DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, please don't sue me.
To all my readers, thank you for sticking with this story. And to all my reviewers, a big hug. Thanks, your comments have helped me in writing this, it really has.
Chapter 15- Arrival:
Jenny was waiting for them at the Hogwarts lake, along with Kath the Undine. Aya and Acantha had followed them, and with a little bit of air magic, the sylph raised Ginny out of the water and laid her gently next to Jenny. She immediately went to work, saying a few spells that Harry had not yet learned. He looked towards the castle, where he could see Dumbledore and the other Weasleys rushing towards them.
Ginny coughed a few times, regaining consciousness. She took a deep breath, and looked around slowly. At first she saw Jenny, looking down at her concernedly. "Are you okay, Ginny?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered shakily. "What happened?"
"You fainted," Hermione said. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to see Madam Pomfrey?"
"No, I'm fine. Where's Harry?"
"I'm right here," he knelt down next to her and helped her to a sitting position. "How are you feeling?"
"Very good, actu-" Ginny was interrupted by the arrival of Dumbledore and her family to the edge of the lake. Mrs. Weasley immediately tackled her daughter, squeezing her so tight, Harry thought she would choke. While the Weasleys were having their reunion, Jenny, with Remus, who had just arrived on the scene, pulled Harry aside.
"Harry, what you did was very irresponsible!" Jenny began. "It was dangerous, it was impulsive, and you could have gotten your friends killed! What the hell were you thinking?"
"Jen, calm down," said Remus soothingly. "Harry, I must admit that was impressive. You rescued Ginny from right under Voldemort's nose and came out without a scratch and with your friends all in one piece, which means you really have been studying and practicing what we've taught you. But I'd like to know how you knew where Ginny was."
"Well, I kinda- sorta let my Occlumency shields down and allowed Voldemort to show me where he was staying." Harry closed his eyes, waiting for them to start screaming at him.
Instead, Remus smiled at him. "I should've known. Dumbledore had thought about that."
"Great minds think alike," Jenny put in, smirking.
Remus continued, "He decided it was too risky, though. Well, we're happy to see you all in one piece." He cast Jenny a look, and she nodded. "I'm going to go check on Ginny," she said, running off.
Lupin looked at Harry for a long time before he finally spoke. "Your dad would've have done the same. But, please, Harry, don't ever just run off like that again. We were all terrified, not knowing where you were, whether you were hurt or not, if Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were fine. It is a true miracle all of you came out of Voldemort's hideout without an injury. Except for Ginny, of course, but I'm guessing those injuries were from those three weeks she was missing."
"I'm sorry you all were worried," Harry said truthfully. "But I didn't have time to run to Dumbledore. Ginny was in extreme pain; she couldn't stay in that place anymore. She needed help."
Lupin laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Next time, though, at least leave a note."
"Hopefully there won't be a next time," he grumbled.
Remus nodded. "Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about, but I haven't gotten a chance."
"It's about Sirius's will, isn't it?" Harry remembered that he had tried talking to him before one of their lessons during the summer.
"Yes, we never really discussed the topic. Now's not the time though. Drop by my office tomorrow before breakfast. Bring Ginny. I'd like to talk to her, too." Professor Lupin clapped Harry's shoulder, and then left to the castle. From where he was standing, Harry could hear Ginny's complaining over her mother's fussing.
After the overjoyed reunion between the Weasleys, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat silently in Dumbledore's office while Harry explained what had happened the night before.
"The elementals said the plan wouldn't work without killing us," he told the headmaster. "They said that if it was with a different donor the transfer of power would have been a good idea, but Ginny's powers added to mine would make it impossible for me to survive."
"I feared that could have been the case, and I asked for Jenny's help, but she said the elementals had refused to help her, and Abigail wouldn't respond to any of our questions," he replied, sighing deeply as he realized that another of his plans was now shot. He turned to Ginny with sad, blue eyes. "I know it might be hard for you to speak about what happened at the Riddle mansion-"
"You're right," she interrupted. "Which is why I won't say anything about what actually went on."
Dumbledore stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "That's completely understandable."
"He's got new curses to torture people though, many of which will end up killing them. And he's developed a whole line of poisons that will give the drinker a slow, agonizing death with the help of our esteemed Potions Master, Severus Snape," she said, her voice filled with contempt and sarcasm. They all looked at her questioningly. "Yeah, that's right. Snape is not a spy. Well, he is, but he's spying on us, not for us. He's been giving Voldemort information for months now."
A shocked silence followed her declaration. Hermione brought her hand to cover her mouth, and Ron paled slightly. Harry frowned deeply.
"Would you all please return to Gryffindor Tower? I need to call an emergency Order meeting right now," Dumbledore said quietly. The four teens stood simultaneously. They silently made their way to the common room.
"Ginny, are you really sure about Snape?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"He pretty much told me outright, 'Mione. He was the one who told Voldemort of my immortality, and he helped kidnap me." She took a deep breath. "Now, what were the casualties of the Hogsmeade attack?"
"Ten people from the village, plus four students got the Dementor's Kiss," Hermione answered. "Fourteen from Hogwarts died, and sixteen from the town. Madam Pince is still missing-"
"They can give up the search for her. Nott completely destroyed her."
Hermione swallowed, clearly taken by surprise. "Colin Creevey is in St. Mungo's,"she continued shakily. "Malfoy got the Kiss. They were found five days later."
"Malfoy would have been better off if Snape had killed him like he threatened. But like Draco said, even a dead man can talk. A soulless shell doesn't really have much to say," Ginny said bitterly.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"Malfoy was a spy for the Order. Only Dumbledore knew about it. When Snape killed Katie Bell and had captured me, Draco confronted him. Told him that he was going to make damn sure Dumbledore knew just what kind of a person Snape really was. Never got a chance. Poor guy," she repeated.
"No way! Malfoy, a spy? Are you sure you don't want to go see Madam Pomfrey?" Ron asked Ginny.
Harry felt as though the world no longer made any sense. Malfoy had been his enemy in school since he had turned down his friendship on the Hogwarts' Express. Now, Ginny had told him that Malfoy had been on their side all along, risking his life for the Order. Ginny actually felt bad about what had happened to him, and he had teased the Weasleys more than anyone else, except Hermione and Harry.
"War is the most horrible thing. It makes people do things that they might not have done during a time of peace," Ginny said, breaking the silence. "It makes people show their true colors, and pick sides. Some people even go against their families, like Malfoy, fighting their own fathers, or brothers. I'm telling you now, I'm not going to rest until this war is over. I'm going to fight with everything that's in me. And I'm through playing fair. From now on, I'm not playing by the rules."
She looked so passionate and serious that she scared her companions. Ron swallowed, Hermione was holding her breath, and Harry couldn't stop thinking how much he agreed with her at that moment.
Early the next morning, Harry and Ginny walked towards Professor Lupin's office. Word of her safe return had spread through the school in minutes, and many people in the halls waved and smiled at her. A few even stopped to ask how she was feeling. Ginny smiled weakly at everyone, gripping Harry's hand tightly.
A breakfast for three laid in a table in front of the fireplace. Remus was sitting at his desk, correcting some papers. He looked up when they knocked and entered the room. "Good morning you two. Come in, sit down." He led them to the table. Harry pulled out a chair for Ginny before sitting down next to her.
"Ginny, how are you feeling?" Remus asked, pouring out coffee for all of them.
"Tired, but okay, I guess," she answered.
Remus nodded. "First, Dumbledore asked me to invite you two to the next Order meeting. He thinks that the two of you should join the Order, even if you are too young."
"Mom's going to hit the roof," Ginny said, taking a sip from her cup.
"I suppose Molly will be against the idea, but the final decision is going to be made you two and Dumbledore. He thinks it's time you go more involved in this fight." Harry and Ginny readily agreed to join the Order and attend its next meeting.
"Now, to the real reason I asked you to come, Sirius' will," started Remus.
"I don't want to know what it says, Moony," Harry said sadly. "If he left me anything, I don't want it."
"He left everything to the both of us, Harry,"
"Keep it all."
"No, he wanted you to have it."
Harry sat with his jaw clenched. Accepting Sirius' will also meant accepting his death. And that was too painful to accept. "I don't want any of it."
Remus shook his head sadly. "Ginny, Sirius also left everything in his parents' vault to your family. I've already talked to your father about it. Sirius meant it as a thank you to you all for taking care of Harry." Ginny's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. He turned back to Harry. "The will says that we each get half of what was in Sirius' Gringotts vault. Grimmauld Place is also ours, but in the condition that it remains headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix. He also left you a few other things. You can get them at the meeting tomorrow."
"No. I told you I don't want it," said Harry.
"Sirius also declared me your guardian. It had been part of your parents' wills. When they died, Sirius became your guardian, and if something happened to him, then I would become your guardian." The three of them sat in an uncomfortable and tense silence. Remus was the first to speak again. "Sirius wouldn't have wanted us to waste away, Harry. You haven't moved on, though. You can't even say that Sirius is dead. You've ignored the fact instead, refusing to believe what is, unfortunately the truth."
Harry remained quiet at that. He had always liked Remus. He was his parents' best friend, like Sirius. He contemplated the fact that Remus had had to watch as all his friends fell to the war, and how he had remained completely alone in the world. It saddened him deeply. He nodded slowly, almost painfully, accepting a truth he had refused to see before.
Halloween was just around the corner, but the inhabitants of Hogwarts Castle seemed to depressed to want to celebrate. In an effort to cheer up the school, Dumbledore ordered the decorations put up a week before the great feast on All Hallow's Eve. The bats floating all over the Great Hall did nothing but annoy the owls that brought the mail every morning, and the pumpkins that Hagrid had grown and carved seem eerie and miserable among the students.
It had taken very little to convince Dumbledore to let Hermione and Ron join the Order as well. As predicted, Molly Weasley went completely berserk when Harry place shifted through the fire in the stove accompanied by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. The meeting had started almost a half hour later than it should have been due to Mrs. Weasley ranting. However, all four teenagers had proved themselves during the meeting. Ron proved to be a genius in military tactics (probably because of his Chess skills) and made many good suggestions to the Aurors present. Flitwick, McGonagall, and Lupin had been working on a charm, and gotten very close to a breakthrough, to uncover get through the Dark Arts charm that the Death Eaters used to hide their Dark Marks. With Hermione's help, they had successfully been able to make the spell work.
Ginny had accidentally eavesdropped on the Death Eaters that had been guarding her while she had been a prisoner in the Riddles' mansion. She was able to tell the Order some of the things they were planning, and the names of a few Death Eaters. Harry had called Acantha and Lauro to help them make plans. They had refused to talk to anyone other than Harry, and they had worked almost as divinators. The elementals would explain to Harry what was wrong with the strategies put on the table, and he would make suggestions to fix them.
Every Order member that had been present had realized that Harry and his friends were willing to fight. What was more, they were determined to win, more so than anyone in the room.
A/N: Let me explain the plan Dumbledore had designed. A transfer of power means that the donor (Ginny) gives part of his/her powers to the receiver (Harry). The receiver could use that person's powers, and return them when it was done. Now, Dumbledore made a mistake. He assumed that Ginny had extra power, that she received Dark Magic, plus the magic she was born with. In actuality, Ginny's natural powers became Dark due to the corruption of Tom Riddle. That's why she's extra powerful. Pure magic and all it's form, including Dark magic, tends to be stronger and harder to control. Now, if you take all of a person's magic, they die, because you're taking away a bit of their soul, their heart, and their mind. So the elementals' warnings were well founded. I decided at the last minute not to write this is. See, I got a new idea, which means I had to change a few things in the upcoming chapters. But what's coming is better than the original. I apologize for leaving you wondering what the plan was and not discussing fully in the story. That was my boo-boo.
Amalia. xoxo