Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: This is really late for three reasons: I am currently re-writing my old fic Heaven for The Weather, Hell for the Company. I'm in the middle of a big project for one of my A Levels, it's all for an exam I have next month. I'm in the middle of planning out a novel I'm planning on slowly adding to over the years.

I will try to update faster, but after I've posted this I'm going to brave going back and editing out any mistakes in previous chapters of this story. Should be fun, eh?

Quote: 'I get all...numb… We're the same…. Numb...And it brings our knees to the earth!
So God bless you all! For the song you saved us...oh... For the hearts you break, every time you moan!

And God bless you all on the earth...'

Minerva – Deftones

Blood and Chocolate

Part 2: Unreal

Chapter 21: Secrets

Seconds after the door closed behind me, the sound of the commotion on the other side of the door silenced behind the charms around the room. A jolt of pain shot down my back, and for the first time since I had been locked in the underground holding cells at the Ministry, I felt agony apparelled to nothing as my head began to force itself outwards, my spine curving out of position.

It dawned on me, briefly, that my clothes were likely to tare, and in an attempted to salvage some sort of dignity when I had to leave the room, I just about managed to remove them before I was sent to my knees. I could hear my bones cracking and breaking, dislocating and re-shaping themselves to a new form altogether. My skin felt raw, burning as it stretched to accommodate something a lot larger than I was.

It went on for what felt like hours, while in reality, it was only a minute or so. When it all stopped I felt weak, collapsing to the ground. I could feel my own thoughts fading into nothing as something much more powerful took over. I was on my feet, stumbling slightly as I tried to co-ordinate being on four, as opposed to two legs. There was power underneath each step, strong muscles poised ready to pounce at any moment. I could smell everything all of a sudden.

Before it had been the basis of things around me, and blood were there any to be spilt, but now it was their scent, outside the door, and a stronger one lying just beyond that. It was still stuck to my skin, as impossible as it was, lurking somewhere in the distance, getting closer.

Humans.

The door opened all of a sudden and a small amount of light was cast into the room as someone entered.

Ginny

When I arrived at the front door of Grimmauld Place the last thing I expected to see was Albus Dumbledore waiting for me… or at least that's what it looked like.

"Ah, Miss Weasley! Just the person I wanted to see."

I froze, expecting to get told off for sneaking off school grounds… again. "Er… really?"

He waved me in. "See, didn't I tell you?" He turned to Sirius and smiled.

The man in question didn't look too happy. Especially not when I was being led toward the drawing room door. "If you could just open that for me…" he nodded his hand towards the handle.

Sirius shook his head. "It's locked, we-"

The door opened with a click beneath my fingers. Dumbledore just raised his eyebrows at me, waiting. "Off you pop – we'll be in the kitchen when you're ready."

Sirius continued to look uncomfortable with the situation. "Albus, you can't – what if he's-"

"Doesn't matter. Kitchen please, now." He dismissed, walking off into the other room.

Curious, I ignored Sirius' warning and entered the darkened room. The door closed and disappeared behind me automatically. Plunged into darkness, I waded blindly into the centre of the room, my feet glowing slightly as they hit my rune on the floor, casting a slight redish glow across a few feet around me. I still couldn't make anything out. It wasn't until I heard a swishing sound behind me that I realised someone else was in the room.

It stalked around me in a full circle twice before the edge of one of its paws was highlighted by the small glow under my feet. Taking a step back, effectively cutting off my only light source, I let out a loud shriek as something jumped forward and slammed me into the ground.

Groaning as my back took a beating; I tilted my head backwards to see a pair of deep green eyes staring back at me. There was a low rumble somewhere close to my chest as it bared its sharp teeth ever so slightly and growled.

Something soft and furry brushed up against my arm as it braced its legs, something was touching my shoulder as it lowered its head – it tickled.

"Harry!" I grabbed his head and tried to force him to look at me. He suddenly didn't seem all that menacing. He was furry, and soft, and kinda cuddly… when he wasn't growling. Hardly a carnivorous beast.

Somehow it didn't seem like a combination you'd find in a monster. I ran my fingers around the outside of his eyes ad around the top of his head, watching as he closed his eyes. "Harry… are you going to keep growling at me or can I see your face?"

There was a pause where nothing happened, then a soft groan as he appeared to vanish from view. His hand brushed against my cheek. I sat up on my elbows and decided to sit still and wait, considering that I didn't know where he'd gone and I couldn't see a thing. I felt him shuffle just behind me, then move to fall down beside me.

"Alright?" I asked.

"I uhh… feel a little tired." He sounded out of breath.

Just as I was thinking that I could really do with some light on the situation – a few candles around the room lit up. I remembered with a pang what Hermione had told me earlier. Harry, now dimly lit in the darkness, was lying flat on his back, eyes closed, still rather breathless. He also had his shirt on inside out. "Where you naked before?" I suddenly remembered with a smirk exactly what animagus transformations entailed.

"Little bit." He admitted. He squeezed his eyes shut then reopened them tiredly. "I… feel like every part of me is on fire…" He groaned again as he rolled over, coming to rest with his head on my stomach. He arched his back slightly then relaxed. "And like someone tore my spine in two."

"Poor you?" I cooed, playing with his hair. "What happened? Did you get around to making that potion?"

"No… it was weird. I was angry with Dumbledore. Just as I was calming down I got even angrier… the next thing I knew I was sprouting fur and I had to strip before I started changing and tore my clothes." He wrapped an arm around my waist, hugging me close. "And now everything hurts…" He whined.

My fingers paused halfway through his hair. "When was this?"

"Just now, why?"

"Well… I spoke to Hermione a few days ago; she'd figured a lot of the stuff out. It's supposed to have put my mind at rest, but now that I'm aware of what I'm doing…" I looked over at one of the candles and concentrated on the flame. I felt the heat surge up through my body and outwards towards the flame. It shot up a few feet then calmed down.

He raised his eyebrows. "Wandless magic?"

"Kind of. She found something about a girl who was supposed to help you defeat a 'great evil' and that she'd be 'special'. She'd be the 7th child of a 7th child, the first female in a line of men and… he magic would be so far connected to her magic that it'd just… blow up a little bit."

He was quiet for a while, then he nudged me playfully. "You have always had a fiery temper."

"It's not funny, Harry, this is serious! I burned Greg because he scared the shit out of me and I wanted to get away. Random lamps and candles keep lighting themselves around me and it's pissing me off. I was normal up until 6 months ago. Now I'm fainting all the time, my magic is mutating because of you." I knocked him back slightly and stood up. He made an odd noise as his back hit the floor again. "It is your fault, I know it is, because the bloody book said so. And this-" I brandished the scar on the back of my hand at him. "-keeps burning every time it happens."

He rolled his eyes. "Ginny. That prophecy I told you about that told me I would have 'the power he knew not' and it was either me or him that had to go? I felt like that then. That everything was over, and there was no point in trying. The difference is, that I'm used to being put in these situations. I'm used to things going wrong, and everything going to shit. You're not. You're a Weasley. You grew up surrounded by family, loved and cared for, without a worry in the world. And now you're being shoved into my world, where you have all these things happening to you, and you don't know how to handle it. I get it. I do. Stop yelling at me and explain what's going on."

I deflated a little bit, but didn't sit back down, deciding to lean against the wall. "Apparently I'll get three marks, then I'm going to decide the fate of the wizarding world. I have to choose. I'll be presented with a choice and my decision will either plunge the world into darkness, or bring them back into the golden ages, where there weren't dark lords and death eaters running around. I'm pretty sure they're connected. You're prophecy and this thing Hermione read. You have to defeat you-know-who, and I'm supposed to either give you the… whatever it is to do it… or I don't. I either help you kill him, or I let us loose the war."

He just about managed to stand up, wincing as he did. I suddenly felt bad for knocking him back earlier. "Well you don't look evil to me. I wouldn't worry about it."

"How can I-"

He grabbed my shoulders and kissed me soundly. "Stop. Worrying."

"I-" I tried weakly, but he shook his head, smiling down at me placatingly.

"You haven't got an evil bone in your body. I can't see how you're ever going to do anything but be there while this war is happening. The only thing you've ever done that doesn't particularly help situations is not doing as you're told. Just… don't think about it. Let me worry about it, it's my burden to carry, you've just been dragged into it somehow." He went quiet and took one of my hands, the one with the mark.

I watched as the magic flowed once again through his finger tips and coiled itself around my hand, traveling down my wrist. He kissed the back of my hand, over the scar, and a jolt went right through my body. "What's all this about?"

I took a deep breath. "Hermione thinks that this is the 'first mark'. Of the three. Your magic recognised mine. It's like… your soul reached out to mine and connected with it because it knew we were supposed to work as one unit in this war. It triggered the awakening of the 'power' I'm supposed to have being the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter. There are people scattered across history that were like me, and did amazing things. Something always triggered it… this was my trigger. And… it brought a little boost of power with it, I guess. My magic has been a little off… I keep doing this wrong, or overdoing it a little bit. Now that I know I can channel that energy into fire… it keeps happening without me even thinking about it." I shook my head. "It's weird… like the first time I ever did magic. There's a rush of energy that flows right through your body, and it feels so unique, you can't quite describe it. It's frightening."

Harry kissed my forehead, pulling me into a hug. "You're going to be fine, you just need to settle into it… then everything will go back to normal. Maybe that's what's draining you? Giving you headaches?"

"Yeah… maybe."

I dropped my head onto his chest. "Harry before… Ron really pissed me off. I hit him, you know?" I swallowed hard. "You don't think… that because I…" I trailed off.

He pulled a face. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if you were projecting your emotions to me unintentionally or not."

I groaned. "Can we go back outside? I don't want to think about this anymore."

He didn't reply, stepping back to pull his shirt over his head and putting it back on the right way around before exiting through the newly appeared door. I presented him to the kitchen with a flourish. "Look who I found!"

Sirius smiled at the sight of me standing there alive and entirely unharmed. Harry sat down gingerly in the seat next to his godfather, accepting a potion from Remus without questioning what it was.

"It won't be that painful the next time you transform." Said Sirius.

Remus nodded grimly. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been though. You're heart doesn't beat and you don't need to breathe… Whenever I transform into a werewolf, my heart stops, and I can't breathe while my organs re-arrange themselves. It's quite painful."

Sirius nodded. "I don't think I had as much respect as I did when I first transformed for Remus as I did before. He does that every month and I only had to do it once or twice."

Dumbledore sat in silence on the opposite side of the room. "We might need to re-evaluate the situation. Things have changed."

He turned to me. "I think you are aware of what I mean, Miss Weasley."

"Please don't stop him from going back to school because of me." I shook my head violently. I don't think I could stand him not being there for much longer.

"Oh, on the contrary. We will go ahead as planned. What I mean is, your situation." He nodded for me to sit down. "Right now, you are very fragile, and the power your excursing each day is weakening you further."

"You don't think that the magic use is what's causing it?" I asked timidly, my voice slightly higher than it usually was. I had so hoped it was.

"No, I'm afraid not, Miss Weasley. Unfortunately…This is a different matter entirely. It is weakening you, yes, but it should not cause you to blackout. Your magic is a part of you – your body will adapt and strengthen every day to accommodate the extra expulsions."

I closed my eyes. "So what did you want to do?"

"Harry is being trained by two members of the Order of the Phoenix to control his magic, and his emotions in relation to them. I think… that once he comes back to school and the training moves to school grounds… you may benefit from the help. Harry was angry at me. And you were angry at your brother. And unfortunately… it appears that your anger latched onto his and made it grow to the point that he achieved his animagus form before he was supposed to." He pointed to the mark on the back of my hand. "I do not know to what extent you are connected but… as it goes, I'm assuming that the worse that can happen is that you will occasionally connect, magically, that is. You knew something was happening to him, and so you felt the need to come here and see him, am I right? Seeing as your magic is so greatly connected to your magic… I think it would be best if you did train with Harry. If that's alright with you."

"Of course." I said immediately.

Harry

There was a large study opposite the library with bookcases lining the walls, a gap only for a door, and the back wall left clear for a window. The desk had been pushed right up against the window and a few chairs and a table had been placed in the middle. William Black sat to my right, while Adora was stood looking curiously through the books on the shelves.

"Tell me, Harry, what do you know about being a vampire?"

"Other than the fact that I apparently am one?" I asked. "You're heart stops beating, you don't need air, you're essentially living dead… only less decomposed. Powerful, enhanced sight and hearing… strength… agile…" I trailed off.

He laughed. "Where'd you hear all of that?"

"Hermione. And the fact that there all true for me…" I said slowly, looking at him in what I knew must have been a mix of confusion and worry for his sanity.

He took my hand and held it against his chest without warning. Confused, I almost jumped as I realised that his heart was beating beneath my fingertips. He grinned, letting go of my hand. "I mean, yeah, all the other ones are true, I wont deny that, but your heart does beat… or will… it's an odd process. It takes a while for the venom to sink right through your system. It's should sort of be stuck somewhere around your head, neck and chest… after a while it'll do a full circuit of your body and… your body should end up running on magic. It keeps your heart beating. Believe me, it was a shock when it happened to me too but… it's a largely kept secret. You know all of those muggle rumours about how vampires cant stand sunlight, a stake through the heart will kill them, they cant be seen in mirrors, their heart doesn't beat… all of that?"

"Yeah…"

"Most of them were dismissed as false a long while ago. If I'm honest, the wizarding world still believes the whole 'stake through the heart' thing. It hurts like hell and is likely to kill you eventually… but that's nothing to do with being a vampire – its just common sense."

"It says in the books-"

"And who do you think wrote those books? If people knew that vampires were almost completely human there would be chaos! The race had to stay hidden so they set out false trails of how to spot one. If the world knew, they would suspect a whole host of people who weren't vampires of being one."

I felt really confused. Shaking my head, I looked away. "Whatever. I'm beyond caring about the eccentricities of this by this point."

He smiled at me and I did a double take. "So… you knew my parents?"

Adora came to sit on Williams other side with a book or two. "Yes. We've known your family for a few generations, actually." She said.

"Whatever did happen to Sirius?" Asked William softly. "Dumbledore wouldn't tell us…"

"He was framed for murder." I said shortly. "Are you under glamour? Your image shifts every now and again… and if you knew my parents then you should have known their friends."

"Yeah… it's… for the best. I know that part." He said, quickly getting off the subject. "He was framed for killing James and Lily by Peter Pettigrew, and then for the further deaths of the 13 muggles, and the murder of Peter Pettigrew. What I don't understand, is how he managed to get off if, while being innocent for most respects… he blew the guy up. That's still murder."

My eyebrows knitted together while I tried to figure out why Dumbledore would keep such a vital piece of information from them. "… Pettigrew isn't dead. He's a rat animagus, he cut off his thumb, transformed and ran off. He's one of Voldemorts favourite death eaters. Why wouldn't Dumbledore tell you that?"

I watched as anger slowly descended across his face. "That rat's still alive?"

I nodded slowly, watching as he shot from his seat before Adora could do anything about it. "William, don't!" She shouted. "He's not worth it, WILLIAM!" it was too late.

"Were you really that close to my parents?"

"They were like brothers." She said with a hint of what appeared to by cynicism. "He wont get far, he doesn't know where he is." She sighed, closing her book. "Do you want to try these spells again or do you want to go get some rest?"

I shrugged. "It's only 7, I'm not really all that tired."

"You've been up for a couple of days, Harry… you don't want to overwork yourself…"

I shook my head. "Every time I go to sleep I have these horrible nightmares… my mum's always there to pull me out of them, and as much as I love to see her in any way shape or form, even if it is in a dream… the nightmares are really unnerving."

"Darkness?" She asked grimly.

"Yeah… how did you…?"

"I died once." She admitted. "That's when William turned me. He'd been unwilling before. We'd… bonded, I suppose the word was. He bit me, but didn't turn me, and it kept me sort of frozen to live on with him forever but… I was scared. We were in a war, I didn't want to die and leave everyone behind. He wouldn't do it and then… I died. I was… somewhere nice. And then all of a sudden I wasn't. It was dark, and no one was there. There was a baby screaming, crying, but I couldn't find it." She looked like she was going to burst into tears. "Then I came back and… well I was like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be alive I just… miss my friends and family."

She looked up at me suddenly, as if remembering who she was talking to. "Sorry… I just… know what you mean. It's like everything good in the world is gone and you're the only person left."

All I could do was nod, deciding not to mention the fact that every time I went there, there was always someone waiting for me.

Ginny

My head started to throb at some point during the feast and half the candles above Gryffindor table began to burn slightly too brightly, dripping hot wax onto the students below before extinguishing completely. Dumbledore paid it no heed, watching from his seat at the head table as they magically replaced themselves. It wasn't him that lit them though.

"You alright, Gin?"

Adam was watching me worriedly. "Yeah. Just a headache, that's all."

He frowned. "You seem to be getting a lot of those. Has Madam Pomfrey figured it out yet?"

I shook my head, not daring to speak much more than I had to, it hurt too much.

"Have you ever considered that it could be a muggle thing not a magical thing? Because headaches can mean a lot of things…"

"No, no… it's not that. Definitely magical."

Before he could object, there was a loud bang that rocketed through my senses as the doors into the great hall banged open, bouncing off the walls. William Black came storming in. He didn't even bother to wait for the Headmaster to stand and take him outside, he just started shouting.

"Where is he!" He demanded. "I know you know; otherwise you would have told me he was alive!"

Dumbledore stood up and walked around the table, intent on getting him out of the hall before any information was expelled into the public. "William, now is not the time."

"Yes it is. You lied to me."

"Yes. And you lied to an awful lot more people before that." He returned. "I have done my best to stay calm about this entire situation. I have told you everything I know. But that is one thing you couldn't know, because you would cause trouble in the process of going after him. I don't know where he is."

"'Cause trouble'?" He laughed. "Never mind trouble! I'm going to go and kill the traitorous bastard! It's what he deserves."

"What, and reveal yourself to Voldemort?" He said softly. "Leave, now, I'll talk to you in a moment-"

"No." He said simply, standing firm and crossing his arms.

"Don't try me, William." He warned.

William ignored him, scanning the head table. "Snape." He said suddenly. "Go on, I know you want to get the little rat out of there as much as I do, where is he?"

Snape glowered down at him. "Don't talk to me like that, Black. I won't stand for it."

William gave him a cocky grin. "And we know where that'll end, don't we? Where. Is. He." He spelled it out slowly, as if he was stupid.

Snape threw his knife and fork down, standing up and storming around the table. "In hiding, like the rest of them. What do you think?"

"Come on… if anyone knows the whereabouts of Death Eaters it's you, Snape."

Dumbledore's face seemed to slowly colour. He was getting angrier by the second, and I knew that within the next few moments the whole student body would get to witness Albus Dumbledore at his worst.

"How dare you!"

"Oh don't act all high and mighty; you've been one of them since you were in school."

Snapes bottom lip began to curl, wand drawn.

"May I remind you, boys, that you are in a hall full of impressionable teenagers." Said Minerva McGonagall, walking over from the head table.

"I'm not leaving until I know where he is. I don't care who finds out what. He killed James and Lily. He put Sirius in prison." He growled.

Snape frowned, then squinted slightly. He took a few further steps forward, regarding the man closely.

"YOU!" He shouted suddenly. "It's been YOU all this time?" he demanded. He looked towards Dumbledore. "Him? Seriously?"

There was a slight incline of his head and without warning, Snape turned and punched William with what seemed like as much power as he could muster. His back hit the wall and he staggered, his nose bloody. "You bastard!" He shouted.

William sneered. "What's wrong, Snape? Can't handle the truth?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The low muttering that had been going across the hall halted and the entire room fell into an eerie silence as Albus Dumbledore raised one hand towards the door. "Get out. Now. Both of you, before you cause any more damage. I don't want you within my sights until I call on either of you."

Before William could move, Snape turned to him in what was a moment of resignation. Angry at the man for what he had done in the past, but in complete agreement over one thing. "My parents' house. If you don't manage it, I will tell the others about who you really are. Let them deal with you."

A small flash of fear spread across Williams face before he nodded once. "Thank you."

The wall was entirely silent as the two men left, McGonagall regained her seat and Dumbledore stood there for a few moments, just barely controlling himself. Whatever they had been close to revealing to the hall as a whole was so severely important to be kept from the world that he'd lost control. Nobody had ever seen him angry before. Not really. He took a deep breath, turning around to leave. He caught my eye briefly before he left and shook his head once.

'Don't tell anyone'.

A/N: Heh, yeah… next chapter will be a mini-interlude with William that I can promise you you will both love and hate to read.

I'm waiting for someone to realise who he is, no one's got it yet xD I'll post the interlude either tonight or tomorrow night, depending. It's already written, I just need to look over it and right now I don't have time.