Chapter 1

Ginny's secret

Ginny burrowed deeper beneath her thin hand me down quilt. She shivered and stared into the darkness of her room.

Unlike the rest of the Weasley's, fifteen year-old Ginny Weasley, was wide-awake and deep in thought.

She winced as she felt a sharp burn at the back of her head.

Incompetent idiot's...

She closed her mind off to the unwanted thoughts.

It was getting worse lately, she was beginning to hear his thoughts more and more often.

Ever since her first year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, when Tom Riddle had possessed her, thereby linking her to him, she for some reason could read Voldemort's thoughts.

Not by wanting to of course, but every time Voldemort got angry his thoughts surged through her mind and she'd have to push them out.

Maybe it was time she told someone about the scar at the back of her head, hidden beneath her fiery red hair.

The scar that was like Harry Potter's.

The scar that had been created when Tom Riddle had possessed her.

She bit her lower lip nervously. Of course she couldn't tell anyone! She could just imagine everyone's reactions!

Everyone would be worried about her, fussing over her.

The ministry would be notified.

People at school would ignore her like her first-year.

And her parents would scold her angrily for not telling them sooner.

At that thought she wondered why she hadn't told them earlier.

Of course she had been worried of everyone's reactions but really she hadn't thought about telling anyone.

It had honestly never been that bad.

The only time she'd even started hearing his thoughts was in her third year.

She chuckled at the memory. The first time she'd heard him in her mind had been when she was in Potions class.

He'd thought something about mud bloods and Ginny had been livid.

She'd even swiveled around and told off a frightened Hufflepuff she'd assumed had said it.



It had taken her a couple of months to realize what she kept hearing and why.

Then she'd skillfully taught herself to push out his thoughts so she wouldn't have to hear them.

And frankly it had not been hard.

But now that he was back in full power it took every ounce of energy to push it out.

And she heard him twice a day whereas before she'd only heard him once every three months.

She debated possible solutions to her dilemma in her head when she heard angry hushed voices downstairs.

She shot up into a sitting position and strained her ears to hear who it was.

When all she heard were muffled voices she stepped out of bed and cautiously made her way to her bedroom door.

She opened it and peeked her head out. She slowly padded down the steps.

"Arthur! You know very well you can't go get Harry! Dumbledore specifically told you he needed to stay at the Dursley's for at least half of the summer!" Molly Weasley exclaimed angrily.

She heard Arthur let out an irritated but patient breath.

"Molly, I already told you that The Dursley's went on vacation in Europe and left Harry at Arabella's! You know its not safe for him there with all the death-eaters running rampant!" He spat at her and she could hear the shocked silence that pursued the statement.

"What are you talking about Arthur? Most of the death-eaters are in Azkaban. Dumbledore and the Aurors captured them at the end of last year!" Molly declared matter-of-factly but Ginny noted a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Well, you see, about that Molly," Arthur paused and let out a shaky breath. "The Death eaters escaped last week," He said quickly and Ginny gasped.

"WHAT!?" Molly roared and Ginny could almost picture the look on her father's face. That here-it-comes look.

"Why isn't it on the news? And why wasn't I told about this?!" Molly demanded and Ginny crept further down the stairs curious to hear her father's response.

"Molly, The ministry wants it hushed up, they don't want anyone to worry anymore than they already are on You-know-who's return, and I was going to tell you, but I couldn't with any of the children around and I wanted to wait. But it seems that it's the only thing I can say to get you to let me out of this house to go get Harry." Arthur explained and Ginny frowned.

There was a long thoughtful silence and Molly sighed.

"You're right, the best thing would be to get Harry right now. God forbid anything happen to that poor boy," Molly whispered her voice filtered with concern.

Ginny's heart skipped a beat.

Harry Potter.

Sometimes she had to force herself to remember that she was supposed to be over him.

On the positive side Harry was everything a girl could look for. He was strong, courageous and pure hearted.

He was kind, gentle and sweet, although sometimes he tended to snap.

He had strikingly good looks and considered every one else's thoughts before his own.

On the negative side, He was cut off from the world, grief stricken and carried an extremely large load of guilt that wasn't his to carry.

That, however, Ginny could deal with.

That was something she could understand and sometimes even relate to but what she couldn't deal with was the fact that he always had and probably always will look at her as his best friends little sister.

That's why she'd forced herself to forget about him. She'd even gone out with Michael Corner on the rebound.

That had been a dreadful mistake.

He'd run off with that emotional wreck, Cho Chang, because she hadn't lost the Quidditch match purposely so his team could win.

What a prat.

Ginny shook her head and scolded herself for letting her thoughts wander elsewhere.

She realized that her father had disparated and gone to get Harry at Misses Figg's and that her mother was on her way up the stairs.

Ginny hurried back up the stairs and into her room. She closed the door behind her and let out a breath of relief when she heard her mother pass in front of the room.

She sighed and crawled back into bed.

She definitely couldn't bother anyone with her petty problems.

Not when everyone was going through things ten times more difficult then her,

No, her secret was nothing compared to Harry's life.

The light shone in from Ginny's bedroom window and poured over her sleeping figure like liquid sunshine.

A slight breeze wafted in with the sweet scent of honeysuckle in the air.

Ginny opened her eyes and stretched luxuriously, when her parent's conversation from the night before flooded back to her.

She sat up with a start.

Harry was coming today.

She jumped out of bed and quickly made her way to the bathroom that adjoined her room.

After taking a quick shower she got dressed and brushed out her flaming red hair.

The reflection staring back at her in the mirror was not one that Ginny particularly liked but with time had learned to accept.

The thing that you could distinguish best on her and all the Weasleys was her head of sizzling red hair. It was shoulder length and slightly curled at the end.

Ginny preferred to leave it loose to frame her heart-shaped face.

Her complexion was flawless, a perfect olive skin texture.

The only thing that marred her skin was the freckles splashed across the bridge of her button nose.

Her soulful brown eyes were always twinkling and filled with joy.

She was slim, a little too slim to her liking, but was adequately developed.

At first glance some might mistake her for a porcelain doll, but the people close to Ginny knew better.

She was anything but a fragile doll that could be broken or shattered easily.

In truth Ginny had a fiery temper to match her fiery hair she was outspoken and impulsive.

But although she was spontaneous and acted brashly at times she was spirited and kind.

Her loving nature was one of the things that had caused her to trust Tom Riddle in the first place.

She never complained and always tried to help despite the battle waging within her.

She was fighting for a place in the Weasley family and was often overlooked because she seemed content and happy.

Ginny grimaced at her reflection and bounded out of the room and down the steps.

Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with Ron.

The sight of Harry hit her full force causing her to gasp in surprise.

He was disheveled wearing a collared shirt six times too big for him. His hair was scruffier and wilder then ever.

His face was ashen.

His glasses were askew and one lens was broken.

He was staring at nothing; his eyes glazed over a haunted look in them.

She knew that in his fifth year he'd lost Sirius. She didn't exactly understand what Sirius had meant to Harry but she remembered the way he looked when they'd left him to the Dursley's at the end of the school year.

He was heart-broken and Ginny sensed he felt guilty somehow.

Ginny forced a look of surprise on her face.

"Oh hello Harry! It's so nice to see you again!" She said gently with a small smile.

Harry nodded in response and her and Ron exchanged a worried look.

He needs some cheering up! Ginny thought and noticed a plate of cookies on the counter.

"Where's mum?" she asked and took a freshly baked cookie off the counter.

"You're not supposed to eat those!" Ron said superiorly.

Ginny grinned wickedly. Ron had done exactly as she thought he would.

"Oh Sod off Ron, we don't need another Percy in the house." Ginny blurted and Ron flushed.

"Yeah well its not like we need another Fred or George either" he said and grabbed the cookie from her hand.

Ginny made eye contact with Harry who had a huge grin on his face.

Ginny winked it was working! A little bickering to remind Harry what having a family meant.

"You know Ron some people would assume that you're taking your prefect duties a little too seriously, maybe you're trying to impress a certain curly haired brunette..." Ginny said and the tips of Ron's ears turned redder than his hair.

Harry roared with laughter, Ginny smiled from ear to ear. It felt so good to hear him laugh; she'd suspected that he had forgotten how.

Ron was absolutely livid.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Harry you're supposed to be my friend!" He spat and Harry only laughed harder.

Ginny smiled, she was glad that she could make him laugh. Even if it was at Ron's expense.

Suddenly four "whooshes" from the fireplace interrupted their thoughts.

Miss Weasley, Hermione, Fred and George strode into the kitchen.

Molly was delighted to see that Harry was laughing.

"Harry! How are you?" Hermione cried and hugged Harry tightly.

"Hermione...can't...breathe..." he stammered the rest of the Weasley's (other than Ron who seemed to be a little irked) chuckled.

Hermione immediately released Harry and went to hug Ron.

"Well, how about a spot of tea then? Come on everyone in the living room!" Molly said and herded the teenager's into the room.

That evening Fred and George were playing a game of exploding snap, Molly was sitting contently on an armchair knitting a maroon jumper, Arthur was reading the daily prophet, Hermione and Ron were bickering and Harry was staring dejectedly into the fire.

Ginny watched him and knew instantly that he was reminiscing about terrible things.

She was about to get up and talk to him when she heard Voldemort's voice for the first time that day.

"How am I supposed to kill Potter! What is his weakness?! Does the little Bastard even have a weakness... Of course... the perfect way to lure him away from those damned protectors of his would be to use his complexity towards hero saving!"

Ginny turned pale, she watched as the teacup she'd been holding fell to the ground.

She saw everyone turn her way and she could see them asking her what was wrong but she couldn't hear them.

She couldn't hear a thing.

"I'll kidnap one of his little friends, the mud-blood Granger, when they go to diagon alley and when Potter comes to the rescue like I know he will I'll kill them both."

"No! You can't!" Ginny transmitted the message to Voldemort's mind for the first time.

"Who said that! Who is that?"

"Leave Harry alone!" She thought and pushed the thought to Voldemort.

" Well this is certainly unexpected, How long have we been linked... Virginia Weasley is it? Is that why Potter keeps escaping, you little Bitch, because you're delving into my private thoughts and revealing all my plans? How long have you been there? How long have you been able to hear me"

Voldemort demanded and Ginny burst out crying. He knew she could read his mind and he in turn could enter hers.

"That's right Weasley, I know."

Harry watched in horror with the rest of the family as Ginny began to sob.

He was shaken to see her so distraught. There wasn't anything anyone could do.

Miss Weasley was crying and asking what was happening to her 'baby girl'. Mister Weasley and the rest of them were kneeling in front of her and shaking her furiously.

Harry stood there behind them not quite sure what to do. Suddenly an intense heat streaked across his forehead.

Voldemort was angry, very angry.

He looked into Ginny's sunken in eyes and wondered if she had anything to do with it.

Ginny snapped out of the trance and stood up. She was looking at him. Into his eyes like she was trying to tell him something.

He saw her eyes close and her body get limp.

No one had been expecting her to fall, but Harry had and he caught her right before she hit the ground.

"Mungo's! Were bringing her to Mungo's hospital right now!" Molly cried.

Harry barely heard her. He was more concerned with the fragile little redhead in his arms. She felt so pliable, soft and warm against him and it seemed like she was made for him to hold, perfect for him.

His eyes widened in horror, what was he thinking? Feelings for Ginny? When had that happened? He found himself enjoying the idea of being with Ginny until the vision of Sirius falling through the curtain popped into his head.

He willingly handed Ginny to her father. No he couldn't afford to care about any other person, it would only get her killed.

"Calm down Molly, she's breathing quite normally. We'll bring her to her room let her rest and wait till she comes around. I'm sure its nothing but a touch of the flu," Arthur said and they carried her up the stairs.

Harry watched her go and felt absolutely horrible. Feeling that Ginny's 'illness' was somehow his fault. What's one more load of guilt? He thought miserably and followed the Weasley's upstairs.

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