Chapter Four – Building a Mystery
Sirius Black eyed the four Gryffindors in front of him. A large crowd had come down to the quidditch pitch to watch the tryouts for the new chaser. It was his last year at Hogwarts and as Quidditch captain he was determined to the cup this year. Standing in front of him were two fourth years boys, a fifth year boy and Ginny. Catching her eye he winked at her and watched in delight as she blushed and looked away. "Alright let's get this started" he called, gathering everyone's attention. "I want to see you all fly up and down the length of the pitch and then let's see who can get 5 shots in" he said pointing to the hoops. All four of them, including Ginny, got on their brooms and circled the pitch. He watched as Ginny's hair flew behind her, catching the glow of the afternoon sunlight, looking like fire. She was impressive on a broom there was no denying it.
"She's good" James said from next to him as the rest of the team came to stand next to him. They watched as the three boys took their scoring shots – the fourth years scoring 4 and 3 respectively and the fifth year only scoring 2. "C'mon Ginny!" yelled a females voice from the crowd and Sirius and James turned round to see Rebecca, one of Ginny's dorm mates waving up at her.
Ginny glanced down at the crowd and waved back at Rebecca. Concentrate. You can do this, she told herself. Grabbing the quaffle she flew towards the keeper who was in front of the middle goal. Feinting to the right and left she quickly looped back around and scored her first goal. One down she thought grinning to herself. The other four quickly followed in succession. Feeling elated she flew to the ground and was quickly surrounded by the quidditch team and her dorm mates.
"That was amazing" Sirius said as he stepped forward to put a hand on her back. "Where did you learn to fly?" he asked curiously.
"When I was six years old, I used to sneak out of our hose and steal my brothers brooms for the garden shed and fly by myself" she explained grinning up at him. She really loved being in the air, there was something relaxing about being up there, feeling the breeze brush past you as you soared high above the ground.
"Alright, Ginny is our new chaser. She was the only one to get score 5 winning shots" Sirius yelled to the crowd. A few cheers could be heard and Ginny grinned again.
"Welcome to the team" two voices said from behind her and Ginny turned from Sirius to see who had spoken to her. Delighted she saw Fabian and Gideon standing behind her. "We're the beaters" Gideon told her.
They were interrupted by a small red headed boy, a first year Ginny thought by his height, running up to them. "Gideon! Fabian!" he cried out. The two boys grinned and each threw an arm around his shoulders. "Ginny this is our nephew Bill" they told her as the small boy offered a shy smile at her. "You were really good up there" Bill said to her. Frozen Ginny could only stare at Bill, horror and elation on her face at the same time. Bill was at Hogwarts! Why had she not thought of this earlier?
"Ginny?" Fabian said to her as she continued to stare at Bill in silence. Waving a hand in front of her face Fabian tried to get Ginny's attention.
"I'm sorry" she said trying to snap herself out of her thoughts. "It's lovely to meet you Bill, you'll have to excuse me" she said turning quickly and stumbling on her own feet. Catching herself before she fell, she watched the ground as she took a few hurried steps away from Bill and the twins. She couldn't deal with that now, not here in front of all these people. She ran into a hard chest and again felt herself stumbling, two strong arms reached out to steady her.
"Hey now, let's hope you're a bit more sturdy in out first match" a male voice said jokingly to her. Looking up she saw Sirius's face, his eyes lit up in merriment as he looked down at her. She gripped his arms tightly for a moment before taking a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts and emotions under control.
Confused by her behaviour, Sirius studied her face intently. She was stressed that much was obvious. "What's wrong?" he asked her gently, not letting go of her.
James, Remus and Peter arriving stopped her from saying anything. "Ginny that was great flying" Remus said to her and James and Peter voiced their agreement.
"Ravenclaw don't stand a chance next month" James told them grinning as he looked at Sirius. But Sirius had not taken his eyes of Ginny. Looking curiously between the two, James noticed that Sirius was holding Ginny by the arms. "Is everything okay?" he asked both of them.
Ginny took a step back and avoided looking at Sirius. "Fine, just a bit clumsy, tripping over my own feet" she said feeling a bit more under control.
"Ginny, what was –" Sirius began but was interrupted by Rebecca, Marlene and Alice running up and joining the group.
"Ginny, you were awesome" the girls cried as they hugged her and smiled. Sensing an opportunity to escape Ginny turned to Marlene. "Do you want to show me where the locker rooms are?" she asked, already knowing where they were but wanting to get away. The four girls walked off and Ginny turned to look over her shoulder giving the boys a small wave.
James again turned to look at Sirius to ask him what that was all about but he was still looking past them at Ginny. Later, he thought to himself.
It was later that night that Ginny found herself alone in the common room. She sat on one of the lounges under the window and looked outside at the darkened grounds. She could see clearly see the Forbidden Forest from where she sat. A million thoughts running through her head, she was jumbled with memories of the future and this time. This is going to be harder than she thought. She had met with Dumbledore that afternoon after the quidditch trials. Professor McGonagall had approached her at dinner and informed that Dumbledore had wished to see her in his office after dinner. They had discussed the Horcruxes, she had told him everything that she knew of them and he had shown her the letter that Harry had written for him, the one she had given him at Potter Manor.
"I believe we are looking for five horcruxes, in addition to Voldermort himself" Dumbledore had told her. "As Mr. Potter is not yet born and Voldermort does not have this Nagini yet" he continued.
"What one are we going after first?" Ginny asked him curiously.
"It is very important that these Horcruxes remain secret. The fewer people who know about them the better. I have only told one other of their existence" he said looking at her.
Nodding she agreed.
"I have already found the location of the Gaunt house. There is a strong magical energy there. I am sure that the ring is there. I will be leaving tonight to retrieve it"
"I want to come with you" she told him, leaving forward.
"No Miss Weasley. I believe that you should stay here. Until I have seen for myself the enchantments and protections surrounding it. I believe there will be very strong dark magic there".
"But – " she began ready to argue her case.
"No. Next time perhaps but until I know exactly what we are dealing with it is far safer for you to be here at Hogwarts" he told her. "Now I must be heading off shortly, so I suggest you head back to your common room. I believe you have double potions tomorrow morning with the Slytherins?" he asked her already knowing the answer.
"Yes sir" she said standing as he did.
"I believe you will enjoy the class, I see something in you Miss Weasley, some strong magic, whilst the knowledge that you carry of the future will defiantly help us it will not win this war. We will still need those who can fight. Enjoy your class tomorrow morning, try to get along with your lab partner, you will go far with them" he said cryptically.
Confused she smiled at him and turned to leave the office. One thing bothered her. "Sir who is the one person you have told about the Horcruxes?" she asked curiously.
"Uh that would be Professor Shackbolt" he told her. "He is a great Auror" he told her.
"You don't say" Ginny muttered to herself as she left his office.
Footsteps behind her drew Ginny out of her thoughts and she turned to look over her shoulder into the empty common room. Confused her saw no one but out of the corner of her eye she saw the portrait hole close.
"Hello?" she said softly knowing that someone was there.
Feeling as though somebody was watching her she quickly grabbed her wand and held it in front of her. "Show yourself" she called out.
The space in front of her shimmered and out of nowhere appeared Sirius and James's faces. "Boo" they yelled in unison causing her to shriek and jump back, falling into the lounge next to the window that she had previously been sitting on.
The boys laughed as they watched her eye them in shock. "Don't do that" she hissed at them.
Continuing to laugh, she watched them as the rest of their bodies appeared. "The invisibility cloak" she muttered to herself, gaining their attention.
"Have you seen one of these before?" James asked surprised. His father had given him this one in his fourth year. It had been in the Potter family for generations and had been passed down from father to son.
Ginny knew it was better to tell the truth as much as she could, to avoid being caught out in a lie later on. "Yes a friend of mine had one. His father had given it to him" she told them.
"Really?" James asked interested. "Was it a real one like this or an imitation. Dad said there are only 3 or 4 real ones in existence. What is your friends last name?"
"Oh, he is a half blood, you won't know the surname. He was killed in the fight that my family died in" she said, hoping that would bring an end to the conversation.
James and Sirius exchanged a look, always curious they wanted to know more about what happened to her when her family was killed.
"How many people died with your family?" Sirius asked her quietly. Ginny was an enigma to him. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to know about her. That made him slightly uncomfortable. Sirius Black did not chase girls, they came to him.
"A lot. Too many to count" she though an image of her parents bodies lying near Remus and Tonks flittered through her mind. "I'd rather not talk about it to be honest" she told them.
Frowning slightly Sirius decided not to push it. "You coming up to bed?" he asked her, it was getting late.
"Is that an invitation Sirius Black?" she asked smirking at him.
James snickered and Sirius smirked back at her. "For you Ginny always"
"As tempting as that sounds, I don't fancy being another notch on your bedpost" she said cheekily causing James to burst out laughing.
"Good night Ginny" James told her as he began walking up the stairs.
"Goodnight" she called back.
Walking up the stairs James paused and turned around when he realised that Sirius was not behind him. Turning to look back in the common room he watched with interest as Sirius had stepped closer to Ginny.
"Are you sure your okay? Sirius asked her quietly. "You seemed a bit funny out at the quidditch pitch today after the trials" he said.
"Perceptive aren't you" she told him quietly looking up at his face from her seat.
"You can trust me you know" he told her quietly, acutely aware that James was at the top of the stairs. Her brown eyes reflected the candle light in the dark common room. For a second he was mesmerised. He felt he could look right into her and see the secrets she held close to her heart.
She let herself watch him, knowing that he was trying to read her. It would be so easy to tell him everything, to have somebody other than Dumbledore to share this burden with. But what was she to say? Oh Sirius, you spent 13 years in Azkaban for the murder of Lily and James that Peter committed. Yeah, that would be a great conversation. No, she said to herself.
He watched her eyes flicker and something dark passed through her thoughts.
"I do trust you Sirius" she told him quietly.
Before he could comprehend what he was doing he reached forward and gently brushed his hand across her cheek, pushing one of her curls back behind her ear. You don't trust me enough, not yet he thought as he murmured a "Goodnight" and walked up the stairs meeting James on the landing. The two boys walked towards their dorm and James glanced a look at Sirius. Seeing the frown on his friends' face he chose not to say anything.
Ginny let out the breath she had been holding. Her skin tingled from where Sirius had brushed her cheek. Turning back to look out of the window she leaned forward and touched her forehead to the cool glass, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Welcome to Potions for your sixth year" Professor Slughorn announced to the Gryffindor and Slytherin students in the class. "I have taken the liberty of picking your lab partner for the year based on your OWL results from last year" he told them. Many of the students groaned, knowing that the two houses will be mixing.
"Great" Alice said from next to her. "I'm going to be stuck with Narcissa Black or somebody worse, I bet you" she complained to Ginny.
Interested Ginny turned to Alice. "Which one is Narcissa?" she asked curiously. Alice pointed to a blonde haired girl two rows in front of them.
"Miss Delacour" Professor Slughorn called from the front of the class.
"Yes?" she asked cautiously.
"Dumbledore has informed me that you are very good at potions. I have put you with one of my top students from Slytherin. Regulus Black" he told her. "Everyone else your pairs are as follows" and he read through the class list.
Ginny gathered her things, said a goodbye to Alice and sat down in the now empty space next to Regulus at the front of the class. "We meet again" Regulus said to her as she sat down next to him.
Turning to face him she offered him a small smile. "Looks like we have all year together"
"Indeed. I bet my brother will love that" he said smirking.
"Look Sirius is a friend of mine. I won't be caught in the middle of you two" she told him coolly.
"Relax Ginny, my brother and I don't get along. That is not going to change just because you are around now"
About to respond to him, Professor Slughorn interrupted her. "Now as a treat we have a pop quiz for you just to test your knowledge" he told them. Two hours later the class had finished and Ginny packed up her things, looking forward to lunch.
"Ginny wait" Regulus told her as she started to leave.
She turned to look back at him and waited whilst he hurriedly packed his things up.
"Alice I'll meet you at lunch" she called to her friend who was waiting at the door for her. Alice raised an eyebrow at Ginny after seeing that she was waiting for Regulus and then headed off.
Walking in silence out of the class Ginny and Regulus slowly headed to the Great Hall for lunch. "I heard that your family were killed" he said to her.
She looked at him surprised, she was not expecting to say that. "Yeah they were, almost two months ago" she said, hardily daring to believe that it had been that long already.
"And you survived?" he asked curiously watching her face for a reaction.
She nodded again but didn't offer any more information. Her mind was racing though. She didn't know much about Regulus in the future. She knew that he had become a Death Eater whilst he was still at Hogwarts, that he had somehow discovered the location of the locket horcrux and had turned against Voldermort and destroyed it with the help of Kreacher, his house elf. Yet it was the complexity of his relationship with Sirius that she wanted to know more about.
"Why don't you and Sirius get along? Is it because he is in Gryffindor?" she asked him.
Sighing Regulus ran a hand through his hair. "It's complicated. Sirius doesn't believe in the right things" he told her again carefully watching her face for a reaction.
"And what are the right things?" she asked him stopping as they reached the entrance to the Great Hall.
Knowing that he had said too much, he shook his head and simply opened the door to the hall gesturing for her to go in ahead of him.
"Never mind" he muttered as they walked in. About to head off over to the Slytherin table he turned to glance at the Gryffindor table. He caught Sirius's eyes and smirked at him, chuckling to himself when he saw his brothers' eyes narrow. "I'll see you in Charms tomorrow" he said as he briefly touched her arm before heading over to the Slytherin table.
Alice smiled when she saw her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, talking to the Marauders. Annoying and arrogant at times the Marauders were loyal Gryffindors, and loyalty was something that Alice treasured. Walking up to meet them she wrapped her arms around his waist and he looked down smiling at her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Boys" she said nodding at the Marauders.
"How was potions?" he asked her.
Groaning she screwed her face up. "Slughorn decided to pair us off with the Slytherins, both Ginny and I got suck with a Black" she told him.
"What?" Sirius asked her.
"I got partnered with Narcissa and Ginny got partnered with Regulus" she explained to them.
She watched as Sirius's face hardened and James and Remus exchanged a concerned look. "Great" Sirius muttered.
"Can we go and eat now? I'm starving" Peter said oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place. "Great idea Wormtail" James said leading them into the Great Hall. Saying goodbye to Frank they took a seat at the Gryffindor table.
Sirius clenched his fists at the table. Where was Ginny? He had seen most of the sixth year Gryffindors come in and she still wasn't here. The door to the Great Hall opened and in came Regulus followed by Ginny.
Remus who was sitting next to Sirius saw this and watched Ginny to make sure she was okay. Though not as much as Sirius, he to was concerned when he heard that Ginny had been partnered with Regulus. He watched them separate and cringed when Regulus put his hand on Ginny's arm and smirked at Sirius. He knew it was to just annoy them.
Oblivious to this Ginny grinned as she approached them. "Hi" she said happy to see them.
"How was potions?" Sirius asked her getting straight to the point.
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. How could he possible know already that she had been partnered with Regulus? She looked at the others and focused in on Alice sitting next to Peter. Sorry, she mouthed at her. "Professor Slughorn assigned our lab partners Sirius, I had no say in it" she retorted.
Knowing that she was right didn't help, it just made him more agitated. "Whatever" he spat at her before storming out of the Great Hall without eating lunch.
Remus smiled sympathetically at her. "It's hard for him" he explained to her not wanting to go into more detail with all the people around. Nodding Ginny didn't respond she simple grabbed a sandwich from in front of her and took a bite, glancing at the entrance to the Great Hall.
She had study hall for her last period of the day and had intended to do some homework but she could not concentrate. Dumbledore had left almost 24 hours ago to retrieve the ring from the gaunt house and had not returned yet. Worry began to seep into her thoughts. Had something happened? Kingsley she suddenly thought. She threw her books and parchment in her bag and flew out of the common room down the halls and into the Defence Against the Dark Arts room. Not even bothering to knock, she pulled open the door and walked into the room. She stopped short when she saw it was full of seventh year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students. She was not deterred though. Her eyes quickly found Sirius and Remus sitting at a desk in the middle of the classroom with Remus and Peter in front of them. She nodded at them.
"Miss Delacour?" Kingsley called from the front of the room.
She quickly walked down the classroom forcing herself not to look at the Marauders again. "I'm sorry for interrupting Professor, but I need to speak with you immediately" she told him urgently.
"Come into my office" he said pointing to the door behind him. Ginny nodded and entered the room closing the door behind her.
"The rest of you please read pages 30 – 35 in your text books. Keep the talking down" he told them before following Ginny into his office.
"Professor, have you heard from Dumbledore since he left yesterday?" she asked immediately.
"Dumbledore has returned. He is in the hospital wing I believe" Kingsley told her. "We should not speak of this here" he said motioning to the class outside the room.
"Is he okay? Did he recover the ring?" she asked quietly ignoring what he had said.
"You need to have this discussion with Dumbledore, I am sure he will send for you when he is back in his office"
"Please Professor" she begged.
Sighing he nodded to her. "It has been recovered. I really must get back to the class" he told her as he shepherded her out of his office and back into the classroom.
"But Professor –" she said quietly not wanting to draw too much attention to them.
"That will be all Miss Delacour" Kingsley said sharply to her.
Frustrated she nodded at him and again tried to ignore the Marauders as she left the classroom. Sirius however had other ideas, he reached out to brush her arm as she walked past a questioning look on his face, in fact all four of them were looking at her with that look on their faces.
Later, she mouthed at him, knowing that she would have to think of something to tell him.
Ginny raced back to the common room and waited to hear word from Dumbledore. An hour or so laster the Marauders entered the common room. Remus was the first to notice her and he nudged Sirius and James. They immediately headed over to where she was sitting. Peter simply looked at Ginny and gave her a small wave before heading upstairs.
"Hi Ginny" Remus said as he sat next to her. Sirius and James sat on the chairs opposite and dropped their bags on the floor.
"What was that about with Professor Kingsley?" James said getting straight to the point.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable under their gazes she gave them the lines that she had rehearsed.
"I wanted to talk to him about some extra credit work. I am going to be having a private lesson with him once a week on defensive spells" she told them. And it wasn't entirely a lie. She was having lessons once a week, just not with Kingsley but rather with Dumbledore. Though Kingsley was going to be helping her with defensive magic.
"Why?" James asked her.
"Because the next time I get attacked by Death Eaters I want to be able to kill them" she told them her voice cold.
The three boys exchanged looks. "Ginny, I uh don't think there is much chance of you getting attacked again" Remus told her gently as he patted her knee.
She gave a bitter laugh and said, "There is a war coming. You can deny it all you want but Voldermort is out there and he is gaining strength every day".
"You say his name?" Sirius asked her quietly. Nobody called him Voldermort, everyone used he who must not be named.
"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself" she told them.
The portrait hole opened and in came Dumbledore himself with one hand bandaged. Everyone in the room quietened down and looked at him. "Good afternoon Gryffindors" he said pleasantly as if it was everyday that he appeared in the common room.
"Miss Delacour are you free for a moment?" he asked joyfully looking at Ginny in the corner with the three boys.
"Yes Professor" she said immediately jumping up and following him out of the portrait hole.
Remus looked at Sirius and James mystified. "Ever get the feeling that there is more to Ginny than meets the eye?" he asked them.
"All the time" Sirius and James chorused.
Once settled in Dumbledore's office he opened his top drawer and pulled out the ring placing it on his desk. Sliding it forward he leaned back and looked at Ginny.
"It is quite safe now, I have removed the horcrux" he told her.
"Is that how you hurt your hand?" she asked him as she picked up the ring.
Nodding he smiled at her. "Nothing that won't heal in time"
She held the ring closer to her face to get a better view. Putting it back on the desk she grinned at Dumbledore.
"One down, four to go" she said happily.
**Author's note - Really hope you are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Please send review with your thoughts. Thanks!**
