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SIYE Time:10:22 on 29th March 2024
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Need
By iluvfanfics

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance
Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 725
Summary: Their nightmares and demons bound them together. Their love helped them to survive. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley knew they needed each other; the trouble was in admitting it.
Hitcount: Story Total: 276994; Chapter Total: 14998
Awards: View Trophy Room






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Chapter 5

“Harry, do think there’s something wrong with Hermione?” Ginny asked the question in a low undertone so that Hermione, who was absent-mindedly eating while reading a thick textbook, wouldn’t overhear.

Harry swallowed his bite of sandwich and frowned at Hermione, examining her with a critical eye. “She does look a bit tired.”

“What do you suppose she’s up to?” Ginny asked suspiciously.

“Why do you suppose she’s up to anything?”

“Dunno. She’s been acting weird though. Prone to stress out, popping up at strange times.”

Harry chewed thoughtfully. “Yeah, I have kind of noticed that.”

Ron entered just then and joined them at the lunch table. “Oi, what’s wrong with Hagrid?”

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione, none of whom had noticed the gamekeeper crying into his pumpkin juice, looked up at the staff table.

“Why is Hagrid crying?” Ginny asked.

Hermione gasped. “Oh no! We forgot!” She looked at Ron and Harry. “Buckbeak!”

”Shite,” Ron cursed. He slumped down on the bench next to Hermione. “Was that today?”

”I think it was yesterday,” Harry grimaced. “I guess it didn’t go well.”

”What about Buckbeak?”

“Malfoy’s father insisted he was a dangerous animal and is trying to have him put down,” Harry explained to Ginny. “There was a hearing yesterday at the Ministry to decide what to do with him.”

“We promised Hagrid we’d help him with the defence,” Hermione said worriedly. “We didn’t help very much though.”

Harry and Ron looked ashamed. “I forgot,” Ron said quietly.

“You should go visit him after dinner,” Ginny said decisively.

“Yeah.” Harry nudged her. “Wanna come with?”

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. She didn’t do well tagging along; but Harry and Hermione were her friends, and Ron was her brother – maybe it was time she gave this being Ron’s friend thing a chance. She shot Ron a glance.

“Sure, I guess.”

“Great.” Harry smiled brilliantly at her, and she ruffled his hair affectionately, before tossing back the last of her tea and grabbing her satchel. “Gotta run. Potions next.”

Ron groaned in sympathy, but Ginny shrugged. “Actually, Snape and I get along okay. I think he appreciates my wit.”

“You’re letting your whole house down, I hope you know that,” Harry told her.

She wrinkled her nose at him and left.

After a quick dinner, the four Gryffindors walked down to Hagrid’s hut. None of them were supposed to be out on the school grounds – particularly Harry after Sirius Black’s attack earlier in the year, so they went quickly and quietly.

“The Minister of Magic is coming by to execute Buckbeak today,” Hermione had told them as they left the Great Hall. “It was in the Daily Prophet.”

Harry walked close to Ginny, and she was startled to realize that he was hovering sort of protectively as they moved through the grounds – he sheltered her from the open doorways and moved behind her when he could have gone in front. She started to become irritated, but just as she turned around to point out that she could be sneaky without his help, she noticed the tension in his face and the way his eyes never stood still as they swept the area.

Ginny watched with a growing fascination as Harry and Ron instinctively coordinated in some age-old male ritual. Even though Ginny wasn’t Harry’s and Hermione wasn’t (yet) Ron’s, the boys divided up the responsibilities in “protecting” them; Ginny thought it odd that Harry naturally chose her when Ron, her own brother, was standing right there – not that he seemed to notice. Her brother was too busy sheltering Hermione.

She didn’t have much time to mull over the puzzle, but she was immensely glad when, after the group had come across Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle spying and laughing over Buckbeak’s intended execution, Hermione punched Malfoy solidly in the face – proving that she could take care of herself. Ron admirably backed off then, but Ginny wasn’t sure he’d even noticed he’d done so.

She shot an irritated look at Harry, who didn’t really deserve it, but it made her feel better anyway.

Her heart broke when she saw Buckbeak chained outside Hagrid’s home. She bowed slowly to him and when the hippogriff acknowledged her desire to approach, she moved closer and stroked his soft feathery head gently.

“Things that are born to fly shouldn’t be chained down,” she murmured to no one in particular; but Harry heard her.

“It’s awful,” he agreed.

She looked at him then and saw the pain of understanding flash across his face. She was reminded suddenly of the story Ron and the twins had told her mum two summers ago when they’d broken Harry out of his Aunt and Uncle’s house. There’d been bars on his window; a flap in the door through which food had been shoved, and Hedwig had been locked in her cage for the entire summer – while she, Ginny, had spent the entire summer sneaking down to the broom shed behind her house and going for midnight flies.

She looked back at Buckbeak, thinking the Hippogriff and Harry were similar – they had both been born to fly and neither had the freedom to do so as much as they wanted.

“Coming?” Harry asked, motioning towards Hagrid’s hut.

Ginny hesitated, combing her fingers through Buckbeak’s feathers. “I think I’ll stay with him,” she said. “I can’t stand the idea of leaving him alone.”

Harry nodded as if he understood. “Fine, but if you hear voices, you need to hide – it’ll probably be the Minister and Dumbledore. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself, Harry. Stop mothering me.”

“Mothering you? I’m not! I just wanted to be sure-“

“What was all that earlier then?” she asked shrewdly. “You were acting like I’d never snuck around on the grounds before, like I couldn’t walk to Hagrid’s hut myself even.”

Harry’s mouth opened and closed in a rather comical manner, and his eyes bugged out at her. “I was not!” he said defensively. “I wasn’t doing anything of the sort.”

“You may not have realized what you were doing, but you did it anyway,” she said, knowingly. “Face it, Harry, you still think of me as a little girl.”

“That is not true,” he said instantly. “Ginny, I swear.”

“So go on in, then,” she challenged. She nodded towards Hagrid open door where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him. “Leave me out here alone.”

Harry’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked at her suspiciously. “Is this some sort of test?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Fine, but if you get detention-“

“Then I’ll serve it and be done with it,” she insisted. “Now go on. I’ll be fine.”

He squeezed her shoulder as he passed by and entered the house, leaving Ginny and Buckbeak alone in the pumpkin patch. She leaned against the hippogriff, her ear pressed against his neck. She could hear Buckbeak’s rapid heartbeat and couldn’t quite face the fact that soon his heartbeat would cease.

Ginny felt an affinity for all living creatures after nightmares of killing roosters plagued her in her sleep. She couldn’t believe she’d taken a life…even if it was an animal.

It wasn’t too long before she heard voices approaching. Immediately, she ducked behind Hagrid’s large vegetables and waited for Harry and the others to come out the back door of the hut. She joined them at the edge of the forest and the four of them quickly walked back towards the castle.

When they reached a safe distance, they paused and looked back, unable to not watch Buckbeak’s final moments. When the black masked executioner came out of the hut and raised his axe, Ginny turned around and faced the other direction.

Harry looked down at her in concern and absent-mindedly placed an arm around her waist. She clutched his forearm around her navel, and they both flinched when the axe gave a large thump.

Hermione gave a small sob and buried her face in Ron’s shoulder, who for once didn’t shy away awkwardly when she touched him. Harry’s grip around Ginny’s waist tightened, and she was soon pressed up against his side.

“Are you okay,” he asked finally. He looked at her then and down at his arm and flushed a little.

Ginny followed his gaze and suddenly realized their intimate position. She was momentarily mesmerized by sight of Harry’s larger arm around her suddenly tiny-looking waist.

“Thanks,” she said, stepping back.

Harry let his arm fall back down to his side and smiled sheepishly at her. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she assured him. And it really was. Her skin tingled underneath her clothing where his arm had been.

He smiled again, and she was just about to say that she hadn’t minded him comforting her, when Ron gave a yelp and clutched at his finger.

“Scabbers bit me!” he shouted. “Hey! Scabbers! Come back!”

He set off down the hill after his pet rat – that Ginny was surprised to see alive as she thought Crookshanks had eaten him – and Harry and Hermione followed. Ginny followed at a more leisurely pace until they reached the Whomping Willow.

“Damn!” Ron cursed as he lunged for Scabbers. He managed to grab him by the tail and swing him up in his arms. The rat squirmed for freedom, but Ron held firm.

“What’s gotten into you?” He turned as Harry, Hermione and just behind them, Ginny ran up.

“Is your finger okay?” Hermione asking, gasping to catch her breath.

Ron held it up for her inspection. “I dunno what’s going on with him. He’s usually very calm.”

“Well, he is twelve years old,” Ginny pointed out. She frowned as she said it. Should rats, even magical ones, live that long? The oddness of it had never occurred to her until now.

“Harry!” Ron yelled, and pointed to something behind him.

Harry barely had time to turn around before a large, black, shaggy dog bounded out of the growing darkness and went straight for Ron. He grabbed him by the leg and growled, shaking his head and tugging Ron towards the Whomping Willow.

“Ron!” Harry lunged after his friend, but the dog, the grim, whatever it was, had Ron in a firm grip, and he dragged him closer to the tree’s trunk.

Ginny froze in horror, certain that the dog was dragging Ron to certain death; if the Whomping Willow started moving, it would smash them to bits.

To everyone’s surprise, Crookshanks streaked into view just then. The ball of orange fluff ran past Harry and jumped over the dog and Ron. The cat darted forward and pressed a paw on a knot of tree at the base of the trunk. The tree immediately stilled, and the black dog was able to drag Ron closer to the tree, where they soon disappeared into a previously hidden tunnel.

“Harry!” Ron’s cry echoed back at them, but was soon swallowed up as he disappeared down the tunnel.

Harry lay panting on the ground; he’d made a final, desperate attempt to grab Ron’s hand as soon as he’d realized what was happening. But the whole thing was over so quickly, he’d never had a chance.

“Damn!” Harry cursed, and got his feet.

Hermione looked up in horror, as the tree above their heads gave a loud groan and shook itself, awakening from the stasis Crookshanks had sent it into.

The tree limbs stretched for Harry, Ginny and Hermione, but only Ginny was able to jump out of the way, as Harry and Hermione were both smacked on the side by angry arms of the limbs.

“Oof.” Hermione flew backwards, only to be hit in the back from another flailing limb. With a strength that surprised Ginny, she managed to hang on to the next branch that came for her, and soon the tree had picked Hermione up and was swinging her around like a rag doll.

“Hermione!” Harry shouted. He felt on the ground for his glasses that had been knocked off when the Willow had hit him, but just as he found them, the branches found him. Soon, the Whomping Willow was tossing around both Hermione and Harry.

Ginny dodged and ducked flying tree limbs until she could get a safe distance away. She didn’t even stop to think, didn’t worry that she wouldn’t be able to perform the spell correctly. The words formed in her head before she even finished pulling out her wand.

“Immobilus!” She shouted, the spell slicing through the air like a sword towards the trunk of the tree. She felt the power shoot out of her and hit the tree with a smack that rendered it completely immobile. Harry and Hermione fell to the ground with dual thumps.

“Ow!” Hermione complained, while Harry groaned from the ground on the other side of the tree.

Ginny didn’t know whom to run to first, so she chose Hermione who was closest. “C’mon,” she said, helping the girl to sit up. “Get it together; we’ve got to go after Ron.”

“Ron,” Hermione whimpered. She struggled to her feet, one hand pressed against her ribs. “Do you think he’s all right?”

”Yes,” Ginny said grimly. She had to believe that. He was her brother, she could believe nothing less.

She propped Hermione against the trunk of the tree, and stepped lightly on the knot that Crookshanks had pushed with his paw, revealing a passageway underneath the tree and keeping the tree still just in case her spell ran out. She hurried over to Harry and helped him to his feet after finding his glasses and slipping them back on his face.

“Thanks, Fury,” he managed. “That was some spell.”

She grinned and brushed the leaves off his back. “Just a little something special from our favourite dark wizard, I guess.”

”Finally,” Harry said, grabbing her hand and leading her over to Hermione and the tunnel, “that git came in handy.”

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