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Perilous Journey | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence Rating: R Reviews: 314 Summary: During Christmas at Grimmauld Place, Harry and Ginny realize they can help each other overcome the memories of their past. Watching them, Sirius finds the courage to forgive himself for his past mistakes and start living again. Umbridge, however has other plans. She expels the couple, starting them on a very perilous journey. *Mentions of child abuse and alcohol/substance use* Hitcount: Story Total: 144892; Chapter Total: 6551 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Thank you so much for all of the positive encouragement! I hope this extra long chapter is worth the wait. Thanks to seekers_destiny for his beta work - it is much appreciated! |
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November 9 - 25, 1997 “I can’t wait to see this Room of Requirement.” Sirius shook his head. “I can only imagine the mayhem we could have caused if we’d known this was here while we were in school.” “You never discovered it?” Ron asked rather surprised. “James and I hid in there one night when we were ‘escaping’ the caretaker after playing a prank, but we never could figure out afterwards where we’d hidden or how we’d gotten there,” Sirius explained. “I was shocked when Harry told me about the Room of Requirement. We thought we knew so much more about the school than anyone else, but obviously we didn’t.” “Tom spent most of his time trying to discover as many secrets as he could,” Ginny said slowly. “He bragged about how much he’d discovered. In addition to the Chamber of Secrets, he bragged about some secret entrance to the Slytherin common room that was only available to Parselmouths.” “Really?” Harry perked up. He looked around the Great Hall again, confirming that there were no Slytherin students. “Maybe we should check that out before we go to the Room of Requirement.” “Harry, you can’t just take advantage of the absence of Slytherins to go poking around in their common room,” Hermione said severely. “Hermione, don’t you think if Riddle knew of a hiding place in the Slytherin common room, he would use it?” Harry challenged. “We assumed it was going to be in the Room of Requirement, but as you pointed out last night this is a lot of guesswork and theory. I don’t think we should pass up this opportunity.” “I agree,” Bill and Sirius both said at the same time. “I guess,” Hermione wavered. “I just don’t see how something could be hidden where hundreds of students have been over the past fifty years and not been discovered.” “Hermione, weren’t we just discussing rooms that generations of students didn’t know about?” Sirius pointed out. “We’ve recently spoken to a friend of Harry’s grandmother who heard stories from a certain ghost who most people hadn’t spoken to, but Voldemort did and managed to convince her to divulge her deepest secrets. He went out of his way to discover as much about the castle as he could. I would imagine he would enjoy the thought that he knew more about the castle or knew of secret rooms and entrances that others never dreamed existed.” “He would,” Ginny said positively. “Besides, we aren’t going into any students’ rooms, we’re going into the common room. It wouldn’t hurt to check.” “After all, no one outside of Slytherin knew that the Floo in their common room was connected to the outside network,” Sirius grumbled. “Damn Snape.” Laughing, the group made their way down to the dungeons verbally abusing Snape as they did so, much to Hermione’s disapproval. Harry led the way to the entrance through which he and Ron had entered the common room in their second year. “I still can’t believe you got in here as second years,” Sirius said with a touch of envy in his voice. “It took us Marauders six years to figure a way to sneak in and cause a bit of mayhem.” “Second years?” Bill asked looking between his brother and brother-in-law. “What in Godric’s name were you doing sneaking in here as second years and how did you get in?” Glancing over at his wife and seeing no disapproval from her, Harry quickly explained how they had used Polyjuice Potion to see if they could discover more about the Heir of Slytherin who was opening the Chamber of Secrets. Bill raised an eyebrow at that. “You brewed Polyjuice Potion as a second year?” Hermione blushed slightly and nodded. “I did. I still can’t believe I stole from Professor Snape’s supplies.” Glancing at her two best friends, she said, “I chalked it up to their bad influence.” Laughing at her comment, Ginny pointed out an elaborate tapestry on the wall. Like many of the tapestries in the castle, it showed exquisite craftsmanship and it was quite old. It depicted a cobra sunning itself on a stone with it’s hood spread around it. “The entrance is behind this tapestry.” Bill cast a few spells before nodding to Harry. “Go ahead, there don’t seem to be any hidden traps or anything.” Nodding, Harry looked at the cobra for a moment imagining it to be a real snake. “Open,” he hissed in Parseltongue. The serpent looked up from tapestry and flicked it’s tongue. “You may enter sspeaker.” There was the sound of grinding stone, and the doorway behind the tapestry was opened. Hermione reached for the tapestry to move it aside and the cobra hissed in warning. “The speaker must enter first.” Not knowing what the snake was saying, Hermione continued to reach for the tapestry even as Harry yelled for her to stop. Bill’s hand closed over hers before she could touch it. “Wait!” Harry, what did it say?” “That I need to go first,” he replied as he swept the tapestry to one side and held it aside so everyone could enter. As he entered the common room, Bill checked the tapestry. He raised an eyebrow. “The tapestry is impregnated with cobra venom. It must have been triggered when Harry spoke to the snake.” He looked over at Hermione. “Please be a little more careful. That venom would have killed you.” Shaken Hermione looked at Bill in disbelief. “That tapestry has been there for years, decades, maybe even centuries. How could it be laced with venom?” “It wasn’t there when I checked the first time, so as I said, I believe it’s probably a defence mechanism activated when Harry spoke to the tapestry. It must be a protection against non-Parselmouths or in their view most likely, non-Purebloods.” “That’s offensive,” Hermione said her disgust evident in her voice. “These aren’t nice people,” Bill ground out. “This is why I didn’t want to involve the two of you. It isn’t safe and it isn’t a school project. You can’t lodge a protest if something offends you. We are up against purebloods who are willing to kill to keep their way of life and who have no problems using Unforgivables. Are you willing to face people like that?” Hermione flushed as he started rebuking her. Ron jumped in. “She has a right to be upset, she could have been killed.” “She could have been killed because she didn’t wait to hear the snake’s warning,” Harry spoke up. “This is serious. This isn’t about hurt feelings. We are all going to see and hear things that aren’t pleasant. We need to work together and follow Bill’s and Sirius’ lead. You need to listen to them and sometimes they just have time to yell warnings, not ask nicely or even explain their reasoning. You can’t get your feelings hurt because they yell. You can’t debate things. You need to respect the fact that others have more knowledge and experience than you do and follow their lead. Are you still willing to help?” “Of course,” Hermione said promptly. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect things to be dangerous so…quickly.” Ron agreed. Harry exchanged a look with Bill. “I want the two of you involved, but this isn’t like the adventures we had when we were younger — the stakes are a lot higher.” “I realize that a snake hissing at Harry might seem to have nothing to do with you,” Sirius said, “but you should have waited to see what it was saying. From what I’ve seen snakes aren’t great conversationalists. If one is speaking, wait for Harry to tell us what it says. Trust me, we’ve seen a lot of crazy things since we’ve started on this path. We all need to work together to keep each other safe.” Mollified, Hermione and Ron both agreed. Satisfied that they would be more on guard, Harry led the way into the room. They were at the far end of the wall that held the door. The Slytherin common room was under the Black lake so the room was lit in an eerie greenish light. The room was long and with a low ceiling and rough stone walls. The décor reminded Harry of Grimmauld Place with a snake motif. “What the hell?” Ginny exclaimed. Everyone turned around and saw the Giant Squid swim by the windows that looked out into the lake. Fleur wrinkled her nose. “I am very glad I didn’t have to say ‘ere. Zat would not be pleasant.” “I know,” Ginny said as she continued to gaze into the dark, greenish depths of the lake. “If you could see some pretty fish or something that would be one thing, but it’s just green and dark. Want to bet there are some sea serpents slithering around in there?” “I won’t take that bet,” Sirius murmured as he peered into the darkness. He shivered slightly. “I am so glad I didn’t get sorted into Slytherin — I never would have felt comfortable sleeping here and I’ve never had a problem with snakes.” “Me neither,” Harry echoed. “The green light is creepy.” He shuddered slightly. “It reminds me of the Killing Curse. It would have given me nightmares for sure.” Sirius clapped Harry on the shoulder as the group spread out looking around the common room. There were high backed chairs and low tables. The furnishings were nice, but dark and in the dimly lit dungeon they added to the gloom. Dominating the wall across from the lake was a large, ornately carved fireplace. There were two stained glass windows framing the fireplace both of which depicted Salazar Slytherin’s family crest. Sirius moved the low backed sofa away from the fireplace so all of them could see. The wall above the mantle contained a large sculpture of a serpent with shining emerald green eyes. Along the dark granite mantle were carefully preserved snakes’ skulls. The fireplace was covered with ornately carved stone. It was at the same time impressive and disquieting. Bill started casting ward detecting spells at the fireplace while the others watched silently. Harry watched the older wizard carefully, it was fascinating to watch him work. He seemed to be concentrating on the bricks above the mantle, surrounding the serpent sculpture. As the light from Bill’s wand highlighted the bricks, Harry realized there were names engraved upon them. “What are those?” Harry murmured. “Family bricks,” Sirius explained. Bill used his wand to light the bricks and Harry could read them. There were names and years engraved upon them — some dating back to the mid-19th century and one of the most recent read ‘Draco Malfoy 1998’. Seeing the confusion on his companions, he explained, “A family can donate a large amount of money and their name and year of graduation will be engraved upon the brick. It’s supposed to be an honour.” Using his wand as a torch, Sirius highlighted several of his family bricks. Orion Black 1947, Walburga Black 1943, Regulus Black 1979, Bellatrix Black 1970, Lucius Malfoy 1972, Narcissa Black 1973. “Only families who are purebloods are allowed to purchase a brick,” Sirius explained in distaste. “The bricks are quite expensive. I remember my dad going on and on about how the price had increased from when his had been purchased. My father had plenty of Slytherin pride, but he was also rather cheap. I think that was the only time my parents were glad I wasn’t in Slytherin. You’ll notice that Tom Riddle appears nowhere on the wall, nor does Snape.” “That must have infuriated Tom,” Harry murmured as he looked at the bricks. “Imagine finding out he was a wizard and heir to Slytherin, but not perceived as good enough by most of the purebloods.” He glanced at his brother-in-law. “Are you getting anything?” Bill shook his head. “No, I’m not detecting any wards, but it seems like there is a space behind the fireplace.” Looking at his wife, he said, “Can you see what you find?” Fleur cast the spell and after a moment, she nodded. “Zhere iz some complex magic zhat has been cast upon the statue. I believe it acts as a guardian of sorts, but I’m not certain what it might be guarding.” Looking closely at the snake, Harry hissed, “Hello.” The statue seemed to come to life, slithering around before coiling its body. A cobra’s hood formed behind the snake’s head and the cobra lifted its head as though it was ready to strike. “Another speaker.” “Yes, I am a speaker,” Harry replied. Harry heard Fleur murmur something softly in French. He started when a smaller hand reached out for his. Looking down he saw Ginny smiling up at him. That reassured him more than anything. Taking a chance he looked around the group and saw that everyone was watching curiously, not with suspicion or hate as had happened in the duelling class so long ago. The satisfaction he’d gained from working with the Cobra Chamber had given him some confidence in using his abilities, but knowing that all of his closest friend and family accepted him was wonderfully comforting. Feeling more confident, he turned back to the statue. The now animated statue seemed to survey him. “There have not been many speakers here over the years,” the statue commented. “The last one was my Master’s heir.” “Riddle,” Harry hissed. The serpent’s head seemed to nod in agreement. “What is your purpose here?” Harry asked. “My master, Salazar Slytherin, installed me here over a thousand years ago. He imbued me with the ability to watch and learn. I was not put here to spy, but I can warn the current head of Slytherin House if there is a problem — an assault or plot of insurrection. Some of them have heeded my warning, but many have not. Over the years there have been few speakers, but one created a spell so the head of house can translate my words.” “If you weren’t created to spy, why were you placed here?” Harry asked curiously. “I believe Master Slytherin thought there would be many speakers attend school here over the years and I was to teach them, but as I said over the years there haven’t been many,” the serpent confided. “My master’s heir discovered me and he used to converse with me, but he didn’t teach the others. He had an evilness about him that pervades the house even today.” “That is quite true,” Harry replied. “Did Riddle hide anything here in this room? We are looking for an artefact he may have left here.” “No,” the serpent replied. “He may have hidden something in my master’s chamber. Would you like to enter?” “There is an entrance here?” Harry asked in surprise. “Push the green stone to the left of the fireplace,” the snake replied. “Any speaker is permitted entry.” “My friends will be permitted to accompany me?” Harry clarified. Flicking out his tongue, as if testing the air, the snake surveyed the group in front of him. “You and your mate have already been in the chamber.” Harry nodded tensely, wondering if the fact that he killed the Basilisk would be held against him. The serpent simply hissed, “You have been judged worthy, you may enter and take your companions with you.” “Thank you,” Harry replied. It seemed a bit strange to be thanking a statue, but it also seemed oddly appropriate. Reaching out, he pushed the stone indicated by the snake. There was surprisingly little sound as the fireplace rotated revealing a staircase leading into darkness. Bill stepped forward and cast several spells before casting one final spell that lit torches along the wall. Looking at his brother-in-law, Bill asked, “Does this lead to the Chamber of Secrets?” Harry nodded. He looked at his wife who had tightened her grip on his hand when the staircase was revealed. With his free hand, he reached out and cupped her cheek. “Are you okay with going down there?” Fleur spoke up, “If you do not feel comfortable going down there, I will stay up here with you.” Smiling thankfully at her sister-in-law, Ginny shook her head. “Thank you, Fleur, but I think I need to face my fears. Who better to face them with than my husband and brothers?” Leaning down Harry kissed her softly. “You are very brave, love.” “Not really,” she admitted quietly. “Keep holding my hand and I will be fine.” Bill led the way down the stairs with Fleur right behind him. Harry and Ginny followed with Ron and Hermione close behind them. Sirius was the last. He clapped Ginny on the shoulder as she passed by and she managed a smile for him. “I think I liked sliding down the slide better,” Ron groused as he caught Hermione as she stumbled on the uneven stairs. Harry nodded. The stairs seemed to stretch out forever in front of them, but eventually they reached the bottom. Hermione turned and looked up. “I don’t think I want to climb back up those stairs.” “I’m hoping we won’t have to,” Harry admitted. “Where are we?” Ron asked as they all looked around the dank, cool tunnels. Hermione and Fleur were both eyeing the skeletal remains on the floor with distaste. “This doesn’t look familiar to me at all.” “I think we’re just on the opposite side of the castle from where we came down before,” Harry said as he started down the tunnel with his wand lit. A whispered spell from Bill lit the long dark sconces on the walls providing light all along the tunnel. Harry nodded his thanks to his brother-in-law. “When we slid down the tunnel, we came in on the other side of the school. I think the tunnels run under most of the school. Before I came to the door that led into the Chamber, there was another tunnel that joined the one I was in. I think we are in that tunnel now.” After several minutes of traveling down the tunnel, Harry’s words proved accurate as the tunnel they were in joined another coming from the other direction. It was only a few minutes travel before they stood in front of the large double doors marked with the entwined snakes. Glancing down at his wife, Harry said softly, “Are you okay? If you don’t feel comfortable we don’t have to go in.” She stared grimly at the doors for a minute before looking up at her husband. “I need to do this. I’ve been so afraid of Tom and anything to do with the Chamber for such a long time.” Harry squeezed her hand before leaning down and kissing her. “I love you, Ginny Potter and I am very proud of you.” “I love you,” Ginny whispered back. She grasped one of his hands in two of hers and nodded. “Open,” Harry commanded the door. The door slid open to reveal the Chamber of Secrets. Taking a deep breath, Ginny tugged on Harry’s hand and entered the Chamber of Secrets willingly for the first time. The large columns decorated with snake carving towered over them and led up to the ceiling which was still obscured by the gloom. Hermione gave a smothered shriek when she caught sight of the dead Basilisk. “Oh my God! Look at the size of that thing!” She looked accusingly at Harry. “You neglected to mention how huge that thing was.” He shrugged bashfully. “I didn’t think that really mattered. Whether it was five feet or fifty feet, I had to kill it.” Sirius stepped closer to his son and clapped him on the shoulder. “You did. It’s still astonishing.” By this time, Bill had neared the remains of the Basilisk. “Harry, did anyone talk to you about harvesting the body?” Harry shook his head. “No, what does that mean?” “Normally when a magical creature like this is killed, it is harvested. Basilisk venom and its skin can be used for potions among other things,” Bill explained. “Gringotts can arrange for the Basilisk to be harvested and sold.” Harry looked over at Sirius, who nodded. “You should. I didn’t think about it, but I’m surprised Dumbledore didn’t arrange it.” “Okay,” Harry said to Bill. “If you could arrange it that would be great.” “You should have Basilisk boots made,” Sirius said as he walked up to the giant snake. “This is tougher than dragon skin.” “Great colour, too,” Ginny said with a tentative smile. Harry squeezed her hand. He could tell she was still very nervous, but she was trying. His heart went out to her. “Can we have boots made for me, Ginny, and my dad?” Harry asked. “Absolutely,” Bill said. “We can ask for the skin and you can have boots, jackets, belts, or whatever you want made from it. Charlie knows a company that is used to working with dragon skin. They would be the people to work with the Basilisk skin.” Sirius walked around the corpse and stopped short when he saw a dark red stain on the ground. He dropped to one knee next to the stain. It was hard to believe that he could have lost Harry a mere month before he’d escaped from Azkaban. “Dad, are you okay?” Sirius looked up to see Harry standing over him with concern shining in his brilliant green eyes. Standing Sirius pulled Harry into a rough hug. Ginny stepped away slightly giving Harry and his dad this moment together. After a moment, Sirius said, “I am so proud of you. I’m amazed at the things that you’ve accomplished, but I have to say at times it scares me. I could have lost you before I had the chance to get to know you again.” “But you didn’t,” Harry said simply. Laughing a bit shakily, Sirius nodded. “Sorry, it just really hit me when I saw your blood on the floor.” Ginny walked over to the foot of the statue of Slytherin. “This is where I woke up, isn’t it?” Harry nodded and he took her hand again. “I remember how little you were. I ran over to you thinking ‘Please don’t be dead’. I was so worried and then I saw Riddle. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was — he wasn’t solid, but he wasn’t transparent. It took me a minute to realize he wasn’t the nice guy he seemed to be.” “He could be charming when he wanted to be,” Ginny said with a little quiver in her voice. As the other walked the perimeter of the chamber, Harry stayed with Ginny. “Are you okay, love?” “I…it was so hard the summer after the Chamber,” Ginny began. “I was so upset with myself that I let myself get taken in, but…” she trailed away and Harry was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “What is it, baby?” “I also kind of missed him,” Ginny admitted, her voice barely audible. “He was my friend for almost a year and…I kind of had a little crush on him. Not like you…it was…it’s hard to describe, but I thought he was cute.” She looked up with pain in her eyes. “What kind of stupid person does that make me?” Harry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his arms. “You aren’t stupid. He was your friend. He went out of his way to lie to you and make you believe he was your friend. It’s only natural that you would miss him.” He kissed her gently. “Did you miss Tom Riddle or did you miss having someone to talk to who would always listen to you?” Her eyes widened as she thought back. “I never really thought of it that way before. I missed having someone to talk to and having someone who would listen to me and not make fun of me. Well at first. When I first started writing, he was so nice and supportive, but…when I realized that there was something wrong he wasn’t nearly as nice. At the end, when we were here, he told me how much my parents would hate me and my brothers would hate me.” “You know that’s not true, right?” Bill’s voice came from behind them. Ginny turned still in the circle of Harry’s arms. Bill smiled and held out his arms to her. As he pulled her into his embrace, Bill kissed her on top of the head. “Harry’s right. We don’t hate you or blame you.” “Thank you,” Ginny said gratefully. “Sweetie, all of us have done something we regret or trusted the wrong person,” Bill reassured her. “Believe me, if anyone knows the devastation of having trusted the wrong person, it’s me,” Sirius said. “I know about the going over every conversation to look for clues I missed and feeling like the biggest idiot in the world for not suspecting or not realizing what my vague suspicions meant. Peter had been acting a bit off since the end of our last year at Hogwarts, but he was our friend so I made excuses for his behaviour. That Halloween night when I saw the Dark Mark over Godric’s Hollow…” Sirius shuddered slightly at the memory. Harry stepped up next to his dad. Sirius managed a reassuring smile as he looked at Harry. “I knew how wrong I’d been to trust Peter and I paid a very, very high price for that trust. It took me years to realize that it wasn’t me, but Peter who was wrong. I trusted the wrong person, but he is the one who pretended to be our friend and betrayed that trust,” Sirius said. “Your situation was obviously different, but there is still that feeling of ‘what have I done’ and ‘how could I have been so stupid.’ You weren’t stupid. You thought Tom was your friend. He is the one who betrayed you — him and Lucius. They deliberately laid a trap for an innocent eleven year old girl.” Ginny listened to her father-in-law with tears shimmering in her eyes. She’d never really thought about the parallels in their situations before. “Are there things you might have done differently? Of course, but you thought the diary was a gift from your mum, you had no reason to distrust it,” Sirius said. “Please don’t torment yourself for the bad intentions of others. You did nothing wrong.” “Thank you,” Ginny said as she moved over and hugged Sirius. He held tightly for a minute before kissing her on the cheek. Harry watched his wife and father for a minute, more grateful than he could say that he had both of them in his life. He didn’t know if he could have come up with the right words to reassure Ginny, but Sirius had stepped into the breach and found the right thing to say. Reaching out for Ginny’s hand, they walked the perimeter of the Chamber. After a few minutes, Bill called out, “Is this where the Basilisk lived?” Bill was gesturing to a large circle in the wall. Ginny nodded. “Yes, it opens with Parseltongue.” Realizing that was his cue, Harry stepped up and looking at the carving on the cover of the circle, hissed, “Open.” Silently the circular cover moved aside. Once Bill declared it safe to enter, the group cautiously made its way down the large circular tunnel. There was a faint musty odour in the air and the ground was littered with tiny skeletons. The tunnel terminated in a large circular room. The largest cache of skeletons they’d run into thus far were piled on the floor. There were a few mummified remains of that the Basilisk hadn’t gotten around the eating. Along the back wall was a large painted mural. It showed how Slytherin had constructed the Chamber of Secrets. Initially, it seems he’d constructed the Chamber as a place for his favourite students to meet and practice their magic. As he broke with Gryffindor and the other founders, he designed the serpent guardian in the Slytherin common room. His last action before fleeing the school was to place the Basilisk in the Chamber to await his heir who would use the Basilisk to rid the school of Muggle-borns. Hermione gasped as she reached the end of the mural. “I always assumed that Slytherin wasn’t as bad as his reputation. He was an educator. How could he hide such a dangerous creature in the school?” “You’ve known for years that he’d hidden a Basilisk under the school,” Harry commented watching her. “Why is it such a shock?” “I guess I focused on Riddle being the evil one for having released the Basilisk,” she replied after a moment. “I have to admit, I never really gave Slytherin much thought either,” Ron admitted. “It was Riddle who killed Myrtle and left the diary.” As they walked around the space, Ron said, “I thought there would be a like huge nest or something.” “Snakes don’t make nests,” Sirius commented absently. “The only snake that actually makes a nest is a king cobra, so unless the Basilisk was made with a cobra egg it wouldn’t make a nest.” “How do you know that?” Harry asked in surprise. “I was raised in a house full of Slytherins,” Sirius said simply. “Bellatrix in particular was enamoured of snakes. I actually had a pet snake when I was little, a black racer.” “I didn’t know that,” Harry said astonished. “Good to know I can still surprise you,” Sirius grinned. “I always liked snakes. To me the snakes were the only good part of Slytherin house.” Ron shook his head as he turned and left the Basilisk’s den. Liking snakes? How did that even make sense? Sirius must have read the expression on Ron’s face for he started laughing. They headed back into the main chamber. After double checking that there were no more hiding places or hidden rooms, they left the Chamber. This time they took the tunnel that Harry had taken so many years earlier. Bill made quick work of the blocked tunnel. Ron watched his older brother in admiration. “You make that look so easy. It took me forever to clear a hole for Harry and Ginny to climb back through.” “I did study these sorts of spells in Egypt for several years,” Bill replied laughingly. “I’m sure as a second year I wouldn’t have done much better.” They arrived at the bottom of the chute from the haunted girls’ bathroom. Harry looked around at the walls. Following his gaze, Bill helpfully illuminated the walls. One of tiles was cleaner than the others, etched upon the tile was a snake. Reaching out, Harry pushed the tile. A soft grinding noise filled the tunnel as the chute rotated and turned into a long set of moving stairs. Harry smiled. “Good, I thought there must be another way up. When Hermione commented about climbing the stairs, it made me think that most people wouldn’t want to climb back up those stairs so maybe Slytherin devised another way. If he truly wanted to use this as a study area, he would have made it easy to get up and back — once they’d passed his Parselmouth test.” They rode up to Myrtle’s bathroom. Luckily, the ghost herself was not there at the moment. Harry fleetingly hoped she wasn’t haunting the Prefect’s bathroom. He glanced over at Ginny. “It seems we actually made it down and back without getting all covered in muck.” Harry led the way up to the seventh floor corridor. He walked back and forth across from the tapestry three times. Once he was finished, a large set of double doors appeared in the wall. The three who had never seen the Room of Requirement in action were duly impressed. Harry threw open the doors to the Room of Requirement and gasped in amazement. The room was huge with windows towards the top streaming light down onto a city of forgotten, lost, and hidden items. There were walls of items and walkways leading through the room. Harry could see books, clothes, hats, and robes lying on forgotten furniture. There were feebly hovering broomsticks and swooping Fanged Frisbees flying over congealed potions and stuffed trunks. Harry found the bloody axe and stained swords rather alarming. “This is amazing,” Bill commented as he looked around at the centuries worth of items in the room. “I never imagined this was here.” Sirius shook his head. “Me neither. I can only imagine what sorts of things we might find here.” He looked over at Bill. “What’s the plan, boss?” Bill walked back and forth looking up and down the aisles for a few minutes. The others watched with varying degrees of patience while he cast several spells. Once he seemed satisfied, he turned to the others. “There are many Dark items hidden in the room. I believe the item we are looking for is here, but there are also other cursed items as well. I suggest working in pairs.” He looked at his wife. “If you wouldn’t mind working with Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Ron with Sirius, and I will supervise everyone.” “Of course, my love,” Fleur replied. Everyone else quickly agreed. Sirius pulled a picture of Ravenclaw’s Diadem. “We are fairly certain this is the item we are looking for. There is a chance it could be another artefact, but we need to find this diadem. I’d hoped it might be easier to find clues to the hiding place, but remember Riddle snuck in here when he was here for an interview. He would have hidden it somewhere he could be sure to find it later.” After enlarging the picture, Fleur posted it on the wall behind Bill. He set up several large bins. “These bins can be used to sort the items we find. You can send them up magically or you can bring them up if you think they are fragile or volatile or even if you just want to stretch your legs.” Bill demonstrated the sensing and sorting spells he wanted them to use. “A lot of the items here seem to be junk, but there is also some things worth salvaging. Some items might have historical value or more basic monetary value,” Bill explained. “If we find anything worth salvaging, Professor McGonagall has asked that anything of historical significance be turned over to her, but if it is something of monetary value we may keep it and dispose of it how we wish. The only exception would be if something is clearly labelled as the personal belongings of a living witch of wizard.” He asked each group to demonstrate the spells before allowing them to head down an aisle. Fleur and Hermione were the first group dispatched while Ron and Sirius were the last. “Don’t feel badly,” Bill consoled Ron. “The others have had some exposure to these spells already.” Once Ron was up to Bill’s standards, he and Sirius headed down the aisle he indicated. They had all decided to head to the end of the aisle and work their way forward. Anyone finding a Dark object was to send up red sparks as they had done in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. If they needed help, they were to send up blue sparks. Harry and Ginny found themselves at the end of their aisle. Facing them was a wall comprised of trunks, shelves and all sorts of things. Harry surveyed the wall. “I’m almost scared to move anything,” Harry remarked. Ginny giggled. “I know it seems like everything is packed in there just so and if we pull something out we’ll be crushed by falling debris.” After a bit of very careful trial and error, they started dismantling the wall in front of them. There were several trunks of clothes that they sent to be cleaned and assessed. If the clothes were torn or otherwise damaged, they simply vanished them. Books were dealt with in the same way. Harry had a suspicion that they probably vanished a lot more books than Hermione might have, but if any of the pages were stuck together or ripped they simply got rid of them. Sirius and Ron found themselves in front of a similar wall of forgotten items. Ron had been worried that he’d not be able to be useful, but he soon found that he was able to do the work. While he would have rather worked with Harry, he was glad for the opportunity to work with Sirius. The man was brilliant in Charms and quite clever. “I zink zose are potions,” Fleur said after she and Hermione had been working a while. “Where?” Hermione asked. Fleur pointed to an old wardrobe that had several abandoned cages stacked upon it. “Should we check the potions?” Hermione asked curiously. “I don’t zink zo,” Fleur said after casting several spells. “I zink zhey are quite volatile, per’aps zhey were made incorrectly.” The French witch showed Hermione how to contain and dispose of the potions. Predictably, Hermione picked up the spell quickly and was able to perform the spell without incident. “Look at these,” Harry called out excitedly. Reaching up he pulled out two broomsticks in relatively good condition. “This is an Oakshaft 79.” Ginny took the broom from him almost reverently. “An Oakshaft 79, these are amazing brooms. Jocunda Skyes rode one when she flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1935. She was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic.” “Really?” Harry laughed. “I didn’t know that. I knew they were made for endurance flying. I can’t imagine flying across the Atlantic. All those hours on a broom and nowhere to land — no thank you.” He handed her another ash coloured broom. “This is a Moontrimmer.” “Those were made for high altitude flying,” Ginny said. “I don’t know as much about those. Ron would probably know more about them.” “I’m taking these up to Bill. I want to keep these,” Harry said. “Be careful.” Jogging up the aisle, Harry found his brother-in-law looking over a map. “What’s that?” Bill looked up. “I created a map to show what we’ve explored and what we haven’t. It’s an old Curse Breaking spell; you need to know where you are and what you’ve already explored.” There were a stack of books and a few small trunks in the salvage bin. Harry lay the brooms down. Bill’s eyes lit up. “An Oakshaft 79 and a Moontrimmer! Those are both great brooms. I bet whoever lost them is really sorry about it.” “How long do you think they’ve been here?” Harry asked. “The Oakshaft was first made in 1879 and the Moontrimmer came out in the beginning of the 1900s,” Bill said. “They may have been here for almost one hundred years.” “Wow,” Harry was suitably impressed. “Anyone else find anything?” “Hermione found these books,” Bill said as he gestured to the stack of books. “She and Fleur found a bunch of old potions and some old furniture. Sirius and Ron found a trunk of swords and daggers.” Harry looked in the chest Bill indicated. “Some of these look really old.” “I imagine some of them are quite valuable as well,” Bill said. “Ron was excited about that.” “We found a bunch of books,” Harry said. “It looked like they were caught in a flood or something. The pages were all stuck together and mouldy. We have a bunch of trunks to look through.” “Okay,” Bill replied. “Be careful. Sirius asked Dobby to bring us some lunch, so come back up here around one o’clock.” When they headed up to the entrance for lunch, Bill had made some more changes. There was a side table set up upon which Dobby was finishing setting up lunch. There was a large round table with chairs enough for all of them. Behind them, there was an open doorway that led to a corridor. “Bathrooms,” Bill explained. “There is one for the girls and one for the boys.” “Good idea,” Ginny said as she headed into the girls’ bathroom. Harry followed suit and when he returned the others had also come up for lunch. “Great job, Dobby,” Sirius said appreciatively. “This looks wonderful.” “Thank you, Master Sirius,” Dobby said happily. “Yes, thank you Dobby,” Harry said. The others added their thanks. Dobby was quite embarrassed, but very pleased that his Master was pleased. “Thank you, Dobby,” Hermione said as she joined the others. She glared at Sirius as Dobby popped back to the kitchens. “How could you enslave him like that? He was free!” “I gave him the option,” Sirius replied, unruffled by Hermione’s anger. “I needed a house elf and Dobby already knew Harry. He was thrilled to come work for my household.” “You make it sound so benign,” Hermione said scornfully. “He became a slave again.” “It was his choice,” Sirius said as he started piling food on his plate. “He wanted to join my household and gain more magic. House elves gain magic from their families. If you want to help house elves, you need to actually listen to the elves. You can’t just impose your beliefs on them. There are plenty of ways to help house elves, but just yelling at them like they are wayward children is rather counterproductive.” Hermione looked at him in astonishment. He shrugged. “Dobby told me of your efforts on behalf of the house elves. I know you have the best of intentions and you are offended on their behalf, but acting like they are less intelligent children is insulting and won’t help.” “I don’t treat them like they are less intelligent,” Hermione replied indignantly. Sirius shrugged. “Based on your knowledge of two elves who were both mistreated by their families, you decided all elves would be better off free. You repeatedly went down to the kitchen preaching the importance of freedom without ever asking them what they wanted or asking them how you could help. Then you insulted them by hiding clothes all over the common room in a misguided effort to free them.” “But…” Hermione trailed off as she thought about it. She recalled the conversation she’d had with Ron and Neville after Dobby had brought them the letters from Harry and Ginny. “So what should I do?” “You should start by apologizing to the elves,” Sirius said promptly. “Ask them what their lives are like and actually listen to them. I’m not an expert on house elves. Kreacher and I always had an extremely adversarial relationship. He was devoted to my mother and to a lesser extent my father. He hated me as much as he loved my brother. I hated house elves until I stayed at the Potters’ for the first time. I met elves that were well cared for and enjoyed their work.” Hermione frowned as she considered his words. “That does make sense. I just…I saw how horribly Crouch treated his elf and it was so offensive.” “You’ll get no argument from me on that,” Sirius said. “That bastard is the one who sent me to Azkaban without a trial. He treated everyone badly, not just his elf.” Conversation turned to the items they’d discovered. Just before they broke for lunch, Sirius had found a small chest of jewels. Bill checked them for curses, but they seemed to be safe. “You’ll need to take a look at them,” Sirius said to the three girls. “Feel free to take whatever you want. The settings look really old-fashioned, so if you see a stone you want we can have it made into something nicer or more modern.” “Just like that?” Hermione asked shocked. “They must belong to someone.” Sirius shrugged. “As I said, most of these pieces are in very old fashioned settings, I think they’ve been here for decades if not centuries.” “I double checked the missing and stolen jewel listing maintained by Gringotts,” Bill said. “These jewels either weren’t reported missing or the insurance company paid the claim. Magical salvage laws state that the person who recovers the property can claim it as long as there is not an outstanding claim.” Ginny glanced at the contents of the trunk. She wrinkled her nose as she pulled out a very large cocktail ring. “Look at this! Can you imagine wearing this?” “If you had the stones broken down it wouldn’t be so bad,” Sirius said. “It’s just overly gaudy right now.” He pulled out a cameo broach. “This isn’t too bad.” “That’s beautiful,” Hermione said. Sirius handed it to her. Her eyes widened. “I can’t take that.” “Why not?” Harry asked. “It just seems wrong,” Hermione said uncertainly. “Take it,” Sirius said. “It suits you.” “Thank you,” she said blushingly. “Look at this,” Ginny said as she pulled a beautiful strand of freshwater pearls out of the trunk. She looked at her brothers. “I bet Mum would love this, what do you think?” Bill nodded approvingly. “That a great idea, Ginny.” Ron agreed as well, so Bill obligingly conjured up a box for them. “There is so much stuff here,” Hermione said sounding a bit overwhelmed. “A lot of it is junk,” Harry said. “We found stacks of stuff that was completely ruined.” “Did you take a look at the blood stained axe?” Sirius asked Bill. Bill nodded. “It’s not human blood. I think it might have been a wolf, I couldn’t tell. It’s almost 300 years old.” “That’s good at least,” Harry said. “It kind of freaked me out to see the blood on the axe. I would hate to think a murderer hid it here or something.” “Dobby said that the other elves told him if belongings were left in the dorms and not claimed, it would end up in here,” Sirius said. “So who knows what we may find.” Ginny looked up at the wall, while it was much smaller than it had been to begin with, it was still a wall of junk. “We’ll get through this.” She turned to find Harry watching her. She couldn’t help but smile. “I know, I just thought we’d make a bit more headway by this point in time.” “We are,” Harry reminded her. “We have time.” “You’re right,” Ginny said with a smile. “I just hoped we’d walk in and find a big clue.” Harry laughed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to walk in and find a huge neon arrow pointing to the diadem?” She smiled sheepishly. “I guess I was being a bit optimistic. Tom probably wouldn’t have left it out in the open.” Turning back to the wall, she levitated down another trunk. After checking it for spells, she opened it. It seemed to be full of robes; she cautiously reached into the trunk and screamed when a group of Doxies swarmed around her. Harry reacted quickly, but she was bitten by several Doxies. Harry quickly sent up blue sparks for help. Bill arrived quickly, but in the time it took him to run down the aisle Ginny was not feeling well. The bites had started swelling and she was having a bit of difficulty breathing. Bill quickly administered the Doxy venom antidote along with antihistamine and steroid potions. Ginny lay back in Harry’s arms as she regained her breath. Harry tightened his arms around her and watched her worriedly. While she was breathing better, she was now looking a bit tired. After watching his sister for another minute, Bill sent a Patronus message to Sirius who quickly arrived with Ron. “What happened, love?” Sirius asked gently as he knelt by her. “Doxies,” she replied sleepily. “Dobby!” Sirius called out. The little elf quickly popped up next to his master. “Can you ask Madam Pomfrey to come back here with you? Ginny was bitten by Doxies.” Under Bill’s direction, Harry carried her up to the front of the room where Sirius conjured up a reclining chair for her. Harry had just settled her in the chair when Dobby arrived with the healer. Bill quickly explained what he’d done for his sister. Madam Pomfrey nodded approvingly. “Well done, you did exactly as I would have done.” “Will she be okay?” Harry asked with fear shining in his eyes. “Certainly,” Madam Pomfrey replied. “She had a bit of an allergic reaction to the Doxy bite. Has she been bitten before?” “When she was a little girl,” Bill replied. “She couldn’t have been more than three or four. Mum always warned us to keep her away from Doxies.” “It’s a fairly common allergy in pureblood families,” Madam Pomfrey commented. She smiled down at Ginny. “How are you feeling now, Mrs Potter?” “Better,” Ginny replied. “I’m just tired now.” “That’s to be expected from the potions your brother gave you,” Madam Pomfrey reassured her. “Why don’t you take a nap? You should take the potions again in six hours.” “I’ll make sure she gets them,” Bill said. “If you need me, let me know,” Madam Pomfrey said. She gently squeezed Harry’s shoulder. He looked up at her from where he was crouched down next to Ginny. The older witch smiled. “She will be fine.” “Thank you,” Harry said. Standing, he hugged the medi-witch. “I am always happy to help,” she said quietly. “You do what you need to do and I will be there to patch you up.” As Madam Pomfrey left, Harry crouched back down next to his wife. She smiled at him. “I’ll be okay, love. I’m just going to get some sleep.” Harry leaned over and gave her a kiss before standing up. Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. “She’ll be okay, son.” “I’ll watch over her,” Bill promised. Reluctantly, Harry nodded. Sirius said, “Why don’t you come with me and Ron? I don’t want you working alone.” “Dad, what’s this thing?” Harry asked as he walked around a large wooden cabinet. Sirius looked up and walked over to Harry. Reaching out he opened the door, it was only being held on with one hinge. “This is a Vanishing Cabinet. They were quite popular in the first war. They come in a pair — it’s usually used as a means of escape.” “I wonder if this is the one Fred and George found,” Ron said as he joined them. “What do you mean?” Sirius asked as he continued to examine it. “When Umbridge started her Inquisitorial Squad, Montague wanted to take points from my brothers, but before he could they shoved him head first in a Vanishing Cabinet.” Ron looked a bit uncomfortable. “I remember laughing about it at the time, but thinking back he was stuck inside there for a few weeks. Rumour was he heard things here at Hogwarts and other things from Knockturn Alley — maybe from Borgin & Burke. Anyhow, he apparated out of cabinet and really messed himself up.” “This is connected to Borgin & Burke?” Sirius asked. He drew his wand and with a few curses he destroyed the cabinet. “If you know about it, maybe someone else does as well. I don’t want them to be able to use this to infiltrate the school.” The evening ended quietly without further incident, but there was no sign of the diadem. Dobby once again brought them a meal. Ginny was feeling much better and enjoying her evening with her brothers. Sirius was visiting with Professor McGonagall, keeping her up to date on their progress. Harry glanced over at Hermione and noticed an almost wistful expression as she watched the Weasley siblings laughing and talking. “So how do you like being Head Girl?” She lit up instantly. “It is such an honour. I was so thrilled when I received my letter. Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had to really fight for me to be Head Girl. The Ministry didn’t want a Muggle-born to be Head Girl.” “That’s ridiculous,” Harry said firmly. “I figure you’ve had a lock on Head Girl since our first year. You’re smart and clever and much better at following rules than I could ever be.” “Thank you,” Hermione said. “It’s been such a rough year and now with Professor Dumbledore’s death and Professor Snape being arrested it will be so different. It will be strange to not have Professor Dumbledore here.” “I know,” Harry said with a sigh. “I always kind of thought I’d have time to talk to him and ask him about…this whole mess. I don’t know why he thought I’d killed everyone. Did you know he told my relatives and they immediately moved to places unknown?” “I didn’t realize that,” Hermione admitted. “I even had an Intelligence Officer from Counter Terrorism Unit come and interview me. That was a bit scary. I couldn’t figure out what to tell her and how she even knew what was going on. She knew the term Death Eater and that they were involved in your parents’ deaths.” “Really?” Harry was surprised. “I didn’t realize that. So an MI 6 agent was tracking us? That’s kind of cool.” Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry laughed. “Oh, come on. How many people can say the SIS was looking for them? My dad will love that.” “Why do you call him that?” Hermione asked. Harry was quiet for a minute as he tried to figure out how to explain it. “I’ve always wanted a family. My relatives never wanted me and they made sure I knew it. I watched Ron with his family and you with your parents and I wanted that for me, but I never thought I would have it. Sirius…he loves me and he wants me around. He bought a house so we could live together. The past six months have been…I can’t even describe it. So much better than I could have ever imagined. For the first time ever I have someone who cares what happens to me, he cares about my education, he gave up everything to keep me safe. One afternoon I was having a Voldemort induced headache and somehow he knew. “He brought a headache potion and cool cloth in for me. He sat with me when I was feeling awful. Do you know how…how brilliant that was? No one has ever done that for me before. He was acting like a father and I asked him if I could call him Dad.” “But what about your real father?” Hermione probed. Harry shrugged. “I love my parents and I miss them, but I never knew them. Sirius is real and he loves me. He doesn’t think my father would mind.” He read the disapproval on her face. “You don’t think I deserve a dad?” “No,” Hermione hastily reassured him. “I…I guess I never really thought of it that way. Sirius just never seemed like an appropriate guardian.” “Why not?” Harry asked. “He loves me, he loves Ginny, and he takes care of us.” “He just…he spent so much time in prison and…I just remember he was drinking so much and…” “He’s changed,” Harry interrupted her. “He wasn’t in a great place after spending twelve years in Azkaban. You can understand that, can’t you? Twelve years of being subjected to Dementors for something he didn’t do. He’s changed — he doesn’t drink and he takes really good care of me. He’s being really super cautious and careful. You heard about South Africa, right?” Hermione nodded as she watched him. “He’s good to you?” “He’s brilliant,” Harry returned happily. “Please, give him a chance. I know he wasn’t in the best place when we were at Grimmauld Place, but he’s honestly changed. He’s really smart, he’s helped me and Ginny with our studies and he’s kept us safe. He’s more paranoid about security than Moody. Ask Ron.” “He’s made you happy so I guess I can’t complain,” Hermione said. “I’m sorry; sometimes it takes me a while to get used to an idea.” Harry laughed. “Don’t worry about it.” Harry woke with a start and it took a minute for him to realize where he was. Bill had asked the Room of Requirement to create a series of rooms in which they could sleep. Harry was rather impressed with the abilities of the room; he hadn’t realized that it could perform multiple functions at the same time. The Room of Hidden Things hadn’t changed, but Bill had created a completely different area in the front of the room with areas for them to eat, sleep, and of course bathrooms. Turning, Harry was grateful to see that Ginny looked much better than she had the night before. The swelling around her Doxy bites was fading and she looked like her usual self. “Good morning,” Ginny’s sleepy voice was quite soft even in the quiet of the room. “Good morning, love,” Harry replied. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. “How are you feeling?” “Good,” she replied after a moment. “I’m a bit sore, but nothing too bad.” Harry summoned the vials of potion Bill had given him the night before and a glass of water from the nightstand. “Here, sweetie. This is a mild pain potion and your last does of anti-histamine.” Dutifully Ginny swallowed them with only a slight face. “Thank you, love.” Once he’d disposed of the empty vials and water glass, he lay back down on the bed and pulled her into his arms. She turned on her side and rested her head on his shoulder. He dropped a kiss on the side of her head. “I was so worried about you yesterday.” “I’m fine,” Ginny reassured him as she squeezed him slightly. “I was a bit scared when the Doxies swarmed, but with both you and Bill there — I knew I’d be fine.” “He’s amazing,” Harry said admiringly. “He was definitely the right person to put in charge of this hunt. I didn’t know the room could do so many things.” Ginny smiled, she was very proud of her oldest brother. She knew she shouldn’t really have favourites, but the two of them had always had a special bond. Before she’d met Harry, Bill had been her protector. It meant a lot to her that Bill had accepted Harry in her life so easily. “How did Hermione and Fleur get along yesterday?” she asked. “Surprisingly well,” Harry laughed. “Hermione was impressed with Fleur’s abilities and I think she realized for the first time the extent of Fleur’s intelligence.” “Good,” Ginny said. “I was a bit worried. Once you get to know her, Fleur really is very sweet, but she can make other girls feel incredibly insecure. I didn’t much like her at first either. It’s totally not her fault, but I know one of Hermione’s insecurities is her looks which of course Fleur has in spades.” “Why?” Harry asked curiously. “Hermione is pretty.” Laughing, Ginny leaned up and kissed him gently. “She is, but she tends to hide behind her books and not really focus on her looks. The other night, Hermione mentioned how devastated she was when Ron dated both Susan and Lavender. I think she’s afraid that Ron doesn’t think she’s a pretty as those two were. So adding Fleur on top of that…it’s not good.” Harry frowned. “I hope Ron reassures her. He seems a bit better around Fleur, although he still stares at her a bit more than is probably polite.” “He’s always reacted strongly to her,” Ginny sighed, “but he does seem to be better. I hope he gets his act together. For one, Fleur will be our sister-in-law, so he better get used to her, but also for Hermione’s sake. If they are going to have a relationship, he needs to reassure her that he’s attracted to her.” Harry ran his hand down Ginny’s hair and pulled her closer. “You know that I think you are beautiful, right?” Ginny beamed. “I do, thank you.” He leaned down and kissed her. He’d been so worried about her the previous day; he poured all of his love and concern for her into that kiss. The two cuddled and exchanged kisses in the early morning darkness. He was starting to drift off to sleep when a movement caught his attention. Sitting bolt upright, he found himself facing a ghost. Ginny’s eyes grew wide as she recognized her. She sat up next to Harry. “Lady Helena?” The Grey Lady nodded as she approached the couple. “I remember you. You were always very kind to me, even though you were rather sad yourself.” “Thank you,” Ginny said. “My name is Ginny Potter.” “An acquaintance of mine, Lady Anne Lawrence, told me that she helped you,” Helena Ravenclaw stated as she looked between Ginny and Harry. “Lady Anne?” Harry asked tentatively. He looked over at Ginny for guidance; he didn’t recall a Lady Anne Lawrence. “From Warwick castle?” Ginny asked after thinking it over. Helena nodded. “She did help,” Ginny said. “She and Sir Greville were wonderful. Harry was badly wounded and they helped me care for him.” “There are rumours circulating about the castle about the two of you,” Helena said as she arrived next to their bed. “They say that you are here to stop the evil that has been infecting our world.” “We are trying,” Harry replied. “We spoke to Lady Bennett. Do you remember her?” “I do,” Helena replied. “She and I shared many confidences whilst she was furthering her education. Everyone says that you are destined to stop the evil which I unknowingly helped to perpetrate. Is that true?” Reaching out Harry linked hands with Ginny. “I am. My family and friends are helping me.” Helena looked at Harry assessing his sincerity. “I will show you where he hid the item you seek. I believe that unlike him, you would not attempt to use it for your own purposes.” “No, I would not,” Harry promised honestly. She turned and floated off towards the door and turned her back to give them privacy. Harry quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Ginny pulled on a pair of denim shorts with the nightshirt she was wearing. Hand in hand they followed Lady Helena out of their room and back towards the aisles of forgotten items. She led them to the aisle in which Fleur and Hermione had worked the day before. Halfway down the aisle, she turned and skirted around a large wardrobe to another aisle they hadn’t started working on yet. She stopped a few moments later and pointed at a tarnished diadem that had been set on a desk shelf with several other items. “That is my mother’s diadem,” Helena said quietly. “Thank you, Lady Helena,” Harry and Ginny both replied. Harry cast the spells that Bill had taught them. “I can’t detect any protections, but I don’t want to pick it up.” He levitated the diadem and carried back to the front of the room. Ginny ran ahead and knocked on the other’s doors. Sirius and Bill were the first two out. Bill’s eyes widened. “How did you find it?” Gesturing towards the now departing Grey Lady, Harry said, “Lady Helena showed us where Riddle hid it.” “Dobby!” Sirius called for his elf. When the little elf appeared, Sirius said, “Will you please ask Professor McGonagall to join us and bring the sword of Gryffindor?” “Yes, sir,” Dobby replied. A few minutes later he reappeared with Professor McGonagall. “You’ve found it!” she said in astonishment. “The Grey Lady showed us where it was,” Harry explained. He and Ginny explained their conversation with the Ravenclaw ghost as the others joined them. “You have ghost fans,” Ron laughed. Harry laughed. “I don’t know about that. I was out of it at Warwick Castle. If the ghosts were impressed it would have been Ginny who impressed them.” Ginny blushed as Harry leaned over and kissed her on the check. “The Grey Lady was wonderful.” “There aren’t many who she’s befriended,” Professor McGonagall remarked. “I’m glad she was willing to help you.” She withdrew the sword from her robes and started to hand it to Sirius. He shook his head and gestured towards Harry. “I believe Harry should have the honour.” While Harry gripped the sword, Bill levitated the diadem to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Harry stabbed the diadem. An unearthly scream rose from it and a thick black liquid oozed from it. “Is it safe now?” Ginny asked. Bill waved his wand over the now ruined diadem and nodded. As they watched, the golden tiara started repairing itself. The tiara was in the shape of a raven with a large oval sapphire as the body and delicate golden wings reaching around to the back. A stylized bird’s head was above the sapphire with two crystals dangling below the gem. It was a beautiful, delicate piece. Etched along the surface was the quote ‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.’ “What happened?” Harry asked after a moment. “It seems to have repaired itself,” Bill said with confusion colouring his voice. He cast several more spells. “The curse has been removed.” The group turned to see Lady Helena had re-joined them. She smiled as she gazed upon her mother’s treasure. “Does it still work?” Hermione asked eagerly. “I don’t know,” Bill replied, “but I don’t think it is a good idea to find out. I am not detecting any Dark Magic, but it might be hidden like the cobra venom. Putting it on may cause all sorts of problems.” Professor McGonagall reached out and took the diadem. Looking at Lady Helena, she said, “I shall give this to Professor Flitwick. If it is acceptable to you we can display it as a replica of your mother’s lost diadem.” “That would be wise,” the ghost replied. “What else have you found?” Professor McGonagall asked as she looked around the room. Bill proudly showed her what they’d found the day before. He handed her a very old and fragile looking book that had been hand bound. “Open this carefully with your wand,” he said. She did so and gasped. “Is this real?” “I think so,” Bill replied with a glint in his eyes. “I checked with date and it was created around 1,000 years ago, although it’s been added to as recently as 500 years ago.” “What is it?” Sirius asked. “It’s a recipe book,” Bill explained. “It appears to be a Hogwarts cookery book. Some of the recipes were written by Lady Hufflepuff, but there are many well-known names in the book — Abbotts, Blacks, Notts, Bones, and Potters. Some of the recipes are credited to the Hogwarts elves.” “This is amazing,” Professor McGonagall said as she looked through it. “We shall need to get this restored.” “We’ve found several artefacts that we thought belonged here at Hogwarts,” Bill said. “Oui, Ginny and I found ‘ogwarts uniforms,” Fleur explained. “We found zome from ze 12th, 13th, 16th, and 18th centuries. We zought zhat it might make an interesting exhibit.” “In addition to the uniforms, we also found all sorts of frocks and gowns,” Ginny said enthusiastically. “Hagrid told us that you are looking for a new history professor. Perhaps they would be interested in looking at what we’ve found.” “That is an excellent idea, Mrs Potter,” Professor McGonagall said with a slight smile. “I wonder if perhaps some of the elves would be able to catalogue some of what is in here.” “I’m sure they could,” Bill said. “I’d be happy to leave the map I created. It shows which areas have been explored. It will probably take some time. There are centuries worth of lost items up here. I would recommend only have elves training in recognizing Dark objects. We’ve found a few, but there are probably more up here.” Harry silently conjured a table and chairs before Ginny conjured up china and tableware. Professor McGonagall walked around the table picking up different items. She nodded approvingly. “Well done, both of you are consistently performing silent spell casting which can be difficult. All of your conjured items are solid and made of appropriate material.” “Thank you,” Harry said as Ginny nodded her agreement. “I have set up another test in the next classroom,” Professor McGonagall explained. “I have set up two rooms — a sitting room and bedroom. Some of the items are conjured and others are not. I’d like for the two of you to identify the conjured items from the non-conjured.” The couple nodded their understanding and Professor McGonagall sent them into the classroom she’d set up. Once they entered, she cast a spell that made the wall transparent on one side so she could watch them. “How are they doing?” Sirius asked. “Quite well,” Professor McGonagall replied as she watched them. “They are quite advanced in the use of silent spell casting and they work very well together.” Her attention was caught as Ginny tapped a conjured candle hidden amongst other candles. “Very good, most students miss that.” Returning her attention to Sirius, she said, “They are above NEWT level in Defence, Transfiguration, and Charms. Professor Ambrose said they both did very well on their history exams — he thought they would pass their History NEWT without difficulty. Professors Babbling and Slughorn both thought they would pass their Runes and Potions NEWTs with a bit of review. They don’t know whose exams they graded. We usually receive preliminary exam results from children whose parents choose to educate them at home. As with Harry and Ginny, the professors will correct the exams and offer suggestions for areas to study. That would be six NEWTS, quite respectable.” “Good,” Sirius murmured. “James and Lily would be pleased that he’s able to finish his education.” “I’m surprised you haven’t had them studying the Animagus transformation,” she remarked. He laughed. “We’ve discussed it. Harry wants to start once they’ve taken their NEWTs.” “I can arrange for them to take their NEWTs over the Christmas holidays,” Professor McGonagall said as she watched the pair finish in the sitting room and move onto the bedroom. “There are always a few seventh year students who want to take their exams early and often parents who educate their children at home often have their children take NEWTs early to avoid the rush at the end of the year.” “Who would test them?” Sirius asked. Professor McGonagall thought it over for a moment. “I believe Professor Marchbanks would be the best choice. She has been very vocal in her disapproval of the way things have been handled at the Ministry.” “She has always been against the Dark Arts,” Sirius agreed. “I would like assurances of secrecy. I realize their scores will need to be registered in the Ministry, but I’d like it kept quiet that they are taking their NEWTs.” “Griselda would be the right person to ask. As you say, she’s always championed the light and she was very critical of the Ministry’s treatment of Harry and Ginny. Very well I shall make arrangements.” Hermione glanced over at her companion as they climbed the stairs. The last few weeks had been…so life changing it was difficult to find the words to describe them. The shocking death of Professor Dumbledore had changed so many things. It seemed a bit disrespectful to say, but in many ways things had improved. While Hermione had respected Professor Snape’s knowledge and she’d learned a lot from him, but she had to admit she’d disliked the disharmony he’d encouraged. With the departure of Professor Snape and so many of the upper level Slytherin students, the student body had pulled together as she’d never seen before. They had several new professors and Hermione was impressed with all of them. Professor Slughorn was a much better teacher than Professor Snape had ever been — he actually explained how potions worked and how the ingredients worked together, something Professor Snape had never done. Ron thought Professor Slughorn played favourites, but Hermione felt the new professor was simply acknowledging good work. Professor Ambrose was an excellent historian — Hermione was glad that she’d decided to continue in History of Magic. She’s learned a lot in the past few weeks. Professor Roberts, the new Transfiguration professor, was quite competent, although Hermione had to admit she missed Professor McGonagall. It wasn’t just the changes at the school. Hermione glanced over at Ron once again, blushing slightly as she did so. It looked like she and Ron might finally develop a more romantic relationship. They hadn’t really talked about it, but they’d held hands a few times and didn’t argue quite as much. She wished things would change more rapidly, but she was happy that at least things were changing. It did bother her slightly that Ron had started dating both Susan and Lavender, but he was hesitating with her for some reason. The last change was the return of their best mate. While most of the student body was still unaware that Harry, Ginny and Sirius were living in the guest quarters, she and Ron had spent quite a bit of time with them lately. She was thrilled to have Harry back, but it was also a bit disquieting. As long as she’d known Harry and Ron, she’d been the studious one and the voice of reason. She liked to think she was the most mature of them as well, but now she was not so sure. When she’d first heard of the plan for Harry and Ginny to take their NEWTs, it seemed so far-fetched, but after seeing them perform magic…she was amazed how far they’d come. “What’s wrong?” Hermione was startled out of her reflections. “Sorry, I was just thinking about all of the changes over the past month.” Ron nodded. “It has been a crazy time.” He glanced around the corridors to assure they were empty. “I’m glad to have my sister close and Harry, of course.” “I wish he was back in class with us,” she commented after they’d finished checking the common hiding spots for amorous couples and those otherwise misbehaving students. “I don’t know about that,” Ron laughed as they headed back down the stairs. “I saw some of the books they were using — they are far ahead of me.” “Doesn’t that bother you?” Hermione asked. Ron seemed startled by the idea. “No, why?” “Well…they are both younger than us and they were just average students before. Now they are advanced students doing wonderfully in all of their classes.” Ron shrugged. “They paid a high enough price for any advantages they have now. Ginny told me how hard it was at first living in the Muggle world. I can’t imagine being cut off from everyone the way they were for months at a time. Can you imagine what my sister went through rescuing Harry from the Death Eaters and saving his life?” “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Hermione said. “They had to learn everything well,” Ron said. He grinned at her. “Don’t worry; you’re still top in our year.” Hermione blushed, but laughed. “Do you want to go visit them later?” “They aren’t here tonight,” Ron replied as they turned down the corridor to the prefect’s office. “Sirius was taking them to see Carys, the lady they lived with in Wales.” “That’s nice.” Ron raised an eyebrow. “You seem to have lightened up on Sirius quite a bit.” She blushed again, she really didn’t like thinking about how close minded she’d been. “Harry talked to me about him. It made me realize that I’d been seeing him as a prankster who couldn’t be trusted. I think I picked up on your mother’s disapproval of him and honestly he wasn’t in the best shape that summer we spent at Grimmauld Place.” “No, he wasn’t,” Ron agreed. “I asked Harry about calling Sirius ‘Dad’. It just seemed disrespectful to Harry’s father,” Hermione explained. “Harry told me how wonderful Sirius had been to him, but what really got to me was when Harry asked if I didn’t think he deserved a Dad.” She looked over at Ron; her whiskey brown eyes were swimming with emotion. “I felt so badly. I was so focused on what I deemed proper, not how it affected Harry.” The couple entered the prefects’ office to complete their reports. Hermione glanced around, glad they were alone. “I’ve known that Harry was an orphan for as long as I’ve known him, but I never really thought about what that meant for him,” she explained as they sat down at the table. She looked over at Ron and was surprised at the emotion she could see on his face. “Remember when we were hiding Harry and Ginny’s belongings from Umbridge?” he asked. She nodded. He said, “I went through Harry’s trunk. Except for his Invisibility Cloak and photo album, everything else was junk. His clothes were way too big for him and he’d kept every jumper my mother ever made for him. It made me realize how little he actually had. Do you know how much I complained about having to wear hand-me-downs? “I may have had to wear hand-me-downs, but my mother made sure they fit me. He had to wear the clothes of his whale of a cousin and no one made sure they fit. When he was attacked by Dementors, there was no one there with him — no one. He was always alone so much…how could I have been so jealous of him? Sirius is the first person who has been there for just Harry. Is he perfect? No, but he’s really good for Harry.” “I feel so stupid for never having realized how not having parents would have affected him so much,” Hermione admitted as she fiddled with her favourite blue quill. “I equated his aunt and uncle with parents, not realizing they didn’t want to be his parents. I also thought of Sirius as a bad influence.” Ron rummaged through his bag and pulled out the patrolling report they were required to complete. “He might have been a bit of a bad influence, but Sirius has really changed. I don’t know exactly what happened, but something happened that changed Sirius’ attitude. He worked so hard to find Harry — he worked a lot harder than the Order. Once he found Harry, he did everything to protect him.” “That is true,” Hermione said as she took the form from Ron. When he didn’t hear the familiar scratch of quill on parchment, Ron looked over at Hermione. She was staring at the form, but Ron didn’t think she was seeing it. His heart went out to her, Hermione was usually so sure of herself. “Talking to them has really made me look at my actions,” Hermione said with a hint of vulnerability in her voice. “I assumed Sirius wasn’t a proper guardian because he’d been in prison and I disapproved of Harry and Ginny’s marriage because they are so young. I haven’t been doing a very good job of listening to everyone else. I was focused on them being too young and being forced to marry because of what everyone else thinks. I never even wondered if they were in love or happy. What kind of friend does that make me?” Reaching out, Ron gently put his hand over hers. “Hermione, you are so brilliant and most of your thoughts and ideas are right.” “But not all of them,” Hermione said. “No, not all of them,” Ron agreed. He tried to think of the best way to say what he wanted to say. “I think sometimes you forget to listen to other people. Just because we aren’t as brilliant as you, doesn’t mean we aren’t right sometimes.” “I’m sorry,” Hermione whispered. “It’s okay,” Ron hastened to reassure her. “I don’t want to make you feel badly, I just want to you keep that in mind. A lot of times you are right, but if you hear several people telling you the same thing — consider it. We still might be wrong, but we might be right as well.” “I will,” she promised. Blushing, she dropped her gaze. “Thank you, Ron.” Sirius made a face as he led Harry and Ginny into Grimmauld Place. It was their first visit since everything had begun. Harry stopped short as he caught sight of the large picture of him as a toddler playing with Padfoot. Ginny smiled when she saw the picture. “That is adorable.” Blushing slightly, Harry nodded. “It is.” “I spent hours playing with you as Padfoot,” Sirius said with a smile as he clapped his son on the shoulder. “That must be why his first word was doggie,” Ginny laughed. Sirius nodded. “Probably, although it could have been because Lily would always call me a bad doggie for being a bad influence on her son. James would protest that I was a good dog and I would usually play up the cute puppy angle to get her to start laughing.” The three made their way down to the kitchen which was quiet. Sirius efficiently started a fire while Ginny prepared tea. “Is no one staying here now?” Harry asked curiously. “It’s awfully clean.” “Remus is staying here,” Sirius said. “I’ve recast the Fidelius Charm so it should be safe from old Snape. Minerva told me that several Order members stay here from time to time. Remus is one of the few who lives here full time. He’s out today, but I’m hoping to see him soon.” “Are they still holding Order meetings here?” Harry asked curiously. Sirius nodded. “They do and Molly tends to rule over the kitchen most of the time, but I knew no one would be here today. I don’t know that I’m ready to run into so many people.” A soft sound almost like a bird chirping sounded through the kitchen. Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square device. “This is the message box that the twins worked on. The Order is using it to send messages out to all members.” “Like a beeper,” Harry commented as he looked over his dad’s shoulder at the message. He read the message out loud. “Multiple DE attacks. Cokeworth.” Sirius swore and looked at the young couple. “Are you ready?” While listening to Harry reading, Ginny had braided her hair and tucked it into a hat, effectively hiding her distinctive hair. A few adjustments later found them dressed in black jeans and jumpers. Sirius gave the other two the coordinates and the three of them apparated into the edge of town. They ran for the cover of a large building as they assessed the attack and damage to the town. A large green Dark Mark hovered over the city casting an eerie green glow to everything. Sirius quickly cast a spell that dissipated the Dark Mark. They cautiously walked into the town, but it appeared the attack was already over. Muggles were swarming all around putting out fires and helping the injured and wounded. As they entered the far side of town, the sound of spells being cast drew Sirius’ attention. He gestured to the others and they converged on a trio of Death Eaters attacking a group of Muggles. To his shock a Muggle was attempting to protect young girls with some type of firearm. Swearing, he cast a shield in front of them just as a spell arrived. Harry and Ginny quickly jumped in to fight the Death Eaters leaving Sirius with the Muggles. “Who are you?” the Muggle with the gun demanded. “I’m a friend,” Sirius replied as he assessed the two young girls she was protecting. He could see signs that they’d been assaulted. “Those monsters attacked these girls,” she said angrily. “What are they? What are they doing?” Looking around, Sirius protected them from another stray spell. Harry and Ginny managed to defeat the Death Eaters, but the three managed to escape using a Portkey. Sirius sent up a signal for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. “What was that?” the girl asked. She brandished her gun threateningly. “Who are you people?” “We are friends,” Sirius replied soothingly. She obviously disagreed as she didn’t lower her gun. The sounds of many people Apparating into the area further alarmed her. “Dad, we need to get out of here,” Harry said as he watched the approaching wizards. “I don’t want to deal with the Ministry.” “Cambridge,” Sirius said. “I don’t want to head directly back to the school.” “Wait!” the young woman called out. “Can’t you tell me what is going on?” “I’m sorry,” Sirius replied. He nodded to Harry and Ginny both of whom apparated out of town. As Sirius started to leave, the girl launched herself at him causing him to bring her with him. |
| Reviews 314 |
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