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HB Prince: Year of Love | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:All, All Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: None Rating: PG Reviews: 309 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 *** This story starts at the end of Order Of The Phoenix. Although this story starts as the usual Harry/Ginny romance, I believe after several chapters, you will find that Ancient Dark Magic takes on a whole new meaning to our Harry and Ginny. Will Harry discover the key to the Half-Blood Prince?* * * *American Edition *** * * * Hitcount: Story Total: 196478; Chapter Total: 3281 Author's Notes: SUMMARY: Thoughts on the Dursleys - - Complaints
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Chapter Forty-six - Meetings With Dumbledore “Good evening, Mrs. Potter,” said Dumbledore, bowing gracefully. “Good evening,” said Ginny, as she sat in the chair that Dumbledore gestured to. “How are you dealing with the waves of fear that have been haunting you lately?” asked Dumbledore. “How did you know?” asked Ginny. “It is perfectly natural. Anyone under tremendous stress, knowing that something fearful is coming, would have them,” said Dumbledore. “Oh,” said Ginny. “You didn’t answer my question. How are you dealing with them?” “Oh! Yes. Well, I’m dealing with them. I don’t get them when I am with Harry. I need to be with Harry,” answered Ginny. “Interesting. Even though Harry is the cause of the fear, you feel comfort with him close?” asked Dumbledore. “Harry is not the cause. You should know this more than anyone. Tom Riddle is the cause of it all,” said Ginny, defiantly. “Of course. I meant Harry’s love for you has made you a target. Not that he has any blame in the situation,” said Dumbledore. “Harry’s love is worth any difficulties that should arrive,” said Ginny. Dumbledore’s eyebrow rose. “I see. Does Harry realize that you are getting them?” “I don’t think so. I don’t get them when I’m with him. He hasn’t asked and I haven’t said. Of course, we rarely get more than a couple of minutes to talk about such things. We need time together, if only to talk,” said Ginny. “Do you think it is wise to tell Harry of your fears?” “No. I will not tell him. Even if he were to ask, I would probably lie about it. He has enough worries on his mind. Telling him that, would only cause him more worry,” said Ginny. “I see. So when you were talking about having time to talk with Harry, it was not to tell him about your fears, but other things.” “We don’t have ANY time to talk freely about anything that may be important to us. We communicate very well without words, but sometimes, well, we just need to talk,” said Ginny. “I see. I will be calling you back a little later tonight,” said Dumbledore, dismissing her. Ginny left and returned to the Defense Room. Harry spotted her and rushed over to her side, as Arthur poked his head in the door. “I need a word, Harry.” Harry sighed and followed Arthur out into the Entrance Hall. “Dumbledore is in the Dining Room. He would like to speak with you.” “Thanks, I want to speak to him too,” said Harry. He was feeling grumpy. He had a lot of complaining to do to Dumbledore before the evening was over. When he entered the room, Dumbledore rose. The first thing that Harry noticed, was that Dumbledore’s face was careworn. There were many more lines on his face than he remembered. It was only a couple of weeks since he had last seen him. But Dumbledore’s face looked years older. “Sit down, Harry. I have lots to tell you,” said Dumbledore. “Firstly, I think you will be glad to hear that I have found the Dursleys. I spoke with them and they are just fine,” said Dumbledore. Harry didn’t know what to say. So he just nodded. “Mr. Dursley was most unreasonable. They won’t let you back.” “Yeah, I already knew that. They said in their note,” said Harry. “May I see the note?” Harry summoned the note and handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked mildly surprised but didn’t say anything. After reading the note, he sighed and handed it back. “I explained to him about your not having anything to do with the pranks this winter. He insisted that no matter what I said, that you were involved. After repeatedly explaining that the twins did it on their own. He turned a deaf ear to it.” “Don’t worry about it. I always get the blame. I’m used to it,” said Harry. “I had to get very firm with him. I also, again, explained about your staying with them protected you and them. Without the wards on the house, you all were in danger. He told me that if those pranksters could get in, then so could the so called bogeyman. I explained that the twins were geniuses AND that they didn’t or couldn’t do anything at was truly dangerous. They merely set them up with school boy tricks. But alas he would not hear of you returning to their home,” said Dumbledore, sadly. “I don’t care,” said Harry. “Yes, you do,” said Dumbledore. “I don’t,” said Harry, firmly. “Harry, I know why the twins pranked the Dursleys,” said Dumbledore. “They told you? I tried to get them to tell me, but they shrug their shoulders or change the subject,” said Harry. “They won’t tell you, ever. I would not waste my time asking, if I were you,” said Dumbledore. “Why would they tell you, and not me?” asked Harry. “They did not tell me. Since I am rather adept in Legilimency, I thought it would be rather useful in this case. It was for a quite noble reason. Harry, they care very much about you. They would not tell me why, AND they won’t tell you, because they do not want to embarrass you.” “Embarrass me? How could it embarrass me? And since when, did either of the twins care about embarrassing anyone? They thrive on it.” “The Weasley twins have far more noble hearts than they would wish the world to see, their pride, you see. They are noted for their ‘devil may care’ attitude. In their minds, if it got out, people would think they’ve gone soft. We can’t have THAT could we?” said Dumbledore, smiling. “Ok. So the twins are secretly noble. So what’s that got to do with embarrassing me and pranking the Dursleys?” “I think I should tell you their reason. If only for you to know a little more about yourself. The twins realized more about you, than you, yourself, know.” “Like what?” asked Harry, defensively. “Like the fact that you care far more for the Dursleys than you will admit to yourself.” “I don’t care about the Dursleys.” “Oh yes you do. The twins accidentally saw you receive an owl from them at Christmas. They saw you looking deflated and walk off to the kitchen. Of course, this aroused their curiosity, so after you left, they went into the kitchen. They found the gifts that the Dursleys refused in the trash. This raised an anger in them that could not be sated in their minds, without some retaliation.” Harry turned beet red. He was so embarrassed that he could not speak. “You see? They would never tell you about what they saw. It was far too personal. I’ve deliberated the idea, myself, but came to the conclusion that you need to know what your feelings are and why. Harry it is not wrong for you to care about the Dursleys. They’ve been the only family you’ve known for many years.” Harry didn’t say anything. “What you need to know, is that your feelings are mixed. You know they don’t deserve your affection. You don’t feel affection for them, and they have none for you. But is not affection that you desire from the Dursleys. What you want, is respect as a human being. The Dursleys have never shown you any respect. They have used you all these years. You have always carried the blame. The blame for anything that ever was not right in their lives. It was so easy for them to blame you, because they had the perfect excuse. You were put upon them. They were stuck with you. So you became the object of their discontent and was punished for it many times over.” Harry thought about the gifts he had tried to give the Dursleys. Since he had never really had anything to share before, he thought that by sharing some of his wealth, that the Dursleys would... at least think better of him, but of course that failed. He sighed. “They have manipulated you for many years, since you were a toddler. They have placed blame upon you that you did not understand. So you would try as hard as you could to twist things around so that somehow it became your fault. So that the punishment you received had some kind of meaning. Not every time, but most times. So now it is so easy for you to accept blame. You put it upon yourself. If you can, you piece things together in your mind to fit the situation so that it becomes your fault. It is how you have coped with the unjustified punishment.” “So in other words, I’m a basket case,” said Harry, sourly. “No! You have turned out far better than anyone could expect, living the way they have treated you. I don’t think you could have turned out any better if you had been raised in a perfect environment.” “I am so sorry for what I put you through, Harry. I had no idea. My only redemption from all of this, is that you are alive. My decision to place you with them was based on keeping you alive. I don’t think there was any other way.” “Last summer really opened my eyes in terms of the Dursleys. They almost let you die. I can’t forgive them for that. I almost didn’t give them warning of what danger they have put themselves into,” said Dumbledore. “But they didn’t know. I stayed up in my room. They had no idea that I was ill,” said Harry. “Harry, they SHOULD have known. Don’t you understand? Any reasonable person would have checked to see that you had at least eaten. They would have treated a cat better,” said Dumbledore, with his eyes blazing. “Aunt Petunia doesn’t like cats,” said Harry. “YET! She would have made sure that the cat ate, if it was under her care. There is no excuse for their lack of basic care. And yet, you sit before me defending their actions or lack of. Why, do you suppose, are you defending them? Because you care, Harry. No matter how they treated you, you care. Why? Because they are your family.” “Harry, it is ok to care about the Dursleys. I don’t want you to think that it is not. I am telling you all this because, they have refused protection. The only reason that I wanted you to go back to the Dursleys this summer was to give them protection a little longer. I don’t believe that Voldemort will attack YOU, now that he has this other plan. BUT... he could attack the Dursleys. IF he were to do that, I do not want you, under ANY circumstances to put any blame upon yourself. Do you understand me?” said Dumbledore. “Why would he want to do that?” asked Harry. “Why does he do anything? Because he can. Because perhaps it would hurt you. He certainly doesn’t want you to be happy in any way. Who knows? Anyway, since Mr. Dursley refused to let you back, I offered to give them some protection. He refused and basically tried to throw me out. I put up a couple wards around the house they were staying in, but they won’t protect them from anyone who is determined to get to them.” “Harry, if the Dursleys are harmed. I want you to promise me that you will not try to put ANY blame upon yourself.” Harry didn’t say anything. “Promise me, Harry. You have enough to be going on with, you don’t need any more worries and self punishment on top of it. Your wife doesn’t need this either,” said Dumbledore. “Ginny? What do you mean?” ask Harry. “Your wife feels your pain. When you are upset, she is upset. She loves you, Harry. Blaming yourself for things that you have no control of, affects you. It will be punishing her along with yourself. Will you promise me?” asked Dumbledore. “Yes, I promise. Are you sure he understood the danger?” asked Harry. “I could not have made it any plainer. He is just too stubborn. AND his wife and son went right along with him. They wanted no part of my protection. I pointed out that his son could be in danger and he told me that he could protect his own son with no help from me. I tried, Harry. It is out of our hands now.” Dumbledore paused. “I am assuming that you will not reveal to the Weasley twins what I told you.” “No,” said Harry, quietly. “They did not think about the consequences of their actions. They did not consider that what they were doing could land them in Azkaban or that they could have caused grave danger to you and the Dursleys. It has also caused Arthur needless worry and embarrassment. But they did it out of love.” Harry nodded. He had no intention of bringing up the subject to the twins ever again. They had their fun and were punished for it. Best let it alone now. Dumbledore paused again. “On another matter. I have grave news to tell you. Arabella Figg was been found. She’s dead, Harry,” said Dumbledore, sadly. “Dead? Was she murdered?” asked Harry. “That’s being looked into. I was told it could have been a heart attack. The facts are being looked into as we speak. For now, we will assume it was natural causes.” Harry bowed his head. He, without really knowing it, had become quite fond of Mrs. Figg. His heart hurt. “Harry, don’t take this upon yourself,” said Dumbledore. “No, I’m not. I just realized I was fond of Mrs. Figg,” said Harry, sadly. “Yes, she was quite the character. I will surely miss her too,” said Dumbledore. “Now, on to better things. You approve of Remus’ and Nymphadora’s marriage, I assume. Since Remus told me that you practically insisted that he marry,” said Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eye. “Yes! He deserves to be happy. Tonks makes him happy and he makes her happy too. I don’t see any reason why they should deny themselves the happiness they deserve,” said Harry. “Quite right. They DO deserve happiness. So I will be performing the service on Friday night. It’s good to find some joy in the middle of troubled times. It does make the joy that much more joyous, don’t you think?” “Yes,” said Harry, smiling now. “I think it is now time to have your lovely wife join us. Don’t you think?” asked Dumbledore. “Of course, I’m ready to see Ginny at any time,” said Harry. Dumbledore rose, walked over to the door and stuck his head out. A moment later, Ginny walked in. Harry rose and offered her the chair next to him. His eyes were shining. “A pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Potter,” said Dumbledore, politely. “Professor Dumbledore,” said Ginny, nodding. “I suppose that both of you want to scream and shout at this tired old man, for the lack of time you’ve been permitted,” said Dumbledore. Harry started to tell him “no” because he looked so very tired. But Ginny beat him to it. “Yes!” said Ginny. Harry was surprised at this. Couldn’t she see how tired he was? He didn’t think tonight would be the best time to complain, but decided to remain silent for the moment. “I see,” said Dumbledore. “We think we should be able to tell the others about our marriage. Perhaps just Ron and Luna... well... Fred would need to know... hmmm I guess George would too, because you really can’t tell Fred anything without George knowing,” said Ginny. “I see. Would you not have to include Winky and Dobby? Then of course, Hermione will be arriving. If Bill or Charlie were to arrive, they would need to be included. Am I correct?” asked Dumbledore. Ginny thought a moment. “Yes, I suppose they would need to be included. Maybe in a ‘needs to know’ basis.” “I see. You do realized that with each person that is added within the secret that the secret is compromised further?” asked Dumbledore. Neither Ginny nor Harry said anything. Dumbledore bent forward with his elbows resting upon the table, his fingertips touching as in prayer. “Let me ask you a question, then you decide.” They nodded. Ginny looked hopeful. Harry felt doubtful, he felt that Dumbledore had something up his sleeve. “You both have seen the effect this has had on Arthur. I fear he hasn’t taken the situation well. Understandable, of course. It certainly has aged him. Not that he holds it against you, Harry. It is the whole situation that haunts him. It is a heavy burden to bear. If anything goes wrong, people he loves will die. You two being the first on the list.” “With this in mind, how do you think that any of the others that you want to include in the secret would react? Ron for example. Do you think that he would accept this knowledge without any effect on him? Would he be able to carry on normally, without showing fear? Would he be able to carry on without becoming over protective of you, Ginny? Would he become fearful? Would he feel the stress that both of you have had to bear?” “How would Luna or Hermione react? Will they be able to carry on normally? Will the burden affect their everyday life?” “You do understand that the knowledge of this secret is a heavy burden? You both live with it every day. Would you want the others to have to live with his burden?” he asked. Harry said nothing. He left it to Ginny to decide this one. She was the one with all the smarts. Ginny bowed her head without saying anything. Harry waited, watching her closely. After what seemed like hours, she lifted her head. There was a single tear on her cheek. “Very well,” said Dumbledore. “But we HAVE to have some time together. We need a honeymoon. We need to TALK. We can’t ever seem to be able to talk to each other without someone nearby. If we put up a Silencing Charm, people will ask questions. Can’t we have SOME privacy?” asked Harry, very loudly. “Yes. We need some private time. It is almost unbearable. Private talks would help. We have so much to say to each other,” added Ginny. “I won’t presume to understand completely, but I get the idea. Of course you do need some private time together. I will think on the subject,” said Dumbledore. “Can’t I just sneak into Harry’s room at night? No one would ever know,” said Ginny. “I don’t think so. Firstly, that would mean that Winky and Dobby would know of it. Secondly, what if you were to be caught? If ever there is a way to be caught, when it is most dire that you should not be, you will be. How would you explain it, to Ron, as an example? Would he give you time to explain before he blew up and the whole house knew of it? Would he clam up, but despise you for abusing his trust? You need to think of the consequences of your actions.” “But if I left my room after everyone was asleep and returned before daylight. I don’t see how I could be caught. And I don’t think if Winky or Dobby knew it would be harmful,” said Ginny. “You would be surprised how many times people get up through the night. I’m not talking about every night, but perhaps a couple of nights each week. Such as getting a drink of water, the bathroom, maybe a snack. This house, at times has several people staying here. It can be more active at night than you might expect.” “Another problem is Winky and Dobby. Now both of them would give their lives for you. I have no doubt. However, remember Winky’s former master and what happened in that situation. Winky tried as best she could to protect him, but circumstances caused the whole scheme to fall apart. House Elves are not infallible no matter how hard they try. It is possible that the enemy knows who your House Elves are. I want to keep the secret from them as long as possible. “ Harry began pacing. “I’m feeling desperate. I want everyone to go away and leave us alone. I hate feeling this way. I feel mean. I don’t want to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley any more. They take Ginny away from me. I can’t hardly stand it,” said Harry, loudly. “How are they explaining both of us being out of the room, right now? Someone, probably Ron, will wonder what we are up to. They will ask questions. We can’t let them ask us, when we don’t have some kind of story to tell them. They would want to know why we were both seeing you together. So we can’t tell them that. I just wish they would all go away and leave us alone! Do you see why I feel desperate? I don’t want to feel like they are the enemy.” “Every time we have a minute alone together, we know that they are going to walk in at any minute. We may have more time, but we can’t be sure. So we cut our few minutes to seconds. Often they would not have disturbed us for several more minutes, but we don’t know that. So we cut it short. Which wastes our precious time.” “If I put up a Silencing Charm, they would want to know why. Every movement or word we say has to be planned so that we have some story to explain it. Part of the few seconds we are alone are seconds that we plan a cover story. So that takes away our precious moments too. It is exhausting!” Harry was radiating raw magic. His frustration had built up making the crystal vibrate. Ginny rose and took him by the arm. This stopped his overflow of thoughts and he looked down at her. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head upon her head, swaying gently. “For someone who never gets to talk, you are certainly doing a lot tonight,” said Dumbledore, lightening the tension in the room that had built up. “I apologize, sir. I didn’t mean to blow up at you. At least not tonight. I seem to be making it a habit of blowing up at you. I don’t mean to. I can see that you are tired. I’m afraid that I‘m going to screw this all up. I just feel really desperate inside,” said Harry, still holding Ginny, gently swaying. “No harm done, Harry. Mrs. Potter seems to have a calming effect on you. Let us wait until after the wedding. This weekend, then we will plan something. I have several matters to attend to until then,” said Dumbledore. “Molly will open the door in exactly twenty minutes. That will give you a little time to talk. Mrs. Potter will leave with her at that time. A few minutes later, you will join the others. You may let them assume that you have been with me the entire time,” said Dumbledore, then he disappeared. Harry and Ginny remained swaying in each others arms for a minute or so before separating. They faced each other, studying each other’s face. Neither said anything for another couple of minutes. “We’ve been wanting time to talk to each other for so long. I can’t even think of anything I want to say right now,” said Ginny. “My mind is completely blank too,” said Harry. They continued to look at each other before they both broke up laughing. Harry pulled her up in his arms again. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe it,” said Harry. “Hmmmm,” said Ginny, content in is arms. There was nothing for Harry to do but to kiss her. After a bit, Ginny whispered a question into his ear. Harry pulled back, looking at her quizzically. “Are you crazy? Of course not. What gave you that idea?” “Well, the other girls you’ve liked didn’t have...” “Don’t you ever compare yourself to any other girl, ever. No one compares to you. Haven’t I made that perfectly clear?” said Harry, lovingly. “Yes. Well, I just wondered if you may be been disappointed and... well... have just made the best of it.” said Ginny. “I’ve made the best of it, but in a completely different way.” “Oh!” Ginny giggled. Harry then whispered a question to her. “Perfect,” was all she said. Harry took advantage and there were many moments of passionate kissing. “I thought we were here to talk,” said Ginny. “You got anything to say?” asked Harry. “I love you.” “Love you too. Anything else?” asked Harry. “Nope.” * * * * |
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