Fic: Forbidden Forest Frolics Five
Title: Forbidden Forest Frolics Five
Author: timjr
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, Humor
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter
Pairing: Ginny/Harry
Recipient: natmerc
Prompt & Summary: Spells can go wrong, and when you're a powerful witch, they can go very, very wrong.
Spoilers: Spoilers through the end of Deathly Hallows
Author's Notes: Thanks to ladybug218 for the beta!
Ginny Weasley, her eyes filled with terror and the sweat of her brow sticking strands of red hair to her freckled face, pressed her back against the door of the shack. The things on the other side thumped again, the wood creaking and starting to give. She raised her wand, trying to reinforce the door with magic as she still supported it with her own weight. This was all her fault, she knew it, she hated it. She had helped stop the forces of Voldemort, but now, in her final year at Hogwarts, she seemed destined to become something's midnight snack.
A mere six hours previous, young Ginny Weasley had not a care in the world. That year she had found that unwanted attention disappeared very shortly after the offending people in question learned that she was 'Potter's Girl'. She didn't object to the title because no one dared to say it to her face, and also Harry knew very well that he was actually 'Ginny's Boy', when it came down to it. Besides, it was very nice in making sure no snot-nosed Slytherin gave her any problems.
This particular care-free day was a Saturday. Ginny, being a Weasley, was of course up to great mischief. The harmless fun kind of mischief, but mischief nonetheless. Today, that meant wandering out into the Forbidden Forest. Normally, she was far too intelligent to do that sort of thing alone. But today, well, she had been on a dare. How exactly she was to prove going into the forest alone for the night, well, she had raised the question and all she had received was reassurance that 'they'd know'.
Given this was her friends, she didn't doubt they would be following her and watching. It made her feel a bit safer about the whole thing. So strolling into the dark and dangerous forest, that would be fine. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to be scared about. Voldemort was very dead (and that made it fine to mention him by name, as opposed to You-Know-Who), the Death Eaters no longer a force to worry about, there was no great evil lurking that a young girl should fear.
Of course, she was lying to herself, thinking it didn't worry her a bit. Her hand gripped tightly at her wand as the surrounding forest grew thicker and darker. A twig snapped behind her, and she whirled round. Her wand poised as she shouted “Expelliarmus!” The blast of magical energy soared, lighting up the bit of forest before it shattered straight through a potion flask and into poor Luna Lovegood's chest, thudding her to the ground.
“Luna!” Ginny gasped, hurrying over. “You shouldn't have--”
“I'm just fine,” Luna said, smiling as she stood up. “My poor potion isn't, though.”
“What were you doing?” Ginny asked, baffled as she was. Though Luna usually baffled her. “This is all very ridiculous.”
“Well I was supposed to sneak up on you and pour the hair growth potion on you,” Luna said. “I'm not sure what the others are doing. It's all very... compartmentalized.” She smiled, her wide eyes filled with simple happiness. “It should be a fun night.”
“Hair growth potion?” Ginny made a face and looked over to where the shattered glass was scattered over a now smoking portion of ground. “Why?”
“I don't know,” Luna said. “But... should it be smoking like that?” She tilted her head at the ground.
“Must be some interaction of the spells,” Ginny said. “Look, who is doing all this? I thought this was just a dumb dare.”
“I'm not supposed to say,” Luna said. “It's a sur-- Oh dear.” Her normally wide eyes widened even further.
A paw erupted from the ground. A small, grubby, paw. A paw with mottled fur, and a bit of bone poking through. When the rest of what was attached to that paw dug its way from under the soil, there was no denying what it was.
A zombie. But not just any zombie, a zombie squirrel. And to Luna and Ginny's horror, more and more little rotting paws began to burrow out from the ground. They were going to be surrounded at any minute by hordes of shambling undead rodents.
And that is how Ginny found herself in an abandoned shack, trying her best to prevent a bunch of undead woodland creatures from breaking down the door and eating her brains. She had lost Luna when a rotting badger dropped unexpectedly from the trees, but she had no time to mourn or cry. There was a half skeletal moose battering against that door and Weasleys don't give up, ever.
Suddenly, the thumping stopped. Ginny's breath was all she could hear over the thumping of her heart. She looked around for a second, finally getting a chance to take in what was there. She knew the door wouldn't withstand another assault. Her wand had been lost a long time ago, and no Accio spell would help her now. She needed a weapon. There, in a dusty corner, she saw what would help her against these flesh hungry woodland denizens. A beater's bat. She moved away from the door tentatively, relieved when nothing attacked it the instant she wasn't supporting it.
Standing, she strode across the shack, hefting the bat into her hands, feeling the weight. It was sturdy, the handle well supported. She pulled her hair back, making sure it wouldn't get into her eyes. She retied her shoes, making sure the laces weren't loose. Her jaw set, her expression one of pure determination, she unlatched the shed door and charged out.
Thwack, thwack, down went the moose. Thwack, thwack, no more decomposing deer. Swing after swing connected, the wood splintering, her knuckles turning white with her grip. Fur and bone flew leftways and rightways, coagulated blood spattering on her school uniform. Eventually, the moon shone down, her eyes set hard, the zombie masses lay re-dead at her feet, the bat slung over her shoulder.
She heard the pitter-patter of feet, and she turned to see who was coming up to her. To her complete surprise, it was Harry Potter.
“Sorry about all this,” he said, catching his breath when he got to her. “Luna's okay, by the way. This was all my idea. Well, not the zombie things, obviously. But I thought, play a bit of a prank with Luna and the rest of them's help, come in and save you, it'd be a nice way to celebrate our--”
The slap across Harry's face echoed throughout the Forbidden Forest.
“Next time?” Ginny shouted at him, exasperated. “You get me flowers. Like a normal boyfriend!”
Author: timjr
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, Humor
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter
Pairing: Ginny/Harry
Recipient: natmerc
Prompt & Summary: Spells can go wrong, and when you're a powerful witch, they can go very, very wrong.
Spoilers: Spoilers through the end of Deathly Hallows
Author's Notes: Thanks to ladybug218 for the beta!
Ginny Weasley, her eyes filled with terror and the sweat of her brow sticking strands of red hair to her freckled face, pressed her back against the door of the shack. The things on the other side thumped again, the wood creaking and starting to give. She raised her wand, trying to reinforce the door with magic as she still supported it with her own weight. This was all her fault, she knew it, she hated it. She had helped stop the forces of Voldemort, but now, in her final year at Hogwarts, she seemed destined to become something's midnight snack.
A mere six hours previous, young Ginny Weasley had not a care in the world. That year she had found that unwanted attention disappeared very shortly after the offending people in question learned that she was 'Potter's Girl'. She didn't object to the title because no one dared to say it to her face, and also Harry knew very well that he was actually 'Ginny's Boy', when it came down to it. Besides, it was very nice in making sure no snot-nosed Slytherin gave her any problems.
This particular care-free day was a Saturday. Ginny, being a Weasley, was of course up to great mischief. The harmless fun kind of mischief, but mischief nonetheless. Today, that meant wandering out into the Forbidden Forest. Normally, she was far too intelligent to do that sort of thing alone. But today, well, she had been on a dare. How exactly she was to prove going into the forest alone for the night, well, she had raised the question and all she had received was reassurance that 'they'd know'.
Given this was her friends, she didn't doubt they would be following her and watching. It made her feel a bit safer about the whole thing. So strolling into the dark and dangerous forest, that would be fine. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to be scared about. Voldemort was very dead (and that made it fine to mention him by name, as opposed to You-Know-Who), the Death Eaters no longer a force to worry about, there was no great evil lurking that a young girl should fear.
Of course, she was lying to herself, thinking it didn't worry her a bit. Her hand gripped tightly at her wand as the surrounding forest grew thicker and darker. A twig snapped behind her, and she whirled round. Her wand poised as she shouted “Expelliarmus!” The blast of magical energy soared, lighting up the bit of forest before it shattered straight through a potion flask and into poor Luna Lovegood's chest, thudding her to the ground.
“Luna!” Ginny gasped, hurrying over. “You shouldn't have--”
“I'm just fine,” Luna said, smiling as she stood up. “My poor potion isn't, though.”
“What were you doing?” Ginny asked, baffled as she was. Though Luna usually baffled her. “This is all very ridiculous.”
“Well I was supposed to sneak up on you and pour the hair growth potion on you,” Luna said. “I'm not sure what the others are doing. It's all very... compartmentalized.” She smiled, her wide eyes filled with simple happiness. “It should be a fun night.”
“Hair growth potion?” Ginny made a face and looked over to where the shattered glass was scattered over a now smoking portion of ground. “Why?”
“I don't know,” Luna said. “But... should it be smoking like that?” She tilted her head at the ground.
“Must be some interaction of the spells,” Ginny said. “Look, who is doing all this? I thought this was just a dumb dare.”
“I'm not supposed to say,” Luna said. “It's a sur-- Oh dear.” Her normally wide eyes widened even further.
A paw erupted from the ground. A small, grubby, paw. A paw with mottled fur, and a bit of bone poking through. When the rest of what was attached to that paw dug its way from under the soil, there was no denying what it was.
A zombie. But not just any zombie, a zombie squirrel. And to Luna and Ginny's horror, more and more little rotting paws began to burrow out from the ground. They were going to be surrounded at any minute by hordes of shambling undead rodents.
And that is how Ginny found herself in an abandoned shack, trying her best to prevent a bunch of undead woodland creatures from breaking down the door and eating her brains. She had lost Luna when a rotting badger dropped unexpectedly from the trees, but she had no time to mourn or cry. There was a half skeletal moose battering against that door and Weasleys don't give up, ever.
Suddenly, the thumping stopped. Ginny's breath was all she could hear over the thumping of her heart. She looked around for a second, finally getting a chance to take in what was there. She knew the door wouldn't withstand another assault. Her wand had been lost a long time ago, and no Accio spell would help her now. She needed a weapon. There, in a dusty corner, she saw what would help her against these flesh hungry woodland denizens. A beater's bat. She moved away from the door tentatively, relieved when nothing attacked it the instant she wasn't supporting it.
Standing, she strode across the shack, hefting the bat into her hands, feeling the weight. It was sturdy, the handle well supported. She pulled her hair back, making sure it wouldn't get into her eyes. She retied her shoes, making sure the laces weren't loose. Her jaw set, her expression one of pure determination, she unlatched the shed door and charged out.
Thwack, thwack, down went the moose. Thwack, thwack, no more decomposing deer. Swing after swing connected, the wood splintering, her knuckles turning white with her grip. Fur and bone flew leftways and rightways, coagulated blood spattering on her school uniform. Eventually, the moon shone down, her eyes set hard, the zombie masses lay re-dead at her feet, the bat slung over her shoulder.
She heard the pitter-patter of feet, and she turned to see who was coming up to her. To her complete surprise, it was Harry Potter.
“Sorry about all this,” he said, catching his breath when he got to her. “Luna's okay, by the way. This was all my idea. Well, not the zombie things, obviously. But I thought, play a bit of a prank with Luna and the rest of them's help, come in and save you, it'd be a nice way to celebrate our--”
The slap across Harry's face echoed throughout the Forbidden Forest.
“Next time?” Ginny shouted at him, exasperated. “You get me flowers. Like a normal boyfriend!”