Author's note:
Still dry. Thank you once again to my amazing beta, Strangeways.
Harry Potter and the Heir of Morgaine Le Faye
Chapter 35: Unknown Repercussions
Quade dug around in the shed. "There must be one," she fumed.
"Here!" Dobby said triumphantly. He pulled out a small crate that was buried in the back of a storage locker. "Harry Potter is keeping them for when he is bringing the childrens here."
Quade crossed the shed in two steps and flipped the lid of the box open. "Excellent," she said and snapped it closed before any of them could escape. "Thank you for your help," she said and took the box from the elf.
"You is returning them, right?" he demanded, holding onto the box.
Quade lifted the box, picking Dobby up with it so he was eye level with her as he dangled from it. "Why do you not trust me?"
"You is a bad creature," Dobby said, still dangling from the box. "Harry Potter sir is telling Dobby to be being nice to yous, but I is watching to make sure."
Quade frowned. "You are an admirable and brave elf. It is any wonder my Lord has taken you within his family. I will try harder to prove my worth to you. May I ask you to please let go now?"
Dobby let go and dropped to the floor. "I is watching," he said wagging his finger at her. "You will be returning them, or I is telling Harry Potter." He snapped his fingers and disappeared.
"Five thousand years old, adoptive mother of the son of the greatest king ever to have lived and I prostrate myself before a house elf," Quade muttered as she left the shed.
Harry landed, and leaned over with his hands on his knees. Heather settled to the ground beside him. "Are you sick at all?" he asked.
Heather shrugged. "Nope."
There has to be something, Harry thought furiously. If it was just me, then I could understand, but Krum's sick too. There has to be a connection. "Do me a favor."
"Sure."
"Examine yourself, really stop and think. Do you feel anything at all? Cold, chills, nausea?"
"May I see that?" Quade asked.
"God, don't do that!" Heather blurted. "Did you know she was there?" she demanded of Harry.
"Yes."
"Bloody annoying," Heather growled. "And what are you doing with Jams?" The Animagus body guard was perched upon the vampiress' shoulder.
Quade brushed her off. "May I?" she persisted, pointing at the Snitch in Harry's hand.
"Is there a reason you two aren't in the air?" Coach Thorpe asked, joining them.
"Same thing, Potter?" Dave asked ambling in from the other side.
"What else?" Harry said. He handed the Snitch in his hand over to Quade. "What do you want this for?"
Quade took the snitch from him and examined it. "Interesting," she said. She held it out to Heather. "If you would?"
"What are you thinking?" Harry asked. He'd know Quade for little more than a month, but had already learned that five thousand years had honed her intuition to a razor's edge.
"Please," she persisted.
Heather shrugged. "Whatever." She took the snitch from Quade.
"Now would you please go fly around the far end of the pitch. And do not be lazy about it, push yourself."
"I'm never lazy when I fly," Heather retorted, offended at the very thought.
"Just do it, Heather," Harry said. "Please."
Heather rolled her eyes but mounted her broom and for lack of pockets or any place better to put it, stuffed the snitch down the front of her jersey. "Ok, but make note, this isn't my fault, Coach," she said.
"And do not come back past the half line until we call you," Quade shouted.
Curious as to what was going on, the rest of the team slowly congregated around them. "S'up boss man?" Luke asked.
"I'd like to know the answer to that myself, Potter," Coach Thorpe said.
"Quade?" Harry asked.
"Please," she said turning to Coach Thorpe. "I am sorry to interfere. But if you just give me a few minutes, I believe you will thank me."
He waved for her to go ahead. "You already brought things to a standstill. I might as well find out why."
"Thank you," she said and turned back to Harry. She pulled a snitch out of her pocket and handed it to him.
"You took this out of my shed," Harry accused.
"Yes," Quade answered her eyes now on Heather as she wrung her broom out at the far end of the pitch. "I wonder how long," she mused.
"How long for what?" Harry asked.
"How do you feel?" Quade asked.
Harry shrugged. "Well I'm not great. But I'm doing better than a few minutes ago."
"Yet all that has changed is the object in your hand."
Harry looked back and forth between the Snitch in his hand and Heather flying at the far end of the pitch. Absently, his thumb stroked over the smooth surface of the little golden ball. "MITTS!" he bellowed, "Get back here!"
"A little help for the rest of us, Potter?" Coach Thorpe said. "This cloak and dagger stuff is your area of expertise. We're not use to piecing things together like this."
"Don't I know it," Harry said as Heather landed next to him. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Cold," she said.
"That's it?"
"I don't know really. I was really stretching out there, but I felt like something was missing to tell you the truth."
"Gimme that Snitch back," Harry said.
Heather smirked. "Don't wanna get it yourself?" she cracked, fishing it out of her bra.
"Will you be joining me on the lam as we run for our lives from my wife and a Veela?"
"Ginny's a Veela?" Luke asked.
"Yes," Heather answered. "Jackass," she hissed at Harry and handed the Snitch over. Harry just smirked at her.
"Sick again?" Quade asked.
"Yes," Harry answered. Harry glanced around at his assembled teammates before settling his eyes on Coach Thorpe. "This thing's been tampered with."
"That's what's been making you sick all year?" Coach Thorpe asked.
"We're going to find out," Harry said. "I might suggest backing up."
It took about a half-second before Heather mounted her broom. "I don't need to be told twice," she said. She flew up into the stands where she could duck behind the seating thirty rows up if need be. "Good?" she shouted.
"Maybe," Harry shouted back. Heather climbed another ten rows into the stands.
"I'm outta here," Luke said.
"Ditto," Leslie said. The rest of the team rapidly followed their lead, mounted their brooms and flew up into the stands with Heather.
"Potter," Coach Thorpe said. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Nope," Harry said. He disabled the flight aspect of the snitch in question and tossed it on the ground.
"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"
"Unlikely," Harry agreed.
"An order?"
"Doubtful."
"I was afraid of that," Coach Thorpe sighed. "Let's go Dave," he said, climbing into the stands. He and the trainer took up station with the rest of the team. "Room for us back here?" he asked. The players all shifted down. "Thanks," he said. He glanced up towards the owner's box. "There's a bit of good news," he said at the absence of Mr. Devlin. "Now I just have to hope he doesn't take himself out such that he can't fly two days from now."
XX
"What are you going to do?" Quade asked. She squatted down next to Harry.
His hand was hovering in the air just over the Snitch and his eyes were closed as he concentrated. "The bastards," Harry said. "The brilliant, clever, crafty, cunning, devious, conniving, murdering, psychopathic, sycophantic, bastards."
"So it has been tampered with?"
"If that isn't the modified work of one of Voldemort's old lackeys," Harry said. He glanced at Quade. "Bothered much by Dementors?"
"Please," she sneered.
"Lucky you," Harry said.
"What do you think has been done to it?" Quade asked. She obediently followed along as Harry stood up and backed about ten feet away.
"I think someone's made themselves a dangerous little toy. Most likely to try and get me killed. If a few other people get hurt or killed along the way, all the better."
Harry bent down and reached far around Quade. He put one finger on the ground and traced an unbroken circle around them. As he stood up a wall of refracted light rose around them, extending nearly a hundred feet into the air. Satisfied with his shielding, Harry focused on the Snitch sitting placidly on the ground. Almost as if it were sentient, time seemed to still for half a second as it sensed the gathering storm and waited for the inevitable unleashing. Faster than the eye could follow, Harry's hand exploded forward. A bolt of white light, as big around as a dragon's neck was thick, erupted from his palm and flashed to the Snitch.
XX
"Mother of God," Coach Thorpe said in a loud whisper with the resulting explosion. The whole stadium shook and the team grabbed at various railings, seat backs, and each other to keep from falling over.
"Crikey," Luke cried. He held his arms protectively over his head as a cloud of dirt, pebbles and clumps of grass rained down on them. The shower was over within a few seconds and he chanced a look down to the stadium pitch. "There goes hope the old man was gonna spring for separate changing rooms," he sighed.
XX
It was at that moment that a billowing black shape roiled forth from the crater left in the pitch. A keening, shrieking, wail rose with it and sent the various birds that nested in the upper reaches of the stadium screeching into the air; adding their awful cawing to the din. The flock circled the stadium once and raced away as fast as their wings could carry them. As soon as it had come the horrific screech died and whatever it was that issued forth from the crater fled across the pitch even as it was consumed in a ball of plasma. It made it about thirty meters before it fell back to the earth, nothing more than a rapidly dissipating ball of fire.
Harry snapped his fingers and the shield surrounding him and Quade fell away. "Think I may have overdone it a bit," he said.
"You don't say," Quade retorted. She eyed the fifteen-foot deep, twenty-five-foot diameter crater in the middle of the pitch and sighed sadly. "He would have thanked me."
Harry put his arm on her shoulder. "No good deed goes unpunished."
"Certainly for anyone fool enough to associate themselves with you, my Lord," she retorted.
XX
Coach Thorpe surveyed the damage to his pitch. "It would appear we are done flying for the day," he observed.
"You don't say," Leslie said.
"We're suppose to play a playoff match on that in two days?" Toms asked.
"The groundskeepers aren't gonna be happy at all," Sarah said.
Dave shot Heather a look. "You're currently living with that?" he asked.
"With what?"
Dave waved in Harry's general direction. "Potter, his wife, vampires."
"Yes?"
"And I was worried about you crushing on him."
"It is interesting," Heather agreed. "So can we hit the showers, Coach?"
"I said we were done flying," Coach Thorpe said. "That doesn't mean we can't condition."
"I don't like the sound of that," Luke said.
"Stairs, boys and girls," Coach Thorpe said. "You know the drill."
"Aw, hell," Kenny groaned. He set his broom down and started running up the stadium stairs with the rest of the team voicing their displeasure as they joined him.
"POTTER," Luke bellowed, "GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP HERE!"
XX
"It may have been wise to try and preserve a bit of the item," Quade offered.
Harry looked up from the edge of the crater with Luke's bellow. "Son of a.. They're gonna kill me." He dropped his broom and hurried to catch up with the rest of the team. Quade fell in beside him. "Are you insane?" Harry asked.
"I may not be able to stay near you when you are flying, but I will not have you a quarter of a mile away from me at the top of the stadium while I am sitting about down here. Besides," she added, "this is hardly taxing."
Harry stopped when he reached Coach Thorpe. "We need to get the Aurors here," he said. "And this needs to be kept quiet."
"You can't be suggesting we keep flying with Snitches that have been tampered with. This isn't just us, Potter. That same thing has to be what's making Krum sick too. And it isn't happening to him only when he's playing you. Those things could be all over the world."
"I know that," Harry said. "Look, just call Jim. Tell him I've got something he needs to see and it needs to be now. Once the Aurors know, then it's up to them how it's dealt with."
"All right," Coach Thorpe said. "Thirty minutes and bring them in."
"Yes, sir," Harry said and hurried off.
Quade dumped Jams into Dave's hands. "Watch this please," she said and followed Harry.
"Do I look like I want a stole?" Dave shouted.
"Let me have her," Coach Thorpe said. He took the mongoose from Dave and walked off. "Reckon she's safe enough with Potter and his vampire running around with her, don't you?" he asked quietly. Jams chattered angrily but had little choice if she was going to keep her cover. "Tell me about it," Coach Thorpe muttered. "If I'd know what a pain in the arse it was coaching a team with Potter on it, I'd have demanded another hundred grand a year."
"Harry," Heather said.
"Yeah?"
"You do remember what happened with the last one you did this to, right?"
"I've taken some precautions with this one."
"Ok," Heather said. "Cause if you destroyed two Quidditch pitches in one day I'd have to kill you."
"You destroyed a pitch?" Fred asked.
"It was just a little hole," Harry said. He and Bill checked a few more points on the containment shield they'd constructed.
"If that was little, I'd hate to see big," Jamie said. She and Jenna followed along behind Harry, Bill, Jim and Margaret as the warding was checked. This barricade shielding they were playing with would come in really handy in a fight. She and her sister had the power to set them. But that was the easy part. The interlocking was crazy complicated.
"Ok, it was a medium-sized hole," Harry conceded.
"Medium?" George asked.
"He does seem to have a talent for understatement," Quade said from where she was leaning against one of the goal hoop posts on Harry's quidditch pitch.
"Exactly how medium of a sized hole was it?" Hermione asked. "Dimensions, Harry, depth and diameter if you please."
Fred nudged George. "Asking Harry about his depth and diameter," he asked under his breath, "does she do that on purpose or does she honestly not realize what she's saying?" George started choking on the toffee he was sucking on.
Harry smirked; leave it to Hermione to corner him. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe five or six deep by eight or nine in diameter."
"You blew a hole six feet deep and nine feet in diameter in the Hippogriffs' pitch?" George bellowed. "You should have killed him right there, Mitts."
"Harry!" Hermione cried.
"Meters," Jim coughed.
"I am sorry, what was that, Auror 'Arms?" Fleur asked. She, Molly, Arthur, Stacie, Luke and Angie were sitting in the second row of the stands observing the proceedings.
"Tattle-tale," Harry shot at him.
Jim smirked. "Water's getting' hot," he said. "Meters, 5.4 by 8.8 to be exact."
"Why is it everyone likes to see me get in trouble?" Harry bemoaned.
Hermione put her hands on her hips, glaring at Harry. "Harry James Potter."
Harry beamed at her, plastering his angel-face on. "Yes, Hermione, my dearest, most beloved and brilliant big sister?"
"Ohh you!" she stomped her foot in frustration. "That's not fair."
Harry dropped a kiss to her crown on his way past. "All's fair in love and war, Mione," he teased.
"You put a hole 5.4 meters deep by 8.8 meters in diameter in the Hippogriffs' pitch?" Fred cried.
"That would be 18 feet by 29 feet for us non metric type people," Jenna said.
"Harry," George said.
"We hate you," Fred said.
"Officially disowned," George agreed.
"No longer like a brother."
"Oh shut up already," Quade interrupted.
"Look good to you, Bill?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," he scrubbed aside a rune and replaced it with another. "All but this one. You're improving, Harry."
"Thanks, Bill," Harry said. Praise from Bill wasn't something handed out lightly. He had very high standards, and they were even higher in regards to anyone who wanted to be with his Princess Ginny.
"So what makes him so good?" Jenna asked. Harry did his best to ignore that everyone was talking about him and continued checking his work.
"It's a combination of things really," Bill said as he watched Harry. "Imagination for one. And he's willing to try most anything, forget about what the calculations say. He's just so damn powerful the thought he can't do something never even occurs to him. And then he starts working on it, shows me or Hermione what he's managed, and after we get done looking it over all we can think is, 'That's bloody brilliant.' and if we just twist this around here, it'll work; and the next thing you know, you've done the impossible."
"Do you think he could have crashed the wards at the Ministry the day Ginny was bit?" Jamie asked.
"No doubt in my mind," Jim said.
"But Ginny only managed to crash three of them," Jenna said. "Is he that much more powerful than her? Cause that's a scary thought."
"Well," Jim said, "it's a little known secret that she had a bit left when she quit trying. My bet is she would have brought them down if I hadn't gotten her attention. But we just don't know. Just like everyone else their ROM readings can fluctuate with their mood. On a given day it's a tossup as to which one of them is more powerful. But the levels are so high, it's considered classified information. They're just both crazy powerful. But Ginny's different than Harry."
"How so?" Bill asked.
"Imagine it like this. Zeus is up there on his mountain and he's teaching his kid to throw his lightning bolts. Now it doesn't matter who throws the bolt, it's got the same amount of power to it. But Ginny is the bolts from the kid, wild, half on target, sometimes hitting broadside instead of head on. Harry, he's like a bolt thrown by Zeus himself. Accurate, to the tip of a pin He hits exactly what he wants, when he wants, and the result is total, complete and utter destruction."
"Now he's a god," Fred muttered.
"Bloody dopey lookin' one," George said. "Oi!" he yelped jumping back a foot or so. "Dapper, mate," he said. He edged away from the scorched bit of grass at his feet, taking up a position of safety with at least two different women between him and Harry. "I said you were a right dapper looking god, mate."
"Precision," Jim said. "It's more scary knowing he missed on purpose than it would be if he'd actually hit you."
"You don't say," George complained.
"Haallllooo!" A voice carried across the pitch from up near the house. "We thought we might come see what all the excitement's about."
"Ginny!" Hermione and Molly cried, rushing across the pitch to reach her and Dr. Pell. "What are you doing out of bed?" Molly asked. "And what's this?"
"Surely you have wheelchairs in your world too, Mrs. Weasley," Dr. Pell said.
"Molly blushed. "Of course we do, where is my head these days?"
"Should she be out?" Hermione asked.
"Certainly she should," Dr. Pell said. "Sometimes a girl just needs a change of scenery. A person can only read so much, right Ginny?"
"You can say that again," Ginny agreed happily.
"But what about her medications?"
Dr. Pell started pushing the wheelchair forward again. "It's not a big deal to unhook her for a bit. And I've got a syringe or two in my pocket if we need a little boost on pain control. Still doing ok, Ginny?"
She nodded. "Yep."
"Where shall we go?" he asked.
"Harry."
Dr. Pell chuckled. "Seems my girl has a one track mind. I'm afraid I'm eventually going to be forced to give her back."
Harry stood in the same spot he'd first seen Ginny, grinning madly. "Take this away from her," he said, handing the Snitch in his pocket to Quade.
"Yes, my Lord."
"And don't call me that."
"As you say, my Lord."
"You are highly annoying," Harry said.
"As are you, my Lord," Quade retorted before moving away.
"Why me?" Harry muttered.
Ginny beamed at him as she drew near. "Still making me come to you, I see." She held her hands out to him.
"Can she come out of that thing?" Harry asked.
"For a minute or so," Dr. Pell said.
"Brilliant!"
"Ohh!" Ginny squealed as Harry reached past her outstretched arms to her waist and picked her straight out of the chair. He lifted her high into the air and then slowly lowered her down to his lips; kissing her softly. "Hi," he whispered breaking the kiss.
"Hi back," she answered. She reached for his face, and pulled his lips back to hers while wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Okay, don't need to see that," Fred said.
"Oi, Potter," George yelled.
"You might simply find something else to look at," Quade said.
"We'd rather complain about it," they said together.
"It is so good to see you," Harry said when they broke apart again.
"There's more to see if you come to my bedroom," Ginny thought.
"I might just have to come check that out."
She nipped at his ear. "And don't you dare put me back in that chair."
"Why not?"
"Because having my legs wrapped around you is exactly what I want right now."
Harry felt a rush of blood moving in his body towards a certain area. "Ok, back in the chair you go," he said.
"Spoilsport," Ginny retorted, managing to get a discrete thrust against him as he set her back down.
Harry took a steadying breath. "So how long are you out for?" Ginny held his hand firmly, not letting him get away.
"Truthfully, we should be getting back," Dr. Pell said. "I'm concerned about her aversion to food. She should be getting an appetite again as she feels better."
"If you try and feed me chicken broth again, I'll pour it down your pants."
"See what I mean," Dr. Pell said.
"Juice," she said.
"You need more than juice, Ginny."
"Fruit. A peach."
"I'd prefer some broth first, but if that's what you want, we'll give it a try."
"We could blend it," Hermione said. "Make her a smoothie."
"Good idea," Dr. Pell said.
"I can mix one up when we get back to the house," Hermione offered.
"So what's everyone up to?" Ginny asked. She glanced around at everyone assembled; Quade, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Mum, Dad, Jim, the twins, Jenna and Jamie, Stacie and Jim, Luke, Angie, and Margaret. "Is there anyone who isn't here?"
"I'm sure we're missing one or two," Margret said. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you up and around, Ginny," she added.
"I'll second that," Jim said. "The Minister will be heartened to hear it also."
"Thank you," Ginny said before turning back to Harry.
"Harry is trying to avoid blowing a six meter deep by nine meter diameter hole in his Quidditch pitch," Hermione beat him to the information Ginny wanted.
"I'm afraid to ask," Ginny teased squeezing his hand.
"Quade figured out what's been making me sick," Harry offered, hoping to forestall Ginny actually realizing he'd destroyed the Hippogriffs' pitch.
Ginny's eyes widened and a tear slipped down her cheek. "Really?" she whispered. After everything she had suffered in the last fifteen days, she hardly dared to believe the bit of good news and it threatened to overwhelm her emotions.
"Yes," Hermione said. She knelt down in front of Ginny and took her free hand. "And the bastards may have left us a way to track them."
"What is it?" Ginny asked.
"It's the Snitch; or I should say Snitches," Harry said. "Someone's turned them into a Horcrux of sorts for Dementors."
Ginny turned white. "They were trying to kill you," she whispered.
"We don't know that Harry's the intended target," Hermione said.
"Please," Ginny retorted. "There are hundreds of people aware of how badly they affect Harry."
"Look," Harry interrupted. "Let's not argue about what the motives are right now, ok? We've got an answer, and we can start working on what to do about it soon enough. Right now though, I'd really just like to get through this demonstration for Jim and Margaret and spend some time with my wife."
"That sounds absolutely lovely," Ginny agreed.
Hermione smiled. "And it sounds as if I have dinner to make for a certain sister."
"All right then," Harry said. He kissed Ginny on the crown and pulled away. Quade joined him where Jim and Margaret were examining their capture field.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"I think so," Jim said. "You break it, and if there's a Dementor in there to capture, we've got it."
"I'm not sure it's a Dementor. At least not in the way we think of them right now."
"Well if it started as a Dementor, something had to be done to it to infuse it within the Snitch," Margaret said
"Which is why this could be a whole lot more dangerous than simply destroying the thing," Harry said. He set the Snitch into the center of the various wards and containment fields and backed away. It floated placidly about two feet off the ground, appearing to be nothing more than what it was.
"Explain to me what you did to the first one again?"
"I used an idea I got from watching a non-magic show about military hardware," Harry said. "I used a Detonation Spell, but incased it in a Tunneling Spell. So what it did was dig its way inside the Snitch and blow it apart from the inside out."
"Explosive penetration rounds," Dr. Pell said. "Very nasty, and extremely deadly."
"We've seen," Harry said.
"We have?" Luke asked.
"Sorry," Harry amended, "forgot you weren't at the Ministry when the Secretary of State's bodyguard shot Kaka in the head."
"Thank God for that," Angie said. "Do we really need to see this Luke?"
"I'd like to know what my best mate is facing," Luke said. "But if you need to go up to the house, let's go."
Angie considered for a moment. "No, let's stay."
"To continue," Margaret said while Luke and Angie continued their discussion. "What was the plasma ball that consumed whatever was released from the Snitch?"
"Not sure," Harry said. "I tagged Fiendfyre on the back end of my little concoction. In the confined space of the Snitch before it exploded, it must have transformed into the plasma that consumed the thing.
"So what do you intend to do this time?"
"I'm not going to do anything," Harry said.
"Sorry," Jim asked.
"We need to see if others are capable of dealing with this. If not, I'm going to have a full time job destroying Snitches. I thought we'd let one of the girls have a go."
"I get to blow something up?" Jamie asked eagerly.
"A girl after my heart," George sighed.
"Get in line, little girl," Jenna said pushing her aside.
"More my style," Fred said. George narrowed his eyes at him but didn't say anything.
"I'm bigger than you are," Jamie retorted.
"A quarter inch doesn't count. Besides I'm older."
Jamie waved her on. "Age before beauty then."
"Watch it or I'll tell mom you've got a boyfriend."
"I haven't got a boyfriend!"
"Doesn't mean I can't tell her that."
"You're a pain in the ass."
"All right, you two," Jim interrupted. "It's like dishing up ice cream for my kids at home," he muttered. "'She got more.' 'No I didn't.' 'Yes you did.'"
"She always got more," Jenna said.
"I did not!"
"Stop!" Jim bellowed.
"Being quiet," Jamie said. Jenna nodded, zipped her mouth shut and threw away the key.
"Why do I always get the crazy ones," Jim muttered. "Don't answer that," he said when Jamie opened her mouth.
"They're nearly as annoying as we are," Fred said gleefully under his breath to George.
"We'll have to try harder," George agreed.
"So you're up?" Harry asked Jenna.
"Wisdom before ignorance," she shot at Jamie.
Jamie wandered away to stand with Fred and George. "Wisdom would let some other fool try it first then improve on whatever the person who went first managed to cock up," she muttered.
"Fair point," the twins agreed.
"Popcorn?" George asked.
"Thanks," Jamie said.
"Toffee," Fred offered.
"Nope, hate the stuff," Jamie said.
"Knew there was a reason I was in love with you," George said.
Jamie jabbed an elbow into his side. "Don't make me throw up."
Fleur leaned over on the bench she, Molly Arthur, Luke and Angie had settled on in the stands. "She eez doomed," she whispered to Molly.
"Her?" Luke said. "It'd be safer tying fifty pounds of raw beef on your body and running through a camp of Sasquatches than it would dating that girl."
"She seems perfectly nice to me," Molly said.
"Yeah, well you didn't see her and her sister beat the crap out of Ginny when she invited them to dance with her in the live-fire room."
"You are mistaken," Fleur said. "No one beats Ginevra. Not even vampires," she said. She waved her hand at Ginny. "Not even being bitten by a vampire can defeat her."
"They can," Angie said. She shuddered. The snap of bone and Jamie's cry of agony as Ginny crushed both her femurs had populated her dreams more than she'd have preferred since that day.
"I'm sure Hermione has a recording of it of some sort," Luke said. "Ask her to show it to you."
"I'll do that," Fleur said and leaned back again.
"We really didn't have a girl," Molly said to Arthur.
"Sorry?"
"Oh, she's got a girl's body and everything, but she is all boy. Honestly, she's picked more fights than all the boys did combined."
Arthur chuckled. "At least I know she can take care of herself."
"Suggestions?" Jenna asked.
"Well, you heard what I did to it," Harry said.
"Yeah. But I didn't think we were trying for annihilation this time around. Besides, I'm not exactly practiced on wrapping a Detonation inside a Tunneling Spell."
"No time like the present," Harry said. "Let's leave out the Fiendfyre though."
Jenna shrugged. "And what happens after I break the thing out of there?"
"Then we see what it is," Jim said.
"Bill, Jim and I have checked all the warding Harry set up," Margaret said. "Nothing should be able to get out of the inner circle. Blast away and let's see what we're really dealing with.
"Don't worry, I'll cover you," Harry said.
"That's supposed to be my line, you know," Jenna retorted. "You sure you want Ginny around for this right now?"
"She'd kill me if I made her leave," Harry said.
"Okay, here we go then." Jenna said. While Harry, Quade, Jim, Margaret and Bill all shifted around behind her, Jenna turned and concentrated on the Snitch sitting on the ground. Jamie, and the twins shifted around near Ginny, Hermione, Stacie, and Dr. Pell. In the bleachers, Fleur drew her wand and the others followed suit.
Jenna let her arm hang limply, concentrating on forming her magic in the manner Harry had described. Speaking a spell separated it from the next by as long as it took to form the words; that meant it had to be a non-verbal casting. All at once she tensed and thrust her wand at the Snitch hovering in the containment field.
There was a massive whump, followed by the pulse of a change in air-pressure as the explosion reached the edge of its containment area and rebounded back in and out and in again. The effect was like standing in a cloud while thunder rumbled all around. From within the containment field came an insidious, screeching, agonized cry that sent every bird in Harry's gardens into the air and winging away. A mass exodus of rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks fled across the ground and disappeared into burrows or dens high in the trees.
Eventually the screeching died to nothing but a soft whimper. "Release me."
Bill ran a scan of the wards. "I don't know what's in there," he said.
"It's a Dementor," Harry said.
"How do you know, we can't see anything but smoke."
"Not what you speak," a tortured voice hissed.
"I know what a dementor feels like," Harry said.
"Can we drop the first containment field, Bill?" Jim asked. "It might allow the smoke to thin enough to see."
"Ripped," the voice hissed.
"Sure," Bill said. He reached forward with his toe and broke the circle on the ground in front of them.
"What's ripped?" Margaret asked.
"I see something," Jenna said.
"I," the voice hissed. "Pain."
"You're in pain?" Margaret asked.
"Held back."
"What are you held back from?" Margaret asked.
"It looks like a Dementor," Jim said.
"No, it looks like the ghost of a Dementor," Margaret said.
"Yes," the voice hissed. "Ghost."
"You were right, Harry," Bill said quietly. "They somehow found a way of trapping the essence, the soul, of a Dementor in a Snitch after they killed it."
"Murderers," the voice hissed.
"I was really kind of hoping I might be wrong," Harry said.
"So now what?" Jim asked.
"About the only thing I can think of more dangerous than Voldemort running around without a body, is letting a formless Dementor loose in the world," Harry said.
"Kill it," Quade said.
"Yes," the voice hissed.
"We can't just kill it. They're a sentient species," Margaret said.
"It is a leech that will destroy a thousand lives a night if left to go free."
"Listen to the vampire," the voice cried
"Much the same as most people feel about vampires," Margaret countered Quade's argument. "Despite the danger they present, we don't exterminate living Dementors. I don't believe we should do so with this either."
"Already dead," the voice hissed. "Held back."
"Sounds like it wants us to kill it, Margaret," Jim said.
"Already dead. Send beyond."
"We could take it to the Death Chamber," Jim said. "It could go through the arch on its own if that's what it wants.
"NOOOO!" the voice cried in anguish.
"See, it doesn't want to die," Margaret said.
"Burn," the voice pleaded. The shadowy being within the containment field crawled across the ground to press against the edge of field nearest its captors. "Burn," it said.
"You want us to burn you?" Margaret asked.
"Yeeeessss,"
"We can't do that," Margaret said quickly, completely horrified. "If you need to be sent on we can send you through the veil. But we are not going to burn you."
"Only way," the creature said. Its hand, or what might pass for a hand, reached to them. "Please," it cried. "Only way." The hand slid down the wall of the containment field weakly. "Go beyond. Only way. Pain ends. Whole again. Please," it rattled hoarsely. "End pain."
"Margaret," Jim pressed.
"I don't know, Jim," she said.
"Harry," Ginny called. Harry and the others turned to her. "Do what she asks."
"Sorry?" Harry asked.
"Do it or I will." She lifted her hand from the arm of the wheelchair.
"Yeeesss, mercy. Remember woman of flame."
"NO!" Hermione shouted stepping in front of Ginny's hand. "Don't you dare deplete your reserves any more than they already are."
"Do it, Harry," Ginny said again, her eyes locked with his. "She is dead. Grant her the mercy of being whole again."
Harry nodded and turned to face the creature on the ground. "I'm sorry I can't do more for you."
"Is that what this will do for you?" Margaret asked. She stepped as close as the ward would allow her and squatted down to try and see if she could read anything in the face of the creature.
"Yeesss," it hissed pleadingly. "Only way. Mercy, sorceress. Please."
Margaret pursed her lips. "Is it like this while you're trapped in the Snitch?"
"Worse. Mercy."
Margaret stood up quickly. "I'll find who did this to you," she said. "I promise." She snapped her fingers. "Agents Young!"
"Ma'am?" Jenna and Jamie barked stepping forward.
"Fiendfyre. Now."
"Yes, ma'am." They took up position at angles to one another and took aim.
"I would suggest covering your ears," Harry shouted.
White-hot fire burst from Jenna's and Jamie's wands and engulfed the ghost, soul, essence, or whatever it was that remained of the Dementor that had been released from its prison within the Snitch. But instead of the shriek that had terrified every bird within two miles of the Hippogriffs' stadium earlier that day as the creature Harry had freed burned, there was nothing but silence as the flames consumed this one.
"Perhaps the cries of pain were simply a reaction to being released," Quade observed. "This one also sent the birds and animals away on being freed. And the other did fall silent long before being consumed."
"Maybe," Harry said. He turned to Jim and Margaret. "If you don't mind, I need to go clear my head."
"Sure, Potter," Jim said. "I think us professionals can manage for a while without you civilians.
"Just leave me alone till tomorrow, yeah?" Harry asked.
"Go on, Harry," Margaret said.
Harry walked away from them and joined Ginny as everyone but Jim and Margret congregated around her. "I think it's time to take you back inside," he said. "May I push her?"
"Certainly," Dr. Pell said. He let Harry take over pushing Ginny's wheelchair and glanced around. His eyes finally settled on the lone non-magic person in attendance besides himself. At least I'm not the only one who's shaken by all that, he thought, observing the way Stacie leaned against Hermione as the group made its way back to the house.
George grabbed Fred and pulled him into one of the unrenovated areas of Harry's home. "Oi, watch it, mate," Fred said shaking him off. "I paid a lot of money for this shirt."
"Lord knows why," George retorted.
Fred straightened himself out and leaned against the wall. "So did you want to talk to me or were you just offended by my shirt so much that you figured you'd rip the arm off it?"
"Both."
"Ok."
"What are you doing?" George growled.
"Little help," Fred said.
"Does the name Jenna ring any bells?"
Fred grinned. "Actually, it's usually her that's ringing bells. People's bells to be precise."
"Are you or are you not hitting on her?" George demanded.
Fred shrugged. "What if I am? Can't help it if her sister isn't falling for your classless advances."
George held up a finger. "Ok, let's try this one… Hermione… That one ring a bell?"
"Whoa, mate," Fred said. "You're getting ahead of yourself."
"Am I?" George asked. "Six weeks ago you'd stopped paying attention to any girl other than her as anything more than a nice backdrop. You were just biding your time."
"True," Fred said.
"So what, Jenna comes along and you think she's a nice diversion till you figure Hermione might be ready to think about seeing someone new? It ain't gonna work that way, mate. You want a shot at Hermione, you're not gonna do it while playing around with Jenna. Try it and I'll tell her sister. And then I'll tell Harry. There won't be anything left for him to do but dig your grave."
Fred sighed. "I'm not gonna take a shot at Hermione."
"Oh?" George asked.
"Look, bro," Fred said. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. Hermione is great. There's no arguing it. But she was Ron's. And I think I'd always wonder if she was just trying to find some piece of him in me if we were to get together. There's just too much baggage between the two of us for me."
"So her history is too big for you to handle?"
"Not her history, mate, our history. I'd give it a go if I was an outsider, but I'm not. I know she isn't really my sister, but it would just be too much like dating Ginny."
George leaned against the wall. "Pretty much my thoughts too."
Fred clapped his hands together. "So were all bang up. No worries and I can keep chattin' Jenna up?"
"You stay away from my sister," Jamie said as she walked by.
"I might tell you the same about my brother," Fred shouted.
"You do and I'll lock you in a room with a Blast-Ended Skrewt," George said.
"All right," Dr. Pell said. "Let's just get you hooked back in." He flushed the IV on Ginny's arm and reconnected her various bags of fluid. "You realize you haven't had any morphine for almost forty minutes," he asked.
Ginny nodded. "Yes," she said through gritted teeth.
Dr. Pell stopped. "You're in pain, aren't you?" Ginny scowled. He pressed her remote into her hand. "You're a big girl, Ginny. If you want to suffer, then go ahead." Ginny slumped in defeat and pressed the button on her remote. "That's my girl," Dr. Pell said. He patted her arm. "You'll get there. Now why don't we start by seeing if you can stomach anything beyond apple juice?"
"Peach," Ginny said. "I want a peach."
"If that's what you want, then we'll give it a try." He nodded at Hermione. "Maybe half," he said. "And some more apple juice, actually any juice. Let's see what we can do to get her off saline and 'Mountain Dew'."
"Ok, I'll be back shortly," Hermione said.
"You're really starting to feel better," Harry grinned. "Pretty soon you'll be back to eating more sausages and bacon than Ron."
"MMMMMmmm," Ginny moaned. "Sausages." Harry laughed.
"Maybe in a day or two," Dr. Pell said. He patted her arm. "Let's get your insides working again before we try something as harsh as sausage and bacon."
"You're a cruel man, Dr. Pell," Ginny teased.
"I do my best. Now can I trust you two to behave if I leave you alone?"
"Do we have to?" Ginny asked.
Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I can't believe you said that."
Dr. Pell eyed Ginny. "At least until you no longer need morphine," he said.
Ginny held her arm out. "Take it out."
Harry clamped his hand over her mouth. "I'll make sure she behaves," he said.
Dr. Pell laughed. "I'll just check in shortly to make sure," he said as he closed the door.
Harry rounded on Ginny. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded.
"I'm bloody randy," Ginny said. She tugged at his hand.
"Oh no," Harry said. "I think I'll sit in the chair."
"Afraid I'll seduce you?" Ginny teased.
"Frankly, yes."
Ginny's eyes locked with his. "You should be," she purred.
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Don't do that," he croaked.
"Why not?" she asked seductively.
"Because I'll have to leave if you don't stop."
Ginny groaned and crossed her arms grumpily. "This is maddening."
Harry grinned. "What's gotten into you?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ginny moaned, "but I haven't been able to think of doing anything but throwing you down on the floor since the moment I saw you today."
"Well you know how to make a fella feel good about himself."
"I think you should come make me feel good," Ginny retorted.
"Not a chance, Mrs. Potter."
"Ohh, don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Say my name like that."
"You mean like Ginevra," Harry teased
Ginny literally gasped. "Harry," she hissed painfully. "You need to leave."
"Leave?" he asked surprised.
Ginny looked at him, her eyes glazed over. "Please. I can't control myself."
Harry hesitated. "You're not kidding are you?"
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "At least go across the room."
"Ok," Harry said. He backed away to the wall. "Better?" he asked. Ginny made a choking sound. They both turned as the door opened.
"Dinner time," Hermione said. She carried a tray in and set it up so Ginny could reach it.
Ginny inhaled a massive volume of air. "Oh thank God," she said.
"Well if you insist," Hermione said. "But I prefer Goddess. What are you doing over there?" she asked Harry
Harry shot a look at Ginny and she motioned him forward again. "Keeping a safe distance," he said as he cautiously approached.
Hermione looked between the two of them, noting Ginny's flushed appearance. She smiled knowingly. "Quade wondered if this might happen."
"If what might happen?" Ginny asked.
Hermione smirked. "If you'd have an increased sex drive."
"WHAT?" Ginny cried. She buried her face in her hands. "Please tell me this hasn't been discussed with my mother in the room."
"I'd like to know why it wasn't discussed while I was in the room," Harry said.
"Because it's girl talk," Hermione retorted. "Not for randy little boy ears."
"What about the randy husband of the randy little girl in question?"
"Don't," Ginny cried. "Don't tell me you're horny when I'm feeling like an alpha dragon ready to make the rounds of the reserve and can't do a damn thing about it."
Hermione giggled. "Harry, I really hope your stamina compares with everything else in your life."
"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted.
Her response was to sit down in the chair bent over double. "Your face," she gasped.
"Wonderful," Harry muttered. "The next thing I know my stamina is going be in the rags. And you," he growled playfully at Ginny. "There will be no harem so get used to it."
"Please," Ginny said, "the thought of even touching anyone but you makes me want to vomit."
"A rather crude expression of devotion," Hermione said. She brushed her hair back from her face and finished composing herself. "Quade was curious about that too."
"Is there anything you two aren't discussing about me?" Ginny demanded.
"It's pertinent, Ginny," Hermione retorted.
"How!"
"Because you are both victims of a vampire bite."
"But I'm not a vampire," Ginny snapped. She lifted her upper lip. "No fangs, see. And," she lifted her bangs, "I'm still covered with scars."
"Oh grow up," Hermione said. "You've both been through a similar process. It made Quade a vampire. What it's done to you remains to be seen. So far, you have an increase in your sex drive, and you are even more attached to the person you've chosen as your mate than you were before. Quade says that both are characteristics of all vampires over their previous form of humanity."
"So I'm some kind of hybrid vampire?" Ginny shouted.
"Easy, Gin," Harry said, placing his hand on her shoulder and pushing her back on the bed again. "You're not doing anyone any good screaming at Hermione."
"I am not a vampire," Ginny growled, glaring at Hermione.
Hermione stood up. "Maybe I should go," she said. "I seem to be doing more harm than good right now."
"Don't go," Ginny muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"Just stay," Ginny said. Hermione gave her a curious look. "Please don't ask me why." Ginny picked the half of a peach of the tray and took a bite. "Ohhh that's amazing," she moaned and wiped at the juice that trickled down her chin.
"Ok," Hermione said slowly settling back into the chair.
"Oh for God's sake," Ginny sighed staring at the ceiling. "Your blood is making me sick enough that my every thought isn't consumed with ripping Harry's clothes off."
"Well," Hermione sniffed. "I'm glad I haven't put you off eating too."
"It's not just you," Ginny muttered staring at her hands. "Everyone stinks."
"Except Harry," Hermione said. "And I seem to be the worst."
"Actually Mum and Dad are the worst."
"Oh?"
"It's a correlation," Ginny said.
"How so?" Hermione asked.
"The less likely I was to consider you as a mate before I was bitten, the more repulsive I find the scent of your blood." Ginny looked up at her. "It's not that I never thought you were pretty or anything. But from the second we met you were the sister I'd always dreamed of. The thought of you being something more was repulsive even before Nastia bit me."
"So Fred, George and Bill must be pretty bad too," Hermione said. Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "No?" Hermione asked.
Ginny cringed. "Not Bill," she whispered.
"Excuse me?" Harry yelped.
"Please," Ginny said grabbing his hand. "He's so much older than I am. In my mind he's never really been a brother. Even when I was old enough to know he was, the first time I'd see him when he'd come home for Christmas or whatever, I always had to stop and remind myself that he was my brother and I shouldn't be thinking he was damn hot. For Merlin's sake, it wasn't till I was eight and decided I was going to marry you that I stopped telling mum I was going to marry Billy."
Harry stared at her. "That's just sick," he said.
"Actually, it's not at all surprising, Harry," Hermione came to Ginny's aid.
"It's not?" Harry asked.
"Oh those damn Dursleys," Hermione growled.
"What have they got to do with it?"
"You were deprived Harry," Hermione said. "So you won't find this easy to understand, but nearly all little girls go through a period where they're going to marry their daddy. The same is true for little boys; they're going to marry their mummy. And that attachment is very often carried into adulthood. It's why most boys end up marrying a girl who subconsciously reminds them of their favorite traits about their mother. Ditto for girls. Their husbands usually have very similar personalities to their father.
"In Ginny's case it's easy to see how she picked Bill instead of her dad. He's eleven years older than her. He treated her like a princess, doting on her every wish as she grew up. He was her protector when she banged a knee or the twins got to be too much. And if you look in the mirror, you'll see that everything Bill is, you are too. The reason Ginny picked you is as plain to me as the nose on your face. You measure up to the man who taught her what a man was supposed to be.
"And one more bit of food for thought for you. Nearly everyone who knew your mother, and has eventually come to know Ginny too, comments on the similarities between them. So even though you don't remember it, your mother somehow imprinted what a woman was supposed to be in your mind and you eventually found that in Ginny."
Harry scratched his head but eventually grinned at Ginny. "It's still weird."
"If either one of you says one word about this to anyone, I'll kill you both and hide the bodies where no one will ever find them," Ginny said.
"Not a word," Harry agreed.
"My lips are sealed," Hermione agreed. Ginny sighed and morosely fingered one of the glasses on her tray.
"Hey now," Harry said. "What's that sad face for."
"I finally found something I couldn't beat, didn't I?" she asked.
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.
Ginny swiped at the tears on her cheeks. "This, Harry," she said. "So I'm not a vampire. Hermione's right. It's changed me. I'm not what I was before Nastia bit me."
"You're still my wife," Harry said. "Still the girl I love. Still the air I need to breathe."
"Am I?" she asked. "So I don't want to suck your blood out. I've still developed traits similar to Quade's. My senses are alive all the time now; not just when my inner demon cuts loose. What else has changed?"
"Nothing that matters," Harry said.
"No?" she asked. "What happens if I'm immortal now too...? What happens when you grow old and die and I'm left alone with no one but Quade?"
"I was hoping we'd be able you keep that question out of your mind for a while," Hermione said softly.
Harry lifted Ginny's chin. "I wouldn't have abandoned you if you'd become a vampire. I won't abandon you because you didn't. If you want to get rid of me, you're going to have to come up with something a lot better than being immortal."
"I don't want to be here alone," Ginny whispered.
"You won't," Harry said.
"How can you promise that?"
"If it comes to it," Harry said. "You aren't the only one with the will to survive a vampire bite."
Hermione and Ginny blanched. "Harry you can't," Hermione whispered.
Ginny shook her head, "No," she mouthed.
"I can, and I will," Harry answered. "For better or worse, Ginevra. The only way I will ever leave your side is if you tell me to go."
"I will," she choked. "If you try it."
Harry stood and leaned down to kiss her lips gently. "You'd be lying," he said when he pulled back. "For better or worse, Ginevra," he said again before he turned and walked to the door.
"Don't you dare!" Hermione shouted. She jumped up and ran to the door, blocking his way. "Don't you dare do something so stupid when you don't even know if she's changed that way."
Harry reached out and put his hands on Hermione's shoulders, moving her out of his way. He leaned down and kissed her crown. "I'm just going to the loo, Hermione," he said and stepped out of the room. Ashen faced, Hermione turned to Ginny.
"What am I going to do?" Ginny whispered.
Hermione closed her eyes, steeling herself. "Pray you aren't immortal," she answered.