Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I repeat, I do NOT own HP. But, of course, you lot know this, right? If not, whack yourself repeatedly in the head with a blunt object until you do.
Chapter 15 – Strike of a Match
"Harry! Ethan! Fred! George! Ron! Ginny! Hurry or you'll miss the train!"
"Which'll be rather bad as the car's in the Forest," said Ron softly to Harry as the two boys descended the stairs, their trunks banging loudly as they hit each step.
"True," said Harry, giving the cat on his head an amused glance as she reached out and batted a paw at Ron's ginger hair.
"What does your cat have with my hair?"
"Hey, I speak snake, not cat."
"Heng," grumbled Ron, glaring at the cat. "Leave my hair alone!"
"Mrow?" said Medusa, blinking her dark eyes at him. She flicked her tail about Harry's ears then nestled down in her master's hair, which had grown out over the last year and summer into a thick mane that fell over his eyes and ears. It effectively hid his scar, which pleased Harry to no end, but it wasn't as though his face wasn't already known by most of the wizarding world.
As he passed Mrs. Weasley going out to the car Mr. Weasley had gotten from the Ministry, she plucked at his hair, frowning.
"Harry, dear, why don't you let me cut that?"
"No time," replied the dark-haired teen, letting Ron go out the front door first. He grinned at the older woman and added, "And I rather like it."
"Only because it hides that oh-so-famous scar of yours," quipped Ethan as he came down the stairs. He held up Hedwig's cage in his free hand (the other dragging his trunk behind him) and said, "You forgot this. Plus your owl."
"She's off delivering another letter to a certain professor," said Harry, taking the cage from the ex-Potions Master before he dragged his trunk out the front door. Ethan followed him and he continued, "So I didn't forget her, see?"
Ethan snorted and grumbled something under his breath as the two boys sat down their trunks, stepping back as Mr. Weasley and an Auror reached for Harry's trunk. As the two of them walked back towards the Burrow, Ethan said, "Nice hairstyle, by the way."
"You're one to talk," grumbled Harry, nodding at the other boy's hair. Ethan's green-streaked black locks (which he had explained to Harry were permanent, unlike Muggle dyes) now fell to halfway down his upper arm when hanging free, his bangs just touching the tip of his chin. Of course, the long mane of hair was always tied back, a few stray locks of shorter hair escaping and arching over the pale forehead or falling down to tickle the sharply accented cheekbones.
Ginny exited the Burrow at that moment and halted at the sight of the two of them. She peered up at them – both boys had shot up a few inches over the summer and were still fairly the same height, though Ethan had a barely distinct advantage – and remarked, "You both need a haircut."
"I like it this way," said Harry, waving at his usual bird nest hair. "Its at least halfway manageable like this."
Ginny shook her head at him then turned to Ethan.
"What's your excuse?"
"Mine? I haven't had a haircut in a while. Is it a crime?"
"No," replied Ginny, turning back to her trunk. "But the both of you do look ridiculous."
"I'm hurt," said Harry, crossing his arms across his chest. From his hair, Medusa yowled and blinked her big eyes at Ginny. The redhead heaved a sigh and gave her trunk a hard pull out of the door onto the grass.
"Your cat's making me feel guilty, Harry."
"With good reason," defended Ethan. "You just called the both of us ridiculous."
"Yes," said Harry. "She's defending us."
"Would you feel better if I gave you a kiss?"
"Maybe."
Ginny gave her boyfriend a Look and said, "Not in front of Mum, I'm not."
"Now I didn't expect that," said Harry, reaching forward and grabbing the other end of Ginny's trunk. The two of them heaved it down into the arms of Mr. Weasley and the Auror then turned and walked back towards Ethan, who had been joined by Ron. Both of them were eying the other venomously.
"Something wrong?" asked Ginny, planting her hands on her hips and frowning at the two.
"Nothing wrong," growled Ron, glaring at Ethan, who gladly returned the expression. No one but Harry noticed the ex-Potion Master's left hand twitching.
"Come on, now!" called Mr. Weasley from the car as Fred and George's trunks were secure. "You'll miss the train if you don't hurry!"
"Be good now, dears," said Mrs. Weasley, somehow entrapping all of her children, Harry and Ethan into a hug. She then turned a steely gaze on Harry and said – no, commanded - , "And you be careful now, Harry."
"Yes'm," mumbled Harry, juggling Medusa in his arms as he was held in the hug.
When Mrs. Weasley finally released them, the six teenagers crossed the yard to the car and got into the back. Mr. Weasley and the Auror were already up front and the car started up as soon as the teens were inside.
As they turned out of the Weasley's drive, Harry gave Ethan a nudge with his elbow. When the black eyes turned towards him, one dark brow arching, he leaned over and whispered, "What was that scene with Ron about?"
Ethan frowned darkly and his eyes flicked to Ron before staring into Harry's emerald orbs.
"I'll tell you later," he murmured out of the side of his mouth, falling silent.
Harry leaned back into the seat with a frown, reaching down to untangle Medusa's kneading claws from the already tattered knees of his jeans. As he did, he caught sight of Ethan rubbing his left arm.
* * * *
"Okay, what was it about?"
"What was what about?" asked Hermione, blinking at Harry. The emerald eyed boy was staring straight at Ethan, his expression serious. Ethan could take him seriously but it was quite hard to do when Medusa was perched on his head.
"Thing with Ron this morning," replied Ginny.
Hermione blinked and said, "Where is Ron anyway?"
"With Fred and George," said Ginny as she flopped down beside Harry, leaning against him. Medusa hopped down into her lap and purred loudly. The redhead smiled and happily stroked the tiny cat's back, gigging when the almond eyes closed in content.
"So?" said Harry impatiently, a small frown on his face.
Ethan sighed and rubbed his left arm again, a movement he'd been repeating since the morning. He then turned to Ginny and asked, "Has Ron been gone for a few days during the summer?"
Ginny blinked at the question and paused in her petting of Medusa. The black cat yowled and batted at her hand until the petting resumed.
"Well…yes. He went to stay with our uncle for a few days. Why?"
Ethan frowned. "Where, perchance, does this uncle of yours live?"
"Albania."
Harry blinked at that then frowned darkly at Ethan and growled, "You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?"
"What?" asked Hermione, looking back and forth between the two boys.
Ethan glanced at Harry then looked away, rubbing his arm again.
"I might be," he said softly, not making eye contact with the boy. "I don't know for sure. Maybe if I was…my older self I could tell you for sure. But I'm not."
Hermione got it then and her eyes narrowed at Ethan.
"You aren't suggesting that Ron…"
"I don't know," growled Ethan, lifting his head and scowling at her and Harry. "I don't bloody know."
Ginny frowned and asked, "What are you three talking about?"
Harry scowled darkly and his eyes seemed to darken as well as he growled, "Ethan thinks that Ron has joined Voldemort."
"WHAT?!" exploded Ginny, leaping to her feet. Medusa fell to the floor with a yowl and proceeded to claw the redhead's ankle before she leapt back to her master's head. Ginny ignored the wound as she stared incredulously at Ethan. "You can't be serious."
"I am," said Ethan. He rubbed at his arm again and grumbled, "I can still feel it, even though its not there."
Hermione's eyes widened and she gasped, "The Mark."
Ethan nodded solemnly and rolled up his sleeve to stare at the bare skin just below the elbow of his left arm. He traced a shape there with one elegant finger and shuddered.
"How?" asked Harry. "I mean, your sixteen again and all…"
"My body may be sixteen," said Ethan, "but most of my mind and the entirety of my soul are that of a thirty-seven-year-old. The Mark is not only branded onto a Death Eater's skin, it is branded into his soul. It becomes a part of him. That's how Voldemort calls through them. His magic is used in the Marks."
"Meaning a part of his soul gets put in all of his Death Eater's," said Hermione slowly.
Ethan nodded solemnly again and pushed his sleeve back down.
"Yes," he said roughly. "Even though the Mark isn't on my body – and never shall be again if I have anything to do about it – it is still on my soul." He looked at the three of them and continued, "At the Ball, I felt it twinge. It always does that when other Death Eater's are around, so we can identify each other."
"Don't tell me…" began Ginny.
Ethan held up a hand to stop her.
"I could be wrong," he said gently. "Perhaps a bug bit me in that exact spot. Perhaps I'm simply being paranoid. We couldn't be sure unless we saw the Mark on his arm and I am not ready to make my judgment until I see it." Dark eyes met green and he added, "And I don't believe he would do something like that."
"Worse things have happened," grumbled Harry darkly, slouching in his seat. "People who were thought trustworthy have betrayed people before."
"If your talking about Pettigrew, he always smelt of rat."
"I'll take your word on that. But I'm just saying…"
"I know what you're saying," interrupted Ethan. "But history doesn't always repeat itself. I'm a prime example of that. So are you, Mister HoS." HoS was what Ethan had begun to call Harry at the Weasley's, where he couldn't very well call him the Heir of Slytherin out loud.
Harry scowled at the other boy and grumbled, "Thanks for making me paranoid."
"Always happy to bring paranoia to your world."
"We don't need anymore Mad-Eye's," remarked Ginny, attempting to coax Medusa back into her lap.
Ethan winced and frowned.
"No," he said as Medusa hopped back into Ginny's lap rather reluctantly. "No, we don't."
"Next stop: Hogsmeade station!"
"Guess that means we should get our robes on," remarked Ethan.
"Heng," was all Harry said, earning a glance from the two girls.