A/N: Lots of fun goodies at the end...but read the chapter first :) and dont forget to leave reviews or comments.

Chapter 26 – The Long Way Back

"Lily? James?" The man said in a hoarse voice, his eyes red as though he were in pain.

"Harry," Ron said from beside him on the floor, "It's him, its Sirius Black!"

Harry tensed and gritted his teeth.

He was standing an arms length away from the man who had been in his thoughts for the past year. Here was the man who killed his parents, his betrayal led to their death. Harry felt his chest ache and realised that he had stopped breathing.

"James?" the man said again a wild smile on his face that made Harry take a cautious step back.

He took a long deep breath his face turning away from the man in front of him as though the sight actually physically burnt him. His eyes rested instead on Ginny beside him, her face full of concern for him and her hand entwined in his own.

"No," Harry finally said in a hoarse voice, "You killed them."

He turned back to look at the man. Sirius Black stared at him, he opened his mouth but quickly shut it again when a Ron's rat Scabbers made a strange squeaking sound.

Sirius turned to face Ron.

"You," the insane man spat at Ron, "I'll kill you!"

Sirius lunged towards Ron but Harry pushed back and he heard the man shout in pain before collapsing to the floor. Harry stepped back, his mouth twitching in amusement despite the seriousness of the situation. His hand trembled as he pointed his wand at the man on the floor. It would be so easy just to kill him.

Harry felt a shiver run up his spine as the thought crossed his mind.

"Bleedin' Hell!" Sirius gasped as he writhed on the floor in pain.

"Plenty more where that came from you crazy loon," Ginny said pointing her wand at the man, "Stay away from my brother."

"Who the hell – " Sirus got up his slowly his hands in the air and stared at Ginny in disbelief, "Said anything about your brother, I was after the bloody rat!"

"What…you mean Scabbers?" Ron said with combination of disbelief and alarm.

"Ron, no," Hermione said trying to stop Ron from standing up from the floor.

"I'm fine Hermione," Ron replied though he draped his arm over her shoulder as he stood up from the floor.

Ron dropped his hand when he had righted himself and instead rested his weight against the wall beside him but he still stood protectively in front of Hermione.

Harry blinked at them for a moment.

"Er…Hermione…" He said slowly.

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry and Ginny jumped back in alarm when both their wands flew out of their hands.

"Remus!" Hermione said in relief, "Thank Merlin."

Lavender felt strange.

She licked her lips trying to dispel the strange metallic taste in her mouth.

She leaned back against the wall and allowed herself to slowly slide down the wall.

She heard the voices around her but they were muffled and sounded strange to her ears.

She felt her hand touch the floor and she moved her hand up to her chest, it felt like she was moving incredibly slowly, actually everything around her seemed to move slowly.

She felt a warm hand touch her face. She resisted the urge to close her eyes and looked up at the face in front of her.

She saw the girls mouth move, again as though in slow motion, but she couldn't understand what she was saying. Her head lolled to the side, she was so tired. She took a deep breath, but that was a mistake. Pain shot through her side like lightening.

Hermione had concerned when she noticed the girl behind her breathing in shallow breaths. She spared a look behind her while Ginny and Harry had their wands pointed at the man.

She saw Lavender slide down to the floor her hands moving towards her chest, pain etched on her face.

"You okay," she whispered to the girl as she knelt beside her.

Lavender didn't reply but she whimpered slightly when Hermione's hands touched her sides.

'Fractured rib bones,' Hermione realised, she spared one long at the others but considering Remus was with them now she wasn't that concerned, she turned attention back to Lavender.

She repaired the bone fractures as best she could but they would need Madame Pomfrey to check Lavender over when they got back to Hogwarts.

"Remus," Hermione interrupted the group, "She needs help."

"Right, you girls take Miss Brown and Ron back to school," Remus said breaking the icy glare between him and Sirius Black.

"Fat chance," Ron said instantly, "Ginny and Hermione can take Lavender back to school but I'm staying with Harry."

Hermione instantly jumped up from the floor and walked over to Ron.

"If Ron stays, I stay," she said simply.

She felt Ron's fingers entwine in hers and she had to stop herself from smiling up at him, she settled on squeezing his fingers.

Ginny felt all eyes turn to her.

'How bloody convenient.'

She knew it would be too much to ask Harry to display a similar sentiment on her behalf and instead she resigned herself to taking the unconscious Lavender back to school.

Ginny looked at the teacher with uncertainty but took her wand from his outstretched hands before levitating Lavender out of the room. She looked over her shoulder at Harry and the others before she made their way down the winding stairs.

She didn't want to leave them there, sure Remus was with them now but was it safe?

The instant she arrived at the Hogwarts school hospital, Ginny quickly retold the story to Madame Pomfrey and would have run out the door but felt something pull on her sleeve.

Ginny turned and saw that Lavender was looking up at her through half open eyes.

"Are you really Ginny Weasley?" Lavender whispered in a hoarse voice.

Ginny nodded her head at Lavender, she paused a moment in internal turmoil before moving to the nearby table for some water. She returned with the water and saw that Lavender was now moving around in a fevered fit.

"He's dead! He's going to die and its all my fault!" Lavender cried.

Ginny knelt down beside the bed and pushed Lavenders hair out her face. Lavender was extremly pale now and her bloodshot eyes streamed with tears.

"He was so nice to me," Lavender continued.

"It's okay, Ron'll be alright," Ginny lifted Lavender up in the bed and poured some of the water into the girls parched mouth.

After a few moments Lavender's eyes seem to clear and she looked at Ginny as though for the first time. She blinked at her several times before speaking.

"Oh, Ginny, I'm so sorry," Lavender grabbed Ginnys hands in both her own and looked up at her in desperation, "I was such a stupid bitchy cow to you and you didn't deserve any of it...I don't even know why I say half the things I do...."

More tears welled up in Lavender's eyes and Ginny felt pity for the girl for not the first time that day.

"It's alrigh-"

"It's not alright," Lavender cut her off vehemently, "I just say stuff because - because..."

Lavender released Ginnys hands from her vice like grip and stared out the nearby window.

"Well maybe becuase if I don't...no one will notice I exist."

She turned back to look at Ginny. She grabbed Ginny's hands again and looked at her pleadingly.

"But I'm not that person anymore, I dont want to be that girl...please let me show you that I can be different."

Ginny looked at her warily.

"I don't know..."

Lavender dropped Ginny's hands.

After a few moments of silence Ginny assumed Lavender had fallen asleep but the next instant Lavender opened her eyes to look at her.

"I'll show you...I'll show you that I can be different."

Ginny simply watched Lavender sleep all the while resisting the urge to run out the door to Harry.

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A/N: Gahh I know late as usual but seriously this chapter was giving me a headache 'cause I didnt want to re-write the whole chunck of POA as that would be boring for you and for me...ah well tell me what you think so far. You should know that I've pretty much cemented in my head how this story is going to end so that means it won't take me too much longer to write more :)

By the way, if anyone is interested in seeing the dress Hermione wore to the Christmas ball, you can see it at the link below, just replace the underscore _ with full stops for the link to work.

www_polyvore_com/cgi/set?id=3864529

There's also an image of what Hermione was planning on wearing while she waited for Ron to ask her to the ball.

www_polyvore_com/cgi/set?id=3864639

Now some replies/comments:

Emiko33333333: Thanks so much!

LostHeroine: Thanks!

newfoundwriter019: So glad you like it.

librartty74: Thank you for commenting.

HermioneGrangerTwin: I think a lot of people make that connection and I'd just think that James and Lily are all that Sirius has been thinking about these past few years, so the sight of Harry who looks like James and Ginny with flaming red hair would instantly make him think of his best friends.

Marauders_rox: Thanks lol hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

emmy1124: Oh yeah...well all will be revealed soon enough - are you intrigued? lol

TiffanyM: Good chills I hope :)

CutewithACapital-Q: I agree lol note the exit by Lavender and Ginny ;) But there was a point to her being there.

You'reTheMoon: Nothing too dramatic this chapter I'm afraid but don't you worry I have plenty ore ideas for your favourite couple

Avanell: Opps made you wait kinda a long time didnt I...really sorry but you know life commitments and such. I'm glad you like Lavender lol I actually hated her too but she just kinda developed this way on her own...my mind is a strange place indeed :)

Spicysweetchica101: WOW! Really? You're making me blush :) Thanks so much, comments like yours really encourage me to keep writing