Sea of Waking Dreams

Sea of Waking Dreams

By Cinnamon

Chapter Nine

The advancing army reached the castle in the middle of the night, and spells to prevent people from apparating or flying inside the walls were snapped into place. The castle erupted into chaos the next morning, people panicking and crying. By nightfall, as a heavy rain started to fall, the frenzy dimmed to an anxious sort of fear and paranoia intensified by the Dementors, who fed on all positive emotions through the castle walls. The enemy army set up camp around the castle, and the first day of the siege was rather anticlimactic.

That night, the Death Eaters began trying to break through the protective force fields around the castle, and the air was split with explosions and crackling lights as they began their attack. The barriers held, however, though the sky danced with multicoloured lightning, and no one in the castle could sleep.

Draco was sprawled on his bed, wearing only his boxers, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the explosions, when there was a soft knock on the door. Worried that it was Ginny and that something was wrong with the children, he threw the door open.

It was Harry.

He licked his lips, his eyes flicking to Draco’s naked chest and then back up to his face. He looked rather startled. “Uh, hi,” he said nervously.

Draco smirked a little. “Potter. What the hell are you doing here?”

“They just let me out of the infirmary today, and I wanted to talk to you.”

Draco crossed his arms over his chest. “About what?”

“What happened in Hogsmeade, and… when you were in my head.”

“You remember that?”

Harry nodded and Draco sighed, pushing the door open far enough for Harry to come in, and then following him inside. He grabbed some trousers off the foot of his bed and pulled them on while Harry sat nervously on the chair by the fire. Then Draco sat heavily on his bed, took a deep breath, and said, “Well, talk.”

“I guess… I have to explain something to you.”

“That would be why you came here, yes, and we’ve already covered that, so let’s move on, shall we?” Draco said dryly.

Harry cleared his throat. “I don’t like you.”

“I’m crushed.”

“No. I don’t like you. I think you’re terribly arrogant, and a git besides. But… I…” he flushed, glancing away. “Sometimes… I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

“Try.”

Harry left his chair and sat beside Draco on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “It’s like this,” he explained, his voice low. “Sometimes I can’t help but think about you and wonder what it would be like to…”

Draco cut him off. “What about Hermione?”

Harry’s face tightened angrily. “What about her?”

Draco answered quietly. “You’re in love with her.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. How the hell can I love her when I can’t stop thinking about…” he trailed off. “Besides, she and Ron…” He swallowed. “I don’t know if I can love her after she betrayed me with my best friend.”

“So you’ll come to me instead?”

“It isn’t like that,” Harry hissed.

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but he never got the chance. Harry took the opportunity to kiss him, pressing his open mouth to Draco’s and slipping his tongue into it. It was tentative at first, and Draco didn’t push him away. Growing bolder, Harry slid closer, stroking Draco’s tongue with his and lifting his hands to Draco’s chest. Draco closed his eyes, moving his tongue against Harry’s a little, and Harry purred in the back of his throat, his hand running through Draco’s hair.

Draco was just thinking idly that Harry tasted of butterscotch, when he distantly heard his door open again. He pulled away and glanced over his shoulder; he could hear Harry panting beside him.

Ginny stood there in a nightgown, her eyes wide, staring at them. “Oh. Oh, god, I’m s-sorry,” she stammered, backing out of the room. Then she turned and ran, and Draco closed his eyes, cursing.

“Draco –” Harry began, and Draco got off the bed, suddenly furious.

“I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want to do this. I’m not someone you fuck around with to get even with your girlfriend, so piss off. Damn it.” He didn’t know why, but suddenly he couldn’t stand the thought of Ginny thinking that what she had seen had meant anything. Maybe it had been the stricken look on her face…

He didn’t waste time grabbing a shirt, but paused at the door to call over his shoulder, “Get out of my room, Potter.” Then he ran after Ginny.

She was already gone when he got into the hall, and he took off towards the north wing. He heard a distant rumble of thunder, but it could have been an explosion as the Death Eaters tried to break through the barriers. It was still raining.

He made it to her bedroom and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He threw it open, but the room was dark and empty. Taking off at a run, he knew exactly where she’d be, of course, and without pausing to think, he ran towards the tower that led up to the northern battlements.

He was soaked before he even got to the tower, and dripping with rain when he stepped onto the parapet. Ginny was leaning against the wall, watching the waves crash below, and she was sopping wet. Her hair was nearly black from rain, and she wasn’t wearing a cloak, so her nightgown was plastered to her body. Draco didn’t know what to say at first, and he watched her for a moment before stepping closer. “Ginny,” he called, and she jumped, startled.

She smiled weakly when she saw him. “Draco! What are you doing? Harry –”

He shook his head, flinging his wet hair out of his face. “Shut up,” he said mildly, thinking fast. Things had suddenly gotten very confusing. He was inspecting her face; rain was running down it, but he was quite sure she was crying as well, and that worried him, but also, oddly, made things easier. Less confusing.

“Draco,” she said quietly. “It’s all right—”

He cursed softly and then mumbled, “Oh, hell,” before stepping forward until his thighs pressed hers against the stone wall. He brushed her cheek with his hand and then tilted her head up, moving too fast for her to guess his intent and try to push him away, though he wasn’t sure if she would. His lips grazed hers very lightly first, and she didn’t pull away, scream, or hit him, so he grew more confident, kissing her harder. At first she didn’t kiss him back, just let him kiss her, her eyes closed and her hands fisted at her sides, but Draco didn’t consider himself a sex god for nothing. He kissed her hard, until she couldn’t breathe, and then gentled it, sucking and nibbling coaxingly on her lower lip. When she still didn’t respond, he pulled back the tiniest bit.

“Ginny,” he whispered, exasperated and tracing her lower lip with one finger. “C’mon. You’re supposed to open your mouth so I can taste you.”

Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but he didn’t give her a chance. With a triumphant smirk, he kissed her again, one hand on her cheek, stroking her cheekbone, the other tangled in her dripping hair. His tongue touched hers, again, coaxingly, and he sucked on it gently, his hand sliding down her back and pressing her against him.

Finally, with a faint moan, she stood up on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him back, her tongue following his back into his mouth. He tasted faintly of Harry, but strongly of something like nothing she’d ever tasted before. It reminded her of chocolate, but more erotic than that, and she smiled faintly against his lips.

Finally, when she had grown dizzy from not being able to breathe, she pulled away, and he rested his forehead against her temple, breathing heavily.

“Draco,” she said gently. “We can’t do this.”

He was silent for a while, and when he finally spoke, his voice was very low. The sky flashed violet and there was a distant sound like thunder. “I know you don’t find me sexy, but I can’t say the same about you,” he admitted. “Maybe if you tried —”

Ginny shook her head and Draco pulled back a little, watching her face. Her lips were swollen and he traced them with one fingertip. “Not find you sexy?” she scoffed. “Come on. You’re Draco Malfoy, remember? Men, women, house elves…”

“But you said –”

“I lied.”

“Why?”

“I can’t do this with you because you don’t want me, you want Harry. Besides, if you were anything more than my best friend, Draco, I couldn’t trust you, because I don’t trust men anymore who want anything other than my friendship.”

Draco kissed her again and Ginny tried to pull away, but she couldn’t. She started to cry a little, and Draco moved back. “I wouldn’t hurt you like he did,” he whispered.

Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I can’t,” she said.

Draco kissed her neck. “C’mon,” he coaxed. “I’ll be your best friend.”

Ginny cupped his face in her hands, studying him through her lashes that were spiky from rain. He looked solemn, but his eyes were sparkling, and a very gentle smile flirted with the corner of his lips. “Gods,” she whispered shakily. “You already are.” She leaned up and kissed him, hard. Draco lifted her, crushing her against his chest, and kissed her back, until neither of them could breathe. Then he slowly lowered her to the ground, keeping her pressed against him.

“I’ll never do anything to hurt you, I swear,” he promised.

She didn’t look quite convinced. Her eyes were wide and uncertain, and she glanced away. Before she could speak, however, the door to the tower flew open, and Belle ran out onto the parapet. She was sobbing.

“Oh, Ginny, come quick,” she cried. “It’s Lucky, she’s gone mad!”

Draco cursed softly, shot Ginny a look that clearly said he intended to continue this later, and grabbed her hand, hurrying back into the tower.

Lucky was sitting up in bed, her head tilted back, an eerie wail coming from her mouth. Her eyes were opened but rolled back, so only the whites showed. Only the baby slept through this. The other children were all awake and staring at Lucky in horror. Iniko was trying to pretend he wasn’t crying, and Keela was openly sobbing.

“Lucky,” Draco said firmly, going to her bed. He touched her face but she didn’t react. He picked up her hand and it lay limply in his. “She must be asleep still,” he said softly. Ginny climbed onto the Keela’s bed and hugged the little girl. The other children all hurried to crowd around her.

“Can you wake her?”

“Ennervate,” Draco commanded, pulling out his wand.

Lucky blinked, her eyes fixing themselves. She gazed up at Draco and stuck her lower lip out in a pout. “I had a bad dream,” she said huskily. Her throat was raw from wailing.

“About what?” he asked absently while closing his eyes, trying to sense if there had been a spell on her.

“The bad men with no eyes,” she said thoughtfully. “I was making them scream.”

Draco paid no attention to her words. He couldn’t find a trace of a spell on her, and he smiled gently. “It’s all right now.”

She nodded trustingly, and then the storm broke overhead, a sudden bolt of lightning lighting up the room. She jumped with a gasp, and Keela screamed a little. “It’s all right, it’s all right,” Ginny chanted soothingly. Draco watched the way she tried to hug all the children clustered around her at once, and he smiled a little. Ginny caught his eye, flushed scarlet, and looked away. Laughing softly, Draco turned back to Lucky, who was glancing out the window nervously.

“I don’t like storms,” she said finally.

Ginny pursed her lips. “All right,” she declared. “Everyone go to my room. We’ll all sleep there, and play games all night, roast marshmallows, and drink hot chocolate, and if one person doesn’t think it was fun in the morning, I’ll eat my shoe.”

All the children giggled, which had been Ginny’s intention. She didn’t want to leave them in their room, knowing they were all frightened of storms. If she had to stay up all night and distract them with games and marshmallows, she would.

The children made their way out of the room, and Ginny picked up the baby. Draco was leaning lazily against the doorframe, watching her. He was still dripping wet and shirtless, and Ginny stumbled to a stop, flushing a little. Draco grinned.

“What?” Ginny asked nervously.

Draco sauntered closer, leaning over the baby in her arms and kissing her so gently that her knees nearly gave out. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he promised.

“You’re…” she cleared her throat. “You’re not staying?”

“I’m not exactly dressed for it,” he said with a smirk.

She glanced at his naked chest and then back up at his face, swallowing hard. “I really hadn’t noticed,” she mumbled faintly.

Draco walked out of the room laughing.

****

There was something about the storm outside, the magic explosions, and the darkness of that night that made being alone something to avoid. Lavender curled up against Fred, who was already fast asleep. She buried her face in his shoulder, trying not to tremble. She had that feeling she always got just before a vision, which the other seers had been helping her deal with, but she was still terrified. She whimpered, low in her throat, and Fred stirred.

He limply dropped an arm around her shoulders. “What is it, love?” he said sleepily.

“Nothing,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

He mumbled something she didn’t catch and obeyed, and for a while, Lavender lay awake, her eyes widening at every crack of thunder.

When she finally drifted off to sleep, it was to dream. Dreams of dragons soaring through the sky, circling around a central point, blasting fire towards the center of the circle. Lucky was standing in the middle of the dragons, laughing and spinning in circles; none of the flame touched her. The rest of the world burned to ash, and Lucky kept twirling, until the dragons gave up and lay down around her, falling asleep. Still, Lucky laughed, until her giggles were the only sound left in the world.

****

Ginny slept with all of the children on her bed, except Axel, who slept in his cradle beside the hearth to keep him warm. Leaning against the headboard with Belle on one side, Keela on the other, Lucky resting her head on her lap, Miles and Iniko using her legs for pillows, Ginny didn’t notice when the sun rose and brought with it a curious calm. The explosions stopped outside, and a tense silence fell over the castle.

There was a quick knock on the door. Ginny and the children all began to wake just as the door was thrown open and Lavender stepped into the room.

“Ginny, something’s going to happen — oh. Hello.” She smiled a little at the children, but it as a weak, trembling effort.

“Lavender?” Ginny asked, still sleepy. “What are you doing here?”

Lavender glanced at the children and then back at Ginny. “I had a dream,” she whispered.

Ginny untangled herself from the children and sent them to their dormitory to get dressed, before conjuring up some tea, hoping it would calm Lavender. She motioned for Lavender to take the chair and poured her a cup, sitting down on the bed. “What sort of dream?” she asked finally.

“There were dragons,” she said shakily. “Flying around and around, burning everything.”

Ginny sucked on her bottom lip in thought. “That’s terrible.” Her voice sounded puzzled as she tried to imagine why Lavender had come to tell her this.

“Lucky was there,” Lavender whispered. “The dragons burned everything and she just… laughed and twirled around.”

Now Ginny’s eyes sparkled with wrath. “So what do you think it means?” she said in a silky, dangerous tone. Draco must be rubbing off on me, she thought with a wry smile.

“That she will betray us and laugh while we are destroyed!” Lavender cried. She was pale, her eyes bright with hysteria. “I know what I saw, the child is evil. Isn’t her father a Death Eater? Isn’t it a little strange that she was just sitting there in the ruins, waiting for us to come to her? She could be a spy! She could be!”

“You’re the one who led us to her,” Ginny reminded her. “She isn’t a spy, she’s a little girl. Besides, your dream could mean any number of things. Or maybe it was just a dream. I know you fancy yourself a seer now, but really, Lavender, I refuse to believe Lucky is going to destroy us all.”

Lavender jumped out of her chair, her eyes wild. “You must get rid of her,” she hissed. “You must, or you betray us as well.”

“Oh, calm down, Lavender, before you give yourself a nose bleed,” Ginny snapped. “I’m not going to kill an innocent little girl because you had a dream. If I worked on the philosophy that everyone is an enemy and to be suspected of spying, then maybe you’re the real spy and you’re doing this because you know she’s the only thing that can save us, and you want me to destroy her so we lose. But, really, I don’t think that way. I trust you, and I trust her, and that’s all there is to it, so if you’re not going to say anything useful to me, then I suggest you get the hell out of my room, because I’ve got things to do.”

Still looking mutinous, Lavender snapped something about Ginny endangering them all, and stalked from the room. Ginny just rolled her eyes and got dressed, picking up the baby and making her way to the children’s dormitory. It was empty. She went to the lesson room.

They weren’t there.

“Belle?” Ginny called nervously. No one answered; the hall was silent. “Oh, Lavender, if you have done anything to those children,” she whispered, leaving the north wing. She ran into Ron in the hall and handed him the baby. “Hold him, I’ve got to find the children,” she mumbled, hurrying away. Ron glanced at the baby and then back at her in horror, but she was gone before he could complain.

She went to the hospital wing and then the Hall, but the children weren’t there. Thinking maybe they’d climbed up onto the battlements again, she went out into the courtyard, scanning the walls worriedly.

The children were clustered on the south wall, still in their pajamas, and Lucky was, again, standing on the edge, waving her wand wildly. There was a soft moaning, like the wind through the battlements.

Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth and took off running for the stairs. She didn’t want to startle Lucky and make her fall, so when she made it up onto the battlements, she approached the children cautiously. “Lucky,” she called softly. “Get down from there.”

Lucky turned around and Ginny tried desperately not to let her fear show when she saw Lucky’s face. She’d turned ashen, her eyes huge and dark, and she was trembling, looking like she was about to collapse.

Ginny threaded her way through the children, reaching up for Lucky, who fell weakly into her arms. Ginny hugged her tightly, and then Belle whispered, “Look, Ginny, look what she’s done.”

Chaos had erupted in the enemy camp. Death Eaters, in various states of undress, were running around wildly, shouting. The strange moaning hadn’t been the wind at all, but the Dementors. They were screaming, falling over, and twitching on the ground in a strange sort of convulsion.

“Lucky did that?” Ginny whispered.

“She sucked all the bad feelings out of them,” Belle explained. “She said they eat bad feelings, so she starved them to death.”

Many of the Dementors had gone still. Ginny went hysterical. “Where did she put them?” she screamed. Lucky had passed out in her arms. “Where did she put all the bad feelings, Belle? She couldn’t have just made them not exist, she’s got to channel them into someone else, where did she put them?”

Belle had started to cry, and the other children looked terrified. Forcing herself to draw a deep breath, Ginny said calmly, “All right. It’s all right. Everyone go back to the dormitory, I’ll take care of Lucky and be there soon. Belle, see that they all eat their breakfast, will you?” She smiled gently at the older girl who sniffled and grabbed Keela’s hand, leading the other children back to the dorms.

Ginny knelt down and laid Lucky on the stone floor, inspecting her carefully. “You stupid, stupid girl,” she scolded softly. “You just don’t go taking all the badness of an entire army of Dementors without having somewhere to leave it.”

The hate and fear of hundreds of Dementors was now running through Lucky’s body, and Ginny didn’t know what to do. Her skin was freezing, and she was barely breathing. It was killing her.

“Ennervate,” she murmured, but Lucky didn’t stir.

People who had heard the strange wailing of the dying Dementors were coming up onto the wall now, but none of them paid any attention to Ginny trying frantically to revive Lucky.

“Please, please,” Ginny started chanting. She shook Lucky weakly. “Don’t do this. Lucky, stop.”

“Ginny?” Charlie called as he climbed onto the battlements. “What are you doing? What’s happening?”

Ginny jumped to her feet and threw herself at Charlie, bursting into tears. “She’s dying, Charlie, and I can’t stop it!”

Charlie pushed her away and knelt beside Lucky, touching her face. “She’s frozen, what happened?”

“She channeled all the bad feelings inside the Dementors and they all died only now all their evil is inside her,” she sobbed.

Charlie picked up the little girl easily and said, “We’ll take her to Dumbledore, he’ll fix her.” He didn’t sound very sure.

They ran down the stairs and into the castle, bumping into Dumbledore just as he left his office. He took one look at Lucky and murmured, “Oh dear, bring her inside.”

Charlie lay Lucky down on the desk. She was even colder now, her breathing barely there. “Fix her,” Ginny begged.

“What happened?” Dumbledore asked calmly, murmuring a few spells that did not seem to be effective. Ginny explained what Lucky had done, and Dumbledore looked up at her sharply. “Killed them all?” he asked.

“I think so. They screamed and fell over,” she said.

He nodded and turned back to her, stroking her face gently. “Then there is nothing really I can do. She has taken all of the evil that made up the Dementors’ life force, the only way to stop it from killing her is for her to channel it into someone else.”

“Me,” Ginny said quickly. “Channel it into me.”

He shook his head gently. “Even if I could, Ginny, I wouldn’t. Besides, she can’t channel anything unconscious. There is no way to stop this.”

“There has to be a way!” Ginny started crying again, hysterical. “You have to save her!” she screamed. Charlie grabbed her and held her tightly, but Ginny fought him, choking on her sobs. “Fix her! Do whatever you have to do, she’s just a little girl!”

“Ginny,” Dumbledore began. Then something at the door drew his eyes, and he stopped abruptly, smiling a little. “Of course,” he whispered, stepping away from Lucky.

Ginny tore away from Charlie and spun towards the door. Peralan Evin, the lady ghost of Ravenclaw, hovered in the doorway, looking solemn. She was made up of various shades of grey, but Ginny could see the faint shadow on her cheek that marked her as an Empath.

She took a deep breath. “Save her, please, please, save her.”

Peralan did not even look at her. She drifted closer, her dark eyes fixed on Lucky. She tried to touch Lucky’s face, but her fingers went right through her, and Lucky’s body stiffened. With a wistful smile, Peralan bent down and brushed her lips over the mark on Lucky’s cheek. Her kiss brushed Lucky’s skin, and the mark turned a darker shade of strawberry. There was a soft shift in the air, as if it had suddenly developed a slight electric shock, and then it was gone, and Lucky moaned softly.

Peralan smiled a little and reached forward, trying to touch Lucky’s hair. She couldn’t, of course, but Lucky’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled sleepily up at The Grey Lady.

“Thank you,” Ginny whispered, and Peralan glanced at her and smiled, before drifting out of the room again. Ginny turned to Dumbledore worriedly. “She channeled all the badness out of Lucky, didn’t she?”

Dumbledore nodded, smiling. “She did.”

“Did it hurt her?”

“She is a ghost, she did not feel it. And I suspect Lucky will be weak, but with rest, she should be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must see about these Dementors you said she killed.” He hurried from the room and Ginny hugged Lucky gently. Charlie carried her back to the north wing, laying her on Ginny’s bed to sleep, and then Ginny hugged him quickly before going to check on the other children.

They were sitting on their beds, talking softly, and they all looked relieved to see her. “Is Lucky dead?” Iniko asked abruptly.

“No,” Ginny told him with a smile. “She’s resting in my room.”

In order to keep their minds off everything that was happening in the castle, Ginny had the children make colourful finger paintings, which the children decided to give as get well presents to Lucky. The day passed quickly with Ginny popping in to check on Lucky, who slept deeply, and occupying the other children. She kept expecting Draco to drop by, but night fell and he still hadn’t come.

She bathed the children and put them to bed, telling them a bedtime story and then returning to her room, after checking the hall carefully to make sure Draco wasn’t there waiting for her. He wasn’t.

***

Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, and Draco spent the day in Dumbledore’s office, arguing about the next course of action, now that the Dementors were no longer a threat.

“I say we attack now, while they’re disorganized,” Sirius said, slamming his fist on the desk. “We can wipe them out faster than they can regroup.”

“Death Eaters regroup faster than you’d think,” Draco countered. “They practice it.”

“Besides,” Harry said quietly, carefully not looking at Draco. “There’s still Voldemort to consider. The Dementors have always been of secondary importance.”

“We must wait and plan this out,” Lupin agreed.

They had argued for hours, and the sun was just setting when Dumbledore went suddenly pale and whispered, “They’ve broken the barrier. It won’t be long before they’re inside the walls. We’ve got to mount a defense, now. Ron, you get your men up onto the walls to hold them off as long as possible. Harry, Draco, get your men and get to the skies, you’ve got to keep any who come at us from the air away. They’ll probably have a unit on broomstick. Sirius, Lupin, the younger wizards you’ve been training will gather in the courtyard and prepare for the eventuality of wand-to-wand combat.”

Draco followed Harry from the room, and they hurried to where the air unit was garrisoned, waking them and informing them quickly what was happening. Moments later, they left the castle, circling the sky in a tight formation, watching for attacking air units.

The first was a small one, easily stopped, but by midnight, over a hundred Death Eaters had tried infiltrating the castle through the air. Draco was exhausted, and when it seemed as if there were no more enemy air units attacking, he flew over to Harry.

“I’m going down,” he shouted. “I’ll see what’s happening down there and come back with a report.” He wanted to find Ginny. He was tired and sick of watching dead Death Eaters fall from their brooms and crash to the rocks below, and he needed to see her.

Harry nodded. “We’ll all go down, it’s gotten quiet up here, I think they must have found an easier way in.” He shouted to his orders to the others and they dove back to the castle together.

It was chaotic. Death Eaters had stormed the gates and broken them open, flooding the courtyard, and the young wizards were valiantly holding them off, casting Stunning spells. They had focused their training on the Patronus charm and did not know how to deal with Death Eaters, who used the Killing Curse mercilessly.

The units from the walls were running into the courtyard as well, better trained than the younger ones. The battle was evened out, the units from the walls and air casting the Killing Curse, taking out a good portion of the Death Eaters. Without their Dementor allies, they were just wizards, easily killed.

****

(earlier that night)

Lucky was sitting on her bed munching cookies when Ginny had slipped into the room just before sunset that night, and she smiled sleepily. “I feel better.”

“Good.” Ginny sat on the bed and hugged Lucky tightly. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Lucky scoffed, a Draco-smirk on her lips. Apparently, he had rubbed off on her as well. “They couldn’t touch me,” she said bravely.

She smiled a little, remembering what Lavender had said about her dream. Ginny had known it hadn’t meant that Lucky would betray them. It just meant that the monsters couldn’t touch her. And they hadn’t.

“Are you sleepy, Ginny?” Lucky asked. She pulled out her wand. “You can sleep. I’ll protect you.”

Ginny laughed helplessly and hugged Lucky again. “All right,” she agreed. “You can protect me.”

She got into her pajamas and crawled into bed, Lucky promising not to let any monsters near, and then Ginny fell asleep, the strange quiet still lying heavily over the castle.

She woke up when Ron burst into her room. “Ginny, Ginny, get up!” he cried. “They’ve broken the barriers, they’ve breached the walls! Dumbledore sent me to tell you to get the children out!”

She caught her breath in her throat, awake in an instant. Lucky, who had fallen asleep beside her, started to cry, but Ginny was too busy getting dressed to comfort her. “How am I to get out?” she asked. “Where are the Death Eaters?”

“They just got into the courtyard a minute ago,” he said quickly. “He said you’re to go into the kitchens, there’s a passage way hidden behind the oak cabinet that leads under the castle. There are tunnels there, they haven’t been used for a hundred years. He says there’s a boat there, you and the children are to get in it and row along the coast until it’s safe to land. Get as far away as you can.”

She nodded, closing her eyes. “It’s happening again,” she whispered, remembering watching Hogwarts burn from the Forbidden Forest.

Ron hugged her quickly. “We’ll win this time,” he said. “The Dementors are gone. It’s just the Death Eaters, and Voldemort. We can take them. But you’ve got to hurry.”

If it was just her, Ginny would have stayed, but the children needed to get out, so she nodded, grabbing Lucky and telling her to go wake the others. She started to follow, and then paused, glancing back at Ron. “Where’s Draco? Have you seen him?”

Ron looked away and took a deep breath. “No one’s seen him in a while,” he said. “But he’s around, I’m sure.”

She nodded distractedly, and then said, “When you see him, tell him where I’ve gone.” She remembered how she’d spent the last few seconds before she’d fled Hogwarts writing Hadley a message, saying the same thing. “And tell him… that I love him.”

Ron smiled weakly at her. “I will,” he said, hugging her quickly. “Now hurry and go. I’ve got to get back.”

“Wait!” she grabbed her wand, mumbled a quick cutting spell, and a second later, held a lock of her hair in one hand. She tied it in a quick knot and pressed it into Ron’s hand. “Give him this. In case… in case something happens.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen,” he told her quickly, but he tucked the hair into his pocket. Ginny smiled weakly at him and ran from the room.

The children were dressing quickly, Belle ordering them about. She remembered the night they had fled Hogwarts, and knew speed was essential. Ginny dressed the baby warmly, told everyone to grab their cloaks, and then herded them from the room. She handed the baby to Belle. “They’re already in the castle,” she whispered to the older girl. “I’m going to need you to help keep us safe, alright? You hold Axel, so I can keep my wand out.” Belle nodded and clutched the baby, and they hurried out into the hall. “Come on, don’t be afraid. Hold hands so no one gets left behind,” Ginny whispered. She could see flashes of light through the windows facing the courtyard, and she and the children made their way quickly through the empty halls.

A Death Eater was prowling the halls near the kitchens, and before Ginny would stun him, Lucky whipped out her wand and struck him with a wave of terror. He ran screaming, shouting something about spiders in his hair.

“Oh, Lucky,” Ginny sighed, smiling a little. “Come on.”

The kitchens were empty and Ginny hurried to the oak cabinet, shoving it aside. There was a small door behind, and she kicked it open, motioning the children through. She went in after, pulling the cabinet over the door again to hide it.

The tunnels were dark and cold, and she lit up her wand. The children were clustered in a frightened knot, watching her with huge eyes. She smiled. “Everything will be all right.”

“Where’s Draco?” Miles asked. “Why can’t he come with us?”

Ginny’s smile dimmed a little. “He’s fighting the bad guys,” she said.

Miles looked sullen, but before he could say anything, Lucky took Ginny’s hand, snapping, “Ginny can scare away the monsters just as well.”

Ginny smiled weakly, remembering when Lucky hadn’t trusted her to scare the monsters under the bed, and squeezed Lucky’s hand. “C’mon, we’ve got to get down to the boat.”

They walked silently, following the winding tunnel, holding hands to help from being frightened. It took an hour of walking to get to the cave where the boat waited on the shore, black water stretching off into the darkness. “Rest here,” Ginny told the children, conjuring up some pumpkin juice and cookies.

It was still the middle of the night, and the children were all exhausted, and fell to the stone floor heavily. Ginny inspected the boat, and it looked sound enough. She approached the children. “I’m going to put floating spells on you so that if you fall out, you’ll float,” she told them, and they were too tired to comment. She performed the spell quickly, waited until they’d finished the cookies, and then got Miles and Iniko to help her push the boat into the water. Then she got into the boat and helped the children in as well, sitting at the back to paddle and steer.

The water was calm in the cave, sheltered from the rocks and wind that she had watched so many times from the northern battlements. She told the children to wrap their cloaks around themselves and then began moving towards the exit from the cave.

After they’d drifted out of the cave, they were in a sheltered cove, still protected from the wind. It was raining again, and they were instantly soaked. That was nothing, however, compared to when they left the cove and were caught by the wind that tossed them effortlessly on the waves. They were being pushed ever closer to the cliffs, and Ginny paddled furiously. They gradually moved away and down the coast, and she began looking for somewhere to dock. The water was too dangerous.

That was proven when a huge wave broadsided them, capsizing the boat and tossing all of the children into the water.

Ginny had forgotten to cast the floating spell on herself, and she was sucked under the water. She fought for the surface again, swallowing cold seawater, and when she finally managed to get to the surface, she was choking. The children were floating on the surface, crying, and Belle was still clutching Axel tightly.

The shore wasn’t that far away and Ginny grabbed Belle by the back of her shirt, swimming as hard as she could, tugging her to safety. Then, shaking with exhaustion, she turned to the others, holding her wand and crying. “Accio children!” The other children started drifting to shore as if pulled by invisible strings, and then collapsed to the rocky ground beside her, sobbing.

“It’s all right,” she soothed, casting drying spells on them to dry their clothing. Her throat was rough from seawater, and she was having trouble breathing. “Everything’s all right.”

Behind them, Seandrar Castle went suddenly quiet, the green lights that had been flashing suddenly disappearing into darkness. An expectant hush fell over them, and Ginny wondered nervously who had won.