The Silent Siege

Chapter 18

The Trap

On the final day of the term, Harry Potter heard the crow of the school roosters as he roused himself from bed, quickly dressed, and then crept past his sleeping roommates and left his room to go downstairs. His mind still half-asleep and half-consumed with fresh reminders of the laundry list of dilemmas that painfully crept back into his conscious thought each morning, he ignored the Fat Lady (and her mild reproach), left the common room, and went out down the staircase to the main section of the castle.

The last few weeks of the term had been surprisingly uneventful for Harry. The Quidditch final had come and gone. At first, it had provided a welcome distraction but the result - a narrow defeat to Ravenclaw - had left him feeling extremely bitter not least because of the manner in which it had been delivered: he had been about to close his hand on the Snitch when Cho Chang had appeared out of nowhere and, armed with her most satisfied of smiles, had deftly knocked Harry's broomstick off course leaving him with little to do but watch as it had veered into her waiting hand as if she had been able to guide it there. On top of it all, McGonagall had taken away ten points from Gryffindor when Hermione had let out a string of expletives from the stands which neither he nor her startled boyfriend had had any idea she possessed.

But Harry had far more to worry about than losing at game of Quidditch to Cho Chang. It had been during the previous week that McGonagall had called him into a private meeting in her office and explained that given the Death Eaters' last abortive attack on the Dursleys, he might have to remain at Hogwarts all summer. Apparently, the Order did not think it would be safe for him even to be transported to Order headquarters, even with a guard. At one time Harry would have been happy to have avoided the Dursleys for the entire year and he certainly had no wish to return to Grimmauld Place with its haunting memories of his godfather. But Harry no longer thought he was very much safer at school. He had said so to McGonagall and, for a moment, Harry had been sure he had seen a flicker of indecision on her face but then her expression had drawn shut and she had insisted that Hogwarts was the safest place Harry could possibly be. Harry had felt too morose to argue with her and he had not had the energy necessary to send another owl to Dumbledore by stealth. And this time even Hermione had known better than to suggest that he owl Professor Lupin.

Harry had also still not told a living soul - not even Ron or Hermione - about the night he and Ginny had shared their vision of Voldemort. He was not at all sure why he was protecting Ginny like this. Perhaps they had become closer friends than before but surely his loyalty must go first to Ron? Even if Dumbledore or McGonagall could apparently do nothing to help, at least his best friend had a right to know what had happened to his sister, didn't he? He shuddered to think how Ron would react if he ever found out - not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Scratching his head as he mulled these things over for the umpteenth time, Harry rounded the corridor which ended in the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He had had several more private tutorials with Nevins since the day he had unceremoniously walked out of his office. Nevins had remained professional and even friendly to Harry but every now and then when he was caught off-guard Harry could see a searching, almost pleading look on his face, at which point Harry had nearly always forced his gaze away.

They were originally supposed to have their final tutorial later that morning, in advance of Harry's last exam of the term for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class proper, but Nevins had owled him during dinner the previous evening requesting that Harry come to his final Defense tutorial before breakfast the following morning. Such was the increasingly rebellious state of Harry's moods that he had half a mind not to show up, but in the end his curiosity had overcome his resentment.

As was often the case in recent weeks, Harry found that he had reached the door to Nevins' office far sooner than he'd wished. He knocked and expected to hear Nevins' customary call to enter but instead he heard the shuffling of footsteps and soon Nevins opened the door himself.

"Please come in, Harry," he said quietly.

Harry entered the office and sat down. Nevins walked in behind him and took a position behind his own desk. He did not sit, however, but zipped up a small briefcase that had been lying on top, then turned to look at Harry.

"There will be no lesson today, Harry," he said. "You have completed all of the training I can give you. I think, after this, you might find seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts mostly review and I dare say you will have little difficulty on the test I have arranged for this afternoon. You have performed admirably, Harry. You are indeed your father's son."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but found that no sound could come out.

"I asked you to come here so early, Harry, because I have to leave Hogwarts this morning. I have an assignment of my own to complete on behalf of Professor Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. Professor Grubbly-Plank will be proctoring your examination this afternoon. I dare say she will be more than capable of sitting in front of the room and feigning a lack of boredom."

"Dumbledore?" Harry repeated garrulously, finding himself a little surprised that Nevins knew about the Order. "Where is he? Wh - what assignment? What's going on?"

Nevins held up his hand.

"Questions I wish I could answer, Harry, but I'm afraid I cannot."

"W - will we see each other again?" Harry was surprised at the note of desperation that seemed to creep into his voice as he asked this question.

Nevins paused for a moment. A dark shadow flickered across his features.

"I hope so, Harry. I very much hope so."

There was a long pause. Then Harry cleared his throat and said:

"S - so you brought me here this morning just to tell me that you're leaving?"

"To tell you that I'm leaving and because there's something I want to give you."

Nevins reached into his top desk drawer and produced a small opaque sphere that reminded Harry a great deal of Neville's Remembrall. He took it gingerly in his hand and handed it to Harry.

Harry was surprised to find that the sphere was very soft and almost sticky like a giant mass of partially congealed glue. Yet when he rolled it back and forth in his palm, he discovered it left no residue. He started to squeeze the sphere but stopped when Nevins hastily grabbed hold of his wrist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might end up in a large vat of pancake batter in the kitchen."

Harry looked curiously at Nevins.

"It's called a Space Catcher," Nevins explained. "And it belonged to your father. He put it to all kinds of good uses, usually having to do with sneaking out of the dormitory at night after his invisibility cloak was taken away by Professor Dumbledore or escaping detention. I eventually confiscated it. It is after all an extremely dangerous device. After your father left Hogwarts, I offered to return it to him but he thought I could put it to better use. Now I think you will find more use for it than I."

"What does it do?"

"It is a crude disapparation device. Whoever squeezes it will disapparate and reapparate in another location. It will not take you very far from where you left and, for that reason, your father felt it safe. I felt otherwise. You see, Harry, the Space Catcher operates on a random principle. The user has no idea where he will end up."

"And you think it safe if I use it?"

Nevins didn't quite meet Harry's gaze. "Safer than certain death at the hands of an army Death Eaters, yes."

Harry swallowed.

Nevins looked up again, took his briefcase in his hand, and moved around to the other side of the desk. He held out his hand. Harry hesitated for a moment and then shook it.

"Good luck, Harry," he said.

"And you, sir," replied Harry.

Nevins nodded to Harry and then proceeded to the door.

"Oh," he said, turning around to look back at Harry. "By the way, it's rather difficult to find a quiet place to study on the last day of term. You're welcome to stay in here if you like, Ron and Hermione, too. You'll find the door will open at your touch. I'll be off then."

Nevins swiftly swung around and reached out for the door knob. He was about to turn the handle when Harry called out:

"There was nothing you could have done. If you had tried to save my parents, Voldemort would just have killed you, too. I think deep down you know that."

A strange silence filled the room like the absence of sound after a loud thunderclap. Harry was not sure what had made him call out like that. It was not something he had planned or thought about before he had said it. Nevins took his hand away from the door and turned around to look at Harry. He looked very pale.

"Thank you, Harry," he said simply and turned to open the door again.

"Professor!" Harry called out again.

Nevins turned around.

"Please, I - I don't know what's going to happen to me - to my friends. I - I - I'm really scared."

Harry slumped back in his chair, astonished at the words that had just escaped from his mouth, and the weak, frightened childlike voice that had formed them. He looked up at Nevins, desperately wanting to take back what he had just said, and show the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that he was as brave and strong as he had shown him all along. He braced himself against Nevins' anger and his disgust.

But Nevins showed neither reaction. Instead, he walked back to face Harry, clasped a hand on his shoulder, and looked him firmly in the eye.

"I'll say it again, Harry," he said slowly. "You have the skills you need to face whatever might come to you. Just do yourself a favor and learn from an old man's mistakes: have faith in your friends and in yourself. And be brave, Harry. Just be brave."

***

"I'm sure he left better knowing how you really felt, Harry," said Hermione gently, as she, Harry, and Ron were sitting down together at breakfast.

"Yeah," said Harry, staring moodily at his Wizard Puffs. "Only I'm not sure I really meant it."

Ron studied his egg and bacon rather closely, too. He certainly hoped Hermione had something more to say because he knew he was not very good at this sort of thing.

"Of course you did, Harry," said Hermione.

Harry let out a non-committal groan.

"Mail's here," said Ron, looking up and glad to find a change of topic.

A cacophony of owls swooped down into the Great Hall bearing the usual last minute lists of reminders from parents anxious to ensure their offspring did not leave anything behind again this year. Neville had to cover his head with his arms as half a dozen owls swooped in on his position at the same time.

Pigwidgeon glided down and dropped a letter in Ron's lap. He picked it up and opened it curiously, then raised his eyebrows in glee when he saw what it contained.

"Look, it says 'congratulations on finishing your exams: four sickles off all purchases over two knuts at Honeydukes. This Saturday only.'"

"I've got one, too!" said Hermione.

"Cheer up, mate," said Ron, looking at Harry and pleased to find something to talk about other than Nevins' morbid confessions or Harry's lack of a home for the summer. "Just think: one more test and then we're free and it's Hogsmeade and Honeydukes tomorrow."

Ron's smile died on his face as he looked up and noticed that, in addition to his own Honeydukes coupon, Harry brandished an envelope with the Hogwarts crest and was now reading the letter.

"I'm afraid you'll be going without me," he said glumly and held up the letter for Ron and Hermione to see. Ron took it from him and read it along with Hermione.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I regret to inform you that due to heightened concerns about your safety, it will be necessary for you to remain inside the school grounds this weekend. I am afraid you will have to cancel any plans to participate in the final Hogsmeade weekend. I remain, of course, well aware of your usual disregard for rules and warnings. Should you choose to disobey this letter, however, you should not expect to be rescued again. I will instead be more than happy to live with one less burden in my Potions lessons next term.

Sincerely,

Severus Snape

Acting Headmaster

"Cheerful git," remarked Ron.

"Harry," said Hermione. "You're not leaving the castle this time!"

"Don't worry," said Harry despondently. "I'll be a good boy."

"Well, there's one thing for certain," said Ron. "If you stay, we're staying, too!"

"No, you're not!" retorted Harry. "You've got your coupons and you're going to use them!"

"Harry!" protested Hermione. "It won't be fun without you!"

"Besides," added Ron. "I'm sure the weather will play up. Always does."

Ron had no sooner finished his sentence when a pleasantly warm, sunny breeze drifted in through the open window next to them and ruffled his ginger hair.

"It will be fun without me," said Harry, a trace of bitterness in his voice, "and you know it. It's your first summer as a couple." He tried to smile but finished up looking no more convincing than Professor Binns. "Here, take my coupon." He shifted the Honeydukes' envelope over to Ron. "And I expect lots of chocolate when you come back."

The envelope sat on the table for a moment. Then Ron grudgingly put it into the pocket of his robes. But neither he nor Hermione smiled back.

***

Ginny Weasley ran out of the main doors of the school and onto the Hogwarts grounds, her heart lighter than it had been all year. She ran up to the cool, glistening waters of the lake, found her favorite tree, and made a happy tumble through the grass before resting her back against its trunk. She closed her eyes, drank in the pungent smell of fresh wild heather, and let her hands run over the softly textured bluegrass. The seasons were never hidden to Ginny. She knew that summer had arrived and now, at last, she could begin to appreciate it.

The exams were over. The long-feared O.W.Ls were finally at an end. And for once Ginny would not think about her nightmares and Tom Riddle's manipulative plans. She would just enjoy her achievement and her freedom like any normal fifteen-year-old witch finishing the most difficult and dreaded tests of her life - as if that was all she had to worry about.

Ginny had no sooner rested her head back to smile at the thought than she felt a long bushy tail tickle the side of her arm. She opened her eyes and giggled.

"Hello, Crookshanks," she said.

"Hello, Ginny," said a voice approaching the tree from the other side.

Ginny turned around.

"Hermione," she said. "Finished already?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, then sat down beside her friend. "And you?"

Ginny nodded and broke into a broad smile, unable to conceal her delight.

"I was the first one out," she said. "Poor Amanda and Catherine are still in there."

"I was, too, last year," said Hermione.

"And you got top marks?"

Hermione nodded.

"I'll try not to hope for too much," said Ginny but she could not keep the smile off her face. "What about Ron and Harry?"

Hermione frowned. "Ron's still in there. I was just going back in to check up but I couldn't resist a walk by the lake. It just feels so oppressive in that castle."

"And Harry?"

"Harry finished first this time. He was out of there in less than an hour. I suppose it's all the extra Defense lessons he had. He'll make a great auror, if that's what he really wants to do."

Hermione kept her smile but all of the color left her cheeks.

"Hermione," said Ginny gently. "Is everything OK?"

Hermione looked down at the ground and picked at a few blades of grass. "It's just - " She stopped and sighed. "He still doesn't know what will happen to him and I don't know either. He might have to stay in the castle all summer. Ron and I asked McGonagall if we could stay, too, but she hasn't told us yet."

"I want to stay, too," said Ginny firmly.

Hermione nodded. She looked thoughtfully down at the earth for a moment.

"Ginny," she said hesitantly.

Ginny's smile faded.

"I - I don't want to spoil your day but suppose McGonagall doesn't let us stay. Suppose Harry's all alone here in the castle."

Or worse, thought Hermione, but she kept this to herself.

"Do you really - I mean - I'm sorry, Ginny, but how long are you going to let this drag out? You might be gone by next week. Are you ever going to tell him how you feel?"

"I - I was busy," said Ginny, going red. "All I could think about was those awful O.W.Ls."

Hermione looked searchingly into Ginny's eyes.

"Isn't that a bit of an excuse?" she said. "I thought that shy little girl wasn't coming back."

"It's not - she's not!" cried Ginny and then almost immediately sighed.

"Do you understand, Ginny?" said Hermione quietly. "I love Harry. But I can't love him the way you do. He's going further back into his own world every day. I can be his friend and so can Ron. But he needs more than that now. He needs someone to love him. He needs you, Ginny. I don't care whether he knows it or not but he needs you."

There was a long pause.

"I know, Hermione," said Ginny finally, so softly Hermione wasn't sure that she had really heard the words. "I thought I was so clever when I set things up so we'd be alone that night of the ball. And after that, finding a way to study with him. And we did get to know each other better and I can still act like a normal person in front of him but I - I still just can't say those three big words."

Hermione put her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Yes you can, Ginny," she said. "Listen to me. Harry got a letter from Snape this morning. He won't be able to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Snape thinks it's too dangerous. But he won't let Ron and I stay here with him. I think he just wants to stay here alone and brood all day." She sighed. "But he didn't say anything about you, Ginny. You could stay there with him. And then - " Hermione hesitated. " - then you can tell him how you really feel. It's your best chance."

To Hermione's immense relief, Ginny nodded.

"I'll tell him," she said, though it seemed to take all of her strength.

"Good." Hermione slowly smiled.

A cautious smile played over Ginny's own lips but vanished quickly. She suddenly stood up, took out her wand, and stared at the base of the large tree under which she had sat as though she expected it to attack her.

"Ginny?" said Hermione curiously. "What's wrong?"

"I - I heard something - in the trees," said Ginny anxiously. She realized how this must look to Hermione, but though she managed to suppress her anxieties for most of the waking day, Ginny's nerves had remained on edge ever since her last nightmare.

"I expect - " Hermione began but stopped as Crookshanks leapt out of her arms with a loud snarl and darted swiftly into the forest.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione cried out. "Crookshanks! Come back here."

Both girls let out a sigh.

"I heard something moving, something scuttling," explained Ginny, now feeling a little foolish. "I suppose Crookshanks heard it, too, and decided it was time for an early dinner."

"Crookshanks!" called Hermione again. She peered cautiously through the branches of a bush next to the tree. "Crookshanks! Come back here right now!"

A few more moments passed before there was a softer rustling sound and Crookshanks slowly made his way back out of the undergrowth, a very sulky expression on his pudgy face.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief, took the cat into her arms, and began to groom the twigs off his body, shaking her head as she did so.

"Anyway," she said, turning back to Ginny. "I suppose I'd better be getting back to Ron. Good luck."

Still holding Crookshanks, Hermione put an awkward arm around Ginny and they exchanged a quick hug. Then Hermione turned and walked back toward the castle but before she had taken more than a few paces, she stopped and looked back again.

"Ginny," she said.

"Hermione?"

"Don't take no for an answer."

***

It was still fairly early the next morning when Ron and Hermione made their way into Honeydukes.

"I know exactly what Harry would like," declared Ron. "We'll load up the bag with Chocolate Frogs, Jittering Jellies, and Flamelian Fudge, and then take it straight back to him."

He tugged on Hermione's hand and pulled her straight into the "Sugar Tooth" section of the shop where all of the large supplies were kept. So intent was Ron on finding the sweets he thought Harry would want that he didn't notice when Hermione made a face.

"Ron," she said. "He won't like it if we're back so early. He'll get all moody again."

"Nonsense," said Ron. "He'll forget all about that when he's seen what we've got for him."

Hermione continued to look anxious behind Ron's back. After their breakfast the day before, Hermione might have been inclined to agree with him but now she wanted to make sure Ginny had more than enough time before she and Ron returned.

"Now, let's see." Ron handed a pile of Chocolate Frogs to Hermione who reluctantly placed them into a small plastic cauldron that served as a shopping basket at Honeydukes.

"And these are for us." He handed her an even larger stack.

"Ron, I can't eat all these!"

"Don't worry, I can manage most of them."

Hermione sighed but Ron was already searching on the next shelf.

"Ah, Jittering Jellies, found them. Not many here, though. We'll just have to give them all to Harry."

Ron smiled at Hermione as he handed her a stack. He turned back to look at the shelves again when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" He turned around to look at Hermione but found she was not the one who had touched him. He turned in the other direction to find himself face to face with the prominent chin of Tobias Whitherstripe, the proprietor.

"Don't mean to bother you but I'm a little short of help today. If you're going to clean me out, do you think you'd mind going downstairs and bringin' up some more? Big strapping lad like you shouldn't find it too difficult. Only I can't leave the front of the store."

"Oh, right," said Ron, his hands covered in Jittering Jellies.

"I'll help," said Hermione briskly and led Ron by his sticky hand away from the sweets shelves.

"That's the spirit, luv," said Whitherstripe. "Just down these stairs."

Whitherstripe motioned to a door just behind his desk which opened to a set of stairs leading down to the cellar. A musty smell hung in the air as they made their way down a creaking set of floorboards, the noisy sounds of dozens of sweet-shopping students upstairs fading quickly to muffled obscurity. Ron was just beginning to wonder why the room seemed to unnerve him when Hermione squeezed his hand tightly and gasped.

"What?" asked Ron, his startled heart thumping against his chest.

"Sorry," said Hermione right away. "I thought I heard something move."

"Probably just a rat," said Ron. "Isn't it lit down here?"

He took out his wand.

"Lumos," he said and Hermione followed suit.

They searched around the room for a moment. The walls were covered in misshapen boxes. Most of them rested so precariously Ron was sure they must have been held there with magic. They eventually found an enormous box marked: JITTERING JELLIES standing awkwardly on top of three others.

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "How are we going to get that thing down? And how are we going to carry it?"

Hermione cleared her throat and held out her wand.

"Oh," said Ron. "Right."

Hermione flicked her wand at the box and guided it slowly away from the shelf. She started to lower it to hover just above the ground when there was an ominous sliding sound. She looked up just in time to see Ron waving his wand frantically at the lower three boxes on the shelf which, despite his efforts, quickly collapsed to the floor spilling all of their contents. Distracted, Hermione lost control of her own box which fell awkwardly into her arms causing her wand to drop to the floor.

"Ron!" she cried, teetering back and forth from the over-balanced weight of the box. "Help!"

Ron quickly grabbed the other side of the box and he and Hermione eased it down to the floor.

They both stood up panting. Hermione casually flicked a stray lock of hair out of her face and surveyed the floor. The other three boxes hadn't been as lucky as the Jittering Jellies. The room was soon filled with the sounds of loud popping as Fizzing Whizzbees erupted from their packaging; Saccharin Snakes writhed in every open space; and Chocolate Frogs hopped merrily over the chaos. When the noise finally subsided along with the expended charms of the sweets, Hermione looked up at Ron:

"Now what?"

But Ron just smiled at her curiously.

"You know, I was just wondering."

"Wondering what?"

"Wondering whether Hermione Granger has ever been kissed in a dusty cellar surrounded by messy sweets."

"No more than she had in a kitchen full of half-baked pork pies."

Ron continued to smile. "Well, then."

Hermione frowned. "I never knew you were like this, you know."

Ron edged toward her. "And now that you do?"

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but a giggle escaped. This proved all the encouragement Ron needed to reach out and pull her toward him, but just before their lips could connect, Hermione pushed herself down on him hard and both of them landed on top of the Jittering Jellies. The box split open as they started to kiss. Hermione pulled Ron into a tumble and soon both of them were soon covered in Jittering Jellies, Saccharin Snakes, Fizzing Whizzbees, and very mushy Chocolate Frogs.

Ron moaned with delight as his senses were filled with his two great indulgences: chocolate and Hermione. Hermione locked him into a fierce embrace and both of them continued to roll around on the floor, picking up debris like an avalanche.

All of this caused such a distraction that neither noticed when a squat form emerged from the shadows and jumped on top of them. It was not until the figure had rode them like a beach ball for a moment, jumped off, and then bellowed a cheerful greeting that Ron and Hermione quickly disentangled themselves, jumped for their wands and cried:

"Lumos!"

Twin beams shone out from the two wands onto the golf-ball shaped eyes of Dobby the house-elf.

"Dobby!" said Hermione anxiously, trying desperately to flatten her hair, which now stood out in all directions and, with the addition of several gooey sweets, made her resemble a psychedelic peacock.

Dobby clasped his hands together. "Dobby is very sorry indeed. Dobby did not mean to disturb wizard mating behavior. But Dobby is very happy to have found Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley - safe!"

"We weren't - " Ron started angrily but Hermione held up her hand.

"What do you mean safe, Dobby? What's wrong?"

Dobby's eyes darted back and forth from Hermione to Ron.

"But - but where is Harry Potter? Surely he is with his closest friends in Hogsmeade on such a nice day?"

Ron shook his head. "Harry had to stay in the castle."

Dobby let out a yelp of fright.

"What is it, Dobby?" Hermione asked urgently. "Harry's safe there. It was too dangerous for him to come with us to Hogsmeade. Snape sent him a letter! He said so."

But before Hermione had finished her sentence, Dobby was already shaking his head, the corners of his eyes filling with tears.

"Oh, no," he moaned. "No, no, it's a trap! They wanted to wait until Harry Potter was alone in the castle, with no teachers and no friends! Then they are going to find him and kill him!"

"Who's going to kill him?" demanded Hermione. "How are they going to get into the castle? How do you know this?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming back!" squeaked Dobby. "She's prepared everything for them! She has confessed everything to Dobby!"

It was all Ron could do to keep from grabbing Dobby by the apron and shaking him.

"Who, Dobby?" he demanded. "Who's she?"

Tears ran down Dobby's cheeks. "Winky, sir. Winky has been working for them, helping them all along. Winky has betrayed Harry Potter, sir; Winky has betrayed us all!"

***

Ginny watched as Catherine reluctantly left and went downstairs to join her boyfriend, leaving her alone in their room. She walked over to a mirror in front of her bed and for the first time in ages, took the time to comb the knots out of her long, curly hair, occasionally feeling the warm mid-morning sun kiss the side of her face and a pleasant breeze blow the curtain of their open window to and fro.

Her eyes moving back and forth to make sure that no one was entering the room, Ginny took out her wand and enchanted her lips to match the color of her ginger hair. Ginny studied herself for a moment and then flicked her wand again, changing her lipstick to bright pink. But this still didn't seem right. She waved her wand again and the lipstick disappeared entirely. No, not that either.

Ginny looked at herself for a moment before her eyes widened in a sudden inspiration. She reached under her bed and fished quickly in the bottom of her Hogwarts trunk before emerging with a faded blue cylinder that fit in the palm of her hand. Muggle lipstick. A present her father had given her some years before. Ginny yanked the two sides of the cylinder open, surprised at how easily they separated. She then pursed her lips and after some hesitation applied the strawberry-colored lipstick to her lips, noting with pleasure that it smudged slightly in the corner in a way that the preciseness of wand magic could not have. Ginny wondered whether Harry would like that sort of thing. She, Ginny, thought it was cool.

Ginny looked at herself again and sighed. She knew better than to practice lines in front of a mirror. She was not a shy and nervous person; she never had been. She was going to tell Harry exactly how things were; it was as simple as that.

Ginny ignored the knotted sensation that stymied her knees like a half-formed jinx. She forced herself up, opened the door, and walked out to the top of the staircase above the common room. She knew that an anxious, fearful part of her hoped that Harry would be gone. But there he was, sitting alone, feeding his pet and gazing absently at the table top in front of him. Ginny drew a deep breath and started to walk down the stairs. There was no going back now; perhaps there had never been. And when she was finished, all the years of questions and doubts would finally end.

One way or the other.

***

The crystal glowed brighter and moved faster, its signal triggered by the end of a flawlessly mixed potion in the dark corner of the Forbidden Forest. The house-elf called Winky had prepared the seven places around the table, just as she had been told to. And now these seats slowly began to fill, at first with ghost-like apparitions but then with more tangible forms. Finally, as the whitish-blue light of the crystal turned so fast that it seemed to shine out from all directions at once, six grown Death Eaters in cloaks and masks appeared in the six seats which ringed the small table and one dark-cloaked maskless figure materialized at its head.

If Hermione Granger had been present, she might have argued herself into hysterics that she was seeing the impossible. No one could apparate inside of Hogwarts. No one could even dare. But on this day, a magic much stronger and darker than anything Hermione could dare to imagine, much less try, had broken through the old magic that protected Hogwarts just as surely as it had Number 4 Privet Drive.

The dark cloaked figure withdrew his hood. Lord Voldemort allowed himself a thin smile at his Death Eaters. He took the diary out of his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him, letting it bathe in the glow of the crystal. He let his fingers run over the large gaping hole in the center where Harry Potter had once plunged the basilisk fang through its core. But though free from its original spell, the diary was now a conduit, a talisman for a much powerful magic than Tom Riddle would ever have known about.

Voldemort's smile widened as he felt Ginny's mind as surely as if he were touching it with his own fingers. The signal was now strong, much stronger than it had been when Voldemort had been forced to link to Ginny from further away. She would not feel any pain today, save that of her own choosing. She would not have any idea how intimately the Dark Lord was intruding on her mind. And the ancient defenses of the Original Room would ensure him that Potter would remain just as ignorant of his presence.

At least, that was, until it was much, much too late.

"They are together, Potter and Weasley?" came the dulcet tones of the Dark Lord's most faithful servant from behind a mask to his left.

Voldemort smiled and nodded slowly.

"I can sense her fear, Severus," he hissed, his eyes closed as if enjoying the perfect chords of a symphony. "I know it so well. She would not be afraid were she not truly with him. She fears I will find her, a fear that runs much deeper than her conscious thoughts will allow her to know."

There was a fidgeting and shuffling to Voldemort's right.

"What is it, Wormtail?" asked Voldemort, not opening his eyes or taking his hand off the diary. "You may speak. The information you provided us from the conversation between the blood traitor and the mudblood has proved very valuable indeed. You have done well and for that you have Lord Voldemort's gratitude."

The Death Eater fidgeted even more. "My Lord," came a breathless, whimpering voice. "Why don't we kill the boy now, now that they are together, now that you know where they are. S - surely it will be easier?"

Voldemort shook his head. "Easier, Wormtail, but not better. You can relax. She will not leave him soon. The Dark Lord knows this about her. Rest assured, Wormtail, before the sun has reached its full height, Harry Potter and his would-be girlfriend will be dead and Hogwarts will belong to us."