Rating:
R
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
Draco Malfoy
Genres:
General Romance
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 12/31/2003
Updated: 04/18/2004
Words: 181,191
Chapters: 46
Hits: 99,765

Harry Potter and Unexpected Beginnings

dan's girl62

Story Summary:
The summer after OoTP, Harry discovers he has control of his connection with Voldemort, and uses it to his advantage. With the help of his friends, and an unexpected joining of their team, Harry and the gang return to school for their 6th year and go in search of a way to defeat Voldemort. However, when teenage hormones set in, can Harry find room in his heart to love, or will he reject her based on fear of a prophecy that dictates his future...or lack thereof. Rated R for future chapters.

Chapter 41

Chapter Summary:
The summer after OoTP, Harry discovers he has control of his connection with Voldemort, and uses it to his advantage. With the help of his friends, and an unexpected joining of their team, Harry and the gang return to school for their sixth year and go in search of a way to defeat Voldemort. However, when teenage hormones set in, can Harry find room in his heart to love, or will he reject her based on fear of a prophecy that dictates his future...or lack thereof. Rated R for future chapters.
Posted:
03/31/2004
Hits:
1,726
Author's Note:
Thank you to "D" for everything; editing, support, friendship, wise words and the shoulder. I couldn't have finished this chapter without you. I would also like to dedicate this chapter to my sister-in-law Jessie (1956-2004). I'll miss you.


Chapter forty-one

The night was dark and the clouds rolling in promised an evening of rain and cold. Harry and Ginny hugged each other for warmth, as they stepped further into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid's hut was long since behind them. Harry was certain they were near the edge of the forest, and feeling quite frustrated. He was positive he knew where he was going back at the school, but once he got out here in the dark he couldn't make heads or tails out of what he was looking at.

Loud snorting from Grawp could be heard through the night's stillness, making Harry feel a mixture of warning and excitement. He knew he had to be close. He looked through the darkness, afraid of lighting his wand because of the centaurs. He wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting up with them again.

"What's that?" Ginny asked, seeing a soft glow coming from among the trees. Harry narrowed his eyes, his heart pounding and his palms beginning to sweat from nerves.

"I think that's it," he told her in a hushed tone. They walked further into the woods, until a clearing came into view. The shimmering image of a portal lay in the center of the clearing, and Ginny instantly felt the pricking of hair on the back of her neck again. This all looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

"I don't like this," she told Harry, who was looking through the cloak at the portal.

"Maybe you should stay here," he told her, turning to see the trance-like expression in her honey brown eyes. "Ginny, what is it? What's wrong?" he asked as she began walking toward the portal, the cloak falling from her head.

Ginny felt an odd sense of calm as she walked toward the glowing light. Harry was beside her calling her name and trying to pull her back, but she couldn't stay, she didn't want to. She could hear voices calling to her from the other side of the portal, beckoning her toward them.

"Ginny, no," Harry began pleading with her. "Ginny snap out of it. Don't leave me, please don't go." Ginny turned to look at him slowly saw the sadness in his eyes. She did want to stay; she wanted to stay with him forever.

Slowly she turned back to the glowing orb, watching as the images of people began stepping out from the center of the portal. She recognized one of the images as Cedric Diggory, but she knew that was impossible, he was dead. And then the image of a man stepped from the shimmer. He looked like Harry but slightly older, the same messy black hair, the same glasses. He was holding onto the hand of a woman with reddish hair. She was beautiful and Ginny saw the eyes she had grown to love; they were Harry's eyes. She turned to Harry and saw him transfixed on the people, his feet moving him slowly toward them. Ginny's heart began to race. What was happening? A sense of fear echoed in her mind. She tightened her grip on his hand and tried to stop him, but he kept walking. She could still hear the voices calling, but they had changed and were now calling to him. She turned back to the shimmering object, watching as it faded away in the darkness of the night and in its replace was a black curtain, blowing violently in the wind of the impending storm.

The images of Cedric, the man and the woman had vanished as well, leaving Harry to stare at the image of Sirius. He had stepped out from the curtain and was calling to Harry. Ginny recognized this place now, remembering a time months ago when she had laid in Harry's arms, dreaming of this same scene, the horror of losing Harry and she couldn't stop it from happening again.

Ginny pulled at Harry's arm, panic rising inside her. She was going to lose him and she couldn't allow it to happen. She tried desperately to stop him, but he continued to step forward, as though he had no control over his feet. She was absolutely horrified, how could she stop him? How could she get leave him and get help? Harry continued to walk forward and Ginny found herself yelling at him.

"Harry no!" she shouted, trying to break through the dense clouds that opened up around them, raining he bitter cold of an early spring shower on their faces and heads. "Harry listen to me you have to stay away. It's not safe, please, Harry listen to me." Still he continued to walk forward as she tightened her grip on his hand, feeling the pulse from her grip pounding beneath her fingertips. "Please, Harry, please." The tears began streaming down her cheeks as she tried pulling him back. He was now barely two yards away from the curtain and the image of Sirius.

"I love you," she continued to plead. "Please don't leave me, please Harry. I love you." Harry blinked, turning his attention briefly to the girl next to him. She was getting his attention; she was breaking through his hypnotic state. "I love you," she said again. "Please don't leave me, please stay with me. Think about our dreams, think about our plans. We're going to get married and live happily ever after, remember? Please don't leave me. I need you." Harry stopped walking, staring at Ginny's tear streaked face, his attention coming back into focus. He frowned as a bright stream of light echoed from the woods behind him, the sound of a hissing laughter echoed around them. Harry felt the hair on his neck stand up as the flame passed by him, barely missing his head. He ducked quickly, turning to see Dumbledore, Charlie, McGonagall, Snape, Kingsley and Arthur Weasley rushing through the woods.

"Deletrius," shouted Dumbledore and again a light streamed from his wand, striking the curtain, revealing the images of two Dementors standing where Sirius had just been. The began to progress toward Harry and Ginny at a quick pace, turning the area as cold as ice, sucking the happiness from around them. Immediately Harry and Ginny both retrieved their wands, pointing them toward the dark cloaked figures.

"Expecto Patronum," they shouted together, watching as the silver clouds burst from their wands. Harry's took on the image of a large stag, as Ginny's took on the image of a large owl. Harry's stag raged back on it's hind legs, as it took off after one of the Dementors, while Ginny's owl screeched toward the second. The night became deathly quiet; the only sound was that of the rain bouncing off the rocks on the ground and the leaves in the trees. Harry looked back to Ginny, wrapping his arms around her tightly, kissing her hair.

"You saved my life," he whispered. "I heard you crying for me and suddenly nothing else mattered but being with you."

"Are you two all right?" Charlie asked, hurrying up to them.

"We're fine," Ginny said, her arms still tightly wrapped around Harry's waist as her head remained on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, sensing Dumbledore behind him. He slowly turned to see the concern echoing in his eyes. "I was so certain. I had to try."

"Love has a tendency to alter perception and make things seem what we want them to be." Dumbledore said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"That's how he did this," Harry said, looking down to Ginny. "He knew how much I loved Sirius and he used it against me. But he almost had you."

"But you saved me," she told him, ignoring those gathered around them. "I heard you calling me and I didn't want to be anywhere but with you."

"I am so sorry, my love," he told her, as he gathered her in his arms. "I should never have allowed you to come with me. I should never have come myself. I should have listened to Dumbledore."

"Your love makes you the person you are," she told him, holding him as tightly as he held her. "Voldemort knows that's what separates you from all the other wizards. You would give your own life for those you love. Sirius was one of those."

"I guess he truly is gone. I'll never see him again," Harry said with a croak. Ginny looked into his eyes and saw the pain in his eyes and hugged him closely.

"We'd better get you two back to school," Mr. Weasley said. "I'll send a team out to investigate the area, but I doubt they'll find anything."

"I'm sorry I got Ginny involved in this, Mr. Weasley," Harry said, seeing the stern look on the older man's face.

"We'll discuss this later, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, his face set at a determined angle, his eyes glancing to Ginny with a silent warning. Harry took the hint and lead Ginny out of the clearing, gathering up his cloak as he passed.

Ginny and Harry sat silently in the large wingback chairs in Dumbledore's office. They knew the consequences of what they had done, and the guilt weighed heavy on Harry's shoulders. He should have known better than to get Ginny involved in this, he should have made her stay behind. Because of his trust in the one person he knew better than to believe, he nearly lost the only person who meant more to him than life itself.

Harry sat in a dark mood, cursing himself over and over for what nearly happened. He couldn't believe he had allowed a creature such as Voldemort, to convince him he could save someone he knew in his heart was gone forever. He considered all that had happened and all that could have happened and in his heart, he felt there was only one sure way of keeping the events of the evening from reoccurring.

Dumbledore entered the office, followed close behind by Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Snape and McGonagall. The elderly wizard took his seat behind his desk as the others conjured up chairs and sat. He looked at Harry seriously, studying the aged face.

"I know what you're thinking, Professor," Harry said abruptly. "I should never have listened to Voldemort, I should never have believed him."

"Why did you?" Dumbledore asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I just wanted Sirius back. If there were a chance I could save him, I would have done it. It sounded reasonable at the time. I had to try. But because of me, Ginny could have been killed." Harry looked at the girl next to him, fighting back the grief tearing at his heart. "I have come to the decision though, that it is best for Ginny, if I stop seeing her." Ginny gasped, as the others looked on in surprise. "I know Voldemort will stop at nothing to get to me. He knows about her, he knows how I feel and she's in danger. He will continue to use her as a means to get to me, and I know that it will only cause her pain."

"You're bloody mental, if you think I'm going to step back and allow you to just walk out of my life!" Ginny exclaimed angrily. "How dare you assume that I would even allow you to consider such a thing?"

"Ginny, it's for the best," Harry said, ignoring the others that gaped at the two.

"You are not going to break up with me on the eve of my birthday, so get the idea out of your head right now."

"I'm sorry for the timing, it wasn't my choice," Harry snapped back, standing and pacing his way to the table near the door.

"But breaking up with me is," Ginny growled, following him and standing across the table to confront him.

"It's for your own good, Virginia."

"Don't call me that and don't tell me what's best for me. I'll be the one to decide that."

"You could have been killed tonight, doesn't that mean anything to you? It was my fault you were there and my fault that Voldemort knows about you."

"He would have found out eventually, so stop feeling sorry for yourself. Besides, as I recall, it was I who insisted on going along. You told me to stay behind, but I didn't listen. And just for the record, you were the one Voldemort wanted, not me. You were the one he set the trap for, not me."

"But the Dementors wouldn't have cared less, who they were supposed to kiss. You would have been killed, right along beside me and I will not stand by and allow him to take the only person in my life, that I would gladly die for." Harry's face was red as he shouted angrily at the girl standing across him.

"You are not going to die, you bloody nutter," she shouted back. "I won't let you."

"How are you going to stop it? You may be a talented witch, but you can't beat Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"So help me Harry Potter, I'm going to hex you into next week if you don't stop acting like my self appointed savior."

"I keep telling you, that's physically and magically impossible!"

"Give me a chance, Potter. I'll make it possible!"

"You can't break up with Miss Weasley, Harry," Dumbledore said in a quiet tone that put an instant halt to the shouting. Harry turned a frown toward the old wizard sitting patiently behind his desk.

"Why can't I?" the younger man asked.

"Voldemort knows your heart, Harry. Even if you stop seeing Miss Weasley personally, there is no way of protecting her separate, then there is if you were together."

"You can't allow him to stop you from living, Harry," Charlie said.

"If you stop living your life, if you stop loving and laughing, he's already won," Mr. Weasley added. "I may not like the idea that Ginny was in danger again, but it was her own design. She is stubborn like her mother. She does what she chooses. You may as well get used to it." Harry was silent for several long moments, as he stared across to the young woman he'd been arguing with. His heart felt like it was in a vice. He couldn't bear to leave her, but he knew he would never be able to live if she died. In his mind, it was for her best interest to fall out of love with her - if that was humanly possible.

"If you won't listen to Professor Dumbledore and the Minister, Potter, then listen to me," Snape said, his tone soft but stern, his eyes filled with dark emotion. Harry narrowed his eyes to the man. He couldn't imagine anything he said being of interest to him.

"I was young once too," Snape continued, standing from his seat and walking a little closer to Harry and Ginny. "I was not much older than you are now when I met a young, beautiful witch, a new transfer student from Australia. Her name was Amanda Sharp. She was a pureblood naturally and a very talented young woman. She was in Slytherin with me. We began our seventh year by bickering and teasing each other, but by the time we graduated we were engaged to be married. Six months later we were. By that time, I was already a Death Eater. I was determined to be one of the Dark Lord's greatest supporters. Amanda hated it, she was afraid for me, but as the months and years passed by I became more valuable than any of the others. I had succeeded. Amanda discovered she was pregnant and her fears grew. She didn't want our child to be born under an evil ruler, so she went to your parents. By then, Lily was pregnant with you. Amanda begged them to hide her, to protect our baby and to convince me the way of life I chose was wrong.

"James Potter, I hated him in school and that never ended in adulthood. The famous trio managed to capture me, much to my disgrace. I spent two weeks as their prisoner, being told over and over how wrong the Dark Lord was, but I refused to listen. Because I had disappeared, the thought that I had turned sides made my fellow Death Eaters nervous. They went to my home and found Amanda there alone. They took her to the Dark Lord, who ordered her torture. Two weeks I was held by your father before I managed to escape and went back to my home. I wanted to find Amanda, to take her into hiding before Potter and the others found her. But I was too late. I returned to my master and found my young wife - or what was left of her - minutes before she died. I held her in my arms trying to think of a spell or a charm, anything to save her, but she was beyond help," he paused, shaking. "Her last words to me, even after all she had endured, was to plead with me to leave the dark side. She begged me to go to Dumbledore, to surrender to him and join his side and fight to save the world.

"I lost her and my child, because of what I was. It didn't matter that I wasn't there with her; he knew how I felt and struck out at the one thing in life that would destroy me. He'll do the same thing to you." Snape stopped and stared at the young couple, drawing a deep breath to steady the memories ripping his heart apart. "You can't protect her by leaving her, Potter. And if you allow him to break you up, then he has succeeded in destroying a part of you that he desperately wants gone; your compassion and love." Harry listened silently for a few moments, before glancing back to Ginny. His heart swelled with love every time he looked at her, but right now he was certain it was going to explode.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered. "I can't lose you. I love you too much." Ginny went to the young man, falling into his arms and hugging him close.

"I won't leave you," she assured him. "I love you and together is where we belong."

"Listen to her Potter," Snape said again. "She may very well be the one link you have that saves your bloody life. It's your love that the Dark Lord can't compete against. If you lose her, you lose your stance against him."

"Why are you trying to help me?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing on the man again. "You hate me." Snape studied the young man closely, then with an expression of pure honesty he sighed.

"I do not hate you, Harry," he said, surprising all listening but Dumbledore, who smiled knowingly. "I...admire you...and your friends. I never had the kind of friendship you do with Weasley and Granger, or the one your father had with Black and Lupin. You are a very powerful wizard; you've proven it over and over again. I have faith in you; I know you can defeat the Dark Lord. If I am harder on you than most, it's only because I know you are better than you let on. You have to try harder, Potter. You have to be stronger than you're willing to be. If I'm hard on you, it's because I know the Dark Lord's powers and I know first hand what he is capable of."

"What about Draco Malfoy? I thought he was your favorite little playmate."

"Draco is a very powerful wizard, but a very troubled boy. He is facing a difficult time in his life and he has to choose his direction. You have direction, you know what you have to do; Draco doesn't."

"So you're saying, you've been hard on me all these years because you like me?" Harry asked, grimacing at the idea.

"I wouldn't got that far," Snape said with his usual sneer. "I hated your father, I won't deny that, but when you arrived I was...mislead to think you wanted the fame he always sought. I may have been wrong about that, but I was not wrong to push you. You cannot be weak and you cannot show vulnerability. There's too much at stake."

"Severus is right Harry," Mr. Weasley said, stepping to the young man's side. "We are all worried about you, but you have to stop hiding from yourself and face the fact that you are much stronger then you give yourself credit for. Severus can not allow Voldemort to know he cares about you," Mr. Weasley glanced to Snape who rolled his eyes at the man's use of words. "If he ever found out, there could be serious consequences. He can not show compassion or concern for you, it would be too dangerous."

"Somehow I can't imagine the words Snape and compassion being in the same sentence," Harry said staring at the man, who sneered his usual evil smile.

"Voldemort knows your powers have grown," Dumbledore said. "There will be no running this time. I believe tonight was more a test than an actual trap. He wanted to know your limitations and he found them out. But beyond that, he's made it as far as the Forbidden Forest. The castle's charms are weakening."

"How is that possible?" Ginny asked her arm looped around Harry's waist. Dumbledore shook his head.

"I don't know, but I have my suspicions. Now the two of you should return to your dormitory. You've had a busy night and I'm sure you both need your rest." Dumbledore led the two younger people to the door and watched as they descended the stairs before turning back to his guests.

"What are we going to do about the castle, Professor?" McGonagall asked as the old wizard took his seat again.

"There's only one thing to do. We have to remove the Terra Auxilium Ducere from Hogwart's."


Author notes: Thank you to everyone who continues to R/R. Please be aware, the next chapters may take awhile. I have had a death in the family and dealing with that is taking more out of me than I have. Please be patient. I will finish this soon. Thanks again.