Ginny Weasley slowly opened her eyes. She felt weak and cold, and her throat was completely parched. She was sprawled on a greenish tile floor in a dim room, almost like a cave. A wet floor. With a groan, she leveraged herself into a sitting position. Her red hair was sticking everywhere and she felt filthy and sweaty as if she had just run a marathon. Where was she? What had happened?

She tried to remember how she had gotten here, but no matter what she did, nothing came to her. Her mind flailed wildly for something, but there was nothing. She only had her name, and couldn’t remember anything before waking up in this strange place.

“You?! How are you alive?”

Ginny turned to look at a sallow faced boy, a teenager. He looked seventeen or eighteen and was looking at her in shock and hate with a black book clutched in his right hand.

Reflexively, Ginny activated her magical senses and in a massive wave of sensation, felt every little bit of magic around her. She could almost taste it on her tongue as the sensation felt oddly familiar to her.

“You…” She croaked, “Harry Potter was supposed to destroy you. Things are not in their proper place.”

Why had she said that? Who was Harry Potter?

“No… No! You should be dead.” The boy shouted as he raised a stick towards her, “Avada Kedavra!”

Ginny cocked her head to the side as a burst of green light shot out and hit her on the chest. The world stuttered as the light washed over her and a second later she woke up floating off of the ground. Her legs were dangling beneath her and she felt her magic within her churning and roiling. Huh, magic? She had magic? And there were golden little strings wrapped around her, she could feel them inside her, guiding her magic to move. Twitching and curling around her and making her move.

Ginny’s head was moved towards the boy who was sending bursts of light at Ginny. They were rather pretty, she wondered if she could do that too someday? Her body was doing things with the magic too, deflecting the blasts of light to the side with little flicks and slaps that caused the spells to deflect to the side even when they were ten feet or more away from her. Her right hand was moved by the golden strings and the black book flew out of the boy’s hand and into her own. Ginny’s head moved and her eyes inspected it for the moment.

“A new plan is needed,” Ginny’s mouth said, “The child of prophecy has returned. But first loose ends must be cleaned up. It is too early for your return, Lord Voldemort. Avada Kedavra.”

Ginny’s palm under the black book lit up with the emerald green light and washed over its surface. She watched the waves of it washing over its surface.

The boy screamed, his human voice shifting into an inhuman high pitched howl. Ginny wanted to look, to see what was happening, but the golden strings made her keep staring at the book. Finally the boy’s voice cut out and her body twitched and threw the black book onto the floor disdainfully.

The golden strings began to slowly disappear, and Ginny began to sink down and her feet touched the floor. The golden strings were almost gone and Ginny tried to stand, but her legs were too weak and she kept sinking until she was lying back on the floor.

The last golden string left her and she was sitting on the ground again, blinking hard and shaking her head as she finally regained control. What was that? Why had shining that green light on the book hurt that boy?

She remained on the floor cross legged and looked around in confusion. There was no sign of the boy, only the single black book left behind sitting on the wet floor. Her robes were soaked through with water and she shivered as she suddenly realized just how cold she was. She looked around to see that the room she was in was rather strange. There were dozens of large statues of snakes scattered around, and at the end of the area was a large lake or pool carved into the floor. On the other side of the pool was a large statue of a man’s head, with his hair and beard carved in flowing waves like snake coils.

Whoever made this place really must have liked snakes. There were some torches mounted on the wall that provided some dim light for her to see by, but she had to strain her eyes. She didn’t see a door or anything similar around her. But there must be a way out, right? She and that boy must have gotten in here somehow.

She remembered what she had done before the golden strings had appeared and blasted out her magical sense again to see what she could sense. A deluge of information entered her mind, but after a few seconds to process, she began to understand a bit. With a few wobbly attempts, she managed to stand on her weak and wobbly legs. She made her way over to the black book and picked it up. She didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like it was important. Especially to that boy if he ended up coming back for it, she shouldn’t just leave it behind.

She stumbled towards the odd gathering of magic she sensed in the opposite direction from the giant statue of the head. She felt some of her strength returning and despite stumbling and almost tripping several times on the slick floor she managed to keep on her feet as she walked through.

Eventually, she reached a large circular door. It was closed. She focused her magic senses on it and looked over every inch of it. Something about the action seemed oddly familiar. Like something she had done thousands of times before, almost instinctive to her.

She found the weak point in the magic web around the door. She put her finger over that point on the door and injected her magic into a point to pulse through the door.

The magic web around the door strained and bucked as Ginny kept adding more magic to the weak point she had found. A few seconds later it was finally too much and the whole thing failed as one.

She stared at the large door and it didn’t budge. She slumped slightly. Oh. She had broken it. While it was closed. She pulsed her magic senses out again, but couldn’t find any other doors out of this place. She could sense beyond the doors though, there seemed to be a network of pipes just outside. But the door was nearly five feet thick and made of solid stone. How was she supposed to go through?

She was shivering and cold, her teeth beginning to chatter as she stood there staring at the door wondering what she could possibly do. Was she just stuck here?

Her legs trembling, she let herself plop down onto a sitting position. At least this part of the green tile floor was drier than over on the other end. She sat like that for a few minutes, searching with her magic senses again for another door out of here. Nothing.

There was a sudden *Whoosh* of flames and Ginny startled and twisted around to look behind her. There was a flaming bird there flapping its wings in the center of the chamber. It had bright orange plumage with orange flames flickering up and down its body even as it stayed there. It was rather large, almost three feet tall if she counted its long flexible neck that seemed to add a half foot at least to its height. The temperature of the place immediately increased from chilly to slightly warm as the flaming bird remained hovering, flapping its wings and staring at Ginny.

She flinched as it suddenly cooed and darted towards her and landed only a few feet away. Her magic senses didn’t know what to make of it. It just felt like one big ball of flame to her no matter how hard she looked. Even if she could see with her eyes that it was shaped like a bird.

The bird hopped forward while bobbing its head until it was right next to her and pressed its body into her side. Oddly enough the flames running along its body didn’t burn her, instead making her feel better when they ran over her.

She cautiously reached out and patted the friendly bird on the head and it nudged upwards to press against her hand. It was very warm, like a roaring fireplace.

“Nice bird,” Ginny said as she kept petting its head, “How’d you get in here? Are you here to help?”

With the bird so close, she felt warm and her clothes were starting to dry under the heat.

The bird chirped again and bobbed its head up and down while staring at Ginny with intelligent eyes.

“Do you know the way out? I think I broke the door by accident. I don’t really know what’s going on,” Ginny admitted to her new friend.

The bird hopped back and Ginny felt briefly disappointed as its warmth went away. But then it circled around and walked onto her lap, her legs criss crossed on the floor from when she sat before. It circled a few times before settling down in place, flooding her whole body with warmth. Its flames washed over her as it lay there and she no longer felt so clammy or weak anymore.

Ginny cautiously reached down and lifted the bird slightly into her arms and hugged it to her chest. It briefly chirped, but didn’t protest the action. Ginny felt her clothes almost completely dry out by now, and she yawned widely as she held the passive bird to her chest. It was so warm, it was making her so sleepy…

She slowly leaned over and rested her head against the hard tile floor, her eyes fluttering closed despite the hard tile beneath her. She kept hugging the warm bird to her even as she drifted off to sleep, the last thing she saw, its fiery orange head and eye staring at her from only a few inches away.

— — —

Ginny yelped as she woke up to the sound of flame all around her. She hugged her new friend tightly to her, comforted that it was still there as the dingy green tile room shifted into a cluttered office filled with all sorts of strange objects. There was an old man with a long white beard standing there with a piercing gaze staring at her.

She quickly scrambled to her feet and took a step back, her new friend still held tightly in her arms.

“Ah, Ms. Weasley. I’m glad Fawkes found you in time. We were all rather worried about you,” the old man said kindly. Ginny looked down at the bird who was still staring at her.

“Fawkes? Is that your name?” She whispered. The bird, Fawkes chirped back in a way that Ginny would like to think was approvingly.

The old man chuckled, “Taking a liking to him, I see? Rather amazing species, Phoenixes are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one allowing themselves to be manhandled like that before though. Perhaps you should put him down for now?”

“He doesn’t seem to mind,” Ginny said, slightly offended. Fawkes didn’t seem to mind how she was holding him, who was this old man to tell her differently?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The phoenix in her arms squirmed slightly in her grip and she realized that Fawkes was looking at her again with that piercing look of his.

“Oh,” She said in disappointment, “Okay. I’ll put you down.”

She leaned over and gently placed Fawkes at her feet. The bird didn’t fly away, but just remained sitting there and flared its wings out slightly and twisted his head around to start preening and removing some of his old feathers. Ginny still got some warmth on her legs from Fawkes being so nearby, but she already missed the feeling of comforting warmth running through her core.

“Hm. It seems he has quite the fondness for you as well, Ms. Weasley,” the old man said, “How interesting. Now, how about we bring your parents in? They’ve been rather worried about you as we waited for Fawkes to retrieve you.”

“Uhm. Okay,” Ginny said, not really listening and too distracted from watching Fawkes preening himself at her feet.

A pair of doors opened behind her and Ginny turned to see two adults standing there. A rather portly woman and a man, both with red hair. Ginny reached up to her head and pulled a section of her long hair in front of her and stared at it and held it up to her eyes. She looked up at the hair of the two people quickly entering the room to compare. The color did look rather similar…

“Oh, Ginny. We were so worried! Are you okay, what happened…” The woman said as she rushed forward. Ginny took a step back and glanced at the red headed man who was frowning and peering closely at her. The woman stopped her charge and looked in confusion between Ginny and the old man with the long beard.

“Sorry, Uhm. I can’t seem to remember,” Ginny tried to explain to the woman as no one spoke, “Do I know you?”

Everyone froze, including the old man. The woman looked shocked and then glared at Dumbledore after a second.

The woman looked back at Ginny.

“I’m your mother, dear,” She said softly, “Don’t you remember?”

Ginny looked at her closely, even flaring her magic sense to inspect the woman. But there was nothing.

“Er, no. Sorry.”

The red haired man stepped forward, “What about me? I’m your father.”

She inspected him too for a few moments before shaking her head. He frowned and looked sad, but was less obviously emotional as the woman was.

“What do you last remember?” The old man asked, “Describe everything you can.”

“Enough of this!” The red haired woman shouted, “We should be taking her to a mind healer this instant! I won’t have any delays in getting my little girl back, Dumbledore. Come along, Arthur, Ginny.”

She took another step towards Ginny and she took another step back and the woman flinched and stopped in response.

Ginny looked at the old man, Dumbledore. He seemed to be in charge.

“Can I take Fawkes with me?” She asked, “If he wants to,” She added as she looked down at the preening phoenix.

Fawkes stopped preening himself and seemed to think about it for a second before jumping up and flapping a few times to fly towards her. The woman screamed as Ginny held out her arm, sensing Fawkes' intent, and caught him. She cradled him to her chest again and he cooed as he curled into a ball and seemed to relax.

“Well, by Merlin…” The red haired man, Arthur said in wonder.

Ginny looked around the room, feeling much better now that she had Fawke’s toasty form in her arms again.

“Where were we going again?” Ginny asked to break the silence, “Someone to help me get my memories back?”

Everyone blinked and the red haired man looked to Dumbledore. “Headmaster? Should we take the floo to St. Mungo’s?”

The old man seemed to have recovered from his shock and nodded, “Indeed… indeed. Just give me a few moments.”

The man walked over to an empty fireplace and took a stick out of his robes. He said some strange words that Ginny didn’t understand and then suddenly the thing was lit up in green flames.

“There,” Dumbledore said, “She should be able to just walk through without knowing how to use the floo powder. To St. Mungo’s.”

Arthur nodded firmly and walked into the green flames and disappeared after a second.

He gestured towards the fireplace and looked expectantly at Ginny. She shrunk back and looked down at her arms.

“Is it safe, Fawkes? Should I walk into the flames?”

He was a bird made of flames, she thought he might know.

Fawkes lifted his head and bobbed his head in what she thought might be a yes.

“Okay, if you say so…”

She walked forward after only a few seconds of pause, stepped through and suddenly she was somewhere else. She stumbled a bit exiting the fireplace into a bright hospital. She almost tripped, but the red haired man caught her and stopped her from falling. Fawkes squawked and shifted and Ginny adjusted her grip on him. She looked up to the concerned look of the red haired man.

“Thanks, Arthur,” She said, “That would have been rather mean of me to drop Fawkes on the floor if I fell.”

The man looked rather sad for a moment before nodding, “They’ll get you fixed right up, Ginny. You’ll have all your memories back in no time.”

“Okay.”

She looked around the place curiously as the old man Dumbledore and the woman came through the fireplace after them. To their right was an assortment of people waiting in chairs. There was a woman nursing what looked like a rather swollen bite on her hand. The man across from her had a swollen bright purple nose and was frequently sneezing into a large white handkerchief he held on his other hand. A final man was wearing a heavy boot on his right foot. As he sat there in the chair it hopped around, bouncing off rapidly as soon as it touched the ground.

Ginny focused on the boot with her magic sense. Dumbledore and the two red haired adults were discussing something with the woman in the nurse’s uniform at the counter. They were trying to get her a ‘mind healer’ as soon as possible, but it seems all of them were busy at the moment. Dumbledore was saying how influential he was and a member of the government or something and that the case was urgent.

All the patients were watching the commotion and also looking at Ginny with Fawkes cradled in her arms. She walked forward towards the man with the bouncing boot, still inspecting it with her magic sense. This puzzle was way easier than the door to that strange green room was. She stopped just in front of the man, all of the patients nearby staring at her.

“I can help you get off that boot, I think,” Ginny said to the confused man, “Can you keep it still for a second?”

The man looked confused, but nodded and straightened his leg out so his foot was raised off of the floor. Ginny leaned down, squatting a bit so she wouldn’t drop Fawkes as she raised her fingers. She poked the weak point in the boot’s enchantment and injected her magic. After only a second she saw the enchantment twist and shatter before disappearing into thin air.

Ginny straightened up again and shifted her grip on Fawkes slightly.

“There you go,” She said, “I think it worked.”

The man cautiously lowered the boot to the ground and it touched the floor without bouncing back up. His eyes widened and he quickly curled down and pulled off the boot from his foot, revealing the brown sock beneath. He looked back up at her.

“How’d ya do that?” He asked in wonder, “Did ya even use a wand?”

“Wand?” Ginny asked, “What’s that?”

“Ginny?” She turned and saw that the red haired woman was looking over at her, “Come along, we’re going to the mind healers now.”

“Okay,” She replied

She turned back to the man with the boot, “Bye. I’ve got to go get treated now.”

“See ya, Lass. Thanks for tha’ help.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ginny turned around and walked towards where the three adults were now staring at her.

“What were you doing over there, Ginny?” the woman asked gently.

“I was helping that man take off his boot,” Ginny replied, “He seemed to be having some trouble with it.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you, Ginny… Time to go now.”

Ginny followed the adults to a bright room filled with all sorts of enchanted objects. There was a woman in bright white robes standing inside who cleared her throat as Ginny wandered about to inspect some of them closer.

“Headmaster Dumbledore. We can not have any animals here during our treatment.”

“They seem to have grown rather attached to one another,” Dumbledore countered, “Perhaps you could make an exception? Fawkes is rather well behaved.”

Ginny looked at the woman in the white robes, “You won’t take Fawkes away, will you? He’s so calm I think he’s almost asleep, I don’t want to upset him…”

The woman met Ginny’s eyes and then her expression softened. She let out a sigh.

“Fine,” She said, “The phoenix can stay. But if he causes trouble you will remove him at once headmaster. Is that understood?”

“Crystal.”

Yay, she could stay with Fawkes a little longer! Ginny was directed to lay down on an angled table. She let go of Fawkes, leaving him to rest on top of her belly as her arms were at her sides. His eyes were closed, him seeming to have drifted off to sleep as she carried him around.

“Alright, Ms. Weasley. Just get comfortable,” The woman said, “I’m going to be your mind healer for today. This may feel a bit strange, but I’ll be casting a series of spells on you. Just let me know if you start remembering anything new or if something feels strange. Can you do that?”

“Okay. What are spells? Are they the lights people make with their magic? There was a boy that hit me with a bright green one. That was after I first woke up…”

The woman paused, “Green, you say? Let’s look into that first.”

The woman’s stick glowed with a bright white light on its end and Ginny’s mind suddenly felt odd. She kept running over her recent memories over and over, rewinding and focusing at certain points. It must be the woman’s magic doing it. Oddly enough the woman kept skipping over the parts with the golden strings in them. Ginny wondered why that was?

“Fascinating…” The woman muttered in shock, “By Merlin, the killing curse… But maybe not, there are other green charms that it could have been. Clearly the girl's alive. No, no. Must be a mistake, somebody altered another charm to look like a killing curse. But why...”

Dumbledore and the red haired adults standing to the side stiffened and glanced at each other. “The killing curse?” The red haired woman said, “She got hit with… with…”

The mind healer’s stick stopped glowing and she turned to the observers, “Yes. It seems so, her memories are unaltered, although there are large pieces missing. The person who cast the curse seems to have fled for some reason. If you return to this greenish chamber she woke up in then perhaps there will be more clues on the culprit. One of you should alert the Aurors so they can track down the culprit before they make good on their escape.”

The adults looked at each other for a few moments. Dumbledore looked torn with hesitation before nodding to Arthur and the still unnamed red haired woman.

“I will do so,” He said, “You two stay here and inform me if she remembers anything more.”

The mind healer turned back to Ginny and her wand lit up with the white light again.

“Now that we’ve looked through your recent memories, let’s try to bring back what was erased…”

— — —

Two hours later, three more mind healers had arrived to work on Ginny. Fawkes had sadly left after the second mind healer had come. Ginny had hugged him and said goodbye, and then he had hopped into the corner of the room and burst into flames and disappeared. That was probably how he had gotten in and out of that chamber she had woken up the first time. Ginny hoped that she would get to see Fawkes again.

Despite their best efforts, none of the mind healers could restore any of her memories. The red haired woman, Molly Weasley she had learned, had grown quite upset after the first fifteen minutes and been forced to leave by the mind healers. Arthur remained behind but he looked rather sad as he saw that she still didn’t recognize him despite how much the mind healers had been focusing on her.

After four hours, Arthur was looking rather ragged, and the ‘Ministry’ had started getting involved. One of the ‘Unspeakables’ had come to see her and try to help her too. Apparently they were part of the government and very good at mind magic since they had to keep secrets all the time. But even they couldn’t restore her memory past when she first woke up in the chamber. The Chamber of Secrets Arthur told her.

Eventually, it had been so long that Ginny began to become sleepy again. The healers found her a nice comfy bed in the hospital and when her head hit the pillow she quickly started to drift off to sleep, Arthur hovering over her and looking worried.

“Good night, Dad,” She muttered as her eyes fluttered closed and her thoughts starting growing fuzzy.

His stance softened even as his shadow still fell on her as he loomed above her, “Good night Ginny. Sweet dreams.”

Then she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of red skies and hulking demons.