Hi again :) Thanks for all the reviews/favourites/alerts. I am a bit rubbish at updating, so I thought, to be more organised, after this chapter I will update this story every Friday (because Friday is normally the day when I have the least on). Does that sound good? Sorry, I'm rambling now. On with the story…
Chapter 11 – The Battle to Come
Dear Tom,
I've been dying to tell you this but, to be honest, yesterday I was in too much of a daze to write to you. Sorry about that. Anyway, the reason for the fact I walked around like a zombie for most of the day (which resulted in me almost walking into a Slytherin seventh year… scary) was because I think I've figured out who the mother of Harry Potter's children is: me. Can you believe that? I was talking to James yesterday, and he has exactly the same colour eyes as me. And, other than eyes, the girl, Lily, is pretty much exactly like me. I don't really know what I should be thinking right now. I don't want to get too excited, in case they ever decide to reveal to me that their mother is Hermione or something like that.
Ginny
Dear Ginny,
This is very interesting. Of course, I would be extremely pleased if it turns out you are their mother, rather than this Hermione Granger. You told be before that she was a Muggle-born, didn't you?
What else has been going on at the school? Is everyone still worked up about the Chamber of Secrets? Maybe you should go through the Time-Hole again, to see if that kiss between you and Harry was just a fluke. It's just a suggestion.
Tom
Dear Tom,
Actually, everyone is still talking about that. It had died down, but something happened earlier today. I forgot to mention it, I've been thinking so much about James, Albus and Lily. Today was the first Duelling Club, and Harry spoke Parseltongue! So now everyone seems to think that he's the Heir of Slytherin. I don't believe Harry could attack Muggle-borns. Besides, no one's been attacked in a while. Maybe it's all stopped?
Ginny
Dear Ginny,
They think Harry Potter is the Heir of Slytherin? Don't think too much about that for now. Just go through the Time-Hole and tell me what you see. Then we'll discuss the Chamber of Secrets a bit more.
Tom
The next day dawned bright yet cold. As Ginny made her way through the corridors she caught snatches of people's conversations, and they were all about the same thing: Harry Potter being the Heir of Slytherin.
'Ginny!' exclaimed Rose, hurrying over to her with Lily by her side. 'We've been looking for you everywhere. Do you think you could come with us for a minute? It won't take long; we just have to tell – '
'Sorry, I've got to get to breakfast now,' Ginny replied. 'Whatever you have to say will have to wait.'
And she hurried off, leaving Lily and Rose standing still in the middle of the corridor.
'How on earth are we supposed to gather them all in one place?' Lily muttered. 'None of them are agreeing to come with us!'
'I think we need a different approach,' Rose whispered. 'We'll discuss new strategies at lunch, is that okay? I have to get to lessons soon.'
'That's fine,' said Lily. 'Hey, Rose, do you think we should have a name for this mission? How about "Operation Tell the Parents"?'
'Nah, that's not very imaginative. Why don't you think about it and tell me some better ones at lunch?'
Meanwhile, Ginny had bypassed the Hall. She wasn't very hungry anyway, but she had decided that she might as well get the time travelling over with. It was odd, really, that she could think about time travel in such a relaxed, almost careless manner. A short time ago she didn't believe it was possible to go back more than a few hours.
None of the Hufflepuffs paid the slightest bit of attention to her as she pulled back the tapestry. The Time-Hole was still there, looking the same as it always did. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through.
When she re emerged into the corridor, the castle seemed deadly quiet. For the first time, Ginny felt very uneasy as she pulled back the tapestry. Her eyes widened, though it took a while for her mind to fully register what she was seeing. The pink light of the early dawn fell across the corridor, showing the few bodies lying in pools of blood on the floor. Ginny gulped, and took a step forward. All the bodies seemed to be adults, and they all wore black robes. Closing her eyes, she hurried along the corridor towards the Entrance Hall. Whatever time this was, she hoped she wouldn't be there in the future.
The Entrance Hall was empty too, but she could hear voices coming from the Great Hall. Lots of voices. She set off towards the door, and peered inside. An odd assortment of people she recognised very well were in there. The House tables had all been pushed to the sides of the room, and bodies lined the floor. Staying as hidden as she could while still being able to see inside, her eyes worked their way across the bodies. This was not too far in the future, obviously, because she could clearly see Professor McGonagall standing at one of the smashed windows. She caught a glimpse of red hair. Her own red hair. The older Ginny was crying, sobbing almost, over someone's body. But she couldn't see who, because it looked like half her family were crowded around the body. So was it one of her brothers?
'They're returning!' Professor McGonagall suddenly cried. 'The Death Eaters are returning, and this time Voldemort's with them!'
Everyone stood up, wands out, and raced for the door to the Great Hall. Ginny managed to hide behind one of the doors before they began pouring into the Entrance Hall. They all pushed their way out of the door in the Entrance Hall, so that they could go outside.
'NO!' It was McGonagall. Ginny ran into the Great Hall, keeping her eyes away from the bodies, and made it to the smashed window.
Voldemort was really standing there, he was really alive, and Hagrid was stood beside him. What was Hagrid doing with Voldemort? Then her eyes fell upon the body in his arms. It was Harry's.
Ginny didn't want to see anymore. She left the Great Hall and raced back to the Time-Hole, not pausing to think about what she had just seen.
When she came back out of the hole, it was her own time. She almost breathed a sigh of relief as she saw many familiar people looking how they should do.
She had to tell Tom as soon as she could. Maybe she had time before lessons…
'Ginny! There you are!'
It was James. Ginny froze as a sudden thought occurred to her. If she had indeed just seen Harry's dead body, then what was James doing here? Surely he shouldn't exist?
'Oh, um, hi James,' she said. 'What's the matter?'
'Remember yesterday you said you wanted to ask out Al? Well, I've arranged for you to meet up this lunch. By the lake,' he said. 'So you can ask him out then. Sound good?'
'Yes, actually,' she replied. 'I would very much like to talk to Albus.'
When Ginny had gone, Fred approached James.
'So did you convince her?' he asked James quietly.
'Yeah, it didn't take much,' he said. 'So now they're all coming. Thank God.'
