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Darkness Rising | ||||||
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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: 108186; Chapter Total: 6486 Author's Notes: WARNING: There's a bit more intimacy here. It isn't smutty details but a little more than there were in the other story, I guess it's more their thoughts as things happen. It's the first time they engage in this activity with their bond complete and no, I won't always give these details. Anyway, here we see the solution to the problem presented in the last chapter. |
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Harry woke to find himself in an embarrassing position. Embarrassing only because of the way his body had reacted. He lay on his left side, left arm being used as Ginny’s pillow as her head was tucked up against his chest, right arm encircling her lower back, holding her tight against him. His right thigh rested between hers, pressing rather intimately against her. They were as close to being hip to hip as was possible. Okay, calm down. How do I disentangle myself without waking her up? Wait a minute. Why is she in my bed? Oh, bloody hell, her brothers are going to kill me and I don’t even remember why she’s here! Ginny slowly became aware of where she was. Considering how they were lying, she couldn’t help the feelings stirring in her. Knowing he was just as affected as she was made it very tempting to act on those feelings. Ron was a sound sleeper but Fred and George were not. A lifetime of pulling pranks taught them to sleep lightly. She knew Harry was awake when he took a deep breath. “Morning,” she said softly. “Yeah, um, good morning. Um, Ginny, what are you doing here? Your brothers, not to mention your Mum if she finds out, will kill me.” “Not to worry. They already know.” She snickered at his look of utter disbelief. “Last night you had a bad dream or something. Ron couldn’t wake you. I knew you needed me so I rushed over here. Climbing into bed with you, I sent you all the love I have for you. It worked. Whatever you were dreaming about disappeared in an instant.” “Wait, your mum was okay with you staying with me?” “I wouldn’t say she was okay with it, no. She just didn’t have a choice. Dumbledore told me to stay put, so I did.” Sometime during their conversation Fred and George woke. Fred glanced over at the couple and caught George’s eye, motioning toward the pair. Harry and Ginny were still quite obviously wrapped around each other. “You know George, I’m not sure I’m all that comfortable with their positions.” “You’re quite right, Fred, I don’t think they’re close enough. I think you can still fit a piece of parchment between them. That just won’t do.” At the first sound of the twins’ banter, Harry and Ginny separated themselves, faces burning. When Harry removed his leg from its position, it put them hip to hip and both inhaled sharply at the contact. One of the hardest things either had ever done was roll away from the other. “Oh, don’t mind us--,” “–we were enjoying the show.” “Oh, shut it, you two. I’m going to go take a shower.” Ginny turned back to Harry. “Dumbledore’s probably going to want to talk to you about your dream.” Ginny lingered a second longer. She really wanted to kiss Harry but knew the way they were feeling, it wouldn’t likely end there, even with an audience. Throwing aside the blanket, she got up and walked out the door, sticking her tongue out at her brothers in the process. Harry sat up, keeping the blanket over his lap, and watched her leave. He really wished it had been just the two of them in the room. It had been a while since they’d had a good snog or even just time alone together. “Do you think it wise to keep the Headmaster waiting, Harry?” joked one twin, waggling an eyebrow “Yeah, Harry, shouldn’t you be getting up and taking a shower?” joked the other. “Might I suggest a cold shower?” snickered the first. Harry put on his glasses, glared at the twins, put on his dressing gown. Grabbing his toiletries he headed for the shower. ++++ The families were walking down to breakfast when they met up with a very unpleasant person. Severus Snape had just entered the main doors and froze in his tracks. If at all possible, his face became even more pale. His eyes widened in shock. “No, it can’t be,” he whispered. “You’re dead.” “I assure you, Severus, we’re quite alive.” James said in a slightly sarcastic way. “And this coming year, there’ll be another Potter at Hogwarts.” Severus’ black gaze flew around the group, finally settling on a young teen he hadn’t seen before. His mouth twisted into a slight sneer. “How wonderful. Now, I need to see the Headmaster.” He continued on into the Great Hall. “Well, that went well. I look forward to seeing old Snivellus again.” “James,” Lily warned. “Okay, Severus then.” “Just promise me you and Sirius won’t start pulling any of your pranks.” “Would we do something like at?” James asked, a look of mock offense on his face. ++++ Severus briefly spoke to Dumbledore before leaving the Great Hall. His hands shook, his chest heaved, and his heart raced. How can they be alive? It was bad enough the first time around when she chose that Potter. Seeing them again, it’s like a slap in the face, a reminder of what I can’t have. I’m not sure I can deal with this. Another Potter, oh great. Just what I need. At least this one doesn’t look exactly like one or the other and Lily’s eyes won’t be staring back at me all the time. Severus went straight to his office, closed the door, and leaned against it, trying to calm the turmoil he felt inside. ++++ The next four nights were repeats of the first. Harry would have a vision in which only Ginny could pull him from. Then they’d spend the whole following day looking tired and have very little energy. Tempers were shorter and everyone, at one point or another, had been on the receiving end of one or both of their tempers. Both became pale with shadows under their eyes. They spent a lot of time sitting in the common room, side by side, trying to get comfortable enough to nap, making sure they touched in some way. As she watched the pair struggle through the day, Molly’s mind kept going back to what Dumbledore had said. I believe, through direct contact, Ginny can bring Harry out one of his dreams much faster than anyone else, if not prevent them all together. This Union is unheard of between two this age and in this particular situation, we just don’t know how she can help. Don’t we owe to them to find out? If it doesn’t work, things can go back to how they were. But if it does… As the adults got ready for bed on the fifth night, Molly watched as Harry struggled to drag himself upstairs. This, more than anything else, changed her stance on the sleeping arrangements. Molly found Ginny sitting by the fireplace. Leaning over she whispered in her ear. She watched as Ginny tiredly made her way to Harry, slipped an arm around his waist, propped his arm about her shoulders, and climbed the stairs to his dorm room. She sincerely hoped she did the right thing. ++++ For her part, Ginny couldn’t believe her mum had relented on the sleeping arrangements but she was grateful. She was also grateful she’d already put her pajamas on and that she wore two piece pajamas instead of gowns. “I still can’t believe your mum is okay with this,” Harry said through a yawn. “I know, but I’m not complaining.” Ginny sat on his bed as he got his pajamas out of his trunk and headed for the bathroom. She hadn’t moved when he came back. “Which side were you on before?” “I usually ended up on the left since I would crawl in after you rolled over and gave me room.” Harry blushed. “Sorry. If you’re okay with that side…” Ginny nodded and Harry went around to the other side of the bed. Turning down the blankets, they climbed into bed. Together, they let out a relieved sigh at being able to lie down. Harry lay on his back with Ginny cuddled up close. Within seconds, they were asleep. An hour later, Ron, Fred, and George tip-toed into the room. Glancing at the sleeping forms, they quietly got ready for bed. Surprisingly, Fred and George were okay with the new arrangements. In their opinion, with this Life-force Union that neither had asked for, they were considered married so should be able to live like it. Besides, they knew Harry and Ginny loved each other and knew Harry would never do anything to hurt Ginny. Ron, on the other hand, was having a hard time accepting the idea of them sleeping in the same bed. ++++ Sometime later, Harry’s scar flared again and he began dreaming. Within minutes Fred and George were awake along with Ginny. She slipped her arm under his shirt and stopped with her hand over his heart, sending love to him. Again, within a minute, Harry calmed and started sleeping peacefully. Ginny nodded to her brothers that things were okay. Reluctantly they went back to bed. Ron never even woke up. Ginny relaxed and fell back asleep. ++++ Harry woke to find he and Ginny in the same position they were in that first morning. The problem was waking up the last few mornings in such intimate positions had severely strained his self-control. When Ginny tried to snuggle closer and began kissing his neck, heat filled him to the point of burning, and he knew, brothers present or not, it was going to happen that morning. There already was no turning back. + Ginny woke to find herself wrapped around Harry again and very aroused. The thought of walking away again…she couldn’t do it. She needed Harry. She needed that release and knew Harry needed it too. Wiggling, she tried to get closer to him and began nibbling her way along his neck and jaw. + His lips met her roaming ones in a fiery kiss. Rolling her onto her back, muffled moans escaped from them when their bodies met. Involuntarily, he moved against her, just a little, before forcing himself to stop. His control was slipping fast and he needed to place some charms around them. He braced his weight on one elbow while reaching for his wand with his free hand. Concentrating on the spells he wanted to cast was difficult, for he lost his train of thought every time she moved. Finally, between kisses, he managed to cast the silencing charm around them and a temporary sticking charm on his bed curtains after closing them. He didn’t bother trying to put his wand back. He wrapped her in his arms, under her shoulders and head, wand pointing to the wall. + Ginny couldn’t believe the heat in their kiss. When he rolled her to her back, she shifted around for a better fit, running her hands into his hair. Oh, Merlin, that feels so good. It’s a good thing his mouth still covered mine or that moan would have been more audible. When he moved, she responded in kind. Oh! Oh, yeah, like that! That feels good! Then he stopped. Oh, don’t stop, now! Ginny couldn’t stop. I don’t remember it being this way before. Maybe because we’re wearing pajamas and, well, no one wears anything under them. Maybe it’s the bed, but I bet it’s our bond. Right now, I don’t care. She continued to press upward and kissed along his jaw to his ear and back to his mouth. + After gathering her into his arms, he moved with her. Oh, Merlin, this feels better than before. Oh, yeah! Guess there’s not much in the way of clothing between us, just two thin layers, after all. Mmmmmm. Maybe that’s why it feels so much better. Or maybe because we’re on a bed. Yeah! Yeah! Oh! I don’t know, I don’t care! That was the last coherent thought he had as he sent all his love to Ginny and she reciprocated, heightening things even further. + Finally, he moved against her again. Oh, yeah, just like that! Oh! Mmmmmm. Yeah, right there! Suddenly she was filled with Harry’s love and the sensations became more forceful, more powerful. Oh, Merlin! She sent her love to Harry as he had done for her. Ginny felt it start to build and build quickly. Oh! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! OH, MERLIN! + In a blinding rush, they reached that ultimate high, moans and cries half- muffled as the pleasurable sensations washed over and through them. At the same moment, a few red sparks flew from Harry’s wand, going unnoticed by either of them. The sensations seemed to go on forever. Finally, Harry collapsed on top of her. Ginny held him tightly, both breathing hard, both trembling wildly, both covered in sweat and both their needs completely satisfied. When he could, Harry lifted himself off Ginny, rolled onto his back and pulled her up against his side. “Wow. That was…um…wow,” he gasped. “Yeah,” she panted. “I love you.” “I love you, too.” Realizing he still had his wand, Harry performed an air cleaning spell he’d noticed Molly use before. Then he used ‘scourgify’ to try to clean them up as best he could. When that was done, he released the sticking charm on the curtains and parted them again, a little at first to peek through. He was relieved to note his charms had held considering how distracted he’d been. Lastly, he removed the silencing charm. Placing his wand on the table, he lay back down, cuddled Ginny close, kissed the top of her head and allowed himself to drowse after noticing Ginny had fallen back to sleep. He couldn’t help the thought that entered his mind before falling asleep. If that’s how it’s going to be between us I’d love to do that more often. ++++ At breakfast that morning, James and Sirius continually goaded Severus regarding their school days. It finally got to the point where Severus left the table announcing he’d be in his office. Lily smacked both men in the back of the head for their behavior, causing the kids to laugh outright. Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye, turned to Harry and Ginny. “I see the two of you are rather well rested and relaxed. I take it things went well.” This brought color to their faces and caused Harry to choke on his pumpkin juice. “Yes, Professor, things did go rather well,” Ginny said as innocently as she could. As she said this, Ginny ran her free hand along Harry’s thigh, and she felt a shiver run through him. “Harry did start to dream but I managed to pull him out of it fairly quickly.” Molly looked to the other boys for confirmation. Fred and George both answered in the affirmative. To Molly’s dismay, it seemed she was going to have to get past the idea of Harry and Ginny sharing a bed. She sighed and nodded her acceptance. “Excellent,” Dumbledore beamed. “Then if you two feel up to it, I’d like to begin your training on controlling how much magic you draw from each other so that another incident like the previous one doesn’t occur.” “Albus,” queried Lily, “How are they going to be able to continue this sleeping arrangement once school begins?” “For, what I think are obvious reasons, no one need know of Harry and Ginny’s Life-force Union. Therefore I propose they enter into an old-fashioned hand-fasting.” “A what?” Lily voiced the question before anyone else could. “It’s a type of marriage ceremony. It starts as being temporary, a year and a day. After that time, the couple may choose to make it permanent. I believe that is the best, if not only, option we have. Take a couple days to think it over, Harry and Ginny. As it is nearing August, there’s not much time.” “But I thought you said they were already considered married? Why use a temporary ceremony? And where would they stay? Not in a dorm room with others, surely.” “I believe there would be less speculation among their peers if they went the temporary route first. They would have the Head Boy’s room since there won’t be one from Gryffindor this year. It has a small sitting room with a couch and chair, desk, dresser, closet, bed and access to its own loo.” ++++ Harry and Ginny spent the morning in the Come and Go Room with Dumbledore working on drawing and blocking the other’s magic. “First of all, you need to be aware of your magic, to literally feel it. Close your eyes. Imagine your magic flowing through your body like water.” He paused to give them a few moments with that imagery. “Now we’re going to levitate these quills using ‘wingardium leviosa’ and I want you to imagine your magic flowing through your body to your arm, then down to your wand and out just before you cast the spell. Pay special attention to how it may feel.” After several tries Harry and Ginny both had a new awareness of their magic. “Excellent. Now, Ginny, I want you to imagine your magic like water again. This time, though, when you feel a tug on your magic, I want you to find the place that it is being tugged through and place a giant obstacle in its path. For example, if you feel it leaving through your arm, place a boulder there to block its progress. Use whatever imagery you think may work.” Dumbledore turned to Harry next. “Harry, what I want you to do is this. Reach out through your bond and attempt to feel Ginny’s magic. If you can, try to divert it to you. We’ll use the water analogy again. Imagine a river then a hole you want to be a pond off to the side. You have to build a canal or channel to connect the two. Do the same here. Build a canal to draw Ginny’s magic into you.” After an hour went by with no success from Harry, Dumbledore reversed the roles. Ginny tried to draw on Harry’s magic while he attempted to block her. Another hour went by with no success from Ginny. Both felt rather frustrated and disappointed. “Don’t let it upset you. I would have been surprised if you’d managed it on the first day. You might try, periodically, to draw the other’s magic to yourself and see if the other can block you. It will give you good practice. Now, why don’t you take the remaining time before lunch and discuss what I proposed this morning.” Harry and Ginny decided to discuss that subject in the Come and Go Room but wanted it a little cozier. They exited the door, performed the ritual and re-entered the room. The room had remade itself into the Gryffindor common room only a little smaller. On the table in front of the couch by the fireplace were some parchment, ink, and quills. “Okay,” started Harry, “This is something Hermione suggested I do once when I had a problem. Individually, we’ll come up with a list of pros and cons for the hand-fasting, pros on one side of the parchment and cons on the other. Be as honest as you can be.” The scratching of the quills seemed loud in the silence. Approximately 45 minutes later, quills were put down and the lists were ready for comparison. “Okay, I guess the easiest way to do this is to just swap lists.” So they did. Ginny’s pros were: having a place of their own when they needed time together, having a legitimate reason for when they needed each other, they wouldn’t have to sneak around so they’d avoid gossip, they could spend the nights together and get some sleep, wouldn’t wake up dorm mates with any visions, it would be an expression of her love, they could have more mornings like that morning whenever they felt like it. Ginny’s cons were a much shorter list: may be talk about why they had the ceremony, gossiped about what they do in their room Harry blushed but grinned when he read the part about having more mornings like the one they’d just experienced whenever they wanted. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “It looks like we had the same ideas.” “It does, doesn’t it? Right down to a repeat of this morning.” Ginny grinned when Harry blushed again. She couldn’t help it. He’d faced so many fierce things and yet she could make him blush. “Yeah, well,” he stuttered, “this morning was…incredible. It was…different than before. It was…more. It was risky, though, with your brothers there. If any one of them had awakened…” He shuddered at the thought. “Yeah, I know. I just couldn’t help it. Waking up like that again and not doing anything about it was just more than I could take. I have my theories on why it was so much better, if you want to hear them.” “Of course, though I do have a couple of my own.” “Well, I was thinking since it had been the last night of school when we…you know…that might have had something to do with it. Another thing, when I felt your love through the bond, the sensations seemed stronger. Speaking of the bond, Dumbledore did say we would likely feel compelled to touch, though I don’t know if he meant it in that way. Let’s face it, we didn’t exactly have many layers of clothing between us either. And we were on a bed for the first time. Those are my ideas, what’s yours?” “You covered them. When Dumbledore said what he did this morning, I thought he knew what we’d done.” Ginny shrugged. “Maybe he did. He seems to know a lot of things that go on in the school.” “Ginny,” Harry hesitantly said, “After this morning, I don’t know if I can go back to not doing that. It wouldn’t have to be all the time but…” “I know. I don’t think I could either. Our Union may not let us go back to that anyway.” “So, what do you think of this hand-fasting? I’d like to do it but I don’t want you to feel you have to just because I want to.” “I want to, too. And that’s the honest truth.” “Your mum probably won’t like it.” “Tough. We’re adults now. But, Harry, even though we’re adults, I don’t know that I’m quite ready for…you know, going further.” “That’s okay. I’m not either, Gin. Maybe we can use that to pacify your mum.” “Hmmm. Maybe, we’ll see.” Ginny leaned over and gave Harry a small kiss or that was the intention. It wasn’t a fiery kiss but it was a heated one. After a few brief moments, Harry pulled back. “Enough of that or we won’t be going anywhere. Not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily, but I think our families may not be too impressed with us once they found us.” “Yeah, you’re right. I just can’t seem to control myself sometimes.” “Like I said,” Harry mischievously grinned, “not complaining. Come on, let’s go.” ++++ At lunch, Harry and Ginny waited until desert was served before making their announcement. “Professor Dumbledore, Mum, Dad, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Ginny and I have given what you suggested at breakfast a lot of thought. We’ve discussed it, and we both feel the same way. We want to go through with the hand-fasting.” While the elder Weasleys and one Ron Weasley seemed completely taken by surprised, not to mention a little dismayed by the looks of Molly and Ron, everyone else accepted the decision as if it had been a foregone conclusion. Congratulations and slaps on the back were received. Reading the expression on Molly’s face accurately, Harry went over to whisper in her ear the decision they had made about consummating the marriage. After that she appeared to be a bit happier, and more supportive. “Wonderful. Arrangements will need to be made. I’m afraid it’ll have to take place here, but I’ll leave the location up to you. I can be your presider, your officiator, if you wish.” Both nodded. “Good. I will go and begin to gather the things that we’ll need. Would two weeks’ time be sufficient? As I said before, time is short.” Again Harry and Ginny nodded. Dumbledore left the table, mentally making a list of what would be needed. ++++ That afternoon, he, Ginny, Ron and Hermione spent some time walking the grounds. Harry noticed Ron seemed a little aloof. “What’s up, Ron? You seem awfully quiet.” “Nothing.” He couldn’t look at Harry or Ginny. “Obviously something’s bothering you.” “Fine! You want to know what’s bothering me? I’ll tell you. It’s this whole Life-force Union thing. That’s what’s bothering me.” Neither the looks of surprise on the girls’ faces nor the color draining from Harry’s face registered with Ron. “You get attacked and boom, now you’re connected? You share each other’s emotions, you have to sleep in the same bed in order to get any sleep at all, you’re adults, and you’re married! “Ronald, how can you be this way?” “Ginny’s only 14, or will be on her birthday! Am I the only one concerned about that?” “You didn’t seem to be all that upset before when you knew we loved each other,” Ginny jumped in. “What’s the difference now?” “You’re too bloody young to be married! Not to mention everything else that goes along with it!” “You’re being a git, Ron. You think Harry and I haven’t talked about sex?” Ron cringed when she said the word. “You know what? You don’t need to know what we decided. It’s none of your business. I think you’re just jealous because we’ve found love, can do magic now without worrying about consequences, and yes, make love if we so choose. If that’s true, if you are jealous, get over it or don’t bother attending the ceremony. You’d just ruin it for Harry and me.” After her diatribe, she stalked off. Harry stared at Ron before making his own thoughts heard. “I didn’t ask for this Ron, it just happened.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Harry felt a bad case of déjà vu wash over him. Harry sighed, thinking, once again, that perhaps Ron and he weren’t as close as he’d thought. Harry left to find Ginny. Hermione smacked Ron in the back of the head. “You’re such a prat, Ronald Bilius Weasley!” And stalked off, leaving him standing there, stewing. |
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