Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
If You Can Help Her – Chapter 37 – Alone
Ludo Bagman and Amelia Bones were at the staff table during the evening feast. They had come to judge the final event (along with the three headmasters). Professor Slughorn had been sent out to place the Triwizard Cup in the maze in preparation for the final task. Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Sirius were all sitting together at the Gryffindor table. Harry sat just about as far away from Mrs. Weasley as possible, much to her dismay. She knew she had to stop this grudge now before it grew and eventually took her daughter away from her. She knew she couldn't talk about the bond in front of everybody, but everyone knew there was trouble between them.
"Harry," she practically shouted toward him.
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," he replied politely, although Ginny could tell he wasn't happy.
She took a deep breath and told herself, 'I can do this.' "I'd like to apologize in front of the whole family about the way I've been acting toward you lately. I think I've just been afraid of losing my daughter, but the way I've acted will make that fear come true. I know that you have never mistreated Ginny and that you care for her, and that she cares for you. I also know that I can trust you implicitly not to hurt her. I was being rather foolish and said some stupid things that I didn't mean, and I hurt your feelings in the process. Can you forgive an over-protective mother for behaving like an idiot?"
Harry had watched her eyes during that speech and could see the sincerity. He could even see that Molly was on the verge of tears. He could feel Ginny's happiness and pride that her mother had apologized, and anticipation of Harry's response. He also felt every eye on him. He allowed himself to imagine for a moment how Ginny would react if he didn't forgive Molly after this public apology.
He knew that he should forgive her, and in fact he did, but he doubted that he'd ever forget. Deciding that Molly should be rewarded for her effort, not to mention anticipating the snogging session Ginny would probably reward him for it, he got up and walked over to Mrs. Weasley and hugged her, saying. "It's all right. I forgive you." He then whispered in her ear, "Mum."
Molly's eyes went wide at that statement, but then she smiled and hugged him back. At this point, the Weasley matriarch was softly sobbing.
-IYCHH-
Just before the task, Ginny pulled Harry away to a secluded corner of the Great Hall. "That was very nice the way you hugged mum. It meant a lot to her. What did you whisper while you were hugging her?"
Harry blushed and looked down. "I called her 'mum.'"
Ginny's face brightened up at that as her hands reached the back of his head. She pulled his face down toward hers. Just as their lips met, they heard a woman clear her throat behind them. They separated to see Professor McGonagall watching them, looking a combination of amused and angry. "I was under the impression that you two frequented broom closets and the Gryffindor common room for that sort of behavior."
Both of them were turning red. "Er," responded Harry nervously, until he noticed the smile in McGonagall's eyes. "We didn't have time to find an empty closet."
For a split second, Minerva smiled. "Quite right, Mr. Potter. It's time for you to be going, so kiss Miss Weasley and we'll be off."
Ginny giggled while Harry took on a serious expression. "Yes, ma'am."
-IYCHH-
After a brief kiss, Harry and McGonagall located Fred and the other champions, and they walked out to prepare for the final task.
-IYCHH-
"…And as Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter are tied for first place, they will begin together when the whistle blows, while Mr. Krum and Miss Delacour will wait for their own times to enter," announced Dumbledore as the task began. Before long a whistle blew, so Harry and Fred walked into the maze together.
Within a few seconds of entering the dark maze, both Fred and Harry cast a 'lumos' spell so they could see where they were going. After about fifty yards, they came to a fork. They looked at each other.
"See you," Harry remarked as he took the right one, while Fred took the left.
-IYCHH-
Although Harry was a bit nervous, he wasn't nearly as nervous as Ginny while she sat in the stands with Hermione, Ron, Sirius, George, and her mum and dad. She was busily fidgeting when she heard Hermione whisper into her ear, "Do you think your nervousness is helping Harry?"
Ginny smiled at her friend and took a few deep, cleansing breaths and concentrated as best she could on happy things.
-IYCHH-
Harry turned a corner and grinned as he saw a creature that could be extremely dangerous if one didn't know how to handle it. He also saw what he suspected was a large patch of quicksand behind this animal. He walked close enough to this gray-feathered, brown-furred hippogriff and bowed. After about thirty seconds, the magical creature bowed back. Harry smiled as he walked up to it. "How are you doing?" he asked as he pet it. "Do you mind if I ride you?"
The hippogriff stayed calm as he mounted her, and he got the magnificent creature to fly him over the quicksand. He also noticed a magical barrier preventing him from flying higher than the edges of the maze. He silently blessed Hagrid for his first lesson on magical creatures as he dismounted. After he patted the beast, it flew back to the other side, apparently waiting for the next champion to cross its path.
After doing a 'point me' spell, he determined which way to turn at a fork in the road. He came across something he never expected to see here. A mountain troll.
-IYCHH-
Ginny felt a flash of terror come from Harry, and she immediately went to work calming him down so he could think his way out of whatever he was facing.
-IYCHH-
For half a second, Harry considered sticking his wand up the troll's nose, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea. As the stupid creature approached Harry, waving his club madly, Harry did the only thing he could think of. "Wingardium Leviosa," he cast while pointing his wand at the club. Harry actually laughed as the troll looked up to where the club was. When Harry released the club, it fell on the troll's head.
The troll didn't fall down. Instead, it got mad. It ran toward Harry, who was only calm enough to think because of his bond. He pointed his wand at the troll's feet and shouted, "Reducto!" breaking the creature's foot and causing it to fall. He then levitated the troll to the top of the maze and walked under it, keeping his wand pointed at the monster the whole time. Once he was safely on the other side, he released the troll, who fell with a loud crash. He glanced at the troll to see it wasn't moving before running off, hoping he hadn't lost much time.
-IYCHH-
Ginny was glad when Harry's fear turned into relief.
-IYCHH-
Harry soon came across an orange fog that he didn't like the looks of. He tried every spell he could think of to remove it, to no avail. He cast a bubblehead charm around his head in case the fog was toxic, and stepped forward.
After his second step into the fog, he saw that he was moving backwards. He looked down in horror to see his head was on backwards. He saw his back instead of his stomach and his legs were pointed backwards. He turned around and took another step to find himself back to normal – and on the wrong side of the fog. He thought about it for a few seconds and then exclaimed, "It's an illusion!" With that in mind he walked back into the fog and kept stepping, even though it looked and felt like he was walking backwards. After fifteen steps, he was back to normal and through the fog, so he removed his bubblehead charm.
After turning more corners and facing more creatures, he eventually came across one of Aragog's kids. The huge spider immediately attacked him as behind it he watched what appeared to be a sphinx transform into a canary in front of Fred. Harry blasted at the spider, but nothing seemed to penetrate it. The creature soon had Harry underneath it, his left foot broken by one of its legs stepping on him. Harry saw the pincers coming toward his face and briefly wondered what Ginny would feel when he died before the creature was blasted off of him. He turned to see Fred Weasley standing over him with a wand.
Fred offered Harry a hand, and soon Harry was up, leaning on Fred's shoulder. Fred then muttered a spell Harry didn't know, and a wooden crutch appeared out of nowhere. He handed it to Harry and explained, "It'll only last an hour, so we'd better hurry. Fred then performed a spell on Harry's foot, which hurt for a moment, but then felt a lot better. Harry looked to see that his left foot was in a muggle cast. "I'm not sure about healing spells, and I didn't want to accidentally remove the bones," commented Fred apologetically.
"No. Thank you very much, Fred. Now go on. We can both see the cup over there. You've earned it."
Fred smiled. "What would Ginny say if I left you here with a broken foot? Besides, I think Krum's bewitched or something. He attacked Fleur and got away before I could stun him. We can't let him find you, now can we? Come on."
Harry reluctantly took Fred's help. Together, they walked toward the cup. Well, Harry sort of hopped on one foot while Fred walked. When they got to the cup, Harry once again started to protest, but Fred insisted, "They say only one of us should have the cup. This is the ultimate prank on the tournament itself!" Harry then nodded with a smile. "On three, two one."
The moment they both grabbed the cup, they felt a familiar pull beneath their navels. They found themselves lying on the ground in a graveyard. They'd dropped the cup when they landed.
"It's a portkey," declared Fred. "No one told me about that."
"Me, neither," agreed Harry as he used the crutch to walk around.
Fred looked at one of the gravestones and his face lost all of its humor. "Tom Riddle!" he read.
Harry shouted, "We've got to get out of here!"
"Back to the portkey!" suggested Fred.
They both were making their way toward the cup with Fred ahead, holding one of Harry's hands until a voice Harry recognized said, "Crucio!" causing Harry to let go as he writhed on the ground in agony.
"GGGGGet HHHHelp!" Harry shouted at Fred, who looked like he was going to try to help Harry.
Fred ran toward the portkey and grabbed it, just as he heard someone say, "Kill the spare!"
-IYCHH-
As Fred appeared back at Hogwarts, only Ginny knew something was wrong. She felt Harry's pain as he was being tortured, and was now feeling his dread. She got up and started making her way down, followed quickly by Hermione, Molly, and Arthur, who could see by her face that something was amiss.
Fred ignored everyone who was congratulating him for winning as he ran toward Dumbledore, who was standing next to Minister Bones. "Riddle!" he shouted, panting from his effort. "Harry's in a cemetery with Riddle's grave!"
"New Hangleton," said Dumbledore, his eyes wide with shock. He turned to Amelia. "Would you care to accompany me on a rescue mission?"
"Of course, Albus. Who is Tom Riddle?"
"Lord Voldemort," he answered as he grabbed her arm and apparated them away.
Ginny, who'd heard the whole thing, ran up to Fred with tears already falling from her eyes. She had a look on her face that could've scared Voldemort himself. She started banging her fists on Fred's chest as she shouted between her tears, "YOU LEFT HIM ALONE WITH TOM! HOW COULD YOU!? He was being tortured when you left, wasn't he?"
"Ginny," replied Fred, trying to grab her wrists. His chest was starting to hurt.
"Tell the TRUTH!"
"He, er, was under the cruciatus curse when I left."
She then slapped his face hard. "I HATE YOU! YOU BLOODY COWARD! YOU…"
"He told me to get help! I swear, Ginny!" argued Fred as a red handprint appeared on the left side of his face.
"That's not all! He was already hurt, wasn't he, you…."
"That's ENOUGH Ginny!" ordered Arthur as he grabbed her wrists to save Fred's life.
-IYCHH-
Albus Dumbledore and Amelia Bones apparated to the outskirts of the town of Little Hangleton. "No doubt Voldemort will have wards around his immediate vicinity that only Death Eaters can pass through, especially considering that Mr. Weasley escaped. I suggest we hurry this way."
Together they walked briskly toward the cemetery where Tom Riddle Sr. was buried. Bones asked, "So you're saying that V-Voldemort isn't his real name."
"No, Madam Bones. Lord Voldemort is a half-blood named Tom Marvolo Riddle. I personally delivered his Hogwarts letter at the orphanage he lived at. He was a top student while he attended. After he graduated, he disappeared for a long time, but when he reemerged, he called himself Lord Voldemort, which is an anagram for his real name."
"But didn't he die when he tried to kill Harry Potter?"
"His death curse backfired on him and should have killed him, but he had taken steps to insure that he couldn't die. Instead, he was greatly weakened. Harry Potter faced him during his first year at Hogwarts, and apparently is facing him again. Here we are. Oh no!"
At that moment, they were at the edge of the cemetery and saw Voldemort standing in a new body. He was touching his wand to the arm of one of his servants, though he was too far away to recognize him.
-IYCHH-
Harry, tied to a gravestone, watched in silent horror as Voldemort pressed his wand to Wormtail's Dark Mark. He felt the blood still flowing from where his arm had been cut. He was utterly disgusted to think that his blood had been used to resurrect the monster that had killed his parents. He wished he'd concentrated more on his Animagus transformation. He had been too busy learning new hexes, so he couldn't quite manage to transform yet and try to escape. He felt so useless, and he realized with shame that Ginny was feeling the same thing. He watched as several Death Eaters apparated to the graveyard to meet with their lord and wondered briefly if he was going to be the entertainment. He was completely surprised when one of them fell over unconscious.
-IYCHH-
At that moment, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn were standing together, trying to calm down the crowd that was gathering around where Ginny had yelled at Fred. They were asking questions about why Dumbledore and Bones had left and where Harry Potter was (Fleur and Krum had gotten out of the maze by now). All of the sudden, another Professor Slughorn limped his way into that crowd. He pointed at the other Slughorn and shouted, "That's an imposter! He attacked me!"
McGonagall and Flitwick immediately pulled their wands on the imposter, who managed to trip McGonagall into Flitwick and start running until he was hit with…the Bat-Bogey hex followed quickly by the full body-bind. Ginny, who'd fired both curses, put her wand away as she glared at the person responsible for Harry's predicament. She knew that he was still conscious as the bogeys kept attacking his face while he lay there unable to move. She smiled as she suddenly felt hope coming from her bondmate while she waited for the Polyjuice potion to wear off of the imposter.
-IYCHH-
"WHAT!?" yelled Voldemort as all of them looked around to find the assailant.
"Hello, Tom. It's been a long time."
"Dumbledore!" shouted Riddle, "and the Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones."
Harry struggled to turn toward their voices, hope finally penetrating his hopelessness.
"Mr. Riddle," greeted Bones with a smirk.
"Don't call me that! Crucio!"
At that moment, she dodged and all pandemonium broke out. Hexes were flying everywhere as Harry watched in awe as Dumbledore summoned headstones to block curses. The headmaster was taking out Death Eater after Death Eater like it was easy. Harry realized why this was the only wizard Voldemort ever feared.
Bones wasn't doing bad herself, either. She'd already taken out one before Harry heard Riddle order, "Retreat!" and they all apparated away, leaving four fallen comrades behind.
"Professor, Minister!" shouted Harry, who was not sure whether they'd seen him or not, and didn't fancy the idea of being left behind.
"Thank Merlin!" exclaimed Dumbledore as he finally saw Harry. "When I saw Voldemort, I had feared the worst! Are you all right?"
After Albus freed Harry, healed the cut on his arm, and conjured him a new crutch, he and Bones collected the wands (locating and returning Harry's) and magically tied up the incapacitated Death Eaters. All but one of them. They found Peter Pettigrew had bled to death from where he'd cut his own hand off. The others that had been captured were Avery, Macnair, and Crabbe.
-IYCHH-
Albus and Harry arrived at Hogwarts moments before Minister Bones did. Ginny immediately ran to him, embracing him tightly, knocking the crutch out of his hand, as Hermione and Mrs. Weasley got in line. Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Fred, and George were behind them, and Madam Pomfrey was quickly approaching.
While Dumbledore was being informed by McGonagall that Ginny had captured Lucius Malfoy, Minister Bones stood in front of the crowd and performed the Sonorus charm on her throat. "Wizards and Witches, I'm afraid that I have a terrible announcement to make. I've seen it with my own eyes, as have Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort is back."
-IYCHH-
Chapter end