Chapter 7: Serious Discussion/More Recollections

THREE MONTHS LATER

This was one of the few times Harry and Ginny hadn't made love upon waking up as they had done on a pretty much regular basis since he had moved in with her ... but he knew he had to get down to serious business soon. Particularly in regards to whether or not she was going to accompany him, Ron and Hermione when they finally left to seek out the rest of the Horcruxes, then once that was accomplished, seek out Voldemort and destroy him once and for all. He knew how determined she was to accompany them, but he still had serious reservations about that...and he was sure that her family would as well.

Even at that, the lovers decided to have a lie-in; the bedroom was as good a place as any (and better than most) for a serious discussion. Besides, once they were finished with the discussion, they could get down to the really important things ...

"Gin? You awake?" Harry kissed Ginny on the forehead, then when she didn't awaken, lifted her face to his and kissed her more deeply.

"Yes, beloved," she finally replied when he released her. "How could I not be when you kiss me like that?"

Harry smiled and squeezed her, then sobered. "We've got to talk. Seriously talk."

"May I assume this is about your ... our ... going after the other Horcruxes, then Voldemort himself?"

"You assume correctly," Harry returned softly, unsure of how to phrase his next words even as they sat up and situated the bedcovers around themselves. He was so afraid for all that he loved in the wizarding world, not to mention the Muggle world ... but most of all, he was afraid for Ginny. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her behind, especially not after they had just found one another again and renewed their love, but on the other hand, how could he bear to have her risk her precious life by allowing her to accompany him? He loved her so much ...

"Don't even think of trying to talk me out of going with you, Harry. I'm fully aware of the dangers involved. I've had my run-ins with You-Know-Who myself, you know."

The tone of her voice stilled his own tongue, at least for a time; he simply listened to her.

"Harry, listen carefully. I'm only going to say this once. I ... am ... going ... with ... you! Going, and that's all there is to it! I would far rather experience the danger with you than be home agonizing over what might be happening to you, Ron or Hermione, what You-Know-Who might be doing to you ..."

This was when Harry found his voice again. "Gin ... Please. Try to understand. I ... can't ... won't lose you! The last thing I want to do is leave you behind, but at the same time, how can I ask you to knowingly risk your life? I've ... already lost my mum and dad, not to mention Sirius, because of Voldemort. I don't want to add your name to that list. It's bad enough that Ron and Hermione are going to risk theirs. Also, Cedric Diggory died simply because he got between me and Voldemort. Do you see what I'm trying to say? Understand me. I will not be responsible for any more deaths! Especially ... not ... yours!" Harry's voice was hoarse with love, anguish and unshed tears as his voice all but broke.

Ginny cradled Harry's face in her hands, equal love and determination in her eyes as she gazed into his. "I understand, beloved. I assure you, I understand. All too well. But you understand me now. I will not be parted from you!"

Harry pulled her close and held her tightly, tears in his eyes. "Gin, luv ... don't do this for me. I'm not worth your ... so very precious life!" She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did now. His lovely, unselfish, courageous Ginny. How he loved her! And never more than now, when she had so willingly placed her precious, irreplaceable life on the line simply to remain by his side. What had he ever done to merit such dogged devotion?

The only way he could think of to protect her was to leave her behind, even as repugnant as that thought was. How could he possibly keep her anywhere near safe with Voldemort having not only put a price on his head, but those of everyone close to him? And now, more than ever, that included Ginny.

"Harry, you are worth it. You are worth everything in the world to me!" And as if reading his mind, Ginny spoke again. "Even if I did stay behind, how do you know that You-Know-Who wouldn't send some Death Eaters or dementors after me, then bring me to you and force you to watch as he did Merlin knows what to me?"

Harry had to admit that she had a point, but was still extremely reluctant to give in.

Ginny stroked his lips with a finger. "And even if we did end up dying, my love, what would matter to me was that we died together ... together in the cause of justice!"

"Gin, understand. I have no idea how long this is going to take. Weeks, at least...perhaps months, if not years. I cannot stand the idea of you in danger, nor do I want Voldemort to use us, our love, against me ... or against us. Please, if only for the sake of our future ... stay behind." Harry took a breath, then resumed speaking after visibly pulling himself together.

"To get back to the subject, I've finally figured out who this R.A.B. was who had stolen the real Horcrux, in the cave that Dumbledore took me to, and replaced it with a fake one. He was Sirius's brother, and he was a Death Eater."

Ordinarily, Ginny could never have ignored her beloved's outspoken, heartfelt plea, but this time she had to. Being with Harry, fighting by his side, mattered far more to her than any potential danger she might be exposed to. It wouldn't be the first time, at that. Ginny didn't react for a time; it was as if someone had placed a Stunning Spell on her. When she did, her voice was scarcely audible.

"Sirius's brother?"

"His name was Regulus. Regulus Adolphus Black. R.A.B. Sirius's younger brother. Sirius was the only good wizard in his immediate family. Virtually all of them were Voldemort sympathizers, if not Death Eaters. Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix, was a Death Eater too. She was also the one who ended up killing him."

"But you said that the note also mentioned that this ... Regulus ... intended to destroy the real Horcrux he had stolen and was willing to die if it meant Voldemort meeting his match one day, as well as his hope that when he did, he would be mortal once again. Sounds like he got ... disenchanted or something, albeit far too late, and attempted to atone for what he had done, even if he knew that he would likely die for it."

"Precisely," Harry agreed. "Which is exactly why I'm so against your going with us. Virtually everyone who's ever stood in Voldemort's way is dead, some of whom were very close to me, as you know. As my girlfriend and potential wife, you would be the closest of all...a perfect target for Voldemort to take out his vengeance on, especially once he learned your connection to me. Even if he couldn't hurt me directly, physically, he could do it to me emotionally by controlling, torturing or killing someone close to me."

"Oh, my love," Ginny crooned. Now she understood. It wasn't that Harry didn't want her with him; he simply wanted to keep her as safe as possible. Even at that, her determination to accompany him remained unchanged. She could no more stay behind than he could. "I understand what you're trying to say now. But I'm a witch too, you know, and a good one...just like Hermione. And Mum always told me that 'two heads are better than one.' She's always believed it, even if it was originally a Muggle saying. And remember, beloved, you did say you would need all the help you could get. I'm also a Healer, which would come in handy should any of us become injured."

Harry sighed resignedly. "So you still intend to accompany us?"

"Damn bloody right," Ginny shot back. "Now, may I know where you think this next Horcrux is?"

"I think it's most likely buried with Sirius's brother Regulus. It would explain why it's remained lost all these years."

Ginny frowned thoughtfully. "Entirely possible. Do you know where he's buried?"

"Sirius once told me there was a Black family plot in London's largest wizarding cemetery. I strongly suspect that we'll find Regulus...and the Horcrux...there."

"Do you know the location of the cemetery?"

"Yes, although it's likely to be at least fairly difficult finding the specific Black plot I'm looking for. They were a prominent pureblood wizarding family, but as I mentioned earlier, there were some who were Voldemort sympathizers. It's likely that they'll be buried separately from the rest of the Blacks, even if technically in the same plot of land."

"When were you planning to go?"

"Another week," Harry stated firmly. "In the meantime, you simply go to work as usual...then once the end of that week nears, see if you can get an extended leave of absence to accompany us."

"That may not be easy," she warned him. "After all, I've only been there a few months ... and am still, at least technically, a trainee Healer."

"Then you intend to give up your job if they won't allow you the leave of absence?" Harry inquired, still hopeful in spite of himself that Ginny would be forced to stay behind in order to keep her job. But she dispelled that hope with her next words.

"I do. I told you that I will not be parted from you, and I meant it."

Harry sighed sadly. It was obvious that there was no way even he was going to be able to stop Ginny from accompanying him, Ron and Hermione. Still, he gave in much against his better judgment ... so there would be no one to blame but himself...and Voldemort...if something happened in the midst of their quest and he lost her as well.

"All right. But remember, it was your idea," he reluctantly conceded, already prepared to mourn her loss even while praying it would never happen. Not too many people survived encounters with Voldemort.

Harry had only survived initially because of his mother's sacrifice for him ... and the rest of the time he had managed with outside help, such as Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes' tears, which could heal wounds, and the sword purported to have belonged to the founder of Gryffindor House, Godric Gryffindor, which had helped him slay the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in his second year.

He had nearly lost Ginny then since she had been possessed by Voldemort via his old diary, also a Horcrux, which Ginny had had in her possession. It was bad enough when she was simply Ron's sister; how much worse would it be for them now that she was his fiancée and the potential mother of his children?

Then in his third year, he had managed to fend off dementors who were after new escapee (and his godfather) Sirius Black with the assistance of his Patronus, a stag, who...as it had turned out...was representative of his father, James (nicknamed Prongs), who was not only a wizard but an Animagus who could turn into a stag at will. Harry had always been told he greatly resembled James, and not only in looks. In the end, Harry and his friends had also managed to assist Sirius to flee to freedom on Buckbeak the hippogriff.

But the most deadly confrontation of all up to that point had come in his fourth year...Voldemort had returned with the help of his parents' former friend, Peter Pettigrew, the one who ultimately had betrayed them to him and caused their deaths. For years he had hidden himself in his Animagus form, that of a rat and Ron's pet, Scabbers.

But Wormtail had managed to escape in his animal form while they were all busy striving to keep out of the clutches of Remus Lupin after he had changed into his werewolf form. Wormtail had also been the one to kill Cedric Diggory in the graveyard the Triwizard Cup (which had turned out to be a Portkey) had transported them to, all on Voldemort's orders.

The encounter with the reborn Voldemort had been nightmarish, beginning with being bound to the tombstone of the latter's ancestors, then his arm being slashed open in order to obtain an enemy's blood sample for the Dark Lord's rebirth: and although Harry had been released from his bondage on the tombstone, he had ended up lying on the cold ground, writhing in ineffable pain, tortured by the Cruciatus Curse until he was ordered up onto his feet to face down the Dark Lord.

Voldemort had also amused himself by taunting Harry, declaring that he would kill him, utterly destroy him, declaring that if anyone spoke of him after this, they would refer to the fact that Harry had supposedly begged for death...and Voldemort, "being a merciful Lord," would grant it to him. However, no one knew better than Harry that mercy was alien to Voldemort. He was evil personified; there were no redeeming qualities in him whatsoever, especially when Harry had moved away and turned his back on him. "Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter! I want you to look at me when I kill you...I want to see the light leave your eyes!"

Voldemort had even touched him on his scar, causing Harry almost unbearable pain and prompting agonized screams from his throat. The only remotely good thing about it had been the fact that Harry had seen his parents...or their ghosts, at any rate.

Just the same, the disembodied spirits had assisted him in fleeing from the old graveyard by means of the Triwizard Cup-cum-Portkey after having been released from Voldemort's wand via the Priori Incantatem, which usually happened when two wands such as his own and Voldemort's each had a phoenix feather (and from the same phoenix at that...Fawkes) embedded in them...and when it occurred, the wand expelled the ghosts of those it had killed prior to that moment in time.

Cedric's ghost had also asked him to take his body back to his father; there had also been another spirit there, that of an old man, the original caretaker of the old Riddle house (Voldemort's family name; he had been a half-blood, the son of a Muggle father and a witch mother) who had inadvertently intruded on a secret meeting between Voldemort and two cohorts, one of whom was the son of the head of the International Commission for Magical Cooperation, Bartemius "Barty" Crouch. The younger Crouch had become a Death Eater whom his father had been forced to send to Azkaban.

However, he had somehow escaped and took the form of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, noted Auror "Mad-Eye" Moody (all the while holding the real Moody prisoner) via Polyjuice Potion, which enabled the user to become anyone they wanted...but only for an hour. Crouch/Moody had been the one who had put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire and thus forced him to participate in the Triwizard Tournament despite the fact he was underage.

As far as Harry knew, the fake Moody was helping him through the three dangerous tasks outlined in the Tournament on Dumbledore's orders. Only afterward, when he had returned to the Tournament grounds with Cedric's body, the fake Moody had dragged him away, still sobbing and struggling to get away from him. Because of this, Harry did not learn the entire truth of the matter until some time later. Not until then had it registered with Harry why the fake Moody was constantly taking drinks from a hip flask he always kept with him: it had been to renew the effects of the Polyjuice Potion.

However, Harry had first begun to suspect the true reason why the fake Moody constantly took drinks from a hip flask when he was in the Prefects' bathroom on Hogwarts' fifth floor, acting on Cedric's suggestion and attempting to decipher the meaning of the second clue in the egg he had obtained during the first task. The female ghost known as Moaning Myrtle had suggested he open the egg underwater while he was there: the only time the message had been understandable. (Any time before that, the egg emitted a piercing screech when opened.)

It had also been the fake Moody (aka Crouch Jr.) who had helped Neville Longbottom, a fellow fourth year who had an aptitude for herbology, discover the means for Harry to breathe underwater for the necessary hour in order to rescue the "treasures" taken from each of the four Triwizard champions ... by using a magical plant called gillyweed, which enabled the person who swallowed it to grow gills, not to mention other fish-like characteristics such as webbed hands and flippers for feet ... but only for an hour, a similarity shared with Polyjuice Potion.

The other champions had used a form of Transfiguration to turn into a shark (or at least half of one) and the Bubblehead Charm, which gave the user a bubble of air around their heads, another means of breathing underwater. It had been Cedric who had been meant to rescue Cho Chang, who had been his date at the Yule Ball, just as Hermione had been meant to be rescued by Viktor Krum of the Durmstrang school of magic, since she had been his date for the ball.

The female champion from the French school of magic, Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour, had been forced to abort her attempt to retrieve her "treasure" from the lake because she had been accosted by water demons known as grindylows, leaving it to Harry to rescue both Ron and her little sister Gabrielle. Despite the fact that Harry had technically finished last, he was ultimately awarded second place for his "extraordinary moral fiber" in attempting to rescue all four "treasures," not just the one designated for him.

Unfortunately, Harry knew that it would take far more than "extraordinary moral fiber" to bring himself, his friends, and possibly Ginny, through their adventures involving the discovery of the remaining Horcruxes and the ultimate...and most likely final...showdown between himself and Voldemort, alive. It wouldn't surprise him, in fact, if the Horcruxes were all guarded by something similar to what he and Dumbledore had found in the cave they had gone to together shortly before the Hogwarts headmaster's death. Voldemort wasn't about to allow the pieces of his soul to be so easily found and destroyed, whatever he had to do to prevent it.

Well, enough of dwelling on dark, gloomy things. Harry far preferred light, happy things whenever he could get them...like love. Particularly the incident that had marked the beginning of his romance with Ginny: Gryffindor House winning the Quidditch Cup. She had come running up to him and thrown her arms around him. And in spite of the fact there had been at least fifty people watching them, including Ron and Hermione, Harry had pulled Ginny close and kissed her...long, deep and deliciously.

Harry had had no sense of time during the encounter; all he had been aware of was the feel of Ginny in his arms, the warm, almost unbearable sweetness of her lips and the honeysuckle smell of her. When at last they had separated...and most reluctantly, at that...she had looked up at him through half-closed brown eyes, soft eyes which were misty with love, and her lips were sweetly swollen from his kiss. But even as irrational as Harry's next desire had been, it was most understandable: all he wanted to do was kiss Ginny like that all over again.

Harry had naturally agonized for days over his growing feelings for Ginny and the jealousy he felt, which had been like a barely-restrained monster inside him when others of the male persuasion paid court to her, but his main concern had been how Ron might react to his snogging his sister, not to mention what Ron would think of him dating Ginny. In the end, fortunately, Ron had come around, for which Harry was immensely thankful ... and if all went well, he would not only be Ron's best mate, but related to him (specifically, his brother-in-law) through his, Harry's, marriage to Ginny.

But Harry knew better than to count on everything going well, so he told himself to simply take matters one step at a time and act as circumstances dictated. He had to keep in mind that part of the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries that had concerned him and Voldemort referred to a "power that the Dark Lord knows not." Dumbledore had told him that this power was love...that Harry's ability to love would prove to be his ultimate weapon against the powers of Darkness.

Harry truly hoped so, for it might be the only way that he and his friends...and Ginny...would survive the trials and tribulations which lay ahead of them. Only then could he consider trying to live an even halfway normal wizarding life with Ginny, marrying her and having children ... possibly even as many as the Weasleys themselves. They might even settle in the same place where James and Lily Potter had begun (and ended) their lives together...and where Harry had been born: Godric's Hollow, a Muggle village which had nonetheless boasted a small witch and wizard population, James and Lily among them.

Of course, neither he nor Ginny knew yet that Ron had finally gotten up the gumption to propose to Hermione (mainly due to Harry's discreet assistance with the Felix Felicis potion), and once they did, that would be one of the few happy things to occur in their lives, possibly for many months, if not years, to come.