Harry Potter and the Silent Siege

Chapter 17

Confession and Consequence

Harry sat idly on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, his legs propped up on the table in front of him. He was trying to read Quidditch Through the Ages while absently feeding bonglewhompers to Snitch. He was also trying not to think about what Hermione and Ron might be doing now in Hogsmeade without him. Judging by the lack of turned pages in his book, however, he wasn't having very much luck.

Now and then Harry looked up to the common room around him. It was deserted except for two second-year girls playing a game of Exploding Snap at the far end. Nearly all of the older students were in Hogsmeade and most of the younger ones were outside on the grounds. He tried not to think whether this was how he would be spending the entire summer.

He found himself wondering why he had been so eager for his friends to go to Hogsmeade without him. He could have stayed here with Ron and played wizard chess all day. But then, he reflected, neither of them would be very happy and then he would just feel guilty. And he was very tired of feeling guilty.

They won't have fun, anyway, said a voice inside his head. They'll just be thinking about you. You're afraid to accept their friendship now. You're turning your back on them.

Harry buried his face in his book as though doing so would make him read and silence these troublesome thoughts. Snitch yelped again and Harry fed him another bonglewhomper without even looking. He was just about to turn a page for the first time that morning when a very unnatural sound made him look up. He took one look at Snitch who was bending over so that his trunk dangled onto the table top and another horrified glance at the absence of remaining bonglewhompers on the table.

"Oh, no!" he said. "Snitch!"

Snitch looked up bleary-eyed at his master and let out a pitiful moan like a dying car horn. Harry stared back at him, not at all sure what to do.

Harry did not realize that he was no longer alone until another pair of hands, smaller and softer than his own, reached down and scooped up Snitch in a quick but tender motion.

"I - I overfed him," Harry said to Ginny. "I wasn't paying attention. H - He kept asking for more."

Ginny didn't reply. She rocked Snitch slowly up and down in her hands.

"I - I don't think you should do that," said Harry, "unless you want Snitch sick all over your hands."

Ginny did not reply again but with her index finger rubbed Snitch lightly under his trunk. After a few moments, he led out an almighty belch that reminded Harry of a champagne cork popping. Ginny then rested him back down on top of the table. Snitch looked back up at her, still feeble but much less distraught, and made a long soft sound like the purring of a cat.

"He'll be all right," said Ginny. "He just needs to rest."

She took out her wand and conjured a tiny canopy bed which looked like a miniature version of Harry's complete with sheets and a pillow. She took Snitch in her palm and laid him inside, pulling up the small sheet between her thumb and index finger and resting it on top of him. Harry watched all this in fascination and was surprised to find that within less than a minute, Snitch seemed to have fallen into a contented sleep, his trunk moving up and down in rhythm with his rising and falling chest as he ever so slightly snored.

"You're so - gentle."

Harry didn't realize he'd said the words until Ginny turned around to look at him, surprise on her face.

"I - I mean," Harry hastily added. "You're really good with him, much, much better than I am. I can never get him to go to sleep. How did you know how to do that, anyway?"

"We've been learning all about how to take care of the young ones in Care of Magical Creatures," said Ginny matter-of-factly. "I suppose you've been having different lessons in sixth year. I wonder that Hagrid hasn't told you, though, since you have one as a pet."

"Oh," said Harry, slowly realizing that in fact they had also been learning how to take care of Beethoven's puppies but he had often been too distracted to pay much attention.

Both Ginny and Harry realized at the same time that Ginny was still standing up. Her eyes flickered cautiously to a space on the sofa right beside Harry and then to a small wooden chair by the side. She hesitated long enough to share an unacknowledged glance with Harry and then sat down on the chair.

"Ginny," said Harry as if noticing her for the first time. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd gone to Hogsmeade."

Ginny shook her head and took a deep breath. A dozen excuses ran through her mind but she forced them all back. If she was going to share her true feelings with Harry, she might as well start now.

"I - I heard you had to stay. I thought you might be lonely."

Ginny didn't quite manage to keep eye contact with Harry through all of this sentence and when she had finished, there was a long pause. Ginny was very much afraid that Harry wouldn't take kindly to this at all, seeing how he had been so eager to ship his two best friends off to Hogsmeade without him. But finally, after Harry did not respond for what seemed like an eternity, Ginny forced herself to look up at him and found a very non-plussed expression on his face.

"Oh," he said finally. "Th - thank you."

And then Harry very slowly smiled.

Ginny swallowed. She felt her cheeks burn and her heart start to pound in her chest. Did she dare hope he would take her love just as easily? Might the loneliness and angst finally end, right here, this morning? She tried to force her hopes down along with her anxieties. The last thing she wanted to do was set herself up for an even greater fall.

Ginny didn't know that at that moment Harry had considered all manner of rebukes but the truth of Ginny's words, much more simple and direct than anything Ron and Hermione had said to him the day before, seemed to suddenly melt all of his doubts away. He was lonely. Now that he thought about it, he was very lonely indeed.

"W - Would you like to play another game," Harry said, almost apologetically. "I - I expect we can think of something besides Wizard Truth. I don't think that - "

"Actually, Harry." Ginny decided to address the rest of her sentence to the arm of the chair. "I - I have something I'd like to tell you."

"Er, OK," said Harry tentatively.

"Actually," said Ginny, making herself look up. "There are three things I'd like to tell you."

"Three things," repeated Harry, even more cautiously.

"F - first, I - I want to thank you, Harry."

"Thank me? For what?"

"You didn't tell Ron what happened to me. I - I know how hard that was for you, Harry, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it, h - how much it means to me."

Ginny was looking straight at Harry now and saw how his smile faded and his brow creased anxiously.

"Ginny, I - I'm afraid they found out, anyway, at least part of it, but I didn't tell them, I swear."

"I know, Harry." Ginny leaned closer to him and said more quietly. "Hermione talked to me. She told me that a first-year girl told me. But that was a lie. It was Amanda. I know; I found out."

"But why, Ginny? Why did she tell her? And why didn't she tell her the whole story?"

Ginny looked down again. "She didn't want to get you involved but she was also worried about me. I just found out this morning."

Harry leaned in closer to Ginny as well, though a whole space on the sofa still separated them. "Ginny, I'm really sorry."

"It's OK," said Ginny truthfully. "She thought it was for the best. She was trying to help me. But she doesn't really understand. She won't ever really understand me. But I still appreciate her for trying."

There was a moment's pause. Such was the heartfelt candor in Ginny's voice that Harry had the unusual desire to reach out to grab her soul and pull it into him. He wasn't sure how but he suddenly felt that Ginny had communicated herself to him so perfectly at that moment that he knew exactly how she felt as surely as if he'd experienced it himself.

And then, without really thinking about it all, Harry suddenly said:

"I killed the Dursleys."

Ginny looked up abruptly, her brown eyes now large and piercing.

"Harry?" she said, a note of alarm in her voice.

Harry's own mouth opened in surprise. "I'm sorry, Ginny, I don't mean - I don't know what made me say that, I - "

"Harry, yes, you did. Please tell me."

Harry shook his head.

"Harry, there's no one else around." Ginny looked up to see only two second year girls whom she distinctly recognized as having been present on the night of her dream. Both of them seemed to be avoiding her and Harry as if they carried a plague of misfortune.

"I - I can't, Ginny," said Harry, a little more forcefully. "You don't understand. It's not up to me."

"This is about Sirius, isn't it?"

Harry's jaw dropped in surprise but he quickly shut it in a vain but adorable attempt to keep his godfather's true identity a secret.

"I - I haven't thought about him in ages, actually. I suppose he's still out there somewhere p - plotting his revenge on me but what with Voldemort - "

"Oh, Harry. Please don't pretend. Sirius is your godfather. He didn't kill all those people. Peter Pettigrew did. He was Ron's rat, Scabbers? Would you like me to go on?"

Harry seemed too shocked to reply. After a few non-descript sounds, he managed to splutter:

"But how - when - how could - did Ron - "

"Ron didn't tell me. No more than you did, anyway." Ginny sighed loudly. "Let's see. I think I first found out the time you, Ron, and Hermione made me leave the living room at the Burrow the summer before my third year but you were shouting so loud I could hear you through the wall without even trying. As if I would have believed Ron, anyway, when he told me he'd accidentally flushed Scabbers down the toilet. Goddess knows Mum did, though. Then there was another row between Mum, Dad, and Ron the summer before my fourth year which I could hear all the way out to the garden. And finally you, Ron, and Hermione had a long chat one evening last autumn when I was sitting in the high backed chair by the fire and none of you bothered to check whether you were alone."

Ginny finished this explanation and looked up at Harry, slightly out of breath.

Harry's jaw had dropped again and this time it seemed he had nothing to say so Ginny went on.

"Anyhow, I shouldn't worry. I think I'm better at keeping secrets than you."

Harry looked at Ginny for a moment.

"So you know," he said, realization dawning on his face. "Y - you know everything. About the Dursleys I mean, a - and Dudley, and Sirius and the Polyjuice Potion?"

Ginny nodded.

Harry didn't say anything for a moment but then his brow unfurrowed and a strange look of relief passed over his face.

"So you know, then," he said again. "Y - you already know. So you understand how I must feel. I - I - I killed them, Ginny. You must know that. I killed them just as surely as if I had stuck a knife into each of them myself. They should never have taken me in." Harry's voice cracked. "I deserved everything they did to me and worse."

"No, Harry, that's not true and you know it!"

"It is true, Ginny! And I can't tell Sirius, not after everything he's done for me. Hermione was wrong. I - I just have to live with it, somehow - alone."

Before Ginny realized what she was doing, she had moved over onto the sofa next to Harry and taken both of his hands in hers.

"Harry, listen to me," she said softly. "You didn't kill them. He - You-Know - " Ginny took a deep breath. "Voldemort killed them. And you're right, you can't tell Sirius. But you don't have to live with it alone. You never have to live with anything alone."

And then Ginny moved in closer and took Harry into her arms. She did not force herself on him the way that she had the night of her nightmare, but she did not hold anything back either. She did not restrain herself as she had on the platform at Christmas time or at the beginning of term. She let her hands run slowly up and down Harry's back just as tenderly as she had tucked in his pet. She let the side of her face rub gently against his. She still had not told him she loved him but she had let that love run to him through every point of tension in her grasp. She did not know what Harry must know or think of her embrace, whether the language of her body conveyed the message of her heart as clearly as her words. Even as she held him, she wondered whether he would start to stiffen, afraid of going too far, of growing too close. But Harry did not let go and after what seemed like a very long time, Ginny heard a soft cry against her ear and felt Harry's tears moisten the top of her shoulder.

At long last, Ginny felt Harry move out of the embrace. She let her fingers linger for a little while longer on his shoulders before separating herself completely. Harry looked at her for a moment, his eyes still filled with tears. Ginny quickly conjured a tissue and gave it to Harry. He took off his glasses and dried them, then did the same to his eyes.

"Thank you," said Harry finally, a little awkwardly. "I - I suppose, well - " He paused. "Thank you, anyway."

Ginny nodded slowly. "It must be difficult," she said. "I - I mean with You-Know-Who after you. Not knowing what's going to happen. I'd be terrified. Sorry," she added quickly as Harry looked down. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No," said Harry, sighing almost with relief. "It's all right. It's not that that worries me. I'm not really afraid to die. I'm just afraid that he'll take away the lives of my friends because of me."

"How can you say that, Harry? You're so young. You have every right to expect to live a long time!"

Ginny gasped as soon as she'd finished the sentence but Harry smiled again, so reassuringly that Ginny almost felt chilled.

"We all die, Ginny."

"That's not a very nice thing to think about."

"But it's true. Whether it's sixteen years or sixty. It doesn't matter to me how long I live. I just want to have the chance to enjoy one perfect moment. And I have. Much more than one. I found out who I really was. I had the chance to come to Hogwarts, play Quidditch - and make real friends, friends I never had all my life until I came here."

Ginny paused for a moment, trying to take in what Harry had just said. She still wasn't sure she could understand.

"Harry," she said.

"Ginny?"

"I - I realize the Dursleys didn't choose to die but, what if - well, what if one of your friends was willing to die for you? What if that was their choice? Would you accept it?"

Harry reacted as if he had just been on the receiving end of a particularly vicious hex. "I - I don't know," he mumbled. "I - I - " He paused and swallowed. "Well," he said, his face shutting like a door. "I suppose you'd better get on and tell me the second thing."

Ginny felt like a Muggle car breaking sharply before a red lantern.

"W - what?"

"The second thing," repeated Harry. "You were going to tell me three things this morning?"

"Oh," said Ginny, comprehension dawning. "Right." She looked quickly up at Harry.

"No," she said.

"You don't want to tell me?"

"No, I am telling you: no."

Harry frowned. "No what?"

"No, Harry, I didn't send you that Valentine."

Ginny continued to stare at him in almost the exactly the way she had on the night of the Guy Fawkes Ball, except that this time she seemed to be able to speak which was better than Harry could do himself at the moment.

"Do I strike you as the type of person who would want to make a fool of myself in front of a large number of people?" asked Ginny in a tone that suggested to Harry she'd been meaning to tell him this for years.

"N - no," said Harry, suddenly feeling very foolish indeed. "Not really."

"That was the most embarrassing moment - "

Ginny stopped and put her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. Then she and Harry smirked, and before too long, had started to laugh. Harry sounded as though he was just learning to laugh for the first time. This was too much for the two second-year girls who, apparently convinced that all of their nasty suspicions about Harry and Ginny were true, finally decided to join their friends outside on the lawn.

"Well," said Harry after they had finished. "I suppose you get another point in Wizard Truth. Perhaps we should go on with the game."

He smiled up at Ginny, convinced that at least one burden seemed to have left him. Ginny didn't really have a crush on him after all. In fact, he and Ron had probably made the whole thing up between them. Not to mention Malfoy. So what if she was nervous around the butter dish or when they hugged in public? She was a shy person; that was all. Harry cursed himself inwardly. He had enough things to worry about without inventing phantom dilemmas.

So immersed was Harry in his own relief that he almost didn't notice when Ginny began to talk again.

"Harry," she said earnestly, her smile fading quickly. "Th - there is one other thing I wanted to tell you."

Harry also grew serious again. "I - is this about Voldemort, I mean, about your dream?"

Ginny shook her head. She tried to look at Harry but she couldn't. She could feel the warmth rise in her cheeks. She tried to breathe normally but found she couldn't take in enough air to feed her rapidly pounding heart.

"It's just that - " Ginny paused, swallowed and then looked steadily at Snitch and said:

"I - I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time, Harry. You really deserved to know. B - but I - it - I just couldn't. It was just so much easier not to say anything, day after day, to keep putting things off, but I just can't go on like this anymore."

"Ginny?"

"Harry, I - I - I - that is, I have - I've fallen - "

The portrait hole swung open loudly and Ron and Hermione walked quickly into the common room covered from head to toe in an assortment of crushed Honeydukes' sweets.

Ginny and Harry both looked up.

"What happened to you?" asked Harry, not noticing that Ginny was desperately trying to catch her breath. "Halloween isn't for another few months."

But neither Hermione nor Ron were smiling.

"Harry, we have to get you of here," declared Hermione seriously as a stray piece of Chocolate Frog wandered down her chin.

"Why? What's going on?"

Ron launched into a semi-complete account of their experience in the cellar at Honeydukes including their meeting with Dobby.

"B - But I can't just leave here now," protested Harry. "Just on Dobby's word. I mean what if he's wrong? Snape said to stay in the castle. If I go out there, I might be killed."

Ron and Hermione exchanged uncertain glances. It was obvious to Harry that in their haste neither had seriously considered that Dobby might have been misinformed.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny then looked at each other for a few more moments, clearly uncertain how to proceed. Then Harry said:

"I know. I'll fetch the Marauder's Map. It's bound to be on there."

Ron nodded and Harry left quickly up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, fished the map out from the top of the wardrobe where he had kept it hidden since the previous summer, and returned to the common room, noting in passing that someone had finally scourgified Hermione and Ron of their sticky sweets.

Harry unfolded the map on the Wizard Chess table and Hermione, Ginny, and Ron looked over his shoulder.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" said Harry, pointing his wand at the map, as Ginny looked at him very curiously.

Lines started to appear on what had only moments before been a blank piece of parchment. As the castle was almost completely empty, there was little to see on the map: Professor Dibble was still in her office, though none of them suggested going to her; Justin Finch-Fetchley and Cho Chang's names seem to be smudged on top of each other on the Astronomy Tower; Filch was roaming the corridors; and a few students strayed in the halls. Then Ron drew in a breath and pointed to a spot near the bottom of the map:

"Look!" he said.

The four Gryffindors studied the map to see that Draco Malfoy was walking briskly past the Potions room and down an unmarked set of steps before vanishing off the map. Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione and could see that they were all thinking the same thing but it was Ginny who said:

"That staircase leads down to the original room."

Harry slowly folded up the map and looked up at the others.

"OK," he said. "Suppose we go. Then what?"

"The house elves are bringing Winky to the cellar of Honeydukes," explained Hermione. "We told them we'd meet them back there with you. Then she's going to tell us the whole story."

"The cellar of Honeydukes?" said Harry. He licked his lips. "Right. Let's go then. But we'll take the passageway. Come on."

And without another word, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny left the common room and walked quickly down the staircase and out into the deserted corridor, their eyes darting back and forth for any signs of danger. Harry kept one eye on the Marauder's Map which he had unfolded in his hands and another on the corridor ahead of him. Finally, they reached the statue of the one-eyed witch.

"Dissendium," said Harry, tapping the statue with his wand.

The statue's hump opened and Hermione went in first, followed by Harry. Ron looked back and frowned when he saw that Ginny was heading in after them without hesitation. He wanted to call her back, to prevent her following them into whatever danger they were heading, but with an unsatisfied frown, he realized that staying in the castle could hardly be a guarantee of safety. He let her go first and then followed after and closed the statue's hump behind him.

***

The sun was already high in the sky when Sirius heard a convoy of heavy booted figures approach his cell. Thomas Barnaby had been released some while ago and had seemed to remember nothing of Sirius when he woke. But Sirius wondered how much he was trying to distance himself from a mass murderer in the eyes of the police. Anyway, his work had been done.

Sirius drew in a breath. He would have only a few moments to act. He prayed that the Ministry had not sent wizards directly to his cell - or worse, Dementors. If they had, he wouldn't have much chance of getting anywhere at all.

The figures moved into the light and Sirius was relieved to see that they appeared to still be Muggles. Five muscular guards now stood outside his door, two in the front wearing the same uniforms Sirius had seen the guards wear the previous day and three behind them wearing uniforms that seemed to have been made from a collage of badly matching greens. If this was the best the Muggles could do, then Sirius still held out a little hope.

"Easy does it, lads," came the deep voice of one of the policemen in green, standing right in front of Sirius. "This is a very dangerous man. We've been told to expect anything."

No doubt you have, thought Sirius.

"Stun him if you have to," said another of the greens. "But try not to shoot. We've been told to take him back in alive."

So I can receive the kiss, thought Sirius again.

The eyes of the two policemen in front seemed to fill with a hundred questions but neither was willing to ask them. With the air of a matador, the policeman in front unlocked the door to Sirius' cell and he quickly found himself mobbed by the five guards who roughly maneuvered him back through the main doors like a slab of meat.

As he was shoved roughly through the back doors of the station, Sirius saw his chance. A guard was sitting on duty at a desk near the door, a mug of coffee in front of him. He sat rigid to attention and looked up with fear at what little of Sirius he could see. The adrenalin beginning to rush inside him, Sirius did his best to look back at the officer with every bit the look of a killer. Then, as the guard grew more rigid, Sirius kicked at the shins of the officer nearest him, reached for the mug, and splattered the boiling contents all over his escorts. The two other guards screamed in pain and drew back away but the nearest of the three men in green reached for a long plastic staff on his belt buckle and swiped at Sirius just as he whirled around and drew out Barnaby's wand.

The man with the staff moved in again but hesitated when he saw Sirius standing there with his wand.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

Such was the menace in Sirius' voice that all of the officers froze momentarily. He watched as the three men in green exchanged nervous and surprised glances that were enough to tell Sirius they knew exactly what it was he was holding. And standing there as if they'd been petrified meant they could also do nothing about it.

One of the other officers, however, still clutching his scolding arm, took his short metal pole out of its holster, flicked a catch on the front and aimed it at Sirius' head.

"Just put the phaser down, Mr. Spock," he said. "We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

His finger eased on the trigger.

"Stupefy!"

The policeman was hit square on the chest and vaulted back hard into the others, sending them tumbling to the ground like dominos. Sirius was about to let out another curse when he heard another click to his left. He turned around to see the policeman whose coffee he'd stolen pointing a gun at his left temple. There was a tremendous crack like the echo of a hundred Disapparations but where Sirius had stood only seconds before there was now a fiercely growling shaggy black dog, still holding a wand in its teeth. The bullet passed over the empty space and thudded home in the window just behind Sirius.

Too horrified to react, the remaining policemen watched from the floor as the dog barked loudly, a flash of blue light screeched over their heads and when they looked up again the end of its tail had jumped straight through the shattered window and out into the car park.

Sirius sprinted in between the Muggle carriages, wincing as he heard the sound of a gunshot whiz past his ear and shatter a headlight. He sliced like a chaser through the middle of the vehicles, then broke into a sprint as he reached the clearing. Panicked cries from behind told Sirius that the Muggles were now in pursuit, though still a way behind. A cacophony of shots rang out like a game of Exploding Snap gone horribly wrong and the air was filled with the sound of loud claxons as the windows blew out of a police carriage behind him.

Sirius reached the end of the car park and sprinted onto a patch of green grass. He looked up to see a high wire fence ahead of him blocking his way. He did not dare to look back but he could hear from the sounds of boots on glass that the Muggles were making their way through the carriages. Sirius shook his head and snarled angrily. Light flashed out from Thomas Barnaby's tooth-eaten wand once again and a small dog-sized hole opened in the fence to the accompaniment of astonished cries from behind him. Sirius leaped through the whole and turned back just quickly enough to admire his handiwork as the gap in the fence closed behind him.

Sirius bounded through taller grass, reached the edge of a forest, and then ducked and weaved his way through the trees and vanished.

***

The house elves parted as a door in the floor of the cellar at Honeydukes opened. Hermione was the first out. She took out her wand and quickly took in her surroundings.

"Lumos!" she said.

Her wand light shone right on Dobby who immediately squealed in fright.

"Hermione Granger," he whined. "Did you find him? Is he - "

As if in response, Harry pulled himself out of the trap door, followed closely by Ginny and Ron.

"Harry Potter is safe!"

For a moment, Hermione was certain Dobby was going to dance on the spot.

"Dobby," she said urgently. "Has anyone else been down here?"

"Oh, yes," replied Dobby, with the cautiousness of one who has something very unpleasant to reveal. "The proprietor. He was most - displeased." Dobby frowned.

Ron gulped.

Hermione turned to him. "We'll worry about it later. Did he see you, Dobby?"

Dobby shook his head. "Dobby is not a servant of Honeydukes. Dobby hid."

"We'd better get out of here before he comes back," said Ron, ignoring the confused looks on Harry and Ginny's faces.

Dobby grabbed hold of his arm. "But Winky is here, sir! Dobby will show sir the way."

Dobby tugged on Ron's arm and led him back to a dark corner of the cellar and another door. Dobby flicked his wrist and the catch of the door snapped open. They entered a small room with such a low ceiling that Ron and Harry had to keep their necks bent at all times. And there in the corner of the cellar, held in place by two burly-looking house elves with horribly scrunched up faces, was Winky.

Winky looked considerably different from the proud and defiant house elf that had stood in front of Ginny and her friends when they had first tried to enter the kitchens. Her eyes were puffy with tears and her once impeccably clean Hogwarts apron was now as stained and dirty as that of the other house elves. The burly elves released her only as long as it took to wipe her tears and blow her nose loudly in the apron.

As soon as she saw Harry, though, a half-smile blossomed on her lips. "Harry Potter," she said, in a quivering, feeble voice. "S - so good to see you safe, sir. Winky never meant Harry Potter harm, sir. Winky knows how Harry Potter was always good to Winky."

"Winky is lying!" spat Dobby. "Winky tried to get Harry Potter killed! Winky is a disgrace, a shame to all house elves!"

Winky wailed so loudly Ron was certain Tobias Whitherstripe would be down any moment.

"Winky is a good house-elf! Winky was only trying to serve her masters! Winky couldn't stop - Winky thought - Winky must have a Butterbeer! Dobby is too cruel!" She struggled against her two captors who continued to hold her forcefully. "Dobby will give Winky a Butterbeer! Dobby is too cruel, Winky must have it! Winky - "

"Winky deserves nothing!" shrilled Dobby, his ears turning to point like twin guns at his fellow house-elf. "And Winky will have nothing!"

This was more than Hermione could take.

"No, Dobby, stop them holding her like that! And no, Winky, you can't have a Butterbeer."

Dobby looked up at her, confusion and contradiction written over his face.

"But surely Hermione Granger is angry with Winky? Winky helped those who want to kill Hermione Granger's friend."

"No, Dobby. Can't you see she's been used? Winky," Hermione said, looking mercifully at the house-elf who could not bear to look back at her. "Tell us. Tell us what happened."

Winky tugged her hands roughly out of the grasp of the two house-elves. She opened her mouth to speak but before she had even uttered one word, she broke into hysterical tears again and covered her face in her apron, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose loudly several times. Dobby watched her with an expression of complete contempt but Hermione continued to wait patiently.

"I - It was young master Malfoy," Winky finally managed to croak.

"Draco?" said Ron.

Winky nodded and wiped her nose again.

Ron and Harry exchanged an all-knowing look.

"H - He came to me," said Winky. "Last year. H - he told me that Master Crouch w - would be ashamed of me if he knew wh - where I was and what I was doing, h - how I was working for pay and talking about house-elf rights. He said I had let M - master Crouch down. B - but if I was a good elf, m - m - maybe Master Malfoy's family could take me in."

"Winky, you know he was just cheating you!" said Hermione.

Winky shook her head and wiped away another tear. "Winky did not know, Hermione Granger. A - and Winky had never been happy since she left Master Crouch."

Winky broke into a fresh round of sobs. Ron and Harry looked impatient but Hermione just waited for her to stop.

"A - and Master Malfoy gave Winky this nice clean apron and many like it."

"Hang on a minute," said Ron. "Doesn't that mean he was giving you clothes?"

Winky shook her head and more tears started to fall. "W - Winky is not a slave, sir. Winky works for pay now. Oh, the shame, the shame!" Winky covered her face in her arms.

"The shame is not working for pay, Winky!" cried Dobby. "The shame is cheating on Harry Potter!"

Winky turned to look at Dobby, a faintly defensive expression in her eyes. "Winky did not know Master Malfoy was trying to kill Harry Potter. At first, he told her that Dumbledore was getting old, and sick. That is why he is giving the house elves pay, he said. He said the real master at Hogwarts should be his father, since his father is on the board."

Ron snorted.

"He said that Master Lucius Malfoy would put things back the way they should be and Winky thought this was very reasonable because house elves shouldn't be free and shouldn't be paid!"

Dobby opened his mouth to protest but Hermione said:

"Go on, Winky. What happened next?"

"He told Winky to pretend to be following Dumbledore's orders. He knew it was Winky who cleaned the headmaster's office. He told Winky to listen to whatever went on there. And Winky did listen. And Winky heard and found out where they were going to hide Harry Potter and then - and then Winky told Master Draco."

"Winky knew!" shouted Dobby. "Winky knew they were trying to kill Harry Potter even then!"

"No!" said Winky, growing more defiant. "Winky did not know, not then. Master Draco told Winky that Harry Potter had to be captured, that Dumbledore had twisted his reason, that he had to be made to see sense! And then, Master Draco gave Winky more aprons and even a little money. He told Winky to play along with S.P.E.W., to tell all the house elves that Winky was the greatest supporter of Hermione Granger and her cause. He just asked Winky to help clean the original room. He told Winky it was being used for the board meetings."

"But Winky must have known," protested Dobby. "Winky must have known they was Dark Wizard's things he was cleaning!"

Winky started to sob again. "Y - yes, it is, true, sir, Winky admits it. But Winky had gotten used to the aprons, and the money, and the privilege. Oh, Winky is so ashamed! But Winky still did not know they wanted to kill Harry Potter! No!" she added quickly before anyone could interject. "Winky only found out last night. Winky heard the two Masters Malfoy talking. Winky knew she had been tricked, she had been lied to, that Dumbledore wasn't old and crazy!"

Harry stepped forward, trying to disguise the eagerness in his voice. "What were their plans, Winky? What did they say?"

"They is waiting in the original room, sir. They is setting a trap for Harry Potter. They is going to wait until no one is in the castle except Harry Potter and the very young ones who won't be able to help him. Then they is going to kill him. But they won't be able to now, sir," said Winky, a little more brightly. "Winky confessed to Dobby. Winky saved Harry Potter!"

"And then Winky tried to run away!" cried Dobby.

"Winky was scared. Winky didn't know how to show her face again. Winky - "

"Winky is a coward!" cried Dobby.

"Look, it's over, now, all right?" said Harry. "Dobby, we've got to get you and Winky to safety."

"Winky - to safety, sir?" Dobby asked incredulously.

"Yes! Don't you see? If they find out she's missing, they'll kill her! Winky, get back to the original room."

Winky whimpered.

"It's the only way," said Harry urgently. "Otherwise they'll know something's wrong. Dobby, take the rest of the house elves and hide."

"Hide where, sir?"

"Anywhere, just stay away from that room and from the kitchens."

Dobby nodded and turned with Winky to leave, trailed reluctantly by the two burly elves, whom Harry had the sudden impression were elfin bounty hunters.

Harry turned to Ginny, Hermione, and Ron.

"We've got to think of a plan."

"Send Dumbledore an owl," said Hermione like it was a mantra.

"No."

It was Ginny who spoke, causing Ron and Hermione to turn around in surprise. Harry, however, just waited patiently for Ginny to explain.

"You never should have sent any owls to Dumbledore or Sirius! And Sirius should have known better than to owl you! It was too dangerous and it's certainly too dangerous now. We've got to find another way to get Harry out of here!"

Ginny looked at others, waiting for them to respond but saw that rather than considering her idea, Ron's jaw had dropped and Hermione was looking around anxiously.

"She knows," said Harry, reading their glances. "It doesn't matter now."

Ginny pressed on, the matter cleared as far as she was concerned.

"I've got an idea."

Ron raised an eyebrow and neither he nor Hermione spoke but Harry nodded, almost imperceptibly.

All three of them were surprised when Ginny took out her wand, flicked it in the air and said:

"Apparecium Cartus."

A glowing display of yellow lines materialized into the air in front of them. At first they seemed to only dazzle but then, as Harry looked more closely, he noticed something familiar about them and realized that they looked exactly like the map he had studied with Sirius of the Forbidden Forest, while they were still hiding before the school year had started. But this map was much larger and showed the area including Hogsmeade and the castle.

Ron stared at the map, his brown eyes wide.

"Wh - wh - where did you learn that spell?"

"Me, Amanda, and Colin used it to get out of the castle and explore the forest our second year," she said vacantly.

"Y - you what?" croaked Ron.

"I know," replied Ginny. "We took a year longer than you."

Hermione studied the map closely, clearly impressed. "Is this like the Marauder's Map, Ginny? Does it tell us where people are?"

Ginny shook her head. "Just the landscape. But it will give us an idea of how to get Harry out of here. I think we'll have to go on foot. Any other way will be too risky. We have to - "

"Just a minute," said Ron, his eyes darting back and forth from the map to Ginny with the air of someone about to burst. "Let's get one thing straight. You're not going anywhere! You're going to find somewhere safe and hide!"

Ginny looked up at her brother for a moment as if she'd never considered he would say anything of the sort.

"Y - you want me to leave?" she repeated, sounding like Ron had just stuck a pin in her balloon and let all the air out. "And what are you going to do?"

"We're going to take care of Harry and keep him safe," said Ron matter-of-factly.

"And why is you get to rescue Harry and I don't?"

Ron looked back at Ginny as if she'd asked him why the sky was blue. "B - because that's what we've always done. Harry's our friend."

"So he's your friend and not mine?" asked Ginny, her voice rising dangerously.

"I - I - no, I didn't mean that. It's just - " Ron seemed at a loss for words.

Hermione stepped forward. "Ginny," she said gently. "It's not a matter of who's Harry's friend and who's not. Ron, Harry, and I have faced a lot of things together already, and we're a year older, and just that much better trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts. If you come with us, it'll be much harder to keep both you and Harry safe. Do you want that?"

Harry looked at Ginny and could see that far from mollifying her, Hermione had made things much, much worse. A scarlet flush rose in Ginny's cheeks as she stared at Hermione with an expression of deepest betrayal. Harry was certain that any moment, steam would start to escape from her ears but what flowed out instead were tears.

"Do you know what it's like?" she hissed cuttingly, looking back and forth from Ron to Hermione. "Do you know what it's like every time he goes away? When he disappeared the night of the Triwizard Tournament? When he didn't show up on the train this year? Do you know how black I felt inside?"

Ron took a step backwards and stared at Ginny for a moment as if he didn't know her. But then he recovered and said in an indignant tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I do. He's my best friend and if you don't think I felt it when those things happened, then you're wrong!"

"I didn't say you didn't, Ron!" replied Ginny, her voice thick with emotion. "But then I'm not the one making you leave! Everyone understands what great friends the three of you are. But no one understands how I feel - how I've always felt - for him. Who was it McGonagall took in her office to cuddle and feed when we all thought Harry was dead and who did she leave in Gryffindor Tower to sweat it all out?"

"That wasn't - we didn't - that's not my fault!"

"But it's your fault now, isn't it?"

Ron turned just as red as his sister. "I promised Mum I'd look after you. I promised her the day we left that nothing would happen to you! You don't know; you weren't there when Riddle took you! I've never seen her look like that; it was horrible and I'll never let her go through it again!"

Harry was certain Ginny was going to explode. He looked over at Hermione and saw that her mouth was hanging half-open in shock. But Ginny just sighed and said in a much quieter but no less emotion-laden voice.

"Fine, Ron. I'll leave. I'll be safe. And you can go off with Harry. And even if he's killed, you'll still have your sister. And she'll walk and eat and look just like me. But she won't be at all because I will have already died on the inside!"

Ginny turned on her heel, marched out of the door, to walk back up the steps and out to the main floor of Honeydukes and a no doubt bewildered and displeased Tobias Whitherstripe. But before she left, she turned around to look at Harry for the briefest of moments, tears streaming down her face, with such an expression of confusion and hurt that Harry sank to his knees on the floor as surely as if she'd just hexed him. And then Harry realized that while he had not tried to make Ginny leave, he had also said nothing to help her stay. But Harry also knew that there were no words to describe what he felt after what he had heard her say.

"Well," said Ron, after a few moments of shocked silence, his voice strangely high-pitched. "I - I suppose she hasn't quite gotten over that crush thing after all. N - never mind. She's safe now. We'll have to deal with it later." He swallowed and his voice returned to a normal register. "We've got to get Harry to safety."

Hermione started to say something in response but Harry could no longer hear her. Both Ron and Hermione suddenly sounded as if they were talking from behind a pane of glass. There was a loud thumping sound in Harry's ears that he vaguely realized was the sound of large quantities of blood being furiously pounded into his head. Of all of the burdens he had carried around in his mind this past year, he was certain that one he had just been handed by Ginny was the greatest of all. Harry was sure in that moment that he would never be able to so much as stand up again.

It seemed hardly real than just an hour ago he had managed to convince himself that he'd made up Ginny's crush all by himself. Now crush seemed a woefully inadequate way to describe what Ginny had been feeling. It was obvious she was in love with him. Harry didn't know why; he wasn't even sure he knew what that meant. All he knew was that she had suffered for years because of him. That whenever he'd gone and nearly died (and how many times was that now?), she'd stewed inside, never telling anyone, much less him. And how had he treated her? He'd never been unkind to Ginny. But Harry realized that his lukewarm behavior to her all these years, shown yet again by his silence just minutes before, had been the worst sort of medicine of all for what was ailing Ginny. If he'd loved her, she might have been happy; if he'd hated her, then at least her love might have died. But as it was, he had always kept Ginny's feelings burning without ever fulfilling them.

Harry was now certain of only one thing. This was not how the story was going to end.

He stood up.

"I'm going after her," he declared.

Ron, who had apparently been in the middle of saying something, turned around in surprise, as did Hermione.

"Who?" he asked.

"Ginny!"

"What?"

"Harry." Hermione stepped forward, looking very anxious. "I - I'm pleased that you care about Ginny - "

Ron looked extremely bewildered.

" - but you've got to stay with us. It's not Ginny Voldemort's after. It's you."

Harry looked at Hermione for a moment. Then another horrible truth began to sink in.

"But it is," he said quietly.

"Wh - what did you say?" asked Ron.

Harry forced himself to look up at Ron.

"Voldemort's been giving her nightmares all year. He wanted her to give me to him. He's trying to use her!"

"Wh - what makes you think that?" asked Ron in a tone of voice that suggested to Harry he didn't really want to know the answer.

"She told me. The night she had the nightmare, before her Potions O.W.L. My scar was hurting. We went to see McGonagall together. I - I'm sorry."

There was a long, long moment of silence. Ron went completely white. Hermione looked as surprised as Harry had ever seen her. Finally, Ron opened his mouth in what seemed like slow motion.

"You're - sorry?" he said incredulously.

Harry nodded dumbly.

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times again before finally saying in a horribly emotion-cracked voice.

"I just want to know one thing, Harry. Why? Why didn't you tell me? She's my little sister!"

"Because she told me not to," Harry said blankly.

"And you listened to her? And not me? Harry, we've been friends for six years!"

"She didn't want you to know," said Harry, a little more assertively. "I respected her feelings."

"You - respected - her - ? Harry, he took her into the Chamber of Secrets? Did you forget that? Goddess knows what he's done to her this time. How can she be in a position to tell you - "

Harry suddenly didn't feel so sorry for Ron. He felt a curious anger rise inside him.

"Maybe if you would listen to her! Maybe if she knew you'd respect her feelings and her choice!"

Ron looked back at Harry in disbelief. "How dare you?" he hissed. "How dare you put this back on me. You - "

Hermione stepped quickly in between Harry and Ron, her eyes darting from one to the other in desperation.

"Look, just stop it! We haven't got time for this! I'll go and find Ginny. Ron, you stay here with Harry. And try not to kill each other."

Harry stepped back. "No!" he declared. "This is my fault. I'll go and find Ginny."

"Are you mad?" barked Ron. "That's exactly what You-Know-Who wants, the two of you together! Let Hermione go. Then we'll get out of this together!"

"No," repeated Harry firmly. "Voldemort isn't after you! He's after me! And whatever he wants with Ginny, it's because of me, too. I'm going to find her. I'm going to get her out of here!"

"Harry, why?" Hermione demanded, her eyes filling with tears. "Voldemort might not be after us but we're your friends! We've always faced things together!"

Ron nodded. "You're my best mate, Harry. Despite everything that's happened this morning. And I'm not going to leave you, not even if you want me to!"

Harry stepped back from Ron and Hermione, his eyes filling up with hurt.

"Do you think I don't want you as my friends?" he said desperately. "I'm doing this for you! Cedric came with me; look how he ended up! The Dursleys took me in; look what happened to them! No, I'm not having anymore! No one else dies because of me!"

Hermione looked up at Harry and said gently but firmly:

"I'm sorry, Harry, but it's too late for that now. You can't stop us. It's our choice."

Harry looked between Hermione and Ron and for a moment he thought he might just give in but then the horrible, agonized faces of the Dursleys cowering in fright as their house burned down around them flew horribly into his mind, only this time they had Ron and Hermione's faces, there were flashes of green light, and a horrible high chilling voice.

"No!" Harry cried. He took a step back from Ron and Hermione, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Space Catcher.

Ron frowned. "What's that?" he said.

But Hermione obviously recognized the Space Catcher for what it was.

"No, Harry, don't!" she cried. Her arm lunged forward.

Harry squeezed hard on the Space Catcher. For a moment, Hermione's arm was coming closer and closer but then Harry felt himself pulling away, a tugging sensation jolting at his hip, a lot like travel by portkey but much, much rougher. And then Hermione, Ron, and the dusty cellar of Honeydukes vanished before his eyes.

***

"Quiet yourself, Wormtail," came Voldemort's snake-like hiss.

The Death Eater to his left forced himself to stop moving. He looked down at the table at his hands and found that he still could not stop them trembling. He anxiously hid them behind his chair. He looked up and noticed that the other Death Eaters remained completely impassive.

"M - my Lord, I am sorry. B - but I fear for our plan. You said the girl has left Potter. Surely - "

"If it were not for your contributions to my continuing plans, Wormtail, I might have already grown tired of your lack of faith in the arrangements I have spent months carefully planning."

"N - not l - l - lack of faith, my Lord, I - "

"I am not interested in more of your excuses, Wormtail. I tire of them easily. Potter is very predictable. I think we can be quite certain that he will go to find the girl and they will be together again very soon and since the other stages of our plans have now been prepared, we will be ready to find them immediately."

***

Harry balled his fists and clenched his eyes shut as he waited for the spinning dizziness in his head and body to subside. Then he opened his eyes, stood up, staggered for a moment, and took in his surroundings.

He was sitting on a small wooden hill just behind the main street of Hogsmeade. Directly to his left was the Shrieking Shack and he could still see the roof of Honeydukes not far below him. Harry got to his feet, stumbled for a moment, and then broke into a run in the direction of the shack. He wasn't quite sure why he was going there but he knew he couldn't stay where he was. Ron and Hermione would surely start to look for him and he needed to put as much distance between them as possible.

But where would Ginny have gone? Harry realized as he rushed along the side of the woods, wincing as a stray twig slapped against his glasses, that he had no idea where to begin. Could she have hidden in Hogsmeade? Had she gone back to the school? Surely she couldn't be all that far away? How long had they stood there talking after she had left?

Harry continued to run, his feet sliding awkwardly on the steep hill as he made his way toward the shack. Unable as he was to answer the more crucial question of where Ginny was, his mind turned to the slightly more pressing but very much cogent question of why he was looking for her in the first place.

Of course, he needed to get her out of harm's way, just as he had in the Chamber. And this time he could not deceive himself. He knew. He knew because Tom Riddle had told him all those years ago. Voldemort only wanted Ginny because of him. And it was his responsibility to get her out. He knew he couldn't face it if anything happened to her.

Harry checked these thoughts over and over again as he finally reached the hill in front of the shack and bounded up toward it. Nothing he had said to himself was wrong but somehow the whole of his longing seemed more than the sum of his reasons. Ginny's screaming confession meant that there was a great deal of unfinished business between the two of them, though even as Harry thought this, he was not at all sure how he meant to deal with Ginny's feelings for him. As he ran into the shack, closed the door, and stood panting against the wall, the only thing it seemed he could remember was the sensation of surrendering himself into Ginny's embrace that morning, of her passion and love as she'd held him. Ron had told him to forget about the Dursleys; Hermione had told him to confront Sirius. He knew he could do neither of those things. It was only Ginny who knew who he had really needed much better than Harry had realized himself at the time: someone to show him that while he had to shoulder his burdens, he didn't have to share them alone.

And all her hair and clothes had smelt of lavender. Harry wondered why he had never noticed it before.

And then as Harry stood there against the wall of the Shrieking Shack panting for breath, he squeezed his eyes shut and found he could smell not the dank decaying mold of the shack but the fragrant scent of the wildflower, a flower that had filled him with hope and calm all his life for reasons he did not know or could not remember. But whatever it was the smell had meant to him before, it now reminded him of Ginny, of her strength and determination, of her passion and her love, and of the enormous deep sea behind her soft brown eyes.

And then Harry realized. Whether it was her embrace, or her confession, or simply the fact that he had already faced Ron about her secret, he did not know. But he now knew one thing.

He did like Ginny. In fact, he could feel that he had liked her for some time but he had kept the feelings buried inside him.

But as soon as Harry realized this, another much less pleasant sensation seemed to seize hold of his stomach. In spite of the cramped heat of the shack, the horrible icy feeling was returning again and this time it seemed to spread from his gut all throughout his body. His legs felt numb. He was sure once again that he wouldn't be able to move.

And then Harry found himself gripped with an unpleasant memory. Of Professor Nevins. Of his frightened face as he'd stared at the Boggart that had taken the shape of his father as James' lifeless eyes had stared accusingly down at him. And then Harry knew why his Boggart had taken the form of Ginny. Not really Ginny at all, though. He had known that the night he had watched Ginny as she studied. He had seen how different she looked from her Boggart impersonator but he had not recognized the difference for what it was.

The Ginny in the common room was alive, but the Boggart was dead, just like his father. And it had accused him, just as the Boggart James had accused Nevins. And as the horrible icy sensation finally spread to Harry's head and a cold sweat broke out over his face, Harry realized his greatest fear: that if he accepted Ginny's feelings, then she would die, just like everyone who had ever loved Harry before.

For the second time in an hour, Harry found that his legs could no longer support him. Tears coursing down his cheeks, Harry realized that his worst fear was going to come true. Voldemort would go after Ginny just like he had before. And he had no idea where she was. And there was no way he could find out.

But as Harry's legs finally gave way and he sank to the floor, he felt something press against his side from where it lay folded in his pocket, forgotten. His eyes suddenly springing to life, Harry hastily took the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and unfolded it. But surely she wouldn't have gone back to the castle? Still, it was worth a look. If there was any chance....

And there she was. But when Harry finally found out where he didn't know whether to feel surprise or relief. It couldn't really be, could it? But like Professor Lupin before him, Harry knew that however strange the truth, the Marauder's Map did not lie.

Harry quickly folded the map up again and put it back into his pocket. He then got up and looked around the shack. He thought of making for the passageway but then decided against it. He might not be seen but down in the tunnel he could easily be ambushed. If only he had taken the Invisibility Cloak!

Harry drew out his wand and rushed to the main door of the Shack. He flung it open and bounded down the hill back onto the main path to Hogwarts, noting with apprehension how uncomfortably quiet it seemed. His eyes darting back and forth, Harry ran back up the main path toward the school, trying to stay alert for any signs of an attack but the path ahead of him was quiet and Harry could soon see the castle ahead. He tore into an even faster sprint, thinking only of how he must get there, how he must reach Ginny before it was too late, of what it would mean if she died before he ever really showed her how he felt. Nothing else mattered now.

The castle never seemed so far away as it did now, but finally Harry approached the main doors. Ignoring the stitch in his side, Harry tore open the door and ran down the strangely deserted main corridor, made a right turn, and pushed open a door with a bang.

***

Voldemort let out a satisfied sigh as his fingers moved away from the top of the diary.

"You can relax now, Wormtail," he hissed. "They are together again. The first floor bathroom."

A chilling smile broke over the Dark Lord's hideously chapped lips.

"Fetch them," he said.

The Death Eaters to his immediate right got up and walked methodically toward the door....

***

Ginny gasped as the door to the bathroom banged open and Harry ran in, clutching his side in pain. She sniffed and wiped absently at a tear falling down her left cheek. In truth, Ginny had been fantasizing about Harry doing exactly this only moments before but as always with these sorts of fantasies, one rarely expects they will actually happen.

The next thing that happened proved just as unexpected. Harry had no sooner started to move toward Ginny when an apparition flew out of nowhere and stopped directly in his path.

"Oh, you should see her," said Moaning Myrtle. "She's in a right mess. She's been crying and crying and crying."

Ginny could see Harry's face tense in annoyance. He tried to dart past Myrtle but she moved to block his way again.

"She's down here all the time, you know," Myrtle went on. "Come on, Harry, you don't want a crybaby girlfriend, do you?"

"Shut up, Myrtle."

Myrtle looked as if she was restraining herself from crying with great difficulty.

"Shut up, Myrtle," she hissed. "Is that all you can say to me? You-Know-Who is here now, in the castle!" She clasped her hands together in obvious delight. "You might want me to shut up now, but by the afternoon you'll be singing a different tune when we're sharing the same toilet. Why take her when you - "

"Spiritem Exhume!"

Myrtle's face creased in shock as she vaulted back into the s-bend of the nearest toilet.

Harry pocketed his wand and quickly ran over to join Ginny at the foot of the sink. She sat there holding her knees against her chest, her body looking for all the world like it wanted to disappear, but her eyes still staring at his in surprise. A thin beam of light shone from the sun through the rose window at the back and fell gently through Ginny's hair. She looked to Harry like an angel on fire.

"Ginny," Harry finally said between pants. "What are you doing here? Why on earth would you ever come back to this place?"

"The Chamber's been sealed, Harry," remarked Ginny, noticing how quiet her voice sounded.

"But - but why would you make yourself remember? How could you ever - "

"Because no one would ever think to look for me here, Harry. And sometimes I need to be alone. A - and besides, Harry." Ginny quickly became interested in the progress of an ant on the floor. "This isn't such a horrible place. This is where you brought me back after you rescued me."

Ginny sat up in surprise as Harry took her hands in his.

"Ginny," he said in a voice that had only ever spoken so softly to her in her dreams. "You wanted to tell me three things this morning. I'm afraid we never got to the third one."

"Harry," Ginny said suddenly. "What are you doing here? You can't come back to the castle! It's not safe! You shouldn't have come after me."

"No, Ginny, listen to me. I - "

But Ginny shook her head and started talking again.

"Harry, didn't you hear what Myrtle said? And Winky? Don't you know that - "

"No, look, listen, Ginny, I don't care - "

"Oh, Harry, I was so selfish. I never should have run away. But you have to go now. You-Know-Who - "

"I don't care about Voldemort. I care about you."

There was a sudden deadening silence. As she and Harry stared at each other, Ginny had the funny sensation that all time had stopped still. Several seconds passed before Ginny was aware of an uncomfortable sensation in her throat and realized she had forgotten to breathe.

And before Ginny could think another thought, Harry rubbed her hands gently and she was shocked to realize that his were cold and trembling. She immediately reciprocated.

"Ginny," he said, still staring straight into her eyes. "Please tell me."

Ginny started to speak but the sound caught in her throat. She looked back at Harry and found herself rooted to his emerald eyes, never before so close, never looking at her as they did now. She tried to speak again but now it seemed harder than ever. She felt herself seethe with embarrassment and self-contempt. Why couldn't she tell him? He was begging her to tell him. She couldn't think past the moment to wonder why but he was. It should be so easy but it just wasn't.

"H - Harry," she finally said, aware that her voice was shaking. "Y - you better go. W - we'll still be here tomorrow at this rate."

Harry smiled.

"I can't think of anything else I'd like better."

Harry's hands seemed to tremble even harder as they moved to Ginny's shoulders and held them tightly.

And then Ginny remembered. She remembered when she first knew she loved Harry, not when she'd been infatuated, not when she'd had a shy crush, but when she had really loved him. The time she had woken in the Chamber after all of her horrors and seen him, grimy and bloody, standing over her. How he had grasped hold of her shoulders in just the same way and lifted her, however awkwardly, to her feet. How he had carried her away. How he had only wanted to rescue her, not to ask any questions, not to scold her or criticize her. How he had thought nothing of himself, how he had almost died for her. How he had carried her away from all of her fears and nightmares as surely as if he had taken her out of the Chamber itself.

And then Ginny opened her mouth and as though she was learning to speak for the very first time, looked at Harry and said:

"I love you, Harry. I've always loved you."

As soon as the words had left her lips, Ginny felt fresh tears run down her cheeks. She started to wail as Harry eased her gently into his arms. She sobbed so hard she thought she would choke. All the catharsis of years of feelings unsaid seemed to pour out through her tears like water from a broken dam.

When Harry finally released her, she found that his face, too, was wet.

"I was so afraid, Ginny," he croaked, his voice shockingly vulnerable. "I thought I would never find you again. That you'd never be able to tell me. That I'd never - that all - "

Harry stopped talking. He reached his hand behind Ginny's head and gently pulled her toward him. Ginny moved toward his shoulder, wanting to drown in the warmth of his embrace again, but Harry tugged at the side of her cheek and pulled her head toward his.

And then Ginny realized. He was going to kiss her.

Her teeth started to chatter and her body shook, no longer sure it could bear the flood of sense and emotion that was to come. She had thought so many times of how it would feel to finally kiss the Boy Who Lived; she had lived a dozen different moments in a hundred different daydreams but now as Harry finally moved toward her and she could feel his warm hurried breath on her lips, Ginny thought of none of those dreams. For once, she knew only the moment she was living in now.

And then Harry's lips touched hers and the trembling subsided. Their tongues touched awkwardly but softly, a sensation unfamiliar but not unwelcome. Ginny let out a moan of joy and pulled Harry closer and then cried once again when she felt him return her passion. She had the sudden strange feeling that for the first time in her life she was truly being loved, not smothered or babysat, not desired or used, but loved. Ginny felt that with every twist of his lips Harry was taking out all of the pain, fear, and hurt that had grown inside her like he was sucking out poison from beneath a deep wound.

And even as they finally moved apart, Ginny could still feel the sensation of Harry's kiss linger on. Her face burned so warmly her skin tingled. She felt a tremendous energy rushing like a river through her body and even though her eyes were still half-blurred with tears, the world around her suddenly seemed much sharper and richer than it had a moment before. Ginny felt as though she was seeing in color for the first time the textures of things she had barely started to grasp in her dreams.

Harry's right hand continued to stroke Ginny's soft red locks while his left massaged the tears away from her cheek. He looked at her with an expression of contented disbelief, if such a thing was possible. Ginny took Harry's glasses away and wiped his own tears, then allowed her fingers to run through his hair and gently trace the scar on his forehead.

And then, because her love for Harry was much more than a touch or a kiss, Ginny opened her mouth and said as softly as she could:

"Harry, you have to leave now. I know you know it. It's just not safe here."

Harry's face twisted into a frown. "Ginny, no, I - "

"Harry," said Ginny persistently. "Voldemort wants to find you and kill you. A - and he wants to use me to do it. We have to face this. Ron was right. He didn't know why but he was."

"No, Ginny. It's only because of me that he wants you. I'm taking you with me. I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

Fresh tears sprung down Ginny's cheeks. She clasped Harry's hands together in hers.

"Harry, no," she sobbed. "You came in here and showed me how you really felt. If I die today, it will still be the happiest day of my life. We're together now no matter what happens. He can't really keep us apart. But you have to go; you have to find Ron and Hermione and get as far away from here as possible."

But Harry was already shaking his head even before Ginny had finished talking.

"I'll run but I'm taking you with me."

"He'll find me, Harry. He always - "

The door to the bathroom opened. Ginny instinctively let go of Harry's hands and they moved away from each other. They looked up nervously to see who was entering, bracing themselves for the worst. And neither felt very much relieved when Ron and Hermione walked in.

Ron walked over to Harry and Ginny with his arms folded. His face and hair were of matching color. He did not smile.

Hermione stood a little apart from Ron, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Harry nervously.

"H - how did you find us?" Harry finally said, looking from Ron to Hermione in surprise.

Ron didn't reply for a moment then slowly drew the Marauder's Map out of his pocket. Harry's hand instinctively flew to his pocket to confirm the obvious truth that the map was no longer there.

"You dropped this on the way back to the castle," Ron said, his voice lingering unnaturally over every syllable. "Apparently you didn't notice. I suppose you were a little preoccupied." He looked meaningfully at Ginny.

Harry exchanged a nervous glance with Ginny and then instantly regretted it. What business was it of Ron's anyway? And besides, the pair of them might look a frazzled mess but Ron didn't know they had kissed.

Harry had no sooner finished this thought when he saw out of his peripheral vision that Hermione was moving further behind Ron so that only Harry and Ginny could see her. Ever more anxiously, she looked back at Harry and pointed her finger to the corner of her lips. With a dawning sense of dread, Harry wiped the same corner of his own mouth and found the stain of Ginny's strawberry-colored Muggle lipstick come away in his hand.

"So," said Ron richly. "Pardon me for interrupting, anyway. I've been trying to save your life. Apparently you were too busy snogging my sister!"

Harry and Ginny both stood up.

"Ron, stop it!" Ginny cried.

But Ron looked like he had only just begun.

"Couldn't you at least have told me, Harry?" he said, his face creasing. "All the time we were talking about Cho - "

Harry put his hand up. "It's not like that! I - I only just - I didn't realize until - "

But Ron didn't seem to be listening.

"Why did you have to do that to her, Harry? Of all the girls - "

"What the hell do you mean?" demanded Harry, suddenly angry. "I didn't do anything to her."

"Didn't do anything?" Ron repeated incredulously. "You know she's always been keen on you. She doesn't have a choice!"

"I don't see - " Harry began but he was interrupted when Ginny sidled in front of him and drew herself up to her brother, her face just as set in rage as his was.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but what the doxie dung do you mean I don't have a choice?"

"Well, you don't," replied Ron, a little taken aback at Ginny's language. "You just have this stupid thing about him that won't go away!"

"And it's never going to! He is my choice!"

"Just because he saved your life!"

Just when it looked like Ginny would sprout fangs, Hermione stepped in between the other three.

"Look," she said, in a business-like fashion. "I know you're all upset, but I think it's more important if we - "

But no one took any notice.

"Can't you see you're making things worse for her?" cried Harry. "Is this what a brother does? I'm glad I don't have one!"

Ron turned an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"Maybe that's why you don't know what it's like to have someone look after you and save you from your own stupidity! And I'm not just talking about her! You know You-Know-Who wants the pair of you killed! And you're just making it easier!"

"We'd have left here by now if it wasn't for you!"

"Oh, you will be leaving here if it's the last thing I do but not together!"

"I'm not leaving her!"

"You will if you really care about her," said Ron hotly. "I don't know why, Harry." He shook his head. "I just don't know. You could have had Cho if you'd really tried. You could have had any girl in this school."

There was a very uncomfortable moment of silence.

"Ron, you idiot," said Ginny finally, with almost a hint of sadness in her voice.

Harry was livid. "Do you want to tell me what you mean by that?" he asked.

"I - I mean." Ron started to falter. "I know you don't like to think of yourself that way, but you're Harry Potter. I mean y - you don't see the way they all look at you." A trace of resentment now crept into Ron's voice. "They'd be lining up - "

"I don't want some stupid fangirl!" barked Harry lividly.

"Well you've got one!"

Ginny kicked Ron hard in the shins.

Hermione stepped in between them, pushed Ron and Ginny away from each other, and shrieked as loudly as she could:

"Just stop it! All of you! NOW!"

No one was more surprised than Hermione, however, when she had the last word for at that precise moment, there came a deafening crash from somewhere very nearby.

Then the lights went out.