And then she went on to lecture her about taking advantage of Harry in his vulnerable state. This wasn't the proper time to pursue a relationship, she had been warned. She was insulted at the insinuation. She had never hid her crush on Harry when she was younger, and she paid for that constantly through all the teasing she was subjected to by her brothers and classmates. But most of that had died off once she began dating other guys. The only two friends who had never really thrown that in her face were Hermione and Harry himself.
To have Hermione bring it up like that and to go so far as to accuse her of trying to snag Harry while he was in a "vulnerable state" was downright ridiculous. First of all, they were just friends. She could see where her friend could get the wrong impression, but to just throw out an accusation like that without verifying any of her facts was inexcusable. And second, Hermione just refused to believe that Harry might actually be okay. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Hermione was convinced that Harry was actually quite miserable inside, and that he was just ignoring his pain as some sort of defense mechanism. And she was determined to draw him out, despite his insistence that it was completely unnecessary.
So when you take her already tentative feelings toward Hermione added with the stress of knowing that Harry could at that moment be fighting for his life, it really wasn't unexpected for Ginny to express her feelings to Hermione. And rather vehemently at that. Of course Hermione wasn't one to take criticism lying down. She accused Ginny of encouraging his behavior, adding to the problem.
As the two began to argue back and forth, Ron and Neville had silently made their exit, unnoticed by the two girls. Eventually, Hermione had stalked off in a huff telling Ginny that since she obviously didn't care what happened to Harry or how late he stayed out that she could just wait up for him by herself. It was actually quite lucky how that had turned out. She would have been hard pressed to suppress her reaction when Harry finally made it back.
Beyond that, Hermione would have been in a towering rage by that time. It was quite late when he finally crawled through the portrait hole. She probably would've insisted on leading a search through the castle for him, which could have been very bad. The last thing they needed was to call attention to Harry's absence. And knowing Hermione, she probably would've picked up on something either in Harry's behavior or her own at some point and become suspicious. Or she may have stumbled across one of his injuries. No, it was definitely for the better that Ginny was the only one waiting up for Harry.
As she thought back on their reunion, she couldn't believe her reaction. She had completely broken down on him. But more than her own reaction, she was shocked at how well Harry had handled the situation. He had gathered her in his arms and whispered comforting words until she had finally settled down and eventually dozed off. She had never known him to be incredibly sensitive. He always seemed awkward in situations that involved much sentiment. And she remembered hearing about his experiences with a crying Cho the previous year. He had definitely not handled that as well as he had handled Ginny that night.
But he had seemed entirely different when she tried to return the favor, she now realized. When he had woken up in her lap and she began playing with his hair again, he seemed to grow rather uncomfortable. He drew away from her and beat a rather hasty retreat. It was all so confusing. Why was he so reluctant to accept comfort from her? Or was he just a little out of sorts because of the night he had? Or because of the vision? He had mentioned that Voldemort was angry. Maybe he had been torturing people again or perhaps he had even gone as far as to murder someone. That would be enough to shake anyone up.
She sighed. There was no use staying up all night thinking about it. Maybe a good night sleep was all he needed to return to normal. She knew she could sure use one. She would just wait and see how things played out the next day and reserve judgment until then. So with that decided, Ginny rose from the couch and climbed the stairs to the 5th year girls' dormitory where she climbed into bed and eventually dropped off to sleep.
It was a battered and weary crowd that was called together. Many of the faces scattered around the table were stained with dirt and dried blood. On some you could clearly see where the tracks of tears had taken their course. It had already been a long night, but it was not over yet. Not for them.
At the head of the table, a man stood. He was a man normally filled with a youthful energy that belied his aging appearance. Tonight that energy was not present. Tonight he looked every bit his age, all 150+ years. The twinkle that was ever present in his eyes was gone, his genial smile forgotten. It had been a long time since anyone had seen him in a condition like this, about 15 years if you want to be picky.
He surveyed the assembled witches and wizards before him, taking in the exhausted and battle weary appearances. They were at war now, full scale. Voldemort was done sneaking around in the background. There would be no more peace, not for a long time. Voldemort was back and as bad as ever. The war, which had really been going on for over a year already, had officially begun. That night was the first of what would be many attacks by the Death Eaters as their reign of terror rang anew.
But for now, they must focus on the events that had transpired that night. It was Voldemort's coming out party, so to speak. And it marked the 15th anniversary of when young Harry Potter, barely a year old, had ended the Dark Lord's first reign of terror. He knew that it would be up to the same boy, now 16 years old, to stop Voldemort yet again. But he was too young. He was no match for Voldemort, who had an extra 50 years of experience over Harry.
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