Sneaking Out

Lexi couldn't sleep, and crawled out of bed, pulling on a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt. She slipped on her sneakers, not bothering with socks, and pulled back her bedheaded red hair in a ponytail. She grabbed her little flashlight and put it in her mouth as she climbed out of the window. She ran across the yard to the shed, and stole her fathers broomstick. She climbed on, and flew off in the darkness.

It didn't take long to reach her destination, The Burrow. They weren't far away, just too far away on foot. She flew up to Ginny's window, and tapped on it. She stared through the glass, trying to see inside the room, with no luck. She tapped again and again, finally going to knocking on the pane. She needed to wake Ginny up. She couldn't sleep, they were so close to sending Harry off to Hogwarts and she'd be home alone. She finally decided to whisper loudly through the window.

"Ginny!"

He raised his rifle, and aimed it at her. He met her frightened brown eyes and watched as her fear turned to resolve—a hint of the determination that she used to have. She nodded ever so slightly, as if she finally understood. Never looking away, never breaking that precious eye contact, he felt himself pull the trigger, heard the shot, and saw the blood begin to spread through her ratty black dress.
She collapsed. Dead.
A cheer rang out. They was free from terror. She was finally dead.
He reached into his belt, where he kept an extra pistol for safekeeping. No one seemed to notice as he raised it to his head.
The last thing he heard was a scream as he pulled the trigger.

Ginny bolted upright, breathing heavily. What a dream. Was it all at this age that children dreamed of death? It scared her, that was for sure. She was terrified out of her wits. Didn't muggles say that if you dreamed of death, you were sure to die soon after? And Ginny had dreamed of not one, but two. Her fingers clenched and unclenched the blanket, and she brushed a strand of damp, red hair from her face.

Suddenly, she heard a tap on her window. Ginny felt her heart leap into her throat, and she stuffed her fist into her mouth to muffle a scream. She jumped out of bed and scampered to the window to check what is was.

"Lexi! Merlin, don't do that! You scared me half to death."

She let Lexi in, opening the window wide enough for her friend to fly in without too much trouble.

"Sorry." Lexi flew in, and landed with ease in her friends room. She put the broom against the wall, and sighed, sitting on Ginny's bed. She flopped backward and turned her head and looked at her best friend. She knew that she was going through the same thing, with Ron going off to school as well. She groaned a little and sat upright again, her head leaning on her fists.

"The summer is half over, Gin." She looked outside, the dark sky dotted with stars. She hadn't even bothered to look before. It was really pretty. She sighed and looked back at Ginny. She looked scared out of her wits, and she felt horrible for scaring her. "Sorry I scared you." Lexi wondered how she'd scared her so much with just taps on her window.

"Harry is leaving soon. For Hogwarts."

Ginny smiled weakly and nodded acknowledgment at the statement to her friend. "It is," She agreed, looking up. Ginny grimaced. "It's alright. Bad dreams, but it's all good now." She wasn't going to let Lexi know exactly how much she had been scared, lest the younger Potter worry or do anything trivial like that.

Her smile turned sad, knowing what her friend was thinking. "As is Ron. Are you going to miss him?" She asked quietly. "I know I'll miss Ron, just like I missed Bill, Percy, Charlie, Fred and George. But after all your brothers left each year, you've kind of grown into it." She leaned back, remaining standing but resting her back on the wall. "But we only have one year left, haven't we? One year to Hogwarts. I wonder which house I'll be in."

"Bad dreams stink." She nodded in understanding, though Ginny did look to be a little more spooked then your average nightmare she thought nothing of it. She had other things on her mind as it was, and it was hard to keep track of what was going on in her head. "I didn't sleep at all."

"I guess it's nice having lots of brothers, you get used to it. But i've only got Harry, and I don't know what i'll do without him. Probably fall in the forest behind my house and get hurt. Lay there for hours screaming for help..." She took a moment to think about what she'd just said. "That was really morbid..." She shook it off, and thought about what house she'd be in.

"Probably Gryffindor, or maybe Ravenclaw. Besides, we both know you'll probably end up in Gryffindor, your entire family's been in it. My parents were in Gryffindor, so i'll probably be in there too. I really wouldn't mind Ravenclaw though." She thought for a moment. "Are your parents scared to send Ron off? My parents say that they're nervous that You Know Who could rise to power and take control of the school. I overheard them saying it one night when I was getting a midnight snack."

Ginny frowned, but was slightly touched. "Awwh, Lex, you couldn't sleep so you came here? I'm touched," She put a hand on her heart and awwh'ed. "I really am." And it was also sweet how Lexi loved her brother so much. Ginny was close to her siblings, yes, but she wasn't that close. She had been brought up not to cry, hadn't she? Having so many brothers taught her that at least.

Her eyebrows shot up. "You don't say," She said slowly, slightly spooked by her friend's gory imagination. "I can only say one thing to you about that- don't go into the forest, in that case."

"I'd like Gryffindor... but Ravenclaw isn't that bad either." She smiled in amusement. "Yes, but it's not a definite. Maybe I'll end up in Hufflepuff and break the family tradition!" She joked. Her expression darkened as Lexi mention You-Know-Who. "They are. Mum more than Dad. I don't think it's completely safe, but there are the professors, and Dumbledore's there..." She trailed off, thinking. "No, he wouldn't dare. He's too frightened of Dumbledore to dare do anything. And plus, the amount of Witches and Wizards there will outnumber his army, surely."

"You're right about that. My parents mentioned that too, I guess they're just worried that he's gained more followers then we have people to fight back. Besides, if he attacks the school imagine how scared our parents will be. They'll be sitting and waiting for some glimmer of hope... needing to know if our brothers will even come home..." She shivered at the thought of losing Harry. She teared up a little, and wiped the tears away quickly.

"I guess I just feel more... vulnerable without Harry. He protects me, y'know? He's always making sure i'm safe, and I don't mind it. I guess I just started relying on it too much, I don't want him to go." She hugged a pillow to her chest thinking about it. "I guess there's a small part of me that's scared too. Scared for myself and for him."

Ginny shook her head stubbornly, not daring to believe it. "No way. Not here, not with Dumbledore in charge. He's too afraid to try anything, no matter how many wizards he has on his side." She believed this just as firmly as she believed Ron and Harry and all her brothers would come home unscathed. They would, they had to.

"I do know," She nodded. "And I'm scared too. We all are. You have to be pretty heartless not to be scared." She smiled wryly. "But they're doing all they can. There is the resistance. If anyone can, they'll stop him. Do something about him." She waved her hands wildly. "Something. Anything." She sincerely hoped they would.

"I suppose you're right..." Lexi shrugged, she really wasn't sure what to think at the moment. Her brain was so muddled that she didn't even notice what time it was. She frowned a little when she saw light spilling into Ginny's room through the window. Her eyes widened as she realized something.

"Oh no... Dad and Harry fly early in the morning..." She chewed her nail in nervousness, as she looked out the window. They were going to freak over the missing broom, and soon afterwords they'd realize she was missing. There wasn't too much light, but she couldn't fly now, she'd be seen. She accidentally nibbled on her skin and winced. "Ouch."

(OOC: Thought i'd lead in to Harry now, hope you don't mind.)

Ginny followed Lexi's gaze to the window. It was indeed getting brighter as they spoke. She gave a great yawn and rubbed her eyes wearily, looking at her friend in concern. "And do they often ask you if you want to join- or possibly even check on you before you go?" Ginny realized that even if they didn't check on her, they'd still notice the missing broomstick either way. Her eyebrows furrowed as Lexi chewed on her skin. "Don't do that," She reprimanded gently, glancing out the window again, then back to Lexi.

"What do you suggest we do?" She asked quietly. "You don't take nighttime flights here, well, not that I can remember," She said smiling wryly.

"They don't ask me to join, Dad and Harry worry that i'll get hurt. Mom tries to convince them that i'm capable enough, but they're too protective. Harry even more because he caught me flying on Dad's broom once, he'll know I took it." She groaned a little, when she thought of something else. What if Ginny's parents caught Them? Or her brother? She was so dead if she got caught.

"We need some kind of plan... at least to hide me if someone comes into your room. They'll come here first, and I don't want to have to explain why i'm here. Imagine how sad Harry will be." She hugged the pillow tighter, and felt tears threatening to fall. She didn't want to get in trouble but she didn't want to have to explain herself.

"Maybe if we can tell them i'm not here I can floo home after they leave. They won't use the floo if they're looking for me, and I can just go to the closet I hide in to think and say i've been home the whole time..."

Beep beep beep.

Harry groaned and groggily sat up in his bed. As much as he wished he could sleep in, he knew that Dad looked forward to their morning flying. He looked forward to it too, it was the one time that James was guaranteed to spend time with him.

Getting up, he pulled on some clothes, nothing too fancy, and headed downstairs. He grabbed an apple before walking outside to get everything ready for when James was ready to go. Upon his arrival he noticed a broom was missing. Did he leave without me?

He immediatly knew something was wrong. His Dad would never skip out on him, even when he was sick, so Harry ran back inside the house, creeped up the stairs, and peeked inside his parents bedroom, happy to see James and Lily sleeping comfortably in their bed.

Then where is the other broom?

Closing the door quietly, he turned around and walked over to his sisters bedroom and looked inside. No sign of her. He sighed and walked back outside and grabbed the other broom, flying to the Weasley's. It was the only other place she would go.

After arriving, he swooped the broom down low next to Ginny Weasley's window, hoping someone wouldn't catch him and think he was perving on her. Unsuprisingly, he spotted his sister. Opening the window, he jumped in and sighed. "Lexi, what are you doing here? You know better then to steal Dads broom! You could have been hurt or worse, killed!"

Lexi saw was too deep in thought to notice someone coming towards the window until it was too late. She heard Harry's voice, yelling at her for stealing the broom. She looked up at him, his face looked both angry and worried. Her eyes dropped to the floor, she couldn't keep looking at him, it was upsetting her too much.

"I'm sorry..." Normally she'd retort with something, but she just couldn't. She hugged the pillow tighter, forcing herself not to cry. Not only was she upset about him leaving soon, but now he was mad at her. He'd caught her sneaking out, and stealing their dads broom. "I'm sorry... Take the broom back to Dad..."

Ginny pursed her lips as Harry flew through her window and began telling Lexi off. She felt bad for her friend, not hiding her soon enough and letting her get caught, but still said nothing until he'd finished his lecture. "I'm really flattered that the Potter children would use my bedroom as a meeting point," She said sarcastically. Ginny turned to pat Lexi on the back, hoping to comfort her best friend. "Be quiet," She hissed, turning to close the window. "Or we'll all get caught. Then there'll be no point at all in both of you returning with no one noticing because you'll already have walked right into them yourself! Mother is an early riser, thank Merlin that none of the boys nor dad can drag themselves out of bed this early."

"Harry, you can't fly back now- you'll be seen. I suggest that you go downstairs now and-" She stopped as she heard the bathroom tap went on, signaling her mother was using the bathroom and would be downstairs soon. Ginny looked at both Potters in concern. The last thing she wanted was for them to get in trouble.

Harry's face softened. "Don't cry Lexi. I'm sorry I yelled, I just don't want anything to happen to my little sister." Harry sat next to her and hugged her. He really did hate it when ever he made her upset. It made him feel like a horrible person. "Is there something else bothering you?" He asked curiously. Usualy she didn't get that upset when all he did was yell at her.

"Oh crap." He groaned. Harry honestly hadn't even thought about how he would get back to his house unnoticed. Although, he could tell the truth, that he just went to pick up Lexi when he noticed she was gone. But she would get in a load of trouble, and so would he for not telling someone first. And he didn't want that to happen. .