Author's Note: This chapter is rated R for full frontal nudity. ;-)
Eyes
Chapter 25
Ginny shunted her anxiety to the back of her mind as she followed the others into the vault. The feeling wasn't alien to her, given the fact that she'd been forced to defend herself plenty of times before. But she didn't think she'd ever get used to it.
Khan had already changed into his Animagus form and charged ahead, preventing one of their foes from escaping into the Portal. Seconds later, Larsson and Ramos, who had been training intensively with Khan and other experienced Combat Rangers, each threw a Spinning Slayer at the Portal while Mayumi threw a third one. The weapons, which looked like a cross between throwing blades and boomerangs, cut through the thin stalks that made up the Portal's frame, destroying it and preventing anyone else from escaping through it, or allowing reinforcements to come in.
Not really seeing any targets that had priority, Ginny picked out a random wizard and aimed her magical crossbow at him. The blunt bolt that was charged with a stunning spell shot out and hit him in the privates. Ginny hadn't actually been aiming at his privates, and she briefly felt concerned. Not for the wizard, but for the fact that the teasing about being a ball-buster would start all over again.
She kept a low profile as she twirled around, looking for another target. Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell on a witch who was ready to throw a wicked-looking dagger at Ginny. From the way she was holding it, Ginny knew the witch was well trained and wouldn't miss easily. Ginny struggled to take aim with the heavy crossbow, but even as she was doing so, she was sure she would be too late. Then the witch suddenly twitched and Ginny saw a blunt crossbow bolt clatter on the ground behind her feet. When the witch fell forward, Ginny saw Heidi rise from a kneeling position with her crossbow still aimed at the witch.
Heidi gave her a smug grin and Ginny scowled. She didn't want to owe Heidi. But her scowl quickly disappeared when she saw another foe charge Heidi, clutching a bronze statuette that he probably intended to use as a bludgeoning weapon. Ginny didn't have time to take proper aim, so she shot another bolt and hoped for the best. It sailed in front of the wizard, but it served to slow him down and to warn Heidi of the attack.
The Austrian witch spun around and whacked her crossbow across the wizard's head, shattering the weapon but dropping the foe effectively. However, this left her with only a short-sword for protection, and while that may have been enough for any of the Combat Rangers, Heidi was ill-equipped to deal with three more onrushing foes. They stopped some ten feet away from Heidi, and Ginny saw why. One of them had a crossbow and was going to take a shot first.
This time Ginny was ready and shot her own dart, thanking her lucky stars that her crossbow bolts automatically materialised out of the case on her hip to replace the ones she shot. Her aim was true, but nothing could have prepared her for the action of one of the other foes. He jumped into the path of her bolt, taking it for his colleague.
As the reddish light of the stunning spell washed over him, Ginny realised why. He'd known about the non-lethal nature of the crossbow bolts and thus had chosen to take one for the team while the others finished off Heidi. They were taking advantage of the Rangers' standing policy not to use lethal force until absolutely necessary. This was the case because one of the targets could actually be an innocent under the Imperius Curse, and the fact that survivors could convey information that the dead couldn't.
It had been a major point of contention between Professor Dumbledore and other opponents of Voldemort as well. Many of the others argued that they had to target the Death Eaters with Killing Curses instead of stunners. They pointed out that many of the stunned Death Eaters who couldn't be captured due to a forced retreat by the Order of the Phoenix, lived to fight another day while many good wizards lost their lives in the same skirmish because the Death Eaters weren't too squeamish to cast Unforgivables.
Later on, those wizards had learned the hard way that squeamishness had nothing to do with it. Like Professor Dumbledore had suspected all along, many of the vanished wizards had been put under the Imperius and dressed in Death Eater robes and masks.
While those memories rushed through her mind and she desperately struggled to get off another shot, the two wizards were suddenly slapped into oblivion by the flat of a huge sword wielded by…she wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a giant golem. She was glad that it was on their side, in any case.
After the first minute of battle, the numerical odds had turned in favour of the Rangers and soon it was over. Ginny surveyed the scene and noted with considerable relief that no one on their side had been hurt.
A bit farther away, she saw Matt crouched by Hermione's side. His front was completely covered with blood, but when he rose and walked over to Commander Ironheart with no trouble, Ginny concluded that none, or very little of it was his. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't looking so good.
"Oh, God, Hermione! Are you all right?" Ginny gasped as her eyes locked onto Hermione's lower body.
"I think the bleeding stopped, but it still hurts," Hermione answered, and she took a few deep, calming breaths as Ginny flicked her wand ineffectually.
She was overcome by frustration at her inability to help her best friend. "Damn it! Oy, find that anti-magic device!" she yelled at the others.
"We're looking," Heidi replied. "But we've got to make sure we've subdued all opposition first."
Ginny dipped her shoulder under Hermione's and pulled her to her feet. "The anti-magic field's range ends about four hundred feet outside the castle. We can take a look at you in the Cruiser. What happened to you?"
"Malfoy…cursed me."
Ginny gritted her teeth. Malfoy again! If she ever got another crack at him, she'd do much more than neuter him. "Which curse did he use? Where did the curse touch you?"
"Cruciatus, lower belly," Hermione answered, confirming Ginny's fears. She now knew where the blood came from. A little known and nasty side-effect from the Cruciatus Curse was that it tended to re-inflict the damage done by past curses, as well as just cause tremendous amounts of pain. Ginny fervently hoped that they'd be able to fix the damage.
"Where are the Eskloves?"
"We left them in the secret corridors. The house-elves are with them. Rachel and Sarah were inside the Cruiser when it was attacked, and they're hurt. You have to help them."
"I will," Ginny said reassuringly, although she knew she couldn't do much within the range of the anti-magic field. "I'm sure the others are already looking for them."
"Ginny?" Hermione asked after a while.
"Yes?"
"How did you know we were in trouble?"
"I tried to contact the Cruiser. When no one answered, an orbital eye was sent to investigate the matter. That's when we saw your Cruiser upside down with a huge hole in the ventral hull. We assembled a force as quickly as possible to rescue you."
Hermione nodded weakly.
"Captain Sharif is on the Hurricane. He'll patch you up. I've got to go back and help the others comb the castle for any lurking bad guys."
Helga met her halfway to the Cruiser and took Hermione over, easily carrying her the rest of the way back towards the Cruiser. Ginny really admired the quarter giantess for volunteering to come, even though the castle brought back memories of Nathan, and the final days of his parents.
Ginny headed back towards the castle and joined the rest of the group. They had uncovered a cubical device like the one Harry and the others brought back from the mission in which Nathan had been killed. However, this one was intact.
Aberforth and Doc were both examining it and discussing the runes that covered it. While they tried to work out how to successfully deactivate it, Mayumi, Gavin, Clara da Silva and Noelani Winters emerged from a secret passage in the back of the vault. They carried the unconscious Rachel and Sarah Esklove between them. Danielle wore an infuriated look on her face, but seemed to be unhurt. She remained behind while her sisters were carried out of the castle to one of the Cruisers, where they could get proper attention.
Then Ginny saw four male house-elves. The old one up front, with a merry grin on his face, seemed to be the leader. Three others flanked him; one with exceptionally big ears and a vacant expression, a chubby one with a big, red nose and a handkerchief tied to its wrist, and a surly-faced one. They immediately headed over to Matt.
"Master Matthew could use a bath and a change of robes," the old elf suggested.
Ginny agreed. Matt was quite a sight.
"Later," Matt answered. Then he turned to Ginny. "How is Hermione doing?"
"Captain Sharif is examining her now. He's the best mediwizard in the Order. If anyone can heal her, it's him."
"Let's hope so," Matt nodded. "And thanks for saving our hides. I heard that you're the one who discovered something was amiss."
Ginny blushed. If only Matt knew the chain of events that had caused her to call Hermione in the first place. But she couldn't bring that up yet…not until she knew more. "You seemed to have things under control when—" Her sentence caught in her throat when she saw the huge golem make its way over to Matt. Now she took her time to get a good look at it.
It wasn't as big as the mech the Rangers were building. Ginny estimated it to be about twenty-seven feet tall, while their own prototype mech would be roughly half again as tall. But it was clearly a masterpiece in its own right. It had a large, red diamond mounted into its left chest, and two green ones on its shoulders. It was stylised to look like a griffin. "That's the biggest golem I've ever seen!"
"I'm not sure it it's a golem," Matt said. "I was supposed to pilot it. The enemy got to me before I could climb in. But then it started moving all by itself and drove them off. Hey, Logos…" he called out.
Ear-splitting creaking followed Matt's call, and Ginny saw a human-sized golem approach them. It really needed some maintenance.
"How may I be of service, Master?"
"Do you know why Anzu began fighting all by itself?"
"Because you told it to, didn't you?" Logos a speculated.
Matt frowned. "I don't think so. If I did, I didn't do it consciously. You mean to tell me it's possible to control Anzu even though you aren't inside it?"
"It is possible. But usually it takes more time for the bond between Anzu and its master to become strong enough. I was surprised that it happened so quickly."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't me," Matt answered. "Are you certain that Anzu doesn't have a mind of its own?"
"I can't rule out that Anzu might still have some secrets for me," Logos said. "But I am certain that it does not have a mind of its own."
They were interrupted as Anzu began gesticulating wildly. It held up one hand and used a pointed finger of the other to trace imaginary words on it.
"If it didn't have a mind of its own before, it certainly has one now," Ginny remarked. "And I think it's trying to tell us something. It needs something to write with because it can't talk."
The golem touched its nose upon Ginny's answer.
"It knows how to play charades," Matt exclaimed in astonishment. "You were right, Ginny. It wants something to write."
"We'll have to take it outside, then," Ginny said. "It can write in the dirt with its claws if we're outside."
"You're going outside?" Aberforth asked. He'd momentarily stopped examining the cube.
"Yeah. It looks like Anzu is sentient. It's trying to tell us something."
"Indeed?" Aberforth frowned. "Well, I was about to ask you to step outside because I'm going to try and deactivate the cube. I'll be more comfortable trying it if you're all out of harm's way."
"You found out how to deactivate it?"
"I recognise a pattern." Aberforth said. "Not surprising. After all, I taught Yamato's teacher about magical artificing. I can see some elements of my own style in there. Anyway, everyone has to get out of here. The prisoners as well as the Rangers who are looking for anyone who might have escaped."
"Ranger Yang…Larsson…Ramos!" Ginny called to the three who were guarding nine unconscious prisoners. "We're going to have to get out of the castle for a while. Aberforth is going to try to turn the anti-magic device off. But he doesn't want anyone to get hurt."
They waited until Commander Ironheart and the others returned from their hunt. When the party returned with another three captives, they made their way out of the castle through the front door, while Ginny and Matt followed the creaky golem into yet another of the vault's secret passages. This one was big enough to accommodate Anzu's large frame, and it answered a question that had popped into Ginny's mind earlier, when she wondered how Anzu had got into the vault in the first place.
The torches in the passage burst out in flames to light their way as it took them well away from the castle and Ginny noticed the slight incline as they neared the end. When it looked like Anzu could go no further, the roof of the passage magically opened up like the wall in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron, exposing the winter sky above.
Commander Ironheart spotted them as they came out and joined them, and they all turned their attention back to Anzu.
"All right, big guy. What did you want to tell us?" Matt asked.
Anzu extended a talon and began drawing letters into the soil.
IT IS ME NATHAN. And then to one side, it wrote: GHOST.
Matt's mouth fell open. "Nathan? Is it really you? You're a ghost? How'd you get inside Anzu? How did you get to Caer Sidi?"
"Who is Nathan?" Logos asked.
"My brother," Matt answered.
"Has he been in the vault before his death?" Logos asked.
"I don't think so," Matt looked at Nathan. "Right?"
Nathan drew an N in the soil to answer the question.
"So he didn't forge a blood pact with Anzu. He shouldn't have been able to possess Anzu…unless he is your twin."
"He is."
"Ah, that explains it, then," the golem replied.
GET IN ANZU EZ. ANZU CALL 2 ME. DONT KNOW HOW 2 GET OUT.
Logos turned to Matt. "This has happened before. One of the former Masters of Caer Sidi took control of Anzu as a ghost. But he couldn't get out on his own until his great-grandson removed the Dragonite stone from the heart-diamond. You will set his ghost free if you do so. I imagine it will make communication much easier," he added.
"All right," Matt turned to Anzu-Nathan. "If you get down on a knee it will be easier for me to get the Dragonite out."
Anzu went down on his right knee, and Matt climbed onto the left one, giving him easy access to the heart-diamond. The diamond's core turned liquid-like the moment his fingers touched it, and his hand went in easily. As he pulled out the Dragonite, Nathan poured out of it like a Patronus out of a wand.
"Oh, that's better!" the ghostly Nathan grinned. "Looks like I got here right in time to save your arse, little brother."
"Nathan…but how did you get here? You died in Georgia; that's a long way off," Matt pointed out.
"I was also lucky enough to catch a ghost ship on the coast of the Black Sea. The Osiris used to be a very fast magical ship before it went down. It's still just as fast, so we made excellent time. The captain agreed to take me to Caer Sidi if I got my living relatives to make a memorial offering for him and his crew. You'd better do it, because they'll come to find me if you don't."
"Done," Matt nodded. "I'll do it as soon as possible."
"You'd better," Nathan smiled.
"How strange," Logos began. "It would seem that Anzu may still have some secrets I am not aware of."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Master Nathan is Master Matthew's twin in the sense that they were born together. But I thought they would be identical twins. That would have explained Master Nathan's ability to join with Anzu even though he had never sealed the blood-pact. The blood of identical twins is the same. But this is not the case with this kind of twinning. Yet Master Nathan still bonded with Anzu, ergo I must assume that Anzu has some secrets from me."
"I'm glad that it did," Matt shrugged. "Because if bonding had been limited to blood pacts, I would have been killed before the Order reached me." He turned back to Nathan. "But how did you know I'd be here?"
Nathan's ghostly face took on a gloomy look. "I could feel it when Mum and Dad died. I'm not sure how, or why. I haven't been a ghost for very long. But one of the crewmen on the ship told me that a ghost can sometimes feel it when his living relatives die, even if he isn't there. Naturally, I immediately assumed they were murdered…am I right?"
Matt nodded gloomily. "There was something in one of the darts that struck you. Your body turned into a zombie. And killed them."
Nathan sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry."
"Why?" the living brother asked. "It's not like you could've done anything about it."
"I know. Anyway, I was hoping to find someone here who could get word to you, so we could talk. I finally arrive here, and typically, I find you up to your ears in trouble. I turned myself invisible to avoid being banished while I tried to work out a way to save you. You're lucky this big suit of armour called to me like that. Before I knew it, I was in possession of a solid form again. It was a strange feeling, mind you. Well, you know the rest."
"But why did you come back as a ghost? You were very happy. I don't think you had any unfinished business."
"Yes I do, little brother. I told Mum I'd look after you to make sure you'd be all right. There's also something I couldn't take to the grave with me. I've been keeping a secret from you since we were fifteen."
"Secret?"
"You were Memory Charmed. In the summer of 1992 — summer in this hemisphere — you met a girl. A woman, actually, she was quite a bit older than you were. Dad didn't approve."
"Typical," Matt grumbled.
"Hear me out, little brother," Nathan admonished. "It was much more complicated than that. She was a Muggle—"
"Bloody bigot!" Matt spat.
"He didn't disapprove because she was a Muggle. At least, it wasn't the only reason. You changed after you met her. You were sure she'd write to you after the holidays, but she never did. You never got a reply to any of your letters. When we were back at school, you tried to make a Portkey. You were caught, and I suspect Dad bribed the whole faculty as well as the relevant Ministry officials to make an exception in your case and not expel you. Then he asked you not to do it again, but you wouldn't listen. You were determined to find her at all cost.
"So he had you Memory Charmed by the best Obliviators in Australia. They were very thorough, but they weren't thorough enough. You never stopped dreaming about her and you kept calling her name in your sleep. You just never remembered anything of your dream when you woke up. I never told Dad about that. I kept hoping that someday I could help you restore some of your memory. I didn't want to go against Dad because I thought he was doing it for the best.
"Then, couple of years ago, I found out that Dad had intercepted the letters you sent to her. That's why you never got a reply. I would have told you all about right away, but the war was reaching its climax. You were under a lot of stress —we all were — I didn't want to add to the pressure."
That revelation pulled Matt out of his shock. "Bastard! If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him!"
"Don't be so hard on Nathan," Ginny admonished him. She thought that Nathan had truly had Matt's best interests at heart, unlike their father.
"I'm talking about the scumbag who sired me," Matt shot a glare at Nathan. "Although I'm not too happy with you, either."
"Maybe it was all for the best," Nathan said carefully, "I mean, he didn't intercept her letters to you. She never wrote to you."
Matt paced around to burn off his frustration and disbelief. After a painful silence he looked at Nathan. "What was her name?"
"You only told me her first name…Maria. She lived in Canada, but she was Icelandic. You showed me a picture once. She looked a lot like Gudrun. I actually thought it was Gudrun, when we met her. But Maria was a Muggle, and I guess you'd have been able to recognise a witch if you met one."
"Icelandic," Matt groaned. "Just like Gudrun. Oh, great! Maybe she was right and I don't really love her. Maybe she subconsciously reminds me of—"
"You love Gudrun," Ginny interrupted. She had heard enough. She had fitted all the pieces of the puzzle together. It all made sense now. "Maria is Gudrun. She always liked that name better than her own name because it was more international. Maria…Mary…Marie, there's always a native pronunciation in any language, unlike Gudrun—"
"Galloping Gorgons! This woman Matt fell in love with is Gudrun?" Nathan asked, surprised.
"Matt was using the name John Smith that summer, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was! Incredible, she was under my nose all that time!" Nathan exclaimed. "But how did you find out?"
"Hermione worked it out first. She called me when you were on your way here, after you told her that you used to live on Oahu. Gudrun told her that's where she met Mary's father, a boy named John Smith. We actually saw a picture of her and John on a beach, and we immediately saw how much he looked like you."
"Was it taken on a beach at dusk?" Nathan asked.
Ginny nodded.
'Then that's the picture Matt showed me."
"At the time we thought it was a coincidence and we didn't look into it any further, because we didn't know that you'd lived on Oahu." Ginny looked at Matt. "But when you told Hermione that you moved to Oahu before you went back to Australia for your education, she made the connection. She thought that Gudrun's meeting a boy who'd looked like you, had been the same age as you, had had the same hobbies and had lived on the same island would have been too much of a coincidence.
"She called me and asked me to do a paternity spell with your blood and Mary's to confirm her theory. I was about to do so when I noticed that the blood type listed in your file was B negative. Since Mary's blood type is A negative and Gudrun's is O negative. I concluded that you couldn't be Mary's father because Mary's father could only have been an A or AB negative. But the information about your blood was wrong."
"How is that possible?" Matt frowned. "I remember that Kozminski took the sample. Did he make a mistake?"
Ginny shook her head slowly. "No, he didn't. Our sampling method is simply limited. Normally it would have been sufficient, since acquiring basic information about your blood was the purpose, and not the detection of diseases. A simple blood removal charm was used. This charm takes a single cell out of your bloodstream without even breaching the skin. In your case, though, it wasn't good enough because you're a fraternal twin."
"What's so special about that?" Matt frowned.
"About eight percent of human fraternal twins have chimeric blood. Sometimes the blood systems of fraternal twins make anastomoses with each other, with the effect that the twins can indulge in a prolonged exchange of hematopoietic stem cells in utero. In layman's terms it means you have two different blood types because you and Nathan exchanged red cell percusors in the womb. Normally, having blood of a different type excites an immunological response, for example, blood-clotting. But with blood-chimeras this doesn't happen, because at the time of the cells' exchange both subjects are too immature to identify the foreign blood cells as such. After birth, the twins will also keep producing a steady supply of the blood of their sibling because of stem cells that settled in the marrow, and it'll never cause trouble. So you still literally have some of Nathan's blood inside you. When Kozminski performed the charm he must have taken one of Nathan's cells."
"All right, I suppose you know what you're talking about," Matt sighed. "That still doesn't explain how you found out that my blood-type was wrong."
"We found out when Lilia brought Mary to the Citadel," Commander Ironheart said, taking over. "There was a little incident during a field trip taken by Mary's school, involving Mary."
"What did she do now?" Matt asked exasperatedly.
"Nothing. She was pushed off a pier and into the lake."
Matt's eyes widened. "Mary can't swim! She told me her grandmother would never let her. Is she all right?"
"She's fine. Nicolai jumped in after her and saved her." Ironheart smiled. "Quite unexpected actually, because he's been terrified of water ever since he was attacked by Grindylows, and he isn't really the heroic type to begin with. I suppose he's really attached to her…but I digress. The reason she was pushed was actually an innocent misunderstanding. The boy who pushed her in thought she'd been possessed by a demon because of her eyes."
"What about her eyes?" Matt frowned.
"They've changed. She has feline eyes now, like yours…exactly like yours. Congratulations, you're a father," Ironheart said laconically.
Matt staggered over to a large boulder as if he had a bad case of jelly legs, and leaned against it. "I…I'm a father…Mary's mine?" he muttered, running his hand through his hair distractedly.
"That's what we were getting at," Ironheart smirked. "Believe me, I know how you feel, son."
"Yes, Mary's yours," Ginny nodded. "After Mary's accident they called the townhouse. Lilia went to pick Mary up from school because Gudrun was in the middle of her shift. Of course, Lilia had the same idea Hermione had when she saw Mary's eyes and she came to the med-lab to confirm it. So then Lilia and I knew something that Gudrun didn't. She thought that John Smith was a Muggle, when, in fact, he had to be a wizard. After all, the cat people never interbred with non-magical humans. So I was faced with the following clues.
"Gudrun met a young wizard who looked like you a lot, was the same age, had the same hobbies, spent time on the same island at the same moment and gave her a daughter with feline eyes. That last one is a trait that very few wizards have, let alone wizards who share all those common traits with you. I knew then that the information on your blood had to be wrong. My first thought was that your results might have been switched with Nathan's. So I checked Nathan's records and saw that his blood type was also listed as B negative. Still, I refused to believe that there was another wizard out there with so many similarities to you, so I decided to do a complete analysis of the blood cells because I knew that something must have gone wrong somehow. The result was rather shocking…both cells belonged to the same wizard. I called Captain Sharif to ask him how it was possible, and he came up with the chimera theory.
"Anyway, that's when we let Gudrun know." Ginny winced. "She was very angry and hurt because she thought that you must have known all along. So did I… but now it turns out that you didn't." At least Gudrun would be happy to know that Matt was innocent, she thought bitterly, because Harry didn't have that excuse. He had known all along about Holly.
"Mary…" Matt whispered. "No wonder she reminds me of myself. She's my daughter." He turned to the golem again. "Logos, do you know about the Consanguinity Charm?"
"Yes, of course." Logos answered.
"Well, you've heard everything…I have a daughter. But her mother and I didn't perform the continuation ritual before she was conceived. Would it work retroactively?"
"It should. There has been an instance where an Archidiaconus procreated before performing the Consanguinity Charm's continuation ritual. The infant was still in the womb, but the child's age should make no difference. The charm doesn't require the offspring to be conceived after its casting."
Matt gave Ginny and Commander Ironheart an uncertain look. "D'you think Gudrun will want to participate? It's a lifelong commitment. That ought to be very difficult for her because she…she doesn't…" He swallowed heavily and tears were filling his eyes.
"She does love you," Ironheart answered.
"How can you be sure?"
Ironheart rolled his eyes. "Well, I do read minds…"
"Really?" Logos asked. "You're a natural Mind Reader? You can do so without Legilimency?"
Ironheart nodded.
"Are you descended from Durandana Duvallier?"
Ironheart nodded again. "You knew her?"
"Of course. Her paternal grandmother was an Archidiaconus, after all. It seems your commander is a relative of yours, Master Matthew!"
"Yeah, he and everyone else…" Matt said ruefully.
"Everyone comes from common ancestors," Nathan said. "Many came from few, not the other way around. It's impossible for everyone to have different ancestors… Oh, it looks like Aberforth and Doc did it. They shut the anti-magic thing down."
Ginny looked in the direction Nathan was pointing and saw the device hovering in front of Aberforth and Doc.
"Excellent, now the Cruisers can send a detection pulse into the castle to see if we missed anyone," Ironheart said. "If it's all clear, you can go wash up and get a change of clothes, because you're beginning to smell, Mr Kelly. Ginny, could you do an initial damage assessment on the Cruiser to see if the present artificers can get it airworthy in less than forty-eight hours?"
A groan from Matt forestalled her reply. "Matt, are you okay?"
"Just a nasty thought," he looked at Commander Ironheart. "I ... heard that you're related to Malfoy. If you're a descendant from an Archidiaconus as well, that would give him more of their blood than me."
"Nonsense, Master Matthew," Logos replied crisply. "Since my creation there have been four instances in which your ancestors wed women who were also descended from the Archidiaconus—"
Matt groaned. "And you think that's a good thing? Damn, I did not want to know that, I shouldn't have brought it up…bloody inbreeding…"
"But Master, I thought—"
"Never mind, Logos!" Matt said irritably.
"Don't reject your heritage outright, Matt," Ironheart spoke gently. "By and large your ancestors were good and noble wizards even though their gene-pool was a bit on the restricted side. I'm sure you know that."
Matt nodded mutely.
"The castle is clear," Ginny then heard through her earpiece.
"Excellent!" Ironheart beamed.
"How about taking that bath now?" Ginny giggled and made a face. "You're beginning to smell like a butcher."
"Did the spare uniform I brought survive the explosion on the Cruiser?"
"Unlikely," Ironheart said. "But I'm sure some if mine would fit if we enlarge them just a bit."
Matt cracked a smile. "Your symbols of rank are permanently embroidered on them, sir. That would be fun, a temporary promotion to commander. The others will have a field day."
"Master could wear one of the many fine robes in the castle," Happy, whom Ginny hadn't even noticed approaching, suddenly piped.
"I don't think so. I've never been a fan of those pompous robes."
"You could have a look, at least," Ginny suggested. She was sort of curious as to how Matt would look in one of those robes. He'd probably look good in anything, she thought, at first feeling a little bit guilty about finding Matt attractive but quickly shunting her guilt away when it occurred to her that Harry had obviously found other women attractive as well.
"I'll can help you pick something out," Heidi's voice sounded from behind them. For some reason it irritated Ginny to no end. "I know about these things."
"You do that…stick to what you're good at…I'd better go have a look at the Cruiser, then," Ginny muttered and began to turn away.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Doc and Aberforth are all over it," Heidi said. "Why don't you join us?"
"I don't think so."
"Please do," Matt pleaded. "She'll probably have me try all the robes. I don't want to be her private mannequin."
"You needn't worry about becoming my private anything." Heidi grinned. "Gudrun would kill me, and I love my life. Congratulations on your fatherhood, by the way. That takes care of your offspring problem, doesn't it?"
Matt's face drained of all colour. "I wonder if Gudrun will be so thrilled."
"I'll include Nathan's appearance in my report," Commander Ironheart said. "I'm sure she'll soften a bit when she knows the truth."
"Or I could tell her myself," Nathan added.
"An even better idea," Commander Ironheart nodded. Then he cast a look in the direction of the Cruiser. "Doc and Aberforth do seem to have that under control. Ginny, why don't you join Heidi and Matt?"
Ginny gulped under the Commander's penetrating gaze. She had a feeling she couldn't refuse. Something was up, and he wanted her to go with Heidi for some reason. "All right then."
Heidi quickly peered over her shoulder and saw Ginny reclining on a leather couch, with a bored and annoyed expression on her face. She sighed heavily. The magical closet she was peering into was a fashion fanatic's fantasy. She'd always wanted one of those herself, but even her parents hadn't been crazy enough to buy her one. At first she'd had to choose a headless mannequin and customised it to Matt's size so only the robes that fit on it would appear. She tapped her wand and robe after exquisite robe appeared on the dummy. But even doing this didn't do anything to alleviate the lousy feeling she had, and the question that kept echoing through her mind. How had things turned so awful between them? She winced at the memory of Ginny's scowling face after she'd saved her from the knife-throwing witch. Normally such an action would strengthen the bond between Rangers, but with Ginny...
Until she volunteered for the mission, she hadn't even seen Ginny since Holly's arrival, and Ginny's demeanour now had shocked the young Austrian Ranger. She knew enough about body language and psychology to read Ginny like a book, not that Ginny hadn't made things painfully clear. The boredom and annoyance in her eyes couldn't hide her true feelings from Heidi. They revealed that her heart had been pierced and her spirit had poured out through the wound.
Ever since Harry's return from his first mission in Japan back in October and the fiasco that had erupted after Harry had mistaken the two of them, Heidi had forced herself to re-examine her behaviour towards Ginny. And if she was brutally honest with herself, she hadn't liked what she saw. She wondered if Ginny would have been strong enough to deal with the mess with Holly if she hadn't attacked Ginny's self-confidence out of spite all those months ago.
Following Harry's departure for Japan, Ginny had thrown herself into her duties, trying to distract herself with the endless cycle of training and work with the artificers. Everyone was walking on eggshells around her, afraid to say or do anything that might send her fragile emotions into another tailspin. Gudrun or perhaps Galatea might have been able to get through to her, but both of them had their own problems to deal with. Heidi, naturally, could be expected to give her a hard time, and she intended to do just that. But this time around, she hoped to accomplish something good with it.
Heidi turned her back to the closet. "Ginny, we need to talk."
"About what?" She didn't turn to face Heidi.
"You and Harry. Me and Harry. You and me."
Ginny turned and gave Heidi a long look that Heidi could swear would've flayed her alive had it been a physical blade.
"This isn't about you, Heidi. Harry is no longer your concern."
"Really? Then why were you worried about me taking him away from you?"
"You still want him. Do you think I'm blind, or stupid? You just can't wait to cosy up to him in front of me every chance you get, just to prove that you're better than me! Is this just some sort of game to you?"
"You just see what you want to see." Heidi was getting impatient and finding it hard to control her temper. "I'm very affectionate with my friends. Harry isn't the only one I cosy up to—you must have seem me with Gavin and Alain sometimes! But that didn't bother you, did it? Even Gudrun flirted with Harry on more than one occasion, but you weren't bothered by that. I've seen you and Harry together, and I'd never do anything to endanger the happiness you give him. I know I can be a bitch, but I'm not evil. What kind of person do you think I am? Why do you have this problem with me? I can't believe it's just because I'm his ex and we look alike!"
"That's your excuse? How pathetic! I never had any interest in Gavin or Alain in the first place! I couldn't have cared less if you danced naked over hot coals before throwing yourself at their feet! As for Gudrun, she knew perfectly well that we were together and never meant anything more than a little playful teasing—she even told me so herself before she started 'flirting' with him!" Ginny snorted in derision, then drawled mockingly, "'I've seen you and Harry together, and I'd never do anything to endanger the happiness you give him.' Is that so? Let me remind you, Heidi; last year you just turned up at Harry's memorial and accused me of driving him to his death! How do you think that made me feel? You were a total stranger, and you just went parading around, painting me like I'm the second coming of Voldemort or something—"
"Now wait just a damn minute—"
Ginny rose to her feet, seething. "No, you wait just a damn minute. When I first came to Concordia and ran into you again—I was still hurt by what you said, but I knew it would be better for everyone if I made peace with you. Harry had already been through so much, and I didn't want to burden him with any of my 'problems.' But you didn't want to hear any of it. You didn't want to make peace. You just threw it back in my face. You even accused me of playing Harry for a fool!" Ginny threw up her hands in frustration. "What was I supposed to do, lie down like a sacrificial lamb and wait for you to make the kill? You could have backed off at any time and given us some space, some time to try to get to know each other again, but instead, you just kept sniping at me, over and over! You haven't done anything to make this easier on any of us! You didn't give me any choice except to fight back! So how else am I supposed to think of you if all you do is make yourself look…'evil,' as you so eloquently put it?" Ginny's voice broke and the tears that had been threatening finally spilled over. "I'd never met you before…you just came out of nowhere and said I k-killed him! Who do you think you are? What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate you—"
"Really? You've got a funny way of showing it." Ginny's eyes were cold as she bitterly repeated Heidi's words back to her, "'Harry got out of your sight, and never returned to it… You didn't deserve to gaze upon him again…' 'Harry's never complained about my competence… Who knows…Virginia…if you turn out to be a disappointment…'" Ginny laughed, but it was an odd, flat sound. "You were right about me, Heidi. I don't deserve him. I'm not competent. I am a disappointment. You were right all along…but I suppose you knew that already. So go ahead and gloat. Isn't that what you want to do?"
"No!"
"Then what in Circe's name do you want?"
"I—I want to apologise."
Ginny looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "For what?"
Heidi took a deep breath. She knew it was her last chance and she couldn't mess it up. "For being a bitch. You were right, Ginny; I was baiting you, sometimes. As a child I was quite spoiled. I was used to getting what I wanted, when I wanted it…I guess I still am. And when I don't get what I want, I start taking it out on whoever I think is to blame.
"I admit, I do still have feelings for Harry, and it still hurts to see you with him. I don't hate you, but…I do resent your presence here, now. You…you hurt him so much when you turned on him, and to watch him just take you back like nothing happened… Everyone in the Order knows what he went through before he came to us, and what it did to him…yet no one even questioned his acceptance of you!"
"And what about Hermione? What about Ron, my mum, the rest of my brothers… Do they have to go through some sort of test for you, too?"
"You—" Heidi bit back her first response, which she knew would not have helped matters any, and tried again. "No. No, they don't. And you don't, either. You're right, it's between you and Harry, and in the end, it's his decision. But still… I am Harry's friend…so, I worry, I guess. I don't want to see him hurt like that ever again, and I just want to be sure that he's making the right decision. I… I just want to understand why."
Ginny nodded slowly. "Then I guess you'll have to ask him yourself…because I don't understand it either. I don't understand what he sees in me. Sometimes—" She swallowed audibly, trying to keep herself from crying again. "Sometimes, I think Harry should've just let me die in the Chamber of Secrets all those years ago. It certainly would have spared him all the grief I've put him through since."
"You don't really believe that!"
"Don't I? I came here…for Harry. And I came here to join the Rangers, because I wanted to do something right…to make a difference. And I've sure made a difference, haven't I? All I do is cause discord and pain for everyone who comes near me! Hellfire, Max Wolfe is DEAD because of me! Galatea is going to have to raise their baby alone because of me! And Harry…I've turned his life upside down and inside out. I've ripped his heart open again and again, and for what? Look at me, Heidi… I'm just a whining cry-baby who can't do a damn thing right no matter how hard I try. Every time I think I've got my problems worked out, something else comes along to bite me on the arse. I'm so tired of fighting hopeless battles! I just keep hurting others! What is any of it for? Nothing!"
"So you're just going to give up? What's the matter with you? What happened to the Ginny Weasley who kept fighting back?"
"And what good did it ever do her? Tell me how to fight this. Tell me!" Heidi didn't answer, and Ginny railed on, "How can I be equal to a woman that he has a child with…how can I ever step out of her shadow?"
"Now you know what it feels like to be in someone's shadow." Heidi immediately winced. Damn, it was so easy to fall back into familiar patterns…
Ginny looked up sharply. "I already know what it feels like to be in someone's shadow. Yours. The difference is that at least I had a realistic chance to step out of your shadow. But I can't step out of hers. Not when she's given him the one thing he's always truly wanted. The one thing I'll never have a chance to give him now. A family of his own."
"'Of his own'…" Heidi looked perplexed.
Ginny sighed. "Let me tell you a little story, Heidi. During Harry's first year at Hogwarts, he stumbled across the Mirror of Erised." She looked up at Heidi's indrawn breath and nodded. "You know what it does, of course…it shows you the deepest desire of your heart. So what do you think that an eleven-year-old boy who'd been left to live with relatives who hated him and locked him in a cupboard for ten years of his life would most want? His family. His real family. His mum and dad, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles…people who loved him. Except he couldn't ever have them…they were all dead. He needed a new family, and for a while, he found that with us…that much, you know. But even though we loved him, we weren't really his…" Ginny blew out a breath in frustration, unsure of how to explain. "I sensed, sometimes, like he felt that even though we took him in and loved him like he was ours all along, we were still—borrowed, I guess. I don't know how else to describe it.
"And now… He has Holly now. And her mother. What does he need me for?" Ginny crumpled back onto the couch. "What does he need me for? What did he ever need me for?"
"Ginny… You can't honestly think that he doesn't love you… You and Harry really need to talk about everything that's happened. You've got to forgive him…"
"Forgive him?" Ginny looked incredulous. "Don't you get it yet? I don't need to forgive Harry! He didn't do anything wrong, not really! I did!"
Whatever Heidi might have been expecting, even she had to admit, it wasn't that.
A fierce look crossed Ginny's face then, and she lunged off the couch, striding to the hallstand where they'd hung their cloaks, reached into a pocket of her cloak and extracted a small jeweller's box. She turned, strode over to Heidi and thrust the box into her hands.
"Open it."
"Ginny—"
"Open it!"
Heidi hesitantly opened the box to reveal a band that had obviously once been set with a stone. Now all that was left in the setting were a few tiny shards. Heidi looked up at Ginny.
"It's… It was my engagement ring," Ginny quietly answered the unspoken question. "Harry—Harry told me that the diamond would sparkle for as long as I loved him. But it shattered. When—" She choked on tears. "—I was talking with Aria Ironheart—"
"The Queen of Jealous Lovers? Look, Ginny, whatever she said… she may have meant well, but—"
"But nothing! She was in almost the same position I'm in now. Except… I never really had a claim to Harry in the first place. After all, if I really loved him, I would never have abandoned him…isn't that right?"
"I—I never said that—"
"But you always thought it. I could see it in your eyes every time you looked at me," Ginny finished quietly. "I know you're trying to see beyond that now…here you are, trying to make me feel better and talk me into not giving up, and…believe it or not, I appreciate that. I do. But…it's over. It's just over." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe…it's more accurate to say that it never really existed. I lost hope in him. And then he lost hope in me. The rest…is my punishment, I guess. I didn't treat him as well as I should have when I had the chance to be with him, so I don't deserve to have him now. What else is there to say?" She took the box back from Heidi's numb hands and softly closed it and walked back to the hallstand, looking at it for a moment before violently shoving it in the pocket of her cloak.
She stood there, grasping the hallstand with white-knuckled fingers as her shoulders shook. Biting her lip, Heidi crossed the room and, somewhat awkwardly, put an arm around Ginny's shoulders. Ginny stiffened for a moment, then let loose a howl of pent-up grief and rage. Heidi let out the breath she'd been holding and let Ginny cry on her shoulder.
After a while, Ginny's tears slowed and she stopped shaking enough for Heidi to guide Ginny over to the sofa where they sat down, arms still around each other's shoulders.
Ginny sniffled loudly. "I hate this. I hate crying. My nose gets all red, my eyes get all puffy and feel gritty like sandpaper…urgh!" She punctuated the last word by punching her fists into the cushions. "Not to mention that it makes me look like a weakling." Heidi chuckled good-naturedly and offered a handkerchief, which Ginny took with a muttered "thank you" and blew her nose loudly.
"Feeling better?" Heidi ventured carefully.
"I'm… To tell you the truth, I'm feeling rather shitty."
Heidi laughed mirthlessly. "Me too."
"I—" Ginny tried to find the right words. "Why? After all this time, why did you bring this up again?"
"Because—I have been feeling rather shitty about the way I've treated you. You asked me once if we could start over. Do you—do you still think… Can we forget it all? Just let it go, pretend it never happened?"
"I don't think so," Ginny answered after a long moment. "I'd like to… I really would, but… I don't think it's possible to forget." Heidi sighed, but before she could say anything, Ginny went on, "Maybe the best we can do is…is to admit that we both made mistakes. But that doesn't mean it all has to end. We can still go on anyway."
"I'd like that," Heidi replied quietly. "I'm…sorry. For making so difficult for you and thinking too much of the differences between us, and not seeing…how alike we are…"
"Heidi… I—I'm sorry—"
"No—" Heidi cut her off. "You only pushed me because I pushed you first, and I pushed where I had no business to. If I had backed off, maybe things wouldn't have got so bad between us; you were right about that, too."
"Still… I should have tried to understand what Harry saw in you, and how much you helped him before…"
Heidi took a breath. "Look…when Harry gets back from Japan, I'll tell him…about all of this. About what was really going on between us, and why. I think he'll understand. I hope he's as forgiving with me as he is with you, though I probably don't deserve it." She laughed, though it came out a bit forced. "You can even be there to watch, make sure I tell him the truth and all that."
Ginny shrugged. "If you want. It's not like it'll change things between Harry and me."
Heidi frowned. "You still need to talk to each other," she said quietly. "And when you do… Maybe you should think about what you've just said—about admitting that each of us makes mistakes and that it doesn't mean things have to end." Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but apparently Heidi wasn't finished. "But since we can't do anything about that right now… In the meantime, let's see how Matt's doing. I'm beginning to worry that he might have drowned in that swimming-pool-sized tub!"
Giggling, they left the room and crossed a hallway to reach what was probably the most ornate bathroom Heidi had ever seen, and she'd seen some very nice ones. Her mouth fell open when she saw the foam-filled tub. Little model ships with real, animated crews sailed around it and Matt was playing with them like a toddler.
"Matt! You were supposed to wash the stench off, not play around. We still have work to do."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Okay, but I could definitely get used to this. The tubs back home in Oahu aren't quite this big, and they don't have these cool boats—" He paused and looked at them oddly. "Ginny, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Ginny nodded, managing a weak smile. "The robes were so awful I felt like crying."
Matt's eyes widened fearfully. "Really?"
"No, not really!" Ginny chuckled.
"Well, I said I'm coming out. Aren't you going to turn around?"
"I've seen plenty of naked wizards in my line of work, and I grew up with six brothers. You don't have anything I haven't seen before. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?" Ginny asked, shooting Heidi a mischievous smile. Heidi shook her head, but she was happy Ginny was feeling better.
"Not at all," Matt shrugged, and without warning he rose out of the water that only reached his lower thighs once he'd stood up completely. Patches of foam covered several parts but left others exposed. The sight caused Heidi to once again lose control of her jaw muscles, and she dimly heard one of the crewmembers on one of the tiny war ships shout something about the huge size of a cannon.
Jane Grey: How do you like the resolution of the Matt/Gudrun mystery?
Lioness-07863: So basically, you're saying that you suspect me of killing a possible unborn Weasley baby because I'm evil and you wouldn't put it past me?
jeff: Yet another chapter of Mind War is here. The next one will be 10 days from the day this one has been posted.
Gogirl: Yup there's going to be a third story. This one is far from over, though. At least 6 more chapters, possibly more.
Jake: Here you go! Chapter 26 in 10 days.
nycgal: I'll check out your friend's work, but not right away. I don't have too much time on my hands right now. You may have to remind me later.
CR: If you read the book carefully enough, you'll see Harry make some observations that hint at R/Hr, the most obvious being when he likens them to Arthur and Molly Weasley.
We can clearly see that Harry isn't interested in Hermione, (granted, he was too busy being pissed of at the world in general) nor Hermione in him. Ron, however, is openly smitten with Hermione. And while she isn't so obvious in return, one can see that there's more tension between those two than between Harry and Hermione, who have no tension at all. (All of this is my humble opinion, of course, and open for debate…just not here.)
That's pretty much the main reason why I don't believe in H/Hr, because of R/Hr. But you're right, everything is still up in the air. If Ron dies a horrible death it might yet become H/Hr, who knows!
Casual Reader: Yes, I'm beginning to wrap up subplots.
bane: Seriously, you're not reading the story carefully enough if you don't know who Mayumi is. She was mentioned as early as Chapter 2 in Existence after Life, and one of the subplots in Mind War revolves around her!
Lord Dreadnault: You think things between Harry and Ginny are bad now?
Jona: Don't worry. I'll leave Harry alone for a while and start torturing Ginny for a change.
Viva: Huh? You didn't see the princess/twin thing coming? Listen, you don't have to review just to be polite, which, it appears to me, is what you're doing. Chapter 10 is all about the princess/twin thing.
Joyce: Ahem, yes, well….
Lamina Court: I suppose I could go easier on the exclamation marks. -
Lady Reaper of the Shadows and Dalia: Ladies, no cat fights in my review column.
Lady R, Thanks, that acknowledgement was all I asked for.
Dalia, Though I appreciate your intentions, I find your offensive language in response to Lady R's voicing of her opinion even more childish. Resorting to those means is a sign of weakness. Always remain civilised.