Warning: this chapter has not been beta read yet.
Chapter 28 – The Soul-bond
Ginny was already tired of being stuck on a bed. She and Harry were fine. They weren't in pain, nor were they tired, sleepy, weak, itchy or any other symptom worthy of being on their medical records. However, Poppy Pomfrey and Andromeda Tonks thought different. It seemed that the two women had found "uncommon results" when they had checked the two children and would not let them go to live their lives.
At the moment, the grownups were locked inside Pomfrey's office discussing Merlin knows what about their perfect health. Alright, both Ginny and Harry were shocked when they were informed about how long they had stayed in a coma, but everything was fine, wasn't it?
Meanwhile, Ron took the chance to tell them everything that had happened in the last few weeks. How he, Hermione, and Neville had been concerned when they hadn't find Harry anywhere and how they had looked for Professor McGonagall, and that it had been her who found Harry and Ginny in the chamber where the Philosopher's Stone was hidden. He told them he had seen a whole squad of Aurors showing up to arrest Peter Pettigrew and to investigate the kidnapping. Because of that, Sirius had been released with honours from the Ministry, and Dumbledore had lost his position as the Headmaster for putting children in danger.
'What is he still doing here, then?' Ginny asked.
'He's no longer the Headmaster, but he isn't leaving the school. I've heard he's taking the role as the Transfiguration teacher for NEWT classes, I think that was what he used to teach.' Ron answered.
The grownups took a big while to finish the meaningless meeting. Ginny's parents and her eldest brother seemed worried, Andromeda and Pomfrey intrigued, Sirius and McGonagall irritated, Snape bored and Dumbledore… Well, he looked like Dumbledore.
'What is it wrong?' Harry asked.
'Nothing much, Harry.' Sirius replied. 'We were just losing our time discussing useless and pointless theories. There is nothing wrong.'
'It is not like that, Sirius.' Dumbledore gently scold. 'We don't know the consequences of this.'
'Consequences of what?'
'You and the little redhead here generated an uncommon magical phenomenon between the two of you, Harry. It's more than obvious that she used her own magic to heal you. The healers don't know that kind of procedure, which is only mentioned on legends… Theories of ancient magic and things like that… I don't see anything wrong here, but not everyone agrees with me.' An irritated Sirius explained.
'Ginny, do you know what you did, sweetheart? Maybe it will help us not to worry much.' Molly asked.
'I don't know if I did anything, mum. And what if I did? What's the problem? It helped Harry, didn't it?'
'It certainly helped,' Madam Pomfrey confirmed, 'but somehow it changed both you in a way we don't understand.'
'Change? How?'
'Well, magical comas like this one are anything but ordinary. However, it's even less common to a patient to leave a coma with a perfect health. It looks that the coma not only didn't prejudice you, but it actually helped you. I didn't find anything wrong with your physical health. You, Ginny, are fully recovered from the long term damage caused by the Cruciatus Curse, and, Harry, you don't even need glasses anymore. Though those are nothing compared with the magical consequences.' Pomfrey explained.
'I am not sure if this is the proper moment for they to know.' Dumbledore pondered.
'Why? We want to know!' Harry argued and Ginny vehemently agreed.
'Because you are young, my boy, and you have just been through a traumatic experience. At other moment –
'That's silly!' Sirius cut off. 'They are children, but they aren't stupid. If they are going to leave with the consequences - consequences we don't even know what they are, I must add – then they must know.'
'Don't you think you should show a bit more of respect towards the Headmaster, Black?' Snape bitterly spat.
'Former Headmaster.' Sirius corrected. 'And I'm far from disrespecting an elder, but my respect for his opinions has decreased dramatically in the last years. Dumbledore's mistakes tend to bring drastic consequences to many people… Harry will no longer be a victim.'
'What are you talking about?' Harry wanted to know.
'We'll talk about it later, pup, I promise you. So… Will you explain what's happening to Harry right now or can I take him to our home and tell him everything there?'
Harry and Ginny exchanged a look when Sirius said "our home".
'I believe there aren't reasons to have more discussions here.' Minerva added. 'Sirius has all the right to decide what Harry should or shouldn't know and only a foul would believe Harry would keep it a secret from Ginny.'
Harry smiled to his teacher. Even with all her serious and rigid personality, she always found a way to support him.
'Explain to them, Poppy.' Minerva asked.
'Alright. The first important thing Andromeda and I detected was that yours magical cores seem to have twice more energy now, which proves that Harry's magic was not only recuperated, but it was as well fortified. '
'A flux of magical energy exchange can be noticed between the both of you the whole time, including right now, and we don't know if it will stop.' Andromeda added. 'That exchange of magic is most likely the cause to the reinforcement of your magical cores. It looks like one feeds the other, which makes us wonder if one could drain the others magic in case of need or donate, of course…'
'I don't understand.' Ginny said. 'That doesn't look like a problem to me.'
'It could put you in danger, Ginny.' Molly replied. 'You've created a connection that could be irreversible and if someone would know about it, he could attempt to use you to get Harry.'
'It has already been done, mum. It's a bit late to worry about it. Voldemort was the first to notice the connection between us and he won't forget about it.'
Some people trembled at the name's mention.
'Don't say that name, Ginny.'
'There's nothing wrong with the name, Molly.' Dumbledore advised. 'A name cannot hurt us.'
'He noticed the connection?' Bill spoke for the first time.
'Yes.' Harry answered.
'Curious…'
'What's curious, son?' Arthur asked.
'If You-Know-Who noticed the connection between them, then it already existed before everything. Now it's only stronger… Like it has been… I don't know… consummated…'
'How consummated?' Molly didn't understand. 'We aren't talking about a marriage.'
'Actually, that's exactly what we're talking about. They acted exactly like a couple.'
'They've been woken for two hours, how could they be a couple?' She argued.
'I'm only saying what I'm seeing, mum. I guess the solution is to separate them for a while.'
The youngsters' answer was immediate.
'What? No!' Harry said.
'No way!' Ginny was incisive.
'See what I mean?' Bill asked, satisfied. 'They act as a couple and if you were to try to separate them, I doubt you could do it. Their magic is very strong and I'm sure it'd work to prevent a separation. It wasn't Madam Pomfrey who got severely hurt when she tried to separate them at the beginning of the bonding process?'
'Yes,' The healer confirmed, 'I got burnt.'
'So, you're saying that, during their coma, they went through a bonding process?' Remus was curious. 'What kind of bond are we talking about?'
'I'd say a matrimonial one,' Bill said, 'a soul-bond to be more specific.'
'Isn't it a fairy-tale?' Minerva asked.
'With all due respect, Professor, but, in my field of work, we end up learning that many legends and tales have a very real origin.'
'What's a soul-bound?' Ginny asked, while thinking about the dream.
'The legend is discussed in many cultures with a few variations.' Bill began explaining. 'But the common definition would be a souls' marriage between truthful and perfect soul-mates.'
'It cannot be that!' Molly argued. 'Ginny is a baby. How could it be that?'
'Mum, I'm just saying that what's happening to them fits a lot with the legends. I know Ginny still is a girl, but it doesn't imply that her soul is infantile.'
'I can't believe we are wasting our time discussing about the souls of two brats.' Snape tiredly complained.
'The soul of a wizard is a lot more powerful than you can imagine.' Bill replied. 'It is a theme of many studies about light and dark magic. It isn't a coincidence that Dementors and Horcruxes are so feared.'
'Focus, please!' asked Sirius. 'Is there a way we can tell if your theory is correct, Bill?'
'I don't know… The Celts believed the soul-mates are consciences intended to look for each other all eternity, meeting at each life and outside of it. According to them, a soul-bond could only be created by very ancient souls connected by thousands of lives. The ancient Chinese thought a soul-bond required a rite of passage, like a transcendental experience that would consummate the connection. That is confirmed by a Persian legend about a young couple, whose bond was formed after a dream.'
Harry and Ginny couldn't hide their reactions. The two children exchanged mixed looks of shock and comprehension.
'Has something like that happened to you?' Bill asked.
'We had a dream.' Ginny whispered. 'The two of us had the exactly the same dream.'
'This turns things to be a lot more interesting!' Sirius jested.
A/N: I'm a bit late to wish you a merry Christmas, but I'm still on time to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope you all had a nice time during the holidays.
I finally finished this chapter, which was supposed to be post a long time ago. I'm sorry about that. I hope you can forgive me and still enjoy this story.
The next chapter's title is Family.
scrappy8: Thank you! I hope you're still around…
Guest (Miss Millie): Thank you! I hope everyone can enjoy this story.
peggie: Thanks! I can't take credit for the story, I'm just translating it, but you're welcome.
