Chapter 17
Ginny finally regained her voice and kneeled on the floor in front of Harry, placing herself between Harry's eyes and Ron.
"Harry, what happened?" she asked gently, looking into his fear filled green eyes.
She heard sounds behind her as Hermione helped Ron to his feet and out the portrait hole, both of them in shock and not saying a word to either of them.
"Harry, please answer me" she begged him
Slowly his eyes lost some of the terror they held and he locked his gaze with hers.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him, but I just can't control it sometimes and I end up doing things I regret, he startled me and I was afraid, I had to protect you and I couldn't control it" he muttered quietly, his voice trembling as he whispered the words before his gaze fell to the floor, still trembling violently.
Just then, the entrance of the common room burst open to reveal Sirius and Dumbledore, both nervous and agitated looking.
"Harry, are you alright? The students were in quite a state as they entered the great hall" said Dumbledore as he cautiously approached the chair with Sirius on his heels.
Harry just continued to tremble unceasingly and kept his eyes trained on the floor before him, not answering the headmasters' question.
Dumbledore sighed heavily and turned to Sirius.
"Perhaps you were right Sirius, maybe Harry isn't ready for all of this quite yet, why don't you take him down to your rooms and Miss. Weasley can go down and join the other students at breakfast"
"Yes headmaster, come on Harry, lets get you settled" he said in a resigned voice as he looked at his godson.
"No!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing Harry's hand in her own "He didn't mean to do it, he was asleep and Ron startled him when he woke him up" she tried to explain hopefully
"That may be the case Ginny, but the fact still remains that he may not be ready to face classes and the other students yet" said Sirius, his expression tortured at having to say those things about his best friends son.
"He's ready I tell you! I know he is, please give him a chance" she begged the two older men, her hand still gripping Harry's fiercely, as though afraid she might loose him again if she were to let go.
Sirius looked like he was about to counter her words when a voice from beside her spoke up.
"Please sir, let me stay, I didn't mean what happened, he just startled me, please don't make me leave" his eyes never left the floor and his voice was never above that of a whisper, but his words echoed around the empty room like he had screamed them, pleading with the headmaster and his godfather.
Sirius looked completely floored by the fact that Harry had spoken, and he could only stare at his godson in amazement.
"Are you sure Harry?" asked Dumbledore worriedly
Harry nodded his head and Ginny squeezed his hand in reassurance.
"You can tell them if you want Gin" he told the girl, looking into her face
She smiled at him and nodded her own head before turning to look at the confused men behind her.
"Could I speak to you for a moment outside" she asked them as she stood and without waiting for their answer she made her way to the portrait hole.
Curiosity winning over, they followed her in silence and when they reached the hallway Dumbledore spoke up.
"What do you wish to tell us Ginny?" he asked kindly, looking at the red headed girl before him.
"Last night, Harry told me a little about what happened while he was gone" she began and continued to tell them everything he had confided in her the night before and concluding with what had happened between Harry and Ron that morning "so you see, he didn't mean to hurt my brother, he was just trying to protect me" she looked into their eyes and decided that she might as well say one more thing while she had their attention "I know everyone else might not agree with me, but Harry is not evil. He has always been the complete opposite of evil and defended everyone less powerful than himself. Harry would never turn evil and I can't believe either of you would believe he could for an instant"
There, she had said it. The thing she had been wanting to say ever since Dumbledore's amazing accusation at the burrow. Both men looked at her in shock, as though not quite believing she had just spoken those words to them.
"Ginny, we know Harry is not evil, but he is unpredictable right now and his powers are incredible, as you saw this morning. If we truly thought he was indeed evil, we never would have let him return to the tower. It seems that you are the only one he is going to open up to, and I ask that you relay anything he may tell you to us, so that maybe we could better understand what happened to not only Harry, but to Voldemort and his supporters as well. We will check out areas such as you have described to us and see if we can find this chamber Harry spoke of. Please tell Harry that he has our permission to go to class and take him down to breakfast so he can get something to eat, we will check on both of you this evening" he said, his blue eyes fixed intently on her face for a moment before he and Sirius walked down the hall.
Ginny turned and went back into the common room and found Harry standing there waiting for her. She smiled at him and held out her hand for his, giving it a squeeze telling him without words that everything was alright before she went to her dormitory to change into her robes so they could go down to breakfast.
Ten minutes later, the pair walked across the empty entry hall and were approaching the Great Hall hand in hand when Harry stopped abruptly.
"What am I thinking Gin? I can't go in there, not after what I did to Ron, they all hate me"
"Relax Harry, nobody will hate you and I'll be right here the whole time, I would never leave you" she replied as she pulled him forward gently and opened the massive doors to allow both of them to enter.
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Sirius had just entered the great hall and was taking his seat next to Remus for the second time that morning, anxious to see Harry and make sure he was alright after the incident in the common room. The past months he had barley left the boys side for an instant, taking care of his every need and always being near in case he wanted to talk, though he never did and it seamed as though Ginny had taken over that role now that she had returned to Hogwarts.
The previous night had been torture for him and he spent the majority of it pacing back and forth in his small room, expecting Harry's owl to fly through the window at any moment because he was needed, but it never came.
He was both relieved and depressed by this. Relieved that maybe being around his friends again was helping Harry, that just maybe he would be alright now that they were there. He was depressed though because his godson didn't seem to need him any longer. This summer had been the first time they had been able to spend much time together at all, apart from the two weeks after his name was cleared and before Harry disappeared. For the duration of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, he had been on various missions for Dumbledore and stopped by only a handful of times to check in and only then stayed a couple of hours before leaving again, and other than that, they had been forced to keep in touch through the letters that were constantly exchanged. His mission for Dumbledore had continued until Peter had been spotted and himself declared innocent at which time he had come to Hogwarts to assist Remus with his classes. Those two weeks had been wonderful, with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione coming by on a regular basis to visit and Sirius had finally begun to feel like he was fulfilling the role James and Lily had given him as Harry's godfather, but that feeling was destroyed the day he disappeared.
He and Remus had been in Hogesmede when the attack had begun but Dumbledore had sent Fawkes to get them and all others in the village to come help with the fight. They had taken the secret passage into the castle and had made it onto the grounds just in time to see five death eaters pointing their wands at someone in the bushes, but neither knew who was in there until they looked at Dumbledore's face and saw tears in his eyes, and they realized it could only be Harry. They had tried to attack the death eaters along with the other teachers and had been bound and gagged by those members of the enemy who were not holding the curse in response to their efforts to help the boy.
He had never been so relieved in his life when he saw Harry come out of the woods, but upon seeing the pain in his eyes his heart felt like it was breaking. He had watched with the pride of a father as Harry took on Voldemort as he himself stunned as many of his followers as possible and had tried his hardest to get to the boy's side after he collapsed within the magical barrier, but he was too busy trying to fight off the remaining death eaters to make it before Harry stood again and went to Ginny and Draco.
He watched again helpless as the killing curse was thrown at his godson and as the bright flash of light took him away. He had tried his hardest to find him, but nowhere he looked held any hope for his survival until that morning Albus had given them the article and his heart was once again filled with hope.
He was shocked by the extent of his injuries when he saw him in the hospital, but he knew he would recover, he always did, but he couldn't explain his reaction at seeing the horrible tattoo for the first time.
He had at first felt as though the entire world had fallen in on his heart, how was it possible that the boy who had saved the wizarding world from Voldemort more than once would have joined his ranks, for that was what he though had happened at first.
His next thought was that Harry was no longer his godson, that he was some sort of evil imposter made to look like Harry and get their hopes up, but that too was dashed when he looked back on the boys face.
His final reaction was the one he now believed to be true, that Harry had been forced somehow and for some reason to get the dark mark burned into his arm, that he was not evil or an imposter but an abused boy with no way of preventing this from happening to him.
He had spent the next months by his godsons side, caring for him endlessly and trying to fulfill his assigned role as best he could and trying to let Harry know that there was someone who cared for him greatly.
But regardless of all his efforts, Harry had never opened up to him, had never spoken a word in his presence and because of this he didn't believe Albus when he first said that Harry wanted to return to classes. He didn't believe that Harry thought himself ready to return to his dormitory and classes like all the other students, but the more he though it over the more it sounded just like something Harry would say, so he agreed.
He was just taking his seat at the great hall when the doors burst opened and several Gryffindor students came running full force to the head table, telling Dumbledore that Harry had attacked Ron.
Sirius jumped to his feet immediately and followed the retreating back of the aged headmaster to the Gryffindor tower where he saw Harry sitting in a chair and Ginny on the floor before him, fear and regret evident on his face. He listened to what Ginny had said and to Dumbledore's suggestion, agreeing whole heartedly with his words, but he was shocked when he heard a quiet voice speak up and say that it wanted to go to classes.
He followed Ginny into the hall and listened intently to what Harry had told her the night before and was happy to hear he had finally opened up to someone, but sad it had not been him who finally got him to do so. Harry's actions had been completely understandable given the circumstances and he hoped the rest of the students could see it that way as well, but he feared they wouldn't.
Just then, the doors to the great hall opened up and Harry and Ginny entered hand in hand.
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Hermione couldn't believe what had just happened, Harry Potter, her best friend for the past six years had just attacked Ron.
She was running down the hallway outside of Gryffindor tower pulling Ron along behind her and it was obvious that both of them were in shock.
She heard footsteps coming their way and jerked her boyfriend into an empty classroom to wait until whoever was coming passed them. As she pulled the door shut behind them, she caught a glimpse of black and white hair at the far end of the hall and she knew it was Sirius and Dumbledore on their way to the common room.
Hesitantly, she turned to face Ron, not knowing what she would find in his eyes when she did so.
At first, he looked utterly shocked, then bewildered before his eyes turned cold and angry.
"Ron" she said with hesitation
"What" he snapped back, clearly angry
"What are we going to do?"
"What do you mean 'we'? You and I did nothing wrong" he answered crisply
"Ron, do you really think he meant to hurt you? He's Harry, our best friend remember, he would never hurt either of us, he's spent the entire time we have known him protecting us" she admonished gently, pleading with him to understand what she was saying, though she didn't know if she believed her own words.
"You're right Hermione, Harry has never and would never hurt either of us willingly," she closed her eyes and sighed in relief before he continued "but that person in there is not Harry" her eyes shot up to meet his in an instant, her relief gone immediately.
"What are you saying Ron?" she asked in a stony voice
"You heard me Hermione, that is not Harry, it may look like him but the fact remains that it is not him. The Harry that you and I know would never have cursed his friends, no matter what the circumstances. As far as I am concerned, the person we knew is dead, killed by Voldemort while protecting Ginny and Malfoy six months ago, and what just happened only proves me right and you know it. The person we thought was our friend is not Harry but some shell of him filled with terrible evil and nothing you can say or do will change my mind about this. As far as I am concerned, Harry Potter is dead, and we both attended his memorial service" he said, his voice remaining steady and his gaze never wavering from that of Hermione even though her eyes had begun to spill over with tears upon hearing his harsh words.
He turned on his heel and strode from the room and fearing the loss of him as well, Hermione dried her eyes and followed him from the room and down to the great hall for breakfast. Her heart didn't want to believe what he said, but her brain told her otherwise, that what Ron had said was true and in the end, logic won. She sat next to him at the Gryffindor table and told him she agreed with him before beginning to pick at her breakfast and wish that the previous six months had never happened.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A/N: This is kinda choppy I know, but I have one question for you, do you hate me or what? Thanks so much for all your nice reviews you are all wonderful and thank you again! I'm almost done with the next part, but it'll be a day or two, after all, I have posted four chapters in three days so I deserve a break right? Hope you like it and please let me know what you think!
Ginny finally regained her voice and kneeled on the floor in front of Harry, placing herself between Harry's eyes and Ron.
"Harry, what happened?" she asked gently, looking into his fear filled green eyes.
She heard sounds behind her as Hermione helped Ron to his feet and out the portrait hole, both of them in shock and not saying a word to either of them.
"Harry, please answer me" she begged him
Slowly his eyes lost some of the terror they held and he locked his gaze with hers.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him, but I just can't control it sometimes and I end up doing things I regret, he startled me and I was afraid, I had to protect you and I couldn't control it" he muttered quietly, his voice trembling as he whispered the words before his gaze fell to the floor, still trembling violently.
Just then, the entrance of the common room burst open to reveal Sirius and Dumbledore, both nervous and agitated looking.
"Harry, are you alright? The students were in quite a state as they entered the great hall" said Dumbledore as he cautiously approached the chair with Sirius on his heels.
Harry just continued to tremble unceasingly and kept his eyes trained on the floor before him, not answering the headmasters' question.
Dumbledore sighed heavily and turned to Sirius.
"Perhaps you were right Sirius, maybe Harry isn't ready for all of this quite yet, why don't you take him down to your rooms and Miss. Weasley can go down and join the other students at breakfast"
"Yes headmaster, come on Harry, lets get you settled" he said in a resigned voice as he looked at his godson.
"No!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing Harry's hand in her own "He didn't mean to do it, he was asleep and Ron startled him when he woke him up" she tried to explain hopefully
"That may be the case Ginny, but the fact still remains that he may not be ready to face classes and the other students yet" said Sirius, his expression tortured at having to say those things about his best friends son.
"He's ready I tell you! I know he is, please give him a chance" she begged the two older men, her hand still gripping Harry's fiercely, as though afraid she might loose him again if she were to let go.
Sirius looked like he was about to counter her words when a voice from beside her spoke up.
"Please sir, let me stay, I didn't mean what happened, he just startled me, please don't make me leave" his eyes never left the floor and his voice was never above that of a whisper, but his words echoed around the empty room like he had screamed them, pleading with the headmaster and his godfather.
Sirius looked completely floored by the fact that Harry had spoken, and he could only stare at his godson in amazement.
"Are you sure Harry?" asked Dumbledore worriedly
Harry nodded his head and Ginny squeezed his hand in reassurance.
"You can tell them if you want Gin" he told the girl, looking into her face
She smiled at him and nodded her own head before turning to look at the confused men behind her.
"Could I speak to you for a moment outside" she asked them as she stood and without waiting for their answer she made her way to the portrait hole.
Curiosity winning over, they followed her in silence and when they reached the hallway Dumbledore spoke up.
"What do you wish to tell us Ginny?" he asked kindly, looking at the red headed girl before him.
"Last night, Harry told me a little about what happened while he was gone" she began and continued to tell them everything he had confided in her the night before and concluding with what had happened between Harry and Ron that morning "so you see, he didn't mean to hurt my brother, he was just trying to protect me" she looked into their eyes and decided that she might as well say one more thing while she had their attention "I know everyone else might not agree with me, but Harry is not evil. He has always been the complete opposite of evil and defended everyone less powerful than himself. Harry would never turn evil and I can't believe either of you would believe he could for an instant"
There, she had said it. The thing she had been wanting to say ever since Dumbledore's amazing accusation at the burrow. Both men looked at her in shock, as though not quite believing she had just spoken those words to them.
"Ginny, we know Harry is not evil, but he is unpredictable right now and his powers are incredible, as you saw this morning. If we truly thought he was indeed evil, we never would have let him return to the tower. It seems that you are the only one he is going to open up to, and I ask that you relay anything he may tell you to us, so that maybe we could better understand what happened to not only Harry, but to Voldemort and his supporters as well. We will check out areas such as you have described to us and see if we can find this chamber Harry spoke of. Please tell Harry that he has our permission to go to class and take him down to breakfast so he can get something to eat, we will check on both of you this evening" he said, his blue eyes fixed intently on her face for a moment before he and Sirius walked down the hall.
Ginny turned and went back into the common room and found Harry standing there waiting for her. She smiled at him and held out her hand for his, giving it a squeeze telling him without words that everything was alright before she went to her dormitory to change into her robes so they could go down to breakfast.
Ten minutes later, the pair walked across the empty entry hall and were approaching the Great Hall hand in hand when Harry stopped abruptly.
"What am I thinking Gin? I can't go in there, not after what I did to Ron, they all hate me"
"Relax Harry, nobody will hate you and I'll be right here the whole time, I would never leave you" she replied as she pulled him forward gently and opened the massive doors to allow both of them to enter.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sirius had just entered the great hall and was taking his seat next to Remus for the second time that morning, anxious to see Harry and make sure he was alright after the incident in the common room. The past months he had barley left the boys side for an instant, taking care of his every need and always being near in case he wanted to talk, though he never did and it seamed as though Ginny had taken over that role now that she had returned to Hogwarts.
The previous night had been torture for him and he spent the majority of it pacing back and forth in his small room, expecting Harry's owl to fly through the window at any moment because he was needed, but it never came.
He was both relieved and depressed by this. Relieved that maybe being around his friends again was helping Harry, that just maybe he would be alright now that they were there. He was depressed though because his godson didn't seem to need him any longer. This summer had been the first time they had been able to spend much time together at all, apart from the two weeks after his name was cleared and before Harry disappeared. For the duration of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, he had been on various missions for Dumbledore and stopped by only a handful of times to check in and only then stayed a couple of hours before leaving again, and other than that, they had been forced to keep in touch through the letters that were constantly exchanged. His mission for Dumbledore had continued until Peter had been spotted and himself declared innocent at which time he had come to Hogwarts to assist Remus with his classes. Those two weeks had been wonderful, with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione coming by on a regular basis to visit and Sirius had finally begun to feel like he was fulfilling the role James and Lily had given him as Harry's godfather, but that feeling was destroyed the day he disappeared.
He and Remus had been in Hogesmede when the attack had begun but Dumbledore had sent Fawkes to get them and all others in the village to come help with the fight. They had taken the secret passage into the castle and had made it onto the grounds just in time to see five death eaters pointing their wands at someone in the bushes, but neither knew who was in there until they looked at Dumbledore's face and saw tears in his eyes, and they realized it could only be Harry. They had tried to attack the death eaters along with the other teachers and had been bound and gagged by those members of the enemy who were not holding the curse in response to their efforts to help the boy.
He had never been so relieved in his life when he saw Harry come out of the woods, but upon seeing the pain in his eyes his heart felt like it was breaking. He had watched with the pride of a father as Harry took on Voldemort as he himself stunned as many of his followers as possible and had tried his hardest to get to the boy's side after he collapsed within the magical barrier, but he was too busy trying to fight off the remaining death eaters to make it before Harry stood again and went to Ginny and Draco.
He watched again helpless as the killing curse was thrown at his godson and as the bright flash of light took him away. He had tried his hardest to find him, but nowhere he looked held any hope for his survival until that morning Albus had given them the article and his heart was once again filled with hope.
He was shocked by the extent of his injuries when he saw him in the hospital, but he knew he would recover, he always did, but he couldn't explain his reaction at seeing the horrible tattoo for the first time.
He had at first felt as though the entire world had fallen in on his heart, how was it possible that the boy who had saved the wizarding world from Voldemort more than once would have joined his ranks, for that was what he though had happened at first.
His next thought was that Harry was no longer his godson, that he was some sort of evil imposter made to look like Harry and get their hopes up, but that too was dashed when he looked back on the boys face.
His final reaction was the one he now believed to be true, that Harry had been forced somehow and for some reason to get the dark mark burned into his arm, that he was not evil or an imposter but an abused boy with no way of preventing this from happening to him.
He had spent the next months by his godsons side, caring for him endlessly and trying to fulfill his assigned role as best he could and trying to let Harry know that there was someone who cared for him greatly.
But regardless of all his efforts, Harry had never opened up to him, had never spoken a word in his presence and because of this he didn't believe Albus when he first said that Harry wanted to return to classes. He didn't believe that Harry thought himself ready to return to his dormitory and classes like all the other students, but the more he though it over the more it sounded just like something Harry would say, so he agreed.
He was just taking his seat at the great hall when the doors burst opened and several Gryffindor students came running full force to the head table, telling Dumbledore that Harry had attacked Ron.
Sirius jumped to his feet immediately and followed the retreating back of the aged headmaster to the Gryffindor tower where he saw Harry sitting in a chair and Ginny on the floor before him, fear and regret evident on his face. He listened to what Ginny had said and to Dumbledore's suggestion, agreeing whole heartedly with his words, but he was shocked when he heard a quiet voice speak up and say that it wanted to go to classes.
He followed Ginny into the hall and listened intently to what Harry had told her the night before and was happy to hear he had finally opened up to someone, but sad it had not been him who finally got him to do so. Harry's actions had been completely understandable given the circumstances and he hoped the rest of the students could see it that way as well, but he feared they wouldn't.
Just then, the doors to the great hall opened up and Harry and Ginny entered hand in hand.
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Hermione couldn't believe what had just happened, Harry Potter, her best friend for the past six years had just attacked Ron.
She was running down the hallway outside of Gryffindor tower pulling Ron along behind her and it was obvious that both of them were in shock.
She heard footsteps coming their way and jerked her boyfriend into an empty classroom to wait until whoever was coming passed them. As she pulled the door shut behind them, she caught a glimpse of black and white hair at the far end of the hall and she knew it was Sirius and Dumbledore on their way to the common room.
Hesitantly, she turned to face Ron, not knowing what she would find in his eyes when she did so.
At first, he looked utterly shocked, then bewildered before his eyes turned cold and angry.
"Ron" she said with hesitation
"What" he snapped back, clearly angry
"What are we going to do?"
"What do you mean 'we'? You and I did nothing wrong" he answered crisply
"Ron, do you really think he meant to hurt you? He's Harry, our best friend remember, he would never hurt either of us, he's spent the entire time we have known him protecting us" she admonished gently, pleading with him to understand what she was saying, though she didn't know if she believed her own words.
"You're right Hermione, Harry has never and would never hurt either of us willingly," she closed her eyes and sighed in relief before he continued "but that person in there is not Harry" her eyes shot up to meet his in an instant, her relief gone immediately.
"What are you saying Ron?" she asked in a stony voice
"You heard me Hermione, that is not Harry, it may look like him but the fact remains that it is not him. The Harry that you and I know would never have cursed his friends, no matter what the circumstances. As far as I am concerned, the person we knew is dead, killed by Voldemort while protecting Ginny and Malfoy six months ago, and what just happened only proves me right and you know it. The person we thought was our friend is not Harry but some shell of him filled with terrible evil and nothing you can say or do will change my mind about this. As far as I am concerned, Harry Potter is dead, and we both attended his memorial service" he said, his voice remaining steady and his gaze never wavering from that of Hermione even though her eyes had begun to spill over with tears upon hearing his harsh words.
He turned on his heel and strode from the room and fearing the loss of him as well, Hermione dried her eyes and followed him from the room and down to the great hall for breakfast. Her heart didn't want to believe what he said, but her brain told her otherwise, that what Ron had said was true and in the end, logic won. She sat next to him at the Gryffindor table and told him she agreed with him before beginning to pick at her breakfast and wish that the previous six months had never happened.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A/N: This is kinda choppy I know, but I have one question for you, do you hate me or what? Thanks so much for all your nice reviews you are all wonderful and thank you again! I'm almost done with the next part, but it'll be a day or two, after all, I have posted four chapters in three days so I deserve a break right? Hope you like it and please let me know what you think!