Thanks for reviews again. One thing I'd like to clear up. It doesn't take whips and chains to make a child emotionally hurt. Unlike some wrong bwl stories, there isn't a lot of abuse in this story, just enough hurt caused by feelings of ignominy and insignificance. Thanks to Pooky for a quote by Harry later ('Even good people can do bad things').

Chapter 3

Ginny really didn't like Lockhart, and she was glad that Harry agreed with her. She had laughed heartily when he told her of his disastrous first lesson with the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but had waved it down as a one-time thing. But as her own lessons progressed, she decided that the classroom was a waste of time.

"He's obsessed with the boy-who-lived," Harry had remarked dryly. "I hope they announce their engagement soon."

Ginny giggled, but didn't respond. When her nervousness hadn't completely gone away after their fight, Harry had started gently bringing his brother in conversation. She knew it was his way of indicating that she could ask him any questions she had, but she no longer wanted to.

"It's a good thing we have other books here," she muttered, completely changing the topic. "Try to read my mind, Harry. I want to see if I can hold you back."

"It's too soon," he replied back. "It took me nearly two months to even detect when someone was reading my mind."

"Please, Harry," she pleaded. "Snape was looking at me funnily last lesson."

Harry looked at Ginny keenly, with a frown. "Are you sure? I don't want to invade your privacy."

When Ginny's eyes kept pleading, he sighed. "Alright." He raised his wand and hissed, "Legilimens!"

--

A five year old Ginny tugged her mother's apron. "Mummy, mummy, can I go with Ron?"

"No, Ginny," an older redhead said firmly. "How many times have I told you that Jerry only asked for Ron and the twins to come?" She took the small girl's wrist, and took her to the living room. "Percy, play with Ginny. I am busy right now." She ignored Percy's groan of frustration.

A teary-eyed Ginny waited for her mother to return, and when Percy made no attempt to even acknowledge her presence, she dashed upstairs to her room.

--

A six year old Ginny was in the muggle zoo with her family. A really obnoxious muggle family was in front of them, looking at the snakes.

Eagerly, she separated from her family, and walked up to the snakes behind the glasses.

"You're pretty," she said, to a Boa Constrictor, and giggled, when it winked back. Looking at the labels, she said, "What's Brazil? Is it far from London?" The snake looked sadly at her, and then she realized, "Oh, you have never been there."

Then, she felt something heavy strike her, and she fell on the ground.

"Mr. Dursley, Dudley, look at this! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" a mean-looking boy yelled, accidentally hitting her again, with his foot.

Ginny looked around for her family, they had seen none of it. They had separated to two groups, one near the monkeys, and the other near the lions, each thinking Ginny was with the other. A sudden sensation of hollowness and ignominy overwhelmed her.

--

A seven year old Ginny looked wistfully from the window in her room as several redheads flew in the open skies.

"Girls can fly too," she said determinedly to herself. "I will show them!"

That night she snuck out of the house, and walked to the broom shed. "I can fly better than Ron!" she told herself, wiping her tears. She picked the lock with her hair pin, and cautiously, took out a broom. "I will learn to be better than Charlie!" she said firmly, putting the broom between legs, and kicked off.

--

Harry pulled back. "Merlin, I'm sorry, Ginny!" he said in horror. "I didn't mean to come so far…"

"Neither did I," she said quietly. Getting up, she gave a quick hug to Harry, and said sadly, "Next time keep your shields up, Harry. I'm so sorry." And she ran away.

In the toilet, she crouched on a corner, and cried.

--

"Am I a bad boy, Moony?" a six year old Harry asked sadly.

A haggard Remus Lupin looked curiously at the boy and asked, "Why do you say that, Harry? Have you done anything wrong?"

"I don't know," the boy replied in a small voice. "Daddy and Padfoot don't like me."

"Of course they do, Harry," Lupin said, troubled by the boy's response. "Is there a reason why you think they don't?"

The boy opened his mouth, but hesitated, and then he shook his head.

Lupin observed the boy carefully for a few moments, but when no response was forthcoming, he sighed. "Happy birthday, kid. I am sorry I couldn't bring anything for you or your brother… I…" he paused, uncertain of how to convey his poverty to a child, but he was interrupted when two thin hands flung around his waist. Harry's eyes gleamed with joy and he smiled widely, and Lupin patted his head in confusion. His reaction came as a stark contrast to his brother's.

Frowning, Lupin asked, "What present would you like, Harry? If I can, I will get it for you."

Without a second thought, the boy said, "Do you have a picture of my mummy?"

--

"What do you think you are doing, boy?" an angry James Potter yelled at his eight year old son.

Harry looked up, startled by his father's angry voice. Rarely did his father speak to him, but to hear his naked anger and contempt was even worse. He hurriedly pushed his snake friend away.

"A Parselmouth… in my family!" James exclaimed angrily, picking Harry up by the collar. He raised his fist in fury, but lost his resolve at the last moment. Dropping the boy, he said quietly, "Get out of my sight, and stay in your room!"

Harry scampered away in tears, ignoring the snort of disgust sent towards him by his godfather, Sirius Black.

--

"Why don't you understand, Harry?" a nine year old Jerry Potter sneered. "I am the boy-who-lived, and you are my insignificant twin. People will always look at me, and forget you. You are not needed here." He pushed Harry to the floor, and turned to his redhead friend. "Come on, Ron. Lets play Quidditch!"

"Jerry!" Harry called out woefully. "What about you? I don't care about others. I wanna play with my brother. You didn't used to be like this."

Jerry sighed, and turned to face his twin brother patronizingly. "That was a long time ago, before you turned dark with your Parseltongue. You are an embarrassment to the family, Harry! Dad said that, not me. Nobody wants the boy-who-lived to be seen with a snake such as you!"

"Mum would," Harry said quietly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" his brother screamed. "How dare you talk of mum! If it weren't for you, she would still be alive!" He clenched his wrists, and started hitting his brother. Soon, Ron also joined in.

--

Ginny was curled up in a ball, flooded with her tears and grief on feeling the grief of her new friend. Her own childhood, though with fleeting moments of loneliness and insecurities, was a fairy tale in comparison. She didn't even notice when Harry came to her, and patted her head. It was only when he put his arms around her that she saw him, and she clung to him tightly.

"H-How could they?" she sobbed. "They are s-supposed t-to be g-good people."

In a sad voice, Harry hesitated a moment, before shattering Ginny's view towards life, "Even good people can do bad things."

He took Ginny's hand, and patted it comfortingly. "My brother and I used to be close when we were very young. But our father and my godfather blamed me for mum's death. They never said that directly, but I knew. They never spoke to me of her, never allowed me to keep a picture of her… They even took away the muggle photograph my father's other friend gave me, after they discovered I was a Parselmouth." He sighed. "I wish I knew what happened, but nobody would tell me."

"How can they blame you?" Ginny asked angrily. "You were only a year old when… when…" she left the sentence lingering.

"When mum died," Harry finished. "I know, but that never stopped them. And after that day with the snake, they didn't even try to hide it anymore." He smiled sadly at Ginny's grief, and said, "I don't care about them anymore." He hesitated for a few seconds, but finally deciding, he said, "Come with me," and helped her up.

He took her to the bedroom, and to a portrait of lilies. Pointing his wand, he said, "Finite!"

Ginny gasped. The portrait disappeared, and in its place stood a tall mirror, with an ornate gold frame. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. She looked at Harry curiously.

"The Mirror of Erised," he explained. "That's desire spelt backwards… I found it in an empty classroom at the end of last year, and took it away." He hesitated again, and stared at the mirror, smiling happily. Turning to Ginny, he said, "In it, I see the life I would have had with my mum. My greatest desire… do you want to have a look?"

Ginny looked uncertainly from Harry to the mirror, and took a step back. "Harry… I don't want to… I mean, I want to see your mum… but I don't want to see my..." She averted her gaze.

"Use Legilimency on me," Harry said without hesitation, without removing his eyes from the mirror. "She is smiling at you."

With shaking fingers, Ginny turned her wand towards Harry and hissed, "Legilimens," in Parseltongue, and her mind was flooded with images from Harry's.

Ginny couldn't help giggle. A beautiful woman with dazzling auburn hair held a gurgling baby in her arms. She looked at Ginny, and winked, pointing towards Harry. The baby was clearly Harry. She held him up, and gently kissed his forehead. Then she winked at Ginny again.

Ginny pulled herself out, and pulled Harry away. "It's beautiful, Harry," she said with a sigh. "She is beautiful. But…"

"It isn't real," Harry said sadly. "I know that. That's why I keep it hidden, and only look into it when I need to."

With a sudden smile, Ginny kissed Harry's cheek shyly.

"What was that for?" Harry asked in confusion, touching the spot where the redhead had just kissed him.

Blushing, Ginny said, "Not many people's greatest desire would be to see someone simply loving them…" Looking at Harry in a troubled way, she said, "I'm scared to know what mine would be."

They spent the rest of the evening strengthening Ginny's Occlumency, laughing and crying alternatively, at each other's memories, but with a greater sense of connection with each other. That night, they held each other to sleep.

--

"Stop here, Potter," an angry voice called out from the shadows.

Harry blinked. He was in the Second Floor corridor, and didn't expect anyone else to be following him. Fortunately, he hadn't entered the girls toilet as yet.

"We had warned you earlier," another came, and the two identical redheads came into sight, menacingly striding towards Harry.

"To keep a safe distance from Ginny."

"Imagine our surprise when we discover," said the one on the right.

"That you slept with her last night."

"Now, we know what happens in Slytherin house."

"But we don't appreciate our sister being…"

Without a hesitation, Harry touched his wand, without revealing it, and hissed, "Legilimens!"

As the twins continued their lengthy and angry tirade, he sieved through their memories to discover how they found out. He frowned on seeing an empty parchment, and then he nearly smiled. The Marauder's Map. He had heard his father speak of it to Jerry and the twins. What he hadn't expected was that the twins were sneaky enough to keep it a secret from their idols and Jerry. Perhaps, more Weasleys had Slytherin tendencies.

But the twins crossed the limit when they whipped their wands out.

In a sharp and angry tone, he snapped, "You fools! You may think you know what happens, but you have no way of preventing anything in the Dungeons! Hurt me now, and I am warning you, you will regret it."

He was found an hour later by McGonagall, sporting several painful curses and hexes.

"Ten points from Slytherin, Mr. Potter," she said icily, as she fixed him. "For an unprovoked attack on Gryffindor students. You should know better than to attack older students. I will expect an apology, and a thank you, for notifying me of your location, to Fred and George Weasley."

Throwing an ugly look at the supposedly stern but fair teacher, he nodded curtly, and returned to the Dungeons.