Snitch

Chapter Two: Caught

            The next few weeks progressed slowly. With the exception of the replacement of Professor Trelwaney with the Centaur, Firenze (a rather keen idea in my opinion – I mean, he might be a Centaur, but he’s quite handsome), things went on as they always did. Michael and I were as strong as ever, and despite the fact that I still saw him everyday, I felt like I was finally beginning to get over Harry. It wasn’t until a D.A. meeting in early April that broke the monotony.

            It was a great meeting in the beginning, because Cho’s friend Marietta had been ill, which was fine with me (I really wasn’t in the mood for her whining anyway). And Dean Thomas had brought along Seamus Finnigan, who since the beginning of the year had a rather ignorant view of Harry’s run in with Voldemort, was finally able to forget his petty prejudices and join Dumbledore’s Army.

            We were practicing Patronuses, something that I knew would be useful in the future, but I couldn’t seem to focus enough to produce one myself.

            I whipped my wand back and forth in frustration. “Oh, I’m never going to get this to work!”

            “You need to think of something happy, Gin,” Michael said, trying to be supportive. “What’s your happiest thought?”

            I said nothing. Every single happy thought I could think of seemed to include a certain bespeckled wizard who shall remain nameless. 

            Michael was still coaching me on it when I noticed a small house elf with a numerous amount of hats enter the room. At first, I thought it was one of them sneaking in to actually thank Hermione for freeing them with the all the clothing she had made during the school year, but he scampered up to Harry and began to shake madly, and I realized that it wasn’t just any house elf. It was Dobby.

            The room silenced quickly, as everyone stared at the small creature approaching Harry, but I still had to strain to hear what Dobby was trying to tell him. All I could hear was Dobby muttering something about “She” and before I knew it, an overwhelming dread came over me. The house elf tried to bash his head against Harry’s knees. Harry pushed Dobby away as he then attempted to kick himself in the head.

            Umbridge had found out. I knew it would happen sooner or later, but she had finally done it.

            I looked to Harry, who was glancing around the room in horror, and I knew what he was about to say even before he had said it.

            “Run!”

            I could hardly recall what happened in the next few seconds, because it was complete chaos. The entire group was scrambling to get out of the door – pushing and shoving each other. I felt a tug on my arm and realized that Michael was pulling me towards a clear corridor. I looked behind me to see what was going on back in the Room of Requirement, and I saw a plait of long black hair whip me in the face as Cho rushed up behind us.

            “Don’t look back!” I heard Ron shout as he grabbed Hermione’s arm. And I saw them follow Fred and George down an opposite hall.

            But where was Harry?

            As I rounded the corner into another corridor, I heard someone fall on the stone floor behind us.

            I stopped and peeked around the corner, wand in hand, ready to hex anyone who near. After a moment, it looked as though they weren’t chasing after anyone anymore for some reason. It was then that I saw Malfoy twirling his wand in his hand with glee as Umbridge waddled over to see his catch.

            Feeling the familiar tug on my arm again, I heard Michael whisper into my hear behind me, “What are you doing?”

            I turned around to hush him up. “Shh! Be quiet!” Cho was still with us, no doubt curious to know what happened to Harry as well.

            Michael looked at me, obviously annoyed. “I am being quiet!”

            Looking off into the distance at the wall opposite us, I heard Cho whisper to herself, “How did they find out?”

            I peeked around the corner again, hoping to catch a glimpse of who they might of caught. And a moment later, I saw Umbridge pull out someone by the scruff of his neck, and my heart fell into the pit of my stomach.

            “Oh no.”

            “What Gin? What’s happening?”

            “They got Harry,” I said.

            Burying her face in her hands, Cho whimpered softly, and I signaled to them both that we should move on before we get caught as well.

            We ran downstairs towards the dungeons. Thinking they would try to head us off at the nearby bathrooms or the library first before they would our common rooms. But neither of those places were a keen place to be, and I figured that the dungeons would be the last place the Umbridge and her Slytherin spy team would bother to look.

            When we finally stopped near Snape’s own classroom, I wondered if he was in on the whole thing as well. And at that moment, I realized who the traitor was. “That little bitch,” I said through gritted teeth.

            “Who?” Michael said.

            “Marietta of course.”

            Giving me a stern look, Michael said defensively, “Marietta? What are you playing at?”

            Cho stopped in mid cry, surprised that I had even suggested such a thing. “But she wouldn’t do this to us. She’d never –“

            ”Oh come on, Cho! Don’t be so daft!” I reasoned angrily. “Marietta was reluctant to even join the DA from the beginning. And tonight – the night she just happens to be ill, is the night that Umbridge finds out about us and raids our meeting!”

            “Now Ginny, be fair,” Michael said. “For all we know, Umbridge could have found out loads of different ways. Malfoy probably overheard that Longbottom git talking about it. Or that Finnigan bloke – he’s never even been to a meeting before tonight!”

            Neville? Gimme a break. “You leave Neville out of this, Michael! Neville may not be your typical Gryffindor, but I know that he would never rat on us. And as for Seamus, he’s not a spy – he just didn’t know what to think about it all until he read the article in The Quibbler.”

            Cho finally jumped in, in defense of her friend. “But Marietta is my best friend. She would never do something like this! She just couldn’t!”

            “I’m telling you, she’s a sneak!”

            A flash of anger flickered in Cho’s eyes, and she stepped forward, starting to pull out her wand. I too stepped towards her, pulling my own wand, ready to hex the hell out of her.

            “Alright, that’s enough!” Michael said, grabbing our wrists simultaneously, and pushing us apart. “From both of you.” He glared at me hard. “Now Ginny, the coast should be clear by now. I want you to find your way back to your common room. Stun any Slytherin in your path. I will take Cho with me back to the Ravenclaw common room with me. Do you understand?”

            “Yes,” I said, not taking my enraged gaze away from the ignorant little tart.

            Michael grabbed me by my face and kissed me hard on the lips, which softened me for a moment. “Be careful, okay?”

            I nodded curtly. “I will,” I said, and started off, wand still clenched in my hand, towards the common room.

 

            *          *          *

 

            It was some time before Harry returned to the common room that night. Those of us in the D.A. had all waited up for him, riddled with guilt and worry about what would be happening to him. The remarkable part was that he seemed totally unfazed as he walked through the portrait hole. In fact, he seemed rather happy.

            Harry told us all of Marietta’s betrayal, and now thanks to Hermione charm on the parchment, she now had the word ‘SNEAK’ written across her face with incurable pimples (that girl is bloody brilliant). He told us that because we had our named our club ‘Dumbledore’s Army’, Dumbledore was able to take the blame for himself – saving us all from certain expulsion. Harry finished off the tale by describing Dumbledore’s fantastic exit, to keep from being arrested himself.

            Never had I felt so guilty. Granted, we would have all been expelled, but now Dumbledore has been exiled from Hogwarts – all because of a silly name I came up with.

            “It’s not your fault, Ginny,” Ron said, trying to be as comforting as possible, when he realized how silent I was after Harry had gone up to bed. “It really worked out for the best in the long run.

            I know he hadn’t meant it, but Ron’s reasoning sounded horribly selfish to me.

            Hermione put a hand on my arm. “Ron’s right Ginny,” she said. “He knew that Umbridge would have expelled us all, so he took the blame for us. He’s not gone forever. Not really.”

            “I imagine he’s probably with the rest of the Order now,” George chimed in. “Planning their next move.”

            I threw my brothers and Hermione a loathsome look, and got up to pace in front of the fireplace. “Next move?” I said. “You realize that Umbridge has probably taken over the head office by now? And you are concerned about the Order’s next move?”

            Sitting back on the sofa, Fred stretched out his arms over the length of the back of it. “Don’t fret little sister,” he said, giving me a devious wink. “That lot over there in the Order are not the only ones with plans up their sleeves.” He nodded at his twin and the two quickly exited and trotted up to their dorms.

            “What do you suppose they are up to now?” Ron asked worriedly. “We’re in enough trouble as it is.”

            Giving my youngest brother a knowing look, I said, “I think I’d rather not know.”

 

            *          *          *

 

            I didn’t see Michael at breakfast. In fact, I had the sneaking feeling that he had been avoiding me all day and it wasn’t until after my Herbology class right before lunch did I catch him talking to Cho in the courtyard.

            “Hello, Michael,” I said casually. “I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

            Michael turned about and smiled as he walked over to me. And then he did the most bizarre thing – he greeted my by kissing me on the cheek. What the hell was that?

            Though we have only been dating for almost seven months, Michael was always the affectionate sort, and he has always resorted to hugging and kissing me fiercely whenever he could. And to simply kiss me on the cheek as if I were and old acquaintance? I just didn’t understand. What was he trying to cover up for appearances sake?

            “I’m sorry Gin, dear,” he said apologetically. “It’s just that I’ve been finishing up some Charms homework I’m having trouble with this afternoon. In fact, I was just asking Cho here if she would mind helping me out, since she has a better knack for it than I.”

            That’s odd, he never had trouble with charms before. “I see. Well I hope that won’t take any time away from your visit with Marietta in the hospital wing this afternoon,” I said to Cho with an innocent smile. I turned back to Michael and said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be off to lunch.”

            As I made my way back to the Great Hall with a scowl on my face, I was nearly knocked down by Fred and George on either side of me, who seemed in a rush to the Great Hall themselves.

            “Hey Ginny! Why so down?” Fred asked on my right.

            “Nothing,” I said shortly.

            “Fighting with Michael again?” asked George on my left.

            “I said, it’s nothing.”

            “Well, I’m sure you’ll forget all about that in about ten minutes,” Fred said.

            I stopped abruptly. “Why?” I asked cautiously.

            George looked at his watch. “Let’s just say that you’ll want to find yourself in the Great Hall by then.”

            “What are you two up to now? And why wasn’t I in on it!”

            Fred put his arm around me in comfort. “No questions my dear, sweet sister,” he said. “Just don’t be late okay.”

            I sighed heavily. “All right, I promise.” As they trotted off ahead of me, my scowl grew back into a smile. Growing up in the Weasley household, when it came to the twins, I knew anything was possible.

            I nearly made it to the Great Hall when Michael caught up to me, taking my arm and pulling me back roughly. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

            Shaking my arm free, I replied nonchalantly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            “Ginny, how could you be so rude to Cho?”

            “I wasn’t being rude, Michael. I was just making conversation.” I said sweetly through my teeth. He gave me a severe look and I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “Okay, fine. I might have been a tad bit rude, but she looked like she needed a bit of reminding about what a deceitful little sneak her friend is.” I replied.

            “You don’t know that for sure,” Michael said harshly. “It’s only a rumor.”

            My hands snapped instantly to my waist. And if any of my brothers had seen me right then, they would have sworn my mother was standing there, angry as a Chinese Fireball whose egg was stolen. “You really are a prat, you know that? You know very well that Marietta is in the hospital wing due to the curse Hermione put on that parchment!”

            “A curse?” he questioned angrily.

            I rolled my eyes again. “Yes – a curse! Hermione put a curse on the parchment we all signed to join the D. A. Anyone who deceived us would break out in pimples and boils, spelling ‘SNEAK’ across their face!” And I again chuckled to myself at Hermione’s sheer brilliance. But we had to get inside the hall. Most of the students had already filed in for lunch, and it was nearly time for Fred and George to unleash their latest prank.

            “That’s not funny,” Michael said coldly, catching up to me again.

            “Maybe not to you, but she certainly deserved what she got!”

            “Ginny, that’s a horrible thing to say!”

            “It was the least that could happen, since it’s her fault for getting Headmaster Dumbledore kicked out!”

            “What are you talking about?” Michael asked stupidly.

            I sighed again in frustration. I swear this boy is by far, more idiotic than my own brother, Percy. And that’s saying something! I pointed at Umbridge’s newest Educational Decree on the wall, and shouted, “If she hadn’t snitched on us, Dumbledore would still be here!”

            Michael swore in realization, and I almost laughed again in the triumph of making my point as I walked into the Great Hall.

            But he wasn’t going to allow me my win that easily. He came at me again, this time, spinning me around. “That still gives you no right to be as cruel to Cho as you have been. You should apologize to her, Gin.”

            Apologize? Like I said, totally mental.

            “Why are you defending her all of the –“

            BOOM!

            Michael and I were catapulted to the hard stone floor as the entire Great Hall shook, rocking its very pillars. Even the charmed ceiling with the clear blue sky seemed to rattle.

            Everyone in the hall began screaming and backing up towards the walls. Michael, who had fallen on top of me, helped me up. But in the midst of the terrified shouts and cries, it was Professor McGonagall that I heard as she strode up to the large oak doors, wand in hand, shouting, “What the blazes is this?”

            As the doors swung open, the screams of fear became shouts of laughter and awe as a barrage of hundreds of colorful fireworks steamed across the room.

            McGonagall put her wand down, turned around, and smiled sweetly as she returned to her seat as though nothing had happened. “Everyone return to your seats. I’m sure Headmaster Umbridge will be more than willing to take care of this.” she said smartly.

            And as I saw her pass my brothers at the Gryffindor table, I could swear I saw her give them a sinister little wink.