Harry Potter and the Galator
Chapter 18
Revelations
Ron, Hermione, Lavender and Ginny started to worry about Harry. After the Hogsmeade weekend his mood had changed immensely. They thought there was something strange going on, but they didn't want to stress Harry out. They knew how much Sirius meant to him and losing him so soon after finding out what his role was in Harry's life was too much for anyone to handle, so they sat there and gawked at Harry for suddenly cracking jokes, smiling and laughing. They couldn't very well try to remind him that he was in mourning for Sirius because they knew that he was aware of it. They decided to just keep a very close eye on him.
"Maybe he's having a nervous breakdown?" asked Ron.
"Come on, this is Harry we're talking about. He's had multiple encounters with Voldemort without going mental on us, there has to be something we're missing, is all," answered Hermione matter of factly and hope that Harry didn't walk in on them discussing his well being.
"Oh come on, just because he's laughing and cracking jokes doesn't mean he's having a nervous breakdown," added Ginny.
"Ginny is right," Lavender told them. "Maybe he's just going through the stages of mourning. Wasn't there something called denial?"
"Well, whatever it is we'd better talk about something else, he's coming over."
"Hey guys, what are you doing?" he asked jovially.
"We're doing homework, Harry, which is what you're supposed to be doing," answered Hermione hoping he would think the pink tinge on her cheeks were from anger and not the embarrassment she felt for talking about her own boyfriend behind his back.
"Yes ma'am. That's why I came over hoping that you were all doing homework because I am so behind, maybe you can help me out?" He grinned and as usual Hermione was disarmed but the concern about his recent mood was still not far behind.
The five of them worked on their homework diligently until they were bleary eyed and nothing but sleep would cure it. They mumbled their goodnights and went to their respective beds and fell into deep slumber.
"So, how is the plan coming along Wormtail?"
"Like clockwork master. Our operative didn't see the galator on Potter and wasn't able to see it, but is certain that Potter must have received it as a gift."
"We need to be sure Wormtail, you must arrange another meeting. When is the next Hogsmeade outing?"
"Not until the following weekend master. I do have an idea. According to our operative he has a girlfriend now. I believe it is the mudblood. Wouldn't you think he'd do anything to spare her life, even give you the precious galator?" He'd been hiding his fear of Voldemort well. Even his stutters were few and only when Voldemort was truly in a rage.
"I like that Wormtail. You are learning." He raised his wand and Wormtail flinched as he pointed his wand towards him. "Now, make sure we can get our operative out there to confirm that Potter has the galator. Remember, I will be the one to take it from him. I just need you to confirm that he has it. Do you understand Wormtail?"
"Yes master," he answered submissively but he had other plans. He wanted to finally get what was his due. He'd waited long enough and it is about time he paid his debts.
The Hogsmeade weekend came faster than anyone expected. Harry once more made his excuses to meet up with his Godfather. He felt bad that he had to lie to his girlfriend of all people; he just hoped that she bought it.
Hermione accepted his apology without complaints to Harry's surprise, but she was wary of his reasons. She decided to do something about the nagging feeling she was having about the way he'd been acting. She was on her own with the mission, but she knew the less people knew what she wanted to do, the less disastrous it would be. Besides she didn't want to ruin everyone else's Hogsmeade fun.
Harry spotted Sirius in the same place they'd met before. Harry gave Sirius a hug and a big smile.
"It's so great to see you. You must know how much I've been wanting to tell Hermione and Ron that you're alive."
"No, Harry. Not a good idea at this time. We'd better wait until the spy has been revealed."
"I'm sure you're right. It's just that they all think I've gone nutters being all happy all of the sudden."
"I'm sure they'll understand when the time comes. So, you were going to show me your birthday gifts last time?"
"Oh, yeah." Harry hesitated a bit, he hadn't shown anyone the galator and no one knew about the galator besides the Weasleys and Hermione. For some reason that was beyond him at the time, he decided to lie to Sirius. "Sorry, I didn't wear my chain today. I can't show you my gifts."
"Oh, just as well," he answered through gritted teeth. "I was hoping I wouldn't give you the same thing for your birthday this year."
"Oh, don't worry about it, I would love anything you'd give me." Just then he felt a slight prickle of pain in his scar.
"What's the matter?"
"A little headache, I'm okay." He wondered why he was lying to his godfather, but his senses told him to do so. He didn't understand that, but he decided not to dwell on it any longer. As he looked up he saw a slight change in Sirius's feature, his nose was slightly thinner he noticed. He shook it off.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius tried to sound concerned.
"Yeah, just need to have a seat." Sirius spotted a bench not too far away and still secluded enough so that they will not be seen.
"Why don't we sit over there," he pointed at the bench. "We'll sit down and talk about what you've been up to since we last talked."
"Okay," he answered after a moment of hesitation. They walked over and sat on the bench.
"So, why don't you tell me about how you and Hermione getting along?"
"Well, we're okay. I just don't like that I have to lie to her to come see you."
"You'll be able to tell her when the time is right. We must be careful."
"I know. It's just that I really care about her and I don't want to lose her. If she knew I lied to her, she'll feel betrayed. I know I would if someone I cared about lied to me."
"I'm sure she'll understand when the truth comes out."
"You're probably right."
They continued talking about Harry and quidditch and his classes. Harry started to become comfortable again, but still held reservations about other information he didn't feel Sirius should be privy to. It was well over an hour when Harry saw a movement to his left. Sirius saw it too.
"I'd better get going."
"Yeah, I'll see you soon."
"You bet," he answered and gave him a hug.
As soon as Sirius left behind the bushes he came from, Harry heard voices going towards the bench. He decided to hide behind the bushes near the bench.
"Come here, love," the male voice drawled.
"Draco, we'd better find somewhere more secluded first," answered a female voice Harry was very familiar with.
"Ginny!" he screamed and revealed himself behind the bushes and saw Draco and Ginny kissing. He heard a silent gasp nearby, but kept going near the couple. "Explain!" he told Ginny while keeping a suspicious eye on Draco.
"Harry, you won't tell Ron, will you?"
"That depends on the explanation." He sneered at Draco, but he kept calm and kept his arms around Ginny's waist.
"Well, Draco is my boyfriend." Draco smirked at Harry.
"What?!"
"Ginny and I have been going out secretly for a while now."
"How long is a while exactly?"
"Since the term started. When I saw her at the prefect compartment at the Hogwarts Express, I was gone."
"You mean to tell me, that you and my sister have been meeting secretly for over five months?"
"Your sister?"
"Yes, Harry was inducted into the Weasley family. He's always been part of the family anyway, my parents just made a statement. Can't you tell he's been acting like a big brother? Very over protective and over bearing when it came to guys who are interested in me." Harry understood Ginny's not to subtle hint.
"Okay, but Malfoy?"
"Hey, I resent that, Potter."
"I only meant that we get along so well." Draco chuckled. "That's why you've been nice to us, hasn't it."
"Yes, I promised Ginny I'd do my best to be good to her friends and family." She smiled up at him.
"I think I need to sit down. I think I might throw up."
"Harry! Draco is making effort to be good to you, I would hope you'd do the same now that you know about us."
"Well, how do you suppose we keep this from Ron and Hermione. Not to mention Lavender."
"I was hoping you'd help me out with that part. With everything that has happened, I was hoping they'd continue to keep their attention on you and not notice me."
"I don't think you've escaped their notice. Hermione mentioned she saw something different in you a few months ago, she said she couldn't pin point it though." Draco sniggered and earned a slight pat on his arm from Ginny.
"I was just going to say, as smart as she is she can't tell that you're in love. She looked the same way a few months ago."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Before you and she got together, she had that same besotted look in her eyes every time she looked at you. Mind you she still does, but she already has you so it's easy to see why, whereas for me, no one knows that Draco and I are together, so no one can tell who I'm mooning over."
"Yeah, well. She's been busy with concern over me to notice anything, hasn't she? And Ron, well, you know Ron. Things sometime escape his attentions unless it hits him in the face." They chuckled. "Not to mention Lavender, they've been quite busy in their own little world haven't they?"
"If you're talking about their secret room, I know all about it. I caught them coming out of it one night. I threatened to take away points from them, but they looked so bemused at the idea, I decided just seeing their face that way was enough."
"So, what are we going to do with your little secret?"
"I'll tell Ron, but I am just finding the right time."
"You know there will never be the right time."
"Well, I was going to tell you first anyway and then I was hoping you would help me break it to him gently."
"What?!"
"We figured you're a little more level headed than Ron, and if you accept our relationship, then Ron will have to also and eventually the family will as well."
"Well, you'd better think of a way to tell him soon, because you know he'll know if I'm lying to him. If he asks me anything about your relationship with anyone, I will have to tell him I know, but not with whom."
"What about Hermione?"
"I'll have to tell her if she hasn't already figured it out for herself."
"Thanks Potter." Draco told him.
"Don't thank me yet and don't think that I have accepted you yet either. I am just doing this for Ginny, and I might as well add, if you hurt her in any way, shape or form, you will not only have the Weasleys, you'll have me as well to contend with."
"Didn't I tell you I was going to get that type of advice from him." He looked at Ginny lovingly and smiled. "Don't worry Potter, if I do such a stupid thing as hurt Ginny, I'd have to contend with her and I don't think they'll be enough left of me to contend with after she's through with me." She beamed at Harry.
"That's my sister. I'd better get going. I'll leave you two alone for awhile." He didn't know what it was, but he knew that Draco was sincere about his affections for Ginny. He was about to leave when he heard a noise from behind the bushes.
"You can come out now, Hermione." Hermione and Ginny gasped. Draco only sniggered as he saw Hermione come out of the bushes. She walked straight to Harry.
"How'd you know I was here?" she whispered.
"I don't know, I just felt you. Let's get out of here and leave them to some privacy, shall we?" She nodded and waved at Draco and Ginny.
"Harry, that man cannot be Sirius!" she told him when they were out of earshot.
"Hermione, don't you think I questioned that. But I stayed there and talked to him for over an hour. If that was an impersonator with polyjuice potion, then the potion would have worn off while we were talking."
"You're right. But if that was Sirius, he would not have been talking to you the way he did. It was as if he was just pumping you for information."
"I realized that too, but I didn't want him to know that I was suspicious of him. The first time I saw him Hermione, I was so glad that Sirius wasn't dead. That's why I haven't been brooding for a while. I know you lot were suspicious and were concerned at my change in attitude, but I couldn't help it. I had Sirius back. But today, I don't know. Something just didn't feel right when I was talking to him. Do you know the first thing he asked to look at after some small talk was what I received for my gifts?"
"Did you show him the galator?"
"No, I stopped myself in time. I lied and told him I wasn't wearing it. Hermione." He cupped her face in his hands. "I'm sorry I lied to you. And thank you for looking after me even when I don't ask." He kissed her.
"You're forgiven and you're welcome," she answered him and kissed him back.
"So who do you suppose that was? I must tell you, my scar was prickling a little back there. I told him I had a headache. If that was the real Sirius, he would have known that it was the scar that was hurting me. That was the clincher for me. I felt disappointed, but at the same time I felt angry."
"I don't know Harry, that was a very convincing impersonator. I don't know of anything else that would change your appearance and where would they be getting anything of Sirius since the body was never found. Oh and I felt the charm giving off bad energy that you were in trouble while you were talking to that man"
"That's why it was easy for me to believe that he wasn't dead. I still don't feel that he's dead, but I definitely feel that he's very far away."
"Do you think he was sent by Voldemort trying to find out if you have the galator?"
"That would confirm my dream about the old lady and why they are biding their time trying to make sure that I do have it first."
"Have you found out anything else about it from the book?"
"Just that the powers are great, but only if the bearer is a descendant of Merlin himself, otherwise the powers of the galator are limited to the bearer's own power. Also, it will not function unless the galator is given freely. So if they take it from me forcibly, or steal it the galator will not work at all. If so, then Voldemort must be aware of that fact because he had an opportunity to take it from me the first meeting with the Sirius impostor, but he didn't. However, I don't know if they know about the powers being greater in a descendant's hands."
"What else does it say?"
"Just that the galator draws more power from love."
"So, maybe it may not work for evil?
"I don't think there's a guarantee, but at least it might not be as powerful."
"Do you think Voldemort is a descendant of Merlin?"
"I hope not. If he is and he gets his hands on the galator, we're doomed. Good or evil, I believe the galator will respond to his blood lines."
"Well, then maybe we should do some more research on his family tree, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, ma'am." He smiled and kissed her again. "I've missed you. I am really sorry for being a prat."
"It's okay Harry, it's understandable. I'm just glad you've come to your senses," she joked.
"Yeah, well. I keep getting all these feelings inside me. I know they're not from me, I can't explain. It's as if I am feeling what others are feeling."
"So, Mr. Potter. How am I feeling right now?"
"I don't know about you, but right now you feel hungry and I am not talking about food either."
"Harry!" she gave him an affectionate pat on the arm. "What do you intend to do about it?"
He leaned over and gave her a thoroughly passionate kiss that left them both breathless and weak-kneed. "So, did that satisfy your hunger?"
"No, not really. But I don't think we're at the right place to do anything else." He felt her wanting and he could only agree because he felt the same way.
"We'll talk about that another time. Do you want some butter beer?" She nodded and they walked towards the Three Broomsticks.
"So, what are you going to do about Malfoy?"
"I don't know. I'll keep an eye on him, but I don't think Ginny is under any type of Imperius Charm or love potion if that is what you're getting at. I have a feeling that Malfoy is actually sincere when it comes to Ginny. Now, trying to convince Ron is another story."
"Well, since you're so good at detecting feeling, maybe you can detect a good time for all of us to tell him at the same time. You know he'll be angry at us if we keep this from him for too long."
"I know. I just hope he'll be as accepting as you are."
"And how do you know I've accepted Malfoy?"
"I can feel it." He smiled at her. "And if he feels even half as much as I feel about you for Ginny, then I think she's in good hands even if it is Malfoy."
A/N: Please let me know if the edits are still being shown….Thanks for your reviews.