A/N: Ok, the fallout starts. Many, many thanks to Lady Starlight for her gracious help on this, now back at it.
Chapter 21: A Darkness of the Mind.
**********************Hogwarts*************************
October 18, 1997.
2:00 am
Ginny sat up in her bed in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing and looked around. Besides her, only a bandaged third year who had run afoul of a Snapping Stinkweed in Professor Sprout's class and a quietly moaning Andrew Peters whom had gotten in a unsanctioned duel in the hall and had a third foot conjured and shoved, somewhere, were present.
She looked around the room one more time and rolled to her feet, wincing as she stood and holding her ribs. You silly girl you let a Mudblood defeat you...SHUT UP...Harry was yours...SHUT UP, What did I do, why did you have to come back, I was so happy...because you are greater than them...SHUT UP. Ginny looked around, wide-eyed as she fought down a dark voice that had only gained strength in the last week, and in the last year. She slipped out of the Hospital Wing, almost as quietly as one of the ghosts would have managed and crept down the halls. She held to the shadows, pausing behind a tall suit of rusty armor on the fourth floor landing as she heard Filch and Mrs. Norris shambling along. Filch was complaining about the new Head of Gryffindor House, not have the proper respect for his job and Mrs. Norris was merowing at appropriate intervals.
After they passed, Ginny sprinted on cat feet up the stairs until she was in front of the Fat Lady. Ginny stopped to catch her breath and to hold a stitch in her side before muttering the password and slipping into the Gryffindor Common Room behind the sleepy portrait. Thankfully there was no one here at this hour of the morning as Harry and Hermione had their own common room and the rest of the house tended to actually sleep. Ginny slipped up the Girls stairs and cast a muttered spell on the door to her dorm to muffle any squeaks.
She snuck into her own room, feeling full well the incredibility of the actions. Ginny froze as Honor rolled over onto her back muttering something about some boy she was dating. Ginny shook her head as she saw that Gretchen's bed was unslept in and she quickly went to her trunk and opened it. Ginny removed a piece of parchment, and by the light of the full, silver moon shining in the window she wrote a note. She folded the note and tucked it under the edge of her pillow, before returning to her trunk. Jeans, jumpers, all of the Galleons she had saved for a rainy day, several changes of underwear and other sundries disappeared into her pack. With a slight frown she placed one of the Twin's DA issue equipment packs on top of the rest of the gear and synched it closed.
Ginny gave the room a long look before she turned her back on it and left, a pair of silver tracks escaping down her cheeks.
*******************Great Hall**********************************
7:20 am.
Hermione looked up a Harry and gave him a tired smile as he passed her the butter. She put it on her toast and sat back, absently turning the pages of Offensive Offence and making notes on a separate roll of parchment. She was about thirty pages in and had two pages of notes, about normal. As she was about to eat, a tawny owl dropped her copy of the Daily Prophet on her book and glared at her until she dropped a couple of coins in its pouch. It took flight, nearly knocking over her coffee with a errant wing. Hermione set the paper aside and returned to her book, muttering. She took a bite of her toast and looked up, annoyed, as she heard several fifth year girls looking towards her and Harry and giggling.
Just in case her or Harry had accidentally started holding hands or sitting on each other's lap or something, such things had almost happened, more than once, Hermione looked around her immediate area. Even though the duel with Ginny had happened they were supposed to ease into their public appearances... She looked at Harry, his eyes were almost closed as he slowly fed himself, and Hedwig snuck an entire piece of bacon from his plate before leaving after delivering Harry some fan mail, which the owl had just dumped into a large heap in front of her master.
He winced slightly as he moved his arm, stretching for a platter of eggs and flicked his fingers so it came closer. Hermione gave him a worried look as she felt the distant echo of his shoulder strain from his morning, but he waved her off. She glared at a new set of fourth year Ravenclaws giggling at them and went back to her book as Ron and Luna meandered in, only up this early on a Saturday as he had had training with them earlier, and was supposed to have Quidditch practice later. Ron promptly overfilled a plate with eggs, bacon, sausage, and some fried potatoes and started in on first breakfast. "Is that the Prophet?" Ron asked after a couple of minutes highlighted by loud munching sounds from Ron and Luna examining her food for Kneazle prints, or at least that was what Hermione took the sounds from his full mouth to mean. She passed him the paper without a word, too tired to fight. Luna usually eventually got onto him about it, anyway.
Ron flipped open the paper... "BLOODY HELL!" he snapped and Harry's eyes snapped open and Hermione's head, shot to him. Ron looked at them nervously, "You might want to read this." Down the table a ways they heard Lavender crow, "I told you Par, pay up."
Hermione took the paper from Ron looked at the front page and her head fell for a moment. Harry came around the table and sat on her other side as they looked down at a picture of them, caught in the alley behind the Three Broomsticks. Harry's back was against the back wall of the pub, with Hermione fully pressed up against him, her hands were tangled in his hair and his were up the back of her jumper, exposing a good two inches of skin. The lips were locked together and their eyes closed, and it was obviously not a 'friendly kiss.' Parvati and Lavender looked at each other again and then down the table at them with newfound...respect. Most of their year mates said nothing really as Harry and Hermione started to read the article attached:
The Chosen One has Chosen?
By Rita Skeeter.
Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, seems to have come full circle in his love-life. Recently rumors have once again begun to sprout of the 'Chosen One's' infatuation with the lovely Muggle born witch Hermione Granger. This association was first revealed by this author almost three years ago, and must lead us to question Mr. Potter's truthfulness with the press, among other vital matters. For indeed if our heroes cannot be truthful then how can any of expect to be? When asked about their relationship, they have always steadfastly maintained that they were only "friends" but as the picture shows, they must be truly, special, friends indeed.
An earlier article this year by this author, mentioned the previous inamorata of the Seventh Year Gryffindor, Ginevra Weasley, daughter of Arthur Weasley Head of the Dark Artifact investigation department for the MLE and her and Mr. Potter's breakup at the late Albus Dumbledore's funeral. This brief infatuation may have already erupted into violence at least once between Miss Granger and Miss Weasley, as reports of a duel one week ago on the Hogwarts grounds have come into the possession of this reporter from a Ministry source that cannot be named. While the duel is believed to have been totally legal, the circumstances behind the duel are up for debate.
The results are not however, in the duel, Miss Weasley was soundly defeated by all accounts, leading one to question the inherent fairness of Miss Granger, and possibly leading one to question her reasoning for the duel. Was it in some way a means to cover up her alleged use of Love Potions to snag the one that Witch Weekly has just placed at number three on its most eligible bachelor under 21 list, right after the International Quidditch Sensation Victor Krum, and Odgen's Heir, Bruce Waynewright.
Is it possible that the loss of Mr. Potter's mentor, the estimated Albus Dumbledore has truly driven him into the arms of someone whom may be using him to better her station in life...
The paper crumpled into a ball in Harry's hand and their Doppelgangers looked up at them with furious, annoyed expressions before shrugging and returning to their previous activities amongst the wrinkled pages.
Harry pulled Hermione into his shoulder as her shoulders hitched. Most in the hall would have thought that she was crying, and a few Slytherins were stupid enough to say so openly and spitefully. But in fact she was laughing as Harry dropped his lips to the crown of her hair and kept them there. Well since we are busted anyway... she pulled back and looked up at him as she put her arms around his neck and leaned in.
Hermione felt her eyes slip closed as she kissed her Harry for the first time in the Great Hall since summer. She sighed against his lips as they pulled apart, her lip dragging slightly in his teeth before he let go. Hermione leaned back against him, as they stayed just on this side of the "acceptable" line for behavior in the Great Hall and looked around defiantly.
A sudden silence fell over the hall, then without warning two things happened. The seventh year Gryffindors stood and applauded. Hermione blushed and leaned back a bit more against Harry. Just as they were quieting down and McGonagall was hiding a small smile at the Head Table, Neville came running into the hall.
"GINNY'S GONE!"
**************************Headmistress' Office***************************
8:30 am
Remus Lupin entered the large, circular room without knocking and shrugged at McGonagall's heated glance. He frowned as he noticed Molly standing in the corner, glaring at Minerva; he could almost hear her dulcet tones still hanging in the air in the office. The door opened again, and Tonks, Harry, Hermione and Ron entered, all looking forlorn. Dumbledore looked at the newcomers from his picture and sighed. Lupin gathered himself to report, but before he could, Molly's voice cracked across the room like a whip.
"What is she doing here?" she hissed, loudly as she glared at Hermione. Hermione flinched slightly before she caught herself and stood straighter. Her eyes narrowed, and she took a calming breath as Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.
"She is the Head Girl of this school, Molly," Minerva replied quietly.
Molly bristled. "Perhaps she shouldn't be then," she shot back heatedly, "after all she..."
Hermione took a deep breath and stood her ground, not commenting. Ron glanced at her concernedly for a moment before squaring his shoulders and looking at Molly, darkly, "Mum, that's enough," Ron announced flatly, her jaw dropped and he ignored her before turning to McGonagall and Remus who had drifted over to her desk. "We could not find her anywhere on the grounds." He looked at Harry who gave a small, tired shrug.
"Yes, ma'am," Harry agreed, "none of the Prefects or House Elves report having seen her since around Midnight when one of the Elves assigned to the Infirmary says he saw her." He looked to Tonks.
"There was no evidence of her being taken by force," the veteran Auror put in, "no evidence of magical traces other than those we would expect in either her dorm or the Hospital. There seems to be several articles of clothing that her roommates say were missing. Also there was no money in her trunk and her...other equipment was gone," Tonks added vaguely. "It looks as if she left voluntarily."
Molly shook her head as if she couldn't believe the words Tonks was saying, "But those signatures could have been hidden or faked. Couldn't they have been, Tonks?" Her eyes flitted to Hermione for not even a heartbeat, but Tonks caught it, her experience in interrogating Dark Wizards coming to the fore.
"Yes..." Tonks agreed slowly, looking at Lupin helplessly, "they could have been, but..."
"We don't have time for this," Harry interrupted and Molly glared but he continued on as if she weren't there, "if we are start looking for her we need to now, and frankly she couldn't have done this at a worse period."
"She's the one..."
Harry shut her up with a look as his eyes flared; even the portraits on the wall silenced themselves as he looked around. "Ginny is now a security risk to the school. She has been able to leave undetected and if she can do that, she can be forced to let others in the same way. Remus, can you and Tonks contact Mad-Eye, have him start looking?" Lupin nodded. "Hermione and I will take Diagon...and Knockturn Alley, Ron you take Hogsmeade, take Neville with you." Ron nodded and reached into his pocket for his two-way mirror. Harry looked to McGonagall, "Ma'am can you have the House Elves search...everywhere?" Minerva gave him a sad look but agreed, both of them not wanting to say anything about that option in front of Molly. On the wall, Dumbledore's image nodded as if to himself, and a small look of satisfaction for something, not today's events, but something, crossed his ice-blue eyes.
Harry turned to leave, but froze as Molly reached out and grabbed his arm roughly. "Harry," her eyes were wide, "you act as if she's already betrayed you."
"She has Molly," Harry snapped lowly, and shook his arm free of her grasp, "she has."
As if a gun had gone off announcing the start of a race, the teams vanished. Harry and Hermione instantly in a fall of colors as their Portkeys activated, Ron as he ran out the door at a run, filling in Neville as he went and having the Gryffindor bring his equipment, and Remus and Tonks, tossing a pinch of Floo Powder into Minerva's fireplace and vanishing to wherever Mad-Eye was.
*************************Diagon/Knockturn Alley**************************
7:00 pm.
Harry and Hermione came in the back entrance to the Leaky Caldron and paused, looking around. Tom glanced up from wiping a glass clean and nodded towards a private parlor in the back. Harry gave a small wave in return and entered into the rear, ignoring the curious glances that he always got when he was here, and had even more so today as his and Hermione's 'Honeymoon Date' picture had been splashed over the front page of the Prophet. Luckily at least that was under a Fidelius, the only one that could feel or see the wedding bands on her hand was him or those that had earned his trust.
As he took in the tired searchers gathered in this back room, he privately thought that he should add Neville to that list; he had certainly earned it.
Without more than a two-sentence order, Neville had mobilized the entire DA to search. Hogsmeade had been deluged with every underage member while the Seventh Years had started appearing in Diagon Alley minutes after Harry and Hermione themselves had arrived. Harry had been steadfast in his orders that they were not to venture down Knockturn Alley in groups of less than four, though of course he and Hermione had violated that, but really, the two Death Eaters that had been stupid enough to try for them had regretted it.
Tonks had taken their battered, unconscious bodies to the Ministry and returned.
Ron, Neville and Luna had appeared about four hours into the canvassing of Diagon Alley and had announced that Hogsmeade had literally been searched house to house to no avail. Ron had sent the remainder of the DA back to the school under McGonagall and had came on to Diagon Alley, where Luna had looked at a oddly dressed woman, and pronounced her a Death Eater. She had run at overhearing Luna's announcement, and stopped suddenly as ten, rather lethal looking wands from those...children, pointed her way. The Dark Mark had just been a bonus when Tonks took custody of her for a second trip to the Ministry's holding cells, running into Kingsley on the way. She had been in a hurry but not so much so than to escape her opportunity to mention that Harry's "children" had captured more Death Eaters in four hours than the Ministry or the Order had managed in four weeks.
Harry looked around the room and just for a brief second a small warm feeling filled his heart. Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender, Padma, Ernie, Susan and even Terry Boot were crowded around a long table; Seamus was explaining something with his characteristic loud hand movements to Ron, Luna and Neville. Several more seventh years were next to them talking to the Twins in low tones. They and Angelina and Alicia had been on the case the instant Harry and Hermione had appeared in their shop, and had provided the first clue in the case and had immediately proven that Ginny had run and had not been taken.
The door creaked open behind them one last time and Mad-Eye stomped in, in the company of Remus and Tonks. They took seats and poured themselves glasses from one of several large pitchers of butterbeer that were on the table. None of them had had anything to eat since breakfast.
Harry looked a question at Mad-Eye. "No lad, I am afraid that nothing came up of the Apparation records at the Ministry, and the Knight Bus did not pick her up either," Alastor replied with a small shrug and gave Harry a slight, knowing look, "of course the main Apparation detector has been broken for several months now." Harry didn't even blink at the news.
"Thanks Mad-Eye," Harry replied, and looked to the room as a whole, "thanks for coming out today guys," he glanced at Hermione as she grabbed his hand.
Ron stood from the table, "Yes, thank you, it means a lot."
"She's a DA member," Susan put in as if that explained everything, and in a way it did in the same way it should have put the fear of Merlin in any Death Eaters that contemplated Hogwarts as a goal. Someday, perhaps, they would look back at this night, this night of confusion and panic and the possible loss of one of their own, as the rebirth of the Order, the rebirth that might someday actually have a chance of ending Voldemort's reign of terror, but all of that was for a future time, if at all.
Similar, murmured comments went around the room and Harry felt his heart swell afresh, and just a touch more hope for the future come home to roost. He nodded, "Alright then, first, the timeline appears to be as such," Hermione caught his eye and her wand flicked and the walls of the room flickered white as anti-eavesdropping charms went into effect over the ones that Tom, supposedly, kept in place. "At about three in the morning, Ginny Flooed into the Twins' downstairs shop from, they believe, Honeydukes. Which would make sense as none of the Castle fires were used to Floo."
"Harry, what about the wards on the passage to Honeydukes?" Neville put in, finally admitting out loud to the two attending Professors that all of the Gryffindors present, at least, knew of the secret passage.
Harry glanced over at Lupin, who frowned, "We warded the Hogsmeade entrance, we were not concerned with those leaving."
"From there," Harry continued, "there is a time gap of several hours. We know that she helped herself to some of the special items in the back for our use as they were missing when the twins went to look after they checked the security wards when Hermione and I informed them. Tom may have served her breakfast, he's not sure, however the witch he served sounded young and was Ginny's height but she had a cloak thrown up to hide her face."
He paced around the room, stopping to take a drink from a butterbeer that Hermione pushed into his hand, "She then went to Gringotts at opening and cleaned out her personal account, and pulled some cash from the DA operating account as well." Tonks, Mad-Eye and Lupin looked up at that, they had not known of the true depth of Harry's preparations. In fact, except for Luna and Ginny, none of the DA members below seventh year and not in Gryffindor had known of the various hidden cashes of equipment and the accounts that had been established in case of the worst were to happen. Harry waved at Ron.
"We looked everywhere at Hogsmeade, no one saw her, and no one saw her double back."
"Yeah, I figured," Harry agreed, "from what I know she took from the DA accounts, she has at least several thousand Galleons with her, and she exchanged a bit of it for Pounds." Harry looked down at his feet and ran his fingers through his hair roughly, Merlin, this is hard. Hermione's eyes were soft as she nodded and took his hand again, neither of them wanting to do what must be done, what Harry had to do, "She's gone to ground in Muggle England, and the twins' Aura Hider works a bit too well, she took the prototype from the shop, we can't scry or use a ball to find her. We're going home folks, for now, Mad-Eye you'll have the Order looking?" Moody scowled but nodded in the end as Harry paced out of the room, Hermione following not a heartbeat behind as soft muttering whispered behind him.
She followed him into the main part of the room, and ignored the murmurs that filled the room once more as the two headliners of the Prophet's Saturday edition passed through the room. Harry looked around the bar, his eyes hard and growled something under his breath and walked out the door into Muggle London.
He looked down the dimly lit length of Charing Cross Road and started walking. A darkly dressed man looked up as they passed, but shook his head and leaned back against the wall with a slight shudder. Harry paused as they reached Trafalgar Square and squeezed Hermione's hand, which had found his sometime during the journey. A flock of annoyed pigeons cooed loudly at them, as they turned left walked a bit further and then right until the Thames stopped them.
Harry slid to the ground with a sigh and leaned back against a low, concrete wall as Hermione slipped between his legs and leaned back against him. They watched the lights of Waterloo Bridge dancing on the dark waters of the river for a while and the passage of several barges and boats in the night. Do you think she had the right of it? Running? Harry asked finally after maybe an hour.
Would you have run? she redirected softly.
I'm too stupid to do that...ask Snape...
Hermione laughed, bitterly, We both are... She frowned as a large barge passed on the river, its wake disturbing several docked boats on the nearby Embankment Pier. I suppose that we won't be getting any jumpers this year. Or rather I won't...I'm so sorry Harry, I know she was like a mum to you.
Like there's a choice between her and my heart, Harry tightened his arms slightly, I'm more worried about Ron. He's loyal enough to us to stand against her...maybe the twins are as well. This is just what we were afraid of.
I should have...
No, Mione. She brought this on herself. I don't care if she was under the Imperius, she could have fought it off if she wanted to, there is always a choice. It may not be the easy one, but its there. If we never set foot in the Burrow again, well that's as it will be.
****************************Soho*****************************
A grey hood pulled up to cover her hair, to blend into the early evening; Ginny Wesley sat down at a table and took the cup of black coffee the waitress offered. She returned the girl's automatic smile and sighed, looking down into the cup as if trying to divine her fate. Her other hand was curled around the hilt of her wand under the table as she looked up every time the small bell hung above the door rang out the entrance of a new customer.
What am I doing...You're running silly girl, what do you think you are doing...I can say I'm sorry...But why, they're the ones who turned against you, the Mudblood knew she was trespassing...but I told her I had given up...So you lied, so what...But they're my family...since when, since they betrayed you...but Harry saved me...exactly, he should have been yours, he would have been yours, he rescued you after all... Ginny's internal dialogue froze suddenly as she glanced up at another bell to see a head of fiery hair on top of a stocky, solid body. A loud, familiar, female voice spoke next as Ginny pulled her hood tight, and turned her face downward as the duo stood in line to her close enough for her to hear their conversation.
"Yeah George, thanks for coming with me to my apartment," Tonks said exhaustedly as she waited in line with him, "Remus had to get back." Tonks glanced around the room, her gaze passing over the back of Ginny's head, it wasn't unusual to see someone with a hood pulled up and staring down into a mug here, "Bad time of the month for him, for this to happen."
"So he went back to..." George stopped before mentioning the school.
"Yeah, he had to take his...medicine, probably just made it too," Tonks completed and looked up at the counterworker, "I'll take a half-caf latte, and a tall black for my friend." She paid and took their drinks as they started to head back out of the shop.
George stopped, "so you'll be alright then Tonks?"
"I'll head back in the morning, George," Tonks replied with a small smile, "lets get that...thing you needed so you can be on your way."
"Nymph," George sighed, "had Harry or Hermione come back when you left the pub?"
Tonks let out a soft groan as she ran her hand through bright purple hair, "You know better than that George, he had to go blame himself for a while and she had to go talk him down."
"He's not that bad any more," George objected.
"No, but he's lost a lot in the last few years, this can't be easy on him," Tonks shrugged. "Your sister didn't think George. If she wanted..." she shook her head fitfully as they stepped back out of the way of a customer entering the store, almost backing into the small table Ginny had claimed near the door. "Wotcher, I visited her last week George or at least tried to, she just sat there in a snit, I don't think she thinks she did anything wrong. If someone had done anything like that to Remus...I hate to think what I would have done, how she didn't get..."
George finished putting sugar into his coffee from a nearby server and replaced the lid, "We knew sorta, or at least Bill and Fleur did I guess, but we were trying to let it pass, hoped it would just go away, but now... Mum's going spare, and I'm pretty sure that Herms is now persona non gratta at the Burrow...I suppose her and Harry will be at Hogwarts for Christmas, Mer...Lord knows that he's not going back to those relatives of his, and her parents are on that, trip ya know."
"They'll probably be off on a...assignment anyway," Tonks muttered as she pulled the door open. George just nodded as he led them out of the store, and turned up the street towards Tonks' apartment a block away.
Ginny sat stock still for several minutes after they left before slipping out the door and escaping in the other direction, every one of Tonks' and George's words ringing in her ears.
*****************************Little Hangleton**************************
A tall, dark man accompanied by a equally tall man, as fair as he was dark, knocked on a oaken door, inscribed with twin intertwined serpents and waited. The light from several nearby torches flickered oddly in endlessly deep grey eyes and glinted off twin fangs.
"ENTER," a dark, hissing voice commanded and the pair entered with only a bare, half-second glance at each other. The stopped a moment at the front of the room and waited as their eyes adjusted to the gloom. As their eyes sharpened, they could make out shapes, and a moment later they could discern the features of the room.
A large, dark ebony bed sat to one side of the room, its covers vanishing into the gloom. Several small tables were set around the room, some covered with odd artifacts and tomes, one held the remains of a supper and a final was empty save for a goblet of a dark, steaming liquid and a folded paper. On the back wall of the room, a fire was blazing in a black iron grate, the snakes on the door repeated here. A tall, wingback chair was in front of the fire, visibly occupied from the rear. The earlier, high-pitched, hiss came from the chair, "Come here."
Malfoy and Greyback strode around the chair and knelt before their master before he motioned them to their feet. Voldemort nodded to them as he took a sip of his drink and steepled his hands in front of his red-eyed, snake-visaged face. Tom was not alone, at his feet, curled like a large, sullen pet, Bellatrix was lying. Her heavy lidded eyes took them in reproachfully as she eased to a sitting position and stretched. Her untied robe fell open to reveal, everything, as she did, and she just smiled at Fenrir's subtle growl. Her pale skin was almost like a lamp in the room as the firelight reflected off of it and she moved subtly to reveal even more. Tom reached down and fondled her absently as he considered them for a moment.
"I have assignments for each of you, do not fail me this time," they nodded in unison, "Lucius...I wish for you to travel to Severus and discuss the failure of his potion. Make sure that he has an...adequate familiarity with the price of failure." Lucius bowed, grateful for the reprieve even though he knew that it was mostly the funds that he had secreted before his capture, exclusive of Gringotts, that kept him in whatever favor that he still enjoyed. Voldemort waved him away and he backed to the door and out.
Voldemort waited a moment before pulling the copy of today's Daily Prophet from the table next to him and tossing it at Greyback, "Potter has been a thorn in my side for too long, Fenrir." He smiled, "He took Antonin from us, I am sure that you can devise something...appropriate for his little pet." His eyes glowed, and the remainder of the light in the room save that from his red, glowing eyes seemed to vanish, "Break her in every way before you leave her body for Potter." Fenrir chuckled coldly as Voldemort hissed a laugh and Bella giggled from the floor.
A/N There ya go, I'm off to see GOF in about six hours...