Chapter eighteen

Too soon the holidays were over and everyone was returning to Hogwarts.

"How was your holiday?" Hermione asked.

Harry grinned. He then proceeded to tell them about how Remus and Tonks had bonded. He left out the talk he had with Remus about Ginny a couple of days after Christmas. He was fairly sure he had a crush on Ginny, but had decided to let it be for now. The rest of the train ride was spent exchanging stories and thanking the others for their presents.

When they arrived at school everyone was in a panic mode.

"What happened?" Harry asked Hogwarts.

"The basilisk has attacked. This time Colin Creevey is petrified. He saw the basilisk through his camera."

Harry was quite angry now and started walking towards his quarters, from there he would go to the place of attack and Dumbledore's office afterwards. He wasn't very happy with Dumbledore at the moment. The man refused to close the school, but students could be killed with a basilisk close. Harry arrived at the place of attack. Nothing was seen there anymore and a quick investigation proved that it had indeed been the basilisk. Harry returned to his quarters. He just sat there for a while and then started looking all around the castle. Looking for the entrance to the Chamber.

The next day they decided to start mission: 'Prove Lockhart is a fool.' They had decided that Hermione would carry out the first part of their plan.

"Professor Lockhart." She said during breakfast. "Now that a monster is loose in the castle. Could you please teach us how to duel?" she asked.

A lot of snickering sounded around the Great Hall as everyone recognized what she was doing.

"Off course I will teach you. You asked to learn it from the best, my girl." Lockhart answered.

Satisfied Hermione walked back to her seat.

"Well done." Ron whispered.

That evening the announcement was made official. Lockhart was going to hold a duelling club the next day. Harry was in the Ravenclaw common room and he and Terry Bootsman both thought it was going to be fun to watch. It appeared they were right. Lockhart tried to show off but landed on his butt. Everyone who was watching burst out in laughter and left the room, while murmuring things about not wanting to learn something from someone who was defeated so easily. The next week Lockhart didn't show up at all. Then he was back, sad enough he said that he had been away to fight some monster and he continued in the same way. But no one believed him anymore and that was what the seven had hoped to accomplish.

A while later during breakfast Fred and George walked towards the five friends.

"Hey guys." Fred or George said.

The five replied: "Hello, what did you need us for?"

"Well we thought that…" "

Since you guys have helped us a lot."

"That maybe we could form a prank group!" The twins said.

"Isn't pranking breaking rules?" Hermione asked.

Ron shook his head: "No, Mione. What we did to Lockhart was a prank and we didn't break any rules."

Hermione nodded. "Then I'm in." she said. The other quickly agreed and they decided to meet in Harry's quarters that evening.

"I have a suggestion." Harry said that evening. "Since the Marauders were animagi, why don't we become one to?"

"Isn't that..."

"Going to take a long time?" the twins asked.

Harry shook his head. "Watch this."

And he and the others transformed into their animagus forms. The twins' jaws hit the floor.

"How did you?" They asked in unison.

Ginny smirked. "Great Harry here can manipulate magic. That's how we did it." She said.

"Gin! Don't call me Great Harry." Harry said.

"Does that mean I can call you Amazing Harry then?" She said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You're impossible, Oh Astonishing Ginny." He shot back.

"Oh quit it you two." Ron interrupted them.

Ginny just grinned at him but shut up.

"Can you teach us that Harry?" One of the twins asked.

"Yes please?"

Harry grinned and got the hands of the first twin. After approximately ten minutes a red fox stood in the place of the twin. The other twin clapped.

"That's so cool."

"You may change back now." Harry told the fox.

Mere seconds later Fred or George appeared again. Harry did the same thing with the second twin. It appeared they had the same form.

"We need Marauder names." Fred/George said.

"Let's think about it for a while." Hermione suggested. The others agreed and everyone went to bed.

A week later Dumbledore pulled one of his stunts again. He asked for a private word with Harry at dinner. Harry went to the Headmasters office and hoped he would be able to keep his temper in check this time

. "Good morning Harry, my boy." Dumbledore started their conversation.

Harry groaned inside, if Dumbledore started like this it wasn't going to be a good conversation. It turned out he was right. First Dumbledore tried to convince him that being The Hogwarts Heir would be too much work for him. He should let the position rest until he at least was graduated. Harry noted that the man was afraid of Harry's power. He told Dumbledore that he wouldn't consider letting his position rest since he had promised Hogwarts to be in her service, but that he appreciated the Headmaster's concern. Then Dumbledore tried to convince him that being close to people would only harm them. Off course he said it in a much different wording. Luckily Harry didn't believe him. Remus' situation had taught him that you needed people in your life and that it was their choice if it is too dangerous for them. He shouldn't shut people out just because Voldypants had targeted him. Dumbledore seemed to think he could get everyone out of Harry's life. It had made Harry furious and he had a lot of trouble not shouting at the man. Finally Dumbledore got the message that he wouldn't leave his family alone and he could leave.

Harry was still furious when he entered his quarters again. He called out that he was going to take a walk and left. He walked outside to the Great Lake. He sat down and watched the wind playing with the water, sending waves to him. It calmed him down a little bit, but not a lot. He heard quite footsteps behind him and felt Ginny sitting next to him.

"Hey" she said.

"It's just, I can't understand that man. He knows I have a hard time making friends, but yet he tries to get the few I have away from me. He knows the Dursleys abused me badly, yet he is trying to return me into their care. I just don't get it Gin." He said, wanting to get it of his chest.

Ginny laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't know why he so desperately wants you under his control, but that's what he wants."

Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny, holding her close. "He tried to talk me out of being friends with someone Gin. It didn't work, but I'm afraid of what could have happened had he tried it last year. I would have listened to him. And not because he is Dumbledore, but because I thought he was right. The Dursleys had drilled into me that I'm worth nothing. I would have thought I wasn't worth risking lives for, after all I was worth nothing. I now know that isn't true, but I don't deserve the praise everyone gives me. I dream of that night Gin. I hear my dad telling my mum to run and take me. I hear my mum begging Voldemort to take her instead of me. I remember Voldemort killing her. I didn't do anything Ginny, but everyone thinks I did and expects great things from me. Why? I don't want to do that. I just want to be normal, but I can't. First the Dursleys made it impossible for me to have a childhood. I was their slave, treated worse than most house-elves. I was nothing more than a plaything they could hurt. Then later I come to the wizard world where I am a celebrity. Here I can't be a child either, people expect too much from me and the point is I don't know if I want to be a child. I have grown up and am wiser now. If you just let me play every now and then I'll be content, but Dumbledore can't grasp the fact that I don't feel like a child anymore. He keeps thinking he can control me as a child. I'm not going to let him. But I'm scared Gin, I don't know what to do and I know I can't live up to all these expectations. I'm not good enough for that."

Harry didn't know why he told Ginny this, but he felt he could trust her. He had told Ron and Hermione parts of his life before Hogwarts, but never the entire story. He now found himself telling Ginny everything, explaining who he is to her. She in return did the same to him and told him about growing up with six brothers and a mother who expected her to be a perfect lady.

At the end she gave him a warning: "I don't think you should trust my family with all your secrets Harry. They follow Dumbledore blindly and don't believe he can do wrong. Especially Mum and Percy follow him, Bill and Charlie are abroad, but I think they could be trusted, Fred and George are Fred and George, Dad just doesn't follow him blindly but he trusts him. Did you know that mum telling you how to get on the platform was Dumbledore's idea? It was the idea to get you to trust the Weasleys and let Percy be your guide through school or something. Ron would be your friends and I would be your girlfriend. They woud even use potions on you to to get you to love me. But they didn't count on Ron being so loyal. They expected him to be jealous of you for everything, so that you're friendship was never really close. They also didn't count on me and Ron being fairly independant and Hermione and Neville were never part of the plan. I only know of it because I overheard them talking during the summer and I only remember it now. I'm ashamed by my own family, why would they do that. Or at least, why would mum do that? I'm so sorry for not telling you earlier"

Harry felt Ginny cry on his chest. He hugged her close to him and assured her she had done nothing wrong. They sat by the lake until curfew, a whole lot closer than they were before.

The following day Hermione cornered Harry. Harry suspected it was about Ginny and him, but Hermione surprised him.

"I tried to find information on the werewolf bond you told me about, but I couldn't find it. Will you tell me what you know?" She asked.

Harry grinned at her, he had expected Hermione to go searching until she knew everything.

"Okay, I'll explain it to you." he said. "What you need to know is that they are true mates. It is a bit like being soulmates, only a werewolf finds his soulmates faster than other people. That is because a werewolf's mate will calm his inner wolf down. The mate has control over the wolf and can stay with the wolf during the transformation, even in human form and without wolfsbane. The animagus form of the mate is a wolf because that will make the werewolf think of his mate as his or her pack. The wolf will be very protective over the mate and do everything he or she can to prevent the mate from getting hurt. The blood ritual they did was to claim Tonks as Remus'. With this all the other werewolves know she is his and won't bother her. Even all the other animals know it. During the bonding the werewolf transforms, even if it isn't a full moon. This is for the blood ritual. I don't know exactly how this works. But that transformation was the only time a werewolf could transform without the full moon."

Hermione listened in awe. "Does he know all this?" she asked.

Harry thought of it. "His wolf must have known she was his true mate, hence the staring match." He said. "But he clearly didn't acknowledge it and doesn't know everything or else he would have known she wouldn't be in any danger."

"Are there any other things?" Hermione asked.

She watched as Harry was thinking and suddenly was blushing. He then nodded.

"Yeah, I just have to wrap my head around the implications from when I told Dora this but yeah, there is something else. As you know she is now considered his pack. That means he would never consider any, ehm, descendant of her an enemy or threat or could harm them. Even if they would be in their human forms." Harry said.

Hermione thought for a while, but then she finally got.

"I see." She smirked. They then got up and went to dinner.

Almost a month later another attack occurred. This time only a ghost was petrified. It was Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost. Luckily, since he was a ghost, he couldn't die again, but he would be in this state until the end of the year. Harry wasn't too happy with another attack, but Dumbledore finally started doing something. It wasn't much, but students weren't allowed to go anywhere alone anymore. Every prefect had to make sure everyone was in their common room at nine. This sadly meant the five had to go back to their dorms for now, but it was better than no rules. Teachers had to escort them to classrooms to. Harry only hoped that the Chamber couldn't be opened now everyone was watching very closely.


A/N: So a new chapter. I recently got a job so that means I have even less time to write now. I'm also participating in an international project and that also takes up quite some time. So it may take some time for me to update.

For those who haven't guessed yet: Harry and Ginny will be the pairing. I know some of you don't like this pairing, but it is one of my favourites so I'm just going to use it. Someone also pointed out that they shouldn't be a pairing because they have very little in common. Maybe that's true, but I don't know someone else who does have a lot in common with Harry.

Hope you like it!