Harry and Ginny: A Love Story
Chapter 25: Mysteries of the Heart
The next couple of weeks passed quickly, or so it seemed to Harry. He was still unsure of when to present his special present to Ginny and he had been agonizing over it since the day they returned with it from Diagon Alley.
Ginny was well aware of Harry's inner struggle, but had decided to see how long it would take Harry to come to terms with it and talk to her.
At first it had been very easy, or relatively so, to act like nothing was amiss, but as the days slid by, it became more and more difficult to do so. It was the day before Harry's birthday when Ginny had finally had enough of Harry's anxiety. It was really starting to get on her nerves and she wanted the issue resolved before his birthday so she wouldn't have to worry about it then.
She had steered him out into the back garden after breakfast to have a talk with him and confront him about his growing anxiety.
They sat down on the bench under the large old oak tree, its wide branches providing a wide area of shade that helped cool the hot July sun.
Ginny took a deep breath and looked Harry in the eyes. "Okay Harry, we need to have a talk," she said, a bit sternly. She saw his eyes widen in surprise, and his anxiety level rise by quite a bit.
"Calm down, Harry," she said, a lot more gently. "I know something has been bothering you ever since we went shopping in Diagon Alley and it's really becoming bothersome. We need to talk about whatever it is so we can get past it. Is there something I've done to upset you or anything?"
Ginny felt his anxiety flare even harder. "No!" he all but shouted out. He then looked quite embarrassed, blushing and dropping his gaze from hers.
Ginny saw him take a deep breath, and glance back up into her eyes. Dropping his gaze again quickly, he began to fidget in his seat. She could feel his turmoil and her heart ached for his discomfort. Gently she reached out and caressed his cheek, slowly bringing his eyes back to to hers.
"Just tell me what's wrong. I can't help if I don't know what's bothering you?" she implored softly.
It took a moment, but Harry nodded and reached into his pocket and pulled out the small package he had been carrying around for several days, hoping to build up enough nerve to give it to Ginny.
"I ah, hem," he cleared his throat, which threatened to close, cutting off his power of speech. "I ah, got something for you, well us!" he said hesitantly. "I first thought of it for your birthday, but because of. . . well you'll see, I thought it would be more appropriate for some other type of gift."
He slowly handed her the small box, as if unsure what she was going to think about it. Deep down, his mind was sure she'd love the present, but for some reason, his upper consciousness refused to believe it.
Ginny stared at the small, well wrapped present, trying to figure out what Harry could have gotten that was causing such a dilemma for him. Taking a quick glance at him, which revealed nothing to her, she felt his anxiety, it was as high as she had felt it since the shopping trip.
She slowly pulled the ribbon of the bow, untying it, in what Harry thought was an agonizingly slow process, finally having it pop free.
Chancing another look at Harry, she saw him staring at her hands holding the package. She turned her attention back to it and carefully unwrapped the paper that the box was wrapped in. She was surprised by the black velvet box that the present had contained and looked questioningly at her Bond-mate.
"What have you gotten?" she whispered softly.
She saw him blush, and she thought he looked every so cute as he held his breath in anticipation of her opening the gift.
She gently pried the the box open and her face froze in surprise at what she beheld. There, slightly apart in the box were the two halves of the heart and she understood immediately what they were. If she wasn't mistaken, Harry had presented her, and him Bonding necklaces. They were supposed to be quite rare and the last known one made had been over a century ago.
"Harry, they're beautiful," she breathed huskily, her emotions getting the better of her. She quickly turned them over and read the inscription on the obverse of the heart halves. She felt tears coming to her eyes, but she could feel Harry's understanding that they weren't tears of sorrow, but tears of joy.
Not being able to help himself, he said, "So you like them?" he asked tentatively.
Ginny smiled through her tears, "Yes, you prat, I like them quite a lot. She handed him his to put on her, which he did with a smile, his anxiety evaporating now that he knew that she loved the gift.
As soon as he was done, she put hers on him, feeling his elation as she did so. Harry explained what the Jeweller had told him about where they came from and the magical property they were said to possess.
He finished by saying, "I first thought of giving them to you as a birthday gift, but since they were really for the both of us, I decided to give them as a Bonding, or Betrothal gift."
Ginny hugged him hard, almost knocking him over in the bench as she did so. "Why were you so worried about giving them to me?" she asked, in disbelief.
Harry just shrugged, "I'm not really sure," he said, softly, "I guess I'm just not use to the idea of gifts and things."
Ginny hugged him again, and then gave him as quick kiss, "Well you'd better get use to it, though we don't have many Galleons our family has always found a way to give people gifts on the proper occasions."
Harry's heart swelled with the love he was feeling, not only from Ginny through the Bind, but also from the other members for his growing extended family, that included the Weasleys, Aunt Minnie, Aunt Poppy, plus the others that seemed determined to protect him and keep him safe. To him, it was the best gift, besides Bonding with Ginny, that he had ever received.
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Dumbledore just about had all his plans set for spiriting Harry away from his birthday party the following evening. Mundungus had been able to recruit some locals in need of a few Galleons to create the diversion and all he needed to do now, was have a little talk with Tonks and all would be set.
Smiling, in spite of himself, Albus, he got up and prepared to Floo to the Ministry for a discrete little talk to the young Auror. He had his alibi all set, he would be attending a meeting of the Confederation of Wizards governing committee. With him being the Head Mugwump, he was able to set the time and place of the meeting, so that was easily arranged.
He made his way through the Atrium of the Ministry with no problem, heading for the lifts. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes of his time to convince Tonks to be at the right place at the right time to insure that all went well. They poor girl wouldn't even know she was part of the plot to kidnap Harry.
He had no problem in finding Tonks in the MLE department and casting a couple of quick privacy spells he approached the young Auror. "Ah, Auror Tonks, may I have a quick word with you?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
Right away Tonks was on guard, sensing that Albus was trying to pull something with her assistance. Keeping her smile on her face she replied, "What can I help you with Professor Dumbledore?"
Glancing around, like he didn't want to be overheard, he said "It has come to my attention that there is going to be an attempt to snatch Harry from his birthday party at the Weasley's tomorrow night."
Tonks perked up, wondering where this was leading.
"Unfortunately, I can not attend due to a meeting of the Confederation of Wizards, so I was wondering if I could request your assistance in guarding Harry," the old wizard asked, cagily.
"How did you find out about this kidnapping and why aren't you going through channels?" she asked shrewdly.
"I have some sources of information from, shall we say some people of less than stellar repute. I would be compelled to disclose them if I made a formal request, something I wish to avoid as cultivating a replacement would be very difficult and time consuming," Dumbledore explained.
"So what do you want from me?" Tonks then asked.
"I was hoping to convince you to be nearby and take charge of Harry's safety should the attempt be made," he replied.
"What do you mean, if the attempt is made?"
"Well one never is one hundred percent secure in knowing the validity of these tips, considering the source," Albus said, offhandedly.
"Who would want to do such a thing?" Tonks asked.
"My sources say it is followers of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named," Albus said, dropping his voice further as if he was divulging a great secret.
Tonks was thinking to herself, "Yeah and a cagey old fool of a wizard who wants Harry back under his control."
Tonks pretended to think about Albus' request for several moments, like she wasn't sure she would do it. She could see the normally cool, staid Headmaster actually looking a little worried that she was going to refuse.
"I'll do it, and I think I can even waggle an invitation to the party if I play my cards right," said Tonks, watching the look of relief that passed momentarily over his face.
"Splendid," Albus said with a smile. All the pieces were now in place. "If anything unusual happens at all, I want to to get Harry out of there and to safety. If you could get him to Hogsmeade where I'll have Hagrid waiting to escort him to his hut on the school grounds, he'll be safe there."
"Yeah right!" Tonks said to herself, "Okay, sounds good to me," she said as she looked at the old Wizard. She felt the gentlest of probes to her mind, luckily her Auror training made her very resistant to Legilimency. The probing quickly ended and she gave no indication that she had been aware of the delicate attempt to probe her mind.
"Thank you, Auror Tonks, I'm confident that Harry's safety is assured then," Albus said, with a small smile. With a quick nod he took his leave, deftly cancelling the privacy spells he had cast.
Tonks watched him go and made herself wait five minutes after he was gone, before she went to Shacklebolt's office. "Hey, King, I've got a lead to run down, I'll be out of the office for a while, okay?" she said.
Kingsley was immersed in paperwork and barely looking up, he said, "Sure, see ya later," before he was back to reading the report in his hands.
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Hermione had spent a lot of her free time since buying the huge tome from Flourish and Blotts reading through it. Even for her it was a monumental task.
She had tried just skimming through the first section that listed many of the pairs of Bond-mates through the centuries, but she found the history of them fascinating and kept getting sucked into reading all of them.
She was slogging her way through, making copious notes as she went, just as if it were a text for some class at Hogwarts, something that Ron had questioned early on but when all he received was a baleful glare, he had learned to keep his mouth shut.
But even Hermione would succumb to the call of the outdoors with it's warm summer weather and she would join the others for some fun. Sometimes swimming in the pond, or watching the others play Quidditch, as she was very reluctant to ride a broom, earning her many a comment about her being a true witch, but she refused to relent and join them in the air.
She had never told anyone her real reason for hating to ride on a broom. It was when she had been fairly young, about five or six, when she had been climbing in a tree in her backyard, against the rules of her parents, and she had fallen.
Luckily she hadn't gotten hurt, probably due to her latent magical abilities, that were unknown at the time, but besides scaring her most horribly, the lambasting she had gotten from her terrified parents, had made her forswear anything that had to do with heights where she could fall and potentially get hurt.
Every since that day, she had never gone against the promise she had made to her parents, and she probably never would.
She had watched Ginny drag Harry from the kitchen and wondered what was up. She could tell Harry was worried about something, but she had no idea about what. Well, she figured that was Ginny's problem and she decided to go get the book she was reading and sit out on the porch to do some more reading.
It was just as she was finishing up the one chapter on the effects of bonding that she found the interesting bit of information that stated that Bonded couples shared an emotional as well as a physical connection in their minds. This explained to her why Harry seemed so in tune with Ginny.
She was also surprised to learn that no formal Bonding ceremony was necessary, that once one of them reached majority, they would become bonded, as long as the other was within a year or so of age.
Then she came to the information abut how the Bond virtually guaranteed that the Bonded couple would have no desire to consummate the relationship till they were totally Bonded.
This explained to Hermione why Ginny's parents and the other adults were willing to let them sleep together.
Reading further, she also found out there was very powerful magic to protect the Bond-mates, and especially the female from being raped, explaining that the most dire consequences awaited anyone who tried to violate the young witch. Plus there were similar protections for the young wizard, making sure that both remained virgins until the Bond was completed.
Hermione began to scribble down information quickly, when Ron joined her on the porch and asked what she had found out. She was hesitant to tell him, not knowing how he would react to hearing about the sex-life of his younger sister.
"I'm not sure that you really want to know," she said hesitantly, turning red as she did so.
"Why, Hermione?" Ron whined, wondering what it could be that would make her blush. Then it hit him and his imagination began to run wild and he had images of Harry taking advantage of Ginny, most of them quite crude and vivid.
His colour soon matched Hermione's, his being a combination of his embarrassment and his rising anger.
Hermione sensed Ron's emotional state and he quickly scolded him, "Ronald, they're bonded, there is nothing that you can do to change that," she said forcefully.
"What if I kill him?" Ron asked, quite indignantly.
"They you'd be killing Ginny too. Their fates are now intertwined and their souls are now inseparable. Would you kill Ginny, just to "protect" her?" Hermione said, a bit hotly.
Ron's shoulders slumped, "Of course not," he answered dejectedly.
"Then there isn't a thing you can do about it," she said, still looking at him angrily. "I just don't understand you Ron. Don't you think the adults would separate them if they could?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I really hadn't given it much thought," he replied.
Hermione just rolled her eyes, getting up and heading back inside. Disgusted with Ron for the moment and needing to put some distance between him and her.
Ron remained on the porch bench, thinking about all that Hermione had said. He realized she was right, why hadn't he thought that the adults would have done something if they had been able. Was he so single minded that he hadn't even considered anything else? That question and others that were similar in nature bothered him as he sat contemplating the situation.
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Fred and George were just finishing up setting up the spells on Percy's door when they heard Hermione coming up the stairs. She stopped several steps down and stared at the Twins for a moment, before continuing her way up to them.
"So what have you done to Percy's door?" she asked with genuine interest.
"Why should we tell you?" Fred asked, warily.
"Because I have more information on Harry's and Ginny's Bonding, for one thing," she replied.
George raised his eyebrows and looked at Fred. He shrugged back and George said, "Come on up to our office."
George proceeded Hermione, with Fred bringing up the rear and Hermione couldn't get the picture of a condemned person being escorted to their execution out of her head, so it was with a wry grin on her face she entered the Twins' bedroom.
"So what prank have you set up on Percy?" she asked, still grinning.
"You really found something out?" George asked.
"Do you think I'd even be here if I hadn't?" she replied.
"Point taken," said Fred.
"We placed a simple hair colouring spell on our dear brother's door," Fred answered with a gleam in his eyes.
"Yeah, and we added our own special twist to it," added George.
"Like what," Hermione asked.
"Well, like it doesn't trip every time you go through," Fred said, grinning.
"Or the same colour, whenever it is triggered," added George, grinning just as widely are before."
"So Percy is going to be having his hair colour keep changing every time he goes through his door?" she asked, giggling in spite of herself.
"Yeah, and the added thing is, there is a time delay from a few minute to about an hour, before it changes," George said, laughing with Fred.
"Sweet Merlin, that's funny," Hermione said, not being able to help herself, as she giggled.
"So what have you found out about the Bond?" Fred asked, smiling at the giggling Hermione.
"I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I have learned that because of the bond, Harry and Ginny are Betrothed, well, in effect married, but the full Bonding won't take place until Harry becomes of age," Hermione said.
Fred and George exchanged looks, "Wonder why when Harry becomes of age and not Ginny?" George said.
"The book only said that it would happen that way if the two people who were bonded were close in age. It also said that their desire to consummate the Bonding would be suppressed until the full Bonding had taken place," she continued.
"Hence the allowing them to sleep together," Fred said.
"Yeah, and it explains why Mum caved so quickly," George replied, with a smug smile.
Hermione nodded in agreement, "The other thing I found out so far is there are powerful magical protections to protect both parties from being raped or taken advantage of, it stressed most highly that the consequences would be severe."
Fred and George exchanged surprised looks, it seemed that the magic of the Bond was extremely powerful and not to be messed with. They wondered if it had any other magical properties that it could manifest if need be.
"Anything else?" asked George.
"No, but I'm only about half way through the book, so who knows what I'll find," said Hermione as she got ready to leave.
George looked questioningly at Hermione, "If you were able to find this book so easily at F & B's, why doesn't it seem like anyone else knows much about the Bonding process, besides what Aunt Poppy knows?"
"Yeah, that's a good question, any thoughts or answers, Hermione?" Fred added.
"As to why others don't know this stuff, I can only guess, but as for finding the book easily, well that's not quite correct. I spent well over two hours digging in the old and rare book room, down in the cellar. I bet hardly anyone looks down there anymore," Hermione said. "I had to cast Scourgify twice before I was clean once I came back up to check out."
The Twins just laughed, "We'd have like to seen that," they said.
Hermione just shook her head, and left to put the book away before she needed to head down for lunch. She couldn't help but laugh as Percy came out of his room, heading down to have a quick bite before he headed off for his summer job at the Ministry and she wondered if his hair would end up changing colour later. Living with the Twins was anything but boring.
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Dinner that night was a raucous affair, Percy came storming home from the Ministry very upset that someone there had changed his hair to a bright canary yellow and that it had resisted all attempts at returning it to normal, in fact the more someone tried, the worse and worse colour it turned, until it had turned an ugly puce. Percy then had them stop trying and by the end of the day it had returned to its normal colour.
Though several upper Ministry Officials had said that they'd start an investigation into who had pulled such an audacious prank at the Ministry, he had heard them talking later, having a good laugh over the incident.
Percy had eyed the Twins suspiciously but they paid him no mind, not acknowledging his scrutiny at all and even Percy had to admit that he hadn't seen them at all that morning before he left.
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It was later that night after Harry and Ginny had retired to Harry's room for the evening, though they hadn't yet gone to sleep. At first they just lay snuggled together, enjoying the wonderful sensation of snuggling with their Bond-mate when Ginny sent a question to Harry, "Harry, remember how you said that the Jeweller had said that the necklaces were quite ancient, but had never been used?"
"Yes, Ginny, I remember, why?" Harry replied.
"I don't know, really. It's just something that seems stuck in my head, do you know what I mean?" she asked, in reply.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, I've thought about it too. That plus the fact that they are supposed to possess special magical qualities. It's hard not to."
Ginny pulled hers out from under the light blanket that covered them, "Let's see yours too," she sent.
Harry pulled his out and let Ginny take hold of it. She stared at them for several moments before she gently placed the two halves together. Both of them were astounded to see a brilliant golden light appear down the centre, where the halves touched, it flared once and faded back to a soft glow that encompassed the heart.
"Greetings Children," they both heard in their heads.
Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, neither knowing what was happening, they had never had something intrude on their mind speaking before.
"Hello?" Ginny called out tentatively.
"Be not afraid, I can do you no harm, even if I wished to, and let me assure you I do not."
"Who are you?" Ginny asked.
"Lets just say I am sort of a guide," the voice said.
To Harry and Ginny the voice was a light pleasant woman's voice and it certainly held no animosity. If anything it was a warm, welcoming, comforting voice, a voice that just spoke of love and trust.
"Do you have a name?" Harry asked.
"My, you are inquisitive, aren't you?" the voice said, its amusement ringing in its tone. "Well since you asked, you may call me Arwain."
"That's a very beautiful name," Ginny sent.
"So is Ginevra," Arwain said, and just like when they talked to each other, they could tell she was smiling.
Ginny was caught by surprise, "How do you know my name?" she asked.
The voice laughed lightly, it was a sweet musical laugh that spoke of amusement, "Why it's engraved on the back of the heart," Arwain said, pleasantly.
Ginny blushed, not even thinking about that fact. "So why are you here to guide us and to what?" she asked.
"Direct and to the point, I should have expected that. You two have just taken the first step in learning the Mysteries of the Heart," Arwain said, once more her voice sounding so welcoming and comforting.
"The Mysteries of the Heart?" Harry asked, picturing a guide about love.
"Not that way, Harry," Arwain said, with a laugh, "Though along the way, you may learn a great deal about that too."
"You can read our thoughts?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Not really, but I have centuries of reading emotions so I can tell much more than your average being."
"What are you, then? Ginny asked, perplexed by Arwain's last statement.
"That I'm afraid is a very complicated subject, that has no easy answer. For the moment I must decline in answering it. Later on, you'll come to know but for now, just accept that I am real, I am here and I am to help you," Arwain said, as if telling a couple of young children that they were to young to understand.
"Okay," Harry replied, not really liking it, but he knew that they'd never be able to get Arwain to tell until she was ready. "Can you tell us where the Heart comes from?"
"That I can answer. It was made by Merlin himself and it was made for you two." Arwain said, benevolently.
"Merlin made it just for us?" a shocked Ginny asked.
"I just said so didn't I? Trust in what I say, I will never lie to you, if you are not ready to receive the answer to your questions I will tell you so, but I will never provide you with false information," Arwain explained, her voice still soft and pleasant, not the least be angry or upset at having her answer questioned.
Harry and Ginny nodded in understanding, "You said we had taken the first step, what was that?" Harry asked.
"The wearing and joining of the Heart halves. By giving them in Love you have unlocked it and now you will begin your education." said Arwain.
"Why us?" Ginny asked, afraid she already knew the answer.
"You are correct Ginevra, or can I call you Ginny?" Arwain said.
"Ginny is fine," she replied, "and what do you mean I am correct?"
"The reason of why you two should be obvious. First because you have Bonded, but more importantly because you two will be called upon to battle for the side of the Light against a Darkness that is growing right at this instant."
Ginny's heart faltered a little, she had always known the story of The-Boy-Who-Lived, but had hoped that she had been wrong, when she had come to love Harry so deeply.
"Must it come to that?" she asked Arwain.
For the first time, Arwain's voice took on a feeling of melancholy, "I'm afraid so Ginny."
"Thank you for telling us, it will make it easier to accept what has to be done," Ginny said sadly.
"Be not afraid Ginny, you wouldn't be in this position if there was no chance of succeeding and you will have many allies in the struggle, and a lot of them unlooked for. So please do not despair, it is way to early for that."
"Will we need to place the halves together again to talk with you?" Harry asked.
"A very good question, Harry, and the answer is no. Now that you have unlocked the Heart, I will be here whenever I am needed or called," Arwain answered with a smile.
"Who sent you?" Ginny asked.
"No one sent me, Ginny. I came because I was called."
"Who called you?" Ginny asked.
"Why you two did, of course." Arwain said with a laugh. "Well with a question like that, it shows that you two are getting tired. Time for you to go to sleep, we have plenty of time for the moment. So I'll take my leave for now, sleep well, Children."
Harry and Ginny felt the presence of Arwain retreat from their minds and they looked at each other, neither quite knowing what to say.
"Well that was interesting," Harry finally said.
"Ooh, thanks Mr. Understatement," Ginny said with a giggle.
"You think so?" Harry sent back, grabbing Ginny's hands and holding them over her head.
Ginny thought for a moment Harry was going to tickle her like before, and in reality, that's what Harry had first planned, but something made him stop. His eyes found Ginny's and she suddenly felt his love for her swell to hitherto unreached heights. He slowly leaned down over her and kissed her quite tenderly, releasing her hands as he did so.
Ginny felt a fire stir within her, it was like nothing she had felt before, but it spoke of her love for Harry and she tenderly wrapped her arms around him. She briefly thought that they were very young to be acting and feeling this way, but those thoughts soon vanished from her mind as Harry kept kissing her.
They slowly broke apart, both staring into each others eyes again, they smiled softly, Harry running his hand along Ginny's cheek, tucking her hair back behind her ear.
"I love you Ginny," he whispered.
Ginny felt she would explode with the happiness she was feeling, though they had said so before, it seemed fresh and different now, though if asked she wouldn't have been able to explain why, it just was.
"I love you too, Harry," she whispered back.
She gently pressed Harry down onto the bed and she rested her head on his shoulder, draping her arm across him. She closed her eyes and realized that Harry had too. She felt his love for her as an ever present force that wrapped her in a warm cocoon and that was the last thing she thought about as she drifted off to sleep.
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A/N: Two things intrepid readers, one is from last chapter and I forgot to add it to the Author's Notes. Can anyone identify the real Karl Wallenda?
And from this chapter, can anyone tell me where the name Arwain comes from and what does it mean?
Other than that, things are progressing along, next chapter should be exciting as Dumbledore tries to kidnap Harry. Any guesses as to whether he succeeds or not? Will Tonks be the dupe? Will you have fires with that? Ah so many questions, so few answers.
As always, I humbly beseech you to review.