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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: 149086; Chapter Total: 10915 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Thanks again to my beta Jennyelf! I appreciate the great reviews and comments people have sent as well as the Silver Trinket Nominations. |
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Pansy slipped into the tiny loo on the train and reluctantly swallowed another vial of Polyjuice Potion. The Slytherin shuddered as she swallowed the potion. At least it got a little bit easier to swallow with each dose. It was currently three hours into the trip from London. She had been able to fool Ginny’s friends, but she had hoped to be able to discover something useful to report back to her father and so far that was not the case. All she had discovered was that she truly hated blood traitors. It was disgusting to listen to them rail on against the Ministry and the Headmaster. Looking in the mirror, she made a face at Ginny’s face. Fluffing her copper hair, Pansy took a deep breath before rejoining her compartment. She paused outside the door, taking in the scene. Seamus, Neville, and Demelza had started a game of Exploding Snap. Luna Lovegood was sitting near the window reading that crackpot magazine of her father’s. Pansy had to make an effort to remember to call her Luna, not Loony. Several others had visited them over the course of the journey. Lavender and the Patil twins, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot had all stopped by at some point during the trip. Pansy reentered the compartment and sat down opposite Luna. She watched the game quietly until Lavender and Parvati Patil came back to visit. “So who do you think will be picking you up?” Lavender asked, turning to Pansy. Her mind racing, Pansy tried to think of an appropriate answer. “I’m not sure. I think my mum will be coming.” Moving her arm, Pansy pushed back her hair. Lavender looked at her curiously. “Ginny, where is your bracelet?” Caught off guard, Pansy replied sharply, “I didn’t want to wear it today.” From the reactions of the others in the compartment, Pansy realized that was the wrong thing to say. She wracked her brain trying to remember if Ginny had been wearing a bracelet, but she didn’t recall. Neville and Seamus turned towards the girls while Demelza discreetly cast a Silencing and Locking charm on the door. “Ginny, what did my Grandmother get me the summer before last?” Neville asked, fingering his wand. Pansy stared at him in confusion. How in Merlin’s name was she supposed to know the answer for that? “I don’t remember.” Before she even realized what happened, Pansy found herself bound and disarmed. Someone had pulled the shades on the window and Pansy felt a frissom of fear run through her. “Who are you?” Neville asked, aggressively. “What do you mean?” Pansy demanded angrily. “I’m Ginny Weasley. Who do you think I am? Let me go.” “Do you like Hippogriffs or Hungarian Horntails?” Lavender asked. “Why are you asking these nonsense questions?” Pansy asked. “Where is Ginny?” Neville demanded. Pansy glared at the others. “I am Ginny!” “I don’t know who you are,” Seamus growled. “But I do know you are not Ginny Weasley.” Luna, who had observed the proceedings silently, said, “If she is taking Polyjuice Potion, it should wear off in twenty-five minutes. She last left the compartment a little over thirty minutes ago.” The two boys exchanged a look. “So we wait,” Neville said. _______________________________ _______________________________________ Kreacher transported Harry back to the Chamber. Thanking the elf, Harry ran over to where Ginny was curled up on the floor. “Kreacher, can you take us to the prefects’ bathroom?” Harry asked urgently. When Kreacher nodded, Harry lifted his still stunned girlfriend in his arms and the three were transported to the prefects’ bathroom. “Can you get us towels and something to change into?” Harry whispered. Not bothering to respond, Kreacher disappeared. Turning his attention to his girlfriend, Harry was upset to notice the bruising around her face. He hastily conjured up a cushioned bench and laid her down. Kneeling beside her, he awakened her. “Rennervate!” Ginny woke with a gasp. She looked around frantically and her eyes widened when she saw a blood stained Harry Potter leaning over her. “Are you okay, love?” he asked softly, his throat still sore from yelling. She nodded silently. Harry could see she was trying to figure out what was happening. Before he could say anything else, Kreacher appeared next to him. “Here you go, Master Harry,” the elf said, holding out clothing for the young couple. After placing the clothes on the counter, the house-elf snapped his fingers to summon a pitcher of water and two vials of potion. Handing a vial of potion to each of them, Kreacher said, “Drink your potions. I have secured the door so it will not open. I am setting up living quarters for you in that place. Call me when you are done, Master Harry.” Bowing to the couple, Kreacher disappeared with a small pop. Harry downed his potion and gestured for Ginny to do the same. The appearance of Kreacher had gone a long way toward convincing her it was truly Harry in front of her. Looking at the vial, Ginny recognized the post-Cruciatus potion. Making a face, she swallowed the potion and took the proffered glass of water. When she still didn’t say anything, Harry put his hand on her arm and asked, “Ginny, are you okay? It really is me.” Reaching up, Harry unbuttoned his shirt with one hand and opened it to show her the Hungarian Horntail tattoo on his chest. Startled, Ginny reached up her hand and traced the dragon. “You actually got it?” she asked, her voice hoarse. “Yeah, I was talking to Fleur and she told me how she and Viktor both got tattoos in honour of Cedric. They wanted to take me, but I was underage at the time. So this summer, she took me one afternoon so I could get my tattoo. She has a Welsh Green tattooed on her shoulder and Viktor has a Chinese Fireball on his arm,” Harry explained. Reaching up, he gently cupped her cheek. “What happened, baby? Why weren’t you on the train?” “I…They tricked me,” Ginny said softly, tears welling up in her eyes as the trauma of the past hour crashed over her. “Malfoy, Zabini, and Pansy. They ambushed me and took me to Carrow. They w-were going to turn me over to V-Voldemort. I don’t know why. They said he wanted me." “Oh Merlin,” she said in a horrified whisper. “Pansy took Polyjuice Potion. She’s taking my place. My family...” “Kreacher!” Harry called. When the little elf appeared, Harry said, “Can you get onto the Hogwarts Express?” “Yes, Master.” “Pansy Parkinson is taking Polyjuice Potion to take on Ginny’s appearance. We need to make sure she doesn’t go home with Ginny’s family,” Harry explained. “Of course, Master.” Looking over at Ginny, the elf reassured her, “Don’t worry, Mistress Ginny.” “I was so scared,” Ginny said. “They…they took m-my clothes off and I didn’t know what they were going to do. Zabini said he wouldn’t touch me, but M-Malfoy… I was so scared.” Harry wrapped his arms around her as she started sobbing. “It’s okay, baby. You’re safe now.” After she calmed slightly, Ginny looked up at him. “What happened? How did you get out of there?” “I-I killed them,” Harry whispered. His hands tightened convulsively on her shoulders. His expressive green eyes showed his mixed emotions. “I didn’t even think about it. I just…I wanted to keep you safe and I killed them.” Burying his face in her hair, Harry drew comfort from her embrace. He couldn’t say how long they stayed in their embrace, but after a time he pulled back. “I brought us up here because I need to clean up and I figured you would want to also.” Ginny blushed as Harry walked over to the huge white marble tub. After examining the taps, he opened one and watched as the tub filled with both warm water and the scent of lavender. Without looking at her, Harry said shyly, “If you want to get in first, I won’t look until you say it is okay.” “Okay,” Ginny replied, her mouth suddenly dry. When Harry turned his back, Ginny quickly stripped off the cloak and her underclothes and dove under the bubbles. Once she was sure she was covered, she said, “Okay, your turn.” Closing her eyes, Ginny could hear the rustle of clothing, followed by a soft splash. “I’m in,” Harry said quietly. Ginny opened her eyes to see Harry dunking his head under the water at the other end of the tub. When he lifted his head, he smiled at her. “You know, I really can’t see you very well without my glasses anyway. You’re kind of a reddish blur over there.” She laughed. “That’s kind of a relief.” Scrubbing herself clean, Ginny kept looking over at Harry. He looked different than when she’d last seen him. He had lost weight and his hair was longer. Blushing, she had to admit that she really liked the tattoo. It suddenly hit her what was wrong. “Harry, where’s Ron and Hermione?” She could see his face close. He looked down into the water, concentrating on scrubbing the blood out of his hair. “I…they…We got in a fight and they left.” “What?!” Ginny screamed. The look of absolute despair and confusion in his eyes made her calm her temper down considerably. “What happened, sweetie?” “We…I’ll explain our mission in a few minutes, but as you know we were left a mission by Professor Dumbledore. We had to track down…certain items to make it possible to kill Tom. We found one thing right away, but we…we were living in a tent just the three of us and we didn’t have any food and not much money so we were hungry most of the time. R-Ron would get so angry. We overheard some people talking about you, Neville and Luna trying to steal the sword.” Harry gestured to the bloody sword where it lay on the bathroom floor. “One of the group we overheard was a goblin and he said that the sword in the office was fake. Hermione and I were energized thinking that maybe Dumbledore had hidden the sword somewhere for us to find.” Harry paused and swam over to the corner where the towels were kept. Ginny averted her gaze when she realized he was going to stand. He quickly got out of the tub and while he ducked behind the screen to dress, Ginny hurriedly got out of the tub and dressed herself. She settled on the bench Harry had conjured, taking a moment to admire the strength of the magic it would take to make such a solid object. The redhead looked up when Harry crossed to her. She could see the tears swimming in his eyes and she pulled him down to join her. “So what happened next?” she asked gently. “Ron got mad and started yelling at me. He said…he said I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t have a plan. I…Gin, I swear I didn’t lie to them. I told them everything that Dumbledore told me. I told them we didn’t know where to find the other Horcruxes. That’s why Dumbledore showed me so much of Tom’s life so I could figure out where he would have hidden things. I didn’t…They didn’t have to come with me.” Harry looked so heartbroken that Ginny could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as well. “I told them I would go alone, but they insisted on coming with me. Hermione laughed at me when I tried to make them stay behind. Why did they do that if they were just going to leave when it got rough?” Ginny wrapped her arms around him as he sobbed out his confusion on her shoulder. Tears flowed to her face as well. She was angry at Dumbledore for dumping this all on a seventeen year old boy and she was furious with her brother and Hermione. After Harry’s sobs lessened, he wiped his tears as he pulled back. “S-sorry, I just still don’t understand. When Ron and I were yelling at each other, Hermione put up a shield. He stormed out of the tent and she followed him. I waited and finally I went to look for them, but they were gone. I waited around the next morning, but they didn’t come back. Hermione had all of our supplies. I didn’t have any food or supplies or even a change of clothes. So I left.” Ginny stared at him in astonishment. “So they just left you there without anything? Where did you go?” “I…I realized that they were right in some ways. I needed to be better prepared. I’ve always assumed that Hermione would be there with the answer if I didn’t know. I never tried as hard as I could in school. Partly because I had other things on my mind and partly because…well when I was little, I would get in trouble if I got better grades than Dudley so I just got used to not doing so well. Once I became friends with Hermione, I don’t know. It just seemed like she would get upset if I got better grades than her.” Harry reached out for Ginny’s hand. “I went back to my relatives’ house. I heard during the time I was at the Burrow that it was empty so I stayed there for a while…I made a list of the kinds of spells I needed to know and I basically spent a few weeks there, studying and practicing. I had shelter and water, but the electricity had been turned off so it was cold. I ran into Alicia Spinnet in London. She works in the Magical library.” Ginny nodded. “I’d heard she got a job there.” “See, I didn’t even know there was a Magical library in London,” Harry said. “I was really unprepared. She went out and got me some supplies and clothes while I was researching.” “Thank Merlin someone was there for you,” Ginny murmured as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “So what are you doing here?” Ginny asked. Before Harry could answer, Kreacher popped back into the bathroom. “Mistress Ginny, your friends had already caught the person pretending to be you and are planning to turn her over to the Aurors. Master Harry, I’ve prepared an area for you. I think you should go down there before they find the bodies.” Turning to Ginny, Harry said, “I was planning on staying in the Chamber of Secrets because no one else can get down there. What…Do…Will you come with me?” Ginny paled when she heard the phrase Chamber of Secrets. She really didn’t want to go back there, but Harry was right-- it did make a good hiding spot. Too many people could get into the Room of Requirement to make that a good hiding spot. Looking up into Harry’s concerned eyes, she made herself smile. “I’ll come. J-just promise you won’t let go of my hand for a while.” Harry’s eyes softened and he leaned over and kissed her gently. “I promise.” Picking up the sword, he quickly cleaned the blood off of it. Reaching for her hand, he nodded to Kreacher. “Thank you, Kreacher. We’re ready.” _____________________________ ________________________________________ _ Bill and Molly Weasley waited with the hundreds of other families on Platform 9 ¾. The atmosphere on the platform was quiet, not the usual boisterous crowd waiting to pick up their children. King’s Cross had been full of holiday cheer until crossing through the barrier onto the Magical platform. Molly shivered as she was confronted with the realities of the changing Wizarding world. She couldn’t wait to get her daughter and go back to her own house to celebrate the holidays. The scarlet train steamed into view and Bill and Molly surged forward with the rest of the crowd eager to reclaim their offspring. Slowly the crowd started thinning out as reunited families hurried off the platform. Molly nodded to Xenophilius Lovegood and Augusta Longbottom, who were also waiting. To her dismay, she also saw Lucius and Draco Malfoy, both of whom shot a smirk in Molly’s direction. It angered her to see so many Death Eaters strolling around. She had also seen the Goyles, Crabbes, and Notts. Yelling from the end of the train drew her attention and she watched as Pansy Parkinson was escorted over to her father by a pair of Aurors. Another pair of Aurors appeared to be restraining several older students in one of the last cars. As soon as Pansy and her father Apparated off of the platform, the Aurors released the students. Molly was surprised to recognize two of Ron’s dorm mates — Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnegan. She watched as Neville approached his grandmother and greeted her. Turning back to the train, she waited for her daughter to appear. “Mrs. Weasley.” Molly turned to see the two Gryffindor boys standing in front of her. They had obviously been in some type of altercation. Neville had bruises along his knuckles and Seamus was sporting a black eye. “Hello Neville, Seamus,” Molly replied, smiling warmly at the boys. She noticed in the background that Xenophilius and Luna had left and Augusta and a woman she took to be Seamus’s mother was approaching them. “Mrs. Weasley, we need to talk to you privately,” Neville said nervously. Molly looked back at the train expecting to see her daughter’s bright red hair, but instead saw no one else leaving the train. She looked at the boys. “But my Ginny. Where is my Ginny?” She felt Bill step up behind her and lay his hands on her shoulders. He spoke to the boys. “Can you come back to the Burrow with us? Your mum and grandmother are welcome as well.” He pulled a Portkey from his pocket. “That would be fine, Mr. Weasley,” Augusta Longbottom said as she reached the small group. Mrs. Finnegan nodded in agreement and they soon landed in the front yard of the Burrow. Bill gestured them into the house and the blessedly empty kitchen. Molly immediately turned to the boys. “Where is Ginny?” Neville looked around uncomfortably. “I don’t know, Mrs. Weasley. We got separated this morning and it seemed like she joined us on the train. But…but it wasn’t her.” “She wasn’t acting right,” Seamus put in, “and then she didn’t have her bracelet. We asked her some of our security questions and she didn’t know the answers.” Molly sat down heavily at the kitchen table. Bill looked at the boys. “Is that what the commotion was about?” “Yeah, we had Pansy Parkinson restrained, caught using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Ginny. The Auror just laughed it off as a joke. We had broken all of the vials of the potion because we didn’t want anyone to be able to use it, so they said we didn’t have any proof,” Neville explained angrily. “When was the last time you saw her?” Bill asked. “This morning. We had just left the common room when someone brought her a note from Snape, asking her to meet him in the Potions’ classroom. She asked us to take her belongings to the train and said she’d meet us there,” Seamus replied. Bill noticed for the first time that Neville had set Ginny’s bag and Arnold, her pygmy puff down inside the door. He strode over to the fire and after tossing in some Floo powder, called out, “Minerva McGonagall.” Minerva appeared in the Floo and after seeing who was there, stepped through to the Burrow. “Molly, I was just about to contact you. I can’t stay long. The Carrows were murdered today, Severus found them just a while ago. I just got back to my office when an elf pops into my quarters and hands me this.” She handed them a folded piece of parchment that simply read, “Ginny is safe.” The note was not signed except by a lightning bolt. |
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