-Chapter 16: I Will Promise You Anything-

Over the next two days everyone at the Burrow took shifts sitting with Ginny. Hermione tried to spend her every waking moment at Ginny's bedside but the rest of the household forced her out of the room so she could eat at least one meal a day with the family and get outside. When Hermione was with Ginny she read stories from her Muggle storybook, copies of The Daily Prophet and random passages from Hogwarts: A History. Ginny would rouse and be awake enough to take some broth or juice every now and then but not much more than that. She spoke a few words indicating her head hurt, Molly mixed in some home made headache potion in her juice which seemed to alleviate the pain.

Late the third morning Ginny awoke to see her mother sitting next to her bed knitting. Ginny let out a groan as she opened her eyes and moved her hand to clutch her head. When her hand touched the bruise she let out a yelp. Molly looked up from her knitting at Ginny and smiled.

"Oh Ginny dear! How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like my head weighs a ton," Ginny groaned. "Hermione? Where is Hermione? I…I dreamed she came back. She was here and she was reading to me. And there were dwarves, seven of them and a poisoned apple. Then something about the ceiling in the Great Hall...And she made me drink funny tasting pumpkin juice."

"She is here, dear. She's downstairs right now. We've had to force her to leave your room so she could get some exercise and fresh air. Here, drink this." Molly helped Ginny sit up a little and put a cup of pumpkin juice to Ginny's mouth. "There, dear, that's good," she said as Ginny finished off the juice.

"When did she come back?" Ginny asked.

"Three days ago. It was shortly after your um…oh what did Harry call it…panic attack. You fainted during dinner and got quite a nasty bump on the head from the table. Hermione came back that night," Molly said as she gave Ginny a cool cloth to put on her bruise. "And speaking of these attacks, why were your father and I not informed of this?" she asked sternly.

"I was going to send you a letter Mum but I knew you were busy. You had so many other things to worry about; I didn't want to add to that."

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! How dare you even think such a thing like that? You are my daughter, my own flesh and blood; I care about you more than you know. You will understand someday when you are a mother."

"I know you love me Mum."

"You must tell me these things. What if Harry and Ron hadn't been here to tell us what was happening? You not telling us was dangerous and irresponsible. If I must then I will have Headmistress McGonagall owl me every time you so much as sneeze this year."

"That's not necessary, Mum. I've learned my lesson, I swear. Please don't be cross. I really am very sorry."

"I am not cross with you Ginny, just a worried mother. Like I said, someday you will understand. Now, I am going to go let everyone know you're awake. I would brace yourself if I were you for when Hermione gets up here." Molly walked out of the bedroom and downstairs. A few moments later Ginny heard the sound of what she thought was a stampede of Centaurs heading up the stairs.

"Ginny!!" Hermione yelled and ran towards the bed. She nearly tackled the young redhead when she threw her arms around her. When she finally let go Hermione sat next to her girlfriend and held her tight.

"Gin you gave us quite a scare there. Why didn't you owl Mum and Dad about this?" Ron asked as he sat in the chair next to his little sister's bed.

"I already got lectured by Mum about it, don't worry Ron."

"Ah, there is my little girl!" Arthur said as he came into the room. "Harry and Ron, would you please go downstairs and help Fred and George, they are dealing with some rather stubborn garden gnomes and we want to make sure they're all gone by the wedding." The boys nodded and left. Arthur took Ron's place sitting in the desk chair. "How are you feeling Ginny?"

"I'm alright Dad, my head hurts a little but I'll be alright."

"Good, good to hear."

"Would you like me to leave, Mr. Weasley?" Hermione asked.

"No, you should stay. What I have to say involves the both of you. There have been some swirling rumors at the Ministry about the Death Eaters keeping tabs on the loved ones of those in the Resistance. The two of you came up. I thought Molly and I made it very clear that you two were to try your best to keep things private?"

"Well yes Dad, we did. But at school we couldn't stop people from speculating. We tried everything but no one would stop talking. There was nothing we could do."

"I understand that. However, you two are now in more danger because of this. If the Death Eaters ever captured one or both of you they would use your bond to their advantage. They will torture you in ways you never thought possible. They can invade your mind, much like Legilimency, but instead of extracting memories they will put images in your mind, horrific images. Harry can explain it to you further from experience but I believe you two understand the basics. I've already talked to Ron about this regarding him and Lavender; he's said he is going to break up with her before the school term starts so as not to put her in any danger. I am not suggesting this is the best path for you two because you both know of the power of Death Eaters first hand but I am suggesting you think of ways to keep yourselves protected. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley." Hermione held Ginny even tighter.

"Yes Dad, I understand. Will you ask Mum if I can come downstairs for lunch?"

"Of course I will." Arthur stood up, kissed Ginny on the forehead and patted the top of Hermione's head. When he left Ginny nuzzled into Hermione's shoulder and the brunette ran her fingers through Ginny's hair.

"We have to talk about this Hermione. We need some kind of plan, something to keep us safe. Is there anything you know of? Anything at all, I am open to everything. As long as it keeps you safe I don't care what I have to do."

"Ginny, there is nothing we can do to one-hundred percent guarantee our safety. Even if we were to run away and use Polyjuice Potion to disguise ourselves, someone could find us. We must stay here and fight in whatever way we can."

"You…you're leaving though. How will I know you're safe?"

"I will send you a message in whatever way I can whenever I can. You can't send me owls or Patronuses unless my messages indicate otherwise." Ginny started to speak but Hermione cut her off, "I know what you are going to say but I won't be able to Apparate to you because you'll be at Hogwarts. I've said it a hundred times, no one can Apparate or Disapparate on the grounds. Plus, I can't be away from Harry and Ron even for a minute. So many things can go wrong in a short amount of time. And can you promise me something?"

"I will promise you anything my love." Ginny gave Hermione a kiss on the neck.

"Promise me you will try your hardest to focus on the positive. You and I both know that when you focus on the negative is when you have your panic attacks. You can't do that; it will drive you mad, especially since I won't be around."

"I promise I will try. I'm going to miss you so much, Hermione." Ginny wrapped her arms around Hermione's neck and held on tight until Molly came in to help Ginny downstairs to the kitchen.