A/N: All of the characters contained herein are the property of JK Rowling.
Harry ran down the corridors towards the dungeon where Ginny had been for potions. He glanced in alcoves as he passed them, looking for any sign of her. He was most of he way to Snape's classroom when he spotted it, a splash of red hair sticking out from underneath a tapestry. Pushing the hanging back, he saw her.
Harry could tell from the way she was laying that she had been put in the full body bind. Her face was already bruising, and her hair was sticky with blood and clung in clumps to her face and forehead. Harry's heart nearly stopped until he saw the gentle rise of her chest. She was still alive.
"It'll be ok Ginny," he murmured. "I'm here now."
Kneeling next to her, he removed the full body bind. As gently as he could, he lifted her in his arms and headed for the hospital wing. Without even thnking about it, Harry blasted the doors of the infirmary open and raced in calling for Madam Pomfrey.
"What on earth..." she began and then saw Ginny. Her eyes widened. "Put her over here Potter and tell me what hapened."
"I'm not sure. I found her this way, only she had a body bind on her," Harry replied gently laying her on the nearest bed and brushing her hair off her face as best he could. That's when he saw it. Carved, for there was no other way to describe it, into the skin of her forehead was a jagged lightning bolt in exactly the same spot as Harry's scar.
Anger surged through him greater than any he'd ever felt. His reaction to Kreacher this summer even paled in comparison. His eyes blazed green fire and the air around him crackled with magic from his wrath.
"P-Potter?" Madame Pomfrey stammered taking an involuntary step backwards.
"Malfoy. Malfoy did this," Harry said coldly.
"Now Potter, don't do anything foolish," she pleaded. "She's going to be allright."
Harry ignored her and turned, leaving the hospital wing. He was vaguely aware of wide-eyed students scrambling out of his path as he strode down the hall cloaked in the sizzling green flame. Harry could feel the power coarsing through him as, with a flick of his hand he blasted the doors of the Great Hall off their hinges.
"Malfoy!" Harry thundered. He saw his prey's face drain of color, saw him begin to shake. The silence in the hall was defeaning as the few students who were finishing their lunch fled to the far corners of the room. Remus, Ron, and Hermione were desperately trying to make their way towards Harry, but they would not be in time. Another careless flick of his hand had Malfoy careening towards the ceiling.
"I told you not to touch her Malfoy," he said to the frantically wriggling Slytherin who was dangling precariously over the stone floor. "You hurt her. You marked her. You will not make that mistake again."
"Harry stop!" he heard Dumbledore call.
"No. He has to pay for what he has done. He hurt Ginny," Harry said in a deadly calm voice. He heard Snape trying to stun him, but the spell was absorbed by the power which surrounded him.
"He'll pay Harry, but not at your hands. I will not see another Marauder go to Azkaban. Put him down and come with me. Ginny needs you with her, not here. There is no going back from this Harry," the hoarse voice of Remus Lupin penetrated Harry's anger at last. Slowly, he lowered Malfoy to the ground where he lay in a shivering, sobbing heap.
Harry was doing his best to take deep calming breaths, allowing the fire which had engulfed him to slowly fade. It was only now that he become aware of all of the eyes in the hall which were watching. Only now that he realized a struggling Ron was being desperately held back by Hermione, Tonks, and Neville as he tried to get to Malfoy.
"You bastard Malfoy! What did you do to my sister?" Ron shouted as they dragged him from the room. "You had better be thanking whoever you hold sacred that the professors are here to save you!"
"Harry, come on," Remus said gently ushering him out of the Great Hall, and back towards the hospital wing and Ginny. When they arrived Ron, Hermione, Neville and Tonks were there waiting.
"What the hell hapened Harry?" Ron demanded. His red hair was standing on end, as if he' been impatiently running his hands through it as he waited on Harry to get there.
Harry quickly related everything that he knew. By the time he finished, Professor McGonnagall had arrived.
"The headmaster wants to see you Potter," she said gently. "You too Nymphadora."
"He's going to have to come here then because I am not leaving until I know how Ginny is doing," Harry said.
"Harry we'll watch over her, and let you know as soon as we hear anything," Remus said soothingly. "Go to the headmaster."
"No. I won't leave her, " Harry replied, all the agony he was feeling clearly visible in his eyes.
"Harry, you need to tell Professor Dumbledore what you know so that Malfoy can be dealt with," Hermione pleaded.
"We'll take care of her mate. We promise," said Ron, his voice tortured as he thought of what had happened to his baby sister. Harry finally relented and left to see the Headmaster, accompanied by Tonks.
"Canary Creams," she said when they arrived at the stone gargoyle. It slid slowly to the side, revealing the steps which led to Dumbledore's office. They climbed the stairs and entered the office, closing the door behind them.
"Have a seat both of you please," said Dumbledore tiredly, the usual twinkle gone from his eyes.
Harry sat down, somewhat nervous. "Professor, I'm sorry I lost control like that. Its just that when I saw what they did to Ginny... I've never been that angry in my life."
"I know Harry, but I don't think you realize just how astonishing all that you did was," he said quietly. "Tell me what happened from the beginning please."
Harry took another deep calming breath, just thinking about it stirred the embers of his anger. He then recounted, once again, what had happened, from the moment he felt the first sliver of fear, until he had brushed the hair from her face and saw the mark they had left.
"They did it so I knew, Headmaster. They did it because of me. I don't even really remember leaving the hopital wing. I just knew that someone had to pay for hurting her," he finished quietly.
"Harry, other than the time you blew up your aunt, have you ever done wandless magic like that before?" Dumbledore asked.
"I... no. I don't think so. Well, maybe little things, but nothing like today," Harry answered, his eyes wide. It hadn't even registered with him that he had not been using his wand. Dumbledore nodded.
"Harry, there have only been a handful of wizards who could do wandless magic with any real level of control, let alone do what you did today without even thinking about it. Voldemort is going to become very anxious when word of this reaches him, and I have no doubt it will. We may have to step up our training." said Dumbledore quietly.
"Yes sir," Harry said understanding. "Professor, what is going to happen to Malfoy?"
Dumbledore sighed and exchanged a glance with Tonks. "For now, he and Misters Crabbe and Goyle are confined to their common room. Professor Snape will be guarding them. Tonks will investigate the matter, which is why I asked her to be here. Unfortunately Harry, unless Ginny can tell us who did this, we have very little evidence. Mr. Malfoy and his friends are, of course, denying everything. We'll have to hope she saw her attackers and can remember what happened."
"You mean Malfoy could get away with this?" Harry raged.
"No Harry. I'm going to pin that little ferret to the wall, good and tight," said Tonks determinedly. "It just may take a while to get any evidence."
"But he did it! He practically told me!" said Harry.
"Without any real proof, we can't do anything. If we went around convicting anyone we believed to be guilty, there would be alot of innocent people in Azkaban. Just because Mr. Mafoy appears guilty, doesn't mean that he is," said Dumbldore.
Hary sighed, thinking of Sirius who had been sent to Azkaban without a trial. He knew they were right, but he hated it all the same.
"We'll get them Harry. Whoever did this to Ginny will pay," Tonks promised. Harry nodded.
"I believe I have kept you here long enough Mr. Potter. Why don't we go check on Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said, rising and leading the way to Madame Pomfrey's domain.
By the time they got there, a crowd had assembled. Apparently, someone had informed the Weasleys of what had happened because they were there in full force.
"Where is Malfoy?" Fred demanded when the headmaster arrived.
"We'll only need a few minutes of his time," added George, pulling a lethal looking metal object from a pocket in his lurid green jacket.
"You two need to wait in line. Charlie and I are older," Bill said.
"That's enough boys. Sit down," Mrs. Weasley ordered.
"Harry got first dibs anyway. He had the little ferret dangling over the Great Hall bashing his head into the ceiling already," Ron muttered. "You were scary mate. When you blasted open the doors and came into the hall all covered in green fire like a giant phoenix, I thought Malfoy was going to mess himself. "
Harry looked down uncomfortably. He had worked so hard to gain control over his emotions. He had not only lost that control today, but had done so spectacularly in front of the whole school.
"You ok, Harry?" Remus asked.
Harry nodded mutely, knowing he was lying to his guardian. He would not be ok until he knew for sure that Ginny was allright. Mrs. Weasley must have sensed that, the way all mothers do, because she wrapped Harry in one of her trademark hugs.
The rustling of the curtain which surrounded Ginny's bed had everyone turning to look, as Madam Pomfrey bustled out.
"Well Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.
"She's going to be fine once she heals Headmaster. In addition to the cuts and bruises on her face, both of her arms were broken, as well as several of her ribs. One of the ribs punctured her lungs. The bones and lungs are healing as we speak, and I managed to get rid of the bruising on her face. She is very lucky Mr. Potter found her when he did. Had he not, I shudder to think what would have happened," Madame Pomfrey answered.
"What about... the cut? The one on her forehead like... like my scar?" Harry asked.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head, her eyes filled with an odd mix of sympathy for Harry and rage at whomever was responsible for Ginny's injuries.
"I've healed it as best I can, but I'm afraid it's going to leave a scar," she said gently. "They must have been using an enchanted blade of some sort when they did it."
Harry felt his anger begin to flare once more and did his best to ruthlessly stamp it down. Nonetheless, the potion bottles nearby began to shake, and one shattered in a burst of tinkling glass. Harry closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he fought with himself, finally managing to bring his emotions under control again.
"Can we see her?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "She's not awake yet, but yes you may. Only a few at a time however."
She led Mr. and Mrs. Weasley back through the curtains. Harry walked over to stare sightlessly out of one of the windows. Everyone took turns going in to see Ginny. Harry waited to be the last. As much as he wanted to rush in there, he felt that he needed the time to get himself more firmly in conrol.
"Harry?" Hermione said quietly. "It's your turn."
Harry turned away from the windows to look at Hermione's pale teary face. Hermione returned his gaze solemnly before wrapping him in a quick hug. Taking a deep breath, once again striving to reign in his anger, fear, and guilt, Harry parted the curtains and stepped through them to Ginny's side.
Whew! Long chappie. Hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks again to my moderator Danielle the Awesome, as well as all of my fabulous reviewers. Thanks for reading and please make sure to review.