All Harry Potter Characters don't belong to me.
The Source - Chapter Forty
"Speaking"
<Thinking>
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Ginny woke up with her head lying in the crook of Draco's shoulder. She opened her eyes and was immediately met with silver grey ones as Draco was propped up on his elbow and just looking at her sleeping.
"Good morning," Ginny said and sat up to stretch.
"Good morning," Draco said and also sat up.
The two should have had hangovers with the amount of wine they drank last night, but a quick spell fixed that. There was silence as the two just sat on the bed. Both Ginny and Draco were still wearing their uniforms but they were a bit rumpled. Nothing had happened last night but some awkwardness was still there.
Draco made the first move by taking Ginny's hand in his. Their eyes met and he felt very nervous. He was going to tell her.
"Ginny," he started, "I want to tell you something."
Ginny swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew what he was going to say. She had secretly heard him say it uncertainly last night but she was sure he was going to say it very certainly right now and she didn't know what to do if he did.
"I've never said this to anyone before," Draco continued, "and I don't think I've felt this way about anyone before either, so I'm not quite sure about it myself."
Ginny couldn't help smiling a bit. The great Draco Malfoy was blabbering, obvious signs that he was very nervous.
"But I just want you to know that *ahem* I…"
Draco couldn't continue after that because his room suddenly shook like there was an earthquake occurring. The bed shook once, paused, and then shook even harder.
Ginny gave a worried look to Draco before jumping off the bed. She ran to the portrait and opened it a crack. As soon as she opened it, screams filtered into the room. Draco immediately leapt off the bed and ran towards Ginny.
"What's happening out there?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ginny said, "but I think I should return to Gryffindor Tower."
Before Draco could say anything else Ginny was gone.
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Draco ran over to his desk and quickly grabbed his wand. By the time he was out of his room, he had lost Ginny in the crown of running and screaming students. Draco grabbed some random student and asked them what was going on.
"There are trolls running around the school smashing everything and anyone they see," The kid said before he ran off with the other students down, deeper into the dungeons.
Draco was able to push his way up to the normal level of the school and saw that there were three trolls smashing walls down with their batons.
Some of the teachers were dodging the trolls while trying to get the students to safer places in the school.
Draco could hear stomping on the upper and lower levels, concluding that there were more trolls roaming around.
Draco knew he needed to knock these trolls out if there was any chance for the school to survive and also for him to find Ginny. So he pointed his wand at the baton that one of the trolls was holding.
'wingarium leviosa'
The baton was now controlled by Draco and he levitated the heavy object above the trolls head and then let it drop. The troll was stunned for a second then started to fall like a tree.
"You're using Ron's trick, Malfoy," Said a voice.
Draco turned his head and saw Harry controlling a baton of another troll then letting it drop so that the troll was hit on the head and fell down.
The two boys were walking towards each other while looking around to see where they should go next.
"Weasley's trick was dumb luck, my action was pure talent," Draco said when Harry was close enough to hear.
Harry smiled and was about to say something when very loud screams came from their left. The two ran as fast as they could to find out where the screams were coming from.
It took a handful of seventh years and most of the staff the whole morning to get the trolls under control. Half the school was in ruins, but luckily no students were killed, only injured. Dumbledore had called the ministry in and the experts were now moving the trolls out of the school.
Draco, Hermione and all the prefects had organised the students to go back to their commons rooms, which luckily had not been abolished. By the end of the day, the school had settled down somewhat and was relatively clam again. The ministry had taken all the trolls away and promised to investigate the matter. They had also organised for people to come in and fix the broken school up as soon as possible. They also provided extra Medi Wizards and Witches to help with the injured students.
The Hospital Wing was swarming with moaning students. A lot of them had been injured from falling pieces of gravel and some had even fallen down the stairs trying to get away.
After Ginny had left Draco's room, she ran outside and found the trolls smashing the school. One of her fellow house mates were stuck under a piece of the ceiling and calling for help so Ginny went to save her. She took the girl to the hospital wing, where she found a lot of other injured students and that was where she had been all day.
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Meanwhile, up in Dumbledore's office sat many ministry officials along with Sirius, Remus, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.
There sat a ministry official from nearly every department that was involved when the war with Voldemort had occurred last year. There was a representative from the Aurors, defence against the dark arts, advanced spells and charms, Magical creatures, strategic defence and of course the Minster of Magic himself.
They were having an important meeting concerning the safety surrounding the school. It had been found that Deatheaters were behind today's problem and they had big plans concerning Hogwarts.
"We must evacuate the school," Fudge was saying. "The students must leave immediately."
"But doing that would only make the school more vulnerable," Said Mr. Whiteman (Ron's strategic defence teacher)
"But keeping them here could mean a possible death to all of them" Said a man from the Auror department.
"Extra charms and wards can be placed the protect them," Said Miss. Lichtenstein (Hermione's advanced spells and charms teacher)
"Hogwarts has always had special protection against Dark forces," Said the representative from the Dark Arts sector in the ministry. "I don't think students will be any safer at home anyhow."
There was a lot of discussion concerning whether or not students should be sent home, until a final argument made the decision for them, and it was Sirius who provided this information.
"Their main goal is to take over Hogwarts," he said. "An empty trunk is easier to steal that a full trunk. With lots of help from the ministry, we can protect the students and at the same time make it difficult for the enemy to invade the school."
People were nodding their heads in agreement.
"Very well," said Fudge. "The students will stay at Hogwarts then. I also grant you all the resources you need Dumbledore."
"Thank you Minister Fudge," Dumbledore said and shook the Minister's hand.
After the minister had gone, some people also left, leaving behind a few to discuss with Dumbledore their plans to defeat this new Dark Lord.
It was agreed that since Hogwarts was a main target, troops of Aurors would be ordered to surround the area around the school and the charms surrounding Hogwarts will also be made stronger. Another war was officially now on, against Voldemort's remaining Deatheaters and their new leader, who still remains anonymous.
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Draco couldn't hate being Head Boy any more than he did right now. All he wanted to do was to go find Ginny, see if she was alright, and if she was, to take her to a nice quiet place, sit her down, hold her hand, look into her beautiful eyes and just tell her. But no, he was Head Boy and so he had spent the whole day calming students down, running around ordering students to stay where they were and answering questions he didn't even know answers to.
But at last he found his chance. While he was in a heated discussion with Hermione about him not concentrating on his duties, a kid said he felt sick and wanted to go to the hospital wing. Draco saw the opportunity and jumped for it.
"I'll take you to the hospital wing then," he said quickly and dragged the kid away before Hermione could say anything.
When Draco reached the Hospital Wing, he handed the kid over to a Medi Witch, but instead of leaving he went around looking for Ginny. He didn't know for sure that she would be here, but he couldn't be sure that she wasn't hurt and may have needed medical attention. He would feel better if he just had a look.
All the beds in the Hospital Wing were occupied and extra's were conjured up and placed closely together because of the small space. There were also way too many Medi Witches here that a normal school needed, but this was normal considering what happened today and the amount of injured students there were.
"Just lie back down and I'll get you something for that cut, alright?"
Draco recognised the voice immediately and spun around to see Ginny covering a student up with a blanket. She was fine, she wasn't hurt and she was even treating other students. When Ginny straightened up, she saw Draco standing in the middle of the room and looking at her with the weariest face she had ever seen. Ginny walked over to him quickly with a worried expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" She asked frantically and roamed her eyes over him. "Are you hurt? Did you get hit? Why didn't you come here earlier?" Ginny was saying all the while dragging Draco ever to a chair and sitting him down.
A smile made its way onto Draco's face as he looked at Ginny fussing over him. Ginny paused and looked at him questioningly.
"Why are you smiling?" she asked.
Draco simply stood up and wrapped Ginny in his arms. "I was so worried," he breathed out heavily into her hair while hugging her tighter. "I didn't know what had happened to you."
Ginny smiled into his shoulder. "I'm fine," she said and sunk deeper into his embrace so she could enjoy the security he provided. She had been helping injured students all day but not one person had asked her how she was doing, or even given her an encouraging gesture like a hug or a pat on the back. It's not that Ginny helped people because she wanted praises; it's just sometimes some concern helped cheer her up. Draco gave her warmth and for once, she felt cared for instead of her needing to care for others.
The noise in the Hospital Wing was quick to shatter their sweet moment and they both moved apart. Ginny looked around and sighed with relief that all the patients were too busy to notice that a Weasley and Malfoy had just hugged.
"What did you come here for?" Ginny asked.
"I brought a sick kid down here and thought I'd see of you were also here," He said.
"You're not hurt then?" she asked. Draco shook his head and Ginny gave a small smile.
"Good. I have to go now though. A lot of people need healing," Ginny said and started to walk away but Draco held onto her arm and pulled her back.
"I have something to tell you," he said quickly.
"Can you tell me some other time?" Ginny said. "I really have a lot to do."
Draco's face fell and Ginny felt bad, but this wasn't the time or the place for what he wanted to say. Ginny also felt that she wasn't the person he should be saying it to. She managed to slip away and Draco slowly made his way back to the Slytherin common room.
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The next day, Aurors were already surrounding the perimeter of the school. Hogsmeade weekends were cancelled and so were any other outdoor activities. Students were to stay inside of the castle at all times and the curfew was made even earlier. These new rules were very strict and punishment was very severe.
Draco was getting grumpier by the day because believe it or not, he had not spoken to Ginny ever since he was in the hospital wing, and that was three days ago. The N.E.W.T.s and O.W.Ls were not cancelled because of the war, but moved forward in time. This meant that all the senior years were trying to cram three weeks worth of study into 5 days. It sounded very unreasonable, but the teachers said it was for the best because they didn't want anyone to not pass and not become a fully recognised wizard or witch.
Draco was angry because he had to spend most of his time studying so he couldn't go and find her. But he was also angry because he didn't have the skill to sneak into Gryffindor tower and he didn't see her around so he couldn't give her a message to meet him somewhere. He was also angry because she could come to his room easily but she didn't, even after he told her he had wanted to tell her something. Surely, someone with her intelligence would have a slight idea as to what he wanted to say, right?
Sure Ginny knew. She knew exactly what he was going to say. The three big words every girl wanted to hear but to which Ginny dreaded. She couldn't let him say it to her; she wouldn't let him say it to her. If she just kept away from him for the next few weeks then he would be out of school soon and her problems would be solved. He would graduate, meet some pretty girl and forget all about little Ginny. If only it were that simple. Life didn't deal Ginny very good hands and she had started believing a long time ago that good things don't happen for no reason, and Ginny couldn't see what she had done to deserve Draco as a reward. Not to mention the fact that they are known to be enemies and their families loathed each other.
As the exam dates approached, Draco was forced to forget about Ginny for a few days because school work was literally being fed into his brain and everything else was forced aside. Luckily all the exams for senior years lasted for only three days and after that, everyone was able to let their brains deflate.
Draco raced out of his last exam (potions) and started to search for Ginny. Nothing was going to get in the way of his declaration today, and he would crush anything that tried. He knew that Ginny had her last exam that morning and would most likely be at the Hospital Wing right now, so he made his way over there.
When Draco reached the Hospital Wing doors, Dumbledore stepped out from behind them and caused Draco to stop abruptly in front of the Headmaster.
"Ah. Draco. Just the person I was looking for," Dumbledore said.
"Professor Dumbledore," Draco said politely.
Dumbledore placed a hand lightly on Draco's shoulder and turned him around to the direction away from the hospital wing. "I have some important matters to discus with you," Dumbledore said and started walking while guiding Draco in front of him.
"Can I come see you later Professor?" Draco asked hopefully, "I just need to go to the hospital wing for a minute."
"Are you sick?" Dumbledore asked sounding concerned.
Draco hesitated a bit. "Not exactly," he answered.
"Good, because this is very important so everything else will have to wait," Dumbledore said very seriously.
Draco was left with no choice but to go with his headmaster.
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Up in Dumbledore's office sat Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco. They were all waiting for Dumbledore to tell them the very important news.
"We need you on the battle field," Dumbledore said bluntly. He gave them a few moments to digest the information before continuing again. "The Deatheaters have threatened to wreak havoc in all the wizarding towns if we don't surrender Hogwarts to them. It's seems that they are acting on their threat now and a lot of the Aurors have been called away to help elsewhere. I know that asking this of you is expecting a lot but you four do have some experience in dealing with Deatheaters. I will understand if you do not wish to go." Dumnbledore finished off with a weak smile so he would not look like he was pressuring them to go into battle.
There was a moment of silence as the news was sinking in.
"When do we leave?" Draco asked while looking dead straight at Dumbledore's eyes. He had lost his father for this freedom and he'd be damned if his father had lost his life for nothing.
"Tomorrow morning," Dumbledore said.
Everyone in the room nodded then stood up to leave. Dumbledore escorted them down the stairs where they were met with Ginny standing in the corridor.
"What are you doing here Ginny?" Ron asked her.
"I'm here to give Professor Dumbledore a message about low supplies on medicine," Ginny answered but before another word could be said, a student came running towards them shouting 'Ron and Ginny'.
By the time the student arrived he was panting and trying to catch his breath. "Ron. Ginny. Go to hospital wing…Fred injured…critical condition…might die…"
Hearing those words, Ron and Ginny bolted down the corridor towards the Hospital Wing with everyone following behind them.
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Ron and Ginny rammed through the doors of the Hospital Wing and headed towards where Madame Pomfrey was standing. Madame Pomfrey stood aside and let Ginny and Ron, see their brother. Fred was lying in bed with a very pale face and his hands were pressed to his abdomen. He looked like he was in a lot of pain and George was in no better condition. Though he was not physically wounded, his bond with his twin made this very hard for him to accept and he too was very pale while sitting on the other side of the bed. He might lose the closest brother and friend he had ever had.
"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked frantically. "Why aren't you healing him, Madame Pomfrey?"
Madame Pomfrey had tears in her eyes and she shook her head silently. Dumbledore could see what was wrong and went to comfort her.
"Somebody answer me?" Ron yelled.
"Its dark magic," was Ginny's whispered answer. She knew what was happening to Fred and she also knew how to heal it. Ron was bewildered at her answer so he didn't protest when Ginny shoved him aside and slowly moved Fred's weak hand from the wound. The wound was deep and had black blood oozing from it. Tears formed in Ginny's eyes as she looked into Fred's half opened ones.
"I won't let you die, Fred," Ginny proclaimed before spreading her hands out around her and transforming into a Phoenix. Ginny perched herself on the bed and cried an endless stream of tears onto Fred's wound. She didn't stop crying until the wound had healed and Fred was able to lift his hand to gently stroke Ginny's feathers.
Fred then slumped deeper into the pillow and fainted. Madame Pomfrey regained her senses quickly and went to check up on Fred to make sure he was alright. Ginny, still in her animagus form, stood at the end of the bed ignoring all the looks directed at her, as she waited for her brother to wake up again.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, George and Draco could only stay quietly still as they tried to digest what they had just witnessed. Ginny was as animagus and had just transformed into a phoenix.
End of Chapter Forty. Thanks for reading and I Hope you Review.
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