Ginny's Story

Chapter 36 Impossible Sadness

This chapter isn't as long as the last few have been, just because i couldn't handle writing any more... you'll find out why :(

Chapter 36 Impossible Sadness

Hogwarts had turned into hell for us all. It felt like time had stopped, the world had stopped, and yet the fighting, pain, and death continued.

I ran through the hallway towards the Great Hall with Mum following me closely, occasionally shooting a jinx off to a nearby Death Eater. I shook my head and tried to remember how many Death Eaters I had jinxed just today. It was impossible to remember. The number had to be in the hundreds.

At times it was hard to tell who was on which side; light or dark. Under normal circumstances, it would have been easy to see the twisted and evil look on the dark wizards’ faces, but amidst all this chaos, none of that helped. We just had to think fast and rely on our reflexes to save us from curses.

Mum and I had been called by Madam Pomfrey to help heal. I didn’t know much about healing, but I had learnt a few spells over the years from Mum. Anything would help.

I tried to keep strong for all the injured when we arrived. There weren’t enough people, though. The injured outnumbered us. And even worse, the death toll was skyrocketing.

Blankets upon blankets were laid out on the floor with injured and dead people lying on them, lots unmoving, but others crying out in pain.

“Ginny,” I heard Mum’s heartbroken sob. I quickly spun around, scared of what I might see. Could Dad be injured? Or Bill? Or maybe Ron? “Oh, Ginny!” That was when I saw him.

“No,” I cried silently, trying to convince myself my eyes were deceiving me. But no matter how many times I blinked away the tears and rubbed my eyes roughly, the body of my brother still lay there, unmoving, unsmiling, and unbreathing.

“Fred!” I screamed when it finally dawned on me. “No!” I wasn’t in control of my body or actions anymore. It was like Ginny had left my body and I was being taken over by someone different. Someone with unimaginable pain. But it was my body and my pain.

My legs shook like jelly and I couldn’t take it anymore. I let out an ear-splitting scream. Fred, who had never been quiet or serious, was now in front of me, silent and expressionless. It killed me to see him like that… dead.

Mum was in Dad’s arms, shaking like a leaf on a windy day. Tears stained everyone’s faces, but I could tell the person suffering most – even more than Mum – was George. George had never been away from Fred for more than a few hours. They were inseparable, best friends, two halves of a whole. It was always Fred-and-George. Now it was just George.

I knelt down beside him, sobs getting caught in my throat every few seconds, and wrapped my arms around his shoulders tighter than I ever had before. I needed him to know we would always be there, even though he had lost the person most important to him.

“Ginny,” he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. So far I had not seen him shed a single tear over his twin. His grief was past tears. “Ginny.” Out of the corner of his eye slipped the first tear, and that seemed to set him off. “Fred!” he shouted. “No! Not Fred!”

I looked away from George, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing him throw himself across Fred’s body, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn’t handle that.

“You have fought,” You-Know-Who’s voice came once again. I saw many people cover their ears to block the evil sound, but the pain I was feeling must have quietened it, or at least made me more immune to it than I had been, “valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

“Yet you have sustained heavy losses.” I looked at my brother as this was said, knowing that he had no idea how heavy the losses truly were. “If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood is a waste.

“Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.

“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, and then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”

I struggled to breath through my fear that Harry would do something stupid. I knew that if it were up to him, he’d be there in a flash. All I could do was hope Ron and Hermione had some common sense and don’t let him out of their sight.

Nooooooooooooo! I never wanted Fred to die :'( I wish I could have changed that part! Ahhhhhhhh so sad!

Oh and sorry for any typos, I could re-read this chapter just yet... I might start sobbing again!

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