A/N: In this story, Harry's already revealed what Dumbledore told him about the prophecy.

Chapter 4

Harry and Ginny were in an upstairs bedroom, talking. Their "lesson" had finished in about two-point-five seconds when Ginny had succeeded in performing each and every jinx instantly. Having nothing else to really do, Harry ended up swapping stories with Ginny; her about growing up with six brothers, and him about growing up with a pig in a wig. Harry found Ginny surprisingly easy to talk to. It was different from talking to Cho, with whom he'd had to watch every word that came out of his mouth, and Hermione, who could sometimes be such a know-it-all. Ginny knew when to comment and when to just listen. The topic had currently switched to some good times they'd had the year before.

"You remember that time when we were cleaning and Sirius—" Harry broke off, his face suddenly sad. Rising abruptly, he went to the window and stared out.

Ginny followed him. "You still miss him."

"I was stupid," Harry muttered, his green eyes starting to fill with traitorous tears. "Gullible. Voldemort was toying with me, and I lapped it all up."

"Harry—"

"I got Ron in danger. Hermione. You. Neville. Luna. The people in the Order. And I got the one person I considered family killed."

"HARRY!" Ginny finally got his attention. "I'm not going to tell you that it wasn't your fault—because it was. You acted far too impulsively. If you'd thought to open Sirius's present earlier, you would've been able to check on him through that mirror. And you could've put aside your hatred for Snape enough to trust him for five bloody seconds." Ginny met his eyes. "You were foolish."

Harry was surprised at Ginny's words. No one had ever told him he'd been absolutely witless that fateful night. At least no one but himself.

"But the point is, it's done. It's over. You may be the Boy-Who-Lived, but you don't have the power to change what's been set. Besides, with the bad, there was some good mixed in," Ginny stated quietly.

"What good?" Harry snapped bitterly as the memories of that horrible night surged up. He could see only death and destruction.

"You cleared your name, Harry. Fudge was forced to face reality. Also, you gained yourself a nice, fat advantage. You now know everything you have to know, while You-Know-Who is still as lost as The Poky Little Puppy. And you've made sure he stays lost, by having the prophecy smash. I'd say because of you, the scales have tipped dramatically in our favor." Ginny smiled.

"But—"

"If I know what you're going to ask, well, You-Know-Who was going to get his hands on that prophecy sooner or later. And you can bet that if he'd decided to wait just a little more, get powerful, and stroll into the Ministry to get it personally instead of luring you there, he'd've gotten it for certain, and the world as we know it will be done for."

Harry looked out the window again, but he found that he no longer felt so bad. He actually felt a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth at the dramatic way Ginny had finished her sentence.

"I don't know what it's like to lose my mum and dad, Harry. I don't know what it's like to lose my only kin. But I got to know Sirius pretty well last summer. And I know he'd be furious if he saw you all mopey now. He'd've wanted you to get over it, to keep your chin up. He'd've been proud of you for turning a bad situation into something good, and for revealing his innocence."

"Oh yeah, I didn't think of that," Harry admitted. The smile finally fought its way to his face. "Thanks, Ginny. I feel better."

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The entire room was struck dumb.

"Me?" Draco squeaked in a high-pitched voice very unlike his own.

"Him?!" Ron and Hermione cried.

"You're joking!" the twins chorused.

"Precisely," Dumbledore answered, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I have to follow Potter around?" Draco's voice was getting progressively higher.

"Lower your pitch, boy," Alastor Moody growled. "You're going to break a window."

"Yes, you. Now, since you are still just a student, I thought that you might need a little bit of help. So you'll be working with Miss Granger," Dumbledore continued.

Two bodies fell out of their chairs and onto the floor.

"Smelling salts! Somebody get smelling salts!"

xxxxxxxxxx

Harry and Ginny came down to pandemonium. Order members were running around, smelling salts and perfumes in hand.

"What's going on?" Ginny wondered aloud.

After a few moments, a woozy Hermione, supported by Ron, emerged from a room, followed by an equally woozy Draco, supported (grudgingly) by Fred and George.

"What happened?" Harry rushed to his best friend's side.

"Er…Hermione was…a little…warm and she passed out," Ron stammered.

Harry trained a baleful eye on Draco. "What'd he do to her?"

"For once, nothing," Fred supplied. "Ferret Boy here tripped over a rag, hit the door, and was knocked out cold."

"What were you people doing down here?" Harry asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

"Doing a little sprucing up," Bill passed them by, a perfumy cloth in his hand.

Tonks began to take on Goyle's appearance. "I guess I'll have to take him home."

"You do that."

xxxxxxxxxx

Hermione's vision began to clear as she was floated onto her bed.

"What happened?" she asked shakily.

"You fainted, 'Mione," Ron said, his face creased with concern.

"Are you alright? Blimey, what happened?" Ginny cried.

Hermione recollections of the meeting returned.

"Ron, knock me out again, please."

XXXXX

A/N: PRAISE TO THE LORD GOD!

To my reviewers:

DanRadcliffe5666- Thanks! :)

Ehlonna- Thanks! :) And Draco will really have a very not easy time doing this assignment. Just how hard, you'll see. :)

Crimson Girl- Thanks! :) And you won't have to feel so sorry for Harry…Draco will not kill him, promise. :)

Delayed Action Ninja- Thanks! :) We-ell, as for the romance, you may have to wait a bit for the real big stuff, but I'll be dropping little "hints" occasionally. :)

AAandACFOREVER- Thanks! :)

The Black Pearl is Freedom- Thanks! :)

AraelMoonchild- Hey, I was fully thinking that! :) Thanks! :)

The fly on the wall- Thanks! :)

FoolishlyBraveDarkStar- Hogwarts will come soon…and that's where the real good stuff will happen. :) Thanks! :)

Avadne- I was banking on Harry's gentlemanliness to overrule his brain. :) Thanks! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL! :)