Jillie, Dream, and Cornelia were ecstatic when Percy and Ron returned to the dungeon, still silent from the Burrow experience.
"So you did do it, didn't you?" Jillie demanded, performing several back-flips in the air. "You told your sister that she should date Harry Potter?"
Ron didn't feel like answering. Why did people always accuse him of never thinking, then intruding on his thoughts whenever he bothered to? Yes, he had done as he was supposed to, despite the fact that he was still wasn't sure of how he thought about Ginny and Harry together, as a couple. His best friend and his little sister. Oh, no. For a moment he considered vaporating back there and instructing Ginny to forget the whole thing.
But that was only a minor pest. He could still see Ginny, eyes misty with sleepiness, looking at him. It had been. . . he didn't like to think that way now. Wonderful. Now he wished she had done more. Even a scream would have been nice.
And then there was Percy. Ron glanced at his brother, lazily answering whatever random questions Cornelia was throwing at him in her shy way. Poor guy. Cornelia had it bad. Though at least she wasn't trying to kill anyone over Percy.
Exactly why had Percy been in their parents' room? Ron was still awaiting an explanation.
Jillie's freckled face hardened. "Well? Aren't you going to give us the details?"
Binnichan gave a snorting sort of laugh. "I think he's lying. They didn't do anything useful there. Maybe I should have gone."
Somehow the image of Binnichan roaming the Burrow was not a pleasant one.
"And to think I had to drown in that stupid lake to get a boy to notice me." Dream pushed Jillie out of the way. "That dratted Lucius Malfoy that for some reason I thought cute. You could at least make it easier on your sister. Tell us, Ron."
How he hated them. "She screamed out in her sleep that she hated Harry Potter and would stop at nothing until he was dead or crazy."
Even Binnichan was taken back.
"It's almost morning," Percy announced. His voice was strangely high. "So we should probably go."
No one said anything. Dream burst into tears.
"Happy Birthday, Cornelia. Again."
Cornelia joined Dream. A full-out Ravenclaw disaster.
"I didn't mean to upset her that much," Percy whispered as they left the room, nonchalantly glancing back. "But Jillie and Dream. What exactly did you say to them?"
"The wrong thing. I told them Ginny now hates Harry."
Percy raised an eyebrow, eyes bright beneath the murky glasses. "You told them what?"
It hadn't been all that funny in front of the girls. But, suddenly, it was. Ron laughed so hard it was all he could do to focus on the hall before him. Then he realized that Percy had joined in.
Ron bit his lip, attempting some stop of laughter. Ginny hating Harry would be something Percy might approve of. "You do realize that isn't what happened to Ginny?"
Percy just continued laughing, only giving a nod in reply. It was all the funnier, and all too soon the Gryffindor common room surrounded them.
"What about Cornelia?" Ron asked, throwing himself into the solidness of a couch. "What exactly did you say to her?"
It was a long time before Percy could speak. "I told her the same thing."
Harry hated History of Magic. He hated it more than he could bear. Perhaps with Voldemort out of the way, he had to vent angry emotion on something. So why not that miserable class with its boring teacher and pointless, droning hours of notes and notes that managed to spread themselves over the common room floor.
The worst part was that he wasn't enrolled.
"I think it'd be a nice thing for you to do," Hermione had said. "Ginny's been stressed. I've been stressed. You don't even want to visit the Weasleys, so why don't you just stay here and attend Ginny's class for her while we go?" Ginny's History of Magic was late on Fridays.
So, like a fool, Harry had agreed to attend it for her. And copy boring note and after boring note while Hermione and Ginny did... whatever at the Burrow.
But Hermione was also right in saying that he didn't want to go there. Too many memories.
Not that History of Magic didn't have its own attached. Harry paused, ink dripping from the quill onto the pile of fix-up notes. That had been the one he and Ron had always slept through. Ron had once joked that Professor Binns had bored himself to death.
Harry missed him so much.
And why was he doing the stupid notes? Ginny still didn't speak to him and probably never would again. Hermione's little surprise plan would have no affect whatsoever. Ginny might not even take the notes. What was he trying to prove by going to class for her? Why was he bothering now, so early in the morning, to make them nice?
Hermione wasn't the only one going crazy.
"Good morning!"
Harry screamed, and the bottle of ink went flying like a black rain storm. All over the floor, all over his clothes. All over the notes.
The little first-year boy giggled. An annoying redhead. "Sorry, Harry. I just don't see people up this early."
Harry forced a smile and tried to wipe some of the ink away. "It's okay, Sterling. I was just finishing homework."
"Homework?" The kid looked sick. "Oh. Homework is boring. Do you wanna go play Quidditch?"
"With two people? This early?"
It was as if an entirely new concept had been opened up. "Oh! I'm going to go get dressed then. Bye, Harry." Sterling wandered back up to the boys' dorms.
"Bye, Sterling." Had he been so obnoxious at age eleven?
Maybe the notes could still be salvaged. If only he hadn't left his wand up in his room. With a heavy sigh he picked up one sheet and scrubbed at the inky mess.
The portrait hole swung open, revealing a head of brown hair. "Harry? You're up this early? And what have you been doing?" Hermione's night bag slammed to the floor.
Harry stared back at Hermione, then the ink mess, and the soaking parchment in his hand. He had unbuttoned his shirt to get a better wiping surface. "Oh. You're back early."
"We have to be for classes." Hermione held the door open, and Ginny appeared. She was still in her pajamas, red hair slung back in a messy ponytail.
Harry's breath caught. Something from the past couple of nights slithered into his head. Something about Ginny.
Ginny froze, her eyes locking with Harry's. She seemed almost. . .nervous. "Hi, Harry."
"Hey, Ginny."
Hermione picked up a sheet of parchment, then turned on Harry. "What did you do to Ginny's notes?"
"Notes?" Ginny echoed.
"Harry, you're impossible." Hermione shoved the parchment into his arms. "How is she supposed to read this mess? Ginny, I made Harry attend your History of Magic class on Friday. So we could leave earlier."
Ginny actually smiled. "You slept through a class for me?"
Some of the writing was still legible, Harry decided. "I actually did take notes. There was just... an accident." Then, to his horror, he found himself actually handing her the mess of parchment and ink.
She accepted it, somewhat gingerly. "Thanks."
It was rather awkward. He quickly buttoned up his pajama shirt. "You're welcome. Sorry if you can't read them. They were going to be nice."
She laughed. A forced laugh. "Well, I sleep through that class anyway. Professor Binns probably bored himself to death. That's what my brother used to say."
"So why bother taking notes?" Hermione sighed and grabbed her bag. "I'm going to take a shower." She marched up the stairs.
Leaving Harry alone with Ginny.
Ginny glanced over the notes, then set them carefully on a chair. "Um, Harry? I think I should apologize for the way I've been acting."
Why did girls always have to apologize? "You haven't been acting anyway."
Her eyes flashed, almost angry. "Oh, I have, too. I've barely spoken to you since everything happened and I should have."
"Ginny, it's been a month."
"I think a month is quite a long time not to speak to someone."
She was going to hurt him. Ginny could be quite scary when she wanted to be. Had that been why he had never tried to talk to her? Great, now he had to apologize. "I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you, either."
She couldn't seem to find a reply for that. Score one. Finally, she just smiled. "Hermione thinks she's going crazy again."
"Why are you changing the subject?" he asked.
"Because we've both apologized. And I think you need to hear this. Hermione basically slept the whole weekend. I think she does too much homework. So she just crashed on the den downstairs."
"I don't understand how that makes her crazy."
Ginny smiled again. She always had looked cute when she smiled. "Saturday morning, she said she had heard voices. They had woken her up. And she said of them were coming from my room."
Harry laughed. "So you're talking in your sleep? I think that makes you the crazy one." This wasn't so hard, talking to Ginny.
Her laugh was more real this time. "Okay, maybe so. Well, it's just that I had a really weird dream that night. With... I don't know. Harry, I had this weird dream with Ron in it, and he was talking to me. I've had dreams about Ron before, of course, but this was different. He told me that. . ." She looked down, her face flooding red.
A dream about Ron. She had to bring him up. "He told you what? And what does this have to do with Hermione being crazy? Are you saying....?" He searched his mind for a joke. Anything remotely funny. "Are you saying Ron's maybe haunting your dreams or something?"
That wasn't funny. It wasn't funny at all.
And for some reason Ginny actually laughed again. "You know, he'd probably do something like that, knowing him."
Maybe Ron would. "So what did you dream he told you?"
The blush returned. "I need to go shower, too. I'll talk to you later."
She left the notes on the chair.
That hadn't been bad, Ron decided. The conversation between Harry and Ginny had actually gone quite well. So well that two hours later he was still talking about it.
"How come she didn't mention dreaming about me?" Percy whined as he picked at the pages of a spectral book. "I was there."
"You told her she shouldn't date Harry. Maybe her subconscious burned that out."
Percy sighed and slammed the book shut. "Maybe we should ask Binns if he knows anything more about the McFly family. I still think that names sounds familiar."
"Very familiar," Ron agreed. "You're supposed to know everyone through the Ministry. Why don't you recognize it?"
Percy rolled his eyes and shoved the book back onto the shelf. Beneath them passed a trio of Ravenclaw girls. "You seem to have a lot of respect for the Ministry for all the complaining you do about it. Do you think we should ask the girls?"
"Dream and Cornelia? I think they're still mad at us. You think they could take a joke."
"I'm surprised they believed us. Now that was classic. We completely ruined their silly little game."
"But Harry and Ginny were talking!" Ron reminded, glancing at another dead book. "They haven't talked since I died."
"You know, you sound really excited about this. I think Jillie's corrupted you."
Maybe so. He was excited. After so much confusion he had found something comfortable in his sister and his friend getting along. Well, if it had to be anyone for Ginny, it might as well be Harry.
"They're not talking now," Percy said. "They're all just... studying together. Or where."
"Percy, there is nothing wrong with studying." That was where Ron wanted to go, a few shelves away to where Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all silently doing homework. "You're the last person I thought I would hear this from."
"Hermione would have told you that. Did you have any idea she had gone home with Ginny?"
Ron just glared. That had been the worst. To find out that Hermione had been secretly sleeping down in the den the entire time. Maybe he could have said something to her.
McGonagall walked past then, tall hat brushing at the edges of the shelves. Ron jumped away. He wasn't visible, but he still almost expected McGonagall to tear into him. But of course she didn't see him and hurried past, eyes glancing at the tables among the shelves.
A student was searching the shelves and nearly scurried off in fright at the sight of McGonagall.
The student didn't get far, not with McGonagall's hand. "Have you seen Ginny Weasley? I heard she was in the library."
"Ginny?" Percy repeated.
The victim gulped and pointed in a direction.
"Thank-you, Davids." She hurried off again.
"What does she want Ginny for?" Ron asked.
"Like I'd know." Percy hopped off the shelf. "Come on."
Even shooting through the shelves wasn't fast enough to beat McGonagall to the table. Instead it was a tie, and Ron slid to a stop behind Hermione.
"Professor McGonagall," she said brightly.
McGonagall didn't reply. Her face was like stone. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but this concerns Miss Weasley."
Ginny's eyes went wide. "Did I--?"
Ron felt tempted to laugh. So Ginny had performed a small prank and suffered some guilt.
Percy elbowed him violently. "Quiet."
"Nothing you did," McGonagall said softly. "But you need to come to Dumbledore's office with me."
Ginny glanced at Harry.
McGonagall shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harry, but for once this doesn't concern you. Come, Ginny."
Looking like a ghost herself, Ginny followed McGonagall from the library.
Ron followed her, at least until a terrible jerk at his wrist pulled him back. He twisted his head around, snarling at Percy.
"We shouldn't go," Percy said solmenly. "I don't think we should."
"If it concerns Ginny, it concern us," Ron snapped.
"Ron, please—"
Something was wrong. He could tell that just from the look in McGonagall's eyes. And if something was wrong with Ginny... "Percy, for once, don't care if there will be a disaster. You've caused enough." He probably shouldn't have said it, but it worked. At least it surprised Percy enough that Ron could take control of the bindings.
He hadn't been in Dumbledore's office since the night he had been killed. He slid through a wall, and for one brief moment it might as well have been that same night all over again.
Percy allowed himself to be dragged in, complaining. "We shouldn't be here. We—"
Ron paid no attention to him. If he had, he would have agreed. This wasn't right at all.
The door opened, and Ginny entered, alone and frightened. Apparently whatever it was didn't concern McGonagall, either.
"Mum?" Her voice echoed in the room. "Did I leave something at home? I just left this morning—"
The entire Weasley family was there. That wasn't right. Again Ron considered leaving. His parents were there, the twins, Bill, Charlie, and now Ginny. And Dumbledore, looking very grave from his desk. And, to make it even stranger, so was Remus Lupin.
Percy swore under his breath.
"Ginny's here." Remus spoke almost regretfully. "I guess..." He glanced at Dumbledore.
Arthur took a deep breath, a sad attempt to hide his confusion. "I'd like to know what is so urgent. That we all had to hear."
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "As you know, for the past few weeks we've been sorting out all the messes that Lord Voldemort has left us. Remus Lupin has been working with some of the Ministry of Magic disasters. We've found out several things... Cornelius Fudge has already been taken from his position, but he was just sentenced to Azkaban imprisonment this morning."
Fred and George exchanged nervous laughs.
Dumbledore almost smiled. Almost.
Dumbledore was only grim for good reasons, Ron realized.
"Remus," Dumbledore said. "You're the one who found this out. Perhaps it's best you present it."
Remus looked ready to kill the headmaster. "Arthur, Molly, you're well-aware of all the problems the Ministry has suffered the past few years. Even when they agreed to work with us, that was very limited. Even now we don't know how deep the inner corruption has gone. But it turns out that there were people in the Ministry who truly were on our side. Unfortunately, higher members wouldn't allow that. They were secretly executed."
Molly gasped.
"Let's leave," Percy hissed. "Let's leave now."
"This happened a year ago. We've had confessions and... other evidence." Remus sighed and shook his head. "I'm making this so much worse, I know. I don't know how to handle these things. You've already been through so much."
"Perhaps you should just tell us," Bill said softly.
For a long time Remus couldn't speak. Ron knew why.
"Percy was among them. He was murdered a year ago."
SHOUT OUTS!!!
Happy Halloween!
v-babe24: He was visible before...
Tru Lys: I'm going to make a Percy sympathizer out of you yet.
Tap Dancing Widow: I'll try and get you more twins. )
Tabitha78: Lol. Stage-blood is fun. No, the McFlys are not related to Snape. It's the fact it's a potions classroom.
starsmiles: Actually, I'm not sure what Ginny really thinks, since I never give her a perspective.
Satine-cm: You know, I don't know why Ron doesn't tell Nick to tell them. Very good point. I guess he really is letting himself be influenced by Percy. And he still is recovering from the Hermione incident.
Rosepetal13: Harry and Ginny will never be just a baby crush! Never!
Quixotic-Feline: I love your new name! Tis fun. Thanks!
Poemzie: Don't worry; Ron will find a way to deal with girls. Somehow. Maybe.
Meenrocks: well, I always wondered how the Bloody Baron died... and since no one knew, I figured it had to be humiliating.
LJ Fan: Thanks! The chapter was actually quite hard to write.
Lahar: Yup. Poor Baron.
Lady Meriadoc: You guessed it. It is indeed Jamie McFly.
Lady Kazaana: I decided acid wasn't as funny.
Krenya: Yeah. You'd expect someone like the Bloody Baron to have a far more dramatic death...
Hydraspit: I find it said that you forget Ron is dead. Thanks!
HiddenFlame42: Now I want to hear you and your friends' story.
EternallyLost: And there will be vengeance!
Emikae: Thanks!
Dr. Huff-Puff: I made you cry? Wow. I actually cried when I wrote that part. Actually more during the part with Percy. As for the Bloody Baron, he knows how he dies. He just wants the McFlys punished.
Duj: The Ministry kept it very secret. And it was so chaotic there during the last few years. I also assume that Arthur spent a lot of time with the Order. But I shall go more into that later. Because I just had to end on a cliffie.
db: I think Percy has suffered plenty.
Crystal Lightning: And they will go visible more often. Update something.
CharliesMommy: Percy's just very sensitive to the fact that Harry lived while Ron died.
ArcherofDarkness: You're right. Broccoli is funnier.