A/N: Ok, here's the next part. Not much for me to say, really, except that I wanted to thank Firebolt909 for the assurance that this is not a cliche. To be perfectly honest, it's a real worry for me. Anyway, I also wanted to apologize for the way I ended this chapter. Hopefully I'll get the next one up soon, but don't yell at me if I don't. The new quarter starts tomorrow, so I'll probably have a lot of work coming my way. *sigh* Oh well. Here we go, then.
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
Chapter Five
A Fight and the Prophecy
Harry caught up with Hermione and Ron in the Great Hall at lunch. There was no chance to talk about his dream to the two without being overheard, so he kept silent, though his two friends shot him odd looks throughout. The rest of the day passed without incident. Harry was waiting for the right time to tell Ron and Hermione, who seemed to know this and didn't ask any questions. It was while sitting in front of the common room fire, waiting for everyone to go to bed, that he realized he hadn't thought much about Ginny today, what with all that he had on his mind. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen much of her today, either. He glanced around the people still left in the common room, but didn't see her anywhere. She must have gone up to bed early, he thought, but then remembered that he hadn't seen her since he'd been in the common room, right after dinner. She wasn't at dinner either . . . He pushed the thought from his mind before he started to worry. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself . . . even if I'd want to do that for her. He mentally groaned to himself, and turned back to his Potions homework.
After what seemed like ages, the common room was devoid of life, except
for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The two of them looked at him expectantly.
"Right, so you two are probably wondering why I ran out of History
of Magic this morning." The two of them nodded, not taking their eyes
off of him. "Well, I had a dream about Voldemort," he began, noticing
that Hermione let a small gasp escape her lips, and Ron winced at the name
of the Dark Lord. "Anyway, the dream itself was really short,"
he continued, then explained the dream to them, concluding with how he went
straight to Dumbledore and what the Headmaster had said to him. "So,"
Harry said, looking mostly at Hermione, "what was it that we went over
in History of Magic today?"
She opened her mouth to answer him, when they heard voices outside of the
entrance to the common room. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, with a look
telling them to keep their mouths shut about the discussion they had just
been having. They hadn't needed to be told however, and the three went about
looking like they were just up late studying as the portrait swung open
and the person stepped through the hole. Harry had the clearest view of
the entrance, and flushed slightly as he saw who it was . . . Ginny Weasley.
He glanced over at Ron, whose back was to the entrance. Harry could see
the confrontation coming, and wished he could be anywhere else. He glanced
back at Ginny, who had entered the room now and seemed to realize who was
there. He thought he could see her face lose some color when she recognized
the back of her brother's head, but attempted to make it to the girl's dorm
without being seen anyway. It was not meant to be, however, as Ron's curiosity
got the best of him and he turned around just as she had begun to walk.
"Virginia Marie Weasley, you get back here this instant!" he bellowed
as he recognized his sister.
At the sound of his voice, she had screeched to a halt. She turned around hesitantly, then seemed to resolve herself and headed toward the three with her head up and her eyes blazing. She came within a few feet of the three and said rather calmly, "what do you want Ron?"
He glared at her. "Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is? You should have been to bed hours ago!" he fumed.
The look on her face was almost identical to his. "Why does it matter where I've been? I have a life, you know. It shouldn't concern you." Her voice was cool and calm, though the look on her face betrayed her anger at her brother.
"But it does," Ron answered, his voice calmer, but deadly in a quiet way. "I'm your brother and I have to look out for you. If Mum and Dad knew you had been out this late, they would skin the both of us."
"You don't have to look out for me. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much."
Harry wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the temperature in the room seemed to have gone down 10 degrees due to the chill in her voice.
Ron was silent for a moment, sizing his sister up. "Have you been out with that slimy git-"
"Justin and I have been out for a walk, not that it's any of your business." Her voice had risen slightly as she interrupted Ron.
Harry knew it was rather improper, but the fire in her eyes just made her all the more attractive, and he couldn't get his mind off the sight of her standing there, the fire highlighting her hair, and causing her bright eyes to glow. In an attempt to rein in his thoughts, he glanced over at Hermione, who looked as helpless as he felt. There was no way for either of them to leave the scene gracefully, so they just sat silent, already forgotten by both siblings.
There seemed to be an oppressing silence as both of them stared at each other, seeming to dare the other to speak. Ron was the one who spoke next. "Gin," he sighed, his voice straining to remain calm and rational sounding, "look, you're just too young to date. Besides, everyone knows that Justin is untrustworthy."
If she was angry before, she was downright furious at those words. "Too young to date?" she asked, disbelieving. "Have you conveniently forgotten that you and Hermione were fifteen when you started dating?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "And as for Justin being untrustworthy, you're making that up. Justin is very trustworthy! I could tell him anything!" Harry thought he could see tears forming in her eyes but out of anger or pride, she refused to let them fall. It broke his heart to see.
Ron stared at her, stunned by her words. Nevertheless, he wouldn't let
up. "Hermione and I may have been younger when we started dating, but
you're different . . . ." Harry groaned to himself, knowing that they
were absolutely the wrong words to say.
"Why am I so different Ron?" she asked him, furiously. "Just
because I'm your little sister, who you can't allow to grow up?"
"It's not that," he mumbled, looking like he was being backed into a corner.
"Then what is it?" she asked, obviously at her wit's end.
"Look, Gin, it's just that I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't think I could stand it if you got hurt by him, or by any other guy. You're my little sister."
"Oh Ron," she said, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "I know that, it's just that there's nothing you can do about it. Getting hurt is part of life, and it's going to happen sooner or later." Harry thought he saw a shadow pass in front of her eyes, but it vanished a moment later and he couldn't be sure he'd seen it at all. "I understand what you're saying, but you've got to let me live my own life, ok? I'll always be your little sister, but you don't have to be my keeper."
Ron didn't look too happy about this, but accepted the hug from her. "Well," he grumbled, "I'll do the best I can, but old habits die hard. And if that bastard so much as looks at you wrong, there will be hell to pay."
She giggled at him. Harry secretly thought it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever heard. "I suppose that's the best I'm gonna get out of you." She sighed. "I suppose it'll have to do," she said, mocking him lightly. This earned a wry smile from Ron. Harry cleared his throat here, not wanting to interrupt this family moment, but his curiosity about the prophecy overcoming that. Ron and Ginny looked at him and Hermione, surprised at discovering that they had had an audience.
Harry smiled at them. "Sorry to interrupt and all, but Hermione was about to tell us something important."
They both blushed, and Ron answered. "Er, right."
Ginny looked uncomfortable. "Uh well, I'll just be going to bed then. Goodnight all." She started to head to the stairs.
Harry wasn't sure what made him speak up, but he didn't really want her to go. "Uh, why don't you stay Ginny. You might be able to help."
She turned sharply to look at him, as had Ron and Hermione. Confusion and surprise reigned supreme while the three of them looked at him, wondering at his motives. Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable with the stares, but he wasn't about to back down now. "Um," she said, having found her voice, "you want me to stay?"
"Uh, sure, why not? We can trust you, and besides, it might be good to get a different perspective on this, don't you think?" He had directed the last bit to Ron and Hermione, but he got no answer as they were staring at him, disbelief on their faces. He smiled encouragingly at them, and Hermione was the first to answer him.
"Er sure. You know what they say, 'four heads are better than three.'" There was a hint of a question in her voice, and her face told Harry he'd better explain himself later, but he ignored this and smiled big at her. He turned back to look at Ginny, waiting to see what she said.
She looked at him, her face still a bit timid. "Ok, I'll stay, if you want me to," she finally answered, then walked back over to where the three of them were, and sat down next to Harry, as there was there was no room on the loveseat that her brother was sharing with Hermione.
"Great," Harry answered and smiled at her. A moment later, she smiled back at him, and Harry thought his heart was going to break his ribcage. "Right then," he said, in an effort to get back to the task at hand, "it all started with a dream I had in History of Magic." He proceeded to fill her in on the dream and his trip to Dumbledore. She paid rapt attention to him, sometimes asking questions of him, and other times just murmuring assent at what he said. Pretty soon, both had forgotten that there were two other people in the room. He had just finished, and was preparing to ask her what she thought, when he heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat. Startled, he turned to see Ron and Hermione looking at him, very different expressions on their face. Hermione seemed a bit puzzled, with a touch of amusement in her eyes, while Ron clearly looked bewildered. Harry figured he'd better start including them in the conversation if he didn't want to look suspicious. "So when you came in," he said to Ginny, "Hermione was just about to tell us what was actually being taught in class." He looked at her, prompting her to speak up.
She did a moment later. "Right. Professor Binns' lesson today was about the prophetess Celestia Moon, who lived during the eleventh century, right before the Normans conquered England. Anyway, her prophecies were characteristically short, unrhymed, and they tended to involve astronomical metaphors."
"Oh yes," Ginny said, "I seem to remember Binns mentioning her when discussing one of the Goblin rebellions, the fifth, I believe."
Hermione nodded, frowning as she concentrated. "Yep, that's the one."
Harry jumped in here, trying to steer the conversation back to the particular prophecy. "Did she write a lot of them?" he asked Hermione.
She shook her head. "No. According to Binns'-and I'm paraphrasing, of course," she added, with a grin, "she was more concerned with quality over quantity. If I'm not much mistaken, there's a book with all of her prophecies in the library."
"Well," Ron said, jumping in, "that should make finding the one You-Know-Who was referring to easier to find."
"Right," Harry added. "Who's going to go get it?"
"Now?" asked Hermione and Ginny, as though he was mad.
He nodded, a grin on his face. "No time like the present."
***
It was decided that Harry and Hermione should go get the book in the library-Harry because he had the Invisibility Cloak and Hermione because it was felt that she would be able to locate the book quickest. On the way there, Hermione asked Harry a question that had obviously been bothering her. "Harry, what made you ask Ginny to help? Not that I mind," she added hastily, "Ginny's my friend too, it's just that I never thought you wanted anyone other than the three of us to know about your dreams."
While she spoke, he mentally scrambling for an answer other than, I think I like her. She stopped speaking, and Harry knew he had to answer her. He shrugged, hoping to appear nonchalant. "Oh, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
She was quiet for a minute, and Harry thought that she might have bought his act. So, when she spoke again, she surprised him. "You like her, don't you?" she asked quietly.
He looked up at her, rather more sharply than he had intended. "What?"
She smiled at him. "Oh Harry, I'm not blind you know. It's so obvious. I saw the way you were looking at her. And when you were telling her of your dream, it was like Ron and I weren't even in the room."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled. But even as he said it, he could feel his face flush as he tried to avoid looking her right in the eyes.
She just laughed. "There's no point in denying it. You're just worried that I'll tell Ron, aren't you?"
He sighed, then nodded in answer to her question.
"Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."
"Not even Ginny?"
"Not even Ginny."
"Good. Thanks Hermione."
"You're welcome."
They were silent as they entered the library. Hermione found the book without incident, then the two of them headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione was the one who broke the silence. "So," she whispered as they walked, "what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm not going to," he said firmly. "She's with Justin, and I'm not going to go and ruin that for her."
Hermione looked a bit startled at his conviction, but then just smiled. "I don't think she'll be with Justin much longer," she said knowingly.
This caused Harry to look at her. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused. As far as he could tell, Justin and Ginny were very happy together.
She smiled at him. "Ginny's not blind either," she said by way of answer.
Before Harry could ask her what she'd meant, they had arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry glanced around to make sure they were alone before removing the cloak and saying the password to get in. The portrait swung open and they entered to find Ginny and Ron engrossed in a conversation that halted as soon as they realized they were no longer alone. Harry could see that whatever they had been talking about seemed to have cheered Ron up considerably, though he thought that Ginny looked a bit down. Her face brightened somewhat as she saw that Harry and Hermione were back with the book in question. Without a word, the four of them took seats next to each other and sat the book down in the middle. Harry opened the book and the four began to look through the prophecies, remaining silent as they read.
It took about half an hour before they finally hit upon something. Or, to be exact, they found the prophecy. Hermione was the first to realize it, as her gasp was testament to that fact, but the others weren't far behind. It was clear to see that this one had to be about Harry. They all read through the prophecy, which read:
The Boy Who Lived, when others perished, is the Sun, holding off the darkness. But the dark shall come again. The Sun cannot defeat the dark alone. He must have the other allies of the sky, and only then will it be defeated-with much to lose, and much to gain.
To face the darkness, he must join with the Turner-his Brighid. When the Sun and the Moon are in alignment, the sky's allies will come together to defeat the darkness. A sacrifice will be made, loyalty will be tested, and love discovered. Only with the ties that bind will the Sun rise again. The Boy shall become a Man.
The four of them looked at each other. "So," Harry said at
last, "what do you suppose that means?"