
viii. the red-haired angel
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"Why did he give us so much homework?" Ginny grumbled under her breath, stretching her arms. She had just come back from the library, doing the homework Slughorn had given them. She already had classes with both the Carrows but surprisingly, they didn't have to do any dark magic. They just discussed about Dark Magic and putting Muggles in the right place, but they weren't asked to cast dark magic which made her suspicious.
"Ah, damn it โ" Ginny was cut off by the sight of a bloody body on the floor as she turned the corner. Her eyes widened because of the blood coming from everywhere, but soon, Ginny snapped back to reality and ran to the girl who had fainted. "Hey, wake up!"
And Ginny turned the girl over, gasping when she saw that it was Jemina Nightingale. There were countless cuts and bruises on her face and all over her body. She remembered what Alecto Carrow said about Jemina. The Cruciatus Curse and a few other curses. Her hands trembled in anger at the thought of what they've done to this innocent girl.
"Shit." Ginny carried Jemina by hooking one arm under her legs and the other arm supporting her back. She looked back at the pool of blood and frowned, thinking about how much blood she lost. She started running in the direction of the Hospital Wing, but as soon as she arrived at the corner, she saw the Carrows were at the entrance, making Ginny's anger flare up. They really were making sure Jemina wouldn't get healed.
Ginny quickly turned back around, racking her mind of a place where she can heal Jemina. And it clicked in her mind. The Room of Requirement. Ginny was still holding Jemina tight in her arms as she ran, pleading with everything she had that Jemina would be fine. She didn't know what she'd do if Jemina died.
She walked back and forth in front of the Room of Requirement for three times, thinking of a place to help Jemina, and when the door opened, she went in hastily, placing the girl on one of the couches and fiddling with her wand, setting a patronus to Noah, Neville and Luna, hoping they'd get here as soon as possible.
Ginny couldn't help it now, her tears falling by how pained the brave warrior looked. Her breathing was getting faint and it was just hard for Ginny to see her like this... A fellow student like this... She held Jemina's bloody hand tight and wiped her tears away. Why did Jemina have to return? She should have just hidden with her family then she wouldn't be hurt like this.
Due to her focus on Jemina, she didn't notice how there was an old man and a girl coming in the portrait near them. It was only when the portrait swung open that Ginny saw there was a man there. Her eyes widened at how similar he looked to Dumbledore. At that moment, the doors to the Room of Requirement opened and Noah, Neville and Luna came in, out of breath. They ran to where Ginny was and their eyes widened at the sight of Jemina and the man who looked so much like Dumbledore.
Noah dropped to Jemina's side, his eyes filling with tears. "W-What โ"
"Let me heal her first," said Aberforth Dumbledore gruffly. He leaned down and let out a sigh. Surprisingly, none of them stopped him and maybe it was because he looked so much like Dumbledore that they naturally trusted him. His blue eyes softened at the sight of Jemina, looking so broken. Like the first time he met her.
"This kid." He whipped out his wand and muttered some spells under his breath, a yellow glow enveloped Jemina and they could see her wounds sealing up one by one and the blood was disappearing from her robes and the couch. She looked as if she had not gone through any pain.
Then, he looked at Ginny and gave his wand another wave, the blood disappearing from Ginny's clothes. "I'll go now. Take care of her. The next time this happens, the Boisterous Badger and I will come for you." He turned around then and went back to the portrait where a young girl was waiting. None of them could even utter a word in surprise and they could only watch him disappear through the portrait.
"W-What just happened?" Neville asked blankly when they left.
"Wasn't that Aberforth Dumbledore?" Luna's question made them all look to her in surprise. "My dad told me Dumbledore had a brother and he knows Deanna. You heard him say the Boisterous Badger."
"But what's more important now is what happened to Jemina." Ginny interjected, looking worriedly at the girl who looked peaceful now compared to how she looked a few minutes ago. "I think the Carrows did this to her."
"They did..." Noah's lip trembled as he tried to keep in his tears. He explained to them what happened in class and how the Carrows wanted them to cast the Killing Curse on the badgers. And of course, Jemina stood up for them. It angered all of them when they knew that it happened only in Jemina's class and not in the classes of the others. The Death Eaters wanted to punish Jemina, but they wouldn't let that happen again. It was their turn to protect Jemina... But the question was how?
"L-Let's bring Dumbledore's Army back." The whisper of Jemina made the other four jump in surprise and they looked at her, seeing that Jemina's eyes were slowly opening.
"Jem, you scared us!" Noah hugged her tight. "If Ginny didn't see you, we don't know what could have happened."
Jemina was about to sit up when Neville pushed her down gently. "Please, Jemina. You should rest for now. You've been through a lot in the past week."
"You're too brave for your own good, Jem." Luna let out a sigh in concern. "You know they'll take every excuse to hurt you, right?"
"But I'm fine!" Jemina grinned reassuringly, sitting up straight. "It was just โ"
"No, you weren't!" Ginny's sudden outburst cut her off, stunning all of them. The Gryffindor was glaring at Jemina who looked suddenly afraid, and she turned to the others for support, but they were simply looking away, none of them wanting to risk Ginny's anger. "Don't you know how broken you looked on the floor when they saw you? The Carrows were even waiting at the Hospital Wing so that you couldn't be healed! If that man didn't come, you would've died! And you say you were fine? It was just what? Just torture?"
"S-Sorry โ"
"And the first thing you say when you wake up is bring Dumbledore's Army back?" Ginny suddenly realized the things she said and saw how they were all looking at her with surprise except for Jemina who was looking down in guilt. Her cheeks became as red as her hair and she sighed before speaking once more. "I don't know why you came back or what you're planning to do, but you can't do this alone. We're Deanna and Harry's friends too. Let us help you, Jemina."
Ignoring the sudden jump of her heart when the redhead called her name, Jemina's head snapped up and her eyes widened when her green eyes met with Ginny's brown orbs. "Wait what?"
"Do you really think you can make an army with one person?" Neville immediately said, backing Ginny up. "Of course, you'll need help."
"You've been protecting Hogwarts well this week, Jemina." Luna smiled at her, patting her shoulder. "Now, it's time to protect Hogwarts with us."
"You promised to protect us, Jem. Let us protect you too." Noah said softly.
Jemina looked around at the four of them, seeing the determination and fire in their eyes. She wanted to say no. She didn't want what happened to her to happen to them. But by the stares in their eyes, Jemina knew she had no choice. She was fighting a losing battle. So, she just let out a sigh and nodded, making the four cheer and clap.
"Well, Commander Badger." Ginny said teasingly. Now that the tension had gone away, they were feeling more comfortable with each other. "We'll trust and follow you all the way. So, you should not have anything to fear and just let us support you. Eh, Jem?"
"I'll look forward to it then." Jemina grinned at all of them, her eyes lingering on a certain Gryffindor. And again, her heart jumped just as it did 5 years ago.
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