Disclaimer: For a full disclaimer, see Chapter 1.

Chapter 15. Unexpected Help

            Albus, Minerva and Harry entered cautiously with their wands out. Harry motioned for Ginny and Molly to stay back. As the three of them moved forward, they noticed that the room was in disarray.  It appeared as if there had been a struggle. As they moved toward the bedroom, the smell became stronger. There, in the middle of the bed, lay Sybill Trelawney. She had been beaten and a staff had been shoved through her, pinning her to the bed. When Minerva saw this, she gasped. Harry, even through his dislike of her, started forward to pull out the staff. "No, Harry!" yelled Albus, but it was too late. As Harry's hand closed around the staff, sparks shot up his arm and he was thrown across the room and landed in a heap against the wall, unconscious.

***

            Harry walked in a garden. As he looked around, he noticed that the garden was well-tended. He heard a woman's voice, beautifully singing a lullaby that Harry remembered vaguely. As he followed the sound, he came upon a small gazebo. Inside, he could discern three people; a man, a woman and a baby. He walked in and saw his father, his mother and what he supposed was him. The light blinked for a second and he realized that it was Ginny, a baby and himself. Then the light started brightening and Harry blinked.

            "What is it, Mr. Potter? Think I might lose my skills if you aren't around to keep me practicing?" chided Madam Pomfrey.

            "Poppy, let him be. Had I not known what the staff was, I would have done the same thing" said McGonagall. "It was just wrong to leave it there,"

            "What happened?" asked Harry.

            Ginny pressed a cold cloth to his forehead. "The staff that you tried to remove was a powerful evil magic. It had to be removed a certain way," said Ginny.

            "And since you didn't know the way it rejected you," continued Albus.

            "Just as I got there I saw you fly across the room and hit the wall," interrupted Sirius. "Seems like whatever she wanted to tell us, someone went to a lot of trouble to keep that from happening."

            Harry turned his head and heard the sound of hooves entering the hospital wing. "Harry Potter," said Firenze, "I know what she wanted to tell you."

***

            After Harry dressed, they all headed down to Firenze's room. Once inside, Firenze motioned for them to be seated. "After I agreed to come to Hogwarts, my herd attacked me and tried to kill me. You see, most of my kind think that humans are beneath us. With my dealings with Hagrid and Harry, I had come to know that this is not necessarily true. While we do have a superior intellect, we are not omniscient. After a time, Sybill and I would chat about different things. She realized that my ability to read the stars surpassed hers, and sometimes we would spend hours discussing the ramifications of certain events. After a time, we became friends.

            "For several weeks, we had been watching closely the travels of Mars and Venus across the heavens. This morning it became evident that Mars will rise up, indicating that War is coming soon. But Venus has moved as well. It looks like Venus will interpose itself between Mars and us. This indicates that love will conquer evil and bring peace to us. With that knowledge, Sybill became entranced. She uttered the following prophecy: "THE ONE WHO CONQUERED THE DARK LORD WILL WED THE GIRL TOUCHED BY THE DARK LORD; WHEN THEIR CHILD IS CONCEIVED THEY WILL GAIN THE POWER TOGETHER TO ERADICATE THE DARK LORD'S FOLLOWERS FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH."

            Ginny gasped. Harry lowered his head. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten you into this, Gin."

            Albus laughed. "Harry, even though I love you a great deal, I find it funny that somehow you have interpreted that this is all your fault. Voldemort chose you, you didn't choose him. And Ginny chose to accept your proposal with the full knowledge that you are the one that will have to face him."

            Molly smiled at Harry. "Harry, you are probably the only one among us who hasn't had a choice. We know what you have to face. But we all love you for who you are, not what you represent. To us, you are not The Boy Who Lived; to us, you are Harry, our son, grandson, godson, friend and someone we all love very dearly!"

            "This does present a problem, Molly," said Sirius. "I don't think it wise for them to conceive without being married first." Both Harry and Ginny blushed.

***

            Draco stood in the center of the room. On his face he wore the look of pure hatred. For over seven years he had been subjected to Harry Potter. Even his father pushed him about it. And anything that had gone wrong in his life could be traced to Potter. From losing his House-Elf Dobby to being transfigured into a ferret, Potter was the cause. Then his father was imprisoned, his family was dishonored, and his mother killed herself. All this was because of Harry Potter, and he was going to get revenge. He opened up the Journal he had found among his father's things and searched until he had found the spell. He knew that by calling back the power of Voldemort, he would be losing his identity. He no longer cared, so long as Harry Potter suffered.

            "AVADA KARUS VOLDEMORT!" he shouted.

***

            Firenze looked at Harry. "So, Harry Potter, do you understand the significance of what I have told you?"

            Harry nodded and looked at Ginny and her mother. "Ginny, you know I love you. If this is too much for you I understand." Harry felt a tear in his eye.

            Ginny looked at Harry with fierce determination. "I am right here, Harry. I am with you till the end."

            Molly smiled at Harry. "We all are, Harry. We are all right here with you."

            Sirius smiled. "Yes, Harry. ALL of us.'

            Harry smiled at each of them. He pulled Ginny toward him and kissed her forehead. "Mrs. Weasley…did you understand all of it?"

            "Yes, Harry. ALL of it…which means that we need to plan 2 weddings this summer." Molly added.

            "Not necessarily," said Ginny. "Not if Ron and Hermione will share."

***

            Hermione and Ron were thrilled with the idea. The four of them got out all of the plans that had been done for the original wedding, and quickly put together the new plan, where Harry would wed Ginny and Ron would wed Hermione at the same time.

            Not everyone was please at first, however. Mr. Weasley was upset until he found out about the prophecy. Bill and Charlie weren't overly excited about the idea, but Fred and George were. Sirius and Remus supported Harry and Ginny.

            Invitations were sent out and final preparations began. Sirius set up an apparation point near the barn and Arthur arranged for several portkeys to be prepared. Wen-Lee drew up the papers to legally make the Gringotts accounts joint.

            Harry and Ginny found time to talk only when they went into London to review the preparations at the House. Harry introduced Ginny to the House Elves and the human Staff. After making sure that everything was okay, Ginny and Harry went to meet Mr. Weasley at the Ministry for lunch. After a nice lunch, they went down to apply for their marriage license.

            "Well, that wasn't so bad," laughed Ginny.

            "Only because of your dad I bet," replied Harry. "Do we have time to check in with Albus before we head back to the Burrow?"

            "Yes. Does he know about the staff?" asked Ginny.

            "I think so. Let's go see," said Harry, as they both disappeared with a pop.

***

Albus sat in his office, unable to face anyone just then. After he found the book he had been looking for, he had sat and read it without interruption. Unfortunately, he understood what he had read.

            "Fawkes, what are we to do? I know what must be done, but how can I prepare them?" Fawkes left his perch and glided to his master's shoulder. With a tear in his eye, the phoenix began singing. The tune was dark at first, but soon modulated into a powerful, uplifting song. The phoenix pendant that Albus wore around his neck glowed and he smiled. "Thank you, my friend. Now I must go to prepare the others."