(this is present time, guys)
Ginny appeared in the forest, holding a sleeping child. The little boy looked to be about 5 or 6, and had his brown haired head on her shoulder. She knelt down, placing him against a tree, carefully so as not to wake him. She knelt in front of him, prusing her lips.
"How to keep you safe..." She said, softly.
"Questions first... why do you have a little kid in the middle of the forest?"
Zack appeared from a liquid cave of shadows, dressed in some old black jeans and sneakers, and a faded red shirt, flecked with fresh mud up the back, evidence of his earlier run, his dark hair askew about his head. He scratched absently at his chin, staring curiously at the child. With a trained, casual hand, he slid his inches-long blade into a leather sheath, pocketing it, wiping the stain of dried blood on his palm on his thigh, making nothing of it.
He kneeled down, and began to wash his hands in a clear pool of water, his eyes never once leaving Ginny and the kid.
"You scared me." Ginny said, whirrling around. She shook her head slightly.
"I didn't know anyone was around, or I would have taken him somewhere else. Too late now." She looked back at the sleeping child.
"Sorry.. I'm still in habit.. Didn't mean to creep up on you. No one else is around."
Zack rose from his squat near the water, drying his hands on a clean spot on his shirt. He ran a hand through his hair, and stared at the kid.
"Who is he?"
"Well......" Ginny hesitated, slightly. She didn't want to put anyone n danger.
"He's a prince, but he dosn't know it yet...."
"Ah."
Zack shifted, letting the leather-bound blade in his back pocket fall to a more comfortable place. Finally, he was something close to clean, and no longer looking as much like the Commander his troops had so successfully followed - he looked close to human again.
Zack watched the sleeping child.
-A prince of where, Gin?-
"Zack, it's better if you don't know. That way, no one can ask you to repete anything. I know you wouldn't say anything, but t'll be easier if you have no idea." Ginny said, smiling at him. She reached out and patted the boy's head, waking him.
"Huh?" He mummbled, sleepily.
" 'Nuff said."
Zack nodded his head, and pulled back, knowing all too well what she meant, and respecting her for it.
"Hey, buddy," he said, smiling at the kid.
Zack was great with kids, though no one really knew that.
The boy rubbed his eyes, standing slowly. Once he was in full veiw, it was apparent he was wearing clothes that wern't his. A large shirt that went over his knees and hands, pants that were rolled up, and the such. His mouth hung open as he stared at Zack. he looked back at Ginny.
"Were are we?" He asked, his words spoken carefully.
"An enchanted forest," Zack said lightly, concentrating on picking some random splinter out of his palm.
Over his hand, he noticed the kids clothes, and he smiled slightly.
"Want a smaller shirt, little buddy? I'm sure I've got one, I never throw my stuff out. You look like you're about to trip over yourself."
He glanced curiously at Ginny.
"Oh...kay." He said, drawing out the word, glancing at Ginny wide-eyed and waiting for her nod. She smiled at him.
"That would be awsome, Zack." Ginny said as she stood, putting her hand on the boys shoulder. He looked up at her.
"Is this really an enchanted forest?" He asked, cranning his neck to wait for her answer.
Zack grinned in return, then turned, and walked back into the shadowed stone wall, which turned out to be an actual cave. Against one of the walls, one of his older trunks sat. He didn't want to show direct magic in front of the kid - he didn't want to know anything he wasn't told, or push the boundaries. It wasn't his place. And, that cave happened to be where Zack had left his old trunk, anyway, after his return days ago.
He returned within literal seconds, a small, black silk dress shirt in one hand, and a black, simple cotton shirt in the other.
"Business," he said, raising the nicer shirt, "and everything else," he said, raising the other.
He grinned, kidding, handing both to Ginny. They had both been hand-made and finely stitched. The silk one was authentically small, almost perfect for the little guy, and the cotton one seemed to be more faded, obviously shrunken, to be comfortably worn in for him.
"So, Ginny, are you going to answer him?"
Ginny smirked at Zack.
"Yes, sweetie, it is." She said to the boy, kneeling and helping him take off the large shirt, pulling the cotton one over his head.
"You mean like what you did to that man?" He asked pulling the shirt down and trying to smooth out his hair.
Zack quirked an eyebrow, frowning.
"That man?"
Absently, he put out his hand, palm up, low enough for the kid to reach, a small bubble of magical dry-water set in the palm of his hand.
"Take this and wash your face, and hair, little buddy. Rub it through your hair and over your face, then snap twice, and it's gone. No matter your experience or talent. You'll feel a lot cleaner, and relaxed. Maybe tired though, so no freaking out on me, ok?"
Zack smiled warmly at the kid, clearing his throat, and returning his gaze to Ginny.
"What man?"
"The man that she saved me from. She does that alot." The boy spoke up, then did as Zack had told him, rubbing it over his hair.
"I'll explain later." Ginny muttered to Zack. "I promise."
The boy finished cleaning his face and hair, and tried, with no avail, to snap his fingers.
Zack nodded his head, watching Ginny for a moment, before glancing at the kid. When the little guy finally did two 'near-snaps', Zack flicked his hand, behind his back and out of view, and the dry-water dried as it was supposed to, as if the kid had done it all himself.
"Good job," he said, ruffling the kids hair into a stylish 'do, grinning. "Told you it would work."
Zack suddenly jumped up, no magic used at all, and disappeared into the high boughs of the thick-limbed tree. He returned, with a handful of fresh fruit, landing solidly upon his feet, making nothing of it, crouching down to begin to wash them. He tossed the first clean one to the kid, who caught it, easily enough.
"Good stuff, you'll like it. If not, feel free to spit it out."
Zack winked, assuredly knowing the kid would probably like the sweet fruit.
"Hey! Thanks!" He said, taking the fruit and biting into it.
Ginny smiled.
"Thanks for that, Zack."
" 'Course," he said, winking, straightening as he took a bite of a piece of fruit, himself, tossing a piece to Ginny.
Suddenly, he tensed, though visible only to the trained eye, his eyes watching the kid enjoying the fruit, though he seemed to be watching more, far behind his back. His looks darkened, and he met Ginny's eyes.
-Hear that? Human footsteps..-
Ginny knelt down, facing the boy.
"Shhh!" She said, pulling him into a reassuring hug, then standing. He grabed her shirt and looked around,, his eyes wide.
Zack turned, mentally counting the sets of steps, the long slip of leather suddenly in his right hand, feigning to be nonthreatening.
-Two,- he announced to Ginny, by thought.
His tone was grim, and it was obvious that those nearing weren't friends.
Zack took a small step to the side, taking account of the stone, shallow cave, and high trees.. every little thing, just in case. He glanced back, and smiled reassuringly at the kid. He would not, let anything happen to him. Hurting little kids was just wrong.
-What do you think about taking him up to the Gryffindor Common Room; it'll be safe, eh Gin?-
"Duck!" Ginny cried out, ducking herself as a knife went sailing between her and Zack. She wrapped her arms around the child, who had begun to whimper.
"Back off!" She yelled to the intruders, angrily.
The next knife came, and Zack heard this one, turning slightly, leaning heavily to the right side, catching in mid-air the throwing blade that had been sailing right where his head had been moments before. He growled, and pinched the tip of the blade, throwing it with a precise, trained skill, in perfect aim through the trail it had come from, directly back and into the throwing shoulder of another. There was a howl, and the thud of a falling body, then a handful of curses Zack hoped the kid didn't hear.
"GO," he growled, unwilling to leave his position, directly in front of Ginny and the kid.
Ginny had said he was a little prince. Who the hell wanted to kill off a prince? A kid, for that matter.
With a nearly invisible flick of his wrist, Zack's own blade was unsheathed, resting in his mastered and talented hand, almost loosely; dangerously.
"Right." Ginny said, keeping her arms around the boy and making the two dissappear. They didn't go to the school. That wasn't as safe as where she took him now. She took him to where she ran the forest from. Nothing could get in unless she wanted it to, so this was even safer than the school. He clung to her, afraid to let go.
Zack appeared, a few minutes or so later, unscathed, other than the fresh cut on his palm, from catching that blade too quickly, outside the barriers of the place. He mentally knocked, rubbing his thumb over the wound on his right hand, angry at it, it seemed, but otherwise calm. The blade he had made, was mysteriously gone.
Perhaps it was being fished out of someone's stomach right then. Who knew?..
~You can walk right in the building.~ Ginny sent to him, as she sat the boy down in a chair. He was shaking, since he was afraid, after all.
"How was I supposed to know that, Gin? I've learned to be logical about your powers, after all."
Zack suddenly was behind Ginny, walking about as if he'd been there all along, picking a small piece of rock from his palm. He smiled warmly at the kid.
"Make it out okay, kiddo?
The little boy nodded, as he slowly stopped shaking. Ginny smiled at him.
"I told you before. They arn't gonna get you." She said, patting him on the head.