Ginny sat quietly, watching as Andromeda fussed over Harry's still body. She was still weak herself, but had refused to let Sirius put Harry in any other room. Now, Harry lay on the bed beside her, as she wrapped her arms around her legs, and continued to watch.
The mediwitch frowned, as she waved her wand over the young man, and muttered angrily to herself under her breath. After a few more minutes, and several potions tipped down Harry's throat, she snapped out, "Get Dumbledore here!"
Ginny flinched hearing that, and shook her head numbly. No, no, no. It couldn't be that serious. Please, no.
Sirius left the room in a hurry, going to find Dumbledore, as Lily moved over to the bedside.
"Can I help at all, Andy?" Lily asked.
Andromeda looked at her, frowning slightly before sighing, "I don't usually let family help, its against St Mungo's policy. But, we can hardly take him there. You're very experienced with curses, Lily. See what you can make of this."
Ginny bit her lip as she watched the two older witches mutter to one another, frowning, as they examined something only they could see.
A few minutes later, Mr Weasley walked into the room and quickly made his way over to Ginny. He sat on the side of the bed beside her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ginny leant sideways into her dad, willingly drawing comfort from him, trying to distract herself from the muted silence echoing through her bond.
"How are you holding up, sweetie?" he whispered, stroking her hair.
Ginny shook her head, and just continued watching at Dumbledore finally made his way into the room and joined the conversation with Andromeda and Lily.
After a few minutes of quiet talking and wand waving, Ginny got frustrated.
"What is wrong with him?" she demanded, standing up.
Lily looked at her sympathetically.
"You should be worrying about getting better yourself, Ginny. I'm sure we'll find a solution to heal Harry."
"No!" Ginny barked out. "I won't be pushed aside here, tell me what's wrong! If he is dying, I deserve to know. We've been bonded in two worlds now, there is no chance now that I'll survive if he dies. So, tell me, is he going to be okay, or are we both dying?"
There was a muffled whimper behind her from her father, but she ignored it, glaring instead at Dumbledore, Lily and Andromeda. It was Andromeda who cracked first.
"He has been hit by a bizarre Dark curse, that I suspect is actually two or more curses interacting poorly with one another. From what we can tell, he's deep in a coma, and his blood is trying to attack his own organs," she said in a clipped tone.
"The curse seems strangely slow-acting, however, as the blood is also being slowed down, and turned thick like jelly, probably as a result of an obscure variation on a blood-boiling curse."
Ginny cringed in horror.
"So…w-what's his chances then?" she asked.
"Because of the way the curses are interacting, the effects are spreading much slower than normal. That gives us probably a few days to find the counter-curses," Andromeda said, looking rather dejected.
"And if you don't?" Ginny was pretty sure of the answer, but she needed to know.
"The damage to his internal organs will be too great for him to survive," the elderly witch said gently.
Ginny pressed her lips together hard, holding back the sob that was threatening to break loose. She turned away, not wanting to see the sympathetic looks on all their faces. It made it look as if they'd already given up.
"Ginny, we're going to do everything we can," Lily said quietly. "I'm not letting my son die again, not if I have anything to say about it."
Ginny just nodded without looking back and moved back to the bed, grabbing a hold of Harry's hand and drawing what comfort she could from the physical contact.
Gradually, the room emptied again, leaving Ginny to curl up next to Harry, not letting go of his hand, and listening to his quiet breathing. It didn't take long for her eyes to flutter shut, and she fell asleep.
A hesitant knocking on the door roused Ginny, some time later. She looked up blearily, and called out, "Come in!"
The door cracked open again to reveal Ron and Hermione peering in.
"Hey guys," Ginny said weakly, not moving from her spot.
"Oh, Ginny," Hermione said, before bounding across the floor to take the younger girl in a tight hug. "How is he?"
Ginny shrugged, and looked away, "He's been hit by some pretty Dark curses. Dumbledore is helping to research them."
She didn't mention that he might not find anything.
"What happened anyway?" Ron said. "We didn't even know he had gone anywhere."
"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Try to be a bit more tactful!"
"What?" he said, frowning at her. "That's all you've been asking for the last five hours, Hermione!"
"That's not – I didn't – that doesn't mean I was going to just ask!" Hermione said, flustered.
Ginny shook her head at the familiar bickering.
"Oh, stop flirting, you two," she said. "He went to do something for Dumbledore. And, no, I can't tell you what, but Sirius went with him."
"And left you here, while you're still sick yourself!" Hermione said fussily.
"I told him to go!" Ginny said, immediately rising to Harry's defence.
"Ginny?" a new voice interrupted from the door. "Are you awake now, dear?"
"Yes mum." Ginny said, upon seeing who it was.
"Mrs Potter had a suggestion for you, dear," she said, standing aside to let Lily in.
"James and I were talking, and we thought Harry might be more comfortable back at Godric's Hollow," Lily said. "You'd be allowed to stay with him, of course, but it would make us feel better having him at home."
Ginny blinked, having completely forgot the Potter's didn't live at headquarters.
"Oh, umm, but I thought you were all staying here?" she said.
"Well, we have been, but since the Burrow was attacked, it is all a bit crowded here. We were only here to be a constant presence at headquarters, but your parents can do that now," Lily explained.
"Oh," Ginny looked back down at Harry, thinking what he would want. The decision was very easy.
"That would be lovely, thanks," she said. "I don't have a lot of clothes though, they were at the Burrow, I completely forgot!"
"While you were asleep, Arthur and Bill went to the Burrow and brought most of our stuff here," Mrs Weasley said. "Your stuff is in your trunk, in my room at the moment. I didn't want to wake you by bringing it in."
Ginny nodded, and looked back at Lily.
"I can grab your trunk, if you'd grab anything of Harry's, we can get going now," Lily said.
"Would we be able to visit sometimes, Mrs Potter?" Hermione said, indicating herself and Ron.
"Of course you can Hermione, if your parents say so, of course, Ron. Rose will like the company, I'm sure."
"Where is she?" Ginny asked.
"Upstairs grabbing her stuff together," Lily said.
"Right," Ginny said, distractedly looking around the room. She pulled herself up off the bed and started collecting Harry's things. His glasses, wand, and invisibility cloak made up almost everything he had with him in this dimension. She frowned, making a mental note that he had to go shopping. His current robes would only survive so long with a cleaning charm every morning.
Seeing her mum levitating her trunk from a room further down the hallway, Ginny flicked her wand and levitated Harry, still with a blanket over him, and carefully steered him out of the room and down the stairs to the fireplace.
Lily handed her some floo powder and went ahead of her, hauling Ginny's trunk, calling out 'Potter's Residence, Godric's Hollow'.
Ginny contemplated the fireplace for a few moments before turning Harry upright again, and holding him tightly against herself, stopping the blanket from slipping to the ground. Manoeuvring his weightless body carefully, she threw some floo powder down, and pulled him into the green flames.
After a few moments of nausea-inducing spinning, Ginny finally fell out of a different fireplace, just barely catching Harry as she lost hold of the weightless charm. As it was, she would have toppled over completely if Lily hadn't been there to catch them both on their way out of the fire. Ginny poked Harry, wandlessly reapplying the weightless charm.
"Is that you, Lils?" James' voice rang out from the direction of the kitchen.
"Ginny and Harry are here too!" Lily called back, as she placed Ginny's trunk to one side. "Here, bring him to his room," she said to Ginny.
Ginny tugged Harry along, looking around the house she had been in so often as a kid, and yet, part of her didn't recognise anymore.
The fireplace came out into a small, cosy sitting room, that extended down one side of the house, with a large patio area visible out the back door. There was a wide opening out into the entrance hall, with a door leading through into the dining room and kitchen. In the entrance hall, too, was a staircase leading up to the second level, where Harry's room was found, at the far end of the hall to Ginny's left.
She wondered if Harry would remember the hours they'd had fun playing in this house, sliding down the balustrade, and trying to out-fly one another before they were old enough to go to Hogwarts.
The young redhead pulled Harry into his room, to see Lily expanding the bed with a few charms. Stepping into the room was like stepping back in time. It hadn't changed at all from when Harry last was alive in this world.
It was painted a warm red colour, with dark wood furniture and cream-coloured curtains. Stuck around the wall were various photos, mostly featuring a young Harry and Ginny trying to look innocent, whilst most often up to some form of mischief. A few showed Harry with Rose, too, including one where he had a very young Rose clinging to the front of his broom as he flew her slowly around the yard.
Ginny smiled, taking it all in. The smile quickly faded though when looked back at current-day Harry. He was pale, and his robes were still tattered from being blasted through a wall.
"James wouldn't have any pyjamas that would fit Harry, would he?" Ginny asked Lily quietly.
"I'll see what I can do," the older woman said, leaving Ginny to settle Harry on one side of the bed. She dragged a small armchair over to the bed and flopped down in it, all of her tiredness coming back to her.
Lily came back after about five minutes, holding a pair of pyjamas, and a vial of pain reliever potion which she held out to Ginny.
"You mustn't forget your own potions, missy," she said sternly.
Ginny was feeling too drained to argue and simply gulped down the potion without comment.
"How about you get some sleep, dear?" Lily said.
Ginny shook her head, "I might later. I just…don't feel like sleeping right now."
Lily sighed and nodded before heading out of the room. As she left she called over her shoulder, "Dinner will be in a couple of hours."
It wasn't until maybe half an hour later when the door creaked open again and James stuck his head in.
"How is he?" he asked, his voice sounding suspiciously rough.
Ginny looked at him blankly for a moment, before turning back to her soulmate's unresponsive body. He looked better now in his pyjamas, that Ginny had to put on using a switching spell, but he was still too pale.
James seemed to take her silence as an answer, as he made his way quietly into the room and sank down into chair he conjured next to Ginny. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke, just maintaining their silent vigil.
"I'm sorry," James said suddenly.
Ginny looked over at him, "Why?"
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I guess this is pretty hard for you, seeing him like this. You never did seem to get over the last time he…err, well, I'm sorry."
Ginny blinked back tears, turning to look back at Harry, in an attempt to hide her face.
"Don't say that," she whispered. "Don't talk like he is dying again. I don't think I'd survive it a second time."
She jumped, caught off-guard, by the comforting hand James placed on her shoulder.
"Arthur told me how you used to take flowers to his grave every month," he said quietly. "Different ones each time."
Ginny nodded, fighting against crying even more, "He – he never got to see them all. I thought he might like to see them – all the different colours."
She shuddered, and swiped angrily at her face, brushing away a few tears.
"He's too quiet," she mumbled. "Normally, when he's asleep, I can still hear his thoughts, a bit. I get snatches of his dreams, or just his feelings of comfort and peace. But now there's just…nothing."
There was a pause for a few minutes, while James just sat quietly, rubbing Ginny's shoulder comfortingly.
"Tell me about him," he said suddenly breaking the silence.
Ginny looked up, startled, "What do you want to know?"
James shifted in his seat, looking unsure, before answering, "Well, how about, how did you two get together? Were you both as inseparable as this world?"
Ginny chuckled weakly, "Inseparable? He barely even noticed me until my fifth year. I was just Ron's little sister to him. He was too busy saving people to think about girls much."
She looked at his still form, and run her hand through his messy hair.
"We didn't get together until after the Quidditch final against Ravenclaw. Harry had got himself into detention with Snape, and couldn't play. So, I had to play Seeker in his place."
"Snape always was a git," James snorted. "So, what happened?"
"We won, of course. I caught the snitch," Ginny said, finally cracking a smile. "Harry got back from detention, and, right in front of everyone, he just kissed me."
"Hah! Good to see he's got the Potter charm then!" James said, grinning.
Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Potter charm? I don't think I've ever met anyone more inept at dealing with girls than Harry. Well, until we bonded, of course. Now he cheats and looks at my thoughts and memories to figure out how to be romantic."
"And that works?" James said, looking impressed.
"Sometimes," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "Then again, before he got the hang of it, he just pulled ideas from the romance novels I read as a girl, and was horribly cheesy and cliché. He wasn't too happy when I couldn't stop laughing at him."
James tried to look offended, although the effect was ruined somewhat by the corners of his mouth twitching. "Harry can't be bad with girls, he's a Potter! As soon as he wakes up, I can show him all he needs to know to impress your socks off."
"You know, I've never even considered calling Harry an arrogant toerag," Ginny deadpanned. "Why would you want to make him worse?"
James pouted, "It's been a long time since Lily has felt the need to call me that, I'll have you know."
"When did a few hours become a long time?" Ginny shot back.
Before James could respond, a silver mist shot through the far wall and coalesced into the form of a wolf.
"James, the wards at Hogwarts need some more work. Come quickly," Remus' voice said from the mouth of the wolf.
James stood quickly, all laughter gone from his now serious face. He sighed, running a hand over Harry's head tenderly.
"I'd best be going," he said before turning and strolling out of the room.
Ginny leapt up and followed him out, "I can help."
James turned, looking surprised, "That's okay, you can stay with Harry."
Ginny practically growled.
"I'm probably the most powerful witch you know, I can help."
"James?" a new voice interrupted from down the staircase.
Lily paused halfway up the stairs as James and Ginny clattered their way down towards her.
"Sirius just sent a message – " she started.
"The wards?" James interrupted. "Yeah, we're heading there now."
Lily raised her eyebrows at Ginny, "How's Harry?"
"No change," Ginny said quietly.
Lily dashed quickly up the stairs and down to the room opposite Harry's. Ginny could hear her saying something to Rose, who Ginny didn't even realise was home.
When she came back into the room, she looked over at Ginny, "I've asked Rose to sit with Harry, just in case anything changes."
"Thank you," Ginny said, relaxing slightly.
Lily patted her reassuringly on the shoulder as she walked past, grabbing a handful of floo powder and disappearing into the fireplace.
"Alright, Ginny?" James said, holding out the pot of floo powder towards her.
Ginny just nodded, grabbed a handful of the powder, and jumped into the fireplace calling out 'Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office' as she went.
She arrived in the familiar round office, where she stumbled and nearly fell over as a wave of dizziness crashed over her.
"Ginny? Are you okay?" Lily said, helping to hold her steady.
Ginny nodded, as she closed her eyes and felt the world seem to right itself once more.
"Just, haven't been away from Harry much in this world," she muttered. "Being bonded twice, it must make it stronger than usual."
"I'm glad I went first then, I was worried you wouldn't react well to the floo again."
Ginny smiled her thanks as James stepped casually out of the floo behind her.
"Come on, most of the wards are controlled down by the main gates," James said.
"Will you be okay walking down there, Ginny?" Lily said, still looking concerned.
"I'll be fine," Ginny said, pushing herself upright again. Hogwarts could not fall, not if she had anything to say about it.
The trio quickly exited Dumbledore's office, and made their way down the many flights of staircases, and into the Entrance Hall. There, they found Remus waiting for them.
"James, Lily, Ginny," he said by way of greeting. "No Harry today?"
"Harry is…not well," James said with a sidelong look at Ginny. "I'll tell you about it later."
Remus went rather pale, but nodded regardless and ushered them out onto the grounds, towards the main gates.
"Albus has been trying to support the wards a lot today, and we've got Bill Weasley doing what he can, but there seems to be a larger than normal attack going on. Sirius has already headed down to the Lake to try support them there too. Albus is worried if we don't reinforce them now, they'll fail outright."
"Hogwarts can't fall," said James, grimly. "What can we do to help?"
Remus shrugged, "About the same as we always do, I suppose. Put out own magic into them, and hope that makes them strong enough."
"We need to do more, somehow," Lily said. "Just supporting what we've got clearly isn't going to work forever!"
"I think Albus would agree with you Lily, but he simply doesn't have the time to research an alternative," Remus replied.
Ginny squinted as they got closer to the gate, trying to make out her brother, Bill, who Remus had said was already down here. Finally spotting the familiar red ponytail, she broke away from the others and jogged over to meet him.
"Bill!" she called as she got close.
"Ginny?" he turned and smiled widely, holding his arms out to catch her in a big hug. "Hey there, spitfire! I didn't know you were going to be here today."
"I only just decided to come now," she explained, stepping back as he released her. "I'm staying with the Potter's at the moment, and they said the wards needed help."
Bill's eyes widened as he looked at her, "Of course! You're bonded to Harry, you'll both be bloody powerful. Where is he?"
"Not here," Ginny said sharply, trying to ignore the catch in her voice. "He was out on a mission with Sirius and got hit with several Dark curses. He…hasn't woken up yet."
Bill winced, and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, "I'm sorry to hear it. I'd come take a look, but without these wards, it won't matter anyway."
"I can help, just tell me what to do," Ginny said, shaking away the melancholy thoughts.
Bill gnawed on his lip, looking at her appraisingly.
"Harry not being well might actually be useful to us..." he mused. "You and Harry should both be pretty good at wandless magic, right?"
"Yeah, will that help?" Ginny asked.
"Maybe. Hang on," Bill muttered pulling out a small notepad from his pocket and flicking a few pages.
Ginny waited patiently as he walked over and started talking to another wizard she didn't recognise. Looking around her, Ginny found herself standing a few feet from a shimmering white surface, which was giving off a rather unpleasant buzzing noise, and rippling slightly. She couldn't see through it, but she could imagine hoards of Dark wizards and creatures on the other side, doing everything to bring the wards down.
Off to one side, Dumbledore stood, cutting an impressive figure, with his hands up, wand clenched in his right, chanting in some strange tongue. Tendrils of white light, matching the wards coalesced in the air around him, before being pulled into the wards. Ginny watched, as James and Lily nodded at Remus, before walking up to stand either side of Dumbledore and join him in his chant. Their magic, while still viable, was noticeably dimmer, than the old wizard's.
"Here you go, just had to check," Bill said, jogging back to Ginny.
He held out a old, yellowing textbook, with several notes made through the margins.
"This spell here, it's an old one invented by a soul-bonded couple in ancient Egypt. It's been used again a few times, by other pairs in the last couple of thousand years, so we're relatively confident about it. What it does is, it invokes a very powerful protection over an area, for one partner to protect their soulmate when they're unwell. You said Harry was cursed, so it should be very strong at the moment."
"But, Harry isn't here, he's at Godric's Hollow," Ginny pointed out.
"Yeah, doesn't matter," Bill said waving her off. "It can be used to prepare a safe area, even if Harry isn't here. It isn't a blood ward, it just needs the strong emotions behind it. And, in a way, it will protect him. If these wards fall, you can bet Godric's Hollow won't be left alone for that much longer."
Ginny nodded, conceding the point, "Okay, so how does it work?"
"Well, you need to go place your hands on the wards, and think about Harry. But, not happy memories, like a Patronus. We need you to think about how he is right now. You're probably afraid for him, worried, and protective. Focus on all of that. Then, pull on as much power as you can, pull on his too, if you can, and speak the incantation, 'Custodiat animam meam'."
Ginny turned the words over in her head, repeating them to herself before looking up at Bill.
"Is that all?" she said. "It seems a bit simple."
Bill hesitated, "Well, if you're not actually bonded, it will kill you. And it'll take a huge amount of power, don't be surprised if you pass out."
"Great, just what I need," Ginny grumbled.
"I say we're confident, but nobody alive has seen this ward in action, Ginny. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't feel safe using it. The incantation is approximate at best, based on eye-witness accounts from the last time it was used," Bill said, looking worried.
"Will it be safer if it works?" Ginny demanded.
Bill gave her a long look, before sighing, "Yes. It won't be perfect, no wards are. But it might buy us several weeks. Months, maybe, if it goes well. I wouldn't normally feel confident to let you even try this, but right now, we need every advantage we can get. I just hope mum doesn't kill me for this..."
Ginny swallowed as she took in what Bill said. If it worked, it would by them time to find a cure for Harry. If it failed, she knew her time was limited anyway. And with Dumbledore busy supporting the wards, nobody was around to try and find the right counter-curse. If I die, might as well make it worthwhile, Ginny thought darkly.
"Well, here goes nothing," she said.
She set her jaw, and marched right up to the shimmering wall. The buzzing was much louder here, and she could barely hear Bill shouting 'good luck' to her. She took a deep breath and carefully placed both hands on the wards. They tingled under her fingers, like getting hundreds of tiny static shocks. Around her hands, the wards seemed to glow brighter, and ripples spread a short way from her fingertips.
She closed her eyes and focused inwards on the bond, and on Harry. She could feel him, but he was cold, distant. The normal indescribable 'togetherness' of the bond was completely muted, and Ginny was afraid of never feeling it again. No, she was terrified. All she could remember was the sympathetic expression on Andromeda Tonks' face. The kind of face healers gave just before delivering news that it was time to say goodbye to a loved one.
Ginny trembled, holding back a whimper as she saw the pity in Lily's face, and the aching sadness in Dumbledore's. Trying to hold that fear, which wasn't difficult, Ginny reached out through the bond, as quiet as it was, and pulled on all of her and Harry's combined magic.
Before she could give into the temptation to simply lay down and cry, Ginny desperately thought back to the words Bill had given her and spoke, "Custodiat animam meam".
The light was blinding, even through her eyelids. A shockwave ripped through the air with a loud CRACK!
Ginny was thrown backwards, and she cried out as she hit the ground.
The echoing roar from the explosion petered out, and Ginny pushed herself upright to see the wards glowing a warm, comforting golden colour. She grinned sleepily, and lay back as darkness rushed into her vision. The last thing she heard was Bill and Lily shouting her name. She didn't pay them any attention though. All she was thinking was Harry would be safer now.
A/N: I have tried to be generally subtle about Harry and Ginny being ridiculously powerful, as I don't want it to become a story about, 'Oh, they're like, so strong, wow' and try instead to highlight that, even so, it doesn't really matter most of the time. They can still make errors in judgement. But, either way, the scene with the wards just wanted to write itself, despite me not planning it, and who am I to argue?
Also, fair warning, I'm about to start an intensive 3 week course at uni, so the next chapter may be a bit delayed. Hence, to stop you feeling like I left you on a cliffhanger, I'll just tell you now, it isn't. Ginny's fine, just tired. Well, recovering from the potion at the lake too, but this hasn't made anything worse. And with this, getting-too-long-for-my-comfort AN, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!