Disclaimer: 'Stargate' and 'Harry Potter' both belong to their respective creators, so I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for the immediate moment in time and space
Feedback: I'd like it, believe me
AN: Just to clarify, the upcoming three or four chapters are all part of a flashback to the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort, and the events that led to Harry's decision to leave the wizarding world and become Daniel Jackson; once the flashback is over, the story will continue in the present
AN 2: Since so many people seem to be wondering why Daniel only stunned his opponents, I'll explain my reasoning here; the Killing Curse requires him to really hate his target, and he can't summon up the kind of hate necessary for such an action. Lesser spells, like the Reductor Curse, could have killed the Death Eaters, but Daniel was out of practice and so couldn't summon the magical energy necessary to actually destroy his targets; unless he hit them somewhere immediately fatal, he couldn't be sure he wouldn't just injure them. "Stupefy" and "Impedimentia" may have left them alive to be a problem in the long term, but in the short term, they wouldn't be trying to stop SG-1 escaping back to the Stargate, which is what Daniel was mainly trying to do
Truth and Revelations
"Come on, Hermione…" Harry said, clutching the hand of the girl he'd come to regard as a sister as she lay in a bed in St Mungo's, in a private ward away from the rest of the people, her face pale and her eyes closed. "You can't just die now… Ron wouldn't want that…"
Sitting beside him, Ginny sighed slightly as she stared at the girl who'd been one of her closest friends even before she started dating Ginny's now-dead brother, before looking back at Harry.
"You really think she'll pull through?" she asked him, a questioning gaze in her eyes.
"Your dad did," Harry said simply, as he continued to look at Hermione. "That's good enough for me right now."
Even as he spoke, however, a part of him wished that he could take that sad, frightened expression away from Ginny's face, if only for a brief while. He had the means to do it, he knew- or at least hoped he had the means to do it- but, with the situation the way it was…
He couldn't do it.
He couldn't be sure he'd manage to give her a guarantee that he'd be there to fulfil his promise.
It made a nice gesture to show that he'd try and be there, true, but given that there was always the possibility of Voldemort mounting a surprise attack on him, whether personally or with one of his Death Eaters…
No.
When he knew for certain that Voldemort was dead- or at least knew that the odds were in his favour for Voldemort being dead shortly- he'd ask Ginny the question he'd been wanting to ask for a while now.
Until then, he wasn't going to say it.
After they'd been sitting there for a few moments, Ginny looked over at Harry.
"How are you, anyway?" she asked.
Harry shrugged. "I got out alive," he said dismissively.
"Harry…" Ginny said, staring critically at her boyfriend. Harry tried to ignore her for a few moments- there were some things he just didn't want to tell her about his attempts to find the horcruxes- but, finally, he sighed and nodded.
"OK, I had a close call or two, but it was nothing that couldn't be healed in a few minutes in the hospital wing," the young man said, looking over at Ginny with a small smile on his face. "No offence, but I thought that I'm meant to be worrying about you in a relationship?"
"Worrying is a two-way street, buster," Ginny retorted, glaring back at Harry briefly her face broke into a grin, the two of them chuckling slightly at the idle banter in those brief moments before the reality of the situation set in once again and they turned back to look at Hermione, still lying before them, almost too still for comfort, her face pale from the poison that had so nearly killed her.
The infirmary at Hogwarts may have become his second bedroom- his Hogwarts dorms would always be his first, while his 'room' at Privet Drive barely even qualified as a 'room' in any sense of the word- but Harry would always hate hospitals. He sometimes wondered if some higher power was punishing him for being the 'Boy Who Lived' by seeing just how much damage Harry could take before he actually died for good…
"So… that's them all?" Ginny said finally, looking anxiously over at Harry.
Harry nodded. "Oh yeah… all six horcruxes are gone for good; the ring, the diary, the locket, the cup, the quill, and the snake," he said, sighing slightly as he stared at Hermione. "Wish the destruction of that bloody Nagini hadn't resulted in this, but at least he's vulnerable now…"
Groaning, he slumped back in his chair, one hand clasping his forehead. "I just wish I knew where he was…"
"W-well," a voice said from off to one side, "if you w-want to f-find the D-Dark Lord, I m-might be a-able to h-help you in th-that regard…"
At those words, Harry and Ginny's eyes widened in shock as they spun around to face the man who'd just arrived in the private ward. He was a short man with a large bald patch in his rapidly greying colourless hair, and his general appearance gave the impression that he'd lost a lot of weight in little time a while back and had never really managed to get it back. There was something vaguely rat-like about his small eyes and pointed nose, and his right had was made entirely of a gleaming, silver material that could almost have been mistaken for a glove if it weren't joined directly to his wrist.
It was Peter Pettigrew, AKA Wormtail. Former Marauder of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one-time Secret Keeper for Lily and James Potter, the man who'd spent twelve years posing as a rat called Scabbers who belonged to the Weasley family…
And the man who'd betrayed Harry's parents.
"YOU!" Harry roared, as he and Ginny pulled their wands out and pointed them threateningly at Wormtail, who cowered back as he raised his hands in front of his face. "What the Hell are you doing here!"
"W-wait!" Wormtail said, as he covered his eyes as though he was a small child hiding under his blanket to escape the bogeyman. "I di-didn't come here to fight; I w-want to talk!"
"Oh yeah, you really want to talk, don't you, you goddamn bastard," Harry growled as he stared at the man who'd ruined his life before he was even old enough to fully realise what was happening. He may have stopped Sirius and Lupin from killing Wormtail back in his third year, but that was only because he didn't want them to be guilty of cold-blooded murder; right now, he was perfectly prepared to knock this git around a lot and then worry about morality. "You sold out my parents, spent twelve years hiding out as a rat while an innocent man was forced to stay in Azkaban, and then participated in a ritual that gave the most ferocious dark wizard who ever lived his body once again? You want to talk NOW?"
"Look, I k-know I don't have the most… trustworthy… past…" Wormtail said, stuttering nervously as he stared at Harry. "But… please… you have to help me… the D-Dark Lord just won't stop… the Death Eaters just can't forgive me for hiding away for all those years-"
"Then we have something in common with them," Ginny stated coldly, glaring angrily at Wormtail from where she stood, slightly behind and to the left of Harry. "What makes you think we'll forgive you for what you did to Harry?"
Swallowing, Wormtail looked upat the young wizard, who was staring at him wand outstreached, with a fixed, angered expression on his face.
"I k-know this doesn't make up for it, but th-this m-might h-help," Wormtail said, as he reached slowly into his pocket, pulled a worn note that looked like it had been read and re-read several times, and passed it to Harry, his hand trembling as Harry reached out to take the note and study what was written on it.
The Dark Lord is to be found at the Riddle House, on the outskirts of Little Hangleton
Harry's eyes widened at the note, and he stared critically at Wormtail.
"What is-" he began, before his eyes widened slightly as inspiration struck him. "The Fidelius Charm?"
"And Voldemort's the Secret Keeper, so it's impossible for anyone else to find him unless he tells them where he is himself?" Ginny continued, indicating the note. Wormtail nodded, and she continued. "But then… why would he write it down?"
"H-he only writes it w-when s-someone- like a new D-Death Eater- doesn't know the address a-and he can't be b-bothered telling them h-himself," Wormtail explained. "H-he gives the n-note to whoever's nearby a-and orders t-them to b-burn it once they're d-done-"
"And you didn't burn this one, mmm?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow as he studied the note, nodding thoughtfully for a moment before looking up at Wormtail. "Well, it certainly fits with why we can't find Voldemort anywhere, but why are you giving us this now? It's only been a couple of days since I found the last horcrux; Voldemort would probably be expecting an attack-"
"A-actually, he's just about to l-leave the Riddle House; th-that's why I'm g-giving you this n-now," Wormtail explained, indicating the note. "He's m-moving to a m-more secure location- I don't k-know w-where yet- and I d-don't know if he'll ever do something s-similar to th-this after he's re-relocated, s-so t-this is your o-only ch-chance of stopping h-him while h-he's alone…"
Harry nodded thoughtfully as he studied the note, but then Ginny stepped forward to glare at Wormtail.
"You wouldn't be doing this unless you wanted something from us in return," she said, her eyes fixed on Wormtail's so intently that the rat animagus visibly cowered under her stare. "What is it? Because if you're after freedom, you won't be getting it; you've done way too much for us to even think about letting you go."
Wormtail nodded weakly. "I k-know that, Miss W-Weasley," he said, looking at her with an increasingly pale face, as though he was going to pass out at any minute. "A-all I ask is that y-you just d-don't have me executed straight after I-I'm sent t-to A-Azkaban."
Harry nodded at that.
"Seems fair…" he said, as he studied Wormtail for a moment, before finally coming to a decision. "Could you… just wait outside for a moment? I'd like to talk with Ginny about this- in private."
"O-of course," Wormtail said, before he turned around and headed for the door, closely it quietly behind him. If anyone came by the room, Harry assumed Wormtail would just turn into a rat to escape being noticed, but otherwise he doubted the man would do anything; if he ran off now, he knew that both sides would be after him fairly quickly.
Besides, as much as he may have been terrified at the prospect, Azkaban was the only chance he had of staying alive; the Death Eaters would probably kill him straight away.
The two of them gave it a moment to see if they could hear Wormtail anywhere, and then Ginny spoke.
"I don't trust him," she said, looking over at Harry.
Harry nodded in agreement as he glanced at the door. "After what he did to my parents, I'd have to be brain-dead to believe anything he tells me," he said. For a moment, Ginny thought that was all he was going to say, but then he sighed slightly and looked back at the note in his hand. "Still… if there's even the chance that what he's just told us is authentic…"
"You are not going there alone!" Ginny said, stepping back to glare at Harry sharply. "We're calling the Order, we can have the entire Auror force on Voldemort in a matter of minutes-"
"Ginny, slow down and listen to yourself for a minute," Harry interrupted, as he stared critically at his girlfriend. "Even assuming we could tell enough people what Wormtail's told us- and assuming that they don't take ages to come up with some kind of stupid, elaborate, professional plan of attack once they've decided to at least assume he's being honest with us- what are the chances that we'll manage to take Voldemort by surprise? I somehow doubt Voldemort will have made it that easy for just anyone to apparate directly into the Riddle house, and by the time we've got enough people through the door to make a difference, he'll probably have disapparated anyway; those kind of numbers would attract too much attention."
He shook his head as he looked at Ginny. "No; it has to be me- just me. Anyone else, and there's a good chance Voldemort will hear us coming in. He'll probably miss one person, but any more would be chancing it."
Smiling slightly, as though at an amusing thought, Harry looked back at Ginny. "Besides, unlike the last few times we've fought, this time, he doesn't know that I'm coming; that gives me an advantage."
Ginny looked up at Harry for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as though she was trying to come to a decision, until, finally, she sighed and slumped back onto the corner of the bed.
"You know, I really hate it when you make a good point," she said, as she stared up at him, a slight pout on her face.
Harry shrugged, a slightly sheepish grin on his face.
"Yeah, well, that's life, I guess," he said, before his face became more serious as he looked at Ginny. "Just one thing; the two of you are going to have to stay at Grimmauld Place while I'm going after Tom."
"WHAT!" Ginny yelled, staring incredulously at Harry; if he hadn't known Ginny wouldn't do something like that, he would have sworn she was about to him. "You can't be serious!"
"I can't be anything but serious!" Harry retorted, grabbing Ginny's shoulders to stare at her. "Look, we both know that the Order have abandoned Grimmauld Place since Dumbledore's death; it's the only place I can be absolutely certain is somewhere you won't be found by some lucky Death Eater trying to make a name for themselves... and besides, I need someone to keep an eye on Wormtail; if he doesn't at least try to make a break for it, I'll be very surprised."
Ginny opened her mouth, but Harry raised his hand to stop her. "Before you start, don't worry; you know the layout of the house better than that… rat… ever could- I somehow doubt Sirius had the Marauders over in the holidays- and anyway, Wormtail's hardly a competent duellist. Just stay far enough away from him so that you've got time to retaliate if he tries anything, and you should be fine, OK?"
Ginny paused for a moment, her face deep in thought as she went over Harry's proposed plan, and then groaned as she looked at him once again.
"You know, keep this up, and I'm going to want to hurt you when this is all over," she said, glaring at him. "You can't keep sending me away like this, you know." Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny raised a hand to stop him. "Oh, I understand your reasons; I'm just saying that, after all this effort to keep me safe, you'd better come back so I've got a reason for staying alive all this time."
"Trust me, Ginny; once this is over, wild horses couldn't drag me away from you," Harry said, smiling at her briefly before an apprehensive expression crossed his face. "But… well, if you really want to know that I'll come back…"
He swallowed, glancing around to make sure that the door was locked and the room was completely empty (Hermione being in a coma, she didn't really count, but he definitely didn't want someone walking in on them), and then pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket as he bent down on one knee.
This wasn't exactly when he would have preferred to do this, of course- Voldemort was still alive, after all, and in a perfect world he'd do this once the final battle was over- but the odds were good that the situation would change pretty soon, so he'd just have to hope for the best and try even harder not to get killed.
"I know it's a bit cliché for the heroes to do something like this before the final battle," he said, as he looked up at Ginny, who was staring at him with a shocked expression, "but… well, I've already nearly lost you once, and, if the worse comes to the worst- which I will endeavour to make sure doesn't happen- I want you to know that… well, that I love you."
Opening the box to reveal a gleaming gold ring, a small diamond in the centre with two gleaming rubies on both sides of it.
"Ginerva Molly Weasley," Harry said, looking anxiously up at his girlfriend, "will you marry me?"
Ginny could only blink rapidly as she stared at the ring in Harry's hand, tears of joy shimmering in her eyes.
"Harry… I… Oh, God… yes," she answered, her voice faltering as she stared at the ring. For a moment, she could only stare as Harry took her left hand and slowly placed the ring on her finger, but then, as he stood up, smiling broadly at her, she grabbed him around the neck and began to kiss him for all she was worth…
"Hold on a minute here; you proposed to her?" Mitchell said, staring incredulously at Daniel, interrupting the flow of the story for the moment. "You? No offence, but the last time I checked, you-"
"Weren't exactly that self-confident around women?" Daniel replied, chuckling slightly as he stared briefly up at the ceiling before looking back at the rest of SG-1, a slightly saddened expression on his face. "Trust me, Cam; a lot can change in a couple of decades…"
"But… you were seventeen!" Sam said, staring incredulously at Daniel from where she sat opposite him. She knew that, once again, she was making a big deal for no good reason, but it was sounding increasingly like Daniel (Or Harry, or whatever he wanted to call himself) had been lying to them for years. "Weren't you a bit young to be thinking about stuff like that?"
"Sam, I'd witnessed the deaths of my mentor and the man who was my brother in every way but blood the previous year; that kind of thing makes you want to think about the future," Daniel said, looking over at Sam as he spoke. "Besides… I loved Ginny, and I wanted her to know that."
Despite herself, Sam felt a pang of jealously at Ginny's name; just the look on Daniel's face made it clear that Ginny had meant just as much to him as Sha're had…
And why does that bother me so much? Sam asked herself, as Daniel turned back to address the entire table. Putting aside the fact that he never told us about this- and really, would we have even believed him in the past- I should be happy he had someone to love in the past…
"Anyway, it was fairly straightforward convincing Wormtail to stay at Grimmauld Place with Ginny; he wasn't all that keen on going out in public in case a Death Eater caught him before I'd finished Voldemort off. I gave Ginny a kiss goodbye, made sure Wormtail was where I'd told him to stay- the kitchen; Ginny knew where everything was if she wanted food, so she wouldn't need to turn her back to Wormtail if she got hungry- and then…"
Daniel swallowed slightly, a pained expression crossing his face, as though his words had brought back a painful memory, and he reached over to clutch the nearby table, his head bowed.
"Daniel?" Sam asked looking at him in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Just… that was the last chance I ever got to kiss her," Daniel said as he looked up at Sam, pain in his eyes. "The next time I saw her… she died only minutes later."
"Oh God…" Sam whispered to herself, her earlier… jealousy… forgotten in light of this latest revelation.
"But how-" Mitchell began, before Daniel held up a hand to stop him.
"In time," he said simply, before turning back to address the full table. "With Ginny safe- or so I thought at the time- I soon found myself at the Riddle House…"