HARRY POTTER AND THE SEERS TRUTH
By Lady Lestrange
Just a Game: Just a Memory
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Fanfiction was being ornery. If you can't see my work here, it's also archived at harrypotterfanfiction.
(A/N: I know, I have to come up with a good name for the Ravenclaw chapter. Why isn't anyone helping me? This is your review challenge. Help me out. Think of a good name, and you get a yummy picture of your choice: Tom, Draco Harry or Ginny under an Invisibility cloak.)
10 REVIEWS. Here's the new chapter—I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 10 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. LOL Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to reviews follow the story.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infringement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. THANKS JK.
--LADY LESTRANGE
***
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down FOUR times. --Lady Lestrange)
UP TO THIS POINT: Parvati has been having dreams and visions about the Dark Lord, Harry and a Prophecy Child. So far, they are not sure who the prophecy child is, and it is important for them to find him/her. The Sorting Hat is not sorting, so the students have "little brothers and sisters" to show around. The dream team thinks that The Sorting Hat failing is a plot to hide the Prophecy child from the teachers and anyone who can help insure that he/she stays on the side of light. No one is sure that the brothers and sisters actually belong to the house they are currently in.
The Hogwarts Express has been attacked. Dark Marks have been in the sky. The floo network is compromised. The Minister of Magic has been turned. Snape is now teaching both Defense and Advanced Defense, but it looks like Advanced Defense is just an excuse to let the Slytherins and Ginny and Edward visit the Dark Lord. Mrs. Figg is teaching potions and we know very little about her so far, except that she was against Dumbledore's suggestion to make Poly Juice Potion.
Beatrice is an animagus, a bunny. Edward's granny looks like she could have given the Dursleys a few pointers on cruelty. Slytherin is a house at war according to Snape, divided between Death Eaters and those who want to stay on the side of light. Harry uses his Invisibility Cloak and finds out when it is ripped, the Invisibility spell ceases. There is an unwelcome addition to Myrtle's bathroom, Olive Hornby. Peeves is his usual annoying self, but the Baron seems to have a little less control over him.
Samara, for some reason, lofts some wicked, powerful curses. She doesn't look like she has total control over them, which isn't really surprising since she's learned magic on her own from a book, that Harry is sure is a dark book. She seems to like Draco, but don't assume this is a romance. It is not. Ginny is still hearing voices in her head. Harry's scar is hurting more, and neither he nor Ginny know what this means. Ginny is closer with Harry this year, but again, not romantically. There is Edward, the new Gryffindor, who seems interested in Ginny, but Ginny really hasn't gotten over Tom.
We find out about Neville's powerful auror parents. We learn that Neville has a memory charm that was put on him as a baby. He's a more powerful wizard than anyone ever thought as evidenced by his yew wand and the way he reacts to Snape's ministrations in trying to remove the memory charm. We might wonder why Snape is trying to do this himself, instead of enlisting the help of Madam Pomfrey. Sirius and Lupin are on "fieldtrips" with the sixth and seventh years.
Of course we can also wonder why Snape is so determined to teach his classes advanced spells like the Patronus, or we can just chalk it up to Snape, being mean. The Fifth year class starts apparition classes and we meet Professor Sinistra. We also visit Hufflepuff, where we see The Wall, and Slytherin house, where we discover, to our amazement, a magic room that Draco shares with Samara, but Samara has a very unslytherin use for the room. Ravenclaw to come next weekend.
The chapter, CHAINED AND CHARMED, takes place at the same time as DANCING IS AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE-when Samara was in Slytherin, dancing. It is Saturday afternoon. Harry and the Gryffindors examine Samara's Dark Book, after they come back from lunch. They find an extreme potion, and decide they need to make a trip to the Chamber of Secrets. Ghastly Ghostly Dinner is when Gryffindor's meet with Samara after her little trip to Slytherin. Samara and Beatrice are persuaded by Edward to help him steal his snake back from his brother Ethan. Things get a little out of hand, and Samara learns more about Slytherin than she ever wanted to know.
Now the Gryffindors are mad at her. Samara wants to make up and be friends with them, but is it possible to befriend both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy? How far will she go to make up, or will she just find some valuable information to store away for future use? (So, don't you want one of those Tee shirts?)
LIONS AND TIGERS: We see a very stressed out Snap both in Harry's memory of what happened with Snap and Neville and in the actual DADA class. We find out Trelawney doesn't want Samara in her class and Samara decides to take Ancient Runes instead. McGonagall assures Samara that Trelawney has done her a favor. McGonagall further talks to Samara about her experiences in Gryffindor, opening the door to give Samara someone to talk to, if she so chooses. We also learned lots more about animagi in McGonagall's class. Snape dismisses the Gryffifndors and keeps the Slytherins after class. We find out it's because Snape wants them to practice their patronus because the Slytherins are so lousy at the spell. Could it be because there are so few happy memories to chose from? In DRAGON BREATH AND BLUDGER BATS, Ginny and Edward set the Slytherins up with fire mints, and Samara gets extremely angry at them both because they hurt her friends. In an effort to contain her anger, she goes to the Quiddich pitch where she meets Fred and George. After lobbing a few quaffles at them in her anger, they decide to ask her to be a Beater for Gryffindor. She refuses, but later when she talks to Draco, he is not very nice to her, (hey, who said Draco was a nice guy?) so she wonders whether or not she should take the Beater job.
In WISH IT REAL; WISH IT NOT we see into one of Ginny's dreams. If you don't remember this dream, go and re-read chapter 28. In Chapter 29, THE SPELLING BEE, Samara is feeling homesick and friendless until Draco invites Samara back to Slytherin. Also, includes a short intro into what's coming up in potions class. In Chapter 30, CHILD OF GRYFFINDOR, Neville and Snape break the Imperio part of the Memory Charm. The trio discusses the Founders' spells, which put their gifts in the Sorting Hat; however they do not have the original parseltongue version of Salazar's spell. Ginny also sees Edward painting and the reader sees a bit of Ginny and Tom's relationship. In SLYTHERIN GAMES—Well, if you don't remember it, you better re-read. Voldemort is finally out and angry—burning and pillaging and we see a little-known inside version of Slytherin through Ginny's eyes. In STICKY SITUATIONS, Samara uses her adhere charm on the Weasley twins, Neville sticks Beatrice's wand to his with bubble gum, and Edward is sticking in Gryffindor. In OW POST the Slytherins get even for the Dragon Breath Mints, among other things—
In the Ravenclaw chapter—I'm still trying to think of a good name for it—Help me please—we meet a number of Ravenclaws and find out a little more about the characters, in Ravenclaw as well as Edward and Samara. So do you think either of them are really Ravenclaws? Hmmmm? In chapter 35 we meet Sirius again who plans to have a talk with Dumbledore about his keeping Harry safe and of course what that nasty Snape is doing to poor Neville. Stay tuned for more Neville and his awesome auror parents coming up after the Quiddich game. The war is heating up and touching the lives of the children. This story is rapidly approaching –nasty things. Now that Harry's hand is good enough to play quiddich, don't you think it's time for him to go to the Chamber? Soon. Very Soon.
AND NOW ON TO THE FIRST QUIDDICH GAME:
Just a Game: Just a Memory
Ginny was nervous as she entered the Great Hall. She really didn't want to eat, but Samara had insisted that she needed her strength to play Quiddich this morning. She wished they could have started off the season with the Hufflepuff game. At least they weren't playing Slytherin, but Ravenclaw was tough enough. She sat with the rest of her teammates as planned at the last practice. That way, they could go over any last minute changes.
Harry looked excited. He was going over some plays with Ron since most of the practices had been with Lyle as keeper. Ron looked as scared as she felt, thought Ginny. She put a smile on her face for his sake.
"Ready to bury Ravenclaw?" asked Colin tactlessly, and then bit his lip as he saw the look on the twin's faces. It was obvious they were thinking of Lyle Applegate who was cremated just yesterday. "Hey, good game, OK," said Colin softly punching Ron on the shoulder. Colin's little brother Dennis was sneaking forward to get a picture of Colin between Ron and Harry.
"Yeah, thanks," said Ron.
"OK," said Fred. "Here it is. The Weasley wonder and for lack of a better name the Pink Drink."
George was pouring a small amount of a smoking pink potion into each of the team members juice glasses. "I think we should call it Peppermint pepper up," said George, "but Fred is worried about infringement lawsuits from the Pepper up Potion Company."
"What's this?" asked Angelina, eyeing the concoction suspiciously.
"It's rather like pepper up potion, but with a burst of energy. It will help to keep us focused on the game.
"I'm focused," said Harry. "Pushing the glass away."
"No no no." said George. "You have to drink it."
"Are you sure it doesn't have anything illegal in it, Fred?" asked Angelina. "We don't want to get disqualified for illegal substances."
"No," said Fred. "Snape checked it out."
"Oh terrific!" said Harry eyeing the glass. "That makes me feel all cozy."
"Did you ask if there was poison in it?" asked Ron.
Christi leaned over to Ginny. "We should check with Snape or Mrs. Figg—not that I don't believe your brothers."
"If Snape had anything to do with it," I'm not drinking it," declared Ron, pushing the glass away.
Ginny, glanced up at the head table. Mrs. Figg was in a heated conversation with McGonagall and it didn't look like disturbing her was a good idea. Anyway, Ginny, who had been in Snape's ADADA class now for almost a whole month, was feeling brave. She was a lot less scared of Snape than she had been in the past. She could almost see a human side to him. He was still a slimy git, as her brother would say, but he wasn't a monster. She stood and taking her smoking glass with her, she approached the head table. Figg and McGonagall's conversation dropped to hushed tones, but Ginny still caught what sounded like Lestrange. She wondered if it was Ethan or Edward they were talking about.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape." Ginny said. "My brothers made this potion. Before we drink it, the team would like to know, did they check it out with you for illegal substances?"
Professor Snape looked up from his conversation with Dumbledore. "Yes," he sneered. "They checked the potion out with me. Couldn't you have asked them that, Weasley? It contains no illegal substances unless they added something later."
Ginny nodded and downed the contents of the glass. It tasted very pepperminty, but not horrible as she had expected. Immediately her sinuses cleared and her eyes started to water.
"It also contains no beneficial substances that I could see," continued Snape, although it has a pleasantly strong peppermint taste." Snape turned to Dumbledore. "You may like it Albus."
Ginny thanked them and returned to the Gryffindor table with the news. By the time she sat down, she felt pleasantly warm and a little more keyed up than usual. Her eyes had stopped watering and she realized that her peripheral vision was improved. She leaned forward. "Harry," she said. "I think you should drink it."
He frowned at her, but swirled the pink liquid around in his glass. After a moment, he took a sip, and then another sip. Soon he had finished the glass.
After Harry Potter drank his Pink Drink, the rest of the team followed suit, just as the post owls started to arrive. A huge, tawny owl swooped into the Gryffindor table and came to rest in front of Harry Potter. "I wonder what this is?" Harry said aloud. He would recognize any owl that came to him—one of the Weasley owls was pretty much the only ones, other than Hedwig.
"So who's it from?" pestered Ron, as Harry untied the letter from the owl's leg. He gave the owl a bit of bacon and sent it off to the owlry for some food and rest. Then he opened the letter.
"Hagrid—" Harry whispered.
"Why didn't he send Hedwig?" asked Ron worriedly.
Harry held up a hand to forestall any more questions until he had a chance to read the letter. A frown creased his forehead as he scanned the contents.
"Bad news?" asked George.
Ron shrugged.
Harry was busy reading.
Dear Harry,
I got your letter --seve severel-- a few days ago, but thought to give Hedwig a little rest. She –apearent—appearently had a run in with some crows or ravens. Now, don't ye worry. She's OK. Nothin broken. Jus some cuts and fethrs lost. I'll send her back to ye jus as soon as the rest of the pecks heal.
Anyway, the letter ye sent with her was lost, so I hope nothin is wrong at Hogwarts. As fer with me, one clan of giants agreed to the plan. (seein as how your owl was waylaid, I best not say too much about that plan) But I had to give up one dear ta me heart to get the cheiftain to say yes. I had ta promise to give em Fluffy. Was probably for the best tho-- One of them heads was always hungry and he made travelin hard. Not many Inns like ta take in pets, ye know.
I found me mum, but she doesn't pull much weight with the giants cause she was with me da fer so long. She's travelin with us now. Anywise, we're goin on from here. I jus won't tell ya where) ta find some giants that Olympe knows, but she says they ain't her relations—Mum doesn't believe her either—'bout her not bein half giant and all.
"Olympe," thought Harry with a frown. "So that was Madam Maxime's first name—And Hagrid was on first name basis with her."
"Well, what?" Ron urged. "You going to tell us what's wrong or not, Harry?"
Hermione had moved over to the part of the table where the team was sitting. "Was the letter bad news?" she asked Harry.
"Is bad news, written across my forehead?" snapped Harry.
"Hey, mate, we're just worried. You looked upset," said Ron.
"It's Hedwig," said Harry. "She's been hurt. Hagrid has her. He says he'll send her along when she's better."
"Well, no one will take better care of her than Hagrid," said Hermione. "Don't worry. She'll be fine."
"Who said I'm worried?" said Harry, getting up from the table, and leaving his half-eaten food behind. "It's just an owl."
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. "When has he ever considered Hedwig 'just an owl'?" Hermione said.
"Never," answered Ron with a concerned look at Harry.
"He's been having some major mood swings lately," said Hermione. "Remember what you said about spotting the prophecy child?"
"It can't be Harry," said Ron. "First of all he was here at Hogwarts before 'Hufflepuff's loss' and even if the Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin, Harry doesn't have much in the way of Hufflepuff traits, or I wouldn't want to say this to his face—but, Ravenclaw. I mean, his grades are no better than mine."
"I was thinking about that," said Hermione. There was a big change in Harry since 'Hufflepuff's loss' though—The whole spell that brought You-know-who back. Has he ever mentioned that night to you?"
Ron shook his head. "No. Never."
And Ron, there's something else, Harry's protection came from his mother right?"
"Right. So?"
"What if she was a Hufflepuff? That would be our second meaning—bilinguis. Hufflepuff's loss could also mean the loss of a Hufflepuff's protection on her son, Harry."
"I always thought she was a Gryffindor though," said Ron. "I think Harry said it once—both of his parents were in Gryffindor."
"I don't think he ever told us," said Hermione. "I wonder if he even knows."
"I'm sure—all of the marauders were in Gryffindor."
"Wrong," said Hermione, wrinkling her nose. "Sirius and Peter were in Slytherin."
"What!" Ron looked completely scandalized.
Hermione nodded. "I couldn't find Lily's family tree. I guess it was because she was muggle born, but Black and Pettigrew are both pureblood, Slytherin families."
"That doesn't mean Sirius and Peter were sorted into Slytherin," said Ron, thoughtfully.
"Hey, Ronnikins," teased George. "Better wake up, and head for the Quiddich pitch. "We need you."
"Come on!" Fred tugged on Ron's robe.
"Stop," demanded Ron. "You're going to tear it."
"I bought it, didn't I?" said Fred.
Ron flushed red. "I'll talk to you later about this, Hermione. Don't tell Harry yet, OK. We need him focused on Quiddich."
Hermione nodded. "Meet me right after the game?"
"Yes," said Ron. "You know where."
"She does, does she?" teased Fred. "And where might that be? Astronomy Tower?"
Ron flushed even redder. "We have a Quiddich game to play," he said.
"And I don't think that's the only game our little Ronnikins is playing," added George knowingly.
"Mutus! Mutus!" Ron stared first at his wand and then at the now silent twins. "Whoa! Wicked. Samara, you were right," he called. "Stronger intent and less swish. Now, my dear brothers. Let's go play Quiddich. If you promise to behave yourselves, I'll let you talk. But remember," Ron sang, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Nod once if you understand."
Both twins looked at each other, and then back at their baby brother and nodded.
"Nod once if you agree to behave yourselves."
The twins looked at each other again and reluctantly nodded.
Ron studied them for a moment. "I like them so much better this way," he said.
"Ron," warned Hermione.
"OK, OK—Finite Incantum!"
The Quiddich team headed to the locker rooms, but before they got there, Fred and George cornered Samara. "No more lessons to our little brother," said Fred.
"Right," said George. "We like him just the way he is. Don't you go changing him."
Samara looked after them in confusion.
"What did you do?" asked Neville.
"I didn't do anything," Samara said to Beatrice, and Neville and Lou.
==
In no time at all, they were all dressed in their scarlet robes and ready to begin the game.
"You know," said Fred, "We're really going to drive Lee Jordan crazy this year."
"Why is that?" asked Ginny.
"And here's the Gryffindor line up," mocked George. "Johnson, Potter, Prentice, Weasley, Weasley, Weasley and Weasley."
Ginny giggled. "Guess he'll have to call us by our full names."
I'll call you by your full name, Virginia Weasley. If you'll come—
Come to me, Virginia, dear. Come to me.
Ginny stiffened at the sound of The Voice, from first year, in her head. Not now! She thought! It was just a memory from the terrors of her First Year at Hogwarts. Go away, she thought, but it wouldn't listen to her. It's just a flashback, she told herself. Ignore it. It can't hurt you now. Tom's gone.
Samara touched her shoulder. "What's wrong, Ginny?"
"Nothing." Ginny shook her head. "Just nervous, I guess. Wait until your first game."
"And now," announced Lee Jordan to the cheering crowd, "Here is the Ravenclaw line up."
"Playing at Seeker is the renowned and beautiful Cho Chang.
The chasers, Adele Nemitz, Roger Davis, and Ming Chang.
The beaters, Jarl Irving, Morag McDougal
And at keeper is, Stewart Ackerly
For the Gryffindors
The seeker, the one and only, Harry Potter
The Chasers, the awesome veteran Angelina Johnson
Joined by Christi Prentice and Ginny Weasley
Veteran beaters: Fred and George Weasley
And at Keeper, Ron Weasley.
Please observe a moment of silence for Lyle Applegate, Gryffindor player who was killed in service to the Light. The Gryffindor Quiddich Team would like to dedicate this game to him.
And now, Madam Hooch blows the whistle, team captains come forward to shake hands.
There's a beautiful kickoff on this bright, sunny morning. The players are in the air and there goes the quaffle! It's Ravenclaw in possession. Watch out Angela. Davis is fast. Passing to Nemitz
Uh oh, there's a bludger! And another one. Nemitz is hit. There's that Gryffindor double trouble Weasley twins.
She drops the quaffle, picked up by Ginny Weasley who passes to Angelina back to Ginny and Angelina scores that's 10-0 Gryffindor. Nemitz is back in the play. She's a tough one.
Ginny clapped happily as she realized that she had been a part of that play. It was gorgeous.
While she was day dreaming, she caught sight of a bludger headed for her and she dipped lower to avoid
it . That put her out of passing range for Angelina who intercepted and lobbed the quaffle to Christi. Christi missed it, but George smacked it with his bludger bat to keep it in play and it smashed into Cho's broom!
"Foul!" cried Madam Hooch. "Attacking the seeker with the quaffle"
"It was a reflex!" complained George. "I didn't attack her."
But Roger Davis took the foul shot. Ron looked exceptionally nervous as he flew in a zig zag pattern, guarding the goal. Roger flung the quaffle expertly through the highest hoop and although Ron attempted to get there, it was just out of his reach.
Ravenclaw scores! The Ravenclaw end bust into excited applause.
Then the quaffle was back in play and it somehow was in Ravenclaw's hands. Ming passed to Roger and he took the opportunity to lob another quaffle through the hoop.
"No more," muttered Ron as he took his defensive stance.
Ginny heard Him again. It's my imagination. A flashback. It's not real.
Come to me, Virginia, dear. Come to me.
"Please," Ginny thought. "I need you to be quiet" Please, but even as she said the words in her head, she realized that he would not yield to her, even if he could have heard her.
"Look out, Gin!" yelled Fred, and she ducked just as a bludger careened into the side of her head. It graised her temple, making her see stars, but she rubbed the sore spot and continued to play. Another bludger shot by her and she had to roll low on her broom to avoid it. Christi had moved up to take the quaffle and "Christi Prentice scores!" shouted Lee Jordan. "Nice one Christi. That makes the score tied up at 20 all."
Christi did a little dance on her broom, making loop-de-loops. Christi scored twice more making the score 40-10 Gryffindor.
"Go Christi!," shouted Angelina, as Ming dropped the quaffle and Christi dove to pick it up, but Davis beat her to it.
"Double coverage on Davis," Angelina shouted to Ginny. "Forget Ming. She's not a threat."
Then suddenly, the whole quiddich pitch seemed to fade a little to Ginny.
Come to me, Virginia.He said. Come to me.
The quaffle smacked Ginny flat in the chest and she caught it by reflex. She was back in the game. Flying toward the goal, she threw the quaffle back to Angelina who, rocketing forward lobbed it back to her. She was close enough to shoot, but she froze and instead tossed it back to Angelina. The Ravenclaw beater, McDoogle, whizzed by her, chasing a bludger. In his wake, she heard Him again, this time he was insistent, just like he was when he lured her to the Chamber against her will. She tried to fight him then and lost, but this time, maybe--.
Come to me, Virginia. Come now.
She never saw the bludger that hit her squarely on her right shoulder. It jarred her hands loose from the broom and although she had many times sat a broom without her hands, today she found herself tumbling to the pitch. She hit the ground with a hard "Umph" and as if through a fog she heard Lee Jordan's voice. "Oh no! Gryffindor chaser, Virginia Weasley, is unseated! And Madam Hooch calls an official time out."
Tears stung Ginny's eyes. She was a menace. How could she have lost her concentration during the game? Tom Riddle and his diary were gone, and he was still ruining her life. She silently cursed him. I hate you –hate you—hate you—"
Madam Hooch and her Gryffindor teammates were crowding around her. "Are you all right, Ginny?" asked Ron nervously.
"I'm sorry," murmured George. "I should have had that bludger!"
"Is she ok?" Cho Chang touched down beside her, followed by her sister and one of her Ravenclaw teammates, the beater, Jarl Irving.
"I'm ok," croaked Ginny as soon as she caught her breath. "Knocked the wind out of me when I hit the ground. Bruised and embarrassed, that's all," she said.
"You'd better go to the hospital wing to be sure you haven't broken any ribs," said Madam Hooch.
"Just bruised," Ginny assured her.
Madam Hooch nodded and blew her whistle, signaling time in.
Ginny was replaced by Colin Creevy, who was flying conservatively, but well. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up with Roger Davis. She watched the game for a few minutes, holding her bruised ribs. When she heard Him once again, whispering in her mind—
Come to me.
She stood, swaying slightly.
"Hey," Joe, one of the back up beaters, said. "Are you alright, Ginny?"
"No." She answered. "My ribs hurt. I'm going to see Madam Pomfrey after all."
"I'll take you." He stood.
"No, it's alright," said Ginny. "I can make it by myself. You watch the game."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Yes," said Tom, just as he had when he had lured her—forced her into the Chamber the last time. "We don't want anyone with us, Virginia. Just the two of us."
" Yes," muttered Ginny excitedly. "Just us, Tom"
"I could come with you," said Samara.
"No," said Ginny. "What if one of the twins was hurt? You're the back up beater aren't you?"
"But you don't look well," said Samara.
"That's why I'm going to Madam Pomfrey," said Ginny in exasperation.
Ginny made her way slowly from the Quiddich field to the girl's bathroom. She didn't want to go there. It just happened. Tom wanted her there. She wouldn't go. She would go to her room. She was so tired of fighting the diary. She just wanted to sleep. Please, Tom, she thought, just let me sleep. It had been days since the diary had let her sleep. She was so tired.
Come to me, Virginia, and you can sleep forever
The bathroom was deserted. Not even Myrtle was there. This couldn't be right," thought Ginny. "Where was she supposed to go?" Then she remembered. The diary was gone. The basilisk was gone. There was no reason for Him to want her to go here. Tom Riddle was no longer a part of her life. Perhaps just a part of her death.
Come to me!.
She pulled herself back from the thoughts. How could a flashback do this to her—make her go where she didn't want to go? Maybe she was losing her mind, like the medi-witches thought. No. She was in control of herself. She wouldn't go. She would just go back to her room. She wouldn't tell anyone-- Ginny turned around and ran smack into Edward.
"What are you doing here?" he growled, grasping her by her shoulders and shaking her.
She cried out in pain.
"Stop it!" she's hurt," said another Edward. She was seeing double—no they were twins—what was Ethan doing here?
Come to me, Virginia. Come to me.
"I'm taking her to Madam Pomfrey," said Edward wrapping his arm around her bruised ribs.
"No," Ginny said. "I have to find him."
"It's ok, Ginny," said Edward. "I'll take care of you. Ethan, the game must be over. Hurry."
Ethan nodded, and left the bathroom.
"Why's Ethan here?" Ginny asked. "You didn't let him in Gryffindor, did you?"
Come to me.
"No," said Edward, "But it is a weekend. He might come over to visit Gryffindor tomorrow."
Ginny appeared either not to hear, or not to care.
Come to me.
"He calls me," said Ginny breathlessly. "I have to find him. I--I don't know how."
Edward looked at her glazed eyes for a moment, seeing the tears starting to form, he made a sudden decision. He turned her in his arms and pushed up her sleeves, first her left and then just in case, her right. Both arms were unmarked. He looked at her in confusion. She was acting exactly like a Death Eater who was being summoned by without access to a portkey or floo, but she had no Dark Mark. "Who," he asked. "Who calls you?"
Ginny looked at him with hope in her eyes. "Tom," she said. "Tom Riddle."
"Tom?" Edward said. "I don't know who—"
"He has other names," Ginny replied. "Some will not say his name at all— They are afraid of him. They whisper: He-who-must-not-be-named."
Edward sucked in his breath through his teeth. There was only one place to take her, and he intended to be the one to bring her. "Come." He said, taking Ginny by the arm, "I will take you to him."
He took a step, but Ginny seemed bolted to the floor. She was staring unseeingly at one of the faucets. "Come on," he said again, tightening his grip on her arm.
==
"Did you know you have your mother's eyes, Lestrange?" interrupted a sing-song voice from somewhere around the ceiling.
"Get out, Peeves," snapped Edward. "I don't have time for you."
"Oh I think you have plenty of time," sang Peeves in an annoying nasal tone.
"Plenty of time to think of a rhyme—"
Obsidian eyes as black as coal.
Obviously, as black as your soul
Maybe yours is too ugly to suck
Or maybe you have the Devil's luck.
"Get out, Peeves," before I call the Baron, said Edward.
"Oh, I don't think you'll find him." Peeves flew annoyingly into Edward's face. He's very busy," said Peeves, knowingly. "Busy as a bee—buzz! Buzz! Zzzzzzzz!"
Peeves hissed at Edward, faking a knowledge of parseltongue, but suddenly Ginny came back to herself and she knew exactly where she was although she didn't remember coming here. She wouldn't have come here. She hated the Chamber. She felt panic rising in her.
"Tom?" she whispered, confusedly.
But Tom didn't answer, instead Peeves flew straight through her head and out of the door.
Ginny screeched and shuddered, the sudden awful cold from the Poltergeist's contact, driving every thought but escape from her mind.
"I have to go," she said abruptly, pulling from Edward's grasp and running from Myrtle's bathroom.
"Ginny!" Edward called after her. "Peeves! Damn you!"
Peeves mischievous laughter could be heard echoing down the corridor, mingling with the sound of the Gryfffindor voices.
"Honestly, Harry," said Fred. "I thought you had the hots for the girl.
"Yeah," agreed George, "You should be able to tell her apart from her eleven year old sister!"
"They were both a blur!" said Ron. "Anyway, George, if you had gotten the bludger that took out Ginny maybe we would have had a third chaser."
"And if we had a decent keeper--" began Fred.
"Stop it," said Angelina. "We all played our best."
"Yeah," said Christi. "They had to resort to a stupid trick to beat us. There has to be something in the rules--"
"Christi," said Harry. "They're Ravenclaws. Do you honestly think they didn't check out the rules. I screwed up."
"Don't take it so hard, Harry," said Angelina. "None of us were sure which one was Ming and which one was Cho in that dive."
"But if I'd have just seen the snitch first--" Said Harry.
"Don't worry about it Harry." Said Angelina. "You'll be able to recognize the Slytherins. Couldn't mistake Malfoy for anyone, now could you?"
"No. I guess not," said Harry despondently. He couldn't help thinking how differently Angelina was taking their defeat than Wood would have. Wood would have chewed his head off. Somehow, Angelina being so nice made the defeat twice as hard.
"Well," said Hermione as they entered the common room. "They only beat us by ten points. Don't take it so hard. It's only a game."
"Hermione!" shouted the team in unison. Ginny, looking pale as death, sank into a chair by the cold fireplace.
"What did Madam Pomfrey say?" asked Samara, sitting beside her.
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NOTES TO MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS:
Elfmoon87: Welcome back! Glad you are ROFL. I get depressed when you guys don't get my jokes. Wicked Wizard of the West. He he.
Melbell: Yep. Crookshanks is smart.
Reiven: Thanks for at least trying to think of a name for my Ravenclaw chapter. No one else has! Don't worry. Soon you'll be able to speak parseltongue like a—well—snake. Of course anyone should know the difference between shis and hissus, preditor and prey---but only Death Eaters really need to recognize Sissshass-A-Sissshass, great-one-always-hungry.
Kemenran: So articulate as always!
Silverfox: Glad you liked the stuff about Tom, and I like Neville too. Ginny knows her second choice would have been Hufflepuff, because the Hat talked to her, just like it did Harry. I imagine it said something like—By Merlin! There's something very foreign here! That's not you, is it dear? No. I see you are a Weasley--very brave—but also loyal and hardworking. Could be a Hufflepuff, but what's that? Yes, I see. Not Hufflepuff then. You're probably right, and all your brothers are there to protect you from whatever that is in your head—Better be-- Gryffindor!
Tania Nightqueen: I'm working on the premise that you really can only have one know-it-all in the room at the same time. Hermione and Samara are very much alike and therefore, clash at times, but actually, they would be awesome if they put all that brainpower together. They would then figure out the entire plot and the poor author would have nothing else to write about. So, sadly, they can't see eye to eye. Plus, you have to remember what a trying day Hermione had. She does have a bit of a short fuse tonight, and she didn't slap anyone. She just decided she wanted to get away from them—a little R&R (read and relax) before bed. It's that Ravenclaw in her. Glad you enjoyed.
Trillium: Yes. The poor twins, but if the twins are depressed. It just shows how bad things really are.
Plash Ricrem: Thanks for the "excellent chapter" review. Your tee shirt will be owled to you as soon as I find an owl to deliver it—darn muggle villages. Can't find anything you need. Would you like a cute kitty like Ginny's or just the lion part?
Ilwinterhofal: Thanks for letting me know that you could follow Hermione's notes. Yummy chocolate cookies! Were they baked by the house elves? Must be cookie day in Hufflepuff!
Elfmoon87: You were reading for hours! Oh cool. Author jumps up and down excitedly. Most of the prophecy stuff has been figured out since the beginning. Then I went through JK's books and tried to find anything that she wrote that would look like it fit into the prophecy, and made an outline which I have been ignoring ever since—well not really ignoring, but not following as much as I thought I would.
Reiven: If a squib married a muggle, Slytherins would say of course the offspring would be a mudblood, which of course, means dirty blood. In a Slytherin's eye, there are only purebloods and mudbloods—unless of course, you are making a potion, in which case, I wouldn't use the blood of a squib and a muggle for mudblood. It might have a little too much magic, and if the potion calls for half blood it might not have enough magic. Better be safe, or you might have to throw out the whole cauldron. These things are delicate, you know. Ravenclaws would say the offspring of a squib and a muggle is a half-blood, because they believe that even squibs have magic within them. By the way, I think it's now official, you are a Ravenclaw. You catch everything in my chapters—love you—and now this question--which I don't think a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff would care to find out.
Mella deRanged : Harry? The prophecy child? Hmmmm? And of course he's going to re-enter the Chamber of Secrets. Didn't he say so? I wouldn't promise you that and not deliver. Three more chapters to wait, now that Harry's hand is healed. Ahh-Lockhart is in St. Mongo's. The proceeds from the book probably go to keep him in a private room. Harry wouldn't want to take that away and inflict Lockhart on some other poor sick soul. After all Harry's a Gryffindor. Now, of course, if he were a Slytherin, ..
OK. It's your turn now. Please Review. Either that or you can pay $17.00 for the rest of the book—send via to--NO.NO.NO.NO. Just kidding! I don't make any money from this. Honest! Just review. Make me happy. I'm cheap. Aren't you glad the next chapter only "costs" 10 reviews instead of money? Well, what are you still reading this for? REVIEW!