes. Ginny started crying as she felt as if her entire body was being pricked by burning hot needles, and she soundlessly cried out in torture.
"Her fever is spiking!" someone shouted, then another needle, and the pain subsided slightly. One last prick in her arm, and she was asleep. Leaving the six members of the search party in distress. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey, Kingsley Shacklebot(sp?) and Rubeus Hagrid.
"Are you sure it was Harry..." Albus asked mournfully.
"Of course I'm sure!" Severus spat angrily. "Keep that boy locked up somewhere far away, because if I see him, I will kill him." he stated. And had this been a less serious moment, Minerva may have scoffed. "I refuse to teach him Albus."
"You can't refuse to teach him Severus, not matter what he has done! He is the one that is going to defeat Voldemort! We all know it, and he needs whatever knowledge he can get!" Kingsley retorted.
Severus gave his cruel laugh. "Potter save the world? He cant even pass a potions test! You're kidding yourselves!"
"Severus! You especially know the validity of the prophesy! You cant just pretend it doesn't exist because you hate the boy!" Minerva replied coolly.
"He's right Minerva." Albus said quietly. Everyone in the room turned to him, gasping, everyone but Severus. "The prophesy may have been right when it was made... But higher forces intervened and re-spun an older, deeper prophesy..." he stopped, letting the words sink in. And surprisingly, Severus was the first to speak.
"Just say it!" he pushed impatiently.
"A prophesy was made in the time of Merlin, a prophesy that two beings would be given the blood of the God and Goddess of Life. Long story short, these two beings would become far more powerful than any other on this planet, and they would either save the earth from being enveloped in darkness... Or they could destroy everything. Even time itself would be lost..." he explained grimly.
"And Potter isn't on of those two!" Severus added, immaturely smug.
The room was deathly silent, the only noise that could be heard, was Ginny's ragged breaths. "Does Voldemort know?" Minerva asked.
"No. Only five people know." Albus informed.
"And three of them are in this room." Severus added once again.
Everyone looked around in confusion. "Who's the third?" Poppy finally asked. Severus and Albus turned their heads to Ginny. Everyone followed their gaze.
"Dear God..." most of them whispered.
"What about the other one? Do you know who the second one is?" Kingsley asked.
"Think." was all Severus hinted.
Minerva's eyes widened, and she blurted out a name. "Draco Malfoy!"
"Yes. He is the other." Albus confirmed. And they all stood in silent wonderment.
" 'Ow can yeh know?" Rubeus asked, speaking for the first time.
"I saw it. And I feel it, whenever I'm around them, I can feel it. Surely you must feel it as well?" it took a moment of silent thought before they nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, there isn't much we can do, and there isn't much we need to do, because, trust me, the two of them together have such power, that if they needed to, they could level the entire castle and all people in it, in a matter of minutes." he explained.
"But the two of them aren't together... No anymore at least..." Kingsley voiced. They all looked at Ginny sadly.
"Well, there is a perfect explanation for that. You see," Severus started, "Lucius Malfoy used Pollyjuice potion and disguised himself as Virginia's closest friend, Colin Creevy, while he was in the infirmary. He found out about his son's closeness with her, and Draco found out what was going on. He fled the school, knowing Lucius would go after him, and leave Virginia peaceful for the time being. Little did he know, that the soul bind they had, would shatter their being while remaining apart, so they would feel hollow and empty, and not be able to feel each other's presence like they could before. And now, with the attempted rape, she will become bottled up and secluded from life and feeling." he said conclusively. Everyone stared at him in complete astonishment and Minerva even had her mouth hanging open a bit. "What?" he asked, confused, and even more so when no one would answer.
Before he could ask again, Albus interjected. "I must ask you all to keep this within yourselves. Virginia will not be ready to have you knowing, especially without Draco by her side. I need to contact her parents and figure out what to do with Harry..." he explained, then left the hospital wing.
The rest of them were left in silence, until Hagrid voiced his thoughts. "I still don' think 'Arry could do somethin' like tha'"
Severus turned to him and growled. "Why don't you tell that to Virginia!" he said, then stormed out of the room. The rest of them slowly made their own ways back to where they were supposed to be, and Ginny was left to her own subconscious thoughts.
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The first thing she remembered feeling, was someone holding her hand. The second thing was the sniffles of someone beside her who had been crying.
It took her a while to manage to open her eyes, but when she did she was met with the sight of a plump red haired woman looking at her with teary eyes. Before Ginny could even try to say anything, she was enveloped in a bone crushing hug, and was met with the collective sounds of people all around her saying her name all at once.
TBC
Author's note: YAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER! Yeah, for someone who hasn't slept at all last night, and it's 8 in the morning... I'm very perky... I'm sitting here listening to the Pepsi commercial theme song, and for those of you who don't know it... It's some pretty hard core techno! Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter, I have to admit, I think it's one of my favorites... I hope you don't mind the major Harry OOC and I hope that scene was good, because that's the first time I have done one like that... And I hope I did a good job at showing Ginny's pain while she was in the forest. And guess what? SEVENTY THOUSAND WORDS BABY! YEEE-AHH! Hey, the song repeated it's self... awesome! I'm ranting now, so yeah... That's what you get for giving the diabetic kid a box of freezes... That's right... I'm diabetic... Okay, I'm going to seriously shut up... Please review :)
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