The Carrows' Calling
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to us, we are not J.K. Rowling. If we were, you would probably have read this before and we would be rich, not broke.
Chapter Twelve
That night, Madam Pomfrey deemed Ginny well enough to leave the hospital, with only a warning to "take it easy" as a parting message.
So Ginny walked down the hall, to her dorm; apparently she was still weak, and could take a break from classes for a couple days. Although she wasn't going to—Ginny had Transfiguration the next morning, and she wasn't going to miss it for the world.
She walked through the halls, fingers trailing over the walls. But then, as she neared the Gryffindor common room, she spotted Neville and Luna whispering to each other in a corner near the end of the hall. They were huddled together, seeming to be talking about something. Something good, by the looks on their faces. Weird, what would they be discussing? But Ginny ignored it. Jeez, Ginny, you don't have to be involved in everything.
Instead, she gave the password to the Fat Lady, and hurried away.
She arrived at her dorm, and felt a pang of self-pity by just how… lonely it seemed. No one was there; nor would anyone ever be.
Trying to brighten the place a little, Ginny flicked her wand at the fireplace; a warm, blazing flame appeared, and, if only a little, it lifted Ginny's spirits, as her troubles seemed to disappear with the embers.
She changed into her pyjamas, and fell asleep to the steady noise of the quiet, crackling fire.
Ginny looked around her, terrified and confused. In front of her and on the right was McGonagall, screaming in pain. Left, Professor Carrow, his wand drawn, firing curses at the other professor.
Ginny's mind was filled with panic. She tried to run to Professor McGonagall, but her feet were stuck to the ground. She could only watch as her professor was shot by each and every blood-red ray, until she lost count. Ginny kept on trying to escape from her prison, but couldn't break free, no matter how hard she struggled. It felt as though chains of guilt held her in place, pulling her lower and lower into the ground. It was like the Imperious Curse all over again, but this time it was worse.
At last, Ginny couldn't stand it anymore.
"Please, stop! Just, please, please stop! Please!" she begged, tears threatening to fall.
"No!" Professor McGonagall stated firmly, even though her body was shaking with pain.
"You had your chance. And you blew it," Professor Carrow said gleefully, looking at Ginny.
Ginny could only watch, tears flowing freely down her face now, as her professor slowly but surely collapsed.
There were tears in her eyes as Ginny woke up, sweat coating her face. It was just a nightmare. She tried to believe it. But how close had Professor McGonagall been to collapsing like she did in her dream? And what if… what if that time… what if that wasn't her first time? Is that why she didn't show so much pain? Ginny thought darkly.
She started to change quickly; she needed to check, to see for herself. Ginny got changed in a jiffy, and after breakfast, rushed down to her first class, Transfiguration.
The closer Ginny got, the more nervous she felt. What if Professor McGonagall wasn't there? What if Neville just didn't want to worry her any further? Her footsteps got faster and more brisk, and as she peered into the classroom, Ginny was immensely relieved, and breathed out an audible sigh, as she found Professor McGonagall in the classroom.
She was standing tall; shoulders back and face devoid of emotion. She seems fine… but, these days, what's the meaning of "fine"?
Ginny walked in, carefully watching Professor McGonagall's face for a reaction. Her face remained impassive. Disappointed, Ginny trudged to her seat.
The Transfiguration lesson went on without any trouble, but Professor McGonagall did meet Ginny's eyes. Not even once.
Even still, Ginny tried to pay attention to the lesson. But her mind kept wandering—even in that one second, Professor McGonagall's eyes showed exhaustion, pain and one feeling that especially sent shivers down her back. Her eyes shone with fear.
If even Professor McGonagall is scared, then how should we be feeling?
Ginny drifted back to attention, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sheet of paper fly through the window. She watched as McGonagall looked over to it, but, strangely, ignored it for the rest of the lesson. Ginny looked around, perplexed; no one else seemed to have noticed the paper on the floor.
Ginny eventually decided not to pick it up, thinking it was probably private.
Before she knew it, Transfiguration was over and she was off to Charms.
Charms went by, without anything memorable. Defense—no, "The Dark Arts", Ginny thought, annoyed—was fine, or whatever "fine" was in that awful class. Ginny kept her face emotionless, responding to Professor Carrow's snide remarks with a cool "Yes, Professor", or "I don't know, Professor".
Ginny found it easier not to lash out now; she couldn't bear it if he did anything more to Professor McGonagall.
During lunch, something surprising happened (but not appealing in the slightest). Snape entered the Great Hall with his head high and cape billowing as usual. Ginny scowled.
"Great, look who's here," Neville muttered to Ginny, and Luna (who had sneaked over so many times, they found it unusual if she didn't) looked around nervously. Snape stopped in the middle of the room, as the chatter of the students rather quickly ebbed out, and the room was completely silent in mere seconds.
"An announcement for you dimwits. I will only say this once. Any organization or club with four or more people will not be allowed. If anyone is caught, all the people in that club will be getting a detention with the Carrows. Have a nice lunch," he added sarcastically, and with that, he turned and swiftly exited the room, leaving the trio mouths open and gaping.
That night, Neville and Luna met in Ginny's dorm.
"Of course we're not canceling Dumbledore's Army! It's exactly what the Carrows and Snape want!"
"But we have to, Ginny! You've seen what happened. We were walking on thin ice as it is, and now Snape tells us it to our faces? It's the only way!" Ginny crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Do what you want. There is absolutely no way I'm quitting. I'll run D.A. all by myself if I have to." Neville glared at her with a mix of frustration and concern. "And besides, we'll just be more careful. I'll call off the vandalising if you really want." he looked slightly doubtful now. "Also, Snape said four or more. We can still do stuff, just the three of us."
Neville and Ginny both looked at Luna. "Well? You're the tiebreaker."
"I think… it should just be the three of us again. Maybe we could expand, but if we are, only after a while, when their guards are down."
Ginny shot Luna a sideways smile.
"Always fair. Alright, Neville, I take it you're fine with that?" Neville nodded, looking satisfied. "Okay. We'll call another meeting—would tomorrow night, same time, be fine?"
With Luna's confirmation, she and Neville left Ginny's dorm. And after silencing her restless thoughts and plans, Ginny, too, fell asleep.
The next day passed on rather peacefully. At least, of course, until night came.
Dumbledore's Army was rather disappointed to find that they could not vandalise anymore ("Aw, it was the most fun I've ever had this year!"), but all agreed on the fact that it would be too dangerous. Ginny left the Room with a tinge of discourage, but it had to be done, she thought.
And now, with just the three of us again, we'll need to think of better, safer plans; ones with more effect. And it's not going to be easy.
Ginny woke up to the sound of papers rustling. Who's in here? Ginny sat up in her bed as fast as she could, and rubbed her eyes.
She looked around her dormitory. There was no one there, but her sheets of homework for Transfiguration were disorganised, and some seemed to be missing. That's odd. Ginny always kept her homework neatly filed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw a ripple of rainbow light. She turned her head towards it. It was gone, could she have imagined it again? Just then, her eyes caught her closet door, which burst open right when she looked at it.
Harry Potter's dead, limp body tumbled out. He lay still on the floor, face up, his glasses crooked on his nose. His beautiful green eyes stared upwards, unblinking, looking up at the star-painted ceiling that he could no longer see.
Ginny gasped, horrified to the point where she could not move.
Then his body changed. Ronald Weasley replaced him, once again dead, unmoving, on the cold hard floor.
What is this? The body changed once more, into the dead, bleeding body of Hermione Granger. Ginny stared at the corpse, eyes welling up with tears. Get a hold of yourself, Ginny!
But before she could do anything, the body changed again and again, into her family. Fred and George, Molly, Arthur, Charlie, Percy and Bill, all flashed, dead before her eyes. Ginny began to reach for her wand shakily, but the boggart changed its form once again.
Lying dead and bleeding, punctures in her right arm, was Minerva McGonagall. Still as a stone, emerald green eyes open and wet with tears, staring at things that Ginny couldn't see.
But something in her cold, unliving eyes bothered Ginny deeply; even more than she had been. McGonagall's eyes were filled with sorrow.
That was the breaking point for Ginny. She pointed her quivering wand at the boggart and said, rather forcefully,
"Riddikulus!" The boggart corpse flashed, and turned into a teddy bear. Ginny laughed; it came out fake and sarcastic. But even still, the boggart disappeared and Ginny collapsed back into her bed, not realising that she had stood up.
She was breathing heavily, her mind still in shock about what she had just seen. Merlin, that can't happen, can it? But Ginny was curious of who else would've shown up on her boggart. And why Professor McGonagall of all people? She wasn't that close to her, Hermione was the one that McGonagall liked. Perhaps it's because of the last few days. McGonagall had risked a lot for Ginny, much more than she expected.
Thank Merlin it's over now. Ginny tried to relax, maybe go back to sleep, but she couldn't push the images away.
Professor McGonagall lying dead on the floor, her right arm bleeding, like Ginny's had many, many weeks ago. What if that's what's happening to Harry right now? Ginny suddenly thought, panicked. Now, Ginny you can't think about that right now. He can't be. Can he?
Ginny's mind continued to whirl around what she had just seen.That's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Mum, Dad, Fred and George, Charlie, Percy and Bill are all fine. They are fine. Nothing's going to happen. Ginny tried to convince herself. Still, the picture of Professor McGonagall, dead in front of her eyes, haunted her.
She couldn't forget the look in McGonagall's eyes. As if she wanted to die. But why? She could never see McGonagall wanting to die, she seemed to be immortal. She was always there, always solidly there, for everyone who needed her. To all houses, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and her own house, Gryffindor.
Yes, Minerva McGonagall was the rock and stone that everyone leaned on. But they weren't careful, that stone would crumble. Ginny had never seen her lose control over any kind of feeling, except for maybe anger.
When McGonagall was tortured, Ginny was scared. Really, truly scared. She had never felt real fear until that day.
Ginny fell back onto her bed, not really caring about anything in the world, her mind replaying the moments from before, like moving pictures flashing in her eyes. She slowly pulled the covers back onto herself, forcing her tears away, and fell into a deep, restless sleep, hoping the nightmares wouldn't haunt her once more.
He watched as Harry Potter tumbled out of the closet door, and had to keep himself from gasping.
He remembered that there was a boggart loose in the sixth years' dormitory, and very much unlike his usual self, felt worry and came over to check on Ginny. Well, I was certainly right to.
He watched as the boggart changed to each Weasley family member and Hermione Granger. He watched, and hoped that the boggart wouldn't be able to detect invisibility charms. His fear was most definitely something he did not want to see. Against his will, his memories shot back to when he first faced a boggart.
"Hey Snivellus! Too afraid to beat a boggart? It isn't that bad, is it?" Severus glared at him. He walked up to the closet that held the boggart, and, trying not to think, opened the lock on the door.
A body fell out with a thud. The familiar fiery red hair swept onto the ground; her beautiful sparkling green eyes staring into nothingness, looking at something that Severus couldn't see.
Severus jumped back from the body, shocked. James looked at the corpse with his jaw dropped.
"What's up with you and Evans?" he sneered, not bothering to conceal his jealousy. Severus didn't reply. He continued to stare at the dead body of his best friend, Lily Evans. He shakily raised his wand and said,
"Riddikulus!" The boggart changed into a bird, and Severus forced a unhumorous laugh out of himself. The boggart disappeared with a poof, and it was gone. He turned to see James Potter staring at him once more, with deep hatred.
Severus forced himself out of his memories, only to see Minerva McGonagall, lying dead on the cold stone floor. Her right arm was stabbed and bleeding with cuts. So many. It reminded him of Ginny Weasley's arm, but much, much worse. Severus wanted to turn away, but he forced himself to keep looking, to make sure Ginny was okay. Her emerald green eyes were filled with tears.
Severus had never, in all his years of knowing her, seen Minerva cry. The only emotion that he had ever seen her express publicly, was anger. Not necessarily at him, but enough at Albus. And although he knew that it was fake, it looked and felt so real. He couldn't help but feel fear.
Severus had long lost Minerva's trust, but even so, he tried his best to keep her safe. Without her, who knows what more hell the students will go through.
Severus watched as Ginny raised her wand, and (rather poorly, he would say) ended the boggart. She collapsed onto her bed, seemingly lost in thought. It was then, as he studied Ginny's face, that Severus noticed that she looked like Minerva—been to hell and back.
There was a large bruise on her left cheek, and a cut underneath it. They seemed to be rather healed, which would explain why no one else had questioned her about it.
Severus saw Ginny flop back onto her bed and fall asleep, and was about to leave. But he noticed that her blankets were falling off the bed, and completely out of order, possibly from her nightmare thrashing, he didn't know, nor did he really care.
He started to walk over to the girl, and as carefully as he could, pulled the blankets up and tucked her in gently. Severus really didn't know what part of him urged himself to do that, but after seeing what Ginny's boggart was, he thought it was the right thing to do.
Severus then left the dormitory as quietly as he came and walked into the common room. Once out of the Gryffindor common room, Severus entered an unused classroom and removed the invisibility charm. He walked swiftly to Professor McGonagall's office; he had to make sure she was OK, after what he had just seen.
He came to the tall, spruce door with the lion-headed door handle, and knocked firmly and quickly thrice. Footsteps were coming through the door, the click-clack of Minerva's high heeled boots.
The door handle turned, and Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, facing Severus stiffly.
"Good morning Headmaster. What brings you here today?" Minerva asked, in a cold tone.
"Ah, Minerva. I suspect you have finished the papers that I gave you?" he asked, even though Severus already knew that Minerva would've finished them the day he gave them to her.
"Yes, I actually have. Please wait a moment Headmaster," she said, in a honey-sweet tone, clearly mocking Severus. She left the door open only a bit, evidently not welcoming Severus into her office.
From where he could see, Severus saw a green, tartan cape swung over a Gryffindor red armchair, and across from that armchair, sat another one that gave him a unwelcoming feeling of guilt. It was bright purple, with star and moon patterns speckled over it. At once, Severus recognised the chair as Dumbledore's.
He had moved it to Minerva's office because Albus complained about her chairs being much too stiff and uncomfortable. Severus had wholeheartedly agreed, only to find himself on the end of Minerva's wand.
Trying to distract himself, Severus peered around Minerva's office. He could see the corner of her desk, so many papers stacked and flying off it. What kind of hell is this woman going through? And I'm contributing to it.
Severus didn't want to give Minerva the papers to work on, but he had to; had to keep the idiots Carrows from thinking about anything.
He was taken out of his thoughts as Minerva came back with a stack of papers, neatly put together. Her clean, simple handwriting covered the pages.
"Thank you, Minerva." She nodded silently and handed him the papers.
As Severus left, he heard the door slam shut behind him.
Severus floated the papers in the air and walked quickly back to his office, hoping to talk to Dumbledore. The Headmaster's office door closed with a click, and the papers disappeared with a flick of his wand.
Ginny woke up staring at the star-painted ceiling of her dormitory, feeling her covers tight around her, neatly wrapped around her. That's strange, I don't remember tucking myself in. But then again, last night was something she didn't want to try and remember, so she shrugged it off and dragged herself into the bathroom, hoping to freshen up. In the bathroom, Ginny looked into the mirror. A stranger stared back.
Her eyes were a little red and puffy from crying, and there were huge dark shadows beneath her eyes. She had lost weight, making her clothes look like they were hanging from her thin frame, in a twisted mockery of Professor McGonagall. There was a bruise on her left cheek and a cut underneath her chin. How had I gotten that? Ginny couldn't even remember.
She washed her face, trying her best to get rid of any signs that she'd been crying. Ginny cleaned up the cuts and tried her best to cover up the bruise with a spell. Reminded of McGonagall, Ginny shivered and worked faster. Once finished, Ginny looked back into the mirror. She looked a little better, if she did say so herself; the redness and puffiness from under her eyes had disappeared.
But only be replaced now by even more prominent circles under her eyes. Was this what she looked like all week? Or did it only start today? Ginny wasn't sure, nor did she really want to know.
She washed her face once more, and after making sure none of the cuts and bruises were showing got dressed. She ran down to the common room, wanting to see her friends.
A warm rush of air ran into Ginny's face. The fires were lit, and the torches were burning brighter than ever before. The scent of fresh pine trees rushed to Ginny's nose, filling her with nostalgia.
She noticed Professor McGonagall standing in a corner, speaking to a small group of students sitting in front of her. Ginny decided to join them, seeing that her friends were all there. Neville, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati were all listening attentively to Professor McGonagall's words.
"This year you will take the N.E.W.T. exams, no matter the situation." Professor McGonagall's eye met with Ginny's, as she seemed to scan her, like she knew there was something wrong. But if she did, she didn't show it, for her sake or Ginny's.
Ginny sat down with the rest of the group, but tuned out on whatever Professor McGonagall was talking about. So she zoned out, not really thinking about anything in general. Until the word Christmas caught her ear.
"This year, students may choose to stay at the school for the holidays, but you have been warned, it will not be as enjoyable." Ginny looked over to Neville to see his expression, but instead saw that there was a long cut on his arm, barely covered by his sleeve.
She mouthed "what happened?" to Neville, forgetting he wasn't looking at her. He didn't reply, his attention directed to McGonagall. But he wasn't looking at her face. Ginny followed Neville's gaze, and her heart plummeted. He was staring at a stain on the ends of her robes, a stain of crimson blood. It looked old; dry and crusty.
Neville's gaze turned down to her shoes. They were too covered in dry blood, the red seeping into the black. Professor McGonagall must've forgotten about the blood on her robes, or simply hadn't noticed at all. Normally she's so pristine. These days must be taking an even bigger toll on her than I thought!
Ginny was alarmed, but decided not to show it; she knew how much Professer McGonagall hated people worrying for her.
Instead, Ginny's mind wandered to her family. Were they alright? How was Fred and George's store going? How was Ron? Where was Harry? What happened to Hermione?
Ginny told herself that they were going to be fine, and her family was OK. But a small nagging voice in the back of her mind whispered, What if Harry's dead? What if Hermione's been captured? What if Ron's been tortured? No, Ginny, you must not think like that! She thought again, forcing herself to stop. Otherwise it will only happen.
Her mind flashed back to the boggart. Harry's cold, dead body on the floor, Hermione's bloody arm, Ron's blue eyes staring at the ceiling that he could no longer see.
Ginny couldn't help but think that what she had seen from that boggart, it could be reality. People she loved, dead on the floor. Having a sudden rush of fear, she quickly looked up at Professor McGonagall, and was relieved (though she really shouldn't be) to find that she was still, indeed, alive. Very much unlike the dead body she saw in her dormitory.
It was then that she realised she was the only person still there, that all the other students had left, and Professor McGonagall was now looking at her with a peculiar expression on her face.
It seemed to ask, What are your thoughts, Ginerva Weasley?
The look that McGonagall gave her then, it reminded her of Dumbledore's. Piercing green eyes that seemed to penetrate her mind. As if they didn't need the Legilimency spell to read someone's mind.
Professor McGonagall gave her one last, strange look, and left through the common room door, bending her head down to exit the short portrait hole. Ginny stood up, deciding to go back to her dorm.
On her way up, she yet again thought she saw a ripple of light in the air behind her.
Author's Note:
We hope you have enjoyed this chapter, we had a nice time writing it! Please leave a review for us, we would like to know if people are liking/not liking our work. To all who have reviewed, thank you so much! It warms our hearts that people are reading our fanfiction.
-Zigostia