Ginny was sitting in the library, looking over her unfinished essay yet again. McGonagal had told her to have it finished by dinner or she’d be given a zero. Ginny picked up her wand and did the best she could to siphon up the spilled ink over her intro paragraph. She looked up to see Neville just outside the library doors, waving frantically for her to come to him. She frowned before rising from her desk and walking towards the library exit, leaving all of her things behind.
“What’s wrong Neville? Has something happened?” She immediately thought the worst and began ringing her hands.
Neville shook his head, “No, no, I just need you to come with me?” He hadn’t expected her to come without questions.
“Why?” she demanded as Neville began to walk away. “Neville what’s going on!” she said angrily.
Neville whispered, “Be quiet!” when two Slytherin’s glared their way. Ginny lowered her voice into an angry whisper.
“Tell me what is going on. This is the Room of Requirement.” She said as Neville stopped abruptly. He held his hand out, motioning for her to go in.
“What?” she looked from him to the door. “What’s in there,” she saw Neville look away from her with guilty eyes. “Neville…is…oh my god, is Harry in there?! Did you…did…” she stared incredulously at him, before pushing aggressively into the door.
Walking into the room, Ginny looked around wildly. Harry was sitting on a couch and looked up when he heard the door close behind her. “What are you doing here, Harry?” she whispered angrily, already knowing the answer. “I can’t believe Neville contacted you!” Despite her anger she had a strong urge to run up and snog him…but knew she couldn’t for many different reasons.
Harry nodded, “As he should have…no, you, should have written to me about this,” Harry accused in the same tone Ginny used.
“No I should not have! I can take care of myself, Harry!” she said, raising her voice, which seemed unnatural after being in the library for so long.
“This isn’t a matter of taking care of yourself!” Harry said forcefully, completely forgetting the entire reason he had come in the first place. He had placed Dumbledore’s Pensieve on the table waiting for Ginny to arrive, but seeing her, and knowing what Malfoy had been doing, he couldn’t help but continue with that problem first.
“I don’t need another older brother protecting me…” Ginny said under her breath, but loud enough for Harry to hear.
“I’m not your brother,” he said angrily, clearly offended.
“Then stop acting like one!” Ginny shot back.
“A brother protects his sister from a spider in her bedroom or…or a boyfriend they don’t approve of!” Harry said, searching wildly for things brothers do.
“Well, the whole lot of them missed that last one, didn’t they,” she said coldly. Harry took the blow to heart, but tried to push it aside.
“The point is,” Harry chose his words carefully, “that Malfoy threatening you isn’t trivial stuff. Telling you that you aren’t safe from Voldemort…”
“No…you are making it sound like Voldemort is targeting me. The point Malfoy was making was that your decision to protect me hasn’t changed my status on the ‘TO KILL’ list!” Ginny said, her voice rising with every word. She stared dangerously into Harry’s eyes and for a moment, they flickered with passion, Harry resisted the strong urge he had to pull her towards him.
“Don’t talk about a ‘to kill’ list,” Harry said forcefully, his mood changing.
“Why not? We’re at war, aren’t we? They probably do have a ‘to kill’ list!” Ginny rattled on, her emotion overcoming her, “it would only follow logic that I’d be on it! Why would pushing me away change that? Hmmm…I don’t know, because my whole bloody family practically is the Order? I think a ‘to kill’ list is probably very likely indeed…”
Harry snapped, his voice wasn’t loud, but the power and emotion behind it, the flicker of fury and sadness behind his eyes shocked Ginny, “You’re right, a ‘to kill’ list is very likely…and you know what…you can bet my ass that I’m number one on it,” Harry began. Ginny fell silent immediately, “you can also bet that every, single, person on the bloody list is someone I care about. Both my parents were on the bloody list! You say your family is the Order, well guess what, the ‘to kill’ list is my family! Or the closest thing I have to one!” Harry was breathing heavily. Ginny felt horrible. She hadn’t meant to hurt him like that, and she knew that she had. He continued on, “You say it would only follow logic that you’d be on the list? Sirius was on the list. Dead! Dumbledore was on the list. Dead! Follow that logic Ginny!” Harry said, pointing dramatically to the ground. His eyes flickered with angry passion as he emphasized all the right words.
Ginny felt the tears rise in her throat. She knew that was the reason Harry was pushing her away, but hearing him say it, the way he was saying it. Seeing the hurt, the pain, and responsibility in his eyes tore her apart.
“Harry…” she said softly, she was going to apologize. She was still angry with him, but she had gone too far.
“Listen to me,” he cut her off, “forget what I just said,” he said hastily. He let his guard down and he had said too much, he felt bad that Ginny felt responsible for his pain, it wasn’t her fault. “I still care about you Ginny,” he said, his eyes losing their heated passion and turning into concern. Ginny set her jaw and bit back her tears, although her eyes were still brimming with them. “I want you to be safe,” he said simply.
“It’s not your responsibility to keep me safe anymore Harry,” she answered in the same simplicity he had just used.
“Anymore?” Harry said surprised.
“Yeah, anymore…I put up with coddling from my brothers and parents; it’s something I had to grow up with. I let your over protectiveness slide with that same understanding I allow my family when we were together…but, that has changed. It’s not your responsibility to keep me safe, anymore, Harry,” she repeated. She let her words linger in the air for a moment before walking swiftly to the door and leaving Harry in silence.
He heard her meaning loud and clear. As a boyfriend it was okay that he was protective and wanted to keep her safe, but he couldn’t keep acting like a boyfriend when he wasn’t anymore. Harry sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. Being this close to Ginny again brought back all the happy memories they had together. Since they’d been separated, Harry hadn’t been nearly as happy as he once had been. He assumed it was just him dealing with Dumbledore’s death. He didn’t realize that he had lost two important people in his life that day. Why had he ever thought that pushing Ginny away was a good idea?
He knew she wasn’t any safer, if anything, she was more a target, as was clear from all the hassling she’s been getting at school. He assumed that it wasn’t fair to her to have a boyfriend constantly away, but what wasn’t fair was his resolve to make the decision to end it without her. If she had a problem with the situation he was in, it was her that should have initiated a break up. Harry shook his head. He had made a major mistake in breaking up with Ginny. He wanted to be responsible for her safety. He wanted to be overprotective of her; it came so natural to him. His eyes rested on the Pensieve. There was so much they had been keeping from each other. Harry turned quickly, and forgetting the risk of entering the halls with no disguise, he rushed after her.
Ginny turned out of the Room of Requirement and started down the hall. She was walking back to the library without realizing it, but she was walking determinedly. She wiped at her eyes as the tears that had been welling up poured onto her cheeks. She turned a corner and stopped, pressing her back against the wall as she took a deep breath to calm herself. The halls were silent meaning classes had started. She couldn’t go to class this late and she didn’t want to, she couldn’t deal with McGonagall.
She had seen longing in Harry’s eyes; she knew he loved her, which made their situation even more frustrating. Why is he being so stubborn! She thought angrily. Then she stopped herself, remembering him talking about the ‘to kill’ list. He was right…she had never thought of it in the way he spoke of. It was most certainly a fact that everyone Harry cared about was on that list. She shook her head as she tried to comprehend his situation. He had already lost too many people…the people he considered family. Who was Ginny to tell him not to protect her when he had lost family and she hadn’t?
She was about to turn back the way she came to go talk to Harry again when she ran into somebody as she turned the corner. She felt hands slip around her waist as she was picked up off the floor and thrusted into a door leading to yet another deserted classroom.
“Ouch! Let go!” Ginny screamed loudly. She was abruptly dropped to the ground where her elbow hit the cement floor. The intense pain trickled up her entire arm as she looked up to see Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and finally Malfoy striding into the room. Malfoy lifted his wand and pointed it to the door they had entered and then to the one in the back of the room.
“Silencio,” he said eagerly. “Now, we are quite alone,” Malfoy said, glaring down at Ginny.
Ginny stood quickly, reaching into her robes for her wand. Her heart stopped as she realized she had left it in the library with all her other things. She glanced at the door where Goyle stood, his body big enough to completely block the entry.
“Not thinking of making a run for it? You have such a tiny body,” Malfoy whispered, approaching her slowly, Crabbe and Nott following him, “all three of my friends here could easily snap you in half,” he ended violently.
“Stay away from me, Malfoy,” Ginny said fiercely, she couldn’t hide the tremor from her voice and Malfoy smiled at it.
“Don’t be scared…it’s not me you have to worry about. Soon enough you’ll finally be reunited with the Dark Lord. He finally gave me the go ahead to collect you. He says once he’s used you I will receive my reward…but, I think I might just get it now…I don’t want broken goods, and trust me, after the Dark Lord is done, you’ll be broken. But until then, don’t worry, you’ll enjoy what I have in store for you,” he said taking a quick step towards her. Ginny was quite ready for him, she side stepped as he reached out for her so that he grasped for empty air. She threw her hands on his back and pushed him down to the ground before running to the back of the classroom where another door was waiting, unblocked.
She felt a hand grab her shoulder; she turned around and kicked out at Nott who was tightening his grip on her. He fell down, clutching where her knee had hit his stomach. She spun around, her pathway to the door clear. Ginny felt her legs suddenly snap together and she fell hard to the floor, but not before hitting her head hard against an old desk. She felt blood start to trickle down her forehead as the room began to go in and out of focus.
Malfoy stood above her, glaring down with a sneer on his face. He grabbed a chunk of hair and pulled her back to the front of the room. Ginny yelped in pain, clawing at his hands that held tightly to her hair. She tried kicking out, but her legs were locked together from the curse Malfoy had put on her.
“Nott isn’t too happy with being kicked…” he said, dropping her when they reached the front of the room. Ginny watched as Nott came slumping over to where she lay helpless on the floor, she lifted her hands to try and block his kick, but the force of his leg raining down on her couldn’t be stopped. She brought her knees to her chest as her stomach imploded when his foot made contact with her ribs.
“Now, we’ll call that even…honestly, Ginny…you’re acting like you don’t want this to happen,” Malfoy said, crouching down next to Ginny and pulling her up into a sitting position so that she was leaning up against the teachers desk. Ginny spat in Malfoy’s face, hatred etched in her own. Malfoy laughed before lifting his arm high above his head and swinging it down so that the back of his hand met Ginny’s cheek with a deafening crack. Ginny was knocked to the side, her face burning with pain. She tasted blood in her mouth. When she coughed out, blood splattered the floor.
“Now look what you’ve done…I don’t want to kiss a bloody mouth,” Malfoy said, pulling her up again and stroking the cheek he just hit. Ginny winced in pain and disgust as his finger caressed her bruised cheek. “But that doesn’t matter; I can do other things besides kiss your mouth.”
He lifted the leg locking curse and Ginny felt her legs fall limply apart from one another. Malfoy grabbed at both and pulled hard so that she was dragged into a lying position.
“NO! GET OFF!” she yelled, throwing her arms up to try and hit him; she was kicking furiously with her legs. Malfoy struggled against her, grabbing her arms and forcing them above her head. “STOP IT!” she screamed louder, she heard laughing from above Malfoy’s head. She felt her arms being bruised under his tight grip. She continued kicking with all her might.
“You’re making this difficult, just calm down and enjoy it,” Malfoy whispered in Ginny’s ear. The hair at the back of her neck stood up on end. She wouldn’t let this happen.
“PLEASE, LET ME GO! STOP IT!” she continued to shout. She felt her hot tears roll down her face, stinging her bruise cheek. The blood continued to flow from the wound at her hairline on her forehead. “Don’t!” she cried out in a sob as he tore her robes off so she had only her thin undershirt on. “Stop it,” she felt his hands slip under the shirt as they started caressing her skin. She wanted to be sick as he leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck. More laughing from above her, she continued to sob, she continued to yell out as loud as she could, she continued to try and push him off, but there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him as he laughed above her.
Harry looked around the deserted halls confused; she must have run when she got out of the cupboard. He went in the direction of the Great Hall, the complete opposite way she had run. He opened up a couple empty classroom doors looking for her, but to no avail.
He was relieved when he saw Neville racing towards him, the Marauders Map clutched in his hand. “Good thinking,” Harry smiled. It was quickly removed by the look on Neville’s face. He pushed it towards Harry and pointed to a room two halls down, he panted, unable to speak.
Harry looked down and saw 5 little dots labeled Ginny, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott.
Harry flew into and all out sprint. Neville ran after him, but was unable to keep up. Harry turned three corners at top speed, running into the opposite wall on two occasions where he just pushed off and ran harder. He skidded to a halt and referenced the map. Down the hall, third door on the right. He didn’t even look back to see that he had lost Neville. He ran to the room and threw open the door with his entire body.
Harry’s shoulder stung from where he had broke open the door. Goyle started to raise his wand, but Harry had already thrown a curse at him, “Stupefy!” Goyle’s large body crumpled to the floor where it remained, unmoving. Nott was leaning against a table; he brought himself to full height as Crabbe raised his wand to Harry. “Petrificus Totalus!” Harry bellowed and Crabbe fell to the ground. “Protego!” Harry blocked a spell Nott had sent his way easily then cursed him the same as Goyle.
Harry turned his head to see Malfoy getting up off of Ginny, whose lifeless body was flat on the floor, her head turned away from Harry. Malfoy was at full height, his wand raised and cutting through the air when Harry took his eyes off of Ginny. “Expelliarmus!” Harry felt his wand leave his hand.
“Nice of you to join us, Potter!” Malfoy spat, taking two steps towards him and away from Ginny, holding Harry’s wand tight. “I was just taking my turn…I don’t know what you see in her though,” he taunted. “Rectusempra!” Malfoy shouted, Harry jumped out of the way of the curse and it hit the wall which absorbed the shock causing the whole room to shake.
Harry saw Ginny try and sit up and fail. She fell to the floor and stopped moving. Harry felt sick to his stomach, Malfoy did this to her. He turned back to him, his eyes ablaze in anger. Malfoy took a step back, fear consuming him despite Harry being unarmed. Harry squared his shoulders and Malfoy froze; Harry raised his hand, as if he had a wand in it and shouted, “Stupefy!” The space between Harry and Malfoy seemed to ripple; Ginny’s hair blew as if a sudden breeze moved through the room. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, Harry watched as the energy moved from his hand towards Malfoy, whose eyes widened in shock; Ginny held her hand up over her face and turned away.
Then, time ran normal, and Malfoy was thrown backwards and hit the wall with a deafening thud. He slid down quickly and lay lifeless on the floor. Harry dropped his arm and ran to where Ginny was laying and knelt down next to her.
“Gin?” he said softly, lifting her body onto his knees. She looked up to him. Harry looked from the cut on her forehead to the prominent bruise forming on her right cheek. He felt his eyes sting with tears and he bit the inside of his cheek.
“I didn’t have a wand,” she whispered. Harry nodded, fighting back his tears. “I could have taken them…but I left my wand in the library…” she repeated, her eyes closing and wincing with pain.
“I’m sorry,” Harry said, tucking some hair behind her ear.
Ginny took a deep breath as she regained control over her limbs. “Don’t be sorry…you stopped him from…” Ginny closed her eyes as she felt another wave of tears hit her eyelids. Harry pulled her into a tight hug; she wrapped her arms around his neck. Closing her eyes she wanted to cry, not because she had just been attacked, but because she was in Harry’s arms and she had missed him so much.
Although he didn’t want to, Harry allowed her to pull away. He watched sadly as she pulled her robes back on. Harry walked over to Malfoy and picked up his own wand, and felt Ginny’s eyes on him. He turned to see her staring at him, her mouth parted in amazement.
“You…you didn’t have your wand when…” she looked from the place where Harry had been standing when he cursed Malfoy, to where Malfoy’s body lay.
“No, I didn’t.” Harry said simply. He pointed his wand at Malfoy and said, “Oblivirate,” a faint beam of light trickled from the tip. “Damn.”
Ginny walked over to where Harry stood. “You did magic without a wand,” she whispered, still amazed.
“Yeah, I did. And now I can’t perform any magic. So, if you could…erase his memory. And that lot too. They can’t remember I was here.” Ginny stared at Harry. “Gin?” he asked, as she shook her head.
“Oblivirate,” she whispered, and the spell worked, Malfoy turned over, but remained unconscious. Ginny walked to the others and did the same. When she was done, she turned back to Harry. “There’s so much…” she began before losing her voice.
Harry nodded in understanding, “That we haven’t told each other? Yeah, there is.” Ginny sighed and looked away. She didn’t know Harry knew she was keeping things from him as much as he was keeping things from her. Harry didn’t know what to do. He wanted to go and hug her, to tell her Malfoy would never touch her again, but he couldn’t. “We…we need to get out of here…before they wake up.” Ginny nodded. “You need to get looked over, by Madam Pompfrey.”
“No. I’m fine. I just need a few simple potions. If we just go to the Room of Requirement…we’ll find everything we need there.” Ginny said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and wiping some blood off her forehead. Harry’s heart clenched again.
They walked swiftly through the halls, classes were still going. “How are you so sure the Room will have what you need?” he asked, trying to break the silence between them. After everything she had said earlier…he knew she had made it clear they weren’t a couple, but he didn’t want anything but to have her back.
“It won’t be the first time potion was needed we couldn’t get from Madam Pompfrey. The Death Eaters run the hospital wing now. Don’t always give the students what they need. I’ve been giving out potion through the Room of Requirement for a couple weeks now.” Ginny explained.
“I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here…that Malfoy’s been…” Harry trailed off. They stood in front of the door to the Room of Requirement. “Ginny…” he whispered, but she shook her head and opened the door, sliding through it quickly. Harry followed her.
Ginny walked straight to a row of shelves holding many different potions. She unstoppered a bright purple one and took a few large gulps. She placed a hand over her mouth and forced it down. She placed the bottle back on the shelf and grabbed another, which she threw to Harry. “It’ll give you some energy back.”
Harry nodded in thanks. Ginny placed a hand over her head and placed pressure on the cut that was still oozing some blood. Harry walked over to her, “Will you let me mend it? I’ve gotten quite good at it…” Ginny nodded. “Hold still.”
He placed the tip of his wand at one end of the cut and dragged it lightly across it, whispering a mending spell. Ginny sighed in relief. “That feels a lot better.”
“Good.” Harry smiled as he looked down into Ginny’s eyes; he saw a deep sadness within. His own feelings of sadness quickly changed to mutinous hatred for Malfoy, he had half a mind to turn around and kill him then and there. As he thought this, he saw Ginny’s eyes quickly change from sadness to fear. She had felt the anger rippling from Harry and was scared of what he might do.
“Harry?” Ginny said suddenly. Harry nodded, unable to speak at the moment. “Can we…can we just forget what just happened? I mean, just for now. I can’t deal with it right now…” she said, turning away from him and walking towards the couches. She had to move away from him, which scared her even more. Harry watched as she stopped, her eyes resting on the table.
“That’s Dumbledore’s Pensieve,” looking at in surprise, “How did it,” she whispered to herself, understanding dawning slowly, she turned back to Harry and blinked hard. “You brought it with.”
“Ginny,” He breathed, stepping forward.
“He left it for you, I know. Have you found anything useful in it?” she asked catching the gleam in his eyes. She knew right away. “He told me he was documenting our meetings…but, I never thought you would find out this way.” She explained immediately.
“I’ve only seen one, but there was so much…” Harry couldn’t say it. He shook his head in frustration, they were speaking as if they were in the middle of a conversation, as if nothing in the past hour had ever happened. As if they hadn’t spent months apart.
“Harry I want to explain everything to you. But…but we’re not safe here.” She said, stepping towards him. He cocked his head and contracted his brows. “People can get in here, people who need to get away from Death Eater Professors, and anyone could walk in and overhear us…or see you.”
She wasn’t denying the fact that she was hiding something, and that scared him, he felt himself beginning to panic. He just nodded, not sure he was ready to hear the things she had to tell him. She surveyed him carefully. “I need to go get some things,” she said slowly. “I’ll be right back.” She waited for Harry to nod, then turned quickly and left the room.
He began pacing again. He had had a plan when he left the woods this morning, he was going to march straight up to her and demand the truth, the whole truth. He didn’t even think about what the truth would mean, what would happen after hearing it. There was no time to comprehend any of this, not with the news Neville gave him, any chance of realizing the enormity of Dumbledore’s memories was pushed far from his mind.
Then he saw her for the first time in months, and the monster that had been caged but certainly not forgotten broke free; it had taken everything within him not to snog her on the spot; but she threw the monster straight back into the cage, reminding him of the place he had put their relationship in.
As he paced, images raced in his mind. Ginny, lying lifelessly in the Chamber, beaming as Fred told her a funny joke in the Common Room, walking down the aisle in a pale gold dress with her red hair grazing her elegant neck and shoulders, the blaze in her eye telling him to stop acting like the boyfriend he wasn’t, Malfoy standing above her with an evil sneer, her sobbing in Dumbledore’s office…
Suddenly everything he had been pushing away was rushing back. Ginny would come back through that door, with information he wasn’t ready to hear. She was coming back and he didn’t have it in him to push her away anymore…he was losing his resolve, the certainty she was safer away from him.
“Harry?” He spun around at her small voice; he hadn’t even heard her come back inside. “Pack up Dumbledore’s Pensieve…we’re going to floo to McGonagall’s office; she has a Portkey waiting for us.” He merely nodded, and didn’t say a word as the Pensieve was placed back into his bag. Ginny walked to the fireplace and held out some powder, he took it and threw it down.
“Potter!” McGonagall rushed forward and gave him a hug. “You must hurry, but it’s so good to see you. Ms. Weasley, quickly now,” she urged.
Ginny rushed forward and took the flower pot McGonagall handed her. “Harry, come on.” McGonagall glanced from Harry to Ginny with a look of concern. Ginny shrugged her shoulders before placing her hand in Harry’s.
“Good-bye Professor,” Harry murmured as McGonagall placed her wand on top of the pot and whispered a spell. Harry felt the hook around his belly button as he was lurched forward.
They hit the floor hard; Ginny’s legs buckled and she began to fall down. Harry instinctively slipped an arm around her waist to steady her, but didn’t have his own balance yet. Ginny stumbled backwards while being supported by Harry, who cradled her as they both plunged towards the nearest wall.
With the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Ginny, Harry slammed his palm against the wall, stopping them both from falling into it. Ginny was nearly horizontal, Harry was bending over her, holding both their weight with his one hand against the wall. She was breathing heavily in surprise at being caught, then there was the way he was looking at her, her heart hammered unbearably. “You okay?” He asked, holding their pose. She smiled with a nod.
He pushed off the wall, bringing Ginny up to a standing position as he did, his hand lingered on her waist, under the pretense he was making sure she was steady; but he held it a moment too long to be able to pass as innocent. He didn’t know if he was imagining her body swaying towards him, her head tilting to the side. He saw her cheeks flush as she turned away, he swallowed hard, “Where are we?” He asked to fill the silence. He looked around the living room they had landed in. A loud crack of thunder made Harry jump and spin on the spot.
“This is Bill’s house. The Order uses it as a safe house. People come in and out, a lot like Grimmauld actually.” Ginny explained, and seeing Harry’s face, answered, “They aren’t here now. They’re staying at The Burrow for the weekend.” Harry nodded.
Ginny walked to the window to look out at the black sky, it was pouring out. Harry felt exhausted, he wasn’t ready for this. He couldn’t be alone with her.
“What were we talking about in the Pensieve? Dumbledore and I, what memory did you see?”
Harry sat down heavily in a chair. Ginny walked around a table and knelt in front of him, assuming he knew more than he did, she said, “I know another prophecy is hard to take in.”
Harry looked up in disbelief, “Another prophecy?” Ginny smiled despite herself. “Why are you smiling?” Harry breathed in disbelief.
“I’m happy to see you, for one.” She shrugged. Harry’s heart stopped, “Second, I just had this image of me putting my foot in my mouth multiple times, assuming you knew more than you do…and each time I let something slip, you got more upset.” Ginny put on a serious face then, in her best Harry impression said, “Another prophecy? Tom possessed you?? You remember?! You have a boyfriend!!?”
“You have a boyfriend!!??” Harry exclaimed; his heart plummeted, his stomach clenched, the monster in his chest rose as it never had before.
Ginny smiled again, “No.”
“What?” Harry said in a weak voice, he couldn’t take it much longer. The thoughts in his head were combining, he didn’t know which way was right, what was real. She wasn’t safe, he didn’t have any control, and she was more involved than he ever thought she could be in the war.
“I don’t have a boyfriend. Just thought I’d throw that in there to see how you’d react. You realize how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other?” Ginny asked, getting up from her knees and pulling up a chair next to Harry.
Harry waited for his heart to stop beating rapidly. He watched as Ginny looked at him with a mixture of fear, longing, and thoughtfulness.
“You know what I hate the most?” She asked suddenly.
“What?” Harry answered; it was like all words had left his mind. He felt dizzy.
Ginny gave him a penetrating stare, “When someone is telling me something and they beat around the bush about it. Waiting for me to ask the right questions so they can slowly drag out the inevitable truth that they could have just spat out in the beginning.” She said it all very quickly and Harry just stared at her, agreeing with her but unable to say anything at all. Ginny knew his silence was agreement. “The horrible confusion of trying to understand, it could all be avoided by just throwing everything out right away…then letting the person ask questions. At least then they’d know why they were asking the questions in the first place.”
Harry suddenly found his words, “You’re doing a lot of beating around the bush for a speech talking against it.” He had to face what she had to say. He had to face the truth, and deal with what it meant later.
Ginny smiled, took a deep breath and leaned forward. “I have memories about Tom Riddle, the diary and the Chamber. Sometimes I have prophetic dreams about things that have happened or things that might happen.” Harry had already figured this out from the Pensieve, but hearing her say it, so simply, so easily…he couldn’t tell if he was scared, overwhelmed, nervous, thankful…but she wasn’t stopping. “I met with Dumbledore regularly throughout my years at Hogwarts…and we worked together to figure out what the Horocruxes are.”
“What?” Harry couldn’t feel his heart at all now, was it stopped or beating wildly? It wasn’t pounding at all. He couldn’t breath. His lungs were collapsing.
“Breathe Harry.” Ginny said softly, placing a hand on his. Her touch somehow brought his breath back, but it was painful when his lungs filled with air. “Dumbledore, around the same time as he explained Tom’s past to you, did so with me. But this is explaining things. You can ask me questions later.” She paused to make sure he was still breathing and then continued. “Dumbledore and I worked to figure out what the Horocruxes are. A prophecy was made about me.”
“This is a lot to take in…” Harry said, feeling light headed, so many questions swimming in his head.
“I’m not done. I knew Dumbledore was going to die.” Ginny said sadly. “But I didn’t know when or how. He made me believe it wasn’t prophetic…but I know he knew it was. It wasn’t until the same night that I knew Snape was going to be the one to do it. I knew just after my last chance to stop him from going up to the tower.”
Harry shook his head and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. Ginny looked at him worried, but decided to continue. “If I don’t come a long with you from now on…I think…I think one of us might be killed.”
He lifted his head so quickly he couldn’t see; shapes and colors filled the room. “What?!” again, all he could manage to say. Harry stood up and backed away from her. “Is that the prophecy? Or something from one of your dreams?” He knew he said it with a lot of bitterness, but he was lost.
She was taken a back, scalded, “Harry!” She couldn’t believe he was reacting this way. She knew it was a lot to take in, but he was being childish. “I’m worried about you…about what’s going to happen…”
“Oh, I’m sorry…you’re worried?” Now he was becoming sarcastic, he wished he could stop. Ginny looked at him with disgust.
She shook her head, she needed to keep explaining herself, he just didn’t understand, “If I go into hiding, things won’t work out the way we want,” she said softly, trying to control her own temper.
“Go into hiding like my parents did? Who was suggesting that?” He stood up quickly, it was too much. “Because that’s how it started last time. A prophecy…hiding…that all ended well…” he strode towards the front door. He had to get out. Ginny stared at him incredulously before jumping up and running after him.
A Second Prophecy by wilbur
Chapter Notes: this chapter has sexual situations and is intended for a mature audience