A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews on the first chapter, :) I however received one review that saddened me somewhat. So, in an effort to prevent such reviews from appearing in the future I'm going to make a statement. If I had perhaps made this statement from the start I most likely would have not received the review and lost a long-time reader.
This story isn't about the occult! It is pure and simple Harry Potter with my own twist of powerful beings, namely the High Lord of Hell and of course, the High Lord of Phoenix. This story does not deal with witchcraft, the occult, evil rituals, voodoo, etc. It is plain Harry Potter! Thank you.
Harry leaned back in his high backed leather chair that sat in his study and quickly scanned another fan letter. After the first week of his recovery the fan mail had died down. After his interview session at the Ministry the mail had began to pour in once again. Like the autograph session, the majority of letters came from little children and flirting teenage girls. Every once in a long while, he would receive one from an older adult. Harry absolutely loved to read the ones from the children. They were always so cute and they almost always included an adorable drawing of him or something else. He had kept them all in a stack on his desk. He had also sent them all a thank-you note.
He sighed as he picked up the next letter. The writing on it was that of another teenager. Harry briefly contemplated merely chucking the letter into the rubbish bin next to his desk unopened but decided against it as soon as he thought of it. He quickly broke open the seal and looked at signature at the end of the letter. 'Elizabeth Fawcett.' Harry smiled. He had not seen her since Tescaster.
Dear Harry-
I hope that you are feeling better and making a full recovery from your heart attack. My brother (the auror) claims that you aren't well at all and that the Ministry tried to trick the public to make them feel safer. As I was saying, I hope that you've gotten well.
You may or may not know this, but my older sister just got a job as a reporter at the Daily Prophet. She wondered if we could come to wherever you are right now and perhaps interview you. I wasn't going to ask but Neville said that you would most likely be glad to say yes. So could you please allow us to come and interview you?
Best Wishes,
Elizabeth Fawcett
Harry set the letter down and briefly contemplated the question. His previous experience with reporters one on one had not been particularly good. Then of course, from the tone of the letter it sounded as if Elizabeth and her sister didn't want to bother him too much. It might be beneficial, Harry decided. Quickly pulling out a piece of parchment he drafted an affirmative response and sealed it. He then placed it in the basket that sat on one corner of the desk. Whatever was put in there was eventually mailed it seemed. Probably the house-elves, Harry mused.
The door to the veranda opened to admit Ginny. The Weasley's were out swimming in the pool or merely admiring the gardens. She was carrying a magazine. "Look what just arrived!" she announced. She held up the magazine. It was a copy of Witch Weekly with a picture of Harry plastered on the front.
Harry groaned, "Oh no! What did they say about me this time?"
"The lead reporter who asked you all of those meaningless questions during the conference has written a bedazzling story of adventure, love, betrayal, near-death, angst, and power," Ginny said in a mocking voice as she flopped down onto a couch.
"None of that happened!" Harry exclaimed sitting up abruptly. "Someone ought to put a limit on what they can say about people!"
"Why that isn't even the best part," Ginny said as she flipped to the last page of the special edition article. "Harry Potter is certainly the most eligible bachelor in the world! Wizard economists estimate his personal fortune and assets withing the trillion-galleon range. The already powerful Harry James Potter will almost certainly become the Minister of Magic and most powerful wizard in the known world! What he lacks is female companionship."
"WHAT! Now I'll be getting letters from grown women! I'm only seventeen years old! There ought to be a law against this! This is sexual harassment!" Harry nearly yelled. Suddenly a very small amount of burst in his chest. Harry gasped and clutched his right hand to his chest.
Ginny dropped the magazine and in an instant was at his side chafing his wrists and checking his pulse. "Are you okay?" Ginny asked in a voice full of concern. She watched as Harry leaned back and closed his eyes, breathing semi-heavily.
"Yes," Harry whispered in an exhausted tone. "Just a little too much excitement. I suppose that I need to learn how to handle such stuff a little better. I'll be just fine in a few moments, just need a little rest."
Ginny nodded in agreement, "I'd certainly say that you do. More than a little too. I think it's bed rest for the rest of the day Harry. Some chicken soup wouldn't be bad either."
"I don't want to go to bed," Harry protested half-heartedly as Ginny gently took his hand in hers and used her signet ring to transport them both to Harry's room.
Ginny smiled and laid a blanket over him. "Just a little nap then." She lightly kissed him on the lips and left as he drifted into his peaceful nap.
*
The house-elves served lunch at precisely noon, a fact which the Weasley boys had quickly learned. Just as Ginny seated herself at the head of the dining room table they all charged in with Mrs. Weasley only slightly behind. Bill and Charlie were taking vacation to visit their parents and Mr. Weasley had ordered Percy to stay at Phoenix Manor and visit his brothers. Fred and George had long since hired employees to run their shops for them and now mainly stayed at the manor to work on their newest developments. They had discovered a small lab in the basement more than adequate for their needs.
"Where's Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her voice rich with motherly concern as she took a seat and began to serve herself from the various dishes laid out on the table.
"He felt slightly tired and decided to take a nap," Ginny answered lightly as she passed a plate stacked with rolls to Ron. There was no need to worry them. It would do no good. She was worried though. This shouldn't be happening to him! Ginny's thought as various thoughts, feelings, and emotions raced through her head.
"Hey this food is marvelous as usual," Fred commented through a mouthful potato salad. "Who makes all the menus and food around here?"
"The house-elves just serve whatever suits them," Ginny replied.
"So what's the deal with you living here alone with Harry for a month?" Charlie asked in a curious voice.
Bill snickered, "Are you really that thick Charlie? Ginny likes Harry right? Harry likes Ginny right? If your girlfriend was sick would you skip the chance to move in and nurse her?"
Ginny blushed beet red, "Really! It's not like that at all. As you know, Harry had a slight health incident last month after having a little spat with Voldemort. His health has been delicate and I was the most qualified to make sure he got the rest he needed."
"I bet," George snorted.
Ginny slammed her goblet down, "I won't take anymore teasing from you! What with that blasted Witch Weekly article and other things, Harry already gets enough of that kind of talk and speculation. I won't let you do it."
"Calm down Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said in a gentle voice. She frowned at her sons, "You boys really shouldn't make such comments. The last thing anyone needs is a nasty rumor about Ginny and Harry. Now, onto a better subject. Ron hasn't mentioned it yet but they've made him Head Boy! Third in the family!"
Everyone congratulated Ron who smiled. "Thank you, I'll try not to be a big-head boy."
Fred held up his goblet of fruit punch, "I saw that we toast Ron! To the Head Boy who strives not to be a Humongous Bighead!"
Ginny rolled her eyes and quickly finished her lunch. She had things to do and places to go.
*
Meanwhile, Hermione was eating lunch with her own family. Her parents had taken a day off from their dentistry practice to spend Hermione's first day of summer with them. She was regaling them with her adventures of the past year at school.
"How could you see where all the Death Eaters were in that dark castle?" Mr. Granger asked, referring to the fight that had occurred in Tescaster. He was fascinated with magic and always picked over every single detail. Hermione suspected that he wished that he had been born a wizard.
"You can make light with your wands," Hermione explained. "At first though, a big blue and gold fireball exploded above us for a brief instant." Hermione's thoughts followed the events after. Then Harry and Ginny rushed up the staircase after Voldemort. It was as if they were expecting the fireball. . . Back in the forest the area near the rock exploded after we got past it too, Hermione realized. That wasn't for us. . . A sudden realization hit Hermione. The High Lord of Phoenix had been with them all along. Hermione dropped her fork.
"Is there anything wrong dear?" Mrs. Granger asked as she held a fork near her mouth.
Hermione's thoughts were racing too fast to comprehend her mom's question. Ginny said that the High Lord had taken the staff. . . therefore, Voldemort had not had the staff. So how could Harry have suffered cardiac arrest? How did the power get in him? Unless he took the staff himself. . . .
"Yes, everything is perfectly fine," Hermione said with false brightness. "I need to go up to my room and check something in one of my reference books."
"About magical light?" Mr. Granger called as she rushed up the stairs to her room.
Hermione uncharacteristically ignored the question and rushed into her room. She scanned her bookshelf which was loaded with magical texts and information books. "Magical Medicine," Hermione said aloud as she pulled the book off the shelf. She opened it, slowly sat down on her bed, and quickly scanned the chapter.
Looking up from the book she closed it and frowned. Something didn't add up. The only way that Harry could have suffered heart failure from magical association was if he had tried to wield too much power than what he could physically handle. That was very hard to do since no one was endowed with more power than they could handle. At some point, Harry had most definitely held Miledy Faisia. Harry and Ginny had some explaining to do. . .
*
Ginny carefully rearranged the flowers in the small vase that sat on her table. She didn't like to refer to it as a desk because she didn't think as herself as a working type of person. Therefore, it was a table. She grabbed the incoming correspondence from the letter holder that sat on the table. The house-elves at Phoenix Manor performed a special service in handling the post for the occupants. Carrying a the letters she made her way out the French doors and onto the small balcony that overlooked the flower garden that sat on east side of the manor. She plopped down on the lone chair and began to sort through the letters.
The first few were from her friends at school. She quickly scanned them and set them aside. It seemed of late that they talked of inconsequential things. There had been a time when such talk seemed very mature to Ginny. Now it seemed so very childish. Ginny sighed, sometimes growing up wasn't fun. Responsibility came with authority.
The next letter was from Remus Lupin asking after Harry's health. He asked for a detailed report nearly every other day it seemed. He did not write Harry because he didn't want Harry to know how worried he really was. Ginny absently conjured up a parchment, quill, and bottle of ink with her Phoenix powers and began to dictate.
"Dear Professor Lupin,
Over the past two days Harry's health has improved as usual with the exception of an incident before lunch. While expressing his. . . irritation about the content of this week's issue of Witch Weekly he suffered some minor heart pain and has been resting in bed since.
I very much fear that his recovery has not been as complete as it has seemed to be and I shall calling on Professor Dumbledore later today to discuss this matter.
With love,
Ginny Weasley
Ginny flicked her finger and the letter sealed itself and zoomed towards the outgoing post basket that sat on her table, the writing utensils also disappeared. She then opened the next letter and scanned it and rolled her eyes. "Dear Ginny," she mimicked, "I hear that you're staying at Phoenix Manor. . ." Really! Some people had no tact. She had gotten nearly a dozen of those from girls she knew only vaguely at Hogwarts.
Not only were they trying to get to Harry, but among magical folk, Phoenix Manor was legendary. In the day of Harry's grandparents, William and Mary Potter, Phoenix Manor had hosted grand balls and social events. The gardens were supposed to be the best in England. The cooking of the house-elves superb. If she and Harry ever needed to expand their social circle, all they would have to do was to post a 'party' ad in the Daily Prophet and every single magical person would show up whether or not they knew who Harry Potter was.
Ginny sighed, crumpled up the tactless letter and threw it off the balcony. It burst into flames and was reduced to cinders before reaching the ground below. She quickly sorted through the remaining meaningless correspondence, stood up, placed the opened letters on her desk. It was time to visit Dumbledore.
*
Ginny knocked on the door to Professor Dumbledore's study and entered to find him intensely studying several books that were spread out across his usually neat desk. He looked up and smiled, his eyes twinkling, "Ginny! What do I owe this pleasure to?"
Ginny sighed, greeted Dumbledore and took a seat at his invitation. "I'm afraid that Harry had a slight incident earlier this morning. He got worked up about an article in Witch Weekly and something went wrong with his heart."
Dumbledore listened very carefully and nodded, "His condition may be worse than we first anticipated." He seemed to stare off into space for several minutes before continuing. "We assumed that his heart was already strong and in perfect condition before the incident in Tescaster."
"Do you mean that this weakened condition could be permanent?" Ginny asked worriedly. Such a problem would cause Harry great pain and cause him to die early. That was the very last thing Ginny wanted to ever happen.
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, it'll just take longer for him to completely heal which isn't terrific either. We're already cutting it too close. Harry MUST be able to wield Miledy Faisia as soon as possible. I suggest that you have him exercise as much as possible but have him avoid emotional stress. Such stress will only detract from his progress."
"What caused this?"
Dumbledore shrugged and vaguely answered, "I don't think it was a physical heart condition. It may be built up stress. A lot has happened to Harry since his eleventh birthday. He has seemed to handle it well, but perhaps he hasn't handled it well at all."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, already almost knowing the answer and dreading it.
"Sometimes people have a way of hiding depression, stress, and worry from even themselves," Dumbledore explained quietly. "Before Tescaster he probably built up quite the cache." Dumbledore quickly leaned forward and startled Ginny. "Ginny," he began urgently, "you must see to it that his fears, worries, stresses, and built up depression is alleviated and taken care of, and that he avoids any type of stress. If you don't, Harry Potter could die of a heart attack or lose his sanity and become unable to fight Voldemort, in which case, we will be defeated."