As promised, this chapter will be more involved…
Disclaimer: JK owns everything but the plot…
Chapter II: Connection
A cloudless and chilly night had fallen. The stars shone weakly above, and there was a full moon. A werewolf's distant cry pierced the relative peace.
A lone silhouette was running along the road leading out of St. Ottery Catchpole. A hood concealed her face, and she clutched an ancient tome to her chest, as she ran.
She was shaking with anticipation and excitement. This spell was an opportunity to regain the life she had before. When she and Harry were happily together, but now that he was gone, she had found herself incapable of finding a new direction for her life in the post-Voldemort world. But tonight, this was all going to change.
Ginny snuck in the graveyard, stunning the sentry, who stood watch at the gates. Like a snake, she sneaked up behind the ancient oak that overlooked Harry's grave. Looking around carefully, she didn't spot anyone else alive around her. Without further hesitation, she stepped in front of the earthly mould that was on top on Harry's coffin, and opened the book she carried to a previously marked page.
On the yellowed parchment, three words were written:
Enoevarb Odaedeth Morfesir
Ginny raised her wand, and pointed it towards the earth. As she said those words, loudly and clearly, an unnatural wind suddenly picked up speed around her. The hood was blown off her head, and her hair flailed wildly. Scared, but determined, Ginny repeated the words, louder than before.
Rain started to pour all around her, and the earthen mould on Harry's grave had begun to move slightly, as if an invisible force was acting beneath it. Ginny gulped; fear nearly paralyzing her cold and drenched body. She couldn't run away, as her legs were rooted to the ground, unable to move. Shakily, she uttered the spell a third and final time.
Ominous thunder sounded up above Ginny, terrifying her more still. Her breathing was shallow, as she dreaded what could happen next. Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the headstone, and she gave a shriek of horror. The headstone had been severed down the middle, and the lightning bolt had left a dark, deep crater. The last memory Ginny would recall before fainting was the badly decomposed, wet and smelly hand that rose from the depths of the crater, as another strike of lightning illuminated it brightly against the dark and stormy sky.
**
Slowly, she felt herself come around. She was lying in a bed, covered with a warm blanket. The events of the previous night came rushing to her, but it didn't make sense where she was now. She ought to be still in the graveyard. Then, had it all really happened, or was it just a nightmare? Ginny shivered when she recalled the hand. Yes, it had to have been real, and for now, she wouldn't think about how she had ended up in her own bed. Perhaps a decomposed body, literally a skeleton, had carried her, and she was too exhausted to awaken…but no, that thought was ludicrous…wasn't it?
**
"Here we are," said Ron, as he held the gates open for Luna to pass through. The children's care had been entrusted to Hermione, as she had refused to come and agreed to watch the kids for the day.
"It's just up ahead here…"
A grisly sight met their eyes. The headstone was cracked down the middle, but it did not look like it had been impacted. The crown of the ancient oak looked singed, and burn marks were present on some of the branches. A hole had been dug, and at the bottom, there was a hole at the top of Harry's rotten coffin, that looked like had been burned through. Dirt was spread in a wide radius from the grave. To cap off the queer sight, there was no body in the coffin.
Luna's dreamy gaze was gone in an instant. It was replaced by one of raw fear.
"Ron…Ron, I was right…" she stuttered. "Harry is alive!"
"What do you mean, he's alive? Obviously someone dug him up and burned his body. Oh, when I get my hands on the fuckin' bastard…" Ron seethed, his eyes flashing in anger, and he clenched his fists tightly. "As soon as I find who did it…"
"What should we do?" asked Luna timidly.
"Tell Hermione. She has a right to know. It'll be hard on her, but its worse to keep it away from her too. After that we can find and murder the bastard who did it."
They left the destruction behind, walking in haste to first question whether the sentry had seen anything the night before. The inquisition ended quickly, as the guard had not seen, nor heard anything, and yet, he could not explain the wreck that Harry's grave had become.
Ron and Luna moved onwards to Hermione's flat. It was not far from theirs, just two streets away.
**
"So is that what you call a movie?" James asked, when Hermione had taken the videocassette out from the VCR.
"It sure is," said Hermione, smiling, "did you like it?
"Yeah, yeah!!" James and Madelyn both shouted their approval.
"Well, I'm happy you enjoyed it. We can do it again sometime."
"Where did mommy and daddy go?" asked Madelyn, in a voice completely different from her jovial one just a moment ago.
"Well…your daddy wanted to tell your mommy a story. A story, which is very important to your daddy, and he had to take your mommy to the graveyard to start it…maybe you too will hear it one day."
Hermione could not continue. Harry still held a special place in her heart, and she could not force herself to talk about him to anyone.
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
Ron and Luna must have come back earlier than expected, Hermione thought.
That was only a part of the truth, though.
She opened the front door, and as her head turned to look at her visitor, she saw them walk up the road, and suddenly stop dead in their tracks. Looking into the face of the man standing before her, she clearly understood why.
Two brilliant green eyes she had last seen two years ago, were staring down at her.
A/N Second chapter, there it is…hope you enjoyed it and please drop a review…the next chapter won't be as eventful, but it will be more informative…
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