The Seventh Year

Caught

Ginny dangled her feet from her bed and felt the icy ground beneath her. She looked through her window, and snow softly fell to the ground. November passed quicker than she realized; the date was now 1 December. 

It had been about a month and a half since Seamus introduced the idea of helping first-years escape the Carrows. When Neville mentioned the idea at the following D.A. meeting, every person volunteered to help track the Carrows' movements; they were also eager to plot the best way to release the younger years. They decided to call each rescue a "servat" for short. Luna said it meant "saves" in Latin. 

It took a month to prepare—to guarantee they made no mistake when it came to their movements. Although Harry had taken the Marauder's Map with him, they discovered each Carrow sibling had a predictable routine—Amycus patrolled the northern side of the castle, his sister watched the south side. 

They began executing servats in the middle of November. It was a simple in-and-out scheme that worked each time. They had yet to be caught, and nearly everyone had let their fear of the Carrows slip their minds. Helping their younger peers was what mattered most. 

Groups of five were assigned to smuggle the children out of the dungeons. Two served as lookouts, two actually went into the dungeons to free everyone, and the last person held the portrait of the Fat Lady open—they feared she would scream if they kept waking her every night. 

This system worked... for the most part. There had been several close calls. For instance, one included the younger years causing too much of a ruckus, causing Ginny and Luna to work even quicker to unchain them. They escaped just before she turned the corner, and she was furious. She screamed, kicked, and used the Diffindo spell on the wall. Her brother came down and was as equally enraged. The redder their faces grew, the harder Ginny and Luna tried to contain their laughter. 

Being caught felt like another day's problem. Each servat was more thrilling than the last, for the Carrows were starting to change their routes in an attempt to catch them setting the students in detention free. 

Another two weeks passed before they made any progress. They caught a glimpse of Ginny's flaming hair, but it was too dark to be sure of the color. By the time they reached the corner she had turned, Ginny had disappeared up the stairs, placing each step methodically so the Carrows would have no reason to follow her up the stairs.

Luna grew worried and confronted her about how she began taking bigger risks every time they were out. She was reluctant to do so, but she chose her wording carefully because she feared Ginny would become angry. Instead, she thanked Luna for noticing and went upstairs to lie down. 

Someone had noticed, Ginny thought to herself as she slumped onto her bed. Luna noticed. On the verge of tears, Ginny sat upright and busied herself by organizing her things. She enjoyed the danger because Harry was missing. She enjoyed the danger because her great love was nowhere to be found. She enjoyed the danger because he was the best thing that happened to her. 

When she failed to get Harry out of her mind, tears streamed down her face. What if the Death Eaters have him? No, they would have killed him. But what if they killed him and didn't break the news to us? No, Vol— He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would've boasted the moment Harry was dead. The thought of Harry dead was something she couldn't bear.

She buried her face into her pillow and sobbed quietly. If the common room heard her, they were bound to ask questions she wasn't ready to answer. 

As she wiped the last tear from her face, she finished organizing her things. Tidying up didn't make much of a difference, but it was a way to comfort her. Ginny thought back to when she helped her mother clean the Burrow all year while the boys were at Hogwarts. She smiled and stayed in bed, drifting off thinking about how simple her life was before school.