Content Warning: Character Death

Chapter 38: Paying the Price

December 18th, 1995

As Hermione predicted, Umbridge had gone quiet for a while. It was a welcome respite from the chaos of September and October, but Harry was uneasy. The Death Eaters were making moves behind the scenes as well. Hagrid had returned, and while he hadn't said much, he noted that the giants had joined Voldemort, or would do so in the future. Bad news, but not surprising. Harry liked Hagrid, but he questioned the wisdom of sending half-giants to do the negotiating. By all accounts, most giants treated half-giants with contempt.

But as the Christmas Holidays approached, Harry began to grow uneasy. Things had gone too well for too long. Something was bound to go badly. Harry was happy about the upcoming break however. Hermione would be staying with Sirius and the Weasleys at Grimmauld Place this year, as the Ministry had not yet openly begun taking measures against the Death Eaters. Harry had no idea what the Order was doing now, aside from his conversation with Hagrid. Even Snape wasn't telling him much, though Snape kept hinting that he'd like to tell Harry more now that Dumbledore was gone.

A few days before the students were set to leave for the Holiday break, Harry found himself woken rather rudely in the middle of the night. Snape had burst into the room he shared with Hermione.

"Wake up Potter, Granger," growled the head of Slytherin, "Something's happened. We're moving you to Grimmauld Place now."

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"We will explain momentarily," said Snape. He gave them a few minutes to get dressed, then he led them to the common room where Ginny was already standing there dressed. He led them quickly up to the Headmistresses office, where they found Ron, Fred and George.

McGonagall arrived a moment later. "I will cut to the chase. Arthur Weasley was attacked tonight on business for the Order of the Phoenix. He was standing guard and he was attacked by an unknown assailant. I do not know the details, except that he was very badly injured, and he is currently at St. Mungos."

Ginny gasped. Ron and the twins looked worried. Harry shook his head. If Voldemort had started to move, it would be very bad. They weren't ready yet!

"Was this attack directed against Mr. Weasley?" asked Hermione.

"We don't believe so," answered McGonagall, "As I said, he was standing guard. Luckily, he was in the Ministry at the time and someone found him relatively quickly."

"In the Ministry?" asked Harry, "Why would he be there?"

"We cannot answer that Harry," said Snape, "But he was injured just outside the Department of Mysteries."

Harry's heart sank. Ginny's face had just gone blank.

"We have opened up a floo connection to the Order Headquarters," said McGonagall, "Sirius will fill you in with what he knows. Dobby will bring your things to you, as he had been there before."

Harry nodded distantly. Was this his fault? Was this because Arthur had been guarding the prophecy?

Hermione had walked over and put an arm around Ginny. Ginny hadn't even seemed to notice.

XXXXX

"Sirius!" yelled Harry as he leapt out of the floo.

"Harry," said Sirius somberly.

Harry had been the last one through the floo. Sirius was there, as were Remus and Tonks.

"How is he?" asked Ron.

"Bad," said Sirius, "He was attacked by some sort of snake. We think it might have been You-Know-Who's familiar. They found him about 30 minutes after he had been attacked, and with venomous snake attacks, every minute counts. If they'd been even a couple minutes later, he'd already be dead."

"We need the four of you to proceed to St. Mungo's immediately," Tonks said to Ron, Ginny and the Twins.

Harry cringed. That was bad.

"Hermione and I should go as well," insisted Harry, "We'll stay out of everyone's way, we'll just be... nearby." He looked Tonks in the eye seriously. She nodded, as she realised he understood what was happening. None of the Weasleys seemed to notice.

"Okay," said Sirius, "We'll send the Weasleys through first."

Ron, Ginny and both Fred and George piled through the Floo to St. Mungos. Harry and Hermione soon followed.

As they came through the floo, they saw Molly Weasley waiting for them. "Oh, Harry, Hermione, you didn't have to come!"

"Nonsense," said Harry, "Ron and Ginny are among our closest friends. We needed to be here for them."

Molly nodded, though she seemed to be barely keeping it together. She too seemed to understand what Harry was saying. "Of course... that is very kind of you Harry, Hermione."

Molly turned to her children, "Your father is very, very ill. They have purged the venom from his body, but his internal organs have started shutting down. They are still working on him and using spells designed to keep his organs functioning while they are repaired. It is very tricky work. Hopefully, it will be many hours before we know more."

Meaning that if it was sooner, it would be very bad news, thought Harry.

They spent several hours in the waiting room, and before they knew it, it was daybreak. There was one update at about 5 AM when a Healer said they were making progress, but Arthur was still very much in danger.

As the sun started to come up, Harry began to feel a bit restless. "Hermione, why don't we go to the fifth floor and get some food? Anyone else want something?"

"No thank you Harry," replied Molly, "It is kind of you to ask."

No one else wanted to go either, so Harry and Hermione left on their own.

"Let's explore this place a bit," said Harry, "I've never been here before."

"I was here after my second year," said Hermione, "They weren't much help. Magical healing hasn't caught up to psychiatric medicine yet."

Unfortunately, Harry and Hermione managed to accidentally walk out onto the fourth floor, instead of the fifth. It took them a few minutes to realize their mistake, and as they made their way back to the lift. But as they approached the lift, Augusta Longbottom walked off.

"Harry Potter," said Augusta, "I remember you from your trial. And I suppose this is the impressive Hermione Granger."

"Yes," said Hermione proudly.

"Neville has told me all about you," said Augusta, "He thinks very highly of both of you."

"Are you here to see Frank and Alice?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Augusta wearily, "I come here most days, as early as I can. I was going to tell them Neville will be visiting soon. It's good that he's been telling his friends about them."

"He hasn't," said Harry, "But their condition isn't exactly a secret."

"Neville needs to stop being ashamed of his parents," said August angrily.

"He isn't," said Hermione, "But think about it for a moment. Neville never knew his parents. They're alive, but they've never been a real presence in his life."

"I don't like to talk about my parents either," said Harry, "At least not with people I'm not really close with. Neville's got friends, but he's only recently started to become comfortable with us. When he needs to talk, he'll talk."

Augusta sighed. "I suppose you are right. I have heard about Arthur. I hope he makes a full recovery. Thank you for your time Mr. Potter."

"Mrs. Longbottom," said Harry with a slight nod of the head.

Harry and Hermione managed to get some quick tea and a few scones before they made their way down to the waiting area again. The Weasleys were still there.

About an hour later one of the Healers came out. "We've done all we can for him," she said sadly, "We've managed to make him comfortable, and you can see him now. But you should go in there now, as once our spells fail, he won't last much longer."

"What?" demanded Molly desperately, "can't you…"

"Mrs. Weasley, we couldn't apply any more spells to him. His body was on the verge of dying from shock. We stopped to give you this last moment with him, otherwise he would already be gone. The damage from the venom was simply too severe to repair."

Ginny stood up. "We need to go in mum," she said forcefully, "We're out of time."

Ron walked over to his mother, who was on the verge of tears. "Come on mum, we'll go in together." Ron took her hand and led her after Ginny. Uncharacteristically, the twins were left speechless.

Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder. She was crying, though not heavily. Harry reached around and patted her back. He tried to keep his tears in check. And it almost worked.

A few minutes later, Sirius, Remus and Tonks arrived. Remus and Tonks were not so subtly holding hands.

"How's it going?" asked Sirius.

Harry shook his head. "The Weasley's are in with Arthur," said Harry, "It won't be long now."

Sirius hung his head sadly. Remus squeezed Tonks' hand.

Suddenly Percy Weasley ran into the waiting area. "Harry, Hermione, I was just informed…"

"That way!" shouted Harry pointing at the door the Weasley's had just gone through. Percy nodded thankfully and ran through.

It was several minutes more, and suddenly Ginny burst out of the door, tears in her eyes. But Harry and Hermione were on their feet in an instant and before she could break for anywhere both of them were on top of her, hugging her. For a moment she seemed to struggle, but only a moment before she broke down and buried her face in Harry's chest. Harry just held her and gently kissed her forehead, while Hermione held her from behind.

Harry wasn't really keeping track of time, but a while later Molly walked out. She seemed a bit dazed, but it was clear that she was looking for her daughter. Seeing her daughter being held by her friends stopped her cold. A look of incredible guilt crossed Molly's face, followed by a look of incredible sadness. And finally, Harry realized that while Molly had made both Ginny's and his life hell the last couple of years, she had come to utterly regret it, and regret hurting them. He couldn't hold it against her. Not now. Not after this.

"It isn't your fault," Harry whispered to Ginny, "We all did what we thought we had to, but it was HIM who decided to use violence. It is always HIM."

Ginny looked up at Harry, then nodded, albeit a bit reservedly.

"Now go to your mother," said Harry, "She needs you."

Ginny exhaled angrily. But she did let go of Harry before walking over to her mother.

"Let's give them some space," said Hermione. Sirius, Remus and Tonks all nodded as they left the room.

XXXXX

December 19th, 1995

The next few days were rough. The Weasley's were all on edge, Ginny most of all. Despite Harry's words, it had been Ginny who had suggested they not tell Dumbledore that the prophecy had been removed. It was eating her up, and Hermione was spending a lot of time keeping an eye on Ginny. She didn't seem as if she was going to harm herself, but Hermione wasn't taking any chances.

Harry had taken matters into his own hands. "Sirius, you need to tell Dumbledore to stop guarding the Department of Mysteries," he said the moment he got his godfather alone.

"Harry the prophecy…" said Sirius.

"Is GONE," said Harry angrily, "I removed it this summer. I was going to tell Dumbledore, but then that conversation went south."

"Oh," said Sirius blankly, "Does Ginny know?"

Harry closed his eyes. "She suggested that we not tell him."

"Oh no," said Sirius sadly, "No wonder Hermione has been keeping such a close eye on Ginny. I'll let Dumbledore know that the prophecy is safe. It is safe, right?"

"I disintegrated it myself," said Harry.

Sirius nodded. "Good."

XXXXX

December 22nd, 1995

On December 22nd, Bill Weasley arrived with Fleur Delacour.

Ginny ran and hugged her brother, while Harry and Hermione greeted Fleur with a hug and a kiss on the cheek each.

"Gringotts is always generous with leave for funerals," said Bill, "Goblins take family very seriously."

"And they even gave Fleur leave?" asked Hermione.

"Goblins don't really distinguish between girlfriends and wives, as far as families are concerned," said Bill, "They don't really date the way we do."

"Let us just say that Bill and I 'ave met the criteria for me to accompany him on family leave, and leave it at that, for 'is mother's sake," said Fleur archly.

Ginny grinned at that wickedly. Apparently she approved of her brother's choice of partner. She quickly showed him to his room.

"Honestly, I think Fleur will be able to help mum," said Bill to Ginny when they were alone, "but she'll also be able to help Harry and Hermione as well. She was good friends with them, and they have to be hurting a lot about this too, with no one their age to help them."

"We've been here," said Ginny.

"But they've had to be strong for you," said Bill, "That can be very tiring for anyone, despite the fact that they love you."

Ginny nodded.

"Well, hopefully she can help them," said Ginny.

XXXXX

December 24th, 1995

"Fleur," said Hermione nervously, "I need your help."

It was Christmas Eve and the two of them were alone in the room Hermione shared with Ginny. Hermione was extremely reluctant to ask this. In fact, she was downright upset. But despite her feelings and her misgivings, Hermione had run out of time. She had to break the marriage contract between Harry and Ginny, and she had to do it today.

"Oh?" asked Fleur, "And what can I 'elp you with."

"Well, I need you to promise you'll be discreet," insisted Hermione. She was taking a risk involving Fleur, but she needed to do it. The way Hermione saw it, she and Harry had become close enough to each other that they were in serious danger of forgetting exactly why they hadn't become intimate yet. And now, in their grief, it was getting even harder. But that they could probably handle. Probably.

The bigger and more immediate problem was Ginny. They had so far declined to reveal the existence of the marriage contract publically to avoid a confrontation that would permanently destroy the Weasley family. But the truth was that Ginny was angry now. Angry at herself, for withholding information that got her father killed, and angry at her mother for degrading the trust between them so that Ginny had thought it was necessary.

And tomorrow, the Weasleys would head back to the Burrow to have Christmas with Charlie and Percy. And Hermione could see the truth in Ginny's eyes. She knew that Ginny would get into it with her mother if Hermione or Harry weren't there to stop it. She wanted that fight to happen, to assuage her guilt. But if the Weasleys had that fight right now, their family would be destroyed. Destroyed forever most like. Arthur probably could have smoothed things over. But Arthur was dead.

So, Hermione needed to remove that pressure from Ginny. Immediately.

"Of course," said Fleur, "I would never tell a friend's secrets."

"Okay," said Hermione, "Here's the thing you can't tell anyone, though Bill already knows so you can talk to him privately about it. During my third year, Molly Weasley and Dumbledore signed a contract for marriage between Harry and Ginny."

Fleur's eyes flashed dangerously.

"I see," she said angrily, "I take it that Ginny 'ad nothing to do with this?"

"Our theory is that for some reason Dumbledore thought that Harry was just pretending to care about his friends, which considering that Voldemort did just that isn't that insane," admitted Hermione, "Regardless, we think that Dumbledore thought that Harry's relationship with Ginny was genuine, and he was trying to encourage it in order to prevent Harry from becoming a dangerous dark wizard. We think Molly took some convincing, but ultimately gave in. Now all of this could be wrong, but..."

Hermione sighed sadly, "Molly so clearly regrets it though, you can see that it haunts her every time we make a comment. Not that she knows we know. Neither Molly nor Dumbledore know that we are aware of the contract."

"I am so sorry, 'Ermione," said Fleur.

"This is where I need help. The language in the contract is… archaic, but there aren't any real ways to cancel it. It does have a, uh, virginity clause though, but it has been designed so that neither Harry or Ginny can intentionally use it. There are… penalties."

"This is monstrous!" said Fleur.

"So, I've decided that Harry and I… well I'm not sure that we're ready, but I am sure that events have forced my hand. I don't want us to have one night of weakness and Harry ending up cursed for the rest of his life, and I don't want Ginny destroying her family in a single day of rage," explained Hermione, "There is a way to do it, but it will be challenging, because Harry cannot ask me to do it. He cannot act as if he is approving that I do it. I need someone to go ahead of me, and, well, tell him what I'm about to do, and that he can leave the room if he doesn't want to."

"So you want me to go tell 'Arry that you wish to 'ave sex with him?" said Fleur, one of her eyebrows arched.

"If it isn't too much trouble," said Hermione, her face turning scarlet.

Fleur started laughing. "Do you wish me to do anything else?"

"Harry might ask you to paralyse him briefly," said Hermione, "It would make certain that he can't accidentally thank me or something. But that's totally his decision."

"Would you need me to un-paralyse him then? Because of the Trace?" asked Fleur.

"Neither of us has the Trace on us," admitted Hermione.

Fleur laughed playfully again, "Very well, I will assist you in getting laid 'Ermione."

Hermione didn't feel very playful, though she didn't begrudge Fleur's reaction to the situation. Hermione had planned to do this during the summer, around Harry's 16th birthday. She wasn't sure that she was ready right now. But she knew how Harry felt about the Weasleys. She knew how she felt about them. They needed each other right now. And Hermione was not going to let this fucking contract destroy them.

And she had to admit, she really was very curious as to what this would be like. Whether she was fully ready or not, she had to admit that it was something she wanted to do. And maybe a part of her wanted this to help her deal with her grief. Whatever the reason, she was committed to this now, and she wasn't going to back down.

XXXXX

"So, the goblins anticipate construction to be complete in about two months, probably a bit less," said Sirius. Harry nodded approvingly.

The two of them were both sitting in Harry and Ron's room. Sirius had been to Diagon Alley yesterday and had met with Brokgut.

"That's good," noted Harry, "though I guess that means we need to think about how we are going to handle getting things set up."

"Well one good thing is that the central wardstone is still fully charged," said Sirius, "So you can add pretty much any protections you want."

"Does anyone know the location of the Hall?" asked Harry.

"Only a few people," said Sirius, "It has mostly been goblins doing the construction, and they are famous for their discretion."

"So if we added standard portkey and apparition controls, then made it unplottable…" started Harry.

"Yeah," said Sirius, "The work crews have all flooed in. They put up a temporary floo on site, and have been using the hall's floo ever since that room was built. They have no idea where it is. As long as the Ministry isn't under Death Eater control, no one will be able to find the place. Virtually everyone who knew where the old Potter estate was is dead."

"We'll need workers to get things set up," said Harry.

"That might take some time, finding someone we can trust," said Sirius.

"What about Dobby?" asked Harry, "I trust him with getting the place ready for habitation."

"A house elf would be perfect," agreed Sirius, "His magic would be invaluable. His taste on the other hand…"

"Obviously I'd ask him to go over any choices with me before making any final decisions," assured Harry.

"Well, it seems like you have a good idea of how to go about this," said Sirius, "I'll get back to Brokgut."

"The wardstone still being charged was a stroke of luck," admitted Harry.

"It was buried deep apparently," said Sirius, "Geomancy added to runes is powerful stuff."

Fleur poked her head into the room. "Might I 'ave a word with 'Arry for a moment Sirius?"

"Of course," said Sirius, standing up, "Stay out of trouble."

"It is not I who intends to start trouble," said Fleur with a wicked grin.

"Hoho, watch out for this one Harry. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some trouble of my own to start," said Sirius before leaving.

"Sorry about Sirius," said Harry.

"I am not offended," said Fleur, "your godfather was doing it to tease you, not me."

"Yeah," said Harry.

"I am here because Hermione asked me to come here," said Fleur.

"What for?" asked Harry, curious about the secrecy.

"She wishes to end your marriage contract and make love to you," said Fleur.

"Uh, what?" asked Harry, dumbfounded.

"I believe you heard me," said Fleur, "You understand why my involvement is necessary? You can leave now if you are not ready. Neither Hermione or anyone else will think any less of you, or care about you less. This is a very personal thing after all."

"I…" started Harry, then he shook his head, "No, I think I will stay."

"Very well," said Fleur, "Now I know you may have some difficulty with controlling yourself. Do you need me to cast some magic to restrain you?" Fleur's eyebrows arched amusedly.

"Probably better safe than sorry," said Harry reluctantly.

"Then lie down," said Fleur, her grin turning vicious.

XXXXX

Hermione waited until the time Fleur had asked for. She sat in her room, anxious, angry, and unsure of herself. This was a big step for her, and she was understandably upset that she had to make it. But it would be over soon. Hopefully.

When the time came she stood up and left her room. She walked over to Harry's door, and opened it. He was lying down on the bed. She entered quickly, and shut and locked the door.

XXXXX

Fleur sat down next to Bill in the kitchen. She'd made sure Hermione had made it into Harry's room, then had placed a few spells on the door to ensure privacy.

"What've you been up to so far today?" asked Bill.

"Oh, I 'ave been helping 'Ermione with a little project," said Fleur.

"Oh, what sort of project?" asked Molly, who was pulling food out of a cupboard in preparation to make dinner.

"It is a secret," said Fleur, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, Sirius has gone to pick up another secret," said Molly.

"Oh?" asked Fleur.

"He's gone to pick up Hermione's parents," said Remus, who had just entered the kitchen, "He should be back in about fifteen minutes."

"Ah," said Fleur trying to hide her consternation. This was not part of the plan.

"He had to pick up a slip from Dumbledore to get them access first," said Bill.

"I see," said Fleur.

"Should be a nice surprise for Harry and Hermione," said Remus.

"Excuse me," said Fleur, "I have to get something." Oh, she really did not want to interrupt Harry and Hermione, but she was afraid she might not have a choice!

XXXXX

"Wow," was the first word Harry said when Hermione unfroze him.

"Yeah," said Hermione, "I'm not sure what I was expecting."

"I'm not complaining!" said Harry, "I just kind of wish we could have done this when it felt right, not preemptively."

"Yeah," said Hermione as she lay her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Harry quickly folded her into his arms. He had to admit, laying there, holding her to him bare skin to bare skin felt incredibly comforting.

"Here's the question," said Harry, "Does this change anything? I mean, are we waiting to do this again?"

"What do you want?" Hermione asked.

"I think, that as good as it felt, we should wait a bit," said Harry, "Are you okay?"

Hermione took in a deep ragged breath. "Yes, I am, but I won't pretend that this wasn't difficult for me. I mean, I liked it. But I… think we should wait a little while before we do this again. Well… except… would you like to do it again? Right now I mean? I think I'd feel a lot better about this if you were more of a participant."

"Well, I mean as long as we're here…" started Harry, letting a grin play across his face.

And suddenly, the door unlocked and Fleur walked in, shutting the door behind her. Harry realized that he wasn't covered at all, and was giving her a rather full view.

"'Ermione, your parents will be arriving in minutes!" said Fleur.

"WHAT?" demanded Hermione.

"Sirius went to pick up your parents as a 'nice surprise' for you. They will be here momentarily!" insisted Fleur.

And suddenly Harry was very unconcerned with his state of undress as he and Hermione both scrambled to put on their clothing.

XXXXX

"So this is your home?" asked Helen, "It's quite different than any magical house I've been in." It was considerably older looking for one thing.

"My family had a history of meddling in dark magic," said Sirius, "Not something that is true of the Greengrasses or the Weasleys. Still, we got all of the dark objects out of here this summer. It's perfectly safe."

"Muggles in Kreacher's home!" said what Helen could only think was an elf, who was passing by, "What are things coming to?"

"Be polite Kreacher!" said Sirius sternly, "These are Hermione's parents."

Kreacher's face seemed to soften at the mention of Hermione. "Apologies, parents of Hermione."

"Uh, don't mention it," said Robert.

"For Kreacher, that was close to an enthusiastic greeting," said Sirius, "My mother was a nasty piece of work, and trained poor Kreacher to hate muggleborns and muggles. But he seems to like your daughter well enough, or at least he has since this summer. Apparently Hermione, Ginny and Harry did something nice for him and he's warmed to the three of them since."

"That's good," said Helen, "Where is Hermione?"

"Either with Harry or Ginny I'd expect," said Sirius thoughtfully, "She's been keeping an eye on Ginny, just in case. Poor girl took her father's passing harder than any of the others. But Ginny has wanted, and really needed some time alone."

"So you just let Hermione be alone with Harry?" demanded Robert.

"Of course," said Sirius, "I trust both of them. I gave them clear boundaries."

"And if they disobey you?" asked Robert.

"I'll be very, very put out, and also very proud of them," said Sirius. "Mind you, with Fleur here they'd have a hard time doing anything without her knowing. Veela have a bit of a sense for that."

"Fleur?" asked Helen.

"I came 'ere with Bill," said Fleur as she walked down the stairs, "We are together, so Gringotts gave me leave to come 'ere for the funeral."

"Good to see you Fleur," said Helen.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Granger!" shouted Harry who was at the top of the stairs. He ran down and gave Helen a hug. She was all too happy to give it to him. She found that she actually was starting to miss him as well as Hermione.

"Good to see you Harry," said Helen, "Where's Hermione?"

"She'll be down in a minute," said Harry, "she's, ah, occupied if you take my meaning."

"You haven't been starting too much trouble for our daughter have you Harry?" asked Robert.

"I haven't been starting anything at all recently," said Harry, his face suddenly grinning ear to ear.

Fleur tried very hard to stifle a giggle. Sirius gave her an odd look.

"Mum! Dad!" shouted Hermione from upstairs, "I can't believe you're here!"

Hermione's face looked a bit flushed, but was otherwise rather healthy looking. Her time away hadn't hurt her much.

"You didn't think we weren't going to spend Christmas with our little girl," said Robert.

Helen wasn't sure, but she suspected something was going on.

XXXXX

Hermione was happy her parents had come to stay for a few days, as she'd seen far too little of them this summer. But she was really off put by the timing. Sirius really should have told her.

It also meant things were getting rather crowded in 12 Grimmauld Place. Molly had fretted where to put Hermione's parents, as they were fast running out of bedrooms. So Fleur had put her foot down and moved into Bill's room. Molly hadn't exactly been upset about that, but she was clearly not quite happy about it either. Ginny hadn't reacted at all to her mother's rather mild distress unfortunately. That wasn't a good sign.

But as they dressed for the night, Hermione decided to let Ginny in on the news.

"So," said Hermione, "Harry and I decided to get you a Christmas gift."

"Oh, that's nice of you," said Ginny flatly.

"I know, right now you aren't concerned with things, and frankly I'm not sure what I could get you myself that would help you," said Hermione, "So in lieu of any of that, we decided to give you the best gift that we could. Freedom. We broke the contract."

Ginny looked at Hermione sourly. "That's a big sacrifice on your part."

"Considering that Harry wasn't able to reply in any way while it happened, yes, it was downright unpleasant in some ways," said Hermione, "Not that it was unpleasant on the whole mind you…"

Ginny looked about to respond acidly again, but stopped. "I'm sorry, you're right. I know you probably didn't want to do that yet. It's just…"

"Hey, you don't have to apologize to me," said Hermione.

"No, I do," said Ginny, "You've been watching over me ever since Dad died, making sure I don't do something stupid. And I appreciate it. I'm not saying I haven't had some dark thoughts, because I have, but I'm not going to hurt myself. Still, I appreciate that you've been so attentive to me, and the fact that you've tried to do it and give me space. I still have a lot to work through, but I'm doing a bit better. I can talk about it now at least."

Hermione nodded sadly. "There isn't a right or wrong way to handle this Ginny. You only do it one day at a time."

"Honestly this is a load off my mind," said Ginny, "You may not have noticed, but I've been getting a lot of my anger at my mum for the contract mixed in with my grief over Dad's death. I… I think I may have been on the verge of doing something stupid."

"I noticed," said Hermione, "That is why I did this."

"Hermione!" said a scandalised Ginny, "You didn't have to do that!"

"I wanted to," said Hermione, "Your family needs to start healing."

"Thanks then," said Ginny, "We really need it."

"The person I'm really worried about is Ron," continued Ginny, "He's trying to act normal, but he isn't normal. He's gonna blow up, and sooner rather than later. The twins are having a rough time as well, but they have each other. Mum, well she's dealing now. In a couple of months? In a couple of months I think she's going to just crack, but after that I think she'll be okay. I think she just can't believe it yet."

"What about Percy and Bill?" asked Hermione.

"Percy got to dad's side just in time. They got a nice reunion and reconciliation. I think Percy is at peace to a degree that we aren't. Bill, well he's got Fleur."

"In his bed, no less," said Hermione glibly.

Ginny grinned evilly, "Oh I'm gonna give him hell for that! And bring it up in front of mum. Serves her right…"

Ginny stopped. "Thank you for what you did Hermione. Really."

"You're welcome," said Hermione.

XXXXX

"You know Harry," said Sirius as the two of them sat together in the sitting room, "I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed in you. Or I was."

It was after midnight on Christmas Eve, so it was Christmas Day, really. Harry and Sirius were the last people up, Ron having gone to bed ten minutes earlier.

"Oh?" asked Harry, "How have I disappointed you?"

"Well, if James' father had told him 'no sticking your hands down your girlfriends pants', he'd have snuck off to do so straight away," said Sirius, "But I can find no evidence that you and Hermione were doing so. At least until today. Still, that is an awfully long time to go without sneaking around on me."

"You noticed that today huh?" said Harry.

"Neither you or Hermione was very happy to see her parents right at that moment," said Sirius, "I'm assuming you were having some alone time they wouldn't approve of."

"So that's what you think," said Harry, "Well first, Hermione and I didn't have to sneak around, Molly was just oblivious enough to use Ginny as chaperone. Ginny was more than willing to let us do whatever we felt like. I mean, of the stuff we were willing to do."

"So what you are saying is that you just brazened it out and did what you wanted openly?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Then why were you so upset today?" asked Sirius, "You didn't act like that before."

"Uh, yeah, that was different," said Harry, "We, uh… did a lot more than we had before."

"Wait," said Sirius, "Did you break the…?"

"Yes," said Harry.

Sirius whistled. "Wow, okay, I guess I wasn't quite ready to hear that! Are… you okay?"

"Yeah," said Harry quietly, "I was going to give Hermione a more pleasant memory, but that is exactly when her parents arrived."

"Oh no," said Sirius, "That is all my fault too. I should have told her."

Sirius sighed, "Now Harry, I know that you may be very inclined to keep doing that…"

"We won't do it again for a while," said Harry.

"Good," said Sirius, "I understand the once, and that's fine, but you don't need to be doing that yet, and certainly not regularly. You're still a tad on the young side."

Neither of them noticed the shadow in the doorway that was listening to everything they said.

XXXXX

December 25th, 1995

Christmas was a rather subdued affair. The Weasley's had returned to the Burrow for the day so they could spend time with Percy and Charlie (who had finally arrived from Romania), neither of whom were able to visit Grimmauld Place. With Fudge now quietly moving against the Death Eaters, it was probably relatively safe. In truth, Harry suspected that the Burrow had been safe all along, at least so long as he didn't go there. So Harry spent the day with Sirius, Remus, and Tonks and her family, as well as Hermione and her parents of course.

Harry found that he rather liked Andromeda Tonks. She looked a little like her sister Narcissa, but had dark hair. Sirius said that she looked a lot more like her other sister, Bellatrix. Harry could definitely see that resemblance from Voldemort's memories. Ted Tonks was a rather intelligent man, and of course their daughter Harry had met before. He noticed she was still spending a lot of time with Remus. That seemed to confirm Harry's suspicions about them.

Harry did notice that he was having a hard time getting alone with Hermione. Helen seemed to be around every time they tried to lose any adult supervision. She clearly suspected something was up, but Harry didn't think she was aware of what had happened between them. She hadn't said anything, and he suspected she would if she knew. Robert seemed to be oblivious.

Still, Sirius managed to buy them a few minutes in the afternoon by asking her a lot of questions about what actually being a dentist entailed. It wasn't a lot, but it did afford them time to snuggle up together for a bit in the drawing room. They had been through a lot in the last few days, and they kind of needed to just hold each other for a bit.

They fell asleep of course, only to be awakened by Ginny later that evening.

"You two look comfortable," she said with a bit of a wicked grin.

"Oops. We fell asleep it seems," said Hermione as she yawned.

"I guess everyone noticed we were gone," said Harry.

"Yeah, they did," admitted Ginny, "But they seem to understand. Listen, we need to talk. Before you tell anyone about the prophecy."

"Okay," said Harry, "Is now okay?"

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. So here's the thing, Sirius said that Dumbledore is going to try a more unobtrusive means of watching the Department of Mysteries, so we won't be putting anyone in danger if we don't tell them. But here's the thing, we do know that Voldemort is also watching the Department of Mysteries. So he thinks the prophecy is there too."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Harry.

"We do what we did before," said Ginny, "We leave information for Draco, saying that we are going to go get the prophecy at such and such a time and place. He tells that to the Death Eaters, and they send a group of Death Eaters to capture us."

"And then we capture them?" asked Hermione.

Ginny inhaled sharply, as if she was preparing for a battle. "No. We should kill them."

Harry and Hermione both stared at Ginny as if she was crazy.

"Listen, I know how this sounds, but we have to do it," insisted Ginny, "Eventually the dementors will go over to Voldemort, and once that happens all the Death Eaters will be free. It will be a revolving door. The one thing Fudge hasn't done is remove the dementors from control of the prison. However, if we kill them, they don't come back. It sends a powerful message."

"Ginny," said Harry, trying to overcome his speechlessness, "Tactically, the plan is good. I think it could work. But you are talking about luring people in and killing them in cold blood."

"Death Eaters," insisted Ginny.

"But still people," said Harry, "I do not think this is a good idea. Killing someone is a lot… harder than you might think. And I'm not talking about the difficulty of pulling this off."

"Hermione?" asked Ginny, "Do I even need to bother?"

"I don't know," said Hermione, "Part of me is repulsed by the idea, yet I can't deny the logic in what you say Ginny. I… I'm just not sure. I don't have a real frame of reference for wrapping my head around this."

"I know," said Ginny.

"You should be glad that you don't know what it is like to kill someone," said Harry.

"I need to think this over," said Hermione, "I'm sorry, I'm just going to be a liability to you in this position."

"No," said Ginny, "you are not a liability. This is exactly why we have you here. This is a difficult decision, and one I hate where I ended up coming down on. But if my father's death is to have any kind of meaning we have to hit back at the Death Eaters in a language they understand. Plus it might deter others from joining them."

"This is a good time for you to be careful," said Harry, "As long as we keep the secret, I think we have plenty of time."

"I wish I had memories like you two do," said Hermione, "that would make this easier."

Harry and Ginny both shook their heads. "It doesn't, Hermione, believe me," said Harry.

"All right," said Hermione dubiously.

"Did things go all right today?" asked Harry.

"Umm, well Daphne came over for a couple of hours," said Ginny, "That… didn't go well."

"Oh?" asked Harry.

"Ron and her got into a big row over nothing," said Ginny, "I think Dad's death finally hit him. Daphne was trying, but she really didn't know how to deal with this, and Ron kind of blew up at her when she tried to comfort him."

"Maybe we can have Luna talk with Daphne," said Harry, "Luna knows what it is like to lose a parent. She might be able to help Daphne approach Ron again. I know Ron has a tendency to blow up when under pressure, but I can't exactly blame him right now. He has to deal with his grief first."

"I think that part of the problem is Daphne as well though," said Ginny, "She seemed to think that if she said the right thing she could make things better. But trying just made Ron angrier. I think that she needed to quit while she was ahead."

"Daphne thinks that she can save everyone," said Hermione, "I mean, I really like her and all, but she thinks she is going to solve all the problems of muggleborns as well. I like her positive attitude, but she can be a tad self-centered about it."

"I agree," said Harry, "She was raised as a wealthy pureblood. Even if she has rejected the bigotry of purebloods, she does think she has the answer to everything. And when you confront her about her prejudices, she does try to address them. But she still has a long way to go. Look at the way she unconsciously treats Tracey."

"I'm not sure having Luna talk to Daphne is a great idea though," said Ginny, "She has a tendency to speak her mind, and as her roommate, I know what Luna thinks about their relationship. She isn't exactly a big supporter of it."

Harry grimaced, "Well, we'll see. I'll go talk to Ron. Don't worry, I won't put any pressure on him."

Ginny nodded, and gave Harry a quick hug. "Thanks, Harry."

Harry walked back to the room he shared with Ron. Ron was lying down, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey Ron," said Harry.

"Did Ginny send you here?" asked Ron.

"Well, she told me what happened," said Harry, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it right now. I just came over to let you know that if you need to vent or anything I'm willing to listen."

Ron nodded curtly, "I'm not feeling up to it right now mate…" Ron paused as he considered what had happened, "But maybe after the funeral tomorrow."

Harry nodded. "Of course," said Harry.

"Oh, and Harry?" asked Ron, "If you could floo call Daphne and tell her I still want her at the funeral tomorrow, that would be great. I… don't trust myself to talk to her tonight. I know she meant well, I'm just not really in the mood to talk about… well, you know, 'it' quite yet."

"Okay," said Harry, "I will."

"Thanks mate," said Ron, "I'm just so tired of people trying to tell me they know how I feel."

"Well, I honestly don't have any idea how you feel," said Harry, "I was too young when my parents died to know what was happening. It doesn't mean I don't feel sad about it sometimes, but I never really had to grieve for them. I'll admit that I'm in over my head."

"Heh," said Ron humorlessly, "I guess that is true isn't it?" Ron closed his eyes again.

Harry nodded and went downstairs to greet the rest of the Weasleys.

Author's Note: I noticed a bunch of you figured out where I was going with this a while back. Unfortunately given that I had already thrown out the "what if Hermione didn't have the time-turner to save Sirius?" and spared Sirius anyway, this one kind of had to stick. Ginny's reaction to her father's death propels a good chunk of the rest of the story.

But the marriage contract is broken! Honestly this was the very earliest I felt comfortable doing it. And this is about the closest to a sex scene that I feel comfortable doing, at least at this point. What I am saying is don't expect too much in the terms of the lemon department.

So news! Some of you may have noticed that I release two chapters of Twisted Path then one chapter of Harriet Potter and the Holy Grail. The next chapter of Holy Grail has a cliffhanger at the end though, so I will be releasing the next two chapters sequentially. Then I will release four subsequent chapters of Twisted Path then the last chapter of Holy Grail. From then on it will be all Twisted Path for a while.

Next Chapter: Hermione decides to get some help making her choice.