Disclaimer: All you fan-fic readers know the drill by now. I'm not J.K so obviously I don't own Harry Potter (much as I'd like to), BUT I do own this plot. Well, the bits of it that the voices in my head aren't dictating...

Harry Potter and the Time of Trials

Chapter 8: Coming Clean

On his last day at the Burrow, Harry sat down leaning against what he had begun to think of as his tree and relaxed. He closed his eyes and let his tight mental control waver, then fall. Thoughts randomly ran through his consciousness.

No Order member was nearby. For the past week, everyone at the Burrow had been effectively tripping over one at every turn. The presence of the Order members at the Burrow during the last week was something of an enigma. One day, they had just seemed to be there, in and out, day and night. They seemed to have made the Burrow their new headquarters, but no explanation was given as to why, or even what had happened to the Black house on Grimmauld Place.

The only members he knew that Harry had not seen at the Burrow were Dumbledore and Snape.

The attic, where Bill and Charlie had been staying this time had become literally out of bounds, although no one told them; they found out for themselves when Ron came back from trying to talk to his older brothers, wringing his right hand. Harry wondered why everyone was at the Burrow instead of at Grimmauld place, and if his first thought - that it was a change of headquarters - was right. He wondered what it all meant, then put it aside. Chances were, he would find out soon enough. He expected that Dumbledore would want to see him once he arrived at school.

Harry had yet to talk to Lupin about Sirius. It seemed that whenever they had a chance to talk, that there were other, more urgent things to talk about. The weather for example.

He had been meaning to try and bring up the subject earlier today, but when he had gone looking he found that nearly all of the Order members had disappeared; only a couple were still ensconced in the living room, with the door firmly closed and protected by a Imperturbable Charm. Harry knew this because Ginny had checked by chucking a couple of rolled up socks at it not long after the door had closed. Ron who had pulled out an extendable ear he had stashed away, prepared to find out whatever he could if the opportunity presented itself, had been forced to give it up as a lost cause.

Harry's thought's moved on.

Not long after, Ron and Hermione had headed off on a walk, which Harry chose to interpret as them definitely coming closer to pulling their heads out of the ground and understanding how they felt about each other. He wondered if they would become less volatile if they got together, but rapidly dismissed the notion. It was impossible to think of the two of them going a day without some small disagreement.

Fred and George were in Diagon Alley again, as they had been much of the summer, running their shop which had proven a runaway success. The lead up to the new school term had resulted in their biggest sales boom yet, with students stocking up on all the necessities: Canary Creams, Banshee Blowouts, various types of Skiving Snackboxes. They had tried to give Harry what they called his share of the earnings from their shop last week, but he had refused, telling them to do something nice for their younger siblings instead. That night they had brought home a prototype of a wheeze for each of their siblings.

Ron had been presented with a tiny bracelet that the twins told him to put around Pig's leg. Harry had recognised it from twins presentation when he had first arrived at the Burrow. With some trepidation which Harry found unsurprising considering the twins track record, Ron had gone up to his room to fetch Pig and bought him downstairs. Pig, in his usual way had made a great deal of fuss and become over excited at the attention. Nothing could match the dumbfounded on Ron's face when the bracelet had been put on, and all of a sudden there was near silence - unless you counted Pig, who appeared to be in a state of shock for some moments before getting over it. Needless to say, the 'Owl Mute' was Ron's new favourite Wheeze.

Ginny had also received a bracelet. This one Harry hadn't seen before so the twins encouraged him to go and take a closer look. It was then that he, and Ginny, discovered one of it's secrets. It played music whenever Harry was nearby. Seeing Hermione out of the corner of his eye trying to hide a smirk Harry had cornered her later that afternoon. It turned out that she had recognised a couple of the tunes that the bracelet played and had recognised what they were. Love songs. This led Harry to think back to the train ride home at the beginning of summer and Ron's not so subtle attempts to direct Ginny's affections. Harry wondered whether the twins were working with Ron on this one.

It wasn't until later on that night, when Ginny had tried to get it off that the bracelet's other secret had been discovered. It wouldn't.

Harry's internal musings were interrupted by the sound of someone else joining him under the tree. Faintly he could hear strains of Greensleeves playing nearby. He cracked open an eye and saw a pair of brown eyes regarding him intently and with a slightly disturbing level of resolution. The jolt her presence inevitably brought was pushed aside with practiced ease as his mental control snapped back on.

"Haven't we done this before?" he asked amiably, while wracking his brain trying to think what she was here for.

Ginny made a great show of looking around before responding. "Where's the shockingly long potions essay this time?" she gave him a half grin before settling herself down more comfortably against the trunk alongside Harry. While waiting for her to continue he noticed that she was moving the cloth she was currently using to muffle the bracelet around, in what Harry was rapidly beginning to identify as a nervous gesture.

Harry watched her face turn more serious as she took a deep breath, and with growing apprehension waited for her to speak again.

"You said later, and this is later, so... what is it?" she asked. Harry hesitated and she plunged on. "That first day you were here. It was me wasn't it, not something to do with your scar." It wasn't a question. She continued on quickly "I noticed how you went white again when you set eyes on me later that night, and then you nearly collapsed again the next day. Even now, every time you see me you jump. It's less noticeable now, but it's still there." She looked at him seriously and expectantly. "What is it?" she prompted again when he didn't immediately begin to answer.

Harry looked at her and suddenly came to an decision, he had promised after all. "Ginny," he said abruptly, "was that really all you can remember about being possessed? Blank periods of time?"

By her reaction Harry guessed that she hadn't been expecting that question. He watched as she took a slow breath and considered his question.

"Pretty much. I mean, there was the waking up to chicken feathers and blood," she shuddered slightly, "and the time with the red paint... but while actually possessed... nothing. I knew that something was definitely up, and I was certain it had something to do with the diary. Why else would I have thrown it away in a place that no one willingly goes?" As she paused Harry noticed her brow furrow in puzzlement. "Which really begs the question, how did you get the diary? What were you doing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?"

Harry had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Would you believe it was all Hermione's idea? We needed somewhere we could get something done that we had to keep secret." Seeing Ginny's face grew more interested Harry continued. "You see, we thought that it had to be Malfoy who was behind everything. So we brewed some Polyjuice potion so that we could get into the Slytherin common room and find out. Ghastly place."

"That would be about the time that Hermione spent all that time in the hospital wing," Ginny caught on. This was apparently one of their adventures that Ginny had not yet been told about.

"Yeah. It seems that Polyjuice only works for changing into other humans. Hermione accidentally used a cat hair." Harry felt an inward flood of relief as the topic went into somewhat safer territory. The relief was unfortunately short-lived.

"But you didn't answer my question. What happened? It can't still be the Christmas scare that's bothering you, so this must have something to do with the Ministry of Magic. What happened after you lost Neville, after you ran after Bellatrix? We were all bundled up a bit later and sent back to Hogwarts, but you weren't with us. What happened?"

Harry thought quickly. On one hand Ginny, as she had so forcefully pointed out at Christmas, was the only other person he knew who had been possessed by Voldemort. On the other, it had been nothing like his own experience, and his own experience touched a little too closely to his other closely kept secret. The one that had once again begun to eat at him as he had finished his holiday work. Still, he concluded, maybe it was time to take a chance.

"It wasn't like that at all." His voice was unconsciously pitched low and Ginny leant closer to catch his words. His eyes clenched shut as he released his hold on the memories. His voice gained a slight quaver as he continued. "I remember everything."

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Shall I shut up now?

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter. It was originally a little longer, but I felt that the ending was a little anti-climactic, so cut it to where it now ends. Stay tuned for chapter nine, where they catch the Hogwarts Express, Malfoy makes an appearance (surprise, surprise) and Neville is jubilant with good reason.

For now, review! You know you want to. waves hands in vaguely hypnotic manner Review! Review! Review!