Three days had passed since Ginny had first barged her way into Harry's room in Grimmauld Place and the two teens had fallen unconscious. Lily, Molly, Arthur and a few of Ginny's brothers had all taken turns sitting in the room, watching for any indication of them waking, but so far there had been no movement. Apart from their continued lack of consciousness, the only other inexplicable thing was noticed when the lights had been dimmed the first evening. Despite all the candles having been extinguished, the bedroom had remained illuminated with a comforting golden light that seemed to have no specific origin.
Just before dinner was ready on the third day, Arthur was sitting in the room reading a book when he heard a slight rustle of movement from the bed.
Ginny woke up suddenly, having not been properly asleep. She and Harry had finally finished filling each other in on the major differences in their lives, and just enjoying the feeling of the bond. Ginny looked up to see Harry's green eyes looking back down at her. Without thinking, she leaned forward and softly kissed him, enjoying the sensation of doing so.
Just as Harry was responding, still not fully conscious yet, there was the sound of somebody uncomfortably clearing their throat, and Ginny sprang into a sitting position, turning to find who was there. She blushed bright red to see her dad sitting on the chair besides the bed, looking equal parts embarrassed and unsettled. Harry sat up more slowly, also now looking at Arthur as he wrapped one arm around Ginny's waist.
"Good morning, sir," Harry said, as if he hadn't just been caught waking up and snogging the man's only daughter.
"Umm, yes, good morning, umm, Harry," Arthur replied, still looking uncomfortable as he stood and sidled towards the door. "I'll just go tell them you're both awake at last. Perhaps you'd like to come down for breakfast in the kitchen?"
Without waiting for a response, Arthur fled the room, leaving the door open behind him. Ginny looked back at Harry, feeling his nervousness. I'm sure it'll be fine, Harry. He just wasn't expecting to see me kiss you. They are all so used to thinking of me as fragile in this world, remember?
Harry smiled as he heard Ginny's voice in his head. I know, Ginny. I just wasn't exactly expecting my first meeting with your dad to be while we were snogging in front of him.
Ginny giggled slightly, before standing up off the bed, still smiling. Come on, my brave hero. Time to meet my parents. Again.
Ha ha, Harry responded sarcastically as he stood up and stretched. Ergh, I feel like I've been laying down for ages. How long were we out for?
Ginny winced as she noticed how stiff her muscles were. I don't know, hopefully not too long.
Without conscious thought, Ginny slipped her wand into her left pocket, and took Harry's left hand in her right. She had become very proficient at duelling and even eating left-handed in Harry's old world, she remembered, as they both drew comfort and power from contact with one another. Harry also unclipped the hidden wand holster from his left arm, and moved it to his right where his Holly and Phoenix feather wand would normally be.
I wonder where my proper wand is, he mused.
We'll ask for it back later, Ginny replied. It isn't as if you need it anyway.
Does it bother you though, Ginny? The way you're acting now? I'm used to doing all of this, making sure I'm ready for a fight, but you're not. At least, not the you from this world.
Ginny gave Harry a stern look. Harry, what about the you from this world? He is in there now too, and I'm sure that part of you is fine with being ready too. I'm still Ginny, there isn't two of me. And besides, I told you I've been practising, even in this world.
Yeah, to avenge me, you said, Harry thought, smirking slightly. My fearsome warrior.
Need I remind you how good I am at hexing, Mr Potter?
Hmm, actually, we probably should practise a bit. Make sure we're both not too rusty.
Later. Let's just survive my mother first.
Gripping one another's hands tightly, Harry and Ginny made their way out of the room that had been Harry's cell for the last few days, and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. Stopping outside, they listened in carefully, attempting to gauge the mood in the room. Ginny winced as she heard her mother preparing breakfast rather noisily, banging many of the pans louder than required.
"Molly, I just think you should give them a chance. They're obviously very, erm, close now and they will want to be together," Arthur was heard saying in a reasonable voice.
"I don't see why she had to go running to him like that, against everything Albus said. And now she's been unconscious for three days, Arthur! Who knows what has happened to her in that time!"
Three days? Ginny thought, surprised. I thought it was barely an hour!
I guess the bond took longer with the transfer of memories this time. Harry suggested.
"Did they seem well, Arthur?" another voice asked, prompting Harry and Ginny to listen in again.
Sounds like mum, Harry commented. He smiled wistfully to himself at the thought of having a mother again. In a way, he remembered twelve years with him mum and dad, but he also remembered never knowing the sound of their voices. He vowed quietly to himself never take his parents for granted again. Ginny reached up and squeezed Harry's shoulder in a silent show of support.
"They seemed in good health, I think, yes," said Arthur, sounding distinctly uncomfortable now.
"Arthur?" Molly said, a warning note in her voice.
Unanimously, Harry and Ginny decided that was a good time to interrupt and, pushing open the door, they walked into the kitchen. Lily and Arthur were both sitting at the table, Lily closest to the door, while Arthur was seated around nearest the sink where Molly stood, hands firmly on her hips. Harry's breath caught as he saw the remaining two men sitting at the table opposite the door; James Potter and Sirius Black.
Ginny tightened her grip on Harry's hand and pulled him gently over to stand by the table. She cleared her throat, suddenly realising that, to half of her mind, all of these people were dead. She had to resist the sudden urge to sprint around the table and collect both her parents in a tight hug.
"Good morning, Mum," she said, feigning a confidence she didn't feel she had at the look on Molly face. "Do you have any spare breakfast?"
Sirius snorted, trying to fight back a laugh. He soon recovered though at the poisonous look James shot at him.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Molly exclaimed. "What were you thinking? You could have been hurt! You could have been killed! And to run off and get yourself bound to a man you don't know! And he isn't even from this world! Just you explain why I shouldn't ground you right now, young lady!"
Ginny straightened, her eyes suddenly cold, "Mother, you do not have the right to control my life. I am eighteen now, and I can make my own choices! And how dare you suggest Harry would ever hurt me! He would sooner curse his own eyes out!"
Molly looked taken aback by the argument, as Ginny was normally so passive and quiet. She collected herself quickly though, swelling up in anger, face beginning to turn red.
"How dare you talk to me like that, young lady! Now, you'll come back with me to a new safe house and you can forget all this nonsense! You don't - "
"Molly!" Arthur cut in sharply. It was rare enough to see Arthur raise his voice that it momentarily shocked Molly back into silence. "This argument is pointless! Let them speak for themselves, and we shall see what can be done from here."
"With respect, Mrs Weasley, Ginny and I are bonded now. We won't be apart, not again," Harry said firmly.
Molly spluttered briefly at him before narrowing her eyes.
"Who are you to just walk in here and take my only daughter from me?" she snapped.
Harry smiled sadly even as he put a restraining hand on Ginny's arm, "Mrs Weasley, you've known me since I was about four years old, since mum and dad took me around to meet Ron. You used to bake chocolate cookies for me until you realised that treacle tart was my favourite. And Ginny and I used to always team up against Fred and George. I'm not really that Harry, but in a way, I am. I just have many additional memories from my old world too."
"You've got both sets of memories?" Lily asked in a hushed voice, eyes wide.
"Yeah, we both do," Harry replied, nudging Ginny slightly. "It'll take a while to get used to them all, but they're there. The bond seemed to restore our alternate selves as well."
"Prove it," said another voice. Harry looked up into the stormy eyes of Sirius Black, who had rounded the table to stand in front of Harry, eyes folded across his chest.
"Prove to me you are Harry Potter, and not just some trick of the Dark Tosser's"
Harry grinned widely, and besides him, Ginny smirked as she saw what he was thinking.
"Well, Padfoot, would it convince you to tell you about what you did for my eleventh birthday? Did mum ever find out about you taking me out on your flying bike? Or perhaps it would be better to tell you about that book you gave me before my second year. You know the one? The one I wasn't supposed to mention, because you didn't want to get into trouble for teaching me to become an - mmf!"
"Right! Good! You've convinced me, no need to say any more!" Sirius said loudly, still holding a hand clamped over Harry mouth. Then he frowned at Harry, who seemed to be enjoying himself far too much. "Say, did you ever get far? I bet on before fifth year, you know?"
"Sadly not," Harry said with a grimace. "I figured out my, umm, preference, but never did manage to practise. And it never came up in my other world. I don't even know if I'd have the same...choice now."
"Sirius," Lily said, warningly. "We will be talking about this later. I told you never to give Harry the animagus notes you took. And stop trying to look innocent, I'm not stupid."
Just as Sirius went to respond, he stopped, and looked instead at James Potter, who had not yet moved from his seat at the table. His eyes hadn't left Harry's face, and he wore a slight frown, as if trying to solve some kind of puzzle.
The tension in the room thickened as the attention turned towards James and Harry.
"James?" Lily said gently.
James showed no reaction, except to sit back in his chair, eyes still not moving from Harry.
Say something to him, Ginny prompted.
"Dad?" Harry whispered carefully.
Most of me doesn't remember knowing him, Gin. I'm still getting used to the memories of growing up with him. What if he thinks I'm just an imposter or –
Harry! He's your father! He will still love you just as much. It just may take him some time to trust that you are who you say you are.
James' eyes started to flick back and forth between Harry and Ginny as they silently communicated.
He cleared his throat, "The Ginny Weasley I remember was a rather timid girl who seemed virtually broken with grief. You don't look like that Ginny to me. So how do I know you're not both spies?"
Ginny blinked, nonplussed, "The me from this world was depressed. Depressed at not having Harry. Nobody saw it somehow, but we formed a soul-bond right before he died. I've been living with half of me missing for years, but now he is back. And Ginny from his world is back too, and I was stronger there. In Harry's world, I never lost Harry. I stood beside him to fight in the war, and I was never considered to be fragile!"
"Downright scary when you lost your temper, maybe," Harry muttered, earning a sharp jab in the ribs.
"Even in this world, I was practicing to be good at magic. Seems I got quite the power boost from bonding with Harry, and I learnt how to use it. So, no, I'm not just the Ginny you remember. I've also got a whole second lifetime worth of memories in here now. And I never wanted to be weak, in either of those lives."
"That explains the wandless magic, I guess," Arthur said. "How long were you practising, sweetheart?"
"Since Tom returned at the end of my third year," Ginny said.
Looking around, Ginny turned her attention back to James, "So you see, I'm still Ginny. And this is still Harry, just with some extra memories."
James looked over at Lily, who appeared to be pleading with him with her eyes. He sighed.
"I may need time to get used to the idea," he muttered quietly. "I buried my son seven years ago. That kind of experience doesn't just fade away over night."
Harry just nodded mutely. There was an uncomfortable pause before another memory flashed across Harry's mind. He jerked his head up, and looked back at Lily.
"Rose!" he exclaimed.
Lily looked at him confused, "What about her?"
Harry beamed, "I didn't have a sister in my world! Now I'm an older brother in this one! How is she? Where is she?"
James frowned down at the table in front of him, hands clenched.
"I'm not sure - " he began.
"She's very well," Lily interrupted. "She's been staying over with Luna a lot lately, while I've been over here."
Ginny, this is brilliant! Harry crowed. I'm a brother! I have a whole family here! And I can remember them, and growing up in this world.
I know, Harry, Ginny send with a warm smile. You won't ever need the Mirror of Erised in this world.
Feeling the continued emotional turmoil he was experiencing, Ginny turned and took Harry into a tight hug. He buried his nose in her hair, and breathed deeply, pulling himself back under control. As he straightened back up, the floo flared in the living room. They both looked over at the door and, after a moment, in strode Dumbledore, dressed today in dark grey robes with only a few faint stars adorning the lower hem.
Dumbledore stopped in the doorway, upon seeing Harry and Ginny, still in a close embrace, looking back at him. Suddenly aware of their proximity, Harry and Ginny pulled back from one another, but remained holding hands.
Dumbledore looked at them cautiously, before moving into the room, one hand remaining close to the sleeve of his other arm, where his wand was undoubtedly stored.
"Mr Potter, Miss Weasley," he said by way of greeting. "I see you are both awake at last."
Neither of them moved, but just watched to see what Dumbledore would do next.
The headmaster sighed, "I see you are both not the most happy with me just now. I trust you've heard my explanation via Miss Weasley now, Mr Potter?"
"Yes, thank you, Professor," Harry said stiffly. "And I guess I see your point, but I'm not overly happy about it. You summoned me, and then tried to hold me captive without letting me see my soul mate and all the while demanding I solve your Dark Lord problem."
"Ah, this much is true. However, I don't believe you mentioned being soul bonded, or I might have made a different decision," Dumbledore said mildly. "Perhaps now you are together, and awake, we can have a chat."
"What about, Professor?" Ginny asked, trying to draw the attention off of Harry.
"There are various topics I might want to discuss, your remarkable bond amongst them. But now is not the time, I feel. We recently survived another attack, this time on your own home, Miss Weasley. I have reason to believe that Tom is preparing to attack Hogwarts. Without the castle, we lose one of our most defensible locations. We need to be ready to defeat him, should he come to us," Dumbledore said.
"The Burrow!" Ginny said suddenly. "What happened, was everyone okay?"
"Relax, Miss Weasley, everyone was just fine, only some minor injuries. I arrived just as the wards started to fall and we fought them off. Tom himself was not there, just a few Death Eaters. I suspect they have placed a Taboo on his name, which I unwisely spoke at the Burrow allowing them find it. We should be safe here, being under the Fidelius."
Harry rubbed him thumb over Ginny's knuckles, feeling her calm down at hearing nobody was badly hurt. He looked back over at Dumbledore, thinking about what to say.
"What have you learnt so far about taking him down, sir?" Harry asked, wondering how much he would need to explain.
Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully, "You know how he survived on Halloween, don't you?"
"You haven't found out, in this world, sir? I only know from your counterpart's research before his death," Harry countered.
"Indeed?" Dumbledore said. "How did I find out in your world then? There is very little to work with here, except that somehow Alice Longbottom used some ancient protection to save her son. Sadly, it didn't save him a second time."
Harry looked over at Ginny, searching through her memories after he had died in this world.
What happened to the diary? he asked.
I'm not sure. I don't remember that clearly. After you...died...I was very upset and angry, so I think I blasted it to pieces. I didn't realise I would be prolonging the war just by removing any magical trace on it.
Hey, it isn't your fault. I did much the same after I lost you too.
To the remaining observers in the kitchen, Harry had looked over at Ginny, who suddenly looked rather upset before being taken into a hug by Harry once more.
Turning back to face Dumbledore, still holding Ginny, Harry tried to explain what he could.
"Did you ever find any pieces of the diary of Tom Riddle after you got Ginny out of the Chamber of Secret?" he asked.
Dumbledore frowned, "I found enough pieces to ascertain it was heavily tainted with some form of Dark magic, and that it was responsible, but nothing more than that."
"It was a Horcrux," Harry said flatly.
Ginny turned in Harry's arms, and leant against his chest, just in time to watch Dumbledore's face drain of colour, his eyes wide.
"A Horcrux?" the old man whispered. "Are you sure?"
"One of them, yes," Ginny said. "He had seven, though one was an accident."
"Seven!" Dumbledore leapt to his feet and started pacing agitatedly along the length of the table. "This is far worse than I imagined."
"Does anyone want to explain to the rest of us what the bloody hell a Horcrux is?" Sirius demanded.
Seeing Dumbledore was still lost in thought, Harry started to explain, only to be interrupted by Lily.
"I've heard of them, when I was still working at the Department of Mysteries," Lily said quietly. "They're Dark magic, where a wizard places a piece of his soul into an object, thereby anchoring themselves to life even if their body is destroyed."
Lily looked up at Harry with dread, "He made them? But...how do we destroy them?"
Harry, having already checked for it in Ginny's memories, smiled, "The sword of Gryffindor which is still, if I'm not mistaken, hanging in the headmaster's office."
"He will have hidden them," Dumbledore said, rejoining the conversation. "Finding them won't be easy."
"Well, assuming this world is much the same as mine, we know where most of them should be right now," Ginny said.
"We?" Molly said abruptly. "You're not going to be a part of this Ginny, it isn't safe!"
Ginny just rolled her eyes, "I will do as much as Harry will do. If that means facing Tom himself, then so be it!"
"Perhaps I might borrow you and your bondmate sometime, Miss Weasley to discuss what you know about these Horcruxes, before we make a plan to destroy them," Dumbledore said loudly to forestall any argument. "Either way, you and Mr Potter have been unconscious for a few days and are well due some recovery time. And, indeed some breakfast which I appear to have interrupted. I must go and think on this for a time and examine what I can of the Diary a bit more. We have a few weeks, I hope, before Tom makes any kind of move. I will call on you again tomorrow."
He walked back around the table and headed towards the fireplace. After his departure, the room fell into an awkward silence as James continued to look uncomfortable, while Lily kept shooting him worried looks. Molly went back to arranging breakfast noisily, while Harry and Ginny finally sat down at the end of the table closest to the door and next to Lily. After a few moments additional silence, James pushed back his chair, mumbled some excuse, and left the room. Looking slightly worried, Sirius quickly followed him, flashing a brief grin at the two teens.
Ginny glanced over at Harry as they started to eat breakfast.
I guess you've been deemed trustworthy now then.
Or Dumbledore has forgotten about me while he researches the Horcruxes.
Mmm. Or that. Have you decided to fight another war then?
Harry sighed. I don't know. What do you think? You'll be fighting a second war too, in a way.
My whole family is alive in this world. I want to get it right this time.
And I have a family here, Harry said, his 'voice' tinged with awe.
Ginny smiled softly at him. Does that answer your question then?
Harry just smiled back. I think so.
A/N: Firstly, sorry this took so much longer than previous chapters. I am trying my best to stick to at least one chapter a week, if possible.
Secondly, this chapter gave me a lot of trouble to write. There were a lot of reactions to write, and we still haven't met any of Ginny's family yet, or indeed anyone who wasn't around the table. They will come in time. I'm still not sure if I like the result or if it is a bit of a dull chapter. I also think it doesn't show off the soul bond much, but I don't really know. Let me know what you think. Next chapter will probably be more meetings of people, though I aim to get some action happening, of some kind.
I also really dislike chapters that are just purely about getting across some information. So, yes, the detailed talk about what the Horcruxes are will probably be "off-screen" so to say. I want the main chapters to be about the plot, not the picky details. Especially because, if you're reading hp fanfiction, I assume you know what the Horcruxes are and where they are, so I don't need a long boring chapter rehashing known ground.
I've seen a few reviews point out some grammatical errors, and I'm glad to be made aware of them. I have no beta, so some errors are unfortunately to be expected, though I do my best to proof read every chapter before I post it.
I hope you are all still enjoying the story and thank you all again for the lovely reviews.