It was only a day later when Dumbledore send word to Headquarters requesting Harry and Ginny at Hogwarts immediately. After hurriedly telling everyone where they were going, they flooed to the headmaster's office to find Dumbledore standing by the window, watching the shimmering of the wards. As the flames returned from bright green to red, Dumbledore turned to observe the two bond-mates brushing excess soot off of one another.
"Ah, good, you came," he said. "I fear time is running short. The wards will not hold forever, maybe a few weeks at best. If you know how to end this mission, we must move fast."
Harry glanced nervously at Ginny who nodded back before turning to face the elderly wizard.
"I can probably get us to the cave to check for the locket," he said. "I don't know how to find the Gaunt Shack though, I've only ever seen a memory of it."
Dumbledore merely nodded, before striding across the room to take Harry's right arm in his grip.
"Shall you lead then?" he said. "I can help you to apparate through Hogwarts' wards."
Ginny looked at him startled, even as she latched onto Harry's other arm. "We're going now?"
"Do you have any cause for delay?" Dumbledore asked.
You've got the wand, Harry?
That, and the cloak.
"I guess not, sir," Ginny said.
"Then let us begin," he said. "Harry, focus on the location, would you? I will apparate us there."
Harry and Ginny both pulled back the memory of a cold, hard rock in an angry sea, the mouth of a cave visible only as a split in the rock-face ahead. With a short nod to Dumbledore, the world disappeared around them, as the black tightness of apparition took them all away from Hogwarts.
When colour sprang back into the world, they were standing upon a rocky outcrop, waves crashing around them. Harry shivered with more than just cold as the sea spray covered all three of them. Dumbledore looked around, interested, taking stock of the new location.
"This is the place, Harry?" he asked calmly.
Harry nodded, and gestured towards the dark shadow in the cliff, dread cutting off any words he might have added.
"A good thing then that it appears to be low tide," Dumbledore said, sounding inappropriately cheerful for their surroundings. "A nice brisk swim is ahead, I think."
Without any apparent hesitation, he leapt from the rock into the cold waters below and began swimming briskly towards land. Throwing a final apprehensive glance at one another, Harry and Ginny quickly followed. The water was freezing, hitting them like thousands of tiny knives. They both gasped at the cold, and struggled quickly after Dumbledore and towards the cave.
When they finally reached land, Harry helped pull Ginny up out of the water, carefully running a drying and warming charm over both of them as he did, earning a smile of gratitude.
Hands clasped tightly, they walked to the back of the cave where Dumbledore was already running a hand carefully over the rock face, examining it.
"The entrance is concealed," Dumbledore said.
"It required blood sacrifice," Harry said dully. Ginny shuddered, unconsciously responding to Harry's fear of the cave ahead.
"So crude?" Dumbledore murmured, sounding almost disappointed as he drew a short silver knife from his robes.
I don't want to know why he carries that around, Ginny commented.
He probably suspected something like this.
Dumbledore shook back the sleeve of his robe and, in one quick motion, brought the blade around, leaving a deep gash in his forearm. A blazing outline of a silver archway appeared on the rockface where the blood has splattered before the rock vanished beneath it, leaving an opening into the complete darkness beyond.
Lighting their wands, Harry and Ginny carefully followed Dumbledore as he made his way through the archway.
They were met with the sight of an eerie black lake, so vast the far walls and ceiling of the cavern were lost to sight. A misty greenish glow shone from far in the distance, reflected perfectly in the lake below it. Harry gritted his teeth as flashes of nightmares long gone resurfaced at the view before them.
"Its this way," Ginny said quietly, tugging Harry gently along by the hand, taking the lead from Dumbledore.
They walked around the lake, footsteps echoing in the darkness, the wand light barely penetrating the oppressive blackness around them.
"I assume the Horcrux is in the middle of the lake?" Dumbledore said after several minutes.
"Either the Horcrux or a fake planted by Regulus," Harry responded. "I'll know by looking at it."
Ginny frowned at the area around them, comparing the time they had walked to Harry's memory of his previous visit. The banks of the lake were no different, providing no useful reference point at all. And yet, the air here seemed…wrong. She could feel the magic humming in the air, stronger here than anywhere.
She raised her wand and spoke, "Finite!"
A thick coppery-green chain appeared in the air, one end apparently suspended without any support, the other disappearing into the depths of the water.
"Oho, very good Mrs Potter," Dumbledore said happily. "Now, let us see."
He walked up to the chain, clenching it in one hand, and tapping it with his wand. It began to slide through his hand, as if it were alive, coiling itself onto the ground beside him. A ghostly prow of the tiny boat Harry was waiting for broke the surface, glowing the same eerie green as the middle of the lake. It drifted, with the faintest of ripples, towards the bank where they stood.
Harry narrowed his eyes, suddenly realising the problem. Last time he came, it let two people across because he was underage, and the magic didn't recognise him as a threat. Now, however, he was far more magically competent, and if Ginny were to go with him, the boat would likely capsize immediately with the amount of magical power it suddenly held.
Just as he was figuring out a plan, Ginny sprung forwards, into the boat, summoning the chain in with her.
"Ginny!" What are you doing? Harry half-thought, half-yelled.
Like you were thinking Harry, only one of us can cross. We mean to save everyone this time, meaning Dumbledore can't go. That potion is horrible, Harry, but I've never been one for sitting back waiting and watching when I could be doing something. And, I would do anything to save you from having to experience it.
You think I wouldn't do the same for you? Come back, let me go instead! Harry responded, feeling steadily more panicked as the boat drifted further away from the shore.
Sorry Harry, I'm doing this. Besides, the bond should help us fight it. Ginny thought, resolutely.
Harry could feel the stubbornness, tinged with fear coming off of Ginny.
You don't always need to face your fears, Ginny. Nobody will ever think less of you, he though, with a sigh.
I would, she shot back.
"What is happening?" Dumbledore asked, interrupting their conversation.
Harry turned back to the older wizard, who looked, if not angry, at least displeased.
"The boat only takes one adult wizard," Harry said, with a sigh. "Ginny…volunteered before I could get there."
"What is over there?" Dumbledore said, frowning.
"There's a potion, that has to be drunk, if the Horcrux is inside. It does something to weaken you, and torture you. When you and I came here, you…you made me promise to force you to drink all of it even though you begged me to stop."
Harry stopped, the memory of that night mixing with the nightmares that followed, mixing with the fear for Ginny's life right now. He turned back to the water, to see the green glow and, not yet halfway to it, a single point of white light that was Ginny's wand.
Out across the water, Ginny watched as the green light came steadily closer, until the boat came to a halt, bumping up against a small island of smooth grey rock.
The island itself was bare save for the green light which, now Ginny was close enough to see it, could make out a stone shallow basin, rather similar to a Pensieve.
Ginny clambered out of the boat onto the island and picked her way carefully over to the basin and looked in. There was an emerald green liquid filling the basin, but it was opaque.
Ginny? Can you send the boat back?
Do you really think Voldemort wouldn't have thought of that, Harry?
Damn it, Ginny, isn't it worth a shot? Ginny heard, as she felt Harry's anger and frustration roll over her.
From what you remember, this will affect my mind, but not my body, Ginny thought, ignoring Harry. You'll have to keep me drinking if I'm not strong enough. Or help keep the memories at bay.
Please don't make me do this again. Not to you.
Ginny hesitated, the fear and anguish running pouring off of Harry.
I'm not going to die, Harry. Dumbledore didn't die from the potion, he died back at Hogwarts. And we've wasted enough time now already.
She stowed her wand carefully in her pocket, before clenching her hand in mid-air, coming to hold the pottery mug she conjured.
Looks like one of mum's, she thought idly, noting it even had the same chips out of the rim from when Ron had knocked it over.
Give me some light, Harry?
Back on the far side of the lake, Harry raised his wand and fired several bright globes of light into the air which promptly sped away across the lake to circle several metres about Ginny's head.
Taking some comfort in the light, Ginny carefully lowered the mug down into the potion, encountering no resistance, and scooped up a large amount of the green liquid. She raised it in front of her and took a deep breath before quickly downing the whole mug at once.
A small part of her brain was thankful for the few months where she and Fred had a bet that she couldn't scull a whole mug of hot chocolate in one go, as that skill came in handy now. The rest of her brain felt like it had been plunged into darkness. Screams and panicked voices echoed around the edge of her mind, but still faint enough she could retreat into Harry's mind and not hear them.
Harry, himself, went rigid where he stood, as Dumbledore watched him carefully, as a cold feeling washed over him, rather like a Dementor that was still a safe distance away. He felt helpless, as he felt Ginny grip the rim of the stone basin tightly with her left hand, her eyes clenched tightly shut.
Pushing back on the dark and cold around her, Ginny plunged the mug back into the basin, filling it again, and gulping it down as quickly as possible. As the second large dose of potion hit her stomach, a wave of weakness ran through her muscles, bringing her to her knees, slumped over the basin. The screams had grown much louder, and the panicked voices were drowned out by whispers from a young man she had never wanted to hear in her head again.
'You're a foolish little girl, Ginevra,' Tom Riddle whispered. 'And now you've pulled your dear Harry down with you. Shall we kill him, you and me? I can make you.'
"No, go away," she moaned aloud. "Get out of my head."
A warmer presence made itself known around her, shouting to drown out the horrors in her head. Ginny didn't hear what it said, but she fled towards it, towards Harry, until she regain some senses of where she was.
Her eyes cracked open slightly, to see a bright green liquid in front of her, and she remembered what she was doing just long enough to fill the mug again and drain it just as quickly.
Ginny screamed.
On the far side of the lake, Harry was almost going mad. He could feel Ginny's body just fine, but her mind was retreating away, locked in its own battle with horrors he could only vaguely hear. He called desperately in his mind, hoping to call Ginny back, but she seemed deaf to his cries.
He gritted his teeth and, hating himself every second, push his mind toward Ginny's body, forcing her to raise her right arm, pull the mug down through the potion, and back up to her lips.
As if her body knew what was expected, she eagerly gulped down the potion, before tumbling onto the ground besides the pedestal, wailing pitifully, batting at the air around her, fighting away demons only she could now see.
Harry snapped back to himself, horrified, as he lost all feel of Ginny.
"No! No, no, Ginny!" he screamed, his voice meeting her own screams across the water.
"Harry!" a strong voice said, and Harry found himself being held tightly by the shoulders, bright blue eyes piercing into his own.
"Harry, you are connected to her. You must help her," Dumbledore said, his voice radiating power.
Harry gulped, feeling comforted by the old wizard's strength, and nodded. He closed his eyes and searched around in his mind, and found the link to Ginny. It hadn't gone, he realised, but was muted and cold, as if it was being blocked off at the other end.
He threw his mind across the link, which was normally indistinguishable in their minds, and found himself shivering with cold. He heard screams, some of which sounded like himself, and above them all, a cold, high-pitched voice was mocking Ginny.
'Did you think you could fight me, you silly girl? You've killed your precious Potter. Maybe you'd like to do the same to your family too?'
Harry flitted past the voice and found a small source of warmth amongst the cold fear that surround him. He wrapped his mind around it completely, and shivered with the pain of the nightmares flashing around him. Surrendering himself to the pain, Harry lost all sensation of both his and Ginny's bodies as he fought back against the inky blackness around their minds.
Back on the island, Ginny felt the fog in her mind fade away, leaving only the weakness and pain in her own muscles. Knowing Harry was fighting one battle for her, she pulled herself painfully up to kneel by the basin and to quickly down another two mugs full of potion. Muscles screaming, but with her mind thankfully clear still, she reached in again, to hear a clink as the mug hit what sounded like a metal chain.
Ginny dropped the mug carelessly and reached up to snag a large ornate locket out of the basin. She peered at it briefly, but, unable to make out the details clearly, she jammed it in her pocket without deciding if it was the Horcrux or not. She turned, still on hands and knees back towards the boat only to freeze in horror as the mug she had dropped fell into the water with a soft splash.
A few moments passed as Ginny held her breath praying nothing more happened when a slimy white hand rose out of the water and slapped against the stone island.
Scared, aching, and desperately thirsty, Ginny pulled her wand back out of her pocket, and pointed it shakily at the Inferi that were crawling out all around the boat. A thin tongue of flames burst forth from her wand, causing the creatures to scream and clamber backwards, avoiding the fire. Keeping the fire burning, Ginny made her way to the boat where she collapsed to the floor. Her vision swum, and, just as she felt the boat start to move again, she lost consciousness.
Harry opened his eyes as Ginny's mind faded. She was still there, but it was as if she was fast asleep. He scrambled up of the floor, unable to remember when he fell over, and turned his wand back towards the island.
Desperately, he threw all his magic into his wand, desperately thinking the word Incendio.
A huge fireball raced across the water, the cavern lighting up as the red glow reflected off the water below it. When it reached the boat, the flames seemed to split around it, running right over the outer surface of the boat itself, throwing off several of the slimy creatures that had taken hold of it. The rest of the fireball hit the island with a rather muffled boom, throwing Inferi off into the water on all sides.
Meanwhile, next to Harry, Dumbledore was casting his own large walls of fire, protecting the shore next to them as more of the dead clambered up out of the black water.
Harry flicked his wrist, calling up a wall of flames that held the small boat, and by extension, Ginny, carefully, not letting anything close to it. After a few agonising minutes, the boat, which looked to Harry more like a funeral pyre than a boat, finally reached the shore.
He scrambled over to the boat, dispelling the fire to give him access. Finding Ginny laying in the boat, her arms and legs sticking about at awkward angles, he started to shake as the sight before him was overlaid in his mind with Ginny, looking much the same, laying lifeless on the scorched grounds outside Hogwarts.
He gritted his teeth, pulling himself back to the present, and pulled her out of the boat onto the rock. Finally on solid ground, he carefully lifted her into his arms, cradling her to his chest.
Harry looked around to find Dumbledore standing tall, sweat beading on his forehead as he watched the water around them fall still once more.
"I believe we have escaped them now," he said to Harry, looking with concern at Ginny. "She got the Horcrux?"
"She got whatever was in the basin, yes," Harry snapped. "Sorry if that isn't exactly my priority right now."
Dumbledore inclined his head, seeming to take no offense at Harry's tone. He turned and led the way back around the lake as Harry walked quietly behind him.
"You both did very well," Dumbledore said quietly. "I'm constantly impressed by the two of you, and your bond. It is truly a marvellous thing to behold."
Harry nodded, numbly, unable to think of any reply that might be appropriate. They reached the archway again, and after another thin slash with his silver knife, Dumbledore guided Harry out of the door, carefully helping him to keep his balance, so as to not jolt Ginny.
Once back at the entrance of the cave, Dumbledore dove into the water, turned quickly, and levitated Harry, Ginny still in his arms, to float along behind him, a few feet above the freezing waves. They reached a protruding rock rapidly and Dumbledore set Harry back down before clambering back up himself. After a quick drying charm, he grasped Harry's arm and the three of them twisting into inky blackness once more.
A/N: Well, at long last, here I am. I've finally had time to get back to this, and so here we are. I've got the next few chapters sketched out, and a few scenes already written, so the next chapter shouldn't take so long this time. :) Sorry if its been so long as to require a reread to remember what has happened.
On a different note, I want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I just checked and realised that is a lot of reviews, and really appreciate the kind words, and the criticisms. :) I've gone back and edited a few chapters here and there that had spelling or grammatical errors pointed out to me, so I don't mind those being pointed out. I know spelling errors can take me out of a story as a reader, but they're much harder to spot in your own work. Either way, thank you, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.