The Unbreakable Vow
By Ash Darklighter
Disclaimer – The characters in this story all belong to MS Rowling. I'm not making a knut from any of this.
Part 9
"Sure, why not," Harry muttered. "I've nowhere else to go apart from Grimmauld Place and I don't fancy going there tonight." He didn't look pleased about having to leave The Burrow. "I'll go and get my stuff."
"Harry…"
The green eyes flicked up to the headmaster. "I understand, sir, but I'm not giving up until I'm positive that there's nothing I can do. Ginny has a month and I'm going to use that time to free her." He stared at his hands for a moment and then said, "I'll just be a moment. I'll say my goodbyes to the others and collect my things."
Harry was as good as his word, he returned five minutes later, a rucksack slung across his thin shoulders.
Dumbledore's eyes were dull. This was another blow that the boy had to bear. It didn't matter that Harry and Miss Weasley weren't together in the way that they had been a couple of years ago; there was still a strong visible tie between them. He held out the tin of lemon drops in his pocket and Harry stretched out his hand.
The usual feeling grabbed him by the navel and the sensation of being sucked through a small tube and squeezed out the other side left him vaguely nauseous. Scowling, Harry picked himself up from the floor of Dumbledore's office. "I really don't enjoy travelling by portkey," he muttered.
Dumbledore, who had already seated himself behind his desk, chuckled.
"I really don't," Harry repeated. "Not since the tournament." He picked up the rucksack without noticing the smile fading from the headmaster's face. "Usual place?" Harry asked without really expecting an answer.
"Dobby!" Dumbledore called. There was a crack and the house elf Harry had rescued from Lucius Malfoy appeared draped in a peculiar outfit of woollen scarves and stripy mismatched socks.
Harry Potter, sir," the elf squeaked excitedly.
"Dobby," said the headmaster. "Could you see that Harry's room in the Gryffindor guest suite is prepared? He'll be staying with us for a few days."
Something about seeing the little elf gave Harry's wounded spirits a lift. Dobby had been liberated from the clutches of Lucius Malfoy through Harry's intervention. It was a good omen – a very good omen.
"I'll see you at dinner, Harry." Dumbledore peered at the boy over the top of his half-moon spectacles.
Harry nodded and left the headmaster's office. He headed to his room and dumped the rucksack on the floor next to the four-poster bed. He had some thinking to do. He wandered slowly to the window and stared out at the distant view of the quidditch pitch framed by the Scottish hills and as he did so, an owl flew lazily by heading for the owlery. Harry drew himself up. If that was Hedwig?
He dug into his rucksack and pulled out a tattered piece of parchment, his father's invisibility cloak and the device the Weasley twins had presented him with. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The Marauder's map formed in front of his eyes. Checking the whereabouts of the staff present in the castle during the summer holidays, he was pleased to see that no one was near his intended destinations.
Slipping from the room, he headed first to the owlery. As expected, his faithful owl had a sixth sense where her master was concerned. "Hey, old girl." Hedwig preened herself looking pleased. Harry offered her some owl treats. "Hedwig, I need you to deliver some letters for me. It's the plan. We're starting early," he said softly, stroking her white feathers. "This," he fastened a letter to her leg. "It goes to Gringotts and then I want you to go to Grimmauld Place."
He then stared at the magical mobile phone and lifted it to his ear. It looked strange but Fred and George were geniuses in their field even if Harry wasn't always sure what the current field was. "Fred…George?"
"Harry, my boy, how spiffing to hear from you so soon," they yelled happily at the other end.
"You don't need to shout," Harry said, the first smile forming on his face all day as he held the device well away from his suddenly beleaguered ear. "Can you meet me now instead of tomorrow?"
"Where?"
Harry thought quickly and glanced at his watch. He didn't have a lot of time before the evening meal but there wasn't a lot to say. The less said the better. "Not the Honeyduke's passage. It'll be closed at this time of night."
"The one that leads to the Shrieking Shack." decided George. "It's still open."
"Perfect," said Harry. "I'm on my way. He placed the object back in his pocket and slipped the invisibility cloak over his head. Even at Hogwarts he was watched – especially now.
Harry could see the Womping Willow up ahead – a magical tree with wildly flailing branches which disliked anybody or anything in its vicinity. He and Ron had crashed the flying car into it in their second year and had barely made their escape without suffering serious injury. The tree had been planted the year that his father, Sirius and Remus Lupin, the werewolf, had arrived at Hogwarts. He slipped his wand out of his holster and took a deep breath. This wasn't good for him but, it wasn't a spell that would take much of his waning power. "Immobulus!" The tree stilled and Harry dashed below the branches. On the way past, his fingers found the knot on the tree trunk, pressed it firmly and the branches recommenced swirling menacingly around him as he slipped into the secret passage below.
"Harry, is that you?"
"I hope so," he said, trying to control the sudden feeling of dizziness as the Weasley twins came into view. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
"Proof enough," ginned Fred, or was it George?
"This will only take a few minutes. I'm expected in the great hall for dinner," Harry said wearily.
"You said you had a plan."
Harry was sure that it was George who'd asked the question. "Yes, I have a plan of sorts."
"And?" the twins chorused together.
"I need to be able to contact you at any time without anyone else knowing or hearing. Just in case there's trouble."
"We've done that for you already. The mobile 'fun' should do the trick." They waved a boxy object in Harry's face, the extendable ears wobbling on the side. "You keep the one we gave you and we've got this one."
He shook his head, green eyes serious. "No, it's too open. Anyone could listen in and you still shout into it."
"This is open?" the twins muttered together. "We can whisper."
Harry dug into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a wrapped package. Carefully unwrapping it, he handed Fred a badly cracked mirror. "It's a two-way mirror. I have the other one in Grimmauld Place. I'm sorry it's cracked. Sirius gave it to me and I broke it after he…" Harry stopped. His godfather's death had the power to wound him still. "I couldn't seem to repair it. I tried 'Reparo' but nothing happened."
Fred inspected the object carefully. "How does it work?"
Harry flushed. "It doesn't work very well. In fact, your mirror will only receive messages. I should be able to contact you, but you can't contact me. Remus and I tried it to no avail. I say your name and the mirror will buzz…"
"You're planning…"
"Don't say it or even think it." Harry held up his hand in a staying motion.
"Otherwise the information could get to the wrong people." Fred's mouth straightened. He had his suspicions what the younger boy might have in mind but he was careful not to voice them out loud.
"If this plan works at all, that is," Harry admitted quietly.
George looked grim. "Dumbledore wasn't optimistic about Ginny's chances."
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stem the headache he knew was coming. "Neither am I. How is she?"
Fred scowled. "Upset, but vowing to make the Malfoys regret this and as for Percy…"
George grinned. "Percy will require round-the-clock Auror protection if Ginny is allowed anywhere near him."
Harry's mouth twitched into a reluctant smile. "That's my girl." He lifted up his arm and glanced at his watch. "Look guys, I'd better get going. They'll be watching me closer than ever, Dumbledore included, and as I said I've been requested to appear for dinner in the great hall with the remaining staff this evening."
"Because of Ginny," said George.
"Yes. I should never have kissed her after that quidditch game the first time two years ago. In my defence, I couldn't help myself."
Fred nudged George. "You didn't have much choice, mate. She would have grabbed you eventually. In fact wasn't she the one…"
George nodded in agreement. "Breaking it off to save her life wouldn't have cut it with her either, mate. She's nothing if not determined is our Ginny. She goes for what she wants and if what she wants is you…"
"That doesn't matter. Keeping her safe and out of Malfoy hands does." Harry looked at his watch again. "Did you manage to make the portkeys I asked?"
"We'll have them for you by tomorrow," said Fred. "Plus a stack of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' newest items. We need to check the shop in any case."
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It had been a long and trying afternoon at The Burrow when they'd returned for Ginny's birthday celebration the following day and the whole thing had left Harry with a dull, throbbing ache in his head. Ginny had tried to be bright for her guests but it had been apparent to all that her heart hadn't been in it. It had been especially awkward when Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt had turned up on behalf of the Ministry to watch and supposedly protect Ginny. Tonks had looked upset and Kingsley, uncomfortable. They knew that the wrong people were being punished. Harry, Minerva and Dumbledore had stayed for as long as they could and then flooed back to the school.
"Sir?" Harry sat next to the headmaster at dinner the following evening. "I've been thinking about the situation and have decided that you have a valid point where Ginny and I are concerned. We were and still are very close. I'm not going to stop trying to prevent Ginny's marriage to Malfoy but I know now that I can't stay at The Burrow. I don't want to cause any trouble."
"I hadn't expected Mr. Weasley to send aurors, Harry," Dumbledore admitted. "Percy has changed very much since he was Head Boy here at Hogwarts."
"I wouldn't have harmed her," Harry said in a low voice that the headmaster had to strain to hear. "She's safer with me than with Malfoy."
"I know," Dumbledore said softly.
"At least it was members of the Order that came to watch over her," Harry murmured. "What could I do? I thought Percy knew me better than that."
"We've not given up yet, Harry," Dumbledore murmured calmly.
Harry chewed at his lip for a moment and then said quietly. "Yes, you have."
"Harry…" Dumbledore began and then stopped.
The young wizard shook his head as he didn't want to hear any more excuses, grabbed his glass, swallowed a last mouthful of pumpkin juice and then held up several books on defensive and offensive magic he'd borrowed from Madam Pince, the Hogwarts' librarian, the previous evening. "I'm going to have a flick through these tonight and see if there's anything interesting and then tomorrow I'm returning to Grimmauld Place and I'll take Dobby with me."
"It's probably for the best." Dumbledore declared. "I was going to arrange for Kingsley and Tonks to give you some more training. I had a brief word with them while we were at The Burrow. You would be far closer to auror headquarters if you made Grimmauld Place your permanent base."
"That would be acceptable if they're willing," Harry said stiffly. "I need to improve my fitness and stamina."
The headmaster heard the ice in the boy's voice and wondered how he was ever going to repair the damage between them. "It's for your own good, Harry."
"Really," mumbled Harry. "My own good!" He shook his head and winced. The headache was definitely there and had been all day. The only positive thing about this headache was that Voldemort had nothing to do with it. "How many times have I heard that one? I'm sure you'll understand when I say that I'm having a difficult time believing in all the things that are done for my own good."
"Harry…" Dumbledore stopped. Did the boy suspect that there were other things he was not being told? Harry was far from stupid and as he grew older was far more difficult to keep in ignorance. Yes, he was going to have to do some serious repair work on their relationship and tell Harry the truth very soon.
At the other end of the table Poppy Pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron, was keeping a careful eye on one of her most frequent patients. She'd already heard the news about Ginny Weasley's forthcoming marriage. The enmity between Potter and Malfoy had been apparent all through their school years and she didn't think that it would disappear as they grew older. Not when they had such different loyalties. The strain on the young man's face was clearly visible.
"Mister Potter," she called brusquely.
Harry lifted his head and glanced down the table. "Madam Pomfrey?"
"If you would accompany me to the infirmary, I will give you something to clear that headache."
"Thank you."
"Headache?" asked Dumbledore. "Voldemort?"
"No," Harry said with a grimace of stifled pain. "No, it's not a Voldemort sort of pain. I've had it all day." He gave another slight wince. "I've had worse." He excused himself from the table, nodded carefully at Professor Sprout, and ignored Snape. Had the man noticed that Voldemort was being unusually quiet? Had the mark on his left arm, in the last three weeks, faded or changed in any way? Had he talked to the Malfoys? If he had, he wasn't talking to anyone else about it, namely Dumbledore, and Snape certainly wouldn't talk to Harry.
He didn't notice the Potion's Professor's dark eyes following him as he made his way after the school nurse. Potter did seem to be a little out-of-sorts and far less arrogant than he usually was. Snape had heard about the Malfoy-Weasley betrothal but the only one that appeared to be happy about it was Lucius and strangely the bride-to-be's brother, Percy Weasley. The Slytherin head of house knew for a fact that Draco Malfoy had no desire to wed and bed the only Weasley girl to be born in several generations no matter how powerful she could become. He had been having a passionate dalliance with Pansy Parkinson long before they were of legal age to do so. But pureblood families didn't make love matches - they made advantageous political alliances. So why hadn't Lucius contracted Draco to Parkinson?
Poppy Pomfrey and Harry didn't talk on their way to the infirmary. Harry didn't want the risk of being overheard and he guessed that Poppy didn't either. In Hogwarts, the walls did indeed have ears and the portraits could gossip faster than Harry had once caught the snitch.
Through here, Harry," Poppy ushered him into her office. She drew a curtain over the portrait of a stout witch in a matron's uniform and with a couple of flicks of her wand put up an imperturbable charm. Finally, she pushed a small vial of a reddish liquid across her desk towards him. "Drink this."
Harry did as he was told but made a face at the taste.
"I didn't say that it was pumpkin juice," the nurse said tartly.
"One of Snape's?"
"No, one of mine," she said and then chuckled at the look on Harry's face. "And it's Professor Snape. It would taste far worse if it was one of the potion master's creations." She motioned to one of the comfortable chairs. "Sit down, Harry. Does this change things?"
Harry didn't need to know how she knew. He wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore hadn't informed most of the castle's residents including the portraits and the ghosts as soon as it had happened. News travelled fast in a place like Hogwarts. "Change things?" he asked, thinking hard.
"You were fond of Ginny Weasley."
"More than fond," Harry admitted slowly. "We broke up two years ago when the war escalated to keep her safe. But I always hoped once V…You-know-who, was destroyed that there might be a chance for us. But Dumbledore says there's no way out of this marriage contract for her. The document has been drawn up by the best wizards in the Ministry of Magic, including her own brother. It looks ironclad."
"In the magical world maybe," Poppy said thoughtfully. "You could take her with you, Harry. After all, you were planning to go into hiding."
"We discussed it," Harry agreed. "You said it was probably my best option but it's more difficult to run with two than alone." He examined his fingernails as if they were the most fascinating things in the room. "I don't know if she would want to leave everything…her family, her magic and come with me."
"You-know-who…"
"Won't be a problem for a while," Harry said thoughtfully. "He suffered a big defeat at Hogsmeade but that won't help Ginny."
"The headmaster doesn't know about this."
"He knows about the defeat – he was there, after all. But he doesn't know how big a defeat it actually was." Harry's face hardened. "He will eventually."
Madam Pomfrey began sorting bottles of potions into a container. "Is this fair, Harry?"
"Is it fair what they've done to me?"
The mediwitch's hands stilled, her face appalled. "Dumbledore still hasn't told you?"
Harry sat back in the chair and looked at her. "What do you think? All the things he promised to do after Sirius died haven't happened. He's not continued to keep me properly informed. I suspect he's on the point of telling me and then decides not to. He wants to spare me from more pain," he said cynically. "Doesn't he realise that it's too late for that now?" He looked defeated, his face young and vulnerable. "I used a spell yesterday and felt so tired."
She glanced over her shoulder and shook her head at him. "You shouldn't have been doing spells. That's what probably brought on your headache. That and stress. Silly boy, what did I tell you?"
"Yes, I know. I hate deceiving the Order like this but until Dumbledore comes clean and tells me the truth…" His gaze dropped to his fingernails again. "I've been trying to avoid doing magic as much as I can but it's difficult not to sometimes. In the muggle world everything is done without magic. There are solutions for nearly every problem but here there's no avoiding it."
"Then you need to go and soon. The headaches will just get worse and the magic will drain away faster – a complete break is the only solution. I'm surprised you're still able to do any spells at all."
"I'm stronger than you think."
"That must be the case," she said briskly. "But you will need to clear the air with Albus. You must tell him, Harry. It isn't just Dumbledore that's fighting You-know-who." She returned to her sorting.
"Can I help?" Harry asked after a small silence.
"No, I've got this covered. These are for you to take with you when you go. Some basic potions just in case there's a medical emergency." She pulled open a drawer and produced a small glass jar containing a bezoar. "All wizarding households should have one," she said.
"What else?" Harry said, his interesting rising.
Poppy chuckled. "These are blood-replenishing potions. You should know that by now. I've forced enough of them down your throat. Since you've arrived in Hogwarts I've had to restock certain remedies more often since the days that your father and Sirius Black were pupils."
"I know that one." He pointed at a couple of large jars containing a thick yellowish substance. It's bruise-healing paste.
"Good Mr. Potter. Professor Snape will be delighted you've managed to learn something in his class."
"You know Snape couldn't bear the sight of me in his class and still can't," Harry said with a wry smile.
"Yes, I know and he's in the wrong but you didn't help matters any and it's Professor Snape."
"He started it," Harry returned shortly. "I am not my father. And I didn't learn about bruise-healing paste in his class. I learned about it from you. I've had that slapped on various parts of my anatomy every time I come into this infirmary."
"Yes, because you'd fought a basilisk, a possessed professor or merely fallen off your broom at a height of fifty feet. I'm also including a vial of calming draught, some burn-paste, some dreamless sleep, pepper-up potion… It's very good if you have a cold…"
"I know. You've shoved several gallons of that down my throat, too, Poppy, and I'm grateful."
The witch smiled at him. "I want you to keep taking the magic strengthening tonic I prescribed you. It should continue to build your core." She glanced through her stores and added a couple more bottles. "One last thing…" She pulled from her desk drawer an enormous slab of Honeyduke's chocolate. "I remember your third year and those dementors." Pulling out her wand, she gave the container a small tap and it shrunk small enough to go in his pocket. "There's a stasis charm on the potions so they'll keep. That should do even you for a long while."
"You wound me, Poppy," Harry said with a smile, his hand across his heart. "Are you hinting that I might be a little accident prone?"
"Out and out reckless, Mr. Potter," Poppy returned evenly.
"I just do what needs to be done," he said.
"That's what worries me." She'd grown very fond of this particular boy over the years he'd spent under her care. He'd had a lot to contend with and still, he tried to do the right thing. "Harry," she said quietly, her face serious beneath her starched white cap. "If you need my help at any time please get in touch."
"But…"
"Patient confidentiality, Harry. It means that I can help you without anyone knowing…if that is what you want." She lifted her hand and touched his cheek. "You belong in the wizarding world but you have to go away to recover your power and that's a decision I, as your healer, advise you to take."
"Poppy…"
"Harry, you know that the headmaster doesn't wish you ill."
Harry sighed, his green eyes darkening with pain. "Yes, I know but I'm tired of fighting him, Poppy. I'm tired of been manipulated and lied to, even by omission. I'm tired of other people making decisions for me without consultation. They think they know better but so far I can't say that I've been impressed. He'll continue to use me until I'm dead."
Poppy Pomfrey gave a reluctant nod. Harry Potter may look like his father but he thought like his mother once had. Lily Potter would not have been happy with the way her son had been raised and the constant pressure he now found himself under.
"I want to live an ordinary life, Poppy. I want my magic back at full strength. I know it's my supposed destiny, Poppy. But I'm a human being not just a weapon and all Dumbledore does these days is talk about training me to defeat Vol… Sorry," he apologized. "You-know-who."
Poppy drew in her breath at the mention of the dark lord. "It's alright, Harry. Now before you go, I think I should check your magical reserves."
"They might be lower tonight. I told you that I had to cast a spell yesterday and earlier on today."
"I'll take that into consideration," he mediwitch said briskly. "Now, if you could stand up for me. That's it."
She took out her wand and waved it in a complicated series of flicks around Harry's head, finally conjuring a long tube which placed itself on her desk. "Now we shall see." Again from her wand, the tube began to fill with different colours. They swirled around frantically in a magical dance until gradually the colours stilled and settled.
"How bad is it, Poppy?"
Poppy's lips trembled as she let out a sigh of what could have been relief. "Better than I hoped Mr. Potter. When I first performed this test three weeks ago, it was nearly all black."
Harry gazed at the tube. "It still is nearly all black," he said almost smiling.
"No, there's been a change since then. Look, scarlet and gold have emerged." She was right. Thin threadlike rings of colour were interspersed evenly throughout the black.
"Gryffindor colours," Harry commented quieH Harry commented quietly.
"Yes. But if you look very carefully you will also see green and silver. The whole spectrum of colours are contained within your magic."
"It's still not enough to defeat V…you-know who." He stared curiously at the bottom of the tube which, he'd thought at first was more of the black but instead it was a sort of sludgy brown colour. To Harry it didn't look healthy.
Poppy pointed to the sludge. "That horrible colour means that we managed to save your magic and it will recover in time."
Harry managed a brief grin and nodded at the tube. "How are we going to keep this from Dumbledore?"
"We'll manage somehow." With another wave of her wand, the tube vanished. "If you don't tell him, he's going to guess once you vanish into hopeful anonymity that you knew more than you were letting on."
"Then tell him I was treated at St. Mungo's and you don't know what the outcome was. He sent me there. I just came to you now for a headache potion, that's innocent enough."
The mediwitch rolled her eyes. "He'll know that you knew and kept it from him."
"He kept it from me," Harry said mulishly. "I was going to leave and note and a bottle for his pensieve collection."
It was important to remove Poppy from any blame. Harry embraced the older woman warmly. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. I will let him know why I've gone but not until I have. He would try to stop me." Harry gave a wry smile. "It would be for my own protection of course."
"Good luck, Harry."
They both knew that it would be a while before they saw one another again.
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