A/N: Greetings faithful readers! I am a bit late getting this chapter out, because when I first looked at it when I finished writing it, it was too short! There were too many gaps in it, and I was not happy with it. Needless to say, I did a re-write, and once my lovely Beta read it for me and approved it, I felt a lot happier. So this is the longer, more detailed chapter, I hope you enjoy it. (Always got to give the reader what they want!)
The events in the story are mine; the characters are hers. Isn't it nice that we found a place where we can all get along? (or at least not be sued for trying to set things right!)
Chapter 59
Secrets Revealed
Ron watched his two best friends disappear out the door and sighed. He was so torn. He wanted to go with them, and yet, he knew Luna was here somewhere. He had caught a glimpse of her earlier, and it was eating at him that he hadn't been able to connect with her. He scanned the room again, but couldn't see her. He quickly crouched down beside Neville and Ginny as a spell was cast his way. He could see Ginny scanning the room as well.
"Who are you looking for?" he asked.
"No one," she said quickly.
Ron heard a startled cry over the sounds of the battle and he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Luna!" he cried as he jumped up, only to be pulled down again by Ginny.
Ron yanked his arm out of her grip and peered over the table.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ginny hissed.
Ron ignored her.
"Neville, cover me," Ron said as he crawled towards the end of the table and crouched, ready to spring.
"Ron!" Ginny called as he took off at a run towards the wall. She caught up to him half way down the room and shoved him against the wall.
"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled at him.
Ron glared at her.
"Luna means more to me than anything else in the world, and I'm not going to hide behind some table while she's in trouble. So you can either get out of my way, or come with me," Ron said.
The gargoyle candleholder exploded above them at the same time as they were pushed violently to the ground. They both covered their heads as the stone rained around them. As the dust settled, they turned, coughing, to look back at the pile of rubble that was covering the place they had stood. They could see someone buried under what was left of the gargoyle and part of the wall: someone with platinum blonde hair.
"Draco!" Ginny cried as she scrambled forward and tried to move the pieces away. She didn't even think about using her wand.
"Help me Ron!" she called.
"Why? It's only Malfoy," Ron answered as he brushed the dust off of himself.
Ginny turned and glared at him.
"If you don't help me right now, so help me, I'll hex your-"
"Okay! Okay!" Ron said as he pulled his wand out.
"Don't use magic! You'll draw attention to us!" Ginny cried, stopping him. She was afraid that someone would try and bring the whole ceiling down on them.
He sighed heavily, tucked his wand away and began pulling at some of the stones.
"I don't know why you'd even care about him," he grumbled.
"Because he just saved your arse," Ginny said.
"So? He's a Death Eater."
"And secondly…he's the one I…I've been getting my information from," she said quietly.
Ron stopped dead and looked at her incredulously.
"Malfoy?" he said. "You've been meeting Malfoy? He's a Death Eater!" he exclaimed. "Not only that, he can't be trusted! He uses people for his own benefit, and thinks that he is better than everyone one else just because he is a pureblood! Don't you remember how he used to strut around the school bragging about how wonderful he was, trying to pick up girls, and…and…" he stopped when he saw the flush creeping on to Ginny's cheeks.
"Oh no, please tell me he didn't," he said. "That you didn't…"
Ginny didn't answer as she tugged on one of the larger pieces.
"I'm gonna kill him," Ron growled.
"No, you won't," Ginny said defiantly.
"Give me one good reason not to," Ron said as he roughly pushed the rock away.
"Because…if you do, I will make your life a living hell, even if you are in Azkaban."
Ron glared at his sister for a moment before going back to work.
"Maybe I'll just hex his bits off," he muttered.
"Ron!"
"Ginny?" Draco groaned from under the rubble.
Ginny grabbed his hand as she pushed another chunk away.
"I'm here, Draco, hang on. We'll get you out."
Draco coughed and winced in pain.
"Something's definitely broken," he said, and coughed again as he spit up blood.
"Don't talk," Ginny said as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ginny…the other day...what was said…you know it wasn't true,"
Ginny smiled and squeezed his hand. "I know," she whispered.
"Oh buggar, you two are making me sick! That's it, I'm leaving him there," Ron growled.
"Ron, how do you think mum would react if she knew you skipped classes the other day to check out the broom closet with Luna?" Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes at her brother.
"How did you...You wouldn't," Ron said.
"Try me," Ginny threatened.
Ron's eyes slid to where Draco was feebly trying to move the rocks before collapsing back on the floor, his face a mask of pain. He looked back at his sister, who was standing watching him, and the fear was plain in her eyes. Ron rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. He knew he couldn't desert her when she needed him, even if it was to help a Malfoy.
"Fine," Ron huffed and pulled out his wand. "But I'm not wasting any more energy on him. Nobody will notice a little magic here with all this fighting going on. Wingardium Leviosa," he said, and the last of the larger pieces floated up.
Ginny pulled the protesting Slytherin clear of the rubble before it crashed back down.
"Here," Ron said as he tossed Ginny a Hogwarts pin. "Take him to the infirmary before I put him there permanently."
"I'd like to see you try," Draco coughed as he tried to get up.
"Oh I wouldn't have to try very hard," Ron said. "I have absolutely no objections to taking out the slime ball that touched my sister. Someone like you doesn't deserve to have anything to do with Ginny. You are filth of the worst kind, and I'm only doing this to help her, not you."
"How someone like her managed to have a brother as moronic as you is beyond me," Draco muttered angrily sneering at his adversary, but the words had cut at him deeply.
Ginny glared at Draco and gently pushed him back down.
"The two of you can finish your petty fighting later," she said before Ron could retaliate.
Ginny twisted the pin and called for the infirmary, and taking hold of Draco, a lot tighter than Ron would have liked, they disappeared.
Ron sat there for a moment, trying to digest the recent turn of events. He could not figure out how the two of them could even have anything in common. Fraternizing with the enemy! How could she do such a thing? They were definitely going to have a chat when this was all over. A Malfoy and a Weasley? Oh, his mum would have a fit. A spell whizzed past his head, and Ron dove for cover. When he came up and scanned the room again, he noticed that there were a lot fewer spells being traded back and forth. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. He finally managed to scramble back to the rubble on the dais, and hop over to the other side, only to find Luna sitting serenely amongst the rocks, with two bound and gagged Death Eaters.
"Luna?" Ron said as he looked between her and the angry wizard and witch at her feet.
"Oh, hello, Ronald. I knew you'd come," she said. "I didn't like these two, they weren't very nice when they found me in the library."
Ron shook his head. This serene, blonde haired angel constantly amazed him. His heart swelled at the thought of how lucky he was to have her in his life, and for a brief second, he wondered if Ginny felt the same way about Draco. He shook his head. He couldn't think about that right now.
"You're incredible," he said as he sat down beside her and put his arm around her, while the battle raged on around them. For one short moment, he forgot about the fighting around them. He gave Luna a quick kiss before turning to see where they could help the others.
****** ****** ****** ******
Harry stopped just outside the Great Hall and looked around. Voldemort was nowhere to be found in the main hall. The front door had been damaged; there were large splinters of wood everywhere. They could hear sounds of the battle outside, and the roar of giants could be heard off in the distance. A spell shot past the two of them, and they rolled to the right, ducking behind a pile of rubble. Harry slowly looked up to see a small group of Death Eaters sitting on the stairs, blowing holes in the side of the castle and laughing with glee as the pieces came tumbling down on to the statues below. They had already destroyed the counters for the houses; there were jewels all over the floor.
"Hey! Come and play with us," one of them called as the others cackled.
He threw a spell at the pile of rubble in front of where Harry and Hermione were crouched, and Harry quickly put up a shield making the spell bounce away harmlessly. Without thinking, he flicked his wand four times in quick succession, and the small group of Death Eaters collapsed where they sat. He looked down at his wand and sent a silent thanks to Amoura before sitting down on the floor again, exhausted. He was finding it hard to keep focused while he could feel all of these changes happening inside him. He winced as he felt a sharp pain radiate up his leg, but he didn't have the energy to do anything about it. He looked up to see Hermione looking at his suspiciously.
"You've changed," she said looking in his eyes. "Something's different. What's going on?"
Harry sighed. He should have known that someone as smart as Hermione would notice the change right away. He knew she wasn't going to be happy about him bonding with Amoura. The words "risky" and "dangerous" came to mind as he tried to figure out how he was going to explain this to her.
"Well, um…I have some new powers, had them given to me, I guess, but it's okay, really," he said as he saw the skepticism on her face.
She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"If I tell you the whole story, you have to be willing to listen with an open mind," Harry said. "You have to trust me," he said gently as he took her hand in his.
"I always trust you, haven't you figured it out yet? I just get annoyed when I find out that you have done something risky and dangerous," she said.
Harry smiled at her before lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it gently. He then proceeded to give her a quick explanation of his and Neville's adventures at the Ministry, the revelation about Draco, the subsequent battle with Nagini, and his connection with Amoura.
"I'm still me, but I can feel her powers mixing with mine. I can do things that I couldn't do before, without thinking. It's a bit unnerving, but I'm starting to get used to it. I find it really tiring though, and I think it's because I'm not used to how much energy I'm having to use to control both Amoura's and my magic," Harry said.
Hermione looked at him closely. "Is she…is she in there? I mean, is she aware of what is happening right now?"
Harry felt Amoura laugh, and he smiled. "Yes," he said, "and she says that she thinks you are lovely."
Hermione sat back and blinked in surprise. She wasn't too sure how she felt about this.
"She also said not to worry, she won't be interfering with affairs of the heart, and," Harry's cheeks went red. "She said she wouldn't watch."
Hermione let out a snort of laughter. "I'm glad to see she has a sense of humour. I guess we will need it if she is going to be along for the ride,"
"She won't have to worry about that for long," Harry heard in his head.
"Wait, what?' he thought, but Amoura said no more.
Harry turned to see Hermione looking at him, and he shook his head. He had put her through so much, and now he just informed her that another woman was sharing his body.
Great.
Suddenly the war didn't seem as important anymore. All he wanted was to make everything all right for Hermione.
"I'm so sorry for what you had to go through," Harry said quietly.
"I heard your voice, you know," Hermione said. "You said `I'm coming for you.' It was like you were whispering in my ear. I thought that it meant that I was about to die. I wanted to die, if you weren't going to be here. I'm so sorry that I lost my faith in you," she finished in a whisper as a lone tear fell down her cheek.
Harry pulled her into a hug, "Considering the position you were in, I can understand that," Harry said. "That whole thing is over now, and I'm not planning on going anywhere for a very long time," he said.
"That's good," she said as she slowly pulled away, brushing away the tears and looked over the pile of rubble. "So let's go end this thing, shall we?"
Harry got up cautiously, his wand drawn, and slid along the wall towards the open front door, while Hermione followed behind, watching for any further attacks. He looked out towards the dark courtyard, and could see silhouettes illuminated by spells as they flashed back and forth. It was impossible to recognize who was who.
"He could be anywhere," Hermione said. "It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Harry got an idea.
"Come on," he said as he grabbed Hermione's hand. He pulled her back into the castle and up the stairs, limping as he went. By the time he hit the second staircase he had slowed down considerably, and Hermione was continually voicing her concern. Harry chose to ignore her, focusing on just making it up the next staircase. They finally made it to the portrait hole where Harry stopped.
"Wait," he said as he leaned against the wall. "Accio Marauders map," he called from the doorway.
The map flew to Harry's hand from the boy's dormitory.
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he said as he opened the map. As lines and names appeared they scanned the map together, looking for the Dark Lord.
"Looks like Ron found Luna," Hermione said, tapping the Great Hall.
"Yeah, and look who's in the infirmary," Harry growled. "It had better be him that's injured."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione said. "You're still favoring your left leg."
"I'm fine," Harry said, ignoring her concern by focusing on the map.
"There," he said, pointing to the moving dot. "It looks like he is coming down from the Astronomy tower."
It was the same tower that Dumbledore had fallen from, and Harry felt a lurch in his stomach as he watched Voldemort move.
"What's this black smudge?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Harry said, trying to brush it away. "It's following him down the hall."
"Should we head for that corridor? Try to ambush him there?"
Harry shook his head. "We don't know what that is," he said pointing to the smudge. "He's probably figured out that he can't apparate out from the tower, so I bet he's heading back towards the Great Hall. He might be trying to escape out the front door."
He winced as he put weight on his injured leg.
"I don't like the looks of that," Hermione said pointing to the map, but she was looking at Harry's leg at the same time.
"I'll deal with it in a minute," Harry said, putting her off. "We need to figure out the best place to attack from."
"We would be better off downstairs where it is more open. Lets use your Hogwarts pin," Hermione said. "We can confront him in the foyer."
Harry staggered a bit as they appeared back downstairs at the foot of the staircase, and Hermione looked at him in concern. He briefly thought about finding a quiet place to finish his internal discussion with Amoura and take the time to heal himself, but they were running out of time. There was an explosion somewhere in the castle, and Harry hoped that no one had lost his or her life in that one. Somehow, he knew he was wrong. Harry sighed. There was so much information being shoved into his brain right now from Amoura that he was having a hard time focusing. He felt like someone was trying to give him all the answers to a big test, but in this case, there was more at stake than pass or fail.
"Isn't there an easier way?" he thought.
Everything in his head went quiet for a moment.
"No," she replied before the flurry of information started up again. "You need to relax and accept what you are receiving. I am doing this as fast as I can. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to be going into war while I was gifting my powers to someone. I had expected to have some quiet time, so that I could get to know my successor."
"My apologies," Harry muttered, as Hermione looked at him questioningly.
Harry shook his head. Now was not the time to get into discussions between his girlfriend and the spirit living inside his body. He sighed as he wondered if this whole thing could get any stranger. Amoura laughed, and Harry briefly thought that he was glad she had a sense of humour.
Hermione slid her hand into his, and Harry turned to see her smiling at him.
"I love you," she whispered. "Never forget that,"
"I know," Harry said smiling at her.
"Then let me heal your leg for you," Hermione said. "You have enough on your mind."
Harry sighed in defeat. "Okay," he said smiling. "But let me pay you first."
Harry cupped her face and kissed her, savoring the softness of her lips against his. He took some of the magic from his core and directed it very gently towards Hermione. He wanted her to feel how much he loved her, because the words were not enough. Deep inside he could feel Amoura sigh contentedly.
"Isn't this just sickeningly sweet?"
Harry pulled himself away from Hermione and realized that it had become incredibly chilly. He looked up to see Voldemort standing on the stairs, dark shapes floating behind him. It was enough to make Harry's blood run cold, and block out all the sounds of the battle around him. Voldemort had invited the Dementors into the castle.
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