A/N: This is sort of a prequel to my "From Across the Great Divide" world, which has grown into its own fic. (ARGH! It was only supposed to be a cookie!) It would probably make more sense if you've read at least through chapter 8 of that fic. It's based on a plot bunny inspired by our Patronus discussion on the Gryffindor Tower message board. More specifically, it was a request by Caitlyin MC. This won't be terribly fluffy, I don't think. So, to set the scene, it's Ginny's seventh year at Hogwarts, Voldemort was defeated at the end of the previous school year, several familiar Hogwarts teachers are dead, and Harry has withdrawn from the wizarding world.
Disclaimer: the standard disclaimer applies… None of the characters you recognise are mine. Ginny, Harry, etc. belong to J. K. Rowling. Ian Breakstone, however, is mine, and so is Simone Howard; Professor McCallum will be readily identifiable to the denizens of Gryffindor Tower; Professor Honeydew belongs to Jim Henson.
Chapter One: Ginny's Protector
"Expecto Patronum!"
Ginny's seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts class repeated the incantation together.
"Very good," said Professor McCallum. "That was the easy part. The difficult part of the Patronus Charm is concentrating on one single, happy memory for it to work properly. I would like you all to take a moment now and think of such a memory."
Ginny cast about in her mind. Lately, she hadn't had much to be happy about. She'd spent the recent Easter holiday at the Burrow and things had not gone as expected. She'd been fairly ordered home when her mother found out about her boyfriend, Ian Breakstone. The problem wasn't that she had a boyfriend; the problem was that he was a Slytherin. Ginny knew just how her mother had found out about Ian…
The week before the Easter holiday, her brother, Charlie, had caught them snogging in an empty classroom. Charlie had joined Hogwarts staff that same year as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Ginny had wanted to keep her relationship with Ian a secret and had succeeded up until Charlie had found them. The strangest part of the whole episode was the fact that Charlie himself hadn't been alone. He had been in the company of Professor McCallum, and if Ginny didn't know better, they had been looking for an empty classroom themselves. In any case, she was sure that Charlie had sent an owl to her mother straight away.
And so Ginny had spent the holiday at home, rowing with her mother over her choice of boyfriends, rather than at school as she had planned. She had never rowed with her mother before, never on this scale, and the thought that her mother still expected to run her life at age eighteen still rankled.
"Miss Weasley!" Professor McCallum's reprimand brought Ginny out of her reverie. "Kindly pay attention to me and not to your daydreams. One may be more fun than the other, but class work is essential for exams. You have your N.E.W.T.s coming up."
"Yes, Professor," she answered, blushing. She realised the rest of the class was looking at her expectantly, but she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. She was inwardly thankful that professor McCallum had gone easy on her in front of the class. She knew the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher could tease scathingly when she saw fit. On the other hand, Ginny reckoned she knew a thing or two about Professor McCallum that could possibly get her teacher into trouble. Perhaps this was the reason behind the leniency. She looked desperately at Professor McCallum, who gave Ginny one of her famous withering looks that was guaranteed to crumple a student at sixty paces. "The Patronus Charm, Miss Weasley," the teacher prompted.
"Oh yes." Ginny began to panic a bit. A happy memory… Anything to do with Ian was out, as any thoughts of him were now tainted by her row with her mother. She settled on the end of fifth year, when she'd taken twelve O.W.L.s. She concentrated and cried, "Expecto Patronum!"
A thin silvery mist emanated from her wand tip but swiftly dissipated.
"Excellent, Miss Weasley!" praised Professor McCallum. "Did you see, class? Miss Weasley has the idea. Try again, perhaps using a different memory."
A different memory? Ginny cast about once more and her thought settled on the end of the war, on Voldemort's final defeat. Everyone had been euphoric then. She concentrated on the feeling of joy she had experienced, joy in knowing it was all finally over and that her family had escaped unscathed. "Expecto Patronum!" Her voice was commanding.
To her amazement, and that of the rest of the class, the silvery mist shot out of her wand this time and rapidly took shape. Ginny was suddenly curious. What form would her Patronus take? Professor McCallum had told the class at the beginning of the lesson that each person had a unique Patronus. She watched as the mist formed itself into a human figure. "No," she thought, "this can't be happening." She recognised the messy dark hair and the round glasses; even the lightning-shaped scar was visible. Her Patronus was Harry Potter.
Ginny knew her face must be almost purple. She heard one of the other girls giggle. Of course, everyone in her class knew she'd had a crush on Harry, but she'd got over that. She still admired his bravery, of course, everyone in the wizarding world did, but she was with Ian now. Damn! she thought. Ian was sure to find out about this. Some of the other girls in her class were inveterate gossips. Ginny knew they'd make sure this got around the school. And when Simone found out…
Harry's ghostly form still stood in front of her. There was no Dementor for him to chase back, no Lethifold for him to hold off, so he simply stood there, staring, his face rather surprised. The moment seemed to stretch out forever. Finally, he nodded to her in acknowledgement and disappeared.
"Brilliant, Miss Weasley!" cried Professor McCallum. "Take twenty points for Gryffindor!"
The bell rang signalling the end of class. Ginny, in her haste to get out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, pushed roughly past Colin Creevey, sending him sprawling. But she didn't stop to see if he was all right. She had to get away and think. Having Harry Potter as her own, unique Patronus was almost too surreal to contemplate. She needed to work out what this meant.
She hurried down the marble staircase and out into the grounds. She was thankful it was the end of the day. She knew she wouldn't have been able to face another class, not even History of Magic. Ginny headed down the sloping lawn toward the lake and sat down under a tree to think, but she hadn't been there long when a voice broke in on her confused thoughts.
"Ginny!" It was Ian. He must have seen her in the Entrance Hall and followed her. He had no reason not to now, Ginny reflected. Since her family now knew about them, there was no longer any point in keeping their relationship secret. She had told him as much when she'd returned to school.
Ginny forced herself to smile back at him, before sliding over a bit to give him room to sit down beside her. "Why were you in such a hurry?" he asked.
"Oh, no particular reason," she lied. "I was just tired of being cooped up in class all day. And it's such a nice day…" Ginny cringed. That was lame, she thought. The day was overcast and blustery.
But Ian just laughed. "Yeah, nice day," he said with a hint of sarcasm. Ginny shivered, and Ian put his arm around her. Her first reaction was to stiffen, and she had to force herself to relax. She really wanted to be alone at the moment, but she didn't want to tell Ian this, or the reason why. So she sat there and allowed him to play with her hair and kiss her, but her heart wasn't in it, and she knew it.
At the very least, she thought, she should try to refrain from thinking about Harry, so she reflected back on Ian instead. For six years she had been in certain classes with him, first Potions, then flying lessons, and later Care of Magical Creatures. It seemed a Hogwarts tradition that Gryffindors and Slytherins always had these classes together. But for these six years, she'd taken very little notice of Ian. He was always so quiet. He didn't seem to fit in at all with his House-mates, who tended to be obnoxious.
Then, at the beginning of the fall term, they'd got a new Potions master with some novel ideas. Professor Honeydew had the idea that to promote better relations between the two rival Houses, he would pair his students up, one Gryffindor and one Slytherin, for their Potions work. Ginny had felt a great deal of trepidation that first class. She had been sure she'd be partnered with Simone Howard, a malicious, heavy-set girl, who took a great deal of pleasure in tormenting Ginny. But she had been fortunate to be put with Ian, who, it turned out, was quite nice to her on top of being very talented at Potions. He was also quite nice-looking, she'd thought, with his dark hair, grey eyes and easy smile. Before she'd got to know him better, she'd often wondered if the Sorting Hat hadn't made a mistake in Ian's case. She would have expected someone with his personality to have been in Ravenclaw, but now she knew him to be quite ambitious. His ambition manifested itself in the desire to achieve top marks so that he could get a good position at the Ministry once he'd finished his studies.
"Hello?" Suddenly Ian's voice broke in on her thoughts. He was waving a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Ginny!" He sounded rather annoyed. When she snapped to attention, he added, "you were a million miles away there… What's got into you today?"
Before she could reply a new voice interrupted them both. "What have we here? A little trouble in paradise?" It was Simone, and she had a smirk on her porcine features that Ginny knew did not bode well. "I've just heard something quite interesting about your girlfriend, Ian, but perhaps you already know."
"Bugger off, Simone!" Ginny shot back. She'd had certain suspicions about Simone for a while now, suspicions that Simone had known about her and Ian before that knowledge was public, suspicions that Simone was trying to break them up, suspicions that Simone wanted Ian for herself… "As if he would ever!" Ginny thought.
"Oh, sure, I'll be off…" Simone replied in a nasty tone. "I'd just be careful if I were you, Ian. From what I hear, Ginny has quite a taste for dark-haired wizards. Don't you ever get them confused, dear?" she added, looking at Ginny, before flouncing off.
Ginny was on her feet with her wand out, when she felt Ian put a restraining hand on her wrist and draw her back down to sit beside him. "She isn't worth it, Ginny," he told her.
"Honestly, I have no idea what she was on about…"
"I dunno, I think she may have a point. You were a million miles away just now."
"Oh, well, thank you so much!" Ginny sprang to her feet once more. "You want to believe your House's biggest gossip over me! Just leave me alone!" Ginny began to run, ignoring Ian shouting after her. She didn't even pay much attention to where she was going. She knew it was stupid, that Ian would find out eventually, but for the moment she needed to get away. How could she tell him about having Harry as her Patronus, her protector, when she wasn't even sure how she felt about it herself? And now, of course, he was going to hear about it from people who would cast the situation in the worst possible light.
Before she knew it, she had crossed the open ground between the lake and the Forbidden Forest. She slowed her pace and ventured a short distance into the trees. She knew better than to go too far in, but at least here, she didn't feel so exposed. She sat down on a rock to think. The first emotion to hit her was complete mortification. She knew what this looked like; it looked as if she still had a crush on Harry. Maybe some would even go so far as to say she was in love with him, but that was ridiculous. She'd got over that crush years ago.
She wondered if there was another way to interpret things. Did it mean Harry loved her? She had no idea how one came by one's Patronus. Professor McCallum hadn't touched on this at all, and Ginny didn't really want to ask her about it. Not after the shock of today's lesson. Anyway, it didn't matter, she told herself. Harry was gone. No one knew where he'd gone after the war, not even Ron and Hermione. He could be dead for all she knew. She felt her eyes sting with tears at this thought, and angrily brushed them aside. This train of thought was doing her no good at all. She had to decide how this would affect her and Ian.
She finally resolved that she wouldn't let it affect their relationship. It wasn't her fault, after all. She had made no conscious choice of her Patronus; it had just happened. She knew she wasn't in love with Ian, but she felt in her heart she could come to love him, if she tried hard enough. She would try and make this work, she needed to. She angrily pushed back the niggling thought of her mother's reaction to Ian. Her mother didn't know Ian! How dare she judge him based on his House? She would continue to see Ian no matter what anyone else had to say about it, and that was all there was to it. With that thought in mind, she stood, held her head up, and walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower.
**
Ginny dragged her feet going her Potions lesson the next day. This was the first time since Snape's tenure as Potions Master that she dreaded this particular class. It had been bad enough having to confront speculative looks from her fellow Gryffindors in the Common Room, and then there had been the rest of the school to face at supper. She had tried to ignore the Slytherin table altogether, but she had seen Simone's gloating expression from the corner of her eye. Ian, she'd noted, hadn't glanced in her direction at all.
She hesitated at the entrance to the dungeons, but she knew there was nothing for it. She couldn't afford to miss class with the N.E.W.T.s coming up, and she knew that if she did so, she would look as if she had something to hide. And she didn't, not really. The situation was embarrassing more than anything. She took a deep breath and walked into the Potions classroom, slipping to her place beside Ian, just as Professor Honeydew started class.
"Where did you run off to yesterday?" Ian asked her in a whisper, they began preparing ingredients for a complicated will-strengthening elixir. His voice had a certain edge to it.
"Look, Ian," Ginny whispered back. "I'm sure you heard all about what happened to me in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm sure there were people in your House who took a great deal of delight in telling you all about it." She glanced over pointedly at Simone, who was at a table not too far from theirs. It looked to Ginny as if Simone were straining her ears mightily in their direction. "I had to get away and think, all right?" Ginny continued. "That Patronus was just as big of a shock to me as it was to everyone else."
"Yeah, but…" Ian stopped stirring their cauldron for a moment to look her in the eye.
"But what? How was I to know that was going to happen? How was I to know I could even produce a Patronus?" Ginny paused here, as she realised her voice was beginning to attract attention. She began slicing ginger roots for their potion. "Has anyone in your House been able to produce a Patronus?" she asked in a lower tone.
"Well, no," Ian was forced to admit.
"None of the other Gryffindors were able to, either. So how am I to blame for this?"
"You're not, I suppose, but still…" His voice trailed off, as he added lacewings to the brew.
"I was embarrassed by it. Who wouldn't be? I had to figure out what it meant."
"And did you?" There was a small plop, as he added some sliced dragon's liver.
"No." Ginny put the sliced ginger into their cauldron and stirred. "I think I need to ask Professor McCallum about it. But I don't see why we should let this affect us. I didn't ask for this to happen."
"No, I don't suppose you did." He didn't sound very convinced to Ginny, but she didn't feel like arguing about it.
They passed the remainder of the Potions lesson exchanging as few words as possible. When the bell rang at the end of class, Ginny gathered her things together quickly, and tried to hurry off, but Ian put a hand out to stop her. "Where are you off to now?" he asked in an exasperated tone.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "To see Professor McCallum," she hissed.
"Can I come with you?"
Ginny sighed. She didn't like doing this to him, but she wanted to talk to the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher alone. "I'd really rather you didn't, thanks." And before he could say anything else, she walked out of the Potions dungeon.
Ginny strode purposefully up the marble staircase, hoping no one else would stop her. She had spent the past twenty-four hours now trying to avoid talking to anyone, and she had, for the most part, succeeded. Her friends had seemed to understand and had left her alone since the previous day.
She climbed to the second floor and went on down the corridor until she stood outside Professor McCallum's office. Here, she hesitated, for the door was slightly ajar, and it certainly seemed as if the good professor was already occupied. Ginny could hear low voices inside, voices she recognised, and she was sure they weren't discussing professional matters. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a seductive-sounding laugh, followed by a drawn-out silence.
With an impish giggle, Ginny knocked at the door, causing it to swing open to reveal Professor McCallum engaged in a particularly passionate snog with her brother Charlie. He had seemingly just pulled out the pencil which Professor McCallum used to secure her hair, causing her strawberry blonde tresses to cascade down her back. The couple broke apart, and a furious blush stained Professor McCallum's cheeks. Charlie, on the other hand, looked completely unrepentant. "We'll continue this, erm, discussion another time, Imogen. Perhaps after supper?" With a rakish wink, Charlie left the office.
"Well, yes, erm, yes," stammered Professor McCallum. Then she cleared her throat. "What can I do for you, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny had to bite back a smile at her teacher's obvious discomfiture. "I wanted to ask you some questions about what happened in class yesterday."
"Oh, yes, of course," said her teacher, her tone becoming crisp and professional. "An impressive display of the Patronus. Many witches and wizards have a great deal of difficulty with that particular charm. I only teach it on the off chance one of my students is capable of it. You can get extra points on your Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T. if you can produce a Patronus. You should do very well, indeed, Miss Weasley, as long as you continue to pay attention in class." At that Professor McCallum fixed her with a rather pointed stare.
"That's a bit rich," Ginny thought, "considering what I just caught her at." Aloud Ginny said, "Yes, well, I wanted to ask you about that. Just how does one come by one's Patronus? Why would I have that particular Patronus?" At this point, Ginny was loath to mention Harry by name.
"Now, the answer to that is not known for certain. My personal belief is that one's Patronus is a symbol of what one considers protection."
Ginny felt herself begin to blush. She did not much care for this answer. "Are you saying I chose my Patronus myself?"
"Oh, no, not consciously, in any case. But somewhere in your mind, you must equate Mr. Potter with protection."
Ginny definitely did not like the implications of this explanation. She tried to think of a possible justification that would make the situation seem less personal. "Considering what happened a year ago, I would think a great many witches and wizards equate Harry Potter with protection."
"Perhaps, but human Patroni are rare. Most of the time they take the form of an animal or an object."
"What's your Patronus, then?"
"Oh, it's a dragon. A Hebridean Black…"
Ginny had to bite back a smile at that. She wondered if Professor McCallum realised the implications of her Patronus being a dragon in light of her relationship with Charlie. While the humour of the situation was somewhat comforting to Ginny, she was still left with the problem having a rare human Patronus. "So what does it mean, then, if I have Harry Potter for a Patronus?" She sincerely hoped the answer to this would not prove to be overly embarrassing.
"I think it must mean you and Mr. Potter share some sort of bond. I think only you can truly answer that question, Miss Weasley."
Great! Ginny thought, just great! She rose to leave. "Okay, then, thank you for your help."
She left the office but did not go straight back to Gryffindor Tower. Instead, she went to an alcove hidden behind a tapestry on the fourth floor. It was a good place to stop and reflect, away from prying eyes. Thinking about her Patronus inevitably reminded her of her second year when she'd come face to face with a Dementor on the Hogwarts Express. She shuddered as she remembered the sudden darkness that had fallen over the compartment and the deathly cold that had passed through her. Then the nightmarish scene from the Chamber of Secrets had replayed itself in her mind, and she had once more seen a demonically laughing Tom Riddle emerge from the diary…
That was it, then. Her bond with Harry had been forged deep beneath Hogwarts dungeons. She remembered now a conversation she'd had with Professor Dumbledore in the hospital wing afterwards. He'd explained to her that when one wizard saved another's life, they created a bond between them. Harry, it seemed, had unknowingly, at the age of twelve, made himself her protector for life.
The idea shook her to the core. She thought again bitterly that he was gone, and so it didn't really matter in the end. There was very little chance he would ever find out about this, and that was just as well. She would be utterly mortified if he ever did.
So that left her with the problem of what to do about Ian. She wasn't sure how much he knew about the Chamber of Secrets. Officially, the matter had been kept quiet, although rumours were almost certain to have circulated. Ginny didn't know if she could or even should try to explain this episode in her life. No, she decided, it would be best to convince him this was all a strange coincidence that had no bearing on their relationship. It wasn't as if she was planning on going off to confront Dementors any time soon. There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, she reflected. She would have a chance to make this up to him then.