A Serpent Among Lions

Chapter 9 - Terrorizing threats

The figure stood in the shadows, seeming to blend in with the darkness. A twisted smile crossed over his hardened face as he reviewed the information that had been revealed to him.

"So, the Potters are expecting another child. This information is very useful," He said, a menacing grin upon his face, "I must send them a note of congratulations."

Taking out a quill and parchment, he wrote the following letter:

Dear Ginny and Harry,

I want to offer my sincerest congratulations on the impending birth of your child. I just hope that nothing happens to you or your baby before it is born. Accidents can happen. By the way, Harry, how is your neck? I hear you met up with an unfortunate 'accident' yourself today.

A sound of laughter rang out through the apartment as he sent off the note with another owl to keep his enemies guessing who was doing this. It wouldn't do to have them guess who he was yet, now would it?

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Ginny stirred upon the bed when she heard the tapping sound of an owl against the window. Pulling her robe on, she went to the window and noticed an owl that she didn't recognize. This didn't particularly worry her, as their family sometimes used other owls to contact Harry so that his true identity wasn't discovered.

Opening up the letter and reading it, she felt rather faint. How could someone know about the baby already? "Harry!" She screamed, terrified out of her wits.

Harry was startled awake by the screeching of his wife. After a split second of grogginess, he came instantly to his senses and was ready to fight. "Where are they?" he yelled. "Who is attacking you? I'll kill them with my bare hands!" Harry also had his wand raised and he spun in all directions, looking for the would-be attackers.

Ginny sat down on the bed, collapsing in sobs that went through her entire body. Unable to speak momentarily, she held out the parchment which had come in the mail. After a couple of moments, she came to her senses and was able to talk again, "Harry, this just came by owl. They know, Harry. They know about the baby," She said, shaking and not knowing where to turn or what they were going to do.

Ginny's sobs stopped Harry in his tracks. It took a lot to make Ginny cry and he knew immediately that something was horribly wrong. When she held up the piece of parchment, Harry took it and read the words scrawled on the paper. It was impossible; someone could not know already about the baby. "Ginny, who have you told about the baby? We need to start with those people and find out who they have told. This is a horrible situation but it may be the break we are looking for. If we can track the trail of who has been told about the baby, we may be able to find the murderer."

Ginny thought for a moment, "I only told Mum, Harry. I knew that she would be happy for us," She said, thinking, "I wonder if she might have said something to Meghan, to cheer her up. You know how long she has wanted to be a big sister. But she wouldn't have said anything, she's great at keeping secrets. Do you suppose someone could have been in Hermione's office listening?" Ginny knew from past experiences that Hogwarts had unseen eyes and ears, "I mean, you used your invisibility cloak a lot at Hogwarts, it's possible that someone else has one and sneaked in there to listen?"

"I trust Meghan, Harry. And I'm sure Mum told her how important it was to keep it a secret. Meghan is a very responsible girl."

Harry nodded. "I trust Meghan as well but I think we need to investigate all possibilities before throwing them aside. There is a small possibility that Meghan may have slipped up when she wasn't thinking clearly and told someone about the baby. It is also a possibility that someone was listening in to the conversation in Hermione's office. A third possibility is that Molly may have given the news to another member of the family in an area that was not private." He paused, thinking. "Would you mind contacting your mother about the situation while I send an owl to Hermione? I believe she will be eager to help us find the leak."

Ginny nodded, knowing that they needed to get to the bottom of this, "We might also have to go to my Dad, Harry. He might be able to help hide us," She said, writing out a note to send to her mother, explaining the situation, "I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up, Harry. You know how concerned she gets," Discarding the letter, she decided that using a patronus messenger would be better and faster, gave her dove the message and watched as it flew off, "Harry, I am scared. What if they go after Meghan next?"

Harry finished writing the note to Hermione and attached it to Hedwig's leg. As Hedwig flew out the window, Harry turned just in time to see Ginny's dove depart. "Meghan is about as safe as we can hope for at Hogwarts, Ginny. I would prefer that we keep her as far away from me as possible right now. Even with Dumbledore gone, Hogwarts is still the safest place in England. Headmistress McGonagall should know about the situation, though. She can keep a closer eye on Meghan for us until this situation is put to rest."

Ginny sadly agreed, as a mother there was nothing more that she wanted than to have Meghan at home with them right now but knew that it was extremely dangerous for Meghan to be with them. She sighed, going over to Harry and giving him a hug, laying her head on his shoulder, "You know, Harry, if it was just us, it wouldn't matter so much. But we have Meghan and a new baby on the way that we have to think about. We may have to get a Secret Keeper. And yes, Minerva needs to be told."

Harry struggled with his answer for several minutes, beginning to speak several times but cutting himself off immediately when another idea came to mind. At last, he was ready to answer Ginny. "I am so sick and tired of this whole situation. I agree that one of us needs to go into hiding and that we should choose a secret keeper to protect that location. The person in hiding needs to be you, Ginny. We need to protect you and the baby until I am able to finish all this once and for all." Harry looked directly at Ginny and his expression was determined. "I will not go into hiding. In fact, I will remain exactly where I am. Hiding myself will only prolong this hell and that is the last thing I want to do."

Ginny didn't like this idea at all, "Harry, what good is being in hiding going to do me if I am always worried about you being hurt or worse? Meghan needs both of her parents alive and well, and so does our baby that is on the way. I couldn't stand it not knowing how you are. We've been through so much already, the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort, and now some git is forcing us to disrupt our lifestyle. Sometimes I wish that I wasn't a witch, Harry. Sometimes I wish you and I were both Muggles and then we wouldn't have to worry about this. I mean, could you even visit me? What about Meghan? Would I be able to contact our daughter?"

Sighing wearily, Harry sat down heavily on the bed. "This situation is not ideal, Ginny. Neither of us would enjoy being in hiding but I am the one who needs to finish this and I can't do that while I'm hidden away like a scared little puppy. Meghan needs to know that her father is doing whatever he can to clear his name instead of hiding from the world.

"I wouldn't even ask you to hide yourself if it weren't for the baby. I would ask you to stand with me as my wife and help me find this person who is trying to ruin our lives. But you are pregnant and we have an innocent baby to think about. Please consider what I am saying. We can work it out so that you have a safe means to communicate with Meghan and even your mother if you would like. I would feel so much more comfortable knowing that you were safe."

A lone tear traced its way down from the corner of Ginny's right eye and landed on her lap. Taking Harry's hand in hers, Ginny brought it up to her cheek and laid her cheek upon it, "If I didn't know that Voldemort was dead, if I didn't see you destroy him with my own eyes, I would think that he was behind this," She said, sighing, "It seems like the kind of thing he would do, and we both know how much he would love to totally destroy us," She said, sighing with the knowledge that he was right and that there was no way he was going to back down, "All right, I will go into hiding. But you have to promise me that you will come to visit me whenever you can and that you aren't going to leave me to raise our two children by myself. You also need to take the invisibility cloak...you will need it more than I will."

Just then the crack of apparition reverberated through the apartment and Molly stood before them, "Harry, Ginny, what's wrong? Ginny said that you got another note from someone," She said, going over and giving them each a hug.

Harry returned Molly's hug before helping her to a seat. "Molly, we received a letter only minutes ago from the murderer of my aunt and uncle. In the letter, he congratulated us on our upcoming baby." Harry put a scornful emphasis on the word "congratulated." "We wanted to ask you who you have told about Ginny being pregnant. We need to pick up the trail of the leak as soon as possible if we are going to find the culprit."

Molly gasped, "Merlin, no!" She said, angrily, then thought to herself, "I only told Meghan and Hermione, when I floo'ed into her office. Meghan hadn't arrived yet and we talked for a few minutes, just the two of us. I told her what had happened, and that the two of you were having another baby. Then, when Meghan arrived, I told her because I knew how much she wanted to be a big sister. But I emphasized to her that she had to keep it a secret. I know that she understood the importance of it and wouldn't tell anyone. She loves you two too much to put you in danger."

Then something dawned on Ginny, "I just thought of something, Harry. I gave Meghan a diary to take with her to Hogwarts, to put her thoughts and experiences in. It was made so that it locked with magic, but if someone walked in while she was writing in it..."Ginny's voice trailed off as she thought about this, "I'm going to send a patronus to Minerva explaining the situation and ask her to keep a close eye on Meghan. She could be in danger at Hogwarts if someone in Slytherin knows too much," Ginny said, giving her dove a detailed message and sending it off to Hogwarts, knowing that unlike an owl the patronus couldn't be intercepted.

Turning to her mother, Ginny knew that she was glad that she was there, but also knew that her mother was in danger here as well, "Mum, I'm so glad that you came here to visit but I'm going to have to ask you to do Harry and I a favor. Can you go and send word to Hermione about what has happened? We can't keep sending out patronuses and owls from here, someone will figure out that we are here if they haven't already."

"Of course I will, dear," Molly said, giving her daughter a hug and kiss on the cheek, "You two hang in there and don't take any unnecessary risks," Giving Harry one last hug, she apparated from the flat and went back to the Burrow.