HARRY POTTER AND THE SEERS' TRUTH
BY Lady Lestange
Snape's Secret and Salazar's Treasure
Chapter 47
10 REVIEWS. 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. 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 FIVE 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. The Quiddich Game and then more of Neville's awesome Auror parents.
The war is heating up and touching the lives of the children. This story is rapidly approaching –nasty things. Not for the faint of heart. Last chapter, we had a relaxing time at Hogsmeade. Samara bounces from friend to friend and Harry has some nasty dreams, and Harry is shocked to find out that Ron and Hermione are a couple. We knew that already though, right?
In THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS the trio did some exploring, but failed to find the basilisk eggs. They found other things though. Obviously, they have to go back, but first Ginny gives them some instructions.
In THE CHAMBER, THE WALL, THE WAND AND THE WINDOW, Ginny gives the trio some instructions about the Chamber, the Gryffindor boys are having trouble sleeping and Harry's talking to the Snake, Kauket. Parvati has yet another vision, about a muggle and the earlier one about the wand is explored. Trelawney tells Ginny she will open a window to the past—Didn't she already do that? Is Trelawney a little late with this prediction, or does it mean something else?
In NO MORE GAMES we return to ADADA class and Ginny finds out by using the Quick Quotes Quill that the class is more than she planned, but the notes are stolen, so she has no proof to go to Dumbledore with—So she takes matters into her own hands. In PERVIGILO ARMARO, we see part of Ginny's awesome ward. Doors are opened and Tom is out, but he isn't everything we thought he would be. Could it be that he's keeping secrets from us? Puppy Puffs and the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw Quiddich game offer a little comic relief. Chapter 44, MORS MORDRE. Ginny gets a dark mark. 'nouf said. BLOOD AND MAGIC MINGLED is Ginny reaction to Voldemort's Imperio curse, and a trip to the Chamber. In THE SEVENTH SUFFERING, We leave Ginny in the Chamber, while we go off with Samara to find out what happened to Ginny in Slytherin this morning, but Samara gets side-tracked, and she learns a personal secret of Draco's—so when is she going to share her secret?
And now, back to the Chamber—AND. . . .
Snape's Secret and Salazar's Treasure
Ginny awoke feeling tired and achy. Her head throbbed, but the nausea was gone. She rolled over and suddenly realized where she was!
"Tom! I'm in the Chamber!"
"Hmmmm. Just like first year," said Tom boredly. "Did you have a nice sleep, Ginny Love? No nasty dreams about Salazar?"
"I don't—"She reached for her robes, but the whole front of the robe was sticky, and she dropped it thinking of the bloody front of her robe when she strangled the roosters and sprinkled their blood on the basilisk eggs. "Tom!" she whispered "Is this blood?"
"Yes, it's blood-among other things," said Tom. "Just like first year.
"I don't remember—"
"Well, you got the Dark Mark. Do you remember that? And you were under imperio, just like first year, and we fiddled with the eggs—Just--"
"Just like first year," snapped Ginny. "It's not funny."
"Do you hear anyone laughing?"
"Someone was with me," said Ginny hesitantly. "Weren't they?"
"I'm always with you, Ginny Love. In case you hadn't noticed—"
"NO, I mean, Edward was with me."
Tom was silent.
"Wasn't he? We moved the eggs—Tom! Where is he? We can't just leave him here."
"Leave who?"
"We have to go find him! He can't get out by himself."
"So Ginny, he's not going anywhere without parseltongue. He'll be here when we get back--in a week or a month or never—"
"So Edward was with me! I'm going to find him." She hesitated wondering if she asked the door to open to the intruder if that would be a good idea. She hoped none of the stone snakes had attacked him. "You wouldn't really leave him here, Tom--"
"Ginny, you know me so little—I never really liked Lestrange, you know. Especially after—"
"But you liked Carman." Ginny smiled, thinking of the memories that Tom had of Carman.
"She didn't deliver me to Salazar like a prize pig in a poke."
Ginny ignored him, stood at the door and hissed.
You know that's my parseltongue. If I weren't in your head, you wouldn't be able to find him at all.
"If you weren't in my head, I wouldn't BE HERE," Spat Ginny.
Tom was silent for a moment. You have a point, Ginny Love. Some of my Ravenclaw brains must be rubbing off on you.
"What Ravenclaw brains?" said Ginny. "If you had any Ravenclaw brains YOU wouldn't be here!"
==
She strode into the Hall of Eyes and extended her hand. "Direct me to the one who does not Speak," she hissed in parseltongue. The door opened to what looked strangely like a cupboard. Edward was sitting hunched in the corner. He was wide-eyed, staring at her.
"Well, come on," she said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes."
"I hope you enjoyed your time exploring—"
"I—" Edward looked cautiously at the walls which were covered with various serpents all carved out of stone. "A moment ago, those weren't stone," he said as he stood and came carefully out of the enclosure. Studiously avoiding all contact with the walls.
Ginny said nothing.
"They weren't—" Edward insisted.
"Did I say I didn't believe you?" She asked, her mouth involuntarily curving into a smirk colored by Tom's mirth.
"Ginny Love, you have to ask the snakes what they were doing," coaxed Tom. "You have too—Look at him. He's scared to death."
"You have a really macabre sense of humor," she replied to Tom.
"What?" Asked Edward.
"Oh," Ginny said softly. "I wasn't talking to you."
Tom burst into gales of laughter.
"Shut up," Ginny murmured to Tom, and Edward followed her back to the Hall of Eyes.
Ginny made her way slowly from the Chamber to the bathroom between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep. Please, Tom, she thought, just let me sleep.
"Of course, Ginny Love as soon as we get out of the Chamber and you can lose Lestrange.
The bathroom was deserted. "Do you know what time it is?" Ginny asked Edward.
"No. Early. I would guess about 6 or 6:30."
Ginny nodded. "Good. Everyone should still be asleep, right?"
"I would think so," said Edward. "It's Saturday. No one in their right mind would be up at this hour—"
"I beg your pardon," said Tom. "Only I'm allowed to call Ginny crazy. After all, I know for a fact that she hears voices in her head."
"Sh-h-h-h-" Ginny hushed Edward and Tom. She heard voices—and not in her head. The sounds were coming from the dungeon ahead of them.
They were coming from Snape's office. She listened. It was Snape and Dumbledore. A small part of her remembered Tom chiding her for eavesdropping on Hermione and Samara. She knew that Gryffindors didn't listen to private conversations—Slytherins did—but she listened nonetheless. She moved behind one of the pillars so that she wouldn't be seen by any early risers. Secrecy seemed important. She didn't know why.
==
Dumbledore's voice was low and threatening. Ginny shivered. She had never heard him like that—so angry. "How dare you! How dare you, Severus!"
"We can't discuss this here," interrupted Snape.
"After all the chances I've given you!" Dumbledore continued as if Snape hadn't spoken at all.
"I had no choice," Snape's cold expressionless voice answered. Ginny could tell he was not frightened of Dumbledore. She glanced at Edward, who was unabashedly listening too.
"You always have choices," growled Dumbledore. "This very evil comes from making these ill-conceived choices, and calling them right, calling them unavoidable—making excuses--"
The voices were getting softer, and Ginny realized someone was putting up a silencing spell.
"Disrupt it," suggested Tom, but Edward already had his wand out muttering a counterspell and the words broke back through the wall. First there was Dumbledore's low angry murmurs and then Snape's.
"NO!" interrupted Snape. "Great evil comes from taking away people's choices."
"I told you no children would be given to him. How much more clearly could I say it, Severus? You chose to misunderstand."
"She wanted to go. She chose--"
"That's a lie!" snapped Dumbledore. "She's a Weasley."
They were talking about her! Edward gripped her shoulder, and she looked at him. His eyes were smoky and hooded. In his other hand, he held his wand.
"She threatened me at wandpoint," said Snape.
"Oh, and what did you expect her to do? Jelly legs? Curse your feet to the floor? You could have taken her wand."
"Well, I don't know that I could have, actually," said Snape. "I've taught them several tricks to hold on to their wands, but that wasn't the problem."
"Not like you really needed your wand anyway—Did you, Ginny Love?"
Ginny leaned in a little closer, not that she needed to. It's a wonder they didn't hear the argument in the towers.
"She insisted that she be taken to Voldemort. She insisted in front of the whole class. If I refused, my entire cover was blown."
Ginny heard Edward suck in his breath beside her. The fingers around his wand tightened making his knuckles white.
"And you cared more about your slimy ass than a little girl!" accused Dumbledore.
"No," shouted Snape right back. "I cared more about YOUR slimy ass. It's your operation that would have gone down the toilet." Snape's voice again dropped to a whisper. "Everything we've worked for-- from wheedling my way back to the inner circle, to befriending those scumbags, to the tight rope I walk daily with their children—everything--everything leading to Voldemort's demise. She's not worth losing that chance!"
"She's a child!" snapped Dumbledore.
"She's not the first!" Snape yelled right back. "What you mean is she's a Gryffindor child."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Severus. We cannot sacrifice children. If we do, we lose what little chance we have against him."
"The words are: 'Do not sacrifice children or truth' We have already sacrificed both. Many times over. If we are dependent upon that ridiculous prophecy, we are already doomed."
There was a long silence.
At last Snape spoke. "Alvin Nott also received the Dark Mark—on Thursday—his father came and took him—"
"Well, that was expected, wasn't it," said Dumbledore softly. "His parents are both Death Eaters."
"His mother is dead," said Snape.
Another long silence ensued.
Ginny heard Dumbledore sigh, and the rustle of robes as he put a hand on Snape's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's been a rough couple of weeks for you hasn't it, Severus. Does he still suspect you?"
"He suspects everyone," said Snape, sighing heavily.
"What happened with Ginny Weasley--it can't be reversed now. How can we use it to our advantage? Did he give her the Dark Mark?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes."
"But does he think it's her?"
"It would seem so."
"But she can't be, of course. She came here before 'Hufflepuff's' loss."
"The Dark Lord wasn't thinking of Diggory," said Snape. "He was thinking of Quirrel."
"Quirrel? Oh, yes," said Dumbledore enlightenment dawning. "He was a Hufflepuff wasn't he? You know I had to have taught him—but I can't remember him here at Hogwarts. I'd forgotten that he was a Hufflepuff. His mother was a Crabbe, wasn't she?"
"No," said Snape. "Shaking his head. A Goyle."
A long silence ensued, while Ginny and Edward sized each other up.
"Edward's going to confront Snape with this new information," said Tom.
"I don't think so," thought Ginny. "That would be foolish. Snape could just obliviate him, like he did me. I think he'll bide his time and go to the Dark Lord with news that Snape is a traitor."
"Not a bad idea, for a Gryffindor," said Tom. "You may be right."
"We have our moments."
Dumbledore had stepped to the doorway, and Ginny backed up behind one of the pillars in the dungeon. Edward did likewise. "How will I tell Arthur?" muttered Dumbledore. "Oh!—wait--she's a pureblood—"
"What did you say?" Snape asked.
"Oh, just something Harry Potter told me about—She can't be the prophecy child because—" Dumbledore hesitated looking into Snape's dark glittering eyes, and changed the subject. "I was just wondering how I would tell Arthur and Molly and her poor brothers. She's their only girl."
"Don't tell him anything," suggested Snape. "Let her tell her parents herself when she's ready."
There was another rustle of robes—Dumbledore pacing. "He'll kill her, won't he?"
"Probably," came Snape's reply. "If—when he find out she isn't the Prophecy Child."
Ginny sucked in her breath and clutched the doorframe.
"Ginny Love, if he wanted to kill you he would have done it already. Anyway, you haven't found his emerald yet. You're safe."
"We will have to try to get some control over her comings and goings, Severus. And I don't want her going again with the class."
"That will be difficult," said Snape.
"You'll think of something," said Dumbledore. "I have faith in you."
"You'd better put your faith in Lily Evans," said Snape. "There's the only chink in Voldemort's armor and we both know it."
"Lily Potter," corrected Dumbledore.
"Potter," repeated Snape as if he were saying a curse word.
"And a mother's love is still a mother's love no matter what you call her," said Dumbledore.
Snape said nothing and Dumbledore swept from the Office.
In that moment, Edward stepped forward. Ginny noticed that he had put his wand away. That meant only one thing. Edward was going to bide his time and go to the Dark Lord instead of confronting Snape. That, Ginny would not allow. She pulled her wand and leveled the spell as soon as the tip of her wand left the confines of her pocket. "Somnus!"
Edward crumpled where he stood as the spell hit the back of his head. He was snoring before he hit the ground.
"Why Somnus?" asked Tom. "He has to be obliviated."
"I know," Ginny answered, "but if I just obliviate this little conversation, won't he be suspicious that he just woke up in bed. We have to fool him into thinking that he didn't lose any time, or that the time he lost makes sense. I need to think about where to put the boundaries of the Obliviation spell.
"Well if you obliviate enough, they just think they are going crazy."
"And if you obliviate enough, they might be right when they think they are going crazy," returned Ginny.
Tom chuckled, and Ginny was standing there right outside of Snape's dungeon when he suddenly opened the dungeon door and came striding out.
"Professor Snape," said Ginny breathlessly.
He turned his dark eyes on her. "Yes, Miss Weasley?"
"I need your help."
"See me in class," he said coldly.
"No, Sir, I mean—I did a sleeping spell on Edward. I need you to do Obliviate. He heard your conversation—so did I."
Snape looked at Edward, who was now lying slumped in the corner. A second later, Snape was levitating him inside of his office. "Come in," he said. "Who disrupted my silencing spell?" asked Snape as he walked.
"Ah---" Ginny frantically tried to think of something to say, but Snape pulled Edward's wand from his pocket and placed it tip to tip with his own. He pronounced, "Prior Incanto."
"A razor-like sharp edged ghost of a spell erupted from the point where the two wands met, and although Ginny didn't recognize what the shape meant, obviously Snape did. "Deletrius!" he said, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Edward. The ghost spell vanished without a trace.
"Tell me exactly what you heard," said Snape. "Leave nothing out, and I'll know if you're lying."
Ginny stood in front of him wringing her hands nervously.
"Pipe down, Ginny Love. He's just a teacher. You've handled worse—"
"Sit down, before you fall down, Miss Weasley," said Snape with no hint of compassion.
Ginny sat.
"I think you should tell him the truth," suggested Tom.
"I was planning to—"
Ginny told the whole story from her being sick, but going to Myrtle's bathroom anyway, under imperio and Edward and Ethan helping her there with his potion. She continued, relating the time in the Chamber with the eggs and being sick again and sleeping there, to the first moment of his conversation with Dumbledore. She told him that she and Edward heard him tell Dumbledore that he had no choice about taking her to the Dark Lord, and they heard his comments about Lily Evans Potter. "So what is it that is so important about Lily Evans Potter?" asked Ginny.
"Her blood," answered Snape, "Blood which runs through Harry Potter's veins and now, runs through Voldemort's veins and also yours. In fact, through the veins of every Death Eater that has taken the Dark Mark since last May."
"I don't understand," said Ginny.
"And it is better if you don't," said Snape. "Then you will have no reason to have to lie to Him."
"Sir," said Ginny, suddenly remembering. "Thank you for not giving me the truth serium—"
"Oh, it was truth serium," said Snape. "Just veraxis, instead of veritaserium."
"I've heard of that," said Ginny narrowing her eyes in thought.
"I daresay you should have," replied Snape. "Third year potions—" He did not tell her, but waited expectantly for her to remember. She had the feeling that this was some sort of a test—and she was going to fail it—Tom, help me—" she thought.
"Honestly, Ginny. Don't you know anything? It's a truth potion invented by Helga Hufflepuff in the year 941. It allows the person to lie only if their own or another's life will be jeopardized by the truth. Absolutely, a Hufflepuff invention—"
Ginny parroted the answer to Snape, and he nodded before shuffling her off to her room to sleep.
"What about Edward?" asked Ginny.
"I'll take care of Edward," said Snape, his dark eyes shining.
"But where—" began Ginny.
"He will remember entering the Chamber, because Ethan was with him in the bathroom, but he will remember nothing of what happened in the Chamber. He will assume it was part of your imperio spell." Explained Snape.
Ginny hesitated at the door, uncertain if she should wait for Edward or not.
"You are dismissed. I will deliver Edward to Gryffindor shortly."
A gleeful Tom, seemed to think that Edward was in trouble.
"I wish he wasn't," thought Ginny as she climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. "He helped me."
"Using a potion that was highly dangerous, and stolen no doubt from Snape's private stores." Tom surmised.
"Do you think so?" Ginny asked worriedly. "I shouldn't have said anything about him and Ethan. It was bad enough that Snape knew Edward disrupted his silencing spell—"
"Forget it," said Tom. "Go to sleep."
"It could have been me," thought Ginny. "I was going to disrupt it."
"Do you think I would have let you do that to a teacher with a wand?" asked Tom.
She started to get into bed.
"Wait!" said Tom. "What are you forgetting?"
"Re-set the ward," said Ginny.
"Very good. There may be some hope for you, Ginny Love."
==
Ginny awoke several hours later because Hermione was knocking persistently on the outside of her ward. The sun was streaming in the window, making the room feel warm even though Ginny knew it was cold outside. Samara, Beatrice, Parvati and Lavender, all busily getting ready to go to Hogsmeade, were in the room. Their constant chatter and giggling was annoying.
She pulled down the ward and snapped at them to be quiet.
"Do you still feel sick?" asked Hermione.
"No," Ginny said with a moment of thought about the subject. "I don't feel sick--just still a little tired. I don't think I want to go to Hogsmeade. Maybe I'll just stay home and sleep. If I feel up to it, I might get a head start on our Transfiguration paper."
"Good idea," said Hermione.
"You're crazy," said Samara. "That paper isn't due for two weeks!"
Ginny opened her tightened fists. She had to quit reacting, every time someone said she was crazy. It was just an expression.
"Anything you want us to bring you?" asked Beatrice.
"How about some chocolate frogs?" said Ginny, getting up and searching her trunk for her money. Her stomach rolled at the thought of chocolate, but it was supposed to alleviate some effects of Dark Magic, and anyway, when she felt better, she loved chocolate.
==
After they left, Ginny fell back asleep, and it was nearly lunchtime when she awoke. She hurriedly put on some of the twins' make-up potion, covering the dark circles under her eyes, and went down to the Great Hall. Most of the upper classmen were gone. Only a few were still in the Great Hall and they were clustered together avoiding the younger children, except for Harry Potter, Ginny noticed. He was helping a little girl who didn't even look like she was eleven.
"What is most important about the swish and flick," he was saying, "Is your concentration on it. See, if you are thinking about the movements and saying the words, you are not worrying about next week's defense test. You are concentrating on the spell at hand. It all comes down to Intent. What do you intend to do with the spell?"
She nodded eagerly, her pigtails bobbing. "I see—" She stopped as she spied Ginny walking over to the Gryffindor table, and Harry looked up. "Thank you," she called back nervously, and scampered off.
'Anytime," called Harry as he pushed his unruly hair out of his eyes. Ginny noticed that his scar was red and angry looking. "Harry what happened to your scar?"
"Donno," he said pushing out a chair for her to sit on. "It has a mind of it's own. It started burning Thursday night and then Friday morning in Advanced Charms, it just exploded. It's a lot better now. Flitwick let me go and tell Dumbledore, but I can't see that he can do anything about it, at least he never has before--"
"Yeah." said Ginny glumly as she picked through the lunch selection. "I understand."
As she reached for a piece of bread, Harry caught her hand. "Ginny? We were all worried about you," he said.
"I know. I'm sorry."
For a moment his green eyes met her brown ones and all Ginny could think of was the warmth of his hand on hers—and everyone was at Hogsmeade.
"Ah, Ginny Love, just when I thought you were all mine—"
Ginny snatched her hand away, embarrassed. The moment was shattered. She looked at her plate, the floor, anywhere but his vivid green eyes.
Just then, the door to the Great Hall opened and in walked Fred and George muttering to each other.
"You're the one who said we could have it done by the Quiddich game—"mumbled Fred under his breath.
"Well, you backed me up!" said George
"I haven't the foggiest idea how to—" said Fred.
"You never have the ideas," interrupted George. "I do."
"Well this time your bright idea really got us—"
"Mine! It's not like I thought of the clown face. I was just wearing it!"
"Hi!" Ginny interrupted them. "I thought you were going to Hogsmeade—"
"Been there," said Fred.
"And back," replied George.
"But—" began Ginny.
"No time," interrupted Fred. "We have to finish these clown faces your brother promised."
"I promised!" Said George indignant, as they moved out of earshot.
Ginny and Harry finished eating, talking about Fred and George's multiple jokes, classes and teachers and mundane topics that didn't matter to either of them.
"Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked.
But he just shrugged. "No reason. Once you've seen it, it kind of loses its glamour, you know. Ron's bringing me back some chocolate frogs."
"Ron and Hermione went together?" Ginny asked.
"Well, there is that too," Harry replied, eyes sparkling.
"I hear there's a new Firebolt due to come out next month," Ginny said and for a while they talked animatedly about Quiddich—the professional teams and the team rivalries at Hogwarts, specifically, the Gryffindor-Slytherin game that was coming up next week.
But just as they were ready to leave the table, Harry took her hand again and his face grew serious. "Ginny, if something—happens and you don't want to talk to Hermione or your brothers--Don't—" He pushed his hair back. "I don't know what I'm saying—" he laughed. "Are you going back to Gryffindor Tower?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"I'll walk with you." He kept his fingers wrapped around hers as they walked, but once they got to the Common room the conversation seemed to dry up. She was very aware of the warmth of his hand, the intensity of his gaze--
"I think, I'm going to go fly," Harry announced, still holding her hand. "Do you want to come?"
Ginny shook her head. "I have so much homework—" she lamented.
"Oh." Harry disentangled his hand from hers and there was a moment when they just looked at each other, the magic crackling between them, but the moment stretched too long, and Ginny turned to hurry up the stairs to the girl's dorm.
Tom's commentary about her and Harry Potter was ringing in her ears and making her blush.
"Shut up," she told him. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
==
After lunch, she decided to work on her homework. Classes were always somewhat of a struggle, and one could always wish for a little less homework--especially Defense. Ginny had most of it piled on her bed. She was currently working on the Transfiguration Paper, but she needed some more research and didn't feel like going to the library. Instead, she switched to her Defense homework. She struggled along herself for a while, trying to get it done. Eventually, she decided she needed help.
"Tom? Are you there?"
"Where else would I be?"
"Sorry. I thought maybe you'd be in a better mood by now."
Tom didn't answer.
"I was wondering if you might know the answer to this," Ginny asked turning the page in her advanced defense book.
"What am I now, your dictionary?"
Ginny continued undaunted. "It's a question on why you shouldn't use a level four block to block stupefy. It would work wouldn't it?"
"Of course it would work, Ginny," said Tom with bored patience. "Stupefy is a level two spell. You wouldn't want to use a level four block because it takes more power, and in a duel, you never know when you might need that last little shred of power."
"And what would you use to block curse of the bogeys?" asked Ginny.
Crimeny, Ginny. Can't you do your own homework? I've done all this already."
"Come on, Tom. Just tell me. I know that you know. Samara said you got the highest NEWTS ever. It was the first time a Slytherin beat all the Ravenclaws—And that record still stands."
Tom was silent for a moment, and then said, "I guess all that studying paid off in one respect."
"You didn't know that, did you?" Ginny asked softly. "Highest scores in Hogwarts' History and still a prisoner."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. You know me too well. You're getting way too perceptive, Ginny Love." Tom was silent for another moment and then said, "Curse of the Bogey, a sixth level spell that target's the victim's own fears--"
"Probably because curse of the bogeys is a sixth level spell—" Ginny surmised. "That's how the medi-witches realized that it couldn't be my memory. Should I look this up—"
"You won't be able to look it up in real life, Ginny Love. Ask yourself what you think you should use, and then check to see if you're right."
"That's a good idea."
"Of course it is," Tom said with utter boredom
==
"Ginny?" said Samara peeking into the room, and looking around. "I thought I heard voices." She shrugged, and put her packages down. "We just got back. Here's your chocolate frogs." She laid the package on Ginny's bed. "Are you coming down to supper?"
"I'm not hungry," said Ginny, without looking up. "I have to get this finished."
"The homework will still be here when you get back," said Samara. "Unfortunately."
Tom chuckled. "Ginny Love, go get something to eat."
"I can't," said Ginny. "You may not be having any trouble keeping up, Samara, but I'm falling further behind every day. I never was meant to skip ahead a grade." She felt tears creeping into her eyes. "I need to finish this."
"You also need to eat." Said Tom. Ginny felt a slight tingling in her legs, as Tom tried for the millionth time to see if he had any control over her limbs. "I guess I still don't have power to control your actions—"
"You don't," Ginny snapped.
"Yes, I do!" Samara said annoyed. "Of course, I need to finish my homework. Come and eat if you want to, or just stay here. I don't care. I just came up to drop off my packages and because Ron asked me to see if you were awake." She turned on her heel and walked out.
Ginny closed her eyes and laid her head on the bed. "I didn't mean to snap at her," thought Ginny. As she reached out to put the chocolate frogs away for later, she hit upon something that was not bedclothes. Samara's book. It was open on her bed, and although Ginny was cautious about books, she had seen too many people handle this particular book to be afraid of it. Only Harry Potter seemed to be affected badly.
"Do you think it's an omen, Tom. She left it on my bed instead of hers. Should I open it?"
"Totally up to you," said Tom. "If you're worried about it possessing you, I don't think that's a problem—"
She had opened this book when there were other people around. Now, Ginny was alone, and a little rush of apprehension rippled through her. The pages were old and yellowed.
Trelawney predicted this," said Ginny. "She said: A window to the past will open to you, Virginia. You are afraid, but your Gryffindor heart will prevail."
"What about your homework?" Tom asked snidely.
"What are you now, my conscience?" she asked, riffling through the pages.
Tom's amusement filled her.
"Find that funny, do you?"
Ginny stopped where the ruined pages were, and leafed one at a time toward the end of the potion. When she got to the last page, there were notes in the margin. Scrawled round letters jumped out at her, marking the dates that each of the items were collected.
"Tom," she whispered. "Do you see this?"
She clutched the book so tightly she thought she would tear it. Never mind what the words said, she recognized the handwriting. It was the same handwriting that had appeared in her diary. Not Tom's fine aristocratic script. No, this was a round, rough handwriting that she only saw in the diary right before something bad was going to happen. Foreboding filled her. Something bad was going to happen.
"Ginny Love," interrupted Tom. "You see too many omens. Go down to supper. Go down to supper now."
Ginny ignored him and continued to leaf through the book.
"Ginny. Now."
"You can't make me, Tom." Her eyes narrowed as she continued to leaf and on the second to last page of the chapter at the bottom of the printed text, she saw something written in that same handwriting. The writing was faded with age—very faint. Very pale. Barely readable.
"Help me, Tom. Do you know anything about this?"
"I haven't the foggiest notion."
With effort, Ginny read the faint writing.
"Aparecium!" said Ginny.
"Ginny," Tom reminded her, "It's not invisible, just faded. Do you have a revealer?"
"No," said Ginny, "But Hermione does." She jumped up and pulled open one of the drawers where Hermione kept her extra quills.
"Tsk, Tsk," said Tom. "Going through other people's desks, now, are we?"
"It's not private—" began Ginny. "It's just quills and stuff--Oh, here it is!"
She rubbed it over the page, and the writing became visible.
She is not awake, and yet aware, as the vision takes her.
She sleeps fitfully now, and I know I am the cause, and yet I cannot be sorry.
Then a poem was captured, the writing large and sloppy and scrawled as if taken down in a hurry, while the Seer was speaking. Ginny assumed that it was what "she" said. The first part was unreadable until she used the revealer and even then, the writing was faint. She continued, struggling to make out the words.
You of auburn hair and parseltongue,
You've never painted, danced or sung.
You read a book, now dead and worn
Its pages lost, soiled, marred and torn.
With a little cry, Ginny dropped the book as though it had bitten her.
"Pick it up!" Tom demanded. "It's you, Ginny. Who else could have auburn hair and parseltongue?"
"I know," Ginny muttered. "I can't."
"Don't be a fool, Ginny. You have to read it. Then we'll decide what to do with what it says."
Hesitantly, Ginny reached for the book again, and opened it to the proper page. She continued to read.
For twins you're not, yet appear to be
But you are not what others see
You see that little time will be allotted
Unless the Snake can be out-plotted.
Find the treasure long neglected
Of my house that you rejected.
In his picture, locked and warded
There the twins dire quest rewarded.
You must seek a sighted friend
Or let your toil in time end.
For if you do not take the jewel
You will lack the vital tool.
The next several lines, to Ginny's chagrin was rendered completely unreadable by whatever had been left in the book, and another pass with the revealer, caused the revealer to begin to smoke.
"Tom!" cried Ginny frantically, as the thing burst into flames. "Glacio flagro!"
"Nicely done," said Tom. "You are definitely getting better."
Ginny looked at the newly uncovered words.
You cannot have what you cannot see.
So find a friend to let Snakes see.
Let time reveal what you do not know.
All must be clear before you go.
But there were no more of the poem, and no more notes from the one who wrote down the vision. The next several pages afterwards were blank, designated for notes at the end of each chapter, and they had all been torn out.
"Damn it!" swore Ginny as she flung the book from her. "Tom did you write this?"
"Did I— No."
"Are you telling me the truth?"
"Ginny Love— I told you before I think we can no longer purposefully keep things from one another."
"I never did," said Ginny defensively.
"I know, Ginny. Do you know what this prophecy is about?" Tom was brimming with excitement.
"No Tom, but apparently you do. Suppose you tell me."
"It's the other jewel. The other eye for the giant basilisk in the Chamber. I couldn't do anything with just one, but now--"
The other eye? What about the first one?
"It was in the Sorting Hat," said Tom.
That means Voldemort still has it, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but—"
Suddenly Ginny remembered Voldemort asking her about this. "This was Salazar's book," Ginny said with conviction.
"Ginny, you can't be sure—"
"Tom," said Ginny glumly. "Do you recognize this handwriting?"
"No."
"Its Salazar's," said Ginny. "Tom, I've seen this writing enough in the diary to recognize it and that means, even if we find this eye, we will only have one of them again. And to tell you the truth, these clues aren't exactly specific. Salazar has had a whole lot longer than us to work on it, and Voldemort doesn't have the jewel yet."
"How do you know?"
"He asked me about it," said Ginny. "Now I understand—"she said. "He asked me, 'Have you found the emerald Helga hid from me.'"
"And he knows you speak parseltongue."
"Yes, he does." She said tiredly. "Let's go to supper."
"No. No. No. We have to figure this out," said Tom. "Let's look at again."
"No. I'm hungry, and we aren't going to solve this now anyway."
"Don't you have a single drop of Ravenclaw curiosity in your body?"
"Only what you brought," said Ginny. "And luckily, it isn't in control of my legs."
"Now, who's out of sorts," accused Tom.
"I'm just tired and hungry, and I can't deal with this right now."
"Just let me look at the poem again," said Tom. "Give me a minute to memorize it."
"One minute," said Ginny, and shivering, she opened the book again.
==
Please review.
THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS
Hayes1966: No. Draco cannot block the crucio curse. He realizes that it is a curse, not real when he is in the midst of it. The physical pain is not blocked, but the mental pain is. Pansy's secret? Just that she and Draco broke up because of his taking the Dark Mark. I thought you could have surmised that, and even if you didn't, it's not all that important. Draco knows that the Longbottoms cursed his parents and Aislinn with their last sane breaths. I'm sure he has a good idea what happened even if his parents didn't spell it out for him.
Trillium: But Samara doesn't think before she acts.
Trillium:
Glad you liked the mud incident. I looked up all the Hindu mythology you suggested. I don't know if I will use any of it, but it's awesome—maybe in the sequel. I have to think about it a while. Yes, I agree, I Ravenclaw would, too but they wouldn't jump blindly in front of it. There would have to be a logical reason For example, 'if I disrupt the spell enough, it will be useless and they will have to do it a different day, giving me time to plan.' That was too complicated a reason to bring in here and took away from what was happening between Draco and Samara. Draco's action was not a very "Slytherin" thing to do as Narcissa and Lucius agreed, but Lucius explains the issue away with his 'silver tongue' and Draco starts to believe that maybe squibs are better off dead. Narcissa uses this as a time to teach that nothing is without cost. There are consequences to every action—think—be in control—weigh the cost—trust no one, not even your mother—love no one, not even your sister. Draco himself calls his action 'stupid'. I rationalize my letting Draco do this by explaining how I think the houses may affect people. I believe everyone has a dominant and at least one less dominant house. Once they are sorted, the fact that they are living constantly with that house CAUSES them to become more like that house. (They may all have parts of every house—but not like the Prophecy Child—because if they did, I would have no story—lol.) At the time, Draco was younger., and more impulsive. He would probably now be less likely to risk himself, unless the prize was greater than the risk. His mother taught him that.
The Elemental Sorceress
More Draco later. You like the poem? Shivers.
Taju akiel
No I won't make Draco a hero. Please read the 'teasers' in chapter one and you will see that Draco remains true to his character. And Ginny—Well alas. She's a horrible Death Eater. More of her coming soon.
Your other comments about Lupin, I don't understand. No Lupin in this chapter. Maybe you cut and pasted part of someone else's review???
Kemenran:
Will Hermione get her magic back? She hasn't lost it. She only had trouble with breaking Ginny's ward because it's the ward Tom taught her—and very complex.
Raven 173
You were crying. Oh my.
Ennui2:
Yes, Samara can't see beyond Draco's looks/confidence/sexiness. Sigh. Who can? The question is—is Samara stupid or is Draco manipulative? He might kill her when she realizes that she's been outright lying. Yep. It's a possibility. About Samara not having a Slytherin bone—Let's recap: She had Draco eat shit for 15 hours, curses him with the Devil's Snare with thorns. He shielded it, but it was her curse, crucioed Ethan—OK that was his spell, but she didn't even appologize. She imperioed Draco, Mouthed off to Snape, and then cursed his feet to the floor. She walloped the Weasley twins in DRAGON BREATH MINTS AND BLUDGER BATS…And your ideas on the Ginny stuff. Per-fect. About the Malfoys—do you want to do that with a wand, wandlessly, or will the old-fashioned muggle way prove a point about 'squibs'.
Silverfox1: Sniff? Poor Draco. Muhahaha!
Reiven: Glad that Eddie made it out OK? Right from the clutches of the snake to the clutches of Snape. Opps. Sorry Edward. Should have known better than to steal that potion while Snape was with the Dark Lord. About Narcissa. JK told us nothing much about her, and we got a picture of her from Fanfics. But she's Valeriana's sister (aka Bellatrix). How sweet and innocent could she be? Ethan and Edward were born on May 4 (if you read my Bellatrix story, you find that out.) Aislinn was born in January. The Longbottoms were tortured in November of the previous year. Count the months or re-read (18/20) IN REMEMBRANCE, (38/40)FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE
kristy- secludedexistence (kriskala@juno.com)
more interesting than 5th book? Wow! Author dances wildly around the room.
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If you haven't reviewed yet, please do it now.
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