The Ticking Life
Chapter — 2
After-Effects
It was eerily silent around her, as Ginny trudged down the stairs. She was doing her best to contain her fury. But still her mind was rolling around, unable to contain her anger.
And the most disturbing fact was, she didn't know what the source of her anger was. She had a shrewd idea, but somewhere deep inside she knew it wasn't the actual reason. Of course, the blathering idiot had infuriated her, but in truth he had only acted as wind to an already simmering fire.
After much of pondering, she knew the answer she had been seeking. And as much as she tried to deny it, she came to the conclusion that all of this was because of Hermione. She was the only one who was keeping Harry away from her; she was the only goddamned one keeping her Harry from her.
"Ginny!" A voice broke through her solitude. Ginny grumbled something incoherent, and turned around to find…
"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed in surprise. To say that she was shocked on finding Hermione here was an understatement.
"What are you doing here?" asked Ginny with a hint of jealousy, as the memories of Harry and Hermione started assaulting her brain. She had to refrain herself from swearing Hermione, such was the jealousy she was feeling.
"Ah…" sighed Hermione in defeat, "Madam Pomfrey… She is hovering all over Harry, kicked all of us out."
Ginny suddenly found herself having a newfound admiration for the matron, which she just couldn't describe. It was weird.
"Oh…" exclaimed Ginny in sympathy, even though her inside was shouting in delight, "Take that, bitch."
Ginny instantly felt bad but that feeling of guilt was short lived. She turned back to the stairs leading to the seventh year dorm rooms and had barely taken a step, when Hermione asked, "Where are you going, Ginny?"
"Where…" repeated Ginny in exasperation, "To meet Harry, isn't it obvious?" She glared at Hermione, with a frown on her face.
"Don't be so rude, Ginny," retaliated Hermione, "And they have sealed the Seventh Year dorm for a while, until they get assistance from St. Mungos…"
"What…" started Ginny, but Hermione continued on, like she hadn't heard her speak.
"… but…"
"Hermione cool-off for a second…" ordered Ginny, but Hermione didn't seem to be taking any heed of what Ginny was saying.
"… they have…"
"HERMIONE!" shouted Ginny, as anger seethed through her nerves, "Hold on for a second."
"What!" shot back Hermione in exasperation.
"Why have they shut off the seventh year dorm?" asked Ginny, as her hands curled around the business end of her wand, ready to hex the truth out of Hermione, "And why the hell are they relying on those stupid moronic ministry feet licker idiots?"
"I was telling you about that…" chastised Hermione, "If you would just listen."
"Okay… okay… my mistake," said Ginny, with a half-forced smile, "Now tell me what's going on?"
"Not here," said Hermione, glancing furtively around her. Ginny followed her gaze and saw that all the people around her were looking at someone, someone who was standing or sitting somewhere near her. She looked at Hermione quizzically and saw that she was blushing… hard.
Understanding dawned on her face; Hermione was a famous witch now, so of course she would be stared at, just like… Harry.
This thought fuelled a new spark of anger. She grasped Hermione's wrist in a tight grip and wrenched her away towards the Fat Lady, dragging Hermione alongside her.
"What…"
She didn't give any heeds to Hermione's complains, as she continued to pull Hermione, shoving away others who were blocking her way.
"Easy there," commented Fat Lady, but one scathing look from Ginny was all needed to turn the animated portrait still.
"Leave my hand, Ginny," said Hermione, wrenching her hand away. Dark red finger marks were smouldering on her skin.
Rubbing them, Hermione snarled, "Are you mad? Why did you do that?"
"Why do you care if I am," spat Ginny and said, "Just tell me what is happening in the dorms."
"First answer me," demanded Hermione roughly.
Ginny didn't answer; she just stared at Hermione. Various emotions played across her eyes; anger, hurt, fear… there was just no end to it.
"Answer me Ginny," said Hermione. Ginny contemplated her choices and came to the conclusion that giving Hermione a straight simple reply would be the best and the fastest way. She could curse the hell out of Hermione after she knew everything she needed to know.
"Yes I'm mad," Ginny answered in an affirmative, completely ignoring the second question, "Now bloody tell me what is happening on the seventh floor."
Hermione sighed in defeat and seemed to think of Ginny as a lost cause. Ginny tapped her feet in impatience as she waited for Hermione to explain. Her mental stability was dancing on the verge of madness.
"I honestly don't know," Hermione said, leaning against a wall, "Everything is in chaos. When I left Harry he was moaning and groaning, but Madam Pomfrey assured me that she would let me in again after she had performed a mandatory check-up. They are still waiting for correspondence from St. Mungos."
"You just don't know how to manage," said Ginny, even before her mind could completely process the information.
"What!" said Hermione without missing a beat, indignation and surprise written all over her face.
"You heard me," said Ginny, "You were never fit for Harry."
"What are you saying Ginny?" said Hermione looking at Ginny as if she had seen Ginny for the first time.
Ginny was now at that point that she didn't know what she was speaking. Just looking at Hermione, talking as if Harry belonged to her had flipped some kind of switch inside of her, a switch which couldn't be turned off now.
"You were never fit for him," Ginny said, "Merlin knows how he managed to drag your arse around for a year without getting caught."
"Ginny…" began Hermione in an unbelieving tone.
"Don't you 'Ginny' me," Ginny said and began as if there had been no distraction, "And when he needed some help, you just left him all alone in the clutches of others."
Hermione didn't reply; she just stared at Ginny with unbelieving eyes.
"Why?" Ginny said, "Why are you trying to take my Harry from me?"
"Your Harry?" said Hermione, looking confused, "You are not making any sense."
With a sharp whip, Ginny pulled out her wand and levelled it against Hermione's chest.
"I will not let you take him away from me," Ginny shrieked, her eyes looking in the future, a future she had built in her mind.
"I will not let you do that…"
"Ginny," began Hermione, raising her hands up in the air in a surrender position, "calm down. We can talk this over calmly. It's all a big misunderstanding, nothing more."
"Don't lie to me," spat out Ginny and red sparks flew out from the tip of her wand.
"I'm not," said Hermione, "I swear. Just listen me out and then if you want, you can do anything with me. Okay!"
"You are not lying, are you?" said Ginny, her eyes boring deep down in Hermione's eyes.
Ginny mind was now empty; nothing was there, absolutely nothing. Her heart felt lifeless, her mind empty; the only thing which was constantly telling her that she was alive was the forceful inhale of breath.
And with every thump of her heart against her chest, she wondered if the life after death was peaceful because she couldn't take it any more. Every second felt like an agonising century, every breath she took felt like someone was hammering nails in her lungs.
She always thought that obliviousness was the best remedy to any pain, but feeling obliviousness to this extent was causing her far greater pain than she thought was even possible, for she felt like everything in the world has gone away from her. Fred… her Mum… her Dad… her siblings… her friends and now, Harry.
Images of a broken-up Harry flashed in her mind, and her body convulsed with the spasm of pain lurching through her body. Her vision blurred but it didn't pull a reaction out of Ginny because she had long ago abandoned her senses.
Now she was locked in her very own small world, where everything was supposed to be good, but in reality, was worse.
A warm cocoon enveloped her body and slowly but surely she could feel warmth spreading in her body, trying to pull her out of her brooding.
She fought hard, trying to lock herself in her own hell because her hell was better than the hell the real world had become for her. Here, she didn't have to face the fresh assaults of the aftermath of the battle at every new turn. Here she only had to bear with her own problems, which always were solved without any big complications.
So she concentrated her mind, trying to expel the foreign warmth.
She didn't know what she did what she was finally able to achieve it. She could feel the stinging coldness again, which was slowly and surely claiming her body.
As she let herself get lost in the fathomless world of obliviousness, a sharp cry somehow penetrated the wards of her mind and resonated in her mind, ringing like bell in the deep silence.
"Don't do it, STOP!"
Ginny didn't even have time to comprehend what happened. All she knew was her eyes flew open and before her brain had the chance to visualise the sudden burst of light into images, all of it flashed in bright colours. She felt her mouth open and a stinging pain ran through her throat, as if she had suddenly shouted in a very loud voice.
But she couldn't have, she just couldn't have because there was no one in her world who would hurt her.
Then slowly, after-flashes of the sudden light burst melted into darkness, swirling and whirling with the blackness; in the very blackness which assured her that the pain would finally end.
Before she was lost in the absolute blissfulness of the darkness, she saw his smiling face on the other end, in the deeper end of this endless tunnel.
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HERMIONE'S PRESPECTIVE
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She was bewildered and that was the understatement of the century. She knew something was wrong with Ginny from the way she was behaving; she was spacing out a lot and giving her frightening and creepy stares which made shiver run down her back.
But this… she would have never expected in her wildest nightmare. Ginny had leveled her wand against her chest looking quite deranged. The look she was giving her now paled Bellatrix Lestrange most deranged look by many degrees. It wouldn't have surprised Hermione if Ginny suddenly shouted the Killing Curse.
And she instantly knew that trying to reason her with brutal force would only complicate the situation.
So she raised her hands in a surrender position and said,
"Ginny… calm down. We can talk this over calmly. It's all a big misunderstanding, nothing more."
"Don't lie to me," Ginny spat out and red sparks flew out of her wand. Hermione's hand automatically twitched for her wand, but somehow she managed to suppress that instinctive reaction of her, hoping that Ginny didn't see her little reaction. It wouldn't do any good to complicate the situation further.
"I'm not," said Hermione, "I swear, just listen me out and then if you want, you can do anything with me. Okay!"
But Hermione was not ready for handing herself to Ginny if she didn't agree or understand. If it came to that, Hermione was willing to use violence to drill some sense in her head. From the start of their little conversation, Ginny had been acting like a lunatic and to top it off, she had been babbling something about her and Harry.
"You are not lying, are you?" said Ginny, her eyes boring deep down in Hermione's eyes.
Hermione stared right back in her eyes and was relieved to see that her eyes were now a little soft. There was a spark of understanding in her eyes and were less dead than before.
But then suddenly, Ginny's eyes went blank… they lost every speck of life. Her wand arm which had been pointed at her chest fell limply to her side and her knees buckled. Her knees crashed in the hard floor with a smash, but she didn't respond to the sudden collision. In fact, she didn't respond to anything.
Too shocked to speak, Hermione just rushed to her side and pulled her in a hug. She was further shocked when she saw tears running down her cheeks. The brown eyes which always gave the impression of melted chocolate looked like sun-cracked soil now; there was no sign which could tell that these eyes belonged to a living person.
Hermione hugged her tight again, whispering words of comfort in her ears, patting her head slowly and lovingly.
She didn't know how much time passed as she continued patting and hugging her, but she was sure it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Then suddenly, Ginny let out an anguished cry and pushed Hermione away with all her strength.
Befuddled, Hermione couldn't hold her balance as she fell down on the floor with a thump. She stared at what should have been the face of Ginny Weasley, the feisty petite girl but was now only a bad impersonation of it.
And even though it was the same face, Hermione just couldn't bring herself to associate the past Ginny with the Ginny she was seeing now.
The wand arm which hung limply till some seconds ago suddenly sprang up again and this time, Hermione was scared… scared of many things… scared of —
"What happened, Miss Hermione?" a concerned voice reached her ears.
But, Hermione couldn't care less. The whole world has suddenly shrunk down for her.
"Mi—what's this?" the concerned voice suddenly took an alarmed note in the middle of the sentence. As Hermione's ingenious mind quickly solved the puzzle, the voice had already shouted,
"Stupefy!"
"Don't do it, STOP!" Hermione shouted, shouted like a woman who was desperately trying to save her child.
But it was too late. Even before the first syllable had left her lips, the spell had already been dispatched for its target.
Hermione's hand fumbled for her wand, trying desperately to get a hold of it. But on the other hand, the spell target was unconcerned; if anything Ginny was looking a little happier now, happier in an eerie, almost blood curdling way.
Hermione was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the barrage of spells running towards Ginny nor did she hear the cries of the spell casting.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The sudden cry of pain pulled Hermione out of her reverie and her head whipped in the direction of the shriek.
And her eyes almost popped out of their holes; Ginny body was lit with spells fires. The approaching jet of lights made halos around Ginny. If this wasn't such a dire situation, Hermione would have marvelled the way the halo made Ginny look more beautiful.
Before she knew it, Hermione's wand was in her hand as her hands turned into a whirl of colour. She desperately cried 'Protego!' again and again while tears trailed down her cheeks shimmering with the faint light of the spell fires.
She stood there, protecting… defending the one she cared about. Exhaustion she had been so adamantly been denying for the past hours started to grasp at her consciousness her but still she fought it with every breath.
In some seconds, the barrage of spell ended but Hermione's desperate attempt at saving Ginny didn't. She stilled flicked and swished her wind as her throat grew coarser and coarser by every repetition of 'Protego!'
"Hermione," an alarmed cry reached her ears and before she had the time to gauge a reaction out of her already stupefied brain, warm hands engulfed her from behind, successfully stopping her ballistic reaction.
"What happened?" the voice asked her, "I heard a co —"
The voice faltered in the middle and suddenly cried out in an eardrum bursting octave,
"Ginny!"
As soon as the support of the warm entity left her, Hermione fell down.
She saw a man crouching down, where Ginny was laying, lost in her own world.
Fresh batch of tears leaked out of her eyes, as Hermione stared in space.
"Hermione, Hermione," came a frantic voice. Someone shook her from head to toe. But by now, she was devoid of energy.
But the truth was, she didn't want to open her eyes and face the world. Everything was so calm in the darkness, like there wasn't a thing which was wrong in the world.
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GINNY'S PRESPECTIVE
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Ginny cracked open her eyes.
Everything was blurry and she could feel whole of her body throbbing with the pain. Her memory of the past couple of hours was quite hazy.
But surprisingly, she didn't care even though she felt like she was forgetting something, something very important.
"Hey Ginny," came a sweet voice, breaking through the fog which had gripped her mind.
Ginny reacted to the voice. Her eyes, which until a moment ago were drooping low, snapped open and even though everything was still blurry, she still desperately tried to stare at the face of the owner of the voice.
"What happened Ginny?" the same voice spoke again, worry evident in its voice.
"H — Ha — Harry," Ginny croaked out, her voice barely an octave above a whisper.
"Yes," the voice replied in affirmative.
Ginny smiled and closed her eyes; the mere thought of being near Harry making her mind calm as morning wind. Ginny rubbed her head against the soft pillow as she felt the last shred of sleep sinking back into depths.
She opened her eyes again after some time and saw two sparking green eyes, looking at her lovingly.
"Harry?" she tentatively said.
"Yes?" replied Harry, without missing a beat.
"You are really here, aren't you?" she said, "It is not a dream, is it?"
"Even if it is," said Harry, bending to kiss her forehead, "let's not wake up ever again."
"Yeah," Ginny said, savouring the touch of Harry's lips on her forehead, "I like your idea."
"Mr. Potter?" came a voice, barging into their private moment.
Ginny internally fumed; why can't anyone give us more than some moments?
"Yes Madam Pomfrey," said Harry.
"Is Ginny awake?" Madam Pomfrey enquired.
"Yes," replied Harry, "she just woke up a moment ago. What about Hermione?"
"She is still asleep," Madam Pomfrey sighed resignedly and looked away.
"What happened?" asked Harry, worry evident in his voice.
"Nothing Harry," Madam Pomfrey said, "It's just that Ron refuses to take Dreamless Sleep Potion and he looks dead on his feet."
"He is just worried about Hermione," said Harry in a resigned voice; it seemed as Harry had tried to talk some sense into Ron but with no success.
"But it wouldn't do any of us any good if he ends up in a hospital bed because of his stubbornness," explained Madam Pomfrey.
"That's Ron for you," Ginny said, crooking a smile.
"Ah…" said Madam Pomfrey, as if she had just taken notice of Ginny, "How are you feeling now? Do you feel pain or any kind of throbbing in any part of your body?"
"Let me check," Ginny said dramatically, a teasing smile gracing her lips, "Every part of my body is groaning in pain."
"Thank Merlin for that," said Madam Pomfrey smiling, "I would have been concerned if you have said that you were feeling fine."
Ginny laughed and it felt like she was laughing after quite a bit of time.
"I will leave you two alone now," said Madam Pomfrey and then she levelled her gaze at Harry and said, "And you young man, don't overexert yourself; your wounds are still tender."
Harry nodded but Ginny was slightly confused because of her hazy memory.
After some stressing, Ginny remembered all that had happened today, all the pain she had went through.
"Harry," she suddenly began, "how are you?"
"I'm fine," said Harry, waving off her concern. But Ginny was not satisfied.
"You sure don't look fine to me," complained Ginny, pointing at the bandages which were draped around Harry's head.
"See who's talking," said Harry smiling, "You are more injured than me."
"Don't be so stubborn," said Ginny, trying to pull herself in a sitting position. But Harry forced her back down.
"Don't overexert yourself Ginny," said Harry, "after all that stunning spells you took, it's a miracle that you are still conscious."
"Stunning spells?" repeated Ginny.
"Yes," said Harry shaking his head ruefully, "Do you honestly not remember anything?"
"Nope," replied Ginny, looking at Harry with confusion, "What happened exactly?"
"No one knows," said Harry, "When Ron was strolling in the seventh floor corridors he heard some commotion. He went to enquire and saw Hermione erecting shields around you like she has lost every sense of reasoning and you just lied on the ground, still as a statue, most probably unconscious. So to conclude, it seems as Hermione is the only one who could shed some light over this matter."
"But then," Ginny began remembering Harry's conversation with Madam Pomfrey, "what happened to Hermione?"
"That again, no one knows," said Harry with a resigned sigh, "When Ron looked at Hermione after checking if you were alright or not, he found her sprawled across the floor, unconscious."
"Is she alright?" asked Ginny worry evident in her voice.
"Yes," said Harry, "Madam Pomfrey said that she was just exhausted."
Silence surrounded them but the silence this time felt soothing somehow.
"So," began Ginny, not knowing what she would say next.
"Hmm…" Harry hummed, stroking her hair.
"What about the others?" asked Ginny.
"Whom?" asked Harry in response.
"Others who are injured," said Ginny.
"They are being treated in St Mungos," said Harry nonchalantly.
"St Mungos?" said Ginny, surprise evident in her voice.
"Yes St Mungos," said Harry smiling, "I hope you do remember what St Mungos is."
"I know that," said Ginny pouting, "but the last I checked, there was no response from them."
"Let's just say," said Harry smiling, "Kingsley is not the kind of Wizard you would like to face when he is angry and top it off with Professor McGonagall's anger…"
"I can picture it," said Ginny.
"Then where are we?" asked Ginny suddenly, looking at the surroundings.
"In seventh year boy's dorm," said Harry, "This is the bed I was resting in before you snatched it from me."
"Don't be so melodramatic," said Ginny, slapping Harry's torso.
Silence again surrounded them, but like before, the silence was pleasant.
"How is everyone coping?" asked Ginny. She needed to know how others were coping.
Harry didn't reply immediately as he seemed to be lost in thought.
The silence was not intimidating or depressing and even if it was, she was too busy to notice it. Her mind was still filled with the afterimages of the war… of suffering people… of dead bodies… of an injured Harry…
"I don't know," said Harry with a long resigned sigh, "They are not letting me go out of the room; they say I am still too weak."
"And they are right," said Ginny firmly.
"Not you too Ginny," said Harry shaking his head ruefully.
"Why not?" said Ginny, "You have risked your life enough already."
"What about the others?" asked Harry, his cheeks turning red with anger.
"Even if everyone here combines the sacrifice they have made," said Ginny, pushing Harry's hands away to sit up, "it will still only make for a meagre percentage of what you have sacrificed till now."
"You are just exaggerating Ginny," said Harry, looking away from her.
Ginny held Harry's face in her hands, and forced him to look in her eyes.
"Listen Harry," said Ginny, "You have done enough, it was never your duty and still you went out and went through Merlin-Knows-What troubles to help us."
"I was just fulfilling my destiny," said Harry, "Nothing more."
"And who said that?" said Ginny.
"Didn't you ever read Daily Prophet?" said Harry, "They got it right that time; I was The Chosen One as I am sure you know. It was my destiny to defeat Voldemort —"
"No it wasn't," said Ginny, "You just made it yours. I heard about all the prophecy shit from Order members and from what I gathered, you always had the choice of hiding."
"What good would have come out of that?" said Harry, his hands curling into a ball.
"That's not the point here," said Ginny, "All I want to say is, you went out of your way to protect others and now you have done it, your job is finished. And even if it was your destiny, you have completed it, your part is done."
Ginny paused, waiting for a rebuttal from Harry. When none came, she sighed and said, softly than before,
"You are the last one who needs to worry about anything."
"But I can't help it," said Harry, "When I see all the destruction that has happened, I feel helpless. If only I have given myself to Voldemort sooner —"
"Don't you dare utter anything more," said Ginny, pressing her palm on his lips.
"Don't you dare," repeated Ginny as tears started to leak out of her eyes.
And a moment later, a fresh batch of tears started to leak out of her eyes as images from past night started to assault her mind. Her bodies shook with the sobs which she has been trying to suppress from all this time.
She buried her head in Harry's chest, using his warmth to confirm that he was still here that it was not a sweet dream that will end as soon as she woke up.
"Shh… Ginny," whispered Harry, "Don't cry, everything is alright."
She desperately wanted to believe him but a sinister voice in the back of her mind kept reminding her all she had lost, of all she had nearly lost.
So she clung to Harry like her very life depended on it, she clung to him like a scared little child clings to her mother.
She didn't remember for how much time she cried in his chest or when sleep finally over flew her to peacefulness.
Ginny opened her eyes because of the loud noises that were playing around her.
"What's going on?" complained Ginny, pulling herself in a sitting position.
"Nothing," said someone and Ginny thought that she recognised the voice. But not wanting to stress her mind, Ginny ignored it and started looking around her surroundings.
She soon noticed that Harry was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around.
"He has gone out for something," said Charlie.
"Why did you let him go outside?" Ginny shouted at Charlie, her good mood dispersing in a moment, "You know he will just fret over the situation and blame himself for all the troubles other are going through."
"You can't stop a bloke like Harry," complained Charlie, "And there is absolutely no chance to stop him when Professor McGonagall and Kingsley are the one who have come to pick him up."
Ginny sighed, feeling resigned. She was now a little relieved at the very least; surely Kingsley and Professor McGonagall wouldn't let that idiot do something reckless.
"So how are things going around there?" asked Ginny, propping her legs against the bed.
"Better than before," said Charlie, "that's for sure. St Mungos finally agreed to help us."
"How did that happen?" asked Ginny. She remembered Harry telling her the same thing but he was too vague.
"I don't know the specific myself," said Charlie looking a little irritated, as if the mere idea of being in darkness offended him, "but from what I have come to hear, Kingsley and Professor McGonagall literally threatened St Mungos head and if rumours are to be believed, Professor McGonagall even transformed him into a mouse."
"Really?" asked Ginny laughing.
"Yes," said Charlie laughing.
After a pause Charlie began, in a little graver tone, "But everyone is still in a trauma, especially the people who had lost someone. But overall, everything is slowly but surely progressing."
"What about Mum and Dad?" asked Ginny tentatively.
"Dad is coping and trying to put on a brave face for all of us," said Charlie and this time his voice sounded close to tears, "But I know he is as broken as everyone else. The only thing which is keeping all of us going is Cheering Potion and Calming Draught, otherwise I don't think any of us would have been able to behave like we are behaving now."
"What about Mum?" asked Ginny again.
"Mum…" Charlie sighed, "She is the worst among all of us. None of the potion seems to affect her much and we are scared to give her a large dose, fearing side-effects."
"Where is she now?" asked Ginny.
"She is resting in Professor McGonagall's room," said Charlie, staring out of the window.
"I need to go and visit her," said Ginny, jumping to her feet. Her feet protested and a stinging pain ran through them. Her knees wobbled and if it wasn't for Charlie, she would have crashed in the floor.
"Easy there," said Charlie while helping Ginny to sit on the bed.
"What happened to my legs?" said Ginny in a panicky voice.
"Nothing," said Charlie, "you just got a little beaten up —"
"What!" exclaimed Ginny in surprise.
"Yes Ginny," said another voice.
Ginny turned her head to look in the general direction of the voice and saw Hermione standing there.
"Hermione," exclaimed Ginny in happiness as she jumped out of the bed, forgetting for a moment about the tender condition of her legs.
SLAM.
This time, Charlie's concentration was on some other point and Ginny's knees came crashing on the floor.
"Ouch," Ginny yelped while massaging her knees. Hermione laughed as she supported Ginny in a standing position.
"Such a helpful brother you are," Ginny said scathingly, glaring at Charlie. Charlie laughed loudly, ruffled Ginny's hair and turned to Hermione.
"What brings you here Hermione?" asked Charlie, plonking on a nearby chair.
"Nothing Charlie," said Hermione, "It's just that others think you might need some rest; you have done enough already."
"But there's still much left to do," said Charlie, heaving a deep sigh.
"You boys are all like," said Hermione shaking her head, "But you listen to me Charlie Weasley, if you dare get out of the bed before morning, I will have you tied to a bed for a week in the very least."
Charlie laughed and said,
"Okay Mum. I'll go to the bed after I check some thing."
Ginny couldn't follow the conversation, it felt completely out of place. She had never seen Charlie and Hermione behave like this, like they didn't have a care in this world. She would have expected them to be in shock or at the very least, be sad. She stared at both of them, and wondered if it was the work of Cheering Potion.
She looked at Hermione's face and saw dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was a mess and that was putting it lightly. Even though there was a smile on her lips, her face seemed dead. If Ginny didn't know better, she would have said that she wasn't Hermione.
And Charlie wasn't an exception. He looked worse if possible.
"Ginny," said Hermione, shaking Ginny's shoulder.
"What?" asked Ginny as she was pulled out of her reverie.
"You are spacing out," said Hermione.
"What's happening Hermione?" Ginny asked, looking deep in Hermione's eyes.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, staring at Ginny with a quizzical look on her face.
"You damn well know," said Ginny firmly, grabbing Hermione's shoulder.
Hermione sighed and looked away.
"Hermione," said Ginny, "why these fake smiles? Why? We all know what we are going through, so why does everyone think there is a need for faking smiles, for faking laughter."
Hermione didn't reply as she continued to look away from her.
"Hermione, answer me!" screeched Ginny, forcing Hermione to look at her.
"For…" Hermione weakly began, "For others and above all, for Harry."
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny, her grip on Hermione's shoulder loosening.
"You know what I mean," said Hermione in a weak voice, her voice barely above a whisper, "We all know he is a big brooder, always worrying himself sick over others and their problems. So none of us wants to let him see all the pain we are going through. And that's why everyone was trying their best to establish a contact with St Mungos. We wanted to move all of the injured out, away from Harry's sight."
"But why?" asked Ginny, "One day or another, Harry is going to find out about this."
"We know," said Hermione, "But we are just trying to prolong the inevitable. You know why Harry fell down the stairs."
"No," Ginny answered back in a whisper, without loosing a beat.
"We don't know for sure ourselves," said Hermione, "but I have formulated a little theory."
Hermione paused at this point and Ginny held her breath in anticipation. When Hermione didn't speak up further, Ginny whispered in an urgent voice,
"Continue Hermione."
Hermione hesitated for a moment before continuing. It looked as if Hermione thought that the information might be too much for Ginny.
"I - and Ron too - think that Harry was affected by the sight of all those dead bodies," said Hermione her eyes getting a blank look as if she was lost in memories.
The silence stretched for a while and when Ginny was thinking that she might have to force Hermione to continue, Hermione spoke up.
"Harry was almost ready to die from guilt as he saw people crying over dead bodies and injured moaning in pain."
"But everyone was cheering," intercepted Ginny in a weak voice.
"Mourning is always done in privacy," said Hermione with a sad smile on her lips, "while people tend to show their happiness a little too much."
Silence stretched on and this time Ginny was not happy with it. She already knew what Hermione told him, but hearing it coming from others lips somehow made it more real, more daunting and scarier.
"But Madam Pomfrey thinks that it just happened because of exhaustion but we all know that Harry is not one of those who bow easily in front of exhaustion. But combine it with the tremendous amount of guilt Harry must have been feeling and it feels possible."
"But wouldn't Madam Pomfrey theory be more acceptable," said Ginny, "After all the dead body Harry have seen, no one will believe your theory."
"But we know better," said Hermione, "we know Harry better than most. How do you think it would have affected Harry, the same Harry who locked himself away after Sirius death, who blamed himself for Cedric's death."
For this comment, Ginny had no reply. She just stared at Hermione's blankly, while her mind was in frenzy, trying to digest all the information that Hermione had given him.
"And as you have known by now," said Hermione, "St Mungos accepted to help us under the immense pressure of Order and Hogwarts staff."
Ginny nodded; so Kingsley and Professor McGonagall represented Order of the Phoenix and Hogwarts staff respectively.
"And you know why did they took this dangerous method?" asked Hermione. Ginny shook her head even though she had quite an idea.
"There are many reasons," said Hermione and Ginny had to bite back her tongue to stop herself from shouting, 'Enough with the suspense; just tell me already.'
"But the two most prominent ones are," said Hermione, glaring at Ginny as she opened her mouth to speak, "Reporters have surrounded Hogwarts and are trying to enter the castle to get an exclusive interview from anyone who have as much as seen the fight and it was causing quite a bit of disturbance and the second one was, the effect of potion's on Harry was starting to wear off. This worried Kingsley and Professor McGonagall, as they didn't want Harry to see the actual extent of the damage."
Hermione paused and took a deep breath while Ginny cursed herself and called herself many names in her mind. She had thought that the war would have some effect on Hermione but she was sadly mistaken. If anything, she was speaking more than ever.
But she was glad too, glad that something never change, no matter what happens.
"So…" said Hermione again, "Any questions?"
"None," said Ginny with an unmistakable sigh of relief.
Silence surrounded them again. Silence stretched on, none of the two making a move to break it.
"Huh…" Hermione sighed.
"Hey Hermione," said Ginny suddenly, turning to look at Hermione, "how did I ended up here?" She finished, pointing at the bed she was sitting on.
"Well… erm…" Hermione hesitated and it only provoked Ginny to enquire further.
"Just tell me," said Ginny, "it's not like I will kill you if you tell me. But the opposite can be quite plausible."
"You don't want to know," sighed Hermione, staring deep in Ginny eyes.
"You know Hermione," said Ginny pointedly, "it only makes me all the more interested in knowing what happened."
Hermione stayed silent and Ginny while waiting for a response from her, bored holes in Hermione's body.
"Fine," said Hermione after a long stretch of silence, looking quite annoyed, "Around a dozen people aimed at you, most probably to kill you or at least put you in a life-threatening condition."
"That don't sound so good," said Ginny after giving a long hard stare at Hermione, making sure that she wasn't joking, "But why so?"
Hermione's cheeks flamed red with embarrassment as she fumbled with words.
"Err… Be — ec… because…"
"Yes…" Ginny encouraged.
"… of me," whispered Hermione in a barely audible voice.
"What?" said Ginny reflexively as what Hermione said started to register in her mind.
"WHAT!"
Hermione sighed as if she had expecting it.
"Yes."
"And why do you think so?" asked Ginny, her cheery countenance replaced by a sour one.
"Your wand was pointed at me," said Hermione who seemed to be more at ease now, "You" — ("Why would I do that?" shouted Ginny in a revolted tone, flailing her hands in air,) — "were behaving like a lunatic, blabbering and yelling about Merlin-knows-what."
"I didn't…" said Ginny as her mind tried it's best to resurface the forgotten memories. She was so lost in her memories that she didn't even notice Hermione shaking her and calling out her name.
And it fruited in the end as her slightly hazy memories of the past hours cleared.
As the memories got clearer and clearer, Ginny face turned redder with embarrassment.
Now standing there with Hermione, Ginny couldn't comprehend what could have driven her to take such drastic measure. There was no way Hermione would try to steal Harry from her.
"Well…" said Ginny.
"What?" said Hermione, giving Ginny a quizzical look.
"Let's get out of here," Ginny said in a loud voice; she was desperate to change the topic now. Trying to stand up by taking support of the side of bed, Ginny said to Hermione,
"I'm feeling suffocated here in this room."
Ginny prayed that she was persuasive enough.
"But I would rather sleep and rest."
"Well," said Ginny her mind whizzing around trying to come with a worthy retaliation, "I've been holed up in the Burrow and Hogwarts for about a year. So I think it's quite acceptable that I'm feeling kind of suffocated here."
"I understand," said Hermione in a weak voice, "but…"
"No 'buts' Hermione," said Ginny, "Won't you help your injured friend who got injured because of you."
"Hey!" exclaimed Hermione in a revolted tone, her eyes glinting with a menacing glint, "it was all your fault to begin with. Don't blame me for something you did,"
Ginny sighed internally; maybe she stretched her luck a little too much.
"But you get my point," said Ginny, as she bent down to show her weariness, "I want some fresh air."
"But…" began Hermione.
"Please!" said Ginny in the most pathetic way she could muster.
"Fine," huffed Hermione looking half annoyed and half resigned. She took Ginny's hand and marched off to the door all the while muttering darkly under her breath.
Ginny didn't dare ask what she was muttering for she felt it might be dangerous for her health to do so.
As they walked down to the grounds, Ginny saw that the scene of chaos was very much at control now. Most part of the broken walls were being patched up or were already fixed, the broken stairs were more or less fixed. Even though the scars left on Hogwarts by the war were still more than visible, there was definitely a progress.
"When did this happen?" asked Ginny, looking over Hermione's shoulder.
"Nothing much has happened," said Hermione, "These are all just temporary solutions. Order fears that there must be some Death Eaters at large and they don't want to take any chances. Hence the precautions."
"But," said Ginny, "still it is a big feat; I mean Hogwarts looked in tatters just some hours ago. But at least now it looks a little more solid."
"Well," said Hermione, "many people helped…"
"Okay. But weren't you knocked out cold when this happened?" asked Ginny curiously because she was sure Hermione and she were knocked out around the same time.
"Yeah," said Hermione, "but words travel fast."
"Yeah…" said Ginny and before she had the time to say more, Hermione spoke,
"Well, here's your Mum sleeping. Want to see her?"
Ginny just nodded because a sudden lump in her throat had snatched away her ability to speak. Hermione pushed the oak door open and they entered the dimly lit room.
In the middle of the room, on a poster bed her Mum slept like a log, or at least she appeared to. As Ginny neared, she could see the faint traces of worry lines on her Mum's forehead. Ginny traced them smoothly, trying to smooth them out but to no avail.
She could feel the now familiar sting of tears biting at the corner of her eyes as her breath hitched ever so slightly. The room felt like it was compressing down on her with all its might.
"Let's go Hermione," said Ginny in an urgent whisper as her knees wobbled. The room swam in her views and she could feel sob building in her lungs.
"But…" began Hermione. But Ginny turned to look at her, her eyes brimming with tears.
Hermione became silent at this as she literally dragged Ginny out of the room for Ginny had stopped walking, letting herself be dragged by Hermione.
Ginny mind was filled with the images from a few hours past, of her hysterical Mum… of the broken-up families…
Ginny shook her head, trying to dispense these thoughts.
"Hey Ginny," said Hermione, "Want to go in the ground for a stroll?"
Ginny just nodded her head in affirmative, still unable to speak.
As soon as Ginny left confides of the castle, her eyes were blinded because of the brilliant orange light, which managed to sneak out from the canopy of clouds.
"Isn't it too quiet?" asked Ginny to Hermione as her eye roved over the almost empty ground. Some people were scattered here and there but that was all. It was all too quiet, eerily quite. Even Hogwarts felt like some sort of haunted castle.
"Most of the people here are… erm… well — in shock," said Hermione, following Ginny's vision, "And the rest are busy with work. Although from what I'm hearing, the outside world is quite happy and celebrating with gusto."
"So in other words," said Ginny with a heavy sigh, "Hogwarts is in its own little different world."
"You can put it that way," nodded Hermione with a sad smile.
"Hermione! Ginny!" came an all too familiar voice. Both of them whipped their heads in the direction of the voice, and saw Harry coming toward them, along with Kingsley and Professor McGonagall.
"What are you doing Harry?" said Hermione in a happy voice, beating Ginny to the question. Ginny felt the sting of jealousy and barely managed to hide her displeased self.
"Nothing," said Harry, but from his expression it was clear that it was more than nothing, way more than nothing.
"It doesn't look so," said Ginny in a hasty voice, determined not to be beaten by Hermione this time. And she was right in choosing her actions for she had started speaking just a fraction of second before Hermione opened her mouth.
"Ah…" hummed Harry, looking away instead of answering.
"It's nothing to fret over," said Kingsley in his usual deep voice, "He just gave a little interview to some reporters…"
Ginny didn't need to hear more; she understood what Kingsley implied. The Great Harry Potter was still shy, Ginny thought with a smile
"Hey!" said Harry indignantly, "why are you smiling?"
It only made Ginny's smile stretch farther as she saw the disgruntled expressions on Harry face. But that expression was short lived, because merely a moment after Harry smiled and looked quite pleased at the change of topic.
"So what are you both doing here?" asked Harry.
"Just taking a stroll," said Ginny without missing a beat. It was like a rapid fire round for her; she had to beat Hermione at any cost.
"How's your health?" asked Harry.
"Good," answered Ginny feeling a little awkward because of the prying eyes.
"We should leave," said Hermione pointedly, probably noticing Ginny's uneasiness "I'm sure we all have some work to do and unlike some people, we can't abandon them."
Harry laughed and his laughter sounded like a beautiful melody to Ginny's ears.
"Yes," Kingsley nodded and diverted Professor McGonagall attention to the feeble state of Hogwarts. They soon were indulged in a serious conversation as they walked towards the big stairs.
"Where's Ron?" asked Hermione as she continued to look at the setting sun.
"He is sleeping," said Harry, "but I guess he would be awake by now."
"Okay…" said Hermione then turned to look at them, "Enjoy yourself Harry."
She turned to look at Ginny and said, "Don't let him get depressed, okay?"
"You don't need to worry about that," said Ginny, leaning against Harry.
Hermione started to walk away, but Harry suddenly spoke.
"What are you going to do?"
"Nothing," said Hermione, "I will check on Ron, then help around and maybe read a book or two."
Harry laughed, but Ginny could feel lingering sadness in his laughter. To Ginny, it felt like two lovers saying farewell in a clichéd novel style. And that infuriated her.
"Let's go Harry," she said forcefully, tugging at Harry's sleeve and shooting Hermione a dirty look.
"Woah," said Harry in surprise as he started to walk beside Ginny.
"Bye Hermione," said Harry, turning to look over his shoulder at Hermione.
"Bye," said Hermione softly and Ginny heard her footfalls getting dimmer by the second.
"So…" said Harry as he sat beside a huge tree.
"What," said Ginny, resting her head against Harry's chest. The warmth rising from his chest felt pleasant to her head and she felt like she could spend an eternity like this.
Silence stretched around them, only interrupted by the hush of the grass and the rattle of the trees.
"Do you think…" began Harry suddenly, "it will be all right?"
"What Harry?" said Ginny even though she knew what he was referring to. But Harry needed to face the problem if he was ever going to be rid of them.
"You know Ginny what I mean," said Harry and paused for a bit before continuing, "Do you think we can continue our life like nothing happened? Like there was no Voldemort to begin with."
Ginny opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. She wanted, no, she needed to compose her stray thoughts into a meaningful paragraph so she could remove every shard of doubt in Harry's head.
"Hmm…" Harry hummed.
"Harry," said Ginny, pulling her head away from Harry's chest. It took all of her strength to do so, but she needed to do so.
"I doubt that we can ever be like there was no You-Know… I mean Voldemort," said Ginny, reflexively using You-Know-Who instead of Voldemort's name, "We all have been scarred too many times to behave like that. I have l — lost F… F — red" — speaking his name was still very hard for her and she could feel a lump rising in her throat — "and many people have lost countless loved ones."
Ginny heard Harry sob and her hands ache to hug him, to tell him that everything would be fine. But as much as she wanted to, she needed to continue saying what she was saying.
"But now what we can be sure of," Ginny said, "is that the future ahead of us is threat free. Now we don't have to watch our step, wondering what would happen to us in the next second."
"But…" began Harry.
"There is no space for 'buts' now Harry," said Ginny, "From now on, we have a clear future ahead of us."
"But," said Harry, this time firmly than before, "what about all the damage? How can the people who have lost so many things, so many loved ones continue with their life?"
"Honestly Harry," said Ginny with a sad smile, "Ask that question yourself. How many loved ones have you lost till date? But you know as well as me, life never stops; every day is a new page in the book called 'Life'. Everything has a beginning and so an end."
Ginny paused for a moment, sucked in a nig breath to calm her unstable mind and said,
"You know Harry, after the war was over… I felt like I would die any second, such was the pain felt as I saw Fred lying on the table unconscious. But you know what, I couldn't, I wouldn't because then Fred death would be a waste. He fought for a clear future, knowing that he could die any second. We all knew that, but still we fought, and many of us fought till their last breath. Do you know why? Because we all knew, once this ends, this twilight will finally end and the sun will rise again and will paint our life with vibrant colours. We all knew that whatever happens, in the end there will be a vibrant future for the survivors. When someone plucks a flower, the plant doesn't die, instead it continues to bloom more flowers. That's how life goes on Harry. Fred isn't with us and I know I can't change it and it hurts so much that I still feel that dying might be the best option for me, but I won't die. Because… because I'm sure he would hate me for it…"
Ginny didn't know when she started crying. What was supposed to be a lecture to straight Harry's idiotic mind, turned into something which Ginny needed to confirm that Fred death wasn't in vain, to confirm herself that everything was fine, that it would be fine.
"Hush Ginny," said Harry, "don't cry."
Ginny reacted to Harry's voice and opened her eyes. Her eyelids brushed against Harry's shirt and she noticed that Harry had pulled her in a hug and had forced her head in his chest.
Ginny smiled at the irony of the situation; she had thought that she would be the one doing what Harry was doing when her lecture ended.
She pulled her away from Harry's chest and furiously wiped at her tears.
"Sorry Harry," said Ginny noticing the patch of wetness she had left on Harry's chest. Harry followed Ginny's eyes and said with a little smile,
"It's nothing."
Ginny smiled and crawled into Harry arms.
"Everything would be fine Ginny," said Harry, "everything would be fine."
"Yes Harry," said Ginny, repeating Harry's words in her mind like a mantra.