Bringing Harry Home

Chapter 1- A Perfect Shattering

Sighing, she hung her head in worry; six days and still no sign of where he went. Ron, she thought, where are you...

In the back of her head, she knew there was only one place he could logically be. It's all too much of a coincidence. You-Know-Who must have kidnapped him... with Harry.

She remembered the summer before her seventh year at Hogwarts. War had finally broken into the open. Horrifying images from last year threatened to play themselves over again starting with the day Dumbledore was asked to leave... The experience was so haunting, so harrowing, that it made her first year at Hogwarts seem like a picnic party. The past year had done nothing to soothe her soul.

A sudden clanking of pots and pans startled her out of her reverie. As her heart threatened to burst out of its cage, a patch of moonlight struck the dark figure approaching her. "George?"

"It's Fred, Ginny. And why the bloody hell aren't the lights on?" a muffled voice reproached.

"Just thinking," replied Ginny as she twirled a half-eaten muffin on the bone white dish.

Fred flicked on the lights carefully and sat down across from her. The chair squeaked as he tried in vain to abate his sister's anxiety. "Don't worry about Ron. You know he can take care of himself just fine. Besides, Bill and Charlie will find him soon enough." He ran his hand through his poppy hair in frustration. "You-Know-Who wouldn't just kill him." He frowned, cautiously not treading on the topic of Harry. "I hope."

"Why would they keep him alive for so long?" Ginny asked urgently.

A crash coming from the general direction of Fred's room (Molly and Arthur Weasley had found a cozy cottage in the country and gave the twins free use of the house when Ginny graduated) followed by a girly sounding "Ow!" quickly captured Ginny's attention.

Feeling a smile tug at the edges of her lips, Ginny asked teasingly, "So... how's Katie?"

Fred began examining her muffin with greater scrutiny. "Is this blueberry? I'm rather hungry. Mind if I have a bite?"

Ginny shook her head, grinning now. "Just don't get that lipstick you're wearing on it."

Laughing, she ducked as the blueberry muffin hurled through the air at her head, barely missing her forehead, and bounced off the cupboards.

As she sat back up, she caught a glimpse at the clock for what seemed like the thousandth time, and she frowned when Ron's hand still lay on "traveling." Returning to her thinking, she wondered why You-Know-Who would want him.

Crinkling her forehead, she slowly walked to the coat rack where her green rain poncho hung limply. "I'm going to head over to the hospital and help out. Need to get my thoughts together."

Fred's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "It's three in the morning, Gin."

Ginny waved him off as she grabbed her coat and in one swift movement, slips into it, and walked out the door.

"Be careful!" Fred called out as she slammed the door so hard its hinges wobbled.

* * * * *

"Hey, Ginny," said Isabel hurriedly, a local volunteer at the Prestige Hospital. "I was just thinking of floo-ing you in. There's been another attack and we're swamped." She was opening the drawers in the volunteer area and throwing things everywhere. "There are two hundred people out in the streets. It's an absolute massacre out there! Where are those damned gloves? AHA!"

Holding the box of plastic gloves like she had just won the Triwizard Tournament, Isabel pitched a pair at Ginny. Ginny shivered as she threw on her white smock and gloves and rushed to follow the scampering Isabel through the door and down the hall to the reception area.

There on the wall, hung at least ten clipboards. The young nurse sitting at the desk was rapidly waving her wand as papers filled out by themselves, flew onto clipboards, and hung on the wall. A couple of volunteers, still groggy with the telltale signs of red eyes and rumpled hair, are already rushing off to the various rooms with a clipboard in hand. A pale boy consoled a grey-eyed girl who looked a little green as tears streamed down her face.

"It's going to be okay. It's going to be alright," he whispered in her ear as she continued to cry.

The nurse at the desk looked up and snapped at Ginny and Isabel. "Well don't just stand there! Do you see how many patients we have?" She waved her hand at the clipboard wall, which now held about twenty. Ginny took one, her eyes still watching the crying girl.

It was only in the hallway that she looked down at the name on the paper.

Cho Chang.

Oh Merlin. I can't do this. Ginny pressed her hand to her forehead and leaned against the wall.

"Ginny?" asked Isabel worriedly, looking over her shoulder at the trembling girl. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, Ginny walked towards Room 131. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the knob and pushed the creaking door open. Trying to see into the dark room, she closed the door and walked cautiously towards the unmoving figure on the bed.

Ginny's hand flew to her mouth to cover her scream as she stole a look at Cho. Her chest was burned and pieces of charred flesh hung from a violet pulp of a body. Uncontrollable tears filled Ginny's eyes as she looked at Cho's face, which was swollen to almost double its size. Scratches and tears ran from her forehead to the base of her neck.

"Mum?" rasped Cho, her blackened arms reaching out towards Ginny. "Mum, is that you?" Turning her head, Ginny felt her throat contract painfully as Cho continued. "Mum, help me, please. It hurts so much. Please, help me..."

Controlling her fluttery hands, Ginny pulled a chair next to the bed. "Hi Cho... It's Ginny. I'm going to need you to just relax and calm down... this won't hurt a bit..."

People have told Ginny that she didn't need a wand... her voice had powers of its own. One reason the hospital had pleaded with her to work there was because of her soothing intonation that could appease almost anyone. Cho's body seemed to relax as Ginny placed her hands a few inches above Cho's body and began to sing.

*****

Once Cho was looking like her normal self and fast asleep, Ginny placed another blanket around her and slowly crept out the door. As she was walking towards the reception area, she met up with Isabel in the hallway. "Hey," greeted Isabel. "How was your first today?"

Ginny closed her eyes and shook her head. "She's a girl I knew from school." She looked at the clipboard. "I haven't seen someone in that kind of condition for a long time."

"Yeah," whispered Isabel. "Next patient it is," as they rounded the corner and saw the reception area.

"Great," muttered Ginny as she took the next clipboard and took a peek down at the paper apprehensively.

Lucia Frost.

Releasing a little sigh of relief, Ginny caroused down the hallway and prepared herself mentally for what was behind door 72. As she stepped inside and approached the bed, the girl began to sing, almost tauntingly. "Frosty the Snowman..."

Ginny shuddered at the eeriness of the voice that resounded within the room. "Lucia?" she asked quietly.

The girl in the bed flew into a sitting position as her hands fluttered around. "No more! I can't take any more!"

Ginny shrunk back as she stared at the sight in front of her. The girl had wispy, disheveled blonde hair, and one green eye, one blue. But her skin... who would do such a thing?

Someone had played tic-tac-toe on Lucia's skin. X's and O's filled the little squares drawn with burnt lines.

Trying to swallow her horror, Ginny called out again. "Lucia?"

"My name is not Lucia!" screeched the young girl, her green and blue eyes wild with delusion, hands clawing at the sheets. "He called me Frost! He said I was too cold... and that he would warm me up..." Letting go of the sheets, Lucia hugged herself, nails scratching frantically at her unhealed wounds. The blood started to drip on the pearl white blankets like little wine spills.

Ginny ran to the cabinets on the opposite side of the room and anxiously searched for a Medi-Magic needle. Before Lucia could do any more harm to herself, Ginny grabbed Lucia's left arm and pierced her skin. Within seconds, those conflicted eyes closed and Lucia was fast asleep, wrapped in sheets of crimson and white. Ginny placed her trembling hands over the body.

*****

"Ginny, I can't do this anymore," whispered Isabel in front of the reception desk holding her stomach. Ginny walk over and placed her hand on her friend's back, and Isabel gave a feeble smile in return. "Could you take the last one?" She held out the last clipboard and gave Ginny an earnest gaze.

"Alright," muttered Ginny as she starting toward the room. She glimpsed down at the paper.

Hermione Granger.

Oh no. The last person I want to see here, Ginny thought in panic while walking into the room. She hesitated, half expecting to see Hermione on the bed, scalded like Cho, half expecting her to be broken like Lucia.

What Ginny had not anticipated was Hermione pacing the floor apparently unscathed.

"Hermione?" called Ginny tentatively, making sure the vigorous girl she saw in front of her was genuine.

Hermione spun around on one bare heel and stared at Ginny. "Ginny? Oh... I was just searching for you! You have to get out of London. Now."

Wringing her hands, she tapped her toes against the floor.

Ginny let out an uneasy laugh. "Most people start out conversations with a 'hi'."

Truth be told, Ginny had tried to get out of London, but with the hospital and Ron missing, it seemed that the wiser option was to stay at home.

Shaking her head, her coffee waves beginning to fall out of their sophisticated bun, Hermione marched up to her. "You don't understand, Ginny. They're coming for you."

When Ginny continued giving her blank stares, Hermione huffed in frustration. "This is serious, Ginny... They're after you, they've got Ron, and I know where they are."

Ginny's eyes widened. "You know where they have Ron? Where? What have they done to him?" Her fingers instinctively curled in, like she was holding something, something that happened when she felt threatened.

It was frightening knowing that they were after her. In a flash, in a matter of a blink, they could Apparate, Death Eaters wreaking havoc in the hospital, killing those they didn't murder the first time around. Gruesome images of the patients she had healed and seen that night flew around in her head. The blistered bodies, those they couldn't get to in time, draped in white from head to toe. She took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. "Where are they?"

Hermione motioned to the bed, and Ginny walked cautiously to it and sat on the old mattress.

"This is rather difficult to explain," started Hermione nervously. "I was taking a rather nice stroll in the East Tulip Garden with Percy, hoping to find something nice about him so I could publish a column about the current running for Minister of Magic."

"Let me guess," said Ginny dryly. "He bored you to death about cauldron bottoms?"

"Cauldron bottoms? Heaven's no, Ginny," mused Hermione. "He bored me to death about the accuracy of the latest telescopes. Cauldron bottoms were ages ago. To tell you the truth, I almost fell asleep when all of a sudden there was this humongous explosion and people screaming... I couldn't see anything past the smoke, but I suppose Percy pushed me behind a bush of some sort while trying to scramble away himself..." Hermione frowned slightly. "I was just about to get up when I heard voices... and when I peeked through the cracks between the leaves, I saw You-Know-Who and his little minions..."

Ginny suddenly raised her eyes from the old mattress. "Wait, they didn't see you?"

Hermione shrugged. "I suppose not... but I saw... Harry. For the first time. Well, since he ran away and turned into one of them..."

She started to shiver, and Ginny gave her a blanket out of reflexes. After thanking her, Hermione began again. "Ginny, I swear, you wouldn't recognize him. I didn't even recognize him at first..." She shook her head, as if washing the image out of her head. "Anyway, the point is... the point is they were talking about this list. This list of powerful wizards that stood in their way. Powerful families." She raised her eyes at Ginny. The fear in them was eminent. "Ginny, they were looking for me... and for you, you and your brothers..." Her eyes getting watery, she continued. "They've already got Ron..."

Placing her head in her hands, Ginny began to shake. She tried suppressing her fear but it rushed through her body feverishly.

Hermione glanced at Ginny, and although she felt sorry for the girl, this was not a time for such things like sympathy. "That's not the worst part... I heard that Cho Chang is here?"

Ginny nodded.

Grabbing Ginny's arm, Hermione dragged her from the bed none so gracefully. "Ginny, take me to her. I want to show you something."

Through the halls, Ginny led Hermione through aisles of hurt people. Now there seemed like no end to the hordes that were pouring through the emergency glass doors.

"Little girl, please stop the pain..." croaked a young man, perhaps no more than twenty-five years old, his charred hand reaching out for Hermione, who slowed down to watch him, pained.

Noticing her distress, Ginny whipped out her wand and whispered a quick spell. They quickened their paces until Ginny stopped abruptly in front of Room 131.

"Prepare yourself," warned Ginny, her hand resting on the knob.

"After the scene back there?" said Hermione, clutching her stomach, looking a little green. "I think I can handle it."

Ginny sighed, turning the doorknob and entering the room. Cho looked a lot better now than before, but Hermione could still see the bruises that ran all over her body.

"Ginny?" Cho called out hesitantly.

Gulping, Ginny replied, "Yeah, it's me. I'm here with Hermione. You remember her from Hogwarts?" As she was saying this, Hermione gradually moved towards the bed.

"Yes, I remember her," said Cho tiredly, giving a weak smile. "Always top of the class. It was rather annoying."

Hermione grinned as she looked down at Cho almost motherly-like. "Hey there, Cho." Affectionately, she brushed Cho's damp hair away from her forehead until Ginny saw Hermione's intent. She noticed something she hadn't before.

Amid the creamy, pale skin and faint pink lines of healed wounds, there laid a single one that had not healed. There, on the center of Cho's forehead, was a lightning bolt, still raw. The only lesion not mending properly.

Ginny took a sharp breath, her hand flying into the curled position again. Giving her a pointed look, Hermione turned to Cho again. "We'll be right back, okay?"

Cho nodded. "Just please don't be too long..."

Grasping Ginny's hand, Hermione whispered hurriedly, "Ginny, who else did you heal? We need to the names... maybe someone was as lucky as Cho and escaped from their clutches."

"You mean... that's his mark? Harry marks whomever's on his list?" hissed Ginny, thoroughly repulsed. "But he would never do that! He's not like that!"

"Ginny," said Hermione sternly. "I'm sure he's a changed man. Now focus. Who else was taken here?"

"Well, there was... there was Cho, of course. And then came this girl named Lucia Frost. Then there was you..."

Crinkling her brow, Hermione racked her brain. "Lucia Frost... isn't she the new prodigy at Hogwarts?"

"I've never heard of her," said Ginny, frowning.

"She's Head Girl... Slytherin. She's apparently very adept in the art of potions. Snape loves her." Hermione looked anxiously at Ginny. "Maybe she's marked too? If she is, we have to get her out of here."

"Only one way to find out," Ginny sighed as she spun on one heel and exited the room.

"Be careful!" called Hermione as Ginny disappeared.

She bolted down the hallway and dashed into Room 72, barely bracing herself for Lucia's fury.

But there was none.

Instead, there lay Lucia, still unconscious. But there it was. The same lightning scar that refused to mend.

*****

When Ginny burst through the door to Room 131, she barely took notice of Cho, looking quite thrown.

"Hermione!" Ginny hissed, wrenching the two girls from their previous conversation. "Hermione, I saw her and... oh Merlin, sh-she has the same mark!" Fear rippled through Ginny so fast she almost couldn't breathe. Her right hand was having spasms in its clutched position. "It wouldn't heal. Oh goddess, I tried everything but the damned wound wouldn't heal!"

Hermione wrapped Ginny into a hug and walked her over to Cho who had now gotten some color in her face. Quickly levitating another chair, she plopped Ginny on it. "Ginny, I told you that I know where they are, remember?"

Ginny nodded, her hands clasped anxiously in her lap.

"It was so obvious," muttered Hermione, angry with herself for not figuring it out on her own. "What's the one school not in ruins yet? The one school that might support the Death Eaters?"

Ginny's rapid breathing hushed as it dawned on her. "Durmstrang."

"Exactly," said Hermione glumly, thinking of Viktor Krum. "Now the question is... how are we going to get there?"

Although rather annoyed that Hermione would assume that Ginny would automatically follow her on a highly suicidal rescue mission, she didn't say anything. Besides, it was the only option if she wanted to see Ron.

"My family has a Portkey to Durmstrang," Cho piped up, looking at the bed sheets intently. "I... I could go with you. I mean, I should..."

She didn't say "for Cedric" but then again she never needed to.

Since Quidditch was the only sport not taking an abeyance during the war, Cho still had no privacy due to the onslaught of the paparazzi that followed her constantly, making it almost effortless to keep up with her life by means of the media. Throughout the years, boyfriends seem to flit through her life almost as quickly as the Snitch she was so adroit at grasping. Because of the constant adulation of the press, she quickly became an instant success. Dauntingly pretty, adept at Quidditch, knowledgeable and affluent, and ridiculously amicable, she was sought by most of the male population. Whatever skeletons she had in her closet were never revealed, and why she never could keep a boyfriend always fascinated the media, but the students who attended Hogwarts with her knew; the old cliché that first loves never die was true, too true, in fact, for Cho.

Ginny shot a look at Hermione who said gently, "Cho, it'll be more noticeable if we travel with more people. Really, I think it'll be safer for you if you stay here at the hospital... Besides, most Portkeys to Durmstrang are probably disabled..." while eyeing Cho's forehead warily.

Before Cho could protest, screams erupted from the hallway amid smashes and bangs. Cho instantly froze and gripped the covers until her knuckles turned white.

"What the hell is going on?" mumbled Hermione as she marched up to the doorway.

As her hand closed over the doorknob, the door promptly exploded open, splintered wood flying everywhere.

Cho screamed and fell off the bed, protecting herself from the dangerous stakes. Throwing herself behind a cabinet, Ginny watched in horror as Hermione flew to the back wall and hit with full impact with a sickening crunch, slumping onto the floor in an unmoving heap, her wand clattering nearby.

Ginny's heart pounded within her ribcage, her breathing quickening to a frightening pace. From across the room, she could hear Cho's ragged breathing and choked sobs. Gathering up her courage, Ginny fingered her wand, took a deep breath and slid out from behind the cabinet, surveying the chaos and dust around her.

It was a pure disaster area, and standing in the middle of it was a figure in dark evergreen robes that sauntered over to the bed and looked down its nose at Cho, who screamed. Quickly muttering, "Petrificus Totalus," the figure and Ginny watched as Cho suddenly became rigid and silent.

Creeping slowly towards the person, Ginny began to raise her wand when a piece of wood got in the way of her feet. Skidding across the floor, the stake banged against the metal leg of the bed.

Spinning around to face her, the cloaked person shouted, "Immobilus!" and the world spun black. Before she blacked out, Ginny could make out a skull with a snake protruding from the mouth emblazoned on his arm. They got me...