Chapter 11 Mirage
Seeing the smile on Ginny’s face somehow made everyone feel more at peace. Even Harry felt slightly better after having cried like that.
“I’m sorry, Hermione,” Harry apologized. “I’m sorry for screaming at you like that. Thanks for everything. You are a good friend.”
“It’s okay. Ron and I will always be here for you,” Hermione patted Harry’s back and kissed him on the cheek.
“I know it is already afternoon on New Year’s Day but everyone hasn’t slept all night,” Dumbledore said, trying to cheer everyone up. “Go get some sleep!”
Ron and Hermione hugged Harry again, then walked out with Hagrid and McGonagall.
Dumbledore turned to Harry, “Go get some sleep. You must be exhausted.”
“I’m not tired, Professor. I want to stay with Ginny. Can I stay with her, just a little longer?” he mumbled weakly.
“I think you may have noticed by now that I never say no to you, Harry,” Dumbledore smiled as he waved his hands and all the curtains and blinds in the room closed slowly and the sunshine gradually disappeared. The lights in the room flickered and went off. The room became very dark, calm and peaceful, except for the light shining through the doorway.
“I will tell Madam Pomfrey and let her know you are here, so she…I will make sure she won’t disturb you,” Dumbledore said as he made his way to the door.
“Thanks, Professor,” Harry said. He wasn’t sure why Dumbledore turned off all the lights and closed the curtains, but he didn’t seem to mind, because the room now felt very calm and peaceful.
“I love you, Professor,” Harry called out.
Dumbledore froze briefly as a broad proud smile appeared widely on his face when he heard what Harry had just said. He then took another look around the room as he reached the door. Standing there, he whispered softly to himself, “I love you too, Harry Potter. Be brave. Good luck and pleasant dreams, my dear boy.”
He gently closed the door.
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Harry was awakened by the bright sunlight that was shining directly on his face. Shielding his eyes with his hand, he quickly sat up and looked around desperately, trying to figure out where he was. He found himself sitting on very hot sand in the middle of nowhere. The sun was burning his face and the winds were swirling with sand. He got up and peered around, rubbing his eyes to get a clearer view. It appeared to be a desert as he noticed a cactus from afar. Feeling thirsty and not knowing where to go, he made his way towards the cactus.
As he walked closer to the cactus, he saw what appeared to be a body lying next to it. He immediately ran over and saw that it was a girl with long red hair, lying lifelessly with her face down.
“Ginny!” Harry cried as he turned her over; sweat was rolling down his forehead. “Ginny, wake up! It’s Harry! Say something!”
Harry gently brushed the sand off her face. Desperate to save her, he darted to the cactus to try to rip off a piece of its flesh. With all his strength and forgetting that there were spines, he ripped a piece of it off. His mind was so busy that he couldn’t even feel the pain from the cactus spines that punctured every part of his hands. With his hands bleeding profusely, he squeezed Ginny’s cheeks to force her mouth open. Then he squeezed the cactus flesh and the water droplets slowly fell into her mouth. Harry could see her lips were very pale and dry and her eyes were closed. The only color was her red hair and the bloodstains on her cheeks from Harry’s bloodied hands.
“I have to get you out of here,” Harry said to her as the sun was blasting its heat. “I won’t let you die!”
With sweat now flowing all over his face, Harry lifted her up and carried her in his arms. He looked desperately around but he didn’t know where to go. The sand in the wind was making everything blurry. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he noticed what looked like a lake not too far away.
“That will cool you down,” he said excitedly.
Harry ran as fast as he could, holding Ginny in his arms as tightly as possible, while keeping his eyes on the lake as it inched closer and closer. His bloodied hands were staining her clothes now. But as he approached the lake, it slowly disappeared.
Panting to catch his breath, he backed away in disbelief. “How can I be so foolish?” he yelled out.
Feeling exhausted and extremely dizzy, Harry swayed sideways aimlessly and lost his direction as he stared blankly at the ground. Suddenly, he saw a couple of dark shadows gliding across the sand. He immediately looked up at the sky, and he could see what appeared to be two birds circling above him. But he couldn’t see much more because the hot bright sunlight was almost blinding. As he tried to look at the sky again, one of his feet suddenly collapsed deep into the sand. He struggled to pull his leg out but the pit was swallowing him inch by inch. He realized he couldn’t pull himself out with Ginny in his arms. Desperate to save her, he pushed her away from the pit with all his might and wanted to roll her as far away from him as he could. But in the midst of the struggle, one of her hands suddenly gripped his hand hard as he continued to drown deeper into the sand. Harry knew he would ultimately drag Ginny into the pit and die with him, so he tried to break free, but he couldn’t. Because of the struggle, he felt even deeper into the pit, which by now had swallowed his neck. His arms were still tenuously above the pit so he was trying to grab on to whatever he could with his other hand. But all he could grab were sand and more sand. By now the pit had reached his eyes and he could no longer see and breathe anymore.
“Ginny would want you to stay strong…” a voice echoed in his head.
Suddenly he felt something pulling him by his wrists. He didn’t know what they were but he could feel he was slowly being pulled up. Blinded by the sand, he couldn’t see what happened but somehow he felt very light and airy as he felt unconscious…
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“GINNY……” Harry screamed as he violently bounced up from the floor and looked around urgently, breathing very hard. Sweat was all over his face and body. He breathed a sign of relief as he found himself in the familiar dark hospital room, standing beside Ginny’s bedside. He realized he had fallen asleep and he had another nightmare. Looking at himself, he had sand all over his clothes and pockets. His hands were full of fresh scars and blood.
“Water…” Harry heard a faint weak voice. He looked down and saw Ginny’s hand gripping the doves, and they appeared to be fluttering their wings.
Feeling all confused and dazed in the dark, he kneeled down to look at her closely.
“Ginny?” he said softly.
Harry noticed her lips were moving and she whispered again, “Water…”
Seeing the bloodstains on her cheeks, the details of the nightmare began to creep back into his head as he stared at his bloodied palms again. Screaming feverishly, he grabbed the kettle by her bedside, lifted Ginny’s head, and poured the water into her mouth.
“Here, Ginny. Drink! It’s me, Harry! Don’t be afraid; everything is going to be okay! You are safe now! Don’t close your eyes! Keep looking at me!” Harry pleaded.
“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US! PLEASE HELP US! I NEED HELP NOW! GINNY’S AWAKE!” Harry screamed towards the door.
Madam Pomfrey stormed in, followed by Professor McGonagall, who turned on the lights. Both were shocked at what they saw as they ran over to Harry.
“Oh my goodness!” McGonagall yelled, looking at Ginny’s blinking brown eyes as she was devouring the water from Harry’s kettle. “Madam Pomfrey! Go get Dumbledore now!”
Madam Pomfrey rushed out immediately, yelling hysterically across the halls that Ginny is awake, as she went to get Dumbledore. McGonagall kneeled beside Ginny’s bedside and gently brushed off the bloodstains off her face.
“What happened? How did Ginny…? How did she? Why does she have bloodstains on her cheeks? What happened to your hands, Harry?” McGonagall was completely dumbfounded and frantic, looking at Ginny and Harry.
Ginny choked and coughed because she was drinking too rapidly. Harry handed the kettle to McGonagall and then tenderly wiped the water off Ginny’s wet cheeks.
“Harry…” Ginny whimpered between coughs, her voice weak and hoarse, her shaking hand reaching for him.
“Harry…”
“I’m here,” he muttered softly as he grabbed her delicate hand. Tears were flooding his eyes.
She turned her head slowly towards him. A tear was rolling down her cheek.
“Hold me,” she pleaded weakly.
Fighting back tears, Harry climbed onto her bed and gently embraced her in his arms. In the meantime, he kept pinching himself, to make sure that this wasn’t yet another dream.
My Guardian Angel by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: Can Harry and Ginny do the impossible and turn illusion into reality?