A/N: I felt bad about not updating for a while so I tried to type it out as fast as I could. So I have an assignment for you guys: after reading the chapter (and therefore the talk between Harry and Ginny) tell me what you think. If there's something I should have put in, tell me. I'm sure I missed something vital, but it's hard to look at my own work objectively, especially at 12:30 at night. Thank you to those who reviewed, and since chapter 7 is typed already, expect another update soon! Enjoy.
Chapter 7: Conversations
Saturday had arrived. Ginny scrambled to get ready as soon as her eyes were open. There was absolutely no time to spare for lying in bed daydreaming. Besides, there was no need to daydream when all she had to do was walk down the stairs to the common room. She pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, throwing her hair up in a ponytail. It was finally the weekend. She hummed happily as she tied her shoes and checked her reflection in the mirror. Well, she thought, there's no need to look nice. She let her mind dwell on putting on something a little prettier than an old sweatshirt, but was too lazy. She couldn't see Harry caring what she wore anyway.
Ginny practically skipped down the stairs in her glee. Today was the day she was going to know everything! Perhaps not everything, but a great deal more than she knew right now. But where would they discuss it all? The common room was not an option and it was way too cold to go outside for any prolonged length of time… Maybe another classroom? Ginny was so lost in her ponderings that she ran right into Harry at the bottom of the stairs. Usually he was sitting on the sofa when she came down, so the change in routine threw her slightly. He didn't say anything at first, just wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her close. Ginny had never felt more loved. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but she knew it was longer than they ever had before. Harry was acting differently than normal, but Ginny certainly wasn't going to complain.
"Good morning, Gin," he finally mumbled into her hair. Ginny couldn't form the words to answer him back. He didn't seem to notice. Time stretched on and she became more and more aware of his hands on her back, her hands around his neck, his breath on her face. He smelled wonderful.
But eventually he pulled away and Ginny announced she was ready to go to breakfast.
"We're going to be really early," Harry replied. "Most of the school is still asleep."
"I don't care. We—I—can grab something to eat and then…" she trailed off suggestively.
Harry simply smiled and led the way out of the portrait hole, taking her hand in his once she was through.
Ginny didn't know what it was about that morning, but she just could not chew her food fast enough. Harry told her several times to slow down, so she must have been chewing faster than she thought. Harry would have to see her brother Ron eat sometime. He'd put her to shame. Ginny wondered when Harry would get to meet her family, then realized he probably already had, being in the Order and all.
"Have you met my family?" Ginny asked after swallowing a bit.
"Yeah, a while ago actually at my first Order meeting," he said in a soft voice. "And I talk to Ron a lot after the meetings. Him and his fiancée are really nice. I've talked to your parents a couple of times and your twin brothers too. I saw Percy once, but never got to say hi."
"That's good, I guess. It'll spare the more awkward moments of when I actually introduce you to them as..."
"Your boyfriend," he finished for her.
"I suppose that's what I'll have to call you."
"Were you thinking of something else?" Harry asked.
"Calling you my boyfriend seems, I don't know, inadequate or demeaning or something," Ginny told him shyly. "But that's definitely what you're going to be introduced as. I can only imagine what the twins are going to do to me. And you for that matter. Oh I hope my parents don't think you're too old for me. You are in the Order and all, and they probably assume you're already out of school. This is going to take some explaining. Darn it."
"Would it help things if you introduced me as Harry Potter? Take the attention away from the fact that we're dating?"
"No!" Ginny said rather loudly in the almost silent hall. A couple of heads turned towards them. "No," she said more quietly. "That would be more humiliating than introducing you as… I don't know… my one-and-only-soulmate-who-I-never-want-to-be-without-because-I-would-die."
Harry smiled and asked, "And why would it be humiliating to tell them I'm Harry Potter?"
Ginny covered her face with her hands, hating the way this conversation was going.
"You can't laugh," she instructed from under her fingers.
"Is it that bad?"
"Promise."
"Fine. I won't laugh," Harry conceded.
"And I better not hear a word of this ever again."
"Now that I'm not promising. But tell me anyway," he encouraged, pulling her fingers away from her face and pleaded with his eyes.
"You shouldn't be allowed to do that," Ginny muttered and took a deep breath. "When I was little I used to listen… to… the story—your story, I suppose—of how you… defeated You-Know-Who when you were a baby. I practically worshipped you since the time I could understand what any of it meant. My brothers still tease me about it."
"You worshipped me?" Harry asked in a teasing voice, his face stretched with a wide smile.
"You promised you wouldn't laugh!" Ginny complained.
"I'm not laughing, just having fun."
Ginny harrumphed and crossed her arms. "I'm done," she stated.
"Well then, my little worshipper, I suppose it's time we should leave."
"Leave to where?" Ginny asked, her previous embarrassment gone in the light of Harry's confession.
"Ah, but it is a secret. Follow me." And he stood up and lead the way out of the Great Hall, clasping his hand around hers once she caught up with him. He lead her up flights of stairs until they reached the seventh floor. They walked down the corridor and then Harry walked back and forth in front of a wall a couple of times. Ginny jumped slightly when a door appeared and Harry beckoned her inside.
She followed Harry through the door and into a small room with large windows on three sides, facing out onto Hogwarts grounds. There was a white loveseat that looked cozy and inviting and a small, square coffee table in front of it where fresh flowers sat in a vase. The morning sun cast a comforting glow into the room and Harry sat down on the sofa.
"Is this okay?" Harry asked her as she closed the door behind her.
"It's wonderful. I've never seen this place before. What is it?" She sat down beside him.
"One of the many secrets the house elves of the castle have. They call it the Come and Go Room. They say that whatever you want, the room will give you. So voila! Here we are. I don't think that it can bring food though, so we'll have to go downstairs when you get hungry."
"What about you? Are you hungry?"
Harry looked a little uncomfortable at the thought, then seemed to steel himself. "No. I hunted yesterday with Tamah and Roger before I took them to Sirius's."
"You're eyes do look light today. Like gold."
"Do you like them gold?"
"Yes."
There was a pause in the conversation. Harry was looking over Ginny, through the enchanted window. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them to look at her.
"I've decided that I'm going to try to be completely honest. But please, you have to understand that there are some things that… I'm just not at liberty to tell. Things that are others' secrets," he explained.
Ginny nodded. She hoped he wouldn't have to leave out that much.
"The room's completely secure. Feel free to ask whatever."
With that kind of opening, Ginny didn't know which question to ask first. She had so many… The beginning was the best place to start.
"Why did the Stewarts adopt you?"
"You mean why did they raise a human child if they're all vampires?"
"Well… yeah, I guess so." Ginny shrugged.
"Jane was the one who found me when I ran away when I was eight. We… bonded. Before she was turned, she lost several children to miscarriages. And then there I was, this helpless little boy. She told me later that she had thought about taking me with her right then, but didn't know how much I was exaggerating about the Dursleys," he spat the word. "So she gave me back and then watched them for a couple of days. Luckily—in the long run—my uncle was particularly nasty to me that week and she somehow legally adopted me later that week."
"So you could eventually be a vampire?" It was getting easier to say the word.
"No," Harry told her emphatically. "Jane wanted to see me grow old. I was going to be the child she never got to have. When she first brought me to meet everyone, only Tamah wasn't angry with her to some degree. They had been living lives of nomads. Having a human child with them meant they had to settle down. Tamah was most likely the reason they accepted me so quickly. She said I was the best thing to happen to them." Harry looked disbelieving when he said that. "But they bought a house and sent me to school. I learned the most from Adam and Roger. They were forever teaching me everything they could. We always had books in the house and I loved to learn. I had never been able to at the Dursleys and they let me read whatever I wanted. The fantasy books were always my favorite. Ironic, huh?"
"Just a little," Ginny smiled. "So that's how you came to live with the Stewarts. But how did they come to be a family?"
"Do you want the entire history or just how they all met?" Harry asked.
"The entire history, if you don't mind."
"Not at all, it just might take a while."
"I've got the entire day ahead of me," Ginny replied, stretching out and propping her feet up on the table as if to prove her point.
"Okay. Aurora was born sometime in the 1500s in Ireland. She was turned when she was twenty one and lived in Ireland until she went to Poland in 1940. Adam went to America as a slave sometime during the 1850s. He was freed a little more than a decade later and went to New York to try to find work. He and Roger were both turned in New York, Adam when he was thirty four and Roger when he was sixteen. They met through the network of vampires in the city. Meanwhile, Jane was born in France and later married. But she was found by a vampire who wanted to take her as his wife. So he killed her husband and then turned her. She was twenty six. She ran to Britain to escape him not long afterwards. Adam and Roger decided to make a fresh start—"
"You mean by not attacking humans?" Ginny interrupted.
"Exactly," Harry replied. "So they swam to Britain and wandered around for a couple of years, adjusting to the abstinence from blood. They ran into Jane in one of the forests where they liked to hunt animals, and she joined the group they had formed. Jane has always been kind and compassionate, so it was relatively easy for her to commit to the life they were trying to live. Tamah was turned when she was eight and they found her and Aurora in Poland in 1941. They moved around a lot before coming back to live in Britain right before Jane found me."
Ginny didn't say anything once he finished speaking, so Harry said, "Well, it was more like a summarized version of their history, but…" He seemed to be avoiding something. "I'm sure you have more questions."
Ginny mulled over what she had been told for a moment. He was glossing over a lot of it, but she didn't care that much. There were other more important things she wanted to ask him about.
"If nobody wanted to… turn you… why did they?" Ginny questioned hesitantly.
"That's a… complicated question, of which I can only answer a part."
"How does that involve someone's secrets?"
"It… doesn't. Not really. But it's not relevant to this conversation. But one day you'll have to know. One day you will know," he promised.
"And I can't know today?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"There are many things about the war we're fighting that you don't know. That nobody else knows. And we're still trying to figure out what to do about it."
"That made no sense, especially given we're talking about your past," Ginny pointed out.
"I know, just bear with me. They didn't want to turn me. It took six years and some incidents to convince them to turn me. They were going to wait until I was twenty one, but I got them down to eighteen," Harry said proudly.
"But," Ginny said slowly, doing the math in her head. "That would mean that you were just turned when I met you in August!"
"Unforeseen and disastrous events unfolded and we all agreed that I needed to be turned as soon as I turned seventeen."
Ginny was frustrated he wouldn't tell her what had happened to cause his family, who didn't want to turn him in the first place, to doom him to such a life. She wondered why Harry would choose it for himself.
"Wh-what was it like?"
"Being turned?"
"If you don't want to tell—"
"No, I don't mind. Imagine the Cruciatus Curse amplified tenfold and then spanned over the period of forty eight hours."
Ginny was shocked at the comparison, but couldn't not get her mind to wrap about what kind of pain that was.
"How did you not go insane?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think it was an option," he said simply.
Ginny asked about his childhood a lot, and he told her all the places that they had lived. The Stewarts drew a lot of attention if they stayed in one place too long, so Harry changed schools a lot. He got a great education though, from his knowledgeable parents and siblings. Ginny asked more about what his family was like and he told her of Jane's kindness, Adam's intelligence, Roger's creativity, Aurora's independence, and Tamah's vivacity.
"Tamah also has this… ability," he told her. "It could be compared to Seeing, very loosely. It's more intuition than anything, but she can feel things. Sometimes she knows what's going to happen or how something will affect something else. She doesn't see images or hear anything, but just randomly she knows. Sometimes it's just a gut feeling she has about something. It's saved us too many times to count from ending up in bad situations. And on other occasions like when she told me to—" Harry abruptly shut his mouth.
"What did she tell you to do?" Ginny asked curiously.
"After I first met you, she told me I had to go back to see you again, even though I thought I'd kill you."
Ginny was unsettled at that comment then thought it over. "So in a way, we have Tamah to thank?"
"I guess you can look at it that way," Harry replied, seemingly glad she had taken the comment so well.
"I'm still curious—morbidly so—about why you want… wanted… want?" She was confused about tenses.
"Wanted," Harry emphasized.
"Wanted… to kill me."
And Harry explained how she was more tantalizing than anything in the world, and he had traveled over a lot of it. He didn't know why it was that way. She asked him if he'd change the way she smelled if he could.
"I used to think so, back when I first met you. But now I don't think I would, because it's part of who you are. The way you smell is what brought me to you, albeit not in such a good way at first, but I met you. And that was all I needed to fall in love."
oOo
The next morning, Ginny couldn't get out of bed. They had stopped talking only for her to eat dinner, and then they had continued late into the night. Ginny only made it up to her bed because Harry carried her. She did not know how he got up the girls' staircase, but had been too tired to form a coherent question. He had tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead, running his fingers through her hair. Harry loved to play with her hair and he would always admire it when he had the chance. Ginny had not minded at all and she had drifted off to sleep with his cool fingers running lightly through her hair and over her face.
The conversation had jumped from Harry to Ginny and back again. Ginny had told him stories from her childhood and Harry delighted in hearing all of the magical aspects of her life as a child. He had teased her about her hero-worship of him.
Somehow the subject of Michael Corner had come up and Harry confessed a great hatred toward the boy. Ginny laughed and accused him of being jealous. He said he wasn't jealous, he just didn't want someone coveting what was his and his only. Ginny felt warm inside when he said that and assured him that Michael was unimportant. He said he knew that, but he still didn't like him.
Sarah came and tried to get Ginny up so she wouldn't miss breakfast, but she refused to budge. Harry finally came in once everyone else had left the dorm room to check to make sure Ginny was still okay with everything.
"Of course I am," she replied, finally getting out of bed. "I love you, nothing you say is going to change that."
oOo
Days later, Harry sat in the common room next to Ginny, watching her intently as she did her homework. He always loved this part of the evening. He never tired of watching her. Even though it had only been three months or so since he met her, he was pretty sure he had most of her facial expressions down. She had subtle quirks that he could almost always catch. Her eyes crinkled slightly when she was passionate about what she was writing. She bit her lower lip when she was thinking about a problem, which always had Harry staring. And he knew he needed to offer her his help when she started glaring at the paper and tapping her quill. At the moment she was finishing up the last paragraph of their Charms paper. He knew she was pretty pleased with it because her mouth was slightly crooked up on the side. She looked over at him beside her and smiled coyly. Oh how beautiful she looked in the firelight. He made an effort to stay seated in his own seat. She turned back to roll up the parchment. As she was placing it in her bag, Harry heard a tapping at the window.
Looking out it, he saw one of the owls from the school's owlry, the one he had sent with a letter to Tamah and Roger earlier. He went over and opened the window up. The owl landed on his shoulder and Harry saw that the letter was addressed to him. The handwriting told him that it was from Roger.
Harry—
We have been forced out of our home. Emergency plans have been carried out. No one else has been notified. We wait for instruction.
Emergency plans. Harry had forced all of them to learn the back way into Hogwart's Forbidden Forest. If anything ever happened, he had told them, that would be the safest place for them. It had seemed to Harry that the Forest had its secrets and kept them rather well. But he knew that they wouldn't be able to carry out operations from in the woods. Therefore, he had thought up another plan, but hadn't told them about it, just in case they were actually captured by Voldemort. It was impossible for them to protect against his mind intrusions, due to the fact that they had no magic.
Harry went back over to Ginny, lighting the letter and throwing it in the fireplace as he went by. He wondered, after he told her what had happened, if she would force him to bring her along. Maybe he could convince her to stay in the castle. Probably not.
"Who was the letter from?" Ginny asked. Harry surreptitiously cast a privacy charm around them before he answered.
"Roger," he said. "Voldemort or his followers found our house and attacked him and Tamah."
"Oh my gosh, are they okay?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"Yes, they're fine," Harry assured her. "They're in the Forbidden Forest right now. I'm going out as soon as everyone else goes to bed. I need to find out what happened and make sure that Mum and Dad aren't being tracked."
"I want to come."
Harry sighed.
"It would be better if you stayed in the castle. We have classes tomorrow and you need to sleep."
"Tomorrow's Friday. I'll sleep in on Saturday."
"I might take them to headquarters, and I don't want to have to worry about you making it back up to the castle safely."
"Everybody who's at headquarters is asleep and there's really no reason to wake them up in the middle of the night. Plus, if they stayed in the Forest they might be able to ask around and dig up some dirt on Voldemort."
"You just want to go," Harry countered.
"So what if I do? My reasoning is sound."
"They could be in danger in the Forest."
"Everything is in danger in the Forest. They're probably the most dangerous things in it."
Harry paused. "Fine," he conceded. "But I want you to go to bed extra early Friday night."
"You're not my mother," she said as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Those are my conditions. Take them or leave them." Harry knew he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see Tamah and Roger.
"Fine," she grumped. "It's not like I really need to sleep that much," she mumbled. Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her up off of the chair, canceling the charm as he did so.
"I'm pretty sure you won't feel the same way in the morning," he assured her. She glared at him. He kissed her on the cheek and quickly urged her up the stairs, whispering instructions to her before she ascended.
Harry remained downstairs, watching the dying fire as people slowly drifted up to their respective dormitories. He wondered how his actions would be received tomorrow. Most would probably not care that much, even though they would definitely find it very suspicious. Dumbledore was always hard to read, and Harry didn't know whether he would be okay with the idea, but he knew that his actions would open up new suspicions that would probably lead to Dumbledore finally putting the pieces together. He was not looking forward to that at all, but it was necessary that Tamah and Roger remain safe. Tamah would certainly be thrilled with the plan, and Harry had no doubt that—once she proved herself—her constant input would be very helpful. Roger, on the other hand, would probably have some difficulties adjusting. Harry resolved to sneak onto the Quidditch pitch before they left to let him fly some. Hopefully that would help the news set in easier.
It was difficult for him not to worry about the rest. If Voldemort or whoever had been able to break through the enchantments he placed around their apartment—not that they were so very strong—he wondered if it was to come after his family to get to him, or because he saw his family as a threat—barring the fact that he was a part of it. He was concerned that Voldemort might have his vampires tracking them. If that was the case, they were in immediate danger. From Aurora, he had learned that the ones Voldemort had were old and experienced. It would not be that difficult to track them, even across countries, if they had had centuries of practice. Then again, Voldemort was the type whose arrogance occasionally blinded him to real threats. He could be so caught up in the prophecy that Harry was his number one threat and—even though the Stewarts posed more of a threat as a whole to him than Harry alone—they were seen as merely stepping stones to the grand prize.
Finally, the common room cleared and Harry waited until he heard the sound of her heartbeat and her footsteps on the stairs. It was going slightly faster than normal and Harry smiled at the comforting sound.
"Are you ready?" he asked her once she reached the bottom. She immediately took his hand, and although hers was incased in a glove, her warmth encompassed Harry's hand.
"Definitely."
"Well, then. I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting." And with that they headed out of the portrait hole and started the silent trek towards the Forest. Ginny toyed with Harry's hand and he tried to concentrate on approaching sounds. They made it out the front door, only needing to hide once in an abandon classroom while—according to Harry—McGonagall passed.
The breeze was gentle but cold and Harry knew that Ginny was starting to get cold despite her warm clothes when he saw her shivering. His proximity probably wasn't helping her and his heart hurt with the thought. But her hand was holding his as tight as ever and he didn't think she would take too kindly to his suggesting that she let go. Plus, he didn't think he could make his mouth form the words to ask her. Her hand fit much too nicely.
They walked to just inside the trees and Ginny lit her a wand.
"Put it away," Harry whispered to her.
"But I can't see," she said as she extinguished the tip of her wand and placed it back in her pocket.
"But I can," Harry replied. "I'm going to carry you."
"What?" she exclaimed. "I do not need to be carried like some helpless little girl. I can walk on my own thank you very much."
"I can see that, but we need to cover a lot of ground quickly and silently and the best way to accomplish that is if you are on my back."
She looked into the inky black of the forest and finally consented, climbing awkwardly onto his back. Harry felt the warm of her body press into him and held onto her legs tighter.
"Are you ready?" he whispered back at her. She nodded into his neck and he started weaving through trees and branches and bushes that she probably couldn't see. Harry could feel her taking small, unnatural breaths. After a minute though, he heard her start to breathe more deeply. It reminded him of a tracker, trying to catch the scent of his prey.
He knew that he was going too fast but if Ginny noticed, she wasn't commenting on it. Roger and Tamah were deep in the forest and Harry needed to get there soon as it was already a quarter until one. He didn't know how long Roger and Tamah should stay at Hogwarts. It was probably best that they only stay a couple of days, at most. But he couldn't deny the expanse of knowledge that would be open to them if they made friends with the creatures. He was sure that many of them knew of Voldemort, and they all had different perspectives that would be useful to the war. Tamah would most definitely want to stay once she found out all of the information that could be gathered. But it wasn't safe for them in the forest, especially if Dumbledore or Voldemort got wind that they were there. Who knew what kind of trouble Harry would get in to, not to mention the uneasily answered questions it would raise if Dumbledore found out that two of his siblings were currently residing in the Forbidden Forest. And if Voldemort found out, that would not only put his family in danger, but the entirety of Hogwarts as well. Harry didn't know where the loyalties of the creatures in the forest lay, and he wasn't going to give himself the chance to find out. Tamah and Roger would be leaving tomorrow, information or no information.
Suddenly, the breeze blew and Harry caught their scent. They weren't in the location that they were suppose to be. Wary, Harry slowed down and motioned for Ginny to remain silent. He crept the rest of the way through the underbrush silently, his eyes scanning his surroundings for anything suspicious. It could be a trap, and he would have brought Ginny right in to it. He cursed himself for his stupidity. He should not have brought her along. There was no way he would live with himself if something happened to her. Then he heard their voices and he became slightly less worried. They sounded happy enough and didn't seem like they were in any sort of distress. The wind blew again and he caught another scent: Centaurs. They must have been around the planned meeting place. He slowly placed Ginny back on the ground and helped her through the natural covering that the plants provided and into a small space surrounded by three trees that looked to have just been cleared. In the middle, sitting on the ground, were Tamah and Roger. They were drawing in the dirt and talking of grandiose attacks on Voldemort and his followers.
"Who would be scared of giant pink hippos?" Roger was asking as Tamah.
"Dangerous, giant pink hippos. Giant bubbles would fly out of their mouths and could knock someone unconscious on impact. They could be called Stupefying Bubble Blowing Pink Hippopotamuses."
"Harry, do you think Stupefying Bubble Blowing Pink Hippopotamuses would really be more effective than trained Goblins against Voldemort?" Roger asked, turning to face them.
"That I couldn't tell you. Maybe Voldemort has some really bad phobia of pink hippos. So then, perhaps. But on the off chance he doesn't, I'd have to go with the Goblins," Harry replied, tugging Ginny off his back. She climbed down easily.
"Hi Ginny," Tamah greeted. Ginny smiled and said hello back.
"This is Roger," Harry said, walking closer and pulling Ginny by her hand. "You've seen him once before, but I don't think you've actually met."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ginny," Roger said, holding out his hand for her to shake. He looked unsure of the gesture, but Harry didn't see any hesitation in Ginny's movements when she shook it.
"It's nice to meet you, too."
"We're terribly sorry to cause such trouble, interrupting your studies and all," Tamah said, speaking to Ginny.
"No, it's fine. I wasn't working on anything important."
"Well that's good, then, because this is going to take a while. Harry's got something to tell us, doesn't he?"
"Let's all sit down first," Harry said as he conjured two chairs and a loveseat. Harry motioned for Ginny to sit down in the small sofa directly behind them. Tamah and Roger were already seated and looking seriously at the couple.
Tamah raised her eyebrows towards Ginny, silently asking if she should be allowed in the conversation.
"She knows," Harry answered aloud so Ginny would have some idea what was going on.
"How much?" Tamah asked.
"Enough."
Tamah smiled, pleased that Harry had told Ginny. Her expression changed quickly to one of disgust, though, and Harry knew what she was going to say before she said it.
"What has she done?" Tamah asked with the tone that showed she knew something like this was going to happen.
"I'd rather know what happened to you first," Harry answered.
Tamah gave him a look but answered. "Well, the apartment building was attacked by Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?" Harry asked surprised. He thought Voldemort would have sent his vampires. He knew that Death Eaters were no match for even one of the Stewarts.
"We're pretty sure they came upon us by accident," Roger clarified. "We think one of them recognized the wards around the place and decided to kill the wizards in the building. But we heard them coming and gathered up everything of importance and shoved them in those backpacks," he pointed to two bags sitting against a tree trunk, "and then burned…" he trailed off morosely.
"The rest," Tamah finished for him. She shook her head. "He's just upset we burned the books. But they're heavy and we couldn't leave anything," she said like it was obvious. Which it was, to Harry at least. The Death Eaters might have happened upon them by accident, but it was a very close accident and one they could not afford to have come back and bite them later on. Luckily they had saved the necessities. Drawings of Voldemort's hideout, detailed descriptions on all of the people Aurora had gotten information on, newly created spells and wards by Roger, and the list went on. All of these things would be needed for the Order.
"We'll have to let Jane and Adam know so they don't go back to it," Harry said.
"Shouldn't we tell Aurora also?" Tamah asked innocently. If Harry didn't know her better he'd think her to be sincere.
"No."
"Oh? And why not?" Tamah didn't sound concerned about Harry's answer one bit.
"Because, for the moment at least, she's not welcome anywhere near our home."
"Why not?" It was Ginny who had voiced the question and Harry turned slowly towards her, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.
"Why aren't you going to tell Aurora?" Ginny asked again when Harry didn't answer immediately.
"Yes Harry, why?" Tamah asked curiously, but there was a slight poison behind the words that made Harry scowl. No matter what Aurora did, she was still his sister and he still loved her. He knew that Tamah did too, but she was always so childish about anything involving Aurora that he wondered if she knew she'd be miserable if something ever actually happened to her.
Harry decided it would be easier on his nerves if he talked directly to Ginny. "Aurora is the oldest out of us, right?" At Ginny's nod he continued. "I didn't tell you this before but before Aurora met Mum and Dad and Roger, she was… the worst kind of us out there." Harry didn't actually want to put it into words.
"She hunted humans?" Ginny asked nonchalantly.
"Yes," Tamah spat bitterly. She looked on the verge of saying something else but Harry glared at her and she looked away.
"She was wild, uncontrolled. She didn't have anyone there to tell her to stop. The thing is, she hunted not only when she was thirsty, but as a game," Harry told her gently.
"A game?"
"She liked to track them, trick them," Harry gulped, "seduce them. She was bored with life and had no rules to live her life by."
"But she stopped when she met your family, right?"
"Yes, she did. And she was doing really well, for having lived off of blood for so long. But now that she's back with the others who do not have any restraints…" Harry's voice grew soft.
"She's reverted back to her old ways and is ruining the lives of perfectly innocent people who have never even seen her before," Tamah finished with a sarcastic tone of joy.
"That is enough," Harry told her sternly. He looked back to Ginny. "She's misguided at the moment, but she'll come back. We're family, and she's a part of that."
"She'll come back," Tamah assured him unhappily, crossing her arms. "And at least she'll have learned her lesson."
"Do you know when?" Harry asked her, a little unwilling.
"Soon enough," she replied, which could mean any number of things to Harry. Soon enough to help in defeating Voldemort? Soon as in the next couple of weeks and Tamah just wasn't happy about it? Harry didn't bother asking for clarification; Tamah rarely gave any. Sometimes she reminded him of the Centaurs in the Forest, except instead of just talking in riddles to confuse people, Tamah really didn't know.
oOo
Harry took Ginny back to the castle soon afterwards. She didn't want to go, but her protests were weak because of how tired she was. He stopped at the bottom of the girls' staircase to say goodnight. She looked like she couldn't keep her eyes open and her feet were unsteady on the ground. Her red hair fell in front of her shoulders and her warm brown eyes stared up at his through sleepy lids. She smiled slightly and said goodnight. He watched the small movement that told him she was readying herself to turn around when he gently and quickly grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him. He put his lips to her cheek and let them linger on her warm skin briefly before speeding out of the common room, all too aware that his mouth had just been inches from her throat.
On his way back down to the grounds he remembered that he was going to let Roger fly for a bit, so he went back up and grabbed his broom. Roger's broom was one of the things they saved from burning, though, so Harry let Tamah go up. They stayed in the air for hours, speeding and turning and looping around. Harry was content to just watch them enjoy life, something they rarely ever did. Once the two had made a mutual agreement to land, Harry led them silently through the castle to the doors of the headmaster's office. After guessing the password, Harry led them up the spiraling staircase to the large door and knocked. He knew the headmaster wasn't sleeping, but felt bad about being there so late.
"Come in."
Harry opened the door and found Dumbledore seated at his desk. Tamah and Roger followed Harry in silently. They both stared around the room in amazement—Harry was sure just like he had when he first set eyes on it—and Dumbledore stared at them.
"Good evening, Headmaster," Harry said politely. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you so late, but it seems we've run into a slight problem. My sister and brother seem to be without a house at the moment."
"Why is that?"
"Death Eaters attacked our apartment, sir, and I would feel much better if they could live with Sirius so something like this wouldn't happen again."
"Ah. That would be fine with me, as long as Sirius is agreeable to having guests," Dumbledore said hesitantly. "Though I must ask that they stay clear of visitors who do not know them."
"Of course. Though I must suggest that they be included in the Order's discussions, or at least kept up to date on the going-ons. They're an invaluable source of information and I would hate to have them holed up in a room somewhere when they can help make a difference in the war."
Dumbledore nodded his consent. "Sirius can talk to them after each meeting and give them all the vital information."
Harry accepted the terms, knowing Sirius would tell them everything he could remember about each and every meeting.
The pause after the statement was interrupted by Tamah stepping forward to the desk. "Harry can be forgetful sometimes, especially with introductions. I'm Tamah," she said in her high child's voice and smiled sweetly at him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Tamah," Dumbledore greeted her.
"And this is Roger," she said, pulling him forward by the hand.
"Hello," was all Roger said. Dumbledore inclined his head toward him.
Harry got Dumbledore to give them the address of Sirius's house so Harry could take them to it. It was extremely late—or really early in the morning if one wanted to look at it that way—so Harry didn't bother waking Sirius up. Tamah was more than capable of making herself known. So Harry left them in the hallway where they assured him they would be fine.
The journey back to Hogwarts seemed to stretch on forever in Harry's anxiousness to get back to Ginny. He knew she was asleep, but he didn't like being this far away from her. Once he got back, he waited out the rest of the night in the common room, doing his homework painfully slow as to stretch it out over the three hours he had until Ginny would wake for classes.
oOo
Ginny still couldn't believe that she was dating Harry. It wasn't the fact that he was the Boy-Who-Lived, and it wasn't because he was a vampire, but because it was so wonderful she knew that it couldn't be for real. It was strange to have complete confidence in Harry—she knew he loved her just by the way he looked at her—but to worry about whether or not it was really, actually happening. When he was with her she was whole. She knew it sounded clichéd, but she didn't care. Nothing was ever right unless Harry was right there beside her.
But something was bothering him lately, and he didn't want to talk to her about it. She was pretty sure that he was upset about Aurora. Even though Tamah had expressed confidence earlier that month about Aurora coming back to the Stewarts, it had yet to happen. She guessed Harry thought she'd be back by now. She didn't like guessing. She wanted to know what was going on, she wanted Harry to talk to her… but lately it just wasn't working. They'd still talk about unimportant things, but the major things that were affecting his life at the moment weren't even allowed to come into the conversation.
Ginny had tried to get him to open up, but every time he'd reply that he was fine and didn't want to talk about it. If she bothered him further, he'd just sit there in a contest of wills: Ginny trying to get information out of him and him refusing to talk. Harry always won. Ginny wondered how long he could actually sit there without moving or talking. Her instincts told her that it was a very, very long time.
Soon it got so that he didn't talk much at all. He was still there, holding her hand, walking her to class, bringing her chocolates and flowers, but something was weighing heavily on his mind and it frustrated Ginny to no end that he would not let her help.
And then one day, he was fine. Not fine in his sense, but really fine. He wasn't morose anymore, and there was more laughter. Harry told her later that night as they walked the halls that Aurora had come back the night before. After stopping by Dumbledore's office, he had taken her to see Tamah and Roger. And—he got really excited during this part of the story—she must have said something right because even Tamah forgave her. Ginny asked why Tamah forgiving her was cause for such celebration, but Harry said evasively that Tamah wasn't a very forgiving person. Ginny didn't really see that being true because of how young she could be—and children tend to forgive very easily—but decided not to question Harry further and put him in a bad mood, especially as he knew his own family better than she did.
Ginny hoped next time that he would feel comfortable enough to open up to her. He had to know by now she wasn't going to get freaked out by what he had to say. And even if she did… she certainly wasn't going to let him know that.