Chapter twenty-eight:
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR – except this twisting, mad plot!
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Harry had lost count of how many times he had been to Dumbledore's office in three days. Ron was with him as he went up to Dumbledore's office that night. Fred had come out onto the Quidditch pitch and as soon as Harry saw him, from high atop his broom, he understood. It had been a long time since he and Ron were outside.
It was time.
The moon had climbed the sky and was now right above them, bright white against the clear night sky. Ron had seen Fred, too and both, he and Harry wordlessly ended their game and descended.
Now that Harry was on his way to Dumbledore's office, he tried to keep a grip on himself and his thoughts. He couldn't be nervous just then. His hands balled into fists inside his cloak pockets. He glanced at Ron, slightly nervous, to see that Ron's ears were quite red, though his face was pale. Harry looked away quickly. He just hoped everything would be okay.
They stepped into Dumbledore's office to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing beside Dumbledore near the fireplace, expressions of intense worry on their faces.
'Harry,' said Mrs. Weasley, seeming as if she were about to spring on Harry.
'Please come in,' said Dumbledore, his voice completely serious. Harry approached Dumbledore slowly, his questioning gaze lingering on Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Dumbledore turned to Ron, Hermione and Fred.
'Please wait in the next room,' he said, in a low voice. When they left, there was a short silence before Arthur Weasley spoke up.
'Harry,' he said, pausing, 'I…I can't tell you how…grateful…I mean…what you did for Ginny before –'
Before Harry could answer, Mrs. Weasley spoke up, stammering and sobbing dryly but with tears lining her eyes.
'Yes, Harry…I…I didn't know…I mean…I…she's my little girl and I…I don't want her to…' She was sobbing uncontrollably and Mr. Weasley put an arm around her.
'…I don't want anything to happen to her…please…please…can you get her…b-back…'
Mrs. Weasley seemed to be in partial shock and Harry couldn't answer but just stare at her through worried and nervous eyes.
Mr. Weasley guided his wife to an armchair and she sat down slowly, while her eyes never left Harry, the pleading look in them piercing Harry.
'It's okay, Molly…' Mr. Weasley said to his wife in a soothing voice, sounding more confident, though, than he felt.
Dumbledore glanced at Harry and Harry looked up, their eyes meeting for only a few moments. Harry glanced at Mrs. Weasley, then, his courage and determination mounting, reaching higher levels, he walked to her side and placed his hand on hers.
'Ginny will be okay, Mrs. Weasley, I promise.'
Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Dumbledore turn away. He turned back to Mrs. Weasley to find her looking back at him, with a new hope in her eyes. Harry managed to smile at her slightly.
'I promise,' he said again and Mrs. Weasley nodded after a moment, her eyes bright and thankful to their very depths. Words were no longer needed for communication, it seemed.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and Harry looked up. Dumbledore still had his back turned to the rest of them.
'Harry, please come with me. It is time.'
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Harry entered the chamber where Ginny was to find it more candles burning than before and that Ginny's bed had been moved towards the center of the room. Another small bed was placed close to hers with a small gap in between.
Harry noted Ron and the twins – Fred and George in the room, standing to a side. Hermione sat by Ginny's side and she got up when the Headmaster arrived with Harry and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Bill, Charlie and Percy seemed to have left already and Harry was vaguely thankful for that.
Dumbledore turned to Harry.
'Harry, will you please extend you arm? This requires an amount to blood from both of you,' he said, glancing at Ginny. As Harry nodded understandingly, extending his arm, he involuntarily recalled the events of the previous year… on the night of the Third Task of the TriWizard Tournament, when Peter Pettigrew had pierced his arm with a dagger…taken his blood… to help Voldemort rise again.
Harry glanced at Ginny, lying on the next bed. Voldemort had done that to her. And he was walking the earth because of his, Harry's, blood. Harry felt anger rise in him. He wouldn't let that happen, he thought fiercely. He glanced at Ron and Hermione, who were looking at him anxiously as Dumbledore, being as gentle as he could, took blood from a small cut in Harry's arm. Would he ever be able to see his friends again? He thought.
Ron stared back at him fixedly and Hermione seemed as if she would burst into tears any moment. Harry forced himself to look away from them and felt a prickling at the corners in his eyes. He had to remain calm, he reminded himself.
Dumbledore healed the cut and the next thing Harry saw were two, small hemispheres placed on the table beside him. They were the halves of his Charmzirius, separated, and each contained an equal amount of a shimmering, grayish green, gel-like substance - Zirius.
Dumbledore raised the vial containing Harry's blood and turned to Harry.
'Harry,' he said clearly, gazing at him through deep and serious blue eyes, 'Are your intentions clear and do you promise that your purpose over, you will return to the World of Mortals?'
Harry realized the magical significance of the words and nodded.
'Yes,' he managed. Dumbledore nodded briefly and tipped the vial, letting the exact amount of a drop of blood drip into one half of the Charmzirius. Instantly, there was a fizzling sound, the Zirius turned blood red, then the deepest blue and finally, the color faded until it was completely transparent. Dumbledore watched it intently for a moment and then turned to Ginny. Harry hadn't realized he had been holding his breath and when Dumbledore turned to Ginny, he relaxed a bit. It was working so far.
Dumbledore extracted some blood from Ginny's arm, too, and repeated the process with the other half of the Charmzirius. As Harry watched the color fade from it, too, his chest seemed to constrict – not from fear – or regret – or second thought but from the gravity of the situation and what he was about to do.
Dumbledore turned to Harry.
'You know what you have to do', he said in a low voice, as if not intending for the others to overhear. 'Remember what I told you. You will come back.'
Harry nodded and stood up. He took out a folded envelop from his pocket and handed to Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed to have understood whom it was for and he quickly pocketed it.
Nobody seemed to know what to say and Harry felt as if time had stopped. Everyone was standing there before him, looking at him, their eyes wide and worried –
Then Ron suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Harry in a hug. All the awkwardness seemed to have melted away instantly… Harry hugged Ron back, holding his friend tightly. Ron stood back and looked at Harry. His eyes were wide and scared.
'See you, mate,' was the only thing he could manage to say, his voice heavy. Hermione nodded at his side, tears silently streaming down her face with worry. Harry managed to smile at them, nodded and turned away before they could see the tears lining his eyes.
Dumbledore turned to Hermione, Ron and George.
'I'm afraid you will have to go for now. I cannot predict what may happen but just for a few moments, I ask you to step outside. You can come back in when I call you.'
Ron looked as if would have protested but then, he nodded and looking up at Harry and his sister for one last time, he turned and went out with Hermione at his side and George behind them. The door of the chamber closed, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore, Harry and Ginny in the room. Dumbledore waved his wand. Many candles were extinguished as a result and the room suddenly lay in half darkness, the only light shining around the two beds in the center of the room. Mr. Weasley had his arm around Mrs. Weasley comfortingly as he watched Dumbledore.
Dumbledore turned to Harry, who looked up at him. Harry understood but turned to Ginny's bed. Dumbledore paused and there was complete silence.
Harry gazed at Ginny, not knowing what to think or do. He knew what he had to and he wouldn't turn back now. The sight of her, so weak, so lifeless, lying on the bed seemed made him even more determined to save her – even if he had to die to do that.
He stepped forwards and slowly sat down by her bed, wanting just to look at her. Maybe it would be the last time he would ever look at her…that he'd ever be able to see her beautiful eyes again…or hold her hand…
Harry watched her lying in the bed, seeming so peaceful but Harry knew the cold reality. She was sinking into death with every passing second. There was very little time… he remembered Dumbledore's words.
With that one last thought, Harry slowly reached out and touched her cheek, brushing his fingers across her cold skin. She was still beautiful to him. He, then, bent and softly brushed his lips across her frigid cheek, wishing he could warm them. But he knew there was only one way he could possibly do that now.
Desperate to see her alive, he kissed her cheek once again and then, as if steeling himself, reaching the final conclusion, he stood up, leaving her cold hand and turned to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore looked at him for a moment and then motioned to Harry to sit down on the other bed, while not meeting his eyes. Harry did as he was told so. There was no more time to be wasted.
Dumbledore turned to Harry and handed him the one half of the Charmzirius. He went to Ginny's bedside and supported her head while lifting the other half of the Charmzirius to her lips. Mrs. Weasley sobbed suddenly.
Dumbledore turned to Harry, who was now looking at him, holding his own half of the Charmzirius. Dumbledore held Harry's gaze for a moment, tried to manage a small smile and then nodded.
Dumbledore turned back to Ginny.
This was it, Harry thought, raising the small hemisphere to his lips. And he saw Dumbledore administering the other half to Ginny, he tipped his own half, letting the sparkling, transparent liquid slide down his throat. It burned his throat and made him feel as if he was being hit by countless Cruciatus curses. But he made no sound; the room swam before his eyes. He vaguely saw Dumbledore turning to him, an expression of deep worry on his face and then, the pain ebbed away, his thoughts vanished as his mind became blank and then…he knew no more.
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It was dark. Darker than anything or anywhere else. The darkness seemed to mock and glare and close in. There was not the merest trace of light of any type and nothing except that overwhelming darkness existed.
And yet, everything seemed to be spinning and there was pain, lot of it.
Harry tried to open his eyes. The spinning seemed to have stopped and the pain was slowly ebbing away. Finally he was able to think properly.
Where was he? He thought instantly. Had he made it? The last thing he remembered had been the semi-dark room with Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley…Ginny lying on the other bed…and the terrible pain.
Harry wondered if he even was alive. Was he dead already? Had the pain killed him?
Then he raised his hand and almost gasped at what he saw before him, luminescent in the dark. The mere outline of his hand seemed to have remained and where his flesh would have been, there was only a hazy, white substance, like smoke. He looked at his other hand, as he lay. He was made entirely out of a strange, smoky substance but with clear outlines. He felt very light, as if he was in his dreams, floating about. He closed his fingers around his other hand to see that they seemed to flow through each other. There was only the slightest sensation that his fingers had touched his hands but apart from that, he felt like air. It was as if he was a ghost but with some amount of feeling still remaining in him so that he could sense, touch and feel.
So this what it was like to be a soul, he realized. He had made it. He was in the World of Souls in the form of a soul. His own soul.
Harry looked around, trying to understand what he was lying on. It seemed hard and flat, as he was lying on it, but it was, like his surroundings, completely black.
Harry tried to stood up and realized he could so easily, just as if he were alive – but in a different form. When he stood up, the blackness seemed to be massive. It stretched in all directions. Harry almost felt dizzy and wondered if this was how it felt to be blind.
He took a cautious step forwards, into further darkness. He paused, not knowing what to do. What now? He wondered.
And then, as if answering his thoughts, there was aloud rumbling sound, as if from far away. Harry tensed, trying to hear where it had come from.
And then, he didn't have to wonder anymore, as there was another rumble, louder this time and it had come from directly above him. He looked up to see that the darkness had vanished. The sky, or whatever the blackness was, changed suddenly. It turned gray and began swirling, the black mixing into the gray like two paints mixing into one…swirling. Harry felt dizzy and scared watching the gigantic mass swirling above him. There was a loud crack and pain shot through him.
The next moment, a bright light flashed a few feet or so from him. Harry shielded his eyes from it and when the light vanished, only an instant later, he moved his hands from eyes.
For a moment, he was completely shocked. A mass of something grayish white lay on the black floor, a few feet from him. Harry suddenly realized what was seeing and he rushed forwards, dropping to his knees beside the grayish mass. Its color was lighter than his own, almost transparent but there was a definite outline. It moved but only slightly.
Harry reached out, encountering the wispy gray mass of material before him. He could feel it and, trying to clear his mind, he turned the mass over.
He was staring into the ghostly face of Ginny Weasley.
Author's Notes:
Okay, that was chapter twenty-eight. I'm sorry I've left you at another cliffhanger but that was as far as I could go. I'm leaving for Pakistan in about five hours and I don't think I can proceed any further. I would have loved nothing better than to complete this part but my mother is getting terribly upset now! If I don't move, I may find myself grounded and then, this chapter might not even make it online! So, you see, I've got to go for now.
Thanks for all the awesome reviews! I'll be sure to mention all reviewers in the next chapter.
About the next chapter, I hope it comes out soon but I really can't promise you anything in less than a week from now. Really. In the night, I managed to get about half of the next chapter done and the remaining half, I will try to do when I get to my home.
I've to join school as soon as I get back to Pakistan, the very next day in fact, unpack my luggage and settle into the first days of the new school year. It may take up to a week – at the very least.
So, please, can you wait for a bit and not mind? I'll try to put it up very, very quickly.
Until then, wish me luck and don't forget to review! See you…bye bye…bonjour! Masalaama…