Chocolate ♕ Ginny Weasley

sixteen

Chapter Sixteen;

Patricia thought she was going to throw up.

How was it possible for, in the time between staying behind in Transfiguration to ask McGonagall about the homework and Patricia leaving, for Ginny Weasley to disappear from the grounds?

It wasn't just Ginny, though her absence had been the first Patricia had noticed. When she started to search for her friend after leaving the Transfiguration classroom and couldn't find her, she hadn't initially been worried, assuming that Ginny had trooper to the Gryffindor common room.

But when she went to dinner and couldn't find Ginny amongst the masses of students at the Gryffindor table, that was when she started to panic.

After realising Ginny's absence, Patricia hadn't been able to eat another bite, for her stomach was churning and twisting constantly. Anything she ate, Patricia was sure would just be thrown straight up again. So with her heart hammering against her chest, Patricia pushed herself from the table and dashed toward the hospital wing – only to learn that Ginny wasn't there, either.

Patricia was at a loss. If Ginny wasn't there, where was she?

That was when she saw several Slytherins, including Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, make their way down the corridor, cursing the fact that a group of students including Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley had managed to evade them.

That was when Patricia leaned all her weight against the wall and groaned, closing her eyes.

Ginny had gotten into trouble, and she hadn't been there to help her. That thought was enough to make Patricia want to bash her head against the wall.

She thought she'd always be there for Ginny when she needed it. She had promised herself a long time ago – if Ginny ever needed help with anything, she'd be there in a second.

And now she learned that Ginny was gone with the others, and no doubt with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger as well. They were somewhere no one knew, while Patricia was stuck in Hogwarts, alone except for her panicked, frantic thoughts.

Patricia caught sight of herself in a window as she wandered back to the Slytherin common room in a daze. She looked awful. She was so white that it would've been easy to confuse her with a vampire.

She guessed she must have looked bad, curled up next to the fire in the common room, trying to chase away the chill inside her body for Daisy sat next to her. "Are you okay?" the other girl asked in a soft voice.

"Just exam nerves," Patricia mumbled, and hoped her over-studious nature would be enough explanation.

Apparently it wasn't so. Daisy frowned, but fortunately didn't press the issue. "Don't talk if you don't feel like it, but just know, you know you can come to me whenever you want, Patricia. I – I'm sorry I allowed our friendship to fall because you were brave enough to form friendships in other Houses." She ducked her head. "I guess I was just intimidated."

"By your parents?"

Daisy nodded mutely.

"Oh, Daisy. I'm sorry I was so ignorant." Patricia wrapped her arms around Daisy and they clung to each other, both seeking some form of comfort and reassurance in the other no one else could provide. Right then, Patricia was sure no one understood them better than they did themselves.

"I'd like us to be friends again," Daisy said quietly.

Patricia smiled. "I wouldn't like anything more."

If there was one positive that could come out of her worry for Ginny, Patricia was glad that it was reviving her friendship with Daisy.

+++

That night, it was only her softly whispered conversation with Daisy that was able to lull Patricia to sleep. She had hoped reading would work, but she was too agitated to focus on the words.

The next morning, Patricia was anxious to get to breakfast, to see if Ginny was back with them. So when ambled out of the common room, she froze.

Standing just outside, was Ginny.

For a moment they stared each other; Patricia almost felt like she was looking at a ghost. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

But when Ginny cracked a smile and simply said, "Hey, Cia," reason and comprehension returned to Patricia and a relief so profound hit her like a meteor.

"Ginny!" she screamed, and flung herself on to her friend. She gripped her friend tightly and inhaled deeply. Ginny still smelled of flowers and that made her real, her scent and her warmth and the way her brown eyes glowed and the fact she was so close she could count all the freckles on her face. Patricia wasn't ashamed of the tears in her eyes as she held on to Ginny like her lifeline. "Oh my Merlin, Ginny, where were you? What happened, I was worried sick, I – I thought -"

Ginny squeezed Patricia. "Cia, I'm fine. I was knocked unconscious but I'm awake now, and I broke my ankle, but Madam Pomfrey fixed that in a trice -"

"You broke your ankle and fell unconscious?" Patricia screeched. Her voice echoed off the stone walls. She pushed herself away from her friends and gripped her shoulders, fingers digging into her skin, eyes wide and fearful. "Ginny, what happened?"

Ginny quickly explained everything that happened. Helping Harry break into Umbridge's office, travelling to the Ministry via Thestral, fighting the Death Eaters. The more she spoke the more Patricia's eyes widened until she wondered how her eyes hadn't yet popped out of her head. She was dizzy, all the blood drained from her face.

When Ginny finished her story, Patricia leaned against the wall, shaking her head. She swallowed. "I – I don't know..."

Ginny took Patricia's hand. "Cia, calm down -"

"I won't!" Patricia exclaimed. She threw her hands into the air. "Ginny, you could've died! Oh my Merlin, you could've died, and I wouldn't have known... I wasn't there! I could've helped! I thought I was going to throw up, I was so worried!"

Patricia looked at Ginny once and all of a sudden she felt a sob build up inside her as she realised that she could have so easily lost Ginny in one night. A lone tear escaped her eye and trailed down her cheek.

"Oh my Merlin, Ginny, you're alive," she breathed, and wrapped her friend once more in a tight embrace.

Ginny smiled sadly and rubbed Patricia's back as the brunette cried, the stress and shock and relief of seeing her friend hitting her all at once. Patricia didn't know how long they stood there, or how many people saw them, but she couldn't care less. She was with Ginny, and that was all that mattered.

"Don't leave without me again," Patricia breathed. "Promise me. In the future, we face these sort of things together."

Ginny wiped a tear from Patricia's face with her sleeve.

"I promise, Cia."

**********

some good stuff's coming up soon just letting you all know!! get excited!!