Hinny: Stay with Me

Ch. 5- Meeting

Harry (again, I know)-

"Alrighty, everyone gather 'round." Says Charlie, his voice sounding strained. Despite Mr.Weasley's uplifting speech, no one was in the mood to go to the banquet. Bill and Ginny had spent half an hour trying to convince Mrs. Weasley to let George stay home, but she didn't budge. I glance at Ginny's anxious expression and use that as a motivation to pull myself together. If I can't be strong for myself, I at least need to be strong for Ginny. Especially after her recent confession. I know Ginny will get upset if I coddle her, but I feel the intense urge to protect her from getting so much as another scratch on her beautiful body.

We all stand around the dirty shoe being used as the portkey. Even after all of the war, the apparition barrier at Hogwarts had not yet been broken. "Three... two... One" At the last syllable of Bill's voice, we all reached for the shoe and in the blink of an eye, we were standing on the top of the astronomy tower.

McGonagall had asked us to get here early and meet her in the Headmaster's office. None of us know quite what she wanted us for, but I suppose it can't be any worse than having an actual celebratory banquet. The group of us walked in silence to the office. To distract my self from the dread, I was coming up with different ways in my head to convince Ginny to go see Madame Pomfrey and get help with her shoulder.

As we reach the door to McGonagall's office, Bill cautiously knocks on the door, not knowing the password. After waiting a minute to no answer, Ginny steps towards the door and quietly says the word, "Chimera". All of us stand in shock as the door opens in front of us. Snape was the last owner of this office, and somehow, Ginny had learned the password. I only briefly have time to wonder how she knows the password because to our surprise, Kingsley stands by the entrance.

He gives us a welcoming smile. "Please, come on in." We follow his orders, and pile around, sitting on the couches and chairs set up around the office.

"Thank you all so much for coming. The strength that all of you continue to show will forever astound me." McGonagall says, mainly speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. McGonagall has deep bags under her eyes, and it is very obvious that she is struggling as much as the rest of us. I assume that she has been meeting with the families of those who lost their children today, which would be a daunting task.

Mr. Weasley smiles at her. "It is the very least we could do."

Kingsley also takes a seat before he starts explaining. "So, as you may imagine, we have a few important things to talk to you all about." He pauses for a second, and glances at everyone's faces. "First things first, the trials. We will be conducting trials about all of the death eaters and their supporters. To create a fair trial, we are going to need to call for witnes--"

He gets interrupted by a frustrated Ron. "Hold on... Why on earth do they need fair trials? Do you think that anything they did to us was fair?" Mrs.Weasley shoots him a disapproving look.

Kinglsey's voice remains calm, but sympathetic. "Unfortunately, no matter how many bad things they did, we still must give them a fair trial. The end of war calls for the start of prosperity and peace. To achieve this, we need to make things equal for everyone" Kingsley pauses again, and watches as Ron leans back into the chair and relaxes. "As I was saying, we are going to need witnesses at these trials. I am almost positive that most of you will be called to testify against at least one death eater. "

I subconsciously slip my hand into Ginny's, after thinking about what Professor Carrow did to her. It's a bloody good thing he's in Azkaban and didn't get away because if I ever were to face him, he'd be sure to regret, in the worst way possible, ever touching Ginny. Merlin only knows what other types of torture she had been through, and I have a feeling that it will not be something she wants to talk about. I feel her hand give me a squeeze, which I take to mean that she is okay.