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Author: Cygnus Crux Story: Mind War Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 1 Words: 241,407
Heidi…Heidi! That bitch had obviously been working on Harry! And the spineless prat had fallen for her cheap charms too! Harry yelped as Ginny's palm connected with his cheek, and tumbled out of the bed. Ginny stormed out of the sleeping quarters and grabbed a fistful of Doc's uniform when she encountered him in the bridge. "Where is Heidi?" Doc's goblinesque eyes widened with fear, as he took in Ginny's maddened expression. "The lower deck…She went to the lower deck. What—?" Doc began, but Ginny didn't hear the rest of it, because she'd jumped onto the closest levitation disc. Ginny saw Heidi walk down the loading ramp. To her dismay, she noticed that Heidi too had cut her hair, in a very similar style to her own. She must have heard about Ginny's new style and decided to copy it in an attempt to seduce Harry again. That Austrian slut — that relationship wrecker! she thought, trembling with rage. Her mind was set on a single thought. Make the bitch pay, scratch her eyes out! Ginny leapt at Heidi with a roar, tackling her! It was the best she could do, since her dress was in the way. If that hadn't been the case, she would've attacked with a leaping kick. Heidi! So Potter was partial to redheads, was he? Well, soon Heidi wouldn't have any hair left on her head. The enraged Weasley grabbed a handful of Heidi's hair and yanked. Heidi shrieked in pain, twisted around and retaliated with a vicious slash of her perfectly manicured fingernails before she too grabbed a handful of Ginny's hair and pulled, causing them to roll down the ramp. Ginny was dimly aware of a voice shouting — "Cat fight!" — but she paid it no heed, instead choosing to put her own nails to work on Heidi's face. She'd show this slut whom Harry's heart belonged to, and then she'd go to Harry and rip it out of his chest! Just then, Heidi heaved and threw Ginny off, and Ginny landed painfully on her behind, a little beyond the ramp, knocking the wind out of her. That notwithstanding, she drew her legs under her and prepared to launch herself at Heidi once more. "What—" Heidi began, but Ginny's lunge forced her to dodge. She did so with more agility than Ginny would have expected from a pampered bitch. Her dress was hampering her movement too, so she ripped it along her legs to give her more freedom of movement, while Heidi was asking her what the hell was wrong with her. Of course, Ginny wouldn't dignify that with an answer. Instead, she drew her wand, and Heidi did the same. Now they would fight in earnest. "What the hell is going on here!" a voice thundered, cutting through marrow and bone, snapping Ginny out of her vengeful trance and causing her to freeze in place. "This is a disgrace, an outrage!" It was Wolfe, who was alternating his glare between her, Heidi, and the group of Rangers who'd begun cheering the girls on when the fighting started. "Why didn't you stop this?" he asked, fixing his glare on Matt Kelly, whose tanned skin drained of all colour in a second. Then Wolfe looked at Ginny and Heidi. "And you two! What in the bloody blazes did you think you were doing?" He fixed his gaze on Heidi. "Well? What happened?" "How should I know!" Heidi yelled, pushing a handkerchief against the gashes in her cheeks while she pocketed her wand. "She just attacked me! She's rabid…Look, she's foaming at the mouth!" "You used Harry's time with you to steal him from me!" Ginny screamed. "You even went so far as to cut your hair like I did. Draw your wand again and we'll settle this properly, you ten-Sickle whore!" "I don't know what you're talking about!" Heidi said indignantly. "Heidi…" Harry hurried down the ramp. "Oh, God…what happened to you? Are you okay?" Ginny's anger was replaced by grief. Harry hadn't even seen her. He'd walked straight up to Heidi, worried and concerned - Heidi Gravenstein and not Ginny Weasley. He had chosen Heidi! Tears blurred her vision. That was it, then. It was over! She whipped around and blindly ran towards a side chamber of the maintenance bay, away from Harry, away from her broken heart, away from rejection. She needed to get away. The Portkeys! She needed to get to the Portkeys in order to go away. She knew where they were kept - Gudrun had shown her how to charm them. She knocked two people aside as she stormed along the corridor. She took a flight of stairs down towards the vaults. The Portkeys were all kept in a storage room not to far from the vaults. She had clearance to use the less powerful Portkeys. She could make her journey in several legs. Ginny stopped and looked around, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Blinded by them, she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and walked into the vaults instead of the storage areas. But she'd never been in this part of the Citadel before. Not that these particular vaults had been off limits, but she just didn't have any business there. A lot of strange artefacts were kept there, most of which were considered harmless and devoid of any real value. She took a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down, forcing herself to think despite her hurt. It worked insofar as her anger slowly faded away, and she aimlessly wandered through the large room until a flash of red hair revealed another woman appearing in a doorway. Her anger returned with a vengeance as she recognised her. "What are you doing here, Heidi?" Ginny screamed. "Did you come to gloat?" Heidi didn't respond. She just glared at Ginny the same way Ginny glared at her, so Ginny started towards her, drawing her wand and Heidi mirrored the move, literally. Ginny wiped the never ceasing stream of tears out of her eyes once again as she tried to clear her vision. It then dawned on Ginny that the doorway hadn't been a doorway, and that Heidi wasn't Heidi. It was a mirror image of her! The realisation hit her like a splash of freezing water. As far as looks were concerned, she and Heidi could have been sisters. Twins was a bit too extreme, but certainly sisters who resembled each other a lot. But where did that leave her with Harry? Why did Harry proclaim his love, only to do this to her? Why the sudden change of heart? "Ah, but is it so sudden?" a voice at the back of her mind asked. Suddenly Ginny remembered details from the dates that she and Harry had been on. Details that had slipped her mind entirely, because at the time she'd been too busy celebrating her reunion with Harry. But now she remembered them all, the awkward silences when they ran out of things to talk about, and the misunderstood cues. In their two years of separation, Harry had changed. They had been best friends in her fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts, and she had got to know all his likes and dislikes, his hopes and dreams. But things had changed since then. She remembered her wedding day, how Harry had shown up in his shining armour and saved the day, how he told her that he loved her. Ginny sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands. Maybe Harry had thought he had meant it, but there was no way of knowing for sure. Either way, it was now obvious that he didn't feel about her that way anymore. She had been outclassed. It had taken him a little over a month to forget about her. The attraction to his first girl had proven to be too big a challenge for their relationship. She stifled the sobs that tried to escape from her throat and wiped at the relentless torrent of tears. Her eyes widened as she saw another person in the mirror, and she turned to face him, only to see the cluttered room behind her. Again she looked into the mirror, and he was still there…Harry. He knelt down beside her, resting his hands on her shoulders — she could feel his phantom lips on her face as he kissed her on the cheek and mouthed the words that had brought her so much happiness at their reunion. But he wasn't really there; she couldn't really hear the words. The mirror had to be special somehow. She looked at the top of the mirror and read the inscription: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi. Ron had told her about encountering the mirror at Hogwarts in his first year. Dumbledore had kept the Philosopher's Stone safe by using this mirror. She remembered Hermione wondering what became of it. It had been in the Citadel of Illumination all along. Looking down into the mirror, she saw Harry's reflection, kneeling beside her, still talking to her, whispering the painful words in her ear. I love you. But her picture self was beaming with delight. Being loved by Harry…her deepest and most desperate desire. The fact that she was seeing this meant that she didn't have his love. He had never really told her that he loved her during their dates. He had always seemed a bit distant and reserved, but at the time she thought it had been her imagination. Had he been having second thoughts about them already? Had he noticed that she couldn't match Heidi's charm and sophistication? According to Hermione, Heidi had only been Harry's immature attempt at replacement. But when Ginny had tried to touch on the subject during one of their dates, Harry's answers had been very evasive. Maybe he had decided that he liked the replacement better. And in the mirror, Harry continued to run his fingers through her red hair…her red hair! That hateful red hair that fascinated him so much. She surged to her feet and grabbed a dusty old crystal ball that was lying nearby. She threw the heavy object into the mirror, which shattered into hundreds of shards. She sat down, picked one of those razor sharp shards up and used it to begin slicing away locks of her hair. Her trembling hands were making the task all but impossible, and she cut into her fingers on several occasions. The shard also slipped a few times, which made it scrape off hair at the scalp, leaving behind dully-throbbing gashes. Then Ginny threw the elongated shard down in favour of a larger, square piece of the mirror, to admire her handiwork. She looked like death, with red and swollen eyes and some tufts of hair sticking out of her scalp. Blood from one of the cuts in her scalp came running down the side of her face. "Ginny, what's wrong?" The clattering of footsteps on the stone floor heralded her brother's arrival. "We've been looking all over for you. Why did you come in here? Ginny, good Lord what happened to your face? What happened to your hair? Why are you crying?" Ron asked, dropping to his knees beside her. "Did you crash into the mirror?" Ginny looked into her brother's worried eyes, unable to put her thoughts into words. Harry didn't love her. He loved Heidi. But she couldn't even begin to utter words, much less form sentences. Instead, she just sobbed into Ron's chest. * Not knowing what else to do, Ron just held his baby sister as questions swarmed through his head. He was terrified by the look of intense sadness in her eyes. Her eyes had seemed dull and empty. He'd only seen that look a few times before, at their father's and brother Fred's deaths. It was as if she'd lost someone. Then there was her hair, most of it lying on the floor around her, as if the hairdresser's apprentice from hell had been allowed to have a go at her. Ron's heart ceased beating when that thought crossed his mind. Harry! "Ginny, is it Harry? Has something happened to him? What's happened to him?" Only Harry could drive his sister to do something like this. "Ron? What's wrong with Ginny?" Hermione asked, coming up behind him. "Oh my God…Ginny!" she gasped, planting herself next to Ron and Ginny and immediately beginning to look at Ginny's wounds. "I don't know!" Ron said helplessly, as his girlfriend checked his sister. "Where's Harry?" "Disembarking from the Cruiser, I imagine," Hermione answered. "Why? Should I go get him?" "So he's okay!" Ron said, relieved. "Why would anything be wrong? If something had happened to him, we would've heard about it much sooner." "Harry…He doesn't…Harry and Heidi!" Ginny wailed. "Ginny, what are you babbling about? What about Harry and Heidi…" Something clicked in his mind. Harry and Heidi…together? That wasn't possible. Harry loved Ginny…Or had Ginny caught them red-handed after she'd hurried onto the Cruiser after he and Hermione had walked into the corridor for a snog? "Ginny!" Ron began seriously. "What happened?" Ginny stammered out parts of sentences between gasping breaths. "I…He called…I kissed h-him…And h-he smiled and c-called me Heidi…" She began to cry uncontrollably again. "Oh, dear!" Hermione mumbled behind him. A surprising coolness swept over Ron, and he guided his distraught sister to Hermione. "Hold her. I'm going to have a little chat with Harry!" He knew Harry was too powerful to hurt, but Ron was sure going to give it his best shot. Harry had hurt his baby sister…He had led her on for years before crushing her heart, and she obviously mutilated herself out of grief. He was going to pay for that. He was dimly aware of Hermione's protests as he stomped through the corridor, back towards the hangar and maintenance bay. Harry saved him the trouble of walking all the way back, because that no good playboy had the nerve to show his face. And that bitch, Heidi, was right beside him. Wolfe and Matt Kelly hovered a few paces behind them, but Ron didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, he swung at Harry with all his might. Harry ducked and Ron's fist connected with Heidi's face instead, putting her lights out. This startled Ron, for even though he was mad at her too, he could never hit a woman, except for Millicent Bulstrode maybe, but she didn't look like one. "Ron, I don't know what got into Ginny, and I don't know what she told you, but she's mistaken!" Harry said quickly, using Ron's brief hesitation after hitting Heidi by accident. "Tell that to my fist! Do you know what Ginny's done to herself because of you? Do you?" Ron growled, as he prepared to take a swing at Harry again. "Ranger Weasley!" Wolfe roared, causing Ron to freeze in mid-motion. "I can only read your surface thoughts, so I don't know exactly what your sister told you. But I'm guessing she thinks that Harry cheated on her with Heidi?" "It's true!" Ron growled. "Why else would he call her Heidi after she kissed him? It's obvious that he and Heidi have been…" "That's plainly not possible," Wolfe interrupted. "Harry didn't spend enough time with Heidi to do such a thing, and if he had, I would have noticed and kicked his butt myself." He looked at Harry. "Why did you call her Heidi, though?" "Well, I thought it was Heidi," Harry explained. "She was supposed to wake me up upon arrival. She had Heidi's haircut, and she smelled like Heidi too." Harry frowned. "I reckon they use the same bath foam." Ron was not convinced. "Yeah, but Ginny said you smiled when you said Heidi. Why would Heidi be kissing you? And why would you know Heidi's scent like that?" Harry blushed. "The lips were familiar and they felt nice, so yeah, I-I smiled. And…Well, Heidi and I used to be…She was my first, after all. You never really forget your first, Ron. You wouldn't know that, since the only woman you've ever been with is Hermione." Ron glanced at Wolfe. "Is that true?" Wolfe shrugged. "How should I know? I've only ever been with one woman too." "Not that. I mean if he's telling the truth. You're a Mind Reader!" "Oh, yeah. He was telling the truth." Wolfe nodded. "And even if I hadn't been a Mind Reader, like I said, Harry spent most of his time with me on our mission. He never had the time." "And that bit about someone's first is also true," Matt Kelly, who was bending over Heidi's unconscious form, said. Ron felt his face heat up. "Oh, Harry…Sorry mate…I…" "You were just defending your little sister's honour." "Yeah, but I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions that quickly. You'd think that I would have learned something during my time here. I'm just as hot-headed as I used to be." "Not really," Wolfe said. "I can imagine what it must feel like. If your brother even hurts my sister by cheating on her, I'll break his neck! Same goes for you if you ever hurt Hermione." Ron swallowed away his discomfort. "Err, yeah." "Don't worry, man. I know you'll never hurt my adopted little sister! It was just a reminder. Oh, about your brother. When is he coming to Concordia?" Technically, Charlie would have had to wait for a whole year before being cleared to live in Concordia. But Commander Ironheart had pulled some strings to shorten the waiting period. "Late January. He's already found a job at the Concordian Magi-zoology Institute." "Good." Ron nodded and turned back to Harry. "You'll have to talk to Ginny now. But, I think I should warn you…she took it very hard. I think she's cut her hair with shards from a broken mirror. She cut her scalp…she's a mess Harry." Wolfe groaned. "Mirror? The only mirror in there in the Mirror of Erised. She trashed the Mirror of Erised?" "My sister's been cutting herself and you only care about that bloody mirror?" "You're right…Sorry." Wolfe frowned. "I reckon Ginny's terribly upset, right?" Harry blanched. "R-right…upset! I'd feel better if someone takes away her wand and takes care of all the sharp objects in there… like the mirror shards." Wolfe smirked. "Afraid that you'll meet Malfoy's fate?" "Will you come with me?" Harry asked Wolfe, looking at him hopefully. "No, you just have to be alert and take your chances with Ginny's temper. What kind of relationship would you have in the future, if you can't face her in times of conflict? Don't worry. You're the most powerful wizard in the world." "Yeah, but Ginny won't care about that," Ron pointed out. "I'd feel better if you were right outside. Ginny will be very hard to convince. But you're a Mind Reader, and she trusts you. Maybe she'll listen if you tell her." Wolfe frowned. "If she doesn't take Harry's word for it, their reconciliation won't be worth a damn. This is a matter of her trusting Harry, not me. But I'll wait right outside, if it'll make you feel better." Ron nodded gratefully, and waited for Harry to gather his courage. Then they made their way down the corridor, with Wolfe accompanying them. Matt had taken Heidi to the medical wing to be patched up. Ron was relieved to have Heidi out of the way for a while, since there was no telling how Ginny would react at the sight of her. They reached the storage room where Hermione and Ginny were, and he could hear Ginny's sobs and Hermione's comforting words. Harry glanced at Wolfe, who gave him an encouraging nod, and then at Ron, who wasn't quite as calm as Wolfe was. Maybe he should let Wolfe go in first to defuse the situation—no, Wolfe was right, Harry had to do this. Ron gave Harry a look that said that the moment was at hand. Harry cleared his throat before speaking. "Ginny?" The sobbing stopped, and Harry pushed the door open. * There he was, the traitor, the liar! "Ginny…Ginny, it was all a mistake!" Ginny heard Harry's words, but they sounded empty, like Cornelius Fudge's. "Heidi was supposed to wake me up, and I thought you were her!" "Don't lie to me, Harry," she said weakly. "Ginny, I'm not lying—" "Be quiet. Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked, her anger flaring up once again. "So you thought I was Heidi, did you? Why would Heidi kiss you in the first place?" Ginny said, barely holding her anger in check. "Just admit it. You still love Heidi." "That's not true!" The look on his face was so genuine. He was a much better liar than she'd thought. No wonder he'd managed to convince Ron. But Gudrun had often told her that men, delightful companions as they were, could not be trusted to be faithful. Now Ginny saw what her friend had meant. Gudrun had wanted to protect her from getting hurt all along. "Don't lie to me!" Ginny growled. "Heidi was on her way out of the Cruiser when I caught up with her! Didn't she have to wake you up first? Can't explain that, can you?" Harry opened and closed his mouth, unable to find an answer and confirming his guilt. "Of course not, because she wasn't supposed to wake you. You made that up." "Ginny—" Ron said, but Ginny's angry glance silenced him. "Don't you dare cover up for him! You men always cover for each other!" "Why would I do that? I'm your brother." "But you're also his best friend!" "Ginny, your happiness will always come first for me! Besides, Harry and Wolfe were out in the field too often for something to have happened between Harry and Heidi. Don't you think the others would have noticed?" "I'm not saying they…" — Ginny shivered at the thought — "but he certainly cheated on me! He only would have needed a couple of seconds." "Ginny!" Hermione said sternly. "Why won't you listen?" "You're taking his side now?" Ginny asked incredulously. How could Hermione do this to her? Hermione, of all people, should be able to see what was going on. "Ginny, you're being an ass, just like I used to be," Ron said, shaking his head. "Don't let your anger and jealousy blind you." "Blind me?" Ginny said sharply. "Things have never been more clear to me! Why can't you all see that?" "Ginny, that's not true," Harry said, straining his voice. The prat was trying to soften her with the sad look in his eyes. Well, she wouldn't be fooled this time. She glared at Harry. "If Heidi wants you, she can have you! I hope you two are very happy together!" "For the last time"—Harry's eyes flashed as an edge crept into his voice—"There's nothing going on between me and Heidi. You're being ridiculous!" "Ridiculous, am I?" "Yes, and crazy too! You're throwing a temper tantrum, just like a little girl! What did you do to your hair?" He shook his head. "Get cleaned up and we'll talk about this like adults. And you'd better have a good apology ready for Heidi." Ginny's lips began to quiver and she began to sob, her anger once again replaced by grief. She'd lost him for good. He clearly thought she was a little girl, but he obviously wanted a woman. "Apology for Heidi? She cut her hair just like mine, to seduce you…Ugh, I don't know why I'm even talking to you anymore." Good little Ginny had always listened — well no more! "Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!" she said, doing her best to inject as much venom as possible into her voice. Harry staggered back, as if he'd been physically struck by her words. He backed towards the door, but Wolfe, who must have been right outside, blocked him and pushed him back in. "You can't walk away from this—" His words got caught in his throat as Harry looked him in the eye. Then he took a few steps back, and brought a pair of trembling hands to his head. Blood began to drip out of his nose, and he collapsed. Then, like a zombie, Harry walked out of the room. "Wolfe!" Ron screamed, rushing over to the tall Ranger. Nosebleeds were a bad sign, and despite the pain she was feeling about having been replaced by Heidi, she jumped in to help Wolfe too. "Wolfe…look at me!" His dazed gaze met hers, and his eyes widened. He shoved her away and screamed at the top of his lungs. It was more of a mixture between a scream and a wail, really, and it made Ginny's skin crawl. Tears were gushing out of his eyes. It lasted for several minutes, Hermione and Ron frantically trying to calm him down. "Max? Please tell me what's wrong." "No more," Wolfe sobbed. "Great Maker, what pain!" "Where does it hurt?" "Ginny!" Wolfe sobbed. "I saw some memories." He looked up at Ginny. "I had no idea how much this hurt you. But Harry loves you, he wouldn't do this to you, I was with him! How can you think those things? Why can't you see that he loves you like no other? Wolfe took a deep breath to help him calm down. "He made an honest mistake when he called you Heidi. You both cut your hair in very similar styles, and he said you smelled the same. Believe me, I could mistake you for Heidi too, and I'm not just saying that." Ginny bit her lip and looked at the floor. He was right —all of them were right. Even she had mistaken herself for Heidi when tears had blurred her sight. And she'd taken a bath with Heidi's foam… "He'd never lie to you," Ron said. "What were you thinking, Ginny? This is Harry we're talking about. He's far from perfect, but betrayal isn't part of his vocabulary. Ginny, don't tell me you haven't noticed the look in his eyes every time you smile at him. Haven't you felt what happens when he kisses you?" "How could you do that to him?" Wolfe continued. "The first time you did that to him was worse than anything Voldemort had done to him. It nearly made him end his own life. How could you say that to him again? I've seen your thoughts too, and I know how powerful your feelings for him are. I know how love can turn into jealousy. But what you said to him… Get out of my sight…I never want to see you again!" The bottom dropped out of Ginny's stomach as Wolfe told her what her careless words had done to Harry. Why hadn't she just believed Harry? How could she have been such an insufferable bitch? Why hadn't her mother just strangled her in the cradle? She was worse than Malfoy! Why would anyone want to love her? "I have to go after him!" Ginny said, hoping with all her heart that she'd still be able to fix things with Harry. "Ginny, you can't go after him looking like that!" "I don't care!" Ginny said, her looks being the least of her concerns now. She ran out of the room, up the stairs and down the corridor, back towards the maintenance bay. She encountered a huge commotion when she arrived. Matt Kelly, Captain Yee, the Chief Artificer, and Tarana Oliseh, a Fourth Class Ranger Artificer from Nigeria, were standing at the edge of the huge passageway that lead to the outside, the one used by Cruisers to enter and exit the bay. They were looking down with stricken expressions on their faces. Ethan Johnson was shouting for a Medical Ranger and an emergency Portkey. Ginny made her way up the shallow incline that led to the edge, but Matt Kelly spotted her and stopped her. "Ginny…what happened to you?" he asked, taking in her horrible looking head. "Ginny, you'd better not—" "What's going on?" she demanded. Matt seemed extremely alarmed too, and he was looking very pale. "Harry came in here…Told Ethan something about getting fresh air. He didn't look too good, he looked like he was going to be sick…He looked angry and upset." Matt swallowed. "But the Zephyrus was just taking off for a shakedown cruise. Harry wasn't paying attention, it clipped him on the way out! He fell down. We don't know if he's alive…" * The shriek that came echoing into the stockroom would have put a banshee to shame. It was ear-splitting and made Hermione's blood run cold. "What's that?" Max asked, slowly getting up. It couldn't have been an easy task, since his knees were still shaking. "I don't know, but I reckon we ought to find out," Ron said, lifting Max's arm and sliding his shoulder under it to support him. Max tried to get loose as he protested. "I can stand on my own." "I don't think so, Max." The pale coloration of his face told Hermione that he was far from okay. "If you don't stop struggling, I'll stun you and levitate you." Max ceased his efforts, and they slowly made their way towards the large maintenance and hangar bay with Ron supporting him. "Damn, Wolfe, you weigh a bloody tonne," Ron muttered. "We should've stunned you and levitated you." "Quit complaining, sissy. I only weigh two hundred and ten pounds. You ought to try and carry Nathan Kelly, or his girl." Hermione smiled. Helga was quarter-giant and seven-foot-six. Not nearly as big as Madame Maxime, but still a lot of woman. "You're no featherweight either, Ron, so stop complaining." "Yeah, I would've carried you with little trouble if the situation were reversed." "You're not a normal person, Wolfe. What kind of a maniac trains under increased gravity?" Ron sighed. "I should kick your butt for that, but my headache won't let me," Max replied. "And I have too much on my mind to give you my undivided attention anyway. Hermione?" Hermione, who'd been leading, slowed down to allow Ron and Max to overtake her. "Yes?" "I'm worried about Ginny. I didn't know she was keeping so many things bottled up. It seems that she's just like Harry when it comes to that." "She didn't tell me anything. I wish she had — I would've set her straight immediately." "Well, it looks like we've persuaded her to give Harry the benefit of the doubt," Ron said. Wolfe nodded. "But you were right, Ron. I guess I should have gone in with you and Harry. I could have prevented that argument between Harry and Ginny, and a lot of grief. Funny, how the two of them can hurt each other that much." "Not really," Ron said. "After all, only those you love can truly hurt you, right? And Harry and Ginny love each other very much, even if they're both bloody bonkers!" Wolfe and Hermione looked at each other — then at Ron. "When did you turn into Doctor Love?" Wolfe asked. "Just common sense," Ron blushed. "Anyway, maybe you should've come in with us, but maybe it wouldn't have helped either. No use talking about it now, though." "Hold on, what are you two talking about?" Ron told Hermione about his theory that Ginny would have believed Wolfe more quickly than she believed Harry, because of Wolfe's gift. "I think it would have made a difference," Wolfe said. "But I didn't want to do it because it wouldn't have done anything for their relationship in the long run. In retrospect, I should have—" "Hindsight is always twenty-twenty," Ron and Hermione said in unison. This prompted a smile from Max. "You two share a home and a brain?" Hermione felt her face heat up. "I'd rather refer to it as great minds thinking alike." "I guess," Wolfe said. "If so, can the great minds answer me this question?" "Ask away," Hermione said. "Well, I was just coming into the bay on the far side when Heidi and Ginny were fighting, and I saw them rolling on the ground. I don't get it…They've both been taught to fight properly, yet they were fighting like, well, girls…Scratching and pulling hair." "Good one!" Ron nodded, and smirked at Hermione. "Well?" Hermione shrugged. "When men enter the equation of our lives, we women sometimes turn into complete idiots over those men. Of course, as you boys know, the reverse is also true for men fighting over women." They finally reached the cavernous bay and encountered the consternation. Matt Kelly was restraining a wailing Ginny with great difficulty, while she tried to in the direction of the Cruiser gate. Hermione noticed a bunch of people standing at the edge of the Cruiser gate. Captain Yee and Tarana Oliseh, both Artificer Rangers, Ethan Johnson from Intel Field Ops, Commander Nomvete, and Heidi, who was kneeling and trying her best not to faint on the spot. Suddenly, that all-too-familiar feeling of dread took over her insides. Ron released Max and ran over to his sister. "Ginny?" Hermione's legs carried her to the edge of the ramp, where the other Rangers were looking down. She stood next to Commander Nomvete and looked down too. Two hundred and fifty feet down, she saw a grounded Cruiser. Lieutenant Montoya pulled a sheet over something. The sheet was rapidly staining with blood. Cirilo Roverano, also an Artificer Ranger, was sitting on a rock, hands covering his face, his shaking shoulders suggesting that he was crying. Montoya looked up and shook his head. A collective gasp escaped from the throats of the gathered Rangers, and Heidi whimpered, "Nein, das ist nicht möglich…Harry!" Hermione didn't have to understand German to put the facts together. "Haaaryyyy!" she screamed. This couldn't be happening. How could this have happened? Did he jump off? A hand settled on her shoulder. "I am sorry!" Hermione looked into Commander Nomvete's wrinkly face. "Did he jump?" "It-it was an accident," another person said. Ethan Johnson was sitting on the ramp, with his legs drawn up and his arm encircling them. "I'm not sure…He came out of the storage corridor and said something about having to get some fresh air. But the Zephyrus was just taking off…I saw Cirilo try to evade Harry, but the tip of the wing still hit his shoulder. He just fell…" Johnson's throat seized up. "Johnson called us first, and then he called for help," Captain Yee said, picking up where Johnson had stopped. "Eduardo got here two minutes ago. I'm sorry for your loss…I-" "He can't be dead!" Hermione screamed. "Harry can survive much worse things that that! He got smashed by a huge rock and he survived…He's still alive…Get Ginny down there, she'll bring him back! Please, you have to listen…" "I know about the fight with the Speculum Demon, and how Ginny brought him back from the brink," Nomvete said sadly. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid it is too late now. Harry is already dead." "That can't be true. He's a wizard. He should have bounced…he could have cast a levitation charm. He…This can't be true. He was too powerful to die like this. He can't be dead, his magic would have saved him…" "Unless…Unless he didn't want to live." Hermione whipped around and looked into Wolfe's dark eyes. "Don't talk like that. Harry can't…H-he just can't be dead." She clenched her fists. He couldn't have died… Not like this! "A wizard's magic will only save him if the wizard wants to live. You know that, Hermione! Ginny's words crushed him…" Ron, who had been standing next to Wolfe, whipped around and stomped back to his crying sister. "Are you happy now!" he screamed. "You killed him! This is all your fault—" "Ron, that's not true…you're not helping!" Wolfe said, as he walked over to Ron and laid a hand on his shoulder. But Ron just shrugged off Wolfe's hand. "You drove him to his death, Ginny." The Rangers turned to watch his tirade. "You did what the darkest wizards failed to do. Your jealousy killed him! Is that what you wanted? Is it?" Ginny was sitting on the floor, her eyes devoid of all emotion, with no indication that he had heard any of it. She just sat there, drawing shuddering breaths. "Ginny…No!" Wolfe groaned, clutching his head once more. "He didn't mean it...Don't! The meaning of his words became clear moments later, as Ginny shot up and began to sprint towards the gate. She jumped.
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