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SIYE Time:12:58 on 28th March 2024
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Perilous Journey
By potterfan2008

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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: 144689; Chapter Total: 9012
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Thank you so much for all of the positive reviews and the Silver Trinket nominations - I really appreciate it. Thanks to my wonderful beta, Ministry Malcontent for his hard work!




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February 25 — May 25, 1996

Ginny looked up from her spot on the sofa in the common room as the portrait hole opened. It was quite late and she thought that everyone was inside already. She didn’t immediately see anyone, but she could hear someone talking in the hall outside.

“I have a note, Malfoy. It’s from your Head-of-House, so if you have a problem with it, talk to him, not me.”

Ginny grimaced as she heard Harry’s comment. She didn’t know exactly what the Occlumency lessons entailed, but she knew that Harry always returned to the common room worn out. It was just like Malfoy to try to get Harry into trouble. She heard the rumble of Malfoy’s response, but she couldn’t make out what he said. A moment later, Harry slammed into the common room. He stopped short at the sight of her on the sofa and instead of continuing on to the boys’ dorm he plopped down next to her.

“Hi, Ginny.” He leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “What are you still doing up?”

She groaned in response. “I can’t move, so I haven’t gone up to bed.”

Harry opened his eyes and looked over at her, his concerned look quickly turned to a smirk as he asked, “Quidditch practice tonight?”

At her nod, Harry started laughing. “Bludger or Quaffle?”

Shooting him a disgruntled look, Ginny responded, “Both. My bruises have bruises. I don’t think Kirke and Sloper realize that they aren’t supposed to hit me.”

“I’ll be right back.” Harry jumped up and ran up the stairs to his room. He returned a few minutes later with a small vial of potion and several small packs in his hand. He handed the vial to her. “This is a mild pain reliever. It should help with the aches and pains.” He squeezed one of the packs which he handed to Ginny.

“Here this is an ice pack. You squeeze them to activate them.”

She took the small pack, surprised at the coolness. She pulled the bottom of her shirt out from her pants and slipped the pack under her shirt holding it to her ribs. “That is amazing, Harry. Thanks.”

He smiled at her. “No problem. They’re actually a Muggle invention, I stocked up on them this summer, but I don’t really need them this year.”

“Did you eat tonight?” He asked after a few moments of silence.

“Not really. I soaked in the tub after practice and I went down to the Great Hall, but …Michael was really aggravating. It was like…I don’t know, like he was embarrassed that I play Quidditch. He really wasn’t very happy when I made the team. I don’t know if he thinks girls shouldn’t play Quidditch or what. He was really aggravated about the practice on Valentine’s Day.”

She stopped and shot a teasing glance at Harry. “I’m thinking you would have rather been at practice though.”

Harry shot her a disgruntled look. His date with Cho was not one of his favourite topics. The thought briefly crossed his mind, that he would have had a lot more fun with Ginny. He quickly banished that thought as she continued.

“I didn’t eat much because I was getting annoyed at him. Then I come back up here and Dean Thomas is telling me that Quidditch is such a rough game and I should careful. What is it with guys?”

Harry laughed. “Don’t ask me. You’re fine — you just need to learn to dodge better.”

Laughing, Ginny smacked him on the arm. “Thanks a lot.”

“What? It’s true. You do realize that you’re supposed to dodge them, right?” Harry laughed as he ducked the half-hearted blow directed at him. “Of course with your beaters, it probably isn’t really your fault much, is it? After playing with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, I would never say that girls shouldn’t play Quidditch. Those guys are probably just jealous that you play better than them.”

Ginny giggled, “You’re probably right. Oh, this feels so much better.”

Harry smiled. “Good. Trust me; all joking aside, I’ve gone through a lot of these. If you need more, just let me know.”

As he saw her relaxing he said, “I’m going to run down to the kitchen to grab a snack, do want a sandwich or something?”

“It’s after curfew, won’t you get in trouble?” Ginny asked.

“No,” Harry said with a smile as he pulled a silvery cloth out of his pocket. “As long as I have this, I’ll be fine.”

“Merlin, is that an Invisibility Cloak?” Ginny asked in fascination as she reached out to touch the shimmery fabric.

“Yeah, it was my dad’s. I got it my first year for Christmas. It’s great for sneaking down to the kitchen,” Harry responded.

“Well, in that case, yes I would love some sandwiches and pumpkin juice,” Ginny said with a smile.

A short time later, Harry reappeared with a platter of sandwiches and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. Ginny looked up from the couch where she had settled, reading the book Hermione had gotten her for Christmas.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she helped herself to a sandwich.

Harry made a face. “On my way back I ran into Malfoy and Pansy ‘patrolling’. Ugh, that is something no one should see.”

Ginny laughed at the look on his face. As he reached for a sandwich, she could see a wince of pain cross his face. She knew that probably meant he had another headache. From what she could tell, he always had headaches on the nights he had Occlumency lessons.

“So, tell me. What could I have done differently in our game against Hufflepuff?” she asked in an effort to distract him.

“You did a great job, Ginny. You caught the snitch…the rest of the team. Well it certainly isn’t the best team we’ve fielded.” Harry said awkwardly.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you would have done it differently,” Ginny replied.

Harry took a bit of his sandwich as he thought about what he wanted to say. “I think I play more aggressively than you do. Which is totally understandable, I’ve been playing since I was eleven years old. It’s a lot different playing in a game versus flying for fun. There was one point during the game that I saw the snitch and I would have gone for it, but I think you hesitated because it was so near Kirke’s ankle.”

Thinking back Ginny nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I saw it, but I guess I didn’t consider it because it was so close to him.”

An hour later, the platter of sandwiches was empty and the fire was dying down. Ginny laughed as Harry was telling her how he had gotten on the team in the first place. A creak on the stairs of the girls’ dorm made them turn.

“Harry, Ginny. What are you doing up?” Hermione asked.

“We were just having a snack, Hermione,” Harry replied wearily.

Ginny glared at her friend as she made her way down to the common room. She and Harry had been having such a good time, why did Hermione have to come down?

Ignoring Ginny’s glare, Hermione said, “It is 12:30 in the morning. You two should be getting to bed.”

Reluctantly Harry stood, he knew Hermione was right, but he was enjoying talking to Ginny. Reaching out his hand, he helped Ginny stand. “Do you need more ice packs?”

“No I’m good for now. Thanks Harry.”

“No problem. Good night.” He looked up over her shoulder. “Good night, Hermione.”

“Good night,” Ginny and Hermione said at the same time.


Ginny woke early the next Monday morning. She hurried through her morning routine so she would be sure to make it downstairs by the time Ron was headed to breakfast. She smiled when she saw Hermione already in the common room.

“Good morning, Hermione.”

“Good morning.” Hermione replied with a smile. She looked around the room before she asked. “So what was going on with Harry the other day?”

Ginny blushed slightly. “We…I was still in the common room when he got back from his Occlumency lessons and we started talking. He was hungry so he went down to the kitchen for some food and we ate together.”

“You two looked awfully cosy.” Hermione smirked.

“That didn’t stop you from interrupting,” Ginny said sulkily. “We were having a good time. I have to say I was a little upset with you.”

Hermione’s face fell. “I’m sorry, Ginny. I didn’t think…I was just thinking that it was late.”

She looked over at her younger friend. “So, what is going on?”

Ginny shrugged. “I don’t know. We…we’ve gotten along really well since Christmas. I’m trying not to read anything into it, I’m just enjoying it.”

She was spared any further questioning when Ron and Harry came down the stairs into the common room.

“Happy birthday, Ron!” Ginny called out. She went over and hugged her brother. He blushed slightly, but returned the hug, picking her up and twirling her around before setting her back down.

“Thanks, Ginny,” Ron replied. “And thanks for the Cannons t-shirt.”

“You’re welcome,” Ginny said laughing.

Ron kept an arm around her shoulders as the four of them headed down to breakfast. Ginny laughed at his excitement as he told her about the gifts he had received from their parents and brothers. A twinge of anger passed through her when she realized that Percy had not sent Ron a birthday gift.

“Happy Birthday, brother.”

Ron turned to see the twins behind him. He eyed them wearily for a moment before saying, “Thanks. Do you want to join us for breakfast?”

“Certainly,” George replied. Turning to his twin he said, “Do you sense something missing in our brother’s greeting?”

“I do, I do. It almost seems as though he doesn’t trust us or something.” Fred replied in a mock serious tone.

“Could that be true, Ronnie? Do you not trust your beloved older brothers?” George asked as he squeezed in between Ginny and Hermione on the bench opposite from Ron.

Ron laughed. “I trust Bill and Charlie just fine; it’s the two of you I don’t trust.”

Ginny rolled her eyes at the antics of her brothers as she served herself some eggs and bacon. “I bet you miss mum’s breakfast this morning.”

Ron nodded although he had managed to pile his plate high with eggs, bacon, sausage and rolls.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“Mum makes us a special breakfast on our birthday each year. If we have a favourite food, she’ll make it for us. Of course in Ron’s case it is just the quantity of food that changes,” Ginny answered.

“Yeah,” Fred chimed in, “Mum makes the best cinnamon rolls. She always sends us some for our birthday.”

“Ginny here is the lucky one,” George added. “Her birthday is over the summer so she gets mum’s cooking every year.”

Hermione laughed. “So, what do you ask for, Ginny?”

“Apple turnovers,” Ginny replied dreamily, “We had some at the bakery in town once and I really liked them so Mum learned how to make them just for me.”

“My mum isn’t the best cook,” Hermione said, “so we always go out to breakfast on my birthday. When I was little, they would take the day off and we would spend the whole day together.”

Ginny noticed a wistful look in Harry’s eyes, but remembering their talk over Christmas break she didn’t ask about his birthday. She had a sinking feeling that he had never really celebrated his birthday before.


Ginny hurried into the library on a Thursday evening in late March. She was supposed to be meeting a group of her friends to study for the upcoming Charms test. Looking around the library she saw Michael with a group of 5th year Ravenclaws, she knew that they were starting their O.W.L. revision. She waved as she passed his group, but he just nodded to her before turning back to his friends.

Sighing inwardly, Ginny knew that she really ought to break up with him. Since coming back from Christmas break, she and Michael had not been getting along very well. He was upset about her position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he had also been upset to learn she had seen Harry over Christmas break.

“Ginny.”

Looking up she smiled at Colin Creevey as she slid into the seat next to him. “Hi, Colin.”

As she pulled out her books, she greeted her roommates Laura Yates, Diane Donaldson, and Sharon Stevens. After her first year when she did not make many friends, she had made and effort to reach out to her fellow Gryffindors. These four had become her best friends. “I thought Angela and Mike were going to join us,” Ginny said referring to one of their other roommates.

Laura rolled her eyes. “They were, but they got into a fight so Angela won’t come down.”

Quickly dismissing the drama, Ginny asked, “So what are we revising?”

Colin looked down at his notes. “Professor Flitwick said we should know the charm to get rid of a Boggart.”

“I thought that would be in Defence Against the Dark Arts,” Diane complained.

“Do you really think that Umbridge would teach us something useful?” Ginny asked as she turned to the section of her notes and read out loud, “Riddikulus is the incantation to banish a Boggart. A Boggart will take the form of whatever the person facing it fears the most. Laughter is the key to defeating a Boggart. It is helpful to force your greatest fear into something amusing.”

Colin shivered. “I can’t imagine how to make a giant snake funny.”

“A giant snake?” Ginny asked faintly.

“Yeah,” Colin replied. “Ever since our first year, I have had nightmares about this giant snake with big yellow eyes.”

Ginny let the conversation of the others flow around her. For some reason, it had not occurred to her that her actions in her first year had a lasting impact on Colin. He had been so understanding when she explained that a magical diary forced her to open the Chamber of Secrets. While those who had been petrified where given an abbreviated version of what happened, Professor Dumbledore did not think it wise to tell them about the Basilisk. Hermione knew of course, but the others were not told what type of creature had petrified them. It still amazed her that neither Colin nor Hermione held her actions against her.

“Ginny, are you okay?” Laura asked in concern.

Looking up Ginny managed a smile. “Sorry. I just have a bit of a headache.”

Ginny managed to get through the rest of the revision session and dinner, but when she returned to the common room that evening she went right up to her room. She couldn’t face being sociable.

She woke up several hours later biting back a scream. She had dreamed she was back in the Chamber and this time she had managed to kill not only Colin, but Hermione and Penelope as well. Intellectually she knew that the dream was just a reaction to her conversation with Colin, but she couldn’t stop shaking. Slowly she crept out of her dorm room and down to the common room. To her disappointment, the fire had died down and the common room was cold and dark.

Hesitantly she glanced up the stairs several times before making up her mind. Crossing over to the stairs leading to the boys’ dorm, she quietly climbed to the landing outside the 5th years' room. Resting her head against the door she took a deep breath before pushing the door open. She slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. Pausing a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, Ginny looked around the room. Luckily all of the boys had closed their bed curtains and to her relief no one appeared to have heard her come in. She figured if anyone saw her, she could always say she was going to see her brother.

Harry was sleeping on his back. Ginny bit her lip as she gazed at him uncertainly. Should she wake him?

A snore in the direction of her brother’s bed made up her mind. She stepped closer to Harry and put her hand on his shoulder. “Harry.”

Harry woke with a start. He blinked confusedly in Ginny’s direction. “Ginny?”

He grabbed his wand and his glasses off the table next to his bed. Quietly he cast a silencing and privacy spell.

Sitting up, Harry leaned back against the headboard and patted the bed next to him. “What’s wrong?”

Glancing around one last time, Ginny climbed up onto Harry’s bed and sat cross legged, facing him. Harry waited patiently while Ginny gathered her thoughts. He was surprised to see the tear tracks visible on her cheeks.

Ginny picked up the edge of Harry’s sheet. “Some of my friends and I were studying in the library. We were talking about…Boggarts. Colin said…he…his greatest fear is of a big snake with yellow eyes.”

She lifted her tear filled eyes to his. “He doesn’t even know what it is that he is afraid of, just that he started having nightmares about this snake after our first year.”

“It just hit me tonight that I could have killed two of my best friends,” she whispered. “I thought I…I never even asked him about what happened to him. What kind of friend does that make me? I’ve been so wrapped up in my own nightmares that I never even considered that the others might have nightmares as well.”

Harry gazed anxiously at Ginny, unsure of how to respond. He thought back to what he thought would have made him feel better when he was upset. Slowly he reached out and took her hand in two of his own. “Ginny, I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better. You know that Hermione and Colin don’t hold anything against you, why don’t you talk to them about it? Ask them if they have nightmares?”

Ginny gave Harry a shaky smile and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “That’s a good idea. I just…I froze when Colin mentioned his nightmares and I didn’t know what to say.”

“Harry…can I stay here for a little bit? I don’t want to go back to my room yet.” Ginny asked hesitantly.

Harry smiled and handed her a pillow, “Sure, stay as long as you want.”

As she curled up at the foot on Harry’s bed, Harry summoned an extra blanket from the cupboard. She laughed softly, “I used to go and wake my brothers up when I had a nightmare. Usually I went to Bill or Charlie, but sometimes I would go see Fred and George.”

“Really? Fred and George?”

“I know, it doesn’t seem like something they would do, but they were always great if I woke them up,” Ginny said. “I used to be scared of thunderstorms and I would camp out in their room when it stormed. We would stay up late and they would make up all kinds of silly stories.”

Harry settled more comfortably against the headboard of his bed as he listened to Ginny talk about growing up the youngest of seven and the only girl. Slowly, his eyes closed.

The sounds of Dean heading off to the shower woke Harry the next morning. He smiled and stretched. There was that floral smell again, he opened his eyes and almost yelled in surprise. Ginny was sleeping on the pillow next to him. Memories of the previous night flooded back to him, they must have fallen asleep talking.

Harry raised himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. She was lying on her stomach with her head turned towards him. Her hair was spread out over his pillow. Harry knew he needed to wake her up, but he hesitated for a minute as he just looked at her. He remembered thinking she was cute over Christmas break, but he was wrong. She wasn’t cute, she was beautiful. He loved her hair with all of its different shades blending together. As he watched her sleep, he noticed for the first time a small group of freckles over her nose. He shook his head. Get a grip, Potter. She is just a friend, remember? She’s over you.

He reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak. When he turned back to Ginny, he was embarrassed to realize that his body had definitely reacted to having a beautiful girl in his bed. Praying that she wouldn’t realize the effect she had on him, Harry gently shook her shoulder. “Ginny.”

To his horror, all this did was make her roll closer to him. He could feel parts of her pressing against him that he had no business even thinking about much less feeling. For a fleeting moment, he wondered how it would feel if she was lying beneath him. He blushed as he followed that train of thought. Reining in his thoughts, he tried again to wake her up.

“Ginny, you need to wake up.”

To his relief, Ginny’s eyes fluttered open. He could tell she didn’t realize where she was yet, but as he continued to gaze into her chocolate brown eyes he didn’t think he really cared. He felt as if the world had shrunk down to just him and Ginny. He was perfectly content to just stay where he was.

The sounds of his roommates getting up and heading for the shower broke the spell. He could see the realization and panic cross Ginny’s face. “Shh! Don’t say anything,” he whispered urgently.

He handed her his Invisibility Cloak and peered out of his curtains. Luckily, Dean had just left and had left the door slightly open. “You can sneak out; just try not to make any noise.”

Ginny stifled a giggle. She knew she would get in a lot of trouble if she was caught, but she had just spent the night with Harry! No, nothing had happened, but still. She had woken up in Harry’s bed. Reaching out she hugged him quickly. “Thanks, Harry.”

She silently crossed the room and hurried out of the boys’ dorm to her own. Harry flopped back on his bed as she left. He was so confused. He had thought he liked Cho, but he now knew that was just a crush. Ginny on the other hand...he didn’t know what to think. She wasn’t in the same friend category as Hermione, he had never thought about Hermione the way he did Ginny. Did he fancy Ginny? He wished now more than ever he could talk to Sirius.

With a sigh, Harry got up. He was definitely going to need a cold shower before heading to class.


Remus and Bill discussed the latest information from Albus Dumbledore as they walked up the stairs at Grimmauld Place.

“So he is sure the kids are safe?” Bill asked anxiously. He hadn’t liked what he’d heard from his siblings over the Christmas holidays.

Grimacing, Remus said, “They aren’t all happy, but they are safe. Umbridge is…she’s a horrible woman, but they’ve been able to at least contain the damage that she’s done.”

The two men paused at the door to the library. Sirius had asked them to come up when Bill arrived. Sirius had a stack of books next to him and was making notes on the sheaf of parchment next to him.

Remus was still unsure what had been the catalyst for Sirius’s change, but he couldn’t deny there had been a change. Sirius was continuing to work out four to five days a week and Remus hadn’t seen him drinking since the holidays. With the judicious use of Polyjuice Potion, Sirius had been able to obtain a wand and last week he’d even gone out on a mission with Remus and Bill. Looking up Sirius greeted the two wizards. “Remus, Bill, come in.”

Walking over to the table, Remus grabbed the chair across from Sirius while Bill sat at the end of the table between the other two men.

“What are you working on?” Remus asked.

Sirius looked down at his notes pensively. “Remus, what do you know about…about that night?”

Keeping the surprise out of his voice, Remus said, “What night?”

“The night that…James and Lily died,” Sirius replied softly.

Bill shifted uncomfortably, but looked on silently while Remus sat back in his chair and dragged his hand through his hair. “I know that Harry hears that night when he gets too close to Dementors. He’s told me what he’s heard. James…he tried to hold Voldemort off to give Lily and Harry a chance to run for it. I don’t know exactly why, but Voldemort told Lily to step aside.”

He laughed bitterly. “As if Lily would willingly step aside and just let him kill Harry. She stood in front of his cot and…” His voice trailed away as his eyes filled with tears.

Sirius listened in silence. When Remus finished the story, Sirius looked up with tears shining in his eyes as well. “So Voldemort…tried to kill Harry and was struck by his own killing curse, right?”

Remus nodded as he drew a ragged breath. “Yes.”

“So how did Voldemort survive?” Sirius asked. He continued without waiting for an answer. “I listened to Harry describe Voldemort’s rebirth. When Voldemort was talking to his followers, he said something about the steps he’d taken to avoid a mortal death.”

“What does that mean?” Bill asked speaking for the first time.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering.” Sirius scooted a book closer to Remus and Bill. “This talks about Horcruxes. Do you know what those are?”

Bill gasped while Remus shook his head. “Merlin, is that what you think he did?” Bill asked.

Remus glanced between the two men. “What are Horcruxes?”

Sirius indicated a section in the large book titled Secrets of the Darkest Arts. Sirius and Bill waited in silence while Remus read the section about Horcruxes.

After Remus finished reading, he looked up at Sirius with a horrified look on his face. “Is this what Voldemort did?”

Bill looked over at Sirius who replied, “I think so, but I want your opinion.”

Sirius gestured around the library. “My family was obviously into Dark Magic. While there are ways to prolong life, most of them are complicated and not entirely reliable. I’ve been looking through my father’s collection and Horcruxes make the most sense.”

He looked over at Bill. “What do you think?”

The curse breaker nodded thoughtfully. “A Horcrux would explain how he survived the killing curse and would be consistent with the ‘rebirth’ Harry described.”

“So can he be killed now?” Remus asked.

Sirius sighed, “I’m not sure. I wonder if he only created one or he created more. Bellatrix once boasted about ‘special’ items her Dark Lord had collected. At the time, I thought it was just Dark Magic, but now I wonder if he created more than one Horcrux.”

“More than one? Merlin!” Bill whispered. “I can’t imagine being so…evil that you would risk splitting your soul once much less more than once.”

Sirius chuckled humourlessly. “Voldemort is pure evil. Trust me; I don’t think he would have a problem with that.”

Looking over at Bill, Sirius asked, “What do you know about the diary that Ginny used during her first year?”

A dark look crossed Bill’s face. “Not much, my parents did not want to talk much about it and they didn’t want me to talk to her about it. All I know is that it was an old diary of Voldemort’s that somehow possessed her…”

“Merlin,” Bill broke off, looking ill. “You think that was a Horcrux?”

Sirius nodded. “I listened to Harry and Ginny talking about it over the Christmas holiday. The way Harry described the ‘memory’ of Voldemort physically coming out of the diary and the way he was taking over Ginny. I can’t find any description of possession that matches her experience.”

“I don’t know enough about what happened to Ginny to even make that judgement,” Bill said unevenly.

Throwing a sympathetic look at him, Sirius described what he’d overheard about Ginny’s first year. The other two looked sick as they listened to the horror the memory of a teenage Voldemort had inflicted on Ginny.

Bill looked up with tears in his eyes. “I hate to say it, but I agree that the diary might have been a Horcrux.”

“Maybe that was the only one,” Remus said hopefully.

Bill shook his head. “No, that couldn’t be, because then he wouldn’t have been able to come back after…Harry destroyed the diary.”

“Do you think that Dumbledore knows about this?” Remus asked.

A dark look crossed Sirius’s face. “I don’t know. Dumbledore has not been very helpful or forthcoming. He…he tried to keep me cooped up here and even once we made the Polyjuice Potion he didn’t want me going out on missions. Harry said something over the holidays about Dumbledore ignoring him. I don’t know exactly what is going on with Dumbledore, but I don’t know that I completely trust him.”

Bill blew out the breath he’d been holding. “I have to say…I have trouble with some of the things that have happened. A Basilisk and Dementors, my siblings shouldn’t know about such things, at least not so intimately.”


Harry watched the Gryffindor Quidditch practice longingly as he jogged around the lake. As the weather had started warming slightly with the coming of April, he had started jogging outside. Once he had returned from Christmas break, he had begun working out in the Room of Requirement. Sirius had promised he would keep working out as long as Harry did, so Harry had diligently worked out at least three times a week since January. The pressure of upcoming O.W.L.s was starting to get to the 5th years and he wished he still had the distraction of Quidditch. He saw a flash of red and watched Ginny dive in pursuit of the snitch.

He watched her until he needed to look to see where he was going. To his delight, Ginny had broken things off with Michael at the beginning of April. He really wanted to ask her out, but he was nervous. Hermione had said Ginny had gotten over him, so would she even be interested in going out with him? He knew he needed to do something, as he was not the only one who noticed how amazing Ginny was. He remembered grinding his teeth last night to keep from saying anything as Dean tried to put his moves on Ginny. Thankfully, Ginny did not really seem interested in Dean.

A flash of white caught his attention as Hedwig dipped down in front of him. She had started following him as he jogged, he didn’t mind as she kept him company. Since Hedwig had been injured in the fall, he had been very hesitant to use her to send any messages. To make up for that, he made an effort to visit her in the Owlery at least once a week. After all she was the only one who kept him company while he was at the Dursleys'. She had even started visiting him his dorm room from time to time, sometimes even sleeping on a perch he’d put up for her.

After he completed his circuit around the lake, he finished his work out with a series of lunges, push-ups and sit ups. When he was done, he turned to look at Hedwig who had settled on a bush near him.

“Hey, girl.”

Hedwig flew over and landed on his outstretched arm. Harry ran his fingers down her feathers. “What do you think I should do about Ginny?”

He laughed at the look Hedwig gave him. “I know I should just ask her out, right?”

Hedwig hooted.

Harry leaned back against grass and looked up at the sky. “Hermione said Ginny was over me, but we have so much fun together. She is so easy to talk to and she is so beautiful.”

He groaned. “I’m pathetic aren’t I?”

Hedwig nudged his hand with her head. He ruffled her feathers idly. “Hey, girl, wouldn’t it be great if we could spend the whole summer with Sirius? I mean…not just because I don’t want to spend the time with the Dursleys, but imagine spending all that time with Sirius. He said we could fix up his old motorbike and he would teach me to ride.”

Rolling over on to his stomach, Harry reached out to play with Hedwig, musing out loud as he did so. “I wonder if Ginny likes motorbikes?”


Harry was in the loo brushing his teeth when he heard a voice behind him. “Hey, mate. Do you know where Ron is?”

Without glancing up Harry shook his head. After he spit the toothpaste out of his mouth, he said, “No, George. I think he had some Divination homework to finish up for this morning.”

As he straightened up, Harry saw George in the mirror behind him still standing in the doorway. “What’s up?”

“How did you know who I was?” George asked, watching him strangely.

Harry blinked in confusion. What was George playing at now? “Well, I’ve known you for five years. We play Quidditch together and I’ve stayed at your house quite a bit.”

“No, I mean, you didn’t even look up and you knew I wasn’t Fred. Even my mum looks at us first to see who we are. How did you do that?” George demanded.

“Oh.” Harry thought about it. “I think it’s your magic. Everyone’s magic feels a little different to me and you and Fred have different magic.”

George studied him for a moment, “You can feel everyone’s magic?”

Harry’s heart sank a little. Was this another way he was different? “You can’t?”

“No, mate. I’ve never heard of anyone feeling people’s magic before.” George replied.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Great. Yet another weird thing about me.”

George laughed, “You wouldn’t want to be normal, would you?”

Harry didn’t respond as he tried to brush his hair into a slightly neater fashion. George came a little closer, “Hey, Harrykins. Do you need to shave?”

Blushing Harry put down his brush, unsure of how to respond. He knew he needed to shave, but the one time he tried all he managed to do was cut himself.

A flash of compassion crossed George’s face as he realized that Harry had probably never had anyone teach him to shave. He reached into the cabinet under the sink. Every bathroom was set up the same, and the elves kept a supply of extra toiletry items for those who ran out of forgot theirs. Rummaging under the sink, he pulled out a new razor and can of shaving cream.

Without a joke or sarcastic comment and with a patience Harry would not have expected of him, George taught Harry how to shave. Once Harry was freshly shaved, he turned to George, “Thanks.”

With a laugh and a wink George replied, “Hey, that’s what big brothers are for.”

Harry watched in stunned silence as George left the room, the feeling that he was not as alone as he thought warmed him up. Quickly, he made his way into the dorm and pulled on a clean shirt. As he was straightening his tie, George popped his head back in the door, “I forgot. Charlie sent an Easter letter to us.” He tossed it to Harry who caught it one handed. “Read it and pass it on to Ron and Ginny.”


Harry ran around the corner with Ginny closely on his heels. When he realized he could no longer hear Madam Pince yelling, he stopped short then stumbled forward as Ginny ran into him. He steadied her and as he looked down at her, he could not help but start laughing. Ginny joined him as Harry’s school books that had been chasing them fell around them. She knelt on the floor and helped Harry gather up his books.

He wiped tears from his eyes as he said, “Ginny, I haven’t laughed this much in forever. Thanks.”

She smiled up at him, “You are welcome. I promise I will talk to my brothers as soon as possible.”

Harry nodded. For the first time since Snape pulled him out of the Pensieve, he felt hopeful. Maybe if he could talk to Sirius, he could make him feel better about that horrible memory he’d seen in the Pensieve.

As he looked down at Ginny, he couldn’t help but think that even as windswept and muddy as she was, she looked amazing. Her hair had fallen out of its normal ponytail and was tangled around her shoulders. Her mud streaked uniform looked much better on her, than he was sure it had ever looked on him.

He haphazardly shoved his books into his bag and helped her to her feet. As he looked down at her he felt an almost overwhelming urge to kiss her. Before he could act on that urge, the sound of laughter made him look up. A group of fourth year Hufflepuffs turned the far corner, headed towards the library.

Ginny took a step back. “We should be getting back to the common room.”

Swallowing his disappointment, Harry agreed. “Yeah, I better make sure that Hermione remembers to eat tonight.”


Harry looked up from his homework and smiled at Ginny, who dropped into the seat next to him. “I haven’t gotten a chance to thank you for…everything.”

She smiled and glanced around to make sure no one could hear them. “You’re welcome. Were you able to talk to Sirius?”

Harry’s face fell slightly. “Yeah, I talked to both Sirius and Remus.”

Ginny opened her notes while she waited patiently. She knew from talking to Hermione that Harry had not shared with anyone the reason he wanted to talk to Sirius. After a few minutes of silence, her patience was rewarded.

“Gin, do you think that people can change?”

Ginny looked over at him and considered the question. “If they want to, I think they can. Why?”

Harry looked down at the table, “During my last Occlumency lesson with Snape, I…I saw a memory of Snape’s. He got called out of the room and …I saw this Pensieve. I know I shouldn’t have, but I went over and looked at it. He always took out certain memories prior to our lessons and I guess I was curious. I didn’t mean to fall into his memory, but once I was in…It was during his O.W.L.s. He was in the same class as my parents and Sirius and Remus. I was so excited to see them, so I followed my dad.”

He fell silent for so long that Ginny wasn’t sure that he would continue. She made as little noise as possible trying to encourage him to continue. Just when she thought he was going to shut down completely, he continued.

“Ginny, it was horrible. My dad…picked on Snape just because they were bored and because they didn’t like him. They…ganged up on him and made fun of him. Just like my cousin used to do to me. And my mum…she hated my dad. You should have seen it…she just looked at him like he was…I don’t know.” His voice trailed away.

Ginny put her hand on his arm, “What did Sirius and Remus say?”

“They…they said that he could act like a jerk sometimes, but he was a good man.” He laughed bitterly. “They tried to say that he was only fifteen, but…I’m fifteen. I just…I wish I knew them so I would know that they changed or my parents actually fell in love.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he finished, “I just never thought I would feel sorry for Snape.”


Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the great hall at lunch time and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione were still bickering about Ron not keeping up his Transfiguration homework.

“Hermione, I keep telling you. It is just not fair that they keep giving us homework when we have our O.W.L.s coming up in less than a month.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “How will you learn if you don’t do the homework?”

Harry nodded to Neville as they sat down. Ignoring his bickering friends he grabbed a few sandwiches and a handful of crisps.

“Hi, Neville. How’s it going?” Harry said, continuing to ignore Ron and Hermione.

Suppressing laugh Neville said, “Okay. I can’t wait for the O.W.L.s to be over.”

“I know,” Harry replied. “In some ways I’d rather just take them now and get them over with.”

“You can’t mean that,” Ron interjected, having finished his argument with Hermione.

Harry laughed. “Well, I guess not really. I just want them to be over. I’m tired of revising.”

As Harry finished up his sandwich, Ginny hurried up to the Gryffindor table. Even from a distance, Harry could tell she looked upset.

“Ginny, what’s wrong?”

“Harry…I need your help. Can you come with me?” Ginny asked.

Standing up, Harry grabbed his bag and turned to others. “I’ll meet you in Charms.”

He followed her out to the entrance hall and was surprised when she led him out onto the grounds. He asked again, “Gin, what’s wrong?”

With a slightly unsteady voice, Ginny replied, “I just had Care of Magical Creatures.”

As Harry waited for her to continue, she led him to the field near Hagrid’s hut. “Hagrid was talking about serpents. He had three big snakes in a pit and he was telling us about them.”

She turned to look at him and Harry was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “I could understand some of what the snakes were saying. Why could I understand them?”

Harry swallowed, “I don’t know.”

They came to a stop by the pit to which Ginny had been referring. Harry peered into the pit. As Ginny had said there were three large snakes in the pit; a grey and black adder, a large python, and a hooded cobra. They were coiled around each other hissing.

Ginny hung back a little. “We were in class and Hagrid was telling us about each of them. I heard them hissing and at first it didn’t register with me, but I could understand them saying they were hungry.”

Harry nodded and looked back at the snakes, feeling a little foolish he said, “Hello.”

The snakes stopped coiling and looked up at him. The python replied, “How do you speak our language?”

Shrugging Harry replied, “I don’t know. I just can.”

He chanced a look back at Ginny. “Do you understand what he said?”

She shook her head.

The adder slithered up to the edge of the pit, “Is she your mate? She was with the group of humans that were looking at us.”

Harry blushed. “No, she’s a friend of mine. Her class was learning about snakes. You remember her?”

The adder nodded. “Her flame hair is very distinctive.”

He laughed and looked back at her. Ginny looked between him and the snake. “What?”

Harry gestured towards the snake, “He remembered you from class. He says your flame hair is very distinctive.”

Ginny blushed, but started laughing. “Great, even snakes notice my hair.”

“Human,” the cobra hissed, “can you get us some food? The giant man was supposed to bring us some rats, but he has not come back.”

“Hagrid?” Harry said. “I’ll go see. He should be in his hut. He wouldn’t forget about you, I promise.”

The sound of a snapping twig caught Harry’s attention. Thinking it was Hagrid, Harry turned smiling. “Did you bring any rats? These snakes are hungry.”

“Really, Mr. Potter.” Harry froze at the sight of Umbridge with her Inquisitorial Squad arrayed behind her.

Taking advantage of his surprise, she continued. “Speaking Parseltongue is considered a Dark Art. You and Miss Weasley have been found consorting with Dark creatures and are summarily expelled from this school.”

Harry backed up so he was standing next to Ginny. He reached out for her hand. “Ginny wasn’t doing anything, she shouldn’t be expelled.”

“Not so, Mr. Potter,” Umbridge said with her phony smile. “Mr. Malfoy heard her confessing that she understood what the snakes were saying.”

She turned to her Inquisitorial Squad who had used the time to surround the young couple and said, “Take their wands. We’ll take them up to the castle and let them be humiliated in front of the whole school.”

Draco was in the lead and with a malicious look in his eye he yelled, “Expelliarmus!”

Harry managed to get a shield charm up in time to prevent their wands from being taken. He stood back to back with Ginny, trying to figure out a way out.

The Inquisitorial squad looked at Professor Umbridge for direction. She gestured to the couple who had managed to work their way to one side. “Get them.”

A barrage of spell fire rained down on Harry and Ginny’s shields, but they held firm. Harry looked around nervously. With the amount of spells being sent their direction, he was not able to drop his shield long enough to go on the offensive.

He pulled back so he was slightly behind Ginny. “Can you hold the shield?” he murmured in her ear.

She nodded and with that, Harry opened up on the Slytherins facing them. He managed to stun Theodore Nott and Gregory Goyle. He heard Umbridge yell, “Concentrate on the girl!”

To his horror he heard Draco yell, “Crucio!”

Without stopping to think about it, Harry dove in front of the curse that was headed towards Ginny. Pain lanced through him, but to his relief it was not the paralyzing pain that he had experienced in the past. Maybe it was a matter of practice? The sound of Ginny screaming his name drove that thought from his mind.

Fighting as hard as he could, Harry broke away from the curse and rolled to his feet. Taking the advantage, Harry yelled, “Impedimenta!”

He pulled Ginny with him and took off running across the grounds. He could feel the heat of spell fire shooting past them and heard Umbridge shouting directions at her squad. Most of them were positioned closer to the front gate, so Harry took off in the other direction.

He felt the sting of a cutting curse rip across his shoulders and upper back, but he kept running. They had to dodge the curses coming from behind them, but Harry and Ginny were both in good shape so they easily pulled in front of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Parkinson. With a split second to decide, Harry pulled them into the Forbidden Forest. Cursing softly as both of them tripped and ran into low hanging branches, the pair ran until they could hear no sound of their pursuers. Harry motioned for Ginny to stop. The two of them leaned against a tree panting, trying to catch their breath.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” Ginny replied shakily. “They didn’t hurt me. I just have some scrapes and bruises. What about you? Why on earth would you dive in front of the Cruciatus?”

Harry just looked at her for a moment, before he replied, “Ginny, you don’t seriously think I would let them hit you with the Cruciatus if I could help it, do you?”

Looking around, Harry tried to get a sense of where they were. He was afraid that they were headed towards the Acromantulas’ lair and he really didn’t want to run into them again.

“We need to get out of here,” Harry said. “I really don’t want to go any further into the forest.

Ginny nodded, “I can’t believe they expelled us. If they catch us, they will snap our wands.”

“We can’t let that happen,” Harry said. Using the Point Me spell he had learned for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he led the way to the edge of the forest.

He could hear calls in the distance and Umbridge and her group searched for Harry and Ginny. The Inquisitorial squad had been joined by Filch and what appeared to be most of the Slytherin upperclassmen.

“Where are we going?” Ginny whispered. “I don’t think we’ll make it back to the castle or the front gate.”

“We’re heading for the Whomping Willow,” Harry whispered back. “I know it seems strange, but I need you to trust me.”

“Of course,” Ginny replied.

“I’m going to cast a Disillusionment Charm on us. I’m not that great with them, but I think I can do it well enough to get us to the tree,” Harry explained as he pulled his wand.

Together they headed off for the Whomping Willow. As they neared the tree, Harry picked up a small stone and threw it at the tree hitting the knot that froze the tree.

Ginny gasped in astonishment and Harry shot her a grin. “Cool, huh?”

He led the way into the tunnel and threw another stone to reactivate the tree. He and Ginny headed down the tunnel into the Shrieking Shack.


As the bell rang announcing the end of Charms, Ron stood and looked over at Hermione. “Where is Harry?”

“I don’t know. Are you sure he didn’t sneak in the back?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“No,” Ron replied. “I looked and I didn’t see him.”

Before they had even left the classroom, Umbridge’s magically magnified voice echoed through the castle. “All students will report to their common rooms, immediately. This is an official notice to inform you that Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley have been expelled from Hogwarts. They have been found guilty of performing Dark Arts. Any student found helping them will also be expelled and facing time in Azkaban. Any student with information on their whereabouts will report it immediately.”

There was a momentary silence followed by an explosion of noise as everyone started talking at once. Ron turned to Hermione and Neville. “What the bloody hell was that about?”

It was a sign of how upset Hermione was that she didn’t even comment of Ron’s language. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine what they would have been doing that would be considered a Dark Art.”

A whistle pierced the noise in the classroom. The students looked around and saw Professor Flitwick standing on his desk. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please report back to your common rooms immediately. You can discuss this in the privacy of your common rooms.”

The room quickly emptied. As Ron walked past the desk, Professor Flitwick spoke very quietly, “Mr. Weasley, I know this will be difficult for you, but you must remain as calm as possible. I imagine that our Headmistress will have both of their belongings searched. I am confident that no one will find anything that might be considered incriminating in their belongings.”

Ron looked confused for a moment, but nodded as he realized what Professor Flitwick was trying to say. Satisfied that Ron understood him, Professor Flitwick continued, “Only a Gryffindor may access your tower, it may take some time to find someone willing to conduct the search. But don’t depend on having a lot of time.”

Ron hurried out of the classroom and on to Gryffindor tower. Hermione and Neville were standing with Dean and Seamus in one corner. Ron quickly filled them in on what Professor Flitwick had told him.

“Hermione, I can’t get up to the girl’s side. Can you go through my sister’s things and just move anything…that she wouldn’t want found?” Ron said.

Angelina Johnson had approached the group and heard what Ron said, turning to Hermione she said, “Come on Hermione. Anything you want to hide we can put up in my dorm, no one would look there.”

Turning to his dorm mates, Ron said, “Let’s go through Harry’s things.”


Ginny turned around in the dusty boarded up room. There was no intact furniture in the room, whatever had been there was torn to pieces. Bits of wood and fabric were scattered all over the dusty floor.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“The Shrieking Shack.” Harry replied as he led the way up the stairs.

Ginny stared at him in astonishment. “The Shrieking Shack?”

Harry laughed. “Yeah, Remus used to use it when he transformed while he was in school. The Whomping Willow was planted over the entrance so no one would accidentally wander in here.”

“So who else knows about this?” Ginny asked nervously as they reached the top of the stairs.

Harry led the way into a bedroom before answering. There was a large bed against the far wall and a wardrobe was the only other piece of furniture in the room.

“Scourgify.”

It took several strong cleaning charms to rid the room of the dust and cobwebs. Looking at the newly cleaned mattress, Ginny made a face.

She looked over at Harry. “Can you try a spell?”

He nodded. “Sure. What is it?”

“It’s a spell to conjure up fresh sheets,” Ginny explained. “My mum uses it sometimes when we need an extra set of sheets. The problem is, they don’t last long. Your spells are generally more powerful than mine, so I’m hoping your sheets will last longer than mine.”

Nodding, he attempted the spell. One his third attempt, he was pleased to see a set of dark green sheets on the bed. The two quickly made up the bed. Harry sat down on the edge, he patted a spot next to him to indicate that Ginny do the same.

“Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Madam Pomfrey, and of course Sirius, Remus and Wormtail know about this place,” Harry replied answering her earlier question. “Damn, when I say it out loud, it's a lot more people than I thought it was. We can’t stay here for long, but I figured we could at least make a plan here.”

Ginny sank down on the bed next to Harry, by this time it was late afternoon. “Does she really have the authority to expel us?”

“I think so,” Harry replied gloomily. “She is the Headmistress. Is speaking Parseltongue really considered a Dark art?”

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past Umbridge and Fudge to pass a law saying it is,” Ginny answered.

Harry got up and started pacing restlessly, he walked over to the boarded up windows and peered out.

“Bloody hell,” He whispered.

“What?” Ginny joined him at the window and gasped when she saw Lucius Malfoy striding through the streets of Hogsmeade.


Ron stood looking at his best mate’s bed for a moment before opening Harry’s trunk. His heart sank when he saw the silky Invisibility Cloak on top of the trunk, he had hoped Harry had it on him. He pulled it out and set it aside as he continued through his best friend’s belongings. Guilt lanced through him as he realized how little Harry actually had. Ron had always felt envious of Harry’s wealth and fame, but as he rummaged through Harry’s pitiful belongings, Ron realized that Harry did not have much. A short stack of letters joined the Invisibility Cloak along with the Marauder’s Map and the photo album Hagrid had made for Harry during his first year. Ron turned over a badly wrapped gift that to his surprise was to Harry from Sirius. Why hadn’t Harry opened it?

“What about these books?”

Ron started as he looked over at Neville who was going through Harry’s shelves. “What?”

“These books,” Neville repeated. “He has a lot of extra books on Defence. I imagine that Umbridge would use them as proof of Harry’s guilt.”

Ron nodded. “You are probably right.”

A sound in the doorway made the boys look up. To their relief, it was Colin Creevey in the doorway.

“What’s up Colin, are they here yet?” Ron asked as he turned back to his task.

“No,” Colin replied. “I wanted to help. You can put anything you find of Harry’s in my room. I don’t think they would look there.”

Ron looked assessingly at his sister’s friend. “That would be great, Colin.”

Grabbing the small pile of personal belongings, Ron turned to Neville. “Have you got everything?”

Neville nodded while Dean gave Harry’s belongings a second look through. Dean shook his head. “He doesn’t have much does he?”

Looking down on the pile of second hand clothes and school robes, Ron was forced to admit that he had much more than Harry. He caught sight of a jumper at the bottom of the trunk. “Dean, grab the jumpers my mum made Harry. I don’t want them getting their hands on them.”

Dean nodded and grabbed the jumpers, placing them in his own chest of drawers. Neville and Ron followed Colin to the fourth year boys’ room. Neville cast a simple spell on the books to make them appear to be photography books. Ron nodded his approval, “Great idea, Neville.”

The boys charmed the rest of Harry’s belongings to blend in with Colin’s and then went down to the common room to wait.


Angelina rummaged through Ginny’s trunk.

“Just grab any letters or pictures,” Hermione said as she went through Ginny’s nightstand. As she opened the last drawer, she found what she was looking for. There were several stacks of letters. Hermione grabbed them and flipped through them. She recognized Mrs Weasley’s writing, but most of the handwriting she did not recognize. She thought it must belong to Bill or Charlie. To her surprise, she saw a few she recognized as Sirius’s writing.

Angelina held up a small box. “I’m taking this up to my room.”

“What is it?” Hermione asked curiously. It just seemed to be a box of parchment.

“It’s her treasure box.” Angelina replied. When Hermione still looked mystified, Angelina said, “You know for special keepsakes. She has a Quidditch program and some flowers. There is a note to her from Harry. I don’t think she’d want just anyone to see it.”

“Oh, okay.” Hermione grabbed Ginny’s photo album off the top of her nightstand. “I think this should go up also.”

Angelina nodded and the two girls headed up to Angelina’s room. Angelina cast a spell to disguise Ginny’s belongings and scattered them among her things.

The two girls made their way back to the common room.

Hermione gave Ron a tentative smile as she told him what they had done. Ron nodded and whispered, “He doesn’t have his cloak or the map.”

The thought struck both of them at the same time and they hurried up to Colin’s room. Ron opened the map and whispered, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

As the map unfolded, the pair scanned it for a sign of their missing friends. Ron scanned the section of the grounds that seemed to contain every Slytherin upperclassman, but he didn’t see either Harry or Ginny’s name.

Hermione sat back with a sigh, “I don’t know if I’m relieved or disappointed that I don’t see their names.”

“I know,” Ron whispered. “I hoped to find them, but at least we know they haven’t been caught.”

Ron deactivated the map and stowed it on Colin’s desk. The two of them made their way back down to the common room. To Ron, it felt eerily similar to the day three years earlier when he’d heard his sister had been taken to the Chamber of Secrets. He and his friends sat in silence watching the afternoon sky fade into evening.

The sound of the portrait opening caused everyone to look. The soft hum of conversation halted as Professor McGonagall and Percy Weasley entered the room. Percy did not spare a glance for his brother, but headed straight up the stairs of the boys’ dorm with the Professor following him closely.

Ron almost smiled when he heard his brother’s bellow of rage. Percy flew back down to the common room. “Where are Harry Potter’s belongings?”

“Didn’t you find them?” Ron asked.

“All I found was some old clothes and school books.” Percy raged, “Where are the rest of his things?”

“What else do you think he has?” Ron asked scornfully.

“Accio Harry Potter’s belongings!” Percy yelled.

After a short pause, Harry’s trunk flew down the stairs followed closely by his school books. A quill and magazine flew over from a chair by the fireplace. Ron hid a smile when he realized that their charms had worked. All of Harry’s private belongings remained hidden.

“Incendio!”

Ron gasped as his brother set fire to Harry’s clothes.

“Mr. Weasley!” Professor McGonagall tried to put out the flames, but the magical heat had already destroyed Harry’s clothes.

Percy turned to his former Professor. “Someone needs to get Ginny’s things.”

Professor McGonagall drew herself up and replied evenly, “When your parents come, I will be happy to release her belongings, but until then they will stay where they are.”

She nodded approvingly at Ron before she followed a visibly angry Percy out of the portrait hole.


Harry flopped back down on the bed, he winced as his back hit the mattress. Ginny caught the look on his face.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine.” He replied.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “You’d say that if you were bleeding to death in front of me. What’s wrong?”

Harry sat up slowly, “I ache a little from the Cruciatus. I think that must be one of those spells you need to practice, because his isn’t nearly as powerful as Voldemort’s.”

He was busy shrugging off his robes so he did not see Ginny’s look of horror at his casual comment. She gasped when she saw the blood stains on his shirt. “Harry, why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

Without replying, he pulled off his shirt. He winced as the dried blood pulled away from the wound left by the Cutting curse. He felt the bed dip as Ginny climbed on the bed behind him. A moment later he felt her light touch on his back.

Ginny bit her lip; she didn’t know any healing spells. The wound crossed his back and upper shoulders. It was fairly deep on one side, but looked to be only a scratch on the other as if the curse was applied unevenly. She looked around the room to see what she could use to clean the wound. The only remotely clean cloth was his shirt, but that was blood stained on one side and Ginny didn’t want to ruin his only shirt. His robes had borne most of the brunt of their flight through the forest, but she might be able to use part of that to clean his wounds.

“Harry, I’m going to need to use your robe.” She said as she reached for the garment.

He nodded his understanding and she ripped a few strips off the bottom.

“Aguamenti!” Ginny sprayed the strips of cloth with water from her wand. Harry watched her curiously.

“Where did you learn to do that?” he asked. “I’ve never heard of that spell.”

Ginny started to gingerly clean his cut. “Bill showed it to me when we were working in Mum’s garden. It’s really quite a handy spell.”

A thought suddenly crossed her mind. “Oh Merlin, are we going to get in trouble for using magic?”

“No, I don’t think so. Ron and Hermione and I used magic here in our third year. I think maybe it is so close to the school, they can’t tell if we do magic here.” Harry replied.

He winced as she finished cleaning out his cut.

“Harry, why don’t you lay down? We’ll rest here tonight and in the morning we’ll try to figure out what to do,” Ginny said softly.

He reached out his hand as she started to move away from the bed. “Thanks, Ginny.”

Her eyes started to fill with tears. “You shouldn’t be thanking me. It’s my fault you got into this mess.”

Turning onto his side, Harry pulled Ginny down onto the bed next to him. She resisted at first, but eventually let him draw her down next to him. She curled into his side trying not to cry. Harry looked down at her helplessly for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around her.

“Gin, it’s not your fault. That cow Umbridge has been trying to get me for something since the beginning of the year. She wouldn’t have stopped until she found something to pin on me,” he said softly. “That little ponce, Malfoy, must have been following us.”

Ginny struggled to calm down as she listened to his words. As if sensing that it was working, Harry continued in the same low voice. “We’ll rest here tonight and tomorrow we’ll slip out into Hogsmeade. We’ll find some way to get back home, either to the Burrow or London.”

Nodding, Ginny let her head fall onto his shoulder. She lay listening to the steady beat of his heart and feeling the warmth of his breath on her hair. She couldn’t help but feel that if she had to be stuck in a situation like this, it was better to be with Harry. The two teens drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


Bellatrix Lestrange looked up when her brother-in-law entered the study.

“Yes? What news do you have?” she asked.

“According to Draco, Potter and his little girlfriend were expelled for speaking Parseltongue. He isn’t sure how they managed to escape, but they fled into the Forbidden Forest. McNair and I checked around Hogsmeade and no one has seen them,” Lucius replied.

“Interesting,” A cold voice came from the doorway.

“My lord,” Bellatrix and Lucius intoned deferentially bowing as they did so.

“Rise,” Voldemort said as he glided into the room. He seated himself behind the large desk and watched his faithful followers for a moment.

“Bella, talk to the people on the Knight Bus. Make sure that Potter did not take it and that he cannot take it in the future.”

Bellatrix nodded and quietly exited the room. Lucius Malfoy waited patiently for his master to speak.

“Come Lucius, we are off to Hogwarts. I want to speak to these snakes and see what happened.” Voldemort rose and left the room with Lucius Malfoy following in his wake.


Bellatrix apparated to the outskirts of Hogsmeade and flagged down the Knight Bus. As the tall purple bus pulled up in front of her, the doors opened. The pimply faced, gangly teenager leaned out.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus.”

Before he could get any further, Bellatrix stepped out of the shadows with her wand drawn. She smiled evilly at the look of terror on his face.

“How many passengers do you have, boy?”

“Bella — Bellatrix Lestrange.” The boy seemed horrified as he stared at her. He didn’t seem to even notice when her companions swept past him onto the bus.

Bellatrix played with her wand as she watched the boy. “How many passengers do you have?”

“Fi-five,” he stuttered.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She laughed.

Her playful demeanour disappeared and she held her wand on him. “Have you seen Harry Potter tonight?”

“No.”

“Have you picked up any teenagers tonight?” She asked.

“N-no.”

“See, it’s not so hard to answer my questions, is it?” Bellatrix said. “Have you picked up anyone in Hogsmeade or anywhere around Hogwarts?”

“No. This is the first time we’ve stopped in Hogsmeade tonight,” The boy replied.

A scream rent the air and the relaxed air the boy had adopted fell as he looked fearfully back into the bus.

“Crucio!”

Screams filled the night air as the Death Eaters took their frustration out on the passengers of the Knight bus. At a signal from Bellatrix, the passengers and crew of the Knight Bus were killed. The lucky ones were killed with the Killing Curse.

Bellatrix was the last one off the bus. She stepped over the mangled bodies of Stan Shunpike and the old driver, Ernie. Blood was pooling around their bodies and starting to drip down the steps of the bus. With a laugh, Bellatrix apparated away. On her master’s orders she did not leave a Dark Mark, but she did leave a trail of death and destruction behind.


Dolores Umbridge sat down behind her desk with a smile on her face. She had finally gotten rid of Potter. When sending the Dementors after him over the summer had not worked, she was afraid she would be stuck with him all school year. She was disappointed that Weasley had not managed to find anything in Potter’s belongings to further incriminate him, but that fact that she had heard him speaking to the snakes should be more than enough to send him to Azkaban. She wasn’t sure how he had managed to escape, but she was confident that it wouldn’t be for long.

A knock on her door caused her to look up. “Come in.”

She gasped in surprise when Lucius Malfoy stood in the doorway.

“Mr. Malfoy,” She simpered. “What an honour. May I ask what you are doing here?”

Lucius gave her a cool look. “I understand from my son that you had some excitement here today.”

“Yes, indeed. Harry Potter has been expelled from Hogwarts,” she replied with satisfaction.

Lucius stared at her for a moment before saying, “I would like you to accompany me to where this took place.”

Dolores looked at him in confusion. She really did not want to go back out there in the dark, but one did not turn down Lucius Malfoy. “Of course.”

The mismatched pair made their way out onto the grounds. Dolores watched him out of the corner of her eye, she wanted to say something witty, but Lucius Malfoy intimidated her.

As they walked across the dark grounds, Dolores could see a tall thin figure standing by the snake pit. She cast a glance at Lucius, but he did not seem surprised to see another person out there.

A frisson of fear stole down her spine as she heard a cold, high voice speaking to the hissing serpents. It was the same language that Potter had spoken earlier, but this was a much different voice. She glanced over at Malfoy and saw him deferentially waiting for the other man.

“Lucius.”

“My lord,” Malfoy responded. Dolores froze when she realized who the tall man must be. How could it be? Potter had been correct all along? She wanted to flee, but realized that would get her nowhere.

“Apparently Potter’s little girlfriend understood a word or two of what these serpents said during class. She got scared and brought him down here to talk to them. He spoke to them for a few minutes, but she couldn’t speak Parseltongue and didn’t understand more than a word or two.”

Turning to face the waiting pair, Voldemort looked at Dolores Umbridge for the first time. He ignored her whimper of fear and said to Lucius, “The girl, she is the same girl with the diary?”

“Yes, my lord, Ginny Weasley.” Lucius replied quickly. He did not want to think back to how angry the Dark Lord had been when he discovered how his diary had been used. Lucius had become well acquainted with his master’s Cruciatus.

“Interesting,” Voldemort replied thoughtfully. He looked back at Dolores. “Where did they go?”

“I-I don’t know,” she stammered. “We-we had them surrounded, but when D-Draco used the Cruciatus on the girl, Potter dove in front of it. H-he managed to break away and they r-ran into the forest. W-we couldn’t find them.”

“Crucio!”

The two men watched dispassionately as she writhed under the torture curse. Breaking it off, Voldemort said to her, “If I wanted him expelled, you would have known that by now. I wanted him where I could keep track of him.”

Voldemort locked eyes with Dolores, freezing her in place. With a sound of disgust, he released her a moment later. Waving his wand, he released the serpents.

“Kill her,” He hissed at them.

Lucius stepped away as the trio of serpents slithered to Dolores. The powerful python surged around her legs holding her in place while the two other snakes attacked. Her screams rent the air as she was repeatedly bitten by the two venomous snakes.


Harry woke screaming. The pain in his head was intense. It felt as though his head would explode. Leaning over the side of the bed, Harry vomited, quickly emptying his stomach. Laying back he felt weak and shaky, covered in a cold sweat. He lifted a hand to his scar and quickly pulled it away when he felt a thick sticky coating on his scar. Looking at his hands he realized his scar must be bleeding.

The soft hand on his shoulder made him almost jump out of his skin. “It’s just me, Harry.”

Harry relaxed as he recognized the soft whisper of Ginny’s voice. He felt a cool sensation on his face as she wiped his face with the part of his robe.

“Harry, do you know the vanishing spell?” She asked quietly.

Taking a deep breath, Harry took the proffered wand and muttered, “Evanesco.”

To his relief the spell worked, vanishing the mess he had made on the floor. He opened his eyes and looked at her, to his relief she wasn’t horrified or disgusted with him. She just looked concerned.

“It was Voldemort,” he said quietly. “H-he killed Umbridge.”

Ginny gasped, “You could see it, l-like with my dad?”

Harry nodded wearily. “Yeah, for some reason, I can sometimes see what he’s doing. It’s been happening since last summer…the summer before actually. Once he started getting stronger.”

“Does he know where we are?” she asked nervously. “Can he see what you’re doing?”

Harry leaned back against the mattress, “I don’t think so. If he could see where I was, he could have attacked us at Sirius’s house. Maybe he doesn’t know that I can see things.”

Ginny relaxed against him. “We’ll get out of here in the morning. We’ll find my parents or Sirius.”
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