Loud buzzing dissipated as rustling leaves and wind flooded her ears. Pressure constricting her chest released. Ginny gasped relieving her suffocation. Darkness abated as she awoke surrounded by massive bright orange mounds reflecting the afternoon sun. Muck covered her cloak and shoes. Her hands, covered in an unknown dark copper brown substance, emanated a metallic aroma. Booming footsteps approached her. She dove behind the first giant mound and placed her blazing cheek against the waxy cool side.
A pumpkin. Registering her surroundings, she realized the mounds were pumpkins three times her height. How did she get in the middle of an oversized pumpkin patch? Squatting she placed her hands to the ground for stability. She recognized the muck's texture and smell. Dragon dung. Charlie sends the same dragon dung home to Mum. Losing her balance, she slipped deeper into the dung covering the coppery matter on her hands and cloak.
Ginny sat defeated in putrid smelling dragon poop. She leaned her back against the massive pumpkin and looked toward the sky to registered the sun's position. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. She searched for the castle to use as a compass. It was three maybe four in the afternoon.
How did she get from breakfast in the Great Hall to the middle of the afternoon in a pumpkin patch? What was on her hands? It didn't look or smell like manure. Footsteps thudded behind her and a roaring voice rang in her ears.
"Ginny girl! What're you doin' covered in muck hidin' with meh pumpkins?" Looking up she saw Hagrid's bushy grizzled face looking down at her. His hand, the size of one of her Mum's fully cooked Sunday hams, reached for hers. She put her doll-sized hand into his as he gently pulled her out of the manure.
"Hello, Hagrid. I was trying to figure out what you used on the pumpkins to make them so large! They look almost as if they have been engorged. I wanted to write home to Mum so she could try it in our garden," the lie spilled out of her mouth before she could contain it.
"Well engorged is one word for it, but tha' needs to stay our little secret," Hagrid laughed a deep thunderous laugh winking at her. "Come on, get out of tha' dirt an' come in here an' ge' cleaned. I jus' got another letter from yer brother Charlie. Come in for a cuppa an' biscuits an' I'll show yer."
Ginny walked through the hearth into Hagrid's hut. The warmth failed to penetrate the chill enveloping her. Ginny washed her hands in a basin of lukewarm water and climbed onto a wooden chair taller than her shoulders. She sat at the massive table picking at biscuits harder than boulders and sipping tepid tea. Her mind a million miles away she half listening to kind small talk.
"So does Harry ever come by here?" Heat rushed to her face. Why did she ask that?
"Sure. Usually with yer brother and Hermione."
"When's the last time you saw him?"
"Not since they made their gran' ol entrance in tha' car of theirs. The things those two get into withou' Hermione to talk sense into em," Hagrid smiled shaking his head.
"Does he ever come alone or at night?" Ginny clamped her hands over her mouth to stop the barrage of questions from leaving. Hagrid looked at her curiously and then laughed heartedly.
"I know wha' this is. You fancy 'im, don' you? Ah well, he could do a lot worse than you I'd say. You come from good stock and good people. Yer Mum an' Dad, yer uncles - rest their souls, an' brothers, even them twins have good hearts. If yer're half the witch Molly is, and I would bet yer're and then some, well yer can' be doin' much better than that," Hagrid took a large gulp of tea before continuing to chuckle. "Tell you what, I will put in a good word next time I see him."
"Thank you Hagrid. I think I need to return to the castle. It is almost dinner," Ginny murmured. Her face seared with embarrassment. Her head pounded as if a nutcracker compressed her skull like chestnut about to crack.
"O course. Don' want you wanderin' about after dark. Found my chickens attacked this mornin' before I found you. Something from the forest, Fang and I need to ge' out and see. Be extra careful where you wander until we know for sure. 'Specially with one as small as yerself," Hagrid walked Ginny to the door. Giving Ginny's small shoulder a squeeze, her shoulder crumpled under his grasp. "Don' be a stranger!"
She grimaced a smile as she waved a silent goodbye. The sun moved deeper in the sky as it sank into the western horizon. Ginny's stomach gnawed in hunger but she walked past the savory scents wafting from the Great Hall. Making her way through the portrait into the empty common room she climbed the staircase to her quiet room. She threw her dung-scented cloak into the corner of her bed and sat at her desk noticing her diary unopened.
How did her diary get from the Great Hall to her room? Choosing an amber quill she dipped it in ink with extra care. "Tom? Tom are you there?"
No response. She waited a few moments. The pounding in her head and buzzing in her ears intensified.
"Tom, please, what happened?" she wrote losing patience.
"Good evening Ginny," replied Tom.
"Something strange happened. I lost almost eight hours between this morning and this afternoon. I woke up in a pumpkin patch outside the castle."
"You don't know? Don't you remember volunteering to do me a favor?"
Ginny threw her quill onto the desk as her heart pounded so loud she could hear all the blood rushing through her body. Taking a deep breath she gripped the sides of her chair steadying herself. Picking the quill back up she dipped it into the inkwell with more force.
"Yes, but why would that make me lose time? Why did everything go blank?"
"When you left you said you wanted to do me a small favor. I am thrilled to have a friend willing to help me. After you brought me back here I am not sure what happened."
Ginny looked at the words. Tom had asked for a small favor. She agreed to help him without asking a single question. Then the world went black and eight hours elapsed in the span of four seconds.
"Tom, I am scared. I don't remember anything that happened."
"I assumed you were mature enough to help me but, maybe as a first year I was wrong. I would be happy to stop replying if I am scaring you - I never had any intention of frightening you. I care so deeply for you Ginny. I never had a friend I could ask for help. If this is too much, due to your youth and immaturity, I understand. You don't need to continue writing but, I will miss you dearly. Goodbye," Tom wrote.
"No, please don't leave Tom. I am mature enough. I promise," Ginny desperately scratched leaving ink spots and tearing the page. If Tom stopped replying before she understood what happened. She needed Tom. He just said he cared about about her deeply. He trusted her. He needed her.
"It is all fine my dear, thank you for standing by my side and not leaving. The first week at a new school is scary. Maybe you lost time to deal with the stress. I promise I will never leave you. We are together now."
Pressure dissipated across her face as tears started to escape. Stress. It had to be stress. Mum. Mum would know what to do. Maybe she could write Mum and ask her more about her diary and why she gave it to her. Using her shirt sleeve she wiped her face. Everything seemed so simple his morning; flying, Quidditch, Tom. Now she couldn't figure out why it felt sullied.
"I adore you too, Tom. I won't leave you and will keep writing. Tonight, I am going to send an owl to Mum. I am sure she will know why I am losing time. I am going to send her an owl right now and we can set this whole day behind us."
The idea of writing to Mum and getting some answer brought comfort to this whole strange situation. Putting the diary on her bed with extra care Ginny walked through the empty common room.
Stepping through the Fat Lady's portrait Ginny turned left to walked behind the tapestries. Wanting to avoid people before she understood what was happening she took the deserted path through the back corridor. She stopped and hid in the shadow of a stone archway when she heard footsteps and voices approach and then continuing past her.
Why did everything feel so dirty? What changed? She tried to remember what happened between breakfast and the afternoon. What was on her hands when she woke in the garden? Her heart beat hard against her ribs. Her hands filled with clammy sweat as her arms went numb. Visions of red streaks and white feathers flashed before her eyes. An ache shot from her shoulder to her neck as she sank against the stone wall and fell to the floor.
Broomstick polish. Quaffles bouncing. Plugs in her father's hands. Blue eyes laughing. Strong hands kneading bread.
Willing herself with an unknown strength she stood bracing her weight against the arch. Mum. She was so close to the Owlry. Mum can help fix this. She climbed the spiral staircase past Ravenclaw tower.
"Hello Ginny," a soft voice from behind startled Ginny. Luna lay prone on the floor outside Ravenclaw's door . Her legs climbed flat against the wall with her feet pointed towards the ceiling. She kicking them in a rhythmic tap dance as she spoke. A familiar annoyance rose inside Ginny. She didn't have time for the latest thing Luna read in the Quibbler. She wanted to write her Mum.
"Ginny did you hear me?" asked Luna. "You ignored me at breakfast too. Are you mad at me?"
Ginny stopped and tried to recall what Luna had said at breakfast. Unable to focus she mumbled an apology and shrugged her shoulders.
"I asked if you were ok." Luna sat upright pushing her back against the wall as she looked at Ginny's face. No anger or resentment looked back at Ginny. No concern either. Luna examined her as if she was one of the puzzles in the back of the Quibbler.
"You never seemed to have trouble talking before. I like listening to you. What happened?"
"I am not sure." Ginny's resolve to keep walking wilted away. She sat next to Luna and leaned her shoulders into her friend's side.
"Do you need help figuring it out? Have you tried looking at it upside down? I can't figure out today's riddle and thought if I approached it from a different angle I might have more luck."
"I don't think so. I am so tired." Her urge to climb to the top of the owlery left with her words. Waves of fatigue flooded her. Encased in solid lead her arms fell limp to her side. Her face filled with weariness pulling her eyelids shut as dizziness descended. Ginny's resolve to write home sank like a riptide pulling her below a current of exhaustion.
"I want to go back to my room now." Ginny struggled to stand slipping against the wall. Her legs wobbled unsteadily beneath and she needed a minute to regain her balance and composure.
"Ok. Tomorrow is Friday so at least you won't have afternoon classes and can rest. Let's meet under the big tree by the lake? You like Quidditch and flying. Can we watch the practices and talk more?" Luna stood with grace next to Ginny faltering and helped Ginny steady herself. She brushed Ginny's copper hair out of her reddening eyes and behind her ear. Luna's eyes were clear and blue showing no signs of confusion or doubt. Making plans to go sit beneath a tree, like their favorite willow tree by the Burrow pond, seemed so easy and simple.
"Sounds lovely," Ginny sighed and turned to head back to her room.
She walked as if she wandered lost in a dense fog. All thoughts of writing home vanished as her bed pulled her with an unseen urgency towards her dorm. Her pace quickened as she walked faster towards her dorm almost running. She gave the password to the Fat Lady and went straight to her room. Slipping behind her bed curtains she fastened them until all light vanished and she sat alone in the dark. She gasped wheezing trying to push away her rising panic.
Exhaustion rolled over her as she sprawled out on her on top of her mattress and blankets. The last thing she recognized before sleep engulfed her was her bare leg hitting something hard and cold. In the unconscious deep recess of her mind she knew exactly what touched her skin. But for now, all she could do was give into the blackness of sleep.