Disclaimer: All characters are property of J.K. Rowling and are being used without permission. No attempt has been made to copyright this work. This novel is purely for the entertainment of the author and readers and is not being used for profit of any sort.

Author's note:
Hello again everyone. It's been months, I know. I feel I owe you all an explanation, so here it is:
A. I've been really tied up with work. I freelance, so not only do I have to do the work, I have to bid for it too. That's a time consuming and sometimes nerve-wracking process.
B. I really lost touch with the story. I needed to step away from it for a while.
C. Final Fantasy XI came out, and I admit, I find the more interactive nature of that hobby to be much more relaxing than writing.

With all that said, here's the new chapter. You'll probably have to go back and re-read some of the story to catch up. I'm not saying that updates will be more frequent from now on, but I don't plan to go months without updating again.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE REVELATION


News of the attack at the debate spread quickly. The Daily Prophet wasted no time in getting a special edition out the next morning. To their credit, Percy's murder was treated with respect and dignity. Harry didn't bother to read any of it, but Hermione gave him the gist of things.

Percy's funeral took place a few days later in the same spot that Madam Rosmerta had been buried in. It was a place Harry was becoming all too familiar with.

The Weasleys had chosen to keep the service small and private. The pain they were going through was already bad enough without outsiders intruding. Mr. Weasley had a very difficult time maintaining his campaign for Minister of Magic while dealing with this new tragedy. His most difficult task though was comforting his distraught wife. Harry had never seen her so sad.

Harry didn't really remember much of the funeral. It was all a blur to him. It was like he had mentally shut himself down so he could make it through it. He found it far too difficult to watch the family that loved him so much go through this pain, a pain that he could do nothing about.

He felt helpless. He felt miserable. But most of all, he was angry. Angry at Voldemort, angry at the Death Eaters, and angry at himself for not being able to stop it all from happening.

Harry's anger paled in comparison to Ron's. His feelings were plainly written on his face throughout the service. He hardly said a word to anyone, and spent much of the day with his fists balled tightly.



The family returned to The Burrow after the funeral. They found many cards and flowers there from families all across Britain. It seemed like everyone shared the Weasleys' grief. The Burrow was a quiet and somber place on this day, it was much different than the joyful energy Harry usually experienced there.

No one said much. The twins were uncharacteristically quiet. Bill and Charlie, being the oldest children, did their best to keep everyone's spirits up. They offered half-hearted smiles and comforting hugs to their siblings and parents, but Harry could tell things weren't going to get better any time soon.

Hermione had stopped by for a moment to show her support. Her presence seemed to pick up Ginny's spirits considerably.

Ron, however, was nowhere to be seen.

After a bit of searching, Harry found him heading towards his room.

"Ron? Are you-"

"No, I'm not." Ron replied simply as he closed the door.

That was the final straw for Harry. The situation was driving him crazy, and it was clear he couldn't do much to help. When Lupin arrived later in the day to check up on the Weasleys, Harry bid them farewell and returned to Hogwarts with him.

Harry returned to a very different Hogwarts. The student population had decreased dramatically. Many parents were now too frightened to send their children away to school. Dumbledore had left Professor McGonagall in charge while he was away for what he had called "a mission of utmost importance". Professor McGonagall used all of her considerable abilities to keep things calm at the school, but there was no denying that things were not the same.

Harry wondered if they ever would be again.

Part of McGonnall's attempt to keep order at Hogwarts was to maintain the Quidditch schedule. The Gryffindors were scheduled to play the Ravenclaw team next. Ron's absence left Harry to take control of the Gryffindor team. Today would be their first practice as a team without their captain. It wasn't something Harry was looking forward to. He had worked with Professor McGonnagall to find some emergency replacements for Ron and Ginny. They had decided to add a third year named David Govins as the temporary Keeper, and Seamus had volunteered to take over Chaser duties (although everyone was a bit uncertain about his skills).

All these events of the past few days were running through Harry's head as he trudged to the Quidditch pitch in the icy January air.

He was quite surprised to see Ginny Weasley already there.

"I thought you would be at home." Harry said, confused.

"I needed to get out of there." Ginny said gloomily. "I need to do something, or I'll go crazy. I need this, Harry."

"Alright." Harry simply said. He could tell by the look in her eyes that there was no use in arguing.

The practice was not their best, but not their worst either. David did fairly well as a Keeper, but he was much shorter than Ron and couldn't stretch for the shots as well. The practice did at least give Harry the chance to forget his troubles for a time, and Ginny seemed to be feeling a lot better too. Hermione was there in the stands, adding her support as always. She spent most of the practice brooding over Harry's large apparition book though. Harry had been more than glad to lend it to her, she could use a distraction or two.

After practice Harry spent his evening alone in the Gryffindor common room with a cup of hot cocoa. As he usually did these days, he spent his idle moments attempting to make a weak mental connection with Voldemort with his Legilimency skills. It was a practice that Harry had gotten used to, but he had never had any results. As Harry began to feel a familiar twitch in his scar though, he knew that he had finally hit his mark.

Harry could feel a strange presence in the quiet room now, as if there were someone else there with him. His vision slowly faded, and for a moment he thought that he had fallen asleep...

Until he saw them...the ghosts.

There were dozens of them. Ghastly creatures dispersed throughout a large, stony room. Harry realized that it was the same room he had been to when he apparated for the first time.

That same room, with those same deformed and frightening ghosts. There was something new this time though. From his new vantage point, Harry could see an old dusty mirror. In that mirror he saw a face that could be not mistaken for any other...

Voldemort!

Harry opened his eyes in shock. He found a very frightened looking Hermione clutching his arm.

"Harry, what's wrong? You were screaming!"

"I saw it! I SAW it!"

"Saw what?!?" Hermione said with fear in her voice.

"The ROOM! He was in it!"

"Harry, what room?"

At this point Harry realized that he hadn't shared his encounters with the haunted room with his friends. Max and Dumbledore had insisted that he keep it all secret, but he knew that inquisitive Hermione would not be satisfied until he explained his behaviour. "Er, well...you see it's like this..."

Hermione sat in a kind of horrified silence as Harry recounted the story of the ghost filled room and his Legilimency tasks. When he was done, Hermione seemed to be a bit paler. "Oh...Harry." Hermione said quietly when Harry had finished. "That's...kind of...scary"

"You can't imagine how scary it really is." Harry responded. "I mean...I still don't understand how I got to that place."

"Wait!" Hermione shouted suddenly. "Don't you remember chapter 11 of the apparition book?"

"A little." Harry replied with uncertainty. "That was the chapter on erroneous apparition test cases, right?. It seemed kind of disturbing with all the pictures of splinching. I just skimmed through it"

Hermione dug through her bag and found the large white Apparition book. "It's here, this must be it. Take a look."

Harry carefully read the page that Hermione had selected for him.

"There have been cases (though extremely rare) of one person being able to instinctively apparate to the location of another. There is a well documented case of a lost infant who somehow apparated to his mother when he realized his predicament. There are also some cases of twins and triplets having their apparitions 'hijacked' when they apparate at the exact same moment. In other words, one or two of the other siblings may be pulled to the location of their other sibling instead of their desired apparition point. These oddities of apparition are rare and require very specific circumstances, but their existence hints at how strong mental and emotional connections can possibly affect apparition results."

Harry sat back in his chair, stunned. How could it be possible that the dark figure he had seen in the room was Voldemort? Did their mental connection somehow lead Harry to him? If that was true then...

Could Voldemort do the same?

That prospect didn't scare Harry very much. It seemed like it was a fluke that both he and Voldemort had apparated at exactly the same time. Harry wasn't too worried about it happening accidentally again. The real question was, what was Voldemort doing in that ghostly place?

"You should go talk to Max." Hermione urged.

"I know, but he's going to make me do some new complicated Legilimency thing. I just know it."

"Well, at least you're proficient at it. There are plenty of students here that would kill to be a full-fledged Legilimens at your age."

"You aren't jealous, are you Hermione?" Harry questioned with a smirk.

"No! Well, a little...I guess." Hermione admitted as she looked away.

"Don't be, it's not that great."

Hermione cast a Harry a very doubtful look.

"Alright," Harry admitted, "it is kind of wicked. But the headaches are killer, and sometimes you see some pretty bad stuff."

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea what's going on in Ron's head, would you?" Hermione asked.

"We've agreed that I won't pry. I don't think I would want to anyway."

There was an awkward silence then, as if neither of the two friends knew exactly how to continue. Harry eventually decided to break the pause.

"Have you talked to Ron recently?"

Hermione merely shook her head.

"He won't write back to me." Harry continued. "Not a single word. Ginny said he spends most of his time in his room these days."

"That's true, when I last visited the Weasleys he wouldn't even come out."

"Not even for you?" Harry said, shocked.

Hermione shook her head again.

"That's not a good sign." Harry sighed.

"This is the way Ron has chosen to deal with this." Hermione replied. "He's afraid, Harry. He's afraid that he could lose someone else, just like you are. But instead of bringing everyone closer to him and protecting them, like you do, Ron is pushing everyone away. I suppose he thinks that will lessen the blow if someone else really does go."

"That might not be a bad strategy." Harry remarked.

"Maybe not, but can you really enjoy life when you cut yourself off from everyone you love?"

"I guess you're right." Harry admitted. "You should talk to him. He'll listen to you."

Hermione shook her head again. "He won't let me in this time Harry. His stubborn pride won't let him admit any weakness to his girlfriend."

"I have no idea what to say to him."

"You'll find the right words, Harry." Hermione said as she embraced Harry in a reassuring hug. "I don't think anyone else can right now."

The two friends stood in that embrace for a while, giving each the strength they would need to help their best friend through his troubles. It felt very right to Harry...almost...too right.

"Well, I should go see Max now." Harry finally said as he reluctantly pulled away.

"Good. I'm sure he'll know what to do."

It was getting late now, and Filch would no doubt be prowling the halls for easy prey. Harry put on his Invisibility cloak and headed towards Max's classroom as quickly as he could. He found the young professor there, as he usually was at this hour, grading exams.

Harry took off his cloak once he was in the room. "I really need to get one of those." Max commented with a smile that disappeared when he saw the serious look on Harry's face. "What's wrong?"

"I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"The room, he was in the room. The one I apparated to by mistake. He was there. Voldemort."

"Are you sure it was the same place?" Max asked with grave concern.

"No doubt about it." Harry replied. "Then I looked in the Apparition book that Dumbledore gave me, and it said something about people with strong connections being pulled towards each other during apparition. I think that's what happened."

"I'd like to see this book." Max said, his face looking thoughtful. "I need to see this for myself. Don't accio it. That could draw some unwanted attention. Go get it the old fashioned way."

"Alright." Harry said excitedly as he wrapped his cloak around him again and rushed out of the room. His excitement only grew as he ran up to the Gryffindor dorms. Max was going to figure it all out. They were going to find out Voldemort was up to and stop him...

No one else was going to die.

Harry grabbed the book and ran excitedly back to the young professor's office. His momentary happiness dissipated when he saw someone else in the room.

Severus Snape.

"What's he doing here?" Harry demanded.

"I thought it best to get our resident expert on all things Dark in here." Max answered apologetically. "Let me see that book of yours."

Harry took a seat while Max flipped through the book. Somehow he knew exactly what page to turn to.

"Hmmm." the young instructor said as his sharp eyes flew over the text. "This is very interesting. Dumbledore gave you this?"

"Yes." Harry replied.

"That man always did have access to the most interesting research materials. Well, I've briefed Snape on the gist of the situation."

"A most dangerous situation." Snape said icily.

"Yes, well, Voldemort doesn't deal in anything but dangerous situations. Where is that place?" Max asked.

Snape paused for a moment. "I am not sure. It could be any one of the many haunted homes spread throughout Britain. My guess would be that the Dark Lord is attempting some new death-defying magic. He is most likely directly consulting with the dead to learn their secrets."

"I didn't know he was a Necromancer." Max said plainly.

"He was not, but he has obtained the skill recently."

"You didn't bother to tell us that earlier." Harry said accusingly.

"There are many matters that I have to attend to, Potter, and much information that needs to be protected. Sometimes it is best not to volunteer information until the time is right. Then again, I'm sure a troublemaker like you knows all about that."

"Anyways," Max said impatiently, "what do you suggest we do about this situation?"

Snape shot a vicious sneer in Harry's direction. "I suggest we keep him under close observation. I wouldn't doubt that Potter and his two cohorts would try something incredibly stupid with this new ability of his."

"Give me a little more credit than that." Harry retorted.

"I give credit where it is due, Potter, and I owe you none."

"I think it best if we have our own Necromancer working on this case." Max interrupted. "My father, unfortunately, is rather busy with other matters. It would be best to have someone here at Hogwarts anyway."

"What are you getting at, Wiseacre?" Snape questioned.

"Well, I've noticed that Miss Lovegood seems to have the talent..."

"Are you suggesting," Snape sneered, "that I work with a child?"

"They're not children anymore, Professor Snape. Far from it, in fact. But yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. She could be an invaluable asset."

"Pardon me if I don't rush to take the advice of a junior member of the Order. I would like to speak with Professor Dumbledore about this first."

"Have it your way," Max said with a smirk, "but it could be quite some time before he returns. I wouldn't want to be the one to explain to him the reason for the delay."

"Fine, Wiseacre." Snape said icily as he headed towards the door. "I will try to work with the Lovegood girl. If this fails though, the responsibility lies on your head."

"Noted." Max said firmly as the Potions master left.

"I see that I'm not the only one that thinks he's a git." Harry said when Snape had left.

"I do not think that he is a git, we just have a bit of history. Professor Snape and I...have differing opinions on the best ways to teach magic. I will leave it at that." Max said with a crooked smile. "Have you spoken to Ron recently?"

"No." Harry said quietly.

"Really?" Max said with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm. Well if you do, please give me an update. I'd like to know how he's doing."

"Actually," Harry said, "so would I."

Author's notes:

Not the best, but here it is. . I've really missed all of you, i hope you're still around.