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SIYE Time:9:50 on 29th March 2024
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Darkness Rising
By hgromance

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Category: Post-OotP, Alternate Universe
Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, James Potter, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Other
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance
Warnings: Death, Disturbing Imagery, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Sexual Situations, Violence
Rating: R
Reviews: 245
Summary: ON HIATUS FOR NOW. Sequel to Innocence Lost. Read that one first. Harry's fifth year. More surprises are in store for Harry and company. Harry has to learn how to handle an evil teacher, an evil wizard who wants him dead. He finds the answers to why he and Ginny can practically feel the others' emotions. Oh, and Harry's parents are alive? He has a sister?
Hitcount: Story Total: 108047; Chapter Total: 4795





Author's Notes:
Some fluff, romance, and dark stuff




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Chapter 15



Monday morning found the group watching the Staff Table with bated breath. Midway through breakfast their patience was rewarded. Professor Tort shot out of her chair, turned to the side and lost the contents of her stomach in a most spectacular way, over and over again. The professors on each side of her jumped up out of her way.

The students' reactions to this were varied. Some shouted. "Eeew! Gross!" Others left their tables to find a loo, hands on their stomachs. Still others laughed. This was the group Harry and his friends fell into.

Finally, Tort was handed her water goblet. As soon as the professor took a drink, she straightened up and appeared to be completely well, as if nothing had ever happened. The mess cleared away, the Defense professor sat down and started on her meal again. Three forkfuls later, she jumped up again to be sick. As before, she was fine after drinking from her goblet. One more round of eating, vomiting, and drinking took place before the pranked professor left the table for the morning.

"That worked better than I thought," Fred laughed.

"Oh, imagine the Galleons to be made, dear brother, when we mention our demonstration as proof of their effectiveness," George said a bit dreamily.

"You can't sell that stuff!" Hermione hissed.

"Why ever not? It's safe enough."

"Because...because...it's against the rules."

"I was under the impression," Harry jumped into the conversation, "you were going to get her during class."

"We figured if we did that, not everyone would have the pleasure of witnessing the poor professor's misfortune."

After that, they split to their own classes.

++++

Harry couldn't believe it. Finally, he was back to his regular schedule. That didn't have him all excited but it was also the start of the Quidditch season, and that did. He hadn't been on his broom in quite a while and he was looking forward to the first game, against Hufflepuff.

No one, not even Tort could dampen his enthusiasm. Snape tried, though it didn't seem he tried overly hard. In fact, ever since Snape had given Harry the antidote, Snape had backed way off his insults. Instead of finding a reason to scold him or using him as his guinea pig, Snape rarely spoke to him, scolding him only when Harry truly deserved it. No one could figure it out.

"What is up with him? He didn't once insult your Dad like usual. Did someone slip him a Cheering Charm or something?"

"Don't know, Ron, but he definitely hasn't been his usual greasy self, at least towards me."

The two turned to Hermione for an answer. Noticing, she smiled but shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't have the answer, either."

"Too bad you can't go looking in the library for it," quipped Ron which earned him a smack to the back of his head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, huffed, and stalked off, Ron trailing behind her, begging to explain what he'd said wrong.

Catching sight of Ginny, he hurried to her, wrapped her in his arms, and swung her around, laughing. Putting her down, he leaned in and kissed her thoroughly.

"Wow, what a greeting," whispered a third year.

"Oh, that's so romantic," sighed a sixth year.

"If you ask me, public displays of affection are disgusting. Especially when it comes to those two." Pansy mimed gagging.

"Well, no one asked you," retorted the sixth year. "Just because no one will ever be that happy to see you again is no reason to be bitter."

All the while, neither Harry nor Ginny had come up for air. Finally, several seconds later, they parted.

"Wow, what a greeting," Ginny unknowingly parroted the third year. "What happened to put you in such a happy mood, luv?"

"Nothing really," Harry shrugged. They didn't move from that spot, arms around each other. "It's just...Quidditch begins tomorrow. You realize how long it's been since I've flown?"

"Oh, I realize exactly how long it's been."

He heard it in her voice, saw it in her eyes, and felt it through their connection. They were no longer discussing flying. While they still hadn't gone all the way with their physical relationship, it had been some time since they'd...enjoyed themselves. First, school kept them too busy then Harry had been poisoned. Suddenly, yearning filled him. Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers, breathing in her intoxicating scent. He swallowed with difficulty.

"Tonight."

"Promise?"


Harry tightened his arms and pulled her flush against him. "What do you think?"

"I think I get your...uh...point."

A quickly exchanged kiss later, they were at the table enjoying lunch. With every touch, the need to be together grew, and it didn't help when Ginny rubbed her leg against his or when Harry lightly ran his fingers along her inner thigh, up only so far, before running them back down the top to her knee again. Even though it was torture, neither seemed able to stop touching the other.

The bell, signaling the end of lunch, spared them from any more torture.

++++

That afternoon, Harry vowed nothing was keeping him from Ginny later on. He was going to sit in his chair, read the bloody chapter that Tort assigned and keep out of trouble. The Defense professor tried his patience, making unkind remarks about 'some students and their need for drama'. It was difficult but he'd managed it. For the entire double period, his mouth remained firmly shut.

Exiting the room, Ron turned to Harry with grin. "You really got to her today."

"Now, why can't you do that every class, Harry?"

"I guess I had special motivation this time."

"What would that be?" asked Ron, oblivious as usual to the undertones in Harry's answer. "Quidditch tomorrow?"

"No, I wasn't thinking of Quidditch."

"Then what?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ronald, are you really that dense?" Hermione stalked off muttering about needing saving from thickheaded boys.

"What did I say now?"

Harry shook his head. "You don't want to know. I thought you two were progressing. You still haven't really shown her how you feel, have you?"

"Not really. Every time I try, I chicken out."

"Do it soon or she's going to get tired of waiting."

Spotting Ginny, he took off in her direction.

++++

The group retired to the common room after supper to get some homework done even though it was Friday evening. Since Harry, Ron, and Ginny were on the Quidditch team, they were going to have less time for homework. Even though, Fred and George were also on the team, they spent their evening taking orders for their newest line of products, Skiving Snackboxes. Apparently the demonstration with Tort was enough.

Occasionally, Hermione would glance their way and huff but they weren't doing anything technically wrong, so she couldn't do anything about it.

Harry felt extremely pleased with how things were going. HEDGE was coming along with more members every week. Just the previous night, they'd started another new spell, which several mastered immediately. He and Ginny continued improving their apparition. With enough of a pull on the other's magic, they discovered they could do it without a sound. He'd even managed to keep his mouth shut during Defense class. Yes, things were going well and were about to get better.

Harry dropped his quill, stoppered his ink bottle and rolled up the parchment he'd been writing on. "That's it. I'm done for now. It's kind of loud in here, can't concentrate. I'm calling it an early night."

"That sounds like a good idea," Ginny agreed, perhaps a bit too much. "No telling what time our illustrious captain is going to want us to get up in the morning."

Ignoring the snickers and Hermione's knowing smirk, the two stuffed their school things into their bags, bade the others good night and left, anticipating the activities to come.

Barely inside the sitting room, Harry and Ginny dropped their bags and wasted no time in getting deeply involved with other things. Without breaking contact, they stumbled their way to the bedroom.

++++

"We really need to do this more often," she said in between breaths.

Ginny lay on her side, one leg rested between Harry's, one arm thrown over his heaving chest, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Most definitely," he murmured before kissing the top of her head.

Across the room, on the dressers, Ginny spotted their ceremonial dagger, chalice, the bell and the red ribbon used to bind their hands together. In between the dressers, stood Harry's Firebolt, which was also used during their ceremony. Thoughts began to race through her mind.

Sensing her pensive mood, Harry pulled her closer. "What's wrong?"

"Just wondering if you've ever regretted this whole Union thing. I mean, you're stuck with me. What if you come to resent the fact you never got to do much dating or to experience life on your own before getting married. What if...you come to resent me?"

Harry rolled onto his side to look her in the eye. "Never. I've never regretted anything to do with you. I'm glad it happened. I'm not stuck with you. I consider myself lucky to get to be with you. You've brought so much to my life, Gin. Remember what it was like inside our bond before we touched, how white it was, no color at all? That's what my life was like. Then I got to know you, fell in love with you, and suddenly color was everywhere I looked. Bright, shining colors, all of it because of you."

Harry nudged her chin upward so she had to look at him. "Remember the summer before last, on the way to the Portkey for the Quidditch World Cup, we had to get up early? I called you a ball of sunshine, do you remember?"

"Yes. How could a girl forget a compliment given in such a sarcastic way?"

"Yeah, I know, sorry. It was early. I meant it, though. You are a ball of sunshine. You brought warmth and life to me before I fell in love with you."

Reaching out, Harry picked up the Memory Frame Ginny had given him for his birthday. He watched it cycle through the memories before turning it for her to watch and spoke again.

"How could I ever regret any of this? I love you too much to regret anything."

"Oh, Harry," she sniffled. "I love you, too, so much. I just worry sometimes that we're too young for all this, to love this much."

"That sounds like your Mum talking, or Ron. We're just getting a head start on life, that's all. Besides, we have something to be jealous over, remember?"

Laughing and sniffling, Ginny nodded. "Thanks, Harry. You know, that was kind of nice. You're usually the moody one and I'm the one to comfort you."

"Yeah, um, how'd I do?"

"Perfect," she whispered and gently grazed her lips over his. "Just perfect."

++++

The next morning, Harry couldn't keep the smile from his face. After 'making love' to his wife, which he refused to call it anything else, even if it wasn't truly making love, having a heart to heart talk in which he was able to allay her fears, and then 'making love' twice more during the night, Harry felt nothing could bring him down. So it was that two balls of sunshine sat at the table that morning, Harry across from Ron and Ginny across from Hermione.

Ron watched the couple, disgust at their bubbly mood evident in his face, until he noticed Harry's plate. Hermione watched, eyebrows high, as Harry and Ginny loaded plates, more so than usual.

"What?" Harry asked, catching her expression. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, lost a lot of energy last night," Ginny quipped and earned herself another of Harry's crooked grins, her favorite.

"What could you possibly have been--," started Ron. One glance at Ginny's quirked eyebrow and Harry's grin, he shook his head. "Never mind. Don't want to know. But it better not have been what I'm thinking."

"Or what, dear brother? We're married, remember? We can if we feel like it and last night we certainly felt like it."

Leaving it at that, she turned back to her plate. Ron pushed his away, got up and headed for the pitch.

Hermione watched the couple shovel in their breakfast and wondered.

"No, Hermione," Ginny sighed without looking up. "We didn't. I'm getting tired of him trying to tell me what to do so I just let him think what he seems to want to think."

Ginny glanced up to Harry then, saw he was okay with her saying more and turned back to their friend.

"It's getting harder not to go that far, though. It's like..." she paused, trying to find some way to describe what she was feeling.

"...it's a foregone conclusion it'll happen sometime before the end of this school year," Harry filled in. "You know the muggle saying 'like moth to flame'? That's what it's like. It's like being pulled along toward something and not being able to stop or even wanting to."

"Exactly."

"You should talk to Madam Pomfrey, then, so you can be prepared."

"Yeah, probably wouldn't be a bad idea."

++++

Harry actually closed his eyes, briefly, as he soared out onto the pitch. He felt so free with the wind in his hair. In such high spirits, he could have flown without his broom. Getting into position, he glanced down at Ginny. He didn't understand how he could love her as much as he did, but everything he'd said to her was true. As if sensing his stare, she looked up, blew him a kiss and turned back as the whistle blew to start the game.

Harry watched as the Gryffindor Chasers wove their way around the Hufflepuff Chasers as if the 'Puffs were hovering in place. He watched as the Quaffle was shuffled between the Chasers and then Ginny scored through the middle hoop. After letting out a joyous cry, he got down to the business of looking for the Snitch.

Thirty minutes into the game, the score 100-90 in Gryffindor's favor, Harry finally spotted the Snitch. Aimlessly, he wandered in that direction. The other Seeker kept glancing his way, no doubt to see if Harry had seen the Snitch yet. When he was close enough, Harry dove for it. The Hufflepuff startled, quickly regained himself and dove for the golden ball but was already too late. The winged prize angled off in another direction, forcing Harry to pull the same maneuver he had against Charlie during the summer, the last time he'd gotten to fly. Minutes later, the Gryffindor section let loose some loud cheers. Harry had chased down the Snitch and caught it.

Ginny caught up to him, gave him a hug and an intense kiss before backing away and letting the rest of the team congratulate Harry on his spectacular catch. Floating to the ground, the entire team became surrounded by well-wishers. After a few failed attempts, the team made it to the changing rooms and showers.

Harry took his time, hoping the rooms cleared quickly. He wanted to celebrate with Ginny, alone. Ron chanced a look at Harry and left without saying a word. Harry assumed he was still thinking of Ginny's comment earlier. Fred and George finished at the same time and left, still discussing the success of their sickness sweets.

He'd just fastened his jeans when the door opened and Ginny walked in.

"Someone in here feel like a private celebration?" she asked, alluringly.

His response was to pull her into the room and press her against a wall. "Funny, I had the same idea."

Forty-five minutes of intense snogging and other...satisfying things later, Harry knelt where he had been standing, Ginny still in his arms. Breathing raggedly, neither could speak. After taking a few moments, Harry tried.

"I don't know what it is, Gin. It seems the more we're together like this, the more I want it, need it, like I can't get enough."

"I know. I feel it, too. Maybe we went too long in between. I mean, the last time was back at the beginning of the year."

"Yeah, could be."

Just then the door to the main locker room opened and Ron called out. "Hey, Harry, Ginny, you in here, still?"

Both Harry and Ginny froze for a fraction of a second before separating themselves. Thankfully Ginny was dressed. Harry had just tucked in his shirt and was about to zip and fasten his jeans when the door to the showers opened and Ron stepped in.

Ron's face turned stony at the sight before him. Fuming quietly, he watched as Harry finished getting squared away. "Ginny, there's something Harry and I need to talk about."

"So talk. I'm not going anywhere." To prove it, she stood facing him, arms crossed.

"You have something to say, Ron, say it. I don't want to miss lunch."

"All right, fine. How dare you do that with my sister, and here no less? What are you going to do if she gets pregnant? You're too young to raise a kid. What about Voldemort? Have you just forgotten him? You think he's going to just leave you alone?"

Seething, Ginny stepped in front of Harry before Harry could react. She stomped over to her brother, fisted a hand and punched him in the stomach. Doubled over, Ron held on to the wall for support, while he tried to breathe as shallowly as possible.

"I'm going to say this once, so listen up, brother mine. Harry and I are married so what we do doesn't concern you. If I decide I want to shag Harry in the Great Hall during breakfast, I will and you can't do or say anything about it. Now, go back and take a second look at what you actually saw, not what you think you saw."

Turning back to Harry, she grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Come on, I'm starving. Expended a lot of energy again." The last she said with a smile.

The two walked out, leaving Ron in considerable discomfort.

++++

Later that afternoon, Harry began to feel extremely thirsty. No matter how much water he drank, it was never enough. Soon after that started, he began to feel weak again. He couldn't draw in enough air.

"Harry? You okay?" Ginny watched him struggle for breath. "Do you have your pills?"

Pulling out the pills Harry hadn't needed in a long while, Ginny shook out two and handed them over. After a third one without any improvement, Ginny started to worry.

"Harry, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey."

Nodding, he stood, leaning heavily on Ginny, and headed for their room. By the time they reached the painting entrance, he was sweating, trembling and complaining of stomach cramps.

Upon reaching the Hospital Wing, Harry's temperature had gone dangerously high and his muscles twitched.

"Madam Pomfrey!"

Ginny's terrified cry brought the nurse running. Motioning to a bed, she began waving her wand over him.

"Same as before?"

"No. Before it was only trembling, weakness, vomiting, sensitivity to light and his pulse was too fast. Now, he's complaining of severe stomach cramps. He's sweating but he's burning up. He was having trouble breathing. When three pills didn't help, I brought him here."

Pomfrey rushed off to get a cloth and eucalyptus oil. After dampening the cloth, she handed it to Ginny. Before she could get it in place, Harry rolled over and was ill.

"I'll add vomiting to the list of symptoms along with muscle spasms. Anything else?"

Ginny thought back. "He seemed extraordinarily thirsty. Probably weak, too. He could barely stand upright."

The door to the Hospital Wing flung open admitting their group of friends. Rushing over to Harry's side, several voices called out for information.

Crying out in pain, Harry curled into a ball on his side, arms wrapped around his middle, eyes shut, teeth clenched against the fire in his gut. His entire form twitched from the muscle spasms giving him the appearance of trying to rock away the pain. His sweat soaked clothes clung to him. He trembled from a raging fever, his face flushed red. He rolled onto his other side, moaning in pain, still holding his stomach.

"It's happened again, hasn't it?" whispered Cherish, as tears began to run down her face.

Neville stepped up behind the younger girl and put his hand on her shoulder. Cherish turned and wrapped her arms around Neville and cried silently.

"Back up, all of you. I need room to work."

The first thing the nurse did was send out a Messenger Patronus to each of the individuals she'd contacted before. The second thing she did was cast a Cooling Charm on Harry.

"We need to get his body temperature down, quickly. Remove his shirt and jeans. I'm getting a basin and a cloth. We're going to sponge bathe him with cold water and keep doing it until his fever breaks."

As Ginny removed the necessary clothing, Pomfrey retrieved basins, water, and cloths. When the nurse returned, she cast an Impervious Charm on the sheets beneath Harry and quickly set to work on his legs.

"Don't be afraid to use a lot of water," she instructed Ginny, "I've charmed the basins to remain full. You take care of his upper body and I'll do his legs."

Ginny, wincing at the freezing temperature of the water, dunked the cloth, squeezed it slightly and began rubbing his chest, squeezing it again to release the water. Ginny flinched every time Harry did, at the cold against his hot skin.

Suddenly, Harry let out a cry, curled in on himself and rolled onto his knees, one arm around his middle. The hand of his other arm clenched the sheet in a death grip. Pain-filled screams tore from his throat.

The Hospital door opened to admit Dumbledore. Hurrying to the boy's side, he looked to the nurse for answers.

"I don't know, Albus. Some of the symptoms are the same as before but most aren't. I've no doubt it's poisoning, though. And yes, I've contacted Severus, Pomona, and the Potters."

They watched helplessly as Harry continued to scream from pain, his voice beginning to strain. Their only hope, now, was that he'd soon pass out so they could continue their water therapy.

The door opened again and Pomona and Severus entered the ward.

"Again, Headmaster?" Severus asked, surprisingly lacking the disdain he usually had when speaking of Harry.

"I'm afraid so, Severus. The symptoms are mainly different but a few are the same as the time before."

Taking the list of symptoms from the nurse, Severus nodded to Professor Sprout. "We'll begin searching."

++++

An hour later, Harry had passed out. Ginny and Pomfrey resumed their bathing of his body. It seemed to help while they bathed him but once they stopped, his temperature would shoot upward again.

The door opened a third time. Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks came in. Lily rushed to her son's side, a sense of deja vu sweeping over her. Tonks followed. The men stayed behind to speak with the Headmaster. Before they could say anything, Molly and Arthur entered, having been contacted by Lily. Arthur stayed with the other men while Molly joined the others at Harry's side.

"Albus?" James questioned.

As they discussed the situation, Lily took over the bathing from Poppy, tears silently making tracks down her cheeks. Hermione attempted to take over for Ginny but the younger girl refused to stop. For once, Hermione didn't press the issue.

Sometime later, Harry began muttering, incoherently at first. Soon enough, it became quite clear. Harry had never revealed any of the details of what had happened between himself and Quirrell and that made hearing it now, as though he were still eleven, all the more eerie.

"You? Was suppos' to be Snape," he slurred. "The Stone. Voldemort! I'll never be like you! Why would I join someone who killed my Mum and Dad? Fire! There's fire everywhere! I'm stuck. I didn't mean to hurt him! All I did was touch him! I swear! I couldn't let him have the Stone, though. If he got it, he'd give it to Voldemort and then Voldemort could come back."

Instinctively, Ginny took his hand and ran her fingers through his hair. "You did fine, Harry. He didn't get the Stone."

"No?"

"No."

" 'S good."

Harry dozed and Ginny continued washing him down.

++++

"No! I didn't do it, I swear!"

The sound jolted everyone's attention back to Harry. The self-doubt and entreaty in his voice broke everyone's heart to hear. It hit Ginny especially hard and tears she could no longer hold back, fell.

"I just found them here. They were already like this. Just because I'm a Parselmouth doesn't mean I did it. I'm not the Heir of Slytherin. Am I? How do I know? Maybe I did do it. I spoke Parseltongue without knowing how, maybe I did do it. If I did, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. They're going to kick me out and send me back to Aunt Petunia's and Uncle Vernon's forever."

Dudley, feeling extremely guilty, tried to leave but no one would let him. As before, Harry hadn't spoken of what had transpired in the Chamber. His arms and legs twitched as he played the scenes out in his mind.

"No, not Ginny! Ginny! Ginny! Don't be dead. Please, don't be dead. You! You can't have her! I won't let you! Oh, no. A basilisk. How am I going to fight a basilisk? Fawkes? Run. Where? There's so many tunnels! Maybe this way. A dead end, no! Oh, please, let this work. Okay, that was too close. Ginny! You're so cold. Please don't die. It's all my fault. I saw Lucius put that diary in your cauldron. I just didn't know what it was. I'm so sorry. Please be okay. I need help."

Suddenly, Harry cried out in pain and grabbed his arm where the phantom fang was.

"I may die but you're going with me. I told you, you weren't going to get her."

He stabbed the air, repeatedly, until Ginny grabbed his hand. "Harry, it's okay. I'm okay. It's over," she repeated the words he'd once said to her, "It's just a memory."

Hearing her voice calmed him and again, Harry dozed. The third round came an hour later. By now, his voice was all but gone.

"Aunt Marge and that stupid dog. I can't stand her. Always going on about Mum and Dad, insulting them, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia letting her. Sirius Black is after me? Black was supposed to be their friend but he betrayed them! He killed them! If I ever see him, I'll kill him! Wait. Scabbers is Pettigrew? Pettigrew was the one. Professor Lupin!"

Sirius had cringed at the hatred he'd heard in Harry's voice. Remus, knowing what was happening in Harry's mind, cringed as well. He came very close to killing Harry and Hermione after he'd transformed. Remus hadn't realized it but he was holding on to Tonks and she to him.

"Sirius! No! Dementors! Hermione, what is that thing? We've gone back in time? We did it. We saved Buckbeak! Sirius can use Buckbeak to get away! Oh, no. The dementors! Expecto Patronum! Bye, Sirius."

"To this day, I still don't know how he managed to drive off all those dementors," Lupin ruefully commented.

Harry fell silent once more, everyone watching and waiting, knowing what was coming next. He thrashed a bit before the words came pouring from his heart, his very soul, and out through a throat so raw, barely a sound escaped.

"I didn't do it. I swear I didn't put my name in. Why won't anyone believe me? Ron, you're supposed to be my friend. Ginny, you believe me, don't you? Hermione? I'm so dead. I'm never going to survive this stupid tournament. Gin, how did I get so lucky to have you still like me? I'm glad I noticed you sooner, rather than later. Imagine all the time lost if I'd waited until much later."

Ginny sat on the bed, leaned over and kissed his still too-hot forehead. "I'm the lucky one," she whispered.

"No," Harry moaned. "Get out of my head! Leave me alone! It can't be real. I can't be seeing Voldemort. I can't be dreaming of him. ZACHARIAS, NO! I should have paid attention. Why didn't I watch? I looked away for only a second. I didn't want him to get hurt. Mum and Dad's graves. No, we can't be. No, don't do it. Please, Peter, don't do it."

Harry's hand jerked to the shoulder Pettigrew had stabbed to draw Harry's blood.

"No, not Fleur! Let her be! I'm the one you want! No! Stop it! Stop it! Let her be! A prophecy? It's talking about me? Snape's been helping me? You're not Dumbledore! Where's the real Headmaster? Ginny, I'm sorry. We should have gone back."

He cried out in pain, wrapping his hands around his left knee, rocking back and forth. "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I've put you in danger, again. I should stay away from you, from everyone. All I do is get people around me hurt or killed. Please say you forgive me, Ginny. Please. But if you can't, I understand. It's only a matter of time before you decide I'm too dangerous to be around. Just ask Uncle Vernon. He tells me that all the time. When that happens, I'll let you go. I promise."

"There's nothing to forgive, Harry," Ginny whispered through the tears still falling, "I'm not going anywhere."

Heart breaking for all the little secrets Harry had kept hidden, all the thoughts he'd had and dared not mention, Ginny looked to the others. Not a dry eye remained in the room. Even Snape's eyes glistened some, though it was obvious no tears had fallen.

The mention of his uncle took Harry back to times before Hogwarts, his delirium forcing him to relive some harrowing experiences. Occasionally, he lifted his arms in supplication or flinched from a blow.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon. I didn't talk to anyone. I swear. The teacher talked to me... I didn't mean to do better than Dudley, Aunt Petunia. Please don't tell. I'll do better next time. I'll make breakfast and supper for a whole month if you'd please just not tell... I didn't mean to do it. I don't even know how I did it. One minute her hair was brown, the next it was blue. Don't hit me, please, Uncle Vernon."

Harry grabbed at a spot on his back where a faint white scar could be seen. He lay there a moment holding that spot and rocking to and fro.

"I don't know what happened, honest. The glass was there and then it wasn't. It was like magic. The snake got out and Dudley fell in. I don't know where it went or how it came back. Don't lock me up in the cupboard again."

Hearing those words made Dudley wince. Knowing everyone was looking at him, he explained in a flat voice.

"It was my eleventh birthday. Mum and Dad were taking me to the zoo. Harry had to go because no one could watch him. We were looking in the Reptile House. Harry was at this snake's cage and I pushed him out of the way. Suddenly, the glass was gone, the snake slithered out and I lost my balance and fell in. The next thing I knew, the glass was back and I got stuck. Dad locked Harry in that cupboard a long time. He didn't get anything to eat for at least a day. Everyday, he let Harry out for school, then it was back inside after. It was summer holidays before he was completely free of it. When that first letter came is when Harry finally got a bedroom. Because of the way it was addressed. I'm not proud of how I acted and I hate what Dad did to him."

"It's okay, Dudley," James came over a laid a hand on the young man's shoulder. "You were following the example set before you. The important thing is, you're not like that anymore."

"If I was just following along with what I saw, why didn't Harry turn out differently? I mean, you'd think he be all mean or something, but he's not."

"That's because Harry's very special," Dumbledore replied, wearily. "Harry was born with a very powerful weapon to use against Voldemort. He was born with an abundance of love. To feel and give. Love is an emotion Voldemort never had, therefore doesn't understand, even fears. It is love that will ultimately be Voldemort's downfall and it will be Harry who wields it."

Everyone in the room turned back to the boy on the bed. No one wanted to admit it but they were all thinking the same thing: if he survives.
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Sink Into Your Eyes is hosted by Grey Media Internet Services. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related characters are trademarks of Warner Bros. TM & © 2001-2006. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions on this site are those made by the owners. All stories(fanfiction) are owned by the author and are subject to copyright law under transformative use. Authors on this site take no compensation for their works. This site © 2003-2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Special thanks to: Aredhel, Kaz, Michelle, and Jeco for all the hard work on SIYE 1.0 and to Marta for the wonderful artwork.
Featured Artwork © 2003-2006 by Yethro.
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