Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Phoenix Ashes
Chapter Three: Ginny
Ginny Weasley is going to go mad, she can swear it. Every since she awoke that morning, she has been going out of her mind with fear and worry, which is just the tip of the iceberg. She can't keep her focus and her schoolwork is shoddy. Everyone at Hogwarts knows what an overactive imagination Ginny has, so they've been avoiding her, which seems make her imagination worse because now she can't talk to anyone, and there is no one to reassure her that things can't possibly be as bad as she thinks they are, which makes Ginny worry more. The worst part, however, is that Hermione promised not to leave Ginny alone. She promised me that she was not going to go into the Phoenix Games' arena, promised that she was going to stay. Now Hermione will play the Games with no skills, while everyone else knows how to use all sorts of weapons, and Ginny just knows that she will get killed horrifically by a Slytherin who likes to take her time and play around by making little cuts and letting her victim run away from her several times before finally finishing Hermione off by stabbing her in the throat.
See, there was that overactive imagination again.
Yet Ginny was sure that Hermione would be intelligent enough to avoid the other contestants until the Final Six. Then she'll probably get taken out by a Killing Curse, but only after several rounds of the Cruciatus or something worse, because Hermione just does not have the instincts that would alert her to the presence of others like Ginny does. Or Harry. Hermione is rather clumsy, really. Not, of course, as much as Tonks-- she was a right menace to herself-- but honestly, who gives themselves a black eye on accident? It had happened because of one of Fred and George's invention prototypes, sure, but that should have given her warning enough. Ginny does not know how Hermione will survive without her.
Ginny would feel better if she were the one going into the arena, not Hermione.
--- x ---
The school has been noticeably silent in the last two days. It happened the last couple of times students were removed from their beds. It's as if everyone had been hit with a Stunning Hex or a Silencing Charm. The teachers seem to hold a particular joy in it all. Ginny thinks it would be scarier if they pretended things were normal.
Thankfully Harry isn't avoiding her. If anything, he is more concerned than Ginny is, albeit less paranoid. Every time Ginny shares one of her Hermione-tortured-slowly-by-a-Slytherin rants, Harry holds her for a long moment.
"We won't just let this happen, Ginny," he tells her softly one night. They sit in the Gryffindor common room after hours in front of a dying fire, talking in hushed tones. "They won't do this again next year. I promise--"
"Please, don't" Ginny interrupts him, pulling away so that she can look in his eyes. "Don't make promises if you don't know that you can keep them."
"You didn't let me finish. I promise that if I'm still alive, they will not do this again. The Phoenix Games will not exist. They can't keep doing this."
"Harry, what do you mean?"
"I mean, that I am going to stop them." Ginny shakes her head, not believing what he is telling her. Stop the Phoenix Games, she wondered. The adults couldn't even defeat You-Know-Who, how was Harry going to stop the Games?
"How so you plan on doing that?" she asks, both scared and intrigued. It's Harry's turn to shake his head.
"Not yet, Ginny, I'm still figuring things out. I don't want you involved yet. If I get into trouble for it I'm going down by myself."
"But Harry--"
"No, Ginny, not yet. You and I are the only ones with enough courage right now to change things. I'm not willing to risk both of us in trouble just so I can get help." They watch one another for a minute, he unwavering and she attempting to dissuade him. It's two of Harry's most endearing and frustrating qualities: his heroism and stubbornness. Ginny admires him for his ability to repeatedly sacrifice himself in place of others, but she also feels like he thinks he deserves to die in doing so, since so many have died to save him.
Sighing, Ginny turns away, looking into the glowing embers. "Fine. But you have to make me one more promise." Harry frowns at her, already not liking this deal.
"Depends on what it is," he says suspiciously.
"You're a smart man," Says Ginny after a moment. With a sly grin, she turns back to face him. "So find a way to get your plans to me if something happens to you."
"Ginny..."
"Don't you 'Ginny' me like that. You said it yourself, we're the only ones. So write your notes so that we're the only ones who'll understand them-- if you keep notes-- and get them to me if you become compromised."
"Ginny, are you sure?"
Ginny holds his gaze with a fierceness she has never felt before, and says with no hesitation, "Harry, I've never been more sure about anything in my life."
Ginny Weasley is going to go mad, she can swear it. Every since she awoke that morning, she has been going out of her mind with fear and worry, which is just the tip of the iceberg. She can't keep her focus and her schoolwork is shoddy. Everyone at Hogwarts knows what an overactive imagination Ginny has, so they've been avoiding her, which seems make her imagination worse because now she can't talk to anyone, and there is no one to reassure her that things can't possibly be as bad as she thinks they are, which makes Ginny worry more. The worst part, however, is that Hermione promised not to leave Ginny alone. She promised me that she was not going to go into the Phoenix Games' arena, promised that she was going to stay. Now Hermione will play the Games with no skills, while everyone else knows how to use all sorts of weapons, and Ginny just knows that she will get killed horrifically by a Slytherin who likes to take her time and play around by making little cuts and letting her victim run away from her several times before finally finishing Hermione off by stabbing her in the throat.
See, there was that overactive imagination again.
Yet Ginny was sure that Hermione would be intelligent enough to avoid the other contestants until the Final Six. Then she'll probably get taken out by a Killing Curse, but only after several rounds of the Cruciatus or something worse, because Hermione just does not have the instincts that would alert her to the presence of others like Ginny does. Or Harry. Hermione is rather clumsy, really. Not, of course, as much as Tonks-- she was a right menace to herself-- but honestly, who gives themselves a black eye on accident? It had happened because of one of Fred and George's invention prototypes, sure, but that should have given her warning enough. Ginny does not know how Hermione will survive without her.
Ginny would feel better if she were the one going into the arena, not Hermione.
--- x ---
The school has been noticeably silent in the last two days. It happened the last couple of times students were removed from their beds. It's as if everyone had been hit with a Stunning Hex or a Silencing Charm. The teachers seem to hold a particular joy in it all. Ginny thinks it would be scarier if they pretended things were normal.
Thankfully Harry isn't avoiding her. If anything, he is more concerned than Ginny is, albeit less paranoid. Every time Ginny shares one of her Hermione-tortured-slowly-by-a-Slytherin rants, Harry holds her for a long moment.
"We won't just let this happen, Ginny," he tells her softly one night. They sit in the Gryffindor common room after hours in front of a dying fire, talking in hushed tones. "They won't do this again next year. I promise--"
"Please, don't" Ginny interrupts him, pulling away so that she can look in his eyes. "Don't make promises if you don't know that you can keep them."
"You didn't let me finish. I promise that if I'm still alive, they will not do this again. The Phoenix Games will not exist. They can't keep doing this."
"Harry, what do you mean?"
"I mean, that I am going to stop them." Ginny shakes her head, not believing what he is telling her. Stop the Phoenix Games, she wondered. The adults couldn't even defeat You-Know-Who, how was Harry going to stop the Games?
"How so you plan on doing that?" she asks, both scared and intrigued. It's Harry's turn to shake his head.
"Not yet, Ginny, I'm still figuring things out. I don't want you involved yet. If I get into trouble for it I'm going down by myself."
"But Harry--"
"No, Ginny, not yet. You and I are the only ones with enough courage right now to change things. I'm not willing to risk both of us in trouble just so I can get help." They watch one another for a minute, he unwavering and she attempting to dissuade him. It's two of Harry's most endearing and frustrating qualities: his heroism and stubbornness. Ginny admires him for his ability to repeatedly sacrifice himself in place of others, but she also feels like he thinks he deserves to die in doing so, since so many have died to save him.
Sighing, Ginny turns away, looking into the glowing embers. "Fine. But you have to make me one more promise." Harry frowns at her, already not liking this deal.
"Depends on what it is," he says suspiciously.
"You're a smart man," Says Ginny after a moment. With a sly grin, she turns back to face him. "So find a way to get your plans to me if something happens to you."
"Ginny..."
"Don't you 'Ginny' me like that. You said it yourself, we're the only ones. So write your notes so that we're the only ones who'll understand them-- if you keep notes-- and get them to me if you become compromised."
"Ginny, are you sure?"
Ginny holds his gaze with a fierceness she has never felt before, and says with no hesitation, "Harry, I've never been more sure about anything in my life."
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