Author Note: Here's another chapter which hopefully answers my cliffhanger on last chapter… Thanks for all my reviewers! Chapter 9 and 67 reviews in total! I reckon that is not bad at all for my first ever fanfic!

This morning was a complete blur for me. I couldn't concentrate on Herbology, which resulted in Dung fertiliser to land squarely on top of my head, which resulted in smelly and greasy hair which would be a top challenger to Snape's, which resulted in tension headache, which resulted in having to take another shower right after the lesson, which resulted in being late for History of Magic.

It's not that I mind being late for Binns' class – I mean he didn't notice, which suited me very well. But having a shower right before his class makes you 110 alert, which of course resulting in failing to catch up on your usual one-hour extra beauty sleep. I find this disconcerting as it disturbs my already-disturbed beauty sleep pattern, since I usually sleep late at night due to tons of homework that needs to be done.

But if you happen to have things to think about as in the safety of your family members on the aftermath of the ambush in Ministry of Magic, you would find it very hard to focus on Binns' lesson even though you are 110 alert. Well… it would be very hard to focus on his lesson any day. The long and boring lesson seemed to be even longer and more boring. I was absent-mindedly tapping on my desk for the first eternal-like ten seconds, which earned a death glare from Erica who was trying to sleep on the desk.

I had an idea. If Mum decided not to tell me and Ron anything about that, I would write to her. I got out a parchment and my trusty quill.

Mother, I decided to be polite at first. No accusation was needed.

I know you know what I'm getting at here. I just want to make this straight and simple. How is Dad? I hope he's alright. And although I may not seem like I care, I also want to know what happen to Percy. Please don't send a letter back saying that I should not worry and that they're fine if they were not. Please don't say things only to assure me. Just to let you know, I want to know the full details. Oh yeah. I don't think Ron knows yet. Hermione Vanished her copy of the Daily Prophet this morning so we couldn't read it. So, Mum, please write back as soon as possible.

Ginny

I read it over again. Checking words here and there, making sure that Mum would get the hint that I was desperate to know what is going on. I was satisfied by it. I would have to borrow Pig and send it home right after this class.

I folded my letter neatly and pocketed it. I checked my watch; it was twenty minutes to lunch. I looked up to see Binns reading monotonously from his notebook and suddenly felt sleepy. I yawned widely and set my head down on my desk.

The next thing I knew, class was over and Erika was gently slapping my cheeks to wake me up. I rushed to the Owlery without even bothering to tell my friends.

Pig was really easy to spot. In spite of his small size, he is still and will forever be the most hyperactive, talkative, annoying owl. Once I stepped through the doorway, he soared amongst the other hundreds of owls in the Owlery, probably expecting some Owl Treat that I usually give him. He landed excitedly on my right shoulder.

"Sorry, Pig…" I took him on my hand, struggling to tie my letter on his feet due to his constant up and down motion that he was doing on my hand.

"Stay still," I growled. He looked annoyed, as if I wasn't being unfair to him, which I was. But that's beside the point.

At some point after a five whole minutes of struggles, I finally succeeded on tying my letter on Pig's leg. I pat his head gently, trying to show that I wasn't a bad owner after all (well, I'm not the exact owner, but you get what I mean…).

"Fly as fast as you can, okay? Be safe…" and I let him go.

"I knew you'd be up here!"

WHOA! I turned around, facing the owner of the voice that for quite some time had given me a lot of headache. I was still a little upset with his behaviour at breakfast. I initially thought that he would take my side on the little argument with Hermione. Honestly, I felt cheated and abandoned that he would rather listen to Hermione. But after I found out about the newspaper, I understood. I supposed he has a built-in radar inside him which alerts him whenever things go wrong. I smiled weakly at him.

Harry was standing on the doorway and held his gaze on me for a few uncomfortable seconds; it was like as if he was trying to communicate telepathically because he was having difficulties voicing it. Tough luck for him. I don't do that fancy Legillimency thing. So I waved my hand in front of him to get his attention.

"What?" I demanded. He blinked a few times as if trying to clear his mind.

"Huh?" he asked stupidly. Men, I sighed, they're just generally stupid…

He looked at me funnily. It was like he was staring at me, but yet at the same time seems unaware of doing it. I hate it when he does that. I walked over to him.

"You." I tapped his right cheek fondly. He smiled but at the same time looked lost for reasons I didn't quite know. He went for a quick kiss but didn't quite make it because I put a hand out to stop him. As a result of that, his lips smacked on the palm of my right hand. He narrowed his eyes at me, obviously irritated by my resistance.

Feeling curious to how he managed to find me, I asked, "How did you find out that I would be up here, anyway?"

This time, he grinned broadly. He pulled out a worn-out, yellowing, ancient-looking parchment from his pocket and put it against his heart. He said dramatically, "I owe so much to them. What would I do without the map?"

If I was happy, I would probably laugh my head off. But I wasn't. And what was special is that he realised it. He took my hand and watched me closely.

"You know, don't you?" he asked.

Not in the mood for straight answers, I replied sarcastically, "What? So, you're an accomplished Legillimens now, are you?"

He sighed, "I'm sorry, Ginny."

I suddenly felt panic bubbling inside me. I eyed him warily, "What are you sorry for? There's nothing to be sorry for…" I paused. He looked somewhat alarmed.

"Is there?" I asked.

He looked away quickly. I was having none of it. I knew something wasn't right; I could tell. I knew it, but I wasn't prepared for it. He looked back at me again, but this time, his face was expressionless.

"Dumbledore wants to see you," he said flatly.

We walked to Dumbledore's office in silence. He occasionally glanced at me; to which I pretended to be blind and ignored him. I was upset at him for not wanting to tell me what was going on. We arrived at the statue of gargoyles.

"Acid Pops," he mumbled. I looked at him curiously.

"Don't ask," he said, shaking his head slowly.

We stepped onto the rotating stairs together; my heart was fast racing. Harry pushed the office door open. I was surprised by what I saw.

Ron and Hermione were already seated in front of Dumbledore and they turned around when they heard the door opened. Hermione was eyeing me guiltily. I avoided her looking at her. Ron, on the other hand, looked exceptionally pale. And that was making me even less assured.

"Ah…, here we are," Dumbledore said calmly.

He flicked his wand and at once appeared two large puffy red chairs next to Ron's, "Please take a seat."

That's it. Percy was kidnapped in the ambush by the Death Eaters. There was a very slim chance that he would make it alive.

I was in a complete mess; the front of my robes was wet from tears, my hair tousled, my eyes sore and it was really hard to breathe properly. I didn't know how to react to the news. For years, Percy had been my brother. Sure he was never as close as the others, but I still love him in a way. Two years ago, it was very upsetting to see that he could be easily misled by powers. Everyone was furious, no doubt; although I had never told anyone that secretly I had always hoped for him to realise his mistake and turn back to us. I had never expected this.

He had gone. It was totally unbelievable, yet it happened. And there was nothing for us to do, except to wait and hope.

Someone had knocked on the door.

"Ginny?" Hermione softly called out.

I quickly wiped traces of tears in my eyes. No doubt that after hours of crying, I would look like a ghoul. But I couldn't care less at that moment.

"Come in," I croaked at the door. She entered the empty dorm, smelling like roasted chicken. Strangely, I felt nauseous at the instant I smelled traces of food. I felt sick in spite of my empty stomach.

"Hey," she said, looking quite unsure of what else to say.

Remembering my manners, I forced myself to smile. She took a seat next to me on my bed.

"Where's Ron?" I asked, recalling that he acted very strangely upon hearing the news. His eyes were unfocused and it seemed that he couldn't decide whether to be sad or happy. He seemed lost. Harry was doing a very good job making sure that he didn't walk in the Vanishing Cabinet, leaving me free time to handle my own feelings. Sometimes it felt as if I was ten years older than Ron giving his cluelessness and stupidity. I felt that I was responsible of Ron's well-being and not the other way around.

"Harry is still trying to wake him out of his trance," she sighed. "Last time I checked, he was eating chicken soup with chocolate pudding."

If I was in a happy mood, I would normally die of laughter.

Hermione stared at me for a very long time. She didn't seem to have anything to say; neither did I.

I suddenly heard distant chattering. The other girls have come back from dinner, apparently exchanging gossip, obviously oblivious to the fact that other people were grieving. I instantly felt cheated.

Hermione tugged at my hand, motioning me to follow her. We brushed past Erica and Clara.

"Ginny!" Erica called out, "I haven't seen you all day. Wh-" She immediately clasped her mouth shut upon seeing my face. She passed a questioning look to Hermione.

"Sorry, girls. Got to hurry," Hermione quickly said, dragging me with her and leaving the two girls with similar concerned looks on their faces.

"Where are we going?" I asked her, when we were climbing out of the portrait hole.

"The Head Girls' quarter," she replied briefly. "It is much quieter in there."

"Thank you…" I mumbled. Peace was something that I highly valued at that moment.

We arrived in front of a portrait of an intelligent-looking witch in the sixth floor. She was eyeing us curiously. She opened her mouth, and started talking in a chilling low-pitch voice that suited a fat, scruffy man better.

"You know that this room is str-"

"Gesundheit," she blurted.

"Wha-", I said; the portrait swung open. "Bloody hell! Who made up that password anyway?"

She shrugged and climbed in. I followed right behind.

I was surprised to find Harry and Ron sitting comfortably in the sofas. Well, in Ron's case, sitting with his posture straight, staring at the warming fireplace right in front of him. Harry, seemingly extremely tired and royally pissed, with his arms sprawled in odd angles. He sat up when he saw us entering. His mood seemed to lighten up, although he looked evidently concerned of me. I gave him a small smile to assure him I was alright. I sat next to him, crossing my legs on the sofa.

Unexpectedly, Hermione rushed over to Ron and tapped his shoulder fondly. He stared at her blankly. She sighed.

"That's it!" she thumped her left foot on the floor. "I'm taking him straight to the Hospital Wing!"

She half-dragged, half-struggled to haul Ron on his feet.

"Hermione," Harry spoke up, "you need help."

"No, I'll be fine!" she replied stubbornly.

She managed to take her first step. Unfortunately, Ron somehow tripped her and they both fell tumbling to the floor. Ron was sitting on Hermione's back, looked absolutely clueless to his surrounding. Harry laughed grimly and stood up to help them.

"I'll be right back," he said to me, got Ron up by using his shoulders to support him. Hermione tried to do the same thing, but it ended up that Harry was supporting the weight of Ron as well as Hermione.

"Hermione…," he warned. She released her grip on Ron instantly, causing Harry to tumble a little. They struggled to get Ron over the portrait hole. I knew I should be helping, but I didn't have the energy to actually get up and do it. Instead, I watched them from the distance, amused, momentarily forgetting things that happened.

Soon the room was quiet; I was alone again. I suddenly felt the urgency to grieve again. I pinched my arm to restrain myself from crying. Luckily, it worked.

I grabbed a cushion to support my head and positioning myself so I was lying on my back. It was really quiet, apart from the sounds of the constant crackling fire. I was lullabied.

The next thing I knew, my vision was blurred by the rays of sunlight and the sound of birds twittering could be heard.

I shifted a little, suddenly realising that my pillow was replaced by something else. Something solid and round and hard.

Due to instinct, I jerked up quickly only to find out that I had been sleeping on someone's lap. Harry's. I mentally panicked and threw away the blanket that was covering my body. I was………… fully clothed.

I instantly let out a sigh of relief, there was no way in the world I could have done that without realising it. I silently glanced back at Harry's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful and undisturbed in his sleep. It was really hard to believe that this was the same boy who had used to scream in his dreams…

I didn't know how long I stared at him for; he must have sensed it or something because he stirred and opened his eyes sleepily to meet mine.

"Hey," he said groggily.

"Hey, too," I replied, and for some strange reason I blushed. He grinned at me lopsidedly.

"I told you I would be back," he explained, "but when I got here you were already sleeping and I couldn't bring myself to wake you up."

I smiled gratefully at him. He was really nice not to leave me here by myself. As a matter of fact, I slept soundly despite of what happened yesterday. As my mind slowly pondered back to yesterday's event, I caught his eyes again.

"Thanks," I said softly, not quite meeting his eyes. He looked confused.

"For what?"

I smiled and touched his left hand, "For everything…"

He brought his hand up slowly to my face, I closed my eyes. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes again; he was staring at his watch, dumbstruck. His eyes widened in surprise and fear.

"Holy crap!" he swore. "It's half past ten! I'm bloody late to class!"

I laughed for the first time ever since I heard of the news. It didn't sound like any of my usual laugh. It sounded distant and foreign, but yet somehow energising - like sugar.

Harry smiled broadly at me. He then averted his focus on me as if he was getting an idea and scratched his chin absent-mindedly.

"On the other hand," he pondered, "I might actually have a day-off instead."

I frowned at that thought.

"This is your NEWT's year," I said, "you be-"

"Yeah..yeah..," he cut me off and pouted, "I know... This is my NEWT's year and I have to focus and blah...blah...blah... Geez, Ginny! I think I'm going to ban you from befriending Hermione. She just has so much influence in you!"

I laughed again at his comment; if possible, his grin was even wider than before. He changed his deep voice to a naggy, high-pitched one to mimic Hermione's.

"You should be more responsible with you school work, Harry," he squeaked, "I would be absolutely appalled with you if you decided not to pay attention in any of the classes this year!"

I laughed all the way. Strangely, he really did know how to makeme feel better. I wondered if he amused himself as well... I rolled my eyes at him.

"I still think you should at least attend two of your classes today," I said.

"Goddammit!" he swore playfully. I sent him a small smile.

"Fine, then," he gave up and gave my left cheek a pat. "I'll go and have a shower. You'll be fine, won't you?"

I nodded and shooed him away. He ran towards the portrait hole and before he climbed out, he turned around and saluted me. I threw a pillow at him. I am proud to say that all the Chaser training was worth it. The pillow hit him squared in his face before he could duck.

"Go away, already!" I called out.

He grinned and quickly ran out of the room before I could send another pillow.

I sighed. Harryis one of a kind.

A/N: HA! There you go! I'm so terribly sorry with the long wait n stuff, but I really do have heaps of homework and assignments to do and I'm not liking it! Anyway, that's another chapter to fill your plate. You know the drill: R-E-V-I-E-W. THANK'S SO MUCH!