Chapter 7
The rest of the summer passed smoothly. I worked my way through material in most subjects up to what the books considered to be fifth year material. At this rate I would be mastering post-NEWT level magic in no time, though ironically, I wouldn't have as much time to put toward my studies at school. Even in potions I had, going back to the beginning, made my way straight to fourth year work. Snape would still be his usual charming self but he wouldn't be able to make me feel stupid this year, and thanks to the anti-tampering charms I had placed on my cauldron, Malfoy wouldn't be able to either.
Now though I'm able to deal with an entirely different entity, fun. Spending an entire summer working wasn't new to me, though working on things I wanted to do was. Still when Ron wrote me and told me about the World Quidditch Cup, I was thrilled at the idea to say the least. Sending Hedwig with my enthusiastic yes, I realized that I had barely thought of Quidditch or even flying in the time since I last left Hogwarts. Usually a great deal of my time at Durskaban was spent thinking about flying, a lone respite from their terrible treatment.
"You are leaving already Harry?" Dobby asked, suddenly at my side
For all that I had changed, to see the elf, wearing the custom robes I'd had made, and hear him speaking proper English seemed an even greater change.
"Yes, I'll be going with the Weasleys to see the Quidditch World Cup" I replied "You know what you're to do while I'm gone?"
"I'll be finishing up work in the Chamber of Secrets and begin sorting through Slytherin and Malfoy's things" Dobby replied
"Correct" I said happily "I doubt that I'll need to call on you but be available just in case"
With that Dobby departed and I made my way to the Weasley residence via the knight bus. I didn't want to tell anyone, especially Hermione about Dobby yet, so the knight bus made for a plausible means of getting over there. The bus was as bizarre and uncomfortable as the first time I used it, but at least it was relatively fast. The Burrow was far enough into the country that the bus only let me off a ways from it and I got a fair walk in on my way. As I walked the rest of the way I contemplated just what I was going to tell everyone. It would have been my old instinct to tell Ron and Hermione about everything, but so much had changed in the last couple months.
With some reluctance, I contemplated the possibility of using legilimency. I had gotten rather good at it over the summer, being able to use my idiot relatives as test subjects without their knowing. I could read surface thoughts with ease, though getting into the mind of a skilled occlumens would still be beyond me. I normally wouldn't think to invade the privacy of those a cared about in such a way but, with what I had learned about Dumbledore, I couldn't be careless in the trust I placed in people, even those I counted as friends. I would take more time to contemplate whether or not I would truly cross this line however.
Arriving at the familiar, unusual structure of the Burrow and knocking on the door, I was immediately greeted by the twins.
"My my George" Presumably Fred said upon seeing me "What have we here?"
"I'm Fred" said the other "It looks like a young wizard we know, but we can't quite be sure"
"Yes that's quite right brother I'm George. You can tell because I'm the better looking one" Said possibly George "It looks like it could be Harry-kins but he's grown about a foot"
"Our dear sister's eyes might well fall out of her head when she sees this" said possibly Fred
Knowing that they were talking about Ginny, but wanting to screw with them I said "So Percy finally got that sex change?"
Possibly Fred's spit take was every bit as funny as I had hoped and the slack jawed look on both their faces gave me a chance to speak.
"Are you two going to stand there flirting or invite me in?" I laughed
"My my George" possibly Fred said "It seems more has changed in young Harry than meets the eye"
"Whole new bloke" I said in agreement and walked through the door "How has the summer been?"
"All good except for Percy" Possibly George replied
"Ever since he started working for the Ministry" said Possibly Fred
"He's barely spoken to anyone all summer except to criticize Dad's ideas about the Ministry" said George
"It's driving Mum batty" said Fred
Their back and forth was as seamless as ever. Given all that I had researched this summer, I still had no idea how they seemed to almost read each other's minds at times. Percy had always been a prat but I had never heard the twins speak so seriously about it, or anything really.
Before I could ask the twins anything else Ron caught sight of me and ran over "Harry, hey mate"
"Hey Ron" I said with a smile. Despite my concerns about everyone close to me, it was still good to see my oldest friend.
"How was your summer?" he asked
"It was okay" I said not wanting to reveal anything to anyone just yet "Kinda boring"
"Ah well, you wanna play chess before we go?" he asked
'It's either chess or Quiddich' I thought with amusement "Sure"
As we left to head upstairs, I accidentally bumped into a different redhead. Standing in front of me was Ginny Weasley. I apparently wasn't the only one who had grown and as I took in the image of her, I realized that she had gotten kinda cute.
"Hello Harry. You sure grew this summer" she said calmly and I was momentarily taken aback that she had spoken to me at all. She bit her lower lip and looked me over, her already brown eyes darkening slightly.
Before I could say anything I was beset by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny reluctantly left to go upstairs.
"Harry" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, engulfing me in a hug "I see those muggles finally started feeding you"
"Hello Harry" Mr Weasley said, far more reserved than his wife. I shook his hand and enjoyed the warm welcome they all gave me. Even though I had made a couple genuine friends in Dobby and Ragnok this summer, and had been spared the Dursleys for the most part, it was still special coming to the Burrow. It was the first place aside from Hogwarts where I had truly felt as though I was wanted. With an internal grimace, I hoped once again that none of it was a lie. Once the Weasleys finished welcoming me and told me that we would be leaving in an hour or so, I left with Ron to the living room.
"Just a second mate" I said looking up the stairs "I uh need to use the loo"
He nodded and I ascended the staircase. I had contemplated many things over the summer, many to do with Voldemort, but one of the ones that had weighed on me most was just what a moron I had been the last year. I better than anyone knew what it was like to be in the bastard's cross-hairs and yet I had barely even spoken to the girl whom he had possessed since I saved her. Walking up to her door, I heard her make an odd sound just as I knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" She said sounding frustrated
"Ginny, it's Harry, can we talk?" I asked
"Just a second" She replied, taking a moment before opening her door. She looked flushed and her fiery hair was slightly dishevelled
"What is it?" she asked
"I uh" I paused for a moment as words failed me
Realizing my discomfort, Ginny looked around for a second before saying "Come in"
Entering her room with slight hesitation, I saw that it didn't appear as I had figured a girl's bedroom would look like. The colour pattern was rather subdued, and the furniture simple. What little there was on the walls were a couple posters for bands that I had never heard of, though these looked rather old and worn. Sitting next to her on her bed, I contemplated what I wanted to say.
"I owe you an apology" I said simply, eliciting a look of surprise from the younger girl.
"What?" She asked in genuine surprise
"I should have asked you a year ago how you were doing after everything that happened with the chamber and" I said pausing for second "It didn't even occur to me"
"Harry you saved my life" Ginny replied, still surprised by what I had to say "You don't really owe me anything after that. I owe you"
"I disagree" I said "I know Tom better than most and I know better than anyone what it's like to be targeted by him so young. I should have asked you this a year ago but, how are you doing?"
Ginny seemed reluctant to reply, and I recognized that reluctance from my own to talk about the Dursleys. After a time she did reply.
"It's gotten at once easier and more difficult" She said cryptically "I want to talk to you about this but..."
"I know what it's like not to want to talk about bad things, but know that none of it was your fault" I said firmly
"If only it were that simple" She said, smiling without humour or happiness "And it is my fault"
"Ginny older people than you have been fooled by that bastard" I said with conviction "You were only eleven and yet you still were able to withstand him for months, you are a hero more than anything."
"Harry" she tried to say in protest, but I continued
"Voldemort's one goal in life is to kill everything that stands in his way" I spat "He would have killed everyone he set the basilisk after if he had only his own influence to contend with but he didn't. You alone are all that could have stopped him from killing that year. You are as much a hero as I am, possibly more because..."
Before I could finish, she flew into my arms, wrapping me in hug and resting her head on my shoulder.
"Thank you" She whispered
Holding her for a moment, and trying to ignore the feel of her nubile body against me I continued "What I truly wanted to say is that even though I may not know what it's like to be possessed by him, I know what he is like. If you want to talk about anything to do with that, or anything else really, I'm here."
"I want to talk to you about this Harry" She said looking me in eye again "But I can't yet, not here. I'll seek you out at Hogwarts but please, tell no one, not even Ron or Hermione about it."
"You have my word" I said standing
"Thank you Harry" She said "I didn't expect you to come to me like this"
"I'm glad that you started talking to me" I said with a slight grin
"You aren't the only one that has changed" She said with a shrug "What did happen to your glasses anyway"
"Muggle technology called contact lenses" I said, delivering the same lie I had given the rest of her family just now
"I like it" She said biting her lower lip again "Shows off those lovely eyes of yours"
I blushed and thanked her for the complement dumbly before leaving the room. Rejoining Ron, he appeared not to think it odd that I had spent the last 15 minutes in the 'loo.' Given his simple nature I doubted that he could be really be as deceitful as Dumbledore but I still had to be careful. Getting my ass kicked at chess, but putting up more of a fight than I had before, the game finished just as Hermione arrived.
"Harry" She said wrapping me in hug. I couldn't help but realize and appreciate that she had filled out a fair bit as well.
"Can't breathe" I jokingly gasped. She let go and hit me playfully on shoulder when she realized I was joking.
"Where are your glasses? You really grew. How was your summer? Have you started reading the books for the year?" she rushed out the questions in a single breathe and I felt the need to cut her off before she passed out
"Breathe Hermione" I said grinning "Contacts, yes I did, kinda boring, and yes I have actually"
"Really" she said in surprise "That's proactive of you and when did you get contacts?"
"There was enough money in my vault to cover it and my old glasses weren't really working" That last bit at least was true "And I decided to get on top of my studies this year"
"Why?" Ron asked seemingly affronted by the idea
"I've a raging psychopath after my blood, learning more can't hurt" I replied with a shrug
"Seems like a waste of time to me" Ron said, seeming to have entirely not heard me
"It is not" Hermione said hotly
Taking that as my queue to back away slowly and leave them to their inevitable argument, I approached Mr Weasley.
"Are we leaving soon?" I asked
"Actually we should about now" He replied "Molly, could you gather everyone?"
"Yes dear" she said before calling Ginny and the twins to the kitchen.
We left via portkey, which I found immediately to be infinitely less pleasant than travelling with Dobby and arrived in the middle of a bunch of tents. We ignored them for the time being and travelled over to stadium. As we walked I was struck by just how many people were here. Given the minor school games that I had seen prior, I hadn't really thought of just how much more grand this event would be. There were obviously wizards and witches of multiple different backgrounds here and I wondered just how big a crowd would end up here when everyone arrived.
"When does the game start?" I asked
"Should be in about half an hour" Mr Weasley replied
As we were about to take our seats we ran into the Malfoys who were walking with Minister Fudge and other man who looked to be equally important. Draco came over speak to us.
"Hello Potter, Weasleys" he said sneering "How sad that just any riffraff can get to see this"
He said it quietly enough that only Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins and I heard but I doubt Lucius or Fudge for that matter would have thought anything of it had he been louder.
"My father is very close to the minister so we'll be seeing the game from the greatest seats here" he pressed on trying to rattle us. "That's the Bulgarian Minister with them there. The man doesn't even speak English but at least he's a pureblood."
I thought to myself just how sad it was that the idiot was just so desperate to show up people that he supposedly thought beneath him. Looking over I noticed that Minister Fudge looked rather idiotic and was trying to use sign language to communicate with his less-than impressed looking Bulgarian counterpart. Lucius looking every bit the preening peacock he usually did and was standing next to a rather attractive older woman I figured must be his wife.
'I guess if one lacks a personally, money is a passable substitute in some circles' I thought to myself
Cutting off Ron's attempt to tell off the blond ponce I spoke quietly "I must say I'm happy for your father that he is so open with his sexuality."
"What?" Draco asked in confusion and disgust, causing the twin's ears to perk up
"Well you're always talking about how close he is with Minster Fudge and now he's being invited out to very important events by him. Not to mention the clothes and the hair." I spoke softly and tried my best to keep a straight face as Malfoy's own slowly turned beet red "I do wonder though, does your mother know?"
"MY FATHER'S NOT GAY" Malfoy screamed like an enraged castrato before turning bone white in horror at what he's just done
Everyone within earshot had turned to look at him. While Mrs. Weasley looked disapproving, Mr Weasley's face bore no expression at all though I suspected he was trying to hold back amusement as he watched the elder Malfoy's displeasure. The man himself looked furiously at his son and I before coming over and dragging him away. Mrs Malfoy just looked irritated while Minister Fudge looked embarrassed. Given the amusement on his face, the Bulgarian minister's inability to speak English appeared to have been exaggerated just a touch. Finally the younger Weasleys and I burst out laughing at the spectacle. The twins slapped me on the back and Ron tried through his laughter to talk about just how scared the younger Malfoy had looked. Ginny seemed to take even more pleasure in Lucius' discomfort than Draco's. Even Hermione couldn't keep a slight grin off her face though it didn't stop her from berating me slightly.
"Honestly Harry you shouldn't provoke him" she said without conviction
"I know but if the douche is going to antagonize us for no reason I may as well get him to make a fool of himself" I replied "It's not hard"
The elder Weasleys seemed not to know just what had truly just happened and if they had any idea, they didn't voice an opinion. We took our seats and it wasn't long before the game was under way. The Irish display was impressive and got me truly excited for the game but it was the Bulgarian display that was most interesting. I felt an odd pressure in my forehead and for a moment wondered if my scar was acting up, but the arousal that followed was unlike anything it had caused and I realized it was my occlumency shields. A group of impossibly beautiful women flew out on brooms to accompany the Bulgarian's opening display. Focusing my occlumency shields I managed to keep any further influence out but the other men around me weren't so strong. Every man in the stadium looked utterly enamoured with the women, as if no other thought could enter their minds. Ron needed to be restrained by Hermione and Mrs. Weasley as he tried to go out to meet them.
Turning to Ginny, who sat to my right, I asked "What are they"
"Veela" she replied with a scowl "Beautiful humanoid women whose 'allure' can drive just about any man mad with desire. I'm honestly surprised you aren't just as slack-jawed and stupid as these geniuses"
She gestured to the twins, seated on the other side of me, who looked like just about every other man here "Don't tell me you play for the other team?"
The tone of her question was playful but I could sense that she wanted an answer. Deciding to play myself I replied "Not at all but how can any of them compare to the divine beauty of the girl next to me?"
The famous Weasley blush overtook her and I read her lips rather than heard her mutter for me to shut up. With that the display ended and the men returned to normal. The game started in earnest and I got to see for the first time just how amateurish the school games were. Though I was proud of my own skills I paled next to players I watched before me. The match was exhilarating with each player obviously at the top of their game. For the next few hours they went back and forth trading goals and though Bulgaria was good, they couldn't quite match the Irish. Seeing no way for recovery, Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker ended the match by capturing the snitch. Though the better seeker, he wasn't enough to save his team and in the end the Irish won 170-160.
"That was amazing" Ron exclaimed as we were leaving "Did you see the way Krum caught the snitch? He's incredible."
His raving continued the entire way back to the tent, but we were all still excited so we really didn't think anything of it. The rest of Weasley's didn't mind Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I going back on our own. The sight that greeted us however wasn't what we were expecting. The entire area was in Chaos and fires seemed to have broken out everywhere. Hearing nearby screams I took off in the direction of them, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny at my back.
"Morsmordre" I heard as I arrived
I was greeted by the sight of three men in what I recognized from old pictures to be Death Eater robes. At their feet were four terrified muggles but the most terrible sight was the sight in the sky above them. The old newspapers I had looked over this summer had been a source of some information on the group and though Wizarding journalism was usually even worse than muggle journalism, they hadn't gotten this wrong. The Dark Mark in the sky was unmistakable in Voldemort's usual lack of subtlety. They three hadn't yet spotted us but as I moved to tell my friends to run so I could take the bastards on, a tree that had caught fire fell behind us. On all sides but our path to the Death Eaters now we were surrounded by fire.
"Shit" Ron spat realizing fully our predicament
Weighing our limited options I looked around. If we attempted to put out the fires and make our escape, it could tip off the death eaters to our location. I was confident that I could hold them off for a time but had no way of knowing who among us could get hurt, to say nothing of the threatened muggles. Finally, with a scowl I made my decision.
"On my mark I want you to run to the muggles and get them to run around the perimeter toward ministry officials back there." I whispered firmly "They may not care for muggles but they won't kill them."
"What about you?" Ginny asked beating the other two to the punch
"I'll blanket the area with spells and move in the other direction" I replied "if we're lucky then they'll be distracted long enough for you and the muggles to escape while I lead them on a chase the other way"
"You'll get yourself..."
"We're not allowed..." Ron and Hermione spoke in unison but I cut them off
"We don't have time to argue" I hissed "If we just stand here we could all get killed now do it"
With that I took a breath and steadied myself before moving "Look sharp now, allons-y"
A/N Okay so starting with the next chapter I'l be redefining this story as a Harry/Ginny piece. For those who don't particularly like the paring, all I can say is that I will be changing her character as much as if not more than I have Harry. As for Hermione, worry not, I'm not nearly so cruel as to shackle her to Ron
As always reviews are more than welcome
