(A/N: It's been a while since I wrote one of these. Sorry the last chapter was kinda angsty, it just sorta came out that way. It'll get better, but it will get worse also. WARNING!!! People die here. I promise it won't be one of the Dream Team, not in this year. But children die here, and it's killing me to write, so it'll be very vague. I finally have a deadline for myself. I will post EVERY full moon, and only on full moons. Any chapters finished before then will wait until the next moon.)

Chapter 16

Missing Puzzle Pieces

Ginny tossed in her sleep, trying to escape from her dream, but her mind wouldn't let her.

The were woods, then darkness, then green light. A grave, but her eyes were blurred with- was that tears? She couldn't read the name. She threw herself across the bed, wanting out of here.

"Four, to two, to one. To the last descending son." A voice. Was it male or female? Was it both? She couldn't tell. Her hangings had been torn down by her thrashing. "Four, to two, to one. To the last descending sun."

She jerked into a sitting position, completely awake. She stared ahead, her eyes wide, sweat beads running down her face. She was cold, despite the sweat she had worked up with her thrashing. Then, she said a word that would have made her mother very upset. She closed her eyes. A single thought penetrated her mind. Harry.

Her bed was a disaster area, and she untangled herself from the sheets and crept out the door. Once she made it to Harry's dorm, she didn't open the door. Instead, she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. 'Ginny, think for a moment what he just went through. This isn't something to bother him with.' And yet... It felt like, like a message. Not for her, or at least not just for her, but for both of them.

The door beside her opened. She jerked up only to see Harry pulling his robe on. She blushed furiously, thankful it was dark.

"Hello Rose. Sal woke me. She said, and I quote, 'There's a tangled bunch of emotions outside the door that could only be Ginny.'" He sat down beside her. "Now what brought you all the way over here, and then you thought wasn't important enough to wake me up for?"

She couldn't help but smile slightly. 'Gods, I love him.' "It was a nightmare."

She could hardly see him nod. "Tell me about it."

"First, it was woods. Then, it was dark, blackness. Then green light. They were just visions, really fast and back and forth. Other things too, but that's all that I remember. Then, I was in front of a grave. I couldn't see the name, my eyes were blurred. I think I was crying. But I'm not sure if I was really me. Like, it was somebody who felt much different. All the visions left. I was, nowhere. Then this voice. I couldn't even tell if it was male of female. It was," she paused "un-earthly."

"What did it say?"

"Four, to two, to one. To the last descending sun."

"Which kind of son?"

"I, I don't know. I just wanted out of it. It had this inhuman feeling. I jerked awake, and all I could think to do was find you. It-" she stopped.

"It what?" he prompted.

"It felt like, like a message. But if it was for me, then it wasn't only for me. That's why I had to tell you. I think it was meant for you to hear."

"I know what you mean. Write it down, Ginny. And tell me if it happens again. It is asleep that we are most vulnerable to the greater magics, you know."

"Where'd you get that?"

She couldn't see him smile, but she heard it in his voice. "Some book."

Ginny made her way back to her room. She pulled out her diary, and turned to the back page. In purple ink, she wrote 'Four, to two, to one, to the last descending sun/son'. Then, she turned to her current page, and wrote the whole dream down. She was exhausted when she finished, and was glad she would be able to sleep in the next morning.

Harry went back to his bed, but sleep was hard coming. He pondered Ginny's dream for a while. It was bothering him, he didn't know why. As he drifted in and out of semi-consciousness, and strong thought popped suddenly in his head. It had come so strong and sudden, Harry had no idea where it had come from. Almost as if it wasn't his.

A single word. 'Why.' It was a part of that puzzle that hadn't left him since his meeting with Sirius and Heather. Sitting up quickly, he began talking to Sally about it in quiet Parseltongue.

Hermione and Ron weren't sure how to act around Harry the next morning. Harry on the other hand, acted like everything was completely normal. At some points, he could be caught staring off into space, his eyes troubled.

Ginny woke up near ten, the circles under her eyes indicating that she hadn't slept very well. There was a message posted on the bulletin board that made her moan.

Quidditch Tryouts ~ Monday Night ~ Team Must Be Present

"Nooooo," she whimpered, falling into a chair.

"What is it G- Rose?" Hermione asked.

"I'll never be ready by tomorrow," she whispered.

"Pfff," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "You were ready yesterday."

She shook her head. "Ginny, I didn't know you were trying." Ron looked at her. "Was that what you were doing with Ha- Bear's broom?"

She nodded. "I wish I had just one more day."

"Well, we have today. I'll go practice with you. It won't be favoritism until tomorrow," he said with a wink.

"I- could we?"

He nodded. "Let's go."

They practiced all afternoon, and Harry didn't score half as much as he wanted too. He wasn't a great chaser, but he was good. 'Dad was a chaser,' he thought. 'I should try to make him proud.' "Alright, Rose. I'm not holding anything back now."

She nodded grimly as though she thought it would now get twice as hard. 'She thinks too much of me. I wasn't really holding back before.'

He rocketed forward, faked right, then left, then went right. He shot, then cursed himself as he realized she would be able to block it. She attempted, but it flew right past her. From bellow, it would have looked like an honest miss, but Harry saw through it.

'She was protecting my pride,' he realized and grinned. Reclaiming the ball, he flew back to his starting position. "I'm going to do the exact same play again, and this time don't protect my pride from a blow."

She flushed, smiled very slightly, and nodded. Harry flew forward, faked right, then shot left. Ginny stopped it easily. "You're a lair, Harry Potter." She accused with a grin.

"My lovely Rose, whatever are you talking about?"

Laughing she though the ball at him, not really trying to hit him. He let it speed past him and fall to the ground. "I'm sorry, Rose, but I'm ready to quit."

"Me too," she said. "I wasn't going to stop until you did though."

"I have something else to do tonight."

"The sword again?" she asked her eyes narrowing. "I saw you tuck it under the bleachers with your cloak. And I saw it the night I was out here with Fred and George. What are you doing? It could be dangerous."

Harry looked at her astonished for a moment. The he sighed. "Come on, I'll show you."

As Harry pulled the cloak around them, Ginny felt her breath catch. She was so close to him. 'I'd trip on purpose if it wouldn't make me look so stupid,' she thought while her heart attempted to beat it's self out of her chest. She was almost sure he could hear it.

They near the woods, and Ginny stopped short. "We aren't going in there, are we?" she asked in a frightened whisper.

"Only the edge. You can hold my hand." The way he said it showed it wasn't meant to be insulting, but rather comforting. Without waiting for her to answer, he took her hand. Ginny really wasn't that scared, but she wasn't about to pull away. He lead them into a small clearing near the edge.

Ginny looked around as he took the cloak off. There wasn't really anything special about this place. Harry walked over to a tree, and pull books out from inside it. He set them on the near rock, and Ginny kneeled down to read them.

"So your learning how to use that sword. Don't you think you should have started with some beginner books? These are for experts."

Harry unsheathed the sword that was now around his waist. He held it in front of him for a moment, then began moving.

'I'm gonna die...'

Moving wasn't quite the word. Dancing was more like it. He started slow, and began to get faster. He moved with every amount of certainty, even when a move may have been fatal if not done correctly. At some point Ginny forgot to breathe, and had to remind herself when her head began to feel light.

'He's so beautiful.'

Harry stopped with a particularly large leap and stood completely still, panting hard. After a moment, he pulled his shirt off and wiped his sweaty face with it.

'Breathe Ginny, breathe. You've seen guys without shirts on before.'

'Yeah, but never Harry, and sweaty on top of it.'

She forced herself to look only at his face, and didn't say a word. Color rose in his face, but Ginny thought it had more to do with how much he had just pushed his body, not a blush.

"It's the sword," he said through his deep breaths. "It has magic. As long as I know what I'm trying to do, the sword lets me do it. I don't think it really gives me more strength or endurance, but it cuts out the practicing a move. My endurance increases only as I train. That's why I come out here. To practice."

"Bloody hell," was all Ginny managed. Harry walked slowly around the clearing to cool down. "Bloody hell."

Harry stopped when he was across from her and gave her a look. When Ginny realized what she said she clamped a hand over her mouth. Harry grinned at her. Walking foreword, he handed the sword to her. She held it for a moment, tracing his name on it.

"It's so light," she whispered, as though it was a holy thing and speaking too loudly would damage it.

"That has to be magic too, those stones would make it heavy if nothing else."

Harry realized with a start he wasn't wearing his shirt. He made no move to put it back on, he was much too hot, but he turned so that his right shoulder wasn't visible to Ginny. A large white scar was all that was left from the fang that has pierced it two years before. Seeing that could upset her.

As Ginny ran a finger up the blade, she felt a tingle go up her spine. "Would it work for anybody but you, do you think?" He suddenly gave she a studying look.

"Dunno. Try it." There was something, not wrong, but not right, about the way she held the sword. He couldn't place it.

"No way," she said handing it back to him carefully.

Harry wished she had held it longer. There was something bugging him at the back of his head. That bugging was familiar. Like-. 'Like last night. Why. This is involved in that Why. But I don't even know what's wrong with it.'

Ginny watched as a troubled look made it's way across Harry's face. "I wish I had an opponent to practice against," he said after a while.

"Sorry, no help from here. All I know is which end to not touch."

Harry laughed, and pulled his shirt back on.

'Oh well,' Ginny gave a mental sigh.

'The sword. She held it. Dumbledore couldn't. She held it. It didn't float back.' He suddenly stopped moving and stood, staring at nothing. Ginny kept her mouth shut, he seemed to be in deep thought.

'I'm willing to bet it would have let her use it too. But somehow I know it would never let Ron or Hermione.' He lifted the sword and stared at that. 'Why?'

"Harry?" He looked up at her.

'Do I tell her? No. It means something. Why. It's part of that.'

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," he said with a smile. Ginny knew it was fake, but she didn't say anything as he put the cloak back over them.

They made their way back to the castle. It was time for lunch, and Harry walked towards the dorm with that troubled look back on his face. He reached it, put his sword away and changed. Sally wasn't around. He headed for the great hall. Ginny had beat him there.

Harry walked up to the table. Sally wasn't there. "Hi Harry!" Ron said brightly. He had obviously noted the troubled expression, but Harry was too distracted to care.

"Hi." He turned, switching to his Parseltongue. "Sally!" he called.

Ginny looked up, startled that he was calling Sally. "What's he doing?" Ron asked. His question seemed loud now that the entire room had gone quiet at Harry's hiss.

"He's calling for Sally. Harry? What is it?"

"Sal!" he called once more before switching back to English. "I need to talk to her," he stated simply.

"Well there'sss no reason to be shouting your head off about it," Sally said from the door way. "I knew you needed me before you got in the building. I was making my way down here."

"Sal, we need to talk," Harry said in Parseltongue again. His eyes turned to Ginny.

"Go," Ginny said immediately. "I understand I can't over hear this one."

"You don't mind?" Harry hissed softly.

"Of course not. Why would I mind? If I need to know, you'll tell me."

"Thank you Rose." He didn't even realize that he hadn't switched back to English. Sally slid up to his neck, and already began hissing in his ear. Harry nodded, and walked out off the room.

Ginny was suddenly very aware of the entire room, including staff and Professor Dumbledore was staring at her. She turned very red, and then realized why they were staring.

"Miss. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said slowly. "Is there something you need to tell us?"

Ginny grimaced. "I'm not a Parselmouth, Professor. I only understand it, I can't speak it. It's because of the Chamber." No reason to explain that further. Professor McGonagall nodded slowly.

Dumbledore smiled and stood. "Well, now. That does make things interesting. Yes, yes, very interesting. Congratulations on your new found talent, Miss. Weasley. Though I am curious to know why this gift wasn't present last year."

Ginny was very aware of the fact that the whole room was listening. "I- Sal says it was because I blocked out what happened in the Chamber. But when Harry helped me get over that, I stopped blocking it."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see. Miss. Sally is something of a psychiatrist then, is she?"

Ginny hesitated, Harry didn't want people to know. Then Dumbledore locked her with his eyes and she knew she had to tell him. Harry would understand. "Sal is a magical snake. They all have a gifts. Sally's is to read emotions. She studies people, and she's very good at knowing what to say."

Dumbledore smiled again. "My, my. This just keeps getting better. A blessing in snake's skin. She may be exactly what Harry needs. Yes, just maybe."

Harry walked back in then, looking down and muttering to himself in Parseltongue. He was too distracted to notice everybody watching him. He sat down at the table, and hit his head on it a few times. Only then did he realize everybody was watching.

He was much too used to being the center of attention to be horribly embarrassed. "What is it?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore started, "what is troubling you so?"

Harry looked at him, and waited a moment before answering. "A puzzle, Professor. A puzzle that needs to be put together."

"I see, and is it coming together?"

"Not yet Professor. There are too many missing pieces. Some I believe, that you hold."

Professor Dumbledore took his time in answering. "I hold many pieces, Mr. Potter. I hope they are not to the puzzle you are solving, for that puzzle is a very complicated one. One I hope you don't start for many years. Though it appears that my hope is in vain, and in that case, it is not my place to give you the pieces."

Harry looked at him for a very long time. There was something about him right now, that made even the Professors feel like children near him. Harry said something in Parseltongue again, shaking his head. Ginny's eyebrows disappeared in her bangs.

Harry turned to Ginny. His eyes became soft, and then hard and guarded. He spoke slowly in Parseltongue. After a moment she nodded, then her eyes grew wide and hurt, after another moment she shook her head, tears in her eyes.

"No," she whispered softly, looking down. He said something else.

"I don't care!" she cried, then lowered her voice. "I don't care Harry, I don't. I never will." She held up the hand where Sally had bit her last night. Harry's hand rubbed the one that had been bloody the night before. "I don't care." His eyes lost their cold look, and became regretful.

"Thank you, Ginny," he said in English. Sally had left his neck, now on the floor, and he turned and walked off. Ginny watched his retreating back, then fell down to her seat, put her head in her arms, and cried. Ron and Hermione stared shocked, as did everybody else in the room. Even Dumbledore's eyes held surprise.

Sally slid up and licked Ginny's face. "Hush, Rossse. He doesssn't underssstand it. He hasssn't been loved for mossst of hisss life. He lovesss, and he underssstandsss that. But he doesssn't underssstand that othersss love him. He doesssn't want to know you would die for him in a heartbeat. That ssscaresss him. You sssaw hiss face. He didn't mean to hurt."

"I know, Sal. I know." Dumbledore watched with narrowed eyes.

"He loves you Ginny, don't forget it, and don't let him forget it either."

Ginny nodded in her arms, but still cried. Any attempt to comfort her or cheer her up was fended off by Sally. Not that Fred and George hadn't tried.

Ginny left soon after that, and headed for the lake.

"Rose?" came a voice from behind her. Ginny quickly wiped away her tear and put of a fake smile before turning.

"Yes Harry?"

Harry didn't respond verbally. Instead he walked foreword, and pulled her into a hug. She resisted at first, but then gave up and cried on his shoulder.

"I didn't mean any of those things, Ginny. I'm sorry. I didn't. When Sally said it looked like you were going to play a big part in this, I just didn't want you to get hurt. I thought if I could make you mad at me, you wouldn't help. I- I was trying to protect you."

Ginny only leaned in closer and cried harder. Harry comforted her as best as he could. He felt something very new in his chest as a result of holding her.

'Normal.' A voice in his head said. 'Completely normal. That just happens to guys when girls are too close.'

'But would it happen if you were holding Hermione?' another voice asked.

'Yes,' he told that voice firmly.

Ginny's sobbing was starting to fade. 'I'm such an idiot. She finally gets some confidence and then I go and shot it all down. She could be weeks in recovering from this.

Ginny's crying stopped, but Harry held her still. 'She needs the comfort.' The first voice rationalized. Somehow, he thought he heard the other voice laughing but he shoved it into the back of his head.

A tabby cat turned and headed back to the castle. Started indeed.