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Harry Potter and the Serpent's Coven | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Fluff, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: R Reviews: 90 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated in over 2 years *** Harry Potter realises that returning to Hogwarts for his final year is the only way he will succeed in his quest to destroy Lord Voldemort. It is a year of darkness, horror and new discoveries. Ginny Weasley is not only the witch who possesses Harry's heart, but also the true source of his strength as a wizard. Together, they will find new powers within themselves and each other, and find that there are some things that even the darkest magic cannot break. Hitcount: Story Total: 170702; Chapter Total: 3900 |
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The ticking of the clock in the Gryffindor common room had never particularly bothered Ron until now. At this moment, he would have liked nothing better than to pull it off the wall, smash it to pieces and throw into the fireplace. Not a trace had been seen of Harry or Ginny for many hours now, and for once, he had decided to follow Hermione’s example of using N.E.W.T revision to pass the time and take his mind off the events of the day. He was actually surprised at how much knowledge he had been able to absorb without even realising it, but that clock, reminding him of the sluggish passing of each second, was driving him mad. After his sister and his best friend had disappeared together that morning, he had managed to persuade the Headmistress to allow the two of them some time alone, but now it was late in the evening, and he thought at least that one of them could have come to offer him a few words of explanation. Hermione could tell when his thoughts were drifting to this matter, and couldn’t deny that her natural curiosity was allowing her to sympathise. “Ron, you’re doing it again,” she muttered, barely glancing up from her revision notes, “I’m sure they’ll show themselves before long. Do you honestly think that Harry would let us worry like this now that Ginny’s come back?” “Absolutely,” Ron replied without a second thought, “I wouldn’t put anything past him. You’d have thought that after everything that’s happened, the least they could do is show their friends a bit of solidarity. In fact, if they don’t appear in the next five minutes, I’ll exercise my right as a prefect to patrol the halls at night.” Hermione was rolling her eyes, but she couldn’t help finding Ron very attractive when he decided to exert his authority. There was also part of her that was every bit as impatient to find out what had happened. “Oh, sod it then, let’s just go!” she exclaimed, grabbing him by the arm and carefully avoiding Crookshanks as she pulled her astonished boyfriend out through the portrait hole. “I must admit, this is quite an adventurous attitude you’re taking,” grinned Ron as he struggled to keep up with Hermione’s brisk walking speed. “Well, anything to stop you complaining is all to the good,” she replied. They passed along corridors, up and down staircases, through halls and passageways, checking classrooms and empty studies as they went. The teachers and Aurors making their regular nightly rounds all recognised the two of them as prefects by now and allowed their presence to go unchecked. “Never seems exciting anymore, does it?” Ron remarked wistfully, as they exhausted the possibilities of yet another corridor. “What are you talking about?” replied Hermione, sketching out a mental map of Hogwarts to see which parts had still to be searched. “You know, there’s no need to hide from teachers, no threat of punishment. I actually used to think that the courage of a Gryffindor could be measured by how badly you could annoy Filch during the night without getting caught.” “All part of growing up, Ronald,” she sighed. As they stood on the ground floor, gazing at the vast structure that loomed overhead, Hermione began gritting her teeth in frustration. “There must be somewhere I’m overlooking!” she hissed. “Well, do you want to split up and look again, or shall we summon the D.A and send out a search party?” “What did you…? The D.A…” Hermione replied, before clarity overcame her, and she kissed him savagely on the lips, “Ron, you’re a genius!” Trying to get his head around this kind of praise, he hastened after her as she went flying up the stairs. It was a little frightening to see just how accurately Hermione could predict the movement of the staircases, never once pausing on her ascent through the castle. “Would you just…slow…down for one…moment?” gasped Ron, “If you’re…going…where I think…you’re…going…” “Yes I am,” she said, “Where else could they be so well hidden?” As they reached the seventh floor, Hermione stopped to consider the situation, Ron pointed out exactly what she was thinking. “You do know that if they are in there, we’ll still have to wait until they want to leave.” “Yes, indeed Ron, I had thought of that,” she sighed, before looking back at him with a grin and a raised eyebrow, “All depends on what they’re doing in there, I suppose.” A look of genuine alarm spread over his face as he glared at her. “Don’t even think that,” he muttered. Her smile widened. “Do you want to go back and let me wait for them?” she enquired. “Ooh, no!” he replied quickly, “No, no, no, we’ve come this far, and I’m staying put!” They stood against the wall in silence, both attempting to appear more unruffled than the other. “They probably aren’t in there at all,” said Ron at last, “Just you wait, we’ll probably find that they’ve gone back to Gryffindor while we were out on this wild goose chase.” “If memory serves, it was you who suggested this night time stroll, so don’t…wait a second…” Her eyes were fixed on the stretch of wall ahead of them, where the outline of a doorframe was appearing. “Ron,” she began slowly, “Did you ask the room to become anything?” He shook his head. “Nope, you?” A door handle had now appeared. “Alright, listen to me,” she whispered in quick, harsh tones, “You are not about to start shouting the odds at them! They’ve been apart for a long time, and they probably had a lot to talk about, and that’s why you stopped all the staff from bolting after them in the first place, so whatever happens, just stay calm!” “What do you mean?” he replied, outraged at her accusations, “I’m perfectly calm! I’m the picture of ‘calm’! Why would I be angry? All I want to know is what she was doing over the past couple of months and what the hell happened this morning.” Hermione studied him for a moment. “Well, as long as you’re sure you can be mature and understanding about this…” “Yes!” he hissed irritably. They braced themselves as they watched the handle turn and the door slowly open. Whoever was on the other side was obviously being as cautious as they were. Then, sure enough, Ginny’s features appeared from behind the door. “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe and well!” beamed Ron with somewhat too much enthusiasm, “We were so worried!” He looked sideways at Hermione for approval before continuing, as Harry also emerged from the room. “There you are, Harry!” he said with the same, almost painful smile, “You know, for a while, I thought we’d never…” Ron then broke off, his face suddenly frozen in an image of pure horror. “Oh…my…!” he gaped, allowing his eyes to expand, “Oh, bloody hell! You’ve been doing it, haven’t you?!” “Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, “You’re not exactly being…” “Hermione, you don’t understand! It’ll take me years to get that image out of my head! Oh no, oh no…” He was now pacing back and forth, massaging his temples furiously, while Harry and Ginny couldn’t help but stifle laughter. “Ron, listen to me…” began Harry at last, advancing on his friend. “Get away!” he warned fearfully, backing off a few steps. “Look, maybe you’d better go back to the dormitory and get some sleep,” Hermione suggested, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. Giving her a vaguely startled look, he nodded and headed back towards the stairs. All they managed to catch from his rhetorical mutterings were the words “…Lockhart, first thing in the morning…!” She turned back to Harry and Ginny with an expression of humble apology. Harry had stopped grinning, and was instead looking deeply puzzled. “Okay, I can understand him jumping to conclusions, but…how could he have been so sure?” Hermione shook her head, smiling a little at his ignorance. “Harry, your t-shirt is inside out,” she said calmly, “Your neck looks like its been battered by a pair of Quidditch Beaters, Ginny’s still carrying her shoes, and the two of you are glowing like a couple of fireflies. I was just hoping that Ron wouldn’t notice.” “Do you think that now would be a good time to have a word with him?” he enquired. Hermione paused to think for a moment. “Actually, on this occasion, I think it would be best coming from Ginny. You two come with me and wait in the common room while I go and get him.” It was approaching midnight when they were all at last assembled, silent as the grave, around the fire in Gryffindor tower. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife, and only Ginny was daring to attempt eye contact with any of the others. Though Ron was determined to study each ember of the fire in depth, she decided that enough was enough. “Ron, I need you to look at me,” she said, slowly and carefully, “You may not want to, but the sooner you do, the easier it will be.” With the greatest of efforts, he managed a wavering sideways glance at his sister. “This is obviously difficult for you, but I know you’ll feel better if we talk about it,” This was the first time she had ever spoken to him in such a way, but his sulky expression held fast. “Look, you might think I’m being completely childish about this, but I’ll deal with it in my own way and in my own time,” he grumbled. “But this is the whole point!” she snapped suddenly, “You shouldn’t have to ‘deal’ with it; you should be able to accept it!” She composed herself and softened her tone. “Honestly, Ron, nothing has changed. Harry’s still your best friend, and I’m still your sister. Nobody is about to take that away. He didn’t take advantage of me, or violate my honour or anything.” “That doesn’t make it alright for me though,” Ron retorted, returning his attention to the fireplace. “Oh, for f…!” “Ginny, I think the delicate touch was working better,” cut in Harry as he rose to his feet and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “Mind if I say something?” Seeing her gesture of consent, Harry turned to the wizard who had been the closest thing he had ever known to a brother. “Ron, I know what you’re thinking, and that’s got nothing to do with Legimency. You still see Ginny as the little girl who came to see us off on the train for our first year at Hogwarts, and I can imagine it’s tough for you thinking that she’s all grown up. I’d probably be the same if I’d ever had a sister. All I can say is that about twelve hours ago, I thought I was going to die. She didn’t just risk her life to save mine, but she killed a Dementor! Ask any teacher or Auror in this school…well, any living ones anyway, and they’d tell you that was impossible! Do you still think she can’t make her own decisions or take care of herself? I know I wouldn’t want to be the next person to raise their wand against her!” He could see that Ron understood the point he was making, but still there came no reply. “Now, like she said, nothing has changed. I’m not trying to steal your sister away from you. If you think I’m not good enough for her, then come out and say it. I’m not about to start discussing what we got up to, so there’s really no reason for you to panic. It happened because we love each other, simple as that.” He felt Ginny hugging his leg as she heard these words. Everybody in the room could almost hear Ron gritting his teeth as he struggled with himself. “Alright!” he fumed, turning to the three of them, “You’re right, you’re all right! I shouldn’t have reacted like that!” Coming to the conclusion that breathing was perfectly acceptable, he slowly exhaled and managed a brave smile as he continued. “Of course you’re good enough, mate. No one else would be, mind you, so I hope you know how lucky you are.” Harry looked down at Ginny and stroked her hair. “Don’t worry, I know,” he said. Hermione, who by now was feeling very guilty of neglect, rushed to her boyfriend’s side and held him in a vice-like grip. “Oh Ron, you’re now officially my hero!” she squealed. “I’ll choose to believe that for now,” he coughed, recovering from the surprise attack. As they all sat down once again, Harry addressed them all. “And now, I believe the floor belongs to Ginny.” There was another deadly hush as all eyes turned to the youngest Weasley. She wasn’t looking back at them at all. Instead, she took out her wand and gazed at it intently, as if only just seeing it for the first time. Her mind was travelling back as far as she could remember, and all the while she pondered the appropriate place to begin. Would they understand? She could only hope so. The silence seemed to be lasting forever, and Ron was just about to speak when Ginny finally opened her mouth. “I know I haven’t been myself for a while now,” she said quietly, “and I know you all deserve an explanation. Hermione, I know I owe you and, well, Crookshanks an apology.” At the mention of Hermione’s cat, they all suddenly looked down to see him brushing affectionately against Ginny’s leg. She gently picked him up and placed him on her lap, where he made himself thoroughly comfortable. “I do hope he forgives me,” she smiled, as she tickled him softly under the chin. “Looks like it to me,” remarked Ron, sharing the surprise of the other two. Ginny’s solemn face returned as they watched the fire’s reflection in her eyes. “There are things I can’t tell anybody, and you’ll just have to forgive me for that. All I can do is try and explain what’s been happening since July.” Even with the understanding she had acquired, this wouldn’t exactly be an easy task. It was as if Ron, Hermione, and even Harry were standing on the other side of a solid brick wall, and now it was down to Ginny to knock out a few bricks to allow them at least clear glimpse of her side. There were indeed things she couldn’t tell them, for their own safety if nothing else, and once again, she could only hope they would understand with the passing of time. “When Dumbledore died, I knew things would change. I just didn’t realise how big the change would be.” They were hanging on her every word. All three could tell that there was something different about her now. She seemed to be commanding the kind of riveted attention that only the late Headmaster could. “I don’t blame Harry for telling me that we couldn’t be together,” she went on, “He was scared, just like everybody else. Looking back, I think it was all for the best. Without him, I had lost that feeling of safety that I had for the brief time we were together, so I decided that I had to make myself feel safe. Like Harry had to be strong without Dumbledore, I would have to be strong without Harry.” Harry wanted to interrupt, but he couldn’t. Ginny would continue until she was finished. No more would she be talked over. “Even when we were together again, I knew that something was wrong. When Percy was killed, it all became so much more real. The war was on our doorstep, and I just had to be alone to think. I hated that I couldn’t let anybody near me at times, but something told me I shouldn’t. Something was happening to me, something I really wasn’t ready for, and it was making me ill.” The memory of Ginny vomiting on the train came back to Harry and made him shudder with concern. “I was feeling weaker with each passing day, and when I…attacked Crookshanks, I want you all to know that I wasn’t myself. While I was in the hospital wing, I knew I needed answers that nobody else could give me. So I disappeared, and could only hope that I would still have friends when I came up for air. One thing was for sure; I couldn’t let Harry fight alone. He wanted to protect me, but I wanted to do the same for him.” “So I started to read. I would read day and night, although it wasn’t long before I would lose track of time completely, almost as if time didn’t really mean anything. I dug so far into the roots of magic that I lost myself. The last thought I remember having before I began to fall was that Hermione would’ve been proud of me, but the part of me that clung to Harry allowed me to find my way back.” Ron didn’t even care that he was denied a mention. His eyes just got bigger and bigger as he listened. “It wasn’t just reading about spells and incantations; I wanted to see the meaning behind it all, and it was then that I became frightened of what I had found. The words were sinking deep into my mind so fast that I started to panic. While I was practising the magic, it would somehow ‘happen’ before I was even ready. The knowledge within the books was scaring me and there were times when I would throw a book as far from me as I could, then fall into a corner and hide. Sometimes I wished I had never read…so…terrible…” Her words were beginning to choke her up, but she resisted as Harry attempted to comfort her. “I’m alright, honestly,” she insisted, blinking a few times, “I just had to learn the lesson that when you ask magic so many questions, you won’t always like the answers. What I needed was control, and that’s not something you will find in a Hogwarts library book, not even in the restricted section. So I followed Professor McGonagall one evening, and waited until I knew her study would be empty for the night. I’d overheard her giving the password, so I could sneak in and take lessons from the only wizard who could help me.” She moved her eyes quickly over their questioning faces and nodded. “Dumbledore, or rather, his spirit, taught me how to harness all the things I had learned. To begin with, he was actually worried that anyone so young would even want to know these things, but he understood my motives. What I didn’t understand before is how your own mind can be your worst enemy if you cannot control what lies inside it.” “I would begin by silently enchanting objects, first with my wand, then eventually by the motion of my hand as I held the enchantment steadily in my head. As time went on, I found that I could perform certain magic by thought alone, although I can still find that a little overwhelming. The powers in our world have never stood still for anybody, and I still only know a fraction of what there is to know. But as I learned command of the magic, I learned command of myself, and finally I understood what had been happening to me, which is what I set out to do. Maybe the most important lesson was that once you see the meaning behind the magic, you can use it in whatever way you choose.” At that point, she blinked and her face appeared in the fire in front of them, and then gave a wink and a smile before dissolving. Completely unfazed, she rubbed her eyes and returned at last to her stunned audience. “I studied the roots of the Dark Arts, although Madame Prince has obviously been very careful about the reading materials allowed on the subject, so much of it came from Dumbledore. He talked in such a way as to ensure that I would never in fact be swayed by the Dark Magic I studied, but after a few weeks, he was concerned that I had what he called ‘the look of emptiness’ in my eyes. I asked what his next lesson would be, and…oh, this I will never forget.” For the first time since she began speaking, a smile crept over her face. “He told me to go to the library a find a book on the history of Quidditch. When I questioned him, he smiled and said it was about time I learned the importance of just being myself. I finally gave in and took his advice, but the more I tried to be myself, the more upset I became that I was living like that. Last night, I tried to distract myself from my loneliness by studying more complex Quidditch plays and formations, but then I couldn’t help thinking about Harry. I gave up and cried myself to sleep.” Listening to this, Hermione looked to be on the verge of tears herself, and Ron pulled her into a comforting hug. “When I woke up this morning, I heard a lot of excited voices, and something made me want to find out what was going on. I kept myself hidden from view, but just as I was feeling the fresh air on my face for the first time, I could hear people shouting that Dementors were invading Hogwarts. Through all the noisy panic, I could hear somebody pointing out that a certain wizard, who didn’t seem to be quite right in the head, had decided to challenge the lot of them.” She turned to Harry and gave him a look of gentle concern that was clearly handed down from her mother. “You’re a hero, Harry,” she said, “but I wasn’t about to let you die.” Clearing her throat, she looked around on them all. “You’ll all have to trust me that I can’t tell you more about what’s happened to me. I wish I could.” Hermione was looking very puzzled, as she realised that there was a question she should have asked a long time before. “One thing I don’t understand,” she began, “If all those Dementors were here, then who’s guarding Azkaban?” “That’s what you didn’t understand?” asked Ron in surprise, trying to overlook to ominous implications of the question itself. Harry seemed to be the only person with a clear answer. “It’s like she said, the war is on our doorstep,” he murmured darkly, “I think it’s safe to assume that the Ministry are no longer in control, and every Dark Wizard held in Azkaban is now free.” For the next few moments, none of them even dared to breathe. They all wanted to find fault with his logic, but it was simply a truth to be acknowledged. Life at Hogwarts had never been what Harry would call ‘normal’ (the angry, rational voices of his aunt and uncle would be forever ringing in his ears), but now it had changed beyond all recognition. Now they could only look to each other. “Look, do you think we could discuss this tomorrow?” Ron begged, “I’m so tired I can barely think straight.” Despite a slight roll of the eyes, Hermione muttered her agreement. As the four of them rose from their seats, Harry decided that some positive action was most definitely required. “Hermione, I need you to gather the D.A for a meeting tomorrow night. There are things that need to be said, and a lot that needs to be done.” She nodded, but smiled suspiciously back at him. “Are you planning anything in particular?” she asked. “Nothing special,” he shrugged, “Just wanted to breed some killers, that’s all.” As they reached the foot of the stairs to their respective dormitories, Ron gave Hermione as affectionate a goodnight kiss as he dared in front of the other two. There was a certain degree of frustration coupled with this. There were things he wanted to say, but the time just never seemed right. Ginny and Harry slowly made their way up the separate staircases. From the moment Ginny passed out of sight, Harry felt an aching sensation inside that grew stronger with every step. He had an annoying suspicion as to what it was, but did his utmost to dismiss it. This was stupid, he thought. He may as well have been alone for every moment he had spent under his aunt and uncle’s roof, and he had undergone enough anguish during his life to be able to cope with something like this. Suddenly, the ache became almost a stabbing pain, and he stopped in his tracks. Maybe he just needed a sit down or something. He could always see Madame Pomfrey about it in the morning. Without even turning around, he slowly retraced his steps down the stairs until he reached the bottom again. He stepped backwards into the common room, and then jumped out of his skin as his back encountered somebody else’s. They both spun around, and he came face to face with the witch that he quite simply couldn’t be without. “Oh, sorry!” he blurted quickly. “N...no, no, it’s okay,” she replied. “I…I really…I just - ,” “- couldn’t,” she said, completing his sentence for him. In the fire lit solitude of the common room, they shared a comforting embrace, each of them taking their time to feel complete. “Well,” said Harry finally, “I suppose that sofa’s comfortable enough,” “Sounds fine to me,” she replied, stroking the back of his neck. Glancing back at each other, they suddenly drew wands and a large thick quilt appeared, completely covering the sofa across the room. “That was mine,” Harry grinned. “Only because I was using my wand,” she whispered. As Harry lay down under the quilt, he lifted it up for Ginny to slide herself in beside him and tucked her in as though she were some delicate flower, knowing all the while that she was anything but. There was a question that came to mind that would have to be asked before he could possibly sleep. “Ginny?” he whispered cautiously. “Hmm?” came the reply. “What exactly did you mean by ‘control’? You did seem to be a bit vague about it.” She smiled and withdrew an arm from underneath the cover. Then, with a firm grasping motion of her hand, she summoned the flames from the fireplace and shaped them into a ball of fire in mid air. As she made a few subtle gestures with her forefinger, the flames separated and spelled out the word ‘CONTROL’ that burned brightly before their eyes. A moment later, she summoned the flames towards her in long fire serpent and extinguished it in a single breath as it flowed into her hand. “Goodnight, Harry,” she whispered into the darkness. |
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