|
Remember | ||||||
|
Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama, Romance Warnings: Intimate Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 410 Summary: The summer after the Chamber of Secrets was hard on everyone. How come no one can remember what happened? Prior to starting his seventh year at Hogwarts, Harry realizes he is missing some memories from his second year. Together with Remus Lupin, Harry sets out to discover what happened. He hopes to find out about that pretty red head he has been dreaming about as well. Hitcount: Story Total: 353604; Chapter Total: 8616 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Thanks for the Silver Trinket! I appreciate the vote of confidence in my writing :) |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
Ron nudged Harry’s arm, “Look, that’s the third or fourth time this week I’ve seen them in the Restricted Section.” Harry looked over at Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. As Ron had said, they appeared to be systematically searching the Restricted Section for something. “Not only them,” Harry pointed out. “Goyle and Nott are here also, only they’re not in the Restricted Section.” “Goyle and Nott have been hanging around the history section,” Parvati said. Harry looked over at her questioningly. Parvati blushed, “I’m taking NEWT level History of Magic and I’m in that section a lot. I haven’t wanted to go over there with the two of them hanging out there.” “I wonder what they’re looking for,” Harry mused. He looked around the crowded library where he, Ron, Seamus, and Parvati were working on the essay on conjured items that had been set by Professor McGonagall. Looking over at Parvati, Harry asked, “I don’t suppose any of them are in History of Magic?” “Pansy and Nott are both in History of Magic,” Parvati answered. The lights flickered indicating the library would be closing soon. Harry sighed as he got up to return the books he’d been using. He noticed the four Slytherins were leaving without any books. Seamus headed back up to the common room, while the other three had prefect rounds. Ron and Parvati were rounding together while Harry was rounding with Daphne. “I’ll see you later,” Harry called to the others as they left the library. He headed down to the Entrance Hall where he was supposed to be meeting Daphne. “Potter.” “Hello Daphne.” Harry smiled as he greeted the Head Girl. She simply nodded in acknowledgement and the two of them started off on their rounds. Harry still had not figured Daphne out. She was civil, but not friendly. He was glad that Daphne was rather quiet. He’d had rounds with Parvati the week before and she had talked almost the entire time. He’d gone back to his quarters knowing more gossip than he thought he’d heard in his previous six years combined. The two fell in step together as they headed up to the second floor. They were starting on the third floor and working their way down while Ron and Parvati were starting on the seventh floor and working their way down. As Harry and Daphne entered the Trophy Room, they found Amal, a third year Hufflepuff finishing up his detention. Filch was looking over Amal’s work and seemed upset that he could find no fault in his cleaning. Harry cleared his throat, “Mr. Filch, I think it’s time Amal headed back to his common room.” Filch turned and glared at Harry, he had never quite recovered from his disappointment when Dolores Umbridge had left. Harry pointedly glanced at his watch and Filch grumbled, but let Amal leave. He shot Harry a smile as he left the room. Filch left and the two heads quickly checked the rest of the floor. They kicked an amorous couple out of the Charms room before heading down to the second floor. Harry made a face as they walked past Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. While the messages on the wall had faded over the years, if you looked closely you could still see the message that Riddle had forced Ginny to write on the wall so many years before. As they made their way down to the first floor, Daphne looked around carefully. “Potter, I don’t know what exactly is going on, but the junior Death Eaters seem to have received some kind of mission. Pansy and Zabini have been scouring the Restricted Section and the others are looking through books as well.” Harry nodded, “Parvati said they were looking through the History section tonight.” “That doesn’t surprise me,” Daphne replied. “Pansy asked me what I knew about Salazar Slytherin. I gave her the biography I had. They have asked most of the older families with extensive libraries for information on Slytherin. I know that some of the other students have sent home for information for them. She told us it is for a special project for History of Magic.” She watched as Harry digested this information, “Does that mean anything to you?” “I’m not sure,” Harry said after a moment. “They could be working on a History of Magic project, but I think it is more likely that You-Know-Who is looking for more information on Slytherin. It seems like he is using the junior Death Eaters for research.” “Wouldn’t he already have access to information on Slytherin? I heard a rumour that he is actually the heir of Slytherin.” Daphne asked. He looked over at the quite blonde, even after almost a month of working with her, he still didn’t know where her loyalties lay. He didn’t feel comfortable mentioning the Chamber of Secrets to her, but he wondered just how much of the Chamber Voldemort had explored. Did Voldemort realize he needed the Sword of Slytherin? “He is the heir of Slytherin,” Harry admitted. “But I don’t think he really has more information on Slytherin than anyone else. He was raised in a Muggle orphanage, he didn’t discover he was Slytherin’s heir until he arrived at Hogwarts. The Hogwarts’ library has books that are hard to find elsewhere.” Daphne raised her eyebrows at the mention of a Muggle orphanage, but she nodded, “I guess that makes sense.” “They might be looking for some particular piece of information,” Harry mused. “Or it could be a test. Voldemort could be testing their loyalty or seeing how good they are at following instructions. That sounds like something he would do.” He recalled uneasily of the test Voldemort had set for Malfoy last year, to open Hogwarts to attack. While Malfoy succeeded in his quest, he had paid for it with his life. He looked over at his companion, “Are any of them real Death Eaters? I know Malfoy was a Death Eater, he took the Mark last summer. Do you know if any of them took the Mark this past summer?” “I’m not certain,” Daphne said as they took the stairs down to the first floor. “Parkinson is strutting around like she knows something we don’t. Blaise actually is listening and taking direction from her. I don’t know if he would do that if she didn’t have the Mark. Her family is not as well connected as some of the other old Pure-blood families, but they are an old Pure-blood family. Zabini’s family influence is due to his mother’s advantageous marriages, they are not one of the old families.” “Old families?” Harry asked. Daphne glanced over at him, “Families like the Bones, Longbottoms, Blacks, Malfoys, and even the Potters are old, wealthy, well-established families. They helped establish the rules of our society and were original members of the Wizards’ Council. Some of the families like the Gryffindors, Dumbledores, and Perevells have all died out, but others are still very powerful today. Families like mine, Parkinson’s and the Weasleys are old Pure-blood families that aren’t as influential. Zabini’s family is a newer family with new money. They are tolerated because they are mostly Pure-blood, but they are definitely not in the same class.” “So what does it gain Zabini to follow Parkinson?” Daphne laughed, “That is definitely Slytherin thinking. There are two reasons I can think of. If she did take the Dark Mark, he could be ingratiating himself with her. The Dark Lord recruits heavily from our house, but to become more than a foot solider takes connections. Another possible reason is he could be angling for a marriage contract, especially now that Malfoy is out of the way. Pansy always held out hope that Lucius would break the contract between Draco and my sister. Obviously that is not possible now so she might be open to a contract with the Zabini fortune.” Harry shook his head at the machinations of the Slytherins, “That is a horrible reason to marry.” “They don’t look to have the same type of marriage that you have,” Daphne explained. “For many of the old families, fidelity is only prized until the heir is born. After that it is acceptable to find comfort elsewhere.” “What?” Daphne laughed, “You really have no idea how our society works, do you?” “I don’t think I want to,” Harry replied. Any reply Daphne would have made was lost as they walked past the now empty Muggle Studies room. Glancing inside the room, Harry noticed a hazy film in the air. “What is this?” Harry said as he tried to door. It was unlocked and opened easily to his touch. “Lumos.” Harry looked around the room in disgust. The walls had previously been covered with diagrams of Muggle technology. These had all been torn from the walls and the scraps littered the floor. The word ‘Mudblood’ was burned into the floor and there were several death threats to ‘Blood Traitors’ scrawled across the walls. In the centre of the room was the source of the smoke, all of the books in the room had been piled into the centre of the room and made into a bonfire. “Aguamenti!” Harry and Daphne both cast water on the now smoldering pile. The immediate danger taken care of, Harry sent his Patronus off to Professor McGonagall, Professor Fedorov, and Bill. Daphne raised an eyebrow at his casual use of advanced magic, “I’d heard rumours that you could form a corporeal Patronus, but that’s impressive.” Harry blushed, “Thank you, my godfather taught me how to make a Patronus during our third year when the Dementors were stationed here at Hogwarts.” “Is it true you taught your little rebel defence group to make a Patronus a few years ago?” “I taught them,” Harry replied shyly, “but it was one of our last meetings. Not everyone was able to perform the Patronus Charm.” They were interrupted as Professor McGonagall and Bill entered the room followed a few moments later by Professor Fedorov. Harry and Daphne answered their questions as Bill examined the room. After dismissing the two students, Professor Fedorov turned to Bill, “What do you think happened?” “Cutting curses were used on the walls to tear down the posters. All of the writing was performed by a wand, most likely in an attempt to disguise the person’s writings.” Bill explained as he finished his cursory investigation. “This was all done by one person.” “Any idea who that might be?” Professor Fedorov asked as he walked around the remnants of the fire. “No sir,” Bill replied. “This must have happened in the past hour,” Professor McGonagall said. “I walked past this room as I headed to my study at half past seven.” Professor Fedorov nodded as he vanished the books. “We will need to discover who was out of their common rooms. I will obtain a list of students in the library from Madam Pince so we can rule them out.” As the three left the room, Professor Fedorov had Bill cast a number of spells on the room so no one would be able to enter the room. _________________________________ __________________________________ Harr y and Daphne walked in silence down to the Dungeon. As they neared the Slytherin common room Daphne said, “That was rather unexpected.” “I know,” Harry agreed. “Who would have done that? The junior Death Eaters were in the library all evening. They left just before we did. I don’t think they would have had time to do that.” Daphne looked at him thoughtfully, “I don’t know. I agree our prime suspects have alibis. I will let you know if I hear anything around the common room.” After Harry watched Daphne enter the Slytherin common room, he headed up stairs. As he climbed the stairs to the fourth floor he stopped, instead of heading back up to Gryffindor tower he headed to the library. Peering in the darkened room he reached out for the door, to his relief his status as protector allowed him to unlock the library. Lighting his wand he first headed over to the history section where he had noticed Nott and Goyle earlier. He didn’t find any biographies of Slytherin, but to his surprise he did find a book on the Iceni. Taking that book with him, he headed for the Restricted Section. His protector status allowed him to enter the Restricted Section without setting off any alarms. Scanning the shelves, Harry realized it would be very difficult to determine what Parkinson and Zabini were looking for without more information. He thought it was most likely that Voldemort had given the junior Death Eaters a mission to find out more about Slytherin. Did that mean he knew about the stone? Harry left the library deep in thought. It was late by the time Harry made it back up to the tower and to his relief the common room was empty. He hurried up the stairs to his room. Ginny was already asleep, he dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head before heading into shower. After a quick shower, he climbed into bed and gathered Ginny into his arms, careful not to wake her. Sometime later, Ginny woke up and looked at the clock, she groaned. It had only been two hours since she had last woken up to go to the bathroom, at least Harry was back now. She somehow felt better with him there. After going to the bathroom, Ginny crawled back into bed, but she was unable to fall back asleep. It was now almost one in the morning, she had fallen asleep early so she was wide awake now. Getting back up out of bed, Ginny walked over to the small kitchenette that had been added to their room. Opening the cold cupboard, she pulled out a pitcher of pumpkin juice and poured a glass. She rested one hand on her belly, she could definitely feel a little bump now. She couldn’t wait until she could feel the babies move. Walking over to the desk she pulled out her baby name book. She and Harry had been talking about names, but they hadn’t made any decisions yet. Opening the book to the ‘C’ names she started reading. Thirty minutes later, she looked around the room. While the kitchenette was stocked with some snacks, but she was really craving some peach ice cream. She remembered stories she’d heard from both Harry and her brothers about sneaking down to the kitchen. Maybe she could sneak down and get some ice cream. Putting down her book she pulled on her dressing gown. “Ginny.” “Oh, I’m sorry love, did I wake you?” Ginny asked as Harry sat up. He shook his head, “its okay. What’s wrong? What are you doing up?” “I couldn’t sleep,” Ginny explained. “I’m hungry. I want some peach ice cream.” “What?” “I want some peach ice cream,” Ginny repeated. “I was just thinking I could sneak down to the kitchen and get some.” “No!” Ginny shrank back a bit at his tone. Harry immediately noticed her distress through their bond. He got up out of bed and walked to her side. “I’m sorry love,” Harry said. “I didn’t mean to shout.” He quickly explained what had happened in the Muggle Studies room. “I just don’t want you putting yourself and the babies in danger.” Normally anyone telling Ginny what she should or shouldn’t do would make her angry and often even more stubborn, but Harry’s reminder of the babies struck a chord in her. “I didn’t think about that,” Ginny said as she wiped away the tears that sprang to her eyes. “I’m going to be a horrible mother. I didn’t even think about the fact that I might have put them in danger.” Harry wrapped his arms around her. “You are not a horrible mother. You are going to be a great mum.” He kissed her on top of the head. “Are you still hungry?” When she nodded, Harry walked over to his trunk and began rummaging through it. He pulled out the Marauders’ Map and his father’s Invisibility Cloak. “You can’t go sneaking through the halls without the proper tools.” Opening the map, Harry scanned it with a practiced eye. “I don’t see anyone patrolling the halls.” Folding up the map, Harry held out his hand to his wife. “Come on, let’s go.” After covering them both with the Invisibility Cloak, Harry led the way down to the kitchen. While they walked, Harry quietly told Ginny the story of being caught out of bed after taking a bath with his golden egg during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. When they reached the kitchen, Harry showed her how to tickle the pear to open the kitchen door. As they entered the kitchen, they were immediately greeted by a small and excitable house elf. “Harry Potter! Harry Potter has come down to the kitchens,” Dobby cried happily. “Hi, Dobby,” Harry said awkwardly. “You remember my wife, Ginny?” “Yes, I remember Miss Ginny,” Dobby replied with a smile for Ginny. “Could you get us some peach ice cream?” Harry asked. As Dobby bounded across the kitchen to fulfill their request, Harry guided Ginny to one of the small tables that were kept close to the entrance for visitors. Ginny watched curiously as the little elves bustled around preparing for the day. Some were baking bread and others seemed to be preparing for breakfast service that was still several hours away. Other elves seemed to be appearing from elsewhere in the castle. “Those are probably the elves who are cleaning the castle,” Harry murmured as he saw what had attracted Ginny’s attention. “Once in my fourth year, I found an elf cleaning the common room.” He paused for a minute remembering, “What a minute, that was Dobby. I just didn’t remember him at the time. He was the only elf who would clean the Gryffindor common room as Hermione was leaving little hats all over the common room.” Dobby hurried over to their table with two heaping bowls of peach ice cream and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. “Thank you, Dobby.” Harry said with a smile. “I was just telling Ginny about you cleaning the Gryffindor common room because no one else would do it.” Dobby beamed, “Harry Potter remembers! Professor Dumbledore told me you did not know me.” A shadow fell across his face, “I didn’t remember, Dobby. I actually just realized it was you that I talked to that time in the common room.” Dobby watched Harry with concerned eyes, “Does Harry Potter remember everything now?” Harry smiled, “Yes, Ginny helped me remember. We broke through our memory charms together.” “Miss Ginny is good for Harry Potter,” Dobby said with a smile. He looked over Ginny and beamed, “Babies!” “How could you tell?” Ginny asked curiously as she protectively ran her hand along her belly. “House elf magic,” Dobby answered. “An elf is responsible for his whole family even the little babies.” Dobby looked from Ginny to the ice cream, “Miss Ginny needs to be careful. It is dangerous to come down to the kitchens by yourself.” “That’s what I told her,” Harry said. “Do you know of anything in particular happening?” “No, Harry Potter,” Dobby replied. “But there are bad things happening in the castle this year. If Miss Ginny wants food, call Dobby. Dobby would be happy to serve Miss Ginny.” The young couple exchanged a look and Harry nodded, “That would be great, Dobby. You wouldn’t get in trouble for helping just one person would you?” Dobby drew himself up proudly, “Dobby is a free elf and Dobby can help anyone he pleases. Dobby wants to help Harry Potter and his family.” “Thank you, Dobby.” Ginny said with a smile. ______________________________________ ________________________________ Oct ober 22,1997 Dear Ginny, Twins?!! That is amazing! I am so happy for you. You will make an amazing mother. I am already planning to visit next summer and I can’t wait to spoil your children rotten. Send me pictures of the nursery once you have it set up. I have to say, it is very handy that your husband has a Phoenix. I was missing you dreadfully and wondering how I could write to you when your beautiful bird showed up. I’ve never seen a Phoenix up close and let me tell you it caused quite a stir in the Dining Chamber when he flashed in next to me. Claire is also missing you and said to tell you she is quite upset at having to replace you as a Chaser, but she loves being Captain. All of the girls were very curious about what happened. I wasn’t sure what to tell them, so I stuck with what was in the papers. I hope that was okay. We have a lot of new students this year. There are a lot of people fleeing the British Ministry, so we have a lot of British Muggle-Born students. Madam Maxime said that enrollment at magical schools in America, Canada, and Australia are up as well. My parents told me that Luc pled guilty to conspiring with Death Eaters. He will be in jail for the next five years. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what my brother did to you and your family. I knew he was ambitious, but I would never have guessed he would help Death Eaters. My parents are so upset, I know my mother wrote to both you and your mother with her apologies. None of us really saw this coming. I miss you and will write soon! Love, Aimée Ginny smiled as she read her best friend’s letter. Once she had finally talked to Harry about how homesick she was, he had suggested she use Fawkes to deliver letters to not only Aimée, but also Hermione and their other friends in hiding. She had also made friends with several of the fifth and sixth year Gryffindors, so she had more friends in the castle and was feeling more at home at Hogwarts than she ever had before. Putting her letter aside, she pulled out the project she was working on for her mother’s birthday. Fleur had taught her some scrapbooking charms so she could create a scrap book with pictures from Quidditch camp as well as their bonding ceremony. It has taken her several weeks to decorate the pages and tell her mother the story of how she and Harry had fallen in love. She was hoping it would ease some of the tensions between her and her mother. _______________________________ _______________________________________ Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand to Bill’s classroom. Ginny giggled as her normally serious husband pulled her into another alcove and kissed her deeply. Resting her forehead against his, Ginny whispered, “This is wonderful. Much better than I remember.” “Good,” Harry said softly. “I love having you here with me and I don’t want you to regret choosing to follow me here.” “Never, baby,” Ginny said as she pulled him close. “I feel so much better now that I’m able to still keep in touch with my friends. I really hated my first year because I felt so isolated and scared. You have gone out of your way to make sure I have friends and I’m not alone. I love my Runes club and Charlie is letting me sit in on his classes and learn about Unicorns. I love it here and I love you.” Harry smiled as he kissed her again. “Are you feeling better?” She nodded as they started on their way again, “I am. Those chewy things that Alicia gave me are really helping. I talked to Professor McGonagall about Dobby helping me and she thought it was a good idea. She doesn’t think I should be going down to the kitchen by myself either.” “Good,” Harry said with a smile. He knocked on the half-open classroom door. “Come in,” Bill called. After the two of them entered, Harry closed the door and sealed it with a casual wave of his hand. He quickly added some privacy wards as he and Ginny sat down in the chairs near Bill’s desk. After greeting the young couple, Bill pulled a sheaf of parchment from his robes. “I’ve been researching the Stone of the Iceni as well as I could. There were several references in the Chamber of Secrets as well as the hidden Chamber at Grimmauld Place. It is a type of Moonstone, but it somehow amplifies magical energy. “I think that Queen Boudica must have had magical abilities, but I don’t believe she was trained. She seems to have had the ability to sense magical energy. From what I’ve read, she found the stone and realized it could help her defeat the Romans. She had the stone fixed into her husband’s sword.” “What did that do?” Ginny asked as she looked up from the book Bill had opened to show a picture of Queen Boudica with the sword. “I’m not sure,” Bill confessed. “It talks about her sword cutting through the Roman invaders, but I am not sure how the stone helped her.” “So how does that help us?” Harry asked. “I’ve spoken to Remus,” Bill explained. “We think that the two of you should be training with the swords. When the two of you touched the sword in the Chamber of Secrets it was strong enough magic to expel the Horcrux from Harry. I think that in order to harness that energy we first need you to learn to use the sword.” “Okay,” Harry said. “Do you know anyone who is experienced in sword fighting?” Bill shook his head, “I don’t, but I am looking into it.” Harry sighed, “Let me know when you find someone.” “I will,” Bill promised. “That’s all I have for now, but I am still reading the diary. I think that Arcturus Black actually did us a favor by gathering so much information on Slytherin and then locking it away.” “Thanks, Bill,” Harry said as he and Ginny rose to leave. As they headed up towards Gryffindor tower, Harry stopped suddenly. “What is it, love?” Ginny asked. “I have an idea,” Harry said as he laughed and lead her towards a part of the castle she had never seen. They stopped outside a seemingly empty stretch of corridor. Ginny looked around as Harry let go of her hand and started walking back and forth in front of her. There was a strange tapestry of a wizard who appeared to be trying to teach some trolls to dance. Harry’s sound of triumph caused her to turn. To her astonishment, he was now holding open a door that had not previously been there. “What?” “Come in,” Harry said with a smile. “I’ll explain it to you.” Ginny let Harry lead her into a large room. The back half of the room was a large empty room with mirrors on one wall and open cupboards on the opposite wall. In the cupboards were swords of all shapes and sizes as well as what appeared to be protective equipment and dummies similar to Harry’s training dummies back home. The front portion of the room was set up as a small sitting room with comfortable looking chairs, a low table, and a couch. A bookcase was against the wall next to the couch. “What is this place?” Harry laughed as he led her over to the couch, “Have I ever told you about the Room of Requirement?” _________________________ ________________________________________ _____ George peered out the window into the now deserted Diagon Alley. Sighing, he set the security charms and with a wave of his wand dimmed the lanterns lighting the shop. Fred had left earlier heading for Grimmauld Place. Since the attack on the Alley two months earlier, much had changed. All shops opened between 9 and 10 am and closed at 5 pm — no exceptions. The Ministry had approved of a Diagon Alley security force to patrol the Alley. Unfortunately, the security force was made up of wizards of a similar mentality to the snatchers who were trying to catch the Muggle-borns. This did not encourage patrons to linger on the alley. Business was slow all the way around. Thanks to their owl order business and their more serious line of security items Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes was not affected as much as some of the other shops. Many businesses had closed, leaving boarded up empty shops behind. Shops and carts devoted to the Dark Arts had popped up all over the Alley. George shook his head as he hurried past one of the carts devoted to the Dark Lord. Just before he reached the safety of the Leaky Cauldron, he heard the sound of an argument and raucous laughter. Glancing down backstreet, he saw a group of wizards surrounding two girls. Groaning, he knew he couldn’t leave them. Running quickly back to the shop, he reversed the charms and ran into the back room. He grabbed several Decoy Detonators, Shield Cloaks, and the spare Invisibility Cloak from the back room. Charming the shop once again, he pulled on the Invisibility Cloak as he ran back to the backstreet. He hoped the Cloak would last through this encounter. The cloak was one of the old ones used by the Order, but the Demiguise hair was beginning to fade. To his relief, as he entered the backstreet the girls appeared to be unharmed. The gang of thugs seemed to be swaggering and boasting of their connections to the Dark Lord. George rolled his eyes, he was willing to wager he had more contact with real Death Eaters than these punks. Dropping two of the decoys at the mouth of the alleyway, he made his way closer to the group. He bit back a gasp as he recognized both of them. Katie Bell and Patricia Stimpson were standing close together gripping each other’s hands. A wave of his wand activated the two decoys. As the group turned, George stunned the biggest of the wizards. He dodged several spells and bit back a smile as he saw Katie use her knee to incapacitate the wizard closest to her. While he was down, George bound him up in ropes. Throwing a restraining net around two of the other men, he dodged a spell as the remaining wizards blanketed his side of the alley with spells in an effort to find him. To his dismay, he noted a another group of wizards heading for them. George pulled back into the shadows and removed the cloak. “Katie, Tricia!” Recognizing George’s voice, Katie smiled with a look of relief on her face. She quickly knelt by the leader for a moment before standing up with two wands in her hand. She tossed one to Tricia and the two of them joined George. He handed the girls each a Shield Cloak that they quickly donned before joining George in battling the growing number wizards. Dodging by the other wizards, the three of them ran down the alley. George followed the two witches as they led him deeper into the warren of back alleys behind Diagon Alley trading occasional spells with the group following them. “We’re here, Katie,” George heard as he turned in time to see Tricia uncover a doorway that had been concealed in the brick wall running along one side of the alleyway. A sharp pain slashed across the side of George’s head sending him swaying into the wall. “George!” Katie sent a Bedazzling Hex down the alleyway to cover their escape and she pulled a woozy and heavily bleeding George behind her. __________________________________ ____________________________________ Bi ll climbed the familiar stairs to Gryffindor tower and after giving the proper password he entered the common room. A hush immediately descended upon the group of students gathered there. “Can I help you Professor Weasley?” Bill looked over at the third year student who had spoken, he couldn’t remember her name at the moment. “I’m looking for my brother.” “He’s up in the dorm,” Seamus Finnegan called out from his spot near the fireplace. “Thanks,” Bill nodded as he hurried up the steps towards the seventh year dorm. Knocking on the half-opened door, he saw his youngest brother lounging on his bed reading a Quidditch magazine. “Ron.” “Bill, hi. What are you doing here?” Ron sat up and tossed his magazine onto his open trunk. He looked up when Bill did not answer. Bill looked rather pale. “What’s wrong?” “Is Ginny upstairs?” Bill asked ignoring his brother’s question. “I think so,” Ron replied uneasily. “Harry said she was a bit tired after Quidditch practice.” “Come on,” Bill said gesturing for Ron to follow as he headed up the stairs to Harry and Ginny’s room. Harry answered Bill’s knock and invited his brothers-in-law into his room. Ginny was sitting up in bed reading with Emerald curled up next to her. She smiled as her brothers entered the room. “What’s up?” Harry asked as he sat down on the end of the bed. With a wave of his hand, he conjured up chairs for the other two. “I’ve heard from Remus,” Bill began. “George was injured two nights ago.” Ginny gasped and Harry reached out for her hand. “What happened?” “H-he was leaving Diagon Alley when he saw two girls in danger of being assaulted,” Bill explained describing George’s fight in the back alley. “Just as they reached safety, George was hit with some type of Dark cutting curse. He lost his ear.” “What?” Bill nodded, “Mum’s been taking care of him and Andromeda looked in on him. He lost quite a lot of blood, but they were able to give him enough Blood Replenishing Potion. He’s a bit weak, but he should be fine in a day or so.” “What about his ear?” Ginny asked as she wiped her eyes. “There’s nothing to be done,” Bill said softly. “It was cursed away with Dark Magic so it can’t be replaced.” Harry was shocked, he was so used to magic being able to fix any manner of maladies. “Nothing?” Bill shook his head, “No, Remus said he’ll be able to use a Glamour or some type of cosmetic charms so it will look okay, but there is nothing to replace his ear or his hearing. Andromeda said his hearing will be affected, but at least he has great hearing with his other ear.” “How’s he taking it?” Ron asked speaking for the first time. Bill laughed, “He was telling jokes soon after Remus found him. His biggest complaint is now everyone will be able to tell him and Fred apart. “Fred was a mess when it first happened, but he’s better now. He was feeling guilty about leaving before George,” Bill said. Harry pulled Ginny into his arms and was running his hand down her hair. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head as he listened to the other two talking. Ginny lifted her head from Harry’s shoulder, “What about the girls? Are they okay?” “They’re fine,” Bill said. “George knew them — Katie Bell and Tricia Stimpson. They both work on Diagon Alley and I guess they left work a little late. Fred and some of the other shop owners are working out a schedule so that no one leaves work alone, especially the girls. It’s just not safe anymore.” _____________________________ ________________________________________ _ Ginny brushed out her long hair and decided to leave it loose for the feast tonight. It was the first time she had attended the Halloween Feast at Hogwarts. During her first year, Halloween was when the Basilisk claimed its first victim in Mrs. Norris. Ginny had never made it to the feast that year, so she was happy to be headed to the feast this year. Professor Fedorov had decreed that they did not need to wear robes to the feast so Ginny was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt that flared out over her stomach and a pair of dark jeans with a low heeled boot. A whistle from the door made her look up. She smiled at the look on her husband’s face. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “You look amazing,” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her. She slid her hands into his hair and deepened the kiss. When she pulled away, she was slightly dazed, but pleased to see the glazed look on his face. “I love you.” He laughed happily, “I love you too.” Kneeling down, he lifted her shirt and kissed her belly. “I love both of you as well.” Ginny laughed and she ran her hands through his hair. He glanced up at her, “Are you sure you want to go to the feast? We could just stay here.” Shaking her head at his playful attitude, she said, “No, I want to go to the feast.” Placing one last kiss on her belly, Harry stood up. “If you insist.” They headed down the stairs hand-in-hand and headed to the common room where Ron was waiting for them. As they headed down to the feast, Ron regaled his sister with the story of Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday party that he, Harry and Hermione had attended during her first year. “You survived a feast without food,” Ginny laughed in astonishment. “That’s unbelievable.” Harry laughed as he remembered, “Just looking at and smelling that rotten food was horrible. We were all so hungry when we left. I did feel badly that I promised Nick we would go and caused Ron and Hermione miss the feast.” Ron just rolled his eyes, “We were fine. Hermione looked at it as a learning experience.” “That’s a shock,” Ginny laughed. She gasped as they entered the Great Hall. Once again, the staff had gone all out to decorate for the holiday. Live bats fluttered around the walls and ceilings while carved pumpkins decorated the tables. Black cats wandered around the tables, at times getting lost in the low fog that covered the floor. Skeletons were moving among the students with trays of drinks. “This is great!” Ginny exclaimed. “We didn’t have such a grand feast at Beauxbatons.” The three joined their friends at the Gryffindor table and Ginny waved to her brothers sitting at the head table. As they ate dinner, they talked animatedly about past Halloweens. Seamus was one of the few who had gone trick-or-treating when he was younger so he shared stories from his youth. Harry listened wistfully remembering the past Halloweens when Dudley had gone trick-or-treating while he stayed at home. Aunt Petunia had never allowed Harry to dress up for Halloween or even hand out sweets to the other children. He now understood why she always made comments about the little girls dressed up like witches. As he looked over at his wife, he was determined that his children would know the fun side of Halloween. He watched as she chatted with Demelza with a smile on his face. “Hey, mate, have you tried any of these?” Ron asked gesturing to the smoking glasses carried by the skeletons. Harry shook his head, “No, what are they?” “I don’t know exactly,” Ron replied as he grabbed two drinks off the tray and handed one to Harry. “They are some kind of punch with a fizzy kick.” After eyeing the smoking black liquid cautiously, Harry took a sip. “These are really good.” After dinner, the long house tables disappeared, replaced by taller, small round tables to encourage everyone to mix together. This was one of the ideas that the prefects had suggested at the beginning of the year. Some of the students, notably the Slytherins had left after eating, but most of the other students stayed to visit with their friends. Susan Bones slipped away from her friends and into the shadows around the walls. Looking around she spotted him. Harry was standing with Ron laughing at something. A wave of longing swept over her, he should belong to her not that tramp. Susan made a face as Ginny walked over to him and slipped her arm around his waist. To her disgust, Harry leaned down and kissed her. Her face hardened as she watched him, he should be with her. After watching for a few minutes, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Susan watched as Harry and his wife moved to a table close to her. The lights flickered for a moment and the fog in the centre of the room thickened and started changing colours. As everyone turned to watch, the skeletons who had been serving them were now gathering in the centre of the Great Hall. Suddenly the Hall was filled with music and to everyone’s amusement the skeletons started dancing. Susan reached into her robes and pulled out a small vial. After quickly casting a Disillusionment Spell on herself, she took advantage of the low lights and everyone’s attention to the dancing skeletons by silently making her way over to Harry’s table. A wave of laughter covered the slight noise Susan made as she poured the vial into Harry’s drink. Reversing the Disillusionment Spell, Susan joined Ernie and Hannah at their table. The darkness and noise of the show covered the fact that she had not been there the whole time. Laughing with her friends, Susan surreptitiously watched Harry. For a few agonizingly long moments, she was afraid he would not finish his drink, but he eventually did. Susan smiled as she watched a strange look come over his face. It wouldn’t be long now. Ginny turned back to the table laughing, but her laughter died away as she felt a sudden wave of pain from Harry. “Love, what’s wrong?” He was hunched over the table, but he slowly turned his face to her. “It hurts.” “What does, love?” Looking up Ginny attracted Ron’s attention. He hurried over when he saw Harry. Without stopping to question his sister, he helped Harry out of the Great Hall. As they crossed the Entrance Hall, Harry doubled over in pain. Looking up at his wife, Harry tried to smile, but was unable to smile through his pain. Another wave of pain wracked him and with a moan, he passed out. |
| Reviews 410 |
Previous Next
|
