A/N - Once again, another chapter complete! This one took a lot of editing, drawing on previous comments and reviews to help improve it. Thanks for all the help - the reviews Iet definitely make writing this worth it, so please please please keep it up! The result is what you see here - this chapter alone is longer than the first five put together! (Disclaimer in first chapter)
Chapter 11 - From Alley to Train
Upon arriving at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ginny entered the bar. They headed up to the counter, and where about to ask Tom for somewhere to stay, when he spoke up. "Harry, the minister is waiting to speak to you - private conference room 1. While you're talking with him, I'll get your lady friend here a drink." He pointed at a door to the side of the bar.
Harry reluctantly made his way toward the indicated door, dreading the coming conversation. What was going to happen to him? Opening the door, he spotted Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge sitting at the far end, behind the head desk.
"Ah, Harry. I trust your journey was reasonably comfortable? I dread the Knight Bus, you know - much too bumpy and the driver is crazy, but sometimes it can be useful." Fudge sounded rather jovial.
"What's going to happen to me?" He was cautious - what he thought should be happening didn't match up with how Fudge currently sounded.
Fudge was taken aback. "Why, whatever do you mean, my boy?"
"I did magic outside of school. Am I going to be expelled - will you send me to Azkaban?"
"Oh my dear boy no! We don't send people to Azkaban for misdeeds as trivial as blowing up aunts!" He laughed, a strange wheezing sound filling the room. "And anyway - did you mean to?"
"No - my wand was upstairs, I think it was accidental magic."
"Then that's OK then. We won't expel you for that. We got a few reports in of muggles seeing someone floating in Little Whinging. The Ministry Obliviators went in to wipe memories. No harm done - you'll be glad to know your aunt is fine, the accidental magic reversal squad popped her back to her normal size, so we'll here no more about it. Her memories of the evening were wiped as well."
"Thank you minister."
"Don't mention it my boy, don't mention it! Tom the bartender has instructions to help you in anyway you need so there'll be no need to venture outside Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron - especially with Sirius Black on the loose you know."
With that, Fudge stood and swept out of the room, his cloak billowing behind in a way that reminded dHarry of Snape entering classrooms, but not as dramatically. He also headed back to the main bar, to meet up with Ginny again.
"So young miss, what'll it be?"
Ginny was startled out of her musings, looking towards the door Harry had just headed through, by Tom addressing her from the counter.
"Oh, um..."
"I know, I've got just the ticket - Butterbeer!" He pulled a bottle up to the counter and emptied some into a glass which he then pushed across to her. "Go on, give it a try!"
Ginny pocked up the glass slightly warily, then shrugging, raised it to her lips and took a sip. She was mildly startled to feel herself warm up drastically - for some reason despite it being yet another warm night the bar was very cold - and find it very nice tasting. "How have I never heard of this before?"
"It's not new, but its generally not something a parent would buy a young child. Most teens find out how nice it is in Hogsmeade their third year."
Ginny smile faltered slightly at the sound of Hogsmeade, but she quickly plastered a fake one back on her face. If Tom noticed anything he didn't point it out. She was slightly upset at not being able to attend Hogsmeade that year, even though she shouldn't have until the next anyway, but knew she'd never tell Harry. As much as she wanted to visit the village, she'd much prefer to wait until Harry could come with her, and explore it all for the first time with him.
At this point, Harry came back out, following behind Fudge. The once again jovial man was stopped several times on the way out of the bar by well-wishers wanting to tell him they were backing him in the next Wizarding Election. Harry quickly made his way to the bar where Ginny stood.
"What have you got there?" He asked her.
"Tom said it was called Butterbeer. It's nice - really warms you up in this cold bar."
Tom, seeing Harry looking inquisitively at the glass of frothy drink, pulled on his expertise as a barman and withdrew another bottle from under the counter, filling a second glass. "Here you are, Mr Potter." He said discreetly, pushing the glass over. Harry took a sip, and realised Ginny was right - it did warm you up well. "I was just telling your lady friend here that most parents won't buy this for their kids, and teenagers find out about it from Madam Rosmerta when they visit the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade their third year."
He made a move off to the other end of the counter, where another patron had called for some service. Harry and Ginny quickly polished off the remaining butterbeer, then Harry waved Tom back to them.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Don't you worry Mr Potter, you both looked parched and I'm glad I could help. They were on the house."
When it looked like Harry was about to protest, Ginny placed her hand on his arm to stop him. Harry let out a breath. "Thank you Tom."
"Don't mention it. Is there anything else I can be doing for the two of you?"
"Yes actually. Can we have two singles please, adjacent."
"Okay, room 11 and 12. How long will you be staying?"
"Until the first of September, when we head back to Hogwarts."
Tom handed over two keys, and wrote down the details in a ledger that magically appeared on the counter. He called to a hunchback in the corner to take their luggage up. Harry and Ginny followed behind, Harry entering room 12 and Ginny room 11.
When the hunchback had left, Harry twirled his wand to expand the single bed to a double, and then created a door in the wall between the rooms.
"Now no one need know about our arrangements." Harry said, peaking through the newly created door.
Ginny looked up, startled, then smiled when she saw him. She headed over to the door and through into his room, shutting it behind her. "I'll leave my stuff in there - makes it less obvious." She said in way of explaining the lack of luggage she'd brought through.
It was another hot night, so Harry stripped off his jeans and t-shirt, leaving him in just his boxers. Ginny caught his t-shirt, turned, then replaced hers with the one she'd just caught, before pulling down her jeans too. His t-shirt on her came down to mid-thigh. Harry's breath caught in his throat when she turned back around. "You look beautiful." He told her passionately, taking her in his arms.
"Mmm, this t-shirt smells just like you." She replied, snuggling her face into his chest. "I like it." He pulled her over to the bed, not breaking their embrace, then lay down, tugging her in to bed next to him.
"What did Fudge want to speak to you about?" Ginny inquired.
"He decided it was his job to tell me the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad found Aunt Marge and popped her back to normal size."
"Popped?" Ginny exclaimed. "What did they use - a pin?"
"I have no idea. Apparently as it was accidental, I'm not being punished. He said I could stay here the rest of the summer, so long as I don't leave the Leaky Cauldron or Diagon Alley."
"What - they've got you under house arrest?" Ginny asked, outraged.
"Pretty much, I guess. It isn't so bad, I still get to spend my time with my beautiful wife." Ginny blushed at this. She wasn't used to anyone, let alone Harry, thinking she was beautiful. "Oddly, he never mentioned you. I don't think he knew you'd been staying with me, which is good."
"What - you're afraid of people finding out we're together?" She asked cheekily.
"Not at all!" Harry hastened to reassure her. "But our living arrangements this summer don't need to be a matter of public knowledge and debate, and you know the Minister for Magic would just love to have something like that to hold over me."
"I guess that's true." Ginny conceded. "But eventually everyone will have to find out about our relationship. I'm not staying away from you at all."
"I know - I wouldn't be able to manage that either, but I would like to keep it away from your mum a little while longer."
"At least we're agreed on that. Now lie down, I'm tired, and I need a pillow."
"Your wish is my command, my fair lady." Harry said jokingly. Ginny pushed him down, then settled he head on his chest, fiery red hair splaying out across him, and her right arm across his stomach. Harry wrapped both his arms round her, pulling her to him, and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head, before they fell asleep in a comfortable embrace.
Needless to say, Ron wasn't very happy about Ginny's response.
"How could he be treating her well, he's got her all to himself!" He raged to Charlie. The other brothers had taken Ginny's note to mean all was fine, and were now perfectly happy. They trusted Ginny, it was as simple as that. It was only the two of them left. He knew he was overreacting, and didn't think this was a normal way for a thirteen year old to act, but he couldn't help it. Something was overriding his common sense. Besides, surely if Charlie felt the same way, his feelings on the matter were justified?
Ron was confused. When he'd headed off to Hogwarts, his brothers had told him to protect Ginny. At the time he'd thought that had meant from boys. He was even more inclined to follow through with that plan now, having seen where ignoring her got her the previous year. So when he'd become friends with Harry Potter, he'd known immediately that he would be a threat to that plan - Ginny was enamoured with him. That was why he'd spent two years brainwashing Harry into seeing Ginny as a sister, and it clearly hadn't worked. Somehow, he had failed in his duty to protect Ginny, especially from Harry. Harry was a great friend, but his brothers had said to protect her from any boys. On the other hand, the letter could have meant that he was treating her well as a sister. There was nothing he could really do until he next saw the two of them.
Fred and George were incredibly happy with the response to their letter. Their sister had a pranking history just as large as their's. While every plank at the Burrow had been blamed on themselves, the Masters of Mayhem, they knew that at least half of them were actually Ginny's masterminds, and as much as it pained them to admit it, they were tons better than their own. Yet somehow she had managed to maintain the illusion of "perfect little princess" to their parents - while Fred and George liked to be known for their pranks, most pranksters didn't, and Ginny had that down to a tee. No one they knew had lasted for as long as she had without being caught once.
And this mystery helper. Who was it? They had a good idea, but it seemed as though it would have to wait until the train to school. It sounded like Ginny wasn't happy with Ron - the great git. He didn't seem to understand not interfering in anyone else's lives. And Charlie joining in - Charlie had always been on Ginny's side, and for all they knew may even have helped her with a few pranks. Maybe their interference was something Mum would need to know. On the other hand, let Ginny work it out. That bat-bogey hex was vicious, and they did not envy Ron and Charlie for their possibility of being on the receiving end of it.
The next morning, Harry and Ginny headed into Diagon Alley. Hedwig had returned to them in the night, and was now in her cage at the Leaky Cauldron. Somehow, she'd known they had had to move there - that was the advantage of having a strong connection with your familiar, and said familiar being a magical owl.
Their first stop, naturally, was Gringotts, where they withdrew some money from the family vault (the trust vault had been combined with this when Harry was granted access to it). They enjoyed the ride in the carts again, especially Ginny as she was used to it now - "It's just like flying!" She had exclaimed. Harry just laughed - It was rare he got to see her so carefree, especially given the events of the previous year. They quickly stopped in to see Ragnok in his office, but he was yet to find anything new for them. They thanked him for continuing to look, as they were sure he had lots of other things to do as well.
Before they left the bank, they donned a black cloak each. They had found them in the family vault, with a tag that simply read concealment. There were several others in the pile, that seemed to be of different variations, but these appeared to be the simplest, with only one spell. It was also detailed on the tag - operuit caligo. They cast the spell, and the area underneath the hoods became shrouded in darkness. When they spoke, their voices were magically altered too. It wasn't much, and if you were trying to hear a certain person then you would notice them, but for the normal passerby it would be enough to trick them.
Next, they headed over to Magical Menagerie, where Harry bought some owl treats for Hedwig. There was not an easy way to access these once at Hogwarts, so they would have to last the entire year.
Their next shop was Quality Quidditch Supplies, where they both fawned over the new Firebolt, with the best top-end specs, and Ginny bought some Quidditch gear. She had hopes for making the Quidditch team while at Hogwarts. Harry knew it was a lifelong dream of hers to play for the all-witch Quidditch Team the Holyead Harpies, and that she would have a much better chance had she played a few years at Hogwarts. That was why he was secretly planning on asking Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Captain, to consider hosting a full reserve team for the coming year. He was confident that Oliver would like it - the fanatical Quidditch player was heading into his final year and would want the cup more than ever, and with the number of injuries Harry inadvertently sustained even just a reserve seeker would be a good idea.
Harry was happy that he was managing to get her to loosen up and spend as much as she wanted, as he had more than he would ever need in his multiple vaults. He no longer wanted her to be limited in what she bought, or picked on because of it - she was too good and kind to deserve that.
After an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, they headed to Flourish and Blotts. As soon as they entered, a hassled looking person came up to them. His magically altering name tag switched from his name to his position, indicating him to be the manager of the Diagon Alley branch. "Hogwarts?" He asked brusquely. They both nodded, and the man sighed, before gesturing to them to follow him.
They made their way to the corner of the front window, and the manager picked up a pair of tongs, throwing cautious looks at a cage. He made his way to open it, when Harry realised he recognised he Monster Book of Monsters. "Hold on, we've already got them!" He told the manager.
"Thank goodness!" He exclaimed. "My fingers have already been bitten three times today alone! I swear this is worse than when we stocked the Invisible Book of Invisibility. We bought in a hundreds of them, and couldn't ever find them. I swear I'm never stocking this book again. Oh no stop it!" He added on the end, turning back to the cage. Two of the books had started fighting, and a third had jumped on top to get in on the action, while another two started tearing pages out of the first three. Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance, then moved away, smiling sympathetically at the man as a mother and child came forward cautiously, no doubt to ask for one of the deadly books.
They headed over to the rest of the store, and found all the other books they needed: The Standard Book of Spells Year 3, Magical Arithmancy Basics, Ancient Runes: First Dictionary, Intermediate Transfiguration, Numerology and Gramatica, Ancient Runes Made Easy and The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts. Ginny winced when she looked over the list. It was a good thing Harry was buying her school equipment and textbooks this year. While the Defence Against the Dark Arts texts Lockhart had written and then set were still worse, this was not a cheap booklist - the Ancient Runes Dictionary alone was rather expensive.
Finally, Harry pulled Ginny into Ollivanders, asking for a wand for her. "No Harry, you've already done enough." She tried protesting. "My old wand works for me. A new one would be too expensive."
"I'm not sure about that." Harry said. "Ollivander told me when I got my wand that the wand chooses the wizard, or in your case, the witch. Your own wand would work much better."
"Quite right, Mr Potter." The old wizard appeared behind the counter and wheezed at them. "Holly and Phoenix Feather, 11 inches, a mysterious combination but still, how is it working for you? And a pleasure to meet you young Ms Weasley, I had expected you last year but better late than never." He bustled off into the back room without waiting for Harry to answer.
"But still, you shouldn't pay for it. They're expensive and I can't ask you for that." Ginny argued.
"That's OK, I'm not going to pay for it."
"Then who is?" She asked.
"You are." Harry responded with a cheeky grin, pushing the golden coins she would need into her hand. "After all, it is your money too." He whispered to her, as he dropped a kiss on her forehead and pulled back.
Soon Mr Ollivander returned with several boxes. He lay them on the counter, then removed the wand from the first one and handed it to Ginny. "Unicorn Hair and Ash, quite brittle. Give it a wave."
Out of arguments, Ginny had no choice but to follow instructions. After all, it was technically her money too. She swung the wand slightly to the left, then jumped back, startled to see a fire burst out of the cash register.
"Oh no, that won't do at all!" Ollivander exclaimed. "How about this one..."
Ginny tried several more sets of wands that Ollivander picked out, getting more worried as time passed. However, the old man just seemed to get more excited. "I do love a good challenge." He wheezed.
"Don't worry, it took me a long time to find one too." Harry reassured her.
Eventually, when it seemed like Ginny had tried half the store, Mr Ollivander paused in taking a wand off of a shelf, and placed it back. "I wonder..." He muttered. Collecting another wand, he brought it to the counter and placed it in Ginny's hand. As soon as she closed her fingers around it, a shower of golden sparks flew out of the tip, and fluttered down to the floor around her.
"Interesting, but not unexpected given the circumstances." He muttered.
"Urgh, why foes he always have to be so cryptic?" Harry whispered to Ginny, rhetorically. She giggled in response.
"Um, Mr Ollivander?" She piped up. "What's this wand made of?"
"That wand consists of the other half of the Holly limb that became Mr Potter's wand, infused with some shavings of bark from a rather interesting magical Yew that one can rarely get close to. The core consists of a Unicorn Hair, intertwined with a hair from a rather outgoing Demiguise. I find that Demiguise and Unicorn hair tend to make for a rather volatile combination, and that mixing two different woods together doesn't normally work, but my curiosity in wand-making got the better of me recently and I decided I had to try. What is interesting, is that this wand was about to combust from the magical power it contained, until Fawkes appeared and blessed it with Phoenix tears. It is 9 and a half inches long, and rather pliant."
"Why is it unexpected that this would work for me?" She questioned.
"Why, that is one powerful wand, Ms Weasley." He indicated the wand with a faltering hand. "I had not expected to be able to sell it, but it is fitting that it chose you, given your emotional connection to Mr Potter. After all, it is connected to his wand in more than one way. That is a powerful wand, Ms Weasley, so it is fitting that the seventh child, the first girl in seven generations, is who your wand has chosen. I believe we can expect great things from you... Mrs Potter."
Both Harry and Ginny started. "What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.
"I can see the soul-bond you have. I am an aura-reader. It is a rare ability, but rather helpful in my line of work, to match wands with their user. I know what a soul-bond looks like. Do not worry, I will keep your secret for you. The wand is seven galleons."
"Thank you, Mr Ollivander. We aren't ready for that to get out just yet." Harry said, as Ginny quickly paid him the required amount. "Do you have any wand-holsters?" He asked, spur of the moment. Ginny looked at him curiously. "I just feel like I'd be better off if we were to have quicker access to our wands." He explained nervously.
"I sell two types of holster. One, cut to the length of the wand, which is made of leather. These are 8 sickles each. The other is the size of your wrist, contains a shrinking charm to shrink your wand when you place it in the holster, allows you to flick your wand into your hand, contains charms against summoning of the holster, or any that will damage it, and is made of dragon hide. These are 1 galleon each."
"We'll take two of the dragon hide ones please." Harry said, handing over the money. Ginny just kept quiet - she was smart enough to realise that Harry was going to buy her one, no matter what she said. Truthfully, it warmed her slightly to think that he was willing to do anything that could make her safer, especially now they had heard the prophecy.
"Thank you." Mr Ollivander said as they left his shop.
They spent the rest of the summer in the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Minister Fudge had kept the information of Harry's accommodation private, "to keep it from Sirius Black." He had claimed. He hadn't known that Ginny was with him, so saw no need to inform the Weasleys.
Harry had received a reply from Hagrid their second day there:
Harry and Ginny,
I can't wait to hear your secret.
About the books, just stroke the spine and they'll let you in fine. I don't know why no one seems to know, I guess Flourish and Blotts weren't told.
Hagrid
The final Monday of August saw the Weasleys and Grangers on their annual trip to Diagon Alley. Harry and Ginny had received a letter from her parents the previous day, asking if they would be able to be there, and had replied with a very carefully worded letter saying they had already been, and wouldn't be able to get away that day. They had then spoken to Tom the barman, and asked him not to tell anyone they were staying there. He was happy to agree - Customer Privacy was high on his list of priorities.
They waited in Harry's room, looking out the window, which overlooked the entrance to Diagon Alley. Soon, they spotted five red blobs, a brown blob, and two other blobs through the dirty, smeared window. The blobs were quickly identified by the onlookers as Mrs Weasley, Percy, Fred, Charlie, Ron, Hermione and Mr and Mrs Granger. They watched as Mrs Weasley took out her wand, and tapped the bricks to open the entrance.
"Dad's not with them. He must be busy with work. It's unlike him to miss a trip to Diagon Alley. I suppose that's why he wrote to say he wouldn't be able to visit us again. I think this is the first time I've been happy that Dad is finished with work." Ginny idly commented.
Once the eight below had disappeared through the wall, and it had sealed behind them, Harry and Ginny quickly headed downstairs and out the other way from the Leaky Cauldron, into Muggle London.
"Fudge better not have any tracking charms on me." Harry muttered.
Ginny had clearly heard. "Well this is a sure-fire way to find out, but I should hope he doesn't, it is illegal. Where would our country be if our illustrious Minister himself stooped so low as to stalk a thirteen year old boy through illegal means?"
"How do you say that with a straight face?" Harry asked laughing.
"I guess through years of lying about my involvement in pranks." Ginny started giggling. "Most of what I said is true. This is a way to find out and it is illegal, but I wouldn't put it past Fudge to try anyway. We should look for a way to counteract that - I'm sure Dumbledore would have no reservations about doing it to try and track us to keep us apart."
"I should hope he wouldn't." Harry said darkly. "Oh well, just another thing to look up in the wonderful Hogwarts library when I, no we," he quickly corrected, "get back to school."
Ginny smiled up at him cutely. "So what are we doing in Muggle London?" She asked.
Harry paused for a moment, and just stared at her. Just as it was beginning to get uncomfortable for her, he shook his head, trying to clear whatever thoughts he'd just been having. "Sorry, I got distracted by how cute you looked there." Ginny blushed bright Weasley red. "I thought you might want a few new muggle clothes. I need some too - I'm tired of wearing Dudley's cast-off's, and I thought this would be easier, and keep us out of the Alley for the day, rather than look for some in Diagon Alley."
"Good idea!" Ginny said appreciatively, her blush dying down. "I know my clothes are getting too small - they're a few years old now. And you definitely need some that fit you." She commented, not unkindly. Then she seemed to realise what she had said and looked aghast. "Oh I didn't mean it like that..."
"Its OK Ginny, I know what you meant. I'm pleased you think I'm worth spending time shopping for."
"Of course I do - how could I not. Now lets find your clothes first." They headed over to the first store they saw.
For the next few hours, they visited most of the stores in the close vicinity of the Leaky Cauldron. After finding several pairs of jeans and other trousers, as well as t-shirts, long sleeved shirts and a few jumpers for Harry, they started finding Ginny clothes. Harry pointed out a changing room to her, which she made use of to model most her choices for Harry, and get his opinion. She left weighed down with some new blouse and skirt combinations, and also some jeans, t-shirts and jumpers. They headed to a nearby shoe-shop to get some pairs of trainers, before returning to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was glad that Ginny was starting to loosen up on spending money again, after the incident in Ollivanders, having spent a few days in Diagon Alley.
At the door, they quickly donned their privacy cloaks and activated the concealment charm before entering the bar. It was lucky they did this, as the moment they entered, Harry noticed Mrs Weasley preceding her sons back in from the Alley, and towards the fireplace. Harry and Ginny quickly made their way over to the staircase and up it towards their rooms, and heard in the background five voices each say in turn "The Burrow!", followed by a swoosh of flames. Ginny turned to watch, and was sure she saw one of the twins wink in her general direction while Mrs Weasley wasn't looking, just as he disappeared. She quickly turned and hurried after Harry up the stairs, hoping no one else had noticed.
Each night, Harry and Ginny separated at their doors into their own rooms for show. Ten minutes later, after they had both changed and got ready for bed, Ginny would head through to Harry's room where he held her as she fell asleep, before dropping off himself.
On the 30th August, they tried sleeping in separate beds. Neither youngster was thrilled with the idea - in fact they were both positively dreading it, but they knew it was necessary - it wouldn't be so easy for them to share a bed at Hogwarts, especially if Dumbledore was involved. For several hours, both Ginny and Harry were kept awake by tossing and turning, and in the few minutes of sleep they did get, they both had nightmares worse than before, until Harry decided she needed him, and he needed her, more than trying to sleep on their own. They concluded that their sleeping together over the summer had just caused them to become so accustomed to the lack of nightmares that they were a lot worse now than they had been. They would just have to find a way to share a bed at Hogwarts.
They also kept in contact as much as possible, not just because they liked to, but also so that if anyone recognised them that knew about the bond, if they forgot their cloaks, or passed information on to someone who did, it would seem uncompleted still. It wouldn't be hard to pass off their presence in the Alley as last minute back to school shopping, and there were plenty of people who should have considered cover stories for why they were together and unsupervised at their ages.
So it was that on the first of September, they arrived at platform nine and three-quarters at half past ten, before anyone else, holding hands. They got under their invisibility cloak (Harry's, but he was encouraging Ginny to think of anything as theirs, given they were married), and entered the train behind Fred and George, when they arrived with the rest of the Weasley's the prerequisite five minutes before the train left. Pulling them under the magical cloak as well, the now quartet headed for the rear compartment. After an initial moment of surprise, the twins worked out what had happened, and it wasn't long before a rhythm was made with stepping, as they were packed rather tightly together under the cloak. As they entered the compartment, Fred and George cast some privacy and silencing charms on it, that they had learnt as pranksters, while Harry and Ginny surveyed the sole other occupant, who was asleep on the bench to the right of the door, sitting up but leaning against the window. Sitting down, Fred asked, "Who do you think he is?"
"Professor R J Lupin. Says so on his trunk." George replied, pointing.
"Lupin?" Harry muttered to Ginny. "Could be a coincidence, but its not that common a name."
"Guess we should look into it."
At that moment, the train jolted into motion, puffing out of the station. While Fred conjured some curtains across the window to keep themselves hidden, Ginny wasn't quite prepared for the sudden movement. She started falling over, right into Harry's well placed lap, where he was sitting next to the window across from the Professor. His arms automatically came up around her.
"Well hello there." Harry said. "You know if you wanted to sit on me all you had to do was ask."
"This was more fun - and good catch by the way!" Ginny replied cheekily. She wiggled slightly to get comfortable. "Mmm, comfy lap. Besides, you shouldn't be complaining."
"I'm not, i'm perfectly happy for you to remain there for the rest of this journey." He pecked her on the head.
"Well then, I rather think I will Mr Potter." Ginny quipped. She turned around, so her back was against the conjured curtains, and leant her head into Harry's chest. He brought up a hand to tangle slightly in her fiery hair.
Meanwhile, the twin pranksters exchanged a glance - did they know this stranger? 'Best to steer this conversation onto topics we're comfortable with' Fred thought.
Noticing a lull in Harry and Ginny's conversation, he broke in. "You said you were willing to help us prank this year Ginny."
"Yep, with Harry as well."
"Thought it might be." George input. Then to Harry, "Any experience?"
"Well, there is a long story, so sit down and be prepared. Over the summer, as you know, Ginny was staying with me. What you don't know is why. Very few people do. Only Dumbledore, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and a goblin do. Oh, and Ollivander. But he's a different reason. We want to tell you and Hagrid, and possibly Professor McGonagall if necessary, but no one else for now."
"Not even Ron or Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Maybe Hermione if she doesn't side with Ron, but given what I have surveyed over the last two years that is unlikely. Ron has made it very clear he didn't approve of Ginny even being in the same house as me this summer."
"What have you observed?"
"I believe, but might be wrong, that Hermione has a crush on Ron."
"Ooh, juicy blackmail!" George said. "We can use that later. So what is this secret?"
"Ginny and I had to stay in contact this summer as much as possible. That was why she was with me. Yes, even in bed." He added, to the questioning looks on the twins faces. "This going to be a problem?"
"Oh no, you're the only person we trust with our sister. We know she's safe with you. We don't even trust ourselves - look at where our pranking gets us!"
"Thank you boys." Ginny said sweetly, smiling serenely at them.
"So why the need for contact?" Fred asked.
"Dumbledore mentioned a bond in the progress of completion. It was only a few days into summer that we found out what it was. The manager of Gringotts, Ragnok, sent us a letter, inviting us to see him. He is the goblin who knows. Apparently, on the 1st July this summer, we completed a soul bond. You sure you're okay about me and Ginny being together?" He asked uncertainly.
"Positive."
"Absolutely."
"Good. As Harry seems to be scared of what you might do to him, I'll continue." Ginny said, pushing on his chest to sit up slightly. "The bond had to be completed with an act of true love. In our case, our first kiss."
"I can see why he's concerned."
"Yep. Don't worry Harry, we won't hurt you."
"Thanks guys." Harry said, relief evident in his voice. "But it gets more interesting. Ragnok had lots of information about the bond. Apparently, it affords us full majority thus allowing access to my vaults and breaking the trace."
"Why does it do that?"
"Because, it means we are married." Ginny said.
"Oh."
"That's going a bit far."
"But I still don't think physical violence is necessary."
"No."
"We may just need a little chat with our new brother in law in private later on."
"Yes, physical violence isn't necessary."
"Just pranking,"
"Possible public humiliation," Harry was starting to get scared.
"And maybe some merciless teasing."
"Don't worry Gin-Gin, we won't hurt your husband."
"But who would have thought little Ginny, youngest of seven, the baby if you will (though we shouldn't say it to her face if we value our virtue), would be the first in our family to marry."
"Cut it out boys." She growled, twirling her wand threateningly.
"All right."
"Yeah, no one wants to be on the receiving end of your bat-bogey hex."
While this was happening, Harry had paled considerably. Now he spoke up. "Okay we can chat later but now, you must know the rest of the story. We headed down to our vaults, my family one first, where we found a letter. We then went to my other one, the Gryffindor Vault. I could enter. I am the true heir of Gryffindor."
"Well there's a bombshell."
"That chat might not be necessary."
"No, nor public humiliation."
"No, Ginny is probably safe."
"But what's to stop some pranking?"
"Or merciless teasing?"
"Nothing at all, my wonderful brother."
"We'll have to consider that."
"I do so like the way you think."
"Boys! Concentrate!" Ginny said.
Harry continued. "We also found a letter here. This one mentioned a secret room in Hogwarts with his portrait. We are going there tomorrow after lessons, then we'll take you next time. The letter in my parents vault, was from my mum, but had some parts from dad. He said he wanted me to 'continue his marauder pranking legacy'. We were wondering if you knew anything about them."
At the word 'marauder', Fred and George shared a glance. Adding a few more privacy charms to the door and window, Fred said, "What do you know about the marauders?"
"Nothing, but it seems my dad was one."
"This is a little secret of ours, the secret to our success." George continued, pulling out a piece of parchment. "A little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." The man at the window stirred a little at the name Moony, but stayed asleep. Fred tapped it with his wand and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
Lines started drawing across it, creating a map of Hogwarts. At the top it read,
The Marauders Map
Created by Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
"Wow, they must have been good, to have this." Harry commented.
"It gets better. When the school is occupied, all live beings are marked on the map, moving in time with where they are in the castle. Also, it will give you the password to any restricted area."
"No wonder you can pull off pranks flawlessly." Ginny said.
"We stole it from Filch in our first year. Didn't have a clue who the four of them were, but I guess one was your dad Harry."
"I may have more of an idea, but we'll need to be even more private." Harry replied, gesturing to the sleeping adult in the corner. "I'm not sure if we can definitely trust him. Also, at school Ginny and I will be dating, but we are going to try and avoid anything about our marriage getting out."
"Sensible."
"I concur." Harry and Ginny just laughed at the formal front the twins were putting on, they knew it was there way of being serious for once without sounding too much like it.
Soon the snack lady came by, and the four started planning pranks they could pull for the next year. Harry also remembered to tell Fred and George about how to open the Monster Book of Monsters - "You just need to stroke the spine."
"Oh of course!"
"We should have thought of that."
"The spine makes perfect sense!"
"Wonder who set a monster book?"
"Wouldn't have been Kettleburn, but I didn't think she was planning on retiring."
Harry cut in. "We got them as gifts from Hagrid, so he must have known we would need them. We can ask him who set them when we next see him."
"A wonderful idea!"
Nearer the end of the journey, about thirty minutes out of Hogsmeade Station, on a long sweeping viaduct, the train stopped. As one, the lights flickered out, plunging the train into darkness, and the windows started frosting up.
"I'm going to ask the driver what is happening." George said, however no sooner had he reached the door, than a cloaked figure appeared outside it. It reached a spidery hand out, pushing the door open, yet somehow never seemed to make contact with it. George was pushed back into his seat by a mysterious invisible force.
"Quiet!" Barked a hoarse voice from the rear of the compartment.
Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harry could hear movements in the corner. None of them spoke.
By this point, the cloaked figure had opened the door. Its hood covered its face completely, much like the magical cloaks that he and Ginny had used over the summer.. Harry's eyes darted downwards, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.
And then it drew in a startling, rattling, deep breath, that seemed to freeze the compartment. Harry started drowning in cold. Far away, he could hear someone screaming. He wanted to help them, but couldn't move from a thick white fog. It swirled around him, inside him...
When she saw her husband collapse to the floor, Ginny started getting extremely worried. While she had no doubts that something out to hurt them could not have gotten on the train, Harry had come to be a sort of saviour for her. As independent as she was, her previous year had severely knocked her confidence. Him not being able to protect himself, let alone her, made her worry more.
As the creature drew closer, she started feeling colder, and memories of the chamber started flashing through her mind. Memories better off not relived. She started shaking and shivering, and curled up, trying to protect herself in some way from the memories.
The Professor who had until recently been asleep, stood up, and taking a step towards the creature, said "None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks."
When it still didn't leave, but continued closer to Harry, he waved his wand in an intricate pattern and muttered something under his breath, that none of the compartment's occupants could hear. A white image appeared out the end of his wand, pushing the creature back, but Ginny was drowning in too many memories to see what it was.
As soon as the creature left, warmth starting seeping back into the compartment as the frost retreated, allowing Ginny to regain control of her body and temporarily push the memories from her mind. She knelt next to her unconscious husband, and started trying to wake him up.
"Harry! Harry! Are you alright?"
Someone was slapping his face.
"W-what?"
Harry opened his eyes. There were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking, showing that the Hogwarts Express had started moving. Ginny was kneeling next to him, with Professor Lupin standing over them and the twins sitting on one of the benches in the compartment.
He pulled himself back onto a seat, with Ginny next to him. She wrapped her arms around him.
"What was that? What happened? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed." Fred said.
Professor Lupin spoke up. "That was a dementor. Here, eat this, it will help." He said as he broke up a large chunk of chocolate. He handed it to each of them. Then, as if to demonstrate, ate some himself.
"Nastily vile creatures. Guards of Azkaban. Looking for Sirius Black. They suck all the positive thoughts out of you, leaving you with your worst memories, and force you to relive them every second you are near one. Excuse me, I must talk to the driver." He left the compartment.
"But didn't any of you fall off your seats?" Harry asked awkwardly.
Ginny answered. "No. And nobody could hear any screaming. But you heard what Professor Lupin said. And you probably have the worst memories out of all of us."
"I guess so. But I don't know where it was from."
"Ginny was pretty bad too." George spoke up. "Shaking like mad. Guess they were from the end of last year..." He trailed off.
"Yeah. Being in Harry's arms helps keep nightmares away, but nothing can get rid of memories."
"Its the same for me. Sleeping with Ginny in my arms keeps away nightmares, and now trying to sleep on my own they return worse than ever." The twins looked solemn at that pronouncement.
They didn't talk much the remainder of the way to the castle.