Disclaimer: If I owned the books, you would have seen a lot more of Ginny. As she is one of my favorite character. As I don't own them, sadly she doesn't show up nearly enough.

A/N: I know I had something else here, but I lost going over the story to make minor edits... ah well. Read and enjoy!

Chapter 1

Four years had passed since the Boy-Who-Lived went to rescue Ginevra Weasley and didn't return. They were both declared dead after a thorough search of the Chamber of Secrets, and later the largest manhunt that the magical world has ever seen. Both searches turned up nothing related to their whereabouts, or what could possibly have happened to them.

No one was able to find out what had happened in the Chamber after the cave in, but there had been great speculation. The most commonly believed story was that Harry came swooping into the chamber, killed the basilisk, and saved Ginny; but the opener of the chamber angry at Harry for killing the monster, bound them and took them with him as he fled through some unknown way from Hogwarts-very few people actually know about the diary. The first part of the story (the part without their untimely demise) had become a children's fairy tale, often told to little girls. Not a single witch or wizard in all of Britain did not know of the tale of the Boy-Who-Lived and his tragic rescue of the girl who stole his heart.

A memorial was built for the both of them in front of Hogwarts. It was to honor the Boy-Who-Lived, their hero, and the girl who was worthy of his great sacrifice involved in rescuing her. It was a life-sized and life-like statue of Harry standing over a dead basilisk (its eyes were closed, it was also not the actual size of the one in the Chamber, twenty-five feet long as opposed to sixty), with the sword of Gryffindor in his right hand raised in triumph, and his left arm wrapped around Ginny as she clung to him for dear life, with her face buried in his shoulder. The wind appeared to sweep through his hair, leaving his scar in prominent view on his forehead. It was completely a white marble flecked with red and gold, except for Harry's eyes; they were actually emeralds. It was so life like that not a freckle was out of place (in fact many people claimed that it could come alive-even though it was widely known fact that the only spells placed on it where to prevent wear and tear, or people from deliberately harming it). Engraved around the base of it was the tale of what happened in the Chamber. All in all it was a rather imposing and endearing sight at the same time.

It was September the first of what would have been Harry's sixth year of Hogwarts. Inside the Great Hall dinner was in full swing with the sorting already finished. The mood was grim, though, for over the past couple of years people had started to disappear, sometimes they would turn up dead later. It had started with Bertha Jorkins, and then later the disappearance of Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts champion, at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. Over the months since Diggory's disappearance many more witches and wizards have either disappeared without a trace, or disappeared and later, were found dead. No one had any idea what was going on, the only reason that students still came to Hogwarts was because the parents believed that they would be safe there with Dumbledore in charge. It was widely believed that these disappearances were caused by whoever had opened the Chamber of Secrets four years ago, and that the only reason he was able to capture Harry and Ginny was because Dumbledore was removed from the school.

Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had remained friends after the disappearance of their other best friend and Ron's sister. They had even started dating two years previously, after Ron decided to buckle down and ask her out to the Yule Ball before someone else did. Which was a good thing, because Victor Krum (international Quidditch star and the Durmstrang champion for the tournament) asked her out just the next day, but she refused having already said yes to Ron. After their loss of friend and sister they had to use each other as a crutch to keep going, and by doing so it made them even closer than before. They were so close that other students believed that they were dating months before they actually started to. Their love for each other was so obvious that a blind man could see it. They would never admit it, though.

They had decided to honor Harry by helping people, after all it was what he was best at. They started by befriending the loners, namely Neville Longbottom (a quiet Gryffindor boy in their year) and Luna Lovegood (an eccentric Ravenclaw girl a year bellow them). Hermione had started a study group, which consisted of students from all houses and years (even Slytherins, although most of them were in the younger years-the most notable exception to this was Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, girls in Ron and Hermione's year). The size of the group varied from time to time, but never consisted of less then twenty students excluding Hermione and Ron. The group took care of anything and everything school related that any of the students might need, from bullying to helping with homework. Doing things like that they quickly became the most popular students in the school. They were well liked by just about everyone, the most vociferous of the people against them was Draco Malfoy and very select group of Slytherins that followed him.

They were the first to make friends with the foreign students that came for the Triwizard Tournament, Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum-the other schools' champions-among them. Another good friend of theirs was Cedric Diggory; they were quite upset that he had vanished.

It came as no surprise to anyone when they became Gryffindor prefects for their fifth year. They had to be the most sought after prefects in hundreds of years. It was a widely believed fact that they where going to become Head Boy and Girl next year.

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Outside of the castle standing in the light of the moon, under the clear sky were two figures shrouded by cloaks. There was nothing on them that gave any indication as to what their identities were. All you could tell about them was that one was female, while the other was male. The female's cloak was a midnight blue, the male's cloak was a deep, almost black forest green. The male was tall and muscular, although he still had a fairly lean frame. He was somewhere around 6'2". The woman was above average height for a woman, about 5'6". She was also muscular and lean.

They were gazing at the memorial.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!" said the woman. "I knew they made a memorial, but I never thought that it would be this bad."

The man nodded in agreement. "Just goes to show that the wizarding world is full of idiots. They turned it into a fairy tale of all things. If you want to honor someone you do not make them a fairy tale." His voice contained more than a hint of resentment. His hand twitched as if to draw his wand, but he stilled it immediately. The woman moved to take his hand, and leaned her head on his arm.

They remained like that for several minutes, then the woman sighed. "It is time for us to return home, isn't it?" she stated more than asked. She spoke softly, there was also regret clearly present in her voice.

"Yes my love, it is time!" replied the man. His voice was also soft and laced with regret.

They turned to walk into the school, their hands remained joined. They paused at the doors to the Great Hall. The woman sighed in regret again, and the man took a deep calming breath. With their free hands together they pushed the doors open and entered the Great Hall.

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"Honestly Ron, can't you eat any slower?" asked Hermione, exasperatedly.

"Sorry 'Mione," said Ron, after swallowing his mouthful. He looked at her with concern.

Hermione's eyes kept glancing back and forth across the Great Hall, as if looking for something or rather someone. She kept fidgeting around in her seat, and she scarcely ate. What food that was on her plate she absentmindedly was shredding with her hands. When ever someone stood her eyes immediately jumped to them, but she always looked away shortly in disappointment not finding what she was after.

"They are not coming Hermione," sad Ron, sadly, taking her hand and rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

She did this at the Start of Term Feast every year for the past four years, always for the same reason looking for them, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. They were some of the few people who never really believed that two were dead. It didn't seem possible, Harry was only twelve and Ginny she was only eleven. How could they be dead? It just could not be possible. It didn't feel right for them to believe that Harry and Ginny were dead, somehow they just felt that the two were still alive somewhere and that they would return at the Start of Term Feast one year, they just didn't know which one. So every year Hermione would look for them, and Ron would secretly wait (even as he told Hermione they weren't coming) hoping beyond hope that this year would be the one that the two would show up and return to them. That this year would be the one that he got his best friend and sister back. Sadly every year it was the same. Nothing, absolutely nothing. They never showed up. They were dead, right? That is what everyone believed. How could they show up? But Ron and Hermione couldn't bring themselves to believe it as well. If they did at this point it would make them as good as dead.

So every year once a week, at the minimum, starting on the second of September they would visit the memorial. They didn't much care for it, they knew that Harry and Ginny would not like it. That they would find it offensive, Ginny would despise being depicted as helpless and Harry would despise being made into this great and tragic hero. But it gave them a feeling of closeness to their long lost friends. They would just sit out there quietly for hours on end, or sometimes they would talk to it. They talked about what was going on in the world in general, how Mrs. Weasley recently found out she was pregnant again, how Bill and Fleur had gotten married this passed Summer, how much they missed Harry and Ginny and how they hoped that the two would return home soon, they even talked about what they were doing in their classes. They just talked about whatever came to mind. No one bothered them while they were out there, they quickly learned the consequences of messing with the two. The most serious case consisted of Draco Malfoy staying the Hospital Wing for two weeks.

"I know Ron, I know," Hermione cried, as he pulled her into a tight and comforting hug, tears started to form in her eyes. "But I can't help it. I can't help searching for him, for them. I can't help hoping, wishing that that they would just show up. I just can't help it!" The tears started to fall at those last words. She hid her face in his shoulder to hide the tears.

"I know Hermione. I know. It is the same for me," he said, as he rested his head on top of hers and rubbed her back. There were tears forming in his eyes as well. This was always the most difficult time of the year for them. Each year it was harder for them than the last. Everyone else just watched on in silence, knowing that there was nothing they could do for the two, it was something that they had to deal with on their own; not that they would accept the help even if it could be given. Every year their friends watched them deal with their loss helplessly, wishing that there was something that they could do, but no one could bring back the dead and that was the only thing that would completely stop the two's pain.

Every year it was the same.

Just then the doors to the Great Hall were thrown open, causing everyone to jump. Ron and Hermione separated faster than you could blink, though they did keep a hold of each other's hands. They, along with everybody else, turned towards the Entrance Hall. Standing in the doorway were two figures. One was obviously male, he wore an almost black forest green colored cloak hiding his face. The other was female, and she wore a midnight blue cloak that hid her face as well. They were also holding hands. They paused for only moment before strolling up to the head table, to Dumbledore to be more precise. When they reached him, the male pulled out a small pouch and emptied the contents out right onto the table in front of Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione saw sparkling gold silver things fall to the table. Dumbledore spoke quietly and quickly to the two newcomers for a few minutes, as everyone watched on in silent curiosity. Not even the people sitting right beside of him were able to discern what was being said. The man shook his head in response to Dumbledore before he collected everything he dropped and put it back in to the pouch. Then he and the female moved to stand against a wall. They watched the Great Hall making no sound nor movement.

It was unnerving to watch them stand there as still as statues, so everyone turned away from them and back to their own conversations; but many glances were sent their way, it's just that no one could stand to look at them for very long. The sound level did not make it back the level it was before they arrived, but it did return. It appeared that the students were uncomfortable talking in more than a whisper with the newcomers watching. Even the teachers were reluctant to speak. This did not go unnoticed by the strangers; they were smirking underneath their hoods, although none could see it.

The unwillingness to speak any louder than a whisper did not stop the students from talking about the two new arrivals. In fact many a rumor was started before dinner was even finished. They ranged from from the newcomers being vampires to them being Dumbledore's grandchildren or great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren or however-many-greats-it-takes-grandchildren. Luna Lovegood even proposed that the man was Stubby Boardman's younger brother, no one believed her though. Each rumor was wilder than the last. The newcomers favorite rumor was the one claiming that the man was Snape's long lost brother, if the student only knew. The most extravagant rumor claimed that they where the children of some unknown extremely powerful witch and wizard and that they had come to take over the world starting with Hogwarts. None of the rumors were anywhere close to approaching the truth.

When the feast ended Dumbledore stood and gave the usual announcements. He introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gabriel Van Helsing. When he was finished he nodded slightly towards the newcomers. The man nodded slightly in return, quickly and silently slipped out of hall, unnoticed by the distracted students.

Ron and Hermione were leaving the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall came up to them. "Mr. Weasley. Miss Granger," she said, by way of greeting. "The headmaster would like to see the two of you in his office immediately."

They exchanged a glance, and then shrugged at each other by way of reply to the other's unasked question of why they were wanted. They nodded in understanding to McGonagall and followed her out of the hall and to the Headmaster's Office. When they reached the Gargoyle she gave the password, "Ice mice," and they climbed onto the winding staircase and rode it up to the office. When they reached the door a voice said "Enter," before they could even knock. Already inside the office were the other three heads of house and the new defense teacher, Professor Van Helsing.

"Ah, Minerva you brought them, thank you," said Dumbledore, the twinkle in his eyes brighter than usual.

"Albus why are there students here?" asked Sprout.

"Because I asked for them to be here!" said a new voice, that no one recognized. They all looked around, not finding its source until the two newcomers stepped out of the shadows. Everyone except Van Helsing was startled by their appearance. It was the man who spoke. He seemed to be the spokesperson of the couple. "I see that nothing has changed since I have last been in here!"

This seemed to shock Dumbledore, "You have been in my office before?"

"Why yes, I have," said the man, giving no farther explanation. He seemed to examine everyone in the room, though it was hard to tell because he still had his hood up. He stopped when he reached Van

Helsing. "Gabriel, it is good to see you again."

"And you, the both of you," said Van Helsing in reply.

"You know each other?" said McGonagall, in shock. Though, it was more like a question.

"We've met!" was all the reply that she got.

"Stop giving cryptic answers and explain who you and what you are doing here immediately!" demanded Snape, angrily. He was more than annoyed with dealing with the mysterious strangers who were wasting his precious time.

"Now, now where would the fun in that be?" asked the man, you could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

He would have continued but the woman stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. "Darling, you do not need to patronize the poor man," she said, speaking for the first time. Though, you could also almost hear the smirk in her voice as well. Snape bristled at being referred to as poor, but didn't say anything.

Dumbledore was about to open his mouth to speak, but the man beat him to it. "No need for introductions Headmaster. We already know who everyone is. Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, also Head of Gryffindor house. Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House. Professor Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House. Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House. Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley, sixth year Prefect of Gryffindor. Miss Hermione Jean Granger, the other sixth year Prefect of Gryffindor," he said, pointing to each in turn. "You already knew that we knew you and Gabriel."

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Hermione, nervously.

"There is no need for you refer to me as sir," said the man, there was definitely the sound of amusement in his voice. "What is it that you want to ask, Hermione?"

She felt oddly comforted that he called her by given name instead of Granger or Ms. Granger or something as less familiar as her first name, for some reason. She could not place why. He just seemed familiar. "How do know us? And why did you ask for Ron and me to be here?" she asked, sounding much less nervous than before.

It was the woman to speak in reply this time. "To answer both your questions, Hermione, it is because we have met before. Though, you do not recognize us. It was only a matter of time before we would meet again. And now that time has come!"

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. Her mind quickly rushing through all of the possibilities, but only one really, truly, completely stood out among them all. "It can't be!" she whispered, shocked. Though she whispered everyone heard her, Gabriel smiled understanding what she had just realized. Her eyes kept glancing back and forth between the two hooded figures. Her mind found no other plausible possibilities. "But why? How? When?" she asked, her voice was still almost a whisper. It was slightly louder than before, though.

"What do you mean Her-" started Ron before he cut himself off. His eyes lit up with realization as he stopped speaking. "Oh, oh," he repeated it over several more times before stopping. He knew that there was only one thing that would cause Hermione react like that, and he knew exactly what it was. He repeated Hermione as soon as he stopped repeating himself. "But why? How? When?"

Everyone else was completely confused and lost at the proceedings. Some of them where even somewhat concerned about what this could possibly mean. Van Helsing seemed to be the only teacher not to be confused and/or concerned about what was going on. In fact, he seemed to know exactly what was going on and what they were talking about.

"We had no choice. How will be answered later. And as to when, it was only this afternoon. Somewhere around five to be exact," replied the man, as he and the woman removed their hoods.

Dumbledore's eyes widened in recognition. No one else recognized the newcomers, however, until Ron and Hermione shouted at exactly the same time, "Harry. Ginny," before rushing towards them. Hermione pulled Harry into tight hug, and Ron pulled his sister into an equally tight hug.

All of the teachers stood/sat there with their mouths open in shock (even Snape and Dumbledore), except for Van Helsing.

-Chapter End-