DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
The next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and by Saturday morning Gryffindor Tower buzzed with excitement. Christmas was less than two weeks away, and nearly every student in their third year or higher was preparing to spend the day in Hogsmeade, celebrating the last week of the term and purchasing gifts.
There had been quite a bit of discussion about whether the students would even be allowed to go to Hogsmeade. The Aurors made it clear that they thought it was too risky. Dumbledore was acting like it was perfectly safe, and encouraged all students to go if they could. He was probably worried that canceling the weekend would be difficult to explain to nosy reporters. So far as the rest of the wizarding world had been told, Hogwarts was perfectly safe.
Harry hadn't known what to do at first. It wasn't as if the attacks only happened during Hogsmeade weekends, and yet he couldn't help but worry. In the end, he decided to go. He had shopping he wanted to do, and if there was going to be an attack, he'd have a better chance of stopping it if he was not sitting in Gryffindor Tower.
As they finished lunch they congregated in the Entrance Hall much as they had on the last Hogsmeade weekend. Harry looked for Claire and found her standing quietly against the wall. Ron and Hermione were discussing gift ideas for their parents while Harry silently tried to think of some way for him to get something for Ginny without her seeing it.
When Harry wasn't watching, Dean had walked up to Ron and was asking where Ginny was. Ron looked a little put out by the interruption and suggested Dean try looking in the Great Hall. Only a minute after he left, Ginny returned wearing a heavier coat.
"Dean was looking for you," Ron announced dutifully before returning to his conversation. Ginny frowned and glanced over her shoulders as if Dean might suddenly spring out of the crowd around them.
Filch showed up a moment later and started letting all of them leave. After casting a number of Warming Charms on their clothes, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stepped through the doors and began walking toward the front gates of Hogwarts.
It was only just past noon, but the weather was already dreary, and the sky felt dark and brooding. There was fresh snow hanging on the trees and blanketing the ground. It should have looked peaceful and calming, but instead, the dark, low hanging clouds made Harry feel as if the world was simply waiting for something bad to happen.
"What is it, Harry?" Ginny asked as they walked.
Harry shook his head, "It's nothing. I was hoping it wouldn't look this depressing."
As they walked, Harry listened to Ron talking about the various different things he had considered getting for his brothers. As they passed through the main gates, a pair of Aurors nodded to Harry. One of them poked at a piece of parchment with his wand. They were counting the students. There would probably be another pair near Hogsmeade making similar counts.
There was a large group of third-years behind them talking excitedly amongst themselves. As Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny walked, the voices and the crunching of snow from the pack of younger students had been loud enough to mask the sound of someone jogging to catch up with them. When they finally heard the footsteps, their pursuer was practically right next to them.
"Ginny!" Dean Thomas called out between breaths. "Could I talk with you?"
Harry wasn't sure if it was the cold, or Dean's request, but Ginny's face was noticeably paler than it had been before they left.
Ginny looked around her as the third-years passed them by. She gave Harry an uncertain look, then looked briefly to Hermione who tried to look sympathetic, but said nothing.
"Er... Sure, I guess," Ginny finally agreed.
"Do we have to talk with them listening in?" Dean asked.
Ron snorted and gave him a funny look. "Fine," said Ginny, sounding as if she had just agreed to a detention. She immediately marched off some distance, leaving Dean with Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I— I was hoping we..." Dean said haltingly. He gestured limply toward Hogsmeade, but Ginny simply stood by a tree and stared at him.
Ron was still looking impatient as he waited for Dean to follow her. "Well?" he said loudly. "Go on, then. I've got plans, I'm not going to wait forever."
Dean reluctantly walked to where Ginny was standing. Harry immediately remembered it. She was standing under the tree he had broken his arm on. She was standing with her back to the tree, looking at the ground as she nervously adjusted the soft leather gloves she was wearing.
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione said as Dean walked away. "It's not as if Zonko's is going to close early on the Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas. Though after what Ginny did last time, you'll be lucky if they don't toss you out the moment you walk in."
Harry could tell that Dean had started talking to her. Just as Harry was about to look away, Ginny's eyes opened wide. Her head jerked to meet his gaze. Dean's head turned as well. He saw Dean look at him, and he immediately looked away, pretending to adjust his scarf.
Ron nodded his head toward Ginny. "What do you suppose that's about?" he asked in a low voice,
Hermione actually was re-wrapping her scarf about her neck. "I imagine he wants to go out with her again. He's probably asking her to the Ball." She sounded completely disinterested.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked.
Hermione finished with her scarf and gave Harry an odd look, "You're not the only one with secret sources of information."
"Right," Harry mumbled, "there's probably a chapter on Ginny's social life in Hogwarts: A History."
Ron choked as he tried to cover up a laugh. "Unfortunately not," Hermione huffed as she turned up her nose and turned her back to Harry.
Harry was trying to watch Ginny and Dean when he had the chance. He remembered the incident at Diagon Alley during the summer holidays and was just as uncertain about the situation as Ginny was. He noticed that Ginny was looking around quite a bit, and her gaze would always slow a little as it passed over him. More troubling was the fact that Dean would occasionally do the same thing.
"What do you think she'll say?" Ron asked, finally.
"No," Hermione said calmly. "She's got her eye on someone else." Harry caught Hermione flashing him a small smile.
"Yeah? We'll she doesn't let on, does she?" Ron replied.
Hermione turned away to cover up a laugh. "I guess not, Ron."
Ginny and Dean's conversation was getting more animated. Ginny had crossed her arms over her chest and took on a defiant, almost angry look to her face.
"It's not going well," Harry said flatly.
Dean had turned to face the three of them with a look of controlled anger. He started walking quickly and purposefully toward them. Ron walked toward him, with Hermione following, but they didn't get more than three steps before Dean was standing right in front of them, fuming. Harry decided to keep his distance.
"This is because of you?" Dean shouted as he reached Ron. Harry caught Dean looking past Ron to him, but Ron didn't seem to notice.
"What are you talking about?" returned Ron, looking somewhat annoyed.
"She asks me out, then ignores me over the holidays, dumps me the first chance she gets. Now she spends all her time with you lot."
"Yeah, well Ginny's life has changed a bit in the last year, hasn't it?"
"It's you, isn't it?" Dean asked, looking directly at Harry. Even Ron noticed this time, and he turned to give Harry a confused look as Dean continued. "You're behind all of it: Crabbe, Justin, that Ravenclaw girl, whatever Snape was bellowing about, and now this. It's you. I know it."
Ginny walked up and stood between Dean and Ron. "Dean! This has nothing to do with Harry!" she shouted at him, but then she gave a quick glance back to see how Harry was taking this.
"See!" Dean said sharply. "You keep looking at him, as if you need his... his permission to do things."
Ron pushed Ginny aside to step closer to Dean, though she had tried to stop him. "What are you saying? Do you think Harry has Ginny under the Imperius Curse or something?"
"I don't know what it is, but Ginny kept looking over at Harry," said Dean. Hermione pursed her lips. "It was the look on her face that gave her away. She was scared, but she couldn't stop trying to look at him." Dean turned to face Ginny. "What did you do? Why are you afraid of him? You don't have to do what he says, Ginny."
"This is absurd!" said Ginny. "Harry does not control me!"
"Really?" Dean said with a bitter smile. "And why was it that you just suddenly started spending all your time writing to him over the summer holidays?"
"How did you—" she started before she realized what she was doing. She'd done exactly what Dean hoped.
"I didn't. It was a guess." Dean answered, before turning toward Ron and Hermione. "I'm sure she didn't act strangely or do anything unexpected either, did she?"
Ron suddenly looked confused. He looked at Harry as if he was starting to think Dean might be onto something.
"Ron, you know what they were talking about," Hermione said sternly before turning back to Dean. "We can't tell you about it, but Harry is not controlling Ginny."
"I saw it, Hermione," Dean replied. "I saw it with my own eyes. It wasn't some dream or vision like Harry claims to have. It's right there. Harry's trying to control us all. Justin saw it. Snape saw it. Either he got to you, too, or you just don't want to see it. But the others will." With that, Dean turned and stormed off toward Hogsmeade.
"Now what do we do?" Ginny asked, but nobody answered. They were all staring at the old gnarled tree Dean passed as he walked off. It was the same tree he and Ginny had been talking near. Ginny blinked her eyes, and took a step toward it.
"Er... Did anyone else see that?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"I—er... I think so," Ron said. His voice was quiet and stiff. "I don't think I'll ever forget what they looked like."
Ginny was stepping back, now. "It was a Death Eater. I'd swear it."
Harry looked panicked. "You all saw him, too?" Part of him was relieved that he wasn't having another vision, but the greater part of him was terrified at what this meant: a Death Eater was close by, very close by.
"We all did, Harry," Hermione said. "But he ...Disapparated, I think. It didn't look right..."
"No, he drank something," Harry said slowly as he cautiously stepped forward. He realized he'd long since taken his wand out, and was relieved to see that everyone else had as well.
"Vanishing Draught!" exclaimed Hermione. "He's still there. Look!"
Hermione pointed toward Hogsmeade, and along the a set of deep, long strides had made their way toward the town. In the distance, Dean could still be seen walking toward Hogsmeade, alone.
"Dean!" Hermione shouted. "He heard Dean accusing you of all those things. What if—"
"Oi! You there!" a voice called out, causing all of them to turn their wands on the source. A young Auror stepped toward them. He must have Apparated to the spot.
"Did any of you see some large black thing near that tree, there?"
"Yes!" Harry shouted. "It was a Death Eater, we're certain! He's going after Dean!" he continued, pointing at Dean's shrinking shape in the snow. Without another word, he began running toward Dean. He could hear Ron, Hermione and Ginny running behind him.
"A Death Eater? Wait!" the Auror yelled as they ran. "Are you Harry Potter?"
The snow was fresh and deep and it didn't make for the best running. Harry knew the Death Eater couldn't be far from Dean, but he might still be able to stop him. He was encouraged by the sound and glare of red sparks crackling in the sky behind them. The Aurors would be coming.
"Dean!" Harry yelled. "Dean, stop!"
Dean turned and saw them running toward him, and instead of stopping began running in the other direction.
"NO!" Harry shouted as he tried to run faster. Perhaps Dean's running would buy him some extra time, time in which the Aurors might show up. Just as Dean reached another patch of trees, one of his feet sunk deep into the ground throwing him onto his stomach violently.
Hermione stopped suddenly, her wand pointed to the sky over Dean.
"Revelatio Locus!"
The area was suddenly showered with tiny white sparks which twinkled and floated down from the sky. As they fell, a number of them stopped on a large form moving toward Dean.
Harry bolted toward the shape, which was gradually turning into the black robe and hood of a Death Eater. Ginny followed him. As they ran, the snow glowed red, as another bright flare from an Auror illuminated the area. The Death Eater turned to look at them as a second violently green flare shot into the sky and hovered over their location.
The Death Eater shot a quick glance at the sky, then back at Harry and Ginny. Even his hood could not hide his fury. Before he had time to react, Harry saw the figure raise his wand. He dropped to the ground as a beam of red light lanced toward him. Behind him, he heard a second person drop into the snow.
He looked and saw Ginny collapsed and laying completely still in the snow behind him.
It was just a stunner, he told himself as he stood up, seeing Ron sprinting toward Ginny. It was only a stunner, she'll be okay... Harry turned and ran toward the Death Eater again. He won't attack me. Ginny's going to be okay.
Aurors were popping into existence all around him, wands drawn and searching for the action. The Death Eater was standing over Dean, and Harry was close enough to see that Dean was on his back now. There was a flash of light as a spell arced from the Death Eaters wand to Dean's head.
Harry cried out, and was answered by a number of spells fired at the dark shape. Harry raised his own wand, trying to decide what spell to cast, but a stunner from one of the Aurors hit the the Death Eater first. He was knocked off his feet, but somehow he climbed back to his knees and quickly aimed his wand back at Dean. From the distance Harry was at, he could faintly hear the curse:
"Macula Exosus"
Dean convulsed violently, but Harry could still see puffs of air from his breath in the cold air. He aimed his wand.
"Stupefy!"
The spell was right on target, but the Death Eater was gone. Harry wasn't sure if he'd Disapparated, or if he'd had a Portkey, or if Voldemort had some other method of returning his servants to him. It didn't matter. The Death Eater was gone and Dean was still breathing.
It was hard for Harry to try and ignore the shouting from the other room. He was in Madam Pomfrey's office with Ron, Hermione and Ginny talking with Dumbledore while Pomfrey tried to treat Dean in the main room. Unlike the other victims, Dean hadn't been completely unconscious when they found him.
The Aurors had reached him first. Harry had tried to get close enough to talk to Dean, but they hadn't let him. Knowing what he did now, it was almost certainly for the best. Ginny winced as Dean's voice echoed into the room.
"You weren't there! He was chasing me! They all were! They did this to me!"
Even Dumbledore frowned on hearing Dean's accusations. He had asked that they wait for Madam Pomfrey to finish with whatever she needed to do with Dean, before discussing what had happened. When Pomfrey finally entered the room, her expression was even more serious than Harry had expected. Ignoring his fear, Harry needed one question answered immediately.
"What happened to him?"
Madam Pomfrey's eyebrows raised and she glared at Harry. "Strange that you ask that. Mr. Thomas was asking that very question. He seemed to think that you would know the answer."
"Was there a curse scar?" Dumbledore asked before Harry could complain. Pomfrey stared at him in something similar to shock. "There was a scar, wasn't there?" Pomfrey nodded slowly. "And what else has happened to him? What injury has occurred?"
Pomfrey stiffened and she appeared bewildered. "His sight. He's lost his ability to see. I cannot say how permanent it might be, but it is complete and not easily cured."
Dumbledore turned to look at Harry and his friends. "Does that share any link to the reason Mr. Thomas was upset?"
Ginny nodded weakly. "Yes, he said that he'd seen it. He said he'd seen—" She stopped and looked at the others.
"He thought that I was controlling Ginny somehow," Harry explained. He desperately hoped to avoid talking about what Dean had really thought. Dumbledore frowned.
"And the mark is near his eyes?"
Madam Pomfrey confirmed this, and the shape. After all of the questions, she began to see the pattern as well. "Yes, Poppy, they are all related. I would go so far as to say that all were done by the same wizard, and none of them were done by Mr. Potter or any of his friends."
Dumbledore called in Kingsley Shacklebolt and a pair of the Aurors. They started talking quickly and Harry listened intently to everything they said. There was little chance or need for him to join in, but it seemed as if Dumbledore wanted him there, if only to hear what was said.
The Hogsmeade weekend had been canceled. Most of the Aurors had been called out to sweep the grounds and path to Hogsmeade, though they hadn't found anything yet. They debated about canceling all future Hogsmeade weekends, but Dumbledore seemed to think it was quite important that they keep up the appearance of normal operations.
The Aurors didn't seem at all pleased about this, but Kingsley seemed to be able to keep them in line. They quickly moved on to a series of debates about what could be done to stop any other attacks. Harry didn't recognize even half of the charms they mentioned, but it seemed that they wanted to extend the charms protecting Hogwarts to cover quite a bit of ground outside the grounds.
Dumbledore had actually argued against it, saying that it would take far too much time, and force too many Aurors away from the castle where the students were. He reminded them of the upcoming visit of the International Confederation of Wizards and the extra Aurors that would bring in. The Aurors reluctantly agreed to wait until then to try and extend the charms. After a brief discussion of the upcoming end-of-term break, Dumbledore excused Harry and the other Gryffindors.
When they reached their common room they immediately climbed the stairs to the boys dormitory where they could speak privately. There had been another victim, and it was another D.A. member. This time, it had even been a Gryffindor. More disturbing, however, were the scars everyone had been receiving.
"Crabbe had one on the same spot where he'd broken your arm. Millicent must have one on her hand for making me injure mine," Hermione recited. "Justin got his across his neck for trying to speak out against Harry, and now Dean's got one near his eyes for thinking he saw something that didn't exist."
"But what about the other two?" Ron asked. "Snape is one, so is the Warrenton girl the other one?"
"No," Harry answered. "None of the others were killed. All of the others were connected to me. I think she's different."
"Fine then, so who is the sixth?"
"I don't know," Harry said as he paced in front of the window, "but there is something else that worries me more." They looked at him, waiting as he tried to find the words to describe what he believed. "Why are these attacks happening?"
Ginny was the first to answer. "Tom wants everyone to think you're attacking other students."
"He wants you kicked out of Hogwarts," Hermione offered.
There was only one problem with that idea: it wasn't working. Even Snape wouldn't be able to argue Harry's involvement in the attacks. The Aurors had actually seen an attack now, and though Dean still thought Harry had been the one to attack him, no one else would.
"Maybe he doesn't realize it's not working," Ron offered.
"Maybe he's got some other reason for doing it," Ginny countered.
It wasn't a very encouraging thing to think of. What other reasons could Voldemort have for attacking Dean? It still had to be something to do with Harry, but what could he be trying to achieve? It defied any explanation that any of them could think of.
The final week of the term seemed to pass almost unbearably slowly. Dean, like Justin, left Hogwarts, and there was nothing to suggest that he would be returning. There was a general melancholy which seemed to take his place and the cheer which normally filled the halls and corridors at Christmas seemed somewhat muted.
The most recent attack hadn't completely ended any celebration, however. The decorations in the Great Hall remained in place. Students still exchanged gifts as they arrived via owl post, the only method left for students to purchase gifts.
Ginny and Ron had both fallen to using Fred and George to buy their gifts. Hermione had eventually also mailed her list to the twins. Harry, however, was well known enough that he could simply send in orders directly to various shops at Diagon Alley. His purchases were to be stored in his vault at Gringott's until Lupin came to pick them up.
Other students made all sorts of arrangements to get their gifts. It became something which they could concentrate on to try and push away the fear and uncertainty. Few people spoke openly about the attacks, and the Daily Prophet still hadn't run a story about it. It seemed as if it was some Hogwarts secret. Few of the students seemed to want to reveal it, whether out of loyalty toward the school or fear of some reaction.
Professor McGonagall had come to the common room that week asking for the names of students who would be remaining in the castle over the holiday. Harry had been looking forward to not being on that list for once, but was crestfallen when he saw his name at the top of it.
Hermione was quick to point out that her name was just below his, followed by Ron and Ginny. Harry decided to hold his anger in check for the moment, and was rewarded with a conspiratorial look from McGonagall as she scratched the only other name from the list and hung it on the wall.
Harry had to admit that he hadn't considered how he was going to get to Grimmauld Place. He'd assumed he would just be taking the train like every other student, and yet that idea didn't sound quite so appealing to him anymore. Perhaps Dumbledore and the Order had some better idea for getting them to London. Even if they didn't, if he was stuck at Hogwarts, at least he would have friends with him.
The last day of the term came and passed, and as the students filed out of the portrait hole, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat quietly in the common room. After the last student had left, they were still waiting for some news on what was happening. Were they really going to be staying the entire holiday? After Ron beat Harry in a second game of chess, he began complaining about being hungry. Not wanting to miss their chance at a real meal, they all slowly walked to the portrait and climbed through.
"What are you doing?" McGonagall scolded them almost the moment that Harry's foot hit the floor outside the common room.
"We were just about to go to dinner?" Harry answered.
"You'll have plenty of time for that when you arrive," McGonagall whispered. "I'm sure Albus will be along shortly. He'll be bringing your trunks later, so be sure to bring anything you might need for the next few hours."
"Our trunks?" Ron asked.
"Yes, of course, Mr. Weasley," she replied impatiently. "Just leave them by the fireplace and they will be taken care of."
The four of them exchanged surprised looks. None of them had packed. Harry still had his things scattered around his bed. Without any more encouragement, they all scrambled back into the common room, and dashed up to their dormitories to pack as quickly as they could.
"You suppose she meant that Dumbledore is taking us to Grimmauld Place?" Ron asked as he stuffed a pile of robes into his trunk.
"Where else would he take us?" Harry replied, as he packed just as urgently. "I just don't know why we need all this secrecy."
They tossed everything they could into their trunks. "I think that's everything," Harry announced as Ron searched under his bed for any stray socks. A moment later, they levitated their trunks and led them down the stairs just in time to see Dumbledore stepping into the common room.
"Ahh, excellent," he remarked. "Dobby promised that he will be bringing them a little later. May I ask where Miss Granger and Miss Weasley are?"
"They're... er... They're just getting their trunks," Harry said with a hopeful glance toward the stairs. When there was no sign of them, Dumbledore took the opportunity to sit down on the couch. In an instant he looked as if he had come there simply to relax and enjoy a lazy evening. The boys waited impatiently for Ginny and Hermione to come down.
Only a few minutes later, there was a series of loud banging noises coming from the girls' staircase. All three of them turned to watch as a trunk came bobbing down the stairs, a little too quickly for anyone to control it.
"...Don't worry about it. They elves will fix it," Ginny's voice echoed down the stairs. "Serves them right. We would've been done if they would have told us." Ginny stepped into view, but she was looking over her shoulder still.
"They're already done, of course," she shouted up the stairs, "Probably just mashed everything in like Fred and George." Without looking at them, she directed her trunk over toward the fireplace, and kept talking. "I hope there was some good reason why Dumbledore didn't tell us about this."
"There is, Miss Weasley."
Ginny froze, and her trunk fell to the floor with a clunk. Hermione appeared behind her a moment later, looking almost as surprised as Ginny, but much less embarrassed.
"It would be better if no one knew that Harry or any of you have left the safety of Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. Harry forced himself to remain quiet. If Hogwarts was safe, what could the rest of the world be like?
"Everyone who left must think that you are remaining at Hogwarts," he explained, "and everyone who remained must think you have left. By the time anyone discovers the truth, we will all be back and ready to start the next term." He stood and tossed a small handful of powder into the fireplace, which immediately flared green.
"We're taking the Floo?" Ron asked.
"Oh no," Dumbledore replied. "I fear it's too well watched. I have a much more efficient means of transporting you."
A second later, there was a flash of fire and smoke. Fawkes had suddenly appeared and was slowly sailing toward the couch.
"Wicked," Ron exclaimed.
One by one, Fawkes circled and let each of them grab onto his tail before he disappeared in another burst of smoke and flame. Harry was the last to go, and as Fawkes circled the room after returning from taking Hermione, Dumbledore gave him a cheerful smile.
"I'll see you soon, Harry."
Harry reached and grabbed one of Fawkes' long tail feathers with all the skill of a champion Seeker. The world seemed to burn away around him, and when the flames passed, he found himself standing in the parlor at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
"It feels a lot like the Floo," Ron said from a nearby chair, "but it's nice to do it without all the ash."