Chapter 25: Betrayal

The first few days after Christmas passed with little happening, everyone was relaxing and generally having a good time. Harry and Ali were seeing a lot of each other, as were Ron and Hermione, but Ginny was beginning to feel as though Dean was avoiding her though she didn't know why. Ali and Hermione assured her that she was just being paranoid and there was nothing to worry about, whilst Ron was detailing to Harry a long list of rather violent and distasteful fates that would befall anyone who dared hurt his little sister. It was enough to make Harry vow to ensure that Ginny never got so much as a paper-cut in his presence.

It was Hogmanay before any of them realised where the time had gone, and the Weasley's were having a party. Harry and Sirius were both invited, neither of them bothered getting particularly dressed up, it wasn't going to be a formal event. They were both dressed in muggle clothing, as they found it much more comfortable for parties than robes. Harry was wearing some black jeans, and a blue and white striped shirt. Sirius had on some black trousers and a black shirt with a white check through it.

When they arrived at the party they were greeted by the Weasley's most of whom were in similar attire, Mr and Mrs Weasley in their robes and Ginny in her dress being the only exceptions. Hermione and Ali were also wearing muggle attire; Hermione was in some jeans, and a silky polka dotted halter top and Ali was wearing a pink 50's style knee length skirt that had a little black bow on one hip which matched her black halter top she was wearing with it. Needless to say, Harry loved the outfit. And quickly made his way over to her, not long after they were swept into the party and having a thrilling time.

Later on Harry was outside taking a breather from the manic atmosphere inside, when he heard something coming from beside one of the trees in the garden. Cautiously he made his way over to the source of the noise, and was most disturbed to realise that it was Ginny there, and that she was crying. He sat down beside her, "Hey Gin, what's up?"

She gave him an appraising glance and seemed to consider her response before she sniffed slightly and wiped her eyes, "What's wrong with me?" she asked beseechingly, looking at him questioningly with wide eyes.

"I, uh, what?" Harry stammered as he tugged at his hair nervously, completely baffled, "What makes you think there's something wrong with you?"

"The fact that Dean just dumped me…why don't guys like me? First Michael, now Dean, what makes them hate me?" She replied, fighting back tears again.

Harry groaned inwardly, why me? I don't know what to do with crying girls, could've just ignored the noise, but no I had to come over, damn it, where are Ali and Hermione when you need them? "Uh, Ginny, I, there's nothing wrong with you, nothing at all, any guy would be lucky to have you"

She looked up at him hopefully, "Really? You're not just saying that 'cause you're my friend?"

"Course not" he replied indignantly, "they're the ones that losing out, not getting to be with you"

She smiled up at him happily, "they are, aren't they?"

He grinned back, "And you should make sure they know it, go back inside and strut your stuff, Dean will be desperate to have you back before long" He stood up and offered her his hand,

She took it and pulled herself to her feet, "thank-you Harry" she said with a small smile, biting her lip thoughtfully as she looked at him,

Harry noticed and gave her a questioning glance, she was looking at him awfully bizarrely, "Gin, are you okay?"

Instead of replying she quickly threw herself towards him and kissed him. Harry was surprised and it took a few minutes for him to realise what was going on, but when he did he pulled away from her, "What are you doing?" he demanded,

"I, well, you…you said any guy would be lucky to have me! What? Does that not apply to you?"

Harry looked at her disbelievingly, "Ginny, I have a girlfriend, who's supposed to be your best friend! What I'm just supposed to forget her to help you feel better about yourself?"

Ginny's eyes widened, as if for the first time realising what she was doing, and she bowed her head shamefully, "I, uh, I'm sorry Harry, I don't know what I was doing…I think I maybe drank a bit too much…I…can we just forget this ever happened?"

Harry's hard gaze softened, and he nodded, "sure Gin, are you sure you're okay?"

"I think I'm just going to go to my room, maybe go to sleep,"

"That's probably for the best, come on, let's go back inside" and he moved around the tree to head back to the house, but what he saw when he did caused his heart to sink, he saw Ali climbing the wall between the two houses, the moon lighting the tears falling onto her cheeks.

"Shit" Harry muttered, "You think she saw?"

"Uh huh," said Ginny, gulping,


"I'm going after her" Harry declared,

"That might not be the best idea" Ginny advised,

Harry just stared at her, "Yeah, because your ideas have been bloody fantastic tonight haven't they?"

Ginny blushed, and headed back to the house after watching Harry speed off "fine, just don't say I didn't warn you"

"Ginny!" it was Hermione, "What's going on? I couldn't find you, Ali or Harry anywhere! I suppose the other two can be explained though" she continued with a grin,

"I wouldn't count on it," Ginny replied despondently, "I've been such an idiot"

"Why? What's happened?"


"Come on, I'll tell you" Ginny conceded, moving Hermione to a quiet spot and explaining the events that had just transpired. When she was finished Hermione stared at her, her mouth forming an 'o' shape. Ginny could tell that Hermione disproved of what she'd done, and she wasn't surprised, Ginny was, after all, the one in the wrong. She didn't even know why she'd done it, not really, and before she realised, there were tears streaming down her face. "I didn't mean it, Hermione, honestly, I don't even know why I did it, I don't know what came over me…oh god, what have I done?" She broke and continued to sob while Hermione gathered her into her arms.

"Ginny, come on, it's not that bad, I mean okay, it was an awful thing to do, but there won't be any permanent damage" Hermione tried to console her,

"How do you know?" Ginny retorted scathingly,

"Well I don't, not for certain, but I think I know Ali well enough to know that she'll forgive Harry, especially when it wasn't even his fault in the first place"

Ginny looked at Hermione thoughtfully, "I suppose you're right"

"Yes well" said Hermione as she pulled Ginny back towards the party, "come on, let's go have a good time, this isn't worth ruining the night over"

Ginny nodded dumbly, but knew in her heart that it was worth it. Ginny knew Ali a lot better than Hermione, and knew that Ali had been horribly betrayed in the past, she knew that Ali was very cautious about who to trust, and she knew that Ali would be devastated if she thought she couldn't trust Harry.

And Ginny was right. Ali had run straight to her room, and curled herself up on her bed, hugging an old stuffed toy dragon that she'd had since she was a little girl. 'Loco' it was called, and it was the one thing she trusted implicitly, she told him all of her secrets, her fears and her dreams, and she needed his comfort now more than ever. She had been sitting, sobbing and hugging Loco for a while before she even noticed the noise coming from outside her window. Someone was shouting on her, Harry. She could recognise his voice instantly, and was in no mood to see him. "Go away you bastard" she yelled from the window, as she reached to draw the curtains.

One thing she hadn't expected though was the look on Harry's face when she said that. He looked as though he'd just been killed, and he felt that way too. She really hates me, there's nothing I can do. He forced himself to look up to her window once more, though seeing the look of loathing she was shooting him withered his insides. "If it's what you really want" he said almost too quietly, "Just know that I meant it, you know, when I said I loved you" and with once last glance at her he turned and trudged off to tell Sirius he was going home, he just wanted to be alone, especially because he was fighting back tears even now, and he didn't know how long he could hold them off.

She watched him go and fought back the urge to call him back. Remember Liam. Remember what he did, it was all an act and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. It won't happen again. She had vowed to herself, after the incident with Liam that she would never be lied to by another boy, that she wouldn't even give them the chance. But then Harry had come along, and she threw caution to the wind, he was the Boy Who Lived, and so much more, and he liked her. She didn't think he would hurt her, not Harry, but he had and she couldn't, wouldn't, let him do it again. But I really liked him she thought longingly as she watched him go, and the tears she had forced away whilst facing him came pouring back ten-fold. She threw herself onto her bed, hugged Loco tight, and cried herself to sleep.

Hermione was the first once to notice Harry's return to the party and the first thing she noticed was that he was alone. That meant things hadn't gone well between him and Ali, and a look at his face confirmed it, he looked positively distraught. She quickly made her way over to him, "Harry…are…are you alright?"

He looked at her blankly, his eyes not giving anything away which in itself surprised Hermione, they were usually so expressive. "No" he responded quietly,


"What happened?" she asked sympathetically,

"Nothing" he replied sullenly, "she wouldn't even speak to me, then again, she didn't have to. The look she gave me said it all. Now if you don't mind I'm going home, could you do me a favour?"

"Anything" Hermione replied at once, she was more than a little worried, she didn't think she'd ever seen Harry this upset, and with all the tragedy that befell the poor boy that was saying something indeed.

"Tell Sirius where I've gone"

"Course I will" she replied, and she gave him a quick hug, to which he didn't react at all, "It'll all work out you know" she said warmly,

"No, Hermione, it won't" He said it so coolly and despondently that Hermione could only stand staring after him as he walked over to the fireplace and vanished. When she eventually gathered her thoughts she headed back into the party to find Ron and get him up to date, she was dismayed to find Ginny walking her way instead.

"Was that Harry you were just speaking to?" Ginny asked her desperately,

"yes" replied Hermione, dreading the next question, knowing Ginny was going to blame herself, even though it was her fault, Hermione really didn't need another miserable friend to deal with,

"And…did they sort things out?" Ginny continued eagerly,

Hermione took a breath and replied, "No"

Ginny's face fell and she ran off upstairs. Hermione contemplated following her, but decided she had more important things to sort out, besides it was Ginny's fault, maybe she deserved to suffer, just a little. Harry was Hermione's best friend, and she was quite unwilling for anyone to hurt him without a very good reason. Ginny's reasons, in her mind, were mediocre at best. So Hermione set about keeping her promise to Harry, and began her search for Sirius.

Hermione was glad that Harry had Sirius, for when she told him that Harry was upset, she saw the same desperate flash in his eyes that she was almost certain must show in hers when she found out Harry was hurt, the look that showed easily his desire to protect Harry. "Thanks for telling me Hermione," Sirius said honestly,

"I just thought Harry might not be in the mood to explain later"

"You're probably right," said Sirius with a wry smile, remembering his first heartbreak, though if the truth be told it was his only heartbreak, Emily. Not that she had been his only girlfriend, no, he'd had many, he just never really cared before Emily, he remembered the day she died, he felt like he'd died too. "Harry really liked her didn't he?"

Hermione considered her answer before deciding she could be honest with Sirius, "I think he loves her"

Sirius was slightly surprised by the seriousness of the statement, at 16 he hadn't known what love was, not really, but Harry wasn't your typical 16 year old, and he trusted Hermione. "I'll keep that in mind" he said, as he made up his mind to keep out of Harry's way, if he remembered anything about the time after Emily, it was the desire to be alone.

Eventually Hermione found Ron, though when she did she wondered why she hadn't thought to search that place before, for Ron, of course, was feasting at the buffet table. "Do you ever do anything other than eat?" she asked exasperatedly,

"'Course I do, " replied Ron with a grin, as he slipped an arm around her waist, and leaned closer to her face, his lips hovering over hers, "I've started to spend quite a lot of time doing this…" and he broke off as he kissed her, "Surely you don't disapprove of that?"

"No" she replied, looking at him longingly, "though I do disapprove of your stopping" she continued as she pulled him down to her once again,

"Then maybe I should cut that out, hmm?" Hermione's reply was lost as their mouths met, and they enjoyed the feel of each other. Eventually though, they did stop, and they rejoined the rest of the party in dancing. As they were doing so Hermione explained the night's happenings to Ron.


"How could I miss all of that?" he asked flabbergasted,

"By stuffing your belly full of rubbish no doubt" she replied fondly,

"Speaking of stuffing" he continued menacingly, "Dean is in need of some kind of punishment; no-one dumps my little sister and gets away with it"


"Oh Ron" exclaimed Hermione, "Can't you just leave it? Ginny is a big girl and perfectly able of dealing with such things by herself,"

"But, I…" He protested,

"It's not even like Ginny wants you to beat him up, if that was the case at least I could kind of understand…but this is just you wanting to kick him in for the sake of it"

"It's not…I just don't want to see her hurt" Ron replied,

"And how is attacking Dean going to make a difference to Ginny being hurt?" Hermione demanded, "If anything she'll be more upset"

"What?" insisted Ron, clearly confused.

"Well, she's upset in the first place because she cares about him, so him being injured is only going to make things worse, because then she'll care about him, but be unable to reassure herself that he's better, because she's not his girlfriend anymore."


"I never thought about it like that before" said Ron, slightly embarrassed,

"I know" said Hermione lovingly, relaxed now that she knew he wasn't going to throw himself into danger, "That's why you've got me"

"I can think of a few other reasons" he said with a sly smile, as he kissed her once again,

"Indeed?" she replied before she kissed him back.

The last few days of the holiday were quiet, much too quiet for anyone's liking. Sirius had gotten used to the constant buzz of teenagers in the house, and now that there was only Harry – who refused to leave his room for any lengthy amount of time – it felt strange. Not that he minded the quiet, it was nice to be able to relax at home, he just hated what it meant. It meant that Harry was still depressed, and that he still wasn't speaking to any of his friends.

Caighlynne was also noticing the distinct lack of activity around the house, for most of the holiday she had seen Harry at least once a day whether he was visiting them, the Weasley's or inviting Ali round. Now that they had fallen out, Ali had retreated to her room, rarely leaving. Ginny didn't even call round, as she used to almost every night, the girls had been very close, but that had all changed too. Caighlynne just wished someone would've told her what happened between them all. Ah well, Ali will tell me when she's ready. Caighlynne knew that, she and Ali had become very close after Ali's parents were killed, almost like sisters rather than aunt and niece, and she was certain that Ali would confide in her when the time was right.

Even the Weasley house was quieter than usual. The atmosphere between Ron and Ginny was strained, she had hurt his best friend, but she was also his sister, he didn't know how to react so his general plan was to avoid her as much as possible. In reality that didn't turn out to be all that difficult, as Ginny was feeling quite guilty over the whole incident, as well as upset about her break up from Dean, and spent most of her time in her room. Hermione and Ron were the only members of the group seeing each other regularly, and the day before their return to Hogwarts Hermione decided that they needed a plan to bring the group back together; otherwise school was sure to be a nightmare. Unfortunately neither of them had a clue how to even begin to formulate such a scheme.

 Later that day the Order of the Phoenix had a meeting, and it was then that some very bad news was discovered. It turned out that Alyson Nixon, a relatively new recruit from the Ministry of Magic, was missing, and had been for several days. She was presumed dead by most. Very few were even willing to hope that she might be alive, their hopes had been dashed over such circumstances too many times for them to raise them once more.  The few that did hope however, had some reason to. For the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were at least slightly suspicious.

There was no body. That in itself meant something, for Death Eaters were never overly concerned with keeping their murders a secret. Alyson's office was in disarray; it looked as though there could have been a struggle, but there was no trace of magic left powerful enough to have been an unforgivable. It was the rest of the evidence that went against that theory though, to some degree anyway; her whole family had been murdered, every last member, from her parents, to her boyfriend, to her distant aunt that had been in St Mungo's for the last four years. As if that wasn't bad enough a similar fate had befallen another family with Order members in, the Munroe's. Shacklebolt, who had been on site when Alex and Jane – the ones who had been in the Order – were found, noted that a book was lying on the floor beside them, it could have been a coincidence but he doubted it. It was much more likely to be Voldemort playing games – the book was titled, 'Secrets; Revealed'.

If, as Kingsley suspected Alyson had been captured and tortured for information, and she had given it up as the assault on the Munroe's would indicate, the Order could be in serious trouble. Not dire trouble, not quite anyway, for Alyson had only known of half the member's at most, but still a hell of a lot more trouble than they needed.

Ron and Ginny were told about those latest events by their parents, even if only because they were now in danger, Alyson had known the Weasley's were members of the Order. They were not overly worried though, after all, Voldemort knew about them anyway…this just meant that he may have reason to attack.

Sirius told Harry about what had happened, partly because he thought Harry would want to know, partly because he felt Harry deserved to know and would probably find out anyway, and partly because he just wanted a way to bring Harry back into the real world.

It helped Harry, even if only slightly, to have such a tragedy brought to his attention. It made him remember that there was a lot more going on than his self pity, and Sirius was incredibly thankful for that. Though he was still concerned about Harry, he still distanced himself from people. Sirius could understand why, he still remembered feeling that way after Emily, he thought he should keep everyone at a distance, that way he could never be hurt like that again. It was Harry that saved him, Harry had something about him that drew people to him, and once you knew him you couldn't help but get close. That was what made Sirius realise it was okay to care. Maybe it was time he helped Harry see the same thing.

Sirius peeked his head around Harry's door, "Harry? Can I talk to you?"

 Harry looked at his godfather reluctantly, "If you must,"

"Yes, I must. I can see what you're doing you know. Locking yourself up in here, avoiding people. That won't stop you being hurt Harry, only make you hurt so much all the time so you won't be able feel anything else. You're walking straight down the road to depression, and I'm not going to let you get there."

"You don't know what you're talking about"

"Yes I do."

"No Sirius you don't. You didn't see how she looked at me."

"Everyone gets upset sometimes"


"Sirius…she looked at me like I betrayed her in the worst way…she looked at me the same way as you look at Pettigrew"

Sirius looked at Harry concernedly, since when were teenagers so complicated, sure he knew Ali would've been mad at Harry…but for her to hate him that much? Sirius didn't understand, when he was that age, he would've gotten a slap off the girl in question and moved on. Apparently things were much more complicated. "Is that why you're locking yourself up, because she hates you? It's not just because you broke up?"

Harry looked at him, and fought back tears, "I think I would've been alright if we'd just broken up…but the way she looked at me…I see it in my dreams or should I say nightmares, she made me feel like a monster."

"Harry" Sirius said urgently, "You are not a monster, you didn't do anything wrong"

"I know…but she doesn't, and when we go back to Hogwarts she's going to give me that look all the time…I can't go back"


"Harry, I, uh…" Sirius paused he had no idea what to do, "I think you should talk to her"


Harry's eyes light up, "do you think she'd talk to me?" he asked desperately,

"I don't know" replied Sirius, "I can ask Caighlynne if you like?"

Harry thought about it, the embarrassment of not being able to sort his own problems against the chance of seeing Ali again, there was no contest, "Please"

So Sirius went to the study to use the fire, and had a long chat with Caighlynne. He was surprised to find that she didn't know what had happened and quickly filled her in. When she found out what had happened she understood Ali's reaction perfectly,

"So?" enquired Sirius, "Do you know why Ali reacted so badly?"

"Yes" replied Caighlynne quietly, "but I don't know if I should tell you"


"Please," pleaded Sirius, "or at least tell Ali what happened, get her to talk to Harry…I don't know what to do to help him, he's really broken up"

"It's not that simple Sirius" she continued, looking pained,

"Why not?" he demanded

Caighlynne looked around awkwardly, "Sirius, swear on Harry's life that you will not repeat what I'm about to tell you?"

"Yes" he replied, slightly concerned about what could be such a big secret,

"Ali has only had one other boyfriend, when she was thirteen, almost fourteen, his name was Liam. She caught him cheating on her, with another girl in the village, so she told him they were finished. He told her he was sorry and that he would make it up to her. She was young and naïve and so she forgave him. They kissed as you do after making up, but Liam was a few years older and had more in mind. Ali refused but he wouldn't take no for an answer, Sirius, he…he…." Caighlynne tailed off unable to finished the sentence, unable to articulate the horrific experience that her niece had suffered.

"She was raped?" Sirius whispered

Darling Readers,

The next instalment is here at last! Oh before I start rambling I thought I should tell you that I've upped the rating on this story to PG-13 just to be on the safe side, seeing as I had some swearing and unpleasant topics in this chapter, and I didn't want the story to be removed like Master Eldryn's 'Harry Potter and the Burden of Truth' which was very unfairly deleted. Finding the time to write has been tricky lately and is only likely to get worse in the coming weeks, as prelims are fast approaching, ah well, never fear, I will squeeze it in sometime! I have also started work on an original fiction that just wouldn't leave my mind. That in itself has proven to be much more time consuming than I would have thought. It made me realise just how different it is from fan fiction, where you already have the characters, their world, and their histories before you begin. Nonetheless I am enjoying it, and I think it will only serve to aid me in my fan fiction writing. Now that I have babbled on about things you are most likely completely disinterested in, I'll be off.

As always many thanks to my reviewers; Athenakitty, Phoenix marauder, Jeff(), and Anna L.Black (delighted that you liked the pen by the way!).

Oh, Phoenix marauder, in response to your question about the Dursley's, I would like to put in the bit about what happened there, but I'm not too sure when/if it will fit in. But rest assured if there is a credible opening for it, then it will make an appearance, I have a few good ideas about what should be done to the Dursley's, and no, none of them will be pleasant. *evil grin* I don't think Harry would be there, for even though he hates them, I think he's too kind hearted to wreck any real havoc, but Sirius…well, I think that's another matter altogether.

Till Next Time,

Happy Reading,

Believe. xxx