Crossing Ways

Chapter 6: When the past comes back to haunt…

After her talk with Professor Dumbledore Professor McGonagall led Fleur through corridors, moving stairs, and hidden passages to an old suit of armour. Hidden behind that suit of armour were the guestrooms, which you could only enter if you provided the proper password.

Giving the layout of the spiralling staircase and the shape of the rooms, Fleur figured she was probably inside one of the smaller towers of the castle. She was given the upper room out of the three inside the tower. The room had the shape of a three-quarter circle, with two small straight walls and one very large and round wall that covered almost the entire room. On the part of the room visible from the door, you could see a pair of stuffed chairs with a low table in between, facing the fireplace nestled on the round wall. Walking to the left side of the door, you could see first a window and then the bed, which stood against the other straight wall. Standing just beneath the window was a desk with some clean parchment and quills. The four-poster had brown hangings and cover, the last one bearing a golden Hogwarts crest. Her trunk was already placed near the bed.

After Fleur assured her that she wasn't hungry to begin with and was too tired to have dinner, and after explaining to Fleur how to get to the Great Hall from her bedroom, Professor McGonagall left her alone. Fleur quickly changed her robes and settled herself to sleep. The following day would be exhaustive and she needed to rest.

In the morning Fleur woke up feeling a bit anxious. Before coming to Hogwarts, she had been nervous that Professor Dumbledore would turn her offer down. This morning, her anxiety was over her Auror training.

Professor Dumbledore had told her that even though he didn't doubt her abilities and magical knowledge, he thought she could use some practical training, since all she had ever learned and done concerning Dark Arts Defence - apart from the Tournament - had been theoretical.

He had also told her that even though she wouldn't be considered an official Auror, she would receive training from an experienced Auror like anyone willingly to pursue that career usually did nowadays. The Auror would not only give her some practical learning in Dark Arts Defence, but would also help her in any weak points she showed during her training.

After making herself presentable, Fleur headed downstairs. On her way down the spiralling staircase that led to the guests' rooms, she heard a sound coming from the lowest guestroom. Apparently, she wasn't the only guest at Hogwarts.

Leaving the Guests Tower, Fleur was glad for Professor McGonagall's directions the previous night. She had spent almost an entire year at Hogwarts, but most of her time had been spent at the Beauxbatons carriage, having classes with Madame Maxime, who had server as a tutor to Fleur and the rest of her classmates who had come to Hogwarts for the Tournament. She had never wandered inside the upper floors, and therefore she didn't quite know the castle.

When she finally entered the Great Hall, she saw that only one table was set for breakfast, in the middle of the room. There were only a few people there, but they were already eating. It must have taken her longer than she realised to find her way down here.

Approaching the table she saw that Professor Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, with Professor McGonagall at his right side. Next to her sat that short and plum witch Fleur had seen the day before with Professor McGonagall. There were only two more places at the table, both vacant, and Fleur took the one in front of the plump witch.

"Good morning, Mademoiselle Delacour. I trust you already know Professor Sprout, don't you?"

Sprout. That was the name Fleur had forgotten. "Yes, Professor Dumblydorr. Good morning, Professors," she acknowledged both women with a smile.

At that moment, another teacher entered the Hall. This one Fleur remembered, the rigid features on his pale face quite remarkable. Although his face seemed a bit paler than she remembered and he had shadows under his eyes. "Good morning, Professor Snape," Fleur said when he approached the table.

The new arrival barely acknowledged her with a nod, and sat on the last vacant spot. Professor Dumbledore spoke quietly to him.

"Is everything all right, Severus?"

Professor Snape's eyes darted briefly to Fleur before focusing on Dumbledore's. "As expected."

"I advise you to have a nice breakfast, Mademoiselle Delacour." Apparently, Professor Dumbledore had noticed how Fleur seemed curious about Professor Snape. "You are to begin your training afterwards." He said, smiling.

Fleur tried to hide the slight blush of her cheeks for being caught by pouring some pumpkin juice to herself, but she still heard Dumbledore's softly spoken request to Professor Snape.

"I want to have a word with you after breakfast, Severus. Would you be so kind as to wait for me in my office after you're finished?"

From the corner of her eyes, Fleur saw Snape merely nodding and starting to eat his breakfast in silence, as the rest of them.

***

After Cedric's funeral and making his decision known to Dumbledore, Bill felt strangely calmer. A common Muggle saying he had learned at Muggle Studies was the best explanation for how he felt: "After the storm, always comes a time of peacefulness."

But with life starting to settle itself as back into normal as possible, Bill's thoughts – which had been so focused inward until the funeral – turned to those around him. To the person who had stood out the most to him against the background of his noisy family, even though through everything that had happened the last few weeks: Ginny.

Ginny had never been as boisterous and noisy as the twins or Charlie, nor as vividly and visually temperamental as Ron. She had been born when Bill already was a Hogwarts student, and they had spent very little time together, so, Bill had never bonded with Ginny much. But he loved and cared for her, and he knew she was that kind of person who usually didn't shut up.

However, since coming back from Hogwarts, she had mostly kept to herself. No one so far had noticed because everyone was more than a little shaken by Cedric's death. Another reason for that was that the two people closer to her had been quite preoccupied lately.

Mr. Weasley, by far the closest person to Ginny, was the first up every morning at the Burrow, and more than often he arrived after dinner had been served and sometimes even eaten – to Mrs. Weasley's chagrin. That did not left much time to his only daughter.

Percy, the other Weasley closer to Ginny also seemed to be overly quiet. He had always defended Ginny and Ron when they were little from Fred and George antics, and although Ron had strayed away from Percy when he got older, Ginny hadn't. And despite the fact that Percy was the calmer, or rather possibly the only calm Weasley, he usually didn't keep to himself, but he had not bragged once about his perfect work or otherwise. Probably because of his fresh memory with time spent with the Unspeakables. However, Bill had a nagging and disturbing feeling that there was more to Percy's mood than that. His talk with Percy the morning following the third task kept haunting Bill for some reason.

But who concerned most Bill at the moment was Ginny. Percy was a young man and should be able to deal with his own problems or should at least to know when he needed help and ask for it. Ginny, on the other hand, was still very young and quite stubborn. Besides, she had been into trouble before without anyone else knowing.

Watching Ginny seated quietly on the living room's couch, with her feet tucked under her and a book in her hands, Bill reached a decision. She had already gone through some rough times in her life, and who knows if a simple talk would have prevented that? Maybe if they had paid a little more attention to Ginny they would have perceived that something was wrong.

Looking through the window, Bill saw Ron, Charlie and the twins playing Quidditch. Mr. Weasley and Percy, naturally, were at the Ministry. And Mrs. Weasley was making dinner in the kitchen.

This was a good a time as ever.

"Ginny?" Bill prompted. She raised her eyes from the page she had been staring at for the last half hour – Bill had noticed she wasn't really reading – and answered, "Yes, Bill?"

Acknowledging the need to talk to Ginny was one thing. Squeezing out off her what was troubling her without scaring her away was another one entirely.

"What's this book you're reading about?"

"Oh," Ginny looked at the book on her hands and turned it to look at the cover. "It's a Muggle's book dad gave me for Christmas called…"

"You are not really reading it, are you?" Bill interrupted her. "Otherwise you wouldn't need to look at the cover to read its name."

Ginny's face turned a little pink. "What are you implying at? I just forgot the name, it's a new book."

Bill saw right through her lie. Sometimes she was much like Ron – very easy to read. "Ginny, I know you are troubled by something. You can choose to deny it or not, but I know you are. And I'm willingly to help."

"There is nothing to tell." She said, keeping her face straight.

"Well, I think there is. And if you don't tell me, I may be forced to talk with Mum and Dad about it, and I will find out eventually what was it."

Ginny seemed taken aback by Bill's words for a moment, but soon a smile crept to her lips. "You are going to tell on me to Mum and Dad?" She finished, amused.

Bill could feel his cheeks getting hot. He was not a kid anymore! "Ginny, you know it's not like that. I'm just worried about you. Tell me, what's wrong?" He finished, quite seriously.

Ginny bit her lower lip and seemed to ponder for a bit. "Promise not to tell Mum and Dad? I don't want to worry them."

Bill unconsciously stuffed out his chest, like he used to when he was Head Boy. "You know I can't promise you that. But I can promise you this: I'll make my best to make them not worry more than necessary."

Ginny seemed uncertain for a bit, but when she closed her book and put her feet on the floor, Bill knew she had given in to his plea.

However, instead of telling Bill right off what it was that was troubling her, Ginny took a deep breath. Soon, she had started rocking backwards and forwards like a child, with her face closed and her forehead furrowed.

Like she had been doing the summer after her first year at Hogwarts.

A nagging feeling set in the pit of Bill's stomack. "Does it have anything to do with You-Know-Who? Did you start having nightmares with him again after he was reborn?"

Ginny looked quickly up at Bill. "Yes – no… Well, yes, but just this one time." Bill felt somewhat a bit relieved. "During the Triwizard Tournament's Third Task." Bill stiffened.

***

"Miss Delacour, I'd like to impress upon you one more time the seriousness of the task you've set yourself to do."

Fleur just stared, both determinedly and stubbornly at Dumbledore. They were standing outside one of the Hogwarts classrooms. After finishing breakfast, Dumbledore had led Fleur there, only stopping shortly when approaching the door to their right.

At Fleur's determined look, Dumbledore spoke up again. "As I told you yesterday, before allowing you to help in the war, you have to undertake an Auror training, even though you will be not working for the Ministry as one. Your instructor is inside this classroom, waiting for you. Given special circumstances, I must ask you to be secretive about his identity."

"I understand."

"Very well." And he opened the door for her, making room for Fleur to enter.

Once she stepped inside the classroom and saw who was seated upon the teacher's chair, Fleur froze on her tracks. An intense feeling of fear ran down her spine, making her body shiver as if suddenly touched by a burst of cold air. She clenched her hands into fists to try and control herself, and only barely managed it.

Her first impulse was to run. Her second was to attack. Neither prevailed, however.

"I thought you were dead," the words spilled from her mouth. Her logical side had overcome her instincts.

***

"That night, while we waited for Harry and the other champions to leave the Maze, I fell asleep." Ginny looked at Bill quizzically.

"Yes, I remember that."

"Anyway, for those few minutes I was sleeping, I had a dream. A nightmare, really." Ginny pressed her eyes shut, as if trying to remember. "I saw everything as if through a haze - like my eyes were blurred or something… There were statues around me, but I couldn't see their form." She paused, her brow furrowing even more, as she tried to remember her nightmare. "It was dark. From somewhere in my subconscious came a name for that place: Chamber of Secrets." She shuddered and Bill reached out for her with his hand. "It didn't make sense, though, because that place was at the same time similar and different from the Chamber." She gulped, disgust clear on her face. Bill gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Then I saw him again. Tom Riddle. Only it wasn't Tom. He was different…older…less human. And he was standing in the middle of flames and thick smoke." She opened her eyes and glanced at Bill quickly. "That was when I woke up."

"Ginny… That is serious. You know what happened that night, don't you?"

"Yes," she nodded fiercely. "Professor Dumbledore told us that Lord Voldemort –" Bill winced when he heard his little sister using the Dark Lord's proper name, "– came back to life."

Both Weasleys stayed silent for a moment, before Bill finally spoke up. "This nightmare you had," he knew what he wanted to say, but he was not so sure how to say it. "It could be connected to it."

"I know. Professor Dumbledore thinks it too."

Bill's eyebrows shut up. "Professor Dumbledore knows about it?"

"Yes, the day following the Third Task I told him about my nightmare. He had warned me after…after my first year that if anything strange should happen to me that I thought could be in someway connected to my…experience with Tom Riddle's diary, I should warn him. He was quite helpful during those first months, when I had nightmares about that time almost every night." Ginny suddenly seemed so grown up to Bill.

"Why didn't you tell Mum and Dad about it, Gin?"

"I don't want to worry them. Besides, that was a one time thing, I haven't had any nightmares again the whole summer. Please, don't tell Mum and Dad! They already blamed themselves pretty hard for the fact that Tom Riddle's diary fell to my hands, especially Dad. I don't want them to blame themselves for this anymore."

Bill gulped. His instincts told him to tell his parents all about it first chance he had. But the determined and preoccupied look on Ginny's face… Besides, Professor Dumbledore knew about it, so, he could help if it happened again.

"Ok, Ginny, I won't say a thing. But you have to promise me that if something like this happens again, you'll tell me either me or Professor Dumbledore, you got that?"

Ginny sighed in relief, and smiled at her oldest brother. "I promise."

***

"Yesterday's Daily Prophet…" Fleur began to say, but Dumbledore interrupted her. "…was a necessary precaution we had to take in order to protect Professor Moody. Voldemort will be expecting him to be dead, after all."

" 'E will?" Fleur looked from Moody to Dumbledore, her eyes wide open.

"Of course. The Death Eater who was posing as Professor Moody couldn't keep him alive after he was done with him." Dumbledore smiled. "Professor McGonagall told me about your encounter outside the Hospital Wing on the night of the Third Task." Noticing Fleur's staggered look, Dumbledore continued. "I don't think I need to explain to you why we had to take such measures, isn't that so, Mademoiselle Delacour?"

"Of…of course not," Fleur answered, her eyes still glued to the man in front of her. The man she consciously knew hadn't attacked her, but whose face had haunted her since that fateful night.

"Well, I will leave you two now. I have some pressing matters to attend to." And Dumbledore left.

Fleur kept quite still, standing in front of Professor Moody. She couldn't avert her eyes from his mismatched pair of eyes.

"Dumbledore told me you want to help in the war against Lord Voldemor, and as such, he thinks it would be wise to give you some Auror training." Fleur almost jumped at the sound of his voice, but she managed to control herself and nodded. "Well, I couldn't agree with him more. The lack of training of the Aurors during Voldemort's first reign of terror was quite disastrous for them. But back then we didn't have time to train Aurors. Those kids got to our Headquarters saying they wanted to be Aurors, we gave them badges, and send them right out, to fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Mind you, if we had took the time to train them and check if they were right for the job, we might have found out which ones were right for the job and, perhaps the most important of all, which ones were traitors."

He looked at Fleur again, who had yet to move and was still staring wide-eyed at Moody.

"As I understand, you were Stunned by the Death Eater who pretended to be me, right?" When Fleur nodded, Moody continued. "I don't blame you for being weary at me then. That at least taught you to have CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody pratically yelled, getting up from his chair and slapping his hand on the table in front of him. This time Fleur did jump.