Outside
Breakfast was a subdued affair, no one really wanting to eat. Molly was cooking in an attempt to keep herself busy. Fred and George were playing cards, forgoing the normal exploding snap for a Muggle set.
Hermione and Ron were doing homework; at least they were trying to do homework.
Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black were talking quietly to each other; it was obvious that everyone was trying to keep busy.
The silence was broken as Harry spoke, "Você é mente a minha mente." His voice changed in pitch, regaining its hypnotic tone.
Instinctively every one turned to Dumbledore, afraid of what he might say.
The ancient wizard surprised them all by slowly smiling; his eyes regained a tiny twinkle in them. "Well, well, well," he murmured, almost to himself. "This is unexpected."
"What?" Ron demanded, almost rudely.
"It seems that young Mr. Potter does have some idea what he is doing. He's reversed his spell. He's pulled Ms. Weasley into his own mind, and I suspect that he has brought Voldemort with him."
"So Harry's on the attack?" Hermione asked, instantly grasping the situation.
"Indeed," was the professors considered response.
The tension in the room lightened, as grins passed on their face.
"Come on Harry." Ron said, "kick his ass."
It was a testament to the situation that no one chided Ron over his choice of words.
Inside (Harry)
"A quiditch pitch?" Ginny asked, amused.
Being out of her mind for the first time had given her a massive boost. With Tom now occupying Harry's mind, she felt free for the first time.
Harry looked pensive for a second. "I'm going to send you back, Gin."
"What?" she asked, shocked.
He pointed to his own head, "Tom's here now, I think I can keep him here and send you back. You'll be safe."
Although he had never thought about it, Harry knew that Ginny was a Weasley; her natural red hair was the obvious clue. He had seen Ron lose his temper before, but had never associated that with Ginny. He soon realized his mistake.
Ginny placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, her eyes sparkling with anger as her entire body radiated displeasure. "Don't you dare, Potter," she almost growled.
"But," Harry tried to interrupt.
"Don't you 'But' me," Ginny screamed, "You are here because of me; I used that Diary, not you. Voldemort's been poisoning my mind for several years, I am NOT going to let that happen to you. I know you're the great Harry Potter, the hero, always thinking of his friends first, but I am not going to let you fight him on your own. We are in this together, we can beat him."
Ginny's mental image of herself had changed, now she was free of Tom she looked like she had when Harry had last seen her at the end of the summer.
Harry then, without thinking, said two words that would forever seal his fate. "You're beautiful."
Ginny blushed, "Don't try and distract me, Potter."
Harry grinned, blushing himself as he regained control over his tongue. "Are you sure?" he asked softly, aware than the rain was starting to fall in his own mind.
Ginny's eyes calmed down, a slight smile appeared on her lips.
"I don't need another brother Harry," she said softly, "I have plenty of them to look after me."
"I'm not your brother, I never will be."
"Then let me stay and help, let me stay in your mind."
"You might not like what you see."
"I don't care Harry, do you have any idea how long I've wanted you to notice me, to let me in?"
Harry shook his head.
"It was when I first saw you as you are. Not Harry Potter, Boy-who-lived, but you, Harry, the boy with Quiditch pyjamas."
The wizard blushed. "Can we continue this later?" he asked, "I can feel Tom growing."
Ginny nodded.
"Minha mente é meu própria," Harry said loudly. The scene changed, the pitch vanished and was replaced by an enormous domed room. Tom was clearly visible in the distance, as the only other object around.
"I wonder if this is what Professor Trelawney means when she tells us to clear our minds?" Harry said with a grin, referring to their Divination teacher.
Despite their situation, Ginny laughed.
The form of Tom Riddle started to grow as he moved towards them.
"Ready?" Harry asked softly.
"As I'll ever be," Ginny replied, clutching her wand. "You are aware that you haven't got your wand aren't you?" she asked, mentally preparing herself.
Harry nodded, "why would I need it? This is my mind."
He turned to the dark wizard and screamed "Expelliarmus," the disarming spell.
Unfortunately, the spell had little effect and Tom came to a stop in front of them.
"You brought me into your mind?" the red-eyed wizard asked, then laughed loudly. "I can't believe you'd be so stupid. When I control you, boy, nothing will be able to stop me."
"Stupefy," Ginny yelled, pointing her wand. The spell had worked before so she was hopeful it would happen again.
The spell didn't interrupt Riddle's laughter, as he simply absorbed it. "You're not in your own mind any more, little witch, you're powerless again.
"As for you, Potter, I think it's time we took a look at your own memories."
Harry collapsed to the floor as the scene changed, a room in a house. A small child lay on his back, giggling up at two people. The women present had long red hair, and sparkling green eyes, the other looked like an older version of Harry. Ginny mentally filed away how older Harry would look, for later contemplation.
Ginny realized she was looking at his parents. She watched in horror as their deaths were displayed before her eyes. The panic the two of them showed as Voldemort began his original attack, then the courage as they refused to leave each other. She felt the despair that Harry's mother felt as she watched her husband die, then the courage as she faced him herself. She felt incredible pride as Lily stood up to the Dark Lord, a blessing to her son the last thing on her lips. The playback stopped before it showed Voldemort trying to kill Harry.
Without pause, the scene changed. The tri-wizard tournament, as Harry and Cedric argued. She watched as both of them grabbed the trophy, then vanished as the port-key activated.
"It's your fault, Harry," Riddle said, his voice hissing. "If you'd just left him there, he'd still be alive."
Harry nodded slowly, his eyes full of tears as he was forced to relive two of the most horrendous nights of his life. Private thoughts, hidden thoughts of self doubt and guilt, were displayed before her as Tom pulled up every secret from his memory.
"Harry," she yelled, forcing him to look at her, "It's not your fault."
"It's all my fault," he whispered, avoiding her eyes, "so many dead."
"Look At Me!" Ginny yelled, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Trust me," she begged him.
Harry searched her eyes, looking for something, something deep and inscrutable. Ginny opened herself like never before, unsure of what Harry was looking for, so she showed him everything.
He nodded slowly.
"It's not your fault Harry, it's his, all his."
Harry felt the fog than had enveloped him start to lift, his memories that were still playing flickered then vanished, leaving them back in the huge emptiness of Harry's mind.
"Impressive," Riddle said mockingly, "but I think its time we ended this."
He waved his wand, casting a silent spell under his breath. The room seemed to shrink, fast. The grey walls raced towards Harry, passing through Tom and Ginny and collapsing around Harry, locking him in.
A wave of claustrophobia stuck Harry as he was locked in his own mind. He could barely hear Tom and Ginny, they were talking incredibly slowly. At least, that's how it felt as his mind sped up. Reduced to its core, Harry's mind took the unusual step of shutting down all automatic reflexes as it tried to cope with this sudden imprisonment
With the whole of his brain free to concentrate on his current predicament, Harry's mind probed the wall that was holding him in, searching for weaknesses.
It knew that what it was seeing was an illusionary representation of the neural paths his brain used and that it was cut off from its normal pathways as well as access to his memories.
Harry's brain was locked in the state that it had been captured; the only commands that it knew was 'Escape' and 'Protect the Red Head'.
The state his brain was in was pure thought, without the limitations that memory and experience imposed. Unaware that what it was about to do was impossible, Harry's brain simply forged new neural pathways to the areas it needed. The fact that his forging unlocked different parts of the green eyed magician's brain was irrelevant.
With the prison simply bypassed, Harry became himself again, and his brain restarted its automatic functions as quickly as possible.
Outside
Harry's battle to escape happened so quickly, that no one noticed his heart skipped a beat.
Inside
Time returned to normal for Harry, as he reappeared next to Riddle and Ginny. Tom was pointing his wand at the young witch. His face was full of unholy glee as he started the curse that would end Ginny's life.
"Avada," the Dark Lord said, pausing to enjoy the look of terror on Ginny's face as she realized her fate. The terror faded as the brown eyed witch accepted her fate and prepared a curse of her own. It may not be effective, but she wasn't going to die a coward.
She didn't get the chance, still pumped from his freedom, Harry yelled "Sua mente a sua mente," at her.
Ginny vanished just as the dark lord finished his curse. The spell scorched the floor where the witch had been, seconds before.
"She's safe now," Harry said with a cheerful grin, "I guess it's just you and me."
Outside
Suddenly finding herself back in her body, and free both from Harry's spell and the encompassing presence of Voldemort was a deep surprise for Ginny. Unmoving and un-reacting, she thought back through the last few seconds of the spell. Riddle starting the curse, Harry appearing, Harry casting a spell at her before Riddle could finish his own.
She realized that Harry had sent her back and kept Tom in his own mind.
The word Ginny used to announce her arrival back was borrowed directly from Harry. It had seemed extremely satisfying for him to shout it, so she shouted it herself.
"Ginny!" her mother snapped automatically, "Good witches do NOT use that word."
It took at least another second for the thought processes of everyone at the table to catch up. Before she could blink again, the girl was embraced in the arms of her mother and father, both of them laughing and crying at the same time.
The others were on their feet in a second, except for Dumbledore who was watching Harry intently, not seeing any signs of life returning to him.
Ginny enjoyed the attention for a brief moment, and then started to squirm. "Harry," was all she said.
The cheers and congratulations of the others stopped as they realized that Harry was still locked in his pose, sat at the table.
"Ginny?" Professor Dumbledore asked softly.
Ginny stretched in the chair, as her body suddenly started to protest its unnatural stillness. "How long?" she asked, yawning.
"Two and a half days," Hermione said instantly.
Ginny's face took on a shocked expression, "it only seemed like half an hour in there."
"Yes," the sonorous voice of Dumbledore interposed, "I thought that might be the case. What happened?"
Realizing that her headmaster was only interested in the last few seconds, and probably what caused her unladylike cursing, she replied briefly. "Tom had trapped Harry inside his own mind, and was about to use the killing curse on me, when Harry appeared and sent me back here."
Ginny found herself being hugged again by her mother, as she realized just how close her daughter had been to death.
All other questions had to wait, as Ginny concentrated on the young wizard, battling for his life, and everyone else's, inside his own mind.
Ginny grasped his hand in both of hers, wanting nothing more than to help him. As she looked, a slight sheen of sweat appeared on his face and his body started breathing heavily.
No one felt the need to state the obvious: the final battle had begun.
