Title: Good Intentions but Strange Situations
Author: Emeric Switch
Summery: AU Post OotP. What would you do if you wanted to make sure the world was kept protected in times of extreme need? What would you do if you were stranded far from home with no way back? Would you seize the opportunity, or panic? That is the choice Harry must make if he is to save the world from a disastrous fate. Join Harry and Ginny as they face the weirdest challenge they have ever faced. The question is, will they survive long enough to get around to banishing Voldemort, or will the insanity that is life finish them first?
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters, settings and situations created by JK Rowling, and anything you recognise is owned by JKR, various publishers and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: I've graduated! No more dissertation, no more geography! Except for the minor exception being when I recommence study next year as I'm doing a masters. Hmmm… Free time seems lacking. Right, dear readers, I'm promising nothing update wise because I feel that I let you all down by saying I've started something (which is true) but don't get a chance to work on it at all for months. So, I hope you enjoy what I post albeit in a stilted fashion. But for now, I'll leave you to read. Emeric Switch BSc, signing off. *Grin*
~Chapter 7 ~
The Eye of the Storm
A silvery beam of moonlight flitted between the gently swaying leaves and lit up the cave with its soft glow. Harry lay awake on his bedding watching the patterns it made. His head throbbed and his ribs ached but that was not what troubled him most. He was scared, for himself and for his companion. Ginny was asleep on the other side of the fire. Harry wanted her to be safe. He would protect her.
After the two of them had briefly rested from their harrowing fight and subsequent flight, they had seen to their wounds. Ginny had two huge gashes running down her right arm. Harry was incredibly worried at the amount of blood she had lost. He had shredded one of Dudley's old shirts and bandaged it up as best he could. Her face was battered and bruised, one of her eyes swollen shut. Harry had escaped with a gash at his temple and a few bruised ribs. He was far more concerned about Ginny's injuries than his own.
Neither had been able to sleep for a while.
Ginny had eventually drifted off into the land of dreams. Harry, however, would not succumb to the temptation. He was battling with his heavy eyelids, aware that the forest surrounding their hideaway potentially had more magical beasts in it than a solitary werewolf. He did not feel safe in this cave any more. Anything could come in and ravage them as they slept unaware.
Harry focused on the dull throb of his head. Concentrate on the pain and the mind would not sleep.
It was some time later that Harry was startled out of his stupor. He had been counting the leaf shadows when Ginny started murmuring in her sleep. It was quiet at first. Harry stopped what he was doing and watched her, anxious for her. When the words became more frantic, he went and knelt by her side.
"Ginny," he whispered, shaking her shoulder. "It's only a dream."
The girl continued to whimper, tossing and turning in a futile effort to escape her nightmare. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. She bolted upright, gasping for air.
Harry jerked his hand back, startled. "Are you okay?"
Ginny turned to look at him, her eyes wild. She visibly sagged when she saw Harry and tried to regain control of her breathing. She mutely shook her head in answer to his question. The pair sat, side by side, as Ginny fought to keep her composure. Harry was, therefore, quite surprised when Ginny suddenly sank against him and started crying.
"I want to go home," she said, her voice wobbling. She gripped Harry's tunic and sobbed into it. "I just want to go home."
The boy sighed. His awkwardness with crying girls was still a problem. He did not know what to say to make things better. But down looking at the disconsolate girl, he had to suck it up and just be there for her. His heart ached for her.
He wrapped an arm around his friend and hugged her close. Nothing was going to hurt his Ginny again.
Harry woke up as the sunlight danced over his face. He went to roll off his bed but paused as him arm was stuck under something. He glanced down and found that Ginny was curled next to him, using his arm as a pillow. She looked peaceful. A far contrast than how she was before she went to sleep. After the werewolf had attacked them.
The werewolf.
Harry sat up, panicked. They could have been attacked while he had given in to the lure of sleep. Stupid, stupid.
He need not have worried. The cave was just as they had left it, those few hours ago. It seemed like a lifetime.
Ginny let out a squawk as her head fell, Harry's arm yanked away. She grimaced as she opened her eyes.
"What'cha do that for?" she slurred. "Was comfy."
Harry looked down at her, concerned as to her physical state. His abrupt movement had probably not done any favours to Ginny's condition. She had pulled her good arm over her eyes and had curled away from the bright light emanating from the mouth of the cave. To a casual observer, she may have looked as though she was trying to get five more minutes sleep.
To him, it was obvious she was in pain.
"Ginny," Harry said as he lay a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
"Like death," she replied. She made a vague shooing motion. "Leave me to wallow."
Harry shook his head and made his way to their supplies at the back of the cave. Rummaging around, he found a potions book that contained the recipe for the headache potion. He felt as though he needed some. He was fairly sure Ginny would too once she was more cognizant. It was lucky that the ingredients were all included in their potions kits and that the mixture was simple to make. Harry's head felt like it wanted to split in two.
The only problem was that he needed water as the base of the potion. Harry looked in the water pot. The water within it was dark brown, stained with their blood. The boy paused at the cave entrance and glanced back at Ginny. He did not want to leave her vulnerable.
He also did not want to walk into the woods that had nearly killed the pair of them.
Screwing up his courage, Harry stepped outside. He would only be gone a few minutes.
When Harry returned to the cave, Ginny was still lying prone on her bedding. It did not seem as though she had moved.
Harry quickly followed the recipe in his book and positioned the potion over the fire. Turning around, he froze. There was a figure silhouetted at the mouth of the cave.
"What has happened to you?" It said.
Harry sagged in relief. Merlin.
"A werewolf," he responded, curtly. "And bandits." He moved to where their clothes were stashed and pulled out his other tunic. They had not changed from the night before; their robes were torn and covered in blood. His hair was matted with it too.
Harry grimaced as he tried to remove his clothes. His midsection was stiff and pains lanced through it when he bent over. Merlin moved to help and gasped when he saw the mottled colours splayed out over Harry's chest.
"Foolish boy," he scolded, though not unkindly. "Do not move. Let me heal you."
The elder wizard positioned his hands over Harry, hovering over the bruises. Magic surged through them and onto Harry. It was a curious feeling, tingling yet soft. Almost immediately, the patient felt the constriction surrounding him fade away. He sighed in relief.
"You should help Ginny," he told the man. "She was hurt badly."
Harry monitored the headache potion as Merlin tended to Ginny. The wizard's face pinched when he saw hers and he had a hollow look in his eyes when he uncovered the gashes. Ginny was still unconscious as he treated her.
She soon woke up though, and she and Harry drank a dose of the potion. Ginny sat staring at the two pale scars on her arm as it sat within a makeshift sling. Her eye was still slightly swollen but the purple bruises that had coloured her face were almost faded into non-existence, like the ones on Harry's chest.
"I must apologise, dear children," Merlin said. They were sat around the fire, clutching bowls of food. No one was eating though. Harry felt too nauseous. "I could only do so much to heal you. A body must heal naturally; I merely took away what I could."
"They were after you, you know," Ginny said to their mentor, her voice flat and dull. "Those bandits."
Merlin grimaced and bowed his head. "I do indeed know, Ginevra." He spoke in a low, weary tone. "If one can alter the natural Magics of the world, it is a crime against the kingdom. I see now that merely equipping you with a blade was not enough."
The three sat in silence for a long moment before Merlin stood up and started to pace.
"Our Magics once were unshackled, children. Wizards were able to alter their flow and bend them to their will freely. It was a magical time." The elder man gave a wistful smile. "However, the common folk began to revolt against it. They were forced to put hard work into their livelihoods whilst warlocks, to them, could do as they pleased. It irked them; and they questioned our King's word on the sanctity of the Magics. It was perhaps unfortunate that Uther had started to have these feelings too. Magicians were causing more trouble than he was comfortable with and his attempts at ensnaring the beau of his choice through magical means were not working either. In the end, all manipulation of the Natural Magics was outlawed."
Merlin stopped walking about the cave and turned to face the duo. "Before he did this though, he chanced one more magical feat. Uther asked a close friend to change his appearance to that of his beau's husband. He stole into their stronghold and that night, Uther conceived a child by her. It is my hope that when the child takes the place of the father as king, Magics will once again be free to be used.
"But until King Arthur comes to power, there will always be a danger to you, to us."
Ginny's mouth fell open. "All that actually happened?" she asked, shocked. "I thought it was just a bedtime story."
Harry watched as her face grew more outraged. "You, Merlin!" she shouted at him. "It was you that allowed Uther to rape Igraine!"
The old man recoiled. "Ah, you did say I was a legend, did you not. I suppose you know more about me than I would like," he said. "I hope you realise that I am deeply regretful of this deed."
"So you know Uther then?" Harry asked, jumping in to deter Ginny's anger. "He knows where you live and can come after you?"
"Unfortunately for Uther, and fortunately for us, I travelled to Camelot to meet with him. He knows not of where I am from or even my true appearance. But he knows I am indeed a wizard and he has put a bounty on my head." Merlin answered the question and turned to Ginny. "Ginevra, I only consented to Uther's wishes for the good of our Magics. If he had seen that they were not the work of evil beings and listened to my words and not those of the common folk, casting Magics would not be the crime it is. Alas, my plan did not work as intended and reinforced Uther's belief that they should be outlawed lest anyone discover that he had done this deed."
"Yes, well, good job with that Merlin," said Ginny, sarcastically. "It worked a treat." She abruptly stood and stormed out of the cave.
Harry made to follow her but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Would you attempt to make her see reason, Harold?" Merlin asked. The man looked older by far than his appearance suggested.
Harry paused, thinking it over. "What has happened to Igraine?"
Merlin gave him a rueful smile as he released him. "She is now married to Uther."
Harry left the cave with his mind reeling.
Harry caught up to Ginny with no trouble and walked beside her in silence. They were heading in the direction of Knighton, whether to restock their supplies or to be somewhere other than the woods was a mystery to Harry; Ginny was storming forward at a brisk pace. He was grateful for the silence. Harry was busy digesting what Merlin had told them about the social situation of this time. The outcome of Uther and Merlin's machinations was incomprehensible to him.
It was when the pair were about halfway to their destination that Ginny sighed and started talking.
"When I was younger, I had my dad tell me bedtime stories. I loved listening to him and imagined I was there, being the hero and saving everyone. I started questioning them though; dad made them child-friendly and I wanted to know the truth." Ginny gave Harry a grin, which he returned. "I wanted to know what had really happened to the dragon that had been 'defeated'; I wanted to know what happened to the Boy-Who-Lived after he beat You-Know-Who."
"About me?" Harry asked in surprise. "I was a bedtime story?"
Ginny laughed. "Of course, you were my favourite. You were actually real and I worked out your age and knew you'd be going to Hogwarts with me and I was so excited!" She rolled her eyes and snorted self-deprecatingly before apologising for the spiel. "You were what made me want to search for the truth in other tales."
Harry was flummoxed. "Why?"
"Because I listened to Ron when he moaned about your relatives, I read his letter to mum when he said you weren't expecting Christmas presents, I overheard Fred and George talking about how they had pulled bars off your bedroom window. That wasn't the fluffy story of a hero; that was horrifyingly real. But when you saved me from the Chamber, I knew for sure I had to know the truth. Those fancy stories needed to be dissected because I had witnessed a heroic act. And you were covered in muck, injured and tired. How could a hero be a real person? I reckoned those other stories had to have revolved around a proper event." Ginny paused to catch her breath and they descended into silence once more.
"I'm not sure I believed what I had discovered wholly," she at last said. "I found out the timeline of King Arthur's stories and because I was older, I understood the implications of what Uther had done. But I just didn't connect the story to the legendary Merlin and realise that these things would actually have happened."
"So you know that Igraine is now the queen?"
"Yeah, I know the story," Ginny confessed. "I think I'm more annoyed with myself for forgetting it, Harry. I can't picture our Merlin as being that kind of bastard."
Harry's eyes widened at Ginny's use of language but he nodded his agreement. "He's definitely a Dumbledoreish kind of person," he said. "But Dumbledore was the one who left me with the Dursleys, which in turn led me to live in a cupboard for ten years. Its one of those 'greater good' situations."
"You lived in a cupboard?" Ginny asked, her expression stony. "You can forget You-Know-Who, I'm going to kill Dumbledore!"
Harry's laugh subsided quickly when he realised she was serious. "It's in the past now. There's nothing I can do about it."
"But you're forgetting, Harry, that it's in our future! It can be changed."
"Not for me. For the other Harry, maybe, but I'll still know."
The duo lapsed once more into silence as they continued their way to the town.
Knighton was bustling with activity when Harry and Ginny approached it. The sun shone brightly above the town. The teens wandered among the stalls picking up necessities to save a future trip. They garnered a few strange looks; Harry quickly realised that signs of their fight still showed on his face. He knew Ginny looked a bit worse for wear and he had been abused much more about the head than she. At one stall the vendor, a jolly woman who reminded Harry a great deal of Mrs. Weasley, enquired after their injuries.
"Has there been trouble in the area, dears?" she asked, wanting news of the land. Harry obliged her with a brief recap of their fight with the bandits. Other vendors were inconspicuously listening in; no one wanted to be caught up in any rough dealings.
"But they are both dead now," Ginny added. "A wolf came by and tore them to pieces." The townsfolk obliged the story a shudder.
"How did you escape from the beast?" One local wanted to know.
"Harry… Erm, Harold, here, killed it when it pounced on me." Ginny continued. Harry shifted nervously, hoping no one would want further details. Fortunately, the crowd were to busy slapping his back and cheering his boldness to ask after the actual deed. Ginny decided to have a bit of fun and embellished Harry's acts of heroism, gesturing to her bandaged arm. By the end of the tale, his face was red as he bid the group farewell. Some of the younger girls were looking after him with blatant curiosity.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the excited chatter, Ginny burst out in laughter.
"Well, that's cheered me up!" She said joyfully. Harry gave her a gentle shove in admonishment.
"I'm glad one of us had fun," he mumbled.
The busy afternoon subsided into a peaceful evening. The sky inched from a brilliant blue into a mottled orange sunset. The duo meandered in the direction of their cave, beginning to make their way home for the night. The day had been a calm contrast to the excitement of the night before; the story telling of the fight had been the highlight. But as they walked by a farmstead on the outskirts of the town, Harry and Ginny heard a bang followed by yelling.
"You blithering idiot!" A harsh voice rendered the air. "Get back here, you scoundrel. I will raise my fist to you, for sure!" Out of a barn at the rear came tearing a young boy; not any young boy, but Richard the lad Harry had caught stealing. The man, the stable master fearfully mentioned in the jail block, was gaining ground on him. Hooked through his belt was a whip which he was currently extracting. He brandished it as he ran yelling the things he would do with it.
Harry had watched enough. "Hey!" he yelled at the man. "Leave the kid alone!"
The stableman paid Harry a brief glare and continued on after the boy. "He deserves everything he has coming to him, the wretch," he growled, more directed towards the scarpering child than to the duo but the lad had disappeared.
"Blast it!" the man yelled. "Blast it all!" He laid his hands upon his knees, panting after the excursion. The whip trailed along the floor gathering dust. Harry and Ginny peered after Richard but could see no sign of hm. The boy had escaped into the bushes that skirted the property.
"And what of your interest in that fool?" The stable master had approached the interfering pair with his hands on his hips. The stance was not unlike Mrs Weasley's but a lot more menacing was the air of the man behind it. "What right have you to dictate my discipline?"
"You were going to hurt him!" Ginny exclaimed.
"So?" said the man rhetorically. "He needs a world of pain if he cannot remember that my horses must remain alive and well."
"Whatever he may have done, he does not deserve to be whipped," Harry retorted, squaring his shoulders towards the accuser. "So punish him if you must but not with violence."
The hulking man barked a cruel laugh. "And a runt like you is going to stop me, I suppose?" he questioned. "Begone young man, for you are as much of a fool as he!" With those words, he put a meaty hand upon Harry's head and pushed. The boy landed on his rear and looked up to the man walking away. Ginny helped him to his feet.
"Never mind," she sympathised looking after the retreating man. "At least he didn't get poor Richard."
Besides Harry's damaged pride, nothing was hurt in the encounter. Harry and Ginny continued on their way back to the cave not noticing the eyes in the bushes that watched them, nor the boy himself who followed them home.