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Harry Potter And The Game of Death

Level 1

Chapter Nine: Remus Lupin Makes a Mistake

"You are being a fool, Remus! A complete and utter fool."

Remus Lupin paused with his hand halfway into his travel trunk. Packing his things for his departure and getting ready for the sixth year's exam in the afternoon could wait.

Even after so many years spent away from her and one year spent as her peer, the reproach in Minerva McGonnagall's voice still sent fearful shivers shooting through his spine. The woman's harsh voice had rung out from behind him, hitting him just as hard as it had when he was younger.

It was with a force of will that he unfroze his hands and gathered his wits about him. The beautiful woman was his Head of House no longer. Nor was he the juvenile young man he had once been when he had faced so much of her censure.

"I would hope that I left much of my foolishness in the past, Minerva," he said in a light tone of voice. He had learned over the years that humor could deflect or defuse many a tense situation. Hopefully it would work in this one as well. "Some of your detentions over the years truly did sink in even if it didn't look like it."

A loud snort of disbelief crushed any hope that his strategy had been successful.

"You and the other Marauders might have been more than a handful when you were younger, I'll grant, but none of you ever made a mistake that was this foolish back then." The woman's harsh tone only grew more so as she came closer to where he stood. "You hold a position of prestige and respect which no werewolf has held in my lifetime; a place where you can teach the next generation of young minds and stand poised to be the greatest Werewolf advocate in half a century. An opportunity which Albus, Filius and I fought hard to obtain for you. And what are you doing with it? Are you taking advantage of the opportunity to fight for equality and understanding like you said that you would? Hm?"

Remus sighed as he closed the lid of his trunk. Trying to pack while having an argument with one of the people he most respected in the world was not something he wanted to do. The thing was not nearly full, but by her tone of voice it would seem that Minerva would not be departing his office any time soon.

The werewolf turned around to face his peer, sitting on the edge of his barren desk. "It is an opportunity for which I will be forever grateful to all of you," he said softly. "And though I understand what you mean, I believe that I am no longer in a position to do any of that. And that if I were to stay in this position for any longer, that I could cause irreparable damage to the reputation of you, your colleagues, and this school."

Remus let his eyes drift upwards before bringing them back down. "So with that in mind I am taking this brief period of calm to leave while everyone's dignity is still intact, and to aid a friend whom I should have believed in over twelve years ago."

"Bollocks!" Came the immediate reply. Minerva's flashing eyes caught his own. For a moment Remus thought that it was her Animagus form showing, so fierce did they look, but a second glance showed that it was only a trick of the light. "If you really do want to help Sirius, then being a teacher would not stop you. You already did the overhaul of every course level in Defense last year, and tweaking them for any changes in curriculum could be done a few weeks before September. That would leave you the entire summer – nearly three entire months – to help Sirius get back on his feet after Albus and Amelia clear his name."

The woman stepped closer as her voice rose in pitch. "As for the dignity of everyone involved… what use is dignity, Remus, if it allows ills to go unfought and unpunished?"

Remus sidestepped her question again. "I'm certain that whomever Albus selects as the next professor will be more than competent," he said mildly. "Perhaps they will even be better; I've heard that Moody might be retiring soon, and I'm certain that Albus would jump at the chance to bring him in to serve as an example for young Harry."

"Oh no you don't, Remus. Don't you dare try to dodge my question while framing your decision in such a manner."

The woman's green eyes, framed by her raven hair, were glaring into his own as she stepped close. And although they lacked the brilliant emerald green of Harry and Lily's, softened as they were by a hint of brown, the older witch's ferocious gaze was no less unsettling when fully unleashed.

"You and I both know what you're doing," she said, grinding out the words as though she were chewing on a dragon's scale. "That so called dignity you mentioned earlier is a load of utter bollocks intended to make yourself feel better about your decision. A decision you made because you are scared; scared and frightened that since one of your two big secrets got out that it'll cause Dumbledore's and the rest of us to become targets for our political opponents. Scared that it might hurt Harry. Scared that, for once in your life, you might have to stand your ground and confront those who would pursue you. So instead you're giving us a nice speech and taking the easy way out before things get tougher!"

Remus barely held back a flinch at her harsh words. His mind shook, and without his meaning to a growl rose from deep within his chest as his inner werewolf snapped back at her challenging words. He would not – could not – rollover in the face of such an accusation. He raised a finger trembling with rage and pointed it in her direction.

"Don't you dare say that to me Minerva. Don't you dare!" He spat out in anger. "I have faced discrimination my entire life for who I am. I have fought, and argued, and worked against those who would slap a label on me and call me subhuman as far back as I can remember. I have served as a spy amongst my own kind in the war, and when Albus called I stood wand to wand against Voldemort's Death Eaters and grieved over the bodies of those who never made it back."

He stated into her eyes as he bit out his next words. "So by what right can you judge me? Hm? What give you the right to say that to me, and what could possibly make you believe yourself to be correct?"

The older witch stared at him unflinchingly. "Because though I am your friend now, Remus, I was your teacher. And twelve years ago, when Voldemort died and chaos was erupting all around us, I have seen you make this very same decision." Her words and eyes then softened as she leaned down to place her palms on the back of a nearby chair. "That decision nearly destroyed you, and I refuse to allow you to make it again without first trying to beat some sense into your thick skull."

This time Remus could not hide his flinch; her words had hit him where it hurt, and she knew it. Instead he moved away from the desk and started to pace. "This is different, Minerva. It's different and you know it. Back then, just after James and Lily died, things were… rough. I had just figured out who I really was, and what I really wanted, and then the only three people I had opened myself up to about it were suddenly… gone. Gone for good, I thought. Two lost to death, and the third sent to prison for aiding in their murder and that of another friend."

She watched him pace, a sad look in her eyes as she followed his every movement. "You're right. This time is different. The son of James and Lily is here, right in front of you, and he is in need of your help. And unlike back then, when you had just returned to the country from your assignment, you are currently in a position to give him the assistance that he needs."

Minerva lifted her hands from the chair and sat down in it instead. A wisp of raven hair escaped from the bun holding it back, causing her to blow it out of her eyes with an exasperated huff. "Can't you see it, Remus? That's why I'm fighting so hard against this foolish decision of yours. Because this time you have the power to help change the boy's life, and in doing so help yourself to heal from wounds that you have allowed to fester for more than a decade."

The tall man ran a hand through his light brown hair. That was not fair of her. It was completely unfair of her to use Harry as a way to persuade him. So he said as much, though he was unable to meet her eyes.

A fact upon which she pounced. "Is it not?" she pressed. "Barring the grand reasons I gave earlier, is that boy not the truereason why you should stay here? While remaining in your exact position?"

"But what can I offer him? Nothing that someone else could not do better. As a teacher someone like Moody – who has decades of experience in fighting Dark witches and wizards, and in training people to fight them too – would offer far more to Harry than I ever could."

"Moody has not retired yet, Remus. We could very well end up with someone whose abilities and knowledge of the subject are far worse than your own. And Moody, for all of his vast knowledge and experience, is not someone whom I could comfortably see teaching classes of children for very long."

Remus gave a short laugh at that. She had a point. Moody was brilliant at what he did, a genius even, but the man's brilliance came at a steep price. One victim of this price lay in his atrocious social skills, and it was very likely that his concept of appropriate words and punishments in children's education was miles apart from Minerva's own

"Besides," she said warmly, "I've seen the way you interact with Harry. The two of you have formed a connection. Something which can be very difficult to do with a young child, and something which your replacement might not be able to replicate."

"So I should stay around because Harry and I are fond of one another? Not to put too fine a point on it, Minerva, but that is a poor reason to keep someone around whose very existence could erase years of good work done by you and others."

His words were waved off. "Then think of it this way you stubborn fool. The previous two people to hold your position tried to harm the poor lad. One tried to wipe his mind with an Obliviate while the other tried to kill him! How could the knowledge of your lycranthropy possibly be any worse than the murder or mental disfigurement of a child?"

"I know, Minerva," Remus said with a sigh as he continued to pace. "Dumbledore and Harry have told me the stories. I even know about the Basilisk he killed last year with Gryffindor's sword, so you needn't go any further into detail."

Silence fell upon the room. And as the silence continued with no reply from the woman behind him, Remus turned to look at her. And when he did, he saw a woman whose face had gone completely sheet white.

"What Basilisk are you…" Minerva's eyes went wide. "Do you mean to say that the Basilisk Albus mentioned lay buried in Slytherin's Chamber was actually killed by…"

The woman's sheet white face suddenly began to flush. A deep red color as bright as Lily's hair ran from her cheeks to the impressive valley between her breasts. Then she leapt into the air from her seat, cursing as fast as she could articulate the words.

"Why that blind, bony ol' knobdobber!" She yelled, her Scottish accent coming to the fore. "I cannae e'en believe that 'e e'er tried to say that poor Harry wasnae involved in slayin' that creature! 'e told me that the beastie were slain by the avalanche! Not that… that… argh!"

Remus winced and ceased his pacing after she forcibly elbowed him aside to take his place. Her long black robes swished around her while her eyes looked fiery enough to spit… well, fire. Something which she might very well be capable of doing, as Sirius and James had theorized years ago. All she would need to complete the stereotypical picture of an angry evil witch would be her pointed hat and a pair of pointy slippers to match.

It seemed that Remus had let slip something he should not have. Apparently Dumbledore had not given her the full truth of what had happened down within the Chamber of Secrets. Instead, if the words she was currently using were any sort of indication, he had chosen to evade Minerva's questions and tell her only a partial truth. Which meant that Remus had just accidentally inserted himself in a rather major problem where Dumbledore and Minerva were on opposing sides.

That was not a healthy position in which to stay. Because even though Remus was glad that her anger was momentarily redirected at Dumbledore, there was a good chance that all of that anger would come roaring back at him. And a swearing Minerva McGonnagall in a full highland tizz was not something he ever felt like experiencing again.

Getting slammed by it the day after James' bachelor party – damn Sirius for getting the drunk idea to do amuggle prank, of all things, on the woman's house – had been bad enough to last him for an entire lifetime.

Thinking on his feet, his own anger forgotten due to the very real prospect of impending harm from the furious woman pacing in his study, the werewolf moved to his desk and opened the lower right hand drawer. He reached a hand inside, pulling out a long handle of aged scotch from within its depths.

Conjuring two fat glasses, complete with a large sphere of ice, Remus managed to fill the first glass halfway before Minerva grabbed it from his desk and downed the lot of it in one go.

The irate woman slammed it back down on the table for him to refill, her eyes and skin still burning. When she spoke again, however, her accent had petered back down to its usual manageable level. Which was a good sign, as it meant that Remus' choice was having its intended effect of calming her down.

"Putting aside how the… Headmaster… conveniently left out the distressing level of young Harry's involvement in his discussion with me, this new knowledge concerning that incident only serves to better illustrate my point."

He cautiously caught her eye as he poured another glass. "And what was your point again?"

"That between some of his teachers, a Basilisk, and that veritable horde of Dementors forced on us by the buffoonish fop who heads the ministry, the boy needs someone like you in his life. Both here and elsewhere."

She downed the glass he had just poured for her, downed the one he had just poured for himself, and looked at him with eyes too clear to belong to someone who had just downed that much alcohol that fast. "Perhaps more, even, than you needed his father and Sirius in your own."

Remus winced as her sharp words cut deep. He truly had needed James and Sirius, as well as Lily and James' parents, in his life. More than he had realized until he had lost them.

And when phrased like that, after the argument they had just had, there was no longer any room for Remus to hide from the truth.

Feeling a bitter sense of failure rise within his chest, the werewolf poured another glass for each of them before moving away. He looked inside his glass as though it had the answer to his problems. But as any drunk on the street could tell him, the glass stayed silent.

He grimaced before taking a sip to fortify his courage. Then he sat down in a chair because he was not like Minerva; the strong drink would knock him flat on his back if he tried to emulate her approach to the stuff. A fact which had brought James and Sirius endless amounts of laughs the first night they had tried the stuff. And the memory of that night only served to deepen the bitter taste of failure that even the taste of scotch could not wipe from his mouth.

Seated across from him, Minerva observed him over the rim of her own glass. Her intense stare pinned him to his seat, but she held her tongue and allowed him the time he needed in order to formulate his response.

It was only once his glass was half empty that Remus finally spoke up.

"You're right Minerva," he said with a sigh. "Of course you are right; you generally have been ever since I was a child. By doing this I really am running away from everything. But unlike the first time, back when his parents died and Sirius went to Azkaban, it's not because I think that I would be a danger to him and to others. It's because I know that I'm a danger to him."

"You know that's not true. With Severus on staff you have more than enough access to-"

Remus held up a hand to cutoff of her impending argument. "You might not be aware, Minerva, but I am not just basing my argument on hypotheticals. This time it's based on experience, as just a few nights ago I transformed when I was right next to him and his two friends. And fool that I was, I did it when there wasn't even a single drop of Wolfbane's potion in my body."

Minerva's face went still at his words. "I had heard from Poppy that there had been an issue, but you don't mean to say that…"

"I do Minerva. I attacked him that night. I attacked him, and his friends, and I would have killed them too if Sirius hadn't nearly died trying to stop me!"

Remus held the cold glass in his hands to his temple, trying to assuage the pain he felt with its cool surface. "Now that he's seen the monster that lurks within me, how I get when I lose control, I don't know if I can ever become someone he can admire. Something like that has a way of changing and affecting the bonds between people, and it's rarely for the better."

"I wouldn't sell him short like," Minerva quickly objected. Her voice, so useful in the classroom, carried with it a ring of authoritative certainty. "Nor would I sell either of his friends that short either. James and Sirius didn't run away from you when they learned your secret. And I don't think that Harry and the others would either."

After a moment to ponder her comment, Remus inclined his head towards her. "You might be right about that, but it's a moot point. I swore a vow to his parents that I would help him if anything ever happened to them, and from where I sit the best way to uphold that vow is to stay as far away from him as humanly possible."

"But Remus, don't you see that-"

He cut her off for a second time. "No, Minerva, I do not! You are one of the kindest people I have ever met, someone I trust more than I can put into words, but I have made up my mind. I might be running away again, and I might regret doing so for the rest of my life… but given the level of unacceptable danger that I pose to Harry I do not see my decision changing."

Minerva sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Very well Remus. I promise that I will respect your decision and never mention it again. But before you set your decision in stone at least do one final thing for me. Do that, and I will support your choice no matter what."

His danger senses tingling, Remus moved the glass to the side so that he could peer at her with one eye open. "And what would that be? If it is to talk with the Headmaster then it would be a waste of everyone's time. I already know that Albus would want me to stay on, and I would rather not argue against both of you in one week."

The beautiful witch gave him a gentle smile over the rim of her glass, the faint lines at the corners of her eyes crinkling as she did. "Then it is a good thing that that is not my request, Remus."

The powerful witch took a sip of her drink. "No, the final thing that I want you to do – that you need to do – is to speak with Harry. Speak with him one last time before you turn in your letter of resignation. Do that, and I believe that you can leave here your conscience as clear as could be managed under the circumstances."

The werewolf shifted the glass held in his hand as he considered her proposal. The half-melted it contained ice clinked softly as he did, the tinkling noise calming him as he thought.

Speaking to the boy would be hard on Remus. To look into Lily's eyes staring at him from James' face. But if he could do that, and still leave… then chances were that Minerva was right. It would hurt him, but it could help him to heal the wound over time.

It would be the honorable course of action to take. The courageous one. Or in other words, it was theGryffindor choice.

Remus looked up at her with a sad, quiet smile. Of course she would be the one to suggest that doing so. No one he had ever met aside from Lily better encapsulated what it meant to be in the House of Gryffindor more than the woman who sat in front of him.

Something which was common knowledge was that the Headmaster of Hogwarts must be validated by the Castle in order to fill the post. But something which few knew of, and that Remus had only learned upon becoming a faculty member at the school, was that the same held true for the four Heads of House as well. Each candidate would need to undergo a test set by the Founder whose House they had been nominated to lead. One which would decide how worthy the candidate was, and whether their values were in line with those of the Founder in question.

But test or no test, Remus could think of no one better for the House of the Brave than Minerva McGonnagall, the proud Lioness of Hogwarts Castle.

"You win Minerva," he said with an air of defeat. "I'll do as you ask and talk to Harry about everything before I hand in my paperwork."

Minerva's sad expression lightened as she nodded her head. "That's all I can ask of you Remus. And I believe that it is important for both of your futures to have such a discussion with the son of James and Lily."

Remus nodded his head and raised his glass for another sip. Thinking of James and Lily, and of how he had failed both their son and Sirius in the past, had put the werewolf in the mood for more than one stiff drink. Thankfully he had another three bottles stashed away, including one of the really good stuff.

But all of a sudden Remus found himself unable to move. His eyes, which were the only thing free from the magic cast upon his body, moved to face the powerful witch seated across from him.

Minerva McGonnagall, lauded paragon of the many virtues belonging to the House of Gryffindor, patted her wand with a predatory smile. Her expression, which had been filled with sadness just moments ago, now had a feral tinge to its appearance.

"Now that we have finished with your matter, Remus," the powerful witch said as she moved to grab the bottle of scotch next to Remus' glass. "I believe that it would be a good time to revisit an earlier point in our discussion which you quite so inadvertently brought up."

The smile on the woman's lips quirked upwards into a predator's grin as she crossed her legs. "It is time that you tell me what Albus has been concealing from me. I want to know everything about young Harry's incident with the Basilisk and anything else which Albus may have told you about concerning the boy's… adventures during his time in this castle."

She took a sip from her glass, polished it off, and gave him another predatory smile as she did. "Am I understood?"

Remus would have nodded his head in reply – even all these years later, seeing a woman with that face reminded him of the terror that was Lily Evans Potter – but found himself unable to move. What he assumed to be the Petrificus Totalus spell kept his muscles locked in place as bead of sweat began to form across his brow.

Minerva seemed to gather his willingness to cooperate from his eyes, however, as her dark smile maintained itself without a hitch. "Good, good. I'm glad that we could reach an understanding so easily. In return I promise to focus the entirety of my wrath upon the old codger at fault in all of this and leave your name out of it as well."

She released the spell on his body with a snap of her fingers and extended her hand to him. Most likely for him to shake, but with her current appearance Remus could not completely rule out an attempt to slice open his jugular with her nails.

Sometimes Animagi could retain a few… unfortunate traits from their chosen transformation. And while he had possessed a handle on the issues his friends had faced, Remus had no idea what form Minerva McGonnagall's retained traits took.

At this point he was faced with a choice. To maintain the promise of secrecy Dumbledore had asked of him – and in doing so face the wrath of the woman in front of him – or to give up every shred he knew of and risk losing Dumbledore's confidence for good.

Let it not be said that Remus Lupin was a stupid man. All it took was one more look at Minerva's glittering eyes and he began to spill every single thing that he knew.

Page Break

"And that was the final thing we saw after we opened the door," Harry concluded. He had just finished telling Hermione everything that he and Ron had seen after they had found the strange room Dobby had guided them towards. After a long series of back and forth where she had pushed him for greater detail on things, he had finally finished conveying everything he could remember. "What do you think?"

Hermione had a thoughtful expression on her face she considered the issue. "So, just to make sure that I have everything right, Dobby was the one who told you about this room, right?"

Harry nodded. "That's correct."

"And when he told you about this room and how to open it, you though about opening some type of lost and found room, correct?

"Right so far."

"And this room, when it appeared, was filled with a heap of items. Some of which looked to be hundreds of years old?"

"Uh huh."

"In that case, did you try thinking of a room which only contained the Horcrux itself?"

"Of course I –" Harry stopped mid-sentence. He thought about what he had just been about to say. Then went over it again.

After a little more thinking Harry smacked a hand against his forehead as hard as he could.

Hermione was right. Why had he not thought of doing something like that? Was he stupid or something? It was so simple!

A small giggle caught his attention. His best friend was looking at him with mirth dancing in her eyes. Harry turned his head to glare at her, but it only caused her to giggle again.

"It's okay Harry," she said with a Cheshire grin. "You're not an idiot. It's just much easier to think about things in hindsight. After all, that's one of the things I'm here for, right? To help you think things through to their logical conclusion after you do the initial scouting."

The boy grumbled a little and turned his head away so that she could not see his face. Even if that was true, he really should not need to rely on her for something as simple as figuring that out. You did not need to be a rocket scientist or an Unspeakable to reach that obvious conclusion.

And how had she known that he was calling himself an idiot in his own head? Could she read his mind? Gosh he hoped not, otherwise he would probably end up dying out of embarrassment.

Maybe the reason she was so good at this sort of things was due to her intellect and wisdom attributes being so high. In any case it was something to consider.

Eventually he turned to face her again. And although she had switched back to looking at the pages of stats Harry had provided over the past few days, her soft lips were still curled into an almost feline grin. One that Harry had difficulty tearing his eyes away from viewing.

The sight of it made Harry think of Professor McGonnagall for some odd reason. A thought which caused a powerful shiver to go down his spine.

The Transfiguration professor might be gorgeous – only the much younger professors Sinistra and Aurora had a bigger following amongst the male students – but Harry did not want to think about the strict and austere woman in that way.

Although what way that might be, and why it would be okay to think of Hermione in that way, was something Harry refused to acknowledge even within the sanctity of his own mind. It was locked away in a forbidden place, never to be opened or examined in depth.

After all, if Hermione really could read his mind… the thought of that dreadful possibility trailed off as something even worse occurred to Harry.

If Hermione could read a person's mind, then could other wizards and witches do so as well? The very thought of that being true, of someone like Snape having the ability to peak into the minds of his students at will… well, even the possibility of it happening was enough for a tendril of fear to begin worming its way through Harry's body.

For all he knew the ability could even be fairly widespread. Its existence would not be too shocking considering the many other things Harry had encountered which were impossible from a purely muggle point of view.

Magical creatures like Unicorns, Dragons, and Trolls were real. Speaking to animals was a thing; Harry could do it himself, even if it was only good for snakes and nothing else. Batty old women giving prophecies, like Trelawney had the night Wormtail escaped, was also a thing. A rather annoying thing, one which would probably come back to bite Harry in the butt at some point, but still a thing.

Which meant that the likelihood of magical mind reading also being real… was unfortunately fairly high.

Another shiver went down Harry's spine at that thought, one which reached from the base of his skull to the tips of his toes. It was an unavoidable feeling when he considered his track record with things like magical creatures, prophecies, and Dark Lords. All of them had come back to bite him in some way, shape or form, a fact which did not bode well.

Hopefully though, if mind-reading was real, then maybe there was some sort of magical mind protection spell as well. Because if someone like Voldemort or Snape were to learn about the Game by reading Harry's mind, then they could make his life a living hell just by releasing that information to the world at large.

Knowing that some higher being had taken an interest in him was bad enough. But having the world at large know it, and then come after him for it was a notion that Harry did not want to even contemplate.

Hoping that Hermione would let the issue slide, and trying his best to put any thoughts of mind readers out of his… well, thoughts, Harry did his best to power forward with the conversation. "Anyway, let's get going Hermione. We can just grab Ron," Harry turned his head around to locate said redhead. "And… oh. This could be a problem."

Ron had completely passed out in front of the common room's fireplace. The other boy had apparently been more tired than anyone had thought and looked to have fallen asleep while Harry and Hermione had been talking.

A loud snort ripped from his mouth when Harry tossed a book to wake him up. But that there was no further sign of any reaction from him.

"Never mind," Harry muttered as he rolled his eyes. "You and I can go, and after we find it we can save Professor Lupin."

"Sure thing Harry. I'll just need a moment to tidy up and then we can be off."

"Hey, can I come long too?"

Harry looked to his right at the intruding voice and almost jumped in surprise. Not one foot away from him was Ginny Weasley's face, poking up over the edge of the couch. Her two soft brown eyes stared inquisitively into his green ones.

Harry scratched his head. While he had not particularly tried to hide his conversation with Hermione, he should have heard someone approaching them.

He turned to address Ginny. "So, uh, how long have you…"

"Been here?" Ginny offered with a smile. "Since before you arrived. Hermione was helping me work out a Potion issue that I got wrong on my end of year exams."

"Oh." Harry looked at Hermione and saw that her small grin had started to grow. "I see."

This put him into a bit of a quandary. Right now the only people who really knew what was going on were Hermione and Ron. Harry knew that he could trust them, knew how they worked together, and knew how they performed under pressure. But in regards to Ginny, he knew next to nothing about her in any of the areas that mattered.

To him she was Ron's little sister. One of the few girls Harry absolutely knew had a crush on him, or had used to have one; the way her face had flared up whenever he got near, along with the words Riddle's shade had spat at him in the Chamber of Secrets, had been a clear indication of it. But when she had started acting somewhat normally around him this year and had stayed away from him, Harry had thought that her crush had been over with.

Beyond that Harry knew very little else other than that she had a mean Bat-Bogey Hex.

He once again looked at Ron's sleeping form, then shifted his gaze to Hermione. Ron was down for the count. And he had been the one to say that he needed to take a step back anyway; maybe this could be a trial to letting someone else join in on his adventures.

However, was Ginny the right person to start with?

The measured nod he received from Hermione told Harry everything he needed to know. That she trusted Ginny to help them, but not to the point of giving her all of the details right away. They might only be going after some kind of object, but with magic – and something like the Game of Death involved – anything was possible.

Harry considered it. If Hermione trusted her, then it would probably be safe to bring Ginny along. But if the bushy-haired genius did not trust Ginny enough to tell her everything, then he would effectively be bringing along someone, on a possibly dangerous adventure, who would be kept in the dark. Which, if they encountered danger, would make Harry feel like a terrible person for deceiving her.

It was a difficult decision. Harry ran a hand through his hair as he thought it over some more. He turned to look her in the eyes. Her brown eyes were clear-eyed and beautiful, possessing a flash of eagerness that Harry had never before seen in them. A willingness to be trusted and involved, hoping that he gave her a chance to show her worth.

It was a familiar look. One that had seen every day he looked into a mirror during his first year at Hogwarts, back when he felt that he still had so much to prove to those around him. That feeling had faded over the years with the company of Hermione and Ron, but it had never gone away completely.

Seeing it on the face of someone else, of someone who was looking to him for validation, clinched the decision for him.

"Sure Ginny," Harry said with a nod. "But while it should be safe it also might be dangerous. Are you okay with that?"

Ginny thought it over for a moment. "Are you talking about hundred foot Basilisk dangerous?"

"Merlin's bead, no! It had better not!" Harry exclaimed as he shook his head adamantly. "No. It really shouldn't be that dangerous. But, I think in the worst case scenario, it could maybe something on the level of a troll."

It was a guess on his part. But it was a safe place to start, as the level of danger around Harry could vary drastically from hour to hour.

"Then count me in," Ginny said as a dazzling smile broke over her pretty features. "If you and Ron could handle one in your first year, then I don't see why the three of us couldn't beat one now."

Harry gave a laugh at her infectious confidence. "Great! Now let's get going while the hallways are empty."

With that statement the duo was back to a trio, with the requisite redheaded spot being filled once again. It caused a warm feeling to rise within Harry's chest, and he sported a grin as wide as his face while they put their things away and made to leave.

Ginny might not be Harry's mate like Ron was, but she seemed rather nice now that she had stopped stuttering so much. As they made their way through the portrait, and he watched her talking animatedly with Hermione, it felt like he was seeing a completely different person than the shy girl he had once known.

It was a difference he had not expected. But unlike Ron's new leaf, Ginny's seemed rather fun and enjoyable. And maybe, just maybe, she would have what it took to walk alongside Harry and Hermione wherever their journey's took them in the future.

Happy and hoping the thought to be true, Harry walked up behind the two girls and clapped a hand on their shoulders. Both started with surprise and turned their heads to look back at him.

"Welcome to the team, Ginny," he said warmly as he shifted his gaze between them. "It's good to have you here."

A/N: As I was editing this chapter it started to grow in length. And then it kept growing in length. Which in turn caused the flow to change and grow gnarled and ugly. So I decided to split it in two once again. The second part, the new chapter 10, will be posted online in two or three days after I flesh out its scenes a little more.

And what's this? A short author's note from me? *gasp*

Until Next Time,

Elsil