|
Darkness Rising | ||||||
|
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: 108181; Chapter Total: 4952 Author's Notes: The rest of the Christmas hols. |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
Harry woke in the wee hours of the following morning. After the discussion the previous evening, there was a lot to think about and his brain insisted on thinking about it at that moment. Knowing it was no use lying in bed any longer, he carefully slipped out of bed so as not to wake Ginny, threw on a dressing gown and wandered to the window. Snow covered the empty street below. I can't believe there's actually a door at the Ministry that contains love. How is that even possible? If it hadn't come from Dumbledore, himself, I wouldn't have believed it. Still not sure that I even do. I really don't like the idea of Ginny having to be there when I confront Voldemort. Then again, she'd never stay behind anyway. Harry rubbed his face with both hands and sighed. Thoughts of his Aunt took the place of Voldemort. Uncle Vernon's dead. I'm having a hard time believing that too. As awful as they were and as much as we disliked each other, I never wanted to see them get caught up in all this. Dudley didn't seem to blame me, but we'll see. Maybe it was a cover while everyone was there. And now, because of the danger, they can't even hold a funeral for him. Maybe a memorial service here would be sufficient. It's never enough. I'll never be able to do enough, for anyone. Arms encircled him from behind and gathered him close. A soft kiss was planted at the nape of his neck, making him shiver. He turned to face Ginny, a slightly pained expression on his face. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." "S'okay," her voice thick with sleep. "I'd rather be here when you needed me. Let me guess, your mind just wouldn't shut off." The half-grin she adored so much reappeared. "You know me too well." "To know you is to love you, Harry. Never forget that. Besides, with you, there's no such thing as 'too well'. Ron and Hermione would say it's more like 'never enough'. So tell me what that brain of yours is deliberating." "Just thinking about what Dumbledore told us. That door at the Ministry, the prophecy about you, Uncle Vernon dying." Ginny pulled Harry back to the bed and forced him to sit with his back braced against the wall. Sitting next to him, she hooked an arm through his and held him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. After a few lengthy minutes, she gathered herself. "Hey, it's Christmas. Let's try to go one day without thinking about all that. This is a day to celebrate and that's exactly what we should do." Ginny jumped up and dug around in her trunk. She brought out a box no bigger than a teacup, wrapped in red and gold. With a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye, she held it out to him. Harry stared at it a second before taking it. At Ginny's encouraging elbow, he quickly untied the gold ribbon, made quick work of the red paper and opened the box. Inside, a golden ball the size of walnut rested. The moment his fingers touched the ball it began to hum. As soon as it was free of its confines, the wings spread and began rapidly flapping. Between the wings, images appeared, images Harry immediately recognized. He watched as his dad zoom around, throwing a Quaffle to Cherish so she could score. The scene changed slightly and he saw his mum in the stands with Hermione cheering them on. Then it flickered and he watched himself battle Charlie for the Snitch. A thought occurred to him and he looked at Ginny in surprise. "This isn't...is it?" "The Snitch you caught during that game? No," her eyes twinkled with mischief, her smile widened. "No, this one was your first ever. Remember that one?" Harry snorted. "How could I forget it? I nearly swallowed the thing. But how did you...?" "I went to Dumbledore and told him what I wanted to do for you. He suggested we use this Snitch. He collected and made copies of everyone's memories, like he did with the photo frame, then put them into the Snitch. You're the only one who can activate it." "Thank you, luv. This is brilliant. The first Snitch I ever caught and the first game I ever got to play with Dad. This means a lot." Harry gave her a crushing hug and a very warm kiss. Ginny quickly pulled away so as not to get distracted. "Okay," she said with relish, "Where's mine?" Harry had to laugh. So typically Weasley. Never get in the way of a Weasley and presents. He got up and pulled out a small velvet bag from his trunk and handed it to Ginny. He chuckled again when she grabbed it from him. Loosening the string, she upended the pouch into her palm and a miniature Firebolt fell out. It had been crafted with care, she could see. Every detail the real Firebolt had was on the miniature version. Upon noticing the clasp at the end, she gasped. Jumping up, she found her charm bracelet. It was the final thing she was missing. She started to clasp it to her bracelet but Harry stopped her. "Wait a second before you do that. There's something about it you should know." Harry took the tiny broom from her, held it in his palm and, picking up his wand, cast a spell. "Engorgio Scopa. Be sure to use 'scopa' or you might enlarge something along with the broom." The broom grew to a normal sized Firebolt. With a flourish, he handed it back to Ginny, who took it, staring dumbly at it. "This, this, this isn't a real broom...is it?" "It had better be." Ginny gave a quiet squeak and ran her hands along it. She noticed the clasp had completely disappeared. Another little squeak and she mounted the broom and flew tight circles around the room. Jumping off the broom, she launched herself at Harry, forcing him down on the bed and landing on top of him. Laughingly, she planted kisses all over his face. "I guess you like it, then?" Harry barely got out. "I do. Very much," she then kissed him thoroughly. Falling into the kiss, it was a handful of seconds before Harry realized he needed to show her how to get it back to charm size. Pulling away from her tantalizing mouth, he forced his throat to work. "Now, in order to shrink the broom-" "What if I like it the way it is at this very moment?" she asked, wiggling and pressing feather light kisses along his neck. He groaned as his body responded even more to her blatant innuendo. Harry allowed himself to be pulled back into a kiss another few seconds before pulling away again. "Gin. Luv," he shakily said, "you need to know how to shrink it again." "Oh, I've got ideas on how do that but I really don't want that happening just yet." She continued her assault on his neck and jaw. "You know, until now, I never realized how arousing riding a broom could be." Harry groaned again. He quickly flipped them over and proceeded his own assault. As they celebrated their first Christmas together as a married couple, Harry totally forgot about showing Ginny how to get her broom back to miniature size. ++++ Much later that morning, the delightful smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes reached Harry's nose. He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes to find Ginny watching him. Coloring slightly in embarrassment he arched an eyebrow in question. "You look so peaceful when you sleep," Ginny replied. "I don't get to see that very often." Harry blushed even more but was saved a response when a light knock sounded on their door. After he called out to enter, the door opened and Cherish stuck her head in. "It's Christmas morning, breakfast is ready and presents are waiting. Mum told me to tell you to get your lazy arse up." A voice in the vicinity of the foot of the stairs called up. "I did NOT. I told you to see if they were awake yet." "Well, you're awake," continued Cherish, "so hurry it up, already. Stop being a lazy prat and get up." "You can shut the door anytime now." When she didn't move, he gave her a look that clearly said 'I warned you' and slipped one bare leg, up to just above the knee, out from beneath the blanket. He snickered the moment she realized what he was about to do. "Git!" she called as she exited and slammed the door. Ginny busted out into laughter. Minutes later, as Harry was retrieving clean clothes, she scolded him. "Harry, it's not nice to do that to your sister," she snickered some more. "You should be ashamed of yourself." "Oh, yeah. Never mind that I tried to warn her," he said with mock sarcasm. "You want the loo first?" "No, go ahead. I'll wait." Her broom, still racing broom size, caught her gaze and she pointed in its direction. "You never did tell me how to shrink it back." "I seem to recall you saying something about having ideas on how to accomplish that and that you didn't want it shrunk at the time." Harry waggled his eyebrows for effect. Ginny blushed. "I did say that, didn't I? I meant it, too. Seriously, though, what's the spell?" Harry picked up his wand from the bedside table and pointed it. "Just a simple 'Reducio'." The broom shrank back to its mini size. Harry picked it up and handed it to Ginny, who promptly hooked it to her charm bracelet. "Now you have a way to escape when the need arises." "Thanks, luv. It must have cost a fortune, though." "You're worth it." He gave her a quick kiss and headed for the loo. ++++ Half an hour later, the two deposited their armload of presents under the tree before heading to the kitchen. "FINALLY! Took you long enough. I'm starved." Though she complained, she wore a small smile. "Somehow, Cherish, I don't think you would have wasted away." Her response was to stick her tongue out. "Oh, look, Lily," Sirius cracked, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye, "They're finally acting like brother and sister. Such a beautiful thing to see." Everyone laughed at that. With the Potters, young and old, Dudley, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore present, the table filled quickly. Kreacher filled the table to overflowing with huge platters of bacon and sausage, eggs in various forms, blueberry pancakes lining one-half a platter while banana nut pancakes lined the other half. Pitchers of pumpkin juice and grape juice were also placed on the table along with a pitcher or two of milk. "Dudley, will your mum be joining us?" asked Lily, not able to say her sister's name after what she'd said to Harry the previous night. "I asked her but she didn't say anything," he shrugged, "Maybe she will, eventually." Platters were passed around and plates were filled. Conversations flew around the table, fast and furiously. Harry scooped up a bite of eggs and paused once they hit his tongue. Flavors bounced off his tongue like never before. One look at Ginny told him she had noticed. Chewing slowly, he finally swallowed. "Kreacher?" "Yes, Mr. Potter, sir? Is there something sir be needing?" "No, I was just going to ask you if you'd always fixed the eggs this way." Dumbledore had been keeping a discreet eye on the two of them, therefore was not surprised at the looks of awe on their faces. Himself, he noticed nothing but a bit of regular pepper. He found himself envying Harry and Ginny their new sense of taste. Having heard Harry's question, the others' glances bounced from Harry to Kreacher to their plates and back, occasionally taking a bite as if to figure out what the problem was. "Yes, Mr. Potter. These be the same as always." "They're very good." The elderly house-elf beamed with pride and bowed. "Kreacher thanks you, sir." A similar conversation took place when Ginny took a bite of banana nut pancake. It was revealed Kreacher had used a bit of saffron. Its slightly bitter, honey taste enhanced the banana flavor in the pancakes. Several bites into their breakfast, Harry and Ginny simultaneously stopped, sniffed the air, and turned to look over their shoulders. Those who had noticed the odd behavior, glanced in the same direction the couple were looking but couldn't see anything, nor could they smell or hear anything. "Mum," Harry whispered, "Aunt Petunia's on her way down here." Lily immediately got up and squeezed another chair in next to Dudley then went to fetch tableware. By the time she returned, Petunia stood in the doorway. "You're welcome to join us. There's more than plenty. It's Christmas. Can we put aside our differences for at least one day?" Petunia sniffed then nodded. She filled her plate and glanced at Harry. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she was able to speak. "Harry, I want to...apologize...for what I said to you last night. It was wrong of me. I realize that if Vernon hadn't been so stubborn, he'd be alive now. None of this is your doing. I hope someday you can forgive me." Harry stared at his aunt in shock, forkful of pancakes halfway to his mouth, syrup dripping. If there was one thing he thought he'd never hear from her, it was an apology. She hadn't met his eyes as she spoke but it didn't matter. At that moment, he knew their relationship would be a bit warmer from here on out. Harry felt a gentle upward pressure on his chin to close his mouth and then on his hand, still in midair. He hadn't even realized he hadn't moved since his aunt had spoken. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying. "Well, I have to admit that shocked me. I never thought I'd hear those words out of your mouth. However, people change and if you truly mean what you just said then the least I can do is try. I'm sure you realize it won't happen overnight but given time, I'd like to say that I'll be able to forgive you." Petunia looked at him then, the boy, now young man, who had been the epitome of everything she'd been jealous of. She'd heard what Dumbledore had said last night regarding this new prophecy. She also remembered the old prophecy. If she ever had any doubts that it referred to Harry, they were now gone, for he'd just demonstrated that love, that generosity of spirit and heart that he had in abundance. For the first time, she smiled a genuine smile in his presence, slight though it was. ++++ "Oh, Harry, this is wonderful," Lily said as she flipped through the photo album. Harry had gathered photos, beginning with his first Hogwarts year, of himself with Ron and Hermione, and a few with him and Ginny last year, and put them in a brown leather photo album. He knew how much his mum missed watching him grow up so he did the next best thing. "Oh, look at you!" Lily exclaimed at a photo of him from second year. "All dressed up in your Quidditch robes. How handsome. You're the smallest on the team." Harry ducked his head in embarrassment over her gushing statements. Ginny couldn't help but add her thoughts in. "The Youngest Seeker in a Century I would think would be small. And yes, I always thought he looked good in Quidditch robes." Her voice took on a fake swooning quality. "Made my heart just flutter." Harry didn't know what made him say it but the words were out of his mouth before he could call them back. "Back then, I just had to be in the same room with you." As everyone laughed, Ginny turned on him and drew her wand, waving it to her left. A book from one of the shelves came flying across the room. Demonstrating why he was the Youngest Seeker in a Century, he caught the book in one hand before it ever got close enough to do any damage. Once again, Harry opened his mouth and the wrong thing came out. "Hey, it's not like I told them about the butter dish." All eyes were on the couple wondering where things were going. Ginny's own eyes narrowed almost threateningly before she suddenly smiled devilishly. "At least I stayed on my feet and didn't land in anyone's lap." Harry's face turned all sorts of red this time. He still blushed when he thought about how klutzy he'd been that day and every day he was around her. He had his own close encounter of the butter kind. He ran his hand through his hair before rubbing his eyes. "Okay, I'm going to shut up now." "Wise decision, son. You never want to try to outdo a redheaded witch. They'll win every time." "And don't you forget it," Lily put in, causing more laughter. "Ah, I was going to hand Harry a shovel," Sirius mockingly complained. "I wanted to see how deep he'd get. The way he was going he was going to need it to dig himself out." "Anyway...," Harry said, trying to draw attention away from himself. "Here, Harry, this is for you," Dudley said, handing Harry a box similar to the ones dress shirts often came in, just slightly deeper. Opening the box, he looked down and was left speechless for the second time that morning. Slowly, he brought out a pale blue baby blanket, its edges burned and its middle full of holes. Lily recognized it. "Oh, your blankie! You loved to be wrapped up in that particular one. You always seemed to know when you were surrounded by it. It soothed you for some reason." Still unable to speak, Harry reached into the box and removed an envelope with familiar loopy handwriting. "Ah, the letter I left with you," Dumbledore explained. "In it, I explained what I believed had happened and asked Petunia to raise you." Harry placed the letter onto his lap, with the blanket, and reached in again bringing out the final items. The pale blue onesie looked tiny. He couldn't believe he'd ever been that small. His dad's voice broke the silence. "You were wearing that outfit that night. I'd forgotten how small you were." The final item in the box was a stuffed wolf. Harry stared at it a moment before he made the connection. His gaze landed on Remus. "Your doing, I suppose?" Remus smiled. "Of course. If that old fleabag," he pointed to Sirius, "got to be your godfather, I wanted you to have something to remember me by." "FLEABAG? That's a little bit of pot and kettle, don't you think?" "You've never once heard me complain of fleas, whereas I remember you quite distinctly saying something about fleas being murder." Lupin tossed back, referring to Harry's third year when Pettigrew had been discovered. "At least I wear a collar," pointing to his tie and then to Sirius' lack of one. To an outsider, that conversation may have sounded harsh and patronizing, but Harry knew it was all in fun. He'd heard Sirius and Remus crack on each other many times. "I know these things don't mean so much now that you have your family back, but I thought you'd want them, anyway." "No, Dudley, thank you. I'm glad to have them back. It's still a part of my past that I didn't have before and everything else was destroyed. It really does mean a lot." The remainder of the day was spent singing carols, telling of favorite Christmases past and enjoying each other's company. ++++ The following morning, Dumbledore took Harry and Ginny up to one of the uppermost rooms. It was devoid of fabric or anything that wouldn't bounce sound waves. "Let's work on your hearing first." Albus began. "I'm going to play some music at normal volume but it will bounce around the walls in here, mimicking sound's actions at the castle. Now, underneath this music, I will have another sound, keeping the beat. What I would like for you two to do is focus. Focus your minds on hearing the single sound beneath all the others. When you hear it, give me a signal of some kind but don't speak. Understand?" At their nods, Albus tapped the wireless radio and a classical piece began playing, complete with stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass, drum bangs and cymbal crashes. He tapped another box for the other sound to begin playing. After fifteen minutes of extreme concentration, neither had been able hear the secondary sound. Truth be told, all the bouncing sound and high concentration were beginning to give them headaches. "Don't be discouraged. This isn't an easy task. We'll take a short break and try again." Thirty minutes later, the music was on and Harry and Ginny were back attempting to decipher the secondary sound. Once again, no luck They continued off and on all day and still had gotten no further. "We'll try again tomorrow. For the rest of the evening, I want you to relax. Don't think about anything serious. Your minds need this time to recover from the strenuous exercises we've been putting them through." ++++ "I hear it!" Ginny yelled excitedly. It was after lunch the next day. They'd been trying this same task since breakfast with only a short break for lunch. "Excellent, Ginevra. Let's see how long it takes for Harry to discover it." They didn't have long to wait. Five minutes later, a proud smile broke out across his face. "It's the ticking of a clock!" "Very good. Let's try a different one." The Headmaster tapped the wireless again and another classical piece echoed around the room. He tapped the second one to begin the second sound. After a couple hours, they had discovered the tapping of an owl on a window. "Well, I have to say you're picking this up quicker than I had expected. Tomorrow, we'll continue with this until you can almost immediately pick out the alternate sound, however, I believe it a good time to begin with your sense of smell." Again, that evening was a reprieve from the exhausting task. ++++ After breakfast, Harry and Ginny were led to a different room. This one didn't have the austere feel the other room had. Overstuffed chairs and couches were present, along with cushioned desk chairs and drapes. In the middle of the room stood a table with several corked vials and writing materials. Dumbledore directed Harry to sit on one side of the table and Ginny on the other. "Now, I want each of you to take the first vial, smell what's inside and write down what you smell. Each vial will have five different scents and you both have the same things in them. That's why I'm having you write down what you smell. The power of suggestion can influence the other." Harry opened the first one, took a whiff and nearly gagged at what assaulted his nostrils. One more tiny sniff and he proceeded to write what he thought was inside. He figured out three but couldn't go any further, no matter how many sniffs he took. Frustration and irritation flared inside and he knew Ginny wasn't having much luck either. Thirty minutes later, Albus called a halt and examined their progress. "Three out of the five isn't bad at all. Would you like to try again?" Not ones for turning down challenges, both nodded their heads. With the characteristic twinkle in his eyes, Albus nodded for them to proceed with the first vial. "Licorice and dirt! Those are the other two scents," Harry blurted out before slapping his hand over his mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell that out. It just hit me." Ginny turned her parchment so Harry could see it. "No worries. I had them down anyway but I wasn't sure if they were right." "Okay, let's continue with the next vial," instructed their temporary professor. Harry sniffed the next one and immediately his nose began to tingle. Well, at least I know one of the scents right off. Witch hazel was first on his list. With each check of the vial, the tingle grew stronger, the more Harry fought the urge. It surprised him he'd managed to keep his nose from exploding thus far. That thought broke his concentration, very effectively putting an end to the battle. The witch hazel won. Overcome by sneezes, he walked away from the table and sat on the couch to wait it out. Ginny joined him there, her hand gently rubbing his back. Dumbledore took one of the chairs. Finally able to speak, Harry accused in a sniffling, watery voice, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" "I did, Harry. When you mentioned your sensitivity to that scent, I thought it interesting. I also thought it important to work on for who knows what else you may find yourself sensitive to and/ or what situation you may find yourself in when you discover it. I thought if you could stave off your reaction, even for a little bit, it may help." "Concentrating on the other scents helped. Once my concentration was broken was when I lost it and started sneezing." "You did well, Harry, for your first attempt and being completely unprepared for it. Why don't we take a short break, do another hearing exercise and then come back to this?" The entire day was spent going back and forth between 'controlling' those two senses. By that evening, the two, exhausted, retired early, successful at picking out specific sounds and breaking down one scent into its myriad components. ++++ They held a small memorial service for Vernon, with everyone saying a few words, and Harry promising to have a proper funeral when it wasn't so dangerous to be out and about. The final few days of the holiday break passed and Harry found it very difficult to say good-bye to his parents. They went to King's Cross early in the hopes to avoid the mass of reporters sure to be lurking about. "I'm being completely stupid, I know," he said as he brushed at a tear that threatened to fall. "No, you're not, Harry James Potter," Lily scolded. "And don't ever let me hear you say that again. I didn't want it to end, either, but it has and it won't be long before we'll be seeing each other again. Sooner than you may think, even." Harry studied his mum and recognized the mischief he saw lurking in the green eyes so much like his own. Unfortunately didn't have time to question her, for flashes began going off. Bollocks! The stupid Prophet. He gave her a quick hug and kiss, a brief hug to his dad and Harry watched as they hurried off to an Apparition point. To avoid the reporters, Harry stowed his trunk and boarded the train. Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Dudley, and Cherish climbed aboard. "Stupid reporters," muttered Harry. "Yeah, always ruining everything," Ginny agreed, sitting in Harry's lap, running her hand soothingly through his hair. "Bloody vultures." Sometime later, they were joined by Fred and George. "Were you successful at what we discussed earlier?" "Yep, got 'em right here, ready and waiting," George patted a sack he was carrying. "Good, start distributing them to those who are interested. Tell them the paper they signed initially for HEDGE extends to this as well. If they're not a part of HEDGE but are interested in doing this with us," Harry pulled out some parchment and handed it to each of the twins. "Hermione charmed these as she had the sign-up. For those who aren't HEDGE members, tell them what signing this entails and go from there. I trust your judgment." After a moment, he added, "I think." An almost unholy light lit their eyes as they left. "Look out, Tort," Harry whispered, "the Rebellion has begun." |
| Reviews 245 |
Previous Next
|
