When the Diamonds Shatter

Chapter 20

Captain Faust's office was less than a two-minute stroll away from Ironheart's. He only needed to descend the stairs to get out of Ironheart's tower, and he was there.

Ron knocked.

"Just a minute!" Faust's muffled reply came after Ron had knocked on the door. There was a lot of shuffling on the other side, followed by a crashing sound.

It sounded very nasty, so Ron opened the door, finding Faust sitting behind an empty desk. A small statue of the legendary wizard Faust — Ron wasn't sure whether or not it was an ancestor of the captain — lay in front of the desk, shattered into tiny bits.

"Mr Weasley, what a surprise!" Faust wiped his red face with a handkerchief.

Ron felt the blood rush to his face. Faust wasn't alone. His wife, looking dishevelled, was buttoning up her blouse. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!"

"I'm sorry you had to catch us like this." Lieutenant Cliff smiled mischievously. She didn't look embarrassed at all, unlike her husband. "But with Nehanda running us ragged and having us working at different hours, we needed to improvise to be together."

Ron could sympathise with that. Commander Nomvete had done the same to him and Hermione. He doubted whether Hermione would be up for something like this, though. Not that they'd be able to get away with it, being junior Rangers. Then there was the fact that it was hard to be alone in the medical labs…

"So, how may I help you?" Faust asked.

"I was just wondering what this mission is about, and why you picked me to go on that mission in Japan. Besides me, Harry's the most junior of the lot, and he's Fifth Class. I'm not even a formal Ranger yet! What could I contribute?"

"You have tactical insight, Mr Weasley."

"Not greater than yours, sir."

"Perhaps not yet." Faust smiled. "I need someone who is able to second-guess my calls, and whom I trust to be good enough to do so effectively. You impressed me in the skirmish at Hogwarts, so I know you've got what it takes. Aside from that, we need your ability to submerge yourself in the minds of our adversaries to make educated guesses at their next move. You seem to be very good at that as well. As for the goal of the mission, I'll brief everyone when we're on our way."

Ron frowned. Harry hadn't been very generous with the information, but over time he'd managed to find out what had happened on Harry's earlier mission in Japan. "Commander Ironheart didn't say as much, but I assume that we're going to try and get the princess out of that prison, right?"

"If possible." Faust nodded slowly.

"I've been doing some reading on Japanese traditions, sir. If she's been disgraced, and execution or suicide is the only way to salvage or restore some of the family's honour, she may not want to be saved."

"We can't let her die either way. There's a very strong curse on the imperial family. It was sealed with a sacrifice," Faust said.

Ron gasped. "Bloody hell!" If this execution was perhaps another sort of sacrifice…

"Starting to see the pattern, are you?" Faust nodded. "We have—"

"It is the hour of twilight," Lieutenant Cliff said; her voice sounded strange, and she had a glazed look in her eyes.

"What?" Ron frowned.

"Prophecy!" Faust said quickly, drawing his wand and flicking it. One of the drawers in his desk slid open and a quill, ink bottle and a roll of parchment shot out, laying themselves out neatly on the desk. The quill dipped itself into the ink and hovered above the parchment. "Write down my words! It is the hour of twilight."

As the quill scribbled down Faust's words, Cliff droned on. Faust repeated what Cliff said. "A dark general will arise. He will supersede his handlers and grab the reins of evil himself, directing it onto the world. The scarred one, his Soul Brother, will oppose him. Only one will emerge from the fray."

"Got it all," Faust said.

Lieutenant Cliff came out of her trance and blinked. "What happened? What did I say?"

Faust showed her the parchment, and Ron watched Lieutenant Cliff to see her reaction.

"The Emperor!" she hissed ominously.

"Which Emperor? Does the Emperor know we're coming?" Faust asked anxiously. "We have to abort the mission then!"

"No." Cliff shook her head. Then she looked at Ron. "Remember the reading I did for you, Hermione, Ginny and Harry? The Emperor's card that stuck to Harry's Magician,"—she pointed at the parchment— "is the dark general. And Harry is the scarred one."

"Are you sure?" Faust asked carefully.

"I'm positive. I was wondering about the meaning of my cards. In my readings I keep seeing disaster. The cards told me that the Magician would face his toughest challenge yet. And I saw that the future, not the past, would come between Harry and Ginny. That one had me confused. I had no idea what it meant until today." Cliff sighed. "I was hoping that the readings were wrong, but now that the Draconian turns out to be Harry's daughter from the future..."

"Malfoy!" Ron grumbled. "It has to be him! Who else would it be? He's always trying to find a way to gain more power."

"Well, the prophecy suggested that they'd be roughly equal in power," Faust pointed out. "Malfoy can't go head to head with Harry Potter. No one can."

"Prophecies are cryptic for a reason. Maybe they won't go head to head. Malfoy could gain the resources he needs to be an indirect challenge."

"He's got a point, love," Cliff told her husband.

Faust grinned. "Now do you understand why you've been selected for the mission?"

Ron heard the captain, but he was too busy putting together various scenarios in his head to feel pleased with himself. What if the prophecy wasn't cryptic? What if it was quite literal? That would mean that Malfoy's power and skill would increase dramatically. Another possibility would be that the prophecy wasn't about Malfoy at all. It could be someone else. But one thing was certain…

"Harry needs to know. The sooner he knows, the better he can prepare. And we need to work out the identity of this dark general. He'll have an easier time preparing himself if he knows who he's fighting. And if the threat is more indirect, we'll benefit from knowing his identity as well."

"So we can identify and take out the resources he'd bring to bear against Harry." Faust nodded. He took the roll of parchment from his wife. "Come on! We have to show Ironheart."

*

Harry's mind was reeling. It was unbelievable! Draco Malfoy was Ironheart's grandson. He was Max Wolfe's cousin…and Jasmin's too. That meant he was related to Charlie Jr…a Weasley! This must have been what Aberforth had been getting at when he talked about bloodlines. Wolfe was related to the Weasleys as well, and Matt was more distantly related to Malfoy.

Suddenly, Harry wondered whether Aberforth had known about this.

"He knew," Ironheart said simply.

Harry felt slightly irritated by Ironheart's continuous, uninvited intrusions into his mind.

"I don't have a lot of choice. Your mind is screaming so loud, I'd have to do some mental screaming of my own to drown you out. That would double the screaming, eh?"

Harry forced himself to clear his mind and slow down his thought pattern. Aberforth was just like his older brother. It seemed like everything they said had a hidden meaning to it, even when it sounded like the ramblings of an old man on the brink of senility. Had Aberforth surreptitiously been trying to prepare him for this?

"How did Aberforth find out? Didn't he retire before you became a Ranger?"

"Yes, he did. Basham told him. I know she corresponded with him until her death. Like I said, she caught me using the Order's resources to monitor the women, and she demanded to know why, so I told her.

"When my daughter married Lucius…well, it was cause for concern. Their child…the child of a Death Eater, would have been a potential Mind Reader. She told him then, and I reckon she told Albus too, since he was leading the effort against Voldemort."

"Wow…this is a lot to take in!" Harry muttered, leaning against the wall. It was truly unbelievable.

"You look like you could use a drink," Ironheart commented, and gestured for Harry to step inside his office once more.

Harry did so, and Ironheart poured him half a glass, and a whole one for himself.

"Shouldn't be giving you this hooch, mind you…goes against all regulations. Can't have you report for your mission drunk."

Harry shrugged. Whatever Ironheart had given him seemed to concentrate his mind wonderfully, quite the opposite of getting drunk. It didn't taste too bad either.

Harry was just about finished sipping his drink when someone insistently banged on the door.

"Enter."

Captain Faust, Lieutenant Cliff and Ron came bursting through the door

"Sir, Janice just voiced a prophecy. I wrote it all down," Faust said, handing Ironheart the parchment.

Ironheart read it carefully. After he was done, his eyes briefly flicked to Harry's forehead. Them he slid the parchment over to Harry.

It is the hour of twilight. A dark general will arise. He will supersede his handlers and grab the reins of evil himself, directing it onto the world. The scarred one, his Soul Brother, will oppose him. Only one will emerge from the fray. That was the whole prophecy. Rather short, Harry thought.

Ironheart had looked at his scar. Was he the scarred one? "How do you know this is about me?"

"We can't be completely sure. But given your history, there is a good chance that it's about you." Faust said.

"You are the greatest avatar of the light side," Cliff added. "It would almost be logical for you to fight this dark general. Harry…I think this general is the Emperor card that stuck to your Magician card…the one you drew, remember?"

"Are you sure?"

"As far as my instincts go."

"It could be Malfoy, but I'm not sure," Ron interjected. "I mean, he's bound to rebel against his superiors and grab power for himself, right? But he's no match for you! So then I thought that maybe the struggle would be more indirect."

"We have to find out for certain who this individual is," Faust said.

"Malfoy?" Harry said slowly. It was too much for his brain to handle. Too many things were being cast his way.

"Perhaps I should send someone else to Japan instead of Harry, Matthias," Ironheart said. "It looks like he might need some extra preparation."

"Maybe that's not such a good idea, Commander." Ron blushed under the commander's inquisitive stare. " Prophecies are hard to avert. Maybe sending Harry to Japan is exactly the sort of preparation he needs. There is no sense in changing your behaviour to try and prepare for the prophecy."

"I concur," Lieutenant Cliff said.

"A good point," Ironheart agreed. "Yet I believe that Harry's the one who should make this decision. Do you think today's events will hamper your functioning on your mission?"

"I can't say." Harry shook his head. "But in the past I've always managed to force my mind to remain in the moment, despite prophecies."

"So you're going?"

Harry nodded.

"Very well." Ironheart nodded and picked the parchment off his desk, handing it to Lieutenant Cliff. "Could you deliver this to Ogygia, to see if anyone else voiced the prophecy?"

"Now?" Lieutenant Cliff asked looking at her husband wistfully.

"Now, now, my dear, duty comes first." Faust sighed.

Ironheart smiled. "I'll make it up to you at the earliest possible opportunity."

Lieutenant Cliff rolled her eyes and relented. "All right." She walked to the door, turned to blow a kiss at her husband as she walked through it, and closed it behind her.

"Are you sure you want to come with us, Harry?" Faust asked, repeating Ironheart's earlier question.

"You don't have to treat me like a kid," Harry said peevishly. "I never let my personal affairs interfere with my job. Besides, main reason we're going to Japan is because I messed up last time," he added morosely. The bile rose to his throat as the memory resurfaced in his mind. He should have listened to Wolfe.

"You couldn't have known about the consequences of your actions," Ironheart said.

"Wolfe gave me a warning," Harry said dejectedly. "I chose not to listen."

"But you didn't know what he was warning you about, did you?"

"The look he gave me told me to be quiet. I should've obeyed, regardless."

Ironheart had no immediate answer to that, and an uncomfortable silence followed until Ron spoke up. "Wolfe wouldn't have wanted you to beat yourself up over it. You've learned a lot since then. You won't make the same mistake again."

Harry nodded. He wouldn't make the same mistake again, but it was too late anyway. He just hoped he'd be able to make a difference in the mission they were about to undertake. He glanced at his watch. He still needed to talk to Ginny.

Commander Ironheart, who had been staring at him intently all this time, nodded. "You're excused."

Harry rose from his seat and walked out of the office, Ron closely on his heels.

"Oy…wait up!" Ron began. "Why were you still in Ironheart's office? Did he need to know more about your daughter?"

"No, it wasn't about Holly," Harry hesitated not quite knowing if Commander Ironheart had intended for him to tell Ron about it. "Uh…we talked about his children with other women…how his wife reacted to them. Wolfe's dad wasn't his only child out of wedlock."

"Guess not." Ron shrugged. "I heard Commander Ironheart has had hundreds of women."

"Who told you?"

"Hermione. She heard it from Lilia, who heard it from Serafina Esposito."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course. Who else?" he muttered. "Bloody hell, was I the only one who didn't know?"

"I reckon you were." Ron grinned. "Was that all he wanted to talk about? How his wife reacted when he told her about his other kids? Did he have some pointers you could use with Ginny?"

"Ron…" Harry braced himself for Ron's reaction. "One of his children is Malfoy's mum."

Ron's mouth fell open and his face went purple. He tried to say something, but only a gurgling sound came out of his mouth. He tried again, and began to cough. "Thank God…it's out," was the bewildering answer.

"What? You knew about this too?"

"No, I meant my tongue. I swallowed it… By Cliodna's knickers! Ironheart is Malfoy's grandfather."

Harry nodded.

"That means he's related to Jasmine too."

"Yes."

"And Charlie!"

"And Charlie…" Harry said warily.

Ron shuddered. "I can't believe it! That actually gives me a link to him. Oh, Mum will have a fit when she hears this."

"What the problem? You're not related to him."

"No, but this is just as bad! This still associates me with him!"

"If you say so!" Harry shook his head.

They continued on their way and took an express levitation disk down into the hill where the greater part of the base was housed, the Citadel proper being only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

They found Hermione alone in the lab where Ginny was supposed to be, talking to Captain Sharif.

*

"I can't believe he never told anyone!" Sharif said. "Poor Ginny…"

Poor Ginny! Captain Sharif had sent her home because she wouldn't have been any good to him if she'd stayed. A distraught witch shouldn't be brewing complicated potions.

"Hermione…" It was Harry's voice. "Where's Ginny?"

"I sent her home…she was distraught!" The Egyptian thrust his nose in the air and strode past Harry and Ron.

"Home?" Harry groaned. "But I can't go off base anymore. We're leaving in less than two hours…oh, to hell with the regulations. Ginny's more important!"

Harry's obvious distress made Hermione's anger towards him lessen a bit. He couldn't leave the base two hours prior to a mission. "How long will you be gone?"

"We don't know," Ron said.

We? Ron was going too! Hermione's gut suddenly began to stir, making her feel sick. "You don't know?" With their luck, she'd probably ovulate while he was away.

She felt Ron's arms wrap around her. "Don't worry. We'll have a whole bunch of babies! Where there's a will, there's a way."

His optimism raised her spirits a little. She looked at Harry, who was about to explode. "Harry, do you love Ginny?"

"Yes!"

"Did you love that girl's mother?"

Harry fidgeted. "Love…no."

"But you slept with her anyway?"

"Hermione…"Ron squeezed her hand. "You ought to give Harry a chance to explain himself."

"I don't have time!" Harry said urgently. "I need to try to fix things with Ginny."

"You'll get into trouble if you leave the base now. But if you tell me exactly how it happened, I'll tell Ginny. I need you to tell me about the nature of your relationship. And it had better be good," Hermione warned.

Harry frowned. "What do you mean, nature?"

Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "Honestly! You know what I mean."

"I already told you I didn't love her!"

"And that's counting against you, Harry James Potter!" Hermione retorted sharply. "You slept with Heidi, but you didn't love her. You slept with Holly's mum, but you didn't love her either. If you tell Ginny that, she'll put two and two together and think that you don't love her either!"

"But I do."

"She isn't just going to take your word for it, Harry. Maybe, if you had told her about Holly from the start, she would have believed you when you said that to her. But now that she knows you've been keeping secrets from her, she has no reason to believe you'd be sincere." Hermione sighed. "The first step is to convince Ginny that you didn't truly love…Carey, was it? The only way you could possibly accomplish that is by having a really good explanation ready. You have to be able to tell her what makes her different from Carey and Heidi."

"They're not Ginny."

"That won't be enough, Harry. You'll have to do better than that. I'd like to help you. I believe you love Ginny, and I don't want her hurting over this any longer. But I need to know exactly what made you become intimate with Carey."

I-I'm not sure," Harry said after a while. "She was gentle and caring, just like…Ginny. She patched me back up when I washed up on the shores of a river in her domain."

Just like Ginny! It was beginning to make sense for Hermione. Heidi's physical similarity to Ginny had attracted Harry to her. Now it appeared that Carey also shared a few traits with Ginny, although on a different level. "So one thing led to another?"

Harry shook his head. "She wanted me to teach her about human emotions…that's how it started off."

"Why did she want to know about human emotions?"

"She saw my dreams when I was unconscious, and she experienced my emotions through a link she'd established with me. She wanted to know more about emotions."

"What kind of dreams did you have?" Hermione asked.

Harry blushed. It was clearly embarrassing for him, but Hermione needed to know. "I dreamt about the past, you know, Voldemort, when I tortured Malfoy, and the consequences. There were also other kinds of dreams…" Harry's blush deepened.

"Well?" Hermione pressured.

"Really, Hermione. Can't you tell?" Ron shook his head.

"Of course I can. But it's important to know who."

"Do you really have to know?" Harry complained.

"Are you uncomfortable with me here?" Ron asked. "Don't be! It's perfectly normal that you've dreamt about my sister in that context…although I don't have to hear the details"—his eyes narrowed—"unless you've harboured some impure thoughts about my girl too!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed.

"Only joking!" Ron chuckled.

"Ronald Bartholomew Weasley! If you keep interrupting this conversation you're going to have to leave!" Hermione warned, knowing she didn't have much time to get a good description of the event. She couldn't have Ron interrupting her.

"Bartholomew?" Harry exclaimed, incredulous. "Your middle name is Bart—"

"Shhh! No so loud!" Ron hissed, and glared accusingly at Hermione. "Why'd you have to tell him?"

"He's your best friend! I can't believe he didn't already know."

"I told you I didn't tell anybody! That included Harry."

"Well that's daft—" Hermione began, and a clearing of Harry's throat prevented her from voicing her opinion on the matter.

"How long have you two been married?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Hermione huffed. "How can I marry a man who won't tell people his middle name? They're going to hear it at the wedding ceremony anyway…oh…!" she blushed as the meaning of Harry's remark belatedly hit home. She and Ron did argue like a married couple, and that arguing tended to slow down her cognitive processes. "Where were we?"

"Harry was about to tell us about his dreams," Ron said.

Harry blushed again. "Err, well I had those kinds of dreams about Heidi and Ginny. But I had normal dreams too," he added defensively. "I often dreamt about the way things were…"

"Before Malfoy, right?" Ron said. His tone was surprising, and Hermione turned to look at him, noticing the pained expression on his face. Ron felt responsible too.

"No, not just Malfoy. I meant before your dad and Fred were killed, and Hagrid…when we were relatively carefree, and Ginny and I were growing closer. Ginny was very prominent in those dreams."

"So Carey knew about Ginny, and how you felt about her?"

"She linked my strongest feelings to Ginny."

"Positive as well as negative?"

"She tended to focus on the positive," Harry said wryly. "Anyway, like everyone else, Carey noticed how much Ginny and Heidi looked alike. She came to the conclusion that I had to favour women who looked like that. And then, she ran her hands through her hair and, poof, it was red too."

"She tried to seduce you like that?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure she really knew what seduction was. Yes, she obviously thought having red hair would make me more receptive. But I explained to her that love doesn't work that way, and she didn't pursue the matter afterwards, at least, not for a while. But she didn't really seduce me for the sake of sex. She wanted to know more about emotions…about love, lust, and the difference. She wanted me to show her, and help her experience those emotions. She wasn't really aware of what she was doing."

Hermione wasn't too sure about that. One could argue that Carey had used her caretaker abilities to seduce Harry. She had known how Harry felt about Ginny. She'd tried to model her appearance to Ginny's. Maybe she'd adapted her behaviour to Ginny's as well, to make Harry more susceptible to her charms.

"We grew closer and closer. She was very pretty, and I suppose she must have sensed my interest, or something. She began talking about love again. I didn't discourage her. So after a day or two, we…err…"

"A day or two? That was awfully quick. Bloody hell, when you were dragged off into the Mirror Realm, did you leave your spine in this one?" Ron admonished.

"We're not judging him, Ron," Hermione admonished in her turn. She looked at Harry and hesitated, unsure how to tell him what she was thinking. "You say you grew closer as time passed. Why?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. "Should I have been hostile, then? She was very nice to me the whole time."

"I mean, what made you decide to finally cross into the most intimate form of the physical relationship?" She paused, realising that she sounded like some sort of professional counsellor. Galatea had been teaching her the basics little by little, the past few weeks. And whenever she had time, she'd read some of the books Galatea had on the subject. But Harry was her friend and she had to treat him as one. "The way she behaved towards you, coupled with her looks?"

"She was very pretty."

"And her red hair didn't have anything to do with it?"

Harry looked surprised. "Oh, no…that's right, I forgot to tell you, she turned her hair black again right after she turned it red. She didn't use that to seduce me, if that's what you're implying. And I didn't like her just because she was nice and good looking. It was more than that. She made me forget some of the horrible things I've been through.

"Caretakers have a unique view on things. They really helped me put some things into perspective. The ancient ones with their wisdom, Carey with her innocence…"

Hermione frowned. "Why did you leave, then?"

"I felt I still had to repay my debt in this realm. The caretakers convinced me that you'd all forgive me in time, and that made returning to this realm more attractive. Carey wasn't too happy when I left. Her feelings for me had deepened, I think."

"Do you think she was in love with you?"

"I've asked myself that question many times when I travelled to the Forest of Reflection. I think her knowledge and perception of human emotion was too recently developed for her to be in love. Maybe she was in love with me, or maybe she was content with the status quo. But when I heard Holly talking about her mum, after she and Pecos Bill rescued me from the Demon, I realised that at least later, Carey must have understood my reasons. She obviously didn't bear any lasting resentment. Holly would have taken that over from her, wouldn't you think?"

Then Harry took another tack. "For a while, I actually resented Carey a bit. I thought she'd used me."

"After you found out about Holly?" Ron asked.

"Before that. In a sense, she took advantage of my vulnerability."

Hermione nodded. That had been exactly what she'd been thinking. While her intent may not have been evil, Carey could have caused Harry a lot of emotional distress while attempting to satisfy her curiosity.

"I didn't put up much of a fight, though," Harry continued. "And saw things in a different light as time progressed. I triggered her need to experience human emotions, and she used me to learn about that. By the same token, I used her to find some comfort" —he folded his arms and shook his head— "so I'm equally guilty in that sense. There were lots of other ways for me to find some sort of comfort other than a woman's arms. But she was there, and she was willing. What matters is, the result of our passion ended up saving my life. Maybe it was fate."

Hermione could appreciate the irony there, and she smiled. "I'll do my best to convince Ginny that you love her."

'Thanks, Hermione," Harry said gratefully.

"Don't make me regret it," Hermione warned, as she walked over to a communications mirror. She tapped it twice, and Sarah Esklove's face appeared in the mirror.

"C&C operator, how may I direct your call?" she asked cheerfully.

"Patch me through to the mirror in the town house in blue six."

"What's the magic word!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please?"

"Wrong!" Sarah grinned.

"Honestly, I don't have time for—"

"What…Sarah," Ron interrupted.

"Ten points to you! Hold on!" The image of Sarah's head faded.

"What was the magic word," Ron said, a superior smirk on his face.

"Hello?" A sleepy head appeared on the mirror screen.

"Mayumi, is Ginny there?"

The Japanese witch shrugged. "Don't know. I'll check." She yawned and moved away from the mirror, returning after two minutes. "She's not here. Isn't she supposed to be at the Citadel?"

"She wasn't feeling well, and Captain Sharif gave her the day off," Hermione answered, beginning to feel worried. Ginny had been very upset. What if something had happened?

*

Blinded by tears, Ginny made her way from the portal back to the town house on instinct. While that ability may have been enough to get her home, the tears made it hard to see any obstacles. She collided with a rather plump form that clearly belonged to a woman, lost her balance and went down, landing painfully on her side.

Ginny rose quickly and spotted the person she'd collided with. It was a middle-aged witch, probably somewhere in her seventies. Ginny recognised her, since the lady lived across the street from her. "I'm sorry, Mrs Ironheart," Ginny mumbled, trying to stifle the sobs that kept escaping her. She helped the lady up. "Are you all right?"

The woman brushed off her fine dress and cloak. Then she turned her attention towards Ginny. She was somewhat intimidating, a tallish woman with a stern glare emanating from her sea green eyes. Then she seemed to notice Ginny's distress, and her expression softened. "You're upset…"

Ginny tried to deny it, but she was too emotional for words. She cursed her trembling lips and tearful eyes, right before she broke down and started to bawl.

Mrs Ironheart stepped forward and hugged her. "Calm down, child," she said with a heavy Italian accent. "You are a Ranger, yes? What is your name?"

"Ginny W-Weasley," Ginny sniffed.

"Come to my home, Ginny. We will have tea and cake, and we will talk about your man."

"Oh no, that's all right, Mrs Ironheart—" Ginny frowned. How did she know Ginny was upset over a man? "How'd you know?"

"You may call me Aria," Mrs Ironheart said jovially. "I know, because only a man can leave a girl with a broken heart." Her jovial expression clouded over somewhat and she muttered a few Italian words. It was hard to tell with a language as lyrical as Italian, but Ginny was pretty sure she'd been cursing.

Ginny didn't feel like pouring her heart out to a virtual stranger. "I wouldn't want to—"

Aria cut her off again. "It is no bother at all. I know a lot about heartbreak. Donovan is a real heartbreaker…"

Ginny barely refrained from groaning as Aria grabbed her arm and guided her to her home. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to some old wife's rants about her husband's infidelity. But maybe she should go with Mrs Ironheart anyway, in case she did have some useful tips.

Either way, Ginny was sure she didn't want to face the others right now, and she didn't want to burden Galatea with her pain either. The part-Veela's pregnancy had made her empathic gift extra sensitive. Yes, she could use this time to settle down a bit.

A short walk later, Ginny was being led through to outer gate and through the small field of magical ice-flowers. They had dazzled her when she'd seen them through her window that morning, and now that she was close to them they seemed even more captivating.

A surly looking house-elf came forward and took Ginny and Aria's cloaks to the cloakroom. Ginny was lead immediately lead into a spacious living room. Nicolai and Mary were lying on a rug in front of the fireplace, doing their homework.

"Nicolai, some here and give grandmother a kiss! Hello, Maria."

"Hi, Mama Aria…hey, Ginny!" Mary replied, for once not making a fuss about her given name. She gave Ginny an odd look, and Ginny quickly turned around, wiping away the last of her tears and reducing the redness and puffiness of her eyes with a flick of the wand.

After hugging him fiercely and showering him with kisses while the apple of her eye tried to break free, Aria released Nicolai and gave him a few instructions in Italian.

Nicolai nodded and returned to the fireplace, while Aria rushed out of the living room. "Come on, Mary. We have to go to my room."

"But it's chilly up there!" Mary complained.

"One of the elves will warm it for us," Nicolai said. "My grandma wants privacy!" he added softly.

Mary heaved an exasperated sigh and collected her homework. Then, as she passed Ginny on her way out, she frowned. "I saw your tears before you wiped them away with magic. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ginny sighed. The little girl was too observant for her own good.

"Liar."

"Mary…" Ginny put an edge in her voice. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But you're going to tell Mama Aria?" Mary asked, not the least bit impressed by Ginny's attempt to be stern. "That's not fair. I'm your friend, and she's a stranger!"

Ginny didn't intend to tell Aria all that much. She would use these extra minutes to calm down. Then she'd be on her way home. "You wouldn't understand anyway."

"I'm smart! I almost always get full marks at school," Mary countered.

"Only because you copy from Nicolai."

"Yes, but I never get caught…I'm too clever."

"You're too clever for your own good," Ginny grumbled. "I'm not going to have this discussion with you. Clear off, or I'll tell your mum that you've been cheating."

"Fine!" Mary scowled and stomped off, shoving past a startled Nicolai. The boy gave Ginny an apologetic look before following Mary upstairs.

Moments later, Aria bustled in, followed by the same surly house-elf Ginny had seen earlier. Trays of pastries and tea hovered behind him and settled down on the low table in front of a large sofa. The elf bowed deeply and retreated from the room, leaving Ginny alone with Aria Ironheart.

The lady sat down at one end of the sofa, and beckoned Ginny to take a seat. Ginny, feeling more awkward by the second, hesitantly chose to sit at the other end.

The teapot rose all by itself and filled the two cups with hot water. A full service tea set; her mum had always wanted one of those. Maybe she owned one now. Ginny sighed, knowing that her mum would've liked to be the first one to know if anything was wrong, but at the moment she was an even worse choice than Aria Ironheart. Who knew what she'd do when she found out that Harry had a daughter!

A flat case containing an assortment of tea bags flipped open. Ginny picked a strawberry flavoured bag and began to dunk it into her tea violently as the briefly repressed thoughts about Harry rushed back to the forefront of her mind. Why didn't he tell her he had a daughter? Who was the mother of this girl? Had Harry loved her? He must have!

The girl was nearly fully-grown. That probably had to do with the fact that time ran differently in the Mirror Realm. Harry had recognised her, so he must've seen her while he was still there. Pecos Bill was younger than he ought to have been, chronologically, owing to his time travel in the realm. Harry's daughter was probably older for the same reason.

Harry said he could explain. But no explanation could change the fact that this girl, Holly, existed. And Harry had kept this from her, after he'd promised that there would be no more secrets between them.

She sipped her tea and glanced at Aria, who had already finished one pastry and had moved on to another, telling Ginny where those extra pounds had come from. Aside from that, it was easy to see that Aria had been a beautiful woman in her day.

"I know you don't want to tell me anything," Aria said after Ginny had finished her tea. "I do not expect you to tell me anything. I do not like to meddle in the lives of others. I just wanted to help calm you down and give you some advice. Your man, he has been unfaithful, yes?"

Ginny didn't know what to say to that. She didn't have time to think of something, because Aria continued.

"I have seen your face in the mirror too many times. I know it is so. You know my husband's history, yes?"

Ginny wanted to be modest and deny this, but it would clearly have been a lie. The fact of the matter was that everybody knew about Commander Ironheart's numerous escapades, though not in detail, just that he committed them. "I've heard a few things," she answered, trying to keep it neutral.

"It is thing in life that always happens…" Aria paused and searched for words. "A fact of life, yes! Men do these things. It is not in their nature to be faithful, especially the ones with the fire in their eyes. The ones without the fire, they stay home with their woman, not wanting to take risks.

"So why did I marry a man with the fire in his eyes?" Aria smiled to herself as she asked the question. "Because the other men are dull. It is a risk I took of my own will, and I have to live with it. Yes, it hurt me, and I regretted it a few times. But he gave me four beautiful daughters, five granddaughters and a grandson." She sighed fondly, confirming what Ginny had noticed earlier about Nicolai's special status.

"The mistake I made with Donovan is that I drew the line too late. He had one child with another, and I forgave him. It happened before we were married, I could not do anything about that. Then he has another child and I forgive him again. After number three I said enough is enough! If this happens one more time, I will leave you and take Elena with me…my older daughters were already out of the house. And then, there were no more children. He had more women, yes. But I could not do anything about that. It is in Donovan's blood…demon blood from his sire…the seducer of virgins. Tell me the truth, I will not be angry, but you felt his call too, yes?"

"I didn't know Commander Ironheart was half incubus," Ginny gasped. However, it explained a few things, like why she'd been just about ready to jump him when he'd flashed her one of his dazzling smiles. To her great embarrassment, none of the other girls admitted to having been affected like she had. But they hadn't been virgins like she had been. It made her feel marginally better. "Uh, I guess I felt it." She blushed.

Fortunately, Aria was true to her word, and she didn't get upset over Ginny's admission. "Do not be embarrassed. You are not the only one. Now, I will give you some advice. You have to draw the line! You must make your man choose. I did not, and I was always second to the mother of his first born."

That sentence sent a shiver down Ginny's spine. She was in the same boat. In fact, Commander Ironheart's incubus blood actually excused his behaviour to a certain extent. Harry didn't have that excuse, so his infidelity stung even more.

Has he been unfaithful, though? The annoying little voice in the back of her mind asked. You were never really together until after he returned from the Mirror Realm. You told him you never wanted to see him again, before that. Do you really have any claim at all?

Ginny's heart felt like it was about to explode. Did Harry really love her? As far as Ginny knew, he didn't love Heidi. But he'd slept with her anyway. Had he slept with Holly's mother for the same reason? Maybe he'd lied to her and still loved them. Could there be more to his concern for Heidi than mere friendship?

Worse, maybe his affection was time-based, and he'd simply stopped caring about them after a while. Ginny knew she wouldn't survive it if that were the case.

She closed her eyes. Her heartache was nearly physical now, she could feel it straining at the seams. Then she heard a loud cracking sound— Aria gasped, and pain shot through Ginny's cheek. She reached up and touched it and her hand came away bloody. Something had cut her cheek. She looked at Aria, hoping that she'd seen what had done it.

Aria was staring at her face, and then lowered her eyes to Ginny's left hand.

Ginny looked at her hand. There, like a prophet of doom, sat the ring Harry had given her. The diamond had shattered.

***

Petals: What do you mean that you knew he was related to the Malfoys? He's related to Draco, not the Malfoys. And I never mentioned anything about that before chapter 19. I'm a little confused about your review. :-( Oh, and how did you like the ending to this chapter? ;-)

Lioness-07863: Someone offered to read through the story and compile a family tree for me. I'm glad, since I seem to have lost the notes in which all this info is summarised, and I really don't have the time to read through both stories and work it all out. (Well, I could, but then you'd have to wait really long for the next chapter)

Starwest45: Yeah, all fanfics are A/U. Good point.

Foxfur: I hope the wait was worth it this time.

Twerpus: Thanks.

Bane: I know I threw way too many names at you early in EaL. I barely used some of those characters later on. I should have introduced them as then story developed. So I kind of realised that on my own already. I think I began reading Lori's POU, but I lost sight of it. I'll read it when I have some more time on my hands.

Nosgoroth: Where does it end, eh?

The.grey.lady: I don't think Malfoy would mind torturing Wolfe even if he knew they were related. And yeas, Ginny's nearly marrying Malfoy will be brought up at some point in the future.

Maab: So, it all makes sense, huh? *evil cackle*

Lamina Court: I didn't say it would be a happy reunion.

Gogirl: Harry Potter or Star Wars? *laughs hysterically* Funny that you should mention that. Wait until you read chapter 22.

weirdo_without_a_clue: I couldn't go into the details of the love scenes even if I knew how to write one properly. This is PG-13, after all. ;-)

Philip: Thank you for your continued support.

BigDaddy753: An infant Holly wouldn't serve the plot I have in mind.

nycgal: You'll see the triplets again soon.

Lord Dreadnault: Gee, thanks.

crazyfriendsfan: Figured it out yet?

LadySiri: How'd the scrapbook go?

Ginny1946: This was the next chapter. Hope it was worth the wait. The family tree is on the way.

merlinthemighty: Thanks for the review.

Jemima Blue: Type italics? As in the review window? I have no idea.

jona: Holly will re-appear soon.

GothQueen: Actually, I need to stop with the cliffhangers. It's something typical of online posters. The whole point behind my fanfic writing is to practice for when I when I begin to write original stuff. And published authors don't use cliffhangers like this.

Lady Reaper of the Shadows: In my family, I'm the strange one.

A-Potter-Person: I think you'll have a laugh with chapter 22.

CR: I take it that meant you were not impressed.

Prongs: Twisted, eh?