Disclaimer: The characters, places and situations of the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling and associated companies. No money is being made on this little venture.

Author's Note: A shorter chapter, I promise. Sorry it's not as prompt as I usually am. Rough weekend…social obligations…blah! Thank you's have been moved to the end of the chapter. But THANK YOU all!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Breakdown

"All day staring at the ceiling

Making friends with shadows on my walls

All night hearing voices telling me

That I should get some sleep

Because tomorrow might be good for something

Hold on

Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown

And I don't know why

But I'm not crazy

I'm just a little unwell

I know right now you can't tell

But stay a while and maybe then you'll see

A different side of me

I'm not crazy

I'm just a little impaired

I know right now you don't care

But soon enough you're going to think of me

And how I used to be…"

Matchbox Twenty: 'Unwell'

                Sirius met one of the biggest shocks of his life when he walked into the office of Arthur Weasley.

                Bill and Charlie were there.

                Dumbledore sat patiently by, holding his cane out in front of him.

                The first thing Sirius thought was that they had found Gabriel. He rushed in urgently, but was put off with a sympathetic shake of the head from Arthur.

                Then the heart-stopping words: "Sirius, you'd better sit down." Worry was written all over Arthur's worn face, and that of his sons, as he spoke.

                Sirius looked from them to Dumbledore, who nodded. His head swam. If there was news about Gabriel then Jill should be the one to hear it, not him.

                "I'll just go and fetch Jill, then," Sirius said, moving to the door.

                "This concerns you, Sirius…and Harry," Dumbledore said, staring at him with unmovable calm.

                He felt his heart lurch into his throat. He looked back to Arthur who was leaning over his desk with his palms spread out over so much paperwork. "Apparently, he went missing along with my daughter just after Gabriel and the girl."

                Sirius was quiet for a moment, all eyes trained on him. Of all of the times that he had expected Harry to be drawn once again into something black, this had not been one. His breath caught in his chest. How had Harry become involved in any of this? He didn't see a connection at all.

                "Gabriel…and the girl? Still no sign of them?" he asked, breathless. He felt a hot wave of panic. He was already at the height of panic. He had almost come to regard Gabriel as part of his family…it was too much to cope with the news of two missing children.

                He caught a look. Arthur's eyes darted immediately to Dumbledore. He looked between the two of them, more anxious than he had ever felt in his entire life. Waiting for the bomb to drop.

                "The girl was found," Dumbledore said, leaning forward and placing his hands gently on his cane.

                "But Gabriel is still out there. Has the girl said anything? Where is she?" Sirius asked, urgently, frantically.

                Dumbledore looked at him cautiously. "She is at the hospital, we are informed." He tilted his head downward, peering at Sirius over the rim of his half-moon spectacles. "Sirius, I think you should sit down."

                "I don't want to sit down," Sirius replied. "Someone tell me…whatever it is that you're keeping from me."

                "The girl was found dead." Dumbledore blinked, shook his head.

                Inhaling deeply, the words struck like an arrow into the middle of his chest. Of course, his heart went out to the girl's parents and he was obviously shaken by the death of a sweet child. But he was nearly knocked over with the weight of what those words implied. "He's still missing, though. He could be anywhere. Did you check the woods again?" he asked frantically.

                Bill nodded. "But there's more you need to know about the girl."

                Sirius took a tentative foot forward but dared not step on it, trusting his weight to only one foot at a time. He wasn't sure it would support the weight. "No, Jill should be here. He's her child and she's worried."

                "You need to hear this first. We're not exactly sure how much Jill should know. You have to be the judge," Dumbledore said, exhaling and leaning back with great, visible strain.

                "What else?" Sirius said, impatient for action, angered that there was nothing to do but talk.

                "She had signs of what Bill has described accurately as close range magical burns." Arthur looked to Bill who nodded and swallowed hard.

                "The Killing Curse, then?" Sirius said in little more than a whisper.

                "We don't know that for sure, Sirius," Dumbledore said. "She was a small child. It could have been a number of curses. But we're not ruling out any of the Unforgivable Curses, no."

                "And Harry?" Sirius asked, shifting his weight nervously. "Where did Harry go? Who was the last to see him?"

                "I was," Bill volunteered. "He was in the woods searching with me and Ginny. I left them to check out a noise. When I came back they were right where I left them. But Ginny seemed upset and went back to the house. Harry went back a minute or so after that. I continued on with the search alone. When I found the girl…I can't be sure that they were there. Maybe they had already gone." Bill looked to his father, who was almost as visibly shaken as Sirius. Then he looked to Sirius and said, "I'm sorry."

                Sirius shook his head. "It wasn't your fault."

                "No, it wasn't, son," Arthur agreed.

                After a moment in which everyone was silent, Sirius raised the question, "Where is Lucy now?"

                "Who?" Arthur asked with a furrowed brow.

                Dumbledore was the first to speak. "Lucilla Malfoy. I believe she was Imogen Spencer at your party tonight, the dark-haired girl with Harry."

                "Draco Malfoy's sister?" Bill asked with interest.

                "You know her?" Sirius questioned, a bit at random.

                Bill shook his head. "I met her in Paris last summer." He stopped and looked at his father, then to Dumbledore. "She's dead though, isn't she?"

                "Ah, my boy, that is a story for another day," Dumbledore said.

                "She's gone as well," Arthur answered.

                A long-suffering sigh escaped Charlie from the corner where he had been listening to all in silence. "Jesus. I feel like I should say 'I'm getting too old for this shit!'"

                All eyes were on him for a moment. Silence.

                Then: "I should probably find Jill and try to explain this to her." And Sirius left the room.

***

                "So," Lucy said, lifting a branch carefully away from her face and Harry's as their lone horse picked its way through the rough path back to the chapel where Balthamos, Maren and four-year-old Gabriel would meet them. Azria should have made it there by now.

                "So," Harry said, looking down to assure himself that the infant in his arms was wrapped tight.

                "So, that was what I was brought back here to do," Lucy said with a tone that spoke of an ironic revelation.

                "To do what?" Harry asked.

                "To save Gabriel. Although, I had it all wrong. I came back because when he had gone missing, I knew exactly who had him and just where he would take him."

                "And?" Harry asked, shaking his head, no clue as to what she was trying to explain.

                She wrapped her arms around him tighter, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "And I was meant to save the other Gabriel. His family was killed. Fate saw that. Fate said that he would be brought to the year 1994 where he would meet John and Jill Parry who would fall in love with him and adopt him."

                Harry nodded sadly. "That same fate said that he would meet them, they would fall in love with him and then that father would die. And then, just when things start to go good, just when I meet this little boy and fall in love with him, when Sirius does, he's kidnapped and his life threatened. His mother is probably worried frantic. Fate really likes to fuck with people, doesn't she?"

                "Fate is what keeps all of this randomness from being less…random," Lucy said in a whisper.

                "Yeah, I suppose," Harry said.

                Lucy blinked and sat up straight again. She had noticed an alteration in Harry's mood. He wasn't saying much, and when he did it was a very short and cynical comment.

                They rode the rest of the way to the chapel in silence. The horse's hoof beats were the only sounds in Lucy's ears.

                Azria's horse stood tied up next to Lucy's

                Lucy jumped down and took the sleeping child from Harry who tied the horse with all of the rest.

                Inside, they explained what had happened to Faramir's family. Azria nodded regrettably.

                When they had finished Azria reported that she had restored Gabriel back to health but that she had prolonged his sleeping state so that when he woke up he would remember none of this.

                "And Ginny, my brother Draco, where are they?" Lucy asked, wrapping the baby in her cloak. "Did they make it back already?"

                "The battle was not yet won when I left to meet you here," Azria said. "And its outcome remains unclear to me."

                "I cannot leave without him. Draco does not even have a Time-Turner," she said, looking to Harry who lifted the older sleeping child into his arms.

                "When we meet with him, I will send him with Virginia," Azria said, placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

                "Yes, she will not leave without him," Lucy agreed. "I am just worrying."

                "Your task is soon over," Azria said. "Deliver this child to his time and yourselves to yours and do not worry about the other two. They will complete their tasks and return home as well. I have seen it all. Fear not."

                "Goodbye and God speed you both," Balthamos said with a bow.

                "Balthamos, thank you for your faithful service," Lucy said, returning the bow.

                Maren stepped forward and placed a hand on Harry's cheek, kissing him gently on the forehead. She did the same to Lucy. "You have both earned the respect of our people forever, a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay. We owe you so much."

                "Goodbye, lady," Harry said solemnly with a bow.

                Lucy let go of Maren's hand and slipped the Time-Turner around her neck and Harry's. They were gone from 1352 in the briefest of flashes.

                Lucy had been fiddling with her mended Time-Turner on the trip back to the chapel and had figured that they should turn the Turner only three-fourths of the way to reach 1994.

                Harry had suggested sarcastically that they just leave it up to fate.

                Lucy had a lot of faith in powers greater than humans'. She liked to think that it was God working through some master plan. At least God could hear people. He seemed a little more personal than fate, a little more likely to give a damn.

                They arrived in the Forbidden Forrest outside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where sounds of music and laughter came faintly from the school.

                As they headed for the path to the gate of Hogsmeade, she turned back to look at the school. There was a large blue carriage sitting in the front. She recognized it, the carriage of her own Headmistress at Beauxbatons.  And an enormously imposing ship anchored in the lake. The Tri-Wizard Tournament was underway at Hogwarts.

                Harry turned back to look with her. He was silent for a long time and then he said, "I almost wish that I could walk right in there and warn myself about what will happen, warn Cedric. But I know I can't."

                Lucy slid her hand into his. "No, you can't Harry. But the good thing is you know that you'll get through it. And Cedric…"

                "Cedric will die and we'll all go on and nothing will change."

                "You've changed more than you know." Lucy tugged at his arm.

                "I guess," was Harry's despondent answer.

                They turned and walked away from the school and into the village.

                They stopped outside of The Three Broomsticks. Harry looked to Lucy and said, maybe you should ask. Lucy nodded in agreement, pulling Harry's hood down over his eyes. He looked more conspicuous now that he was trying to be less so.

                They moved into the relative warmth of the pub and Lucy walked to the bar. Madam Rosmerta smiled cheerily at her and wished her a Happy New Year.

                "Thank you," Lucy said politely. "May we use your fireplace to get to Diagon Alley?" she asked.

                "I don't usually open it to customers, but you're cute and I doubt your using it for illicit purposes." Rosmerta handed her a jar with powder in it. "Leave it on the mantle when you go."

                "Thank you again," she said, shifting the still sleeping infant in her arms.

                Inside of Tom's pub, The Leaky Caldron, the atmosphere was much more rowdy. The Boxing Day crowds were out in full force and seemingly all at Tom's for a drink.

                Harry grabbed Lucy by the hand and pulled her out into the no less crowded Muggle street. "Tell me you know which orphanage he goes to?"

                Lucy nodded. "The one that I used to do charity work at."

                "Name?" Harry asked, shifting the weight of Gabriel, letting his head fall onto his shoulder. He wrapped his cloak tightly around him and continued to walk.

                "St. Michael's in White Chapel," Lucy answered.

                "Nice," Harry said sarcastically, raising his eyebrows and glancing over his shoulder at her.

                Walking beside him for a few minutes in silence, Lucy finally said, "I am going to run myself a bath when we get back and I might just live in there for the rest of my life."

                Harry smiled briefly.

                "Is this it?" he turned and asked her, after an arduous trip on the Underground, finally coming up on a street with old Victorian buildings dusted with city grime. The place looked depressing.

                Lucy sighed and nodded, producing an envelope from her cloak. "I wrote it before we said our goodbyes," she explained. The paper was period parchment. The ink could probably have been dated back to 1352 precisely, if they were trying to find the people who had abandoned the child.

                Clever, Harry thought admiringly.

                She tucked the letter into the blankets and made sure that the infant was bundled up tight.

                It was a warmer day than most Londoners were used to in December. Lucy had no reservations about leaving him on the step. She would watch until he was noticed anyway. 

                The door opened as a couple was about to leave, shaking hands with one of the directors of the home. The child had laid there for twenty minutes. On several occasions in that amount of time, Lucy had fought the urge to run and take the child and keep him with her. She didn't want it to be like this. She was constantly reminding herself that he would find a good home with the Parrys in no time.

                She felt Harry's reassuring hand on her back.               

                "Let's go," he said when the director had returned to the house with the child and the couple had strolled down the street and around the corner.

                In an alleyway they returned to 1997. Back at Charing Cross Road they ducked into The Leaky Caldron once more, Lucy reminding Harry that he needn't duck under his hood anymore, they were in their own time again. It was a relief to speak those words.

                He paused just inside of Diagon Alley and turned to look at her,  four-year-old Gabriel asleep, head leaning over his shoulder, drooling. Lucy smiled to herself, thinking that Harry's own children would look a lot like Gabriel, a lot like Harry must have looked when he was that age.

                With his free hand he reached out and touched the chain at her neck, pulling the Time-Tuner out of her collar.

                She knew that this was coming. With a sigh she said, "Harry, I know."

                "You know what?" he asked gently, removing his hand.

                "I know you want to change it. There are things I want to change as well. There isn't one second that I wear this that I don't think I could go back and…I don't know, do something…help her."

                He looked at her, brushed a strand of black hair away from her eyes. "Your mother?"

                She nodded, her cheek brushing his hand. "I know you wish you could take it all back, change what happened that night."

                Harry swallowed. "Why not? We changed the outcome of an entire war, the four of us. I could easily warn my parents."

                "Fate…God…whoever, had that planned long before we were here to carry out that plan, Harry. We were meant to be instrumental in that past. Look around you," she said gently.

                He did, not knowing what exactly he was supposed to be looking at.

                "We haven't changed anything. The past was already written with us in mind. The past is as much aware of the future as the future is dependent upon the past," she explained.

                "My parents were meant to be dead. I was meant to be alone, then," Harry answered finally, looking down at his feet.

                She pulled him into a tight embrace. "Oh, Harry," she whispered into his ear, rubbing his cheek with hers, tears from her face and his wetting her hair. "I know it's a tough thing to understand. And I don't want you to have to be alone. Neither does Sirius or Ron or Hermione or even Ginny. You have a family. You're not alone, never."

                He closed his eyes and leaned into her. That was true. He had a family.

                He was jerked suddenly away from her and she from him. Two uniformed Aurors with all-business expressions spoke a few practiced lines about the rights for this and that and bound both of their hands behind their backs, taking Gabriel from Harry.

                They looked at each other stunned.

***

                Snape walked around the ruins hidden within the forest. This is where he had see Imogen disappear to. But she had not come back. He wondered what it was she was trying to tell him, what it had to do with Jill Parry's son or her father. Lucius Malfoy had a plan. There was no doubt about it.

                He cursed the inconvenience, striving hard not to blame Lucy for this. She was, after all, just a child and probably in a world of trouble. If she were to meet up with her father again, Snape had no doubt that he would try to kill her once and for all. Arabella and Mae needed him, were expecting him and he was here hunting after a troublesome student. He felt stretched thin and worried.

                "Hello, Professor," an unexpected but friendly and wise voice said behind him.

                Snape turned to see Firenze.

                The centaur stared through Snape in a way most people would not enjoy. Snape disliked centaurs more than most people. But, as far as he was concerned, they were tolerable and had their uses. They probably regarded humans with the exact same form of aversion.

                "Hello," Snape said coolly, narrowing his eyes.

                "You're looking for the girl?" Firenze said, folding his massive arms in front of him.

                Snape took a tentative step forward. "Yes, have you seen her?"

                Firenze lifted his head proudly and turned a circle. Already, dusk was falling in dusty clouds around them. The moon was peeking out into the sky as she always did in mid-winter. Firenze studied her silver outline and answered cryptically, "She will be along soon." He paused and looked to Snape. "All that was set in motion six hundred years ago is now complete."

                "I don't want to hear about the bloody stars. I have very important business. I need to know where the girl is. Have you seen her?" Snape asked becoming impatient.

                "She will be along shortly. And you will be here to help her," Firenze said with measured patience, his eyes glinting, daring the Potions Master to contradict him. For all of their postulating and far off dreaming, centaurs were infallible guides to future events, no matter how unwilling they were to divulge them.

                Snape stood silent. He knew that there was something that the centaur was trying to tell him. For a centaur he was endeavoring to be as straightforward as possible, a great undertaking for these creatures.

                "You have spent the greater part of your life watching over that child, intervening where you could, seeing that she came to as little harm as possible," Firenze said finally with great respect and admiration.

                Snape cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "Her father was always tough on her, tougher than anyone should be on a little girl. Her mother did a lot more to protect her than I ever did. It was all useless. He controls her, uses her, hurts her. I could never stop him." He paused, visibly saddened by the comparison between Lucy and himself. She copes a lot better than he did at her age.

                "No," Firenze said urgently. "Her father loves her better than himself. She has a family that misses her."

                Snape blinked. "The girl I followed into the forest. She had black hair and a black cloak on. This is not the girl you speak of."

                Firenze shook his head slowly. "Roan watched as she and the boy left the forest with the child. They are safe now. Their part is done. I speak of the seer."

                "Virginia Weasley?" Snape asked urgently.

                "Even so," Firenze nodded. "She is here this moment." He pointed one powerful hand in the direction of the low ruined wall.

                Snape ran for it, seeing what it was that Firenze had been trying to tell him. Whatever had happened, it involved more than just Lucy. He was not referring to Snape's inability to keep Lucius Malfoy from hurting his child. He was speaking of his duty to the seer and his inability to keep her from those that hunted her.

                "It had to be this way. Everything is finished now," Firenze said hollowly.

                Snape bent beside Ginny who lay unconscious in the snow, one hand on the hilt of a massive sword.

                "Everything is finished?" Snape asked angrily, causing the centaur to step back. He lifted Ginny from the snow, her fiery hair hanging wildly around her. "She is finished. She will die out here and you centaurs who see all and know all do nothing to help. You do nothing but look at the stars. You care nothing for what goes on down here."

                He left the centaur angrily and headed back to the school to owl Madam Pomfrey immediately.

***

                Jill could be heard from down the hall.

                Sirius walked slowly, delaying the inevitable. But hearing her fevered pitch spurred him to move faster.

                Two lower voices spoke in appeasing tones.

                He rounded the corner. The secretary's desk in front of the Minister's office was vacant. He sprung past it. In the office, the Minister stood with his secretary at his side and Jill, cornering them angrily behind his desk.

                "You're not doing anything. You did nothing when all of those children disappeared months ago, thousands of them. Well, now it's my child that was taken. I know it is the same person. And you're going to do something about it. Or you're not leaving this office, Minister!" Jill was screaming, glaring, red-eyed and frantic.

                An owl fluttered in on the desk and diffused the scene.

                "Ms. Parry," the Minister said, as if fending off the press. "I will be with you shortly." He grabbed the letter, freeing the bird which flew back to the window and disappeared into the lightly dusted snow. He scanned the letter quickly, his eyes flew wide. He folded it and placed it in the breast pocket of his robes and turned to his secretary. "The individual that we have been looking for has turned up in Diagon Alley. Have David send two of his Aurors to make the arrest."

                The secretary nodded and turned to leave. "Two Aurors?" she asked again, as if this made no sense.

                "Two," the Minister answered.

                She left.

                "Ms. Parry," he began again, calm, oily, smarmy. "Threatening my life will only get you into a nice cozy cell block. Remain patient and we will find your child. I will see that it has top priority."

                Sirius came into the room and placed a hand on Jill's shoulder.

                Minister Grey pushed past the two. "If you don't mind, I do have holidays to get back to."

                He ushered them out into the hall with more empty assurances and smiles. A "Happy New Year," and he had gone.

                Sirius took a piece of folded parchment from his sleeve, unfolded it and read. His eyes flew wide.

                He grabbed Jill by the wrist saying that there was no time to explain, they had to get Arthur and Dumbledore and hurry to the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement Detainment Center without delay.

***

                Ginny blinked, feeling excruciating pain just behind her eyes.

                She breathed deeply and braced herself, turning her head to the side and wincing with pain.

                Galahad's sword rest on the bedside table, a reminder of her efforts and a reminder of one of the greatest people she would ever know.

                Beyond the sword, sitting in a chair nearby, was Professor Snape. He was reading a book. She concentrated on the cover. It was Faust. She smiled. A fan of Muggle literature, was he?               

                "Is that in its original German?" she asked with a smile.

                He looked up, removing reading glasses. He closed the cover and glanced at it momentarily. "Yes, it is."

                Ginny shook her head and laid back on her pillow. "Show off."

                There was a rare smile from the Potions Master. "How are you feeling, Miss Weasley?"

                She reached a hand up and felt for the chain around her neck. It wasn't there. "Is Draco back? Lucy? Harry?"

                Snape set his book aside. "Miss Malfoy and Mr. Potter are back, yes. I was unaware that Mr. Malfoy had anything to do with…your capers in 1352."

                "How do you know about that?" Ginny asked, starting suddenly.

                "Miss Malfoy and Mr. Potter have been detained. The child that they went after is safe," he informed her.

                "That's good." She closed her eyes.

                He knew that she wasn't quite aware of everything that he had just told her. She would be drifting in and out of consciousness for a few hours until Madam Pomfrey arrived to deal with her head injury.

                The questions about Draco Malfoy startled him somewhat.

                Hours later, she was awake.

                Madam Pomfrey had checked her over and deemed her able to go home.

                Professor Snape had only left her side to send word to Mae that he would be late in meeting her and Arabella.

                When he came back to the infirmary, Ginny was sitting up and eating.

                He smiled. "You look much better."

                She smiled. "You took my Time-Turner, didn't you?"

                "If the Ministry finds out about it, you will be in as much trouble, I dare say, as Miss Malfoy." Snape sat in his usual chair.

                Ginny's smile fell. "She was arrested?"

                Snape nodded. He changed the subject urgently.

                "About Draco Malfoy," he said. Then he stopped.

                Ginny's eyes glassed over and her smile fell further. "He didn't make it. I tried remembering if he got out. But he didn't. He would have come back with me if he had gotten out….actually, I don't know how I got out. I didn't use the Time-Turner to bring myself back." One tear trailed down her cheek.

                Snape watched in stony sympathy.

                "I was…" she blinked and tried hard to remember. "I told Faramir to take Lucy out. The building was going to collapse. Isaiah was hurt badly and I said I could help him. But I lied because I didn't want Lucy to stay behind because of me. But Draco found me. That was just before the roof fell in."

                She flung the bedclothes off of her legs. "I need my Time-Turner," she said urgently. "He's still there, I know it."

                Snape shook his head. He didn't want to have to be the one to do this. "Ms. Weasley, no one has seen him. If it happened the way you say it did, he didn't survive," he felt surer of this than she seemed to look.

                "Well," she said urgently, "maybe that's not the way it happened. I don't know," she offered frantically. "Maybe he did…" She didn't believe it herself.

                She tried hard not to cry. Her lip trembled and she felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks, not for the first time today, nor the last. "He couldn't have…"

                "I'm sorry, Ms. Weasley," he said, sounding very much like he was. "I'm trying to track your parents down so that they can take you home."

                "No," Ginny said, wiping her face on her sleeve. She stood. "I'll be fine. I can make it home on my own." She took up the dress Azria had lent her and the sword Galahad had given her and her cloak.

                "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked, tentatively.

                "No," she said with a faint smile. "I will be okay."

                "Are you sure?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrow that suggested that he didn't think she would be.

                She nodded and walked out of the infirmary.

***

                Gabriel was reunited with his mother in the lobby of the detention center.

                Sirius was relieved in a way, but of course, there was never a moment to rest when Harry was involved in something. And there was never a simple explanation. But Sirius wasn't expecting something nearly this involved.

                "1352?" he asked, pacing, stunned by disbelief.

                Lucy and Harry had been brought into a small conference room. His attempts at negotiating her release tonight were hopeless. Lucy was staring penitently up at him with pleading eyes. Her tangled curls lending her an infuriatingly angelic appearance.

                "Please, don't yell at Harry. This was really my fault, Sirius," she begged. "It was my Time-Turner, my decision. I knew that my father had taken Gabriel—."

                Sirius wheeled and glared. "Lucy, I think you've done enough explaining for one night. Illegal use of a Time-Turner, illegal magic on a Time-Turner, Lucy," he stopped and took a claming breath. "I'm not even sure that they believe your story about your father and all of these missing children. You could be looking at a kidnapping charge too."

                "But, you have all of the evidence right there," Harry said.

                He was pointing to an abused piece of parchment in Sirius' hand. It was the letter he had filched from Solomon Grey's pocket as he was wishing them a Happy New Year and whisking them out of his office. He had picked up a few skills from Peter's experience in the slums of Liverpool.

                "No, Harry," Sirius said tersely. "This alerted me to your situation. He was having you followed by someone. And this tells me that Lucius is very good at pulling his puppet's strings."

                Lucy cut in. "I had to tell the truth, Sirius. I couldn't lie."

                "Yes, but telling the truth is a different matter than hanging yourself. This," he said, holding up the absconded note, "won't hold up in court. These accusations around your father and Minister Grey won't stand. You are going to take the fall for all of it because of your confessions."

                He looked at both of them when he said this. They had both admitted to using the Time-Turner. Harry didn't let Lucy take it all upon herself.

                "Any other charge he wants to add to it, Lucy, he can." Sirius began to pace again. "Lucy, he could lock you away for the rest of your life to keep your mouth shut about his plans."

                Lucy nodded and looked at the table in front of her.

                "Is she really going to jail?" Harry asked, worried.

                "I can't pull anymore strings," Sirius answered. "The Minister, acting on the part of your father, Lucy, has got you locked down pretty tightly."

                "So that means I will have to stand trial?" she said, visibly shaken.

                He didn't like the sound of it anymore than she did. The jury would be no doubt filled with twelve of Lucius' most animated puppets and they would vote Lucy into Azkaban or worse. He could add just about any charge onto her sentence and likely make it stick. Her name was condemning enough. When the press got around to that fact and the fact that she was linked to the disappearance of all of those children, now lying dead on a battlefield in 1352, he wouldn't be surprised if the vigilantes were out in full force in an hour's time to exact their own justice on her.

                She seemed content to take the blame for her father's inconceivable plans.

                Lucy sat calmly and took her berating well.

                "I'll see if I can get you transferred to the criminal ward at St. Mungo's," he offered more gently, leaving.

                "I'm staying with her," Harry said.

                "You've been released." Sirius stopped and leveled an angry gaze at Harry. "You'll do as I say. You're going home with me where I can keep an eye on you."

                Harry was furious. "I'm not going anywhere without her."

                "We'll talk about this later, Harry," Sirius yelled.

                Harry stood, his chair clattering to the floor loudly. "Who do you think you are? You're not my father," he spat.

                Sirius stopped midway through the door and turned. "I know I'm not. I'm just trying to keep the both of you out of trouble." He stopped and favored them both with considering looks, Harry was red in the face and seething, Lucy looked as though she felt the weight of her wrong, but determined that she would have done it over again the same way if given the chance. "What would your mothers say?" he asked.

                It sufficiently humbled the two of them, those few simple words. Lucy looked struck and Harry looked repentant. He hadn't meant to stab at them. Both of them were hurt by the comment. But it was more to make them realize that what they did affected more people than just themselves. Draco and Ginny were still missing. Both of their mothers would have been quick to remind them of this.

                "Stay put, Harry. Lucy, I'll see if we can't get you transferred tonight."

***

                There was nothing left to do at the hospital. Ron accompanied his mother home feeling almost as miserable as she looked.

                Fred, George and Anni were discussing somewhere in the other parts of the house whether Molly should be told now that Ginny was missing, or wait until she came to realize that the house was completely empty.

                Ron was appeased in the slightest to notice that Ginny's hand on the clock pointed to traveling, but that could mean anything. He sat his mother down with her back facing the clock. There was no use in her finding out before Anni, Fred and George had drawn straws as to who would break the news.

                He thought fleetingly of Hermione. But he soon shook the thought out of his head. He would see her and sort all of this out when Ginny was home and safe.

                He turned to the stove and put the kettle on for tea and busied himself with staring out the window.

                The door opened and shut and he didn't turn around. He knew he would see either Bill or Charlie, neither of which he was eager to argue with for the next hour.

                He turned only when he heard his father's voice behind him, talking to his mum. "Gabriel was found."

                "Oh, that's just the best news, the poor dear. Was he hurt?" Molly asked, brightening for the slightest of moments.

                Arthur sat and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "There's more," he said ominously as Bill and Charlie came to sit at the table with their parents. Fred, George and Anni came into the room and listened on the edges of the conversation as Ron did.

                "What more, dear? Is the child all right?" Molly pressed, concerned.

                "Lots more apparently. But Gabriel is fine," Arthur said heavily. "This is incredible to believe but…"

                Fred chimed in with an impatient, "Well, what, dad? Spit it out."

                Arthur opened his mouth to say something when another person came through the door. It was Ginny.

                Fred was the first to the door where he accosted her with a frantic hug, squeezing the breath out of her. She didn't move. Not even one muscle of her mouth twitched into a smile, or even the shadow of one. Ron watched with mounting unease. She wasn't glad to be there.

                "Oh, God, Ginny you're back!" Arthur said, heaving a sigh of relief. "Sirius was just about to go looking for you."

                Ginny gave her father a cold stare and said, "Well, I guess you can tell him not to bother."

                She turned, wrenching herself from her brother's arms and headed up the stairs. Ron heard her door shut behind her.

                "Ron," Charlie said with a jerk of his head, suggesting that Ron offer himself up as a sacrifice and try to talk Ginny out of her room.

                "Got to hell, Charlie," Ron spat with contempt.

                "Will someone explain what's going on here?" Molly said.

                "Was that a sword she was carrying?" Anni asked almost at random.

                Arthur heaved a sigh and began to explain the whole arduous tale.

***

                She heard nothing but the 'drip drip' of a constant trickle of water. The entire place was lit in an eerie half light that seemed to glow and unearthly shade of green. She seemed strangely at home here and she wasn't sure why. It was like a peace in her ever troubled soul.

                She felt his breath on her neck. He was here. Tom.

                She felt her heart jump, both with pleasure and pain. She always longed for the moments when she would see him or speak to him whenever they were apart. To her inexperienced heart, this was what love meant. Had she not been so young, impressionable, naïve, this wouldn't have hurt so much.

                He whispered to her of her vital importance, of his deep-rooted need for her, how he thought about her every moment.

                Her heart was aflutter as he admitted that she was more precious to him than anything else had been. She could feel the taint of a lie in his touch, on his breath. She saw the glint in his eyes. He was doing this all for him. She didn't matter to him beyond her uses for his ends. She was his. She had already said so.

                It had even become a pleasant occurrence to her when he would grow impatient of her sniveling and whining and hauled her arm painfully behind her bringing her to her knees. He would remind her who needed whom here.

                Before releasing her, he would always force her to say that it was she that depended upon him. She knew deep down that he couldn't survive without her, but she kept it to herself. Even when he told her that she was worthless, desirable to no one but him. She prayed that if this was all that she could get from life, this dependent, sick, twisted love, she prayed for its preservation. She thought she would die if he grew tired of her, left her.

                He had. And it had broken her heart.

                One of the last things he had said to her, the last thing that she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness, only to wake up prodded by Harry, the diary, her precious Tom gone forever, was , "You'll never be worth more to any other being than your are to me. And your heart is useless. I don't want it, no one does. Second-hand, useless thing."

                Draco must have known that. He could see it in her eyes, branded on her skin, in the way she talked. She had been used and thrown to the curb. He wouldn't deny that he had been accustomed to more. Better.

                Ginny sat up in her bed, still wearing the infirmary issue nightgown. She looked around. She felt the chill of something wet on her cheek. As she removed a hand, she wasn't surprised to see it wet with tears.

                The small amount of moonlight bleeding in through her curtains, afforded her a glimpse of herself in her mirror.

                She picked up a knick-knack from her bedside table, something girly and of little significance to her and threw it at her reflection, smashing the glass out of the frame.

                She stood and brought the rest of her room down around her feet in the same fury, ignoring the frantic knocking on the other side of her door.

                An owl through the open window, a familiar eagle owl named Sadie. She smiled slightly. Taking the letter, she opened it urgently and read.

                Ginny,

                Saw the paper today. Looks like even psychopaths need friends.

                How about meeting a good friend for lunch?

                Neville.

                Ginny's smile widened. She wasn't sure what he had read in the paper, but it couldn't have been good. She was reluctant to go downstairs with the rest of the living and have a peek at it herself. She prayed that it wasn't a Rita Skeeter exclusive.

                She blew a strand of hair out of her face and wrote a quick reply, accepting.

                Finally, after the owl had been sent away with its reply and the banging on her door subsided, she looked at her computer and flipped the switch, watching the screen light up with apprehension and excitement.

***

                 

                Harry came through the door amidst fevered glares from Ron.

                Sirius followed, sticking embarrassingly close wherever Harry went. When Harry had tried to talk to him about considering a little space, Sirius blew up in an overly paternal manner. "You don't deserve to be treated as an adult, Harry, until you learn to grow up."

                That had been the end of that.

                Molly had taken custody of him so that Sirius could spend the rest of the day doing damage control for Lucy. He would serve as her council and, indeed, it was all going to trial. She was facing serious charges and in order to be the most effective for her case, Harry had to be somewhere else.

                Sirius left without another word.

                Ron took Harry by the arm immediately saying, "Take a walk with me, best mate." He had said it so sarcastically that Harry was left in no doubt that Ron was angrier with him than he had ever been or would ever be again.

                "Hey, Harry. Heard you wound up in the slammer last night. Let's see the fingerprint ink," Anni prodded, making light of the situation.

                "Shut up, Anni," Harry said hotly. "It's wizarding prison. They don't use fingerprints, idiot."

                Ron threw him though the door impatiently and shut it, blocking further banter.

                They walked away from the house in silence, Ron's shuffling feet making the only sound on the snow covered street.

                "Okay, I know you're angry at me for leaving you and Hermione behind, but—," Harry began.

                Ron stopped and turned, flushing a livid red to his hairline. "No, Harry. I'm not angry because you left me behind."

                Harry stopped and blinked. "Then what, Ron? Just come out and say it."

                "Okay, Harry," Ron shouted, advancing on Harry, causing him to step back in surprise. "I'll tell you why I'm angry. I'm angry because you took Ginny with you."

                Harry blinked again. "You think that I'm trying to replace you as my best friend?"

                "No, Harry." Ron was shouting and gesturing wildly.

                "Well, isn't that why you hate Lucy? Because you think she'll replace you?" Harry shoved his frozen hands in his pockets.

                "Does everything have to be about you?" Ron asked with mounting disgust. "For once, Harry, this is about someone other than yourself."

                Harry stepped back again as Ron advanced angrily on him. "You took Ginny back there with you and then you just left her."

                Harry didn't say anything for a long time. "Is she all right?"

                "That's very sweet of you to ask, Harry. No, she's not all right. It's one thing to go off and fight evil with me and even Hermione. I know that she can take care of herself. Ginny, on the other hand, can't."

                "Well, what happened?" Harry asked.

                "She came home pretty banged up. She went to her room and locked herself in. At about three this morning she trashed her room. Nothing left unbroken in there but her computer. She won't tell me anything. Harry, I don't mind your being friends with her, but I don't want you dragging her into situations and then stranding her. She's…I don't know what to do." Ron turned and continued to walk. His anger had dissipated somewhat.

                "And it's my fault," Harry said weakly. It wasn't a question, but a realization.

                "Yes," Ron said. "I don't know what happened back there or what she went through. Harry, I can't even keep track of how many times I have almost lost her. I don't want her put in that kind of spot again."

                Harry nodded. "Do you think I should talk to her?"

                Ron shook his head. "She's not talking to anyone right now."

                "Ron, I'm sorry…for everything," Harry said quietly.

                Ron gave him a considering look. "Harry, I'm not mad. I am a little resentful that you wouldn't let me and Hermione help you, but I understand. Hermione understands too, I think. She's not speaking to me."

                Harry started. "You had a fight? But, I thought—," he began.

                "It's nothing," Ron assured him. "I'll stop by her house tomorrow and we'll talk. It'll be fine."

                Harry let out a breath he'd been holding in. "Ron, I'm sorry for everything. I know that I haven't been the best of friends lately. But you've always been there for me. I just wish you knew how much that means to me," he said.

                Ron stopped and looked at his friend, struck. He endeavored to say something but instead, drew Harry into a tight embrace.

                Harry would remember that moment when he thought back on Ron. It would be his most cherished of memories.

                "Did I tell you both congratulations?" Harry said finally.

                "I don't remember," Ron said with a smile. "Tell me again."

                "Congratulations. You know you're a lucky little sod. And Hermione's lucky to have you as well." Harry smiled and turned back to the house with his friend.

                "Harry?" Ron asked after a moment of silence. "I think I mean this…congratulations too. I know that you were never the same when she died. As unrealistic as it was for her to come back…it figures that God would have put an angel on earth for you. The mortals were never good enough in my opinion."

                Harry smiled at the comment, feeling something release inside of him, a sort of tension that he had been carrying around, tightening every time that Lucy and Ron had clashed.

                "Thanks, Ron. That means a lot to me."

                "I know. That's why I had to choke down my natural aversion to her family. I see how much you adore her and how much she adores you…but I just have to say one last thing," Ron said quickly.

                "What?" Harry asked.

                "It's still pretty fucked up that you'll probably marry a Malfoy," Ron smiled.

                Harry shook his head. "Er…that won't happen for a long time. Lucy's guardianship will pass to her brother. As long as she's underage…he'll never consent to more than my being in the same room with her."

                "Speaking of…where did Malfoy go to anyway?" Ron asked.

                "He was with us back in 1352. Last time I saw him he was heading back to his father's camp," Harry shrugged. "Azria told us that he would come back with Ginny."

                Ron's eyes flew wide. "Ginny came back on her own."

                They exchanged a look and walked a little faster back to the Burrow.

***

                Ginny rubbed her eyes and looked over the Acknowledgements that she had just typed out. Blinked tiredly and smiled. She had written a chapter and a half and still had come to no clear conclusion as to how she was going to do this.

                She was resolved. She would have to get her Time-Turner back from Snape. No matter what the cost, she had to be sure, she had to go back and see for herself.

                She glanced at her clock on the wall, the face was busted, but it still ticked away the hours.

                It was five after ten in the morning.

                She saved her work and then crept down the hall to the bathroom, careful to avoid any inquiries as to her health. She was sick of hearing, "Ginny, are you all right?"

                She showered and changed and crept back to her room.

                She knew going downstairs would lead to unavoidable conversation, but she had to brave it.

                On the table was the article that Neville had referred to. In bold ink were the words: Hero Harry Potter's Lurid Love Triangle with Daughter of a Millionaire and Tragic Psychopath: A Rita Skeeter Exclusive.

                Front page news. That's just grand, Ginny thought to herself as she picked the paper up and reached to throw it into the fire. She stopped as three words jumped out at her from the print. She sat down dizzily to read.

                Last night, hero of the wizarding community, Harry Potter, wound up behind bars after mixing himself up in the exploits of girlfriend Lucilla Malfoy. Daughter of Lucius Malfoy, millionaire and fabled supporter of the ex-Dark Lord Voldemort. Lucilla was arrested on charges of illegal use of a Time-Turner and is rumored to have been involved in the string of kidnappings that have plagued wizarding  Europe for the past three months. While Potter was released late last night, Malfoy will remain in law enforcement custody at St. Mungo's criminal ward until her trial, set for later this winter. .

                "That is only the beginning of the story," states student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Nan Mallory. "Frankly, I'm not surprised in the least. This is the sort of behavior that we have come to expect from our famed hero. He was dating Virginia Weasley for the longest time but said that he had grown tired of her hallucinating and conspiracy theorizing. He said that she had never been the same since her accident in her first year at school. He has taken up with several girls since then."

                The "accident" that Miss Mallory referred to was none other than the famed Chamber of Secrets catastrophe. Hushed up by the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Miss Weasley's involvement can now be brought to light. Through the mysterious workings of an old diary, the clinically deranged Miss Weasley was able to access the powers of Voldemort. She was responsible for the near death of at least four students at the school, one of which happened to be Harry Potter's best friend Hermione Granger. Like every other misfit and malcontent, Headmaster Dumbledore has admitted off the record that he viewed  Miss Weasley's involvement as no more a threat to the safety of his school than his former Games Keeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid was the half-giant reported as a danger to the school in an exclusive by the same author three years ago. The half-giant Hagrid died earlier this summer while on holiday. Miss Weasley will not be removed from the school we are told.

                Harry Potter seems to have a taste for dark women. Not only was his relationship with Miss Weasley long going, when it had ended he immediately involved himself with the daughter of former Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. Lucilla has already started a life of crime, following in the footsteps of her father, as a spy trailing none other than the Minister of Magic himself. While her father's whereabouts are not known to the author of this article or the editor of the Prophet, his daughter's connections to these crimes likely spell trouble for the wizarding community.

                Ginny felt the color drain from her cheeks.

                The door opened admitting Ron and Harry, both of whom started when they saw her holding the paper.

                "Ginny," Ron asked tentatively, "did Draco Malfoy come back with you? Harry said that Azria told him—," he began.

                "No," Ginny cut him off. Her chest constricted painfully. She tossed the paper into the fire and pushed past them. "I'm late."

                She shut the door and all conversation about Draco Malfoy with it.

***

                Despite all that had conspired to bring her down this morning, Ginny's face lit up when she saw her friend.

                Neville was genuinely pleased to see her. That felt good. He always had a way of treating her like no one else existed. He held out a box that was wrapped in gold paper.

                Ginny took it with a smile and un-wrapped it as they walked. She tried to ignore the looks she got. One witch even stopped her as they walked out of Diagon Alley and asked for her autograph, holding out the same article that she'd read just that morning.

                Neville politely shooed the lady away.

                "It's a lovely quill, Neville thank you. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything," Ginny said as they turned to stroll down a street into Muggle London.

                "Don't worry about it. I got this for you a while ago but forgot to give it to you. I know you were writing a story. It's just a bit of encouragement." He stopped and smiled. "I know you write on a computer and all…but I thought you could use a good quill, you know if you want to write at school at all."

                "That's very thoughtful of you," Ginny smiled, taking his arm.

                His smile fell as they turned to less pleasant matters. "I would ask how your Christmas was…but I guess I read all about it. What's going on, Ginny? Anything I can help with?"

                Ginny bit her lip. "It was all so screwed up. I never believed in fate…do you believe in fate?" she asked.

                Neville looked at her and smiled. "Sure I do."

                She explained the whole scenario. If Neville was shocked by the traveling to 1352, the child army, her last moments with Draco, he didn't show it.

                He said finally, "Do you think he's dead?"

                Ginny thought for a moment and said, "I don't think I could give up that easily."

                "What does that mean?" Neville asked. They took a seat in a small café on Upper Street.

                "It means that I think I'm going to contrive a way to steal my Time-Turner back and look for him. I have to know whether he's dead or alive, Neville."

                He nodded and stared at his food. "I never disliked him the way that Ron and Harry did. Sure, he's an unrelenting bully. I…I kind of sympathized with him. I saw what most people didn't when they first knew him."

                "What was that?" Ginny asked.

                "He wished he had a family," Neville said simply. "He would scoff if he thought we were in anyway similar, but we are."

                Ginny nodded in agreement. "You are similar, I think."

                Neville smiled, thinking of how ironic that sounded.

                Ginny moved her food around for a moment more and then dropped her fork. "Oh, I never asked you how your holiday went."

                Neville's face split into an ear-to-ear grin. Ginny couldn't help but smile as well. "My mother said my name for the first time since I can remember yesterday."

                "Oh, Neville," Ginny said, ecstatic, "that's wonderful!"

Thanks To:

Sara: I don't need to vocalize everything. You know you are my driving force. (Even though I killed Galahad you still read this stuff). Oliverwoodsgirl: Did you think I would leave it there? No. You know my writing well enough to know I'm far from finished. Four chapters left from here. Amanda Mancini: "Perfectly described"—thanks for your incredibly lovely review. Krisalyn: That's what happens next. I hope it continues to thrill you. Jake: I am sorry reading my story made you late for work. But I am so flattered by the comment and happy to have your review. If you are looking for more relevant material to my series I'm writing a Founders' story (The Unsung Past), a World War Two drama (Bells In Winter), and a story featuring Sirius (The Way the Window Faces).  Hibiscus: …and do what with Draco once you have him *accidentally* tied up? Maybe I don't want to know. Balleke: Thank you for your opinion. The character's name, however, is Faramir not Falamir. I would hardly call this a crossover. I am glad we agree that crossovers are never a good idea. However, Tolkien was a medieval languages scholar and therefore very useful for period names. I also used Eomer and Eowyn. But I am in no way trying to merge the two stories. Please refrain from using all caps in your reviews (it denotes shouting) and swearing at me. That's just not very nice.