Mrs. Weasley shrieked as she entered the bedroom, taking in the scene: Ginny supine on the floor, vomit drying near her face, Harry slumped in his chair, his skin chalky and his eyes vacant, Luna curled up on her side, her breathing shallow and fast again. Mrs. Weasley rushed to Ginny's side, shaking her gently to try and wake her. She pulled a handkerchief from her robe pocket and wiped Ginny's mouth as the Healer that George had brought back from St. Mungo's went rushing past to Luna's side.
Hermione and George stood just outside the door, not wanting to interfere with the matronly Healer as she quickly checked the vitals of her three stricken patients. Mrs. Weasley sat by Ginny's side and held Ginny's head in her lap as the healer efficiently checked on Luna first, then Harry. Finally, after what seemed an eternity to the worried Mrs. Weasley, the Healer moved on to Ginny and knelt to examine her.
The Healer broke the uncomfortable silence, "I thought you told me that Ginny was improving and that the Lovegood girl was coherent and speaking." She looked at Mrs. Weasley reprovingly.
"I swear," Mrs. Weasley replied, "that when Luna arrived, she looked terrible but was talking and making sense."
George interjected nervously from near the door, "At least as much sense as she ever does."
Without turning her gaze from Ginny, the Healer spoke again, "Young man, if you're just going to make rude comments, you may leave." Turning to face Mrs. Weasley the Healer added, "We're going to need to take them all to St. Mungo's right away. I don't know exactly what happened to them, but it's not a classic case of a Dementor's Kiss. We've got to assume that whatever affected them is dangerous. I'm going to send Ginny on ahead, and then I'm going to leave as well. In a few minutes I will send back Portkeys that will send the other two directly to a quarantined ward. The Portkey will be a bracelet that you put on their wrist. After you snap the bracelet closed, it will take them to the quarantined ward ten seconds later. If you don't want to end up quarantined with them, you'll need to make sure to not be touching them or their clothing when the Portkey goes off. Understood?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded and said, "Understood."
The Healer sighed, and spoke again, a little less patiently this time. "Not you," she said addressing Mrs. Weasley, "You need to come with me to get Ginny settled in and the proper paperwork started." The Healer turned to Hermione, ignoring George, "Young lady, did you understand my instructions?"
Hermione looked the Healer directly in the eye and said, "When the Portkeys arrive, they will be bracelets that I will snap on their wrists. I then have ten seconds to step away or risk being quarantined with them."
The Healer pulled her wand from one pocket of her robes, and pulled a bright blue metal bracelet stamped with "Quarantine" on it from another pocket. She quickly bespelled the bracelet, turning it into a Portkey. She snapped the bracelet onto Ginny's wrist, and counted off the ten seconds until she disappeared with a loud popping noise. Immediately after Ginny disappeared, the Healer grabbed Mrs. Weasley and Disapparated along with her.
Before the sound of their Disapparition had even faded, Harry groaned, sat up and spoke to his astonished audience, "There's not much time. Hermione, Luna will need to borrow your wand, hers is still at St. Mungo's with her clothing."
George moved into the room faster than even Hermione, and shouted at Harry, "What the bloody Hell did you do to Ginny? I swear, if you've hurt her, I'll…"
Hermione shoved George out of the way, moving to sit on Ginny's empty bed. "Harry, you've got to tell us what's going on. We can help."
Luna sat up, looking at George, "I'm making sense right now, George. I promise that we didn't hurt Ginny. She just used a Puking Pastille to make it look more real."
Harry stood up, and spoke loudly, "No time for this. Please, Hermione, if you trust me, let Luna borrow your wand."
Turning to address George, Harry said, "George, I need you to leave a note for Ron and Mr. Lovegood about where we've gone. When you get to St. Mungo's, I'll need you to go visit Dean and make sure he's alright. If what we have planned goes the way we think it will, all you'll need to do is get a Healer when Dean wakes up. If it all goes pear-shaped, then I trust you to improvise."
George glowered at Harry, "Look, mate, I trust you, but if it all goes wrong, you'll find that I'm not just a joker." George stalked from the room to take care of his tasks.
Harry waited for him to leave, turned to Hermione and begged, "Please, Hermione, trust me."
Luna looked at the indecisive Hermione and spoke earnestly, "Look, Hermione, I know that you think I'm dotty, or crazy or stupid or whatever, but I promise that Harry knows what he's doing and that I'm the only one who can help him."
Hermione looked them both over sharply, pulled out her wand and handed it over to Luna. She leaned over, kissed Harry on the cheek and said, "I do trust you, Harry. I hope whatever you have planned goes well."
Moving to Luna's side, she embraced Luna and told her, "I don't think you're stupid, Luna, or crazy. Dotty, maybe," she smiled, "but I know that you would do anything to help Ginny, and I can see that you really do care for Harry. Good luck."
Two blue bracelets appeared on the floor with a small sound. Hermione gathered up the bracelets. Looking at Harry and Luna, she asked, "Ready?"
They both nodded. Hermione snapped on Harry's bracelet first, then Luna's. Immediately after receiving their bracelets, they both went back to their sham. Harry reclined on his bed again and his eyes went vacant; Luna collapsed on her bed and her breathing became shallow and fast again. Ten seconds later they disappeared, with Hermione's worried face watching them.
Harry and Luna appeared in beds next to each other in a small closed ward. A small, pale Healer dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit attended to Ginny, checking her over very thoroughly. Ginny had already been dressed in a hospital gown and her clothes were piled tidily in the corner. The matronly Healer came into the room, with a whoosh of air surrounding her from the small room adjoining the closed ward. She began to remove Luna's stolen Healer's robe and hospital gown. She dressed Luna in a new gown. Then she repeated the process with Harry. She folded their clothes neatly, checking the pockets thoroughly and putting the contents in large manila bags labeled with the patient's name and the contents of their pockets. Finally, she finished and turned to the small, pale Healer.
"Anything you can tell me?" she asked the pale Healer.
He spoke in a surprisingly deep voice for one so slight, "No, I don't know what's affecting her. I'm going to check out the other two."
The Healer moved on to Harry and started checking his vitals. The Healer pulled out his wand and began to move it over Harry's body.
"I don't understand. I can't find anything wrong with this boy. It seems like he's just asleep or shamming," he said to the other Healer. "I'm going to try something."
He pointed his wand at Harry and said, "Legilimens!"
Before Harry had time to react, the Healer started sorting through his memories. Harry tried to blank his mind, but his mind just whirled with images. The Healer started sorting faster through the images, like a speed reader with a book. Harry watched as the Healer reached his recent memories; seeing his shared dream with Luna and the planning in Ginny's bedroom. Desperately, Harry grabbed at the memories to keep them from flowing into the waiting mind of the Healer, but the pull of the Healer was too strong. Harry instinctively reached into his memories, selecting a painful one and thrust it at the Healer.
A scene began to form in Harry's mind. The Healer appeared on the floor of a forest, surrounded by Death Eaters. Voldemort stepped forward and said something unheard. Harry watched as the Healer desperately tried to stand and escape, but couldn't escape the strength of Harry's memory. As Harry watched, Voldemort raised his wand, mouthed something and a green jet struck the Healer in the chest. Suddenly, the pressure of the Healer's mind on Harry's mind stopped. Harry's mind reeled from the sudden release of pressure, reliving those few moments with Dumbledore in King's Cross before snapping back to his present.
Harry watched, disembodied, as the Matronly Healer moved to her stricken comrade. The small, pale Healer had collapsed, seemingly struck down by whatever malady had affected the trio of young people in the ward. "I didn't mean to pull that memory out. I hope the memory of the Killing Curse isn't strong enough to damage him permanently," Harry thought.
After what seemed like an eternity of fussing with the small, pale Healer, the matronly Healer finally got him settled into a bed and checked over. She moved to Harry's bed and started to look him over. She didn't notice as Ginny opened her eyes, and stealthily slipped out of bed. The Healer must have heard some slight noise from behind her, and started to turn. Harry quickly pushed his consciousness forward again and grabbed the Healer's arm. "Water," he croaked hoarsely, as Ginny finally got her envelope of possessions open.
The Healer reached for the pitcher of water and the glass by Harry's bedside, but never quite reached it as Ginny's stunner hit her square in the back. The Healer fell slumped over Harry, and it took all his strength to lift her off of him and place her in his bed in his place.
Luna opened her eyes and said, "I don't think we have much time. I can swear that I feel Dean slipping away as we used all this power getting here."
Ginny ripped open the other envelopes, handing Harry his wand and giving Hermione's wand to Luna. Ginny waved her wand at the window that exposed their ward to the hallway, saying, "Obscurus." The window darkened. Ginny then waved her wand at the door, "Colloportus," gluing it shut.
The trio of young people sat on the floor and held hands. Luna looked Harry and Ginny over, her eyes glistening, "Harry, Ginny, are you ready?"
Harry nodded and said, "Yes." Ginny simply nodded.
Luna closed her eyes, her breathing deepened and Harry could feel himself being drawn into Luna's soulscape again. He watched, fascinated as the bestiary appeared around them, slowly fading into focus. This time, Luna stood next to him, holding his hand tightly, instead of occupying the same space as Harry. Harry looked at Luna standing next to him, seeing her as Luna saw herself. Luna looked smaller and more child-like, her eyes bulged much more than in reality, her skin pale as alabaster and her hair nearly colourless. Her robes clung to her, showing her as little more than skin and bones.
Harry felt the landscape shift a little when Ginny appeared next to him, holding his and Luna's hands. Harry looked at Ginny as Luna saw her. Ginny stood tall, taller than Harry, muscled like an Amazon, with a fierce intensity to her eyes. Her hair blazed in a vibrant fiery red, gathered at her back in a pony-tail. When Ginny spoke, her voice rang like a bell. "Is this how you see me and Harry?" she asked, looking Harry over carefully. Harry returned the gaze, looking over Ginny the same way.
Luna finally waved her hands in front of their faces. "Saving Dean, remember?" she asked, "That's why we're here." She reached down, grabbed their hands again and dragged them toward the small brick building that housed the Dementor. They hurried through the building, Harry and Luna occasionally stopping to drag Ginny along from her gawping. After only a few moments, they reached the misty room that housed the Dementor. The Dementor had obviously hidden somewhere behind the glass, as it was not visible when they entered the room.
Harry turned to Luna and said, "Luna, I need you to help me relax again, so I can see the threads that connect us to the Dementor."
Luna nodded her understanding and moved to Harry, embracing him. Ginny stepped back into the corner of the room by the window housing the Dementor and pulled her wand out of her robes. Luna reached up, closed Harry's eyes gently by passing her hands over them, then kissed them both. She gave Harry a gentle, brief kiss on the mouth before gripping him by the hands and closing her own eyes.
Harry once again felt the relaxing images pass through him as Luna gave him peace. Once again, he felt the strange connection between him and Luna, but this time, he felt a third connection. The third connection flowed strongly from Luna to Ginny, and less strongly from him to Ginny. When Harry felt relaxed like he had earlier, he opened his eyes and could see the threads connecting Luna to the Dementor, and Harry and Ginny to Luna. Harry examined the thread connecting him to Ginny, puzzled.
Turning to Luna, he asked, "Why do I have a thread connecting me to Ginny?"
Luna responded, "It's because you love her, Harry."
Ginny looked curiously at them both before asking, "You can see the connections again, Harry?"
Harry answered, "Yes, I can. We need to get on with this."
Harry reached into the pocket of his robes, grabbed the bead and slipped it onto the cord that connected Luna to the hiding Dementor. Harry moved the bead down to the window and pulled it back with great force. From its hiding space in the far corner of the enclosure, the Dementor suddenly swooped forward, following the inky lump traveling down the cord. It hit the window with great force at exactly the same time as the lump did.
With a tremendous crash the window shattered, covering Ginny and Harry in broken glass. They both flinched back from the shattering glass instinctively as the Dementor swooped down onto Harry and forced his mouth open. Ginny fell on the floor, stunned as the heavy safety glass hit her. Silvery threads started flowing from Harry's mouth into the Dementor's open maw. At that same moment, Harry's hands convulsed and he pushed the bead with its inky lump following toward Luna. Luna grabbed the bead and pushed it into her body. As she did, Harry could feel the Dementor's grip release. He shared the Dementor's pain as Luna's and Dean's memories and strength flowed out from it into Luna.
The Dementor let go of Harry with a soundless snarl, reached down and grabbed the thread connecting Harry to Ginny. With a flash, it disappeared down the thread, its inky robes shrinking as it passed into the cord and into Ginny. Ginny's eyes opened with understanding, but immediately darkened over to black from their normal brown. From her prone position, she raised her wand, pointed it at Harry and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry flinched back, ready for the green jet and oblivion.
A green glow began to coalesce around the tip of Ginny's wand, then faded as Ginny's eyes reverted to their normal brown. Ginny collapsed soundlessly, and began to implode slowly, silver gas escaping from her mouth.
Without thinking, Harry reached down to the thread connecting him and Ginny and forced himself into it. He felt his body compress and twist as he traveled the cord into Ginny's soulscape. He could see Luna's concerned expression for only a moment before he fell fully into Ginny's soulscape.
Harry looked around and got his bearings, immediately recognising where he had landed: The Chamber of Secrets.
The scene before him fitted exactly with his memory of his first encounter with The Chamber of Secrets. Ginny lay on the floor, crumpled just before the giant statue that dominated the Chamber. As Harry ran to where Ginny lay on the floor, Tom Riddle stepped from behind a pillar.
The apparition spoke, "There's no escape this time, Harry Potter, no friends to save you. No Dumbledore to catch you as you fall, no Snape to betray me, no parent's love to save you or your little girlfriend."
As Riddle spoke, Harry looked him over carefully, and finally saw what he had expected: Riddle's eyes were completely black.
Riddle continued on, "You thought you had defeated me, boy. Thought that merely destroying the Horcruxes and my body would stop me. My spirit lives on and will live on forever in your twisted memories. My spirit in your memories will crush your puny minds and destroy you. I think I'll start by destroying her." Riddle turned toward the statue and began to hiss in Parseltongue, "Speak to me, Slytherin…"
Harry pulled out his wand and interrupted, "You forgot, Riddle, that I know you're merely the Dementor controlling Ginny's memory. Expecto Patronum!"
Harry's silver stag Patronus ripped across the chamber and struck Riddle full in the chest, causing the Riddle face to melt off like wax. The Dementor shrieked as it became exposed and Harry's Patronus kept butting it with its antlers. It knocked the Dementor over and began to savage the Dementor with its antlers. As it did, Harry could see threads began to form around the Dementor as it sent strength back out. The Dementor began to fray at the edges and fall into inky black nothingness as he watched. Harry kept his concentration on his Patronus, unwilling to let the Dementor escape again.
Harry gasped in sudden pain as memories that weren't his came flooding into him. I can't believe that's Harry Potter, he's so cute with that hair. I wish I could go to Hogwarts. A mixture of persimmon and clove should help keep Dementors out. Does the King know not that his mistress plans to betray him? No, I didn't kill those Muggles, it was Peter, Peter! Mother loves me still, even if father disowned me.
Harry fell to the ground in pain, his Patronus dissolving into silver gas. The Dementor took its opportunity to escape, flying back up the shaft that connected the Chamber of Secrets to Hogwarts. As it fled, Harry stood with effort and went to Ginny. He shook her gently and she fluttered her eyes. As she regained her awareness, the Chamber of Secrets faded away, revealing Ginny's bedroom at the Burrow. Ginny no longer lay on the ground, but instead in her bed. She pulled Harry down into a passionate kiss. Harry let her kiss him for a moment, and then pulled back.
"Ginny," he said, "we've got to get back to Luna and help Dean. The Dementor escaped again, we can't let it regain its strength."
Ginny looked up at Harry regretfully, and said, "Okay, Harry, take me back and we'll finish this off."
A/N: I would like to thank Bella for the suggestion of the Chamber of Secrets for Ginny's soulscape.