Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Ginny made her way to Winifred�s room. She was glad the girl was awake. As she came upon the room she ran into Dex as he was coming out.

�Ouch, geeze, Eoghan, watch it,� she said as she rubbed her forehead that had connected with his chin.

�Weasley! Sorry. I was just coming to see if you had arrived yet,� he paused and looked down at her. �I see you got Amelia�s note.�

�Yes, she owl�d you as well, then?�

�Er, well, actually, I was here because of Sarah. She er... wanted to talk about her sister. Appears Mandy�s gone missing as well. We were just going to pop over to her place when we got word that Winifred had come to. I reckoned you and Harry would be along to sort it all out.�

Ginny frowned at the note of reproach in his voice. �Actually, Harry�s been reassigned to something else, Dex. So it�s just you and me. What�s this about Sarah�s sister?�

Dex led her over to the chairs that lined the wall. �Mandy. We er... dated briefly. Anyway, she was supposed to see Sarah yesterday and she never showed up and when Sarah tried to contact her, she didn�t have any luck. She also didn�t show up for work, so we think something has happened to her.�

Ginny shook her head. Damn. Another one, so soon?

�Well, first things first. Did you speak with Winifred?� she asked him.

�No, not really. The healer is still in there.�

�Does she seem...� Ginny faltered. �Does she seem okay?�

Dex shrugged. �As well as can be expected, I reckon. I don�t know. How is someone supposed to be after they wake up from being kidnapped and Merlin knows what else? The effect of the belladonna on her is enough to make her forget most things that happened,� he said matter of factly.

Ginny reckoned he had a point. She was about to ask him how they knew nightshade had been used when the door opened and the healer came out. She looked over at them and nodded.

�You two can speak with her for a few moments. I�m off to contact her parents. Try not to upset her too much, she�s a bit disoriented.�

Ginny nodded and looked at Dex, who was already pulling out a quill and parchment to take notes.

As Ginny entered the room she tried to put a kind smile on her face and hoped that she didn�t look as pitying as she felt. Winifred looked dreadful. She was paler than pale and her eyes were red from crying. At the sight of them she pulled her blankets tighter around her and bit her lip. Ginny felt an overwhelming urge to just hug the girl. For some reason she felt as though what had happened to Winifred had happened to her, even though she knew none of the details yet. Empathy for how she must be feeling flowed through Ginny and she again cursed the person who had done this. Dex remained in the shadows behind her, as she approached the bed.

�Winnie?� Ginny instinctively used the name her parents had called her.

Winifred nodded, her eyes straying to Dex.

�I�m Miss Weasley and this is my partner, Mr. Eoghan. He�s just going to take some notes while we talk. Is it okay if I talk to you for a few moments?�

Winifred nodded again and Ginny pulled a chair closer to her, not wanting to loom over her while they spoke.

�First of all, how are you feeling?�

Winifred swallowed and whispered her reply. �Fine...�

Ginny nodded. They weren�t going to get anywhere if the girl was too afraid to speak. She decided to try a different topic.

�I saw your dolls, you know. The ones that you made? Your parents showed us your flat. You�re really talented. I especially liked the strawberry-blonde one. What is her name?�

Winifred blinked at Ginny as though not quite believing that she would ask her about her dolls at a time like this.

�Daniella.�

�Ah. She�s very pretty. Did you model her after yourself?�

Winifred looked down at her blankets then and Ginny saw a small tear begin to form. Uh oh, she thought, that was the wrong thing to say. She was surprised when Winifred offered her a tiny smile.

�Yes. She�s... she�s my favorite. Bit silly really, a grown woman playing with dolls, but-�

Ginny decided to encourage her. �It�s okay, I understand. Don�t tell anyone, but I still collect Chocolate Frog Cards. I have almost a 1000 by now. My brother�s would tease me to no end if they knew I still did that.�

Winifred responded to the smile on Ginny�s face and Ginny saw her relax a bit. She decided to move forward with the questions.

�Do you remember anything you�d like to tell us? Anything that might help catch whoever did this to you?�

Winifred�s eyes closed and for a moment Ginny thought she had pushed at the wrong time. She was surprised again by the expression of determination she saw on Winifred�s face as she opened her eyes.

�I only remember bits and pieces. It�s like a dream you didn�t realize you were having. I just remember him touching me and then nothing for a long time and then he would come back and laugh and...�

Winifred took a deep breath and looked at Ginny. �He did things to me. But I don�t remember what. But I know he did. Why do you think that is?�

Ginny nodded her head, she understood that feeling. �I�m not sure. Maybe there are some things that even a Memory Charm can�t erase. Do you remember anything about him specifically? Or where he kept you or-�

�It was some place cold and there was a room, but it wasn�t a normal room, he had it... he had it set up so that it looked like something else. And he made me...� Winifred�s eyes shut again, as though trying to see the image in her mind. �He made me act like someone else-�

Winifred was interrupted by Dex snapping his quill and cursing. Ginny had forgotten that he was there, actually, and turned around to glare at him. What was it with him?

He smiled apologetically, as he bent to pick up the quill. He looked at Winifred and Ginny noticed that she turned away, embarrassed. Poor thing, she�s probably embarrassed because he�s a man. She was tempted to send Dex out of the room. Ginny turned back to the girl on the bed.

�He made you act like someone else? What do you mean?�

Winifred closed her eyes and shook her head. �I can�t... I can�t remember. I�m sorry.�

Ginny cursed inside her head and then stopped herself. She shouldn�t push the girl, maybe more would come back to her in time... she stood up and reached out to pat Winifred�s hand.

�Well, if you do think of anything else, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, just tell the medi-witch or healer that you want to speak with me again. Just tell them to get Ginny Weasley for you and I�ll come straight away.�

Winifred�s eyes flashed opened and she stared up at her. Ginny frowned.

�What is it?�

�Your name... your name is Ginny?�

�Yes, why?�

Winifred looked sick then and Ginny reached out to touch her, but she pulled away. She looked frightened.

�It�s you,� Winifred whispered.

Ginny stared at her in confusion. �It�s me?�

�It�s you he wants,� Winifred�s voice was scared. �He called me... he used that name when he... touched me.�

All Ginny could do was stare at the girl and wonder what in Merlin�s name was going on.

Winifred refused to speak to her after that and Ginny herself felt too dazed to force her. She let Dex lead her out of the room when Winifred�s parents showed up. She sat dimly in the same chair as before and tried to work her head around it.

Why would someone kidnap Winifred and pretend that she was her? They did look similar enough, she reckoned, but again... why? Who would do that? And why would they do that? Ginny felt a cold feeling inside of her. She had a feeling this case had just gotten more twisted. Dex cleared his throat and she looked at him.

�What do you think it means?�

He shook his head. �Nothing. She�s just... she�s not in a state to remember things properly, Weasley. She doesn�t know what she�s saying.�

�But when she heard my name, she was scared, Dex. It meant something to her.�

�Look, let�s not think about it right now. It probably means nothing. Even if the person who did this did use your name, it doesn�t have to mean you. It could be anyone.�

�Yeah, because there are so many people named Ginny in this world. Not to mention ones that are redheads as well.�

Dex frowned at her. �It�s coincidence.�

Ginny shook her head. �The hair, maybe. The name? No way.�

�Weasley-�

�Ginny!�

She and Dex both looked up and saw her brother Bill coming down the hallway. He looked upset about something and suddenly Ginny knew that the something that had felt wrong all night had come to pass. Something had happened to Harry.

�Bill, what is it? What�s happened?�

Bill came up to her, his eyes wide. He took a hold of her arm. �There�s been a cave in on Azkaban. Remus and Tonks were just brought in-�

�And Harry?�

Bill paused. Ginny saw the truth in his eyes. Bill tightened his grip on her arm.

�Now don�t go jumping to conclusions, sis. They just haven�t found him yet. Ginny-�

Ginny had torn her arm painfully away from Bill�s and taken off at a run, down the hallway.

She heard nothing behind her and only had one thing on her mind. Harry. She knew she needed to get to him and soon. Very soon.

�Absolutely not, Miss Weasley.�

Amelia Bones was folding her arms and giving Ginny one of her best no-nonsense looks but Ginny was having none of it.

�I�m a bloody seer. If anyone can find Harry underneath that rock, it�ll be me.�

�Conditions at the prison are not safe, the explosions have opened up two areas of the prison and until I get word that we have the prisoner�s all accounted for you will not be going anywhere.�

Ginny felt her frustration choking her. Dex and Bill had arrived in the lobby of St. Mungo�s hot on her heels, but Ginny had already cornered the Department Head, who had just come in to check on Lupin and Tonks.

�Madam Bones, I am a capable witch, fully versed in defensive techniques. I helped Harry and the others on the night Voldemort was destroyed. Now I don�t care if you fire me or lock me up, but I am going out to that island and I would much rather do it quicker than slower. Every second counts. I just... I know it. Harry needs me.�

Ginny finished, her voice softening in fear. She had to make her understand. She had to go to him.

�Madam Bones, I will go with her,� Bill said from where he stood with Dex. Dex nodded and said, �As will I.�

�Count me in too,� a voice said from the door and Ginny turned to see Ron coming in, his hair windswept and his face pink. �And Dad says we�re to do anything to find Harry, Madam Bones. And we�re to use everyone,� Ron said his eyes meeting Ginny�s. She mouthed a thank you at her brother and turned back to Amelia.

Amelia sighed and shook her head. �Very well. But-� Amelia paused as Ginny turned away from her. �Miss Weasley! One moment please.�

Ginny stopped, frustration showing on her face. Amelia continued. �You will contact the Magical Transport Department and you will go by Portkey. I also want it to be made clear that you will return within a certain time period, whether or not you find Mr. Potter. Is that understood?�

Ginny stared at her. She wasn�t coming back without Harry, but Amelia didn�t need to know that. Ginny would move into one of the cells before she�d leave him out there.... she felt her heart break. The image of Harry buried under rock and stone... it was enough to make her pass out with fear. But she nodded her head in agreement. What Amelia Bones didn�t know wouldn�t hurt her.

Her face must have remained passive because Amelia didn�t question her after that. She merely nodded at her and Ginny tore away from her, heading back the way she had come.

�Sis-!� Bill yelled at her. �Where are you going?� He and Ron followed her back up the stairs, with Dex right behind them.

�Amelia said to go to the Magical Transport Department. Well, Benjamin Eaton is the head of that Department. If he can�t send me there immediately, no one can.�

Harry had felt a great deal of pain throughout his life. He was not a stranger to it, whether it be mental, physical or both. But when he came to again under the rock that he had somehow fallen under, he realized that pain, like all things, had a way of teaching you new tricks. His left side exploded with agony and he had only tried to take a deep breath. He could taste blood in his mouth. He wondered briefly if he had cracked a few ribs. He knew his leg was useless... he couldn�t even feel it. Dark spots floated behind his eyes and he knew he wasn�t going to be conscious for very long. He wondered if anyone would laugh at the irony of it all. Harry Potter, Dark Wizard Defeater Extraordinaire, killed by a few massive boulders of rock. And he was dying, he could feel it. It didn�t scare him so much as cause him to consider the fact that he didn�t really fear death. He�d faced too many things and seen too much to fear death. What had Dumbledore said? That to the well organized mind, death was but the next adventure?

Harry winced and closed his eyes, flashes of light behind his lids. He saw Ron and Hermione smiling at him from the Hogwarts Express. He saw Mrs. Weasley holding him after the Triwizard Tournament, comforting him. He saw Sirius decorating the hallways at 12 Grimmuald Place that first and last Christmas they�d spent together. He saw Lupin and Tonks, Neville and Luna and everyone else who had helped him defeat Voldemort. He saw his parents waving at him from the Mirror of Erised, the tears in his mother�s eyes as she tried to communicate something to him. And then he saw Ginny and Harry felt his heart shatter as he thought of never being able to hold her again, never being able to hear her voice telling him that she loved him. He gasped as he thought about how he wouldn�t be able to marry her or to have children, now. How he wouldn�t be able to watch her grow older. A million different images passed through his mind and he struggled to hold onto the warm glow of them as he felt his mind begin to waver again against the pain. He saw her laughing at him, smiling, the sun catching in her hair, the blush creeping along her skin as he kissed her. The way she had looked as she had laid in his arms, one small hand against his chest. He could almost taste her now, could almost smell that scent that was just Ginny. It seemed to be flowing over him and Harry thought that if he did have to die then he couldn�t mind it so much, if this is what it was like; wrapped up in the person you loved the most. He could almost hear her voice, actually, calling to him, pleading with him to wake up.

I�m almost there, Ginny... I�m almost gone...

Harry felt himself jerked back and the pain flared bright behind his eyes. Harry realized then that he wasn�t dead, because surely pain like that wouldn�t exist anymore, right? Harry heard Ginny�s voice again and he tried to focus on what she was saying...

�Harry James Potter you are going to wake up and you are going to open those eyes of yours and I am going to get you out of here. Dammit, Harry! Don�t leave me like this, you promised you�d make amends and this is sad way of doing that if you die, so wake up, wake up wake up...� Ginny�s anguished sobs in his ear and the feeling of her hair against his face made Harry open his eyes.

�Ginny-� he must have spoken it out loud because Ginny snapped her head up and looked down at him, her eyes swollen and red, fresh tears on her face. She was dirty and grimy with the soot of the fallen rock she�d climbed through and all Harry wanted was to kiss every bit of it from her.

�Harry?� She looked at him, her face framed in disbelief.

�I love you so much,� he coughed out at her. �I just wanted you to know that before-� Harry coughed again and felt his chest seize up in pain and then everything was black.

Harry had stopped breathing.

Ginny shook Harry with all the strength in her body. She felt Ron or maybe it was Bill, she didn�t know, pulling at her, calling her name. She pushed them away and lowered her face to Harry�s. She�d read about this once, maybe in Muggle studies, she wasn�t sure, she didn�t care. She lowered her lips to Harry�s and forced all of the air that was inside her to go into him. She closed her eyes and all she thought was one thing... breathe.

She pulled back her head and started crying, staring at the lifeless man in her arms. No, it wasn�t supposed to happen like this. No, no, no.... . Moving her head down again she repeated her movements, not even sure if she was doing it right. With every bit of her power, she breathed again into Harry, hoping that some small bit of whatever it was that made them what they were would travel into him. She closed her eyes and she imagined that she was the air, pushing through his body. She willed his lungs to fill with what she was giving him. Dammit, Harry, breathe!

At that moment Ginny knew that she would give up her own life, if it meant that Harry would just open his eyes again.

Ginny felt something inside of her break open and she suddenly felt Harry respond; her power, his magic, whatever it was, came back to her and she pulled away from his mouth, gasping. It broke out against them in tiny waves and Harry was suddenly coughing, his body jerking upwards as his lungs struggled to breathe. His eyes opened and he stared up at her, wide-eyed. Ginny did the only thing you could do in situations like this, she cried and she laughed, a choking sound emerging from her mouth. She felt herself collapse on top of him as though she had been sucked dry.

She felt arms around her then, pulling her off of Harry and she was too weak to fight them, too weak to protest the lack of contact. Harry was coughing again and Ron was talking to him and then she heard Harry�s voice, stronger than it had been before and she knew that he was going to be okay. That somehow her will had saved him. It was a comforting thought as she let herself slip into the darkness that surrounded her.