Ch012

It came out of nowhere; a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun Ron around and another slapped him across the face. The slap was open handed and with so much force that it nearly knocked him off his feet. The 'crack' it made was so loud that it reverberated through the Great Hall. For a moment, Ron saw stars. When the stars had cleared away he straightened up and with a growl turned to face his attacker.

Ginny?! Ron's growl died in his throat along with his rage, anger, and pain. All that remained was surprise and confusion. "G-Ginny! Wh-what… Why…?" Tears ran down her face. Ginny looked washed out, sad, and abandoned. Her eyes, however, blazed with accusation.

"Is it true?" Ginny's voice was low and ragged. It fairly bled hurt and pain. "What she said, did you abandon them?" Ron tried to stammer an answer but couldn't get anything coherent out. Not that it mattered as his stammering said it all. Ginny's eyes now blazed with a rage and loathing Ron had never seen in them before, at least not directed at him. She opened her mouth to vent that rage and loathing upon him but before she could utter the first syllable two little blue pixy lights shot through one of the shattered windows of the Great Hall, twisting and dancing around each other.

The twin lights made several loops above both Ginny and Hermione's heads before coming to a dead stop between them. They hung in the air like that for a moment before splitting off from each other and drifted down, one to each girl, like flower petals. There was no sound. Ron's fight with Hermione and Ginny's accusation had spread silence over the Great Hall like a heavy blanket. The petals of light fluttered down silently until they touched the crown of the girls' heads. When they touched, the petals melted and both girls gasped, eyes going wide.

"Ginny…" Harry's voice whispered through her head, echoing her name along with feelings and images. His feelings: feelings of joy that she was alive, that she had survived Voldemort's war. Feelings of sorrow for the loss of her brother. But most prevalent were his feelings of guilt and sadness. There were no images attached to the guilt and sadness, those feelings were just… there. Then came a feeling of determination attached to an image of him disappearing. Ginny knew immediately what it meant: He was leaving and he didn't plan to come back. Finally, as the last image faded, three words echoed through her mind softly, again in Harry's voice, "I'm sorry. "