The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 18 up)
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Re: The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 14
You gave up the internet, and the Pope gave up poping, I feel like people are setting the bar pretty high this year...
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This topic is... oh Village Idiot. Carry on then.--Havok
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Re: The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 14
I've wanted to go back to my Star Trek/Star Wars crossover, but I'm beginning to feel this one is actually getting closer to the end so am keeping my focus on it. It will go a little into a 3rd year (for reasons that will become apparent later).
This chapter was originally going to end earlier, but I decided the next natural break would leave the following chapter too short, so made them one chapter. The result is we do get some build up and payoff in this chapter, but I think it still works.
Chapter 15: The End of Normal
Ginny tiptoed up to Harry's bed. She knew if Madame Pomfrey caught her, she'd probably be out of the hospital wing as her leg was pretty much healed.
Harry was still asleep as he'd been for most the time since he got here, but Ginny set the sweets down beside him. Apparently, the sleeping potion had started to wear off a little though.
In a half daze, Harry half opened his eyes and looked around. Slowly he said, “Hi. How long have I been here now?”
Ginny turned red, ashamed at what she had put him through. “About a day. They've kept you under sleeping potions most the time while they get that curse out of you. They won't let visitors in, but the others snuck in for a minute earlier. Madame Pomfrey caught them, but I saw Fred drop a package and figured it out.”
Harry nodded. “Thank you. Tell them thanks too.”
Ginny looked down, away from Harry. In his debt again. She could be in a million timelines, and she'd probably always be in his debt. “You're the one who needs thanked. It should have been me who took it, but for all we know you saved my life...again.”
Harry shook his head. His senses seemed to be returning a little more. “It wouldn't have killed you.”
“Maybe..Probably not. That's not the point though. It should have been me there. You saved me in the other time. You weren't supposed to have to do it here. You had to go to the Chamber of Secrets last time because I messed up so bad. When I messed up this time, I should have taken the hit myself.”
Harry tried to sit up, grimaced and pushed himself a little upward. A little confusion was in his eyes, but they were more focused now. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn't let you get hit. I couldn't do nothing.”
Ginny looked up at him for a minute, closed her eyes, and made a decision to herself. “I know.” She looked him right in the eyes. “Thank you Harry.”
A voice from the other side of the wing echoed. “What are you doing over there? Harry needs sleep for the potions to do their work.”
Harry yawned and layed back down, grimacing again. The potions effects obviously weren't done as he seemed to be struggling to stay awake. He didn't fall right back to sleep though. To Ginny he said, “Thanks again. I wish you didn't have to go.”
That was the best thing that Harry could have possibly said to her. Ginny sat there until Madame Pomfrey pushed her away.
Madame Pomfrey examined her leg one more time and then almost pushed her out of the hospital wing.
Ginny looked around the deserted hallway and then whispered to herself. “After we find this last Horcrux, he is out of this. I swear it.”
----
“What are you reading?”
Hermione looked up and saw Percy sitting down next to her. She said, “Oh...nothing, just a few things I'm catching up on.”
He looked at the book. “Oh...memories still.” Percy had clearly given up on the prospect of her and Ron recovering them. “I'm going to read through Secrets of Scotland next. I know it's not Hogwarts specific, but I figure there has to be a few things about Hogwarts in it.”
Hermione nodded.
Hermione's mind was still on her book and Percy could tell. He looked at the page she was looking at and chuckled a little.
She finally turned to him. “What?”
He suppressed his laugh. “You'd never be able to make that.”
Hermione got defensive. “You don't know that. It would be hard sure, but I bet I could.”
Percy shook his head. “Half those ingredients are very rare or very controlled by the Ministry. Also look at the timing on those things. You'd have to be a potions master and no 2nd year student, not even you, could do it.”
Hermione shut the book hard. “Fine.”
Percy tried sound apologetic. “Sorry. Don't get mad. You could ask Dumbledore.”
Hermione just shook her head. This was the potion he'd said could help her and Ron, but that he couldn't make. Snape was the only one she knew who could, and she couldn't ask him...
Hermione's mind started turning. Harry had said his mom and Snape had been friends once. Something about that and their trip last year to Snape's room was making a loose connection in her head.
---
Since the Room of Requirement had turned into a dud, they had been searching for hidden rooms, compartments, etc. The twins had mostly been directly investigating around the school on their own, looking for evidence of moving stones, possible hidden passages, etc. The rest of them had spent more time in books and had slowly started using a few spells designed to show hidden places around the school.
Percy had another idea of how to find a possible old hidden room though, but the only person who be able to give him permission to do it was Dumbledore.
He saw McGonagall walking toward her classroom. He rushed to her. “Professor, have you seen Professor Dumbledore. There is matter I want to discuss with him.”
McGonagall stopped. “I'm afraid that you'll have to discuss it with me. Professor Dumbledore left for a personal leave of absence this morning. I'm afraid it will be a month or two before he returns.”
Percy gulped. Great. He was obviously heading toward Gringotts now which was good, but Percy wished he had caught him before he left. Dumbledore had mentioned leaving soon, but Percy hadn't expected it this soon. “That's OK professor. It can wait.”
----
Molly hugged Dumbledore. “Professor stay safe in there. We don't want to have to come after you.”
Dumbledore smiled. “I promise you that I took the path that will lead to the least amount of issues. To be extra careful, I will wait to destroy the Horcrux until I am safely out and we can do it together.”
She said again, “Are you sure this has to take this long? The kids were in and out in hours.”
Dumbledore nodded. “If it is revealed I broke into Gringotts, it will lead to extremely complex issues between the Ministry and the goblins and will also alert Voldemort to our intentions. That must be avoided at all costs.”
Sirius and Arthur exchanged glances. Neither liked the fact Dumbledore was going alone, but both had accepted it. They knew that at the end of the day, everything from the very precise concealment charms to the charms allowing access to the vault without leaving a trace were best done by Dumbledore and adding more people would just add more risk. Both Sirius and Arthur had the same question going though and Sirius, the more blunt one, asked, “What is it that we should do while you are gone?”
Dumbledore paused. “Your research on Gringotts was invaluable. Until I return, I ask only that you keep an eye on this.” Dumbledore handed Sirius a small metal contraption.
Sirius turned it around in his hands a few times. “A warning system. What for?”
Dumbledore said, “For Slytherin's ring. I do not wish for it to be disturbed until we can all approach it together after we have destroyed as many of the other Horcruxes as possible. Should this warning light up however, then someone is approaching the Gaunt dwelling and you must make sure Voldemort is not attempting to re-acquire the ring. If he is, you will need to procure it yourself first. Should that event occur, he will be alone, so just get the ring from him and leave without getting hurt.”
Arthur studied the device and handed it to Molly. “Wouldn't it be just better to get it now?”
Dumbledore shook his head. “It's the only Horcrux which we know led to issues after it was destroyed before. I suspect it did far more than simply kill my wand hand. To be blunt, if it is to injure or kill one or more of us, it is best if that happens only after most the rest of the Horcruxes have been destroyed.”
The other three nodded, not liking to think like that, but understanding the necessity.
Dumbledore, switching back to the main question, said “Beyond that, you can study books for possible insights into the final Horcrux.”
Molly said, “We could go to Hogwarts and take over from the kids now that the rest is complete.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I'm afraid the rules on visitors to Hogwarts are very tight for a reason and even I can only bend them a little.” He put hand on Molly's shoulder. “Ginny has promised that she will inform us when they figure out the last Horcrux, and I believe her. She has had time to more fully consider her own age and the dangers to her friends and family. She was prepared to let 'the adults' take over 2 days ago and stay out of it, but I knew that would be a mistake.”
Molly's anger wasn't sudden, but it built up quick as she spoke. “She was prepared...They were actually going to stop looking and stay out of this and you said, 'No.'”
Dumbledore did not look away from Molly even though he knew how much this would anger her. “I will be gone for at least a month and granting you even weekly access of the school would be something the board of governors would not approve of. Beyond that, your children and their friends know the school, and I believe they will discover wherever the Horcrux hidden better than us. It is a task the young are better suited for.”
Molly turned away and walked out quickly. It couldn't quite be called storming out, but her opinion of keeping the kids in this mission at all was clear. Anyone else would have been yelled at profusely, but since it was Dumbledore she just left.
Awkwardly, Author said, “Well, good luck.”
“Thank you.”
----
Ron walked into the hospital wing. For the first week, Madame Pomfrey hadn't allowed visitors. She'd let them in for the past few days and everyone had made an effort to visit Harry often. Ron knew Ginny was going at least twice a day.
Harry looked at him and said, “Hi.”
Ron sat beside him, but didn't say anything.
Harry noticed the demeanor in his friend and said, “What is it? What's wrong?”
Ron looked down and said, “Nothing.”
“It's obviously not nothing.”
Ron looked up. “I just had a lot of success with the memory charms.”
Uncertainty, Harry said, “That's good...I guess.”
Ron looked at him. “I couldn't hold on to it, but for a few seconds it was like I was someone else. I remembered standing in some house doing the time travel spell with Hermione and Ginny and for a few seconds that was more real than this.”
Harry said, “That's probably just for a minute. I mean Ginny's not the same person she was in the future...I don't think so anyway.”
There was anger in Ron's voice. “He was twice my age. He already finished Hogwarts. He'd faced You-Know-Who. He had his arm cut off. Maybe I won't be him, but I won't be me anymore either.”
Harry wasn't sure how to respond. He may be right after all. “You don't have to do it. I mean... really you don't. The locket and diary are gone. Dumbledore is going for the cup now. We know where the ring is. All we really need to do is find the one here and then find the snake and I don't think the memories will help with that anyway.”
Ron wanted to say yes and he would have just said except...Hermione wouldn't stop trying and that was the big point he couldn't avoid. He'd pushed to subject once and she'd been insistent. He didn't want her getting them back and for it to be just him. “No; I can't.”
Harry couldn't think of anything else to say so offered Ron a chocolate frog which he took silently.
Ron thought about Harry's words again. The memories wouldn't do them good. Everything they could help with was already done. Hermione would probably still get them (she was too good not to), but she was struggling a lot now and that meant he had time. He couldn't quit practicing, but he didn't have to try very hard. If she started catching up on the memories, he'd worry about that then.
Ron switched topics before anything else could be said, “Anyway, Wood wants to know when you'll be out. He's getting worried about the Slytherin match coming up.”
Harry rolled his eyes. There was still plenty of time before that.
---
Hermione, Ginny, and Luna walked down the coordinator. Hermione had tried for more information without success and the ghost had gone back to her reclusive ways, but Ginny was convinced that Luna could get the information they needed.
The Grey Lady saw Hermione and immediately started to float up toward the ceiling. She'd become annoyed at the young Gryffindor girl. Luna said, “Please wait.”
The Grey Lady paused, considered things for a moment, and then floated toward the girls. “What is it Luna?”
Quite simply, Luna said, “My friends need to find a room. It is very important although they can't tell me why.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “They wish for things of my mother. I already said too much to Hermione, just as I said too much to that boy before.”
“Oh,” Luna said. “They would never hurt anything of your mothers. They just have a secret quest they are on.”
Hermione looked at Ginny, questioning how much Ginny had said to Luna. Ginny shook her head, trying to signal that she told Luna almost nothing.
The Grey Lady looked at Luna. “And what is this quest?”
Hermione and Ginny both started to answer, but Luna spoke first. “I think they want to stop You-Know-Who. When Ginny was at my house last summer, she disappeared and then I heard about You-Know-Who being defeated by Harry Potter. I think she helped him. I think that's what they want to do.” Luna turned to the two girls. “Am I right?”
Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances. Ginny sighed. “Yes. It's complicated, but we think Voldemort might have hidden something in a room on the 7th floor, and we need it if we want to stop him coming back.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “And you would not go in there to steal my mothers remaining possessions?”
Hermione said, “We didn't even know your mother had possessions there. I just thought to ask since I knew You-Know-Who was after something of your mothers.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. She had learned the hard way it was better not to trust outsiders. She started to float off. Luna said, “Please help them. They are good.”
The Grey Lady would have ignored the Gryffindors, but Luna was a good Ravenclaw student who was struggling, and she had been trying to help her this year. She looked at Luna, knowing the girl, while quite intelligent, was socially unaware. “You've barely seen these girls this year.”
“Oh, I've seen Ginny a lot. She's my partner in classes with Gryffindors. After class I don't think she has much time since she's so busy on the quest. That and I think she likes Harry Potter.”
Ginny ignored the last part as best she could. The Grey Lady studied Luna hard. Finally the ghost looked at the Gryffindors and said, “Very well...for Luna. What do you want to know about the room?”
Hermione spoke quickly. “What is the room exactly? You said your mothers things were in it, was it a bedroom?”
“It's not there often enough to be a bedroom.”
Ginny said, “How often is it there?”
The Grey Lady paused. “I don't know. My mother only took me up once. It was the day before Halloween I believe. I'm not sure how or when it shows up. I've only seen it a few times since I became a ghost.”
Hermione said, “Did you tell the boy about the room?”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “No.”
“It makes sense though,” Hermione said to Ginny. “It's exactly where he'd want to hide one.”
The Grey Lady turned around. “I've had enough.” She was gone before anyone could stop her.
Ginny looked at Hermione. “You're right, but we aren't making any more assumptions. We'll split apart. Some of will research the room, while the rest of us look for other places.”
Ginny went and hugged Luna. “Sorry I haven't spent as much time as I should with you. Thank you so much for this.”
Luna said, “Oh it was my pleasure. Also, tell your brothers to have fun tonight.”
----
Fred looked at the time and gulped a little. Still an hour to go before they left. He joined George and tried to do his homework. Something to keep his mind off what was coming up. George didn't seem to be concentrating much either.
Someone sat beside him. He turned and saw Ginny. She had a big grin on her face and he knew he was in trouble. “What do you want adorable little sister?”
George said, “Yes we are kind of in a rush. You see, the big kids get to go to Hogsmeade while the little ones stay here.”
If it was possible, Ginny's grin seemed to get even wider. “Is that all you two are doing?”
Knowing it was a trap, but unable to avoid it, Fred said, “Whatever do you mean?”
Obviously enjoying every second of it, Ginny very slowly said, “Oh, I don't know...I just heard a rumor.”
Fred said, “Rumors are dangerous things.”
George added, “You should never trust them.”
Ginny's grin dropped and very seriously, she said,“Oh then, so you don't have a double date with Elizabeth and Sarah from Ravenclaw?”
George said, “You just can't believe everything you hear.”
Ginny's smile returned. “Well then, before you guys leave, I better tell those two that people are spreading awful terrible rumors about them. I mean going out with you two...”
“Fine,” said Fred. “The rumors are true. I thought we'd kept them out of Gryffindor tower though.”
Ginny said, “You did, but Luna mentioned something to me in the hall. Best present she's ever given me.”
“I imagine so.”
Ginny put her arm around George. “You don't need another girl in your life. I'm right here with you.”
George moved her arm away. “Annoying little sisters don't count.”
Ginny mocked being hurt. “Well then, I guess it's over then. If you get married while you are there though, take some pictures. Mum will want to see them.”
Both twins faces turned red. Fred tried to counter-attack, “Well, maybe you and Harry...”
Ginny shook her head. “Sorry, but that joke is worn out now. I endured it in two timelines. Now you and Elizabeth, well how long do you think it will take you two to snog? Were you thinking about it on the way over to Hogsmeade? You shouldn't wait too long if the honeymoon is going to be this time next week.”
“Well...” Fred said.
“At least we...I mean...” George started, but didn't seem to be able to figure out where he was going.
Ginny had never seen either of their faces so red. She laughed hard. In a year they'd be bragging about this kind of stuff, but for now it was both of their first dates and they were as nervous as anyone.
She stood up. She mentally locked this imagine next to the one of showing them her flying after she got back in time. “Sorry guys. I had to take the chance for the payback. Really though have fun.”
----
Lockhart had personally made arrangements for the Valentine's breakfast. Ginny had hoped that the lack of attacks from Chamber of Secrets would have changed that, but as she entered she realized that had been a foolish hope.
Ginny's mind wandered back to original present. She'd sent that dumb poem to Harry last time. He'd wanted no part of it of course and when his bag split open trying to escape the dwarf, she'd seen the diary again. She'd assumed he knew or was about to know what she had likely done. She thought she'd escaped when she threw it in the toilet, but that had only been an illusion. Valentine's Day had been a bad day that year and seeing Lockhart's decorations wasn't reassuring.
She headed toward the others and was surprised to see Harry there. “You're out!” She ran up and hugged him.
Malfoy was walking by at the same time. “Potter and his girlfriend.”
Ginny turned red. Despite what she said to her brothers, she had let her mind drift too much back to her other first year and all that had entailed.
Harry was a bit red too, but looked up and said, “Shove it Malfoy.”
Malfoy, looked around and knew he couldn't do much here. “I'm glad you are out of the hospital. Did you break a nail? I figured you were just trying to get out of playing Quidditch so you wouldn't be embarrassed, but I guess you aren't smart enough for that. Our brooms will run circles around you just like they did Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. It will be fun.”
Harry stared at him for a second and said, “We'll see.” Then he turned back to the table. Ginny had the thought that this Harry was a little more mature than he had been before.
Not giving into his bait and with teachers around, Malfoy headed to Slytherin's table.
Hermione asked, “So are you out for good?”
Harry shook his head irritated. “I have to go back every night this week and then once a week for the rest of the school year.” He paused, “Actually I kind of hope there is a little bit of a problem then. Maybe then I could avoid going back to the Dursleys.”
Ginny didn't like the talk of a problem remaining. Ron said, “Maybe we could talk to Mum and get her to let you to spend the summer. You were with us for a lot of it last year anyway and she likes you.”
Harry's heart skipped a beat. “Do you really think she'd go for it?”
Ginny looked down. “Dumbledore won't. You get some protection being at their house and he won't let you miss it completely.”
Harry sighed. “He left me there for 11 years. That's got to be enough.”
Ginny didn't say anything, but she knew how Dumbledore would answer.
Harry went to his bag. “Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I got more candy in the hospital wing than I could possibly eat.” He handed some chocolate frogs to Ron and gave Hermione some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.”
He turned to Ginny. “You liked the grape licorice right?”
Ginny thought she'd only had that a couple of times around him and was surprised he remembered. “Yeah. It's my favorite.”
He handed her two packs someone had given to him and she smiled.
----
Hermione put down the book. This was going to be a hard sell. “It's her. It's the same person. I'm almost sure of it.”
Ron looked at her. “What are you doing on about?” They were around a table at the far end of what Hermione had made sure was a deserted common room.
“That's my Mum,” said Harry taking back the scrapbook Hagrid had made him at the end of last year. “Where else have you seen her picture?”
Hermione looked around again. It was just the three of them. “In Snape's room last year. When we were down there, there was a picture of a young boy and girl, and I think it was Snape and your mum.”
Harry shook his head. “That's crazy. He wouldn't keep a picture of my mum.”
Ron said, “Yeah. He hates Harry, remember?”
Hermione shook her head. “But it makes sense. I bet that's why Dumbledore believes him.”
The portrait of the fat lady swung open. Hermione looked up and saw Ginny walking to them. She'd have preferred Ginny not be here for this yet, but she decided to go on.
Ron said, “Now you are really not making sense. The reason Dumbledore trusts Snape is a picture of Lily and him together, a picture we don't even know is her.”
Ginny sat down. Irritation in her voice already. “What's this about why Dumbledore trusts Snape?”
Hermione took a breath. “We know that Snape and Lily were friends before Hogwarts. We also know that they were friends for at least part of their time here and Lily went out in the middle of the night as a 4th year to see him.”
Harry said, “But she didn't like him when they left school, and she was with my dad.”
Hermione rebutted, “Which is a big reason that Snape would probably hate your dad and since he can hold a grudge pretty strong, against the son who looks just like him.”
Harry was shaking his head, not liking the implications here. “OK, so what? Maybe that's one reason Snape hates me. I know he did before I started school so that makes a little sense. What does that have to do with Dumbledore?”
Hermione turned to Ginny. “You told Harry that Snape told You-Know-Who the prophecy. Did Snape know it was about Harry?”
Ginny thought for a second and shrugged. “I don't know. If he was so close to Lily, he probably knew she had a kid.”
Hermione shook her head and she got more excited as she played through it in her mind. “I bet he didn't. He was probably a Death Eater then, and they were on opposite sides. He probably didn't see her much. That might be why they stopped being friends in the first place.”
Ron said, “Where are you going with this?”
Hermione didn't answer. She took a breath, paused, and stood up. She walked up to a window and looked outside. “Well, if we assume that Snape cared for Lily while they were at school, there are two reasons I can think of that would explain why Dumbledore trusts him.”
Harry said, “What two things?”
Hermione kept looking out the window. She didn't turn around, but the others stood up and took a few steps to her. “Well, it could be that Snape used that past connection to trick Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew Snape and her were friends, so if Snape came to Dumbledore and said he loved Lily, then Dumbledore might believe him and have protected him from the ministry after You-Know-Who fell. It could have originally been a plot by You-Know-Who to get someone in the school, but more likely was just something Snape did after You-Know-Who was defeated to save himself.”
Reluctant till now, Harry embraced the idea. “Of course! That makes complete sense. Dumbledore talked to me at the end of last year about love being a powerful magic. If Snape said he loved my mum, Dumbledore would really want to believe that. That could be Dumbledore's weakness and Voldemort knew it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ginny slowly nod too. Ginny seemed reluctant to go along with Hermione on a lot of this, but there was apparently a sense of logic she agreed with there. Hermione was glad for that much. Ginny said, “That would explain a lot.”
Ron looked at Hermione who was still looking out the window. He said the word he knew would be next. “But...”
Hermione slowly turned around. “But I'm not sure Dumbledore is that easy to trick. It might make more sense if we assume Snape was being honest. Maybe he told You-Know-Who the prophecy, and then he realized that he put Lily in danger. To save her, he went to Dumbledore and switched sides. That would explain why Dumbledore always trusted him. If it was true that he really loved Lily and he blamed himself for Lily's death, then Snape would never go back to the side that killed Lily.”
Harry clearly didn't want to believe that. “I know Dumbledore is great, but I think Snape tricked him. That just fits better.”
Ginny took a breath. Hermione could tell Ginny considered this issue long settled and was just trying to be polite. “Hermione, that would have been plausible at this point in the other time. If fact, it would have made a lot of sense and we rightly would have called you brilliant for figuring it out.”
Ginny looked around the room making sure it was empty and then said, “In the years after this though, he killed Dumbledore, he cut off George's ear,” Hermione and the rest of them gasped at that, “and became headmaster at Hogwarts on Voldemort's orders in a year when Defense Against the Dark Arts, just became the Dark Arts and muggle borns weren't welcome.”
Hermione knew that she might be taking this side just in the hope that Snape could create a potion for her, but she had thought through those arguments (other than George's ear which she hadn't known about). “That could have been under Dumbledore's orders. It was a bad school year, but with You-Know-Who in control of the ministry so it was always going to be bad. You-Know-Who probably directed half those things himself and most school policies were probably out of Snape's control.”
Hermione ignored skeptical looks from her friends as her mind flashed back to Ginny talking about her last year at Hogwarts. “You said that all you got for trying to take the Sword of Gryffindor was detention. That doesn't sound like it came from a man intent on bringing You-Know-Who's world to light.”
Ginny didn't deny that had always seemed strange, but she brought back the bigger point. “Hermione, he killed Dumbledore! If Dumbledore was around, then Voldemort would not have been in charge of the ministry. There's no way to get around that fact. Harry was literally there when it happened.”
Hermione said, “Maybe the curse in his hand was more severe...”
Ginny countered, “It was a year before his death. Very unlikely.”
“Not impossible though.” Hermione looked to Harry as a kind of proof. “Those curses stay sometime.”
Ginny followed Hermione's gaze to Harry. Hermione instantly regretted bringing Harry's condition into this. Ginny's mind had been made up, but she'd been patient and reasonable. Now she shouted without even looking around to make sure the coast remained clear. “He's not on our side! Maybe Dumbledore had some reason to trust him like you said, but there is zero evidence that he was supporting our side in the other time after Dumbledore died.” Ginny started to quickly walk away.
Hermione, mad herself now, said, “Fine. Then just answer one question.”
Ginny glanced back around. Hermione said, “You told Dumbledore all that already. Why does Dumbledore still trust him in THIS timeline? Unless he thinks you are lying, then he believes that Snape did all of that for some good reason.”
Ginny turned back around. She threw her hands up in frustration. “He's not innocent! I wish he was Hermione, I really do. It'd make things easier. I don't know why Dumbledore trusts him, but his trust does not outweigh almost every scrap of evidence in the other time. You are grasping at straws and you know it!” She stormed out.
Harry looked at his two friends. “I think she's right. Snape has always been bad to the core. He tricked Dumbledore somehow, but there's too much stuff he's done to ignore.”
Harry walked out too and Hermione turned to Ron. Her look was almost pleading with him to agree with her.
Ron was conflicted though. On the one hand, Hermione's version of the events made a degree of sense. On the other though, there were holes in either side you took meaning both were probably wrong. His instincts, some he was pretty sure were influenced from the future, were all telling him Snape was evil as could be. Finally he said, “I don't know. We don't have enough information. It doesn't matter anyway though. It's not like anything really changes one way or the other anyway.”
Hermione thought once more of the potion in that book. The one that could potentially bring back her lost memories. Then she dismissed the thought. She probably was grasping at straws.
----
Voldemort looked to the Romanian woods. He heard the creature in it again.
Lucious apparated beside him and bowed. “My Lord, all is complete. As we had hoped, the spells have been successful. You will have the boy next month.”
There was a sound in the woods and Peter jumped. Voldemort smiled. “Best to stay away from the woods. The beast, the “God of the Lost,” can smell your fear Wormtail.”
Lucious looked up at Voldemort. “My Lord, will the creature interfere with our plans?”
Voldemort breathed heavily. “Yes. It wouldn't dare confront us here, to fight against our magic, but for the next phase, it will be a threat. I will have to take an extra precaution to ensure it does not interfere.”
----
As Harry walked down the hall, his vision became blurry. He had to sit down to avoid falling down. After a few moments of sitting on the floor, it passed and his senses returned to normal. He should go to the hospital wing, but the match vs. Slytherin was next week and he didn't want to give Madame Pomfrey a reason to not let him play.
Harry looked up and saw Malfoy hurry past him. Odd that he didn't comment on him lying on the ground.
----
Ginny was annoyed at their lack of progress again on the Horcrux to put it mildly. They had one job and just seemed incapable of doing it. They'd taken turns keeping watch on the 7th floor corridor every day for some sight of the door and as of yet there had been none. They'd tried various spell to reveal hidden rooms and seen nothing. Fred and George had investigated 3 other possible hidden rooms and 2 had turned out to be teachers rooms (not currently in use) and the last 1 had been a closet that only appeared if you needed to throw something away (Filch used it on occasion). There had been no progress on any others possible hidden rooms. Sirius, Mum, and Dad were now writing a lot of letters with suggestions and questions, and they were more counterproductive than helpful.
With all that on her mind, Ginny decided to ditch Quidditch practice and head back to the library. She'd make up some excuse later. As she turned a corner, she saw Harry sitting down against a wall. She sat down beside him concerned. “Shouldn't you be heading to Quidditch practice?”
He laughed a little. “Shouldn't you be?”
She laughed back. “Point taken.” She looked him over and realized he didn't look very good. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah,” said Harry, obviously trying to sound better than he felt.
“Then why are you on the ground?”
Harry shook his head. “Just resting for a minute.” He started to get up.
Ginny watched him struggle for a second and then he seemed alright. He said, “See. I'm fine.”
Ginny thought things through for a second. He wouldn't really try to play Quidditch if he was seriously sick would he?
Instantly the answer came back to her. Of course he would. Heck, in the other timeline against Slytherin, he'd instructed Fred and George to ignore the bludger that was specifically targeting only him.
“Is this the first time that happened?”
Defensively, Harry said, “What happened?”
Ginny wasn't quite sure. “You struggled getting up.”
Harry said, “It was only a little and only last for a minute or two.”
Something she'd have known nothing about if not for dumb luck right now. “And you told Madame Pomfrey about it?”
Harry stretched a little bit and seemed completely back to himself. “If I told her, she'd have me out of the Quidditch match.”
Ginny was furious. “Maybe... but that's a heck of a lot better than you falling off your broom in the middle of a match. How many times has it happened?”
Harry downplayed it as much as he could. “That's the third time in the last 2 weeks, but Madame Pomfrey didn't see anything wrong Monday and this was the first one in 4 days and it only lasts a minute.”
Ginny had both hands on her hips and would have reminded the rest of the Weasley children of their mother. “And it only takes 2 seconds on a broom to end up in a very bad situation. The protection charms don't stop everything, especially if you aren't reacting right. You're going to the hospital wing now.”
Definitely Harry said, “No. We need this match. We can't let Malfoy and Snape and all of them win.”
Ginny shook her head. “If you don't go, I'll tell Madame Pomfrey what happened myself and she'll disqualify you immediately.”
Harry looked at her roughly. “Fine.”
---
Oliver Wood somberly walked out of the hospital wing, which was a big contrast to how he'd rushed into it.
Ginny, who had been standing outside, unwilling to go back inside even though she could have, looked up at him. “No change in her opinion?”
He shook his head. “He's out.”
Ginny nodded. Her decision to try that fire had led them to this point and she hated it. “What are we going to do?”
Wood looked at her. “Harry said you could play seeker.”
Ginny was surprised by that given how mad he was at her. She nodded. “I'm not as good as him, but I can play OK.”
Wood studied her. “Well you have the build for it. I don't know how you know you can do it, but I don't think we have a choice. I'll call Katie and she can take your place and you can be seeker.”
As he walked away, she heard Wood say to himself, “And Slytherin is really good too.” Ginny reflected that wasn't a lie. They had been beating Gryffindor in the other timeline until Harry caught the snitch and it wasn't just because their brooms were a little better. They were older as a team and very good. Malfoy was probably actually probably the weakest link on the team and even he wasn't terrible.
---
Ginny sat next to Harry at breakfast Saturday morning. This was a huge game and she wasn't even thinking about it. Most the time was spent in silence. Toward the end, Ginny finally said, “I'm sorry, Harry. I know being out sucks, and I know I'm responsible for you getting hurt in the first place.”
Harry looked up from his food. “It wasn't your fault I got hurt. I'm glad I pushed you out.” He looked back down at his food. “That was 2 months ago though. I would have been fine today.”
Ginny could still hear the hurt in his voice. “I'm sorry. I just couldn't let you take that chance. At least now Madame Pomfrey can probably get the rest out.”
Harry just stared at his food, not eating any of it, but moving a little around with his fork. “Yeah.”
Wood came up and said it was time to go. One more time, Ginny said, “Sorry Harry.”
Without much enthusiasm, Harry said, “Good luck.” He never looked up.
---
Cheers and some boos greeted the Gryffindor team as they came onto the field. It was early in the year for their final match, but given the changed schedules, Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw was now the last match of the year. Ginny looked at her team. They were very good, on the verge of being a great team, but this was still going to be a tall order. She looked into the stands where she thought Hermione and Ron usually sat. She saw them sitting there with Harry. Ginny looked away and dismissed them from her mind as best she could. If she was going to do this, she'd need to stay focused.
Madame Hooch stood in the center of the field and Ginny saw the Slytherins approaching from the other side. They both got to the center about the same time. Other than Malfoy, they were all older students, 6th and 7th years. Ginny saw Malfoy and saw a somewhat perplexed look on his face.
Malfoy looked at Ginny. “Where's Potter?”
Hooch replied. “Potter is out, late substitution. Ginny Weasley will play seeker and Katie Bell will take her role as chaser.”
Malfoy wasn't happy with the news at all. “But...well, I guess it doesn't matter.”
Ginny smiled. “What's the matter Malfoy? Afraid of losing to a girl?”
Malfoy looked at her with disgust. “It doesn't matter what happens. Your family is still a group of blood traitors.”
No gloating. Ginny smiled. That meant he was actually nervous.
The players flew up and the game began.
In her first, first year, this game had been going decisively Slytherins way until Harry caught the snitch. There was no rogue bludger this time though and the team had another half year to grow which was bigger for them than for Slytherin. The result was a relatively close game to start.
----
Harry cheered as Katie scored. It was really hard to be here with Gryffindor playing, but he was at least happy to see her get another chance. He looked back up to Ginny and Malfoy. Ginny was hovering a little too high he thought. She could see the field fine that high, but it would take just a little too long to get the snitch from there. Malfoy, for his part, had made a few moves on the snitch, but never even been close.
As a bludger hit Angelina and Slytherin scored again, Harry started to get nervous. In the last few minutes, Slytherin had quickly carved out a 60 point lead and that would expand quickly if things kept up. Katie was still a little rusty and Slytherin was exploiting that. It would be a lot easier if Ginny got the snitch soon.
---
Ginny saw the snitch. Unfortunately, she knew it was closer to Malfoy, and he'd spot it if she started going for it. She slowly started circling closer, praying he wouldn't see it first or notice what she was doing.
She'd cut the distance in half when it started to dart away again. Ginny took off, hoping she could still beat Malfoy too it.
The snitch went flying toward the ground. Ginny caught up to it and grabbed it.
Ginny felt jerk behind her belly button and disappeared.
----
The stands went silent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up. What had just happened?
This chapter was originally going to end earlier, but I decided the next natural break would leave the following chapter too short, so made them one chapter. The result is we do get some build up and payoff in this chapter, but I think it still works.
Chapter 15: The End of Normal
Ginny tiptoed up to Harry's bed. She knew if Madame Pomfrey caught her, she'd probably be out of the hospital wing as her leg was pretty much healed.
Harry was still asleep as he'd been for most the time since he got here, but Ginny set the sweets down beside him. Apparently, the sleeping potion had started to wear off a little though.
In a half daze, Harry half opened his eyes and looked around. Slowly he said, “Hi. How long have I been here now?”
Ginny turned red, ashamed at what she had put him through. “About a day. They've kept you under sleeping potions most the time while they get that curse out of you. They won't let visitors in, but the others snuck in for a minute earlier. Madame Pomfrey caught them, but I saw Fred drop a package and figured it out.”
Harry nodded. “Thank you. Tell them thanks too.”
Ginny looked down, away from Harry. In his debt again. She could be in a million timelines, and she'd probably always be in his debt. “You're the one who needs thanked. It should have been me who took it, but for all we know you saved my life...again.”
Harry shook his head. His senses seemed to be returning a little more. “It wouldn't have killed you.”
“Maybe..Probably not. That's not the point though. It should have been me there. You saved me in the other time. You weren't supposed to have to do it here. You had to go to the Chamber of Secrets last time because I messed up so bad. When I messed up this time, I should have taken the hit myself.”
Harry tried to sit up, grimaced and pushed himself a little upward. A little confusion was in his eyes, but they were more focused now. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn't let you get hit. I couldn't do nothing.”
Ginny looked up at him for a minute, closed her eyes, and made a decision to herself. “I know.” She looked him right in the eyes. “Thank you Harry.”
A voice from the other side of the wing echoed. “What are you doing over there? Harry needs sleep for the potions to do their work.”
Harry yawned and layed back down, grimacing again. The potions effects obviously weren't done as he seemed to be struggling to stay awake. He didn't fall right back to sleep though. To Ginny he said, “Thanks again. I wish you didn't have to go.”
That was the best thing that Harry could have possibly said to her. Ginny sat there until Madame Pomfrey pushed her away.
Madame Pomfrey examined her leg one more time and then almost pushed her out of the hospital wing.
Ginny looked around the deserted hallway and then whispered to herself. “After we find this last Horcrux, he is out of this. I swear it.”
----
“What are you reading?”
Hermione looked up and saw Percy sitting down next to her. She said, “Oh...nothing, just a few things I'm catching up on.”
He looked at the book. “Oh...memories still.” Percy had clearly given up on the prospect of her and Ron recovering them. “I'm going to read through Secrets of Scotland next. I know it's not Hogwarts specific, but I figure there has to be a few things about Hogwarts in it.”
Hermione nodded.
Hermione's mind was still on her book and Percy could tell. He looked at the page she was looking at and chuckled a little.
She finally turned to him. “What?”
He suppressed his laugh. “You'd never be able to make that.”
Hermione got defensive. “You don't know that. It would be hard sure, but I bet I could.”
Percy shook his head. “Half those ingredients are very rare or very controlled by the Ministry. Also look at the timing on those things. You'd have to be a potions master and no 2nd year student, not even you, could do it.”
Hermione shut the book hard. “Fine.”
Percy tried sound apologetic. “Sorry. Don't get mad. You could ask Dumbledore.”
Hermione just shook her head. This was the potion he'd said could help her and Ron, but that he couldn't make. Snape was the only one she knew who could, and she couldn't ask him...
Hermione's mind started turning. Harry had said his mom and Snape had been friends once. Something about that and their trip last year to Snape's room was making a loose connection in her head.
---
Since the Room of Requirement had turned into a dud, they had been searching for hidden rooms, compartments, etc. The twins had mostly been directly investigating around the school on their own, looking for evidence of moving stones, possible hidden passages, etc. The rest of them had spent more time in books and had slowly started using a few spells designed to show hidden places around the school.
Percy had another idea of how to find a possible old hidden room though, but the only person who be able to give him permission to do it was Dumbledore.
He saw McGonagall walking toward her classroom. He rushed to her. “Professor, have you seen Professor Dumbledore. There is matter I want to discuss with him.”
McGonagall stopped. “I'm afraid that you'll have to discuss it with me. Professor Dumbledore left for a personal leave of absence this morning. I'm afraid it will be a month or two before he returns.”
Percy gulped. Great. He was obviously heading toward Gringotts now which was good, but Percy wished he had caught him before he left. Dumbledore had mentioned leaving soon, but Percy hadn't expected it this soon. “That's OK professor. It can wait.”
----
Molly hugged Dumbledore. “Professor stay safe in there. We don't want to have to come after you.”
Dumbledore smiled. “I promise you that I took the path that will lead to the least amount of issues. To be extra careful, I will wait to destroy the Horcrux until I am safely out and we can do it together.”
She said again, “Are you sure this has to take this long? The kids were in and out in hours.”
Dumbledore nodded. “If it is revealed I broke into Gringotts, it will lead to extremely complex issues between the Ministry and the goblins and will also alert Voldemort to our intentions. That must be avoided at all costs.”
Sirius and Arthur exchanged glances. Neither liked the fact Dumbledore was going alone, but both had accepted it. They knew that at the end of the day, everything from the very precise concealment charms to the charms allowing access to the vault without leaving a trace were best done by Dumbledore and adding more people would just add more risk. Both Sirius and Arthur had the same question going though and Sirius, the more blunt one, asked, “What is it that we should do while you are gone?”
Dumbledore paused. “Your research on Gringotts was invaluable. Until I return, I ask only that you keep an eye on this.” Dumbledore handed Sirius a small metal contraption.
Sirius turned it around in his hands a few times. “A warning system. What for?”
Dumbledore said, “For Slytherin's ring. I do not wish for it to be disturbed until we can all approach it together after we have destroyed as many of the other Horcruxes as possible. Should this warning light up however, then someone is approaching the Gaunt dwelling and you must make sure Voldemort is not attempting to re-acquire the ring. If he is, you will need to procure it yourself first. Should that event occur, he will be alone, so just get the ring from him and leave without getting hurt.”
Arthur studied the device and handed it to Molly. “Wouldn't it be just better to get it now?”
Dumbledore shook his head. “It's the only Horcrux which we know led to issues after it was destroyed before. I suspect it did far more than simply kill my wand hand. To be blunt, if it is to injure or kill one or more of us, it is best if that happens only after most the rest of the Horcruxes have been destroyed.”
The other three nodded, not liking to think like that, but understanding the necessity.
Dumbledore, switching back to the main question, said “Beyond that, you can study books for possible insights into the final Horcrux.”
Molly said, “We could go to Hogwarts and take over from the kids now that the rest is complete.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I'm afraid the rules on visitors to Hogwarts are very tight for a reason and even I can only bend them a little.” He put hand on Molly's shoulder. “Ginny has promised that she will inform us when they figure out the last Horcrux, and I believe her. She has had time to more fully consider her own age and the dangers to her friends and family. She was prepared to let 'the adults' take over 2 days ago and stay out of it, but I knew that would be a mistake.”
Molly's anger wasn't sudden, but it built up quick as she spoke. “She was prepared...They were actually going to stop looking and stay out of this and you said, 'No.'”
Dumbledore did not look away from Molly even though he knew how much this would anger her. “I will be gone for at least a month and granting you even weekly access of the school would be something the board of governors would not approve of. Beyond that, your children and their friends know the school, and I believe they will discover wherever the Horcrux hidden better than us. It is a task the young are better suited for.”
Molly turned away and walked out quickly. It couldn't quite be called storming out, but her opinion of keeping the kids in this mission at all was clear. Anyone else would have been yelled at profusely, but since it was Dumbledore she just left.
Awkwardly, Author said, “Well, good luck.”
“Thank you.”
----
Ron walked into the hospital wing. For the first week, Madame Pomfrey hadn't allowed visitors. She'd let them in for the past few days and everyone had made an effort to visit Harry often. Ron knew Ginny was going at least twice a day.
Harry looked at him and said, “Hi.”
Ron sat beside him, but didn't say anything.
Harry noticed the demeanor in his friend and said, “What is it? What's wrong?”
Ron looked down and said, “Nothing.”
“It's obviously not nothing.”
Ron looked up. “I just had a lot of success with the memory charms.”
Uncertainty, Harry said, “That's good...I guess.”
Ron looked at him. “I couldn't hold on to it, but for a few seconds it was like I was someone else. I remembered standing in some house doing the time travel spell with Hermione and Ginny and for a few seconds that was more real than this.”
Harry said, “That's probably just for a minute. I mean Ginny's not the same person she was in the future...I don't think so anyway.”
There was anger in Ron's voice. “He was twice my age. He already finished Hogwarts. He'd faced You-Know-Who. He had his arm cut off. Maybe I won't be him, but I won't be me anymore either.”
Harry wasn't sure how to respond. He may be right after all. “You don't have to do it. I mean... really you don't. The locket and diary are gone. Dumbledore is going for the cup now. We know where the ring is. All we really need to do is find the one here and then find the snake and I don't think the memories will help with that anyway.”
Ron wanted to say yes and he would have just said except...Hermione wouldn't stop trying and that was the big point he couldn't avoid. He'd pushed to subject once and she'd been insistent. He didn't want her getting them back and for it to be just him. “No; I can't.”
Harry couldn't think of anything else to say so offered Ron a chocolate frog which he took silently.
Ron thought about Harry's words again. The memories wouldn't do them good. Everything they could help with was already done. Hermione would probably still get them (she was too good not to), but she was struggling a lot now and that meant he had time. He couldn't quit practicing, but he didn't have to try very hard. If she started catching up on the memories, he'd worry about that then.
Ron switched topics before anything else could be said, “Anyway, Wood wants to know when you'll be out. He's getting worried about the Slytherin match coming up.”
Harry rolled his eyes. There was still plenty of time before that.
---
Hermione, Ginny, and Luna walked down the coordinator. Hermione had tried for more information without success and the ghost had gone back to her reclusive ways, but Ginny was convinced that Luna could get the information they needed.
The Grey Lady saw Hermione and immediately started to float up toward the ceiling. She'd become annoyed at the young Gryffindor girl. Luna said, “Please wait.”
The Grey Lady paused, considered things for a moment, and then floated toward the girls. “What is it Luna?”
Quite simply, Luna said, “My friends need to find a room. It is very important although they can't tell me why.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “They wish for things of my mother. I already said too much to Hermione, just as I said too much to that boy before.”
“Oh,” Luna said. “They would never hurt anything of your mothers. They just have a secret quest they are on.”
Hermione looked at Ginny, questioning how much Ginny had said to Luna. Ginny shook her head, trying to signal that she told Luna almost nothing.
The Grey Lady looked at Luna. “And what is this quest?”
Hermione and Ginny both started to answer, but Luna spoke first. “I think they want to stop You-Know-Who. When Ginny was at my house last summer, she disappeared and then I heard about You-Know-Who being defeated by Harry Potter. I think she helped him. I think that's what they want to do.” Luna turned to the two girls. “Am I right?”
Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances. Ginny sighed. “Yes. It's complicated, but we think Voldemort might have hidden something in a room on the 7th floor, and we need it if we want to stop him coming back.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “And you would not go in there to steal my mothers remaining possessions?”
Hermione said, “We didn't even know your mother had possessions there. I just thought to ask since I knew You-Know-Who was after something of your mothers.”
The Grey Lady shook her head. She had learned the hard way it was better not to trust outsiders. She started to float off. Luna said, “Please help them. They are good.”
The Grey Lady would have ignored the Gryffindors, but Luna was a good Ravenclaw student who was struggling, and she had been trying to help her this year. She looked at Luna, knowing the girl, while quite intelligent, was socially unaware. “You've barely seen these girls this year.”
“Oh, I've seen Ginny a lot. She's my partner in classes with Gryffindors. After class I don't think she has much time since she's so busy on the quest. That and I think she likes Harry Potter.”
Ginny ignored the last part as best she could. The Grey Lady studied Luna hard. Finally the ghost looked at the Gryffindors and said, “Very well...for Luna. What do you want to know about the room?”
Hermione spoke quickly. “What is the room exactly? You said your mothers things were in it, was it a bedroom?”
“It's not there often enough to be a bedroom.”
Ginny said, “How often is it there?”
The Grey Lady paused. “I don't know. My mother only took me up once. It was the day before Halloween I believe. I'm not sure how or when it shows up. I've only seen it a few times since I became a ghost.”
Hermione said, “Did you tell the boy about the room?”
The Grey Lady shook her head. “No.”
“It makes sense though,” Hermione said to Ginny. “It's exactly where he'd want to hide one.”
The Grey Lady turned around. “I've had enough.” She was gone before anyone could stop her.
Ginny looked at Hermione. “You're right, but we aren't making any more assumptions. We'll split apart. Some of will research the room, while the rest of us look for other places.”
Ginny went and hugged Luna. “Sorry I haven't spent as much time as I should with you. Thank you so much for this.”
Luna said, “Oh it was my pleasure. Also, tell your brothers to have fun tonight.”
----
Fred looked at the time and gulped a little. Still an hour to go before they left. He joined George and tried to do his homework. Something to keep his mind off what was coming up. George didn't seem to be concentrating much either.
Someone sat beside him. He turned and saw Ginny. She had a big grin on her face and he knew he was in trouble. “What do you want adorable little sister?”
George said, “Yes we are kind of in a rush. You see, the big kids get to go to Hogsmeade while the little ones stay here.”
If it was possible, Ginny's grin seemed to get even wider. “Is that all you two are doing?”
Knowing it was a trap, but unable to avoid it, Fred said, “Whatever do you mean?”
Obviously enjoying every second of it, Ginny very slowly said, “Oh, I don't know...I just heard a rumor.”
Fred said, “Rumors are dangerous things.”
George added, “You should never trust them.”
Ginny's grin dropped and very seriously, she said,“Oh then, so you don't have a double date with Elizabeth and Sarah from Ravenclaw?”
George said, “You just can't believe everything you hear.”
Ginny's smile returned. “Well then, before you guys leave, I better tell those two that people are spreading awful terrible rumors about them. I mean going out with you two...”
“Fine,” said Fred. “The rumors are true. I thought we'd kept them out of Gryffindor tower though.”
Ginny said, “You did, but Luna mentioned something to me in the hall. Best present she's ever given me.”
“I imagine so.”
Ginny put her arm around George. “You don't need another girl in your life. I'm right here with you.”
George moved her arm away. “Annoying little sisters don't count.”
Ginny mocked being hurt. “Well then, I guess it's over then. If you get married while you are there though, take some pictures. Mum will want to see them.”
Both twins faces turned red. Fred tried to counter-attack, “Well, maybe you and Harry...”
Ginny shook her head. “Sorry, but that joke is worn out now. I endured it in two timelines. Now you and Elizabeth, well how long do you think it will take you two to snog? Were you thinking about it on the way over to Hogsmeade? You shouldn't wait too long if the honeymoon is going to be this time next week.”
“Well...” Fred said.
“At least we...I mean...” George started, but didn't seem to be able to figure out where he was going.
Ginny had never seen either of their faces so red. She laughed hard. In a year they'd be bragging about this kind of stuff, but for now it was both of their first dates and they were as nervous as anyone.
She stood up. She mentally locked this imagine next to the one of showing them her flying after she got back in time. “Sorry guys. I had to take the chance for the payback. Really though have fun.”
----
Lockhart had personally made arrangements for the Valentine's breakfast. Ginny had hoped that the lack of attacks from Chamber of Secrets would have changed that, but as she entered she realized that had been a foolish hope.
Ginny's mind wandered back to original present. She'd sent that dumb poem to Harry last time. He'd wanted no part of it of course and when his bag split open trying to escape the dwarf, she'd seen the diary again. She'd assumed he knew or was about to know what she had likely done. She thought she'd escaped when she threw it in the toilet, but that had only been an illusion. Valentine's Day had been a bad day that year and seeing Lockhart's decorations wasn't reassuring.
She headed toward the others and was surprised to see Harry there. “You're out!” She ran up and hugged him.
Malfoy was walking by at the same time. “Potter and his girlfriend.”
Ginny turned red. Despite what she said to her brothers, she had let her mind drift too much back to her other first year and all that had entailed.
Harry was a bit red too, but looked up and said, “Shove it Malfoy.”
Malfoy, looked around and knew he couldn't do much here. “I'm glad you are out of the hospital. Did you break a nail? I figured you were just trying to get out of playing Quidditch so you wouldn't be embarrassed, but I guess you aren't smart enough for that. Our brooms will run circles around you just like they did Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. It will be fun.”
Harry stared at him for a second and said, “We'll see.” Then he turned back to the table. Ginny had the thought that this Harry was a little more mature than he had been before.
Not giving into his bait and with teachers around, Malfoy headed to Slytherin's table.
Hermione asked, “So are you out for good?”
Harry shook his head irritated. “I have to go back every night this week and then once a week for the rest of the school year.” He paused, “Actually I kind of hope there is a little bit of a problem then. Maybe then I could avoid going back to the Dursleys.”
Ginny didn't like the talk of a problem remaining. Ron said, “Maybe we could talk to Mum and get her to let you to spend the summer. You were with us for a lot of it last year anyway and she likes you.”
Harry's heart skipped a beat. “Do you really think she'd go for it?”
Ginny looked down. “Dumbledore won't. You get some protection being at their house and he won't let you miss it completely.”
Harry sighed. “He left me there for 11 years. That's got to be enough.”
Ginny didn't say anything, but she knew how Dumbledore would answer.
Harry went to his bag. “Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I got more candy in the hospital wing than I could possibly eat.” He handed some chocolate frogs to Ron and gave Hermione some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.”
He turned to Ginny. “You liked the grape licorice right?”
Ginny thought she'd only had that a couple of times around him and was surprised he remembered. “Yeah. It's my favorite.”
He handed her two packs someone had given to him and she smiled.
----
Hermione put down the book. This was going to be a hard sell. “It's her. It's the same person. I'm almost sure of it.”
Ron looked at her. “What are you doing on about?” They were around a table at the far end of what Hermione had made sure was a deserted common room.
“That's my Mum,” said Harry taking back the scrapbook Hagrid had made him at the end of last year. “Where else have you seen her picture?”
Hermione looked around again. It was just the three of them. “In Snape's room last year. When we were down there, there was a picture of a young boy and girl, and I think it was Snape and your mum.”
Harry shook his head. “That's crazy. He wouldn't keep a picture of my mum.”
Ron said, “Yeah. He hates Harry, remember?”
Hermione shook her head. “But it makes sense. I bet that's why Dumbledore believes him.”
The portrait of the fat lady swung open. Hermione looked up and saw Ginny walking to them. She'd have preferred Ginny not be here for this yet, but she decided to go on.
Ron said, “Now you are really not making sense. The reason Dumbledore trusts Snape is a picture of Lily and him together, a picture we don't even know is her.”
Ginny sat down. Irritation in her voice already. “What's this about why Dumbledore trusts Snape?”
Hermione took a breath. “We know that Snape and Lily were friends before Hogwarts. We also know that they were friends for at least part of their time here and Lily went out in the middle of the night as a 4th year to see him.”
Harry said, “But she didn't like him when they left school, and she was with my dad.”
Hermione rebutted, “Which is a big reason that Snape would probably hate your dad and since he can hold a grudge pretty strong, against the son who looks just like him.”
Harry was shaking his head, not liking the implications here. “OK, so what? Maybe that's one reason Snape hates me. I know he did before I started school so that makes a little sense. What does that have to do with Dumbledore?”
Hermione turned to Ginny. “You told Harry that Snape told You-Know-Who the prophecy. Did Snape know it was about Harry?”
Ginny thought for a second and shrugged. “I don't know. If he was so close to Lily, he probably knew she had a kid.”
Hermione shook her head and she got more excited as she played through it in her mind. “I bet he didn't. He was probably a Death Eater then, and they were on opposite sides. He probably didn't see her much. That might be why they stopped being friends in the first place.”
Ron said, “Where are you going with this?”
Hermione didn't answer. She took a breath, paused, and stood up. She walked up to a window and looked outside. “Well, if we assume that Snape cared for Lily while they were at school, there are two reasons I can think of that would explain why Dumbledore trusts him.”
Harry said, “What two things?”
Hermione kept looking out the window. She didn't turn around, but the others stood up and took a few steps to her. “Well, it could be that Snape used that past connection to trick Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew Snape and her were friends, so if Snape came to Dumbledore and said he loved Lily, then Dumbledore might believe him and have protected him from the ministry after You-Know-Who fell. It could have originally been a plot by You-Know-Who to get someone in the school, but more likely was just something Snape did after You-Know-Who was defeated to save himself.”
Reluctant till now, Harry embraced the idea. “Of course! That makes complete sense. Dumbledore talked to me at the end of last year about love being a powerful magic. If Snape said he loved my mum, Dumbledore would really want to believe that. That could be Dumbledore's weakness and Voldemort knew it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ginny slowly nod too. Ginny seemed reluctant to go along with Hermione on a lot of this, but there was apparently a sense of logic she agreed with there. Hermione was glad for that much. Ginny said, “That would explain a lot.”
Ron looked at Hermione who was still looking out the window. He said the word he knew would be next. “But...”
Hermione slowly turned around. “But I'm not sure Dumbledore is that easy to trick. It might make more sense if we assume Snape was being honest. Maybe he told You-Know-Who the prophecy, and then he realized that he put Lily in danger. To save her, he went to Dumbledore and switched sides. That would explain why Dumbledore always trusted him. If it was true that he really loved Lily and he blamed himself for Lily's death, then Snape would never go back to the side that killed Lily.”
Harry clearly didn't want to believe that. “I know Dumbledore is great, but I think Snape tricked him. That just fits better.”
Ginny took a breath. Hermione could tell Ginny considered this issue long settled and was just trying to be polite. “Hermione, that would have been plausible at this point in the other time. If fact, it would have made a lot of sense and we rightly would have called you brilliant for figuring it out.”
Ginny looked around the room making sure it was empty and then said, “In the years after this though, he killed Dumbledore, he cut off George's ear,” Hermione and the rest of them gasped at that, “and became headmaster at Hogwarts on Voldemort's orders in a year when Defense Against the Dark Arts, just became the Dark Arts and muggle borns weren't welcome.”
Hermione knew that she might be taking this side just in the hope that Snape could create a potion for her, but she had thought through those arguments (other than George's ear which she hadn't known about). “That could have been under Dumbledore's orders. It was a bad school year, but with You-Know-Who in control of the ministry so it was always going to be bad. You-Know-Who probably directed half those things himself and most school policies were probably out of Snape's control.”
Hermione ignored skeptical looks from her friends as her mind flashed back to Ginny talking about her last year at Hogwarts. “You said that all you got for trying to take the Sword of Gryffindor was detention. That doesn't sound like it came from a man intent on bringing You-Know-Who's world to light.”
Ginny didn't deny that had always seemed strange, but she brought back the bigger point. “Hermione, he killed Dumbledore! If Dumbledore was around, then Voldemort would not have been in charge of the ministry. There's no way to get around that fact. Harry was literally there when it happened.”
Hermione said, “Maybe the curse in his hand was more severe...”
Ginny countered, “It was a year before his death. Very unlikely.”
“Not impossible though.” Hermione looked to Harry as a kind of proof. “Those curses stay sometime.”
Ginny followed Hermione's gaze to Harry. Hermione instantly regretted bringing Harry's condition into this. Ginny's mind had been made up, but she'd been patient and reasonable. Now she shouted without even looking around to make sure the coast remained clear. “He's not on our side! Maybe Dumbledore had some reason to trust him like you said, but there is zero evidence that he was supporting our side in the other time after Dumbledore died.” Ginny started to quickly walk away.
Hermione, mad herself now, said, “Fine. Then just answer one question.”
Ginny glanced back around. Hermione said, “You told Dumbledore all that already. Why does Dumbledore still trust him in THIS timeline? Unless he thinks you are lying, then he believes that Snape did all of that for some good reason.”
Ginny turned back around. She threw her hands up in frustration. “He's not innocent! I wish he was Hermione, I really do. It'd make things easier. I don't know why Dumbledore trusts him, but his trust does not outweigh almost every scrap of evidence in the other time. You are grasping at straws and you know it!” She stormed out.
Harry looked at his two friends. “I think she's right. Snape has always been bad to the core. He tricked Dumbledore somehow, but there's too much stuff he's done to ignore.”
Harry walked out too and Hermione turned to Ron. Her look was almost pleading with him to agree with her.
Ron was conflicted though. On the one hand, Hermione's version of the events made a degree of sense. On the other though, there were holes in either side you took meaning both were probably wrong. His instincts, some he was pretty sure were influenced from the future, were all telling him Snape was evil as could be. Finally he said, “I don't know. We don't have enough information. It doesn't matter anyway though. It's not like anything really changes one way or the other anyway.”
Hermione thought once more of the potion in that book. The one that could potentially bring back her lost memories. Then she dismissed the thought. She probably was grasping at straws.
----
Voldemort looked to the Romanian woods. He heard the creature in it again.
Lucious apparated beside him and bowed. “My Lord, all is complete. As we had hoped, the spells have been successful. You will have the boy next month.”
There was a sound in the woods and Peter jumped. Voldemort smiled. “Best to stay away from the woods. The beast, the “God of the Lost,” can smell your fear Wormtail.”
Lucious looked up at Voldemort. “My Lord, will the creature interfere with our plans?”
Voldemort breathed heavily. “Yes. It wouldn't dare confront us here, to fight against our magic, but for the next phase, it will be a threat. I will have to take an extra precaution to ensure it does not interfere.”
----
As Harry walked down the hall, his vision became blurry. He had to sit down to avoid falling down. After a few moments of sitting on the floor, it passed and his senses returned to normal. He should go to the hospital wing, but the match vs. Slytherin was next week and he didn't want to give Madame Pomfrey a reason to not let him play.
Harry looked up and saw Malfoy hurry past him. Odd that he didn't comment on him lying on the ground.
----
Ginny was annoyed at their lack of progress again on the Horcrux to put it mildly. They had one job and just seemed incapable of doing it. They'd taken turns keeping watch on the 7th floor corridor every day for some sight of the door and as of yet there had been none. They'd tried various spell to reveal hidden rooms and seen nothing. Fred and George had investigated 3 other possible hidden rooms and 2 had turned out to be teachers rooms (not currently in use) and the last 1 had been a closet that only appeared if you needed to throw something away (Filch used it on occasion). There had been no progress on any others possible hidden rooms. Sirius, Mum, and Dad were now writing a lot of letters with suggestions and questions, and they were more counterproductive than helpful.
With all that on her mind, Ginny decided to ditch Quidditch practice and head back to the library. She'd make up some excuse later. As she turned a corner, she saw Harry sitting down against a wall. She sat down beside him concerned. “Shouldn't you be heading to Quidditch practice?”
He laughed a little. “Shouldn't you be?”
She laughed back. “Point taken.” She looked him over and realized he didn't look very good. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah,” said Harry, obviously trying to sound better than he felt.
“Then why are you on the ground?”
Harry shook his head. “Just resting for a minute.” He started to get up.
Ginny watched him struggle for a second and then he seemed alright. He said, “See. I'm fine.”
Ginny thought things through for a second. He wouldn't really try to play Quidditch if he was seriously sick would he?
Instantly the answer came back to her. Of course he would. Heck, in the other timeline against Slytherin, he'd instructed Fred and George to ignore the bludger that was specifically targeting only him.
“Is this the first time that happened?”
Defensively, Harry said, “What happened?”
Ginny wasn't quite sure. “You struggled getting up.”
Harry said, “It was only a little and only last for a minute or two.”
Something she'd have known nothing about if not for dumb luck right now. “And you told Madame Pomfrey about it?”
Harry stretched a little bit and seemed completely back to himself. “If I told her, she'd have me out of the Quidditch match.”
Ginny was furious. “Maybe... but that's a heck of a lot better than you falling off your broom in the middle of a match. How many times has it happened?”
Harry downplayed it as much as he could. “That's the third time in the last 2 weeks, but Madame Pomfrey didn't see anything wrong Monday and this was the first one in 4 days and it only lasts a minute.”
Ginny had both hands on her hips and would have reminded the rest of the Weasley children of their mother. “And it only takes 2 seconds on a broom to end up in a very bad situation. The protection charms don't stop everything, especially if you aren't reacting right. You're going to the hospital wing now.”
Definitely Harry said, “No. We need this match. We can't let Malfoy and Snape and all of them win.”
Ginny shook her head. “If you don't go, I'll tell Madame Pomfrey what happened myself and she'll disqualify you immediately.”
Harry looked at her roughly. “Fine.”
---
Oliver Wood somberly walked out of the hospital wing, which was a big contrast to how he'd rushed into it.
Ginny, who had been standing outside, unwilling to go back inside even though she could have, looked up at him. “No change in her opinion?”
He shook his head. “He's out.”
Ginny nodded. Her decision to try that fire had led them to this point and she hated it. “What are we going to do?”
Wood looked at her. “Harry said you could play seeker.”
Ginny was surprised by that given how mad he was at her. She nodded. “I'm not as good as him, but I can play OK.”
Wood studied her. “Well you have the build for it. I don't know how you know you can do it, but I don't think we have a choice. I'll call Katie and she can take your place and you can be seeker.”
As he walked away, she heard Wood say to himself, “And Slytherin is really good too.” Ginny reflected that wasn't a lie. They had been beating Gryffindor in the other timeline until Harry caught the snitch and it wasn't just because their brooms were a little better. They were older as a team and very good. Malfoy was probably actually probably the weakest link on the team and even he wasn't terrible.
---
Ginny sat next to Harry at breakfast Saturday morning. This was a huge game and she wasn't even thinking about it. Most the time was spent in silence. Toward the end, Ginny finally said, “I'm sorry, Harry. I know being out sucks, and I know I'm responsible for you getting hurt in the first place.”
Harry looked up from his food. “It wasn't your fault I got hurt. I'm glad I pushed you out.” He looked back down at his food. “That was 2 months ago though. I would have been fine today.”
Ginny could still hear the hurt in his voice. “I'm sorry. I just couldn't let you take that chance. At least now Madame Pomfrey can probably get the rest out.”
Harry just stared at his food, not eating any of it, but moving a little around with his fork. “Yeah.”
Wood came up and said it was time to go. One more time, Ginny said, “Sorry Harry.”
Without much enthusiasm, Harry said, “Good luck.” He never looked up.
---
Cheers and some boos greeted the Gryffindor team as they came onto the field. It was early in the year for their final match, but given the changed schedules, Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw was now the last match of the year. Ginny looked at her team. They were very good, on the verge of being a great team, but this was still going to be a tall order. She looked into the stands where she thought Hermione and Ron usually sat. She saw them sitting there with Harry. Ginny looked away and dismissed them from her mind as best she could. If she was going to do this, she'd need to stay focused.
Madame Hooch stood in the center of the field and Ginny saw the Slytherins approaching from the other side. They both got to the center about the same time. Other than Malfoy, they were all older students, 6th and 7th years. Ginny saw Malfoy and saw a somewhat perplexed look on his face.
Malfoy looked at Ginny. “Where's Potter?”
Hooch replied. “Potter is out, late substitution. Ginny Weasley will play seeker and Katie Bell will take her role as chaser.”
Malfoy wasn't happy with the news at all. “But...well, I guess it doesn't matter.”
Ginny smiled. “What's the matter Malfoy? Afraid of losing to a girl?”
Malfoy looked at her with disgust. “It doesn't matter what happens. Your family is still a group of blood traitors.”
No gloating. Ginny smiled. That meant he was actually nervous.
The players flew up and the game began.
In her first, first year, this game had been going decisively Slytherins way until Harry caught the snitch. There was no rogue bludger this time though and the team had another half year to grow which was bigger for them than for Slytherin. The result was a relatively close game to start.
----
Harry cheered as Katie scored. It was really hard to be here with Gryffindor playing, but he was at least happy to see her get another chance. He looked back up to Ginny and Malfoy. Ginny was hovering a little too high he thought. She could see the field fine that high, but it would take just a little too long to get the snitch from there. Malfoy, for his part, had made a few moves on the snitch, but never even been close.
As a bludger hit Angelina and Slytherin scored again, Harry started to get nervous. In the last few minutes, Slytherin had quickly carved out a 60 point lead and that would expand quickly if things kept up. Katie was still a little rusty and Slytherin was exploiting that. It would be a lot easier if Ginny got the snitch soon.
---
Ginny saw the snitch. Unfortunately, she knew it was closer to Malfoy, and he'd spot it if she started going for it. She slowly started circling closer, praying he wouldn't see it first or notice what she was doing.
She'd cut the distance in half when it started to dart away again. Ginny took off, hoping she could still beat Malfoy too it.
The snitch went flying toward the ground. Ginny caught up to it and grabbed it.
Ginny felt jerk behind her belly button and disappeared.
----
The stands went silent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up. What had just happened?
-
Star Empire
- Padawan Learner
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Re: The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 15
Chapter 16: The Shadow of the Future
Ginny slammed hard onto stone. The snitch flew from her hand.
“Get that,” said a voice behind Ginny. She looked up and saw the snitch explode as a blasting spell hit it.
As she tried to catch her breath, Ginny's arm went instinctively toward her wand, but she was slow and another spell hit her. She kept trying to get her wand, but her hand wasn't moving. She could hardly move anything. She was frozen from the neck down.
A man, Lucius Malfoy, Ginny realized, reached into her pocket and pulled our her wand.
A person behind her, same voice as before, said, “You have failed me Lucius. This is not the boy.”
Nervously, Lucius said, “I don't understand. Harry Potter was seeker and I told Draco not to catch the snitch.”
Ginny recognized the voice. Same as last year. It said, “Turn her toward me.”
Ginny was turned by Malfoy.
As she was turned, Ginny first saw a man she'd never seen before. She guessed it was Wormtail. In his hands, was something disgusting. He held a small, weak body.
Unable to control the fear in her voice, Ginny whispered, “Voldemort.”
Voldemort looked at her and then gave a small grin. “This is the girl from before. One of the time travelers.” He paused. “Yes. We can make this failure of your mission work.”
Ginny felt her mind being penetrated. She was terrified, and it occurred to her now that she had never learned occlumency. She meant to, but she'd forgotten it in favor of searching for the Horcruxes.
Despite no experience with occlumency, Ginny fought. She fought just as she had started to learn to fight back against the diary in the other timeline (too late then). To her surprise, she manged to push the presence away.
Voldemort grimaced. “Yes. I was afraid that I'd be too weak for that. Bring me closer to her.”
----
Madame Hooch blew the whistle. Fred looked around confused. Had they won or not? Usually Lee Jordan’s announcing and the crowd response showed that very clearly. One side would be cheering profusely. Instead, he'd heard Lee saying that Ginny was going after the snitch and then he'd heard a cheer that for some reason had seemed to die right away. He turned to his brother. “George, you see if Ginny caught it?”
George shook his head. He pointed in one direction. “There's Malfoy. He doesn't have it. You see Ginny?”
----
Standing up, Harry said, “What just happened?”
Hermione said, “I'm not sure, it's like...”
Ron said, “Before...just like 4th year.”
Harry turned from the field. Understanding quickly filling his mind. He looked at Ron, remembering what Ginny had said had happened. “The portkey. The one that took the other me to the graveyard...”
Ron never letting his eyes leave the field nodded.
Harry started walking. “We've got to get to the graveyard.”
Hermione pointed to the field, “It's Dumbledore!”
----
Dumbledore had made it back to Hogwarts at the beginning of the match and had decided to sit and watch the game. To his horror, he'd realized that he had failed again. In two separate timelines, he'd allowed a portkey into his school.
Dumbledore tried to consider how this could have happened. Portkeys could neither be brought into Hogwarts nor created in it normally without the castles protection spells altering the headmaster (or deputy headmistress as McGonagall had been in charge). Both the Triwizard Trophy and the snitch were enchanted with a special connection to whomever touched them first though. The non-interference protection spells on them were so great that it was probable they'd be able to hide a portkey, but only if it was created outside the school. In the other timeline, the fake Mad Eye had the trophy before the final challenge. In this timeline...
Dumbledore had already thoroughly checked his staff for possible fakes. There was no polyjuice potion being used and no spells he could detect controlling anyone. That meant the snitch had probably been enchanted by someone at the International Quidditch Institute which was the sole producer and verified all snitches. If that was true, it meant Voldemort had recruited someone on his side with a lot of political sway.
Dumbledore looked to the shocked crowd and put his wand to his neck, amplifying his voice a 100 times. “Please return to your house common rooms immediately.”
Most started that way, but he spotted Fred and George flying toward him and the 2nd year trio and Percy running toward him.
The twins made it first, but Harry, while out of breath, got out his statement before he was even there. “The graveyard! We have to get to the graveyard!”
Dumbledore shook his head. “They won't be there. I've kept an eye on it. I will of course double check now, but I am certain Voldemort is someplace else.”
Percy, every bit as frantic as anyone else, said, “Where then?”
Dumbledore looked to Harry and as he did, so did the others. “The last time you remember dreaming about Voldemort, where was he?”
Harry paused. “I don't know...I have a hard time remembering. I think he was in some kind of forest.”
Dumbledore nodded. “Given past rumors, he's likely the Forest of Litine. It is a magical forest in the Transylvania part of Romania. Muggles would walk right passed it, but for any magical being, it is a deep forest.” Dumbledore looked at the group for another moment and decided time was slipping. He would need to check the graveyard first and then stop by the Ministry. “I must go.”
---
Ginny fought with her body to move, but beyond her head, there was nothing that would go anywhere. She couldn't even wiggle a finger or toe. She tried using her head to push her whole body away, but all she succeed at doing was banging her head against stone.
Wormtail walked over and set Voldemort down right beside her. Ginny could see the eyes of the creature that was far less than a man. She breathed hard and tried to keep herself from completely panicking. She was going to die here. There was no question about that.
Voldemort said, “Now girl, I'm going to ask you some questions.”
Ginny shook her head, trying desperately to reign in the terror she felt. “I won't tell you anything.”
Voldemort laughed. “I assure you that you will.”
Ginny shook her head again, but it was a weak resistance.
Voldemort continued, “You will tell me everything I want to know. I will be a gracious host though and let you choose how the conversation goes. There are three ways we can do this. I will give you the choice and swear that I will follow through completely with whatever choice you make. Do you understand?”
Ginny's horror level rose. She was confused, but knew she better prepare herself for a lot of pain. She couldn't say anything. She just nodded.
Voldemort looked uncomfortable himself on the stone, but continued. “Good. Now I am going to ask questions and I want truthful answers. There are 3 ways I can get them. 1. I can have Lucious and Wormtail practice the Cruciatus Curse on you and anything else they feel like trying that I don't feel will kill you. They will continue until I'm convinced that you are so broken down that you will tell me anything that I want to know without hesitation. Do you understand that option?”
Ginny remembered her lessens in Dark Arts 6th year. Everyone gave in with enough torture. She could fight, but she wouldn't win that battle.
Voldemort repeated, “Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded.
Voldemort continued, “Number 2. I can have Lucius go back to Britain to Knockturn Alley and have him look for some veritaserum. If he can't, I suppose that would take us back to option #1. Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded again. She knew that if she took that, she'd hide nothing.
“Number 3. I can question you right now, and you will answer honestly and completely. I will know if you are lying to me, and if you are lying, we go back to number 1. Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded.
Voldemort didn't smile. “Then which is your choice?”
Ginny thought for a second. She tried to put away her own fears and think of the mission. Choice 2 would buy time. Maybe they could find her in that time. There wouldn't be hiding anything then though. If she went with #3, maybe she could keep a few essential facts to herself. Very faintly, she got out, “Number 3.”
Voldemort smiled. “A wise decision. Let's see if you are wise enough to keep it.”
Voldemort looked to Wormtail. “Let's make our friend more comfortable for our little chat.”
Wormtail used his wand and a chair materialized. Lucius lifted her up. Being picked up by him was terrible. To Harry, Snape had always been the secondary symbol of evil. To Ginny, while Snape was terrible, it had always been the man who had dropped the diary into her cauldron. He put her on the chair and propped her up so she wouldn't fall.
Ginny looked at her surrounding. She seemed to be on top of some kind of stone pyramid. The top was flat, with a lot of levels leading up here. Surrounding the pyramid on all sides that she could see was a vast forest. She guessed it was the Forest of Litine in Romania and hoped against hope that it wasn't. It was the largest magical forest in the world.
----
The six Gryffindors walked toward the castle in silence. When they got there, Harry started running. Percy said, “Where are you going?”
Harry didn't answer. The twins exchanged glances and followed him. Percy delayed a second and then went too.
Hermione looked at Ron who had stopped. She needed to say something, but she didn't know what. “Ron, I'm sorry.”
Ron didn't say anything for a second and then seemed to make a decision. He started walking quickly, and then started running himself. He went in a different direction than Harry had though. Hermione wasn't sure what he was doing. “Where are you going?”
He didn't answer; he just ran.
---
Voldemort was picked up by Wormtail and set down himself. Their spells had returned a little bit of a physical presence to him, but there was still only so much he could do on his own.
Ginny could feel little except terror, but took a breath and made herself calm down. She was going to die and there was no question about that now. What was important was them finishing the mission. Most the Horcruxes were already accounted for. What was essential right now was that Voldemort have no idea they were looking for them. That was her goal. Her last mission was to make sure Voldemort never suspected what they were really up to.
Voldemort started. “Now, I know you traveled through time. Tell me exactly why you did.”
Ginny looked down. This was the person she was trying to stop, but she was going to have to tell him almost everything if she wanted this to work. She looked back up and forced the terror out of her eyes. She made herself remember everything that he had done and she looked him right in the eyes with anger as the dominant emotion. “You took over everything. The Ministry of Magic had long fallen. The Statue of Secrecy was half a joke anymore. Hogwarts had been reorganized. You were supporting Death Eaters in other countries.”
Voldemort smiled. “So I did return in the other reality. How?”
Ginny thoughts went to the burned up body of Tom Riddle Sr. “You used some spell involving your fathers bones, Wormtail's hand, and...Harry's blood.” Wormtail jumped a little not liking the bit about his hand.
Voldemort nodded. “So you destroyed my father's bones so as to stop my returning.”
Ginny didn't glance away. “Yes and I hope it stops you forever.”
Voldemort laughed. “You may get your wish, but I doubt it.” Seriously again, Voldemort said, “How did you go back in time?”
Ginny paused at that. She hadn't thought of this angle. Voldemort was so powerful, giving him time travel too would be disastrous.
Voldemort, sensing her hesitation said, “I remind you of your choices Ginny. I also will mention that I would never attempt what you did. You don't even realize how evil it was do you?”
Ginny looked at him confused. This was obviously a trick of some kind, but it took her by surprise. “Evil?”
He took pleasure in what he said next. “Did you ever ask Dumbledore if he approved of what you did?”
Ginny was still confused. “No.”
Voldemort leaned in as much as he could. “Do you know of any children from the future. Born years from now, but before you left?”
Ginny's mind went to Teddy. She thought his grandparents had gotten him out of Britain, but she'd never been sure.
“Ahh...I can see you do. Now tell me, what do you think the chances of that child and thousands, maybe millions of others still existing are? Maybe some will, maybe their souls will be somewhere still, but the odds of the exact events happening leading to their creation are slim. That child you thought of probably won't ever exist.”
Ginny hated it, but she knew he was right. Tonks and Lupin might not even get to know each other here. He was probably right about Dumbledore's response too. She pushed it aside though. She'd just have to trust that God or whatever was in charge made sure the people still existed somewhere somehow. “I don't believe that would stop you from trying time travel.”
Voldemort nodded. “You are right. It wouldn't bother me at all. I have other ways to return though and time travel is clearly a threat to me. My goal will be to prevent it from occurring ever again. Now, I ask you again, how did you do it?”
Ginny delayed another second and then realized he was getting this information one way or another. “Varengan feathers. We used a spell to make our memories take a form outside the body and then sent them back in time.”
“Varengan Feathers.” Voldemort stared at her for a extra minute, seeming to verify to himself that she was telling the truth. “Yes. Native to Britain, but extinct. Powerful and known to have temporal effects. Sending back in time so far though was very impressive.”
Ginny thought of Hermione and all the work she put into that. She doubted there were more than a handful of wizards or witches on the planet who could have figured that out even under the right circumstances.
Voldemort continued, “That was the only way you discovered to time travel?”
Ginny nodded. “Yes.”
Voldemort pressed harder. “No other ways considered?”
“Considered yes, but nothing else that Hermione could get off the drawling board. This was the only thing that had even a remote chance of actually working.”
Voldemort smiled hard. “The Ministry has a small amount of Varengan Feathers they use for time turners, Felix's Felicis, and a few other potions. That wouldn't be enough for a spell like you tried though. You would have needed almost all the ones left in existence. You went grave robbing and stole a lot didn't you?”
He was trying to make her feel guilty and she did feel it a little, but only a little. “Yes.”
“Well Ginny, I can promise you that the first thing I'll do when I regain my body is have my followers destroy every last one. You gained one extra try to stop me. You won't gain another.”
----
Harry saw Malfoy surround by half of Slytherin house, but that didn't stop him. He ran up and pushed him to the floor. As Crabe and Goyle grabbed Harry he shouted, “WHERE IS SHE!?”
Malfoy, despite being completely surrounded by Slytherins, looked scared. “How am I supposed to know that?”
Harry struggled against the two bigger boys and it took all their effort to keep him there. Harry spoke with hate, “You weren't trying. You weren't looking for the snitch. You should have had it earlier. I didn't understand how you didn't catch it that one time, but I do now. You didn't want to catch it.”
Malfoy stuttered a little. “I don't...don't know what you are talking about Potter.”
The twins came up and Carbe and Goyle were hit with laughing charms and fell to the ground. Slytherins started throwing spells back at the twins who ducked behind suits of armor as Percy came down and tried to get them to stop.
Harry dove back toward Malfoy. Malfoy hit him with a weak stunning spell and Harry hit the ground. At that, even Percy started throwing spells down toward the Slytherins.
“ENOUGH!” shouted a loud voice. All the spells stopped. Snape came around the corner. “What is the meaning of this? The headmaster instructed everyone to return to their dormitories.” He saw Harry and the 3 Weasleys. “I should have known you would be part of this.”
Harry got up slowly. He pointed at Malfoy. “He knows where Ginny is.”
Snape looked to Malfoy. “Draco, is that true?”
Malfoy protested. “No.”
“50 points from Gryffindor.”
Harry shouted. “You think I can care about that.”
Snape ignored the comment. “And I will take Mr. Malfoy to speak to Professor Dumbledore immediately to clear up any misunderstanding. Now return to your dormitories.”
Snape didn't wait for them to go. He removed the charms against Crabe and Goyle and started walking Malfoy upstairs.
Harry almost protested more, but Dumbledore would see through any lies. He wasn't sure what to do now, but Percy and the twins started leading him away.
----
Ginny looked away and to her surrounding. She tried to see beyond the forest, but it seemed to go forever. She tried to ignore how bad Voldemort's words were. She knew he'd get to most those feathers and without almost all of them, even going a little ways back in time would be impossible. In the back of her mind she'd always known they could try again, but now that fact was wrong.
Voldemort's voice went to the next topic. “Now, when did you receive your memories?”
Now was when she was going to have to be careful in how she answered, but also not appear to be that way. She answered quickly. “Two summers ago.”
“And who else received them?”
Ginny didn't hesitate. He'd know this from Wormtail already. “My brother Ron and friend Hermione Granger. Neither of them have been able to recover them though.”
Voldemort seemed mildly surprised. “Still? Even with another year?”
Ginny shook her head.
“Well then, I'm fortunate it was you who arrived here. You stopped me from getting the Sorcerer's Stone last year. Why did I make it that far? If you knew the future, why wasn't Dumbledore stopping me long before then?”
Ginny didn't rush, but she didn't pause for a second either. More naturally than she could have believed, she said the truth, “Ron and Hermione didn't have memories and I didn't want to mess up the timeline. I didn't think anything would change. I knew Harry defeated you that year and then you didn't get a chance to come back again for 3 years. I didn't want to change anything since I already knew how it would go. I didn't realize the Sorting Hat told them to research memory spells, not till the very end of the year. I've cursed myself ever since for assuming everything would be the same. I went to Dumbledore when I figured out things had changed and told him maybe we could make it end similarly so things wouldn't change much. He reluctantly agreed. Obviously, I messed up bad.”
“Three years from last summer,” said Voldemort thoughtfully. “You thought you had 2 more years.” He laughed hard. “Thank you then girl for shortening my period of weakness.”
That point was one Ginny tried to avoid thinking about, but now couldn't. If he had a way to come back now, she had just caused the world a lot more misery. The future that she kept telling herself would never repeat was going to repeat, only much sooner this time.
---
Hermione had to really rush to keep up to Ron. She had no idea where he was going. Finally, he slowed down on the 7th floor.
Out of breath, Hermione said, “What are we doing?”
Ron walked three times in front of the Room of Requirement. It opened and they both went in. It looked like an empty training room, nothing special about it.
Ron finally answered a question of hers. His voice was frantic. “I'm getting my memories back. I should have had them back ages ago, but I didn't want them. If I really tried, I'd have had them back months ago. If I even half tried, I'd have had them back before now.”
Hermione said, “OK. It's not something, even with a lot of work, you can get in a day though Ron.”
Ron already had his wand facing toward him. “I'm going to try.”
---
“Thank you Ginny. You have been most helpful today. Now, I have only 2 more questions. In your other time, what happened to Harry Potter and what happened to Dumbledore?”
A tear went to Ginny's eye. She prayed it couldn't happen again. That everything that happened in the other timeline couldn't just happen again here. “Snape killed Dumbledore.”
For the first time, Voldemort was completely surprised. “Severus Snape?”
Ginny nodded and she regretted saying it now. She should have taken the torture or found a better way to say that. He'd use that fact. She tried to cast doubt. “I mean one of my friends thinks it might have been on Dumbledore's orders, just so he could protect the school.”
Voldemort laughed. “And what do you think?”
Trapped. She was in this deep and there was no hiding her opinion. “None of the evidence points to it. She's just trying to figure out why Dumbledore trusts him.”
“Well that is very good to know. Now I assume that I killed Harry Potter?”
Ginny's anger rose again. “You aren't 1% of the person Harry is.”
Voldemort ignored the comment and repeated, “Did I kill him?”
Ginny relived it again in her mind. She didn't think about her praising enough, but it came out OK anyway. “An accident during a battle. We were defending Hogwarts. Harry was kind of leading. Two giants were fighting, one fell and killed him.”
Voldemort was clearly disappointed. “Killed by a giant....We will have to correct that here. It will not be fitting for my rule if the only one who ever stopped me is not killed by my own hand.”
Voldemort turned to Malfoy. “Prepare the spell.”
Lucius said, “But my lord, you need the blood from the boy. The spell will only work on you once. There won't be another chance.”
Voldemort said, “He can be fetched easily enough now and there are other spells that will accomplish that. Dumbledore knows we are acting and thus time is of the essence. We'll do it with her.”
Ginny tried to figure out what was going on. Desperately she clung to the memory of Tom Riddle Sr.'s bones. “But you don't have his bones. They were destroyed. I saw them.”
Voldemort smiled. “There are other ways to bring back what was lost. This structure is called The Pyramid of the Buzau. It is connected to the forest around us and was built long ago to restore life.”
Ginny was turned around and she saw two stone beds carved into the top level of the pyramid. She was put on one and Voldemort on another. A spell was said and she passed out.
----
Hermione protested. “You are overdoing it. You can't do these spells that quickly without hurting yourself. This isn't going to speed you up.”
Ron knew the truth in those words. He paused a few extra seconds. He couldn't stop though. If he stopped he'd think about all he'd done wrong. “Redelnto!”
The spell hit him and he fell to the ground.
---
Harry was conscious of the fact that Ron and Hermione were still gone. He'd eventually found out they were practicing memory charms thanks to the the Marauder’s Map and invisibility cloak, but he didn't like that they were gone still. Professor McGonagall had come and gestured for him to follow her. They went up to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore told him to take a seat and McGonagall waited outside.
As soon as she was gone, Harry started. “Did you talk to Malfoy?”
Dumbledore nodded. “Mr. Malfoy was very uneasy about what had happened.”
Sarcastically, Harry said, “I'm sure.”
Dumbledore continued. “It is very different to insult someone than to see your actions result in possible harm to them. It's not a difference he has had to experience before I promise you.”
Harry jumped at that. “He did it then? Could you get him to say where she is?”
Dumbledore continued slowly. “I'm afraid that all Draco knew was that his father told him not to catch the snitch. He did not directly say that, but it was easy enough to obtain.”
Harry thought through that. “Then he must be at their house, at Malfoy Manor.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I have already gone and verified that Mr. Malfoy has not been present in some time. I believe they are in Romania, just as your dreams have suggested. I am going now along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Black.”
Instantly Harry said, “I want to come.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I'm afraid that's not possible.”
Harry started to fight. Dumbledore added, “Voldemort was trying to get you today. Until he has you, it's possible he will let Ginny live. New measures have been enacted to make sure portkeys do not enter Hogwarts grounds. The Ministry, at my request, has sent wizards and witches to better patrol the castle grounds and I have personally approved the personnel. If you are here, you are relatively safe. I must ask that you go nowhere alone and remain in the castle until my return.”
“But...”
Dumbledore continued. “While you are here, Ginny will likely remain alive.”
Harry couldn't fight that. Dumbledore walked out of his office very quickly and McGonagall walked into it to walk him back.
----
What had it been? Ten minutes? Only 10 minutes. Hermione tried again and this time got out, “wingardium leviosa” well enough for it to work.
Ron was lifted into the air as Hermione gently moved him toward the door. He had a pulse and was breathing, but she couldn't get him to wake. He'd overdone the spell and she worried hurt his own mind badly.
Hermione was trembling as she came into the corridor. Ginny was gone. Ron had just hurt himself, possibly permanently. What was she going to do?
To her relief, Professor Flitwick came down the hall and saw them. He rushed to them.
---
Ginny awoke to birds chirping. Her back didn't feel very good. She hadn't been lying on something very comfortable. Her senses started to return and she jumped up quick and looked around. No Voldemort, no Malfoy, no Wormtail, no pyramid.
She was in the woods. She saw what she thought was a Transylvanian fly. She was in a magical woods, surely the same forest. She reached for her wand, but of course it wasn't there.
Ginny was beyond confused. How had she gotten here? What had Voldemort done? Surely they hadn't gotten done with whatever they were doing and just said, 'well, I guess we can let her go now.'
Then it hit her. She was probably in the middle of the largest section of magical woods in the world. She had no wand, no idea where to go, and really no skills for surviving in the wild without magic of her own. They had left her here to die.
With great difficulty, she managed to dismiss that thought. If she was going to live, she needed to get out of the woods. She looked at the sun. It was getting close to setting in the west. That was as good of direction as any she guessed.
Ginny slammed hard onto stone. The snitch flew from her hand.
“Get that,” said a voice behind Ginny. She looked up and saw the snitch explode as a blasting spell hit it.
As she tried to catch her breath, Ginny's arm went instinctively toward her wand, but she was slow and another spell hit her. She kept trying to get her wand, but her hand wasn't moving. She could hardly move anything. She was frozen from the neck down.
A man, Lucius Malfoy, Ginny realized, reached into her pocket and pulled our her wand.
A person behind her, same voice as before, said, “You have failed me Lucius. This is not the boy.”
Nervously, Lucius said, “I don't understand. Harry Potter was seeker and I told Draco not to catch the snitch.”
Ginny recognized the voice. Same as last year. It said, “Turn her toward me.”
Ginny was turned by Malfoy.
As she was turned, Ginny first saw a man she'd never seen before. She guessed it was Wormtail. In his hands, was something disgusting. He held a small, weak body.
Unable to control the fear in her voice, Ginny whispered, “Voldemort.”
Voldemort looked at her and then gave a small grin. “This is the girl from before. One of the time travelers.” He paused. “Yes. We can make this failure of your mission work.”
Ginny felt her mind being penetrated. She was terrified, and it occurred to her now that she had never learned occlumency. She meant to, but she'd forgotten it in favor of searching for the Horcruxes.
Despite no experience with occlumency, Ginny fought. She fought just as she had started to learn to fight back against the diary in the other timeline (too late then). To her surprise, she manged to push the presence away.
Voldemort grimaced. “Yes. I was afraid that I'd be too weak for that. Bring me closer to her.”
----
Madame Hooch blew the whistle. Fred looked around confused. Had they won or not? Usually Lee Jordan’s announcing and the crowd response showed that very clearly. One side would be cheering profusely. Instead, he'd heard Lee saying that Ginny was going after the snitch and then he'd heard a cheer that for some reason had seemed to die right away. He turned to his brother. “George, you see if Ginny caught it?”
George shook his head. He pointed in one direction. “There's Malfoy. He doesn't have it. You see Ginny?”
----
Standing up, Harry said, “What just happened?”
Hermione said, “I'm not sure, it's like...”
Ron said, “Before...just like 4th year.”
Harry turned from the field. Understanding quickly filling his mind. He looked at Ron, remembering what Ginny had said had happened. “The portkey. The one that took the other me to the graveyard...”
Ron never letting his eyes leave the field nodded.
Harry started walking. “We've got to get to the graveyard.”
Hermione pointed to the field, “It's Dumbledore!”
----
Dumbledore had made it back to Hogwarts at the beginning of the match and had decided to sit and watch the game. To his horror, he'd realized that he had failed again. In two separate timelines, he'd allowed a portkey into his school.
Dumbledore tried to consider how this could have happened. Portkeys could neither be brought into Hogwarts nor created in it normally without the castles protection spells altering the headmaster (or deputy headmistress as McGonagall had been in charge). Both the Triwizard Trophy and the snitch were enchanted with a special connection to whomever touched them first though. The non-interference protection spells on them were so great that it was probable they'd be able to hide a portkey, but only if it was created outside the school. In the other timeline, the fake Mad Eye had the trophy before the final challenge. In this timeline...
Dumbledore had already thoroughly checked his staff for possible fakes. There was no polyjuice potion being used and no spells he could detect controlling anyone. That meant the snitch had probably been enchanted by someone at the International Quidditch Institute which was the sole producer and verified all snitches. If that was true, it meant Voldemort had recruited someone on his side with a lot of political sway.
Dumbledore looked to the shocked crowd and put his wand to his neck, amplifying his voice a 100 times. “Please return to your house common rooms immediately.”
Most started that way, but he spotted Fred and George flying toward him and the 2nd year trio and Percy running toward him.
The twins made it first, but Harry, while out of breath, got out his statement before he was even there. “The graveyard! We have to get to the graveyard!”
Dumbledore shook his head. “They won't be there. I've kept an eye on it. I will of course double check now, but I am certain Voldemort is someplace else.”
Percy, every bit as frantic as anyone else, said, “Where then?”
Dumbledore looked to Harry and as he did, so did the others. “The last time you remember dreaming about Voldemort, where was he?”
Harry paused. “I don't know...I have a hard time remembering. I think he was in some kind of forest.”
Dumbledore nodded. “Given past rumors, he's likely the Forest of Litine. It is a magical forest in the Transylvania part of Romania. Muggles would walk right passed it, but for any magical being, it is a deep forest.” Dumbledore looked at the group for another moment and decided time was slipping. He would need to check the graveyard first and then stop by the Ministry. “I must go.”
---
Ginny fought with her body to move, but beyond her head, there was nothing that would go anywhere. She couldn't even wiggle a finger or toe. She tried using her head to push her whole body away, but all she succeed at doing was banging her head against stone.
Wormtail walked over and set Voldemort down right beside her. Ginny could see the eyes of the creature that was far less than a man. She breathed hard and tried to keep herself from completely panicking. She was going to die here. There was no question about that.
Voldemort said, “Now girl, I'm going to ask you some questions.”
Ginny shook her head, trying desperately to reign in the terror she felt. “I won't tell you anything.”
Voldemort laughed. “I assure you that you will.”
Ginny shook her head again, but it was a weak resistance.
Voldemort continued, “You will tell me everything I want to know. I will be a gracious host though and let you choose how the conversation goes. There are three ways we can do this. I will give you the choice and swear that I will follow through completely with whatever choice you make. Do you understand?”
Ginny's horror level rose. She was confused, but knew she better prepare herself for a lot of pain. She couldn't say anything. She just nodded.
Voldemort looked uncomfortable himself on the stone, but continued. “Good. Now I am going to ask questions and I want truthful answers. There are 3 ways I can get them. 1. I can have Lucious and Wormtail practice the Cruciatus Curse on you and anything else they feel like trying that I don't feel will kill you. They will continue until I'm convinced that you are so broken down that you will tell me anything that I want to know without hesitation. Do you understand that option?”
Ginny remembered her lessens in Dark Arts 6th year. Everyone gave in with enough torture. She could fight, but she wouldn't win that battle.
Voldemort repeated, “Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded.
Voldemort continued, “Number 2. I can have Lucius go back to Britain to Knockturn Alley and have him look for some veritaserum. If he can't, I suppose that would take us back to option #1. Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded again. She knew that if she took that, she'd hide nothing.
“Number 3. I can question you right now, and you will answer honestly and completely. I will know if you are lying to me, and if you are lying, we go back to number 1. Do you understand?”
Ginny nodded.
Voldemort didn't smile. “Then which is your choice?”
Ginny thought for a second. She tried to put away her own fears and think of the mission. Choice 2 would buy time. Maybe they could find her in that time. There wouldn't be hiding anything then though. If she went with #3, maybe she could keep a few essential facts to herself. Very faintly, she got out, “Number 3.”
Voldemort smiled. “A wise decision. Let's see if you are wise enough to keep it.”
Voldemort looked to Wormtail. “Let's make our friend more comfortable for our little chat.”
Wormtail used his wand and a chair materialized. Lucius lifted her up. Being picked up by him was terrible. To Harry, Snape had always been the secondary symbol of evil. To Ginny, while Snape was terrible, it had always been the man who had dropped the diary into her cauldron. He put her on the chair and propped her up so she wouldn't fall.
Ginny looked at her surrounding. She seemed to be on top of some kind of stone pyramid. The top was flat, with a lot of levels leading up here. Surrounding the pyramid on all sides that she could see was a vast forest. She guessed it was the Forest of Litine in Romania and hoped against hope that it wasn't. It was the largest magical forest in the world.
----
The six Gryffindors walked toward the castle in silence. When they got there, Harry started running. Percy said, “Where are you going?”
Harry didn't answer. The twins exchanged glances and followed him. Percy delayed a second and then went too.
Hermione looked at Ron who had stopped. She needed to say something, but she didn't know what. “Ron, I'm sorry.”
Ron didn't say anything for a second and then seemed to make a decision. He started walking quickly, and then started running himself. He went in a different direction than Harry had though. Hermione wasn't sure what he was doing. “Where are you going?”
He didn't answer; he just ran.
---
Voldemort was picked up by Wormtail and set down himself. Their spells had returned a little bit of a physical presence to him, but there was still only so much he could do on his own.
Ginny could feel little except terror, but took a breath and made herself calm down. She was going to die and there was no question about that now. What was important was them finishing the mission. Most the Horcruxes were already accounted for. What was essential right now was that Voldemort have no idea they were looking for them. That was her goal. Her last mission was to make sure Voldemort never suspected what they were really up to.
Voldemort started. “Now, I know you traveled through time. Tell me exactly why you did.”
Ginny looked down. This was the person she was trying to stop, but she was going to have to tell him almost everything if she wanted this to work. She looked back up and forced the terror out of her eyes. She made herself remember everything that he had done and she looked him right in the eyes with anger as the dominant emotion. “You took over everything. The Ministry of Magic had long fallen. The Statue of Secrecy was half a joke anymore. Hogwarts had been reorganized. You were supporting Death Eaters in other countries.”
Voldemort smiled. “So I did return in the other reality. How?”
Ginny thoughts went to the burned up body of Tom Riddle Sr. “You used some spell involving your fathers bones, Wormtail's hand, and...Harry's blood.” Wormtail jumped a little not liking the bit about his hand.
Voldemort nodded. “So you destroyed my father's bones so as to stop my returning.”
Ginny didn't glance away. “Yes and I hope it stops you forever.”
Voldemort laughed. “You may get your wish, but I doubt it.” Seriously again, Voldemort said, “How did you go back in time?”
Ginny paused at that. She hadn't thought of this angle. Voldemort was so powerful, giving him time travel too would be disastrous.
Voldemort, sensing her hesitation said, “I remind you of your choices Ginny. I also will mention that I would never attempt what you did. You don't even realize how evil it was do you?”
Ginny looked at him confused. This was obviously a trick of some kind, but it took her by surprise. “Evil?”
He took pleasure in what he said next. “Did you ever ask Dumbledore if he approved of what you did?”
Ginny was still confused. “No.”
Voldemort leaned in as much as he could. “Do you know of any children from the future. Born years from now, but before you left?”
Ginny's mind went to Teddy. She thought his grandparents had gotten him out of Britain, but she'd never been sure.
“Ahh...I can see you do. Now tell me, what do you think the chances of that child and thousands, maybe millions of others still existing are? Maybe some will, maybe their souls will be somewhere still, but the odds of the exact events happening leading to their creation are slim. That child you thought of probably won't ever exist.”
Ginny hated it, but she knew he was right. Tonks and Lupin might not even get to know each other here. He was probably right about Dumbledore's response too. She pushed it aside though. She'd just have to trust that God or whatever was in charge made sure the people still existed somewhere somehow. “I don't believe that would stop you from trying time travel.”
Voldemort nodded. “You are right. It wouldn't bother me at all. I have other ways to return though and time travel is clearly a threat to me. My goal will be to prevent it from occurring ever again. Now, I ask you again, how did you do it?”
Ginny delayed another second and then realized he was getting this information one way or another. “Varengan feathers. We used a spell to make our memories take a form outside the body and then sent them back in time.”
“Varengan Feathers.” Voldemort stared at her for a extra minute, seeming to verify to himself that she was telling the truth. “Yes. Native to Britain, but extinct. Powerful and known to have temporal effects. Sending back in time so far though was very impressive.”
Ginny thought of Hermione and all the work she put into that. She doubted there were more than a handful of wizards or witches on the planet who could have figured that out even under the right circumstances.
Voldemort continued, “That was the only way you discovered to time travel?”
Ginny nodded. “Yes.”
Voldemort pressed harder. “No other ways considered?”
“Considered yes, but nothing else that Hermione could get off the drawling board. This was the only thing that had even a remote chance of actually working.”
Voldemort smiled hard. “The Ministry has a small amount of Varengan Feathers they use for time turners, Felix's Felicis, and a few other potions. That wouldn't be enough for a spell like you tried though. You would have needed almost all the ones left in existence. You went grave robbing and stole a lot didn't you?”
He was trying to make her feel guilty and she did feel it a little, but only a little. “Yes.”
“Well Ginny, I can promise you that the first thing I'll do when I regain my body is have my followers destroy every last one. You gained one extra try to stop me. You won't gain another.”
----
Harry saw Malfoy surround by half of Slytherin house, but that didn't stop him. He ran up and pushed him to the floor. As Crabe and Goyle grabbed Harry he shouted, “WHERE IS SHE!?”
Malfoy, despite being completely surrounded by Slytherins, looked scared. “How am I supposed to know that?”
Harry struggled against the two bigger boys and it took all their effort to keep him there. Harry spoke with hate, “You weren't trying. You weren't looking for the snitch. You should have had it earlier. I didn't understand how you didn't catch it that one time, but I do now. You didn't want to catch it.”
Malfoy stuttered a little. “I don't...don't know what you are talking about Potter.”
The twins came up and Carbe and Goyle were hit with laughing charms and fell to the ground. Slytherins started throwing spells back at the twins who ducked behind suits of armor as Percy came down and tried to get them to stop.
Harry dove back toward Malfoy. Malfoy hit him with a weak stunning spell and Harry hit the ground. At that, even Percy started throwing spells down toward the Slytherins.
“ENOUGH!” shouted a loud voice. All the spells stopped. Snape came around the corner. “What is the meaning of this? The headmaster instructed everyone to return to their dormitories.” He saw Harry and the 3 Weasleys. “I should have known you would be part of this.”
Harry got up slowly. He pointed at Malfoy. “He knows where Ginny is.”
Snape looked to Malfoy. “Draco, is that true?”
Malfoy protested. “No.”
“50 points from Gryffindor.”
Harry shouted. “You think I can care about that.”
Snape ignored the comment. “And I will take Mr. Malfoy to speak to Professor Dumbledore immediately to clear up any misunderstanding. Now return to your dormitories.”
Snape didn't wait for them to go. He removed the charms against Crabe and Goyle and started walking Malfoy upstairs.
Harry almost protested more, but Dumbledore would see through any lies. He wasn't sure what to do now, but Percy and the twins started leading him away.
----
Ginny looked away and to her surrounding. She tried to see beyond the forest, but it seemed to go forever. She tried to ignore how bad Voldemort's words were. She knew he'd get to most those feathers and without almost all of them, even going a little ways back in time would be impossible. In the back of her mind she'd always known they could try again, but now that fact was wrong.
Voldemort's voice went to the next topic. “Now, when did you receive your memories?”
Now was when she was going to have to be careful in how she answered, but also not appear to be that way. She answered quickly. “Two summers ago.”
“And who else received them?”
Ginny didn't hesitate. He'd know this from Wormtail already. “My brother Ron and friend Hermione Granger. Neither of them have been able to recover them though.”
Voldemort seemed mildly surprised. “Still? Even with another year?”
Ginny shook her head.
“Well then, I'm fortunate it was you who arrived here. You stopped me from getting the Sorcerer's Stone last year. Why did I make it that far? If you knew the future, why wasn't Dumbledore stopping me long before then?”
Ginny didn't rush, but she didn't pause for a second either. More naturally than she could have believed, she said the truth, “Ron and Hermione didn't have memories and I didn't want to mess up the timeline. I didn't think anything would change. I knew Harry defeated you that year and then you didn't get a chance to come back again for 3 years. I didn't want to change anything since I already knew how it would go. I didn't realize the Sorting Hat told them to research memory spells, not till the very end of the year. I've cursed myself ever since for assuming everything would be the same. I went to Dumbledore when I figured out things had changed and told him maybe we could make it end similarly so things wouldn't change much. He reluctantly agreed. Obviously, I messed up bad.”
“Three years from last summer,” said Voldemort thoughtfully. “You thought you had 2 more years.” He laughed hard. “Thank you then girl for shortening my period of weakness.”
That point was one Ginny tried to avoid thinking about, but now couldn't. If he had a way to come back now, she had just caused the world a lot more misery. The future that she kept telling herself would never repeat was going to repeat, only much sooner this time.
---
Hermione had to really rush to keep up to Ron. She had no idea where he was going. Finally, he slowed down on the 7th floor.
Out of breath, Hermione said, “What are we doing?”
Ron walked three times in front of the Room of Requirement. It opened and they both went in. It looked like an empty training room, nothing special about it.
Ron finally answered a question of hers. His voice was frantic. “I'm getting my memories back. I should have had them back ages ago, but I didn't want them. If I really tried, I'd have had them back months ago. If I even half tried, I'd have had them back before now.”
Hermione said, “OK. It's not something, even with a lot of work, you can get in a day though Ron.”
Ron already had his wand facing toward him. “I'm going to try.”
---
“Thank you Ginny. You have been most helpful today. Now, I have only 2 more questions. In your other time, what happened to Harry Potter and what happened to Dumbledore?”
A tear went to Ginny's eye. She prayed it couldn't happen again. That everything that happened in the other timeline couldn't just happen again here. “Snape killed Dumbledore.”
For the first time, Voldemort was completely surprised. “Severus Snape?”
Ginny nodded and she regretted saying it now. She should have taken the torture or found a better way to say that. He'd use that fact. She tried to cast doubt. “I mean one of my friends thinks it might have been on Dumbledore's orders, just so he could protect the school.”
Voldemort laughed. “And what do you think?”
Trapped. She was in this deep and there was no hiding her opinion. “None of the evidence points to it. She's just trying to figure out why Dumbledore trusts him.”
“Well that is very good to know. Now I assume that I killed Harry Potter?”
Ginny's anger rose again. “You aren't 1% of the person Harry is.”
Voldemort ignored the comment and repeated, “Did I kill him?”
Ginny relived it again in her mind. She didn't think about her praising enough, but it came out OK anyway. “An accident during a battle. We were defending Hogwarts. Harry was kind of leading. Two giants were fighting, one fell and killed him.”
Voldemort was clearly disappointed. “Killed by a giant....We will have to correct that here. It will not be fitting for my rule if the only one who ever stopped me is not killed by my own hand.”
Voldemort turned to Malfoy. “Prepare the spell.”
Lucius said, “But my lord, you need the blood from the boy. The spell will only work on you once. There won't be another chance.”
Voldemort said, “He can be fetched easily enough now and there are other spells that will accomplish that. Dumbledore knows we are acting and thus time is of the essence. We'll do it with her.”
Ginny tried to figure out what was going on. Desperately she clung to the memory of Tom Riddle Sr.'s bones. “But you don't have his bones. They were destroyed. I saw them.”
Voldemort smiled. “There are other ways to bring back what was lost. This structure is called The Pyramid of the Buzau. It is connected to the forest around us and was built long ago to restore life.”
Ginny was turned around and she saw two stone beds carved into the top level of the pyramid. She was put on one and Voldemort on another. A spell was said and she passed out.
----
Hermione protested. “You are overdoing it. You can't do these spells that quickly without hurting yourself. This isn't going to speed you up.”
Ron knew the truth in those words. He paused a few extra seconds. He couldn't stop though. If he stopped he'd think about all he'd done wrong. “Redelnto!”
The spell hit him and he fell to the ground.
---
Harry was conscious of the fact that Ron and Hermione were still gone. He'd eventually found out they were practicing memory charms thanks to the the Marauder’s Map and invisibility cloak, but he didn't like that they were gone still. Professor McGonagall had come and gestured for him to follow her. They went up to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore told him to take a seat and McGonagall waited outside.
As soon as she was gone, Harry started. “Did you talk to Malfoy?”
Dumbledore nodded. “Mr. Malfoy was very uneasy about what had happened.”
Sarcastically, Harry said, “I'm sure.”
Dumbledore continued. “It is very different to insult someone than to see your actions result in possible harm to them. It's not a difference he has had to experience before I promise you.”
Harry jumped at that. “He did it then? Could you get him to say where she is?”
Dumbledore continued slowly. “I'm afraid that all Draco knew was that his father told him not to catch the snitch. He did not directly say that, but it was easy enough to obtain.”
Harry thought through that. “Then he must be at their house, at Malfoy Manor.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I have already gone and verified that Mr. Malfoy has not been present in some time. I believe they are in Romania, just as your dreams have suggested. I am going now along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Black.”
Instantly Harry said, “I want to come.”
Dumbledore shook his head. “I'm afraid that's not possible.”
Harry started to fight. Dumbledore added, “Voldemort was trying to get you today. Until he has you, it's possible he will let Ginny live. New measures have been enacted to make sure portkeys do not enter Hogwarts grounds. The Ministry, at my request, has sent wizards and witches to better patrol the castle grounds and I have personally approved the personnel. If you are here, you are relatively safe. I must ask that you go nowhere alone and remain in the castle until my return.”
“But...”
Dumbledore continued. “While you are here, Ginny will likely remain alive.”
Harry couldn't fight that. Dumbledore walked out of his office very quickly and McGonagall walked into it to walk him back.
----
What had it been? Ten minutes? Only 10 minutes. Hermione tried again and this time got out, “wingardium leviosa” well enough for it to work.
Ron was lifted into the air as Hermione gently moved him toward the door. He had a pulse and was breathing, but she couldn't get him to wake. He'd overdone the spell and she worried hurt his own mind badly.
Hermione was trembling as she came into the corridor. Ginny was gone. Ron had just hurt himself, possibly permanently. What was she going to do?
To her relief, Professor Flitwick came down the hall and saw them. He rushed to them.
---
Ginny awoke to birds chirping. Her back didn't feel very good. She hadn't been lying on something very comfortable. Her senses started to return and she jumped up quick and looked around. No Voldemort, no Malfoy, no Wormtail, no pyramid.
She was in the woods. She saw what she thought was a Transylvanian fly. She was in a magical woods, surely the same forest. She reached for her wand, but of course it wasn't there.
Ginny was beyond confused. How had she gotten here? What had Voldemort done? Surely they hadn't gotten done with whatever they were doing and just said, 'well, I guess we can let her go now.'
Then it hit her. She was probably in the middle of the largest section of magical woods in the world. She had no wand, no idea where to go, and really no skills for surviving in the wild without magic of her own. They had left her here to die.
With great difficulty, she managed to dismiss that thought. If she was going to live, she needed to get out of the woods. She looked at the sun. It was getting close to setting in the west. That was as good of direction as any she guessed.
-
Star Empire
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 242
- Joined: 2004-11-30 10:48pm
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
Re: The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 16
The climax of year 2 will be a couple more chapters. The parts with Ginny will take a lot of elements from Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (including much/most details with the creature). The approach was a risky one and I could see it being loved or hated, but it's been my plan for a long time so I decided to stick with it and think it's going to come out pretty well.Chapter
17: Wonder and Pain
The first pain that Ginny suffered in the woods was her right leg hitting a thorn. The underbrush had become thick here and her Quidditch robe wasn't exactly made for hiking. She looked at the little bit of blood that came from her small wound and wondered how many more of those, how much more blood she'd lose before she could find her way out of the woods...if she could find her way out of the woods.... No, better not to think like that.
She kept walking. There was no good reason to go west, but the sun was setting that way and it would be easier to stay in a constant direction.
The second pain that Ginny became conscious of was thirst. She hadn't drank anything since their last break in Quidditch and she was becoming very conscious of just how long ago that was. She started looking hard for water. There had to be a lake or a pond or something around here.
As Ginny looked, she tried to think. She had waken up in the middle of the woods. How long had she been out? She decided it couldn't have been that long as it didn't feel like a day had passed which meant hours at most. How had she ended up here though? Did Voldemort leave her here or did something happen messing up his plans?
Ginny had no answer so decided she'd think about how she'd gotten here again after she got water.
Only one thing took her mind off of water over the next couple of hours. As she came through a clearing, she saw what was possibly the most incredible creature she'd ever seen. A unicorn strode through a field. For a few moments, Ginny completely forgot her thirst. She had read about how pure and powerful unicorns were, but she'd never seen one. Seeing it now, she understood what was so attractive about them.
Ginny approached the unicorn without even thinking about it. It didn't move away. It looked up at her and seeming to sense her intentions it moved closer to her. Ginny tentatively moved her hand up and petted the creature. It gave her an appreciative glance and then wandered away. Ginny was overwhelmed by a sense that everything would be OK.
---
“Is he going to be all right?” Hermione asked again.
Madame Pomfrey said another spell with a concerned look on her face. “Relento spells... What did he actually think he was going to remember to help his sister?”
Hermione shook her head. She couldn't get into that. “I don't know. He just panicked.”
Madame Pomfrey nodded her head understandably. “I can hopefully get him back to normal. We'll know within a few days at most.” She turned briefly in Hermione's direction and saw an auror finishing up his check of the hospital wing.
“Take this girl back to Gryffindor Tower.”
Hermione protested. “I'll stay outside, but I don't want to leave.”
The auror came up to her. “The castle is being checked for any possible portkeys. Until we are done, all students are to stay in their dormitories. Classes are canceled for the next week.”
----
Ginny guessed she'd have to go without water tonight. It was almost dark and she didn't dare travel far through these woods at night. She'd seen signs of a wolf pack (probably not werewolfs, but possibly not just regular wolfs either) and veered north a little to avoid them. The plants had been the real issue though. She'd stepped on a few that made her itch badly. She'd smelled something really bad close to one plant and had almost thrown up as a result. She thought it was probably a Yalic like she'd seen once in herbology. They imitated a smell that would kill a human if you got close enough. She'd seen 3 others today at a distance and veered away from them.
Ginny absent mildly kept swatting at the mosquitoes which were becoming exceedingly annoying.
Ginny hadn’t let herself think too much today. She was scared she'd give into panic. She was lost in the woods and the only person who might know where she was, was Voldemort himself. That thought had made her want to run, to put has much distance as she could between where she had been and where she was, but Ginny had managed to avoid that and walked steadily for the last few hours of daylight.
As the last bits of sunlight started to disappear though, she made herself think. What had happened after she'd been knocked out? Voldemort had done something then, but why on Earth was she still alive now? Had it been like the spell in the other timeline? Did he take a little of her blood to bring himself back? Was he back? Was he still keeping an eye on her or did he expect the forest to kill her for him? Or.... Ginny barely dared to dream it, had something happened to interfere with Voldemort's plans?
Ginny saw a tree with a big groove in it at the bottom. She went to it and cleared away a few rocks. She was cold already which was not a good sign for the night. It was warmer down here than in Scotland and her Quidditch robes were partially made to keep in heat (since it was expected they'd be high in the sky in winter), but those facts only helped a little. Ginny cleared off the rocks and huddled into a ball by the tree. This would be a rough night.
She looked into the sky. From what she could see past the trees, it looked very similar to a Hogwarts sky. A shooting star went by and Ginny had just one wish. She wanted to go home.
---
Ginny woke up with a start. She looked into the woods and saw the eyes and a sense of dread filled her. Something was watching her. She slowed her breathing and tried to think. If it came for her, the best thing was probably to climb the tree.
“Yes. That is smart.”
Ginny looked around to see the voice before she realized it was in her head. “Who, who are you?”
“I am....” The creature's voice in her head hesitated and then came up with a name. “I am the God of the Lost and you are in my domain.”
Ginny held her breath It was so dark that she could only vaguely see the creature. It looked something like a bear, but it was too far and too dark to see much. “Did Voldemort send you?”
“I have no interest in the affairs of his. He rests in the center of the forest on the ancient structure and is beyond my reach. You though, I am quite interested in.”
“Can you help me?”
“No, but you can help me.”
Some part of Ginny didn't like where this was going. “How?”
“I'll feast on you soon.”
Ginny kept her eyes on the creature, but started feeling the tree with her hands, getting ready for a quick climb. “There must be other things to eat.”
In her mind, the voice sounded matter-of-fact. “Not tonight of course. Unlike the Voldemort, I feed on your fear. It makes me stronger. It makes the taste sweeter when I do decide to take you.”
Ginny's heart was racing.
“Yes. That warms my appetite. It's a long time between meals. Muggles rarely make it into the woods and wizards stick to the protected paths or use magic to keep their way. You have neither. You are lost in my woods.”
Ginny heard bushes moving and the beast turned to its side. Something jumped at it. Ginny had trouble telling what it was in the dark, but it looked like a giant snake.
With the creature distracted, Ginny ran for it. She made it about 20 feet in the dark before tripping over a rock and falling down hard. Her breath was gone for a minute and her left arm was bleeding. She didn't stop for long though. She went more carefully after that, but walked/jogged for another hour before making herself stop again. In that time she fell 3 more times. Exhausted, feeling like she'd die of thirst, missing other humans, and as frightened as she ever remembered being, Ginny made herself lay back down close to another tree. She didn't see the beast or the snake again that night.
---
Harry walked into the common room. He hadn't even tried to sleep for a long time. He'd kept trying to come up with things he could do to find Ginny and kept coming up empty. When he'd finally gone to bed exhausted all he had were nightmares.
That snitch was for him. It was for him, but Ginny had gotten him out of the game. He should be dead now. He owed Ginny more than ever and now she was gone. He kept going back to the last time he talked to her. He'd wished her luck, but it had been an automatic response and said without any conviction because he'd been furious at her. He hadn't even looked up at her...He hadn't even looked up.
A voice that did not belong in the common room said, “Couldn't sleep?”
Harry turned quickly and saw Sirius. Harry stood dumbfounded for a moment and then ran up and hugged his Godfather hard. He hadn't realized how much he'd needed to see Sirius or someone like him till now.
They were quiet a few moments. After that, Harry looked up and said, “I thought you were going to Romania.”
Sirius nodded. “Change of plans. I was insisting on going, but Dumbledore talked me out of it.”
Harry could relate to that. “How?”
Sirius looked at Harry seriously and did what most adults would not have done. Sirius told Harry the full truth. “Dumbledore's worried You-Know-Who will try something to get you. He might use Ginny somehow. My job is to make sure that if he tries, you don't end up in some trap.”
Harry said, “If he gives me a chance to...”
Sirius interrupted. “Listen to me closely, Harry.” Sirius put both arms on Harry's shoulders making sure his point was coming across. “If You-Know-Who has a 2nd trap to catch you, we need to turn it on him. His plan will be to kill both you and Ginny. We need to make sure that doesn't happen which means we need you not to do anything rash. That will be exactly what You-Know-Who wants.”
Harry nodded. “I'll let you know anything I see.”
----
As she woke, Ginny momentarily forgot she was in the woods, but she felt pain all around. Hunger and thirst felt to be competing. They completely overwhelmed the pain in her back, her legs from the awkward position she'd slept, the cuts and bruises she'd obtained, and even the cold.
The first things Ginny was completely aware of though, even before hunger and thirst, were the mosquitoes. They weren't magical, but they were very real in the dawn. They were all over her. She swatted and slapped immediately and was disgusted as her own blood slashed back on to her.
Ginny's hands went for the dirt below on the ground. She splashed it up onto herself, trying to cover every inch of herself. It helped a little.
After that, Ginny started getting ready to move. Regardless of what else was going on, she needed to find water soon or she wasn't going to be able to keep going. Food was also a concern. There were some plants and bug and berries around, but she unfortunately had no idea which were good. She'd probably risk trying some today and just hope she lived to tell about it.
The creatures in the night were forgotten with her immediate needs so it came as somewhat a shock when Ginny turned and saw a giant snake staring at her, sitting not 10 feet in front of her.
Ginny stopped. She watched it. As if it was waiting for her attention, it slid over to a bush. There were red berries on it. Ginny wasn't sure what the snake was doing until it occurred to her it was signaling for her to eat them. Ginny shook her head. “You're Voldemort's snake. I'm not going to follow your advice.”
It kind of gestured toward them again and moved away. That was Nargini, wasn't it? Probably.. it made sense Voldemort wouldn't just leave her here, but why go to all this trouble if he just wanted her dead? It didn't make any sense. Maybe it wasn't Nargini. This was a magical woods and there were other snakes in the world. Maybe she'd come across one that was taking her in for some reason. That didn't seem to make any sense, but just then Ginny's stomach made demands of its own and she decided to hell with it. She'd eat them.
----
Ginny followed the snake. She might be following a piece of the soul of her bitterest enemy, but her body's demand for water was great enough for her to put aside those kind of worries. Fortunately, the snake didn't disappoint.
She heard the stream before she saw it. It was the most beautiful sound she ever remembered. When she saw it, she plunged herself to it and gulped up water greedily. This turned out to be a mistake. A minute later she was throwing up and the little bit of food she had received was gone.
Lying down by the water and feeling physically worse than she ever remembered feeling before, she made herself start on the water again, but slowly. Her stomach ached badly, but this time it kept.
Ginny looked for the snake, hoping it would lead her back to food. It was gone, but she did see a few more of the berries from before. She also saw a few other ones she thought would be good to eat. Her future self remembered eating a couple things like this over the years. She ate a few slowly (conscious of her stomach still resisting the water) and put the rest she could pick delicately in her pockets. She knew once her stomach settled down she was going to be really hungry, but at least these berries would dull it a little.
Ginny looked around. Should she try going west again or follow the stream? She decided to follow the stream. It was traveling mostly west anyway and she didn't want to be far from water again. Before she did though, she decided she was sick of the mosquitoes. She took mud and covered every inch of her exposed skin.
---
Ginny didn't see the snake or the beast again for most the day. Her stomach gradually got used to the water. She kept an eye out for berries and found a few, but knew she was still probably using more energy than she was taking back in in food. Later in the day, she ended up trying to eat the leaves of one of the berry bushes and found they were eatable too.
On that 2nd day in the woods, Ginny came across something interesting. She was walking a little ways away from the stream (but always keeping it within ear shot) and a piece of the ground seemed to be shining. At first, she thought it was just the sun reflecting in some weird way, but she walked up it anyway.
It was barely visible, but something was just below the dirt with plants growing above it. She started digging with her hands and slowly pulled up something.
It was a rock...only it wasn't a rock. It was glowing a bright green. Ginny put her hand over the rock and felt heat radiating from it. It wasn't a lot of heat, but it also wasn't completely natural.
Ginny picked it up and examined it closely. It was round like a ball. Suddenly a memory came into her head and she knew what it was. She thought back to her original first year. In that terrible year, where she'd felt always confused and and often friendless, she'd visited Hagrid a lot. On one of those trips, he'd shown her a rock similar to this. She tried to remember what he'd called it without any success. What she did remember though was what Hagrid said about it.
Hagrid had shown her it and she acted impressed, but she really hadn't understood then. It had just seemed to be a round rock, but Hagrid said that when he found it deep in the forest. It had been glowing and warm when he found it, but as he took it out of the woods, it had faded. It absorbed some of the forest magic which gave it its properties. Hagrid had taken her close to the Forbidden Forest then to show her the very light glow it got close by (she hadn't been able to see it then, but she had pretended too). After that day, she never saw the rock again. Hagrid had said he took it back to the center of the forest because that was the only place it's real beauty would be revealed.
Ginny, despite her fowl position, did understand that now. She took it to the stream and washed the dirt off it. Beautiful wasn't the right word for it, it was magnificent. Holding it was like seeing the magic of the forest wrapped in a small package. Even more than that, the rock was a reminder of home and people she missed badly.
----
The creature walked through its woods under the thin moon light. He broke a branch as he did, but the girl didn't wake. He looked to her. She was holding a forest rock for warmth. He decided that she wasn't scared enough yet. He was still several days from his meal and he needed to prepare her properly.
The creature scanned the area and his eyes fell on a group of bushes far from the girl. The snake, the one connected to the Voldemort was there. It protected the girl for its own reasons. It was extremely powerful and if the creature went in now, the snake would be more than a match. Still, the Voldemort was foolish. These were his woods and no other creature was going to keep him away forever.
-----
Ginny drank slowly from the stream the next morning. She looked at her rock. It was still bright green. Had it faded any? She wasn't sure, but if it had, it wasn't much. She'd stored a few berries yesterday, but gave into hunger this morning and delicately took them out of her pocket and had breakfast.
As the day went by, she didn't see signs of either the snake or the the bear like creature.
The stream she was following was gradually widening and getting shallower which concerned Ginny, but she didn't want to stop following it so kept going. Along it, she smiled as she saw a very large patch of berries she was pretty sure she could eat up ahead. As she got closer though, she realized there were a lot of bugs nearby. Not just a lot, more than she'd ever seen together. There seemed to be a few small animals too. Ginny recognized one of them from Care of Magical Creatures. It was a Hungarian Lipal. They had almost impervious skins (probably why they could stand all the bugs) and were extremely aggressive.
Ginny knew those berries were out of reach, but she wondered what had drawn all of those bugs and animals to the berries. Then she saw it.
Scattered across the patches of bushes was blood. In the center of the bushes, there was a unicorn head.
Ginny barely managed to keep her food down. She kept telling herself it wasn't, but it had to be. That was the same one she'd seen her first day in the woods and something had conveniently left its head right in the middle of the best section of food she'd yet seen.
Ginny walked around and as the sound of bugs dropped, tried to think. It was getting harder to do that right out in the woods, but she had to.
There were 2 creatures in the woods following her. There was the creature which was definitely native to these woods. Then there was the snake....She wanted to think of it as friend, but the snake fit exactly how she pictured Nargini looking.
Ginny made herself think of the bear like creature first. She was more scared of it, but it made more sense than the snake. It was a creature of the forest that Voldemort probably hadn't wanted involved in all of this. Voldemort's pyramid just happened to be in the middle the woods it lived in.
The snake though made very little sense. If it was Nargini, why had it tried to keep her alive yesterday? All Ginny could figure out was that something had happened to interrupt Voldemort's spell and Nargini was keeping an eye on her (and keeping her alive) until Voldemort could get her back. That made Ginny uneasy, but it also gave her a new purpose. She'd have to get away from the snake.
------
Over the next couple of days, Ginny experimented with different types of foods, but only a little. She threw up on two and after that decided she better stick to what she was sure of. She found enough to keep herself going, but her senses did dull. Her body resorted to stored nutrients and her concerns about Voldemort (but not the creature) dropped as she resorted to survival mode. She didn't see the snake again anyway so hopefully she'd lost it.
The stream she was following turned into a a swampy area and she trodded through it rather than changing directions. Her one consolation was that the rock was slowly loosing its glow. It was becoming dimmer and cooler. She must be heading in the right direction.
----
“My Lord, is all well?”
Voldemort turned from the trees. He looked at Malfoy standing beside him on the pyramid. “The creature is getting stronger.”
Malfoy nodded. “Will it interfere?”
Voldemort turned back to the woods. Nargini was growing a little weaker thanks to constantly traveling through the woods and keeping an eye on the girl. Still, he should still be able to take on any creature of the forest including the beast. The beast wasn't to be underestimated though. “Probably not, but have Wormtail ready.”
Malfoy nodded.
Voldemort turned his attention away from Malfoy and looked deep into the woods. He concentrated on the girl and images from her eyes filled his mind and the sounds she heard filled his ears.
Voldemort sees her wading through a swamp as she has been for the past couple of hours. She half screams in anger, “How much more of this?!” and birds fly away.
Voldemort laughs.
-----
Harry shoots up from his sleep. He tries to hold onto the dream. It was so confusing though.
He pushes hard. This is his chance to help Ginny. What did he see?
There had been Voldemort and Malfoy and...and they had been on top of stone kind of thing in the middle of a forest! He had to get that information to Dumbledore. He got up and started going down the stairs to tell Sirius when the last part of the dream hit him.
He'd seen what Ginny was doing in the dream. She was in the forest and not with Voldemort. How could he have seen that though? Maybe it was just a dream, or maybe....maybe Voldemort had turned her into a Horcrux like Nargini and that's why he could see through her.
Harry panicked before telling himself it was different seeing through Ginny than Nargini. He didn't feel like he was Ginny in the same way he felt like he was Nargini the last time. He could just see through her eyes. That was only little consolation, but it made going down to the Common Room a little easier.
Sirius was sleeping on the couch in Gryffindor Tower. Harry had become very aware that outside of his dormitory and the bathroom, he was never alone anymore. Sirius was with him or teachers or ghosts seemed to be nearby. The paintings also seemed to be watching him.
Harry shook Sirius awake and told him the story.
Sirius nodded through it and hugged Harry. “I'll find Dumbledore and get this to him. There's got to be something about a big stone structure like that in Romania somewhere we can look up or find from the locals.”
As he was walking away Harry asked, “Do you know where Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are?”
Sirius turned back, thinking a minute. “Not exactly, but I know where they'll rendezvous eventually.” He walked back to Harry. “I might be gone a few days. If you see anything suspicious go straight to McGonagall. You understand?”
Harry nodded.
---
Fred looked at Ron again. “I'm going to go catch up with the others and see if we can find something on that stupid Horcrux. Madame Pomfrey will ban us if she sees more than one of us in here again.”
Hermione nodded. Madame Pomfrey had wanted the Hospital Wing quiet for Ron which had apparently meant everyone gathering around him was a big no-no. She'd eventually conceded to one visitor at a time, but promised that would be gone if abused. “If you want to stay, I can come back later.”
Fred shook his head. “No, if he does wake up today, he'd probably appreciate you more than me. You want anything?”
Hermione shook her head.
Fred looked back at Ron once more and left.
Hermione stared at Ron for a minute and then opened a book.
Ron didn't look any different than he had for the past 4 and ½ days, but Madame Pomfrey said she thought (emphasis on thought) he'd be OK. Since the all clear had been given for students to move about again (for daylight hours anyway), they had never left Ron completely alone if they could help it.
Hermione tried to think what they'd do if he never came out of this, of what they'd tell his parents who may have just lost 2 children. What if he did come out though, but wasn't really himself? He was probably going to wake up, but it wasn't guaranteed he'd be able to think or remember right anymore. She should have stopped him in the Room of Requirement earlier, not let him do something she knew was dangerous.
She looked up briefly and then back at her book...and then up again. Ron's eyes were open.
Quietly, but excitedly she said, “Ron! You're awake.”
He looked up at her. Confusion in his eyes. She answered before he could ask anything. “You were overdoing the Relento spells trying to get back the memories.”
Ron nodded slowly, understanding coming back to him. “That's right. I was in the Room of Requirement with you after....” His eyes hardened. “Is she all right?”
Hermione looked away. She didn't want to answer that, not right now. “We haven't heard anything. Dumbledore is still in Romania looking with your mum and dad and probably Sirius now.”
Ron put his hands to his eyes. “I wanted to help her so much.”
Hermione put her arm on his shoulder and nodded. “I know. There is still a chance for her.”
Ron breathed in and slowly said, “I know.”
Hermione didn't think that Ron's response sounded sincere. She tried to redirect the conversation. No matter how pressing Ginny was, there was nothing they could do for her now so she had to focus on Ron. “Madame Pomfrey will be back in a few minutes and she's going to want to check your memory. Do you have any trouble thinking?”
Ron looked around the room. He seemed deep in thought and didn't answer her. “Ron, does thinking hurt? Is it straining? Do you remember everything alright?”
Ron still didn't answer. He looked from the door of the Hospital Wing, to the different beds, to Hermione. Finally, Ron gave a sad laugh. He looked Hermione in the eye. “I remember everything.”
Hermione breathed in hard. “What do you mean everything?”
Ron held up his his arm, the one he'd lost in a future and stared at it. “I remember loosing this arm...I remember when it was me who got her hurt in wizard chest first year. I remember both times I was in the Department of Mysteries...” Ron looked back at Hermione; this time a small smile came. “I remember how you looked at the Yule Ball.” Hermione blushed. Ron's smile faded and he said, “I remember everything.”
17: Wonder and Pain
The first pain that Ginny suffered in the woods was her right leg hitting a thorn. The underbrush had become thick here and her Quidditch robe wasn't exactly made for hiking. She looked at the little bit of blood that came from her small wound and wondered how many more of those, how much more blood she'd lose before she could find her way out of the woods...if she could find her way out of the woods.... No, better not to think like that.
She kept walking. There was no good reason to go west, but the sun was setting that way and it would be easier to stay in a constant direction.
The second pain that Ginny became conscious of was thirst. She hadn't drank anything since their last break in Quidditch and she was becoming very conscious of just how long ago that was. She started looking hard for water. There had to be a lake or a pond or something around here.
As Ginny looked, she tried to think. She had waken up in the middle of the woods. How long had she been out? She decided it couldn't have been that long as it didn't feel like a day had passed which meant hours at most. How had she ended up here though? Did Voldemort leave her here or did something happen messing up his plans?
Ginny had no answer so decided she'd think about how she'd gotten here again after she got water.
Only one thing took her mind off of water over the next couple of hours. As she came through a clearing, she saw what was possibly the most incredible creature she'd ever seen. A unicorn strode through a field. For a few moments, Ginny completely forgot her thirst. She had read about how pure and powerful unicorns were, but she'd never seen one. Seeing it now, she understood what was so attractive about them.
Ginny approached the unicorn without even thinking about it. It didn't move away. It looked up at her and seeming to sense her intentions it moved closer to her. Ginny tentatively moved her hand up and petted the creature. It gave her an appreciative glance and then wandered away. Ginny was overwhelmed by a sense that everything would be OK.
---
“Is he going to be all right?” Hermione asked again.
Madame Pomfrey said another spell with a concerned look on her face. “Relento spells... What did he actually think he was going to remember to help his sister?”
Hermione shook her head. She couldn't get into that. “I don't know. He just panicked.”
Madame Pomfrey nodded her head understandably. “I can hopefully get him back to normal. We'll know within a few days at most.” She turned briefly in Hermione's direction and saw an auror finishing up his check of the hospital wing.
“Take this girl back to Gryffindor Tower.”
Hermione protested. “I'll stay outside, but I don't want to leave.”
The auror came up to her. “The castle is being checked for any possible portkeys. Until we are done, all students are to stay in their dormitories. Classes are canceled for the next week.”
----
Ginny guessed she'd have to go without water tonight. It was almost dark and she didn't dare travel far through these woods at night. She'd seen signs of a wolf pack (probably not werewolfs, but possibly not just regular wolfs either) and veered north a little to avoid them. The plants had been the real issue though. She'd stepped on a few that made her itch badly. She'd smelled something really bad close to one plant and had almost thrown up as a result. She thought it was probably a Yalic like she'd seen once in herbology. They imitated a smell that would kill a human if you got close enough. She'd seen 3 others today at a distance and veered away from them.
Ginny absent mildly kept swatting at the mosquitoes which were becoming exceedingly annoying.
Ginny hadn’t let herself think too much today. She was scared she'd give into panic. She was lost in the woods and the only person who might know where she was, was Voldemort himself. That thought had made her want to run, to put has much distance as she could between where she had been and where she was, but Ginny had managed to avoid that and walked steadily for the last few hours of daylight.
As the last bits of sunlight started to disappear though, she made herself think. What had happened after she'd been knocked out? Voldemort had done something then, but why on Earth was she still alive now? Had it been like the spell in the other timeline? Did he take a little of her blood to bring himself back? Was he back? Was he still keeping an eye on her or did he expect the forest to kill her for him? Or.... Ginny barely dared to dream it, had something happened to interfere with Voldemort's plans?
Ginny saw a tree with a big groove in it at the bottom. She went to it and cleared away a few rocks. She was cold already which was not a good sign for the night. It was warmer down here than in Scotland and her Quidditch robes were partially made to keep in heat (since it was expected they'd be high in the sky in winter), but those facts only helped a little. Ginny cleared off the rocks and huddled into a ball by the tree. This would be a rough night.
She looked into the sky. From what she could see past the trees, it looked very similar to a Hogwarts sky. A shooting star went by and Ginny had just one wish. She wanted to go home.
---
Ginny woke up with a start. She looked into the woods and saw the eyes and a sense of dread filled her. Something was watching her. She slowed her breathing and tried to think. If it came for her, the best thing was probably to climb the tree.
“Yes. That is smart.”
Ginny looked around to see the voice before she realized it was in her head. “Who, who are you?”
“I am....” The creature's voice in her head hesitated and then came up with a name. “I am the God of the Lost and you are in my domain.”
Ginny held her breath It was so dark that she could only vaguely see the creature. It looked something like a bear, but it was too far and too dark to see much. “Did Voldemort send you?”
“I have no interest in the affairs of his. He rests in the center of the forest on the ancient structure and is beyond my reach. You though, I am quite interested in.”
“Can you help me?”
“No, but you can help me.”
Some part of Ginny didn't like where this was going. “How?”
“I'll feast on you soon.”
Ginny kept her eyes on the creature, but started feeling the tree with her hands, getting ready for a quick climb. “There must be other things to eat.”
In her mind, the voice sounded matter-of-fact. “Not tonight of course. Unlike the Voldemort, I feed on your fear. It makes me stronger. It makes the taste sweeter when I do decide to take you.”
Ginny's heart was racing.
“Yes. That warms my appetite. It's a long time between meals. Muggles rarely make it into the woods and wizards stick to the protected paths or use magic to keep their way. You have neither. You are lost in my woods.”
Ginny heard bushes moving and the beast turned to its side. Something jumped at it. Ginny had trouble telling what it was in the dark, but it looked like a giant snake.
With the creature distracted, Ginny ran for it. She made it about 20 feet in the dark before tripping over a rock and falling down hard. Her breath was gone for a minute and her left arm was bleeding. She didn't stop for long though. She went more carefully after that, but walked/jogged for another hour before making herself stop again. In that time she fell 3 more times. Exhausted, feeling like she'd die of thirst, missing other humans, and as frightened as she ever remembered being, Ginny made herself lay back down close to another tree. She didn't see the beast or the snake again that night.
---
Harry walked into the common room. He hadn't even tried to sleep for a long time. He'd kept trying to come up with things he could do to find Ginny and kept coming up empty. When he'd finally gone to bed exhausted all he had were nightmares.
That snitch was for him. It was for him, but Ginny had gotten him out of the game. He should be dead now. He owed Ginny more than ever and now she was gone. He kept going back to the last time he talked to her. He'd wished her luck, but it had been an automatic response and said without any conviction because he'd been furious at her. He hadn't even looked up at her...He hadn't even looked up.
A voice that did not belong in the common room said, “Couldn't sleep?”
Harry turned quickly and saw Sirius. Harry stood dumbfounded for a moment and then ran up and hugged his Godfather hard. He hadn't realized how much he'd needed to see Sirius or someone like him till now.
They were quiet a few moments. After that, Harry looked up and said, “I thought you were going to Romania.”
Sirius nodded. “Change of plans. I was insisting on going, but Dumbledore talked me out of it.”
Harry could relate to that. “How?”
Sirius looked at Harry seriously and did what most adults would not have done. Sirius told Harry the full truth. “Dumbledore's worried You-Know-Who will try something to get you. He might use Ginny somehow. My job is to make sure that if he tries, you don't end up in some trap.”
Harry said, “If he gives me a chance to...”
Sirius interrupted. “Listen to me closely, Harry.” Sirius put both arms on Harry's shoulders making sure his point was coming across. “If You-Know-Who has a 2nd trap to catch you, we need to turn it on him. His plan will be to kill both you and Ginny. We need to make sure that doesn't happen which means we need you not to do anything rash. That will be exactly what You-Know-Who wants.”
Harry nodded. “I'll let you know anything I see.”
----
As she woke, Ginny momentarily forgot she was in the woods, but she felt pain all around. Hunger and thirst felt to be competing. They completely overwhelmed the pain in her back, her legs from the awkward position she'd slept, the cuts and bruises she'd obtained, and even the cold.
The first things Ginny was completely aware of though, even before hunger and thirst, were the mosquitoes. They weren't magical, but they were very real in the dawn. They were all over her. She swatted and slapped immediately and was disgusted as her own blood slashed back on to her.
Ginny's hands went for the dirt below on the ground. She splashed it up onto herself, trying to cover every inch of herself. It helped a little.
After that, Ginny started getting ready to move. Regardless of what else was going on, she needed to find water soon or she wasn't going to be able to keep going. Food was also a concern. There were some plants and bug and berries around, but she unfortunately had no idea which were good. She'd probably risk trying some today and just hope she lived to tell about it.
The creatures in the night were forgotten with her immediate needs so it came as somewhat a shock when Ginny turned and saw a giant snake staring at her, sitting not 10 feet in front of her.
Ginny stopped. She watched it. As if it was waiting for her attention, it slid over to a bush. There were red berries on it. Ginny wasn't sure what the snake was doing until it occurred to her it was signaling for her to eat them. Ginny shook her head. “You're Voldemort's snake. I'm not going to follow your advice.”
It kind of gestured toward them again and moved away. That was Nargini, wasn't it? Probably.. it made sense Voldemort wouldn't just leave her here, but why go to all this trouble if he just wanted her dead? It didn't make any sense. Maybe it wasn't Nargini. This was a magical woods and there were other snakes in the world. Maybe she'd come across one that was taking her in for some reason. That didn't seem to make any sense, but just then Ginny's stomach made demands of its own and she decided to hell with it. She'd eat them.
----
Ginny followed the snake. She might be following a piece of the soul of her bitterest enemy, but her body's demand for water was great enough for her to put aside those kind of worries. Fortunately, the snake didn't disappoint.
She heard the stream before she saw it. It was the most beautiful sound she ever remembered. When she saw it, she plunged herself to it and gulped up water greedily. This turned out to be a mistake. A minute later she was throwing up and the little bit of food she had received was gone.
Lying down by the water and feeling physically worse than she ever remembered feeling before, she made herself start on the water again, but slowly. Her stomach ached badly, but this time it kept.
Ginny looked for the snake, hoping it would lead her back to food. It was gone, but she did see a few more of the berries from before. She also saw a few other ones she thought would be good to eat. Her future self remembered eating a couple things like this over the years. She ate a few slowly (conscious of her stomach still resisting the water) and put the rest she could pick delicately in her pockets. She knew once her stomach settled down she was going to be really hungry, but at least these berries would dull it a little.
Ginny looked around. Should she try going west again or follow the stream? She decided to follow the stream. It was traveling mostly west anyway and she didn't want to be far from water again. Before she did though, she decided she was sick of the mosquitoes. She took mud and covered every inch of her exposed skin.
---
Ginny didn't see the snake or the beast again for most the day. Her stomach gradually got used to the water. She kept an eye out for berries and found a few, but knew she was still probably using more energy than she was taking back in in food. Later in the day, she ended up trying to eat the leaves of one of the berry bushes and found they were eatable too.
On that 2nd day in the woods, Ginny came across something interesting. She was walking a little ways away from the stream (but always keeping it within ear shot) and a piece of the ground seemed to be shining. At first, she thought it was just the sun reflecting in some weird way, but she walked up it anyway.
It was barely visible, but something was just below the dirt with plants growing above it. She started digging with her hands and slowly pulled up something.
It was a rock...only it wasn't a rock. It was glowing a bright green. Ginny put her hand over the rock and felt heat radiating from it. It wasn't a lot of heat, but it also wasn't completely natural.
Ginny picked it up and examined it closely. It was round like a ball. Suddenly a memory came into her head and she knew what it was. She thought back to her original first year. In that terrible year, where she'd felt always confused and and often friendless, she'd visited Hagrid a lot. On one of those trips, he'd shown her a rock similar to this. She tried to remember what he'd called it without any success. What she did remember though was what Hagrid said about it.
Hagrid had shown her it and she acted impressed, but she really hadn't understood then. It had just seemed to be a round rock, but Hagrid said that when he found it deep in the forest. It had been glowing and warm when he found it, but as he took it out of the woods, it had faded. It absorbed some of the forest magic which gave it its properties. Hagrid had taken her close to the Forbidden Forest then to show her the very light glow it got close by (she hadn't been able to see it then, but she had pretended too). After that day, she never saw the rock again. Hagrid had said he took it back to the center of the forest because that was the only place it's real beauty would be revealed.
Ginny, despite her fowl position, did understand that now. She took it to the stream and washed the dirt off it. Beautiful wasn't the right word for it, it was magnificent. Holding it was like seeing the magic of the forest wrapped in a small package. Even more than that, the rock was a reminder of home and people she missed badly.
----
The creature walked through its woods under the thin moon light. He broke a branch as he did, but the girl didn't wake. He looked to her. She was holding a forest rock for warmth. He decided that she wasn't scared enough yet. He was still several days from his meal and he needed to prepare her properly.
The creature scanned the area and his eyes fell on a group of bushes far from the girl. The snake, the one connected to the Voldemort was there. It protected the girl for its own reasons. It was extremely powerful and if the creature went in now, the snake would be more than a match. Still, the Voldemort was foolish. These were his woods and no other creature was going to keep him away forever.
-----
Ginny drank slowly from the stream the next morning. She looked at her rock. It was still bright green. Had it faded any? She wasn't sure, but if it had, it wasn't much. She'd stored a few berries yesterday, but gave into hunger this morning and delicately took them out of her pocket and had breakfast.
As the day went by, she didn't see signs of either the snake or the the bear like creature.
The stream she was following was gradually widening and getting shallower which concerned Ginny, but she didn't want to stop following it so kept going. Along it, she smiled as she saw a very large patch of berries she was pretty sure she could eat up ahead. As she got closer though, she realized there were a lot of bugs nearby. Not just a lot, more than she'd ever seen together. There seemed to be a few small animals too. Ginny recognized one of them from Care of Magical Creatures. It was a Hungarian Lipal. They had almost impervious skins (probably why they could stand all the bugs) and were extremely aggressive.
Ginny knew those berries were out of reach, but she wondered what had drawn all of those bugs and animals to the berries. Then she saw it.
Scattered across the patches of bushes was blood. In the center of the bushes, there was a unicorn head.
Ginny barely managed to keep her food down. She kept telling herself it wasn't, but it had to be. That was the same one she'd seen her first day in the woods and something had conveniently left its head right in the middle of the best section of food she'd yet seen.
Ginny walked around and as the sound of bugs dropped, tried to think. It was getting harder to do that right out in the woods, but she had to.
There were 2 creatures in the woods following her. There was the creature which was definitely native to these woods. Then there was the snake....She wanted to think of it as friend, but the snake fit exactly how she pictured Nargini looking.
Ginny made herself think of the bear like creature first. She was more scared of it, but it made more sense than the snake. It was a creature of the forest that Voldemort probably hadn't wanted involved in all of this. Voldemort's pyramid just happened to be in the middle the woods it lived in.
The snake though made very little sense. If it was Nargini, why had it tried to keep her alive yesterday? All Ginny could figure out was that something had happened to interrupt Voldemort's spell and Nargini was keeping an eye on her (and keeping her alive) until Voldemort could get her back. That made Ginny uneasy, but it also gave her a new purpose. She'd have to get away from the snake.
------
Over the next couple of days, Ginny experimented with different types of foods, but only a little. She threw up on two and after that decided she better stick to what she was sure of. She found enough to keep herself going, but her senses did dull. Her body resorted to stored nutrients and her concerns about Voldemort (but not the creature) dropped as she resorted to survival mode. She didn't see the snake again anyway so hopefully she'd lost it.
The stream she was following turned into a a swampy area and she trodded through it rather than changing directions. Her one consolation was that the rock was slowly loosing its glow. It was becoming dimmer and cooler. She must be heading in the right direction.
----
“My Lord, is all well?”
Voldemort turned from the trees. He looked at Malfoy standing beside him on the pyramid. “The creature is getting stronger.”
Malfoy nodded. “Will it interfere?”
Voldemort turned back to the woods. Nargini was growing a little weaker thanks to constantly traveling through the woods and keeping an eye on the girl. Still, he should still be able to take on any creature of the forest including the beast. The beast wasn't to be underestimated though. “Probably not, but have Wormtail ready.”
Malfoy nodded.
Voldemort turned his attention away from Malfoy and looked deep into the woods. He concentrated on the girl and images from her eyes filled his mind and the sounds she heard filled his ears.
Voldemort sees her wading through a swamp as she has been for the past couple of hours. She half screams in anger, “How much more of this?!” and birds fly away.
Voldemort laughs.
-----
Harry shoots up from his sleep. He tries to hold onto the dream. It was so confusing though.
He pushes hard. This is his chance to help Ginny. What did he see?
There had been Voldemort and Malfoy and...and they had been on top of stone kind of thing in the middle of a forest! He had to get that information to Dumbledore. He got up and started going down the stairs to tell Sirius when the last part of the dream hit him.
He'd seen what Ginny was doing in the dream. She was in the forest and not with Voldemort. How could he have seen that though? Maybe it was just a dream, or maybe....maybe Voldemort had turned her into a Horcrux like Nargini and that's why he could see through her.
Harry panicked before telling himself it was different seeing through Ginny than Nargini. He didn't feel like he was Ginny in the same way he felt like he was Nargini the last time. He could just see through her eyes. That was only little consolation, but it made going down to the Common Room a little easier.
Sirius was sleeping on the couch in Gryffindor Tower. Harry had become very aware that outside of his dormitory and the bathroom, he was never alone anymore. Sirius was with him or teachers or ghosts seemed to be nearby. The paintings also seemed to be watching him.
Harry shook Sirius awake and told him the story.
Sirius nodded through it and hugged Harry. “I'll find Dumbledore and get this to him. There's got to be something about a big stone structure like that in Romania somewhere we can look up or find from the locals.”
As he was walking away Harry asked, “Do you know where Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are?”
Sirius turned back, thinking a minute. “Not exactly, but I know where they'll rendezvous eventually.” He walked back to Harry. “I might be gone a few days. If you see anything suspicious go straight to McGonagall. You understand?”
Harry nodded.
---
Fred looked at Ron again. “I'm going to go catch up with the others and see if we can find something on that stupid Horcrux. Madame Pomfrey will ban us if she sees more than one of us in here again.”
Hermione nodded. Madame Pomfrey had wanted the Hospital Wing quiet for Ron which had apparently meant everyone gathering around him was a big no-no. She'd eventually conceded to one visitor at a time, but promised that would be gone if abused. “If you want to stay, I can come back later.”
Fred shook his head. “No, if he does wake up today, he'd probably appreciate you more than me. You want anything?”
Hermione shook her head.
Fred looked back at Ron once more and left.
Hermione stared at Ron for a minute and then opened a book.
Ron didn't look any different than he had for the past 4 and ½ days, but Madame Pomfrey said she thought (emphasis on thought) he'd be OK. Since the all clear had been given for students to move about again (for daylight hours anyway), they had never left Ron completely alone if they could help it.
Hermione tried to think what they'd do if he never came out of this, of what they'd tell his parents who may have just lost 2 children. What if he did come out though, but wasn't really himself? He was probably going to wake up, but it wasn't guaranteed he'd be able to think or remember right anymore. She should have stopped him in the Room of Requirement earlier, not let him do something she knew was dangerous.
She looked up briefly and then back at her book...and then up again. Ron's eyes were open.
Quietly, but excitedly she said, “Ron! You're awake.”
He looked up at her. Confusion in his eyes. She answered before he could ask anything. “You were overdoing the Relento spells trying to get back the memories.”
Ron nodded slowly, understanding coming back to him. “That's right. I was in the Room of Requirement with you after....” His eyes hardened. “Is she all right?”
Hermione looked away. She didn't want to answer that, not right now. “We haven't heard anything. Dumbledore is still in Romania looking with your mum and dad and probably Sirius now.”
Ron put his hands to his eyes. “I wanted to help her so much.”
Hermione put her arm on his shoulder and nodded. “I know. There is still a chance for her.”
Ron breathed in and slowly said, “I know.”
Hermione didn't think that Ron's response sounded sincere. She tried to redirect the conversation. No matter how pressing Ginny was, there was nothing they could do for her now so she had to focus on Ron. “Madame Pomfrey will be back in a few minutes and she's going to want to check your memory. Do you have any trouble thinking?”
Ron looked around the room. He seemed deep in thought and didn't answer her. “Ron, does thinking hurt? Is it straining? Do you remember everything alright?”
Ron still didn't answer. He looked from the door of the Hospital Wing, to the different beds, to Hermione. Finally, Ron gave a sad laugh. He looked Hermione in the eye. “I remember everything.”
Hermione breathed in hard. “What do you mean everything?”
Ron held up his his arm, the one he'd lost in a future and stared at it. “I remember loosing this arm...I remember when it was me who got her hurt in wizard chest first year. I remember both times I was in the Department of Mysteries...” Ron looked back at Hermione; this time a small smile came. “I remember how you looked at the Yule Ball.” Hermione blushed. Ron's smile faded and he said, “I remember everything.”
-
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Re: The Shadow of the Future (Harry Potter timetravel, ch 17
Chapter 18: Separate Paths
Hermione breathed in hard. “What do you mean everything?”
Ron was only 13 years old, but the memories of a 23 year old, a 23 year old who had seen almost everything he loved destroyed, overwhelmed the rest of him.
He looked around the hospital wing, remembering the various things that had sent him here in both timelines and then held up his arm. He stared at it in partial disbelief. “I remember loosing this arm...I remember when it was me who got her hurt in wizard chest first year. I remember both times I was in the Department of Mysteries...” He didn't add that in both cases, people had died, first Sirius, then years later Luna and Neville.
Finally he looked back at Hermione. He thought of the years with her and, as terrible as they were, he'd still felt a deep happiness he couldn't explain. When had he first started to notice her like that? “I remember how you looked at the Yule Ball.” She blushed.
Ron's smile faded. He had ducked his responsibility far too long. “I remember everything.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Ron studied Hermione's face. She felt a little left behind. Of the three of them, she was the one who had deserved the memories back the most...or at least the one who would have been best able to use them. For whatever reason though, they were most distant with her of the three of them. Finally she asked, “What now then? Do you have any idea where Ginny is?”
Ron thought for a second. The answer was exceedingly painful. “I can't do anything for her.”
Hermione seemed surprised he came to that answer so quickly. “Nothing at all?”
Ron shook his head again. He knew he probably would never see Ginny again and it was partially his fault, but that didn't change reality. “I don't know anything about Romania and if we turn up missing looking for her, it will just interrupt the search. It's up to Dumbledore.”
Hermione nodded sadly.
Ron, had fought You-Know-Who long enough to know time was slipping. No matter how bad things seemed, he'd learned things could and usually did get worse. There were still things that needed to be done. “Let's get out of here”
He tried to get up, but his head, which he'd only been vaguely conscious of, suddenly started pounding intolerably, and he had to lie back down. He put both hands to his temples.
Hermione looked concerned. “You are still recovering. Madame Pomfrey can probably give you something else for the pain since you're awake, but no way you are getting out tonight.”
Ron didn't try to get up again. He shook his head. “Another brilliant move by the great Ron Weasley. If I made myself take a few breaks, I probably would have had all the memories back a few days ago without wasting time here again.”
Ron saw Hermione turn red, embarrassed for some reason. She said, “I should have stopped you.”
She was blaming herself. Ron laughed a little. This couldn't be further from her fault. “Not much you could have done to stop me. It's OK. It's over. The important thing is what's next.”
Hermione nodded and looked at Ron carefully. “What do we do then?”
Ron took a deep breath. “We have to finish off these Horcruxes. If You-Know-Who has Ginny, then he probably knows we're after them. We've got to find the one here. It's our top priority above any schoolwork, any classes, any Quidditch, anything.”
Hermione looked down. “You're right. No classes for the rest of the week anyway.”
“Canceled the whole week?”
“Well, the week is mostly over now. Classes will probably start again Monday, but they wanted to check the whole castle, especially since Dumbledore is gone.”
Ron nodded and thought through the next part. Hermione wasn't far behind. “What about Slytherin's ring?”
Ron took a breath. To Hermione he said, “It will have to be fine. If we leave and anyone realizes it, there's a good chance Mum, Dad, and Dumbledore will have to stop the search and head back here to see what's going on.”
Hermione stared at Ron, and he looked away. Finally she said, “OK.”
---
Ginny took a breath and kept walking through the strange meadow. She'd lost track of how many days she'd been out here. The last couple...hadn't been easy.
She'd started to get sick three days ago. It could have been from the water, the food she'd been eating, the exposure, or some combination, but it had gotten very bad. She had a burning fever and she'd about convinced herself that she was going to die.
She'd started hallucinating two days ago. Yesterday, it had gotten bad enough that she'd forgotten she was doing it. She saw food that wasn't there, animals that weren't there. More than that, she'd talked to her Mum, Dad, Ron, and Harry and, sometimes, they even talked back. She'd seen Voldemort and hurt herself getting away before she'd realized it was all in her mind.
Today, Ginny was a little better. She felt weak, but the fever was down. Her body was fighting it and apparently still had a little strength left. She saw some hallucinations, but she recognized them for what they were. If she closed her eyes and counted to 10, they usually disappeared.
Walking through the long meadow, Ginny saw a new figure and knew she must be hallucinating again. She didn't close her eyes as this one very much fascinated her.
The figure was herself. Well not herself exactly. It was the 22 year old version she'd left behind in the future.
Ginny didn't close her eyes. Instead, she stopped and stared at the young women. She remembered being that women, but it felt so distant that it was like she was remembering someone else instead of herself.
After a little bit, Ginny started walking again. She shook her head and said to herself, “I need to get out of the woods.”
Old Ginny shook her head back. “You know that's not likely to happen.” The older version of herself started walking, keeping pace a little in front of Ginny.
Ginny looked at her older self and anger filled her voice, “We've made it out of tough spots before. I'm not going to just give up!”
Old Ginny looked at her a little exasperated. “I'm not suggesting you do. Just recognize all of this for what it probably is.”
She couldn't think like that. It was taking every ounce of her energy just to keep going, to try to make it out of these dam woods. Maybe her older self could have, but she couldn't. “I'm not like you! Maybe I was or will be or will be again or whatever, but I'm not now. I need some hope!” Ginny pushed away some tears from her eyes and then coughed.
Ginny kept walking and Old Ginny continued to keep pace a little in front. They were quiet for a few minutes. Old Ginny said, “You've done great. You're made mistakes, but most of them you'd have made at any age.”
Ginny shook her head. “Not the diary. You'd have told everyone and got our hunt going a year earlier.”
Old Ginny turned a little red and shook her head sadly. “No I wouldn't have. You were more me then than you are now anyway, but regardless I would have waited. A year was a small price to pay for a guaranteed Horcrux when you thought the timeline was intact. It might have been a mistake, but if we were desperately looking for that diary now and You-Know-Who found another way back, then not waiting would have been a mistake too.”
Ginny remembered this was a hallucination, but for some reason hearing her older self say that was comforting. She'd thought she'd stopped questioning her decision to wait on revealing her secret, but it always kept coming back up in her mind. Maybe it always would. “And the fire? Would you have done that the same?”
This time old Ginny looked away. Ginny pressed, “Would you have done it yourself and got Harry hurt?”
Old Ginny looked back and finally shook her head. “That one I would have done differently. Pride wasn't reason enough to delay something if Dumbledore could have done it right away.”
“Great,” said Ginny sarcastically to herself. She shouldn't feed this illusion of her mind. Still, talking to it was something to do besides concentrate on her fate and the miles and miles in front of her.
Old Ginny stopped walking. She turned toward Ginny and ducked down a little to be on her level. Ginny slowed as she approached the hallucination. Old Ginny said, “It doesn't matter though. You were never going to make all the right decisions no matter how many chances you got at this. No one would. What's important right now is making the most of this situation.”
Ginny stopped walking. “What?! The most of the situation?! I'm in the middle of the woods where Voldemort left me!” Ginny throat hurt after that outburst.
Old Ginny didn't flinch. Of course that was probably easy given she wasn't real. Ginny started walking again. Old Ginny let her get past and then started following behind. “You have an opportunity here to do something that needs done. There's one part of the mission that you can accomplish. You need to keep your eyes open so that when the opportunity arises, no matter how scared or weak you are, you do it. That's what you came back here for! That's what you got this 2nd chance to do!”
Ginny put her hands over her eyes and shook her head again. “What am I possibly...” As Ginny looked up, she had just left the meadow, and old Ginny was gone.
---
The hospital wing door slammed open as the Weasley children, Harry, and Hermione came in. Madame Pomfrey of course protested, but after Ron asked, she conceded to letting them in for 10 minutes and busied herself.
As the group made it to his bed, they went silent.
Ron looked at the group, obviously uncomfortable.
Percy finally spoke first, “Glad you're back.”
George added, “We were worried about you.”
Harry said, “How do you feel?”
Ron yawned hard. “Tired. Madame Pomfrey gave me something. I'll probably be out tomorrow though.”
Fred breached the subject that was on everyone's mind. “You remember, remember the future?”
Ron nodded slowly. “Yea.”
Ron looked down. He was fighting sleep, but he also knew they had a million questions. Most were probably questions he didn't have answers for, but for them, he'd try.
Everyone was silent. For all their questions, no one could make themselves speak first. Harry eventually broke the silence. “What should we do now?”
That one Ron could answer. “Find the Diadem. Try to think like You-Know-Who. Where would he have hidden it?”
Ron felt his eyes slip. He pushed them open again and then they slipped back down. He heard the others talking a little before falling asleep.
-----
The rock was small, but getting harder for Ginny to move in her weakened state. Still, as she made camp to the setting sun, she pulled it out.
The heat it was providing was much less than it had been. The glow had also dimmed. It was the one thing that gave her hope. Her eyes and ears didn't tell her anything was changing, but day after day, the rock was loosing its magical strength which meant she was getting closer to the forest edge.
“I've got to be close.” It was as much a prayer as a statement.
She heard a branch break in the distance. She pushed against the tree just as she had her first night in the woods. Which was coming? The snake or the creature?
Ginny hadn't seen either in days, but she had seen signs of them. She thought the snake had been following her. She was pretty sure she could hear it sometimes even though it seemed to be trying to keep a distance. She tried to avoid it for awhile, but her strength for aversion was gone. The beast, for its part, didn't seem to need to follow her exactly. It just always found her. She heard it at night sometimes and found pieces of animals in her path periodically, almost as a reminder that it was watching her. They were often in the only piles of food she thought were good to eat.
She waited, but didn't hear anymore sounds. Finally, she fell asleep.
In the distance, the beast laughed. Not tomorrow, but the time was approaching.
----
The sleeping potion kept Ron asleep for almost 13 hours. After that, Madame Pomfrey had insisted on a lot of tests and a few spells. Ron didn't protest. He used the time to plan his next move and hoped if he worked with Madame Pomfrey now, she would be OK with not seeing him for a few days when he left.
He had visitors throughout, but in every case, including Hermione, he stressed the importance of finding the Diadem and spending their time on it.
Finally, at about 7pm, Madame Pomfrey had said he could go get something to eat in the Great Hall and then head to Gryffindor Tower. She wanted to see him again if he had trouble remembering anything and stressed how important this was for his health. Ron thought remembering things would be the least of his issues and promised to come back next week for a check-up.
----
Dinner in the Great Hall was wonderful. Ron didn't understand it at first, but soon realized simply seeing everyone alive was so special and incredible. He let himself forget the Horcrux for that one meal and talked about any number of things with his siblings, Harry, and Hermione. Even when they had tried to get on that subject after dinner he had at first brushed them off.
After a few minutes though, Ron was the one bringing it up. In his bliss, he'd allowed himself to forget again, but his job was to emphasize finding the Horcrux.
The others reviewed what they had researched since he'd been out and Ron wasn't thrilled that it still seemed to be nothing new. The best bet so far was the 7th floor door Sirius had claimed to see back when he was in school which might have been the same room that the Grey Lady had talked about, but they hadn't been able to find anything else about it anywhere.
Hermione asked, “Was there anything about that door in the other timeline? Maybe even something small that Ginny wouldn't have known about?”
Ron thought for a minute, but already knew the answer. He shook his head. “No.”
Fred said, “We've gone to the spot at pretty much every hour of the day. Since no one has seen it during the day, we're guessing its only out at night.”
George added, “We've spent 3 full nights by the door, once being a full moon and once a new moon. We've also passed by it probably 20 other nights and there's never been any sign that a door is there. If it shows up randomly, it's not very often.”
Percy added, “There were a couple other secret rooms I've found mentioned indirectly other places, but they were pretty much all for teachers. Other than that...” He thought for a moment and Ron could tell he was thinking about saying something else. Finally he said, “Nevermind.”
Ron thought about questioning him before deciding if it was worth checking out Percy would do it. “Well let's start again in the morning. Think of anywhere else in the castle it could be and we'll try it.” Ron looked at Percy for most that statement.
---
The two centaurs watched the girl in the distance. She was looking up at the sunset and emerging stars. One said, “Humans rarely appreciate the sky.”
The other nodded. “Rarely indeed. Being away from all their magic helps though.”
The first tried to examine the stars that were starting to appear in the east. “Maybe she is a sign? A very weak girl in the forest could explain the alignment of stars near Gemini.”
“Perhaps,” said the other.
The first looked back at the girl. She was not doing well without magic and he doubted she'd make it out of the woods. Apprehensively, he said, “Perhaps we should aide her?”
The other looked at him like he was mad. “It's not our way. Besides, the ancient creature's sent is all over her path. He is keeping away intruders.”
The first nodded.
----
Ginny looked at the sunset and emerging stars without much in her mind. The sunset and the stars did seem more wonderful when you actually focused on them and weren't distracted by everything else in daily life.
After a few minutes, she pulled open her pocket and took a few of the handful of nuts and berries she had found today. She should be extremely hungry, but she had to force herself to eat each one of them.
----
The fire roared in Gryffindor Common Room. While it was past 2am, Hermione hadn't yet slept. She was beginning to think her guess was wrong when she heard movement from the boys dormitory. Sure enough, 30 seconds later, Ron came into the Common Room with a small bag packed.
He starred across the room, but didn't see her seated at the couch with her own bag. Hermione spoke up. Her voice was quiet, but in the silent room it carried very well. “So are we leaving now?”
Ron seemed to jump a foot in the air and turned quickly. He stared disbelievingly at her. “Blimey Hermione, you almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing up?”
Hermione shook her head and returned the question, “What are you doing up?”
Ron struggled for a second, then spotted the bag she was carrying. He laughed. “You are brilliant at every age.”
Hermione nodded a little, not feeling brilliant at all. “So we're going to get Slytherin's Ring before it's too late.”
Ron's laugh was gone and his smile disappeared. “I'm going. The rest of you should keep looking here.”
Hermione stood up and picked up her bag. “I'm going with you.”
Ron started, “Hermione, I can't let....” He stopped, apparently deciding to switch arguments. “Hermione, we can't let them know anyone is gone. If they think one of us disappeared, even voluntarily, there's a definite risk of Dumbledore coming back to help and check on Harry. I set it up so I think I'll be OK for a day or two, but it won't work with both of us gone.”
Hermione nodded. She figured he'd done something like that. She had done the same. “I left a letter on my bed for my roommates. It said my parents found out what happened and took me out till the school was cleared. I said I'd be back within a few days and please don't tell anyone else as it was really embarrassing. I sent a letter through the post which should get to Harry tomorrow morning as well.”
Ron sat silent for a moment. How could he keep forgetting how impressive Hermione could be?She had figured out what he had planned to do and done everything she needed to make sure she came. He couldn't take her though. As he tried to think what to say, she asked, “Did you write a letter too?”
Ron nodded. “I put it by Harry's bed. I said I'd be back and if anyone asked anything to say Aunt Muriel took me to St. Mungo's to make sure I was alright. Trust me, it's a realistic sounding scenario.” He sighed. “Listen Hermione, I appreciate it, but you can't go.”
“Why not?”
“I can't let anything happen to you. You don't have your memories and while not good for a lot, they do give you a better sense for You-Know-Who's traps.”
Hermione shook her head. Ron heard her gulp, but in her voice he heard a lot of determination. “If you are going, I'm going too. If you don't take me with you, I'll just follow on my own and be in more risk.”
Ron tried to think of a way out of this mess. He couldn't let anything happen to her. Then Hermione said, “I know the password so we can get to Dumbledore's office and hopefully find the basilisk venom.”
Ron eyes opened wide. He'd expected to destroy the Horcrux when he got back, but this might be better. “How?”
Hermione said, “Harry was up there just before Dumbledore left. I asked him today, indirectly of course.”
Ron finally nodded in defeat. “All right.” He sighed as he said that. “Just follow my lead please.”
Hermione nodded. “First, can you leave this letter by Harry. I'd rather not have him wait till the post came.”
----
Ron took the letter back up and wasn't discovered. When they made it to Dumbledore's office (only luckily avoiding an auror who was still on patrol), the door opened to Hermione's password. Ron shook his head, “Dumbledore is great, but those passwords are not the most secure thing in the world.”
Hermione nodded. “Maybe he's not worried about people breaking in.”
Ron guessed that was right. Students would be too scared (well, usually), teachers should have the password anyway, and any visitors would be detected by the castles protection charms.
As they came in, one of the portraits woke up:
“You shouldn't be up here.”
That woke several others.
“The headmaster doesn't wish you looking for such things.”
“Too little respect in young minds.”
Ron and Hermione ignored them and started the search for the basilisk venom. After 5 minutes neither had found it. Ron looked to the portraits thinking about asking them for help. It was going to be difficult to get help from most of them as a lot were still complaining about the two being here and some just for waking them up, but maybe one would. That's when Ron spotted the sorting hat. That darn hat was the reason they were in this mess to begin with. Maybe it knew where Dumbledore kept the venom though. He picked it up and put it on his head.
“OH. You found the memories. That's good....”
“Yeah,” Ron said.
The hat sounded disturbed. “Not a pleasant future you're from and things aren't looking very bright here either.”
“I know,” said Ron impatiently. “Do you know where Dumbledore keeps the basilisk venom?”
“No,” said the hat. “You might find something else in me to help though.”
Ron was confused. “What?”
“Just take me off and look inside.”
Ron pulled off the hat and looked inside. He pulled out a sword and read the engraving on it. He was so stunned that he almost dropped it. It was the Sword of Gryffindor.
Harry had done this before naturally. How could he have done it though? He wasn't the Chosen, wasn't the the one who all adventure came too, the natural leader...yet here it was.
----
Hermione was happy when they landed and she could get off the broom. She had never been very good on them and flying in the dark hadn't been fun. Still she tried to hide her relief,“Are we done flying already?”
Ron looked around the country side. “Yeah. For tonight at least. Probably until we're ready to head back.” He started walking toward a barn.
Hermione didn't quite understand. “Are we close?”
Ron stopped and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night and a lot of stars were above them. It was still cold, but not so much as it would have been a month ago at least. “I think. We never dared get too close, but I think that road,” he pointed, “will got close to Little Hangleton and from there we should be able to find the Gaunt house I hope.”
That was a lot less certainty than Hermione had liked. Ron started walking to the barn again. Hermione was confused. “Are we heading that way now?”
Ron shook his head. “Not in the dark without any magic but our broomsticks. I'm not sure we'd even see it. We can sleep here and go looking again in the morning.”
Hermione nodded. It made sense and this would be a lot less creepy in the morning.
Hermione looked at the barn. It was crooked and obviously very old. A little nervously she asked, “Do you think this is safe?”
Ron chuckled which offended Hermione. She retorted, “Well it looks like it could fall down at any moment.”
Ron pulled open the door and held it open for Hermione. “Hermione, it's been sitting here for at least 50 years and it can make it one more night. Besides, I'm pretty sure we spent one night here about 6 years from now.”
Hermione's eyes went wide. To hear Ron talk about things that hadn't happened yet like that just didn't feel right. Ginny was one thing, she had always been like that to Hermione, but she'd gotten to know Ron very well over the past 2 years and he almost felt like another person now.
Hermione slowly walked in and it felt more than a little creepy. She coughed from the dust. The barn was clearly not is use anymore. There were bugs everywhere and she thought she heard mice. There was still hay, but it was old.
Ron looked around. “Yep this was it alright. Granted, it was a lot better when we could use magic. You did use some reinforcement and concealment charms then.”
“I guess it will work for tonight,” said Hermione, who was far from sure she would fall asleep.
Ron laughed again, this time a little harder.
This irritated Hermione greatly and she lashed out, “What?!”
Ron made himself stop, but still had a smile. “It's just, first time I remember doing things like this- I mean leaving home and going from place to place without many comforts- I was the one grumbling about it and annoying you and Harry.”
Hermione didn't see the humor in that that Ron did. She looked around and saw a small clump of hay. It probably had all kinds of things in it, but for a moment , she didn't care. “Goodnight,” she said without turning back around.
Ron knew better than to fight. “Sorry Hermione.”
Hermione didn't say anything or turn around, but walked to the clump of hay. She layed down and just as suddenly jumped back up as a rat scurried away. She put her hands over eyes and tried to calm herself down a little.
Ron walked to her and put one hand over her shoulder. The humor was out of his voice and he was very serious. “Listen, I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. I don't know how to react with these memories sometimes, well ever. Hopefully I'll learn.”
Hermione didn't say anything, but didn't push him away either. They sat for a couple of minutes and finally she made herself lie back down without saying a word.
---
Percy was on prefix duty when Harry showed the letters to the twins. He asked “What do we do now?”
George shrugged. “I guess we do what Ron asks and look for that Diadem. Not like we haven't been doing everything we can think of for the better part of a year.” That was very true, especially from the twins who had considered it a personal insult that Hogwarts had been able to contain such a secret from them. They'd interviewed every ghost, house elf, and half the paintings in the school in the last couple months, read more books than they dared admit, and scurried hall after hall looking for signs of doors, and still they had found nothing. The door that Sirius had reported seeing decades ago and the Grey Lady had confirmed was still their best lead, but finding anything else had seemed impossible.
Harry looked at the twins. Percy was still with them at Hogwarts, but Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all gone and the school felt very empty. “We're feeling like a lot smaller group.”
Fred concurred. A little darkly he said, “Sure are.”
They would feel even smaller before the day was over.
----
The night's sleep had been short and extremely uncomfortable. Hermione had been planning on getting up at the first crack of dawn just because she couldn't stand it, but eventually she had fallen asleep and ended up sleeping in. When she finally awoke, the light making it's way into the barn suggested it was mid-morning.
She got up and didn't see Ron. She panicked for a second. Ron wouldn't leave her here, would he? Her Ron wouldn't, but she didn't really know this Ron. Was that why she was mad at him last night? Because, he gone and gotten the memories and half felt like a different person entirely? Hermione banished the thought from her mind.
Hermione rushed to the door. She pushed her way outside and saw Ron sitting on the ground nearby.
She walked to him angry. “You scared me,” said Hermione with some hurt in her voice. “I woke up and you weren't there.”
When Ron looked up, Hermione saw something on his face and her anger dissipated. Had he been crying?
Ron started, “I'm sorry...I just needed to get some air. I'm...”
Hermione interrupted, “No, it's OK.” She was pretty sure she saw the remains of tears and somehow that did comfort her. “What's wrong?”
Ron shook his head and looked away again. He was just starring in the distance. “You always did know when something was wrong. It's an annoying trait you know?”
Again he was talking about the future and it still annoyed her, but she pushed the feeling aside. “What's wrong? Are you not sure where Slytherin's Ring is at?”
Ron shook his head. “Not exactly sure, but I think we can find it. I'm just...just thinking about Ginny and all we have to do and... this morning I don't feel like much a 23 year old.”
That definitely did comfort Hermione. “You did yesterday?”
Ron thought and finally said, “Yes, but I don't know... it's weird.”
He didn't say anymore, but Hermione silently scolded herself for getting mad at Ron when he was going through so much. She tried to be comforting. “We're the first people who have ever done this as far as we know. I wish I knew something to say. I think it got better for Ginny.”
Bitterly Ron said, “Well I can't ask her, can I?”
Hermione frowned. “We'll get her back.”
Ron stood up and looked her right in the eyes. “NO! We won't! People need to stop saying that!”
Hermione was too flabbergasted to speak. Ron turned away, facing the sun. When he spoke again, his voice was a little softer, but not back to a regular tone. “Before You-Know-Who came to power, he was already responsible already for so many deaths. Then he took over and everyone died. They didn't just come back. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a game. Once he got you, it was over. We all knew if we were captured that there was no rescue and it was over.” Ron sat down, almost seemed to fall down. He didn't look back at Hermione. Quietly and seemingly meant for himself, he said, “It's over for Ginny.”
Hermione just stared at Ron unable to believe he was saying such things. She walked to him and saw his hands had moved over his eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything. She sat down beside him on the ground and then without thinking hugged him tight. He hugged back putting his head against her shoulder.
After a few minutes he pulled away and stood up. He wasn't over this, Hermione could tell that and of course he wouldn't be. He had himself composed again though. He said, “Let's go find the piece of that bloody bastard's soul.”
----
Voldemort closed his mind to Ginny's senses. Things were going well. It was now time for the last part of the plan.
“Inform Lucius to fetch the boy at the first opportunity.”
---
Ginny coughed hard and blood came out. The coughs felt very different than any she remembered having before this visit to the woods. It felt like it was coming from very deep in her. Definitely not a good sign.
Ginny was moving a lot slower, but she knew she was going to have to make decent progress today if she was to have a chance. The rock in her pocket, which she'd barely noticed when she'd started carrying it, now felt like it weighed a ton. She didn't take it out, but felt it with her hand. She could still feel a little warmth from it, but it was slipping and she dared to hope that maybe, she could be out of these woods today. Maybe that would just leave her in regular muggle woods, but if that was the case, she'd worry about that when the time came.
Two hours later, Ginny came to something she didn't immediately recognize. If it was new she would have seen it immediately of course, but it was quite old and the magic protecting it had almost completely faded away.
Ginny stopped and stared at the piece of forest for a full minute, trying to make out what it was that was stopping her. Then she realized what she was seeing. It was traveling slightly northeast and southwest. It was a path. It was no longer maintained and probably made long ago for God-knows-what, but all the same, it was a path.
Ginny's thinking was slow and she wasn't immediately sure which direction to go. Then it occurred to her that she had been heading west, so it was probably best to keep that general direction given the rock's loss of warmth.
Ginny turned southwest. A few lingering parts of the magic kept the path clear of plants and other growth even as the forest had reclaimed most of it. She could barely see the path for wide stretches, but she saw just enough to not lose it.
What Ginny didn't know and would never know was that the path had been created more than 50 years ago, by a then young wizard who had sought a safe way for wizards to travel deep in the forest without broomsticks. His family owned a small house within the woods themselves and he hoped such a path would bring a small amount of visitors to sell things to. The young man had been rewarded for his troubles by being bitten by a werewolf not far to the northeast of where Ginny had discovered it. His family had moved away since and the small shack they lived in had collapsed, but still, the path and the powerful magic he had used had endured at least a little for over half a century. In 10 miles, the path would meet up with a much wider path that was maintained on the outskirts of the forest by the Romanian Ministry of Magic. Two miles down that path to the north, one would leave the forest and enter the magical village of Liane.
Ginny would not make it that far.
----
Sirius was pacing now. How much longer was Dumbledore going to be? He looked at Ginny's parents.
Molly and Arthur looked like death spilled over. For the past week, them and Dumbledore had been checking out every town and border area of the forest hoping to find some sign of You-Know-Who and talking with the Romanian and Hungarian ministries (the forest went into both countries) looking for any possible spot that Ginny could be.
The ministries had been moderately helpful. They didn't like acknowledging many of the things in the forest already and didn't want to make it known that a mass murder was added to the list of forest attractions. Still, Dumbledore's name was known even out here and he did have a few friends. If not actively helping with a search, they at least didn't interfere and did provide information when asked.
The door cracked open and everyone turned hoping to see Dumbledore, but it was Charlie and Bill who walked in.
Charlie sat down. “Any luck?”
Sirius answered. “Dumbledore is in with the president of Romanian Magical Historical Society now. He sounded like he might know something about this stone pyramid.”
Bill sat down next to Charlie. “This is a lot to go on based on just a dream of Harry's.”
Arthur said, “We did find mentions of a great pyramid in a few books. It's location isn't mentioned, but it sounds like it's real and probably not on the outskirts of the forest where we have been mostly looking.”
Molly said, “Harry's trustworthy. He had dreams in the other....other reality and he really wants to help.”
Sirius exchanged glances with Bill and Charlie. This forest was far too dangerous and too vast to start going into the interior without any idea where they were going. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The 5 adults heard a pop and Dumbledore appeared.
Molly was the first to him. “Did he know anything?”
Dumbledore sounded as calm as ever, although tired. “Yes Molly.”
Arthur asked, “Where?”
Dumbledore pulled out a map. “Pretty deep in the forest. It blends overhead given all the tree growth, but if we are looking for it, we should see it.”
Sirius looked at the map. “No chance of apparating there or a portkey or something?”
“I'm afraid not. It hasn't been seen in person in a generation and our time must be running out. We can travel by flu powder to this point,” Dumbledore pointed to a spot on the map with a small magic village, “and then go straight east by broomstick and we should find the pyramid.”
Dumbledore turned to Sirius, “Have you checked in on Harry?”
Sirius nodded. “This morning. If you want me to go back I will, but I think you might need all the help you can get. We don't know how many will be at the pyramid.”
Dumbledore considered. “I will leave it up to you, but I do believe Voldemort will attempt to draw out Harry at some point.”
Sirius nodded. He looked to his companions. They were all related to Ginny and would not heading back to Britain until she was found which left it up to him. He debated. If Voldemort was on the pyramid, there was bound to be Death Eaters too. Dumbledore would need all the help he could get. Also if a trap for Harry hadn't been set yet, one more day probably wasn't going to make a difference. “I'll head out with you. If we don't find him, I'll head back.”
----
Percy wasn't in the mood for questions until he saw if it was on there “Just please go get it.”
George looked at Harry. “Can you get it for me. It's in our dorm, in my chest on the left. No one should be up there now.”
Harry got up. “I'll be right back.”
The twins exchanged glances. They were intrigued by their older brother and that wasn't a normal occurrence. As Harry left, Fred asked, “What do you think might be on that map?”
Percy said, “I'm sure it's there; I just want to see if it's on the map before explaining.”
George got excited. At the same time, he was simultaneously impressed and a little frustrated. “You know where a hidden room is and we don't?”
Percy smiled a little. It wasn't often he got that kind of admiration from the twins. They were troublemakers of the first degree, but still, it was nice. “The Diadem is not going to be in there, at least I don't think so, but maybe something else is there that can help us.”
“Spill the beans,” Fred said.
“Where is it?” George added.
Percy finally conceded. He'd tell Harry when he got back. “I wanted to wait till Dumbledore got back because he's the only one who could grant permission to go in there, but there is a secret room in the library. I heard Madam Pince mention it once.”
Fred rolled his eyes. “In the library?!”
George put his hand to his head. “We spent half the year in there...”
“Never again,” interrupted Fred.
George finished, “and never even did more than a small search for hidden rooms.”
Fred asked, “Why not say this earlier?”
George added, “This would have been useful months ago.”
Percy said, “Because the Horcrux isn't going to be there and it wasn't until we made it through most the books here that it felt worth checking out and then Dumbledore was gone.”
The small amount of anger the twins felt was far outweighed by their curiosity. “What's in the room?” asked Fred
George asked, “Where exactly is it?”
Percy sighed. “I don't know exactly where it is. It holds the oldest books in the castle though. The important books, if the current librarian feels they aren't up to being handled by students anymore, are put back there. It's probably got some old ones about the Hogwarts founders.”
The twins smiled. That kind of information could very well mention something about a room of Ravenclaw's.
---
Ron and Hermione had walked most the day in silence. They had made it to Little Hangleton, saw the graveyard that had been so important in the other timeline and followed a few roads from there looking for signs of the Gaunts.
Hermione looked at Ron and tried to feel his determination. She had it too, but his was much deeper since he had gotten the memories. He knew too well what failure meant and she could tell that. She had seen the guilt he felt over Ginny this morning. It must be that determination that was pushing him now. She said, “It wasn't your fault you know. With or without the memories, you never would have known that snitch was a portkey.”
Ron didn't look back. Hermione didn't think he was going to respond at all when he said, “No, probably not. If I had them sooner though, she wouldn't have been alone. I get what she was going through now. All of these memories and not knowing what to do. So many judgment calls when you don't really know anything yourself.” He sighed. “I might also have caught those signs from Malfoy that something was up. I certainly wouldn't have fought with him back in the fall and given him the perfect opportunity now...” Ron frowned and shook his head, “or maybe I would have.”
Hermione didn't have a response so just listened. Ron went on, “Now I guess I'll never get a chance to talk to her about all of this...”
Ron stopped walking. In the distance beyond some trees, he saw something. He had started to give up hope on finding it today, but maybe that was it.
Hermione followed his gaze and they both walked to it. It was the Gaunt house.
----
Harry was going through George's chest and had just found the Marauder’s Map when he heard a loud pop.
He jumped back in surprise and pulled out his wand. What he saw, wasn't threatening in the least.
Dobby looked at Harry with pitiful eyes.
“Dobby,” Harry said, “I didn't expect to see you.”
Dobby sobbed. “Harry Potter must not do it. He must not read the letter Dobby is going to give him.”
Harry looked at Dobby confused. “What letter? Who sent you Dobby? Are you warning me again? Ginny has been kidnapped, do you know anything about that? I know Mr. Malfoy was part of it.”
Dobby banged his head hard against the bed. “Harry Potter must not read the letter. Must not go to his death. Harry Potter is too important!”
Harry's mind went to Ginny and Sirius's warning. This was the trap. “Give me the letter Dobby.”
Dobby handed it to Harry.
“Dear Harry Potter,
You have no doubt been warned that I may use Ginny to try to get you. That is exactly what I am doing. You have three choices.
1. You ignore the letter. Ginny dies.
2. You try to get help. Ginny dies.
3. You follow these instructions. You have my word that Ginny will live and return to her parents. I make no long term promises, but if she stays out of my way, she may well live even long term as I will eliminate the threat of time travel.
Right now in the Shrieking Shack, a man waits for you with a portkey to my location. Using the directions below, you should be able to get there in 20 minutes if you run. In 25 minutes, the man will leave with or without you. If anyone should apparate into the building or you enter with anyone else, he will leave and you will never see Ginny again.
The choice is of course yours. I do not need you, I merely wish for you to be here. If you disappoint, I will find you later and make sure Ginny dies a terrible death now.
Lord Voldemort"
Harry looked up and saw Dobby pleading, sobbing. “Please Harry Potter. Don't go. Harry Potter is far too important.”
Harry glanced once more at the directions to get to the Shrieking Shack. He took the letter and ran out of the room.
---
Ginny had rested not far from the remains of some old wood shack. She fell asleep looking at the stars.
A few hours later, she woke her up to the sound of a loud noise not far away. She heard a tree fall and a loud cry. The creature was coming for her.
Hermione breathed in hard. “What do you mean everything?”
Ron was only 13 years old, but the memories of a 23 year old, a 23 year old who had seen almost everything he loved destroyed, overwhelmed the rest of him.
He looked around the hospital wing, remembering the various things that had sent him here in both timelines and then held up his arm. He stared at it in partial disbelief. “I remember loosing this arm...I remember when it was me who got her hurt in wizard chest first year. I remember both times I was in the Department of Mysteries...” He didn't add that in both cases, people had died, first Sirius, then years later Luna and Neville.
Finally he looked back at Hermione. He thought of the years with her and, as terrible as they were, he'd still felt a deep happiness he couldn't explain. When had he first started to notice her like that? “I remember how you looked at the Yule Ball.” She blushed.
Ron's smile faded. He had ducked his responsibility far too long. “I remember everything.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Ron studied Hermione's face. She felt a little left behind. Of the three of them, she was the one who had deserved the memories back the most...or at least the one who would have been best able to use them. For whatever reason though, they were most distant with her of the three of them. Finally she asked, “What now then? Do you have any idea where Ginny is?”
Ron thought for a second. The answer was exceedingly painful. “I can't do anything for her.”
Hermione seemed surprised he came to that answer so quickly. “Nothing at all?”
Ron shook his head again. He knew he probably would never see Ginny again and it was partially his fault, but that didn't change reality. “I don't know anything about Romania and if we turn up missing looking for her, it will just interrupt the search. It's up to Dumbledore.”
Hermione nodded sadly.
Ron, had fought You-Know-Who long enough to know time was slipping. No matter how bad things seemed, he'd learned things could and usually did get worse. There were still things that needed to be done. “Let's get out of here”
He tried to get up, but his head, which he'd only been vaguely conscious of, suddenly started pounding intolerably, and he had to lie back down. He put both hands to his temples.
Hermione looked concerned. “You are still recovering. Madame Pomfrey can probably give you something else for the pain since you're awake, but no way you are getting out tonight.”
Ron didn't try to get up again. He shook his head. “Another brilliant move by the great Ron Weasley. If I made myself take a few breaks, I probably would have had all the memories back a few days ago without wasting time here again.”
Ron saw Hermione turn red, embarrassed for some reason. She said, “I should have stopped you.”
She was blaming herself. Ron laughed a little. This couldn't be further from her fault. “Not much you could have done to stop me. It's OK. It's over. The important thing is what's next.”
Hermione nodded and looked at Ron carefully. “What do we do then?”
Ron took a deep breath. “We have to finish off these Horcruxes. If You-Know-Who has Ginny, then he probably knows we're after them. We've got to find the one here. It's our top priority above any schoolwork, any classes, any Quidditch, anything.”
Hermione looked down. “You're right. No classes for the rest of the week anyway.”
“Canceled the whole week?”
“Well, the week is mostly over now. Classes will probably start again Monday, but they wanted to check the whole castle, especially since Dumbledore is gone.”
Ron nodded and thought through the next part. Hermione wasn't far behind. “What about Slytherin's ring?”
Ron took a breath. To Hermione he said, “It will have to be fine. If we leave and anyone realizes it, there's a good chance Mum, Dad, and Dumbledore will have to stop the search and head back here to see what's going on.”
Hermione stared at Ron, and he looked away. Finally she said, “OK.”
---
Ginny took a breath and kept walking through the strange meadow. She'd lost track of how many days she'd been out here. The last couple...hadn't been easy.
She'd started to get sick three days ago. It could have been from the water, the food she'd been eating, the exposure, or some combination, but it had gotten very bad. She had a burning fever and she'd about convinced herself that she was going to die.
She'd started hallucinating two days ago. Yesterday, it had gotten bad enough that she'd forgotten she was doing it. She saw food that wasn't there, animals that weren't there. More than that, she'd talked to her Mum, Dad, Ron, and Harry and, sometimes, they even talked back. She'd seen Voldemort and hurt herself getting away before she'd realized it was all in her mind.
Today, Ginny was a little better. She felt weak, but the fever was down. Her body was fighting it and apparently still had a little strength left. She saw some hallucinations, but she recognized them for what they were. If she closed her eyes and counted to 10, they usually disappeared.
Walking through the long meadow, Ginny saw a new figure and knew she must be hallucinating again. She didn't close her eyes as this one very much fascinated her.
The figure was herself. Well not herself exactly. It was the 22 year old version she'd left behind in the future.
Ginny didn't close her eyes. Instead, she stopped and stared at the young women. She remembered being that women, but it felt so distant that it was like she was remembering someone else instead of herself.
After a little bit, Ginny started walking again. She shook her head and said to herself, “I need to get out of the woods.”
Old Ginny shook her head back. “You know that's not likely to happen.” The older version of herself started walking, keeping pace a little in front of Ginny.
Ginny looked at her older self and anger filled her voice, “We've made it out of tough spots before. I'm not going to just give up!”
Old Ginny looked at her a little exasperated. “I'm not suggesting you do. Just recognize all of this for what it probably is.”
She couldn't think like that. It was taking every ounce of her energy just to keep going, to try to make it out of these dam woods. Maybe her older self could have, but she couldn't. “I'm not like you! Maybe I was or will be or will be again or whatever, but I'm not now. I need some hope!” Ginny pushed away some tears from her eyes and then coughed.
Ginny kept walking and Old Ginny continued to keep pace a little in front. They were quiet for a few minutes. Old Ginny said, “You've done great. You're made mistakes, but most of them you'd have made at any age.”
Ginny shook her head. “Not the diary. You'd have told everyone and got our hunt going a year earlier.”
Old Ginny turned a little red and shook her head sadly. “No I wouldn't have. You were more me then than you are now anyway, but regardless I would have waited. A year was a small price to pay for a guaranteed Horcrux when you thought the timeline was intact. It might have been a mistake, but if we were desperately looking for that diary now and You-Know-Who found another way back, then not waiting would have been a mistake too.”
Ginny remembered this was a hallucination, but for some reason hearing her older self say that was comforting. She'd thought she'd stopped questioning her decision to wait on revealing her secret, but it always kept coming back up in her mind. Maybe it always would. “And the fire? Would you have done that the same?”
This time old Ginny looked away. Ginny pressed, “Would you have done it yourself and got Harry hurt?”
Old Ginny looked back and finally shook her head. “That one I would have done differently. Pride wasn't reason enough to delay something if Dumbledore could have done it right away.”
“Great,” said Ginny sarcastically to herself. She shouldn't feed this illusion of her mind. Still, talking to it was something to do besides concentrate on her fate and the miles and miles in front of her.
Old Ginny stopped walking. She turned toward Ginny and ducked down a little to be on her level. Ginny slowed as she approached the hallucination. Old Ginny said, “It doesn't matter though. You were never going to make all the right decisions no matter how many chances you got at this. No one would. What's important right now is making the most of this situation.”
Ginny stopped walking. “What?! The most of the situation?! I'm in the middle of the woods where Voldemort left me!” Ginny throat hurt after that outburst.
Old Ginny didn't flinch. Of course that was probably easy given she wasn't real. Ginny started walking again. Old Ginny let her get past and then started following behind. “You have an opportunity here to do something that needs done. There's one part of the mission that you can accomplish. You need to keep your eyes open so that when the opportunity arises, no matter how scared or weak you are, you do it. That's what you came back here for! That's what you got this 2nd chance to do!”
Ginny put her hands over her eyes and shook her head again. “What am I possibly...” As Ginny looked up, she had just left the meadow, and old Ginny was gone.
---
The hospital wing door slammed open as the Weasley children, Harry, and Hermione came in. Madame Pomfrey of course protested, but after Ron asked, she conceded to letting them in for 10 minutes and busied herself.
As the group made it to his bed, they went silent.
Ron looked at the group, obviously uncomfortable.
Percy finally spoke first, “Glad you're back.”
George added, “We were worried about you.”
Harry said, “How do you feel?”
Ron yawned hard. “Tired. Madame Pomfrey gave me something. I'll probably be out tomorrow though.”
Fred breached the subject that was on everyone's mind. “You remember, remember the future?”
Ron nodded slowly. “Yea.”
Ron looked down. He was fighting sleep, but he also knew they had a million questions. Most were probably questions he didn't have answers for, but for them, he'd try.
Everyone was silent. For all their questions, no one could make themselves speak first. Harry eventually broke the silence. “What should we do now?”
That one Ron could answer. “Find the Diadem. Try to think like You-Know-Who. Where would he have hidden it?”
Ron felt his eyes slip. He pushed them open again and then they slipped back down. He heard the others talking a little before falling asleep.
-----
The rock was small, but getting harder for Ginny to move in her weakened state. Still, as she made camp to the setting sun, she pulled it out.
The heat it was providing was much less than it had been. The glow had also dimmed. It was the one thing that gave her hope. Her eyes and ears didn't tell her anything was changing, but day after day, the rock was loosing its magical strength which meant she was getting closer to the forest edge.
“I've got to be close.” It was as much a prayer as a statement.
She heard a branch break in the distance. She pushed against the tree just as she had her first night in the woods. Which was coming? The snake or the creature?
Ginny hadn't seen either in days, but she had seen signs of them. She thought the snake had been following her. She was pretty sure she could hear it sometimes even though it seemed to be trying to keep a distance. She tried to avoid it for awhile, but her strength for aversion was gone. The beast, for its part, didn't seem to need to follow her exactly. It just always found her. She heard it at night sometimes and found pieces of animals in her path periodically, almost as a reminder that it was watching her. They were often in the only piles of food she thought were good to eat.
She waited, but didn't hear anymore sounds. Finally, she fell asleep.
In the distance, the beast laughed. Not tomorrow, but the time was approaching.
----
The sleeping potion kept Ron asleep for almost 13 hours. After that, Madame Pomfrey had insisted on a lot of tests and a few spells. Ron didn't protest. He used the time to plan his next move and hoped if he worked with Madame Pomfrey now, she would be OK with not seeing him for a few days when he left.
He had visitors throughout, but in every case, including Hermione, he stressed the importance of finding the Diadem and spending their time on it.
Finally, at about 7pm, Madame Pomfrey had said he could go get something to eat in the Great Hall and then head to Gryffindor Tower. She wanted to see him again if he had trouble remembering anything and stressed how important this was for his health. Ron thought remembering things would be the least of his issues and promised to come back next week for a check-up.
----
Dinner in the Great Hall was wonderful. Ron didn't understand it at first, but soon realized simply seeing everyone alive was so special and incredible. He let himself forget the Horcrux for that one meal and talked about any number of things with his siblings, Harry, and Hermione. Even when they had tried to get on that subject after dinner he had at first brushed them off.
After a few minutes though, Ron was the one bringing it up. In his bliss, he'd allowed himself to forget again, but his job was to emphasize finding the Horcrux.
The others reviewed what they had researched since he'd been out and Ron wasn't thrilled that it still seemed to be nothing new. The best bet so far was the 7th floor door Sirius had claimed to see back when he was in school which might have been the same room that the Grey Lady had talked about, but they hadn't been able to find anything else about it anywhere.
Hermione asked, “Was there anything about that door in the other timeline? Maybe even something small that Ginny wouldn't have known about?”
Ron thought for a minute, but already knew the answer. He shook his head. “No.”
Fred said, “We've gone to the spot at pretty much every hour of the day. Since no one has seen it during the day, we're guessing its only out at night.”
George added, “We've spent 3 full nights by the door, once being a full moon and once a new moon. We've also passed by it probably 20 other nights and there's never been any sign that a door is there. If it shows up randomly, it's not very often.”
Percy added, “There were a couple other secret rooms I've found mentioned indirectly other places, but they were pretty much all for teachers. Other than that...” He thought for a moment and Ron could tell he was thinking about saying something else. Finally he said, “Nevermind.”
Ron thought about questioning him before deciding if it was worth checking out Percy would do it. “Well let's start again in the morning. Think of anywhere else in the castle it could be and we'll try it.” Ron looked at Percy for most that statement.
---
The two centaurs watched the girl in the distance. She was looking up at the sunset and emerging stars. One said, “Humans rarely appreciate the sky.”
The other nodded. “Rarely indeed. Being away from all their magic helps though.”
The first tried to examine the stars that were starting to appear in the east. “Maybe she is a sign? A very weak girl in the forest could explain the alignment of stars near Gemini.”
“Perhaps,” said the other.
The first looked back at the girl. She was not doing well without magic and he doubted she'd make it out of the woods. Apprehensively, he said, “Perhaps we should aide her?”
The other looked at him like he was mad. “It's not our way. Besides, the ancient creature's sent is all over her path. He is keeping away intruders.”
The first nodded.
----
Ginny looked at the sunset and emerging stars without much in her mind. The sunset and the stars did seem more wonderful when you actually focused on them and weren't distracted by everything else in daily life.
After a few minutes, she pulled open her pocket and took a few of the handful of nuts and berries she had found today. She should be extremely hungry, but she had to force herself to eat each one of them.
----
The fire roared in Gryffindor Common Room. While it was past 2am, Hermione hadn't yet slept. She was beginning to think her guess was wrong when she heard movement from the boys dormitory. Sure enough, 30 seconds later, Ron came into the Common Room with a small bag packed.
He starred across the room, but didn't see her seated at the couch with her own bag. Hermione spoke up. Her voice was quiet, but in the silent room it carried very well. “So are we leaving now?”
Ron seemed to jump a foot in the air and turned quickly. He stared disbelievingly at her. “Blimey Hermione, you almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing up?”
Hermione shook her head and returned the question, “What are you doing up?”
Ron struggled for a second, then spotted the bag she was carrying. He laughed. “You are brilliant at every age.”
Hermione nodded a little, not feeling brilliant at all. “So we're going to get Slytherin's Ring before it's too late.”
Ron's laugh was gone and his smile disappeared. “I'm going. The rest of you should keep looking here.”
Hermione stood up and picked up her bag. “I'm going with you.”
Ron started, “Hermione, I can't let....” He stopped, apparently deciding to switch arguments. “Hermione, we can't let them know anyone is gone. If they think one of us disappeared, even voluntarily, there's a definite risk of Dumbledore coming back to help and check on Harry. I set it up so I think I'll be OK for a day or two, but it won't work with both of us gone.”
Hermione nodded. She figured he'd done something like that. She had done the same. “I left a letter on my bed for my roommates. It said my parents found out what happened and took me out till the school was cleared. I said I'd be back within a few days and please don't tell anyone else as it was really embarrassing. I sent a letter through the post which should get to Harry tomorrow morning as well.”
Ron sat silent for a moment. How could he keep forgetting how impressive Hermione could be?She had figured out what he had planned to do and done everything she needed to make sure she came. He couldn't take her though. As he tried to think what to say, she asked, “Did you write a letter too?”
Ron nodded. “I put it by Harry's bed. I said I'd be back and if anyone asked anything to say Aunt Muriel took me to St. Mungo's to make sure I was alright. Trust me, it's a realistic sounding scenario.” He sighed. “Listen Hermione, I appreciate it, but you can't go.”
“Why not?”
“I can't let anything happen to you. You don't have your memories and while not good for a lot, they do give you a better sense for You-Know-Who's traps.”
Hermione shook her head. Ron heard her gulp, but in her voice he heard a lot of determination. “If you are going, I'm going too. If you don't take me with you, I'll just follow on my own and be in more risk.”
Ron tried to think of a way out of this mess. He couldn't let anything happen to her. Then Hermione said, “I know the password so we can get to Dumbledore's office and hopefully find the basilisk venom.”
Ron eyes opened wide. He'd expected to destroy the Horcrux when he got back, but this might be better. “How?”
Hermione said, “Harry was up there just before Dumbledore left. I asked him today, indirectly of course.”
Ron finally nodded in defeat. “All right.” He sighed as he said that. “Just follow my lead please.”
Hermione nodded. “First, can you leave this letter by Harry. I'd rather not have him wait till the post came.”
----
Ron took the letter back up and wasn't discovered. When they made it to Dumbledore's office (only luckily avoiding an auror who was still on patrol), the door opened to Hermione's password. Ron shook his head, “Dumbledore is great, but those passwords are not the most secure thing in the world.”
Hermione nodded. “Maybe he's not worried about people breaking in.”
Ron guessed that was right. Students would be too scared (well, usually), teachers should have the password anyway, and any visitors would be detected by the castles protection charms.
As they came in, one of the portraits woke up:
“You shouldn't be up here.”
That woke several others.
“The headmaster doesn't wish you looking for such things.”
“Too little respect in young minds.”
Ron and Hermione ignored them and started the search for the basilisk venom. After 5 minutes neither had found it. Ron looked to the portraits thinking about asking them for help. It was going to be difficult to get help from most of them as a lot were still complaining about the two being here and some just for waking them up, but maybe one would. That's when Ron spotted the sorting hat. That darn hat was the reason they were in this mess to begin with. Maybe it knew where Dumbledore kept the venom though. He picked it up and put it on his head.
“OH. You found the memories. That's good....”
“Yeah,” Ron said.
The hat sounded disturbed. “Not a pleasant future you're from and things aren't looking very bright here either.”
“I know,” said Ron impatiently. “Do you know where Dumbledore keeps the basilisk venom?”
“No,” said the hat. “You might find something else in me to help though.”
Ron was confused. “What?”
“Just take me off and look inside.”
Ron pulled off the hat and looked inside. He pulled out a sword and read the engraving on it. He was so stunned that he almost dropped it. It was the Sword of Gryffindor.
Harry had done this before naturally. How could he have done it though? He wasn't the Chosen, wasn't the the one who all adventure came too, the natural leader...yet here it was.
----
Hermione was happy when they landed and she could get off the broom. She had never been very good on them and flying in the dark hadn't been fun. Still she tried to hide her relief,“Are we done flying already?”
Ron looked around the country side. “Yeah. For tonight at least. Probably until we're ready to head back.” He started walking toward a barn.
Hermione didn't quite understand. “Are we close?”
Ron stopped and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night and a lot of stars were above them. It was still cold, but not so much as it would have been a month ago at least. “I think. We never dared get too close, but I think that road,” he pointed, “will got close to Little Hangleton and from there we should be able to find the Gaunt house I hope.”
That was a lot less certainty than Hermione had liked. Ron started walking to the barn again. Hermione was confused. “Are we heading that way now?”
Ron shook his head. “Not in the dark without any magic but our broomsticks. I'm not sure we'd even see it. We can sleep here and go looking again in the morning.”
Hermione nodded. It made sense and this would be a lot less creepy in the morning.
Hermione looked at the barn. It was crooked and obviously very old. A little nervously she asked, “Do you think this is safe?”
Ron chuckled which offended Hermione. She retorted, “Well it looks like it could fall down at any moment.”
Ron pulled open the door and held it open for Hermione. “Hermione, it's been sitting here for at least 50 years and it can make it one more night. Besides, I'm pretty sure we spent one night here about 6 years from now.”
Hermione's eyes went wide. To hear Ron talk about things that hadn't happened yet like that just didn't feel right. Ginny was one thing, she had always been like that to Hermione, but she'd gotten to know Ron very well over the past 2 years and he almost felt like another person now.
Hermione slowly walked in and it felt more than a little creepy. She coughed from the dust. The barn was clearly not is use anymore. There were bugs everywhere and she thought she heard mice. There was still hay, but it was old.
Ron looked around. “Yep this was it alright. Granted, it was a lot better when we could use magic. You did use some reinforcement and concealment charms then.”
“I guess it will work for tonight,” said Hermione, who was far from sure she would fall asleep.
Ron laughed again, this time a little harder.
This irritated Hermione greatly and she lashed out, “What?!”
Ron made himself stop, but still had a smile. “It's just, first time I remember doing things like this- I mean leaving home and going from place to place without many comforts- I was the one grumbling about it and annoying you and Harry.”
Hermione didn't see the humor in that that Ron did. She looked around and saw a small clump of hay. It probably had all kinds of things in it, but for a moment , she didn't care. “Goodnight,” she said without turning back around.
Ron knew better than to fight. “Sorry Hermione.”
Hermione didn't say anything or turn around, but walked to the clump of hay. She layed down and just as suddenly jumped back up as a rat scurried away. She put her hands over eyes and tried to calm herself down a little.
Ron walked to her and put one hand over her shoulder. The humor was out of his voice and he was very serious. “Listen, I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. I don't know how to react with these memories sometimes, well ever. Hopefully I'll learn.”
Hermione didn't say anything, but didn't push him away either. They sat for a couple of minutes and finally she made herself lie back down without saying a word.
---
Percy was on prefix duty when Harry showed the letters to the twins. He asked “What do we do now?”
George shrugged. “I guess we do what Ron asks and look for that Diadem. Not like we haven't been doing everything we can think of for the better part of a year.” That was very true, especially from the twins who had considered it a personal insult that Hogwarts had been able to contain such a secret from them. They'd interviewed every ghost, house elf, and half the paintings in the school in the last couple months, read more books than they dared admit, and scurried hall after hall looking for signs of doors, and still they had found nothing. The door that Sirius had reported seeing decades ago and the Grey Lady had confirmed was still their best lead, but finding anything else had seemed impossible.
Harry looked at the twins. Percy was still with them at Hogwarts, but Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all gone and the school felt very empty. “We're feeling like a lot smaller group.”
Fred concurred. A little darkly he said, “Sure are.”
They would feel even smaller before the day was over.
----
The night's sleep had been short and extremely uncomfortable. Hermione had been planning on getting up at the first crack of dawn just because she couldn't stand it, but eventually she had fallen asleep and ended up sleeping in. When she finally awoke, the light making it's way into the barn suggested it was mid-morning.
She got up and didn't see Ron. She panicked for a second. Ron wouldn't leave her here, would he? Her Ron wouldn't, but she didn't really know this Ron. Was that why she was mad at him last night? Because, he gone and gotten the memories and half felt like a different person entirely? Hermione banished the thought from her mind.
Hermione rushed to the door. She pushed her way outside and saw Ron sitting on the ground nearby.
She walked to him angry. “You scared me,” said Hermione with some hurt in her voice. “I woke up and you weren't there.”
When Ron looked up, Hermione saw something on his face and her anger dissipated. Had he been crying?
Ron started, “I'm sorry...I just needed to get some air. I'm...”
Hermione interrupted, “No, it's OK.” She was pretty sure she saw the remains of tears and somehow that did comfort her. “What's wrong?”
Ron shook his head and looked away again. He was just starring in the distance. “You always did know when something was wrong. It's an annoying trait you know?”
Again he was talking about the future and it still annoyed her, but she pushed the feeling aside. “What's wrong? Are you not sure where Slytherin's Ring is at?”
Ron shook his head. “Not exactly sure, but I think we can find it. I'm just...just thinking about Ginny and all we have to do and... this morning I don't feel like much a 23 year old.”
That definitely did comfort Hermione. “You did yesterday?”
Ron thought and finally said, “Yes, but I don't know... it's weird.”
He didn't say anymore, but Hermione silently scolded herself for getting mad at Ron when he was going through so much. She tried to be comforting. “We're the first people who have ever done this as far as we know. I wish I knew something to say. I think it got better for Ginny.”
Bitterly Ron said, “Well I can't ask her, can I?”
Hermione frowned. “We'll get her back.”
Ron stood up and looked her right in the eyes. “NO! We won't! People need to stop saying that!”
Hermione was too flabbergasted to speak. Ron turned away, facing the sun. When he spoke again, his voice was a little softer, but not back to a regular tone. “Before You-Know-Who came to power, he was already responsible already for so many deaths. Then he took over and everyone died. They didn't just come back. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a game. Once he got you, it was over. We all knew if we were captured that there was no rescue and it was over.” Ron sat down, almost seemed to fall down. He didn't look back at Hermione. Quietly and seemingly meant for himself, he said, “It's over for Ginny.”
Hermione just stared at Ron unable to believe he was saying such things. She walked to him and saw his hands had moved over his eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything. She sat down beside him on the ground and then without thinking hugged him tight. He hugged back putting his head against her shoulder.
After a few minutes he pulled away and stood up. He wasn't over this, Hermione could tell that and of course he wouldn't be. He had himself composed again though. He said, “Let's go find the piece of that bloody bastard's soul.”
----
Voldemort closed his mind to Ginny's senses. Things were going well. It was now time for the last part of the plan.
“Inform Lucius to fetch the boy at the first opportunity.”
---
Ginny coughed hard and blood came out. The coughs felt very different than any she remembered having before this visit to the woods. It felt like it was coming from very deep in her. Definitely not a good sign.
Ginny was moving a lot slower, but she knew she was going to have to make decent progress today if she was to have a chance. The rock in her pocket, which she'd barely noticed when she'd started carrying it, now felt like it weighed a ton. She didn't take it out, but felt it with her hand. She could still feel a little warmth from it, but it was slipping and she dared to hope that maybe, she could be out of these woods today. Maybe that would just leave her in regular muggle woods, but if that was the case, she'd worry about that when the time came.
Two hours later, Ginny came to something she didn't immediately recognize. If it was new she would have seen it immediately of course, but it was quite old and the magic protecting it had almost completely faded away.
Ginny stopped and stared at the piece of forest for a full minute, trying to make out what it was that was stopping her. Then she realized what she was seeing. It was traveling slightly northeast and southwest. It was a path. It was no longer maintained and probably made long ago for God-knows-what, but all the same, it was a path.
Ginny's thinking was slow and she wasn't immediately sure which direction to go. Then it occurred to her that she had been heading west, so it was probably best to keep that general direction given the rock's loss of warmth.
Ginny turned southwest. A few lingering parts of the magic kept the path clear of plants and other growth even as the forest had reclaimed most of it. She could barely see the path for wide stretches, but she saw just enough to not lose it.
What Ginny didn't know and would never know was that the path had been created more than 50 years ago, by a then young wizard who had sought a safe way for wizards to travel deep in the forest without broomsticks. His family owned a small house within the woods themselves and he hoped such a path would bring a small amount of visitors to sell things to. The young man had been rewarded for his troubles by being bitten by a werewolf not far to the northeast of where Ginny had discovered it. His family had moved away since and the small shack they lived in had collapsed, but still, the path and the powerful magic he had used had endured at least a little for over half a century. In 10 miles, the path would meet up with a much wider path that was maintained on the outskirts of the forest by the Romanian Ministry of Magic. Two miles down that path to the north, one would leave the forest and enter the magical village of Liane.
Ginny would not make it that far.
----
Sirius was pacing now. How much longer was Dumbledore going to be? He looked at Ginny's parents.
Molly and Arthur looked like death spilled over. For the past week, them and Dumbledore had been checking out every town and border area of the forest hoping to find some sign of You-Know-Who and talking with the Romanian and Hungarian ministries (the forest went into both countries) looking for any possible spot that Ginny could be.
The ministries had been moderately helpful. They didn't like acknowledging many of the things in the forest already and didn't want to make it known that a mass murder was added to the list of forest attractions. Still, Dumbledore's name was known even out here and he did have a few friends. If not actively helping with a search, they at least didn't interfere and did provide information when asked.
The door cracked open and everyone turned hoping to see Dumbledore, but it was Charlie and Bill who walked in.
Charlie sat down. “Any luck?”
Sirius answered. “Dumbledore is in with the president of Romanian Magical Historical Society now. He sounded like he might know something about this stone pyramid.”
Bill sat down next to Charlie. “This is a lot to go on based on just a dream of Harry's.”
Arthur said, “We did find mentions of a great pyramid in a few books. It's location isn't mentioned, but it sounds like it's real and probably not on the outskirts of the forest where we have been mostly looking.”
Molly said, “Harry's trustworthy. He had dreams in the other....other reality and he really wants to help.”
Sirius exchanged glances with Bill and Charlie. This forest was far too dangerous and too vast to start going into the interior without any idea where they were going. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The 5 adults heard a pop and Dumbledore appeared.
Molly was the first to him. “Did he know anything?”
Dumbledore sounded as calm as ever, although tired. “Yes Molly.”
Arthur asked, “Where?”
Dumbledore pulled out a map. “Pretty deep in the forest. It blends overhead given all the tree growth, but if we are looking for it, we should see it.”
Sirius looked at the map. “No chance of apparating there or a portkey or something?”
“I'm afraid not. It hasn't been seen in person in a generation and our time must be running out. We can travel by flu powder to this point,” Dumbledore pointed to a spot on the map with a small magic village, “and then go straight east by broomstick and we should find the pyramid.”
Dumbledore turned to Sirius, “Have you checked in on Harry?”
Sirius nodded. “This morning. If you want me to go back I will, but I think you might need all the help you can get. We don't know how many will be at the pyramid.”
Dumbledore considered. “I will leave it up to you, but I do believe Voldemort will attempt to draw out Harry at some point.”
Sirius nodded. He looked to his companions. They were all related to Ginny and would not heading back to Britain until she was found which left it up to him. He debated. If Voldemort was on the pyramid, there was bound to be Death Eaters too. Dumbledore would need all the help he could get. Also if a trap for Harry hadn't been set yet, one more day probably wasn't going to make a difference. “I'll head out with you. If we don't find him, I'll head back.”
----
Percy wasn't in the mood for questions until he saw if it was on there “Just please go get it.”
George looked at Harry. “Can you get it for me. It's in our dorm, in my chest on the left. No one should be up there now.”
Harry got up. “I'll be right back.”
The twins exchanged glances. They were intrigued by their older brother and that wasn't a normal occurrence. As Harry left, Fred asked, “What do you think might be on that map?”
Percy said, “I'm sure it's there; I just want to see if it's on the map before explaining.”
George got excited. At the same time, he was simultaneously impressed and a little frustrated. “You know where a hidden room is and we don't?”
Percy smiled a little. It wasn't often he got that kind of admiration from the twins. They were troublemakers of the first degree, but still, it was nice. “The Diadem is not going to be in there, at least I don't think so, but maybe something else is there that can help us.”
“Spill the beans,” Fred said.
“Where is it?” George added.
Percy finally conceded. He'd tell Harry when he got back. “I wanted to wait till Dumbledore got back because he's the only one who could grant permission to go in there, but there is a secret room in the library. I heard Madam Pince mention it once.”
Fred rolled his eyes. “In the library?!”
George put his hand to his head. “We spent half the year in there...”
“Never again,” interrupted Fred.
George finished, “and never even did more than a small search for hidden rooms.”
Fred asked, “Why not say this earlier?”
George added, “This would have been useful months ago.”
Percy said, “Because the Horcrux isn't going to be there and it wasn't until we made it through most the books here that it felt worth checking out and then Dumbledore was gone.”
The small amount of anger the twins felt was far outweighed by their curiosity. “What's in the room?” asked Fred
George asked, “Where exactly is it?”
Percy sighed. “I don't know exactly where it is. It holds the oldest books in the castle though. The important books, if the current librarian feels they aren't up to being handled by students anymore, are put back there. It's probably got some old ones about the Hogwarts founders.”
The twins smiled. That kind of information could very well mention something about a room of Ravenclaw's.
---
Ron and Hermione had walked most the day in silence. They had made it to Little Hangleton, saw the graveyard that had been so important in the other timeline and followed a few roads from there looking for signs of the Gaunts.
Hermione looked at Ron and tried to feel his determination. She had it too, but his was much deeper since he had gotten the memories. He knew too well what failure meant and she could tell that. She had seen the guilt he felt over Ginny this morning. It must be that determination that was pushing him now. She said, “It wasn't your fault you know. With or without the memories, you never would have known that snitch was a portkey.”
Ron didn't look back. Hermione didn't think he was going to respond at all when he said, “No, probably not. If I had them sooner though, she wouldn't have been alone. I get what she was going through now. All of these memories and not knowing what to do. So many judgment calls when you don't really know anything yourself.” He sighed. “I might also have caught those signs from Malfoy that something was up. I certainly wouldn't have fought with him back in the fall and given him the perfect opportunity now...” Ron frowned and shook his head, “or maybe I would have.”
Hermione didn't have a response so just listened. Ron went on, “Now I guess I'll never get a chance to talk to her about all of this...”
Ron stopped walking. In the distance beyond some trees, he saw something. He had started to give up hope on finding it today, but maybe that was it.
Hermione followed his gaze and they both walked to it. It was the Gaunt house.
----
Harry was going through George's chest and had just found the Marauder’s Map when he heard a loud pop.
He jumped back in surprise and pulled out his wand. What he saw, wasn't threatening in the least.
Dobby looked at Harry with pitiful eyes.
“Dobby,” Harry said, “I didn't expect to see you.”
Dobby sobbed. “Harry Potter must not do it. He must not read the letter Dobby is going to give him.”
Harry looked at Dobby confused. “What letter? Who sent you Dobby? Are you warning me again? Ginny has been kidnapped, do you know anything about that? I know Mr. Malfoy was part of it.”
Dobby banged his head hard against the bed. “Harry Potter must not read the letter. Must not go to his death. Harry Potter is too important!”
Harry's mind went to Ginny and Sirius's warning. This was the trap. “Give me the letter Dobby.”
Dobby handed it to Harry.
“Dear Harry Potter,
You have no doubt been warned that I may use Ginny to try to get you. That is exactly what I am doing. You have three choices.
1. You ignore the letter. Ginny dies.
2. You try to get help. Ginny dies.
3. You follow these instructions. You have my word that Ginny will live and return to her parents. I make no long term promises, but if she stays out of my way, she may well live even long term as I will eliminate the threat of time travel.
Right now in the Shrieking Shack, a man waits for you with a portkey to my location. Using the directions below, you should be able to get there in 20 minutes if you run. In 25 minutes, the man will leave with or without you. If anyone should apparate into the building or you enter with anyone else, he will leave and you will never see Ginny again.
The choice is of course yours. I do not need you, I merely wish for you to be here. If you disappoint, I will find you later and make sure Ginny dies a terrible death now.
Lord Voldemort"
Harry looked up and saw Dobby pleading, sobbing. “Please Harry Potter. Don't go. Harry Potter is far too important.”
Harry glanced once more at the directions to get to the Shrieking Shack. He took the letter and ran out of the room.
---
Ginny had rested not far from the remains of some old wood shack. She fell asleep looking at the stars.
A few hours later, she woke her up to the sound of a loud noise not far away. She heard a tree fall and a loud cry. The creature was coming for her.