A Chance Encounter by Gin110881



Summary: They met by chance, both on the run from the Dark Lord's henchmen, and she helped him to do what fate had destined him to do.
** Harry never went to Hogwarts **
Rating: G starstarstarstarstar
Categories: Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2022.01.01
Updated: 2022.01.13


Index

Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Chapter 9: Chapter 9


Chapter 1: Chapter 1

"Harry, take the portkey," Sirius shouted.

Blocking another spell one of the Death Eaters had cast at him, Harry let his eyes briefly flicker over towards his godfather. Just like Harry, Sirius was also busy defending himself against two Death Eaters who had ambushed them at the back gate when they left the property.

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Harry called back.

"We have to get out of here," Sirius called. "Death Eaters will be swarming this place any moment. Take the portkey. I'll come as soon as you're gone."

Harry cast another Stunner and blocked the attack of the other Death Eater. He was sure he could defend himself against his opponents, probably even defeat them. He'd practised enough with Dumbledore to even fight off two or three more. That was when a series of soft pops announced the arrival of at least a dozen more Death Eaters; some of them openly wore Auror robes.

"Harry," yelled Sirius. "Go now!"

Cursing loudly, Harry realized that Sirius was right. They didn't stand a chance against so many Death Eaters. He put up a strong shield around himself, grabbed his necklace and muttered, "Cinderella!"


The moment the portkey was activated, Harry caught his breath. "Sirius! Watch out!" he yelled as a stunner soared towards his godfather while he was distracted with checking that Harry was really leaving. Harry was sucked away before he could see if the Stunner had actually hit Sirius.

With a thud, Harry landed on a wooden floor. He whimpered slightly and grimaced in pain as his elbow bumped against a massive oak closet.

In a bad mood, Harry glanced around to figure out where he'd ended up. He had never had to use the portkey so far and had hardly given it a thought where it would take him. When his eyes got used to the semi-darkness, he groaned. Harry wasn't surprised that the damn portkey had taken him to Grimmauld Place. He was on the way here with Sirius anyway when they were ambushed. Harry didn't know this place well. He had only been here occasionally, but he knew that the house was protected by a Fidelius Charm and that it served the Order of the Phoenix as headquarter. However, judging by the silence, there was no one here.

Harry wondered if the Order had moved their headquarter after Dumbledore's death. He could have used the Order's support now to help Sirius.

He briefly considered returning alone to help Sirius but dismissed the idea. Alone he would hardly stand a chance against so many Death Eaters. Sirius would be really angry with him.

Sirius, Harry thought. He was sure he had seen the red light of a Stunner and not the green light of a killing curse. Did that mean they wanted to capture him, not kill him? Maybe Sirius had been able to put up a shield in time, Harry tried to calm himself. But he didn't really believe it. Surely, Sirius would have been here by now.

"Lumos," Harry muttered, holding up his wand. Apparently, the portkey had brought him to the library. It was pretty dark as the heavy curtains barely let any light into the room. He let his gaze wander over the shelves and paused when he saw the desk with a lamp on it. He lit the lamp and went over to the sofa to discard his robe on there. After checking that his Invisibility cloak was still there, he began to pace the room, hoping Sirius would show up soon.

What was he supposed to do if Sirius didn't show up?

He didn't have that many options, did he? Last summer, at his 17th birthday, the Ministry had fallen under the control of Voldemort's supporters. Nowadays, known Death Eater openly wore Auror robes; the assault on him and Sirius had proven it. It was certainly not a good idea to show himself in public.

He could go back to Cornwall, where he lived with Sirius. But there, he had just been ambushed by Death Eaters. They may have already taken down the wards around the house. If they hadn't already done so, the house would surely be watched.

Hogwarts wasn't an option either. Since Dumbledore was killed a few weeks ago, the castle had been under the control of the Death Eaters. Snape, the Potions Professor and former Death Eater had obviously changed sides again and had killed Dumbledore after some wanna-be Death Eater students had smuggled a horde of Voldemort's followers into the castle. Dumbledore had always been so sure that Snape was on their side as a spy for the Order.
As frustrating as it was, Harry had to accept that he had to stay here at Grimmauld Place for the time being. At least Sirius would find him here - or someone from the Order.

Harry tried to remember where Sirius' room was. Taking his wand, he mumbled a "Lumos" and climbed the stairs up to the upper floor. When he reached the end of the corridor, he opened the door and peered inside. The Gryffindor colours were a sure sign that it was Sirius' room. Harry stepped in and switched on the lamp he found on the desk.

The room still looked the same as the last time he'd been here with Sirius, about two years ago. Back then, he and Sirius had searched the house for dark objects before the Order used the house. And there was this family, Harry remembered. They had found shelter here last year until they had protected their own home well enough.

Sirius' bed was covered with a strangely coloured blanket. On the wall, Harry spotted yellowed posters of motorbikes and bikini girls from the seventies. On the desk lay a pile of magazines; probably the source of most of the posters on the wall.

With a flick of his wand, Harry dusted the room. He opened the closet and was relieved to find fresh sheets there. Well, maybe not fresh but unused. With another quick movement of his wand, Harry changed the bedclothes and banished the odd-looking blanket. Since Sirius didn't want a house-elf in their house in Cornwall, Harry always had to fix his room up himself. That was pretty handy right now.

House elf, Harry thought.

There was a house-elf here at Grimmauld Place, he remembered. He would take care of him later, he decided. But by then, Sirius might be back. Sirius had wanted to give him the things Dumbledore had left for Harry.

Harry stopped short.

A few days ago, after the last order meeting here at Grimmauld Place, Sirius had told Harry that Mad-eye Moody had given him a chest with the things Dumbledore had left for Harry. At first, Harry had been surprised. Why would Dumbledore leave something to him?

Harry looked around the room but couldn't see anything that looked at all like a chest. Where would be the best place to hide it?

He bent down and peered into the bedside table, which only contained all sorts of boxes and several decks of cards. In the desk drawers, Harry found piles of parchments with all kinds of scrawls on them.

Harry raised his eyebrows when his eyes fell on the open closet door. On the bottom of the closet, he spotted a large box hidden under a pile of those magazines with bikini girls in it. As Harry put the magazines aside, his eyes widened when he noticed that the bikini girls weren't wearing any bikinis at all. A bit distracted by the unexpected sight, he lifted the lid of the box and mumbled, "Ah. What do we have here?" when he discovered a wooden chest inside the box.

Harry carried the chest over to the desk to have a closer look at it. He remembered that Sirius said he didn't know what was in the chest because he couldn't open it. Probably, Dumbledore had arranged that only he, Harry, could open the chest.

Harry hesitated. Maybe it was better to wait for Sirius. A brief glance at his watch showed that two hours had already passed, and he still hadn't heard from Sirius. He immediately regretted leaving Sirius alone, surrounded by Death Eaters. At least he should have Apparated back immediately. He could only hope Sirius wasn't dead. Harry couldn't believe that his only hope was that Sirius had been hit by a Stunner.

Frustrated, Harry kicked the desk and grimaced as a stab of pain ran through his big toe.

Damned. Of course, Sirius was right.

According to the prophecy, he was the only one who could defeat Voldemort - had to defeat Voldemort - Harry corrected himself.

It wouldn't help to face a superior group of Death Eaters alone before he had the chance to fight Voldemort in person. This didn't mean that Harry thought he was already good enough to hold up against Voldemort - even if he wasn't that bad either. He hadn't won a duel against Dumbledore for nothing. That happened only a few days before Dumbledore was murdered, Harry recalled. Somehow he had always hoped that Sirius, and especially Dumbledore, would help him with his task.

His gaze fell back to the chest that was still sitting on the desk. Sighing, he took his wand and tapped the lid twice while mumbling "Alohomora". When he put his hand on the lid, a handle suddenly appeared, and Harry opened the chest. He peered in and noticed that it was much larger inside.

Harry reached into the chest and took out a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He eyed the book curiously; it was evidently a pretty old edition, written entirely in runes. Shrugging, Harry put the book aside. During his training, he had only learned the basics of runes. He doubted he could read the book.

Next, he held a golden Snitch in his hand with the strange writing "I open at the close" on it. Not knowing what to do with it, he put it aside, too.

Surprised, he took out the Salazars Slytherins locket and the Gaunt ring, followed by all the other Horcruxes, which were already destroyed by now. It was just a couple of months ago that they had found Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem. It had taken ages to search Hogwarts for it until they had found out where the room of requirements was located and how to open it, thanks to Dumbledore need to find a loo in the middle of the night.

Now Nagini was the last Horcrux Harry somehow had to kill before he could face Voldemort.

With a soft whistle, Harry pulled the Gryffindor's sword out of the chest. The sword could be pretty useful in fighting Nagini.

The last things Harry took from the bottom of the chest was a wand that had obviously belonged to Dumbledore - and a letter.


Harry

On this way, I leave you the following items because they will be either useful for you, or I don't want them to get into the wrong hands. The latter items include the destroyed Horcruxes, which you should keep safe so that no one finds out that Tom Riddle created Horcruxes.

The Golden Snitch belonged to your father; he played around with it many times, as Sirius can tell you. Always keep the snitch with you, as its help can be essential to you in the greatest need.

I will also leave you a phial with a memory. Make sure that you watch the memory before you face Voldemort.

Last but not least, I'll leave you my wand, which you won in our last duel when you defeated me.

With that, you should have everything you need to hold your own against Voldemort.

Yours
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore


Harry put the letter aside and looked doubtfully at the things on the table - the things that should help him win against Voldemort.

But where was the phial? Harry searched the chest again and actually found a small glass phial with a whitish liquid at the bottom. He would have to ask Sirius if there was a Pensieve in the house.

Harry had just put Dumbledore's things back in the chest when he heard a scream from downstairs. This could only be the portrait down in the entrance hall, he remembered.

Had Sirius finally managed to escape the Death Eaters? It couldn't be. Sirius would know how to enter the house without alerting his mother.

It could be someone from the Order. Or Death Eaters. After all, Snape knew how to get into the house.

Harry took his wand and headed to the stairwell. The screaming stopped as suddenly as it had started. Apparently, someone had silenced Sirius' mother.

In the darkness, Harry crept slowly down the stairs and grimaced when one of the stairs creaked loudly.

When he was only a few steps away from the lower floor, he paused and listened into the darkness. A flowery scent that hadn't been in the house before was in the air. Harry inhaled to find out what exactly it could be when someone called "Expelliarmus", and a spell darted out of the darkness towards him.

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Chapter 2: Chapter 2


Carefully watching the map in her hands, Ginny Weasley was hiding under the stairs leading up to the Owlery. The chance that someone would find her here was slim because sending letters using the owls had been forbidden for several weeks. But Ginny didn't want to take any chances. It was far too dangerous for her to be discovered.

For the past couple of months, she and a few of her friends had led the secret resistance group, trying to protect the students from the Death Eater professors. It had been earlier in the afternoon when she'd freed some Muggleborn first years from a classroom where the seventh years were supposed to practise unforgivable curses on them. As luck would have it, the Carrows had shown up and caught her red-handed. Ginny had barely managed to escape their trap, but the damage was done. The Carrows had seen her. Ginny's friends had insisted that she was no longer safe at Hogwarts and that she had to flee. As much as she wanted to stay to help her friends, in the end, she had given in, accepting that her friends were right.

Luckily, her brothers Fred and George had given her a magical map when they left school last year. If you knew how to use the map, it showed the entire castle and how all of its residents moved around it. She admired this piece of magic every time she had to use the map to avoid being discovered, and that had been happening far too often lately.

Ginny was the only one of her siblings who had to go back to school after her brother Ron had decided to join the Order of the Phoenix when he came of age and didn't return to school. Hogwarts was the safest place for her, her parents had insisted. Even if the Ministry was run by Death Eaters, Dumbledore would see to it that the students were safe. After all, you could always rely on Dumbledore.

What they not had foreseen was that shortly after school had started, a group of Death Eaters would invade Hogwarts. In the process, Dumbledore was killed by one of his own professors, and the Death Eaters now controlled Hogwarts.

Ginny sighed. It was getting dark outside, and according to her map, the coast was clear. She left her hiding place and slipped through the door of the Owlery. Silently she sneaked to the stairwell that led down to the back door of the castle. Ginny briefly glanced at her map again. The students were all in the Great Hall for dinner or on their way to get there. The stairwell was deserted. She hurried quietly down the stairs, always listening for any suspicious noises. When she opened the back door, a cold wind hit her, forcing her to tighten her winter robe before she hurried down the path to the Quidditch pitch.

Upon her arrival, she rattled the door to the broom shack. As she'd expected, it was locked. Ginny pulled out her wand and mumbled, "Alohomora." She took a deep breath, relieved when the door opened, and no further security spells were active. As a Quidditch captain, she had access to the broom shack, but apparently, the Death Eaters had forgotten to revoke that permission when they banned Quidditch for the school year.

She lit the tip of her wand and went purposefully to the corner of the room where the Nimbus 2000 brooms stood. She grabbed one of the newer brooms and hurried out of the hut, taking care that the door was properly shut behind her.

Ginny threw one last glance up at the castle to make sure she wasn't being followed. When she couldn't see anything suspicious, she mounted the broom and took off. The heavy wind made it difficult to hold the broom on course in the darkness. Ginny had to look back at the castle lights several times to ensure she wasn't drifting off. As she finally passed the gate of the Hogwarts grounds, a relieved smile crossed her face when she spotted the lights of Hogsmeade in the distance.

When she reached the town, the darkness benefited her. Glad the moon hadn't risen yet, she held her broom low over the rooftops. As she approached her destination, Ginny landed in a side street next to the Hogs Head. With a tap of her wand, she shrank the broom and let it disappear in the pocket of her robe, where a shrunken trunk with her belongings was already safely tucked away. She would have to thank the twins for teaching her this charm last summer.

Ginny was about to step on the sidewalk of the main street when suddenly loud jeering echoed through the street. Instantly, she hurried back into the shadows of the side street. Peering cautiously around the corner, she caught her breath.

Shouting loudly, a crowd of men was marching down the street. While a few of them wore Auror robes, most of them wore the same creepy black cloaks some of the professors at Hogwarts wore. Damn, she'd almost run straight into a group of Death Eaters.

Apparently, the crowd was on their way to the Three Broomsticks as Ginny thought she'd heard the word Firewhisky multiple times. Otherwise, she couldn't understand much because they were all shouting at the same time - except that they obviously wanted to celebrate the capture of a man named Black. Jeering, they pointed at posters that were plastering the walls. When the crowd finally disappeared into the Three Broomsticks, Ginny sighed relieved as it became quiet again on the streets of Hogsmeade.

Nevertheless, she waited a bit to make sure the street was really deserted before she stepped back in the open. Out of curiosity, she glanced briefly at one of the wanted posters on the house walls but she was too pent-up to actually read it.

Wasting no time, she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and opened the door to the Hogs Head. As usual, no guests were present at this early hour. The wizards and witches who visited this place would not show up until later.

Ginny nodded a greeting to Aberforth, muttering an "I've never been here" when the elder man raised his eyebrows. Shrugging, the man turned to go back to the kitchen without giving Ginny another glance.

Ginny pulled the hood of her robe over her head to hide her striking red hair. She took a pinch of floo powder from the glass on the mantle of the fireplace and flooed straight to the Leaky Cauldron in London.

Without looking up, Ginny crossed the pub and disappeared through the door into the Muggle world. While it was still twilight in Scotland, it was already dark further south. Ginny walked down the street, illuminated by streetlights, anxious to get some distance between herself and the wizarding world.

When Ginny had prepared for her somewhat hasty escape from Hogwarts, she had pondered her options. Going home to the Burrow was not an option as her entire family had gone into hiding after Dumbledore's death. Ginny knew they had gone to see her Aunt Muriel, but she had no idea where Aunt Muriel lived. Obviously, they had put the house under the Fidelius Charm after moving there. The only hiding place Ginny knew was this strange house here in London where the Weasleys temporarily lived last year.

When a group of teenagers walked towards her on the sidewalk, Ginny switched to the other side of the street, just to be safe. You never knew. She definitely wanted to avoid trouble. When she felt she was far enough from the Leaky Cauldron, she stopped at a corner and pulled a map out of her robe. It wasn't the map the twins had given her, but a city map of London Hannah Abbott had given her. Hannah was one of her close friends at Hogwarts, along with Neville and Luna.

The Leaky Cauldron was marked with a red circle, making it easy to find on the map. Ginny glanced at the street names on the corner house and looked for them on the map. When she finally spotted them, she was relieved that Grimmauld Place was only a few blocks away.

She followed the route on the map for two blocks until the street got a bit busier, with bars and restaurants on both sides. Hesitantly, she glanced about. With her Hogwarts robe, she'd probably stand out a bit much in the Muggle world. She couldn't imagine Death Eaters going out here, but who knew?

After studying the map briefly, Ginny decided to use the far less crowded side streets to get to her destination. It wouldn't be such a big detour.

When she finally reached her destination, she glanced briefly in all directions to be sure that no Muggle would see her step on the doorstep of number 12, Grimmauld Place, to seemingly disappear.

Ginny opened the door a crack and slipped inside. It was absolutely dark inside the house. Ginny took a step forward and cursed as she tripped up a step. She cursed even louder when suddenly a woman's voice yelled loudly, "Thieves! Burglars!"

"Damn it," Ginny muttered. "I totally forgot that old cow." She grabbed her wand and mumbled, "Lumos."

With a few steps, she hurried up the stairs to draw the curtains over the portrait. Just to be sure, she placed a Silencing Charm on it and took a deep breath when the house was quiet again.

If anyone lived here, they now knew they had a visitor.

With her wand raised, Ginny walked up the rest of the stairs until she reached the kitchen. The kitchen was the most homely room in the whole house, as far as Ginny could remember.

Just as she stepped into the kitchen, Ginny heard one of the stairs in the stairwell creak. "Nox," Ginny mumbled softly. Judging by the noise, someone must be upstairs.

Without moving, Ginny stood in the kitchen doorway, staring into the darkness of the stairwell, wondering who was sneaking around in the house. As far as she knew, nobody lived here. The owner, Sirius Black, lived in another Black family estate. She had seen him a couple of times during her time at Grimmauld Place. And who ever lived here regularly would have called and asked who had arrived.

Ginny was just about to ask this question loudly when she heard someone breathe somewhere in front of her.

"Expelliarmus," she called. Her spell met a shimmering shield spell that appeared instantly.

"Who are you?" a male voice asked out of the darkness.

Ginny hesitated for a moment. Should she really reveal her name without knowing who she was facing?

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

"What am I doing here? I live here," answered the voice, obviously slightly amused.

"Do you belong to the Order?" Ginny asked, hoping she'd found someone who knew where her parents were.

"Which Order?" asked the voice.

"Don't think I'm stupid. If you live here, you have to know which Order I mean."

"Do you belong to the Order?" asked the voice.

"No, I don't. But my parents do."

"Okay. Let's put our wands away. I'll turn the light on, and then we'll step forward with our hands open," suggested the voice.

Again, Ginny hesitated for a moment, not sure if it was a good idea to face a foreign man without a wand. On the other hand - she knew where to kick him to make it hurt.

"Okay," Ginny finally said, putting her wand in the pocket of her robe where she could quickly grab it again if needed.

Holding her breath, she waited for the light to turn on.

Her jaw dropped, and she gasped for air as the light went on, and she looked into the emerald green eyes of a young man who was eying her intently through his black glasses. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had just seen the face somewhere.

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Chapter 3: Chapter 3


With a flick of his wand, Harry turned on the light and took a step forward.

"Oh!" he muttered as the unexpected visitor stepped out of the kitchen.

Amazed, he gazed at the girl in front of him.

She was half a head shorter than him, but certainly not much younger, maybe sixteen and wore a Hogwarts robe with a Gryffindor emblem on the chest. Strands of her fiery red hair were poking out from under the hood. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixed on Harry and seemed to be studying him closely. Overall, she made a rather determined impression on Harry.

"Okay," said Harry, gawking at the mysterious girl in front of him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley. And who are you?" replied the girl and hesitated briefly before she said. "I've seen you somewhere before."

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter," said Harry.

The girl's eyes widened. "Ah, of course. Harry Potter." She looked him up and down for a moment and nodded. "I've seen you on those wanted posters."

"Which wanted posters?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"In Hogsmeade, there are wanted posters with your face on it all over the town. Did you know they are calling you The Undesired Number One?" The girl snorted. "If I were you, I would complain about that nickname. I liked your previous nicknames better. Besides, the portrait isn't really well done ... but the glasses, the black hair and ..." the girl's gaze wandered to his forehead. "... well, your scar is not as prominent as on the poster... but yeah, it's you."

"Damn it," Harry muttered. Was that the reason they had been attacked today?

"I was hoping I could hide here for a few days," said the girl - Ginny was it, Harry remembered. And the name Weasley suddenly sounded familiar too. That was the family who had lived here last year.

The girl gave him a shy smile. "I'm not as famous as you are, and as far as I know, there's no wanted poster with my face on it, but I would nevertheless appreciate it if the Death Eaters couldn't find me."

"Where do you come from so late?" asked Harry.

"Hogwarts," Ginny replied. "I had to leave there in a rush because ... let's say the Death Eater professors there don't really like me." She looked about. "Is there anyone from the Order here? I was hoping someone could tell me where I can find my parents."

"Oh no. I ..." Harry sighed. "I just got here, too. I was hoping my godfather would come here. But ... but it looks like he won't come after all."

"What happened?" asked Ginny.

"We've been attacked by Death Eaters. Sirius wanted me to take my security portkey to get out of there, and he wanted to follow me, but ... I don't know what happened to him."

"Sirius Black is your godfather?" asked Ginny.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"

"Not really. I saw him a couple of times when we lived here." Ginny eyed Harry. "I think I know what happened to him."

"How?" asked Harry, giving Ginny a sceptical look.

"In Hogsmeade, I almost ran into a bunch of Death Eaters who apparently wanted to celebrate the capture of someone named Black in the Three Broomsticks," Ginny explained.

"Damn it," Harry cursed.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said softly.

The image of Sirius being hit by a Stunner played out in Harry's head again. "I shouldn't have left him alone," said Harry, upset with himself.

"Don't blame yourself," Ginny said with a worried expression. "You couldn't help him. There were too many."

Unsure if this was good news or bad news, Harry absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. "At least he's still alive," he muttered finally.

"I've never seen you when Sirius Black was here." That was obviously more of a question than a statement.

"We don't live here, and I've only been a couple of times in this house. You probably know your way around here much better than I do," Harry replied, shrugging.

"Okay," said Ginny. "Then I'll make us some tea first. Do you, at any rate, know if there's anything edible here? I'm starving."

"I really don't know," Harry replied in an apologetic tone. "As I said, I just got here, too."

"Let's see if I can find something," said Ginny and headed back into the kitchen.

Still feeling bad for leaving Sirius behind, Harry wanted nothing more than withdraw to his room to be alone. On the other hand, he also didn't want to be impolite and leave the girl alone in this house. Not really knowing what to do, Harry eventually followed her into the kitchen. When he was standing there, feeling as he was standing in the way, he looked about and sat down at the table to watch Ginny's hustle and bustle.

She had taken off her robe. The pair of jeans and the green wool sweater she was wearing underneath went very well with her fiery red hair, Harry noticed. With her two pigtails and the tiny freckles spread over her face, she made a pretty mischievous impression on Harry. Her sparkling chocolate brown eyes added to this impression.

Harry watched as she'd put on the kettle and glanced up at the cupboard. Mumbling something incomprehensible, she pushed a chair over to the cabinet and started examining the upper shelves. Harry couldn't help but grin as he watched Ginny standing on the chair on tiptoes, reaching up to search the closet.

"There's only a can of biscuits in here. Better than nothing." Ginny leapt off the chair. Glancing over at Harry, she raised an eyebrow. "Quit grinning. You could really help me."

"How?" asked Harry.

"Plates? Mugs? You know, the things you need to have tea."

"Ah, okay," Harry replied, somehow finding the situation quite amusing. Taking his wand, he called, "Accio plates! Accio mugs!" Satisfied, he leaned back and watched as the plates and mugs hovered around Ginny's head and descended on the table in front of him.

"There's no need to brag," Ginny grumbled but couldn't hide a smile.

"I just did what you asked me for," Harry replied with an amused grin.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Do you want some biscuits? We don't have anything else."

"Biscuits are fine," Harry replied. "And I can definitely help you. I know my way around the kitchen."

Ginny gave him an incredulous look. "That's new. Believe me, I have six older brothers, and they never said anything like that when I was in the kitchen. Well ..." she said, putting a box with various tea bags on the table. "Except maybe Bill. He always helped me."

"I've always lived alone with Sirius. When I was old enough, we used to share the chores." Picking a bag of rooibos tea to put it in his mug, Harry snorted. "Sirius was never really the neat type, but he always said he wanted me to become a better person than him."

"Looks like you're a good catch then," Ginny wiggled her eyebrows and poured hot water into her mugs.

"I never thought it was anything special," Harry replied. "Maybe that's why Sirius never hired a house-elf. He wanted me to learn all of this stuff by myself."

Harry glanced at his watch, wondering how Sirius was doing.

"There was a house-elf when we lived here. Mum didn't like him, but that was genuine," said Ginny, chuckling. "Do you know if he's still around?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "The last time I saw him was two years ago. He's not the friendliest guy. I don't miss him."

Ginny took another biscuit. While chewing, she glanced over at Harry. Clearly, she was thinking about something.

"I don't want to be nosy," she finally started. "But can I ask you a question?"

"You're doing that right now." Harry grinned.

"Brat," Ginny growled, rolling her eyes. "It's just ... back then - six, seven years ago - we were so sure you would show up at Hogwarts. But you never did. What were you doing all this time? And why did you never come to Hogwarts?"

"Oh. Now you've asked two questions. Which one should I answer?" Harry asked smugly.

Ginny frowned, giving Harry a sharp look. "You're lucky you're not one of my brothers."

Harry was just wondering if he'd gone a step too far and was about to apologize when Ginny started laughing. "It's good to know the evil eye is still working."

Relieved, Harry joined the laugh. "The answer is quite simple," he said. "I was raised by my godfather. You said you knew him, Sirius Black. And I was supposed to be going to Hogwarts, but after the whole Quirrell thing, Sirius thought it wasn't safe for me."

"Quirrell?" Ginny asked thoughtfully. "I may have heard of him. He was a professor who died back then, didn't he?"

"That's the short version of the story," said Harry.

"And the longer one?" Ginny shot him a questioning look.

"It was Voldemort's first attempt to come back. Quirrell tried to kill me," Harry said thoughtfully, deliberately leaving out some details.

When he noticed Ginny's wary gaze, Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Ginny said, giving him a smile.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you," said Harry. "But..."

Ginny nodded understandingly. "It's okay. I get it."

"Back then, Sirius decided that I should get home schooled." Harry continued to avoid the uncomfortable subject of Voldemort.

"Did you at least have friends? Or a girlfriend?" Ginny asked, obviously also happy to change the subject.

"Nope. Not that many. It was mostly Sirius' friends and the people who taught me."

"Oh, really. There's never been a girlfriend," Ginny asked with a doubtful look.

"Nope." Harry shook his head. "Well. Maybe. Yes. But she was much older than me, and she's not really a girlfriend. We're just good friends. She practised duelling with me and other Auror stuff. She's an Auror ... and Sirius' cousin, Tonks."

"Tonks?" Ginny looked at him in surprise. "You know Tonks? I met her here in the house several times last year. We used to talk when she came over for the Order meetings. She was nice." Ginny grinned. "She had her eye set on Professor Lupin, but sadly, she was out of luck."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Harry. "Recently, I've got the impression he gave in."

"You know Professor Lupin?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"He's one of my teachers," Harry replied. "But he's not been at Hogwarts in a while."

"Yes. I know," said Ginny thoughtfully. "Isn't it odd that we have so many mutual acquaintances?"

"Yes, it is," Harry said, watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye as he ran a hand through his hair. She was really nice and easy to talk to. Almost like Sirius, Harry thought and chuckled.

Ginny shot him a look. "Do you want to share your joke?"

"No. It wasn't a joke. It was ... ah, forget it," Harry shook his head and unconsciously ran his hand through his hair again. Giving Ginny a mischievous glance, Harry asked, "How about you and a boyfriend?"

"Ah, now you're shamelessly taking your chance, Potter," Ginny grinned. "No. Except for a couple of Hogsmeade dates..." she bit her lower lip and shrugged. "The blokes aren't happy with me playing Quidditch. And obviously, the bloke I'd give up Quidditch for isn't born yet."

"That's great. Do you really like flying?" Harry asked, fascinated.

"Do you like playing Quidditch?" Ginny asked at the same time.

"I'd like to," Harry replied. "We have a Quidditch pitch behind our house. But I can't play alone. I fly a lot, and I practise playing Seeker. It's the only position you can play on your own. But I've never played in a real game."

"You should try someday," Ginny said.

"That would be nice," Harry replied.

"I think I better call it a day," Ginny said, peering at Harry's watch.

She took the box with the remaining biscuits back to the cupboard while Harry put the dishes in the sink.

"We don't have anything to eat tomorrow," Ginny said. "Except for the remaining biscuits."

"Hmm," said Harry, glancing over at Ginny. "Can you Apparate?"

"Depends on what you mean," said Ginny. "I know how to do it, but I'm not allowed to do it yet."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I was wondering that you'd cast a spell outside of school earlier ..."

"I'm not allowed to do that either," Ginny said, her face innocent. "But it doesn't matter in this house. The Ministry of Magic won't notice with so much dark magic lurking in this house."

Harry stared at her bewildered. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. We tried it last year." Ginny giggled. "We only had to make sure our mother didn't find out. Also, the house is under the Fidelius Charm; the ministry wouldn't even know where to send me a warning."

"I could Apparate to our house and get us some food," Harry suggested. "I could bring some clothes too. I don't have anything here. I didn't really want to go back there because I'm pretty sure the Death Eaters are watching the place, but I have an idea how to get in and out quickly without attracting attention. "

"Can I help?" offered Ginny.

"You're not allowed to Apparate," Harry said.

"You can side-along Apparate me," replied Ginny.

"What if we run into Death Eaters?" said Harry worried.

"Then two wands are better than one." Ginny met his eyes. "Believe me, if I have the choice between getting a warning for the use of underage magic or being captured by Death Eaters, I know which choice is the better one for me."

"Maybe that's why you'd better avoid the Death Eaters?" Harry suggested.

"It's okay if you don't want to take me with you," said Ginny, sounding slightly disappointed.

Harry watched her stare at a bitten biscuit she was playing absently with before he sighed, half suppressing a yawn. "I'm not sure. Let's talk about it again tomorrow morning. "

Ginny didn't seem happy with the answer but nodded, barely stifling a yawn.

"Where do you want to sleep?" asked Harry.

"I used to sleep in the room right next to the toilet, on the first floor. I was hoping I could sleep there again," Ginny replied.

"Let's have a look," answered Harry.

When they turned on the light in Ginny's former bedroom, Ginny groaned. "That looks terrible."

Apparently, someone had stored bags of rubbish in this room. Not only did it look gross, it smelled awful too.

Ginny looked up at him. "Does your room have a second bed? To be honest, it's pretty creepy to sleep alone in this house. The last time at least my family slept next door."

"No, there's just Sirius' bed. I thought I'd sleep in his room until he returns."

"If you don't mind, we could share a bed," Ginny said, giving him a pleading look.

At Harry's surprised expression, she added, "I have six brothers. We often had to share a bed when we had a family feast, and the guests needed a bed because they were too drunk to travel home in the middle of the night. I promise I won't bite. And I bet it's worse to sleep here alone than in the same bed with you."

Back to index


Chapter 4: Chapter 4


A quiet snore and the squeak of the mattress woke Ginny from her sleep. Wondering where those noises came from, she yawned and turned to find out where she was. Luckily, the crack in the curtain was large enough to let some rays of light into the room what helped to bring back the memories of the day before. As her gaze wandered around the room, she had to grin at the strange posters with motorbikes and girls in skimpy bathing suits. She'd probably been too tired to notice them the night before. It was almost like in her brothers' rooms. Except that instead of brooms, there were motorbikes on their posters.

'Oops', she thought when her gaze fell on a mop of black hair next to her, and she remembered that she hadn't been alone last night when she went to bed. And next to her was none other than Harry Potter; the Harry Potter, whom she always wanted to know as a child but had meanwhile given up the hope of ever meeting him. If that wasn't the irony of fate.

When she was little, she'd admired Harry, and her parents had used to read her from the Harry Potter book her brother Bill had given her for her birthday. But later, when Harry never showed up at Hogwarts, she'd slowly forgotten about him over the years. And now ... she couldn't hide a broad grin. Sometimes life went strange ways.

"Good morning," she said, smiling. "Slept well?"

"Better than I thought," Harry replied, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. He pushed them up on his nose and looked at her, giving her a crooked smile. "Considering that it's been the first time I'd shared my bed with someone, I slept amazingly well. How about you?"

"Better than expected," Ginny replied and sat up. Noticing the pressure on her bladder, she gave Harry a brief glance and mumbled, "But I better take care of some urgent business."

"Okay," Harry replied. "Then I'll use the time to make us tea. Or do you prefer coffee?"

"Ah, yes. Coffee would be good. But only in the morning to wake up," Ginny said as she crawled out of bed. "I'll see you in the kitchen then."
She picked up the bag with the shower kit she'd brought from Hogwarts and hurried to the door.

"How long do you need?" she heard Harry calling after her.

Ginny stopped and looked back at Harry. "If I don't wash my hair ... let's say twenty minutes. Is that okay?"

"Great." grinned Harry. "Then I don't need to rush to make coffee."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at Harry and turned to head to the bathroom.

** Harry & Ginny **


"What's your plan for the morning?" Ginny asked as she walked into the kitchen, sniffing in the air. "Oh, that smells heavenly. Where did you find the coffee?" she exclaimed.

"There was a full can of coffee in the sideboard, even with a preservation charm on it. The coffee isn't that bad," Harry said, taking a sip from his cup. "But it's just finished. Be careful. It's hot."

"Thanks," Ginny said, pouring herself a cup. "When do you want to go back to your house to get something to eat?"

"Best as soon as possible," Harry replied. Pointing to something silvery shimmering next to him, he explained, "I'll put on my Invisibility Cloak and Apparate to a place near our property. If nothing suspicious is going on there, I go into the house, get everything we need and come back immediately."

"What if someone takes you by surprise there?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Then I'll use the security portkey that brought me here in the first place," Harry replied with a shrug.

"I take it this portkey is reusable," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow, worried that he would end up in a trap.

"Ah, yes. I think so," Harry replied, running his hand through his hair, his voice a bit uncertain.

"You should try it out first, just to be sure," Ginny suggested.

"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea," Harry nodded. Reaching into the neckline of his shirt, he pulled out the necklace. "Okay," he muttered, looking over at Ginny. "You know, I hate travelling per portkey."

Ginny nodded encouragingly at him. "Just do it."

"Well, then", said Harry and called, "Cinderella!" The necklace glowed bluish for a moment, and Harry was gone.

Amazed, Ginny looked around, wondering where Harry had gone. She giggled when she heard him swear as he came back into the kitchen.

"Portkey journeys are terrible, especially if you only move a few feet," Harry scolded. "Fortunately, the portkey took me to the library and not to the bathroom." At Ginny's puzzled look, he said, "I wouldn't put it past Sirius to send me to the loo if he thinks it's funny."

"Anyway, it's good to know the portkey is still working," said Ginny, grinning. "I think I better come with you."

"I think that's a bad idea," said Harry.

"I watch out that nobody can ambush you as long as you collect the things in the house," Ginny said, looking Harry in the eye in the hope she could convince him. "I won't stand in the way either. I'd just watch your back."

"The problem is that the house is under the Fidelius Charm," said Harry.

"Oh," said Ginny. "Then I'll have to stay here alone." She really didn't want to be left alone in this unfriendly house. Glancing looked over at Harry, she saw his brooding look. Something told her he hadn't said everything. She had the feeling ... "And you are the secret keeper," blurted Ginny out.

Harry's eyes widened. "How ... how did you know?"

"Your look gave it away," said Ginny with a grin. "But it's okay. As the secret keeper, you shouldn't tell strangers where you live."

"No, it's not about the secret. I'm just worried something might happen to you. I couldn't live with it if someone got hurt or even died because I was reckless. I've been training for years to defend myself against the Death Eaters. But what about you?"

Ginny looked closely at Harry. Obviously, he was genuinely concerned about her safety. But she would blame herself if something happened to him, and she hadn't helped.

"I know how to defend myself," she said finally. "I'm sure I'm not as good as you are, but at Hogwarts, we also trained to defend ourselves, especially after Tom came back."

"Tom?" Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Most people call him You-Know-Who, but to me, he's Tom. You know who I'm talking about?"

"Yes, of course," Harry said, giving her an odd look. "You know him?"

Ginny took a few deep breaths. That was a subject she usually tried to avoid. "I met him," she said when she noticed Harry's piercing gaze. "It was not nice."

"Okay," said Harry and nodded.

Ginny glanced at him. He looked very concerned.

"Okay," Harry repeated, running his hands through his hair. "Sirius Black and Harry Potter live in the Old Toll House in St Ives, in Cornwall."

Ginny looked at Harry with wide eyes. Did he just… "That was not necessary..."

"It's okay," Harry replied. "Do you think you can be ready in 30 minutes?"

** Harry & Ginny **


When they landed, Ginny stumbled slightly against Harry's shoulder and had to hold on to him to avoid falling.

"I'm sorry," she muttered and took a step back. Holding her wand at ready, she looked around. They had landed on a meadow near a small playground. Not far away, Ginny saw a street with isolated houses. It was a bit windy, but otherwise quite pleasant weather.

"You're welcome," Harry replied. "Hardly anyone plays here anymore as the children are all grown up and live elsewhere. It's not far from our property. We were attacked at the back exit, so we better try the front door. They might not be expecting us there."

Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his shoulder bag and put it on. Before completely disappearing under it, he motioned for Ginny to stand in front of him.

As the cloak closed around her, Ginny noticed that underneath it was a lot brighter than she'd thought. Her eyes widened as Harry pressed his body pressed against her back and put his hand on her hip.

"It's a little tight here for the two of us, but it'll work," Harry whispered in her ear.

Ginny shivered slightly as his warm breath brushed her neck. Focus, Weasley, she thought. After all, it was you who wanted to come along so badly.

"Let's go," Harry whispered. "Let's start with the left foot."

It took them a few steps to find their rhythm, but after that, they made surprisingly good progress. When they reached the sidewalk, Harry whispered, "The third house on the right."

Fortunately, Ginny already knew where Harry lived, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to see the house. They reached the garden gate unmolested and entered the property.

Ginny looked at the cottage in amazement. It was larger than she'd imagined since Harry had told her he lived alone with his godfather.

"The Quidditch pitch is behind the house," Harry explained, pulling off the cloak. "We better hurry up."

"Okay. How can I help you?" asked Ginny.

"Come along. You can watch out that nobody approaches the house while I'm packing. I don't think they've broken the Fidelius Charm, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Alright," Ginny nodded in agreement and followed Harry into the house.

"From the kitchen, you have a good view of the front gate. See if you can find something edible like eggs, bacon and toast we can take with us. This door leads into the living room. From there, you can see the Quidditch pitch, and behind it, there's the back entrance. That's where we were ambushed. No idea how they've found out that we're living here. Let me show you."

"Okay. I get it," said Ginny.

"I'm on the first floor. Come up to meet me if you see anything suspicious, and we'll take the portkey to get out of here."

When Harry left the room, Ginny looked about. The living room was pretty large and consisted of a sitting area and a dining area with a long table and half a dozen leather-upholstered chairs.

Ginny's gaze fell on a large box with a pane of glass on the front that stood across the sofa. It was probably such a television device they had talked about in Muggle studies. Ginny wondered how such a device worked in a magical household.

Remembering that she wasn't there to gawk, Ginny turned to the large glass door that led out onto the terrace. As expected, the door was locked, but it provided a good view over the property. She glanced up at the rings of the goalposts and then let her eyes wander over to the iron gate, which was obviously the back entrance Harry had talked about. Otherwise, the property was enclosed by hedges.

When she couldn't see anything suspicious, Ginny headed back to the kitchen. On the way there, she halted, noticing a set of photographs on a sideboard, showing Harry at different ages. In most of the photos, he was alone, but some showed him together with Sirius Black. Ginny couldn't hide a smile when she recognized Tonks together with Harry in one of the photos. She held her breath when she saw the photo of a baby being held by a red-haired woman and a man. When she noticed the man's striking resemblance to Harry, the Knut dropped. These were Harry's parents with baby Harry. Ginny blushed slightly. She wasn't here to spy on Harry's personal life, was she?

With quick steps, Ginny headed back to the kitchen. After making sure that the coast was clear in front of the house, she opened a couple of cupboard doors in search of something to eat. She packed what she could find in the bag Harry had left for her at the bottom of the stairs. She had just finished and was shrinking the bag to put it in her robe when she heard stamping on the stairs.

Harry stepped into the kitchen, a trunk in his hand. "I'm ready," he announced.

"Me too," said Ginny. Glancing around the kitchen to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, her eyes fell on a pile of copies of the Daily Prophet lying on a chair.

"Do you have a subscription to the Daily Prophet?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why ... oh," Harry muttered. "Good idea. I ... oh, damn it."

"What's up," Ginny asked. "Did you forget something?"

"Not something. Someone," Harry replied. "I need to check for Ariane."

"Who's Ariane?" Ginny asked, giving Harry a curious look.

"Our owl," said Harry, hurrying up the stairs again, calling. "She's the one who collects the Daily Prophet every morning."

It wasn't long before Harry stumped back down the stairs again, with a gloomy expression and a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.

Grumpily, he threw the paper on the kitchen table, the front page up. It showed the wanted poster Ginny had seen in Hogsmeade the day before and underneath it an article entitled "Sirius Black Arrested."

"Let's get out of here," Harry said, disgruntled.

Back to index


Chapter 5: Chapter 5


Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry put his trunk down carelessly and headed into the kitchen. He tossed his robe over a chair and sat down at the table, staring at the front page of the Daily Prophet.

He couldn't believe it. The Ministry of Magic had advertised a reward of 10,000 galleons on his head. At least they wanted him alive. But that certainly meant that they were planning something ugly for him. Maybe Voldemort wanted to play with him first. Harry gazed at his portrait. Ginny was right; the scar was really overdone. But they probably wanted to make sure the right Harry Potter was turned in. Who would willingly draw such an ugly scar on their forehead?

Harry's eyes fell on the name Sirius Black, and he began to read the article. Obviously, Sirius was taken to the prison cells in the Ministry, waiting for his trial. Harry frowned as he continued reading.

"What are they writing this time?" asked Ginny.

Harry looked up in surprise. He'd been so lost in thought that he'd almost forgotten about Ginny. She'd set the bag on a chair and was about to put the food into the cupboard.

"The Ministry is offering to release Sirius if I voluntarily turn me in," answered Harry. "At least that's what Augustus Rookwood says, and he's now the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Miracles do happen and pigs will fly," said Ginny, suddenly pausing. "You're not really thinking of turning yourself in, are you?"

Harry grimaced. That had really been his first thought. "It would be the right thing to do. Sirius got arrested because of me."

"You had no chance to help him," Ginny replied, giving him a sharp look.

"It's not about that," Harry replied. "They arrested Sirius because of me. They actually wanted me. They only took Sirius because I ran away."

"They won't let Sirius go if you turn yourself in," Ginny replied.

"Then I have to make sure they do," Harry said, resting his forehead on his hand and scratching his scalp. He had to find a way to make them release Sirius before he turned himself in. Maybe, he should check the things Dumbledore had given him again. According to Dumbledore, he had everything he needed.

"I ... I need to check something," Harry said, getting up. He clasped the trunk with his clothes and turned to Ginny. "I'm in my room if you need me."

"Okay. I'll make us something to eat," said Ginny, giving Harry a concerned glance. "I'm starving."

Harry nodded and gave her what he hoped looked like a smile. He needed time to think, and this time, he didn't have Sirius to ask for advice - or Remus, who was somewhere doing Order business. Harry had no clue where he was.

In Sirius' room, he put his trunk in a corner and opened the closet. He tossed the stack of magazines carelessly on the bed and put the chest on the desk. After skimming Dumbledore's letter several times, he still couldn't find a clue as to how he was supposed to defend himself against Voldemort when he turned himself in exchange for Sirius.

He spread the items from the chest on the desk to examine them.

The founders' artefacts certainly wouldn't help him, Harry suspected and put them back into the chest.

Gryffindor's sword could be helpful to kill Nagini. Or was he supposed to fight Voldemort with the sword? Harry doubted that. In this case, Dumbledore would have let him practice sword fighting.

What about the wand. Harry picked it up and examined it closely. It was the wand Dumbledore had used as long as he knew him. It looked pretty old and had a few scratches. But why had Dumbledore left him his wand? Was he supposed to fight Voldemort with Dumbledore's wand? Hmm, maybe... If Dumbledore had used it, it was surely powerful.

But how could a children's book help him that he couldn't even read properly? He took The Tales of Beedle the Bard and skimmed it. Maybe he could use his mediocre runic knowledge and read it later that evening. This prospect made Harry frown.

The vial with the memory might be important, Harry thought. He should search the house for a Pensieve first thing tomorrow, or better, this afternoon.

The role of the snitch was a total mystery to Harry. He certainly wasn't going to play Quidditch against Voldemort, was he? The words 'I open at the close' sounded a bit cryptic. How was he supposed to open a snitch? Or did it open up alone? Deep in thought, Harry put the snitch back and picked up the diary. It was a worn black book with bloodstains on it and a large hole where it had been pierced by the basilisk fang, as Dumbledore had told Harry. He was just skimming the torn pages that were blank when there was a knock on the door.

"Are you decent?" asked Ginny's voice through the door.

"Come on in," Harry replied. "You don't have to knock here."

Ginny entered, a tray of sandwiches and drinks in her hands. Placing the tray on a dresser, she said, "With my brothers, I always insisted that they knock, and I kept it that way myself. I don't need to get a horror for life ..."

Harry glanced over at Ginny, who had suddenly stopped talking.

She stood in the middle of the room. With wide eyes, she was staring at the diary in Harry's hand and started shaking all over, stammering, "What ... where did you get that from? This is ... this is ..."

Harry put the diary on the desk and stepped up to Ginny. "I got it from Dumbledore. Everything is fine. The diary has been destroyed. It can no longer ..." Harry paused and looked at Ginny in surprise. "You know the diary?"

"Yeah," Ginny stammered. "It's Tom's diary."

Harry's breath caught as he understood. Ginny was the girl with the diary Dumbledore had rescued from the Chamber. That's why she'd said yesterday that she had met Voldemort and it hadn't been nice.

Not used to dealing with panicked people, especially not girls, Harry almost panicked himself. He starred at Ginny, pondering what to do, and finally took her in his arms, whispering, "It's all right. The diary is destroyed. Relax, he's not here."

It took a moment until Ginny put her arms around Harry and hesitantly pulled him closer to her. Harry stroked her hair and was relieved when the trembling slowly subsided after a while.

"Thank you," Ginny said with a sniff, pulling away from Harry. "I'm usually not that weepy."

"That's okay," Harry replied. "It was definitely not easy for you. Do you still have nightmares?"

"Yeah, I ... how do you know?" Ginny said, giving Harry a startled look.

"It's not that easy to forget an encounter with Voldemort," Harry replied.

"Does this mean you also have..."

"Yeah, frequently. Sometimes not that often, then again almost every night," replied Harry.

Ginny nodded. "It's good to have someone who knows what it is like." Giving him a thoughtful look, she asked, "When did you meet him? Since you can remember, I take it, it wasn't the night he..."

"No," said Harry, looking Ginny in the eyes. Those eyes that usually shone brightly now looked at him so sadly...and so vulnerable. Harry stroked her hair and sighed. "Three years ago, when I was fourteen, I was kidnapped, and my blood was used to resurrect Voldemort. I was lucky to escape in time. After that, Sirius insisted that I always wear this portkey that brought me to Grimmauld Place yesterday."

"That's something I never understood," said Ginny. "How can someone be dead but then come back. I only know something like that from the children's book you have on your desk."

"You know the book?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Of course," Ginny replied. "It's a children's book every wizarding child knows. Of course, not this version, which is written in runes. It looks quite old. Do you mind if I read it?"

Harry looked at Ginny in amazement. "That would actually be pretty helpful. I have no idea why Dumbledore gave me this book, and my runic knowledge is not the best. It would take me ages to read it."

"I'll see if it contains any secret notes," Ginny said, apparently quite composed again. "What kind of things are these?" Ginny asked, gesturing into the chest. Her eyes widened. "Is that the sword of Gryffindor?"

"Those are the things Dumbledore left me," said Harry. "They are..." he paused.

Dumbledore, Sirius, and he were the only people who knew that Voldemort had created Horcruxes. Dumbledore was dead, Sirius was arrested. He was the only one who knew about it now. If he turned himself in to free Sirius...and the Ministry didn't keep their promise to set Sirius free...

Someone had to know!

"These are Horcruxes created by Voldemort. I don't want to go into details now because it's not a pleasant topic, but using these Horcruxes, Voldemort managed to bind his soul to this earth. All of these things once contained a piece of Voldemort's soul."

Ginny gasped for breath. "Then this diary also was..."


"Yeah," said Harry. "The part of his soul in this diary was destroyed by the poison of the basilisk."

Ginny shuddered again and turned away from the view.

Harry grabbed her hand. "It's okay. The soul pieces in all of these things are destroyed. There's only one Horcrux left that needed to be destroyed. Voldemort has a snake, Nagini. Dumbledore thought Nagini was a Horcrux too. That's why he gave me the sword of Gryffindor, whose blade had absorbed the basilisk poison. The vessel containing a piece of Voldemort's soul must be damaged beyond magical repair to destroy the Horcrux."

Ginny eyed all the things closely. "That's Dumbledore's wand."

"Yes," said Harry. "I don't know why he left it to me. Dumbledore said it was mine because I beat him in our last duel."

"You beat Dumbledore in a duel?" Ginny looked at him in amazement and apparently also a bit in admiration.

"Well. Once," said Harry, shrugging.

"And what kind of vial is that?" Ginny asked.

"It's a memory I should definitely look at, said Dumbledore in this letter." Harry pointed to the letter on the desk. "I need a Pensieve to view the memory, but unfortunately, I don't have one."

"A Pensieve." Ginny glanced thoughtfully at Harry. "These are bowls made of stone, aren't they?"

"Yeah. That's definitely a way to describe it." Harry smiled at Ginny's wording.

"I saw something like this when we were cleaning up this place last year," Ginny said, frowning. "I think that was ..." she hesitated. "I think we found it in one of the rooms on the second floor, Sirius brother's room."

"Are you sure?" Harry stared at Ginny, hoping she was right.

"Yes, it was in a cupboard and was filled with all sorts of things, so at first, I thought it was a bowl," explained Ginny.

"I better see if it's still there," said Harry, hurrying out of the room.

As he climbed the stairs, he was relieved to notice that Ginny was following him. He'd never been in Regulus' room and only had a vague idea which one it was.

"It's the room at the end of the hallway, isn't it?" Harry asked, opening the door when Ginny confirmed it.

Harry turned on the light because the room was in the dark. Heavy curtains kept the daylight outside.

"What are the half-bloods and the blood traitors doing here?"

Harry halted and swore annoyed when he spotted Kreacher, the house-elf, crouching on the floor next to the bed.

"This is Master Regulus' room," lamented the elf. "You have no business here. Go away! You just want to steal Master Regulus' property."

"Oops. That one again!" Ginny muttered. "He got on our nerves last year."

"Kreacher, what are you doing here?" asked Harry. He knew the elf had some kind of quarters somewhere in the house.

"Kreacher is keeping an eye on Master Regulus' things. There are thieves in the house," the elf said with an openly hostile look if Harry interpreted elves glances correctly.

"We're not here to steal," said Harry, annoyed.

"The last time the half-blood was in this house, he'd stolen Master Regulus' locket."

Harry tried to stay calm. In fact, on his last visit a few years ago, they had found Slytherin's locket and destroyed it because it was a Horcrux.

"Kreacher, get out of here now," Harry said with barely suppressed anger. "That's an order."

"The half-blood has no right to give Kreacher orders," the elf replied but then shuffled out of the room, muttering curses, when Harry stared at him sharply.

"What a creepy creature," said Ginny. "The house-elves at Hogwarts are all a lot nicer."

"Kreacher was raised by Sirius' parents to believe in blood purity. He doesn't know any other way," Harry said. "That doesn't mean that I pity him." Harry glanced about. Kreacher seemed to keep his Master's room in a pretty good shape - unlike the rest of the house. There was not a speck of dust anywhere to be seen.

"The Pensieve was in the closet next to the desk back then," said Ginny.

Harry opened the closet and let out a sigh of relief. He took the Pensieve and placed it on the desk.

Harry tossed the odds and ends onto the desk and grabbed the Pensieve with both hands. "I better take it down to Sirius' room. Can you turn off the light, please?"

When he noticed Ginny pulling the door to Regulus' room shut behind her, Harry made his way downstairs.

"Why is this memory so important," Ginny asked. "Dumbledore could have told you personally - whatever the memory is about."

"Good question," said Harry. "And to be honest, I don't know. But in his letter, Dumbledore has made it pretty clear that I ought to have a look at this memory before I face Voldemort."

"You really want to turn yourself in to free Sirius?" Ginny asked in a worried voice.

"This has nothing to do with Sirius," Harry replied, giving Ginny a pensive look. He hadn't known her for quite a day, and he didn't know much about her either, but somehow ... He looked into her chocolate brown eyes, studying him intently ... and worried. Was it that, just like he himself, she had been confronted with the evil named Voldemort? Or was it her open, honest nature? Or both? Somehow he felt a connection with her and knew that he could trust her.

"It has nothing to do with Sirius," he repeated. "One day, I have to face Voldemort. I'm the only one who can defeat him."

Ginny's eyes widened. "You ... does it mean it's true that you are the chosen one?"

"That's not what I'd call it, but yeah ... there is a grain of truth in it," Harry said. "There is a prophecy, made before I was born."

Ginny pushed aside the magazines that were strewn on the covers and plummeted onto the bed.

Harry gave her a solemn glance and said, "The prophecy goes as follows:

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

"You know that prophecies don't have to come true?" asked Ginny.

"I know," said Harry. "But ..." He pointed to the scar on his forehead. "Voldemort has marked me as his equal. And more importantly, he believes in this prophecy. Like it or not, he won't let it rest until I'm dead ... or him."

Ginny stared at Harry in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Dumbledore was sure. He was the one who heard the prophecy when Trelawney, she's a teacher at Hogwarts, made it." answered Harry. "It was either me or a boy named Neville Longbottom. And when Voldemort murdered my parents and left me with this scar, it was clear that he had marked me as his equal."

"Neville?" Ginny asked, aghast.

"You know him?"

"He's one of my friends at Hogwarts," Ginny said. "We lead a resistance group with a few other friends." Ginny looked up at him. "Does Neville know?"

"I doubt it," said Harry. "I don't think Dumbledore bothered him with it after everything that happened to his parents."

"That may be true," said Ginny. She looked Harry in the eye. "And I hope you win." She shook her head. "No. I just know."

Harry gave Ginny a smile. His smile froze when he noticed Ginny staring lost in thought at one of the magazines with those bikini-less girls she was holding.

"These magazines belong to Sirius," Harry exclaimed.

"Oh," Ginny said. Taking a closer look at the magazines, she smirked. "Certainly. Whom else?"

Back to index


Chapter 6: Chapter 6


Lying on his bed, Harry was staring at the vial with Dumbledore's memory in his hand. Ever since Ginny had gone to the library to read this ancient copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, he was shifting the vial indecisively from one hand to the other, doubting he was ready to watch the memory.

Somehow he had the bad feeling he wouldn't like this memory. Why hadn't Dumbledore shown him that memory sooner, when they had gone through all of the memories about Voldemort? If it was something Dumbledore didn't want to show him personally, it couldn't be good, could it?

But whatever it was, it was important enough to Dumbledore that he ought to watch the memory. Why wait any longer?

Glancing over at the desk where the Pensieve was sitting, Harry nodded to himself. The sooner he started, the sooner he was done. Taking a deep breath, Harry stood up and fumbled with the cork to open the vial. When he finally succeeded, he poured the liquid into the wide basin and watched the silvery-white threads of memory swirling around in the basin until they were evenly dispersed.

Before he changed his mind, Harry dived into the memory. Falling upside down in sunlight, his feet landed on the stone floor of Dumbledore's office. As usual, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. Across from him, a man with long black hair and a hooked nose sat on one of the chairs. The man's hair was shiny as if it had been rubbed with an overdose of grease.

Clearly, the two men were in a heated discussion, so Harry listened...

"Believe me, Severus. I worry less about myself than about the boy's random victims. If you want to save Draco from the rage of Voldemort, there is only one way."

Harry had never seen the man Dumbledore had called Severus, but from his looks, he could only be the Potions Professor, Snape.

Snape raised his eyebrows and taunted, "Do you intend to let Draco kill you?"

"Certainly not. You have to kill me, Severus," said Dumbledore, and when Snape just stared at him in disbelief, he added, "It's the only way. Swear to me that you'll kill me when I ask you."

The scenery changed a bit. Evidently, it was dark outside, and Dumbledore was dressed in a night sky blue robe while Snape still looked the same as before. Probably, he only owned that one robe.

"Severus, you have to help Harry if he needs help."

"I don't even know the boy." Snape stared at Dumbledore, slowly shaking his head. "Black was always pretty careful to keep him away from me. I should be grateful to him for that."

"You swore to help Lily's son." The headmaster gave the man a piercing look.

"He won't trust me, especially when he knows I killed you, Dumbledore."

"I'll think of something," replied the headmaster.

The scene changed again. The same two men stood in front of Dumbledore's desk, and the headmaster was talking urgently to Snape.

"I'm sure that, in the night Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the night when Lily threw her own life between them like a shield, the killing curse rebounded on Voldemort. In the process, a fragment of Voldemort's soul blasted off and clung to the only living soul in the room. Ever since that night, this part of Voldemort lived in Harry, and it gives him the power to talk to snakes and this strange connection to Voldemort's mind that Harry never really understood. I'm not sure if Voldemort himself understands it yet. But as long as this soul fragment is linked to Harry, Voldemort cannot die."

"So does the boy ... the boy has to die?" Asked Snape calmly.

"And Voldemort himself has to do it, Severus. That is crucial."

Harry stared at the two men, unable to follow their conversation any longer.

If Dumbledore was right, he was a Horcrux.

Dumbledore was right. He was a Horcrux.

Suddenly, so many things made sense. It was the reason he could talk to snakes - and it was the reason he could see through Voldemort's eyes in his nightmares - and the reason his scar always burned so badly when Voldemort was around.

The Pensieve threw him out when the memory was over. Seconds later, he was back, standing in front of the desk in Sirius' room. Unable to move, Harry stared at the silvery-white substance in the Pensieve, the substance that had just delivered his death sentence.

Still trying to process what he'd just seen, Harry threw himself on the chair. With his elbows on the desk, he pushed up his glasses and rested his face in his palms. He closed his eyes and tried to focus.

Why did Dumbledore expect him to trust Snape? Snape of all people who had killed Dumbledore. Stop, Harry thought. Snape had followed Dumbledore's orders to kill him. But none of that made any sense. Why did Dumbledore want Snape to kill him? Was Dumbledore a Horcrux, too? Why hadn't Dumbledore explained all of this to him when he had planned his death so carefully? Questions about questions, and there was only one clear thing. He was a Horcrux, so he had to die for Voldemort to die, and someone else had to defeat him.

What had changed for Harry? Not that much, he thought. He would volunteer to face Voldemort so that Sirius would get free. But instead of fighting him and most likely dying in the process, he would die of free will.

Crestfallen, Harry got up and launched himself on the bed. All afternoon he pondered his options, only to find out that he had no other choice.

It was already getting dark in the room when Ginny knocked and switched on the light.

Harry turned sideways, not in the mood to talk to people. Silently he hoped that Ginny would go back to the library if he didn't speak.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Ginny. "You didn't eat all day. I made us some sandwiches and tea."

"Thanks," Harry muttered but didn't turn around. "I'm not hungry."

Without speaking a further word, Ginny started rummaging around the room. Just when Harry was hoping she would leave him alone, she said, "Is it that memory you were watching?"

"Hmm," Harry growled.

"What was the memory about?" Ginny asked and sat down on the bed next to Harry.

So much for being left alone, Harry thought. What should he tell her? He certainly wasn't going to tell her he was a Horcrux. He didn't want her to look at him with pity in her eyes - or even disgust. No, that was his problem. His problem alone.

The vague feeling of owing Ginny an answer made him blurt out, "I'm going to die."

"You will what?" Ginny asked, staring at Harry with wide eyes. "I don't think I understood you correctly."

"You got me right," Harry replied. "Dumbledore told me."

"What the hell did he tell you?" Ginny didn't give up.

"That I'm going to die and that...Dumbledore made Snape swear to kill him if he asked him." At Ginny's incredulous look, he said, "Don't ask me why. Sometimes Dumbledore moves in mysterious ways."

"I'm sure you just got something wrong," Ginny said. "There is always a way. Living with my older brothers, I've learned pretty early that anything is possible if you got enough nerve."

Harry had to smile to himself. Ginny's optimism was boundless. He sat up and reached for his glasses, which still hung askew on his head. Pushing them back on his nose, he saw the plate of sandwiches on the sideboard. "I think I'm a little hungry now," he said, thanking Ginny as she handed him the plate.

Chewing, Harry gave Ginny a wry smile. He felt sorry for being so rude to her. She hadn't done anything to him and just wanted to help.

Ginny returned his smile. "By the way, I trust you, and I'm sure you will win against Tom."

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry, grabbing another sandwich.

"How did you escape? Back then. When he kidnapped you to be resurrected."

"Oh, that," said Harry, running a hand through his hair. "I was lucky then. They kidnapped me with a portkey, and when I touched it again, it brought me back." Harry shook his head. "Whoever made the portkey must have been punished by Voldemort for not making it a one-way portkey."

"You always need a little luck in life," Ginny explained. "By the way, I read the book, most of it anyway, and I think Dumbledore gave you the book because of the story about the Three Brothers."

"Why that?" Harry asked, curious. Why did Dumbledore give him a storybook if he thought he was going to die?

Ginny told him the short version of the story. When she'd finished, Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I see. You saw my Invisibility Cloak and Dumbledore's wand, and now you think they're the ones from this fairy tale."

"Exactly," said Ginny. "That was the only reference to you I could find in the book."

"But isn't that a fairy tale? How should it help me?" Harry asked, already guessing the answer when he asked the question.

"Maybe because Dumbledore said everything in the chest will help you?" Ginny replied with a mischievous grin. "And this obviously includes the book. Otherwise, it wouldn't be there."

"Okay, okay," said Harry, raising his hands. "Let's assume for a moment that we understand Dumbledore, which I already doubted several times today. Then I have the Invisibility Cloak here," Harry pointed at his robe, which was hanging over a chair and had the cloak in its pocket. "And then I have the wand that's there on the desk. Dumbledore said I won it when I beat him. That also fits this story. But what about the stone? I don't have it, and I have no clue where it is."

"Maybe we will still find it," Ginny replied.

"Maybe," Harry replied, getting up to take another look at the things Dumbledore left for him. But there was nothing that looked even remotely like a stone. His eyes fell briefly on the Snitch, but he shook his head. No, it wasn't a stone.

As he turned around, Harry noticed Ginny watching him. Her eyes shone, and she had a smile on her face. He couldn't take his eyes off her lips. Apparently, she was so deep in thought she didn't even notice that Harry returned her gaze.

Amazed, Harry was started to realize that he liked Ginny. A lot. No one had ever gotten him out of his sulkiness as easily as she, not even Sirius.

He'd never asked a girl out and didn't know how to do it, but the longer he looked at her, the more he wanted it. He'd never felt like this before.

But ... after everything Dumbledore had shown him today, he just wasn't allowed to ask Ginny out, was he?

Ginny blushed slightly when she met Harry's gaze. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, "What's wrong, Potter?"

"Nothing," Harry replied. After all the brooding today, he felt a bit drained. "I'm a bit tired."

"Admit it! You are looking forward to sharing the bed with me again." Ginny gave him a cheeky grin.

Such a tiny little bit, Harry had to agree with her and wished he could admit it.

Back to index


Chapter 7: Chapter 7

The next morning, after doing the dishes together, Ginny turned to Harry and asked: "What's your plan?"

"Plan? What plan?" replied Harry, looking a bit confused.

Ginny rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure Harry had made plans. Even after his mood had improved the day before, he'd been broody all evening. "What do you want to do about your godfather?"

"Oh, yes. Of course," Harry said and leaned against the kitchen table. "I'm not sure yet, but I need to do something."

"Does Sirius have a lawyer who can help him?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, but I don't know him. I was never there when Sirius had an appointment with the man," Harry replied, scratching the back of his head. "But I doubt a lawyer could help. If he's unlucky, he'll be arrested too."

This was possible, of course, thought Ginny. But she was worried that Harry would get stupid ideas. "You don't really think about offering yourself in exchange for Sirius, are you? You'd be at their mercy."

"What would be so wrong with that?" Harry asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't think your godfather would like it," Ginny replied, hoping Harry would come to his senses.

"Sirius isn't here to ask," Harry said in an almost defiant tone. "And what would be so different? One day, I'll have to face Voldemort anyway. Why not now? I just have to make sure he is there when I turn myself in. It'll just happen a bit earlier than I thought, and I can do whatever the prophecy needs me to do."

Ginny watched Harry closely as he sat down at the table with a morose expression, resting his chin on his hand.

Although she disagreed with his plan, she was impressed by how calm he was. Apparently, he'd accepted that he would very soon be drawn into a deadly fight with an uncertain outcome. A fight Harry obviously expected to die in. Was there anything he didn't tell her? No, of course, she didn't think Harry had to tell her everything. But she wanted to help him. She wanted to help to ensure that Voldemort would die in battle and not Harry. "What can I do to help you?" she finally asked.

"That would be too dangerous," Harry declined her offer. "The prophecy says, it's me who has to do it."

"But the damn prophecy doesn't say that your friends are not allowed to help you with this." Ginny didn't give in. She could be very headstrong if she wanted to. And here, she saw every reason to be stubborn. "What about the snake? Do you want to kill it before you give up or afterwards?" Ginny knew that sounded sarcastic, but Harry himself had pointed out the importance of killing the snake. "I could try to kill the snake before you face Voldemort."

At first, Harry didn't answer. He was just staring at the table in front of him, and Ginny was about to ask what he thought of her suggestion when he finally began to speak.

Looking into her eyes, he said, "You're probably right, and I may not have the time to take care of Nagini. Having a plan B doesn't sound too bad."

"You said you wanted to kill the snake with Gryffindor's sword," said Ginny.

"That's what Dumbledore suggested," Harry replied. "But I don't see any other way either. The blade is impregnated with basilisk venom. To kill the snake, it should be enough to wound her with the sword."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "This means that anyone injured by the sword is going to die. We should be careful when we practice with it." Ginny frowned when she saw Harry's strange look. "Don't you tell me you've already practised with the sword?"

Harry grimaced. "Erm ... no. Not really."


"Then we should do that," suggested Ginny. Of course, they didn't have the time to really practise sword fighting, especially not without a teacher. But it didn't sound like a bad idea to know how to handle the sword, even if the foe was only a snake. "Can you conjure a sword that looks like Gryffindor's and has the same weight?"
Harry nodded slowly. "I've never conjured a sword, but I think I can do it."

"Brill", said Ginny; giving Harry an encouraging smile.

** Harry & Ginny **


"Let's have a break," Ginny called, still a bit out of breath. "I'm starving."

All morning they had practised handling the swords Harry had conjured. Ginny's arms were still shaking a bit from exhaustion, as the sword was too heavy for her. Since they'd use Gryffindor's sword only against a snake, they had decided that there was no need to practice real sword fighting. When looking for a suitable room, they'd found the former living room with a monster of a sofa in it. Ginny had stabbed and hit the settee again and again with full force. And now, after about two hours, she was at the end of her strength.

"Okay. I'll make us some sandwiches," Harry replied. "Are you coming to the kitchen, or should I bring it here? You look pretty exhausted."

Ginny shot him an icy glance. "Be careful, Potter. A brief look at the sofa should be warning enough for you." The corners of her mouth began to quiver, and she snorted when she saw Harry's perplexed look.

Harry's expression changed to a grin. "Ah, I see," he said with a chuckle. "You're still strong enough to make your own sandwiches." He turned and left.

Now it was Ginny's turn to look perplexed. She hadn't expected Harry to be so cheeky. She jumped up and hurried after Harry. "Let's do it together."

When she got into the kitchen, Harry was just about to put on the kettle. He glanced at her and said, "Joking aside, you really should rest a bit. It was quite impressive how you worked the sofa with your sword. Lie down. I'll bring the sandwiches and tea up to the room. Do you want turkey, ham, or tuna?"

Ginny regretted her earlier response a bit. It was meant to be a joke, but Harry wasn't one of her brothers where she often had to fight back to make clear she could manage on her own. He had just wanted to be nice. Since she already noticed a slight soreness creeping up her arms, Ginny decided to accept Harry's offer and to take a rest. Giving him a smile, she replied, "I'm hungry. If you don't mind, I'll take one of each."

In Sirius' room - it was actually their room now - she noticed Gryffindor's sword lying on the desk. She studied at it thoughtfully and finally took it in her hands. It didn't feel as heavy as the training sword Harry had conjured. She pulled it out of its sheath and weighed it in her hand, furrowing her forehead. It definitely weighed less.

"Is something wrong?" asked Harry as he entered the room, carrying a large plate of sandwiches.

"It's a lot lighter than the training sword," she replied.

"Let's see." Harry took the sword and swung it through the air. Shaking his head, he muttered, "It feels just like the training sword. I can't tell the difference." He gave her a brief glance. "Your training sword was just as heavy as mine, wasn't it?

"Sure," replied Ginny, frowning. Could it be ... "Could it be that the weight of Gryffindor's sword always fits the strength of the sword-bearer?"

Harry looked at her in amazement, then studied the sword appraisingly. "To be honest, I don't know," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised. Magic does the strangest things sometimes. In any case, it's a good thing."

"Yes," Ginny replied. "It'll make it easier for me to kill Nagini."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that's important. Once Nagini is dead, Voldemort is mortal. Anyone else can kill him if I fail."

Ginny gaze wandered down to the floor, the words of prophecy echoing through her head...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...

She had the firm belief that Harry would survive, but what if he was right ... Ginny shook her head to shoo away the thoughts. Of course, Harry would survive.

Looking up at Harry, Ginny noticed that she hadn't listened to his last words.

"Do you get that, Ginny?" Harry asked her.

"You won't die ..." Ginny said, shaking her head vehemently.

"Ginny, this is not about me," said Harry in a persistent tone. "If I don't make it, it is important that you don't forget. You mustn't wait. You and whoever helps you. Voldemort has to die then and there. Otherwise, he'll come up with another ruse to become immortal again. So far, he has no idea that we know about his Horcruxes and that Nagini is the last one that exists." Harry gazed at her intently. "That's why we're going to Hogwarts. Not all professors are Death Eaters. I know of at least two professors who are in the Order. They'll probably call the Order when they find out I'm coming. You have to talk to them. They mustn't let Voldemort escape when the snake is dead."

Ginny stared at Harry. She liked the idea of going to Hogwarts. Her friends were there and would surely want to help too. Ginny nodded, "Yeah, I got it."

"We're leaving tomorrow morning," said Harry. "But first, we have to make sure that Voldemort finds out about it. Otherwise, it's all for nought. I don't want to rely on Voldemort's henchmen at the Ministry to get the word to him in time. I already have an idea."

"What are you up to?" asked Ginny.

"I'll write a letter to Rookwood first," he said, pulling a piece of parchment from the desk and starting to search the drawers. "Let's hope there's still some ink here that has not yet dried up. Ah, here it is," with a relieved sigh, he held up an inkwell that was still sealed. After removing the cap, he sat at the desk and began to write.

Looking over Harry's shoulder, Ginny read along.


I'll take the offer, and I'll be on the Hogwarts Quidditch field at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. Make sure Sirius Black is unharmed and safe, or I won't show up.

H.J. Potter



Harry let his gaze wander over the words again. "That should be enough."

"Yes," said Ginny. "I still think it's an ill-advised idea to show up there alone. I will definitely come with you."
"I think yours is an ill-advised idea. So we're even," Harry replied with a pained smile. "I would really prefer if you're not coming with me."

"Why? We agreed that I would come with you to take care of the damn snake." Ginny groaned, barely suppressing her annoyance.

"Yes," Harry said softly with a sad look. "But that doesn't mean I like the idea."

Ginny looked at Harry, puzzled by his reaction. "What is your problem?" she asked.

"I ... I'm not sure I can explain it properly," Harry began.

"Then just try it," Ginny said, pressing her lips together.

"You... As you can see, I'm here alone. Over the time, Voldemort has taken everyone from me who was family or who was close to me." Harry began hesitantly. "I lost my mentor a few months ago. Dumbledore was always important to me, not necessarily like a grandfather, but like a good uncle. Now he has Sirius in his clutches to get his hands on me. I've only known you a few days, but..." Harry's voice cracked.

Ginny looked attentively at the young man in front of her when she suddenly heard her heart pounding louder. Did she really mean something to him?

"When I was in a bad mood yesterday, and you didn't rest before I finally talked to you...and believe me, I wanted to talk to you..." Harry smiled a little. "I like you. I really like you. Merlin, that's difficult. I'm not used to talking to girls. Not about things like that, anyway." Resting his forehead on his hand, Harry shook his head. "I just can't ask you to be my girlfriend when I have to face Voldemort tomorrow morning."

Ginny's eyes widened when the realization hit her. Stepping behind Harry, she leaned against his back and hugged him. Tears welled up in her eyes, and with a sad smile, she said, "Then ask me tomorrow night again. My answer will be the same as today."

Harry snorted. "Are all the Weasleys so optimistic?"

"You'll find out when you ask me out."

"Okay, then ..." Harry said, taking a deep breath. "Then let's get rid of the letter. Kreacher!

It took a few moments before the house elf opened the door and entered without knocking.

"What does the half-blood want from Kreacher?"

"Kreacher, I'll be leaving in the morning and won't come back."

"Kreacher won't miss the half-blood."

"Rest assured that I won't miss you either, Kreacher. But that's not why I called you. Hereby, I set you free. You are free to serve any Black family member you want. However, before you can do so, I have an order for you."

Kreacher looked at Harry expectantly, with an expression that could almost be called delighted.

Harry handed the letter to the house-elf. "You will deliver this letter to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Augustus Rookwood. Understood?"

Kreacher took the letter, glancing at it as if it were a spider.

"Did you understand me, Kreacher?" Harry asked again.

Kreacher smiled maliciously and mumbled to himself. "Kreacher got it, half-blood."

"And don't forget that you can only return to this house if you are summoned," Harry said, raising the index finger.

Kreacher gave Harry one last derogatory grin and disappeared.

"Do you really think he'll deliver the letter to the ministry?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"No," Harry replied. "He's either taking it to Bella or Narcissa. But that was my plan."

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Ginny asked in horror.

"Yes, or Narcissa Malfoy," Harry replied. "Sirius' cousins. It is the quickest way to let Voldemort know where to find me."

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Chapter 8: Chapter 8


An irritating tickle on his face woke Harry. Twitching his nose to chase away the annoying insect or whatever had disturbed his sleep, he inhaled a pleasant floral scent that reminded him of Ginny.

Ginny!

His eyes snapped open. Trying to reach his glasses on the bedside table, he found that he couldn't move his arm. With his free arm, Harry reached over Ginny to fumble for his glasses. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he finally found them and pushed them onto his nose.

In the early morning light, he watched Ginny, whose head rested on his shoulder. Her hair was dishevelled and spread around her head. Harry brushed aside the strand that was tickling his nose and focused on Ginny again. They had talked a lot after they went to bed last night, and at one point, Ginny had snuggled up to his side and fell asleep.

Carefully, Harry pulled his arm out from under Ginny, who began to stretch and open her eyes.

"Good morning," she said in a low voice and smiled at him. The smile faded very quickly when she looked at him with wide eyes. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure. Probably around six o'clock," said Harry. "I should get ready. We wanted to leave at seven."

"You can shower first, but I need to use the loo for a moment," Ginny said and slipped out of bed.

"I'm not sure I want to shower for Voldemort," Harry replied, while his eyes were following Ginny until she left the room. For a while, he stared at the door where she had just disappeared. Sighing, Harry ran his hands through his hair and looked about to find his trunk. Picking out some clothes, he changed quickly and threw his pyjamas carelessly on the bed. They are no longer needed, Harry thought morosely. Turning to the desk where the things Dumbledores had left him were spread out, he took the wand and studied it pensively as Ginny returned.

"What do you want to take with you?" she asked.

Harry had already asked that question himself. "Dumbledore said he'd given me everything I need to hold my own against Voldemort. Maybe I should take everything with me." Looking around, he shrugged. "But I don't think I need my trunk. I'll leave it here."

"I'll leave my things here, too. Except for the Marauders map, which could become useful," said Ginny. Rummaging in her pocket, she pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

Amazed, Harry gazed at the map. "Where did you get it from?"

"I got it from my brothers when they left school," Ginny said. "It turned out to be pretty useful."

"Can I see it?" Harry asked, holding out his hand.

"Sure," Ginny muttered, handing it to him.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "That's the map my dad made with his friends."

Ginny gave Harry a puzzled look. "You know these people? Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail?"

"Prongs was my father," Harry said. He almost felt dizzy. "Sirius is Padfoot, Remus Lupin is Moony, and ..." Harry paused, not wanting to say the fourth name loudly.

"The Remus Lupin who once was a professor at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked in wonder.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. That's him."

"So the map is yours now," Ginny said, glancing inquiringly at Harry.

"No, you can keep it," Harry replied. He most likely had no use for it anymore.

"It's yours," said Ginny, puzzled. "It's a keepsake of your father."

"It's okay," Harry replied with a crooked smile. "Keep it for now. You can give it back to me later."


"Good," Ginny replied. "It could still become useful to me today. Do you want to have a bite before we leave?"

Harry wasn't hungry but nodded. It couldn't hurt to eat something before he died. And a few minutes at the breakfast table with Ginny before he had to go on his last journey sounded heavenly, even if it somehow felt like buying time.

** Harry & Ginny **


A cold wind hit them as they Apparated near the Hogwarts gate. Ginny stepped away from Harry, who looked around carefully. The sun was just rising over the mountains in the east and the morning fog kept most of the surroundings hidden from his view. Hopefully, they were early enough that no one was around yet, Harry thought.

"From here, we go under the cloak," he said. "I don't want anyone to notice we're already here."

Ginny tightened her robe a little and nodded.

Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and threw it over the both of them. "Okay," he muttered. "Let's go."

During their visit to the Old Toll House, they had gotten some practice walking under the cloak what benefited them now.

As the stands of the Quidditch pitch came into view, Ginny said, "From the edge of the forbidden forest, over there, we'll have a pretty good overview of the terrain."

"Okay. Let's head over there," replied Harry, relying on Ginny, who knew the area better.

When they reached the forest, Harry pulled the cloak off and let his eyes wander over the surroundings to check if the Death Eaters were already around. Luckily, he couldn't notice any noise or movement.

"I'll go up to the castle," said Ginny.

"What are you up to?" Harry inquired, surprised.

"I'll be right back," Ginny said. "I only want to head up to the castle to let my friends know to be ready."

"It's too dangerous for them," replied Harry. He didn't like the idea of someone putting themselves in danger just because he had to face Voldemort.

"We need help if something goes wrong. Your words, not mine," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "I take the Hogwarts map, sneak up to the castle where breakfast is just starting. I'll let my friends know what's going to happen and come back. And in the meantime, you can watch the Quidditch pitch from this safe hiding place."

Grimacing, Harry ran his hands through his hair. Avoiding Ginny's gaze, he glanced over to the Quidditch pitch. He knew he would need the Invisibility Cloak later. But with the cloak, Ginny would be much safer on her way up to the castle. Instead of the cloak, he could also use a disillusionment charm, Harry remembered.

"I better go now," Ginny said.

"Wait," Harry said, handing her the cloak. "Take it and be careful. And best stay with your friends."

"No way," Ginny replied, giving Harry a fiery look. "How am I supposed to kill the snake when I'm not here?"

"Are all Weasleys so stubborn?" Harry asked, shaking his head.

"Yes. But not as much as I am," Ginny said with a cheeky grin. Looking Harry into the eye, she reached up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

Harry watched Ginny until she disappeared into the morning mist. Maybe he would never see her again, he thought. With a sad smile, he stepped behind the next tree and began to watch the surroundings.

About half an hour later, nothing had happened yet. Well, except that the fog was slowly getting in Harry's robes, and he started freezing. With clammy fingers, he fumbled for his wand and muttered a warming charm. A cosy warmth made him shiver comfortably. He had just closed his eyes to enjoy the comfort as he heard distant footsteps.

Warily, Harry peered out from his hiding place and discovered a man in the black robe of the Death Eaters approaching. He took a step back to not be seen from the edge of the forest and froze. The crack of a branch echoed through the wood. Barely suppressing a curse for being so careless, Harry held his breath.

The man stopped his brisk walk and turned towards the forest, listening. Harry had the feeling as if the man's eyes were piercing him, though he was sure he couldn't see him.

"Potter? Are you there?" the man called in a barely audible voice. "Come out when you're here. I need to talk to you."

Several thoughts shot through Harry's head. Who was this man? What did he want?

What should he do?

Considering the cautious way the man moved around - obviously, he didn't want to be seen by other Death Eaters either?

Grimacing, Harry raised his wand and took a few steps forward. "What do you want? And who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," the man replied. "I have a message from Dumbledore."

"Who are you?" Harry asked stubbornly. Why should he believe someone he didn't know, least of all someone in Death Eater robes?

"Just as arrogant as the father," the man hissed and pulled down his hood.

Harry's eyes widened. That was the man from Dumbledore's memories. That was the man named Snape. "Why did you kill Dumbledore?" Harry asked, eying the man carefully. Should he really trust the man just because he'd killed Dumbledore at his request?

"Because Dumbledore wanted it that way," the man replied gruffly. Looking openly unfriendly at Harry, he added, "Dumbledore was sick and only had a few more weeks to live. Anything else is none of your business."

Harry met Snape's gaze. He didn't like the man and wondered why Dumbledore had trusted him.

"What is it that Dumbledore couldn't tell me in person when he still had the chance?" Harry finally asked.

"I take it you have the snitch Dumbledore left you," replied Snape. "Say the words 'I am about to die' and let some drops of your blood drip on it."

Harry frowned. "What does this mean?"

"That, Dumbledore didn't tell me," Snape replied with a disdainful grin. "Obviously, Dumbledore thought you knew what it means."

"Is Sirius here?" asked Harry.

"I don't care where Black is," Snape answered with a sneer. Muttering, "My job is done," he turned and left.

** Harry & Ginny **


It was a few minutes to eight when Harry checked his watch. The sun was already a bit higher over the horizon and the morning mist slowly started to dissolve. At first, the noises alerted Harry that something was going on on the Quidditch pitch. Then he noticed a crowd in Death Eater robes and Auror uniforms on the distant side of the pitch.

He took a few deep breaths and rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen up his stiff muscles. It was time to go. Harry was glad Ginny wasn't back yet. That way, she would be safer, and he could concentrate on his duty. He cast a disillusionment charm on himself and stepped out of the Forbidden Forest.

Cautiously, he made his way over to the Quidditch pitch, constantly observing his surroundings. He had to stop briefly to let a patrol of two Death Eaters in Auror uniform pass. As he finally stepped onto the Quidditch pitch, he let his eyes wander over the crowd in the hope to spot Sirius somewhere. But he couldn't see him anywhere.

More than a dozen people stood at the bottom of the Slytherin stands, prattling in hushed voices, looking about in anticipation of what was going to happen. Harry spotted a few Ministry uniforms, but most of the people wore the black robes of the Death Eaters.

Thirty yards from the crowd, Harry stopped, astonished that no one had noticed him yet. He'd expected that someone would see through his disillusionment charm.

Hesitantly, Harry took the Snitch out of his pocket and spoke the words, "I am about to die." He cut his finger with his wand, let a few drops of blood drip on the Snitch, and healed the wound again, watching the Snitch expectantly. His eyes widened in surprise when the Snitch opened to reveal a rather nondescript stone in it. Not sure what to do with the stone, Harry decided to hold it in his hand while he faced Voldemort.

Turning towards the crowd, Harry cancelled the Disillusionment Charm - and waited. It took a few moments before the voices got louder, and some of the Death Eaters pointed in his direction.

And then Harry saw him. Voldemort.

With a malicious grin on his almost non-existent lips, the man took a few steps towards Harry and gazed at him with his red eyes. His slit-shaped nostrils moved as if to take in Harry's scent.

"Harry Potter," said Voldemort. "There you are at last. I never thought you would have the guts to face me. Come a bit closer. I don't bite."

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, ignoring Voldemort's request.

"Sirius Black is here," Voldemort replied. "I keep my promises."

Indeed, someone who was looking like Sirius was pushed forward. He was handcuffed but otherwise looked unharmed.

"Harry, you shouldn't have come," called the man, scattering Harry's fear he was facing a Death Eater under Polyjuice.

"I'm sorry, but I had no other choice," Harry called and turned back to Voldemort. He was pleased to see that Nagini had joined her master. The snake was staring at Harry in a watchful manner while her tongue soaked up Harry's scent.

Loud shouts briefly diverted Harry's attention from Voldemort as a large crowd approached down from the castle. Obviously, most of them were students, but Harry also recognized a face or two from the Order.

Glancing at Nagini, Harry grimaced. She was out of reach and too close to Voldemort. There was no chance for him to get any closer. Reaching for his belt with his left hand, he checked that the sword was still there. Someone else had to take care of Nagini.

Focussing on Voldemort again, Harry called, "Let Sirius free, and you can have me."

"Tell me, why should I release Black?" Voldemort asked with a mocking smile.

"You said you'd keep your promises," said Harry.

"I already kept a promise today," replied Voldemort with a sneer. "That's more than I usually grant."

Noticing the onrushing students, Voldemort called, "Harry Potter. Your friends have come just in time to watch you die. I'm afraid I have no further use for you."

With an oddly relaxed smile, Harry looked into the eye of his foe, determined to do what needed to be done. When Voldemort raised his wand, Harry took his last breath as he sensed a familiar floral scent.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Harry!" cried a choked voice, and the world around him faded into nothingness.

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Chapter 9: Chapter 9


Soft whispers and a steady rustle of waves were the first things Harry noticed when he woke up. He reached next to him to feel for his glasses but couldn't find them. Frowning, Harry sat up and looked around searchingly. He was sitting on a blanket on an endless deserted beach. The steady rustle he'd heard when he woke up came from the sea whose waves were lapping against the shore not far away. Bewildered, Harry noticed that he didn't need his glasses. Everything around him was clear and distinct.

"It's good you're finally awake," Harry heard a voice and turned around. His jaw dropped as he spotted a wedding couple nearby watching him intently. They wore a white wedding dress and a black suit that went well with the dress. They looked exactly like his parents in their wedding photo.

The woman's red hair was tied in a bun with a white veil tied to it. Her green eyes were looking somewhat familiar to Harry. Through his black-framed glasses, the man watched Harry closely with his hazel brown eyes. His black hair was tousled and stuck out in all directions, a problem Harry was familiar with.

"How can it be ..." Harry asked, perplexed and paused when he remembered he was dead. Just like Dumbledore had said he would. He had to die. Then, of course, it made sense that he could be with his parents. It was what he'd wanted all his life - that he could have his parents back. Though he had never imagined that this wish would be so easy to fulfil - he just had to die. And from now on, he could live with his parents.

Harry got up and went to meet them. First, he hugged his mother, who kissed his forehead and gently stroked his hair. Then, he turned to his father and hugged him.

"I'm dead now, am I not?" asked Harry. "Just like you?"

"That's not entirely true," replied his father with a knowing smile.

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "Dumbledore said that I needed to die, and Voldemort killed me. How can I not be dead?"

"Ah yes. Dumbledore," his mother replied, nodding pensively.

"We have already spoken to Dumbledore," said his father. "And it wasn't a nice conversation. At least not at the beginning. Even if he always wanted the best, we don't agree with everything he did."

"But that's a topic for another time," said his mother. "Now we don't have time for it. There are other pressing matters."

"But how can I see you and talk to you when I'm not dead?" Harry asked, still puzzled. Suddenly, he remembered the stone he'd taken from the Snitch and held in his hand when he faced Voldemort. Maybe Ginny was right, and this fairy tale wasn't a fairy tale at all? Harry glanced down at his hands, but the stone was gone.

"Harry, there is one thing you need to know," said his mother, tearing him out of his thoughts. "In the end, it is entirely up to you what you want to do."

Harry looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You can stay here with us and live with us," said his father.

"Or you can go back and complete what you just started," said his mother. "I'm sure your friends are waiting for you. They will need your help."

"Friends?" asked Harry. "But I don't have any friends other than Tonks and Sirius, and ..."

"If I wasn't mistaken, I've seen a new friend by your side in the last few days," said his mother with an amused smile. "Or should I better say, girlfriend?"

"You even shared a bed with her," added his father.

"How do you know ..." Harry asked, dumbfounded, slightly blushing.

"How do we know? We are your parents. Even if we can no longer watch over you down there, we can do it from up here." said his mother with a sly smile. "And I have to say, we are very proud of you. You've become a pretty remarkable young man."

"And considering what your newfound girlfriend is doing right now, she's a remarkable young woman," his father added.

"What ... what is she doing? I hope she's safe ..." Harry stuttered.

Pulling a crystal ball from her purse, his mother motioned Harry over. "Just look."

Harry stared into the crystal ball and gasped for air. The Hogwarts students and Order members were battling Voldemort's Death Eaters. There was no telling who would win. But as long as Voldemort was immortal, they didn't stand a chance in the end, did they?

Suddenly, Harry saw a mane of red hair waving through his field of vision. And indeed, there was Ginny with the Gryffindor sword in her hand. Together with a boy, whom Harry recognized as Neville Longbottom, and a blonde girl, she was sneaking up to Nagini behind Voldemort's back.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled as she lunged at Nagini with the sword while her two friends distracted Voldemort. Despite his fear that something might happen to her, Harry was proud of Ginny and wished he would have a chance with her after defeating Voldemort. If he went back now, he would be alive again, and the prophecy would not have been fulfilled yet. Furthermore, the element of surprise would be on his side.

"Harry, you won't be alone there. You can make a lot of friends if you take the chance," his mother said softly.

Harry nodded. "I need to hurry. They need my help."

"I knew you would make the right decision," said his mother proudly, taking him in her arms. "As much as I would've loved to have you here, it's not where you belong yet."

His father wrapped his arms around him. "Take good care of her, Harry. She's a redhead. You'll never find a better one."

Harry grinned and pulled away from his father. Raising his hand to wave goodbye, Harry said, "Until next time!"

"There's no need to rush about it," his mother called after Harry, putting her arm around her husband's waist.

Slowly his parents and the deserted beach were fading away, giving way to a mixture of swear words and spells that were traded heatedly.

** Harry & Ginny **


Unnoticed by friend and foe, Harry stood in the middle of the battle and looked around. He didn't know how long he was gone, but it couldn't have been that long. In the place where Voldemort had stood earlier, Nagini now lay in her own blood, her severed head only a few meters away. Obviously, the crystal ball had shown the truth, and Ginny had managed to kill the snake.

The Death Eaters were outnumbered, and the students and Order members slowly pushed them back against the stands. Surrounded by Hogwarts students, he spotted Ginny, side by side with Neville Longbottom and this blonde girl. They fought two Death Eaters and held up bravely. Ginny's face was twisted in pain, and she was holding her hip with her free hand, where she was obviously bleeding.

Harry pulled out Dumbledore's wand and was about to step in to help her when he spotted Voldemort. Standing in the middle of the battlefield, he watched his Death Eaters fight and obviously didn't like what he saw. Voldemort pulled up the left sleeve of his robe, revealing his dark mark on his forearm. With a devilish grin, he tapped the two-headed snake with his wand.

Harry's foreboding became true when more and more Death Eaters arrived at short intervals and joined the battle. Within a few seconds, the tide had turned, and the light side was outnumbered.

Time for Harry to act.

"Tom Riddle!" he yelled to get his nemesis' attention. And indeed, Voldemort looked around searchingly. His red eyes widened in surprise when he saw Harry.

"Harry Potter!" thundered Voldemort. "You're getting on my nerves. You should be dead."

"Oh, Tom," Harry replied in a sarcastic tone. "That was another mistake of yours. You had two chances to kill me and failed twice. You won't get another one."

Voldemort took a few steps towards Harry, his face contorted with anger, and paused as Harry raised his wand.

Apparently, Voldemort recognized the wand because he stared at it in disbelief. "That explains why the old fool didn't have his wand with him when he died."

Smiling, Harry spoke, "I've been the master of the Elder Wand ever since I defeated Dumbledore in a duel. And because the cloak and the stone are also in my possession, I am the Master of Death."

"You believe in fairy tales?" Voldemort scoffed, but the flicker in his eyes betrayed his anxiety.

"Maybe they're fairy tales, maybe not," Harry replied. "We will see."

"Even the Elder Wand can't help you to defeat me, Harry Potter," Voldemort sneered.

"I'm pretty sure it can," Harry called, noting that the battle had stopped. Everyone present watched the duel between him and Voldemort closely. "Do you still believe you're immortal, Tom? That's another of your mistakes."

Voldemort shot Harry a suspicious look.

"Your Horcruxes are all gone," Harry said, unable to hide a smile as Voldemort froze at the word Horcrux. Obviously, he hadn't expected that someone would find out about his secret. "The diary, Slytherin's locket, the ring of the Gaunt's, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, Nagini ... every single one has gone. And when you killed me earlier, you destroyed the one Horcrux you've never planned to create."

For a moment, Voldemort eyed Harry as if he didn't believe him, then he shot Harry a triumphant look. "You're wrong, Harry Potter. I knew all along that you were mine."

"Even the prophecy is on my side," Harry said unflinching, without taking his eyes off Voldemort. "There would be no prophecy if you could kill me so easily. How many Muggles and wizards did you kill, Tom? Was there a prophecy for any of them? No. For me, it is different. The very fact this prophecy even exists means that I will win if I make no mistake. And I made no mistake. You are mortal again like everyone else here, and your time is up now."

"None of this is going to help you," called Voldemort heatedly. "All good things come in threes. This time, you won't come back!" cried Voldemort triumphantly.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted in an attempt to disarm his opponent as something unexpected happened.

The green light of the killing curse collided with the red disarming spell.

The disarming spell worked like a shield and reflected the killing course. Voldemort's eyes widened in horror, and his jaw dropped as he realized what was happening. With no chance of avoiding his own killing curse, he fell to the ground with a barely audible thump and was dead on the spot.

Speechless with astonishment, Harry stared at the lifeless body in front of him. Shivering all over, he could barely grasp what had just happened.

There was a cry of joy, immediately followed by roaring cheers. Harry looked around into the cheering faces of the students and Order members. He barely registered the remaining Death Eaters, who disappeared one after the other with a soft pop.

"Harry!"

He looked up to see his godfather step towards him. His robe was torn, his temple was bleeding, and he stared at him with moist grey eyes.

"Sirius! It's good to see you again," Harry exclaimed, relieved his godfather was still alive.

The man stormed the last few steps towards Harry and took him in his arms, growling. "Harry, it was a very bad idea to turn you in. How could you be so stupid?"

Harry started laughing. The tension that had been weighing on him in the past few days had suddenly been lifted, and he found Sirius' rant hilarious. "What did you expect? That I'd sit comfortably in this grim old place and wait for the Ministry to deliver your head to me. I thought you knew me better."

"You're a brilliant idiot," Sirius replied, grinning. "And to be honest, you did exactly what I feared you would."

"Harry!"

Harry turned towards the voice and spotted Ginny a few feet away, staring at him in disbelief.

"You're alive?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yes. I'm amazed myself," Harry replied, giving her a crooked smile.

"And you knew all along that you were going to die?" Ginny asked, looking Harry in the eye while walking towards him.

"Not all the time, but..."

"I'm glad you came back. You're back, aren't you?" Ginny asked, glancing at him as if he were a ghost.

"Yeah, I think so," Harry replied, a little confused by the question.

"Good," Ginny said with a relieved sigh. "I would have missed you." Leaning her head against his chest, she held him tight.

Relieved to find her alive, Harry returned her embrace and looked down at her, smiling.

Looking up into his eyes, Ginny rose to her tiptoes and kissed him firmly on the lips. Harry returned the kiss, gently at first, but when Ginny softly sucked his lower lip, and her tongue blandly asked for entrance, he couldn't hold back. Opening his mouth, he surrendered to the dance of their tongues. He had never kissed a girl before, but the feeling was so overwhelming and natural...

"Ehem."

The cough next to him made Harry suddenly remember Sirius. Obviously, Ginny had heard it, too, because she let go of him, blushing slightly.

"You are welcome to introduce us," hinted Sirius with a big grin. His eyes briefly widened when he recognized Ginny. "Ah, Miss Weasley. Nice to meet you again. Seems we can skip the formality and proceed to the more interesting questions. How did you get to know each other?"

"It was a chance encounter. We met at Grimmauld Place 12," Ginny explained, and Harry nodded in confirmation.

"Well, well. I left the boy alone for merely two days, and he is taken," Sirius said, shaking his head. His eyes suddenly widened, and he muttered, "Damn it. For merlin's sake. We have to .. the Talk."

Harry blushed, and Ginny giggled. "There's no rush. We just kissed for the first time."

"Good." Sirius let out a sigh of relief. "Then I only have one more question, and you are free to proceed with your...err, activities. What exactly did you mean with the Horcrux he never planned to create?"

"Oh, that..." Harry looked at Ginny. "That ... I'll tell you later. Both of you. When there aren't that many people around."

Nodding in acceptance, Ginny smiled at him as Harry noticed a group of redheads approaching them. Following his gaze, Ginny swallowed. "Oh. My family."

Nervously, Harry started to count. Clearly, Ginny had not exaggerated. Next to her parents, Harry spotted six brothers eying him openly. Seeking help, he shot Ginny an alarmed look. "Should I be worried?"

However, Ginny just looked into his eyes and said with a smile, "Everything will be well!"

*** The End ***

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