Harry was on the way to the Great Hall for lunch when he heard an explosion and several screams from the Transfiguration Courtyard. Without thinking, he ran in the direction of the commotion, but when he reached the courtyard, the world seemed to tilt and fear gripped his heart like never before.
An Hufflepuff girl nearby was crying in shock and an older Ravenclaw with a prefect's badge was ordering another student around, pointing at an unconscious Slytherin lying nearby. But all of this barely registered.
All Harry could see was the injured red-haired girl lying in front of the armillary sphere.
Ginny.
Her right leg was shattered, twisted at a sickening, unnatural angle. Her entire left side was burned - angry, blistering skin covered her arm and face. Pieces of her charred robe had melted into the wounds, fusing fabric to flesh.
For a horrifying moment, he thought she was dead. Dead like Hermione.
But then he realized she was breathing.
His whole body was shaking in fear as he walked toward her, as if in a trance.
Harry tried to touch her face with a trembling hand… to make sure she was still warm, still breathing, not dead.
The Ravenclaw prefect blocked him, pushing him away before he could touch her.
"What are you doing? Marcus, keep an eye on the Slytherin! I'll take the girl to the hospital wing as soon as possible."
"Mr. Hilliard, what is the situation?" Professor McGonagall demanded as she approached. Her eyes widened. "Oh, Morgana… Is that Miss Weasley?"
"Professor, the unconscious Slytherin boy with Fenwick appears to have cast a Bombarda, injuring this first-year Gryffindor," the Ravenclaw reported immediately.
Harry barely listened, his gaze still fixed on Ginny.
While the prefect spoke, Professor McGonagall cast several spells on Ginny that Harry didn't recognize.
"I'll take this poor girl to the hospital wing. Wait here with Mr. Harper and make sure he doesn't leave. I'll be back as soon as possible. Good work, Mr. Hilliard," the professor instructed in her usual calm, authoritative tone.
When she began to leave, Ginny floating beside her, Harry attempted to follow her but was stopped by the professor.
"Go have lunch in the Great Hall, Mr. Potter. You may visit Miss Weasley later, once Poppy has examined her."
"Yes, Professor," he muttered, though every instinct in him screamed to follow.
He took a few steps toward the Great Hall, moving as if in a trance, but stopped. Just the idea of eating nauseated him.
He had to be there for Ginny. Not to do anything - not really - just to know she was still alive and would be okay.
He turned and bolted for the Gryffindor tower. If he had his invisibility cloak, he could get into the hospital wing without anyone stopping him.
"No running in the corridors!" Filch barked somewhere behind him, but Harry didn't even slow down.
In the common room, Ginny's roommates were heading for the exit. For a moment he wondered if he should tell them - but what could he even say?
No. No time. Not now. He rushed into the Gryffindor second-year boys' dorm, took his father's cloak, and rushed back again.
By the time he reached the hospital wing, his lungs were burning, his heartbeat painfully loud in his ears. He forced himself to ignore it.
He ducked into a shadowed corner, pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and slipped inside.
Harry immediately found Ginny's bed, since Madam Pomfrey was still working on her. Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen - she had probably gone back to the Transfiguration Courtyard.
He had never seen Madam Pomfrey so serious and focused.
Ginny's burned left side was already coated in a thick layer of orange paste. Her ruined robes had been removed, leaving her injuries painfully exposed - especially her right leg.
"Ossio Dispersimus," she murmured and Ginny's shattered leg seemed to collapse in on itself, deflating until it looked like a limp rubber tube connecting her foot to her thigh. The bone fragment that had been protruding vanished as well. Harry realized the spell must have also vanished the splintered bones inside the leg.
It was unbelievably painful for Harry to watch this. He would have gladly switched places with Ginny, but he could do nothing. He hadn't been able to protect her and now he could do nothing to heal her.
An "Episkey" sealed the torn skin where bone had broken through and a gentle flick of her wand guided Ginny's limp leg back into the proper alignment.
"Rennervate," Madam Pomfrey cast at last and Ginny opened her eyes.
"Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey said gently, watching her closely. "You're in the Hospital Wing. You're safe now."
"Madam Pomfrey," Ginny rasped, each word strained. Harry's stomach tightened - he hated seeing her like this.
"Drink this first," Pomfrey said, tilting a small vial of pale blue liquid to Ginny's lips. "It's Vigilan Pulmonaria Draft. It will help your bruised lungs and make breathing a little easier."
"And this," she added, offering a second potion, "is Internal Bruising Reliever. It'll help with the soreness in your spleen and the minor internal bruising from the blast."
Ginny, her breathing slowly improving, looked at her burned arm and limp leg with a mixture of confusion and alarm.
"Your burned left side has been treated with Essence of Dittany and Burn-Healing Paste. It should be better by tomorrow," Pomfrey said. "As for your leg, the bones were too shattered to mend directly, so I had to vanish them. You'll take Skele-Gro later, after the Vigilan Pulmonaria Draft and Internal Bruising Reliever have finished healing the internal injuries."
"What… what happened, Madam Pomfrey?" Ginny asked, her voice hoarse and uncertain. "I remember Harper casting a Bombarda, my Shield Charm failing… and then? How did I get here?"
"Ah, Minerva was thankfully nearby and brought you here. She went back to deal with the boy who cast the Bombarda on you," Madam Pomfrey answered, shaking her head. "Casting a Bombarda on another student! What was he thinking!?"
Harry hadn't thought much about the Slytherin boy he had seen in the Transfiguration Courtyard, too focused on Ginny. But now he remembered him. It was the same one who attacked Ginny before.
He felt a white-hot anger inside him, so intense it was difficult to calm. He had to remember that he was here for Ginny. His balled hands were still shaking with rage.
"It could have been much worse, Miss Weasley," Pomfrey added gently. "It was a good thing you managed to cast a Shield Charm, at least partially. Now I would like to cast a Sleeping Charm on you if you don't have any other questions. These potions are more effective if the patient is sleeping and I imagine you could use some rest after what you've been through."
Ginny just shook her head and Madam Pomfrey cast the charm.
A while later Madam Pomfrey had left and Ginny was peacefully sleeping in her hospital bed, while Harry was still standing there.
He looked down at her face. He wished he could take her place. He wished he had been there to protect her, to knock that blasted Slytherin out before he could harm her.
He already felt guilty because Ginny had been angry and barely speaking with him before this happened. What if she had died like this?
No! She was alive! She would be okay…
He pulled the Invisibility Cloak off himself - there were curtains around Ginny's bed, so nobody could see him anyway.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
He wanted to take her hand, but didn't dare because of her injuries. He looked at her lips. He felt guilty because he had stolen her first kiss without asking. And he felt guilty because he would probably do it again in the same situation.
He loved her.
He understood that even more clearly now… somehow.
Just imagining losing her…
"I… I love you."
His heart was hammering in his chest. It felt strange to finally have said it, even if Ginny was unconscious. For some reason, he couldn't keep it to himself anymore.
Suddenly the curtains were swept aside and Madam Pomfrey appeared, a small magical tincture glowing in her hand.
"Mr. Potter! What are you doing here?! It's not visiting hours."
He tried to explain, tried to convince her to let him stay with Ginny, but she would have none of it.
"It's almost time for fourth-period classes! Go to class and return during the official visiting hours," she said firmly.
Like this, Harry was unceremoniously thrown out of the Hospital Wing.
As if Binns would even realize he was missing…
He couldn't imagine concentrating on anything right now - even if it wasn't History of Magic.
He was near the staircase when he finally decided. He had to stay with Ginny. Pulling the Invisibility Cloak over his head, he turned around, only to freeze. Two voices were coming up the stairs.
He recognized the first voice: Malfoy.
"Well, you did a good thing, Harper, I say. Potter's blood-traitor girlfriend needed to be taken down a peg. But next time you should be more secretive and act like a Slytherin."
Harper? That was the boy who had nearly killed Ginny!
"I know! I don't know what came over me. You don't have to remind me... Now I'll have detention even next year - thankfully with Professor Snape…"
Just detention?! What were the teachers and Dumbledore thinking?
He remembered Ginny's burns, her shattered leg and internal injuries and that even now she would have a night full of pain ahead because of the Skele-Gro potion - he had read about it a little bit since it was invented by a Potter.
There was Harper. The Slytherin who had also tried to curse Ginny in the back a few weeks ago!
Should Harry have done something back then? But what?
The two Slytherins were walking up the stairs while Harry stood at the peak. Should he just ignore them?
"But seeing that Weasley bitch panic when I cast the Bombarda was totally worth it," Harper bragged to the older boy, clearly enjoying the attention.
They were now mere inches away from him and Harry's hand under his Invisibility Cloak just gave a gentle push to the younger boy.
It happened without plan, without thinking.
It was almost surreal.
He saw Harper fall backward, his smug face turning to panic. Then he was tumbling down the stairs - arms flailing, limbs smacking against stone.
Harry stared. He hadn't meant…
The final impact echoed through the staircase. Harper didn't move.
A thin line of blood began pooling beneath Harper's head.
Harry's stomach dropped. His lungs wouldn't work.
'I didn't… I barely touched him.'
His heart was hammering too loudly.
Then he saw Malfoy run away with a panicked look and Harry realized what he had done.
Nobody could know he had been here!
So he did the first thing that came to his mind and ran to the History of Magic classroom, taking off his Invisibility Cloak somewhere on the way.
"Where have you been, mate?" Ron whispered as Harry silently took a seat next to him - Binns didn't even look up or stop talking.
"Oh…" Harry had to lie - nobody could know about what had just happened. "I was just in the Hospital Wing."
What if he had killed Harper? His stomach tightened painfully. Falls like that could be serious. Fatal, even…
"Why? Needed a Pepperup Potion or something?" Ron asked, already bored to death by Binns's ramblings about the Goblin Rebellion of 1752.
Harry suddenly realised Ron hadn't heard about Ginny yet. He needed to tell him - but doing it here, in class? It was only History of Magic, but still…
"Er… Ron, I have to tell you something…"
"What is it, mate? Something happened?" Ron asked.
"Yes… Ginny was attacked in the Transfiguration Courtyard by a Slytherin first-year and she is in the Hospital Wing at the moment," Harry tried to gently tell his friend.
"A slimy Slytherin attacked Ginny!" Ron exploded, half-rising from his seat.
"Basil Flack resigned as Minister of Magic after two months when the goblins allied themselves with the werewolves. His successor was Hesphaestus Gore, who…" Binns rattled on, without acknowledging Ron's outburst.
"What?!" Dean was heard from behind them.
"I'm going, now!" Ron said, jumping up and taking his bag.
"Madam Pomfrey already threw me out. We need to wait for fifth period to end, then we are allowed to visit her," Harry tried to be the voice of reason, despite wanting to go back too.
"Goblin rebel Vargot was killed in battle - a popular historical theory that has not been proved is that Vargot was really a renegade house-elf. Six hundred and thirty-two wizards and witches were slain over the course of the rebellion and it had disastrous effects on the wizard milling industry," Binns continued, unbothered.
"You mean I have to listen to Binns drone on about Goblin rebellions while my sister is in the Hospital Wing!?"
Harry winced at that. He knew how Ron felt - they had double History of Magic on Wednesdays.
"The wizard tailor Grimbald Weft repaired the coats of countless wizards and witches during the rebellion, thus preventing them from catching cold and taking ill during battle," Binns told them. This seemed like something he would question at the end-of-year exam.
Later, Ron and Harry, along with Dean, tried to visit Ginny.
On the way to her bed, Harry saw Harper in one of the beds, clearly alive. He was so relieved that he wasn't dead… right? He should be relieved, at least…
Her older brothers had already visited her - the twins sneaking out of Potions (a bad idea) and Percy having a free fifth period.
Ginny was surrounded by the Gryffindor first-years when they arrived. Harry found himself wishing they would all go away - especially the boys. With so many people crowding around, he barely had time to speak to her before Madam Pomfrey threw them out again, insisting her patients needed calm and silence.
But before they left, Ginny secretly gave him a note.
'Come back, invisible, at dinner time.'
No other explanation.
So he sneaked in again during the arranged time under his Invisibility Cloak.
When he parted Ginny's curtains, her eyes snapped straight to him.
"Don't take off the cloak," she whispered calmly, just as he was about to do exactly that. How did she know?
"I listened in on McGonagall and Snape talking after they brought Harper in… they couldn't detect any magic that would explain him falling down the stairs," Ginny continued without preamble.
Wasn't she under a sleeping charm?
She lowered her voice further. "When Harper woke up later, he told them he'd only been with Malfoy. He said it must have been Malfoy who pushed him."
Ginny glanced around the Hospital Wing, making sure they were alone. Then, to Harry's surprise, she reached for her wand on the nightstand and quietly raised a Privacy Ward.
"Don't tell anybody that you pushed him down the stairs, okay?"
Harry froze - his heart hammering against his ribs.
"What?" was all he could say.
She looked at him as if he were stupid.
"Don't forget, I know about your Invisibility Cloak… Also, don't look into Snape's or Dumbledore's eyes. They sometimes use wandless Legilimency on students."
"No, I mean…" Harry began, totally lost. He should have guessed that his brilliant best friend would deduce the truth immediately. But that wasn't what confused him. Why wasn't she disgusted or angry with him for what he had done? She just… looked at him like she always had.
He had to ask.
"Don't you hate me for… for doing this?"
Ginny looked at him, baffled.
"Why would I hate you? Sure, I'm surprised, but I don't care - you can push Harper down the stairs as often as you want," she added jokingly. "Do you really think I would care for him after he almost killed me?" she asked him as if he were stupid.
Harry had no answer for that.
Wasn't what he had done a bad thing?
Harry left a short while later when Madam Pomfrey brought the Skele-Gro potion.
The next day, Ginny was back on her feet again and joined the other first-years.
Harper got detention for casting a Bombarda on Ginny and Malfoy for pushing Harper down the stairs. This should be the end of it…
But Harry couldn't stop thinking about the instant he pushed Harper.
A good person wouldn't do that. He knew that… but Ginny didn't seem to mind. Was his sense of morals wrong?
Worse, he felt no guilt - only a grim, unsettling satisfaction. Part of him even wished it had been permanent.
Days turned into weeks and the end-of-year examinations loomed. Hermione would have freaked out weeks ago about them…
But with Ginny's occasional help, Harry didn't do too badly. Ron never accepted any help offers from his younger sister, too proud to admit she knew their class material better than him.
oOoOo
The walk to the cemetery was silent, the kind of silence that made every step feel heavier. Professor McGonagall led the way, her stern face softening slightly as she glanced back at them from time to time. When they reached the gate, she paused, turning to address Harry and Ginny.
"I'll wait here," she said quietly. "Take your time."
Ginny had somehow persuaded Professor McGonagall to take them to Hermione's grave after the end-of-year examinations.
The cemetery was small, its headstones scattered across the neatly kept grass, with bursts of wildflowers growing between the graves. Harry's heart felt like it had been squeezed in a vise as he followed the narrow path. He didn't know how he'd feel seeing Hermione's grave.
As they approached, Harry noticed a woman kneeling in front of a polished stone slab, placing a bouquet of daisies. Her hair was streaked with grey and she wore a sombre expression. He froze, his breath catching in his throat.
"Is that…"
"Mrs. Granger," Ginny confirmed softly.
Mrs. Granger stood, brushing her hands together and turned toward them. Her face was lined with sorrow, but there was no flicker of recognition when her eyes landed on Harry. She offered a polite smile, subdued by grief.
"Are you here to visit Hermione?" she asked, her voice soft but steady.
"Yes," Ginny replied before Harry could find his voice.
Mrs. Granger nodded, her gaze drifting back toward the grave. "I didn't know she had friends at school," she said quietly.
Harry's chest tightened as the words struck him.
'She doesn't recognize me…'
The thought stunned him. They had met before - on Platform 9 ¾, in front of the Hogwarts Express. She had been there with Hermione. Now, she didn't know him.
While Harry struggled to speak, Ginny stepped forward. "We knew her," she said gently. "She was amazing. The brightest person you could ever meet. Brave, clever and always kind."
Mrs. Granger's lips quivered into a faint smile. "She always loved helping others. Always wanted to do what was right. That was my Hermione." Her voice broke slightly and she glanced at the grave again, brushing her fingers against the carved letters. "Thank you… for being her friends."
She straightened, taking a shaky breath. "Take care," she said, offering them one last look before walking away, her shoulders heavy with grief.
Harry stared after her, the weight of her words pressing down on him. "She doesn't remember me," he whispered.
Ginny touched his arm lightly, her expression unreadable. "When Muggle-born students die at Hogwarts, their parents are obliviated. It's the Ministry's way of protecting the Statute of Secrecy."
"That's… that's horrible," Harry murmured, shaking his head.
Ginny didn't reply immediately and Harry couldn't decipher the flicker of emotion in her eyes.
They stepped closer to the grave, Hermione's name etched into the smooth granite.
'Hermione Jean Granger, beloved daughter and friend. Brightest star in the darkest skies.'
Ginny knelt in front of the headstone, her hand brushing over the carved letters. For a moment, she was silent and Harry thought she might cry. But when she spoke, her voice was steady, almost serene.
"I'm sorry you had to die. But I'll always be thankful for what you gave me, more than I could ever truly say out loud… I wouldn't be the girl I am today without you."
Harry stood behind her, unable to see her face, but his chest tightened at the weight of her words. He imagined how horrible she must feel - how much it must hurt to lose someone like Hermione.
Without thinking, he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her from behind, offering silent comfort. Ginny leaned into him, letting the quiet speak for them both.
The sun dipped lower in the sky as they stood together, mourning the girl who had changed both their lives forever.