For Cho love had grown into something akin to a haunting boy that bore away the last of her purity. When Pansy Parkinson, in a towering rage, had ripped the arm of Daphne’s robe off in an attempt to grab the key on the blonde’s neck, Cedric’s corpse had surfaced in Cho’s mind. The Dark Mark had glared menacingly at her, bringing back images she had tried to tuck away in vain. Everything after that was her final release of pain from the degradation of her tarnished soul.

The story of Daphne’s death spread over the train like wildfire. Finally, in an attempt to calm the rumors, the Head Boy and Girl called a meeting. There was still and hour and a half left before they reached the station, and the students were getting anxious. Harry, Luna, Ginny, and Hermione, and a confused Ron, all stood in the crowd, listening to the retelling of Daphne’s murder investigation. Everyone but Harry and Ron had been displeased by the crowd’s reaction to the information. Most of the students had commended Cho for her bravery in tackling a Death Eater. It had made Ginny ill.

Afterward everyone returned to their compartments, a bustle of whispers. Harry had pulled Hermione and Ron away, leaving Ginny and Luna standing guard in front of the crime scene. The initial ending had startled both of them, shaking the foundations of their beliefs in what was good and what was bad. Sometime between the long silence that stretched over them, Ginny spoke.

“Do you think Daphne was a bad person?”

Luna, who had been staring, strangely lucid, at the ceiling, sighed. “There are many different types of people, and I genuinely believe Daphne was a good person in bad circumstances.”

Ginny nodded, and started twisting a strand of hair around her finger. “Harry made a strange comment, earlier. He said that he thought it was a little too convenient that Daphne told Dumbledore the location of a horcrux — whatever that is — which somehow made the Headmaster vulnerable to attack.”

“A horcrux?” Luna asked, shifting to look at Ginny.

The little redhead nodded. “Do you know what that is, Luna?”

“It is the darkest of all magic, they say. My father mentioned it once, when he was writing a article. He got so many howlers from mentioning the possibility that Voldemort was using horcruxes to insure his immortality that he had to ban the use of owls. That is why I use a penguin.”

Ginny looked flabbergasted for a moment. “A penguin, but they do not fly.”

“Tell that to Tux,” Luna replied simply, referring to her ostentatious pet penguin she had mysteriously managed to sneak into Hogwarts. “But we were not talking about aerodynamics. We were talking about horcruxes, remember?”

There was a brief pause as Ginny recomposed. “Do you think that article was true?”

“Most of the howlers came from known Death Eaters. However, it is very plausible, and I think it is very important to note that Harry referenced them while speaking of Dumbledore’s death.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide at Luna’s implication. “The key, the one Daphne had on her! That was a horcrux, was it not?”

“I do not see why it could not be.” Luna replied serenely, leaning back on the wall.

“So why would Daphne have a horcrux, or even know the location of a second one?”

“So you think Daphne gave Dumbledore the location of an already stolen horcrux so he would leave the school, become weak, and thus be susceptible to attack? That is a fairly big accusation, especially after Dumbledore’s letter…” Hermione trailed off. Harry had just finished explaining the letter he had received from Dumbledore and his thoughts on the horcrux that was now in their hands.

“Oh come off it, Hermione,” Ron groaned, rolling his eyes at his friend’s over analyzing of the facts. “Dumbledore was wrong about Snape, so why should he be right about this Greengrass girl? I agree with Harry. I think she set him up and then Cho finished her off.”

“Ron! You make it sound so brutal!” Hermione looked sick at his choice of words and glared at the two boys in front of her. She knew they had already decided that the victim’s loyalties had been with the Dark Lord, but for some reason Hermione just could not agree with them. Something had been wrong about her death from the start. The fact it had been preconceived only made that notion nag on her more.

“Well it is brutal! She was a Death Eater. She had the mark! It does not get any clearer than that!” Ron raged, glaring back at her.

Hermione glared at him once more before finally turning her eyes away. Ron smirked, taking this as a sign of her defeat. Hermione stared out the window, watching the droplets of rain scatter across the pane. It had been raining since they arrived in the compartment.

“I need to get some water,” She finally spoke, breaking the boy’s conversation up. They watched her leave, slightly concerned, but did not stop her.

She exited the compartment and was relieved to see Ginny and Luna sitting in the hallway, draped in a companionable silence. They glanced up at her, but said nothing. That is when Hermione realized their group had forced the two girls to sit out in the hallway next to the crime scene while they discussed secret matters, and guilt siezed her.

She knew Harry had not wanted Ginny to know about the horcruxes, and thus had not told her. Hermione had thought this was really a stupid thing to do, after all Ginny might possibly be able to help in the investigation. Tom Riddle had been in her head for a year, after all. Maybe that was what caused Hermione to do what she did. Or, perhaps, Hermione just needed someone who could understand why she was so conflicted since Daphne’s death. She knew that in Ginny and Luna’s confidence, she would find some understanding.

So she told them about Dumbledore’s death, the horcruxes, and everything else she could recall. Then, the thing that had been weighing down on her all day finally came out, pouring from her mouth like tide.

“I think something else is going on with Daphne’s death, and I think it has to do with the horcruxes. I think she knew more than she was willing to tell, and I think her death was her way of completing that mission.”

Both girls stared at her with wide eyes, not sure how to take this admission. Ginny was the one to speak, however.

“You think that Daphne planned her own death so Harry could find the other horcruxes?”

Hermione nodded. “And I think she left a few clues behind to lead us to the next few.”

Daphne slowly unfolded her body, stretching toward the water as the rain suddenly stopped. The images passing over the water were slowly blurring as the ocean churned. She had seen enough of her own death, had come to accept she was no longer human. Her life had drawn to a close with the revelation of her murderer, but most importantly, the finding of Rowena Ravenclaws’ key. There really had been no other way for the horcrux to remain in safe hands without her death. She had known this when Dumbledore died.

Or maybe she had known this long before the Headmaster’s death.

She twisted her head to the side as one final image flickered across the water. It was of Terry Boot sitting alone in his compartment, grieving his loss and dealing with the pain that followed Cho’s betrayal. She felt the sudden urge to reach down toward him, to fall into the water and revel in being able to touch him again. She wanted to tell him it was not Cho’s fault that she had never fully recovered from Cedric’s death.

None of these things could be, however. She was dead now, and intangible to the living. She cried once more for her lost life, and this time, instead of hovering alone in the darkness, other weeping figures began to materialize.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a pair of alabaster wings began to sprout from her back to eclipse her in a feathery cocoon.

The train arrived at Platform 9 ¾ an hour after the investigation ended, and a new chapter in Ginny and Luna’s lives began. Aurors had swamped the train shortly after, prodding the students for the next hour about the murder. The group of girls had exited the train, exhausted from questioning, but ready to delve into the mystery that still surrounded Daphne Greengrass’ death. They had just descended the steps when Harry’s head popped out of a train window, asking to speak to Ginny.

Surprised, Ginny turned around and boarded the train. Harry met her halfway down the hall before stopping. He watched her approach slowly, a grim smile on his worn face.

“There is no way I can keep you safe, is there?”

Ginny shook her head grimly, and walked into his waiting arms. They engulfed her, surrounding her in warmth as he pulled her tightly. They swayed gently in the hallway, Harry’s chin resting on her head. It was a comforting gesture that soothed all of the pain from the past two days and left her breathless and aching for more.

He pulled away and tugged on a strand of her hair. For a second she felt guilt tugging on her heart as she stared at the boy she loved. She felt guilty because in a few minutes she would step off this train and join Luna in a search for answers to the puzzle Daphne’s death had created, and Harry would know nothing of the plan. There was also guilt for leaving him behind, to find his own destiny.

Ginny was the one that turned away from him and walked off the train. Her trail of red ribbons flapped in her wake, reminding him of lapping flames in the hearth.

Little Lady, all coated in red,
You bled out the mouth,
And slumbered in your bed,
The fools call you worthless,
Your beloved grieves your death,
And we wonder why your blood was shed

AN: I pictured this whole story differently. Alas, that story died a tragic death, and this was born. It is a background story for an epic fanfic, The Virtuous and the Jaded, and was more an exploration into its characters and their motivations. So if you would like to discover what adventure awaits Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Luna's penguin Tux, then be on the look out for that comming fanfiction. Otherwise, I hope I did not do too much damage to your brain cells.