-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling
-
-
-
-The Eighth Year
-Chapter 21
-Homecomings
-
"...sometimes he wears your face..."
Harry couldn't get Cho Chang's final words out of his head, even days later as he bumped along haphazardly next to Ginny on the wild and sometimes dangerous Knight Bus en-route to his Aunts house in Little Whinging, Surrey, they repeated over and over again.
What had she been trying to tell him?
"...sometimes he wears your face..."
"You're thinking about it again aren't you?" Ginny looked at him, a worried look on her face "What Cho said before she died"
"Yeah." He nodded and sat back, giving his full attention to the girl next to him. "Sorry. I can't get it out of my head."
"I understand." Ginny said looking away
"Ginny" Harry touched her hand "It's not her I can't stop thinking about, only what she said. You know that was over a long time ago."
Ginny shrugged "Nothing like a tragic death to rekindle an old flame"
"What?" Harry looked at her like she was insane "You don't think..."
"Maybe you just remembered how much you cared about her, and all you can think about now is getting revenge on whoever killed her." Ginny shrugged
Harry laughed "Gin, you've read far too many of those cheap muggle romance novels you and Luna keep passing back and forth."
"Have I?" Her eyes were worried and yet hopeful
"Of course. I mean, sure, I want to find out who killed her and stop them, but not out of any great love I had for her." Harry laced his fingers with hers and kissed her cheek
"Don't be so daft Ginny, You know who I love."
Ginny smiled and kissed him "Watch who your calling daft Potter"
"Then stop acting it." he smirked
"I'll stop when you do." She grinned and kissed him again
"Ho ho"
"So, how long is your aunt back for? Did she say?"
Harry shrugged "Don't know, I didn't talk to her, only Dudley."
"Bit odd don't you think, to leave your uncle all alone to come for a visit?"
"Normally I'd say yes, but my aunt isn't exactly your typical person."
"I thought you said she'd changed?" Ginny looked worried
Harry nodded "Oh she did, yeah, but what's to say she hasn't changed back?"
The bus came to a screeching halt and Stan Shunpike turned to the back where Harry and Ginny were sitting.
"Little Whining, Surrey Mr. Longbottom" Stan cackled with unbridled glee
Harry rolled his eyes, stood up and took Ginny's hand as they climbed off the bus. He wondered if Stan would ever tire of reminding him he had tried to pass himself off as Neville Longbottom, during his first ride on the Knight Bus just before his third year. He doubted it.
The bus was barely off in a blur before Ginny turned to him and asked the inevitable question.
"Why did he call you Mr. Longbottom?"
Harry launched into the story of blowing up his Aunt Marge and his attempted escape in the night from the ministry of magic and it lead them up to the old familiar play park that Harry had known so well in his youth. Harry stopped by a single bench and ran his hand lovingly over the cold metal.
"This is the place Gin" He sighed sadly "This is where I first saw Sirius, ever. I was right over there, and he was right here, right where I'm standing."
Ginny took his hands in hers and twined their fingers "You still miss him horribly don't you?"
Harry nodded "Sometimes it feels as if I am just now watching him go through that veiled archway. I can't imagine how Hermione and Luna have stood it being old enough to remember losing parents. And Luna, first seeing her mother die and now losing her father."
"Luna had her father when her mother died, and when she lost her father, she had us...and George."
"And I have you." Harry smiled
"You have me" Ginny smiled brilliantly "Yes, you do."
-
George didn't bother to hide his yawn as he sat sprawled over a table in the Library. He did know how he had ever kept up with the workload when he had been in school before, it was bloody well killing him now. Besides, he would much rather be off somewhere stealing a few private moments with Luna. But NO! Luna was hanging out with her best bud Draco Malfoy.
The bloody damn bastard.
The curdled milk expression crept over Georges face again. He'd been wearing it a lot since Draco Malfoy had returned. George had gone from being the center of Luna Lovegood's universe to being somewhere in the same direction as Pluto...and hadn't some astronomer decided that Pluto wasn't even a planet anymore?
Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.
"Why you looking so sour?"
George looked up and came face to face with the last person he wanted to talk to.
Pathilda Vane had been determinedly dogging him since his first week, and no matter how he brushed her off, the girl wouldn't take a hint.
"Uh" George quickly began gathering his things "A lot of work"
"I could help you with it" She bent down, putting her elbows on the table allowing her robes to display the generous amount of breasts beneath. "If you like" she finished suggestively
"No thanks." George picked up his book bag and turned away from her "Not interested in the least"
George loosened his tie as he turned out into the empty hallway, then rolled his eyes when he heard the clacking of shoes following him
"Why don't you like me Georgie?" Pathilda called out from behind him "I bet you would really like me, if you gave me a try."
"Don't" George whirled on her and pointed an angry finger in her face "Don't ever call me Georgie again, you got it?"
Pathilda nodded a look of shock on her face
"Do you got it?" George asked again, he was furious and wanted to be sure it was crystal clear. No one but family was allowed to call him the name that Fred had called him, Luna had never even done it, but then Luna was sensitive enough to understand without being told.
"Yes, I got it! Geez!" Pathilda giggled "What's the deal? Is that Loony's pet name or something?"
"Just stay away from me." George turned and began walking away again.
"She's a nutter you know, why do you think everyone calls her Loony behind her back?" Pathilda giggled and skipped ahead so she was in front of George "She was even sending herself flowers last fall by owl so everyone would think she had a secret admirer."
George stopped abruptly. He had been sending Luna those flowers...was that what people had thought?
"Were people bugging Luna about the flowers?" George asked
Pathilda laughed "Even Peeves was flying around laughing his ass off and shouting out Loony Lurves Loony."
"I came to ask you to please not send the owls and flowers anymore. It's very kind of you, and terribly sweet, but it's causing a bit of a stir. You know, 'Oh, who could be sending Loony Lovegood flowers?' and I would rather not be the center of that kind of attention. I'd rather not draw attention to myself."
That was why Luna had asked him to stop sending them!
"You Git" George took a step towards Pathilda "I was sending her the flowers. Me!"
"You?"
"Well, it would make sense wouldn't it? I am her fiancé. Did you think I just popped out of a bottle at Christmas time?"
"You and Loony, I still don't buy it" Pathilda crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes "Prove it"
George laughed in her face. "I don't have to prove anything to the likes of you, least of all a Slytherin."
Before George knew what was happening, Pathilda had grabbed him by the front of his robe and was kissing him. And of course, as is typical of his relationship with Luna, bad luck fell over him like an cursed double albatross as Luna picked that exact moment to step out of the portrait shortcut of the gray lady, only a yard away from where George was trying desperately to get free of Pathilda Vane. He looked up at Luna in desperation and fortunately for him, Luna was nobodies fool.
She stepped up behind them as calm as can be...
"Pathilda, I think if you would like to keep all that pretty black hair, it would be a good idea for you to get your scaly lips off my fiancé."
Pathilda let George go and he shoved her away from him, wiping off his mouth in disgust.
"Now, you better run" Luna aimed a stinger hex at Pathilda's feet, hitting her just enough to give her a small jolt. "Faster"
Luna turned back to George, tapping her wand against her leg, an unreadable smiled on her face.
George looked at Luna, slight worry in his eyes "She made me, I tried to get away...you saw me, trying to get away."
"I saw you trying to get away" Luna confirmed and nodded "You're lucky I came along and rescued you Weasley."
"You're my hero Luna Lovegood" George bent down to kiss her but Luna pushed him away.
"Oh no" She shook her head "No loving for you Weasley until you boil the scaly Pathilda Vane residue off your lips."
George missed a step
"Boil?"
-
Hermione was miserable. No going around it, no pretending otherwise. She was flat-out, whole-heartedly, missing-school-most-of-all-missing-Ronald-Weasley-so-much-it-was-choking-her-to-death, miserable.
She'd tried to owl his ring back to him at least five times in the past week, and always it came back the same.
Ron Weasley Does Not Live At This Address
It might have been more believable if it hadn't been Ron's handwriting. Hermione hadn't been able to resist a small smile earlier that day...for when the ring had come back, he had added a small note...
Ron Weasley Does Not Live At This
Address But if he did, he would want
Hermione Granger to know that he loves
her and wants her to come back to school soon.
Sometimes, Hermione felt like she was on the verge of packing her bags. Then, she would see her father laying dead in his coffin once again. She was so tired of it all, losing friends and people she cared about being in danger.
"Hermione!" Her mother called from downstairs and she took the stairs two at a time.
"Hey Hermione"
"Seamus!" Hermione mustered a smile for her school friend and gave him a brief hug
"I'm so sorry about Lavender, and I'm really sorry I didn't come for her funeral" she pulled back and led him by the hand into the sitting room.
"It's okay, I understand" He sat down on an ottoman next to her "Harry and Ron told me about your pop"
Hermione nodded
"Listen Hermione" Seamus began "There's a nasty rumor going about that you broke thing's off with Ron."
Hermione looked away "It's not a rumor Seamus."
"I reckoned that" He leaned down on his elbows "That's why I came"
Hermione stood and walked to the fireplace, her back to Seamus.
"Look Seamus...You don't understand..."
"What don't I understand Hermione? How much it hurts to lose someone you love?" He stood up and glared at her back.
Hermione turned around "Seamus, that's not what I meant and you know it."
Seamus advanced on her
"Oh, then tell me Miss Cleverest Witch in Class, what do you mean?"
Hermione stalked to the window seat "That's just it! Don't you get it? I don't want to be the cleverest witch in class anymore. I don't want to be ANY witch anymore."
"But you are a witch Hermione, you can't just walk away from that."
"Says who?"
"Says who?" He Laughed "Says YOU, that who. Being a witch is who you are Granger, it's in your bones and in your blood" He thumped two fingers on her chest "It's in your heart."
Seamus stepped back and crossed his arms "Like Ron Weasley is in your heart."
Hermione sat down in the window seat again and Seamus sat next to her.
"I know I'm sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong Hermione. I guess I like to think of it as doing what Lavender would have done if she were still alive."
"Lavender and I can never be together again, nothing can fix that. But you and Ron...that can be fixed. Don't waste your chances to be with the one you love Hermione...you just never know..."
Hermione looked at him "Oh Seamus..."
Seamus smiled "If you hurry and pack, I've got a two seater broom outside...I'll give you a lift"
Hermione laughed and wiped her face "It's no trouble?"
"Hurry up."
Hermione kissed his cheek and rushed up the stairs to pack.
She was going home.
Home to Hogwarts.
-
The young wizard looked at his watch and hastened his steps. He didn't dare be late, he was in enough trouble as it was.
Even though he dreaded the tongue lashing he was bound to get, he crossed the street to the busy grocers. There was no getting out now. He was in far, far too deep to get out now.
Instead of going into the store like others were doing, he ducked around to the back alley. After being sure that no one was watching he took out his wand and tapped the bricks, six total, and a small door appeared, and he ducked through into a large room where the master of his fate waited.
As usual the Marionette master stood with his back to the room, gazing out the window. He wore a black cloak, his white blonde hair tied back with a black ribbon in a long ponytail that reached nearly to his knees. He was tall and muscular, and as usual, he wore a mask reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera, only larger. But as always there was something strange about the Marionette Masters appearance...it was always the same, yet there was some subtle difference ...the young wizard had yet to put a finger on what it was exactly.
"Sit" He said without turning from the window. The young wizard took a chair at the table and nervously worried his fingers under the table.
"Everything." He said with a hiss "Everything I worked so hard to set up, the entire plan for Ginny Weasley, has gone to shit, and do you know why?"
The young wizard hurried to explain "It couldn't be helped sir she..."
"I didn't ask for excuses, I asked if you knew why."
"Sir?"
"No answer then? Perhaps you've gone the way of Marietta Edgecombe and Cho Chang, maybe that's why you gave Cho Chang the time to run her mouth to Harry Potter before she died."
"No Sir!" The young wizard looked up in alarm "No! I tried to do as you told me to, but the owls sir, they made a ruckus and she turned and saw me coming and she fought me and she knocked the needle out of my hand and it went over the side. I did the only thing I could! I Swear!"
"Owls you say?"
"Yes sir." The young wizard relaxed slightly"Nasty, noisy lot of beasts they are."
"They can be, yes." The marionette master crossed his arms over his chest "Be that as it may, this is not your first failure. You failed to keep a proper reign on Pansy Parkinson as well and look at the fiasco that came about because of that."
"But sir...I fixed that didn't I? Just like you showed me, bam! bam! bam! right in the head...not a drop of blood on the ground either... and I've done loads of things right...more right than wrong if you think of it." The young wizard was sweating heavily.
The Marionette master turned from the window to consider the young wizard "You did do well with Granger's father, Lavender Brown and dear old Rey, I'll give you that... But your mistake with with Cho Chang is costly enough to cancel those out...because you gave that bitch time to talk, my whole plan for Ginny Weasley has to be scrapped."
The young wizard looked at the Marionette master.
"Please Sir...he's back at school now, Please, I beg you, let me kill him." He licked his lips, desperate for the chance.
"Why do you want him dead so bad?" The Marionette master asked
"He just left him to die in the fire, And now...he's friends with that bloody bastard Harry Potter. He belongs in hell."
"You must not mess up an assignment again." The Marionette Master said "I simply cannot allow it."
"I won't, I swear" The young wizard got up from the table and walked towards the door.
"I know you won't." The Marionette master said quietly as he pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it at the wizards vulnerable back
"Avada Kedavera"
The young wizard fell dead upon the brick floor. The Marionette master crossed the room and nudged Goyle's face with his boot.
"Sorry Goyle, But as I said, I simply cannot allow anymore mistakes."
The Marionette master stood and pointed his wand at Gregory Goyle's body.
"Incendio"
He laughed, loud and harsh
"Clean up, aisle ten."
The Marionette Master gave a final smirk then left the room.
-
"Hey Big D!" Harry grinned, genuinely happy to see his huge hulking cousin. He hadn't seen him in a while, and since they had become friendly, Harry wished they could see one another more often, but their school schedules got in the way. Harry was understandably nervous.
This was the first time Harry had been back to Privet Drive since June, and the first time he would see his Aunt since then as well. Along with that, Ginny had never been there before.
"Harry!" Dudley smiled a big toothy smiled and reached for his cousins hand and pulling him inside "What the bloody hell you doing ringing the bell? Didn't I tell you before not to do that?"
Dudley closed the door behind them then yelled up the stairs
"Mum! Harry and his fiancée are here!"
"I'll be right there Diddykins! Serve the tea won't you?"
Dudley groaned "Shit, I hate it when she calls me that." he grinned and nodded them toward the kitchen.
"So, er...Dudley, what's this news?" Harry pulled out a chair for Ginny and then took one himself.
"Can't tell you that" Dudley sat a tea tray on the spotless table "You'll see in few minutes though."
Harry nodded and looked around. Obviously Dudley had been putting some work into the place. The damage the death eaters had done was all repaired now, and he had taken down all of the owls Uncle Vernon had drawn and cut out of books.
"The place looks great Dudley." Harry nodded toward the family room while Dudley poured the tea.
"Didn't I tell you?" Dudley sat down across from them " Neville Longbottom did it. We hit it off pretty good you see, when he stopped here at Christmas and he stayed here for a few days just before he went back to the states."
Dudley grinned "It's weird now, to think how much Mum and dad hated magic and now..."
"Now what?" Ginny asked
Dudley laughed "Can't tell you that." "You're acting very odd Dudley" Harry grinned "Even for you. What, is Piers Polkiss waiting in a closet to help you beat me up or something?"
"Nah" Dudley waved him off "I wouldn't do that to you, not after you saved my life and all."
"HARRY POTTER!" A loud booming voice came from behind him, making Harry nearly jump to the ceiling. Harry jumped from his chair pulling Ginny with him and shoving her protectively behind him. Out of no where he was face to face once again with none other that Vernon Dursley.
"Nice to see you too Harry" Vernon smiled
"Bloody Fucking Hell!" Harry exclaimed
"You can say that again" Dudley snickered
"No he can not" Petunia looked at Harry "Really Harry, We did not raise you to use such foul language. And in front of a young lady too."
"I've heard much worse actually" Ginny said over Harry's shoulder.
"She's said much worse" Harry put in
Ginny punched him on the arm and gave him a dirty look.
"So, is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Harry looked from one Dursley to another. Petunia had been totally white haired the last time he'd seen her, now, her hair was a dark honey blonde, just as it had been before. Vernon had been toothless and wasted, now he had a full mouth of teeth, obviously dentures, and while he was still very thin, there were signs that he was coming back to health.
Obviously something had happened, some magical miracle.
"Why don't we sit down and have our tea. And you've yet to introduce us to your young lady."
"Oh right" Harry shook himself. "Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon. This is my fiancée, Ginevra Weasley, Uh...She prefers to be called Ginny."
"Weasley" Vernon tested the name on his tongue "Weasley...wasn't your best school chum named Weasley Harry?" He asked as he took a place at the table after shaking Ginny's hand.
Harry could only stare, then Ginny lightly pinched him "Oh...yeah, right...Ron Weasley."
"I gather you are related dear?" Petunia asked
Ginny gave them her brightest smile "Yes, Ron is my brother."
"A fine family" Vernon said "Very fine. I had the pleasure of meeting your father on several occasions."
That was it, Harry couldn't stand it anymore.
"Excuse me for being rude, but...are you pod people or something?"
"What dear?" Petunia looked at Harry with a small smile
"Harry!" Ginny looked ready to crawl under the table
"This is like something out of invasion of the body snatchers, you weren't at all pleased the first time you met Mr. Weasley!"
"Hey Dudley" Ginny said "Would you show me Harry's room, I'd really like to see it" She nodded in an obvious 'lets give them time' gesture
"Oh, yeah, right. Come on."
Petunia waited until they were gone before she spoke.
"Do you remember when we visited last spring Harry?"
Harry nodded
"Remember, how surprised you were by how different I was? I told you then that time changes things."
"The healers don't know how long this will last" Vernon said "The last person they tried it on was okay for almost a year and then he died."
"A year?" Harry looked up sharply "You mean your using this charm even though you'll probably be dead in a year?"
"That's correct" Vernon smiled hugely
"But..." Harry looked from Vernon to Petunia trying to understand how they could do something so careless. "But, why? Why would you do something so...so...foolish?"
"Is it foolish Harry?" Vernon looked at him, his face more sincere and kind than Harry had ever seen it. "When you know that you are going to die either way? Would it be better for me to lay in bed, a useless lump pissing and shitting in an adult nappy watching my wife and son cry while I waste away?" Is it foolish to want a few months to love my family" he put his hand on top of Harry's "Maybe even to try to put right a few wrongs?"
Harry looked at Vernon Dursley, caring about his life for the first time ever. "But your going to die..."
"I'm going to die either way Harry. But this way, I decide how, I decide when, and most of all, I die with dignity, at home instead of some hospital in a strange country full of Yanks."
"So, you're saying basically, you came home to make amends, and to...to die?"
Vernon nodded
"And that's why you're being so nice to me?"
"We should have been better to you years ago" Petunia shook her head and Vernon nodded in agreement "Were so ashamed Harry, so very ashamed."
"We understand now" Vernon looked at Harry directly in the eye "We understand exactly what your headmaster Dumbledore was trying to tell us that night he came to collect you nearly three years ago."
"He must have been a very learned man" Petunia said with a smile as she patted Harry's hand.
"He was" Harry smiled as he always did at the mention of his former mentor "Dumbledore was beyond brilliant"
Vernon smiled and clapped a large hand on Harry's shoulder, and for the first time ever, somehow, it felt like just the right thing at the moment.
-
"So will you be inviting them to the wedding then?" Luna asked from her place on Georges Lap. Harry and Ginny who had just returned from Surrey were in the middle of being grilled about his visit with his aunt and uncle.
"I don't know yet" Harry shook his head "It's like I don't even know these people, and they are still muggles, who knows how they will react to being around so much magic at once. Particularly after Bellatrix LeStrange did a number on them."
Ginny smiled from where she sat with her back against Harry's knees "I hope they can come, they seemed like lovely people, all things considered. At least the people I met today."
Ron rolled his eyes "The ones I remember were regular trolls, locking Harry up behind bars and starving him
"Funny" Ginny said with a small grin "Harry's uncle remembered you quite fondly, and spoke very well of you."
"Well, like I said" Ron smirked "The bloke can't be all bad."
General laughter ensued, only to be cut off by George.
"Hermione."
Ron looked up and like a dream, Hermione stood once again in her Hogwarts cloak and robes just behind him. Without a word he stood and walked around the sofa, took her in his arms and when she put her hands on his arms he noticed the ring on her finger, back where it belonged.
Ron didn't care who was watching, he kissed her.
hp
Outside the window two figures on brooms watched anxiously
"Ahh yes, Reunions...How sweet" The Marionette master said "How disgustingly sweet. Congratulations, my friend, you did a wonderful job."
"Thank you sir"
"It would have been a shame for one of my favorite pawns to miss all the fun."
The Marionette master turned his broom and flew until he was swallowed by clouds and dark.
-
-
-
-
Chapter 22 Preview
Harry,Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, George and Draco
are all in terrible danger as
the
Marionette
Master
Strikes!
It's the ultimate showdown when Harry
comes face to face (kind of) with the Marionette Master!
-
-
-
-