Family Ties

The journey back to Hogwarts was much more enjoyable than the journey home. In much better spirits, Dean and Seamus played Exploding Snap all the way there. "I've brought the Snackboxes too, might need them if that old bitch gets much worse!"

Dean grinned at him. "How was Christmas at your house anyway?"

"Not great; me Ma's still going on about Harry, but now she's going on about Umbridge too, not teaching us Defence. She's starting to wonder why. So am I actually, why won't she teach us Defensive Spells?"

"Fudge thinks Dumbledore will use the students as a kind of private army."

"Barmy old bitch."

"Yep... but hey, we kind of are - the DA I mean." Seamus clammed up. "I'm sure if you just talked to Harry-"

"I can't... I'm not sure I want to believe him, and my mother would kill me. Plus you know, how on Earth would Harry have survived a full on attack from You-Know-Who?"

"He's done it before..." whispered Dean.

* ~ *

That night, Dean went back to the Room of Requirement. There were some things he wanted to collect. He used his wand to get the solar system globe down from the top shelf - it was dusty, but still a magnificent work of art. He also took the photo album down and set it on the armchair to take with him. He was on his knees lifting newspaper articles aside to check under them when he heard a voice behind him. "What is this place?"

Dean's heart skipped a beat - he knew that voice. He turned around to see Ginny Weasley looking around her, interested. "Saw the door on my way past, thought I was missing a DA meeting." She looked at him curiously. "What are you doing here? What's this room for?"

Dean hesitated. Then he decided he trusted her. "This is a room full of information about my real father. I'm not Muggle born after all, I'm a half-blood."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Wow. That must have been a shock."

"It was, but I've dealt with it now." Ginny took a few steps over to the armchair. She looked at him quizzically and he nodded at her, she picked up the album and looked through it.

"They look so happy."

"They were, he left us when he was threatened by a Death Eater called Jack Webster."

He saw a flash of recognition in Ginny's eyes. "I've heard of him. He was a monster."

"Yeah. You don't want to know what he did to my dad before he killed him."

She eyed him curiously. "I can imagine... Are you okay?"

Dean shrugged. "Yeah... I was shocked, but I'm glad I know the truth."

She set the album down again and came over to him. She placed a warm hand on his arm. "I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to know him."

Dean smiled at her and looked around at the room. "That's what this place is for... so I can get to know him."

Ginny smiled shyly and looked at the bookcases. "What's that - on the bottom shelf?"

Dean followed her gaze and saw something wooden sticking out from under a pile of newspapers. Ginny went over and heaved it out. "Wow! A crossbow!"

She sighted along it, pointing it at the wall beside the filing cabinets. She didn't even have her finger on the trigger, but it discharged anyway, burying a bolt in the wall with a hollow thump. "Oh God! Sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"I'm just glad you weren't pointing it at me!"

She giggled nervously. "Why did it sound so..?"

Dean went to the wall and pulled hard on the bolt buried in it. A whole section of the wall swung out. Behind it was something like a mirror, but it was clouded like a crystal ball. "What's this?"

Ginny stepped up and touched the glass. "I think... I think it's Memory Glass. I've heard of it... it's passed down through families, 'cause only family members can view the memories of their dead relatives."

Dean froze; he wondered how many more shocks this room had in store for him. "I can... I can see his memories in this?"

"I think so..." Ginny looked at him nervously. "You just concentrate on something you want to see... I- I'll leave you alone."

She backed away and left the room. Dean was grateful, as much as he liked her, this was something he wanted to do alone.

He stepped up to the mirror, wondering what he wanted to see first. He'd always wondered why Gary was sorted into Ravenclaw over Gryffindor, since he had so much bravery as well as intelligence. He stepped closer to the mirror, thinking The Sorting Ceremony. The mist surged then cleared and he found himself looking at a familiar sight - black space with a tiny bar of light at the bottom and lots of feet. The Hat was much too big for any first year to wear.

He could hear a muttering, inside his head, it wasn't audible in the room. So much intelligence, and yet so much bravery... what to do, what to do... there's so much talent in here, and a hard core of courage under the layers of intellect. I'll put you in RAVENCLAW!

The last word reverberated around the room, so loud Dean clamped his hands to his ears. Just before he'd taken his eyes from the mirror, he'd felt a flash of excitement... and before that nervousness... I'm picking up his feelings through the memories... I'm not just seeing them, I'm living them!

He looked around, realising how long he'd been in there. Now that he knew the mirror was here - he could spend the rest of the school year seeing his father's life. That was a lot more than most people got.