The Black Lake Chapter 11, a harry potter fanfic

A/N: Huge thanks to GIN110881 for some major help with this chapter! This story is slightly AU and therefore wand lore and curses differ from canon.

THE BLACK LAKE

Chapter 11

"It's about the curse on the Merpeople."

Harry said nothing, watching Ginny eagerly.

"I'm the only one who can break the curse." She did not meet his eyes. "And if I do..." she reached out and squeezed his hands. "You'll never see me again."

Harry stumbled over that statement. Never see Ginny again? His Ginny?

"Tell me," He said, keeping desperation out of his voice. "Tell me everything."

So she did.

"What do you want?"

Djet and his father looked at her- glowering as she struggled to lift her head from the soft bed she lay on. She fought to keep her heavy eyelids from trying to close once more.

"The girl only wants to sleep," Djet sneered. "Weak and selfish, when there is much to be done-"

"Djet." The elderly Shaman raised his hand to halt his son. But when he looked down at Ginny, he held no more regard for her than his son. "It is time you hear your destiny."

Her brow furrowed. Destiny? The curse? God, she was so very tired...

"I- I thought... Queen Merneith-"

"Never mind the Queen. She has indulged you long enough." The Shaman peered forward, yellow eyes tearing into her, teeth discolored and broken. "It is time for you to embrace what you must do. It is time for you to break the curse on the Merpeople. It is time you hear your destiny..."

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me."

The Elderly Merman took a large lungful of water, hand clutching tightly to his staff.

"Fate brought you to us, and fate has written the future. Already it has begun-"

"Enough about all that," she interrupted, her frustration mounting, "If it's so terribly important, then you should tell me as quickly as possible and skip all the vague, prophetic nonsense. I am going to lose consciousness any moment, so if it's all the same to you, I need to hear what it is I must do." Even as she said the words, she fought the darkness creeping in on the edge of her vision. Djet looked furious at her cheek, but the Shaman was unmoved.

"Fate is no riddle," he said evenly. "It brought you to us because of your connection- your connection to the boy. It is all connected."

Harry? She blinked. "What does Harry have to do with this?"

"The Queen dreamed of two boys with hair like the night sky, one of the darkness and one of the light. She, the Mermaid Queen, was deceived by the one of darkness, as were you."

Tom. Ginny winced at the memory of flashing red eyes on an otherwise handsome face. So different from the warmth she sought out in Harry's green eyes. Of course, she had known, somehow, that it was him who cursed Queen Merneith. But still... something stirred in the back of her weary mind, but she failed to recall it. Her temple began throbbing.

"He who laid his wand upon you also laid his wand upon the Queen," The Shaman said quietly, "The two of you share a dark curse. One curse can be broken, and one cannot."

"Why? Why just one?"

"It is what fate has written. And now, child, you are trapped between two worlds, belonging neither to one nor the other. But Fate gave the answer to the Queen and her loyal Shaman."

Djet looked smug at this. She wished he would leave.

"You must abandon one world for the other. Forsake any ties to the surface world, and embrace your future here."

"What?" She whispered.

"You will accept your place here- here with the Merpeople. With the Queen's magic, you will become a true Mermaid. All thoughts and feelings of your human soul will be lost, all your memories forgotten, so you may truly belong only here. You will live and serve your Queen with utmost loyalty. You will grow and learn, and someday rule."

Her vision blurred, his words thundering in her skull. "I-I don't-"

"Upon your coronation, the moment you are crowned Queen of the Merpeople, the curse will fracture. You will then be mated to a worthy Merman, and bear a child. Then, and only then, will the curse on the Merpeople be broken. Our people shall again bring forth new life, to thrive and prosper once more."

Had she not been lying down already, Ginny was sure she would have collapsed. "The dream has to be wrong, the Queen must be mistaken-"

"You dare question your Queen?"

"It can't be the only way!" She shouted desperately. "Dreams don't always show the truth and fate- fate couldn't possibly..." Couldn't possibly deal such a terrible blow. "I refuse to believe this is how it all ends. Why would fate allow me to glimpse the surface? To wake up from whatever limbo I was trapped in, only to rip it from me?" Her fists clenched, and her lip quivered. "Why would it allow me to meet Harry if only to forget him?"

"It is written."

"Don't say that to me!" She snarled, "The four of us are connected to each other, and everything seems intertwined, somehow. There must be more to it than that, the connection has to mean something else! There has to be more that you aren't telling me!"

"I cannot say."

"Can't? Or won't?"

"Foolish girl!" The Shaman spat back at her, yellow eyes blazing with fury. "I will not stand by and allow my great people to be ruined. You would so heartlessly abandon us to destruction for your own selfish desires? You would condemn those who have cared for you to death all in pursuit of a boy-"

"It is more than that and you very well know it! I had an entire life up there-"

"One which you only have scattered memories of, and one in which most of your kin have perished. Your feelings are easily read- I see how much you long to be near the boy. But you must forget him. Forget the boy. Forget it all."

How could she possibly do that? Even underwater, her eyes burned as she dropped her gaze from the Shaman, her heart heavy. She felt him draw closer.

"Do not make the same mistake as the Queen," he spoke down to her, "the boy may speak flattering words but you mustn't believe them- mustn't listen to them." The Shaman reached out, placing a wrinkled hand on her shoulder. "He will use his power to control you. Once you have served your purpose to him, he will discard you. You will be cast aside; forgotten and alone-"

"Harry isn't like that!" She threw his hand off her shoulder. "He isn't like that at all. He truly is of the light, just like the Queen dreamed. He is kind and warm and... he would never hurt me."

"He may be of the light for now, but all humans are slaves to the desires of the flesh. But it matters not. This is what fate has written for you- This end falls on you and you alone."

It can't be. It just can't...It was too unfair. Too cruel.

She stifled a sob in her throat. "I-I need to think. I need some time-"

"There is no time, girl. You must do this, you have no choice."

"She does have a choice, Shaman."

The Shaman started, turning to see Queen Merneith. Immediately the Shaman and his son bowed their heads in respect, and she swam closer, eyes hard. "There is always a choice."

Ginny sought her gaze, and the Queen moved closer to where she lay on the bed. Feeling a fresh bout of adrenaline, she managed to sit up shakily. "My Queen, the Shaman told me of your dream."

The Queen simply nodded.

"And," Ginny gulped, "is it true?"

The downcast eyes of the Queen still betrayed the sorrow and regret in them.

"I'm so sorry, little one."

This time, Ginny was not able to stifle a small sob from her lips. "Why?" She whispered. Images flitted through her mind. A family of redheads. Her parents. Harry smiling at her. His fingers running through her hair. The two of them laughing together. His strong arms around her. Soft lips meeting her own. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

The Queen's features were determined but regret swam behind her eyes.

"I knew I could not ask you, not until the Pearl had been broken. The day I found you, I swore I would not ask so great a sacrifice from you until a time when you could receive the few memories I was able to preserve. It was only right, that you knew. There is always a choice, little one, and you had to awaken, to learn of your life at the surface. You deserved to know."

"Did you not think it would only cause me more pain?"

The Queen's face softened. "Pain is inevitable. But the Shaman is mistaken in one thing- the curse will only break if the sacrifice is willing. It cannot be forced."

Ginny slumped down, eyes closing in weary sorrow. More sobs shook her shoulders. More tears lost in the lake water.

"You should have left me on that boulder." She curled in on herself, and the darkness closed in. A gentle hand stroked her hair, enticing her to give in to it. The sobs and tears subsided as exhaustion won and overcame her. As the waves of sleep rose up around her, she could distantly hear the murmuring of voices.

"-willing sacrifice? We both know..."

"... must have a choice. She will not be forced."

"It is already written."

At some point, in the deep recess of sleep, one of the voices came closer, whispering in her ear.

"Forget the boy."

Hands clamped painfully around her arm. She whimpered in her sleep.

"Forget it all."

In the grotto, Harry watched the tears were falling silently down Ginny's face. She wasn't looking at him, and if she did he knew she would see the shock and hurt he was feeling. How could that be it? How could that be the end- the end to all of this?

He drew her closer, gently holding her shoulders. "Ginny, you can't possibly... You can't just..." He took in a shuddering breath and rested his forehead against hers. "You can't just ask me to let you go."

Her small hands rested on his forearms, and he could feel them trembling. "The Queen, she told me I had time to think... that I had time to decide."

He backed away in alarm. "Time? How long? You- you're going to tell them no, right? There has to be a way out. And if not, you just have to tell them No."

"It's not that simple, though, is it? We're talking about all the Merpeople of the Black Lake. I'm the only one who can help them, Harry-"

"No, Gin, that's crazy," Harry blurted out, her words frightening him. How could she even consider such a thing? His hands clamped down tightly on her arms, as if afraid she might slip away beneath the surface at any moment. She couldn't go. He wouldn't let her go. He had to make her see reason. "I don't care what they told you- you have a whole life up here. You belong up here. To me. With me. And what about Ron? He was so happy someone in his family was still alive. He wants to see you. I want to see you. Every day. Every morning when I wake up. These days we've been apart have been... I haven't felt loss like that since..." Since Sirius died so I could live. A great lump formed in his throat, as the thought that he could lose the girl in front of him settled painfully in his heart. "Ginny, I can't let you do this... I'll do whatever I can to help the Merpeople, I swear on my life and my magic that I will. I won't stop until we break their curse. Just don't do this..." His words threatened to fail him, so he moved his hands to gently hold her face. "Please," he begged her, "I can't let you go."

Ginny looked at him with sadness and longing. Looking into her warm brown eyes he also saw pain- and he knew that she had felt a great loss as well during those long weeks apart. With a staggering breath, she reached out and took him in her arms, clutching him like her life depended on it. And that's what it was all about. Her life. Their life. Together.

"Of course, I'll stay," she said, her voice soft and calm. A tear rolled down her cheek as she felt Harry sob in relief and hold her tighter.

"Of course, I'll stay."

TBC