Chapter 6: Terrible, Yes, But Great
"Ooooo! Illegal German Chocolate!" Harry peeled the wrapping off of the candy. "I love wizard sweets as much as the next bloke, but there's something oddly satisfying about eating candy that's prohibited by the Government."
He broke open the chocolate egg and stuck a piece into his mouth.
"I can see where the glamour comes from," Ron said, sarcastically. "A piece of candy, that, if you're not careful, could cause you to choke on small pieces of plastic toy! Where do I find one?"
Harry simply stuck out his tongue at Ron as he began to put the toy from his Kinder egg together.
"Bugger! I have this one already. Stupid robot!" Harry tossed the toy clear across the table. "Oh well. Thanks anyway Hermione."
"Welcome. I remembered you saying something about them when you came back from travelling, so when I saw some in a store in Köln, I had to get them."
Harry unwrapped another egg and broke it open. "Oooo! A Pippin Took action figure! You even got the good Lord of the Rings ones!" Harry stuffed the chocolate into his mouth. As he was about to reach for another egg, Hedwig flew through the window.
"Bugger again! Stupid Fudge! Always interrupts when I'm having fun." Harry reached for the letter on Hedwig's leg as he finished off the last bits of his previous snack. His eyes scanned the page, rolling every once and a while.
"Hey Hermione. You didn't happen to fetch any Hippo snacks, did you?" Harry asked as he continued to read the letter.
"No. What, pray tell, is a Hippo snack?"
"The same thing as everything else Kinder makes: chocolate, hazelnut cream and wafer. But I like the name better." Harry threw her a grin over the top of the letter.
"What does Fudge want now?"
"To have passionate man-on-man sex with me. And he says Ginny can watch."
"OK, Potter, I think I'm going to retch."
Harry smiled widely. "Sorry, Ron. He wants me to forgo my vacation and stay at the Ministry. Dear Harry, blah blah blah, need you to stay, blah, blah, blah, lost without you, blah, blah, blah, paperwork piling up, blah, blah, blah, don't care if you have a life outside of the Ministry-" Harry trailed off. "Same old, same old."
"He's daft if he thinks you're going to sit around and not take your vacation. You've been planning this for months."
"I know. Though, my main reason for going has been brought back here, so I may be open to sticking around for a few more weeks."
"I thought you wanted to go to check some of the ruined Deatheater buildings and spend some time on the Rhine with Ginny."
"Those are just fringe benefits. I was going for the chocolate."
"I can see it one day. They'll be interviewing me about you, and they'll ask me to tell them some deep dark secret. And I'll be like 'Harry Potter is a closet chocoholic.'" Harry hit Ron in the arm.
"Can you just imagine? You say something about that and then all of Harry's groupies start sending him chocolate. You'd turn into a giant blemish!" Hermione said, starting to laugh. Harry joined in.
"And then, Fudge tries to get you to work by promising you chocolate every time you come in. Ultimate bribery," Ron added. Harry snorted in laughter, which sent Ron and Hermione into a deeper fit of giggles.
"Better yet, Voldemort decides to trick me by sending me chocolate. Some elaborate heart shaped box with truffles in it that he poisons." Harry laughed even harder at his own joke. Hermione was holding the table to support her self as Ron rolled on the floor, clutching his side.
It was in this position that Ginny found them, reeling in their own humor.
"What's so funny guys?"
"Harry, loves chocolate," Ron gasped out.
"So?"
"I do this interview about him for Witch Weekly or something. I tell the world Harry is this closet chocoholic." Ron broke down again, sending Hermione and Harry back into oblivion.
Ginny shook her head. Once the three of them got started, it was hard to calm them down.
"Holy - - shit! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time," Harry sputtered out, trying to contain his chuckles. "The heart-shaped box - - on the door step."
He started off again, Hermione and Ron right behind him.
*~*~*
The wind flew by Harry's ears and a deadly quiet enveloped him. He spun around trying to see anything, but there was nothing but darkness surrounding him. Suddenly a scream pierced the darkness.
"Ginny!"
The ground flew under his feet as he ran, but the screaming seemed to be getting farther away.
"Ginny! Where are you?"
"Harry!"
A green light caught his eye. He spun to face it, just in time to see Ginny collapse to the ground in a heap. The high, familiar laughter filled his ears.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed, bolting upright in his bed. Sweat poured down his forehead as he clawed at the sheets, his scar burning.
Pounding could be heard across the house as Hermione jumped from her bed and headed towards Harry's room.
"Harry! Harry, what's wrong?"
Hermione ran to his bedside.
"I need to go check on Ginny. Something's wrong, Hermione. I haven't had a dream like that in a long time."
"Harry, everything is fine."
Harry grabbed at his forehead as pain shot through him again.
"No, everything is not fine. He's up to something."
Harry pushed himself from his bed and threw on a shirt. With a pop, Harry was gone.
*~*~*
As Harry appeared in the burrow, the same deathly quiet enveloped him.
"Ginny?!" Silence. "Ginny!"
Squeaking bedsprings, then- "Harry?"
Harry barreled up the stairs. The lights clicked on in Molly and Arthur's bedroom as Ginny's door opened.
"Thank God, you're okay." Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny.
"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" Harry only pulled Ginny closer to him.
"Harry? What's wrong?" Molly asked, emerging from the bedroom.
"I had -- a dream. My scar -- started burning. Voldemort had killed Ginny," Harry sputtered.
He frantically tried to calm himself. Ron walked down from the attic, rubbing his eyes.
"Harry, mate, what's going on?"
A small pop distracted everyone as Hermione appeared on the landing of the steps.
*~*~*
"Harry, what are you doing?"
"Unpacking. I can't go now. There's too much going on, and after that dream yesterday night, there's no way I'm leaving England." Harry shoved the last of his previously packed shirts into his dresser. Ron just stood and gawked from the doorway.
"Harry, come one. The world will be okay while you go on vacation."
"Not to toot my own horn or anything, but no, it won't. Voldemort's plotting something with Ginny, and if I'm far enough away from the Ministry there will be no help for me."
"So what are you going to do, Harry? Sit around and wait for something to happen? And when something doesn't, lament yourself for not leaving?"
"No. I'm going to do something about all this."
"Like what, Harry?"
"You know I can't tell you, Ron."
"Oh, right, something with the Department of Mysteries! Well excuse me whilst I back off and let my best mate walk straight into his death. I, for one, am not going to let you go prancing into some elaborate Ministry scheme alone. If you're going to fight You-Know-Who, I'm coming with you."
"No, Ron, you're not. And neither are you, Hermione," Harry called out the door. They heard a sharp intake of breath and Hermione walked around the corner.
"Yes I am." Hermione crossed her arms across her chest.
"No you're not. Neither of you is going with me. I'm going with the Department and no one else. And I swear, if you guys tell Ginny, I'll disown you."
Harry threw a knapsack onto his bed and pulled a spare robe out from the dresser.
"You'll disown us, will you? I don't believe it. Not a word. We're going with you, Harry, and there's nothing you do about it."
"You guys come, and Ginny will be right behind you. I CANNOT have that happen. If you guys stay, you can keep her here and wait for me to get back."
"If you get back," Ron muttered under his breath.
"The "Dream Team" can't do this together this time. I have to go by myself. My destiny guys, not yours." Harry stuffed the robe into his knapsack and turned to the door.
"Destiny, Harry?! Why can't someone else handle it all for once?"
"It just doesn't work that way, Hermione. I wish it did." With those simple words, Harry gave Hermione and Ron a sad smile and disappeared.
*~*~*
"You lost him, Hermione? Lost him? Harry just doesn't disappear! You're lying."
"Lying, Ginny? Why would I lie to you?"
"Because you're hiding something. You saw him leave, didn't you? You knew he was leaving. And you didn't come get me. And he left without saying good bye. Dammit Hermione!" Ginny banged her fist on the table. "Where did he go, Hermione? I know you know."
"I DON'T know, Ginny. He wouldn't tell us. He just disappeared. He said something about destiny, gave us a smile, and disappeared. I couldn't track him, Lord knows I tried!" Hermione tried to fight back tears. "You think I didn't try to stop him, Ginny? You think we didn't plead with him to stay, or at least let us go with him?"
"You just let him leave. I can't believe you just let him leave." Ginny shook her head in disbelief.
"I didn't just let him leave!" Hermione screamed a bit louder than she meant to, but she couldn't care. "I tried to stop him, Ginny! You think I wanted him to leave? He's my best friend! If there was anything I could have done to stop him, Ginny, I would have!"
Hermione glared at Ginny with such malice that it scared her.
"As much as this little thing you have with Harry means to the both of you, that was my best friend of seven years who was telling me he was going off to fight Voldemort by himself! I swear, you only think of yourself!" Hermione turned quickly and started towards the door. She spun back around quickly.
"You think it hurts you that he's gone, try thinking about the fact that he's probably going to die, Ginny! My best friend, Ron's best friend, your boyfriend, is probably going to die out there. He's going to die trying to save the world so you, and Ron, and I and everyone else can live."
By this point, tears were flowing freely down Hermione's cheeks. She glared pointedly at Ginny, who was standing silently holding the couch for support. A silence passed between the two women, until Hermione saw a single tear fall down Ginny's face.
"He's going to die, Hermione." It was statement. There was no question.
Hermione shut her eyes against the words. She had already let her grief consume her all the previous night and most of the morning.
"He'll be okay, Ginny. He's strong. He'll take care of himself. He's Harry Potter." The words sounded empty coming from Hermione's lips. She walked carefully back towards the couch.
"Hermione. We're going to lose him."
The two collapsed to the couch heavily. They learned against each other for support.
"I know."
"Ooooo! Illegal German Chocolate!" Harry peeled the wrapping off of the candy. "I love wizard sweets as much as the next bloke, but there's something oddly satisfying about eating candy that's prohibited by the Government."
He broke open the chocolate egg and stuck a piece into his mouth.
"I can see where the glamour comes from," Ron said, sarcastically. "A piece of candy, that, if you're not careful, could cause you to choke on small pieces of plastic toy! Where do I find one?"
Harry simply stuck out his tongue at Ron as he began to put the toy from his Kinder egg together.
"Bugger! I have this one already. Stupid robot!" Harry tossed the toy clear across the table. "Oh well. Thanks anyway Hermione."
"Welcome. I remembered you saying something about them when you came back from travelling, so when I saw some in a store in Köln, I had to get them."
Harry unwrapped another egg and broke it open. "Oooo! A Pippin Took action figure! You even got the good Lord of the Rings ones!" Harry stuffed the chocolate into his mouth. As he was about to reach for another egg, Hedwig flew through the window.
"Bugger again! Stupid Fudge! Always interrupts when I'm having fun." Harry reached for the letter on Hedwig's leg as he finished off the last bits of his previous snack. His eyes scanned the page, rolling every once and a while.
"Hey Hermione. You didn't happen to fetch any Hippo snacks, did you?" Harry asked as he continued to read the letter.
"No. What, pray tell, is a Hippo snack?"
"The same thing as everything else Kinder makes: chocolate, hazelnut cream and wafer. But I like the name better." Harry threw her a grin over the top of the letter.
"What does Fudge want now?"
"To have passionate man-on-man sex with me. And he says Ginny can watch."
"OK, Potter, I think I'm going to retch."
Harry smiled widely. "Sorry, Ron. He wants me to forgo my vacation and stay at the Ministry. Dear Harry, blah blah blah, need you to stay, blah, blah, blah, lost without you, blah, blah, blah, paperwork piling up, blah, blah, blah, don't care if you have a life outside of the Ministry-" Harry trailed off. "Same old, same old."
"He's daft if he thinks you're going to sit around and not take your vacation. You've been planning this for months."
"I know. Though, my main reason for going has been brought back here, so I may be open to sticking around for a few more weeks."
"I thought you wanted to go to check some of the ruined Deatheater buildings and spend some time on the Rhine with Ginny."
"Those are just fringe benefits. I was going for the chocolate."
"I can see it one day. They'll be interviewing me about you, and they'll ask me to tell them some deep dark secret. And I'll be like 'Harry Potter is a closet chocoholic.'" Harry hit Ron in the arm.
"Can you just imagine? You say something about that and then all of Harry's groupies start sending him chocolate. You'd turn into a giant blemish!" Hermione said, starting to laugh. Harry joined in.
"And then, Fudge tries to get you to work by promising you chocolate every time you come in. Ultimate bribery," Ron added. Harry snorted in laughter, which sent Ron and Hermione into a deeper fit of giggles.
"Better yet, Voldemort decides to trick me by sending me chocolate. Some elaborate heart shaped box with truffles in it that he poisons." Harry laughed even harder at his own joke. Hermione was holding the table to support her self as Ron rolled on the floor, clutching his side.
It was in this position that Ginny found them, reeling in their own humor.
"What's so funny guys?"
"Harry, loves chocolate," Ron gasped out.
"So?"
"I do this interview about him for Witch Weekly or something. I tell the world Harry is this closet chocoholic." Ron broke down again, sending Hermione and Harry back into oblivion.
Ginny shook her head. Once the three of them got started, it was hard to calm them down.
"Holy - - shit! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time," Harry sputtered out, trying to contain his chuckles. "The heart-shaped box - - on the door step."
He started off again, Hermione and Ron right behind him.
*~*~*
The wind flew by Harry's ears and a deadly quiet enveloped him. He spun around trying to see anything, but there was nothing but darkness surrounding him. Suddenly a scream pierced the darkness.
"Ginny!"
The ground flew under his feet as he ran, but the screaming seemed to be getting farther away.
"Ginny! Where are you?"
"Harry!"
A green light caught his eye. He spun to face it, just in time to see Ginny collapse to the ground in a heap. The high, familiar laughter filled his ears.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed, bolting upright in his bed. Sweat poured down his forehead as he clawed at the sheets, his scar burning.
Pounding could be heard across the house as Hermione jumped from her bed and headed towards Harry's room.
"Harry! Harry, what's wrong?"
Hermione ran to his bedside.
"I need to go check on Ginny. Something's wrong, Hermione. I haven't had a dream like that in a long time."
"Harry, everything is fine."
Harry grabbed at his forehead as pain shot through him again.
"No, everything is not fine. He's up to something."
Harry pushed himself from his bed and threw on a shirt. With a pop, Harry was gone.
*~*~*
As Harry appeared in the burrow, the same deathly quiet enveloped him.
"Ginny?!" Silence. "Ginny!"
Squeaking bedsprings, then- "Harry?"
Harry barreled up the stairs. The lights clicked on in Molly and Arthur's bedroom as Ginny's door opened.
"Thank God, you're okay." Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny.
"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" Harry only pulled Ginny closer to him.
"Harry? What's wrong?" Molly asked, emerging from the bedroom.
"I had -- a dream. My scar -- started burning. Voldemort had killed Ginny," Harry sputtered.
He frantically tried to calm himself. Ron walked down from the attic, rubbing his eyes.
"Harry, mate, what's going on?"
A small pop distracted everyone as Hermione appeared on the landing of the steps.
*~*~*
"Harry, what are you doing?"
"Unpacking. I can't go now. There's too much going on, and after that dream yesterday night, there's no way I'm leaving England." Harry shoved the last of his previously packed shirts into his dresser. Ron just stood and gawked from the doorway.
"Harry, come one. The world will be okay while you go on vacation."
"Not to toot my own horn or anything, but no, it won't. Voldemort's plotting something with Ginny, and if I'm far enough away from the Ministry there will be no help for me."
"So what are you going to do, Harry? Sit around and wait for something to happen? And when something doesn't, lament yourself for not leaving?"
"No. I'm going to do something about all this."
"Like what, Harry?"
"You know I can't tell you, Ron."
"Oh, right, something with the Department of Mysteries! Well excuse me whilst I back off and let my best mate walk straight into his death. I, for one, am not going to let you go prancing into some elaborate Ministry scheme alone. If you're going to fight You-Know-Who, I'm coming with you."
"No, Ron, you're not. And neither are you, Hermione," Harry called out the door. They heard a sharp intake of breath and Hermione walked around the corner.
"Yes I am." Hermione crossed her arms across her chest.
"No you're not. Neither of you is going with me. I'm going with the Department and no one else. And I swear, if you guys tell Ginny, I'll disown you."
Harry threw a knapsack onto his bed and pulled a spare robe out from the dresser.
"You'll disown us, will you? I don't believe it. Not a word. We're going with you, Harry, and there's nothing you do about it."
"You guys come, and Ginny will be right behind you. I CANNOT have that happen. If you guys stay, you can keep her here and wait for me to get back."
"If you get back," Ron muttered under his breath.
"The "Dream Team" can't do this together this time. I have to go by myself. My destiny guys, not yours." Harry stuffed the robe into his knapsack and turned to the door.
"Destiny, Harry?! Why can't someone else handle it all for once?"
"It just doesn't work that way, Hermione. I wish it did." With those simple words, Harry gave Hermione and Ron a sad smile and disappeared.
*~*~*
"You lost him, Hermione? Lost him? Harry just doesn't disappear! You're lying."
"Lying, Ginny? Why would I lie to you?"
"Because you're hiding something. You saw him leave, didn't you? You knew he was leaving. And you didn't come get me. And he left without saying good bye. Dammit Hermione!" Ginny banged her fist on the table. "Where did he go, Hermione? I know you know."
"I DON'T know, Ginny. He wouldn't tell us. He just disappeared. He said something about destiny, gave us a smile, and disappeared. I couldn't track him, Lord knows I tried!" Hermione tried to fight back tears. "You think I didn't try to stop him, Ginny? You think we didn't plead with him to stay, or at least let us go with him?"
"You just let him leave. I can't believe you just let him leave." Ginny shook her head in disbelief.
"I didn't just let him leave!" Hermione screamed a bit louder than she meant to, but she couldn't care. "I tried to stop him, Ginny! You think I wanted him to leave? He's my best friend! If there was anything I could have done to stop him, Ginny, I would have!"
Hermione glared at Ginny with such malice that it scared her.
"As much as this little thing you have with Harry means to the both of you, that was my best friend of seven years who was telling me he was going off to fight Voldemort by himself! I swear, you only think of yourself!" Hermione turned quickly and started towards the door. She spun back around quickly.
"You think it hurts you that he's gone, try thinking about the fact that he's probably going to die, Ginny! My best friend, Ron's best friend, your boyfriend, is probably going to die out there. He's going to die trying to save the world so you, and Ron, and I and everyone else can live."
By this point, tears were flowing freely down Hermione's cheeks. She glared pointedly at Ginny, who was standing silently holding the couch for support. A silence passed between the two women, until Hermione saw a single tear fall down Ginny's face.
"He's going to die, Hermione." It was statement. There was no question.
Hermione shut her eyes against the words. She had already let her grief consume her all the previous night and most of the morning.
"He'll be okay, Ginny. He's strong. He'll take care of himself. He's Harry Potter." The words sounded empty coming from Hermione's lips. She walked carefully back towards the couch.
"Hermione. We're going to lose him."
The two collapsed to the couch heavily. They learned against each other for support.
"I know."