Harry Potter and the Chains that Bind

by patrick mcclellan

6th year. Time magic. New teachers. Causality. Year 6 replacement. I continue JKR's characterization, and that means Harry is not a god, no one cuts themselves, there is no implied harem, there is no Mary Sue, Dumbledore/the Weasleys aren't actually evil. If you've read it, go ahead and write me a summary, if this isn't good enough.

38. 3 A Matter of Honor

[AN]I totally forgot to post this last week. I'm an evil bastard.[/AN]

Chapter 3.5

Ginny Weasly pocketed her wand. She'd been dodging her mum, her brothers, and at times, other visitors as they came and went. The hallway was far brighter after Grimmauld Place had gotten a proper run-through, and it was far more difficult to simply skulk through shadows now. There were hardly any shadows left. Something thudded behind the door just in front of her, and she slid to a stop with uncanny precision. She darted down a hallway and slid against a door just as the one she had been in front of opened stealthily.

There were times she cursed her slim frame, but this wasn't one of them. She exhaled completely and squished against the door. She sensed rather than saw Ron scrutinizing the hallway. After several moments, he scuttled through the door and down the hallway Ginny had moments ago been walking through. She waited until a few moments after she heard his last footsteps, and then tiptoed to the room...Bill's room.

Ron had tossed it well; that much she could tell. Bill was neat. Bill was orderly. Bill was predictable. Ron was careful, but he simply wasn't capable of putting things back where they belonged. Things were arrayed neatly throughout the room, but once you got used to the way Bill did things, the way Ron did them stuck out like a wax wand. Here a chair was out of place, over there, the desk drawers were unevenly shut. Even the huge bed was slightly askew. Ginny meandered through the room, straightening things. She didn't know if Bill saw these things as immediately as she did, but if he did, he was assuredly capable of ignoring them by now. It wasn't like this was the first time Ron had rifled a room.

When she was done setting things right she cracked the door and surveyed the hallway. When she was certain Ron wasn't coming back, she stepped back to the bookcase. It was, of course, one area Ron ignored completely. She scanned the fourth shelf up and paused on the one entitled "A History of Lost magical Treasure Troves." She tapped it experimentally and tilted it out. The book dropped to one side and opened. The inside was hollow. She tilted the book to one side and a few sweets trickled out.

Ginny unwrapped one and savored it. She was really going to have to cut down, or she wouldn't be cursing her thin frame for much longer. She carried the book to the bed and poured out a few more bits of candy. Then she considered the small pile, and how much Ron was likely to leave her, should he find the stash, and poured a bit more onto the pile. Finally, she closed the book and returned it to its spot upside down. She sat on the huge bed for a bit, savoring an Incredibly Long-Lasting Lozenge. When it was about gone, she tugged at her necklace.

When she was young, her father had given her something he had scrounged up and somehow had repaired...a tiny watch on a necklace. Such things certainly weren't stylish...any more in wizarding circles than in muggle ones...so she only wore it when she was fairly certain she wouldn't run into anyone other than her very closest friends. She studied the tiny timepiece. Ron, like Bill, was a creature of habit, and for that matter, so was her mum.

Molly would prepare lunch at noon. Ron would wait only long enough for her to finish, devour it, and by one thirty -two at the latest- he would be hungry enough begin his next round of searching. He would hit this room by three in the afternoon. Ginny had spoiled her appetite with sweets, but it was now almost one in the afternoon. She carefully took a portion of a wrapper from a chocolate frog (Ptolemy) and set it on the floor directly under "A History of Lost Magical Treasure Troves," and stepped back to avoid her work from a suitable distance.

Ron would have to be an utter twit to miss that. Well, perhaps he was an utter twit, but she didn't think he'd miss a clue so obvious. Not with sweets at stake.

Oh, sure, she could have just told him where they were, but their family didn't work that way. Fred and George could only very occasionally gift anyone directly with something. The candy had gone to Bill, because you couldn't just be giving everything away. Ginny had found it and liberated it from Bill, who almost positively pretended not to notice. As much as Ginny may have wanted to simply rub Ron's nose on the book, it was best for him to find it on his own.

After all, it was a matter of honor.