Dreams and Schemes
The doors were locked as were the windows. Screams, yells and crying flowed around her like water, adding to her own hysteria that one of her best friends was OUT THERE. Colin was standing at the window, trying to take pictures but his hands were shaking so bad he gave up, sliding down the wall under the window as people clamored around him.
Professor Flitwick raised his wand and muttered an incantation and immediately the room fell silent as people gazed at each other, then around them wondering why no one else was yelling when inside their heads, they were terrified.
Because, out there, on the Quidditch Pitch Harry Potter was fighting an intense battle with the Dark Lord; he had appeared during the Quidditch Match, bypassing all of Hogwarts magical defenses, sending the students screaming and running; Hagrid had physically picked up Ron and Hermione and dragged Ginny and Colin behind him, getting them into the castle as quickly as possible.
Ginny just stared out the window, realizing that Flitwick had cast a calming charm on them; there were low murmurs but none of the gut wrenching, heart stopping screams of before. Ginny's eyes went wide as she saw beams of light from different angles envelope her friend as Harry's wand cast an electrifying green light before he toppled off his broom onto the ground below…
Ginny sat straight up in bed, breathing hard, hand on her chest. She looked around at her friends and they were all
asleep, the moon casting shadows on their beds. Ginny slid her legs to the side of the bed and slipped her feet into
her slippers. Taking a deep breath to calm her quivering nerves, she pulled herself up then crossed the room to a hook,
grabbed her dressing gown and headed out the door and down the stairs, momentarily looking at the boy's staircase,
wondering if Harry had nightmares anymore.
Needing something to calm her nerves, she found the secret passage to the kitchen and ran straight into Dobby.
"Harry Potter's friend! Dobby is happy to get Harry Potter's friend something; hot chocolate? Milk? Pumpkin Juice?" he squeaked and Ginny couldn't help but smile.
"Hot chocolate would be great. What time is it anyway, do you know?"
"It is half of two in the morning, Harry Potter's friend," Dobby set down a steaming mug of hot chocolate and Ginny sank down into a chair at a small table under a window. She looked out and saw the moon reflecting off the lake with leaves resting along the edge as the approach of fall snuck up on them.
She sat there, thinking about how Harry had been in the hospital wing for days until he woke up; looking battered and beaten. How Hermione had cried over him and never wanting to leave his bedside. Ginny had truly thought Harry would die; true, he had killed Voldemort, with the help of Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore (she found out later), but she had never been so scared to lose a friend.
As she twirled the mug around, she heard a slight noise behind her a split second before she heard his voice.
"Weasley; fancy meeting you in the kitchens," Draco drawled and without even asking settled himself in the chair across from her, holding a bag of pretzels. She stared at him in his dark green pajama pants and grey t-shirt.
For a minute as he sat, munching on a pretzel looking out the window he looked…harmless. Handsome even. She wasn't even sure what to say to him so she stayed quiet, sipping her hot chocolate and turning her attention to the lake outside. She saw the squid raise half way up then dive back under, like a cat pouncing on a mouse.
"Looks like the squid found himself a snack also," Draco said, turning in his chair to look at her.
He saw her dark eyes flick towards him then back out to the lake. He could glimpse circles under her eyes and she still looked sleepy, her hair was pushed back into a headband and for a moment he saw a different Ginny Weasley. A quiet, sleepy almost contemplative person, not the usual Weasley tempered, sometimes chatty, smart mouthed girl. Ginny turned and met his gaze, which was very unreadable to him.
"What?" Ginny asked quietly, no trace of maliciousness in her voice, just a simple question.
"What are you doing down here at two in the morning?" he asked just as quietly.
"I should ask the same of you," Ginny turned her gaze away from his, watching Dobby fill up a mug with something, hesitantly placing it in front of Draco then hastily retreating in to the shadows.
Draco held up a bag of pretzels as his answer, then offered the open bag to her. She looked at him thoughtfully, wondering if something was going to bite her hand if she stuck it in there and he sensed her hesitation.
"It won't bite you."
Ginny reached in and pulled out a few pretzels, dropping them onto a napkin that magically appeared next to her mug.
"Thanks," she mumbled and he nodded at her, turning his attention back to the window.
Silence settled on them as they ate their snack. Ginny was making mental notes of what to tell Hermione hours from now; sitting here with Draco eating a snack, in silence. Almost companionable, but still there was a bit of tension in Ginny's body, as if waiting for the anvil to drop, waiting for him to say SOMETHING that would make her throw her chair back and leave.
"You never said why you were down here."
Ginny let out a deep sigh, realizing she had no reason to lie to him.
"Woke up from a nightmare, so I thought I would have something warm to drink," Ginny held her breath, waiting for him to laugh or make a snide comment. Instead he nodded his head, saying nothing.
"Do you often come down here and snack at two in the morning?" Ginny asked before she thought to keep her mouth shut. So far, he was acting civil.
Draco nodded again.
"If I have trouble sleeping I do," he offered and stopped at that. Ginny looked down and realized she was
done her drink.
"Does Harry Potter's friend want another one?" Dobby asked from her side and she shook her head, standing up and pushing her chair in.
"No thank you, Dobby. It's time for me to go back to bed. I have to rest up for the Quidditch game tomorrow."
Ginny looked pointedly at Draco who just shrugged and put another pretzel in his mouth. They were playing each other that afternoon in the first game of the season, and her parents were coming along with her brothers and a surprise visit from Samantha, so she needed to be somewhat functional.
Placing her hands on the back of the chair she felt nervous for what she was about to say; she didn't know why, maybe because she wasn't sure what his response would be.
"Good night," she said softly and he looked away from the window and met her eyes.
"Sleep well, Weasley," was his response and she quietly turned and walked back to her room, those words echoing in her head. He had said it nicely and it was so out of character for him, she was tempted to think he had been sleepwalking the whole time she sat with him.
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Ginny stood with her parents on the morning of Parents Weekend, secretly observing Harry's aunt and cousin who had actually decided to come and visit on Parent's Weekend. His aunt looked positively stunned and a bit scared while Dudley just looked confused, as if he was caught in a dream he couldn't get out of.
"Ron!" Harry said loudly interrupting his conversation with Fred. Both Ginny and Ron looked at him and Harry nodded his head down the hill. The Weasley's turned towards the hill seeing Hermione's parents and Samantha walking up to meet them. The biggest smile Ginny had ever seen lit up Ron's face and he pointed at Hermione, who just shrugged and ducked behind Harry. Hermione had managed to pull off the surprise visit by Samantha; poor Ron had been led to believe that she wouldn't be able to visit after arguing with her parents about it.
After being introduced to Samantha's parents, who looked just as stunned as Aunt Petunia, and receiving a quick hug from Samantha, they all made their way back to the Great Hall, where the parents and relatives would wait until it was time to lead them all down to the Quidditch Pitch.
Samantha and Ron walked ahead, both animatedly talking about something; Ginny hung back, talking to Fred about her classes while Harry made some indecipherable comment to Malfoy who was standing by the door, looking strangely at Samantha. Turning back to the crowd he and fellow Prefect Ernie McMillan were directing parents on where to go once they got into the castle. Ginny ignored him and continued her conversation about her latest Herbology Lesson with Fred, who was looking for the perfect ingredient to concoct a new kind of candy.
After giving a tour to Harry's family and a few other students and relatives, Ginny made her way from the dungeons
back up to the Great Hall, the Quidditch Game settling in her thoughts.
Ginny made sure her family was settled at the table before she left to get ready for Quidditch. She had been getting sore after practices and wanted to get down early to stretch and fly a bit, since this was the first game against two bitter rivals. She squeezed Ron's shoulder as she leaned down into the ear furthest from Samantha.
"Keep up whatever you are doing, Ron, she really fancies you," Ginny saw the blush creep into the tip of his ears and she took off down the hall, out the door and down the stairs, noting that the Prefects were gone as most of the relatives were already inside.
She caught up with Harry on her way down to the Pitch and he was telling her about how Professor Snape seemed to know his aunt.
"I was wondering where you got too. I was leading the group up the stairs and all of a sudden you weren't there!"
"Yea, we hung back until Snape made it known I was to be dismissed; I am trying to figure out how they might know each other? He didn't know Dudley, but obviously knew my aunt."
Harry held the door to the changing room for her and they ducked inside. Quietly, the each got their uniforms on, guards tied, helping each other with the hard to reach laces.
"How's it going with Hermione?" Ginny asked offhandedly and Harry grinned at her, pulling her laces on her arm guards tight.
"Great! Parts of me wish this would have happened sooner."
"I bet; kind of hard to have a nice life with Volemort in the shadows though."
Ginny returned the favor and pulled his laces tight.
"Do you still have nightmares?"
Harry paused and looked down at her.
"Sometimes; less and less as time goes by. Why?" He asked softly handing Ginny her broom. She took it, but he
didn't let go causing her to look up at him.
"I had one last night."
Harry looked surprised, "You did?"
"Yea, and when I went down to the kitchens to get a drink, Malfoy showed up."
Ginny felt Harry's hand cover hers and saw his face darken. She smiled at him, reached up and patted his hand.
"Don't worry, he wasn't his usual self. Pretty civil actually," she added as an afterthought.
"Strange for Malfoy to do that," Harry muttered, letting go of her broom. "I don't know why you are having the nightmares though; maybe you are just nervous because this is the first game after what happened."
Ginny looked at him thoughtfully and was quiet long enough for him to turn around to see if she had heard him.
"Harry Potter, I think you just analyzed my dream; Professor Trelawney would be proud!" Ginny laughed as he playfully swatted her head with his broom as members from the team began trickling in. Ginny set herself in a corner and began stretches, hearing spectators climbing up the stairs to the stands and the buzz of excitement escalating with each passing moment.
----------------------
As Harry and his team mounted their brooms and took off into the pitch in their usual formation, Ginny could see a significant number of stands were magically added. There were easily three times the number of people as normal and the crowd was deafening. Harry had to use hand signals to gather his team around him, giving Draco the evil eye the whole time. Harry quickly scanned the crowd, not sure if he would find Hermione, or his aunt and cousin in the mass of people cheering, booing and just shouting in general.
Harry settled his team, and everyone got into their positions waiting for the whistle. Draco gave Harry his usual sneer and Harry just stared coldly at him, blocking out the sounds from all around them. Harry glanced around at his team; Ginny, Demelza and Dean were set up as Chasers; Ron was moving slowly back and forth, on the ground, in front of the rings and he saw his beaters, Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote who had played the year before, getting ready to kick off the moment Madame Hooch blew the whistle.
"Three…two...one," the whistle sounded, the roar of the crowd grew even louder as they kicked up off the ground, and Harry flew around the perimeter, keeping one eye on Draco and one eye out for the little golden snitch. He saw Draco come streaking at him and Harry easily moved out of his way, knowing the Snitch wasn't anywhere near him and realizing that Draco was just trying to keep his eyes off the sky.
Ginny flew around the pitch quickly, doing what she did best and could barely hear Luna's voice announcing that Gryffindor had just scored. The roars of the crowd reached Ginny's ears and momentarily stunned her. It sounded as if every person was using a "sonorous" charm to be louder than normal, she could barely hear Luna above the noise. Ginny glanced up and saw Harry jerk his broom to the left to avoid her and the other chasers zooming by him.
Harry recovered quickly and decided to move to the other side of the pitch. He flew along side the stands, feeling Draco right behind him, Coote swerved in front of Harry and smacked a bludger up and over Harry's head, almost knocking Draco off his broom. Harry could see a four letter word come off of Coote's lips as his bludger didn't hit, accidently of course, Slytherin's seeker.
"…looks as if Potter and Malfoy are playing follow the leader…" Ginny could hear from below. She caught the quaffle from Demelza but not before someone hit her broom, nudging it from her hands.
"I loved that game when I was a kid, very fun until someone led me into poison ivy….OH, Slytherin scores, Weasley was faked out…," Luna drawled in her even voice.
Harry circled higher and higher until he reached the top of the last stand. He caught sight of his aunt and cousin, who were looking very bewildered by the whole game. Draco pulled up behind Harry and hit the back of his broom. Harry whirled around, saw a bludger coming right at him and ducked, hearing Draco swear as it knocked his arm off his broom. Peakes chased after it; Harry seeing his chance pushed his broom higher and zigzagged his way across the pitch, seeing something fluttering above the rings that Ron was guarding. Ginny streaked in front of him, forcing Harry to duck under her, losing some time and enabling Draco to catch up to him. More and more bludgers were directed his way, his Beaters hanging near him like two bees, hitting it back towards the other side of the pitch.
Ginny heard the whistle as she struggled to get out of being double teamed by Slytherin; seeing Harry waving his team down the Pitch she changed her direction and flew down for the time out. She landed next to him and her brother and they had to crowd in, shoulders pressed against each other just to hear Harry. He performed half a sonorous charm so he could be heard. He laid an arm across Ron and another across Ginny's shoulders and leaned in.
"I can't keep Draco off my arse. I have tried just about everything, but he is glued there."
"Maybe he likes it," Ron joked and Ginny choked back a laugh.
"I am afraid I'll hit you if I smack the ball too hard," Ritchie admitted and Jimmy nodded his agreement, Dean glanced around the group.
"Any ideas?" he asked. Ron just shrugged and Harry thought, moving people around in his mind.
"That's it!" Harry exclaimed and leaned in even further and whispered his plan, seeing his team mate's heads nod up and down as they agreed.
Madame Hooch blew her whistle and shouted that it was time to begin. Harry gave Ginny a quick hug as they exchanged brooms and they kicked off the ground.
"What the…?" Luna started before Professor McGonagall shot her the evil eye.
"I mean…oh my," Luna backtracked, not having to talk as loud because the crowd's noise had lowered to whispers and an occasional yell. "It looks as if Potter gave up his broomstick to Ginny Weasley!" laughter erupted from many of the boys in the stands. "They switched places…. watch out Draco! Better cover your face and look out for bats!" Luna laughed and the Gryffindor side roared.
Draco looked momentarily confused until Ginny gave him a little finger wave from her spot near her brother and she took off to the other side of the pitch, with Draco a beat behind her. Harry saw the Quaffle coming towards him and reached out at the last moment and caught it. Tearing his eyes from Ginny and Draco he streaked off towards the hoops, he was close but needed to be closer, flattening himself against Ginny's broom he felt a bludger tear by his robe and streak to the other side of him. Harry looked up, threw the Quaffle then immediately turned to the right, doing a U-Turn.
"Brilliant! Potter scores his first goal in… well… EVER!" Luna actually yelled her usually dreamy voice abandoned for the moment. Luna then realized she was getting a bit to excited after getting another look from McGonagall so she sat back down in her seat, moving her eyes to the sky as the Seekers moved about, searching for the snitch. Demelza scored another goal and Ron was saving goals left and right…the score was close, 120 points to Gryffindor and 110 to Slytherin.
Ginny could hear Luna's voice louder than ever, but she could also feel Draco right next to her.
"Pretty interesting move, Weasley…let's see if you can demote Potter to Chaser," Draco jeered at her and Ginny quickly pushed Harry's broom down so she zoomed under Draco and back up so she was now on the inside of the pitch as they circled around.
"See ya, Malfoy," Ginny turned into the pitch and began climbing steadily, looking for the little golden ball that she had only caught once in her life. Being lighter than Harry she could move faster on his broom, keeping a distance from Draco that Harry had a hard time doing.
Harry finally caught sight of Hermione, her cousin and both sets of parents, sitting in the first row in the same section as his aunt. He didn't even have time to glance or nod at them as he saw a Quaffle coming towards him and a Slytherin chaser trying to outrun him to it. A blur of red robes, Dean's, streaked up and grabbed it, tossing it to Harry who headed towards the goal posts. He looked up and realized he was blocked and tossed it to Demelza who promptly threw it like a basketball hook shot through the hoop, eliciting cheers from the students and parents.
Goals were scored on either side, one for one. He looked up and saw Ginny climbing, then swooping back down as if she suddenly caught sight of something. Hearing someone yell his name, he turned just in time to catch a Quaffle against his chest, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. He threw it hard in the direction of Demelza who had managed to break free of two huge Slytherins. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw the snitch, liking its spot near Ron. Ginny saw it too. She spun around so fast that Draco overshot her and had to pull up before he plowed into the stadium supports.
Ginny heard him curse as she flew faster than ever towards her brother's end of the field, a blur of gold and maroon robes as she streaked by Hermione and Samantha in the front row.
That's when Hermione saw it; a Slytherin had hit the bludger right at Ginny, it was behind her so she couldn't see it and with the noise level she couldn't hear any of the shouts, many yelling "FOUL!" trying to get Ginny to look behind her. The snitch was now below Ron, the score was 130-110, Gryffindor with the small lead.
Ron saw Harry, across the field, pointing at something behind Ginny and Ron followed Harry's finger pointing to his sister. Ron could see his sister, red hair streaming out behind her, streaking for the snitch, Draco next to her, the Bludger about ten meters away from Ginny. Without thinking, he left the rings, leaving them wide open and headed as fast as his broom could go towards Ginny, trying to get to the bludger before it hit her. Ginny looked up as she caught red hair out of the corner of her eye, surprised to see Ron yelling at her and coming towards her as she felt something hit her hand, her fingers curling around it.
Ron pulled up suddenly between her and Draco who was on the far side and as Ginny blinked she saw him fall off his broom. Without thinking she pulled Harry's broomstick to a halt hearing one half of a cheer from the crowd as she realized she caught the snitch, then heard the course of "OHH's" as Ron was knocked off his broom and hit the ground, hard. She heard Draco curse and yell at someone on his team, and take off after him, green robes billowing behind him.
Harry and Ginny let out a four letter curse word as both headed towards the ground.
Hermione gasped as Samantha screamed Ron's name and was held back from jumping over the wall by her uncle.
The Weasley clan (Molly, Arthur and the twins) were led down the stairs to the field by Professor McGonagall, to see Ron's condition for themselves. Ginny threw Harry's broom and the snitch down and sank to her knees beside her unconscious brother.
A stretcher was conjured and he was carried off the field.