Chapter 7 - Secrets"Well, I suppose I should start with what I know about this bond we have now," Harry told Ginny as they laid on the Cushioning charm like a mattress in the ante-chamber of the Chamber of Secrets.
"OK," she agreed happily as she snuggled at his side.
"In some ways, there's not much to it. We'll feel very uncomfortable if we're not touching for the next twenty-four hours or so. We can move apart if we need to, but you'll feel like you have to get back to me as soon as you can, and the same for me."
"I experienced that when I had to go talk to Ron. And when that time is over, I suppose the bond's finished doing, err, whatever it's doing? That we'll be able to separate and act normal if we're not touching?" she asked to make sure she understood.
"Right, both times. You'll also find that when we're apart, if you think about me very hard, you'll be able to know where I am, as if you could go there; and you'll know if I'm OK or not. Hermione found out earlier this year that when my arm was broken in the Quidditch game, she knew I had been hurt. She didn't feel like her arm was broken or anything, she said that she wasn't sure how I was hurt or how bad I was hurt, only that I was injured."
Ginny nodded. "So that's all?"
"Oh, you'll also find that we're very protective of each other. That's been a real problem with Malfoy, since he likes to insult Hermione, but she says that his insults don't bother her because the word Mudblood is meaningless. I've managed to hold my temper around him, but one of these days, I'll probably lose it and he's going to pay dearly," Harry told her with a little heat in his voice.
"This isn't going to be good," she said with dread. "I mean, I live up to the reputation of redheads and can get very angry. I'm the youngest, but my brothers know not to get me angry."
Harry chuckled. "I guess we'll have to work on that. There's something I don't know now, though. I don't know how things will work between you and Hermione. Will you be able sense the other like you can sense me? And then there's the question of what she's going to think when she wakes up and finds you're bonded to me like she is."
Ginny turned her face down into his chest to hide. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I really didn't mean to do this. I didn't mean to cause trouble between you and Hermione."
Harry pulled her in tightly to give her a hug. "It's all right, Ginny. I know you didn't mean to. Riddle told me he tricked you. It's not your fault."
"I should have known better. Normal books don't write back. I don't remember much of anything, but I feel so guilty because I know I was the one responsible for all of the bad things that happened," she said, and Harry could hear her start to cry softly.
He squeezed her in another hug for a moment. "It's OK, Ginny."
After a few minutes of sobbing, she sniffled before she started to talk again. "I was fine as long as I didn't think about everything I had done. Touching you feels so good I could ignore it, but I know I did bad things."
Harry patted her back and hoped that helped her. "It'll be all right, Ginny. I wouldn't have known any better. I even had it for a few days, before it disappeared."
Ginny nodded on his shoulder. "When I saw you with it, it frightened me because Tom kept asking about you. I'm sorry I got into your book bag, but I took it back to protect you."
"Thanks." He pulled his hand out from hers and moved the hair back from her face so he could see her better. She turned her face up and tentatively smiled at him. "There, that's better," he said with a smile back.
Fawkes took that moment to flash in and set a picnic basket down.
"Thank you, Fawkes," Ginny gushed, making a fuss over him, glad for a different subject to talk about. He trilled for a moment, giving them yet another happy feeling. He also made himself comfortable and stayed with them.
They dug into the picnic basket and started eating. There were even some pitchers with tops that had water in them. They ate a little slowly because they kept holding hands, but they managed to eat their fill anyway. They did not talk about anything important, mostly about foods they liked or disliked. Harry determined he was going to have to introduce her to some Muggle foods.
When they were done eating, they set the basket aside and lay back down. Fawkes stayed with them, resting on the bare rock and appearing to go to sleep.
"You said we should talk to learn about each other?" Ginny asked as she snuggled up next to him again, slipping her hand up under his shirt and resting it on his bare stomach. He only squirmed a little at first.
"Yeah. I can go first," Harry volunteered. One part of him was amused that he was comfortable with her touching him like that, but he knew the automatic trust was an artefact from the bond.
He started telling about how he was orphaned and taken to the Dursleys, what life was like there for his ten years before Hogwarts, and what it was like living with the Grangers now. His voice became thick as he described how they had given him a real home where he felt love for the first time. While he had not cried, he had to wipe his eyes when he was done.
Ginny gave him a tight hug when he was done. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I think everyone imagines you stayed with some nice wizarding family and never really thought that life might not be so nice for you."
Harry snorted. "Yeah, like Snape. He seems to think I was raised like Malfoy was," he said nastily.
"Ignore him, Harry, he's just a greasy git. I don't think he likes anyone, not even his own Slytherins, and I think he only tolerates them. I pity him most of the time," she told him.
"Maybe. I haven't found out what it is yet, but there's something about me he really hates, more than the average person. He's been a lot better by ignoring us since we complained about him, but he still gives me these deliberate looks, and I can tell they mean that he hates me."
"We can keep our eyes open."
"What about you, Ginny?" he asked curiously. He knew some about the Weasleys because Ron had told him, but Ron had not shared all that much.
Ginny sighed. "Where to begin… You know there are seven children in our family, right?"
"Right."
"Because I'm the youngest, I'm treated like the baby of the family. My bigger brothers have done a lot of the looking after me, which is probably good."
Harry gave her a questioning look, but she ignored it and went on.
"We're probably considered one of the more famous of the 'Light' families, even if we don't have very much. My parents have always followed whatever Dumbledore wants. That's been mostly good, but after hearing your story, I'm not so sure about that anymore," she admitted.
"I've thought about it a lot and I've decided not to get too upset about it," he told her. "I mean, I can't change the past. I can be careful around him, though, and I intend to. It took me a while to see that everyone makes mistakes. You know, like the saying that no one is perfect?"
"I guess that makes sense." She sighed. "I wish my parents would be more cautious around Dumbledore. Let's see… Uh, My favourite colour is emerald green," she said with a blush. "I don't like pink because I think it clashes with my hair. My birthday is eleven days after yours, on the eleventh of August; so I won't be twelve until this summer. I like animals and I used to have a cat, but it died last year. That made the year I was home alone even more lonely."
"I'm sorry," he told her and gave her another squeeze for a hug.
"Thanks," she told him with a smile. "Um, other than trimming the ends to make it straight, I haven't cut my hair since I was four."
Harry's hand that was around her back picked up a handful of her hair for a moment. "It's very pretty, and very soft, too."
She blushed a little. "Thanks." She went quiet for a moment. "Harry?" she said very quietly and shyly.
"Um-hmm?" He was still slowly running his fingers through her hair.
"What you told me about the Dursleys, that was one of your secrets, wasn't it? I mean, I haven't heard you ever say anything like that, and there have never been any rumours that you were raised that way."
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. Only Hermione and her parents know all the details."
"I won't, I promise," she assured him fervently. She paused for a moment more. "If I tell you my secrets, do you promise not to tell anyone?"
"What about Hermione?"
"You can tell her, I guess. She's part of you - or us I guess - and she already knows the first one anyway."
Harry stopped playing with her hair, surprised. "You've already shared secrets with her?"
"It was 'girl talk', Harry," she said with a faint giggle. "You should know that I've had a crush on you since, well, since I was a little girl. You were like the knight in shining armour in all the fairy tales. I think a lot of girls my age felt that way, but I think I had it worse. That's why I couldn't act normal around you last summer or during this year." She turned her face into his chest again.
Harry thought about that for a moment, and then he started to chuckle.
"What?" she asked, a little angry. "Why are you making fun of me?"
He stopped laughing immediately and was contrite. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I'm really not making fun of you. It's just, well, I find it funny that anyone would think of me that way. To me, I'm only Harry. I'll admit I was kind of put out when I started school here and everyone was pointing at me. I still think a lot of people look at my scar before they really look at me." He shrugged slightly. He looked back down at her for a moment and saw that she looked like she accepted that answer. "Besides, I noticed something was different about you and asked Hermione. She told me you probably had a crush on me."
Ginny growled, "She told!"
"What? Oh, no, no," he quickly assured her. "I'm sure it was before you probably told her anyway. Hermione doesn't tattle about secrets."
Ginny calmed down. "Oh. OK. I guess I didn't really tell her I had a crush, but I did ask things about you that I know she would have taken to understand that I was crushing on you."
"I hope you're not upset, but I still find that funny," he told her, watching her reaction.
"I guess not, now that you explain it. I mean, I'd probably find it funny too if everyone treated me like a heroine." She giggled.
"Yeah, and here you are bonded to your hero," he chuckled, but she was very silent. "Ginny?"
Ginny lightly moved her fingers and nervously caressed his stomach. "My other secret is not so innocent. In fact, I'm not even sure how to tell you."
"Just tell me," he encouraged her. "It can't be worse than what I went through."
"In a way it is," she said, almost sadly. "I mean, every family has dirty laundry they don't show. For you, it's how your relatives treated you. I'm sure Hermione has something too."
"Err, I can't think of any. I know Emma can't have any more children due to an accident, but that's nothing like my story."
"No," she said quietly. "That's not scary, or even embarrassing … or shameful." She buried her face in his chest again.
"Just tell me," he repeated. "I'll still be here for you, like I am after you told me you had a crush on me."
She moved her hand up on his chest so her hand and entire forearm rested on his skin. "I suppose I should thank you for bonding me to you. You've given me a gift I can never repay, although I'll gladly spend a lifetime with you trying. You've saved me twice today."
"What do you mean? Don't you realize that I've actually hurt you? I've taken away your choice in life," he said with some anguish.
Ginny chuckled. "I know, and that's what's so great. Magical bonds are always for life. Didn't you know that?"
"I guess we assumed that would be true. But I don't understand why that makes you happy."
"Because that's one indication of marriage, Harry. I'm now your wife, or really your second wife, although it might be better to marry Hermione publicly and I'll be your mistress. That's still done in the Wizarding world," she went on, not able to look at him.
Harry's brain was on overload. "Uh, err, um, what? M-Married?"
"Sure, didn't you know that? It's one of the basic Wizarding traditions and laws, just like the ones about Life Debts. Don't forget that since I, or my family really, owe you a Life Debt for risking your life to save me, you can ask for anything up to and including my life. If you do, my father is practically obligated to hand me over as yours. So in a way," she giggled, "I'm doubly yours."
Harry was still wide-eyed, trying to process this new and astounding information.
"But don't worry, like I said, Hermione can be your wife. I'll work with her since she was bonded to you first. I'm really, really grateful for this," she assured him.
Harry breathed very deeply a couple of times as images of trolls, basilisks, and two girls ran around in his head. "OK," he finally got out. "We can come back to that later, but tell me why you see this as good. You're only eleven going on twelve, Ginny. I know I'm not ready for marriage yet."
It was Ginny's turn to breathe deeply and slowly let it out. "This is the family's dirty little secret. My mother is not normal. I don't mean that she's part troll, or part giant, or something like that; I mean that she's not like a normal mother. You see, she's really controlling, and I mean more controlling than you can probably imagine."
"I don't know, I can imagine a lot after living with my aunt and uncle," Harry said a little doubtfully.
"Harry, my mother throws adult-sized temper-tantrums when she doesn't get her way. For someone like Mrs Granger or your aunt, that might not be a big deal. But for someone who knows magic, well, it's why the Wizarding World is so messed up."
"Ah," Harry drawled. "To use my uncle as an example, when someone has a lot of power and then goes bad, then bad things become really bad or beyond bad."
"Exactly," she agreed. "For example, my mother has this funny story where she jokes about using a love potion on my father to get him to love her and then marry her. She denies she really did it and makes it sound like that she wondered if she was going to have to so he would notice her. She goes on to tell that he did notice her before they finished Hogwarts; therefore, she didn't have to do anything drastic. She makes the story sound really funny, throws in things that happened as they began to notice each other and makes you laugh, that sort of thing. But as I've gotten older, I've noticed things about the story that make me think she's not really joking. I think she really did it."
"OK," he said slowly, "but that's only one story."
She exhaled suddenly, almost snorting. "Didn't you notice how she got after the twins when you were visiting last summer? She was on her best behaviour while you were there, but I was still embarrassed by what she did."
"The twins do act up a lot, but I suppose I can see what you're saying," he said slowly, trying to think back. "The punishment was a bit extreme, but I assumed it was because there was something else going on that I didn't know about."
"The twins act that way for a reason, but perhaps I should explain all of my brothers so you'll understand," she told him. "First, there's Bill. Before he finished Hogwarts, he had secured a job with Gringotts, in their Egyptian office. When he arrived at King's Cross after his seventh year, he gave each of us a hug, told us all good-bye, and Apparated straight to Gringotts to start work. He didn't even come home for dinner and to spend the night."
"Wow!"
"My second oldest brother is Charlie. I think he started realizing what was going on in his fifth year. He had always liked animals, like me, but he seemed to become fanatical about them overnight. He did come home from school, but left before breakfast the next morning for Romania to work on a dragon preserve. Both he and Bill only come home for one or two days at Christmas, every other year."
"But that's only two brothers," he pointed out.
"Next is Percy. I assume you've noticed that he acts like he has a broom stuck up his arse instead of flying it?" She smiled when Harry laughed and nodded. "It's my opinion he acts that way to rebel, and he'll use his rebellion to do something really dramatic with my parents as soon as possible after finishing school so he can leave home. I really think he should be in Slytherin, and he probably would have been if Slytherin didn't have its present reputation."
"And I assume you'll tell me the twins pranking everybody is their way of rebelling?" he prompted.
"Exactly. They know it drives my mother up the wall and they continue to do it anyway - despite her wrath, which is truly scary. I honestly believe they will either join Zonko's, or else start their own joke shop like Zonko's, and live in it as soon as possible after seventh year."
"It still seems a little outlandish, but I suppose no more so than my messed up relatives. What about Ron? Is he rebelling in a way I don't see?"
"Hardly," she said with some disgust. "Ron's too thick to see the pattern. He's also ruled by his stomach, and I'll admit that my mother can cook as well as any house-elf. As long as he's fed and she does his laundry, I don't think Ron will complain much less rebel. At least not before thirty," she added with a chuckle. "I could see him living at home for many years to come. Ron is the exception."
"And then there's you…"
"Yeah, and then there's me. I first noticed this when Charlie left home two years ago. I thought a lot about our family last year when I was alone, and having to deal with Mum by myself. It's so obvious now that she's trying to make me into someone just like her." She growled. "It's so frustrating at times, at least when it's not sickening. So you see, Harry, by being bonded to you, it gives me the best possible excuse to escape, and sooner than I would have been able to otherwise."
"Except that we're trying to keep it secret for as long as possible."
"I understand, but that will only work for a few years. Eventually, it will come out. People will notice how you act around us, or we around you. People can be stupid, but strange things get their attention and usually when you least want it." She suddenly brightened. "But when it does come out, I can use that to force my escape and come and stay with you. Then I can be like Bill and Charlie, visiting for a day every other year."
"All right, so your family is not the nice family everyone thinks it is. That doesn't sound so bad."
Ginny shook her head a little. "I guess I'm going to have to admit it." She took another deep breath. "My plan to escape the insanity that is my mother was to watch you for a few years to find out what you were like and what you liked, and then slowly change myself to be like that. Then, in your fourth or fifth year when you started to notice girls, I'd get your attention somehow and try to become your girlfriend." She paused for a moment, working up her courage. "Once I was your girlfriend, I would have done anything to keep you so you would marry me later and I could easily escape home. I really do mean anything, including things that are shameful. That's how bad I want to escape."
Harry quietly considered what she said. He was not totally sure what she meant by 'doing anything', but he could guess. "But what if I didn't make you my girlfriend? What if I had ignored you because I didn't like what I saw in you?" He felt her warm breath on his chest through his shirt as she exhaled deeply.
"I would have kept trying to get your attention."
"And if that wasn't enough?" He kept pushing, wanting to know how far she would have gone.
"Eventually, I would have given up," she quietly admitted. "I wouldn't have used a love potion, if that's what you're asking. I'd be willing to do what my Mum tells me are shameful things if you're not married, but I wouldn't try to warp your magic. I might hurt myself, but I could never hurt you," she ended in a whisper.
"So I would have always had a choice in choosing you or not?"
"Yes."
"Then that doesn't sound so bad," he told her. "I understand wanting to escape, and being willing to do almost anything. I had hundreds of ways of escaping my relatives, but I never did them because most of those ways would have hurt or killed them. I don't like them, but I still wouldn't hurt them. So why couldn't you do what Bill and Charlie did and just leave when you finished school?"
Ginny shook her head against his chest. "You're forgetting about the customs for girls and how my mother would react."
"More like I probably don't know them," he grumbled. "Please explain it."
"I'm sure you've started to see how many things benefit men more than woman in our society?"
"Yeah, at least some," he softly said."
"In the same way that men have more power, woman are punished more when they do things wrong. For example, while frowned up on in polite society, there are almost no consequences for a man having a mistress; but if a woman has a child without being married, she'd probably have to leave Britain to have a good enough reputation to ever be able to marry."
"But that's not fair," Harry protested.
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," she grumbled sarcastically. "More importantly for me, there's also the tradition that girls don't leave home before getting married. If they do, it becomes a lot harder to get married, especially for us Pureblood witches. We get treated like damaged goods. That means I can't just Apparate away like Bill or Charlie did. I have to have not only a fiancé the day I turn seventeen in order to leave home, but he has to be a good one so my parents will accept it for real. So my mother wouldn't…" she paused for a moment, unable to look up at him. "My mother would enforce that I stay at home and she'd have no fears about doing anything to make it happen. She's quite good at Potions. I'm reasonably sure she gave a potion to my father and she's seen what the rest of my brothers have done or will do to escape. Therefore, I could believe she'd give me something to make me stay at home."
"But…"
"I know, who wants to think your own mother would dose you with a potion to control you? I'd like to hope she wouldn't, but I know she's capable of it. So my answer was to get myself a good fiancé and you were my first choice. Do you understand now?" Ginny held her breath for moment, hoping she had not destroyed a new relationship with him.
"I do and I'm sorry for you." He gave her a squeeze around the shoulders.
"Thank you, Harry!" she said brightly and leaned up and quickly kissed his cheek before snuggling back down on his shoulder, happy that he did not hate her.
He was glad she was not looking at his face, as he felt very hot and knew he was blushing deeply. "What about your father?" he asked, still not sure he could fully believe everything she said. He knew that the bond made them trust each other, which he thought would make her more honest, but in many ways, what she had described really was not all that much stranger than his situation had been.
Ginny's hand started to move a little on his chest, her voice happier than a few minutes ago. "My dad is great and I wouldn't trade him for anyone. I feel sorry for him being with my mother. I'm sure it's why he built the shed and spends so much time puttering around out there. It's a great place for him to escape when things get too bad." She sighed wistfully.
"He's pretty special and I love him to death." She giggled a little. "While he normally lets her run the house, if things get too bad, I can go to him and he will usually step in and make it all better."
"You have him wrapped around your little finger?" he asked with a grin.
"Yep," she admitted happily. "As he should be." They both laughed, happy to be past the worst part.
"So," Harry started and then paused. "We're married. Are you sure about that?"
"I think so, or at least magically, which is not quite the same as legally. If you wanted to reveal the secret, you could go to the Ministry and we could register as a bonded couple, or trio. We'd be considered adults in the magical world, so the underage magic laws would no longer apply and we could apply for an Apparation license, as well as some other things. Or at least that's how I understand it."
"But how would they know we're bonded?" He could not work that one out.
"Oh, I've heard there's a spell for that," she explained. "They cast it when you register as a bonded couple to verify."
"But that would mean that if anyone did that spell on us, it should show, wouldn't it?" he asked a little worriedly.
She thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it would. You're worried about Dumbledore casting the spell, aren't you?"
"I suppose, although I think Madam Pomfrey might be the first to find out," he theorized.
After a moment, she asked, "Would it really be bad if they did find out?"
"Probably not them. Hermione and I have talked about this. I've never been treated normally, so this would be just one more thing where I'm not normal, like talking to snakes. No, the people we're most worried about are her parents. We just don't want to disappoint them and make them think badly of the magical world and us," he explained.
She slowly nodded. "Yeah, my parents would freak too, which would make the idea of leaving look even better."
They laid there for a few minutes in silence.
"I really am getting tired. I think we should sleep," he suggested.
"OK. You should probably recast the Cushioning charm. I'd prefer not to be sleeping on it when it stops. That could hurt." She giggled and he laughed.
They got up and Harry ended the present charm and cast a new one. They laid back down in the same position, except this time, Fawkes came over and laid next to Harry, stretching his long neck so his head laid on Ginny's arm.
Harry smiled and petted the bird for a moment. "Good night, Fawkes. Good night, Ginny."
"Good night, Harry, Fawkes."
Fawkes gave a low guttural trill for a moment. Both students shuddered at the pleasure they felt and quickly fell blissfully asleep.
Albus Dumbledore pulled out his pocket watch and checked it. It showed a little after three in the afternoon. He put it away with a very slight smile. That bottle of Scotch might be his yet. Currently, he and his Deputy were in the hospital wing with Professors Sprout and Snape. Madam Pomfrey had the restorative potion and was about to apply it. He was feeling good about being here, as it meant the students were about to be returned to normal. Better still, he was away from Molly Weasley. The Weasley matron was sitting in his office, very anxiously awaiting his familiar's return with her daughter.
Colin Creevey had been awakened and seemed to be doing fine, except for some disorientation. Justin Finch-Fletchley was next and was the same. Madam Pomfrey had then revived Penelope Clearwater without problems. Last was Hermione Granger. She seemed to have a headache, but that did not seem to be a cause for alarm; she might have had one when she was petrified.
Dumbledore felt relieved to see all of the students revived and apparently normal. He was about to say that to Minerva when a flash of light lit the room and the sound of running feet grabbed everyone's attention. When he turned back around, he saw Mr Potter hugging Miss Granger as if she had been gone for years, not three weeks.
"Why has…"
Minerva interrupted him. "He's spent nearly every free minute in here by her bed." She pointed to the small desk near Granger's bed. "It was really very touching."
Albus frowned. That was very unusual for a twelve year-old boy, and even more so for Harry, given what he knew about his life with his aunt. Then again, maybe his past life spurred this hyper-feeling. Of course, it appeared that Miss Granger was returning the feelings in her hug. He wondered if there was more there than met the eye.
"I suppose I should go find Molly and tell her that her daughter has returned," Minerva said unenthusiastically.
Dumbledore turned and saw Ginny for the first time since he had left the school. He noted that she was avidly watching Harry and Hermione hug, as if she wanted to join them. Most curious, he thought. It was time to intervene, so he walked over.
"Mr Potter, welcome back. You have been sorely missed."
"Headmaster," Harry addressed him, turning in Hermione's grasp so they were sitting side-by-side on the bed with their arms around each other.
Dumbledore gave his best genial smile. "Could you please enlighten us on what happened since yesterday afternoon? Mr Weasley has told us a little, but none of what happened in the Chamber of Secrets."
Harry looked wildly around. "Here? In front of everyone?"
"Are you afraid of everyone finding out there was really nothing to be done?" drawled the voice Harry hated most.
"No, Professor," Harry said boldly and only because Dumbledore was right there. "I don't want to be put on more of a pedestal than I already am. Contrary to what you think, I don't like fame."
"You have a point, Harry," Dumbledore quickly said, preventing a reply from Snape. "Why don't we head to my office? I believe Miss Weasley's parents are there as well." He saw Ginny cringe and wondered why. He supposed she was feeling embarrassed for what had happened.
"Err, sure." Harry stood and helped Hermione up.
"Mr Potter," Madam Pomfrey called and stepped forward. "Miss Granger will need to stay here so I can ensure she is healthy."
He turned to look at his best friend. "Do you feel healthy?"
"I do. Let's go, Harry," Hermione said and started to walk forward.
"Miss Granger!"
"Poppy," Dumbledore intervened. "I shall watch over her and send her back at the slightest problem. She will also return for a check-up as soon as she is able. That should give you time to attend to the others first."
"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione said with a smile. Holding Harry's hand, she led them over to Ginny. She leaned over and whispered in the redhead's ear. "Harry told me and we'll talk about this later."
Ginny nodded and looked down for a second before looking back up at Hermione. "Can I? Please? It would make me feel better." At Hermione's nod, Ginny grinned and stepped around them and grabbed Harry's other hand. The three started walking out and Fawkes flew over and landed on Harry's shoulder, riding with him.
Albus raised a shaggy eyebrow at Minerva, who slowly shook her head.
"I have no idea," she quietly said before she followed them.
Albus brought up the rear. He was not sure if he was more surprised by the trio of students or the behaviour of his familiar.
At the entrance to his office, the students waited. Albus gave the password and let the group up. When he opened his door, he instantly got an earful.
"Albus, it's late afternoon and they still aren't back!"
Dumbledore gave his grandfatherly smile and calmly said, "You're in luck, Molly, I've found them." He stepped into the room, heading for his desk. As he moved, the students became visible and he watched Molly run to her daughter.
"Ginny!"
Fawkes actually squawked and flew over to his perch to avoid the woman's charge.
Ginny braced herself and did not let go of Harry's hand. Her mother wrapped her in a hug that almost felt good, except that her mother squeezed too hard. She had tried to tell her once, but her mother ignored her. Now, she just held her breath to try and keep from being hurt, but it was getting hard to hold out.
"Mrs Weasley!" Harry shouted.
The woman let go of Ginny, who took a deep breath with relief.
"Oh, Harry. Thank you!" She engulfed him in a hug too.
Hermione was faster to stop the problem. "Mrs Weasley! You're hurting him."
Molly let go and looked over. "Hermione, it's good to see you up dear."
"Don't you know that you hurt them when you hug like that?" Hermione asked, not willing to let go of the problem.
"Nonsense…"
"Actually, Mrs Weasley, it did hurt," Harry said. "You've been hurting Ginny for years, too. She told me today."
Molly looked scandalized. Arthur looked at the children with relief at seeing them again.
"If everyone would please take a seat?" Dumbledore jumped in, saving Harry and Hermione from whatever Molly had been about to say.
The trio squeezed into one of the small couches, while the adults each took a chair.
"Ginny, dear, why don't you come over here and sit in my lap," her mother suggested.
"No thank you, I'm fine here," she said, trying to sound pleasant and upbeat, despite the fact that her heart was racing. She was starting to understand the protectiveness due to the bond that Harry had explained and it was warring with the fear of her mother. If her mother attacked Harry in any way, allowing the protectiveness and her temper to win, there would be a meltdown, she was sure. She had to control her temper.
"But…"
"I'm sure she'll be fine where she is," Dumbledore smoothly stepped in again. "Mr Potter, I believe you have a story for us?"
"Err, yes, sir. Uh, Ron told you about everything up to the ceiling falling down, didn't he?" Harry really did not want to have to discuss forcing Lockhart to come with them.
"He did. Why don't you start from where he told you to carry on?" Dumbledore suggested.
"Right. Well, I found another door and opened it. That led into the Chamber of Secrets itself. It was about the size of the Great Hall, but with lots of columns to hold it up. I, uh, I found Ginny, but it was like she was asleep. When I tried to wake her, uh, I guess a person showed up."
"You guess?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone was listening closely.
"He looked like a ghost but was a little more solid. He said he was a memory, the memory of a boy called Tom Riddle. He said he was sixteen, almost seventeen, I think."
Dumbledore was sure he was going to have a heart attack. He carefully asked, "Are you sure about his name, Harry?"
"Yes, that was the name on the diary, too." Dumbledore looked at him sharply but did not interrupt for the moment. "The diary was controlling Ginny and making her do everything." He looked at her as she looked at her shoes. "She really doesn't have much of a memory of when those things happened, so she can't really be blamed. It's not her fault."
"No," Dumbledore said slowly, "if she was possessed, she is not to blame." He looked at the girl. "Miss Weasley, where did this … diary … come from, and do you know what it was doing to you?"
"I found this diary in with my school books when we bought them last summer. When I first wrote in it, he was nice. Then he tricked me into continue writing in the diary. He somehow possessed me after that. At first, I just thought it was cool to have a diary that talked back to me," she confessed in a small voice.
"Ginny!" said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"
"I didn't know," Ginny said, just short of crying. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it or she gave it to me."
"Here's the book," Harry said, pulling it out of a pocket in his robes, robes which would need to be replaced.
Dumbledore looked at the object, a large hole in the middle and a black stain covering it. His glasses helped him to see residual magic on it, but there was not enough to hurt anyone.
"We think she got it in the bookstore, and we think Mr Malfoy gave it to her, but we can't be sure," Harry said, guessing a bit.
"I knew he couldn't be trusted," Arthur said.
"That is a very grave accusation, Harry. Of course, Lucius Malfoy was here yesterday and he was acting very strangely, even for him." Dumbledore chuckled. "He even permanently sent his house-elf away, which is very unlike him."
Hermione gasped. "What was his name, Headmaster? The house-elf, I mean."
"His name is Dobby. Why?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and then nodded. "It must have been Malfoy," Harry told them. "Dobby visited me several times trying to get me to stay away from Hogwarts. He said bad things were coming and but he couldn't tell me what because his family would hurt him even more than they already did."
"Dobby was also happy to be free," McGonagall added. "Albus, we may have a deranged house-elf running around."
"Perhaps," Dumbledore cordially agreed, "but that can be pursued later. Harry, after you found Miss Weasley, what happened next?"
"Riddle and I talked for a bit." Harry was not sure about saying this, but decided to. "He told me how he changed his name to 'Lord Voldemort'." Mrs Weasley gasped and gave a small yelp, while Mr Weasley squirmed and looked uncomfortable. It was interesting that no one else reacted - not McGonagall, Dumbledore, or his two girls.
"Yes, that is how he is known nowadays," Dumbledore admitted.
"Well, after that, he tried to kill me by sending the Basilisk after me." Harry was sure Ron would have mentioned that, so he was amused to see Mrs Weasley bury her face in her hands. "I managed to hide from it by running around the columns and eventually I tricked it into biting the diary instead of me, because I thought the book was the key. Everything kept coming back to the book."
"That was very good reasoning, Harry," Hermione complimented him.
"Thanks!" he beamed at her.
"And then?" Dumbledore prompted, wanting to find out what happened to the snake. He had no idea how Harry would have killed it.
"When the snake bit the book, Riddle's shade and his binding control over the snake went away. So I woke Ginny up and made sure she was all right. Other than being as tired as I was, she was fine," he told them.
"And the Basilisk?"
"Oh, we had a good conversation. Sheba was created by Salazar Slytherin to be a defender of the school, so we made a bargain. I cleared the rocks from her tunnel and she promised to resume being the defender. She had been bound by Riddle fifty years ago, so the diary was still controlling her. Once the diary was destroyed, she became normal again. Last I saw, she was heading up her special tunnel into the forest to feed on the giant spiders," Harry said happily.
"You did what?" McGonagall asked incredulously. "Did you say you let it out into the forest?"
"Sure," Harry said casually. "She won't hurt any of us. She's nice and it's her job to protect us. She just needed out to get food so she didn't have to hibernate so much."
McGonagall shook her head. "He sounds just like Hagrid."
"Thanks!" Harry said, proud to be like his giant friend. That comment caused McGonagall to shake her head some more.
"I take it that you then returned to try to get to your friend, Ron?"
"Yes, sir. We didn't have much luck, and it tired me out that much more. Ginny says I got so tired I fell asleep, but I don't remember too much," Harry said, looking at Ginny.
Dumbledore detected a hint of untruthfulness in that statement, but he decided not to challenge it.
"Why didn't you come up immediately?" Molly asked. "We were all so worried for you."
"Harry was really tired and needed to rest. I was tired, too," Ginny tried to explain.
"You could have rested up here where we could have watched out for you," Molly persisted.
"We also talked about what happened after I woke up and I think it was good for both of us," Harry said, looking at her. "That was something we couldn't have done if Ginny had come up while I was still down there."
Molly huffed. "Well, you're here now." She fixed her daughter with a stare. "Ginny, go pack your things, you're coming home with me. I don't believe you'll miss anything important in the last four weeks of your first year."
"I'm sorry, but I can't. I need to stay here," Ginny said very quietly, but there was no doubt she was heard.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley! You will not talk to me like that! You will come home today!" She glared daggers at her daughter.
The real Molly was making herself visible and Harry suddenly understood everything that Ginny had been trying to tell him in the last day.
"I'm sorry, but I have something to do here and I'll come home on the train like normal," she said weakly. It took every ounce of willpower to say that.
"Ginny!" her mother growled until a hand clamped down on her arm.
"Ginny," her father said calmly, but not in his usual happy nature. "Why do you feel it's so important to stay here?"
She looked at him and smiled a little. He always came through when it mattered most. "Because I have to face everyone. Everyone knows it was me down there, and there will be rumours. I have to face them and stop them now. If I leave, then the rumours will grow over the summer and I'll never live it down. I have to do this now."
"Couldn't you come home tomorrow, after you've dealt with the rumours?" he asked, his knuckles white on his wife's arm.
"No, Dad. It will take a few weeks and then school will be over anyway. Also," she looked to Harry who smiled at her, "I need to be here where I can talk to people who understand me and what I went through."
"What? You don't think your own mother can understand you?" Molly huffed, despite the hand that was trying to restrain her.
"Only if you can tell me about the Chamber of Secrets, and tell me what it's like to face Voldemort." The gasp and look of fear on her mother's face emboldened her. "Only if you can tell me what it's like to face a forty foot snake." She looked at Harry again. "I only know one person who can say all of that, and he'll be here at the school."
Her mother's mouth was working, but nothing was coming out. She then noticed her father putting his wand away. Ginny almost laughed at that. That would have been bad, so she was glad she could restrain the urge.
"Mr Potter, will you please help our daughter in the days to come? And see her safely back to us at King's Cross?" Arthur Weasley asked formally.
Harry bowed his head. "It would be my honour. I will take care of her as if she was family." He was pleased to note Ginny was happy. Hermione even seemed to be reasonably happy too.
"Thank you," Arthur said graciously. Molly was struggling against her silencing, trying to grab her wand that her husband was holding. "I believe it is time for us to go. Ginny, please write us soon so your mother knows you are still all right."
"Yes, Dad."
"Mr Potter, if you would please return Miss Granger to the hospital wing?" Dumbledore reminded the boy.
"Of course, sir." Harry stood and the two girls stood with him.
"We'll talk about Sheba in a few days."
"Yes, sir." Harry smirked. "Now I know why it's called the Forbidden Forest."
Dumbledore chuckled at Harry and watched the Weasleys leave via his Floo. He did not envy Arthur at this moment.
"Miss Granger? I have to go visit your parents this evening to inform them that you have been revived and are healthy again. Do you have any messages to pass along to them?" McGonagall asked her, although she also glanced at Harry too.
Hermione looked at Harry, who replied. "Professor, please tell them that we'd like to stay here for the rest of the year now that it's safe again, and that we'll owl them a letter tonight or tomorrow morning."
"Very well, Mr Potter," McGonagall acknowledged and the trio quickly left.
"Shall we call it a draw?" Albus offered now that they were alone. "I believe Mr Potter returned between our times."
"It seems only fair," Minerva agreed. "What do you think of Mr Potter's story?"
Albus picked up the old book and showed her the name on it. "I believe he left out a few minor things, but on the whole, I am very relieved that he survived and rescued Miss Weasley. As for Sheba, I shall have to reserve judgment until I meet her."
Minerva pursed her lips. "He seemed oddly protective of the snake at the end."
"I noticed that as well." Albus thought for a moment. "However, I suppose that if an intelligent snake had just saved my life, I might be protective of it as well.
Harry and Ginny had waited quietly in the hospital wing for Hermione. Even though their friend was behind a screen, it sounded like Madam Pomfrey was not pleased that she could find nothing wrong with the girl. Eventually, she gave up and sent Hermione on her way, telling her to get lots of rest. Hermione politely agreed and led the trio out. The nurse had already given Harry and Ginny a check-up and pronounced them fit.
"Get lots of rest," Hermione muttered when they were out in the corridor. "What does she think I was doing for the last three weeks?"
Harry and Ginny grinned at each other. Hermione led them into an unused room and closed the door. They found three chairs and sat, knees all but touching in the centre. Hermione took charge.
"I think I know the most important parts of the story, but I need to hear the rest before we go to dinner. We can talk about 'us' later tonight." She looked back and forth between the two.
"I guess I should do it," Harry volunteered, when he noticed that Ginny was looking down shyly. He told Hermione everything, spending more time on the first part that she had not heard in the Headmaster's office. They also discussed Malfoy's part a little.
"I say we take it out on Draco, since his father was willing to hurt me," Ginny said a little viciously.
"He would deserve it," Harry agreed.
"But what was done can't be proved," Hermione countered. "No, Draco is a prat on his own, but it's not his fault this happened. The blame goes to the father."
Ginny grinned. "You do know that your sense of fair play can be maddening, right?"
"Perhaps," Hermione allowed with a small smile, "but it does keep us out of trouble."
"But Lucius will not get off scot-free," Harry promised. "I don't know what will be done, but something will be done." Ginny nodded her agreement and the two looked at Hermione.
She thought for a moment and looked at the determination the two of them had. "Since I can't talk you out of it, I'll only say that we need to be very careful."
Harry gave her a quick hug, as did Ginny.
"Let's go eat," Harry told them.
Ginny looked worried.
Hermione reached out and took one of her hands. "Hold your head high, you did nothing wrong."
"But…"
"You were deceived and didn't know what you were doing. Andwe'll be there with you," Hermione promised.
"Thanks," Ginny shyly said and blushed a little.
They left the room and walked to the Great Hall. Murmurs started up the minute they walked in, and many people were looking at them.
Ginny dropped her head, but Harry whispered, "Remember what Hermione said."
"Thanks," she answered and raised her head back up, trying desperately to maintain a normal look and not show the fear she felt. She knew people could be vicious with rumours.
They had barely seated themselves at the end of the table, one girl on each side of Harry, when the Headmaster walked in. There was a smattering of applause for him while he assumed his normal place.
"Thank you, it's good to be back," Dumbledore greeted everyone at his first public meal since his return. "I am happy to report that our time of trouble has ended. As you may have heard, one of your fellow students was taken hostage against her will. Miss Weasley is not to be blamed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Everyone looked at her, causing her to go a little red in the face.
"Fortunately, Mr Ronald Weasley and Mr Harry Potter realized what was happening and rescued her. Mr Weasley and Mr Potter, please take twenty-five points each for your courage and ability to solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. For making the school safe again, I believe an award for Special Services to the school will be in order." Dumbledore sat down and people started to clap, though the Gryffindor table was the loudest.
Harry blushed and looked down the table to find Ron. He was sitting with their dorm mates and Ron was looking exceedingly happy to be in the spotlight.
"That was nice of the Headmaster," Hermione said softly.
"Yes, it was," Ginny agreed fervently. He must have taken her comment about rumours seriously, and she was very grateful for his help.
They ate in relative silence until the end of the meal. The four brothers of Ginny who were present came over to see them.
"Ginevra, I am happy to see that you are safe," Percy said, taking the lead as the oldest present. "However, it would have been better for you to have been more circumspect of what was happening."
"Percy, what are you saying?," Ron rounded on his older brother, showing again why he was in Gryffindor. "She never had a chance. And where were you all year anyway?" He looked around at the twins too. "Where were all of us? We all ignored her." He looked back at Percy. "So if you plan to blame someone, start with yourself."
Percy looked indignant, but did not say anything before he walked off.
One of the twins stood on one side of Ginny and the other stood on the other side of Harry.
"We're glad to see you're all right, Ginny."
"And thank you, Harry. You're all right in our book."
They did not say it, but the solemnity of the moment and the look on their faces showed them to be sorry for ignoring her this year.
"Thanks, you two," Ginny said with a smile. They both patted her on the shoulder and walked off.
"You're really OK?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Harry helped me to understand a few things, unless you want to talk about feelings?" she asked with an impish smile.
"I think I'll head back," he quickly told her. "You can join us for a game of Exploding Snap, if you want."
"Thanks, Ron, maybe later."
"Err, OK." Ron walked off, looking pretty good for someone who had cracked a bone in his leg the day before.
Hermione leaned forward with an amused smile. "You asked him about feelings on purpose, didn't you?"
"Uh-huh," Ginny answered with her own smile as she finished off her dessert.
"Since we're all done…" Hermione said and stood. The others followed her lead as she left the Hall. They soon found an unused classroom with extra chairs, and sat together at the front, as far away from the door as possible.
Hermione looked very serious. "Why?" she asked Ginny pointedly, eyes narrowed and intense.
"Uh, Hermione? I think I need to explain something first," Harry jumped in. He knew he needed to prevent bad feelings from the start.
"Harry, I need to hear this from Ginny," Hermione said firmly with a touch of anger.
"Fine, I'll shut up, but only after I tell you something first." He was not going to let assumptions make things any more strained than they already were.
Hermione turned her glare to him. "What?" she asked curtly.
"Now that this has happened to Ginny," Harry glared at Hermione when she looked like she was going to interrupt him. "Yes - toGinny - because I've figured more of this bond thing out. We didn't know why it happened between you and me, but I do now."
Hermione pulled back and sat up a little straighter, her curiosity peaked. "You do?"
"I think so. You were having your life threatened by a troll. After I saved you, what was the first thing you said to me?" he asked.
The brunette thought about that for a few seconds. "Erm…'You saved my life', if I remember correctly."
"Exactly. Ginny was threatened by a magical artefact and a Basilisk, and I saved her from those. When she woke, the first person she saw was me and the first thing she said was …" Harry turned and looked at the little redhead.
"'You saved my life'," she whispered, understanding what Harry was getting at.
Hermione looked carefully at him, starting to say something several times, but stopping before she did. Eventually, she said, "That doesn't make sense. People save other's lives all the time. If that was all there was, then this would be commonly known because every male Auror would have multiple women bonded to them. And yet, we've never heard of this before and I can't find a reference to it in the library." She looked at Ginny. "Or have you heard of something like this before?"
"No," Ginny admitted. "This is more like something out of a fairy tale. I mean, a lot of fairy tales have a root in a real story that happened in the Wizarding World in the past, but this goes even beyond those stories."
"But…" Hermione tailed off. After a moment, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I was getting all angry at you and it sounds like it wasn't your fault."
Ginny shook her head. "No, I didn't know this was possible, or about you and Harry already being together. And I wasn't trying to do this."
"What were you trying to do?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
Ginny hesitantly looked up at Harry.
"Tell her," Harry encouraged her. "We can't have secrets or it will tear us apart. Even I can figure that out."
"OK," Ginny said quietly. Then she launched into the description of her family, like she had told Harry. She also explained her plan to try to become Harry's girlfriend to help in the escape from her family. She only left out the part about being willing to do almost anything to bolster Harry's desire and happiness for keeping her. Harry graciously did not mention that part either. She was still ashamed of herself for that.
When Ginny finished talking, Hermione looked at the girl, head bowed and looking like the eleven year-old girl she was. Hermione also looked over to Harry. Of the three, it seemed that she was the only one who had a good family growing up. With no more thought, she stood and opened her arms. Ginny rushed over, folding herself into Hermione's embrace, and started to cry quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this," over and over. Hermione held her, telling her gently, "It's all right. It wasn't your fault, it was magic. We'll find a way to deal with this."
Harry rose and stepped over, letting Hermione put her left arm around his shoulders while he put his arms around the girls' waists. They held each other for a few minutes.
"What are we going to do with ourselves?" Hermione rhetorically asked.
"Live together," Harry answered, not sure what else to say.
Hermione looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"Ginny told me that bonds like this are for life. The bond is probably why we trust each other so much. I mean, I'd never have told either of you about my childhood until we had known each other for years," Harry explained. "Ginny thinks it's actually a form of marriage and makes us adults, at least magically."
Hermione groaned before sarcastically saying, "Great, just what we need." She looked at the other girl. "Really, Ginny?" The girl sniffled and nodded, her tears no longer flowing. "I can see that I didn't research this enough." Hermione looked to Harry. "Sit down, will you please?" Harry sat and Hermione pushed Ginny onto his lap. "Hold her for a bit, Harry. I think she needs you more right now." As she looked at the two, she said, "I wonder if the magic of bond is why we're so accepting of this arrangement?" Neither of the other two had an answer.
While Harry held Ginny, who snuggled into him, Hermione reached into her robes and pulled out a Muggle pen and a small notebook. "Sometimes, I don't know why everyone here insists on using quills," she said sarcastically as she started to write.
"What is this list for?" Harry asked, used to this habit of hers.
"Things we need to research," Hermione absently answered as she continued to write. "Ginny, I know that hundreds of years ago, multiple wives were allowed. Is that still true?"
"No," she said quietly, enjoying being on Harry's lap and being held by him. "I remember in one of Mum's books it said they're not allowed - not since the early seventeen hundreds. The closest thing we have now are mistresses. I think there is another term that's used in laws if they are official, but most Pureblood men don't register them."
Hermione snorted. "Sure, they wouldn't want to advertise their indiscretions. But you think there is a legal way to do this?" She saw Ginny nod and thought about it. "Concubines maybe?"
Ginny brightened, "Yes, that's the word. It allows the woman to inherit and any children can take the man's name, but she can't be called a wife. I, uh, I guess I'd be the concubine." Ginny looked pained. "You were here first."
"Maybe," Hermione said compassionately and reached out to grip the other girl's hand. "But maybe there are other ways, too. That's what research is for."
Ginny nodded meekly, but did not look particularly hopeful.
"Uh, that's only if we stay here, right?" Harry asked. "I mean, what if we lived somewhere else after we finish school?"
Hermione looked at him appreciatively. "Good point. Some cultures do allow for multiple wives. We'll want to research that angle, too. I don't want to make it too hard on Ginny."
"Thanks," Ginny said weakly but with a big smile, appreciating the olive branch the older girl was offering. "You might want to research Egypt. My brother Bill has mentioned that their culture follows a lot of the older traditions, like from a thousand years ago. It must not be too bad since he lives there."
Hermione scribbled that down. "That's long term and we can figure that out later. What about now?" They both looked at her. "You know, how are we going to act and deal with this? For one, I don't think I want to tell my parents yet. I think they would freak as they wonder what else the magical world could do to me beyond me basically forcing me to be married at thirteen … even thirteen and a half!"
Ginny giggled faintly. "Yeah, telling my parents will be bad too, although I think I'll need to tell them sooner than you will." She looked sad. "Hopefully this summer won't be too bad."
"Why would the summer be bad?" Harry asked.
"What would your uncle have done if you did something he told you never to do?" Ginny asked disconsolately. At Harry's look of sudden understanding, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to be in so much trouble for standing up to my mother, let alone writing in the diary. Dad will help a little, but he's at work most of the time. I'll probably be doing chores from sun up to sun down all summer long."
"Maybe I can invite you over to spend a week or two with me?" Hermione suggested.
"That would be nice, but I doubt it would work. You could try for the end of the summer; she might loosen up by then," Ginny speculated.
"We have a bigger problem at the moment," Harry told them. "Mum and Dad want to remove us from Hogwarts."
"Is that why you said we wanted to stay until the end of the year?" Hermione asked, not quite believing the situation they were in.
"Yes. I can show you their letter after you were petrified. They were really upset."
"But … what about me? I'd be left alone here," Ginny said, sounding a little scared and lonely.
"That's something else for us to research," Hermione answered, as if the answer was waiting for them.
Ginny nodded and hoped it did turn out all right. She stood up, causing the other two to look at her questioningly. Ginny grabbed Hermione's shoulders and lifted a little. Hermione got the message and stood too. Ginny then guided her to Harry's lap and pushed her down before taking her own seat back. "We're going to have to learn to share," Ginny told Hermione. "And we're going to have to learn to act like normal girls. We can only look like friends with him, not girlfriends, at least not for a few years. Maybe he can date one of us for a while, then pretend to break up and go with the other, like he can't make up his mind. No," she suddenly contradicted herself, "I'm not thinking clearly right now; that could look bad for us."
Hermione blushed. "Right, well we can talk about those things later. I'm not sure they even matter right now." To try to not make it more embarrassing, she added, "In the meantime, we can study with each other in order to spend more time together. We can help you, Ginny."
"Thanks, that would be, uh, helpful," she agreed with a smile at the redundancy. "I didn't do badly this year, but I could have done better if I hadn't had to deal with the diary," Ginny said guiltily and looking down to hide her face. "I didn't always get a lot of sleep."
Harry reached out to hold her hand. "You'll start to feel better now, and we'll help you get caught up, too."
Ginny nodded and gave him a shy smile of thanks.
Hermione checked the time. "Let's go to the library. We have enough time to find a book or two and check them out."
Ginny pulled the older girl into a hug. "Thank you, Hermione. You really are a friend. You would have every right to treat me horribly, but you haven't." She hugged the girl tightly again.
Hermione returned the hug and let go. "We have to get along, Ginny. If we didn't, life would be miserable for all of us. We're all in this together, and none of us planned what's happened. Besides, I don't think I could treat someone badly."
"Except for Malfoy?" Harry asked mischievously.
Ginny giggled as Hermione gave him a look of long suffering, until she broke down a few seconds later and chuckled. "I might make an exception for him. Speaking of which, we will have to be on our guard not to let his meaningless insults get to us."
"I'll try, Hermione, really I will. But if he goes too far, I will respond," Harry promised her.
"Too right," Ginny agreed.
Hermione sighed. "You two are going to test me, I can tell." She heard laughter from the other two as they followed her out of the room they had been using.
Half an hour later, they had three books and were hurrying back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew for the first and second years.
"I'm really looking forward to next year when our curfew is an hour later," Hermione said as they walked quickly back.
"No fair," grumped Ginny.
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but you'll always be a year behind," Hermione logically pointed out.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
Harry decided this was one of those times to stay quiet and did so, following the girls through the portrait hole.
They found an unoccupied table and took it over, each taking a book and looking for helpful information. Ginny took the book on Wizarding society in England, Harry the book on Wizarding cultures around the world, and Hermione took the book on law in Magical England.
Two hours later, the common room was mostly empty, since classes started again in the morning.
"Ginny? Find anything?" Hermione asked quietly as she closed her book.
"This book mentions concubines and talks about them being secondary wives," Ginny answered just as quietly. "I didn't find much else that was helpful, other than their main purpose is supposed to be for carrying on the family line if the first wife was barren. The other use was in case the man somehow had multiple family lines. For that, he could use the children of the concubine to carry on the other family line so the name didn't die out. But all the children from the wife come first in inheritance, even children born after older children from the concubine."
"That's interesting, and it confirms some of what you told us," Hermione lightly said. "I was able to verify that there is only one wife allowed, and most of the other things Ginny suspected were true. One thing that is new is that we can't register our bond until Harry is thirteen. I don't know why they picked that age, but that's the way the law reads."
"So not until late this summer at the earliest?" Harry asked.
"Correct. At that time, we could register all of us, Ginny age's notwithstanding. It's only your age that counts, Harry," Hermione explained. "That would exempt us from the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. Once we're registered, we could separately register for each of the other privileges adults have, like Apparation, buying and selling of magical creatures, and so forth. As useful as not having to worry about underage magic would be, we actually already have it for the most part, or at least Harry and I do because of the wards around our house."
"Uh, if I'm really careful, it's not a problem for me most of the time either," Ginny hesitantly said.
"Oh?" Hermione asked with surprise, trying to keep her voice down.
"Well, I know that Fred and George have done magic around the house and never received a warning from the Ministry. Mum punishes them when she catches them since it's…" Ginny did air quotes as she intoned, "not right."
Hermione stared at the other girl her eyes slowly going wider. "Really?" Ginny nodded. "That's not fair," Hermione huffed. "That means that Muggle-born students are being treated unfairly because they can't get away with the same thing."
"It's not totally fair, and yet it is," Harry said, receiving a baleful glare from Hermione. "Really, take me for example. Sure, my relatives knew about magic, so that would argue I should be able to use it. But what if I was using magic and Dudley's friends walked in and saw me? That would let the secret of magic out and I wouldn't have had any adult witches or wizards to cover it up, or to get help in covering it up. It's not fair, but they do have a reason."
Hermione deflated and relented. "All right, you have a point and I should have thought of that."
Ginny grinned. "What? Hermione didn't think of something?" she giggled
"No, I'm not perfect," Hermione said sheepishly.
"So," Harry spoke up, trying to get them back on track. "It looks like that if Hermione and I are forced to change schools, that we could register our bond and that would help keep us together because we'd all legally be adults and you could come with us Ginny." He looked at the other two for confirmation.
"Yes, other than my mother would probably go on a hexing rampage," Ginny replied.
"That sounds good to me as well," Hermione agreed, "although I hope we can convince our parents to not withdraw us from Hogwarts. I'd like to avoid telling them about the bond for as long as possible, or until we can completely explain it, as I can't predict completely what they would do with what little information we know now."
"Then we have the beginnings of a plan," Harry said with a smile.
"It's time to go to bed," Hermione announced. "Give me the books and I'll return them tomorrow. Harry, I'll write the letter to our parents upstairs and let you look at it tomorrow morning before I send it." Harry agreed.
They all gave each other a good night hug and went to their dorm rooms for the evening.
Harry and the girls, along with Ron and Neville started to board a carriage so they could ride to Hogsmeade to go home for the summer. They looked at each other as they all realized that a carriage only held four people and there were five of them. When an empty carriage pulled up, they were all still wondering who was going to have to ride with someone else.
Hermione took charge. "Honestly, it's not that hard. Harry, get in first. Ginny, you're next as you're the smallest." Those two climbed in and Hermione scrambled in after them. Before Ginny could sit on the bench, Hermione gently grabbed her shoulders and steered her to Harry and sat her on his lap. Hermione took the seat beside them. Ron and Neville climbed in and took the other bench.
As the carriage started rolling, Ron looked at his sister and his friend, who had his hands on Ginny's waist to keep her from falling off his lap. "Ginny, why are you on his lap?"
Ginny smirked at him. "Because Hermione put me here."
Ron did not let up. "Harry, why are you holding her there?"
"So she won't fall off. Or would you rather I let go and let her bounce out the back?" Harry asked dryly and Neville chuckled. "I suppose we could have let you catch the next carriage, Ron, but that didn't seem right either."
Ron sat there and thought about it and then nodded, finally willing to let it go, although he also kept a close watch on the two.
Harry looked to his left at Hermione, who proudly smiled at him.
The five of them shared a train compartment, too. After they got comfortable, Ron asked, "Did you really go back down into the Chamber of Secrets, Harry?"
Harry was sitting between Hermione and Ginny. He looked to his right at Ginny and saw her cringe slightly, leaning slightly towards him. He reached down and grabbed her hand and squeezed it for a few seconds. She looked at him gratefully for the support. Ginny had mentioned she was having a few nightmares about the whole thing, but said they were not too bad. Talking to Harry and Hermione had helped her.
"Yes. Dumbledore and I went back down yesterday." Harry noticed that Neville was very interested. He had told Neville a little about their adventure, but not all of the details. "Dumbledore was pretty amazing. He made all the rocks go back up into the crack in the ceiling and put a stone arch underneath to help hold them up. Once he did that, it was easy to walk back to the main chamber, though Dumbledore kept adding arches every so often. He said he was making sure there wouldn't be problems later. Sheba was there and we had a conversation with her, or at least I did, translating for the Headmaster."
"So the Basilisk is still down there?" Neville looked as scared as he sounded.
"Yeah, but don't worry. She's really there to protect the school, and she promised the Headmaster to do that. She only petrified people because Voldemort bound her to his will and controlled her, forcing her to do his bidding. I broke the control, so now she's back to normal," Harry explained. He grinned at his friend. "And she's also reducing the number of Acromantula in the forest."
"Sounds good to me," Ron said very fervently; his fear of spiders was well known among the small group.
"What are you going to do this summer, Neville?" Hermione asked, changing the topic so Ginny would be spared hearing about the Chamber anymore.
"Gran said she has a few lessons planned for me," he said a bit despondently before he perked up a little. "Most of the time, I'll probably spend in the family greenhouse. Professor Sprout gave me a few cuttings from some of the tamer plants."
"Neville," Ron sounded disappointed. "It's summer, you can let it all go."
"Some of us like to learn, Ron," Hermione pointed out, a little firmer than she probably needed to.
"Some of us like to have summers off and want to fly as much as possible to relax," Ron retorted.
Harry put his hand on Hermione's arm and Neville jumped into the conversation, not wanting to sit through more of their bickering than required.
"What are you doing this summer, Hermione?" Neville asked.
"Oh, we're going to France for a few weeks. Besides touring, we're also going to visit a magical school there called Beauxbatons."
"Why?" Neville asked and Ron looked very curious too. Ginny looked out the window, suddenly becoming very interested in the countryside.
Hermione sighed. "I don't think my parents are very happy with Hogwarts, and they want to look at other options."
Harry snorted. "Don't think? I thought their letters were pretty clear, especially the one I got after you were petrified and the one we both received after you were cured. I can imagine the conversation they had when McGonagall went to tell them what had happened to you, and I'll bet it wasn't pretty."
Hermione nodded slowly and with resignation. "You're right. I'm just hoping we can talk them out of moving us. Despite the problem this year, I've like it here the best of all the schools I've attended."
"We'll find a way," Harry assured her before he looked over at Ginny. The little redhead gave him a weak smile and then resumed looking out the window.
The rest of the trip was spent talking about their possible electives next year and what it would be like to go to Hogsmeade on the weekends.
Just before they reached the train station, Harry saw Malfoy walk by. Fortunately, he did not stop to harass them. Harry also saw this as an opportunity to help with one of his summer projects.
"Gotta go to the loo. I'll be back in a minute." He hurried out before anyone could stop him.
Harry had spent a few hours in the library this last week putting the research skills Hermione had taught him to good use. He had a vague outline of an idea and had needed to find three new spells to be able to make it work.
He walked quickly after Malfoy and almost caught up to him as Malfoy was about to leave the car for the next one. Pulling his wand, he cast one of the spells he had looked up in the library a few days ago. It hit Malfoy's shoe. The prat walked on, unaware of what had happened.
With a smile, Harry put his wand away and visited the loo, just so he could honestly say he went. A few minutes later, he returned to the compartment he and his friends shared and no one asked any questions about his little trip.
At King's Cross, they each got off the train and found their trunks. They all told Neville good-bye when he walked off to meet his Gran. Hermione and Harry joined Ginny and Ron moving toward the Weasleys. Mrs Weasley still did not look happy.
Ginny turned to her two bond-mates and gave a long hug to Hermione. "Hopefully we'll see each other before the end of the summer."
"I'll invite you over when we get back."
Ginny nodded and then went to Harry, who had just finished saying good-bye to Ron. She gave him a long hug too. "Thanks for everything, Harry. I'll try to get Ron to invite you and Hermione over. I know it won't do any good if I ask."
"Try asking your father," he suggested before he let her go.
Ginny nodded and then turned to face her parents. She was not looking forward to this summer.
Harry and Hermione said good-bye to Ginny's parents and left to find their own parents. They were easy to find in the normal part of the station, waiting right outside the portal to the magical train platform. Emma gave Hermione a hug as if she never wanted to let go. Dan was more restrained, but the look of joy on his face was unmistakable when he gave his daughter a hug. Harry fully understood and did not feel uncomfortable at all, especially as his own hugs were only a little less dramatic.
As was becoming usual, once they were loaded up and driving down the road, Emma turned in her seat. "So, are you two glad to be back?"
"Mostly, but we'll really miss our friends," Harry offered first.
"We're always glad to see you, Mum and Dad," Hermione hurriedly added, "but we are used to having our friends around now. In fact, I was wondering if we could invite someone over for a while after our holiday in France."
Emma smiled at the two, both pleased and torn. She was pleased that they were making other friends, but also knew that having friends would make leaving Hogwarts much harder. Emma was not happy with Hogwarts at the moment, not at all. "It's possible. Why don't we wait and see how things are after our trip? Oh, is Professor Snape still behaving himself?"
"Mostly," Harry answered. At Emma's inquiring look, he explained. "He gives me strange looks and mutters to himself when he sees me in the corridors, but he leaves us alone."
Emma did not answer for a brief moment. "If that's acceptable to you, but please let me know what he does in the future. I'm still talking to Professor McGonagall about him."
The conversation continued on, discussing little things and their upcoming trip. Each student could see the concern and worry slowly melting from Emma as they talked and knew she was happy they were safe with her. The summer for Harry and Hermione was off to a nice start, despite the fact that they knew a very important conversation was coming this summer.