Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Chapter 10: Goblet of Fire, Part VI
Harry woke with a start. He rolled over onto his side, trying to fall back asleep. It was no use; the day had simply been too eventful he supposed. Harry frowned. The day had been eventful with the sudden appearance of Crouch and then his disappearing act, but he did not know why it was keeping him up. Giving up, Harry threw back the covers from the bed and slid his feet to the floor. He walked to the window and opened the shutters, hoping the cool air would relieve him of what ever was keeping him awake. The cool air felt good on his skin and he rubbed his temples realizing for the first time that he had a headache.
Suddenly, Harry's world erupted painfully. His hands shot up, knocking a solitary beetle far from the window, and moved to his scar without thinking and his eyes closed as he fought the pain.
Ginny's eyes flew open: Harry was in pain. She transformed and flamed to his side without thinking. She arrived just in time to catch him as he fell to the floor. Harry thrashed about in pain, but when she hugged him close he stopped and slumped into her arms unconscious. Leaning back, she took his heavy body onto her own and maneuvered him onto the bed.
Her hand ran through his already mussed hair. She was not sure if she was trying to comfort him or herself. They stayed like that for nearly ten minutes before Ginny gently shook him awake, "Harry, wake up." She did the best she could to control her shaking voice.
She continued shaking Harry until his eyes fluttered open. "Gin, Ginny?" His eyes locked on hers and she could feel the nausea and fear that was flowing through him, "He's got a spy here! I think Crouch is dead…and I saw Wormtail…"
Ginny waited until Harry had calmed down before she said anything other than comforting words. The other boys in the dormitory were still asleep, Ginny briefly wondered how any of them could sleep between the symphony of snores coming from Ron and Neville.
Harry, come on. You need to tell Dumbledore what you saw. Harry sighed and he stood, Ginny by his side. They made their way quietly out of the dormitory and then through the common room. Their way to the headmaster's office was briefly interrupted by Mrs. Norris, but it only took a look from Ginny for the cat to slink off.
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Dumbledore frowned. The conversation that he had just finished with Harry had been disturbing. For lack of better words, Harry had had another vision. It confirmed his worse fears. First, the connection between Harry and Voldemort was growing stronger; Dumbledore felt a shiver go down his spine at what Voldemort might do with that connection should he become aware of it.
Then there was the other aspect of his vision: there was a spy at Hogwarts. Dumbledore mentally reviewed the list of possible spies and gave up. He was confident of the professors, but here were numerous students who could be helping Voldemort and then there were the guests.
He turned his mind away from the spy and back toward what Voldemort was planning. Harry's vision had confirmed that Voldemort was planning something and that it involved Barty Crouch's mysterious disappearance and even more mysterious reappearance. Picking up his wand, he jabbed the pensive, which now contained his memories of Barty Crouch. There were numerous reasons why Voldemort would want Crouch dead; Vengeance topped the list, but if what Harry had said was true about Crouch's rant then there was far more to it. Dumbeldore was tempted to dismiss what Crouch had said in his delirium, but his behavior of late had been decidedly odd. Dumbledore wished he knew what mistake Crouch had been trying to confess – whatever it had been it had cost him his life.
Standing up and turning to face the fireplace, Dumbledore opened a pot on near the hearth and grabbed a pinch of floo powder. Dumbledore looked down at the powder and considered; he would talk to Alastor first then he would have to inform Sirius of the latest as he had promised. After throwing the powder into the fire, he put his head into the flames and called out, "Alastor!"
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The next day Harry received a letter from Sirius berating him for walking alone with Krum. The chastisement did not end there though. Hagrid also had the same advice, although in his case Harry suspected that it had more to do with Madam Maxime than Krum.
When Harry had told Hermione and Ron about the incident they had both reacted differently. Hermione had been concerned more with Crouch and his strange words. On the other hand, Ron had expressed more interest in why Krum had wanted to talk with Harry. He had not been pleased when Harry told him that Krum had essentially asked for permission to date Hermione. Ron had remained deathly quiet after that wondering why Krum had asked Harry's permission of all people.
Harry had been shocked too and had asked Krum the same thing. Krum's answer had shocked him then embarrassed him and finally he had felt shame. Krum had told him that Hermione considered him the brother she never had. While Harry had been pleased by the comment, it had made him feel terribly guilty about not telling Hermione anything about the two most important things that had happened to him: Ginny and becoming an animagus.
Hermione had only blushed when Harry had revealed that Krum had asked his permission; although, later she did ask if he had given it.
To everyone's surprise the only thing that had come out of the Krum issue was a great deal of silence from both Ron and Hermione. Along with Harry and Ginny, they had both rose to the challenge of preparing Harry for the third task. Hermione had drawn up a list of spells that would be useful in getting through the maze. Along with the list of spells, she had also created a training schedule that had the four of them spending all of their free time training or researching new spells or creatures that could be expected to be found in the maze. Indeed, it seemed the only time they were not all together was at night.
For the stunning and impedimenta spells they had even enlisted Neville's help as Ron had grown quite tired of being stunned. Hermione had refused to be cursed at all after seeing Ron miss the carefully arranged pillows the first few times and while Ginny had no objection to being a practice dummy, Harry had noticed that every time he had stunned her he had felt woozy himself.
As the date of the task drew nearer, Harry noticed the other champions were becoming more and more nervous. He, however, felt far less nervous about this task since he could not be any worse than what had been guarding the Sorcerers Stone – at least in this task help would be close at hand.
The only thing that was making him nervous was that for the past week his scar had started to hurt during the nights. Harry thought it was strange that his scar only hurt at night. He was starting to have trouble sleeping. In the past week, he had only slept for the full night and that had ended badly when Ron had found him and Ginny curled up on the common room's couch.
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It had finally come: The twenty-fourth of June and the third task. The dim light of dusk did not bother Harry and he looked up into the hills surrounding the pitch. On top of the closest hill he could just make out a black dog. He smiled. It made him feel better knowing Sirius was watching over the task.
He's not the only one watching, Ginny sent. She was incredibly nervous; Harry's scar hurting could not be a good thing, they had told Dumbledore, but he had only nodded his head and told them that he thought Voldemort was indeed active and stronger.
Harry smiled at Ginny's concern. He presence in his mind reminded him of his first year when Ginny practically had attended classes with him. Professor Moody gave him a nod and then started to walk around the edge of the maze. Harry turned his attention back to Bagman in time to hear him announce that he and Cedric would be the first into the maze. Harry pulled his wand out and waited for Bagman to start the task.
Bagman, in his overly loud voice, announced the start of the task. Harry and Cedric entered the maze. Cedric immediately muttered "lumos." Harry quickly looked the other way. Unlike Cedric, he had no problem with the dim light thanks to his cat like eyesight. When they reached the first fork he turned to Cedric and said, "I'll take the left." Cedric nodded and sped down the right path.
Harry was incredibly surprised that he had not run into any obstacle so far and thought it unusual. A soft golden glow in front of him was his first obstacle. He looked at the shimmering something in front of him and considered what to do with it. It was not solid, so he doubt any of his banishing or bombardment curses would work against it. He briefly considered using his animagus form to simply flame past the obstacle, but dismissed the idea. It was simply too much like cheating…that and Moody and his magical eye might see.
He took a step forward and suddenly found he was upside down…or the world was. Not knowing what else to do and already having checked with Ginny, who was just as confused as he was, he closed his eyes and took another step silently praying that he would not fall down into the sky. The world righted itself immediately.
Strange, Harry thought
Keep moving Harry! Ginny ordered him, her competitive spirit emerging.
One humongous blast-ended skewrt and a sphinx later, Harry felt like he was getting closer and closer to the center of the maze. Eve nfor his eyes it was getting darker. He truend abruptly when he heard a woman's scream and then saw red sparks in the sky; Fleur was out.
Did you see what happened? He asked Ginny.
No, Dumbledore's charmed the top of the maze so that we can only see your position.
Pushing Fleur out of his mind, Harry continued, now jogging down the path. He stopped suddenly when he heard Cedric's alarmed voice, "Hey! What are you…"
Cedric's voice was cut off by a thick Bulgarian accented voice, "Crucio!" The air was soon filled with Cedric's screams.
No longer caring about winning the tournament, Harry turned toward the hedge and yelled, "INCENDIO." The hedge burst into flame and was quickly burnt through. Harry pushed his way through the hedge the now small flames not bothering him in the least.
The sight that greeted him was not pleasant; Krum had his wand on Cedric and a vacant expression. Harry did not have to think when he raised his own wand a sent a stunning spell at him. Krum went down and Harry rushed to Cedric's side.
Harry helped Cedric stand back up, not releasing him until the older boy had recovered from the painful curse. "Why'd he do it?" asked Harry not really expecting an answer though. "I can't believe he would want to win so badly."
"Thanks, Harry. Me either. An unforgivable no less," said Cedric with a look of disgust as he took Krum's wand and sent up red sparks. "I guess we keep going?" Harry nodded and again they took different paths in the darkness.
Harry turned what he hoped to be the final corner in the maze and froze. Before him was the Tri-Wizard Cup and a large spider that Cedric was barely keeping at bay, he watched the spider advance toward Cedric and realized he had to do something.
Harry launched several stupefy spells at the spider, but to no effect other than distracting the spider. Cedric slumped against one the hedges trying to catch his breath. Harry shot an impedimenta curse slowing down the spider almost imperceptibly. In a flash the spider had him dangling upside down. He noticed out of the corner of his eye several streams of red lights that could only be Cedric's own attempt to help him.
Ginny was becoming increasingly frantic at Harry's situation. If she had not been sitting in the stands she probably would have already flamed to his side. She let out a large sigh of relief when Harry sent an expelliarmus at the spider forcing it to release him.
Cedric yelled at Harry, "Harry! Stunners on three! One, two, three..."
"STUPEFY" roared two voices; the spells hit the spider at the same time and it fell with a heavy thud unconscious.
You are NEVER going to compete in one of these things again, announced an extremely relieved Ginny.
Harry looked down at his right ankle, it was broken. He had not noticed it when he fell because of the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Looking toward the cup, he realized that he could never beat Cedric to it, but then, he thought, I never wanted to be in this stupid tournament anyway.
"Go ahead Cedric – you take it." Cedric smiled at him and took a few steps toward the cup and stopped.
Harry finally managed to stand unsteadily as he watched Cedric struggle with his desire to grab the cup. "Go ahead Cedric, take it. You deserve it," he said with a smile.
Cedric looked at him incredulously, "No. You could have taken the cup if you hadn't helped me."
Harry shook his head and thought 'and people think I have a nobility complex,' "Are you saying you wouldn't have done the same?" He knew Cedric would have helped him if the situations had been reversed.
"No, Harry it's just not right."
"Will you just take the cup," yelled Harry.
Instead of his resolve crumbling, Cedric seemed to solidify his decision, "No, I'm not going to take it."
"Fine," said Harry exasperated, "We'll both take it. That way it will still be a Hogwarts victory." Cedric smiled and helped Harry over to the cup.
When their hands touched the edge of the cup Harry felt the same sensation he had felt when he had touched a portkey over the summer.
Harry collapsed onto Cedric, his ankle giving out. Cedric helped him stand on his own and then they looked around, "Is this a part of the task?" asked Cedric.
"I don't know." Harry was worried; he looked around. They were in a graveyard and the landscape no longer looked anything he had seen surrounding Hogwarts.
"Wands out?" Harry nodded agreeing with Cedric and peered into the darkness again.
Harry's scar veritably exploded and a high voice said, "Kill the spare."
Without thinking and acting with catlike reflexes Harry threw himself at Cedric forcing him to the ground. A sickening green light flew overhead. Harry twisted around in time to see a red light coming at him; he raised his wand and said, "Protego," hoping the shield spell worked. The spell hit the invisible barrier and rebounded at the caster, who Harry heard utter a curse.
Harry stumbled over a fallen limb and fell to the ground. He turned his head and saw another red light fly overhead and hit Cedric in the chest. Trying to stand and face his opponent, Harry saw for the first time who was firing the spells: Wormtail.
His head and reflexes were already clouded from his broken ankle and the pain in his scar, but even then he almost brought the shield up in time. Wormtail sent another stunning spell at him, the strongest the man could muster, and Harry felt unconsciousness take him.
Back at Hogwarts, Ginny was beyond frantic and was quickly becoming hysterical. She was just about to transform when she felt the stunner hit Harry. Ginny collapsed unconscious.
Harry woke groggily to a sharp pain in his arm. Wormtail was collecting his blood. Harry tried to shrink away, but found that he was tied securely to a gravestone. Wormtail was muttering something about "blood from your enemy" as he moved over to the largest cauldron Harry had ever seen. He had just passed a black bundle of cloth on the side when the high pitched voice, Harry now associated with Voldemort, issued from its depths, "NO! Wait. Do you not feel it? The blood it is poison – use the other one's blood you fool."
Harry turned his head and saw that Cedric too was tied to a gravestone, his eyes wide in fear. Wormtail moved to Cedric, discarding Harry's blood, and began perform the same task on Cedric who struggled, but could not stop him. The two boys watched in horror as Wormtail continued the ceremony. When Wormtail placed the bundle of rags into the cauldron Harry could not help but think 'Let it drown, please if there's a god let it drown.' To his side Cedric was thinking along similar lines as he watched.
Smoke and mist rose from the cauldron and then as they cleared a tall form could be made out.
"Robe me." Harry closed his eyes and felt pure terror course through him; Voldemort had a body. He did not see Voldemort press his finger against Wormtail's skin and cause the dark mark to turn red.
Ignoring Wormtail's obvious pain Voldemort turned and faced the two boys. "What do we have here? I suppose it turned out to be a good thing that Wormtail is such a bad aim," he said addressing Cedric. A cruel smile played at his snakelike face, "I no longer have any need of you."
Cedric jutted his chin out in defiance. He knew the creature before him had to be You Know Who and he refused to cower; his death would be soon. Without turning his head, Cedric said, "Good luck, Harry."
For some reason this last act of defiance seem to enrage Voldemort and he immediately cast the Avada Kedavra curse. Cedric's body slumped against the tombstone and the ropes holding him in place.
Voldemort turned to Harry just as cracks announced the arrival of many black robed individuals. Voldemort let his returning Death Eaters grovel before him before he focused back on Harry.
Ginny, Harry sent his thoughts still in a haze. He received no response, which caused his head to clear despite the pain. Focusing on her, Harry found she was unconscious. He was about to try and wake her when Voldemort interrupted him.
"And here he is…the boy you all believed had been my downfall…" hissed Voldemort. "I admit I had hoped to use your blood for my resurrection and remove that annoying blood protection you have, but do not worry," his voice had taken on a murderous tone, "there are other ways. Not that I will need them now." Voldemort raised his wand, "Crucio!"
The pain was unbearable. Every part of his body was crying out. When the curse was finally lifted Harry hung limply in the ropes binding him. "Untie him Wormtail. And give him back his wand."
Harry found himself facing the cruciatus curse again and then the imperious. To Voldemort's dismay and anger he threw of the latter. Just as Voldemort cast another "crucio" he jumped to the side and heard the curse hit a Death Eater who had foolishly stood behind him. Voldemort did not seem to mind; he even laughed, but turned his attention back to Harry. Harry tried to transform, but found it impossible. His entire body was aching from the cruciatus curse, his broken ankle, and his scar. He was simply too tired and exhausted. His lack of concentration had given Voldemort the advantage; his exhausted body no longer moving as quickly.
"Tiring of our duel already? No, we aren't done yet," Voldemort mocked and cast a cutting spell, "diffindo." Harry felt the spell rip across his chest leaving a flowing warmth. Before he could fully recover Voldemort had cast another cutting curse, but Harry reacted this time yelling, "PROTEGO." The spell bounced off his shield and impacted a Death Eater in the mask, which the curse cut through.
"Well, well, well. So the child has learned something," Voldemort began speaking again. From his tone Harry knew the next curse would be the Killing Curse. "No matter, come let us finish this. Watch Harry Potter die," Voldemort raised his wand and Harry brought his up as well determined to die as defiant as Cedric had.
The voices of Voldemort and Harry rang out; one yelling "Avada Kedavra" and the other "Expelliarmus." The spells connected and brother wands fought each other for dominance.
The pair was lifted moving to the right; the Death Eaters moved within them calling out for instructions. Harry concentrated on pushing the bead of light toward Voldemort's wand. Harry felt his heart lift and a renewed determination when he heard Fawkes' song despite the blood loss. Finally the bead connected with Voldemort's vibrating wand.
The first person to emerge from Voldemort's wand was an image of Cedric. As soon as he plopped to the ground he picked himself up and looked at Harry and smiled. "You're doing good. Hold on a little bit longer."
An old man was next to emerge, followed by a woman who had to be Bertha Jerkins. Then to Harry's hope and fear his parents. They all offered same encouragement. "Remember Harry, the cup is to your left. You must get to the cup while we distract him," his father told him.
"Harry, we love you," His mother called, "It's almost time now. Get ready."
Harry nodded then realized something, "Wait," he said turning his head to Cedric, "What about your body?"
Cedric bowed his head sadly, "Don't worry about my body. It would only get you killed." He raised his head and looked Harry in the eyes, "Tell my parents I died well."
Harry broke the connection and dove left. He was still too far from the cup. "ACCIO CUP" he yelled. As the cup soared to him, Harry turned and grabbed Cedric's wrist. Harry closed his eyes as he felt himself jerk forward and heard a loud crack. Cedric's body followed, gravestone and all.
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The pitch was in an uproar. Dumbledore had done a complicated wave of his wand and the hedges had disappeared revealing the two missing teenagers. Dumbledore stood looking at the spot where his students should have been for several minutes and felt his heart started to fall into his stomach; he had failed.
The uproar in the stands was slowly turning into a chaos as the time passed and the professors did nothing. No one knew if this was part of the task or not. Hermione was looking down at the pitch in horror. She took a step back and fell over something; luckily, Ron caught her. "Hermione, are you…Ginny!" Hermione looked to where Ron was staring. Ginny was lying unconscious. "How long has she been like that?" asked Ron.
Hermione did not know, but bent down with her wand out, "Ennervate." Ginny's eyes flew open and she went from a prone position to running toward the pitch in one movement. Ron and Hermione turned and followed. Their speed increased when they saw two figures in the middle of the pitch. One lay in a puddle of red and the other was bound to something.
Dumbledore was the first to reach the two boys. He healed the gash on Harry's chest knowing that his healing skills were no match for Madam Pomfrey's, but that stopping the bleeding was crucial even if it left a scar. He turned to inspect Cedric and paled; Cedric Diggory was dead.
Someone pushed past him, nearly knocking him over and Dumbledore turned to see Ginny now cradling Harry in her arms. He raised his wand, about to conjure a stretcher for Harry, when two figures caught his attention; Amos Diggory and his wife were coming. He had to deal with them first and told the approaching Professor Moody to stand guard.
In the confusion Professor Moody had managed to hobble his way to the center of the maze and to where Harry and Ginny were. He ignored the shell-shocked Ron and Hermione and grabbed an unsuspecting Ginny by the shoulders, "Out of the girl," he grunted and practically threw her aside.
Ginny landed hard on the green turf and turned angrily to face her abuser. When she saw Moody moving to pick up Harry with a grim smile on his face she raised her hand, wand forgotten, and yelled "STUPEFY." The curse hit Moody squarely in the chest and the man flew twenty feet before coming to a rest. All eyes immediately turned toward the commotion.
Dumbledore scanned the scene. There was Ginny standing protectively over Harry, now with her wand in her hand, and twenty-five feet away was his Defense professor. Ginny's eyes told the professor all he needed to know about what she thought Moody had tried to do. Dumbledore paled under his beard when he began to put it together: A spy at Hogwarts, someone who would not be suspected, the disturbance at Moody's home, Barty Crouch's delirium, the dismissal of Winky, and the Dark Mark at the World Cup.
He wasted no time. Cedric's body had already been covered and removed and he conjured a stretcher for Harry and, Dumbledore sincerely hoped, a fake Moody. He took a set of keys from Moody and handed them to Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, Check the trunk in his office." The Deputy Headmistress left without saying a word and Dumbledore led the rest back to the castle leaving crowd control to the remaining professors. They were joined by a black dog before they entered Hogwarts.
Madam Pomfrey began treating Harry before he was even in the Hospital Wing. By the time they had entered the hospital wing she had forced down a blood replenishing potion and was about to give him a dreamless sleep draught, but was stopped by Dumbledore. She tried to stop Dumbledore from asking questions saying her patient needed rest, but Dumbledore assured her it was of the utmost importance. Ron and Hermione had been ordered back to the tower, but Ginny remained much to Ron's chagrin and Hermione's growing understanding. By the time Harry finished his tale Professor McGonagall had returned with an unconscious Moody. Harry stared between the two Moodys and then looked at Professor Dumbledore silently asking what was going on.
"I think that the answer to your question will reveal itself shortly," Dumbledore replied cryptically. Within a few minutes the closest Moody began to change his hair becoming shorter and darker, the blue eye popped out along with the wooden leg, and then his features. "May I present Barty Crouch, Jr."
"Severus, I believe you have some veritasurem. It would be invaluable. Minerva, would you please go down to the kitchens and bring up the house elf named Winky. If you can't find her then ask for Dobby. He will help you." For the next thirty minutes they listened in shock to the imposter's story.
The next week was one of the hardest in Harry's life. Minister of Magic Fudge had come by and deposited his winnings, but had stalwartly refused to believe that Lord Voldemort had returned even when Snape had shown him the Dark Mark on his arm. Harry had been flabbergasted that the man refused to believe not only his word, but also that of Professor Dumbledore and the testimony of Crouch. He learned later that Crouch had been kissed by a dementor before giving any official testimony.
It was only a couple of days before the end of term feast when again Dumbledore requested that Harry repeat his story; this time in front of a larger audience. Mrs. Weasley had remained the entire week; insisting she was not going to leave until Harry could leave the hospital wing so she was now there waiting. Professors Snape and McGonagall were present again along with Hagrid. Sirius also remained and, like Mrs. Weasley, had spent most of his time in the hospital wing as a dog – much to the annoyance of both Madam Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley. This time Ron and Hermione were allowed to attend as they, or rather Ron steadfastly refused to leave when the adults entered the hospital wing since Ginny had been allowed to stay last time. No one seemed to want to expend the effort to throw him out. No one took any notice that Ginny was sitting beside Harry.
So, once again, Harry went through his experience in as much detail as he could muster. When it was all over Harry sighed and awaited the inevitable questions. "Voldemort," several of those present flinched at the name, "said that your blood was poison?" queried Dumbledore. Harry nodded and the old professor seemed to contemplate the point before launching into further questions.
Forty-five minutes later Dumbledore brought the discussion to a close and turned to Snape, "You know what I must ask you to do?" Snape sneered his acknowledgement. "Very well, but before you go I think that another of our party should reveal himself. Sirius, if you would."
Sirius plodded forward to the congregated wizards and witches and transformed. Mrs. Weasley let loose a startled scream, Madam Pomfrey took several steps back, Hagrid clenched his fists, and Snape intensified his already present sneer. "Ah, yes. For those that do not know, Sirius Black is innocent of all charges," Dumbledore explained briefly outlining the events of Harry's third year. When he asked Sirius and Snape to shake hands Harry was sure one of them was going to have an aneurism. Still the two men shook hands and Snape quickly left.
Dumbledore then turned his attention to Mrs. Weasley, "Molly, Fudge's behavior is unfortunate, but not wholly unexpected. I have to ask you if Arthur is willing to contact people within the Ministry and find some we can trust."
Mrs. Weasley nodded, "He'll do it. We've known what Fudge is for a long time. Don't worry – Arthur knows many good people there." Mrs. Weasley gave her children and Harry quick hugs and started to leave.
"Sirius, go to Remus' and start getting the old crowd back together." Dumbledore turned to Harry, "I'm sorry, Harry, but you will have to return to the Dursleys' for a little while."
Sirius began protesting and Mrs. Weasley, who had only made it to the hospital wings' doors stopped and rushed back into the fray. McGonagall pursed her lips, but remained silent.
"Albus, you can't be serious!" said Mrs. Weasley and Sirius at the same time. Harry even thought he heard Professor McGonagall mumble, "Worst sort of muggles."
Dumbledore raised his hands for quiet, "I understand, but the wards around Privet Drive are among the strongest I have ever created and now more than ever Harry must be kept safe. I assure you that he will only be there for the least amount of time possible. It should only be three weeks at the most – a month at the outside. Harry watched in disappointment as Sirius and Mrs. Weasley deflated at Dumbledore's refusal.
Ginny, seeing the adults surrender, made her own demand, "Fine. If you are going to send Harry to live with those poor excuses for muggles then I'm going with him." Off to the side Ron made a strangled cry and then yelped as Hermione smashed his foot.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes had gone wide when her daughter had made that pronouncement. There was no way she was going to allow her daughter, who would soon be entering the dangerous age of fourteen, to stay with a hormonal teenage boy…no matter the circumstances, "No! I can't allow…" Mrs. Weasley's words fumbled as she searched for reasoning that would be acceptable. She briefly considered how to describe such a situation as improper even though the pair was married.
"I'm afraid your mother is correct; you cannot stay with Harry," interrupted Dumbledore. Molly Weasley sighed in relief; for a moment she had begun to doubt herself.
"But I stayed with him after my first year!" protested Ginny, which elicited another cry from Ron and a jab from Hermione.
"Your presence would make it easier for Lord Voldemort to find Privet Drive. It is simply a danger that cannot be allowed. That danger did not exist then." Dumbledore frowned; Ginny was looking mutinous and was giving her mother and Dumbledore dirty looks.
"Is there some other way? It's like sending him to prison," Sirius spoke again. Harry could tell by his tone that the fight was over, but he was not pleased in the least.
Ginny…
I know, Ginny's tone reflected his own frustration and anger and, strangely for Ginny, resignation. However, when she next spoke Harry knew that it had not been resignation or any other form of surrender, Same plan as last summer?
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Hermione paced the common room floor and glared at the clock again, willing time to speed up. Harry had one more night in the hospital wing. She was going to confront him and Ginny, but wanted to do it in the dead of night so that they could not be overheard – for whatever reason they wanted to keep their bonding secret. Besides she was almost certain now that an illegal animagus had been eavesdropping during the past year.
She was sure Ginny would be with Harry. It was a quarter past one and Ginny was not in her bed and as far as Hermione was concerned that only left one place that Ginny would be. She looked up at the clock again, 1:20, and sighed; she had promised herself that she would wait until 1:30 before making her way through the dark hallways and corridors to the hospital wing. She looked at the clock again, "Close enough," she said and walked quietly out of the common room.
Pausing outside the hospital wing's door, Hermione took a deep breath and once again mentally went through how she wanted the conversation to go. The door made a minute creak when she opened it and then she made sure to hold the handle down and slowly release it as she closed the door. When she turned two pairs of eyes were looking at her from the furthest bed. Ginny was sitting up on her elbow with one arm draped over Harry. Harry had only raised his head.
As Hermione walked closer she noticed that both Harry's and Ginny's eyes were red and she wondered if they had been discussing what had happened at the graveyard. She had tried the other day to get Harry to talk about how he was feeling about seeing Cedric die, but she did not get far. Ginny had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and had subtly, but forcibly steered the conversation away from the topic. If she had not read about the bond between the two, Hermione probably would have pressed the issue.
"Harry? Ginny?" Hermione whispered.
"We're awake, Hermione," the voice was Harry's and it was wary.
"Hi," Hermione did not know why but she was now feeling very uncertain and wondered for the first time how they would take to her researching them and their relationship. "I, I wanted to talk to you two."
Ginny cocked an eyebrow, "Now?"
Taking a deep breath, Hermione decided to press on, "Well I figured it be better to do it without anyone overhearing." Both Harry and Ginny looked nervous now, "I've been…um…noticing things about how you interact with each other. Truth be told I thought I started noticing things just before the start of our third year, but then events distracted me. Then I remembered my…umm…" Hermione searched for a more neutral word than 'suspicions,' "thoughts on what was going on between the two of you and I ordered a book." At this point Hermione revealed the large book from behind her back and put it on the bed so they could see the title.
Harry sighed and then said, "What did you learn from that book?" Hermione could not glean anything from his tone as it seemed to be a mix of emotions ranging from anger to shame.
The question put Hermione on firmer ground though and she began to reveal what she had researched, "As you can guess, I suspected a bond, but at first I thought it was due to the life debt incurred in the Chamber of Secrets. I started there, but nothing seemed to add up. A life debt, even one that went both ways, did not explain the things I had observed: your strange ability to apparate, which then seemed to disappear; the ability to talk with only your minds; increased magical power; and the closeness you share." Hermione took a breath and waited for an interruption that did not come, "So I continued reading and I found only one bond that fits – a soul bond." Still Harry and Ginny said nothing and Hermione was becoming frustrated with their silence. "Well?"
Instead of answering verbally they only nodded. Hermione closed her eyes in frustration. She wanted answers, but the two people in front of her were not giving them willingly. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Hermione launched into her questions, "You two realize that you're married?" again the irritating nods. "I know I read that bonded pairs dislike discussing it, but this is ridiculous! Why won't you talk to me?"
"Hush, Hermione! You're going to wake Madam Pomfrey," Harry stated, surprised at his own calm demeanor. "To tell you the truth, I, we, don't know why. It's just intensely uncomfortable. I know the books describe certain results of the bonding, but beyond that – the actual experience – it's indescribable."
"How do you know what the books say?" Hermione asked.
"We have a book – we got it before the start of third year," answered Ginny.
"Oh really? That's great! Do you think I can borrow it?" Hermione stopped momentarily realizing she was gushing, "Who else knows? I know Ron doesn't."
"Of course Ron doesn't know. Merlin! You saw how he acted when he thought Ginny was my girlfriend…much less my wife," Harry felt a strange, but pleasurable shiver run up his spine. He could count the number of times he had verbally said that Ginny was his wife on his hand. "Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley know. I think Professor McGongall knows too and Sirius found out."
"Why haven't you told me? I can understand not telling Ron or the rest of your brothers, but…"
"Hermione," interrupted Ginny, "You can't tell anyone," it almost came out as a beg, but then Ginny said, "please." Harry marveled at how such a pleasant word could be changed into an order.
Hermione looked very unhappy, but nodded her consent.
…………………………….
Harry shifted nervously and tried to get into a carriage as quickly as possible while Ginny sent glares at the students who dared to stare at him. Rumors of what had happen during the third task had spread like wildfire. Dumbledore's explanation had only added fuel to those fires. Harry probably would not have even noticed that people were once again looking at him strangely, but the past week Ginny had spent much of her time preventing his slide into depression. While Harry had told Cedric's parents his last message, he had only told Ginny Cedric's last living words. They seem to give Harry both comfort and pain.
The train back to Platform 9 3/4 was uneventful until shortly before they arrived. Malfoy chose that time to make his visit, "Potter, you managed to escape this time, but your days are numbered." When no one responded Malfoy pressed on, "Don't think that your friends are safe. The mudblood will be the first off course then maybe…" Malfoy's eyes traveled to Ginny, but he never got to say anything because Ron had launched himself at him, his fist hitting Malfoy in the jaw. Malfoy staggered back and drew his wand, but suddenly went rigid as aboard and was covered in strange fungus. Fred and George stepped over Malfoy into the compartment with identical evil grins.
Ron laughed at Malfoy's plot while rubbing his injured hand. The whistle signaled their arrival and Ron and Hermione immediately began moving their luggage out. Harry waited wanting to put off going back to the Dursleys. Strangely, Fred and George waited with him and Ginny and kept looking over their shoulders. When Hermione was out of earshot their grins got bigger, "Harry," Fred said.
"Little Ginnikins," George put in before turning to Harry and ignoring the nasty look from Ginny, "we've got something to give you Harry."
"Yes, we've been developing products and its come to our attention that they might come in handy for you during your stay at less desirable locations." Fred handed over several vials of different colored liquids.
"What do they do?" asked Harry intrigued.
"You'll just have to find out," George said and then winked, "Yes, if you could test them we would be grateful."
"Just tell us what the reactions are, any undesirable symptoms and the like. We are hoping to add these babies to our product line if we ever get the money for a joke shop," George continued.
"You made these for Harry? What do you call them?" Ginny asked impressed by her brothers.
Fred smiled broadly, "We didn't make them specifically for Harry, but we think he might find them fun. We call them Magical Maladies."
Harry looked at the vials and considered the possibilities. He laughed knowing that whatever they did they would make Privet Drive far more interesting. "So you guys are really interested in opening a joke shop?" An idea had just occurred to Harry. The twins both replied in the affirmative. "All you need is money?" Again both twins nodded, now curious as to where Harry was going with his line of questioning. Harry turned and opened his trunk and pulled out the Tri-Wizard winnings.
Are you sure about this Harry? Asked Ginny, she knew he did not want it, but giving it to the twins for a joke shop risked the wrath of her mother.
Yes. I think we are all going to need some laughs. Harry was too busy trying to figure out how to convince the twins to take the money to pay close attention to Ginny's concerns.
"Here," said Harry holding the sack of galleons out to Fred and George, who immediately backed away hands held out.
"We can't take it Harry!" one of them said.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Why not? It's not like I don't have enough and I don't want it."
"Still Harry, it wouldn't be right," objected George; Fred, however, was now looking intently at the bag obviously calculating how far they could get with a thousand galleons.
"It would be more than right – use it for your joke shop. Don't think of it as charity; think of it as an…um…an investment. Besides I think with Voldemort back," the twins did not flinch but were still visibly disturbed by the name, "we are all going to need some good laughs."
He could tell the objections George had disappeared. "Thanks, Harry! You won't regret this!" As Fred and George left they put their heads together whispering intently and making wild gestures.
"Harry, I don't think you realized what you've done," said Ginny.
Harry shrugged, "Sure I do; I gave Fred and George money to start their joke shop."
"You realize your risking the Mom's wrath."
Harry paled remembering the scene just before leaving for the World Cup.
Smiling at his reaction Ginny put an arm around him and half-pushed, half-pulled Harry out of the compartment, "It's not all bad. Fred and George are now in your debt and if there is one thing I've learned growing up, it is that you want those two on your side."
A/N: I think I like putting these A/Ns at the end so I don't give anything away about the chapter. There are quite a few things about this chapter I'm uncomfortable with. The talk with Hermione wasn't nearly as confrontational as I had planned and when I get around to editing this story it will probably become more so. This chapter also skips a lot largely due to my desire to move on so it may be one that gets flushed out more later. I also realize that Rita didn't get caught, which I was also planning on, but I don't have the motivation to write that section in – so I will probably make note of it somehow in the next chapter (I'm sure Hermione will be eager to inform everyone of her triumph).
Anyhow, I got the chapter out quickly so it probably has more errors than most, but I wanted to get it out as quick as I could and start on the next as I will be playing host and tour guide next week, which will dig into my writing time. I'm still planning on having the next chapter out by next Friday (not this Friday 9/9 but next) although it's possible it might be sooner.
I'm happy to announce that from here on out there will be original chapter titles. The working title for the next chapter is "The Wards Fail." Lots of confrontation in this chapter – Both Harry and Ginny will lose their tempers.
I've seen a lot of concern about Sirius…I'm not going to tell…but I've made my decision.