Ginny Weasley and the Dementors of Azkaban
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
November 20th
"Ginny - where have you been? What is that on your coat?"
It was the morning of the HuffelPuff-Gryffendor match and Ginny had woken up early in order to spend time with Padfoot. In a few short weeks the loveable oaf of a dog had become her dearest companion and confidant. He encouraged her when her spell practices went sour and praised her when she finally managed to accomplish something. Most importantly he listened.
She had never been so grateful for such a gift.
She hadn't been able to truly talk about Tom before Padfoot. She was warming up to Hermione, Neville and Colin, but they were still not quite that close. Luna had always been an excellent friend and listener; Ginny had confided in her to a point, but she couldn't feel as if she could tell her just what Tom was like. How magnetic he was. Charismatic. How she was swayed so easily with a few kind words and charm. How hard it hit her to know who is truly was, how the discovery of the truth of her naivety and actions affected everyone, especially Harry, nearly killed her.
How much she had wished she'd died in the Chamber.
Luna would never understand that. For all her eccentricities, Luna had a compelling simple view of life. It was better than death. She would never forgive Ginny for giving up.
Luna wouldn't have understood that it was the simplest choice she had ever made: her life or Harry's. Tom had told her if she didn't go willing into the Chamber, he would find Harry, possess him permanently.
Harry would no long exist.
The very thought of Tom's soul replacing Harry cracked her heart. All because she was foolish enough to believe the diary was harmless, a sounding board for her childish woes. She had unleashed this monster on the school. Their time together had given him access to her memories, it had also granted her access to his own memories and thoughts. She knew just exactly what she was dealing with by the time she had thrown him away in the toilet.
The guilt punished her by itself, but if anything worse would happen to anyone else, she would gladly pay the price of her actions.
She would welcome it.
In the Chamber, when Harry came to her rescue, she was distraught in her bound sleep. She saw and heard everything through Tom, even the errors Tom was making. She knew Harry was going to give up his life for hers without a second thought. He was so ready to give himself for another, so ready to sacrifice his life for hers, it was as natural as breathing to him. As flying.
Her family was raised to protect each other and innocents. They had grown up on the tragic tales from the War, knew by heart how their own uncles had died fighting the good fight. The seven Weasley children were prepared to not let their deaths would not be in vain. Her brothers were supposed to come to her rescue not only for duty by for love. Ron for all his self absorbed chauvinistic pride and obliviousness was still her big brother; he was still responsible for her safety. He was taught that all his life, to "Protect Ginny", their parents had reminded him daily the summer before. Ron would do anything he could to rescue her, just as the twins and Percy, but Ron had helped Harry and Hermione stop Voldemort once, of all her brothers he would have been the one leading the charge. She would have mourned the loss of her brother just as much as their mother mourned the loss of hers. Losing Ron would break her heart.
But Harry was Harry…Losing Harry would break what was left of her soul.
Every night she could feel the Dementors circling the tower she had nightmares. She relived Tom's glee at the prospect of killing Harry despite her own sacrifice. The tended to like their tower it seemed, she was getting less sleep as the days wore on. If she didn't get a full night's rest soon she undoubtedly end up sleeping in class. Thank the gods for her secret place and her dear furry friend.
Padfoot knew when she had nightmares, like last night, and would let her cuddle up with him, dozing off as far from the Dementors she could get outside the dungeons. He acted as her protector. Last night had been especially horrid, this time Tom was Harry…he had managed the possession…it was beyond disturbing. It took all she could not to wake up her dorm mates crying as she fled to find him and Padfoot had met her halfway this morning and it wasn't long into the early hours that she dozed off against him. She woke up refreshed and feeling closer to normal, but it had caused her to be less than prompt for breakfast. She rushed inside without thinking about the evidence of her new found friend. Looking at her winter frock coat, she noticed the charcoal gray wool was covered in bits of black fur. "Oh I was outside with Fang" She lied, not wanting to risk Padfoot getting sent away, as students were only allowed cats, rats, frogs, toads and owls as pets. She trusted her Hermione but knew she was stickler for rules.
"Hmm" Hermione helped her shed the fur, something Ginny seemed to be covered in a lot lately if the gossip of 2nd year girls were anything to go by. "I really like that shade of purple on you, is this one of the dresses Bill got you from Egypt?"
"No, Charlie got this one, his Japanese co-worker Yukio's little sister likes this style of clothing and he thought I would too. I think they call it Lolita." Ginny smiled at the compliment.
"It is very lovely, and you really stand out, in a good way…" Aware of her surroundings, Hermione's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're so lucky to be … well to be blooming so early…I'm 2 years older then you and we're the same size." She looked down at her own maroon red and goldenrod yellow striped sweater. The strip was placed across the older girl's chest, accentuating her growing curves. Not that Hermione saw that.
"It's not really that great…" Ginny blushed as she started on her breakfast. "S'not like anyone notices…especially if I'm sitting next to you and you're wearing red or blue."
"The only thing people see is my bushy hair and books…"
"Not true" Gin started with an innocent smile. "Ron sees the sugar quills too."
"Stop!" Hermione blushed before giving into a sly smile as said boy walked over to sit next to her. "He may catch on…"
"Lo" Ron's half dead voice "Mmm bacon" The tall and lanky boy's clear blue eyes were nearly shut, with bits of sleep sand in the corners. His well worn scarlet jumper had seen better days, but as it was Bills first, and fit Ron still, he wore it at every one of Harry's matches, and as long as it fit he would continue the tradition. Ginny secretly suspected if Harry kept winning his matches, Ron would wear it til the day he died. He and Harry were just making their way to breakfast, which was normally for them unless Hermione managed to wake them earlier. If Ron was catching on he showed no sign of it, and Ginny suspected it would take a howler to make him realize Hermione had a crush on him.
"Quite the charmer."
"Mmpmph"
Smirking slightly, Ginny looked at Hermione pointedly, her cinnamon eyes dancing with mirth. She whispered, "Are you sure you want this one? I've got 5 more…"
After a second of contemplation, Hermione looked to Ron, and shrugged, responded. "The heart wants what the heart wants"
"You're mad" Ginny laughed and shook her head before starting in on her eggs.
"Morning Hermione, Morning Ginny. Care to let the rest of us in on the conversation?"
It was Harry, his voice scratching slightly and his bottle green eyes were bright and alert, but his face was pale white. It was adorable really; Ginny thought to herself, that no matter how many matches he's in, Harry's still nervous before he's in the air.
"I think not, we would'nt want to disturb Ron's mastication, after all."
"You are not to use that language!"
It may have been her frankness, or perhaps it was the fact that both boys tended to hear what they wanted, but Harry nearly dropped his pumpkin juice, while Ron sputtered out his eggs, but both had reddened cheeks, causing the girls to giggle. Hermione could barely contain her laughter and Ginny was holding back a smirk that would have made most of Slytherin proud. Nearby housemates paused in their eating and conversations, just waiting for the pin free grenade to explode.
"What do you mean brother dear? What was wrong with what I said?"
Harry had looked to Hermione, who was laughing as quietly as she could and took the hint that he didn't hear what he thought he did.
"You know what's wrong with it! Bloody hell Ginny - I'll tell Mum!"
At Ginny's innocent face, Ron's face was growing redder every second, she was sure steam would pour out from his ears as if he had drunk a pepper up potion.
"Tell her what exactly? That even though you do an awful lot of it-"
"Shut It!" He stood up, pointing across the table at his younger sister who just continued talking. Ron's outrage was causing other students to look their way, all wanting to know why exactly Ron's face was the same color as his jumper.
"Ron-I don't" Harry tried to save his best mate, once he reprocessed what Ginny had said.
"In front of everyone, Harry, Hermione-"
"I CERTAINLY DO NOT MASTURBATE INFRONT OF PEOPLE!"
There was dead silence in the hall. Half of the professors sat at their table gob smacked, staring at the outraged Ron Weasley.
"At every meal - chewing away at your food? Or don't you know the meaning of mastication. Mother will be terribly disappointed."
The laughter filled the void, starting with the Twins, and then the Slytherins, moving about from the elder students down to first years. Even Snape and McGonagall held back their laughter while Dumbledore was out right laughing. Ron's ears looked scalding to the touch and he sheepishly sat down, refusing to look up at anyone.
"Good Show Gin" Fred called down to her, just before George.
"Yes dear little sister. We've never been able to get Ron's ears that shade of red before"
"Ron's Ears? Dear brother, we've never been able to get Mum's ears that red before. You've raised the standard for Weasley Red."
"And all before breakfast, brings a tear to the eye"
"Our little sister growing up…sniff…" They faked sobbing into each other's shoulders before stealing from Ron's plate and sitting down next to Lee Jordan.
Ginny just smiled at the twins and continued eating, basking in the praise being sent her way. Hermione was still softly giggling while trying to console Ron as Harry started to eat some fruit.
"Really Ron, you listen. I know you're capable, you're able to rattle off Quidditch stats at the drop of hat."
"Well not all of us are as awake as you are Hermione 'I've read a book by dawn' Granger."
Blushing at what she took as a compliment Hermione just nodded and returned to her own plate.
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes but it didn't take long for Ron to retaliate against Ginny.
"You're wearing purple."
His three companions looked up from their meals and looked to Ron, who wasn't red anymore and surprisingly calm. Eerily calm. Ginny recognized the look from when he played chess.
"Pardon?" Ginny asked tentatively. Ron was rarely this calculating outside the chessboard.
"You are wearing purple." Ron restated slowly, "Your dress is purple,"
"Yes Ron, my dress is purple. Very astute of you. Glad to know you aren't color blind." Ginny responded just as slow, looking her brother in the eye. She had learned early on it was best to look an adversary in the eyes, it made you equals regardless of how much taller they are over you.
"Why are you wearing purple?" By this point, Harry who had differed his attention from Ron to the purple dress in question. His green eyes fixated on the bodice as his mind tried to decipher why Ron was upset that his sister was wearing purple.
'It's a perfectly nice shade of purple. Deep and rich, like the heather on the hills around the castle' He thought to himself. 'And she looks good in it, really good…her hair stands out but not like Ron's does when he wears orange….and it the dress fits her very well….' "OW! Hermione!" Harry started to rub his shin.
Unabashed, Hermione just glared at him. Harry had been staring a tad too long for polite company, whether Harry realized it or not. It was going to be quite amusing if he ever started to realize there were other boys doing the same as he.
"What is wrong with purple?" Ginny asked, now even more confused.
"Today's the Quidditch Match. The one against Hufflepuff. Why aren't you wearing red?"
"Ron, not that I expect you to pay attention to my wardrobe, but I rarely ever wear red. Not even at Christmas. It clashes terribly with my hair."
"She's right mate" Seamus piped up with a silly grin on his face, "She hardly ever wears red, usually if she does it's as a skirt. Like that ruffled one that hits….Dean! Why did you hit me? You know I'm right-" Dean looked intently at his friend and pointed to the Twins and Lee Jordan who were starting to glower at Seamus, evil gleams in their eyes and sickening grins on their face.
"Finnegan, Thomas…Why don't we meet after the match and you can tell us all about our sister's wardrobe." Fred commanded and the nodding faces of the other two promised the boys there would be no getting out of this short of intervention detention with Snape and the two younger boys weakly nodded in return.
Ron bullheaded through his thoughts aloud, as if he was ignoring everything around him, including Ginny's answers. He would have his own word with his roommates later as well.
"You normally wear the color of the team you support. That's standard match protocol. EVERYONE knows that. Even muggleborn first years. Why aren't you wearing Red? Or even gold. You like gold. Don't you support Gryffindor? You own brothers are on the team, don't you support your flesh and blood? And what about Harry? Purple isn't even a team color! Unless you're wearing the opposite color of Yellow in support of Hufflepuff in secret. Or maybe you're wearing it because you can't decide who to root for? I mean, how hard is it to decide between your team, your family and Hufflepuff?" Ron asked incredulously "It isn't as if you. No. You don't have a crush on Cedric do you? I thought you liked Harry."
Harry always known Ginny had a crush on him, looked down, embarrassed by Ron's lack of tact. He didn't have a right to say who Ginny liked. He knew this. But for some reason he couldn't name, the thought of her not liking him anymore, or worse the thought of her affection being so freely given, upset him. In his attempt to look away from the confrontation brought on by his internal feelings he glanced at Hermione and her face chilled him. Her blue eyes hardening with Ron's words, just as Ginny's was lighting with fire.
"Oh yes that's it" Ginny sparked, her voice was in a furious whisper as her eyes burned into her brothers. "Never mind the fact that your logic on why I wore this color is irrevocably obscure; you think that I can't decide which team to root for today because I must have a crush on both seekers? Do you think me so fickle? Harry has saved my life, which I'll admit is more than I deserved." Her tongue was swift as the swish of a wand and barely Harry heard her confession. If he wasn't worried about redirecting her fiery gaze at himself he would have spoken up in her defense. He knew Ron was being ridiculous. "And Cedric. I have to have a crush on him to support him? I cannot possible think of him as a family friend. It's not like I haven't known Cedric since I was born? That he played in the paddock with Charlie more so then the twins did. It can't be he was one of the only people outside my family who have actually spoken to me this year or after the ordeal of last year. That he visited me in the Hospital Wing every day I was in there, even when I was just waiting on the others to wake up. Oh no, I can't want to support him because he's my friend, it has to be because I have a crush!" It was noticeably warmer at their table, and the candle flames had started to rise as Ginny stood angrily. "By Merlin, you are thick. If you must know, dear brother, I wore this dress because our older brother Charlie, who you may remember was Captain and Seeker on our house's team, and who is celebrating his birthday all alone in Romania today, gave me this dress, and yes it happens to be purple but again, if you'll recall, purple is Charlie's favorite color. Next time I'll remember to not wear any clothes to the next Quidditch Match, so as not too upset you! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go before I hex you into your OWLS and risk unwanted detention!"
It was decided by all who watched Ginny Weasley storm out of the Great Hall that had she been wearing her school robes they would have glided through the air, as if she was flying, just as Snape's did.
Thankfully for Ron Weasley everyone was too busy watching his younger sister leave, having listened to her heated monologue, and didn't see both Hermione Granger and Harry Potter swat him on the head, causing him to drop his pumpkin juice on his pants.
Unfortunately for Ron Weasley, Ginny's friend Colin Creevy, happened to have his camera with him and as he was sitting as close to Ginny and his hero Harry, as he could and had turned his head just in time to catch it on film, just as Ron was trying to cover himself.
"Bloody hell! What was that fo'?" Ron exclaimed while he rubbed his head. "She's the one making scene!"
"That was for how you treated your sister! I cannot believe you would do that do her! Why just because she caught you unaware with a better vocabulary! It was a joke Ronald! One that you have proven to be far above your understanding."
"Yeah Ron you're lucky Ginny didn't slug you…or hex you. Besides purple looks good on her."
For a second Ron looked oddly at his friend, his best mate, but didn't stay quiet long. "Wot? She should be wearing Gryff colors"
Her face pinked as Hermione's bright brown eyes darkened to black.
She stood, her arms forcibly at her sides. "Ronald Bilius" The lanky boy visibly winced as his dreaded middle name wasn't quite whispered to everyone at Hogwarts. "Do not dare assume that you have any right over what she wears. You are not her owner." Witnesses would swear her breathe came out in puffs, as if she were outside in the cold. "Harry good luck today. Ron don't you dare sit near me unless you want to wind up a substitute bludger."
Following Ginny's footsteps Hermione Jane Granger left the Great Hall with Ronald Bilius Weasley gob smacked and looking hopelessly stupid and left open as fodder for the snakes.
"Got Granger out of the Great Hall and the fair Lady Red is planning on going woad sans bleu to the next match, it should be fetching on her. Brava Weasel Brava!"
Draco Malfoy stood behind them with Blaise Zambini, each with their own wicked smile that made Ron and Harry sick to their stomachs. Ron stood before he and Harry fully understood what was said to them, all he heard was his sister was going starkers to the next match and his arm pulled back for the punch -
"Mr. Weasley! I do hope you aren't planning on any action that will bar you from watching today's Game." The distinct Scottish brogue oftheir head of house stood expectantly where Ginny and Hermione were previously sitting for breakfast.
"N-No Ma'am" Harry answered. "Ron and I were just about to go check on Hermione and Ginny, make sure they aren't really going to kill him." By this time Draco and Blaise were cackling as they walked away. "Aren't we Ron?"
"We were? Yeah Yeah we were" Ron confirmed as he looked longingly at his food.
"Glad to hear it. Now go!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
"Yes M'm"
They finally found the girls in corridor by the one-eyed witch only to stare at in horror as they were surrounded by Draco, Blaise and their fellow Slytherin third years. And they were laughing. Well Ginny was laughing. Hermione was more reserved and keeping close to her friend. The strangest part was the Slytherin weren't being cruel to her. They were being pleasant.
Harry barely heard Ron's strangled objection when all of the boys bowed and kissed Ginny's hand. He barely registered Oliver pulling him away as the Twins restrained their youngest brother, muttering about how regardless the snakes were acting Ginny still wasn't old enough for courtship and he needed to be free to threaten any of her suitors away from the watchful eyes and ears of the teachers, especially Snape. He snapped out of his daze when Oliver started his speech and once it was over Harry scanned the crowds for his friends.
He was relieved to find them all in the Gryffindor area, away from the Slytherins, even if Ron was a few rows behind the girls.
By the time of the Quidditch match both Ginny and Hermione were still fuming, having fueled their fires after breakfast on all the wrong Ron had done to them over the years, and their bond of friendship grew just that much stronger. But it wasn't enough for them to truly enjoy the match. They knew he was a few rows back sitting with Seamus and Dean, and it just wasn't far enough away. Hermione was muttering Arthimacy homework to keep herself from cursing her crush but Ginny was lucky to be fixated on the game.
An autumn storm was growing stronger and the match was growing longer as neither Harry nor Cedric were able to catch sight of the snitch.
"Hermione" Ginny trembled. "Hermione do you feel that?"
Before the bushy haired brunette could answer Ginny's body froze with the sound Tom's whispers in the back of her mind. "No not now. Go away! Just go away!"
The sky darkened to night as the seekers disappeared into the ghastly forming clouds.
The only light to be scene was the budding glow of a wand.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Author's Note:
Yes I'm still re-editing this story. I should have the next chapter up by tomorrow. I expected to be done with January by January, but as my faithful readers know I am horrible at keeping to schedules. I'm going to push because I've reread some of my other stories and they need reworked as well as finished. My New Year's Resolution is to finish what I've started. Cheers.
Review Responses for Reedited chapters:
Tayler – You must be a new reader….just wait for December, you will be happy. Thank you!
Comet Jim – over 2400 words and its short? Ha! I don't do short. Thanks though! Be patient with me please, it's going to happen I swear I will finish in timely matter. I need to finish something, been working on a kitchen remodel since June…don't ask….