Author's Note:
While having that strange discussion about Voldemort and his sexuality with my amazing Beta, Dusk, she brought up an interesting idea about how young Riddle charmed Hepzibah Smith. Thanks for planting the idea and thanks for letting me run with it!
Reviews and Comments: To crunchy_cheeseball: Happy to hear the first 75% of the chapter was that hot, but if your phone melted, not my problem LOL. As to the question about spelling "colour" I am from Canada and colour should and always is spelt with a "u" LOL. To Kyregiusz: Drunk Ginny would be fun, but not in my plans any time soon. To Leapyearbaby29: You can follow me on my tumblr at breaniebree. To junklord: Sorry to crush your dreams LOL, but Sunday nights/Monday nights are my usual chapter posting days. Monday is the norm. To PurpleLotus: Your reviews always make me smile! I like the idea of Zee and Charlie being friends as well (just friends) and of course Harry puts Ginny first, it's how it should be! To xXQueenofDragonsXx: Thank you! As to your question on how do I make relationships seem so real, I'm not sure how to answer that. But you have to write the feelings, the emotions, not just the words. You have to make it feel real. Imagine how you would feel or how you have felt in the past and put it into your work. To Steel: Understanding Voldemort is a terrifying concept indeed and that's why attempting to is so intriguing!
To elin2002: Hinny sexy times are clearly a priority LOL. They will definitely keep coming. To bumlewis: I think making Draco discover the room on his own was part of the challenge. It's a task, a quest for him to see how far he can push him. If he were to tell him how to find the diadem it would ruin it. He needs to see how far Draco is willing to go. As to the interview game, I thought it was fun. To LiamOmega: I like fluffy chapters and they help me sometimes break up the dark stuff, which I can promise you is still coming. But fluff is life. To Wolf's scream: Harry would never forget the chocolate covered strawberries LOL. He knows the way to Ginny's heart. To Obscure-Reference-Girl: I don't know, but I have zero plans of Zee and Charlie so shipping them is pointless. They will only be friends in ASC. To nothatchhavi: Glad you found my Tumblr questions as entertaining as I did LOL. Ginny will reciprocate, don't you worry and a few birdies who got a sneak peek told me it was hot! ;) To Tanuska: Thank you. I like making Harry powerful and sweet and Ginny both delicate, yet a feminine badass. To .X: Hinny's relationship IS pretty awesome, I agree.
To Dianne: I don't think the chapter was any shorter than normal, maybe a page if anything. As to claiming my attention to detail has gone a whole level higher than canon, thank you! I'm completely honoured and humbled that you think ASC feels real-er than canon. Just wow! To tim2604: It's coming, I promise! To speedsONEandONLY: I love when lovers love, too! Slughorn will be around. To alix33: Sorry-but-not-sorry lol. To Menna Taha: The sweetest most adorable dirty talking, thank you! Dragons do need space, but Charlie just wants a place they can be kept safe or a place for them to rest and be cared for if needed like a pit stop on their travels. To libs614: Zee's office is amazing, isn't it? Thanks. To Jessy J. Jasmine: Ron and Hermione will be together soon. Promise. And no, no boyfriend or girlfriend for Snape LOL. To Guest: I don't think it's the longest Harry Potter fanfic, but I honestly have no idea. To fanfic-dude-100: Thank you and no, I don't follow any sports. I will watch hockey if it's on, but that's about it. To CarpenL: Green Day is awesome! To ManyGrey: I stand by my Hungarian Horntail statement LOL. I hope the diary bit remains interesting. To .wills15: Ron and Hermione will be soon, I promise. Little Lupin will be coming, but not yet. To maisba: Happy to help your summer vacation! To Jessy in Garden: Thank you!
My posting schedule: Once a week.
Thanks to Dusk for her amazing editing skills.
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE:
Ginny waited for her classmates to leave, taking her time putting her books away before she approached Professor Birmingham's desk. He smiled kindly at her as he used his wand to erase the blackboard.
"Hello, Miss Weasley. Was there something that you wanted?"
Ginny nodded. "Yes, Sir. If you have a few moments, I was hoping to talk to you about this project that I'm working on."
Birmingham raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Of course. What kind of project? Something Muggle related?"
"Kind of," she admitted. "Professor, did you know that in the Department of Mysteries they study human brains?"
"I did not," he said, resting part of his bum back on the desk and crossing his arms in front of him to give her his full attention.
"Well, they do," Ginny continued. "There's an entire room where they study the human mind and not just the minds of witches and wizards, but of Muggles, too. There's one particular Muggle who I'm interested in. I want to find out more about his life."
Birmingham looked intrigued. "And this Muggle's brain was being studied by the Unspeakables?"
Ginny nodded. "Yes. From what I understand, he loved animals and cared for this nest of baby griffins. He didn't even question that they were magical creatures and when a Muggle discovered him with them, the griffin cubs jumped to his defence. In the struggle, he was killed, and a wizard had to come in to obliviate the other Muggle and that wizard decided that his brain needed to be studied."
"Fascinating," Birmingham said, his eyes wide in interest. "How did you come across this information, Miss Weasley? Things done by Unspeakables are well, unspeakable. No one discovers those secrets."
"It was through a friend," she said. "And I have no idea what they were hoping to learn from his brain or if they in fact learned it, but it's his life that I'm interested in. It seems that he fought in a war and I was hoping that you could help me narrow it down."
"I suppose I could," he said with a smile. "What do you know?"
"His name was Michael Murray and he was a Second Lieutenant in something called the AVC's 17th MVS of the 18th Division of the Royal British Army. I know he was born in 1896 and that he died in 1932 — as that was the year the Department of Mysteries acquired his brain. But I have no idea what any of the rest means."
Birmingham smiled. "That would make him thirty-six, which means that he fought in the Great War."
"The Great War?"
"Yes, it's what the Muggles called it. Up to this point, a war of that magnitude had never been seen by the world and it was a world war, bringing in countries from all over the world. I have a book at home about the AVC that I would be happy to lend you. Perhaps we can meet up tomorrow night after dinner to go over it?"
"I have Defence Club," Ginny told him. "But I'm free the next evening."
Birmingham nodded, eagerly. "Excellent! I will do some research myself in the meantime and see what we can come up with. My husband has a large collection of books on the First World War. I will search through them tonight and pick Liam's brain, he might be able to help me narrow our search. How much do you want to know, Ginny? Are you just looking for information on this man or on the events that he was part of?"
"As much as I can," she told him. "I feel like this war for example, is important to who he was. I want to know everything that might have helped shape him. How did the war affect him? You said that it was called a Great War so, it must have influenced his life in some way or other."
"The war was very important for a variety of reasons, as you will soon see. I'll meet you here in my classroom at six on Friday evening and we'll see what kind of tales we can uncover."
Ginny beamed at him and grabbed her bag. "Thank you, Professor."
She headed back to Gryffindor to exchange her books for her Potions supplies before going down to the Great Hall for lunch. She found Colin waiting for her with a big grin on his face.
"What has you so happy?" she asked.
"You have owls, Compass. Four of them waiting for you at the newspaper."
Ginny's eyes widened. "Really? People wrote in? To me?"
He nodded, his eyes twinkling. "They did. Did you doubt it?"
Ginny grinned at him. "Maybe a little. Want to take some food to go?"
They quickly each grabbed a sandwich and left the Great Hall to go to the office of the Hogwarts Herald. Ginny hurried towards the stack of letters that sat on the edge of her desk in delight and opened the first two.
Dear Compass,
My sister started at Hogwarts this year and she's feeling rather homesick and overwhelmed by things. We're in different houses and I want to help her, but I'm not sure what more I can do than tell her it will all be all right. How can I show her how great Hogwarts is?
Concerned Sister
Ginny looked up at Colin, a huge smile on her face before she grabbed the second letter.
Dear Compass,
A boy asked me to go to Hogsmeade and I said yes, but now I'm really nervous. I've never been on a date before. Any advice?
Romantically Clueless
"These are great!" Ginny exclaimed in excitement, her fingers itching to get started.
"It's going to be a great column, Ginny," Colin agreed. "Four letters is a great start and I think once people start seeing the advice you give, more people will write in. Are you going to read the other two?"
"Even if only one person writes in every week, I would be grateful. And yes, of course I will!"
Colin grinned. "There will be more than one, trust me. I think this is going to be a great success."
"Me too."
"I want to have a meeting on Friday after dinner to discuss the plans for the next edition. Do you think that you could have your answers ready by Monday? I'd like to do a bi-weekly edition this year as opposed to every three weeks. But the next one still won't go out before the first of next month."
"That should be fine," Ginny said. "But I can't do the meeting on Friday. I'm meeting with Professor Birmingham as he's helping me with a project."
"What kind of project?"
"I'm looking into this Muggle who apparently fought in what Birmingham said was the Great War? Anyway, he has some books for me and we just agreed to meet on Friday after dinner since Defence Club starts tomorrow night. He said that his husband has a large collection on the First World War. Did you know that he was married?"
Colin shrugged. "I don't know. He did bring that bloke to the Yule Ball, remember? I think I got a photo of them dancing."
"Oh, yes," Ginny said, remembering the tall lean blond man vaguely. "I guess I never thought about it. Anyway, he says that he has some books that might help me and since we have Defence tomorrow, Friday is the best day."
"I am looking forward to Defence Club coming back," Colin admitted. "Oh, and I heard from Eline!"
Ginny picked up her sandwich to take a bite as Colin filled her in what his summer girlfriend had written to him about, but she was only partially listening. Her brain was already thinking about how she was going to respond as Compass. It was going to be a lot more fun to write this column than she thought.
~ ASC ~
Harry held Ginny's hand in his as they headed down to the duelling room for the first meeting of Defence Club of the year. It was already the fourth week of September and Harry felt like he was finally settling into the swing of things between his new classes, finding a new Chaser, organizing Quidditch practices, and spending time with Ginny on top of his new lessons with Dumbledore. He had gotten into the habit of using his mirror every Sunday to call Zee and check in. She had also called him on Wednesday to let him know how her second appointment had gone since he'd left home. He was happy to hear that the babies were healthy and kicking. She filled him on her new promotion, which officially had started this week, though she had moved into the Menagerie last week with the help of Kreacher.
Zee had written Hermione back detailing the plans for the legislation and how they were going to potentially use it as a stepping stone to bring more magical creatures into the new Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures which as of the first of October was going to be now called the Department for the Reconstruction and the Cooperation with Magical Creatures. Hermione had practically squealed in delight at the announcement of the new name. Zee had also suggested that, once things got underway, Hermione should pay a visit to talk about her legislation, which had made Hermione even more excited. Harry knew that his friend wanted to change the DRCMC and he had a feeling that she was going to do a lot of great things for the Ministry.
When they stepped into the duelling room, Harry was surprised to see an older portly man standing up at the front next to Remus. He was laughing in a rather jolly fashion at something that Remus was telling him. It didn't take long for everyone to push into the room. This was the Defence Club meeting for fifth through seventh years.
"Who's that up there with Remus?" Ginny asked.
Harry shook his head. "Dunno. I've never seen him before. He must be teaching us something."
"Think he's an Auror?" Hermione asked curiously.
Ron snorted, his eyes on the pot-bellied man. "Doubt it."
Harry turned his attention to Remus as he called everyone's eyes to him.
"Welcome back everyone! This year, I'm hoping to get everyone learning some new things and to keep practicing what we learned last year. But today, I want to introduce Professor Slughorn. Professor Slughorn used to teach Potions when I was a student here and he has graciously returned to the school to help us in Defence Club. Yes, Anthony?"
"What does Potions have to do with Defence?" Anthony Goldstein asked, his wand raised in the air.
"My boy, Potions is the answer to everything," Slughorn said with a big grin on his face.
Remus smiled. "We're going to be spending Defence Club this year with two sections. Each week will alternate between working on defensive spells and brewing potions. Today, we're going to start with an introduction as to what Professor Slughorn will be providing you. Now, this isn't a class, but brewing potions takes skill, patience, and practice. If this isn't something that you're willing to take your time doing, then I'll ask you to only be here for the Defence Club lessons."
No one moved and Remus smiled.
"Wonderful. Professor Slughorn, I cede the floor to you."
Slughorn clapped his hands over his large belly and squinted around at them. "Potions is something that you can always use. Whether it's to heal yourself from a defensive injury, to give yourself a boost, or to be used in an offensive manner. There are potions that if you touch them your skin will erupt in painful boils, potions that have a smell that can knock you out, and potions that can cause those around you to be confused or confunded. Yes, Mr…?"
"Nott," Theo said, lowering his wand. "Those are all things that we can already do with our wands. How does the potions help us when we're duelling others?"
"If you lose your wand, you can have easily accessible potions ready to be thrown to distract your opponent for you to get your wand back. You can use a potion to distract an opponent to get a difficult spell off. Having ready made potions on you to heal an injury or to help a friend is something every able-bodied witch or wizard should be ready for," Slughorn lectured.
Harry glanced at Ginny in interest. "Could be fun."
Slughorn continued. "We're going to start off next week so, if everyone could please bring their potions supplies with them. Those of you who don't have them, I'm sure that Professor Snape would be more than happy to share his supply with us."
Ron snorted. "Does he know Snape?"
"I'll supply you with the potion brewing instructions," Slughorn continued. "But tonight, I will now turn the floor back over to Professor Lupin."
"Thank you," Remus said, turning his attention to the students. "Now, tonight is the first lesson back which means as per usual, I want to do a review. We're going to head downstairs to the obstacle course you ran last year and go through it again. Let's see how much you remember and what areas you each need to work on. Those of you who are fifth years, you will also do the course to see what we'll be working on. It will help remind me as to where you're at. Professor Slughorn, would you like to come and see what we're working on?"
Slughorn made a sound of agreement as Remus led the way down to the dungeons and through the door leading down the stairs to the Chamber of Secrets. Once everyone was around the area, Remus broke them up into pairs and sent them in one at a time each pair starting at a different place in the obstacle course.
Harry liked the familiarity of it just as much as the challenge. It reminded him of the routines that Misha had put him through that summer. He watched as two seventh years headed in first and he turned his attention onto Slughorn who was looking around the Chamber of Secrets in amazement. He'd moved over to examine the huge statue of Salazar Slytherin and was muttering under his breath about craftsmanship and Slytherin's many secrets.
He looked over at where Blaise and Theo were talking, eyes on Malfoy, who was standing in the line with his arms crossed, blatantly ignoring those around him. Harry was a little surprised that Malfoy was still in the Defence Club at all, but he couldn't fault him for wanting to learn how to protect himself a little bit more. He did think it was strange that he was ignoring those he considered to be his friends, but knowing he had taken the Dark Mark did mean that he had changed. Whether that change was for the good or the bad was still to be determined in Harry's way of thinking.
It was nice to know the git was still a huge git. At least some things remained the same.
He turned his attention away from Malfoy when he heard the sound of Hermione muttering under her breath about not remembering things. She was looking out rather anxiously at the obstacle course. Harry and Ron exchanged an eye roll that made Ginny elbow Harry lightly.
Harry could see the sparks and lights coming out from the spells the other students were using and he rocked back onto the balls of his feet. He was determined to do amazing in there and he felt completely confident about it. This was what he was going to train for. When it was finally his turn, Remus squeezed his shoulder in reassurance and he hurried inside.
It was just like last year's, but he noted the subtle changes. These training exercises always reminded him a little of the maze from the Third Task. He belly-crawled under the gold mist and stood up just in time to avoid the enchanted mannequin whose arm grabbed him. He shot a stunner out and the mannequin collapsed, allowing him to keep going. Remus and McGonagall had enchanted and transfigured objects that were set to attack in various ways allowing for the element of surprise. Harry found himself using stunners, disarming spells, shield charms along with a variety of jinxes and hexes to find his way out of the course successfully.
Remus always stressed the importance of being able to keep up on one's duel while dealing with terrain so Harry climbed up rocks, waded through water, walked across a rickety bridge, and lastly had to find a way to get across quicksand. The quicksand was more of a challenge that one would have thought. When Harry attempted to levitate himself over, the sand rose up and swatted him back. When he attempted to vanish it, the sand only increased its distance. He paced back and forth in front of it for a moment before he transfigured the sand into water. It sparkled before him like a crystal lake and he waded through it to the other side in time to find himself facing Lord Voldemort. He froze for half a second before he realized that it was a boggart.
Boggart-Voldemort was holding Boggart-Ginny who was twisting in his arms, wandless and desperate to get away. Harry took a slow breath, raising his wand and he yelled out, "Riddikulus!"
Boggart-Ginny's foot smacked Boggart-Voldemort straight in the balls before she elbowed him in the gut and bat bogeys came flying out of Boggart-Voldemort's nose. Then it started raining and Boggart-Voldemort melted into the floor as if he'd never been in a very Wicked Witch of the West sort of way. Boggart-Ginny gave a little bow before she faded into the air and he kept moving, coming out on the other side, feeling good.
"Excellent time, Harry," Remus said proudly. "Four minutes!"
Harry beamed at that and waited for his friends to go through the course. Hermione went through with Blaise starting a few minutes before her, and came out crying; Harry knew immediately that she'd been foiled by the boggart again.
"Hermione," he said, pulling her into his arms as Ron and Ginny headed into the course from the other side of the chamber. "It's just a boggart."
"I know," she said, clinging to him. "But it gets me every time and every time it seems… worse than before."
He held her close, wrapping his arms around her tighter. "What was it this time?"
She shook her head. "It was awful! I can't… Harry, what if I can't overcome my fears? What if they're going to constantly cripple me?"
Harry pulled back a bit to gently brush her bushy hair behind her ear. "Most brilliant witch of all time is afraid of something? Welcome to the club. We all have fears, Hermione, and no one wants to face them. I think mine changes every day and… at the end of the day, I think you just have to realize that you have to want to succeed. You have to know that you can do it, that you can move past it. If there's anyone I'd trust to have my back it would be you."
Tears leaked down her face. "Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed, burying her face in his chest again.
He held her close, gently rubbing a hand up and down her back. "It might help if you tell me what your fear was?"
Her response was muffled against his chest.
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that Come on, Hermione, it can't be worse than McGonagall telling you that you failed everything — which is preposterous and will never happen to begin with."
Hermione pulled away from him a little and bit her bottom lip. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Promise," Harry assured her.
Hermione glanced around to make sure no one could hear them before she whispered. "That I fail. Not just Hogwarts but… that I have go back to living just as a Muggle and Ro-you… you all forget about me."
Harry's mouth opened in surprise. "What? We could never forget about you. As to the other, Hermione, you and Ron need to figure things out between the two of you. You kissed. You both like the other. What's stopping you?"
"It's stupid," she said, moving out his arms and hastily wiping her tears away. "I lost my chance with him and it's my fault."
Before Harry could respond, she had grabbed her bag and hurried off. He started to go after her when Slughorn's booming voice pulled him away.
"Harry Potter! I've been looking forward to meeting you, m'boy!"
"Er, hello, Professor Slughorn," Harry said, his eyes on Hermione's bushy hair as she disappeared up the stairs. "It's nice to meet you."
"And you as well, m'boy!" Slughorn exclaimed, a wide grin on his face as he enthusiastically shook Harry's hand. "I taught Professor Lupin up there as well as your parents! Your mother was my favourite student!"
"Oh, that's nice," Harry said, taken aback by the man's declaration. "I thought professors weren't supposed to have favourites?"
Slughorn gave him a guilty look. "Not supposed to, no, but we do anyway," he said, winking. "I look forward to seeing what you can do with Potions! Remus mentioned that you're taking Advanced Potions this year in hopes of becoming an Auror. Your mother was extraordinarily gifted with potions, you know. I helped her write her exam to get her Potioneer license."
"Really?" Harry asked. "And my dad?"
Slughorn shook his head. "Son of Fleamont Potter and that boy couldn't care less about the subtle art of potion-making! Don't get me wrong, he was still gifted! The things he did in my class were excellent! He was one of my top students by far, he just wasn't interested in the subject outside of getting his grade, which was a great disappointment to me. Anyway, now that I'm back at Hogwarts, I'd like to get started throwing a few little get togethers every now and then. I do love throwing little parties! I'll invite some of my old students back who've made names for themselves. I would be honoured if you'd attend!"
"Oh, um, maybe. It's just that I have a lot going on between Quidditch, homework, Defence Club, you know?"
Slughorn nodded. "Don't worry, we'll work something out! I look forward to talking to Professor Snape about your Potions skills!"
"Harry, I did it!" Ginny exclaimed, coming up beside him. "Oh, my apologies, Professor!"
Harry slipped his arm around her waist, turning his attention back to Slughorn. "I doubt Professor Snape will have anything complimentary to say about me, Professor. I'll think about the party."
Slughorn nodded. "You can bring your lovely girlfriend along as well. We'll talk again, soon, Harry!"
Harry watched him walk away before he looked down at where Ginny was tucked under his arm. "He's a little strange. How was the course?"
"Great! I did really well and Professor Lupin says that he thinks I'll be moving a little bit ahead of some of my classmates."
"That's great, Ginny. I knew you'd do great."
Ron came up behind him, his robes covered in muck. "Got stuck in the quicksand. But just when it covered my shoulders I finally thought of using the ascension spell. I crashed into the wall and knocked my knee, but I made it through. The boggart was a nice end. Where's Hermione?"
"Boggart got her," Harry said. "She went back to her dorm."
"I don't understand how she's so brilliant at everything yet she struggles with a boggart," Ron said honestly.
Harry nodded. "We all struggle with something, Ron."
He motioned to his father that they were leaving and they headed out and back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry stopped Ginny outside of the portrait hole to kiss her as Ron made a groan of annoyance. He kissed her until he heard his friend stomp through the portrait hole.
"What's up?" Ginny asked him.
"Maybe I just wanted to kiss you."
Her chocolate brown eyes twinkled up at him. "I'm sure you did, but you also have something on your mind."
"Hermione, what she said… can you go talk to her, Ginny? I think she'd listen to you."
"Why? Because I'm a girl?"
"Yes," Harry admitted, bending his head and brushing his lips over hers. "And because you're friends and you care about her. But honestly, I think it's you she needs to talk to, not me."
Ginny nodded. "Okay. I'll go check on her." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "Goodnight, Harry."
He watched her walk away, his eyes on the sway of her arse in her uniform skirt before he headed through the portrait hole to follow her inside. He headed straight up to his dormitory to change out of his school robes and to get some of his homework started. He just hoped that Ginny was able to talk to Hermione. He knew that there was something more than just the boggart bothering her and he knew that some of it had to do with Ron. He wished the two of them would just talk to each other. It would make his life a lot easier.
But after six years, he also knew the likelihood of that actually happening. As usual, he was stuck in the middle. He pulled his books out and sat on his bed. He had an essay on vampires to write.
~ ASC ~
Ginny slipped into the sixth year girls dormitory and was only a little surprised to find no one there except Hermione. She walked over to her friend's four poster and knocked on the post.
"Hey, you okay up here?"
Hermione didn't look up. "Fine. Boggarts are just rough."
Ginny nodded. "Budge over."
Hermione sighed, but knew better than to argue as Ginny shoved her way onto her bed. "I'm fine."
"I know, but Harry's worried."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You didn't come up here just because of that."
Ginny smiled. "No, I didn't. But having my boyfriend ask me to come up here and talk to you does tend to make me a little worried too. Talk to me."
Hermione sighed and leaned her head back against her headboard. "I blew it."
"Did you?"
"Dario… he was so sweet and friendly and when he kissed me, I told you it was… it made me realize how foolish I'd been. But when I tried to tell Ron about it, he… he went on some rant about how he got off with someone over the summer at Goldstein's party."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "He so did not. Harry told me that Ron said that there was a stripper there. Someone named Chardonnay and I can promise you, Ron did not get off with her or anyone."
"She was a… so why did he tell me that?" Hermione said, her voice rising. "I was… ugh. He makes me so angry!"
"He can be quite the idiot," Ginny agreed. "I love my brother, don't get me wrong, but he can be a total idiot. What exactly did you tell him about Dario?"
Hermione let out a slow breath. "I was trying to tell him that I like him as more than a friend and he asked me if I snogged Dario and well, I didn't want to lie, so I said yes, and then he just started going on about Chardonnay and how us snogging was definitely a fluke and how I was right the whole time and we absolutely never need to talk about it again."
"And?"
"And what? He doesn't want me like that and I ruined it."
"Hermione, my brother is… Blimey, you know what Ron's like! I bet all he heard from that conversation was that you snogged Dario and he probably immediately became jealous and sullen and tried to make it look like he was totally cool with it."
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "You think?"
Ginny nodded. "Personally, I think that you just need to snog him."
"Just because that worked for you and Harry doesn't mean it's going to work for us."
"Well, we do have two Hogsmeade trips coming up this month," Ginny said.
Hermione's eyes met hers. "I can't ask him out, Ginny. Every time I try, I just… freeze."
"No, not that, though I do think you should. Fleur asked to meet me on the second one and you should join us."
"Why? I thought this was your time to spend time with her, to get to know her."
Ginny nodded. "It is, but I would also like you to come. Fleur's always in the best clothes and fashions. When she asked to meet me, I asked her to go shopping and she became very excited. I want to spend the gold that I received for my birthday and I know that you were given some spending money for your birthday as well, so let's go shopping with Fleur."
"Shopping in Hogsmeade? There's only that one witch store and while it has nice things, it doesn't have anything particular I'm looking for."
"No, we're going somewhere else."
"Ginny, leaving Hogsmeade during our designated trips isn't exactly recommended," Hermione said nervously.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're seventeen. You can go where you please as long as you're back by curfew. As to me, I'm being picked up by my adult almost sister-in-law, I'm not going off half-cocked by myself."
"Where are we going exactly?" Hermione asked, clearly not convinced.
"I have no idea, but we're going to go shopping and I think it sounds fun. Come on, Hermione, live a little. I heard that Slughorn likes to throw parties and we need to have something nice to wear. Think of how much you can make Ron drool if we find you some great new clothes."
"I'm not sure I like what you're thinking," Hermione said uneasily.
Ginny's twinkling eyes met hers. "Trust me, you will."
~ ASC ~
Draco spent a solid week trying to figure out how to get into this secret room and he still couldn't quite figure it out. The only instruction that the Dark Lord had given was that if he wanted to find the tiara, the room would appear before him.
By the end of the second week, he was positive that the Dark Lord was fucking with him. He'd walked all around that corridor, up and down examining every inch of the wall, of the nearby portraits, of anything that he could find and yet nothing appeared to him outside of a few spiders.
By the first Hogsmeade trip on the last Saturday of the month, he was genuinely starting to worry. His grandfather had written to him, claiming that the Dark Lord wanted information on his progress and Draco felt helpless to tell him that he didn't have any. Abraxas hadn't written him back either which Draco felt wasn't a good sign. Hearing from his grandfather was terrifying enough most of the time, but the silence somehow made his situation seem even more daunting.
It was a reminder that he was failing.
He stayed curled in his bed, hoping that with most of the school away at Hogsmeade he could find the damn room and this mysterious tiara. He still couldn't fathom what the Dark Lord wanted with a tiara. Unless it was worth a lot of gold then he supposed maybe he could see the appeal, but otherwise he didn't get it. What was so special about it?
He listened absently to his roommates from his spot in his four poster. He heard Theo mention something to Blaise about him meeting Finn and Blaise saying that he couldn't make it as he had an appointment. The teasing continued as Theo tried to guess Blaise's date, but Blaise swore that he had an actual appointment. He said his date with Parvati was going to be that evening.
Blaise had been rather taken with the Gryffindor since school had started back up. Draco wanted to ask him if he was actually dating someone, but by doing so it showed he cared. That was the last thing he needed. He needed them to think that he didn't care. He didn't want to show them that he still cared about them. He didn't want anyone else to see that he still cared about them. They were safer if people thought they'd had a falling out.
He heard them both leave and he finally shifted himself out of bed to dress for the day. He'd just finished showering when he heard Pansy's shrill voice.
"Greg! You can't mean it!"
"Would it be so bad, Pansy?" Goyle asked tentatively. "We've snogged before anyway and well... it's down to me or Vince, and we both know that I'm the better choice."
Draco raised his eyebrow as he looked between them. "Do I want to know what's going on?"
"My father has ordered me to marry Goyle over the holiday to, I quote, 'help make pureblood babies.' Can you believe that?"
"It comes down to me or Vince," Goyle said again. "At least my family has wealth."
"Are you seventeen, then?" Draco asked.
Pansy shook her head. "Not until February. I don't even know what to say!"
"Choose Goyle over Crabbe," Draco told her. "Trust me, Greg's right, he's the better choice. But what's with this pureblood baby thing?"
"The old families are starting to worry about the pureblood names dying out," Goyle told him. "The Dark Lord wants us to start reproducing. Pansy's father has already remarried."
"To a woman he doesn't even know! No, let me rephrase that — to a child!"
"She's twenty," Goyle said. "And they married on Saturday. Lord Parkinson is hoping that Beatrice Macnair, the new Lady Parkinson, will give him a son."
Draco stared at Goyle in amazement. "He married again?"
"It's not just him and us," Pansy exclaimed. "Millie's engaged. Millie, if you can believe it! And so is Ophelia."
Draco's head shot up at the name of his ex girlfriend. "To whom?"
Pansy shrugged. "She doesn't know yet. Her mother wrote to her this morning saying that she was claiming her marriage rights. If the Dark Lord has his way, we'll all be up the duff soon enough."
"Well, it's not like you care about your NEWTs," Draco said slowly. "You just want to open that ladies store."
"Yes, and if I don't do what Daddy says, he'll never give me my inheritance to do so!"
"If you marry me, I'll let you open as many stores as you want," Goyle declared. "You'll have full access to the Goyle vaults."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Piss off, Greg! Your family's fortune is hardly anything to brag about. You just want me to play with your cock."
"Well, yeah," he said honestly. "But also, I need to help the Goyle name move back to the top and with my dad being killed… Pansy, I'm the only Goyle left. Come on, Pans, we'd be a good match."
"Vince farts, a lot," Draco added. "Greg may be dumber than a post, but at least he practices good personal hygiene and he's richer than Crabbe."
"Piss off, Draco," Goyle growled.
Pansy sighed. "Draco, you and I —"
"Don't bother finishing that sentence, Pansy. We kissed once and it will never happen again."
"You think you're too good for me!"
"No, I know I'm too good for you, there's a vast difference!"
"And who are you going to marry then? Daphne?"
Goyle snorted. "The Dark Lord won't let Abraxas set up a marriage for Draco. He has other plans for him."
Pansy stared at both of them for a minute before she turned and stormed out of the dormitory.
Draco glared at Goyle. "You're an arse."
"And you should be looking for that room."
"What, are you reporting on me now?"
Goyle's dark eyes narrowed. "We all have roles to play, Draco, and some of us haven't been given personal missions from the Dark Lord to work on."
"If I could give you my task, I would," Draco muttered. "Yours is just so hard, go have sex. Gee, think you can figure that out on your own? You know where your cock is supposed to go, right?"
Goyle only sneered at him. "You're just jealous because I'm going to be shagging Pansy and you aren't even included in the pureblood breeding scheme. Instead, you're stalling. And when it comes time for you to kill that poofter, I'll gladly help."
"It's my task. Stay away from me and stay away from Theo!"
Goyle stared at him. "You won't be able to protect him forever, you know. Hiding from them isn't fooling anyone. If you haven't found this room by Halloween, I can guarantee that you'll be in a world of trouble. You wouldn't want the Dark Lord to think that you've been stalling now, would you?"
Draco watched him leave the dorm and he swallowed. He should have known that Goyle knew more than he'd been saying and it wasn't a very reassuring thought. But it did convince him of one thing. He had to stay away from Theo and Blaise or they would both be in even more danger. He had to prove that he didn't care about them; that they meant nothing to him.
He had to find this damn tiara and he had to keep a closer eye on Crabbe and Goyle, maybe they were smarter than he'd given them credit for and he didn't think that was a good thing.
~ ASC ~
Zee came home at the end of her first week as Deputy Head of the Magical Menagerie feeling exhausted. She had spent an inordinate amount of time as of late doing paperwork, but considering it was all for a good cause, she tried not to dwell on it. The good thing was that now that she worked in the Menagerie, it was like she was in her own little paradise.
She took her break by the water with her feet in the lake, playing with a Kelpie. She'd then spent an hour playing with the baby Kneazles and nuzzling them close as she fed them milk. Not for the first time, she thought that she had the best job in the whole world. She helped bandage the leg of an injured Demiguise and played with the new Puffskein babies who had been born three days ago.
She gratefully stepped out of her heeled boots and greeted an excited Padfoot. The steaming plate of mashed potatoes, a steak grilled to perfection, and roasted vegetables in garlic butter almost made her want to start crying.
"Thank you, Kreacher."
The elf only bowed his head before leaving her to her dinner. She drank the glass of milk he'd poured her and dug into her food. Padfoot and Lady Godiva ate their own food as Zee flicked her wand towards the wireless. She smiled when AC/DC came blasting through the speakers. She finished her meal as the music blared before she made her way upstairs into the master bedroom. She filled the tub with one of her rainbow bath bombs, this one to help de-stress, and as the bath bubbled, she undressed to stand naked in front of the mirror.
She pinned her brown and gold curls up into a messy bun, her eyes on the beautiful engagement ring on her finger. She traced it gently with her fingertips before she examined herself critically in front of the mirror.
It was the end of September which put her at twenty-six weeks. According to Healer Abby, that meant the babies were the size of zucchinis and they could now grab onto things firmly and stick out their tongues; their eyelashes and eyebrows were defined, and they were starting to grow more hair on their heads. They had definitely been moving around a lot and were starting to feel like they were kicking her.
Her breasts seemed to have finally stopped expanding, but her nipples were darker in colour, larger, and still rather sensitive to the touch. Her stomach was quite large now and she found that she could only see the tips of her small feet when she looked straight down. Not to mention that she'd reached the point where it was too uncomfortable to keep her belly button ring in. She turned to examine her bum, still finding it round and shapely and not any different from before. At least she wasn't gaining weight there, she thought.
She placed her hand over her stomach. "You two are going to ruin my figure. What would you think if you were here, Sirius? Would you say that I've turned into a beached whale yet?"
Zee dragged her hands over her eyes before she turned to the wireless on the counter and set it to play her new Alanis Morrisette album, Jagged Little Pill, before she moved to step into the tub.
"Perfect," she thought, sinking into the warm bubbles happily and closing her eyes as Morrisette crooned in the background.
"Really? This is the musical choice you let our children listen to? Darling, have I taught you nothing?"
She knew that it was a dream, but the sound of his voice made her heart flutter in her chest anyway. When she opened her eyes he was lounging in the large tub across from her, rainbow bubbles covering his stubble. His strong callused hands lifted one foot out of the bubbles and was massaging wonderfully as he arched a dark brow at her.
"Can't you play them something good like the Beatles or Queen? I'll even allow Abba, but this… come on, babe."
Zee chuckled and then groaned as he hit the right spot on the bottom of her foot. "Merlin, I need that. My feet are killing me because I'm carting around these two mini humans."
"Well, it could also be because you wear four inch heeled boots."
"I need height, Sirius."
Sirius' grin was quick as he kissed her toes. "Nah, you don't." He slid his hands up her legs, tracing the tattoo on her calf, up over her thighs and rested both of his hands across her stomach. "Hi, my Star and Goddess. Don't listen to this music, okay? Your brother Harry will make sure you listen to the classics, I'm sure of it."
"Our zvezdushka i bogonichka."
"Right," Sirius said. "Our zvezdushka i bogonichka."
"Hey, you didn't even butcher that at all," she said.
Sirius bent his head to kiss her stomach under the water. "I can speak fluent Russian in the dream world, love. Ya lyublyu tebya v kazhdom mire."
Zee sighed as she took in his words. I love you in every world. He kissed her stomach again. "Even though I've turned into a beached whale?"
"You're the most beautiful beached whale I've ever seen."
She swatted him and his grin was quick.
"You look like a fertility goddess. One of those big breasted statues from ancient times all round and gorgeous."
"You're not making this better," she said darkly.
His lips brushed hers, a shiver that felt almost real. "You're beautiful. You're amazing. You're breathtaking. You're my goddess. I say it to Jamie every day."
"Are you happy?" she whispered.
"Yes. I wish I was here with you and Harry. I want to see our zvezdushka i bogonichka come into the world, but I promise that I will be there, watching over all three of you. I'm glad you like Padfoot."
Zee's eyes widened. "Harry found him on the beach."
"Jamie and I sent him to you. Well, guided him, I suppose. I wish I could have done more, but he belongs with you. He belongs with our children."
"Sirius…"
"I'm happy," he continued, his hands rubbing her belly, "I swear it. I've been filling Jamie and Lily in on Harry's life, on my life. Fee and Monty are here and… Reggie… we've talked, and it's been really good. I wish we could have done it when we were both alive."
Tears welled up in Zee's eyes and his thumb reached out to brush it off of her lashes.
"Don't cry for me, love. I want you to be happy. You're going to be such an incredible mum, Zahira. I want them to call you 'Mama' like you call Sorcha."
"I love you," she said, her hand reaching for him. "I miss you so much."
Sirius' hand seemed to pass through hers. "The swiftness of time." At her look, a soft smile crossed his lips. "And Zee? The names you're leaning towards are perfect for our zvezdushka i bogonichka. I love you."
When she opened her eyes, she knew that he wasn't in the tub with her, but she swore that she felt him. Then she zeroed in on the wireless. Morrisette was no longer singing, instead she heard Queen, and a single tear rolled down her cheek at the lyrics.
"They've flown in the swiftness of time
These days are all gone now but some things remain
When I look and I find, no change
Those were the days of our lives, yeah
The bad things in life were so few
Those days are all gone now but one thing's still true
When I look and I find, I still love you
I still love you."
And she let the tears fall freely as she sat in the tub, rubbing her hands over her stomach.
"I love you, my darlings. Your daddy and I both ya tebya lyublyu."
The feel of them moving around in there made her smile and she closed her eyes as Queen sang about the days of their lives. The names she had for them were perfect and she knew in her heart that Sirius loved the names as much as she did.
By the time she climbed out of the tub and changed into comfortable pyjamas she was feeling hungry again. Zee had just finished eating an apple when she heard Molly's voice coming from the fire. She hated that she waddled a little into the living room and she smiled at Molly's floating head in the flames.
"Hi, Molly."
"Hi, Zee. I just thought I'd check up on you, dear, and see how you're feeling. I know by twenty-six weeks I was feeling fatter than ever."
Zee nodded, sitting down on the sofa. "Very much so."
"Have you been crying, dear?" Molly asked suddenly, narrowing her eyes. "Would you like some company?"
Zee started to protest before she changed her mind. "Yes, please."
Molly's head disappeared from the fire with a soft pop and a moment later the red-headed woman was stepping out of the fire, dusting herself off. She performed a quick cleansing charm on herself before taking a seat on the sofa next to Zee and taking her hand in hers.
"What's wrong, dear?"
Zee shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fat and my feet hurt and… I wish that he was here to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay and he's not."
Molly wrapped her arms around Zee, cradling her to her breast. "Oh, you poor dear. I can't imagine going through all of this without Arthur. But you're far from alone. Arthur and I are close if you need anything and so are Remus and Tonks. I know you said that your parents are planning to move here in January and that will be lovely, you'll see."
Zee nodded against her breast, sniffling. "Molly, I've been having these dreams…"
Molly listened intently, a soft smile on her face. "I had dreams like that when I was pregnant with Ginny. My parents had been killed and my brothers were deep in the Order. They're comforting, aren't they?"
"But they can't be… real? Can they?"
Molly smiled. "You said that the album had changed in the wireless player? Darling, I think you know that means it was."
Tears welled up in Zee's eyes all over again. "He… he said that the names I've picked for our zvezdushka i bogonichka are perfect and that he's with James and Lily and his brother and Fee and Monty… he said that he's happy."
Molly continued to rock Zee gently in her arms. "I'm sure he is and I know that he is watching over you with absolute certainty. He loved you so much. He's going to make sure that you and these babies are protected, even in death."
Zee hiccupped away her tears. "I felt him in the tub with me. My feet even felt good like I'd really had a foot massage."
Molly chuckled. "A lovely bonus, I'd say." She brushed her curls out of her eyes. "What names have you chosen, dear?"
She smiled. "I want to keep them to myself until the babies come. I want it to be a surprise. You know that I'm not letting the healer tell me who I'm having, it's better that way. Dream Sirius and I… I think I know. That's enough for me even if it is all in my head."
"The first thing my gran ever told me when I was a little girl was that just because you dream it, doesn't mean it's not real."
Zee jolted when Padfoot rested his head over her stomach as the babies kicked out. Padfoot barked and put his head back down. She scratched him behind the ears with a soft smile.
"Ya lyublyu tebya v lyubom mire," she repeated.
Molly only smiled at her. "You're going to be just fine, dear. I promise."
And Zee knew with absolute certainty that it was true.
~ ASC ~
October had already snuck in and Harry couldn't quite believe an entire month of his sixth year had already gone by. Between Quidditch practices, homework, Defence Club, his lessons with Dumbledore, trying to keep an eye on Malfoy, and trying to find time to spend with Ginny and his friends — it had been a complete blur.
His lessons with Dumbledore had remained fairly uneventful as of late. Harry had read over half of the diary by now and he was only getting more disturbed by what he had read. After leaving Hogwarts, Riddle had gone to work for Borgin and Burkes after Headmaster Dippet told him that he was too young yet to be a professor. But it wasn't the work as a shopkeeper that he found strange, it was the fixation on obtaining trophies. It had started with his discovery of Hepzibah Smith.
When Riddle had discovered that she had the infamous cup of Helga Hufflepuff, he had really put on the charm. Harry was revolted by how much charm. His diary went into explicit detail about how he had charmed her into giving him the cup.
Smith is getting a lot more handsy as of late and I think I will have to submit to her if I am going to get what I want. She likes to stroke her hand over my thighs while we have tea and she's always going on about how handsome I am, how nicely toned I am. The woman is old enough to be my mother, but she doesn't seem to have any shame in it. She insists that I call her Hepzibah rather than Mrs Smith and wants to know why I don't have a girlfriend. I asked about the cup again and she gushed on about how her family has had it for generations.
…
I did it. I let her have her way with me. The woman is insatiable!
She ordered me about like I was a child in need of learning how to do something, but when I put my fingers inside of her she made a moaning so loud, it did excite me. She invited me into her bed and she straddled me, lowered herself onto my cock, and rode me into the mattress like I was a broomstick. Not once, but three times! Afterwards, I asked about the cup again and she called me a silly, sweet boy to listen to her old tales. I told her they were fascinating and she patted me on the cheek and told me if I come back tomorrow, she'll tell me more.
She did tell me more, but only after I used my fingers on her again. She told me about how her father had heard the story from his father and how it had been passed down for generations to be saved as a beautiful monument and memory of their ancestor Helga. I told her how much Mr Borgin wanted to buy the cup from her and how much he would appreciate the history of it. She laughed at that and claimed Borgin didn't know history from geography and I can't fault her for it. She's right about that. Borgin has no idea that Smith has access to some incredible treasures. Then she snuck her hand into my trousers and gripped my cock. She told me that no one appreciated the history like I did; that no one else understood why the cup was so important to her family. I told her that I would treasure it, that I would make sure the history was appreciated and shown to anyone who would attempt to buy it. She fondled me some more before she asked me if I'd stay for tea. She shagged me again before we dressed and went back down to her drawing room.
Smith told me that the cup was rumoured to have magical powers, but no one had ever figured out what those powers were. I told her that the history of Hogwarts and its four founders fascinated me. Then she revealed to me that there's another secret, another item from one of the founders that no one in her family even knew she possessed. She told me that if anyone would appreciate it, it would be me. When she opened the box and I saw it, I knew with absolute certainty that it belonged to me. It was a locket. The locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself. I brushed my thumb over it and she giggled at me.
She will never part with them, she told me. She wanted to collect something from all four of the founders and Mr Borgin had helped her acquire this one. The cup was for her just as much as the locket. It was at that moment that I knew my charms had reached their end. She wasn't going to give me what I wanted no matter how many times I let her take me to her bedroom. I promised to come back again to see her the next day and she giggled again, telling me how sweet I was.
…
I went back for tea and this time, this time Smith realized I meant business. I saw the fear in her eyes when she caught me looking at her treasures. I killed her where she stood. It was over so fast it was almost anti-climatic. I knew I couldn't leave her to be found as someone might be suspicious so I planted a false memory in her stupid elf's mind and added atropa belladonna to her cocoa. No one will ever know I was there and the elf will be accused of killing her mistress. Poetic justice for that fat bint making me listen to her stories while she rode my cock and fingers, and giving me nothing in return. The cup and the locket are exactly the kinds of items I need. The diary wasn't enough… these will bring me to a new level of immortality. I just have to find the right places to keep them safe.
The cold way that he had come to the conclusion of just killing her had alarmed Harry. He hadn't even hesitated and then merely framed the elf and left England without a second thought. The elf's life had been ruined and Smith's taken from her all for two old trinkets. He had travelled afterwards, stopping in different places along the way. He mentioned staying in the homes of his "followers" who were honoured to host him for a few days as he made his way to Albania.
Harry had stopped reading after that, needing a break from the dark mind of young Tom Riddle. He and Dumbledore had spoken more at length about Riddle's choices: Framing Hagrid, closing the Chamber, the death of Warren, about why he wanted to stay at Hogwarts, and his travelling. Dumbledore told him that he thought if Riddle had stayed at Hogwarts he would have become more powerful quicker as he would have gained control of the castle and with the Basilisk behind him, he would have easily gotten rid of those who defied him. But he'd been too young and too indecisive to choose that route and instead left school to move onto working for Borgin and Burke.
His diary continued to spout word vomit about how stupid Muggles were, how ignorant they were of the world around them. He wanted to know why witches and wizards had all this power at their fingertips yet they abided by mundane laws to stop them from using it. If one had a spell to call down the lightning, why was it considered dark magic? He debated the topic of what constituted dark magic and what was allowed and what wasn't allowed. How it was acceptable to learn something like the Reducto Curse, yet if one performed that curse on a person, they would be arrested. He spoke of power as being something that the Ministry was afraid of and how he would show them that their ignorance was what they should fear, not the power.
Harry was finally starting to understand a little bit more about what Voldemort's goals were framing to be. It wasn't anything that he was interested in seeing happen in his future. But the diary was still something that he was keeping to himself for the time being and the last thing that he currently wanted to be thinking about as the autumn breeze brushed over him.
He was laughing as Ginny tugged him through the streets of Hogsmeade, reminding him of the goodness in the world. They had made plans to spend the day window shopping and going to their little Italian restaurant for lunch. He was just looking forward to spending the day with her. A day without having to think about Voldemort or anything else.
Harry tugged her back into his arms to kiss her, framing her face in his hands. "Never stop being you."
"Didn't plan on it," she said, her chocolate brown eyes twinkling at him.
"Food?"
"Definitely."
They headed inside and the waitress beamed at them, ushering them over to what had become their usual booth. They ordered Caesar salad and garlic bread to start as Ginny filled him on the newest letters she'd received.
"The first responses went well, I think. I received six new letters this time around. Colin says that he wants to limit no more than six responses per edition which makes sense as we don't want it to take up the whole paper."
"How will you choose?" Harry asked her, dipping the bread in the oregano and garlic oil.
Ginny took a drink of her soda before she answered. "I think I'll go based on how personal they sound. Some of them are a lot more personal than I expected. But I told Colin, I don't want to not answer some of them so I might use a school owl and personally pen a letter out to those not chosen for the paper. What do you think?"
"Sounds perfect, Compass."
Ginny smiled. "I know that we've only had two papers published and only one where I gave actual advice, but it felt right, you know? It felt like I was doing something good."
"You are," he told her. "And your advice was pretty great, especially to that one about the girl who was worried about her sister adjusting."
"Well, having six older brothers might give me insight to that."
Harry chuckled. "True. I might have to write to Compass soon."
"Oh?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, would you need advice on?"
"On how to get more alone time with my girlfriend," he said.
"Cheeky."
He shrugged. "Desperate times."
Ginny grinned and stole the last breadstick. "Lies. You see me loads."
Harry put his hand under the table and ran it over her thigh. "Not as much of you as I'd like to be seeing."
Ginny pushed his hand away. "We're in a public restaurant, Mr Potter."
Harry leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Yes, we are."
He put his hand back on her thigh and when she made to move it, he stole the last piece of her breadstick and popped it into his mouth. Her mouth dropped open in shock.
"That was sneaky!"
"I learned from the best."
She grinned as the waitress brought them their meals. Harry had ordered linguine in a wine sauce mixed with chicken and vegetables and Ginny had chosen a tomato sauced pasta full of scallops and vegetables. They each dug in and spoke about whether or not Malfoy had made a move on the room yet.
"It's been almost two weeks," Harry agreed. "I think he really doesn't know how to get into the room."
"Or he's stalling."
"Has Theo said anything more on it?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, nothing. He says that Malfoy spends all of his time with Crabbe and Goyle or alone. He barely even talks to him or Blaise unless they initiate the conversation. I don't know, I think we need to worry more about Theo sharing a room with him."
"Is he worried?"
"No, not at all, but he's a little blinded, isn't he? He's convinced that Malfoy won't hurt him and yes, he does know him better than we do, but I don't know, Harry… it just makes me uneasy. I think that there's something that Theo isn't telling me about it."
"Like what?" Harry asked.
Ginny shrugged. "I'm not sure. That's what worries me."
"Where is Theo today?"
"Somewhere off with Finn," she said. "I think they were planning on actually spending time in Hogsmeade today, but I'm not sure. Theo said they usually end up spending the day at his home. He misses him so much."
"I can't imagine not seeing you every day," Harry told her.
"It's going to happen," Ginny said. "When you finish school, I'm still going to have a year left."
"That's a while off yet," Harry said. "We don't have to think about that for a while."
Ginny nodded. "True. What about All Hallows Eve, this year?"
Harry frowned at that. "I haven't decided."
"Harry," Ginny began slowly. "You haven't gone since the funeral and I know that Remus goes every year on the anniversary."
"It makes me uncomfortable," he admitted. "And I haven't gone with them on Halloween since before I started Hogwarts. We just go over the holidays."
"Zee might want to go and I'm sure that she could use your support."
Harry's eyes met hers as he twisted his linguine on his fork. "That's a low move." He stared down at his pasta for a moment. "Not Halloween, but I'll talk to Uncle Remus and maybe on the third we can… I'll think about it."
Ginny reached out to squeeze his hand. "That's all I ask."
"If I decide to… will you come with me?"
"Anything you need, Harry," Ginny promised.
He smiled at her and then she stole a bite of green pepper from his plate and he laughed. Sometimes being with Ginny for the simple things was all he really needed.
~ ASC ~
Blaise moved into the Slytherin dorm quietly. He promised Parvati that he'd meet her after dinner, but after his trip to Hogsmeade, he was determined to corner Draco first. He found his friend lying face down in his bed, the curtains closed around him. Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be found so he pushed the curtains aside and slid onto his friend's bed. He added a silencing charm for good measure.
Draco only lifted one perfectly coiffed eyebrow. "What?"
Blaise let out a slow breath before he spoke. "You have to promise me that you won't tell Theo about this."
Draco only stared at him coolly. "Theo and I haven't exactly been sharing state secrets as of late, since I've been tasked to kill him and all. And the same goes with you, Zabini. It's better for all of us if you just pretend to hate me."
Blaise ignored this and leaned back against one of the canopy poles of Draco's bed. "That's what I want to talk to you about. You're not doing this alone."
"I — have — to," Draco insisted. "If I don't do it then he's going to kill my parents and Merlin knows my grandfather wouldn't stand up to defend them."
"Draco, you're not doing this alone. We stick together, remember? We get out of this alive and together, no matter what."
Draco let out a slow breath. "Blaise, your mother has let you go because she's too involved in her own world. Don't get dragged back in. This is about me and what the Dark Lord has tasked me to do and it has nothing to do with you. Stay away from me."
Blaise only lifted up the left sleeve of his robes. "Too late for that."
The glistening tattoo was fresh and blood still oozed from the sides of it.
"You stupid son of a bitch!" He shoved Blaise so hard that his friend slammed his head against the canopy pole. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you be so fucking stupid as to… to…"
Blaise grabbed his friend's arm. "Because friends don't let friends suffer alone! Theo is out and I will not under any circumstance allow him to go through this. He has Finn and his work in the Wizengamot has been great so far. But you and I, we don't have that luxury."
"You fucking did!" Draco shouted, unshed tears in his eyes. "You had the chance to get out and what did you do? You're as bad as they are!"
Blaise's eyes darkened. "I'll ignore that this time, but if you insult me again, I'll break your bloody nose." He grabbed Draco's face, fingers pressing into his cheeks. "I have an idea on how to get us out of this, but I need you to trust me."
"Blaise... I have to find this object for the Dark Lord. He's given me until Halloween and then I have to murder Dumbledore and Theo. How can you possibly get me out of this?"
Blaise kissed Draco's forehead. "Have a little faith my friend."
Draco's eyes drifted down to the fresh tattoo on Blaise's arm and then he was hugging Blaise tightly, tears in his eyes. "Alive and together?"
"Alive and together," Blaise agreed. "Now tell me what you know about this tiara…"
End Author's Notes:
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the lyrics to the Queen song, "These Are The Days of Our Lives".
Thanks to Ella for help with the Russian!
(Russian) ya tebya lyublyu = love you so much
(Russian) ya lyublyu tebya v kazhdom mire = I love you in every world
As to Zee's dream, I was inspired to write this scene because I had a dream the other day about my grandfather. In my dream, I came home from work and he was sitting in the garage, drinking a beer and smoking and I sat and we talked. He talked about his time in the army, about jumping out of helicopters, about meeting my grandma and about how life throws you curves and I woke up feeling both happy and sad and my room smelt like Old Spice and Dawn dish soap and I felt like he had really been there. It inspired me. I believe in that whole heartedly that those we love find ways to tell us that they're still there, still watching over us in some way.
Thank you for reading and please review!