A/N

yay for posting! I've been trying to get this chapter out for the past 2 weeks and finally got it finished! Yay! I'm tired now so I don't feel like saying much. On with the story!

The Day Harry Potter Disappeared

Chapter Seven:

Adolescent Agonizing

They could have told him. Someone. Anyone. Ron or Hermione could have hinted it in their letters that Ginny was coming. They would have known that she was coming before they sent the letters. How could they have not known? They knew he was going. He suspected they knew about his assignment. They knew everything! Why did they not tell him about all this funny business? Ginny? How could she be there? She should be in school. WHY? Why send her? Ginny? Ginny?

He shook his head as he paced around and around his room. Hours passed as he tramped in his room. The women had realized he needed to fume by himself, or maybe they were laughing at him for acting so childishly. But why Ginny?

She was not even a fully qualified witch. She should be preparing for her N.E.W.T.s! Not gallivanting off to America playing secret agent! How did she persuade her brothers to let her come? Mrs. Weasley surely must have raised objections about leaving Hogwarts early, but maybe there was an accelerated program Harry did not know about. But Ginny?

The dark arts seemed to always find her, why would they risk sending her into danger? The operation did not involve her. She did not have connections in America, though she was friendly enough with the Yanks. Why was he, Harry, left out of the loop? He...he was not anyone here.

Harry laughed aloud. For a moment, he missed the attention he used to regularly receive. He laughed harder when he realized he had forgotten the bliss he felt every morning because no one knew his name. What was he thinking? Ginny. That was what he was thinking.

Ginny, the dark arts magnet, was unprotected here. Why involve someone so vulnerable? Wait. He stopped in his tracks and looked at himself in the mirror. His brow furrowed as he scrutinized his red face and messy hair. He raised his hand to touch where his scar lay hidden. He needed to buy a dozen roses next time he saw Hermione for finding that spell. He took great pleasure casting it every morning.

"You aren't helping your pores by touching your face all the time," the mirror scolded. Harry made a face and ignored the mirrors comment. Mirrors always scolded him about his appearance, but what did that matter? He had more important things on his mind.

They...they would not stake the entire operation on Ginny's knack for attracting everything evil in the area, would they? It was too far fetched, and she was not known as a threat, therefore, she was not a target, but maybe if they made her go into a shady place where criminals would be attracted to prey on her...but Ginny?

Why Ginny? Why not expose Harry? He was better bait than Ginny. But why, why did he care so much--A hand on his shoulder interrupted his musings. He looked up as he blinked his eyes refocusing them to reality and to--Ginny.

Speak of the devil, thought Harry.

She smiled ruefully at him as if he had written his thoughts on his forehead, "I don't see how they put up with you," she sat on the bed facing him, "Throwing tantrums like a five years old. I didn't think you would go this mad just upon seeing me."

Harry grunted and Ginny rolled her eyes and sighed, "Harry, I don't have cooties and if I did you can't catch them from talking to me," she added, "You'd have to hold my hand to do that." Harry had to hold back a chuckle. He finally looked up, and he sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Why are you here?" he blurted out after a minute or two of sitting in silence.

"I'm here as a student, an exchange student, but I've been fully qualified for months."

"How?" said Harry blankly.

"An accelerated program. Hermione was in one too, you should know that."

"Accelerated-what? They have those at Hogwarts?"

"Yes. You were too busy saving the world to be bothered with it."

"Oh."

"Anything else?"

"...But why are you here?"

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'm here to help with the investigation. I know about as much as you know. One minute I'm in my Auror class listening to Snotgrass babble on about a new plant, and worrying about my Occlumency quiz because I hadn't studied, the next minute the chief Auror is taking me to lunch, and telling me I'm going to America to help you." she paused, "I see you've been well informed."

Harry laughed hollowly, "So well informed I think my brain will explode from the information they keep sending me!"

Ginny grinned, "Now that the situation is clear for all, I'll go see if Jo needs any help with dinner." She rose and walked past the mirror, which giggled at her.

She turned back as she reached the door, "Oh, Cat says you've got double meal duty tomorrow since you didn't make lunch. Lunch and dinner tomorrow."

Harry sighed as he watched her walk out of the room. Catherine never gave him a moment's peace about doing his job or more importantly his chores! He flopped backward onto his bed. That meant waking up early to throw something together for lunch for the entire office. Catherine must love giving him lunch duty on the one day everyone was required to bring a homemade dish in for lunch for everyone at work.

Why did they even do it every week? Harry wondered.

He was afraid to ask Jo or Catherine for the fear of a reprimand from Catherine for questioning her decisions and a stony silence from Jo as she attempted not to laugh at him. She found his annoyance at most things amusing for some odd reason. And there was no one in Hell he was going to ask Kirby about it.

Why could women drive him mad without even trying, or meaning to drive him mad? They seemed sneaky and all knowing one minute then completely oblivious the next minute. Jo, Catherine, and Ginny were three of a kind. He sighed as he looked into that invisible black hole in his ceiling, again. He could not quite figure out who or what he wanted anymore.

Catherine was energetic, and she plunged into everything head first. She was always on the go. He could count on Catherine for an honest, blunt answer all the time. Fun and funny, she was flirtatious at first, but she was clearly interesting in Mark from the office. She tortured and nagged him more than she did Harry, but Mark riled Catherine up as much as she nagged him. They knew exactly how to push each other's buttons. It was an odd relationship.

Ginny smelled like the burrow. Her presence comforted him because it was what he needed, something familiar. The feeling perplexed him. On the other hand, her presence sent a wave of homesickness over him that he had yet to feel until now. He could barely stand to be around her because her presence made him long to see Hermione and Ron again. She made him think about Sirius.

Jo was quite different from Ginny and Catherine. She was focused, almost too focused. However, her poise soothed Harry's troubled mind, and her humor amused him. She smelled like the salt from the ocean. Her physical assets greatly distracted him, too. Her hair looked so soft he wanted to run his fingers through it over and over again until he knew exactly how long those fine locks of hair were and what they felt like.

When he had first arrived in America, nothing was familiar. Now things were familiar, but the salty smell in the air reminded him of the walk on the beach with Jo; he did not think of the salty smell of his own blood after Wormtail had cut his arm in the graveyard. The dog smell that linger everywhere reminded him of Kirby sitting in Catherine's lap as she worked, and not how Fang, Hagrid's dog, put his nose in Harry's hand. Ginny's presence connected him to all of those painful memories in such a crushing, suffocating wave that he had to get away from her the minute they arrived at the house.

Jo looked in on him an hour or so later to ask if he wanted some supper, but Harry was not remotely hungry. She knocked on the doorframe, but Harry only shifted positions on the bed, where he had finally settled.

She gathered he was awake from his movement, "Brooding? Well, I'll leave you to it then. You must know Ginny really well if she makes you this down. Or maybe you two were a thing at one time and you weren't ready for it to end."

Harry sat up and looked around at Jo. He did not want her to get the wrong idea about Ginny and him. The break had been mutual at the time. He had realized he could not date his best friend's little sister (or so he thought at the time).

"No, it's nothing about Ginny," she gave him a knowing look, "Okay, it's not all about her. She's the...catalyst."

For lack of a better word, thought Harry, but he realized almost instantly she was exactly that: a catalyst.

Jo shrugged, "Works for me. Better watch out for Cat. When she gets it in her head that you may be feeling down and out she won't leave you alone for one moment."

Harry winced as she laughed, "Don't worry. It takes her a feel days to notice you aren't your happy-go-lucky self."

She walked down the hall after leaving him with that "reassuring" thought.

I need Sirius here to give me advice about women, Harry thought, but...he's not here...and Hagrid...

Harry submerged back into his sea of depression before he finished the thought. He cradled his head in his hands as he braced himself for another sleepless night.

Hours later, after the house fell silent and the girls presumably had gone to bed, Harry lay awake staring at the friendly black hole in his ceiling. Suddenly, he rose having had enough of brooding. He wanted to do something. He threw on some sweat pants and a shirt, and quietly made his way through the house. He walked down the driveway, across the street, and broke into a dun as his feet hit the sand. The moon was out and it reflected serenely on the ocean's depths.

If Harry had turned back, even for a moment, he would have seen by the light of the moon Catherine and Jo standing at the door just watching him. Before long, Ginny came up behind them with Kirby, who was half-asleep.

"Beautiful night," said Ginny as she scratched Kirby's head, "I see James is taking advantage of the moon"

Catherine scoffed at Ginny, "You think that's the only reason he's going out in the middle of the night?"

"No, of course not. He's brooding over something, maybe seeing me makes him homesick, makes him think of his godfather."

"Who?"

"His godfather died a couple years ago, Cat," Jo interrupted tersely, "Did you ever in your life watch the news?"

Catherine scowled, "I've got too much on my plate to pay attention to people's personal lives besides ours."

"But it's one of the victim's personal lives. Everyone found out about the 'second coming' murders."

"I mean, what's that supposed to mean? People who had relations killed by Voldemorte during his second coming are just that: people. They just mourn more deeply than anyone who has never been directly affected by him. It doesn't mean they're different or more special than they were before they lost their loved ones. They're just people."

Ginny snorted and muttered, "He's more than people."

I personally do not see what is so great about him, Kirby said, He is nothing special.

"You seem to like to sit with him at night well enough," Jo countered, "and you do not waste your time with nobodies."

Kirby growled and he padded back into the condo without a further word.

"He's just a guy. Granted he is an extraordinarily talented dark arts expert, but there are still things to do, people to kill," said Catherine nonchalantly, "You need to use the talent you've got. Anyway, he seems like the quiet type. Looks like he doesn't want anyone to bother him about his troubles."

Jo was taken aback, "I'm surprised you noticed so quickly that he was moping."

Catherine laughed hollowly, "Hardy-har-har. We are watching him closely after all. We have to wait for the right moment to set the plan into motion."

Ginny stretched her arms up over her head, "Am I supposed to be hearing this?"

"Not really."

"No," Jo said and sighed, "but now that we've clued you in you can hear stuff like this unofficially."

"You aren't really supposed to be here," Catherine frowned.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "You just don't want any more outside help."
Catherine raised her arms in frustration, "It attracts too much attention to what we're doing."
"It has seemed to work though," Jo intervened, "I think we'll be able to catch him soon."

Catherine looked shrewdly at Ginny, "I'm surprised you are okay with doing this."

Ginny shrugged, "If he went over to the dark side then he deserves to be caught and tried, and to rot in prison for what he did!" she slammed her fist into her other hand on the last point.

Jo grimaced and smiled statue-like, "Yes. He will do that, especially after what he did for us, and then turned against us."

Ginny yawned, "I think I'll going to go to bed. Night all."

Jo patted her shoulder and muttered good night as she passed.

"Should we let him just go like that? He could endanger everything!" Catherine whispered in a harsh voice.

Jo nodded, "He's just got a lot on his mind. He'll be back by morning."

"But he could run off!"

"Don't worry--"

"But--"

"Don't worry! I've disillusioned Roxy and Bob with instructions to tail him. They'll hurry back if there's any trouble."

A stillness descended between them as they mulled over their woes.

Catherine did not retort because she knew it was useless to try to argue with Jo when she had obviously covered all the bases. She stared hard over the ocean at nothing, or rather that nice black hole Harry enjoyed staring into during the middle of the night.

Is all our hard work going to fall apart because of him? Are we even sane to think we can capture this great wizard? she thought doubtfully.

Can he take the pressure? Will he react like they say? Will we catch him? thought Jo over and over again.

Ginny lay in her bed staring at the friendly black hole. She worried about Harry. She had seen him after Sirius died, after Hagrid died. A depressed and forsaken Harry was not a good thing. She soon found she could not sleep, and she wished she had hastened after Harry so they could fight their demons together. After all, misery loved company.

Harry, ran against the wind, along the raging ocean thinking, Why me? Ginny? Why Ginny? More importantly, why do I care? What's wrong with me? I've got to stay focused like Jo. But then there's Jo...

The ocean roared into the night echoing the battle in each one of their hearts.

Catherine eventually ambled back into the condo as she muttered goodnight unintelligibly, but Jo stood in the doorway longer to stare at the sea.

"What troubles you so late at night...Harry Potter?"

Harry Potter ran. He ran for what seemed like hours. He ran until his legs turned to jelly and his lungs felt like bursting before he toppled onto the sand and breathed deeply to catch his breath.

He sat for a long time not really thinking about anything. He stared at the crashing waves and the moonlight dancing on the water. He dug his hands into the sand, and he grabbed fistfuls that he threw into the ocean. He watched a crab scuttle in and out of his hole dancing out of reach of the water as he looked for food. Harry nudged a shell with his toe and buried it deeper into the wet sand. He lay back and looked at the stars and the black sky.

All of this he did while not thinking about much of anything beyond casual observations, The waves are rough...this sand is wet and won't stay together...oh look! A crab! A shell...die shell! Die...the stars are bright...the sky is dark...I want to fall into its blackness and never look back.

Harry lay on his back drifting to sleep when some sand was thrown into his face. He jackknifed into a sitting position and looked around, but he did not see anyone or anything. His serene and thoughtless state of mind prevented Harry from feeling alarmed, as he would have if he had been in a saner state of mind. Resultantly, he took the abrupt attack as a sign from God that he needed to sleep in his own bed.

He did not want to leave the serenity of the ocean and sand, but his nagging conscious whispered responsibilities and duties in his ear. He could not live as a beach bum. He had a greater purpose for his life that his own noble character would not allow him to ignore.

He stood up and attempted to wipe the sand off his back and to shake the sand from his hair before heading back. He trudged back home at a slow pace prolonging his re-entry into the hectic world in which he lived.

Bird prints quietly followed him. if the birds had been visible, an observed would have noted that the birds were acting skittish. A dark shadow shifted in the darkness rustling ever so slightly, which prompted the birds to take off into the sky. the shadow aimed randomly into the air, but missed the birds. It looked toward Harry but he was too far away for a head shot. The shadow saw and a nearby crab, and it killed the crustacean to vent its anger. It quietly shifted back into the darkness from whence it came.

A/N

Whoop-dee-doo! Questions were answered but more questions were brought into the light and a slight cliffhanger but nothing too terrible.

Okay, I'm going to be realistic, I don't know when I'll get the next chapter out. It could be next week or in the next month or two. It depends on my motivation and inspiration.

You, the reader, can't do anything about my inspiration, heck I can't even do something about it, it just happens. BUT you can do something to help my motivation by reading AND reviewing!