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.
As the last days before the Quidditch Final approached, Harry found himself spending more time thinking about Ginny and what might possibly have caused her behavior that night in the abandoned office than the upcoming match. It had gone so far as to cause him to be yelled at a number of times during the Gryffindor team's final practice. He'd completely missed the Snitch a number of times, and Katie was understandably upset. Cho Chang was a better Seeker than Draco had been. Ginny hadn't waited around for him after practice and she spent most of the night silently reading her History of Magic book and ignoring everyone around her.
The next day, a Friday, was even worse. It was only two days before the Quidditch Final, and he felt lucky to simply make it through the day. It seemed that everything was going wrong for him. Ginny wasn't avoiding him, but she wasn't acting terribly friendly either. During breakfast she ate even slower than he did, and made up an excuse to slip away early as if she knew that Harry would try and talk to her before her first class.
During Herbology, he was nearly sent to the Hospital Wing after he stumbled over a pot of Venom Ivy and lost the feeling in his legs for half of the class. Ron had panicked for only a little while, while Professor Sprout rummaged in the storage closet for the antidote.
After regaining the ability to walk, he managed to upset Ginny again by simply asking her how she was feeling. He hadn't meant it as an attempt to get her to talk about her attack, but he realized how it sounded as he watched her grab her bag and walk out of the Great Hall. Harry was tempted to walk after her, but a subtle shake of Hermione's head told him it was best to let her go.
Transfiguration was even worse. His mind just didn't seem to want to concentrate on anything but Ginny and what she'd said. She was scared of something, but she couldn't tell him. There were loads of other things she'd told him, and he'd told her tons of things he hadn't told anyone else. What could this be that was so horrible that she couldn't tell him?
In some ways, it felt like she was still missing. She wasn't the same witch who'd taught him to dance before the Ball. She hardly smiled, and spent hours behind open books, staring at the floor or wall more than the text in front of her. She didn't act angry or annoyed with him, so long as he wasn't asking her about what had happened. She dutifully held his hand when they walked together, and even gave him the occasional kiss on the cheek before going to bed.
Behind all of that, Harry caught glimpses of the thing that was troubling him so much. When she'd woken up in the Hospital Wing, she'd been filled with rage and despair. When she realized that Harry was still alive, her first emotion was not happiness, but fear. He could still see it in her eyes at times. Something was frightening her more than Harry had ever seen. It couldn't be Voldemort or the Death Eaters, and it didn't seem to be the memories of what had happened to her.
Perhaps it was the lack of memories, Harry wondered. He'd been afraid of the same thing after his first vision of Voldemort that summer. Maybe she'd get better once Dumbledore found a way to remove the Memory Charm.
Of course, Professor McGonagall didn't care about any of that. All she cared about was the fact that Harry had turned one her chairs into a pixie which proceeded to destroy a bookshelf full of books which looked to be older than McGonagall herself.
He spent the entire time from the end of class through the end of dinner cleaning and fixing up the bookshelf. McGonagall didn't ask about the cause of his distraction, but the familiarity he found in the look of disapproval she gave him suggested that she knew better than most other people around the school. He was glad to be able to leave without her forcing him to discuss it.
As he approached the Fat Lady, he heard voices coming from the around a bend in the corridor. She tried to give him the sternest look she could, but after spending three hours with Professor McGonagall, it didn't make him feel nearly guilty enough to stop him from listening. He froze as he recognized Ginny's voice.
"Can't we do this some other time? Harry should be coming back any minute."
"That's why I need to talk to you now." The other voice was clearly Katie's, and she sounded a little tense.
"Fine," sighed Ginny, "Then talk and get it over with."
"You're distracting our Seeker."
There was a faint choking noise. "I'm— You think—" Ginny stammered before pausing for a moment. "He's a bit more than our Seeker to me, and you know —You better be joking about this," she said, sounding almost threatening.
"I'm serious, Ginny. You saw him yesterday. He couldn't have beaten Cho if she were blindfolded. Hermione told me what happened in Transfiguration and I heard at lunch how he barely walked out of Herbology. If things don't change soon, I swear to you I'll pull Potter and put you in his place. I can find another Chaser, and one horrible Chaser is a lot less damaging than a Seeker who can't even concentrate enough to fly."
"Katie, we're dealing with things you don't know about, and it's—"
"Then deal with them, and stop distracting him. If not for Quidditch than just for his sanity."
"He's the one who's distracted," Ginny hissed. "I haven't done anything!"
"Maybe you should," Katie replied. "Maybe he just needs to be distracted in a different way. I'm sure you know what I mean."
There was a long pause. "I don't think that's going to help as much as you think," Ginny said slowly.
"You'd be surprised," Katie replied. "If snogging in the Room of Requirements is what it'll take, then I'll wait all night by the portrait to see that you make it back. If it's something else, tell me what I can do to help and then do it."
"Look, it's not that easy," Ginny whispered, "This is different. I— I just can't. There's nothing I can do. It's better this way, I swear." There was another pause, Harry heard Katie mumbling something and then the sound of shoes walking toward him."
"No!" Ginny called out. "No, let him play, please. I'll talk to him. It'll be alright. Just trust me." There was another pause, then Ginny tried a different argument. "I don't have a chance against Cho. Harry's your only shot."
"Fine," Katie replied in a disappointed voice. "It's up to you, then. But if I lose a league position because of Potter, there'll be one more witch he'll need protection from." Harry heard her walking toward him and he quickly leaped toward the wall and pressed himself flat into a small hollow between a pair of columns. As he'd hoped, she was just returning to the common room, and he relaxed as the portrait closed behind her.
He stayed where he was, waiting for Ginny to follow her, but she didn't. After waiting for a minute or more, Harry gave up. Ginny must have walked off in the other direction. He began feeling a little bad for his recent performances in practice. He hadn't considered that Katie might have been hoping for a position on one of the professional teams, or that his failures might reflect poorly on her. With a sigh, he walked to the Fat Lady, trying to think of some way of apologizing to Katie.
"Mum used to give me chores to do when I eavesdropped," Ginny announced from behind him. Harry spun around to see her standing quietly against the wall behind him with a look of passive annoyance. "At least, she did when she caught me. She said it wasn't polite."
Harry tried denying it. "I wasn't—"
"Yes, you were," Ginny interrupted, "but I don't mind. It just saves me from having to talk to you about it. You reckon you heard enough to get the point?"
"Yeah."
"Right then," Ginny said with a small smile. She walked past Harry and told the Fat Lady the password. Harry walked into the common room behind her. Katie was whispering to Sloper and Kirke, but stopped as she saw Harry. She looked over toward Ginny for a moment before returning to Harry. He knew what she wanted to know. He gave her a quick nod. She returned the gesture and went back to talking with the Beaters.
The rest of the night was uneventful. Most of the house was spending the night working on homework or trying to get some early revision done for the O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s
The next day was equally uneventful. The Quidditch match was far from exciting. It was difficult to find it too thrilling when everyone knew that whoever won would still only be in third place, with no hope of improving their standing.
It had been a respectably close match, with the highlight coming about halfway through the match when Goyle took a Bludger to the face. Play had stopped for a minute or two while Madam Pomfrey stopped the bleeding. Though he had stopped bleeding, Goyle never did recover. He swerved about over the pitch, missing more Bludgers than he hit.
Being down a Beater, Slytherin struggled to keep up, and soon Hufflepuff had a modest lead. It wouldn't matter, however, as Malfoy finally spotted the Snitch and was circling the Slytherin goal hoops a minute later, celebrating as if his victory actually mattered.
Harry struggled all through the next morning to try and keep his mind on the Quidditch Final. Ginny had stopped avoiding him for the moment, and was acting almost natural around him. He found himself worrying about the cause of the change in her behavior, and had to scold himself to do as Ginny and Katie had asked him.
The longer he waited the harder it was to keep his mind on the match. Ginny wasn't acting normally. She wanted everyone to think that she was, but when no one was looking, she would return to the same frightened look he'd remembered from their argument in the abandoned office.
An hour before the match, she disappeared, only to suddenly appear just as Katie was calling the meeting in the locker rooms. Katie made no comment but glared at Harry as if waiting for him to simply walk off. The meeting was long and mostly boring for Harry. His job was simple: beat Cho Chang to the Snitch. The teams were well matched, but most of the school still regarded Harry as the best Seeker Hogwarts had seen for some time. In truth, the match probably rested on the unreliable shoulders of the Gryffindor Beaters. If they couldn't keep Harry and the Chasers from spending all their time dodging Bludgers, then Ravenclaw would have the advantage.
Before he realized what was happening, the team was standing and walking out onto the pitch. Harry jogged to catch up with them, earning him a withering glare from Katie. The Ravenclaws were already out, and Harry barely had time to tighten his robes and guards before the Quaffle was tossed up for the Chasers.
Harry took off and immediately started searching for Cho. He was feeling a little less confident of his own abilities and wanted to make sure that she didn't do the same thing she'd done to Malfoy in her last match. She was already climbing high above the pitch, and Harry pulled up on his broom to follow her.
After only a short time, he was so far above the pitch, he couldn't tell how well the rest of his team was doing. Cho was keeping her distance, and moving fairly quickly, making Harry stay as close as he could in case at some instant she might suddenly make a dash for the Snitch.
The weather was clear and there wasn't any wind. With the match so far below him, and Cho out of earshot from him, the sky felt empty. He looked about and realized that there wasn't really much chance of either of them spotting the Snitch where they were. The whole pitch seemed to blink with hundreds of small glints. From the distance they were at, it was impossible to tell the difference between the Snitch and the flash of sunlight off someone's robes as they shot up the field.
Harry pulled his broom to a halt, and made a quick decision. He'd never figure out what Cho was trying to do up here. Perhaps the whole point was to keep him wondering what she was up to while she waited for some signal to come down. It didn't really matter. He'd never see the Snitch where he was now, so he might as well go where he had a chance.
Deciding to test her a bit, Harry tipped the front of his broom down toward the pitch and dropped out of the sky at a frightening speed. He looked over to see Cho doing just what he'd hoped: she was diving after him. She hadn't had any reason to be that high. When they reached a height that Harry was more comfortable with, he pulled up and leveled off.
Cho, however, did not. She zoomed past him, still picking up speed as she dropped toward the grass. Harry hadn't seen anything. What was Cho doing. Harry turned around to watch her. It was just another feint, he told himself, she's upset that she fell for mine, and is trying to make up for it.
As she neared the pitch, Harry's certainty wavered and he slowly started gaining speed, waiting for the glint of sunlight off gold to tell him what Cho was aiming toward. Finally, she pulled up, less than twenty feet from the ground. Harry saw the scowl on her face when she turned and saw that he hadn't followed her. What had she been trying to do?
A quick look at the scoreboard told the answer. Gryffindor was actually trailing by twenty points despite what looked to be fine flying by all three of their Chasers. As Harry circled the pitch, he saw why. Kirke and Sloper were doing better, but they hadn't been prepared for the intensity with which Ginny and Katie were being targeted. Without Harry around to draw some attention from the Beaters, they'd turned on Gryffindor's best Chasers, and made the match much more difficult.
After Harry's feint they seemed to pay more attention to him, and he tried to spend more time closer to the action, hoping that they would lay off a little, while trying to fly fast enough that they wouldn't actually succeed at harassing him.
It seemed to work, and Katie scored three goals in a row, putting them back in the lead. Ginny, unfortunately, did not seem to have that much better of a time. There were less Bludgers headed her way, but she never seemed to be able to avoid them as much as she did in practice. There wasn't much he could do, so Harry tried to force himself to focus on the Snitch. If he found it, this would all be over.
Cho seemed to adopt a similar strategy and they both soared around the pitch hoping to catch sight of the Snitch. The longer the match went the harder it was for Harry. Ginny wasn't doing so well. She'd been hit by two Bludgers already and he thought she seemed to be favoring her left arm a bit.
Cho was following him more closely than before, but Harry didn't concern himself with it too much. Ginny had nearly fallen off her broom dodging another Bludger and Harry turned to fly past her and make sure she was alright. As he did, she scowled at him, then winced as she pointed behind him with her left arm.
Cho was flying very low over the pitch. Harry yanked on his handle, to follow her, and in only a few seconds he'd passed her. She'd been flying much too slowly to catch the Snitch, if it would have even been nearby.
Harry resumed his patrols around the pitch, and found Cho headed right toward him. She made no move to turn aside and at the last moment, Harry turned to avoid her. She circled and as she passed him he saw her wave her arm, and then there was a sharp pain in his shoulder. Had she thrown a rock at him? He turned to follow her as she soared toward the Ravenclaw goal hoops.
"What the bloody hell was that for?" he shouted as she dropped toward the pitch. Madam Hooch was on the other side and probably wouldn't hear what they were saying.
"What are you playing at, Potter?" she shouted. "I don't want to win because you threw the match."
"Threw the match?" Harry shouted back. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you completely ignoring the Snitch when it's flying right beneath you." Harry jerked his head down to try and see the Snitch. "It's not there now," Cho said as she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Potter: you're not trying to lose the match?"
"No!" he shouted.
"You're certain?"
"Of course."
"The Snitch is hovering just under the Gryffindor goal hoops. Ron's been trying to get your attention for a minute now."
Harry turned to look, and saw Ron waving his arms over his head. Harry looked below him and caught what could have been the sparkle of the Snitch. Before he could decide what to do, he was nearly knocked off his broom as Cho zipped off toward it. Harry heard a collective gasp from the crowd as they saw her fly off. Without another thought, Harry leaned forward and shot off after her.
Cho had a lead, but not so much that Harry didn't have a chance. As he slowly caught up to her, he saw the Snitch zipping around nervously while both Seekers raced for it. It seemed to be edging off to one side, and Harry took a gamble and started turning off toward that side.
Seconds later, the Snitch veered quickly off in the direction Harry was already headed. Cho turned violently to follow it, and Harry pressed himself to his broom and turned in a tight loop, nearly colliding with Cho as they briefly crossed paths.
He was just behind her now, and still closing the distance between them. The Snitch had turned again and was headed directly for the Ravenclaw Keeper. They streaked past her, forcing her to dive away or risk being knocked from her broom by her own Seeker.
Harry and Cho dove for the pitch after the Snitch slowed and dropped out of the air. As they skimmed the grass, Harry pulled ahead of her, and was almost within reach of the Snitch. It was still flying erratically, and they were forced to swerve wildly to stay behind it.
Harry stretched his arm to grab it, but it dodged sharply to the left. He turned to try again, but paused as he heard Cho give a wild shout. He turned to his right, but barely understood what was happening. Cho was leaping through the air toward him. He felt a pain in his back like being hit with a Bludger and then it was gone. He turned back to his left in time to see Cho reaching for the Snitch as she flew through the air... without her broom.
Harry felt a moment of panic as he watched her hand reach for the Snitch, only to have it replaced with shock as her fingertips fumbled the Snitch, grabbing one of its wings for only an instant, before she dropped and tumbled across the pitch. Harry yanked on the handle of his Firebolt and circled around, hoping that she was alright.
"Potter!" he heard Katie shouting from above him. "GET THE SNITCH!"
He cleared his mind and found the Snitch flying drunkenly over the spot where Cho lay grass-covered and defeated. He flew over toward it, and easily snatched it from the air. He landed a second later, and ran toward Cho.
She seemed to be both happy and annoyed to see him. Perhaps she would have reacted better were he not still holding the Snitch. A number of students were running toward them now, along with Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall. She seemed to be just fine, though her robes were completely ruined.
"I almost wouldn't have minded losing if you'd have pulled that off," Katie said as she pulled Cho to her feet. Cho shrugged and returned a small smile. "I almost wouldn't have minded winning. It was my only chance. Harry would have had it in a second anyway."
"Good match, Harry," Katie said with a firm handshake. "You had us worried for a bit." Harry looked down at the grass. Ravenclaw would have won if Cho hadn't pointed out the Snitch. He glanced toward Cho and saw her staring at the ground as well. He didn't understand why she'd done it, but it seemed she didn't want to share it with anyone else.
"Thanks for making sure I'm alright," she said to him, steering the conversation away from the match. "It's nice, but I'm sure you've got better places to be." Harry gave her a strange look. She stared back and pointed off toward the center of the pitch. "I believe Ginny has a broken arm. She is your girlfriend, right?"
Harry turned and ran off to find Ginny. By the time he arrived Pomfrey had already mended the bone and Ginny was smiling lightly. "Good job, Harry. I guess I won't have to hide from Katie tonight, after all."
That night the Gryffindor common room hosted yet another celebration for yet another Quidditch Cup win. McGonagall warned them all that there were still classes the next day and that none of the professors would accept a late party as an excuse for falling asleep in class.
Nonetheless the party continued on late into the night with the help of some silencing charms. Harry eventually went to bed, and fell almost immediately into a deep, though not quite peaceful sleep.
When Harry awoke the next day, he hoped that the completion of the Quidditch season might somehow make Ginny more relaxed and willing to talk to him about whatever it was that was bothering her.
Instead, she seemed as gloomy as the weather, which seemed to worsen as the day wore on. If anything, she seemed to react to his questions and prodding even worse than before. He'd pretty much ruined any chance at an enjoyable lunch by trying to get her to talk to him outside the Great Hall.
He'd almost gotten used to Ginny's cold indifference, but Ron had started to notice her odd behavior and was asking questions now too. Ginny was even less polite with him than she was with Harry. Hermione got upset at the three of them for interrupting what had been a relaxing lunch, and the four of them spent the rest of their meal sitting in tense silence.
When she finished what little food she'd taken, Ginny stood slowly and walked to the Head Table. Ron, Hermione and Harry watched as she spoke to Professor McGonagall. They seemed to talk for quite some time before McGonagall stood up and left through one of the side doors. Ginny stood around for a bit longer, as if she was trapped and had no where to go. Finally she walked back down the aisle, completely ignoring Harry and the rest of her friends on her way out of the Hall.
Harry stumbled through the rest of his day, simply wanting it to end. Something was happening. He could feel it. Something was terrifying Ginny, and she wouldn't talk about it. It must have had something to do with the attack. It seemed clear now that whatever was scaring her was the same the same thing that made her uncomfortable when Harry had been asking about her mark.
Where was it? What message had it meant to send? What about it could possibly make Ginny so afraid of talking about it, that she couldn't even share it with him?
Harry succeeded in not getting in any trouble that day, but it was due more to luck than any greater concentration. When supper came that night, he barely spoke to Ginny, and she barely spoke back. They seemed otherwise happy, and she even smiled at him and held his hand as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower.
Harry didn't understand what was happening, and it didn't help that she leaned against his legs and read a book while he and Ron tried to work on some spells for Charms class.
Harry went to sleep quite confused that night. That noon, the only reaction he'd been able to get out of Ginny had been an annoyed glare, but that night she'd given him a kiss as she left to walk up to her dorm. In his heart, he knew part of the explanation. She was ignoring her fear. Whatever she was worried about was still there, but so long as Harry ignored it, she could too.
He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to do that. He couldn't take it much longer. If something horrible was about to happen, he at least wanted to know what to expect. He tried to let it go. If Ginny could do it, he could too. He'd just have to trust that she wouldn't let anything too terrible happen. She'd never let anyone be hurt because she didn't tell them they were in danger.
Unless, of course, she was the one in danger.
Author's Notes:
I know I usually post multiple chapters at a time, but I'm a bit anxious about the next Chapter, and felt like I'd get a better response if I gave everyone time to get used to the flow of the plot. Maybe I'm just being overly worrisome, but I find myself in an odd dilemma. I wrote a story. This is how it was in my head. Now that people are reading it and enjoying it, I find myself hoping I don't alienate or turn away readers.
I've decided to take the "literary integrity" standpoint and stand behind my story as it is. You all will just have to trust me. I mean, you made it this far, right?
In case some of you will need some encouragement, a brief note on characters: As I've said before (though maybe not here...) this plot existed in my head outside of the Harry Potter universe. It just sort of fit after I read OotP. Some of the behaviors of the characters are slightly different here. I think they are plausible differences (eg: Hermione, Neville). One thing I keep getting complimented on is my portrayal of Ginny. While the thing that made this story possible was the stronger personality she showed in OotP. I am using her for a distinctly different purpose than Rowling ever would (I would guess) or that most other fan-fiction writers have (from what I've heard). As you are just starting to realize, Ginny is at the center of many of the themes of the story, in some cases even more than Harry is. I used the analogy of a roller coaster before. If Harry is at the back of the train, still waiting to see what is in store for him, then Ginny is at the front. She's not more important than he is, but her perspective is not limited to what she learns from him.
So, onto some review responses:
From Jack-A-Roe:
On Critical Reviews: When I said "critical reviews", I meant "reviews critiquing the story itself", and not necessarily "bad reviews". Of course, if someone's view of the story is bad, then by all means, a bad review is in order. I didn't really see your review as complaining at all. You were merely pointing out some weak spots. In the first instance, I had already noted them to myself, though I either hadn't found a better way, or decided there really wasn't a better way. I'm glad you took the time to write it (and the other two). I certainly wouldn't want you to stop. If anything, I'm disappointed I couldn't find someone like you to help me edit it two months ago.
The Fight in the Hall: I can see your point, and perhaps this is a case of my history coloring my story. I didn't really mean for Malfoy's shove to be terribly aggressive. It was supposed to be the type of shove which people (If they're jerks) do with one hand when passing some person they really dislike. Harry and Ron are older now, and I felt it was more out of character for them to start a brawl in the hall over a petty shove and some verbal abuse. Especially since Ron started it, really. When I was Harry's age, it took a bit more than that to make me want to retalliate. Of course, I never actually did retalliate, but I was a bit more intimidating than Harry is. Hard to say how it should be. The plot didn't really call for a fight, but I certainly see your point.
Harry and Ginny: Though I know there's no way you could know this, you've actually pointed out one of the problems I had from the start. You shouldn't have understood what was upsetting Ginny, and she wasn't supposed to say it clearly. I had hoped that readers would slowly find their way to the answer without any character really saying it. Perhaps it didn't work. I have rewritten this section from scratch twice, and it was moved around quite a bit while I was writing. I've always felt there was something not-quite-natural about it, but I haven't been able to fix it. Believe me, the current flow is still loads better than the early drafts.
From Tronishere:
Ginny's Secret: Well, if that's your guess, then I'm pretty confident you'll not be turned off by the story when you hear the truth. Your guess is wrong, I'm sorry to say, and while equally disturbing, it's in a different direction than I decided to go. If that's the sort of guesses you're coming up with, I'm pretty confident you'll be fine with the rest of the story.
Harry's Double: It's easier to get a bit of someone's hair than you'd think. Of course, it's creepy to spend much time imagining how easy it would be to get a bit of their hair. And though the knife isn't explicitly explained, there is an implied explanation.
Why did Ginny walk into a trap? How did Bellatrix know?
These are related, and the explanations are, again, implied. Perhaps there is too much of that. The story is quite cerebral at times. I'm sorry if that's confusing.
The easier question to answer is the second one. Bellatrix didn't know Ginny was going to be there. Ginny knew Bellatrix (or some Death Eater) would be there. She knew they would be in the area, and that if she sat there long enough (outside the patrols of the Aurors) the Death Eaters would show up. She was right, and didn't have to wait long. How did she know the Death Eaters were there? The same way she knew something bad was happening after Neville left.
The first question is closely related to her motivations after she returns. However, these aren't fundamentally different from her motivations in the second and third chapters. In my story, Ginny's main goals are the aid and protection of Harry. She stated her intentions in the letter she sent the night she was taken: "No matter what you see, please promise me you'll stay in the common room until it's over." She knew she was going to be attacked, so she took control of the situation. Her idea was that she would sneak off, be attacked quickly, and then Madam Pomfrey would fix her up. She was afraid that if she was attacked some other time, there would be a chance that Harry would risk himself to stop it.
And as a teaser for the next chapter, Jack-A-Roe commented in his latest review:
Ginny obviously remembers something. I can't wait to find out what it is.
It's not what she remembers that's important. To be certain, she does remember some things, notably the death of Harry's doppleganger (meant to be some unfortunate who's been fed Polyjuice Potion). Yet, even after that is explained, she knows she's certain she's been made to forget something. Sometimes, the lack of evidence is just as telling as the evidence itself. There's an old joke:
What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?
Finding half a worm.
The question isn't 'What does she remember?', but 'Why is she certain she's forgotten something?'.
With that to ponder, I leave you to wait for Chapter 41. Probably sometime soon, maybe even tonight.