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Old Wounds
By EROD37

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Category: Post-HBP
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, General, Humor, Romance
Warnings: Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 14
Summary: This story takes place after the events in "Dawn of the G.S.F." Read what happens when the quartet tracks down the first Horcrux.
Hitcount: Story Total: 4842



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.



Author's Notes:
Please note that words in italics represent the silent language of "Table talk" that the quartet developed over the course of training in the story, "Dawn of the G.S.F."




ChapterPrinter


J.K. Rowling owns these characters. I'm only doing this to kill time until book 7 comes out.
As I always strive to make each of my stories stand-alone, I urge you to read my other stories first as they lead up to the events in this story. The order of these stories is as follows:

-Intervention

-Misunderst andings

-Vows and Promises

-Incompleteness

-Escape and Evasion

-Dawn of the G.S.F.

-Old Wounds

But if you do read any of my stories, or any stories by any author for that matter, please take the time to leave a review. It means the world to authors when you do this and I’m sure I speak for all authors when I say that we always find it ironic when we get over a thousand hits on our stories but only get a fraction of the reviews. Your feedback, good or bad, is always appreciated.

Old Wounds by EROD37

YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO REPORT TO THE OFFICE OF THE MINISTER OF MAGIC AT ONCE! FAILURE TO REPORT WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION!

The incredibly loud voice of the Howler, which he had received only a half hour before, still rang in Arthur Weasley's ears as he walked through the Ministry corridors and made his way to the door of the Minister of Magic. He stopped shortly before knocking to check his appearance. His hair was a mess, he had rings under his eyes from lack of rest and he wasn’t wearing his robes. He straightened himself up as best he could, shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the large wooden door.

He was about to knock again, when the door swung open of its own accord. A gruff voice called from inside the office.

“Get in here now, Weasley!”

The room was dimly lit with only a few candles to light the whole office. Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting behind his desk pondering over several rolls of parchment. His eyes never left the papers as he ordered Arthur to sit.

“Good to see that you’re dressed properly for this meeting, Weasley,” said Scrimgeour sarcastically as his eyes finally rose from his reading.

“With all due respect Minister, your Howler arrived at my home at roughly three o’ clock in the morning. It ordered me to arrive here immediately, so I apologize for my rumpled appearance,” said Arthur as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

The Minister never acknowledged Arthur’s apology as he stood up and began pacing behind his desk. Arthur found himself growing angry as he started to wonder why he had been dragged out of the comfort of his bed in the middle of the night.

But before Arthur could ask a question, Scrimgeour spoke, “Weasley, I ordered you here to ask some very important questions, which depending on your answers, could have serious ramifications on the Ministry’s ability to end this war.”

Scrimgeour placed both hands on his desk as he leaned forward slightly, “I want to know the whereabouts of your children.”

“Well the twins, as you know, are running a joke shop on Diagon All…”

The Minister’s face grew flustered, “Don’t play coy with me Weasley! I don’t mean the whereabouts of your older children! I mean the ones that are still in school, Ronald and Ginny!”

Arthur looked surprised, “I don’t understand? What do the whereabouts of my two youngest children have to do with the Ministry’s ability to end the war?”

“I’m asking the questions, Weasley! We are in actuality trying to locate Harry Potter. From the intelligence we have gathered, we know that he has always been very close to your family! So if we can find one of your youngest children, we can find him!” said Scrimgeour as he stood up straight.

“Intelligence you’ve gathered? Don’t you mean to say what you’ve learned from the mouth of my son Percy?”

But before Scrimgeour could speak, Arthur rose from his chair, “Not to be redundant. But again what do the whereabouts of my childr…”

But his query was stopped mid sentence as Scrimgeour grabbed Arthur’s attention by dropping what looked to be seven items of equal size on the desk in front of him. Arthur picked one up and began examining it. It was the size of a Muggle playing card. On one side was a checkerboard pattern in the colors of scarlet and gold. On the other was a hand drawn shield on which was a lion’s head that seemed to look Arthur in the eyes while it made a noiseless roar. But it wasn’t just the lion that caught Arthur’s eye, it was the red letters drawn diagonally in the background.

His heart caught in his throat as he suddenly recognized both the penmanship and the artistry. He had been posting up drawings like this one for years in his office. He could pick out Ginny’s art and writing with one eye closed. Arthur made a mental note to remove all of his daughter’s drawings from the walls of his office as soon as this meeting was over.

Arthur gave himself a few extra moments for his heart rate to decrease before attempting to speak, “So what exactly is the G.S.F.?”

“The Ministry has a problem, Weasley. This G.S.F. or “Gryffindor Strike Force” as we are assuming the initials stand for has been responsible for the discovery and destruction of seven underground Death Eater cells over the last two months.”

“Every time it’s been the same scenario. We receive an anonymous tip of illegal wizardry; we then dispatch Aurors to the location of the wizardry in question, but by the time they arrive all they find are Body Bound Death Eaters who have had their memories Obliviated and one of these calling cards!”

A small grin appeared on Arthur’s face, “Sounds to me that the G.S.F. should be congratulated on their noble work.”

Scrimgeour’s fist slammed against his desk, “I will not have wizards taking the law into their own hands! I will not have the public thinking that the Ministry cannot fight its own battles! Now I ask you again, where are Ron and Ginny!?!”

Now it was Arthur’s face which grew stern, “And I repeat, what do the whereabouts of my two youngest children have to do with anything?”

“Our intelligence sources believe that Harry, Hermione Granger and your youngest children may have ties to the G.S.F.,” said Scrimgeour as he sat back down behind his desk.

Arthur allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips as he also took his seat, “Impossible! Thanks to Harry and his generous nature, the four of them are currently out of the country on an extended holiday. The last time I had contact with them they informed me they were visiting a place in the United States called, “The Magic Kingdom”. I find it strange that I can’t find one reference to this place in any of the Wizarding guide books.”

The Minister clenched his jaw before he spoke, “Why on earth would you allow your children to go overseas unsupervised?”

Arthur began counting off his reasons on his fingers as he spoke, “There are several answers to that question. First, remove them from the war zone. Second, because three of the four of them are now seventeen and are responsible for their own actions and third, with the closing of Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione, along with a vast majority of the students from Gryffindor house have refused to follow the other Hogwarts students in transferring to the other Wizarding academies and to be honest, I don’t blame them.”

The Minister ran his hand down his now tired looking face, as if he were trying to remove his features with a mere wipe. In a resigned voice he spoke,

“Unfortunately, your story checks out. Hermione Granger’s parents have already told us about the trip to the U.S. But understand that the Ministry will be keeping a close eye out for the four of them. Can I expect you, as a member of the Ministry, to do your duty by contacting us the next time you have any contact with them?”

Arthur rose from his seat, his face burning red. It was easy to see where his children had gotten this trait from. He ran his fingers through his red hair before speaking.

“Minister, for all the years I have worked at the Ministry, I have faithfully carried out my duties without complaint! Did everything asked of me without question! Every menial task required of me! I have stood by quietly as many much less qualified wizards have been promoted up the managerial chain with greater speed than I have! When I finally found a job within the Ministry that I took pride in, it got me nothing but ridicule and scorn from my peers, and don’t believe for a second that my family hasn’t felt that ridicule either! Sure I could have easily taken the higher salaries that come with different positions in the Ministry! But I made a decision to not allow this job to interfere with my children or my marriage. I made a conscious decision to place my family at equal footing with my career!”

Arthur stepped up to the Minister’s desk, placed both hands upon it and leaned over until he was eye to eye with Scrimgeour, “But for the first time in my life, I’m going to put my duty to my family ahead of my duty to the Ministry and say this, for the sake of the safety of my children, Harry and Hermione, I will never provide you information regarding their whereabouts or anything else for that matter! The smaller the number of people who know, the better, and if you don’t care for this decision you can go and find yourself another, “Muggle” boy!”

Arthur pulled the name badge from his shirt, threw it to the floor and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him with a flick of his wand. He knew it was most likely the end of his career at the Ministry, but at that point, he just didn’t care anymore.

As he made his way down to his office, he ran his fingers through his hair again as he looked up at the ceiling at nothing unparticular and whispered to himself.

“Whatever you four are doing, you had better be careful because you’re starting to make enemies on both sides of this war and I’m just afraid you’ll have no place to turn if things go bad.”

Arthur then smiled to himself as he wondered if Fred and George would be willing to give their old man a job at their joke shop.

XXXXXXXXXX

Nine figures walked rapidly through the night darkened confines of a park roughly two hours broomstick ride from Diagon Alley. The man who led them looked older than his thirty-two years as there were worry lines around his eyes and his hair was turning a premature gray. He had acquired both due to the events of the last few months.

When he had joined the Death Eaters some time ago he felt on top of the world. The Dark lord had made his return. Albus Dumbledore, the Death Eaters’ biggest foe was no more. Even Hogwarts, that retched school from which he held a useless diploma had been closed down thanks to the actions of the Death Eaters. Yes, it was a very good time to be a Death Eater.

Was, being the operative word. Over the last two months things had suddenly gone sour for the Death Eaters. No one, not even the Dark lord himself, could explain the sudden increase of arrest among the Death Eaters. One day they were performing the evil tasks set before them, the next day they were in Azkaban prison with no memory as to how they had gotten there.

He knew it wasn’t the Aurors who were making these mysterious arrests. The Death Eaters still had a few spies within the Ministry. The reports had said that the Aurors were just as perplexed as the Death Eaters were. So just what the hell was going on?

He had started losing count as to how many times he had heard stories from fellow Death Eaters of how the ghost of Dumbledore was seeking revenge on them for their evil deeds. He refused to acknowledge any of those urban legends. But a small part of him began to fear for his own freedom. Every time he was ordered to carry out a mission it was with a feeling of dread that this time he wouldn’t be returning home.

Now to make matters worse, here he was leading a squad of Death Eaters in escort duty with two new recruits. Hadn’t he done enough of these low ranking details to have earned a place among the elite? He never did like working with foreigners, but there was always safety in numbers.

He had dispatched his squad in a five man circle around the person they were escorting. He sent out the two recruits one hundred meters to the left and right of the circle as a reserve guard. He told himself that he was doing this in case of trouble, but he really did this because the accents on these two were driving him mental.

His footsteps came to a halt when he turned around to survey his people and realized that the rear three members of his squad had disappeared. Leaving only himself, the man they were escorting and the front two guards on his sides. They all turned to the rear when they saw the shocked look on his face.

“Where the blazes did they all go?”

“I don’t know, sir. They were just here a second ago.”

“Well they couldn’t have disappeared into thin air! We would have heard…”

The conversation came to a stop as the sound of a throat clearing caught everyone’s attention. They all turned to find a dark haired young man with shocking green eyes before them. He was dressed completely in black with what looked like a modified shoulder holster for his wand. His hands were on his hips.

“It would be in your best interest to put your wands on the ground and surrender. All I want is the man you’re escorting,” commanded the young wizard.

The leader gave a weak smile, “Now why would I do that when my men and I have you outnumbered three to one.”

The young wizard crossed his arms behind him, “Did you say three? I only see you.”

When the leader turned around again he discovered that the two Death Eaters on his left and right had disappeared as well and the person they were escorting was lying on the ground at the feet of a red headed wizard.

The red headed young man had his arms crossed in front of him as he spoke, “Hey H.J. it looks as if the Death Eaters don’t teach their people how to count.”

The leader pulled his wand as he spun around to face the wizard named H.J., only to find that the wizard had already closed the distance between them. He punched the leader’s extended arm on the inside of the bicep, causing him to drop his wand. He barely had time to yell in pain as the young wizard landed an elbow across his jaw, knocking him senseless.

“Looks like they don’t teach them how to duck either, Slugs,” replied Harry as he snapped the leader’s wand with a stomp of his shoe.

“You just have to love these dim witted escort teams. Did you see the look on the leader’s face when he noticed his rear guard had vanished?” asked Ron through his laughter.

Harry was about to laugh along with him when a green light flashed past his head, exploding on a set a trees behind him. His wand was out instantly as a figure appeared from the dark. He was at least a head taller than Harry and he was holding a staff that was glowing at one end.

Harry stole a quick glance at Ron and noticed that his best friend had his wand drawn as well. Ron was facing in the opposite direction of Harry and was facing a wizard holding a staff as well.

“Well H.J., I guess we’ve found the reserve guard!” yelled Ron as he sprinted forward to meet the new wizard head on, his wand firing spells as he attacked.

“You just be careful, Slugs!” cried Harry as he began blocking a series of spells being fired by the other wizard. Harry’s opponent was wasting no time as he came at him with no hesitation.

Harry dodged the wizard’s last spell as he dropped to one knee and fired in an upward direction, attempting a Disarming spell aimed at his opponent’s wrist. But the wizard simply switched his grip on his staff from a two handed grip to a one handed one, allowing Harry’s spell to pass without landing.

Harry sprang to his feet and fired a stunning spell while simultaneously throwing a fierce side kick towards his rival’s hip. His spell never reached its target, as the wizard blocked it away with his staff. But Harry’s kick landed solidly causing the wizard to stumble to Harry’s right.

Harry decided to help the wizard regain his balance by slamming his right fist into the left cheek of his face. Harry followed his first punch by throwing his left fist at his opponent’s right cheek in an attempt to put him down for the count, when the wizard pulled back causing Harry’s blow to just miss its intended target.

Time seemed to slow down for Harry as his extended swing caused him to lose his balance. The wizard then switched his grip back to a two handed grip and propelled his staff in a upward swing similar to the way Harry remembered watching Muggle Cricket players swing their bats.

The end of the wizard’s staff smashed against the side of Harry’s jaw. He felt not only the pain that the strike caused, but also searing heat throughout his body as sparks emitted from the staff at the point of contact.

Harry could see nothing but stars as he slammed, back first into the ground. Harry had a quick memory pass through his mind of the night Snape blasted him with a spell that made him see stars similar to the ones he was seeing right then.

When Harry’s vision finally cleared a few seconds later, he could see his wand on the ground just out of his reach and the wizard several meters in front of him. Harry tried to reach for his wand but found himself unable to move. Whether it was from the staff strike or from a spell, Harry wouldn’t have time to figure it out. He could only watch helplessly as his adversary walked up to his supine form, his two hands gripping his staff tightly…

XXXXXXXXXX

Ron was amazed at his opponent’s skill with the staff. The man had blocked each of his spells with an ability that would have impressed even Mad-eye Moody himself.

But months of training had taught Ron quite a bit. For one, he learned that it was perfectly all right to be amazed at your enemy’s ability, but not at the cost of your own inactions. Secondly, he learned that when facing an opponent on equal footing it was always best to use your enemy’s greatest strength against him.

What his opponent did not know was while Ron’s rapid fire spell casting was an attempt to put him down; it was also designed to get his opponent to back up into an area surrounded by several small trees. Ron knew that the cluttered area would make it difficult for the Death Eater to swing his staff.

Ron took advantage of the close quarters to step inside the wizard’s next staff swing and land three quick strikes to the Death Eater’s stomach, chest, and shoulder. The wizard stumbled but he managed to get his staff between himself and Ron. He defensively pushed, causing Ron to slam backwards into a tree.

Ron felt the breath escape his lungs as his back hit the small tree. He had only a split second to recover when the Death Eater brought down his staff in a downward swing towards Ron’s head…

…only to have the staff get caught between two thick branches. Ron dropped to his knees to lessen the blow that never came. The wizard’s eyes showed nothing but anger as he began tugging at his staff to get it free.

Ron quickly tapped his wand against a tree root near his right foot. For an instant, the tree came to life, its branches wrapping around his opponent’s staff, locking it in place. The Death Eater refused to release his staff as he placed his foot against the tree in a feeble attempt to free his staff.

It was a stupid mistake, as Ron got to his feet and nailed his opponent in the ribs with a right cross. He quickly followed his strike with several stunning spells, none of which missed.

“Sensei Takahara’s first lesson: Never get overly dependant on your primary weapon!” said Ron, as he knelt by the now unconscious Death Eater and slapped his arm.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry tried in vain to reach for his wand, but the most he could manage was to wiggle his fingers. He desperately hoped that he could repeat what he had done months ago and call the wand to his hand magically, still nothing happened.

The Death Eater stood over Harry; he had a smile of satisfaction on his face as he raised his staff above his head and prepared to smash it on Harry’s face. Harry instinctively wanted to raise his arms to protect himself, but he just couldn’t move.

He could see the tip of the staff glowing red.

The Death Eater had just begun to bring his staff down, when Harry saw two blurs fly over him and slam into the Death Eater.

Now standing in front of the Death Eater were two witches of different heights, but who each had a set of brown eyes that hid none of the fury within them.

Harry felt an overwhelming sense of both worry and anger as he heard a familiar voice scream.

“If you want to kill him you are going to have to go through me!!” screamed Ginny.

“Through us!!” added Hermione

The Death Eater barely had time to get to his feet, when he was suddenly bombarded by a myriad of spells being fired by both of his new opponents. He began twirling his staff in a fast propeller-like motion to knock away each one.

“Oh yeah I.Q., this git is definitely going down!” cried Ginny as she stopped firing spells and sprinted forward.

“Together then, Red, go!!” yelled Hermione.

It was an attack the quartet had perfected with one another over months of training. While Ginny attacked physically, Hermione attacked magically. The Death Eater found himself overwhelmed for as he was getting hit by a spell from one direction; he was also getting hit physically from another.

The Death Eater began losing his footing and was helped the rest of the way to the ground when Ginny performed a leg sweep on him. As he landed on the ground, he held his staff out in front of himself in a defensive posture. Ginny ran up and kicked the wand from his hands into the air…

…where Hermione’s Blasting spell shattered it into a million pieces!

Ginny wasted no time with talk as she Stupified the Death Eater at her feet and ran back to Harry’s side. Hermione was already kneeling by Harry, her wand passing over him.

“H.J., I’ve removed that weak Binding spell he put on you, Let’s see if you can sit up so we can look at your mouth,” said Hermione with a touch of worry in her voice.

As soon as the Binding spell had been removed, Harry felt an intense pain along his jaw line. He sat up slightly and spit up blood as he put his hand to his mouth. He could see the look of concern on Ginny’s face. He made an attempt to tell her he was O.K., but the pain in his mouth made that impossible.

“H.J., I know it might hurt a bit, but could you open your mouth?” asked Hermione as she performed a Lumos charm.

Slowly he opened his mouth as Hermione used her lit wand to survey the damage. Ginny had taken the space behind him, so he could lean against her. She held his left hand in her own as she failed in her attempt to hide the worry in her voice.

“Well I.Q. what do you see?”

“H.J.’s jaw is broken and he’s lost two teeth. Red, give me some more light and let’s see if we can find the missing teeth. I might be able to put them back if we find them quickly enough,” answered Hermione.

Ginny was about to do as she was asked when Harry stopped her by squeezing her hand and opening his now blood covered right hand. In his palm lay the two missing teeth. Hermione conjured a goblet of water from thin air and then levitated the teeth into the water. Ron was just walking up to them as she did this.

“All the Death Eaters are Body Bound and Obliviated. I’ve already sent the owl and left our calling card. We need to get our little prize and ourselves out of here soon. H.J., can you Apparate?” asked Ron.

Ron seemed oblivious to Harry’s injury, but they all knew better. It was the way each of them had been trained to operate in this situation.

Harry nodded that he could Apparate, just as Ron spoke again, “I.Q., we need to Scourgify the area of H.J.’s blood. Don’t leave any trace of our presence here.”

But Hermione was a step ahead of him as she was already performing the cleaning charm. Ginny had just conjured an icepack from thin air and handed it to Harry as she spoke.

“Come on. Let’s all get back to base so we can fix you up properly.”

Harry nodded again as he gingerly put the icepack to his aching jaw and Disapparated.

XXXXXXXXXX

“I ’m telling you, Ginny. Those guys we faced off against tonight were from Durmstrang Academy,” said Ron as he sat in his chair.

He and Ginny were reviewing tonight’s events from the comfort of an enchanted tent purchased by Harry shortly before they began their quest. While Harry had been impressed by the size of the tent Mr. Weasley had rented at the Quidditch World Cup, he had made sure to purchase one quite a bit larger to allow the quartet some privacy whenever they might need it. Even close knit families could use a break from one another once in a while.

“And just how did you figure that one out?” asked Ginny, her eyes going between Ron’s face and the closed door behind him.

“I recognized the way those guys handled their staffs. It was exactly the way the Durmstrang’s did it when they made their entrance the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament,” replied Ron as he watched his sister’s eyes glance at the closed door again.

“Ginny, stop worrying, Harry’s going to be fine. Hermione will fix him up in no time.”

“I know, I know. But I still have a right to worry. How long have they been in there?”

Ron smiled as he took a look at his pocket watch, “Thirty-five minutes and twenty-two seconds. But who’s counting?”

Ginny laughed, “Guess I’m not the only one worrying.”

Ron could hear his sister’s nervous laughter as the events of tonight replayed in his mind. He knew the real reason why she was worried. It wasn’t just because she loved Harry and feared for his life. They all loved one another enough to worry for each other’s lives. The real reason was because for the first time since they started their quest for the Horcruxes someone came close to being either seriously hurt or killed. It was just a reminder to each of them to stay on top of their training. To remain “eternally vigilant” as Moody so frequently reminded them during their training with him.

Ron almost began laughing as a bizarre thought passed through his mind. Ginny saw the change in her brother’s eyes as she asked him what was so funny.

“I was just thinking, the four of us are here in this tent in the middle of nowhere, while at the same time, we’re in Japan in the midst of training.”

“You just have to appreciate those Time Turners,” replied Ginny as the sound of the door opening grabbed her attention.

When Hermione emerged from the room with a satisfied grin on her face, Ron and Ginny knew things were fine. That grin always spoke volumes.

“Between what I remember from my parents’ dental books, and the healing charms we learned from both Tonks and Hogwarts, I was able to reinsert the teeth, stop the bleeding, and reset his jaw. Afterwards, I magically wired his jaw shut. He’ll have to stay that way for about twenty-four hours. By tomorrow he should only have a bruise and a little soreness.”

“Can I go talk to him now?” asked Ginny.

“He’ll be out in a few seconds. He’s just cleaning himself up,” replied Hermione.

“Twenty-four hours without hearing Harry speak…cool!!” Ron joked.

“I ‘eard dat!” said a mumbling voice.

Both ladies threw Ron an icy glare as Harry entered the room. He had the icepack as well as a grin on his face. Ginny gave him a gentle kiss. She felt their connection as he seemed to be silently thanking her for saving his life.

She touched his face, “You don’t have to thank me for saving your life…ever. Harry, you are my life.”

Harry smiled as he turned to Ron. He wanted to speak to him clearly, but with his jaw wired shut that wouldn’t be possible. So he decided to use “Table Talk” to communicate.

“How’s our captive package doing?”

“Still stunned and Body Bound in the other room, I figured we could wait until tomorrow to question him,” answered Ron.

“No way, after all we’ve been through to find him! To find out he was working both sides of the war with both the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix! There’s no way we aren’t questioning him tonight!”

Ron raised both his hands in a sign of surrender, “Easy mate, I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same roll of parchment. Let’s go talk to our boy.”

XXXXXXXXXX

He felt himself being thrown into a hard wooden chair. He would have complained about it, but after hours of being in a full Body Bind and finally being freed, the thought of being placed back into one made him keep his mouth shut. Besides, he still had no idea where he was and he knew he would not have that answer until the hood over his head was finally removed.

He felt a hand grab the top of his head. One second he feared for his life, the next second he was fighting the sudden blindness one gets when going from pitch blackness to bright light as the hood was snatched from his face.

His eyes slowly began coming back into focus. The room he was in was dark, with the exception of what he guessed to be an enchanted candle that was shining in his face. Sitting in front of him with the candle light behind him was a silhouette that he struggled to look at. Finally, when his eyes fully focused, he realized that the only two pieces of furniture in the room were the ones both he and his supposed host were sitting in.

He guessed he was in a questioning chamber, most likely in the Ministry of Magic. His heart raced faster with the thought, as he realized that the Aurors might have finally captured him and that he would end up spending the rest of his life in Azkaban, paying for all his crimes.

His fear of being captured changed to that of surprise, when the silhouette leaned forward in his chair and looked him dead in the eyes. There was no mistaking the emerald green in them. Before he could say Harry’s name, he found himself surprised once again as three more figures stepped out of the darkness.

Standing before him now were four people he had known for a few years. Seeing them brought a brief moment of joy to his heart. He was safe and these were the youngsters who had most likely rescued him. But that moment disappeared to be replaced by an ominous sense of dread as he looked into all their faces.

The looks on their teenage faces were deadpan, bordering on looks of disgust. His dread doubled as he realized that these four were not his rescuers. Harry’s eyes seem to be burning holes through him as he began timidly speaking.

“H-H-Harry, its…it’s…really good to see you…you, and…and Ron and Hermione…a-and Ginny. T-T-Thank you for rescuing me from those Death Eat…”

Ron cut the sentence short, “Save it Mundungus! We know as well as you do that you weren’t a prisoner of the squad we snatched you from tonight, that was an escort detail and you were the one they were protecting.”

“We’ve been capturing groups like that for the last two months,” chimed Ginny.

Mundungus’ eyes went wide with fright, “You mean it’s been you four that have been responsible for all the Death Eater arrests!?!”

“And we’re going to be responsible for a whole lot more before this war is over!” answered Ron as he leaned forward to bring himself eye level with Mundungus.

Mundungus had no idea that Harry’s jaw was wired shut. So Harry decided to use his silence to his advantage. He continued to stare down Mundungus while the others questioned him. Harry’s stare seemed to be having the effect he wanted because he could see Mundungus avoiding his stare as sweat began to run down his temples as well.

“So how long have you been working with the Death Eaters?” Hermione asked.

“Not very long, about three weeks,” replied Mundungus.

“He’s lying!” yelled Ron and Ginny in unison.

“I agree. You are lying. Just to let you know the four of us are trained in Legilimency. You can’t lie to us.” said Hermione.

Mundungus gave a nervous chuckle, “Legilimency? How is that possible? That skill requires a significant amount of training to learn…”

“Enough!” screamed Ginny as she stepped up to Mundungus, grabbed his face and forced him to look her in the eyes.

“Now, try not to think of the first time you worked with the Death Eaters,” said Ginny as her eyes took on a seriousness that no one in the room had ever seen before.

Mundungus struggled to break free of Ginny’s grasp. But after a few futile seconds, his body stopped moving. Harry realized that Ginny had a frightening side he was more than happy not to see very often.

After several moments, Ginny released her grip. There were tears pooling in Mundungus’ eyes as the look in Ginny’s eyes went from a deadpan stare to one of complete anger, as she reached over and slapped the old man across his face. She instantly felt Harry’s disagreement for having struck him but before Harry could project something more she turned to Harry and said,

“He deserved that, Harry! He’s been working with the Death Eaters as far back as the beginning of your fifth year! He was paid off by them to abandon his post the day the Dementors attacked you and your cousin Dudley!”

At the telling of this news, Ron’s face went red with anger, “You money hungry git! Do you have any idea what nonsense Harry went through to keep from being sent to Azkaban, simply for defending himself that day!?!”

Ron started to close the distance between himself and a now completely frightened Mundungus, when Hermione stepped in front of him. She found herself thankful that she was not the focus of his anger as Ron’s height and weight always came to full fruition whenever he was angry.

“No Ron, he isn’t worth it…stop…please,” pleaded Hermione as she reached up and touched Ron’s face.

The gesture worked as the color left Ron’s face.

Mundungus attempted to speak, “Thank you Miss Granger. I really appre…”

But Hermione was having none of it as she got right to the point, “Shut it Mundungus! Ginny, what other information about the Death Eaters were you able to garner from him?”

“Not much else. They’ve been keeping him out of the loop. I don’t think they’ve ever fully trusted him. Not that I blame them,” replied Ginny as she laid her hand on Harry’s shoulder.

Hermione turned her eyes towards Mundungus, “During our fifth year, while we were all spending time at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black threw out many family heirlooms, which we have on good authority you somehow acquired.”

Mundungus timidly nodded in understanding.

Hermione continued, “We need to know the whereabouts of a locket which cannot be opened.”

Mundungus’ eyes gave off confusion as Hermione finished her sentence. She knew instantly that his confusion was genuine as she pulled the fake locket from her back pocket and spoke once again.

“It looks exactly like this. Now, where is it?

He squinted at the locket in her hands for a half a minute or so before he spoke, “It’s no longer in my possession. I sold it shortly before the end of the Hogwarts school year.”

“And how do you remember exactly when you sold it?” asked Ron who was looking as if he would lose his temper again.

“I remember exactly when I sold it because the couple that purchased it from me mentioned wanting a surprise gift for their child, who just happened to be graduating from Hogwarts,” replied Mundungus in the calmest tone his voice had had since he started answering questions.

“So do you remember the name of the couple you sold it to?” asked Ginny.

He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes going left and right, as if willing himself to remember the information, “They were nice people…Irish accents…which I found strange as they were oriental. Chong was the name…no wait…it was Chang…the last name of the couple was definitely Chang.”

The silence that hung in the room was almost deafening as Harry got to his feet.

“Did I say something wrong?” asked Mundungus as the worry seemed to creep back into his voice.

“No you didn’t,” replied Hermione as Harry, Ron and Ginny left the room.

Fear danced in the old man’s eyes, “So what happens now? Are you going to kill me for selling jewelry?”

“No, what we are going to do is turn you over to the authorities,” replied Hermione.

Relief passed over him as he began ranting, “Oh thank you Hermione, thank you. I knew you children have always had good hearts. You have my word I won’t tell anyone about you four. Your secret is safe with me. I promise you.”

Hermione pulled her wand, “I know you won’t.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Hermione entered the tent’s main living area to find the others sitting quietly. She was just putting away her wand as she began speaking.

“He’s stunned again and I’ve Obliviated his memories regarding seeing us, as well as any memories associated with the locket. Do any of you doubt the veracity of his story regarding what he did with the locket?”

The four friends merely shook their heads. They had all read Mundungus’ thoughts perfectly and they agreed he was quite honest concerning the locket’s location.

“We need to find the Changs, right now. We need to get over to their house and find Cho. After two months of searching we need to get to that locket.”

As soon as Harry had finished “Table Talking” he felt a mixture of apprehension and something else that he couldn’t put his finger on. He knew the feelings didn’t come from within him, but from the connection he shared with Ginny. But when he turned to face her she quickly avoided his eyes.

“Easy Harry, it’s almost sunrise and none of us has rested. Besides, you know as well as I do that its best if we keep our movements restricted to after nightfall. Don’t worry, we’ve waited this long to get our hands on the locket. We can wait another twelve hours,” said Ron as he tried to break up the uneasy silence.

“I suggest we all get some rest. After nightfall Ron and I will transport Mundungus to the authorities and then we can all head over to the Chang residence together,” added Hermione as the four friends made their way to bed and a much deserved rest.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had just set as two lone figures sat in the rear of a small Muggle church. The evening’s service had just concluded as the pair watched the church’s clergyman ushering the last of the congregation from the church.

“Alastor, are you sure you read the letter correctly? Are you sure this is the location that they wanted to meet us at?” asked Tonks as she surveyed the area and once again made an all too obvious attempt to steal a glance at Mad-eye Moody’s face.

Moody couldn’t help but grin at Tonks’ reaction to his face. She had never seen him “Muggle-down” his appearance before. Gone was the metallic foot, and in its place was a plastic prosthetic. His walking staff was replaced with a simple wooden cane. But the thing Tonks couldn’t stop looking at was the plain black eye patch which Moody had used to replace his magical eye. Tonks had changed her hair color to match that of Moody’s, so that all anyone who looked their way would see was a daughter escorting her father to church.

“Yes Tonks, I’m quite sure we’re in the right place. The letter that the small hyperactive owl gave me was quite specific about where we needed to be. What’s got you so spooked that you can’t keep still?”

“Sorry, but it’s always been you that’s preached “eternal vigilance”, but here you are sitting in this place without your magical eye to keep watch. How can you be so calm?” replied Tonks.

“Let’s just say that I know this place is safe. Besides, I have you to keep me safe,” said Moody with a smile on his face.

A voice from behind both Tonks and Moody drew their attention, “A vast me hardies! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Where’s your parrot, Alastor?” replied the laughing clergyman.

“Oh shut it Ronald!” replied Moody as he shook Father Kavanaugh’s hand.

“So Alastor, are you going to keep the young lady worrying about her location or are you going to introduce me. I have heard nothing but good things about her.”

“Father Ronald Kavanaugh, this is Nymphadora Tonks. The good Father here is a long time member of the Order,”

“Nice to meet you Father, so I have to assume that you know why Long John Silver and I are here?”

Father Kavanaugh started laughing again, “Oh I definitely like her, Alastor. If you mean if I had received an owl regarding a meeting here, then yes Tonks, I did as well. It’s the reason why I ushered my congregation out of the church as quickly as I did. So where are they?”

“If we trained them well, and I know we did, they should be arriving here in a matter of moments,” stated Moody as he glanced at his pocket watch.

As if on cue, the sound of three large cracks reverberated off the walls of the church. Appearing in front of them were Ron, Hermione and a Body Bound Mundungus Fletcher. The two young wizards had their wands drawn in case of trouble. Yes, they definitely had been trained well.

“Wotcher Hermione! Wotcher Ron!” cried Tonks as she walked over to Hermione and gave her a huge hug.

Father Kavanaugh and Moody’s eyes went wide with surprise as Moody exclaimed, “You managed to grab up Mundungus from whatever rock he was under? I’m impressed.”

“Yeah, he was playing both sides of the war for the highest bidder,” said Ron.

Ron walked up to his former instructor and shook his hand, “So were you planning on making us walk the plank if we disappointed you?”

Father Kavanaugh started laughing so hard he had to sit down in one of the pews to keep from falling over.

Moody shook his head, “That’s it, no more disguises for me ever again.”

Hermione broke up the laughter as she spoke, “Mundungus was paid off to abandon his post before Harry’s fifth year and I’m sure he had a hand in sending those Dementors after us a few months ago as well.”

“Harry requested putting him under Azkaban prison or something equally evil. So is there any news from home?” asked Ron.

“Ron your dad and Hermione’s parents were questioned regarding your whereabouts. Far as the Ministry’s knows you four are still in the United States,” said Tonks as she checked the Body Bound Mundungus.

“My dad is probably still driving himself mental trying to find information on the Magic Kingdom,” said Ron as he laughed.

“Weasley, your father quit his job over all the questioning,” said Moody.

The smile disappeared off of Ron’s face.

Tonks walked over to Ron and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “I talked to him earlier today. He said not to worry, with just he and Molly in the house the finances won’t be stretched as far as they used to be. Moreover, he said he needed some time to repair the gaping hole on the side of the house.”

“Ron, God never closes one door without opening another,” added Father Kavanaugh.

Hermione walked over and gave Ron’s hand a squeeze. He looked at her and gave her a quick grin. He would try to not worry as his dad wished, but he knew it would take him a while to deal with it.

“We really need to get going,” said Ron flatly as he held hands with Hermione.

“It was good seeing you two again. Give my best to Harry and Ginny,” said Tonks as she gave both Ron and Hermione a quick hug.

“Good seeing you all as well. Thank you for allowing all of us to meet here tonight, Father,” said Hermione.

“No worries, Hermione. As I’ve said before, this place is always available to you,” replied Father Kavanaugh.

And with a loud sounding crack, Ron and Hermione Disapparated

Father Kavanaugh turned toward Moody, “Ron looked a little shook up at the news. Do you think he’ll be all right?”

“One way or the other, he had better be. The war is starting to really heat up and those four are at the center of it all. They’re going to need to have their heads in the right place,” answered Moody, as he and Tonks prepared to move the body of Mundungus.

XXXXXXXXXX

For Harry, the sun could not go down fast enough. Even with Ginny by his side, he had the most fitful sleep he had had in over six months. This was for a combination of reasons; the soreness in his jaw, which thanks to Hermione was healing very nicely. The next was his hunger, which thanks to his jaw being wired shut made it impossible to eat anything that was not liquefied, and he was in no mood for a drink of bacon and eggs.
Lastly, it was his anxiousness of being so close to one of his goals. Especially this one, as it was the one goal that had gotten Albus Dumbledore murdered.

Nothing seemed to quench Harry’s impatience. Not his daily run, not studying in the small library section of his tent, not even reviewing Dumbledore journal, which he was in the midst of doing for what seemed the tenth time today. Ginny had been with him the entire day. She had shown him patience that would have made her mother proud. But when Harry began pacing again, Ginny patience ended.

“For the love of Merlin! Would you relax please? Ron and Hermione will be back as soon as they drop off Mundungus, then we we’ll be on our way to the Changs,” said Ginny as she stopped Harry short by grabbing his shoulders.

A sexy smile came across Ginny face as she traced her finger across his chest, “Besides, I have a better idea how we can pass the time.”

Harry’s face blushed as he returned her smile, “How?”

She rose up on her toes and came within a centimeter of his lips, when she pulled back and said, “The Pit!”

“Damn,” thought Harry as he allowed Ginny to lead him by his hand.

A few minutes later found Harry and Ginny in an area of the tent they had furnished to look like the sparring room of the castle they owned in Japan. One of the main things that was stressed to them during training was to continually strive to better their skills each and everyday through practice.

So it had become an unwritten rule with the quartet that if someone requested time in, “The Pit”, the request could not be turned down. It guaranteed they would always stay in shape.

The exercise that Ginny chose for them was one of her personal favorites. Drawn in the middle of the sparring mat were two medium size concentric circles. The rules of the exercise were simple; disarm, incapacitate, or cause your opponent to step out of the circles. The exercise was designed to perfect close quarter dueling, as well as balance.

When the quartet started performing this exercise with one another, fights would end in less than a minute. But over a period of time the quartet’s skills had progressed so well that exercises would end up lasting much, much longer.

The match up between Harry and Ginny was no different as neither could get an edge. Each strike was met with a block, each spell with a counter spell. Each wrist lock met with the counter to break the lock. Every move with a wand, dodged or blocked away. The entire time neither set of feet could be moved from its circle.

After several minutes more of hand to hand combat, Ginny surprised Harry by stepping into his circle and executing a flawless arm drag takedown. But as Harry fell to the mat he returned her surprise by grabbing her around the waist and using his weight to twist her and cause her to fall at the same time.

Harry ended up on top of her with his wand in her face, “Looks like I win this one.”

“I would call it a tie,” replied Ginny, as she showed him that his opposite hand had fallen out of the circle.

“Fair enough,” replied Harry as he grabbed the back of Ginny’s head and pulled her into a kiss.

Ginny broke the kiss a few moments later, “I can still feel your impatience. Just relax, they’ll be back soon.”

Harry reached over and held Ginny’s hand in his own, “I know…I know! It’s just that we’re so close. I guess I’m just afraid if we don’t get to it right now that it just might slip from our fingers once again.”

Harry was suddenly struck with the same mixed feelings of apprehension and something else, which he finally recognized as jealousy. The source of both feelings being Ginny, he knew it through the connection they shared. He had felt it just after Mundungus’ interrogation, but he chose to ignore it then. But he couldn’t anymore, not when they were about to go out on another mission. He just realized that to talk to her about it, he would most likely have to get through the “Weasley Stubborn Streak”.

But before Harry could say anything, Ginny spoke up first, “Are you sure that’s the real reason why you’re so anxious? That maybe you aren’t a little anxious to see Cho?”

Harry’s eyes and their connection gave away his hurt at those questions, “Is that what’s been bothering you? You’re worried about Cho? We broke up over a year and a half ago! Don’t you get it…I love you!”

Ginny’s eyes held his gaze for a second before she looked at the floor, “You’re right, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. It’s just so hard trying to think that I’m not second choice with you.”

“For a long time I made the mistake of doing that to you. But that’s just not the case anymore. You’re my first, second and third choice from now until the day I die. I promise I will never do that to you again.”

Harry felt the bad feelings within her drain away as he leaned down and kissed her again, “You know we could keep doing this until Ron and Hermione return.”

Ginny’s answer was to caress his face as she kissed him again.

Moments later, a soft voice broke up the kiss, “Sorry to break up what seems to be a very interesting sparring session, but we’re back.”

Harry sprang to his feet as if jolted by electricity, “Hi…how did it go?”

“Mundungus is on his way to the Ministry as we speak,” replied Hermione, her face slightly blushing for having walked in on Harry and Ginny.

“Ron, what’s wrong?” asked Ginny as she noticed Ron avoiding her eyes.

“The Ministry has been asking questions about all of us. Dad quit his job over it,” replied Ron as his eyes met hers.

“I want to feel bad about that news, I really do. But a huge part of me is glad he quit. Dad never got the respect among his peers that he deserved. He may never have spoken about it, but I could tell that it bothered him from time to time,” replied Ginny and she gave her brother a hug.

“Don’t sweat it for now, mate. Your mum and dad have always struck me as very resourceful. Trust me, things will work out. I’m sure of it,” said Harry as he gave his best friend a reassuring smile.

“Besides, we’ve got the address of the Chang residence in Ireland. Let’s get busy setting up our Portkey so we can get going,” added Hermione a she led everyone out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Just under an hour later found the quartet Portkeying into a clearing roughly five hundred meters from the home of Cho Chang. The weather matched the time of year as it was rather cold and lightly snowing.

“You’ve just got to love Ireland in the winter. Oh, I meant to say in the winter and in the dark!” exclaimed Ron as the quartet performed Lumos charms.

“Shut it Slugs! The house should be that way. Let’s all take a cue from H.J. and keep quiet until we get to the house,” ordered Ginny as she pointed in the direction of a set of dull lights.

Ron shot his sister a dirty look, but he understood that what she was saying was their regular procedure when approaching an unknown area.

A few minutes later found them all at the front door of a very nice two story home. It was bigger than Uncle Vernon’s home and looked a lot more inviting than any home on Privet Drive ever would.

Harry timidly knocked on the door. A small part of him hoped that he wasn’t disturbing family dinner or something as equally important. Heck, he just hoped he wasn’t disturbing them at all. It hadn’t even occurred to him what he would even say to Cho when and if he finally saw her. The two of them had not parted on good terms and it had been the better half of two years since they spoke…

“Harry? Harry is that you?” said the familiar soft voice, her head poking out of the door.

“Hullo Chu,” replied Harry through his wired jaw.

Cho glanced at Harry and his three companions and quickly invited them inside. She ushered them into the living area and disappeared into the kitchen. She returned with mugs of hot chocolate levitating behind her.

Cho caused the mugs to distribute themselves among her four guests as she spoke, “Harry, what are you doing here and what’s wrong with your mouth?”

Harry pulled his wand and removed the Wiring charm on his jaw, “Quidditch accident, it had to be wired shut for a bit. But I’m O.K. now.”

“By the way, hello,” said Ron.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners. Hello Ron, Hermione…”

Harry saw Cho’s eyes go from Ron’s to Hermione’s with friendly warmth. But when her eyes and the eyes of Ginny met, Harry felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped below freezing. Cho’s eyes took on a cold glare that Ginny’s eyes matched.

“Weasley.”

“Chang.”

Ron bent over and whispered into Hermione’s ear, “What is it with those two? They’re not still at odds over Harry, are they?”

“Ron, think about it. These two have a rivalry that goes beyond Harry. They’ve dated some of the same boys, faced off against one another at D.A. meetings, played Seeker against one another in two championship Quidditch matches, not to mention Harry having asked Cho to the Yule Ball before Ginny. No, it’s not just because of Harry. He’s just the culmination of it all.”

Harry’s voice broke up the uncomfortable silence, “Cho, you know about the death of my godfather Sirius Black?”

Cho reached over and touched Harry’s knee, “I heard about that, I’m so sorry.”

Harry continued, “Thank you. Well, the Black family estate was passed on to me according to Sirius’ will.”

“That’s fantastic Harry. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” replied Cho with a questioning look.

“I was just getting to that. Recently, I got word that a man by the name of Mundungus Fletcher had been stealing Black family heirlooms from the Black estate. The Aurors that captured him were able to get a list of the things he had stolen and who he sold them to.”

Harry pulled the fake locket from his pocket and showed it to Cho, “The Aurors informed me that Mundungus sold a locket like this one to your parents. They had told him it was a gift for you. Do you have it?”

Cho took the locket from Harry’s hand. She examined both sides of the locket and handed it back to him, “My parents never gave me a locket like this.”

As soon as the words left Cho’s mouth, Ginny felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. An unwanted feeling touched her heart that she could not quite recognize.

Ginny struggled to her feet, “You’re lying! You have that locket! Your parent did give it to you!”

Cho got to her feet and began closing the distance between herself and Ginny, “You have the nerve to come into my house and accuse me of lying!”

Harry jumped to his feet and held Cho back. Ron had taken Harry’s cue and did the same with his sister.

Ginny fought to get past her brother, “Accusing you, no. I’m flat out calling you a liar. If you don’t have the locket, where are your parents so we can ask them!?!”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but my parents are away on business!” screamed Cho as she pushed against Harry’s arms.

“You’re lying again!”

Ginny finally broke free of her brother only to be caught by Harry. She felt a small amount of pain as he grabbed her tightly about the arms.

“Ginny, get outside and cool off! You don’t have the right to accuse Cho of lying!” screamed Harry as he tightened the grip on her arms.

Harry looked into Ginny’s eyes and tried to reach her through their connection. But Harry felt her shut the connection off, like one would blow out a candle. It was as if it wasn’t there anymore.

Ginny felt a level of rage, anger, and betrayal towards Harry, the likes of which she had never felt before. After everything he had told her, after all they had been through. He still took Cho’s side over hers. When she looked at Harry all she could see was the color red. A level of disgust formed inside her that made her sprint from the house before anyone could call her name.

“You know, that’s a pretty good idea. Why don’t you all leave,” said Cho.

Harry turned to Cho, “Cho wait, I apolo…”

But Cho cut him off, “Get out of my house! NOW!!”

Harry, Hermione and Ron quickly left and caught up to Ginny, who was pacing in the snow in front of their Portkey. Harry reached for Ginny’s hand, but she slapped it away. She turned her back on him and walked away.

Hermione caught up to her best friend and touched her shoulder, “Ginny, don’t be angry with Harry…”

“Cho was lying, Hermione! About the locket and her parents!” there were tears pooling in Ginny’s eyes as she screamed this.

“I know she was, Ginny. We all knew she was. But we also knew that we weren’t going to get any closer to the locket if we threw her lies in her face,” replied Hermione.

“Which is exactly what you did, you tipped our hand! Now we’re no closer to finding it!” yelled Ron.

Ron took a calming breath and turned to Harry, “So what do we do now?”

“One of us stays here and keeps an eye on the house. You bring your Omnioculars in your backpack?” asked Harry.

“Of course I did…Aw man! Why do I have to be the one who stays?” replied Ron as he kicked the snow in frustration.

Hermione walked over and whispered in Ron’s ear, “I think it would be best if you stayed. Harry and Ginny need to talk about whatever is bothering her and I should be around in case she needs a woman’s point of view.”

“Fair enough, but what am I going to do about a Portkey if I have to get to you three in a hurry?”

Hermione smiled, pulled her wand and a Silver Sickle from her pocket, performed a charm on it and then handed it back to Ron.”

“Just tap the coin once with your wand to activate it. Do you still remember how to do Warming charms?” asked Hermione.

“Yes,” was Ron’s short reply as Hermione gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Ron was busy performing his first Warming charm and setting up his look-out station, when he heard the Portkey flash away his three companions.

XXXXXXXXXX


Th e atmosphere in the tent was filled with nothing but tension. Ginny would not listen to Harry regardless of what he said. So Hermione asked Harry to give her some time alone with Ginny. Hermione spent the better part of three hours trying to get through to her best friend, but Ginny just didn’t want to hear any of it.

Harry paced in his bedroom, his anxiety getting the better of him, but anxiety from what? Being close to the locket and not getting it or the thought of Ginny hating him for no good reason. Harry could feel weariness from lack of sleep getting to him as Ginny entered the bedroom.

“Ginny, whatever I did I’m sorry,” said Harry as he sat at the foot of the bed.

Ginny looked at Harry. There was a mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes, “How could you do it? You promised me you wouldn’t, but you did it anyway.”

“What exactly did I do?”

“You said after everything we went through, that you would never treat me as second choice again. But as soon as I accused Cho of lying, that’s exactly what you did!”

Now it was Harry’s eyes which showed hurt, “Ginny, you have to know the only reason I did that was to get Cho to think that we didn’t know she was lying.”

Ginny walked past him and picked up a pillow and blanket, “I want to believe you, and I really do. But my heart just won’t let me.”

Harry jumped in front of Ginny and shoved the fake locket in her face, “Then maybe your heart will listen to this. I didn’t go there tonight to see Cho. When I look at her I feel nothing. I went there tonight to recover the real locket. Whenever I look at this fake one, all I feel is pain. I can’t wait for the day I can toss this one away. I just know that when I finally get my hands on the real one, I won’t just recover one of the Horcruxes, but a piece of me that I lost the night Professor Dumbledore was murdered.”

For a brief second, Ginny’s eyes looked as if she felt Harry’s pain, but she quickly turned away and started for the bedroom door, “I just need some time alone. I’m going to sleep in the other room tonight.”

The emotion in Harry’s voice stopped Ginny in her tracks, but she did not turn to face him, “Tell me what I can do to make things right between us? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know, Harry. To be honest, I don’t think things between us will ever be right again.”

The fake locket slipped from Harry’s hand as he watched Ginny leave.

“Good night, my wi…”

But Harry could not finish his sentence, as the emptiness in his heart caused his tears to fall.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hours later found Ron performing his tenth Warming charm. While the snow had stopped falling, the temperature had not. Ron was steadily cursing the fates for leaving him in this predicament. He kept thinking about Harry, Hermione and Ginny back at the tent and Cho in her house all warm and cozy. He did a quick check of the house through his Omnioculars and saw that all was silent as there was no movement in or around the house.

A soft voice caused Ron to jump. He turned and drew his wand, only to come face to face with his sister.

“Sorry Ron, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you could use some company,” said Ginny as she handed her brother a mug of hot chocolate.

Ron gladly accepted the mug and took a sip, “Thanks, I take it that if you’re here, that you and Harry are O.K. again.”

Ginny ignored the question, “So has there been any activity in the house?”

“No it’s been as quiet…as quiet…as qu…”

Ron never finished his sentence, as he passed out.

“No Ron, Harry and I are not O.K. I don’t think that will ever be the case again,” said Ginny, as she performed a Warming charm on her brother and then made her way towards the house.

XXXXXXXXXX

Several minutes later, Ginny was at the back door of the house. A quick Alohamora charm put Ginny inside.

The house seemed to only be candlelit, but it was enough for what Ginny needed to do. She quietly started checking every area of the house. She had grown up accustomed to hiding things from her brothers, so there was not a place Cho could hide the locket where she wouldn’t be able to find it.

After a long search of the first floor turned up nothing, Ginny decided to try and bring up a three dimensional image of the house before searching the second floor. She pulled her wand and chanted to herself. She knew it would take longer to conjure the image because she did not know the complete layout of the house.

Her image was almost complete when…

“Expelliarmus!!”

Ginny was slammed by the spell and thrown solidly into a bookcase. She felt the air leave her lungs, as her wand was flung from her hand.

“I’d ask why you’re here again, but I already know the answer to that question.”

It took a few seconds for Ginny to catch her breath. She lifted her head to find Cho standing over her. She had her wand pointed at Ginny’s face.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist coming back to look for the locket,” said Cho as she backed away from Ginny.

“No, I came back to prove you were lying,” answered Ginny as she slowly got to her feet.

“No, you came back to get the locket for your little “Boy-Toy” Harry. So how do you like having my leftovers?” mocked Cho.

“I could ask the same of you when it comes to Michael Corner,” replied Ginny, as she searched the room for her wand and found it dangerously out of reach.

“Enough of the verbal sparring, would you like to know the real reason why you’re here?” asked Cho.

“By all means, please tell me,” said Ginny flatly.

“You’re here because the locket called you here. Earlier tonight didn’t you feel something you felt before, say right around your first year at Hogwarts?” asked Cho.

Ginny felt sick to her stomach again as the answer to Cho’s question hit her. It was the same way she felt when the power of the diary tried to take her over.

“The power of the locket has been manipulating your behavior and judgment since it sensed you. It would have been more than happy to have me, but when it felt your presence, the power contained inside you, the residue of power from your earlier contact with an object of the same source, it had to have you,” said Cho in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.

Ginny didn’t like where this conversation was going. She liked it even less when she looked at Cho and saw that her eyes had gone from their normal brown to glowing red.

Ginny knew with her training that she was close enough to Cho to have to dodge maybe only once before being able to step into arm’s length and disarm Cho. She could hear Sensei Takahara’s voice telling her that it was always best to act than to remain a victim.

Ginny set her feet, “So where are your pare…”

Ginny moved swiftly. She followed the movement of Cho’s wand, but was surprised when she never fired a spell. Ginny used a combination of a wrist lock and an arm strike to disarm Cho. The wand flew from Cho’s hand.

Ginny turned on her heel to throw her left fist into Cho’s jaw, and knock her unconscious, but it suddenly felt as if her arms were made of lead, her feet felt as if they were mired in cement. The feeling of sickness and dizziness were even stronger than before. She struggled to keep her eyes open.

“No Weasley, you silly little girl, there will be no escape this time. No last minute heroics by, “The Boy-Who-Lived”. This time you will succumb,” said Cho.

Ginny fought one last time to move her body. But it was no use, it was as if her body had disconnected from her brain. She fought in vain to push back the dizziness, but to no avail as the room felt as if it were spinning.

She watched helplessly as Cho unbuttoned her shirt to reveal the locket. It was brightly glowing crimson. She watched as Cho removed the chain and locket from around her neck. Ginny could see her getting ready to place the jewelry on her.

“Goodbye Weasley,” taunted Cho as she placed the locket around Ginny’s neck.

As soon as the locket was settled around her neck, Ginny could feel the darkness overwhelming her. It was like the essence of what made her who she was, was being pushed away. Ginny legs felt rubbery, as she fell backwards.

As she finally slipped into the all consuming blackness, Ginny heard herself inwardly screaming one thing.

“Harry!”

XXXXXXXXXX


Harry awoke and sat upright in his bed. His heart was pounding in his chest. He could have sworn he heard a voice calling for him out of sheer panic. The voice sounded just like,

“Ginny!”

Harry sprang from his bed and made a straight line for the spare bedroom where he knew Ginny was sleeping. He was hoping to hear the sound of her angry voice telling him to get out, but when he opened the door to an empty bedroom his heart rate increased again.

He sprinted to Hermione’s bedroom and pounded on her door. Seconds later, Hermione flung open the door, a tired look on her face.

“What is it Harry?”

“It’s Ginny, she’s gone! I was sleeping and heard her scream my name!” answered Harry as he ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous manner.

Hermione quickly brought up image of the surrounding area, “She isn’t outside either. It’s just you and me here.”

Harry strained his brain to try and remember anything else from his dream. But all he remembered was the sound of Ginny’s scream.

“I have an idea where she might have gone. You know I really love Ginny, but her stubborn streak can rival Ron’s at times,” stated Hermione.

“You think she headed for Cho’s, don’t you?”

“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s get dressed and meet back here in five minutes,” said Hermione as she sprinted for her room.

Harry returned five minutes later. He was once more dressed again in black. He was just tightening up the modified shoulder holster for his wand. Hermione was also dressed in black. Harry grinned as it was good to see that Hermione made use of the wand holster he had given her as a gift.

His grin fell away as Hermione had just finished conjuring up another Portkey.

“Let’s just hope that Ron was able to intercept her,” said Hermione as she took hold of the Portkey.

Harry’s reply was a quick nod as he also grabbed the Portkey.

The iron pot shook slightly and in a flash they were gone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hermione’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Ron’s unmoving body on the ground where they had left him only hours before. There was a spilled mug of hot chocolate next to him and his wand was still in its holster.

“Slugs, no!” yelled Hermione as she ran up and knelt by Ron’s side.

Harry ran his wand over Ron’s body and then physically checked his pulse, “He’s fine. Looks like someone slipped him something in that mug, most likely a Dreamless Sleep potion.”

Hermione performed an Internal Cleansing spell on Ron’s body. As soon as she finished, Ron’s eyes popped open.

“Hermi…I.Q.?” Ron corrected himself as he realized he may have woken up in a combat situation.

“Slugs, what happened?” asked a relieved looking Harry.

Ron sat up, “Red is what happened. I can’t believe my own sister slipped me a potion.”

“Red has a lot to answer for. Let’s get to the house,” said Harry.

The three of them got to their feet as Ron spoke, “Well you can just wait on line because I’m first. When I get my hands on her, she’s going to be short a few freckles.”

Several minutes later found Ron, Harry and Hermione storming Cho’s home. A fast search of the first floor turned up nothing until they entered the last room. It was a library with a few bookcases in disarray and a body lying on the floor.

“H.J., it’s Cho!” yelled Ron.

Hermione checked Cho’s body; she laid Cho’s head on her lap and then gave the former D.A. member a good slap to her face. Cho woke up instantaneously, taking in a deep breath as she sat up.

Cho looked at the three companions, “Harry, Hermione, Ron? What are you all doing here?”

Hermione grabbed Cho’s hands, “We’re here to help. Do you remember seeing Ginny Weasley?”

Cho looked puzzled, “Ginny? I don’t remember seeing any of you since the end of the school year.”

“What’s the last thing you do remember?” asked Harry.

Cho closed her eyes, “I remember my parents being very proud of me and giving me a gift for graduation. It was a pretty silver locket and then…nothing.”

Cho suddenly seemed frightened, “What day is it? Where are my parents? Mum! Dad!”

Hermione and Harry tried to calm Cho down as Ron brought up an image of the house and the surrounding grounds. Inwardly, he prayed that the image didn’t show any dead bodies.

Cho seemed astonished, “Mapping charms? Most seventh years can’t perform those properly. How can you…”

But Ron ignored her, “These four blue dots represent us here in the library.”

Cho almost screamed, “”But those two red dots in the cellar! Are those my…”

Several tense moments later found the four of them searching the cellar. Four Lumos lit wands broke the darkness. At first the cellar seemed filled with useless clutter, but then…

“Mum!! Dad!!”

Cho was in tears as Hermione checked the bodies, “There in Body Binds but also in very deep comas. I can break the spells but it’s going to be a while before they fully recover; they’re both very malnourished.”

“Please help me get them to their bed. I’ve got nothing but time to watch over them,” pleaded Cho.

XXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Ron and Harry sat in the kitchen in silence. Ron helped himself to a glass of pumpkin juice while they waited. Harry could feel the worry eating up his insides.

When Hermione and Cho entered, Cho had a relieved look on her face as Hermione started speaking, “It will be a long road for them, but with Cho watching over them, they’ll make a full recovery.”

“That’s good, but now we’re back to our original problem. Where’s the locket and where’s Ginny?” said Ron.

Harry replayed Ginny’s scream in his mind again. He could remember it clearly and it frightened him every time he heard it. Her voice sounded as if it were shrinking away, as if she was disappearing.

Hermione’s voice snapped Harry from his morbid thoughts, “Harry what about your connection with Ginny, can’t you sense her?”

“Of course, come on Harry, what’s the use of knowing what your soul mate is feeling if you can’t use it to your advantage,” added Ron.

Cho seemed intrigued when she heard this.

“That’s the problem! She shut herself off from our connection when we got into the argument about Cho! There is no connection! I can’t track her! I can’t feel her!” screamed Harry, his lack of confidence threatening to overwhelm him.

Ron and Hermione were silent. They were all out of options. It was then a small hand took a hold of Harry’s, and gave it a squeeze.

Harry looked up to see Cho standing in front of him, “When Cedric died, I spent a lot of time by myself. In that time I did a lot of reading regarding evidence of life after death and of the effect death has on relationships. I ran across one book which struck a cord with me. I was reminded of it when Ron mentioned Ginny as your soul mate.”

Everyone in the room grew quieter as Cho continued, “The author said that a majority of soul mates never recognize one another. That it takes an event to trigger a connection, something rather traumatic. That in these very rare cases a bond is formed where it’s like two souls becomes one. The author went on to say that it would take something equally traumatic for this bond to be broken. Basically he stated nothing short of death could sever the bond.”

“Ginny may have turned her back on the connection, but she could never sever the bond that you two share. You can reach her; you just have to open yourself fully to it.”

Harry looked at Cho, a small smile coming to his face, “Who wrote that book, the author sounds brilliant.”

Cho smiled back with teary eyes, “It was Professor Dumbledore.”

Harry got to his feet, closed his eyes, and concentrated on feeling Ginny’s presence. He tried to visualize everything he found beautiful about her. He concentrated on her face, the scent of her hair, the feel of her lips as they kissed his, the sound of her heartbeat as he laid his head on her chest. Finally, he remembered the sound of her voice the first time she said to him,

“I love you!”

Suddenly he felt something touch his mind and with that touch came pain. There was a burning sensation on his scar that Harry hadn’t experienced since he faced Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic.

Harry fell to his knees.

Harry welcomed the pain; it meant he was getting through to her. But that didn’t stop him from screaming. His scream was so sudden that it caused the three people watching over him to jump in fright. Hermione immediately wanted to go to his aid but Ron held her back.

Harry could feel the pain increasing, but he refused to break the connection. His scar felt as if it were about to explode, when he felt something in his mind that made him stop feeling pain all together.

What he felt was Ginny, but it was exactly as he had feared. She was fading away. She was frightened and screaming for help. She couldn’t answer him to give him a location to where she might be, but she didn’t need to. The touch of her soul was more than enough. He needed to get to her fast.

The feeling was enough to chill Harry to his very soul.

Harry reached his hand out to no one unparticular, “Give me an object. I have a general idea where she is and I need to conjure a Portkey, right now.”

Cho handed him an old dictionary from one of the book shelves. A few wand passes later and he handed the book over to Hermione and got to his feet.

“We need to hurry. Ginny’s body has been drawn to a group of Death Eaters. Ginny’s soul is surrounded by Voldemort’s evil and it’s consuming her. She’s putting up a good fight, but she’s losing.”

Ron was already walking out the front door as Hermione spoke, “I think it’s best we Portkey out of doors. Ron is running over to the original Portkey site to pick up his gear and remove all traces of our being there.”

Hermione said a quick goodbye and ran to join Ron. Harry walked over to Cho and held her face in his hands. He locked eyes with her and for several moments did nothing. Cho felt her heart beat faster as she stared into his green eyes.

Harry released her and said, “I’ve thoroughly searched your mind. I don’t sense any malice in you anymore. Whatever was controlling you is definitely gone now. Normally, we Obliviate the memories of anyone who comes in contact with us, for our protection and yours, but you need the memories you have to watch over your parents. Keep everything you’ve learned tonight secret. All our lives depend on it.

Cho looked at Harry very differently at that point. She suddenly realized that the Harry she remembered had changed dramatically. The person she was looking at now stood a little taller, more confident. This was a Harry Potter with a mission, who seemed to have earned the mantle of “The Chosen One”.

“Harry, would you like me to accompany the three of you? It sounds like you could use all the help you can get,” asked Cho.

Harry grinned and shook his head, “No, your parents need you. Besides, you’d be surprised what the three of us can handle.”

Cho smiled, “No, I don’t think I would. You three seem more powerful than you did in all of your years at Hogwarts combined and that’s saying a lot.”

Harry turned to walk out of the door when Cho grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around, “Will I ever see you again?”

“I honestly don’t know,” the honesty in Harry’s face said it all.

“If you make it through this war, I was wondering if we could write one another every now and then. To be honest, I really missed our friendship in my senior year.”

“I’d like that,” said Harry as he bent down and kissed Cho’s cheek.

Harry turned and started for the door again, when Cho called his name.

“Harry, I just wanted you to know, I never blamed you for Cedric’s death.”

“No, I blamed myself for it,” answered Harry.

“Well don’t. You can’t control everything. I hope you find Ginny and that she’s O.K. you really looked happy when I saw you two together at Hogwarts.

Harry smiled, gave Cho a quick wink of his eye, and walked out the door.

Cho watched the door close as she whispered, “Good luck and be careful. I don’t ever want to have to mourn for you too.”

XXXXXXXXXX

The Portkey worked perfectly as it put them in the general vicinity of where Harry sensed Ginny had wandered to. But none of them had any idea where they were. At best guess they were in an industrial section somewhere in the United Kingdom. In front of what looked to be several abandoned warehouses.

Ginny was no place to be seen.

Hermione was busy trying to bring up an image of the surrounding area, but to both Ron and Harry’s astonishment, she couldn’t do it.

“If we can’t map this area, it must mean that this place must have powerful wards placed around it,” said Hermione.

“Everyone remember this spot. With those wards in place we won’t be able to Portkey from anywhere else but here,” ordered Harry as he opened his mind to try and sense Ginny again.

“This isn’t good. If we can’t use a Portkey from inside the wards, then there’s a good chance we won’t be able to Apparate either,” said Ron as he overlooked the surrounding grounds.

“On your toes you two, I sense her. She’s inside that building,” said Harry as he started sprinting towards one of the abandoned warehouses.

They entered the derelict building in a defensive posture. It had absolutely no lighting and was pitch black. The three of them knew that Lumos charms where out of the question because using them in an unknown area would be like painting a bull’s eye on themselves. So Ron did the next best thing.

From his backpack he pulled what looked to be a dozen or so licorice wands. He slapped them hard against his thigh and used his wand to propel them in every direction. The wands hit the ground and gave off a natural white light which lit the area sufficiently for their needs.

In the center of the room they found what they looking for. Sprawled on the ground was Ginny.

“No!” screamed Harry, as he and the others sprinted towards the unmoving body.

Harry could feel panic in every fiber of his being as this horrible scenario was playing out again. He felt as if he were twelve years old again. He saw the locket draped around her neck. Without hesitation, Harry ripped it from her body and threw it behind him.

Ginny felt cold to the touch, her pulse was weak, and he could not feel anything through their connection.

Harry feared he was too late.

“Ginny! Ginny, please don’t be dead. Wake up, wake up. Please wake up!” pleaded Harry.

Harry looked to his two best friends with panic stricken eyes, “She’s cold as ice. Ginny, please don’t be dead. Wake up!”

Ron and Hermione stood transfixed. After everything Harry had told them regarding the Chamber of Secrets they half expected to see a young Tom Riddle and a Basilisk emerge from the darkness.

What they saw emerge from the dark frightened them more than Tom or a giant snake ever could.

It was an army of Death Eaters numbering no less than thirty…

…and the quartet was completely surrounded!

XXXXXXXXXX

“If any of you so much as twitches, we will hex you into the next life!” said a man the trio assumed to be the leader.

He continued, “Our contacts inside the Ministry informed us of a possible group working outside the jurisdiction of the Aurors. Who would have thought it would have been you four teenagers. So am I to assume that I’m honored by a visit from the G.S.F.?”

The trio said nothing.

“No please don’t answer. The question was quite rhetorical. I knew when the infamous Ginny Weasley stumbled into our building it would only be a matter of time until the rest of you all followed. She didn’t seem all together sane, so we stunned her for use as bait.”

“So they don’t know about the Horcrux or of Ginny’s possession by it. That’s one for our side,” thought Hermione.

“The Dark lord will be very pleased with the capture of you, Mr. Potter. The rest of you will just be a nice bonus. Now, throw down your wands and surrender. You have ten seconds to comply,” ordered the leader as his minions all drew their wands and started closing in.

Hermione looked over to Harry. He was kneeling with his face down against Ginny’s chest, his arms across her body protectively.

“Harry, Harry. Please what should we do?” whispered Hermione, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

She looked over to Ron, who looked as scared as she felt. But when she looked over to Harry again, she saw something she had never expected to see.

Harry had his wand in his right hand, and in his left was Ginny’s wand, which he had pulled from her hip holster.

When she looked into Harry’s face, she saw a look that could only be described as calm fury. His face was set in stone.

At that point, Hermione didn’t know if she was more afraid of the Death Eaters or of Harry!

Harry rose to his feet as Hermione screamed, “Harry no! What are you doing!?!”

It was then that all hell broke loose as every Death Eater opened fire with their wands.

Hermione and Ron jumped over the helpless form of Ginny to shield her from any spells. Ron covered his head with his hands. But Hermione picked up her head to find Harry.

What she witnessed would forever be the stuff of legend!

There was something that Hermione kept secret from everyone. Something she would never admit to anyone except herself, not to her parents, not to Ginny or Harry, and not even to Ron. But when it came to measuring her Wizarding skills, it was always Harry that set the bar for her. No other wizard, not even Albus Dumbledore could compare in her eyes. Harry had been setting the bar from the first year they started school together. Every time she thought herself worthy of considering herself Harry’s equal, he would unknowingly set the bar higher.

When Harry had single-handedly fended off the army of Dementors, she had thought that Harry had set the bar to a level that she would have a difficult time reaching, and after their training she felt she had just about reached it.

But she was wrong.

What she was witnessing Harry doing right at that moment didn’t just set the bar higher, it shattered it, so that Hermione knew in her soul she would never be Harry’s equal.

Harry was standing in the middle of a storm of spells. His arms were moving so fast it looked as if he had no arms at all. Hermione could see spells of different colors emerging from Harry at exactly the same time, which told her that he was amazingly performing multiple spells while silently casting. She knew from all her studies that this should have been an impossibility.

She watched as he never attempted to evade any of the incoming spells. The spells just seemed to bounce off of him without ever slowing him down. How could he be performing defensive magic at the same time as offensive magic?

Death Eaters were dropping at a tremendous rate. Either from Harry’s spells or from spells deflected back at them from Harry’s body. Some of the Death Eaters found themselves slammed by various objects being magically levitated at them at high speeds. Hermione’s jaw dropped at the wonder of it all.

Less than a minute later found the leader and three of his henchmen to be the last ones standing. The three men charged Harry in a last ditch effort to bring him down. Each one blasted by spells before they could move one meter towards Harry.

The leader seemed scared mental as he saw all the bodies around him. He looked up to find Harry marching straight towards him. The leader pointed his wand at Harry and screamed,

"AVADA KEDAVRA!”

Harry crossed the wands in his hands to form an “X”. The green light of the killing curse sped from the leader’s wand and then slowed to a crawl in mid-air as Harry absorbed the curse into both wands. After which, he executed a flawless spinning round house kick that caught the leader square in the face.

Harry’s face never lost its calm fury. He wasn’t even breathing hard as he held his wands out at both sides of his body and scanned the area for movement among the Death Eaters.

“CLEAR!” yelled Harry.

Hermione wanted to say something, or move, or do anything for that matter. But she was still reeling from what she had just witnessed. It was the sound of Ron’s voice that finally snapped her from her thoughts.

“Have you ever seen anything like that?”

“No Ron.”

“Really? Even with everything you’ve read? You’ve never run across a wizard doing anything like that?”

“No Ron.”

“I find that hard to believe, I mean…”

“Ron please, your sister’s hurt!”

Ron reached down and stroked his sister’s hair. When he looked up, Harry was across from him. He could tell his best mate was oblivious to his presence. But he couldn’t blame him. He knew how much Harry loved his sister and if the person lying on the floor was Hermione, he would react the exact same way.

Speaking of Hermione, Ron looked over to find her examining the real locket that Harry had thrown to the floor. She was just about to pick it up when Ron yelled at her.

“Bloody hell, woman! Don’t even consider picking that thing up with your bare hands!”

From his backpack, Ron removed a Muggle sandwich bag. He pulled his wand and levitated the locket into the bag and sealed it shut. Hermione said nothing, but Ron could tell she was grateful. She still seemed rather shook up after what just happened.

They both turned back to Harry, who was holding Ginny in his arms. Gone was the look of calm fury and in its place was one of sadness as there were tears in his eyes. He looked as if he was trying to talk, but no words were coming from his mouth. They joined him at Ginny’s side.

Ron whispered in Hermione’s ear, “Poor Harry, he’s so distraught, he can’t even speak.”

“No Ron, he is speaking. He just trying to reach her through their connection,”

Harry held Ginny’s body as close to himself as he could. He kissed her forehead and he noticed she felt remarkably warmer. Her pulse grew stronger. But he still couldn’t feel anything through their connection and his thoughts that he was too late to save her doubled.

Harry kept inwardly pleading for Ginny to return to him, when he felt their bond open up again. It was as if the sun was shining in his chest. He felt Ginny’s hand weakly grasp his own.

“Hey,” said Ginny.

“Hey yourself,” replied Harry.

Ginny’s eyes slowly opened, and in a hoarse voice she said, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Potter.”

Hermione pulled at Ron’s arm, “Come on, let’s go prepare the Death Eaters for the Aurors.”

Harry could sense Ginny wanting to say something more. But he stopped her by speaking first.

“You don’t have to thank me for saving your life…ever. Ginny, you are my life.”

Ginny started to cry as the memory of the way she had treated him came crashing down on her, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry. Please, I’m so, so sorry.”

Harry put his index finger to her lips, “Shhhh…no apologizes. I love you, my wife. Nothing will ever change that.”

XXXXXXXXXX

When the Aurors arrived an hour later all they discovered was a warehouse full of severely spell beaten wizards and a locket with a note inside of it warning them of Death Eater spies within the Ministry.

An Auror showed the note to his team leader, “What do you think we should do about the information in that note?”

“Keep the information between you and me. We’ll keep it out of official channels and report directly to Shacklebolt himself,” answered the team leader.

“Whatever you say, Auror Tonks,” replied the Auror as he handed her the locket and note, and went about his business.

Tonks turned and once again took in the devastation around her. She took a deep breath and whispered to herself, “Good job Harry, now its time for the Aurors to clean house back at the Ministry.”

She picked up one of the quartet’s calling cards and held it tightly in her hand, “Voldemort, you don’t know it yet, but your days are numbered.”
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