A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated. I just haven't been feeling up to it lately and if I force myself then it doesn't turn out as well as if I put my whole heart into it. :) Please review.
Harry scowled menacingly at the letter Hedwig had delivered to him early that morning as he had changed into his school robes before making his way down to breakfast in the Great Hall. "How dare they!" he muttered viciously under his breath as he strode by a group of first-years who scattered to make way for him. "Who gave them the authority to do this!"
It had been several weeks since he had told Dumbledore to have Snape keep an eye out for the locations that Voldemort might be using to open a channel between himself and Tesmethlin. The last Order meeting had been the night before and the results of it were now infuriating Harry.
He stormed into the Great Hall where students were continuing on their normal Friday schedule and quietly having breakfast before their first classes. Harry approached the far end of the Gryffindor table where Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting. He threw the letter down in their midst and whispered hotly. "What is the meaning of this!"
Ron and Hermione paled considerably and looked at each other nervously before Hermione answered quickly and in a rushed voice, "We swear that it wasn't us Harry! There was nothing we could do without raising suspicion. Even Dumbledore tried to head it off, but there was no logical reason not to do it," she ended with her voice trailing off.
Ginny smiled grimly, picked up the letter, and began to calmly scan it as she sipped some pumpkin juice. After going through it once she read it aloud for the benefit of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Dear Mr. Potter:
We wish to inform you about some new safety precautions
that we would like you to heed to until the defeat of the so
named wizard, Voldemort.
At all times you will remain in the presence of Mr. Weasley
and or Miss Granger for safety reasons. In the case that they
are not available you will stay in the presence of a Hogwarts
professor.
Further visits to Hogsmeade are forbidden.
You will not go un-escorted into the public outside Hogwarts.
You will not participate in any activity classified as dangerous.
Your mail will be analyzed before delivery to you.
These restrictions and any others as wished by Order members
will be strictly enforced by the Ministry and Hogwarts staff.
Yours truly,
The Order of the Phoenix."
The reading of the letter by Ginny only seemed to further raise Harry's hackles. "Those are utterly ridiculous! Who came up with them? The only thing they do is hinder me!"
"We can see that," Ron stammered very nervously. "There wasn't anything that we could do though. . . after all what with Mum and Dad there, and other witches and wizards, even though we're your Lieutenants we don't really have much say."
Harry looked almost ready to explode and he could feel his heart beginning to rapidly and almost painfully beat against his chest. He was about to speak again before Ginny interrupted him. "They're only doing what they think is best Harry. You can't blame them for ignorance. Especially ignorance imposed by yourself."
Sighing, Harry closed his eyes and counted to ten in an attempt to regain his composure. After a moment he opened his eyes and locked a steady gaze onto Ron and Hermione. "So be it then. I have no intention of complying to these rules."
He took the letter and crumpled it into a tight ball within his fist before chucking it into the nearest fire. He returned his gaze to Ron and Hermione. "You are my Lieutenants and I expect you to command the authority and respect that you deserve." He said this in a deadly calm voice. "From now on Ginny will accompany you to the Order meetings as the newest member and her authority in their eyes will be equal to yours. You will see to it that she gets my 'guard' duty so I can at least operate in a semblance of compliance. Are we clear?"
Ginny grinned impishly over her bowl of porridge. "You hear that? No more misbehaving or you're going to get it!"
"Very funny Ginny," Ron muttered.
Hermione cleared her throat uncomfortably, "Harry. . . they already look down on us. What makes you think that they'll look upon Ginny as an equal to us let alone authority without revealing her identity?"
"Our power, will, and authority are one," Harry explained as he sat down and helped himself to breakfast. "No measly member of a ragtag Order will thwart it in her or my presence. If they think differently then they'll learn who they defy."
*
Harry tossed and turned in a slightly uncomfortable state but deep sleep. It had been nearly a month since they had heard anything about Voldemort and he had been worried. Silence could only be bad at this point in time. Suddenly someone was shaking him gently. Harry slowly woke and sat up.
"If that's the fastest you can wake up then you're dog meat next time a Death Eater comes for you," Ginny whispered to him with a teasing voice in the utter darkness as his roommates snored away peacefully in their four-poster beds. Ginny took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Harry rubbed his eyes, "Well I certainly hope that is not the only reason that you woke me up for." He glanced at Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville to make sure they were still asleep.
"There's trouble," Ginny whispered in a slightly more serious voice.
Harry's senses were instantly on the alert and ready to do anything, "What kind?"
"I'm not sure," Ginny whispered. "McGonagall just barely woke me up and told me to get you and then make tracks towards Dumbledore's office. She sounded rather worried if you ask me."
Harry quickly scrambled out of bed and used his power to transfigure his pajamas into dark Muggle-like clothes with a few of his own adaptions. Robes were nice but trying to move quickly and agilely in them could get one into trouble. "What about Ron and Hermione?"
"McGonagall said that Dumbledore didn't particularly need them at this point. Just wanted to talk to you about something really serious." Ginny related.
Harry nodded, "She probably doesn't expect conflict then. Either that or she thinks that Ron and Hermione aren't very good fighters no matter what their rank in the Order."
"We'll see when we get there I reckon," Ginny said as both she and Harry used their individual power to transport them to just down the hall from Dumbledore's office.
They quickly made their way to the statue guarding the staircase, used Harry's ring to gain access and went up the moving staircase. They entered the office to find Dumbledore sitting alone behind his desk. Harry also absently noted that a great deal of the portraits were missing their occupants. "What do you need me for?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore quickly motioned for them to take a seat. "Harry," he began gravely. "Something big is happening at Gringotts. The Order is absolutely sure that Voldemort is behind it. We believe that there is something stored in one of the vaults that Voldemort needs."
"Has Snape said anything about it?" Harry inquired as he steadily took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk as Ginny also did so.
"He believes that it is a crucial part of Voldemort's plan," Dumbledore answered. "If he is stopped from robbing Gringotts we may be able to buy ourselves some much needed time before a confrontation with him."
Harry nodded, "What is being done and what do we need to do?"
"I've already sent Alastor and Tonks to lead a team of Order members. Arthur Weasley has gone to notify the proper authorities so that they can cover the outside. We've decided that storming the bank with too many Aurors would only create chaos that would benefit the Death Eaters."
"That was a very wise decision," Ginny commented.
Harry smiled, "Yes, if those that went in are competent. Is Voldemort himself directly involved?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "I wouldn't think so Harry. This is only a minor part of the plan and it wouldn't be worth the risk for him to do it himself unless it was the whole plan to open a connection with your enemy."
"Good, I can do something about it personally," Harry stated.
"Me too." Ginny said.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said. "I have just one bit of advice before you go. Don't let the public, or even Alastor and Tonks know that you are involved. Try to stay behind the scenes. Okay?"
Ginny grinned, "That will only make it more fun."
*
"I feel lost," Ginny whispered to Harry as they crept through the dark labyrinth of tunnels that contained the vaults of Gringotts Bank. "Very lost." They had opted for security reasons not to get help from the goblins. Not that they had seen any available goblins anyhow.
"Don't worry, we're getting really close to them now," Harry announced quietly. "I can feel them vaguely."
"What about Tonks and Moody?"
"I'm sure that they'll be close," Harry replied. The pair continued to stroll down the dark passage.
They jumped, or rather flew over a deep pit that was only traversed by a track for one of the carts used by the goblins. After walking further down the corridor they turned a corner and came within sight of a magical battle. Curses flying back and forth and it didn't look as if the good guys were winning. While Death Eaters were fending off Moody and Tonks, others were breaking into a vault.
"Nothing like a swarm of Death Eaters against a couple of Aurors," Ginny commented dryly. "What do you think is the best thing to do at this point?"
"I think. . ." Harry answered vaguely as he squinted down the passageway at the skirmish. Much to his amazement his eyesight seemed to zoom in on the fighting very much reminding him of Dudley's muggle camera he had gotten for his last birthday. "Dumbledore wanted us to be discreet so instead of doing something directly let's um. . . give the curses Tonks and Moody are shooting a little more. . . ooomph."
"Ooomph?" Ginny snickered quietly. "I get what you mean." She squinted down the hallway and suddenly one of Tonks's Stunning Curses took out three Death Eaters as opposed to the one at a time.
"Right," Harry confirmed. "I'll take on Moody."
The fight continued on for just under a couple of moments and there suddenly was an explosion and a blinding flash of dark yet bright light resembling that of what the High Lord of Hell had emitted when Harry had seen him last. When Harry's eyesight cleared he could only see Tonks and Moody who were blindly stumbling as they attempted to remain standing.
"I think we're too late," Ginny said.
Harry nodded in agreement. "It would seem so," he sighed. "You're the medical expert. Are Tonks and Moody going to be okay?"
"Of course, give them a minute or two and they be good as new." Ginny answered.
"We should head back to Hogwarts and tell Dumbledore that they got away with whatever was in that vault. We'll also have him try and figure out what was in the vault as well." Harry concentrated on his ring and the two found themselves back in Dumbledore's office.
"Were you able to save the contents of the vault?" Dumbledore inquired immediately as Harry and Ginny flopped into the chairs before his desk.
Harry shook his head, "No. They managed to escape."
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Oh well."
"Perhaps you could find out what was in the vault," Ginny suggested. "That might help in the fight against him."
Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, I worked on that while you were at Gringotts. So far the only thing that I've been able to dig up is that it was a sort of 'abandoned' vault. The owner dumped the contents in and never returned."
"How long ago was that?" Harry asked.
"Couple of hundred years or so. The bank was fairly new when it happened." Dumbledore explained.
Harry and Ginny nodded silently and after that there was an uncomfortable pause in which everyone present dwelled on their own thoughts. Ginny was the one to finally break the silence. "While we're here why don't we discuss the upcoming marriage in December?"
Harry's mouth dropped open and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. Ginny shot them both a look as if the subject was the most normal thing to talk about at the present moment. "What about it?" Harry asked.
"It's two months away and we've hardly discussed it! That's what." Ginny responded to Harry as she shifted around to face him.
"I see," Harry said nervously. "What exactly was it about the marriage that you wanted to talk about?"
"To begin with there is the Law of Magical Marriage," Ginny explained to Harry. "That will be a very large part of the ceremony. It will also affect how we deal with Voldemort so I think that we need to talk about it."
Dumbledore chose that moment to add his thoughts. "Yes Harry. The marriage will change things a great deal. There's marriage and then there is the type of marriage that you'll be participating in."
"Okay," Harry sighed. "Would someone mind telling me what this marriage law is then?"
"I'll have to paraphrase it but this is the gist of it," Ginny said. "You kind of touched on it when you told Ron and Hermione that our power and will is one. When a couple who has power such as we do get married, if we do it through the magical power we wield, our power, will, and mind, will become essentially the same. We'll be a lot more powerful together than separate Harry."
"So we have to share a brain together?" Harry asked in a joking manner.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Very funny Harry. Our minds will be connected and we'll be able to communicate and think together without having to talk or even be in the same location. Not only that, we'll be stuck with each other even after we're dead."
Harry raised his eyebrows, "How is that. When you're dead, you're dead."
"When you die you merely pass on to another realm. Or, in our case, back to the one you rule." Ginny said.
"Okay, that sounds fine. So is that it?"
"There's more to it but that can wait until after the ceremony." Ginny replied.
"What was the part about 'married through our power?'" Harry asked.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, "That's were I come in. If you want it to work the right way someone who wields the same power that you have needs to preside over the ceremony and use it to marry you."
Harry thought for a moment and nodded, "I understand that. Do any guests come? Do we need a marriage license from the Ministry? How does it work?"
"That depends Harry," Ginny said carefully. "Even if people know that we're the High Lord and Lady, we might not want them to know that we're married. The marriage will make us greatly more powerful, yet we'll be more vulnerable as well. Do we want Voldemort to find out that we're married?"
"Of course not," Harry replied. "It's up to you of course. I don't have anyone from my side that I'm going to be inviting. . ."
Ginny shot Harry a sympathetic look. "Maybe Ron and Hermione. . ."
"If I may suggest something," Dumbledore said. "You could make a secrecy charm that would not allow anyone to know of it even if they were present."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Well, it is more of a memory charm," Dumbledore explained carefully as he absently toyed with one of his magical objects. "Bring your whole family to the ceremony, let them witness it and then put a temporary memory charm on them. That way they'll be unable to reveal the secret and when Voldemort is gone the charm is lifted and it is as if they knew about the marriage the whole time."
Harry grinned, "I think that may work perfectly. However, I don't think we should put that charm on Ron or Hermione."
"Why not?" Ginny asked in surprise.
Harry shifted uncomfortably, "Despite some of their. . . faults, they are still our friends and they are Lieutenants as well. In fact, they may wish to consider their own marriage. It would make them more powerful and I could also make them my surrogates. They would be very effective against Voldemort and Tesmethlin's surrogates."
Ginny thought and then nodded slowly. "That would be a good idea. . ."
"I don't know about you two," Dumbledore cut in gently, "but it is late and I think it is time to go to bed. I'll begin making the appropriate arrangements for a secret marriage and we can talk at a later time."
Harry and Ginny glanced at Dumbledore and blushed. "All right professor," Ginny said. "We'll be going now."
She and Harry laughed as they walked from the office and back to Gryffindor tower.