Ginny Weasley grumbled in her sleep and unsuccessfully tried to ignore a red light that was growing brighter with each passing moment. She finally gave in and blinked her eyes sleepily at the crystal flower Harry had given her.
The petals were open, and Harry's small face, with its slit pupils and large scar, were peering at her and she felt thankful that her thick bed curtains held the light back from the rest of the room.
"Hello, Harry," Ginny whispered to the image of his face.
Harry's face smiled and winked at her.
"Tonight?" She asked.
Harry nodded and seemed to sigh. She smiled lazily up at the flower as the petals slowly closed and the light went out.
Ginny pulled back her bed curtain and swung her feet out of bed. She winced as they hit the cold stone floor and she scurried to complete her task. She quickly pulled a bag out from under her bed before climbing back onto it and pulling the curtains shut.
She whispered an incantation and her enclosed area was magically soundproofed and with a flick of her wand she had light. She quickly dressed in a Muggle sweater and jeans before pulling Harry's invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map out of the bag. She was hoping she wouldn't have to use them, but best to take them, just in case.
Harry had insisted she keep them with her at Hogwarts because she'd find more uses for them than he would. Tonight, she was thankful for it.
She extinguished the light from her wand and pocketed it before slipping out of her bed and into her shoes. She closed her bed curtains and crept over to the small iron stove in the center of the room and gently opened the door in the side. She scowled and gingerly placed a piece of wood she found in a basket nearby onto the embers and poked it with her wand. If it burned out someone might get up to restart it and notice her absence.
She pulled the invisibility cloak around her shoulders before slipping the cowl over her head.
Ginny froze as she heard one of the other girls turn over in her sleep, but the sound stopped, and Ginny let out the breath she had been holding.
She tiptoed out of the room and down to the common room. She stood in front of the embers smoldering in the grand fireplace and prayed this would work. If it didn't, she'd have a long trek through the castle to look forward to. She pulled a small brown pouch from her pocket and threw its contents into the fire. When the green flames leapt up, she grinned.
Sirius had been able to talk to Harry in the Gryffindor fireplace her third year because Sirius had connected it to his parent's house on a two way link when he was at Hogwarts, undetectable by the Ministry because it wasn't linked up to the Floo network at all.
When Umbridge came to power, she didn't have each fireplace disconnected, she just blocked Transportation Charms from the whole of Hogwarts, with the only exception being the Headmaster's Office.
McGonagall had recently lifted the spell blocking magical transportation from the castle and had, as Harry as suspected, it had made the link from the Gryffindor common room to Grimmauld place functional again.
She was grateful she didn't have to sneak around the castle, but she snorted at all the precautions she had taken. She could have just walked down in her pajamas and said she was going to the small, hidden bathroom off the common room.
She stepped into the green flames and said: "Twelve Grimmauld Place!"
She felt the flames tickle her as she was whisked away from the common room and into the room Harry now used as his office.
She felt strong hands grab her and she was pulled into the room roughly. Lips pressed against hers and she giggled in surprise.
"It's a torture waiting for you," Harry murmured at her as he slid an arm around her.
"If the Floo hadn't worked you'd still be waiting!" Ginny laughed as he ran his hand down her sweater to and slide it under the hem, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin under his hands.
"Hey!" Ginny said, pushing him away gently. "What are you being so fast about?"
She thought she saw a flash of anger cross his features, but he took a deep breath and smiled at her.
"Just- glad to see you, that's all." Harry said as he looked into her eyes.
Ginny gazed up and willed herself not to flinch. She had stared into Tom's eyes before. She had stared into Voldemort's eyes before. Now she had to see them in Harry's face, and it pained her. She should have been able to protect him better. "Have you been having a bad day?"
He gazed at her before pulling her close to him and inhaling deeply.
"It's only one more year," Ginny said softly.
"You're going to make me wait a whole year?" Harry's touch was tender, but there was an edge to his voice.
Ginny looked up at him sternly. "If I feel like it."
Harry opened his mouth, but closed it quickly and took a deep breath. "Of course."
"Or sooner if I feel like it," Ginny said with a mischievous smile. "You have had a rough day, haven't you?"
"Sorry," Harry said. His face scrunched up and his scar wriggled on his face. "Things have been … intense lately."
"Those letters getting to you?" Ginny asked as she looked over his shoulder at the mailbags and piles of various letters and scrolls.
"It wasn't so bad getting the crazy letters at school." Harry shook his head. "There was always stuff to distract me and it was just... different."
"It must be rough here with just Ron and Neville," Ginny said sympathetically.
"Well, I did hire a couple more house-elves," Harry grinned as Ginny's hands slid their way down his back and cupped his arse. "After things settled down, quite a few families had their estates seized and their elves freed."
"Oh, Gods!" Ginny snickered as she buried her head against his shoulder. "That must've created an uproar."
"Yea, well at least we managed to claim a couple for our household and one for the Burrow," Harry shrugged. "They were happy to be assigned to pure-blood homes."
"It's going to take a while for them to get used to all the changes." Ginny sighed as she rested her head against Harry. She inhaled deeply and took in the scent of him.
"No doubt." Harry said as he guided her over to an overstuffed couch. He waved his wand and flames roared in the fireplace as the lights dimmed.
"You know I love coming to see you, Harry," Ginny said as they sat down. "But I do have classes in the morning. I'd rather you summon me on Friday or Saturday nights so I can sleep in."
"I know," Harry said apologetically. "But I found another one and—"
"Another of the boys that bullied Tom in the orphanage?" Ginny interrupted, her eyes growing wide. "I can't believe you're managing to find them all, Harry."
Her eyes searched his face. It was hard for her to read him these days. She was used to the face he was born with, not this twisted manifestation of what had nearly destroyed him.
"What are you going to do?" Ginny asked quietly as she covered his hand with hers. "It's not like they can be charged anymore. They must all be very old."
"Of course, they are." Harry said chortling. "But it makes you wonder how many others they made life hell for. I'll make sure some sort of justice is served. Don't you worry."
Despite his words, Ginny looked at Harry with concern.
0
"It's a pleasure to gain your family's custom."
Hermione was walking down a narrow passageway deep underground, her legs still shaky from the harrowing trip through the bowels of Gringotts Wizarding Bank in a small enchanted cart. "Thank you, Griphook. Professor Dumbledore assured me that Gringotts is the best there is."
"He is right." Griphook agreed. "We have security measures like no other."
Hermione nearly rammed into the back of him as he suddenly stopped in front of a small metal door. She took a step back as he unlocked it.
The door swung open and a thin white mist rolled out of it.
"Your vault, madam." Griphook bowed and stepped aside so Hermione could enter the small room.
She felt silly placing the small bag in the center of the room without so much as a table to go under it, but the room was for protection, not display. She set it on the floor and walked out.
Griphook relocked the room and they clamored back into the tiny cart they had arrived in. Hermione held onto the edge with white knuckles as it whizzed over narrow tracks that didn't seem stable enough to support it as they made their way back to the main floor of the bank.
When they finally arrived at the main floor, Severus was waiting for them, a smirk plastered across his face.
"Enjoy the ride?"
"Bugger off," Hermione grumbled as she walked towards him shakily.
Severus shook his head as he held up a cloak for her to shrug into. "You'll feel better after lunch."
"I doubt it." Hermione said grumpily. "But at least the Shard is safe."
"Next time I'll bring a potion for motion sickness," Severus reassured her. "But I'm sure Tom has something."
Hermione nodded her head gratefully. She wasn't sure whether she was more reassured that she would soon feel better or that the Shard was now under better care than she could give it.
"Here is a brochure for Madam." Griphook handed Hermione a glossy folded parchment. "About transferring your Muggle accounts to Gringotts. It's a much more secure system and when you put your money in you get your money out! No more worrying about who's been touching it or where it's been."
Hermione thanked him and as she and Severus left the bank she began giggling. "Do you ever worry about who's been touching your money?"
"Only when Mundungus Fletcher is in the vicinity," Severus said with a snort.
They made their way through Diagon Alley, past the small shops with their window displays promoting wizarding wares. Hermione glanced in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and paused a moment to look at a Hogwarts scarf that had a hood attached to it.
"I should get one for myself," Hermione teased him. "For the next Quidditch match.
He snorted. "Not if you're going to sit near me."
"You would banish me from your side for cheering for my own House?" Hermione laughed as they passed a group of teenagers that shrank back at the sight of Severus. "Maybe I should do it, then. Show them how it's done."
Severus groaned at her mischievous expression. "You would, wouldn't you?"
"With unrestrained glee," Hermione sighed as she smiled at him.
He snorted at her and pretended to study a poster that had been tacked onto the wall. He frowned.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"Dark Magic Repelling Cream," Severus read aloud. "What is this nonsense?"
"People taking advantage of a situation." Hermione said bitterly.
Severus nodded and scowled at the poster. "This looks like something Fletcher dreamed up."
"Probably," Hermione giggled. Severus looked at her sharply. "Well, let's face it. He might as well have a sign around his neck saying 'con man.'"
"True." Severus sighed as he turned away from the poster. "If he's gotten this cocky, he'll be caught soon enough."
"Too bad the people that are swindled don't get their money back." Hermione said as her eyes lit up at a shop window full of tiny glass figurines. Every few minutes they leapt up and moved around. Ballerinas danced; kittens played with glass balls of yarn; crystal dogs wagged their tails and silently barked.
"They do," Severus said, surprised. "The Ministry seizes everything he's got if the money's gone, then he has to work off the rest until everyone is paid back."
"Then why be a thief at all?" Hermione shook her head. "I'll never understand."
"Ah, but you see, there's the problem." Severus leaned forward to have a closer look at a glass eagle that was stretching its wings. "One mistake and you're stuck."
"What do you mean?"
"Imagine a person. They do one stupid thing in their youth and think they get away with it. They spend the money on disposable things. Food, drink, entertainment. Then when they are caught, they have to pay it back, but it's all gone. Everything you make is seized from the Ministry to pay back your debts and you don't have anything left to live on."
"Oh!" Hermione said. "Then you'd be forced to commit more crimes to live. Well, that's a flawed law."
"Arthur's been working against it for years. Maybe he can finally push it through." Severus remarked as the figures froze again.
They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron where they were warmly greeted by Tom, the owner. After telling him what they wanted he waved them off and told them to get a table. They chose a small booth in the corner with worn leather seats and a polished wooden table.
When their food and drinks were brought over to them Severus cast a secrecy charm around the booth. "I feel much better with that thing locked up."
"I'd kind of rather have it with me," Hermione admitted sheepishly as she contemplated her dinner plate. "It's like I'm missing it."
"No doubt," Severus said dryly. "If you are one of the descendants of Heimdall it's pull to you would grow stronger the more you wear it."
"Why is that?" Hermione asked as she took a bite of potato.
"If it's lost, you'll be able to track it. Of course, if another descendent found it, it would begin to adapt to the other person and your bond to it would start to disintegrate."
"A lot of time has passed since Heimdall was spreading his offspring around," Hermione admitted. "There could be thousands of people that could use it."
"Including Muggles and Squibs," Severus pointed out.
Hermione's eyes went wide as comprehension dawned on her. "Do you mean to say a Muggle could use the Shard to open the door to the Joutun?"
"It's possible." Severus speared a wilted carrot with his fork. "I'm not young enough to be that curious anymore."
"You know what? Neither am I." Hermione squeezed his knee under the table and he quirked a corner of his mouth at her.
0
Detective Nigel Warren sat at his desk at the police station, a tower of papers on his desk and a large cup of coffee steaming nearby. "You sure you don't want to share a cab?"
"I'm just going to stay at my sisters flat tonight." Thomas waved off his partner. "She's just around the corner. I'd just bother the wife if I went home when I feel so close to a breakthrough."
"The only thing you're close to is an aneurysm." Warren snorted as he picked up the newspaper on the corner of his desk. "Don't stay too late. The cleaning ladies don't like it when they have to scrape drool off the desks."
Thomas waved off the man and went back to his stack of papers. Once Warren was gone, Thomas dove into the stack with gusto. He pulled his briefcase out from under the desk and opened it quickly, snatching his wand out of it and pointing it at the pile.
He muttered a few words and did some complicated gestures, and the papers rose up in the air and began shuffling themselves. Small tags and post-its flew through the air like tossed confetti and when it had all settled, there were small piles of papers on his desk and the ones surrounding it, one pile neatly stacked in front of him, pink tags marking the top right corner of each page.
He picked them up and started flipping. He frowned at what he saw. He looked at the other stacks around him and went over to flip through each in turn. When he was done, he shrugged and pushed his lower lip out. He didn't know what he had found, but it was the only link he had.
He pulled out a pad of paper from his desk and scrawled a note on it before folding it up and tapping it with his wand. He went to the window and whistled and soon a large eagle owl swooped down, out of the darkness to perch on a fixture for mounting flags outside the building.
"Take this to the Minister, Icarus," he told the owl in a low voice. "Top priority. No idea what it is, but I'm sure someone does."
The owl hooted in a low tone before allowing himself to be given the note and enchanted with a protection charm. He took a last look at the man before leaping off the fixture, his wings opening to catch the wind, and he glided off into the night.