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The Veil | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP, Holidays Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Death Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 113 Summary: In the fall of 1996 Harry finds a book about the ancient holidays just before Samhain, or what has become Hallowe'en. Tradition says communication with the dead is possible. Harry enlists Ginny to help him find out if its true. Hitcount: Story Total: 59200; Chapter Total: 1940 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: It's mostly fluff, but there are a few important gems in there. Thanks for taking the time to read, everyone. I passed an important milestone yesterday, I turned 50 and in my imagination, Anwen and Sirius raised a glass. Tonight I shall raise one to Anwen, as she turns 55 today. MNF |
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Chapter 10: There is this boy… Ginny spotted Sirius sitting on a small bench in the woods. The thicket around him was dense and she flew down and landed just before she’d crash into a large oak tree. Sirius looked up and gave her a half-smile. “I knew a girl who flew like you,” he said wistfully. “I know,” Ginny replied as she sat down on the bench with him. Sirius quirked an eyebrow at her. “Lily was telling me about all the things she did with her friends. She said you and Anwen were crazy on your brooms.” “We were. I took her on her first flight. She was so tiny when she got to Hogwarts, might have weighed six stone. I’d started talking with Anwen the first night she was here. I convinced her not to go home the next day. Her first flying lesson didn’t go well as the broom accelerated too fast and she didn’t have enough heft to hang on. The school brooms were shite —” “Still are,” Ginny interrupted. “Anyway, I took her up with me, like I used to do with Harry when he was a baby. By the end of that night, she was racing James and buzzed Remus when we landed. We kept her flying skills a secret until her third year when she joined the house team. She was a Chaser and then a Seeker, a bit like Harry but more daring. I always worried for her when she was flying. Did take a Bludger to her leg once, but she used the momentum to corkscrew around the other team’s Seeker and catch the Snitch in her hair of all things.” “Harry caught his first Snitch with his mouth.” “Really? Wait until his dad hears about that one.” The pair were quiet for a few minutes before Ginny spoke. “You’re upset it wasn’t Anwen, aren’t you?” Sirius scrubbed his face and then ran his hands through his greying hair. It didn’t pass Ginny’s notice that Sirius was no longer in the formal clothing he’d worn while living in Grimmauld Place and had died in. Like James, Sirius had changed into jeans and trainers and a Gryffindor sweater. “I’m not upset Eva is safe, but I am frustrated that no one has seen Anwen since she took off for France a few days before our wedding. I just don’t understand how someone disappears from reality,” he said, his voice straining against his emotions. “Mum and Dad haven’t seen or heard anything of her. Anwen’s grandmother, Violet, and Mum’s mum, Wilma, have been looking for her in heaven and there’s nothing there. You know they were sisters, right? “No, Lily didn’t tell me.” “Huh? I wonder if she knows? I think Mum might not have learned about it until she went to limbo, or whatever the hell you call where James and the Potters were. I’ll make sure James tells Petal. She’d want to know. We know Voldemort and his cohorts never intercepted her like they planned. She’s just gone.” “If anyone can find someone, I understand it’s you, Sirius. Lily told me about your super smelling sense. It’s gross,” Ginny said with a wrinkle of her nose. “Anwen hated it, too. She had a secret skill, too; she could always find north.” “Weird.” They were quiet for a few minutes. “I like how you call Lily, Petal.” “That name,” Sirius sighed. “Lily Evans hated me from our third year on. Before that we were civil, even went to Hogsmeade together one weekend — although that was a ploy on Prong’s part to learn more about her. Three weeks into our third year Lily walked into a spell I was casting on Snivellus. The prat had dumped his potion in my hair earlier in the day, and I was getting him back by shrinking his trousers. Instead, I hit Petal’s skirt. Her friends covered her and returned to the tower, but the story spread, and she was mortified. She wouldn’t consider going to Hogsmeade with James unless she was sure I wasn’t going to be around our sixth year. “Things changed in our seventh year. She and James were together, Anwen and Eva were with us all the time, and she’d forgiven me for the stupid spell. Then some of the kids of Voldemort’s followers attacked Lily and Eva. James and Remus had paired up on rounds, as it was the day after a full moon and he needed a little assistance in moving around sometimes. Normally, James and Lily would have been together, along with Eva and Remus. I was in the dorm with Anwen and saw what happened on the map. I mirrored James, but we were the first ones there. I’ve been in prison, seen horrible things done, had wretched things done to me; but the way Lily looked when I got there is what gives me nightmares.” “What did they do to her?” Ginny asked aghast. “They’d ripped patches of hair out of her head and sent cutting hexes at her body. Her shirt was little more than rags when I got there. She was cut and bruised on her face, and her trousers were half torn from her body. I try not to think about what they might have done had we not arrived when we did. She was so afraid to have James see her like that, so I took off my jumper and put in it on her and carried her to the hospital wing. She was shaking so badly, and she was worried Prongs would think her ugly so she wouldn’t let him near her. James took Anwen back to the tower, and I stayed with her that night. At some point, I was talking to her and reminded her that James would always think of her not as a trumpeting Lily but as a delicate petal. The nickname stuck, but I’m the only one who calls her that.” “You’re not the curmudgeon you attempt to portray yourself as, Sirius Black.” “Don’t tell anyone,” he said with a smile. “I can’t have people thinking I’m all soft and cuddly.” “If they’ve seen you duel — which I have — there is no way they’d think you soft.” “Thanks, Red,” he said. “Now, enough about my problems. What was it you wanted to talk with me about?” “There’s this boy, Dean, and I started dating him last year when Harry was all about Cho —” “It was obvious to listen to him talk she was not the right girl for him. Too weepy.” “Yeah, kissing and crying is never good. Anyway, I started going with him last spring; he was sweet, into Quidditch but doesn’t play, kisses well enough. Anyway, back when we started, he didn’t have any money, like me. We talked about how our parents stretched so tuition could get paid and some of the awful stuff our mums would make to eat. Over the summer he wrote to me and told me his mum had a boyfriend and he was really rich. He asked a couple of questions about Harry, but I didn’t think anything of it. They do share a room at school and all. “Alright, what’s the problem. Doesn’t he like the bloke?” “I’m not sure, but…when he came back to school, all he could talk about was Harry. He drilled me on what Harry did at our house and why was he spending so much time with Dumbledore. I thought it was really odd since he could ask Harry himself.” “That is odd. What did you think of it?” “I wasn’t sure, I figured maybe he didn’t have time to talk with Harry — he is quite busy with Quidditch and Dumbledore and avoiding Ron’s girlfriend.” “Yes, she is a handful.” “More like handsy. Watching anyone grope one of my brothers is bad enough, but does it have to be someone who is so utterly dim. She’s given me an appreciation for Fleur.” “Well, Fleur does have her attributes, and I’m not talking about her physical ones. She does want to have a career, and a challenging one too.” “True. So back to Dean; the weirdest thing was when he started talking about this man his mum is now engaged to, Niall. He was very interested in Dean’s friends, and Dean said Niall really wants to meet Harry, the Boy Who Lived.” “A lot of people want to meet Harry for that reason,” Sirius countered. “Yeah, but Dean’s mum is a Muggle, and they live in a Muggle neighbourhood. Dean didn’t even know his dad was a wizard until he received his letter to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall visited him and told him his father was an unidentified wizard, at least according to their records.” “So,” Sirius said, beginning to put together the pieces in his mind, “is this Niall a wizard or a Muggle?” “As far as I know, Dean’s never seen him do magic.” “I see,” the man said as thoughts and fears swirled in him. He was glad Harry was safely here with his family and no longer at Hogwarts. “We can look at the interactions of the fetches later, to see if there were any encounters between Dean and Harry.” Ginny nodded. “Can I ask you something?” “Sure, unless it’s icky personal because as much as I like you, you’d be a creepy old man then.” “It’s not icky personal, and I’m not old.” Ginny cocked her eyebrow at him and smiled. She gestured with her hand that he should continue. “Do you still fancy Harry?” Ginny looked down at her feet and nodded. “Break up with Dean, send him a letter, my bird is here, as is Hedwig, and Remus’ bird, Newton.” “I’ve met your bird, he’s nasty. I don’t know how many times he bit Harry last year.” “When you’re in hiding, having a bird that bites keeps people from stealing your post. If you want gentle, use Newton. That bird is old, but he’s never lost a letter nor been misdirected. Anwen and I picked it out for him for his seventeenth birthday.” “She really was everywhere in all your lives, wasn’t she?” “Anwen and Lily shared this quality that compelled people to be near them. Mum accused Jimmy and me of having it, too, but we were boisterous and made people pay attention to us. Eva was always more guarded, and you’ll notice that when you meet her inside. She’s always afraid she’ll use her voice to an unfair advantage. Oddly, the only one of the Marauders who ever fell victim to her voice was Peter.” “Lack of more fibre,” Ginny said dryly. “Yeah, well, when he comes out of hiding again, he won’t know what came at him,” Sirius said darkly. “I think Harry will be right there with you. I understand Mr. Potter has something planned to restore your name?” “Dad has a brilliant legal mind, and he’s had fifteen years to work on his brief with some of the finest wizarding legal minds there are — at least in the afterlife. He just needs to do it with some finesse. He’s going to circumvent Dumbledore by taking it to his old friend, Kingsley Shaklebolt. He trained James and me as Aurors; he’ll at least listen. He never believed I gave James and Lily up anyway.” “Well, that’ll be good. I suppose we should get back inside. You’ll want to visit with your friend, and I have a letter to write,” Ginny said with hesitation. “End the relationship, it will be better for you. And, once you’re free, Harry might act; I see you he looks at you.” “He sees me as his Quidditch buddy and friend.” “No, he doesn’t. Take my hand and grab the broom, I’ll Apparate us back.” |
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