The Rebels

Chapter Two - Talk in the night

    The surprise on his face could be compared to her own. She had absolutely no idea of what she was doing here. She had to say something.

"Harry. I was wondering that maybe, that is if you want, we could, I don´t know" she stopped, what the hell am I doing here she thought.

And in a lame attempt to keep what was left of her dignity, she added: "talk a bit." She could feel the familiar blush on her cheeks. "I thought you might need someone to talk to." She spoke this last bit so softly he wasn´t quite sure he heard her. When he didn´t answer her, a familiar panic began to rise in her. Why had she followed him? It wasn´t as if they were great friends or anything. But just as she was getting ready to turn around and leave a small smile appeared on his face and he said,

"Sure. Let´s walk for a while."

They walked silently for a few minutes and Ginny was getting more and more uncomfortable with every passing minute. Harry seemed oddly relaxed.

"Ginny?" he asked suddenly. When she turned her face to look at him he continued, "Why did you tell me about the Minister´s death on the train?"

"Because I thought Ron and Hermione were being stupid not wanting to tell you. You deserved to know. And I think it´s better to hear those things from your friends than from some article in a newspaper."

"Why did you think that I deserved to know?"

"What kind of question is that, Harry? I mean, if anyone should know what is happening in the wizarding world, it should be you. It´s quite amazing... People expect you to defeat the Dark Lord but they don´t even tell you what is happening. "

"How can they expect me to defeat Voldemort, Ginny, if they don´t believe that he is back?" Harry questioned.

"But the Ministry knows he is back Harry. At least that´s what Dad told us. But they don´t want to cause a panic." Ginny stated this so matter-of-factly, Harry couldn´t help but stare.

"Really? This is the first good news I´ve heard since I got in that train." he smiled for a moment then continued, "What is the Ministry doing to stop the Dark Lord? Do you know that?"

"No, Dad told us it was mostly the Unspeakables that were working on that. Nobody really knows what they do, not even the Minister himself."

"Well, at least they are doing something."

"You could say that. But I think they should tell people that Voldemort is back. This way they know what they are facing."

"I agree with you, but I don´t think our opinion counts for much."

Harry stopped suddenly and opening the door to Fluffy´s old room said:

"Let´s go in for a moment. It´s quiet in here and no one will bother us."

"But it´s almost ten o´clock. We must go to Gryffindor Tower, you heard what the Headmaster said."

"Don´t worry Ginny. We won´t get caught." As she was still looking doubtful he added, "Come on Gin. Trust me."

"Harry, I don´t want to get a detention in my first night back at school."

"You won´t. I promise. And I am a Prefect now, so we can always say that I was taking you to see Madam Pomfrey."

He sat down on the windowsill and motioned for her to do the same.

"Where are we Harry? I don´t think I´ve ever been here before," she wondered while looking around the room.

"It´s quite probable that you haven´t. This corridor is out of borders. But nobody ever comes here, so it´s a good place to just sit and think."

"I imagine. We can see the stars from here. I always loved to look at the stars when I was growing up, at the Burrow. I guess I lost the habit once I came to Hogwarts." Ginny stated as she walked to the window

"I didn´t have a window for a long time at the Dursley´s, so for me it is quite the contrary. The day I came here and saw this sky I couldn´t quite stop looking at it. I must be one of the few persons that actually pays attention to Astronomy classes." Harry´s voice was bitter.

"I pay attention." said Ginny, then quietly, she asked, "Harry, what happened in Dumbledore´s office?"

He kept silent for a few seconds, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. In those few seconds all the sorrow he had kept so carefully hidden seemed to wash over him.

"He made me choose between his bloody protection and my parents. He knew well enough what I would choose, especially after what happened last year."

"You mean, after you talked to them."

"Yes. Dumbledore knows that I would give anything to be able to talk to my parents again; and I wouldn´t mind if they could answer, I would just be happy to see them. He knows I would accept anything that makes me feel like I know them better." He kept silent for a few seconds then asked, "But how do you know this?"

"I hear things at home that I am not supposed to." she grinned sheepishly as she said this, "Anyway, what did Dumbledore give you?"

Harry pulled the amulet out of his robes and showed it to her.

"Dumbledore said it was the Potter´s family symbol. Isn´t it ironic that I didn´t even know that my family had a symbol? I´m sure even Malfoy knows more about my family than I do. I don´t know what my parents did for a living, I don´t know where they lived, I don´t even know where they are buried. I don´t know anything."

Meanwhile, Ginny had been examining Harry´s amulet, which was still attached to his neck.

"The Phoenix is quite a powerful animal. Your family must be important to have such a symbol. It means resurrection, because the Phoenix comes back from her own ashes. I wonder why the Potters choose it... We should do some research; I´m sure the library has something about important wizarding families."

"Yes I guess we could. And I could ask Sirius, I´m sure he knows something about this."

"Sirius? You don´t mean Sirius Black do you?" Ginny exclaimed, looking slightly terrified.

"Yeah, he is my godfather. And no he didn´t murder my parents."

As Harry told her about all that had happened during his third year, he wondered why he had begun to tell her at all. It was so easy to talk to her, everything seemed to come out of his mouth, almost against his will. He had never said half as much about his parents to anyone. She just seemed the right person to talk to. And when he had finished, he realized exactly what he had done, horrified he said,

"I shouldn´t have told you all this. God, Sirius is going to kill me."

"Harry, I won´t tell anyone. You can trust me, you know."

"I know Ginny. It´s just that I wasn´t supposed to tell anyone. It´s quite an important secret, you know."

"I realize that Harry. And I can keep my mouth shut. I won´t even tell anyone that I know. It´ll just be our secret, the great Harry Potter couldn´t keep his mouth shut." She was smiling at him, trying to make him feel better.

"What time is it Ginny?"

"Almost eleven o´clock. We should get going, or we won´t wake up tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you´re right." Harry replied, and wondered why that made him feel so sad. He started for the door and then stopped to look back at her,

"Ginny, just one more thing. Why do you call Voldemort by his own name? I thought that everyone that grew up in the wizarding world was afraid to say it."

It was Ginny´s time to keep silent. She was thoughtful for so long that Harry, afraid of having gone too far, said,

"I´m sorry Ginny. I shouldn´t have asked, it´s too personal."

"No, I´ll answer. Up till my first year, I was as afraid of his name as any witch or wizard. But after talking to him for so long. Becoming a part of him, telling him all my secrets, I realized he is just as human as you or me. If Tom wishes to be called Voldemort so be it. But he will always be Tom for me."

"And I thought you would be even more afraid of him after all that happened."

"I guess the human mind doesn´t always work the most logical way. The Chamber of Secrets only made me realize that although he might not be very human now, he was once."

Harry didn´t answer. After a few more minutes of silence, they walked slowly to Gryffindor tower, Harry using his map, which he had kept in his pocket, to escape any teachers or Filch.