Chapter Fourteen: Connections

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Ginny's eyes flew open and looked into Harry's green eyes inches away from her own. She smiled. His eyes were sparkling, and that meant he was, right now, very happy.

"Good morning," she mumbled with a grin, stretching.

"I love to watch you sleep," Harry said. "You... drool."

"I do not drool!" Ginny turned on him, her eyes snapping, trying to hide the smile that threatened.

"You do. And it's... very..." Harry kissed her neck, then lower. "...sexy."

"Drooling is sexy?" Ginny asked doubtfully, pushing her hands through his hair, holding him close as he moved down her body.

"Not for anyone else," Harry said. "But when you do it..."

"Ah, but how would you know?"

"Hmm?" Harry seemed rather distracted by her navel. She sucked in a sharp breath as his tongue darted out, circling it, and again as he blew gently, making her shiver.

"How do you know it's not sexy when someone else drools in their sleep?" she teased after a moment. "I mean, I am the only one you've shared a bed with, aren't I?"

"A bed, yes," Harry moved back up her body, coming to rest full length against her and looking into her eyes. "But I've shared a dorm room with four other blokes for six years. Trust me, drooling, for anyone else, is definitely not sexy."

Ginny giggled. She loved it when Harry was like this. Teasing and almost... carefree.

She gasped as he touched her, and her eyes became smoky.

"Do we have time?" she whispered.

"We'll make time," Harry said, kissing her deeply and throwing privacy charms over his shoulder at the doorway.

Ginny melted.

"Tell me again, why exactly are we here?" Ron asked, looking around the rather large coffee shop. Muggle music was blaring out of hidden speakers, and it was beginning to disconcert Ron. They walked further in and looked around.

"I have no idea. Neville said we were to meet him here at three..."

"Which is... now," Ron glanced at a clock on the wall. "So, where in bloody blue blazes is he?"

"He'll be here."

"Let's find a seat," Ron began walking towards the seating area.

"Ron," Harry called him back. "In places like this you're not allowed to sit down if you haven't bought a drink. Coffee?"

"Butterbeer would be good, but I suppose it would be asking too..." Ron caught sight of Harry's face, and sighed. "Coffee."

Harry approached the counter, only to have Ron stride up behind him, and mutter under his breath, "Oi, Potter. Nine o'clock lovely."

Harry glanced over his left shoulder to see what it was Ron had seen. The cafe was reasonably empty, and he had no difficulty understanding what it was that Ron was referring to. At a far table, in a corner by the window, sat a woman, a pad of lined paper in front of her and a pen in her hand. There was a little stack of paper already written on sitting on the table, held in place with a salt shaker, and a couple of balls of discarded paper littering the table. She wrote furiously, reminding them both of Hermione. As they watched, she picked up her coffee mug, drank distractedly, grimaced at the cold contents, and put the mug back down, glancing around nervously.

Ron smiled, turning to the barista. "Three coffees, please."

"Ron!"

"What?" Ron smiled and watched as Harry paid for the three drinks.

Harry just looked at him, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh, come on, Harry. The woman is old enough to be my... well, my older sister, at any rate. I just thought, nice gesture and all, you know? It's cold out, and you said you had to buy a drink to sit... it would appear she's just finished hers. She's right pretty, though, isn't she?"

"Lovely," Harry agreed, although he thought her blonde looks paled next to Ginny's vibrancy. "What do you think she's doing?"

"Writing something," Ron shrugged.

"Can you imagine, Ron, how nice it must be to be able to wile away an afternoon in a cafe, with no where to be... no responsibilities...?"

"Ah, come on, Harry! She's probably an out of work single mum with a kid at home," Ron said, taking two of the three mugs and approaching the table where the blonde woman sat. Harry moved to another table, along the outer, glassed-in wall of the cafe, and watched. There was a brief conversation between his tall, red-haired friend and the seated woman, and then she smiled, accepted the coffee, and at Ron's gesture, waved to Harry, as well. Harry nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks, and watched as Ron approached.

"She's writing a book. Or trying to, at any rate."

"Hmm."

"Where the hell is...?"

"Here he comes now," Harry said, nodding at the doorway where Neville had just entered, shaking the droplets of rain off of his muggle jacket as he came. He approached the counter, got a cup of something steamy, and walked quickly towards their table.

"Harry, Ron," he greeted them, pulling off his outer jacket and sitting down.

"Nev," Harry said. "What's up?"

"I've found them, Harry. Or at least, I think I have."

"Slow down, Nev, and tell me what you've found," Harry couldn't help the excited beating of his heart.

"I... well, I don't want you to be upset with me, but I knew that I couldn't do it alone, so I called in some backup..."

"Neville!"

"They didn't know what they were doing! At least, they didn't know they were doing it for you," Neville said quickly. "The DA wants to help, Harry. Most of us have lost... well, none of us are in school this year, and I've been in touch with a lot of people... well, it was really only Luna and Dean. And Seamus, of course. Oh, and Susan Bones was a great help, actually. Her aunt was quite important in the Ministry, you know, and Susan was very close to her... well..." Neville flushed.

"Neville," Harry ran a hand through his messy hair. "What have you found out?"

"Well, it was Dean and Seamus, actually..."

"Neville!" Ron was beginning to lose his patience.

"Okay... okay, sorry. They... Dean and Seamus... followed Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" Harry traded a look with Ron. Surely Malfoy wouldn't be stupid enough to be out and about, where he could be seen? Not after what he had done? "From where, to where?"

"Well, he was originally spotted near Diagon Alley. One of the DA members thought it odd that he'd be out and about after everything. They were quite surprised to see him, actually, and he was acting rather oddly, skulking about. They followed him back to... well, Susan called a friend of her aunt's in the Ministry and it turns out it's Malfoy Manor. Can't quite believe the stupid git would go there, of all places. He must have known someone would recognize him..." Neville looked up and flushed as he saw the expression on Harry's face. "Right, well, they followed him there, and then Dean and Seamus took up watching. They followed him to someplace..."

"Where?"

"They call it Spinner's End," Neville said. "Luna then talked to her dad, and it turns out it's where the Prince family is from. Snape grew up there. His mother, apparently, was a Prince."

Harry, who knew this full well, grimaced. "So, where is this?"

"Spinner's End? Well, Dean and Seamus are there now, and I can take you. But the reason I had you come to Edinburgh..."

"Yes?"

"Well, someone has been spotted here. There is an old castle about four miles outside the city. It's supposedly deserted, but..."

"But?"

"But well, a fourth year named Michael Savage was there... holidaying, you know... and he said that he saw... well..."

"What?"

"Well, the place is supposedly deserted, and he had his camera with him. Well, he'd wandered off to get a picture, and he... well, he snapped this."

Harry took the square of paper that Neville held out. It wasn't paper, it was stiffer than that, and upon looking at it, glossy. Harry drew in a quick breath. It was a magical photo. It showed a man standing in the doorway, suddenly looking startled, then apparating away.

"He was a member of the DA, and he brought it to me, Harry, because he knew you were gone, and he didn't know who else to take it to."

"I'm glad he did," Harry said in a low voice, staring at the photo. His eyes grew dark and Ron drew a breath. Harry was angry. Very, very angry.

The man in the photo was Peter Pettigrew.

Harry's first reaction was to tell Neville to take him to the castle. However, he never got the chance. The moment that he opened his mouth to speak, the door of the cafe flew open and Remus Lupin strode through, Bill and Hermione close on his heels.

"Harry!" Remus called the moment he made eye contact. "You need to come... now!"

"What is it?" Harry grabbed his jacket and hurried out, followed by Ron and Neville. "What's wrong?"

Remus led them into an alleyway, behind a garbage bin, and turned to Harry. "Harry, it..."

"What?"

"It's Ginny."

Harry froze. "Ginny? Where is she?"

"She went into the village, Harry, to get some supplies. I told her she should wait for you and Ron, but before I knew it, she was gone," Hermione's voice was strained, there were unshed tears in her eyes.

"Where is she?"

"I followed her, but I arrived behind the shop just in time to see her go out of the alleyway and into the street, she... there must have been fifteen of them..."

"What?"

"Death Eaters," Hermione said quietly. "I couldn't... I knew I couldn't... so I apparated to Grimmauld Place..."

"Hermione!" Ron looked shocked, pulling her to him. "Anyone could have been there..."

"Bill and Remus said we had to find you, and I knew you were meeting Neville... I..."

"How long?" Harry turned to her. "How long?"

"No more than fifteen minutes ago," Hermione whispered, her wide shocked eyes taking in the wild, angry look in Harry's eyes. "But I don't know where they took her."

"I do," Harry said, turning to Neville. "Neville, you're not going to like this, but I have to do it. I'm sorry. Legilimens!"

Moments later, Harry took a swift breath and turned back to the group, his eyes finding Remus. Neville swayed, almost stumbled, and looked rather disoriented, but Ron quickly grabbed his arm and steadied him. Neville gave Ron a grateful nod once he'd righted himself.

"We have to apparate there. I have to give you the image of where it is we're going, and someone has to tell the Order."

"Do what you have to," Remus looked at him as Harry again cast the spell and, this time, entered Remus' mind, only for a moment, leaving a memory there. He quickly did the same to Bill, and both apparated away.

"Hermione, I have to," Harry said, his bright eyes showing his regret at what he was about to subject her to. "You're the strongest at apparition."

"Do it, Harry," she stared hard at him.

Harry entered her mind, paused for a moment with confusion, then shock, but he gave her the memory and exited quickly. There were other things that needed to be done before he could question her about what he'd felt there.

Hermione took the memory without flinching and, holding tightly on to Ron's arm, the four of them apparated away to what was supposed to be a deserted castle not far outside of Edinburgh.

They arrived on a windswept moor just in sight of the crumbling remains of a sandstone castle. One tower remained standing, but the rest was bare walls and crumbling piles of stone. Harry strode forward.

"Harry! We need to wait for the others!" Hermione called. Harry didn't even spare her a glance. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and continued striding ahead.

A moment later, he felt thumping footfalls behind him, reverberating on the heavy peat beneath their feet, and glanced to the side to see Ron and Neville, both with determined looks on their faces and their wands out. Hermione was close behind them.

Harry knew that something else was present the moment they cleared the rise between their apparition point and the ruins. There was a brief flicker of grey-black in his peripheral vision, and he swung around to confront the huge swaying head of Nagini.

"Massssster will be pleassssssed..." he heard her speak.

"Master won't be pleased at all," Harry said back, barely aware that he now spoke in parseltongue. "I've come to kill him."

"One hasssss to be alive to kill..." Nagini's eyes narrowed. "Nagini issss not to let you passss..."

"Try to stop me!" Harry swung out with his wand, and began throwing hexes and curses at the serpent. She writhed and dodged, getting ever closer. Harry was briefly aware of others apparating in, but he, Ron, Neville and Hermione fought the serpent, not allowing themselves to be distracted.

Nagini fought hard, but against the four of them found it difficult to keep up, especially after they spread out, broadening the area she had to defend. Eventually, she began to slow down, and Harry stepped forward, levelled his wand at her and uttered the final curse.

"Perpetuo Destructo Totalis!"

And the writhing, sleek body of Nagini was enveloped in a bright red light, before sizzling into nothingness with a scream.

He took a deep breath, felt a hand on his back, and looked up to hear Ron say, "Dear Merlin... Harry, look!"

Coming out of the ruins of the castle were dozens upon dozens of Death Eaters. The black robed, masked figures were everywhere, and the fight began in earnest. Harry found himself, back to back with Neville, as Ron and Hermione paired up, Remus and Bill, only just arrived with a mere handful of aurors, had rather surprised looks on their faces as they jumped into the fray.

Harry was no longer concerned about the moral dilemma of killing rather than maiming. The Death Eaters surrounding them didn't appear to be too concerned, either, and Harry, overwhelmingly, had but one clear thought in his mind... to get to Ginny. He heard Neville grunting with effort behind him, and saw Remus some distance away fighting a losing battle with a rather large Death Eater. He had time to throw a long curse which dropped the man in his tracks, leaving Remus to turn, blood gushing from a cut in his side, just as Peter Pettigrew stepped forward. Harry saw only Remus fall to his knees in front of the wizard who had betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort, but could do nothing as those attacking he and Neville seemed to double.

And then everything went red. Harry fought as he'd never fought before, through the masses of Voldemort's followers and slowly, closer and closer to the castle until, finally, he found himself at the entrance, and moved quickly through, leaving Ron and the others to deal with those remaining outside.

And stepped into hell itself.

Ginny was standing stiffly some feet away against the wall. Harry could tell by looking at her that she'd been frozen by the Immobilus spell. She was surrounded by robed figures... at least a dozen of them.

"Stupefy!" He jumped out from behind a column throwing curses, walking forward and into the group, still throwing curses, until he was less than ten feet from Ginny, when he realized there was no one else to curse. Ginny's eyes looked at him, pleading, then darted over his shoulder. Harry swung around to see the towering, snakelike figure of Voldemort standing, not twenty feet away.

"You do think you're clever, don't you, Potter?"

Harry stared silently at the wizard who had caused him so much pain his entire life. Since he was fifteen months old and Voldemort had attacked his family, his life had been determined... dictated... by this one person.

Who wasn't really a person any longer at all. He wasn't even really a wizard. There was so little of Tom Riddle left.

"How does it feel to be only two sevenths of yourself, Tom?" Harry asked calmly.

"Two? Ah, we are clever! But there are... at least... two sevenths left, now aren't there? More than a match for an untrained brat such as yourself."

"When it's just the two of us, I'm more than a match for you, Tom. Or don't you remember our meeting in the graveyard three years ago? And I was only fourteen then. Imagine what I can do now."

"Imagine what I can do, Potter. Three years to regain my strength..."

"But you haven't, have you?" Harry pointed out with a sneer. "Five parts of your soul are gone forever. Five... of seven. You're less than a third what you were, Tom. And whole, you couldn't beat me. Or are you forgetting what happened sixteen years ago?"

"Yes, but you don't have that mudblood bitch to protect you this time, do you, Potter?"

"My mother died for me, something you could never understand."

"Oh, I understand. My own mother died..."

"Because of you, Tom. Not for you. Slight difference, that."

"You still don't understand, do you, Potter? All the stock you and that inept Headmaster put it love, and what has it done for you? How has it helped you? You still stand here, before me, as you were meant to all along."

"I stand here by choice, Tom."

"Choice? You? A seventeen year old child? You choose to face the greatest wizard ever known?"

"You couldn't even begin to claim that title, Tom. Albus Dumbledore was the greatest wizard ever known... and always will be!"

"You don't understand what I am, Potter."

"And I hope I never do," Harry said, glaring at the red-eyed, barely human figure before him. "I don't want to understand you. Just as I don't want to understand that lapdog of yours."

"Wormtail?" Voldemort laughed. It was a rusty, croaking sound.

"Pettigrew?" Harry laughed, too, but coldly. Ginny, behind him and to the side, thought it was the coldest sound she'd ever heard. "No, Pettigrew isn't a lap dog. A lap dog feels loyalty, not fear. And we both know that Wormtail would wet himself if you... or I... said 'boo'."

Voldemort's eyes sparked.

"He's a coward," Harry spat. "He's too frightened to leave. No, actually, I was referring to that bloody potions master. Did you know that he was a half blood, Tom? Just like us."

"Snape?" Voldemort sneered. Harry rather thought it was as close to amusement as he got. "Shall I give him to you? A present... for all the years of entertainment you've provided me..."

"You don't need to show such generosity, Tom, really. Once I'm done with you, I'll deal with him."

"You're very confident," Voldemort smiled.

"I have every right to be," Harry said, his eyes never leaving Tom Riddle's face, but his hand gestured behind him to the bodies of the death eaters who had surrounded Ginny when Harry arrived.

"They were hardly in Snape's category," Voldemort glanced over them. "Snape is a top duelist."

Harry said nothing.

"Well, now... perhaps we should get on with this, then?" Voldemort said coldly. "I do have... things to do."

"With five of the horcruxes gone, that means five parts of your soul are lost forever, Tom."

"Yes... but I have... two. Don't I?"

"No, actually, you have one, but it's not going to matter."

"And you have no idea of where the last one is," Voldemort said confidently.

"You think?" Harry replied calmly.

"Oh, I think. Otherwise, we wouldn't be standing here, now."

"Nothing would have kept me away, Tom. You know that."

Voldemort glanced beyond Harry to where Ginny stood, frozen. She was able to move her eyes, and nothing else. But her tears didn't seem affected by the Immobilus spell... and they flowed freely.

"She is... unique. One might be forgiven for saying... beautiful. Too bad about that mudblood-loving thing."

"I rather like that about her," Harry said, his eyes never leaving the snakelike face.

"You would," Voldemort said dryly. "We could have been great, Potter, if only you'd joined me, instead of that muggle-loving fool..."

"Never."

"I'll give you one last chance, shall I?"

"Forget it."

"You want to know what the last horcrux is, don't you?"

"No."

"No?" Voldemort looked at him, a patronizing air about him. "Really?"

"I don't need you to tell me what the final horcrux is, Tom," Harry said.

"Really? You're rather more clever than I thought, then. Tell me, Potter... you didn't really think you had the right locket, did you?"

"Dumbledore died for the wrong locket, Tom."

"Ah, that locket, yes."

"But I know full well that Regulus Black had the real one."

"Had. Yes. Yes, he did. And you found that one, as well, did you?"

Harry felt his blood run cold as Voldemort's eyes danced with glee.

"Or, did you?"

Harry remained silent, watching as Voldemort glanced at Ginny.

"Are you sure that that was it, Potter? Are you certain that I didn't know what Black had done? Are you sure..." He leaned forward slightly, tauntingly. "Are you sure that I didn't come up with another way to recreate a horcrux? Perhaps... embed one? In the mind of a child?"

Voldemort stared at him calmly for a moment before turning and looking speculatively at Ginny. "Your girlfriend is lovely, Harry. I rather thought so all those years ago. Such a lovely child... such a lovely... and open... little girl. She showed spirit, even then. She was worthy of me. I had planned on waiting for her to grow up a little... before taking her as my own. But, well... soiled goods and all that."

"Don't..."

"What, Harry? What do you see in her?" Voldemort moved steadily towards Ginny, who stood, still frozen, but with her eyes blazing. "Is it perhaps... the part of me that remains with her? The power I left in her? Power can be very... seductive, can't it? Even to you."

And with dawning horror, Ginny watched as Harry turned to her, his eyes hard, his face cold. She continued to watch as he raised his wand, pointed it at her, and screamed the spell.

The chat I had over at WizardTales, along with a couple of comments in reviews from people who read my stuff, has prompted me to ask a question. I'm very interested in where you all are from. I'm in Alberta, a province in Western Canada. I know that Shotgunn is in England, and kazziedal is in Ireland, and YelloWitchGrl is in New England (I think!)... So, soundoff! Where are you reading from?

CQ

GiGiFanfic: Were your ears burning Thursday night? I missed you at my chat... BillHagridson was there, as well!

RyougaZell: Well, I couldn't go without a twist in there somewhere, now could I?

TDSM: Actually the translation for 'perpetuo' is "constantly, without interruption, forever". Fitting, I thought!

Shotgunn: One of these days, I promise, I will write an epic... like, 75 chapters, just for you!

Realfanficts: I'm working on it!

LarnaMandrea: I was so happy to see you there. Thank you!

Crisis: I didn't respond to reviewers for several chapters, while I figured out what the deal was with review responses. I assure you, I read them all, and take them all into consideration! That is, after all, why I post here, to get feedback on my writing, and I greatly appreciate ALL reviews. You may be right about the nature of the horcruxes... personally, I think that there is far more to them than we understand right now. My personal theory is that someone, perhaps a person like Bill who works with curses and dark magic a lot, would have some "inside knowledge" that Harry needs. I suppose we shall see. And I agree with you about Voldie's "unique" sense of humor. I also agree with you on the RAB thing – I thinkit's pretty obvious that it's someone we already know, tying it back. But JKR is famous for her red herrings... and I think that the locket they found while cleaning out Grimmauld Place could go either way.

BrittSchrick: How can they cut Dobby? What about the gillyweed?

NutsAboutRemus: Hmmm... I've heard that. Hormones go crazy and all that...

rdprice29: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I hoped someone would pick up on the "quarters" reference. What was it the guys used to call lemon gin? LOL! As for "how" Ginny came along, being younger... I am operating on the premise that theMoM has MUCH more important things to worry about at this point than the restriction on underage magic. With Hogwarts closed, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be so strict about that rule.

J62442: Nah, don't worry about my doing that... really!

BlueClover13: Only a couple.

Jarno: Anything is possible. Until JKR chooses to grace us with the final book, everything is up for discussion, I suppose. I do believe that the "final conversation" between Snape and DD meant something other than the obvious – whatever it was.

Ugly Duckling: Ahhh! Very possible!

PCB: Harry has a "mental connection" with Voldie, remember? Occlumency can only help him block out so much – he's still, IMHO, going to be aware of Voldemort on some level.

Naomi: I ALWAYS finish my fics – always. You can rest assured that if I ever abandon a fic it will be because I've died.

Oh, I do love my reviewers: nandhp, AlliBaby, PrincessSkywalkerOrgana, ImissDumbledore, NightmareAlley, GinebraBrong, Kordolin, Skateforever, OldCrow, joeyandpaceyforever, wiley73, Arachnasloom, kazziedal, waytoobored, BexyLou, Sillysac, luvguurl, ImLOVINGit, griffindor-girl12, ProfessorMoody, HarryPassionFan, Aint-No-Angels, Lacyl, volleypickle16, moodyboy66, YelloWitchGrl, LoonyFerret, azntgr01, 1234, Eleoopy, WolfsScream, blackenedsoul, halfbloodgit, HarryGinny92, HarryGinnyLuv4ever, Alex, life2me, Theresa-Thou-I-Love, PotterandtheWeasley, harrypassion, yingfa, eileenprince, Tomanak, StrangelySirius, gryffindorgrl123, Amena, TriaMarieVal, AngelSumoritos, AnnaTBell, WandaCarla, AnimegurlzRule, Draco'sWifeLover, Azraeos, snuffles007, HarryGinnyfan 23, ReiSakuraLi, whatdoIhavetodo, MissHellfire2005, jshulmi, BritnieSmith