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Author: Kathryn Story: Hogwarts Rebellion Part: 12:Back to theBurrow Rating: Teens Setting: DH-interview Status: Completed Warning: Underage drinking, strong language Reviews: 17 Words: 4,622 Updated: May 16, 2009, 5:25am
12:Back to theBurrow
They could only be hunting for someone who had caused the new regime trouble, just as they had done in hunting down so many Order of the Phoenix members. They were looking for someone they had deemed to be a blood traitor. And she came from the biggest family of blood traitors that there was. The biggest family of blood traitors that had strong connections with Harry Potter, Undesirable Number One. Her mouth dried and she struggled to form breath as she tightened her grip on her wand. They were all blood traitors that had caused too much trouble. They had to want one of them. She could feel her body shaking as she let out little gasps of breaths. They were about to face Death Eaters again and she was not sure how she was going to come out of it. She gulped, trying to regain some of her courage, she may be scared, hell she was terrified, but she was going to go down fighting. Ginny glanced over at Neville and Luna who both had their wands raised. From the looks on their faces they were scared too, but ready. The door flew open and without even thinking about what she was doing, Ginny found herself stepping forward. If they had come for her then fine, they could have her. They could hardly make her life much worse than it currently was. She had already lost so much, what more could they possibly take? If it was for her friends, well, hell, they would have to go through her first. She was more than willing to embrace the stupidity that often came with the brave Gryffindor nobility right now. The very thing she had watched Harry do so many times before. "Names," a man's gruff voice demanded. "Your names!" "We've been through this before and you've already taken, probably murdered, the Muggle-borns, there's nothing left for you to take," Ginny spat. "So why don't you just piss off." "Ginny," Neville's voice whispered, "please just think first." "Ah, the Weasley brat," the Death Eater said before turning back to the corridor. "I've found the right compartment." "Ginny," Neville spoke with more urgency as he pushed her behind him; he was obviously worried for her safety. "We've done nothing wrong, and we're all pure-bloods here, you can't take her." "We happen to be looking for a pure-blood this time, although blood traitor should be a more appropriate term for her." He stepped aside as he spoke, letting several other of Voldemort's hooded cronies enter the room. As before, they were outnumbered within a matter of just seconds but that did not change anything. They had fought before in this situation and would again. She felt both Neville and Luna at her sides as she fixed her wand on the central figure. Before she could even think of a spell to utter though, her wand, along with Neville's and Luna's had flown into the hands of a masked figure. Instinct took over and she founded herself charging. If she couldn't fight with her wand, she would fight the Muggle way. She managed to throw a single hit before her hands were caught in the grasp of a particularly powerful Death Eater. She turned her head and stole a glance at both Neville and Luna, who had made similar moves and landed in Death Eaters' arms. Ginny pulled her head back and spat, making sure to aim for the eye holes. "You bastards," she gritted. "It really is time that you are made to behave like a good little pure-blood witch," oozed a somewhat familiar voice. Ginny felt a shiver run down her spine, she had heard these words before in that disastrous trip to Hogsmeade. She felt herself gulp as she thought back to those Death Eaters' words before she forced herself to fight against it. She held her head up. Death Eaters may be sick bastards but that didn't mean that she was going to back down. The leer was clear in his voice as the Death Eater continued, "You're not that unattractive a prospect even if you have polluted your body. And I could teach you to behave." "Marcus, we don't have time," the Death Eater holding Luna spoke in a curt tone. "Let's just take what we came for and get out of here." "Fine," he replied as he released Ginny's hands. Ginny stared, disbelieving and frozen. If they didn't want her then who did they want? Why had they come into this compartment? What had just happened? Why would they want Luna? Why hadn't they protected her? Her mind was ticking over very slowly, forming thoughts that came in a muddled mess. She started to pull her hand back, in a final act of defiance, but once again found herself too slow. A gloved hand smacked her straight across the cheek, knocking her off balance as she fell to the floor. A hard steel capped boot made contact with her stomach causing her eyes to water and pain to shoot straight down to her stomach. "No blood traitor brat treats me like that." The same boot promptly made contact with her nose. "It's time you learn some manners." "Ginny," Neville called as he broke free from the Death Eater's grip on him and hurried to her side. Carefully Neville helped her back up into a sitting position. She was panting and each breath she took hurt. She was desperate to take fewer breaths to stop the pain. She wanted to take long deep ones but it was far too painful to draw from the lower reaches of her diaphragm, so she was forced to settle for a series of painful short sharp breaths instead. She could also feel the blood pouring down from her nose at an alarming rate. Her head was spinning but she was only dully aware of that and a dull throbbing pain as she watched as the Death Eaters took Luna. "No!" Neville called as he got to his own feet. "Step back, Longbottom, or I take Weasley, too." The lead Death Eater raised his wand and pointed it directly at Ginny. Neville glanced between his two friends. His face was torn, pained. He clearly wanted to help both of them, but that was impossible. He did not know what to do, but something must have clicked. If he stepped back he was not going to lose both of them, but it would mean giving in to Death Eaters and letting them take Luna. He felt something that was far worse than the physical pain that Ginny was currently feeling; it was guilt. He looked at Luna for a final time, meeting her eyes and holding her gaze before he ever so slowly backed away. "Neville, I am positive that everything will work out well." Luna's voice showed none of the tension in the room. "Hogwarts needs you, both of you." "Luna!" Ginny called through her blood-smeared lips. "You can't." "I'm perfectly fine, Ginny," Luna said in a conversational fashion as if she was doing nothing other than discussing the weather even as she was being pulled out of the train car. "You really should listen to Lovegood, she's going to be just fine." Their wands were thrown back at them before the door slammed shut. "Neville," Ginny whispered as she made her way back to the wall for support. Even if she hadn't been in so much pain she doubted that she would be able to stand right now anyway. She needed something, probably someone, to hold onto. Her voice sounded like a strangled cry when she had enough breath to finally talk again. "Luna." "I know," he said softly, almost defeated. "But we'll get her back, I promise. Whatever it takes, we're going to get her back." Silence filled what seemed to be an eternity although it was probably not even a single minute. Tears streamed down her face and she had no desire to stop them, even as they ran in tracks down from her cheeks. Whether they were from the throbbing pain in her stomach or over what had just happened, she wasn't sure. She didn't care. She didn't even take time to clean the blood that was now dripping down her face. She had failed. She had let them take Luna. How could she explain this? How could she cope without Luna? How much must she keep losing? Her head was in a daze as the door opened again. She became aware that Neville was talking to someone. It was obviously someone who was on their side as he appeared to be explaining what had just happened. Not that she could even bring herself to feel any relief that the Death Eaters hadn't returned; part of her wanted them back, wanted them to take her as well. She couldn't keep losing things. Maybe it would just be easier to lose herself, to go down fighting instead of barely making it through the fight, nursing heartbreaking injuries. Hannah Abbot made her way over. "Ginny?" she whispered. "Can we look at your nose? I think I can clean it up." With the help of the Patil twins, Hannah fixed all of her physical injuries within minutes. It was just a shame that the other scars could not be fixed so easily. That guilt was already eating away from her, and was going to stay for a long time. Neville held court with the other sixth and seventh years who had crammed into the small compartment but Ginny just pulled herself up to a seat. Barely listening to the D.A.'s plans and questions, she stared aimlessly out of the window, watching the countryside blend together as it hurried past. She just stared, even as it started to rain and the water washed down the windows, just like the tracks of tears on her own face. There was nothing she could do now. Before Ginny knew it the train was slowing again; she couldn't help the panic filling her body again. She didn't like the idea of the train stopping again. Her heart pounded and her whole body shook. "It's King's Cross, Ginny," Neville said as he looked out the window to confirm their location. "King's Cross," she repeated dully. "Yeah, time to go; grab your trunk." Neville spoke softly but in a powerful tone. "I don't think it would be a good idea to hang around long." "Yeah, good thinking," Ginny muttered as she reached for her own trunk. Things on the wizarding side of the station were chaos. People were now very aware of what had happened to Luna and apart from a select few there was panic. What if there were Death Eaters here too? If they could take one student then they could take others too. There was a desperate rush for the barriers and more than a couple of people fell as from the tiny first years to the off age seventh years, students were desperate to see their friends and family without delay. Ginny pushed her way through the barrier that led out to the Muggle section of King's Cross Station. She pulled her trunk behind her as she scanned the platform. She caught a glimpse of bright red and the tears she had been holding back started to escape her eyes. There standing next to Neville's grandmother was her mum. She felt her hands dropping her trunk without even thinking about it as she broke into a run. A run that was only broken as she reached her mum's arms. The salty tears that had started to trace their way down her face streamed uncontrollably as she buried her face. Molly gently stroked her daughter's hair as Ginny let her tears fall, not caring where she was or who was watching her. Molly made soft noises as she slowly waited for her daughter's tears to ease. "Ginny?" Worry was etched into each line on her mother's face and very clear in her voice was panic. "What's happened?" "They, they, they…" Ginny tried to speak through her tears, "took," she managed before burying herself back in her mother's arms. "Neville?" Molly questioned, as she studied her daughter's appearance. Ginny was dully aware that blood still coated her clothes and some part of her knew that would not help with her mother's worry but she could deal with the aftermath of that later after they got back to The Burrow. Right now she felt lost, alone and hurt. Right now all she wanted was to be held and told everything was going to be okay. Right now, whether she protested that she was grown up or not, all she wanted was her mum. "They took Luna," Neville said softly as he dropped both his and Ginny's trunks. "The Death Eaters came on the train and took her." "And we couldn't stop them." Ginny used her arm to wipe her tears from her eyes as she broke the protective hold so she could look her mother in the eyes. She needed more than words to explain this. "We tried, we did try, Mum." "I know you did," Molly kept a tight hold of Ginny as if she could keep the Death Eaters away from her child that way. "I know you did." "My Luna," Xenophilius Lovegood said, catching hold of the conversation and coming over to them as quickly as if he had been summoned by their words or even expecting to hear them. "They took my Luna." "I'm so sorry, sir, we tried," Neville insisted in a thick voice that was ringing with emotion. "I have to go," Xenophilius replied promptly as if the words had not yet sunk in and continuing with everyday life would stop the truth from becoming reality, "lots of consulting to do." "Xenophilius, if we can..." Molly started as she grabbed Ginny back into a hug and held her tighter. She was not going to let her go any time soon. "I have to go," he mumbled, whipping his cloak behind him. "Mum, we did try," Ginny insisted again as she turned to watch Luna's father. It was so important that they understood--that they knew they had not given in to Death Eaters. "We tried." "I know, I know you did," Molly said again as she looked up and down the station, and Ginny felt her mother tighten her grip on her shoulder. She was nervous. "Now let's get you home." Ginny found herself nodding. "See you later, Neville." "See you soon, Ginny," Neville tried to smile, "And Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas," she said dryly. She headed back to The Burrow and managed to evade her mother's questions. Thankfully, Molly didn't push the issue and let her disappear upstairs to her room. She was sure that this wouldn't last long but at the moment she was just grateful for what she had. No doubt the questions would come soon enough. She let herself sink into her bed and stare at the ceiling while awaiting the call from downstairs. When it came she quietly made her way down to dinner and a huge plate of food that was laid at her place. "I want you to eat every bit," Molly said in a tone that Ginny knew from experience was pointless to argue with, "you've lost far too much weigh." Ginny just nodded as she poked a couple of carrots onto her fork. The plate was huge; the vegetables alone would be enough for two people, without the large portion of chicken. This dinner was more than worthy of a Ron sized Christmas dinner. Ginny continued to look at the mass of food knowing, as if more evidence was needed, that this was a clear sign her mum was worried. Molly fixed her daughter with a glare. "How are you, Ginny dear?" "Fine," she caught her mother's look before looking back down at her plate, Molly Weasley was not going to swallow her daughter's 'I'm fine' response. She was going to need to tell at least a little of what was going on. "I'm a little tired, more than a little tired, I've not been sleeping too well and I guess that's making me a bit overly emotional, but I'm fine, Mum, I swear." "After dinner, I want you to get a lie down," Molly instructed. "Okay, Mum." "And you eat it all," Molly said studying her daughter, frowning. Maybe she would have been much happier if Ginny had pushed the fight. She knew that her mum was not used to seeing her headstrong daughter give in so easily. "Okay, Mum." "And then after your rest, we'll talk," Molly pressed her advantage. "Okay, Mum." After she had eaten the minimum amount that her mum would let her get away with, she headed straight back up to her room. She was tempted to give in and let her body sink into her bed and just relax, but she knew far too well there was no way that her mind would relax. It was still spinning too much. Pulling ink, quill and parchment out of her bag, she went to her desk. Dear Harry, Merry Christmas. It felt strange, not to write to you and wish you Merry Christmas. It will be even stranger not to have you here. I mean you've been with us all for Christmas for so long, you know you're the honorary Weasley here. Not that I think its going to be the real Weasley Christmas. Things are so different this year. It would nice to have one thing that you could hold onto in this chaos but nothing is the same now. And maybe that's right too. I guess other than wishing you Merry Christmas, is the big news that they took Luna. And I let them. I was big headed enough to think it was me they wanted but it was Luna. The Death Eaters just took her. We've no idea what is going to happen to her, I dread to think about that. And selfishly I don't know how I'm going to manage without her. She keeps me sane, stops me from really losing it. Why are they taking everyone I care about away from me? You can't keep throwing things at me and expecting me to cope. Damn! Don't I deserve one thing, one person to come through for me? So you better damn well come back, there's only so much a girl can cope with. So after you defeat him, you get your arse straight back here. Okay? Other than that everyone else is okay, if not a little worn out. Give my love to Ron and Hermione, and wish them Merry Christmas for me. Hope it won't be as cold for you as it looks to be here, Love, Before the ink had even dried on the parchment, she used her wand to set it on fire. Carefully she carried the flaming parchment to the window, letting go only as the fire got painfully close to her hand. And with that her hopes were washed away with the ashes and out the window. The same could not be said for her guilt, helplessness and pain which settled with her even as she rested onto her bed. Ginny waited until the dead of night and well after she had heard the squeaky stair sound that gave the clue that her parents had finally headed upstairs to bed. Only then and when she was positive that it was safe, did she head down to the living room. Carefully, attempting to make no noise, she crossed the room and turned on the side light next to the Christmas tree. She briefly looked around the room; even the decorations showed that Christmas was not going to be the same this year. Just like everywhere else, The Burrow did not look or feel the same. Swiftly she opened the small alcohol cabinet and pulled out almost a full bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. Her eyes were transfixed on the liquid as she poured some into one of the smaller glasses. Without too much thought, only hoping that it would dull her pain, she placed it too her lips. A burning feeling touched her lips before the warm liquid filled her stomach giving her an odd feeling of satisfaction. Barely waiting for the shot to settle she poured herself another. "Well, well, well." A voice drifted out of the dark kitchen making Ginny jump. Her heart was pounding so fast against her chest it could be beating for several people, her body had tensed up and her hand had shot to her wand. Under age or not, she didn't care about the trace and what the current Ministry would do should she be found out, she would not be left defenceless. Her eyes narrowed on the door that joined the two rooms as she tried to make out who it could be. As the red-haired man came into sharper focus she felt her body relax and lowered her wand. She wasn't going to get another Ministry letter for hexing her brother, it wasn't worth it and it may make her mum finally lose it. Especially when she was sure that she could think of some way to get her own back on them for surprising her life that and scaring her out her skin without magic, if she needed to. "Merlin, Fred, what on earth are you playing at?" she hissed in dangerously low tones. "You keep this up and you're going to give me a heart attack." She continued to glare at him as she studied her older brother's appearance. "Where were you anyway? It's gone two." "Just down at the pub," Fred replied with a slight shrug as he took two glasses out of the cabinet and called back to the kitchen, "Hey, George, get in here." "Hang on, I'm just putting the charms back up," George's voice drifted in. "Well hurry up, I wouldn't want you to miss this." Fred's voice was full of delight as he Accioed the Firewhisky bottle and Ginny's empty glass. "What is it?" George asked as he made his way into the room. "Our underage, baby, little sister." Ginny glared at him and considered raising her wand again as Fred poured a glass of Firewhisky. She may be underage but she was neither a baby or little. "Mum's delicate little angel…" She rankled at these words as Fred gave a full glass to his brother, "getting herself drunk." "That's really bad form, Ginny," George said as he took the drink. "My words exactly, dear brother." Fred grinned at his brother as he poured another glassful. "Oh, please," Ginny choked, fighting back a laugh, "it's not like the pair of you reached seventeen without touching a drop of alcohol. I remember the Firewhisky being drunk in the Gryffindor common room on more than one occasion and that's without mentioning those times Bill and Charlie used to take the pair of you out." "Oh, Ginny," Fred started, "still so young." "Innocent." "Naive." "Pure." "Simple." "Get to your point sooner," she hissed. Today she was not in the mood for their jokes, especially since she had finally started to enjoy wallowing in her self pity. "If we are going to get the blame off mum for corrupting you…" Fred smiled at his brother. "Then the very least we deserve," George continued, "is to join you in drinking in the first place." "There's enough to go around," Fred handed back her refilled glass. "Anything else is just bad form." "Oh definitely poor form," Fred's grin had grown as he drank some of his own firewhisky. "And we've raised you better than that." "Much better." "Anyway, I'm glad you're up," Fred's tone had changed and become much more serious. "We wanted to talk to you." "About?" Ginny had dropped her smile instantly; it was so rare that she had heard Fred speak so seriously. "Well, you know Angelina's brother and his fiancée died, right?" Ginny just nodded and felt a jolt of pain hit her heart. Just as when she had heard the news about Angelina's brother, she could not help the feelings of guilt. Angelina was living through one of Ginny's own nightmares and as bad as it was she couldn't help thanking God it was not her going through it. "Well, Angelina asked me to go to the joint funeral, you know, for support. And the thing was that Sara's younger brother was there, Andrew. I think he's about your age. I'm pretty sure he said he was a sixth year. Anyway, that got me to thinking about you and all your antics at school and the fact that you're almost at Death Eater Central." Ginny gulped trying to push all the guilty feelings that had resurfaced into the pit of her stomach. "They're not going to hurt a pure-blood that much; they don't want to spill too much of our blood." "And before that funeral I'd have agreed with you, but they were both pure-blood." Fred's face looked grave, "I couldn't bear to go to your funeral, and you know it would rip the whole family apart. Dad would never be the same again, and I dread to think what Mum would be like." "You're worth too much to all of us," George continued. "We know things must be rough at school." Fred raised his arm to stop her. "We don't doubt it and we're more than willing to spring you from there if you want." "And we're not staying we would have done things differently," George smiled. "Hell, you've made us so proud." "The sword incident was inspired," Fred smiled. "The Quidditch fireworks were a stroke of pure genius." "And each time you stand up to those Death Eaters you do the Weasley name proud and we have openly admitted that you're our sister." Ginny found herself returning his smile. "But this isn't like standing up to Umbridge." "You're telling me," Ginny muttered. "And it's not like you're not capable; you're more than capable. You can be pretty damn scary at times, it's really impressive." Fred took another sip, "I'll be happy to fight by your side whether you're underage or not but until then it's not worth the risk. It's not worth you becoming so battered. So I guess, and I never thought that I'd be the one to say this, that it's safety first. You've got to promise us to be more careful. Okay?" "Okay," she whispered so quietly they could barely hear her words. "Thank you." Silence fell on the room as Ginny let her older brother pull her into a hug that lasted for what felt like several minutes although it was probably just a few seconds before they broke apart, both of their faces turning a bright red that matched their hair. George smiled breaking the silence, "Well, now that's agreed, let's finish that bottle."
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