AN: The characters belong to JK but the story belongs to me.

Zabini knocked in a certain pattern at Hospital Wing's doors, which was then opened to reveal Astoria Greengrass who peeked out cautiously. "Snakes to the rescue. It's a lion." Zabini whispered. Astoria moved aside, Zabini placed Ginny on a bed before removing the disillusionment charm.

"Ginny!" Astoria gasped, "What happened to you?"

"Hush, Miss Greengrass." Madam Pomfrey said entering the room followed closely by Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott. "Miss Weasley is in no state to talk." Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Ginny before turning to Nott and Greengrass. "There is water in her lungs, she was probably drowned a couple of times, Miss Greengrass bring me an internal organ healing potion. Her ankle is broken so bring me some Skele- Grow too and a muscle relaxing potion."

"Miss Weasley, do you remember your name?" Ginny nodded.

"Very well, then state your name, house and year. Then tell me what year this is and names and current statuses of everyone in your family." With a little difficulty Ginny answered every question, her voice getting stronger as she spoke. "Very well Miss Weasley. You will make a full recovery in a couple of days. But I would suggest rest for two weeks at least. The Cruciatus curse is not to be taken lightly. Mr. Nott, Give her one of your dreamless potions. I am entrusting you with her care. It seems Mister Zabini found another one tonight."

Daphne Greengrass handed Ginny several potions before nodding at Nott and moving on to assist Madam Pomfrey. Ginny looked warily at Nott, he smirked at her before pulling out a small vial from his robes. She eyed it apprehensively, his smirk broadened. "I am not going to poison you Weasley. There are better ways to murder someone. You have to take this in half an hour." He said as he put the vial on her bedside table. Ginny stared at Nott as he sat beside her bed reading a book on advanced charms. "You know, I am not used to being the centre of attention Weasley. I find it rather distracting." He said without lifting his eyes from the book. "Blaise. I think you have done enough for tonight, why don't you stay here for the rest of the night while I go out on patrol?" He added to Zabini who was hovering near Ginny's bed. Zabini moved in gracefully and stood near the foot of Ginny's bed. Ginny by then had closed her eyes out of sheer exhaustion though her other senses were on red alert. "Make sure she takes the potion in 20 minutes." Nott said before softly shutting his book with a soft snap that Ginny would have missed on any other day. The silence thereafter stretched for a lifetime, Ginny heard the door of the Hospital wing open and close followed by deathly silence.

She opened her eyes slightly to peek, Zabini was sitting in Nott's place, looking intently at her, he noticed Ginny's move and smirked at her. "Not used to the quiet, are you Weasley?" He said a moment later, still smirking at her in a self satisfied way. Ginny tried to shrug but stopped mid way because of the shooting pain in her shoulders. Zabini smiled, "I would assume not, given how loud Gryffindors are, factoring in that you are a Weasley, with an army of siblings, I don't think you ever had a peaceful moment."

Ginny glared at him. "A thank you would be enough for me you know." Zabini added smiling broadly. Ginny clamped her mouth shut and shook her head but stopped immediately because it made her head spin. "Thank you" she whispered after an agonizing moment. Zabini nodded in acknowledgement and continued staring at her. "What are you looking at?" Ginny snapped after what felt like a lifetime.

Zabini shrugged, "Just trying to understand the reason for you being here while your brother, Granger and Potter are out there somewhere on a vacation."

Anger burned through Ginny's veins. "My brother is at home suffering from spattergroit, Hermione and Harry are on the run, they are not vacationing."

"Ah! Come now Weasley, both of us know that your brother is anywhere but home. The question is why are you not accompanying them? You after all you are Potter's girlfriend, are you not?"

"My relationship with Harry, surprisingly, is none of your business Zabini."

"Touchy. Touchy. So, was Potter playing you? You being his muse while he was here, someone he could later discard for someone prettier? I knew Potter was not the saint everyone made him to be."

"It would be in your interest to shut up right now."

"Ooh! Defensive. I am right, am I not? He chucked you for someone prettier and then fled the country with her, your brother and Granger."

"You are really thick. Do you think any of my brothers would allow Harry to break my heart and live to tell the tale? Do you think I would let any man use me like that and walk away unscathed?"

"Being the vivacious woman that you are, I would think not. But I am curious, Potter just vanished on you, left you here at the mercy of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters who know for a fact that you are or rather were Potter's girlfriend. How is your brother okay with risking you? Did Potter even care about you?"

Ginny glared at him. "Don't take me to be wrong, Weasley. I am on your side. Just that, if I cared about a girl as much as people claim Potter cared about you; I would have preferred to keep her by my side. I would have fled the country with her rather than vanish myself and leave her alone to suffer the consequences. I would have done the same for a sister too."

Ginny looked at Zabini and took her time in thinking up an appropriate reply. "Well, different people have different ways of reacting to threats. You have yours, Harry and Ron have theirs."

"You don't believe that, do you? How can someone honestly care about another person if they are ready to leave them to the wolves and flee?"

"Harry, Ron and Hermione are not fleeing, they are just there doing something to bring Voldemort down."

Zabini flinched. "You will be killed for taking that name out loud."

Ginny laughed harshly. "If they don't kill me before for the crime of existing."

Zabini stared at Ginny. "What is wrong with you Gryffindors? Where is your sense of self preservation? If I didn't know better I would say Potter is the most Slytherin of you Gryffindors, he at least seems to have made a run for it."

Ginny's eyes flashed angrily, "Harry has already faced him more times than I could count. He never was afraid of Voldemort; Harry would come back soon and finish this monster off. I am sure of it."

Zabini laughed, "As you say Weasley, but what then? Do you imagine a happily ever after with Potter?"

Ginny's breath caught in her throat, she chose not to say anything. Zabini's eyes flashed angrily.

"I would hate to burst your bubble, Weasley." He said harshly, "But even if we do survive, all of us would be broken, Potter a lot more than the rest of us. There is no happily ever after for anyone and if you are being honest with yourself you would know that deep down Potter never really loved you."

This was too much for Ginny, her head pounded. "You don't know anything." She snapped angrily. "Harry broke up with me because he did not want to lose me to Voldemort; he thought that by breaking my heart publicly he would at least be able to keep me safe for a while. He said as much during Dumbledore's funeral and then on his birthday, the way we were- the way we- the way he- it just went on to prove that he loves me. And your opinion doesn't even matter." She continued with her fiery tirade. "Harry and I are made for each other. I know it. He is the one for me."

Zabini looked at a loss for words though his handsome features were morphed by his anger. He would have made an angry retort but the clock chimed. "I guess it is time for you to go to bed." He said angrily. "Just take that damn potion. There is no point trying to get through your thick skull and make you see logically." He got up and left in a huff.

Ginny, stared after him angrily. Oh! That insolent boy, what did he know about Harry and her relationship? Muttering darkly to herself Ginny gulped down the potion and settled back in her bed, her last thoughts before losing herself to sleep were of Harry and his birthday and their last kiss.

AN: Please do read and review. I know I have been out of it for a bit but I am trying to get back to writing at least one chapter a week. Please do read and review. They provide the necessary encouragement to keep me going. Happy reading. See you for the next review session.

Much love,

The Fishes