Ginny's Story

Chapter 25 Putting a Stop To It

It hasn;t been very long since the last upload... I'm quite proud that I got this up so quickly with everything that's been going on *cue round of applause*

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Chapter 25 Putting A Stop To It

“Goodbye Ginny,” Mum exclaimed tearfully, pulling me into a tight hug that all us Weasley kids referred to as a bear hug. “Stay safe... please, for me!”

The Christmas holidays had passed in a blink of an eye They didn’t seem long enough. We definitely didn’t get a long enough time away from the place of terror that was known as Hogwarts.

“I will, Mum,” I promised, smiling to try and reassure her, but nothing could stop Mum’s tears from falling.

“I mean it, Gin!” she sobbed.

“So do I,” I replied, rolling my eyes at her but making sure she couldn’t see first. Dad, who usually understood our exasperation over Mum’s emotions, watched me sternly. I sighed, knowing the war had changed us all, even the ones closest to me. Dad’s sudden change in stopping carefree behaviour was just one example.

Mum pulled me into one last hug after I had said goodbye to Fred, George, and Charlie, and then Dad and I apparated to the station.

“Quickly,” Dad urged, placing a hand on my back and walking through the wall with me.

Everything in the station was going so fast, but so silently too. The only noises were feet shuffling onto the train, tearful parents farewelling their children, and owls hooting from their cages.

Dad stopped walking and gave me a small one-handed hug. “See you,” he said, waving halfheartedly. He was trying to act as if everything was normal, but I knew better. I could see the sadness in his eyes and the twitching nerve in his temple - an obvious giveaway he was either angry or sad.

Dad began to walk away, but i ran to catch up with him. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and felt his arms go around me likewise.

“Bye, Dad,” I whispered. He gave me a watery smile and waved. I turned and walked onto the train I had been dreading all holidays.

“Ginny!” I heard Neville’s voice cry out. He waved to me, happy to see a friendly face. He tugged me into the compartment and I noticed basically the whole of the DA crammed inside.

“So what pranks are we going to pull on them this term?” Anthony Goldstein asked eagerly. There were murmurs of agreement.

“I think it should be something big, something worth remembering for years!” Terry Boot exclaimed.

“No,” I said, quietly but strong enough for everyone to listen. “We can’t have another Luna. For those of you who don’t know what happened to her - why she isn’t here with us on the train today - it’s because she was snatched off the train last time by Death Eaters, just because of what her father had been printing in the Quibbler. Imagine if all of us here did something worth the Carrows telling V-Voldemort -” gasps of horror filled the compartment at the mention of his name. “- about. We would all have to suffer for it! No, we can’t risk doing anything worth that would cause too much trouble. Sure, we can still keep up the DA, but for know on, the DA will be a group for learning, so when the time comes, we can fight. We can fight beside... beside Harry Potter.”

Silence greeted my speech, and I was wondering how all of them took my proposition. I felt anxiety of disapproval begin to eat away at me, before Neville’s face broke into a wide grin.

“Hear, hear!” he shouted and all the other DA members did the same. “After all, everyone’s safety is the most important thing these days. Like Ginny said, we need to all be here to support Harry whenever he gets back from doing whatever he’s doing.”

“And how do you know he’s doing something and not just hiding from the war we all have to face?” Ernie Macmillan asked in his usual pompous manner. He puffed out his red cheeks in what seemed to be what he thought a threatening and confident face, but it really just made him look like a human balloon.

“Ernie,” I said slowly. “I know Harry, and he’s been fighting this war for longer than anyone here. How many of you believed him when he said You-Know-Who was back? I bet the majority of you doubted him at first. But you all saw what he had to say when the DA first started, you all know he was already fighting the war. So don’t you all just stand there and doubt somebody who is braver than all of you put together.”

“Somebody’s got her knickers in a twist,” Michael Corner muttered. I glared at him and he blushed, realising I had heard him.

“To be honest, I don’t care if you believe me or not. But I do care about you sitting here, supposedly ‘fighting the dark arts’, but really having a nice gasbag about whether or not Harry still fighting. So if you don’t really care about the war, you just want to look like you’re doing something and brag about it, then you can leave right now.” I pointed towards the door, but nobody moved. “Good, now please stop doubting, and I will see you all at our first DA meeting.”

Everybody filed out of the compartment until it was just Neville and I.

“Brilliant speeches, Ginny,” Neville appraised, patting my shoulder.

I sighed. “Some of them really do get on my nerves. But I suppose they are all doing the right thing by being in the DA... oh, this war is going to break us, Nev! It really is.”

Neville shook his head. “Last year, I would have agreed with you, but this year I don’t. And I know you don’t really mean it. You’re the bravest student at the school and you’re putting a stop to al of the inequality. I know you don’t think the war is going to break us, or otherwise you would have given up a long time ago.” Neville fell silent and I did as well, thinking about what he had said. All of it was the truth, but it just restored my previous theories by hearing it said aloud.

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