"Will you two just get over yourselves and fuck already?" asked Etna.

"Wh-WHAT?" shouted Ron and Hermione, stunned in place by the words. Ron promptly caught a banisher to the chest while Hermione stumbled through a protego to stop the one aimed at her. Ginny just laughed and laughed at that, while Harry sat in slack-jawed horror.

"And THAT is witty banter," shouted Etna, focusing on Hermione as Ron pulled himself to his feet.

"Glad someone else noticed that," said Ginny.

"Ron and Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Well, yeah. You remember the Yule Ball, right?" asked Ginny, watching as Ron joined the light show below.

"Unfortunately," said Harry, recalling the disaster of dating the Patil twins.

"Remember how Ron spent the entire time staring at Hermione?"

"Well, yeah, I do. Wait. You mean Ron was jealous?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Get over the unresolved sexual tension," continued Etna, "and make like the rabbits!"

Ginny snorted, as Etna smacked around Ron and Hermione.

"Why's she saying it, though?" asked Harry.

"Bunnies!" cackled Etna, a barrage of wind cutters tearing apart the pillar Hermione was hiding behind.

"Either to distract them, or she's sick of them not figuring it out."

"Hermione?" asked Harry. "Not figuring something out?"

"If it's in a book, I'd ask her," said Ginny. "If it's about herself or another person?" Ginny just laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Harry, turning back to the duel below.

Etna cackled again with sadistic glee, a spray of leaf green sparks leaping from her wand and causing brambles to grow on whatever they touched.

"So what about you?" asked Ginny.

"What about me?"

"What are you looking for in someone?"

"I dunno. I mean, I haven't thought about it."

"You seem pretty interested in Cho," said Ginny, staying focused on Ron and Hermione's progress.

"Yeah," said Harry, wondering why this conversation was even happening. "But she talks about Cedric a lot." He sighed. "It's like I'm supposed to replace him. I mean, yeah, it's nice not to be the Boy-Who-Lived, but now I'm supposed to be this really nice guy I watched die ."

"I- that sucks," said Ginny.

"Yeah. Then she gets edgy whenever she sees me talking with Hermione, or even Etna. Are we even together? Or are we just talking about Cedric? I don't even know if she knows at all."

"Sounds like it's a bad idea, then."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is," said Harry, watching Etna spread white smoke that lit all of Hermione's conjured birds on fire. "So, er, what are you looking for in someone?"

"Oh, you get to ask me that, just because I asked you?"

"I guess. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I mean, you just listened to me whine about Cho."

"No, it's alright," said Ginny, looking Harry in the eye. "Someone cute, humble, and who doesn't treat me like some pretty piece of porcelain on the mantle."

"I don't think anybody could treat you like a dish, after seeing you with Etna," said Harry. "I guess that's not me, though, huh?"

"Harry, sometimes you might just be a little too humble."

Harry smirked, then looked back down at the rout that was occurring.

"Your turn," said Ron, crawling up onto the observation platform, and collapsing onto a cushion that materialized just for his benefit. Hermione pulled herself up the stairs, and sat down on Ron's back without realizing it. She leaned against the back of the observation platform, eyes closed, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her robes.

"Should we tell her?" asked Ginny.

"I think she's asleep," said Harry, poking Hermione with his wand.

"Get down here, you two," said Etna. "I start cursing in ten seconds."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, jumped down the stairs, and started throwing hexes and jinxes a full five seconds before Etna said she would.

"Very good!" said Etna, batting aside spell after spell without a concern in the world. "Take the initiative! If you aren't forward, you'll never get anywhere!" She lead off with a massive twisting blob of orange light, with twisting pseudopods grappling the pillars, obsidian dripping like candle-wax where it touched. Harry snapped a quick cutter into his arm, sprinkling the blood and sending his wolf at the orange thing as Ginny sent a splash of water into.

The water turned a brilliant green, splashing to the ground and turning into a troupe of spiders. Ginny swore, then sent a wash of flames into neon spiders. They crackled and screamed, catching alight, but the flames turned purple as the orange thing itself tackled with Harry's blood wolf.

"Ginny, focus on Etna!" shouted Harry, sending a set of cutters into the floating orange blob as his blood wolf launched into it, it's jaws tearing off flecks of greying magical glop.

Ginny began sending a stream of muttered hexes and jinxes at Etna, which she continued to ignore and bat aside.

"You'll never get anywhere doing that," said Etna, sending a tongue of flame at Ginny. She dodged, still slinging minor spells constantly. "You're not being forward enough! You've got to batter down the walls!"

Ginny growled under her breath, and her next set of spells were all meant to maim.

"Much better!" said Etna, side stepping a reducter curse that shattered a pillar, and replying with her usual mix of random conjuration and curses. Ginny tried to weather it, throwing shields to be battered down, dodging as much as she could but with Harry she could barely keep up with Etna. Without him, it was hopeless. Harry, though, had asked her to keep Etna busy.

She'd pull it off. I mean, it's not like Etna was trying to kill her, right?

Right?

There was something like a screeching sound, but it went more through her head than her ears. She glanced over, the orange blob was turning grey and flaking apart, and she took a bludgeoner to the stomach for her lack of attention.

"Ginny!" shouted Harry, and he whipped his wand around, angry bolts and slashes of red shattering the pillars and walls around Etna, as she dodged and weaved through them, even taking a few hits for the hell of it, as she sent waves of cascading purple energy rippling back against him. Harry weaved through the magic, taking up station in front of Ginny.

"Are you alright," he asked, not looking back, and casting as strong a protego as he could.

"Yeah," said Ginny, pulling herself to her feet.

Harry gritted his teeth as a yellow spell hit his shield.

"I'll have none of that!" shouted Etna, twirling her wand in her finger tips.

"We're taking her down," said Harry. "Hard, fast, and meaner than hell itself."

Ginny nodded.

They both split, one right, one left, and began throwing bone-breakers, cutters, and anything else that was suitably painful and deadly at Etna. She ducked, weaved, dodged, conjured pillars of ice and earth, anything to stay out of their way. Then Harry's blood wolf leapt, knocking her to the floor.

"Genius bastard!" shouted Etna, her fist smashing apart the blood wolf's jaw, black shadows of blood leaking onto the floor, even as the wolf jumped at her again. She took one of Ginny's bone-breakers to her back and grunted with pain. She grabbed the animal by the scuff of its neck, and threw it into the way of one of Ginny's cutters, Etna's wand conjuring a wall of ice to slow Harry's barrage. She backed away, the ice exploding with a blasting hex from Harry, followed once more by his continuing barrage of cutters and bone-breakers.

"This is more like it!" shouted Etna, her wand spray flames indiscriminately as a supply of spells cut through the flames, barely aimed. Ginny sent spells through the barrage, as Etna tried her hand at wandless conjuration against Harry. The flames dispersed, and Etna's blood wolf leapt at Ginny, but a reflexive bone-breaker followed with a banisher dropped it to the floor. She followed up with cutters and curses, trying to trip up Etna as she fought with Harry. The fact that he could keep up with Etna, and keep up with her without saying a damn spell, was terrifying and wonderful to Ginny.

She knew, if she wanted to be with Harry, she'd have to keep up.

"Miss Weasley, if you would stay after class please?"

"Yes, Professor McGogonagall."

Ginny wondered what this was about as she took her time packing away her books. She waved to a few of the other students, saying she'd catch up with them later.

"Miss Weasley, the Headmaster has brought to my attention that you're also training with Mr. Potter and Miss de Malebolge?"

"Yes."

"What sort of training is she doing?"

"Dueling, Professor. Well, not so much dueling as outright fighting," said Ginny.

"Fighting?"

"She doesn't use anything that'll kill very often, but she expects us to send everything we've got at her. Bone-breakers, cutters, bludgeoners, everything. She's even got Harry casting everything silent."

"Silent spell-casting? Everything?" asked McGonagall, thinking she now needed to talk with Filius.

"Yeah," said Ginny, nodding. "Harry told me not to ask her to teach me, for some reason. We've both gone up against her, even after Hermione and Ron have worked on her, and she can still take the both of us." She thought a moment. "Which is why I've been thinking, and I suppose now is as good a time as any. A lot of Etna's casting is elemental conjuration and curses, but she rarely does transfiguration. Could I work on that with you?"

McGonagall paused a moment before she spoke.

"Do you expect to fight alongside Mr. Potter?"

"I do, Professor."

"Do you expect to kill alongside Mr. Potter?"

It was Ginny's turn to pause a moment before she spoke.

"If I have to."

"You're doing this to prove yourself to Mr. Potter, aren't you?"

"That's- That's part of it. The other part of it is- is-" Ginny paused and took a breath to screw her courage to the sticking place. "I don't want to be the scared little girl who needs to be rescued, Professor. I've been that once, and once was enough. Knowing that V- Voldemort is going after Harry, I want to be there for him. And in order to do that, I can't ever be that scared little girl again."

"You've been thinking about this," said McGonagall.

"Of course I have! You think I'd just jump into this like my brother would? Please. I owe Harry my life. I'm not going to waste it by acting like a meat shield."

"You think he'll attack Harry directly?"

"Etna says she knows the type. If V- Voldemort was so fixated on Harry last year, she thinks he'll try to kill Harry this year as well. I think her statement was 'let's face it, murdering the Boy-Who-Lived is the most dramatic way of returning, and all Dark Lords are-' err-"

"Are what?" asked McGonagall.

"Drama whores," Ginny quoted, sheepishly.

McGonagall took a breath as she considered Etna's words. She'd have to talk with Albus, as well.

"What makes you think you'll be dragged into this?"

"Professor, it's because You-Know-Who is You-Know-Who. We're friends with Harry. Why wouldn't he drag us into this? The more capable of defending ourselves we are, the better."

"I wish I could fault that logic, Ms. Weasley. I wish I could. I hate to use an argument of your own mother's, but I worry that you and Mr. Potter are to young for these horrors."

"We are, but that doesn't change the facts."

"Then I will see you in this classroom after dinner, Ms. Weasley."

"Harry?" asked Cho, catching Harry and Hermione as they left Potions.

"Yes?" asked Harry, nowhere near in the mood to deal with anyone.

"I- I wanted to talk with you."

Hermione took one look at Cho, and gave Harry a glance that said he was on his own, before heading off to the Great Hall for lunch. Ron was no where to be found, on the basis that he still couldn't look Hermione in the face, and barely survived being in class with her.

"Alright," said Harry, and followed her into one of the many disused classrooms that littered the castle. He wondered just what was going to happen now.

"I've been- I've been meaning to ask. Did Cedric mention me at all before he died?" stuttered Cho.

"No," said Harry. "It was all- it was all pretty sudden. There wasn't really any time." He stared at the rows of empty desks. "Listen, we should talk about something else."

"Something else?" asked Cho. "I thought that you, of all people, would understand. I need to talk about it. Surely you need to talk about it too! I mean, you saw it happen, didn't you?"

"Of course I bloody saw it happen! I was standing next to him when Voldemort himself said kill the spare . Are you happy now? Do you think I want to think about how Cedric died in front of me? How Voldemort used my own damn blood to resurrect himself? You don't think I've talked about it to people? I've talked to Ron, Hermione-"

"Oh, you'll talk to Hermione Granger!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. "But you won't talk to me?"

"Yes! How long have I known you? How long have I known Hermione? I don't even know what the hell we are, and we've only talked in the halls for two months, and you expect me to spill everything to you?"

Cho sobbed.

Harry realized what he'd done.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be blowing up at you. Cedric… Cedric was a great bloke, and it's utter shit that he's dead." Harry looked everywhere but Cho, at the unused chalk board at the front of the classroom, at how the desks were arranged in perfect rows, how there wasn't the slightest bit of dust anywhere, but he could still tell this classroom hasn't been used in years. "His last words, his last words were 'wands out, you reckon?' I didn't talk with him much before the tournament, but during the tournament, we watched out for each other."

Harry heard Cho sob louder, and then she stumbled forward and grabbed Harry, her face on Harry's shoulder as tears streamed down onto his robes. Unsure of what to do, he put his hands around her, and whispered "I'm sorry."

This only caused her to cry louder, much to his dismay.

He did not, however, leave. Nor did he make it to lunch.