NEVER ALONE
Summary: Harry feels betrayed by Dumbledore so runs away with Ginny in tow. What will this mean for their relationship and will they be able to win the war?
Disclaimer: I own nothing – it all belongs to JKR
Also thanks to Bella-Mazy who provided me with the original concept for the story after she got bored during the first few chapters.
Note: This story begins in the summer before seventh year. The only real difference is that Dumbledore is still alive – he and Harry only got as far as Hogsmeade before they realised the school was being attacked. This story is DH non-compliant.
Also for the purposes of this story Dudley is only a couple of months older than Harry instead of a year older.
CHAPTER ONE
"So you're saying that these horcruxes have to be destroyed before there's even a chance that Voldemort can be killed?" Harry asked, perched on a haphazardly stacked pile of boxes in the ramshackle shed set in front of the Weasley family home. His mind was buzzing with what he had just learned and he was no longer irritated by the fact that there were spiders down the back of his neck.
"That is correct," Dumbledore said.
"And you're sure that there are seven – the ring and the diary that have been destroyed, Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket, the snake and possibly something that belongs to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."
The old headmaster smiled, his blue eyes twinkling but at the same time looked troubled. "That is an accurate and succinct summary, Harry."
"They really could be anywhere?"
"Yes although you will remember that I have made several suggestions as to locations I feel there is a strong possibility that they could hide the horcruxes. I know that this may seem like a monumental task but do not let that get you down Harry. If we are going to win the war then we must all stay focused on our task."
"I understand that sir. Sometimes it's hard but you're right."
"That is excellent to here, Harry. I also hope that you understand why you must take over the search for the horcruxes. I will still do whatever I can to assist you but at least for now I must focus on protecting the school and maintaining what little relations we have left with the non-corrupt members of the ministry."
"Yeah I get that, sir. There's something that I've wanted to ask you, though. Is it okay for me to tell Ron, Hermione and Ginny about this?"
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I believe that Miss Granger and the two Weasleys have proven themselves to be trustworthy in the past. I ask you, though, to ensure that they keep the knowledge that you impart to themselves because I believe that too many people knowing what I know, or at least suspect about Voldemort's secrets would be a very bad thing. Your friends will also be able to help you where I cannot."
"Thank you, sir." Harry still hadn't made up his mind, though, whether or not he would tell Ron and Hermione about this, especially if they were going to react in the same way as they had when he'd told them about the prophecy. They'd both looked horrified then Hermione had started looking on it as a research project that a trip to the library could fix and they had both spent the rest of the year looking at him like he was going to break. Ginny he would tell, though. He hadn't told her about the prophecy until much later in the piece, after they'd started going out and although she'd been shocked to start off with, she quickly got over it and provided some moral support and practical advice without question. She really was amazing, Harry thought. They had been together for about six months now – he had absolutely no secrets from her and couldn't imagine his future without her. Suddenly another question for the headmaster occurred to him. "So I should come back to school this year?"
"Oh yes," Dumbledore said. "You know that now you have left your relatives forever Hogwarts is the safest place for you to reside. Also if you abandon your education then Voldemort will already be winning the war."
"I suppose you're right."
Suddenly their private chat was interrupted by a slinky tabby cat patronus that both Harry and Dumbledore recognised as Minerva McGonagall's. "Something's come up, Albus. You need to return to the castle immediately," the cat said in the voice of the Gryffindor head, deputy headmistress' voice.
Dumbledore was worried. He had expressly told his deputy that under no circumstances was his visit to Harry to be interrupted. Molly and Arthur had informed him that Moody's death and George's injury sustained during the trip to retrieve him for the last time from the Dursleys had truly shaken him and that things in general were getting him down so the old man had wanted to have a serious, uninterrupted talk with the boy. It had gone well so far but Albus was still no closer to discovering exactly what was wrong with him and didn't want to go yet.
But he knew that he had to. Minerva didn't sound as though she or any of the faculty members that were already in residence at the castle were in any immediate danger but if his most loyal and trustworthy staff member was going against his express orders and summoning him back to Hogwarts then he knew that something out of the ordinary had to have happened that required his immediate attention.
"You should go, sir," Harry said, aware that his head of house was probably breaking some sort of instructions to send her patronus. He was grateful for McGonagall's timing because he was all too aware that Mr and Mrs Weasley had been giving Dumbledore reports about him, some of which the old headmaster would undoubtedly want to talk about. While he was infuriated that people were still talking about him and making plans for him behind his back and wanted to make this clear to the old man, the last thing he wanted to do was discuss his feelings.
With the exception of Ginny, the were all so blind, Harry thought. They all knew that he blamed himself for Moody's death and George's near-death and had repeatedly told him that it wasn't his fault, they were in this together. Except they weren't in it together – Ron and Hermione should know that – there was only so much that the people around him could do but then the rest was up to him. It wasn't them that ultimately had to kill Voldemort or be killed themselves – it was him and he knew that if he wasn't around then they wouldn't be in anywhere near as much danger. To a certain degree Ginny was the same – she did insist that what happened wasn't his fault but so far she hadn't tried to fob him off with insincere platitudes – she had just been there for him, most of the time just sitting with him in silence, holding him as his mind raced furiously and he was indescribably grateful to her.
"Yes I should," Dumbledore said crisply. "Remember what I have said, Harry. We are all here to help you. Owl post is too dangerous to use at the moment so if you wish to get in touch with me before you return to school let Molly and Arthur know and they can get a message to me."
"When? During one of your lets talk about Harry behind his back meetings?"
Dumbledore surveyed him, his blue eyes bright but betraying no emotion whatsoever. "Harry you must be aware that everything we do is in your best interests."
"So you keep telling me."
The headmaster chose to ignore that comment. "Come on Harry. Let us be off. I shall escort you back to the house. By the smell of it I daresay it is almost time for you to be having dinner and we wouldn't want to deprive Molly of the chance to feed you up."
"Right," Harry muttered. He jumped down off the stack of boxes, shook the spiders out of his hair and followed the headmaster across the yard towards the house without saying another word to the old man.
They marched through the kitchen door and as suspected Molly was standing at the oven supervising a large cauldron of soup that was mixing itself on its own. On the bench behind her, a large carving knife was chopping its way through several loaves of crusty looking bread. "Goodness Albus," she said. "We didn't expect you to bring Harry back for a while yet."
"Well it turns out we didn't get that far," Harry said, irritated that she was talking about him like he was a three year old that wasn't even in the room. He was also suddenly very angry at the headmaster although he wasn't sure why. He just got the feeling that something big was going to happen that would be outside all of their control and he didn't like that at all. Not feeling up to being talked about or patronised Harry didn't wait to see what would happen next, he walked straight through the kitchen and upstairs. Finding the room he shared with Ron empty he carried on to Ginny and Hermione's room.
"Hey," Ginny said as he went inside and flopped down next to her on the bed. Mr and Mrs Weasley had been delighted when they'd found out that they were going out and were okay with them hanging out in each other's rooms on the condition that they left the door open when they were alone. "How'd it go with Dumbledore?"
"It was…….interesting. Listen, let's go out to the lavender bushes before dinner," Harry suggested, naming the special spot on the Weasley family property that they had adopted as their own. I want to tell you what happened but only you and if we can't close the door…….."
"Then someone might overhear," Ginny finished for him. "Let's go."
They curled up behind the bushes that were a safe distance from the house and Harry poured out the entire story, from the monumental task that lay before him and the expectations of complete secrecy that Dumbledore had. "I don't know how he plans to enforce it, though," he finished. "Somehow I think that the other teachers will be suspicious if I keep leaving the school grounds to go and look for these things, which is what I'm going to have to do."
"He's mad," Ginny said faintly. "He had totally lost his mind."
"Yes I'm starting to think that he has which means that I'm going to have to work all of this out on my own."
"You won't be on your own," Ginny promised fiercely. "I'll be there with you all the way."
Harry kissed her forehead. "Thanks."
"So do you have any idea what McGonagall wanted?"
"None at all," Harry said thoughtfully. "Dumbledore looked pissed as well which means he didn't know what was going on, which is probably a bad sign. God forbid anything be outside of the old man's control."
Ginny smiled slightly and kissed Harry gently. "Don't be sarcastic. I guess if it's anything really important we'll find out about it in the next couple of days."
"I hope so but I wouldn't bet on it," Harry said. "Think of all the times that something really important to do with me has been kept a secret from me."
Ginny's eyes were bright with mischief. "Then we'll have to work it out for ourselves."
Harry laughed. "It sounds like a plan."
"Are you going to tell Ron and Hermione about this?"
Harry looked thoughtful. "Maybe I will eventually," he said after a minute or two. "But at least for now I want to keep this just between us. I haven't got the energy to deal with a repeat of the announcement about the prophecy but I'll think about it again after we find out what's going on with McGonagall and Dumbledore."
Ginny grinned. "You know the egg will be on our faces if we find out that we've been worrying about nothing."
"That's true."
But it wasn't nothing and their lives were about to change in a major way. Albus arrived back at the castle to find Minerva pacing up and down in her office looking more worried than he had seen her in years. He knew at once that he had been correct in thinking that she did have a good reason in interrupting his visit with Harry. "Well what it is?" he demanded gently. "What has happened?"
Minerva's voice was haunted as she pointed to a large book on a wooden stand in the corner of her office. "Albus look at the book."
Albus did as she suggested. As deputy headmistress it was one of her duties to keep track of the muggle born students that were due to attend the school and it was the ancient looking book that she used to accomplish this task. Every time a muggle born came into their powers the book would automatically update itself with the student and their parent's names and their address so she could go and see the family and explain the existence of the magical world that their child was about to be initiated into. Albus' first instinct was to reprimand her; after all she had done this many times and always had a fairly good idea beforehand about how the family was going to take the news so why should this time be any different? However the look on her face told him that he should stay quiet for now. What he saw on the page made his blood run cold.
Dudley Raymond Dursley
Parents: Vernon Dursley and Petunia Evans Dursley
Address: 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
"Harry's cousin," he said to himself.
Minerva was very upset because she remembered the Dursleys all too well from the day that she and Albus had left Harry on their doorstep and could just imagine the type of person their son had turned into. "How can this have happened? The boy is just a few months older than Harry."
"The boys magic may have been suppressed by the negative attention that Harry's own heritage gets within the household," Albus mused. "I daresay that his powers have been slowly coming out since the unfortunate encounter that he and Harry had with dementors nearly two years ago and have finally reached the stage where they are strong enough for your ingenious book here to recognise them."
"That's all very well and good, Albus," Minerva said, with a slight note of hysteria in her voice. "But what are we going to do? He cannot come to Hogwarts."
"And why is that?"
Minerva glared at her boss and one of her oldest friends. "Think of how Harry will react, Albus. Despite what you say I know that something is not right in that household. You must have heard him say that he considers Hogwarts more his home than the house he lived in with his relatives. He has just escaped them for good. Think of how he will feel if he is forced to be around his cousin at school."
"Just as you said, Minerva, the boy is Harry's cousin. They may not like each other but I am confident that Harry can rise above those feelings and reach something of a happy compromise for the school term. There is no need for anything to change during the holidays – Dudley can return to his parents and Harry the Weasleys but they are family and will have to get along at school."
"But Dudley is seventeen – seven years behind the rest of his classmates. How are we supposed to deal with that?"
"He can be tutored," Dumbledore said serenely. "Maybe Harry can do it and that will be how they learn to get along. I am not suggesting that Mr Dursley goes straight into seventh year – it may be that he stays here for a few years – but nevertheless he will still get to sleep in a seventh form dorm and have final year privileges."
"For goodness sake, Albus," Minerva exploded. "There are other wizarding schools that the boy could attend. Why are you so determined to bring Dudley to Hogwarts? Think about what you will be risking. Several times in the past few years your relationship with Harry has been almost irreversibly damaged. I truly think that this will be the final straw. I know that you love Harry like a grandson, Albus. Do you want to lose him forever?"
"Minerva you are once again underestimating Harry. I am confident that we will rise above whatever ill-will he has for his cousin for the sake of both their Hogwarts' careers. You get Dudley's enrolment into the school organised and in the morning I shall pay another visit to Harry and explain the turn of events."
"But…….."
"No buts, Minerva," Dumbledore said sternly. "There will be no more arguing. Dudley Dursley is going to come to Hogwarts."
The End: There's the first chapter done – please tell me what you think.