-Chapter 19: Come to Shell Cottage-

"Luna!" Ginny called down the hallway the next morning as she saw the blonde skipping into the Great Hall for breakfast.

Luna turned around and smiled a little at Ginny. "Good morning, Ginny."

"Listen...I just want to apologize for last night. Something happened, I don't know what it was but when...when I kissed you...it wasn't you in my head. It was something like a vision, you know?"

"I understand. I imagine Wrackspurts had something to do with it, or possibly lingering consequences from travels. Have you ever been to the Amazon?"

"Um...no, I can't say that I have."

"Oh. Well it is said that the mists of the river allow people to have visions if you stand in them at dusk, turn three times and take a drink of fresh pomegranate juice. Sometimes the effects can last a while."

"I'll have to remember that if I'm ever there. So we're all right, yeah?"

"Yes, of course. You're a good friend, Ginny. I think now is an important time when we need to hold on to our good friends. Shall we go to breakfast?"

"Sounds good, I'm starving."

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

Ginny returned to the Burrow for the Holidays. Fred and George did their best to keep things cheerful with Whiz Bangs and enchanted Christmas decorations. Molly wasn't her usual happy self. Arthur looked tired and fatigued all the time. On Christmas day there were knitted sweaters and scarves for everyone. Molly had been busy knitting to try and keep preoccupied. Bill and Fleur arrived that afternoon with small gifts for everyone. Bill handed Ginny an envelope, Ginny gave him an odd look.

"It's not from us," he said as he gave her a smile.

"You mean? It's from…is it?" Ginny held back her screams. She sat in a chair in the corner and admired the object in her hand. The envelope was simply addressed with her name in Hermione's curly handwriting. Ginny carefully opened the envelope and took out the letter within.

16 October, 1997
Happy Christmas, my love!

Ronald has determined he is leaving but I am stalling him long enough to write you and let you know that I miss you terribly. Any moment I have time to spare is spent thinking of being in your arms, safe and warm. I dream of us every time I sleep, those nights in the Room of Requirement and at the Burrow. I can't wait to be back with you again. I miss every centimeter of your beautiful body and I plan on getting re-acquainted with it as soon as possible. I love you, Ginny. Please stay safe.

Love Always,
Hermione

P.S. In case you are wondering how I knew you would open this on Christmas, Ron told me he is going to Bill and Fleur's and I know they will be at the Burrow for the Holiday.

Ginny folded up the letter and tears rolled down her cheeks. She had so many emotions running through her body and she didn't know what to do with them. George walked over and knelt down in front of her.

"Everything will be okay, Gin," he said. "You'll see her again. I've read every copy of The Daily Prophet that has come out and there has been nothing about anyone being captured. She's alright, I just know it." Ginny threw her arms around George and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Ginny asked.

"Of course." George took her hand and they walked up to Ginny's room.

"George I did something. Something bad," Ginny started as she sat on her bed. "I kissed Luna Lovegood. We were studying Potions and started talking and for a moment I flashed to the Room of Requirement and Hermione was there and I had to kiss her. I just had to but when I opened my eyes it wasn't her. Luna and I talked it out but I don't know what I am going to tell Hermione. I have to tell her the truth, there's no way I can live with myself if I hide it from her. I feel like a horrible person for missing her like I do after what I've done."

"Wow. Ginny, that's intense. It was just a kiss though, yeah? I mean you didn't..."

"We didn't. Luna pushed me away."

"I believe you, what you said about being somewhere else. Honestly, I don't know if Hermione will though. I know that's not what you want to hear but that girl is stuck on logic."

"I know she is. I just hope that she lets me explain that it meant nothing to me and it was the first and only time it will happen," Ginny said with a sigh.

"Hang in there, Gin. Everything will turn out for the best. Let's go back downstairs, Bill wants to tell everyone about that git Ron being a stubborn arse." George laughed and Ginny managed a smile.

Bill told them that Ron came in October, furious and fed up with trying to help Harry and Hermione. He hung around the cottage and then decided to leave that morning and return to Harry and Hermione using the Deluminator that Dumbledore had left him. Molly wept tears of joy knowing her youngest son was safe.

"Bill, would they publish anything in the papers if they were caught? I mean, we would know about it, right?" Ginny asked.

"We might not know it for a few days but we would probably know if something happened to them," Bill said. Ginny couldn't decide if that was good or bad. She wanted to know where Hermione was and that she was alive but she didn't want it to be that they were alive and being tortured.

Ginny returned to Hogwarts after the Christmas Holidays. Luna was nowhere to be found. Ginny and Neville tried to find out as much as they could but ultimately came up with nothing. They were able to arrange a few meetings of what was left of Dumbledore's Army in February and formulated plans for every emergency situation they could think of. The term seemed to pass more quickly than the previous one. Without anyone to really talk to and no Quidditch Ginny threw herself into her studies, she was sure Hermione would be proud of the countless hours Ginny spent in the library.

Three days before Ginny was to depart to the Burrow for Easter Holiday she awoke in the middle of the night to what felt like a thousand white-hot daggers piercing her body. The green pendant burned her chest. Ginny's head swirled and she couldn't breathe, she heard screams and saw flashes of Hermione's face. She heard another voice shouting. Ginny couldn't hear it all clearly, just one word.

"CRUCIO!" the voice shouted.

Ginny screamed and writhed in pain. The other girls in her room panicked but just as abruptly as it began, it ended. Ginny sat up and gasped for air. Her vision was blurry and there was a high pitched ringing in her ears. She felt a glass touch her lips and she drank the water that was in it. Just as Madam Pomfrey arrived it started again. Ginny screamed and the pendant burned even more. She couldn't move. Horrific images of Hermione writhing in agony, screaming, crying and begging for it to stop raced through Ginny's head. There was a sharp pain in her ribcage then a sharp sting in her neck followed by a flashes of light, the feeling of being suffocated for a split second and then a feeling of peace, she was finally able to move and she clutched onto her chest and the still burning pendant. Her fingernails dug deep into her skin causing drops of blood to seep out. She felt some bitter tasting liquid touch her lips and then everything went black.

Ginny awoke in the hospital wing the next morning. Her head throbbed and she could feel a twinge of pain on her chest. She reached for it but found the source of the pain was covered with a bandage. Her necklace lay on the bedside table along with a bottle of Dreamless Sleep Potion and a jar of Burn-Healing Paste. Madam Pomfrey soon walked over and removed the bandage on Ginny's chest.

"Nasty burn here Miss Weasley. Small but deep, I'm surprise I didn't see the bone when it was fresh." The nurse opened the jar of Burn-Healing Paste and pulled a glob of the thick orange paste out. "This will sting a bit, dear."

"I can handle it."

"I should tell you, Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey said after applying the paste and putting a new bandage on Ginny's chest, "this won't heal properly. It wasn't dark magic by any means but even with the paste and plenty of time there is a good chance you'll always have a scar."

Ginny nodded and looked at the necklace on the table.

Neville and a few other Gryffindors came to visit Ginny throughout the day and under threat of Madam Pomfrey, Ginny sent an owl to her parents telling them of everything except the burn and insisted it was just a horrible nightmare and there was no need to worry. She convinced Madam Pomfrey to let her be released that evening.

When Easter came Ginny returned to the Burrow. She barely had time to breathe when Arthur showed her the note from Bill and Fleur.

Come to Shell Cottage the moment Ginny gets home.