Author's Notes:
*WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF ABUSE*
Hi everyone! I'm back! I hope you all didn't miss me too much over the last two weeks. I had an amazing time at my bridal shower and am finally done with the bar exam. Hopefully I passed and I don't have to do that shit all over again. It…did not do well for my mental health. Things have been really tough the last two weeks. But, it's over now and I can finally focus on my wedding that's in literally 10 days! We finally got the center pieces completed—the candles float guys! The float in the air and they look so fucking cool! And my dad made wands for favors and it's just going to be so awesome. And we booked our honeymoon and I'm finally going to get to go to Harry Potter World! I'm so excited! And I'm so excited to be back to doing updates for you guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Beer of the week: The beer of the week this week is Troegs chocolate stout. This is an amazing nitro stout brewed with chocolate. You can find it on tap or in a can in sampler packs and it is absolutely delicious. I'm talking liquid chocolate in a glass delicious. It's light and effervescent and chock full of flavor. 10/10 recommend.
Reviews: Potter671: Thank you! I'm glad you liked my mirror scene. I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy what I have in store in this one! Midnitewanderer: Denile is TOTALLY just a river in Egypt! Ha. Just wait until he gets back to school—I have so many more ideas with this mirror. I'm sure Molly knows exactly how Ginny feels—moms have an intuition like that. I honestly haven't decided if I want Molly to be a roadblock or not. I have been debating it though. The mistletoe is a good idea though! Also, thank you! The hair looks absolutely amazing with my bouquet. It has paper flowers from the HP books in it as well as red roses and greenery. My grandmother put it together for me and it has lacing and pearls from my mother-in-law's wedding dress. They're absolutely beautiful and the hair just brings all of it together. I'm so excited! Triggbc: glad you liked the chapter!
Boothbonesrule: Thank you! I needed all the luck I could get. I'm quite excited to get to the point that Harry realizes what he's been seeing. I'm just not sure when exactly it'll happen. But I know how it will. Smallwjl: Really? I hope you liked my take. I wanted to do something realistic but unique. Thank you! It was a blast. Rosa03mn: I'm glad you like it! Ask and you shall receive! RoyaleGaming1: OMG I didn't even realize I swapped the locations! All those years of training in HP trivia and I have such a stupid brain fart! I'll fix that ASAP—thank you for pointing that out! Sorry you don't like how I respond to comments—my favorite fic author does it this way and I guess it just stuck with me. My fiancé/husband hates that I do it this way too.
Posting Schedule: Once a week.
Thank you everyone for being so understanding with my hiatus! I'm so happy to be posting again and I literally cannot wait to read your reviews! You're the reason I've continued writing this story!
Chapter Forty-Four: Dear Reader, Can You Hear Me?
It didn't take the group long to make their way back to Potter Manor. They all talked and laughed, catching up with one another while James drove.
Ginny seemed to be the life of the party. She was continuously throwing out one-liners left and right, letting loose after being cooped up for so long at the Burrow without anyone besides her parents at home.
Harry was simply sitting back and relaxing, taking in the noise and excitement around him, waiting for the moment that they pulled up to his house. He missed home and he missed Cocoa. He was looking forward to spending the holiday at home with his friends.
James finally pulled the car up the long drive to Potter Manor, the group in the back cheering and chattering excitedly as they pulled up.
"What should we do first?" Ron asked, "Swimming? Quidditch?"
"We could play some exploding snap," Ginny suggested. She knew if they played quidditch she wouldn't be allowed to play. They would try to leave her out again like they normally did.
"Nah," Fred said, "How about swimming? You guys have that indoor pool, don't you Harry? The weather doesn't look like it's going to hold out for a game of quidditch."
The car slowed to a stop and the group quickly began making their way into the house. They were still discussing what activities they should do first when Cirri and Gus met them at the entrance.
"Hello everyone!" Gus squeaked at the group, "Cirri and I is here to be showing you to your rooms. Please, follow us."
The Weasleys all nodded at the elf and followed after him, dragging their trunks along behind them.
"Master Harry, you is already knowing where your room is. You is welcome to go and unpack!" Cirri said, smiling.
"Thanks Cirri. I'll head up there now."
Harry quickly made his way up to his room and unpacked the clothes from his trunk, putting the dirty robes into his laundry basket before making his way down the hall.
It didn't take Harry long to find where each of the Weasleys were staying. Gus had put them all just down the hall from Harry and James. Because they had more than enough space, each of them were given their own spacious room with adjoining bathrooms. Fred and George were especially pleased with this set up as they had never had their own rooms having had to share one with each other at the Burrow their entire lives.
Pleased to see that everyone was settling in fine, he told them he would find them in the living room when they were done and that he wanted to talk to James before that.
Harry made his way down to James' study where he found James working on some papers at his desk.
"Hey dad?"
James looked up, his glasses sliding down his nose slightly as he moved, "What's up, Harry?"
"I just, I didn't know that Ginny was going to be here for Christmas and I haven't gotten her anything yet. I thought I had some time to find something before the holiday but now…Do you have any suggestions?"
"Well, what does Ginny like? We know she likes quidditch—but I suppose she can't play much of it at home without anyone else there."
"She's not much of a jewelry person, either," Harry added, "In a perfect world I'd get her some chaser gloves or a broom or something but I don't want to give her anything she won't be able to use for several years. I could get her some muggle books? She does love reading those. I don't know what sort of books she likes, though. I could ask Draco?"
"That's an idea!" James added as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his mirror, "Give me a sec, Harry. Remus is giving me a call."
Harry nodded and listened as his dad and uncle talked about the upcoming holiday together. For a moment he reminisced about how lonely Ginny has felt since he and Ron went to Hogwarts in September. It must be hard for her to have to wait for letters to get to her through the post. He wondered briefly how his fathers had managed to make the mirrors they all shared. They must have created them because they made another one for him and then one for Draco.
As James said goodbye to Remus and put his mirror away, Harry perked up and asked, "Hey, dad? How did you and uncle moony and uncle padfoot make the mirrors?"
James was taken aback for a moment by the sudden question before thinking, replying slowly, "Well," he started as he placed a hand on his chin, "I believe the idea came from Sirius and I always complaining about having separate detentions and how boring they were. We wanted a way to talk to each other and have fun while doing them. And then one day Moony caught Padfoot staring at himself in this small, square mirror and he commented that it reminded him of a walkie talkie."
At Harry's confused look, James continued, "It's a muggle thing. It's an electronic box that they can use to communicate on a closed network. Then Peter—" James hesitated for a moment, "Peter—he asked why the mirror couldn't be a walkie talkie. Of course, Sirius and I thought that was an incredibly stupid idea but Moony, he just got this far away look on his face. A few days later, he came up to us with two small mirrors and we thought it was some kind of joke. We didn't realize what the mirrors did until later that day when we were joking around and accidentally called each other. Moony said he used a combination of a protean charm and a projection charm. I'm not sure how it works but we can add new mirrors to our network or create new networks. Honestly, Moony was always the brains of that operation."
"Wow, I didn't realize so much went into these mirrors. Do you think Uncle Moony would be able to make another?"
James cocked his head, "Why? Who did you want to give it to?"
"Well," Harry said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I know Ginny has been really lonely at home since Ron left and Charlie graduated, I thought she might like having a way to talk to all of us at school whenever she wanted. It's certainly much faster than owl post."
James looked at Harry for a moment, taking in what his son was saying before responding, "Why don't you go talk to Remus—he knows how to make the mirrors and I'm sure he would be happy to make one for you. I'm sure she'll love it. Have you gotten something for Ron, Hermione, and Draco yet?"
Harry smiled, "Yeah! I ordered Ron a copy of Quidditch Through The Ages and a new Chudley Cannons shirt. I was hoping you might be able to get the team to sign it for me? I know you're playing them this weekend."
"Yeah I think I can manage that for you. Ron will really enjoy that!"
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "And I got Draco some new muggle books and a new, blank journal. He mentioned the other week that his current one is almost full. It's got all sorts of magical protections on it so that no one but himself can read what's written in it. And I got Hermione a few books on Wizarding history as well as some new quills and ink. I think they'll be happy with what I got them, don't you think?"
"Definitely! Why don't you head off and spend time with your friends. Remus will be home later tonight and you can talk to him about the mirrors then."
"Alright. See you later dad!"
~ID~
Draco quietly picked at the food on his plate as he tuned out the voices surrounding him at the large table. He sighed inwardly as he shifted in his seat, the formal robes he was wearing tight around his neck as he twisted.
It hadn't taken Draco long to figure out why his father was so insistent on him returning to the Manor for the holiday. The moment he had walked into his childhood home he realized that his grandparents were here for the holidays. Draco had always loathed when his grandparents would visit—he knew it meant being forced into stuffy outfits and allowing his father to flaunt Draco's abilities and remind him of the traditional pure blood ways. Draco had spent many days and nights at Potter Manor when his grandparents visited while he was younger, avoiding the stiff wandpoint that he had come to learn to fear.
Abraxas Malfoy is not a warm and loving man. Draco had learned early on in his life that the only way to please Abraxas was to do his best to abide by those pure blood traditions that he had come to question and resent. In many ways Draco thought that Abraxas was worse than his father. In his opinion, Abraxas was quicker to utilize his knowledge of dark magic to gain the upper hand or to get what he wanted no matter who stood between him and his goal. And, often, it was Draco that stood in his way.
Draco shifted uncomfortably as he noticed the conversation shifting to the ongoing school year and his own progress in his classes. He had been hoping to avoid this topic for the evening, he was disappointed that it had been brought up so quickly in the evening, leaving him feeling bare and unprepared.
"So, Draco, your father has told me you chose not to follow in our noble houses' traditions and that you have been erroneously placed into Ravenclaw house rather than Slytherin. Is this true? Or has your father simply been overexaggerating again?" Abraxas asked Draco, his eyes staring lazily down at his plate where he was cutting into the large steak that sat there. Draco could see the red juices swirling around the plate and into the potatoes as he listened.
Draco's eyes drifted down to his own plate where he had managed to mix his peas into his own potatoes, his appetite suddenly dissipating, "It's true that the sorting hat placed me into Ravenclaw, Grandfather."
Draco winced at the sound of the metal of Abraxas' knife hitting the oak table as he put it down and speared a chunk of flesh on the end of his fork, "I'm disappointed to hear that you didn't demand the hat place you into Slytherin, Draco. Disappointed but not surprised. You always were spineless."
"I'm sorry Grandfather," Draco protested, "but I didn't have a choice in the matter. The hat—"
"I feel," Abraxas started, the venom dripping from his words, "that you should know by this point in your life, Draco, that you do not take such an insolent tone with your superiors!"
Draco winced as Abraxas yelled his final word, all pretenses abruptly ending with the utterance of his statement.
"I apologize, Grandfather. I didn't mean—"
"You didn't intend, Draco," Abraxas corrected, "In this house we use proper grammar. I would hope that you would remember that lesson that I instilled in you so long ago."
"Yes, Grandfather," Draco stated as he examined the shape the grain of wood made in the table.
"Lucius," Abraxas spat as he rounded on his son, "I was under the impression that you were attempting to instill manners and a sense of purpose and tradition in young Draco here. Why, exactly, has he refused to give the respect I deserve? You sit here and claim your pure blood status while you have an insolent son taking up residence in a less than noble house? I'm not sure who I should be angrier at—Draco for his insolence or you for allowing him to continue on this course?"
Lucius nodded at his father, "I understand, father. I can assure you I have been doing everything in my power to make Draco understand the noble, pure blood ways. I spoke to Dumbledore and tried to have Draco transferred but the old man—he wouldn't hear of it. The boy refuses to comply with our rules and has been absolutely out of control over the last several years. I beg of you, father, give me your counsel on how to teach Draco that his actions are not appropriate. I fear that he is developing a softness for mudbloods. He carries around with one while at Hogwarts. I have been contemplating removing him from the program and transferring him to Durmstrang."
"Durmstrang would certainly whip the boy into shape. Is it true, Draco? That you've become friends with a mudblood? Has your father taught you nothing about the ways of our people? The necessity of the purity of magical blood? What will you do once the dark lord rises again and calls upon you to join his ranks?"
Run, Draco thought, "I do not know, grandfather. I'm sorry, Grandfather."
"Draco, you have not answered my question," Abraxas smiled, his yellowing teeth gleaming in the candlelight.
Draco paled, "I—yes, grandfather, I have been hanging around with a mugg—mudblood. She is friends with my friends."
Abraxas blinked, taking in Draco's words. He slowly stood up, his hands resting on the gleaming surface of the dinning table before him as he leaned towards Draco and smiled, "Draco. Please go to your study room. I believe we have a lesson that needs a little more sinking in this evening."
His mouth dropped open slightly as he looked from his grandfather, to his father, and then to his mother who was sitting stock still, her back straight as she stared straight ahead. He stared at her and his father until he heard the scraping of Abraxas' chair on the ground. Then, as his entire body shook and his knees felt like liquid, he stood from the table and slowly made his way upstairs. And as he walked, he was painfully, so completely hyper aware of Abraxas walking closely behind him.
~ID~
James stumbled out of the fireplace and onto the carpet inside of the headmaster's office late that evening. Shortly after dinner, James had received an owl from Dumbledore requesting he come to the school as soon as he could, claiming that he had received more information regarding Voldemort's potential immortality.
Once he had cleaned the soot off of himself, James shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way over to the desk at the center of the room where the kindly old man sat, a large basin in front of him as he waited.
"Evening, Albus."
"James," Dumbledore greeted as he gestured to the seat before him, "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"Well, you said you had more information about Voldemort. I thought that it would be prudent to get here as fast as I could to discuss it."
"Yes. I hope you don't mind, but we will once again have to take a trip into my pensieve. I have received a new memory I feel will be of interest to us. It comes from someone that I think you will recognize once we're inside. After you, James."
He watched as Dumbledore poured what seemed to be an extremely congealed, silvery liquid into the basin. It fell into the liquid with a soft plop before sinking beneath the surface. James opened his mouth to protest, to question what was going on and what the rush was. He was still confused as to where these memories came from and how they were going to assist in their research, but Dumbledore continued to wait for him to enter the pensieve. So, he did.
James felt the familiar rush of liquid as he fell through and into the memory. He watched in fascination as it formed around him and he found himself standing in a familiar looking room where several boys stood around a portly man eating crystalized pineapple out of a tin sitting on his desk. It took James a few moments before he recognized the man sitting at the desk next to him.
"Professor Slughorn?" James whispered to himself.
Dumbledore nodded as the scene began to playout. James watched as Slughorn doted on a young Voldemort, playfully chastising him for knowing more about the school than many of the professors did. Then he watched in fascination as a dark mist engulfed the scene before him and he heard Slughorn shout from inside the dense fog.
"You'll go wrong boy! Mark my words, you'll go wrong!"
"What in the—" James started before Dumbledore held up a hand, silencing him.
James watched as the boys filed out of Slughorn's office, leaving himself and Voldemort alone. And watched as the scene became enveloped in the thick fog again, just after Voldemort had asked about Horcruxes. But, despite having yelled at Voldemort mere moments before, the scene changed and showed the pair looking extremely serious but not frazzled or angry. There seemed to be no sign from either person that Slughorn had just been yelling at Voldemort.
James frowned in confusion over the scene as he looked over at Dumbledore who appeared to be quite at ease with the scene before them. Then he found himself being pulled back out of the pensieve and landed feet first on the floor.
"What on earth was that?" James asked, "That fog—it's almost as if Slughorn intentionally altered his memory. But why would he do something like that?"
"It is exactly as if he had altered his memory," Dumbledore replied, frowning, "I think, and I speak from speculation, not from first-hand knowledge, that Horace was, for some reason, embarrassed or upset about whatever really occurred during that conversation with Lord Voldemort and he is, in his mind, attempting to right some perceived wrong. I don't feel that I need to emphasize this too much, nor that it necessitates being said out loud, but I shall anyway. We need the real memory. I believe that this memory holds vital information that will lead us to the end of Voldemort forever."
"Sir, forgive me but I'm just not understanding why this memory in particular is important. We've already figured out that he made horcruxes so what does it matter if we learn how he learned about them? What information are you hoping to glean from this memory?"
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and touched the tips of his fingers together and looked over them to examine James. He waited a few moments as he contemplated his response, weighing the options in his mind, before answering.
"I believe that this memory gives an indication on the limits Voldemort believed he could work with and the ones he felt he could push and expand upon."
"Ex—expand upon?" James spluttered.
"Yes. But to know what those limits are, we need to find Horace—"
"Wait—find him? What do you mean find him?"
"After I retrieved this altered memory from Horace, he immediately went into hiding from me. He has managed to shield himself from me while also retaining contact with several of his successful, past students. Every time I think I've found his location, he slips through my fingers. I have had this memory for some time, you see. Perhaps a year at this time. I had been hoping to retrieve the actual memory before showing it to you, but I've come to the conclusion that we won't be able to get that for some time. My hope is that we can work with what is missing to try to narrow down what may have inspired Voldemort based on that."
"So it's a literal guessing game now?"
"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?"
James sighed and sat back in his chair as he thought. Considering what the spell and potion required in order to remove a part of your soul and encase it within a horcrux, he couldn't, at present, fathom how much more Voldemort could have pushed those boundaries.
~ID~
Ginny dove into the warm water, her hair flowing out behind her as she made strong, swift strokes to propel herself further into the pool. As she burst out of the water she took a deep breath and blinked in the light before turning and swimming to the other end of the pool.
She had decided to leave the boys to their school work and take some time for herself in the late evening. They had been at Potter Manor for a few days now and as much as she had missed her brothers she was suddenly reminded of how annoying they were when they were around all the time. And though she had craved their company over the last few months, she now suddenly wanted to be alone again, even if just for a few moments.
Ginny had always loved swimming. The feel of the water around her as it flowed and moved with her powerful strokes and kicks. She had often sought the solitude of the pond at the Burrow. She had even gone so far as to have Mr. Weasley put a warming charm on the water so that she could swim no matter the weather outside. It had served her well over the years and had provided her with a place that felt all her own.
Once she had done several laps, Ginny simply floated in the middle of the pool, allowing the water to lap around her and to push and pull her wherever it so pleased as she stared into the stary sky. The pool room at the Manor was enclosed all in glass, allowing the swimmer to look out into the sky while they swam. During the evening, the pool was lit under the water with soft, glowing lights, and the pool room had dim lights all around, giving a relaxing and tranquil vibe. And though the pool was technically indoors, it was designed to make the swimmer feel as if they were outside.
Ginny had immediately fallen in love with the pool room. It had instantly become her favorite room at the Manor and she had begun spending most of her time there regardless of whether she was actually swimming or not.
As she floated, Ginny suddenly heard a noise outside of the door. It was footsteps making their way toward the room she was sitting in. Ignoring whoever it was, she continued to float in the pool, refusing to allow anyone to ruin her moment.
Just as she began to wonder who had come into the room, she heard them kick their shoes off and sit at the edge of the pool, putting their legs over the side and into the water. She could feel the waves lap over her body as she continued floating, her eyes closed.
The person slowly slid into the water, splashing as they slipped in and under. She could feel the vibrations of their arms propelling them forward, toward her. And then, suddenly, she was pulled under the surface, warm water filling her face as she sunk to the bottom of the pool, a strong hand tight around her ankle.
Ginny kicked out at whoever had grabbed her, her foot colliding with a warm body as she flailed. The person let them go and she kicked to the surface, gasping for air. Then she heard laughing and her stomach flipped inside of her as her heart skipped several beats. Her skin flushed as she turned around and caught sight of those piercing green eyes pouring into hers. She could see the laughter filling those green orbs as she hesitated for only a moment before splashing water into his open mouth.
Harry spluttered as the saltwater filled his mouth a nose and Ginny burst out into laughter.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, "I thought you boys were doing homework or something."
Harry shrugged and leaned over a pool noodle, "I got bored and realized you'd slunk off somewhere. I figured you'd be in here like you have been nearly every other night."
"Why did you come looking for me though?"
"I haven't gotten to spend much time with you this break. Everyone seems to want to be around me and you seemed like you've been getting overwhelmed by the number of people here right now. I guess you're not used to so many people being around anymore, are you?"
Ginny stared into Harry's eyes, a smile playing at her lips as she felt a sense of happiness and a feeling she couldn't quite place washing over her, "Yeah. I guess I got so used to things at home just being me, mum, and dad I forgot how busy it is when everyone is together again. I missed you all so much but—apparently I value my alone time just as much."
Harry frowned, "Was I interrupting your alone time? I didn't mean to."
She shook her head, "No. No, you didn't. Well, I mean, you did, but you didn't," at his confusion she continued, "I was having alone time, but you weren't interrupting because I don't mind if you interrupt my alone time."
Harry furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"
Blushing, she continued, "I mean, I like your company, so you wouldn't ever be interrupting."
"Oh," Harry said, still confused, "Alright then. If you say so. Anyway, want to race? I'm pretty good at swimming. And I'm fast, too."
"Ha! You'd never outrace me. I've been training for years."
Harry grinned wickedly, "Want to bet on it?"
Ginny raised an eyebrow, "What sort of bet?"
"Whatever you want," Harry shrugged, "or we can use my idea. That is, if you're not scared."
"Bring it on, Potter."
"Winner gets to choose an outfit for the loser to wear for the entire day Christmas day."
"Anything?" Ginny asked, her interest peaking.
"Anything."
"So, if I picked out a dress for you?"
"If I lost, I'd wear it."
Ginny grinned wickedly as the ideas filled her head. Then she nodded, "You're on. I hope you're ready to lose to a girl."
"As if I'd lose to you! You're so much smaller than me."
"Sometimes being small has its advantages," Ginny said as she winked at Harry.
Harry gave her a coy smile before making his way to the edge of the pool, preparing himself, "We'll do one lap. Swim from here to the other end, flip, and swim back. First one back wins."
"And how will we know who's won if it's close?"
Harry simply patted the edge of the pool and smiled, "This will tell us."
Ginny frowned, "What do you mean?"
"My dad charmed the pool to announce a winner. Trust me, it works. Alright, on my mark?"
Ginny nodded.
"Ready. Set. Go!"
They both kicked off the side of the pool, speeding forward and cutting through the water. Harry had a strong kick off, but Ginny's expert strokes more than made up for that difference in power. She was indeed correct that her size assisted her in swimming quickly through the water because there was less of her to offer as resistance to the water, allowing her to move forward quicker. It also helped that she had strong, efficient strokes while Harry was still clearly inexperienced at racing.
Ginny beat Harry to the edge of the pool, quickly flipping in the water and kicking off before he reached the edge. She swam quickly back to the other side, leaving Harry several feet behind her. In the end, she beat him back by nearly an entire body length.
"No way!" Harry protested, his mouth open, "You total cheated!"
"Did not!" Ginny argued, "You're just upset because you lost to a girl."
"No. I don't care if I lose to you. I'm just upset that the princess of chaos gets to pick out my Christmas outfit."
"The princess of chaos?" Ginny asked, a blush working its way up her body as she willed it to stop.
"Yeah. I mean, that's what you are. You're spunky and surprising, intelligent and pretty. A real princess of chaos."
"I like that. Princess of chaos."
"Yeah, well, any idea what you're going to make me wear?" Harry asked nervously.
"Maybe I won't have you wear anything at all," Ginny replied.
Harry sighed in relief, "I mean, you don't have to take your reward."
"You misunderstand," Ginny replied, an evil grin on her face, "I might not have you wear anything. As in, starkers. Naked. Bare-bummed for the world."
Harry paled, "You wouldn't."
"I guess you'll have to wait and see, won't you?" Ginny said as she dove back into the water and swam away, leaving a stunned Harry in her wake.
End Notes:
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