Chapter 10: Falmouth

The days following the kiss dragged by in a sour clash of wills. Both Ginny and Julien independently decided to pretend the night had never happened, with their attitudes shifting overnight into a tart courteousness.

In the mornings, Ginny followed her usual routine of eating a light breakfast before Apparating to the quidditch pitch. Julien, usually awake even before Ginny, would work in the guest room, leaving her alone for breakfast. He would leave the room solely to accompany Ginny to the pitch, before heading off to the Ministry.

Ginny's teammates took great pleasure in badgering her about the mysterious man who had appeared out of nowhere one day, who now sent her off to each practice.

"He's a Ministry guy who's been appointed to protect me while I deal with my episodes," Ginny explained to them for the fiftieth time.

"Right. Just a Ministry guy," Galena said, peering through her thick eyelashes at Ginny, her expression dubious. "Who looks at you like he'd kill for you. And who's hot as hell."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You need your eyesight checked, Galena."

"For what? The hot as hell part of the kill for you part?"

"Both."

"No, I can feel these things. Have you guys hooked up already? I bet you're keeping it from us."

"No! What are we, gossiping like we're twelve?" Ginny retorted in what she hoped was a nonchalant way, before jumping off the bench they were sitting on and heading back to her broom.

"Honestly, I don't believe you. And he is hot, Ginny. Objectively. He's like one of those statues cut from stone or something. I bet he has a six-pack and…" Galena kept up the airheaded chatter until Ginny could hear no more. Thank Merlin. The girl was a phenomenal Seeker, but Ginny sometimes wondered when she had the time to think about quidditch when she spent all day chatting about the damndest things.

Ginny tried to convince herself she felt nothing for Julien anymore, not after he proved himself an arse who had led her on.

But he has a point, you know. You can't afford any distractions right now.

She occasionally found herself sympathizing with Julien, but she let her indignation squash those thoughts until they were nothing but flattened rubbish.

He's trying to keep you safe.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

You can't avoid him forever. He's living with you.

Yes, I can. Isn't that what I've been doing?

The subconscious debates rung on in her head until she could take it no more. She took out her frustrations at practice, in the air.

"Ginny, stop! Stop, stop!" Gwenog's voice, magically amplified, finally registered in Ginny's ears.

Ginny pulled her broom to a dizzying halt, almost falling sideways from her attempt at fifteen consecutive corkscrews.

"You're going to injure yourself," Gwenog called. "Get down here!"

As soon as Ginny's feet touched grass again, Gwenog yanked Ginny's broom out of her grasp.

"What?" Ginny exclaimed. Gwenog should be happy that she was flying hard, taking every acceleration twice as fast as she usually did. Maybe the number of feints and corkscrews she'd practiced was excessive, but at least she'd be ready for their first official season match tomorrow.

"Go stretch and take a rest. You're overdoing it. There's clearly something wrong and you need to figure it out," Gwenog replied. "If your Ministry guy has done something to make you so distracted, I'm going to kill him."

"I've been focused," Ginny insisted, frowning. "And he's not my Ministry guy."

"You're a bad liar," Gwenog retorted. "Go to the recovery room and stretch. You're done with practice for today. I don't care what it takes, but get yourself back to a normal state. We're a team and you can't be flying erratically. Otherwise I'll have Penny start in your place."

Ginny pinched her lips but nodded, heading inside to heed her captain's words. She hated that Julien had managed to infiltrate her mind even in the hours when he wasn't in her vicinity. Tomorrow was a big day for the team and she didn't want to be the one holding them back from a victory.

The next morning at six sharp, Julien Apparated with her to an entry point just outside the Falmouth pitch. It was windy and rainy in the coastal town and Ginny shivered in her game day kit as they walked into the player entrance. She cursed herself for forgetting her warmup robe — it was a testament to how much she had been distracted the past few days. Julien, silently walking beside her, frowned.

"Do you not get something else to wear?" he asked. Her uniform consisted of a green and gold-embossed shirt with a matching skirt, along with the regulation knee and shin-guards and goggles.

"No," Ginny lied through her chattering teeth. "I'll be fine."

Julien gave her a skeptical look before drawing off his coat and handing it to her. "Take this. You look like you need it."

"No, I'm fine," Ginny protested, out of principle. But Julien ignored her, reaching around her shoulder to drape the coat around her like a cape.

Ginny shook her head, a hair-width away from firing a snarky comment on his lack of listening skills, but she pulled herself back. She needed to focus on the game today, not the exasperating figure next to her.

Plus, she had to admit, the warmth of the wool robe felt good on her freezing shoulders. Really good.

She grunted a barely discernible "thanks" instead. Julien acknowledged her with a nod and a hint of a smile.

He stayed with her throughout their team pre-game huddle, pretending not to notice the occasional glares from Gwenog and not-so-sneaky glances from her other teammates. Julien had been adamant that he stay within sight of her throughout the whole match, because "a public event is the perfect opportunity to corner and attack". He waited on the side of the field as she flew warmup laps with Valmai.

"You ready, Gin?" Valmai called out to her through the wind.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Ginny shouted back. "Let's beat these Falcons' ugly arses."

Valmai whooped and dived low, with Ginny tight on her tail. Ginny hurtled toward the ground, following Valmai's trajectory, before jerking back up at a meter above ground. They shot up together and went into a parallel formation, diving and flying in a synchronized rhythm that only two Chasers who had practiced for years together could master.

On a particularly tight dive where her feet almost skimmed the grass, Ginny couldn't help but notice Julien, his eyes following her with the precision of a hawk. If she didn't know better, she'd have sworn he looked impressed.

Valmai and Ginny finished up warmup last of all their teammates, joining the circle right before Gwenog's speech.

"We're going to crush these Falcons today, girls," Gwenog said, a snarl in her voice. "They play dirty, so let's sweep them up quickly with our offense. Mel, you're going to watch the hell out of the goals. Ginny, Val, we'll fall into Gull Axis Shift today at my signal. We've practiced the whole year for this moment, so let's make every second count! Let's go, Harpies on three!"

The whole team cheered thunderously, and then Gwenog broke them up to go over last-minute strategies with Galena. The referees meandered on the other side of the field, finishing up a last-minute check on the goal post heights, so Ginny jogged over to the entrance of the player locker room to grab a quick drink of water before takeoff.

Her gaze roamed over the stadium, taking in the mostly-full seats. First-of-season games weren't as popular as late-season matches, but there was an impressive number of fans draped in blue. There was also a small section clad in the green and gold of the Harpies, and Ginny smiled when she saw them waving a giant banner that read "Eat the Falcons!". She wished her parents could've made it, but they were on vacation abroad and she'd assured them it was okay to miss her game. After all, there would be dozens more in the season.

Someone came running toward her from the side of her vision, and Ginny whirled around to find a breathless Hermione.

"Ginny! I came to say good luck!" she said, throwing her arms around Ginny. Ginny hugged her back, both elated and surprised she had come.

"I can't believe you made it! You didn't tell me you were coming!"

"The students have a study session today, so I'm free for the day. Thought I'd cheer you on!" she explained in a hurried breath. "Actually, Harry wanted to come too, but he's away at his conference."

Hermione leaned in for another quick hug before patting Ginny's shoulders encouragingly. "You looked great up there. Go out and kill those Falcons!"

Ginny jogged back to her team, who were about ready to take off. Valmai gave her an excited grin, basking in the rowdy cheers of the fans, even though they were mostly for the other team. Ginny felt butterflies in her own stomach, feeling more nerves than she usually did.

You've got it. You're ready. She repeated the mantra over and over again. Nerves and jumpiness were never a good thing in a match, making her fly inconsistently and fumble often. She stretched her arms out, then her legs, hoping to quell the shakiness she was feeling. You're going to do great.

Despite her mental affirmations, the uneasiness in her stomach grew. She felt a lurch of heat in her limbs that collected in her gut. She focused on her breathing, trying to steady it.

In. Out. In. Out. The roar of the crowd sounded farther and farther away. As she tried to ground herself back in the field, a flash of silver in her periphery caught her attention and she whipped her head around.

A stag.

A stag patronus bounding over to Hermione, repeating some message.

Hermione's eyes went wide with panic.

Harry.

Shite.

Something's happened to him.

A wave of magic pulsed through Ginny and her vision blurred, forcing her onto her knees in the grass. There was almost an audible click in her mind when she realized what was happening.

No.

Flashes of blue light. Water streaming. Unrelenting tides. She was laying down with frigid water running over her, smothering her like an icy blanket. The rush of the stream carried her body down, down, down.

I'm dead, she thought. Who am I now?

"Ginny!" a voice echoed from the depths of the water. "Rennervate!"

Ginny sat up abruptly, sputtering, trying to cough out the fluid in her lungs before realizing there was none. She found she could finally breathe, and she did, gulping in air with an urgency she'd never felt before.

Royal blue lockers and a musty stench surrounded her. She was balanced on a narrow bench with Hermione standing next to her, wand clutched tightly in her hands.

"Are you alright?"

"I think so," Ginny said, clearing her throat. Her eyes widened as her latest memories rushed back to her. "What did Harry say? What happened?"

"There were people attacking Harry near the conference venue. Wizards he's never seen before, impervious to spells, just like last time with Ron. Your Ministry guy — I mean, Julien — Portkeyed to Iceland to help him," Hermione said, starting to pace across the array of lockers. "I notified the Aurors for backup."

"We need to go!" Ginny clambered to her feet. "We can't just stay here!"

"He told me to stay with you and not let you go, no matter what you said," Hermione said, stopping her pacing to face Ginny. "He told me the truth. I know he's the Unspeakable you've been working with. He said you'd be a liability, with your episodes coming on at any time."

"I am the reason why Harry is being attacked!" Ginny shouted. "You're going to listen to a random Unspeakable over me?"

"What?"

"The episodes! The people attacking Harry, they're Inferi made using my consciousness during my episodes. Made through Tom Riddle's diary," Ginny explained impatiently. "Julien and I have been working this out. They'll probably attack with mind magic. The Aurors will be no use, but I can help. We need to go, or I'll go alone."

"Wait, wait," Hermione seized Ginny's arm. "You've just woken up and you think —"

"Hermione. Harry is going to get killed if we stay here." Ginny said with absolute certainty in her voice. It didn't matter that she had no clue what The Dealer had planned. The back of her mind nagged her that it could be a trap. But she wasn't going to sit idly another damn time. She wasn't going to be the one receiving news that Harry had been killed, knowing she hadn't done her best to protect her friend.

Hermione, perceptive as always, seemed to understand that she couldn't stop Ginny. She sighed.

"You'll have to explain once we're there. But I'll make the Portkey."

The first thing that hit her was the cold. The bone-chilling cold that slithered into her blood, creeping down the path of every vein. Her body trembled violently before she had enough sense to transfigure a nearby rock into a crude black robe. Hermione did the same beside her. Wrapping the heavy semblance of fabric around her and shrinking it to fit, Ginny knew she must look a sight.

Not that there was anyone around to see. A range of hills stretched to her left, although she wasn't quite sure if she could even call them hills. Black, striated peaks with a gritty-looking texture poked out from the otherworldly formation, snow dusting the top. Standing, gaping from a neatly paved Muggle highway, she had never seen a more alien landscape.

"The convention is northeast from here, a place called Brunnholl. We are a few kilometers away," Hermione said as she consulted her point-me spell. "I'll send a Patronus to Harry."

"And I'll send a Patronus to Julien," Ginny said. She shut her eyes, drawing up an image of the Harpies' win against Puddlemere last year. Her mum's face, filled with excitement for her. Her dad's eyes, reflecting with a sheen of tears. Valmai's crushing hug. "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver osprey appeared in full shimmering glory, swooping up and down as it regally awaited her instructions. Ginny swallowed her surprise at the sight. "Julien, I'm here in Iceland with Hermione. Tell me where you are."

Hermione gaped as the silver messenger flew away. "Your Patronus changed!"

"Yeah, I guess," Ginny murmured absentmindedly, wracking her brain for a way to locate Julien. Chances were, he was going to demand she return home. She needed a different way to find him on her own.

Oh. An idea flew into her brain and she silently thanked Professor Flitwick for his excellent instruction in Charms.

"I'm going to create a conduit to find Julien, in case he doesn't get back to me."

"A conduit? But you'd have to know exactly what kind of magic would draw you to Julien."

"I think I do."

Julien lived and breathed the mind arts. In fact, that was one thing she did know for sure — he was the most powerful Occlumens out there, and that would allow the conduit to find a link between them. But did conduits work with mind magic? There was only one way to find out.

Taking in a deep breath, she concentrated on Occluding. When her mental door was secured firmly, she relaxed her concentration the slightest bit and brought her wand up near her temples.

Deducevia. Deducevia.

Mouthing the incantation, she felt the conduit come to life, flittering outwards, exploring the possible paths it could take.

It worked. Or I think it did. Holy mother of Merlin.

There was no time to celebrate her small victory — the spell heavily favored one specific path, according to the insistent tugging on Ginny's wand. The pull intensified, coming in short bursts of two every time.

Tug tug. Tug tug.

It was a perplexing pattern, straying from the simple monodic rhythm that other conduits made.

Is a mind magic conduit somehow different?

Her ruminations were interrupted by two big jerks of her wand, and Ginny almost lost hold of the handle, stumbling to her right and crashing into Hermione. The strength of the pull indicated that there was no time to waste.

"This is the strongest path to an Occlumens. And it's close. It must be Julien."

"I didn't know you could create a conduit for Occlumency," Hermione said, following closely as Ginny strode quickly in the direction of her wand. "Actually, I didn't know you knew Occlumency at all."

"The Occlumency was the main part of my training with Julien. The conduit was a lucky guess," Ginny replied breathlessly. She veered off the concrete onto the snow-patched grass. "You know how I told you about the person who attacked me near the Ministry? Well, he wasn't a person at all. He was an Inferi puppet, made with Tom Riddle's diary."

"What? Start from the beginning, please."

So Ginny did. Trudging as quickly as possible through the muddy ground, Ginny gave Hermione a shortened summary of everything she and Julien had discovered so far. Her episodes. Her attack. The mind-magicked Inferi. The Dealer.

The insistent pull of her wand only intensified the further they sped toward it, but about ten minutes later, the tugging suddenly stopped as the conduit dropped.

Ginny spun around, taking in the area they were in. They were snuggled up against the base of a black peak, with grass stretching far into the horizon on the other side.

"Whoever is Occluding is very near. Too near for the conduit to work. Do you see anyone?" she asked. Whirling around again, she squinted her eyes to see as far as possible. There wasn't anything resembling a person visible in the vicinity, only snow and the occasional patch of bare dirt. She listened for any clues, but the wind whipped against her exposed neck and face, making it hard to hear.

"There's a shoeprint there on the ground!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing a few meters away. And there were indeed heavy boot-shaped indents in the snow, leading closer and closer to the dark peak of the hill. Hermione and Ginny followed them, skirting around the hill until they reached the other side. There, an ominous opening awaited them, a cave mouth adorned with teeth of giant icicles.

"Holy shite," Ginny breathed. She brought her wand forward with a silent Lumos and stepped into the entrance, holding her breath. The daylight bounced around in prisms of blue and white, creating an ethereal light that highlighted the grandeur of the cave. The ceiling was dotted with pointed spikes and crevices, creating asymmetrical shadows that danced around the opening. Ginny followed a small stream flowing through the ground, stepping tentatively onto each slippery rock.

"I don't think we should go in any further," Hermione said from behind Ginny, halting Ginny mid-stride. Her eyes were appraising, her lips pursed as she inspected the mouth of the cave behind them and the narrowing passageway in front. "We could be cornered in there."

Hermione was right, as usual. But there was something calling Ginny inside, an irresistible pull. And what if Julien or Harry are inside?

"How about I take a look inside and you stand —"

A low grunt echoed through the cave, the noise reverberating in a way that made it sound inhuman. Ginny whipped her wand toward the dark inside of the cave, poised to fight.

"We need to leave. Now," Hermione hissed through her teeth. Ginny's second of hesitation was too long. A distant rhythm of footsteps echoed toward them from inside the cave — multiple pairs of footsteps, the clatter only growing in volume.

Ginny shrieked in surprise as a flash of light appeared behind her. A gleaming silver jaguar bounded up to her before speaking in Julien's voice.

"We made it back to the convention. Harry's safe. There are Inferi like the one that attacked you. Send another Patronus or I'll come looking for you."

The dread in Ginny's gut grew as she heard the message.

Julien was not in this cave.

Someone else was.

Judging by the quantity of footsteps, there were at least five people coming toward them, which meant logic called for flight over fight. Hermione was already backing away into the mouth of the cave, motioning to Ginny to Apparate, but nothing happened even as Ginny tried.

"There's an Anti-Apparition ward!" Hermione yelled, continuing to back out of the cave with her wand up. Ginny hastily followed her, almost tripping over the rocky ground as she stumbled back. They'd almost made it back to the entrance when without warning, a jet of red light bounced off the ceiling, splicing a nearby rock in half.

"Protego!" Ginny shouted, raising a translucent shield around herself and Hermione. Just in time, as a flurry of movement appeared from the dark corner of the cave. Ginny almost gagged from the stench that materialized at the same time, an overwhelming wave of rot and decay. As the figures advanced toward them, Ginny realized that they were Inferi — six of them to be precise — all armed with their own wands, their rotten faces and skeletal hands making her stomach turn.

One of them shot a blasting spell toward them, and Ginny countered with her own blasting spell, her fist an iron grip around her wand. Black rock fragments splattered between them. Hermione shot a fireball at a figure, but the Inferius barely even flinched. Snarling, she let loose a barrage of fireballs, but even as they hit the Inferi they did nothing to stop their advance.

"They're the special Inferi I told you about. We need to attack them simultaneously — you keep up the fire, and I'll Stun them," Ginny shouted, ducking as a purple curse hurtled toward her. She shot three Stunners in a row in the direction of Hermione's fire, and one landed. The Inferius slumped immediately, its fleshless body folding against a rock.

Hermione quickly directed her casting to another target, but the Inferi were spreading out, making them harder to hit. Ginny tried to sync her spellfire with Hermione's, aiming at the same figures, but it was almost impossible as both of them swerved and ducked a barrage of offensive fire.

"Yes!" Ginny heard Hermione shout as another Inferius collapsed, falling into the stream. Ginny quickly took the opportunity to target another one that was advancing toward them, shifting her wand to perform yet another Stupefy. She stole a quick glance toward Hermione, who was dodging a red jet and —

No.

As Hermione had skirted toward the left, she left her upper body vulnerable. A terrible cry erupted from Ginny's chest as she saw Hermione hurl into the ground, hit by a blue jet of light. Ginny ran toward her, arms swiping in hasty circle in her desperation to conjure a fire barrier. The fire expanded into a thin, smoky wall of flame, blocking the Inferi's line of sight.

"Hermione!" Ginny bent down, shaking her friend. Hermione's eyes were shut.

Shite.

"Rennervate!" she shouted. When Hermione made no movement, Ginny felt her chest constricting, fighting to keep the hope from abandoning her. "Rennervate!"

Still nothing.

"Fuck!" Ginny swore loudly, kneeling hastily to check for a pulse. Her only consolation was that she hadn't seen the telltale green light of Avada Kedavra. Ginny's knee had barely scraped the coarse rock beneath when she felt her shield come down, and a magically amplified voice boomed through the air.

"Surrender, Ginny Weasley. Or we will kill you and your friend."

Is this The Dealer?

Ginny lifted her wand instinctively, squinting through the dissipating fire shield to find the source of the voice. He's a Legilimens. The thought struck her like lightning, and she hastened to bring up her mental shields. She thanked Merlin that she hadn't felt any mental intrusions yet.

A middle-aged man with light blonde hair and a broad, rough face stood between the Inferi, wand pointed at her. She tried to recall if she had seen him before, but she drew a blank.

"You know how to kill my soldiers, huh? So, you know that you'll have quite a bit of trouble now that you're just one girl," the man said, leering at her. There was a rather heavy accent on his voice, a Russian-sounding inflection. Could he have been a Death Eater?

"Who are you?" Ginny called back, trying to buy time. The man wasn't wrong — it would be almost impossible to fight all the Inferi herself. She needed to think of a plan. Maybe surrendering was her best bet. But then what?

"I am The Dealer," the man stated, an ugly smirk crossing his face. "You heard of my name? Now drop your wand! Or we kill both of you!"

The Inferi stared at her with their dead eyes, their bodies hanging in mid-stride as if frozen in time, awaiting their next instruction. She was clearly outnumbered, and it was clear they wouldn't hesitate to kill Hermione if Ginny launched back into battle.

There really was no choice.

Her stomach tensing, Ginny dropped her wand. The thin stripe of wood clacked hollowly on the stone, the echo excruciating to her ears.