The Unforgettable Fire

CHAPTER 14: They Called Her The Hurricane

Ginny sat at her vanity. It was wrong when Draco wasn't there...just wrong. All the time she kept expecting him to say something and all the time there was just silence. Silence could be deafening when you are used to the presence of another. But Ginny would, as she had the weeks before, whether it. It wasn't that terribly bad, except right before bed. Draco had always been there, right before she turned off the lights, now he wasn't. She missed him so terribly...so terribly.

But she had to go on. Moody kept her busy. After one week of perfecting her elemental training, she moved on to a different sort with Arabrella Figg. Ginny could tell Arabrella held no fondness for her, none at all. It was, in a way, like McGonagall...but colder and more openly disrespectful. Not that Ginny could blame her; Arabrella was of the age where the Slytherins were just beginning to turn to evil. Of course she didn't trust of even like Ginny, Arabrella had been developing her morals and beliefs at the time when Slytherins were becoming dark. To her, all Slytherins beyond that point in history were evil and Death Eaters or Death Eater scum.

Ginny didn't mind all that much. Her training with Arabrella was mostly intellectual. In many respects, Arabrella was like McGonagall. Both were old. Both were extremely intelligent. Both were very strict. Both were Scottish. Both were slightly ill tempered and Gryffindor. They were practically the same person...except different.

"Miss Weasley, how do you expect to defeat Voldemort if you can't focus for three seconds on your work?" Arabrella asked shrilly.

Frowning, Ginny pushed her paper work at the woman. I've already finished, that is how, bitch, she said in her mind. Ginny watched as Arabrella made little grunts and frowned. Finally, Arabrella set the paper down and looked at Ginny over her square glasses. McGonagall has those glasses, Ginny though absently. "Well, Miss Weasley, your calculations are correct. Actually, your calculations are beautiful. But it doesn't work."

"Pardon?"

"Did you even look at the problem? Did you just look at the numbers? You just told me, on this piece of paper, that the Killing Curse can be deflected by the use of a Gray Shield Charm."

"The numbers work," Ginny said defensively.

"Well how about we go ask Moody to cast the Killing Curse and you can try to block it with your Gray Shield. Out in the field, you won't have time to calculate, Miss Weasley. You'll be on your toes and you'll just have to know. Knowing how must come first, that and knowing why."

"Then what is your point?" Ginny asked bitterly.

"The point is you have something to learn and it may not be all magic. You need a major attitude adjustment, girl. I'd love to teach you the hard way, but we have limited time."

"I bet you'd just love that," Ginny spat. "I bet you are one of those people that worship the ground the Boy Wonder walks on. Go Gryffindor! Bravery! Morality! Righteousness! Why, if everyone was a Gryffindor no one would have this problem."

"Well if you were Gryffindor at least," Arabrella countered. "No wonder you are in Slytherin, bitter to the last! No need to look for morals in your generation, it's anything that will get you ahead!"

"Some people consider ambition to be a great attribute!" Ginny returned, clenching her wand hand tightly, her gloves rubbing the wrong way.

"And some people consider courage to be a great attribute!"

The two women stared each other down. They were the classical case of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Both proud and smart, too much for their own good. Ginny sighed and cracked her neck.

"We sound like children," Ginny said. "Bloody selfish children."

Arabrella frowned. "That we do. Next problem then?"

Ginny nodded.

~~~

March 28, 1997

Dear Diary,

The days pass slowly. Every day I fight against myself. I want to move forward and stay in the past at the same time. To move on is to forget Draco but to stay in the past is to give up hope. I've found it, my hope. It turns out it was always there I just couldn't see it because it was so small.

I have taken to finding solace in the stars, their music us utterly captivating. I don't sleep much, truth be told I don't need it. My body seems to have adjusted to that fact. I meditate instead, this was encouraged by Orion and Demetrios. They say meditation is the only way to truly be one with the universe. The way they explain it, being one with the universe is the only way to extract power from it. The ability to sit under the stars at night and see without seeing, feel without feeling, be without being, is so liberating. I feel closer to Draco when I do, like if I were to push hard enough, I could reach through the heavens and grab his hand. Though, loath I am to admit it, I would never do that. It would disrupt to many balances.

I've been learning about balances lately. It never occurred to me how very selfish I was. I toyed with people, people I hardly knew then with people who could have loved me. I intimidated where I should have comforted, I hated where I should have accepted. I'm learning more about being a true Slytherin from Moody, the Slytherin of old. He is such a great person, such a powerful and good person...he deserves much more than he's received. But I digress.

The point is I'm unlearning what I thought I had to be, how I thought I was supposed to be. Being in Slytherin (in these days at least) is more imprisoning than educational. Sure you learn what it means to be secretive and stay alive all the while getting what you want, but it also means you aren't a full human being. This used to not be so important to me, but now...I can't think of too many things I'd rather be. I know that Draco would have come with me. In many ways he was an archaic Slytherin. His father had tainted him from so early on he didn't have much of a chance. He would have changed for me, just the way I would have become his mistress if he were forced to be with Pansy.

That reminds me, I requested (for my education...really) that I am able to see Brigid Allen, my parallel. For some odd reason Moody seemed very willing to do this. I suspect he A) wants to meet her himself and B) make me learn from it. I don't really care about the learning, I just want to see how much she is like me. On a side note, we both have scars now, hers on her cheek, mine on my hands and feet. It's getting freaky.

Anyway, Arithmacy and stuff with Abrella is going okay. I think she likes me now more, though I can tell there is still the coldness. She is an odd woman, like I would imagine McGonagall would have been like had she presued the life of an auror. I'm learning a lot, and not just about Arithmacy. Arabrella has fashioned herself on a history teacher of sorts. She thinks I need to be berated by the actions of those in my house from the past for some reason. I think she wants to "scare" the rebellion out of me...or whatever.

~~~

"You sure yer ready, Sprite?" Moody asked her as they stood on the pier of Azkaban Island. "You've got a lot of things to haunt you, the Dementors seem to bring out the fears in people."

"I've met the Dementor abominations before," Ginny stated solidly, pulling her plain black cloak about her tightly to shut off the harsh wind. Yeah, but you didn't have anything to fear then, you'd lost everything then. Now you have something to fear, now you are more human. But most of all, you are older and more tormented now. Stop being so cocky, Gin, the said to herself.

Moody nodded and they trudged up the craggy path to the prison. It didn't have walls like most prisons, nor did it have gates or wire fences. In fact, it was one building that stood only three stories and was fairly run down. Probably been around since the Demenators, Ginny speculated. They climbed the stairs and Moody knocked on the door five times, signaling their presence. An elderly wizard opened the doors tiredly.

"New one for the prison, Alastor?" the man asked. Then he looked over Ginny appraisingly, "Pretty one too."

"No, Pete, not today. This is Miss Virginia Weasley, my new student," Moody said. "We're on a bit of a field trip."

Pete nodded. "They get younger every day, don't they Alastor?"

"That they do," Moody grumbled. "I need you to take me to Brigid Allen's cell."

"Ah, another pretty one," Pete said. He took a lantern off a wall and motioned for them to follow. "I remember the day she came in. Didn't pitch a fit like most o' the male prisoners. In fact, she took it all in step, walking to her cell as calm as you please then asking politely for an extra blanket. I gave it to 'er of course, pretty little thing. She talks like a normal person to. I go up there time to time and talk to 'er cause I don't have no one to talk to." He lead them up a flight and stairs and began fiddling with his keys.

"Ah, Pete," the familiar, womanly voice of Brigid Allen, Ginny's former DADA professor said calmly. "How are you? Any news this time, I'm anxious to hear about that Hogwarts incident."

Moody grunted harshly from Ginny's left. "You'll be hearing directly about, Allen."

Then out of the shadows, Brigid Allen strode calmly and she put her hands on the bars of the cell, her long scar casting an odd shadow on her pretty features. "Is that Alastor Moody? I never thought I'd see you after that night you caught me. Let me go have they? Lucius paying people off again? I told him he shouldn't, it looks bad."

"Well I've been fightin' to keep you in here, Allen," Moody grunted. "Malfoy has plenty of money for you yet though, he's throwing a fit and lots of figures around every time he comes to plea for you. But that isn't why I'm here; I've brought you a visitor."

Ginny pulled back her hood.

"Ah, Miss Weasley! I remember you quite clearly, Draco always had his eye on you if I recall things right," she said, seeming to Ginny, quite pleased indeed to get a visitor. "It's been so long since I've had good female conversations."

"Well I'll let 'er in," Pete said cautiously, "just as long as ya don't slit her throat or nuffin. I mean - if that is okay with you Moody."

"Miss Weasley can take care of herself. I have other matters to attend to. Take me to Livingston, Pete," Moody commanded. Pete unlocked the cell and let Ginny in before locking it again.

Once the two men had left, Brigid looked down on Ginny (which to this day Ginny was amazed with her height). Brigid sighed. "So, Miss Weasley, please, I know that I don't have the greatest of hosting areas, but do sit."

"Call me Ginny, please," Ginny said, taking a seat at the small desk opposite the bed Brigid was sitting on.

"What can you tell me about what is happening in Hogwarts and the outside world, I much desire to know."

"Quid quo pro, Professor," Ginny smiled.

"I'm no professor any more," Brigid scoffed. "But I will accept your terms, though what I know that you would find interesting is beyond me."

"There are some things, but first I'll give you news. What have you heard?"

"Only that a girl was found crucified outside the school, the Dark Mark above her," Brigid sighed. "Draco is dead, I know, and that many Death Eaters have gone missing."

Slowly, Ginny removed a single, black, dragon hide glove and showed her palm to Brigid.

Brigid brought her hand to her mouth and gasped. "You?!?" she said with mixed astonishment and disgust.

Ginny nodded. "Yes. Though through a turn in fate, I was...saved. I was taken to Voldemort and he found it fit to punish me for my...insolence. They killed Draco in front of me, but all in vain, they didn't get what they wanted."

"What did they want?" Brigid asked.

"I can't tell you," Ginny told her. "It is now between me and the headmaster."

Brigid looked at Ginny thoughtfully and nodded. "Then tell me of Lucius. How does he fare?"

"He was the one who brought me, though he had no way of knowing what would happen, nor any way of stopping it," Ginny added. "He does well still, he is using his influence more than ever, trying to release you, or get you into Mungo's."

"Fool," Brigid scoffed. "He should know better. What of Voldemort?"

"They say he is hiding out in the islands off Argentina, maybe Tierra del Fuego. He is gathering all his forces to him, preparing for battle," Ginny replied. "He's found a way of increasing his power a thousand fold, his goal global domination."

Brigid nodded wisely. "He would, the bastard. Go on."

"That is why I am here, training under Moody. They think I have some part just because I somehow survived the Crucifying Curse, some Harry Potter-like person."

Brigid snorted. "Figures."

"But now I have some questions for you, some of which are personal," Ginny said. "That is unless you wanted to know anything else."

"No, thank you. Shoot," Brigid invited.

"I want to know why you and Lucius...chose each other. You were supposed to be Hufflepuff, the antithesis of Slytherin. What made you and him come together?" Ginny asked.

"Ah, that question. If I had a knut for every time someone, including myself, asked that question I'd be more rich that Lucius himself. But, quid quo pro, I know the rules. I think a better question for that is why did you and Draco 'come together'?"

"Because we fit," Ginny said after a while.

"Yes," Brigid nodded. "We fit. We could be weak around each other. We could feel what little we had to give to each other. We were as close as soul mates without any souls. There was no love, just like there was no love with you and Draco, but there was the layer of trust that goes with love. There was the layer of understanding that goes with love. There was even the physical attraction that comes with love, but neither of us knew how."

Ginny sighed. "Exactly. What would you do if he died?"

"I won't lie. I would be very sad. Despite all the hype about Slytherin not being an emotional house, we are loyal, protective...at least about things that are ours. You see, he was my Lucius, even though he was married to Narcissa. I was his Brigid. We just belonged. Were he to die, I would be sad. But tears don't come easily to me any more, never have really."

"So why don't you want him to come and take you from here?" Ginny asked.

At this, Brigid turned away, looking out at the overcast sky. "It would show his weakness. Lucius isn't weak; he is strong. It's not right when he is weak. Besides, people aren't really supposed to know about us. They do, but it is easier for both Lucius and me for them to pretend they don't out of fear. If he looks weak, those piranhas think they can start biting into him."

Ginny licked her lips, unsure how to ask what she wanted. "Do you follow Voldemort? I mean, do you follow Malfoy in following Voldemort?"

Brigid shook her head slowly. "No. Never have actually. This never really bothered Lucius either. Actually, it was better because he never had to worry about me betraying him in any way to Voldemort."

Ginny was quiet for a while. All her questions were satisfied. "I haven't seen any Dementors around," Ginny commented.

"Yes, they stay away from me for some reason," Brigid said vaguely. Ginny had a feeling she was lying, withholding something. Ginny frowned in the slightest. She had never heard of spell nor potion that could make Dementors avoid a witch, except the Patronus, but Brigid had no wand to cast it with.

Just then, Pete called out, knocking on the bars. "You two ladies done in there?"

"Yes, Pete," Brigid said after a small smile at Ginny. Ginny stood but before she could move to the bars, Brigid grabbed her hand and looked down on Ginny seriously. "I've not had a person really listen and understand me since I last talked with Lucius. I really enjoyed this. But before you judge Lucius or I, remember, you and Draco were the same. And if you do, and you might, kill Lucius, know that I will mourn him, but not hate you. He and I've both done enough to get us send seven ways to Hell, and hopefully we'll meet there. Good-bye, Ginny."

Ginny grasped Brigid's hand with her ungloved one. "I don't think you'll be disappointed with heaven, Brigid, I've been there. Good luck."

Brigid nodded and Ginny walked out of the cell, the clinking signaled the doors closing. As they walked off, Ginny heard Brigid's voice, "You listen to Moody, Ginny; you listen good! He'll teach you well and you'll put some more people in here yet!"

Ginny looked over at Moody, who grimaced and kept walking. Ginny frowned, this was all too odd. Who had Moody gone to see? Why wasn't Brigid affected by the Dementors? Why the hell was Pete the only human on the island (excluding prisoners as most had ceased to be so long ago)? And why hadn't she seen any Dementors?"

The last of these questions was solved by a herd of death stinking Dementors making their way straight at the group of three people. All of a sudden, Pete rose his lantern and faced down the Dementors. "They aren't here for you! Go away!"

To Ginny's infinite surprise, they did, though they did follow them quite closely out the door and to the pier. "See you around, Pete!" Moody called as he cast out into the ocean.

"Take care of that young girl, Alastor!" Pete returned.

Ginny could make out his form climbing the steps of Azkaban as Moody rowed steadily away from the accursed place. As soon as they were out of the Disapparition Shield, Moody and Ginny Apparated (one of the first things she'd been taught with Abrella) to Moody's house in the country. Soon they were sitting on his porch, drinking tea, and discussing the day thus far.

"What did you think of her?" Moody asked after taking a drought from his flask (which incidentally, Ginny had learned, always carried three liquids, tea, ale, and water, an endless supply of each) and stared at her with both eyes.

"She's..." Ginny paused. "Well, she's me...but older...and yet not me too. Maybe if things had kept on going how they were going I'd be her, in fact, I would be her."

Moody nodded. "Yes, she is very much like you. Though I hope you'd give more of a fight if an auror ever had to capture you. It's almost as though she wanted to be captured."

"I liked her though, really I did," Ginny said. "I couldn't help it."

"Aye, I liked her too. It was I who caught her. Asked me if she could have a cell with a view of the setting sun she did," Moody said thoughtfully.

"She does," Ginny said.

"I know," Moody chuckled. "Manipulated me quite well, she did. Smart woman, very smart, very dangerous, very beautiful. No wonder Lucius fancied her, she is fascinating. Fascinating the way Draco found you fascinating. So what have you learned?"

"I'll have to think about it," Ginny said, looking out at the sky. It was midday, about the time she should be training with Arabrella, but that had been canceled.

"Good answer. Not ever worth it unless you have to think about it," Moody commented. "So you have the day off. Go do whatever girls your age do, Sprite."

Ginny nodded and went up to her room to think.

~~~

Ginny was walking along a dirt road. Everywhere there was day and night at the same time. The sun and moon warred above her and the stars raced out of the way. Images from her past haunted the skies unbrutalized by the warring celestial bodies. Over the horizon she could see her and Draco sitting in their customary positions, her on her vanity and him on her bed. In another they were making love in his room at home. To the east she saw Harry helping her out of the Chamber of Secrets her first year. The south held a picture of Ginny painting the mural at Hogwarts. Turning around, Ginny saw herself kissing Warrington and then Harry throwing him off her.

"Ginny," croaked a voice. Ginny turned and saw it was Cedric. His dirty blonde hair was blood streaked and his eyes a haunting, dark ringed sight. His body was covered in cuts and his robes were torn. "I knew you. I blamed you."

Ginny brought her hand to her chest and gasped. The figure morphed into Draco. He looked like he was right before he was killed by Voldemort, his face and body broken, his jaw crooked from when Avery had hit him. "I loved you, Virginia! Why wasn't my love enough? Why did you leave me to die? All you had to do was tell them! Just tell them! You wouldn't be alone, Virginia! You'd be mine!"

The staggering Draco advanced on her and she backed away. Then Draco's face was replaced by Harry's. Harry was taking long, steady strides and smirking evilly, his green eyes glinting dangerously. "I am your future Ginny. You can't deny me! I'm in your blood! I'm in your destiny! I am you!"

"No," Ginny sobbed weakly, loosing her footing on the uneven terrain and falling on her back.

But the face morphed again into that of the Dark Lord in all his malevolent glory. "Sweet, sweet Virginia...never knew I was using you, using your soul. Such a powerful soul, I wish to taste it. Come here little sheep, look into my eyes. I'll cherish you, come..."

"No!" Ginny wailed. "NO! NO! NO NOT EVER!"

"Sh! Sh! Sh, m'girl! 'Tis a dream!" the voice of Moody sounded over the chaos. Blood was dripping from the sky, the sun and the moon had finished their war and no one was the victor. Blood seeped on the multi-headed form of Cedric-Draco-Harry-Voldemort and the monster writhed in pain.

A foreign, evil voice sounded deeply in the background. "The end is not the beginning! There is no circle! There is no heaven for those who it's abandoned! There is no hope! Closed are the doors of heaven to those who've crossed safely before!"

"Ginny! Ginny, m'girl, 'tis a dream, come back!" Moody said again, clearer this time. Searing hot pain hit Ginny's palms and feat and she struggled against an unknown foe. An unfamiliar wetness stained her cheeks.

"No!" she screamed. "No! No! No!"

"Ginny, clam down. A dream, only a dream," Moody soothed. Slowly the dream world melted away like water from an icicle and her vision gradually increased, though tears still burned her cheeks.

And then came the breakdown. Realizing that she was in alone in a room with the only person who was alive and understood her, Ginny's walls failed her and she collapsed. Wracking sobs hit her hard and she convulsed painfully against the strong arms of Moody. All the while he soothed her hair, murmuring soft words of comfort in her ear, rocking her slightly like a father would his child. Ginny clung to him fast and sobbed into his sturdy shoulder.

"Sh," Moody said calmly. "Just a dream, m'girl, just a dream."

"They - they said - I wasn't," Ginny hiccupped and bawled.

"Sh, come now, come," Moody said, trying to pacify her. "It can't be that bad. Come, m'girl, let's get you some tea."

"They said I wasn't welcome back!" Ginny wailed. "I can't go back to heaven!"

"Nonsense," Moody said kindly, putting her upright. "Come down with me and we'll talk all about it."

~~~

April 9, 1997

Dear Diary

I can't believe it. I broke, they finally broke me. Cedric, Draco, Harry, Tom, they broke me. I sat and cried for hours, cried for all the times I should have, cried for all the times I wanted to. Moody was so kind, he never said anything about how weak it was or how pathetic I was. It makes me wonder if he really has it in him to kill, I mean, they always say he took prisoners over killed.

All those years of coldness...I was holding back a lot...too much. It had made me weak. If I'd been stronger, Draco'd be alive...Cedric'd be alive. I don't want to lose what I was though. I can still be powerful, beautiful, aggressive...even cruel if need be. But things have been changing. I don't have the same motivations I always had. Before it was keep alive and kill Tom...now...well now it is the same, but by different means. I'll attack him head on now, the way he deserves to go down.

Things don't hold the value they always did with me. Like loyalty is important now. I know I'll always be loyal to Moody; there is nothing that can sway that now. I will be loyal to the cause, I will kill Tom.

My life is changing. Before it was all the same. A person becomes dull if things don't change. That is the way we grow, change, the great teacher. I've learned a lot. I used to think that nothing in the world was beautiful, nothing worth saving or to hope for. But there is beauty, I sit and look to it every night.

I remember well my lessons. I don't want to turn into Brigid Allen, cold and distant, living in a hell made by her selfish desires to be with Lucius, to be his and him be hers. I won't turn into that woman sitting in Azkaban, just waiting for her time to die. I refuse. It's no way to live. I've died and come back and I can tell you that isn't truly living. I'll live now and no one can stop me...least of all Tom.

~~~

Moody walked into the headmaster's office and hung his cloak on the coat rack. Looking about the room, he slowly turned to the desk and saw Dumbledore wasn't there yet. Moody sat down in a chair facing the desk and took a swig of his flask.

"Ah, Alastor," the cheery headmaster said. Moody grunted, maybe he wouldn't have to wait so long after all. "How are you? Care for a lemon drop?"

Moody snorted and ignored his questions. He knew he was probably the only person in the world who could be rude to Albus Dumbledore and not care. He'd known him too long, even before that blue twinge became permanent in the old man's eyes. "The girl is almost ready."

Dumbledore cracked a smile as he leaned back in his seat. "Is that so? And Voldemort, does he know?"

"Not a clue; thinks she's simpering about in a protected place. Can't see beyond the Fidelius Charm. Who is the Secret-Keeper, I never knew."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "that is the two hundred galleon question. It is as it's always been."

"But can we trust him. He is around Voldemort every day, the chance it could slip from his forked tongue..." Moody mused.

"Severus may have been a Death Eater, but he is loyal and won't ever betray us. The closer the secret is to Voldemort, the farther he'll be bound to look," Dumbledore said wisely. "But tell me of Miss Weasley more."

"Took her to see Brigid Allen the other week," Moody said. "Could have been the same person, you're right. We've managed to capture the young Weasley's attention for now, managed to save her for a while. I don't know when, but soon she will feel the pain of loss.

"Then...then...well, then I don't know what will happen. She's like petrol near a flame, likely to go off, depending on which way the wind blows. One step in the wrong direction and she'll be off.

"She's been having dreams of late, horrific dreams, nearly every night. She barely sleeps, preferring to keep the dreams at bay by extreme meditation. Orion and Demetrios say she feels the universe so completely she could be mistaken for an elf were she to travel with them. She mastered the elemental training in less than a month; Arabrella says she's fast on her way to becoming the most talented Arithromancer of the century right after she becomes the most powerful Charmer and Transfigurer. The girl has a gift, to much of a gift. No wonder Voldemort wanted her soul.

"There is something ancient about her, something primal and deep. It's like looking through time looking through her eyes, one wrong step and you're captivated. There is something eternal about them too. Brown should be warm and inviting, her brown is punishing. It's a hard, metallic brown, like bronze, gold, copper, and brown mixed together. She's like a snake charmer and everyone is a helpless reptile in her wake. So much power, so much beauty, so much potential and ambition, it hardly seems right that it should be in one person."

Moody sighed, trying to figure out how to go on. "But she has so much pain. You want to cry for her when she's sad, pray for her when she's in danger, love he when she's feeling unwanted. I'm sure if she asked it, I'd end my life for her...anyone would."

Dumbledore nodded. "I think I might as well. What she did to us, the year we tried to take her to Delphi...I've never forgotten that. Severus, Sirius, Harry, and I tried, as I told you. We thought it would be for the best; at least the enemy wouldn't have her. We tried to take advantage of her and she shot back with all her force. Her power was unimaginable. Were she to go to war, I mean truly go to war, none of us, no one, would stand against her. And yet...and yet she carries so much pain. So much pain in one person and she's spreading it about her like a hurricane." Dumbledore snorted. "Hurricane Weasley was her Quidditch nickname. They called her The Hurricane.

"Some day there will be no one left to stop her, Alastor. Some day she'll become so enraged the power will seep from her very skin and no one will stop her, no one will be able to. I fear that day, Alastor, truly I do. It is the most horrible thing I can imagine. A dark queen to rule us all. We would love her, love and fear her, but always love her. She would be the Goddess, she still may be." Dumlbedore shook his head again. "They called her The Hurricane."

~~~

"I can teach her no more, Alastor," Arabrella said moodily. She rapped her fingers on the table and looked out at the sunset. Beyond the porch Ginny sat watching the sun sink behind the low hills. She sat there every evening, watching day become night. "I can't teach her."

"Arabrella," Moody said sternly. "I know you don't like her, but she's trying to be civil, can't you do the same."

Arabrella's jaw clenched and her fingers stopped their drumming as her left eye twitched a bit. "Moody, I. Can't. Teach. Her."

"Arabre-"

"I don't know any more, Alastor! She's bypassed me completely! She's working with theories, thinking their fact, and they are working! I can't direct her any more, there's no more knowledge left! Gone! Vamos! Fin! Over! Caput! Nilch! Nada! Zero! Are you understanding the words that are coming out of my mouth?"

Moody opened his mouth then wisely shut it again.

"Look," Arabrella continued, "she's good, I'll give her that. But she's not ready. I can see it in her eyes. She's still changing, evolving. She still doesn't know who she is. Hell, she doesn't know what she is! For that matter, I don't either!"

"Arabrella," Moody said calmly. "That is why we are here. She's growing because of us. Did you think she was just going to do it on her own? Are you telling me it is Fletcher's turn at her?"

Arabrella snorted and turned back to Ginny. "Yes."

Moody nodded. "Would you like to say good-bye?"

She sighed. "Yes." Then she stood and left Moody on the porch. Moody watched with interest and Abrella made her way onto the field and stopped behind Ginny. Although he couldn't hear them at this distance, he could barely make out their conversation. Abruptly, Ginny through her arms around Arabrella and they stayed like that for a moment. Arabrella let go and kissed Ginny on each cheek. Then she left Ginny to the sunset. Moody could see the wet sheen of water on Abrella's cheeks as it reflected off the setting sun. Then Arabrella Disapparated. She was going Sudetenland to set up a spy ring. Arabrella might never return, Sudetenland being the next place that Voldemort was locationed, or at least that was the rumor. At any rate, Arabrella was in for the long haul.

Moody watched the sun set from afar, admiring the way it made Ginny's hair shine and catch light. Just like petrol, he reminded himself. He took a long drink from his flask and headed in, knowing Ginny probably wouldn't. It was warm, warm enough to stay out the night, like she had been doing. He trusted her and also knew she'd be safe. Voldemort could walk onto his front lawn any day of the week and catch no sniff of her. Taking one last look at Ginny, she seemed to already be on fire, or at least the sun made it look like she was.

~~~

"Ginny," Moody said to her, "this is Mundungus Fletcher, your new teacher. I know you've met, but that was a while ago."

Ginny nodded and faced Fletcher. He stared at her with his lethal eyes, they were shockingly purple. Ginny wanted to frown at this but figured they just seemed purple because of the shade of blue they were. But they were hard eyes, not the sort you made friendly conversation with over tea on Sunday afternoons. He had a solid frame and dark, ill-kept hair. He skin was a strange olive color and he looked like he was probably mixed raced.

"Miss Weasley," he said formally.

Moody nodded curtly. "I'll just leave you two to your training then, off with you now."

Knowing tickled at Ginny's fingers and they itched for her wand. It was spontaneous, but Fletcher noticed it. He smirked and inclined his head a bit. "Good, assessing a threat, the first step."

"There's something wrong though, you aren't supposed to be a threat. You're supposed to be my teacher," Ginny commented lightly.

"Never trust to what others tell you."

"I trust Moody," Ginny said, immediately regretting it because truth be told, she didn't actually trust anybody. But with this it was safe to assume that Fletcher was indeed her teacher and it was also safe to assume that this was a test and not merely a formality.

"Ah, do you?"

Ginny snorted, tired of the game. "Look, let's stop with the ritual dance. I'm a Slytherin; I've got the trust issues down pact. I've also got guilt issues, emotional detachment issues, revenge issues, hate issues, and stability issues pretty much squared away. Let's move on to what you want to really teach me and we'll get along fine. I don't flatter myself; I don't think you want to be my best friend. I do think you have something to impart to me; that is the only reason I'm still here."

"Direct, aren't we?" Fletcher mused. "We'll have to fix that." He summoned a parchment from the air and jotted down a few notes down before it rolled itself up and disappeared. Ginny waited patiently as he studied her with hauntingly purple eyes. He must have had his fill as he moved on. "What do you think I'm going to teach you?"

"I imagined it would be somewhere around the lines of dueling, fighting, self defense, etc.," Ginny answered primly as she tossed her hair to the side and looked at him indignantly.

It was going to be a long few weeks.

~~~

April 17, 1997

Dear Diary,

I watch the sunset now. It's soothing in a way I've never felt. They say that dusk is the end. That one day, dusk will come and then there will be nothing. I crave that day. And the worst thing, I'll be around to see it...or at least my soul will. I've traveled the paths of the universe and I've seen my immortal soul. In reality, everyone's soul is immortal, but mine is cursed to stay on this earth and never travel the heavens as it once did.

I close my eyes and face the dull light of the moon. Sometimes there are gentle breezes, sometimes there is nothing. Sometimes I can hear the crickets, sometimes I can't. But always there is the universe. I contemplated for a long time before writing this, wondering if it were a sin to describe the universe by such primal means as pen and paper. Damn the universe, I'll never get to travel it except in mind, never in spirit.

Anyway, I close my eyes and face the dull light of the moon. I reach out to that place just before the void. I feel the springy texture of the universe. It is like the tension on water you feel if you press down lightly enough on it, not enough to break the surface, but just enough to cause it to displace itself. But this water is thick and black. Stars dot the liquid and tease the imagination with their distance. Then, when you press hard enough, your mind enters a place between the world you are in now and the place that you will when you die.

Magic and power roars here. You have to catch yourself or you'll be swept away. You have to find the island, the safe place. Everyone has one, deep in their mind it is waiting for them. It takes a while to find, it took me a while, but it's there just the same. Once you are on your island you are free to look about you, observe the beauty. And it is, beautiful I mean. All the peace, all the power, all the stability, it can really take you away. It will if you let it. I won't though. I know if I were to do that, I'd never return. It would be like death and living at the same time, impossible everywhere but there.

Soon enough, the world darkens around me. It is strange how it all surrounds me. Then I feel the soothing, cooling waters of peace inundate my mind and I do my best to breathe. I like it better like that, it eases the fire I feel burning in me.

The fire is hot and I truly fear it. I know what will happen if I let it go, destruction. Dumbledore saw it, that is why I'm here, learning to control it. I'm dangerous, not yet fit for the world. But then again, one could argue the world isn't yet fit for me. If I open too wide, open my heart, the raging inferno takes over and that is when bad things happen.

Fletcher sees this. He is my teacher now. I don't know how to describe by relationship with me. It's clear to both of us we aren't friends, but neither are we enemies. It's always business with him, cold business. It is better for me if it's like that. He trains me hard. Some days I'll wake up and he'll be standing there ready to curse me and see what I'll do. Some days he'll watch me for a long time, analyzing my daily routine for flaws...then he'll curse me and see what I'll do. He's taught me valuable curses and counter curses, charms and tricks, potions and remedies. Fletcher knows basically every charm, curse, and incantation known to the wizarding world.

But I've learned things he'll never be able to teach me in my time after dark. I don't sleep, it's what I need anymore. Rather, I find peace in the universe now. It sustains me the way sleep would only better. I sit and feel the flowing of the universe, the vibrations of the simplest things, the wavelengths of creation. Old magic dwells in the deep corners of the cosmos and I'm captivated by it. But through the universe you can find the most horrid things...I don't dare utter them anywhere. The deepest of atrocities, betrayals, and chaos inhabit the dark places of space and I feel them in me. It frightens me. It also frightens me that I now hold the capacity to fear.

Trust no one, that's the one thing that I've learned.

~~~

"Term is nearly out," Moody said casually as he took a drink from his flask. Ginny wasn't fooled however.

Ginny put down her Arithmacy book and frowned slightly. "And?"

Moody shrugged. Then he shifted in his seat so he could look at her with his good eye. "I'm taking on a new student at the request of Albus Dumbledore."

"Good for you," Ginny said testily. She'd known this had been coming for a long time now. The spring was rapidly drawing to a close and that meant classes at Hogwarts would be ending. This also meant the other third of the prophesy would be need to finish his already started training. Harry Potter was coming to study under Moody. "Let me know when to pack."

"You won't be packing and you know it," Moody grumbled. "We've gone over this and you know what will happen. It's not like he'll even be living here anyway. Hell, you'll barely see him. And even if you did, so what? You'll be working with him to defeat Voldemort, who cares if you don't like him?"

"How is the real question," Ginny said snidely. She was still uncomfortable with the fact that no one really knew how she was going to defeat Voldemort just that somehow she was. She knew it had something to do with the Intihuatana stone, the winter solstice, and The Alignment, but other that that, she was stumped.

"A question we already have people working on," Moody said matter-of-factly. "Now I've got a question, how are you getting on with Mundungus, how are classes?"

"I 'get on with Mundungus' fine. As for classes, I learn more everyday. He is an excellent teacher, a good cross between strict and understanding." Ginny drew a small circle with her finger on the table on the porch. "He doesn't have much more to give however. I can see he's running thin and it's only been four weeks. What will I do when I have no one left to teach me?"

Moody sighed. Fletcher had told him as much. She was just too damn fast, that was the problem. She was too smart...too perfect. "Mundungus, Arabrella, and the twins are the extent of my knowledge. For all they are, I made them, they are what I am. If they have nothing to teach you, I have nothing to teach you. You will stay here and advance yourself, explore, test, hypothesize, reject, then try again. We have time, limited time albeit, but time. December is still a ways off yet, we'll be prepared, the forces Albus had made will be prepared."

"He has more?" Ginny asked, intrigued.

Moody just snorted. "You didn't think he'd send two seventeen year olds out to do an army's job did you?!? Ha! No, m'girl, he has forces ready to take the final leap of faith for him. I call them his cult, his Noble Six Hundred. They'll follow him to whatever end and not bat an eyelash at it. Remus, Black, Snape, Fletcher, and Arabrella even, McGonagall, the Patils, the Clearwaters, the Weasleys, and then some. He's got a veritable army waiting for those Death Eater scum if they attack."

Ginny cracked a smile. "I guess he does."

Moody nodded and looked out to the sun as it sank down over the low hills. Taking a drink of his flask, he grunted and put a foot on the table. "What do you do out there?"

Ginny put down her book again. "Out where?"

"I've talked to the twins. They say you go places, far away places. Orion says there hasn't been a person, man or elf, that can sail so expertly along the waves of time and space. They said that they have a prophesy about you."

"What is that?" Ginny asked in a detached voice.

"The Woman Who Is Seven will come to Earth from time and space.

"She shall sail the currents of the cosmos as though she were born to them,

"Navigate the stars as though she were one,

"Live as a fallen angel on this world.

"She will come bearing the ultimate fire wreathed in ice.

"She shall be the savior or she shall be the slayer.

"Her soul shall not be killed and her sword shall be unsheathed at the turning of the tides.

"All shall love her and despair." Moody took a drink and considered her expression. It was that of one who didn't like what they heard, but were still deliberating.

"That fire is in me," Ginny whispered hoarsely. "I can feel it eating at me. Once I thought it was emotion that was building in the depths of my soul. I would do anything not to feel it; I would do anything to keep it frozen. I would call it the griffin. I was convinced that a griffin and a snake were fighting for dominance, my soul deliberating if I were Gryffindor or Slytherin."

"And now?" Moody urged.

"The fire will be my undoing. My first instinct was to burry it, never let it out. Had I been sorted into Gryffindor, I would have been lost to it. Since I was in Slytherin, I could control it, sooth it. Alastor," she said, looking up at him plaintively, "it would kill us all, that fire. Had it the chance, it would escape and devour this earth and all its splendor."

"Yes," Moody answered, though it hadn't really been a question.

Ginny's head fell. "That is why I've been preparing, isn't it? To control the fire. I need to release it when the time is right, when I'm facing Tom. It will destroy him."

"What?" Moody asked.

"I - I - I can't control it, Alastor," Ginny whispered. "I never will be able to. If I release it, it will be lost to me."

Ginny looked at Moody as he thought. She could practically feel the wheels turning in his head. "So that is what he is for," Moody said cryptically. Then he jetted to life. "Get your cloak! You and I must see Albus now!"

On command, Ginny grabbed her cloak, throwing her book on her bed. Immediately she met Moody downstairs and saw he had his wand at ready on her arrival, she drew hers, no knowing why and they Disapparated to the gates of Hogwarts.

The forest was far from silent as they tread down the path and past the lake. It was familiar to Ginny, familiar in a way she wanted to forget. The sun had set, but that meant nothing to the Hogwarts population, there was a Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw by the colors, or at least Ginny thought.

"Damn!" Moody swore, looking about the campus. Everyone was at the stadium; they could hear the calls and cheering. "You had to choose now to make a groundbreaking discovery, didn't you Sprite?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked at the brightly lit Quidditch field. People she knew would be there, people she'd...it wasn't important. True she didn't know what was right now (as Moody was being far from forthcoming), but it wasn't important.

"We'll just have to call him away from the game," Moody said. "Come on now, and try to keep hidden."

Ginny pulled her gloves on tighter and shifted her hood far over her head so no one could see her face. She and Moody trudged along the cool grass and down to the pitch. The cheering was louder, annoyingly so. Upon entering the stadium, Ginny's eyes were assuleted with waves of red and gold, along with blue. People applauded the Quidditch players loudly as they flew about the field. Gryffindor was ahead by a lot and the announcer was annoyingly high pitched.

"Up there," Ginny said above the crowds as she pointed to the headmaster. Snape, Lupin, and McGonagall were seated around him, watching the game.

Moody nodded and she followed him to the seats, up the stairs and to the level of Albus Dumbledore. No one paid them any attention as they stepped on the landing, no one save Dumbledore.

"Albus," Moody grumbled, taking down his hood. "We need to talk, Albus. There have been some...developments."

By now everyone in that section was looking at Moody and Ginny, but Ginny was confident they didn't know who she was.

"I understand, Alastor," Dumbledore said, rising from his seat and making his way across the aisles. "I have a few things I need to discuss with you as well. Perhaps you guest would like to watch the rest of the match? It's very exciting."

"I don't think that would be wise, Albus, my guest - "

"Is perfectly able to take care of herself I do believe," Dumbledore interrupted. "Now, please sit, Madam, enjoy the rest of the match and come to my rooms when it has ended."

Ginny sighed and nodded, taking the headmaster's place on the bench only to be stared at by Snape, Lupin, and McGonagall. She watched as Moody and Dumbledore made their way across the field and to the castle. Shifting her head to the pitch, she watched the game.

Soon she could hear Lupin and Snape talking quietly.

"Who is she?" Lupin asked.

"Hell if I know, you ask her," Snape suggested.

"If she is a guest of Dumbledore's..."

"I'll ask her then," Snape growled. "Who are you?" he barked. This annoyed Ginny because it was the voice which he used on his students.

Turning her head slightly towards him, just enough to catch the lower half of her face, she said, "A friend of Moody and Dumbledore's."

"Then what business do you have here at Hogwarts?" Snape asked again.

"The sort of business that doesn't appreciate or require people nosing around in," she replied firmly.

"I think what Professor Snape meant to say," Lupin interrupted calmly, "was I am Professor Remus Lupin and he is Professor Severus Snape, who are you?"

"I know who you are," Ginny answered in a steely voice. There was a great roar of the crowds. The Snitch had been caught by Harry. "You know who I am too."

"I do?" Lupin asked quietly.

"Weasley," growled Snape.

"Indeed," Ginny answered. "Now I must be leaving, business calls."