Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter. All rights to the characters and universe the story belongs in belong to JK Rowling

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Chapter 14 - Monsters and Angels

'So, this is a diary of the attacks?' Asked Ginny, seeking clarification. She and Harry were sitting in the study going over everything Harry knew so far. He hadn't left out a single detail.

'Yes, it was Dolohov's.'

Nodding absently, Ginny started flicking over the old entries. 'It's all gibberish.'

'Yeah the past ones are.'

'Wonder why?'

Harry shrugged. 'Either they can decode it or they thought it would look weird to have an empty diary. I must admit I didn't notice when I took the thing.'

'So, what do you think happens on the 31st of July?'

'Apart from my birthday, I don't know.' Exasperated Harry. 'Is there any Ministry function?'

'I don't know to be honest, we don't tend to get involved unless we're required for additional security, although it is usually handled by Hit Wizards.'

'Do you know anyone who might?'

Ginny tapped her chin thoughtfully for a second. 'Hermione's bound to know I'll ask her.'

'Thanks.'

'If there is a function you should let me and the Auror department deal with it.' Ginny told him matter-of-factly.

'Fat chance.' Scoffed Harry. 'Why's that?'

'Neville's done nothing but ask about you all day today. They want to bring you in, they think it's a little bit suspicious you're ahead of us.'

Harry rolled his eyes. 'I'm not staying away. The reason I'm ahead of the Auror department is because I'm not being led by a sod like Malfoy.'

'Well that's another problem, Malfoy wants you to be high priority as well. He wants me in for questioning tomorrow.'

'Bollocks.' Muttered Harry. 'Tell them what you want as long as it doesn't land Tonks in trouble.' Then as an afterthought he added. 'Try to keep where I live a secret too.'

Ginny tilted her head at him, smiling strangely. 'Do you really think I would tell them anything?'

'You shouldn't put the case at risk because of me, you know more than the whole Auror department, they need you.' Replied Harry, shrugging his shoulders.

Reaching forward, Ginny gently placed her hand on his thigh. 'I'm not going to tell them anything. What I am going to do is get clearance to work with you.'

'Can you do that?'

She smiled wryly at him. 'I think so. Someone needs to keep an eye on you.'

Snorting, Harry tapped the top of her hand appreciatively. 'Still, make sure you stay on the case.'

'I will.'

The next morning Harry was met at the kitchen table by a welcome surprise, two fully recovered Weasley twins were already tucking into breakfast.

'Morning, how are you both?' Asked Harry jovially.

'Morning.' They chorused together.

'We've never been better.' Said Fred, Harry had finally managed to tell them apart thanks to a small scar on Fred's chin.

'Although, I suppose we owe that all to you.' Said George smiling.

'Don't mention it.' Said Harry, walking over to the kettle. 'Drink?'

'Tea please, white one sugar.' Said Fred.

'Just milk for me please, I'm sweet enough.' Joked George.

After finishing the drinks, Harry put the mugs down in front of them. Once they had all taken their first sip, the twins looked upon Harry with serious faces, an expression he never thought they would manage before now.

'Have you got any leads on the people that attacked us?' Asked George.

'Not yet, I have my suspicions, but we need more information.'

'Anything we can help with?' Inquired Fred.

'Yeah there is, I do have a few questions for you, if that's ok?'

'Fire away.' The answered together.

'Let's wait for Ginny, she'll want to know too and might have her own questions, best just get it done in one sitting,'

'You and Ginny are working together then?' Asked George with a tell-tale gleam in his eye.

'I thought she was dead set against it.' Said Fred, in a shocked voice.

'Could it be our little Ginnykins has fallen for the knight in shining armour?' Came George's horror-struck cry.

'Or did her fiery spirit melt the hero's frozen heart?' Fred asked dreamily.

'Look Fred he's blushing.'

'Adorable.'

'Shut up and drink your tea.' Grumbled Harry, gruffly.

The two smirked at him from across the table, purposely slurping their drinks loudly.

'I take it you told her your secret then?' Asked Fred, returning to seriousness.

'Yeah.'

'Did you lie?' Demanded George.

'No.' When there was no further questioning, Harry looked at the pair quizzically. 'Aren't you going to ask me what it was?'

'I don't think so.' Said Fred.

'From what we can tell, Bill and Ginny know, if they trust you then that's enough for us.' Said George.

'Thanks.' Said Harry gratefully.

'Someone mention my name?' Asked the fiery red head in question from the doorway.

'Morning.' They all chorused.

'Drink?' Asked Harry, rising from his seat.

She smiled sweetly at him. 'Coffee please, white without.' Nodding, Harry re-boiled the kettle and set up a fresh mug.

'So Ginny, Harry tells us you're working together.' Said Fred.

'Yeah we are.'

'Excellent!' Exclaimed George, clapping his hands together. 'It's about time you started working with someone who's useful.'

'Hey, most of us Aurors are competent you know.' She shot back angrily.

'As competent as him?' Asked Fred pointing at Harry's back, who had conveniently turned around to stare at the pattern of the tiles on the wall, hiding a smug smirk.

'Yes, we're just not allowed to be useful.'

'Fair point.' Conceded George. 'Yet our dear Harry there seems not to mind being useful.'

'He's alright I guess.' Said Ginny, playfully shrugging. 'When he's not jumping off brooms to hog all the glory.'

'That was one time.' Interrupted Harry, spinning around.

'Yep.' Agreed Ginny popping the p. 'I still think you're a prat for it.' Fred and George snickered, watching the argument they had so brilliantly set up unfold.

'Well you can ask Mad-Eye if he appreciates it.'

'I did. He didn't. You should have asked for help.'

'Help from who exactly?'

'Well me you idiot or Bill, wait maybe even Mad-Eye himself.' She stressed, as if it was obvious.

'It could have gotten you killed to be in there.' He argued hotly.

'As I remember, you almost died, you're lucky I went looking for you!'

'Yeah lucky.' He said sarcastically. 'Like death's the worst thing that's ever happened to me.' Too late, was the realisation of what he had said. He just hoped no-one had picked up on it.

'What?' Asked Ginny quietly, staring at him. Even the twins had gone quiet, sitting upright in their chairs. Damn.

'N-nothing, just, just forget I said that.'

'Harry.' Warned Ginny.

'Please Ginny.' He beggingly gasped.

'Fine.' She sighed, before smiling slightly. 'You know one day I'd very much like to hear your story.'

'Nah, it's pretty boring really.' He said with a soft chuckle.

'I doubt that.' Ginny whispered, not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

Feeling a little hot under the collar, Harry turned around again to tend to Ginny's drink. When he returned to the table he found himself under the scrutiny of the different gazes of the three siblings.

Uncomfortable, with the sudden attention, Harry moved to change the subject. 'Well since it's the four of us, how about we go through the attack on Tuesday?'

'Sure.' Said Ginny, somewhat hesitantly. The two nods from the twins also showed their slight reluctance to not ask for more information on what Harry had let slip.

Not one for beating around the bush, Harry pulled out his phone and set it to audio record, then dived in. 'This will record the conversation, so we don't need to write anything down or dive into the memories. Who was the man you were trying to set Ginny up with?'

'Bernd Beaumont.' Reeled of Fred.

'Nice man.' Added George.

'Indeed.' Agreed Fred.

'Have you known him long?' Asked Ginny.

'No, he started coming in the shop about a month ago with his son' Started George.

'After the spotty little thing accidentally set off a decoy detonator, we got talking.' Continued Fred.

'Became good friends'

'Had a few beers in the Cauldron.'

'Seems like a top bloke.'

'Was he usually on time?' Asked Harry.

'Yeah.' Said Fred.

'Usually there before we were.' Chipped in George.

'Yet he was already over an hour late on Tuesday.' Said Ginny, suddenly understanding Harry's line of questioning.

'Yeah I suppose he was.' Said George uncertainly.

'Do you know where he lives?' Asked Harry.

'No.' Admitted Fred quietly.

'Can you describe him?' Asked Ginny.

'Yeah he's about our about our height.' Said Fred.

'Short black hair.' Added George.

'Brown eyes.' They finished together.

'In short he looks like Harry Potter, with no scar and brown eyes.' Said Harry, his tone betraying nothing.

The twin's eyes bugged out. 'You don't think…' George started to say.

'No it can't be…' Interrupted Fred

'But what if it is…' Wondered George.

They looked at each other in silent communication. 'Yeah he could be Harry Potter.' Fred told them.

'I don't think it is Harry Potter just an imposter.' Clarified Harry.

'Why would a Harry Potter imposter be running around.' Scoffed Gorge.

'Who better to blame all these attacks on than someone the Ministry is already looking for?' Asked Ginny. Both twins paled at the thought.

Harry removed the same still he had shown Ginny from the memory he had seen and pushed it along the table towards the two of them so they could see it. 'Ignoring the scar and eyes, could this be Bernd Beaumont?'

'It is him.' Answered both of them, without hesitation.

'Good that's where I'll start then.' Said Harry collecting the photo once more.

'We.' Said Ginny sternly.

'I know, you still need clearance though.' Harry pointed out.

'Good point.' She grudgingly conceded.

'You go and get what you need from work, I'll be here when you're ready, I want to mess around with this picture before we go anywhere.'

'How?'

'I want a copy that matches the description these pair told us.' When she still looked confused, he continued. 'I'm going to use the computer, it will let me edit the image.'

'Really?' He nodded the affirmative. 'That's really clever.'

'I know, I told you, you can do a lot without magic these days.'

Later that morning Harry was just printing off his copy of the edited photo, he was rather pleased with the result. As he ran a steadily trained eye over the printed details, the door was opened, admitting Ginny.

He smiled at her and handed over the picture. 'You're back early.'

'Yeah, Nev's actually helping us there. He's told me to have time off sick officially and unofficially help you.' She told him whilst looking over the photo. 'This is really good by the way.' She handed the photo back to him to see him frowning. 'What's the matter?'

'You sure he's not setting you up for a fall?' Asked Harry. 'By having you work on this off the record I mean, anything we find will be almost inadmissible by your ministry now.'

She chuckled. 'You're paranoid you know that?' Harry huffed audibly as a response, before he could put his frustrations into words, Ginny continued. 'The reason I'm officially on sick is so that Malfoy can't get his claws into me. Which I'm rather happy about, anything we find I'm sure me and Tonks can convince Nev and Kingsley to back.'

'Kingsley? He fought during the war, right?'

'Yeah, he almost became Minister for Magic.'

'Hmmm.' Hummed Harry thoughtfully. 'From what I remember it's a shame he isn't.'

'Truer words never spoken, where do you want to start?'

'Leaky Cauldron with that picture, can you disguise yourself?'

Smiling Ginny tapped her wand to her temple. Her long straight hair curled, whilst it turned blond and shortened from the middle of her shoulders to around her neck. When she was done, she playfully gave him a twirl. 'What do you think?'

'Think I prefer redheads.'

'How rude.' She said mockingly affronted. 'Maybe I'll let you buy me dinner to make up for it.'

'My pleasure, come on let's go.'

Arm in arm, they walked out of the house, ignoring the rather surprised stare of Bill as they passed him in the hallway. When the front door was shut behind them, Ginny turned on the spot, taking Harry with her as she dissaparated.

They arrived in a small alleyway just around the corner from the pub, where there were no prying eyes to spot people popping in and out of existence. 'Have you got a wand?' Asked Ginny.

Harry turned to leave the alley. 'No.' Roughly, Ginny steered him back to face her, using their still linked arms. She raised her eyebrows in question. 'What?' Asked Harry defensively.

Huffing and shaking her head, she forcefully pushed him against the wall, causing him to bang his head. Without so much of a backwards glance she stormed out of the alley towards the pub, muttering to herself.

Head smarting from the impact, Harry groggily went to follow her. I really need to stop pissing her off.

When he entered the Cauldron, he spotted her at the bar, already nursing a drink. Approaching wearily, he walked up to the seat next to her. 'This seat taken?'

'Spose not.' She muttered, then took another swig from the bottle in her hand.

'Hello again.' Greeted Hannah from behind the bar, 'What can I get you?'

'Hi, Butterbeer please.'

'Coming right up.' After he had paid for his drink, which Hannah had set down before him, Harry took his seat in silence.

Looking around the room Harry found it to be mostly empty, apart from a couple of Goblins in the corner. They paid no attention to the two people who had just come in, engrossed as they were in their financial review.

Hannah, the young owner of the pub he remembered from before, was sat on a stool at the end of the bar. She was scribbling furiously with her quill, working on some form of letter.

They were three quarters down their drinks before Ginny looked up at him. 'Are you going to tell me why you haven't got your wand?' She asked in a whisper.

Harry started sub consciously picking at the label on his bottle. 'I told you, I don't like using magic.'

'You did the other day.'

'I was desperate.' Harry admitted quietly. 'Without it I would never have made it to the shop.'

Ginny stared at the mess he had started to make from the pieces of label. 'What happens if we're attacked today?'

'We'll be fine, I might not have a wand but I'm still armed.'

'Still, a wand would be useful, what if the gun is not enough.' She whispered urgently.

'It will be, they won't make a move on us in broad daylight. Even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance.' He assured her. 'What's this really about?' Something was up and he needed to know what before they could move on.

'You're not going to stick around are you?' She asked thickly. 'Once this is all over, you're going to leave the wizarding world again.'

'Possibly, I might not have a choice.'

'There's always a choice.' She snapped, causing Hannah to look up briefly from her work. A small smile from Harry set her at ease again.

'Maybe I don't want to return to it. Maybe I'm still struggling for a reason to fight for it now.'

Shifting uncomfortably, Ginny started picking at the base of her nails. 'You're older than what you were then, fight to help us change it.' Said Ginny, offering him a role as a revolutionary.

Still staring at his label free bottle, Harry picked at the remnants of the adhesive stuck to the side idly. 'I'm tired Ginny, all I've ever done is fight, it's going to catch up with me. Hell, it already is.'

'How so?' She asked gently.

'Years ago I wouldn't have been caught like I was at Mad-Eyes, and at the shop I hesitated slightly in the doorway. If I hadn't, we wouldn't have fell through the floor.'

'You can't blame yourself for that. You couldn't have known he was going to do that.' Ginny attempted to soothe him.

'We could have all died.' He hissed angrily. 'If that piece of wood had found its way through your neck or chest I wouldn't have been able to save you.'

'But it didn't.'

'That doesn't matter, I still wouldn't have been able to help.'

'Why did you hesitate then?' She asked baldly.

'I didn't want to hit you by accident.'

'Because you care.' She said with a smile, nudging him with her shoulder.

Harry's face fell. 'Exactly.' He sighed.

Crinkling her forehead, she smiled crookedly. 'I quite like the fact you care. Want to tell me why you seem to think it's a bad thing?'

'Fighting's easy when you don't care. It doesn't matter if you win or lose.' He turned to look at her. 'That's how I've fought the last few years, just fighting, not worrying about the consequences or collateral damage. It didn't matter who died as long as the mission was completed.'

'Well nothing's changed there, the mission is still more important than one life. I'd give my life for it and I know you would.'

'Yeah but now there's more important things than the mission itself.' He mumbled quietly.

She leaned over to whisper, so close that her lips were less than a whisker away from his ear. 'Then fight for that.' Her breathe tickled his ear as she spoke and he involuntarily closed his eyes at the sound. The same flowery smell, that he remembered from the night he was injured, intoxicated him.

Turning his face towards her, they came nose to nose. She was smiling daringly, her brown eyes lit with a fire he hadn't seen before. 'I wish you weren't wearing contacts.' She told him.

'We can all dream, I wish you had your red hair.' Her hand came up to rest on his cheek, smiling slightly, he leaned into the touch.

Loud laughter from the doorway startled them, causing the two too jump apart before returning to their drinks, shooting small glances at each other that the other missed.

Watching a small bead of moisture fall down the side of the bottle, Harry pondered his now silent companion. He'd never met anyone quite like her, after the injuries she suffered, most people would have been bed ridden for days. Magic or not. Ginny just seemed to bounce back, somehow with confidence still intact.

Then there was the fact that she accepted who he was after he told her his identity, she manged to see past her own views of the enigma Harry Potter, and still saw him for who he really was. Not many would have been able to do that.

She's amazing. Beautiful, smart, funny, everything you could ever ask for in one person. If I have a future I want her to be in it, even if it's only as a friend. That means clearing my name with the Ministry. I can't put her in a situation where she has to choose between her world and me.

'Come on.' He encouraged her. 'We'd best start showing people those pictures.'

'Yeah, we've got a name to clear.' Said Ginny, rising off her stool. They each separated and visited with different groups. The pub had steadily filled around them as people finished work.