The Lie Circumstantial and the Lie Direct
... and so to the Lie Circumstantial and the Lie Direct.
As You Like It, Act V, Scene IV
As soon as Ginny stepped into the Burrow with Ron, Hermione and Luna in tow, she started feeling guilty. Harry had looked so confused, so devastated and angry. "Bloody Dumbledore and his bleeding twinkling eyes!" he had screamed as he held his head between his hands, "He did this to us!" Only now she noticed the pronoun he had used, "us". She realized that whatever memories had been tampered with, it wasn't just about Harry or her. It was about "them". Hermione led her to the living room and seated her on the sofa. She was barely aware of her brother and friends surrounding her and looking on with concern.
She felt confused and bewildered, but one thing she was not confused about was the fact that she loved Harry, body and soul. She was upset with him, there was no denying it, but he was right; it had not been his decision. He had been only twelve years old when Dumbledore had decided to erase him from her mind. Harry should have come clean earlier... as soon as he started to have feelings for her. He deserved to feel the rigor of her anger, but remembering his hurt and confused expression softened her heart. Harry had insisted that it was his duty to take her back to the Burrow despite the fact he looked ill. Only the assurances of Ron, Hermione and Luna that they would escort her all the way, had made him relent.
How could she have done it? How could she have been so heartless to leave the man she loved; hurt, confused and alone when he needed her the most. Bloody hell, she thought as tears started running down her cheeks. She had fallen in love with Harry Potter that day at the Chamber. She was sure of it even if she still couldn't recall the details. So many things in her life started making sense. The feeling that a piece of her soul had been missing all those years; the feeling of longing for something undefinable and unknown; her inability to give herself completely to any other man; the feeling of Déjà vu she had felt when she had first seen Harry; acting like a little girl with a crush in his presence before he had declared his love for her; the ease with which she had given herself to him...
"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley said, alarmed, when she came into the room and saw her daughter crying. She noticed that Harry was not around. "I knew it. He dumped you, didn't he?" Only the presence of Hermione and Luna prevented Mrs Weasley from throwing a full tirade against Harry.
"Dumbledore tampered with my memory," Ginny said still confused, as if that explained everything. She was surprised at her mother's silence, so she looked up. Her mother was pale. Ginny rose narrowing her eyebrows. "You knew, didn't you?" she said angrily. "You let Dumbledore erase Harry from my mind!"
Mrs Weasley's eyes were wide as saucers. "Dumbledore said you could be in danger; that it was for the best. I wished he could have made you forget the entire episode. You had such horrible nightmares that summer, dear. We didn't want you to suffer or be in danger..."
"There's a reason why memory charms are illegal without a court order!" Ginny interrupted, venting her anger fully. "HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW MANY NIGHTS, I CRIED MYSELF TO SLEEP BECAUSE I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS MISSING IN MY LIFE!" Ginny let out a sob and sat back down. She spoke softly, mostly to herself. "I was popular, I had good grades, I was Quidditch captain, later I had money and men running after me, but nothing, nothing, could fill the hole I felt in my heart..." she finished dejectedly putting her hand on her chest.
"You and Harry found each other for a reason," Luna said with a dreamy voice and a sigh, "maybe you two should help each other remember." Luna looked out the window towards the apparition point.
"Luna is right", Hermione agreed, hardly believing what she was saying.
Suddenly Ginny no longer felt sad. Somewhere out there, Harry needed her just as much as she needed him. She got up and smiled at her two friends.
"Where are you going?" Mrs Weasley demanded.
"To Harry's flat," she answered feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders.
"You know where his flat is?" Ron asked wide eyed.
Ginny ignored Ron's question and preempted her mother who was about to speak. "Don't even try to stop me!" she said with a dangerous edge.
She walked decidedly out the door and Luna followed her, moving her wand from the pocket of her dress to the top of her left ear. Ginny recognized the gesture immediately. Luna always did it whenever there was going to be trouble. During their rides in the Hogwarts Express, it always happened just before Draco Malfoy and his goons made their inevitable appearance. Ginny stopped and reached for her wand. She had learned a long time ago never to question Luna's instincts. "Any trouble, Luna?" she asked gravely.
Ron came rushing with his wand out, closely followed by Hermione. "What's wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked as he pointed his wand in a circle around them.
Ginny ignored him, just looking at Luna who seemed to be thinking. "No... nothing. Maybe a Wrackspurt got me," Luna answered blinking rapidly a couple of times. "We did promise Harry we would look after you."
The Auror apprentice and the two young women escorted Ginny to the apparition point and waited while she concentrated. She certainly didn't want to arrive splinched, and the room she remembered best was the master bedroom, so she chose that as her destination. After careful determination and deliberation, she apparated away.
Moments earlier, just a few meters from there, Sebastian Rockwood, bearer of the Dark Mark, had Disapparated.
-0-0-0-
The master bedroom was empty. Ginny peeked into the bathroom and the large walk-in closet, but there was no sign of Harry. She stepped to the corridor. "Harry?" she called out softly as she walked to the living room. Harry was sitting on the sofa. His elbows were resting on his knees and his hands held his downward cast head tightly.
"Harry?" she called out again.
He got up quickly with a deep intake of breath. Harry stood facing her, clearly surprised. Ginny noticed that his eyes were red, even if his cheeks were dry. She felt the urge to comfort him, just like she had after the Battle of Hogwarts. The distance between them disappeared in a flash and they embraced so tightly it was hard to tell where one person ended and the other began. Harry held on to her like a drowning man to his rescuer. They kissed hungrily, deeply, as if they hadn't seen each other in years.
Within a minute, a trail of clothes led to the master bedroom. A cynical person would say they were just a pair of randy kids, but they would be wrong. Harry and Ginny needed the absolution and forgiveness that only sex can give to a young couple. It started slow and gentle; with none of the urgency of the previous night. They snogged and explored each other's bodies for what seemed to be hours...
-0-0-0-
Harry was caressing her back with his fingertips while Ginny purred contentedly, tracing a finger on his chest.
"Will it always be this good?" Ginny wondered aloud.
"I don't know. I think that as long as we love each other it will be good. Even if it changes," Harry said meditatively.
They remained in silence with their own thoughts for a couple of minutes. Ginny had come here for answers. They were both relaxed and starkers, with literally nothing to hide, now was as good as time as any to get those answers.
"You had eyeglasses back then," Ginny said to break the silence.
"I wear contacts now," Harry answered pointing to one eye. "Eyeglasses are a liability in combat."
Ginny smiled and raised both eyebrows. "I love your eyes", she said wistfully, "I don't think I've told you that before." After a pause she continued. "I think we should start by you telling me what you remember first. Why were you there, Harry?"
"I was training with my godfather when Dumbledore came in saying an eleven-year-old girl had been abducted and would die unless she was rescued. He needed a Parselmouth to get to you," Harry said looking at Ginny.
"You're a Parselmouth?" Ginny asked, surprised.
"Yes, it's one of my lesser-known abilities," he said grimly.
"I thought only Dark Wizards were Parselmouths," Ginny said matter-of-factly.
"Some people still do. The Ministry kept a close eye on me before your dad became Minister of Magic." Harry observed Ginny carefully, trying to judge her reaction, but she seemed completely indifferent to the fact he could talk to snakes.
"Idiots," was all she said.
A warm feeling filled Harry. The idea of him being Dark hadn't entered Ginny's mind for even a moment. He closed his eyes to focus his memory and continued with the story. He told her how he had opened the secret entrance in the girl's bathroom sink; the fight with Professor Lockhart, and how he had opened the Chamber.
-0-0-0-
He ran towards a small body at the end of the entrance hallway and begged for the little girl in the halo of red hair to be alive. Harry sank to his knees putting his wand to one side on the ground. He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and gingerly raised her upper body until he was cradling it in his arms. An odd thought crossed Harry's mind at that moment. This girl was pretty. He banished those thoughts when he felt how cold her ghostly white skin felt. She was barely breathing. She was dying. Harry shook her, not knowing what else to do. A notebook with black leather binding fell from her hand. "Wake up, wake up," he said desperately. He heard a cruel laugh and reached for his wand, but it wasn't there anymore. He looked around the Chamber and out of the shadows a young man in Hogwarts robes stepped out. For a moment Harry was elated. He would be able to help him.
The older boy laughed cruelly again. "In a few minutes she will be dead, and I will be fully corporeal."
"Who are you?" Harry demanded angrily as he carefully laid the girl down on the floor and got to his feet.
"I'm Tom Marvolo Riddle," he said haughtily as he wrote his name in fiery letters in the air. He paused to look at Harry's blank face and rearranged the letters to say, 'I am Lord Voldemort'. "And who may you be, boy?' he asked, curling his lip.
Harry narrowed his eyebrows and stared at Tom Riddle with intense hate. "I'm Harry Potter!" he said raising his chin.
"Oh, yes. Once I become fully corporeal, all of my memories and experiences will migrate to this body, the process is almost complete now," he said raising one eyebrow. "You're the son of James and Lily Potter, aren't you?" Riddle looked as if he was trying to recall something, "You are the boy in the prophecy!" he said alarmed.
Harry froze. What prophecy was he talking about? He needed to do something, anything, but he was unarmed, and Tom was much bigger and stronger than him. He had to find a way to save the little girl. He said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Take me instead, let the girl go!"
"Noooo!" Riddle screamed with the voice of a little girl, leaving Harry utterly confused. He seemed to be struggling but regained his composure. "You're not as special as you think, Potter. Unlike you, this girl is a pure-blood and very powerful. Don't fool yourself. It was your mother's protection that defeated me. Not you. A mere half-blood boy like you could never defeat Lord Voldemort." Riddle laughed again. "What a stroke of good luck that you should come to her rescue. It saves me the trouble of having to look for you in order to kill you!" he said, raising Harry's wand and pointing it at him.
Harry wanted to run away as fast as he could, but he would never give him the satisfaction. He stood his ground trying to stop his legs from shaking. He saw Tom's wand arm trembling uncontrollably as he tried unsuccessfully to mouth the words to a curse. "Damn you girl!" he screamed. Harry took advantage of his distraction to run full tilt towards him trying to tackle him to the ground to recover his wand. For a moment it felt like he had hit something solid, but the next moment he fell to the other side of Tom Riddle's figure.
Riddle laughed again. "I'm not yet fully corporeal, fool. The girl is more stubborn than I expected, but the more she struggles, the sooner she'll be dead. I can feel her weakening. Soon nothing will be able to stop me," he said turning towards the giant stone carving of Salazar Slytherin. "Open," he said in Parseltongue.
Harry turned towards the carving, anxiously waiting to see what would come out. The scream of a little girl made him turn to the redhead on the ground first, but she was even paler and more still than before.
"Don't look at its eyes... it's a basilisk. You will die if you look at its eyes!"
The high-pitched voice of the girl came from the direction of Riddle. Harry turned towards him with wide eyes and open mouth. Riddle had a desperate, pleading expression on his face.
The voice of the girl came out of his mouth. "Leave me! Run away and save yourself, I can only stop him a moment more. I'm... almost... DIE, DIE YOU LITTLE BITCH!" the voice of Riddle finished screaming like a mad man. "Kill the boy," he said in Parseltongue to the basilisk.
Awe and admiration filled Harry's heart at that moment. He turned to look at the tiny redhead on the ground. Somehow, she was still fighting. He couldn't let a little girl be braver than him. As long as she had breath, he would fight to save her.
Suddenly the Chamber seemed to grow darker. Harry sensed a looming form on top of him and heard the hiss of a serpent. He ran as fast as he could just before the head of the basilisk struck the ground where he had been standing. Harry called out in Parseltongue for the basilisk to stop, but it did not heed his calls.
"The basilisk only obeys the true heir of Slytherin. It only obeys me," Riddle said laughing.
Harry ran around the Chamber, barely escaping the basilisk on several occasions, "I need help. I need a weapon," he said to himself in desperation. He was hiding behind one of the many pillars of the Chamber when he felt a tingling sensation on the palm of his right hand. Suddenly a large sword with a golden hand guard and a large ruby on the pommel appeared in his hand. He then heard the song of a bird that filled him with courage. A moment later he heard the sounds of the basilisk struggling and the flapping of wings. Harry looked around the pillar to make sure the basilisk was facing away from him and saw a big red bird clawing at the basilisk's eyes. The bird soared and it sang again. The basilisk had been blinded.
Harry came out of his hiding place and realized that, even blinded, killing the giant basilisk would be no easy task.
"Forget the bird. Kill the boy!" Riddle bellowed in Parseltongue.
The basilisk turned towards Harry with its nostrils flaring. It quickly slithered its way towards him. Harry started backing away, but he stumbled and fell to the ground. The sword bounced just beyond his reach. Harry reached frantically for the sword, taking his eyes off the quickly approaching basilisk. He grabbed the hilt with both hands and turned just as the giant head of the King of Serpents was bearing down on him. He straightened the blade just as the basilisk opened its mouth, pushing it through its palate and out the top of its head. His arm was caught in the serpent's mouth as it collapsed dead on the ground. He screamed in pain as one of the fangs pierced his right forearm almost clear through. He pushed with all his strength to open basilisk's mouth to pull out the sword out, breaking the fang at the same time.
Harry was covered with the serpent's blood, as well as his own, a fang was sticking out of his right forearm. Despite the unbearable pain, he raised the sword and headed towards Riddle, who looked in disbelief at the dead basilisk. With every step Harry felt weaker until his feet no longer were able to support him. He fell down a couple of meters from the girl.
"The basilisk venom is deadly, Potter. You'll be dead in less than five minutes," Riddle said laughing.
Harry crawled towards the girl, keeping his sword pointed towards Riddle, he felt the life draining from him. The black leather notebook was between him and the girl. Harry grabbed it to throw it out of the way, but as soon as he touched it, he felt the evil emanating from it. He reached the girl, and his mind was still able to register the almost unnatural shine of her red hair. Harry could feel the notebook draining the last drops of life out of her. He pulled out the basilisk fang out his arm and he let all his anger be directed against the notebook. He drove the fang into it and Riddle screamed in pain. Harry's eyes went wide with surprise and realization. He stabbed the diary again, drawing another scream of pain from Riddle. With the last vestiges of his strength, Harry pushed the fang into the notebook, causing torrents of ink to spill out of it. The more ink that came out, the weaker Riddle became, until finally he disappeared with a dark flash.
The girl rose with a sharp intake of breath and looked at his eyes for a long time. "You're safe now," Harry said weakly.
-0-0-0-
"At that point my memory becomes a little fuzzy," Harry said meditatively. "I always thought it was because of the effect of the venom. Now I'm not so sure that's the reason."
"No. It isn't", Ginny replied as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm starting to remember. I saw it all, Harry... through Tom's eyes. You were so incredibly brave, so noble and selfless."
Harry stopped the next tear with his thumb. "Not nearly as much as you, Ginny."
"I got myself there by being stupid, Harry. You were there by choice." Ginny put her index finger on his mouth to stop his protest and looked at him in the eyes as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Do you realize how much more courage that takes?" Ginny kissed his lips and answered her own question. "I guess you wouldn't. Being noble is part of your nature."
-0-0-0-
Ginny rose and the first thing she saw startled her. A boy with the most intensely green eyes she had ever seen was next to her covered in blood and slime. She stared at those eyes for a long time.
"You're safe now," he said weakly.
Ginny looked around the room. The accursed diary was on the floor amid a pool of black ink. Something that looked like a tooth was piercing the cover. Further away, a giant yellow snake with a crest on its head was dead on the ground. The head was in the midst of a large pool of blood. She noticed the boy was holding a bloodied sword in his right hand. Somehow this kid, only slightly bigger than her, had killed the basilisk and destroyed the diary. It was unbelievable. The sword fell from his trembling right hand with a loud metallic clank. She screamed when she saw the dark blood flowing freely from his arm.
"You're hurt! We need to get you to Hospital Wing," Ginny said urgently.
The raven-haired boy didn't seem to pay much attention to her words. "Get yourself out of here. Dumbledore and Sirius are out there, and they'll show you the way out," he whispered.
"No! I'm not going without you," she said as firmly as she could.
The boy tried to talk but couldn't. He was having trouble breathing. Tears flowed freely as she saw him dying right in front of her eyes. Suddenly the song of a bird echoed across the Chamber, and it filled her heart with hope. A magnificent red bird flew towards them and landed next to the boy positioning its head close to the wound. A tear formed in the bird's eye.
"NO!" The voice of the headmaster rang from the entrance to the Chamber. The bird disappeared in a flash of flame. A man with long black hair ran towards them and grabbed the boy in his arms.
"Harry, what happened?" he asked frantically.
"The basilisk... it bit me..."
The man with black hair rose furiously to face the headmaster and pointed his wand at him, "Why did you call off the phoenix? The tears would have healed him!" he screamed.
"I'm sorry, Sirius," the headmaster said in a very calm voice. "Harry must die."
"Noooo!" Ginny screamed as tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes, "don't let him die, please, headmaster, don't let him die... it's all my fault."
"It's not your fault, Ms Weasley," he said in an annoyingly calm voice.
Ginny got up with balled fists and hit the headmaster repeatedly as hard as she could to no effect. He simply continued talking to Sirius. Ginny gave up and kneeled down to gently cradle Harry's upper body in her arms. He was watching in disbelief the two men in front of him. The sense of betrayal was evident in his eyes. She only caught parts of the conversation of the two older men between her sobs.
"You must trust me, Sirius... Harry will remain dead for only a minute... when Voldemort murdered Harry's parents... a Horcrux... he must die..."
Harry's breathing became very laboured and he drew his eyes away from the men to look directly at her. "Don't die, Harry, please don't die," she cried desperately, "how can I live if you die?"
"Ssss...okay..." He let out a long drawn-out breath and the life went out of his magnificent green eyes. They were frozen looking at her brown ones. There was a dark flash and a blinding, bright one.
Harry was dead.
Ginny held on to his body and rocked back and forth, tears pouring out of her eyes.
"It will be just a minute," Dumbledore said confidently. Sirius seemed to be in shock. He didn't move a muscle.
A minute went by, and Harry was still dead. "Just a moment more," the headmaster said.
Five minutes later, Dumbledore opened his mouth, but no words came out. The last vestige of confidence left his face to be replaced by an expression of dread. Harry was still dead. Sirius fell to his knees and Ginny's heart broke into a thousand pieces. She let out a scream that tore through the headmaster's and Sirius' souls.
"Harry, you have to live," she pleaded shaking the dead body. "Listen to me, please! You have to live. How can I live when all of this is my fault..."
-0-0-0-
"I didn't want to come back," Harry said looking tenderly at Ginny.
"Why?"
"I was with my mother and father. I was so happy to see them... I could touch them... my mother kissed me. It was so wonderful."
"As much as I would want you to; you shouldn't stay, Harry," Lily Potter said with a beautiful smile. "Things are probably going to be hard for you for many years to come. It won't be easy, but the journey is worth it. One day you will meet someone special, and all the darkness will fade away."
"Regardless of what you decide," James Potter continued putting a hand on his shoulder, "we love you and couldn't be prouder of you. But look at that little girl," he said pointing to the misty floor, "she is heartbroken and will blame herself her entire life if you don't return."
Harry looked down at the redhead girl who was passionately pleading for him to live, and her pain tore at his heart.
"She's so pretty, don't you think so, Harry?" his mum asked with a sly smile.
"Mum! She's... a girl," Harry said embarrassed, even though he agreed.
His father laughed. "I think our son is still a year or two away from seeing girls that way, love. Don't push."
"Will I see you again?" Harry asked, shuffling his feet, trying to contain his tears.
"When the time comes, and hopefully after many grandchildren, yes, you will see us again," his mum said.
"We are always with you, Harry. Remember that" his father added.
After kissing and embracing his mum and dad, Harry returned.
-0-0-0-
"Your Mum though I was pretty?" Ginny asked brightly.
Her excitement at the news made Harry smile, "Yes. I doubt there are many people in the world that would think the contrary." Harry gathered his thoughts before continuing. "That day we saved each other, Ginny. It was your tears that brought me back."
She hugged him fiercely.
-0-0-0-
A blinding light enveloped Harry's body. Ginny held her breath as the warmth from the light spread through the Chamber. Intense green met bright brown as Ginny felt him take a breath.
"Hi!" Harry said to her with a smile.
Ginny hugged him fiercely, burying her face against the crook of his neck. Ginny's heart leaped when he hugged her back. A feeling she had never felt before washed over her. It made her insides feel wonky. The man with black hair approached them and tried unsuccessfully to tear her away several times. Finally, he opted to hug them both. She didn't pay attention to his words.
"Sirius," Dumbledore said looking relieved, "we have to talk."
"Damn right, we have to talk!" Sirius said furiously as he got up.
After trying unsuccessfully to tear Ginny away, Dumbledore did some diagnostic spells on both of them. "They are both reasonably well, considering what they just went through," he said to Sirius before turning to Harry. "Sirius will be waiting for you at the entrance of the Chamber. Give us a couple of minutes before you come out. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir" Harry answered.
After the two older men left, arguing loudly, he spoke to her. "I'm Harry Potter, what's your name?"
Ginny pulled back to answer, but as soon as she saw his face, the power of speech abandoned her. She felt her face heat up like never before. Part of her wanted to run away, but it felt good to be close to him.
Seeing that there was no answer forthcoming he spoke again. "You were amazing," he said full of admiration, "You're incredibly brave... for a girl."
Normally Ginny would have shredded her brothers if any of them had dared to say something like that, but Harry Potter could do no wrong. He was dreamy.
They stayed in uncomfortable silence for a minute, and Ginny could swear she saw him blush as he took a peek at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Doubt crept insidiously into her consciousness. What would a handsome boy like him see in a skinny, freckly, little girl like her? After a minute he spoke again. "I think it is time to go," he said picking her up in his arms. Ginny felt well enough to walk, but instead of protesting, she wrapped her arms around his neck. This was so romantic, almost like some fairy tale story she had read. The handsome prince had slain the serpent, destroyed evil, and swept her off her feet. Only this was real. She looked at him intently as he walked with some effort towards the entrance. The strange new feeling washed over her again; the one that made her insides go wonky. Ginevra Weasley knew she was in love.
-0-0-0-
"No wonder my love life was such a mess," Ginny said sarcastically. "Who could ever measure up to you?"
"You were just a child, Ginny. You weren't really in love with me," Harry said dismissively.
"You're wrong, Harry. I know what I felt," Ginny said defiantly. "Something else happened that day. While my parents and I were in Dumbledore's office, I started to have horrible cramps. It was scary because I didn't know what it was. I had my first period. That day I started to become a woman."
"That's strange," Harry said with some surprise.
"What?"
"After we left Hogwarts, I noticed I had this horrible smell in my armpits. Sirius said I was becoming a man, and soon I would have hair on my bollocks."
Ginny looked at Harry and then looked down at his bits. "But you hardly have any hair on your bollocks," she said confused.
Harry laughed. "It's just a figure of speech, Ginny."
The redhead laughed with him and resisted the urge to touch him. There were still some loose ends to tie together.
"Why did Dumbledore do it?" Ginny asked.
"I can see several reasons in your case. Good reasons, actually." Harry noticed Ginny's offended look and tried to explain. "I don't think it was right, but I can understand his reasons. You had heard about the Horcruxes and Voldemort had systematically murdered anyone who knew about them. You also had contact with me, which for Voldemort was also a good reason to murder people. He wanted to make me feel isolated and not have anyone to turn to for help or refuge. And finally, you heard Riddle mention the prophecy... bloody Dumbledore made me forget that part too."
"But I don't know anything about a prophecy," Ginny said confused.
"Before I was born a prophecy was made that basically said I had the power to kill Voldemort, and that one would have to kill the other in order to survive. That's why Voldemort had been trying to kill me since I was one year old. Dumbledore was really paranoid about anyone knowing about the prophecy, including me. I'm sure he was afraid you might mention it or ask questions about it. I'm sure that's one of the reasons he charmed my memory. Only after I found out about it on my own, did he talk to me about the bloody thing."
"Why would Dumbledore want to keep something so important from you?"
"Stupid reasons, really. Dumbledore loved secrets, but above anything else, he loved being in control. He did a lot of dodgy, even immoral things, like memory charming children, because he thought it was 'for the greater good'. You do know that his twinkling eyes were a sympathy charm, don't you?"
Ginny seemed gleeful at the piece of gossip. "Really?"
"Yes, really. I only found out much later, after I learned some magic detection. Dumbledore was firmly for the Light, and he was a great man, but he was a man with many flaws, like all of us." Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "We just need to find out the end of the story. I want to know why he made me forget I was a Horcrux, and Sirius owes me an explanation. You want to come with me?"
"Of course. I wouldn't want to miss it, love," Ginny said as she got up.
After getting dressed, the young couple left for Grimmauld Place.
-0-0-0-
It was just past eight in the evening when they arrived. As Harry suspected, Sirius along with Remus and Tonks were in the dining room discussing the day's events over a bottle of wine. Tonks was the first one to notice them as they stood on the threshold.
"Harry, Ginny, what a surprise!" she said enthusiastically as she got up to hug them warmly. "You both look wonderful."
"You sure know how to pick them, Harry" Sirius said as he approached with open arms, "This must be the infamous Ginny Weasley."
"Infamous?" Ginny said with amusement.
"Yes. Tonks used to regale us with stories about the trail of broken hearts you left in the Auror force," Sirius smirked at Harry. "She told us about how you didn't exactly break Harry's heart, but something just as delicate," he said as he embraced her.
Ginny blushed and tried to think of some apology but couldn't.
"I think she has more than made up for it as far as Harry is concerned," Tonks said with a sly smile. "Isn't that right?"
Ginny turned even redder.
After the introductions and general niceties were done, Sirius spoke again. "I guess this must be important for you to show up so unexpectedly?" he inquired.
"We came here for an explanation," Harry said as he grabbed Ginny's hand over the table.
"An explanation?" Sirius asked puzzled.
Harry was not the type of man who beat around the bush. He went straight to the point. "Ginny and I spent most of the afternoon remembering the Chamber. We want to know, why?"
Sirius paled. After a long pause in which he gathered his resolve, he finally spoke. "I... It was wrong for me to agree, but at the time Dumbledore's explanations seemed reasonable. He had his bleeding twinkling eyes going full tilt. He wanted to Obliviate the entire Chamber memory from you, and I suspect from Ginny also, but I wouldn't agree to that. I insisted he only erased the parts he found dangerous, as he put it. You have no idea how furious I was when he took credit for just doing only a mild memory charm on Ginny, when I knew he had really wanted to completely Obliviate her. That's the problem with lies. They trap you. Then you have to make up more lies to cover for the first one."
Harry had been pretty much spot on when it came to Dumbledore's reasons for memory charming Ginny. Sirius only added that Ginny seemed really taken with Harry, and it would be inevitable for her to be asking and talking about him, which Dumbledore classified as dangerous. It had been easy to convince Mr and Mrs Weasley to memory charm her without any mention of the prophecy or the Horcruxes. They still were in shock after almost losing their only daughter.
"I know why he made me forget Riddle mentioning the prophecy, but why did he charm most of the rest?" Harry asked.
"He said it was imperative for you to be able to trust him. He saw the opportunity to destroy the Horcrux in you, so he acted on the spur of the moment, but he thought that you remembering how unconcerned he was about letting you die, would not be good for building trust..."
"He didn't give a shite," Ginny said furious. "He talked about letting Harry die as if he was a thing and not a person."
"You are right," Sirius continued. "For many years Harry was only something to be used for Dumbledore. His personal welfare didn't concern him in the least, only his mission. It was only in the last couple of years of his life that he really started caring for him as a person. I'm sorry... I hope both of you can forgive me," he finished apprehensively.
Ginny had no problem forgiving Sirius. After all, it was her parents she was upset with. She was surprised, though, at how easily Harry had forgiven his godfather. He didn't have any rancour in him. Maybe she should learn to be like that.
"I have some news for you, Harry," Tonks said later that evening. "You're now officially off Ginny Duty, the papers came through today."
"Officially he may be off Ginny Duty, but privately he still is," Ginny said smugly.
Harry gave her a peck on the lips. "That's the best assignment I'll ever get."
"One more thing," Tonks added. "I took the liberty of requesting a two-week holiday on your behalf, Harry. I thought you had better things to do than being an Auror, just this moment. Your holiday starts tomorrow."
Ginny jumped to thank and hug Tonks before Harry could say anything.
"Just make sure the two of you get some sunlight. Both of you are pale enough already," Tonks added with a smirk.
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