Number 4, Privet Drive
Little Whining,
Surrey,
The Kitchen Dear PetuniaI am so sorry for the bad news. Actually, it turns out that Harry really isn't dead. I don't quite understand it myself, but I'm just glad, as I'm sure you are. I suppose there really won't be a need to go out for tea.
Molly
Aunt Petunia handed the letter to Uncle Vernon, who read through it quickly and then said, "Can't these bloody people make up their minds!"
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"Please explain yourself," Mrs. Weasley told Dumbledore. A few hours had passed since Dumbledore and Snape had declared Harry alive. The entire family (save Ginny, who had locked herself in her room and nobody had told her the news) had been too happy with the knowledge that Harry somehow managed to escape death, or seven deaths, to even ask how he was alive. Lupin had gone to Grimmauld Place to announce Harry's conditions to the Order's members. Mr. Weasley had gone to the Ministry to speak to the Minister, and George had gone to his and Fred's joke shop to take care of things. Fleur, Bill, and Charlie left the rest of the family in Fred's room, because all the people in there made the room quite cramped.
Mrs. Weasley, after writing a letter to Harry's aunt, had decided that she needed to how exactly Harry had survived.
Harry was still lying on Fred's bed, showing no signs of life. Dumbledore and Snape were looking down at him.
Dumbledore sighed. He sat on a chair next to Fred's bed and looked up at everyone.
"Harry," Dumbledore began, "is a very powerful wizard."
"Well, we all knew that," Ron interrupted.
"Hush, Ron!" Hermione was eager to hear what Dumbledore had to say.
"I'm not quite sure you understand how powerful, Mr. Weasley. He's more powerful than I realized. Much more powerful. It's obvious that Harry has been having some magical studies while he was gone from England. I believe his teacher must have been a very powerful wizard. Someone who was very good with minds."
"You mean like Occlumency?" Hermione asked.
Dumbledore smiled. "In a way. This magic isn't just some regular kind or magic that allows you to go into people's heads and control them. No. I believe that from what Harry learned, he could kill a person with a single tap in the mind."
Everyone shivered, but Tonks asked, "Why didn't Harry kill those Death Eaters then?"
"Ahh," Dumbledore smiled. "It takes years and years of practice for a person to master this art of killing. If there had been one Death Eater, Harry would have been able to kill him immediately – not that I believe he would. But with so many minds in those woods, Harry had to be sure he was actually in the right mind. If he had decided to kill someone in those woods with his mind, he might have even been in Ms. Weasley's mind. I'm sure he wouldn't want to risk her life."
"But how did this mind power keep him alive?" Ron blurted.
"A person cannot die if the mind and the heart don't die, Mr. Weasley. Harry' mind was just too powerful to be killed. Even by seven killing curses. Those curses hit his body, but they never got through the barrier in his mind."
"What about his heart?"
"All it needed was love."
Now it was Mrs. Weasley's turn to interrupt. "But I thought Harry survived his first killing curse because of his mother's love for him. But Lily wasn't there with Harry this time. How could he be protected by love?"
"Molly," Dumbledore said, "I think you have forgotten that Harry himself had all the love anyone could have. He is pure of heart. But yes, that wouldn't keep his heart alive all by itself. Although Lily wasn't there, I'm quite sure that there was something there that kept his heart especially pure."
Dumbledore had a sparkle in his eyes, and this time Hermione saw it, because she knew exactly what he was talking about. In her opinion, Ron was too thick to realize what was going on.
"And what would that be?" Ron asked loudly.
"Mr. Weasley, I think it would be better to speak a bit softer," Dumbledore said, avoiding the question. "I think Harry needs quiet."
"What!" Ron said, even more loudly, which earned him the look from Hermione. "He can't even hear us!"
Dumbledore smiled. "Ms. Granger, would you be so kind as to go get Ms. Weasley from her room. I daresay she is quite upset about all this, and someone needs to tell her about Harry's condition."
Hermione pulled Ron after her across the hall to Ginny's bedroom.
Ginny had put a silencing charm inside her room so that she couldn't hear anything that was going on outside, and she had locked the door of her room so that no one could get in.
As Hermione and Ron reached Ginny's room, Ron yelled, "Ginny! Get out of there! It turns out Harry is still alive!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "She can't hear you, Ron! What do you think the silencing charm was for?"
All the same, Ron pounded on Ginny's door with his fist. "Come out Ginny! Come on!"
Hermione took out her wand and flicked it around.
"Ginny open this door!" Ron yelled. "You're really being stupid, you – "
Ginny suddenly opened the door, and Ron fell face forward in her room. "Leave me alone," she screamed. "Just leave me alone!"
Ron rolled over and looked at Hermione. "Oh, you said she couldn't hear me."
"Ronald," Hermione rolled her eyes again, "I just did the counter spell for that silencing charm, so no wonder Ginny heard you. God! How thick can you get? First you don't even know what Dumble – "
"Why are you all speaking so casually when Harry is dead?" Ginny yelled at the top of her lungs.
Fred poked his head from his room and said, "Pretty good, Ginny. You're really getting on Mum's nerves. Keep up the good work!"
"Fred!"
"I'm only joking, Mum!"
"What is wrong with you people?" Ginny said, tears on her face. "He's dead! He's dead and it's all my fault. You heard Ron!"
"Ginny, Ron was being stupid," Hermione said calmly. "Harry's not even dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's right, Ginny," Ron said. "Well, not about me being stupid and everything, but you know, even Dumbledore says Harry's not dead!"
"How can he not be dead?" Ginny asked. "I saw him get killed. With seven killing curses."
"I don't know, Ginny," Hermione said. "It's all very confusing, but Dumbledore said to come and get you."
At that, Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand and led her to Fred and George's room.
"Ahh, Ms. Weasley," Dumbledore said when he saw them enter. "Now that we are all here, I think it would be best if we revived Harry. Mind you, it might take some time."
Ginny forced herself to look at Harry's motionless body. He didn't look pale at all. In fact, now that she really looked, she saw that he didn't seem to be dead at all. He just seemed to be in a very deep sleep.
"Now Severus," Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Would you care to show how exactly we are going to bring Harry about? I daresay you are more gifted at this than I am. "
Snape didn't seem like he really cared to show exactly how they were going to bring Harry about, but nevertheless he said, "Someone has to go inside Potter's mind and pull him out. From what I can tell, he's trapped himself inside his mind. I've seen things like this before. The wizard is usually too scared to come out of his mind. Afraid if there is still any more trouble from when he went inside his own mind."
From the way Snape said 'scared' Ginny thought he was trying to say that Harry was a coward, something Ginny knew Harry definitely wasn't.
"And who do you mean by someone?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"That would be me, Weasley," Snape sneered.
Ron's fear had been confirmed. "You can't possibly let him go into Harry's mind," Ron yelled at Dumbledore. "He hates Harry. If Harry's not dead already – "
"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
"Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore began, "I am sure Severus has Harry's best interests in mind, as do we all. He - being the most skilled Occlumens – will be the one going into Harry's mind."
Ron never thought he would see the day when Snape had Harry's best interests in mind, but he kept quiet.
Snape sneered at Ron again, and pulled out his wand from his robes.
Ron looked at him apprehensively, but Ginny, Hermione, Fred, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley seemed to be standing on their tippy-toes, waiting to see if he could really do as he said.
Dumbledore gave Snape a nod, and Snape swished his wand, muttering something under his breath.
His eyes snapped all the way open, and his irises looked like they were pieces of film that were flying by very fast.
And then Snape gave a sudden "AAARGH!" and his eyes became normal again.
"He attacked me!" He cried to Dumbledore.
Fred raised an eyebrow.
"Ahh, I suspected something like this would happen," Dumbledore said.
"You suspected that Harry would attack Sna – Professor Snape while trapped in his mind, Sir?" Ron asked.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said. "You see, Harry is still suspicious of the outside world. Of course, this is his subconscious self. If he were conscious, he would of course be speaking to us right now. What we need, Mr. Weasley is someone who Harry trusts completely, and who he cares for most deeply. And with the - er – circumstances, I don't really think Severus really falls in those two categories."
Everyone stared at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore looked at Snape.
"Don't tell I have to bring one of them into his mind with me, Headmaster?" It seemed like Snape was pleading with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
Snape sighed. "Weasley…"
Mrs. Weasley pushed Ron slightly forward. "Go on, dear," she said.
Ron stepped forward, looking smug. But his smile was wiped off his face when Snape told him through gritted teeth, "Not you, Weasley."
"But I'm Harry's best mate," Ron argued.
Hermione rolled her eyes and slapped Ron in the back of his head. "How can you so stupid, Ron? Even Professor Snape can see it!"
"See what, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Mum," Fred said in a bored voice. "Snape means Ginny! How did you not notice that Ginny and Harry were going out before Harry left fro France? And before he – er – got shot with those curses, how could you not notice how he kept on looking at Ginny? It was sort of disgusting really…"
Ginny turned a bright red.
Mrs. Weasley looked at her in bewilderment.
"You and Harry, dear? Oh! Why didn't you ever tell me! Oh…"
Ginny was looking like she would rather not discuss her relationship with Harry (which to her, was not a romantic one, because she had never seen Harry even look at her like Fred said he had. Was he telling the truth? Or was he just joking with her…) in front of Dumbledore and Snape, who looked like he couldn't believe he'd gotten himself in a conversation like that.
"We're waiting, Weasley," Snape said, rather rudely.
Ginny stepped up closer to Harry. After Dumbledore told her what spell to use, she stood next to Snape, and as he twirled her wand, she did the same.
Ginny concentrated, imagining speaking to Harry, and then, she found herself in a white room. There was nothing there. She looked around and found a door with a white handle as well. As she reached for the knob, she felt a pain in her chest, as if dozens of daggers were piecing her body. She looked at Snape, who was bending over, trying to block the pain.
"Talk to him," he managed to get out.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Tell him something. He's got to know it's you…"
"Oh… Harry! Harry's its Ginny…"
The pain was still there. Snape grimaced. "With your mind," he said. "Just shoot… thoughts…"
Snape fell on the ground.
Harry, Ginny thought. Harry, it's me, Ginny. Harry, can you hear me?
Ginny? The pain became smaller. Ginny, is that really you? What are you doing here? What's going on?
Harry, please, everybody's worried. You're hurting me, Harry…
Ginny felt all the pain leave her body, but Snape was still squirming on the floor.
Harry, what are you doing to Snape, he's –Snape? That's Snape?
Ginny saw Snape cry out, as if the pain had been multiplied.
Harry! Don't hurt him! He's trying to help! If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't even be here.
Snape stopped panting, and sat up.
He shot Ginny a look filled with hatred, as if it was her fault that Harry had made him suffer so much, which it kind of was, because she was the one that told Harry who he was.
Ginny pretended not to notice Snape's look and concentrated on Harry again.
Where are you, Harry? Everyone's worried.
Worried about what?
About you, of course. We all thought you were dead…
I guess Snape was disappointed, huh?
Come on, Harry. Where are you?
Behind the door.
Can I go in?
As long as you don't bring him.
Ginny looked at Snape, who had a questioning look on his face.
"He says he's behind the door," Ginny explained, "but he only wants me to go…"
Snape nodded.
Ginny took a few steps and reached for the knob.
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Hermione watched Ginny and Snape apprehensively. What was going on? Both Ginny and Snape had dropped to their knees next to Harry's bed, and they were bending over, as if in pain.
Hermione watched as Ginny straightened up a bit, and the pain seemed to leave her body.
Ginny's eyes shot open and they seemed like they looked completely white.
Ginny's mouth twitched, as if she was speaking, and then she reached out and grabbed Harry's unmoving hand.
And Hermione saw it. She saw Harry grasp Ginny's hand tighter, as if afraid of losing her.
"He moved!" Ron said suddenly. "Harry moved! He's not dead! He moved!"
Ron reached out and hugged Hermione, and quickly let go when he saw his brother's face.
"Er… yeah."
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When Ginny stepped into the room, the door snapped shut behind her all by itself.
Harry was standing in the room, looking at her in the way that always made her heart flutter.
The weird thing about the room was that scenes from Harry's life were just flying around the room. Ginny saw herself plenty of times: at auror lessons, in those woods, at the Burrow…
"Ginny," Harry said," I can't believe you're here!"
"Harry! I am so glad you're alive. I thought I'd never speak to you again."
"What are you doing here, Ginny?"
"I came to get you."
"And why do you need to get me?"
"Well," Ginny started. "You look all dead and everything, but Dumbledore says you're still alive, and that I was the only one who could come and get you cause you'd trapped yourself inside your mind and wouldn't get out…"
"Ginny… can you believe how worried I've been about you? I thought you had died. I didn't know if my spell go to you fast enough…"
"You were worried about… me?"
"Well, yeah," Harry shrugged his shoulders, and he seemed to be reddening. "I didn't want you to die or anything…"
Ginny, trying to avoid Harry's gaze, looked around the room. She saw another white door, only it's handle was red.
Ginny walked to the door, ready to open it.
"Don't touch that!" Harry had suddenly appeared at her side, and he had tight grip on her arm.
"Why?"
"I don't want you to get hurt," Harry explained. "You will if you touch that handle. I've tried it a million times, and when Snape got here, he went straight there too, and he got really hurt… not that I cared, really…"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt if one more person tried it, would it?" Ginny reached her hand out before Harry could stop her.
The handle didn't hurt her at all. It held a welcoming feeling, as if it wanted her to open the door.
Harry looked at Ginny, amazed. Then he nodded for her to open the door.
At once, after Ginny had pulled the door open, millions of scenes came flying out of it. Ginny saw herself again, only this time she was holding the Quidditch Cup, and she saw herself lying inside the Chamber of Secrets, and she saw Harry kissing her…
And then she caught glimpses of Harry, sitting alongside an old man, saw the old man get slammed into a wall…
Were these all of Harry's old memories? The ones he had forgotten? Had they simply been locked up in a room that Harry couldn't open?
And how was it that she could open the door? Snape hadn't been able to either…
Harry looked around the room in amazement. Then he looked at Ginny.
"Go," he said, nodding towards the door that she hadn't entered this strange room through. "Go… I'll follow you."
Ginny nodded and ran back through the door. Snape was standing there, waiting for her.
"Lets go," she said. "Harry says he'll come after us."
Snape took out his wand and flicked it.
Immediately Ginny found herself staring at Harry's body.
Had she really just talked to him?
"Whoa…" Ginny shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Ginny! What happened?" Hermione and Ron were rushing at her. Snape was standing up. "Is he going to be okay? Ginny, is he going to be okay?"
In answer to their question, Harry's head lolled to one side and he groaned.
Ginny grinned.
"Well done, Ms. Weasley," Dumbledore congratulated her as Mrs. Weasley enveloped Ginny in a tight hug.
"Harry will need his rest before he wakes up," Dumbledore said," But he should be up and running in a day or two."
Fred slapped Ginny in the back lightly and said, "Knew he was in love with you, little sis."
Ginny still smiling, looking at Harry's kind, handsome, and live face, couldn't help but hope that Fred was right. One way or another, she was going to find out in a couple of days.
A/NHow did you guys like this chappie? I made sure to make it longer than normal because I made you guys wait for so long. I have so much fun writing this fic, so it's going to be kind of sad that it's almost over. But please review, and tell me if you liked it. Oh, and I just posted chapter 2 of Bloodsucking Fiends, so make sure you read it. It's HarryGinny.
Review!