*UPDATED*
Chapter 10 - Truth
"Truth is more of a stranger than fiction."Mark Twain
"Harry, you have to stand up straight against Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore told the young man as he and Ron, who were standing with their backs together, fired spells at the "fake Death Eaters" that Dumbledore had summoned for the practice.
There were three "Death Eaters", two walking towards Harry and Ron and another one taking them by surprise; Hermione took hers down with a Reducto before the boys could even realize it was going towards them.
It was Thursday night and they were in the Defence classroom. They had already been at Hogwarts for two weeks and this was their third session in two days; Voldemort was killing people and Harry needed to be ready as quickly as he could. They already knew for sure that the second to last Horcrux was in the Lextrange's Gringotts vault, but they couldn't get it until Harry was ready, and he was still far off.
"Great hit, Hermione!" Remus told her as he watched the scene from a nearby chair.
Hermione put her hands on her knees and let a few ragged breaths escape her, they'd been at it for an hour now, and the three of them were pretty much exhausted. It wasn't that late, but they'd also woken up for an early practice this morning. Sirius and Mad-eye had appeared in their rooms and awoken them claiming that it would be good for them to engage in a fight while they were still asleep, just in case.
"Ron, cover me!" Harry shouted. He needed to think. The task was to get rid of the summoned Death Eaters, which might seem easy, but normal spells didn't work on them, they kept on standing up after they hit them and Dumbledore had told them not to use Unforgivables, it would be too dangerous.
Harry reached out for Hermione, who was still breathing heavily.
"Hermione, do you think Petrificus Totalus could work?"Harry asked her.
Hermione looked at him, they hadn't thought about easy spells, they had tried to hit them with more complicated things.
"Maybe, I mean... to stop them; we can't hit them properly if they move at that speed, but maybe, if they stop moving..." Hermione thought out load.
Ron walked back. "Guys, some help!" he shouted at the other two. Hermione nodded at Harry, letting him know that she would help him.
She ran towards him and stood with her back touching him like Harry had. They started firing spells, Harry went behind them and, when the Death Eaters weren't facing him, he put restraining spells on both of them. Then, when the other Death Eater tried to use Finite Incantatem on them, Harry placed a shield on them and Hermione petrified him too.
As they realized that the Death Eaters weren't moving, the trio turned towards the three professors.
Dumbledore and Remus simply nodded at them, but the remaining professor applauded them as she walked towards Hermione and tripped on the way.
Harry laughed, remembering the night that Tonks was presented as the second Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Just remembering how she had tripped when she reached the table and Remus's face when he saw her, made him want to laugh even more.
"It's not going to be that easy," Remus told them.
"Yes; Professor Lupin is quite right, a petrifying spell may be useful sometimes, but not in the middle of a battle," Dumbledore spoke seriously.
Harry rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but when we're in battle we'll use Unforgivables; as much as we would prefer not to, sometimes there are things that have to be done."
"Harry's right, Remus," Tonks spoke. "Besides, it was a great idea, a really smart idea. Sometimes the smallest spells, the ones you learn on your first day at Hogwarts, are the ones that can save your life."
"Very right you are, Nymphadora," Dumbledore agreed, while the woman in question scowled at the use of her first name. "However, when practicing, it is best to use spells that you have difficulty with, so you can master them and you're ready if you need to use them.
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione suddenly said. "I know that this is really important, a lot more important than anything else, but we have got homework and we're really tired after this morning's session. Do you think we could continue tomorrow?"
Dumbledore smiled at the young woman. "I think, once again, Miss Granger is quite right. You won't control your magic correctly if your heart is not in it."
The trio mumbled a quiet 'thank you' and left the room before the old man could change his mind.
Dumbledore followed, giving the two DADA teachers a nod.
"I'm also going to leave, I'm-" Remus tried to get away when he realized that he had been left alone with Tonks.
"Remus..." Tonks simply said, reaching out for him. The werewolf took a step back.
"I can't, you shouldn't have come, Dora...it doesn't change anything."
Those were Remus's final words before he walked out the door, leaving behind a hurt and worried Tonks.
Ron was walking beside his two best friends; his left hand in Hermione's right as he spoke to Harry.
"It stinks, really," Ron admitted. "I mean, I know we barely have time for anything as it is, but Quidditch is... well, it's Quidditch and Hogwarts without Quidditch stinks, like really stinks."
"Ronald," Hermione said with her know-it-all smirk. "I'm pretty sure that you are probably the only person I will ever know who can say Quidditch and stinks three times in the same sentence."
Harry laughed and Ron rolled his eyes, but pulled Hermione closer. Harry looked away; he still wasn't used to his two best friends acting so close and happy, and what was even harder to watch was Ron being so daring; not that he minded, but it was a little disconcerting sometimes. Ron had always been a guy who barely had any self-esteem; however, since he and Hermione had gotten together, he was a completely different guy. He was not Harry's shadow anymore, nowhere near.
"Hey, why don't we just go and sit down in the common room, talk and laugh for a few hours," Ron spoke. "It feels like we haven't done that for ages."
Hermione looked at him sympathetically. "I've got to get out of these clothes, they smell and Justin and I have got rounds in half-an hour."
Ron nodded at her, indicating he understood. Hermione leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips as Harry looked away pointedly and ran a hand through his hair.
"Bye, Harry," Hermione finally said before leaving the two boys alone in the corridor.
"So," Ron spoke, looking at his best friend. "You feel like a game of chess?"
Harry gave him a sympathetic smile similar to Hermione.
"Oh, come on, what do you have to do?" Ron asked him in an annoyed tone.
Harry run a hand through his hair again, considering if telling him the truth was an option.
"I'm...well, I'm going to the library..." he admitted quietly, waiting for Ron's reaction.
It surprised him, the reaction...Ron burst out laughing looking at his friend with glistening eyes.
"Good one, mate!" he laughed, patting Harry on the back. "Let's go play chess..."
He was about to argue but, before he could help it, he was hesitantly following Ron to the portrait hole. Ginny would be alright, he thought to himself; she'd realize he wasn't coming and come back to the common room, maybe have a little go at him and, hopefully, forgive him.
"Oi, Harry! You coming?" Ron asked as he entered the portrait hole.
Harry looked towards the direction that lead to the library one more time before nodding at his friend.
Ginny looked at the clock on the wall as it ticked. Harry had told her he would be there at nine, if not before; however, it was already nine-thirty and she had seen Remus entering the library about ten minutes ago, so she knew that he was most probably out of training.
She couldn't quite believe it: Ginny Weasley waiting for a guy, or what was even worse, Ginny Weasley waiting and stressing for Harry Potter. She didn't even want to admit it, but she had been looking forward to today, she was going to ask him about training and she hoped that that would lead him to telling her something serious and then she might feel strong enough to tell him a bit about her first year. She wasn't ready to speak of the years that followed yet, but today she wanted to start with the beginning, let it out for the first time.
She cursed under her breath as the clock continued moving, it was as if it was teasing her.
"Can I sit here?" a deep voice suddenly sounded.
Ginny looked up hopefully, for a second thinking it might be Harry. She looked up and instead of meeting the chosen one's pale skin and emerald eyes, she met chocolate skin and eyes looking down at her with a smile.
She recognised the guy as one of Harry's friends, who had been sitting in the compartment. He was the one who had told Harry about the death of one of his friends, she seemed to remember his name was something like Dean.
She nodded quickly, a little surprised by the question.
The dark-skinned 17-year-old sat opposite her, a magazine in his hand.
"Ginny Weasley, right?" he asked. "Ron's sister?"
She looked up at him and realized he wasn't sitting there for lack of space somewhere else.
"Yeah, that's me," Ginny spoke. "I... could your name be Dean? I can't properly remember."
Dean continued smiling. "Yeah, Dean Thomas."
He offered his hand over the table and Ginny took it. She was surprised to realize that this was the first real conversation she'd had with a guy since she had come back; well, apart from, obviously, Harry and the members of the Order, and her family. She was also surprised by the fact that she wasn't flirting or initiating it. She looked down and thought about the first time she'd ever seduced a guy.
-Flashback-
She drank down the whole drink at once, hoping it would make everything stop, but it just made her feel more dizzy.
The music was loud, she had a half a litre of alcohol in her body and she could barely move among all the people at that club, but that didn't make him stop. His voice resounded in her head making her want to grab a glass bottle and hit herself with it. She cursed, maybe if she wasn't a witch the alcohol would have a bigger effect, but muggle alcohol had nothing on her.
She didn't know what she was doing here; she should be at the Burrow, celebrating Christmas with her family; but Harry was there.
As he came up, the chamber flashed in front of her. And as she remembered him saving her, she also remembered what had come before... the way his voice had soothed her in a disgusting way, not meaning the words that she was hearing.
She swallowed down another, glass but she only felt full.
Ginny looked around and spotted a group of guys in a corner. There was a cake on the table, with a one and an eight standing on it. Five guys were pushing who she thought was the birthday boy towards her.
It was pathetic that the minute she saw him, with black hair and a strong build, her mind went back to Harry, and so Riddle's voice mocked her once again. She shook her head and walked towards the guy, not even daring to thinking about it.
She uttered a translating spell under her breath before reaching him, but by the time she was finished, he had walked up to her.
"Hola," the young man spoke in a southern Spanish accent.
Ginny gulped, breathed in and simply went for it, thinking back to the Muggle movies she'd watched, back to how the woman falls directly in love with the man. Surprisingly, as she thought of that, she felt his voice abandon her.
"Hola," she answered back.
-End of Flashback-
"Ginny?" She heard Dean's voice inquire. She looked up and realized that their hands were still touching.
She pulled hers away immediately.
"Oh, God...I'm sorry," she said with a mixture of a laugh and shock.
Dean laughed too. "'T's okay, it seemed like you'd gone somewhere."
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It happens a lot."
"I would expect so..." Dean commented making Ginny raise an eyebrow. "Well," he started explaining. "I mean, you've changed schools and well... not like I want to be nosy or anything... but seeing your brother's best friend and, you know, he's the Chosen One..."
"I'm not seeing Harry," Ginny spoke quickly, as a reflex. Far too many years of repeating a 'no' in front of Harry's name Ginny thought. However, she also knew that it also had to do with the fact that he'd left her alone. "Well," she continued, "We're really good friends, he looks out for me... you know, he's got the saving people thing."
"Oh," Dean stuttered. "I-I just thought...it seemed like, and...Hannah said..."
"Like I said," Ginny stated, "We're a guy and a girl in a really difficult time, and who look out for each other. I've realized reading into that can just leave you feeling like a failure."
"Oh, come on," Ron spoke as he and Harry sat on the sofa. "Wouldn't it bother you? Just a bit?"
"Right now?" Harry asked. "Who? I mean, I... I'm just not in that place right now, am I?"
"Well," Ron said. "No, obviously... I guess, at least. But... well, let's say Susan hadn't left and she had been Head Girl. How would you feel if she slept closer to Justin Finch-Fletchley than you?"
"Ron! We're talking about Hermione!For some unknown reason, she's head over heels in love with you, she's not even going to look at Justin, don't panic," Harry suggested him.
The man then looked down at his watch once again. Ginny should be back by now, it was nearly eleven. It was he who had begun panicking half an hour ago; now he knew that he had to go out to look for her.
All of a sudden, as if on cue, Ron spoke up. "Hey, have you seen my sister?"
Harry suddenly looked relieved and Ron raised his eyebrows at the eager young man.
"No, I'll go look for her..." the emerald eyed young man spoke.
"Fine, just don't get caught. Hermione will kill you if Dumbledore makes you stay for another training session because of it."
Harry nodded, heading towards the door as Ron made his way towards the dormitory.
Harry walked out of the portrait hole only to see red and brown hair crossing the corner. He clenched his teeth, not really knowing how to identify his feelings. He felt stupid for not warning Dean off, he should've the moment that he saw the way he looked at Ginny on the train. He then felt hurt because she had changed, or because he thought she had changed, because he had thought that she actually felt something for him.
"Hey, mate," Dean spoke as they approached him.
Harry had to fight a serious inner battle to even answer him back.
Dean looked from one teenager to the other and realized pretty quickly that he was obviously acting as a third wheel, so he moved past Harry.
"Well, goodnight...I need to..." He looked at Ginny, obviously trying to say goodnight in a way that wouldn't get him killed by Harry.
Ginny realized and smiled at him. "Goodnight, Dean... it was nice talking to you."
Harry muttered a goodnight too, before Dean disappeared.
Ginny also followed and, obviously, so did Harry.
"Do you know how much trouble you can get into if a teacher finds you wondering around at eleven?" Harry asked her.
He was perfectly aware that he sounded like a jealous boyfriend, but he couldn't help it. He hated it, he wasn't a dramatic person, when he learnt that Padma had flirted with Seamus... well, yes, of course he felt a little replaced and he wished Padma would have spoken to him, but he took it maturely, he didn't make a scene. The thing was, that right at that moment, he felt like waking the whole tower with a shouting match between the red head at himself.
"I was going to talk to you about the diary today," she said, far too quietly to seem like a normal Ginny speech. "I was thinking that I would get you to tell me something big and then I would tell you something big too."
Harry gulped. Suddenly his anger seemed to disperse and he felt guilty... he had left her alone, even if it was for a stupid hour, he promised her he wouldn't, he had promised her that he wouldn't let go.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... Merlin's beard, Ginny...I..." Harry suddenly felt like he could say sorry a thousand times and it would never be enough.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Save it, Potter."
She started to walk past him but he stopped her. "Don't do that," he told her. "Don't just call me Potter and act like you don't care."
At that point Ginny burst. "Don't care? Act like I don't care? You know what, Harry? I was the queen of not caring; of not giving a shit... and then you come along and I've forgotten how to not care! I... I slept with guys I didn't even know! I lied to my own family! I stole! I had no morals whatsoever! And tonight... I was waiting for you in a library. Do you even know what that means, Harry? Me waiting for someone is already bad enough, I don't do waiting! But me waiting for you? That's what I've been running away from for my whole life! And in a month you've got me spilling my secrets out, feeling guilty that I was laughing at another guy's jokes... and then you just go and bail on me!"
Harry wanted to hug her, but he was afraid she might hurt both of them if he did so. She looked like she was burning, literally. Her face matched her hair to perfection, and Harry could almost swear he could see her power radiating off her. He wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful when she was angry, but it was not the time or place.
"I'm...Merlin, Ginny, I didn't mean for this to matter so much," he told her sincerely. "Ron kind of left me no option and I thought you'd come to the common room without waiting for a long time...yeah, I guess it was wrong but..." Harry quietened down, not sure if he wanted the conversation to take the direction he was leading it in.
"But what, Harry?" Ginny asked fiercely.
The seventeen-year-old gulped. "You...You're needing me too much, Ginny," he started hesitantly, not sure if this was exactly what he was meaning to say. "I mean, I love that you need me, it makes me feel like I'm useful, like I'm not the only one who gets something from being near you... but you're not that girl; trust me, Ginny, I dated the needy girl for a long time and, you're nothing like that. You don't need me to be your knight in shining armour; you don't need me to walk on egg-shells around you... I know you'd rather if I don't turn back on our plans... and, I really am sorry for doing it today, that was... that was me taking the easy way out and deciding you wouldn't mind. I'm sorry for that, but...you can deal with that, you won't break down if I make a mistake, that's what I like the most about you..."
Ginny suddenly didn't know what to say. Up to now, she hadn't realized that she saw Harry as this permanent happy figure, someone who was like a statue... always in the same state and the same place, always there for when she needed it.
Harry was breathing loudly; feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I don't...I don't need you to always be there," Ginny spoke slowly. "But, Merlin! I need you to be there, Harry...don't you understand? You've given me something...I don't how to call it, but it's something that you can't take away now because I don't think I can actually continue going without it."
"I'm here," he told her, moving closer to her. "Look, I love that you're not the girl without a conscience any more, and you don't know how much I adore it that it's thanks to me... but, deep inside, you've always been the same girl...A girl who can stand on her own perfectly. Maybe sometimes you need a little support, and I'm here, I'm here for that...but you can't put all your weight on me. We both know that neither you nor me need that."
"I felt like I was eleven again," Ginny confessed, stepping closer to Harry. "I was looking at the clock and I just... I felt like I was a love sick puppy who no one even wanted. And, when I was waiting for you, thinking that you probably just forgot about me..."
Harry didn't think about it twice, he closed the distance between them and put his arms around her, pushing the girl into him.
He soothed her as he caressed her back gently. "I'm sorry. But, listen to me, I'm here... right now, I'm here... maybe not forever... but I'm here now and this is nothing like back then. Look at me..."
Ginny lifted her head and looked into his eyes as he stroked her hair.
"I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm in love with you," he confessed, continuing to look into her eyes. "I don't know why, I don't know how... but the point is I'm completely and irrevocably in love with you and that means that even if I act like a git sometimes, I'm always thinking about you, I will never have simply forgotten about you, ok?"
Ginny breathed in and pulled him closer again, nodding against his chest. She wasn't ready to hear that, at least she thought she wasn't; in a way, it was far too much to take in, but it also gave her a warm feeling of security.
"I-I...can't..." she started speaking but Harry shushed her.
"Don't worry, I know," he told her as he continued to stroke her hair.
Ginny pulled apart to look at him properly again. Harry brushed of a tear that was making its way down her face.
"So, I know it seems stupid to ask this now... but, what are we?" Ginny asked, feeling stupid the minute the words were out of her mouth.
"Well, I'd ask you to be my girlfriend, but I've got the feeling you might run for the hills; besides, with Voldemort... I know it's a bit stupid, because the minute he entered my mind, you'd be like a flashing neon light, but... still, it's dangerous to be with me," Harry told her. "So, why not be two really screwed up teens that really need each other?"
Ginny managed to laugh. "You know you've changed me completely, don't you? I'm a completely new person; I don't even recognise myself..."
Harry leaned and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "That's not true. People don't just become someone different out of the blue; they can bring out a side of them that wasn't there before or, in your case, that hadn't been there in a long time... but this is you; you're not trying to be anyone else... this is who you are, who you should've been from the beginning."
Ginny looked at him in, as much as she hated to admit it, awe. He was this kind of perfect guy...tonight she had learnt he wasn't completely like that, but still, when he talked to her like that, it was amazing. She recalled that once Harry had told her that he'd be a different person if she hadn't left, if she hadn't basically given him her family; she laughed at him, but deep inside she wondered if it was true, if in an alternate universe Harry was the real heavily screwed up one and she was the one to bring him up.
She continued looking at him and, just like that, kissed him with passion... she could barely reach his lips on her tiptoes, so she put her arms around his neck for balance.
Harry kissed her back just as enthusiastically. He leaned down a little to make it easier for her, but seeing as she still had to stand on her tiptoes, he grabbed her legs and helped her put them around his hips. Now, with both her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck, he truly appreciated how well they fit. Padma was too thin and tall for them to ever have a problem kissing, and Susan had never been a heavy kisser. Not that they weren't passionate, but she was a little insecure and she put herself out less than normal girls.
However, those thoughts had left Harry's mind completely. In a matter of 30 seconds, somehow, they were already on the sofa, in between sitting and lying down, with Ginny on top of Harry.
It took one of Ron's chess pieces, that he had obviously forgotten to pack, to bring Harry back to reality.
He continued kissing Ginny, but softer, and he began sitting up. A few seconds later, Ginny caught the hint and pulled her lips away from Harry's.
"Wow..." Ginny whispered, not knowing what else to say. It was so amazing how everything had simply escaped her head; it had been like she had no brains for a minute, like everything had just been pure instinct. She thought back to all the other times she'd kissed men, she'd always had to keep her mind focused on Muggle movies, of the way the two main characters kissed each other, of the love that was visible on those screens. That was the way she always got through it and he always stayed away; when she thought of the movies it was the most effective thing, she was playing a role and she believed it and it always worked. However, this time she didn't imagine anything; she couldn't, because she didn't have to play a role, she... as much as she couldn't admit it, was falling in love with Harry too.
"You're pretty unique, you know that, right?" Harry asked her. She turned her back to him and lay down on his chest.
"Uh-huh," she muttered against his blue jumper.
Harry sank into the sofa, holding Ginny in his arms. He had a feeling that Ginny and he wouldn't be sleeping in their beds tonight.
"You okay here?"A tall dark haired man asked a woman who was standing nearby a Zonko's shop.
"Yeah, I'm fine, go home... nothing much's gonna happen here, anyway...Voldemort's not going to appear," the woman stated clearly.
The image was blurry and the observing eye was looking up from the ground, moving through the shadows. Its sight was centred on the woman, who looked quite strong and brave, but the eyes recognised a trace of sadness and tears on the woman's oval-shaped face.
After that, everything went as quickly as it could have. One second, the observer was metres away, and the second after, it was attacking the woman with ferocity. It bit through her skin with hunger and satisfaction, squirming over her, pulling at her bright pink short hair.
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley both awoke so suddenly that they fell off the sofa they had been laying in. Harry put his hand over his forehead with pain. He tried to put pressure on it, but that only made it burn more.
"Go get someone!" he shouted at Ginny, who looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Quickly, Ginny! Tell them Tonks is in trouble! You need to run, now!"
Ginny breathed in as images made their way through her head, but she stood up and ran, ran as fast a she possibly could. Her first impulse was to go to McGonagall, but she then thought that there was someone who would take this even more seriously.
She reached Remus's door as quickly as she could. She didn't even bother to knock. She simply touched the door and it opened for her.
"Professor!" she shouted at the man, who awoke with a start. She didn't even give him time to speak.
"It's Tonks! She's been attacked by Nagini... she was next to Zonko's in Hogsmeade. I don't know if..."
But Ginny didn't have time to finish, for Lupin was out before she had started the second sentence. The girl fell to the ground and held her head with her hands tightly, begging, praying for the pain to go away.
