As ever, the characters and settings are unfortunately not mine, but JKR's. I'd appreciate reviews on this chapter - it didn't quite work out the way I planned…but I think I like it!
Next chapter coming soon.
The Charm
"Lumos," Harry muttered, peering at his watch through the darkness. It was four in the morning, and a familiar throbbing pain was beating through his scar. Wondering what Voldemort was up to, he rolled onto his side and shut his eyes again trying to block out the ache and go back to sleep, but it was useless. Disappearances were becoming almost commonplace, regularly reported in "The Daily Prophet," and Harry's scar was now bothering him more than it had ever done before as Voldemort's hold grew stronger. "But why now?" groaned Harry to himself. "It's the Quidditch match in a few hours time."
The past few days had been amongst the most difficult of those he had endured at Hogwarts. Since the embarrassment of colliding with Ginny Weasley in the corridor he had been trying to avoid her wherever possible. He knew that Ron was right; he couldn't put Ginny in danger with Voldemort just because of his feelings for her. Voldemort would have no hesitation in using those close to Harry to get at him, and after what had happened to Cedric, he couldn't run the risk. He shivered suddenly. He had to keep away from Ginny, for her own good.
The pain was increasing in intensity and he slid out of bed, into his dressing gown and headed downstairs to the common room so he didn't disturb the others. The Gryffindor Keeper at least, about to play in his first match for the house, needed an undisturbed night. Harry knew from experience that Ron would have enough to contend with in nervousness without being up for half the night as well. He padded down the stairs in bare feet, relieved to see the fire still burning in the hearth, casting flickering shadows around the room. Sinking into a chair right beside the flames, he rubbed his forehead. A sudden stabbing scorched through his head, making his eye socket feel as if it were about to explode. He gasped out loud. A previously unnoticed shadowy figure at the other side of the room moved cautiously towards him and into the light.
"Harry?"
The familiar flowing red hair was highlighted in a myriad of colours by the dancing flames of the fire, casting auburn shadows in its depths. Ginny stood hesitantly regarding him, clearly uncertain of what to do. He longed to reach out and touch her, but a fresh wave of pain overwhelmed him, driving the thought from his mind. As it subsided, he became aware of her kneeling beside him, hand on his shoulder, looking up at him with frightened eyes, full of concern.
"Harry?" she repeated, voice quivering.
"It's OK Ginny," he mumbled. "Just go to bed."
"No," she said stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you like this."
"Go to bed," he repeated, sounding exasperated this time. "It's just my scar, nothing new."
"I couldn't sleep," she said softly. "Harry, there's still that charm if you want to try it."
"No," he insisted. "I'm fine."
She looked at him sceptically.
"If this is 'fine' I'd hate to see you on a bad day. I don't know what I've done to upset you, but I want to help. Really I do." There was silence. Harry clutched his scar more tightly as a surge of agony shot through his head then faded. "Harry," she said seriously, "you can't face Voldemort like this. He'll kill you."
In shock he lifted his head to look at her. She had called Voldemort by name, something he'd never heard her do before. She was paler than usual, fear stamped across her features, but a hint of what he recognised clearly as Weasley determination lurking in the background.
"Ginny, I don't want you in danger because of me," he blurted out suddenly. "If anything happened to you…" his voice trailed away.
"And I don't want you in danger because of something I could have done but didn't," she pointed out gently. She looked at him steadily, reassuring him with her gaze. "We need to do this together, Harry. He'll never defeat trust because he doesn't understand it. Together we're stronger."
Harry breathed deeply, trying to think clearly though the pain. Her eyes, searching his, thawed the hardness of his heart.
"Try the charm," he said finally. "I trust you."
Settling herself carefully on the arm of his chair, she opened the ancient volume that Dumbledore had given her and scanned through the spell once more. Her lips were almost white with dread, hands shaking as she turned the page. Laying the book carefully aside, she scrutinised his face, swallowed and said,
"I'm not sure if this is going to hurt or not, but you're going to have to keep still."
"It can't hurt much more than it does already," said Harry lightly, trying to reassure her. "Harry," she said anxiously. "You need to really concentrate on me if this is going to work properly. We only get one shot at this."
Harry nodded slightly to show he understood and closed his eyes, focusing his entire mind on Ginny, forcing the stabbing pains aside.
He felt her hands, cool and calming against the agony in his forehead, brushing his hair aside, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine. A trembling finger traced his scar from the very beginning in his hair line, zigzagging down to the very tip, where it remained. Her wand connected with the other end of the scar and he heard the voice of the person he cared so much about cry out,
"Coniungo"
A warm, gentle sensation fluttered down his scar, spreading a soft glow through it, almost like sunshine on a summer's day. The feeling spread out, radiating through his head, pulsating softly deeper and deeper, driving the pain gradually away. Harry relaxed, thinking still of Ginny and feeling her close beside him. Just as steadily the charm began to fade away, leaving his head miraculously clear. The agony which had been tormenting him just a few moments ago seemed to have gone completely. He sensed Ginny moving beside him, noticed her slightly uneven breathing pleasantly drifting across his brow and a tingling touch as the very scar itself was brushed with a kiss.
Harry's eyes drifted open, smiling at her. She had turned beetroot red in sheer embarrassment and was holding her hand over her mouth in horror.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that last bit," she gulped. He grinned at her.
"Yes you should. It was very nice!" he admitted. Trying to ease her discomfort he laughed, "I'm just thankful Ron doesn't do that after he's been trying spells out on me. Anyway, your charm seems to have worked."
"It has?" she sounded startled.
"Yeah, no pain at all now. I don't suppose you can tell me what it was you did?"
"I could…" she sounded hesitant. "Now that we've done the charm I can show you, but I'm not sure what you're going to make of it."
She reached for the old and battered book, and held it in her hands, frowning slightly and clearly thinking carefully.
"It's one of a pair of charms," she began cautiously. "Both charms are ancient, I mean really ancient, from almost the beginning of time. They were designed to form a bond that links two people together and protect one or the other from harm." She paused, then added quietly, "I think you need to look at the one we didn't use, Harry."
She flicked through the book until she found the page she was looking for, then passed it across to him, her eyes anxiously fixed on his face. Harry was perplexed. What had this other charm got to do with him? He glanced at the book, and his eyes widened. It was entitled "Commendare Mori", and as he read and reread the page, he understood. He stared back at her in stunned disbelief.
"This is what my mum did for me?" he croaked, feeling dangerously close to tears. "This was how I survived all those years ago? She did this charm knowing it was the only way to keep me alive. She knew Voldemort was coming for them and he couldn't kill me if she died for me instead."
Ginny slid down next to him and held him in her arms, trying to comfort him. He rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed and struggling to regain control.
At last he looked at her, panic rising in his stomach.
"Ginny," he whispered. "Tell me about the charm you've just done."
He was relieved to see her smile.
"Nothing as drastic as that, I promise you," she said, pushing her hair out of her eyes and shaking her head. "What our charm has done is created some sort of bond between us, so that when Voldemort gets near you, you don't need to deal with the pain in your scar as well. I'm happy to take some or all of it if it'll save you." Her face was deadly serious and Harry knew she meant every word she'd just said.
As her hand fell back into her lap, something caught Harry's attention. He gave a little exclamation of surprise and caught hold of her left hand. Faintly in the firelight he could make out a ghostly mirror image of his own scar, running from the heel of Ginny's hand and across the inside of her wrist. She bit her lip.
"Ginny?"
"I knew it was going to happen," she admitted, pulling a face at him. "It's part of that bond I was telling you about. You've got rid of the ache in your scar, and I get a bit of a twinge in my wrist. Honestly Harry, it's fine. It's nothing like as severe as when you had it. The charm seems to lessen the pain somehow, and it's not even my wand hand, so it's not a problem," she finished defensively.
Harry was still staring at her wrist, hardly believing what he was seeing. Slowly he stretched out a finger and traced the image, zigzagging across her arm. Very gently he bent forward and kissed it, blushing almost as red as Ginny had earlier. She understood why he did it and was grateful.
"Thank you," he said gently.
Dawn was finally upon them, and murky rays of light lethargically began to creep their way into the common room. Ginny had her wand pointed at Harry and was struggling to keep a straight face.
"Let's get this straight," she reiterated in amusement. "You want me to put a spell on you to hurt you? All my dreams have come true at once!"
"Well, we've got to see if this works," Harry teased. "You never know you might have made a mistake somewhere and hurting me will turn you into a Cornish pixie or something." He winked at her, "I dare say that might be an improvement."
"Right then," she said with relish, and hit him with the tickling jinx. As he doubled over in laughter, Harry focused his mind totally on Ginny as the book had instructed, and felt a warmth in his scar as the charm did its work. She clutched her wrist briefly, in surprise rather than out of unpleasantness, and grinned over at him.
"Hmmm," Harry reflected thoughtfully, then an idea occurred to him. "Ginny, do you think it works the other way round?"
"Well there's no reason why it shouldn't," she replied, scanning through the pages for information. "What are you thinking?"
"Ginny," he said, his excitement mounting. "If it does work in reverse, you might be able to use it to deflect the Imperius curse on to me."
"Try it," she said firmly, eyes intent on him, desperate to find out more. "Oh Harry…" She didn't need to continue the sentence for him to understand. He knew how important this was. His heart beating quickly, he cast the curse on her, willing her to resist it. He saw her face screwed up in concentration, jaw clenched tightly shut. Out of nowhere he felt a dull, distant throb in his head, almost like the echo of being underwater. He watched Ginny; wondering, hoping. After a moment, instead of doing what he had commanded her to do, she opened her eyes wide, gazing at him in astonishment.
"It worked," she whispered, and both faces broke into identical grins of delight.
Tiredness forgotten, they sat together and talked, as the common room around them grew ever lighter. Harry found himself confiding in her about some of his fears, and his recent dreams about Voldemort's desire for his death.
"We're both living on borrowed time," she said seriously. "If it hadn't been for you he'd have killed me three years ago. I wanted to do this charm to protect you, like you saved me."
"I don't know what to say," he looked almost shyly at her. "What have I done to deserve you?" His eyes rested on her wrist again. The image of the lightning scar across her pale skin brought him back to reality rather suddenly. "I don't know what your brothers are going to say either," he groaned, realising that no one was going to overlook this particular charm for very long. Ron was certainly going to have a lot to say about it.
"Don't worry, I'll sort them out if they notice," she said, eyes glittering wickedly in anticipation. "I reckon my watch'll cover most of it, and you know how observant Ron is at the best of times." She laughed. "Mum already knows. I wrote to her about it a few days ago and got an owl back last night telling me to be careful but she understood why I wanted to do it. She's more worried about Dad and Percy right now though. There've been a lot of strange things happening at the Ministry." She shifted restlessly in her chair. "That's the real reason why I couldn't sleep last night," she explained.
"Ginny, people will be down soon," said Harry, checking his watch and getting to his feet. "If you give me a few minutes to get sorted with my Quidditch stuff, I think we need to send her an owl to let her know we're both OK. You can use Hedwig if you want."
She stood up too, smiling at him, and he pulled her close for a hug.
"Thank you," he whispered in her ear, feeling a real closeness with her. They understood each other, more than his words could express. As they separated, turning towards the stairwell, Harry froze. Ron stood there grimly, and judging by his expression, was absolutely furious.