The Emerald Looking Glass

Not since her frightful first year at Hogwarts had Ginny felt so helpless. She had hoped that answers would soon be forthcoming concerning Harry, at least considering the amount of time and manpower that was being consumed searching for him. However, this was not the case. No leads had been unearthed since the search had begun, and it was beginning to appear as if it was nothing more than a fruitless endeavour to try and find the dark-haired saviour of the Wizarding World. The total lack of any information was slowly draining the life from the normally vivacious Weasley girl.

This was not the only thing that was taking its toll on Ginny. Far worse were the dreams and pains that would come to her at night as she tried to sleep. It seemed that, every night, her mind would fill with those pitiful images of Harry, his rage and shame washing over her, causing her to writhe painfully amongst the confines of her covers. Hermione did all she could to comfort her, but these pains and dreams seemed to be beyond the normal scope of nightmares and refused to abate in the face of the older girl's gentle ministrations.

Hermione had very little luck finding some sort of information in the school's library concerning Ginny's necklace and its bonding to her. As her frustration grew, she expanded her search to books that she had earlier disregarded as having nothing to do with the strange piece jewellery.

Hermione did not need anyone to tell her how important it was that she found some sort of answers for Ginny quickly. She could see her friend quite literally wasting away in front of her eyes. Being consistently denied the opportunity to sleep, Ginny was losing her appetite, and soon began dropping weight at an alarming pace. Considering the fact that Ginny wasn't very big to begin with, Hermione knew that if things didn't improve soon, the girl would have to be taken to St. Mungo's for treatment. Because of this, there was hardly a moment that Hermione was not in the library researching. Professor McGonagall had even given her special permission to be out after curfew so that she could continue searching.

Everything that had to do with these strange events was unexplainable. Mr. Weasley and the Order had managed to get a rough idea of Harry's movements during the summer and had discovered that Harry had been seen shopping in Diagon Alley a short while before Ginny's birthday. When they pursued the matter further they found that Harry had gone into a magical jewellery store that was somewhat removed from the main stretch of shops. This was not what was so unusual, however. What was unusual was that the particular shop that Harry had been seen going into had not been open for over a hundred years. No one had reopened it since then, and Mr. Weasley found himself standing in front of the store, staring into the darkened windows showcasing old dust-covered mannequins. None of it made sense. How could Harry have bought something from a store that had been abandoned for over a century?

Mrs. Weasley was fairing no better. She was continually on the verge of tears as Professor McGonagall and Hermione kept her up to date on Ginny's rapidly deteriorating health. She found herself remembering the summer after Ginny's first year at Hogwarts. Almost every night, she had found herself rushing to her only daughter's room, holding her in her arms as Ginny relived the horror of the Chamber of Secrets in her dreams. The difference now was that Ginny was at Hogwarts, and she could do nothing but sit on the sidelines as her daughter's life slowly dissolved away.

Mrs. Weasley made up for this as best she could, constantly sending Ginny letters of encouragement, telling her to be happy and enjoy her time at school with her friends. With these letters, she would send little boxes of homemade sweets that she knew Ginny loved, hoping that she would at least eat those.

It was one of these packages that Ginny found herself opening at breakfast one morning. She gave a wan smile as she read the frantically encouraging words of her mother in the note accompanying her package. It was a rare sight to see the youngest Weasley smile these days, and even rarer to hear her beautiful shimmering laugh. Try as she could, she just couldn't find anything to laugh about anymore.

"Hiya, Ginny!" She slowly pulled her eyes away from her note to see Dennis Creevey taking a seat next to her at the table. The last thing Ginny had the energy for was a conversation, but she summoned the strength to respond.

"Hi, Dennis. How are you?"

Dennis flashed a smile at the redhead. "I'm doing splendid, thanks for asking." He glanced at the package on the table in front of Ginny. "I see you got another box of sweets from your Mum."

Ginny glanced at the box and shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't really want any sweets at the moment." She thought for a moment before looking at Dennis again. "Would you like to have them?"

Dennis looked excited at first, after all, Mrs. Weasley's culinary skills were legendary, but his smile soon faded. "Oh, I appreciate it, Ginny, but I don't want to take your present from your Mum!"

Ginny gave a small smile, setting a new record for breakfast this term. "I insist. You'll enjoy it more than I will. Go on and take it. I know you want to."

Dennis seemed torn for a moment before breaking once again into a smile. "Okay, Ginny, I'll take it…but only because you insist." He swept the package into his arms. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." Ginny nodded and returned to her thoughts, not noticing Dennis's departure.

Finally, it was time for classes, and Ginny reluctantly dragged herself to each one, knowing that each period would be an intense test of will, as she fought to remain awake for the duration of the lesson. More often than not, she lost this battle, and found herself napping fitfully at the back of the classroom. At the insistence of Professor McGonagall, the other teachers were giving Ginny a little bit of leeway when it came to her random class-time napping sessions. Professor McGonagall determined that Ginny should get whatever sleep she could, considering nothing was putting a dent in her nighttime problems. Not even a Potion of Dreamless Sleep brewed by Madame Pomfrey stopped the visions she experienced almost every night.

Ginny mulled over the hopelessness of the situation as she finished her last class for the day and began the journey back to the Gryffindor dormitory. If she was lucky, she thought, she might be able to doze off in her favourite Common Room chair before the visions woke her up again. Rounding a corner, she collided with an excited Hermione, causing both of them to drop the books they were carrying.

"Whoops! Sorry, Ginny, I didn't see you there!" Hermione said as she brushed herself off and helped Ginny to collect her things.

"S'ok, Hermione. I should have been paying better attention," said the tiny redhead. "How has your day been?"

Hermione started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Great, considering I found some information about your necklace!"

Ginny gasped, her friend earning her undivided attention. "You did? Tell me, please!"

Hermione nodded, but then looked around at the various students walking past. "I will, but this isn't the best place," she whispered secretly, motioning towards an empty classroom.

Once they were both inside, Hermione cast a privacy charm on the door, allowing them to talk freely. "I was almost at my wit's end looking for information about your necklace, Ginny," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I was afraid that the Hogwarts library had failed me at last. But then I expanded my research and happened upon an interesting tidbit of information."

Ginny was almost beside herself in anticipation. "Hurry up and tell me Hermione! I can't stand much more of this!"

Hermione smiled knowingly at her best friend. She knew just how hard things had been for Ginny, the horrible visions, the inability to get any rest, and her deep love and worry for Harry. She pulled a somewhat worn book out of her bag and handed it to Ginny. "The book doesn't say much, but at least it gives me a place from which to research more effectively. I marked the place where I'm positive it's talking about your necklace."

Ginny examined the book, running her tiny fingers over the title. "Ancient Artefacts and Objects of Wizard Lore," she murmured as she looked up at the bushy haired witch. "You found something about my necklace in here?"

Hermione nodded. "I actually found it because it has a fairly accurate picture of the necklace in the book. I didn't know what it was exactly until I read the passage."

Ginny turned her gaze back to the book and opened it to the marked passage. Sure enough, there was a sketched drawing of her necklace, accurate to the very last detail. Underneath the drawing was a bold heading with a short paragraph discussing the attributes of Harry's gift.

Ginny scanned the paragraph quickly before looking once again to Hermione. "Are you saying that my necklace happens to be…?"

"The Emerald of Empathy, yes," Hermione replied with a satisfied nod. "Ginny, do you know how important this is?"

Ginny could only shake her head as she tried to put the pieces together. Hermione took a second to compose her thoughts before plunging onward. "It means that you are in the possession of one of the most powerful magical artefacts in Wizarding history. From what little I know about it, the Emerald of Empathy bonds two people together emotionally, allowing one person to truly experience the feelings of the other."

Ginny looked as if she had swallowed a particularly foul potion. "So these things I'm feeling are actually what Harry is feeling?"

Hermione gazed into space for a moment. "As far as I can tell, yes. But this necklace is much more powerful than any spell I've read about."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently there are some spells that you can cast to get a vague idea of how a person is feeling. They are used at St. Mungo's to help treat people suffering from depression and other mental problems."

"Harry is not insane!" Ginny shouted with sudden fury, clenching her hands into fists and beginning to pace back and forth.

Hermione was startled by Ginny's unexpected outburst. She had not seen her best friend exhibit such energy since before the start of term. "That's not what I mean at all, Ginny!" she raised her hands in apology. "I was just drawing a parallel between the necklace's properties and those of the healers at St. Mungo's."

Ginny sighed, trying to will herself to relax. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just can't stand the thought of Harry being crazy."

Hermione moved to her friend's side, embracing her in a gentle hug. "I know, I know. Harry is not crazy, unless you count the fact that he's crazy to not want to be with you every waking minute."

Ginny returned the hug, smiling at her friend's attempt to cheer her up. "Thanks Hermione, I really do appreciate all your help. Now, tell me how my necklace is more powerful than these healing spells."

"Well it's quite simple, really," Hermione replied. "The spells used by the healers only last for a very short amount of time, usually no more than five minutes. Normally they use these spells as a last resort because it takes so much energy and focus to meld the emotions of two people together. On the other hand, your necklace is much more powerful. You haven't had to focus any magic to activate the necklace, your emotional binding lasts much longer, and you even had an instance of passive possession when you first put it on. Add it all up and you're looking at one powerful magic object, and that's not even taking into consideration the personal bond it's developed with you."

Ginny looked amazed. "Hermione, how do you know all of this stuff?"

Hermione blushed and lowered her eyes a bit. "Well I do read a lot of books…and I've always been fascinated by the differences between Wizard and Muggle medicine. The logical thing would have been to find as many books about the subject and study it, wouldn't you say?"

Ginny laughed joyously for the first time since the term had started, "Oh Hermione! You're an absolute treasure and I love you!" The redhead embraced the startled witch once again in a massive hug.

"I'm glad I could help, Ginny," Hermione said breathlessly.

"So, now that we know that I'm wearing the Emerald of Empathy, what happens now? And how does knowing this help Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Well, now that I know what your necklace is, I can narrow my search considerably. Hopefully I can find more texts that deal exclusively with the Emerald of Empathy, and with that, perhaps a way to use its powers to help Harry," Hermione replied.

Ginny smiled and pumped her fist in the air, once again surprising her best friend. "Yes! Finally it feels like something is going right for a change!"

Hermione laughed in spite of herself, happy to see the bright gleam appearing once again in Ginny's liquid brown eyes. "I think this deserves a bit of a special treat, don't you think? How about we go down to the kitchens and get some snacks from the house elves?"

"Sounds brilliant, Hermione!" Ginny turned and started walking back toward the door of the classroom, Hermione following close behind. About halfway there, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and began to shake violently.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Hermione asked fearfully, reaching out to steady her.

Before Hermione could grab a hold of her arm, Ginny let out a shuddering moan and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Ginny could feel a throbbing pulse running through her spirit. It resonated within her and seemed hauntingly familiar. Had she heard someone calling her? She knew she had to find the source of the pulse and the call before something terrible happened. She sensed her spirit being pulled from her body which lay on the floor at Hogwarts and across the many miles that separated her from the call. "Faster, faster!" she thought to herself as she travelled the long distance, watching as things began to speed past her.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and she found her spirit constricted once again in another person's body. Having dealt with this sensation before, she was able to keep a better grip on things. She sat patiently in her mental cage, waiting for events to unfold.

She soon became aware of the quite laborious breathing coming from the person she had possessed. However, she was unable to see anything as of yet, because the person had their eyes clenched tightly closed, as if they were drawing up the nerve to do what they intended to do. As she pondered this set of circumstances, the person she inhabited seemed to come to a decision and opened their eyes.

Ginny found that she was in the same bare room that she had seen in her very first vision. This meant that the person she was possessing was almost certainly Harry. She tried to get a better understanding of where she and Harry were, but once again found herself constricted to the movements of the body she was stuck in. The person looked down and examined themselves. They were sitting in a straight-backed wooden chair, close to the mirror that had been shattered several weeks earlier. In their hand was a jagged piece of glass that had to have once been a piece of the mirror. It was about the size of a small dagger, and appeared to be quite sharp. Ginny felt fear grip her spirit as she caught a reflection of Harry in the glass shard. She felt wave after wave of anger and revulsion building in Harry as he stared at the glass shard that reflected his image.

Reaching a fever pitch of emotion, Harry screamed out, "I CAN'T GET IT OUT!!" He raised the shard high and then drove it deep into his upper leg.

Ginny screamed within the vaults of her mind, echoing the feral shrieks issuing forth from Harry as he plunged the glass blade into his bloody leg again and again. Weeping and still screaming, Ginny felt a sharp tug on her spirit and was once again pulled quickly back to her comatose body, which was now being cradled in Hermione's arms.

When Ginny's spirit fused back with her body, she gave a great jerk and began screaming and fighting against Hermione's hold on her.

"Ginny! Stop! It's me! Please!" Hermione was crying openly now and trying to restrain the thrashing girl in her arms. "Someone please help me! Help!"

Suddenly, the classroom door burst open revealing Professor McGonagall, looking white as a sheet. "Miss Granger! What is wrong with Ginny?"

Hermione sobbed as she continued to hold tightly to Ginny. "I don't know, Professor! We were getting ready to head to the kitchens when she had another attack and passed out. She was out cold for a few minutes and then started thrashing around and screaming like this! I don't know what to do!"

McGonagall studied Ginny Weasley, noticing that her movements were getting weaker. "I think the worst of it is passing, but we have to get her to the hospital wing immediately."

Suddenly, Ginny rolled over on her side and vomited spectacularly onto the classroom floor. She gave a shuddering sigh and began to cry weakly.

McGonagall instantly vanished the vomit and conjured a flannel and a bowl of water. Kneeling down next to the tiny girl, she began to gently wash Ginny's face with the wet cloth, murmuring reassuringly to her all the while. Slowly, she quieted and McGonagall turned her eyes to the trembling Hermione.

"Okay, Miss Granger, I'm going to contact both Madame Pomfrey and Ginny's brother. I want you to remain here for a moment with Ginny and make sure she doesn't go anywhere, understood?"

Hermione could only nod mutely, tears still trickling down her face.

"Excellent. I will be back momentarily. Oh, and thank you for being such a good friend to Ginny, Miss Granger. I'm sure Mr. Potter would be glad to know someone is taking such good care of her in his absence." With that, McGonagall turned and strode quickly out of the room.

Hermione watched the Headmistress depart and then looked down to Ginny, who was still held firmly in her arms. The young redhead had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep and when Hermione noticed this, she relaxed her hold in favour of a more comforting embrace. A single tear escaped and glided down her already damp cheek as she began to gently rock the sleeping girl in her arms. "Oh, Ginny. What am I going to do with you and Harry?"