Where I Belong

-------------------------------Beginning of new term at Hogwarts---------------------------------

"I have a very important announcement for all of you. For those of you who were with us last year, you will remember we lost one of our beloved students."

A deathly silence fell over the Ravenclaws. Even the Slytherins seemed somber for a moment. They could not ignore the deaths occurring all around them since the resurrection of the Dark Lord. Yet even at this moment, quite a few of them managed to look quite smug, as if they were not a part of it and were safe from all evil. More like they were part of the darkness. It was no secret at Hogwarts that many of the Slytherin families had already crossed over to join the Dark side. Hence, all the other houses were avoiding them like the plague. Ginny's eyes lingered just a moment longer over the forms of the most prominent Slytherins--the ones who were confirmed Death Eaters to-be, Malfoy, Avery, Nott, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle. Then she jerked back to reality just in time to hear Dumbledore say,

"I have assured your parents that as long as I am here, you are under my protection. I will do my best to keep Hogwarts a safe refuge from the evil that is spreading over the land. However I cannot control what is in your destinies. Those of you who have already decided to join the Dark Lord in his reign of terror, you have been forewarned. I will not let spies and infiltrators jeopardize the safety of others."

All the students shot dark glances towards the Slytherin table where some of the students squirmed under the piercing gazes while others returned the stare with equal fervor tainted with their trademark arrogance and meanness.

"I must also stress that now is the time for co-operation. The greatest strength we have against the enemy is our numbers. If we stand united in our cause, we will succeed. Personal feuds, grudges, misunderstandings and enmity must be over looked for the greater good. May we be like the strands of a rope, united and entwined. Now moving on to happier things, I welcome all the first years, may you enjoy as those before you have. And now for the most important thing of all, dig in!"

At this whispers and shouts broke out all at once, as the tension was broken. Ginny listened quietly to the conversations of her fellow housemates as they argued about what Dumbledore had just said, the massacres happening all round, the nasty Slytherins, and then moved onto lighter topics such as Quidditch and the House Cup. The only times she opened her mouth was when someone asked her a question. It was a trick of Ginny's to remain quiet in the midst of a heated discussion. She had found very early on that no one saw things from the same perspective as her. And keeping her mouth shut had its advantages. She could listen to the rest and occasionally people told her more than they should because she was such a good listener. Later at night, Ginny would lie awake for hours processing all that she had heard and form her own deductions and conclusions.

"Ginny, could you please pass me the gravy?"

Ginny jerked out of her reverie just in time to see Ron looking at her questioningly.

"You alright Ginny?"

"Yes, I'm alright. I was just thinking. What were you saying?"

"Ginny, are you sure you're OK? You look a bit lost."

Ginny looked at her brother, trying to hold back her laughter. Now he noticed that she was lost. She had been lost since the time she had narrowly escaped death in the Chamber of Secrets. She had read in many books that near-death experiences were profoundly disturbing and changed the lives of the victims forever. Many found themselves with a clearer perception of the world around them. Oh! She had a clearer perception all right. However...she broke off the train of thoughts and tried to focus on the problem at hand. How to best convince her naïve, concerned brother that she was fine. Forcing herself to give her sweetest smile, she answered,

"Yes, Ron. I'm fit as a fiddle. With brothers like you fussing all over me at every moment, how could I not be? I've got to go now. I promised to meet a friend after dinner. I'll talk to you later, OK?"

With that she left before Ron could open his mouth to say another thing. He shook his head dumbfounded as she left the Hall and turned back to find Hermione telling Harry about something she had read over the holidays. He smiled to himself. Same old Hermione, always the bookworm. He pushed all thoughts of Ginny out of his mind promising himself he'd talk to her later.

Meanwhile, Ginny was rushing through the corridors towards the Gryffindor dormitories. She had not meant to leave the table so suddenly. But she had felt it again. The warning signals that something was about to happen. She had to lie down quickly before the visions came or God knows how or when anyone would find her. She had to get to her room and quick. Already she could feel her vision blurring at the edges, her 'other' senses sharpening to a pinpoint and the hairs on her neck bristling. It was as if the air around her was charged with electricity. She heard herself as if from somewhere far, far away give the Fat Lady the password. She was lucky to have known it but that was the advantage of having Fred and George around. They knew their way into every place at Hogwarts before anyone else. She flung open the door to her room just in time as the darkness finally enveloped her. She lay down on the soft covers with the curtains pulled all round her so she was hidden from the view of her roommates who would no doubt arrive later. And then she prayed; prayed so that she could survive the torment. And then the visions began.

She saw him again, sitting with his back towards her. She could not see his face and yet she knew exactly who he was. It was HIM, Tom Marvolo Riddle or Voldemort or the Dark Lord or He Who Must Not Be Named. Whatever people called him. She could feel him with her 'other' sense. The sense, which had suddenly awakened in her over the past summer. At first when it happened she had been scared. She remembered the first incident as if it had happened just yesterday.

--------------------------------------Flashback to the summer holidays--------------------------------------------

"Hey Gin! Wanna join us in a game of Quidditch? Me, you and Harry on one team and the twins and Charlie on the other. What do you say?"

Ginny looked up from her bed at her youngest brother. Despite being a year apart, she had always felt close to Ron. He had been her role model and her mentor. But over the past four years, after he joined Hogwarts, they had drifted apart considerably. Ron was always busy with either Harry or Hermione. At first, Ginny had tried desperately to fit in with the trio. But she soon realized that she could never be a part of their group. They were just too tuned into each other to give a damn about the rest of the world. Also, her earlier infatuation with Harry did not help matters. For a long time, she had been miserable over the fact that she would never mean anything to him other that his best friend's sister. And the fact that Harry was staying at their place over the summer did not help matters. She could not help feeling awkward around him. And now here was Ron asking her if she wanted to be round them as if oblivious to her discomfort. But of course she had become insignificant once more as soon as Harry had arrived home.

"No thanks, Ron! I'm going to go to Diagon Alley with Mum for a bit of shopping!"

"Oh! Ok then! I'll go see if I can find Bill."

Ginny waited for a few moments after Ron left before slowly reaching under her pillow and drawing out a small lavender colored book. This was her journal. She had always wanted to be able to write a diary so that she could laugh over the memories in her old age. But she not very good at writing regularly. So she had resorted to writing a journal. From time to time whenever she was in the mood she would pen down bits and pieces of what was going on in her life. Like right now she was writing about her increasing sense of depression. What was the word for it?? Anomaly--yes that's what she felt like it. As if she were part of the world and yet she was different. Unusual, unnatural. Once or twice, since she had come back to the Burrow she had even felt that she could feel the 'other' world. The one in which she knew she could belong. She would be perfectly normal one moment and then suddenly everything would go fuzzy and she could only see gray and black specks. It was like looking at one of those things Muggles called "the idiot box". Ginny sighed and carefully put her quill and the inkbottle away. Then she walked over to her wooden desk by the window and put her journal in her secret compartment. She glanced out of the window, watching the boys playing Quidditch.

And then it happened. Her vision blurred and she felt her knees go weak. She slumped to the floor, her head hitting a corner of the table as she fell causing a nasty gash just above her right ear. But Ginny could feel nothing. The world as she knew it had disappeared. Instead, she found herself in a dark room looking at the back of an old brocade chair before a blazing fire. She could just see an arm resting on one side of the chair. It was pale, almost translucent and yet she felt that it did not belong to someone who was weak. And then she heard the hissing.

"Yes, my love. Soon. Soon, you shall have a feast that will satisfy the cravings of your appetite. He will not live long, now that he no longer has his mother's protection. I shall rise again from the ashes like the phoenix and my followers will grow in numbers. Darkness shall rule supreme again. And I shall be Lord of it all."

Surely, she was mistaken. This was not happening. The voice, it was the same except for a deeper timbre but it was him. She knew that He was back but surely she was not here too. What could he want with her? And how was it that she understood what he was saying? Why was he telling her all of this? And then she saw the slithering movement near his feet. A cobra raised its head and hissed at the occupant of the chair. And still the Dark Lord spoke as if oblivious to her presence. Could she be invisible? What was happening? Her head was starting to throb. Oh! The pain, the searing pain! And then she screamed. One long wail of pure agony before the darkness overtook her senses.

"Ginny, Ginny! Please wake up! It's me. Come on, Ginny. Snap out of it."

Ginny opened her eyes squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights.

"Where am I? What happened?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, baby!" she heard her mother wail. "You're OK. You just had a nasty fall and..." Her mother broke down sobbing.

Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Dr. Aaron standing there. Dr. Aaron was the mediwizard who had treated the Weasley's since Molly had been pregnant with Bill. He was looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"Ginny, can you please tell me what happened?"

Ginny shut her eyes as if trying to remember. But she was actually wondering whether or not to tell him of what she had seen. But no, she scolded herself. It might have just been a nasty dream. No need to make Mum any more hysterical than she already is.

"I was dizzy and I guess I fell. I don't remember much."

"That's OK. You must have hit the table when you fell. I've already healed the cut and there should be no scarring. I think it was just stress or perhaps you have not been eating well. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. God knows, you could have bled to death if you hadn't been screaming like a banshee."

The doctor smiled at her with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Ginny smiled back assuring him that she would take care of herself in the future. He held out his hand and as Ginny slipped her hand into his, she felt a shock run through her. She could feel him. For one moment she knew his essential being, all his characteristics, his thoughts, his feelings and then like a flash of lightning it was gone as the doctor jerked his hand away. He was eyeing her warily now. He must have felt something, thought Ginny to herself. But he regained his composure soon enough and left the room with the rest of the Weasley's trailing after him. Except Harry, Ron and Mum.

"My head feels like it's just been pounded with a sledgehammer. Would all of you stop looking at me like that? I'm fine. Mum, how many times have the boys broken bones and bruised themselves. And still they survived with all their brains intact. I think, my fall is nothing compared to that. Honestly, the way you fuss."

Molly seemed to be a bit relieved at hearing her daughter talk so cheerfully. She shooed the boys out of the room, telling her to rest. But not before Harry and Ron had each asked her if everything was alright. Ginny would have been touched by the concern in Harry's eyes if it had not been for the thoughts about what had just happened occupying her mind.

She had stayed in bed the whole day after her 'accident' just thinking about all that she had seen. She could not understand what was happening and why now all of a sudden. For some reason she knew that she had to remember these dreams/visions. So she decided to keep a log of all that she saw with the date and time of occurrence and paying careful attention to write down every detail.

The second time it happened she was no more prepared than the first. She had been helping Ron degnome the garden when his hand suddenly brushed against hers. Images rushed across her mind of Ron falling and hitting the ground with a sickening thump and blood flowing from a wound just above his eyebrows. And then it was gone. She knew Ron had never been hurt in that way. She had quickly run into the house, scared at what she had seen and wondering if she was finally losing her marbles. Maybe she would have to go to St. Mungo's.

Later that day, Ron had fallen off his broom while playing Quidditch with the others and had cut his forehead on a sharp rock. Ginny had been so frightened at the sight that she had promptly fainted. Thankfully, the rest of the family had assumed that she was upset at seeing all the blood and had not pestered her about it.

After that the visions and dreams had come with increasing frequency. Every time she had come into direct physical contact with anyone, she had been able to see inside them just as it had happened with Dr. Aaron. Thankfully, none of her other family members had felt it like the doctor. So she was saved any further interrogation. But she had already seen too much. She had seen inside Harry, courage that surpassed imagination. In her brother she had seen loyalty and devotion and an awakening love for Hermione. In her Mum she had seen the overwhelming love she had for her children. And then she had also seen the bad, she had seen their deepest, darkest fears and secrets.

Over the summer, she had slowly withdrawn into a protective cocoon. Away from them all. She still kept up appearances of being normal. But she knew in her heart that she would never be the old 'Ginny' again. That part of her died over the summer. And all because of this. The same kind of dreams over and over again. She still did not understand why it was happening to her. Why she was able to see and hear the Dark Lord. But she had resolved to herself to go through the Hogwarts Library with a fine-toothed comb if necessary until she knew what was happening to her. She had an inkling it had something to do with her experiences in her first year.

---------------------------------------------------Return to Present-------------------------------------------------------

And then she heard the voice again. That cold, commanding voice. The person to whom she had unwittingly poured out all her soul in her second year. Voldemort. She was not afraid to utter his name. She had seen his true form, his cruelty, and his evil. She listened carefully as he spoke to the hooded Death Eater before him.

"You will bring your boy to me, Lucius. He shall join our ranks and be our greatest strength. Consider this as payment for sparing your life, you coward! You do not deserve to be among us. You, who turned your back on me when I fell. However, I see potential in your boy. He has it in him to be the greatest Death Eater in history if he is trained properly from now. Bring him to me during the next full moon. I wish to speak to him. He will have to be prepared for the cleansing of all his purity during the next penumbral lunar eclipse. I will require a few things for the Ritual and you will obtain them for me. Do you comprehend, you incompetent fool?"

"Y-Yes Master. But what if he refuses?"

"Then you had better hope that I never see you again. Or the consequences might be quite disastrous for you."

Ginny's mind was spinning. Could it really be? Lucius Malfoy, was going to bring his son to the Dark Lord for some ritual. And here she had thought he was already a part of the dark side. She had to get more information on this Ritual and its relation to the lunar eclipse. Slowly she willed herself to leave. Over the summer, she had learnt that often she could withdraw from these dreams just by bending her will strong enough. Hence, she was able to control her exit but not her entry into this strange realm.

As her mind returned to the present, she could feel the familiar pounding in her head set in again. And as her senses returned to normal, a flood of information from her surroundings began to find their way into her mind. The thumping of the sledgehammer in her head increased. The voices of her roommates chatting seemed like deafening roars from a distant thunderstorm. And the smells of perfume and candle wax; they burnt into her nose assaulting her delicate senses.

Ginny lay in the dark for a long time, questions whirling through her mind. Finally, at the break of dawn she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.