Harry Potter and the Book of Ages

Chapter 8: Sympathy But No Tea

Harry and Ginny sat in companionable silence side-by-side on the cliff top. The sky above them was a velvety blue with not a single cloud to mar its perfection. The gulls seemed to have settled on their nests and perches. In the peace they heard the drone of a bumblebee flying from one wildflower to another.

Tranquillity. Peace. Serenity.

Inwardly, however, both Ginny and Harry's emotions were in turmoil.

Ginny felt relieved to know that Harry hadn't committed the horrendous crimes of which he had been accused. She'd already felt the truth, but was so happy to hear it from Harry's own lips.

Ginny also felt a great compassion for Harry's plight and suffering since his abduction and amazement at his resilience -"He'd done all that and without magic!" Growing up in a wizarding family Ginny couldn't begin to imagine coping in the Muggle world the way Harry had done.

While these thoughts were running through Ginny's mind, Harry was mulling over everything Ginny and Sirius had told him.

Would he remember Mrs. Weasley' s staunch protest to the Aurors that he was innocent?

When she awoke would Ginny remember anything that he had told her? Or would it all seem as real as a dream - all too soon to be forgotten?

If she did remember, would anyone believe her?

Would she be able to prove any of it?

So many unanswerable questions. Just thinking them made Harry's head hurt.

--- zzz ---

"Oi! Kid! Whatcha think you're doing?"

Harry awoke suddenly at the sound of the angry voice and a size 10 boot pushing against his back.

"You're not allowed in here! If you've done any damage ..."

Before the angry guard could finish, Harry had already jumped up and grabbed his glasses, putting them back on quickly and made a break. Adrenaline was flowing and he suddenly found he was outside the castle grounds with no memory of passing back through the wards. He was running and did not stop. He ran towards the old harbour, instinct making him run towards the only friend he had in these parts. Sam.

"SEEKER! Over here!"

Relief! Harry's heart was still beating fifteen to the dozen when he spotted Sam waving at him. Harry ran straight to him and without a word the two boarded the Griselda as though following a pre-arranged plan.

The engine was already running and at a word from her skipper, the mooring was slipped and the Griselda made for the open sea once more.

The engine's rhythmic beat again calmed Harry so that he was able to thank Sam for his rescue. Sam had told the police that the kid he'd given a lift to did look like the person featured on the news, but he could swear that on the day the murders had occurred he'd been with Sam all day in Southampton making his boat ready for this trip to Tilbury. At that point the "doctor" came forward and told the police that the young man who had just evaded the police definitely did NOT have a scar on his forehead.

So the police stopped their search and left.

"Why though?" queried Harry to Sam as they journeyed on towards Tilbury. Sam had made them a stack of hot buttered toast and mugs of strong tea and the two reflected on the previous day.

"Why what?" countered Sam.

"Why did the doctor say I didn't have a scar when he knew exactly who I was? He even used my name! And when I looked in his bag I swear he had a wand. Unless..."

"... he was trying to recapture you for You-Know-Who!"

"That must be it. I didn't recognise his face, though, but then again, who knows how many Death Eaters Voldemort's got by now. I know recruitment was big on his list of 'to do's'. "

He did not know why, but Harry shared with Sam none of the information Ginny had given him in his 'dream' or whatever it was. He was just so glad that he recalled it at all after the abrupt wake-up call from the security guard or whoever he was. As he sipped his tea he thought again of Ginny's words and got to wondering how much, if any, of their conversation she would be able to recall.

---ooo---

"Ginny! Come on wake up! It's seven-thirty and I promised that we'd all be at the Lovegoods' to help harvest the raspberries at nine. Goodness knows how they manage to grow such a superb crop each year, but old Mrs. Lovegood's raspberry wine is just the best and you know she always gives half a dozen bottles for helping with the harvest. We're going to be short-handed this year as well as Fred and George aren't around to help."

Mrs. Weasley' s voice became a distant drone as she continued her speech while making her way back downstairs. Wanting to stay in that warm and comfortable half-asleep half-awake state, Ginny pulled her covers farther over her head. Her thoughts returned to the long conversation her 'dream' contained.

When she closed her eyes once more, Ginny could see the image of Harry in his dirty and worn clothes, his feet encased in two left shoes and his eyes with dark rings around them. His words, and the words of Sirius, returned to her and suddenly she was wide-awake.

"MUM!" screamed Ginny at the top of her voice.

"Gin? What's wrong?" Molly Weasley came panting into her only daughter's bedroom closely followed by her youngest son, Ron.

"What's wrong?" demanded Molly.

"I.... It's Harry. He..."

Ron had moved round to sit close by Ginny to reassure her just as he had done when they were small. He picked up her hand and looked in her eyes. "What about Harry, Gin, you had a bad dream or something?"

Feeling Ron's hand in hers had calmed her down as his presence always had. It was funny how Ron seemed to instinctively know what she was feeling. Now she turned to look him straight in the eyes as she said.

"Harry's innocent! He's really innocent! Before, I felt it was true, but couldn't see how, but now I know!"

"Ginny, love, " Molly said soothingly, "please don't. We all know how much you ... cared ... for Harry and I know how much you hurt for the way things have turned out, but all the evidence.... "

"Evidence! Mum, how could you? How could Bill?"

Before she went on, Ginny took her hand from Ron's and stood up at the side of her bed and looked down on her mum and brother; she took a deep, calming breath before she began her narrative. She told them everything that Harry had told her, she only omitted her own feeling of almost inexpressible joy at knowing Harry was innocent and free from immediate danger, but her sadness that they couldn't be together for the foreseeable future.

".... and Harry still has the Omnioculars safe and he's going to try and get them to the Order at Grimmauld Place if he can. But he was still being pursued by the Muggle police and the Death Eaters. Oh, Mum! What can we do to help him?"

Molly Weasley had been unusually quiet all through her daughter's re-telling of her night's experiences. Finally she stood and looked her daughter in the eye and Ginny could see the unshed tears in her mother's eyes and felt sure they were a mirror of her own.

"Ginny, Ron! Get dressed and get over to the Lovegoods'." At her two children's unspoken, but all too obvious protest, Molly held up her hand as she continued.

"As far as everyone is concerned Harry is a fugitive wanted for murder. We must seem as though nothing has changed from yesterday and that we believe the evidence we have so far been given. But I want Harry back home here where he belongs! With his family! And that can't happen until we can irrefutably prove his innocence. Ginny, you may be able, with Harry's help, to supply that evidence."

"But, Mum, it was only a dream - wasn't it?" protested Ron.

"That, Ron, is what we'll have to prove one way or another. Now, you two get going and not another word about this until you get home."

At that dismissal, Ron and Ginny did just as their mother had commanded.

---ooo---

Considering the Griselda was only 40 feet long, Harry was surprised just how much privacy he had. Harry had shared with Sam a little of what had happened after his pursuit through Hastings. He had told Sam that he had found a corner where he had curled up to get some sleep and that he had a weird dream - interrupted by a security guard. He had not, however, shared with Sam all that had transpired between Ginny and himself, nor had he mentioned Sirius.

Harry had kept a lot back, but as he glanced at Sam standing stock-still holding the ship's wheel, he couldn't help but feel that Sam knew he was being, if not exactly evasive, then certainly selective. Harry didn't know why, but, although he trusted Sam, he didn't want to burden him.

That was it.

Harry's problems were just that - Harry's not anyone else's.

Ever since his confrontation with Dumbledore after the disastrous events in the Department of Mysteries, the realisation of his role in the downfall of Voldemort had weighed heavily on Harry's soul. It was his cross to bear and no one else could carry it for him.

There were those trusted few who would help him with his burden: Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Remus to name the few. He knew there were a couple of others he could turn to for help, Neville, Tonks, Mad-Eye or Luna, but he knew that ultimately it would be just him and Voldemort.

The events of the past few weeks had given him precious little time to think of Voldemort and how the future would unfurl. One thing Harry knew for certain, however, was that Ginny Weasley was, is and always had been, (although he hadn't realised it) vital to his success. It wasn't just her love that helped him, it was as if she were the other half of a puzzle or the key! Harry was searching for understanding.

Harry was lying flat on his back, both hands lying loosely at his side in the narrow forward cabin's bottom bunk. His stomach was full once more, only this time it was from a big breakfast he had cooked for them in the small but well-equipped galley.

All of Harry's clothes had gone "overboard". Sam had demonstrated his rather unconventional method of doing his laundry. Everything Harry had worn, including the trainers, had been placed in a net drawstring bag attached to a long line. Sam had then thrown the bag overboard to be dragged through the sea while they continued on their way to Tilbury.

Harry drifted off to sleep once more, but this time it was, unusually, dreamless.

---ooo---

"Sam, I don't know what to say. Thanks."

"It's no big deal. Don't worry about it."

The two travelling companions were sitting eating Quarter Pounders with chips and a chocolate milkshake. Harry's thanks, however, were not only for the meal, but also for the bags at his feet. Never in his whole life had he been shopping for clothes for himself - apart from getting his robes at Madam Malkin's - and it was a nice feeling.

The reason for their impromptu shopping trip had been simple. Sam's washing line had broken and the sea had washed all of Harry's clothes away with the tide. When the line had snapped, Harry had been on deck wearing an old pair of Sam's swimming trunks and at the sudden 'SNAP' and release of tension on the line, the two men had looked at each other and then laughed.

They laughed until they ached. It was a good feeling.

For the first time in his life, Harry had a new wardrobe of clothes. Knowing he was spending Sam's money (another debt to be repaid when and if he got the chance), Harry was careful to get serviceable but cheap clothes.

Sam had suggested shopping in the Argyle Shopping Centre when they had moored in Ramsgate's inner harbour, as it was nearby and had a good variety of shops, but one glance at the prices and Harry (wearing borrowed jeans, sweatshirt and trainers) shook his head.

They left the shopping centre and went to the main High Street and found a selection of charity shops. Harry got a pair of good quality jeans for only £2, two shirts at £1 each and a sweatshirt for £2. A pair of brand new trainers that fitted to perfection topped the outfit off and at only £4.50 were an unbelievable bargain. At Sam's suggestion, Harry also picked up a second-hand rucksack to carry all his new clothes. The only things that Sam insisted be bought brand new were underwear, plain black boxers and sports socks. Sam had also given Harry a waterproof jacket that he could keep as it used to belong to his sister who no longer needed it.

They finished up their meal, Sam gathering all the debris together on the tray and carried it over to the bin. Harry, meanwhile, had transferred all his purchases into his new rucksack; Harry stood up, but as he swung the bag over his shoulder, his scar burst with pain.

It was excruciating! Harry's body tensed up as he fought for control, but he toppled into a couple of teenagers carrying their tray of food; the food and drinks went everywhere. The young man yelled in anger but his words were drowned out by the pain in Harry's head. One hand pressed tight to his scar, his face screwed up in anguish, Harry looked for all the world like a drunk or a drug addict.

Sam, however, had seen what had occurred and remembered the consequences of the previous episode. He looked around before rushing to Harry's aid. Neither of them had forgotten (how could they?) that the police were still looking for Harry, but Sam had reasoned that going about as ordinary as possible was the best camouflage. Harry had been wearing his hat from Tank as he 'hid in plain sight' as Sam had put it. The plan had worked so far and would continue to do so as long as they didn't attract attention. But Harry was obviously struggling now.

"Sorry about your meal. Here, get a replacement on me." Sam thrust a couple of five-pound notes in the young man's hand knowing that his generosity would quell any questions about Harry's behaviour.

"Don't tell me your migraine's come back, Joe?" Sam said in a loud voice as he went to Harry's aid. Harry nodded, realising what Sam was doing and trying to draw as little attention to himself as he could. Sam supported Harry's weight, what little there was of it, put the rucksack over his own shoulder and slowly they made their way back to the Griselda.

With a great deal of difficulty Harry managed to get back aboard.

"What was all that about?" questioned Sam.

"Voldemort! He's really mad! He's put the Cruciatus on Dolohov because he didn't get me in Hastings. Then, to make things worse, Wormtail came in and told him that he'd not yet been able to get the essence for the potion. Voldemort was about to cast the Cruciatus on Wormtail when he suddenly changed his mood. Now he's happy as he can change his plan and 'improve matters'. I don't have any idea what he means though. It was mainly his moods I was picking up; I didn't get much in the way of detail."

"How're you feeling now?"

"The pain's gone. I just feel tired, really tired!"

"Well we'll have to wait for the tide before we can leave and that's not for another two hours. You rest down here, I'm going to check the weather and probably catch 40 winks up on deck. If I'm not down at 15:00hrs then come and wake me up. OK?"

"OK!" replied Harry. Sam left the tiny cabin and returned topside. Before turning in, Harry retrieved the Omnioculars from his old makeshift rucksack. Carefully Harry checked they were still in full working order and wrapped them back up then Harry stowed everything away in his new rucksack. It was only then that he put his head down.

A quick glance at his watch told Harry that it was 12:15 hrs, he set the alarm for 14:30 hrs (he had only just got used to using the traditional 24-hour timing all sailors used) and closed his eyes.

His thoughts turned immediately to Ginny and Harry sighed to himself. If it were night time then he might be able to communicate with her again during their shared sleep, but at 12:15 hrs in the middle of the day Ginny was likely sitting down to one of Mrs. Weasley's delicious lunches in the Burrow.

Even Mrs. Weasley's sandwiches seemed to taste better than anyone else's. He thought of the sandwiches Mrs. Weasley had Hermione, Ron and Ginny take up to him when he'd been hiding after the attack on Mr. Weasley last Christmas. Harry had believed he had somehow been transported from Hogwarts to London and transformed into a huge snake, the fangs of which had almost caused Mr. Weasley's death.

Harry's face suddenly broke into a smile as he recalled how Ginny had laid into him. How could he have been so stupid to forget about Voldemort's possession of her, albeit as Tom Riddle and not Lord Voldemort, back in Ginny's first year?

--- zzzz ---

"That's what I wondered, Harry!" The words were spoken by Ginny, but this Ginny was sitting on the front steps of Hogwarts and Harry was sitting beside her.

"How ...?" stammered Harry.

"Well, I guess you needed 40 winks the same as me!" It was an expression of Ginny's forthright nature that she did not pretend not to understand Harry's question.

"We can talk again because we're both obviously asleep. I didn't expect you to actually be here because it's the middle of the day. I've not been sleeping too well so Mum suggested -"

"Suggested or insisted?" queried Harry knowing Ginny's mum's forceful insistence whenever she thought she knew best.

"Well, insisted really."

"Why? What's up?" Seeing her face and her evasive glancing away, Harry continued, "Ginny, don't go losing sleep over me. I'm not worth it."

"Says who?" she retorted angrily. "If it was any of us, you'd be worrying and blaming yourself. So why not us? Anyway," she continued before Harry got a chance to protest, "it wasn't you that kept me awake."

"What was it then?" Harry added a quick, "Sorry. I don't want to sound as though I'm interrogating you or anything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Oh, Harry! It's awful!" Quickly she added, "But it's NOT your fault."

At these words Harry's stomach knotted painfully. What had happened now? His earnest expression had worry, alarm and panic written all over it. His eyes were full of concern for his extended family.

"Tell me, Gin! Please?" he added pleadingly.

"It's Ron!"

"What about him? He's not hurt or anything is he?"

"No. Well, nothing new anyway."

Harry balked at the word 'new'. Only a few weeks before during their disastrous adventure in the Ministry of Magic, Ron, while trying to recover from a Death Eater's curse, had Summoned a brain from a huge tank in the Department of Mysteries. When it reached his outstretched hands the brain had not felt 'weird' as the confused Ron had hoped it would. Instead it wound its jellyfish-like tentacles around his arms and upper torso.

Harry recalled all too clearly Ron screaming out, "No! I don't like it!" before eventually passing out from the pain. Harry had been unable to stay to help him, as he needed to lead the Death Eaters away from his friends.

"So what's up with Ron? He's not ill or anything, is he?" asked Harry, his very real concern all too evident in his voice.

"Well, not exactly. It's hard to explain. Since last June Ron's been having these really weird nightmares. He wakes up screaming two or three times a night and unfortunately, he ends up waking us, too. Mum and Dad are really worried about him. Sometimes he talks about people and places he remembers, but they're not his memories; they seem to be someone else's.

"When Dumbledore came over to tell us what was going on with you and the search and all, Mum and Dad told him about Ron. At Dumbledore's suggestion, Madam Pomfrey came to check on Ron's recovery. She said that the Dr. Ubley's Obliviate Unction was no longer working. Sure, the physical scars were healing up as well as they are going to, but it's the mental scarring we're worried about."

Harry's brow was furrowed deep with anxiety at that news.

"Oh God! Ginny! It's all my fault! If I hadn't dragged you all to London then Ron would be fine and Sirius..." He left the sentence unfinished.

"Just stop that right now!" snapped Ginny. She was standing two steps down from Harry, hands on her hips and all hell glaring out of her eyes. She'd never looked more like her mother than she did right at that moment.

A sabre-toothed tiger kitten to be sure!

"Harry, do you really think you stood any chance of us letting you go to London alone?" She continued to rant before Harry had a chance to even open his mouth in protest.

"You stood as much chance of stopping us as ... Neville has of becoming Snape's pet pupil! In other words NO CHANCE AT ALL! You didn't force us to go with you nor did you force Sirius to come after you. Stop taking the blame for things you can't change."

"Can't help it," Harry mumbled to his shoelaces. "If I hadn't been so arrogant, so damn certain...."

"Don't think I don't understand why you do it. It's because of those horrible people you grew up with. They blamed you for everything, even things you accidentally did, just because of what you are. Did they ever praise you? Not blooming likely. Oh, Harry! You are a truly wonderful, caring human being, but please, please stop taking the blame for everything! You don't deserve that!"

At the end of this long speech Ginny started to blush. Obviously telling Harry off came easier than praising him to his face.

Harry was now looking her in the eyes and her blush grew more pronounced. He couldn't help but stare with unbridled pleasure, as she got more and more nervous the more he scrutinised her.

Ginny's nervousness, however, was causing her to twist a strand of her hair between her fingers. Harry found the gesture enchanting and longed to reach out to touch her shining deep - deeper than any of the other Weasley's - red hair.

Harry stood up to reach out, but Ginny turned her back on him and started to walk to the edge of the lake. She glanced coyly over her shoulder to encourage him to follow her. Harry fell in step beside her and thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He started off walking with his head down staring at the grass beneath their feet, but when he raised his head to look towards the lake, he realised he could see Ginny out of the corner of his eye.

At first she too had walked with her head down, her curtain of shining auburn hair shielding the expression she wore. Thinking Harry couldn't see, she glanced over at him and blushed anew when she caught his eye.

"The best defence is offence," the old saying often used by the twins whenever she tried to get them back for their numerous pranks, suddenly came into Ginny's mind. She prepared her attack in her mind. She would take neither his silence nor the sly looks he was giving her.

She stopped.

She opened her mouth with another rebuke ready on her lips.

But suddenly she found something was there already.

Harry.

Whether it was because he believed this really was all just a dream or whether the dream-like state allowed him to do something his normal, waking mind would never have permitted, Harry never knew.

All he did know was that he had crossed the few feet that had separated them as soon as Ginny had stopped and turned toward him. Harry had moved and instinctively his hands had moved to cup each cheek and hold her still as his mouth made a first gentle contact with hers.

For Ginny's part it was all she could do to remember to keep on breathing! Her eyes were wide and all her senses on overload.

Harry Potter was kissing her!

Ginny said the words in her mind and yet she couldn't believe it.

Just as suddenly as he moved toward her, Harry released her. He looked at the shock in Ginny's eyes; he stepped away, turned and ran!

Once more he ran as though his life depended on it. He seemed to do that a lot lately and he was getting rather good at it.

"HARRY! WAIT!" Ginny yelled with all her might.

Unfortunately for Ginny, Harry just kept going. She hared off after him. She knew she was a fast runner so she put her head down and ran like the wind. Her footsteps pounded the grass leading to the well-worn track around the lake.

"Stop, Harry! Please wait!" she shouted breathlessly.

He continued running.

"Drastic action calls for drastic measures!" Ginny decided. She caught up with Harry as they reached the water's edge, but she didn't slow down, if anything she sped up!

SPLASH!

Ginny had barrelled into Harry and rugby-tackled him. The end result was they both ended up in the lake.

The pebbles at the water's edge were smooth and very slippery; consequently the more Ginny tried to stand up the more she slipped and ended up sitting back down in the ankle-deep ice-cold water.

Harry couldn't help himself as he regained his footing; he just stood and looked at Ginny sitting there all bedraggled and laughed. The more he laughed, however, the more irate Ginny became.

"Instead of laughing you could give me a hand up IF you were a gentleman!" She glared up at him as she sat on the lake bottom.

At that point Harry took pity on her and held out a hand to help her to her feet, a soppy smile still plastered on his face.

Ginny, still glaring daggers at Harry, took the offered hand, but instead of using it to regain her footing, pulled him with all her might.

The element of surprise was on Ginny's side and Harry found himself flying forwards and ended up sprawled between Ginny's jeans-clad legs, his chin coming to rest on her abdomen. His face therefore was between her breasts and he was staring at the white blouse that, he now realised, had become almost completely transparent.

Harry looked up into her beautiful deep brown eyes.

Ginny was gasping at his sudden, unplanned and intimate contact with her body; she moved her mouth slowly towards Harry as he reached one hand out to caress her face when ...

--- zzz ---

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm on Harry's watch sounded shrill and harsh in the confined space of the forward cabin. 14:30hrs. Time to get the Griselda ready for the next let of their journey.

Harry had never hated Muggle inventions as much as he did that watch!

If only he could have slept for a few more minutes, Harry mused, perhaps he would have been able to kiss Ginny again and Harry knew that he very much wanted to kiss her far more than he had ever wanted to kiss Cho last year. Yet again he was surprised at the depth of his feelings for 'The Littlest Weasley!'

Harry's thoughts were still on Ginny or his reactions might have been quicker when, going to the upper deck of the Griselda, he saw a rat run along the deck.

The sunlight glinted on the creature's silver paw and the sight snapped Harry's brain back into gear. He gave immediate chase, but the rat could access places Harry could not.

In no time the rat, otherwise known as Peter Pettigrew, AKA Wormtail, the betrayer of Harry's parents and the reason Harry's godfather had spent 12 years in Azkaban, had disappeared off the ship and down a drain hole into the sewers.

Cursing himself for focusing on his dream instead of reality, Harry returned to the Griselda where he expected Sam to be making ready for their departure.

Sam, however, was not on deck. In fact he was nowhere to be seen.

Puzzled, Harry went below decks calling out as he went, but still there was no sign of him. Now Harry was starting to get worried. Whenever Sam had stepped ashore before he had always let Harry know. Surely Sam would have said something this time?

Standing back in the wheelhouse, Harry picked up Sam's Muggle binoculars and started to scan the shoreline for his friend; sure enough he spotted Sam about 150 yards away exiting the Harbour Master's Office.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry put the binoculars away and went to complete the preparations for departure. Sam walked back on board as though nothing was wrong.

"Everything's ready, Skipper!" said Harry trying not to let Sam know how worried he'd been. For some reason Harry kept his sighting of Wormtail to himself. Sam seemed to worry enough as it was, no need to add to it.

"Good work, Harry. Cast off then." Sam smiled at Harry as the pair took the small craft back out to open water at the start of the last leg of their journey together.