rad--Beyond the Grave--
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine – god bless JK!!!
Beta Reader: Sir Darlon – big thanks I couldn't do this without you!
Chapter 15 – Beyond the Grave
Reminder: I grinned, anyone who had heard of Harry Potter knew that it all happened in his parents home in Godrics Hollow, and if what Cedric said was true that would be where we would find his parents.
Only one true question remained, where was Godrics Hollow?
--Fighting to Float--
I had never really thought much about Harry Potter when I was younger, at least not until the day Ron started at Hogwarts, after that I became thirsty for all knowledge on the subject, maybe its meeting someone famous that does it to you, but suddenly I had a new focus for my attention and that was Harry.
Coming face to face with a living part of history had been amazing for me, I just couldn't see how the boy with the gorgeously messy black hair and startling green eyes that I met for only a moment on Platform nine and three quarters had defeated one of the wickedest wizards ever.
I just had to find out how he had done it, I mean the guy was only a year older than me and he was one of the most famous wizards that had ever lived.
After meeting him that day on the platform I suddenly had to know absolutely everything about it, I drove Mam crazy that year because the time I had in previous years spent with Ron, I now spent pestering anybody and everyone on the subject of Harry Potter.
Eventually after I had driven everyone around me stir crazy, Dad had come home from work one day with a second hand book: Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century.
That book told me in detail all about my favourite subject, How You-Know-Who went to Godrics Hollow, and how he had killed the Potters, both excellent wizards, only to be defeated by a mere child.
Somewhere between that day on the platform and the summer holidays I developed a crush on Harry, perhaps it was started out of pity, because he had lost both his parents - I could not imagine life without my family.
So by the time he came to stay at the Burrow towards the end of the holidays I was hooked. I spent the whole time locked away in my room, certain that the instant he saw me he would know, and of course going scarlet whenever I came into contact with him didn't really help either.
Blinking back to reality I became aware of
Cedric talking to me,
"Gin? Are you listening?"
I shook my head a moment as if adjusting to my surroundings and then turned to Cedric who I now realised had been chatting away to me for quite a while..
"I asked if you knew where we could find Godrics Hollow." He repeated with thinly veiled irritation,
"Sorry, I was thinking" I replied, a little distantly, turning to him with a grin I finished, "Wales, it's in Wales"
Finally those years of virtual obsession had paid off, there was only one problem remaining,
Wales wasn't exactly the smallest place in the world, and no only did we have to go there we had to find the ruins of a house that had been left in ruins one night 17 years ago.
It occurred to me that Harry had never really thought about his past, he pined for a life with his parents, yet he had never tried to learn more about them, to go to the place where they had died, or indeed find they're graves, and now look, he had finally seen the inscription on his mothers grave and it meant something.
For some reason Harry didn't have that curiosity gene that most people had, whereas I seemed to have double most peoples, perhaps I had even pinched his. I think it was probably a result of being brought up with his horrible family, and never being aloud to ask any questions at a young age. It occurred to me that I probably knew more about Harry's past than he did. But now even my knowledge on the subject wasn't really all that much help, we needed someone who knew, and we needed to know straight away, time here was one of the few things we didn't have.
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Since becoming a ghost I had had many questions, and the only person I had found to answer them all was Jane, so once again I found myself turning to her for advice, hoping she would be able to guide me.
As always we found her in the Library, and I realised that had her and Hermione ever spoken, they would have quickly become close friends, for each of them had the same desire for knowledge, the same curiosity and devotion to books and all they could offer.
Among the musty smelling books Jane had found her sanctuary, and now I was yet again to intrude, yet again with a question and the hope that she would be able to give me an answer.
When I found her she was bent over a book, or at least a ghostly version of a book, I wondered how books could become ghosts momentarily before casting aside the thought for more important things
"Jane?" I asked quietly,
"Ginny" she replied looking up at me and smiling and pulling a few stray hairs away from her eyes,
"I trust things are better since our last conversation?"
I nodded, "I'll just find another way" I grinned momentarily,
"But that's not why were here to see you" I finished jumping straight to my purpose for being there,
"Speaking of we" interrupted Cedric, "Are you going to introduce us?" he flashed his perfect smile at Jane,
"Of course" I replied, momentarily disorientated
Flushing a healthy shade of pink I mumbled, "Cedric, Jane, Jane Cedric" and motioned accordingly,
"So Jane is it" cut in Cedric with an engaging smile, she nodded.
"I remember you, you were in Hufflepuff" she said colouring slightly, well she looked a different shade of grey, you know what I mean.
"Yep" replied Cedric and they both went very quiet.
Taking my chance I jumped in, "Jane? Do you know where Godrics Hollow is?"
She looked at me and paused a moment, "I don't Ginny"
Dammit, if Jane didn't know where it was I had no chance of finding it, the enormity of my task occurred to me, and I began to panic blindly,
"But Godric?" she continued, my head snapped up and I stared at her eager for her to finish,
"Mightn't that be Godric Gryffindor?"
The thought had never even occurred to me, and now it seemed too much of a coincidence to bear thinking about, trust a Ravenclaw to spot the obvious while the rest of us were still lost in the clouds.
"So do you know where he lived? I asked almost jumping with excitement at my discovery,
Jane brought me crashing back to earth almost at once,
"One would presume Godrics Hollow" she said thoughtfully, "but I still have no idea where that is"
"What about the other ghosts?" asked Cedric once again making his presence known; I smiled at him gratefully whilst Jane paused momentarily to think,
"You could try asking the fat friar" she concluded, "he's been here longer than all of us, I think he haunted this spot even before it was a school"
"Thanks Jane" I smiled briskly and turning to Cedric who appeared now to be gazing at Jane I continued
"Cedric? The fat friar was your house ghost wasn't he?"
Cedric took a moment to snap back to reality then turned to grin at me; "Got it in one Gin" he chuckled, his eyes shining brightly
"I suppose you want my help finding him now?" he said teasingly,
I nodded vigorously, "Of course!"
He turned to Jane and catching her eye he said rather more seriously, "nice to meet you Jane" and bobbed his head in a very cavalier sort of motion,
She giggled behind her hand and tipped a pretend curtsey before turning to me "hope you find him Gin"
I nodded again fervently,
"Me too Jane, Me too"
Turning back to Cedric, I grinned,
"right, he was your house ghost, any idea where he might be?"
Cedric who was still staring after Jane's disappearing form ignored me,
"Hey, earth to Cedric!" I yelled
"Huh?" he said coming round, looking very much like a kid that had just been caught with its hand in the cookie jar
"Where do you think we'll find the friar?" I repeated in very monotone,
he blushed slightly,
"How about Hufflepuff common room?" I asked
He shrugged, "well I suppose it's worth a look, although he's not there very often" he turned to me slyly, "and I don't think I should be showing a Gryffindor the location to our common room"
Catching the look I shot him he straightened up, "oh alright then" he blustered, "this way"
With that he turned and began walking down the corridor and I soon realised he was heading to the main staircase. As we waited for the staircase to reach us I stood looking at the many paintings scattered over the walls, some of old headmasters, others of great wizarding scientists, and discoverers, I even noticed a portrait of wizard Baruffio who was doomed to suffer a bull landing on top of him every few minutes from outside of the picture.
It was as we stood there that Cedric tugged my arm pointing to the staircase below us.
I followed his arm, and saw Harry Ron and Hermione making they're way up one of the lower staircases, I stepped back quickly then realising they couldn't see me anyway I laughed and leaned over the railing trying to catch the sounds of they're voices that were floating up the stairwell.
"But you don't get it Hermione, she was there, I'm telling you" came Harry's voice.
"Harry you know full well that the Gray lady could have been talking to anybody, why does it always have to be Ginny" she announced scathingly
Hang on a minute, Harry knew me and Jane were talking?? But he had left, and he didn't always know when I was there,
"Why do you think it was her Harry?"
Ron's voice floated up the stairwell,
"He reckons he felt her presence"
"Why are you always so sceptical Hermione? You did it to professor Trelawney and now your doing it to me" Harry's voice raised, attracting glances from other people assembled on the various staircases.
Hermione looked gobsmacked "you know just as well as I do Harry, that Professor Trelawney is a total flake"
Unfortunately for Hermione raising her voice had been a bad idea,
"ten points from Gryffindor Miss Granger" came a crisp voice, "you will do well not to denounce professors publicly in the future, no matter what your personal opinions are of them" Snape's cloak rustled as he turned to march down the corridor,
Hermione threw a look at Harry as if to say now look what you done, while Ron muttered barely audibly, causing Harry to flash a grin in his direction.
I could imagine what Ron had said, something along the lines of Snape being an overgrown bat if he was voicing anything like his usual remarks about Snape, and I grinned remembering momentarily how much Ron despised him, I watched as they turned off the stairwell on the floor below and headed down a passage to the right.
Finally the stair arrived and I skipped down it, making to follow the three of them down the corridor into which they had disappeared. But Cedric's arm reached out to pull me back,
"The common room is this way"
I paused staring after them, then realised Cedric was right, I would be more help to Harry if I could discover my killer, and work out why I had been killed, I followed Cedric as he led the way past the oak doors of the great hall down a winding staircase that I had never really noticed before.
We went all the way to the bottom, and glancing around the dark bare passage that was lit by only one fiery torch I realised that the Slytherin common room was not the only one that could be found in the dungeon.
It was incredibly smart really, hiding the Hufflepuff common room away down here, who would have thought to look so close to the Slytherin's common room, perhaps Hufflepuffs weren't a bunch of old duffers after all.
Following Cedric through a statue that I think might have been Uric the Oddball, I found myself in a perfectly round room, the circle interrupted only by two flights of stairs that I realised must spiral away into the west tower of Hogwarts.
The walls were lined with black and yellow banners, and scattered everywhere were huge old fashioned black leather seats, making the room look like something from the 60s.
Everywhere I looked people was sat giggling over books and games, or writing on dusty parchments. But the thing that surprised me most was a huge portrait over the fire of Cedric, dwarfed only by A much bigger Picture of Helga Hufflepuff on the opposite wall.
I turned to Cedric, who had turned a bright shade of crimson,
"Seems they liked you then" I grinned,
"They put it there after…. well you know" he said appearing slightly choked,
I nodded in understanding; I felt exactly the same way whenever I thought about my own death,
I stared at the fireplace, focusing on the flames dancing away in the grate,
"looks like he's not here then" I said glumly
"Who isn't?" whispered a jolly voice from behind us.
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