Ginny's Sixth Year

Chapter 20

Ginny,

Please be careful. These are dark times, and you are going to be dead if you don't stay out of detention. Bill will be coming to see you in the hospital wing. If either of us can, one or both of us will come, too. Hopefully Madame Pomfrey will know how to help you. She's never failed anyone before.

Great job with the D.A. You'll be a brilliant leader.

We haven't heard anything from Ron. Mum's really upset about it, as you can imagine. But no news is good news! We're all fine, though. We love you, Ginny.

Stay safe,

Fred and George

I scanned the letter again, looking for a joke. Anything to let me know that Fred and George weren't scared. I couldn't find anything. After about five minutes of sitting there, dumbfounded, I went down to the common room.

"Ready for breakfast, Ginny?" Lavender asked.

"Yeah. I wish. I have to go to the hospital wing. Snape's orders."

"Oh. What's that note?"

"It's a letter from the twins."

"Are they well?" 

"Yeah, they are. Well, I'd better go before Bill gets to the hospital wing. He has the day off and the twins said he would come visit me in there when I wrote to them last night."

"Okay, see you later!"

I walked the empty halls until I reached the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey took one look at me and rushed me to the nearest bed ("Why did you not come to me sooner?"). I barely had time to sit down before...

"Ginny! Fred owled me last night and told me that you were in the hospital wing! I had the day off so I thought that I might as well come, since you were probably upset and such," Bill said in one breath, reminding of how he used to talk when he was younger. He paused and looked at me, the faded blood stains on robes that were too big, the deep gashes on my face, the skin missing from my cheek, and the lone tear falling from my eye. " How're you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Honestly? Terrible," I confessed.

"William Weasley! If you were still a student, you would have just landed yourself in detention!" Madame Pomfrey barked. 

Bill turned a brilliant shade of red. "Sorry, Poppy."

"That's quite alright. Now, either sit down or leave, Mr Weasley, and let me care for your sister." Bill sat down in the chair on the left side of my bed. "Are there any cuts that I can't see?"

"Um, all over my arms, yeah," I said quietly. I revealed the harm I had done to myself, disgusted to see that the cut from the Black Quill was still very visible. "There's one across my stomach, too, but that one's pretty much gone. It was a Sectumsempra. You can see the stain on my shirt."

"Alright. You may find yourself falling asleep, but try to stay conscious as long as possible, please," Madame Pomfrey requested gently.

"Okay. Thank you."

"So, how're your classes?" Bill asked.

"Depends on the class,"I responded darkly. "There's loads of homework, but—"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think there's something you two should see." Madame Pomfrey pointed to a cut on my wrist and muttered something. The cut on my wrist swelled and then "healed" into a horrid scar. "It won't heal like it's supposed to. I don't know what's wrong with it. How exactly did you get this cut?"