Ginny blinked hard trying to fight the urge to fall asleep on the book she was reading. The quill in her hand slowly made its way to the parchment where it made a long black line before she jerked her head awake again. She frowned down at her essay. It would just have to wait until tomorrow; she would have to skip breakfast in order to get it done before McGonagall’s class. She looked up at the clock on the library wall and was shocked to see it was quarter to ten. She had fifteen minutes to get back to Gryffindor tower. She hastily packed her books in her bag, and before swinging it over her shoulder, she grabbed her wand out of an inside pocket. You could never be too defensive in the castle these days, with Snape as Headmaster, Death Eaters as professors, and Malfoy Head Boy given free reign to discipline students as he saw fit.
She hated wondering the halls at night by herself, not because she was scared of being alone or facing Malfoy, but because she was left with her own thoughts without homework or somebody talking to her for distraction. Being left alone meant thinking about Harry and walking the halls alone meant thinking about the times her and Harry snuck around finding good snogging cupboards. She sighed to herself as she passed a suit of armor.
“You better hustle, Weasley…curfew starts in ten minutes,” she heard someone sneer from the shadows. Ginny spun on the spot, gripping her wand.
“Lurking in the shadows again, Malfoy? People might start to think you are up to something…” Ginny said coolly.
“No, that was Potter’s job…but he isn’t here, is he?” he said, stepping away from the armor.
“Good detective work, Merlin,” Ginny felt the words leave her mouth before she could hold them back.
“Ten points from Gryffindor,” Malfoy smiled maliciously. He took a step closer to Ginny, she tightened her grip on her wand, “You want to earn those points back?” he said as his eyes wandered from her own and down to her feet, then back up to her face.
She shivered and felt disgusted, “No, I’d rather snog a Flobberworm…but I suppose it wouldn’t be much a difference, would it?”
“Careful Freckles, or have you forgotten I’m allowed to do whatever I want these days?” Ginny rolled her eyes with great emphasis.
“Oh, I’m very well aware that all the Death Eaters in this castle can do what they want these days; but, it’s not going to last forever.” She stared at his left arm pointedly.
Malfoy just chuckled, ignoring her insinuation of him being a Death eater. “Man, remind me to ask Potter if you’re this frisky in all your endeavors…I like that in a woman,” Malfoy took another step forward and Ginny backed away. Malfoy had been snickering at her like this since the start of term, but never was it when they were completely alone in a deserted corridor where it was very unlikely somebody would pass by.
“Don’t call me Freckles, Malfoy,” Ginny said, unsheathing her wand. Malfoy merely smiled, pulling his own wand out of his waist band.
“I’ve had a lot of guys asking me if it’s true you and Potter are broken up…they all want a shot at you,” he said icily still approaching her slowly.
“Well, you can tell them all they have no chance in hell…” Ginny spat, but Malfoy continued as if he didn’t hear her.
“I must say I’ve been curious as well,” Ginny knew immediately what he was thinking and she felt sick to her stomach. She wanted out of this situation and she was ready to curse Malfoy before running back to Gryffindor tower.
“Back off, Malfoy, I’m not above cursing you,” Ginny stated flatly, her wand as steady as her glare.
Again, he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “with Potter out of the picture,” he sneered, getting even closer to her, “a lot of these guys think they have the right to get a piece…I’m just telling you to watch your back, Freckles. I wouldn’t want you to be walking down a dark corridor this late at night and be…” he stopped and looked quickly to his right.
Luna was walking towards them, humming to herself. Ginny let out a long breath. Malfoy glared at the odd Ravenclaw who stopped and smiled at Ginny.
“Ten points from Ravenclaw for being out past curfew,” Malfoy spat. Luna looked at him with her bug eyes, clearly not caring about the house point system. Malfoy turned back to Ginny. “Keep in mind what I said…you’re making this too easy,” he whispered. Luna looked at him confusedly.
“What? Are you playing a game?” she asked, looking between the two who were staring daggers at each other.
“You could say that,” Malfoy smiled maliciously before turning and sauntering down the corridor. Ginny frowned, stowing her wand back in her robes. She turned to Luna and forced a smile. Luna smiled back dreamily before continuing on her way back to her common room. When she was out of sight, Ginny put a hand to her heart and bit back the tears she had been fighting since Malfoy took that first step towards her.
Why did no one understand? He had to do something. Cedric one year, then Sirius, Dumbledore was the last straw, Ginny couldn’t be next. Sure, part of the reason why he ended things was because he was afraid she’d be hurt, but that wasn’t the only reason.
Harry turned over in bed. It was almost impossible for him to get sleep these days, Ginny was constantly swimming in his head. He closed his eyes and pummeled his pillow. The other reason he had ended things was because it wasn’t fair for her. He knew that he wasn’t going back to Hogwarts; he knew he’d be in hiding so he wouldn’t be able to contact her; he knew that during this time he’d be a lousy boyfriend and that just wasn’t fair to Ginny.
Yeah, you would be a lousy boyfriend, but that’s Ginny’s decision to make…not yours. Harry heard himself saying. He shook his head and once again he spent the night fighting within his head over the decision to push the only thing he really cared about out of his life. He didn’t know when he drifted into sleep, but it felt that only a moment passed before he sat straight up breathing wildly, knocking his head hard on the bed frame above him. He swore loudly, waking Hermione.
“Harry? What’s wrong!?” she spoke into the darkness, grabbing her wand ready for her next to her own bed. “Lumos!” she whispered, pointing the light towards Ron and Harry’s bunks. The glow of her wand illuminated the side of the tent and cast long shadows around them all.
Ron turned over and snorted loudly, “Whadsamader?” Hermione rolled her eyes as he began breathing deeply, falling back asleep quickly.
“Harry?” she called out again, beginning to get out of bed seeing Harry rubbing his scar.
“No, stay in bed, Hermione,” Harry whispered, holding up the hand that wasn’t currently rubbing his head, “It’s not my scar…” Hermione nodded, but was expecting more of an answer so held her wand higher to cast more light on Harry. “I’m fine.” He repeated, now shielding his eyes from the bright blue light.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, “What happened? What did you dream?”
Harry closed his eyes tight. “I…I can’t remember…” and she knew he was telling the truth, because his brow furrowed in frustration. “I don’t think it had to do with Voldemort though…I mean, I wasn’t channeling him or anything. It might have had to do with the Horocruxes though.”
Hermione remained silent, not wanting him to lose his train of thought. They needed any clue they could get, even if it was a part of a vague dream.
“And…and I think Ginny was there…” Harry said, suddenly remembering a flash of red hair in part of the dream. He knew immediately he should have kept that little fact to himself; a night rarely passed where she didn’t pop up into his dreams.
Hermione smiled and giggled girlishly. Harry shot her a look of disgust. “What,” she said dropping her wand slightly, “Just admit you miss her.” Harry plopped back down into bed and pulled the covers over his shoulders. “I still think it was stupid of you to break up with”“
“Turn out your light will you?” Harry cut her off.
“I mean clearly you think about her a lot…dreaming about her and all…” Hermione continued on, Harry could hear her beaming.
Harry propped himself up on his elbow, “The dream was about Horocruxes!” He corrected her.
“Yes, yes of course,” Hermione said, waving her hand. “And how did Ginny pop up in there?” Harry glared at her and the little smirk smeared across her face.
“Your light please,” he repeated through gritted teeth.
Hermione continued to smile at him, “You’ll realize soon that her creeping up in dreams will happen more and more,” she spoke like she knew what she was talking about, like she was the one dreaming about Ginny every night.
“Hermione!” Harry warned, but she continued on. Harry’s temper was rising. Everything she was saying was true, and that is why it was bothering him so much, and it didn’t help that she was rubbing in the fact that he really did miss Ginny a lot, he even began to get a lump in his throat thinking about how much he missed her.
“It’s because you still fancy her very much and everyone knows that, Death Eaters and all. Frankly, I think that if you want to push her out of your dreams so you can focus on other things that would be best. I mean”“
Harry had had enough, without even reaching for his wand, he said aggressively, “Nox!”
Hermione’s wand tip extinguished itself and the tent went black. Hermione and Harry sat in stunned silence. Several long moments passed before they both leaped out of bed and shouted for Ron to wake up. It didn’t take long for Harry to forget all about the dream that had awoken him so abruptly; but, there was someone else, many miles away, who also awoke abruptly, but who would not forget so easily.