The Holly And The Ivy.
Disclaimer: Do you think I would be wasting my time on this if I were J.K Rowling? No way, I'd be working on book five. So you can all assume these do not belong to me (though I wish they did) and to J. K. Rowling.
She apparated still muttering angrily to herself and then cursed as she realised she was in the wrong place.
"This is starting to get very stupid." She walked along the road, her curiosity getting the better of her. Where was she? The snow was becoming thicker, she could barely see. She finally reached a sign declaring she was in `Drano Street'.
She couldn't see many houses and then a large dark shape loomed in front of her. Shuddering, wishing she had brought her cloak, she hurried towards it. Large ivy covered walls appeared surrounding the mansions grounds. Eventually she reached huge gate, covered in snow, ivy and moss. On the top of the black gate, in gold letters, was `Malfoy Manor.'
Must be the Malfoy's manor she thought. She edged closer, the gates wouldn't open. She used the unlocking charm and slipped in the gates, wondering why she was doing this. Draco's father hadn't been put in Azkaban, he had used the same reason as before, under the curse and I know I was wrong. He had got away from imprisonment very narrowly.
"Curse him to hell fires of hell!" her father came striding in, slamming the door behind him, obviously in a very bad mood. "If I can get him for one more thing, I'll get him in that cell if it takes me..."
"What are you on about Arthur?" Her mother appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, frowning slightly, holding a saucepan in her hands.
"That bastard..."
"Arthur, we don't use that sort of language in this house."
"That dirty rat, Malfoy isn't going to Azkaban," his face was full of anger. "He got off, oh so narrowly, if I had one more piece of evidence I'd have had him in that cell. Stupid idiot. Curse him to the banished realm of hell and fire."
"Arthur I understand your anger, but not that kind of language in front of the children."
"OK Molly," he stormed up the stairs, muttering furiously under his breath.
"Phew, Dad's sure got a bee in his bonnet."
"Yeah, Malfoy sure annoyed dad this time, but dad'll get him another time."
"Or someone will," Ron added, looking up from his chess game with Bill. "I think Harry'd stand a good chance of getting him in. He did really well in the Auror training programme. Broke all records, didn't he Ginny?"
She nodded, feeling proud of her soon to be husband.
"And that adds to the reason of you not being an Auror. That man is so dark and evil you would get killed. Now come and help me set the table," her mother's voice floated out the kitchen.
Sighing Ginny walked in to help her.
She walked slowly towards a room, that had light shining out and two figures were in. Finally she managed to reach a bush a few metres from the open window.
"Funny rumours going around Narcissa," she heard his voice come out the window. "Very strange they are too. Voldemort has informed me of all his plans, me being his right hand man, and somehow the information has leaked out into Dumbledore's ears. I would suspect Draco, only he is not in the with the Dark Lord, after Paul realised he was spying on us. In fact one rumour is so stupid it is unbelievable." He laughed. "One Death Eater claims he has seen Harry Potter alive and well. That is impossible, we killed fair and square last year, or the year before." His voice grew colder. "But my Lord believes there may be some truth behind this. He saw, he killed Harry and he thinks this ridiculous rumour has some truth in it. Everybody knows that Ginny survived, and if he were alive surely she would know? But our new plan, our new plan is brilliant and ingenious. Alive or dead Harry is Ginny's wife and so he must love her. So if we capture her Harry would surely come back and rescue
her? And so we are to make plans to kidnap Ginny, and that shall be easy, she lives by herself. With one wizard and one Muggle family either side. They will be taken care of, easily." He laughed again. "And this is our plan." He went into detailed description of Voldemort's new plan to capture her.
Ginny listened carefully and when he moved on to another subjects she disapparated and appeared at Hogsmeade. It was so cold, if only she had brought her cloak.
"There is a story of a rare thing, a rare event. It is the tale of Tiger Lily the princess. Tiger, as I'll call her, had a husband Ben. They loved each other very much and each was beautiful. Tiger Lily was the most beautiful woman on earth, many powerful men wanted her but Tiger remained loyal to Ben. At this time, there was an evil wizard, like You Know Who, only You Know Who was much worse. He had heard of Tiger's beauty and came up to her palace and then he wanted her with all his heart. Many people feared this wizard, because he did what You Know Who did, only much You Know Who was much worse. He killed his enemies and their families and killed people when he was bored. It is believed he founded the killing curse. So he did the one thing he was good at, he killed Ben and Tiger's children and forced her to be his wife. She was very upset over the loss of Ben and although she remained beautiful, she was full of sorrow and didn't say anything. But she had a bracelet, the
last thing Ben had given her, about a month before he was killed. She discovered one morning that if she stared at the diamond in the design, she would see past memories of Ben and herself. Before he was killed. Things she saw like the feasts they had, the birth of their children, their marriage. She became happier and kept it secret from her forced evil husband. But one day he found out, he raged at her ad in his fury he chucked it into the fire, and when he took it out, all ruined he threw it into the deepest well he knew of. Tiger Lily cried for days and became even sadder and then a month later her husband woke up and found that in her sorrow she had killed herself." Her mother finished the story and looked at her seven children, all over five. "Time for bed now." Moaning that they wanted more stories they climbed up into their bedrooms and fell asleep.
So maybe, maybe her bracelet is like Tiger Lily's except it can show her what Harry is doing. Maybe Tiger Lily made another to show another sorrowed person over the death of her lover and that she's got it. But it can't show the past memories because he is alive and so it shows Ginny his present time.
Still shivering, pulling her robes closer, she walked up to Hogwarts, hoping,
praying Dumbledore was in.
Treading carefully over the icy path, she opened the heavy oak door and traced the steps to Dumbledore's office. She reached the stone gargoyle and realised she didn't have the password. What was it Harry had said? That Dumbledore used sweet names?
"Sherbet lemon?" she asked tentatively. "Cockroach cluster? Sugar quill? Ice Mice? Pepper Imps? Oh, heck. Lollipop? Just open won't you? Canary cream?"
The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the staircase. "Canary cream! I was only joking!" She walked up the winding stone stairs. She reached the heavy oak door and knocked on it. There was no answer. Opening the door she peered around and saw he wasn't in. She sat in one of the chairs, beside the perch Fawkes, the phoenix. He was shining brightly and pruning himself. She pulled out the box and took out the bracelet. It was quite warm, so it warned her that another vision was coming. She stared back at the diamond and as always, the mist began to clear, and she was back in the uncomforting room.
"What?" she heard Harry's voice cry. "They're going to kidnap Ginny? Are you sure? Oh, damn, I'll need to get Dumbledore's advice on this one. I also need to go and see him anyway, I need to find out when I can stop hiding and go home."
The robed figure beside Harry nodded and she could barely hear his voice.
"He's still at the ministry. When will he be back? Oh great, I'll go soon, and who knows, might find the time to use the cloak and see Ginny and our child."
The robed figure slipped out the room. Harry turned back to his desk and started writing. The mist started to thicken and then Ginny slipped it back into the box and waited. She noticed a mirror and her curiosity again got the better of her. She noticed it had `erised' written all over it. She stepped in front of it and gasped. She could see herself and Harry with three children all smiling and waving back at her. She reached out to touch them and her fingers touched glass. She watched them for a while before returning to the seat, sensing that Dumbledore would be here soon.
When he arrived she told him everything she had overheard at the manor and before she got to ask him about Harry, she gave a small yelp of pain. Something very hot had burned her thigh. She took out the box and touched the bracelet. It was boiling hot. Warily she watched as the mist cleared and she saw Harry.
"You've got a visitor Potter." A cheery man appeared in the door, with a dark robed figure behind him. As the cheery man left the robed figure drew out his wand and hissed, "I've waited a long time for this Harry, a very long time. Can't you remember me? Your memory must be poor, I'm Goyle, Harry. Stupid, thick, strong Goyle. But I was never stupid, I just hid it behind me. Malfoy should be here, not me. But Malfoy turned good and almost got his father in Azkaban, stupid idiot. He decided his loyalties lie with Dumbledore instead of his master. But now I'm here and I'm going to kill you Potter. Revenge will be sweet after many years of wanting and loathing." He raised his wand and Ginny watched helplessly wanting to scream her mouth slightly open but no sound coming out. She watched despairingly, wanted to help but she couldn't.
"Avada..."Goyle started.
Then the bracelet started glowing brightly and shaking, the image was shaking.
"What the hell is going on?" Goyle yelled, as large burn marks appeared all over his body and his wand disappeared in flames.
She saw Harry watch with a puzzled expression on his face and then he yelled, "STUPEFY!" and Goyle fell onto the ground, Stunned.
The bracelet stopped glowing and the image faded with the glowing and inside Ginny's head blackness started taking over and she fainted.
"You know the story about Tiger Lily, I told you last week?"
"Yes!" came several eager cries.
"I found something else out, but this part of the story shall be short. During the months of sorrow she went through after her husband threw it down the deepest well. She would have killed herself that very day but Tiger was a kind and caring soul. She wanted to help someone in the future, whose husband had gone or been killed so she made another bracelet. The bracelet was almost identical to her own, except the part that would go round her wrist was gold, hers had been silver. She tested it out and found it worked. The next night she killed herself using a poison."
"But what happened to the bracelet?" George asked, wide eyed, and for once he seemed to be taking something seriously.
"No one knows," her mother said in a mystical voice. "No reliable sources from that time tell us. Tiger Lily left no note. But we know what she called the ring, and a song she wrote with it. Have you ever heard of the Christmas carol The Holly and The Ivy?" They all shook her heads and she flicked her wand and music began to play and voices sing. When it had finished she continued. "There is evidence that Tiger wrote this carol in her own depression. The holly bears a berry as red as any blood, the holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn, the holly bears a bark as bitter as a gall." She paused again. "Those a words in the carol and many believe Tiger wrote this carol and named her ring after it, The Holly And The Ivy. No one knows where the bracelet is. Many think it is hidden somewhere, many think the bracelet will find it's way to those who need it. Go on now, bed time."
"NO!" They all cried. "We want more."
"If you don't be good children and go to bed I'll not tell you any stories for a week." Groaning they walked up to their bedrooms and fell asleep thinking of the bracelet.
Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. Sunlight was flooding through. She noticed Dumbledore sitting by her bed.
"What happened?" she asked, remembering what had happened.
"I do believe you have found Tiger Lily's bracelet."
(A/N. Oh my god! What a coincidence! I wonder why on earth I put the flashback stories in?!)
"Somehow it fell into your possession, it knew it was needed. And what happened," Dumbledore continued, "was something like on the night Harry died, only different. Your love was so strong that somehow it forced its way through the diamond and helped him. You're the one that burned Goyle's body and set alight his wand. And I believe the effort was quite too much for you and then you fainted."
"Where is Harry?"
The twinkle faded in his eye and his face grew serious. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you, or what he is doing and why he faked his death. But he is alive and if this new plan of his goes well, well we'll see."
OK, Ok, I know. That was the worst chapter of the lot and that ending was rubbish and the bit when she explained to Dumbledore was so out of his character but review and you'll get the next chapter. It might get weirder but somehow it will all work out. And I got the lines out of the carol, amazingly and made up the bit about Tiger Lily.
Disclaimer: Do you think I would be wasting my time on this if I were J.K Rowling? No way, I'd be working on book five. So you can all assume these do not belong to me (though I wish they did) and to J. K. Rowling.
She apparated still muttering angrily to herself and then cursed as she realised she was in the wrong place.
"This is starting to get very stupid." She walked along the road, her curiosity getting the better of her. Where was she? The snow was becoming thicker, she could barely see. She finally reached a sign declaring she was in `Drano Street'.
She couldn't see many houses and then a large dark shape loomed in front of her. Shuddering, wishing she had brought her cloak, she hurried towards it. Large ivy covered walls appeared surrounding the mansions grounds. Eventually she reached huge gate, covered in snow, ivy and moss. On the top of the black gate, in gold letters, was `Malfoy Manor.'
Must be the Malfoy's manor she thought. She edged closer, the gates wouldn't open. She used the unlocking charm and slipped in the gates, wondering why she was doing this. Draco's father hadn't been put in Azkaban, he had used the same reason as before, under the curse and I know I was wrong. He had got away from imprisonment very narrowly.
"Curse him to hell fires of hell!" her father came striding in, slamming the door behind him, obviously in a very bad mood. "If I can get him for one more thing, I'll get him in that cell if it takes me..."
"What are you on about Arthur?" Her mother appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, frowning slightly, holding a saucepan in her hands.
"That bastard..."
"Arthur, we don't use that sort of language in this house."
"That dirty rat, Malfoy isn't going to Azkaban," his face was full of anger. "He got off, oh so narrowly, if I had one more piece of evidence I'd have had him in that cell. Stupid idiot. Curse him to the banished realm of hell and fire."
"Arthur I understand your anger, but not that kind of language in front of the children."
"OK Molly," he stormed up the stairs, muttering furiously under his breath.
"Phew, Dad's sure got a bee in his bonnet."
"Yeah, Malfoy sure annoyed dad this time, but dad'll get him another time."
"Or someone will," Ron added, looking up from his chess game with Bill. "I think Harry'd stand a good chance of getting him in. He did really well in the Auror training programme. Broke all records, didn't he Ginny?"
She nodded, feeling proud of her soon to be husband.
"And that adds to the reason of you not being an Auror. That man is so dark and evil you would get killed. Now come and help me set the table," her mother's voice floated out the kitchen.
Sighing Ginny walked in to help her.
She walked slowly towards a room, that had light shining out and two figures were in. Finally she managed to reach a bush a few metres from the open window.
"Funny rumours going around Narcissa," she heard his voice come out the window. "Very strange they are too. Voldemort has informed me of all his plans, me being his right hand man, and somehow the information has leaked out into Dumbledore's ears. I would suspect Draco, only he is not in the with the Dark Lord, after Paul realised he was spying on us. In fact one rumour is so stupid it is unbelievable." He laughed. "One Death Eater claims he has seen Harry Potter alive and well. That is impossible, we killed fair and square last year, or the year before." His voice grew colder. "But my Lord believes there may be some truth behind this. He saw, he killed Harry and he thinks this ridiculous rumour has some truth in it. Everybody knows that Ginny survived, and if he were alive surely she would know? But our new plan, our new plan is brilliant and ingenious. Alive or dead Harry is Ginny's wife and so he must love her. So if we capture her Harry would surely come back and rescue
her? And so we are to make plans to kidnap Ginny, and that shall be easy, she lives by herself. With one wizard and one Muggle family either side. They will be taken care of, easily." He laughed again. "And this is our plan." He went into detailed description of Voldemort's new plan to capture her.
Ginny listened carefully and when he moved on to another subjects she disapparated and appeared at Hogsmeade. It was so cold, if only she had brought her cloak.
"There is a story of a rare thing, a rare event. It is the tale of Tiger Lily the princess. Tiger, as I'll call her, had a husband Ben. They loved each other very much and each was beautiful. Tiger Lily was the most beautiful woman on earth, many powerful men wanted her but Tiger remained loyal to Ben. At this time, there was an evil wizard, like You Know Who, only You Know Who was much worse. He had heard of Tiger's beauty and came up to her palace and then he wanted her with all his heart. Many people feared this wizard, because he did what You Know Who did, only much You Know Who was much worse. He killed his enemies and their families and killed people when he was bored. It is believed he founded the killing curse. So he did the one thing he was good at, he killed Ben and Tiger's children and forced her to be his wife. She was very upset over the loss of Ben and although she remained beautiful, she was full of sorrow and didn't say anything. But she had a bracelet, the
last thing Ben had given her, about a month before he was killed. She discovered one morning that if she stared at the diamond in the design, she would see past memories of Ben and herself. Before he was killed. Things she saw like the feasts they had, the birth of their children, their marriage. She became happier and kept it secret from her forced evil husband. But one day he found out, he raged at her ad in his fury he chucked it into the fire, and when he took it out, all ruined he threw it into the deepest well he knew of. Tiger Lily cried for days and became even sadder and then a month later her husband woke up and found that in her sorrow she had killed herself." Her mother finished the story and looked at her seven children, all over five. "Time for bed now." Moaning that they wanted more stories they climbed up into their bedrooms and fell asleep.
So maybe, maybe her bracelet is like Tiger Lily's except it can show her what Harry is doing. Maybe Tiger Lily made another to show another sorrowed person over the death of her lover and that she's got it. But it can't show the past memories because he is alive and so it shows Ginny his present time.
Still shivering, pulling her robes closer, she walked up to Hogwarts, hoping,
praying Dumbledore was in.
Treading carefully over the icy path, she opened the heavy oak door and traced the steps to Dumbledore's office. She reached the stone gargoyle and realised she didn't have the password. What was it Harry had said? That Dumbledore used sweet names?
"Sherbet lemon?" she asked tentatively. "Cockroach cluster? Sugar quill? Ice Mice? Pepper Imps? Oh, heck. Lollipop? Just open won't you? Canary cream?"
The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the staircase. "Canary cream! I was only joking!" She walked up the winding stone stairs. She reached the heavy oak door and knocked on it. There was no answer. Opening the door she peered around and saw he wasn't in. She sat in one of the chairs, beside the perch Fawkes, the phoenix. He was shining brightly and pruning himself. She pulled out the box and took out the bracelet. It was quite warm, so it warned her that another vision was coming. She stared back at the diamond and as always, the mist began to clear, and she was back in the uncomforting room.
"What?" she heard Harry's voice cry. "They're going to kidnap Ginny? Are you sure? Oh, damn, I'll need to get Dumbledore's advice on this one. I also need to go and see him anyway, I need to find out when I can stop hiding and go home."
The robed figure beside Harry nodded and she could barely hear his voice.
"He's still at the ministry. When will he be back? Oh great, I'll go soon, and who knows, might find the time to use the cloak and see Ginny and our child."
The robed figure slipped out the room. Harry turned back to his desk and started writing. The mist started to thicken and then Ginny slipped it back into the box and waited. She noticed a mirror and her curiosity again got the better of her. She noticed it had `erised' written all over it. She stepped in front of it and gasped. She could see herself and Harry with three children all smiling and waving back at her. She reached out to touch them and her fingers touched glass. She watched them for a while before returning to the seat, sensing that Dumbledore would be here soon.
When he arrived she told him everything she had overheard at the manor and before she got to ask him about Harry, she gave a small yelp of pain. Something very hot had burned her thigh. She took out the box and touched the bracelet. It was boiling hot. Warily she watched as the mist cleared and she saw Harry.
"You've got a visitor Potter." A cheery man appeared in the door, with a dark robed figure behind him. As the cheery man left the robed figure drew out his wand and hissed, "I've waited a long time for this Harry, a very long time. Can't you remember me? Your memory must be poor, I'm Goyle, Harry. Stupid, thick, strong Goyle. But I was never stupid, I just hid it behind me. Malfoy should be here, not me. But Malfoy turned good and almost got his father in Azkaban, stupid idiot. He decided his loyalties lie with Dumbledore instead of his master. But now I'm here and I'm going to kill you Potter. Revenge will be sweet after many years of wanting and loathing." He raised his wand and Ginny watched helplessly wanting to scream her mouth slightly open but no sound coming out. She watched despairingly, wanted to help but she couldn't.
"Avada..."Goyle started.
Then the bracelet started glowing brightly and shaking, the image was shaking.
"What the hell is going on?" Goyle yelled, as large burn marks appeared all over his body and his wand disappeared in flames.
She saw Harry watch with a puzzled expression on his face and then he yelled, "STUPEFY!" and Goyle fell onto the ground, Stunned.
The bracelet stopped glowing and the image faded with the glowing and inside Ginny's head blackness started taking over and she fainted.
"You know the story about Tiger Lily, I told you last week?"
"Yes!" came several eager cries.
"I found something else out, but this part of the story shall be short. During the months of sorrow she went through after her husband threw it down the deepest well. She would have killed herself that very day but Tiger was a kind and caring soul. She wanted to help someone in the future, whose husband had gone or been killed so she made another bracelet. The bracelet was almost identical to her own, except the part that would go round her wrist was gold, hers had been silver. She tested it out and found it worked. The next night she killed herself using a poison."
"But what happened to the bracelet?" George asked, wide eyed, and for once he seemed to be taking something seriously.
"No one knows," her mother said in a mystical voice. "No reliable sources from that time tell us. Tiger Lily left no note. But we know what she called the ring, and a song she wrote with it. Have you ever heard of the Christmas carol The Holly and The Ivy?" They all shook her heads and she flicked her wand and music began to play and voices sing. When it had finished she continued. "There is evidence that Tiger wrote this carol in her own depression. The holly bears a berry as red as any blood, the holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn, the holly bears a bark as bitter as a gall." She paused again. "Those a words in the carol and many believe Tiger wrote this carol and named her ring after it, The Holly And The Ivy. No one knows where the bracelet is. Many think it is hidden somewhere, many think the bracelet will find it's way to those who need it. Go on now, bed time."
"NO!" They all cried. "We want more."
"If you don't be good children and go to bed I'll not tell you any stories for a week." Groaning they walked up to their bedrooms and fell asleep thinking of the bracelet.
Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. Sunlight was flooding through. She noticed Dumbledore sitting by her bed.
"What happened?" she asked, remembering what had happened.
"I do believe you have found Tiger Lily's bracelet."
(A/N. Oh my god! What a coincidence! I wonder why on earth I put the flashback stories in?!)
"Somehow it fell into your possession, it knew it was needed. And what happened," Dumbledore continued, "was something like on the night Harry died, only different. Your love was so strong that somehow it forced its way through the diamond and helped him. You're the one that burned Goyle's body and set alight his wand. And I believe the effort was quite too much for you and then you fainted."
"Where is Harry?"
The twinkle faded in his eye and his face grew serious. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you, or what he is doing and why he faked his death. But he is alive and if this new plan of his goes well, well we'll see."
OK, Ok, I know. That was the worst chapter of the lot and that ending was rubbish and the bit when she explained to Dumbledore was so out of his character but review and you'll get the next chapter. It might get weirder but somehow it will all work out. And I got the lines out of the carol, amazingly and made up the bit about Tiger Lily.