Before She Was Taken

"No, Ginny, you still aren't getting the wrist action quite right. You need to move your wand in three rapid clockwise circles as you recite the charm. Here, let me show you."

"Praesulto!" Luna performed the dancing charm perfectly, sending her pear waltzing across the table. "Now you try it."

Ginny extended her wand and moved it around in three circles "Praesulto!". She looked her classmate in the eye and smiled at her, as her pear started tap dancing. And then she started to giggle slightly as she noticed the two pears were now dancing together.

"Wonderful!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, his attention drawn by her laughter. "Class, see here how Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood have made their pears perform a perfect tango together? That's ten points each to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."

At that moment the bell sounded for the end of the lesson. "Right then class!" he called out, trying to be heard over the din of the first years packing their bags. "For homework, I want you to thoroughly go over dancing charms. Remember that your exams are only a week and a half away now."

And with that, the chattering class filed its way out into the corridor. Ginny had to break into a trot to catch up with Luna, who had turned left out of the charms classroom, to head back to the Ravenclaw common room. "Luna, wait," she started, causing the blonde girl to turn around.

"Yes?"

"I, um, I wanted to talk to you... about the dancing charms," she mumbled, unconvincingly.

"Yes, they're fun aren't they?" bubbled Luna, following her friend as she walked towards a quieter part of the castle. "I think that from the hints that Professor Flitwick was dropping, they're likely to be in our exams. I'm sure you'll have no problems with them if they are. Your pear was leading for a little while there. So what was it you wanted to ask me about them?"

"Actually, I... it wasn't about charms at all." Ginny gulped. "I needed to tell you, to tell someone... no, to tell you... but you've got to promise me that you won't tell anyone else?"

Luna raised her head to look at the ceiling and bit down on her lower lip, clearly in deep consideration for a few seconds. "OK, I promise." Her voice was solemn; clearly a promise was not something she would take lightly.

"I know who did it, Luna, I know who opened the Chamber of Secrets. It was You Know Who's old diary, and, Luna, I..."

"Oh! I wondered if it might be something like that. My daddy sent me an owl about this just recently, and he said that..."

Luna turned and noticed that Ginny was no longer walking alongside her. Rather, she was sitting down on the hard corridor floor, sobbing openly. With surprising tact and tenderness for a twelve-year-old, Luna sat down next to her and started to comfort her. "Shush now, it's OK" she said, stroking Ginny's hair as she cried into her shoulder.

"No! No it's not OK!" Ginny exclaimed, and then quieted to a whisper. "I did it. I opened the Chamber of Secrets."