The Carrows' Calling
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to us. All goes to J.K. Rowling.
We hope you will enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Eight
One chilly mid-October morning, Ginny woke with a burst of adrenaline. This is it, she thought, with both excitement and fear. This was the day, the day they steal the sword.
They had planned this out meticulously, every point thoroughly checked. With Snape, better safe than sorry. Ginny ran the plan through her head, for the hundredth time possible. She breathed a sigh of relief when nothing seemed wrong. Or so she thought.
Ginny told herself not to worry; this would work. And soon, the sword would be rightfully in McGonagall's office.
The day passed with a blur, and before she knew it, it was the second free period of the day. As planned, Ginny, Luna, and Neville again met together in the Room of Requirement, as they discussed the stages of stealing of the sword.
"It's going to be fine, Ginny, stop worrying!" Neville finally said, slightly annoyed, as Ginny traced the map she had drawn, planning again, for what must've been the millionth time.
"Neville's right, Ginny," Luna said soothingly. "We all have this memorised. Nothing will go wrong."
"Well, now that you've said it, it will," Ginny grumbled, knowing they were right, but still defiant.
Finally giving in, Ginny stopped her panicked planning, and hurried down to her dormitory to do her long overdue homework. And before Ginny knew it, it was time for dinner. She ran down to the Great Hall, hoping to have one last discussion about the plan, no matter what they said. Luna, as usual, sneaked in the Gryffindor table for one more .
"I still don't like it. Why must I be alone?" Luna pouted, as Ginny went through her position of the stealing.
"Well, I had to get Hagrid drunk; it's your turn to do something dangerous," Ginny retorted.
"Oh, so I'm too fragile to do something by myself?" Neville cut in.
Ginny smirked. "Well, Longbottom, if you wanna replace Lovegood, be my guest." Neville paled and muttered 'nevermind'. Luna laughed along with Ginny. Neville crossed his arms, feigning anger, but he was smiling, and soon, he joined in too.
Ginny knew it was risky to let Luna be the distraction alone, but it made much more sense than having one person go and search Snape's office by themselves. And Ginny already said, there were going to be no other people in this, and she sure as hell wasn't going to take back her words. I guess my pride is worth much more than my safety.
As dinner ended, everyone filed out of the Great Hall, ready for bed. Following along, Ginny shuffled to her dormitory, and slept. Or at least pretended to. At the stroke of midnight, Ginny quietly crawled out of bed and tip-toed out of the dorm. She didn't bother putting on shoes, it would be too loud; too risky. And they couldn't make a single mistake tonight.
Ginny walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and saw Neville already there, also barefooted. The Fat Lady was wide eyed but silent, the hinge of the picture frame already swung open. Just as planned. She raised her hand and gave him a thumbs-up. Neville grinned and gave one back.
Ginny checked her watch. Quarter past midnight. Perfect, so far so good. Ginny had given Luna a watch, too, so they could synchronize down to the very last minute. If everything was going well, right now Luna should be preparing for her part in the plan, one that, to Ginny, seemed much riskier than hers. Poor Luna, thought Ginny sympathetically. She hoped she was doing alright.
Neville waved his hand in front of Ginny's face. She blinked, returning from her thoughts. Neville gave her a look that said 'don't daydream now, we're on a mission!' Ginny sent an apologetic look and mouthed out 'sorry'. Neville nodded, and beckoned Ginny with his hand. Slowly and silently, the pair walked closer, and closer, until they stopped just around the corner of Snape's office.
Ginny's heart was racing as she cautiously poked her head out and squinted, trying to make out something in the darkness. She drew her head back, looking relieved, and nodded to Neville. They walked, still wary of any sounds or shadows emerging from the dark.
A sudden yelp made Ginny's heart almost burst out of her chest. She silently scolded herself, as she realised it was just Luna, doing her part. She should have known. Focus, Ginny!
"What in the world…" a voice muttered. Snape! Ginny grabbed Neville's hand and ran towards the corner. As they leaned on the wall, panting a little from fear, Ginny noticed Neville quickly let go of her hand. He looked away, and maybe it was just the eerie lighting, but his face was slightly pink.
Soft footsteps and a creak told Ginny that Snape was coming out of his office. Thankfully, the footsteps got fainter as he walked closer to Luna. Ginny heard her gasp and stumble around.
"Is that… Miss. Lovegood, may I ask what you're doing outside of your dormitory this late?"
"I…" Ginny heard Luna's confused voice. "I don't know? I-I was sleeping, and… Merlin, I must've sleepwalked! I'm so sorry, Professor Snape, I thought I've gotten over this by now, but it seems not…" Wow, she's a good actor!
Neville pinched her on the arm. Without making a sound, Ginny glared at him, only to find Neville burning a hole through her head. He gestured wildly towards Snape's office. Oh, right! Crap, I just wasted so much time! Merlin, Ginny, concentrate! Ginny angrily chastised. Slightly panicked, she followed Neville into Snape's office (he had thankfully left the door open), after making sure Luna led Snape far enough not to hear them. The duo creeped in Snape's office, and Ginny's eyes darted around, wanting to see everything. But first…
"Insulato!" Ginny whispered, pointing her wand at the door. She shivered a little, reminded of her torture (literally) with the Carrows during her detentions.
"Okay, we can talk now," Ginny spoke, her voice sounding unnaturally loud after what seemed like hours of silence. Neville let out a loud breath.
"Ugh, FINALLY! The silence was killing me!" he exclaimed, voice echoing off the stone walls. Seems like he has no problem talking, Ginny thought derisively.
"Alrighty now, we've wasted enough time already, come on! Look for the sword!" Neville was already starting to look around, behind desks and in closets.
Ginny was about to start too, when she saw something. A picture, but not any picture, a beautiful, black-and-white, gold-framed photograph. Innocently propped up on a desk covered with scrap papers, with hastily scribbled writing.
And of not just of anyone, but Lily Potter. In all her dazzling, green-eyed beautifulness. Funny; Snape seems to hate anyone related to Harry. She would have dwelled on it longer, if not for Neville hissing at her to 'hurry up this is not the time for your daydreaming, we're in Snape's bloody office'.
So Ginny searched too, but after a while it was clear that they wouldn't get anything done. There seemed to be nothing behind anything, and most (if not all) of the desks and cabinets were locked. With growing fear, Ginny noticed that Alohomora didn't seem to do anything to the locks at all.
Ginny began to panic, frantically looking for something, anything. But there was nothing.
"Come on, come on… where's the bloody sword?!" Neville shouted, panic also laced in his voice. Ginny looked at Neville, still looking, then at all the cabinets; they seemed to jeer at her.
"I… I should've known this would happen… why didn't I think of this? I should have… but I didn't," Ginny whispered softly, eyes stinging from the guilt. Now we're trapped here and Luna's with Snape and we don't even have the sword and why do I ruin everything?! She blinked; tears beginning to burn in her eyes as she leaned against the wall. Neville looked at Ginny, and hurried to walk beside her, concern etched in his face.
"No Ginny, it's not your fault…"
"But it is…"
"Shush. It's fine, don't be so hard on yourself…" Neville's reassurances seemed to worsen Ginny's despair; It's all my fault Neville's here and trapped, and he's trying to make me feel better. All that planning, and for nothing. Ginny quietly sobbed, her shoulders shaking. Neville looked torn on something; he seemed to make up his mind as he slowly spoke. "Y'know… I admire you for this. You're strong." Ginny choked out a bitter laugh.
"Yeah, right."
"When people cry, it's not that they're weak. They've just been strong for too long." Just then, Neville pulled Ginny in and she felt his lips on her. They felt warm and sweet, but she pulled back. The look on her face must have showed her feelings, because Neville said, "I'm so sorry. I just needed to do it."
"What, may I ask, are you two doing here in my office?" a cold voice interrupted them. Neville pulled away in a split second, and as Ginny looked towards the voice, her heart turned to granite.
Snape stood in the doorway, his robes still settling on the ground from his rush into the office. Ice cold fire seemed to burn in his black, endless eyes and his mouth was pulled into a taut line. His wand was raised in defence; obviously he knew that someone he didn't want in his office was there. That's us. Ginny and Neville looked at Snape in utter terror. Ginny looked at Neville. Neville looked at Ginny. Neither one knew what to do.
"Well… seems like detention for both of you." Ginny's heart sank. Please, no! Not the Carrows, please!
As Ginny looked at Snape, silently pleading with her eyes, he seemed to decide on something. "You will both meet with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest tomorrow at 7:00."
Both Ginny and Neville looked at each other in complete relief. The Forbidden Forest? Ha, that's like heaven compared to the Carrows. Ginny looked at Neville and it seemed like he was thinking the same thing. "Now get out of my sight, you useless brats, unless you want detention with the Carrows instead," Snape snapped. Ginny nodded in sync with Neville, with mumbled 'sorry's, and, pink faced, they scampered out of Snape's office.
With Ginny's walk back to her dorm, her footsteps became heavier and heavier. She was alone; Neville had to get something from the Room of Requirement. Well, or he said he did. My guess is he didn't want to even face me. Why did I even decided to do this? All of this was just a waste of time… as she neared her bed, she was surprised (but not in a bad way) to see a very pale Luna.
"I am never," Luna declared, "going to agree on doing anything relating to Snape, ever again."
"So… I'm guessing it turned out bad?" Ginny questioned, though she already knew the answer.
Luna shivered. "More than bad; Snape found out I was faking much faster than we thought he would, and gave me detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest."
"Oh, same with me and Neville!"
Luna slumped. "So, you got caught, too? Did you two find anything exciting?" Oh, right… Ginny blushed faintly.
"Well, we couldn't find anything at all… except for a picture of Lily Potter." Ignoring Luna's shocked expression, she continued on talking. "And, uh… Neville kissed me."
"WHAT?!" Luna said loudly. Ginny shushed her, embarrassed by how astonished Luna looked.
"Sorry… but Neville? Does he like you? I'm guessing you can't like him back…" Ginny nodded, grateful for Luna's understanding.
"I mean, I don't want to hurt him; he's really nice and all, but I don't like him like that; because Harry…" Luna nodded sympathetically. Why is my life such a mess? "Okay, but anyways—Snape caught us, and now we all have detention. Hmm… could be worse. At least Snape gave us detention in the same place. Thanks, Snape!" Ginny said sardonically. Luna giggled.
It was 7:00, and Ginny, Neville and Luna all were standing in front of Hagrid's hut. Ginny raised her hand to knock, but something stopped her. Once again, she saw the curious ripple of colour in the distance, and not too far from the hut.
"Hey! Luna, did you see that?" Ginny exclaimed, pointing in the direction of which she saw the ripple of light. Luna squinted, and replied, "No. What was it?"
"There was a ripple of colour in the air over there! As if someone was under an invisibility cloak! I saw it in the Room of Requirement too!"
"Really?" Luna said, once again squinting into the distance, trying to see what Ginny saw. "I can't see anything."
"That's because it's gone. I thought I imagined it last time, but if I saw it again…" Ginny trailed off, confused.
"Did you imagine it again?" cut in Neville.
"Maybe… but if Ginny saw it twice, it must've been there!" exclaimed Luna.
"No, no. Neville is right. I must've imagined it," Ginny said off-handedly, ending the conversation.
Just then, Professor Carrow came walking down to the hut. Ginny tensed up, and Professor Carrow must have noticed, because he smiled menacingly.
"Well, well, good thing none of you brats are late. Headmaster Snape told me all about your little adventure. You better be smart enough to not do it again." Ginny bit back a retort.
"Well, at least we have brains. Unlike the idiot standing in front of me," Neville snapped. Professor Carrow looked at him in shock, but then his expression changed to sick delight.
"Oh, look at the poor little boy. His mind has gone crazy! Just like his parents," Professor Carrow sneered. Neville looked as if he had been slapped across the face, too stunned to say anything. Ginny couldn't keep her mouth closed.
"Oh, don't you go there. At least his parents are smarter than yours," Ginny spat. "Yours were obviously idiots; who else would create such a stupid brat like you?" Professor Carrow looked at her in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what she had just said.
"I'll give you some advice. Keep your little, disgusting mouth shut, and you won't get in trouble," Professor Carrow sneered.
Ginny scoffed. "As if your advice would do me any good. Go give it to some dead animal," she retorted.
"But even a dead animal would die again from the stupidity of the advice, if you could even call it advice," Luna cut in, finishing Ginny's insult. Professor Carrow looked as if he wanted to smash them to pieces, then burn those pieces. But he didn't do anything, as if he was holding himself back for some reason.
"Well, you have a detention to fulliful. We might as well get it done and over with," Professor Carrow said, ending all arguments. I can't wait until you're done and over with.
Professor Carrow knocked on the door sharply, and Ginny was surprised; he seemed unusually polite today, if you exclude the little spat they had. Probably because he thinks that today is our last day on earth. Hagrid didn't open the door. Professor Carrow knocked again. Hagrid didn't answer, once again. Professor Carrow then turned around and clasped his hands together.
"Alas, it seems that Hagrid is not available at the moment. You'll have to come with me instead," Professor Carrow said, a vile smile on his pale, doughy face.
Ginny gaped in shock. The relief she had felt yesterday crumbled away. Before she could say anything in protest, Professor Carrow quickly turned, and began to walk in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. What? Are we still going? Ginny looked at Luna and Neville. Their expressions reflected hers.
Professor Carrow, turned, and, noticing the three were still standing in shock, beckoned them to follow. Ginny complied reluctantly, deciding it was best not to disobey him. Luna and Neville followed Ginny automatically. The walked down the twisted, worn path that lead to the Forbidden Forest. Professor Carrow stopped at the edge.
"Stop. You will enter the Forest to find a Blood-Sucking Bugbear. Bring it to me after you are done. If you fail to find one… well, you shall find out when you come back," instructed Professor Carrow, with an vile glint in his eye. Ginny looked at her friends. Luna seemed lost in thought, but Neville had a determined look on his face.
"Of course, Professor," Ginny said mockingly.
"You may begin," said Professor Carrow, oddly ignoring Ginny and sweeping his arm out; indicating that they could start. Luna was the first to react. She walked forwards and entered the Forest. Neville soon followed. Ginny rushed in after them. Once they were far away from Professor Carrow, they began to talk, illuminated by the light of the full moon.
"Do you know what a Blood-Sucking Bugbear is?" asked Neville.
"Nope."
"I do. Daddy talked to me about them once. They're sort of like boggarts. It's almost impossible to capture one, though. Wonder why Professor Carrow would need one. They don't do much," replied Luna.
"Like himself," said Ginny dryly and they all burst out laughing.
"So, Luna, do you know where to find one?" asked Neville.
"Well, they like to nest in trees, but only when it's the end of mating season. I think that's around now." Just then, Ginny heard a howl in the distance. She whirled around, and saw the ripple of colour again. She forgot about the howl, and tried to make out the ripple instead.
"Look! Did you see it! It was there again! The ripple of colour!" Ginny exclaimed, pointing behind her.
"Where?"
"Right behind us! I just saw it again!"
"Ginny, I think you're just imagining things. There couldn't possibly be someone behind us. There aren't very many invisibility cloaks around here," Neville said.
"Yeah. I probably am." Ginny rubbed her eyes.
"Well, Luna, what do Blood-Sucking Bugbears do, exactly?" asked Neville, getting back on subject.
"Well, they are, like I said before, like boggarts. They aren't in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, because they are non-beings," explained Luna.
"What do they look like?" asked Ginny.
"Well, they're like a big slug, with wings," described Luna. "They are also bright green, but the entire forest is also green." Ginny nodded, keeping her eyes out for something in the trees that was bright green.
"Wait, do you guys have your wands?" asked Ginny. Luna and Neville nodded, pulling their wands from their robes. Ginny pulled hers out too. "Keep them out. You don't know what's in here."
"Good point." They spend the next while looking around for Blood-Sucking Bugbears, always keeping close to the path. Ginny checked her watch, it was 7:30.
"Ugh, we've been searching for an hour already and we have nothing. Nothing," Ginny complained. "Is this why he gave us this mission? Because he knew it would be impossible?"
"Wait, we've been searching for an hour?" repeated Neville. Ginny nodded. Neville groaned. "Professor Carrow would never let us hear the end of it if we don't find one soon. Hurry!" They all nodded, and resumed their search.
After what seemed to be the longest ten minutes of her life, Luna finally spotted something.
"Wait! I think I've found one!" Ginny whipped her head around.
"Really?" She asked hopefully.
"Yeah! It's up there, at the top of the tree!" Ginny ran over to where Luna was pointing. She was right, there was a large, sluggish-like worm, bright green, up in the tree. She sighed, glad it was finally over.
"But how do you think we can get it down?" asked Neville. Ginny's mouth suddenly dropped open, and she let out a yell of frustration, thinking of an idea that would've gotten them done and over with this at least an hour faster.
Ginny raised her wand and pointed it at the Blood-Sucking Bugbear.
"Accio Blood-Sucking Bearbug!" The bugbear was lifted off of the branch it was resting on, and landed in front of Ginny's feet. It was bigger than she had thought.
Luna and Neville both gaped as if they just had an epiphany.
"How the hell are we going to get this thing back?" asked Ginny, deciding not to dwell on regret any longer. Luna, pointed her wand at the bugbear, coming to the same wordless conclusion as Ginny.
"Folliculusleva!" The bearbug was wrapped in a blue emitting light and it floated up mid-air. "There. Done."
"Nice job, Luna!" Neville exclaimed. "Let's finally, finally, go back!"
Ginny nodded and turned around. She started following the path…
Wait. No. Damn it!
There was no path.
"You guys, where did the path go?" Ginny said nervously, and the excitement evaporated, like mist floating up to the sky.
Neville looked around, blinking."I'm…not sure?" As he began to say something else, he was interrupted by Ginny heard a long, mournful howl in the distance. The chilling sound seemed to stretch on longer than it should have.
"Woah. Did you hear that?" Ginny whispered. Neville nodded, and grasped his wand tighter. Luna raised her wand higher. "What do you think that was?"
"I think it just was the wolves," Neville replied, though he was shaking with fear.
"Um, I don't think those are 'just wolves'," Luna stuttered, pointing her wand in the distance. Ginny looked at where Luna indicated.
A pair of large, bright, green eyes staring at them. Acting on instinct, Ginny shot out a spell.
"Stupefy!" The stunning spell, casted at the werewolf, hit nothing as it nimbly leaped to the side. It then growled with annoyance and slowly stalked towards them. Luna quaked with fear.
They backed up until they hit a wall of trees behind them.
"Guys… I think that's a werewolf!" Ginny said, voice shaking.
"How can there be werewolves in here?" Luna asked, as Ginny came to a not-so-surprising conclusion.
"Snape," she said angrily. "He must've set this up, he planned this!"
Neville interrupted Ginny. "Hey, not the best time to think right now! There's a bloody werewolf in front of us, and it's coming closer!" By Neville's warning, they drew out their wands, ready to defend themselves.
The werewolf lunged. Ginny heard a cry from the left of her; the werewolf must've caught up Luna. Another 'Stupefy!' burst out of Neville in anger, and as Luna yelled out again, Ginny, in her panic, drew out from her pocket the sack of mysterious powder Fred and George gave her, and threw it at the snarling werewolf.
There was a cloud of sparkling blue dust, as the werewolf made equally confused and pained noises. As the fog settled, Ginny peered in to see a closer look, and was taken aback. Neville snorted. Luna gasped in pain.
The wolf had ceased his attacks, and was now facing them. Its fur was spiky, sparkled, and bright blue. It peered up at Ginny like: 'why did you have to do that?' with its bright green eyes.
The more Ginny looked at the werewolf's eyes, the more she thought that she recognised them. It whimpered, and Ginny felt a growing pity for the werewolf.
"Well, not so proud and mighty now, are you, wolf?" Neville snickered. He raised his wand.
"Wait, Neville!" Ginny interrupted. "It didn't mean to attack us. It was just natural instinct. And besides," Ginny added, noting Neville's sour expression, "something tells me Snape provoked it purposely. Werewolves don't just immediately attack people. And I don't think it's a werewolf. Probably just a wolf."
"Ginny's right, Neville. It's true; Hagrid told us that once. And I'm the one injured." Neville reluctantly lowered his wand. Hearing Luna's slightly pained voice, Ginny rushed over to her. There was a long gash down her left arm, from her shoulder to her wrist.
"Luna! Are you OK?" Luna simply nodded, slightly pale, but otherwise looking fine.
"Okay. Let's get you out of this forest." Neville and Ginny lifted Luna up in their arms and began to walk back to the path.
The trio emerged from the Forbidden Forest. But this time, not even Ginny had noticed a flash of colour; the same strange ripple she always thought she saw.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review, compliment, criticize, or comment, they're all appreciated!
-Zigostia