Ginny's Sixth Year

Chapter 9

I did my best to patch up my arm in my dormitory while waiting for Neville. He showed up at 6:59. "Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Neville?" I called jokingly.

"Right. Ha-ha. Isn't you staying out past curfew what landed you in detention in the first place?" he responded, obviously upset with me.

"Don't remind me."

"What's this about?"

"Well, I was thinking...what if we started Dumbledore's Army again? You, Luna, and me?"

"Why now?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just wondering. I mean, the Carrows are awful, but we had the D. A. because Umbridge was restricting everything and hurting students. The Carrows haven't hurt anyone," he paused and looked up at me. "Have they?"

"Um...oh...well, the thing is..." I sighed. "Yes. They did during my detention yesterday and today during class."

"What did they do?" Neville asked worriedly.

"They used the Cruciatus Curse yesterday, and—"

"They did WHAT?" Neville roared. I thought of his parents and how they had gone insane. "1+3."

"What? 4."

"Ok. Go on." I realized that he was probably checking for insanity.

"Today was almost worse. He put me under the Imperius Curse—"

"Seriously?"

"Shut up and let me finish a sentence! He made me stab my arm over and over. That's why I was writing Fred and George over supper. And why I was covered in blood, obviously."

"Would they do this to anyone else? How much longer do you have detention? Who helped you in Carrow's class?"

"Whoa! One question at a time! I have two weeks total of detention. I also got two more weeks of detention from his sister, so that's a month total. Luna helped me. She started healing the wounds. Thank Dumbledore she was there, because I would have bled out and died. And I would love to think that the Carrows wouldn't torture anyone else, but honestly, they probably would."

"That's it. We need the D. A. again," Neville decided. "We'll tell Luna tomorrow. For now, you look awful, Ginny. You should rest."

"No, I want to talk to McGonagall first." As if on cue, Professor McGonagall walked in. "Professor!"

"Yes, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall said, a little surprised.

"Can I talk to you, privately, please?" I asked.

"It's a little late for that, Miss Weasley."

"Please, Professor?"

"Oh, alright. Step inside my office, please."

I had always loved McGonagall's office. "Now, what is it, Miss Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"The other day, I couldn't remember the password, and I got caught out after curfew." This wasn't entirely true, but McGonagall didn't heed to know what I had been thinking about at the time. "I got two weeks worth of detention, and I had the first one last night. Professor Carrow used the Cruciatus Curse on me."

"Weasley, you've got to be careful." McGonagall sounded almost...scared. "There are currently no rules stating that they can't do that."

"And then today, my detention was the lesson in Dark Arts. We were learning about how powerful the Imperius Curse is, and he used me as a demonstration. He made me stab my arm over and over.. I am forbidden from going to the hospital wing, but Luna healed it up rather well." Telling the whole story without interruptions somehow made me feel better.

"Have you told anyone besides me?"

"Neville and Luna."

"Have you written home?"

"I've been exchanging letters with the twins."

"Alright. May I see your arm?"

I showed her my mangled arm. She touched one of the deep gashes on my forearm. I winced.

"You may go," McGonagall said finally. 

"Thank you, Professor."

"Ginny," Professor McGonagall called as I was leaving. I whirled around, a little surprised to hear my first name. "Be careful."

"Yes, Professor." I climbed the steps to my dormitory, realizing how tired I was. As soon as I climbed into bed, I fell into an almost dreamless sleep. Almost.

Hi! Let me know what you think of this so far! I'm really into this story, but I want to get some other opinions. Leave constructive criticism, but don't be mean. I'll ty to take everything into consideration.