The Power Within

Chapter 2: The Full Moon

The blank parchment stared defiantly up at Ginny, silently daring her to write on its snowy surface. She slowly lowered her quill, but quickly pulled away from the paper once again.

How should she begin? She couldn't very well just jump right into it; she knew that she would not like to receive a letter that began with, "I'm really sorry about your godfather, hope everything is all right." No, she wouldn't like to receive a letter like that, and she doubted Harry would either. She sucked the end of her quill thoughtfully, sorting through her options. After a while the thoughtful look melted from her face and she stared pointedly at the parchment as she lowered her quill and began to write.

Half an hour later, Ginny held the finished product out in front of her. It was not the shortest letter, but not the longest, and it approached the subject of Sirius' death rather delicately, but not as delicate as to avoid the subject like Ron and Hermione had been doing. Overall, Ginny thought it was the perfect letter for Harry. She folded up the parchment and raised two freckled fingers to her lips, letting out a shrill whistle. A few seconds later, Pig came clambering into the room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling in excitement of his being called to carry a letter. Ginny gently tied her letter to the shaking birds outstretched limb, picked him up in her hands and carried him to the window.

"I want you to take this to Harry, Pig, and please do not terrorize Hedwig while you're there," she instructed, before opening the window to let the tiny owl fly out.

She watched as Pig flew into the distance, soon becoming indistinguishable from the setting sun. She was just slipping into a daydream when she felt a pang of worry rising within her. She couldn't explain the feeling exactly, but as she watched the sun set, she felt like she would give anything to keep the golden orb from dropping below the trees, bringing with it the dark blanket of night.

Her heart pounded, threatening to burst from her chest. Where was this feeling coming from? She glanced over her left shoulder, only to see her shaken reflection staring back at her in the vanity mirror. Raising a freckled hand, she wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead, but abruptly lowered it when something about her reflection caught her eye. It was the medallion Remus had given her, glowing just like the sun outside. She quickly lifted it from around her neck, and as soon as she did, the confined, helpless feeling immediately left her body. Her eyes widened as she stared at the gold's carved surface, she let out a small shriek and threw the medallion onto her bed, and ran as fast as she could from the room.

"Ow!" Hermione cried, as she clutched her forehead, trying to make out the blur of red that swam before her eyes. "Are you okay Ginny?" she asked, but received no answer. "Yeah, er, dinners ready," she added before getting up and walking into the kitchen.

Ginny followed, her eyes still wide from the shock of what had happened with the medallion.

"Ginny, dear, are you all right?" her mother asked, noticing Ginny's startled expression.

"What? Oh...yes, Mum, I'm fine," Ginny replied.

She leaned her head heavily on her hand throughout dinner, as she swirled her meal around the plate with her fork. So many thoughts were running through her mind, all of them relating to the medallion. She had just come to the decision to throw the medallion out the window when Ron shook her from her reverie.

"I hope Remus is all right," he said worriedly.

Ginny's head snapped up, and she stared at Ron intently.

"Why would there be anything wrong with Remus?" she asked.

"Have you looked outside, Gin?" Ron stated sarcastically. "It is the full moon tonight!"

"You mean..." Ginny started, pausing to look at the worried faces around her. "You mean... there is a werewolf... in this house?"

Her mother nodded.

"And where, may I ask, is he being kept?" she inquired frantically.

"In the attic, dear. It's really perfectly safe; Professor Snape has been bringing Remus his potions every morning for the past week, and your father has fixed the attic so that he cannot get out and harm anyone," Molly reassured Ginny.

Ginny, thoroughly calmed now, watched in amusement as Ron's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat.

"Are you sure, Mum?" he asked unsteadily. "Are you sure there is no chance that he could get out and rip all of our bloody heads off?"

Hermione, who had been quiet the whole conversation, swatted Ron in the arm.

"Ron! Don't swear in front of your mother, how many times must I tell you!" she whispered.

"Oh, so you're not worried then! Not worried a single bit that there is a bloody ravenous werewolf camped out in the attic? It would be like you, wouldn't it! " Ron retorted. " I'm Hermione Granger, the smartest witch in the world! If a werewolf were to try and attack me, I could take him!" he said, taking on a high-pitched voice that, oddly enough, sounded not much different than Hermione's own.

"But, Ron, your mother said herself that it was perfectly safe," Hermione argued.

"But she doesn't know for sure does she? What about the point nine percent chance that all the spells breakdown, and Snape's potion doesn't work."

Hermione glared at him.

"Then there are locks on the door! Calm down, Ron, everything will be all right. I wish you wouldn't be so rude to Hermione, dear, she is our guest... there is no reason to yell at her like that, and she's right, don't swear, there is no need for it," Molly scolded.

Ron stayed silent, but sat with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Hermione.

"Well, er, I guess I'll just be off to bed then," Ginny said. " I'm exhausted! Goodnight everyone!"

"What was all that about? Can Ron go five minutes without yelling at Hermione?" she thought to herself as she climbed the stairs.

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Ginny sat in her room, contemplating the day's events, particularly the event with the medallion. She had replayed the incident in her head a thousand times in the past hour, but could not seem to put her finger on what exactly had happened. What did the medallion have to do with the strange feelings?

"Everything!" She thought. "The medallion had everything to do with those feelings. They disappeared as soon as I took it off."

She had a sudden thought, maybe the medallion made you appreciate beautiful things. After all, the sun was beautiful, wasn't it? And thinking about it setting would make someone sad, right?

But as she rolled this thought over in her mind, another came, one much more explainable than the previous.

"That's it!" she thought. "It all makes sense! That has to be what it does!"

She looked down at the golden circle that lay in her hands and smiled.

Suddenly, there was a creak in the wooden hallway. Ginny jumped up from the bed and made her way to the door, pushing it open slightly, she peeked her head out. Hermione was making her way down the hall to her room.

"Psst," Ginny whispered. Hermione stopped walking.

"Psst, Hermione, come in here," she whispered, sticking her hand out of the crack and motioning wildly to herself.

"Yes, if anyone can tell me if I'm right it's Hermione," Ginny thought happily.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, as she sidled into the room, gently shutting the door behind her.

"This," Ginny said, holding up the medallion so that Hermione could see. "Have you ever seen one of these before?" she asked hopefully.

Hermione reached out and fingered the gold's engraved surface.

"No. I mean I've seen necklaces before, but not one exactly like this," she replied. "Where did you get it?"

"Remus gave it to me, he said it belonged to Sirius, and that he would have wanted me to have it, so I took it."

Hermione nodded.

"Seems logical doesn't it? Remus will probably give us all something of Sirius'," she reasoned.

"But, it isn't just a necklace, Hermione. That's why I called you in here," Ginny began. "You see, I've worn it ever since Remus gave it to me. When I first put it on; I felt somewhat strange, but it passed. Today, though, I was looking out the window and I suddenly felt like I didn't want the sun to go down... like I was dreading it. Then, I couldn't breathe right, and I started to sweat so I took the medallion off, and it all stopped. That's when I came downstairs. Oh, by the way sorry about running into you, I was just a little frightened."

"That's strange," Hermione whispered to herself as she began to pace the tiny room.

"There's more, when Remus gave it to me, he told me that James had given it to Sirius after Harry was born, and that Sirius had never taken it off. So I was thinking that maybe..." Ginny began, but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Why would Remus give that to you? Surely he would have thought that Harry would have wanted it?" she asked.

"I asked that as well, but Remus said that he felt sure that Sirius would have wanted me to have it. Plus, Harry gets the house," Ginny responded.

"Oh," Hermione said, nodding. "Go on."

"So I was thinking that maybe, Sirius and James used this as a way to help Remus during his transformations. Like some of his pain is transferred to the person wearing this," Ginny said, holding up the medallion.

"That doesn't make sense, Ginny. Why would James give Sirius something that would help him feel Remus' pain? Besides, you aren't in pain right now, wouldn't you be if that were its purpose?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't you hear at dinner? Snape has been bringing Remus his potion, so if the potion is working, then I shouldn't be able to feel anything. And, how do we know that James didn't have one too?"

"True, it would make sense for both of them to have one," Hermione added.

"Maybe they used this as a tool to help Remus in times when they couldn't be around him in their animagi form during his transformation. You know, with You-Know-Who on the rise, they wouldn't have been able to see each other as much, especially since You-Know-Who was after the Potters for some reason," Ginny said.

"I'm guessing Remus doesn't know what it is, or he wouldn't have given it to you."

"As far as I can tell, they wouldn't have wanted him to know what it was. He told me that they always insisted it was just jewelry," Ginny stated.

"Well, it sounds like you might have figured it out. I'll do some research on medallions to see if there has been anything like this before," Hermione offered.

"Thanks," Ginny replied gratefully. "So, on to more pressing matters. What was up with Ron at dinner?" she asked as she nudged Hermione in the shoulder.

Hermione rolled her eyes and blew a loose piece of hair away from her face.

"What's ever up with him? He takes one thing I say and turns it into something completely different. I am starting to believe he actually enjoys yelling at me! I mean, I have put up with his swearing around me; I have even stopped reprimanding him about it. But when he does it in front of your mother, knowing she doesn't like it; I just want to... I just want to..." Hermione clenched her fist and sighed loudly.

"You just want to what, Hermione?" Ron's voice echoed from the doorway.

Ginny watched as Hermione's shoulders stiffened.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, just what do you think you are doing?" She growled through clenched teeth. She turned slowly around until she faced him, fury written all over her face.

"Just what do you think you are doing, Hermione," he sputtered.

"How long have you been standing there, eavesdropping, Ronald?"

"Long enough."

Hermione stood up and walked over to the doorway in which Ron stood. She was a great deal shorter than him, but her anger towered far above his ginger head.

"I can not believe you have the nerve to come in here and just stand there, making absolutely no noise to alert us of your presence, listening to us talk! The door was shut, shouldn't that tell you that the people in the room might be having a conversation that they didn't want you to hear! Sometimes you just make me so mad, Ron! What were you thinking, I can't beli..." Hermione screamed, but was abruptly interrupted by a fuming Ron.

"YOU JUST WANT TO WHAT, HERMIONE?"

Hermione looked slightly taken aback, and slightly confused as to what Ron had asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"The point of this whole argument! You just want to what, Hermione? And bloody hell, you better answer me this time!" he shouted, all the while glaring down his nose at her.

"SOMETIMES I JUST WANT TO SMACK YOU AROUND THE HEAD, BECAUSE YOU CAN BE SO BLOODY DENSE!" she bellowed.

Ron looked shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly and the look of surprise was replaced with a smirk.

"Hermione, how many times must I tell you? Don't swear!"

Hermione, bright red and fuming, raised her hand and whacked Ron on the side of the head, just like she had wanted to, before she turned on her heel and left the room, making sure to give the door a good slam on her way out.

Ron looked at the door and then at Ginny, before shrugging his shoulders.

"Obviously," he started, "Remus isn't the only one experiencing ....that time of the month," he said, making quotation marks with his fingers.

Ginny struggled to contain her laughter. They were so obvious it was funny, and they were completely oblivious to it as well.

"Ron, you better hope she didn't hear that," Ginny said, rising from her spot on the bed. "Now get out of here, and be careful walking down the hall, Hermione may still be out there." She warned before pushing him from the room and closing the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps trailed off, she leaned against the door and sighed.

"How much longer am I going to have to put up with this!" she quietly said to herself, before climbing in the bed and turning off the lights.

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The sun streamed through the window and onto Ginny's face. She had been awake for half an hour already, but hadn't actually gotten out of bed. She was just lying there enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin, and the way the blanket fluffed around her; she was comfortable and didn't want to move.

"GINNY! BREAKFAST!" echoed a voice from downstairs.

She rolled over and buried her face in her pillow.

"GINNY! GET DRESSED AND COME DOWN HERE NOW!" the voice called.

Ginny stuck her head under her pillow and held it tightly on both sides.

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO GET YOURSELF DOWN HERE. ONE...."

Ginny threw the pillow across the room and jumped out of bed. Her mother was counting, that was never a good thing.

"TWO!"

She picked up her dressing gown and snaked one freckly arm through it while grasping the door handle with the other. She tore out of the room and down the stairs.

"THRE..."

"Morning, Mum!" Ginny said brightly, bouncing down the last step and grabbing a biscuit off of the tray her mother was holding.

"Finally!" Ron groaned. "I thought you'd never come down, Mum wouldn't let us eat without you."

"Yes, one second later and we would have had a funeral to attend, eh?" She stated as she watched Ron pile eggs onto his plate.

"Shut up!" he growled.

Breakfast couldn't exactly be called uneventful that morning. There were the amusing antics between Ron and Hermione, who were not talking to each other, yet had chosen to take their normal mealtime seats.

"Ginny, can you please tell Miss Quill Up The Arse to pass me the orange juice?" Ron asked.

"Hermione can you...."

"I heard him! Can you please tell Mr. Big Ugly Git to get it himself?"

"Ron, get it...."

"I heard her!"

"Ron here's the orange juice." Ginny said as she sat the jug in front of him. "And don't bother talking through me anymore, I would rather not deal with five year olds today!"

Ron mumbled something incoherent, but was interrupted from a loud tapping at the window.

"Would someone please open that window, and let Pig in," Mr. Weasley requested, looking at the window over the top of the newspaper.

Ron went over to the window and opened it. Pig flew straight to Ginny, holding out his leg. She untied the letter, which sent pig off balance, causing him to crash into Ron's glass of orange juice.

"Bloody bird!" Ron yelped as orange juice spilt all over his leg, and earning a hard glare from Hermione.

Ginny looked down at the letter, her name was printed on the front in semi-untidy handwriting, handwriting she had seen before on plenty of Ron's letters. She knew who it was from and she hastily stuffed it into her pocket, before picking up her fork and continuing on with her meal.

Ron, who had composed himself, glared at her.

"Is it from Dean?" he asked.

"No."

"Some other boyfriend I don't know about?"

"No."

"Then whose it from?" he whined.

"None of your business, Ron!"

"Yes it is! It's probably from some prat who is infatuated with you, and as a big brother that is my business!"

"Ron, leave her alone, she doesn't have to tell you everything that goes on in her life," Hermione interjected.

Ron, who had obviously decided not to speak to Hermione, glared at her.

"Ugh!" Ginny groaned, leaning her forehead heavily on her head.

"Good morning, all!" came a voice from the doorway.

All the occupants of the kitchen turned to see Remus. Ginny's hand flew instinctively up to her neck, clasping the medallion. She had felt a slight twinge in the middle of the night, but other than that everything had been fine, and when she had woken up this morning, she felt like a load had been taken off of her heart. She looked up to find Hermione staring at her hand, obviously debating in her mind whether or not to bring up the discussion they had the night before. Hermione was certainly a smart witch, but her biggest flaw was her tendency to meddle in things that were not hers to meddle in. Ginny raised a finger to her lips, silently telling Hermione to be quiet.

"Ah, Remus, are you feeling all right?" Arthur asked.

"Fine, fine! No need to worry," Remus replied.

"How did the potion work?" asked Molly, as she piled food on his plate.

"It went off without a hitch, that's enough, Molly, thank you."

Ginny smiled at Remus, and reached into her pocket pulling out the letter and holding it under the table so that he could see, but was out of Ron's sight. He glanced down at it and smiled, and clapped Ginny on the back.

Ginny returned the letter to its place, stood and cleared her plate from the table.

"Thanks for breakfast Mum! It was wonderful," she said, giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek before she ran up the stairs.

Ginny arrived in her room and closed the door, sitting against it so that no one could walk in. She hastily tore the seal on the letter and stared down and the words scrawled across the parchment.

Dear Ginny,

I was surprised to hear from you! It was good to receive a letter from someone other than Ron and Hermione. No, the Dursley's haven't locked me in my room; they've mostly just left me alone, except for when they want me to take the bins out and what not. I can't exactly say I'm fine, but I am dealing with this the best I know how. I don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words, the best word I can think of is "lost". There's so much more to this than you know, or that I could even explain. I'm just glad that I have you to talk to. I really appreciate it, Ginny.

Harry

The letter fell from Ginny's fingers, gliding to rest on the ground. Tiny tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt for Harry, he wasn't very open in the letter, but what he had said tore at her heart. He felt lost. She knew what that feeling was like, thinking you had no one to understand you, and feeling helpless and useless. The best word to describe it was just that, lost.

She stood and put the letter in her desk drawer. Leaning against the windowsill, she thought about the past, trying to sort out how she had come out of her depression, trying to find the words she could say to Harry. As she stared out at the trees, she decided she would tell Harry everything about her past. No matter how painful it would be, she would help him get through this.