The Ride and the Return

Ginny muttered to herself as she watched the scenery fly past her compartment window. This was the last time she would be riding the Hogwarts Express, but the importance of the event was totally lost on her at the moment. In fact, the only thing that she could feel was the complete feeling of helplessness and frustration. Ever since the incident at Diagon Alley she felt like she was running on borrowed time and Harry was coming closer and closer to the point of no rescue. She had wandered the Burrow aimlessly, wringing her hands as she waited for some sort of information concerning Harry and his secret location. There were daily reports, both from Mr. Weasley and from members of the Order, but none of them were able to get even the tiniest scrap of information concerning Harry's whereabouts. Ginny felt a little piece of her faith fade with each inconclusive report, but she felt in her heart of hearts that Harry would be alright as long as she never gave up loving him.

Ginny's thoughts were broken, finally, by the door of the compartment sliding open, allowing Ron and Hermione to enter. Hermione was more than within her rights to be on the train and would have rather died than miss her last ride to Hogwarts. Ron was another matter. Since he was not finishing his education, he really did not have any business riding the train. However, Professor McGonagall had extended him an invite once she had learned from Mrs. Weasley that Ron would be moving to Hogsmeade to take over the new branch of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. Ginny figured that Ron and Hermione's status as a couple may have played a small part in the invitation as well, but she kept that to herself.

As the two sat down across from her, Hermione broke the silence, "I can't believe that I'm finishing at Hogwarts."

"I can't believe you're finishing either," mumbled Ron a little too loud, earning a light slap from Hermione.

"Ow! That really hurt, Hermione!" Ron said rubbing his arm and looking a little too hurt for Ginny to believe him.

Concern suddenly washed across Hermione's face. "Oh, Ron, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Let me see if I can't make it feel better." With that, she took his arm in her hand and kissed the place she had slapped a moment before. "Is that any better?" she asked looking through her eyelashes.

Ginny noticed a very faint twitch of a smile playing at the corner of her brother's mouth. "A bit, I guess," he said hesitantly. "But I think my neck is hurting a little now."

"Oh no!" Hermione gasped as Ginny rolled her eyes. "Let me take care of that immediately!" She brought her mouth to Ron's neck and kissed gently. "Anywhere else?"

Ron paused, made a big show of thinking hard, then brought a finger to his cheek and onward to his lips.

Hermione blushed a bit before leaning forward to kiss Ron's cheek. When she moved to his lips however, Ron encircled his arms around her waist, pulling her into his lap and seizing the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Hermione sighed deeply as Ginny made retching sounds across the compartment.

"Come on you two! If I wanted to be privy to an explicit snog session I would listen to a soap opera instead of watching you two playing doctor!"

The couple broke apart reluctantly and turned their attention to Ginny. "Well, I think you just wish that it was you, little sister," Ron said with a smirk.

Ginny feigned a look of disgust before returning his smirk. "Ron that's disgusting! I would never want to snog with my own brother!"

Hermione giggled as Ron blushed, realizing the implications of what he had just said. He tried to recover. "You know what I mean! You wish you had someone to get intimate with."

Ginny gave him an evil grin. "Oh don't worry, brother dear. I'm saving up for the right moment with a certain someone. And then, believe me, you will see a new meaning for the word intimate."

Ron gasped, blushing beet red once again, which caused Ginny and Hermione both to let out peals of laughter. Just then, the food trolley came by, distracting Ron and the others from anything other than their rumbling stomachs.

Once they had eaten more than what was probably good for them, Ginny found herself thinking about Harry again. She sighed sadly as she tried to understand why he chose to act the way he did. He always seemed to want to push others away, even those who truly wanted to help him. She figured that this probably had something to do with the way that he was raised by those horrid Muggle relatives of his. Of course, this was just speculation on her part because Harry had never really discussed much of his past with anyone, let alone her.

"He had been close though," she thought to herself. This was true. In their short time as a couple, she had been successful in drawing him out of his shell more and more. She found that the easiest way to do this was to just be there for him, showing him nothing but love and a willingness to listen without judging him. That was how she had been able to get him to talk about Sirius' death. It seemed to help him with his internal struggles a little, yet she could sense that there was still a wall that she could not break down. Harry seemed to possess an inhuman ability to suppress his emotions, well, except for his anger. As far as she could remember, she had never seen him express anything other than anger. It was almost as if a thick blanket covered everything, making it seem dull and muted.

Almost as if on cue, the necklace on her neck gave a tiny jump and began to radiate heat, much like it had the previous two times. Ginny was quick to inform her friends this time. "Guys, it's happening again. The necklace is getting warm!" The other two quickly moved to either side of her, Hermione with an interested look on her face.

"Ginny, I want to study this necklace as it reacts. Would you please take it out from under your shirt?"

Ginny nodded slowly and pulled the necklace out from under her t-shirt. Astoundingly, it was pulsating with a crimson red light. The trio was stricken speechless, but Hermione was the first to recover. Slowly she reached out to take the emerald pendant in her hand. As soon as her fingers brushed the gem, however, a bright light shot out and struck her, causing her to jerk her hand back.

"Ow! It shocked me!" she said before sticking her fingers in her mouth.

Apparently Ron had had enough. "Ginny, take that thing off now! There is something seriously bad about that necklace."

Ginny complied at once, reaching behind her neck to undo the clasp. Much to her confusion and slight fear, the clasp was nowhere to be found. "Where did the clasp go? All that's back there is a solid chain!"

Suddenly, the burning sensation coming from the necklace amplified, causing Ginny to cry out. Ron immediately grabbed the necklace to try and find the clasp, receiving a shock just like Hermione had. He jerked back in pain trying to figure out what to do. "I know, Ginny! Just pull it off over your head!"

Ginny nodded, starting to feel a wellspring of horror rising from the pit of her stomach along with the feelings of anger radiating from Harry's gift. Unfortunately, it appeared that the necklace was not going to cooperate in this manner either. Every time she started to pull the necklace over her head, the chain would get smaller and smaller, keeping her from even getting it over her nose. Defeated, she let it fall back into place around her neck. "I can't! The necklace won't let me take it off!"

Hermione, who had been studying the situation, suddenly spoke. "Ginny… I think that you are never going to be able to get it off. At least not for some time."

Ginny whirled to stare incredulously at her best friend. "What do you mean I might never be able to take it off?"

Hermione's expression was thoughtful. "I can't say for certain just yet, but I think that your necklace is infused with very deep and ancient magic. I've only run across mentions of this once or twice, but I think that the necklace has bonded itself to you."

Ginny and Ron's eyes grew wide. "Bonded to me? What does that mean?" Ginny was having trouble keeping her voice steady through the haze of emotions radiating from the emerald.

Hermione's eyes glazed over as she searched for information within her mind. "If my memory serves me well, I believe it means that the necklace will only respond to you and will punish anyone who tries to remove it from your person. Usually they won't allow the wearer to remove them without a special word or phrase as well."

"So that means I just have to live with the horrible things that it does from time to time?" Ginny asked despairingly.

"Well as soon as we get to Hogwarts, I'm going to see if I can find more information about this type of thing in the library. Who knows, maybe there will be a way to get it off of you neck." Hermione tried to maintain an optimistic tone.

Ginny sighed as she felt the heat start to fade from the necklace, noticing that Ron was muttering darkly to himself. Knowing what he was probably thinking, she put a hand on his arm. "Ron, it's not Harry's fault that this is happening."

Ron was somewhat taken aback that his sister could read him so well. "But he gave it to you as a gift. He had to have known what it does."

Ginny shook her head. "No he doesn't know. All he was able to get out of the person he bought it from was that it wasn't an object of dark magic. Besides, it could very well be a blessing in disguise."

Ron was even more bewildered by this statement. "How do you get that?"

"Well, if it wasn't for this necklace, I wouldn't have seen Harry and known that he was in trouble."

Ron shook his head in wonder. "Ginny you are hard to get sometimes, you know that?"

Ginny just smiled kindly at her brother. "What's a girl to do if she can't be mysterious sometimes?"

Hermione took this moment to speak up again. "Ginny, I noticed that you didn't react as violent to the necklace this time. Are you developing a resistance to it?"

Ginny thought for a second before shaking her head. "No. I think it affects me the same. It's just that the emotions I normally feel were a lot weaker this time. They were still powerful, but not as much as they had been previously."

"What do you think that means?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure. It might mean that Harry is getting better, but then again perhaps it means he is getting worse."

The three fell silent as they tried to comprehend the meanings behind Ginny's words. Minutes passed, and before that had realized it, the train was coming to a stop at their final destination. Ron stood and pulled the girls' trunks down as they gathered together their things. Once outside the train, they segregated themselves from the other students who were clamouring to get to the carriages.

"Be sure to take care of yourself, Ginny. Let someone know if things start to get crazy," Ron said as he gave her a rough hug.

Ginny returned the embrace. "And you make sure not to lose all of George's money at the shop."

Ginny had to jump out of the way as Hermione jumped into a startled Ron's arms, covering his face with kisses. "Be sure to take care of yourself, Ron, and write me often!" She sounded as if she was fighting back tears.

Ron put his arms around his girlfriend. "Blimey, Hermione, I'm just going to be in Hogsmeade. That's only a hop skip and jump from the castle. You can come see me any time you want."

"Really?" Hermione asked, giving him a shy look.

"Of course! Ron Weasley always has time for a pretty lady."

A sudden thought came to Hermione. "Does that mean there is more than one pretty lady?" There seemed to be a hint of steel in her voice.

Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I am a pretty popular guy… saving the world and all that jazz."

Hermione adopted a spread stance and shook her figure at the now grinning Weasley. "Ronald Weasley! If I find out that you are holding court with a bunch of idiotic female admirers I'm going to hex you into next week!"

Ron gave a great laugh and swept a protesting Hermione back into his arms. "Oh Merlin, Hermione! I love you and no, there are no other pretty ladies."

This seemed to appease Hermione and she proceeded to give Ron a very passionate kiss in response.

Ginny sighed and figured that she was going to have to once again break the couple up from their little kissing adventure. Surprisingly enough, Ron actually ended the kiss and set Hermione back on the ground. "Well I guess I better get on down to the village. We open up first thing in the morning and I need to get unpacked and all. Take care and come and visit me soon!"

With a wave and smile, Ron and his trunk disappeared, Apparating to the village.

Ginny turned to her best friend, who seemed to be fighting the sniffles. "Come on, Hermione. Let's get a carriage before we end up having to walk."

The two girls were able to get the last carriage and before they knew it, they were making their way down the road to Hogwarts for their final year of school. Both of them remained silent for the ride, content merely to be in each other's company as a river of memories flowed thick between them.

Ginny would always remember the first feast of her last year at Hogwarts. The Great Hall was packed as usual, and the mood had been joyful as could be understood considering the outcome of the war a few months ago. The house elves saw that the food was abundant and of the highest quality, but no matter what food she put in her mouth, it all seemed to taste like ashes. Ginny decided about halfway through the feast that there was no point in eating and instead resigned herself to taking small sips from her pumpkin juice.

Professor McGonagall, now the Headmistress of Hogwarts, had been watching Ginny through the entire feast. She knew that Miss Weasley had undergone a great deal of stress lately, what with the death of her brother Fred, and now this frightful mess concerning Harry Potter. She knew that Ginny would need someone to keep a close eye on her as she worked to come to terms with events as of late. Minerva decided that she would have to have a talk with Hermione Granger and make sure that she understood that she needed to keep a watch on Ginny. But before any of that, the Headmistress needed to dismiss this rowdy bunch to their beds and have a little chat with Miss Weasley herself.

Once it looked like everyone had finished up their favourite deserts, McGonagall stood and addressed the crowd before her. "Students, I would like to welcome you once again to Hogwarts. I trust that you will find everything that had been set amiss from the events that transpired earlier this year have been put right. With that being said, I wish you all a good evening and good luck with your studies this term."

As one, the students got up from their places and began to make their way to their respective common rooms. Ginny and Hermione stayed seated, waiting for the majority of the crowd to die down. They were quite surprised when they noticed that Professor McGonagall had approached where they were sitting and turned to look at them.

"Miss Granger. Miss Weasley. It is good to see you back at Hogwarts this year."

Hermione smiled. "It's great to be back, Professor! Thank you so much for letting me come back to sit my NEWTs!"

McGonagall gave a small smile. "It's my pleasure. I knew you wanted to formally complete your education, and it wasn't a difficult thing to arrange." She then turned to Ginny. "Miss Weasley, might I speak with you for a moment in my office?" Ginny, unsure of what this meant, nodded and stood up.

Hermione gave her an encouraging smile. "Go ahead, Ginny, I'll meet you back in the common room. I'm going to run to the library to start looking for books for researching what we discussed earlier." With that she turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Excellent," said McGonagall. "Follow me to my office."

Ginny obediently fell into step behind the new Headmistress, a million thoughts racing through her mind. McGonagall was a member of the Order. Perhaps, they had found out where Harry was! She allowed this wild hope to soar in her chest.

Upon arriving at the stone gargoyle outside the Headmistress's office, McGonagall called out, "Chocolate Frogs." Immediately the statue sprang back and they ascended the staircase to the office.

"I felt that keeping the passwords sweet related was something of a tribute to Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall explained, noticing Ginny's quizzical look. Ginny smiled at this, remembering Dumbledore's legendary fondness for sweets.

Once inside her office, Ginny noticed that McGonagall had finally redecorated it to suit her tastes. It looked very much like her old Transfiguration office. Everything was neatly arranged and orderly. It had a few cushy chairs and throw rugs, which gave the room a homey, welcoming feel. The portraits of previous Hogwarts headmasters remained behind her desk, most of the inhabitants already asleep.

After motioning Ginny to take a chair, McGonagall sat down behind her desk. Seeing the direct route as the easiest to take, she plunged right in. "Miss Weasley, I want you to promise me that you won't do anything dangerous this year."

Ginny, caught somewhat off guard by the Headmistress's words, stammered a reply. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good," McGonagall seemed pleased. "Now there are some things I need you to do. First I need you to leave all this business concerning Harry Potter to those of us in the Order and the Ministry. This is your NEWTs year, and I can't stress how important that is for your future."

Ginny nodded, not trusting herself to speak for the tears that were brimming near the surface.

"Secondly," and with this, McGonagall's face softened, "I want you to trust me."

Ginny was once again startled by this request. "Professor?"

McGonagall continued, "I want you to trust me and inform me if Harry tries to contact you, or if you have visions of any sort. Also, I want you to trust me when I tell you that I will not keep you in the dark if something happens concerning him. We all know how much you care for young Potter, and I want you to know that I am going to do all I can to assist in finding him. So please rest easy and know that I am on top of the matter."

Suddenly, Ginny could control herself and burst into tears. On impulse, she stood and ran behind the desk to embrace a startled McGonagall. "Oh Professor! Thank you so much for your help! I don't know what I'd do if something bad happened to Harry."

McGonagall could only pat Ginny's head and quietly reassure her. "There, there now. I think that's enough for tonight. Why don't you go on to your dormitory and try and get some rest?"

Ginny nodded, giving the Headmistress a final thank you before turning and exiting the office.

Almost as if in a daze, Ginny found herself walking the familiar halls to the Gryffindor Tower. When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she realized that she didn't know the new password.

The Fat Lady seemed to notice this among other things. "Goodness gracious! You're the girl Harry Potter is smitten with! No password needed for you tonight, dearie. Go on in and get yourself some rest!" Ginny mumbled a thank you and stepped through the portal.

The common room was quiet since most of the students had already gone to bed. Ginny ignored everyone else and headed straight for the seventh-year dorm, ready to fall onto her bed and drift away into nothingness.

Upon entering her room she barely took time to recognize the fact that Hermione was sharing a dorm with her as they were now in the same year. Instead, she made for her bed, flinging herself upon it without even bothering to change into her pyjamas. She hoped that Hermione, who apparently hadn't returned from the library yet, would have the decency to wait to talk to her in the morning. If not, she might have to send a hex or two her way.

As she hovered on the verge of sleep, Ginny's mind wandered over the events of the past few weeks. The last image that she remembered was that heartbreaking vision of Harry in the mirror before he submitted to his rage. As she began to slide into sleep, her hand unconsciously drifted to take hold of the emerald on her necklace.

"It's okay Harry. I'm coming for you," she whispered and knew no more.