The Day After Tomorrow

MONSTERS AMONG MEN

09 - MONSTERS AMONG MEN

GINNY knew news had been sent to her parents and knew that she was leaving Hogwarts. She was dreading the look on her parents face, the quiet waver their lips would make, the way they'd look at her and not recognise who she had become.

Imagine what Hermione would have said, something high and mighty no doubt, a spiel on peace over violence, Ginny was sure. With that thought, a wave of bitterness overcame Ginny, sharp and stinging. If Hermione had been there, Ginny wouldn't have exploded and she wouldn't have been suspended. Harry would still be hers, her world would not have collapsed in on itself.

Even as she thought all of this over, she knew it was too easy to redirect anger like that. The only person she had to blame was herself, as hard as that was believe.

She remembered McGonagall hard eyes when she'd told her; "Ginny this school does not condone violence". And Ginny had tried to interrupt, surely if McGonagall knew the entire story she would understand, but her headmaster had just waved a dismissive hand at her, effectively silencing her. "And Pansy Parkinson will be dealt with accordingly for her comments but that does not excuse your actions," she'd said and then Ginny had seen the disappointment when she'd said; "Trust me Ginevra you leave me no choice, you willingly attacked another student". And that made it worse because only Ginny's mother called her Ginevra, and only when she was in serious trouble. The gravity of the situation smacked her in the chest, leaving her feeling bruised and aching.

Ginny remembered glancing up at the rows of portraits in that office and found the piercing eyes of Dumbledore regarding her intently with a curious discontent, and then she wished she hadn't glanced up to begin with. His painted features were disapproving and judgmental beyond belief - she didn't need more of that now, she had enough of it in her own head.

"I've written to your parents, alerting them of the situation. You are to return to your room and pack your things. You leave on the first train come Monday". And then Ginny had felt the need to cry but pushed it back with the stubborn streak that raced through every Weasley woman as she turned from the woman who had effectively sentenced her to ruin.

She had barely escaped the Headmistresses office, rubbing at her face with determined hands as if to manually force the urge to cry back when she felt arms clamp about her waist in a painful jerk. She let out a yelp of surprised panic, straining her neck to see it was not one but two hooded figures who had grabbed her.

Before she could let out another yell for help one figure, shook its dark cloaked face as if telling her not to fight it and hit her with a silencio. She felt her throat clog up, sound dying along the length of her neck till all that came out was less than a wheeze of air - she was effectively silenced as they shoved her down the hall, she would have hexed them if her wand hadn't been roughly snatched from her pocket.

Through the stab of fear and panic, the sole thought that appeared in Ginny's mind was, surely this day can't get any worse.

They had managed to shove her into a room. She'd tried all manner of kicking and biting as they dragged her along the polished stone floors but it had only made them thrust her forward with more force. They'd gripped her arms tight when they'd grabbed her and had only held on tighter when she'd started to struggle.

She heard the click of the door bolting. Only then did they lift the charm and she was screaming bloody murder. They'd let her go now and she was cataloguing the contents of the dimly lit classroom, registering stools to slam against them, a broomstick to smack them with, anything to cause enough distraction that she could grab her wand and escape.