[a/n0]NobleKorhedronis a bit too Machiavellian for my intent in #97. My name self-insert is just a nice guy, and observant. If you'd like TRUE Machiavelli consider Ian in #94, he might not have been lying to Petunia and could have told Michelle exactly what she wanted to hear. Or maybe both Grangers are thinking the same thing?

[a/n]My not-fit-for-Christmas tale mentioned last time

Harry Does Different DVI

Sacrifice

"Ginny! Ginny!" sword still in hand, the basilisk's last quivering death-throes ending, Harry staggered to the possessed girl's side and just collapsed.

The Tom specter was smirking "The venom is doing its work, Potter. I'd guess you have about a minute before you're back with your Mudblood mother."

"There must be suh-something." The boy's teeth clicked with the approach of death. Having landed on the leather-bound diary, he was at a loss. Then the sword jabbed into his leg; he was oblivious to any wound it might have caused. He didn't give it any thought, but looked at the girl "juh-Ginny. I'm suh-suh-sorry. I failed."

Her hand was on the sword, voice very weak and only a few words "Do it Harry. Better'n'dis."

"No. Ginny. Hold on. You'll be- - -" he cut off his faint protest with an exclamation "NO! I couldn't! NOO!~!"

Her lips moved, her hand barely touched his knee.

"I hate you Riddle!" snarled Harry. And in what he assumed the last act of his life, surged to his feet, spun the sword and cried in fury. He only knew the blade buried itself as deeply as the concrete would allow in the girl's chest. He knew no more.

Abcij

A blur of Purple and White spoke softly "Give yourself time to focus, my boy. You have been through so much at your young age. Everything is well in hand. I have done my best to minimize speculation, unsuccessfully I am sure. But I must understand what happened. Please. Take as long as you need."

"I murdered Ginny." The barely awake boy said bitterly "If you were around maybe I wouldn't have had to. Right now, the only person I hate worse than you is Voldemort. Now! Did you at least make sure he couldn't come back?"

Dumbledore could now be clearly seen "We'll hope your feelings will moderate in time. Can we get to the f- - -"

"Then I'll, maybe, hate me more than I hate you?" Harry's tone would have done Snape proud. "How about answering MY question?"

Entering headmaster mode he countered "Term is over and there are no witnesses, fortunately my boy. I offer a qualified yes, in that Voldemort may have prepared OTHER methods. But the threat from the diary is no more."

"See that you get proof beyond just your word. Because I trust you less than I like you." Harry did not let up "I'll be brief. Voldemort's diary possessed Ginny. I was dying from basilisk poison. I assume you figured that out and got a cure. Thanks. I guess. She was in some kind of pain I couldn't even guess. She begged me to kill her. Even with …I'll never forget her eyes. So, thinking I was about to die, I took that stupid sword and plunged it into a defenseless girl's chest. Is IT still around? I'd love to break it. Got everything you need?"

Dumbledore hid his reaction to the vitriol behind his Occlumency. He stood and directed "Rest well, my boy. I am sure Madam Pomfrey will care for any needs." Whatever the boy might have muttered was lost in his departure.

Abcij

"Hello, Hermione, nice to see you." Said Harry, though his voice was emotionless "I'm almost surprised to see you. Hasn't Dumbledore told everyone?"

The young witch flinched at her friend's tone "The Headmaster told us how you killed the basilisk, stopped You-Know-Who from coming back …bit vague on how… but just didn't get there in time to save Ginny."

"Well, in a Lockhart sort of way. I assume Ron told you that part?" he growled, then apologized "Sorry not your fault. I wasn't too late to save Ginny. She was possessed by Voldemort - - -wish you wouldn't flinch!- - - I thought I was about to die from a basilisk bite and she managed to beg me to kill her. I didn't have anything but the sword that stupid bird brought. So I, well - - - add two and two."

She did. Gasped. Hands flew to her throat. Sobbed. And cried "Oh! Harry!" she went to hug him.

"Don't!" snapped Harry, blocking her approach with a solid push "I don't need comfort! I don't want it! I don't deserve it! Quirrell was bad enough. I MURDERED Ginny!"

It took her a split second to catch her breath. And to process her friend's self-accusation, then "I'm CERTAIN killing Professor Quirrell is easily covered by self-defense. Let me work through it. Can you describe what happened? In detail?"

"No thanks, Hermione." Harry just fell back into the hospital bed, and rolled away from her "Good-bye Hermione."

She pushed at him "Come on, Harry! Talk to me! Alright! Talk about something else. Anything else!" The pushing was between each word, and got almost violent. Conversely, the boy's reactions got less and less. She wasn't sure how long she tried before running out in tears.

Abcij

"On behalf of my grieving family, thank you all for your show of support today." Matilda Weasley spoke as titular head of the Weasleys. She was the last girl-child born to the clan before Ginny. Known to have even taught the current aging Headmaster. Her public appearances were rare. Wizard custom had it that funerals were performed before sunrise "Everyone has spoken and we appreciate your words. We will have a breakfast, courtesy of Hogwarts. Please remain. The service is concluded."

This was the moment Harry was waiting for. Whatever the Great Hall's decorations might have been for the occasion, he did not see them. He just spoke from the scroll he'd written in the hours since Hermione left the hospital "I didn't deserve to attend the funeral, but the truth …all of it… needs to be heard."

There was a ripple of whispering. A gasp and the sudden scratching of a quill came from a corner. The witch had blonde hair and rather outlandish glasses.

"What little I heard while recovering made it clear Dumbledore was lying." Harry gave no sign he heard any disturbance "Whether just a misguided effort to protect me, or to hide his own crime in this. I'm not old enough to know. So, to start, Ginny was possessed by a diary made by the sixteen-year-old Voldemort. That's how she was …while controlled… able to set a basilisk loose in the school. Understand that I think she's the bravest person I ever knew. She fought a monster in her head with no help for almost a year. I killed the basilisk; that's nothing by comparison."

This did not align with what the congregation had heard previously. Ron at least, knew that part of the story. Hermione knew what she'd been told, but hadn't been able to process it. Or share it with her other favorite boy.

Any reaction went unnoticed by Harry, who just read from his scroll. He glossed over what was really an epic killing of a 50-foot snake, then "All I had was her plea to end it, and that fucking sword from the stupid pigeon! She suffered so much …but Ginny asking me to don't change that I murdered her."

THAT part of the story had definitely NOT been public. In particular the Weasleys were all red-faced, caught between fury and not knowing how to react.

"I'm beyond sorry for what I did. But that's not asking for forgiveness. It can't be forgiven." It wasn't so much he had to read that, but he couldn't bear anyone's faces. ESPECIALLY any Weasley ones. "I just want everyone to know while you're hating me there's three other people who deserve hate just as much. Like Voldemort, whose diary it was. Then we have Malfoy, see he's here. What bullshit. Pretty good stunt at the bookstore, slipping her the diary, even Draco played well."

The long-haired blond wizard stood in outrage "Retract your slander Potter!"

"And we got Dumbledore." The boy talked right over the powerful man "Second year in a row he runs off and lets kids do his job. Well, except for his pigeon giving me my murder weapon. That's all I got. Except a last apology to the Weasleys. If it's any comfort I thought I was as dead as Ginny that night. I won't be back." Harry felt some grim satisfaction at the uproar that followed him into the corridor.

As far as Britain was concerned he became The-Boy-Who-Vanished.