Broken Fate

Chapter Twenty-Eight ~ Shadows of Truth

"MALFOY!" Harry's voice rang through the Great Hall the next morning, and half the students preparing for class turned to look at him as he stormed to the Slytherin table. He whipped out his wand and pointed it straight between Malfoy's eyes.

"Harry! Harry, no!" Harry heard Hermione's voice calling him, but he ignored it.

"You knew this was going to happen to Ginny!" Harry accused, feeling the eyes of the students upon him. Whispers started running up and down the tables, and he heard Ginny's name mentioned. "Tell me how to fix it, or I swear, I will--"

"Will what, Potter?" Malfoy said lazily. He stood up, resting his hands on the table. "She should have known better than to cross the Dark Lord."

"You--"

"POTTER! Just what do you think you are doing?"

In his peripheral vision, Harry saw Professor McGonagall striding down the length of the Great Hall. He didn't flinch. "He knew! He knew something was going to happen to Ginny!"

"Mr. Potter! Lower your wand at once!" McGonagall demanded. "Mr. Malfoy, my office, now. You too, Potter."

Harry held his wand on Malfoy for a moment more, and then swiveled around. Still holding his wand, he accompanied Professor McGonagall to her office, Malfoy beside him, a smirk on his face. Once they'd reached the office, Professor McGonagall whirled and pinned them both with a glare. "Explain."

Harry told her about the note that Ginny had found in her pocket a month earlier, and Malfoy snorted. "Come on, Potter. Why would I write something like that? I have nothing to do with whatever happened to your girlfriend."

Professor McGonagall eyed Malfoy for a moment, and then said, "Go finish your breakfast, Mr. Malfoy. Potter, sit down."

Sneering at Harry, Malfoy left the office. Harry threw himself into a chair in front of McGonagall's desk. "He knows something, Professor."

"That may be, but it is not in your authority to accuse him and cause a disturbance at breakfast! I will speak with him later, but you will leave him alone. We all regret what has happened to Ginny, but you must control yourself!"

Harry looked at her stubbornly, but refrained from saying anything.

"Now--go finish your breakfast, Potter," Professor McGonagall said irritably.

Harry stomped out of Professor McGonagall's office, only to find Hermione waiting for him outside. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down the hall, looking around to ensure that no one was listening. "Harry--I wanted to tell you. I went and added the final ingredient to the Veritaserum when I got back from Hogsmeade. It finished stewing last night. It's ready."

~*~

"He's coming down the hall," Will whispered from underneath Jamie's invisibility cloak. He stood in the doorway of the Room of Requirement, and he glanced over his shoulder at Hermione, who was inside the room.

Hermione patted the chair in front of her. "It'll be fine. Harry'll Stun him," she said.

Draco continued to approach, having been lured to this hallway by a well-placed note that he thought one of his friends had left him, courtesy of Shay. After his next step down the hallway, he suddenly fell flat on his face and didn't move. Will watched as Draco's body slid down the hall, and he stepped aside, giving Harry--in his own invisibility cloak and pulling Draco's Stunned body--room to get through the door. A minute later, the door shut, and Harry pulled off the cloak, glaring down at Draco He grabbed one of Draco' arms, and Will came over to take the other. The two of them heaved the Slytherin into the chair--the only piece of furniture that the Room of Requirement had procured for them.

Will pulled off the cloak he wore and tucked it into his robes. Hermione quickly pointed her wand at Draco. Ropes shot out of it, binding him to the chair. She carefully pulled a vial of clear liquid out of her robe pocket and held it up. "Are you two ready?"

"Yes," Harry answered shortly, and Will nodded.

They had decided it would be best if only a couple of them went to administer the Veritaserum and question Draco. As one of the creators of the potion, Hermione had gone, and of course, there had been no way Harry was going to stay behind. Will had come as their expert from the future--they thought it best to have him on the off chance Draco said something that made sense to Will, but not to them. They were trying to keep Jamie as far away from Draco as possible until they knew exactly what was going on, so she had stayed behind just to be on the safe side.

Hermione walked over to stand in front of Draco and tilted his head back, pulling his jaw slightly open. She pulled the stopper out of the vial and squeezed some of the Veritaserum into a dropper. Taking a deep breath, she carefully poured three drops of the potion in Malfoy's mouth. She nodded at Harry, who pointed his wand at Draco and said, "Ennervate."

Draco's eyes snapped open, his face sagging, his eyes glazed. Harry stepped directly in front of him, but Hermione held up her hand. "Wait. I'm pretty sure it worked, but we need a test." She looked at Draco. "What's your name?"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy," he said in a voice void of all expression.

"Do you work for Voldemort?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

Hermione nodded and stepped back beside Will. "I'm sure it's working." She looked quite pleased, and Will didn't blame her. She and Jamie had worked hard to create the potion.

"What do you know--" Harry began, but was cut off by Hermione tugging on the sleeve of his robe.

"We need to start at the beginning, Harry."

Harry pressed his mouth together, but nodded. "When did you start working for Voldemort?"

"After my father was captured at the Ministry of Magic," Draco said.

"Did you ever have contact with him?" Hermione asked. "And if so, what contact?"

"I only talked with his Death Eaters, through one of the school fireplaces. I told them what was happening at the school."

"Did they ever tell you anything?" Harry asked.

"Not much. I received certain instructions, but beyond that, they don't tell me anything," Draco replied, his eyelids flitting.

"What instructions were you given?" Hermione questioned.

"I was sent a package. A Gourl," Draco said flatly.

"Not another one of those!" Harry hissed under his breath.

"What purpose did the Gourl serve?" Hermione asked.

"It played a recording of the Dark Lord speaking in Parseltongue. I was told to take it to the girl's bathroom on the second floor and use it on the sink with the symbol of the snake. It opened up a tunnel, but the bottom of the tunnel was sealed with a wall. It took me two weeks to make a hole in the wall."

"Why would Voldemort want you to open the Chamber of Secrets?" Will asked.

"He needed snake skin from the basilisk. I don't know why."

Harry, Hermione, and Will exchanged glances, and then Will spoke again. "Were you given any other instructions?"

"One more instruction, before Christmas. I was told to send some of my cousin's hairs to the Death Eaters for the Dark Lord."

"Your cousin...you mean Tonks?" Hermione said, surprised.

"Yes."

Will glanced at Hermione. She was staring at Draco, her face pale and her eyes narrowed. She caught Will's eyes, and then turned back to Draco. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"What happened to Ginny?" Harry snapped.

"The Dark Lord cursed her."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"You do know!" Harry's voice rose. "You told her--"

"Harry, he's under the influence of Veritaserum. He can't lie," Hermione reminded him.

"I know, but--" Harry broke off. "You gave Ginny a note a month ago--you told her that she was running out of time--what did you mean? How did you know?" As angry as Harry looked, Will wondered if he was going to attack Draco, bound and drugged or not.

"I knew that the Dark Lord was going to do something to her soon," Draco said. "I knew because I'm the one who found his old diary--the one that my father had given to Ginny her first year here. The Dark Lord wanted it back, and I was only told it would be used on Ginny Weasley."

Will closed his eyes. They should have suspected that Draco would only be elaborating on bits of information he had--he tried to look more powerful than he was, and he used whatever he could to provoke Harry and his friends.

"Do you know anything about what Voldemort is doing?" Hermione said.

"He's using someone to spy on Dumbledore's resistance group."

That was one of the things Will, Harry, and Hermione had been going to ask about. "Who?" Will and Hermione asked at once. They exchanged glances, and Hermione said, "Who is the spy?"

"I don't know."

~*~

"And that's it!" Hermione said, throwing her hands in the air. After modifying Malfoy's memory, they had left him in the hallway, knowing he would come around when the Veritaserum wore off. Harry, Hermione, Will, Shay, Jamie, Ron, and Neville had met in an empty classroom to discuss the results. "He didn't know anything. He knew about Jamie because he overheard his mother reporting to someone in their fireplace over Christmas break, which means his mother heard it from somewhere, but we don't know where or how. It doesn't surprise me that his mum is in on this--that whole family's deep in the dark arts. Malfoy said she was the one who told Rita Skeeter about Jamie--apparently in hopes that if the rest of the world knew about Jamie, it would force her out into the open."

"Which would make it easier for Voldemort to find her and get his hands on her," Shay concluded, his face rigid.

"Yes. Rita then went and did her own research--asked around at the Regulation and Control of Time-Travel Office and learned about the unauthorized Time-Turner used in August. She found out from Stan Shunpike that Jamie had been on the Knight Bus," Hermione continued.

"Which is how they were able to get a drawing of Jamie for the Prophet," Will said.

"Draco knew that I'd done a Hair-Lengthening Charm, though," Jamie spoke up. "How did he know that?"

"Some comment that his mother made to Rita Skeeter," Will replied. He wrapped his arms around his knees and looked around at his friends and parents. "She said something about Jamie being just as vain as Harry, and mentioned the Hair-Lengthening Charm."

"Then who is Malfoy's mum talking to? Where is this coming from?" Ron asked, frustrated.

"And just what did Voldemort want with Tonks' hair?" Neville asked, wrinkling his nose.

Hermione hesitated. "I have a guess."

"Well?" Ron prodded.

"Malfoy said he received instructions to take Tonks' hair before Christmas--as far as we know, that was before Voldemort learned of Jamie. And Jamie has to be in the middle of Voldemort's plans now--he has to assume that Jamie warned us about...well, the things that happened in this time. He has to assume that Jamie knows everything about what his plans were, just to be on the safe side. That's why he wants her so badly--to find out just what she knows. Because of that, he would have had to change everything. What if it was part of his plan to kill Dumbledore and frame Tonks, as it happened in the original timeline? Who knows what he used the hair for--he could have used Polyjuice Potion and infiltrated the school--or had someone else infiltrate it. We don't know, and we may never find out," Hermione continued.

"Whatever the reason, Voldemort probably isn't going to use it again, not unless he finds out just what Jamie knows," Harry reminded her.

"It's the news about the Chamber of Secrets that really has me worried," Hermione said. "Why did Voldemort want basilisk skin? I mean, I know he couldn't just buy it; basilisks are extremely rare, and bits of them can't be sold--it's illegal because their organs and skin and stuff can be dangerous when used improperly."

"Who knows?" Ron shrugged.

"So where does that leave us?" Neville asked.

"Right back where we started, except that we can at least warn Tonks that Voldemort has her hair--whether he'll ever use it or not," Hermione said.

"Should we tell Dumbledore that the Chamber of Secrets isn't blocked off anymore?" Will asked.

"Then he's going to wonder what we did to it," Ron pointed out.

"Well...we'll tell him we didn't do anything," Will replied. He paused and sighed. "Then he'll want to know how we found out..."

"Look, the only people who can access the Chamber of Secrets are those who speak Parseltongue," Harry said.

"Or those who have a Gourl recording Parseltongue," Hermione put in. She sighed. "The wall Dumbledore put up was just a precautionary measure, in case any of the students managed to find their way down to the Chamber. Like Malfoy said, it took him two weeks to break through it--how many people would bother? It might be better if we just went down to see if we could repair the wall on our own."

"Well, since I'm the only one who can speak Parseltongue and open the entrance..." Harry began with a sigh.

Jamie cleared her throat. "Actually..."

Harry stared at her for a moment. "You speak Parseltongue?"

"Erm...Aunt Hermione said that Parseltongue was passed down from Salazar Slytherin to his descendents...and that since you speak Parseltongue, it only made sense that you passed it to me...and that if I ever have children, I very well might pass it to them," Jamie said awkwardly. "I never thought to mention it...sorry."

"Well, I think in this case, I'll still go. Hermione?" Harry looked at her.

"I'll come and see if there's a way I can fix the wall," Hermione said. "What about warning Tonks?"

"I'll talk to her," Will offered. "I can tell her that we found out that Draco's been helping Voldemort, but I won't tell her anything else."

~*~

Later that evening, a freshly-showered Hermione joined an also freshly-showered Harry in the infirmary. "I'm so glad to be clean. That tunnel was so slimy. And so long." She shuddered. "At least we managed to find a way to fix the wall, even if it will take us a couple trips to repair it all the way. Oh, and I just spoke with Will. He talked to Tonks. She said she wasn't surprised to hear that Malfoy's been helping Voldemort, and thanks for warning her. She asked Will how he had learned about the hairs, and Will told her we'd been doing some spying of our own. She told him to be careful"

"Good." Harry took a deep breath and let it out, his gaze dropping to Ginny's prone form. "Are you and Ron doing anything today?"

"I don't know...I know it's Valentine's Day, but...it's hard to celebrate when Ginny's here."

"You should carry out whatever plans you had, Hermione. Don't let Voldemort ruin your first Valentine's Day with Ron. You were the one who was so excited about it."

Hermione smiled sadly. "I know, but it's all right. There are more important things."

Harry remained silent for a moment. "So now what?"

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and fixed her own eyes on Ginny. "I don't know, Harry."

~*~

Six days came and went, and Ginny remained in the same state in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had been trying different ways of waking Ginny, but as she said, "I just don't know enough about the curse that did this!" Several other people had been trying things--even Snape said it might be possible that a potion could wake her, and he was working on it, but he also said it was difficult without knowing more about the curse. The week crept along, and Harry put what energy he had into Quidditch. Flying helped him vent some of his anger and frustration, but every time he went up on the broom with his Quidditch team, he felt Ginny's absence more strongly. She should be up here on a broom, not down in the hospital wing.

He had tried to postpone the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but was told that there was no time--one match had already been postponed, and they had no guarantee that Ginny would wake up anytime soon. They ended up playing with only Katie and Sari as Chasers, and they beat Hufflepuff by thirty points, thanks to a quick catch of the Snitch by Harry, and some fantastic saves on Ron's part. Despite the victory, their happiness was tainted by the fact that Ginny wasn't there to share it with them.

A week after Ginny's fall into sleep, Mr. Weasley and Bill arrived to take her to St. Mungo's. "Don't worry," Bill told them. "We'll have someone with her at all times, and she's being put in a special area of the hospital that has very high security. She'll be well-guarded. Mum and Dad just want to see if the Healers can do anything for her--Dumbledore and the others will still be working on a counter-curse, too. The more people working, the better, I say."

Harry hoped that the Healers would be able to help, but he had his doubts. If Voldemort had designed this curse, he wouldn't have made it that easy to break. He hesitated, then leaned down and kissed Ginny gently on the lips, not caring that her father and brother were watching. "I love you, Ginny," he whispered, knowing she probably couldn't hear him. He stepped back, and Bill leaned down to pick her up.

"She'll wake up," Bill said encouragingly.

Harry did his best to carry on with his classes and his life, knowing the best that he could do to help Ginny would be to learn all he could and keep his eyes open for anything suspicious. He spent a lot of time in the library with Hermione, pulling on any and all references to sleeping spells There were some days that he just felt completely useless, and it was only the presence of his friends that kept him sane. He spent a lot of time with his Quidditch team on the field. He had been forced to come up with some new techniques that only accounted for two Chasers. Professor McGonagall had told him he could take on a reserve player, but he felt like that would be confirming that Ginny wasn't coming back. "I can do it with two Chasers until Ginny's better," he had told her firmly.

Sometimes to relax a little, he would go flying with Ron or Jamie, or by himself. He still had his Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore, but he was frustrated with them, because he couldn't help thinking that if he could only see into Voldemort's mind, he might be able to find a way to wake Ginny. However, he knew the dangers of that--it had gotten Sirius killed last time he had tried--and he wasn't going to risk doing the same to Ginny.

He had also stopped meeting Sari for sign language classes, because he had become quite efficient at using signs for speaking. He could even understand most of the conversations between Sari and Aiden when their hands were moving at top speed. The Gryffindors who spent time around Sari had also picked up varying aptitudes of sign language, and oftentimes, they could be seen signing to each other discreetly across rooms. It made for a very good way of passing messages in classes, or passing messages when they didn't want any of the other Houses to know what they were saying.

Charlie Weasley returned from Romania shortly after Ginny left for St. Mungo's, but didn't come back to the school to teach. He went straight to Grimmauld Place, and Hagrid continued teaching Care of Magical Creatures.

February passed into March, and Fred and Angelina moved to Hogsmeade and opened their shop. Occasionally one or both of them could be seen on Hogwarts grounds, visiting with old friends or watching Quidditch practices. During those visits, Harry learned that their joke shops in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were both being used as fronts for the Order; Fred, George, Angelina, and Lee--who had joined the Order--were creating various items to be used in the fight against Voldemort. "Our primary goal is to make people laugh, though. Without that, the war's lost for certain," Fred said.

Harry also ended up seeing more of Luna Lovegood. She and Neville had begun spending quite a bit of time around each other; they had been friends since the end of the last year, but it seemed to Harry that Neville was seeing her a lot more than usual. He didn't think much of it--he didn't mind Luna being around; her crazy theories gave him something to take his mind off of Ginny, even for a moment.

March became into April, and there was still no progress made on Ginny's condition. The Healers had been unable to wake her. Snape had created a potion, which had also been unsuccessful, and all other attempts were equally useless. Harry was frustrated and discouraged, but refused to believe that Ginny would spend the rest of her life in a comatose state. He felt more restless and edgy as time passed. He wanted to do something--this whole year he had just been sitting around doing nothing while Voldemort wreaked havoc on the wizarding world. He just didn't know what he could do. He didn't even know where Voldemort was.

April turned into May, and May into June. There was a flurry of studying in preparation for final exams. The fifth years and seventh years were stressed beyond all the rest of the students, as they were taking their O.W.L.s and their N.E.W.T.s. Harry wondered if Ginny would be able to catch up on her schooling whenever--not if, when--she woke up. She had been stressed out enough doing her homework on time--maybe she would get an allowance for the four months of school she had missed.

Despite the constant concern everyone had for Ginny, Hermione put just as much time into studying, and fretted over the results of their exams. In addition to all of that strain, their wariness of Dumbledore's fate increased as the date of his death in the future timeline approached. While they weren't sure if it would still happen--or if it did, when it would happen--they remained alert. In the original timeline, he had apparently died the day before final exams began.

As it turned out, in the current timeline, Dumbledore wasn't even on Hogwarts grounds that day, and it passed without anything unusual happening. They still kept their eyes open as the long, arduous exams passed. Defense Against the Dark Arts was their last class, and Harry was glad when it was over, but depressed at the same time--it meant that the summer was going to start, and Ginny still wasn't there. He wasn't even sure what he was going to be doing this summer, as the Dursleys were dead. He assumed he'd be going to Grimmauld Place, but he hadn't actually confirmed this with Dumbledore.

"That exam wasn't so bad," Ron said, as he, Harry, and Hermione left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, followed by Neville, Will, and Jamie. "It was hard trying to pick out Tonks from the real students--she looked just like Lavender, and when the two of them stood side by side... I'm just so glad all of the exams are over."

"It's too bad Tonks isn't coming back next year," Hermione said thoughtfully. "She was one of the best teachers we had for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I can't believe this year is over," Neville said, shaking his head. "This has been one of the strangest years of my life."

"What are you going to do for the summer, Neville?" Ron asked.

"I'm going back to stay with my Gran. I don't really have anywhere else to go, and Gran...well...you met her, you've seen what she's like. She'll want me home." Neville mumbled, looking at the ground. Harry got the distinct impression there was something Neville wasn't saying, but didn't want to press his friend.

"You'll be seventeen this summer, though," Ron pointed out. "I'm sure you could always come stay with us if you wanted to, at least for the last half. You'd just have to talk to Dumbledore."

Neville nodded and shifted his feet. "Well...actually..." He sighed and looked up, his face a little flushed. "Luna asked if I could come stay with her and her father for part of the summer."

Ron raised his eyebrows, and Will and Jamie exchanged glances. "Really?" Hermione said. "That's...lovely, Neville."

Neville looked decidedly awkward, but he nodded. Jamie laid a hand on his arm. "Neville, if you're worried about Shay--don't. I don't know exactly what's going on with you and Luna, but it doesn't matter. He knows something's going on. He also knows that this time is different. You can be with whomever you want. Trust me, it's something we've talked about at length."

Neville gave her a tiny smile. "Thanks. We're just friends right now, though--really," he said, seeing Ron's disbelieving expression.

"And speaking of Luna..." Hermione nodded at the entrance to the Great Hall, where Luna was emerging, the familiar faraway look in her eyes. "Hello, Luna! Did you just finish one of your O.W.L. exams?"

"Oh, hello," Luna said, veering in their direction. "Yes, it was Defense Against the Dark Arts. I think the examiner is a vampire," she said thoughtfully. She smiled at them and wandered off.

They headed out onto the grounds and headed toward the lake. It was a beautiful day; the giant squid was pushing across the water, smoke was trailing from Hagrid's hut, and the Whomping Willow was quivering. It all looked so normal, Harry thought hollowly.

Hermione glanced at the Whomping Willow and shuddered. "Ugh. Ron, you know, thanks to you, every time I see that tree, I have your memory of crashing into it. It's not pleasant."

Ron just rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. They lolled around for a while, and then a familiar voice broke through their quiet conversation. "I thought I'd find you out here."

Harry turned to see Angelina walking toward them, her gait rather awkward due to her protruding stomach. To his surprise, right beside her was Gabrielle Delacour.

"Angelina!" Hermione jumped to her feet. "It's great to see you. And Gabrielle! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we just came to say hello. Gabrielle's staying with Fred and I for a couple of days while Bill and Fleur are in France. She wanted to get out of headquarters for a little while."

Gabrielle grinned at them. "Hello!" Her eyes lit upon Jamie, and she beamed. "Jamie! I was hoping to see you!"

"Gabrielle!" Jamie stood up and hugged the girl. "Your accent...it's not nearly as strong--your English has improved a lot."

"Monsieur Lupin has been helping me with my English," Gabrielle explained. "He has been helping Fleur, as well." She peered around, as if expecting to see someone else. "Is Shay not here?"

"He's still in his final exam," Neville spoke up, pointing toward the school.

"I see." Gabrielle turned toward the school. "Angelina said I could come see the school, since I will be coming here next year. It has been a long time since I last saw it." She looked hopefully at Angelina.

Angelina made a shooing motion. "Yes, yes. Go on. Just stay on Hogwarts grounds."

"I will!" Gabrielle trotted off, her pale hair flying behind her.

When she was gone, Angelina turned back to the group. "Has Dumbledore told you about Ginny yet?"

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked quickly.

Harry straightened; was there some new news about Ginny? If so, why hadn't he already been told?

"Well, Dumbledore's been working with the healers at St. Mungo's, and they think they've been able to analyze the curse--they know how it's working. And if they know how it's working, then they might be able to come up with a counter-curse," Angelina explained. She carefully sat down on the ground, leaning back with a groan. "My back and my hips are killing me," she muttered. "Only ten more weeks. I can do this."

Hermione gave her a sympathetic look, but Harry's mind was still on Ginny. "How long do they think it'll take to come up with a counter-curse?" he asked pressingly.

"I don't know, Harry," Angelina said regretfully. "It might take a day, it might take a year. This was some curse that Voldemort came up with."

"You don't need to tell us that," Neville said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will tell you if anything changes," Angelina assured. She started to get up, and Will jumped to his feet and lent her a hand. "Thanks," she said, struggling to her feet. "I hate to run, but I need to speak with Tonks."

Hermione stood, as well. "I'll walk with you, if you don't mind. I've got something for you--I just finished it, and I'm not sure if I'll see you again before leaving school. One less thing to pack, you know."

Angelina laughed. "I understand. I don't mind at all." Angelina and Hermione walked off together, and Harry glanced at Ron, Will, Neville, and Jamie.

"I hope they find something for Ginny soon," Ron said. His expression of frustration matched Harry's feelings exactly.

Will nodded. "Me, too."

"There you are, Harry! Professor McGonagall sent me to get you--she wants to talk to you." An out-of-breath Dennis Creevey halted in front of them. "She said to tell you she's waiting for you outside of Dumbledore's office."

"Is it something to do with Ginny? Should I come, too?" Ron asked quickly.

"Er, I don't know," Dennis said. "McGonagall only asked for Harry."

Puzzled, Harry rose. "Thanks, Dennis." He shrugged at his friends. "I'll see you in a bit." He hurried up to the castle and through the corridors until he came to the gargoyle. Professor McGonagall was indeed standing outside.

"There you are, Potter. Come along, Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you. Licorice wand," she said. The gargoyle came to life and hopped aside, and Harry followed McGonagall up the moving stairs and into Professor Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, and he looked up when Harry entered. "Ah, Harry. Please have a seat."

Professor McGonagall retreated from the office, and Harry sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk, taking in the old wizard's appearance. He looked extremely tired, and he didn't smile at Harry.

"Professor, what's wrong? Is it Ginny? Angelina said you had figured out exactly how the curse worked."

"Yes. Yes, that is indeed the case, Harry." Dumbledore looked at Harry gravely, and a knot of apprehension formed in Harry's stomach. "I am afraid, however, it is not the best news. There are different spells that, when cast, create a connection between a person and an object, or two objects, or two people."

"Like when Tonks created the spell in the Gourl and the Mirror that Voldemort had--when he thought he was spying on me," Harry said. "The type of spell that was used connected Tonks to both objects."

"Precisely," Dumbledore agreed. "In Ginny's case, the curse that was put on Ginny is linked to the one who administered the curse."

"Voldemort."

"Yes. That is how we knew it was Voldemort who put this curse on Ginny."

"But the spells on the Gourl and the Mirror were broken--can't this be broken, too?" Harry asked.

"You have come to our problem. The curse, you see, was built in layers, and breaking through each layer was like unlocking a door. We had to find the right key for each one. We had hoped that if we unlocked all of the layers, the curse might be broken. Unfortunately, there is more to it than that. We now know why the counter-curses we employed didn't wake her, and why Professor Snape's potion did not work." Dumbledore looked at Harry for a long moment. "When we reached the 'center,' if you will, of the curse, we discovered that Voldemort is, in essence, grounding it. He is holding the base of the curse in place, and that is what needs to be broken. It is on his end of the connection, and we cannot do anything about it. It can be broken, but only by Voldemort."

"Well, that's just great!" Harry burst out, jumping to his feet. "Maybe if we just ask him nicely, he'll take it off of her!" He glared at Dumbledore. "There has to be another way. There has to be something, because if you think I'm just going to sit here and let Ginny stay in some coma for the rest of her life, you'd better think twice."

Dumbledore met Harry's eyes, a troubled look in his eyes. "That is why I have called you here."

Harry slowly sat down. "What?"

"I debated for a while as to whether I should tell you this," Dumbledore said. "Harry, you must understand--I'm not certain that it will work, and it could be very dangerous."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Dangerous to Ginny?"

"No, Harry. Dangerous to you." Dumbledore looked at him for a long moment. "There might--and I stress the word might--be a way that the curse can be broken, with your help."

"I'll do it," Harry said immediately.

"You should hear everything it entails."

"I don't care what it entails, Professor. If there is any chance that I can help Ginny, then I don't care what the danger is to me." Harry stared hard at Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I thought you would say as much." Harry couldn't quite read the expression on his face. "I still must tell you what is involved, but I can do that at St. Mungo's." He stood up.

"Now?"

"Yes. We will be traveling to Grimmauld Place first. Dumbledore walked over to the teakettle sitting on his desk. "Come along, Harry."

"Shouldn't we bring Ron?" Harry asked, hurrying to stand beside Dumbledore. "And Jamie?"

"No; the fewer people there, the better. If this works, they will certainly see Ginny soon."

For the first time in four months, there was a glimmer of hope in Harry. There was a chance--he didn't care how big or small, it was a chance--that Ginny might be all right.

~*~

Hermione knocked on the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with her foot, her hands full with her present for Angelina.

"Come in!" Tonks' voice called.

Right. "Erm...my arms are a bit full," Hermione said.

A moment passed, and then the door swung open on it's own accord. "I just wanted to make sure you were finished," Hermione said, stepping into the room. Tonks was seated on one of the desks, and Angelina sat in the teacher's chair.

"Oh, we've discussed business," Tonks said. "We're just chatting now."

"Here, Angelina." Hermione set her bundle down on Tonks' desk. "I know Mrs. Weasley is probably making you a ton of blankets, but I wanted to give this to you anyway."

Angelina unfolded the colorful blanket. "This is beautiful, Hermione. Did you knit it?"

"Yes," Hermione said, pleased. "It's not just a blanket though...when the baby starts crying, it plays lullabies."

Angelina smiled. "That's great, Hermione. Thank you."

Hermione returned the smile. "You're welcome." She was turning to leave when something on Tonks' desk caught her attention. It looked to be a letter, with Remus's signature at the bottom. That wasn't what caught her attention, though; it was the way the letter was addressed to Nora. Hermione stared at it for a long moment, and then her eyes flew to Tonks. "Nora. You're Nora."

Tonks tilted her head at Hermione. "Yes, to some people--it was a nickname that Sirius and his friends gave me when I was a little girl. What--"

Hermione was already halfway across the classroom, her mind racing. "I'm sorry, I have to go...I need to talk to Will."