Tell Me

Here's an early Christmas present for you all.

Forgive my lengthy delay. My muse for this story left me for a bit, and I was working on a couple other projects at the same time. One project I'm working on is the sequel to “All I Want for Christmas” and the other is my version of book 7. Plus, I've now found a job and don't have much time to write.

As I prepared to write this chapter, something came to me. JKR said in an interview once that she wanted her girls to be Hermiones. So, she wants her girls to be crying puddles of goo that allow their men to emotionally abuse them? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, never mind my daughters—if I ever have any. Some role model JKR wants for her children. If somebody wants to take that and make a point of it on the discussion board, go right ahead (if it hasn't been already). I haven't been to the discussion board since the-book-that-does-not-exist came out and have no intentions of returning there.

Please read and review. More reviews encourage faster updates (real life permitting, of course). Of course, constructive feedback is encouraged.

Disclaimer: I'll refer you back to Chapter 1 to save space and simplify things for those whom have already read it.

Tell Me

Chapter 9: Setting the Trap

Ron was relaxing in the common room during a free period, when he knew he was supposed to be doing his Transfiguration homework that was due tomorrow, when suddenly Colin burst into the common room.

“Ron, I've been looking everywhere for you!” Colin said excitedly, “Madame Pomfrey wants to see you in the hospital wing right away!”

What? Why would she want to see me so urgently? Has my sister or Harry gotten hurt or something? If it's Harry, then why wouldn't Colin be looking for Hermione instead?

“What does she want?”

“She wouldn't tell me,” Colin answered. “She just said that you were needed immediately. She looked quite frazzled about something though.”

What happened to Ginny?

Ron leaped to his feet, sprinted out of the common room and down to the fourth floor and the hospital wing. Upon bursting through the doors, Ron looked around but didn't see Ginny or Madame Pomfrey anywhere.

Was it so bad that they had to take her to St. Mungo's? How could she have gotten hurt that badly? Of course, I don't know what class she was in. She could have had a potion go badly wrong or something like that.

Just as Ron started to look more closely at the beds to see who was in the hospital wing right now, he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head to see Madame Pomfrey coming back into the room from her office.

“Where's my sister?” Ron asked anxiously. “How bad is she hurt?”

“Ginny?” Madame Pomfrey asked confused. “I didn't call you here because she got hurt.”

Huh? Why did she need me here if she's not hurt?

“Is it Harry?”

“As far as I know Mr. Potter is in good condition for once.”

“Then why did you need to see me right away?” Ron asked completely baffled.

Madame Pomfrey motioned for him to follow her, and Ron did hesitantly.

What does she want me to see? If my sister and Harry are both fine, who does she want me to see?

Madame Pomfrey stopped and gestured towards a bed. Ron gasped a minute later as he finally realized who it was.

What happened to her? Who did this? Why would they do this to Parvati?

Ron looked up in confusion at Madame Pomfrey as the stood by Parvati's bed. “What happened?”

Madame Pomfrey sighed. “It's hard to say. Miss Patil was found at the base of the stairs from the girls' dormitory in the Gryffindor common room. She's sustained some broken bones and a concussion from her tumble down the stairs, but there's also internal injuries from a curse. It's like somebody used the Cruciatus Curse on her, but nobody would have done that in the dormitories.”

What? Who would be stupid enough to use an unforgivable in the dormitories? It has to be a combination of curses that reacted in a similar way. Only somebody with the mental capacity of a six-year-old would do something so idiotic.

Ron walked over next to Parvati and took her hand. “Why did you call me though? Why not her sister?”

“She regained consciousness long enough to ask for you for some reason that we weren't able to find out before she passed out again.”

“Who's we?”

“The Headmistress and myself.” Madame Pomfrey said before conjuring up a chair for Ron to sit on, allowing Ron to sit while awaiting for Parvati to regain consciousness.

Who might have done this? I don't know anyone that would have any reason to do this to her. She hardly looks like herself, she's so cut and bruised. And to suggest a fellow Gryffindor used an unforgivable on her?! It's impossible to believe that anybody would do that to someone in their own house…well, maybe some Slytherins would, but definitely not a Gryffindor.

Who might have motivation to do this? Maybe Hermione would have some clue. After all, they've been dormmates for the last seven years.

As if on cue, Hermione rushed into the hospital wing. “Where's Harry? What's happened to him now?”

Ron stood up to take Hermione into his arms. “As far as Madame Pomfrey knows, Harry's just fine. I was called here because someone attacked Parvati and she apparently asked for me when she briefly regained consciousness.”

Hermione conjured up another chair and sat down next to Ron. “What happened to her?”

Ron proceeded to fill her in on what Madame Pomfrey had told him. When he'd finished, she looked at her dormmate with pity. “I don't know,” Hermione said softly. “She may be a gossip, but she's harmless and everyone knows that. Nobody had a grudge against her or was mad at her or anything like that.”

Ron suddenly turned pale.

She did have that warning for me about Ginny trying to slip Harry a love potion soon. Could that have upset Ginny that Parvati had found out? I don't want to believe that my own sister would do something like this, but if she's willing to do something illegal like putting a love potion in Harry's pumpkin juice, is there anything that she wouldn't do? She's always been a spoiled brat, so maybe we should have seen something like this coming. Still, how could she do something so selfish as to attack a fellow Gryffindor to protect her evil plans?

“Ginny,” Hermione whispered so softly that Ron almost didn't hear her, and turned to see Hermione was looking at his face. “You think it may be Ginny that did this, don't you?”

Ron nodded somberly, not trusting himself to say anything.

“Oh, Ron!” Hermione breathed, giving him a brief hug that had Ron feeling a bit uneasy.

“She's changed so much these last couple years, I'm not sure that I really know her anymore,” he said quietly, so as to not be overheard by wandering ears, as he turned to look at Hermione. “She seems so determined to end up with Harry, though they don't really have much in common other than quidditch. Do you think she could have done something like this?”

Hermione shook her head in bewilderment. “Two years ago, I would have told you there was no way that it was Ginny. But now, with her planning to use a love potion to get Harry back, there's no telling where she'd stop.”

Hermione conjured a chair and sat down on the opposite side of the bed just as Madame Pomfrey came back over. “Ah, Miss Granger. Hopefully you can help us get to the bottom of this, as Miss Patil has been your dormmate for the last seven years.”

She'd better not share our suspicion about Ginny. I'd try to hex her into next week if she did…of course, I'd be the one that'd end up getting hexed—and into next year, at that. I'll have to come up with something better if…

“I'm sorry, Madame Pomfrey,” Hermione lied. “I'm just as clueless as to who's behind the attack.”

Madame Pomfrey frowned. “Alright. Just make to notify me as soon as she wakes up. Maybe she'll remember something about her attacker.”

I hope we're not right, Ron thought as Madame Pomfrey walked back to her office. It'd kill mum and dad if Ginny got herself locked up in Azkaban, especially mum. She knows that too, so why would she stoop to doing something like this? Is she that desperate to be with Harry when everyone else knows that it's just a matter of time until my two best friends start snogging all over the place?

After an hour of sitting silently next to Parvati's bed with Hermione, Headmistress McGonagall walked in to the hospital wing and joined them. Harry also made a brief visit to check with Ron about quidditch practice that afternoon, but Ron had to tell him he might not make it.

How long are we going to have to sit here waiting for Parvatti to wake up? Now I'm beginning to understand what Hermione feels like whenever Harry gets hurt and ends up in the next bed. It's great that Madame Pomfrey put his name on that bed, even Harry got a laugh out of it.

About twenty minutes after Headmistress McGonagall arrived, Parvatti finally started to stir.

After being looked over by Madame Pomfrey, Ron turned to her. No time like the present. “Why'd you ask for me earlier? When you woke up for a minute?”

Parvati breathed out in a raspy voice, “Ginny…tomorrow…Harry…” before starting to cough harshly, drawing Madame Pomfrey's attention.

The nurse gave Parvati a cough suppressant and dreamless sleep potion so she wouldn't have nightmares about the attack.

Ron chanced a glance at Headmistress McGonagall, who he was surprised to see looked totally shocked at the three words Parvati had said.

“Did Miss Patil just imply that someone from my own house used an unforgivable curse on her? And over a plan regarding Mr. Potter at that?” the Headmistress managed to get out.

Hermione looked at Ron anxiously before responding. “We didn't really have enough evidence to say anything, especially since Ginny is Ron's sister, but she was our leading suspect.”

Before the Headmistress or Madame Pomfrey could speak up, Hermione plowed ahead at full speed. “I want you two to promise not to say or do anything until after breakfast tomorrow. We may have a case against her for the unforgivable if we check her wand, but what Parvati was telling Ron was that Ginny plans to try to slip a love potion into Harry's pumpkin juice at breakfast tomorrow morning. And as much as I don't want to have to do it because Ginny used to be a good friend of mine, and I know that it will destroy Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but I don't know Ginny any more. The war changed her as a person for the worse. She took looking out for what she wanted before anything else, including defeating Voldemort. We need to stop her now before she does anything to hurt anybody else.”

Headmistress McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey reluctantly nodded.

“Very well, Miss Granger,” the Headmistress answered. “We'll let you spring your trap on Miss Weasley, as long as you promise to keep a close eye on her and Mr. Potter in the morning to make sure nothing happens to him. Madame Pomfrey will have a love potion antidote on hand just in case. And we'll also have a couple of Order members join us as a precaution.”

Tomorrow everything will come to a head. I'd better write mum and dad tonight to let them know what's about to happen and ask them not to interfere until they get word from McGonagall.

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