Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Hey all! Thanks so much for the feedback!

Thank you to one of my reviewers for reminding me that people cannot speak when they are under Petrificus Totalus. I had forgotten that! I changed the spell to Incarcerus. Thanks again! And yes, eventually Harry will remember what happened to him, but it won't be until later on in this story.

Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 16: Heart to Heart

Harry and Neville walked to dinner from Moody's office. Their conference with Moody had helped them more than they thought it would.

"Hey, mate," said Ron as Harry plonked himself down at the Gryffindor table. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Harry.

"Are you sure?" Hermione pushed. Harry gave her a look. She looked like she was going to argue, but Ron whispered something in her ear and she backed down.

Dinner passed, and soon Harry found himself seated in the Gryffindor common room, completing his homework assignments. He was almost done his Transfiguration essay when a voice came from his pocket. "Harry?"

It was Sirius. Harry quickly got the mirror out of his pocket and talked into it. "Yes, Sirius?"

"Hey kiddo." Sirius's smiling face looked at him. "Is anyone there with you?"

"Yeah, I'm in the common room, but I can go up to the dormitory," Harry answered, sensing that this was a kind of conversation that the others shouldn't hear. He nodded to Ron and Hermione, signalling that he'd be back, and then he went upstairs.

When he reached the fourth year boys' dormitory, he sat down on his bed. "Is everything okay, Padfoot?" he asked.

"Everything's fine. I'm the one who's worried about you," said Sirius. "Remus and I just received a call from Professor Dumbledore. He told us what happened in Alastor Moody's class today. Are you alright?"

Harry really didn't want to talk about this. "Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled. "Can we please not talk about it now?"

Sirius looked more worried. "Okay, kiddo, but Remus and I are coming tomorrow. It's your first therapy session, and we don't expect you to talk about everything, but we assure you that talking about it will make you feel better."

Harry was so tired and snappish that he almost lost his temper and shot back, "Have you talked about Azkaban yet?" but he didn't. He knew Sirius was only trying to help.

"Remus and I are coming at twelve, since tomorrow's Saturday," Sirius explained. "Remus will be speaking with Ginny first, and then it will be your turn. I'll go wander the castle during Ginny's meeting, but I'll be back for yours. So meet with us around quarter to one, okay?"

"Okay," said Harry, yawning.

"Go ahead and get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow."

"All right," Harry said, smiling weakly.

But Harry couldn't sleep. The green light of the Avada Kedavra curse kept buzzing through his mind. He kept picturing that spider keeling over, dead, the life just snuffed out of it. He thought of his parents, two people who were real human beings, just falling like that and never moving again. He remembered Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, half-mad with rage and grief, talking about how he'd turned up at Godric's Hollow and seen the Potters' dead bodies; the corpses of James and Lily just lying there, motionless. He'd had to be raised at the Dursleys just because of that awful curse. He couldn't fathom that just two little words, six syllables, could end a life. Powerful magic had to be behind it, but wizards were powerful, and if they conjured up the right emotions, they could do it. He also thought of Neville, whose parents had been tortured to insanity by the Cruciatus. He couldn't even imagine the amount of pain they had been in. How could wizards think up such diabolical spells? Even though Harry was exhausted and kept yawning, sleep just would not claim him.

Eventually, he crept down to the common room. The other boys were snoring, and he hoped that his getting out of bed wouldn't wake them. Luckily, they kept right on snoring.

He sat at the crackling fire, and noticed that he was not the only one down here. Staring blankly into space was Ginny Weasley.

"Gin?" Harry said softly. But Ginny didn't reply; it was as if she was in her own little world, and couldn't hear or understand what anyone was saying. Harry knelt by her and touched her on the arm. "Gin?" he repeated, concerned.

Ginny jumped about a foot in the air. "Ahh!" she cried. "Oh, hi, Harry."

"I'm sorry," said Harry. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh ... it's okay," Ginny said, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Can you not sleep?" Harry asked gently.

"No. You can't either?"

"No," Harry admitted. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?"

Ginny looked at him, fear evident in her brown orbs. She didn't answer for a minute, but finally, she said, "It's just that ... I'm worried about tomorrow. Professor McGonagall told me it's the first therapy session."

Harry sat down next to her. "I'm worried about it too," he confessed. "I know Sirius and Remus are only trying to help, but I don't want to talk about all the stuff that's happened to me."

"Neville told me what happened today in Moody's class," Ginny said quietly.

"Yeah," said Harry unhappily.

"I'm sorry," said Ginny consolingly. "I won't talk about it if you don't want to."

Harry gave her a small smile. They sat there in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Harry felt comfortable with Ginny; they had both been through traumatic experiences, so they wouldn't urge each other to talk if they weren't in the mood.

"I miss him sometimes," Ginny whispered suddenly.

"Who?"

"Tom. It sounds crazy, and I probably sound insane for saying it, but God, I miss him. I hate him for what he did, and hate him for the fact that he was right. I was nothing but a stupid little girl. And I still am, because there are times when I still miss him. I still can't understand why he did ... you know."

"Ginny," said Harry firmly. "You were, and are, not a stupid little girl. Do you know how many times I wanted to have friends when I lived with the Dursleys? I'm just surprised that you couldn't talk to your brothers or Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They really do care about you, and love you, you know."

"I know," Ginny sighed. "It's just that Ron's so overprotective, it's like he thinks that I can't take care of myself. Fred and George can't be serious seven eighths of the time, and Mum's so busy taking care of the rest of the family. Dad's got all this Ministry stuff to do, and Percy, you might as well forget about talking to him. I'd talk to Bill and Charlie, but Bill's in Egypt and Charlie's in Romania, so that's out of the question. Tom was the only person I thought I could talk to.

"I feel so dirty sometimes," Ginny said, her voice starting to shake. "And I feel so stupid for not knowing what Tom was up to. He told me that no boy would ever want me, that I'm just immature and dumb. You're the only person I feel comfortable with talking about it, because you've been affected by him too. Will Remus be angry with me? I mean, will he think I'm pathetic for not standing up for myself? And how can Hermione even look me in the eye? It was my stupid fault that she could have been killed! And Penelope and Justin and Colin, too! Hogwarts would have closed because I was just a lovesick little puppy!" Tears started to fall down Ginny's face.

Harry was surprised that she was able to share so much with him. He'd never really had someone talk to him like this before. He wasn't that used to emotional conversations, and Ginny's emotions were all over the place. He had been shut out from love, from hugs, from emotions for so long that he was confused in how to respond. He wished that Sirius or Remus were here to guide him through this. But he'd seen the way his guardians acted with each other and with him, so he knew what he had to do, like he'd known last time Ginny had broken down in front of him. He put his arms around her and held her close as she wept.

"Listen, Gin, Hermione doesn't blame you," he said gently. "And as far as I know, no one else in the school knows that Tom was doing that stuff to you to make you open the chamber. I think Dumbledore didn't tell anyone, he knew you were upset enough about what happened. And I think that even if they did know, they wouldn't be angry with you. You didn't know what you were doing. It was Tom's fault, not yours."

"Yes, it was my fault!" Ginny cried, shaking in Harry's arms. "I was the fool who started writing in the diary again, even after I suspected something was wrong! I should have known enough about the magical world to not have done that! I let Tom do whatever he wanted to me, and I still miss him at times! How can I miss the boy who ruined my life?"

"Ginny, listen to me," Harry said. "I know you wouldn't have written in that diary if you'd known for sure that you were causing the attacks ..."

"But Harry, you were almost killed because of me!" Ginny sobbed. "Tom would've destroyed you! As it was, you almost died because of the basilisk! It was only the phoenix tears that saved you!"

"But it's not your fault. That was not your fault," Harry pleaded with her, accenting each word. "It was my choice to go down to the chamber to save you. Nobody put a wand to my head and told me I had to do it."

"Why did you?" Ginny wept. "It's not your responsibility to save me! And I never thanked you properly for saving my life, either. I was so selfish when I woke up, all I could worry about was being expelled when you almost died!"

"I didn't think you were selfish at all!" Harry exclaimed. "Tom had no right to do what he did to you. He's a monster, Ginny. He killed tons of people, and my parents. I can't blame you for being selfish after an experience like that. And no, you should know Remus better than that. Of course he isn't going to blame you. Have you seen him blame me once for what happened to me?"

"N-No," sniffled Ginny reluctantly.

"So he won't blame you, either," said Harry. "And you're not stupid or immature or any other nasty thing Tom called you. If you want to know, you're not alone in feeling that way, though. I have to tell you, sometimes I blame myself, too, for what happened with my uncle. But listen, you're not stupid or dirty. You didn't want Tom to do what he did, right?"

"No way."

"Well, I didn't want my uncle to do what he did either. So you're definitely not at fault. Do you want to know something?"

"What?" said Ginny, starting to calm down.

"I know nothing about girls. But I think you're very pretty, and I'm sure someday you'll find someone who will go out with you."

"Do you really think so, Harry?" Ginny asked, hope shining in her tear-filled eyes.

"Of course," said Harry. He was in totally foreign territory here; he was only saying what his heart told him to, but as he'd admitted to Ginny, he knew absolutely nothing about dating. He often grew embarrassed if he heard anyone talk about it. How was he supposed to show love to a girl? How was he supposed to treat her? He felt a little hypocritical, for telling Ginny she was not stupid when there were times when he often felt he was, too, but he honestly didn't think Ginny was stupid. He hated to see someone thinking so badly of themselves, putting themselves down, like he did. He felt like a pathetic excuse for a wizard, letting his uncle, a Muggle, take advantage of him like that. But he wasn't about to say, and he also didn't think, that Ginny was stupid. Even as a young boy, Voldemort had been very powerful; Harry himself had almost died in the fight against him. And even if Ginny had been taken advantage of by a Muggle, Harry still wouldn't feel she was at fault. Victims of this kind of crime were blameless.

"Thank you," Ginny said gratefully.

"And you don't have to thank me for saving you," Harry said honestly.

"Yes, I do," Ginny insisted. "And you're very handsome, and I don't think you're immature or stupid either. And I think you'll get your fairy tale romance too, someday."

"You mean, like Cinderella?" Harry chuckled a little. Growing up, he'd never had any fairy tales read to him, but he'd always wondered about magic. So when he'd been at his Muggle school, he'd spent every chance he could looking in the library for anything about witches and wizards. Uncle Vernon had drilled into his head the fact that magic didn't exist, but back then, he'd wanted to defy him. So he'd gone behind his uncle's back and read fairy tales, and Cinderella was one of them.

"Oh yeah, Dad told me about that one," Ginny smiled. "Most witches and wizards don't read Muggle fairy tales, but you know what Dad's like."

"I do," Harry grinned.

"He read them all to us when we were little," Ginny said. "He also read us wizarding stories of the most famous wizards. Do you know what other story he read?"

"What?" Harry asked, knowing what was coming. His face flushed.

"The Boy Who Lived," said Ginny.

"Oh," Harry said, embarrassed. "Look, I didn't defeat Voldemort." Ginny shuddered at the name. "I'm sorry, You-Know-Who," Harry amended. He knew that he should say the name, but after Ginny's experiences with the young Voldemort, he knew not to push it. "It was my mum who defeated him. She sacrificed herself for me, so when You-Know-Who tried to hit me with the killing curse, that's why it backfired. I had nothing to do with it, absolutely nothing. It would have killed me if Mum hadn't done what she did."

"Well, I still think you're wonderful," Ginny said. "I always wondered what it was that defeated him. Even though it was your mum, it doesn't change how I think of you."

Harry smiled gently at her, and they drew away from the embrace. "Today was really scary," he admitted, feeling that Ginny deserved to know how he felt, since once again she'd poured out her heart to him. "That spider, it just ... died. You have no idea what it was like."

"I don't want to know," Ginny said, shuddering. "Neville said the Cruciatus was awful, too. Did your conference with Moody make you feel any better?"

"Yeah, it did actually," Harry replied. "He gave us books to read. Neville's is on Herbology, and mine's on Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"That's good," Ginny said.

"I miss my parents sometimes," Harry told her. "And to think, they just died like that spider. No time to do or say anything. You-Know-Who just killed them, just like that."

"I wonder what made him go so bad," Ginny said, looking sad. "He could have been such a nice boy. Do you think he was abused or something? Mum told me once that some people who are abused become abusive themselves."

"Yeah, he might've been," said Harry.

"Well, I know you're not like him, even though you were treated badly," Ginny said. "Why couldn't he rise above it, like you?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "Maybe he didn't have people like you, or Ron, or Hermione, or Sirius, or Remus. I don't know how I would have turned out if I didn't have you guys. Listen, do you want to know a secret?"

"What?"

"The Sorting Hat told me I'd be good for Slytherin. I told it no, I didn't want to. Hagrid had told me that there wasn't a witch or wizard who'd gone bad who wasn't in Slytherin. I guess he'd forgotten about who he thought was Sirius, but turned out to be Peter. He was a Gryffindor, you know. When I found out about that last year, and also after a certain comment Cedric Diggory made, it got me thinking. Cedric said, "One fourth of the population can't be labelled automatically evil when they turn eleven years old, can they?" He said that at my birthday party, and he's got a point. I'd never really thought about it before, but Cedric's smart, not dumb like Ron thinks. All Slytherins can't be evil, can they?"

"I agree," said Ginny. "They can't all be rotten to the core. One fourth of the population can't be just plain evil. Maybe it's just those certain traits that turn out more dark wizards."

"Yeah, that's true. I wonder what would have happened if I had gone into Slytherin, though."

"My dunderhead of a brother would've been really stupid about it," Ginny scowled. "I know how he is about Slytherins."

"Maybe I should talk to him," Harry said thoughtfully. "You just can't have all Slytherins being evil, it's impossible. I was really silly to believe that they all were. I mean, Malfoy's rotten, and Pansy's awful, and Crabbe and Goyle are just dumb, but what about the others? Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass?"

"Wow, you are observant, Harry. You memorized all their names?"

Harry blushed. "Yeah, I guess I pay attention, don't I?"

"More than I do," she giggled.

"And I've also been thinking about the end of first year," Harry continued. "Of course, you hadn't started Hogwarts yet, but it was when Hermione, Ron, Neville, and I won the house cup for Gryffindor. Now that I think about it, it was kind of mean for Dumbledore to announce that Slytherin won and then just snatch the victory right out of their hands. I mean, I was smirking at the time because I thought they deserved it, but that was back when I thought they were all evil. It was great that we won the cup, but couldn't Dumbledore have awarded us the points before the feast began, so he didn't have to make it look like the Slytherins won but then oops, no, they didn't?"

"I've never really thought about it," Ginny admitted. "But I see your point."

"I was more laughing at the look on Malfoy's face," Harry said. "But as I said, not all Slytherins are like Malfoy and You-Know-Who, are they?"

"No, I suppose not," said Ginny, yawning. "Listen, Harry, thanks for talking. I'm going to try to get some sleep now, I'm exhausted. I'll see you in the morning, all right?"

"All right, Gin," Harry said. "I think I'm going to do the same. Sleep well."

"You, too," replied the redhead. They smiled at each other, and then they made their way up to their separate dormitories.

Harry read his Defense Against the Dark Arts book from Moody by wandlight until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. His last thought was of the Slytherins. He remembered Dumbledore saying Voldemort might return at some point. If Harry could help so that not all the Slytherins would join him, he would. He would make them see that there was another way, a better way. He was going to help end the Slytherin "all are evil" stereotype. He hadn't had a lot of time to think about it before, but over the past few months, little thoughts like this had consumed his mind. He was thankful that he was getting very friendly with Cedric, for the kind-hearted Hufflepuff had definitely caused him to think, and Peter's betrayal had also let him know that Gryffindors could go bad, too.

He also thought of Ginny, of the struggle she was going through. He was worried about his therapy session tomorrow afternoon, but also thankful that he had a friend like Ginny. He'd never been so open with anyone before, but it was almost automatic when it came to Ginny. Something about her just made him want to talk. He hoped that Remus's therapy session would also benefit him. It was not that he didn't appreciate Remus, far from it. But it was much easier talking to someone who had been through a traumatic situation like his.

He hoped that Ginny would sleep well, and that her thoughts wouldn't be haunted by Voldemort. He thought of Neville, and hoped that his sleep would continue to be undisturbed, like it was now. Harry closed his eyes, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.