All Harry Potter Characters don't belong to me.
The Source - Chapter Forty Three
"Speaking"
<Thinking>
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The first thing Ron noticed when he went back to Hogwarts was the fact that Fred and George were in the common room pacing like mad. When the twins noticed Ron, Hermione and Harry they both stopped and spoke at the same time.
"Ginny's missing."
It took a few seconds for Ron to digest the information but then he blew up like he usually did. "WHAT!"
"We haven't seen her all morning," Fred said
"We searched everywhere but still can't find her," George aid.
"We don't know what to do," They both said at the same time.
Ron was panicking and so he began blabbering. "What are we going to do? What will Mum and Dad say? Oh I've failed again, and this time I've lost her. I am so going to die…"
"Calm down Ron," Harry said to his friend and put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "We'll ask around and see if anyone has seen her."
Everyone nodded and started to go around the school asking if anyone had seen Ginny. Everyone they asked said they hadn't seen her and the Weasley's were getting anxious. Though the Deatheaters had retreated, it was still a dangerous time and they thought the worst could have happened.
Ron was clutching his hands nervously when he felt the ring on his finger. He'd forgotten about what Draco had given him. Ron pulled the ring off his finger and looked through the hole. Nothing. Ron clutched the ring and swore.
"What's wrong Ron?" Hermione asked.
Ron looked at Hermione and sighed. He showed the ring to everyone and then started to explain. "Malfoy gave me this and said if Ginny was ever in trouble, then it would be able to tell me, but I don't know how to work it."
"Maybe it's not working because Ginny's not in trouble," Hermione suggested. It sounded reasonable to everyone but Ron was still unsatisfied.
"Why don't we go talk to Sirius if you're still uneasy about it," Harry suggested. Everyone nodded and they headed off to find Sirius.
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Draco woke up slowly and blinked his eyes rapidly to get them focused. He didn't recognise where he was but looked around and saw Ginny sitting in another chair looking like she was asleep. Draco stood up and walked over to her quietly, unfortunately not quiet enough because Ginny's eyes snapped open. She saw Draco standing there and shot up from her seat. Before Ginny could yell at him he had pulled her close and crushing her in a hug.
"They said they were going to kill you if I didn't come," Draco said into her ear. The thought of yelling at him slipped out of Ginny's mind but she still pulled back.
"It's dangerous here," Ginny said urgently. "We have to get you out."
Draco frowned. "Then what are you doing here?" He asked.
Ginny gave Draco an emotionless look and distanced herself from him. "Nothing you need to know about."
The door opened at that moment and Edward walked in. "So you've woken up Draco," he said. "Did you have a nice trip?"
"Uncle Edward," Draco said coldly. "How surprising it is to see you here."
Edward smiled. "It's not surprising at all. I'm actually in the middle of a negotiation with Ginny."
Before Draco could say anything else Ginny spoke first. "What do you want?" She asked.
Edward removed his gaze from Draco and smiled at Ginny. "We will start soon, Ginny. Please be ready." With the flick of his wand a cage appeared around Draco and he was locked in. Ginny glared at Edward but he only smiled.
"Just to make sure there's no escaping." With that said, Edward walked back out.
Ginny had her hand balled up into fists but she was determined to not let Edward win this round. It was even better that he was going to bring all of his men here, she could finish them off all in one go. Ginny took in a deep breath before walking towards Draco's cage and placed her hand onto the bars.
Draco stood as close as he could to Ginny and he didn't seem affected by the fact that he was locked up.
Ginny looked at Draco with watery eyes. "I'm sorry," she said before the tears rolled down her face. Draco slipped his hands through the bars and held Ginny's face so that he could wipe the tears away.
"Shh…" He soothed. "Don't cry Ginny, everything will be alright."
Ginny sniffled and controlled her crying. "Yes, everything will be alright," she said confidently. She then pulled the heirloom off of her wrist and put it onto Draco's so that he had his own on one wrist and Sirius's on the other.
"What are you doing Ginny?" Draco asked as he went to pull her one off. Ginny stopped him by grabbing his face and kissing him between the gap of the bars. Draco was reluctant to kiss back because he knew she was just trying to shut him up, but Ginny still kissed him with all her passion. Ginny finally pulled back and held her tears back. She still had her hands on the sides of Draco's face and stopped him from talking by placing her thumbs over his mouth.
Draco looked into Ginny's eyes and tried to search for an answer to what was going on. He knew she was hiding something and it was something very important. Draco could hear and sense the door opening but Ginny kept his face still, so that she could look into his eyes for just a bit longer.
"I love you," she whispered before turning around abruptly to face Edward Malfoy, Felicity Lateris and the horde of Deatheaters.
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Ron, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione and Sirius were all up in Dumbledore's office and waiting for the headmaster to say something. They had given the ring to Dumbledore and he was now inspecting it. They had gone to Dumbledore after they found out that both Ginny and Draco were missing. The ring still wouldn't give off any indication as to where Ginny was, and it was most likely because Ginny wasn't in any immediate danger.
Dumbledore put the ring down on the desk and sighed. "I'm afraid that until Ginny is in any danger, this ring cannot…"
Dumbledore stopped talking immediately because a hologram shot out of the ring and an image of an old dilapidated building was shown. Everyone leaned forward as the image zoomed in through a window to see Ginny standing in front of a cage surrounded by Deatheaters and a tall blond man.
"Is that Edward Malfoy?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded his head while frowning. "We must hurry Sirius. Contact the ministry officials immediately and take them to the old abandoned museum."
Sirius nodded and then ran out quickly. "What's going on?" Ron asked
Dumbledore stood up and told everyone to follow him. He explained to them that they knew where Ginny was and were now going to save her.
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Draco was trapped in his cage while looking at the scene before him. There were hundreds of Deatheaters in the room right now and they were all surrounding Ginny and his Uncle Edward. Once his uncle and the Deatheaters came in, Draco didn't have a chance to tell Ginny that he felt the same before she was shrouded by a swarm of Deatheaters. Ginny had given him her heirloom for a reason but he didn't want to know or accept what that reason was.
There was a circle of Deatheaters all around Ginny and Edward. Ginny knew what was happening and she was prepared. She had planned to do this before hand, and now that all the Deatheaters were here it was even better. She had worried about Draco's safety, but the two Heirlooms would protect him now.
"Give me the bottle, Ginny," Edward said and held his hand out.
Ginny slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the bottle of charcoal liquid. She then turned to face Edward and gave him a smile. "Check mate, Edward," she said. In one swift move Ginny pulled out another bottle from her other pocket and threw the bottles to the ground.
Both the Heirlooms on Draco's wrist detected the massive force as soon as the bottles hit the floor. An aqua, light blue field surrounded Draco and protected him like a shell. He could only see blinding aqua light and no sound or anything was getting past the field to him.
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Many Aurors along with Ron, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione and Sirius made their way towards the old abandoned museum. Some were flying on brooms while some had apparated somewhere close and were now walking. The building was independently standing in the middle of an old forgotten area and was pretty far away but close enough for everyone to see that it was a big building. Everyone was planning to run up and attack when the building suddenly exploded like it had just been hit by a nuclear bomb. The force from the explosion was very big and everyone that was hiding out closely had to shield themselves. There was a big cloud of dust and everyone looked on in horror. No one would have been able to survive that explosion.
The filed surrounding Draco began to slowly fade away and he was left standing on a pile of rubble unscathed. Draco inspected his surroundings and saw that the building he was in had been fully abolished. Everything had burned into ash and not a single corpse could be seen.
"Ginny!" Draco called out. He didn't know what else he could do. He prayed to Merlin that a miracle could have happened and Ginny was saved. Or maybe this was a nightmare and he would wake up to see Ginny in the Hospital Wing working. Draco took a few steps trying to look for some remains of something. Everything he saw was burnt to tiny bits or just a pile of ash. Draco stopped his steps when he thought he heard a sound. He strained his ears to hear where the faint sound was coming from. He found its general direction and took a few steps to the left. He listened again and bent down lower towards the ground where the sound got louder. Draco thought he found the spot and started digging at the dirt.
After a few minutes he dug up a little chirping bird. It was a baby Phoenix. "Ginny?" he asked but the bird only chirped. Draco picked the baby bird up delicately in his hands and stood up. As soon as he did, he saw that there was a mass amount of people heading in his direction. Draco walked towards them and saw that they were Aurors and people from Hogwarts.
Ron, Fred and George were the first ones to rush up towards Draco.
"Where's Ginny?" They all demanded.
Draco could only lift his hands up and show them the baby bird. Everyone went silent and didn't know what to say. How could Ginny be a baby bird?
Sirius was the first to break the silence. "Reborn from the ashes," he said and stroked Ginny's little head. "We better get back to Hogwarts."
Ginny was snatched from Draco's hands by Ron, who handled Ginny like she was the most fragile thing in the world. Draco was still in a state of shock and just followed everyone back to Hogwarts.
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Back at Hogwarts Draco retold the story of what happened and answered questions like a robot. He told them that he was captured by the Deatheaters and taken to the old museum where he also found Ginny. When all the Deatheaters had gathered at the building, Ginny had mixed some ingredients and created and explosion. He didn't show any emotion and didn't seem to care about what was going on around him. He didn't go into all the details but it still helped the Aurors a lot. After the information was collected, Dumbledore saved Draco from the reporters and unnecessary questions. Dumbledore took Draco up to his office and only then did Draco's eyes brighten up because Ginny was perched on the desk. She was a bundle of little fluff just sitting there and Draco picked her up in his hands as soon as he could. A genuine smile was on Draco's face as he stroked Ginny's fluffy feathers. Dumbledore smiled at the scene before him and let Draco have his time with Ginny.
"Is she going to change back?" Draco eventually asked. Dumbledore straightened his glasses and gave Draco a weak smile.
"I'm not sure, Draco. It's amazing that Ginny could have survives that explosion. The power from Voldemort's remaining essence mixed with other ingredients created a very deadly reaction."
"Is there a possibility that this isn't Ginny?" Draco asked beginning to panic.
"Not to worry, Draco," Dumbledore said. "I personally believe that this is Ginny, but she was reborn as a bird and I don't know how being reborn will affect her memory. If she can remember, then as soon as she is old enough, she will transform back into a person. However if she doesn't remember, then I guess she will forever remain a Phoenix."
Draco looked at the fluffy Ginny in his hands and stroked her little head. "How long will it take for her to be old enough?" he asked.
Dumbldore smiled. "Phoenix's grow quickly, and Ginny will not need to be fully grown, so I'm estimating around three weeks."
Draco gave Dumbledore a weak smile and then returned his attention back to Ginny.
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The rest of the Weasley clan was notified and the next morning every one of them were at Hogwarts and up in Dumbeldore's office along with Sirius. Ginny was also there being passed around to each of her family members who found it very hard to believe Ginny was a baby Phoenix. Ron, Fred and George were less surprised because they already knew about it last night.
Sirius also thought that it was about time he told them about EVERYTHING. This included forcing the siblings to tell their parents about their secret loan repayments. He told Ginny's family about her training, her being an animagus, her starting the business as the Source and about her little deal with Draco. Of course Ron was furious that Sirius lied to him about Ginny being interested in Draco's condition where in fact he was blackmailing her, but he soon got over it.
Dumbledore organised a room for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to stay in for a few weeks. However half of Ginny's brothers had to leave for work again, but still tried to talk to Ginny even though she probably didn't understand. Bill, Charlie and Percy had to leave for work while Fred and George could come to school occasionally to visit and Ron just stayed at school all the time. Since Ginny wasn't 'in danger' Bill, Charlie and Percy didn't feel as bad about leaving. Charlie however wanted to meet Draco and see what he was like before leaving.
Charlie found Draco standing near the lake and deep in thought. "Are you Draco Malfoy?" he asked.
Draco turned to look at Charlie with an expressionless face. "And you are?"
"I thought you were good at spotting a Weasley?" Charlie teased, however Draco wasn't in the mood.
"I know you're a Weasley, but which one? There are so many," Draco answered coldly. Just because he liked Ginny it didn't mean he was going to turn nice all of a sudden.
Charlie frowned. "I'm beginning to understand what my brothers are going on about," Charlie said sounding a bit disappointed.
Draco scoffed. "I can just guess what they say about me. So what do you want Weasley?"
Charlie still chose to make an effort. He wanted to find out what this guy had, that could draw so much of Ginny's attention and efforts. "My name is Charlie and I'm Ginny's second oldest brother."
"The Dragon trainer," Draco said tonelessly.
"Yes," Charlie answered. He was waiting for Draco to maybe say something else but he didn't. After a long moment of silence Draco finally spoke.
"What do you want?" he asked again.
Charlie just sighed. He gave up on trying to understand a bit about Draco. "I wanted to find out what Ginny saw in you," Charlie answered truthfully. "But unfortunately I don't see anything that was worth all her efforts."
Draco frowned and looked into Charlie's eyes. "Are you saying I'm not good enough for your sister?"
"Are you?" Charlie said while looking back blankly. Draco didn't have anything to say back so Charlie walked away, back into the castle.
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It was close to the end of the year and so the graduation ceremony was being organised and would be held in a week's time. Ginny had stayed a Phoenix for a week now and everyone had taken their turn looking after her. First it was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Ron, Fred and George, Harry, Hermione, Colin, Amy and then finally Sirius's turn was next. While Ginny was in the care of those people, they kept her in Gryffindor tower the whole time so Draco wasn't able to see her. Sirius knew of this, so as soon as it was his turn to care for Ginny, he invited Draco over to his quarters.
Draco walked into Sirius's room and was told to sit down. Draco sat down in front of the coffee table where Ginny was jumping around on. He smiled a little at how cute Ginny looked. He then remembered something and took Sirius's heirloom out of his pocket.
"I think this belongs to you," Draco said and handed the heirloom back to Sirius.
Sirius took the heirloom and smiled sadly at it. "I thought it would protect her, but I guess it wasn't enough."
Draco had a guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said. "She forced me to wear it. I wanted to give it back but she wouldn't allow it, and I didn't know she was going to do something like this."
Sirius patted Draco's back. "It's alright, Draco," he said sincerely. "Ginny did what she thought was right. I've always believed in her judgement and she wanted to save you. She had her reasons and she would not regret it. Plus she's not dead. She's just not herself yet."
Draco smiled and picked Ginny up in his hands. "Did she ever talk to you about me?" He asked while patting Ginny. Ginny seemed very comfortable in Draco's hands and snuggled up to go to sleep.
Sirius smiled at how happy and content Ginny looked. "What do you want to know?" he asked.
Draco sighed. "Charlie Weasley told me that he didn't think I was worthy enough to be with Ginny."
"Charlie said that?" Sirius said slightly surprised.
"Well he didn't say those exact words but that's what he meant. I just wanted to know. What did Ginny see in me?"
Sirius smiled. "What do you think she saw?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. People don't exactly see me as a night in shining armour you know."
"Maybe that's what Ginny liked about you, that you weren't a night in shining armour."
"But she encouraged me to be a hero. She wanted me to take the Auror training. I think she was expecting me to be something great, but I'm just not."
"I think we're simplifying things here," Sirius said. "No one really knows how Ginny thinks because she keeps everything to herself. She's never told me about how she feels about you, but I could just see it. I think the best way for you to find out is to ask her yourself."
Draco nodded thoughtfully to what Sirius had said. <I guess I will have to wait until Ginny's back>. "Thank you, Sirius."
"You're welcome," Sirius said with a smile.
End of Chapter Forty Three. Thanks for reading and I Hope you Review.
AN: Ok. Just because Ginny was reborn it doesn't mean she's immortal. My thoughts on her ability is that if she stays in her animagus form for long enough, she will be like fawkes and eventually grow old (in bird years) and then ignite into flames. But that would have to be a very long time. So as long as Ginny doesn't stay as a Phoenix for very, very long periods of time then she will age like a normal person. ……………………………………………………………………..