Chapter 24
Broken Link
Rolf, Maaike, and Ron sat on opposing bunk beds in the sleeping quarters with the chess set resting on a conjured table, since they weren't needed either outside or on the bridge. Cirilo Roverano and Rachel Esklove were working outside under the watchful eyes of Harry and Benjamin Paradou while trying to pull some of the residual magical imprint left by the Portkey from its arrival point The piloting and monitoring duties had been taken over by Farouk, ben-Hamoud, Gaitan, and Goumas. They weren't as adept as the pair of Artificer Rangers, but their rudimentary training was good enough to do the job between the four of them.
"You know, there's something odd about The Confessor," Rolf said, while he prodded another pawn forward in a sacrificial move. Every move a pawn made theoretically created a weakness in one's defence, but to Ron's chagrin he had to take the white pawn with one of his own to prevent the pawn from advancing into a more dangerous position. This doubled up his black pawns in a terrible spot and left Rolf with a myriad of tactics to use against him.
They had been playing for nearly two hours, and Rolf was without a doubt one of the better opponents he had ever faced. Ron had won the first match in thirty-one moves, with Rolf winning the third in thirty-six and the second match having been a drawn out battle that ended in a draw. Rolf had completely surprised him in the third match by trading queens early and pushing on with a slow march of the remaining forces, and Ron found himself without a queen again in this match, which made him realise how dependant he was on having a queen in his game. He liked to play aggressively and dynamically, which was much easier with a queen among his ranks.
"What's so odd about him?"
"If he's really good, why is there no record of him ever helping the Order of Illumination?"
Maaike nodded. "I've been wondering about that myself."
"There's no way to be sure, but I have a theory," Ron began. "Donovan Ironheart and Lei Li only imprisoned Hannibal Skaras for a couple of decades. Who—other than the Confessor—could have been keeping him in check before that? Just because he didn't coordinate his actions with the Order after its inception doesn't mean that he simply sat by and watched the evil vampires run amok."
"Any idea how old he is?" Maaike asked.
"Again, I can only guess. Based on the descriptions in the earliest records about him, I'd have to say at least a thousand, but probably older."
He was about to add another five hundred years to The Confessor's estimated age along with several reasons why he thoughts this was the case, when Rachel Esklove darkened the doorway. "Hey, what are you three doing here? Lazing around while the rest of us work our butts off!"
"You're the one who told us to stay inside," Maaike pointed out, beating Ron to the answer he would have given.
Rolf gestured to the chess board. "We—and by we I mean Ron and I—were playing chess."
Maaike looked offended at her exclusion. "Hey, I was helping you!"
"More like helping Ron by blowing in my ear and distracting me."
"You know, you two might as well set a date. You're already giving me and Hermione a run for our money," Ron interjected jovially, taking the momentum out of their imminent bout of bickering. Then he turned to Rachel. "Any news?"
"I've pulled the Portkey's signature from its arrival point and took the liberty of sending it to Citadel's Command and Control with the instruction to have the Orbital Eyes watch out for the appearance of another such signature."
"Did you find out what kind of wand was involved in making that Portkey?"
"Cirilo's working on that. He'll be able to tell you more in half an hour or so."
Ron nodded as he rose from the bunk "All right then, since our business here is done, we might as well go to London."
"What about our game?" Rolf asked.
"Twist the Wyvern statuette on your left before you clear the board. The next time you twist it back, the pieces will climb on the board and arrange themselves exactly as they are now."
"Nifty feature."
"Ginny added it," Ron said proudly, before following Rachel to the bridge.
They reached the now vacated bridge and Rachel leapt into the pilot's seat, put on her headset and began manipulating the controls with a sureness that only the Artificer Rangers possessed. She brought the ship out of its stationary hover and aimed it towards London. "Portkey mode or the old fashioned way?"
"Portkey mode seems like a waste of energy with London so close by."
"Not an issue with this new design," Rachel assured him.
Ron thought about it. They weren't supposed to meet the Ministry officials at a specified time. Then there was the fact that his eldest daughter had turned six today. The plan was to celebrate it jointly in two days, when Bill's youngest turned nine, but that didn't mean that Ron couldn't drop in. "You know, it wouldn't do us any good if we show up at the Ministry without any answers. Would you care to pop by my mum's house so I can check on my kids?"
Rachel shrugged. "Why not?"
"Do you know where it is?"
Rachel flipped a few switches on the pilot's console. "Don't worry about that. All the information was included in the databanks, in case a Ranger's family needs to be evacuated in a hurry. All I have to do is call up the database—which I just did—and ask where you live." She took off her headset and handed it to Ron. "Care to try?"
"What do I do?"
"I'm not sure what keywords were used. Your old house has a name, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
"Then it's easy. Just mention the house by name and say that you want the coordinates locked in."
Ron donned the headset. "Lock in the coordinates for The Burrow."
Rachel gestured to the mirror in front of her. An image of The Burrow was now projected in it. "There you go."
"Now what?"
"Normally the activation word is 'Transport', but a Muggle character of my favourite television show used a different word, so I altered it to I say 'Engage', but that word only works with my voice. You simply have to say—"
"I know, Rachel," Ron interrupted. "You can stop rambling now—I get it. Transport!"
The landscape on the other side of the view port blurred as the Cruiser instantly relocated itself, and moments later Ron found himself staring at The Burrow. The planned family gathering hadn't been scheduled to occur for another two days, but it seemed that his mum had badgered the family members residing in Britain to begin their visit early.
His identical twin goddaughters, Susan and Mildred, were lounging on towels beside the large pond while chatting with Hannah, whose vertically striped bathing suit didn't hide the surprising fact that she had another bun in the oven. He had known about Fleur's pregnancy and the subsequent birth of her and Bill's third son Aramis ten days ago, but he hadn't heard anything about Hannah being pregnant. He wouldn't put it past Percy to forget about informing the family, but he thought his mum would have mentioned it in one of her letters to him and Ginny.
Susie and Millie's bikini-clad forms made it all too obvious that the little girls that had clung to his legs like a pair of frustrated Crups were no more, and reminded him that his eldest was already halfway there as well. Percy's daughters Grace and Scarlett, and George's fraternal twins Cassidy and Duncan were splashing around happily in the pond. Ron spotted Raina a bit farther off, circling over the paddock with Richard by her side and Arthur and Fred keeping watch over them and giving instructions from their own broomsticks. The younger children weren't in sight, so Ron assumed that they were inside. There was also a rather large car parked in front of The Burrow. He remembered Hermione telling him that her parents had bought a new one a few months ago, and he guessed that this was probably it. They had probably seized the opportunity to visit Ron Junior, whom they had never seen before.
"Nice SUV," Rachel remarked.
"A what?"
"That's short for sports utility vehicle. It's what Muggles back home call these four-by-four off-road cars."
"Is that what they're called?"
"Yep. Whose is it?"
"Hermione's parents, probably. Drop the invisibility and take her in for a landing."
Rachel's eyebrows shot up. "You're disembarking? Are we allowed to do that?"
"There are wards in place to keep Muggles from taking too close a look at The Burrow and the grounds surrounding it," Ron answered.
"Then how did your in-laws get here?"
"Mum probably met them at the village and accompanied them here. Come on, this Cruiser design's capabilities might be a secret, but its outward appearance isn't. I won't be offering my family a tour of the ship."
"Fine, but I hope you know what you're doing…"
The Cruiser began to descend, and Ron saw that Hannah, Susie and Millie had noticed them.
"It won't take longer than twenty minutes," Ron called out Rachel, as he stepped onto the levitation circle.
"Make sure you take a communicator with you in case Cirilo gets some results early," Rachel called back.
Ron managed to nod in affirmation before descending to the lower deck, where he found Vania Goumas shooting crossbow bolts into an elongated corridor with a target set up at its end, while being evaluated by the Nestor Gaitan, Benjamin Paraded, Rashid Farouk and Tariq ben-Hamoud. Ginny had unsuccessfully tried to explain to him how Nicolai had sufficiently harmonised the many forms of magic coursing within the new Cruisers to allow temporary extra-dimensional spaces to be created. That had been something the older models hadn't been capable of, greatly limiting the time they could go without returning to base for re-supplying. It was also very handy as an indoor practice range.
After a brief search for Harry, Ron found him perched on top of a crate, with a faraway look in his eyes as if his mind were somewhere else.
"Oi, mate?"
Harry acknowledged his presence with a nod, but didn't lose the meditative gaze.
"Are you all right? Your face looks like an 'out to lunch' sign."
"It's Wolfe."
The remarkably short answer created remarkably great anxiety for Ron. "Is he in trouble?"
"He was, but he's all right now. Better than all right, actually," Harry added slowly. "He's tapped into an amazing power source. Even though he's in the Mirror Realm, it's like he's standing right beside me. That's how clearly I can sense him."
"Hopefully that means he'll be coming back soon."
Harry nodded again. "Hopefully."
"We're at The Burrow," Ron continued, breaking an awkward silence caused by Harry's unresponsiveness in his trancelike state. "Since we don't have any news for the Ministry yet, I thought I'd stop by and wish Raina a happy birthday. Do you want to come along? There's no telling how long tracking down these vampires will take, so odds are that we won't make it for Alan's birthday. We might as well let Mum know now."
"Good idea," Harry replied, a bit less absently that a few seconds ago.
Ron walked towards the ventral hatch. "We've landed, so we can disembark the normal way. By the way, have you got a communicator on you? I need to stay in contact in case something turns up. "
Harry nodded as he slid off his crate. Then he joined Ron on the levitation surface that would take them beneath the Cruiser. "Where's yours?"
"Too lazy to dig it out of my locker right now."
"Ah."
The hatch under the levitation surface opened with a hiss, and half a heartbeat later Harry and Ron found themselves in front of The Burrow. Ron breathed deeply and stepped off the levitation surface, which rose back up into the Cruiser noiselessly. The familiar sight and summer scents assaulted his senses, bringing back memories of his childhood, and of him and Hermione sitting by the pond fourteen years ago, almost to the day. They had been enjoying a brief moment of peace and tranquillity in dark times.
"Oh, Richard's flying," Harry said with a mixture of excitement and disappointment. "He was supposed to wait until his sixth birthday. I was going to teach him."
Arthur, Fred, Raina, and Richard must have been alerted by the others, for they hovered a few yards in front of the Burrow. Harry began to walk towards them, and Ron fell in step with him. "Since he's your and Ginny's son, I can't say I'm surprised he didn't wait."
Harry grinned ruefully. "I guess I should have seen it coming."
"Uncle Ron!" a pair of identical voices echoed across the yard, followed by a pair of identical teenagers trotting towards him. They soon covered the distance, and Ron found himself with two pairs of arms wrapped around his torso and one niece under each of. his arms.
"How is our favourite godfather?" Susie, or maybe Millie, asked.
Ron laughed. "I'm your only godfather, but thanks. It's always nice to be flattered by two pretty girls."
The twins blushed profusely at his comment, though it looked different on them than on their freckly, fair-skinned cousins.
"Hey, what about me? Don't I get any hugs?" Harry asked, trying to look offended.
"Can't do that—" one twin began "—Uncle Harry!" the other finished, mimicking an eerie habit Fred and George used to have.
"You're not a blood relative," the one under his left arm said.
"Aunt Ginny might feel threatened and get jealous," the other one added cheekily. Then her grin vanished. "Seriously, good thing you're here."
"Yeah, Danny's been crying all day and Gran's growing desperate," the one under Ron's left arm continued, as she began to tug Ron towards The Burrow.
"I think I know what's wrong," Harry said.
"Really?" Ron asked.
"It happens whenever he and Sissi are separated longer than two days."
"They're really attached to each other, aren't they?"
"It's more than that. Whenever they sit side by side, their auras merge into one. Whatever their bond is, it goes much deeper than Twin Flames. I asked Janice if she could contact some of her old professors at Ogygia and ask them what can be done about it. I don't want to split them up, and if Ginny's vision comes true they'll end up married. But at some point in their lives circumstances will require them to be apart for more than forty-eight hours, and if it's at all possible to help them prepare, I want to know how," Harry explained.
"Daddy!" Raina cried out as she recognised Ron, and she dismounted from her broom before sprinting over to him.
"Incoming!" Susie and Millie chorused, and half a heartbeat later Raina slammed into Ron, rocking him back on his heels despite her modest mass.
"Oi, birthday girl! Did you get any presents or is Grandmum making you wait till Monday?"
"She'll have to wait for our presents, but your in-laws certainly didn't spare any expense," one of the twins said.
"They bought her twenty-six books," the other one continued.
Ron chuckled, realising that his in-laws had probably bought Raina a set of encyclopaedias. The next time Raina peppered him with questions he'd be able to tell her to look up some of the answers. Hermione would be thrilled with the gift.
"They said they wanted to buy me a PC, but that they didn't because they heard that it wouldn't be allowed into Nomad Island," Raina said. "What's a PC, Daddy?"
Hermione had often complained about the Concordians' complete ban on any remotely sophisticated Muggle equipment. Ron agreed with her wholeheartedly, especially since getting used to the computer-like knowledge and information repositories the Muggle-born Artificer Rangers had created a few decades ago. It made recalling relevant information very easy and saved loads of time with research. Of course, explaining what a such a device was for lay a bit beyond Ron's ability.
He resorted to the excuse he used in these situations. "Ask your mum when she gets here on Monday." Then he turned to Arthur and Fred. "So you've been teaching her how to fly. Have you?"
"She wouldn't take no for an answer, Uncle Ron." Arthur replied sheepishly.
"Yeah, she sure knows how to nag to get what she wants," Fred added.
"Gets that from Hermione, she does."
"But without Hermione's nagging, neither you nor Harry would have scored as well as you have on your OWLs and NEWTs."
Ron turned to the direction the voice had come from. "Hello, Hannah. Why didn't news about this imminent addition to the Weasley clan reach Concordia?"
Hannah smiled. "I honestly thought Percy told you lot ages ago. He has been very busy pretty much this whole past year, seeing through some major reorganisations within Magical Law Enforcement as well as setting up some international parameters for better international co-operation in the field of Magical Law Enforcement. Percy and I were so immersed in work that we weren't meticulous enough with birth-control. That's how this bun ended up in the oven." She rubbed her belly affectionately. "We certainly didn't mean to play bakery."
"Really, Aunt Hannah, you needn't use euphemisms to keep the little ones in the dark," Susie said—or maybe it was Millie.
"Yeah, the little buggers already know lots about the birds and the bees. They're too smart for their own good," the other twin said.
"Don't call your younger cousins 'little buggers' Susan," Angelina's stern voice came from above them.
"She's not Susan—I am!" the indignant reply was.
"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother?"
"Nice try, Susan, but I can tell the two of you apart."
Ron craned his neck to look up and saw Angelina's head poking out of the window of Percy's former room. "Hello, Angelina."
"My daughters look awfully cosy in under their Uncle Ron's strong arms." Angelina smirked. "Make sure to check your pockets later to see if everything's still there. Those two have been talking about getting their hands on a Ranger gadget for a while now."
"Us?" Susie and Millie said simultaneously, trying to look innocent.
"We wouldn't do that, would we, Sildred?" one twin asked indignantly.
"Of course not, Musan. I'm as appalled by this baseless accusation as you are," her twin replied in a lofty tone.
"Not to worry, Angie. I'm travelling light. Harry's the pack mule right now."
"Uncle Harry, we forgot to give you that hug you so deserve!" one of the twins began sweetly, and as one they advanced on Harry.
Harry opened his arms wide in a welcoming gesture, but instead of engulfing him in a hug the twins fell through him when they tried to lean against them.
Richard giggled. "He does that to Mummy sometimes."
"Well, that was a unique experience, wasn't it, Musan?"
"Certainly, and not nearly as unpleasant as walking through the Bloody Baron either, Sildred."
"So why are you two here?" Angelina inquired, interrupting her daughters. "Does it have something to do with Percy calling to say that he won't make it to dinner?"
"He called?" Hannah asked.
Angelina nodded gravely. "Looked stressed, too."
Hannah turned to Ron. "Is that why you're here? Did something bad happen?"
"We can't tell you the specifics, save that something did happen. Nothing we can't handle," Ron said reassuringly. "It could take some time, though."
Angelina frowned. "Then shouldn't you be looking for whatever you should be looking for instead of loitering here? Not that we don't appreciate the visit…"
"Right now we only have one lead to work with. Since there's always a risk of dealing with a pompous Ministry official who thinks he'd do a better job than the Rangers, we've decided not to go to the Ministry until we have some more material to present."
"We're also here to tell Molly that we might not make it on Monday, because of this business," Harry said.
Angelina winced. "Good luck with that."
Ron knew that his mother wouldn't be pleased, though he also knew the damage could by limited if he delivered the news in a certain way. "I'm sure she'll warm up to the idea if I start out by telling her that Junior might stay at The Burrow a few more days because of it."
"It can't hurt. Hannah's Rooibos tea is just about done, so you can come in and have a cup of tea with us. I'll tell Molly you're here." Angelina turned to Harry. "And maybe you can get through to Danny. He's been moody since yesterday afternoon."
"More like utterly miserable," Hannah pointed out.
Harry sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but I'm afraid it won't be much."
"I'm going to fly some more, Dad," Raina said excitedly, and scampered off.
"Girls, could you go back to the pond and keep an eye on the younger kids?" Hannah asked. "I'm going to have my tea inside."
"Why? They can all swim," one of the twins said.
"Get going!" Angelina growled in a tone that allowed no backtalk, and the girls reluctantly returned to the pond.
Ron followed Harry into The Burrow, and he didn't have to wait at the kitchen table for very long before his mother-in-law came downstairs with Ron Junior dozing in her arms, followed by Mr Granger carrying Christine and his mum carrying Holly. Angelina was the last one to come down, carrying Danny.
The moment she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Danny flew out of her arms and landed on Harry's lap. Ron had seen Harry wandlessly summon his son many times, and the little tyke had never failed to chortle with delight. Now, however, he listlessly looked up at his father with tearstained eyes. He looked a bit peaky as well, and Ron saw Harry's expression turn grave as he ran his hand through Danny's unruly black thatch.
"Well, this is a surprise. I didn't expect to see you until Monday," Molly said. "But I'm glad you're here, Harry."
Though Ron knew perfectly well why his mother mentioned Harry specifically, he couldn't help himself. "And you're not glad about me being here? I know Harry's your favourite son-in-law, but to put him before your own flesh and blood, and so openly and obviously in front of Hannah, Angelina, and my in-laws?"
The Grangers laughed, but his mum heaved an exasperated sigh. "You know very well that I'm talking about Danny. I'm really worried about him."
"I have a hunch that he'll get better once he gets back together with Sissi." Harry looked at Molly pleadingly. "Would you mind having one more child over?"
"Of course not, dear. She'll fit right in with the rest of the redheads."
"Sissi's the daughter of that woman who looks like Ginny so much, right?" Mrs Granger asked.
Ron nodded. "The resemblance used to be downright scary. Now we're all used to it."
"And what connection exactly is there between Sissi and Harry's son?"
Before either he or Harry could answer, Harry's communicator signalled that someone was trying to connect.
Harry extracted it from his pocket and thumbed a switch on its side which caused a small mirror to sprout from it. "Go ahead, Rachel. Did Cirilo isolate the material used for the wand's core?"
"No. I'm sorry to cut your visit short, but there's also another lead," Rachel said, her tone suggesting that she couldn't tell them while they were in public.
"Thanks. We'll be right there," Harry replied, and pocketed the communicator again. Then he looked at Molly apologetically. "Looks like we won't be having tea with you after all."
"Oh, and Mum, you might get the chance to spoil Junior a few more days, because I don't know if Hermione and I will have time to pick the kids up on Wednesday and take them back to Concordia," Ron said, and braced himself for her reaction to his next sentence. "I'm also not sure if Harry and I will make it for the Monday get together."
"My kids might be staying longer too, since I was supposed to take the kids back because Ginny won't be able to. But with this mission we're on, I won't be able to pick them up either. I'll remember to arrange for Sissi to come here or for Danny to go back to Concordia," Harry assured Molly. "Don't worry about that."
Molly seemed a bit disappointed, but nodded understandingly.
Ron and Harry exchanged quick goodbyes with everyone before hurrying back to the Cruiser, which was already humming as the magic core sent energy surging through the ship to power the imminent takeoff. Once inside, Harry immediately used an inside communicator to reach Rachel. Her face appeared in the small mirror.
"We're in. What happened?"
"Citadel Command and Control picked up another stealth Portkey signature in the United States, in Chicago. It isn't identical to the one we extracted from Crawley, but C&C believes the lead is worth following because the Portkey's creator probably has more than one stolen wand at his disposal," Rachel said.
Ron concurred with that assessment. Stealthy Portkeys were rare enough, so the idea that this was the same group using one wasn't farfetched.
"We can also cross-reference that signature with this one," Rachel continued. "Even a partial match will increase the likelihood that both Portkeys were created by the same individual to fifty-fifty, which is better than the hunch based on circumstance that we have right now."
And Ron knew it would also tell them that the vampires probably only had one supplier, which would end up making the hunt easier. Even Ranger Portkeys that could be used multiple times eventually needed to be recharged, and with no wizard-magic at their disposal, the vampires would be forced to go back to their supplier at some point.
"Harry, are you okay?" Rachel's worried tone broke Ron out of his reverie, and he too noticed that Harry had gone deathly pale and was sliding down against the wall, gasping for breath as he clutched his chest.
Ron kneeled down next to Harry and grabbed him by the shoulders to keep him from curling into a foetal ball. "Harry, what's wrong? Vania, get down here, something's wrong with Harry!"
Harry didn't answer immediately, but the fact that he wasn't losing consciousness was slightly comforting. Tears were forming in his eyes, which frightened Ron even more, since Ginny often talked about a connection that allowed her and Harry to feel each other.
"What is it, mate? Did something happen to Ginny?"
"Wolfe…" Harry began to sob, and there was nothing for Ron to do but wait for him to get a hold of himself.
Vania Goumas suddenly appeared by their side and gently nudged Ron aside to make room for herself. She kneeled in front of Harry and gently raised his face, revealing the tears flowing down his cheeks. "Harry, what's wrong?"
"He's gone. I can't feel him anymore," Harry said hoarsely.
"Who?" Vania asked.
"Wolfe," Ron said grimly, he himself awash in conflicting feelings of shame at the relief he had felt when upon learning that it wasn't Ginny, and the surging numbness stemming from the full impact of Harry's revelation. Harry hadn't even reacted like that to the deaths of close friends caused by Voldemort. Ron knew that the acuteness of Harry's reaction was partially due to the fact that he was in some way magically linked to Wolfe, but it was still unnerving.
"I have to go to the Mirror Realm," Harry said weakly. "I need to find out what happened."
Ron wasn't about to argue with him. He looked at the communicator. "Rachel, take us to Concordia, now!"
"What about the mission? Sorry, but I have to ask," she added, looking apologetic.
"We'll head back out immediately after I've discussed a few things with Faust and Kovalenko."
"If there's really thirty vampires to deal with, we'll need more help if Harry isn't with us."
"That was among the things I was going to discuss with them."
Rachel seemed satisfied with the answers and nodded. "No more questions. We're going in three … two … one …"
Ginny was having trouble coming to terms with what had happened. She remembered her relief when she heard that Wolfe had taken the Cylinder of Annihilation far away enough to spare Shamballah. Then there was the confusion when it became apparent that something was wrong, and the growing dread when Wolfe's duplicate began conveying his wishes in a manner that made it all too obvious that he didn't expect to be around for very long.
He had asked Nicolai to contact the resistance as quickly as possible to put his genius at their disposal. He had begged Ginny to allow Harry to join the war effort in the Mirror Realm, since his particular abilities of flight, invisibility, and intangibility were very well suited for a one-man pre-emptive strike that would destroy any other weapons like the Cylinder of Annihilation, and hopefully Yamato himself. At the time she hadn't understood why he had asked her to allow Harry to join the War in the Mirror Realm, but in hindsight his meaning became crystal clear. Even though the decision lay in Harry's hands, she was in a position to influence his decisions, and Wolfe must have known that witnessing his death would make her extremely reluctant.
He had been right. Though he had earned her eternal gratitude by sacrificing himself to save their lives—and possibly Danny's by extension, due to his connection to Sissi—the thought of Harry dying as well chilled her to the bone. There was no way of knowing whether Yamato had invented a device that could kill Harry despite his enhanced powers, and that was where the fear for his death came from.
After delivering the most urgent messages, Wolfe's duplicate had spent its final moments with his arms wrapped around Heidi and his children, including—to everyone's brief delight—Westley. Then it vanished, leaving Heidi behind in a stunned disbelief that still persisted. She refused to believe that the Cylinder of Annihilation could have killed him, and was hysterically screaming at Nicolai to send out search parties. The tiny part of Ginny's that had shared that hope promptly disappeared when her connection to Harry alerted her to his proximity and the utter turmoil his mind was in. He must have felt Wolfe die and that he badly needed her comfort, so she made to leave, risking a glance at the children before doing so.
Westley and Sissi didn't understand what had happened, though Heidi's obvious distress made them anxious as well. Henry was doing his best to calm his younger brother and sister while trying to remain calm himself at the same time. Robert looked withdrawn as he rested his head on top of Rachel's, absently stroking the wavy blonde hair that cascaded down her back as the two held each other in an embrace, seeking mutual reassurance. Rachel's eyes unmistakably reflected fear for Robert's well-being if Wolfe didn't return.
Ginny tore her eyes away from the children and slipped out of the room, concentrating on Harry's essence in order to find him and briefly regretting that method after nearly being immersed by a flood of anguish. Still, she persevered and continued to track Harry, finally finding him in a private room in the company of Jasmine, who was pale with shock. No one had left the room after Wolfe had disappeared, so many people were blissfully unaware of how close to death they had been, and what Wolfe had done to save them. Hermione was still in the dark about things as well.
Harry wasn't crying at the moment, though his face revealed that he had shed tears, and could start doing so again at any moment. He noticed her standing in the doorway and rushed towards her, pulling her into a tight hug. The ache caused by the anguish emanating from Harry's heart rendered any discomfort Ginny felt from the physical constriction of his embrace irrelevant, and she patiently allowed Harry to draw strength from her presence.
"You felt him go, didn't you?" Ginny whispered.
He didn't verbally reply, but she felt his head nod.
"Jasmine told me he was here."
It was Ginny turn to nod, and in hushed tones she proceeded to tell Harry how Wolfe had arrived shortly after he and Ron left for Concordia, and what had happened afterwards.
"So he fought a first wave of attackers before revealing himself to Hermione, right?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I felt him, but I thought he was much farther away." Harry sighed. "If I'd known that he was in Shamballah, I'd have … I could have—"
"It wouldn't have made any difference," Ginny said in a stern tone that still managed to retain some gentleness. Then she got a flash of inspiration. "Maybe we'd be even worse off. With you fighting by his side, he wouldn't have needed to push himself hard enough to achieve the Phoenix Fire transformation. And if he hadn't been a super sorcerer, he wouldn't have been able to fly the Cylinder of Annihilation out of Shamballah. Neither of you would have been powerful enough."
"It's hard to argue with that logic," Harry said morosely.
"I know that my saying this doesn't make you feel any better, but deep down… you know it had to be like this."
Again, there was no verbal reply, but Ginny could discern another nodding movement.
She took a moment to bask in the relief of accomplishing that particular mission. Then she began to wonder how she ought to tell him about Wolfe's final wishes.
Harry pulled away and smiled ruefully. "I guess Wolfe did you one more favour from beyond the grave. I'd better go talk to Nicolai, then."
Ginny returned his rueful smile with one of her own. Harry and Wolfe's forced division upon the destruction of Korumu's Stone had prompted the mutual copying of Wolfe's Mind Reading and Harry's Parseltongue. Even after nearly a decade of living with Harry as a Mind Reader, Ginny still occasionally forgot that he was able to read her mind.
Then, after an unspoken exchange stemming not from Mind Reading gift but the knowledge of the other's expression, they both reluctantly turned to Jasmine to confirm her fears. And knowing that they would still have to inform Heidi and her children made Ginny feel queasy.
PLEASE READ
First of all, I would like to thank you all for responding to my pleas for feedback.
Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to kindly as you all to read and review a fic authored by RobBonner22. Despite my philosophical differences with the author about Harry's anger issues, I think the story has potential. It has undergone changes since the review I left, so don't let it taint your judgement. If 'Angry Harry' is your cup of tea, this might be the story for you. With the amount of work the author puts into it, it certainly deserves more attention than it has been getting.
Lady of Masbolle: The first one to review. Usually Gogirl has that dubious honour.
Gogirl: Yeah, go Gudrun. Before writing that chapter I'd been getting the feeling that Gudrun was becoming a domesticated nymphomaniac instead of a wildcat nymphomaniac, so I felt I had to show you guys that the chick with the piercings and the dyed hair was still there.
H.Sanders: Thank you for dropping a review again.
Phoenix, Lord of Chaos: Doesn't matter. The pat on the back is greatly appreciated.
oliverwood: Slaps forehead Darkwing Duck! Thanks for reminding the name of the show. As for hiding the references, I'm afraid not. I'm not trying to be clever and hide them. I want them to be painfully obvious.
Kristus Vesanus: Ah, the good old bi-dimensional days. I think many of my readers haven't even seen the first Mario Bros game.
hootild: Oh no, the bane did also refer to the whole situation with Wolfe's descent into darkness. But his bane also lay in doing the right thing, see? And then of course there is the fact that Galatea's killer's surname was Aconit, which is French for monkshood and wolfsbane.
RinnaMarie: It was a rather nasty place for a cliffie, eh?
Lyambren: I don't think you finished your review.
Torifire 126: Wolfe's relationship to Galatea was more of a karmic one. When they met she was needed in his life to heal him. If circumstances had been different, (both in his life and hers) they wouldn't have married. Heidi was simply more compatible with a healed Wolfe.
And I don't pair everyone off. Though it isn't evident on screen, the majority of Rangers aren't married.
lluvatar: Too bad Wolfe didn't have any handy and didn't have enough time to look for some. Not that he would found any, since umbranium is generally reserved for weapons or barriers.
Elric Magus: Points to answer left for Gogirl.
Fragarach: It was a good way to go.
Lipton: And proud of it.
Saint Mike: :-)
bane: I know what I did in the past, but this is the present. Wolfe's already met his miraculous recovery quota for this fic, (surviving the Killing Cure, being saved by Holly, and saving his own arse by going Super Saya-jinn etc. so that's it.
ObsessedWithSnuffles: I wouldn't let the story end like that. I think there will be thirty chapters in all.
DADAGinny: You reviewed my fic!!!! Weeps with joy. I seem you recall you doing it before, a long time ago.
Nightcrawler1089: Thy concerns have been noted. (Not that thou were the first one to voice them) Thanks for voicing them anyway, though. ;-) Redundancy in feedback is a good thing.
Dimensional Analysis: Thank you very much.