MARKED
"I'm trying to be practical!"
"Screw practicality, Harry! When does that ever come into love?"
TWENTY ONE: Kreacher's Treasure Trove
It was Ginny.
The sight of Harry and the shock of the door being kicked open so suddenly had caused her to leap a foot in the air; she had clearly not expected him.
"Harry!" she yelled, scrambling to her feet: she had obviously been looking for something.
Harry, jaw hanging open, was momentarily to dumbstruck to speak. He shakily lowered his wand and closed his mouth several times.
"I didn't hear you come in!" Ginny said. "Where are the others?" she said, as though her apparition was a perfectly normal occurrence.
The next thing Harry knew, she had thrown her arms around his neck and was engaging him in a bone-crushing hug. Harry was helpless for a moment to do anything except stand there.
Ginny drew back.
"What's the matter?" she said.
Harry found his voice, though it was a hoarse whisper. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
Ginny was spared answering as there were loud clunks from the stairs that told the pair of them that Ron and Hermione were now making their way up.
As they reached the landing, both stopped in their tracks, as Harry had done.
"Ginny!" Ron said, flabbergasted. "What's going on? Why are you here?"
"How –" Hermione began.
"– We could talk about it over a nice pot of tea," came a deeply familiar voice from behind Harry.
Remus Lupin stood at the bottom of the stairs, his greying hair betraying his forced look of calm. There were numerous cuts and scratches on his face and arms and yet the brightness of his eyes was still vivid.
Harry felt as though he had entered a previous life; he had been out of contact with everyone else for such a long period of time since leaving The Burrow that Lupin and Ginny's appearance was bizarre.
"What are you … what happened to your –" he began, but Lupin cut him off once more.
"– As I said. A nice pot of tea."
- - - - -
Harry had followed them all with his mouth shut .Ginny had looked at him uneasily a few times, as though in fear of his reaction, but he had not looked at her. He was too angry.
They sat in silence in the dingy kitchen underneath the living room whilst Lupin bustled around with the whistling teapot before setting it down on the table. Harry had lit the torches with his wand when they had entered, but the room was still freezing.
Lupin reached out and took Hermione's cup before opening his mouth.
"So –"
"– What are you playing at?" Harry began hotly, as though on cue. "Why are you here, and why did you bring Ginny? Do either of you have any idea how dangerous this is? Coming here?"
Lupin lowered the pot and put his hands together in a thoughtful gesture.
"Harry, I know you must be angry –"
"– Angry? You've both just gone and done the ONE thing I asked of everyone to not do – why would I be angry?"
Hermione put a hand on Harry's arm but he jerked away from her.
"I told you – all of you – that I had to go away and do this … I explained why Ron and Hermione were coming and I told you to not try and find me until I found you! So you better explain why you're here, and you'd better do it right now."
"Well, we would if you'd let us get a bloody word in edgeways," said Ginny sourly.
Harry stared at her; there was a fire present in her blazing eyes once more and the burning torches made her hair dance.
Harry sat back, feeling very much like a petulant teenager of all things, and folded his arms.
Lupin took a sip of his burning tea and cleared his throat.
"Your message was received by the Order a few days ago. There was a large discussion and debate about what should be done. We all voted, unanimously I might add, to take your warning at face value and evacuated the premises right away."
Harry said nothing.
"But my heart was uneasy. The article in the Daily Prophet had since been published and I was aware of how influential the press could be – and how damaging. It said you went to Azkaban."
Still Harry said nothing.
"Is this true, Harry?" Lupin pressed.
"Yeah, it's true," answered Ron. "We had to."
Lupin nodded. "I admire your courage. But I grew troubled. Voldemort knows as well as we do how revealing the newspapers can be, and I knew he must have seen where you had gone and would very quickly deduce your trail, particularly as the Prophet reported you not attending Hogwarts so far."
Lupin paused and unconsciously rubbed a scratch on his left arm.
"Whatever you're doing, Harry," he went on, a little more quietly, as though the walls themselves were listening; "I think you need to be aware that the situation has changed."
"I am aware, Remus," said Harry, a little defensively. "Voldemort knows what I'm trying to do –"
Ginny gasped.
"– But he can't stop me. And he hasn't yet, so I don't see why you're preaching to me about being careful when you haven't been there."
The moment Harry had said this, he regretted it.
Lupin said nothing for a moment, but his expression told Harry quite clearly that he would have been there had Harry asked him.
"Naturally when I heard about the attack in London early this morning, I admit, I panicked. I came here."
"How did you know to come here?" Hermione asked.
A wry smile passed over Lupin's lips. "I deduced from Harry's cryptic warning that we had to evacuate because Grimmauld Place was very unsafe. So, in theory, it would be somewhere Harry would go."
Harry swallowed.
"It's what James would have done," Lupin added, staring at the table. "And I have learnt invariably that you tend to follow similar patterns of behaviour."
Harry nodded and sat forward slightly.
"OK, I accept why you're here," he said to Lupin, but then he turned his head towards Ginny. "So what's this all about?" he asked her seriously.
Ginny flushed. "I'm not going to speak to you if you keep talking to me like a child!" she said hotly.
Ron and Hermione exchanged uneasy looks.
"We could go unload our stuff …" Ron suggested quietly.
Lupin appeared to take the hint and instigated a suggestion.
"Perhaps we should catch up elsewhere, Ron? Hermione?"
Ron and Hermione pushed their chairs back so quickly that there was a loud scraping noise as they got to their feet and left the kitchen without another word, leaving a heavy silence in their wake. Lupin also followed out silently.
Harry and Ginny sat in a stony silence for a good minute, neither looking at each other.
Ginny stood up suddenly.
"It's cold in here," she said abruptly and lit the fireplace with an impatient flick of her wand.
"Ginny, what are you doing here? Really?" Harry said wearily, rubbing his scar unconsciously.
Ginny's eyes flashed dangerously. "Why do you think, Harry? To see you of course!"
"Yeah? Well seeing me might just get you killed, did you even think about that?"
"Actually, I did! And do you know what? I don't care!"
Harry opened his mouth to retort something, but then found he couldn't. She had risked a lot, everything in fact, just to see him, and it terrified him.
Ginny frowned.
"Looks like you don't care from where I'm standing."
"Of course I care," said Harry quietly, staring at his tea, the steam rising in little circles.
Ginny sat down and tried to engage Harry in eye contact, but he was deliberately avoiding her.
"I was home for the weekend when they got your message," she said shortly. "I asked Lupin what it was about. He wasn't going to tell me, but I explained that I really wanted to see you. He was so surprised that I'd figured out where he was going that he let me come. Mum and dad don't know."
"Why were you home?" said Harry, dodging the main subtext of her explanation.
"Lots of people have been doing it recently," she muttered. "McGonagall issued consent slips to everyone, in case they had to … leave suddenly. And I missed my mum."
Harry nodded.
"I miss your mum, too."
"Harry why won't you look at me?" she asked directly.
Harry stood up very quickly and walked over to the fire.
"Because I can't, Gin, alright? I said goodbye to you back at The Burrow and I –"
"– you thought it was going to be the last time we would see each other, didn't you!" Ginny exclaimed, firing up. "You just don't want to see me now because it interferes with your bloody death wish!"
Harry opened his mouth angrily and turned to face her properly for the first time. "I don't have a death wish! Voldemort's got a death wish for me, in case you'd forgotten!"
"How could I possibly forget?" Ginny said sarcastically, raising her voice to a yell, her tone derisive. "That's the whole damn reason why you're not back at school right now! It's the reason we're not together!"
Harry shook his head. "No, he doesn't rule all my decisions, Ginny. I said that don't think we should be together."
Ginny looked as though someone had slapped her hard across the face.
"What?"
Harry looked away.
"But you said …" Ginny started, angry tears glazing the surface of her burning hazel eyes. "You said … that was you for life … if I'll wait … and I said I would …"
Harry swallowed hard, praying that she wasn't going to cry, as he knew his resolve would not hold if she did.
"I know what I said."
"So what, were you just lying to me?" she said quietly.
Harry turned around, his back to the fire.
"You don't deserve this, Ginny," he said abruptly.
"You're bloody right! I don't!" she said shrilly.
"You need stability, and I can't give you that. You need to be with someone who isn't looking over his shoulder his whole life … even if I get rid of Voldemort, there's always going to be something … you need –"
"– Stop telling me what I need!" Ginny shouted, as an angry tear fell and splashed down her sweater.
"Well I don't know how else to deal with this!" Harry shouted, matching her volume.
"I'm old enough to decide for myself what I want, and what I need! Why are you being such an arse?"
Harry took an angry step towards her. He wanted to shake her, to make her understand that he would never be good enough for her, but the monster inside him was clawing at him and ripping his insides out … he had never wanted to sacrifice anything less …
"I'm not! I'm trying to be practical!"
"Screw practicality, Harry! When does that ever come into love?"
They were feet apart, red in the face, shouting at each other.
"Somebody has to think about the long run!" Harry yelled. "You think I can come out of this? You're going to be waiting a bloody long time, Ginny!"
"Yeah? Well maybe that's MY decision to make!" she retorted. "And all of this, this reaction, this isn't about me being here now, is it? This is about you being scared!"
"No it's not!"
"YES IT IS! You've got Ron and Hermione as the closest friends, but you've never had anyone like me! Somebody who can know you intimately and love you like that … you're actually looking for a way out!"
"Then why do I feel like just giving up when I think about how I can't be with you?" Harry bellowed, wanting to grab her shoulders, to make her see …
Neither of them had realised, in their angry quarrel, how close they had gotten in the last few minutes. Their faces were inches apart; they were glaring at each other angrily – and then in a split second, both moved forwards in exactly the same moment and they were kissing fiercely, arms around each other, as though they could not get close enough.
Harry held Ginny tightly to him as he kissed her, never wanting to let her go or to let anyone take her away from him, and by the way she was clinging to him in exactly the same way, he knew she felt the same.
- - - - -
They lay on a mattress some hours later, side by side, staring at the ceiling in semi-darkness. It was surely past midnight and, since neither had seen them, they assumed that Ron and Hermione and Lupin had gone to bed.
Moonlight filtered through the grimy windows and the patched and frayed curtains, illuminating their faces. Ginny's eyes were closed, but when Harry looked at her, he knew she was not asleep; her breathing was still too unsettled.
He spoke softly through the darkness.
"Ginny …"
"Hmm …"
"I'm not scared of being with you … I'm scared of not being with you …"
Ginny rolled onto her side. "I know," she said. "I just wanted you to say it."
Harry closed his eyes. "Took me long enough then."
He felt her smile beside him.
"But you get what my problem is though, don't you?" he said seriously.
Ginny opened her eyes sleepily and turned to look at him.
"I understand that you don't what me involved now, Harry. Whatever you're doing now … I know you won't tell me, and that's OK. But when it comes to it … when it's the last battle … I will be there."
"I know you will."
She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder.
"There's something else I should tell you …" Harry began. "There was one time when … well, when I had to do something dangerous, and I knew there was a big chance that I'd die … and the only way I got through it was by thinking of you."
Ginny stirred slightly and Harry knew she was beginning to fall asleep.
"So you see, you can help now. You do."
And then he fell asleep.
- - - - -
Harry's dreams were the most unsettled he'd had for a good few months. Flashes of everything he had been thinking about seemed to pound his brain in a mixed up jumble.
He was entering Grimmauld Place for the first time ever, confronted by Sirius's shrieking, spitting mother who swiftly transformed into Voldemort, who was holding Hufflepuff's cup in the portrait. Harry made to take it from him but found that he himself was now stuck in the portrait. Imprisoned within the canvas, he watched in horror as Grimmauld Place changed and the Ministry scene flickered before his eyes; Sirius was falling through the veil … Harry was yelling, but he could not move; his arms seemed stuck by his side – and then in an instant, he had been immobilised by Dumbledore that fateful night atop the highest tower. Snape was drawing closer … Dudley was there for reasons unknown, and so was Kreacher –
Harry sat bolt upright on the mattress.
Kreacher ... how had he not thought of it before? His sudden movement awoke Ginny.
"Whassamatter?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes. It was still dark outside.
Harry shook his head violently, ridding his mind's eye of the dream images still swimming in his head; ignoring the Dumbledore's shocked face right in front of him –
"Harry, what's the matter?" Ginny said more clearly.
But Harry had already put his glasses on, swung his legs over the side of the bed and had crossed the room in a matter of seconds.
The bare, creaking floorboards were freezing against his bare feet, but he ignored this, lighting the lamps in the wall on his way. A door flew open to his right and Hermione emerged, flyaway hair everywhere.
"Has something happened?" she asked urgently.
Ron appeared behind her looking so drowsy he may have been sleepwalking.
They followed Harry as he jogged down the remainder of the landing.
"Harry, where are you going?" Hermione gasped
"Who is the one person," Harry said breathlessly over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs two at a time, "who was against us clearing out this house?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged confused looks.
"Which person?" said Ron. "Wasn't Sirius; he couldn't wait to be rid of most of it."
"All right then, not person. Which creature?" said Harry, coming to the bottom of the stairs.
Both Ron and Hermione gasped vehemently.
"Kreacher!"
"Exactly."
They had reached the entrance to the kitchen. Harry remembered, two years ago, when Hermione had insisted on giving Kreacher a Christmas present. Sirius had said that his den was under the boiler in the cupboard.
Harry crouched down and pulled the door open.
A disgustingly musty smell reached their nostrils and a voice from behind Hermione cried, "Urgh!" Ginny and Lupin had caught up.
"Harry, what's this about?" said Lupin. "Kreacher isn't here; I was told you sent him to work in the kitchens at Hogwarts!"
Harry ignored him and brushed away Bellatrix Lestrange's prized photograph in a cracked frame. There were lots of hidden objects in little piles; obviously what Kreacher had closely regarded as treasure worth saving from Sirius's purge.
An assortment of medals sat at the back next to the boiler; there was a yard of red string, a pair of frayed trousers, a ripped canvas of an old portrait, some rusty cufflinks, a moving velvet pouch and … a heavy silver locket.
Hands shaking, Harry reached in and drew it out by the chain.
Ron and Hermione appeared to be wrestling with intense fear and excitement.
"Lumos," Harry whispered and held the locket up to his wand-light. There, emblazoned clearly on the front, was a large silver 'S' – Slytherin's mark.
Harry stood up shakily.
It was very heavy – much heavier than the fake he had been carrying around since Dumbledore's death. The chain was rusted, but the locket itself seemed in fairly good condition.
"That's Slytherin's locket, Harry, how did you –?" Lupin began, but he never finished his sentence.
In a huge explosion that shook the whole house, the windows around them were blown out with immense force and a harsh wind seemed to rush through the house. With a noise that felt like his head had been blown off, Harry watched, as though in slow motion, as glass flew towards all of them and the curtains billowed. He dimly registered that all the lights went out.
Harry was blasted to his knees with one thought on his mind.
They found us.
- - - - -
A/N: Ha. Told you. Anyway … argh, I know you love the cliff-hangers … especially if I'm updating quicker! Please leave nice BIG reviews. Pretty please.
Brittany: Thanks for the suggestion – I may use it in this story, when Harry goes to Hogwarts … sorry, that was IF Harry goes to Hogwarts (damn it, I let it slip!) I had considered it before, but it probably won't crop up yet.
Nat: You've been checking everyday? Wow, that is a good reviewer. You get the prize lol.
SillySeal: Fear not, Snape will feature … possibly very soon. I miss the little grease ball too.
Ana Sedai: Thanks for the review – I think Harry has had to grow up a great deal in the past few years; I think he had his break down in book 5 and since then he has actually become a man, however I can't promise he won't fly off the handle in this story … with good reason of course!
SammyLyn: It sounds like you're famous!
Sissy Space Dout: I think JK tried to portray that that the current Gaunt's had lost their wealth. The castle in this story is supposed to have belonged to the previous generations. I see your point: I imagined the place to have a manor like feel to it, but still to all purposes be called a castle because I needed the turrets and such for the story.
Elmire: Thanks for the review, I don't actually have any exams, as it's all continuous assessment. Hope yours went OK though!
Ruby: Here is another update, so be happy! Lol. Lots of people have mentioned about Ron's Patronus, but I guess I missed that interview where JK revealed it. I used a lion due to Ron's fabulous roaring in the 4th film.
anonymous3932: Ah! It's Aslan! But you knew that, right? Daniel Radcliffe has abs? I must have missed them … too busy looking at Cedric.
Lana: Ooh, it's like you're prophetic.
Aprila: Yeah, I'd watch out for those Death Eaters when you're in London! They cancelled your play? Oh man, that sucks! Susan is like the best character! I wish I could shoot with a bow and arrow.
Kessemm: Argh I updated as quickly as I could … please don't reveal my secret to the authorities!