Ginny lay curled up in one of the Infirmary beds, Quidditch Through the Ages open beside her. It was very early. The window by the four-poster showed the grey light of dawn beginning to break, dew glistening on the grass of the grounds.

She had been awake for nearly half an hour already. There was a time when she would have pulled on her clothes and set off for a quick fly around the Quidditch pitch, but in those days, Ginny had not been sleeping in the hospital wing in order to watch over Hermione. The older girl lay in the next bed, wrapped with bandages. Madame Pomfrey had assured Ginny that Hermione would be fine, but Ginny could not bring herself to leave.


She had been setting up for Potions when Professor Slughorn approached. “Miss Weasley, Professor McGonagall has requested that you report to the Infirmary immediately. I believe there is someone to see you.�

Ginny raced through the halls, bursting through the doors to find Professor McGonagall standing at the foot of an occupied bed, face drawn, while Madam Pomfrey set a tray laden with potions on the bedside table.

“Miss Weasley, I’m afraid –�

“Hermione!� Ginny dropped to her knees. “Hermione, can you hear me?�

Hermione was covered in blood, which was welling from cuts and slashes that resembled the Sectumpsempra curse. Under the blood, she was as pale as death. But she opened her eyes at her friend's voice. “Ginny?�

Ginny took hold of Hermione’s hand in her own, ignoring the blood. “It’s me. You’re in the hospital wing, you’re safe now.�

Hermione seemed to be having trouble focusing on her friend. “Hospital?…Harry and…Ron…I hope they’ll be…all…right…by themselves…I couldn’t…stay…� Her voice grew fainter and her eyes fluttered shut.

Ginny looked beseechingly at Madam Pomfrey, waving her wand over a gash across Hermione’s abdomen. “She’ll be all right, child, I think, but you’ll have to give both of us some time. Shoo.�

Ginny retreated, but only to the next bed. She also refused to leave when Madam Pomfrey tried to make her go back to Gryffindor Tower. Finally, Professor McGonagall stepped in and allowed Ginny to remain, though the nurse muttered darkly about disturbing the patient. Ginny settled under the covers and waited.


Now, Hermione stirred. Ginny held her breath, hoping. Finally, the older girl’s eyes blinked open. “Hey, Ginny.�

Ginny scrambled out of her bed and dropped down by Hermione’s, grinning. “Hey, Hermione. How are you feeling?�

A ghost of a smile twisted Hermione’s mouth. “I think I’ve been better.�

“What happened?�

Hermione’s face clouded. “We…we were in a cave, following the trail, but it was a trap…I should have checked more thoroughly, but I wasn’t thinking. I was leading and I ran right into it. I think it was strung across the path, some variation on Sectumsempra… I don’t think it was as powerful as the actual curse, but it was close enough. They wanted to bring me back here, but they would have taken too much time and stayed to worry about me. I left before they could bring me… How long has it been?�

“About a day and a half.�

Hermione nodded and her eyes wandered away from her friend to someplace outside the window. She drew a deep, shuddering breath and whispered, “They’re close.� She spoke, Ginny thought, as though alone, and frightened.

“They’ll be fine, Hermione. You taught them, they can’t help but succeed.�

Hermione smiled weakly, but the worry did not leave her eyes. “Did you know that it’s been exactly a year since Professor Dumbledore died?�

Ginny nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know. I talk to his portrait sometimes. I visit Professor McGonagall often, you know, to talk about the D.A. Professor Dumbledore’s usually there. He’s –� her voice faltered – “nearly the way he used to be. Funny, but he still helps with the War. He’s gone a lot, because he has so many other portraits he can visit. He’s come back with a lot of good things. But that’s Order business.�

“How is the Order now? Do you know?�

“Some. Tonks, Remus, and McGonagall run it now. Well, McGonagall does, officially, but she’s got Hogwarts to run, too, and Remus is – underground – a lot, so Tonks does most of it. She visits sometimes. She’s happy now, you know, now that she and Lupin are together. Even though the War’s harder. We’ve put four more Death Eaters in Azkaban, killed one, but we’ve lost six ourselves. We’re recruiting more than before, but – we lost Dedalus Diggle, and Sturgis, and Moody was hurt really badly. Remus nearly lost a leg and I thought Tonks was going to go off the deep end, but he pulled through. I think he even managed to pass it off as an attack by the Order, so he gained some rank with the werewolves.�

Hermione smiled. “You call him by name so easily. I still think of him as Professor Lupin.�

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Tonks never stops talking about him. I mean, she’ll talk about business, but everything reminds her of Remus. So of course I’m used to calling him that now. They’re sweet, though.

“Speaking of romance, anything happened with you and Ron?�

Hermione blushed deeply, an instant giveaway. “I – er – oh, fine. He’s so mature now, he’s stopped rushing ahead without looking. He’s much more serious now. It’s a bit sad, but he’s grown up, really.�

Her gaze wandered away again, affection – love? – and anxiousness filling it. Her eyes were much softer like that. She blinked and looked back at Ginny.

“You were talking about the D.A. earlier, how is it?�

“Really great. Neville, Parvati, Dean, Terry Boot and I are helping, it’s an official club now. Luna could be a leader if she wanted to, but she doesn’t really care about leading, so it’s the five of us who were pretty good last year. It’s the biggest club in the school now, nearly everyone comes. If the Death Eaters do come back here, they won’t find it so easy to get what they want.�

Silence fell as each contemplated the past year. Ginny sat back down on her own bed and began to absent-mindedly finger the open pages of her book.

“Is that Harry’s gift?�

“Yes. Why didn’t you come back? You and Harry and Ron came in September, but it was only Harry at Christmas and I haven’t seen any of you since.�

“We only came the first time because we had to get away. Hogwarts was the only place we could think of. We can go out in public, but we’re so easy to recognize, especially since we don’t like splitting up. Concealment and disguise charms are the hardest. You remember the Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley, and that one at that little village in the south? We were there, both times. They came not ten minutes after we were gone.

“We couldn’t come back here because they know that we might use Hogwarts, but Harry really wanted to give you that book, so Ron and I visited Prof – Remus – while Harry was here. It was the only time that we've seen Remus since this summer.�

“It was lovely to see him again. Did you put the note in?� Ginny pulled a short note from the pages and read aloud:


Ginny darling, it’s terrible that we had to miss this Christmas, but if all goes our way, we will soon win this war and can all be together again for a proper family celebration. We hope to see you again soon, though you know how it is with the security measures. You’re safer at Hogwarts, and visits can’t really be as secure as we’d like. We miss you so much.

Love, Mum


“It’s Mum’s handwriting, but Harry said he thought you’d put it there.�

“I did. I found a note she wrote to Ron and I was able to charm my writing to look like hers, in case it got intercepted. You know, Ron said that your parents had left the Burrow.�

Ginny nodded. “They told me right before I came for the start of the year. I packed my Hogwarts stuff in my trunk and put all my other things in boxes so they could take it away.�

“Did you know that the Aurors offered to guard the house, but your parents left so the Muggle village wouldn’t be in danger?�

“Yeah. Good old Dad, that’s like him, worrying about the Muggles. They’re ‘somewhere safe’ now.�

Unable to hold herself back any longer, Ginny blurted out, “Hermione, how is Harry?�

Hermione’s expression became solemn. "If Ron's gotten serious, Harry is twice that. He’s gotten very, very good at Defense; I think he could tutor N.E.W.T. students, if this were anything like a normal year. If we weren’t N.E.W.T. age ourselves. He’s focused. He knows what we need and where we going. His one weakness is that he’s always watching for Bellatrix. If she appears, I don’t know if Harry would be able to stop himself from rushing after her.�

Ginny stared out the window. “There’s so much change. I wouldn’t have thought…but then, I never thought that Dumbledore would die. Especially the way he did.�

“Snape.� Hermione had never sounded so bitter before the war, Ginny thought. “I’ve only just forgiven myself for letting him go like that.�

“I know. According to Tonks, he’s now ranked quite high in Voldemort’s command – I think he’s the second, now, since Lucius Malfoy got killed. Did you hear about that? He was cornered by a group of Aurors, and they didn’t take any chances.�

“The battle goes on. Perhaps Ron and Harry can win it…I know I won’t be going anywhere. I would try, but I’d probably just fall over and get in the way. I wish, though…�

“Me too. Hermione, if it isn’t over in a few weeks, when school’s out, I’m coming with you.�

“Ginny! What will your parents say?�

“I’m not waiting here for the news any longer. I’m the age Ron and Harry were when you left, so I’m going too. I’ll be of age in August.�

Hermione mulled that over for a bit. “I suppose so. If you’re sure – oh!�

“What?�

“I think…they're so close…it might be over soon…�

Hermione reached blindly out to Ginny, her eyes fixed on the far window as though she could see to wherever Harry and Ron were. Ginny sat down next to her and took her hand. They held on tightly, both gazing out, waiting. A long year was at an end, and perhaps, the time of fear and waiting would soon be over too.