Family Ties

Over the next few days, Umbridge experienced a mass revolt from almost the entire population of Hogwarts. It appeared Dean had not been the only one to purchase some of the twins' Skiving Snackboxes; every time Umbridge entered a class, the students there would either faint, vomit or start bleeding furiously from the nose. Every last one who was questioned claimed they suffered from 'Umbridge-itis'.

Dean and the other fifth years suffered a painful detention evening cutting into his own skin with a specialist quill that Umbridge had, along with three other classes before she gave up trying to find out what was going on. Filch now had the power to whip students or hang them up by their ankles, but there were so many students at any given time breaking rules that he didn't know where to start, and there were so many Dungbombs set off in the corridors that even first years learned the Bubblehead Charm for protection when walking between classrooms.

Every student seemed to be trying to fill the void left by Fred and George's departure and, as Dean had suspected, their flight to freedom was fast becoming legendary. It was turning into an expression - "I might just do a Weasley" meant just jump on your broom and leave school behind. And Peeves... Peeves was taking Fred's parting words very seriously. He caused as much chaos as possible at all times, and Dean's personal favourite pastime of the poltergeist's was following Umbridge around for hours and blowing loud raspberries whenever she spoke.

A week after Fred and George's dramatic exit, Dean was climbing out the portrait hole to head down for dinner. He was just about to push on the portrait when he heard raised voices on the other side. "Get OFF me, Michael, I'm late for Quidditch practice!"

"I don't care!"

"Well, I do, it's not my fault you can't deal with our houses being rivals for the cup! Now get out of my way please, I'm going."

Dean felt a little butterfly of hope beat its wings in his chest. That doesn't sound like a happy couple... While he didn't want Ginny do be unhappy, the more he saw her and spoke to her, the more he wanted her for himself and he couldn't do that while her boyfriend was around.

* ~ *

Dean spent the next few weeks in a blurry haze of revision and studying. He had taken to going to the Room of Requirement to study, because it was quiet and the atmosphere calmed him. He had not yet looked at the Memory Glass again. He had however, found a filing cabinet that was a strong temptation for him, it was labelled Assignments and Tests, and suffixed with the year. I bet the exams haven't changed that much... I could just... What? What use is it to have the grades without knowing the answers? If he was going to survive at St Mungo's, he needed to learn the stuff for himself.

He had, however, the night he'd found it, looked at the exam papers from Gary's fourth year, to see how they compared. Dean hadn't done that much worse than Gary, about 20% less on each paper and considering that Gary got an average of around 99% (Dean saw one Astronomy paper labelled 107%), that was perfectly respectable.

As the final Quidditch match of Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw grew closer, Dean noticed that Ginny was eating more and more meals at the Gryffindor table, and spending a lot more time in the Gryffindor Common Room than in the library where she used to go to meet Michael. Dean felt the hopeful little bubble in his chest grow a little more on the morning of the match, when Michael came over to talk to Ginny and they whispered furiously for a moment before he stormed away.

When Dean left the Great Hall, Ginny was just in front of him. Michael barged into Dean on his way past to grab Ginny by the upper arm. "Please, Ginny, for me?"

"NO! I'm not quitting the team, Michael! Not for you, not for anybody!"

She wrenched out of his grip and hurried to the stairs. Michael stared after her with a scowl on his face. Dean made sure he bumped into his shoulder on his way past to the stairs.

An hour later the stands around the Quidditch Pitch were packed to bursting; everyone turned out to the last match of the season, especially when it was a decider like this. Dean didn't hold out much hope for a victory against Ravenclaw; after all, Ron's record was against him. When Dean had spoken to him after breakfast though, he seemed a lot less nervous than he ever had been before.

He heard, rather than saw, Luna Lovegood's eagle hat shrieking as the Ravenclaw team traipsed onto the field with Lee Jordan reading out their names without enthusiasm. Dean cheered with the rest of the Gryffindors while their team walked on to the pitch, especially loudly when Ginny's name was read out and his stomach did a back flip watching her long red hair whip out behind her in a gust of wind. He had found it quite hard this year to watch the Quaffle action during matches; his eye kept being drawn to Ginny circling, looking for the Snitch.

He wondered what the attraction of playing Quidditch was; he loved watching it, but had no desire to participate in a game where obtaining a cracked skull was an option. Dean groaned along with the rest of the Gryffindors as Roger Davis put his first, and probably not his last, goal past Ron. He laughed as he watched Lee getting told off by Professor McGonagall for swearing into the magical microphone.

Dean's gaze was pulled away from Ron, almost magnetically, towards Ginny. She was circling the pitch thirty feet above them, looking hard for the Snitch. Go on Ginny, stuff them! Stuff HIM! Dean wondered what Michael would do if Gryffindor won. He listened to Lee's commentary absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on Ginny, so he wasn't looking when Ron apparently made a spectacular save. "What? What happened?" he asked Seamus, who was beside him, watching through a pair of Omnioculars he'd bought at the world cup the year before.

"What were you looking at?" Seamus asked him, before handing over the Omnioculars so Dean could watch a replay.

Dean looked at Ron, staring at an oncoming Bradley with such a piercing quality Dean was surprised Bradley didn't back off. Bradley started to throw the Quaffle towards the left goal hoop, but changed and threw to the right, and there was Ron, catching it in his left hand and throwing it immediately to Alicia. Dean grinned. "Knew you had it in you mate."

The rest of the game went amazingly well, for the next three quarters of an hour, the Gryffindor Chasers put goal after goal through the Ravenclaw end, while only Davis managed to score only once more; time after time the Ravenclaw Chasers went at Ron and he did make some breathtaking saves - including one by the tips of his fingers which rolled him right over in midair. The Gryffindors around Dean were hastily making up new lyrics for the Slytherins' derogatory song about Ron, Weasley is our King.

Dean had taken to watching Ginny again, despite the entertainment that was Ron's goalkeeping at its peak. He was watching her, approaching Cho who was flying in the opposite direction, ten feet lower than Ginny. He saw her go into a sweeping dive, heading straight for Cho, who screamed, apparently thinking Ginny was attacking her; but Ginny merely reached over Cho's shoulder and pulled out of the dive, clutching the Golden Snitch in her hand.

Dean was the first Gryffindor to roar out his approval, since he was watching her and was first to realise they'd won. He watched her land and disappear within a huddle of her team mates, who hoisted their Keeper up and started carrying him towards the castle. The whole of Gryffindor house ran after them, singing the new Weasley is our King song at the top of their lungs; either not noticing or caring that they almost knocked Ron out when they got to the front doors of the castle.

Ginny didn't follow them in. Dean saw her red head stop just outside the doors, and head off around the corner. He saw that Michael was with her and his heart sank a little.

The party in the Gryffindor common room was the second noisiest Dean had ever seen, surpassed only by their victory party over the Slytherins for the cup in third year. Dean stuck to the walls, sipping a Butterbeer and watching the portrait hole waiting for Ginny to join the festivities, unsure how to congratulate her now that he was sure she knew he liked her. She finally came in, scowling before she was swept into the throng by cheering students.

It was nearly twenty minutes before she emerged from the crowd near Dean, looking cheerier. She spotted him and came over, smiling a little. "I heard you, you started cheering first when I caught the Snitch... watching me were you?" she asked, with a little wink.

Dean flushed, grateful again that she couldn't tell. Is she flirting with me? He decided to try to flirt back. "Maybe. What does it matter if I was?"

Ginny grinned slyly. "I don't mind if you were watching... I'd watch you if you were out there."

Dean grinned back at her. "I'm sure I wasn't the only one watching you..."

Dean immediately kicked himself for bringing up the subject. Ginny scowled. "Him? He's a very poor loser - I just told him to get lost. He wanted me to throw the game, since it's been so long since Ravenclaw won the cup."

Dean raised his eyebrows at her. "What did you say?"

"You were there Dean, don't pretend otherwise." Dean's stomach lurched. "I walked past you right before Michael caught me, you heard what I told him."

Dean smiled nervously. "So, that's that?"

"That's that." Ginny looked over at the fire, where Angelina was seated in pride of place in a large armchair, with Alicia and Katie perched on each arm. "Angelina and Katie are both leaving next year, I think I'll try out for Chaser, I'd rather score goals than look for the Snitch. Why don't you try out?"

Dean shrugged. "It's never appealed to me, though I do like flying. I just don't fancy ending up in the hospital wing with no bones in my arm."

"That was an unusual Quidditch injury, it was Lockhart's mistake." She looked at him closely. "Was... he... a Quidditch player?"

Dean looked down at his feet. "Yeah... a Beater."

"Maybe you should ask him what it's like."

Dean looked up at her. She was smiling at him with concern in her eyes. "Yeah, maybe I will."

The noise in the Common Room was such that Dean decided he'd go to the Room that night. Ginny was now sitting in another armchair by the fire, talking to Hermione who was sitting on the arm of it. Dean made his way across to the portrait hole, and got waylaid by Seamus, who had his house tie tied around his head like Rambo. "Where are ya goin'? The party's just getting started!"

"Paying a little visit to the Room, it's too loud in here for me."

He pushed his way out past the fat lady and headed for the corridor that led to the Room. Once inside, he went straight to the mirror. He thought simply, Quidditch.

The effect was immediate. He felt wind on his face and the wonderful feeling of doing what man was not supposed to do - fly. Dean saw various players in blue and scarlet, Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor. He felt the wonderful feeling of belonging to a team, throwing the other team off guard with well aimed Bludgers. Then something unexpected happened. Dean's vision became obscured by a mass of scarlet, he was going to collide with an opposing player! But Gary had dived right before impact, and met a Bludger coming the other way.

It slammed into his forehead with incredible force. Dean staggered, holding his head which was splitting open and burning with white hot fire. I'm dying, he thought dazedly, unaware if the thought was his or Gary's, and immediately he felt he really was dying, every muscle in his body contracted, every nerve ending blazed with red hot agony. He heard a maniacal voice yelling. "Tell me where she is! That filthy creature you married! The dirty half-blood you made! You blood traitor! TELL ME!!"

Dean felt the terrible wave of agony stop, leaving the throbbing memory of it behind, his whole torso was a mass of pain, he knew he had broken ribs, and his fingertips throbbed horribly. Dean heard Gary's voice, fighting for breath as he himself was. "I will never tell you."

Dean heard an inarticulate roar of rage and felt blows rain on him as Webster lost his temper, kicking and punching him. Through the pain flowing from various injuries, thoughts he was sure were not his own were flowing through his mind, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I won't see you grow up... I can't protect you... I wish I could have told you the truth.

One of the blows connected with his jaw, and Dean felt something snap. The agony threatened to engulf him, the image in the mirror started to go foggy, Gary was blacking out. He heard the maniacal voice again, "Well if you really aren't going to tell me, you're of no more use. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The last thought that went through Dean's mind as he passed out he recognised wasn't his... Dean... but even has he lost consciousness, he could have sworn he heard it called out loud...

* ~ *

"Dean? Dean! Wake up, please wake up!"

Dean opened his eyes to see Ginny's terrified face looking down at him. He saw tears shining in her eyes, and the tracks on her face from ones that had already fallen. He found his arms and pushed himself up, realising he'd been lying on her knees. The physical pain had gone - but Dean, completely unable to control himself, burst into tears. He felt Ginny's hands on his shoulders, gripping tightly and gently pulling him back down to lie again across her knee. He turned away, not wanting her to see him cry. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No need. What happened?"

"I... I... I... saw him d-die. I felt him d-d-die!" Dean covered his face with both hands, willing the tears not to come with every fibre of his being. "It was an accident - he got injured in the Quidditch memory I was seeing and when he thought he was dying, it sucked me into that memory instead."

Dean slowly brought himself under control. His breathing eased and the shaking subsided. When he felt able, he uncovered his face and pushed himself upright again to look at Ginny. "What are you doing here?"

"Saw you leaving and thought you might share his Quidditch memories with me. When I got here you were clutching your head and screaming, you passed out just as I got to you. I just about caught you. You've been out cold for about five minutes."

Ginny looked to her right, inclined her head towards the armchair. "Maybe you should sit down."

"I'm all right here."

Ginny reached out and put her hand on his. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Dean shuddered. He knew it would be a long, long time before he'd be able to forget the feelings in that memory. "No, but I will tell you about the Quidditch if you want."

She smiled encouragingly and nodded.

"He was a Ravenclaw, did I tell you that?" she shook her head. "He was a Beater for them, and I think he had a crush on one of the Gryffindor team members - he drew hearts on her entry in that yearbook."

Dean pointed to the fourth year one pile on the table. "And I saw her face in that memory."

Ginny still hadn't removed her hand from his, he was very aware of the heat emanating from it. She was still wearing her Quidditch robes, and hadn't brushed her hair since she'd been in the air. She looked wild and very beautiful. Dean wanted very badly to turn his hand over to hold hers properly. She looked at him levelly. "How did it feel? Playing I mean."

"It was great, best feeling in the world."

She tilted her head and regarded him, a wily smile spreading across her face. "Want to bet on that?"

Her hand moved slightly and turned his over. She laced her fingers with his and leaned towards him. He'd never realised before how her brown eyes had tiny green flecks in them, or the small scattering of freckles across her nose that were only visible inches away... but when her upper lip touched his lower every other thought was wiped from his mind. All his attention was focused on the nerve endings tingling in his lips. He kissed her back, not really having a clue what he was doing, but he was getting no complaints from Ginny.

It was a long time before they sneaked back to Gryffindor Tower.