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Unintended Consequences | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP Characters:None Genres: Angst, Drama, Romance Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 361 Summary: When Ron and Harry got into their fight while out hunting Horcruxes, Hermione ran after Ron leading to some unintended consequences. Even with the best of intentions, things can still go wrong. Hitcount: Story Total: 149076; Chapter Total: 9989 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Thank you to my beta Jennyelf :) |
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Severus Snape slowly made his way to his office. He, like all of the Death Eaters present that night, had been subjected to the Cruciatus several times. When the current headmaster entered his office, he went straight to his desk. Pulling out the drawer, he quickly downed a vial of post-Cruciatus Potion he kept there for just such occasions. Sinking into his chair, he waited for the potion to start working. A knock on the door made him look up. “Come in.” He sat up straighter as Gawain Robards and Kingsley Shacklebolt walked in. “Welcome, gentlemen. I’ve been expecting you.” Robards took the seat closest to the desk, while Kingsley stayed standing further away. “A horrible business, Snape,” Robards began. “Both of the Carrows were killed by poison.” “Poison? What do you mean? They were obviously hacked to pieces. I saw Alecto’s arm cut off. There was blood all over the place. Amycus’s blood sprayed up to the ceiling,” Snape sneered at Robards. “It is true. They were cut up with some type of sharp bladed weapon — probably a sword. They probably would have died from the wounds that were inflicted, but they actually died of poison. Some type of snake venom, my experts tell me,” Robards explained. He watched Snape intently, but could not detect any change in his expression. “So is there any indication of who may have done this?” Snape asked. “No, sir. But we would like your permission to search the castle.” Snape waved his hand. “Certainly. Most of the students have gone home. There are a few Slytherins staying over the holiday, but all of the other student quarters should be empty. I hope you have more luck here than you did in Godric’s Hollow. Several of the students were talking about it. There was some type of disturbance in Godric’s Hollow and apparently no Aurors even showed up. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the abilities of the Auror squad.” “One more question, Snape,” Kingsley spoke up for the first time, ignoring Snape’s dig about the abilities of the Aurors. “Do you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of Ginny Weasley?” Snape raised his eyebrow superciliously. “I assumed she got onto the train. I received a passenger list before the train left and her name was on it.” “She wasn’t on the train. Pansy Parkinson used Polyjuice Potion to take her place.” “Kingsley, I thought that had been established as a prank,” Robards broke in before Snape could answer. Ignoring his supervisor, Kingsley locked his eyes on his former comrade. “Professor Snape, are Pansy Parkinson or Ginny Weasley capable of brewing Polyjuice Potion?” Snape barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. “No, neither of them are standouts in Potions.” He paused and met Kingsley’s eye. “Draco Malfoy is probably the only current student capable of making it.” “Are Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson friendly?” Kingsley asked. “I believe they are seeing each other, if gossip is to be believed,” Snape replied. He paused, choosing his words carefully. “I don’t believe either of them are particularly friendly with Ginny Weasley. If she did not get on the train, I do not know where she might be. I trust she is being careful. I would imagine that those looking for her would be very persistent.” Kingsley pondered those words before asking, “Do you know of any reason anyone would be looking for her?” “I imagine it is for her past associations, although I do not know for certain,” Snape replied. As the two Aurors left, Snape turned to the large portrait directly behind the desk. He quickly swung open the portrait and swore softly when he realized the space was empty. Closing the portrait, he glared at the occupant. “Were you going to tell me the sword is gone?” Snape asked acidly. “I did not know,” Dumbledore replied. “I can assure you no one has opened my portrait.” “If the portrait was not opened, why is the sword gone?” “It is said the sword will appear to Gryffindors in time of need. That is how we got it in the first place. Perhaps Harry needed it and it appeared for him.” Snape closed his eyes. “What did Robards mean about the snake venom?” “The Sword of Gryffindor is impregnated with Basilisk venom. It kills very quickly, so it would explain why the Carrows died of poison prior to bleeding to death.” “Basilisk venom?” “Severus, certainly you must have heard the rumours. Harry killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in his second year with the Sword of Gryffindor. He pulled the sword from the Sorting Hat, which Fawkes had brought to him,” Dumbledore explained. Spinning around, Snape spied the Sorting Hat in the same place he’d left it after the sorting this year. Turning back to the portrait, he asked, “Have you seen Fawkes in here?” “I have not, but that does not mean he has not been here.” It took a team of Aurors sixteen hours to clear the school. Headmaster Snape had even had Professor Flitwick cast very advanced sensing spells throughout the castle to no avail. Whoever had killed the Carrows appeared to have fled. _________________________________ ____________________________________ Fl eur smiled kindly at Hermione as the part-Veela woman showed the younger witch to her room at Shell Cottage, the beautiful cliff top home of Bill and Fleur Weasley. “Hermione, I am sorry this has happened to you, but you must understand all of the Muggleborns have had to flee or go underground for their own protection. Tonks’ father had to flee and I understand many of your classmates as well. We will all go and celebrate Christmas at the Burrow, but for now it is safer if you and Ron are not there.” Hermione tried to smile at Fleur, but didn’t truly manage it. “I do understand and I appreciate this. I just never thought I would be here. I promised Harry I would be with him until the end and…” Sitting on one of the twin beds, Fleur gestured for Hermione to sit as well. “Would you like to tell me what happened? I mean, really tell me?” Hermione sat on the bed across from Fleur and for a moment, simply looked out the window. Without looking at the young French beauty, Hermione started talking. “It was awful, much worse than I thought it would be. Harry…I really expected him to have a better plan or more of an idea of where we should go. Once we had some early success, our momentum seemed to falter. We were cold and hungry. I know I get cranky without food and Ron was downright miserable. I never understood how Harry could remain so even tempered with only a handful of mushrooms to eat. It just built up. Ron…he didn’t…he’s never been in a situation where the food was not readily available and he was so angry and negative all the time. He constantly complained and didn’t really help all that much. Harry would try his hardest by catching fish or coming up with our plan for the day.” Pausing, Hermione wiped away the tears that had started to fall. “I…I tried my best. I thought I’d brought everything we needed. I felt like they expected me to have answers I didn’t have. Ron was angry at Harry for a while prior to the fight and I know Harry felt guilty. When they had their fight, I’ve never seen them that angry at each other. I cast a shield between them so they wouldn’t hurt each other. Ron yelled at Harry and for once Harry yelled back. He asked Ron why he was still there and Ron…he said he didn’t know. Then he turned to me and asked me what I was going to do. “What was I supposed to say?” she asked Fleur almost pleadingly. “I felt like he wanted me to choose between them. Harry…he’s like my brother. He is a very powerful wizard; he is brave and noble. He might not plan very well, but his heart is always in the right place and he’s always managed to pull things through in the end. Ron…I…I’ve had a crush on Ron since my second year. I thought he’d never notice me, but since the summer I felt like he was finally starting to and even liked me as well. But Harry is trying to save the world and how could I turn my back on him? “When Ron fled the tent, I ran after him. I grabbed his arm just as he left. Everything happened so fast after that with the Snatchers and all. It never crossed my mind that Harry wouldn’t still be there,” Hermione said. She chanced a look over at Fleur, who was looking at the floor not giving Hermione a chance to see what she was thinking. When Fleur looked up, her expression was blank. “It must have been very difficult for you. I am sure you miss your parents as well.” Hermione nodded. “I usually don’t see them during the school year, but I’ve been thinking a lot about them this year.” “Hermione, why did you not go back and get Harry once you were safe?” Fleur asked. She blushed at those words. “I was so worried about Ron and I…I didn’t want to fight. Ron was still so angry. He wouldn’t have wanted Harry there and Harry would have gotten all stubborn so I just wanted to wait until the next day.” “So in other words, you chose Ron,” Fleur said quietly. Hermione glared at the young witch. “No, I didn’t.” “Yes, Hermione, you did. You may not have thought of it like that at the time, but if you look at it from Harry’s point of view, Ron asked you to choose and you went with him, leaving Harry on his own. What was he to think? “I’m not trying to make you feel bad,” Fleur hastened to add. “But it seems like you are waiting for him to show up asking for your help. I don’t think he will. You left him alone with no supplies. He does not know that you meant to come back for him. He believes that you chose to leave. He will not come back and endanger more people in the process.” _____________________________ ________________________________________ _ Ginny woke slowly to the feel of paws sinking into her hair. Opening her eyes, she smiled to find Sparkle sitting next to her on the pillow. Reaching out her hand, she scooped up the kitten, snuggling it close to her. After playing with the kitten for a while, Ginny got up and pulled on her dressing gown. It was the silky blue dressing gown that Fleur had given her prior to her return to school. She had never really worn it before, but the one she usually wore was now at the Burrow. Entering the main living area, she smiled to see Harry sitting at the table. “Good morning.” Harry smiled and kissed her as she joined him at the table. “Good morning.” Gesturing to the food tray on the table, he said, “Please help yourself.” He watched as she took some fruit and cereal. To his dismay, the bruises on her face and upper body were even more visible today. “Kreacher told me the Aurors are searching the castle, so we need to stay down here until they are done. Professor Flitwick is casting some kind of charm that looks for hidden people, but we should be protected down here.” “Okay. Wait, so how long are we down here?” Ginny asked. “I’m not sure,” Harry replied. “They started searching last night. I have no idea how long it would take to search a castle of this size.” Over breakfast, Ginny told Harry about life under Snape. He made a mental note to make sure to thank Neville and Seamus for looking after Ginny when he wasn’t around. Not that he would ever tell her that. Harry told Ginny about the progress he’d made in learning and casting spells while he was at his relative’s house. After breakfast, Ginny looked around the small living quarters Kreacher had made for them. “What about…” She trailed off, embarrassed. How was she supposed to ask him about this? Luckily, Harry seemed to understand what she was talking about. “Kreacher is really amazing.” Taking her by the hand, he led her over to the far corner of the chamber. There were now walls between the last column and the walls of the chamber. “Apparently the elves can make rooms when necessary.” Pushing open the door, Harry showed Ginny a small bathroom. It was nothing like the large bathrooms they were used to on the upper floors, but it had a long counter with two sinks, a toilet and a stand-up shower. “Kreacher said that because this was built underneath a bathroom, he was able to make this for us. It’s stocked with soap, shampoo, whatever you need.” Kissing her on the cheek, he left her in the bathroom so she could take care of her needs. She shuddered as she looked at the ragged mess in which Pansy had left her hair. At least she hadn’t cut anything near Ginny’s face, but the back was very uneven with a chunk missing from the left. Turning around in the mirror, Ginny tried to see how she could fix damage. If she could see it all, she could even it up so it fell past her shoulders. Giving up, she called Harry. He looked into the bathroom nervously. “What’s up, Gin?” “I need you to help me fix my hair,” Ginny explained, showing him the problem. “Can you just cut it straight across here?” Harry ran his hand reverently through her hair. “Just with a regular Severing Charm?” “Yes, just gather my hair and cut,” Ginny detailed. Nervously, Harry gathered her hair together and holding the hair away from her body, he cut it off. Ginny fluffed through her hair and examined the results in the mirror. “Does it look even?” Harry ran his hand along the bottom. “Yeah, I think so.” With a quick kiss, Ginny said, “Thank you.” Blushing, Harry said, “You’re welcome.” He picked up the small pile of hair from the floor. “I guess we need to destroy this if there are people trying to make Polyjuice Potion.” Piling the hair on the floor, Harry Banished it and left Ginny to finish getting ready. After she rejoined Harry, he shared his research into the Horcruxes so far. She looked over his notes. “So there are two out there. Hufflepuff’s cup and something of that belonged to Ravenclaw, right?” “Yeah, I’ve read this book on Ravenclaw. It seems that the two items she was known for was the golden quill she used to design the ever-changing floor plan and this diadem that is supposed to bestow wisdom on the wearer.” Ginny wrinkled her nose. “What’s diadem?” Harry laughed. “I had to look that up myself. A diadem is a type of crown or tiara. But unfortunately it has been lost for a long, long time.” Reaching for the journals he had set out on the desk, he handed them to Ginny. “These are Dumbledore’s journals. If it was important for me to read them, I want you to read them also.” That set the pattern for the next several days. They would practice their spell work or read together curled up on the couch. For Harry, he was happy to have Ginny back in his life, but also he was just happy to have someone to share his ideas with, someone who didn’t make him feel stupid. He had always known that Ginny was smart, but he discovered a new appreciation for her intelligence. While Hermione was very book smart, Ginny was very intuitive, easily making connections that eluded him. Ginny was thrilled that Harry was finally letting her into his world. For so long she’d felt like an outsider. She felt he shared most everything with Hermione and Ron, but very little with anyone else. The redhead discovered a new appreciation for Harry’s work ethic. To her shame, she’d let Hermione’s perception of Harry’s grades colour her perceptions. He was intelligent and hard working. If he didn’t understand something, he worked hard until he did. Unlike her brothers, he actually listened to her and seemed to value her opinion. He was also an excellent teacher. ______________________________________ _______________________________ It was two days before Christmas when Kreacher felt it was safe for them to venture into the school — covered by the Invisibility Cloak of course. They had already decided not to split up while in the castle. Turning to Harry, Ginny said, “We should go to Ravenclaw Tower. I remember Luna telling me that there is a statue of Ravenclaw in their common room.” Harry agreed. He grabbed the sword, just in case, and after covering both himself and Ginny with the silky Invisibility Cloak, Kreacher took them to the Ravenclaw common room. Shrugging off the cloak, Harry looked around the common room curiously. It was a large circular room, bright and airy with large arched windows. The room was decorated in the blue and bronze motif that was associated with Ravenclaw. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen our common room this neat,” Ginny whispered. Harry laughed. “It probably is now with no one there.” Turning around so he could see the whole room, he stopped when he saw a large marble statue next to the door leading to the dorms. It was a life sized statue of a rather beautiful woman. The young couple approached the statue. Atop her head was a delicate tiara, which reminded Ginny of her Aunt Muriel’s tiara. Into it were etched the words, Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure. Harry gasped. “I’ve seen this before.” “What? Where?” “Last year. After I…got into the fight with Malfoy last year, I hid my potion’s book in the Room of Requirement. I remember setting something that looked like that aside to mark where I hid the book.” Pulling out the Marauder’s Map, they mapped out the fastest course to the Room of Requirement. Throwing the cloak over them, they quietly made their way to the seventh floor. Leaving Ginny under the cloak, he paced in front of the door three times thinking I need to find the room of hidden things… I need to find the room of hidden things On his third pass, a door appeared in the wall. Harry reached out for Ginny’s hand and pulled her into the large Cathedral like room that housed nearly a millennia of lost items. “Merlin, this is incredible,” Ginny whispered. “I know. I was in such a hurry the first time, I didn’t really look around, but there is so much stuff in here.” He pointed to a pair of bloody swords lying against a long forgotten trunk. “I wonder what the story is behind them.” Ginny laughed as she surveyed the veritable city of lost items. The items were arranged in huge rows, with clear alleys winding through the room. She could see clothes in every fashion imaginable — from elaborate frocks, to plain robes, to more modern jeans. Books, cauldrons, and toys were stacked high, the stacks obviously maintained by magic. Harry led the way down one of the alleys and turned at a huge stuffed troll. Ginny made a face as they passed the Vanishing Cabinet that had let Death Eaters into the school last year. Luckily it had been disabled once again, so it could not be used to breach the school. Harry came to a halt in front of a large cupboard and pointed to a tarnished tiara jammed atop a bust that rested on top of the cupboard. “I hid the book in the cupboard and I used the tiara to mark where it was,” Harry explained as he Summoned the tiara down and placed it on the floor. Ginny looked at it, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s so beautiful. Why does he try to destroy such beautiful things?” Harry kissed her on top of the head and offered her the sword. She shook her head. Grasping the sword firmly in both hands, he stabbed through the diadem. A scream sounded as a dark, bloody substance leaked out of the diadem. The young couple watched almost fascinated while the dark goo poured out and seemed to burn itself up as it piled on the floor. Once it was empty, the diadem shook for a moment before it seemed to heal itself. Harry reached for the diadem and was surprised to see it was no longer tarnished, but a shiny golden colour. Gasping, Ginny took the diadem from Harry. “It repaired itself.” “I guess the Horcrux was preventing it from looking as it should,” Harry said as he slid his arm around his girlfriend. “We should return it to Professor Flitwick. He is the head of Ravenclaw House. Just before we leave, we’ll get it back to him.” |
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