Ginny had been to the Ministry after business hours on several occasions over the years, but she'd always been accompanying her father. It had been a place of creepy wonder when she was a child, full of looming shadows and secret alcoves where all manner of monster might hide in the dark. She'd loved going there.

But now, the wonder was gone and Ginny found the shadows and alcoves to be just . . . creepy. As she walked across the Ministry's towering lobby, her eyes were drawn to the wide stairway that led into the lower depths of the building. She gave those stairs wide berth as she walked to the lifts; the Ministry at night was where her father had almost been killed by a giant snake, trying to protect the prophecy about Harry Potter from falling to Voldemort.

Or Tom Riddle, as Ginny always thought of him. It was a habit born of a young girl's horror at discovering that evil could be handsome and charming and therefore even more dangerous. After she'd recovered from the Chamber, Ginny had found comfort in calling Voldemort Tom because it took away some of his power over her. That Dumbledore often referred to him the same way was a comfort as well.

The sound of the lift echoed through empty floors in a way it never did during the bustle of the day, so even if Ginny had wanted to hide her arrival from Kane it would have been impossible. She had already rounded the corner into Auror headquarters and caught sight of him when it occurred to her that it had been rather stupid - not to mention extremely un-Aurorlike - not to tell anyone where she'd gone. Some of the adrenaline that had propelled her to contact Kane and rush to the Ministry in the middle of the night was being replaced by a healthy and more rational fear of what she'd gotten herself into, and she could almost hear Ron's voice chiding her. Even if Kane hadn't taken Harry's memory with the coffee, Ginny still suspected he wasn't being completely honest with her. She had no idea what he was holding back though, and the fact that she'd not been careful enough to block his Legilimency these past few days made her feel even more like he had the upper hand. It was too late now, though.

Ginny wasn't sure what she expected - cauldrons bubbling with potions, a big open space in which to cast spells, something - but headquarters looked the same as it did during the day. All the lights were on and Kane was looking over a sheaf of parchment that was covered in a messy scrawl of words and circular diagrams. He seemed supremely relaxed. After a moment he put the parchment aside and gestured her to sit down at one of the desks used by the departmental assistants. He sat too, rolling up the parchments and banishing them with a flick of his wand.

"So, you were unable to convince Mr. Potter to come with you?" he asked. "I have to admit, I'm rather surprised. After hearing what the incomplete spell did to him, the Harry I knew would not have slept until he was able to make it right." Kane peered at her, and once again, Ginny got the feeling the man was blaming her for not succeeding in producing Harry.

"Well, he doesn't remember working for you either," she said. It had been a subject of debate with Ron and Hermione, whether to only tell Harry that he'd forgotten about working with Kane and leave out the fact that he'd forgotten Ginny too. The first time Ginny had told Harry that he didn't remember working with Kane, at that private dinner that seemed a million years ago, he'd been concerned but calm. After the memory loss had grown to include Ginny, Hermione wanted to keep that detail from Harry and start only by telling him again about Kane - they had disagreed about it the entire time Harry had been in the shower earlier that night. He'd been gone a long time, long enough for Ginny to finally convince Hermione that Harry needed to know how his memory loss had grown. Of course, it turned out that telling him everything had been an unmitigated disaster.

This was the first thing Ginny had said that seemed to cause Kane any surprise. He sat up straight. "He doesn't remember working with me last year." It didn't sound like a question.

Ginny shook her head. "Even before he'd forgotten me, we - Ron and Hermione too - noticed that Harry remembered working with Camilla Stalk and Robards but didn't have a lot of memories of doing anything for you. He got almost angry when we told him tonight. That means his memory loss actually is getting worse, doesn't it? That's why I came here so quickly. Before he loses more."

Kane didn't seem to have heard Ginny. He rubbed at his eyes and Ginny saw his mouth tighten. "Damn. I didn't think about . . . it should have occurred to me," he muttered. Then he seemed to remember that Ginny was there and looked up. "This complicates things," he said grimly. "That Harry doesn't remember what he'd started."

Ginny didn't want to ask but she had to. "Does that mean there's nothing we can do to get his memory back? Even if I finish the spell myself?" She couldn't keep her voice from wavering.

Kane was deep in thought. At last he looked up and seemed to notice Ginny's distress. "I don't think all hope is lost, Miss Weasley," he said slowly. "And I think, yes." He nodded half to himself. "I think that if you are able to complete the spell yourself, the . . . power you collect within it can be used to heal Harry." He stood up quickly, suddenly looking much more alert. "In fact, I'm almost certain of it. But we need to hurry - if Harry is losing more memories, the sooner you complete the spell, the better." He held out his hand. "Let me show you what you need to do."

Ginny didn't accept Kane's hand, but she stood up as well. "Please show me," she said.

Kane gestured down the hallway. "This way," he said. Ginny assumed they might be going to one of the magically enlarged rooms the trainees used to practice dueling and other activities that required a lot of space. Instead, Kane turned down the corridor that held the private offices of the most senior Aurors and walked almost to the end, stopping at a door that looked rather like a broom closet. "You'll have to enter alone, I'm afraid," he said. "The spell is designed to accept only those individuals who have a physical connection to Voldemort."

"So only Harry and me, you mean," said Ginny flatly. She knew there were spells that only worked for or against certain people, but they were very high level magic and something the trainees hadn't learned yet. She also didn't understand why she needed to enter a closet to perform the spell. "What's inside?"

"It's an environment best suited to the effective removal of the essence of your possession by Voldemort."

"The what?!" Ginny felt a thrum of horror. "I don't still have any 'essence of possession' inside of me." Indeed, that had been the very first thing she'd asked Dumbledore as soon as she'd been able after Ron - no, Harry - had rescued her from the Chamber. "There's nothing left, there hasn't been since Harry stabbed the diary." Of this she was sure, and the thought that she may have unknowingly been harboring a bit of Voldemort inside her all these years was unconceivable. "It's impossible," she said.

Kane was shaking his head. "No, no, you misunderstand," he said soothingly. "There is no physical possession inside of you, of course. Or in Harry. But an event of that magnitude leaves a . . . signature, if you will. One that I've been working to isolate and remove to a magical object for use in uncovering dark magic within other places and other people." He gestured to the door again. "The removal of that signature is best accomplished within an environment related to the original possession. Your mind is more amenable to a reversion back to those moments, you see."

Ginny didn't see, not really, and she still didn't understand what was behind the door Kane was now opening. "Does it hurt? What do I do inside?"

Kane shook his head. "It doesn't hurt, but you might find the experience emotionally disconcerting, at first." He smiled suddenly. "You've been inside a Pensive before?"

Ginny flushed, remembering her trip into Harry's Pensieve and how looking at all her memories had been such tangible evidence that she loved him. She nodded and Kane gave a hum of approval. "Well, this is not much different than a Pensieve," he said. "But instead of taking your memories, the spell will remove the essence of your interactions with Voldemort." He gave Ginny a knowing look. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind having every last bit of that experience removed, would you?" He smiled. "Harry liked that idea too, you know."

A thought had flitted through Ginny's head then, something she needed to ask, but at Kane's mention of Harry it disappeared again. "I bet he did," she said. She could imagine just how much Harry would want to purge anything left of Voldemort inside him. What he'd lived with was so much worse than what Ginny had - a piece of soul inside of him for all those years. Ginny had felt sick the first time she'd heard the entire story, and that was back when she'd still thought of Harry as mostly an irritating prat. She looked through the door Kane had opened. "What's inside?" she asked again, rather expecting Kane to tell her that she would have to find out for herself.

"It's a model of the Chamber," he said. He shrugged modestly. "And a fairly good one, if I do say so myself considering that I've never seen the real one." He inclined his head at her. "You of course will be able to tell me later if I missed any details."

Ginny stared at Kane. "Why the fuck would you create a model of the Chamber?" She looked into the doorway but it was too dark to see anything. "Is there a Basilisk down there?" Another thought came to her. "Did Harry help build it?"

Kane shook his head and his mouth quirked. "No, there is no Basilisk," he said. "It's not important." He pushed the door open a little wider. "You may find it a bit disconcerting at first, but I don't think the disorientation will last too long." He didn't quite give Ginny a shove but the intent was obvious. Ginny didn't move. Despite the urge to help Harry she knew there were still questions she needed to ask.

"What do I do once I get down there? Isn't there a spell or something you need to teach me first?" Harry had been working on it for months; how could Kane expect Ginny to just drop into the middle of the spell knowing nothing? She took a step back from the door. "I want to help Harry but I'm not a complete idiot," she said. "You need to tell me more first."

Kane gave her an approving smile. "You've never let me push you around, have you?" he asked. He sighed. "I forget that you don't know as much as Harry did, but I can assure you with all confidence that it will all become clear once you are in the Chamber. The model of the Chamber, I mean. The spell itself is already cast, you just have to open your mind and let it play out. Like a Pensieve."

"Will Tom be there?" Ginny wasn't scared of him, not anymore, but if she was going to be met with one of her old memories of Tom Riddle from the diary, she rather wanted to be prepared.

Kane nodded. "I'd expect so," he said. "He can't hurt you, of course."

"Of course," agreed Ginny. She took a step towards the door again. "And my being down there, it will help Harry get his memory, right?"

Kane smiled again. "As I said earlier, I thing, and hope it will help Harry get his memory back. At the least, completing the . . . spell should halt any additional loss. And moreover, it will create a new, and immensely useful Dark Detector, one that is likely to make any fear of the rise of another evil like Voldemort extremely unlikely." His voice was calm. "No other young child will ever have to endure what you . . . and Harry did. Completing the spell will assure that. And isn't that why you joined the Aurors in the first place?"

The longer Kane had been talking, the less afraid Ginny was. He was an experienced wizard, knew much more than she, and he could have overpowered her a dozen times already tonight. Instead, he'd answered all of her questions. Yes, he was a little too heavy handed with his use of Legilimency, but Ginny couldn't fault him his passion for destroying Dark Magic. She looked into the doorway one last time. "And I just go in, and I'll be in the Chamber?" she asked.

"A rather excellent facsimile of the Chamber," Kane corrected her. "I suppose I could have set up the spell inside the real one at Hogwarts, but that seemed excessive. It's the memories and emotions that the place evokes, not the real place itself, that matters." He gestured with his hand. "So, will you help me? And help Harry?"

Ginny took a deep breath. It occurred to her that Harry himself had been inside the spell with no ill effects, but for the memory loss that came from stopping it in the middle. But she planned to see it through to the end. She nodded. "I'm ready," she said, walking through the door.

HPHPHPHP

Ron was up early the next morning, and it was no wonder. He'd sent Hermione to sleep in his room but he hadn't left the sofa, wanting to know if Harry tried to leave or something in the night. He didn't, but Ron slept fitfully anyway, waking up to a stiff neck and sore back. A hot shower helped loosen his muscles and after kissing his girlfriend and getting dressed, he shuffled to the kitchen to make coffee, wondering how Ginny was doing. He suspected she hadn't slept either.

A sound behind him made him turn, expecting to see Hermione. Instead, to his surprise, Harry was there, looking slightly abashed and holding out his mug. "Mind if I have some?" he asked.

Ron quickly poured Harry some coffee and then sat down at the kitchen table. He drank his coffee and waited and after a moment, Harry joined him. Ron stayed quiet.

"I shouldn't have lost my temper last night," Harry said finally.

Ron shrugged. "We threw a lot of stuff at you at once," he said.

"And I don't remember any of it," said Harry flatly. He rubbed at his eyes. "It's completely disconcerting to hear to be sure. I mean, me and Ginny?" Ron opened his mouth to answer but Harry immediately held up his hands. "Actually, don't tell me. If it's really true - and I'm going to believe it is because there's no way you'd make up something like that as a joke - well I think it's something I need to talk about with Ginny first, if she wants, of course." He took a sip of his coffee and Ron saw a faint blush climbing his cheeks. Ron smiled to himself. Looks like Harry still has his crush, at least. Ginny will like hearing that. He changed the subject.

"And what about Kane? You don't remember anything you did with him?"

Harry shook his head. "I mean, I remember working with him a bit, but more that he was around like Camilla and Robards were. I certainly don't remember any specific spell to create a new Dark Detector or anything." He grimaced. "But that doesn't explain why I got so angry. I was confused and all, I kind of in disbelief, but then I exploded." He looked distraught. "And I exploded at Ginny of all people. If she and I have really been . . . I mean, I can only imagine how much I hurt her."

"Ginny's tougher than you know," said Ron. He grimaced. "I mean, she's tougher than you know right now. Yeah, she's upset, but she's also incredibly determined to fix all this, to fix you." Ron smirked, the need for some sort of normalcy making him speak more frankly than he normally would about the topic. "And not just because she misses the sex, although I'm sure that's part of it."

Harry choked, spitting his coffee across the table. He looked at Ron, eyes streaming. "S-s-sex? Ginny and I, we . . . are you sure?" The blush was back, deeper now. Ron grinned at him.

"Oh, quite sure. Your sex life has actually been the subject of . . . actually, I'm going to wait to tell you exactly what I know. It'll be fun to see you hear about it all over again." For a wild second, Ron considered telling Harry about the poster. But he'd already pushed Harry's memory more than was probably safe. "Let's just say that once Ginny figures all this out, I don't expect to see either of you for at least a week."

Harry took a deep breath. "I think I look forward to that," he said. He pushed back from the table and stood up. "Actually, I'd like to apologize to Ginny in person, if you think she'll talk to me." He grimaced. "In my mind, she still thinks I'm properly annoying most of the time you know. A right prat."

Ron stood up too. "I think she'd like to hear an apology from you," he said. He took a risk. "Actually if you wanted to do what she asked, and go with her to see what Kane wants, I bet she'd like that even more."

Even before Harry spoke, Ron knew he'd gone too far. He could tell Harry was trying not to explode again, but his expression shuttered and he turned roughly away, breathing hard. After a minute, he spoke. "I . . . can't. I'm sorry Ron. But no. I'm not joining Ginny to help Kane. I just . . . can't."

Ron let it drop immediately. "Of course not, mate. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Harry got control of his emotions much more quickly this time. "It's okay," he said. "I think. I don't know what keeps coming over me." He looked at Ron. "Do you think it's getting worse?"

"I don't know," said Ron. "I guess anything's possible. But Hermione said that disorientation is common with memory charms, so maybe you're just reacting to trying to remember something that isn't there right now."

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry. He looked troubled. "I'd still like to apologize to Ginny though."

"She'd still like it," said Ron. "And I don't think she'll mention . . . anything."

"Good," nodded Harry. He stretched. "Can we stop by her flat now?"

Ron stifled a knowing grin. "Let's get dressed and all first," he said. "And get Hermione. She'll want to walk with us to work."

But twenty minutes later, there was no answer at Ginny's door. Ron ran his hand through his hair. "I doubt she's sleeping in," he said. "Probably went to the Ministry early to try to talk to Camilla." He looked at Hermione. "It's not too cold out, d'you want to walk?"

As Hermione nodded, Harry broke in. "I'd like to go too," he said. It was clear to Ron that his behavior towards Ginny was weighing heavy on Harry's mind.

Hermione looked at Harry in surprise. "To the Ministry? To Auror headquarters?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe she can meet me in the lobby. I just want to . . . I was a prat to her for something that wasn't her fault." He rocked back and forth on his feet. "I mean, we're always kind of prats to each other, but usually she gives as good as she gets. At least, that's what I remember. Apparently that's changed." He shrugged. "I just don't think it's fair of me to be, I don't know, like I am to her, if it's not what she's expecting. So I'll just apologize to her for my behavior and then leave her alone so I don't upset her again."

Behind Harry's back, Ron looked swiftly at Hermione, warning her not to say anything. Of course, Harry leaving Ginny alone was going to upset her as much, or even more, than him yelling at her. That Harry didn't understand that was as much evidence as any how much he'd lost. Ron wished he could figure out a way to convince Harry to just listen to what Ginny had to say about working together. He tried to go over the conversations in his head to figure out exactly what had caused Harry to get so angry. It clearly wasn't the news that he and Ginny were together - really together. If anything, Ron had recognized more than a little interest on Harry's part to learn that he and Ginny had had sex. Ron smirked to himself over the thought that Harry was probably kicking himself right now over his inability to remember. Was it the mention of Kane? That was likely to be it, especially since Harry had so little recollection of his interactions with the man over the course of an entire year. Given that, Harry's decision to go to the Ministry to find Ginny was more worrisome; he'd have to think of a reason for Harry not to go up to Auror headquarters if they couldn't get Ginny to come down to the lobby instead.

Ron was so lost in thought he didn't realize that Harry and Hermione had stopped walking until he nearly ran into their backs.

". . . like the cold weather too, I see," an accented voice was saying. Ron looked up to see four identically clad women wrapped in elaborate fur cloaks standing on the sidewalk in front of them. Katerina Bellows pushed back her hood and let her blonde curls fall about her face while she continued speaking. "I thought we'd be the only ones out today," she said. "This weather reminds us all of our home." She gestured behind her. "You know my sisters, I presume? Nadia, Zoya, and Sascha." Each of the women nodded in turn. Zoya leaned over to whisper something to Nadia - probably complaining that she'd not been able to get any good dirt to turn into one of her ridiculous Prophet articles lately - but Sasha was the one who spoke next.

"Yes, we do like the winter," she said. "Of course, our parents taught us particularly good warming charms and spells when we were growing up. We hardly notice the temperature now." She nodded at the steaming mugs Ron and Hermione were holding and smirked . "I assume Harry got some of the coffee too? I mixed it especially for him, you know. I've been wanting to see exactly what Shepard did with it."

Ron's spell to contain the four Bellows sisters was only a hair slower than Harry's was. They all looked equally shocked and angry, fighting against the invisible bands that held them in place. "What the fuck did you do that for?" sputtered Katerina.

Ron ignored her. He put his hand up to quiet Harry, who also looked ready to start yelling. "Hermione, can you disillusion all of us please? There are Muggles about."

Hermione silently waved her wand over the group and Ron felt the familiar privacy spells wash over them. "Thanks," he muttered. He pointed his wand at Sasha. "What do you mean about the coffee?" he asked tersely.

Sasha shrugged as much as she could, given her confinement. "You know I make potions for the Aurors, don't you?" she asked, her accent getting stronger as she spoke. Ron nodded. "And you were disguised at a server at the pub the other night and gave a bunch of us a drink that . . . loosened our memories," he said. "Didn't you?"

Sasha nodded. "I was practicing with my brewing techniques then. We figured we'd try it out at the pub; hoped Harry would drink some and reveal confidences that would make a good article." She nodded at her sister. "Zoya was there too, hoping to hear gossip." She shook her head. "But that Ginny Weasley figured it out before Harry could have one of the red drinks and ruined our plan," she said.

"I haven't sold anything to the Prophet in weeks," Zoya complained.

"No wonder the reporting on our games has been more accurate than usual," remarked Harry dryly. He looked at Ron. "What does coffee have to do with anything?"

Ron realized they'd never told Harry that part of the story, seeing as they'd rejected the idea of tainted coffee as soon as Kane had told them about the interrupted spell. He frowned, not wanting to reveal too much in front of the Bellows; there was no doubt that learning that Harry Potter had lost his memory would be worth at least two front page articles if they found out. He shifted his weight, pressing his arm against Harry's just slightly and saw Harry give the tiniest nod back. He'd stay quiet, Ron knew. He turned back to Sasha.

"Did you make some special coffee for Shepard Kane?" he asked. He didn't know what he'd do if the woman denied it or feigned memory loss.

But Sasha nodded proudly. "He says I'm the most skilled potions maker he's seen in a long time, couldn't believe I learned everything at home from my parents."

Ron exchanged a look with Hermione. "You were homeschooled?" she asked carefully.

Nadia answered. "Yes, all of us were, in Russia," she said. "But don't worry, the Aurors interviewed us quite thoroughly when we moved to England, to make sure our magic was adequate and there was nothing Dark about it."

"Shepard Kane interviewed you?" asked Hermione.

"He interviewed each of us, yes. Individually. "That's when he learned about my skills with potions and hired me to help the Aurors. They've been without a formal potions master since the War ended."

Hermione looked fascinated by the information and probably would have kept questioning Sasha about her experience with Russian homeschooling had Ron not cleared his throat.

"Sorry," she muttered to him. He gave her a smile and grabbed one of her hands to squeeze.

"What about the coffee?" he asked.

"It was a tricky potion, to add it to dried coffee beans," Sasha said. "I prepped them and mixed the ingredients to be added, but there were a few last steps Kane wanted to do himself. Most of the work was mine though."

"What was the coffee supposed to do?" asked Ron casually. "Another memory charm like the red drink? That was a pretty tricky one itself."

Sasha inflated proudly and Ron stifled the urge to roll his eyes. "This one was much more targeted," she said. "I brewed it to be able to isolate specific memories of Harry's and also to make it affect him alone. It probably tasted rather bitter to anyone else."

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. While Ron was relieved to hear that neither he nor Hermione would be suffering from memory loss, there was other information he needed to know without revealing too much to the Bellows.

"Sooo, it was designed to make . . . Harry reveal a lot about one particular subject?" asked Ron carefully. Next to him both Hermione and Harry stayed silent, clearing understanding the ruse.

Sasha shrugged again. "Something like that," she agreed. "But don't ask me what the subject was; that was what Kane wanted to figure out himself because it had something to do with Auror business. I just set up everything else."

Ron knew he had to ask the next question. "Is it possible that the potion, brewed differently, could be used to make someone forget the subject instead of talk too much about it?"

Sasha gave Ron a sharp look. "What do you know? she asked. She looked quickly around. "Shepard asked me the same thing, said he wanted to make sure he avoided making any mistakes." She grimaced and lowered her voice. "I didn't believe him, but . . ." she stopped and looked at Katerina. "Can I tell them?"

Katerina's face was uncharacteristically grim. She looked from Ron to Hermione to Harry, her demeanor devoid of its normal flirting. She nodded. "I think you should. I . . . I don't trust Kane," she said. She glanced at her other sisters and they both nodded. "He was intrusive when he interviewed each of us about our parents," she said. "I didn't like it. He . . . he seemed to know things he shouldn't."

Ron nodded. "That seems to be a common theme with him," he said. He waited, and after another moment, Sasha spoke.

"The potion can be used to extract a memory too," she admitted. "But I refused to do it for Kane, although he asked."

"Why did you refuse?"

"Because it is a terrible thing, to take someone's memory," broke in Zoya hotly. "What we do, it's all for fun and gossip. It sells papers." She shook her head. "It doesn't make people forget anything permanently." A tear snaked down her cheek and Ron released the bonds around the sisters enough to free their hands. Nadia put her arm around Zoya and spoke softly to her in Russian.

But Ron couldn't focus on what sort of memory-related damage had been done to the Bellows in the past. "Permanently?" Harry croaked. "You mean that I'll never remember . . . Gi - it?" He stopped himself but his face was tortured.

Sasha wrung her hands. "I didn't tell him how to do it, I promise," she said. "It's much trickier than what's needed to make someone talk to much. But he might have gotten the information from me anyway. I didn't even realize he was reading my thoughts at first; I don't know what he got from me." She looked at Harry. "If it's true, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone."

Harry brushed off the apology. "I know," he said. "But is it permanent?"

"I don't know," said Sasha. "If I had brewed the potion then yes, whatever bit of information was removed would have stayed lost. The brain can relearn it, but the original memory is gone. But I'm not sure Kane knows enough to do it right. He was impatient, and I don't think he was able to get everything from my mind. So maybe it could come back." She looked at Harry. "It depends on how important the memory was to you before, and how different things are now that it's gone."

"Is it about Quidditch?" asked Katerina. "Or something related to that?"

Harry shook his head. "No, nothing like that," he said. He rubbed at his eyes. "But yeah, it's something pretty important." He looked at Ron. "At least, I think it's important."

"Wait," said Hermione. "You brewed the coffee potion just a week or two ago, right?" Her face was creased in a frown.

"Yes, the weekend before this past one," agreed Sasha. "Why? It doesn't lose effectiveness over time."

Hermione shook her head and then looked at Ron and Harry. "It doesn't account for the earlier memory loss," she said under her breath. Her mouth tightened and Ron understood the concern. What had Kane done?

Hermione looked at Sasha again. "And this was the first time you brewed any sort of memory potion?"

Sasha nodded in affirmation. "I'm so sorry," she said again. "Whatever you lost, if I can do anything to help you get it back, please, let me know." Her sincerity was palpable. Around her, the other Bellows nodded too.

"You should get Ginny involved in figuring this out," said Katerina with a wry grin. "She's done a damn good job of stopping us; I bet she can figure this out too."

"Good idea," said Ron. "We're uhh, actually headed to the Ministry now to see her. I bet she figures out what's going on immediately." He lowered the wards around the sisters and Harry followed suit.

As they turned to leave, Sasha put her hand on Harry's arm. "If Kane did do something to your memory, you can fight it," she said. "He's got talents at Leglimency and similar, but he's pants at brewing potions," she said. "That's why he found me."

Harry gave her a small smile. "I appreciate that," he said. He turned to Ron. "Can we go? I need to talk to Ginny."

HPHPHPHP

During the rest of the walk to the Ministry Harry's thoughts were swirling with everything he'd learned in the past day. All that long night in his room he'd been too angry to focus on what Ginny had told him and now his head was pounding with too much information to make individual sense of any of it. And of course, as full as his brain currently felt, the most important parts were still, glaringly, missing. He held onto one of the last things Sasha had said, that Kane was poor enough at potions that maybe the one he'd given Harry wouldn't be permanent. His hands tightened into fists at his waist. He had to get those memories back, and not just because he'd apparently had sex with Ginny Weasley and couldn't even remember it. Actually, that wasn't even part of the reason. It was like he'd told Sasha, that even without being able to remember it, he knew that what he'd lost was important, never mind the physical part. But damn if Harry had any idea how he was going to get any of it back. Besides, they had to figure out what Kane had done first. Harry hadn't missed the implication of Hermione's words; apparently he was the unwilling subject of not one, but two different kinds of memory modification, both of which needed to be addressed. Ginny would have to wait, probably, and he wondered if that would make her upset, if they tried to figure out the earlier memory charm first. Harry grimaced to himself. That was something he probably knew once, how Ginny would react to such a disappointment. He rubbed at his temples, as if that would somehow give him clarity.

"I don't think we should send her a message first because she's not likely to be alone; I think we all need to just go up together." Ron's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts. They were at the Ministry. Harry nodded.

"I want to be there when you talk to her," he said. "I don't care if Kane is there too." He gripped his wand. "Actually, I hope he is."

Hermione put her hand on his arm. "We need to be careful," she said. "Something about all this made you extremely angry and we don't know what it is. We can't risk you losing your focus."

"Should we talk to Kingsley first?" Ron asked. He looked at Harry. "We all discussed that last night, whether to tell him what's happened. But Ginny wanted to wait, wanted to see if you changed you mind about anything."

Harry nodded. "I have changed my mind," he said. "I want to apologize to her for getting angry. And I want to find Shepard Kane and demand he fix all this." He shook his head. "And Robards. He has to know what's going on."

"I don't know that he does," said Hermione. "Camilla told Ginny that after the War, all the most senior Aurors were acting more independently than usual, they were so busy. Kane may have acted alone."

That information only spurned Harry on. He strode into Auror headquarters with Ron and Hermione on his heels, determined to find Ginny and Shepard Kane as quickly as possible.

Class hadn't started yet and some of the trainees were still grouped around the doorway to there lecture room. Angelina and Lee looked up in surprise.

"Harry? Ron? We heard you were sick. Is Ginny feeling any better?" Next to her Parvati stepped back as if the others were contagious.

Harry shook his head impatiently. "Ginny's here, isn't she? She wasn't at her flat this morning." He looked around. "Maybe she's talking to someone?" He looked down the hallway towards the senior Auror offices.

"Maybe," said Angelina. "Who would she be talking to though?"

"Probably Camilla," said Ron. "She was, uhh, helping her with some Arrows' tickets for her nephew, I think."

But Harry was already walking down the hallway, not even caring that most of the trainees had decided follow, reasoning that Harry Potter's appearance in Auror headquarters was not something to be missed.

Harry didn't make it to Camilla's office. The woman herself was standing nearly face to face with Shepard Kane right in the middle of the hallway, her wand clenched in her fist. Gawain Robards stood between them both, looking more than a little concerned.

"This is going too far, Shepard," Camilla said angrily. "You have no idea what's happening down there - it's completely untested. She could suffer permanent damage!"

Harry felt a pit in his stomach. "Who could suffer permanent damage?" he asked tersely.

Kane looked at Harry, his eyes lighting up in recognition. "Mr. Potter, Harry! I see you decided to come help after all!"

Only the fact that he needed answers prevented Harry from Stupefying Kane right there, or, more satisfying, from slamming him against the wall, Muggle style. But he pulled out his wand.

"WHO COULD SUFFER PERMANENT DAMAGE?" he asked again, voice shaking.

Kane shook his head. "Don't listen to my colleague," he said in a placating voice. "Miss Weasley is perfectly safe." He actually reached out and patted Harry on the arm. "And now that you're here, things will go even better, I'm sure."

"Where the hell is my sister?" Ron had his wand out too and the look on his face was nearly murderous.

Camilla answered. "She's apparently in there," she said, pointing to what looked like the door to a broom closet. "Shep built some sort of . . . ritual to create a way to find more Dark Magic. Ginny entered it last night and hasn't emerged. We can't get any messages to her either."

The pit in Harry's stomach turned to proper nausea. "That's what she wanted me to help her with," he choked out. He looked at Ron. "She asked me to come help finish something and when I wouldn't, she came alone." He was sure the look of horror on Ron's face was reflected on his.

Kane nodded. "That's right," he said. "Miss Weasley was rather . . . disappointed at Mr. Potter's response to her request. She decided that fighting Dark Magic couldn't wait, she was thinking like an Auror, she was." He gave a bland smile that Harry wanted punch.

"Like hell she was thinking about Dark Magic," said Ron. "This is about Harry and you know it."

Kane shrugged. "I'm sure that had something to do with it too," he allowed. He turned to Harry. "So? Are you ready to go help her?"

Harry didn't hesitate. "What do I do?" he asked, just as Ron said, "we'll both go."

Kane shook his head. "I'm afraid the spell is set to only accept Harry and Ginny, given that they are the only ones who've been possessed by Voldemort." He spread his arms wide. "Even I can't go in."

"Which was one of the more blatantly reckless things I've ever seen you do," said Camilla angrily. "She's not even a fully trained Auror and this . . . ritual you've created hasn't been reviewed or approved by anyone."

Robards put up his hands. "We'll address all the . . . deficiencies of Shep's behavior later," he said. "Right now our concern is for Miss Weasley - Ginny."

"Didn't you hear? I have to go down there," said Harry. Past and present were crashing over him in waves and he was suddenly twelve years old again, hearing from Dumbledore that a monster had taken Ginny into the Chamber. "I'm the only one who can." He pulled off his traveling cloak and walked to the door. "How do I get in?" He looked at Gawain Robards. "I'm not waiting around to get a bunch of questions answered," he said. It was the farthest thing from proper Auror procedure, but Harry didn't care.

Robards nodded. "I wouldn't expect you would," he said. He nodded towards Kane. "I'll have him bound and waiting here; I already contacted Kingsley. We'll be questioning him further to learn whatever else we can."

Ron put his hand on Harry's back but it was obvious that he was as eager to get Harry inside as Harry himself was. "I know you'll take care of her, mate," he said quietly. He stepped back and took Hermione's hand.

Harry nodded tersely. He wasn't an inexperienced child anymore. He had no memory of what he might have once known was behind the door, and no memory of the fact that the witch he was going to save was someone he loved, but none of that mattered. Pushing back the now bound Shepard Kane, Harry walked through the door.

A/N: Whew! I started this chapter this morning on a mission and I'm so glad I was able to get it done. I think it did almost everything I wanted it to, despite being a little more dialogue-heavy than I might have wanted. I'm equally excited and scared to write the next chapter - I have a vision in my mind and I'm worried about being able to pull it off. But tomorrow I have to get back to my work life so I apologize that there won't be another 7,000 word chapter tomorrow night. But soon, I hope. Stay safe and healthy everyone!