The Orb of Truth

As Harry came to, he could hear Hermione yelling to the twins, "Put that thing away, now!" Other than her voice, the room was dead quiet, save for the faint music still playing on the stereo. The image of the small glass ball came to his mind again, and he fought to breathe. "Don't you see it's upsetting him?" Hermione hissed.

Through his haze, Harry saw Fred quickly stowed the glass ball out of sight and he felt much better now that it was gone. "What was that thing," he mumbled groggily. "For a moment I thought…"

"Harry," Ginny asked softly as she bent over him, "are you all right?"

He tried to say that he was fine, but the words would not form. All he wanted to do was retch.

George was the first to speak. "What's wrong?" he asked, voicing the thought that was on everyone's mind. "Why'd he pass out?"

"Is he ill? Or maybe it's that shock." Claire said to no one in particular. "I told you lot he needed to go to hospital."

Instead of answering, Hermione asked Fred, "May I see that orb?"

"Sure," Fred said, shrugging as he handed it over to her.

Looking up, Harry watched as he handed it over. A fresh wave of panic caused him to turn away violently and squeeze his eyes shut. He felt the snake inside him again and it terrified him, but he frantically tried to push him back down. He was losing his mind, and Voldemort was so happy…

"What is it, Hermione?" Ron asked, looking at Harry, his voice a mixture of fear and worry.

"Does this remind you of something?" she asked, looking pointedly at Ron and Ginny.

Ginny looked up from her vantage point on the floor next to Harry and gasped. She had just made the connection between the glass ball and the Department of Mysteries.

Ron, however, was a bit daft. "What?"

"Think, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated. "What happened in June? What does this remind you of?"

"Oh!" Ron said, shocked. Harry looked up in time to see him take a step back.

"Will someone please fill us in on what this is all about?" Dudley whined plaintively. "I know my cousin is a… Nancy boy," he said with disgust, causing Harry's head to snap up, "but why on Earth would anyone be afraid of a little glass ball?"

"I am not afraid," he told Dudley with deadly calm, his eyes blazing intensely.

"Could have fooled me," Dudley sneered. "Wonder if it has anything to do with your boyfriend, Cedric…" he taunted. "That's who you call out to at night, isn't it? Or is Sirius your new lover? I've heard his name before—"

There was a collective gasp from several of the teenagers at the mention on Cedric Diggory, Sirius Black, and Harry's nightmares. All the witches and wizards in the room knew exactly what Dudley was talking about, but they couldn't believe anyone apart from Draco Malfoy would be so cruel as to taunt Harry about it - much less someone Harry was related to.

Dudley did not get the chance to finish his sentence before Harry was on top of him, pounding him with all the force he could muster. How dare he say Sirius' name! He knew nothing of Sirius.

Dudley was so shocked he didn't even fight back. As if from a distance, Harry heard someone yelling "Shut up", "How dare you say his name!" and "I hate you!" He did not realise that it was him doing the yelling.

The next thing Harry knew, he was being forcibly pulled off Dudley by several of the red-heads in the room. Dudley was being consoled by Claire, who was looking at Harry like he was mad. Dudley's gang looked ready to kill.

"Don't even think about it," George said to the younger Muggle boys, staring Piers straight in the eye. Fred, Ron, and Lee came up from behind him to back him up. Together, the Weasley brothers and Lee Jordan made an intimidating sight, even without wands. There was something to be said for the Weasley temper, and all the boys had grown recently.

Ginny turned back to Harry as soon as she knew the situation was in hand. "Are you all right, Harry?" she asked, her voice evident that she was very worried about him. Hermione bent down as well.

"Yeah… Yeah," he said panted, mastering his emotions at last. "I'm fine. He just… shouldn't have said that about Sirius is all." Harry looked over at Dudley, who was nursing a cut lip, with pure hatred. Deal or no, Dudley could not get away with taunting him about those things – not ever!

"Well," Fred said, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "Perhaps a game is not what we need right now…."

"No," Harry said emphatically, catching his breath at last. "I'm fine now. It just startled me is all." He looked over at Ron, Ginny, and Hermione who were looking at him with sympathy and concern. "I'll be fine… really…"

"Harry," Hermione said in her typical motherly voice, "I don't think this is a good idea at the moment…. You need to rest."

"Yeah, mate," Ron agreed. "Maybe some other time." But he clearly sounded to Harry as if he was doubtful that another time would come.

"I'm fine!" Harry insisted, stubbornly. "I am not a Nancy boy! Where is that orb thing? I want to play."

"Harry," Ginny said hesitantly. "You don't have to do this. You certainly don't have anything to prove to us. We know how brave you really are." All the Gryffindors murmured their agreement.

"I have to do this, Ginny," he snapped. "He saw that ball. He thinks it's the prophecy and he won't leave me alone until he sees for himself that it's not. I'm not going to be responsible for anyone else I care about getting killed."

"Don't you dare, Harry Potter!" Ginny retorted angrily, jerking him to look her square in the face. She wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding her. "What happened to Sirius was not your fault… I thought we'd already covered this. He knew the consequences and he was willing to die to protect you. That's what godfathers do for their godchildren."

Harry tried to protest that he was certainly not worth dying for, but didn't give him the opportunity to say it.

"I, for one," she continued passionately, "was determined to go with you that day no matter what. If you had left me in that forest, I swear I would have followed you somehow. I don't regret standing by you that day. None of us do," she said, nodding to Ron and Hermione. They nodded in agreement. More softly she said just to him, "I still owe you one, remember? You saved my life, Harry. I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

"You don't owe me anything," Harry said vehemently. "This has nothing to do with that, Ginny." Turning to Hermione he said regretfully, "You tried to warn me and I didn't listen. If I had, you wouldn't have been hurt and Ron wouldn't have those scars on his arms." He nudged his head towards Ron, who was standing beside her.

"Don't be stupid, Harry," Hermione said, exasperated. "We checked, remember? He tricked you into going. We all wanted to save Sirius because we knew how much he meant to you. Besides," she reasoned, "we held our own against full grown adults and that has everything to do with you. You taught us all that stuff and when push came to shove we were able to use that knowledge to our advantage. None of us were going to let you face Him on your own… even Neville!"

"We'd do it again in a heartbeat, mate," Ron said firmly. "Sirius felt the same. Might as well get that through your thick head – it wasn't your fault."

"But if I had only—" Harry tried to argue, his throat constricting.

"I think I speak for George and myself when I say that we would have been there, too… had we known," Fred said with conviction.

"Damn right!" George said.

"Us, too," Lee, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia all said, nodding their agreement. They obviously knew a lot more than Harry gave them credit for.

"We weren't in the DA for nothing!" Angelina told him, grinning.

Harry had never felt so grateful to have friends in his life. Looking around at the group of witches and wizards, his heart filled with hope. He looked at Dudley standing there with his stupid-looking bully friends. Piers with his rat-face screwed up in disgust and confusion, Claire and her indignant, haughty attitude… He knew without a doubt that when push came to shove, Dudley's friends would never stand by him like Harry's friends had. All of them had some inkling of the enemy that they were up against – some more than others – and yet they still chose to stick by him. What had he done to deserve such loyalty? How could they ever know how much it meant to him?

"Thanks," he managed to choke out without embarrassing himself.

Harry was immediately thrown back into reality when Dudley immediately began to laugh a cold, harsh laugh. "As touching as this is," Dudley drawled, sounding just like Malfoy on a bad day, "no one has yet given us a suitable answer for what this melodrama is all about. I, for one, think it's histrionics on the part of my—" he looked Harry up and down in disdain, "cousin."

Ron stepped up to Dudley angrily, their faces inches apart. "Why don't you shut your fat face for once in your miserable life," he said threateningly. "Or I'll shut it for you!"

Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "That's all right, Ron. We don't owe anyone an explanation," he said firmly, leaving no room for discussion. Dudley could go wank himself for all Harry cared. He wasn't telling him a thing.

"Where is that orb, Fred?" Harry asked roughly, hoping to distract Ron from his anger. He'd like nothing more than to see Dudley get what he deserved, but now was not the time. He had something to prove to himself and the snake inside his mind.

"Right here," Hermione said reluctantly, producing the glass sphere from her pocket.

Harry took it out of her hand and examined it closely. It was an ordinary glass ball, sort of purplish in colour. Fred and George had said it was a truth teller. Rolling it in his hand, it felt cool to the touch and heavier than he imagined it to be. Harry wondered what truth this little glass ball held. If it was anything like the other, then he would rather not find out.

Remembering that it was a harmless toy and not a matter of life and death, Harry handed the ball to George and asked, "So, what do we do?"

"First we need to get in a circle," George said, directing everyone to gather around.

"We will not!" Dudley said angrily. "You're not allowed to use that… that stuff here! I'll tell Dad and you'll be chucked out for sure this time, Potter!"

Harry looked Dudley straight in the eye. "What stuff, Dudley? We're just about to play an innocent little game here at your innocent little party."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little glass ball, Dursley!" Ron taunted him.

"No more than my dear cousin," Dudley said defiantly.

"Come on Dudders," Claire cooed. "I want to play. I sounds like fun." She sat down on the floor and patted the place next to her. "You can sit right here beside me," she said invitingly.

Harry almost laughed as Dudley's attitude did an about-face. He couldn't believe it when Dudley gave in and reluctantly joined Claire on the carpet, motioning for the other Muggles to join him, although he complained the whole time about being told what to do in his own home. One by one all the teenagers in the room sat down in a circle. Harry was glad to see most of the Muggles bringing along their various drinks. Harry hoped their alcohol consumption was high enough to fool them into not noticing anything strange about Fred and George's game. He was glad to see that most of his friends were alcohol free, with the exception of the older witches and wizards. Neither Ginny, Ron, nor Hermione had any drinks in their hands. Ginny took a place next to Harry and, as inconspicuously as possible, slipped her empty hand in his. He smiled at her gratefully.

"Okay… I'm going to pass the Orb around and each person will read whatever it says," George explained, somewhat uncomfortably. "Everyone in the circle must hold it in order for it to read the secrets of your mind," he said mysteriously. "When it's finished, the Orb will glow pink and we can begin our journey for truth!" George looked at the ball and said loudly in his best imitation of Trelawney, "Begin!" Then he passed the Orb to his right.

As Angelina read the first line, Harry took a deep, calming breath and listened. "You hold the Orb of Truth," Angelina read before passed it to Katie.

"No secret can you hide," Katie recited, passing it to Andrea.

"Touch this sphere to seek it," Andrea read before passing it to her sister.

"Your subconscious tells no lie," Audra read. She passed the Orb to Lee.

"Beware you brave of heart," Lee grinned. "Well, we are Gryffindors, aren't we?" He passed it to Piers.

"Take heed, my warning dire… What a load of rubbish!" Piers scoffed before passing it to Claire.

"Wrong guesses you may make," she read clearly before passing it to Dudley.

"And suffer fate's desire," he read. He snorted, "Pretty bad poetry, if you ask me." Dudley passed it on to Daphne.

"Now what?" Daphne asked George. "It's blank but it's still purple."

"Just pass it around," George told her.

As the Orb travelled around the circle, Ginny leaned in to whisper to Harry. "Better poetry than 'His eyes are as green as fresh pickled toad,'" she snorted. "At least their verse is improving!"

"What do you mean?" Harry whispered back incredulously, thinking of his second year and being serenaded by a cupid-clad dwarf. "I thought you—"

Ginny shook her head looking aghast at the thought. "Malfoy was the one who made you believe that. I was young, Harry, but not stupid. Oh, I thought about sending you a Valentine, all right, and they knew it, too! 'We'll take care of everything, Gin-Gin' they said," she snorted again. "I pleaded with them not to, but they wouldn't listen. Why do you think I was so upset? I like a good joke as much as the next person, Harry, but they went too far that day. I was so humiliated!" She grinned impishly. "But they paid, trust me – they paid!"

She suddenly became serious. "Remember when that dwarf tackled you and your books fell out? That's when I saw you with Tom's diary. One of the worst days of my life up to that point…." She fiddled nervously with the hem of her shirt. "I was sure you'd hate me if you ever found out."

Harry was reminded of the vulnerable eleven-year-old he had known in his second year at Hogwarts. He looked deeply into her eyes. There was so much soul in them, he thought he might drown in their depth. "I could never hate you," he said, meaning it with all his heart. But, he thought sadly as the orb made contact with his hand, you may just hate me when I have to become a murderer.

She smiled somewhat, but still seemed lost in her own tortured thoughts as Harry passed the small glass ball to her. Slowly, the Orb made its way around the circle until it came back to George. Upon reaching him, it suddenly glowed pink.

"It's finished reading your minds," Fred announced, his voice wispy and mysterious like George's had been.

"That is amazing!" Claire said, taking a large swig of whatever she was drinking. Clearly she was getting tipsy. "I didn't even see where the batteries go!"

Harry shifted slightly, but fought the urge to jump up and run away. He had a terrible feeling about this.

"No, you wouldn't, would you?" Fred said grinning, looking Dudley straight in the eye. "It's magic!" Dudley turned a deep shade of puce.

"There's no such thing as magic," Dudley mumbled weakly, glancing nervously at his friends. They didn't seem to be suspicious, however. Most were too busy taking swigs of their own drinks to pay attention to the trivial conversation going on around them. Harry supposed the Befuddlement charm was doing its job.

"What happens now, Fred?" Hermione asked, plainly wanting to steer the conversation back to safer ground. Harry could see her eying the Muggles closely as well for signs of suspicion.

"Well," Fred said slowly. "I'm not sure. This is part of what we haven't worked out yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked shrilly. "I thought you said it was tested!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Hermione," George spoke up. "What he means is we haven't made up the rules for who goes first."

"I think it should be the youngest, but George thinks it should be the next in line," Fred clarified.

"I'll settle that," Ginny said, sounding annoyed. "Are all of you 16?" she asked the group. "Besides, you, Harry," she said, looking at the dark-haired boy beside her who made her stomach do flip-flops. "I know you'll turn 16 at the end of the month, and you're just over a year older than me which probably makes me the youngest here."

"Anyone?" George asked the group. Everyone shook their head. "Guess you're the lucky winner, Gin-Gin," he teased, rolling the ball to her.

"Lucky me!" she said sarcastically. "What do I do?" she asked.

"Just say 'reveal,'" Fred told her.

"Cool!" Dennis exclaimed. "Its voice activated, too!"

"Of course," George said with no trace of modesty. Harry thought he really sounded like he knew what Dennis meant by that, although he seriously doubted he did.

"Reveal," Ginny repeated, rolling her eyes at her brother's behaviour. Immediately words formed inside the ball. "Who is the one who dreamed of kissing Professor Snape?" Ginny laughed out loud. "Whoever it is, I can understand why they'd keep that a secret!" All the Hogwarts students laughed.

Surveying the group, Ginny thought out loud. "Let's see… it has to be someone that goes to Hogwarts, because only one of us would know what a great sin it is to dream of kissing Snape, the greasy git," she mused, earning a laugh from Harry and several others.

"It's probably a girl… although I suppose it doesn't have to be," she chuckled.

"Ugh!" Ron said, making a face and earning a laugh from most. "That's sick, Ginny!"

"That leaves Hermione, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia," Ginny deduced. Looking at the girls in question carefully, Ginny noticed Katie getting very red.

"Katie," she said clearly. The orb glowed green.

"Right," Fred said with approval. "Good use of your Inner Eye, little sister!"

"You actually dreamed of kissing Snape?" Alicia asked Katie sympathetically.

"It was more like a nightmare," Katie explained. "Right after a particular nasty detention with him... One minute I was dreaming about kissing Roger Davis and the next I was snogging Snape!" she shuddered. "I couldn't look at him for a week!"

"OK, Ginny," George instructed. "Pass it to someone. Since you answered right, you're off the hook… for now." He grinned mischievously.

"How did it know that?" Daphne gasped, impressed. "That's... that's amazing!"

"I told you," Fred said with a grin, "it's magic." As Fred said this, Dudley promptly choked on his drink, making Claire whack him hard on the back and everyone else forget all about the details of how the game was working.

Ginny passed the ball to Hermione who was sitting close to her. "Reveal," Hermione said clearly.

"Who is the one who was caught kissing in the library?" she read. "I have no clue."

"Just take a guess," Fred said, trying not to smile.

"Well, I don't remember anything about anyone being caught snogging in our school library. Madame Pince would be in St. Mungo's if that happened!" Looking around, she frowned. "It could be anyone… Oh, this is impossible!" she complained.

"Just take a guess…" Ron said impatiently.

"Fine!" she huffed. "You there," she said pointing to Dudley's second in command. "What's your name again?"

"Piers," the pointy-faced boy said, looking offended that she didn't remember.

"You're looking shifty. Is it Piers?" Hermione asked. The Orb turned red.

"Nope, sorry," George said. "Now tell us what it says."

Hermione looked down at the orb and read the words silently. "No way!" she squealed. "There's no way I'm doing that!"

"What does it say?" Angelina asked curiously.

"It says I have to pick someone to snog," she said, looking menacingly at the twins. Both twins were rolling with laughter. "Is it me, or does anyone else see a theme here?" she grumbled.

"That's part of the fun!" George exclaimed between laughs.

"I'd be happy to volunteer," Fred told her, quite seriously.

"Not on your life!" Hermione said, angrily. "I have a feeling we've been duped!"

"Come on now, 'Mione," George teased, mimicking Ron. "Be a sport about it! Just choose someone."

"Fine!" Hermione huffed. "But I'm getting you back for this Fred and George Weasley! You mark my words!" Rising quickly to her feet, she turned to Ron, she said, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Ron scrambled to his feet, practically tripping over them in his haste. "Where are we going?" he asked nervously, as she roughly dragged him from the room.

"Well, it's not like I want an audience for this!" Hermione said shrilly.

"Then how will we know you really did it?" Claire asked pointedly.

Hermione stiffened. "You'll just have to take our word for it," she snapped.

"Or watch the Orb," Fred grinned. "If they kiss, then the orb will turn blue."

"My, don't we think of everything!" Hermione said curtly, grabbing Ron's hand and heading for the kitchen. "I'd watch my back if I were you, Fred Weasley," she hissed as she passed. "You and your identical twit! Come on Ron!" she bellowed. "Let's make this good."

Harry smiled. He had no doubt that she was dead serious on all counts.