Chapter Two: Once in a Thousand Years
A blinding flash of gold light filled the Hospital Wing, startling all of it's occupants out of varying depths of slumber, all of them except for two. Harry and Ginny were in some kind of…. trance, for lack of a better word, a pale red aura encompassing the both of them.
"What the bloody hell was that?" asked Ron, voice still thick from sleep.
"RONALD WEASLEY!" came the reprimanding voices of both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.
"Sorry…"
Mrs. Weasley stood up and strode over to the curtain separating Harry's bed from the rest of the room, think to check on him to make sure he was sleeping comfortably. Upon opening the curtain, she was shocked by what she saw.
"ARTHUR! GET OVER HERE!"
There was Harry and Ginny, with Ginny lying on top of Harry, her head resting on his chest. This would have been enough, except for the fact that they were both encompassed in a glowing aura, this time gold. When you add in the part where they were floating two feet above the bed, you have a very shocked mother.
"What is it Molly, dear?" turning to look at Harry and Ginny, he saw what caused her to sound so distressed. "Oh, dear, oh dear..."
"I don't know what's happening, but we'll just have to separate these two, won't we?" she asked, more for effect than anything. Her mothering instincts taking over, she took two steps forward before Arthur could stop her. As she reached down to try and pry the two apart, a voice came from the shadows.
"Do not touch them!" said Remus, an odd look on his face.
"But why not?" asked Molly, seemingly disgruntled that she was stopped from doing what she thought was right.
"I'm not sure what's happening, but the general rule of thumb is to never touch someone while they're glowing. If you do, you could cause them irreparable harm. If you touch those two, Molly, you may not recognize the two of them when they wake up," said Remus, and then adding, almost as an afterthought, "If they do wake up."
Swallowing the lump that arose in his throat at this announcement, Arthur stepped forward, and placing a comforting hand on Molly's shoulder, said, "Alright Molly, I'm pretty sure that's reason enough to leave the two of them alone until we figure out what's going on," looking at Remus, he continued, "What do you suggest we do Remus?"
"I say we get Dumbledore down here, I'm sure he'll know what's happening, or at least a good idea of what's going on. I'll go get him now." and with that, Remus strode out of the room.
Molly, suddenly realizing, what would have happened if Remus had not stopped her from interfering, wiped a few tears from her eyes, and turned and looked at Arthur. "What if Remus hadn't stopped me, Arthur? We would have lost both Harry and Ginny, and I don't want to lose either of them. Ginny is our only daughter, and Harry might as well be one of our sons."
Losing all control on her emotions, she turned into Arthur's shoulder and cried in earnest.
"It's all right Molly, dear, you didn't touch them and nothing happened. There's no reason for you to cry, you just did what you thought was right at the time. I guess we have Remus to thank for preventing us from hurting the two of them." said Arthur, running a comforting hand through her air.
"I'm so worried. I've never seen something like this before. What if this is hurting them?"
"There's no use in worrying about it until Albus arrives and tells us what's going on."
"I suppose your right." agreed Molly, sitting down in the chair next to Arthur.
Albus strode into the Hospital Wing, Remus alongside him, just as everyone else beginning to drift off. Walking over and standing alongside Harry's bed, he looked at the two of them, with Remus at his side.
"I see what you mean Remus, and I may have an idea, of what's going on. Tell me though, was the aura around them any other color at any point?"
"I believe it was gold before I left? Why? Does this mean anything?"
"Yes my dear Remus, it means all the difference. The two alternating auras, paired with the current position that they are in, leads me to one conclusion."
"What is that conclusion Albus? It's nothing bad is it?"
"What is happening is definitely not a bad thing, and if my theory is correct, what is currently happening to young Harry and Ginny is one of the most wonderful things that can happen to two people in this world."
"You don't mean…?"
"Yes Remus, that is exactly what I'm talking about."
"You can't be serious Albus. Harry and Ginny barely know each other, and while I know it's usually only happens to young couples, Harry and Ginny don't even really know each other. Ginny has always liked Harry, we already now this, but it can't just be a school-girl crush. We don't even know how Harry feels about her. You can't possibly even be considering this is what's happening, with no evidence pointing towards it."
"We will not know for certain until they wake up," turning towards the door, Albus gestured towards Remus, "Come Remus, let us get some rest, and we'll find out about what happened when they come out of it. I'll have to see if I can dig up the instrument that I have to test for this occurrence."
"I suppose you're right," said Remus, turning to follow, the two of them left the room for the night.
Bright, hot, mid-July sunlight was shining through the windows by the time Harry awoke. Waking up feeling the best he had in years, he felt Ginny's head laying on his chest, her iridescent red hair fanned out over him, looking like a blanket of fire.
Tightening his arm around her waist, he bent his head and kissed her on her forehead, causing her to snuggle closer to him. A sudden feeling of warmth and safety shot through him, causing him to relax. He was startled out of his revere, by the sound of the curtain around his bed.
"Hello Harry, I hope I'm not disturbing anything," said Dumbledore, with his eyes twinkling.
Harry said, along with the faint blush creeping into his face, "Oh no sir, I just woke up, and Ginny's still asleep."
"How are you feeling Harry? You must be terribly sore after what you experienced yesterday." Albus asked Harry, carefully sidestepping the fact that all of Harry's bruising had disappeared and all his lacerations were closed and healed cleanly as well.
"That's the thing Headmaster, I feel the best that I've ever felt in my life."
"I am not surprised at that one bit Harry."
"Why is that sir? You would think after being beaten half to death you would feel like death. Not to mention all the bruising and cuts."
"The truth is Harry, you have no bruising or cuts."
"What? What happened? Did I die? Is this some kind of gateway or something?"
Albus, chuckling softly, said, "Oh no Harry, you are definitely not dead, you are very much alive. Much more alive than anybody else in this world and it has everything to do with that wonderful young woman lying next to you."
"What did Ginny do? I know something happened last night between the two of us, but I'm not sure what. Do you know what happened?"
"I'm almost positive that I do Harry, but I suggest that we wait until the rest of your friends return from breakfast. They will most likely want to hear this too. I need to go up to my office and get something before we discuss this anyways. I shall be back soon Harry," said Albus, turning to leave.
Harry, deep in thought, did not notice Ginny stirring next to him.
"Hey there love," said Ginny, fingers running through Harry's hair.
"Hey Ginny," said Harry.
"Is something wrong Harry? Cause you look worried, and I feel worried."
"Ginny? Do you know what happened last night?"
"No. All I remember is telling you that I love you, then falling asleep on your chest."
"Something odd must have happened last night. Albus said I was completely healed, and it was because of you. He said, that he'd explain it to us, so I suppose we'll just have to wait until he gets back."
Instead of verbally responding, Ginny simply snuggled closer to Harry, while Harry responded by wrapping his arms tighter around her.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this."
"Oh, yeah? Try me."
"Since I was ten years old."
"I see. We'll just have to make up for lost time then, won't we?"
"I suppose we will," Ginny said, leaning down towards Harry.
A smile on his face, Harry sat up and closed the distance between the two of them. As their lips met, they both finally achieved what they had wanted, and they both somehow knew that this is where they wanted to be for the rest of their lives. Unbeknownst to them, a wave of very ancient and little known magic emanated from their bodies.
"Harry?"
"Yes, Ginny?"
"Since when you have you felt this way about me?"
Harry was about to open his mouth and respond when a familiar voice interrupted him.
"Yes Harry, I believe that we would all like to know when this occurred," said Ron, his voice laced with malice.
"Go away Ron! This isn't about you," Ginny responded, her voice shaking with rage.
"No. I want an answer. All of a sudden all of us in this castle get this weird feeling, and Dumbledore tells us to go and check on you and see how you were doing. I come up here to talk to my friend, and find you snogging my sister. Why is that Harry?"
"Calm down Ron," interjected Hermione, "We all know how Harry is about his feelings," she paused and smiled apologetically at Harry, "He may have felt this way about her for a long time."
"Is this true Harry?" Ginny asked, hope shining in her eyes, and a feeling of hope running through Harry.
"Yes."
As soon as that one word left Harry's mouth, all the color had drained out of Ron's face. Swaying back and forth on his feet, looking as if he had just found his mother in bed with Draco Malfoy, Ron slumped to the floor. Ginny simply rolled her eyes, while Hermione revived him.
"Thanks for the support Ron," bitingly said Harry.
"Yeah well, that's my only sister, and all of a sudden I find my best mate snogging her in bed.
"Shut up Ron! Just listen to his explanation," said Hermione.
Ron slumped back in the chair, whether this was from his recent fainting spell or Hermione telling him to shut up, no one knew. He wasn't in any position for further interruptions anyways. Nodding his thanks to Hermione, Harry started in on his story.
"Well I guess it all started back in my fourth year, back when I was trying to find a date for the Yule Ball."
At this Ginny grumbled something about making Harry regret that day, but Harry wasn't having any of it.
Chuckling, Harry continued with his story, "There's a good explanation for that Ginny. Well for me it is, but I'm sure it isn't for you. Anyways, when Ron suggested that, I never really considered it. At that point all I really considered you as was a sister. Anyways, when I saw you dancing that night with Neville, I had this weird feeling. I just passed it off as feeling protective of you, but it didn't really feel that way to me, and I just ignored that feeling."
"There were many other incidents after that, but they were mostly minor, and I was easily able to convince myself otherwise. You were Ron's sister, after all, and I kept trying to convince myself of that. But as time passed, that got harder and harder. Things finally came to a head, that day of that first D.A. meeting in the Hog's Head. Hermione "casually" let slip that you were dating Mich…, that git, and this time what I felt I knew wasn't that brotherly protectiveness. It was full blown jealously and envy. I wanted to be the one with you. Once things fell apart with Cho, I was going to say something, but then the whole business with the Ministry came about, and what I was planning to do about you was pushed to the side."
"Harry…."
"No, Ginny. Just let me finish my story."
"Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah. After the Ministry. I had finally made my decision, and I was planning on saying something to you before we separated for the summer. Of course, like everything in my life, my delicately laid plans fill apart. You mentioned to Ron about how you were dating Dean, and I was crushed. I had finally gotten my act together, and you had moved on"
"I never really moved on Harry, I've always loved you and wanted to be with you, and at your side for the duration of our time spent on earth."
"I'm sorry I was never able to get my act together sooner Ginny."
"That's alright now, what's an extra year or two of waiting, when we have the rest of eternity together?"
"Very true," Harry said, looking into her eyes, as he wrapped his arms around Ginny, and leaned in to kiss her, they were interrupted by a very irate Ron.
"I believe that you have a story to finish Harry?"
Settling for only a brief kiss, Harry turned back to the rest of them and continued.
"Yes I suppose that I do. Well anyways, when you are more or less completely isolated for a month, you can get a lot of thinking done. I thought about Sirius, and I finally had accepted the fact that he was dead, and while not really my fault, I did play a part in it. I also thought about how I felt about Ginny, and I had come to the conclusion that I loved you. Not just passing love, but real love, the type that is embedded in your very soul. I…"
"Wait. Is that what you were going to tell me before you passed out yesterday? That you loved me?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Say it."
Looking straight into her eyes, Harry took a deep breath, and said with all the love that he felt for her, "I love you Ginny Weasley."
"I love you too, Harry Potter."
As a warm feeling spread throughout their bodies, touching their very soul, there was no stopping them this time. The light kiss that they had started very quickly turned into a deeper and more passionate one. As their lips parted and their tongues met, Ron decided this was time to intervene.
"All right you two," he said, as the two of them broke apart, "You'll have plenty of time to do this while I'm not around and feeling nauseated. I had a bloody good breakfast this morning and I don't feel like throwing up. We're going to go get Dumbledore and the rest of them. We'll see what they have to say about this."
Grabbing Hermione by the arm, she and Ron left the room.
Grinningly happily, Harry settled for sitting up and settling Ginny onto his lap. Ginny settled down into Harry's body, and Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist. As that odd, yet comforting, feeling of warmth entered his body, he decided to ask Ginny about something that had been on his mind all morning.
"Ginny? Have you noticed something strange this morning?"
"Besides waking up next to you?"
"Yeah, besides that."
"Not especially. Sometimes I've gotten a certain feeling of warmth that kind of settled itself into my body, not really. Why? Have you noticed something?"
"Yeah I have. It's kind of almost like I'm feeling emotions that aren't mine."
"You don't mean… You don't think? Volde….?"
"No, there's no chance that it's Voldemort. These are happy feelings. Like when I woke up this morning, I was happy beyond belief, but there was also an underlying feeling of warmth and safety that weren't mine. I mean, I felt that way, but this was different, it just kind of shot through me."
"Now that you mention it, something similar did happen to me. I woke up this morning feeling warm and safe, but then this wave of euphoria passed over me that definitely wasn't mine."
"You don't think, last night, might have…."
"I think we're both thinking similar things Harry."
"So you might tend to agree with me when I say that last night, some kind of emotional bond was formed between us?"
"That's exactly what I think, Harry," responded Ginny and Dumbledore simultaneously, who was standing in the doorway, a smile on his face. He walked into the private room, and sunk into the nearest arm chair, allowing himself to settle into the stuffing. He was closely followed by Arthur Weasley, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Remus. All of them had slightly confused expressions on their faces, except for Fred and George, who both displayed identical grins, and something shone in their eyes that Harry didn't like. Remus looked tired and haggard, as if the full moon was approaching. A feeling of apprehension passed through Harry.
"Harry," Ginny started, "Did you just feel apprehensive?"
"Yeah, I did."
Everyone in the room looked stunned at this announcement, everyone except for Dumbledore, who looked as calm and cool as collected. Molly Weasley on the other hand, looked positively murderous.
"Hello everyone," said Harry, quite tentatively as he glanced at Mrs. Weasley.
"Hi, mum, how are you?" Ginny asked cheerfully, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.
"Don't you start with me young lady, sitting in bed with Harry, acting like a scarlet woman. Have you no shame?"
Dread shot through Harry, as much Ginny's, as it was his. He decided to try stopping Mrs. Weasley before she totally blew up on Ginny.
"Mrs. Weasley…"
"Don't try and stop me Harry. I know this isn't your fault. I know it isn't your fault that Ginny decided to try and take advantage of you while you were unconscious."
"Mrs. Weasley…"
She decided to totally ignore him this time. "What about Dean, Ginny? I know you like Harry, but this is no reason to try and take advantage of what has happened to Harry and use it to you benefit. Now get out of that bed right now, and we'll see if we can't find a good nunnery out in Wales to put you up in."
As Ginny's eyes welled up with tears, Harry tried to put his arm around her to comfort her, but Mrs. Weasley didn't want to see that.
"Don't try and cover for her Harry. We know it isn't your fault. Get out of that bed right now Ginevra Weasley, and don't ever try this again!"
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but surprisingly enough it was Albus that intervened.
"If my theory of what happened last night is correct, you're going to sorely regret taking Ginevra out of that bed Molly."
"Nonsense! She is my daughter, and I will not have her acting this way!" Striding over to Ginny's side of the bed, she physically lifted and broke her away from Harry.
As soon as this happened, pain beyond pain shot through Harry's very mind, body, and soul. It felt as if someone was trying to drag out his soul from his ribcage. He was struggling to breathe properly, and his muscles didn't want to cooperate. Looking over at Ginny through this haze of pain, he knew that she felt the same way. She could barely stay upright, even with Mrs. Weasley's help, and before she was halfway to the door, she had collapsed.
"Get up Ginevra! We have no time for these games!"
"I can't get up," Ginny struggled to say, between the deep breaths she was taking, trying to steady herself, "I need to get back to…."
Crawling over to the bed, Harry reached over and pulled her up. As soon as the contact between the two was resumed, the pain dissipated almost instantly.
"GET OUT OF THE BED GINNY! WE ARE NOT DOING THIS!" raged Mrs. Weasley.
"Do not try to remove her again Molly," said Albus. "She can leave of her own free will, but a soon as you try and force them apart, that pain will return."
"What are you talking about Albus? Does this have something to do with last night?"
"It has everything to do with last night."
"What are you talking about Albus? Unless…. You couldn't possibly mean… They barely know each other!"
"Apparently they had some feelings for each other that they hid from everyone else. Isn't that right Harry, Ginevra?"
"Yes."
"I also believe that Ronald and Hermione heard the story behind this as well?"
"Yes."
"Alright, know that we know that this is true. I believe that I can explain to the rest of you here, what the technicalities of this are."
"Of what?" asked Harry, having absolutely no idea of what Albus was talking about. He
could feel Ginny's confusion as well.
"I am talking about your soul bond." A collective gasp went up around the room. "Last night was the first time this has happened in 250 years."
"So wait, this is why I can feel Ginny's emotions?"
"Yes it is. There are certain things this bond allows you to do, the first being allowing you to know each other better than any other couple on this planet. You will also be able to send magical energy across this bond, and you will also be able to feel each other's emotions."
"I see."
"Yes, it is a relatively simple concept. You have separate souls, but this magical bond allows you to connect at a magical and spiritual level that few can only dream of."
"Albus?" interjected Remus, "Is there any chance that this bond is one sided? Is it possible that only one of them is really in love with the other?"
Both Ginny and Harry could feel each other wonder this question as well.
"There is no chance of this what so ever," responded Albus, "A soul bond requires a deep seated love for the other person ingrained in your very soul. Very few people are born with the ability for a soul bond, and the first time you see this person that you are meant to bond with, you will know, and this will be the only person that you will ever be able to bond with. Even though it was a long time ago, I imagined something happened between Harry and Ginny on that platform on Harry's first day on the Hogwarts' Express."
"Could that be the reason why I've felt this way about Harry since I first saw him?"
"That is quite possible. No one ever really knows what the reaction is, the people that it happens too just know that something happened between them."
"I remember something," said Ron.
"What is that Ronald?" asked Molly, "Why haven't you said anything before?"
"I never really thought about it before, it's just that when Ginny wished Harry 'Good luck' on getting through the platform, both of them kind of had this white glow around them. I never really thought of it this way before, I figured it was just a trick of the light. Muggles have no idea how to create a decent artificial light."
"Could this be why I felt such a strong pull to save Ginny when she was trapped in the Chamber of Secrets?" at the mention of the Chamber, a sudden sadness engulfed Harry, and he knew it was from Ginny. He tightened her hold on her and comforted her with soothing words while he ran his free hand through her hair. Unbeknownst to the two of them, a very pointed look was directed at Mrs. Weasley from Dumbledore.
"That Harry, is quite possible an almost certainty. You may have not have known it yet, but when you feel her life to be in danger, you will have a sudden pull to find her and save her. The same will go for you Ginny, if you ever feel Harry in danger."
"Now, I also mentioned that you were able to push magical energy through this bond. Have you noticed anything that might be evidence of this Harry?"
"Well, I all my bruises and cuts are healed, and…" Harry reached up to his face where his glasses should have been, "I can see without my glasses!"
"Yes Harry, I believe that when this bond was formed, enough magical energy was passed through to allow you to fully heal, including your eyes."
"That's wonderful Harry!" said Ginny.
"No Ginny, it's not wonderful," a frown crossed her face, and everyone else's face in the room. "You're wonderful. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but intend on spending the rest of my life on proving it to you that I am worth it."
As with the last time that they verbally declared their love and devotion for each other, that warmth that seems to permeate every pore of your body, filled the room again.
"Harry, you don't have to do anything to deserve me. I've loved you forever, and this is like every dream come true for me. We deserve each other. I will take you up on that offer of proving that you're worth it though."
"Sounds like a deal."
"Was there ever any doubt?"
"None at all."
As everyone in the room looked at the two of them, eyes brimming with tears, they were unceremoniously knocked unconscious by the kiss that was shared between the two of them.
"Um Ginny?"
"Yes Harry?"
"Why is everyone else in the room lying on the floor?"
"Does it matter? I like them much better this way."
"As would I, but I want to finish this little discussion so we can go spend some time alone."
"Good idea. I don't have my wand though."
"Either do I. But I guess this is worth a shot."
Harry waved his hand across the group and murmured "Rennervate". Surprising the both of them, everyone regained consciousness.
"Harry, did you know you could do this?"
"No, we'll talk about this later."
"Alright."
"Yes, it appears that because the bond is still newly formed, it's still heavily charged. The bond will begin to dissipate as the day wears on though. And there is only one way to recharge it."
"How is that?" asked Mrs. Weasley, already fearing the answer.
"The two of them will need to share a bed. Physical contact is the only way to recharge the bond, and during sleep is the most convenient way to do so."
A murmur of sound ran through everyone in the room, nothing really loud enough to discern.
"We'll deal with that as it comes though, for now, I'll demonstrate this little instrument that will prove the soul bond visually."
Pulling out the same silver instrument he had used that night that Mr. Weasley attacked, Dumbledore began to tap with his wand in a strange rhythm, murmuring something in another language that nobody could understand.
As he finished with a flourish, two red and gold phoenixes flew out of the instrument and hovered in mid-air. They were bound together with fine gold and red threads.
"Curious. Very curious. Everything is here that demonstrates the soul bond. The both of you have the same animal, the bi-colored threads are attaching them, but the color of the phoenixes is very odd. Normally, one of them would be red, and the other gold. But they are both red and gold."
"Is there something wrong sir?"
"Not really, Harry, just something odd going on. What you two have may be much more than a simple soul bond. You two may have something that is much more rare than that."
"A threading of the souls," Remus murmured.
"Indeed, I believe this is what we are seeing. It is extremely rare, but I guess it was bound to happen again eventually."
"A threading of the souls," asked Harry, "What does that mean?"
"It means Harry," answered Remus, "That both of you now hold within you a copy of the other's soul. When this happens, for lack of a better way to describe it, each of your souls will plant a seed of itself into the other's soul. Harry, you have Ginny's soul interwoven into your own, and you have Harry's Ginny. You still have one soul, but part of it is made up of the other person. You still have the typical bond, but your interwoven souls increase the potency of this bond exponentially."
"What Remus said is true. As was said before, this is very rare. Now one knows exactly what this means, or what you will be able to do. But for now, I think the rest of us will leave, and you and Ginevra can work out what this means for yourself."
"Thank you Headmaster," said Ginny.
"It has been my pleasure."
Albus turned to leave, ushering everyone else out of the room with him.
"Um, sir?"
"Yes Harry?"
"Just how rare is this type of occurrence?"
"It's only happened one other time in the past one thousand years."