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Not From Others | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP, Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, General Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Extreme Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 348 Summary: She may not have been able to join Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Ginny refuses to go down without a fight. As war approaches, Ginny returns to Hogwarts to resurrect Dumbledore's Army and face the darkest year the wizarding world has ever seen. DH from Ginny's POV. Canon. Hitcount: Story Total: 108194; Chapter Total: 3302 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Ginny, Neville and Luna were not permitted to attend the Halloween feast. As the other students gleefully rushed to the Great Hall, which Flitwick had put extraordinary effort into decorating, they glumly trudged into the cold night air, their feet squelching into the rain-sodden lawn. ‘It’ll be fine,’ said Neville brightly, leading the girls towards the forest. ‘Hagrid’s all right. It could have been a lot worse, couldn’t it?’ ‘Yes,’ agreed Luna. ‘Did you hear what happened to Hannah Abbott?’ ‘What?’ asked Neville quickly, turning around and walking backwards so he could see Luna’s face. ‘What happened?’ ‘Oh, no, Luna, I don’t want to hear it,’ moaned Ginny. ‘Don’t tell me.’ ‘She’s all right,’ Luna said reassuringly to them. ‘Nothing lasting.’ ‘I still don’t want to hear about it,’ said Ginny. ‘I’m sick of hearing depressing things.’ She could hear Neville and Luna whispering about Hannah for the rest of the walk, but focused firmly on the warm yellow lights of Hagrid’s hut, determined to keep a sense of normality. Tonight’s detention was, they agreed, a lucky escape from what they could have faced under the Carrows. Though they seemed to attempt to act like normal teachers, their odd fits of rage would occasionally reveal a cruel and sadistic nature, as unpredictable and changing as the weather. A student could go to detention with them and return having only written lines, or they could come back with dark bruises, cut lips and bloody noses. At least with Hagrid they only had to worry about what was in the forest, and was like a normal, though admittedly harsh, detention. Fang’s low barks announced their arrival, and Hagrid welcomed her with a rib crushing hug. ‘How are yeh, Ginny?’ he asked. ‘Them bloody fools up at the castle leavin’ yeh alone?’ ‘Just about,’ she smiled up at him. ‘I can’t believe we got detention with you.’ ‘I know,’ said Hagrid, closing the door of his hut. ‘I was a bit surprised meself, what with Snape knowing that we’re friendly and all tha’, but I s’pose he thinks the forest is scary enough to make up fer it.’ ‘What are we doing in there?’ asked Neville. ‘Lookin’ fer blood-suckin’ bugbears, they should be more active at night. Don’ worry, they’re not as bad as everyone says.’ ‘Easy for you to say,’ muttered Neville quietly, and Ginny threw him a wicked grin. ‘What do we do when we find them?’ asked Luna dreamily. ‘I don’t want to hurt them.’ Hagrid looked a little surprised, but pleased. Ginny was not sure that Luna and Hagrid had ever had anything more but polite conversation in Care of Magical Creatures classes, and suddenly had the very strong desire to see them become the best of friends. ‘Oh, er, well we jus’ need to banish them further back, see,’ said Hagrid happily. ‘They’ve been getting a bit close to the castle, I spotted one in the pumpkin patch, cheeky beggar, an’-’ He stopped suddenly. Fang was sitting at the edge of the forest whining. ‘What is it?’ asked Neville, staring into the darkness. ‘Is something the matter?’ ‘Nah,’ said Hagrid. ‘He’s just a big coward. Dark night though, not much moonligh’, best we all stick together.’ They huddled behind Hagrid’s huge form as they entered the forest. The night was so dark that Ginny could only just make out the shadowed outlines of gnarled and ancient trees; she found herself holding her arms outstretched to balance. Behind her, Neville stumbled over a tree root. ‘Yeh can light yer wands up,’ Hagrid called over his shoulder. ‘No need to worry.’ ‘Lumos,’ whispered Ginny, holding her wand up. Feeling a little more confident with light, she walked alongside Hagrid, Fang trotting ahead of them. In the ghostly blue light of her wand, the branches of the trees were illuminated in the darkness, meeting across the top of their path like a cathedral knave. She felt an odd weight on her heart, and as she walked, she though inexplicably of tattered veils and faded photographs. There was a sudden rustling and thumping patter, and they turned their wands in time to see the stubby tail of a bugbear running into the thicket. ‘I saw one!’ shouted Luna joyfully. ‘He went that way!’ ‘Nice spot,’ said Neville eagerly, beginning to follow the trail the bugbear left. ‘Er, don’ worry, Neville,’ said Hagrid distractedly. ‘Let’s keep moving, I’m sure we’ll come across more.’ He ambled off further along the path. Ginny, Luna and Neville stared at each other for a moment, and then followed in bewilderment. In the distance, Ginny could hear the odd, strangled cry of some sort of creature. The air was thick and musty; unusually warm for mid-autumn. ‘This is the weirdest detention I’ve ever had,’ said Neville quietly. ‘Where are we going?’ ‘Yes,’ said Luna sadly. ‘I was quite looking forward to finding some blood-sucking bugbears. I know they’re vicious, and they can spray you with that horrible smell, but it would have been tremendous fun.’ It didn’t sound like much fun to Ginny, but she was feeling increasingly unsettled as they walked further and further into the forest, and Fang was now skulking nervously at Hagrid’s heel. ‘Hagrid?’ she called, hurrying to keep up with his huge strides, ‘what’s going on? Where are we going?’ ‘We’re being watched,’ he said shortly. ‘Keep walking.’ Suddenly the unsettled feeling made sense, and she too was aware of multiple presences surrounding them. They kept walking and soon she heard the gentle thudding of hooves. ‘Centaurs,’ she whispered to Neville and Luna. To her right, she saw a large, muscular figure pass behind a tree, almost silently. They soon came to a clearing, where the water logged soil squelched underfoot and through the bare branches stars scattered across the sky. The centaurs stepped forward into their wandlight now, stern and proud looking, surrounding them suspiciously. ‘Evening, Magorian,’ said Hagrid loudly. ‘You have been warned, Hagrid,’ said a large, chestnut coloured centaur. ‘We told you that you were no longer welcome in our forest.’ ‘We warned you before you even entered,’ another said, and many stamped their hooves angrily. ‘I can’ help it if I’ve work to do,’ said Hagrid stubbornly. He drew himself up unnecessarily, standing even taller. ‘Been ordered to take this lot in here fer detention, and I’m not going to ruddy well say no to Snape, even fer you lot.’ ‘Leave,’ ordered Magorian. ‘Happily,’ said Hagrid scowling. ‘You’ll come an’ explain it to the Death Eaters in charge fer me, will yeh?’ ‘Impudence!’ snarled one, starting forward and pounding the ground furiously. ‘I’m telling it like it is, Bane,’ said Hagrid. ‘This won’t be yeh forest if the Death Eaters have their way. But you could-’ ‘We ought to slay you all,’ said Magorian, staring with intense dislike at Neville. ‘You bring an adult humans into our home, Hagrid.’ ‘Blame Snape!’ growled Hagrid. ‘Snape is the one who sent us here,’ said Luna, her voice unusually commanding. ‘We didn’t want to intrude. He sent us here as punishment.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Neville. ‘He probably wanted you to kill us.’ A swift as a flash of lightening, Bane drew his bow and aimed an arrow at Neville’s face. ‘You think us vicious? Bloodthirsty?’ Neville stumbled back a little, but kept eye contact. ‘Well, you are pointing a-’ Ginny stepped hard on his foot ‘-I mean, no, not at all. That’s just Snape.’ ‘Yeh could help us,’ said Hagrid pleadingly. ‘Yeh could protect yeh home by helping us.’ ‘We do not meddle in petty human affairs,’ said Bane. ‘It’s not petty!’ said Ginny hotly. Now the arrow was aimed at her. ‘People are dying!’ ‘Irrelevant,’ said Magorian. ‘Individual lives rarely matter in the eons of eternity. History will be made in this forest. But not by you, and not with our help.’ ‘At least let us get on with our work,’ said Hagrid. ‘I’m meant to be givin’ a detention.’ Fury erupted again, the centaurs were dancing with rage, creating a noise like a dozen war drums. ‘You treat our home as a punishment,’ spat Magorian. ‘Like some distressing but inconsequential thing to be used when convenient. Get out now.’ They didn’t need to be told again. Hagrid gave a sharp whistle to Fang and turned, marching so angrily that Ginny, Neville and Luna had to run to keep up. ‘Ruddy centaurs,’ he growled. Ginny was sure they were still being watched, but thought that even centaurs would have to be foolishly brave to attack Hagrid as he stormed through bracken. ‘Don’ care about no one but themselves and their ruddy forest. Spend far too much time inhaling plant fumes if you ask me.’ ‘What are we going to do about the detention?’ panted Neville. ‘We’ve only been here half an hour, Snape will be furious.’ ‘Ah, don’ worry about that slimy bloke,’ said Hagrid. ‘I’ll tell ‘im yeh did the full four hours. Yeh lot sneak into bed while the feast is still going. Yeh’ll be up bright an’ early for yeh Hogsmeade trip tomorrow.’ He was still angry when he bade them goodnight at his hut, and as they walked away they could hear the clanking of bottles and angry curse words through the window. ‘Blimey,’ said Neville. ‘They’re not all like Firenze, are they?’ ‘Snape must have known,’ said Luna crossly. ‘He must know that the centaurs don’t want us there. It was very rude of him.’ ‘That was probably the intention,’ said Ginny. ‘He was probably hoping we’d get beaten up like Umbridge did. And then he probably would have pinned it on Hagrid,’ she added venomously. ‘Well, hopefully he won’t notice us sneaking back,’ said Neville heavily. They could still hear the warm buzz of the feast as they passed the Great Hall. Ginny’s stomach rumbled as she glanced at the door enviously, wondering if Demelza and Colin were having fun. ‘Luna,’ she said spontaneously. ‘As we’re sneaking around anyway, come have a sleepover in Gryffindor. I’ll lend you pyjamas.’ Luna beamed at her. ‘That would be really fun! We should get some snacks from the kitchens, come on!’ She seized Ginny’s hand, and pulled her down the corridor leading to the kitchens. ‘See you later Neville!’ laughed Ginny. ‘We’ll grab you some food!’ The house-elves were incredibly accommodating. Ginny had worried that they were being a little cheeky — the poor creatures had just cooked an entire feast, after all, but they barely had to ask before Cornish pasties, chicken drumsticks, chocolate cake and several bottles of butterbeer were pressed into their hands. ‘While we’re here,’ said Ginny, after thanking them, ‘I was hoping we could talk to Kreacher?’ The ancient old house elf shuffled through the crowd, scowling and looking up at Luna with mistrust. ‘Hello, Kreacher,’ said Ginny, feeling oddly nervous. Last time she had spoken to him, he had called her a filthy blood traitor and left her drying laundry in a crumpled heap under her bed. He looked up at her, and mumbled something to himself. A house elf next to him gave him a sharp pinch. ‘Kreacher should not speak ill of students!’ squeaked the house elf. ‘Kreacher is a Hogwarts house elf now!’ ‘I wanted to know why you aren’t working for Harry anymore,’ said Ginny. Kreacher’s face twisted into an even more unpleasant expression and he looked at his feet. ‘Kreacher still works for Master Harry,’ he said. ‘Kreacher is working for Hogwarts until Master Harry calls him.’ Ginny knelt down so she was at eye level with him, Luna looking on curiously. ‘Did Harry tell you to come here?’ ‘Kreacher can’t talk about Master Harry’s plans and thoughts,’ snapped Kreacher. ‘But Kreacher came here on his own thoughts.’ ‘How is Harry?’ asked Ginny. The words almost hurt as she asked them. She was missing him so much it was like an open wound, and finally she was talking to someone that had seen him, recently, and it felt like she was contacting him. ‘Kreacher can’t talk about Master Harry,’ Kreacher said stubbornly. Her shoulder sank. ‘Please, Kreacher? You don’t need to tell me what he’s up to, just how he is, whether he’s all right-’ ‘Kreacher has been here a month,’ he said. ‘Master Harry has not summoned him.’ ‘Well you’ve clearly made friends with him,’ snapped Ginny, losing patience. ‘So you obviously have spoken to him a bit, even if it’s not been-’ ‘That’s not the way to do it, Ginny,’ said Luna gently. Kreacher’s face had now contorted into such a grotesque expression that he looked quite unrecognizable from the gargoyles which lined the castle barbican. ‘Er, sorry, Kreacher. I’m just very worried about him. I’m sure, er… I’m sure you can understand.’ He blinked at her, wringing his gnarled, spotted little hands. ‘You are Miss Weasley,’ he said. ‘Um… Yes.’ ‘Miss Ginevra.’ ‘That’s right.’ ‘Kreacher hears of you. From Master Harry and the… the…’ Kreacher pursed his lips, clearly struggling to find the right words. ‘…Miss Hermione.’ ‘Harry and Hermione? They spoke about me?’ She gave a quick glance back at Luna, who was smiling encouragingly. It seemed ridiculous, but it was nice to know that she hadn’t been forgotten. ‘What did they say?’ Kreacher paused for a long time, dancing from one foot to the other. Ginny wondered if he was conflicted with his loyalty to Harry and his duty to the students, or whether his dislike of Muggleborns was strong enough to betray Hermione’s confidence. ‘Master Harry had concerns,’ he said finally. ‘Miss Hermione was reassuring.’ ‘What were his concerns?’ ‘Kreacher cannot talk about Master Harry,’ he said again, clearly very uncomfortable. She sighed, finally giving up. ‘Well, thank you anyway, Kreacher. If he does summon you, give him my love, won’t you? My brother and Hermione too.’ They left the kitchen shortly after, waving goodbye to the other, much happier, elves. ‘We should probably hurry,’ said Luna airily, examining her watch that didn’t seem to have hands. ‘The feast will be over very soon.’ It was not hard to smuggle Luna into the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady barely paid attention to them, giggling over a glass of mead with her friend violet, and the only person there was Neville, who was lounging sleepily on the sofa. ‘Pasty?’ said Ginny, chucking one at him. He caught it clumsily, yawning as he did. ‘Ta. I’m glad you’re back, I was getting worried. I was thinking, want to check out the Room of Requirement tomorrow? See if it’s safe enough.’ ‘I said I’d meet my brothers in Hogsmeade,’ she replied, settling down by the fire. Luna lifted up Neville’s legs and sat underneath them, placing them back across her lap once she had made herself comfortable. Ginny gave a wicked grin to Neville, but he did not seem remotely concerned or uncomfortable, something she found a little disappointing. ‘Well, I’ll check it out and update you when you get back. I’m sure it’s about working with the room…’ He tapped his wand on the top of his butterbeer, and the bottle cap bounced high into the air, where it was nimbly caught by Luna. For the first time that term, Ginny found herself having fun. It seemed strange that she had been expecting a terrible evening of detention, and had instead ended up giggling by the fireside with her friends, eating with glorious inelegance and scratching a mewing Crookshanks behind the ears. It was as though there was no war at all, and as students began to return to the feast she showed Luna her dorm, where they slept top to tail and whispered through the night. *** Hogsmeade was particularly blustery the next day. Twirling fountains of fallen leaves were picked up by the air, and Ginny struggled to control her hair as it whipped around her face. Bill, Fred and George were waiting for her in the Three Broomsticks; she could see them laughing at her through the window. Fred gave a stupid little wave, and she made a rude hand gesture in return. ‘Miss Weasley!’ came an admonishing voice. She turned to see Slughorn, hands on his gigantic waist, looking at her with shock. ‘I never imagined you to be the sort.’ ‘Oh, er, sorry, Professor. I just… Lost my temper with someone. Won’t happen again.’ He shook his head disapprovingly, but apparently decided to let her off, and passed her to enter the pub. She could now see her brothers roaring with laughter. ‘Shut up,’ she said to them when she had made her way to their table. ‘That’s not a nice greeting to your favourite brothers,’ said George. ‘Nice hair,’ said Fred. ‘I’ve always thought you should go for the scarecrow look.’ ‘How are you, Ginny?’ asked Bill. ‘I hope you didn’t get into trouble there?’ She sat down, huffily unwrapping her scarf from her neck and throwing a dirty look at Fred, who was still sniggering. ‘No, Slughorn’s all right. It’s the Carrows and Snape I have to look out for.’ ‘How have they been?’ asked George. ‘Mum’s been worried sick.’ ‘They’re awful,’ said Ginny. ‘I mean, don’t tell her that, obviously, but they’re complete psychopaths. Every now and then they lose their temper and end up physically hurting someone, or throwing something at you, or coming up with bizarre and cruel punishments-’ ‘Like what?’ asked Bill sharply. ‘Like sending me, Neville and Luna out to the Forbidden Forest at night!’ she said. Madam Rosmerta placed a flagon of butterbeer in front of her, and she smiled up gratefully before continuing. ‘He wanted us to sort out a bugbear problem-’ ‘You’re joking?’ said Fred. ‘They’re nasty little things, horrible bites and they bloody stink.’ ‘Well, we didn’t actually complete the detention because the centaurs kicked us out. I’m sure he knew that they don’t want anyone in there anymore, even Hagrid, and was just hoping they’d beat us up. He can’t even do his own dirty work, the coward,’ she muttered, taking a deep gulp of butterbeer. Bill sighed heavily. ‘Please stay out of trouble, Ginny-’ Fred leaned dramatically over the table and placed a hand over Billy’s mouth. ‘Ignore him, he’s boring. Get into lots of trouble.’ ‘But stop getting caught,’ said George. ‘Have we taught you nothing?’ ‘Yeah,’ said Billy, throwing Fred’s hand off his face with an irritated look. ‘What did you get caught for anyway?’ ‘Trying to steal the sword of Gryffindor,’ said Ginny. She was not concerned with being overheard. After all, she hadn’t been successful, so it was hardly useful information. Her brothers stared at her. ‘Why?’ asked George slowly. ‘I wanted to get it to Harry,’ she replied impatiently. ‘How on earth were you going to do that?’ asked Fred, amused. ‘Well, the plan was to get it to you guys, and then… then…’ They suddenly looked very uncomfortable. ‘What?’ she asked. ‘Ginny,’ said Billy gently, his voice low. ‘No one’s heard from him…’ ‘I know! He’s keeping a low profile. But I thought you guys-’ ‘No, Ginny,’ said Fred. ‘Listen. Literally no one has heard from him. From any of them.’ His words hung in the air like a death sentence. ‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ she said. ‘They’re good at hiding, that’s all.’ ‘Yeah, well, maybe we shouldn’t talk about it in public,’ said George, throwing an uneasy glance at the bar. The room was packed with students, and very noisy, so she doubted they would be overheard. ‘Oh, please,’ she said. ‘What’s got into you lot? All doom and gloom. Have you given up?’ ‘No!’ said Fred, who sounded genuinely offended. ‘As a matter of fact, I’m glad you wrote and told us to come here. We wanted to tell you about our secret project.’ ‘What happened to the secret part?’ asked Bill, rolling his eyes. ‘Keep your voice down.’ ‘Right, right,’ said Fred. ‘Anyway, we’ve taken some inspiration from the Quibbler, and joined forces with Lee.’ ‘Lee?’ said Ginny, dumbfounded. ‘Lee Jordon?’ ‘Mmhmm,’ said George, sipping his dirigible plum cider. ‘The one and only.’ ‘We’re launching a secret radio programme. For everyone interested in the fight against You-Know-Who. And if we hear anything about Harry and the others we’ll announce it to keep everyone’s spirits up,’ said Fred. ‘We’re sick of hearing rumours that he’s dead.’ ‘You lot just tried to imply that he’s dead!’ she said, outraged. ‘Right, but we don’t believe it, just don’t want you getting your hopes up too much,’ said George. ‘You lot make no sense. What’s this radio programme going to be called, anyway? When’s it going to be on?’ ‘First show is this Monday,’ said Bill. ‘But we do need a name, or a catchy slogan, or a gimmick or something…’ There was a brief silence as Ginny considered, the humming of the busy pub acting like a white noise. ‘You should make it more about Harry,’ she said. Fred let out a dramatic groan and lay his head on the table. ‘I’m surrounded by lovesick fools, give it a rest…’ ‘I’m serious!’ she said. ‘You said it yourself, you want to keep people’s spirits up by reminding them that he’s out there fighting.’ Bill rubbed his jaw. ‘It’s worth considering, I suppose… We’ll have to talk to the others.’ ‘Who else is involved?’ ‘Pretty much what’s left of the order. Us, Dad, Kingsley, Lupin…’ ‘Has he come to his senses yet?’ she demanded. Bill laughed. ‘Yes, finally. Still a nervous wreck, but there. He’s one of the most enthusiastic actually.’ ‘Him, Tonks and Tonks’ mum are staying for Christmas,’ added Fred. ‘Ted Tonks has gone on the run and you know what Mum’s like, doesn’t want any of them to be lonely.’ ‘Oh,’ said Ginny. She was suddenly feeling quite sad. ‘Sounds like a lot’s been going on.’ ‘I’m sure you’ve been busy too,’ said Bill. ‘Tell us more about the Carrows. Don’t hold back, we’re smart enough to edit for Mum.’ They chatted for at least two hours, ordering bar snacks to keep them going, before the time came for Ginny to head back and they left the warmth of the pub to stand on the chilly street outside. She embraced them one by one, wishing that she could Apparate home with them. ‘Don’t forget to listen to the wireless on Monday night,’ said Fred. ‘Seven O’clock. The password will be ‘Sirius’, Remus picked it.’ ‘I will,’ she said. ‘Make sure you remember to write.’ He winked, and they walked away, turned on the spot and vanished. The wind stung against her face. She bit her lip and wrapped her scarf a little tighter around her face, before beginning the slow march back up to the castle. When she arrived at the gates, however, Amycus Carrow was waiting for her. ‘No more Hogsmeade trips for you, girly,’ he wheezed, grinning. ‘What? Why?’ She couldn’t think what she had possibly done wrong. ‘You’ve been banned, that’s what,’ he said. ‘Order of Professor Snape. You’re to go up to his office at once.’ |
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