Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 4

Mrs Weasley was busy preparing lunch for her children when the large brown owl flew in through the window. Recognising it as one of Sirius' owls she poked her head out through the door.

"Ginny!" she yelled. "There's an owl here from Harry!"

The young red-haired witch looked up from her homework in surprise. She was sitting under a tree in the backyard while Ron, Fred, George and Bill played a pick-up game of quidditch. She put her books and parchment down and ran into the house with a smile. She took the letter from the owl with a soft word of thanks and went back outside to read it.

She sat back down under the tree and opened the letter. Very soon a frown graced her face and then a small look of alarm as she worked her way through the letter. Finally she smiled and a soft look replaced the expression of alarm.

"Everything okay with Harry?"

Ginny looked up in surprise. While she was reading, the game had obviously finished and her brothers were standing in front of her.

She looked back down at the letter in her hand then back up at Ron. "Um, I'm not sure."

A look of alarm crossed Ron's face. "What's going on? Is it bloody Malfoy?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, no. He...had a vision. He thinks it was Voldemort."

"What?" Ron gasped. "But Voldemort's dead, isn't he? Wasn't that what that explosion was all about at the Battle?"

"That's what I thought too," Ginny said frowning. "But Harry seems pretty sure and apparently Professor Dumbledore agrees with him."

This pronouncement brought frowns to the faces of all the Weasley boys.

"Does he know where Voldemort is?" Bill asked with concern.

Ginny quickly read through the letter again. "He doesn't say."

Bill tapped his foot on the ground as he considered the matter then he looked down at his sister. "I don't suppose you'd like to make a floo call to Harry and find out?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, actually Bill," she said sweetly, "I was planning on doing one better. I was just thinking about flooing in to see him."

The Weasley boys grinned and Bill bowed floridly. "I bow to the wisdom of my most dearest sister," he said with a grin.

Ginny collected her things and stood up. She raised an eyebrow at her oldest brother. "I'm not sure how much that means really. I happen to be your only sister." With that she walked into the house.

She ran upstairs to her room and dumped her school things then skipped back downstairs to the kitchen.

"Mum? Do you mind if I floo to Grimmauld Place and see Harry?" she asked.

Molly looked over at her and frowned. "No, dear, but I'm almost finished with lunch, do you want to wait until after that?"

Ginny paused. "Umm, no, I think I'll go now. I can always get lunch there. I'm sure Sirius and Remus won't mind," she said.

Molly began to look worried. "Is anything wrong with Harry?"

Ginny smiled. "I'm not sure, Mum. He had a strange dream last night and he wasn't exactly forthcoming with the details in his letter."

"Alright, dear," Molly said firmly. "Off you go."

Ginny grinned and waved to her mother. Harry was still one of her mother's major concerns, it didn't matter that he had his godfather and guardian, to her Mum he would always be one of the family. She knew that was why she had had no problems getting permission to visit. She walked into the living room and flooed to Grimmauld Place.

She emerged in the kitchen and was immediately set upon by the two house-elves. They quickly dusted her off and asked her if she was staying for lunch then shooed her out of the kitchen with the news that Harry was in the living room. Ginny chuckled as she walked down the corridor and she paused outside the living room door to watch for a moment.

Remus and Sirius were busy playing chess to the obvious amusement of Harry, who was lying on the couch. From the gist of Sirius' comments, Remus had just made something of a surprise move that had put Sirius in an awkward position and he was none too pleased about it. Remus didn't seem too worried about the amiable threats coming his way from the grin he was wearing.

"Wow, Sirius," she said from the doorway, "I hope you don't plan on saying things like that when you play chess with Ron. Mum'll have you in the bathroom, washing your mouth out with soap before you know what's happening."

The three men in the room looked up with surprise.

"Ginny!" Harry said with a wide smile. "What are you doing here?" He stopped and blushed. "Er, not that I'm not happy you're here. I mean, I'm really happy you're here."

Sirius and Remus had started chuckling. "I think I'd stop while you're ahead, Harry," Sirius said with a grin. "I think Ginny knew what you meant."

Ginny laughed as she walked over and sat down at the end of the couch, pushing Harry's feet off. Harry grinned and scooted over until he was sitting right next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"So why are you here?" he asked.

Ginny waved the letter at him. "This!" she said archly. "It was rather thin on details, Harry, and I want to know what's going on."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I told you I was going to explain more when I got to the Burrow in a few weeks."

"I know," Ginny said, "but I want to know now. And besides, you've got Bill worried as well. He wanted to know if you knew where Voldemort is."

Much to Ginny's surprise, Harry started laughing. "Tell Bill not to worry," he said. "You know how I said there was a crystalline feel to the vision, well, Professor Dumbledore thinks it's because Voldemort's managed to trap himself in one of his own crystals."

Ginny's eyes widened at this news. "And where exactly is this crystal?"

Harry sobered. "Well, that's the bad news. Most likely its in Malfoy Manor where we can't get to it."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and a challenging look entered her eyes. "Why not? We've gone there before to get something we needed."

Sirius grinned at her as Harry sighed. "Yeah, true Ginny," he said patiently. "But we knew where we were going that time. I don't think Draco's going to let Professor Snape in to snoop around and find the crystals."

Ginny grimaced. "Good point," she said. "There's no way we can find out?"

"Not that I can think of," Harry said.

"Dumbledore's considering the idea," Remus said. "You never know, he might come up with something."

"Ah, Remus Lupin, ever the optimist," Sirius said dryly. "I somehow think Draco Malfoy's going to be even more suspicious now. He's being monitored constantly, you know. By the Ministry and by Dumbledore."

Harry frowned. "How come he hasn't been arrested? He's a Death Eater after all. He was at the Battle at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, we know that," Sirius said. "But there's no proof. Draco hasn't registered his animagus form and he never actually appeared in his human form at any point during the battle so there's actually nothing the Ministry can do."

"But he's got the Dark Mark on his arm!" Harry said indignantly. "Surely that's proof enough?"

"It's disappeared," Remus said abruptly. "Or I assume it has. Severus' Mark certainly has and your scar's been getting fainter since the Battle."

Both Harry and Ginny's mouths dropped open at this news. "Really?" he said incredulously.

Remus looked startled. "Yes. Hadn't you noticed your scar was fainter?"

Harry blinked then blushed. "Er, I don't really look at it that much to be honest. I...don't really like it."

Ginny placed one hand on his knee while Sirius and Remus gave him understanding looks.

"Well, anyway," Remus continued. "Draco probably doesn't have a Mark to show anyone anymore. When you add the fact that he's now inherited a great deal of wealth from his father, well, the Ministry would need a good reason to accuse him of being a Death Eater now."

Harry grumbled some uncomplimentary things about the Ministry under his breath. Ginny laughed as she listened to the litany.

"So are you staying for lunch?" Remus asked her in an attempt to change the subject.

*************************************************

The day of their move to the Burrow came quicker than any of them thought it would and they spent the morning running around trying to organize themselves. Finally they were all standing in front of the fireplace in the kitchen while Remus shrank their trunks. They would be staying with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer and going to Hogwarts from there. Remus stuck the last of the shrunken trunks into his pocket and looked around.

"Everyone ready?" he asked.

Harry and Sirius nodded and Remus reached for the floo powder. He offered it to Harry who took a handful and threw it into the flames yelling "The Burrow" then he stepped into the green flames with his cane tucked in tight to his body. When he stopped spinning, he stumbled out into the kitchen of the Burrow where the Weasleys were waiting. They quickly picked him up and brushed him off as his godfather and guardian came through as well. Molly bustled forwards and brushed to two men off as well.

"It's so wonderful to see you all," she said smiling. "Now, Ron, Fred, George, help Harry with his things. We've put you in Ron's room again, dear." She smiled at Harry as Remus pulled their trunks out of his pocket and enlarged them again. Molly then turned to look at Sirius and Remus. "I've put you two in Fred and George's room. They've got a flat above their store in Diagon Alley and they moved out at the start of the holidays. I think they've removed everything from their room."

There were several moments of organized chaos as they all went upstairs to get settled. Fred, George and Ron were just putting Harry's trunk down when a stream of curses from the twins' old room made them laugh.

"Ooops!" Fred said with a grin "We may have left a few things in there."

As they listened the curses turned to laughter.

"Not that it seems to be a problem," George said.

Harry spluttered with laughter. "I think you two are in trouble now," he said merrily.

Fred and George gave him identical looks of curiosity. "Now why would you say that, ickle Harrykins?" Fred said.

Harry laughed again. "What would you say if I told you that the recipients of the left over pranks in your room were Mr Moony and Mr Padfoot?"

Fred and George stared at him with disbelief for a moment then realization dawned on their faces.

"Mr Moony. A werewolf. Of course!" said Fred.

"And a large dog. Padfoot," George said right after his twin.

They exchanged glances and dashed out of the room. Harry and Ron followed them and started laughing as they saw the twins on their knees in the door of their old room, kowtowing to the two men, their hands slapping on the floor with each bow.

"Oh great Marauders!" Fred was saying. "We are not worthy to be in your presence!"

"We bow to your greatness and humbly beg for further instruction!" George begged.

Harry and Ron walked down the corridor so they could see Remus and Sirius' reactions, laughing so hard they had to hold onto their ribs. The two men in question were staring at the twins with a surprise that was rapidly turning into laughter.

Remus turned to look wryly at his friend. "Well, I think I know who Harry got the Marauder's Map from."

"You know, nice as this is, it's not going to save you from our retaliation," Sirius said to the twins with a decidedly evil grin.

Ron looked into the room and started laughing even harder. "There's this pink goo all over the room," he said to Harry between sputters of laughter. "It wouldn't be so bad except their trunks were open. That's stuff's everywhere!"

The raucous laughter had brought Molly up the stairs and she looked at the spectacle in front of her with amused exasperation before shaking her head and going back downstairs. In her opinion, Remus and Sirius were old enough to deal with this themselves.

Remus turned around to look at the very pink and very gooey room. He shook his head and pulled out his wand. With a quick "Evanesco", the pink goo disappeared. He then walked over to stand beside Sirius and looked at the twins who were now standing and grinning at them.

"You know, I think you're right, Padfoot," Remus said with a mischievous grin. "I definitely think this calls for a bit of Marauder action. Of course, when we do it is a whole other matter."

He grinned at the twins who started to just a bit nervous. They exchanged glances then suddenly disappeared downstairs. Remus and Sirius watched them go then burst out laughing again.

Harry and Ron moved forwards and leant against the doorway.

"So, what are you going to do to them?" Harry asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus. "We'll have to think about that. It'll have to be good and I think we'll just let them wait for it."

"Anticipation is always the best part of a prank," Remus agreed.

Ron snorted with laughter. "Yeah, they know that too. They'll be falling apart with nerves in a few days wondering what on earth you're going to do to them."

Sirius grinned quite evilly at Ron and the two boys went back to Ron's room to unpack Harry's trunk.

"Is Hermione coming to stay this summer?" Harry asked as he flopped down onto his bed.

Ron copied his action on his own bed. "Yeah, she's coming tomorrow. Mum thought it would be best not to have everyone arrive at once."

"Everyone?" Harry said suspiciously.

Ron groaned and knocked his head against the wall. "Arrggh! Mum's going to kill me. I wasn't meant to tell you that. Mind you, I don't know why we're bothering to keep it that secret. After all, it is your birthday tomorrow and who do you think we'd have coming here?"

Harry laughed. "Don't worry. I'll act suitably surprised when I see them all tomorrow. Exactly how many are coming?"

"All the Battle Guard, most of the DA and a few of the teachers and Order members," Ron said casually.

"Wow! Really?" Harry said, little surprised at the number of people coming.

"Yeah and Neville and Luna are going to stay for the rest of the holidays as well as Hermione."

Harry smiled broadly. "That's great. I've had plenty of letters from them. They seem to be getting along pretty well."

Ron snorted with laughter. "Yeah, that's the impression I got from their letters. I wonder how he deals with it when she goes all weird on him." He laughed at that mental image and stood suddenly. "Come on, let's get our brooms and go outside. From your letters it doesn't sound like you've had a chance to practice at all this summer. You know you've still got that standing offer of joining in the Weasley Quidditch match."

Harry leaned over and grabbed his broom from his still-open trunk. "Sounds good to me!"

Ron hauled his broom from under his bed and the two boys made their way downstairs.

**********************************************

The next morning Harry woke and lay in his bed, listening to Ron snore. He stared up into the darkness that was a constant in his life and sighed. It had been over a year since he had been blinded by his uncle and he freely admitted to himself that he still hated being blind...a lot. He hated only being able to see with the Oversight and he hated that he could only see everyone's expression really dimly through the overlay. All he'd ever wanted to be was normal. He'd never wanted to be a hero or a beacon of light or whatever else it was that people called him. He'd never wanted to be the Boy-Who-Lived. All he had ever really wanted was a normal life, with parents, like everyone else had.

Harry rolled onto his side and sighed again. He knew he shouldn't let himself get into moods like this; wallowing in self-pity never really helped anything but he was still a little upset about the vision he had had. It had been the only one so far, much to his relief, but the idea that once again Voldemort had survived just made him feel very, very tired. He had really, really hoped that Voldemort had indeed died during the Battle at Hogwarts but then, his life had never been that easy.

He snorted to himself and Ron snuffled and rolled over, his eyes slowly opening.

"Hey, Harry," the red-head said sleepily.

"Hey, Ron," Harry answered automatically.

Ron blinked and took a deep breath to wake himself up a bit more. "Alright," he said with a trace of irritation, "what's wrong?"

Harry looked surprised. "Er, what do you mean?"

"You're moping, Harry. I've spent the better part of six years sharing a room with you. I know when you're moping."

Harry was forced into a chuckle. "Good point." He sighed. "I...was just wallowing a little. I was really hoping that Voldemort was dead, you know. That just for once my life would go according to plan."

"You mean your life has a plan?" Ron said with a grin. "I thought it was just a bunch of random chaotic events that were thrown together and called Harry's Life."

"Ha bloody ha," Harry said sourly.

"You know what I mean, mate," Ron said. "Besides Ginny said that Dumbledore thought Voldemort was trapped in one of his own crystals and it's not like there much in the way of Death Eaters left free and alive to do anything about it." He paused and rolled his eyes. "And as much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Snape. None of the Death Eaters rushed to help him after you got rid of him as a baby; why would they do it now?"

"Wow Ron," Harry said with mock-admiration. "Did you hurt yourself by saying Snape was right?"

"Prat!" Ron growled with amusement. He pulled his pillow out from under his head and used it to whack his friend over the head.

"Hey!" Harry said, starting to laugh. "No attacking the blind guy! It's unfair."

Ron snorted with laughter. "Yeah, right! We both know you could single-handedly wipe the floor with my backside."

He then proceeded to whack Harry again with his pillow. Harry quickly instigated his Oversight and pulled his pillow out from behind his head to retaliate. In very short order the two boys were involved in a fully-fledged pillow fight amid raucous laughter.

After a few minutes the door flew open just at the point when Ron's pillow gave up the ghost and burst at the seams causing feathers to literally fly. The two boys stopped right where they were and slowly turned towards the door to see how much trouble they were in. Standing in the doorway was Sirius. He was battling very hard to try to keep his expression solemn but was losing ground rapidly. Behind him was Remus who was in much the same state. The four stared at each other for a long moment then Harry stood and took a few quick paces towards the door. As soon as he was in range of his godfather he promptly began belting him with his pillow. Sirius froze for a second and then gave a barking laugh and transformed into Padfoot. He launched himself at the laughing Harry and knocked him to the ground before sitting firmly on his chest. That brought the large dog into range of Ron who began to whack Padfoot with his rapidly diminishing pillow.

Remus burst out laughing and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He picked up a pencil from the floor, pulled out his wand and transfigured it into another pillow. Another quick spell refilled and repaired Ron's pillow. He then put his wand away and launched himself at Ron. His momentum knocked them both off Ron's bed and into Padfoot, knocking him off Harry. The young Guild Warrior took the opportunity the change into Blaze and the two canines came to the defense of their respective best friends.

The four were so busy with their impromptu and very fun battle that they didn't see the door open. Molly Weasley stood in the doorway unnoticed for a second before she worked out what was going on then, swallowing the small smile that had crept onto her face, she took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips.

"Sirius! Remus! Ron! Harry!" she bellowed and the action in the room came to a sudden halt as the four combatants froze in place. They were suddenly of the opinion that they were all in big trouble.

Molly eyed them with apparent displeasure. "Sirius! Harry! Change back right now!" she ordered.

The two in question quickly changed back into their human forms and stood looking rather hangdog.

Molly glared at the four of them. "What is the meaning of this?" she said sternly, reminding herself that laughing right now would not be appropriate. "Sirius, Remus, you two are supposed to be adults." The two men swallowed grins and hung their heads. Molly turned her ire towards the two boys. "And you two are of age. You are supposed to be adults as well. Honestly the lot of you are worse than Fred and George. I don't want any repeat of this. Now get dressed, it's time for breakfast."

She glared at them once more for good measure then stormed back down the stairs, letting her smile break free now that she couldn't be seen by any of the four. She was glad to see such light-heartedness from all of them; Merlin knows Harry deserved to have a bit of fun. The four left in the room snuck quick looks at each other and finally broke out into laughter.

"Why don't you two get dressed," Remus suggested. "Who knows what Molly would do to us if we disobeyed her now."

Sirius grinned and flung an arm around Remus shoulders. "Besides we have some twins to terrorise."

Remus snorted with laughter and the two Marauders walked out of the room. Harry and Ron grinned at each other and threw picked up the pillows that had been left and put them back on their beds. As they began to get dressed, Harry had to admit to himself that he certainly didn't feel like wallowing in self-pity anymore.

Ron pulled on his t-shirt and looked over at his friend. "Hey, Harry. Happy birthday!"