The Silent Siege

Chapter 19

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.

"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.

Harry looked across at Ginny who was now sitting on the sofa beside him 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. Forcing herself to look Harry directly in the eye, she said:

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

There was a long uncomfortable pause. Harry looked back down at Snitch and then up at Ginny again.

"I - I - w - well, thanks, I - 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 interrupted, a little more forcefully than she had intended. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Er, OK," said Harry tentatively, flinching slightly.

"Actually," said Ginny, lowering her voice but not her eyes. "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 know how hard that must have been for you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

There was another significant pause. This time, the heartfelt candor in Ginny's voice had not failed to express itself to Harry. He suddenly had the unusual desire to reach out to grab Ginny's soul and pull it into him. He wasn't sure how but he suddenly he 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 in a quiet almost methodical way:

"I killed Sirius."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"Harry, no, you didn't!"

Harry shook his head.

"It's no good trying to make me feel better, you know," he went on, speaking in a low yet determined tone. "I may not have meant to but if it weren't for me, he never would have had to leave Grimmauld Place. He would still be alive and I - "

"Sirius spent the whole year looking for an excuse to leave!" retorted Ginny, as if seized by a sudden recklessness. "You know that!"

Harry stood up.

"But he wouldn't have done!"

He was shouting now. He was vaguely aware that the two second year girls had stopped played their game but he did not care.

"He would have protected himself even though he didn't like it!" Harry went on. "He came out because he wanted to rescue me, because he cared about me! I was like his brother, or his son; goddess knows he didn't have any real family! And I betrayed him!"

Ginny stood up, too.

"You didn't betray him!" she shouted back. "He didn't have to come after you at all. All the rest of the Order were going to the Ministry. It wasn't like he was the only one! And he was told to stay behind!"

"How dare you blame this on Sirius! What would you have done? What would any of us have done?"

Ginny continued to stare at Harry, the expression on her face still every bit as defiant as the words she had just uttered, but try as she might, she could not think of a reply.

"You know it's true, don't you?" said Harry in a much softer but sadder sounding voice. "You're trying to make me feel better but you know it's true. There's no way I can go back and change anything, I know that. I - I just have to live with it, somehow just like I have to live with the fact that one day I have to face Voldemort - alone."

Before Ginny realized what she was doing, she had taken Harry's hands in hers. As if on cue, they both sat down again.

"Harry, listen to me," she said softly. "You didn't kill Sirius. Bellatrix Lestrange did. And you're right: you can't go back and change everything just like I couldn't go back and stop myself from writing in that diary. And I won't tell you that you don't have to face You-Know - He-Who - V-V-Voldemort one day. But you don't have to face these things alone, Harry. You never have to face 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. I - I'm sorry I shouted at you."

Ginny shook her head.

"I'm sorry I said all those things about Sirius," she replied candidly. "He was brave, braver than all of us, and I loved him, too."

Harry looked across at her a little strangely as if suddenly realizing something.

"Th - that night we went to see McGonagall. Y - you said you had to face Voldemort alone, but you just said that I - "

Ginny did not flinch at the name this time. She just shook her head, a tear falling down her own cheek.

"I was wrong, too, Harry. I was wrong for much longer than you. I don't want to face him alone anymore. I want to face him with you."

There was a third pause. Then Harry smiled a strange smile.

"I'm not sure you want to face what's coming to me."

To Harry's slight surprise, Ginny nodded.

"It must be difficult," she said. "I - I mean with You-Know-Who after your neck. Not knowing what's going to happen. I wasn't conscious when he wanted to kill me - well, not for most of it, anyway," she added, not without a slight shudder.

"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 he'll take away the lives of my friends because of me. Just like he did with Sirius."

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

"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.

"Harry," she said.

"Ginny?"

"I - I realize Sirius didn't know he was going 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."

"No," she said.

"You don't want to tell me anymore?"

"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, however small. Ginny had gotten over her crush on him. The Ginny he'd known when he was younger would have never been able to talk about that Valentine so openly, not to mention face him down about Sirius.

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. Her feelings were finally getting the better of her and for the first time that morning, she found she could no longer look Harry straight in the eye. 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?"

Ginny started fidgeting with her hands.

"Harry, I never meant to trick you, I really thought I was over - but - I - I - I - that is, I still have f - "

Ginny forced her hands apart as if reaching the final of final decisions. She forced her head up to Harry's, her face still flushed with feeling, but her eyes determined and calm.

"Oh, Harry, don't you know that I'm in - "

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 out 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.

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 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 Harry Potter."

"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.

"His father used to be on the board, Winky," said Hermione as gently as she could. "But he was thrown off years ago and now he's escaped from Azkaban."

Winky looked up at Hermione mournfully.

"But Winky did not know this either, Hermione Granger, not, at least until much later. Master Draco said that Master Lucius Malfoy would put things back the way they should be and Winky thought this sounded 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 she 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, that she had been lied to, that Dumbledore wasn't old and crazy and that the Masters Malfoy were horrible dark wizards!"

"Winky should have listened to Dobby! Dobby told Winky years ago!" protested Dobby.

"But Winky did not think Dobby is making sense. Dobby is just a runaway elf but Master Draco is clever and reasonable, or Winky thought he was."

Before Dobby could muster another retort, Harry stepped forward anxiously and said:

"What were their plans, Winky? What did they say they were going to do?"

"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 Harry, Ron, and Hermione to turn around in surprise.

"You never should have sent any owls to Dumbledore! It was too dangerous then and it's certainly too dangerous now. We've got to find another way to get Harry out of here!" Ginny took out her wand and flicked it through the air without hesitation. "Apparecium Cartus!"

Ron seemed on the point of saying something but before he could so 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 it was a map of Hogsmeade. But it covered more than the village itself: there were a few trails leading back to the school and many more others that seemed to snake haphazardly out of Hogsmeade and into and through the Forbidden Forest.

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 put her hands on her hips and stared up at her brother, equal to the challenge. "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?"

But if Hermione thought Ginny could be mollified, she was very much mistaken.

"Better trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts? I don't think I was the one who got myself knocked out in the Department of Mysteries - "

"That could have - "

"Or attacked by a killer brain!" Ginny added, rounding on Ron.

But 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. But he also knew that Ron was out of ammunition and he was certain he wasn't going to let Ginny get hurt.

"Look, Ginny - " he said, walking forward.

But that was as far as he got.

"You too, Harry?" she said with an extremely dangerous smile. "You've no need to finish. Allow me. You want your friends to be safe, don't you? You'd hate for anyone to suffer because of you?"

"Well, yeah, I - "

"WELL IT'S TOO BLOODY LATE FOR THAT, HARRY JAMES POTTER! Do you know what it's like? Do you know what it's like every time you go away? When you disappeared the night of the Triwizard Tournament? When you didn't show up on the train this year? Do you know how black I felt inside?"

Harry opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Tears poured down Ginny's face. "I told you I wanted to face him with you and now you just want me to walk away like I don't care and it isn't my fight? I thought you understood! Fine, I'll leave. I'll go somewhere safe. And even if you're killed, your best friend will still have his little 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 and 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. All the while that Ginny had argued with them, Harry had tried to think desperately of how they could make her leave and keep her safe. Now he found he would have given anything the find the words to bring her back, but he also knew that there were no words to describe what he was feeling after what he had heard her say.

"You know, Hermione," said Ron, after a few moments of shocked silence, his voice strangely high-pitched. "I don't think you were quite right about her getting 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 Ginny had gotten over her crush just because she could talk to him without sticking her elbow in a proverbial butter dish. 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 - the way he had forgotten so easily that she'd been possessed by Tom Riddle; the way he'd always ignored her silence, afraid to confront the reason behind it; the way he'd always tried to save her from outside perils but never from inner demons - all these 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. I had it, too; I could see Voldemort inside her head."

Harry's friends looked even worse than he had feared on hearing this news. Ron looked speechless while at least Hermione managed a small gasp.

"B - but, Harry, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I did. We did. We went to see McGonagall together not that it did much good. I - I'm sorry."

There was a long, long moment of silence. Ron's face which had only before been a deep shade of red from shouting at his sister had now gone 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 flatly.

"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! Sirius wanted to rescue me; look what happened to him! 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 Ginny was right about one thing: 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 the horrible look of surprise on Sirius' face as he fell back through the veil flew horribly into his mind, only this time it was Ron and Hermione falling, 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.