by FIRE
Author's Note: Thanks again to Bill for the beta
Normality's Game
Not long afterwards Lupin, Tonks and McGonagall gathered in front of a bed in Harry's bungalow, which supported a tired but visibly improving Ginny Weasley. Harry, occupying a plain wooden chair next to the bed, conjured three even plainer-looking chairs for his guests.
"It's good to see you again, Ginny," said Remus, with a brief smile.
"You too, Remus," said Ginny. "You too."
"How are you this morning, Miss Weasley?" asked McGonagall.
"Much better," said Ginny. "I never knew toast could taste that good," she added with a small smile.
McGonagall smiled appreciatively.
"What we are interested to know, Ginny," Remus began. "Is why Riverstein would imprison a pure-blood, especially one from such a prominent family after he made such an effort to gain your family's support."
"It's simple really," said Ginny. "I wouldn't fight for him. I never agreed with his ideals or his methods. It's far too much like Voldemort. My family could not see that, and it hurt. They tried to make me fight. He sent his goons after me, but I still refused. No matter what, I was always loyal to Dumbledore, to Moody and to Harry because I knew they were right. He tried to get me to use my relationship with Harry to get close to your movement, to spy on you and to pass on information. I refused. He pressured me for a while; tried to get my parents and brothers to talk me into it, but I didn't give in. In the end he felt he had no choice. He probably just told my family that you kidnapped me. It wouldn't have been the first time he lied."
"What did his goons do to you?" asked Harry, gazing at her with a gleam of pride shining through the concern in his eyes.
He knew he could always trust Ginny to remain loyal to him.
"Not a lot, to be honest," said Ginny. "They were more interested in torturing muggle-borns than a pacifist pure-blood. They only walled us up after most of us were either dead, or too broken for them to continue with the torture. Either that, or Riverstein was worried that one of the guards would have a fit of conscience and tell my family what had really happened to me. In the end there weren't enough of us left to make it worth their while to move us."
"What is life like in the enclave?" asked McGonagall.
"Nothing out of the ordinary really," said Ginny. "There're shops, markets, pubs, restaurants, places to hang out, a park where children can play, that sort of thing. If you keep away from the palace, away from the politics, then you're all right. When you get close to Riverstein, that's when the troubles start."
"How long were you in the prison?" asked Tonks.
"Nine months," said Ginny.
"How did you survive after it was walled up?" asked Harry.
"I have a good memory," said Ginny.
"What do you mean?" asked Remus.
"I watched the guards. Every day," said Ginny. "I watched where they went to fetch water and I remembered seeing the plans for the enclave. The prison was built over an underground spring. I dug and I found it, it didn't take long. During the war against Voldemort we were taught a lot of survival skills, you all know that. I never forgot."
"You were brave to last that long," said McGonagall. "And brave to refuse Riverstein. You are one of very few."
"Did you recognise any of the guards?" asked Harry.
"No," said Ginny, quickly. "None at all."
"Shame," said McGonagall. "It could have helped."
"Now," said Tonks. "We'll move you to the secure unit with the other purebloods who are housed here and…"
"No," interrupted Harry. "She stays with me."
"Harry," said McGonagall. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We don't want to risk Riverstein finding out that…"
"Ginny is one of my oldest friends," said Harry. "I've not rescued her from one prison to have her thrown straight into another."
McGonagall sighed.
"Very well," she said. "Miss Weasley you will stay in Harry's bungalow."
Tonks passed a small metal key ring to Ginny.
"This is a communicator," she explained. "If you need Harry, press the blue button and he will come to you. If you need a healer press the red. I have assigned one of our best healers, Lorelai, to your communicator."
"Thank you," said Ginny.
Remus, Tonks and McGonagall stood and left Ginny to rest under Harry's eye.
That night, Harry conjured himself a small and rickety camp bed.
"I never was much good at conjuring spells," said Harry, when Ginny laughed at it. "Just don't tell Minerva. She'll try and give me extra lessons."
"I think that she might already know it," said Ginny with a smile, thinking of Harry's attempt at conjuring chairs earlier that day.
The moon was high in the sky several nights later when Harry heard the clicking of his door handle. He sat up in bed only to see Ginny trying to sneak out of the bungalow.
"What the hell are you doing?" Harry asked.
"I don't want to be kept prisoner again," she said.
"I kept you out of the secure unit didn't I?" said Harry with asperity. "You could have stayed with the others, but I thought you'd appreciate sleeping in a more comfortable environment. And this is how you repay me?"
"I miss my family, Harry," said Ginny, a lone tear fell down her cheek.
"I know," said Harry, in a calmer tone. "And I will get you back to them, I just need to make sure that it's safe."
"And how long will that take?" asked Ginny.
"Two or three weeks," said Harry.
"That's not good enough!" shouted Ginny.
Harry climbed out of his bed.
"Your family deserted me," he growled. "I have never been anything but loyal to them and they abandoned me, yet I am still willing to do my best for you, because you are Ginny Weasley. And all you can say is that's not good enough!"
"I've been caged for too long!"
"Then you'll just have to be caged for a little longer!"
Ginny swung around and towards the door again, but Harry was too quick for her. He grabbed her arms and threw her down onto the proper bed.
"What're you do…?"
"I watched you walk out of my life once, Ginny," he said to her in almost a whisper. "I'm not going to let it happen again."
He climbed up onto the bed with her. He brushed her hair from her face, leaned in and kissed her. After a moment of shock, Ginny quickly responded and manoeuvred herself until she lay beneath him. He kissed her furiously, with so much passion. Breaking away for air, he looked deep into her eyes.
"I have missed you, Ginny Weasley," he said.
"I've missed you too, Harry Potter."
When Ginny awoke the next morning, she discovered herself to be wrapped in white sheets, wearing absolutely nothing, but the thing that surprised her most was that she was lying next to an equally naked Harry Potter who was watching her as she became more conscious.
"Did you sleep well?" Harry asked her, after capturing her lips in a brief kiss.
"Yeah," said Ginny. "You?"
"Better than I have for a long time," he replied with a smile.
Ginny grinned.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Sometime around noon, I think. Who really cares?"
"What did you mean last night?" Ginny asked.
"Which part?" asked Harry.
"The part about watching me walk out of your life," said Ginny. "I never thought that I meant that much to you."
"You were everything to me," said Harry. "You have been ever since I was sixteen, and more importantly, you never stopped being that. When I started this movement I made three promises to myself: I would never ever kill unless I had no other choice; I would endeavour to save as many lives as possible; and I would never harm a Weasley. I knew that you would never forgive me if I hurt anyone in your family."
"I'm putting you in danger, you know," she said quietly.
"How?" asked Harry. "He doesn't even know you're alive."
"He has eyes and ears everywhere," Ginny said quietly, raising her hand to gently stroke Harry's hair. "Maybe not here in this compound, but elsewhere. And they will hear things, and it will get back to him. He will stop at nothing to get me back."
"But he tried to have you killed!" said Harry. "Why would you be so important to him?"
"It's not me that's important, Harry," she said. "It's what I know. My family became very close to Riverstein and we were privy to many plans which few others knew of. When I refused to fight for him, he knew that I had remained loyal to you. After all, you were the one not killing innocent people for no reason. It was then that I became dangerous."
"Because of what you knew?"
"Yes," said Ginny. "Riverstein believed that there was a strong possibility that I would leave to rejoin you. He couldn't risk me telling you of some of his most secret plans. When he finds out that I am still alive, he will have no second thoughts about killing anybody who stands in his way of getting to me. That's the real reason I tried to escape last night. I didn't want to tell you because I…" she trailed off, unable to voice the reason behind her actions.
"Do you still want to leave?" Harry asked, a hint of sadness tingeing his voice.
"No, I never really did," said Ginny. "But I may not have a choice."
Harry closed the gap between them and captured her lips briefly with his.
"I'm sorry about my family," Ginny whispered. "And all the things they said to you, what they blamed you for."
Harry placed a finger to her lips.
"Don't be," he said. "Yes, I wish they were all here today but they're not, and I've made my peace with that."
"If you could make a wish come true," Ginny asked him. "What would it be?"
"To have you, Ron and Hermione fighting at my side," said Harry. "To bring peace to our world. What about you?"
"That I could turn back the clock to the day when my family walked out and I followed," she said. "I didn't want to let go of them, Harry, but now, I hate what they've become. I should have stayed with you. My heart was screaming at me to stay with you, because I loved you and you loved me."
The gap was closed once more as Ginny kissed him tenderly.
"And I still love you," she whispered.
A couple of hours later, Harry and Ginny could be found over in the leisure area of the compound, playing table tennis. This was due to the fact that Ginny refused to spend more time than absolutely necessary resting in bed, so Harry had tried to find the least strenuous activities he could. In this he had failed as Ginny was currently lying collapsed on the floor in masses of giggles.
"Get up!" said Harry, trying desperately (but failing dismally) to sound stern.
"I can't," moaned Ginny.
"Look, you're never going to be able to hit if you don't get up off the floor," said Harry, now struggling to contain his own laughter.
"Can't we do something else?" asked Ginny, gazing at Harry with pleading eyes.
"You wanna go swimming?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Ginny. "That is a very good idea."
"You just promise to relax, okay?" said Harry.
"Okay," said Ginny, with a small sigh. "You're far too protective you know ."
"So, how long did it take you to build all this?" Ginny asked Harry later when they were walking back through the compound.
"Not long," said Harry. "We used magic for most of it, but generally it had to be built at night. I know it's pretty remote here, but we didn't want to risk exposure."
"What are all the buildings used for?" asked Ginny, curiously. "There's so many."
"Most are for housing," said Harry. "The bungalows like mine are for one or two people, but it's only the Knights and commanders who have them. The First and Second Units have the two story houses, five or six people to a house, and finally you have the flats, which is where the ground staff and students live."
"Students?" asked Ginny.
"Yeah," said Harry. "We lived through a war when we were at school, but at least we were safe inside the castle."
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.
"When Riverstein took over Hogwarts, he kicked out all the muggle-borns," said Harry. "It was all kept pretty quiet," he added, noticing Ginny's look of confusion.
She nodded in understanding.
"That's not just Voldemort's legacy, that's Salazar Slytherin's," Harry continued. "That's when a lot of the teachers left too. Minerva, Remus, Filius, Trelawney, Vector and Sinistra all came with them. We still teach the students here."
"I didn't know that Professor Flitwick was around," said Ginny.
"He's second in command of the First Unit. Quite often, the First Unit splits into two on missions, so Filius leads the second half. He does a very good job of it actually. As your brothers once told me; size is no guarantee of power."
Ginny grinned whilst sliding her hand into Harry's.
"I remember Riverstein being so mad when he found out about your little insurrection," said Ginny with a smile. "What I still don't get is how you managed to gain such a following, without ever being caught."
"It wasn't easy," said Harry. "Especially after everything that happened with your mum."
"How can you still support the muggles?" screeched Mrs Weasley to the group massing at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, clearly in the middle of a blazing row. "They've destroyed our lives!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Molly," said Remus in a calm tone. "Riverstein set it up. His goons set all those fires."
"Arthur believes him!" shouted Molly.
"Riverstein's got the entire Ministry brainwashed!" spat McGonagall.
"Are you calling my husband weak-minded!" Molly screamed. "I've had enough of all of you dragging my family through the dirt all these years, what with your Order of the Phoenix and your opposition of the Ministry. I'm sick of it! We're leaving."
"Molly, wait," said Remus glancing at the corner where Harry stood silently. "Think about Harry."
"Harry's as bad as the rest of you! We've stood by him, believing in his lies for too long!" shouted Molly. "Ron! Ginny!"
Footsteps could be heard entering the kitchen.
"Pack your things," Molly ordered as her children arrived. "We're leaving this group of lawbreakers. You are to have nothing more to do with them."
Ron looked pleased as he left the room. From their lack of comment or argument, it seemed that they had already known what was coming. Ginny turned to follow her brother, but was caught by Harry who led her into the hallway.
"Don't leave, Ginny," he asked, his green eyes pleading.
"I have to Harry," she whispered, sadly. "They're my family. I can't abandon them. Besides, they'll come around in a few days time. Hermione's death, and then the fire, it's just shaken them up, that's all."
"I think it's worse than that, Ginny," Harry said, holding her hands tightly. "You can't leave me. I learned the hard way that I can't manage without you."
"You'll see me again, I promise," she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek.
She stretched up to kiss him, but as their lips met she was pulled roughly back by a hand on her collar.
"I told you to have nothing more to do with them!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "You will do as you're told young lady!"
Ginny snatched her hands from Harry's and raced upstairs to return moments later with Ron and their trunks. Without saying a word, Mrs Weasley frog-marched her two youngest children out of the door and into the street. Harry stood motionless as the door slammed behind them.
"Harry!" called Tonks from the kitchen.
Angrily, Harry brushed the tears from his eyes and returned to the meeting.
"Are you ok?" Remus asked him.
Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"This just isn't enough," said Tonks. "This order, this rebellion, it's just not causing any damage. I don't understand what's happened to Molly and Arthur. It's like they've become two different people."
"They've been dealt two huge blows in a very short amount of time. They're struggling to cope. As for your other point, we'll have to get tougher," said McGonagall. "Start a new movement and train it as an army. We'll gather what troops we can and hope for the best."
"I'll talk to some ex-DA members," said Harry, his voice sounding hoarse. "We need some aurors on our side, and anyone from the Order who is still with us."
"Most importantly," said Remus. "We need muggleborns. They're the only ones we know who will help us. We need to find them and quickly, before Riverstein gets to them."
"We should find a new Headquarters," said Tonks. "Somewhere that we can use as a training ground."
"It is going to be all right in the end," said McGonagall. "Dumbledore always said that good would win out, that was what was so great about him."
"We beat Voldemort didn't we," said Harry, with a renewed venom. "We can sure as hell beat his lackey."
"We knew then that the time had come for real action so we set to work about a week later on this compound," said Harry. "But we didn't come up with a name until a few months after when our army was beginning to take shape. It was easy recruiting people. It's amazing just how many muggleborn witches and wizards you find when you take it upon yourself to seek them out. They were as eager as us to see Riverstein gone. Raiding prisons helped also. Riverstein set up others besides Azkaban as you well know, and we cleared them out on a regular basis. Of course, he soon released that these mass breakouts must have had outside help so he started building underground, which made raids far more difficult. We didn't allow Riverstein to fully know about us until we knew we would be capable of fending off an attack. We were surprised when none came."
"He learned from Voldemort's mistakes," said Ginny. "He didn't want to underestimate you and end up losing. You know that they always said that Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort ever feared?"
Harry nodded.
"Well, Riverstein only fears one person too," she continued. "You, Harry. He's terrified that you will overthrow him. After all, you do command a lot of respect in the wizarding world, even if it does not seem so at the moment."
They walked on in silence for a few more minutes.
"Do you remember when we used to walk by the lake at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, gripping her smaller hand tightly.
"I'd always ask how you were, and you'd lie and say you were fine," said Ginny with a nostalgic smile.
"Then you'd elbow me in the stomach and I'd tell you the truth," said Harry with a small chuckle. "I always felt like I could tell you anything, and you wouldn't judge me."
"I was always glad when you opened up to me," said Ginny.
"I've missed having someone to talk to," said Harry. "No wait, that's wrong. I've missed having you to talk to."
Ginny stopped walking.
"You really mean that, don't you?"
"Yes," said Harry. "But there's one thing I don't understand. I know we talked about this earlier, but I'm still not really clear on it. If you thought Riverstein's ideas were wrong, why did you follow your family to his side?"
"I couldn't leave my family, Harry," said Ginny. "And, I thought they'd come around in the end, see that Riverstein wasn't all that he pretended to be. That never happened."
"I know that you miss them," said Harry. "Or at least miss them as they were before Hermi…" he broke off. "I miss them too, and I will get you back to them, I promise. Maybe once you've explained what he did to you, then maybe they'll see the light. I don't want to give up on them."
"I understand that, Harry, I really do," said Ginny. "Promise me that it won't take too long. I want to see them. To let them know everything, and then, if they don't believe me, I know I've got you to come home to. But promise me that if they want me back, let me go. No matter how much I love you, if my family are willing to see they've done wrong, that is more important than anything."
"I can't do that, Ginny," said Harry. "Because I don't want you to go."
Ginny moved in front of Harry, and put her hand to his cheek.
"I won't be gone forever," she whispered, her eyes glistening ever so slightly.
Harry leaned in and kissed her softly.
"We've lost so much already," said Harry. "I can't bear it if I lost you too."
Ginny touched his cheek.
"I… er… I went to talk to Hermione the other day," he said quietly.
"Really?" asked Ginny, her voice only slightly louder than a whisper. "I haven't been back since the funeral. I never forgave Ron for not turning up that day."
"He needed to grieve on his own," said Harry. "He probably couldn't have coped with it."
"The way he was when I last saw him," said Ginny. "He seems as though he's tried to remove every memory of her from his mind."
"He went through a hard time," said Harry. "And of all the members of your family, I can understand why he turned on the muggles, even though it wasn't right."
In the middle of the night, Harry and Ginny lay together, their faces almost touching. Harry held Ginny's hands as they rested on his chest.
"For the first time in over two years," said Harry. "I actually feel happy."
"Why?" asked Ginny. "You're no closer to beating Riverstein, and he's still attacking muggles."
"I know," said Harry. "But you're here now, and you have a way of making me feel like nothing else matters."
Ginny smiled.
"Maybe," she said. "But in the end, no matter how much comfort we find in each other, reality always catches up to us."
She moved her head forward and laid it on Harry's chest.
"Pain will always find us," said Ginny. "War and suffering come hand in hand with our existence."
Harry put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.
"I've come to the conclusion that as long as mankind walks this earth, peace will never prevail," he said. "Peace confuses men, and so there will always be conflict, forever, until the end of time."
"Everlasting conflict," said Ginny sadly. "Now that's a prophecy worth forgetting."