019.

[7thborn]

[ accidental voice ]

Mum.

[The voice is faint, as if far away from the recording device, but the urgency and tightly controlled panic is clear.]

Dad, they're coming. They know we've broken the wards-hurry!

[Fumbling, a rush of static. Voices, mostly indistinct, but there's a woman's and several other men, a series of harsh cracks signaling

Comments

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

[He was already outside, tending to the gardens, but the loud crack and the yelling caused him to rip off his dragon-skin gloves and head immediately out to the forest, to the source of the noise. He's got dirt on his nose and the knees of his pants are dusty as well, but he looks thrilled - if a little bit confused when he sees her]

Ginny?

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

[The redheaded witch has a rucksack slung over her shoulder, a wand tight in one hand as she spins, half-expecting her family though her mind does register the familiar voice before her eyes do. Neville? It can't be. Ginny had seen him on the Platform before they left for their respective Easter breaks.]

Neville?

[The darkness obscures her injuries, many of them looking worse than they are, left over from her latest detention at Hogwarts, but those are the least of her concerns now. What's going on?]

I thought-

We weren't meant to Apparate to your Gran's!

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

[his eyes flick over her injuries, but he doesn't linger because he knows that she wouldn't want him to. It's the same with him. Complaining about them doesn't make it any better.]

This isn't my Gran's, Ginny. You're -

[He looks around. There's been some strange things happening in the City today]

But first, you'd better come in.

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

[Ginny swallows roughly, jaw tightening. These aren't the answers she wants. Her other hand is clutching a communicator, and through that she had learned that she's back in the City. The City. The memories are foggy, but they're coming slowly. Harry's here. Neville, Remus, Luna. There's more, she knows it.]

Explain, Neville. "Coming in" is the last thing I want to do right now. I'm meant to be with my family, and Godric knows where they've buggered off to!

[Because saying it like that means they haven't been captured, right?]

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

They haven't been captured, if that's what you mean.

[He says it calmly for her sake, because he knows that if he were in this situation, he'd probably act the same.]

It's different here. There's no war, or Voldemort, or Snape or the Carrows. It's an entirely different world. Your family's right where you left them.

[And he remembers - ]

Oh, and Ron's here.

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

Remus and Harry just said there's something going on; if it's not the damn war, then what? And I don't want them to be right where I bloody left them! I don't even know if they've made it to-

[And freeze. Ron. Did he just say her brother is here? The change in her expression is impressive, from sharp and angry to utter disbelieving hope.]

Ron?

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

It's the City. It's throwing people into prisons. Torturing them. But it's not the war, and that's why I really need you to come inside!

[They've had arguments before, of course. Amazing how snappish one can get after a good long session with the Carrows. But he talks quietly, reassuringly.]

They made it. I'm pretty sure you all made it. I'm from the future, you see. And when we hadn't heard back from you after Easter, we got word that you were hiding out at your Auntie Muriel's for a while.

[He nods his head towards the cabin]

Are you coming?

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

Sounds like the war to me.

[This is said quietly, bitterly. Her muscles throb at the memory of it, and she shoots a glance at her co-leader of the DA. She wants to believe him. Time travel isn't entirely unheard of in their world and the news that her family made it, that they are safe, is something she wants to believe with every fibre of her being.

Ginny glances away, shifts the rucksack on her shoulder, holding the few things she could take from her room in the rush to leave. The anger isn't directed at Neville, not really. It's at the situation, at herself, this place.]

I didn't go back to the school.

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

It's a different sort of war.

[He senses her anger, and he waits it out. It's a mark of how close they are that he knows to give her space for a while, give her time to think. But he glances back to her and begins walking a few steps forward towards the cabin, keeping by her side with his wand drawn.]

Come on.

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

[Finally, grudgingly, Ginny moves from her spot and almost grimaces when the sudden movement jars her aching muscles. She'd been tense, locked in a defensive position - though she hadn't been aware of it - the whole time and now her body is protesting it, finally feeling it. A sit down would be good, a cup of tea even better, but her nerves and senses are still on edge.

There's a few moments of silence as they walk and Ginny finally speaks, quietly.]

I didn't go back? [Repeating it out of disbelief. Abandoning the DA. Abandoning Neville. She swore she wouldn't.] And I can't go home. Bloody hell.

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

[He finally grasps her meaning.]

You didn't abandon us! We couldn't expect you to stay, especially with the Death Eaters going after your family like that.

[Neville doesn't know what to say to that, so he keeps silent for a little bit until he thinks of something to say]

I've got some dittany for you, if you want it. It's hard to grow, but we have a couple of small plants.

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

You couldn't expect me to stay?

[Neville, at this rate, it will be impossible to get her into that damned cabin. Ginny stops in her tracks, bright brown eyes flashing. Anything will get a rise out of her at this point, her temper is so close to the surface, driven there by exhaustion and worry.]

The Death Eaters are coming after all our families, Neville, how the hell am I any different from you or anyone else in the DA? How many bloody times have I told you that before?

[The rational part of her mind is telling her that she knew the chances of returning to fight were slim if they went into hiding. Walking back into Hogwarts would be the easiest way for the other side to get her.]

I made a promise, Neville. Whether or not it was my choice to break it, I still did and left you lot with one less fighter.

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

That's not what I meant!

[He doesn't want a row. He really doesn't. Ginny's not making it easy and he knows he's said the wrong thing, or worded it wrong at the very least]

Because you and your family are basically blood traitors to the Death Eaters! They came after your family just like they came after Seamus' and Parvati's and Gran. Why do you think the muggleborns we knew went into hiding? We were alright. They wouldn't kill us until we graduated. We're pureblood. But they changed your mind about you and we needed you for later. For when Harry came back.

[He pauses, sighs. Suddenly he seems so much older than he actually is. The war has forced them all to grow up so fast]

We didn't blame you. The DA had to stop for a while, after Michael Corner got caught.

[His voice is just slightly bitter]

It was horrible. He was in St. Mungo's for a while. I couldn't ask the others to go through that to.

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

[Ginny listens to all of this in smouldering silence, jaw set in that way again, and she doesn't quite notice that her wand is throwing irritable sparks. She knows all this. Has heard it before, has said it herself to others. The news about Michael has her closing her eyes, just briefly, but the flash of disgust across her face is clear.

Just because they had broken things off doesn't mean they couldn't stay friends. And when something like the new regime at Hogwarts takes over, you bond, the DA became family.]

You never had to ask. We knew what we were getting into.

[Breathe a sigh of relief, Longbottom, your co-leader's fire has simmered down some. The redhead's voice is softer but only around the edges. She inclines her head to the visible cabin, but she isn't close enough to the light from the windows. Not yet.]

Tell me what I missed over tea.

so meet me by the roadside

[worthtwelve]

[He waits it out. He knows enough to know that Ginny's anger in its current intensity couldn't last long. Or at least not without anything to be angry at physically in front of her.]

They reach the cabin together, reaching the front door which he opens with a creak, letting her go in first]

I'll tell you everything.

[And there's a smile. It's slight, and his cut lip threatens to crack from it, but it's enough.]

so meet me by the roadside

[7thborn]

[And now in the full light of the cabin is the damage really visible. There's a nice bruise blooming along her cheekbone, her lip mirrors Neville's-but that's the worst of it. The rest is superficial, cuts and scratches, sore muscles from the Cruciatus. It looks like she fought her way out of a touch Quidditch game more than anything else.

What is probably the most alarming to those who last saw her in the City is how thin she's gotten. Half of it is just because of the exercise and training. A lot of it is stress.

It always looks worse than it is and she was going to let Molly tend to it all when they settled at Muriel's. Mindless of her own appearance, Ginny frowns at Neville.]

Honestly, Longbottom, I'm gone a few weeks and you've already forgotten how to clean yourself up?