The Unforgettable Fire

CHAPTER 15: Shadowboxing

Harry was making his way down the halls when he spotted it. A quick, shadow-like movement. He wouldn't have noticed it if he weren't wearing his Invisibility Cloak and paying extra attention around him. The party at Gryffindor Tower was raging (and he'd been voted to get more food ant that is why he was out) and he was torn between the kitchens and this shadow. The shadow was by the headmaster's door, which in itself was reason enough to investigate, but he really wanted to get back to the party, it'd only just begun after all.

In the end, curiosity took control and he crept closer to the entrance to the headmaster's study. That was when he heard it, the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard...and he knew who it belonged to.

"They think they can just keep me out here until I go to sleep! They think they can just exclude me from their plans! I'm part of the damnable plans too those manipulative bastards! 'Perhaps your guest would like to watch the match' my ass! You wanted to get rid of me you insufferable old badger!"

It was Ginny! Harry could see her more clearly now, pacing up and down the hall, a cloak of undeterminable color and shape fluttering around her. Not only that, she was angry. Harry could never resist her when she was angry. He'd been trying to exorcise her from his thoughts as of late. He'd been trying to forget, to purge her from his mind. He'd been on the brink of succeeding until now.

Then she took off the cloak she was wearing and threw it angrily at the stone gargoyle. She was just as beautiful as he'd remembered. True it hadn't been that long since he'd seen her...but it had seemed like ages. He remembered the day she died. It was the worst day of his life. Hell, every day was the worst day of his life until the next one came when it came to Ginny. She would act like she detested him for weeks on end, then she would look at him with those eyes...those copper tinted, strong-willed, beautifully captivating, fascinating eyes, and he'd be lost. They whispered hints of love and trust and redemption...but they lied...always they lied. And he hated them for it.

He'd hate them until he'd feel the hate so deeply he'd lash out. All his instincts would tell him to kiss her and he hated that she'd kiss him back. It just made it worse in the morning.

The morning he'd woken up and found her dead, crucified over the lake with the Dark Mark looming above her had been the epitome of bad days. He'd wanted to kill himself. He wanted to kill Voldemort. He wanted to kill Malfoy. He'd wanted to kill every Slythrin he saw.

But then Dumbledore told him she lived. Told him that by some chance of the universe she lived and was alright...but not accepting visitors. Even his Invisibility Cloak had its boundaries and walking through walls wasn't one of those he could break. He'd not seen her since that morning, bloodied and broken. All the blood, all the pain she must have endured, it made him mad with grief. Just thinking about it enraged him. She'd looked pale, yet angelic and pure. The way the blood contrasted with her hair and skin and dress had given her an almost saintly, almost beautiful, look. But it was wrong, distorted and ugly.

But now, right before him, she walked, pacing swiftly, up and down in front of his eyes. Her fiery hair whipped behind her and her bronze/gold/copper/brown eyes glinted dangerously. She wore all black, a tight fitting shirt and only slightly looser pants with black, dragon hide gloves.

"And to leave me there...of all places! With Lupin and Snape! Why not just beg for trouble? Why don't they just through Harry Potter along with Black, Lupin, and Snape with me in a pit and see how long I stay from killing them all? Bloody hell! 'Enjoy the rest of the match and come to my study when it's ended' MY ASS! They just wanted to get rid of me! Pip, pip, cheery-o and all that! School buddies having a drink and discussing MY LIFE!"

Harry half wanted to stop and watch her and half stop and kiss her. She had that wild look in her eyes and it really turned him on. You've got to play this one cool, Potter, he reminded himself. Be casual...

He resolved to take off his cloak and lean against the wall and watch her until she noticed him. Throwing the Invisibility Cloak over his shoulder he waited quietly and patiently. To his surprise, it took her a while to realize he was there.

"You!" she half gasped, half growled. He watched as her wand hand twitched, irritated-like at her side. She raised her chin to meet his eyes defiantly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he returned nonchalantly. This was easier now that he felt in control. "Besides, I go here...you don't."

Her frown deepened and she clutched her hands at her sides. Then she turned her head from him, giving him a view of her magnificent profile. "That's right. Now move along, I have important matters to get to."

Harry snorted. "Bull shit. They are leaving you out of their conversation, whoever 'they' are, and you can't stand it."

"And?" she said coolly, still not looking at him.

"And I want to know why you are here," he finished. He didn't know how, but she'd changed. She wasn't as cold and unapproachable. She was more soulful, more powerfully enchanting and elegant. She'd gained something while she'd been gone and Harry couldn't point out quite what. Whatever it was, he liked it. It made her more human, more dangerous, more flammable even. He also felt something he had. It was a connection, but more like a power, he had over her. There was something inside her he needed, he could control. He liked the feeling...a lot.

"And I want to know why you're stalking me," she returned spitefully. He felt the force of her ire hitting him full force, like a fiery hurricane. He usually felt cold ice radiating from her. "Just leave," she said in an exasperated voice. "I don't want to talk to you...hell; I don't even want to see you!"

"No," he said plainly.

"No?" she repeated, turning to face him. "No? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you do," he replied.

She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. Then she crossed her arms and looked at him sideways. "Get over yourself. Just do us all a favor and get over yourself. You aren't God and you certainly aren't my savior. Why do you bother?"

"I have some motivation," he answered, cryptically on purpose as he new she'd hate it.

Then Ginny put her hands up in surrender. "Fine!" she said. "Fine! I don't care anymore!" Throwing her hands up in the air, she turned from him and began massaging her temples forcefully.

Harry licked his lips with anticipation. Rounding her, he passed in front of her silently. She didn't look up or acknowledge him, just rubbed her temples with her eyes closed and her breath a forced calm. Slowly he reached for her gloved hands and took them off her forehead, placing his there instead and applying pressure to the aching areas in a rhythmic patter. Gracelessly, she tilted her head up at him, her eyes still closed and her lips parted slightly. She looked vulnerable, a thing he'd only seen thrice before in his life. Her breath hit his face in quick intervals, though they were slowing. All her body language told him she wanted to be kissed.

Harry stopped his ministrations and Ginny's eyes opened lazily. "Don't..." she said softly.

He didn't know if she meant don't stop or don't kiss me, but she didn't look like she even knew...so he kissed her. Bringing his hand under her chin, he lifted her lips to his and kissed her lightly. She tasted sweet and hot, her warm lips deceivingly soft and giving. Hesitantly, he licked her lips and they parted just enough for him to taste her tongue before he pulled away and looked down on her.

Slowly she backed away from him, her eyes and face completely unreadable. Before he could analyze it any farther, the passageway to Dumbledore's study opened and out stepped the headmaster himself.

"Ah, Harry," he said warmly. "I see you're getting reacquainted with Miss Weasley here. Do be so kind as to let me have a word with her, and don't forget your cloak."

Harry looked over at Ginny, but she had already steeled over. Her face was a mask and her arms were crossed, nothing like she looked like earlier. Finally, he nodded at the headmaster and left, intent on trying to figure out what the hell he did and why.

~~~

"Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said once they had been seated in his office. Moody had told him everything, everything down to the last detail. He should have remembered the elf prophesies. "Always remember the elves," his brother Alberforth had told him. "ALWAYS remember the elves. You get stuck, REMEMBER THE ELVES!" Alberforth had a thing for elves, he was living with them now...or rather was stalking a bunch of them through their woods. On reflection, Alberforth was weird and really no one should take his advice. Though now it fit. "How nice to see you again."

"Yes, well," Ginny said coldly, "isn't it always. Mind telling me why I was stuck out there with Boy Wonder for fifteen freaking minutes?"

Moody grunted and made eye contact with Dumbledore. "I'm sorry," Dumbledore continued. "We try to prevent night walking on the campus, but after Quidditch games many people feel that rules no long apply."

"What am I here for?" she asked. "I mean, you two have already discussed everything, why do you need me?"

"Nothing really, just to let you know there has been a development. But we can't tell you what it is. We think it will be counterproductive to your learning and the form the prophesy takes. We just wanted to let you know that the logistics the whole mission are squared away and all you have to do now is successfully complete your training and show up at Machu Pichu at the designated time."

~~~

April 25, 1997

Dear Diary,

Rage! Rage! Rage against authority! Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker I'm angry! And why not? They were dangling it out in front of me like a carrot on a string and I want blood! Lots of red, messy, thick, sweet blood, and I want it NOW! Their blood in a cup or on my hands or spread all over the floor I really don't care. How DARE they!?! How could they think this is right, that this is fair!?! Do they think I'm just some insignificant flea on their backs they must live with? I'm the fucking prophetical savior here to (somehow) save us all! How can they just ignore me!?! Rage, I say! Rage!

They even left me out there with Wonder Boy for fifteen fucking minutes! And Dumbledore knew he was there, that old badger knows everything, and he didn't do anything about it. He knew, mark my words he knew! It's all a play to him, a game, something to amuse himself with. At one point I would have settled to be a pawn (if I were a well-fed, important, and powerful pawn) and played along because I would find a way to gain something. Since I have nothing to gain and nothing to loose I can act however the hell I please. I don't want to be played with anymore! Those days are gone, they have died.

But gods! He confused me! I swear...I didn't want to. I vaguely remember saying "don't" but it is all a mess now. Why'd Harry have to be there? Why'd he have to catch me then? I was fine...perfectly content (well as much as I could be). Then he comes in and ruins everything. I can see it in his eyes, that manic glint...he knows something. He has some power over me. I was cold to it before, safe from it.

But something has awoken in me; something I fear is the fire. The days grow closer, I can feel them, and the fire grows hotter, harder to control. Nysilia's ring barely works. The only thing that keeps it down is the awesome power I find in the universe.

He was too close...far too close. And his eyes, they captivated me. They have that ability, to capture you. Especially me. It's that power he's been given. I think he could control me, if he pushed hard enough. He won't though, I can see it in him, and he doesn't have that quality. But he could...and that is the point. It makes me weary of seeing him again, weary of my own weakness.

Someday he'll call and I'll not be able to resist any longer.

It is the prophesy I know. Something gives strength to this force, some unseen agenda of the cosmos, some powerful agenda. What is one question. How is another that could be considered. But what I want to know is why. Why? What is the point? Why would the magic do this? Reonet saw it; saw it clearly. She gathered her remaining strength and made my soul immortal so I could fulfill this quest she believed in it so much. She cursed me so because of her faith in the prophesy. So why? Maybe it will become clear and maybe it won't.

~~~

School was out. It was summer.

It was the time Ginny had been dreading. Soon (but hopefully not too soon) Harry would be coming over daily. Harry who she hated. Harry who she despised. Harry who could rule her. Harry who could love her.

This last bit scared her the most. Some one who could love her. She'd never been loved. Never. Not really loved. Her and Draco's love had been twisted, a grotesque manifestation of the word. They needed each other, lived off each other. When you are young and impressionable, a symbiotic relationship can be confused with love. Draco had said he'd loved her...but nothing became of it. She'd never be able to love him now. Another time maybe...another world. But Harry could. Harry did. She'd been mistaken when she'd told him he didn't know what love was that summer past. He might have, and it terrified her.

She said she'd wanted to change, but everyone knows that saying a thing and doing a thing are two completely different matters. She'd lived to lots of the things she said, like trying to find forgiveness, seeking redemption. But loving came hardest, and would probably come last.

Ginny wanted to hide from him, never come off the peaceful island in the universe. But she couldn't, it wouldn't be right. She wanted to say right and wrong be damned, but that would go against her last words, it would go against her word. Slytherins may not be trustworthy now, but the type of Slytherin she was, and Moody was, they were trusted. They were given respect. They held to their word. Now she would have to, simple as that.

Cracking her neck and standing, Ginny walked over to the Moody's house, hoping to find some breakfast. The sun was rising in the sky, but Ginny never watched the sun rise. The sun would always rise for her, never set. That was why she was fascinated by dusk. It was something she'd never have. She'd known it when she'd been given life again, she knew it better now.

Ginny found Moody and Fletcher sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"Mornin', m'girl," Moody said pleasantly. Fletcher gave her a curt nod.

"Good morning," Ginny replied, grabbing a bit of food before sitting with them. Ginny knew that they were talking about what had happened the previous week at Hogwarts. She looked at each of them in turn and then focused on her breakfast, it was going to be a long day.

"What do you plan on doing today, Ginny?" Moody asked, apparently changing the subject from what it was before she'd entered.

Ginny shrugged. "I suppose I'll study a bit, then go out and train more with the elements. I have a feeling they will be useful. I was kind of hoping I could find a place to live too. I mean, if we defeat Tom." Moody frowned and Ginny went on. "Not that I don't want to live here, it's very nice and you're so kind to let me under your roof. Of late I've been feeling like I'm wearing out my welcome."

"So does this mean you won't return to your house?" Fletcher asked.

Ginny snorted and said, "Would you? No. No, I'll go and buy me a bit of land, transfigure myself a house and live by myself. It would be more than I deserve to go home."

Fletcher grunted and turned his head to the clock on the wall. "Almost seven, Potter should be here soon."

Ginny sighed and left the table, heading up to her rooms. One more reason to move out as soon as she could. She didn't really think that Dumbledore or Moody would let her leave unless they defeated Voldemort, so all her hopes of leaving automatically were squashed. Ginny sat at her desk and started to work on her Arithmacy problems. You can never practice too much, she told herself.

~~~

Late that morning Ginny found herself doing the strangest of things. She was voluntarily walking down the stairs and onto the porch where Moody sat watching Harry. Moody gave her an undeterminable look and turned his gaze back to Harry's training. Ginny had expected Harry's training to be different from hers, but she hadn't anticipated how.

"A sword?" Ginny questioned, cocking her head and looking quizzically at Moody.

"A sword," Moody repeated. "Good, you know your hard wear."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Why does he have a sword?"

"That's my girl." Moody winked with his good eye. "Speak in complete sentences. He has a sword because that is what his part of the prophesy tells him."

"Tell me about it," Ginny said, pouring herself some tea after allowing Moody to test it for poison.

"Well," Moody said casually, "his is much more clear-cut than yours, and I'm glad of it too. At the time of the final battle, he'll receive a sword and he'll somehow defeat Voldemort."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "How do you know this? I've never seen anything on paper that speaks of this."

"Apparently," Moody continued, "he was given instruction by seven, extremely gifted me. They trained him to some point in dreams, giving him sacred objects that he could use to his advantage."

"Such as?" Ginny pressured.

"Well, he was given a dagger by the Egyptian wizard Ramses III. He was also given a bow by a sturdy Japanese fellow by the name of Ôtomo Yakamochi. King Arthur even visited his dreams, said something about never ever giving up and handed him a long sword, not Excalibur, but a grand sword none the les."

"Where does he keep them all?" Ginny asked with a frown.

Moody shrugged. "He's got himself a trunk hasn't he? Anyway, he's been getting training since his fifth year. I've got Mustafa out there right now perfecting his technique."

"Will he be ready?" Ginny asked quietly, shifting her eyes to the glistening Harry and Mustafa. But the looks of it they'd been going at it for hours.

Moody was silent for a long time so Ginny looked at him. Finally he said, "I pray to Merlin, Mab, and Morgana he will."

Ginny nodded, licking her lips, and turned back to Harry and Mustafa. Mustafa seemed to be correcting some minor technique with Harry's hands, Harry smiling gratefully.

"And if he isn't?" she asked darkly.

"God save us...and I'm not a religious man, Ginny," Moody said, matching her mood and he took a long draught from his flask.

Ginny nodded again still watching the two sword fighter's practice.

~~~

"Alastor, we have a problem."

Unholy mother of God, was the first thing that popped into Moody's head. Dumbledore NEVER said "we have a problem," not unless there WAS a problem. In all the hundred plus years Moody had known that old coot of a wizard he had only a few times heard him say that particular phrase. One time was when the Potter's died. Another was when Voldemort made his first attack on the world, the first Dark Revel. When Dumbledore said "we have a problem," there was a problem, and most likely a problem that would get people killed and history rewritten.

"What?" Moody asked through the fire.

"You need to come immediately. Bring Fletcher too." Dumbledore's head disappeared in the flame and Moody slumped slightly at his seat at the kitchen table.

Harry snorted in his sleep suddenly and woke up, his green eyes lined with dark circles and his hair array. "Wuh?" he asked sleepily, putting his glasses on. "I fell asleep? What time is it?"

"Time for you to be gettin' on home," Moody grumbled. "I've been called to a meeting with Dumbledore, sounded important.

Harry rubbed his eyes again and stood up, cracking his back. "Right then, I'll just have a spot of coffee and Dissapparate. Don't wanna get splinched or anything."

Moody grunted and Apparated to the front gates of Hogwarts, making sure his cloak was pulled around him tightly. Walking swiftly through the campus, he noted every sound and movement. Dumbledore's tone had given him enough reason to be extra careful. Upon reaching Dumbledore's study without incident, he took off the hood of his cloak and looked around the room and the faces of all the teachers.

"Where's Celeste Sinestra?" Moody grumbled, noting she was the only one of the staff not present.

"We don't know," McGonagall said shortly, a thin frown on her lips. "We don't know a lot of things right now."

Dumbledore gave McGonagall a sideways look and turned to Moody. "There's been a problem, Alastor. The Trapezium is missing."

"The Trapezium," Moody mused. "The Imperious?"

"The place reeks of it," Snape grunted from a chair by the fire. "You should walk in her rooms. She didn't look like she was planning on going anywhere, all her things are where they normally are and there are no signs of forced entrance or a struggle."

Dumbledore sighed. "She never could resist even the weakest of Imperious Curses. We were all tested as a sort of initiation for teaching here. Celeste was just so good at what she did, we could forgive that fault."

"What do you need me for?" Moody finally asked.

"We don't know why," McGonagall said primly, her thin lips curving downwards again.

"If Miss Weasley said anything about it, anything at all..." Dumbledore prompted.

Moody was silent for a long time. Then his good eye sparked intelligently. "Yes, she did say something, rather, wrote something. She's an expert Arithromancer." Veronica Vector smiled proudly. "I saw it in one of her theories, an equation that looked rather complicated; lots of abstract and double runes. I could go and get it, perhaps you could make sense of it, I only understand the elementary, not the numerous theories."

Dumbledore nodded and Moody left the office.

~~~

It wasn't a good idea; he knew it as soon as he left the house. Hell! He knew it as he was walking down the steps of the porch and onto the soft green grass. But when he looked out the window he couldn't resist.

She sat; her body in the Japanese tea drinking position, her face turned upon the bright and shimmering moon. It seemed to shimmer only for her, only on her. It reflected off her mid-back length, fire-red hair, giving it a pale, ethereal look. Her skin glowed in the moon light, making her a heavenly object, something worth worshipping. The only thing that gave her any look of earthliness was her clothes. She wore black. In the weeks he'd been training he'd never seen her wear any other color. She was wearing a black skirt and black short sleeved shirt with her trademark dragon hide gloves. He knew it must be because of the scars, the scars she'd gotten when she'd been crucified.

Harry shuddered with anticipation. The very thought of her crumbling before him like that time at Hogwarts made him itch to touch her, figure out how she ticked.

Her voice made him stop. It was slow and soft, like she was there, yet in another world all together. "Hello, Harry. How are you?" She didn't look at him, she kept her face to the moon and her eyes closed.

"I'm fine," he answered easily. "How are you?"

"Surviving. Was there something you wanted?"

Merlin, yes, he moaned silently. He dared a few more steps, getting just close enough so that he could stand in her light.

"I don't feel Alastor in the house right now," Ginny continued, "so you might have to wait a while."

"I don't want Moody," Harry confessed, taking more steps towards his prey. Ginny turned to him sharply, her metallic bronze eyes stopping him in his tracks. That, however, didn't stop him from finishing what he wanted to say. "I want you."

Ginny's face and eyes went blank. It was as if all emotion had been drained from them. "Leave, Harry," she said quietly.

"No," Harry said forcefully. "Not until you tell me why."

"No! Not until you tell me why! Why are you doing this, Harry? Draco is dead! You don't have to compete with him any more! Leave, Harry!" Ginny exploded. Standing and facing him with her full height, she stared him in the eyes, her eyes flashing a color dangerously close to red as they caught an odd angle of sun.

"This was never about him," Harry growled out, glaring down at her. He loved it when she got angry. "This was always about me and how I felt towards you! You may not feel things but I sure do! And I don't know why, but my heart tells me I love you. It's been telling me that for a while now and I can't figure out why you can't feel that way too!"

"I. DON'T. KNOW. HOW," Ginny ground out, clenching her fists tightly.

"Let me teach you," Harry said, now in a pleading voice. "It's much easier than Arithmacy or Transfiguration or any of the things you're already good at. Everyone can do it, they are born with it. Let me help!"

Harry watched as her eyes began to glisten. He knew he was halfway through her.

"Potter! What are you doing here still? I thought I told you to go home and get some sleep!"

Damn it all to hell! Harry thought darkly. Turning around, he saw Moody walking up the lawn towards him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Moody asked upon reaching Harry.

Harry opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out. Turning to look back at Ginny, he saw her dark form entering the small tree grove on the opposite side of the field.

"That is what I thought," Moody sighed. "Go home, Potter. I'll fix this up when I get back. Then you and I are going to have a talk."

Harry nodded and Apparated home.

~~~

"Got 'em," Moody stated, throwing the stack of papers down on the headmaster's desk. "The whole novel. Damn, this is all one problem?"

Professor Veronica Vector leafed though the papers lightly. "Yes, this is Miss Weasley's work. Very thorough, very neat, very advanced. This will take a few days to sort out. I'll get to work on this right away." Professor Vector left the study, leaving Dumbledore, Moody, Snape, McGonagall, Black, Lupin, and Fletcher, who had shown up in Moody's absence, to themselves.

"How could this happen, Headmaster?" Lupin asked gloomily. "Celeste...it's a travesty indeed when a Hogwarts teacher has been taken."

"Yes," the headmaster agreed. "Yes it is a travesty. We will whether it like we always have, with a strong backbone and hope in sight. In answer to how, who knows?"

"I didn't know Sinestra," Fletcher said, "but was she a very private person?"

"Oh, yes," McGonagall said promptly. "Celeste always liked her space, I remember her from my days at Hogwarts. She was two years below me. She was always astronomically inclined. She spent most of her time in front of star maps and excelled in Astronomy and Arithmacy."

"So she rarely left Astronomy Tower?" Moody asked.

"Very rarely," McGonagall emphasized. Her eyes acquired a dreamy look. "Come to think of it...the last time I saw her leave the grounds to go to Hogsmeade was two weeks ago. She wanted the new, high tech astro-ball, a new star charting system."

Fletcher and Moody looked at each other and nodded. "I'll need to examine her rooms, if you don't mind, Albus," Moody said.

~~~

Moody left the castle at about seven the next morning. It had been a long night...too long of a night. It had been confirmed that Celeste Sinestra had been under the Imperious for the past few weeks, (the caster of the spell was still unknown), and had been ordered to take the Trapezium. Moody was still waiting for the results from Vector for the Arithmacy Ginny had done on the crystal.

From what he gathered from Dumbledore, the Trapezium had the power to conduct and hold large amounts of power and energy. Dumbledore assumed that it was part of Voldemort's plans, but needed more information before he drew any concrete conclusions.

On top of all that the fool of a boy Potter had gone and confused Ginny, chasing her off into the woods. Moody didn't fancy searching about the grove out behind his house for hours looking for her either. Not that he wouldn't, he just didn't want to. But to his surprise, it wasn't that hard.

To the elves, there is no tree more holy than the Rowan tree. About fifty years ago, when Orion and Demetrios were his apprentices, they had planted a Holy Circle of Rowans, a natural center of worship in elfin religion, in his grove so they could perform their rituals. There were thirteen trees on the outer ring, one for each month in the elfin calendar, and four trees circling a fifth at the center. The one of the four trees in surrounding the fifth symbolized fire, one earth, one water, one wind. The tree at the circle symbolized ether.

Moody had only dared to step in this ring a few times, afraid he would damage it in some way. But it was a beautiful sight. Even when they were mere saplings they were magnificent. Now they were fully grown and developed...they were breathtaking.

Moody walked around the circle once and saw Ginny crouched beside the tree that symbolized earth. Looking for stability, eh, Sprite, Moody thought. His ears picking up her soft, yet solid voice, he listened and watched.

"Ore le árbol tirra. Ora dy estabilidad, dy gía, dy ferza. Ore le árbol tirra, contesta sinceramente, sy ta perdio," she said in High-Elfin, one of the numerous tongues she'd picked up from Orion and Demetrios. It was maddeningly close to Spanish or Latin, but not enough so he could understand what she was saying. Perhaps asking for guidance, stability, or help.

But even Moody could feel what happened next. The world seemed to come to a brief silence, then the ground groaned, as if in answer to Ginny's prayers. It wasn't dangerous groaning, like an earthquake, but a sorrowful groan, as though it was taking pity on Ginny. Then a strangely purple light shot down from the heavens and hit the center tree, the Tree of Ether which in turn shot at the Tree of Earth. Ginny made a strangled sound next, but upon closer examination, Moody saw she was crying. Not sobbing wildly like the first time, but quiet, long tears, the type that just flow soundlessly down you face. Her eyes were big and vulnerable, her hands shaking as she pulled off her gloves and placed her hs on the Tree of Earth. The tree seemed to sigh and then it began to glow a dusty color for a minute. The dusty glow was immediately infused into Ginny, her almost inaudible gasp the only noise.

Ginny promptly fell on the ground...hard. She didn't get up. Picking Ginny up and throwing her gloves in his pocket, Moody carried her all the way to her bed. After carrying her unconscious body up the stairs and into her room, he laid her gently on the bed and pulled off her shoes.

"There's something special about you, Sprite," he mumbled lightly taking her other shoe off and putting it on the ground by her bed. "Something special indeed."

Sighing, Moody pulled the covers over her and closed the door quietly. Just as he though he could go lie down himself, Harry walked in the door.

"Where's Mustafa?" Moody grunted.

"Well...there's been a bit of a problem," Harry said cautiously.

Moody groaned. "What now? All we need to happen to make this the perfect morning is for the sky to turn black and Armageddon to claim us all!"

"Mustafa has been injured and he refuses to get it treated by magic," Harry blurted out.

"Fool," Moody scoffed. "What did he do now, the bloody foreign barbarian?"

"He was sparring with Louis Kelley and his arm was torn to ribbons. It isn't that bad, but it was his good arm and he doesn't want to train until it's healed...the old fashioned way," Harry explained.

"Bloody fool of a wizard. Pft! Sword fighters! Give me a wand any day!" Then Moody looked sideways at Harry. "I suppose I'll take over, I've had formal training in sparring. Are you using broadswords or foils or what?"

"Bastard swords," Harry replied.

Moody nodded, going into his supply room and pulling out two, good-sized bastard swords. They walked out onto the grassy field and began to duel.

~~~

Ginny's sleep was troubled...if you could call what she was doing sleep.

Ginny sat in a garden, a beautiful garden with roses and fountains and small paths and little waterfalls and every flower imaginable. It was smooth and sweet like spring afternoons and reminded Ginny of extreme peace. Ginny knew where she must be, the Garden of Earth. The last thing she remembered was being called into the spirit of the tree and her soul gladly left her body.

Looking down at the cool grass Ginny noticed she was no longer wearing her customary black garbs, nor was she wearing her gloves. In fact, Ginny was wearing a loose fitting, perfect white dress that went down to her bare feet. It draped loosely over her shoulders, reminding her of a Greco-Roman robe. Ginny frowned and looked down at her hands. There were no scars, just pale white hands.

Drawing a ragged breath, Ginny glanced around her again. No one in sight. Upon seeing a small patch of grass, she decided to sit while she waited.

~~~

"That's good enough, Potter," Moody said, his arm aching from the intensity of the boy's blows. He was meant to be a knight, there is no way around it, Moody thought. Even now, he looks at me as though I'm the enemy, minutes after battle. The fighting Gryffindor spirit, I see, is not to be taken lightly. Voldemort will not expect this.

Moody took long breaths as he watched Harry. Harry ran his fingers down the side of the sword and frowned, his eyes squinting slightly.

"The sword was a gift from a friend of mine," Moody said casually. "A monk actually. He worked in a monastery off of Ireland."

"It has great craftsmanship," Harry commented. "Good weight distribution, good aerodynamics, good metal too."

Moody nodded. "It's a fine sword. And you are a fine swordsman. But that isn't what I want to talk about."

Harry sheathed the sword and looked at Moody expectantly. "What did you want to talk about then?"

"Ginny," Moody said simply. Harry's face visibly paled and his eyes widened a bit.

"It she all right?" he asked cautiously.

"I believe not. And you aren't helping," Moody snapped. "You just have to go that much farther, you just have to push the envelope that much more, don't you?"

"I - "

"I'm not finished boy," he growled. "Ginny is precious to me and I don't want to see her get hurt...and I don't want you to play around with her. She's at a vulnerable time in her life and having you around hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. What you're doing with her, playing with her new and impressionable emotions...it isn't right, it isn't fair, not to her and not to you either."

"But - "

"Let me finish! She's going through...changes, Ginny is. She's trying to do the right thing, but she doesn't quite know what that is. She can't distinguish emotions and feelings yet, they are all a blur to her. So just hold your damnable teenage hormones a few months...maybe a year depending on how she's feeling. You understand what I'm saying, Potter?"

Harry was silent for a little while before he spoke. "I understand. But you have to believe me, Moody, I would never do anything to hurt her...I...I love her. She's precious to me too. I'm just afraid of loosing her before she's even mine."

Moody snorted. "Well there's your first problem. Ginny can't be owned. Maybe you should start thinking of her as a person instead of an object. Bloody Gryffindors! Is everything an object to own with you lot?"

"One could say the same thing about Slytherin," Harry countered bravely, his green eyes flashing.

Moody examined him...with both eyes, and nodded. "I suppose you could. But I wouldn't go around with that attitude when talking about Ginny."

Harry nodded.

"Good," Moody said. "Are you ready for another round?"

That manic glint that formed in Harry's eyes when dueling became present once again and he unsheathed his sword and stood in the ready position.

~~~

Ginny didn't know how long she'd been waiting. A minute? An hour? A year? Time seemed to have no power here, no presence. It was eternally green and sunny with happy white clouds floating blithely about in the atmosphere. She didn't hear any animals, but that didn't mean there weren't any. The smell of the garden was soothing and true...a great goodness for Ginny's troubled mind.

The only thing that could have made it more perfect would be if it were night and she could float among the stars. But it was peaceful there and Ginny found no reason to want to move.

Looking off into the distance Ginny noticed a shimmering, undistinguishable form in the distance. It was like a mirage almost, but not as clear, just light blurred into crooked and shifting horizontal lines. There was a familiar glow to it, something recognizable, but barely. Whatever it was, it was walking right at Ginny, not quickly, but steadily. As the form got closer, the shimmering form became more distinguished, morphing into a more human looking light.

As the foreign figure advanced Ginny stood and waited. Then the first wind she'd felt the whole time she was there picked up and her white dress flapped calmly around her calves.

"Virginia..."

The name seemed to be carried by the wind, which was getting more intense, causing her dress to whip madly around her.

"Virginia..." the voice said again, this time louder and closer, just like the sifting figure of light.

With a final, tremulous gust of air the figure became clear to her and all air died where it stood.

Ginny fell on her knees, her lips slightly parted and tears flowing freely and steadily from her eyes.

"Sh...sh, Virginia, it's all right."

"Draco," Ginny said in a whisper as Draco crouched on the ground in front of her and took her lightly into his arms. Ginny flung her arms over his shoulders and held him tightly to her, her breath coming out short and ragged as she cried quietly on him. He smelled like she remembered, felt like she remembered, looked like she remembered. "Draco," she repeated brokenly into his neck.

"Sh, Virginia," Draco said, kissing her lightly on the cheek and smoothing her hair away from her face and looking deeply into her eyes. "It's all right. Come now, no tears, Virginia."

Ginny looked into his Mercurian eyes and forced her tears to stop. "Draco...I - I don't understand. I'm so confused."

"It's okay," he said warmly. The helping her to stand, he looked down on her with complete love and trust in his eyes.

Then realization dawned on Ginny. This wasn't Draco, not in full. Draco didn't know how to do that.

"I am him, in part," Draco said, reading her mind. "I am his better half, we are separated you see. You know about that right?"

Ginny nodded. "You're not really him then. He needs his other half to truly be Draco."

"Everyone needs their other half to truly be who they are, Virginia," Draco answered.

Sniffing, Ginny let go of him, taking a step back. His platinum hair and pale skin were so familiar, but he looked different, he held himself different. His eyes shone differently, his face didn't look quite right without the hint of a smirk he always wore.

"Why am I here?" Ginny asked cautiously.

"You asked for guidance, stability, and hope. I've come to tell you help is on his way. Help always come to those in need, Virginia," Draco explained.

"How?" she asked simply.

"Well, I shouldn't say to you directly, but to Harry," he said calmly.

"Pft! He doesn't need help. I need help."

"I'm afraid your wrong their, Virginia. You see, Harry needs the most help of all."

"Who, then, will help us...him?" Ginny asked darkly. "Dumbledore? Moody? The Ministry? Me?"

"Most certainly you, Virginia," Draco replied. "But you haven't yet begun to help him the way you will later. No, I will help him, it has been agreed."

Ginny stared at him silently for a moment. "But aren't you...dead?"

Draco smirked and Ginny's breath caught in her throat. "In part, yes. I have not yet left for the Elysian Fields. My soul took a very long time to become two...a very long time and it isn't yet done. That is the only reason I'm allowed here now."

"But that means...you aren't fully separated! And you can go to Earth in spirit form!" Ginny exclaimed.

Draco nodded. "Yes."

Then a cool wind caught up and the bottom of Ginny's dress waved around her ankles. Draco's figure became more vague and shimmered at the edges.

"I have to go, Virginia," he said, his voice getting distant as the wind picked up speed.

Reaching out to him, Ginny's hand met his and it seemed to be electrically charged. Draco pulled her to him and captured her lips. She felt alive, yet cool and calm; it was the way heaven tasted. But he became less and less solid and Ginny could feel her flapping dress moving through him.

"Virginia," he sighed as his lips broke from hers, his figure to indistinguishable to see. Then the wind whipped around their bodies and Draco was gone.

Ginny woke with tears on her face and tingling lips.

~~~

May 17, 1997

Dear Diary,

It has been three long days since the dream and still I feel the electricity in my veins. The way his skin felt on my bare shoulders, the way his lips tasted to my lonesome tongue...I still linger on those thoughts. I miss him terribly, though his words frighten me a little. He says he is returning, he says he can come and help. I am back and my soul is damned. Why would he agree to this? Why would he do this? I don't understand.

Damn. I don't understand a lot of things lately. Like...everything. It's like a bucket of boiling water has been dumped on my head and I'm supposed to learn about every drop of it and not get burned. I'd much rather have cold water, but that would defeat the purpose. Stupid emotions...but sometimes they feel so good...so right.

I tried to hide it, even from myself, but I liked being around Harry. It's like his personality just swept over my soul like cool water and then covered me in it. If someone else tried to drown me like that, I'd kill them. But I wanted more from Harry. I wanted to feel his soul touch mine. I know that sounds odd, but I'd just been on the waves of the universe and I was still sensitive to those sort of things.

That scared me. It scared me a lot, the fact I wanted more. That is why I ran. Why wouldn't I? I was confused and damn it I still am! I shouldn't want to be near him, I shouldn't want to touch him! I should be disgusted with the very idea. He wanted to sent me off to Delphi, he wanted to trap me. I can't help it and I don't know what is wrong with me!

Damnable emotions! Things would be so much easier without them...

He said he would teach me...he said...

Stop it, Ginny! You are as bad as your forth year!

But still...

I know at some point I'll have to face him, face myself. I hope it's not soon because I'd rather not...ever. But it will come, I feel the time approaching. I feel a lot of things approaching, and some things leaving. Like the power of the rings, that is leaving. But not from this earth, just from the rings themselves. It's all in me now, in Xanu I think. I wonder what Xanu is for, and why it is in me. The only think I truly know is their power is almost gone. Moody saw the Nysilia's ring the other day. He didn't say anything, but I could tell by the way his magic eye looked at it he wondered about it.

I feel The Alignment coming fast. Before I couldn't, but now I can't imagine not feeling it. Sometimes the force of it is so great I just want to hide, but there is no where to go. Like when Mercury passed by Venus the other week, I thought the ringing in my ears would never stop. Such intense power from only two planets, and the closest two to boot. You see as the planets get farther from the sun the more power they hold. When Pluto passes Uranus I'm sure I'll pass out. Somehow I'll have to block it all out.

No, I'll have to deal with it. I'll be right there with Harry on the last day...or the first day if you think of it like that. Somehow I'll have to live through it. I'm just too sensitive to it now, but nothing can be done. I wonder how Demetrios is; he was always very sensitive to the moving of the universe. For that matter, I wonder how the centaurs are. They, most of all, should feel this. I mean, they've known about it for years, every day the time getting closer. It must have been torture.

Anyway, I have more work to do. I want to somehow get in touch with Xanu; maybe it will know what to do.

I will wait for Draco, he said he was coming. It will be a short wait I think. That is what the universe says.