Harry looked around him with a small smile. After their small bonding ceremony, Sirius had forced a portkey on Harry and Ginny, sending them to a small cottage he apparently owned to use as a safehouse up in Scotland. It was an idyllic location on the side of a small creek, halfway up a hill, offering a view into a small valley.
He thought back on the past two weeks with Ginny. They hadn't had to worry about the war, or wonder when Death Eaters would find them. It was just peaceful. After such a long time without peace, they had both almost forgotten what it was like to have no worries.
Harry was startled out of his thoughts by a pair of arm winding around his waist from behind as Ginny came and leant against his back, her chin on his shoulder.
I wish we could stay longer, she thought.
Perhaps we will come back. Once we win the war for this world, he thought wistfully.
Ginny smiled wanly. I guess it's time we did something about that.
Harry sighed. He waved one hand at their few bags, banishing them back to Grimmauld Place, before wrapping his hands around Ginny's where they rested on his stomach.
Shall we? he asked.
Rather than responding, Ginny just squeezed him tighter to herself and disapperated both of them back to London.
Upon arriving, they found themselves alone in the foyer, in a suspiciously quiet house. Sharing a quick glance, they both pulled out their wands, and started walking stealthily towards the closed kitchen door. As Ginny watched for danger, Harry carefully charmed open the doorknob and pushed to door in with his wand. They both relaxed as familiar voices were heard on the other side of the door.
Harry and Ginny shrugged off their overcautious behaviour, stowed their wands, and pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked in. Sitting around the table were Molly, Arthur, Lily, James, Sirius and Dumbledore.
Molly gasped on seeing them standing in the doorway and, before they knew it, was up and hugging both of them fiercely.
"Oh, you're home, dears! Come in and sit down, both of you. Have you had breakfast yet?"
After fending off Molly, Harry and Ginny finished greeting everyone else in the room, with many hugs and handshakes. The exception was Dumbledore who stayed sat at the table, offering only a quiet 'Good Morning'.
Once they were seated at the table, it was Sirius who spoke first.
"So," he drawled. "You two are quite a bit later than we expected this morning. Got a bit distracted, did we?"
"Sirius," Lily said warningly, as Molly frowned at the implication.
"What?" he said innocently. "They've been on their Honeymoon in the middle of nowhere, alone…"
He trailed off as James nudged him and shot him a warning look to match the one coming from Lily.
Ginny rolled her eyes before changing the subject, "Has anything much happened while we've been away?"
The other adults in the room glanced at Dumbledore who continued to stare unseeingly into the cup of tea he held cradled in his lined hands.
"Well, we've had some good news, of course. But there was some bad news too," James started carefully. "We managed to break out a group of muggleborns from the Ministry's holding cells last week and get them to Hogwarts safely. And three of them have even said they'll join the Order now."
"And the bad news?" Harry asked with dread.
James must've picked up on his tone., "Nobody died, if that's what you're worried about. The werewolves have decided not to help us. They don't want to get involved, for the most part. Any that do want to fight are with You-Know-Who. Which reminds me, we suspect he placed a Taboo on his name again, so we're back to using made up names for him."
"Does that mean Remus is back?" Harry asked hopefully.
"He's upstairs resting," Lily said. "He got a bit roughed up by the other wolves when they made their decision."
"I think it is time we had a talk," an old, tired voice suddenly interjected.
Harry and Ginny looked around to see Dumbledore looking at them with a penetrating, yet tired gaze.
"Yes," said Ginny. "That's why we're here now. We're ready to help do our part."
"Do your part?" Molly ground out dangerously.
"Perhaps we should leave them to discuss this," Arthur said gentle pulling his wife's arm as he stood.
"We'll see you later for lunch, perhaps," Lily added as she also stood.
James went to follow here, but she put her hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to stay. The room was left quiet as James and Sirius looked between Dumbledore and the two teens who sat together opposite them.
Harry sighed. Where do we start?
With the prophecy? Or our bond, maybe?
Right.
Harry took a breath and started to talk to the elderly wizard in front of him. "We don't know for sure if this world is the same, but Riddle certainly seems to be acting about the same. Except here he went for Neville not me. I take it there is still a prophecy?"
Dumbledore just nodded.
"Right. Umm, in my old world, the power I knew not turned out to be my soul-bond to Ginny. It makes us both a lot stronger than average."
"We're not sure if being bound twice now will have changed the amount of power we have." Ginny put in.
"We both were holding the power of two people when we met in this world, so, for all we know, we're now as strong as both pairs of ourselves from both worlds." Harry elaborated.
"Well, that wasn't confusing at all," Sirius muttered, only to be elbowed back into silence by James again.
"Either way, the prophecy in this world can still apply to this Harry," Ginny said. "So, we have the power to defeat him, if we meet him in a dual. It should be over pretty fast, actually. But beating anyone in a dual isn't the hard part."
"The tricky part is tracking down and destroying all the Horcruxes." Harry said.
"He made Horcruxes?" a hoarse voice said from the doorway.
"Remus!" Sirius said, beckoning the shabby looking man into the room. "Harry's finally come home!"
"Harry?" Remus said, eyes wide. He stumbled into the room, and grabbed Harry in a bear hug.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Harry," he mumbled
"Save me?" Harry said, completely nonplussed. "Remus, I was killed by a basilisk. I think that was beyond even you."
"I was tutoring you ahead in defence. Maybe I could've trained you better!" Remus said, pulling away, looking upset.
"Remus, you're being an idiot," Sirius said sharply. "I thought we got you past this years ago."
Remus shook himself abruptly, "Right, yes. Sorry for interrupting Albus."
Dumbledore nodded slightly, "It is to be expected, Remus. You hadn't seen Harry yet. Perhaps you might continue now, Harry?"
"Well, Harry didn't go back for his seventh year at school, but spent that year hunting down the remaining Horcruxes that you hadn't found yet before you died, sir." Ginny said, picking up the story.
"There are six in total, between the diary, locket, cup, diadem, ring and, in that world at least, his snake, Nagini. Each of them were items of some significance though. The locket and the ring were both Salazar Slytherin's while the cup and diadem were Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's respectively. The diary and his snake are both just his," she continued.
"If we assume they are hidden in the same locations, the Diadem should be the easy one" Harry pitched in. "It was hidden in Hogwarts, in a room on the seventh floor. The locket may be in its original place, or it may have already been stolen by a Death Eater who discovered his secret before the end of the first war."
"Who was that?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry sighed and looked over at Sirius, "Do you know what happened to Regulus in this world?"
Sirius went pale as the implication of the question hit him.
"Reggie was trying to take him down?" he asked in strained voice. "That's why he went missing?"
"If he went missing in this world too then, probably, yes," Ginny said softly.
Sirius jumped up and strode out of the room without another word. After a shared glance and a nod, Remus followed him out, leaving James to follow the rest of the conversation.
"Do we assume then that Horcrux has been moved somewhere else?" James asked.
Harry and Ginny frowned simultaneously.
What do you think?
We might spend ages looking for it only to find it was sitting that cave the whole time. I say we go check to be sure.
That potion is pretty brutal though. Not something I want to have to drink just on a hunch.
It mostly affected Dumbledore's mind though, right? So our bond should help to deaden the effects on either of us.
I guess. I still don't want to ever go back there.
We need to be sure though, Harry. Regulus may have gone missing before he found it, or for any other reason.
"We think we should still check the cave where it was hidden first before trying to find it elsewhere. If Regulus did steal the locket, it should've been here in Grimmauld Place under Kreacher's care," Harry said at last.
"Kreacher died several years ago," Dumbledore said. "Would he have left the locket here?"
"We're not sure," Ginny said. "We can get some people on the lookout for it while we go check the cave for it."
Dumbledore nodded, "And the others? You mentioned the diadem is at Hogwarts."
"The ring is in the Gaunt's old shack, on the outskirts of Little Hangleton. And the cup was in Gringotts, in Bellatrix's vault." Harry said.
"Where do you suggest we start then?" Dumbledore said after a significant pause.
Harry and Ginny shared another glance.
"Maybe start with the diadem. We will need to get the Sword of Gryffindor from Hogwarts anyway if we want to destroy them the easy way." Ginny said.
"Might I ask what the hard way is?" Dumbledore said.
"Fiendfire," Harry said.
"Ah. And you two cannot control that?"
"We can," Ginny said. "But it feels…wrong. All the Dark Arts resist us for some reason. You thought, in the other world, that is might be due to the inherent Lightness of a soul-bond fighting with the Dark Magic inside of us. It helps to stop us from being corrupted, but makes it very difficult for us to use any dark spells. Harry was violently ill one time when he cursed someone with a spell he didn't know was Dark."
"Indeed? That is most interesting," the elderly wizard said. "Well, perhaps we might venture to Hogwarts then, if you are both not otherwise engaged?"
The teens looked up, startled.
"What, now?" said Harry.
Dumbledore smiled, "Why delay? You've given me information that might help us win the war. I, for one, am very eager to see if that information still holds true in this dimension."
Ginny noticed Dumbledore was standing straighter, and his eyes were brighter than when they had first met him already. He seemed guarded though, as if not willing to get his hopes up yet.
"Alright, we'll just tell our parents," she said, making the decision for both of them.
"Won't you want some extra help with this, Albus?" James said, frowning. "Two teenagers, no matter how powerful, surely aren't a match for a few Order members?"
"I think, James, it is best to keep this quiet for now," Dumbledore said. "Even if we suspect a spy, we cannot let this become known. This is critical! If Harry and Ginny here have fought in the war before and won, it would be foolish of me to underestimate their skills."
"With all due respect, Mr Potter," Ginny added, "Harry and I could probably wipe the floor with the Order. And we know how these Horcruxes work, we know how to fight them. More people may just increase the chances of something going wrong."
James sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Lily won't like it. And you know your mother won't, Ginny."
"That's too bad," Ginny replied, flatly. "We're going."
James raised his eyebrows at Harry, "That's your opinion too then?"
Harry shrugged, "Ginny speaks for both of us."
"Well, you'd best go tell them all then," James said.
"I shall wait for you both here," Dumbledore said as Harry and Ginny made their way out of the kitchen, unconsciously grasping one another's hand in their own.
They found Lily, Molly and Arthur in the living room along with Ron, Hermione and Rose.
"Harry, Ginny, you're back!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up from the floor by the fire to give them both hugs.
"Hello Hermione," Ginny said brightly, glad to see her friend again.
"How was your meeting with Dumbledore?" Lily asked Harry.
"We're going with him to Hogwarts to discuss things a bit further," Harry said, carefully stepping around the truth. "And we may know where a Horcrux is there."
"You'll need help then, of course?" Lily said. "Is Albus getting some of the Order together?"
"No, just us and Dumbledore," Harry said, warily.
Lily narrowed her eyes, but didn't have time to say anything as Molly cut in to the conversation.
"Why just you two?" she said sharply.
Ginny sighed, and turned away from her conversation with Hermione, "We know what we're doing, that's why. We've done this all before, we know how to be safe about it. The more people there, the more dangerous it might be."
"What about us?" Ron blurted out. "Me and Hermione?"
"Ron!" Molly snapped. "You're not going! It seems I can't stop Ginny, especially now she's as good as married, but I don't have to like it."
Ginny glanced back over at Hermione to see her friend biting her lip, looking worried. Behind her, Rose looked equally concerned, but also resigned to the situation. Ginny and Harry had both shared the same reaction to Hermione's words; a sharp determination to make sure both Ron and Hermione survived in this world, even if it meant pushing them away. She was glad that her mother was making the decision for them, hopefully preventing an argument.
"We're not doing much today anyway," Ginny said. Well, nothing too dangerous anyway.
"Mostly, Dumbledore wants to make sure of all the details somewhere more secure," Harry finished.
Molly hummed noncommittally, indicating she didn't fully believe them. Lily just pursed her lips, looking suddenly rather like Professor McGonagall.
There was an uncomfortable pause, as the teens waited, hoping to receive some small amount of approval. After nobody moved for a few moments more, Harry sighed.
"We'll be going now then. Dumbledore didn't want to wait."
"Be careful, both of you," Arthur said quietly.
Back outside of the room, Harry pulled Ginny into a brief hug, rubbing her back briskly. We've done this all before without their approval.
They weren't alive to disapprove then. I had just hoped, maybe…
I know, Gin. Better though for them to hate us and be alive than the alternative.
Ginny pulled away, flashing a wry smile at Harry. We'd best get going then.
They walked back into the Kitchen to find Dumbledore pacing agitatedly in front of the fireplace there.
"Ah, all ready then?" he said abruptly on seeing their arrival. "You know my floo address."
With a pinch of floo powder and a rapid spinning sensation, the three of them each arrived in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts.
Quickly stepping around the teens, the older wizard walked to a display case behind his desk holding a familiar ruby-encrusted sword. Ginny shivered upon seeing it, the memories of Harry's death in the Chamber still clear in her memory despite the years that had passed.
After gently removing the sword from the case, Dumbledore turned back and raised his eyebrows at Harry.
"Where might we find this Diadem then?" he said.
"Up on the seventh floor," Harry said as he turned and lead the way from the office.
"Just a moment, Harry," Dumbledore said quickly, drawing his wand. "If I may place a Disillusionment Charm on you first? The castle is rather busier these days and I don't want too many people knowing about your presence here."
"I can do it, sir," Ginny said, having already instinctively pulled out her own wand at the sight of Dumbledore's. "We're both a bit cautious about other people putting spells on us if we can avoid it."
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said, sounding rather sad. "Nobody your ages should have to have these kinds of worries."
Ginny just rolled her eyes, not even bothering to respond to what she saw as a pointless comment. Both Harry and herself had done only what was needed to win the war. There was no sense crying over their long-lost childhoods. Maybe when this one was over, they could relax a bit.
Now suitable disillusioned, Harry followed Ginny out of the office, holding her hand tightly in his own, his wand clenched in his other hand. His first reaction upon entering the corridors was how different Hogwarts felt to the school he had grown up in. Rather than being relatively quiet, save for groups of students, the castle was practically bustling with life. There were people walking up and down the corridor in ones and twos talking and laughing together. The staircases were equally busy and the whole place echoed with noise. Dumbledore strode on the other side of Ginny, nodding and smiling to various people as he passed.
"Are these all refugees?" Ginny asked, surprised.
"Many of them, yes. Some just feel safer here behind the wards than at their own homes. Hogwarts may be a school, but it is still a castle and people are remembering that." Dumbledore said.
As they walked past a window, Harry was shocked to see a bright, semi-translucent white dome arching up into the sky over the castle from the ground just beyond the main gates. It seemed to shimmer and undulate even as he watched.
"The wards are actually visible?" Ginny asked, in awe of the display of power.
"Not particularly," Dumbledore said. "They're under attack, that's why they can be seen. There has been an almost constant stream of attacks on the wards for about three months now. We have teams of warders and curse-breakers working around the clock to fortify them faster than the attacks can deplete them. They are far more powerful than just the school wards alone. The floo we entered by is a weak point, but only I can connect it to a few specific places."
Shaking themselves mentally, Harry and Ginny tore their eyes away from the impressive display and resumed their path to the seventh floor. There were notably less people this far from any thoroughfares so that by the time they reached the corridor holding the hidden Room of Requirement, they were alone.
Dumbledore looked on curiously as Ginny paced three times across the blank wall, as she and Harry both thought 'We need the room of hidden things'. After finishing her third lap, an ornate door appeared out of the wall which Ginny promptly grabbed and pulled open, ushering Harry and Dumbledore, still holding the sword, into the room.
The room looked just like it had in Harry's old world. There were rows upon rows of junk, piled high, continuing for an unknown distance into the enormous room. Every so often, there was a distance ping or tick as some long-forgotten clockwork or charms failed. Off to one side, there was a familiar buzzing sound in a pile of old robes suggesting a Doxy infestation.
Harry absentmindedly tapped himself on the head, lifting the Disillusionment and fading back into sight. Dumbledore looked around the closest few piles of junk before raising his eyebrows at Harry.
"I hope you know where to start looking?" he said.
"Assuming it is in the same place, and assuming the protections on it are as poor as in my world, yes," Harry said aloud before reaching out to Ginny; Stay together or split up?
No reason to split up until we check where it should be.
Fair point.
Mental conversation over, Harry and Ginny started to trace the path through the room that Harry had taken twice before. As they passed by what appeared to be a broken Vanishing Cabinet, their apprehension was starting to peak, bouncing between one another, amplifying steadily. By the time they turned into the isle that should hold the Horcrux, the air between the two was practically crackling with energy as their nervousness started to manifest itself through their magic.
"Stop!" Dumbledore declared suddenly, his voice echoing in the room.
The teens looked back to see him standing a few metres back, wand in one hand, sword in the other, eyes burning into theirs.
"You must both stop," he repeated in the same commanding tone. "If you cannot control your own magic, I will send you both back to my office. This is not the time or place to let raw magic loose!"
They both were suddenly aware of the soft glow around their bodies, and the rapid sparks arcing between them. Harry turned and pulled Ginny back into his arms, resting their foreheads together.
We need to calm down.
I know. We've done this before, why should this be any different?
They were bought back to reality by Dumbledore talking again, more softly now, "You've both been without your bond for some time now. You need to both remember to control your emotions lest they run away from you. I can tell you're both anxious, but I need you both calm now."
Taking a deep breath, Harry looked back to the Professor.
"Sorry, sir. We both were encouraging each other there a bit," he said, the side of his head still pressed against Ginny.
"That is quite natural," Dumbledore said, with the same calm voice. "Admittedly, I've not seen it between two bonded like yourselves, but it isn't uncommon for people to make one another nervous before a battle. But, we will stay here until you're both sure you're back in full control. I shudder to think of what could happen if a Horcrux was able to harness loose magical energy from around itself."
Ginny flinched slightly at the thought, burying her nose in the side of Harry's neck as she continued to take deep breaths. I don't remember being so scared in the last war, when I was alive in your world.
We've both seen what we stand to lose now. I'm terrified of losing you again, Ginny. My Ginny.
We'll be fine, my Harry. If anything, this is the easiest Horcrux to defeat.
After a few moments where Harry and Ginny focused solely on breathing, they finally broke apart again. As one, they turned to Dumbledore, wands drawn, and nodded firmly at him. They carefully lowered the barriers they placed on their bond allowing their senses to intermingle. Thoughts started to blend together, as their vision doubled, and Harry and Ginny lost themselves in their bond.
"Ready when you are, professor," they said in perfect unison.
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly, the only indication that they were acting strangely, and nodded in return.
"Lead the way then," he said.
Acting more as one entity across two bodies, the two bond-mates turned back to the isle ahead of them and strode down it, wands ahead of them until they reached an unremarkable small cupboard with a fine layer of dust coating it. Looking around, they spotted nearby an old silver diadem, partially hidden under an old shawl. Upon seeing it again, they were struck by how well it blended in to its surroundings, nothing about it suggesting it was worth a second glance. The only notable difference was a thinner layer of dust over it compared to its surroundings.
They both raised their wands and carefully used a combination of levitation spells to pull the diadem from its resting place to hover in the air between them. Dumbledore tucked his wand away in his sleeve and hefted the sword in both hands.
"Be ready for some kind of backlash," he warned before bringing the sword around in a smooth arc, slicing clean through the diadem as if it were butter.
There was a sound like nails down a chalkboard, and a black smoky mass exploded outwards from the remains of the diadem only to be caught in a small spherical shield around it, as Harry and Ginny shaped their magic to contain it.
After a few more moments, in which the shield glowed a bright white, there was a loud bang and the black smoke dissipated. Ginny threw a quick diagnostic spell at it and detected no further Dark magic traces. With that, she and Harry let the pieces drop to the ground before closing their eyes and concentration on separating their own identities from the bond once more.
"That was remarkably simple," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
"That was the easiest one," Harry replied dully. "Defeating them isn't the issue; getting them will be the tricky part."
A/N: At last, a new chapter. I am very sorry this took me quite so long, but I hope your enjoy it. I've been quite busy with exams and the like, and then this chapter gave me a lot of trouble to write. It didn't end up going in the direction I originally thought at all.
As always, I'd love any feedback, and any noticeable errors, I apologize for. I do my best to read through it twice before posting, but some errors have crept through.