CHAPTER 26

-MP-

Hermione was off work for two weeks after the memory magic experiment on Minerva, magical depletion had impacted her body massively and everyday tasks were struggle as she clawed her way back to full strength. Most frustrating of all is the experiment turned up more questions than it had answers.

Harry had been to the Weasley house several times to check up on her and give Ron some time away from himself, he was still a bit annoyed at Harry for his recklessness but they seemed to be on the right track in terms of their friendship. After all, they had been friends for well over a decade and it takes something really powerful to break that kind of bond.

He had taken some time away from the memory cabinet since viewing the memory of Albus and Minerva, she was fresh faced in Hogwarts and Albus had come across her crying in her classroom one late evening. So the pair retreated to his office and they shared their woes which cemented the beginning of their friendship. It was a bittersweet experience for Harry, watching two people who were great influences in his life, also struggle with emotions and relationships just like he did - like everybody does at times.

Ginny, had been wonderfully supportive as always as she sensed some turmoil within Harry. Accentuated by his clinginess, swinging wildly between disappearing acts and cuddling her against him as he slept.

After several distracted shifts at work, which eventually cumulated in his second in command Hayden arguing with him about his disinterest during the last few missions. Harry, knew that Hayden was absolutely right and he couldn't keep leading his team into potentially dangerous situations without having his head on straight.

It was late evening during the work week, and both Harry and Ginny were tucked into bed both reading according to their interests. Ginny was examining the Quidditch roster for some lesser known teams whereas Harry had buried his head in an old leather bound book, specialising in some rare form of magic, and in this case memory charms. Which luckily had its title written in ancient wizen so he could easily hide its content from Ginny.

He sighed lazily and shut the book, is concentration wavering too frequently to take any of the information in. He felt like he needed advice, from somebody that knew more than him. From somebody who had more experience, bit as he had found many times in his adulthood the people he would have relied upon for such things were no longer around the help. People such as Sirius, Remus… and now Minerva.

"Gin, can we talk for sec?" He asked quietly, drawing her eyes slowly away from her own reading.

"Yeah." She mumbled as she closed the book and set it on the bedside table before she pulled herself around to face her husband.

"So, what's up?"

He glanced away from her, feeling a noticeably heavy sag on his shoulders. Perhaps he hadn't realised it before but he was unsure of how he felt really, and that scared him somewhat.

"I don't know…." He spoke softly, he lifted his hand and rubbed at his temples to massage the tension away. "It's a lot of things really."

"Mm.." Ginny added. "You've been through a lot lately Harry, it's understandable if something is bothering you."

His hand was already under the covers so he slid his hand across to find Ginny's, weaving his fingers between hers to draw on her strength.

"I'm wondering if it would be okay if I had a catch up with your Mum and Dad? I know they're your parents but they've always been there for us and I feel like I could do with some of their advice right now."

She squeezed his hand gently in reassurance. "You don't have to ask permission Harry, they're your parents as much as they are mine."

He nodded gratefully as a smile formed on his lips. "Yeah." He added. "You're right."

Ginny leaned in close to him and kissed him, giving into the sensation for just a moment before pulling away. "I know I am." She smirked with her lips still pressed against his.

Harry's hand untangled from Ginny's and he turned to hold both her arms, kissing her back more fiercely. She quickly reciprocated which drew a long moan from Harry as they both lost themselves to each other's ministrations.

His hand then slid up her shirt to undo her bra, and between them they began to strip off their various articles of clothing. Savouring each moment to tease and explore as they went, Harry made sure to nibble on her ear before tracing kissing down her neck, brushing the side of her breast before he paused. Ginny's chest rising up and down between now breathier moans,

After flashing her a playful grin, he wrapped his mouth and her nipple and started to suck gently just as he knew she liked. Another groan slipped from her, encouraging him to make his way lower.

He had position himself on top of her and tucked his thumbs into her underwear, simple black cotton panties, even though they were nothing special it still spurred Harry on. He pulled them down gently until they reached her ankles, she kicked them off and granted him access to the searing heat between her legs.

Harry moaned too before ducking his head down, rapidly followed by more desperate moans from Ginny and her body writhing against him. Harry then losing himself completely in the moment, wondering whether this is what he needed really. To do something to distract him, to focus his mind elsewhere, and that exactly what he had planned to do with the rest of his evening.

-MP-

With a loud crack Harry's feet thudded near his favourite place from his childhood – The Burrow.

He took a minute to look up at the rebuilt version of The Weasley family home, Molly and Arthur had been determined to go back after the death eater attack which left some of their house needing repair. Despite the renovations, it was still the wonderful mix match of different materials bolted on, jutting out at different angles and levels to make sure the home accommodated everyone.

It was impossibly tall as always, and tilted oddly to the side but for Harry there was no place in the world that he loved more. Now as an adult, he could bring his children and Mrs Weasley could cook until her heart was content for all twelve of her grand-children.

Harry inhaled deeply, smelling the familiar odour of one of Mrs Weasley's dishes. Wafting through the air like it often did, and with the new warm feeling in his stomach he stepped toward the front door and pushed it openly gently.

Almost immediately as he stepped through the threshold, Mrs Weasley had rushed open and enveloped him in her customary tight, warm hug. He hugged her back just as fiercely, almost greedily as he soaked in her love that exuded from her every pore.

"Harry!" She beamed as the pair broke apart from their embrace.

"Mrs Weasley!" Harry instantly grinned back. Looking around the kitchen area, various items whirring away as they usually did. Showing off Mrs Weasley's everlasting proficiency for household spells, something he had come to quite envy as an adult.

She smacked him playfully on his shoulder as he led the way into the dining area. "How many times have I told you, call me Molly!"

Harry bowed his head shyly towards his feet, before he quickly lifted in sporting the same cheesy smile as he walked in with. He found himself taking another long sniff of the air around him, followed by a rumble in his stomach. "What're you cooking? It smells delicious."

Mrs Weasley waved her hand and urged him to come and sit down in the living room. "Never mind that, I'll tell you later before I feed you up. First, I want to know what's brought on this surprise visit."

He followed her to the next room, noticing a churning sensation building in his stomach. Mrs Weasley always had a knack for knowing when something was wrong, or if you needed to talk. There was often, no keeping secrets from the Weasley matriarch. In a way, Harry could see many similarities between both Molly and Ginny.

Whilst he took his seat on one of the available sofas he was greeted by Mr Weasley who reading The Daily Prophet, with his legs crossed lazily over each other and his wand as always, tucked inside the his corduroy jacket. He looked up at smiled warmly at Harry. "Hello Harry."

"Hi Mr Weasley, how're you?" Replied Harry.

"Ohhh… you know me. I'm as good as always, with even more time to spend in the shed tinkering away now I have officially retired from the Ministry."

Harry immediately perked up upon hearing this, and dove into asking Mr Weasley about what he was working on. They were rapidly interrupted when Mrs Weasley walked into the room wearing one of her more scornful looks, aimed directly at her very guilty looking husbands face.

Mr Weasley placed the various objects he was showing to Harry back down on the table, he flashed him a quick smile and with a nod of his head he headed in the direction of his wife.

"I'll just be a moment, Harry."

Harry watched the elderly couple leave, before turning around and walking slowly around the Weasley's living room. Shelves upon shelves of random trinkets, much of them he recognised from the muggle world. He couldn't help himself but smile at seeing the items he knew from his past, thinking to himself how he would have to take this children to explore muggle shops and items more often.

He reached up and pulled what looked like a retro muggle toy off the shelf, just as the door leading to the house opened followed by the entrance of a still rather jubilant Mr Weasley.

"Harry!" He called.

Harry immediately jumped and almost let the toy slip out of his fingers, he quickly tightened his grip and shoved it on the shelf before he spun on his heels to face the red faced Mr Weasley.

"Hello again Mr Weasley." Harry responded, somewhat sheepishly.

Mr Weasley walked over and patted Harry firmly on his shoulder. "How many times do I need to say, call me Arthur."

Harry smiled awkwardly and shrugged him off. Mr Weasley saw Harry's discomfort and walked Harry back through the house and into his shed, gesturing for Harry to sit on the stool in the corner. Mr Weasley grabbed the other in kind. Harry paused to look at the man before him, thinking back to similar conversations when he was a teenager. Whether Harry knew it or not, when something was on his mind it was often written all over his face.

"Harry…" Mr Weasley spoke quietly. "Sit down."

As Mr Weasley finished speaking a stool slid out from under another workbench and positioned itself in front of Harry.

Mr Weasley watched Harry sit, and he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. He knitted his fingers together and focused his stark blue gaze on Harry.

"So, what's on your mind?"

Harry's eyes widened instantly. He felt himself pause, meanwhile Mr Weasley continued to fix his knowing stare on him. Harry's hands fell to his thighs as he looked around room searching for the words he needed.

"It's just… since… Minerva…" He stammered awkwardly, before his chin dropped to his chest before he picked it back up to look at Mr Weasley.

"I don't know, my mind is all over the place trying to understand it all. Trying to understand how Minerva lost her memory in the first place."

Mr Weasley leaned back slightly, and sighed in an almost thoughtful tone.

"Well." He said as he clasped his hands together. "Let's talk through it – together."

Harry smiled gratefully in response.

"Start from the beginning." Added Mr Weasley.

"She fell ill at Hogwarts with dragon pox, Filius said that she looked quite poorly for a few days but she didn't go to see the nurse on duty. She just pushed through and kept her teaching schedule the same."

Arthur's head was tilted slightly as he listened, dotting Harry's sentences or pauses with sounds to urge Harry to keep talking.

"Then shortly after that, she failed to arrive at the evening feast so Filius sent another professor to check on her and that's when they found her unconscious on the floor. At that point St Mungo's were looking for any relatives and they contacted Ron and Hermione who then contacted me."

Harry's hand met his nose and he pinched it as he sorted the memories churning within him, as he spoke to Mr Weasley it came apparent to him how difficult he had found the situation. How much it had consumed him.

"After the first few days, she seemed to be improving, her family had come to see her which didn't exactly go to plan but she was turning a corner. Until that evening, whilst we were at home St Mungo's said she suffered a seizure and that caused her to lose her memory."

Mr Weasley's eyes met Harry's across from him, studying his expression for a moment before he spoke. "You don't believe that story, do you?"

Harry couldn't help the brief half smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Not for a second." He stated firmly.

Arthur also smiled. "Go on, what did you do next."

"I asked Hermione of course."

The pair shared a momentary laugh between them. "Well, what else?" Added Mr Weasley.

"We both researched memory magic, to see if there were any known spells to tamper with memory to this degree. It was obvious she wasn't just obliviated because she had a sense of who she is, recognises those around her but has no access to her long term memory."

"Okay….." Mr Weasley interrupted slowly. "But does such magic exist?"

"Yes!" Harry responded sternly, causing Mr Weasley's eyebrows to arch in surprise. "Sorry…" he mumbled catching himself in his own defensiveness.

"Hermione found a rare spell that allows the user to explore the memory consciousness of another, and that experiment revealed that her memory didn't look like typically should."

"Really…." Mr Weasley said thoughtfully. "How so?"

"Well… all I know it is looked cloudy. Like everything was shrouded in a thick fog of some kind."

Both men fell into silence and they let the quietness sit around him, Harry could see that Arthur was thinking, attempting to make sense of what he had just told him. He trusted that Arthur would be able help him, that somebody as experienced as him could shed some light on the situation.

Seconds later Arthur's eyes shot up to meet Harry, the warmth they exuded earlier replaced with the distinct sharpness from worry.

"You haven't told Molly any of this, have you?" He asked, his tone even and serious.

Harry shook his head in reply.

"Good." Mr Weasley emphasised. "Best we keep it that way, you know she's like for worrying."

Without missing a beat Harry followed up with his own question. "Is there a need for her to worry?"

"Yes." Mr Weasley stated simply. "I fear there very much is."

Harry suddenly found himself unable to find the words he needed, there was something eerie about this conversation, and it had been a long time since the two of them shared such serious ideas.

Mr Weasley placed his hands on his legs and sucked in a breath. "The type of magic you are speaking of, sounds an awful lot like the dark magic that had begun to surface around the time of Lord Voldemort's second reign."

Immediately Harry's face changed to one of alarm, his palms beginning to sweat at the thought of that person again. Mr Weasley caught on to the panic and raised his hand to his chest, palm open, as if to calm Harry back down. "No, no." Mr Weasleys shook his head slowly.

"It's not panic stations quite yet."

Harry swallowed harshly and nodded for Arthur to continue. "As far as the ministry was aware at the time, this particular dark magical practice was only in its initial development stages and once Lord Voldemort and his followers were eradicated there were no further signs of it."

"What?" Harry felt himself respond instantly. "Then… how?"

"Now, that is a question I don't have an answer to. I'm not sure anybody around today would even know where to begin in performing such magic."

Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well clearly somebody does."

This time it was Arthur's turn, nodding in agreement, whilst trying to quell his own sense of unease. "Apparently so.." He replied. Harry thought he could hear a tinge of despondency in his words, but shook it off. As his mind was busy racing with the possibilities on what was coming next.

Harry simply could not comprehend the idea of any magic that Riddle had created still surviving, his followers were either murdered or were locked up in Azakaban. So who could possibly have enough knowledge of this particular strain of dark magic, but also have the power to wield it?

He swallowed hard, and stood to follow Mr Weasley back inside. Rearranging his features to that of happiness before Molly could lay eyes on him again. He might not know who is behind it yet – but you could bet for Minerva's sake he would find out.

-MP-