Love Enough for Both by Manwe Valarian



Summary: Harry heard a goblin speaking and he came out of temporary stupor. He was surrounded by witches and wizards all staring at him. The most shocking thing was he had his arms around someone. Who was she and how did they get here?
Rating: PG-13 starstarstarstarhalf-star
Categories: Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2012.10.25
Updated: 2018.05.01


Love Enough for Both by Manwe Valarian
Chapter 17: Hogsmeade Weekend
Author's Notes:

Ginny’s body ached from the exertion of the past five hours, and she wasn’t done yet. The midwife was telling her that her baby would be born with the next push.

Her baby, her and Harry’s baby had been growing in her for nine months, and now it is about to be born. Harry had been with her the entire time, he was there holding her right hand, while her mother was holding her left. She always wanted to be a tough woman who didn’t need to be pampered. Harry and her Mum had been very supportive of her the entire time without making her feel weak.

“When the next contraction starts, wait for me to tell you to push. If you push too early it will complicate things,” said the midwife.

“Yes, I will wait.” Ginny stopped talking as pain gripped her again. She squeezed Harry’s and her Mum’s hands with all her might.

“You are doing great love,” whispered Harry, while giving her a brave smile.

“Yes, Ginny dear it will be all over soon enough,” said her mum.

Ginny didn’t answer because she was gritting her teeth to resist the urge to push. Neither one said anything to her; they just allowed her to crush their hands.

“Push Mrs. Potter! Push with all your might,” said the midwife.

Ginny went through the greatest pain in her life and also the greatest joy. She gave birth and heard her baby’s cry. Her mum said that she would suffer the greatest pain she ever felt when she delivered her child, but she would quickly forget all about the pain when she held her baby.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked the midwife.

“It’s a boy,” the midwife replied while she finished swaddling Ginny’s son in a blanket.

Harry and her mum were staring at the baby. They were smiling with pride. The midwife handed Harry the baby. Her mum looked like she wanted to snatch the baby out of his hands, but she controlled herself.

“Oh look he has your eyes, Harry,” said her mum.

Ginny stretched her arms out to Harry. “I want to hold my baby.”

Harry gently placed the baby in her arms. Ginny pulled the baby to her and kissed its head. Her mum was right the pain was gone replaced with joy of holding her child. She turned it to look at its face. With a gasp, she nearly threw her baby across the room.

Its eyes were deformed. They weren’t human. They had a yellowish iris and slits for pupils like a snake’s. She was so shocked that she couldn’t talk. She looked up at Harry and noticed his eyes were exactly the same. Not the emerald green that she had known. She held her baby out to stare it; repulsed by its eyes. She saw the most disgusting sight of all, when it opened its mouth to cry. Its tongue was forked.


A scream of fear tore at her throat as she thrashed against the sheets that were wrapped around her.
She was covered with sweat making the sheets stick to her and making it impossible to toss them off her.

“Ginny, what’s wrong?” whispered Harry from somewhere in the room.

She could feel he wasn’t with her in the bed. The room was dark with the only light was the pale glow of the half-moon shining through the mullioned windows. She tried to look to see where Harry was; with the shock of the nightmare she had lost mental contact with him. The bed shifted beside her. Turning she saw him sitting there staring at her. She couldn’t see his eyes for the dark shadows. She had to see if they were still green or the light amber of her dream.

He reached to caress her face. She reached for his face too, not for comfort, but for confirmation. She turned his face so the light of the moon might illuminate his eyes. His face was covered in shadow. He had two dark pits for eyes outlined by his brows and cheeks. At first she still couldn’t see his eyes clearly in the moonlight. A yellowish light illuminated the room revealing his emerald eyes.

Relief filled her as she realized that it was only a dream; no, not a dream but a nightmare. She threw herself against his chest clinging to him for strength. She didn’t want to think about the nightmare or why it scared her so much. Harry gently kissed the top of her head calming her and dispelling many of her fears.

“You all right now?” he whispered to her.

“Yeah, I am,” she whispered into his chest.

“Do you want to talk about…,”

“No, I don’t. It was a horrible nightmare that I don’t want to think about. Let it be gone from my memory,” she softly pleaded.

He held her and gently rubbed her back for several minutes without saying anything. Ginny was slowly drifting off to sleep again, when Harry spoke again.

“That was impressive magic you did.”

“What magic?”

“You lit your wand without touching it. It was like you wanted to see my face and your wand lit up.”

Ginny didn’t say anything, because she didn’t remember trying to cast a spell. She remembered wanting to see his face. Did the wand respond to her unspoken request? If it did, that would mean she was capable of doing wandless magic.

“You don’t remember doing that,” he said teasingly.

“No, I don’t.”

“Could you budge over so I can lie down too?”

“I could if you tell me why you are awake at this hour.” She moved so he could lie down and hold her.

“I had a piercing headache about an hour ago. It seems to be getting better now.”

“Does it still hurt?”

He hesitated for a second indicating that he was lying to her. “Only a little.”

“You are such a terrible liar, Harry. Here let me try to relieve your headache.”

She knelt beside him on the bed and held the palms of her hands at each of his temples with her fingers spread out through his raven locks. She slowly messaged his head with her fingers as she moved her hands through his hair. As she worked her fingers across his scalp, she also willed her feelings of love and comfort into him trying to chase what was causing the headache out of his mind. She could feel him relaxing. She was able to reach out with her Empathy and feel that the pain was nearly gone. After about five minutes he was so relaxed that he fell asleep.

She pulled her hands away from his head, before sliding in beside him. He had rolled on his side so she could wrap an arm around his chest as he slept.

“Go to sleep my love, we have so much to discuss,” she whispered to him.

She lay there in their dark bedroom thinking about Harry and their relationship. They had so much at stake already, and now she is sure that their responsibilities have increased some more. She needs to tell him, but it would be best if she waited until a better time. She still isn’t sure how he will handle the news.

Pushing all the worry and concern for their future to the back of her mind Ginny was able to finally get to sleep. In a few hours they would be going to Hogsmeade, and she wanted it to be special for them.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Ginny was brushing her hair and staring at the mirror in their private loo. She wasn’t sure if she should put more makeup on or if this was enough. She rarely wore any and Harry seemed to like her like that, but today she wanted to be extra pretty for him.

She didn’t want to wear their usual battle garments. The rust colored pants and shirt with dragon hide cloak and boots. She was wearing simple jeans and a deep green jumper; both would be considered too tight by her mum. A traveling cloak and the presence of Harry would be all she would need to keep her warm.

After staring at her reflection from several angles, she decided that her makeup was fine. She picked up the sapphire necklace that matched her engagement ring and placed it around her neck. The sapphire and gold chain looked striking against the deep green of her jumper.

“Harry, are you ready?” she called to her husband. He had cleaned up before she even started. He probably had his usual outfit on. It didn’t’ bother her that he wore that. He looked rather striking in it.

“Yeah, I am just waiting on you.” “As usual.” He either whispered or thought.

It was getting difficult for Ginny to tell the difference between when he whispers something and when he thinks something without saying anything. They were starting to sound the same to her. Her link to Harry had been steadily increasing to the point where she almost can’t stay out of his mind. This wouldn’t bother her except what she has been able to detect there.

The thoughts of that dark entity made her shiver even though she wasn’t cold. If she wasn’t able to connect so completely with Harry, she would never have realized what he carried inside of him. If she hadn’t tried to protect Ron from being possessed in the Chamber of Secrets, she would have not realized that the darkness wasn’t Harry’s. She does not want to think about that situation now or any other time today. One day in the future, they would have to face the fact that Harry was a Horcrux, but today wasn’t that day.

Ginny stood up and walked to the sitting area of their little living quarters at Hogwarts. It was cozy or in other words, small, but that was all they needed now. If they needed to get out and move around, there was the rest of the castle to use.

“Wow! You look fabulous,” gasped Harry.

Ginny was caught speechless at his reaction. She thought he would like her clothes, but she wasn’t expecting a reaction like she was feeling from him. He was actually getting excited looking at her. It was good for her ego to think that she still made him feel that way after being together for two years.

“I am glad you like it. We need to get something to eat before embarking on our little excursion to Hogsmeade.”

“We could just stay here,” he suggested to her.

“Now love, we can do that any other weekend. We should go and see Hogsmeade today. We also promised to watch over the students while they are there.” She walked to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. She held it a bit longer than necessary for a chaste kiss, but not so long as to illicit any further reaction. She was surprised that he was looking at her, when she pulled away. “You can wait until tonight, Harry. We will be back by five and we don’t have any studying to do tonight.”

“Yeah, brilliant, tonight then it is,” he said absent mindedly.

Ginny put her arm through his and led him out of the room. They walked slowly through the halls and down the various staircases to the great hall. They didn’t say anything during this entire trip. There really wasn’t anything to say. They spent almost all their time together, so they know each other’s thoughts almost completely. They have already shared all their experiences before meeting, so they didn’t have that to talk about. That was fine with Ginny. She didn’t need witty conversation to enjoy being with her husband.

They entered the great hall still arm in arm. Most of the students turned to look at them. Ginny’s Empathy was now causing her anxiety. She was feeling the emotions flowing from the boys in the room. She didn’t mind when Harry thought about her in that way. It was something entirely different when it was some randy teenager with out of control hormones.

She pulled Harry along the Gryffindor table until she was a safe distance away from Ron’s dorm mates. Dean and Seamus were both staring at her with similar thoughts to Harry’s. They both followed her as she walked past them. At least Dean Thomas had the decency to keep his mouth closed, Seamus didn’t.

They sat across from Percy at the Gryffindor table. He was reading through the Daily Prophet while eating his breakfast. He didn’t even look up when they first sat down. Percy’s brow was furrowed with worry lines as he read the newspaper.

“What is bothering you Percy?” she asked him.

He looked up shocked to see her and Harry sitting there filling their plates. He was obviously flustered at their appearance.

“The Ministry is passing new laws, in an attempt to keep us safe,” he said sardonically.

“Maybe when you get hired there, you can turn the place around,” she told her older brother. He had always wanted to work for the Ministry and a cabinet secretary or even one day the Minister of Magic.

“I don’t think I will be applying there for a job.”

Ginny was gobsmacked to hear him say that. He had wanted to work in the Ministry since she was old enough to remember.

“I don’t know how Father can stand to go to that place to work. It isn’t safe,” he whispered to her.

“It pays the bills, and he likes the work,” she replied.

“What are you going to do if you are not working at the Ministry?” asked Harry between forkfuls of scrambled eggs.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said while sitting up straighter, trying to look very official. “I have been thinking about asking you if you need someone to manage one of your many…,”

“Percy, can we discuss this some other time,” snapped Harry.

Percy closed his mouth and his eyes became wide as he stared at Harry. Harry was rather abrupt with him, but it was for a good reason. Harry did not want everyone to know about all his holdings. The less people know about what he actually possessed the safer they would all be.

“Do you have anything planned for today, Percy?” Ginny asked her brother in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Harry’s wealth and estates.

“I will be going to Hogsmeade to watch over the younger students.”

“That is where we will be,” she told him. Harry wasn’t responding to anything. Ginny could feel his anger at Percy. He felt almost betrayed that Percy would be so careless in public. “We were thinking about going to Madam Puddifoot’s; isn’t that right Harry.”

Harry was focused on what he was eating and not paying attention to what she was saying. “Yeah, sounds good,” he automatically responded.

Ginny smiled at Percy who smiled in return. She was going to say something else, but another feeling caught her attention. She sensed Sirius’ presence and he was worried. She looked up to see him walking into the great hall from the entrance hall, and he was heading directly towards them.

Nudging Harry with her elbow to get his attention, she nodded towards Sirius walking briskly towards them. They both sat there and stared at Sirius until he stood in front of them. He was obviously worried, because he had a small crease between his eyes and his eyebrows nearly met giving him a uni-brow, when he was stressing about something. His face was in uni-brow mode right now.

“We need to talk in the Headmaster’s office,” he said briskly. He stood there for a second and when it seemed that Ginny and Harry weren’t moving fast enough he spoke again. “Now!”

“Alright, we will follow you,” said Harry.

Sirius turned and walked away at a brisk pace. Ginny stood up from the bench only to get pulled by Harry towards the entrance hall. Sirius was already walking through it. He didn’t even look back over his shoulder to see if they were following. Whatever was bothering him must be big for him to act this way.

It took only a few minutes to make the trip from the great hall to the Headmaster’s office. A trip that normally took ten to fifteen. The gargoyle jumped aside at the sight of them. Ginny didn’t realize it would recognize people and allow them access without the password. They nearly ran up the spiral staircase and opened the door into the Headmasters office.

She was starting to breathe hard from the trip, and was going to ask why he was in such a hurry. However, the people in the room made her realize they would not appreciate her cheek. Remus and Bill were there, along with The Headmaster and Professor McGonagall all with grim faces. The fifth person caused Harry to stop walking and stare. She could feel anger roll off him in waves as he stared at Severus Snape.

The stories that Sirius and Remus told them about Snape made Harry dislike the man. They also told him that his mother had been friends with Snape when they were young. Harry had wondered how his mum could be friends with someone who was so foul most of the time. Harry wanted to give Severus the benefit of the doubt and judge him on his own merits. Snape’s constant belittling of him and his father had worn thin with him.

“Come in and close the door, Potter. We have much to discuss,” drawled Snape.

“Harry and Ginny please close the doors. As Severus said, we have much to talk about,” said the Headmaster.

Ginny had to concentrate to keep Harry’s anger from affecting her. He was nearly angry enough to start throwing hexes around, with Snape getting all of them. He stepped forward pulling her along. She heard the door slam shut behind him. Everyone else in the room looked at the door and then at Harry with raised eyebrows, except Snape. He just sneered at the display of wandless magic.

They walked to the Headmaster’s desk and stood there and stared at him. Standing there for several seconds without anyone talking, Harry’s agitation kept growing. Ginny could feel Sirius, Remus, and Bill growing agitated too. She was getting ready to demand someone say something, when Harry said it for her.

“You call us up here and tell us we have much to talk about, but no one is talking.”

“Please have a seat,” said the Headmaster calmly.

“No, I would prefer to stand,” stated Harry. He then turned to her and spoke directly to her with a sweet and sincere voice. “You can sit if you prefer.”

Ginny smiled at him. It made her feel so special that no matter how angry he was at everyone around them, he was still sweet to her. She was going to say something, but Snape interrupted her.

“You are pathetic, Potter.”

Sirius and Remus stood up like they were ready to start throwing curses at Snape, but Ginny stopped them with a glance and a raised hand.

“There is nothing pathetic about a person being loving and sincere,” she told the vile Potion’s Professor. “You should try it sometime, or you SHOULD HAVE tried it at one time.”

“You…,” Snape hissed at her.

Ginny could feel the anger and regret flowing off him. “I guess it is too late for that now, so you just pretend to protect her son.”

If Snape was angry before his clenched teeth snarl at the Headmaster indicated that Ginny had hit a very raw nerve.

“I did not tell them anything,” said the Headmaster defensively. “I think we need to discuss what we came together to talk about.”

“I was waiting for someone to say something,” stated Harry harshly. “Professor Snape, your reasons for being angry with me is so obvious that one doesn’t need Leglimancy to know it. My mother is dead, because Voldemort wanted me dead. Let’s work together to destroy whatever is left of him.”

Snape seemed to be surprised by Harry’s comment. He looked at Harry for several seconds before speaking. “Lucius Malfoy believes he can find the Dark Lord if he interrogates you. That was why he attacked the Weasley home earlier in the summer.”

“Is that what you wanted to tell us?” asked Harry calmly.

“That and up until three days ago Draco Malfoy was talking about going to Hogsmeade today. Several days ago, he received an Owl from his father and has since changed his mind and is trying to get other Slytherins not to go to Hogsmeade today.”

“Has Lucius contacted you?” asked Sirius.

“No! He hasn’t. He does not trust me, since I didn’t know the Order had reformed when he attacked the Weasley’s home.”

“Remus, what do make of this information?” Harry asked his father’s friend.

Remus Lupin leaned back in his chair and stared at the space in front of his chair with a distant look on his face and deep furrows in his brow. He sat there deep in thought for several seconds before speaking.

“I am concerned about Lucius wanting to get his hands on you, Harry. If Draco doesn’t want to go to Hogsmeade, I am afraid that the students will be in danger if they go to Hogsmeade. I am guessing that they are planning on attacking the students to draw you and Professor Dumbledore out into the open.” He stopped talking and sat there silent for several seconds. “That is all I can guess for now.”

Harry turned to the Headmaster. “Professor Dumbledore, what is your opinion?”

“I agree with what Mr. Lupin said. Canceling the Hogsmeade day, would be difficult as the children should be getting into the queue by this time.”

“I agree that it would create problems if you did cancel today’s trip to Hogsmeade. Lucius would suspect something…,” Snape said.

“You are talking about a possible attack on the students of this school,” shouted Professor McGonagall.
“We must protect the children from a possible attack.”

“We will Minerva. We will protect the children, but I do agree with Severus,” said the Headmaster. “We must form a plan to protect the children without letting Lucius realize we knew he was planning on an attack. For us to cancel a Hogsmeade weekend, we must have a good reason. If the children don’t go to the village, then the attack won’t happen and no one will know that it had been planned. Harry, what do you think?”

Ginny looked at Harry. He turned to look at her and gave her a small smile. “Ginny, do you want to say anything?”

The look on his face and the feelings coming from him told her how much he cared for her. He wasn’t just asking her to be polite. He valued her opinion too. They both knew at this point he was being looked upon as the leader of the Order of The Phoenix. “I trust your decision, Harry.”

“Unless, I say something stupid,” he said chuckling.

“Yeah, then I would object.”

Harry turned back to the Headmaster. “I think we should let the students go to Hogsmeade, and make a plan to protect them. Bill, can we set up an area for the students to go for protection from attacks?”

“A warded area for the students to run to would be possible,” said Bill.

“Could we ward the path leading back to Hogwarts?” asked Sirius. “The students could be led back to the safety of the castle through the wards. If we ward an area that doesn’t have an escape, the students would be trapped inside of it.”

“That would be possible, but it would take some time and if any of the Death Eaters see me casting spells they would realize that we know there will be an attack.”

“We will have to accept those risks,” said the Headmaster. “The safety of the students is important.”

Professor McGonagall sniffed at this comment. “Then cancel the trip, if it is so important.”

“They want me,” said Harry. “I am planning on making myself very visible. If I am already down there, the students should be safer. Can we get everyone from the Order on standby? What about the Aurors?”

“If the town is filled with Order members and Aurors then the attack will be called off,” said Severus.

“The Order can be close by or possibly hidden in the shops. Have someone ready to call the Aurors. When the attack starts, call them and start moving the students towards Hogwarts. We will take the attack to the Death Eaters,” He said indicating Bill, Remus, and Sirius.

“I will talk to the Head Boy and Girl about emergency procedures,” said the Headmaster.

“I will go change and get ready for a battle,” Ginny said quietly. She felt Harry gently squeeze her hand in reassurance.

“Harry, I must stress how important it is for you not to get captured,” said the Headmaster.

“He and Ginny will be at the entrance of the ward,” said Sirius. “They can step inside the wards if things get dangerous.”

“How will you keep the Death Eaters out of the warded area?” asked Professor McGonagall.

“I could tie the wards to a person’s age. That would keep us old codgers from entering the warded area,” said Bill.

“Would Harry and I be able to enter them? We are considered adults.”

“I’ll figure something out,” said Bill.

“All right, it sounds like we have a plan and a lot of work to get ready,” said Harry.

He sounded upbeat, but Ginny could feel his nervousness. It was unnecessary because the entire room was behind him. Professor McGonagall was nervous about the safety of the children, and yet she still looked at Harry with respect. Even Snape had calmed down. He still radiated contempt, but it wasn’t as intense as when they first stepped into the room. She did not know what would happen today, but she was sure they would be ready for it.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

The gravel from the path scuffed her shoes as she walked to Hogsmeade. Ginny was walking slowly while holding onto Harry’s hand. She had changed back into her normal fighting gear along with the dragon-hide cloak. She could feel the weight of the dagger, in its sheath inside of her dragon hide boots, bouncing against her lower calf. Her wand was stashed just out of sight up her right sleeve. She was trying to be as nonchalant as possible while still being on the look-out for any threats around her.

It really was not necessary to be inconspicuous. They were walking along with Hagrid, who was pulling enchanted stones the size of a normal man’s fist out of his moleskin jacket and throwing them on each side of the path. Bill had enchanted them so he could easily anchor the wards to the stone. Hagrid was given the job because when he threw a stone down it would sink into the dirt so no one could see it. The students were being held at the school until the four of them could reach the village.

Bill was trailing them by about fifty feet activating the wards as he walked. Ginny smiled at her older brother. She had always known he was intelligent, but never realized how talented he was at wards until she and Harry went to live with him.

Harry was walking beside her on high alert trying to sense if anyone was using magic around them. To most people they would only see him walking while looking from one side to the other. He looked so confident and in control. She could feel his anxiety at the possibility of someone getting hurt today, but he was hiding it well.

“How much further to Hogsmeade, Hagrid?” asked Harry.

“Not far, just up around the bend we will come out of the woods to ‘igh Street.”

“Do we have enough stones to make it that far?”

“Well, ‘arry, take a look,” Hagrid replied holding out a hand as large as a dust bin lid. He had a dozen stones in it. They didn’t even completely cover his palm. “That should get us to the end of the woods.”

“Good, because I hear the students leaving Hogwarts,” she said to them.

“Let’s get moving then. They will come down that path in a ‘urry, they will.” Hagrid started taking long strides from one side of the path to the other while throwing stones into the ground.

Ginny and Harry had to increase their pace to keep up with him. Even with Hagrid moving back and forth across the path, they had a hard time keeping up with him. They had reached the end of the woods by the time they heard the first screams of excited students running down the path to get to Hogsmeade first.

Harry flicked his wand and a silver streak shot towards the town. A second later a silver weasel appeared in front of them.

“Everything looks good here,” said the voice of Ginny’s father.

Bill had just finished the wards and was able to hear the Patronus. “I will wait here while you three go into town. Harry don’t let her take you into Madam Puddifoot’s.”

Harry looked puzzled. “What is Madam Puddifoot’s and where have I heard that before?”

“Don’t worry love; I’ll explain it to you later.” She took his arm and pulled him towards the town. Hagrid let out a loud boisterous laugh causing Harry to squirm. He really wasn’t listening when she was talking to Percy at breakfast.

They had barely walked twenty feet when three boys flew past them at an all-out run.

“Do you think they are going to Madam Puddifoot’s?” Harry asked her.

His comment had caught her off guard, and she started laughing at the thought. “I really doubt it.”

“Do you want to go there?”

“No not really. I would like to see it. I have heard about it from my brothers. They speak about how completely sickening it is.”

“Why would anyone want to go there?”

“It is filled with pink hearts, confetti, sweet tea, and cherubs playing violins. Girls are supposed to be overwhelmed by the sheer romance of it.”

They continued walking without saying anything else. Ginny could tell that Harry was thinking about something. She was pretty sure he was thinking they should go to Madam Puddifoot’s.

“Are we going there first?” he asked.

She laughed at his comment. “We will walk past there. I said that I wanted to see it. I don’t need romance. I have you.”

“I am not romantic.”

“You are too romantic. You don’t do anything excessive, but you are very romantic and I love you for it.”

Harry had stopped walking and was staring at her.

“I never said that I wasn’t romantic. I did think it. Your powers are still growing. You can actually read my mind, without me being overly excited or worried.”

She stared into his eyes. He wasn’t nervous or afraid. It was one thing to be able to sense emotions and see old memories, but to be able to hear what he was thinking as he thought it was new. Why wasn’t he afraid of her ability to do this?

“I won’t hold your thoughts against you, Harry. I know at times we think things that we never intend to say. Unless you are thinking randy thoughts about another woman, then you will be in so much trouble Mr. Potter.”

Harry laughed at her. “Why would I think about anyone but you? If we are in a battle, I could communicate with you more precisely than just feelings of dread and danger.”

“I don’t always hear what you are saying in your thoughts, so I can’t guarantee that I will hear you.”

“You don’t always hear me, because I am a bloke. Isn’t that what many of you woman say about men. We don’t think about much and say even less.”

She had a difficult time from doubling over with laughter at Harry’s cheeky comment. “Where did you hear that statement?”

“Is it true?”

“Maybe,” she replied coyly.

“Sirius and Bill told me that women think that about men. They also said that many women like the strong silent type.”

“I don’t want to think about my brother’s and Sirius’s dating styles. Let’s go into Zonko’s and see what to look for around the school this next week.”

They spent the next hour in Zonko’s looking at the various merchandise. Harry would occasionally look out at the street to see if everything was all right. She enjoyed their time in Zonko’s it helped bring out the kid in Harry. It also reminded her that if Harry would have had a normal life he would be at Hogsmeade as a student looking to have fun, not being live bait for a planned Death Eater attack.

“Would you like to visit Madam Puddifoot’s?” she asked him.

“Might as well get that out of the way.” He thought to himself.

Ginny smiled at his thoughts before dragging him out the door to the uber-romantic tea shoppe. They walked through Madam Puddifoot’s door to be assaulted with confetti and cherubs screeching out a tune on their violins. The matron showed them to a little table between two sixth year couples. One couple was holding hands and whispering across the table. The other couple was snogging while making slurping sounds.

They were soon served a pink pot of tea and some biscuits. Harry poured her tea for her and even prepared it for her. She appreciated his gesture, but everything in here was so over the top that it was annoying her so much that she could barely stand it. Maybe it was being raised in a family of boys, but she didn’t find this at all romantic. It took all her concentration not to laugh at the couples around her. She knew that she would get dreamy eyed at Harry, but she hoped she never looked or acted like the girls around her. It was the boys that made her want to laugh. Almost all them felt the same as she did about this place, but they were here looking for a snog. Confetti came floating down from above them coating their hair and falling into their tea. She looked at Harry and tried to sense what he was feeling. The only thing she sensed was laughter, so she started giggling.

“Let’s get out of this bloody pink nightmare.” He thought.

She was giggling so hard that she couldn’t respond. So she grabbed his hand and they left after he placed a galleon on the table.

“That was supposed to be romantic?” he asked her, after they reached the street.

“To some people it would be.”

“I am so glad you are not one of them, Ginny. Let’s go find the others.”

They located Bill and Remus walking High Street acting like they were trying to keep the students from doing anything destructive. Sirius had volunteered to stay under Harry’s Invisibility cloak by the entrance to the warded area.

“Anything exciting?” Harry asked them.

They looked at each other, before Bill spoke. “Only the sight of you being dragged into Madam Puddifoot’s.”

“That place is a bloody pink nightmare,” Ginny said repeating Harry’s thoughts.

“Hagrid is watching things down by the Hogs Head,” stated Remus. “Why don’t you two go to the Three Broomsticks and grab a bite. You two can patrol the streets later, and we will take lunch.”

“Sounds good to me, Sirius interrupted our breakfast,” she replied to them.

Hand in hand they opened the door to the Three Broomsticks. The place was filled with students and teachers. Madam Rosmerta was moving from table to table getting orders and delivering food and drinks. Professor McGonagall waved them over to a table with her and Professor Flitwick.

The next hour they sat and ate and talked to the Professors. The conversation was tense at times, because everyone knew about the possible attack, but none of them openly mentioned it. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick relieved the tension by talking about incidents involving Harry and Ginny’s parents while they were at Hogwarts.

After finishing lunch, they were back out on the street patrolling for possible Death Eaters. The only thing they saw were students enjoying the beautiful sunny afternoon away from the school. The morning had been slightly overcast and cool. The sun burnt off the haze of morning and now it was warm and sunny especially for being October in Scotland.

Ginny was enjoying the relaxing day so much that she kept forgetting that they were supposed to be watching for an attack.

“After this is all over, I think our children should enjoy coming to Hogwarts,” she said to Harry. She could feel him stiffen at the thought of them having children.

“Yeah, it seems like a good school. Hopefully, some of the same teachers will be here when our children are old enough to start.”

She smiled at his reference that it should be a long time before they have children old enough to attend the school. “Oh, I think most of them have at least eleven or twelve years left in them.”

Harry stopped walking and turned to stare at her. He looked slightly ashen and was having a hard time forming words. He had not been this flustered since that first night in Morocco when he wanted to kiss her. She was getting ready to tell him more, when a small pop caught her and Harry’s attention.

Several other pops could be heard around the village. She could sense a change in the feelings in the air, even before seeing who had Apparated into the village. Harry sensed it too. He had pulled his wand in an instant.

Screams of scared children tore through the peaceful afternoon. The attack was on.

“All the students must return to Hogwarts straight away,” ordered Harry, using the Sonorous Charm.

Students started flowing out of The Three Broomsticks and running towards the path leading to the castle. Professor McGonagall was ordering the children out, while Professor Flitwick exited the pub first to stand guard for the students as they left the building. Other students were running from all directions towards the warded path. Harry grabbed Ginny’s arm and pulled her towards the entrance of the wards. They were supposed to get there and protect the children as they ran for safety.

They ran among the students trying to set up a position near the entrance where they could protect the children escaping the village. They could hear people battling behind them, but they had a job to do and that is protecting the entrance of wards and the children running towards it.

“Can you sense if anyone is following us?” shouted Harry as they ran with the students.

“I can’t sense anything but fear right now,” she shouted back to him as they ran around the students.

“The entrance to the ward is right up there. You stay on that side and I will take this side,” he shouted at her.

“Where is Sirius?” she shouted back at him.

Sirius appeared from under the Invisibility Cloak. “I am here.”

Several students shrieked when he appeared out of thin air, some even pulled their wands.

“Stop!” shouted Harry to the students. “I’ll ask him a question.”

None of the students fired hexes at Sirius, but they didn’t lower their wands.

“Sirius, what did you call me when we first met, and what was my reaction?”

Sirius smiled at Harry. “I called you Prongslet in honor of your father, but you said it made you sound feminine.”

“All right, he is trust worthy, so get you up to the castle,” Harry shouted at the all the children standing around them.

“You heard him, get moving and don’t wander from the path until you get inside of Hogwarts’ grounds,” Ginny ordered the students surrounding them.

She watched and motivated the students to keep moving all the way to Hogwarts. She also tried to calm down the scared students as they came through the line. She was so focused on the students that she wasn’t able to sense what was going on in the village. She hated standing up here not knowing what people are thinking in the attack. Were the Death Eaters winning? If they were not winning, were they inflicting harm on her friends?

“Look,” shouted Harry.

Ginny had seen the same sight as he had. Hagrid, Percy, and Penelope were ushering about fifteen third years in front of them towards the entrance to the wards. She could hear the students arguing with Percy and Penelope as they walked towards the wards.

“We can fight them. We have been taking dueling classes,” said Seamus Finnegan. He was a feisty dorm mate of Ron’s.

“You will do no such thing. You will get to safety. We will take care of the attackers,” stated Percy briskly.

“Ya heard the ‘ead Boy, mates,” said Hagrid.

“We want to fight. We deserve the chance,” the sandy haired boy said defiantly.

“You will get your chance, soon enough,” said Harry forcefully. “It won’t be today, though. Today you need to get back to the castle.”

The students looked at him before mumbling as they trudged up the path towards Hogwarts. Several more students were running towards them from the village. Hagrid, Penelope, and Percy had started back towards the village.

A flash of a spell came from the area of the village towards students. Ginny started raising her wand to cast a Shield Charm, but Harry was faster. His shield collided with the spell and diverted away from the oncoming students.

The students screamed and ran even faster towards them. Ginny watched as they ran past her and Harry up the path towards the castle. There was a break in the flow of the students leaving the village. She tried to reach out and sense what was going on in the village. She could sense fear and anxiety, but she couldn’t identify who was feeling those feelings. Her empathy was so frustrating in situations like this when everyone was overly excited.

Percy came running up the path with another group of students. He looked rather frazzled like he had been in a couple of duels. He started running past the students and straight to Harry.

“Harry,” he gasped as he ran. “We need you — down — in the village.”

He stopped running and doubled over with his hands on his knees. Ginny was looking at him trying to figure out why he was actually acting so strange. He normally doesn’t get that frazzled. The group of students that were running between her and Percy so she couldn’t get a good look at him.

“I can’t go Percy. I am supposed to stay here,” replied Harry. Harry looked torn between what he was supposed to do and what he wanted to do.

“It’s Sirius and Remus,” shouted Percy. “The Death Eaters have them cornered. Everyone else is busy fighting. Harry we need you.”

Percy reached out and grabbed Harry’s arm. Ginny saw for a second the glove on his left hand, and started to wonder why he had it on. The last student passed her and she was able to sense Percy completely. It wasn’t Percy over there, but someone else.

“Harry, that isn’t Percy,” she screamed, but it was too late.

The glove glowed blue for a second before Harry and the imposter disappeared.

“No!” she screamed out of desperation.

Reaching out with her mind, she tried to sense where Harry was. She felt like she was spinning at a maddening pace. She couldn’t get a good feeling of him to pull him to her. She didn’t know if he would Splinch if she did. She could sense him, and, as soon as he stops, she will pull him back to her.

The spinning was making her slightly dizzy and disoriented. She was starting to get sick, but it finally stopped. Ginny could see Harry lying on the grass of a graveyard. He was angry and ready to fight. She connected with him and started to summon him when she sensed a flash of light then terrible white hot pain filled her body. She screamed out in agony as the sensation of white hot knives cut through her, and she fell to the ground in agony.

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