Chapter 38 - Preparations

Submitted: Tuesday 4 October 2011

If you were a Weasley, Granger or Potter then Friday was a slow day. George had promised to share his secret later that evening and all were curious. In fact, George's demonstration the night before was the talk of the school and the wizarding world. Papers all over Continent and across the pond had an opinion. A few of the stories were about how irresponsible George was for treating life so flippantly but most either asked or answered the same question: How did he do it?

Experts were brought in from all branches of magic and all sorts of explanations were presented. None of the explanations came close to the real answer but they did do one thing well – they sold papers.

It came as no surprise that when the family met in the Room of Requirement that Friday evening that most were sitting on the edges of their seats in anticipation. Molly had calmed down but the family knew she could gather a new head of steam with only a moment's notice. When the chamber finally opened Arthur walked in with his son and the room grew quiet.

George wasted no time, "Are you sure you want to know? As soon as I tell you it will take all of the fascination out of it." He was bombarded by a room full of yeses. "Then I must ask all of you to keep it within the family. No sharing. Is that possible?"

Once everyone agreed he pulled back the figurative curtain and Fred entered the room through the ceiling, "Allo everyone!" Harry and Hermione shared a look. Harry wondered if she'd figured it out the night before or if she'd known about Fred all along. The rest of the room erupted in a series of gasps. "Blimey!" shouted Ron and Ginny nearly together. Arthur shouted "Fred!" Molly sat silent. Harry was the first to notice that she was not as happy as the others. Tears streamed from her eyes, "When! How long! Why didn't you..."

"Mum..." Fred hovered over, "Don't be cross with George. He wanted to share with you from the beginning but I begged him not to. I had to come to terms with it. It's not every day you become a ghost. I found George the morning of the Dedication and we chatted for some time. Harry..." Molly immediately glared at Harry "...caught us in September and he's kept my secret since."

"So," Ron began to think out loud, "That bloke sent a curse your way and Fred stopped it?"

"I was bloody cold," answered George, "I'd had ghosts pass through me but to hide in my body? Nearly passed out from hypothermia. I was told I was blue when they woke me up. Fred came flying out my body pretending to be me. I had to hold my breath until he came out. By that time no-one was watching me. All eyes were on Fred. And when she shot back through me I couldn't take the sudden cold again and I nearly collapsed a lung. That's why I was gasping for breath. The reason Madam Pomfrey had to take me to the Infirmary was actually for hypothermia...not the curse. The curse never touched me."

"What about the wands at the end?" asked Ron.

"I had the stadium charmed so that anyone who uttered those silly words would have a flash of red light come from their wands...I thought that was a nice touch."

The room broke into several conversations. Fred's mum and dad had many questions for their twin sons. Ginny and Ron were talking with Harry about how long he'd known about Fred. Hermione sat silently. Finally she excused herself explaining she had to check with the Hufflepuff prefects before they made rounds. George looked at her funny and followed her out, "Hermione, you don't believe my story do you?"

"Oh, I believe the part about Fred flying around pretending to be you. The rest is bollocks." George grinned guiltily and Hermione reprimanded him, "George, I get it. You don't want your mum to worry...but you and I both know a ghost can't stop a curse. Certainly, Myrtle can throw some water around but a ghost can't disturb more than a quill or a fork unless he's very, very angry. You took an awful chance relying on the most unreliable... If your mum knew..."

"So you know how?"

"Yes, George. I figured it out last night. I won't share your secret but you must promise me never to do something so foolish again." His nod of agreement was rewarded with a peck on the cheek, "Good, I think Angelina deserves that much. Good evening, George."

George watched her as she rounded the corner and he shook his head before returning to his family. If she figured out how he pulled it off she was a brilliant witch indeed. If the story ever got out that Fred was a ghost and had stopped the curse it would never survive the scrutiny of the experts but would only fuel the speculation over how he really did do it. The key was that he had to perform the illusion at Hogwarts. Anyone that knew Hogwarts history might eventually figure it out and Hermione certainly fit that qualification. It had to do with something that was as old as Hogwarts itself and arrived the day the school was built.

The second Saturday of April, Ron stepped out on the pitch with the reserves, "I want Harry to get some extra work at Seeker today. Ginny, you are to face Harry at Seeker and we will rotate a few of the Chasers to get a feel for who might be match ready in the case of an emergency." Ginny was not pleased and whined, "I need practise as well."

Ron was unfazed, "Harry needs action against a quality Seeker and you are the best we have. You've had plenty of practise at Chaser already. There isn't another Chaser at Hogwarts that would have a chance against you. Let's fly."

Harry and Ginny sparred throughout the morning and for two people in love it became nasty quick. Harry would bump her and she would bump back. Harry was clearly more talented than her and she knew he was more experienced but he would still get angry with her when she missed a move or gave up position. Most recently she saw the snitch and made a quick dart for it. Immediately she knew she gave herself away and he was right on her tail. He pulled ahead, despite similar brooms, and instead of cheering he stopped and looked back at her, "What were you doing? Cho wouldn't do that. If you were playing against her then she'd have taken the snitch and you would have lost the match for us."

Ginny was beside herself, "What does it matter? I am your sparring partner. If I was as talented as Cho I wouldn't be a Chaser. I'd be our Seeker!" She flew off without hearing his response, "Doubtful."

The next week went quickly. Hermione and Harry were able to confirm through Slughorn that Millicent and Pansy had taken extra Potions work one of the evenings that Harry was sure the fugitive 'Pat' had been in the forest. "Also," Hermione explained, "I had to tell Professor McGonagall why we were asking, but she confirmed that Professors Babbling and Snodgrass were with her the day of the uproar." Harry was not happy. They had agreed not tell anybody other than Neville and Ron. "I'm sorry, Harry, but she asked me why I had been asking everyone questions. It'd finally gotten back to her. Dumbledore had guessed anyway."

So now the list had shrunk to Duncan and four students – Astoria, Draco, Susan and Hecate. Hermione still wasn't convinced, "I still don't think it's a student. What if it's someone that had used a tunnel out of the school? What if it's someone using Polyjuice Potion?"

Harry had considered these possibilities many times before and Hermione had already asked both questions before, "If it's Polyjuice I'd still see someone unfamiliar on the map. Remember, Crouch was using Polyjuice but his name showed up on the map in Snape's Dungeons during the TriWizard Tournament. Also, if someone knew about the tunnels then they wouldn't have blasted the gates to fake leaving the grounds. They wanted us to think they'd left the school because they intended to be here a while." Harry saw Hermione was still unimpressed, "If you are sure it's someone else then think up some names. Who do you think it could be?" Hermione shrugged and he knew in her heart she agreed with him, "I need to head over to Quidditch practise but we'll talk more about it soon. We are getting close."

And each weekend went the same with the exception that it had become more difficult to remove people from the list. Neville was now keeping close eyes on Draco and Shacklebolt had a team looking into all records for Duncan. Harry would watch his map nightly hoping Hecate wouldn't do anything out of the ordinary. The other two suspects just weren't serious risks in Harry's eyes.

The beginning of May began on a brighter note. Ginny received an owl post the first Monday of the month from Bill:

Dearest Ginny,

Fleur and I would like you to know that yesterday morning you became an aunt. Originally we were told that the baby was to be a boy and when Fleur began to feel labour come on we realised she was likely to be born on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and Fred's death. Mum began to cry when we announced we'd likely name her Fred. As you can imagine, we were surprised when, as the sun came up, we were given a young girl instead.

We had not even considered names for a girl. Many of us were sad because of the day and had mixed feelings due to the anniversary. It was actually Harry's House Elf Winky who inspired her name. She had come with Andromeda and Teddy to wish us well. She had such longing in her eyes to hold her that I asked her if she'd like to...knowing her love for babies. It was all she talked about to Andromeda.

Winky picked her up and said, 'Winky thinks you are a most precious little girl. You are Winky's little Victory Baby.' For the rest of the day everyone referred to her as the 'Victory Baby' until finally when Fleur awoke and heard all the talk she insisted that she should be called Victoire Apolline Weasley. She insisted that since Harry defeated Voldemort as the sun broke and that Victoire was born as the sun broke that she was a symbol of our victory over darkness and that Apolline was loosely translated as 'Gift of the Sun..' Personally I think she wants Apolline because that is her mum's name but don't tell her I said that.

I wish you could be here but I was told you are entering an important part of your NEWTs studies.. We hope to bring Victoire as soon as we are able for the four of you to see. Please tell Harry and Hermione we said hello and that we hope to see them soon as well.

Love,

Your Brother Bill

It was soon decided that because Andromeda was feeling much better it might suit Winky well to spend some time at Shell Cottage and it might be good for Fleur as well. Winky helped with many of the household chores and when the beautiful daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley was not in the hands of her mother or visiting grandmothers, she was found in the arms Winky.

By the time the letter arrived, Ginny was barely speaking to Ron or Harry. Ron had insisted that Ginny continue to spar with Harry at Seeker. Worse, Harry would get extremely angry with her when she'd give him an inch on the pitch. She still hadn't caught the snitch once when facing him and each time he'd catch one one he'd give her an earful as to what she had done wrong.

The second practise of May, Harry got in her face, "If you want to help, you have to fight me for the Snitch Ginny! I need someone to push me. I need you to get better." Ginny looked at her team mates who seemed to be on her side. She thought Dean was about to step in. Avoiding a confrontation, she turned on her heal and walked away from practise without a word. No-one noticed the tears.

After practise several of the others found her in the Gryffindor Common Room. Dean was the one to speak, "I'm sick of Harry and this complex he has. His head has gotten too big for my taste. Is there anything we can do to help?" Ginny shook her head, "He is all wound up over Cho. I think he really does have something for her and he is worried he's going to lose the match because he won't go all out. I think he's taking it out on me."

Dean considered for a moment, "You think that's why Ron has you practising against him? He wants to get Harry's emotions out of the match? If he's used to facing someone he doesn't want to hurt then he'll play properly against her too? He is Harry's best mate and he'd know him better than anyone.

Ginny considered, "Could be." She frowned. She wouldn't say what she was really thinking. Her thoughts were that Harry obviously cared much more about Cho than her because he had no problem pushing her and yelling at her over the Ravenclaw. Maybe he was realising he didn't have the same feelings for Ginny because she wasn't as good as his former girlfriend at the sport they all loved.

Hermione had been sitting revising her Charms nearby, "Ginny, you faced off against Cho before. Why don't you go back to your memories and think about what she did so well. Maybe if you were able to remember some of her moves you could replicate them and that would help." Ginny thought, "But how?" Hermione smiled – she had an idea.

It wasn't until the weekend before the Ravenclaw match that she finally did it. Ginny had been determined for weeks that she would beat Harry to the snitch at least once before their final match of the year. A week before she had watched Hunter absolutely dismantle the Hufflepuff Seeker. Ginny had watched how he did it with special interest. Hunter, the Slytherin Seeker, was the only Seeker that Ginny had ever seen give Harry legitimate trouble in a legitimate match. Certainly, Harry had lost to Ginny and Charlie during the summer Holiday but she now knew he'd put little real effort into those matches. Hunter, though, showed why he gave Harry trouble. He pushed himself to the Snitch with all his might and he had surprised Harry with the effort he'd put into getting the Snitch. Hunter gave up his body to win and was the only Seeker that took as many chances as Harry when it came to the ultimate goal.

She'd also done what Hermione had recommended and watched her match with Cho with the pensieve in McGonagall's office and that helped quite a bit. When she faced off against Harry the weeks following he no longer criticised her but he did give her pointers and would show her how she could do even better. As they walked off the pitch their most recent practise he smiled at her for the first time in a while and said, "Now you are pushing me."

Today she was ready. They stood on this pitch waiting to launch. This was the final scrimmage before their match Saturday. When Ron blew the whistle they took to the air and she saw that several Gryffindors and even a few from other Houses were in the stands watching. She and Harry both climbed high in the air so that they could keep an eye out. Ginny caught some of the action below and she noticed that the Chasers were making an all out effort to score against the scrimmage squad. Dean was much improved from the beginning of the season and his two wings were also performing well. She knew that as soon as she returned as Chaser they were going to be unstoppable. She couldn't wait.

Ginny shook herself away from the skirmish below. Up here was where she would win the battle. The match was not her concern. Her concern was getting to the snitch before Harry. She knew she was a sparring partner and that she was only here to help Harry but she was not going to allow all of the barbs and condescending remarks made to her in front of her mates these past two months go unanswered.

Ginny saw the snitch. This time, rather than making right for it, she began to ease her way in the general direction. She pretended that she was searching but as she grew closer and closer to the area she kept a quiet eye on the snitch. Finally when she felt she had enough of a lead that she could make a go at it, and keep position, she dove for the snitch in earnest. Somehow Harry sensed this because just as she began her dive she found he had also made a beeline for the prize.

She was not going to let Harry win this one. She was determined to get to it before him. She remembered Hunter and his fearless flying and she threw her Firebolt at the ground with reckless abandon. From the corner of her eye she could see that the eyes of her brother were on them. She leaned forward as she tried to will every last ounce of speed out of the broom.

Harry was catching up fast and his angle suggested he planned to block her rather than make a go at the snitch. As he crossed her path she barrelled for him rather than pull back. The look on his face was panic and he dodged her...now caught in a dead spin as he too now plummeted toward the ground. She decided she would have to let him take care of himself – the snitch was hers. She had been thrown off course only slightly with his interference and she adjusted within moments. Usually she would have pulled back under similar circumstances but she knew this was her best opportunity.

She grabbed the snitch out of the air with one hand and at the last second she pulled up. She actually felt one of her trainers drag the ground as she came out of the dive the shoe was torn from her foot. She took a small victory circle and landed near her mates as members of both sides rushed up to congratulate her. Dean and her fellow Chasers were cheering her on and several in the stands joined in the act as well.

Harry landed nearby and brushed himself off before coming over to hug her and congratulate her, "Excellent aggressiveness. That was your best attempt yet. You should have held up and blocked instead, though, until your team was up by at least ten. Your team was down when you caught it. You won the match but you lost the Championship."

The whooping died off. Those that had celebrated with her looked at Harry curiously. Ginny turned bright red, "You can't let me enjoy this one victory?" she asked angrily. "I was playing the Part of Cho in this match and she was already beating your arse by one hundred and sixty because you couldn't keep your ruddy hands from catching that bloody snitch against the Hufflepuffs. Bad luck or not, it's not right that you talk down the brilliant job I just did because you have to make up for your own insecurities. I can see why Cho dumped you now!" she shouted. She became weak in the knees when she realised what she had said. She was too angry to apologise, though, and instead she stormed for the lockers.

The crowd stood in utter disbelief. They stared from Harry to Ginny and back again. Those who's eyes remained on Ginny saw her rip something from her neck and throw it to the ground as she could be heard sobbing. Demelza went running after her and when she reached the spot where Ginny had thrown down the necklace she crouched down and picked it up.

Ron, noticing Harry was already full of regret, attempted to lighten the mood, "So...after two months of scrimmage what do you think?" Harry didn't answer at first. He continued to watch after Ginny until she and Demelza entered the dressing rooms. Finally he shook his head and replied to Ron, "We're ready. Except for that final mistake we were brilliant."

And then Harry did what he'd done so often lately. He too walked off.

A/N: I'd love to know what you think about the chapter. I offered a few more hints about George's illusion. Do you have any ideas how George made it work?