Chapter 18: Fugitives
July 5th, 1993
Harry looked at Sirius Black with angry defiance in his eyes. There was no way that he was going to give this man the satisfaction of seeing him beg for mercy.
"What are you waiting for?" said Harry.
"I've waited for this moment for a long time," said Black, "It may have been the last thing keeping my sanity together through everything that I suffered."
"Whatever you've suffered, it wasn't enough!" shouted Harry.
"I know, I know," said Black almost in tears, "I failed James and Lily. I deserve no pity. But then, you haven't felt the aura of a dementor. It takes all of your happiness, and burns it to ash. They can be fought off for a time, but in the end all you are left with is your worst nightmares."
It sounded like the most horrible thing in the world. Harry wasn't sure he felt sorry for Black, but part of him realized that there was more going on here than he'd initially thought. Black seemed, distracted, almost broken? Was this a result of Azkaban? Why had he broken free now?
"Why are you talking to me?" asked Harry, "Why haven't you just killed me?"
"Kill you?" cried Black, "I have never wanted to harm you in any way! James and Lily either. I would have died to protect them. I should have died to protect them…"
That was an angle that Harry had not considered. Had Sirius been tortured into betraying his parents? It would explain his extreme remorse. But Harry didn't even really know what Black had done to betray his family.
"How did you fail my parents, Sirius Black?" demanded Harry, softly but firmly.
Black shook at the sound of his name. "Dumbledore gave us a spell, the Fidelius Charm. It hides a secret inside a human soul. Only that person can reveal the secret. So, if the secret was the location of the Potter family, the Potter family would be hidden so long as they stayed in the location delineated in the secret. Regardless of how many people knew beforehand, it would be a secret, and the only person who could reveal it would be the Secret Keeper. However, the Secret Keeper could tell whoever he liked."
"And you were my parents' Secret Keeper?" asked Harry, his blood running cold.
Black shook his head pathetically. "No, I was not," said Black, "I did not believe that I had the strength to resist if I was captured and tortured. I knew we had a traitor in our ranks. I thought it was our good friend, Remus Lupin. I was so wrong! So, I told them that I would pretend to be their secret keeper, while they could actually make another supposed friend, Peter Pettigrew, the actual Secret Keeper."
Black's face contorted with rage. "He gave them up immediately. He was the traitor. I killed your parents the moment I suggested his name."
Harry inhaled sharply. That made a lot of sense. "That's why you killed Pettigrew," said Harry.
Sirius's eyes went cold. "I didn't kill the rat; he faked his death! Even cut off one of his own fingers to make it look real. Killed ten muggles by blowing up a gas main. But you see, like me, he was an Animagus. We all were, except Remus. James was a stag, we called him Prongs. As you've seen I'm a dog, they called me Padfoot, and Peter, well he was a rat. Wormtail we called him. And he transformed into a rat to escape, leaving me alone in the street with all those poor muggles. And I'll admit, I lost it. When they found me, I was laughing, not out of mirth, but because of how perfectly Peter had trapped me."
"He cut off his finger?" said Harry, "A nine-toed rat?"
Harry's eyes widened as he thought of something. He had never thought anything of it but Ron's rat had only nine toes. And he was very old…
"Bloody hell, Scabbers!" cried Harry in shock.
"Scabbers?" asked Sirius, puzzled.
"The Weasley family's rat!" said Harry.
"Well done Harry!" said Sirius, "I only found out when Fudge came to visit me recently. He left behind a copy of the Prophet. I'd recognize Peter anywhere."
"There was a picture of Ron with Scabbers in that paper!" said Harry.
"Exactly," said Sirius, "Now I just need to get to the Burrow and collect the rat."
Harry's heart sank. "The Weasleys aren't at the Burrow currently, they're on vacation in Egypt visiting their oldest son Bill."
"The Weasleys are friends of yours?" asked Sirius.
Harry stopped himself. Why was he telling Sirius all this? It could easily be a trap. Yet Harry couldn't think of a single reason why Sirius would lead him along like this. It would have been far easier for Sirius to kidnap Harry if he needed Harry alive for something. The fact was that Harry was starting to like Sirius. He was starting to trust him.
"Before I answer that, I need to know one more thing," asked Harry. "If all you say is true, why were you convicted?"
"I was never convicted!" snarled Sirius, "They stunned me at the site of Peter's escape and I woke up in Azkaban. I didn't get a trial!"
This wasn't entirely unexpected, and it explained why Sirius was still his Guardian. Bloody hell, Sirius was probably innocent. He hadn't really proved it, but Harry believed him. It exactly fit what he knew of the Ministry.
"I'm friends with the younger Weasleys, Ginny and Ron. The twins as well I suppose. I stayed with them for a while last summer," said Harry in answer to Sirius's question, "I like Molly and Arthur Weasley."
Sirius grinned. "Molly Weasley, heh, I still think of her as Molly Prewitt. Her brothers, Fabian and Gideon, were good friends of ours during the war."
"But I'm sure you have lots of experience with the Weasleys in Gryffindor," continued Sirius.
Oh, this was going to be awkward. "Ginny isn't in Gryffindor. Neither am I actually." said Harry.
"A Potter and a Weasley not in Gryffindor! Now how does that happen?" asked Sirius.
"Someone rigged our sorting," said Harry honestly.
"I suppose that would explain it," said Sirius, "So they sent you to Ravenclaw?"
Harry sighed, "I wish, at least for the sake of this conversation."
"Hufflepuff huh? Well don't be too down on it. Plenty of decent Hufflepuffs," consoled Sirius.
"I'm aware. Many are my friends. Me and Ginny didn't get sorted there though."
Sirius gave Harry a stern look. "Don't tell me that you got sorted into…"
"Slytherin, yeah." said Harry, "It's not so bad."
"But Slytherin is home to all the pureblood bigots, magical supremacists and Death Eaters!" protested Sirius.
"Not all of them!" retorted Harry.
Sirius nodded in acceptance of that point, but still forged on. "Didn't you ask to get resorted? If your sorting was rigged…"
"I would have," said Harry, "except for Hermione."
"Hermione?" asked Sirius.
"She's a muggleborn witch, I met her when Professor McGonagall took me to the muggleborn orientation," said Harry, "But she was sorted before me. She… well she asked the hat to put her in the same house as me."
"Oh shit," said Sirius, "That's bad."
"My sorting was rigged, but it sent Hermione where she wanted to go! She might not have been resorted. And I was her only friend in the house," Harry clenched his fists in anger as he remembered those days, "I wasn't about to abandon her."
"I'm sorry Harry," said Sirius, "That's rough. It can't be easy maneuvering the Slytherin power structure with a muggleborn as your main ally. I know a bit about it, as my entire family had been in Slytherin until I showed up."
"It was rough," admitted Harry, "but Draco Malfoy, the most influential boy in our year underestimated us. We utterly humiliated him several times in the first two weeks. It was so bad that some of the older students tried to gather together to teach us a lesson."
"That couldn't have been fun," said Sirius.
"Well, by that point we had other friends. Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis. They all stood with us."
Harry sighed. "And they all nearly died at the hands of a mountain troll that was unleashed in the castle by our defense teacher."
"Defense position still causes trouble I see," said Sirius.
"If by having my first year Defense professor being possessed by the spirit of Voldemort, and my second-year teacher trying to remove my memory so he could take credit for finding the Chamber of Secrets you mean trouble, yes," said Harry.
"I see that we have some things to discuss," said Sirius, "Will you trust me to Apparate us?"
Harry thought about it. "All right," he said.
XXXXX
Harry opened his eyes to see a very run-down sitting room. Everything was in tatters. "Where are we?" he asked.
"No. 12 Grimmauld Place," said Sirius, "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
A scurrying sound came out of the kitchens. An ancient looking house elf ran into the room. "YOU!" screamed the elf angrily.
"Kreacher, I guess it was too much to hope you'd died," said Sirius.
"Sirius!" said Harry angrily.
"What?" asked Sirius in a puzzled tone.
"There's no excuse for treating a house elf like that," said Harry.
"You don't know Kreacher," said Sirius.
"I don't need to," said Harry, "House elves are what wizards have made of them. You hate what he is? Blame the family that made him that way."
Sirius opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it again. "You are absolutely right Harry. My family was rather dark."
Sirius turned to Kreacher. "I apologize for being so rude to you," he said.
Kreacher growled at him.
"Hello Kreacher, I'm Harry Potter," said Harry with a slight bow. House elves seemed to like formality. It made interactions simpler he guessed.
Kreacher gave him a dubious look, "He thinks he's so kind to Kreacher, as if we don't see through this child of a Mudblood."
Sirius roared and Kreacher flinched, but Harry jumped in between them. "Kreacher, maybe you should go elsewhere for a bit. We won't be staying long," said Harry.
Sirius nodded. "Yes Kreacher, go someplace else."
"But don't tell anyone anything about where we are or that you've even seen us!" said Harry.
"Right, what he said," said Sirius.
Kreacher sighed, and then left.
"Why'd you intervene?" said Sirius.
"He's not all there anymore clearly," said Harry, "I pity him. He can't help what he is."
Sirius bowed his head for a moment. "You sound like your mother," he said finally.
Sirius handed Harry back his wand. "Wait here for a moment, but don't touch anything. Everything in this house is dangerous."
Harry waited for a few minutes. Finally, Sirius returned, holding another wand.
"Arcturus Black's wand, my grandfather's. It doesn't work perfectly, but it's better than nothing. Certainly better than that guard's wand," he said.
Sirius led Harry into the kitchen, where he waved his wand and the dust flew off two chairs.
"So why were you running away?" asked Sirius.
"I wasn't running away," said Harry, "Your picture was on the muggle news. I stupidly told my uncle Vernon that you were my godfather and he kicked me out."
"Sorry 'bout that," said Sirius.
"Nah, I hate them. Any excuse to get away I say. Dumbledore will probably scare the sh… scare them enough to take me back," said Harry.
"I don't care if you swear Harry," said Sirius, "I'd be a poor Marauder if I did."
"Marauder?" asked Harry.
Sirius laughed. "At school, your dad and Remus and the rat, as well as myself, we called ourselves the Marauders. We pulled pranks, mostly on Snivellus, caused mischief. That sort of thing. Even made a map of the school that showed where everyone was so we wouldn't get in trouble. Fun times."
"You said that three of you were animagi?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, well Remus couldn't be an Animagus," said Sirius, "I don't know if you know Remus, but he's a relatively private person. Mostly because he's a werewolf. We called him Moony."
"Cool," said Harry.
Sirius laughed again. "Good to hear you're so accepting. Anyway, we became animagi so we could keep him company when he transformed."
"That's actually quite sweet," said Harry.
"Don't put it that way!" said Sirius with yet another laugh.
"Who's Snivellus?" asked Harry.
"Severus Snape," said Sirius with obvious distaste.
"You're the reason he hates me!" said Harry, "He's the head of Slytherin these days."
"Oh?" asked Sirius.
"I don't like him much either. He let the older students try to come after me and Hermione my first year. Though I will admit he has generally tried to discourage anyone from being too hard on Hermione just because she is a muggleborn. He just hasn't tried that hard. I don't really get him though. Sometimes he seems to absolutely loathe me, and other times it seems like he approves of me."
"Well, I guess that makes sense," said Sirius, "despite everything he never really hated muggleborns."
Sirius paused, then sighed, "If he's your Head of House… Snape was close friends with your mother when he first arrived at Hogwarts. They had a falling out, but he was always fond of her. I think it was part of why he hated your father so much. I didn't hear much about Snape after he joined the Death Eaters, I'm afraid."
"So, he was a Death Eater?" said Harry.
"He turned on them at the end though, I know that much. Half the Death Eaters in Azkaban would constantly curse his name. I never knew why though," said Sirius.
Sirius looked at Harry shrewdly. "So, tell me about your life."
And Harry did. Told him about growing up with the Dursleys, learning he was magical, meeting Hermione and the Weasleys. He told him about his sorting, and Draco's attack on Hermione and how they rallied together their first year. He then spoke about the troll and Quirrell, and how his first year ended. And he continued to Dobby and the Chamber of Secrets, to Lucius Malfoy and Lockhart and the basilisk. He left out all the secrets he knew, but his friends and their exploits were littered in everything he said. When he was done, Sirius smiled.
"You have a lot of good friends," said Sirius.
"Yes," said Harry.
"A lot of them are girls," said Sirius suggestively.
"There's nothing wrong with having a girl as a friend!" said Harry.
"Of course not!" said Sirius, "Quite the opposite! The more the merrier!"
"I'm not dating them," said Harry.
"Of course not," said Sirius with a wink.
Harry sighed.
"There was one thing though," said Sirius, "Everyone in my family is from Slytherin, so I'm a bit familiar with the way the Slytherin dorms work. I noticed you said that you did something that helped protect Hermione from Draco your first week of school. But how did a first year do anything that could fool such a complicated spell?"
Harry immediately realized he'd substantially let his guard down with Sirius. Despite his joking nature, there was a sharp mind in his head. Still Harry couldn't imagine that telling Sirius could affect anything.
"I, uhh, moved into her room," said Harry sheepishly.
"Wait, what?" asked Sirius, "You just moved into her room and they let you get away with it?"
"Well the school rules say that boys may not stay in the girls' dormitories and vice versa. But Slytherin doesn't have separate dormitories. And the house rules don't reference it at all."
"And they let you get away with it?" asked Sirius again.
"Snape's the only teacher who knows," said Harry, "He wasn't happy about it, but forcing us to change rooms would have required him to access the school wards, which would require approval from the Headmaster."
"And Snape's failure to protect Hermione in the first place would be exposed," said Sirius.
Harry nodded.
"That was one hell of a gamble there Harry," said Sirius, "I approve. Also, you get to room with a beautiful young lady."
"She's my best friend," said Harry.
"All the better," said Sirius, "Listen, I know I'm giving you a hard time here. But the fact is most boys your age would have some very complicated feelings about rooming with a girl they liked."
"I, uh, do," said Harry as he started to blush.
"Understandable," said Sirius, "Just know that I won't be judging you whatever the two of you decide to do."
"Uh, thanks?" said Harry, feeling a bit weird about this conversation.
"Speaking of dating," said Sirius, "Are you looking forward to going to Hogsmeade this year?"
"Oh shit," said Harry, "Uncle Vernon never gave me permission."
"Easily dealt with!" said Sirius. He summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and quickly wrote out a note.
I Sirius Black, give my permission for my godson Harry Potter to go to Hogsmeade on weekends.
Sirius Black
"How will I use this?" asked Harry.
"I'm still your guardian," said Sirius, "What can they do? I would give it right to Dumbledore however. Snape is obviously out, and McGonagall might give you detention if you hand that to her."
"Seriously," Harry agreed.
"Yes, she did give detention to me all the time," said Sirius with a straight face. Harry groaned.
"I figure we have to figure out what I'm going to do once I leave here," said Harry.
"Well, I have a few ideas as to what you should do," said Sirius, "If you're curious. For one, I can teach you the spell to reveal an Animagus. But make sure you have lots of capable adults around to capture him when you use it on Peter! I also have some advice as to a lot of other things. Dumbledore has disappointed me a bit. Let's see if we can Dumbledore proof your life a bit."
Harry grinned.
XXXXX
Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron, pulling his trunk and Hedwig's cage. As soon as he entered, several people gasped. He guessed they had heard he was missing. It made sense that someone would have been watching him with Sirius on the loose. Tom, the bartender, walked up to him. "This way Mr. Potter, this way!"
Harry allowed himself to be ushered up the stairs into a small suite. Inside was Amelia Bones, whom Harry remembered from after the troll incident and a man Harry recognized as Cornelius Fudge. Amelia seemed to be briefing the Minister on something.
"Minister!" said Harry nervously, "I'm sorry you got wrapped up in all this!"
"Nonsense boy, nonsense," said Fudge, "It's my duty to make sure you're safe. I am a bit disappointed that you ran away from your aunt and uncle."
"Is that what they told you?" said Harry, "That I ran away? They kicked me out when that special report on Sirius Black came on! I told them who he was and my uncle just ordered me to leave!"
Amelia gave Fudge a very serious look. Fudge himself was almost apoplectic. "I… well I am very sorry about that. I will have someone look into that immediately! Obviously, it was very dangerous to just let you go like that with Black on the loose."
"I fully understand Minister," said Harry, "And I'm impressed that the Dursleys managed to do something so vile that even a politician has trouble finding words to condemn it."
Fudge let out a small chuckle, "A Slytherin, aren't you boy?"
Harry nodded with a smile.
"Well I suppose I don't have to pretend so much then," said Fudge, "If something were to happen to you the repercussions would be disastrous."
Amelia looked aghast at what he had just said, but Harry took it in stride. "Madame Bones," said Harry, "you don't have to be offended for me. I am well aware of the ramifications of my disappearance for Minister Fudge. While I am certain he would have orchestrated a search regardless of those pressures, the consequences of failure do serve to motivate him more than would otherwise be the case."
"I knew you'd understand," said Fudge.
"Given that I have just been kicked out of my own home, I don't really feel safe returning there at the moment," said Harry.
"Nor should you!" said Fudge, "If you wish, we can arrange for you to stay in Diagon Alley for the time being. Something more permanent may be worked out at a later time. Still, Diagon is completely secure! Black can't get within five miles of the place without us knowing!"
Harry tried not to smile, but the corners of his mouth twisted amusedly. "That's good to know."
"Mr. Potter?" asked Amelia, "How did you get here so fast on foot."
"I didn't," said Harry. "I hitchhiked."
"Isn't that rather dangerous?" asked Fudge.
Harry shrugged. "I have a wand. I mean, what could a muggle do to me?"
"Underage magic use…" began Fudge.
"Is permitted in self-defense," finished Harry, "But the chances of me needing that were slim. It was far more likely that they'd have taken me to the police. And traveling with muggles meant it was harder for Black to find me."
Amelia nodded. "A good idea Mr. Potter. I see my niece wasn't wrong about your problem-solving skills."
"Your niece is probably the most practical person in Hufflepuff, which is saying a lot," said Harry, "She's also been a good friend to me."
"Well, I am glad that you are safe Mr. Potter, but Madam Bones and I must be off. We still have Black to catch."
"Good luck Minister!" said Harry.
Harry walked downstairs and talked to Tom the barman. Tom quickly showed Harry to a room upstairs. Apparently, the arrangements had already been made. Sitting down on his bed for the foreseeable future, Harry smiled.
The first part of the plan was going flawlessly.
XXXXX
July 6th, 1993
At 8 am sharp, Harry entered Gringotts. He was followed by Padfoot, who had met up with him in Diagon Alley. Harry was stunned at how easily the Ministry security had been defeated. Harry supposed being an Animagus was a bit out there as far as ways to avoid detection, but it was still common enough that there should have been some security against it.
The goblins all stared at Padfoot. Harry had to wonder what they were thinking. He walked up to the accounts clerk.
"Is Brokgut free?" asked Harry.
"He said you might be visiting Mr. Potter," said the clerk, "but is it really necessary to bring that… creature."
Harry grinned, "Unfortunately, it is."
Padfoot barked at him.
Harry and Padfoot were led back to Brokgut's office. Brokgut raised an eyebrow when he saw Padfoot, but said nothing. As soon as the door was closed. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"All right Padfoot," said Harry.
Padfoot transformed into Sirius Black.
"Well this is a surprise," said Brokgut, "you are aware of whom this is Harry?"
"It's Sirius Black," said Harry, "My godfather and my true guardian. We figured out why there was no record of his conviction. He was never tried. Sirius is innocent."
Brokgut narrowed his eyes, "That would explain everything," said the goblin, "So what can I do for you?"
"First, I'd like to update my will," said Sirius. He handed Brokgut a piece of paper.
Brokgut looked at the paper. "This seems in order. You wish to leave everything in a trust for Mr. Potter?"
"Correct," said Sirius. "I also wish to move Harry's money into another, separate trust, Administered by Gringotts. Harry is to be given full access."
"Easily done," said Brokgut, "What shall I say when Dumbledore notices the money is gone?"
"Say I told you to do this to protect the money from Sirius," said Harry, "Which I am saying."
Brokgut smiled, "Very good, I will refer Dumbledore to you."
"I also want to execute the project my father left," said Harry.
Brokgut clapped his hands together excitedly. "Very good. It will take some time to get new quotes from contractors."
"As long as you have it done before next summer, I'm willing to wait," said Harry.
"Easily done," said Brokgut.
"And then I wish to visit my vault, as does Harry," said Sirius.
Brokgut nodded. "Of course. Once you are done however…"
Sirius waved him off. "I am aware of Gringotts' policies regarding refugees. I assure you I am not asking for asylum, and won't overstay my welcome."
"Thank you for your understanding," said Brokgut.
Harry and Sirius both made their way to their vaults. Both withdrew fairly large sums of money. And with that they both left Gringotts. Padfoot disappeared into an alley and did not come out, while Harry began to explore Diagon Alley. Harry knew he might not see Sirius again for a while.
XXXXX
"Bill, have you seen Ginny," said Molly Weasley.
Bill Weasley shook his head. "Not for a while," he said.
Bill had been ecstatic when he'd learned his family would be visiting him in Egypt. He hadn't seen any of them since he'd come to Egypt for training. He'd been thinking of transferring to Britain, even though there was precious little curse-breaking work there. But having his family come visit him had been a dream come true.
He'd heard about some of their problems in letters of course, but upon meeting his family again he had begun to realize something was off. His mum had explained what happened with Ginny this last year. Ginny was quite different, but Bill hadn't really had a chance to just talk to her alone. He suspected she'd wanted to. Ginny had always been closest to him. When she'd greeted him after all this time, she'd been practically shaking with the emotion of seeing him again.
Percy seemed rather self-absorbed as well. He'd screwed up pretty badly last year, and badly hurt his chances of becoming Head Boy. That seemed to bother Percy less than the fact that he might have been responsible for Ginny's death. Ginny didn't seem to hold a grudge, which suggested to Bill that she blamed herself for what had happened.
Molly had been hovering over Ginny constantly the entire time they'd been in Egypt. Bill didn't blame Ginny for wanting to get away for a bit. Their mother could be a bit overbearing sometimes.
"I'll look for her," said Bill. He actually was pretty sure he knew where she had gone, but he didn't want to give away her hiding place if he was right.
He made his way to the roof of the hotel they were staying at. Sure enough, Ginny was there, sitting and looking out over the city of Cairo.
"Hey there," he said gently, "Mum's looking for you."
"She's always looking for me," said Ginny sullenly, "I just need some time alone to think. You're welcome to stay though. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."
Bill sat down next to her. "I know things have been rough on you this year," he said hesitantly, "If you need to talk about it…"
Ginny gave a tiny sigh. "Thanks Bill, it means a lot. I'm just kind of in a weird place right now."
"How so?"
"What did Mum tell you about what happened to me?" asked Ginny.
"Just that you got possessed by a magical artifact," said Bill, "And that even Dumbledore didn't know what it was."
Ginny scoffed at that. "Dumbledore knew what it was all right, he just didn't deign to tell us. Luckily Harry had figured it out months before. It was a Horcrux."
"A Horcrux?!" cried Bill. Horcruxes were bad news, containing a fragment of a wizard's soul. All curse-breakers had to know about them. They were very rare, but if encountered unawares could be absolutely lethal.
"Yes, one of Voldemort's horcruxes to be exact," said Ginny. Bill noticed that Ginny had stopped using euphemisms for You-Know-Who's name.
"How did Harry know anything about Horcruxes?" demanded Bill.
"He figured out that someone named Tom Riddle had framed Hagrid last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened. Then he asked Horace Slughorn about Riddle, and he learned that Riddle was Voldemort and had shown an interest in horcruxes. Slughorn even suggested that a horcrux might be possessing a student," Ginny shrugged, "They just didn't figure out that I was the student."
"Well horcruxes are dark business," said Bill, "I'm sure that Dumbledore just wanted to protect you from the knowledge that something so dark exists."
"That horcrux tried to suck out my life force to resurrect a dark wizard," said Ginny, "After that I'm gonna say that I've already come to the conclusion that dark magic is really fucked up and I'd rather know what happened to me than be wandering around clueless, afraid that literally everything I come in contact with is going to try to possess and kill me."
Bill put his arm around Ginny's shoulders. "I guess I get that," he said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Ginny rested her head on his arm. "There's more to it of course. I want to tell you everything."
Bill smiled, "Why do I sense a but coming on here?"
"Because you aren't stupid," said Ginny, "You have to promise not to tell anyone what I tell you. Not even Mum or Dad. I love them, and trust them. But this thing, I could get in so much trouble if the wrong people found out."
"I'm not sure I can make that promise," said Bill.
Ginny sat silently for a while. "Of course you can't. It would be irresponsible of you." After a moment Bill realized she wasn't going to say anymore.
"I mean if it's clearly eating you up inside, you might need to tell someone," said Bill.
Ginny shook her head. "No, not this."
Then her features softened. "Well Harry knows. He was there when it happened. He agreed to keep my secret." The last part was said accusingly.
Ginny shook her head. "I'm glad to see you Bill, but I kind of wish I were back home. Then I might have a chance to talk to Harry about this. I kind of need to."
Bill smiled. "You still have a crush on Harry Potter then?"
Ginny shook her head. "Not a crush. I think… I don't know, but I know that whatever I do have with him is real. I guess I haven't given up on him yet, but it would be silly to think that I'm going to have some fairy tale ending to this. I just need a friend right now, and he's been that."
Bill thought about this for a moment. Whatever she was going through was rough, and there was something else that made it worse. And that's when Bill realized that at least one adult needed to understand what was going on with her. Even if he had to promise not to tell anyone, she needed his advice right now.
"Okay Ginny," said Bill, "I promise not to tell anyone, not even Mum or Dad."
Ginny broke out into a grin and hugged her brother. "Thank you so much," she said, "You have no idea what this means to me."
Ginny broke the hug and sat up straight. She suddenly seemed very nervous. "You see we lied to everyone about how we destroyed the horcrux. We only stabbed it with a basilisk fang after we destroyed it."
Bill looked at her quizzically. "How did you destroy it then?" he asked.
Ginny closed her eyes. "I absorbed all the power from it as I fought its control over me. It died right in front of us. But…"
Bill's stomach sank, "But?"
"The power I took from it was imprinted with his memories," said Ginny as she opened her eyes, "I have all the memories of 16-year-old Voldemort."
"Oh fuck," said Bill, "I mean… oh fuck."
"Yeah," said Ginny.
"I get why you didn't want anyone to know," said Bill, "I won't tell anyone. Does he still talk to you?"
"No," said Ginny, "they're just memories I can look at. It's sort of like browsing a book. They're there if I want to see them. And I can tell those memories aren't mine, they're clearly foreign. But Merlin, the things he did. You'd think the memories of a 16-year-old Voldemort wouldn't be that bad, but oh how wrong you'd be! He was a monster! He'd created a horcrux, tortured other children, studied the most dreadful dark things, formulated dark spells and rituals that just disgust me… It's horrible beyond imagining. Any other person and I'd just be grossed out by the things 16-year-old boys do. But Riddle was so much worse."
"Uh, Riddle was interested in girls?" asked Bill.
"He lusted after some of them, yes," said Ginny, her voice full of disgust, "That creature wasn't capable of love. I'll just say it was a strictly physical thing, Riddle never cared for any of his mates." The last word was clearly deliberate.
"So, you have memories of him…" asked Bill awkwardly.
Ginny actually seemed a bit amused. "Yes, I do. I don't understand what the big deal is."
Bill looked at her for a moment, not sure how to handle this. "You should probably ask Mum to give you some more details then. If what you say is true then you've been shown all the physical parts of intimacy, without getting the parts that make it, well, intimate."
"That's probably a good idea," said Ginny, "but Mum's been a bit smothering lately. I've got all these things in my head that don't belong there. I need some time to figure out how I'm going to deal with this, how it's changed me, and how I can stay me. Mum's constant mothering isn't helping."
"I'll see if I can convince her," said Bill.
"Thanks Bill," said Ginny.
"Other than that, I don't know what to say to all this," Bill admitted.
"That's fine," said Ginny, "I just kind of needed to get that off my chest."
She laid her head on his shoulder again. "Can you just hug me for a bit? I'd like to think some more."
Bill wrapped his arm around her again. "Of course, Ginny."
XXXXX
Molly Weasley was almost frantic. She couldn't find Ginny anywhere. Oh, why had she let the girl out of her sight?
Bill walked into her hotel room, looking a bit grim.
"Did you find her?" Molly demanded.
Bill nodded. "Ginny's fine," he said, "She just needs some time alone. She'll be heading to bed in a few minutes."
"Are you sure?" asked Molly, "maybe I should check on her…"
Bill rested a hand on Molly's shoulder gently. "Ginny is still trying to figure out what the things that happened to her all mean. It's been hard on her because all the friends she was talking about it with before are back at home. I got her to open up about it a bit. I am worried for her, but smothering her isn't going to help. She needs to figure out her own way."
Molly sighed. "You're probably right. She's starting to grow up."
"What happened to her forced her to grow up," said Bill, "It's not a great thing, but it's where we are."
"I understand Bill," said Molly sadly.
Bill paused, then seemed to turn a bit red. "Uh, also, I think you need to have a bit of a talk with Ginny about certain things, if you get my meaning."
Molly of course immediately knew what he meant. One didn't have 7 kids without thinking about sex a lot. Still she felt it would be funny to lead him on a bit, "What do you mean?" she said innocently.
Bill's cheeks were aflame now, "Well, Ginny wouldn't talk about it much, but apparently Tom gave her some information about his love life. More information than she really needs to know at her age. But Tom didn't understand love. Ginny needs to understand the connection between love and, uh, sex."
Suddenly this was a much more serious topic. Obviously, Bill was right. Molly decided that she would have this conversation at the earliest convenience. She was a bit worried about what exactly Riddle had told Ginny. But it was clear to Molly that Ginny wasn't comfortable talking about her experience. She was glad that she'd talked to Bill.
"He didn't make her do anything, did he?" asked Molly.
"Not so far as I know," said Bill, "He just gave her some information that was a bit...adult."
"All right," said Molly, "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"No," said Bill.
Author's Note: I don't have that much to say this time. Next chapter will go into mind healers and such, but within the context of this story magic isn't going to be much help for Hermione. It could be... but for reasons that will be slowly revealed over the course of the story it isn't. That isn't a bad thing, at least as far as the story is concerned. Hermione having to deal with her trauma is her major 3rd year plotline and it manifests in a lot of ways over the course of the year.
That being said, you all gave me a very good idea! I'm going to have to do a few rewrites to make it work, but it massively improves one element of the ending of this story.
Unfortunately, the next chapter is definitely a low point for Hermione. Probably the lowest point she hits in the entire story. But she does make a new friend!