The Opposite

The Opposite

Chapter 12: Bellatrix's Ambush

**********

Ginny sat at the edge of the bed Harry was on. It'd been two days since the gruesome fight between Harry and Ron. In a way, Ginny felt a little guilty. She shouldn't have rushed things so fast with Harry. But, then again, Harry wasn't too eager to stop her. Ron was two beds down with his head, nose, and left hand wrapped. Hermione walked and Ron opened his eyes.

"Herbione..." Ron said, talking through his nose. Hermione still laughed at him about it. She thought it was hilarious. Sitting on his bed, she handed him a handful of Chocolate Frogs that Dumbledore had brought them from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

"Hello, Ron. Did you sleep well?" she asked. Ron shot her a dangerous look.

"Do I book bike I spebt bwell?" he asked sarcastically. Hermione tried to hide her smile, but was failing miserably. Ron struggled a little while opening the frog. Hermione sighed and snatched the frog away from Ron. She opened it and caught it before it could hop away. She gave held up to Ron's face and he frowned.

"Here," she said. Ron sighed and bit into it as she held it out. That's when the last person Ron wanted to see at that particular moment made his presence known to everyone.

"Wow. Now you need Granger to feed you, Weasley? This is too much! I must take a picture so I can cherish this moment forever!" Draco said, walking in with Aurora. Aurora kicked him in his shins. Draco shot her a look.

"Buck off, Balfoy," Ron said with a mouth full of chocolate. Draco continued to smile smugly at Ron. Ron tried to make a face, but the bandage on his nose wouldn't allow it.

"What happened to your hand anyway, Weasley?" Draco asked, crossing his arms. Aurora's looks seemed to have no affect on him. If looks could kill, Draco would be a very fine dust. Considering Aurora's power, if she really tried, her look could kill him. "Did hitting Potter break your knuckles or something?"

"He broke his wrist, Malfoy. Shouldn't you be terrorizing Neve or someone else?" Hermione said. Draco ignored her. Aurora sighed and turned her attention to Ron.

"Are you feeling better, Ron?" she asked, sitting on the other side of his bed across from Hermione.

"Not bweally. By nose still burts something sebious, eben bwith Aiblin's botions," Ron managed to say. That's when Aislin walked in. She was furious with Harry and Ron after they were brought in, and her anger hadn't subsided. No one had ever seen her this angry. She looked at the "intruders" and growled something unintelligible.

"Out! Out! All of you! Leave Ron alone. It's bad enough that you didn't even attempt to stop the fight. I can't believe you just let them fight! This is slowing down their bloody training!" Aislin said, fixing Ron's pain potion. He watched the glass she was pouring it in cautiously. Although it helped, it hurt to take it.

"It's not like we could just walk up to them and say stop, Aislin. Once they start to fight, Ron especially, they won't stop until they deem it necessary," Hermione said, opening another Chocolate Frog for Ron. Draco snickered as she fed it to him. Then, he fell to the ground. Aurora smiled and winked at him. Draco mumbled something as he stood, and then hit the floor again.

"Yes, well. In this case I guess it was until Harry was maimed so that he was virtually dead. I mean the shape he was in when you brought him to me! That's why your damn wrist broke, Ron. Now, if you don't mind, I need all of you out. All of you except Ginny, of course," Aislin said, walking over to them. Hermione attempted to kiss Ron's face, but just settled for his other hand. Then she, Aurora, and a mumbling Draco walked out.

Aislin gave the cup to Ron. Ron looked at the bubbling red concoction. He tried to look unhappily at Aislin, but she just stared down at him with malice in her eyes. Ron looked back down at the potion and drank it reluctantly. He coughed as it burned down his throat. He coughed as he finished it.

"I bink I'm gonna be tick..." he said quietly. Aislin snorted.

"For your sake, you better not. I WILL make you drink a whole cup, again, if I must. And I won't have any qualms about it. It will serve you right. I am thoroughly surprised at you, Ron. I thought you'd beat up Draco before you did Harry. Aren't you two supposed to be best mates?" Aislin said, putting up the ingredients to the potion she'd given Ron. Ron shrugged painfully. His sides constantly ached.

"Bwhen he bakes up, I bwouldn't count on him being by best bate again," he said quietly. Aislin turned and looked at him. Her face softened somewhat at Ron's truthfulness.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be pretty pissed with you, but you two have fought before. He will eventually forgive you." She walked up closer to him and knelt down to his ear. "But, I think you'll have a harder time with Ginny." Then Aislin walked off, leaving Ron staring at Harry and Ginny. Ginny had been totally silent the entire time. She hadn't spoken to anyone since her outburst at Ron the day of the fight. Ron sighed and turned over, moaning as he did so.

Ginny continued to stare down at Harry. He looked horrible. His head was wrapped, and he had various cuts on his face. His jaw was wrapped, and his torso was covered in bandages. Bruises lined his arms, and he'd somehow managed to break most of the bones in his right hand. His ankle was sprained from Ron tackling him and his foot deciding not to move along with his body. Ginny still didn't realize how he managed to still fight with that injury. He probably hadn't realized it was sprained. Aislin handled his ribs and lung the moment he'd arrive so he could at least breathe correctly. Ginny could imagine the anger Harry was going to feel when he awoke.

Ginny looked over at her brother. She hadn't really meant what she'd said, but she was going to be very peeved with him for as long as possible. What she didn't realize was that she might regret these words later on and that she'd never truly hate her brother. Turning back towards Harry, she saw his eyes flutter a bit. Ginny stood to leave. She kissed her hand and placed it on Harry's head.

"Bye..."

**********

"Faster, Neve! You still need to be faster!" Sloan yelled at Neve. She was having a little trouble with Bombe Boule De Feus. They were magical fire bombs that emitted green flames that were VERY hard to put out. They flew out of the launcher at a very high speed and they already traveled fast on their own. She'd caught fire eight times already and it was starting to burn through the leather of her armor. Next, it reached the enchanted spandex. After that came her skin. Enchantments don't reach that far.

"Come on. Neve! You can do it!" Neville yelled, trying to encourage his friend. Neve was obviously trying her hardest, and she was beginning to grow weary. Dodging wasn't exactly her cup of tea. Finally, she gave up and pulled her wand out.

"Bombarda!" she yelled. Sloan jumped back as the ball launcher exploded and a Bombe Boule De Feu blew up inches from Neve. She jumped back also. Neville stood, shocked at what just happened. Sloan coughed from the dust particles and smoke from the burning grass. Neve stood upright and sighed.

"Nice, Neve. Real nice. You've just earned fifty laps, nonstop, around the field. Get to it," Sloan said. Neve looked defiantly at him and just stood there. She walked up closer to him as he examined the demolished ball launcher. She pointed her wand at his chin. Neville took a step forward. She looked at him and he stopped. Sloan rose slowly with Neve's wand still poking him in the chin. Aurora and Draco walked outside and saw this scene.

"Soggiorno via, Neville. Cram i giri sul vostro asino, Sloan," Neve growled. Aurora covered her mouth with her hands. Sloan's eyes looked over at Aurora.

"What did she just say?" Sloan said. It was becoming a little harder to breath with Neve pushing the wand into his neck. Draco nudged Aurora and she jumped a little.

"She said, 'Stay away, Neville. Cram the laps up your ass, Sloan.' What happened? Why is she doing this?" Aurora asked. Sloan looked back down at Neve, who hadn't blinked. She was staring at Sloan with hatred in her eyes. Aurora didn't want to use telepathy on Neve to control her. She walked forward slowly. Neve didn't flinch.

"Neve, ha lasciato per andare di esso. Lasci Sloan andare," Aurora said. Neve didn't move. "Non dovete fare funzionare cinquanta giri. Potete riposarsi dopo questo. Non è quello di destra, Sloan? Just nod," Aurora said. Sloan looked at Aurora then nodded slowly. Neve slowly dropped her hand and then looked at her sister and back up at Sloan.

"Li odio, voi bastardi," she said spitefully. Then she ran off. Aurora let out a sigh of relief and looked at Sloan. He looked a little mystified as to what had just occurred. Then he looked down at Aurora.

"What did you say to her?"

"I basically said that she did not have to do the laps and that she could have the rest of the day off. Oh, and she said that she hates you and that you are a bastard," Aurora said. Sloan nodded. He then picked up his wand and looked down at the annihilated launcher.

**********

Ginny opened her eyes. She was lying on the cold, wet ground. Standing and looking around, she saw she was no longer at the castle in Dublin. It was dark outside.

"Not again," she sighed. Then she saw Voldemort and several Death Eaters. Bellatrix was among them, as was Lucius Malfoy. "Isn't he in Azkaban?" Ginny looked puzzled. She saw several people tied up and stunned on the ground around a fire. Bellatrix had a sinister look on her face. Ginny gasped as she saw the faces of the people.

Professor McGonagall, Onsu, Snape, and Tonks lay on the ground along with some students: Lavender Brown, Cho Chang, Parvati Patil, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and a fist year she didn't recognize. McGonagall looked especially mangled. There were cuts and bruises on all of them. Bellatrix walked over to Snape.

"I am going to truly enjoy killing him. The lying traitor. He didn't even deserve to be brought here, master. Why do we need him? And this one..." she said, gesturing to Onsu. "...she put up a grand fight. She made one mistake, though. She should've been watching her back instead of only standing forward. Yes, she'd do well under our control She's a Magas, is she not? Why do we need her?" Bellatrix looked over at Voldemort. Voldemort smirked, or at least that's what it looked like to Ginny.

"I have my reasons, Bella. Now, we need to send a little message to Dumbledore." After that, Ginny heard a kind of hissing noise coming from Voldemort. She figured that it was Parseltongue, but who was he talking to? Then she saw it. A large snake slithered past Lucius Malfoy and lifted its head at Voldemort. Voldemort said something else and the snake nodded. It slithered to McGonagall's body. "Yes, that's it Nagini," Voldemort whispered. Ginny looked with wide eyes as Nagini launched its head forward.

"NOOOOO!" The scene before Ginny disappeared and she saw herself in Hogwarts. She looked around and was standing beside Onsu. She looked bored to death.

Professor Catriona Onsu was watching Seamus and Dean go at it when she heard a loud bang. All the students jumped in their seats and turned to look at the door. Onsu was knocked out of her bored state of unconsciousness and was alert. Then Professor McGonagall's voice was heard over the intercom.

"All students report to their dormitories at once. Move quickly and as quiet as possible. All teachers report to an entrance of the school with wands at the ready. Do this as quickly as humanly possible." Her voice sounded very urgent. Onsu walked to the door.

"Leave your things and get to your dormitories. Hurry! Lavender, leave your bag. It is unimportant at the present moment." Once Onsu saw that everyone was gone, she caught up with McGonagall. She was walking hurriedly to the headmaster's office. McGonagall was coming down the stone steps. "What is going on, Minerva? Where is the headmaster?"

"He was called to the Ministry earlier this morning by Fudge. There are Death Eaters and dementors approaching the school. Hagrid informed us. He's trying to head them off. Are all the students securely in their dormitories?" McGonagall was practically running down the hallway.

"Yes, they should be there now. Professor, where are we going?"

"To the main entrance. Have your wand ready," McGonagall said as they turned the corner. Bellatrix and Lucius were standing at the bottom of the stairs. Bellatrix was smiling arrogantly up at McGonagall.

"Well, hello, Minerva. It's been a long time," Bellatrix said. McGonagall pursed her lips. She was not one known for cursing, but if anytime called for it, this would be it.

"Bellatrix. What brings you here? Surely you know that Professor Dumbledore is not here," McGonagall said, her voice sounding as if it was straining to be calm. Bellatrix laughed and Lucius smiled.

"That's not the problem. We wanted Dumbledore to be gone. Our target is not him," Lucius said. Onsu cut her eyes at him. He looked like a sniveling weasel if there ever was one. Lucius looked her up and down and apparently liked what he saw.

"Well, then what is your target, Lucius?" McGonagall asked, removing her hat. Onsu pulled at the strings of her red robe. It fell to the ground. She had a number of weapons on her. Bellatrix smiled.

"A little too prepared, aren't we? Surely you don't need to use all of those on us," Bellatrix said.

"You think so?" Onsu pulled out her wand. Bellatrix pointed her wand at her. "Try me, Lestrange," she said in a low voice. McGonagall turned her attention to Lucius. They stood like that for a moment. Then, Bellatrix broke the silence.

"Crucio!" she screamed and a red jet of light flew from the tip of her wand. Onsu's reflexes were much faster than the curse and she dove to the side. She hopped on the railing and began sliding down. Bellatrix shot curse after curse at her but continually missed.

McGonagall looked at Lucius with all the malevolence she could muster. They weren't fazed by the noise the other two were making.

"Lucius, are we ever going to get to this? I've beaten you before and I won't hesitate to do it again," McGonagall said, pointing her wand at him. Lucius smirked and ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"Well, I was a little bit younger and less experienced at dueling then. By now, I think I've gotten a smidge better, Minerva."

"It's Professor McGonagall to you, Lucius. I still was your teacher." Then a jet of blue light whizzed between them and knocked a lamp down. Lucius turned his head towards Onsu and Bellatrix as the lights went out. "Stupefy!" McGonagall yelled and an abnormally large ball of light went flying towards her opponent. Lucius didn't see it and suddenly, all went dark. The lights flickered back on and Lucius lay on the ground, unconscious.

Ginny, who'd been watching this horrible scene, noticed it growing colder. The other four were too busy throwing spells at each other to notice. Ginny turned around and saw two dementors approaching. She looked down at Onsu. She'd somehow gotten behind Bellatrix and was holding a gun to her head.

"Do you know what this is, Lestrange?" Onsu whispered in a deadly tone. Bellatrix, for the first time since that night in the Department of Mysteries, looked very afraid. She shook her head slowly. "Let's call it the Muggle version of Avada Kedavra. I could easily put four bullets in your head before you could say Stupefy. Do you want that?" Onsu asked. She still hadn't noticed the dementors and neither had McGonagall. She was too busy watching Lucius.

"What do you want me to do?" Bellatrix asked, her voice shaking. Onsu smirked.

"Call off the Death Eaters and I'll spare your life," Onsu said. Bellatrix said nothing. Ginny watched the dementor get closer. Then she remembered what she could do.

'Professor McGonagall! There are dementors behind you guys! Use the Patronus Charm! Hurry! It's almost upon Professor Onsu!' Ginny thought, squeezing her eyes shut. McGonagall stood up and looked around. She turned to see the dementors just as Onsu realized they were behind her.

"Expecto Patronum!" McGonagall bellowed. An unusually large cat jumped from her wand and chased the dementor away. Bellatrix jumped forward and pulled out a wooden stick.

"Portus!" she said. She grabbed Lucius and they disappeared. Onsu looked at McGonagall, who looked extremely worn out. Remus Lupin burst through the doors with Kingsley Shacklebolt hot on his heels. He ran to McGonagall as she slumped to the floor.

"Professor, are you all right?" he asked. McGonagall nodded and cracked a weak smile. Hagrid came running down the stairs. Padma Patil and Colin Creevey were with him. Both looked tired and dirty. Padma was crying hysterically.

"Tonks and Snape are gone. I found this." Hagrid held up locks of black and pink hair. "They were taken by Death Eaters! Some of yer students are missing also! These two saw it happen," he said, gesturing to the two students. Lupin and Onsu stood up just as Ginny saw the flash of light again.