Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained seated in the kitchen, the room having been vacated by everyone else. With Harry's tacit permission, Hermione had immediately pounced on the book Mr. Weasley left behind and was flipping through it, while the two males tried to find the words to speak.

Ron, still looking rather pale, finally muttered from across the table, "I still can't believe Mum and Dad used a family blood rite."

Harry cringed at his own ignorance, but asked anyway, "Why is that such a big deal, exactly?"

"Blood rituals are tied into the magic of the individual, right? So in an agreement like that, you're putting your actual magic on the line." Harry nodded along, indicating his understanding. "Family blood rites are even more intense and affect all of the magic originating with the user's blood. If something had gone wrong, if someone had managed to break the agreement before the two of you were bound, not only was the magic of you, Sirius, Ginny, and my dad at risk, but also all of the magic my brothers and I inherited from Dad."

Harry blanched. To lose somewhere around half the magical power he had would be devastating, and Mr. Weasley had risked doing that not only to himself but to all his children? The Weasley parents had said there were things that they couldn't understand at risk, but it still seemed extreme. What was it they were so worried about?

All he said, however, was, "I guess that's why they didn't tell anyone else. Like Moody said, right? No one can interfere if they don't know there is anything to interfere with."

Hermione had already begun flipping through the little black book Mr. Weasley left behind for them but paused to say, "It's a lot to risk. There is definitely more going on than they were willing to speak about. Give me a moment to find the actual ritual and read through it."

"It doesn't really make sense. Couldn't Sirius have just made you his heir and emancipated you in his will?" Ron questioned.

"He was a fugitive. There's no way to guarantee that his will would have been accepted and carried out. That's especially true for anything he said having to do with me since the Ministry was under the impression he escaped in order to kill me. Not to mention that to them, I was an unstable, attention-seeking liar. It could have been thrown out entirely," Harry put in.

"Then why make Ginny his heir?" Ron asked.

"While he wasn't willing to bet Harry's safety on his will being executed properly, I'm sure he was still hopeful it would be. Maybe it's like an insurance policy? The bonding isn't an actual marriage for legal purposes. If Harry were to die before they were married, Ginny wouldn't automatically be entitled to any of Harry's estate." Hermione replied absently, turning another page in the Black family journal. She looked up then, as if she were just now truly processing the question. "Then again, he could have just left her money. Actually, it would have made more sense for him to leave her a significant amount of money here within the house if he was truly worried about the will not being executed. So what was he hoping to achieve?"

Harry certainly didn't have any further ideas. If he was being honest with himself, he still wasn't sure how he felt about it. A small part of him resented Ginny as Sirius's heir; shouldn't it have been him as his godson? Then again, didn't Sirius owe it to Ginny to make sure she would be taken care of in any eventuality?

After all, it had been Sirius's suggestion that resulted in her being part of this betrothal that would infinitely tie her in with him, which would put her in an untold amount of danger. Clearly, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had feared for their daughter's safety enough to be convinced the magical freedoms they would gain from the betrothal outweighed the added risk of being tied to Voldemort's most-wanted, but Harry wasn't the slightest bit convinced that their decision hadn't done more harm than good.

His thoughts vacillated, swirling around the issue without finding anywhere concrete to land. There was just so much he didn't understand about the situation. Maybe there was something he was missing. Hurry up, Hermione.

Hermione looked up from the page she had been studying and began her explanation, "Based on what is written here, it appears the ritual used your blood-"

"Where did they get the blood? I don't remember giving any to Sirius." Harry couldn't help but ask.

She looked at him with disbelief written all over her face, "Don't you listen in potions at all? Th-"

Ron cut in, his look sympathetic, "All purebloods save a vial of their children's blood at birth. It's a safety net. The untainted blood of an infant can be used to counteract magical diseases or curses placed upon the child or their progeny. It's also just plain tradition. Being a Black and knowing what was out there, I'm sure he insisted on keeping some of yours as your godfather."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him for his interruption, but turned to Harry and continued, "Right, so the ritual used a vial representative of the magically binding conditions. It contained the blood of all parties involved, in this case, yours and Ginny's separated by that of Mr. Weasley and Sirius. The blood is actually just an anchor for your magic, however, and the magic of the ritual worked to combine that of you and Ginny. It was only the combined power of Mr. Weasley and Sirius that held it back. When Sirius died, the magic within his blood leached out into the rest of yours, weakening the barrier and strengthening the magic contained within yours and Ginny's enough to allow them to combine as intended. It indicates here that the two of you should have felt it as the magic Sirius left behind was absorbed by yours, but given what was happening at the time..." she trailed off, leaving unsaid that the adrenaline and heartbreak of the battle had likely overpowered anything he should have felt.

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence before she continued, "It also looks like they were correct. Now that it's been done, there is no way to break it aside from death, and even then neither of you will be able to enter a marriage that would include a binding ceremony. Harry, to risk this… they must have been truly worried about both of you."

Harry already knew that whatever reasons they had for performing the ritual had been determined with his and Ginny's best interests at heart, whether they were correct in those assumptions or not, and brushed that aside. Instead, he asked what had been nagging at him since he heard that their magic had combined. "What can you tell me about being magically bound to one another?"

"As Mr. Weasley explained, you're now emancipated and free to-"

"Not that," he hastily cut her off. "What about the magic of the betrothal that we absorbed? How tightly is our magic combined? What did he say? Or what does the book say?"

He knew his voice had risen oddly, but he needed to know.

He could no longer avoid the issue of the prophecy. There were times he already felt like a dead man walking. What would it mean for her if that were to come to pass? Would Ginny lose part of her magic if he died? That couldn't be allowed to happen, he thought fiercely. If he failed and Voldemort succeeded, she would be a prime target and would need to be at full power if she had any hope of defending herself and surviving. She didn't deserve a death sentence because of his destiny.

He was suddenly angry again. He knew they meant well, but they didn't know about the prophecy, didn't understand what they had just done. Dumbledore and his secrets, he seethed internally, if they had known what his future was like, her parents never would have done this to her. Then again, it wouldn't have mattered, because he never would have gone to the Department of Mysteries if they had known, and Sirius... He rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses with one hand and turned to pace the room, feeling the stress bearing down on him.

Hermione hadn't answered him, and when he looked back over, it was to find her eyeing him in concern. She studied him fleetingly before looking back to the book, and replying. "I'm not quite sure- I only looked at the mechanics of the ritual- give me a moment. Sirius made references to other pages…" She was already turning pages.

Harry turned to make another pass of the room and caught the expression on Ron's face. His best mate had a look of concern on his face too, but it was different from Hermione's; Ron's expression was more wary as if he was afraid not for Harry, but of what Harry might do.

With a defeated look, he said, "Look, mate, I know this isn't great, considering you and Ginny haven't ever been close and I know her old crush makes this particularly awkward for you, but it could be worse. Hell, it's probably way worse for her, so just... remember that when you talk to her, alright?"

Harry understood the look now. Ron had misread his anger and, likely remembering his outbursts last summer, was concerned that he may lash out at Ginny. He was still seething, but he forced himself to muster some calm and soften his outward demeanor.

Dropping his shoulders and unclenching his fists, he explained, "I'm not angry about being bound to Ginny. I mean- I am, but not like that. You're right. Becoming a part of your family would be brilliant. I've never met a better bunch," here his lips quirked up because that was the honest truth, but his face dropped almost immediately as all his concerns about Ginny and the prophecy came to the forefront of his mind again, "but I'm worried. The more involved I am with your family, the bigger the threat will become to you."

Ron actually had the gall to let out a sarcastic bark of laughter and even Hermione stopped flipping through the book and raised an eyebrow at him. "Please tell me your joking. We're all already in so far deep that we couldn't get out if we tried. We're a bunch of proud blood-traitors that have a borderline feud with the Malfoys, Harry." he said, punctuating it with an eye-roll.

Harry understood the point he was trying to make, but also knew that Ron didn't have all the facts. He needed to tell him or he'd never understand. "Even if all that is true, Ginny will be in even more danger, especially if her magic is tied to mine. I -"

Mrs. Weasley bustling through the door caused Harry to drop his sentence. Telling Ron and Hermione was one thing, but he couldn't stand to see the look on Mrs. Weasley's face if he had to tell her it was either kill or be killed for him. Furthermore, as angry as he was, he absolutely abhorred the idea of having to see her heartbreak when she realized what her decision meant for her daughter.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, dears," she said with feigned lightness, "we could just use some tea for our discussion. Just a moment and I'll be out of your way."

Waving her wand, she assembled all the supplies she needed in less than a minute. As she turned to leave with the tray in hand, Neville walked in as well. They all looked at him in surprise; he hadn't been here long at all. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had barely scratched the surface of everything yet.

Noticing their questioning looks, he shrugged and explained, "Ginny explained a bit about what was going on and we talked. I promised Gran I wouldn't be gone too long though, so I really need to get going."

Molly eyed him, Harry noted her eyes were still red from all the tears she had shed, and said, "Thank you, not just for coming today, but also for being such a good friend to her. It's a relief to know that she has someone she can talk to in you."

There was a slight blush on his face, but Neville's voice was confident and genuine when he replied, "Of course, Mrs. Weasley. Ginny's always been a good friend to me. I'm happy I could be there for her." The Weasley matriarch gave him a wobbly smile before exiting the room with the supplies she had come for.

Harry couldn't suppress the flair of resentment he felt toward Neville at that moment. He knew he had been a shitty friend in the past and that he should have done better by Ginny, but it seemed like they were all punishing him. Ginny had not only run away from the conversation but had gone through the trouble to go to Longbottom Manor to summon Neville. Now Mrs. Weasley was thanking him for being there for her daughter as if Neville was the only person she had and none of them would have talked to her about it.

Neville must have caught something in his expression, because he asked, "Could I get a quick word, Harry?"

Harry reluctantly nodded.

He directed Neville to the other end of the kitchen out of earshot of the others. Neville was silent for a moment and seemed to be studying him intently. Where the hell had this Neville come from? Harry had known Neville to be strong of character, he'd seen it with his own eyes in fleeting moments throughout the years, but this blatant display of surety was new. It made him uncomfortable, in fact.

He ran a hand through his already messy hair, unable to stand the scrutiny any longer. "What's up, mate?"

"I just wanted to be clear on a few things. Ginny… she wasn't trying to hurt any of you, you know that, right?" Neville asked intently. Harry looked down at his feet, unable to answer honestly. "Look, it's like I said earlier, you, Ron and Hermione are so tight-knit that it can make anyone feel like an outsider. Sure, you all fight sometimes, but when it comes right down to it, you'll always have each other's backs. I think she just didn't feel comfortable talking about something of this magnitude feeling like she was the odd man out. She wanted to talk to someone who knew you both, but would support her feelings no matter what."

"I didn't realize you were that close," Harry said petulantly.

He knew he wasn't being fair. Didn't he immediately jump into a discussion with Ron and Hermione about everything? The part of him that wanted to be angry pointed out that they had been discussing the technicalities more than anything and that Ginny didn't have the book and was more likely talking about her feelings. Loathe as Harry generally was to discuss feelings, he didn't think it was fair that Ginny was talking about something so intimately tied to him with Neville.

Neville let out an uncomfortable laugh. "We're about as close as she is with anyone. You know how she is. She's friendly with just about everyone, but I think it's hard for her to get really close to people."

Harry looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she can't really be honest with her friends, can she? Ginny is privy to a lot of secrets that aren't her own. She doesn't have a lot of people she can talk to about it. Even the people she can talk to, she doesn't always feel comfortable doing so with. I think she's coped in the past by keeping it all bottled up, but it usually means she keeps people at a slight distance. You know what I mean?"

Harry stared at him for a moment, before biting out an irritated, "No." Even though he understood the premise, he didn't understand exactly what it meant in regard to Ginny.

"Just look at today, for example. Ron and Hermione were with you when you found out about the betrothal. You didn't have to explain it to them. And even this place, they already know all about the Order and your godfather, so you were all able to talk about it together openly. Ginny didn't have that. Her best friend is Colin and he doesn't know anything about any of this. Hell, until the day of the Ministry, I didn't even know Sirius was your godfather, let alone that he was innocent. I didn't know anything about the Order or this place until today. And if we're being honest, no one was exactly thrilled to see me here, even though my parents were apparently part of the original Order themselves."

Harry considered it for a moment. There was nothing he could say to refute any of what Neville said. All of it was true. He had known all of that in an abstract way, but he'd never put it all together and realized what that meant for her. How different would his life be if he couldn't talk to Ron and Hermione about everything? He already almost told them about the prophecy, unable to handle it alone in conjunction with what they had just been told. How could he begrudge Ginny for speaking to Neville about everything when he was seconds away from speaking to them about the prophecy before he told her? If it affected anyone besides him directly, it was Ginny, given the implications of the magical bond. Shit, I'm an arse. he thought.

"You're right," was all he said aloud though.

"We're getting off-topic." Neville ran a hand down his face. "I'm not going to tell you anything she's told me. I won't betray her confidence like that. I will say that she's been struggling with Mr. Black's death, but she hasn't been talking about it. I've gotten the impression that she used to talk to him when things were bad?"

Harry thought for a moment. He could still see the determined look on her face when she had insisted on coming with them to the Ministry; he could hear her saying, "Excuse me! I care about what happens to Sirius just as much as you do!" At the time, he hadn't given it a thought, but now, remembering not only that moment but also thinking back on things he had heard during his time at Grimmauld Place, he realized that was probably true. He confirmed Neville's theory with a short nod, unable to speak past the lump in his throat at the thought of that night.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is be patient with her, alright? It's a lot for you both and you're both grieving on top of it. It's pretty obvious you aren't happy that she called me, but it's probably for the best that you both had some time to think about it and work it out as individuals before you try to talk to one another. This way there will be fewer misunderstandings, know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. Having gone through several emotional swings in the past few minutes, he couldn't deny that Neville had a point. Wasn't Ron worried about it too? He needed to get his head on straight and get a better understanding of what all this meant before he spoke to her.

Neville nodded and clapped Harry on the shoulder before moving toward the hearth to floo home. A gasp stopped them both in their tracks.

Turning back toward the table where the noise had originated, Harry saw Hermione looking down at the Black journal with horrified glassy eyes and her hand pressed to her mouth. She referenced the parchment in her left hand and began frantically flipping pages in the book again. She paused on a page, eyes skimming it rapidly, and swore a word Harry had never before heard uttered from her mouth before she began her frantic search again. Ron, who had previously been standing behind her chair and looking over her shoulder, eyes scanning the pages she read, paled and muttered a disturbed, "Merlin." He reached down and yanked the parchment out of her hands, reading it with wide eyes. Hermione hardly noticed.

Harry's heart hammered in his chest, dread coursing through his veins at the sight of it all. Everything about the scene before him was so foreign that he didn't need to see what they were reading to know how bad it was.

"What is it?" Neville asked in a small voice, reminding Harry of the reluctant, uncertain boy he had known Neville as until recently. Harry saw something in his pinched look that indicated he already had an idea of what they had found.

"It's-" Hermione had to swallow before she could continue, "it's a list of all the things Sirius wanted to avoid and why the betrothal was the best option. There are some awful forms of blood magic recorded here. The things they could do-" She looked like she had wanted to say more, but didn't. She shook her head slightly. "Harry, I- as terrible as these are, it looks like-"

"It was more about Ginny." Ron cut in. Hermione didn't look put out at his interruption, but more relieved. What? Harry looked at him in question, taking in Ron's still ill-looking pallor. His friend didn't meet his eyes though and instead pushed the parchment toward him. "Look, you'll see what I mean."

Harry nervously took the parchment. Immediately, he could see that Ron was correct. There were two columns, one for Harry and one for Ginny, with a list of concerns for each and possible solutions; the latter column was much longer.

Inspecting the lists more closely, he could see his contained what they had already discussed. Sirius was indeed worried about what would happen to him if the Ministry came under Voldemort's control. He was worried about some prospective piece of legislation, his scrawl was messy, but it appeared to say the Proper Guardian Act. He wanted Harry to have autonomy and money so that he could make a run for it if necessary. Emancipating him in his will had been listed as an option, but had been crossed out with "criminal" listed next to it, just like they had suspected. There were a few page numbers listed, which Harry assumed referred to some of the blood magic Hermione had mentioned, that were annotated by the mysterious Act Sirius referred to and circled with a line drawn to "betrothal". Harry took this to mean that they were only a concern if the Act were passed and could be prevented by the betrothal.

Ginny's column was much longer. Everything on his side was also present on hers, however, the list of pages referenced in the Black journal was much more extensive. All of them were circled and linked to the word "betrothal" just as his had been, but there was an urgency to the way it was written; the letters were slanted and there was a vicious tilt to the lines that crossed out and underlined various sections of the parchment that made it clear to Harry the weight and anxiety Sirius felt during his research. Some of the crossed-out sections included suggestions made that didn't provide enough protection, including making Ginny his heir; that particular suggestion had been crossed out and a line drawn to "criminal status" there as well. It was written again however with "political- just in case" alongside it with "her family" written below. Harry paused at that and looked at his companions, who had been watching him.

"What does this 'political- just in case' here mean?" Harry asked, indicating where it was written and showing it to them."What does it have to do with your family?" He asked Ron in particular.

To his surprise, Neville barely glanced it at before nodded to himself. "I thought that might be the case," he said quietly. When they all looked at him, he sighed. "Guess I can tell you this much. Obviously, you know that Sirius made Ginny his heir, instead of just leaving everything to her."

"But Ginny isn't a Black," Hermione interjected. "I assumed the Blacks were a patriarchal family. How could he name her his heir when the next closest living male Black would be Draco? Even if women are allowed to inherit, shouldn't it be Be-" She cut herself off quickly, glancing at Harry with a panicked look on her face. Truthfully, the thought that Bellatrix Lestrange for all intents and purposes killed Sirius and could stand to be in line to inherit everything made him want to destroy something.

Neville must have sensed Harry's descent into fury, for he quickly tried to move past the moment. "The heir doesn't have to be the next in line, so long as there is some blood relation. Draco isn't anymore closely related to Sirius than Ginny is. In fact, with the ritual they did, there's a small bit of his magic living in each of you now, so she should have more Black family magic than he does."

Harry vaguely recalled the Black family tapestry that Sirius had been blasted off of, along with Tonks' mother Andromeda and any other family members that hadn't strictly adhered to the idea of blood supremacy. There was a Weasley that had married a Black, but that was generations back if he was correct. A Black had married a Prewitt…

"He's right. Grandmum Prewitt was Orion Black's sister," Ron said.

Hermione perked up. "I remember now! I was surprised she hadn't been blasted off the tree by Walburga for that, but none of their offspring was recorded, so maybe... " She shook her head and focused again. "That doesn't matter. The point is that Draco is related through his grandfather, a member of Sirius's maternal line- whereas Ginny's lineage can be traced to Sirius's paternal grandfather, and as such would actually be more closely related to the male Black line than Draco, or anyone else on that side of the family, is."

"Right," Neville nodded, looking relieved. It was then that he remembered he wasn't the only person who hated Bellatrix Lestrange with a burning passion. Neville had lost more to her malicious taste for cruelty than anyone, certainly more than Harry. "That's why he was able to designate her as heir. He actually did it for political reasons. Look here," he pointed out the section of the parchment that indicated ways to help Harry go on the run from the Ministry if it came to it, "Harry had the freedom to go on the run if necessary. There are things that make that easier, obviously, but it still could have been done without them. The Ministry couldn't hold anyone else accountable if Harry simply disappeared. Ginny wouldn't have that luxury. The Weasleys are too exposed to the public for that."

Neville turned to Ron, addressing him specifically. "Your dad works for the Ministry, along with Percy- I know he's estranged from your family right now, but it doesn't mean they wouldn't go after him-, Bill works for Gringotts and the twins are in Diagon Alley. Think about it, if Ginny was wanted by the Ministry and suddenly disappeared, all of them would prove to be easy targets. They could be arrested in her place for collusion or any number of things. With the betrothal, she is an adult and that provides some protection, but her being the heir to the Black family comes with a large fortune and a prestigious place in Wizarding society. She will be the head of an Ancient and Noble family and will inherit their seat on the Wizengamot. That makes it harder for anyone to move against her, and by extension, the rest of your family."

"Money and political standing," Ron said in disbelief. "That's why Dad has never been able to make any headway against Lucius Malfoy, because that's what he has. I never thought Dad would stoop to his level." His eyes trailed over the parchment and lingered on the book again, his expression turning sick. Swallowing, he said, "Then again, I didn't know things like that were so easy to accomplish." His tone took on a note of resignation, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but they did the right thing."

They didn't say anything, but Harry could see that Hermione and Neville agreed with him. His earlier desperation and anger returned. What were they all thinking? How could they not see the danger Ginny was in by her association with him? His irritation spiked and he bit out incredulously "What exactly are these rituals? What do they have to do with Ginny? And why her, why not you or Hermione or anyone else?"

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence in which no one answered him. Hermione's cheeks turned faintly pink and her mouth opened and closed several times, Ron turned away, the ill look on his face turned into a grimace, and Neville stood stoic with his mouth in a hard line. It was Hermione who spoke first.

Her voice was timid when she said, "Well, seeing as I'm a muggleborn, they wouldn't exactly be interested in me, and there are already enough male Death Eaters…" she swallowed nervously and trailed off before she too looked away. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught the way Ron's fists clenched and his shoulders tightened.

His ire rose. Why could no one just give him a straight answer, for once?

"They'd breed her," Neville said bluntly.

Harry swung toward him in shock. "What?!"

Ron and Hermione flinched at his tone, but Neville didn't back down at the force of Harry's outburst. He was once again carrying himself with that surprisingly strong persona that had been hiding all these years. "Ginny is a pureblood witch, not to mention a seventh child and the only girl in the family. I don't think you realize just how rare that is. Magical pregnancies are extremely difficult, in that they consume a great deal of magic from the mother, which is why there are so few large magical families. Not only all that… I don't know if any of you noticed, but Ginny is a powerful witch. I know, Harry, that you cast a Patronus at thirteen, so it may seem like it's not that big of a deal to you, but how many other fourteen year olds were able to cast a corporeal Patronus?" Harry hadn't considered it before, but it was true that while Luna had also been able to cast a Patronus, she was already fifteen, while Ginny was only a few months past her fourteenth birthday. Neville continued as Harry processed this information. "They'd want to breed her. The truly zealous purebloods know the kinds of rituals that would allow a Death Eater to bind her to them and take away her will."

Harry looked at Hermione sharply and asked, "Could they really do that?"

His tone was sharper than he meant it to be and she still looked a little frightened of him. "According to this, yes. They would need permission from a guardian, but we know Sirius and the Weasleys were worried about surviving the war. They were rambling a bit earlier, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley indicated that they hadn't actually gone through with the ritual until after the attack on Mr. Weasley at Christmas. Mrs. Weasley still would have been able to object, but there are all these mentions of some 'Proper Guardian Act' in the notes that seem to indicate they were worried about losing custody."

Neville interjected, "I actually know a bit about that. It was a bit of legislation that the Death Eaters in the Ministry were trying to push through last time. It would have taken custody of children whose parents died or otherwise 'lacked the necessary resources' to provide for their children and given it to the 'more qualified' families." He grimaced. "No doubt they would have ended up with families the likes of the Malfoys. For someone like Ginny, she likely would have been sold off in a betrothal or otherwise forced into some undesirable circumstances." The other three looked at him in stunned silence. Noting Hermione's questioning look he explained, "My parents had a living will, with a very long line of possible guardians. My family is wealthy and a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, so it just seemed like overkill to me. I asked Gran about it and she told me, explaining that they didn't want to leave anything to chance. It wasn't public knowledge, but my parents were Aurors. It's probably how Sirius knew too."

Feeling disgusted and angry, Harry hung his head and he asked in defeat. "Why me though? You said yourself that I could have gone underground without hurting anyone. Why couldn't they have performed this ritual with someone whose guardian wasn't likely to die?"

Ron immediately rounded on Harry, his face red, and poked him hard in the chest. He hissed, "That's my sister, Harry. Don't talk about it like being with her is the worst thing that could happen to you."

Harry's anger with the situation, which truthfully hadn't been far from the surface to begin with rose, and he pushed Ron back. "It's not about me!" He yelled back. "How is it that none of you can see what they've done to her by sticking her with me. She's already a target for the Death Eaters just because of what she is, but I'm on Voldemort's personal list and you can bet she'll be on it now too!"

Ron, who had been glaring at him, blanched, his face going slack. This was the reaction he had expected. The way Hermione bit her lip and Neville looked down, however, were not. He narrowed his eyes and looked at them meaningfully.

Hermione cast a nervous glance at Neville who shuffled his feet guiltily.

"What?" Harry asked impatiently.

Neville broke first. "I don't know anything exactly," he said, raising his hands placatingly. "I just got the impression that there was more to this. Ginny was a bit evasive." Harry got the impression that he knew, or at least suspected, something he didn't feel comfortable sharing. Harry figured Hermione probably had a better guess anyway and pinned his glare on her instead of pushing Neville further.

Looking very uncomfortable, Hermione reluctantly said, "I think she may have already been on his personal list, Harry." She cast a furtive glance at Neville. "Think about it, about her history."

It hit Harry like the Hogwarts Express. "The Chamber," he whispered.