Note from the Author: Finally I get to write the story that has been playing around in my head for some time. (I had another fan fic to finish before I could completely surrender my time to this one. Find them at , writer name: "Mie779" :-) I'm a BIG fan of Harry Potter and read a lot of fan fiction. Hope you all will enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it. There will be some more chapters, don't know how many, as I don't know how much the story would progress. But I promise you there will be more:-)

Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do not own the wonderful characters in this story; wish I did. They all belong to the always-creative J. K. Rowling. I just wish to borrow them a bit, to create my own story line.

So just read on and enjoy…

PS: the story has just under gone some minor changes, I've found a new beta reader who have beta read the entire story (the last two chapters had not been beta read). Thanks to daslam14 for the great work.

CHAPTER 1: STOLEN FLOWER

The great doors to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry burst open and a large group of young adults ran out into the green fields that surrounded the school. They all headed for the same destination, Hogsmeade, and they all had one thing in mind: school was over, no more homework, no more exams. It was the seventh year students who had just finished their last exams and had a whole day to celebrate in the little village near their school, before the feast the next day.

A small group of girls headed for the Three Broomsticks; they found a vacant table and ordered their drinks. They all chattered about the great feeling it was not having any more homework. Among the girls was a redheaded girl, who didn't say much; she had her mind on what was going to happen tomorrow and who would be at the party.

"Hey Ginny, what do you want to do when you get home?" Susan asked the redheaded girl sitting next to her. But Ginny was far away in her thoughts and didn't hear the question. Susan poked Ginny's side, while the other girls giggled a little.

"Oh sorry Su, I didn't hear what you said," Ginny mumbled and went pink in the face. One of the other girls giggled again and exclaimed: "Wonder who you are thinking of, girl? Who could it be, I wonder? Could it be a certain young man whose name is Harry Potter?"

This made Ginny's face even redder, even though she knew that it was well known among her friends that she sort of fancied that particular person. But she was also aware of the fact that in the past year she and Harry had kept their relationship low key because they had both decided that having an intimate relationship when living so far apart would never work. As so she had now spent an entire year trying hard to concentrate on her schoolwork and also thinking about how wonderful it would be when they could finally be together.

Harry had finished his last year at Hogwarts last summer, and she still had had one year to go. It had been that summer when he had finally seen her as something else than just his best mate's baby sister. But it had also been that summer when he'd had to face the most difficult task in all his life, facing Voldemort for the last fight, which came to be a huge fight that had almost cost him his life. It was her love for him that had helped him to come through the summer and to deal with his tumult of emotions after the battle had ended. She had been patient with him, and understood that he had been through some difficult times. Their love for one another had blossomed that summer, but as for now they where "only" very good friends, who happened to be in love with one another. Some months after she had started her last year, Harry had gotten a contract with the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team as the Seeker. This had thrilled her brother Ron greatly, as that particular team was his favourite Quidditch team. Now that Voldemort was dead, Harry had not seen the point in starting a career as an Auror.

"Oh shut up, will you, I was only thinking of tomorrow, I can't wait to see my family again," Ginny said with a half smile, still blushing slightly.

"Come on, Gin, you can't hide from us that you also thought about Harry, we all know that you're in love with him and you can't wait to get home to be with him. We have seen all the owls that you get from him," Susan told her, with a smile in her voice.

"Alright, I was thinking about Harry, do you mind?" Ginny asked with a slight edge in her voice, but she could not disguise the happy note in her voice when she spoke his name. She was desperate to be with him, the last year had not been easy on that point. She looked at her friends around the table; she knew that they only meant the best for her, but she still felt like she needed some air, so she said, "I think I'll just go out for awhile, I need some fresh air. Don't wait for me, I'll find my way home." They all smiled at her, and knew that she needed time on her own, so they bid her farewell.

Ginny walked out the door, but failed to notice the three young men watching her from the bar. They were two rather chubby guys and a skinny man with almost white hair. He patted the two other guys' backs and said: "Come on, guys, I think we have a date with that beautiful 'Weasel' out there." The two other men laughed and gulped down the last of their drinks; they had been drinking most of the afternoon and by now they where rather drunk, but their minds were made up about that pretty little thing that had just walked out of the Three Broomsticks. It was payback time.

It was late afternoon and the heat of a long summer day was now a little cooler, yet it was still nice and warm. Ginny enjoyed the afternoon, and walked down the street thinking about Harry, and she just couldn't wait to be with him tomorrow. Yes, she did miss her family but it was always Harry she mostly thought of. She knew deep in her heart that they where meant for each other, they had been through so much in the past seven years.

Ginny was still deep in thoughts when she turned down a small ally. She wanted to take a shortcut in order to get home a little faster, because she could see that dinner time would soon be around. She never heard them coming. They grasped her from behind and put a hand over her mouth, muffling her attempt to call for help. They quickly put a hood over her head and dragged her further into the small ally.

"Come here, you bitch. We want to have a little fun with you, Carrot." A snake-like voice hissed in her ear, the sound of that voice made her blood freeze cold. She knew that voice, and just as she had realized who they where, they started groping her body, pulling her shirt open, making the buttons fall off. Two strong arms were holding her arms behind her back and one hand was firmly put over her mouth, she could not move. They soon had stripped off her pants, and now she was fully exposed to their rough hands.

Ginny tried desperately to get out of there, she could only imagine what they had in mind and she knew that they where going to take something so precious away from her, something that she had been keeping for a very special person.

"Please don't do this to me. Let go of me you bastards, please…" but her sobs were drowned in a series of evil laughter.

Please let them not take my virginity, please not this way, this is not the way this was supposed to happened.

But even before she had finished thinking this they had her in a vice-like grip and were now taking turns in violating her in such a gruesome way that she had a hard time in keeping her mind clear.

Ginny soon found herself slipping into a hazed grey cloud that muffled their vile voices and laughs. She let herself slip away into the cloud, not wanting to be there, she just wanted to get away from everything that was happening. The last thing she remembered was a dreadful voice that let out a horrible laugh, saying: "Now they will know that your lot does not mess around with us, we don't put up with anybody telling us what to do. Come on, guys, let's get away from here, lets go celebrate victory."

In her dazed mind Ginny hardly recognized that they had left her, she only felt numbness in her body that didn't seem to fade away. She vaguely felt that her clothes where thrown in her face and heard their running steps fade away. Ginny crawled into a corner behind a trashcan, clutching her clothes in her arms. Silent sobs erupted from her wounded mouth; she tasted the blood running from a cut in her lips, but didn't attempt to wipe it away. She had no idea of how long it had been, and what time it was, but neither did she care; she only crawled inside of herself, shielding herself from the world around her. As dusk came, she had let herself get completely absorbed by the grey cloud and she closed the cruel and evil world out.

"Fang, would yeh just get back 'ere, yeh stupid dog. Fang! Get back right now," roared Hagrid and stomped after his dog that had run of into a small ally. Hagrid had been walking with his dog in Hogsmeade and was now making his way home. But the stupid animal would always run off in a wild chase after a rat or what ever small critter that would come its way. Hagrid ran after the dog into the ally, when he found Fang. The dog was sniffing at something behind a trashcan, a small whimper came from the dog and he looked back at his master.

"Wha' did yeh find, boy, another rat?" Hagrid asked his dog and walked up to the animal. But as he neared the dog, he saw a limp body lying curled up in the dirt. Hagrid let out a gasp when he saw the fierce red hair that lay sprawled around the pale face, there was only one person he knew who had such a hair: Ginny Weasley. He quickly took her robes, which where lying nearby, and wrapped them around Ginny's lifeless body. Then he ran out on the main street, and headed towards the school.

When Hagrid came to the school, he ran up the steps to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey. She let out a small gasp when she saw the young girl in Hagrid's arms, but in no time she had Ginny put in a bed, and she started to attend to Ginny's cuts and bruises.

"You better go and find Dumbledore," Madam Pomfrey said to Hagrid, and then she bent over Ginny's body again. Hagrid walked quickly out the door and headed for Dumbledore's office. His head was spinning with rage: who could be so heartless to do such a cruel thing?

When Dumbledore came to the hospital wing and had heard what happened to young Ginny, he immediately let an owl fly to her family, telling them that they had to come to Hogwarts tonight.

Arthur and Molly Weasley were just about to turn in for the night when they heard the owl. When they read the hastily scribbled message their expression turned into horror. The note did not go into details; only letting them know that their youngest child and only girl had been attacked and that they were to come to Hogwarts right away. They got ready for the trip, but they still had to let their other children know. Ginny's brothers were all out of the house and some of them would go straight to Hogwarts. They didn't have much time so they decided to leave a note, just in case the children went to the Burrow before going to Hogwarts, otherwise they would have to be told when they all arrived.

The next morning seemed so bright and clear when Harry woke up. This was the day he had been anticipating for so long; today was Ginny's last day at Hogwarts and he would see her again. They had been apart for almost four months. He walked out in the kitchen where he met Ron, who stood with his head in the fridge in search for something edible.

"Bugger! You know what, Harry, I think we need to do a little shopping when we get back, we don't have anything to eat," exclaimed Ron, slamming the fridge door shut and turning to look at his roommate. They had bought a small apartment when they had finished at Hogwarts. Living as bachelors often do, they seldom had any real food, which nagged Ron's mother greatly. She would often come over to their apartment bringing food, just as the caring mother she was.

"Well, I guess we'll grab some on the way, we can't go to the Burrow, otherwise we'll be late," Harry said and looked at the clock.

The two friends hurried to get ready and got out the door; they ran down the street to the nearest Deli and brought some breakfast. Then they walked into a back ally and Apparated to the little wizardry town Hogsmeade. They walked up to Hogwarts. Their spirits where high and they both looked forward to seeing their old school again, but Harry surely missed Ginny, and she was always there in his mind.

When they got into the Entrance Hall Harry scanned the large room to see if she was there, but as far as he could see there was no sight of her.

"Who are you searching for mate?" Ron asked with a lopsided grin, and slapped his friend's back; well aware of whom Harry was searching for. He was also looking forward to seeing his baby sister again as it had been a couple of months since he had last seen her.

"Well, you know…eh, well, no one really," Harry stuttered trying to hide his huge grin. Ron just laughed at him and said: "She might be at Gryffindor House." They started walking up the first stairs when they met Professor McGonagall; her face broke into a smile when she saw the two friends, and she greeted them: "It's so nice to see both of you here again and….", but then a sign of sadness fell across her face. Harry and Ron didn't see it though and they both happily greeted her back and took her hand. When she saw their happy faces, she knew that they had not been told what had happened with Ginny.

"Oh holy Merlin, you haven't heard," McGonagall whispered.

"We haven't heard what?" asked Harry, and looked at his former teacher with worried eyes.

"Please, come in here where we can talk a bit more privately," her voice was uneven and she seemed really troubled about something. What could have happened?

They followed her into a classroom, and when the door was closed she turned to the two young men, and said, "I don't know where to start… yesterday Ginny was attacked… when she was walking home from Hogsmeade. She is in the hospital wing right now… I don't think she has woken up…"

"WHAT happened to Ginny?" Harry almost yelled and looked at her. Seeing her sad expression, he knew that it had to be something terrible and he only had one thought in mind and that was to be by her side. He began running before either Ron or McGonagall had a chance to stop him. When Harry reached the hospital wing, he almost collided with Dumbledore who was walking out the door. Dumbledore tried to stop the young man, but Harry was not that easy to stop. He burst into the hospital wing, and when he saw Ginny's bed he rushed over to her side, not even noticing the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione who had come earlier than the two boys.

With a breaking heart he looked at his Angel, who now lay silently in her bed. Her skin was white and pale, her breathing seemed uneven and she was unconscious. Silent sobs came from his throat as he gently took her hand in his and whispered, "Ginny, my Angel, what happened to you? Please open your eyes, please look at me, I love you… I love you… Please wake up… Please!" He searched her face for any sign of her hearing him, but she still lay as still as if she was dead. Harry didn't know what to do with himself, he had a desperate need to just hold her and protect her, but he also wanted to hurt whoever had done this to her.

The Weasley family was also in shock and no one really knew what to do next; Mrs. Weasley was still silently crying on her husband's shoulder.

"Dad, what happened to her?" Ron asked with a weak voice. He looked at his father with tear filled eyes; Ron had put a comforting arm around Hermione who tried really hard not to cry. He needed to know what had happened to his sister. But as his father tried to speak his voice seemed to fail him and he only shook his head helplessly.

Dumbledore saw this and knew that the two newcomers needed to know, so he walked over to Harry and gently put his hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, could you please come with me and Ron, I'll tell you what happened." Dumbledore said and gently pulled the young men away from the bed. He didn't see the need to tell the whole thing again with the rest of the family listening. They went into Madame Pomfrey's office and he bid them to sit down. Harry's insides were in great tumult; he didn't know what to be prepared for.

"There is no easy way to say this, but I'll try and be as gentle as I can. Ginny was attacked yesterday in Hogsmeade; it was Hagrid who found her. There is not much to tell, since she has not been awake to tell us anything. But Madame Pomfrey is sure that Ginny has been…" Dumbledore halted a little and took a deep breath and then he continued: "… that Ginny has been raped."

"WHAT! How can you be sure about that, if she has not been awake?" cried Ron and rose with so much force that he knocked over the chair he had occupied. Harry only sat still, the word still echoed in his head. Raped! How could such a thing happen? He started to feel slightly dizzy and nauseous, but he had only one thing in mind, that was to be by her side, he wanted to be there for her.

"Madame Pomfrey told me that all the physical signs are there, so there is no doubt. I'm so sorry, I know it is hard to understand that someone could do such a cruel thing, but we have called the Ministry of Magic and they are sending some people here today," Dumbledore explained with pain in his voice. Harry looked over at his friend, and saw him slamming his fist into the wall and muttering a long line of curses. Then he turned and looked at Harry, he saw the grief and pain in his friend's eyes and knew that this was just as difficult for Harry. He was in love. Ron had accepted that. At first he had not liked the idea that his best friend and baby sister were becoming involved, but as time passed by, he had realized that they loved one another; just like he had finally realized he loved Hermione.

Harry stood up and walked over to his friend; they hugged each other and tried to comfort one another, even though it seemed so difficult. They walked out to the rest of the Weasleys and when Mrs. Weasley saw their grief filled eyes she gave them both a big hug, and whispered in Harry's ear, "I'm so sorry. I know this is hard for you too; you love her just as much as we do. I know it's hard but I think the only thing we can do is to be strong for her. We all have to." Harry could hear the pain and suffering in her voice, she could not hide that she was in great pain also. Her words were comforting but it did little to ease the pain that had built up inside of Harry. He walked over to Ginny and knelt by the bed taking her hand and gently kissing it.

"I'll be here for you, please wake up, Angel," Harry whispered with his lips still on her hand.

After a while Dumbledore excused himself, he needed to attend to the feast, but told them all that he would make sure that they could stay at the school until Ginny got better. They all knew that the Headmaster had a lot of things to do this day, so they all understood. But they had no need to see anybody right now; they only wanted to sit by Ginny's side.

In the afternoon the people from the Ministry of Magic came, and they talked with Dumbledore and Hagrid. Since Ginny hadn't woken up they could not question her yet, so they went to the crime scene in Hogsmeade, to do further investigations there.

Ginny's two best friends, Susan and Natasha had come to visit shortly before the feast, they where both in great shock at what had happened to their friend. It was hard for them to be really happy about what was going to happen later on, but Molly Weasley tried the best she could to comfort them, telling them that they needed to be down at the feast for Ginny's sake. Molly tried real hard to be strong, even though she felt really weak and powerless at the moment.

As the day turned into night, there had been no changes in Ginny's condition. The Weasley family, Hermione and Harry had not left her side; but now they all felt the need for sleep come upon them. Madame Pomfrey had made a couple of rooms ready for them to sleep in. But it took a while before any of them made their way to bed. When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had sent all their sons to bed, Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry. He was still sitting beside Ginny on a chair, but his head rested on her bed close to her hand. Mrs. Weasley walked over to him, but when she saw that he had fallen asleep she didn't want to disturb him, so she just lightly patted his back, and whispered goodnight. Then she went with her husband to their room.

It was late in the night when Ginny slowly opened her eyes. First, she couldn't figure out where she was, but after a while she recognized that she was in the Hospital Wing. She shifted slightly, but winced in pain, her body felt like the Knight Bus had hit her. Ginny looked around and saw that Harry was sleeping at her bedside. His hand was lightly wrapped around hers, and she couldn't help smiling a little at this small sign of affection. She gently reached her other hand over, and lightly touched his hair.

Harry woke up with a start and immediately searched her face. When he saw her open eyes, his face lit up in a smile.

"Hey you. You gave us all quite a scare you know. How are you, do you need anything, I can go get some water or maybe…" Harry kept rambling until Ginny put her finger over his mouth, telling him to be quiet.

"No, I don't need anything. I'm just glad you're here," answered Ginny and gave him a weak smile. She flinched a little at that, she reached for her lip and felt a small cut. I wonder where I got that? Why am I in the Hospital Wing anyway? Grey clouds were swirling in her mind clouding her memory.

Harry saw her puzzlement and wondered if she remembered anything at all. He was a bit uneasy about how to ask her. But when she looked at him with question-filled eyes he gently asked: "Ginny, do you remember what happened?"

At first she just looked like she tried real hard to remember anything. Then she just shook her head. There was a sad look in her face, but Harry just figured that the reason for that might be that she didn't remember anything. He tried to find a gentle way to break the bad news, and debated if he was to wait until the morning when Madam Pomfrey would be there.

"Would you like me to tell you what happened, or maybe Madam Pomfrey could tell you in the morning?" asked Harry carefully, he saw her confusion, and gave her some time to think.

"I really don't know what I want, I guess you could try to tell me, and then we'll see if I can make any sense of it," answered Ginny after some time, and looked away. Harry breathed in deep and tried to calm his nerves, this was not going to be easy and he feared her reaction.

"Yesterday you were in Hogsmeade with your friends, and you decided to walk home on your own. Do you remember that?" asked Harry and tried to catch her eyes but she only nodded and kept looking away. Then Harry continued: "Then… Then you were attacked in an ally and the violators… they… they raped you." The last words were only a mere whisper, and Harry looked down at their hands. He felt her shiver slightly but she said nothing.

Harry searched her features to find any recognition in her eyes, but he saw none. It was as if she had pulled a veil over her eye, she didn't even look at him.

"I'm so sorry, Angel, about what happened. But do you remember anything at all?" Harry asked and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Ginny felt waves of nausea fill her body as the events of the day before welled up in her. She had a somewhat clear recollection of what had happened in that ally, but she just didn't feel like talking about it. Her tumultuous emotions began to fill up, and without warning she began to sob helplessly. She cried for the pain she had felt and for what was lost and could not be repaired.

Harry took the shaking girl in his arms and let her cry. He knew that she might need some time before they could talk. So he just whispered sweet comforting words in her ear.

After some time she broke the silence.

"I hated what they… what they did… did to me… I just don't want to talk about it… please understand that… I just can't…" Ginny sobbed and lifted her head to look at Harry with painful eyes.

Harry was just about to ask another question when he saw her pain, and he fought down the questions he had. He ran a thumb down her cheek, drying up the tears. He nodded his acceptance, but knew that there would be more people asking in the morning.

"Okay, I accept that, but you have to talk to someone about it, you know. Perhaps it would be best if you went back to sleep. I'll stay right here with you so if you need anything just say so. I could go fetch Madam Pomfrey; she might give you something to sleep…" Harry rambled on until Ginny silenced him with her finger.

"Please, I don't need anything right now. Thank you for being here, that means a lot to me. I'll try to get some sleep." Ginny whispered and reached for his hand. She put their clasped hands on her stomach and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She tried to sleep, but her mind kept going back to the incident at the ally. Forget, I only want to forget, by Gods, I wish my mind would just forget.

Harry nodded and bent over and kissed her hand, and then he sat down on the chair. He was true to his words and didn't speak any more. He just waited for her to get some sleep. It took some time before she finally found rest, and only then did he allow himself to lay his head on the bedside and fall asleep.

The next day would soon be waiting with people from the Ministry of Magic who no doubt had a lot of questions. But that would have to wait. For now, he was just content to lie here with his love. Tomorrow there would be answers to all their questions.

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TO BE CONTIUED…

So follow me on the confusion and heart-wrenching road our heroes will travel in this story. I promise that it'll not be boring.

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