The morning proved no less calm, and Ginny found herself cautiously passing Hermione’s door on her way to breakfast. She knew she’d be utterly mortified if Ron were still there. Especially considering how her family had reacted to Harry doing far less with her. She knocked on Hermione’s door and hoped there’d be no response.

Hermione came to the door herself and opened it, giving Ginny a quizzical look. She asked, ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

Ginny didn’t realise it, but she was craning her neck to look around Hermione and the latter gave her a sly smile and stepped to the side of the door. The room was empty, save Crookshanks who, upon seeing Ginny, bounded forward. Hermione started to call his name, but Ginny bent down and scooped him up, much to his delight.

‘I’m not looking at you in any funny way,’ Ginny said quietly.

Hermione shut the door and said, ‘He’s not here. He left just like he said he would.’

She sounded despondent and disappointed at these turn of events and Ginny couldn’t blame her. She would have loved to have her boyfriend come at the drop of a hat. She was forced to think back to the Dementor attack and give Harry his due credit.

The room was silent for a moment before Hermione cleared her throat. ‘That really bothered you yesterday, didn’t it?’

Ginny turned, her eyes surprised. ‘Why would you say that?’

‘It almost looked like you were pained to see us together. And not the sort of pain that we were being…grotesque to you,’ she added the last part quickly and Ginny couldn’t hide her agreement with Hermione.

‘It’s just…I had hoped…when you’d mentioned a student coming to Hogwarts…’ She didn’t want to finish her thought. She knew how foolish she sounded even thinking it.

Hermione smiled. ‘You thought it would be Harry?’

‘Hoped is more like it,’ Ginny said quietly.

Hermione collected her things and stuffed them in her bag. Ginny set Crookshanks on Hermione’s bed, despite loud, meowing protests. Hermione opened the door and Ginny headed out. There was some loud talking and laughing coming from down the stairs and Ginny watched as Hermione locked her door and followed her down the stairs. They emerged into an animated discussion about the final battle at Hogwarts and Ginny was surprised to see Neville in the thick of it. He grinned at her, but didn’t stop his story.

Hermione came up behind her and waved at Neville before heading towards the portrait door. For a moment, Ginny wondered whether she should listen to the rest of Neville’s story or follow Hermione, but her stomach made the decision for her and she smiled at Neville while trying to catch up to Hermione.

Hermione was walking at a brisk pace and Ginny easily caught up with her. She asked idly, not caring for the answer, ‘Is Ron coming again today?’

Hermione smiled a clear, wistful smile. ‘Yes, he said he would, and he’s never let me down.’

Ginny suddenly felt less hungry, but tried to smile to hide it. ‘That’s nice of him, to be so reliable. What caused this turn of events?’

Hermione laughed softly. ‘I guess it was the way Neville made my injury sound so dire.’

Ginny couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Neville is good for exaggerating that sort of thing. There were so many scrapes he, Luna and I got into last year. You’d think we’d been beaten to a – ’

She stopped abruptly. She’d never told Ron, Hermione or even Harry in great detail what had happened the previous year. The memory of the torture and torment had finally ebbed away as things got better and better. She smiled at Hermione and completed, ‘Needless to say, we were never so worse for the wear that we couldn’t get better.’

Hermione was still daydreaming about Ron, or at least it looked that way, and Ginny was spared saying more about her time in the hospital wing. They headed into the Great Hall to eat a quick breakfast before heading off to a brace of classes. The day proved busy and Ginny didn’t have time to pay attention to Hermione’s love-sick behaviour. Though she did, at one point, wonder if Ron had used a love potion on her. She couldn’t imagine anyone being that taken by her goofy, older brother.

Ginny tried to avoid it, but Hermione’s uplifted spirits were spreading to her and she found herself smiling for no particular reason. As they headed out of one class and towards the library, Ginny was surprised to see an increasingly familiar, but no more welcome face.

Draco Malfoy was speaking in a conspiratorial tone to Professor McGonagall. He appeared to be pleading his case and both Ginny and Hermione got close enough to hear him sneer, ‘And you think you can trust him? Since you’re all bloody Gryffindors there’s no harm? My father said you’d be more the fool, but I didn’t believe him. I hate admitting when he’s right!’

He looked as if he were going to storm off, but stopped abruptly. The heated discussion had caught the eye of quite a few students, but with a look from Hermione, many of them started to hurry away, not wanting detention or points taken from their house. Draco’s face changed from fury to concern upon seeing Hermione, and Ginny shifted awkwardly next to her. He took a step towards them and said, ‘You shouldn’t be up, you know.’

Hermione was clearly taken aback, but replied evenly, ‘I’m fine.’ Her tone softened and she continued, ‘Thank you again…’

She seemed to be struggling to say something more, but stopped. Ginny looked between the two of them, her unease doubling. Draco turned to her, irritated, and said, ‘Still think I’m up to no good?’

Ginny smiled sweetly. ‘After that little performance, I’d argue the whole school agrees with me.’

He took a step closer, a smirk crossing his lips. ‘Since when have you ever sided with the masses?’

She gave him a curious look and said, ‘What are you doing here, Malfoy?’

He didn’t answer at first, he studied his hands hard. This gave Ginny time to, once again, inspect his appearance and he looked worse for the wear. His robes were in a poor state and one of his hands carried a scar across the back. His shoes were immaculate and it made the robes that much more confounding for Ginny to explain.

He glared at her, realising what she was doing and said, ‘I was just leaving.’

‘You came here to holler at Professor McGonagall and then leave?’ Ginny asked.

‘It isn’t any of your concern what I do here!’ Draco barked.

‘It is mine, though,’ Hermione said, finally breaking her silence.

Draco sighed. ‘Is it? As Weasley pointed out last time I saw her, you aren’t ‘Head Girl’ to me.’

‘You don’t belong here, Malfoy. Why do you keep coming back?’ she asked.

‘Unfinished business,’ he stated simply.

Ginny couldn’t control herself and blurted out, ‘Come to kill another professor?’

Draco was clearly stung by her words, but recovered quickly. ‘I’ve never killed anyone.’

Hermione took a step closer. ‘Then what other possible business could you have here?’

Draco looked as if he were going to answer, but stopped, seeing something he didn’t like. ‘If you want me to be the villain, fine, I’ll be the villain!’

Without another word he stormed past them towards the front of the school. Hermione watched for a moment as he retreated, but Ginny looked to where Draco had been looking and rolled her eyes. Ron was walking towards them, his bag with him.

She said under her breath, ‘Bloody hell.’

Hermione turned at her exclamation, but grinned upon seeing what caused it. Ron crossed the hall in a few easy strides and had wrapped Hermione in a warm embrace, kissing the crown of her head. ‘Did you sleep alright?’

She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. ‘I feel a lot better.’

Ginny was backing away slowly, wanting no part of this when she bumped into someone. She turned quickly and saw Neville grinning at her brother and Hermione. He smiled at her and said, ‘Isn’t that sweet?’

Ron looked up at hearing Neville’s voice and said, ‘Hey Neville! Glad to see you’re back.’

Neville smiled at him. ‘Just needed to brush up on some stuff.’

Ron gave Neville a knowing smile that didn’t escape Ginny’s notice. ‘You know why he’s here? And why Harry isn’t?’

Both Neville and Ron exchanged surprised looks as Hermione slowly pulled away from Ron to see if Ginny was right. Ron kept Hermione close and said, ‘Not exactly. I just have bits and pieces. It’s all very secret. Everyone at the Ministry is sticking to their stories. You’ll be hard-pressed to find the truth now.’

Neville slowly produced The Daily Prophet and pushed it into Ginny’s arms. She shook her head. ‘I don’t read that rubbish.’

Neville sighed. ‘This will at least give you an idea about what’s going on.’

Ginny gave him a tired look, but took the paper. She didn’t have to scan far before she read the lower headline: ‘Potter Dismissed from Ministry!’

She stopped reading and her eyes went wide. Hermione pulled away from Ron and read the headline over Ginny’s shoulder, and then Hermione practically pulled the paper out of Ginny’s hands to read the article.

Neville didn’t meet Ginny’s gaze and she glared at him. Despite being significantly shorter than he was, she didn’t back down. ‘Neville! What the bloody hell happened! Is this why he won’t answer my owls?’

Neville furrowed his brow and said, ‘Whatever is happening to Harry, it doesn’t involve any of us and it’s probably…safer that way.’

‘What are you saying, Neville?’ Ginny asked, her voice rising.

He shook his head. ‘That article knows as much as I do.’

Ginny ran her hand across her face. She couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t believe it. This job meant everything to Harry. She couldn’t imagine what kind of scenario would lead Harry to this and then have him not tell her about it. Hermione looked dumbstruck and Ginny was able to grab for the paper but Hermione pulled it out of her reach. ‘Don’t, it’s all rubbish.’

Hermione turned to Neville. ‘This can’t be true, this is Harry…he’d never…’

Ginny grabbed for the paper again, but Hermione shook her head. ‘It claims that he got in a shouting match with Gaunt and was fired for it.’

Ron took the paper from Hermione and folded it under his arm. Ginny glared at him, but trusted Hermione’s assessment. Besides which, she knew, in her heart, she didn’t really want to read it. She couldn’t bear to think of Harry as being a traitor to the Ministry. They both were glaring at Neville and he balked little under their gaze.

Ron cleared his throat. ‘Come on, you two. You know this can’t be the whole truth. There’s no way. But if he did, he’d be right to; Gaunt is a right, foul git.’

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave Ron an irritated look. ‘Do you know more?’

He shook his head slowly. ‘I haven’t seen Harry in a few days…see, there’s this beautiful girl I’ve been tending to, haven’t had time for my own best friend.’

Hermione’s cheeks reddened slightly at this and Ron reached a hand out to her. Ginny rolled her eyes. ‘Must you two keep doing that?’

Ron laughed. ‘Yes, we must, as often as we can.’

Ginny turned back to Neville, but his resolve hadn’t weakened in the least. ‘Don’t ask me questions you know I can’t answer. I’m here to take some classes and that’s it. As far as you know, are we clear?’

Ginny was surprised at Neville’s tone and said, ‘I thought you were my friend, Neville. Why would you come here to tell me nothing?’

He shook his head and gave her a grim smile. ‘I’m not telling you nothing, I’m telling you not to worry. I wish I could explain Harry’s behaviour, but that’s eluded me for some time now.’

Ginny didn’t know what he could mean by that, but let it go. She watched as Ron and Hermione walked away from them. She wondered where they’d go and pushed the thought out of her head. Neville took a step closer to her. ‘It might be time for dinner, you want to go?’

Ginny sighed. ‘You sure a big celebrity, like you can be seen with the likes of me?’

‘It’d be an honour,’ Neville replied.

They headed into the Great Hall. Ginny tried to pay attention, but Neville was the centre of attention at the Gryffindor table. All the students were hanging on his every word. Even Ginny found herself rapt with his stories. They headed back to the common room and Ginny found her mind easing a little. Maybe Harry was working under some sort of cover, just as Neville was.

The days passed on in the same fashion. Hermione and Ron were practically inseparable when he was on campus, though Ginny wondered who was getting more pleasure out of their visits. With Ron around, Hermione wasn’t able to study nearly as much as she’d like to. Nor was Ginny able to study as much, as Hermione was the one who kept her on task.

Neville had been a good source of comfort. They never brought up the discussion about Harry’s whereabouts again and Ginny sent one additional letter asking Harry to just let her know he was alright. He never responded. As the days wore on, Ginny started to wonder if she was the only one, out of the two of them, in their relationship. She stopped staring aimlessly at the pictures of them from the Prophet, but folded them neatly into the journal Harry had never once used. She wondered if she shouldn’t write to him through it, but thought, if he’d wanted to, he could have done the same thing.

Despite Ginny’s dislike for Ron’s and Hermione’s behaviour, she really had no where else to go for study time. She did find some comfort in the regular Quidditch practice. Natalie had become a gifted Keeper in a few short weeks and she and Dean were the life of the team. They kept everyone on task and played practical jokes whenever they could. On one day of practice, they bewitched one of the Beaters’ bats to turn to rubber when gripped by any player. It drove the Beaters mad, but made for an amusing afternoon of practice.

More and more of the Gryffindor house would come out to watch the practices as the jokes became infectious. On many occasions, Ginny would see Ron, Hermione and Neville talking quietly away from other students. She often wondered if they were sharing some secret that they needed to conceal from her. More and more she was feeling isolated and alone.

She tried to spend time with Luna, but Luna was her normal self and only proved to be moderately interesting. Luna did consistently come to watch Quidditch practices, though Ginny thought this was more due to the danger of another Dementor attack. It surprised her that there was not one more sighting of a Dementor since the one a month ago.

Ginny couldn’t help but notice how utterly happy both Ron and Hermione seemed to be. The more time she spent with them together, the more she realised she was missing Harry. She had tried on a few occasions to take the locket off, but it wouldn’t budge.

Neville, upon seeing it, had exclaimed, ‘So that’s how he knew!’

She had tried to get more information out of him, but he had just smiled at her pleasantly. As the first Hogsmeade visit approached, Ginny felt less and less inclined to let Harry know about it.

On one of the rare days when Ginny was with Ron and Hermione in Hermione’s room, she had finally alluded to her feelings about Harry’s absence. When Hermione realised what she was saying, they’d had a rather animated argument about it.

‘You can’t just not tell him! He said he’d come see you!’ she railed at Ginny.

Ginny shook her head in an uninterested manner. ‘If he were so interested, don’t you think he’d reply to at least one of my letters?’

Ron, who had been lounging across Hermione’s bed, chimed in, ‘Ginny, the man’s in danger, or something…’

‘You don’t even know!’ she shot back. ‘How much danger can he be in if he isn’t even talking to his two ‘supposedly’ closest friends? Or his so-called girlfriend?’

‘I’d argue a lot of danger if he can’t speak to any of us.’ Hermione turned to Ron and they both gave her a worried look. Hermione started slowly, ‘Ginny, if this is a Ministry thing, then maybe he isn’t able to say anything, but the fact that you can’t take the locket off means that he’s okay and is thinking of you.’

Ginny glared at Hermione. ‘You would bring that up wouldn’t you?’ She paced around the room before turning back to Hermione. ‘He doesn’t care at all about me. I was right that we both needed a break, now he’s given us one whether I want it or not!’

Before giving Hermione the chance to lock her in, Ginny bounded out of Hermione’s room and slammed the door shut and headed to her room. She never studied with Hermione in her room after that. She always went to the library. Neville found her there and always sat with her. He never appeared to be studying, but always asked her leading questions from injuries incurred from the previous year.

They were sitting in the common room, for once away from the incessant onlookers, and Neville pulled close to Ginny, his arm across the back of the couch. ‘You know, this reminds me a lot of last year, but with less scars.’

She looked up at him, his face rather close to hers and she pulled away. There were various sets of eyes on them and Ginny realised why he’d been virtually whispering in her ear. She sighed and shifted back towards him. ‘Scars heal, Neville, it’s no big deal.’

He sighed and pulled away. ‘You can’t fool me, Ginny. This is much harder than you’re letting on, and you’re making it harder on yourself.’

Ginny glared at him and asked, ‘How?’

‘By distancing yourself from your closest friend: Hermione,’ he stated simply.

‘If you hadn’t noticed, she’s almost always, otherwise engaged,’ Ginny stated bitterly and hoped Neville was getting the idea that she didn’t want to talk about any of this.

He was. But that didn’t stop him from continuing. ‘Ron and I aren’t going to be here all year, I hope. You need to spend time with her so there’s someone to look after you.’

She felt her temper rising and replied acidly, ‘I don’t need anyone to look after me, thank you very much.’

He got up. ‘I don’t know how we got on so well together last year; you’ve become rather selfish and rude.’

‘What!’ she practically shouted. ‘You’re on my case all the time!’ She pulled close to him and whispered viciously, ‘If I had a boyfriend, I’d argue he’d be jealous of you making the moves on me.’

He bristled at her tone and said, ‘You do and he will. I don’t need Harry on my case as well as you.’

He grabbed his books and headed up the stairs to the boys’ dormitory, leaving in a huff. As if like clock-work, Hermione and Ron came through the portrait door. Neither had seen the incident. And Ginny knew, even if they had been present, they wouldn’t have noticed it.

She hated what Harry had done to her. Cut her off from him and left her alone with his two best friends. She had never felt so alone since Fred’s death and now she felt an over-arching depression that she feared would follow. She mentally vowed that she would throw herself into her studies and Quidditch before allowing something like that to happen again.