Chapter Ten

When Harry woke the next morning, it was to the most wonderful sight he had seen since the beginning of this catastrophic endeavour. Just beside the remains of Dumbledore's old desk, sat an enormous pile of food. Pumpkin pasties, sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls, cakes, bread rolls: it was all piled high – enough food to last them several days at least. Professor McGonagall really had outdone herself.

Glancing around and seeing that he was the first to wake up, Harry stood up and walked over to the pile of food, wondering whether he should wake everyone up and give them the good news, or let them sleep a little longer. Just as he was deciding to give them another half an hour or so, he spotted a scroll of parchment, addressed to Harry Potter. Unrolling it he read:

Harry,

I sincerely hope this has reached you. It's highly complicated magic – so don't, under any circumstance, attempt it yourselves in order to reply to me – and I have no idea whether it is really working. If you are reading this then it obviously has, hopefully with the food. We're fairly sure it's going to be another week or so at least before we can reach you, so I will send more food in a few days.

I am aware this is far from the easiest of situations for you, and apologise for insisting on placing you in charge of such a … difficult group. Had I been aware this was going to happen I would of course have aimed to make things a little easier for you. Had I been aware this was going to happen, I would never have sent you in there at all, in fact. Try to keep everyone as calm as possible under the circumstances, and avoid allowing them to fall out, though I understand that may be difficult, considering the collection of people you are with. Rest assured, we are doing everything in our power to get you out of there as soon as possible.

Yours, Minerva McGonagall

Harry smiled, stowing the letter away in his pocket. He knew what Professor McGonagall must be imagining – the eight of them cooped up together, tempers rising, fights erupting, Harry struggling to keep control, chaos ensuing – and he could understand why. It's what he would have imagined himself, had he been told this was going to happen. But strangely, that wasn't what was happening at all. If anything, this strange and unfortunate experience seemed to be – if not exactly drawing them closer together – then at least helping them to see things from each other's point of view a little more. And the answer to this unexpected outcome was none other than the Pensieve sitting in the centre of the room.

Turning to look at the Pensieve, Harry found himself unsurprised to see that it was once again glowing invitingly. So Astoria had been right. It wasn't finished with them yet.

Soon enough, everyone began to wake up, stirring sleepily and yawning. One by one, they spotted the food, wide grins spreading across their faces. It was funny how, no matter how different they were, everyone reacted in the same way to a large pile of food when they were hungry. Harry insisted that they wait for everyone to wake up and eat together, hoping it would reinforce the sense of group spirit he could feel building. In reality, all it did was prompt everyone to be as loud as possible in order to wake up the last few people. Soon, however, they were all awake and devouring the food like they hadn't eaten in months.

It wasn't long before they were finished, and turned their attention to the glowing Pensieve. Astoria gave Harry a look like "What did I say?" but she wasn't the only one who seemed unsurprised by the Pensieve's appearance. It was as though everyone, on some deeper level, had known they weren't finished yet.

"Shall we see what it is now, then?" Astoria asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, stepping forwards, "Come on."

They were in a dark chamber, one Harry recognised immediately.

"The Chamber of Secrets," he said softly, and Hannah gasped loudly. Looking around, he could see no sign of himself, the basilisk or Tom Riddle, but out of the shadows walked Ginny, twelve years old and clutching a small, black diary, a vacant look in her eyes. She stood for a moment, apparently completely unaware of where she was. Then something in her face changed; she seemed to become herself again. With a start she noticed where she was, and realisation dawned on her face as to where she was. She panicked, dropped the diary as though it had burned her and began to scream. The sound pierced Harry's heart, and he wanted to run to her and hold her tight and tell her it was all going to be okay. Instead, he did the next best thing, and turned to the real Ginny, who was very pale. Gently, he put his arm around her, and she buried her face in his shoulder.

Suddenly, Tom Riddle appeared at the other end of the chamber, walking slowly towards Ginny. She pointed a figure accusingly at him.

"It was you … you made me do all those things … I don't understand … what am I doing here? Where am I?" Riddle sneered.

"Yes, I made you do all those things, and it was all too easy, you silly little girl. Not that you ever stood a chance against me, the Heir of Slytherin." Ginny began to scream again, backing away from him. Then all the strength drained from her, and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Now Ginny was in her room, pacing up and down anxiously. From her windowsill, a radio blared loudly.

"And now we are going to hear from Royal. Evening, Royal."

"Evening, River."

"So, Royal, what's the latest on the whereabouts of Harry Potter? There have been rumours he was involved in a break-in at the Ministry. Is there any truth in these rumours?"

"Yes, though the Ministry themselves have failed to mention it – for obvious reasons – we do have reason to believe the Ministry for Magic was broken into by Harry Potter, and possibly several other accomplices, in order to free several innocent witches and wizards accused of having 'stolen' their magic from others."

"Well, it's reassuring to know The Boy Who Lived is very much at work, making a stand against those pesky Death Eaters. That's assuming he made it out of the Ministry again, of course?"

"I believe he did, River, though it was a narrow escape. Perhaps he should avoid such daring rescues in the future."

At this, Ginny collapsed on her bed, burying her face in her hands.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered, and Harry couldn't help but feel she may be referring to him. He hugged the real Ginny a little tighter, apologising slightly for the worry he had put her through, but wanting to protest that he had been at least as worried about her as she was about him.

The next scene was far too familiar; it had visited Harry often in his nightmares since the Battle of Hogwarts. The Great Hall was full of people, milling around or standing in little clusters, comforting one another. And in a row through the centre of the Hall lay the bodies of all those who had died fighting. Harry spotted Ginny immediately, wending her way through the people, scanning the Hall for her family. And then she saw them, standing in a little group around something. Paling, she ran towards them, shoving people carelessly out of her way until she reached them. They parted to reveal Fred's limp body, lying on the floor.

Staring in disbelief, she fell to her knees by him. Not a sound escaped her lips, but she may as well have been screaming; the anguish radiating off her was so tangible.

"No," she whispered, "No."

And just as Harry thought he could take more, the worst memory of them all began. They were outside the castle, and the Death Eaters were gathered around, laughing and looking very pleased with themselves. Opposite them stood the fighters of Hogwarts, bedraggled and exhausted. And there was Harry, limp in Hagrid's arms, and there was Ginny, standing absolutely still, staring in horror, and she opened her mouth and screamed his name, and it was one of the most terrible things Harry had ever heard, and it seemed to go on and on and on, tearing Harry apart.

Finally it was over, and they were back in the office. Harry's arms were still around Ginny and he hugged her tightly as her body racked with sobs, one of the few times he had ever seen her cry.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear, "I'm so sorry. You can't imagine how terrible I feel for doing that to you."

"No," she said, her voice surprisingly steady, "It wasn't your fault. It was just that I thought I'd lost you, and I couldn't bear that. Because ever since you came for me that time in the Chamber of Secrets, you've been the person I could depend on to come for me every time. I was determined I would never be that little girl who needed rescuing ever again, that I'd be tough and independent and capable of saving myself. But I never really was. Because when I thought I'd lost you for good, I knew that I could only be tough and strong and independent when you were there. I need you, Harry." She dissolved into tears again, and Harry held her tight.

"You are strong," he said quietly, "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met." They stood like that for a few minutes, the silence broken only by Ginny's sobs.

"So what is it this time?" Astoria said eventually, "What's the pattern?" Ginny looked up, smiling grimly.

"The worst moments," she said softly, "The worst moments of my life."