Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
If You Can Help Her – Chapter 35 – In Too Deep
Molly was sitting on the sofa at the Burrow relaxing, listening to the Wireless Wizarding Network, after a full day of…doing hardly anything. With only Arthur and Percy, both of which spent most of their time at work, living there, the house stayed pretty clean. She had just started dinner, and was waiting for the men to arrive home.
She heard a tapping at her window, interrupting the song she was listening to. She looked to see a magnificent snowy owl and smiled. She'd always liked Hedwig. She opened the window and Hedwig flew inside with two envelopes tied to her leg. She held out her foot and hooted. Molly looked at the envelopes and saw that one was addressed to her and the other to Sirius Black. She untied the appropriate letter, and Hedwig flew to Errol's perch and drank some water out of the dish. Molly gave Hedwig an owl treat and she flew off.
The Weasley matriarch opened the envelope, and found two scrolls of parchment rolled up inside. The smaller one said, 'Read this first,' on the outside. She unrolled it and held it in front of her.
Dear Mum,
Harry and I had Hermione research our bond for us. The other scroll is her notes on it. It's called the Life-Love bond and we've just entered Phase two. It started when Harry rescued me in the Chamber and has grown since then. We are pretty much stuck with each other for life, and couldn't be happier. Some of the symptoms are that if we did break up, we'd be physically ill within a day. We also can't stand kissing anyone else so we couldn't cheat on each other if we wanted. We do share emotions as we discovered. Harry could never deceive me even if he wanted to, and I'm very happy, and I love him. We hope you'll be happy for us, and not worried.
We both love you.
Ginny and Harry
Molly gasped as she read this. Her daughter was in a life bond with Harry, and could never even have a choice in the matter! She quickly unrolled the other scroll and began to read Hermione's notes.
-IYCHH-
About an hour later, Arthur's hand on the family clock moved from work to traveling to home. Percy had already come home and walked straight up to his room carrying a briefcase full of parchments without so much as a word to his mother, but this particular day, Mrs. Weasley barely noticed.
"Good evening, Molly!" greeted Arthur jovially as he opened the door. "I'm sorry I had to work so late. Problems with pranksters charming muggle feletones."
"Arthur, I think you need to read this letter from Ginny," replied Molly without emotion. "We discovered that she's magically bonded with Harry over Christmas break, and now they know what type of bond it is."
-IYCHH-
As Arthur read through the parchments, Molly put dinner on the table and called Percy downstairs to eat. Their son didn't seem to notice the worried looks on his parents' faces as he quickly ate his dinner and went back upstairs. Neither Molly nor Arthur had much of an appetite that night.
"So," commented Arthur, trying to lighten the mood, "I guess you can start planning the wedding for…I suppose three and a half years from now. Ginny should be graduating then."
"This isn't funny."
"That's not exactly a joke. I know this is…unusual, but we should look on the bright side. At least we know the boy. We also know that Ginny won't ever date the wrong sort of blokes. We further know that Harry couldn't break our girl's heart if he wanted to. So I certainly think we can assume that they will get married."
"But with their…closeness…what if they…"
"Now, Molly," he replied, putting his hands on hers to try calming his wife, "I'm sure that they…"
"But you read about how their…FEELINGS…are enhanced. I know they're good kids, but they could get carried away with those feelings! We already know they kiss too much…"
"I doubt they'd agree with that," countered Arthur with a grin. "According to those notes, they probably don't think they kiss enough."
"THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER! I WILL NOT HAVE MY ONLY DAUGHTER BECOME A…SCARLET WOMAN…JUST BECAUSE OF HER BOND!"
"Harry loves her and would never try to take advantage…"
"I'm more worried about Ginny! Harry's normally shy about his feelings, but the boy is only human. When he feels her…emotions, it might be too much for him to resist."
-IYCHH-
While the Weasley parents were arguing about the bond, Sirius Black was finishing reading his copy of those notes with his eyes wide and an unsure expression on his face. On the one hand, he thought the bond with Ginny was awesome, and the marauder in him would want Harry to go 'all the way' with it to experience all the joy that the bond promised. He knew that's probably what he'd have done, no matter how young he was.
On the other hand, he was trying to be the 'responsible parent' that James and Lily trusted him to be. He already knew that it was about time Harry and he had a certain talk, and now it seemed like he'd better have it as soon as possible before Harry and Ginny did something they might regret in the exploration of their bond. He was surprised when the fireplace activated, revealing Mr. Weasley's head.
"Hello, Sirius," he greeted nervously.
"Hi, Arthur."
"My wife says that you got a package from Harry today like the one we got from Ginny."
Sirius sighed. "About the bond?" Arthur nodded. "Yeah. I just got done reading it."
"Molly and I were, er, wondering if you'd like to discuss it with us."
Padfoot shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that's what 'responsible' parents would do."
"So, do you mind if we come over there? We don't want Percy to overhear it."
"Sure. Come on over."
-IYCHH-
That Saturday, Harry and the Weasley kids were surprised when Sirius, Arthur, and Molly walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. They walked directly to the Gryffindor table where Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were sitting and greeted them. After they sat down, the twins picked up their plates and moved to sit by their parents.
"Just sit by Ronnykins and Gin-Gin…"
"And ignore Gred and Forge."
"It makes us feel loved."
"I'm sorry, boys," responded Molly, embracing them each. "We're happy to see you…especially since you're not in trouble."
"The day is young," commented George conspiratorially.
"Too true, my twin."
Harry, Ginny, and Hermione knew exactly why the parents were here. It was obvious with the glances they were giving Harry and Ginny. Ron was so busy eating that he barely knew his parents were there. When they were done eating, Sirius asked, "Harry, can we take a walk around the castle? I'd like to take a look at the portraits."
Harry simply nodded, knowing full well that Sirius wasn't interested in seeing the portraits. Once they were away from everyone, Sirius ducked into an empty classroom. Once Harry followed, Sirius shut the door, and charmed it and the windows for privacy.
"So," began Sirius.
"So…what?" countered Harry with a grin.
Padfoot grinned back. "That's really something about your bond with Ginny."
Harry knew it was about this. "Yeah. Isn't it wonderful?" he asked cheerfully. If Sirius were against it, he'd have to say so himself. Harry wanted to make it clear that he was happy.
Sirius nodded half-heartedly. "Yeah, Ginny's a great girl. If you're gonna bond with someone, that's the girl."
"Exactly. I really love her and I know she loves me." Harry blushed slightly at this statement, but felt he had to say it.
"Yeah, I know. I guess you're pretty…comfortable in your…relationship?"
"Er, yes. I'm comfortable with Ginny, if that's what you mean."
"I mean with…snogging, and that," clarified Sirius as his ears turned pink.
"Snogging? Yes that's brilliant! Even better since we started phase two. I don't know what you mean by, 'and that,' so I can't answer you." Harry was blushing madly, but managed to answer the question.
Black decided to bite the bullet. "I'd imagine that the Dursleys never…er…gave you the talk about girls."
"First that none would ever like me, and then after I started dating Ginny they said she couldn't visit me. That's pretty much the extent of what they've told me."
Padfoot shifted uncomfortably. "Well you see, girls are…"
"Fun to snog?" asked Harry, who decided to have fun with this.
"No, I meant…"
"So you're saying they're not fun to snog?" Harry chuckled, although he was beginning to feel Ginny's anger toward what he guessed was her mother.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that they…"
-IYCHH-
While Sirius was doing his best to give 'the talk' to his highly amused godson, Ginny was in another classroom yelling at her mum.
"IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU TOLD DAD, BUT NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME TO 'BE CAREFUL' so Harry doesn't take advantage of me or our bond. What do you think Harry is, some kind of pervert?"
"Of course not, darling," replied Molly. "I'm just concerned that his being older than you…"
"By one year!"
"By one year, and feeling your emotions, he might want to…"
"He doesn't want to do anything that I don't want to do! If he hurt me, he'd feel it too!" She began to feel Harry's calming influence. "Look, mum, why don't you just come out and say it. You don't want Harry and me to shag."
Molly turned red and was going to rebuke her daughter when she realized that was the truth. "Yes. I don't want you two to do that, no matter how close you feel and how sure you are of each other."
"That's fine, because we weren't planning that for a long time."
Molly was happy for a moment, but then she paled. "What do you mean by, 'A long time?'"
"That's for you and dad to worry about," she replied with a wicked grin.
-IYCHH-
Soon after, the parents and bondmates joined together for another discussion where the kids were practically forced into an unbreakable vow regarding their affection. Harry was keeping Ginny calm until Mrs. Weasley said how concerned she was that Ginny would become a 'scarlet woman.' At that point, both Ginny and Harry were upset at the same time, and this time it was Harry who lost control.
"MRS. WEASLEY! I AM NOT TRYING TO TURN GINNY INTO A SCARLET WOMAN, AND EVEN IF I WERE, SHE'D NEVER BECOME ONE! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY FAITH AT ALL IN YOUR DAUGHTER!? THIS BOND ISN'T SOMETHING WE TRIED TO GET, BUT WE'RE BOTH HAPPY ABOUT IT! THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL YOU CAN DO ABOUT THIS BOND! THE ONLY CHOICE YOU HAVE IS WHETHER OR NOT WE'LL HAVE TO RUN AWAY TOGETHER ONCE GINNY'S OF AGE AND LEAVE YOUR FAMILY BEHIND!"
"YOU WOULDN'T!"
"THE WAY YOU'RE ACTING RIGHT NOW MOTHER, WE WOULD!" shouted Ginny. "Why can't you just be happy for us?"
Mrs. Weasley took several calming breaths as the red drained from her cheeks. "We are happy. I'm just concerned…"
"I believe you've upset our daughter enough today," stated Arthur, who didn't look happy.
"But Arthur…"
"They haven't changed from the people, the good kids that they are, just because of their bond. Now they simply can't break up."
-IYCHH-
It took a lot of convincing, but Arthur managed to calm his wife down, and even get her to apologize before they left. After that meeting, time kept going on. Valentine's Day did not pass by unnoticed. This year, Ginny was the one who sent the gifts at each meal with a poem.
His eyes are as green as a broccoli stalk
His hair is as dark as a Dementor's cloak
So glad he's my bond, even though he's odd
I love this guy and that's no joke.
She sent a bowl of cold broccoli to Harry at breakfast with the first line. At lunch she apologized for not being able to find a Dementor to deliver the next line. Harry replied, "That's perfectly fine with me." The dinner gift was a combination of Zonko products and the twins' stuff. Her final gift was a silver watch charmed to be waterproof to any depth. Harry gave Ginny a framed picture of them at the Yule Ball, along with an 'I Kissed Harry Potter' t-shirt. She giggled and slapped his arm when she read that, and called him a dragon's behind. Even he laughed at that statement, unable to deny it. He then touched the shirt with his wand, and it transformed into a dark green dragon leather jacket.
She looked over the jacket, amazed, and then kissed him deeply. "It's perfect!" she declared with a grin.
-IYCHH-
Less than two weeks later, late on the evening before the 2nd task, Harry and Ginny were snogging in the deserted common room. They had just had their first success in their transformations – they both managed to transform a hand into a paw - and had just returned from working on it and were celebrating. Professor McGonagall came in unnoticed, walked up to them, and asked, "Shall I conjure a bucket of water to separate you two?"
They broke up immediately and blushed, unable to meet their head of house's eyes. "Er, that won't be necessary, professor," replied Harry.
"Mr. Potter, as you have a busy day tomorrow, I suggest you go upstairs and get some sleep. Miss Weasley, you shall accompany me…"
"If she's in trouble, I should be, too!" Harry interrupted firmly.
Minerva smiled for a moment. "That's very admirable, Mr. Potter, but Miss Weasley is not in trouble. I realize that you'll sorely miss her until you meet again."
Harry immediately caught on and looked worried. "She, she won't actually be in danger, will she?"
"Of course not, Mr. Potter. Professor Dumbledore would never deliberately put someone in danger."
"I guess that's okay," responded Harry, "But why can't I just go looking for another egg instead of a person?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Potter. By the way, would you mind terribly going to the sixth year boys' dormitory and sending Mr. George Weasley down here?"
-IYCHH-
Even though he'd been assured that the hostages would be safe, Harry had a practically sleepless night. He could sense that she was calm through their bond, but it didn't set his mind at ease. He was at the breakfast table before anybody else, and extremely tense. Five minutes after he arrived, Fred sat down next to him. "Morning, Harry."
He looked over at his competitor. "Hi, Fred. You know, there are two Weasleys at the bottom of the lake right now."
"Yeah, and we've got to get them. I know what McGonagall told you, but are you sure you want to trust the merpeople with them?"
"I don't," replied Harry. "This is so stupid! Why does it have to be people in the lake?"
"Because they want it to be more exciting, and to give us more incentive."
"So, are you ready?"
Fred grinned, "Absolutely! You?"
"Yes." Harry nodded. He thought he was, but now was nervous. But he wasn't about to make Fred worry about Ginny.
-IYCHH-
Before Harry knew it, it was time to start the task. He'd already transfigured his shoes into flippers after he arrived, impressing Professor McGonagall. Once the whistle blew, Harry performed the bubblehead charm and jumped into the lake. Krum and Fleur also dived into the lake. Fred put a handful of gillyweed in his mouth and jumped in.
-IYCHH-
Harry was swimming quite well with his flippers, and had passed the others immediately. He had practiced a bit, so he knew the general location of the mer-village. He swam a bit too low and felt a grindylow try to grab him, but quickly hexed it. He couldn't help but think about how cold the water was, but he had to ignore it to rescue Ginny.
In the few minutes the grindylow slowed him down, Fleur had caught him up and was grabbed by another one. He saw her drop her wand and turned to help. He pointed his wand at the sea monster that had Fleur and hexed it, causing it to release her. Then he said, "Accio, Fleur's wand," and her dropped wand came to him. He swam to Fleur and handed her the wand, and turned around to find Ginny. He didn't hear her thank him.
When he got to the place where the hostages were tied, he saw Fred cutting George loose with a knife. Fred saw Harry and grinned as he handed him the knife. As Harry was cutting Ginny loose, he saw Fred grab George and point his wand at his twin. He laughed as he saw George expand into an inflatable floatation device (almost like a raft) and pull them straight up out of the water. By the time Harry was done cutting Ginny loose, Fleur was next to him, so he loaned her the knife and swam Ginny up to the shore. He didn't see Krum arrive as a half-shark.
-IYCHH-
When he got to the surface, he found that Fred had undone the charm on George, and he appeared normal. Fred however, was still underwater waiting for the gillyweed to wear off. He learned all this after Ginny had kissed him thoroughly as soon as she woke up, causing many catcalls and whistles. While he was drying off, Fleur came to the surface with her little sister, Gabriel, and walked up to Harry. "You helped me even though I waz competing with you! Thank you!" She kissed both Harry's cheeks while Ginny glared at her.
"Come on, Ginny," assured Harry with a grin, "She was just saying thanks because I hexed a grindylow for her."
"You helped her?" asked Ginny. "Why?"
"I didn't want the grindylows to hurt her," he answered simply. At that moment, Viktor Krum, who was holding the knife that had originally been Fred's, emerged with a guy Harry assumed was his best friend. Harry watched as Fred, now back to normal, reclaimed his knife. In the end, the scores were as follows: 48 points for Fred, who'd returned to the surface first, 45 minutes into the task. Karkaroff only gave him an eight, claiming that it wasn't right for him to use his brother as a raft. 47 points to Harry, who'd come in second-place 50 minutes into the task. 44 points to Fleur, who'd made it back 56 minutes into the task. 40 points to Viktor, who'd made it back 1 minute late. Fred and Harry were tied in the tournament for 1st place, with 89 points each. There would be a party in Gryffindor tower that night!
-IYCHH-
Author's note: I had trouble coming up with something original for Fred to do in this task.