Disclaimer: I own nothing of the 'Harry Potter' universe, nor do I claim any rights to the lyric bits that I use.
A/N: Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! I'm not sure if I'm entirely pleased with the way this came out. I'm sure some of you have guessed how this chapter was going to go, just as I'm sure this will be a surprise to others. I was going to include the aftermath of the confrontation, but the chapter was getting a bit lengthy, so I decided to end it where I did. See? No cliffhanger this time! ^_^ On with the show!
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Chapter 34: End of a Fantasy
Your face appears again,
I see the beauty there,
but I see danger,
stranger beware.
A circumstance in your naked dreams,
your affection is not what it seems.
You are an obsession.
You're my obsession.
Who do you want me to be
to make you sleep with me?
You are an obsession.
You're my obsession.
Who do you want me to be
To make you sleep with me?
My fantasy has turned to madness.
All my goodness has turned to badness.
My need to possess you has consumed my soul.
My life is trembling I have no control.
Excerpt from the song 'Obsession' by, Animotion.
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Hermione was walking next to Harry as they made their way from the Room of Requirement towards the moving staircases leading to the lower floors. Kotone was nestled upon Harry's left side with her cheek resting on his shoulder. When Hermione looked over, she saw that the little girl's eyes were closed. She looked up to Harry's face and saw that he wore an expression of grim determination. When they reached the landing, they stood waiting for the staircase to swing into position.
"Why did you come here?" Hermione asked quietly, "I went to see what was taking you so long to come back to breakfast, but found that I was alone in the house."
Harry's expression didn't change as he briefly glanced at Hermione, then turned his attention back to the stairs as he coolly answered, "Just after Ron and Luna left, Kotone came out of her room and collapsed. I picked her up and brought her here to see Madam Pomfrey."
The stairs had just swung into place and they stepped off from the landing. Hermione wore a concerned frown as she asked, "Collapsed? What happened? What was wrong with her?"
Hermione noticed the brief flash of anger that crossed his face, but she didn't know who that anger was directed against. Harry took a deep breath before he replied, "She was starving to death, Hermione. Madam Pomfrey said she hadn't eaten anything in over a week, even though I knew she had 'something' in the basement at Grimmauld. Given that, and the amount of energy she has had to expend helping everyone…"
Harry paused when he noticed that Hermione had stopped several steps back. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing with a horrified and somewhat guilty expression.
"But… but… I saw her chasing… well, rats around the house. Every time I'd see her, she was lurking around the hallways of the house looking for food! She wouldn't take any of the food we made, so I thought she was able to feed herself! I had no idea… she never said anything!"
Harry looked into the face of the sleeping half-witch on his shoulder and said, "I'm not blaming you. I did at first, along with Luna and Ron, but you had no way of knowing that she was too weak to hunt for herself. I don't know why she didn't say anything… maybe she was embarrassed."
Hermione hurried down the stairs to catch up with him, "I'm so sorry, Harry! I should have known! She's been acting strange lately, and I thought she was looking thinner, but I was so distracted trying to find a way to help you…"
"Forget it. It's partially my fault, too. You'd think I'd have learned by now that I should listen to you. If I hadn't told Malfoy to get the locket… if we made some kind of plan beforehand, none of this would have happened."
They just stepped onto the stairs leading down to the fourth floor when Harry said, "How did you know we came here? I didn't have time to leave a note or anything."
"I looked at the Floo log. Luna went to her house in Ottery St. Catchpole, and Ron followed her there a minute later. I guess he planned to go shopping after that little detour. A few minutes later, you Flooed to your quarters here. I wondered why you left, but after I saw that Kotone was gone, too… well, I didn't know what to think."
Harry wore a slight smirk as he said, "So, you decided to follow me?"
"Well, I waited a while before I tried to call you through the Floo, but you weren't in your room, or your office. I figured that since you were somewhere in the castle, I could pop over too, to check out the library. There's a few things I've been meaning to research and the Library at Grimmauld isn't very comprehensive."
Harry smiled and shook his head, 'Of course, she would go to the library…'
"Well, after I came through, I was just leaving your office when I saw Umbridge and her two goons heading up the stairs. I figured that if she was in the castle, she was probably up to no good. I disillusioned myself and followed them, at a discrete distance, of course. When I saw them standing in front of the Room of Requirement, it was obvious that they were waiting for you… You already know the rest."
Harry just nodded as they stepped off the stairs on the third floor and made their way down the hallway that led to the hospital wing. They could see both McGonagall and Pomfrey standing in front of the doors to the infirmary.
As they approached, McGonagall beckoned them towards a small room just to the side of the double doors that led to the infirmary. McGonagall looked at Kotone sleeping on Harry's side and couldn't suppress a small, uncharacteristic smile before her stern demeanor returned, "I take it that your daughter has been properly fed?" When Harry abashedly nodded, she said, "Good, I hope that you have enough sense in you to keep it that way."
Madam Pomfrey reached out and carefully took Harry's injured right hand into her own, saying, "And when, Mister Potter, were you going to have this looked at?"
Without another word, Madam Pomfrey drew her wand and passed it along the back of his hand. A few moments later, a light aqua glow encompassed his hand as the cracked bones aligned themselves and knitted together. He flexed his fingers appreciatively, and said, "Thanks, that was getting a bit uncomfortable."
Madam Pomfrey wore a serious expression as she said, "We've moved Miss Weasley out of my office for your meeting with her. We didn't think it wise to have you three marching through the ward, even though we've already removed the person responsible for summoning Madam Umbridge."
Harry remembered that McGonagall told him about how a Ministry worker saw him earlier and sent off a messenger spell. He looked at the Headmistress and said, "You've removed him? Why?"
A frown crossed McGonagall's face as she said, "When I saw that Umbridge had cast so many Imperius curses, I had Poppy here discretely check the individual in question. It does appear that he was placed under the curse, so we isolated him until the proper trustworthy authorities can be contacted. Without proper suspicion or express permission, we are unable to check anyone else for the curse… invasion of privacy, and all that rot, so we can't be sure if anyone else in there would try to warn the Ministry of your presence."
"Headmistress," said Hermione cautiously, "Do you think that she might have had something to do with the Board of Governors' decision to forbid Harry from returning to school this year?"
McGonagall wore a pensive look for a brief moment, then refocused on the task at hand, "Excuse me, but we're wasting time. I hope you'll understand if both Madam Pomfrey and I are present. We think it the best for all concerned."
Harry and Hermione agreed, and were led into the small room where Ginerva Weasley was resting on a hospital bed along the far wall.
The first thing Harry noticed were the bandages on Ginny's hands. He also noticed the bulge under the sheets that made it appear as if she was wearing a diaper, but quickly dismissed that silly thought.
When Ginny first saw Harry enter the room, she put on a beaming smile at him as she struggled to sit upright. She opened her mouth to greet him but froze and the smile fell from her lips as Hermione entered just a step behind him. She recovered quickly and said in a cheerful tone, "Harry! It's so nice of you to visit me! For a while there, I was afraid that you wouldn't come to see me at all. Oh, and hello, Hermione, it's wonderful to see you, too."
Harry noticed that her voice, while trying to sound pleasant, was slightly hoarse and that she had to clear her throat several times as she spoke.
"Hello, Ginny," said Harry in a quiet, even voice, "How are you feeling?"
"Loads better than when I first woke up here," Ginny said nervously, "They say I can go home soon."
"Listen, Ginny," began Harry, "We know about the elixir. We found out that Pansy Parkinson talked Penni Pinder into giving you that page that was torn from a book. You must realize by now that it wasn't a love potion, but a bloodline preservation ritual."
"No!" stated Ginny loudly and emphatically, "I didn't use a love potion on you! How could you even suggest that! I don't know who you've been talking to, but they're lying! What you feel for me is natural! It's how you really feel about me! I know that you love me, why would I need a love potion?"
"Ginny, it wasn't a love potion!" said Harry forcefully, "Don't you get it? Yes, that spell you put on us made me love you, but it's a love like I'd have for a family member… for a mother!"
"You can't mean that!" cried Ginny, clearly becoming more agitated, "Look at all those times we snogged! You can't tell me you didn't feel anything! I saw it in your eyes! You couldn't keep your hands off of me!"
"Oh, I felt something, all right!" answered Harry angrily, "and if I remember correctly, it was 'you' who couldn't keep my hands off of you…" He looked over to where McGonagall and Pomfrey were standing, both of whom were quietly watching the situation unfold. He then glanced quickly at Hermione, who was looking a mix between angry and ill.
Harry felt Kotone shift in his arms as she awoke. The young half-witch looked around for a moment, then upon seeing who else was in the room, loosened her grip on Harry and slid down from his side to stand next to Hermione. He returned his attention to Ginny.
"Yes, we did kiss, but that could hardly be considered 'snogging.' Do you remember that time in the empty classroom near the tower? When I met you in there a few days before Dumbledore… before he died?"
Ginny, seemingly oblivious to Harry's discomfort, and to what he was getting at, wore a dreamy smile. She met Hermione's eyes as she said breathily, "Oh, yes… I remember that day! You were so sweet and shy! I knew for sure then that we'd be together forever!"
"Do you remember how you kept putting my hands under your shirt? How you kept nudging them upwards?"
Harry watched Ginny's eyes start to close, and noticed a slight shudder pass through her body. Her bandaged hands that rested on top of the sheet began inching lower as she said in a throaty purr, "Oh, yes… I remember that… you were so noble and shy! I knew why you left. Oh, your face had three kinds of flush to it… I'm sure you ran to your dorm room and…"
"And vomited," Harry finished for her, and watched her face as it fell into a shocked pallor. He gave her a moment to process that and then continued, "It felt as though I were about to feel up my mum! The whole thing made me sick! I thought it was nerves at the time, but now I know exactly what caused it… that damned elixir of yours!"
"No," whispered Ginny fervently, "You love me! You're in love with me, Harry… Just like I'm in love with you! I've known it my whole life… from the minute I saw you, from the moment I was aware of your existence, I knew we were meant for each other! Think about it… it's so obvious… Your father! He fell in love with a beautiful witch just like me! He married a witch with red hair, just like mine! Everyone says that you're just like James, and Moody told me I look so much like Lily… so much like…" Ginny's face fell into a confused frown.
"…so much like his mother?" spat Hermione angrily as she looked upon the pathetic little girl lying on the bed.
"No!" Ginny screamed viciously at Hermione, "I'm not his mother! I'm nothing like her!" She let out a gasp, realizing what she was saying. Tears were falling from her eyes as she desperately turned to Harry and with a crazed look in her eyes, said, "I mean, I am, just like her but not like that… Can't you see? 'James and Lily…' Harry and Ginny!' We're just perfect together, just perfect!"
Harry began to feel extremely uncomfortable. Ginny continued to speak in a breathy, detached voice as her watery eyes drifted away from him and seemed to stare off at nothing in the distance, "We're just like them! We're going to be happy! We're going to have kids… lots of them! We'll show them how to fly, and teach them all about Quidditch, we'll live in a big house, and each of the kids will have their own rooms… all to themselves! Bill and Phlegm, and Ron and Hermione will bring all of their kids over to play with ours… we'll have picnics, and go to the beach… we'll throw huge dinner parties, and everyone who's anyone will be begging to get invited…"
Hermione was looking at Ginny in horror, not believing all the nonsense that Ginny was spouting. She was distracted when she felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down and saw Kotone motioning for her to bend down. When she did, the young half-witch whispered to her urgently, "Look at her soul, Miss Eagle, and tell me what you see."
Curious, Hermione discretely drew her wand and turned away from the others in the room. She placed the tip on her forehead and closed her eyes, immediately seeing the ghostly symbol of the Yin-Yang. She felt the odd sensation of time slowing around her, but made sure not to shift herself from her body so that she could still move. The room became clouded with that strange white mist that only seemed to appear at random times when she entered her 'state.' She slowly turned to face the others in the room. She saw the familiar lion form of Harry's soul, and saw that McGonagall's form was a quite sizable bison, very different from her animagus form of a cat. The gray wolf that was Madam Pomfrey's soul was surprising to her, and she wondered if a person's soul would always have an animal form.
Hermione then looked at Ginny. If she hadn't been in her 'state,' everyone in the room would have heard her utter a very rude expletive. It took her a few moments to figure out that Ginny's form was that of an Abyssinian jackal, but that wasn't what caused her silent swear. Entwined around the jackal was a smoky, ethereal serpent, black as jet with eyes that resembled burning embers. It was identical to the soul fragment from the locket horcrux that had invaded Harry just days before, but this one seemed to be almost as deeply rooted to the jackal as Harry's original fragment was to the lion.
The realization struck Hermione. Obviously, when Harry had destroyed the diary in the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort's soul shard had already attached itself to Ginny. Voldemort was unable to fully return then because the transfer was incomplete, but the soul shard abandoned the diary to reside in its' new home… Ginny.
To add to Hermione's shock, she also noticed the crimson, web-like filaments that covered Ginny's body. She turned to Kotone and asked, 'Those red threads that are covering her… do you know what they are?'
Hermione suddenly realized that she hadn't actually spoken the words aloud.
Even though the 'connection' wasn't established, Kotone nonetheless answered, and in the same way as Hermione had asked, 'The Phage surrounds the Jakkaru. Excess energy from ritual. I removed over ten layer, but had not the strength to do more. I believe each layer for each time Jakkaru to perform ritual.'
'I… I don't remember anything in the books on anything like that. Is that something that I can fix?'
'No,' answered Kotone sadly, 'and I do not believe that I can either… the Jakkaru must release the Phage, it cannot be forced from her.'
Hermione was nearly beside herself as her attention returned to what was going on. She came out of her 'state' just in time to hear Harry say to Ginny, "You must realize by now that it didn't work… it would never have worked! It wasn't intended to create romantic love, but to destroy it! You have to end this! Remove the spell… you're the only one who can do it!"
"NO!" screamed Ginny, who was by that time sobbing piteously and slamming her injured hands down on the mattress of the bed, "I don't care! You are meant to be with me, and if you can't see that, then so be it! If you can't love me, then you can't love her! If I can't have the 'win-win' by having you with me, and Ron with… her… then it will be a 'lose-lose.'"
Harry's eyes burned with anger as he yelled, "So if you can't have me, no one will? Is that it?"
"YES!" screamed Ginny, once again emphasizing her point by punching the mattress with her bandaged hands, which were already showing spots of blood from where the wounds on her palms were opening.
Harry was about to retort when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Hermione looking back into his eyes with a compassionate smile.
"Harry, don't be too hard on her. She's not quite herself… she hasn't been for some time."
Harry gave her an incredulous stare, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hermione didn't answer him, she just walked up to McGonagall and Pomfrey and began speaking to them in low tones so not to be overheard. Harry saw both of the older witches flinch as Hermione spoke, telling him that she must have mentioned 'Voldemort' at some point. He was surprised when McGonagall took Madam Pomfrey's arm and ushered the unwilling medi-witch towards the door.
Once the two older witches left the room, Hermione approached him with an extremely disquieted look on her face. She glanced over to Ginny, who was looking back at her with hatred in her tear-soaked eyes, and then whispered to Harry, "It seems that when you destroyed Tom Riddle's diary back in our second year, you didn't quite destroy the soul fragment that it contained. It had already anchored itself to her, much in the same way your fragment from when you were a baby has to you. That's why the diary horcrux didn't try to possess you when you touched it, it was already attached to another. I'm sure that the fragment isn't fully controlling her, but I believe it's still influencing her personality… making her do things she wouldn't ordinarily do."
"Can you do anything about it?" asked Harry anxiously, "I mean, you were able to help me, can you do the same for her?"
Hermione visibly shuddered when she thought about what she had done with the soul fragment from the locket. She knew that if she simply released the fragment from Ginny, as she had done for Chloe and Geoffrey, the soul shard would not be able to 'pass on' due to the presence of other horcruxes still on the mortal plane. It would simply try to recombine with another one, possibly making a direct go for the one that still resided in Harry, and she just couldn't allow that to happen. She would have to banish the fragment, force it from this world just as she had done before.
With that thought, she resigned herself to do what needed to be done. She looked into Harry's eyes and began whispering very quickly, "Yes… I can do for her what I did for you, but…" She paused, looking as though she had just swallowed something very bitter, "…but I'd rather you not see what I'm going to do. I mean, I won't force you to leave… you can stay if you really want to, after all… you, above all others, have the right to know what happens to it, but it may be a bit unsettling… well, quite unsettling and…"
Harry interrupted her babbling by putting a hand on her shoulder, simply saying, "Hermione, relax. Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it."
'Yes, but will I be able to handle you knowing what I am capable of doing?' she morosely thought to herself.
Hermione nodded sadly at Harry. In one quick, fluid motion, she drew her wand, pointed it at Ginny, and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!"
They all heard the hiss of pain escape Ginny's lips as the young witch's legs snapped together while her arms went rigidly to her sides.
Hermione briefly wondered what caused the pain, but found that she really didn't care. She walked purposefully to Ginny's bed and sat down on the floor beside it. She touched her wand to her forehead and entered her 'state.'
As Hermione began the exorcism, Kotone tapped Harry's arm to get his attention. He looked at her and began reaching down, thinking that she wanted to be carried again, but she just shook her head, reached down the front of her nightshirt, and withdrew her wand from between her breasts. She held the wand out to him and simply said through her mask, "Find your symbol. It should be easier each time you try."
Harry took the wand and looked at it a moment before turning back to Kotone with a questioning glance. She just nodded as a small smile appeared on the painted lips of her mask. With a shrug, Harry touched the tip to his forehead, and to his great surprise, almost immediately saw the multi-coloured septagram. He felt that odd sensation of time slowing around him that he always associated with Kotone's 'connection.'
He heard Kotone's quiet voice say to him, "Open your eyes, Brother Lion…"
He opened his eyes, and was startled to find the room bathed in a white, wispy fog. He could see Hermione and Ginny, and he could see the ghostly forms of their souls, the large gold and white eagle sitting beside an animal that looked something like a deformed, long-limbed, wolf-like creature. He also saw the dark, ethereal serpent writhing and lashing out towards Hermione from the bed.
Harry stood transfixed, watching the scene as it played out before him. He heard Hermione's melodic chanting and the peal of the church bell as each blood rune was consumed in the dripping flames. He saw the smoky snake separate from Ginny's soul, hovering over her form like a ghostly serpentine statue.
What happened next both surprised and shocked him. As the last rune was consumed in the dripping fire, a glowing red rift opened in the air. Harry could see the sickly yellow smoke billow out from the tear. He could see the rippling of the air as intense heat poured from the rift. Suddenly, the floating snake seemed to throw itself into the rip, which closed immediately after the snake disappeared within it.
The reverberation from the last stroke of the bell was still echoing around the room when he saw Hermione drop her wand as she began to dry heave.
Harry willed himself out of his state, watching the septagram, the fog, and all of the ghostly souls, fade from his vision. An instant later, he was kneeling beside Hermione, rubbing her back and trying his best to comfort her. The noxious odor of brimstone and sulphur hung heavily in the air, hindering Hermione's attempt to get her nausea under control.
After a minute, Harry helped Hermione to her feet and watched her wipe the tears from her eyes. As soon as he was sure she wasn't going to keel over on him, he asked, "Hermione, what just happened? Where did that soul fragment go?"
Hermione kept her gaze rooted to the floor as she answered, "I banished it, just like I did with the soul from the locket…" she paused to take a deep breath, then shakily continued, "I banished it to Hell… or to Abaddon, or the Abyss, Tartarus, Naraka or whatever else you want to call it… it's just gone."
Hermione let out a mournful sob and buried her face into Harry's shoulder while hugging him tightly.
"What am I becoming?" she desperately whispered into his neck, "It feels so awful! Each time I've done it now, I feel like a piece of my own soul went with it!"
Harry had one hand on the small of her back, and the other buried in her hair and softly rubbing the back of her neck. He didn't know what to tell her. He didn't really know how he felt about what happened, himself. It was a simple matter to console her when she told him that she was a Necromancer. Now that he'd seen first hand what destroying a horcrux entailed… what she had to do to it to permanently prevent its' return… Still, it was what had to be done.
Harry was silent as he thought, which caused Hermione to fear the worst. She pulled away from him just far enough to look into his eyes and said in a distraught whisper, "Please, Harry. Don't hate me… Doing this is hard enough… I don't think I could stand it if you thought less of me for what I am."
Harry pulled her back into the comforting hug as he softly said, "I could never think less of you, no matter what you do. To me, you are who you've always been, and nothing that happens could possibly change that."
Harry felt her slightly relax into his embrace. After a few moments, she composed herself enough to loosen her hold on him. She stood back from him, but made sure to take one of his hands in hers. She gave him a watery smile, and then turned to look at Ginny lying on the bed. She reached down and retrieved her wand from the floor before she released the body bind from the youngest Weasley. The instant the spell was lifted, their ears were assaulted by long, screeching wail, which caused Pomfrey and McGonagall to come rushing into the room.
"MUM! MUMMY!" Ginny screamed repeatedly as she cowered away from anyone that tried to get near. She had her eyes squeezed shut as she kept wailing for her mother.
"Poppy, try to calm her," said McGonagall as she hurried to the door, "I'll go summon Arthur and Molly."
Madam Pomfrey gave Harry, Hermione and Kotone each their own stern glare, telling them in no uncertain terms that she expected a full account of what happened as soon as the situation was under control. The matron waved her wand over Ginny, who fell into a near catatonic state almost immediately. After a few diagnostic spells were cast, she turned to Hermione and rigidly asked, "What happened to her this time?"
"I'm… I'm not sure," said Hermione shakily, "What I did shouldn't have hurt her at all! I just… I…"
"Ginny was being affected by some 'magic' that she was exposed to in the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, coming to Hermione's defense, "She was able to find a way to remove it from her."
Madam Pomfrey looked skeptically between Harry and Hermione, saying, "And what was the nature of this 'magic?' I couldn't detect anything other than the latent magic of that ritual she performed."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other briefly, each knowing that they couldn't tell her exactly what was done. They were saved from having to immediately answer when Molly Weasley hurriedly burst into the room, followed closely by Arthur and McGonagall. Harry scooped up Kotone, and along with Hermione, they backed away from the bed to give the adults more room.
Madam Pomfrey removed the spell that she had placed on Ginny as Molly and Arthur approached their daughter. As Ginny's eyes refocused, she saw her mother and immediately began crying loudly while holding her arms out to her. Of course, Molly quickly bustled over to her daughter while Arthur slowly made his way to her bedside with an unsure look on his face.
"Mum! Dad!" she cried as he held on to her mother the best she could with her bandaged hands, "I'm so sorry!"
Upon hearing her daughter's apology, Molly wore a confused frown, while Arthur glanced embarrassedly towards Harry and Hermione, having known exactly what his daughter had done to them.
Ginny was just getting her sobbing under control when she pulled her face away from her mother's chest and looked over at Harry and Hermione as if she had just noticed them in the room.
"Harry!" yelled Ginny as a fresh batch of her tears made an appearance, "Oh, God, Harry! I'm so sorry!"
Again, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, but this time both were wearing apprehensive expressions. Hermione gave him a small nod, and then bowed her head in Ginny's direction.
Harry slowly walked to the bed and stood next to where Molly was sitting on the mattress. He could tell that Ginny was trying to suppress her crying, but was doing a very poor job of it. Ginny held out a bandaged hand to Harry and haltingly said, "Harry, you have to believe me! I… I don't know why I used it! It just seemed like… it was just something that needed to be done! I'm sorry!"
Harry sighed and absently scratched the back of his head. He gently took her covered hand in his and knelt down beside her.
"Ginny, I'm not going to say that everything's all right now, but believe it or not, we understand why you did the things that you did. If you really are sorry, will you remove the spell that you put on us?"
"I would, but…" said Ginny as she looked hopefully towards Hermione, "but I don't know how."
Harry also turned to look at Hermione, but she looked as lost as Ginny did as she said, "I didn't see anywhere in that book on how to remove the spell… I just assumed Ginny would know."
"You must accept them," said a calm voice from beside Hermione. Everyone in the room looked at Kotone as she stood staring at Ginny, "You must bless their union… accept their relationship."
Ginny only paused a second before she said with conviction, "Yes, of course I will!" Ginny cleared her throat and took a breath. She gave one last, longing glance at Harry before she turned away and said, "I, Ginerva Weasley, condone the relationship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."
Ginny buried her face back in her mother's chest, letting out sporadic sniffs every few seconds.
For a third time Harry and Hermione looked at each other, this time each wore a concerned frown.
"Did it work?" they both asked at the same time. Neither one had 'felt' anything happen.
"No, it didn't," said Kotone, who was still staring blankly at Ginny, "The blessing must be given with a kiss."
Harry shuffled his feet nervously as he asked, "I… I have to kiss Hermione?"
"No," answered Kotone, "She does." Kotone pointed at Ginny and said, "The Jackal must give blessing to invite Miss Eagle into the family."
"It makes sense," said McGonagall, "The Bloodline Preservation ritual could only be undone if the union of the lovers was accepted by the family. That's why the book said that only the parent could break the spell, and that a 'proper' pureblood parent would never willingly do it."
Without being asked, Ginny, looking more ashamed than anyone could ever remember seeing her, slowly rose from the bed and unsteadily made her way across the small room to stand in front of Hermione. It was now obvious to everyone that didn't know that Ginny was, in fact, wearing a rather bulky diaper.
Ginny gave a last apologetic glance at Harry, then looked Hermione in the eyes and said, "I, Ginerva Weasly, hereby welcome Hermione Granger into my family."
Ginny stood on her toes and pressed her lips briefly on Hermione's. As she pulled away, everyone in the room gasped when they saw a cloudy black mass that resembled liquid smoke being drawn out of Hermione's mouth and into Ginny's
Hermione's eyes were wide with fright as she stood unmoving, as if paralyzed. As the end of the mass trailed out of Hermione's mouth, she immediately collapsed onto the floor. She was joined on the floor a heartbeat later as Harry collapsed in the same way.
At the same time, Ginny turned to the side, bent over, and vomited the entire mass onto the floor, where it seemed to swirl and bubble for a few moments before it evaporated without a trace.
Ginny looked down at her two friends as they were slowly picking themselves from the floor and quietly said, "I'm so sorry for doing that to you… I hope that you can forgive me someday.
With her head hung, Ginny returned to her bed, ignoring all of the stunned looks the adults were giving her.
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A/N: Another Fun Fact! - Just because the Bloodline Preservation spell is broken, that doesn't mean that the Soul Bond between Harry and Hermione has been repaired… That is going to take a bit more work! (OK, so that fact wasn't very fun…)
(Insert evil laugh here.)