-Chapter 18: The Image in My Head-

Death Eaters invaded the wedding, people were interrogated but let go when Harry was nowhere to be found. The mood at the Burrow was somber the following days as everyone waited for news of the trio.

Four days after the attack on the wedding an unfamiliar owl arrived. The envelope was simply addressed "The Burrow". Everyone gathered in the kitchen as Arthur read the short, simple note.

5 August, 1997
Safe at Number 12 for now. Do not come, being watched. Return owl at night. Our love to everyone.
-HRH

Ginny looked at the note and squealed; it was most definitely Hermione's handwriting.

"So they are at Grimmauld Place, then?" Ginny asked.

"It seems so, yes. I would say it was dangerous for them to send us an owl but I am sure Hermione found a way to send it without having anyone notice," Arthur said.

"Can we send something back?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"The letter doesn't seem as though it was opened or intercepted by anyone meaning they don't know it exists. I say yes but not until tomorrow night." Ginny threw her arms around her father and excused herself.

...............

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat quietly at the table in the kitchen at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. They were patiently waiting for Kreacher to come back. Two days after the trio had arrived Harry summoned Kreacher from his post at Hogwarts and the house-elf explained about the actual horcrux locket and that it had been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. Harry ordered Kreacher to go find him. That was two days ago. There were now Death Eaters patrolling the street outside the house. Shortly after the Death Eaters arrived Hermione insisted on sending word to the Burrow that they were safe; so when it was dark she sent the letter using an owl Kreacher had found for them before he left.

Kreacher returned late that night with Mundungus who explained that the locket was now with Umbridge at the Ministry of Magic. They decided to start monitoring the entrance to the Ministry and charting patterns, trying to determine the best time to infiltrate.

The night of the first day of monitoring the owl Hermione had sent out returned. In the envelope were two letters, one addressed to HRH and the other to H.J.G. Harry read the first,

So glad to hear you are safe. #1 says if need be you may stay with him. Don't send too many owls, the new Ministry is intercepting them at random to look for clues. All our love.

"Number one?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, that's code for Bill. He's number one, Charlie is two, Percy is three and so on and so forth," Ron replied.

"Alright. Well if you boys will excuse me I have my own letter to read," Hermione said excitedly. She went to the sitting room and sat in one of the dusty old armchairs to read her letter.

Hello love!

I know it has only been five days since we were together but they have been miserable without you. I can't wait to have you back in my arms. I love you.

Always yours,
G

It was shorter than what she had hoped for but Hermione knew that Ginny couldn't write of anything that could give away who either of them were. She held the parchment close to her chest, wishing it was Ginny.

...............

The days dragged by, most of the time at the Burrow was spent listening to the Wizarding Wireless Network. Hermione was right in her prediction about Hogwarts. The Daily Prophet soon reported that Snape was the new Headmaster and almost all of the staff had been dismissed and replaced by Death Eaters. Ginny didn't want to go to school but knew she had to not only for the promise she made to Hermione but to keep her and her family safe. Any previous student who didn't attend was considered a traitor as were their family members. Ginny didn't know how that would work with Ron not returning but her father assured her that it would be okay.

September finally came and there was no word from the trio since the first letter informing the Weasleys of their location and safety. Ginny headed off to school. It was not the place she remembered. It was dark and gloomy, every "teacher" wanted to involve the Dark Arts somehow. She kept her promise to Hermione by staying close with Luna and Neville. There were very few of the original Dumbledore's Army that returned to school. Reports of the families being in hiding or being killed were circulating through school. The Slytherins were having fun with their free reign; they terrorized the other students endlessly with no consequence.

On top of her piles of homework, Ginny was having had horrible mood swings. One moment she would be fine and then she would feel scared or frustrated. She would spontaneously feel exhausted and get headaches as though she had been focusing on something for hours on end even if she had just been lazing by the common room fire. Thinking it might be panic attacks she would go through two or three bottles of different juices a day but it never worked. Madam Pomfrey was baffled and tried everything she could think of from Calming Draught to poison antidotes. None of them worked unless it forced her to sleep. Even then, sometimes at night Ginny swore she could feel Hermione next to her in bed but when she would roll over to look behind her the space was cold and empty.

It was a chilly mid-October afternoon, Ginny was in the courtyard by herself. Her mood swings were horrible that day, she felt simply furious with everyone and everything and wasn't hungry so she decided to skip lunch to sit outside. An owl flew overhead and dove towards her. It landed on the ground and Ginny saw the envelope it was carrying had "#7" written on it. She knew it was from a Weasley. She grabbed it, tore open the envelope, and started reading.

I know I'm not who you wanted to hear from. I couldn't take it anymore and I left. They were both alive and well when I did but not at Number 12. It was too dangerous, we had to move on. I'm with #1 for now. Hope all is well.

#6

Number 6 was Ron. Ginny was happy to hear that Hermione was okay but a little angry with her brother for leaving them. She spread the news to Luna and Neville the first chance she got. They had tried to arrange meetings with Dumbledore's Army but each time the plans were foiled by a Death Eater or Slytherin patrolling the hallway.

While writing in the journal that Hermione had given her for Christmas was easing the pain a little, Ginny never missed a chance to talk with Luna. It helped alleviate her loneliness and Luna was a good listener; she didn't ever interrupt and even though she looked as though she was daydreaming she could recite whatever Ginny was talking about verbatim right back to her. Luna invited Ginny to the Ravenclaw common room regularly so they could work on their homework together. One night, after finishing an essay for Potions, they started talking as the common room cleared out. Ginny tried to focus more on what Luna had to say since the redhead generally dominated the conversation with talk of Hermione.

"Have you ever been in love, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"Mmmm no, I don't think so. I've of course fancied a few but none of them ever work out to my advantage. I suppose I am waiting for someone who doesn't want me to change."

"Do you mind my asking who it was you fancied?"

"Oh just various people here and there, I guess the most notable ones were Harry, Seamus, Cho, and even you at one point until I found out you and Hermione were together."

Ginny almost choked. "Both? Girls and blokes?"

"Well yes, why not? I don't think the gender of the person matters nearly as much as who they are."

"You do make a good point. I'm flattered you fancied me."

"I was quite frustrated that Hermione got to you before I did," Luna said with a little laugh.

"That explains your reaction when you found out about us last year."

Luna blushed. "Yes…I was actually planning to pluck up the courage to ask you for a walk down by the lake until I noticed strange happenings with the two of you."

"You'll find someone that cares for you just as you do for them, I know you will."

"Yes, I do hope so. I would love to have children and such. I hope to have a girl so I can name her after my mother."

"That's a wonderful way to honor her memory, Luna. You really are a fantastic person, you know?" Before she knew what she was doing Ginny leaned forward and lightly kissed the blonde girl's lips. Luna pulled away and pushed Ginny back. Ginny opened her eyes and felt the blood rush out of her head.

"Oh gods…Luna…I am so sorry. I…oh bloody hell. I…I have to leave." Ginny got up and ran out of the room. She ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower. The minute she walked into the common room she screamed, loud. She began pacing back and forth, talking to herself. "How could I? What is wrong with me? No no no…this didn't happen. I didn't…" Parvati Patil was one of the few people in the common room, she yelled at one of the second years to go find Neville Longbottom and told the rest to go to their dormitories. She wrapped her arms around Ginny and pulled her to one of the couches. She knelt down in front of Ginny and tried to calm her down.

"Ginny, you have to calm down. What happened?"

Ginny could only hold onto one of the pillows and cry into it. Neville came running down the stairs.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know, I don't know what to do," Parvati said, frightened.

"I'll be right back." Neville ran back upstairs to the dormitory. Ginny cried into her pillow. She started feeling the familiar dizziness and was sure she was going to pass out when she felt a bottle and sweet liquid touch her lips. She drank the juice that was offered.

"It's okay, Ginny. Calm down, alright? You can get through this," Neville said, trying to comfort her. Her breathing slowed as she worked her way through the panic attack. She focused on breathing and finally calmed down enough to relax.

"What happened?" Parvati inquired

"It was a panic attack I think," Neville answered for her.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine, thank you Parvati," Ginny said. "Can you leave me with Neville for a bit, please?"

"Yeah, of course. Let me know if you need anything."

Ginny nodded and took a deep breath.

"Was it about Hermione again?" Neville asked.

"Kind of…It was like...Luna and I were studying and we got to talking. I don't know why or how it happened but I felt this...I don't know. It was a warmth and everything went kind of hazy and then I was in the Room of Requirement and Hermione was right in front of me. I...I couldn't help it, I just had to kiss her. I had to. But...when I did she pushed me away. I opened my eyes and it wasn't her...I think I gave Luna quite a scare. I hope I didn't make her angry. Oh gods...How I am going to explain this to Hermione? I can't keep it a secret from her, it will tear me up. I love her, I really really do. The image in my head was just so realistic."

"I think you should get some sleep and not worry about it right now. You need some rest," Neville said, helping Ginny stand up.

"Thank you for listening Neville, I really do appreciate it." He nodded and smiled. They walked as far as the door to the sixth-year girls dormitory together. After making sure she would be okay and giving her the bottle of pumpkin juice Neville told her goodnight and went to his dormitory.